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wilwheaton · 10 months

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When you watch The Curse, you are watching two children who were abused and exploited daily during production. No adults protected us.

This was originally published on my blog in August, 2022.

I had a wonderful time at Steel City Comicon this weekend. It was my first time at this particular con, so I didn’t know there was such a huge contingent of horror fans, creators, and vendors who attend.

I love horror, and I was pretty psyched to be in the same place as John Carpenter and Tom Savini, across the street from the Dawn of the Dead mall. Pittsburgh feels like one of the places horror was invented, at least to me.

A number of these horror fans came to see me, and asked me to sign posters and other things from a movie my parents forced me to do when I was 13, called The Curse. I had to tell each of these people that I would not sign anything associated with that movie, because I was abused and exploited during production. The time I spent on that film remains the most traumatizing time of my life, and though I am a 50 year-old man, just typing this now makes my hands shake with remembered fear of a 13 year-old boy who nobody protected, and the absolute fury the 50 year-old man feels toward the people who hurt him.

I told this story in Still Just A Geek, and I’ve talked about it in some podcasts I did on the promo tour, but I’ve never put it out in public like this, in its entirety.

I suspect someone at the publisher would prefer I tease this and hope it drives book sales from people who want to read all of it, but I honestly don’t want to have another weekend like this one where everything is awesome, except the few times people who have no idea (and why should they) put that fucking poster in front of me, and all the fear, abandonment, and trauma come flooding back as I tell them that I won’t sign it, and why.

To their credit, each person was as horrified as they should have been, told me they had no idea (if they didn’t read my book why would they), and quickly put the poster away. They were all understanding. I am grateful for that.

But I really don’t need to tell this story over and over again, so here it is, with a child abuse and exploitation content warning, so I can just tell people to Google it.

After Stand by Me, everything changed. The attention from entertainment journalists, casting directors, and especially teen magazines came pouring in. The movie was a generational hit, beloved by critics and audiences alike, and every single one of us could pick anything to do next.

River’s parents and his agent got him Mosquito Coast, with Harrison Ford, as his next movie. I also auditioned for the role, but I knew even then that River was going to book the job. He was perfect, and I’d have to wait a little bit for my opportunity to come along.

I went on a lot of theatrical auditions after Stand by Me. I had tons of meetings with directors and the heads of casting at every major studio. It was all a very big deal, and I felt like we were all looking for something really special and amazing as my follow-up to Stand by Me.

At some point, a couple of producers contacted my agent with an offer to play one of the leads in an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space.” The script was titled The Farm. (It would, of course, be changed when the film was released).

I read it. I did not like it. It was a shitty horror movie, and I saw that right away. It was the sort of thing you rented on Friday when the new release you wanted was already out of the store.

My mother, already an incredibly manipulative person, used every tool at her disposal to change my mind. My father threatened me, mocked me, told me “It’s your decision” when it clearly wasn’t. It was all so weird; I didn’t understand why they cared so much.

I told my parents I didn’t like it and didn’t want to do it. I clearly recall thinking it was a piece of shit that would hurt my career.

It wasn’t the first thing that had come our way that I wanted to pass on, and every other time, it hadn’t been a very big deal.

Sidebar: I was cast in Twilight Zone: The Movie, in 1983. The film tells four stories, and I was cast as the kid who can wish people into cartoonland. It was a GREAT role, in a movie I still love. (Note that Twilight Zone had four directors. One of them got three people killed. The segment I was cast in was not that one. I mention this because too many people zero in on this to deflect from what this whole thing is actually about.)

But I was CONVINCED by my parochial school teacher that if I worked on The Twilight Zone, which she had determined was satanic, I would go to hell. (This woman and her bullshit played a big role in my conversion to atheism at a young age, but when she told me that, I was all-in on the supernatural story they taught us in religion class.) I was so scared, more scared than I’d ever been to that point in my life, I cried and wailed and begged my parents to not make me do the movie. And I never told them why, because I was afraid my dad would laugh at me for being weak and afraid. My agent tried to talk me into it, and I wouldn’t budge. It’s the only thing I deeply and truly regret passing on, and I really hate I made that choice for such a stupid reason.

Okay. Back to The Curse.

This time, when I told them how much I hated it, they wouldn’t listen to me. My mother, already an incredibly manipulative person, used every tool at her disposal to change my mind. My father threatened me, mocked me, told me “It’s your decision” when it clearly wasn’t. It was all so weird; I didn’t understand why they cared so much.

That is, until they made me take a meeting with the producers of the movie, in their giant conference room on the top floor of a tall building in Hollywood. All I remember about this place was that it was huge; the table was way too big for the five of us who spread around it, and there were floor-to-ceiling windows on three of the walls, but the room was still dark. There was a weird optical illusion in the center of the table, this thing they sold in the Sharper Image catalog, made from two reflective dishes with a hole in the top of one. You placed an object in the bottom of the bottom dish, and it made it look like that object was floating above the whole thing. They had a plastic spider in it. What a strange detail for me to remember, but it’s as clear in my memory as if I were sitting in that room right now.

One man, who I presumed was the executive producer, was European or Middle Eastern (I didn’t know the difference then, he was just Not Like People I Knew), and I was instantly afraid of him. He was intimidating, and seemed like a person who got what he wanted.

So we sat there, my father who didn’t give a shit about me, my mother who was cosplaying as someone with experience, and me, thirteen years old, awkward as fuck, and scared to death.

I don’t remember what they said to me in their pitch or anything other than how uncomfortable and anxious I was to even be in that room. I tried so hard to be grown up and mature, but I — and my parents — was way out of my depth. I’d done one big movie and that was it. We didn’t have my agent with us, who had lots of experience and would have known what questions to ask.

No, in place of my experienced agent, my mother had decided she was going to be my manager, and she tackled the responsibility with an enthusiasm that was only matched by her absolute incompetence and inability to go toe-to-toe with producers the way my agent did. She was outwitted, out-thought, and outmaneuvered at every turn.

“You don’t have a choice,” my father commanded. “You are doing this movie.”

So we sat there, my father who didn’t give a shit about me, my mother who was cosplaying as someone with experience, and me, thirteen years old, awkward as fuck, and scared to death.

At some point, this man, who is represented in my memory by big Jim Jones sunglasses under dark hair above an open collar, said, “We are offering you a hundred thousand dollars and round-trip travel for your whole family. We will cast your sister, Amy, to play your sister in the movie.”

It all made sense, now. I was only thirteen, but I knew my parents were pushing me so hard because this company was offering me — them, really — more money than I’d ever imagined I’d earn in my life, much less a single job.

I knew that the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, was to say no. There would be other opportunities, and it was stupid to cash myself out of feature films for what I thought was, in the grand scheme of things, not very much money.

It’s incredible to me that I knew all of this. It’s incredible to me that I could see all these things, plainly and clearly, and my parents couldn’t (or, more likely, chose not to).

So after this man made his offer, all the adults in the room ganged up on me, selling me HARD on this movie.

My mother said, “Don’t you want your sister to have the same opportunities you’ve had? Wouldn’t it be fun and exciting to go to Rome? Think of all the history!”

The experience was awful. It was the worst experience I have ever had on a set in my life, by every single metric. The movie is awful, and it is the embarrassment I knew it would be.

I don’t think about this very often, because it’s super upsetting to me. Right now, I’m so angry at my parents for subjecting me and my sister to this entire experience. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In that moment, I felt bullied and trapped. All these adults were talking to me at the same time, and I just wanted it to stop. I just wanted to go home and get out of this room. I just wanted to go be a kid, so I did what I’d learned to do to survive: I gave in and did what my parents wanted.

The experience was awful. It was the worst experience I have ever had on a set in my life, by every single metric. The movie is awful, and it is the embarrassment I knew it would be.

But here’s the thing: when you watch The Curse, you are watching two children, me and my sister, who were abused on a daily basis. The production did not follow a single labor law. They worked us for twelve hours a day, on multiple film units (while I work on First unit, second unit sets up and waits for me. When I should get a break to rest, they send me to Second unit, then to Third unit, then back to First unit. I was 13.) without any breaks, five days a week. I was exhausted the entire time. I was inappropriately touched by two different adults during production. I knew it was wrong, but I was so scared and ashamed, and I felt so unsupported, I didn’t tell anyone. I knew my dad wouldn’t believe me, and my mother would blame me. Anything to keep the production happy, that’s what she did. That was more important to her than the health and safety of her children. The director was coked out of his mind most of the time, incompetent, and so busy fucking or trying to fuck one of the women in the cast, he was worse than useless. He was a fading actor who was cosplaying as a director, as in over his head as my mother. My sister and I were never safe. Instead of harmless atmospheric SFX smoke, they set hay on fire in barrels and blew actual smoke onto the set. They took buckets of talc, broken wood, bits of wallpaper and plaster, and threw it into my face during a scene inside the collapsing house. My sister is in a scene where she goes to get eggs from some chickens, and they attack her. So they hired Lucio Fulci, the Italian horror master, to direct her sequence. His idea, which everyone was totally on board with, was to throw chickens at my sister. Live chickens, live roosters, live birds. Just throw them at a nine-year-old girl. Oh, and then tie them to her arms and legs so they’ll peck her. All of this happened under my mother’s observation, and with her full participation.

Everything I need to know about who my parents are is wrapped up in that experience: the total lack of concern for my safety and happiness, treating me like an asset instead of a son, lying to me, manipulating me, and using me to get things they wanted, and then gaslighting me about it.

If just ONE of the things I can remember happened to someone I loved, I would have grabbed my kids, gone to the airport, and flown home. Fuck those abusive assholes in the production. Let the lawyers sort it all out. Nobody hurts my children and gets away with it.

My mom says she “had some talks” with the producers. She claims that, once, she wouldn’t let us leave the hotel. (God, what a fucking dump that place was. It was just slightly better than a hostel.) I have no memory of that, but honestly the entire experience was so traumatic, I’ve blocked most of it out.

The movie was the commercial and critical failure I knew it would be. My parents spent the money. I don’t know what they spent it on. I got to keep fifteen cents of every dollar, so . . . yay?

My sister and I hardly ever talk about this. I suspect it was as upsetting and traumatic for her as it was for me. I told her I was writing about it, and asked her if she remembered anything. She told me she’d been lied to her whole life about this movie. Our mother let her believe she had been cast on the strength of her audition. “I was excited to work with you,” she said. She reminded me about some stuff I’d blocked out, including a scene where my character’s older brother (played by an actor named Malcolm Danare, who was kind and gentle, and made both of us feel safer when he was around) shoves my character into a pile of cow shit. When it came time to shoot the scene, the mud they’d put together to be the cow shit looked an awful lot like cow shit. When Malcolm pushed me into it, we all found out it was real cow shit. I was FURIOUS. The director had lied to me and had allowed me to have my entire body shoved into an actual pile of actual cow shit. I don’t remember what I said, but I remember he treated me the exact same way my father did whenever I got upset: he laughed at me, told me I was being too sensitive, reminded me that he was the director and he wanted to get a “real” performance out of me, and concluded, “If it bothers you so much, we’ll get you a hepatitis shot,” before he walked away.

My sister also recalled that, after she survived the scene with the chickens, it was the producers’ idea to give her one as a pet.

Okay, let’s unpack that for a quick second: you’ve been traumatized by these birds, so we’re going to give you one as a pet. That you’ll somehow keep in your hotel, and then will somehow get back to America. It will shock you to learn that neither of those things happened.

She remembered, as I do, the huge fight I had with my parents in our kitchen, where I told them I hated the script and I hated the movie. I didn’t want to do it, and I hated that they were making me do it.

“You don’t have a choice,” my father commanded. “You are doing this movie.”

“This is the only film you are being offered,” my mother lied to me. She made me feel like, if I didn’t do this movie, I would never do another movie again in my life. I had to do this movie. As my father bellowed, I had no choice.

Both of my parents denied this argument ever happened. Can I tell you how reassuring it is to know that my sister, who was also there, remembers it the same way I do?

The makeup department decided they would literally cut my little sister’s face with a scalpel, in three places, and put bandages over them.

But one thing she told me, the thing I did not know, the thing that makes me so angry I want to break things, actually managed to make the entire experience even worse than I remembered it.

There’s a scene after her chicken incident where I check up on her in her bedroom. She’s got cuts and bruises, and I guess we talk about it. I don’t remember and I can’t watch the movie because I’m terrified it will give me a PTSD flashback (I’ve had one of those and I recommend avoiding it). Here’s the thing about that scene: she has some cuts on her face, and those cuts are real. They are not makeup.

I’m going to repeat that. My nine-year-old little sister had actual cuts on her face that were placed there by an adult, on purpose.

The makeup department decided they would literally cut my little sister’s face with a scalpel, in three places, and put bandages over them. My sister told me our mother wasn’t in the makeup room when this happened — honestly, it seemed like our mother was strangely and conveniently absent when most of the really terrible things happened to us on the set — and when my sister told her what they’d done, she “lost her shit” at the production. She was pissed, I guess, which is appropriate and surprising. I wonder what would have to have happened for her to put us on a plane and get us home to safety? I mean, her son being abused daily didn’t do it, and her daughter being CUT IN THE FACE ON PURPOSE didn’t do it.

I just . . . I can’t. I can’t understand or comprehend allowing your own children to be physically and emotionally abused. They were literally selling my sister and me to these people, like we were some kind of commodity.

This was a tough conversation. My sister’s experience with our parents is very different from mine. My sister and I love each other. We’re close. I know it’s hard for her to hear that her brother, who she loves, was so abused by her parents, who she also loves. I was really grateful she made the time to talk to me about it, and grateful the experience wasn’t as horrible for her as it was for me.

As we were finishing our call, Amy also remembered one man, a young Italian named Luka, who was our driver for the movie. I haven’t thought about him in thirty years, but I can see his face now. He was kind, he was friendly, he taught us how to kick a soccer ball, and in the middle of an abusive, torturous experience, he stood out as a kind and gentle man. I mention him because she remembered him, which made me remember him, and goddammit I want at least one small part of this thing to not be awful.

The Curse remains one of the most consequential times the adults in my life failed to protect me. I’m 50. I still have nightmares.

Ultimately, as I predicted and feared, this piece of shit movie cashed me out of respectable films forever. I got offers for movies, but they were always mindless comedies or exploitative horror films. They were never the serious dramas I wanted to work in after Stand by Me. The industry looked at me and River, wondering if one or both of us would become a breakout star. They quickly saw that River was doing real acting work, and I was in this piece of shit. For River, Stand by Me was a beginning. For me, it would turn out to be pretty much everything, at least as far as film goes.

There are thousands of reasons film careers do and don’t take off. Maybe mine wouldn’t have taken off anyway. Clearly, it’s not where my life ended up, and I’m super okay with that now. But when all of this happened, it hurt and haunted me.

The Curse remains one of the most consequential times the adults in my life failed to protect me. I’m 50. I still have nightmares. Everything I need to know about who my parents are is wrapped up in that experience: the total lack of concern for my safety and happiness, treating me like an asset instead of a son, lying to me, manipulating me, and using me to get things they wanted, and then gaslighting me about it.

This annotation is the last thing I wrote before I turned this manuscript in, because opening these wounds is hard and painful. I put it off as long as I could, and I feel like I’m still holding back, because just this small glimpse of the experience has taken me a week to write. I can’t imagine trying to go back and unpack the whole thing. (Note that is not in the book: I’ve made an EMDR appointment to work on this because the nightmares have come back after the weekend).

Fuck The Curse, and fuck every single person who exploited and hurt two beautiful children to make it. You all participated in child abuse, and you all knew better. Shame on all of you. I hope this follows you to the end of your life. I hope that living with what you did to innocent children has been as hard for you as it has been for me, because you deserve no less.

#tw abuse #tw child abuse #tw exploitation #child actor #still just a geek #lucio fulci #trauma survivor #speaking up for the child who was silenced by his abusers

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romanoffsbish · 5 months

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Surprise, Surprise

Scarlett Johansson x Reader (no pronouns used)

Scarlett was wrapping up another day on set when she got unexpected news… Aka, R visits her on set | WC: 1,366

A/N: Purely fluff — R is not given any description but their infant is described as looking like them both.

"Your son is the cutest!" Elizabeth sang as she giddily approached Scarlett who had been stood behind an accordion panel, changing out of her characters outfit. The blonde grinned and nodded along, it was the truth and she was used to her costar gushing over your son, but it was usually over photos she'd show her...

——

“His cheeks are just so chubby, and so squishy—you and Y/N created a little cutie; bring him to set more."

"What do you mean more?" Elizabeth's smile fell, "I am now realizing I might've ruined a surprise."

Scarlett smiled at her aloof friend, "Thanks for that!"

Then she took off in a hurry, abandoning her plans to change, leaving in her favorite pair of sweats and her character's black and blue striped crop top instead. It had been a week since she last saw you two, as you both agreed moving your son a lot wasn't ideal, so she filmed during the week and was home on weekends.

Except the last one since she had to film promo for The Outset in New York while your current home was in LA so it was random fleeting hours over FaceTime, and that made her dream for the day her schedule clears.

Scarlett needed you in her arms more than she needed anything else, well besides to kiss your son's cheeks so she kept up a decent pace even though she was winded. Just as she rounded the corner of the lot she caught sight of you walking up the steps of her trailer, her eyes sparkled with joy, but then they narrowed when she saw the diaper bag lowly dangling from your arm, with your other hand cradling your sleeping babies head to your chest, you were clearly trying to safely ascend.

The blonde jogged a little faster, concern ebbing its way into her soul as she saw you move up another step. Just as you were about to move again she arrived, her hand seamlessly took the diaper bag so you could grip the side rails while her other firmed against your back.

Scarlett felt as you sighed and it made her smile, you opened the door and almost as soon as you entered she had circled you and stopped in front of you. "Thanks."

Your wife smirked, "No need to thank me love,” her lips then closed the distance left between yours and her hand pushed you into her, “I always got your back."

Scarlett giggled when you threw your head back with a playful groan, “you’re just so cheesy Scar, stop it…”

Your wife instantly pouted, feigning offense, “Why?”

“Because I can’t have our son following your lead,” you responded while gently cupping his ears to make sure your wife understood the message. “He’s vulnerable.”

Scarlett scoffed, “If I remember correctly it was my corny quips that won you over baby, you ate it up.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” you deflected with ease as you slid from her hold and started to move towards her bed so you could set Noah down, but just before you could she pulled you back in and kissed you until you had forgotten what you were planning to do.

The blonde felt warmth slowly spread throughout her body as she melted into the feeling of your thumbs gently caressing the soft skin of her fuller hips. Just beneath her chin lay the adorable, snoring cause. It was hard for her at first, adjusting to the physical demands of pregnancy but then she had your son.

Not only was he the most adorable infant she’d ever seen, but she saw the natural way in which you took to parenthood. With the unwavering love you not only held, but expressed, like in small moments like these, she learned to cherish the changes and to crave more.

If not for her predetermined, already rearranged once schedule she would have convinced you to make more. Hell, she even considered asking you right now… This is her last commitment for a long while, and shooting was set to wrap up next month. It was the perfect time.

A soft whine pulled the two of you apart just in time for a pouting baby to whip his head back from your chest, his eyes and frown shone with deep grumpiness as he slowly blinked, eyes fluttering with a clear fight as his body decided if it was even ready to be awakened yet.

Scarlett smirked at you and you nodded your head in agreement, the two of you shared another peck before both of your lips firmly planted on your son’s cheeks. He grunted initially but the two of you felt them upturn and a gentle giggle left him at the tickling sensation.

“There’s mama’s happy boy,” Scarlett coo’d and your son’s head whipped to the side as if he had only just realized who it was that kissed you and his right cheek. His giddy babbles warmed your heart but his inability to keep still strained your back and led to you swiftly removing him from the harness so he could leap to her.

Scarlett caught him with ease and you sighed in relief. It was his new favorite habit, he’d just leap from one person to the next, hence the need for a baby carrier to restrain his urges and the potential script for Xanax you’ll need as he becomes more daringly independent.

The two of them were in their own world the moment you were no longer attached to them, swaying softly as she told him all about her week. It almost hurt your feelings but you knew it was their time to bond and hers to finally spill the movie secrets even you weren’t allowed to hear so you ventured off to the bathroom.

When you returned thirty minutes later, after having slipped off to take a walk—something you also needed, they were calmly laying in the bed, your sons sleeping face was now smushed against her exposed abdomen and you smiled at the scene from the ajar door.

“You’re letting a draft in,” your wife teased as she shut the book in her hand. Without a word you replied by shutting the door and moving further into her trailer. Scarlett watched you curiously as you slipped your shoes off then as gently as you could you joined them.

Her fingers softly stroked over the skin of your cheek, then it did the same for your sons right after as you were both currently utilizing her stomach as a pillow. As her hand returned to rest on your head yours moved to continue to caress your son’s sweet face.

Noah was your first of hopefully many, miracles, the perfect blend of you two in both features and attitude. Scarlett’s heart nearly combusted as she saw the same desires she held for months now blossom in your eyes.

“How much longer until you’re all ours Scarlett?” The blonde gently guided your face until your chin was resting against the softened muscles of her abs. “I am always all yours,” she smiled gently, her gaze genuine as she stroked your cheek. “My entire heart is here.”

“Entire?” She nodded, gaze a bit confused as you questioned her level of loyalty. “That’s too bad…”

Now she was amused, and played right along, “Why?”

“Kinda hoping there’s room for more,” you began, voice light and lovestruck as you cradled your son’s face in one hand and reached out for hers. “More?”

You nodded, then confirmed her hopes, “More little ones just like this goober that’s drooling all over you.”

Scarlett beamed, “I’ve been hoping you’d say that for actual months now baby. I want endless little you’s.”

You smiled as you placed a gentle kiss to the subtle ridges that adorned her stomach before nuzzling against the warm skin—an attempt to burrow into her which you knew to be impossible, yet you always tried.

“I love you, my beautiful baby mama,” you mumbled tiredly, lips gentle as they kissed her belly once more. The blonde chucked then stared down at your calm face in relief. “I love you too, you beautiful fool.”

#scarlett johansson #scarlett johansson blurb #scarlett johansson fluff #scarlett johansson imagine #scarlett johansson x reader #scarlett johansson x female reader #scarlett johansson x you #scarlett johansson x y/n #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #gxg

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danikamariewrites · 7 months

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Can I ask for Eris x Azreil x reader hurt /comfert where reader comes back after a hard mission and can barely sand from how exhausted they are. But our boys come and help them bath and feed them some food before some comfort snuggles. I feel like I barely see any fluff for this poly or am I just looking in the wrong places?

Autumn and Night

Azris x reader

A/n: now that I’m thinking about it I’m not sure I’ve seen fluff for azris x reader. If anyone knows any fics comment them even if they’re your own (do the shameless self promo babe)

Warnings: tired reader, comfort

As you trudged up the front stairs of the Forest House your shoulders slump remembering the fight your mates got into before you left. Four days ago Eris and Azriel had gotten into another petty argument. You usually played mediator in those scenarios.

This time however, you just left for your mission not wanting to deal with it. Coming back was worse. Your mission was successful, just tiring. You were dirty, tired, and covered in blood. You did stop by whatever river you were walking along to wash what you could off yourself but your would have to wait.

Sentries opened the front doors for you. Out of the corner of your eye you saw one of Eris’s assistants run off to inform him and Azriel that you were home. You didn’t bother following him. You just heard in the other direction towards your chambers.

You didn’t want to know about Eris and Azriel’s fight anymore than you already did. Peace and quiet was what you needed.

Just as you were unlacing your boots a soft knock sounded. Azriel poked his head in timidly. “Hi sweetheart. You ok?” All you did was blink at him with a sad look. You went back to your boots as your two mates quietly entered your room.

Eris stood in front of you, cupping your jaw in his hand, gently forcing you to look up at him. “Let us help you, love.” You didn’t have the energy to fight them, so you let them. Eris kneeled, taking off your boots while Azriel helped you out of your leathers.

While Azriel finished putting your leathers in the laundry Eris ran you a bath. Azriel picked you up, placing you gently in the steaming water. The two work in tandem to get you cleaned up. While Eris scrubbed your skin clean Azriel gently washed your hair. You leaned into his touch as he washed a second time as a silent thank you.

Waves of calm came from both of them, helping you relax and sink further into the water. Once the water was cold and murky Eris pulled you out while Azriel wrapped you in a towel. “Thank you,” you whispered. They each kissed a side of your head.

After you dried yourself you threw on one of Eris’s sleep shirts and flopped face down on the bed. You felt the bed dip next to you with the weight of one of your mates. You flip over to look up at Azriel, your eyes half lidded with exhaustion. Azriel slowly pushed a strand of damp hair from your face.

“Do you want something to eat?” You nod against the covers and your stomach grumbles. After days of having bread and catching your own food you were craving a good meal. Eris climbed on the bed to leave a small kiss on your forehead before heading to the kitchen.

In Eris’s absence you were oddly quiet towards Azriel. He gave you a concerned look, reaching out gently down the bond to read your mood. “Oh y/n/n, don’t worry about me and Eris. I’m sorry you went all week feeling that way, but we fixed things. So don’t worry your pretty little head ok?”

“Ok Az.” You give him a tired smile which he returns. Azriel scoops you up in his arms pulling you to rest on his chest. You snuggled into him, happy to be wrapped in his warmth again.

Eris came back into the room holding a plate with roast chicken, some vegetables, and a glass of water. You sat up between Azriel’s legs holding your hands out for the plate, “Thank you Er, this smells amazing.”

“Uh-uh,” the High Lord smirks at you, “you look like your too tired to hold your own head up never mind a fork. Let me feed you.” You gave Eris an exasperated look which he met with his own pointed look. Azriel leaned into you, wrapping his arms around your middle to hold you to him so you can relax.

“Fine.” You huff out, not so secretly glad that your mates are so willing to take care of you. At the first bite of real food you moan at the taste. Both males quietly laughed at your reaction as Eris kept feeding you dinner.

Once your plate was empty you leaned back into Azriel as he laid you down on the bed, spooning you. Eris laid in front of you gently running a warm finger across your forehead. Your eyes fluttered shut at the loving touch. “Sleep, sweetheart. You deserve it.”

You let out a small sigh in agreement. Even though these two stubborn males drive you crazy, you never wanted to leave them again.

#acotar #acotar fanfiction #acotar reader fic #acotar reader imagine #acotar imagine #azriel x reader #azriel shadowsinger #azriel acotar #azriel x you #eris vanserra x reader #eris acotar #eris vanserra acotar #acotar eris #high lord eris #eris x reader #eris vanserra fic #eris x you #azris x reader #Azris x you

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johnpallo · 26 days

Text

Thinking about my thoughts on Inkneedles ship from Magnus Protocol, apologies for followers who saw this already but I decided it needs its own post. I am getting somewhat Magnus Protocol brainrot i admit

Inkneedles dynamic is like imagine a Twitch Streamer and a TikToker who both met as mututals on DeviantArt in 2013 (Needles nuked their DeviantArt years ago when they blew up on Vine; Ink5oul still has their DeviantArt and refuses to get a more professional portfolio of their work), and they lowkey can't stand each other but no one else likes them so they can't get rid of each other. And the reason everyone else hates them is totally the fault of their toxic friendship. Like Needles 100% outed Ink5oul as nonbinary in a Tumblr callout post on one of his alts but blamed another one of their mutuals and convinced Ink5oul to go no contact with that mutual to keep up the lie. And the few TikToker friends Needles ever made all got their accounts mass-reported when Ink5oul got jealous and sent their Twitch audience after them. And they're always sabotaging each other like this. But Needles stays in a spare room on the second floor of Ink5oul's tattoo parlor rent free and stays up until 5AM making DIY piercing tutorials on TikTok (note: these tutorials are all terrible, unclear if he's doing that intentionally for the whole Fear Monster thing or if he's just bad at it naturally), sleeps past noon every day, and gets woken up by Ink5oul blasting the most atrocious dubstep remix of a Lady Gaga track you've ever heard in your life. Needles has 100% doxxed Ink5oul's home address twice over this behavior, refuses to admit it, but all the same Ink5oul won't give him their new address after the last time. Also every time Ink5oul threatens to kick Needles out for not paying rent, Needles just gives Ink5oul a promo on his tiktok and gets the twitch stream like 200 new followers and Ink5oul decides to let it slide. Both of them have huge folders of "receipts" on their phones about the other one in case they ever feel like they need to cancel them. Notably none of these receipts are about either of the other's supernatural crimes, it's all just stuff like them being problematic or petty.

Ink5oul calls Needles a clout-chaser on stream at least once a week. Needles is vague-posting about their bourgeoisie "landlord" every few days. They hate each other. They can't escape each other. Crackship of the century.

Also I rescind my other post about them, i think i do ship it now actually

#the magnus protocol #inkneedles #stick'n'poke tmagp #tmagp spoilers #tmagp #needles tmagp #ink5oul #crackship #shipping post #i just think they're neat #turning these two around in my brain like a fork in a microwave #tmagp brainrot

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eoieopda · 9 months

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[visual content blog recommendations]

we see fic recs all the time, but i don’t think i’ve ever seen rec lists for visual content (gif/art/gfx/etc.) creators! they’ve been dealing with a bunch of shit lately between reposts, tumblr garbage, etc., so i wanna shout-out some favorites. thank you for keeping us fed!!

disclaimer: this is not an exhaustive list!! if you have recommendations of your own, please feel free to expand on this yourself and/or drop some of your faves in the replies for others to see. self-promo is always welcome here, too ✨ p.s. some of these are recent finds for me, so pls expect to see more of them on my blog. eta: i will be adding more as i go!!

[bts]

@yooboobies — réka’s gif sets are *chef’s kiss* and the ART? omg. the talent!!! 😭 we simply have to simp.

@cordiallyfuturedwight — apart from being one of the coolest/funniest people i’ve found on army tumblr, i am a kayla stan because the niche themes for her gif sets (ex. bangtan turtlenecks series) feel like they’re made 👏🏻 for 👏🏻 me 👏🏻 even though they absolutely aren’t, lmao.

@hopeinthebox — the bts as reductress headline + incorrect bangtan series are probably my favorite pieces of content on the entire internet??? also, lizzy is absolutely gd hilarious. tags are 11/10. a blessing upon my dash.

@kimtaegis — i’m not visually artistic enough to say this in a way that makes sense, but annie’s gifs are just… stunning? like, the colors? idk about the process that goes into that, but i imagine it takes a lot of time/finesse to be this vivid.

@kithtaehyung — ryen is the renaissance man of army tumblr, fr. not only can she write (like!!!) but she’s multi-faceted and insanely creative with her graphic design. i want her to tutor me, lmao.

@raplinenthusiasts — ooohhhhh my god. the coloring of their gifs makes my brain go brrrrtttt. this bts x the office set is on my “always reblog” list; i’ll share it every time i come across it.

@heybaetae — this set in particular is on my “always reblog” list, no matter how many times i’ve done so already. also, idk how to describe this, but kelli’s gifs are just…. crispy 🤌🏻 like, so satisfying with the…. texture? filtering? contrast? i’m an idiot re: editing terms, but go peep them and you’ll know what i’m trying to say.

@kth1 — literally who could ever forget maggie’s 100 days of (member) series??? the amount of work that had to go into that? unfathomable.

@jeurias — i want to wallpaper my house and office with their gfx. i’m deadass.

@jinstronaut — emmeline has been doing her “a jin a day while he’s away” series for OVER 250 DAYS NOW. i have never been nor will i ever be able to commit to anything to this level.

[multi/skz/atz/svt/etc.]

@starryoong — do not get me started on starry’s paintings, sketches, etc. because i will never shut up. ever. j’adore 🫠 is also a five-star human being.

@irlvernon — my queue is probably 80% max gifs at any given time. god-tier, fr. a must-follow for carats, as far as i’m concerned.

@vcrnons — incredible gifs, lovely human, and also the writer of some of my favorite svt fics??? we stan.

@yelhsaart — i don’t have any words for how much i love their art so please imagine guttural screaming instead. asdfghjkl!!!

@hizuillu — ……breathtaking. legitimately stunning skz art. like…… i have heart palpitations.

@snug-gyu — THE USE OF COLORS. i’m always a simp for pantone-inspired sets; they just scratch an itch in the back of my brain, and BOY HOWDY, is my brain satisfied 😵‍💫

@yunwooz — again, i have no idea what i’m talking about when it comes to the gif-making process, but the colors!!! the COLORS!!! like, taking a mv that’s not super vivid/is fairly greyscale and bringing it to life? ya know????

@booskwan — you want incredible gifs? they’ve got em. you want stunning gfx? they’ve got em. seriously, idk what to tell you except “pause right here and go follow immediately”.

@haechannabelle — listen……. annabelle’s art style is 😗🤌🏻 (that’s a chef’s kiss). the use of color, and the technique, and and and — ! ALSO, i must mention that she took, like, 50 hours to compile a boycott-friendly k-pop playlist. their vibes are simply impeccable.

rev. 4/10/24

#bts #skz #atz #svt #gfx recs #gif recs #art recs #jade speaks

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sgiandubh · 8 months

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It's all fake, anyway

Oh, my. The last two or three video snippets in Marina del Rey. The revolt. The pearl-clutching. The hate.

Again, you know nothing, Jon Snow. It's all about the medium being the message, again: carefully calibrated snippets of information, destined to a captive, deeply divided and (how can I put that without sounding offending, I wonder) unexperimented (yes, that's decent enough) audience.

During the last 24 hours, we've got the Marina del Rey gin promo & MPC teambuilding (hardly an orgy, btw) and C's MUA (or is it hairdresser? irrelevant) hinting on Instagram about a photoshoot at a gin distillery in a #beautifullocation, somewhere on Earth, presumably in Scotland - given her last IG follow. No further details, of course. Very probably a (late-) latergram, too, when she finally got the green light to publish it. Implying nothing, but leaving a boulevard bandwidth for people to infer whatever suits their own narrative. Expect FMN news soon? I highly doubt that and stand corrected: the last photoshoot (with McSideburns, in London) was on May 3rd, when she needed to somehow show the world the Two of Them were continents apart. Identical modus operandi. And always, always via tertiary players.

As for the Marina del Rey teambuilding, if you think that is 'S living his life' you are: a) living in a remote mountain/island area or under a rock; b) an impenitent Mordorian with an agenda to boot or c) incredibly incompetent with the way of the world (or at least, that world). Allow me to translate?

It is alcohol promo, duckies, disguised as teambuilding. The intended message is aimed at a younger, non-OL related audience (as I already warned you) and it roughly goes like this:

'we are a fun loving, no nonsense, start-up business in the spirits industry. Because we don't have a huge advertising budget, we're testing the waters with a cheap, reality-TV snippet to better evaluate the number of social media clicks and new followers and help gauge & calibrate the next step'.

Was it poorly executed? Yeah, you could say that, but then what to do, in a very restrictive, highly regulated tobacco & spirits advertising market, hum? Is it my cup of tea? I don't drink, therefore this type of message touches one ball without really moving the other.

Yes. Start-up business: if we take into account the COVID logistic delay, I believe we're still in that three-years frame. And this detail is essential in order to put context around a very forgettable snippet. Selling a brand-new, more democratic product. Selling it clumsily, in an effort to build relevance, because even bad advertising is, ultimately, good advertising. But make no mistake: it's nothing more than that and it is all they can do, in the current context.

This brings to mind another aspect of the charade, namely the fact that after the Remarkable Week-end (and with the exception of some carefully scripted 'slips'), released and available information progressively became (at least) two-tiered.

First tier: information carefully calibrated for immediate release and general consumption, primarily but not exclusively by the fandom. This includes: spirits shilling, innuendos galore, look-here-not-there latergrams. It also entails less direct interaction with the fans on socials and delegating the media management to secondary players (often called to the rescue, too).

Second tier: public information with a limited availability (you have to take the plunge and pay), for sleuths able and willing to go the extra mile. They paint a very different landscape. And draw two copycat timelines of people who are investing, buying and selling property and overall branching out of their primary source of income with a plan.

I am not a photo sleuth. But with a little bit of time on my hands, I am a decent paperwork analyst. Accounting is not my forte, but legal and business is. I saw what I needed to see and it holds.

So before you start screeching (bad idea, right?), remember this (credit given to @dillon7fan, thanks):

Not really: it is doctored make believe. Bless your heart, honest guy.

Next stop, Tehran. Yes, you read that correctly.

This evening or tomorrow, at the latest. Because context is everything and this fandom severely fails at this.

#fandom #BoozeWars

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lu-is-not-ok · 11 months

Note

horrid thought i had: if your theory on k corp hong lu being semi-conscious during stasis is right, does that not mirror carmen during lobotomy corporation?

...

Wait. Hold on. Wait. Wait hold on.

Ok, so here's the thing: For a while now I've already had a suspicion that Hong Lu's deal is like, way more important than he lets on.

This might sound like a conspiracy Game Theory Matpat rant, but here me out.

First of all, Hong Lu has this weird tendency to break patterns in much less obvious ways than the other suspicious Sinners, to the point it's been driving me insane?

Like.

Okay.

First.

Remember those promo PVs of each Sinner? And how each of them ended on a glimpse of their trauma and All of them either directly referenced a potentially traumatic event or had the Sinner sound distraught? Except for Hong Lu, who doesn't sound in any way distressed like the others did, and then after the game logo is revealed he asks if something he said was weird.

Like, sure, it does make sense for him to say that in context of what he says during that video, but isn't it so fucking weird that the one Sinner with a section in his promo that seems slightly off is also the one who asks if anything he said during that section was weird?

Second.

You know those intro segments during the prologue, that are also on the official limbuscompany.com website? The ones that offer managerial instructions for each Sinner?

Pay close attention to those. For every Sinner, these instructions specify how to deal with that specific Sinner's eccentricities.

Don't show Gregor your disgust. Wait for Rodya's bad mood to pass. Give Sinclair positive reinforcement. Wait patiently for Yi Sang to finish thinking. Look Ishmael's way for sound advice, but don't break her trust. Understand Heathcliff is simple-minded and contact HR if he causes problems. Play along with Don's Fixer act. Don't make Ryoshu breed personal resentment towards you. Give clear and concise commands to Meursault. Give Outis short replies of agreement but keep an eye on her. Simply nod and get it over with when conversing with Faust.

...But then there's Hong Lu's. Which says nothing how to deal with his eccentricities, but rather to not let Other Sinners get physical with him over them. It's not about keeping him in line, it's about keeping other people's reactions to him in line.

I want to note this especially because several other Sinners break patterns in their introductions as well. Meursault's is one sentence. Ryoshu and Outis have a warning. Don Quixote's particulars include a [REDACTED] on the website. Faust's directly asks the manager to fuck around and find out. However, the way Hong Lu's intro instructions break the pattern is the most subtle out of all of them, to the point I genuinely did not realize that was the case until I had read all of them over multiple times.

Third.

Hong Lu's Base E.G.O animation. If you watch all of the Base E.G.O animations in a row, you'll notice that for all of them, the Sinners start already in frame... Except for Hong Lu, who visibly jumps into the frame from off-screen.

Now, you could argue that, technically, Don runs into her animation from off-screen as well, however I think there is a bit of a difference here. Don's animation is too quick to see her actually run in. We see she's not there for maybe a frame, before she pops with an animation that implies she had just run in and needs to break her momentum. This is unlike Hong Lu's, whom we Actively See descend from Off-Screen.

Now, I know what some of you may be thinking.

That I am coping. That these are coincidences. That I'm looking too deeply into things.

However. Here's a connection that I just recently realized, that has been Fucking Me Up.

Mild spoilers for Canto IV and like the first two chapters or so of Dream of the Red Chamber, if anyone cares.

You know how Limbus Company has this... fixation on stars? There's the whole thing with Dante following a star, stars granting wishes, people turning into weird beings from wishing to be stars, and there's this general connection to the sky and space because of Demian also doubling as a reference to The Little Prince.

And then something weird hit me.

See, Dream of the Red Chamber starts with a bit of a backstory to the jade that would later be reincarnated into Bao-yu. You see, it was one of the many stones used by a godess to create the sky. However, this one specific jadestone ended up being the only one not used in that creation, which then led to it feeling horrible about itself, which then led to a monk and a taoist deciding to have that stone reincarnate as a human and live through a human life, kickstarting the rest of the novel.

I'm like, heavily simplifying this, but that's the gist of how that whole thing starts.

Which. Made me think. A jadestone that was part of the ones meant to build the sky, but ended up being left unused. The sky. Stars. Hong Lu being seemingly named after the jade rather than Bao-yu directly.

Holy shit there's no way they won't reference this in some way, right? Right?

So, now imagine me, at my fucking wit's end, having the biggest crackpot theory brewing in my mind.

And you send this ask comparing K Corp Hong Lu to Carmen.

I am going insane.

#limbus company #limbus company project moon #hong lu #hong lu lcb #lcb analysis #lcb speculation #lcb canto iv #lcb spoilers #ask #mulberriesandtea #lu speaketh #no i'm not normal thanks for asking

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lurkingshan · 7 months

Note

Shan! After today’s episode of Only Friends, I have the feeling that I’ve lost a sense of the endgame of this series. I think I was under the impression — from the promos, the tweets, etc. — that we were going to get a summarily messy ending, with a whole bunch of toxic threads needing to be unwound. I’m intrigued by my thoughts on this — and maybe a touch concerned that we might end up getting morality stories out of this. By the time we roll around to an episode 10 or 11, what are your thoughts on a viewer not having a sense — not even of where the journey will end — but also of what the meaning of the journey was in the first place? I wonder if, in successful show construction, if I would have had a stronger and clearer sense of this earlier in the series?

Typically, we do have a strong sense of a show’s arc and narrative beats by this point in a story, but Only Friends specifically does not follow bl beats, so it’s always been a little bit its own beast. That said, it’s funny that you ask this now because after this week, I do feel like I have a sense of where this is going and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Namely, I am now fairly confident that we’re headed toward an ending with all three couples together and happyish, if not purely happy. The way this episode was structured to lead us into the final arc points to the end game conflicts—Boston and Nick figuring out where they stand on monogamy and distance, Mew deciding whether he can truly forgive Top, Ray trying rehab and Sand getting his head spun by Boeing—playing out next week, leaving the finale for resolutions and probably some kind of final word on this group of friends who barely seem to like each other.

I feel mixed about this suspicion because to me, happy endings all around doesn’t feel totally aligned with the spirit of this show and some of its themes. It feels a bit like the character arcs have been adjusted as we go, so that if you returned to the beginning and tried to draw a straight line to where we’re landing, it wouldn’t entirely track. But I’m also aware that this show has been unusually shaped by external forces like branded pairs and fan reactions.

In recent interviews the show’s creators, Jojo and Ninew, shared a few things that made a lot of this click for me:

Their original vision for this show was intended to be cast entirely with supporting actors and not bl pairs (this is why Neo and Mark were first in)

When they realized they were getting branded pairs they they were surprised and tweaked the characters and story to fit them (I’d bet money this rehab arc for Ray was added once they knew Khaotung was playing him)

Jojo allows the actors and their management to view their scenes (he said this specifically about sex scenes, but it may include others as well) and anything they are uncomfortable with doesn’t get put in the show

They have been tracking fan reactions closely and have incorporated those reactions into their final editing decisions (for example, removing a scene of Top hooking up with a random because people already hated him more than expected)

For me, all of this adds up to the conclusion that the show has in fact changed pretty significantly from their original vision, and those changes have been in the direction of a more conventional ending that will align with expectations for bls with branded pairs. In the end, branded pairs are a capitalist endeavor and they can’t let OF damage the brands. So while I do think the show has done more than any that came before it to push the boundaries of these constraints, they’re not going to be able to go all the way. The pairs need to end up in a good enough place that fans don’t want to burn GMMTV to the ground and the actors’ next projects are still set up for success.

So to your original question: I think the tension you’re feeling about the show’s overall point is a result of these changes creators are making as they bow to external forces. I personally think, given the constraints they are juggling, that they’ve still kept the story and its themes pretty legible, and some of the messaging is landing very consistently. But Only Friends is clearly not purely uncompromised art, it’s serving a lot of different needs and motivations.

#only friends the series #thai bl #shan answers

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all-risejd · 11 months

Text

A New Judgment Chapter 12: A DDT and a Request (Poly Judgment Day)

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11.

The rest of the week leading up to Smackdown was much the same. Finn and Nessa building Legos for stress relief, the boys doing interviews online, training almost every day to take bumps and maybe eventually fight and Rhea calling when she can with the time difference, Nessa secretly staying up to never miss the calls.

Early Friday morning Nessa gets one of these. Thankfully she was in Dominiks kitchen cleaning, unable to sleep so she snuck out to grab a snack then clean. She answers the phone.

"Hey Dems, any news?' Nessa asks quietly leaning on the counter and she hears Rhea whimper on the other line.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry Demi, what do you need?" Nessa asks grabbing a bag of marshmallows out of Dominik's cupboard and popping one in her mouth.

"I just need to talk to you, the boys will try to fix things you will just let me feel," Rhea answers and sniffles again trying to not sob into the phone.

"Of course mamela, do you want to tell me how you feel or just tell me about your Nonna? Whatever you need babe" Nessa offers and sits on the ground eating another marshmallow.

"My Nonna would have loved you. She always encouraged me to follow my dreams and to unapologetically be me..." Rheas voice cracks.

"I would have loved to have met her Dems. You are amazing and kind and sweet and an inspiration to many. Your Nonna was an incredible woman to be such an inspiration to you." Nessa praises leaning her head against the counter. "Would you like me to tell the boys?" Nessa asks knowing this isn't an easy topic to talk about. Rhea is silent on the other end for a moment.

"No, I think I need to call and tell them. I just can't at the moment it's like admitting it makes it too real.. You already know how to read me so well... I don't have to actually say the words..." Rhea trails off and Nessa's heart breaks for the woman.

"Of course, anytime you need anything I'm here Dems. I know what that is like..." Nessa yawns.

"Oh Bunny I'm sorry for keeping you up it must be 3 am there" Rhea apologizes, sadness still thick in her voice.

"No Dem's it's fine, I told you I'd be here for you and I will be for as long as you need me..." Nessa tries to reassure Rhea.

"Ok, Bunny. Thank you for everything." Rhea softly thanks Nessa.

"I haven't done anything, Darling." Nessa shakes her head even though Rhea can't see it.

"Bunny you have done so much without even realizing it, you have been so good and I don't know how I could handle this without you," Rhea praises making Nessa blush.

"Look, when you get back and we are at your house I am cooking for you. I am going to show you how I learned how to grieve and we will see if it helps you yeah?" Nessa offers wanting to help not fix.

"Yeah, that sounds nice. I'm going to let you sleep I have to go, I'm getting on a plane so I can be at Smackdown tonight. Goodnight Bunny, see you soon." Rhea says goodbye and Nessa does as well and they hang up.

___________________________________________________________________________

Flying out the morning of Smackdown Nessa clearly tired, the atmosphere sad in the car as they drive to the venue. Rhea had called and told the boys the news. They get there 30 minutes before filming starts, The cameras already filming their first promo which is just them entering, Damien escorting Nessa with her holding his elbow as she did in previous shows since he is rolling in both their bags, security opening the doors for them. Dominik and Finn trailing close behind. Damien pauses and leans down to talk to Nessa his face close to hers, cameras catching every moment. Dom and Finn are behind the cameras, letting this Promo be shot.

"Mamita it has been such a pleasure getting to know you better." Nessa twirls her hair and giggles,

"It really has been great, especially the other night" Nessa strokes her finger up and down Damiens's chest, looking up at him even though he is leaning down to be closer to her.

"Well Hermosa, we can have a repeat tonight if you want" His voice deepens and Nessa wraps her arms around his neck and plays with his hair,

"I would like that very much" She answers and he wraps his arms around her waist. The cameraman raises his hand to signal the end of filming and Nessa breaks the embrace resuming the previous position where she grabs his elbow and they all walk to their assigned locker room. Nessa leaning more on Damien than before.

_________________________________________________________________________

Once in the locker room, Nessa takes a seat on Damien's lap on the bench, this being a less cozy room than previous shows. She feels that he is still apprehensive about touching her since the signing but not all the time and she is so confused.

"Luis, have I done something wrong?" She asks her voice sounding soft and little. Damien glances down to Nessa and sighs wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Of course not Mariposa. I'm just trying to learn when certain touches are ok with you I can tell when you are starting to get uncomfortable like now... and you are forcing it. Don't force something that doesn't feel ok." Damien rests his chin on her shoulder and she leans into the embrace.

"Im just trying to work through touch aversion. You are safe, I know that. Finn is safe, I know that too. It's just sometimes it gets scrambled and I don't know how to stop it. I don't want you to feel like you messed up so I try to power through it." She bites her lip and Damien sighs again,

"Nessa, you powering through it makes it seem worse. Remember to communicate I need to know what is and isn't ok this isn't just about me." He tells her seriously and she deflates.

"I'm sorry, I just want to prove you didn't, and don't go too far because you assume you do. Just trust that I'll tell you when you do ok?" Nessa asks tapping her fingers on Damiens's arms.

"Ok, ill work on that and you promise to communicate when the touch is too much. Are you ok with this?" Damien asks and Nessa closes her eyes and nods her head. His hand travels up and grabs her chin turning her head to look at him.

"Words Nessa, I need words." Damien orders.

"Yes, I am ok with this. I promise I will tell you when it is too much" Nessa promises and Damien smiles in relief and tightens his arms around her, Dominik glancing over and smiling at them while Finn is stretching preparing for his match. Nessa pats Damiens's hands and he releases her and she gets off his lap and stretches. Damien reaches out and tickles her exposed stomach, her shirt riding up as she stretched. Nessa giggles and jumps back.

"I'm going to change and since there is no privacy in here I'm going into the bathroom." Nessa grabs her bag and enters the bathroom quickly changing and doing her makeup, going with a purple lipstick to better match the colors of the Judgment day. She walks out of the bathroom to see Rhea standing there already in her makeup and just needing to change her clothes. Nessa runs over and wraps her arms around Rhea's waist. Nessa doesn't say anything, just squeezes tighter as Rhea wraps her arms around Nessa's shoulders, the boys joining the hug and squashing Nessa between them.

"Help me" She squeeks almost unable to breathe making Rhea laugh and the boys break the embrace.

"I'm gonna change and get ready we have a promo in a bit" Rhea announces, just grabbing her clothes and starting to change in front of everyone.

"Woah, Woah, Woah..." Damien holds out his hands to stop her.

"Is Nessa ok with this? Have you asked her if she is comfortable with this she just went in the bathroom to change" He starts to fret glancing between Nessa and Rhea. Nessa shrugs and plops down on the bench.

"I have no issue with her changing in front of me, that is her choice if she is comfortable. We talked about it when we shared our hotel room this week." Nessa crosses her arms and smiles as Rhea finishes getting in her ring gear.

"You look good Mami" Nessa calls out and Rhea blushes doing a little turn just for Nessa's amusement, grateful she is trying to act normal and not treat her with kid gloves like the rest of the locker room and her partners. Rhea was annoyed at being stopped every 5 seconds by people apologizing for her loss but she is thankful they care for her.

Rhea holds out her hand for Nessa to grab and pulls her into another hug and places a quick kiss on her lips muttering thanks before breaking the hug and grabbing her title belt and Dom's hand. Nessa grabs Damiens's elbow and follows them out to go meet Kayla at Gorilla for their Interview. They all smirk as Kayla introduces them. Damien throwing his arm over Nessa's shoulders and pulls her close to him to the point where she braces her hand on his chest.

"Now, Damien, Dom last week you picked up a victory over Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar... Despite Zelina Kind of embarrassing you, Nessa and Rhea..." Kayla starts and Rhea leans over and interrupts Kayla who puts the microphone in front of Rhea's face to capture what she is saying,

"Excuse me, Kayla! Embarrassed are you kidding me right now? She attacked our Nessa really!" Rhea rants and Kayla tries to say something but Dominik interrupts her as well.

"Kayla, just stop ok...You don't wanna make Mami mad. She is a little protective of our Nessa" Dom smirks and winks at Nessa. Damien speaks up, Kayla putting the Mic towards him careful not to bonk Nessa in the head.

"Kayla look, here's the deal. Santos Escobar, we all know he can go. What he can't do is pick friends. Rey Mysterio, The LWO, They shouldn't be getting involved in our business" He waves around the hand he isn't holding her with and Nessa bites her lower lip enjoying his accent that comes through when pronouncing their names and stares up at him as he continues talking, "And I know you are going to ask me about Bad Bunny, but I'm going to address that in the ring." He says and The Judgement Day's entrance music starts and he turns towards the curtain, Nessa still under his arm. Rhea and Dom following close behind after glaring down Kayla. Nessa steps out from under his arm once on the top of the ramp and stands between Rhea and Damien, her thumbs through her belt loop as the pyro goes off and they make their way down the ramp their names being announced and Damien doing his normal entrance moves. They reach the bottom of the ramp and he bumps forearms with Rhea before holding out his arm for Nessa again and strutting around the ring to the backside, Damien holds Nessa's hand as she climbs the steps before he joins her on the apron. This time stepping on the bottom rope and pulling up the middle rope to make it easier for her to get in since she struggled the last few times. This elicits cheers from the crowd. Once all four of them are in the ring the other three do their signature poses where Nessa does the belt loop thing similar to when Dom crosses his arms in front of himself before pyro. Damien goes to grab a mic and starts pacing around the ring, raising the mic to his lips, Nessa stepping back with Dominik and Rhea.

"Backlash is in San Juan Puerto Rico" Damien almost growls into the mic making Nessa shiver and smirk at Damien as he continues, " And the host, my friend Bad Bunny " Damien steps forward and grabs the top rope for a moment. "Now Bunny you wanna attend the show, sit in the front row again thats fine, have a great time. But if you put your hands on my family again" Rhea pats Doms shoulder and Nessa nods her head approvingly at Damiens Message as he continues "I mean we all know what can happen" Damien gestures to the Titantron. They all turn to watch the replay. Nessa and Dom clap watching Bunny go back through the table Rhea smiles in glee at what she saw and laughing doing a little jump in the ring as Damien lifts the mic to his lips again.

"I know that was bad" Nessa wipes away fake tears, "But I need you all to watch that again, can you play it in slow motion please" Damien asks gesturing to the Titantron again. Rhea laughs hard telling Damien, "that was amazing" And Nessa nods in agreement and claps again thanking Damien for defend Dom and her since Bunny wanted to mention her to goad Dom.

The LWO's entrance music comes on and Zelina comes out, Damien unzips his trenchcoat and takes it off, Rhea steps out of the ring onto the apron as Zelina waves a chancla and Rhea jumps down, Nessa leans on the ropes facing them. She jumps as Damien and Dominik fall to her feet having been attacked by other members of the LWO who after the one hit slid back out of the ring celebrating getting the jump on them. Damien whips around and glares them down, Dom doing the same as Rhea slides back into the ring to check on Nessa before also glaring.

Damien holds open the ropes where Nessa stands for her to get out, Dom does the same for Rhea and the three of them get out of the ring so the match can start between Damien and Santos.

Nessa claps and jumps up and down as Damien punches Santos after he tried to jump on Damien from the apron, Rhea calling out "You look like an idiot Santos." Before Damien throws Santos back in the ring and gets back in there as well. Damien gets a pin on Santos who kicks out at 2 and Rhea yells at the ref to learn how to count and Nessa yells out her agreement Dominik smiles like an idiot at the both of them. Nessa winces as Santos turns the match around and drop-kicks Damien.

"Come on Damien," Nessa yells out smacking the apron frustrated. Glad when Damien kicks out. Nessa cheers as Damien powers out of the corner and superkicks Santos out of the ring.

"That's right babe, Show him who is boss!"

Damien smiles at the encouragement and gets out of the ring and runs about delivering another hit to Santos that knocks him down and dazes him. Once back in the ring, Damien gets another pin on Santos who kicks out again causing Nessa and Damien to growl in frustration. Dominik whispers something in Rhea's ear that makes her laugh. Dominik stands on the steps raising his arms and Rhea and Nessa cheer as Damien stomps down on Santos maintaining control of the match and pulls Santos onto the lower rope from the apron. Santos gains control and lands a hurricanrana leaving Damien seemingly out in the middle of the ring.

"Damien" Nessa Calls out jumping on the apron only for Rhea to pull her off.

"Don't get ejected Bunny" Rhea whispers in Nessa's ear who relaxes in the hold so Rhea lets go. All three of them looking worried. Santos goes for the pin and Nessa sighs out in relief when Damien kicks out, Rhea on her knees looking relieved. Rhea gets up and the three of them bang on the apron trying to boost Damien and will him to regain control. Santos and Damien begin exchanging blows, Santos getting control, and ending in another pin which Damien kicks out of.

Santos picks up Damien who holds the top rope, Rhea pats Nessa's shoulder telling her it's time. Nessa and Dominik head over to that side of the ring while Rhea jumps up on the apron distracting the ref, Nessa and Dominik get on the apron, Nessa scratching Santos's thigh while Dominik hits his back causing Santos to Drop Damien and stumble into the ring gripping at both areas that were attacked. Nessa and Dominik dropping back off the apron, Nessa putting on her best innocent face as Damien hits the clothesline. Nessa gets pulled behind Dominik as the other two men from the LWO run toward them and start attacking Dominik. Nessa runs to Rhea to get to relative safety, eyeing where Zelina is. Rhea and Nessa look on concerned, thankful Damien hops out of the ring to save Dominik. Nessa throws up her arms as Santos dives out the ring shoving Damien onto the announce table and goes to grip her back which is still a little sore from her mishap.

Santos throws Damien back in the ring. Santos goes to the corner and Rhea grabs his ankle to stop whatever move he was going to do. Nessa backs up as Zelina slinks over knowing she isn't supposed to be physical this match. Rhea is prepared for this and turns int to it getting flung headfirst into the barricade. Nessa runs to check on Rhea seeing that Dominik is already back to his feet. Rhea is still on the ground gripping her head. Nessa grabs her face and looks into her eyes checking her pupils seeing they are the correct size and reactive. Once satisfied there is not a major head injury she kneels next to Rhea as Damien's entrance music plays signaling his win. Damien isn't finished punishing Santos yet, he throws Santos out of the ring and then Jumps out himself and goes over to the announce table. He rips everything off the table and gets ready to put Santos through the table as he did Bad Bunny but stops when Rey Mysterios music comes on.

Nessa and Dom turn to look at the Entrance ramp, Dom on one side of the ring and Nessa still kneeling next to Rhea who is clutching her head. Rhea powers through it to move in front of Nessa as Rey jumps over the barricade and attacks Damien and Dominik slides into the ring. Rey sets his sights on Dominik and gets in the ring. Nessa tries to move from behind Rhea only for Rhea to stop her until Rey throws the first punch, Dom fighting back, eventually Rey setting up the 619. Rhea and Nessa run around the ring to where Damien pulled Dom down out of the way and out of the ring, Nessa standing in front of them squaring her shoulders as the LWO start rolling into the ring, Rhea grabs her arm and switches places, putting Nessa under Damiens arm and then clutching her head as they back up the ramp, Damiens other arm over Doms shoulders. The two groups taunt each other Nessa holds up her hand to her hip taunting how short Zelina is even compared to her. Zelina sees and points to her,

"I'm coming for you again!" And Nessa Rolls her eyes and fakes scared again before waving off the threat as they disappear behind the curtain. Thankful they don't have to do anymore camera work they sigh in relief and Rhea stops clutching her head.

"Zelina is going to make me pay for that short joke next time we train together" Nessa groans leaning more into Damien and Rhea laughs.

"Hey Bunny if she goes too far let me know I'll take care of it" Rhea grabs Nessa's hand and they walk back to their locker room getting curious glances from a few people along the way. Nessa sees AJ sneer and she sneers back. Damien glances over and pulls Nessa closer.

"Ignore him Mariposa, he has a problem with anyone openly not straight." Damien whispers in her ear not knowing how angry that would make Nessa. Nessa spins out from under Damiens arm and Dominik is quick to grab her having heard what Damien said to her.

"Reinita it's not worth it, he's not worth it." Dominik struggles as she flails trying to kick out of his grip on her. Damien sighs and takes her from Dominik and throws her over his shoulder. She deflates knowing she isn't getting out of that and points to her eyes then towards AJ who just scoffs and rolls his eyes turning away from them. Nessa rests her elbows on Damiens's back and her chin on her hands just bouncing about as they walk back some other wrestlers laughing at the scene others waving at Nessa. Asuka waves joyfully at her, Nessa waves back and holds her hands in a praying position making Asuka laugh and shake her head, and Nessa pouts. Once they are in the locker room Damien puts her down and she huffs.

"I know Mamita but we can't go attacking people with different views from ours" Damien rolls his eyes.

"The difference of views is one thing but when he treats others differently and would celebrate and fight for the loss of our rights is another." Nessa grumbles adding on "may someone name a child after him and soon" She switches to yiddish she is so angry, "Lign in drerd un bakn beygl!"

"Uh what is that Mariposa?" Damien asks a little apprehensive seeing her so angry and pacing about the room.

"Basically wishing he would drop dead and burn in hell. The literal translation is may you lay in the ground and bake bagels" Dominik shrugs and laughs knowing she will burn through it soon enough. Nessa stops pacing about the room when there is a sharp knock on the door. Damien opens it and Zelina pushes in and heads straight to Nessa Rhea jumping in between them.

"It's ok Rhea, I got this" Nessa gently puts her hand on Rhea's arm and pushes so Rhea gets out of the way.

"Sorry, Thea got carried away out there. I know it is a sore subject." Nessa apologizes scratching her head.

"No that's fine the crowd loved it but now Vince is fighting with Paul about you wrestling me" Zelina warns and the rest of the people in the room start flipping out. The blood drains from Nessa's face.

"Hey no remember contractually that can't happen unless you agree." Dominik comes over and rubs Nessa's lower back trying to keep her calm.

"No, but he can try to punish you if I don't agree," Nessa says to the room and looks at Zelina who smiles sadly.

"Nooo Thea what did you do..." Nessa trails off.

"I told him I wouldn't do it you aren't ready and it is too dangerous. Little stunts here and there are fine because we practice those and you are learning the basics. You barely know how to take a bump let alone a match. So Paul and Vince are having it out about that too. I just wanted to warn you. And Jefe wants to talk to you." Zelina warns and Dominik violently shakes his head.

"Hell no, after last week he can't even come near her I won't allow it." He states as a matter of fact. Zelina and Nessa move in unison, leaning back and looking at him like "is he serious".

"While I agree I don't even want to see him right now you don't get to dictate what I do and do not do." Nessa pokes Dominik's chest who holds his hands up in surrender. "Thea thank you for looking after me and helping train me. You don't have to I know how you felt about mine and Doms relationship." Nessa genuinely thanks Zelina who glares at Dominik.

"You told her! Eres un comemierda!" She shoves him back. Nessa steps between them, knowing she can't win against Zelina but wanting to protect him nonetheless.

"Of course, he told me. What you said hurt him and he needed comfort." Nessa holds out her arm creating space between them.

"Wait and you aren't upset?" Zelina asks shocked and glances between the two of them.

"No, it is how you feel and you are allowed to feel that. You didn't try to break us up or come between us. You just stated your opinion and left it at that. It doesn't make you a bad person. You decided to take your own time to train me, you didn't have to do that." Nessa explains like it is the most obvious thing in the world. "Though I know Jefe probably asked you to train me" Nessa adds on knowing she is right. Rhea, Damien, Dominik and Finn smile at Nessa, at how kind and forgiving she truly is.

"Wow... Uh... Thank you. Just so you know I have no problem with you or people dating outside of their culture in general, It is just when those they date appropriate the culture and act like it is theirs. You are unapologetically you and you honor their culture while honoring your own and don't claim it as your own." Zelina steps forward placing a hand on Nessa's shoulder and continues "And this dynamic is weird, I don't understand it but I don't think any less of any of you because of it like some others. You be you" Zelina finishes, Nessa nods in thanks. Zelina takes that as her moment to leave.

Once Zelina is gone Nessa throws her head back and groans,

"I'm going to have to up the training, maybe Asuka will help me.."

"You know we can help you too? We are right here Luv?" Finn asks, partially offended.

"No I know but I am small and you guys are tall and can powerhouse. I'm not that strong or at least as strong as you guys but I can move. Their styles are more likely to work for me. I just don't want you guys to think I am trying to be too clingy with you all by spending all that time with you." Nessa fidgets with her fingers.

"We will help train you too if that is what you want Bunny, as will Asuka if you ask her. We want each other to be safe out there... for the most part..." Rhea explains and Finn looks happier with her response.

"Luv we have got to work on your self-esteem don't we." Finn shakes his head and goes to grab Nessa's bag so she can actually hold Damien's hand when they leave.

______________________________________________________________________________________

They return to the hotel that night, Rhea is quiet unsurprisingly with what she is dealing with. They are in the hallway, their rooms across from each other again, Rhea's hand in Nessa's. Rhea squeezes Nessa's hand before speaking up.

"I want us all to sleep together tonight, please." Rhea looks to Nessa her eyes pleading.

"Yeah of course, I've been sleeping in a room with them all week for the most part...." Nessa admits as they all pile into the boy's room.

"What is for the most part?" Rhea asks plopping on the bed and spreading out. Nessa doesn't answer she just joins her on the bed laying her head on Rhea's shoulder not realizing how much she had been missing Rhea's cuddles.

"We found Nessa on the kitchen floor this morning asleep with a bag of marshmallows in her hand." Dominik snickers stripping down to his boxers and jumping on the bed, ignoring the completely empty bed. Damien stands at the edge of the bed and crosses his arms.

"If we are all going to cuddle Rhea then we need to be on the floor or have Paul start booking us a king-size bed again" He starts stripping the covers and pillows off the other bed and tossing them on the floor. "Ooh" Nessa exclaims and jumps out of the bed and grabs her key card and disappears for a few minutes leaving the door open. She comes back with a bunch of pillows and blankets in her arms, piled high above her head and kicks the door closed.

"Hey can one of you macho men help me please I can't see where I am going" She calls out to the room causing Rhea to laugh and Nessa sighs in relief as the pillows and blankets get taken of of her. They make what can only be described as a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor. Nessa is the first to plop down and calls out to Rhea holding out her hand. Rhea smiles and joins Nessa, laying down and pulling Nessa onto her chest again. The rest of the group joining the cuddle pile.

The next morning they catch their flight to Arkansas for Raw the following day

______________________________________________________________________________________

All members of the Judgement Day are in their locker room getting ready for that nights Raw which starts airing soon. Nessa was quieter than usual and sitting off by herself after asking for a bit of personal space. The other members glance at her with concern, the young woman having been quieter than usual and just seeming off. Nessa looks around at them and sees their looks of concern.

"I just have a lot on my mind I am trying to sort through I promise it is nothing bad." Nessa gives a soft smile to the group who finishes getting ready, Rhea putting on leather pants which makes Nessa pout.

"I know Bunny, but I'm not wrestling tonight so there is no need for my ring gear" Rhea laughs and shakes her head at Nessa pouting, that pout changing when she sees Damien come out of the bathroom in a suit. He does a little twirl.

"Like what you see Mariposa" She nods and he chuckles as he walks over and kisses her forehead before continuing to let her have her space.

"All right looks like we are all ready and the dark match is over and the show is about to start. We need to head to Gorilla" Finn announces to the room gesturing to the door. Nessa gets up and grabs Damiens's arm, wearing one of Dom's flannels over her Judgement day shirt that is tied in the back to expose a sliver of skin and her shorts over ripped-up fishnets like Rhea normally wears.

"I wanted us to match Mami" Nessa pouts as they make their way to Gorilla, getting there just as the bloodline head out to their music.

"We can match next week Bunny. God I can't wait to be home and see my puppies." Rhea groans leaning against Nessa and Damien.

"I can't wait to meet them and make you some Kugel and Challah." Nessa momentarily grabs Rhea's hand.

"You don't have to do that Nes, I'm ok really." Rhea feels bad about how much Nessa has been doing for her so she tries to make her relax.

"I know I don't have to but I want to. It helps me so please" Nessa asks, fluttering her eyelashes so Rhea agrees.

"I thought Ojitos don't work on you Mami" Dominik pouts gesturing between Nessa and Rhea.

"Normally they don't, but who can deny this pretty face" Rhea coos while grabbing Nessa's chin making the people backstage laugh at them used to their antics and not at all surprised at the new member fitting in so well.

"Yeah yeah, let's not bruise that pretty face, right Hermosa" Damien gently pries Rhea's hand off Nessa's face as their music starts and he grabs a mic with his free hand.

"Yeah bruises are meant for below the chin" Nessa announces as they walk out smirking to herself knowing they have to control their reaction to what she said. They make their way down the ramp to cheers from the crowd, goosebumps rising up Nessa's spine. They reach the front of the ring and the other four just step up on the apron, Damien grabbing her hand and pulling her up to stand next to him. The other three get in the ring and face off against the bloodline while Damien sits on the ropes to give Nessa easier access to the ring. Once she is in she stands on the edge of the line Next to Damien so they are all staring down a member of the Bloodline except her. They stand like that for a minute, Jimmy pacing back and forth until Damien raises the mic to his lips.

"Paul." Damien turns to look at Paul before stepping in front of his partners and standing in front of Solo staring him down, Paul putting a hand on Solos chest trying to calm him down. The crowd chanting you suck. Paul holds out his hand to Damien,

"Mr Priest" He smiles his smarmy smile. Damien smirks and shakes his hand as Paul continues speaking, Damien resuming his position Next to Nessa

"Sir, an honor. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's a very good day to be a very bad buy. If there is a heaven none of us are getting into it except maybe Nessa and that is iff at best. A short-term deal engineered by the tribal chief Roman Reigns." Jey takes the mic from Paul,

"Hey OG we don't know anything about what you are talking about". He states and Paul takes the Mic back as Jey continues on about Roman not texting or calling him to tell him.

"I know, your tribal chief didn't want anyone on our side... well except for Solo" Paul explains and continues "You know because there aren't any raised voices or sudden moves from Solo because the tribal chief wanted his Usos to almost be caught off guard by the enormity of this short term deal. You see, Even mister Balor isn't that happy about this because mr Balor has deep-seated anger issues. Mr Balor is going to put aside his deep personal feelings about us aside in the name of good short-term villainy. Speaking of which the Judgment day has a concern a bunny concern a bad bunny concern and Solo is an expert in assuaging concerns." Paul praises Solo as Rhea just glares Solo down and he returns the glare. Paul noticing the tension asks Jey to switch with Solo and they do, but Rhea switches with Finn to stay in front of Solo.

"Is uh... is everything ok here?" Paul leans between them asking and Rhea leans forward to answer,

"For now" and Paul sighs,

"Let me get to this before this whole situation goes the wrong way. The Judgment day needs something taken care of that is the name of Bad Bunny, Solo will handle that before your concerns become a problem because we in the bloodline have problems, we have a Kevin Owens problem a Sami Zayn problem, we have a Riddle to solve. We all know at backlash a first-ever 6 man tag team match...." Nessa zones out getting annoyed at how long-winded this man is. She zooms back in when she hears the Judgment day but rolls her eyes when he just keeps talking. She has to bite her cheek to keep from laughing when Paul grabs Dom's wrist apologizing that he has to see Rey up close again and nods towards Nessa as Rey's music starts. Damien guides Nessa to the ropes and holds them open for her to step out which she does and stands there as he does the same. He jumps down and grabs her hips and picks her up off the apron and lowers her to the ground before offering his elbow again, their partners right beside them as they leave while Rey gets in the ring.

____________________________________________________________________________________

They go back to the next area they are supposed to be in for their next segment after the next 2 matches and just relaxing. Damien is leaning up against the wall Nessa leaning up against his chest, his arms wrapped around her. Dom and Rhea sitting in the two chairs provided, Finn lounging on their laps.

"What was that before we went out there Princesa" Damien whispers in her ear tightening his grip on her, and Nessa lets out a little embarrassed whine. Dominik glanced over and smirking not going to explain this one that has to be on Nessa.

"Sometimes, I like to... with... when...." Nessa struggles to form a coherent sentence and Damien kisses the top of her head. Nessa pauses and takes a deep breath steadying herself.

"Once I am more comfortable... I like to be handled a little roughly sometimes. sometimes I like the bruises because I can control when, where and who they came from..." Nessa blushes and turns to hide her face in Damiens's chest. He pats her head trying and failing to not laugh because if he did what he was thinking he would cross a line.

"Is that what has been on your mind all day." Rhea asks from her seat and Nessa groans and shakes her head no, careful to not rub her makeup off on Damiens's suit jacket.

"Then what is Mariposa?" Damien places his finger under Nessa's chin making her look up at him and she licks her lips trying to regain the moisture her anxiety has zapped from her.

"Can we table that until we are in Florida, I want to talk to you all together in private?" Nessa asks her voice cracking from the nerves.

"Why can't you when we get back to the hotel tonight?" Finn asks curiously.

"Oh,... I see," Rhea says out loud after seeing Nessa's expression.

"What?! What do you see?" Dominik asks, freaking out that he might have missed something when normally he is the one able to read Nessa.

"She has made her decision and wants us in a place familiar to us so we are more comfortable which will make her more comfortable" Rhea explains and Nessa looks at her grateful.

"Oh,..." Dominik softly responds, tension and worry filling his body.

"Oh calm down Dom Dom, I'm sure it is good news and she just wants to discuss some more boundaries with it" Rhea grabs Dom's thigh, Finn having hopped off previously to pace about the room. Nessa fights every muscle in her body to not nod and agree, wanting to discuss everything at once and not have to field a bunch of questions for the rest of the night.

"Ok the conversation is tabled as Mamita asked, don't pester her about it. Let her bring it up when she is ready" Damien announces to the group. He releases Nessa and pushes off the wall as the Cameraman enters signaling their segment is about to start. Nessa leans up against Dominik, Rhea looking at her nails and smirking before resting her hand back on Dominiks thigh.. Damien starts talking as the cameraman signals the start of the promo, Finn slapping Doms shoulders and squeezing them a maniacle smile on his face.

"Isn't that something huh guys? Bad Bunny returning to Raw next week. As long as he returns with a different attitude though..."

"Thats true" Finn agrees, the rest of them nodding along and Damien continues,

" For one he knows what can happen" Nessa cocks her head and raises her eyebrows like she is impressed looking Damien up and down. "And I'll just stop being his friend" Damien shruggs and Dominik scoffs and speaks up.

"Priest, You don't need to be Bad Bunnys friend, Just like I don't need Rey Mysterio to be my father." Finn puts one hand on Rheas shoulder keeping the other on Doms as he continues speaking, " But watching Solo rip piece by piece until there isn't any Rey mysterio left..." He trails off as they see Paul walk in.

Paul eyes them all, Nodding to Nessa who just maintains her stare.

"Satisfied?" He asks his phone in his hand. Damien turns to Finn and aks, "Finn what do you think?" Most of the members of the Judgement still looking at Paul who is smiling smugly. Rhea keeping her eyes on Dom and glancing to Nessa.

"Ehh" Finn answers crinkling up his nose and the smile falls off of Pauls face,

"Ehh?" Paul mimics back shocked and Nessa responds.

"Yeah Ehh", Paul rubs his palm on his chest thinking of how to respond,

"Allright I'll live with Eh, but now it is your turn to do Ehh, But do Ehh to Kevin Owens, Sammy Zayne and Matt Riddle tonight so you don't fall in to debt with your tibal chief." Paul explains and Nessah sighs in annoyance.

"In debt, no that sounds like an issue between Roman and the Usos, As far as the Judgement day goes we handle our business" Damien answers as he grabs Nessas hand and pulls her closer to him.

"The Tribal Cheif would also like to have a meeting with Miss Nessa, there is some business he wishes to discuss with her that is not for your ears." Paul announces. Damien tightens his grip on her and Rhea stands up blocking Nessa from Pauls view and gets in his face.

"Bye Paul" She nearly growls, getting protective of their newest member. Paul begins to side step away telling his phone to call Roman Reigns. They hear him explain what they said and that there is going to be a problem getting a meeting with Nessa. The camerman signals that the camera is off.

"Come on lets get ready for our match." Damien orders this time which surprises Nessa as it is normally Finn who keeps them moving. They all return to their locker room quickly only to be stopped before they enter it. Hunter leaning up against the door to the locker room.

"Ah Nessa perfect, I need to speak to you privately please. He pushes off of where he was leaning and gestures down the hallway. Damien gives her hand a squeeze for encouragement before letting go, Nessa following him down the hallway.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Nessa comes back about 15 minutes later, paler than before and knowing the news isn't going to go over well with the group who is already overprotective of her. She just walks in the locker room knowing they are already changed.

"Finally Mamita... Mariposa what's wrong" Damien gets up from where he was stretching and gently grabs Nessa's hand.

"Uh, please promise you won't get upset and you will not try to interfere with the decision." Nessa announces to the room but stays looking into Damiens eyes. Damien clenches his jaw but nods in agreement.

"Next week Bunny is going to come out with a kendo stick and attack you which you know,... I am to take a hit or two ." Nessa squeezes Damiens hand as he pops his neck clearly trying to control his temper, his jaw so taut she is afraid he is going to break some teeth.

"There is something else Princesa what is it?" Dominik asks coming over, Rhea and Finn doing the same. Nessa stares at the ground as she answers Dominik,

"There is going to be a fight ringside between me and Zelina instead of Zelina and Rhea. Rhea is going to get ejected because I won't do a match yet so I have to get physical. Vince is having a dick measuring contest with Hunter right now so if I play along nicely there may be more title opportunities, If I don't the draft may not go our way..."

"Nessa, I need to go for a quick walk, I am not upset with you but I need to calm down before our match so I don't go too far and hurt someone." Damien informs Nessa before storming out the room, the door slamming behind him making Nessa jump. Rhea grabs Nessas hand comfortingly. Nessa stands up on her toes to place a kiss on Rheas cheek.

"I think we are going to have to meet him at Gorilla because he will not be calmed down enough until then" Nessa says more so to herself than to the others but they hear and make varying noises of agreement.

"Nessa are you ok Luv?" Finn asks, remembering the last time Damien got that angry.

"Hmm... oh yeah, I was expecting and ready for that. I'm not as fragile as I seem not everything is going to trigger me. So please don't act like it. I will tell you or signal in some way if I am." Nessa sits down on Rheas lap as Finn and Dominik return to stretching and warming up.

"Thats fair Luv. When we get to Florida would you like to help me with some of the sets I have at Rheas place?" Finn asks trying to steer the conversation to something they have in common. Nessa's eyes light up at the invitation and she eagerly nods her head.

Eventually they get a knock on the door signalling it is time for them to head to Gorilla and as Nessa said Damien was there waiting for them. Clearly still upset but it is not radiating off of him as much. He relaxes more as he sees his partners and Nessa who bounces over to him and grabs his hand and tugging down making him bend over for her. She steals a quick peck on the lips before their music starts and they go out onto the top of the ramp, lights low and smoke billowing out at their feet. As the music swells Rhea lifts her title and Damien does his normal entrance moves before grabbing Nessas waist and pulling her close to him possesively as they reach the bottom of the ramp.

Rhea and Dom split to one side of the Ring, Finn goes to the immediate corner opposite and Damien and Nessa go to the far corner. Damien holds Nessa's hand as she walks up the steps then ascends them as well holding up the edge of his coat so he doesn't trip. Damien and Finn on the same side of the apron sit on the middle rope for Nessa who still has to hop over a little and is glad she doesn't stumble. Finn and Damien quickly join her in the ring and cross it so they can pose behind Dom and Rhea. Nessa standing between Finn and Damien holding the top rope and smirking glancing up at Damien and biting her lower lip appreciating how his arms flex and move when he bounces on the ropes and does his poses. Nessa and Rhea get out of the ring, Rhea tossing her arm around Nessas shoulders to keep her close and to drive home the point that Nessa is a full member of the Judgement day. Nessa and Rhea cheer on their men as the match continues on, Rhea and Nessa standing at the corner with Rhea as Finn kicks Kevin repeatedly until he rolls out of the ring.

"Oooooooh" Nessa giggles and jumps up and down as Rhea looks at him predatorially and drops her title as he rolls out on to his feet. She runs over and clotheslines him making him nearly do a flip. She keeps moving over to the barricade and sits against it smiling maniacally. Finn gets out of the ring and throws Kevin back in. Rhea gets back up once she is sure she isn't going to be ejected. Rhea struts back over to Nessa and pulls her in to her side and does her little running and jumping thing.

The match continues on with people getting tagged in and out leading to Sammy being the legal man with Dominik in the ring, Sammy getting on the top rope and Rhea jumping up and pulling his leg making him rack himself on the top rope and fall to the mat. Kevin seeing this picks up a shirt and throws it at Rhea.

"Hey don't you throw stuff at Mami!" Nessa yells at him as Dominik lands the frog splash and pins Sammy only for Kevin to slide in the ring and break up the pin. Finn gets in and drop kicks Kevin and Riddle gets in and knees Finn, only for Damien to get in the ring and hit the elevated flat liner. Sammy gets up and clotheslines Damien out of the ring. Sammy goes to slingshot off the ropes but Rhea grabs his leg and the ref sees ejecting her.

Nessa wants to plead Rheas case but Rhea is Yelling at the ref. Rhea storms out. Nessa tries to keep her hands from shaking knowing no matter how the match ends what comes after. Nessa groans as Kevin, Sammy and Riddle get the win. The Usos come out and before long there is an all out brawl with the LWO joining Zelina running straight to Nessa. Nessa is able to block a few hits and actually land a punch on Zelina who pauses shocked for a moment before preceding to land hit after hit on Nessa before landing a DDT leaving Nessa writhing on the ground in pain grasping her neck and head.

Finally the attacks end and the filming is over. Nessa knows she still has to sell the attack so she stays down on the ground, Damien and Dom helping her up, them also limping and selling their injuries. Damien picking her up holding her in both arms Nessa throwing her arms around Damiens neck and laying her head on his shoulder closing her eyes as they go up the ramp and backstage. Once they are safely backstage Damien gently sets Nessa down, Rhea already there waiting starts checking her over for injuries.

"Guys, i'm fine I landed right and she took care of me" Nessa tries to shrug off their hands and stretching to help with the tension she gained from the physical altercation.

She isn't shocked when Hunter comes up to them looking proud.

"Hey Nessa, you did great out there. He shouldn't be a problem going forward there have been some things brought to light again to the powers that be. That being said great job out there with having so little training you have a natural tallent for selling and potentially holding your own. In light of recent events I am cancelling your live events this week, you guys only have to do a few online interviews. So go enjoy a few days off and Rhea we are sorry for your loss. Take the time you need, we appreciate you coming back so fast after what happened." He shakes all of their hands individually before turning to walk away.

"Sir" Nessa calls out. He turns and she pops her neck before speaking.

"I need serious training, not just for bumps but for a potential future match that doesnt end with me getting my ass beat. I jumped in to this full time no training no clue what I am doing. I am a nurse not a fighter not a wrestler. If I am going to be expected to do these things to protect them then I need a new trainer. The current trainer is great but I Need more serious training than what he can offer. The judgement day will help but I need you to pair me with someone as well. I trust your judgement on that."

"I think I can swing that Miss Klein. After that excellent show you put on out there yeah we can swing that. I'll be in touch or Adam will be in touch if not me" Hunter smiles almost gleefully as he walks away.

"Come on the show is over lets pack up and head out so we can go get some sleep and be up early for our flight to florida tomorrow morning" Finn tries to herd the group who grumbles but follows along.

#judgment day x reader #rhea ripley x reader #damian priest fanfic #finn balor fanfiction #dominik mysterio x reader #the judgment day fanfic

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meraki-yao · 3 months

Text

TN Candies Part 2

HI! I’m back with more candies to share :D

Part 1

Again, preface for precaution, but it’s the exact same stuff as last time, so if you know it and you’re okay with it, feel free to cut the chase and go straight to the main event under the cut.

1, This post contains content regarding real-person shipping. If you’re uncomfortable with the subject, again, please don’t read under the post

2, I don’t have all the candies because I really just view them in passing, so I’m just gonna write/translate the ones I’ve seen, remember and find at least a logical speculation

3, I need to reiterate this in case my position in this gets misunderstood: Me writing about “candies” isn’t because these are MY opinion or things *I* found or *I* believe in them being evidence. I am just a translator and messenger.

4, Chinese people have a very difference understanding of platonic/romantic affection/relationships compared to the Western world, and that they look at the candies with rose-tinted glass. Chinese/Asian people are generally a lot less affectionate with their personal relationships, for example friends wouldn’t say “love you” to each other if they’re just friends, nor would they expand their friend group to the others easily or other stuff. And these people who look for candy go into their “investigation” already with the belief that “they are together”, everything remotely resembling a close relationship will automatically be interpreted as romantic. I thought about it a lot, and honestly among the “candies” I’ve seen, most of them are a matter of interpretation: yes those are things couples will do, but it wouldn’t be weird if friends did it too. So they’re not that seriously or up for further speculation. There is I think only one “candy” that I can’t quite say the same, which I will explain and elaborate on in this post.

5, Please remember that the people who do this do it in good nature: something I didn’t make clear in my post yesterday, which is on me, is that the fans do want them to be together, but they’re not like… yandere level or something. If they’re just friends the fans won’t be upset or betrayed or anything, they just prefer to see them as romantic. They don’t mean any harm, and they don’t cause any harm because China is physically and digitally too far away for them to actually fuck shit up, and they understand the lines of parasocial relationships: those who met with Taylor during his China trip in December know to, and didn’t bring up this in front of him. They know where to draw the line, and whoever doesn’t and starts becoming a problem gets kicked out of the community. This is meant for fun.

Ok with that being say, main event under the cut:

Lexi Galitzine

Preface for this one, and I cannot emphasise this enough: I did not fact check this one, I don’t follow Lexi on any social media. These are discoveries of the original posters. Please do not disturb Lexi and respect her privacy, especially since she is not a public figure. This is observation and speculation all done in casual, good fun, please respect her and leave her alone.

Starting from 20th December, Lexi Galitzine, Nick’s older and only sister, starting following Taylor on Instagram, which is quite odd since it was past rwrb’s promo period. Even during the promo period, Lexi only liked the rwrb official account’s post on twitter. And it’s her personal account, not her work account, so this is a personal thing.

She then proceeded to like Taylor’s post from the 20th, 23rd , and 29th. All of which are pictures from his China trip, and therefore has nothing to do with Nick.

Lexi is a graphic designer, so she mostly follows artist and designers. For Nick’s co-workers, Lexi only follows two female co-star who are very close to Nick. Taylor’s the first male friend of Nick’s that Lexi followers.

Your Man

As we all know, on Taylor’s birthday, Aneesh posted her (so far) last rwrb photo dump, and among those ones was Taylor and Nick singing together (which was adorable)

They sang “Your Man” together, which is quite a romantic and sweet song if you look at the lyrics

Taylor then commented under the post, and I quote “You recorded Ahahaahhaa”, implying he didn’t know that this was recorded at the time of the video. But… from the video, Aneesh isn’t that far away from the boys, and Taylor’s facing Aneesh, unlike Nick, who was facing Taylor.

(This is fully up to interpretation) There’s such a… vibe between them in that video.

(To me this is a stretch but) Taylor’s at Nick’s trailer. And if we recall the “OHHH THERE’S THE MOVIE STAR” little video where Nick got all adorably flustered since Taylor filmed Nick getting out of the lift, it means that Taylor was waiting for Nick, and Nick wasn’t surprised to see Taylor, so this has been going on for a while. If there is more than one lift, then Taylor also somehow knows which one Nick’s coming out from. They know each other’s route/place and meet up a lot.

Aneesh posted a video of both of them singing on Taylor’s birthday, and when wishing Taylor happy birthday, she posted that video on her story. It’s Taylor’s birthday, it would have made more sense to post either photos of just Taylor, or Taylor with her, which is what she did for his last birthday.

Nick’s Tiktok

Mentioned this yesterday but I’ll translate it here too: Nick originally followed 83 accounts on Tik Tok. On 11th January 2024, Nick cleared out his following, and only 7 remained: Camila Cabello (Cinderella 2021, Cinderella), Ayo Oedebiri (Bottoms, Josie), Rachel Sennott (Bottoms, PJ), Sio Torley (M&G, Crew), Inez Ella Clark (M&G, Makeup), Cameron Valetina (Model), and Taylor. Taylor is somehow, the only guy remaining.

Among these seven people, Nick mostly likely only introduced Taylor and Camila to Lexi, because Lexi only follows those two on social media

Later Nick followed a 4 generally accounts, but then three days he unfollowed two of those. So he has 9 followings now: 2 content accounts, 6 girl, and Taylor.

Please note that I did not fact check this, and I literally cannot fact check it because Tik Tok is completely unavailable here. Everything I translated is from OP and the screenshots she provided.

I think I’ll leave it there for part 2! Again there is still more, so lemme know if you want a part 3!

Again, this is all in good fun. But after the shit storm yesterday, I kind of wanted to use this to remind people in the rwrb who love them both and are understandably bothered and upset by the haters that the boys are proven to have a good relationship, and this is evidence. Whether these acts are platonic or romantic is none of our business and up to interpretation, but these show that they have a good relationship regardless. Don't let the assholes get to you, and have fun with these :D

Tagging a couple of folks:

@lfg1986-2 @tal-vez-o-quizas @na-18dia @mylucayathoughts @androgynoustriumphclown @hopefulblizzardsublime

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #alex claremont diaz #taylor zakhar perez #nicholas galitzine #henry hanover stuart fox #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #taynick #meraki translates #meraki essay #there's a section dedicated to taylor's support for m&g but I'll leave that for next time

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canonicallyobserving911 · 17 days

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So I saw your post on trying to figure out who’s behind Chimney in the promo, and I gotta mention one thing that’s bothering me and would love your commentary.

So in season 5, episode 4 (I believe?) after Maddie runs away and Chimney is freaking out, and when Buck comes to check in on him, Buck essentially says that no one is making Maddie do anything.

Chimney ends up bringing up Doug. Saying, specifically, “Doug did.”

Buck then says that Doug is dead, and chimney says:

“Is he, though? I mean, did you see a body? Did anyone see a body?”

That line has been bothering me SENSE.

Thoughts?? Or am I just looking too much into things?

Thank you @travelandwriting for the ask.

This answer is in response to this post.

You posed a good question from 5x4 that was brought up during Chimney's conversation with Buck about Maddie's deceased husband, Doug Kendall. I just watched the 2x13 scene of Maddie killing him again to be sure and since the coroner put him in a body bag, it appears he did die after she stabbed him multiple times. Also, she got the insurance money from his death in season 3 when his estate was settled.

If by some chance, he woke up and he's not dead, then the question is, where has he been all this time? Was he recovering in a bunker somewhere?

Now, there's a small possibility (like a .00001% chance) that he woke up (Maddie stabbed him in the shoulder and in the back) while his body was being transported. The fact is there was a HELICOPTER on the scene too and Athena was talking to them on her radio and the aerial view of the scene is below.

Reminder, T.K. was already gone from the 118 so the speculation that follows may not be too farfetched.

If he was flying it and he air lifted Doug out but he woke up during the transport; maybe Doug paid him to keep quiet about him being alive. Also, Doug was a surgeon which means he would know how to fix his own wounds so there's that.

If any of this speculation is true and Doug did wake up, it makes sense why T.K. would want to get next to Buck so Doug could find out where the bachelor party would be so he could finish the job. He stalked Maddie for months starting in 2x10 while he pretended to be Chimney's friend before he stabbed him in 2x12.

Full disclosure: with all the continuity issues in seasons 5 and 6, I'm not sure 9-1-1 would be this detailed but it's not a long shot since TM is back.

Unless they show more scenes in the upcoming trailers, we'll have to wait until Thursday to see who that person standing behind Chimney is.

Thanks again for the ask and have a great day.

#maddie buckley #doug kendall #911 abc #911 on abc #911 spoilers #911 speculation #Canonically Observing 9-1-1 Speaks #Madney #evan buckley #anti tommy kinard #anti bucktommy #chimney han #TW: blood #tw: violence #tw: stabbing #911 season 7 #911 season 7 speculation

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heliads · 2 years

Note

sorry sorry, I'm spamming but I had this idea ages ago for a Luke Patterson x reader where the reader is an artist that does cover art for sunset curve promo.

Hear me out on this one; Luke tries to teach the reader how to play guitar and the reader tries to teach Luke how to draw. It doesn't end well, the reader is embarrassed that they can not play an instrument to save their life and Luke is embarrassed that he can't draw something as simple as a dog. But it's that thing where Luke finds it cute that the reader can't play even though they're trying hard and the reader finds it cute that Luke can't draw even though they are trying hard. And it just ends up all cute and mushy and ilysm I'm gonna marry you someday vibes.

i am once again reminding you that i miss jatp with every fiber of my being

masterlist

You are absolutely hopeless. It was one thing to sign up for this sort of job– artist by hour, some sort of after school nonsense that you were fitting in around your courseload so you could try and make at least a little bit of money– but it’s something entirely different to get involved in it like this.

Looking back, there was no reason for you to ever start feeling this way. When Sunset Curve first reached out to you over the opportunity to do the official art for their demo album, you were thrilled. They already had a decent sized following despite just having started, and you’d never created anything half so important as this. That’s how it felt, at least, like you were on the cusp of something new, something brighter than you’d ever experienced before. If only you knew how right you truly were.

It wasn’t just the job that was special, though, it was the people. Sunset Curve is made up of the four funniest, kindest, most amazing boys to ever walk the earth. You’re definitely not biased in that regard, not in the slightest. Reggie Peters cares more than anyone you’ve met before. Alex Mercer looks out for you every single minute of every single day. Bobby Shaw recognizes the potential in everyone who crosses his path.

And Luke? Luke Patterson, who greeted you with the widest smile you’ve ever seen the second he met you? Luke, who really should just be a friend? You couldn’t pin him down to one specific phrase if you tried. Luke is everything– creative, bold, bright, you name it. More importantly, he’s everything to you, but that’s because you happen to harbor a crush on him.

You couldn’t shake the aforementioned crush if you tried, but oh, how you wish you could. It does not do to spend every afternoon over there in Sunset Curve’s studio, pretending you’re sketching new designs for them or doing your homework when in reality you’re just wishing Luke might finally look up from his guitar and finally notice you as something other than a background character to his stellar world.

It’s not like Luke’s an asshole about it, it’s just true. Luke Patterson is so out of your league it’s crazy. Why would he ever look at you as something other than a friend or glorified coworker? Reggie and Alex have teased him enough times about flirting with anything that breathes that you know better than to overthink so much as a smile from him. Just because you happen to think the world of Luke doesn’t mean that he has to do the same thing about you.

That doesn’t stop you from almost losing your mind every time you hang out with the boy, though. In fact, you’re alone with Luke right now, and even though it’s pretty obvious Luke doesn’t take this to be anything other than a chance to spend time with a friend, you’re one accidental brush of hands away from screaming.

You had headed over to the boys’ studio early so you could think about some new designs for their albums, both the demo one and potential future numbers. You were given a key to the place a long time ago; the members of Sunset Curve accepted you with open arms and open doors back when you first started drawing for the band.

Apparently they like having someone else there to force them to actually be productive and make music, but you’re not too sure about that. You swear that you end up talking to the boys for even longer than they manage to distract themselves, although that’s more fun than anything in your book.

So, although you didn’t expect anyone to have issues with you showing up to the studio unannounced, you also weren’t expecting Luke to be there alone. You stand there for a moment, hovering over the threshold, wondering if you should leave or take this as your chance to finally get closer to him.

Luke sees you and spares you from the indecision. “Come on in, Y/N. I’m not doing a whole lot, just practicing.”

You smile at him and step inside. “Technically, if you’re practicing that’s something. I just don’t want to bother you if you’re in a songwriting mood.”

Luke makes a face. “I would love to be in a songwriting mood, but the lyrics just don’t want to come. Please tell me you’re here as a distraction.”

You laugh. “I can be an excellent distraction when I wish, but I’m not all that interesting today. Just trying to get some ideas for a potential album cover.”

Luke watches you excitedly as you reach inside your bag for your sketchbook and some drawing supplies. “Are you kidding? That’s super interesting to me. Tell me, what direction is your grand artistic vision pulling you in now?”

You swat him lightly with your sketchbook. “There’s nothing grand about it, trust me. I’m here because I’m just as stuck as you are. Are you sure your next album can’t just have a completely blank design? Maybe one solid square of color? It would make it a lot easier on me.”

“Absolutely not,” Luke declares, “you’re already robbing us of our hard-earned cash, we at least deserve some designs in the bargain.”

The easy grin on his face tells you that he doesn’t mean a word of it. Luke and the other members of Sunset Curve have made it quite clear that they value your presence, both in art and in friendship. Besides, you have discounts when it comes to people you care about, and the members of this band are certainly that indeed.

“Well,” you smile, “if that’s the case, I’d better get on it.”

Luke watches as you do some thumbnail sketches for potential designs. His eyes never seem to leave your pencil as you shade in piano keys or trace the outline of a guitar.

At last, he breaks his meditative silence to pose a question. “How are you doing that?” He asks plaintively, “Every time I try to draw something, it takes me forever and ends up being a big eraser smudge. When you do it, though, you take two seconds and have a masterpiece.”

“I’ve been doing this for a lot longer than you have,” you remind him, “practice makes perfect, trust me on that. My first so-called masterpieces were just as full of eraser marks as yours.”

Luke harrumphs. “You’re just saying that. Embrace the fact that you’re extremely cool.”

“You’re just as cool as I am,” you counter, “you may be in awe of my art skills, but I think your music is way more impressive.”

Luke’s jaw drops. “No way. Half the time you’re in here, I’m messing up my chords.”

You grin. “That’s not true, and even if it was, that still makes you better than I am. I can’t even remember what a chord is, let alone how to play it right even half the time.”

Luke sits up straight, an idea occurring to him. “You know what? We can fix that. Let’s have a skills session. You teach me art and I’ll teach you music.”

“Just like that?” You ask, doubtful but smiling nonetheless.

“Just like that,” Luke confirms, and after that it’s decided.

Luke reaches over to grab his guitar. He places it on your lap, moving close to you so he can help guide your hands into position. You think your breathing might stop entirely from how it feels to have Luke’s breath hot on your cheek, his fingers wrapped around yours as he teaches you a chord. If you look up slightly, you can see how his face, no, his entire being is angled towards you. It is the most marvelous sight you have ever experienced.

Despite the beauty of the boy teaching you, your own mastery is far less substantial than you’d like. You can feel the shame of it heating up your cheeks as Luke reminds you of what you’re supposed to be learning for the umpteenth time. Watching Sunset Curve practice, you’d always wondered why you never picked up an instrument. This is reminding you of that reason: you’re absolutely awful at it.

Eventually, your desire to seem at least somewhat capable in front of Luke wins out over your need to be so close to him and you carefully put the guitar in his lap.

“I think that’s enough for now,” you whisper, glancing away, “at this point, teaching me music is a lost cause.”

Luke shakes his head. “Hey, don’t feel too discouraged. It took me forever to learn. You wouldn’t believe how awful my fingerpicking was when I first started. You’re blowing my first attempts out of the water by a long shot, trust me.”

You laugh. “Somehow I find that hard to believe.”

Luke’s eyes are wide and earnest. “No, it’s true. Besides, I see this as an absolute win. If you can’t play the guitar, it means you need me around more often.”

Smiling, you ask: “And is that a good thing?”

“Most certainly,” Luke breathes, and you think you might die just there, watching him look at you like you were worth so much more than you ever thought.

Luke comes to reality first, and looks away quickly, a faint pink blossoming over his cheeks. “If we’re trying to learn how bad we are at each other’s habits, though, I think it’s my turn to fail. It’s time for art lessons.”

You flip to a fresh page in your sketchbook and pass it over. Luke holds the thing reverently, and only through severe coaching do you manage to convince him to actually grip it tight enough to keep the paper steady. He keeps claiming that he doesn’t want to hurt such precious contents, but you think it might also just be a ploy to keep you laughing even just a little longer.

As much as you hate to admit it, Luke’s fears about not being able to pick up drawing might be true. You swear you give him easy subjects to start off, and despite an abundance of furrowed brows and studious expressions, Luke and art do not mix.

At last, he looks up at you desolately and holds up graphite stained hands for you to witness. “See? It’s a losing battle, I swear.”

You bite back a smile. “It’s just like you told me about guitar, isn’t it? All you need is practice.”

You think you wouldn’t mind being there for a few more art practice sessions, either. Something about the way Luke is so devoted to trying to get this right, and all the while watching you draw out examples like you’re a living saint, makes your chest feel so tight that it might burst. You would gladly sink the rest of your afternoons and sunsets into these sorts of moments, walled up in the studio with Luke, losing track of time until you have no idea where your days begin and his end.

Luke must be feeling the same way, because he leans a little closer to you. “I’m not sure I believe it, but I wouldn’t mind more practice sessions with you. We wouldn’t even have to draw or play guitar if you didn’t want to. If you’re alright with that, of course. We could just, you know, hang out.”

The hope in his eyes is only matched by the delight in yours. “I think that sounds great,” you say.

Luke’s face brightens. “Really? I mean, yeah, it would be fun. Maybe we could go get ice cream soon.”

“Tell me a date, I’ll make time,” you reply. You’ll clear your entire schedule if that’s what it takes. This is something that you didn’t see happening in your wildest dreams, and now that it’s real, you don’t plan on giving it up for anything.

Luke lifts a shoulder. “How about Saturday afternoon? We can go anywhere.”

You could gladly spend the rest of the day just talking over the prospect of this date with Luke, but a sound from outside the studio makes you bite your tongue. You can see Alex, Reggie, and Bobby approaching the door– it must be time for the band to have practice.

Luke groans. “They have terrible timing.”

You laugh. “They didn’t know anything was happening, that’s their fault. I know everything I want, though.”

You don’t think Luke’s smiles have ever been brighter than the one he shoots you now. For once, you realize a most welcome truth: all this time that you’ve been pining over Luke, he’s been feeling the exact same way. At last, the two of you have been able to get together, and you couldn’t be happier about it.

requested by @thatfangirl42, i hope you enjoy!

jatp tag list: @rogueanschel, @retvenkos, @caswinchester2000, @lovesanimals0000, @amortensie

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