#so thankful he wasn't one of the kids modeling briefs

[jarchaeology]

THE SCANNER SERIES: THE EARLY YEARS [JCPenney Spring / Summer 1991] sale prices valid until: July 23, 1991

[sophsbookstore]

Exchanged Glances

Charles Leclerc x hairdresser!reader ｡･:*˚:✧｡ 

Masterlist can be found in navigation!

Read pt. 2 here

A/N: Not super edited, I wanted to get it posted before the Grand Prix!

Word count: 1,581

Normally when Charles goes back home to Monaco he has his mom cut his hair. Like clockwork he will arrive at his moms salon, say hello to the various hairdressers and then go to his moms station to get a fresh cut. Only, this time things were different. 

A couple days before he was to arrive home Charles called his mom and asked what day she was free to cut his hair, with the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix it, and with it being his home race he was more available for a haircut than ever.

After their brief greetings to one another Charles’ mom told him that she would be out of town up until the day of the race. For the first time since joining formula one his mom wouldn't be able to cut his hair for him before the Monaco Grand prix.

“Don't worry Cha, I can refer you to another hairdresser at the salon.” She offered, trying to give him another solution.

“I don't know, you've always cut my hair, no one else.” 

“Then this will be a perfect time for you to step out of your comfort zone. Don't worry I know the perfect person, she’s new, around your age and she's magic in the salon.” Trusting his mom this easies Charles' nerves slightly.

“Ok maman.” The driver sighs in defeat.

“Wonderful! When you go to the salon ask for Y/N.'' With that his mom bid him farewell, telling him when to be at the salon, not going into any more detail about this mysterious hairdresser.

Before he knew it the day had come, he was going to step out of his comfort zone and have a complete stranger touch his hair. He hoped his mom wasn't lying when she was hyping up Y/N and her skills, he didn't want to go to the paddock looking a mess.

Charles enters the salon, all the employees giving him waves and greeting him. He's known some of these people his whole life, whenever he stepped foot in the salon it was like he was being greeted by family.

“Hello Charles, what can I help you with today?” The lady at the front desk asked.

"Hello, yes, my mom told me to ask for Y/N?” The boy shrugged in confusion.

“Oh of course! I'll go get her.” The lady that once sat in front of him was now off searching for the mysterious magic woman that was going to cut his hair.

Charles felt like he was waiting for hours, the salon wasn't that big was it? Maybe it was all in his head. He stood to the side of the waiting area, too consumed with stress to sit down and relax. Before he knew it the front desk lady came back, the woman he assumed to be Y/N trailing behind her.

This is when he finally got to have a good look at her. She was beautiful, why didn't his mom tell him that they started hiring part time models at the salon. The two stood awkwardly, both taking in one another, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Y/N cleared her throat. “Hello Charles, I’m Y/N. just follow me back to my station and we’ll get started”

Charles was too dumbfounded to respond, instead the man stuttered silently before nodding and following Y/N to the back of her salon. During the short walk to her station, Charles thought of questions to ask the beautiful girl, desperately wanting to hear the sound of her voice again.

“Thanks for trusting me with your hair today, your mom told me that you don't really let anyone else cut your hair.” She giggled.

“Oh! Yeah, she's been cutting mine and my brothers hair since we were kids.”

“That's so sweet. I understand where you're coming from I don't let anyone cut my hair, only myself.'' This put Charles at ease. Knowing that she thinks the same way he does, even about something so simple as hair.

After some comfortable small talk Y/N led Charles further back into the salon, sitting the boy down in a chair before leaning him back and washing his hair. The driver seemed to melt in her touch as she ran her fingers through his hair.

When Y/N pulled her hands away to apply more product Charles felt incomplete, like he was missing a sense of stability and peace within himself. Just as soon as she removed her hands she placed them back, continuing to massage his scalp with the shampoo.

Y/N pats Charles’ shoulders signaling to him that the wash was done and that they had to make their way back to her station. Y/N led the way, Charles trailing behind the girl before taking his spot in front of her in the salon chair.

“Are you excited for the grand prix?” Y/N questions taking some of his hair between her fingers, beginning the cut

“Very. I have a good feeling and my son will be there, hopefully we secure P1 and P2.”

“You have a son? What's his name?” Y/N questions, his mom not mentioning anything about a grandson.

“Oh! My apologies he's not really my son. He's a driver on the grid that I've somewhat adopted for the race weekend so that he can claim the Monaco grand prix as his home race.” Charles looks at Y/N hoping she doesn't find what he said both weird and confusing.

“HA!” The hairdresser laughed out loud. “Well congrats to him, I hope he has a fun and successful home race as well. I'll be sure to congratulate your maman about her newly found grandson.” 

Charles sat up a little higher in the chair, “Are you coming to the race?”

“I wish I could but I have to work, don't worry though, the salon will be playing the race so everyone can watch.” Y/N stopped cutting for a moment, looking at Charles through the mirror placed in front of them before giving him a warm smile.

Y/N picked up another section of his hair, continuing to snip away leaving Charles to examine the girl through the mirror. Y/N looked up from behind him, making a quick glance at him before the pair broke eye contact, looking separate ways.

Slowly their eyes started moving back to the mirror. The scissors snapping shut as the pair hold eye contact. Charles felt the tip of his ears getting hotter, the pair both noticing one another's subtle hints of red creeping onto their faces.

“Notice anything Mr. Leclerc?” Y/N questions, the corners of her mouth turning upward.

Charles opens his mouth to speak but words don't come out.

“Don't think I haven't noticed the subtle glances, there is either something on my face and you're trying to figure out how to tell me, or something going on in this head of yours.” She turns her attention back to his hair, the haircut almost over.

“I-” he clears his throat, “I was admiring you. You're very good at what you do.”

“I deeply appreciate Charles, truly.” Y/N made her final touches to the haircut. Unbuttoning the cloth that was draped over Charles, before dusting off his shoulders of any hair. “You're all finished, let me find a mirror so you can see the back.”

Y/N walked toward an unknown part of the salon, Charles' eyes following the girl through the mirror until she came back. This is it, if he doesn't say anything now he might never see her again.

The hairdresser came back, handing Charles a small hand held mirror for him to examine the back of his head. He admired her work, impressed with her skills. Placing the mirror down on a ledge near her station he got out of his chair and turned to her.

The two stared at one another, practically chest to chest. “Will you come to the grand prix?” He asked breathlessly.

“Nothing would delight me more but I have to work.” Y/N sighed looking away for a moment before her attention was pulled back to Charles.

“If you can't come to the race can you accompany me for dinner after?” Y/N looked at Charles, her cheeks getting ever so pinker.

“Mr. Leclerc are you asking me on a date?”

“That depends, would you like to go on a date with me?” Charles asked, not missing a beat.

“Yes Charles, I would love to.” 

Charles smiled from ear to ear, desperately wanting to bounce off the walls with excitement, stopping himself before he could embarrass himself. “Then I will see you tomorrow.” He nodded in satisfaction.

“See you tomorrow Charles.” Charles walked away from the hairdresser, giving her a quick glance back before making his way back to the lady at the front desk.

“Hair looks great! What did you think of Y/N?” She asked, ringing him up so he could make his payment.

“She's fantastic, I think maman will have some competition.” The two laughed, Charles paid, giving her a quick goodbye.

As soon as he exited the salon he called his mom, updating her on his post race plans, greatly thanking her for offering Y/N to cut his hair.

[lunar-years]

Okay because it was briefly mentioned in this post speculating on Roy's parents I really want to hear people's thoughts on Keeley's parents/childhood and why she had no prior family obligations on (Sexy) Christmas!

Similarly to Roy we only get very brief mentions of their existence in canon (and they're notably just about her mum, never her dad):

"I did used to worry I was gonna end up like my mum. She spent years tirelessly working at the same company just for a man to take all the credit. She wasn't brave enough to dream big. So I decided to do things very differently" - Keeley "We didn't open [the champagne] when your mum moved back up North" - Roy

The headcanons I've got are:

Keeley's parents are divorced and she isn't particularly close with either of them. Her mum irritates her literally every time they see one another. Her dad has a new wife and (step)kids he treats as his "real family," and Keeley is always the afterthought; she rarely sees him.

Her mum is extremely conventional and thinks Keeley needs to fit into that same box. She was appalled by Keeley's choice to do nude modeling, refused to talk to her because of it (which Keeley was thrilled by, and once her mum realized that she got even more upset and immediately started calling Keeley up again) and has never treated Keeley's modeling career as a real career.

Keeley moved out of her childhood home asap, like age 17/18 after taking her first modeling gigs. She rented a cheap flat with a bunch of other girls.

Keeley has made some of her choices in part just to spite her, whether its subconscious or not. For instance, if her mum was complaining about her first topless photoshoot, where her nipples were strategically covered by liquor bottles, Keeley made sure the next shoot she signed on for was tits out, no coverage. When her mum complained about that she did full nudes, etc.

When Keeley started working for AFC Richmond it was a backhanded "finally you have a REAL job, thank goodness" instead of "congratulations, I'm so proud of you." everything with her mother is like this

It is even worse with relationships. Her mum thinks Keeley needs to settle down, get married and have kids in that order - none of which are things Keeley has ever intended to do with her life.

her mum was thrilled when Keeley introduced her to Roy because "finally my daughter is in a serious relationship and they will give me grandkids soon" she completely dotes over Roy because of this while asking increasingly intrusive, prodding questions about the status of their relationship. Roy of course sees right through this but is trying his best to stay polite because this is Keeley's mother. The whole thing slowly infuriates Keeley until she's had enough and abruptly informs them they're leaving. this is how roykeeley have the "I never want kids" conversation very early on in their relationship

with holidays like Christmas, at first Keeley would use the other parent as the ~reason~ she couldn't be at theirs for the holiday. Like, she'd tell her mum "sorry, i told dad I'd go to his" and she'd tell her dad the opposite. of course this only works a few times before it's "why do you spend every holiday with the other parent instead of me," and which point Keeley remembered that wait, actually she doesn't give a fuck! and straight up told her mother she isn't coming because she doesn't want to and already has plans with her boyfriend/girlfriend (whoever it was at the time) 🤷‍♀️ slay queen

Keeley is out and proud and always has been, but her mum treats her being bi as another lie she's telling for attention, even though Keeley has literally brought girlfriends home to introduce to her mother before. No matter what she does, her mum maintains that Keeley is only doing it to piss her off and basically doesn't believe her or acknowledge her sexuality, which is understandably very upsetting to Keeley

Bonus ot3: Not to make everything about ot3 but I have a very distinct scene in my head where Keeley introduces Jamie and Roy as her boyfriends and her mum is forcibly polite to Jamie (whom she is meeting for the first time) but then pulls Keeley aside to be like "enough with your stunts, Keeley, how could you put Roy through this nonsense, after he took you back and all, this is how you repay him, by dating someone else?" (because 1. she's adamantly ignoring the part where Keeley told her all three of them were dating, royxjamie included and 2. she acts like Keeley obviously did something to "cause" Roy breaking up with her). Keeley for once is totally speechless and all the retorts she wants to and would usually say die in her throat and she just wants to cry because she's tired of this. Roy and Jamie overhear the conversation and Roy steps in like "okay, that's enough, we're leaving." Keeley has a breakdown in the car before they've even gotten out of the driveway and after that she basically cuts off contact for a long while with her mother, with Roy & Jamie's full support.

[witch-of-sadness]

It's a day can't stand

Summery: You are dragged to the Hellfire club by your little brother, and you meet the one who will change your life (although you don't know it yet).

Contains: Dustin trying to help his sister, Eddie in DM mode, overthinking reader.

Warnings: references to "The Flight of Icarus"

Note: i kinda had a writer block, so I don't know how this turned out.

Your brother had been insisting for several days that you accompany him to his weekly DnD meeting, saying that you couldn't keep being locked in your room and feeling sorry for yourself. He was really worried about you, you could hear it in his voice. And this is why you find yourself now walking through the halls of Hawkins High after two years on your way to the drama room, just as awful as you remember. And as you neared the drama room you could already hear him inside, putting on that theatrical DM voice of his while clearly lecturing the other kids.

Dustin haven't stopped talking about him since you came back, telling you how amazing he was. Edward Munson, his DM, and his new role-model (and you just knew Harrington wouldn't be fond of this). You were in the same generation as him during high school, Higgins tried to get him to drop out several times, everyone believed him and his friends were satanic cause they had "weird" tastes and for being obnoxious. And he didn't graduated with the rest of your class.

Dustin slid open the door and Eddie's gaze lifted and caught yours, brows raising in brief surprise, but continued his dramatics as if to not lose his crowd. Well, as long as he left you out of it you'd survive this one meeting, for Dustin's sake.

For now, you steeled yourself and slipped into the room, keeping your guard up as the game began anew.

During the campaign Eddie didn't pay much attention to your presence, a small welcome and a "don't interrupt the flow of the session" was all he said to you, taking his Master role a-little-too serious, not that you cared.

The session went on for a couple of hours, with Dustin and the others fully immersed in Eddie's storytelling. You had to admit, he was good at what he did. Though you kept to yourself in the corner, observing more than participating, you found yourself getting pulled into the fantasy world despite your initial reluctance.

Finally the sesion came to an end, and taking the opportunity, Dustin bounded over to you excitedly. "So what do you think so far, sis? Eddie's campaign is super cool, right?"

You gave a noncommittal shrug. "It's not bad, I guess. Your DM certainly knows how to weave a tale."

Suddenly Eddie was by your side, believing it was the reasonable thing to do to finally go talk to you. "Henderson The First, Thought you were gonna out of this shit-hole forever."

He has this smile in his face that's so warm, like his teasing wasn't in a rude way. And it made your tummy turn a little bit.

"Munson. Long-time no-see." You smiled back.

"Indeed. What brings you here this fine evening?"

"I'm staying here for a while, and Dustin wanted me to check out Hellfire. Didn't knew you still run the club."

"Yeah, I just couldn't abandon my sheep, y'know?"

You gave him an awkward laugh.

"and... How's Veronica?"

You ask, just to continue the smalltalk. She was Eddie's best friend since they were 8, attached to the hip, and they basically looked like twins, too.

You and Veronica Ecker shared a few classes in your senior year, and although you weren't friends at all, you were both said to be "Hawkins' success story"; The 'They will leave this nothing town in the middle of nowhere to go to the big city and have a successful life, because they made the effort, because they deserve it.'

At least she could keep that title.

Stop overthinking.

"Ronnie," he said almost as a correction - 's still in New York, haven't talk to her in a while" the change in his tone was so obvious in made you feel like and idiot. Of course he hadn't talk to her. Idiot.

"Oh..." Was all that left your lips, and thank God your brother got your anxious vibe, cause he said the good-byes for the both of you and led you outside.

Well, shit.

masterlist

[ariel-s-awesome]

May as well post my response to someone on AO3 asking why I hate season 2 here. Already stirred the pot.

(Can't get read more working so everyone has to deal.)

I could write multiple essays about it but I'll keep it brief to avoid opening a can of worms. (Yes, this IS the brief version.)

1) Portraying Wander as a perfect immortal space Jesus ruined his character. Sylvia was forced to blindly trust him when she previously balanced out his worst impulses. So it also ruined their friendship by introducing a toxic power dynamic. And Sylvia's character too as she got forced into a subservient role.

Wander continuously pushing Hater's boundaries in an effort to make him good worked when he seemed young and naive, without knowing when to back off. If he's done this song and dance many times now Hater's just the latest entry in villains he's overwhelmed into submission. It's manipulative and cheapens their friendship.

2) They flattened Hater. In season 1 there was solid internal logic behind his foolishness. He's not just a stupid childish oaf. In much of season 2 his behavior seemed far more random with little purpose but to make him stupid and incompetent. (There were still some good episodes, mostly when Dominator was nowhere in sight, but...)

3) Misogyny. There were issues in season 1 but it really took off when Lauren Faust left the show between seasons to work on Medusa (which later got cancelled, sadly.) I have a feeling that her input kept it from getting out of hand with how it went from the usual lack of prominent female characters to the Dominator love interest arc.

Dominator worked well as a big threat that shook up the status quo and forced the main 4 to work together. But she was forced into a love interest role and demonized for not returning Hater's feelings.

This attitude is what leads to women getting assaulted for turning men down. As someone making children's cartoons, Craig has a responsibility to examine the messages closely and avoid reinforcing harmful ones because kids are very impressionable.

Also WOY used to be a great show for aromantics because it emphasized the importance of platonic love. That was no longer the case and many aro fans became bitter as the love interest arc wore on.

Her being portrayed as evil for not feeling love (I'm The Bad Guy) was the slap in the face as an aromantic (who thought I was a girl at the time) and my final straw. So I'm evil. Okay thanks guys. Time to pack it up and not even be able to bear to look at the show for several years.

Dominator was sexualized and it was disgusting. They constantly emphasized her boobs and hips despite her being fairly flat on model. There was even a storyboard posted with a note to fix her posing because when she was expressive that "wasn't pretty enough" or something like that.

They reduced what could have been a cool character to eye candy because she was a girl. Which is exactly what Wander and Hater did to her.

If this was a one episode thing that ended with Sylvia calling Wander out for being misogynistic and harassing her to pair her up with Hater, it would be fine. It'd be a good lesson. But it consumed most of the season without him and Hater ever being shown as wrong.

4) It was a waste of time that literally ended with the words "nothing ever changes" as they returned to the status quo. Craig McCraken failed to read the writing on the wall and thought that he would have unlimited time to tell his story. (Disney had an unofficial hard limit on keeping anything but breakout hits to two seasons at the time. And Wander wasn't one.)

Unpopular opinion but I'm glad Wander got canceled. Even putting the mess it became at the end to the side. That experience improved Craig's storytelling skills as he learned to work with the time he has instead of what he hopes for.

And that was what made Kid Cosmic great. I'm more attached to Wánder Over Yónder both because I was there for it airing and because it's my long-term special interest, but Kid Cosmic objectively has better storytelling because Craig learned to focus on the story he wants to tell.

It still has its flaws pacing wise, both because of Netflix keeping it short and him using so many main characters that most hardly got developed. (...Poor Chuck was all but abandoned by the narrative after his life was shattered.) Yet the story got wrapped up. Unlike Wander.)

5) Much more minor complaint but: The art suffered when they switched animation studios. I mean, I know Titmouse is a hard act to follow. But it looked cheap, with more errors, worse expressions, and more reused animation.

Probably not something the actual target audience would pay much mind to (I was a teenaged animation buff), still disappointing after how well-animated season 1 was.

[allthingsfangirl101]

AFS Chapter 4: A Wake-Up Call and An Apology

Masterlist

"What is wrong with you?!" Andrew yelled as he stormed into Joe's apartment.

"Me?" Joe laughed. "You're the one who barged in here, screaming like a madman."

"Do you realize that if you can't get Evelyn to agree to fake-date you, then you're going to lose everything?"

"Don't you think that's a little dramatic?" Joe scoffed.

"If you keep this up, no one will want to hire you. Face it, Joe. You're an asshole. Everyone knows it. Sooner or later, they aren't going to put up with your shit anymore."

"I still have fans," Joe shrugged.

"Barely," Andrew scoffed. "Joe, those fans of yours only watch you because they can't wait for your next blow-up. They're waiting to see you lose your shit. They don't care about you. They just want to watch your life fall apart."

Andrew shook his head, not knowing what else he could say to get it through Joe's head.

"Joe," he whispered, "you can't keep acting like this. I know you think you're invincible, but no one is. Not even Evelyn Jones."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. He tried to act like he wasn't curious, but of course, he was. Evelyn was Hollywood's Princess. She was the strong, independent role model girls needed.

"When she first moved to Hollywood, Evelyn was an insecure, scared girl," Andrew explained.

"Yeah right," he scoffed. "Evelyn Jones was never insecure or scared."

"I've known Jane a long time," Andrew said. "When she first signed Evelyn, she was worried about getting her to open up. I told her that once Evelyn got her groove and people realized how great she was, she'd open up."

"Clearly she did," Joe mumbled. He cleared his throat and looked back up at Andrew.

"You gotta help me out, kid," Andrew sighed. "There isn't much more I can do for you."

Joe hesitated. Andrew's been with him since the very beginning. He didn't deserve this.

"You think Evelyn would agree if I apologized?"

Andrew's head snapped up. The way he studied Joe made him laugh. "You don't have to look so surprised."

"I'm just. . . I am," Andrew stuttered. "It's nice to have you back."

"Back?" Joe scoffed, trying to recover from his brief moment of weakness.

"Admit it," Andrew laughed. "You've changed over the years. For a few seconds, we had the old Joe Keery back."

* * * * *

"You can wait for Evelyn right here," the PA slightly stuttered. "Evelyn just needs to shoot the scene one more time. She should be done in a couple of minutes.

"Thank you," Joe nodded. He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched Evelyn's scene.

Everyone was talking about this new movie. More so about Evelyn being in it. It's suspected to be one of the highest-grossing movies of the summer. Evelyn was staring in the new Disney movie, Cruella. Her fans knew she was going to be amazing and as he watched her in the scene, Joe knew she would be.

"Estella, it's been so long," Evelyn's costar Kirby said. "You know, I kept staring at you at the party and then it came to me. That's Estella from school.

"It's not Estella," Evelyn said in the most perfect accent. "That's the past. I'm Cruella."

Kirby gasped and slowly sat back in her seat. Evelyn leaned forward and said her next line. "So you go to parties and you take pictures and you print gossip? That's your job?"

"Yes, well," Kirby shrugged. "Not as fun as it sounds."

"Oh, it doesn't sound fun," Evelyn recited. "It sounds useful."

"Oh," Kirby said quietly. Someone walked by, making Evelyn scowl.

"I'd like to start my own label. Why don't we work together to create some buzz for this old rag that you continually fill with that old hag?"

Kirby let out a soft chuckle before saying, "You have that glint in your eye."

"What glint?" Evelyn smirked.

"Well, I'm starting to remember that you have a bit of an extreme side."

Evelyn laughed a spot-on Cruella laugh as she sat back. "Well, then you remember what fun that is? Now, I want you to help me tell them who I am."

"And cut! Ladies, that was perfect!" Craig Gillespie laughed and dramatically clapped his hands. "Let's break for lunch."

Joe suddenly got nervous and wiped his hands on his jeans as Evelyn started walking off-set. She froze when she looked up and saw him.

"What are you doing here?" Evelyn said simply.

"I wanted to talk about dinner the other night," Joe said, not feeling at all as confident in front of her as he did the other day. "Actually, I wanted to apologize for my behavior. You were right. About everything. I don't know why I. . ."

"Joe?" Evelyn hesitated to interrupt him. Joe instantly stopped talking. He cleared his throat as he gathered the courage to do what he had come to do.

"How about we go to lunch?" Joe asked. He smiled when she looked down at her Cruella-ness. He quickly added, "After you change, of course."

"Thank you," she smiled. "Give me fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen?" Joe asked with a small chuckle. He cleared his throat, internally scolding himself when he realized that could've come off as mocking.

"Well," Evelyn chuckled, "the wig is practically pinned to my head. I need help getting out of the clothes. And the make-up takes several minutes to get it completely off."

"Sometimes I'm really happy I'm a guy," Joe laughed.

"It's not always so bad," Evelyn shrugged. "As much as I hate them, it's fun to dress up for premieres."

"I agree," Joe said. When Evelyn laughed, his stomach did something weird. He didn't let himself think about it.

"I'll be out in just a minute," Evelyn said. "You okay to wait here?"

"Of course," Joe said. He couldn't help but feel relieved as Evelyn walked to her tailor. He was still unable to understand why she had agreed to go to lunch with him. Then again, it was expected.

As Joe waited for Evelyn, he rehearsed what he was going to say to her. Each one felt stupid. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Everything okay?" Evelyn asked, making Joe jump. "Didn't think I'd come back?"

"I just. . ." Joe stuttered. "I scare easy."

Joe cringed when that was the first thing that came to his mind.

"You do?" Evelyn chuckled. "Good to know."

She walked past him, sending him a teasing smirk. He cleared his throat and quickly caught up to her. They were silent as they walked through set. When they got to the parking lot, an older man in a suit walked up to Evelyn and nodded. Joe watched full of curiosity as he watched how she interacted with the man.

"Hi, Henry," Evelyn greeted him. "Joe, this is my driver and private security guard, Henry. Henry, this is Joe Keery."

"Sir," Henry nodded.

"He's very professional," Evelyn chuckled, "even though I told him he didn't have to be."

"My job is to protect you, Ms. Evelyn," Henry said simply.

"I can't get him to stop calling me Ms. either," Evelyn laughed. Henry opened the car door for them. As she got in, she saw the slight smile on Henry's face.

"Where would you like to go?" Henry asked as he got into the driver's seat.

Evelyn turned toward Joe and waited. He cleared his throat, realizing that it was his suggestion to go to lunch so he should've been the one to suggest a place.

"There's this cool sandwich place around the corner," Joe hesitantly suggested.

"Sounds great," Evelyn said simply.

"Awesome," Joe said, trying not to sound relieved. "Henry, it's on the corner of Parks Ave and Sunlight Drive."

"I know the place," Henry nodded.

As Henry drove them, the two had different thoughts. Evelyn's thoughts were about her work schedule. Joe's thoughts were on his last dinner with Evelyn and what he could possibly say to take back half of his asshole-ness.

"Would you like me to wait outside or wait for you to call for a pickup?" Henry asked.

"You know how much I hate making you wait outside," Evelyn sighed, mostly to herself.

"How about I go to that Thai food place just down the street?" Henry offered. "You can send me a text when you're done and I'll come back."

"Sounds good," Evelyn chuckled. Joe watched Evelyn interact with her driver/security guard. She was extremely kind and considerate to someone she paid. He couldn't remember the last time he was that kind to someone who worked for him.

Hell, he couldn't remember the last time he was that nice to Andrew.

"You ready?"

Joe looked outside, realizing they were at the restaurant. He cleared his throat and took off his seat belt.

"Ready," Joe said. He got out of the car but stopped.

He turned around and reached his hand out to help Evelyn out of the car. She's usually good at hiding her surprise, but this caught her off guard. She smiled as she accepted his help.

Joe led Evelyn inside, his hand gently on her back. She smiled when she noticed him switch to her other side, closest to the road.

This was new. For the both of them.

[writerofjourneys]

Hi hi! I'm back. I kind of shocked you took your time answering me, I'll be honest. I thought you'd just dismiss everything I said (specially with such a lengthy text). So thank you, really!

I'm going to answer you back as well, if you don't mind. And once again, I'm not attacking you, just giving you my honest opinion. And once again, I'll tackle your points in order.

- When I get my anxiety attacks and depressive episodes, I act just like Sumire on her slumps. Maybe that's why I can resonate so much with her on those first ranks. Maybe it's a difference in our life experiences and how we tackled it? You think it's lackluster, I think it's subtle enough. And I agree with you on how she slowly was trying to regain herself but Maruki's actualization kept in check. I think that's how we got the little snippets of the real Sumire inside (the bento incident).

- I think the other athletes thought she had lost it and she was going crazy. In Japan, mental health issues is a real sensitive topic and people try to avoid "different" people. It may be a little graphic, but if you have time read about the Sagamihara stabbings. Also, that's the issue. Sumire had her Shiho. Her Eiko. It was Kasumi, and she lost her. And we, in fact, get to talk to her trainer twice so there's our "person in the area".

- About the phone: I don't think it was really broken, nor it was Kasumi's phone. It was Sumire's phone. The lag, the malfunctioning, it was all due to Maruki's interference. When she calls you and we get to listen to her first call ever, her voice is all Darth Vader like. Plus, Joker calls her Kasumi because Sumire carries Kasumi's student id, issued before her death. Joker being Joker and helping out is the reason we can reach the true Sumire. After all, if you don't advance her confidant you can't reach the Royal route.

- I think you're partially right on your point about the Phantom Thieves and their friendship. I do think their friendship get the usual flow: meet, persona time, join the team, funny banter. They like her, they are friends. But you're right, it isn't a rank 10 friendship between them. That's evident with the last cutscene. The gang joins up to help you get to the station, but she arrived there first? Why didn't she go with them? And what the fudge I HATE THAT SCENE. It's so lackluster for her character. A disservice.

- I think BOTH of her awakenings show a Spirit of Rebellion, yes. First time she's rebelling against common sense. About the fact she has to accent she isn't Kasumi and never will be. Hence, the dialogue about "these are the shoes that you chose". The second awakening, rebellion is against MARUKI'S SOCIETY. Remember, he had already changed the entire world at this point and he's saying "it's okay, you can keep on dreaming. Your pain will go away." At this time, she rejects this version of the world, thus finally embracing herself and achieving the "true glass slippers": her own self.

- About connection with the player, well, even with the new brief Haru scenes I still couldn't like her and her confidant. Both of them suffer a LOT by being the last kids on the bunch, and after you get her rank 5 there's not much else you can do together until Sumire becomes relevant again. Thinking about it, Akechi sometimes disappears as well aka you can't raise his confidant in some months. Now, about the goals, the only ones I think it can trully compare are Ann and Yusuke. She does decide to be an international model, but only AFTER you do her confidant. She wasn't serious before. It was a hobby. Ryuji goes back to track at the end of the game. Haru is busy with the company, but at the same time she always has time for you. She's always tending her garden. I don't know.

- Is she the only well known athlete? Yes!

Remember, the star of the school was Kamoshida and the volleyball team. After he confessed, Shujin's reputation was in shambles and only the Yoshizawa twin(s) were left. And about the dance... they did say they were busy/going home. And her dance is even after you have a romantic rendevouz with a love interest and Ryuji, so they really don't have a reason to stick in school.

- Giving you once again the point that Cendrillon (and her clothes for that matter) should have changed after her true awakening. Specially with the knowledge that Personas have the form of one's true psyche. And Cendrillon fits like a glove -- or, rather, a shoe -- in the themes. Your argument is that "[Cinderella] doesn't fight for a cause for other and themselves." That's true. But so doesn't Carmen. Or Milady. Or Captain Kidd. So what does a pirate, two femme fatales, a legendary thief, two vigilantes and fairy tale princess have in common?

They're all tricksters!

Yaldabaoth made two Main Trickers, Joker and Akechi. But the other personas are just as much tricksters as them. Milady is a femme fatale that doesn't have a clear side. Captain Kidd was a corsair. Robin Hood and Goemon stole from the rich to give to the poor. Arsene Lupin was a gallant thief and Zorro fought for his people.

Why is Cinderella/Cendrillon a trickster?

Because she disguised herself to go to the ball, so much so her family could recognize her. She TRICKED them and the prince, making him think she was noblity!

- The eating trope. I dind't mind it, but I read a lot of shounen. What made me cringe was the beach scenes, yukata scenes, fhe fanservice. But again, japanese game.

- Romance: You can avoid their romance, but Haru already loves you by the point you reach rank 9. And if you say you're only friends, she asks to be left alone and goes to her room. Plus on many moments on her confidant other people ask if you two are a thing or not. Other than her, I THINK Chihaya? She reads her cards? I don't know she's the second worst romance I rushed it.

- Getting new glasses for her dad deserves a rank? Yes because it's not about the glasses. It's about Sumire choosing something by herself. She was ready to leave that responsibility to Joker, but he gave her his moral support and she did get to choose it. She even lampshades it.

- When you like your therapist, you develop this bound in which they become kind of like your second family. You can talk anything to them. Maruki did say, at the beginning of the game, that she was a former patient of his, we get to see when and how he changed her cognition. And, remember, she was depressed because her sister had died and suddenly after only one t

visit she's all better. It's a miracle! He's THAT good! He helped her on her worst moment! Maruki is as important for her as Joker.

- Effect of her student status: in what way? I mean we saw how everyone acted before and after she started underperforming. Other students gossip she can take tests whenever, skip class all the time with no repercutions. I think it's enough. She's special. More explanation would go into exposition territory.

- About her processing about her twin death, I just thought about something reading your point. Maybe her recovery was fast because she was already processing the death. It IS a reach but, say. Sumire, pretending to be Kasumi, came to terms to her sister's death. Okay. Once Sumire went back, since she was already processing the loss, the shock went full on "wtf who am I really?" And I think most of her trauma came with the guilty that she contributed to her sister's death.

- What was Maruki doing? I think it's what we saw. He helped Rumi. Kept his research in secret while taking care of some patients. One of them was Sumire. She was a drastic case so he helped her. I don't think he helped more people at this time, and if he did, they were extreme cases like Rumi and Sumire. They were irrelevent, tho. Because they were like Rumi and Sumire. If he did help more people, they were unremarkable to him. Sumire was his second successful case. His Persona wasn't fully awakened yet, keep that in mind. He got the job at Shujin to keep an eye on Sumire while finishing his paper and keeping up with the kids.

- The blue butterfly: only the persona users could see it. And the party members did get invited to the Velvet Room and talked to both Lavenza and Igor, with the exceptions of Akechi (probably went before tho bc Yaldabaoth) and Sumire.

- She stalking him and the important job: Mona knew amd talked about it, so most likelly it was Phantom Thieves business. Why else would a talking cat care?

- But it was for the betterment of society and saving it from injustice. Maruki wanted the world to like by his rules, he had good intentions but his views were flawed, as seen by that part in his palace where you answered quizzes with what was right and wrong. Plus, remember, at first Sumire didn't agree with the Phantom Thieves changing hearts because she wishes for people to be able to solve their own problems by themselves. People should be able to stand on their own, without relying to a god, a group of teens or someone dictating their lives and take away the pain. Free will and struggle are too important for her, which is also a shock when you realize Maruki's meddling with her cognition. BTW I think this is also one of the moments where we can see, deep down, this is Sumire's view of the world. If she was only mimicking Kasumi, when we explored the palace she could have agreed to Maruki or wouldn't feel unconfortable on the quizz part. The question about "give up on your dream and get a new one" really hurt her.

- Marinette is a static character. Her views get challenged, she gets more roles (being the new guardian and everything) but at the end of the day she's still the same old Marinette. They even get TIME TRAVEL ffs Astruc. On the other hand, the Sumire from the start of the game is not the same from the end, the whole "stole identity act" aside. She gets braver, she stands up for herself and what's right, she finally can reach international competitions, comes to terms with her sister's demise and even gets her self confidence back.

OOF! DONE!

Sorry if I made any spelling mistake, english isn't my first language, it's 1 am over here and im tired.

Once again thank you if you took your time reading, I'm loving our talks.

NOTE: This will be my last post over this discussion as I will not be accepting messages regarding this debate topic anymore. My original post that led to these exchange of views was just meant for me to let these bubbling thought go, leaving it behind and moving on with my continuation for writing. An outlet. And while I appreciate the responses of different opinions, please understand and respect my choice that I am done with it and am moving on.

Your long discussion is something else, I’m impressed by you making an extended analysis and outlook. And it’s kind of hard to dismiss a message from my inbox with such a lengthy text. I feel like I’m kinda overwhelmed seeing the time you take to message me again regarding the topic further. Though I have to admit that this subject has brought burnout for me, as I am brought to think about her again when I was going for moving on from her. But I’m not pointing fingers at you or anyone else. My opinion on her has hasn’t changed much, she is a poorly written character who is still my least favourite, but she had potential to be something if under the right circumstances.

Though I can see your point of view, I can’t help but diverge from them as well. There are gaps where we probably won’t totally look at things about the character the same way, which I understand and mean no rudeness by it.

Also, thank you for the follow. Though I’m not sure if my regular posts would be appealing to you following me based on our discussion, considering I run a storytelling blog, aside from the inbox discussion which is not actually my preference to do on Tumblr. I thought the other debate would leave a different impression but I’m glad it didn’t.

Anyways, back to my point of view.

For the slumps, I suppose I just view them from the writing perspective for the most part. I can see it being subtle as well, but perhaps too subtle to the point where it’s not elaborated enough for her story. I think Atlus should’ve done more to link her connection with Maruki further, like her routinely going to his sessions so he’d keep her cognition in check, more showy in being off putting if not, etc, since it felt like she stayed the same when acting as her sister until the reveal happened. Everyone has slumps, but her’s can’t be different she is not introspective enough that there’s more to it then that. If she was more about the loss of her sister when acting as Kasumi then there’d be a reason for the difference in her slumps.

It makes sense for Japan to walk around topics from mental health as a country who thinks about it differently from others. I’m not going to put a label any more than that as these subjects are never to be defined by others as one thing or be something that everyone agrees on. I wouldn’t put Kasumi as being Sumire’s Eiko or Shiho since I was actually meaning about her association currently instead of the past. Especially when we know more about those two unlike the real Kasumi. I would say she was more like Sae for the sister aspect, including the predictable similarities the Yoshizawas have with the Niijimas and the grief and loss of their father, and Futaba’s mother Wakaba. Her trainer wouldn’t be quite the same as she’s only in Yoshizawa’s life when it’s about her training and classes but nothing so familial. When the real ‘person in the area’ should’ve been her parents after losing one of their kids. And their lack of involvement is disappointing. Her words spoken when choosing to battle Joker and Akechi show that she hadn’t accepted her sister’s death with healing and affirmation during the times she impersonated her. That is not how a person overcomes grief. Acting as a deceased loved one and ignoring the reality of it is not acceptance, it’s avoidance and a coping method of blocking out the truth. It’s unhealthy. And her parents are pretty crappy because of how they respond to that situation. Her father makes only a rare appearance, they aren’t being constant figures in her life, and they let her parade around as Kasumi when they should’ve sat her down and talked to her about what she is doing to herself and to them as a family. Sumire’s cognition only affects her, so they know the truth. It’s not how anyone should go about loss and sorrow when it doesn’t resolve anything but a painful reminder. If they had bothered to care more about their daughter’s situation and be more present and involved in her life, Sumire wouldn’t be so pushed to the edge of her inner struggles when she could talk to them about it. And a point that you’ve mentioned on how people had distanced themselves from her is saying that, aside from her parents, coach, and obviously Joker and Maruki, there has apparently not been a single decent person at all in her life besides the obvious four where two are not around enough. This just proves that whatever so called bond she has with the thieves is so minuscule and inconsistent when she doesn’t even consider them. They’re the ones out of the other confidants of Joker that she interacts with, yet those interactions have no substance as she discredits them compared to Joker, who she only gives her real attention to when it should’ve been in fair amounts in regards to having anyone decent in her life.

To have her phone be malfunctioning by Maruki is a bit strange to me since his powers are a little confusing. That detail doesn’t happen to the other thieves when he grants their wishes and affects their mentality. It may be the side affect of her cognition, but if that were the case then only Yoshizawa would’ve been the only one affected by her phone malfunctioning. But we can notice the malfunction, too. So it has to be that she took her sister’s phone or her phone was broken herself from the impact of the traffic accident. But that would depend on if the twins had their phones on their person in their bags. Yet that is also iffy when her phone goes back to normal, so she’s either gotten herself a new one or something. It’s just confusing and weird. Yoshizawa’s ID is all Joker had to go off of in identifying her anyways, but there’s creative opportunities in finding out her real name. Since everyone apparently knew what happened and her backstory, it must’ve landed on the news. I’d think that advancing her confidant didn’t need to be the reason to reach the royal route when Maruki is the star of Third Semester, a confidant, and has interactions with everyone that can leave a more interesting opportunity for royal’s route. It revolves around him like Nyx, Izanami, and Yaldabaoth. And he is similar to Nyx and Yaldabaoth in the sense that the three are both responding to what people wanted. While she answers to humanity’s desire for death and extinction, while he and Yaldabaoth are about granting deepest desires, which compensates for their own benefits.

Maybe the point Atlus made for the end meeting of Yoshizawa was that she’s fine to go back to her life as nothing ties her to the thieves anymore. Because her one true objective was defeating Maruki, and having achieved that, went to continue her career as a gymnast. Which would majorly diverge her path from others due to absences, different goals, that kind of thing. Since the only thing she cares about is gymnastics, it’s her priority that she holds above all else. Which could even transcend the thieves. It makes sense that her and Cendrillon are the odd ones out.

I feel like her first awakening needed more than just ‘going against common sense’. Her failings of gymnastics other than for her own personal goals mean nothing else to her. The dialogue for her first awakening explains that that’s the reason for her rebellion, what others have said about her. When, in contradictory, she factly states that she does not care for her special treatment, the school’s approval, or her honour student status, who she herself is opposing the terms upholding said status that she also doesn’t care about. All of her ‘potentially losing her status’ is just by a result of her own actions and self-knowledge. She is fully aware that keeping the honour student-athlete status all depends on her only and that the consequences of it taken away are the results of her actions. Not anyone else’s. Like being in third place. That all came down on her alone. Yet she spins it as if it’s unfair and that she’s being wronged. Making a commotion because she is unable to deal with her slumps that she claims is affecting her gymnastics, which is not delved upon further detail, is not worth the attention of storytelling when there is nothing off about the school staff warning her about the loss of status. There’s just no injustice. She won’t let anyone speak ill of her dream? Why when she doesn’t even care about anyone has said. Does she tell every person what she wants to be when she grows up? Nothing about her getting third place was rigged, it’s just the result of her performance that she failed to meet in the end. That’s it. And fake Kasumi’s reaction over losing her younger twin is not impactful. She brushes pass her “death” with mild sadness and grief and continues off on her merry way. Even Sumire’s fake appearance in the Palace was small. If fake Kasumi had cared about her sister more, and the situation around her, then we’d have something more interesting to go off of. To say that her awakening was just about her identity crisis doesn’t fit because that wasn’t what was presented in the dialogue or the scene leading up to her gaining a Persona. And she said that her name was Kasumi, she was still in firm belief that she was the older twin, not that she accepted that she couldn’t be her sister. If that were the case, then we, as the player, would’ve known her true identity sooner as a result because her lines would’ve given evidence. The reveal of her actual sister shows that she genuinely thought it was the other way around. Cendrillon’s words like “Rather than accept a life in cinders, you’d strive towards splendor, you know the risk. Well, if those really are the shoes you’ve chosen.” works with Yoshizawa’s, albeit rather poorly, motive for awakening. Cinderella had strived to have the freedom to do what she wanted without being held back, to be something a little more than what she really was. It aligns with Yoshizawa’s goals when as fake Kasumi: to reach the level of gymnastics on a higher level for herself, since that’s the only thing that matters to her. The student status goes with the athlete status, but she doesn’t even care for it. She wants to be a star, to be the best of her club and proceed bigger goals. Her ‘Risk’ is being stripped of her honour student status title as the result of her inability to meet the requirements of first or second place tournaments that come with the athlete terms she is consciously aware of. There’s no fowl play, no rigging, no unfairness. It’s simple understanding and consent by both parties. She knew exactly what to expect depending on the outcome.

The ‘shoes’ she’s chosen can be more than just her filling in her sister’s place. Cinderella puts no effort to be someone else, she’s just perceived by that impression from others after her fairy godmother makeover. She stays the same person as when she attended the ball and never had to put on an act. The thing about Sumire achieving Kasumi’s dream for her by being as her is obviously a major flaw, that’s not how life works. Sumire is aware that to accomplish a goal like reaching to the top, to want to put oneself in a higher position requires the person themself to truly reach that dream. She knows that that’s what Kasumi wanted, not only with her but also for herself by her own efforts. And being in Kasumi’s position was the most notable thing about what Sumire wanted, she wanted what her sister already had. But for Sumire, her inferiority complex and jealousy isn’t simply a mild thing, it’s pushed to the edge to the point where it’s so unhealthy that it consumes her and her treatment of the people in her life. For fake Kasumi, the shoes can be a representation of her ideal objective, because it’s a symbol of success like how Cinderella got her happy ending from those shoes, which she keeps to the end. So fake Kasumi’s version would be to reach gymnastics on the global scale that she’s mentioned before. Because that’s the only thing she cares about. How Sumire and fake Kasumi think are an interesting comparison. And it’s also only based on Sumire’s interpretation of her twin, but still a sort of instinctive reflection of herself. Judging by Maruki’s powers, it’s clear that what the wisher desired is a likelinesses of oneself. Unlike some of the other thieves, Sumire never wanted Kasumi’s return. And I don’t think it’s because she “accepted her death” when that can be open to a different meaning. She literally confessed when opposing Joker and Akechi that she couldn’t stand remembering the truth. Her being Kasumi is not a way to heal from grief. She could’ve viewed it as “Kasumi’s gone. I was the cause and I don’t want to remember that. I’ve always wanted to be like her, to move like her, all of it. I can be rid of my guilt and be the person I’ve always wanted to be. And I can reach the top like we had strived for. As the twin who had everything.” kind of mindset. To her, Kasumi and Sumire cannot coexist, there needs to be only one that remains. While it can be seen that her desire to be Kasumi is of survivor’s guilt and that her sister should’ve been the one who lived, it can also be for herself. She envied Kasumi to an unstable amount, and it’s implied that the two lacked communication about each other’s feelings. She wanted to be Kasumi, to be in her position as the best, to be thought of as such by her peers, and a spotlight dedicated for herself. This can be viewed as the unstable selfish side of Sumire regarding her inferiority and possible resentment towards her sister, because that also stems to jealousy. Her growing issues and struggles not only affects her, but also the people in her life. It isn’t just one defined thing that she believed Kasumi should’ve lived when she has a layer of internal issues that can’t be simplified.

To say her second awakening is about her rebelling against Maruki’s society is off. Including Maruki “changing the world”, because that is a doubtful outcome. Nyx is an exception since she’s an ancient being that’s been around for eons. She was brought up to answer humanity’s wish, death. Which has been their growing desire that’s been built up after thousands of years. And she was to bring the end to the entire world. Yaldaboath and Izanani, on the other hand, are different because their powers only stretch within Inaba and Tokyo. As far as we know anyways, Yaldaboath’s influence has only been over Tokyo. Like how the Dark Hour only happens in Tatsumi Port Island. The Dark Hour happened from the broth of the Kirijo Group’s meddling and failed experiment. Inaba fog and TV world was an experiment by Izanami who pinned P4 Protag and Adachi against each other to see who’d win. Yaldaboath made a bet with Igor over similar circumstances. Him with Akechi, Igor with Joker, and who’d be victorious with their own morals. It sets the reasoning behind the other world’s locations being in these places. It is an improbable chance that Maruki’s abilities are capable of affecting the whole world when he is a human being with a Persona and a Palace. Yaldaboath is the one with the obvious possibility of affecting the world into distortion and twisted desires, he’s a supernatural entity with inhuman abilities. Maruki’s may be amplified by his Persona with his Palace to back him, that doesn’t mean his powers are unlimited. They would reach to the extend of his own location. While Personas are capable and grow by strength, they are not invincible or superiorly godlike. Like taking over the globe. So the idea that Maruki took over the world in comparison to the true antagonists is inconsistent.

Yoshizawa had willingly agreed with his empathetic, yet misguided view that everyone can be happy. She wanted to go back to being Kasumi, not only so she’d forget her cause of death, but also to continue in a happy place of ignorance and position where she was the elder twin who had everything. Maruki’s Actualisation focuses on the deepest desire of a person becomes true. But that is not forced on everyone; aka, Joker and Akechi. Joker is easy to understand, he’s in a place where he is fine where he is, the present. He has no lost loved one, he’s free of his record, he’s made allies, he’s released the chains of fate tied to him, freed the city from corruption, he’s just in a good place where his life was already on track. Akechi has never been one to bow to false happiness and accept deceiving fantasies of having his own mother return or anything like that. It works for them beu see they are a mirror of each other that went down different roads in life. Though Sumire’s second awakening is at least a little more consistent, as she embraces her real identity, it doesn’t align that she’s rebelled against Maruki or rebelled at all. She has no will of rebellion in either awakenings, yet her both awakenings didn’t really matter. Atlus just added it for audience sake. Because deep down she’s already made that choice when returning to the real world and living as herself. Maruki’s powers weren’t forced down her throat, she wished for it and got what she had wanted like the thieves. But she already had this figured out when returning from his Palace. Her sister’s death is still fresh, her internal struggles haven’t gone away, her selfishness is still there, she accepts that Kasumi is dead but hasn’t made peace with it before her mind was blocked for fake Kasumi, something that was by her own choice.

Sumire and fake/real Kasumi had always wanted to be gymnasts as their profession before they even met Joker. And despite absences of confidants like Akechi, she was always the one with the least amount of appearances. Akechi plays an important key role for Joker, they are two similar yet different individuals who go as two sides of the same coin. Yin and Yang. Rivals. Haru only being relevant until Yoshizawa’s return is just one of many script changes by Atlus so that we’re reminded that Yoshizawa is actually supposed to be important.

It’s obvious that Kamoshida and the volleyball team were considered the ‘star’ when volleyball was the most mentioned sports in the school, with track second. And that was the case because of the Kamoshida drama. With the reputation of volleyball being under fire just as the school’s. Yet it is baffling how out of an entire school, Yoshizawa is the well known athlete when there should be absolutely way more recognized athletes that isn’t just defined by the volleyball team who do other sports. It’s a plot hole. It’s like saying she’s the only honour student in school, when Makoto and I’m sure other star students fit the slot, too.

The reason for Joker’s friends not attending the dance is a pretty lazy excuse. A plot hole. Saying that they’ve all unavailable for going home sounds so inconsistent. Especially since almost all the thieves attend the same school, including even Mishima, and with the number of them, at least one would’ve made sense to stay. And of course the dance scene is mandatory, even after a romantic event with someone else, because it’s too literally focus solely on Yoshizawa. That’s the whole reason Atlus made the dance interaction in the first place when it doesn’t happen in vanilla p5 during the festival.

The thing about me going about “Cendrillon doesn’t physically change” is the matter that Sumire, being fake Kasumi, carried the cognition that she was in full belief that she was someone else with a different conscience mindset. Even if Sumire’s mind may have been repressed and kept as a form of subconscious, what fake Kasumi believed in was real to her. As I’ve stated previously, fake Kasumi truly thought that she was the older twin until the reveal. Persona; the physical representation of a psyche, leaves some gaps. Because things like identity crisis, amnesia and other similar situations can affect and influence a person’s psyche greatly. It’s about knowing yourself, knowing who you are and what you stand for and stand by. Personas are foreshadowings and representations of the characters’ stories. They don’t change because the stories fill out all the way to the end.

Another thing, Cendrillon doesn’t fight, period. Not for others, not for a cause, not even for herself. Carmen and Milady are not the same as the fairytale damsel. Also because they are not damsels, they’re femme fatale oriented characters who do more in their stories. They’re fighters, in personality wise and mentally. They do not let men or anyone walk all over them. Carmen’s death goes with the lines that she will always be free, tied down by no one. She’d rather choose to die than be bounded in life. While Milady, made as an antagonist with no remorse for her actions, is executed for her crimes. The two women share many traits like deceit, sneakiness, cleverness, living their lives by their own rules with no regrets, even with the consequences. Cinderella can hardly be considered a Trickster. When, as I’ve mentioned before, aside from her fairy godmother makeover, she does not change in any way apart from her appearance. She didn’t even try to trick anyone when no body but her stepfamily would recognize her, and yet the stepfamily don’t even interact with her at the ball. The only characters (excluding animal friends depending on what version) that do anything in the whole story, are the prince and fairy godmother. The prince just lets her identity slip by him because of physical attraction and “love at first sight”. He’s the reason for how Cinderella ends turns out in her life, he made the decision to test every woman am with the glass slipper and put it into action. That’s really the glory of the slippers; her doing nothing and him doing something by hormonal attraction by first meeting. She can hardly even try to lie because he doesn’t bother getting to know her enough like a rational person when he immediately sees her and instantly decides she’s the one to marry after a dance and a conversation, which wouldn’t be much from a first meeting. She looks just like everyone else at the ball, so of course nobody would notice. This was all the fairy godmother’s doing in the first place.

Remember, Persona 5’s whole theme is about Tricksters, rebellion, and characters who stand by free will. That’s the entire point of the game’s story and symbolism. It’s Persona, all the games in the series have a theme with Personas basing off them.

The romance thing with Haru isn’t really anything new. In vanilla p5, Atlus pushes Joker and Makoto more as a couple, and they even had to act like one for Eiko, and have scenes in Futaba and Sae’s Palaces, or the other girls in a more mild way. But in Royal, it is so blatant that they changed things to ship Yoshizawa instead since she’s the poster girl. Okay

How does getting her father’s glasses have Sumire making her own choice when she was actually Kasumi? Her mindset was from her cognition when that event happened. It wasn’t actually her being herself. Her making her own choice can be the case for any scenario, but one that she’s always made was letting real Kasumi do what she wants. That was a choice. They’re twins, supposedly meant to be close, so she’d had to let her sister make choices for her when she could’ve spoken up about it at any point. And her being ready to leave the responsibility up to Joker can just be seen as consideration since he came all this way for a simple task. That’s normal for politeness and matters. It’s not that significant.

Her friendship with Maruki is normal, it’s not abnormal. But Maruki gives small amounts of manipulation and gaslighting to have her and everyone else under his powers. Maruki, you’re a considerate guy and all, but please NEVER counsel anyone ever again. To say that he’s “just that good of a therapist” by getting her all better is, ludicrous. How does this obvious shift of transition from her turning into fake Kasumi a sign that he’s a amazing at counseling when EVERYONE can see that she’s masquerading as her sister. The school knows this, her club, her teachers, her trainer, for the love of god her parents. You’ve also mentioned this that they do. She even vocally calls herself Kasumi and carries her sister’s ID. It’s clear to everyone, minus Joker and maybe others who don’t attend Shujin, that she is not fine. It’s such a weird contradiction that the people in her life are fully aware that she’s pretending to be her sister and yet act like that’s a completely normal thing when it’s her cognition, by the power of Maruki, that’s actually being affected. I feel like I’m repeating my points again, but parading around as a deceased person who has been in your life, is not how a person healthily recovers and heals from loss. That is not natural or normal. People should know that! Especially her parents! It doesn’t make any sense why it’s going this route other than another plot hole that Atlus made as an excuse so Joker wouldn’t find out about her identity sooner. It’s absurd.

I’ve mentioned the effect of her student status in the other points I’ve made a few times. It’s not about the gossip, the tests, skipping classes when she does not care for any of that unless it involves her personal goals of gymnastics. Otherwise, she doesn’t care for it at all. And I also talked about her processing of her sister’s death.

Which of her stalkings? Because Morgana did not even know about both these cases. Her confessing to tailing them thieves left just as much of shock to him as Futaba and Joker. The same for when she pops up in Maruki’s Palace on her own.

Joker has been the only person to see the blue butterfly. He’s a wildcard, he has the fool arcana, he’s contracted to the velvet room. Of course he can see it. Morgana can as well because he was created by Igor. Velvet room attendants can alter their appearances based off the other games. They are capable of turning invisible to the human eye when going into the human world or be apparent. But they are always viable to their guests. The thieves’ reason for being in the velvet room in the first place was because of Yaldoboath, the false god took them to repress their strive for justice and tried to manipulate Joker for a deal because he cheated on his bet with Igor and infiltrated the velvet room so he’d win. Impersonating Igor and splitting Lavenza so she wouldn’t recognize his true identity. None of that was Igor or Lavenza’s doing. It’s a similar scenario to P3’s the answer. Where it was that SEES reached their conclusion and conviction and were able to follow Aigis to the velvet room, just like the thieves when they reach their resolve and are able to leave their cells. Lavenza even stays in the nurse’s office as Joker recruits everyone to meet, but not all of them appear at once. The entrances to the velvet room are all in various locations between the real world and the supernatural. Public places that can by stumbled upon mind you. And nobody in SEES, Investigation Team, or the Phantom Thieves have been able to actually see the entrance. The Persona-Users. They just think the leaders are lost in thought or daydreaming. And as I’ve stated before, the interaction of the thieves being in the velvet room wasn’t even by the residents’ choice because of Yaldaboath. He infiltrated the velvet room.

The Phantom Thieves were put as a public symbol of inspiration for society to solve their own problems if they could help it. Of course everyone knows that the thieves can’t fix everything and make everyone hunky dory. Maruki’s rules aren’t necessarily by his rules, as the power of his actualisation depends on the person he can affect if they have a wish so deep, like bringing back the dead. It feels like Yoshizawa undermines the meaning of solving one’s own problems when there are times solving things on your own just isn’t enough.

That’s the thing with Sumire on the Marinette similarities. They get no consequences from the result of their actions, it’s excused and passed off, or the repercussions are light. While Sumire gets self confidence, no matter the little amount of time it happened, she goes back to being the same character as we saw her in the beginning. And wardrobe and hair are a big part of visual representation on characters. Her hair goes back into a ponytail with the red bow, and her glasses are gone. She looks exactly the same as when Joker first meets her in the ending. Everything’s the same. Just like her thief attire where she had truly sought for herself to be her sister. There’s nothing that differentiates them apart. Regarding Marinette, most of my opinions over her are similar to Youtuber Cyrus the Great’s analysis videos on the show if you’re curious. He’s pretty detailed and makes interesting notes about her and the cast.

[thatonedudey0uknow]

With regards to my last post, I am going to share the backstory of my guy. I have a simple version but decided I'll go with the one that directly references relationships he'd have with certain characters... E.g. the one I wrote in the Google docs 😅

Darren Pierce had been born before the bombs had dropped, living a healthy and somewhat happy six years of life in Sanctuary with his mother Anna - a small-time journalist - and father Felix - Ex-millitay veterinarian. Due to his father's work, they were allowed a place in vault 111 and when the bombs dropped they were rushed away. Unfortunately his parents hadn't made it to the vault in time but had pushed their son towards it as he only just made the elevator before the impact. Soon enough he was frozen in the vault by himself and left in the ice for around 200 years.

When unfrozen, he awoke to scientists taking him out and injecting him - causing the wake up to be brief before being pushed into a blissful sleep again. The next ten years of his live left Darren with constant medications, torture, experiments and training - the boys old life becoming nearly forgotten and feeling like just a thought of what he wished it had been instead of a memory. Maybe even just part of a previous experiment towards Synths demonstrating human personalities. Realistically he was placed in an experiment to see if a human could be programmed like a machine - tricked into thinking they themselves could be one. Due to his father's past as well, Darren was left as the perfect candidate. The Institute even created a model of Synth based on the appearance and likeness of his father as the head of the experiment just to make everything a little bit more fucked up - and to hopefully make those true memories appear more fake.

At the ripe age of 16, they sent Darren - now designated as D4-77 - on a recapture mission to test his skills in real situations. If they'd kept him back just a bit longer then they might have perfected their attempts at 'brainwashing' but with the persisting humanity inside Darren he took the chance of being out of the institute for what seemed like the first time and made the instinctive choice to flee from the commonwealth. If he stayed he was sure coursers would be sent after him so the Capital Wasteland was his best bet. The skills he'd been taught in the institute and forced to learn is what helped him survive by himself.

Taking the name Dio, he thought to become a hired gun to earn some caps. This led him to run into R.J.MacCready - another 16 year old travelling around the Capital Wasteland after leaving a place he called 'home.' The two became mercenaries for hire together. Split on caps, food, even resorted to shearing a bed if needed through their time together. Dio had a crush but knew it was unrequited as R.J. only saw him as a brother. This became more apparent when meeting Lucy, but Dio didn't mind and even helped wingman - becoming close friends with the woman himself. Said they were soldiers and the three travelled around together when Lucy ultimately gave birth to Duncan.

Dio became an uncle figure to the kid but with this it made him think of his own childhood - or lack of one - and those memories or visions or whatever they were. This wasn't the only factor that had made him think this, just the catalyst for finally breaking. Consulting in Lucy and R.J. about this (both being aware of him apparently being a Synth) they encouraged him to head back to the commonwealth to look for answers and thus at 19 he returned to the Commonwealth with promises to attempt to keep in contact with the couple.

His arrival wasn't known to the institute at first and if he'd been smart then he would have just kept up a human appearance. Besides, the truth was that he wasn't a Synth. But he didn't know that, and didn't want people to get hurt if he was, thanks to 'lying' about it. The only thing he wouldn't lie about ironically was a lie. At Diamond City, he openly came out to people about it and was almost immediately executed but saved from this fate by one Detective Nick Valentine who reasoned that Dio's entire coming out immediately towards his identity proved he wasn't with the institute nor a threat to the townspeople. Some people quickly accepted him (some even before Nick's words) whilst others begrudgingly agreed to Dio being around much like they had with Nick's appearance. This is what started the equivalent to an adoption between Dio and Nick as he asked the detective for help with discovering his own identity.

Dio took up living with Ellie when in Diamond City and occasionally helped Nick with certain cases if not earning caps as a hired gun once more. Most of his jobs came from Goodneighbor and much like he had done in Diamond City - he'd outed himself immediately but was accepted much quicker thanks to their Mayor, Hancock. Money was surprisingly stable and living accommodation was good but for the next few years he didn't really get answers. If anything he put himself in danger as the reason he'd run in the first place came to get him, dealing with two coursers in his lifetime. With his hard time in the Capital Wasteland - and having institute training himself - he managed to take both courses out, struggling his first time and just about escaping but finding it easier avading and dismantling the second. A shock he'd not dealt with the railroad - but he didn't bother with them and they wouldn't specifically go out of their way for him.

Sometime after he'd hit 21 he'd run into MacCready at the Third Rail which both made him relieved after not getting any responses in the years he'd tried keeping contact - but also left a pit in his stomach with the fact he was alone. No Lucy… no Duncan. First was hoping they were somewhere else taking shelter but whilst sharing a drink he learned about Lucy's fate and just why Mac was in the commonwealth. Offering help he ultimately got turned away since Mac was working with the gunners and it didn't really allow him to do what he needed but after that initially meeting the pairs meet-ups became more frequent with tales of what had happened during their time separated and rebuilding their brotherly bond.

I'd also like to think the week before Souls/Nate/Nora's escape from being frozen in Vault 111, when coming back from a job, Dio runs into the Brotherhood of Steel trying to defend themselves from Feral Ghouls and ultimately decides to help for free due to his extreme distaste for them after the Lucy Incident and not wanting another one like that to happen for someone else. Due to his impressive skills, Paladin Danse insists on him joining the brotherhood. As a way to get out of the constant question, Dio claims he's a synth with a neglect to mention the fact he could also be human and is just unsure. This almost gets him killed like most occasions but much like all the other times, someone is there to defend him. This being Haylen. She claims they should let him live since he saved their lives and doesn't appear to be a threat - Rhys insists on wiping him out there and then. Danse ultimately takes the stance to let him live but will shoot him dead if they see him again and Dio accepts that.

For some extra details in terms of personality or just comments I feel like mentioning, I'll add them down here:

- Through his years being 'free' from the institute - and as a child before the unfortunate events - Dio became a huge nerd with a love of comics, mysteries and the supernatural.

- He would have loved working on television pre-war, his dream job as a child.

-Prefers to have others around rather than getting left isolated ironically enough. Being alone makes him feel forgotten but if someone sticks with him then he sure as hell is going to take their side.

- He's mostly bark with barley any bite yet impulsive, usually lead by emotions over logic.

- Fluent in sarcasm and trying to talk his way either into or out of a situation as well.

- Although even if he likes the attention on occasions, Dio would rather not do public speaking towards large crowds if they can see him. Put him on the radio then he could talk away - but having people watching him feels terrifying. That fact made it even harder for him to speak when coming out about the fact that he could be a Synth, other than almost getting killed.

- I originally made the base idea for him a year ago but replaying the game again finally decided to flesh out more details.

- Originally shipped him with MacCradey (which can still be seen slightly) but when taking in his background I realised he kind of has parallels to Danse and they could have an interesting dynamic.

- Arcadia on Far Harbor would break him... He'd hate not leaning about it sooner and staying there instead of the Capital Wasteland - but then again he might have not come back.

- Finally... I have an entire planned out story of if Nora was the soul survivor and basically travelled around with Dio and Danse... And I'm unsure if I should make it into a fic...

[captzexx]

👶 Who was your first muse? 

Deep Cut.

While I was in high school, I was full on fantasy nerd with dreams of playing D&D and other TTRPG. Sadly it was the late 90s and my circle were more into playing Goldeneye, Diablo, and other computer/video games. No one wanted to sit at table and roll dice and tell stories. They wanted the visuals to match and stimulate with all the trimmings.

Fortunately, my brother's parents were of an old gamer model and had tons of board games to match their love of computer games.

Enter Heroquest and my barbarian, Lothar.

Yes, I named him Lothar after the Warcraft character. We played a lot of WCII and I was obsessed with knights in armor at the time (thank you Dragonlance). So we started playing because I'd had a brief runin with the game visiting my cousin and never forgotten it despite it being out of print forever. I found it among there games and nearly jumped out of my skin to play with someone as I had such a strong connection has a younger kid.

SO every (EVERY) Friday, I would go over to their house and we would play Heroquest together. My brother (he's not by blood, but we were that close) wasn't that interested as his mind was more inclined with his computer than sitting at table but his parents were very much so to play something like that together. So myself, his mom, his stepdad, and a good family friend for the next four or five months, delved the quests to complete it from start to finish.

The game is very simple exploration, roll the dice, and collect the loot kind of game but as the weeks went by we got more and more into it to eventually low key roleplay in it. I played the dwarf (Ghim) and Lothar as we lacked magic but had the strength, while his mom played the wizard, friend played the elf, and the stepdad played Zargon. I played Lothar just as barbarian would be, charging the fray and fighting monsters as I tried perfect a bad Arnold voice in my 14 year old puberty voice to match a bad Scottish impression for my dwarf.

It was amazing. Such a cherished and wonderful time in my life when everything is rough on a teenager, but to have friends and support like them through those first years of high school. I don't know if I would have survived that time if not for them and that game. So much so that, 20 years later I dropped the whole kickstarter for the new edition that came out in 2021 from Hasbro. I play with my kids in hopes of giving that moment of fun, support, and love.

But I'm Zargon now, and that means death.

@the-kouchfort

[procrastination-queenie]

Anchor ⚓|| JHS

Pairing: Husband!au Hoseok x Wife!au reader.

Word count: 1k +

Warning: slight angst, brief mention of sex, very slight smut. Super fluffy.

Synopsis: As an artist, Hoseok came to understand that in order to appreciate art, you have to focus on the little details, and that was no different when it came to your relationship because it's a piece of art in itself. Or Hoseok reminisces on his favourite moments with you.

A/N: Edit is taken from the application Nichi, I only added a few stuff.

If you're interested to read something similar to this work for Hoseok, click here.💛

When they asked Hoseok how you both made it so far, he was at loss for words that could describe the magnitude of love, care, understanding, sacrifices, communication and patience that your relationship held. His brain displaying vivid images, a video of your memories spent together from the moment you met till the present day. No matter how he tried to conjure up words that describe the feelings he felt, he would never do it justice. 

Your soft lips planted small kisses all over his face in a silent urge to wake him up. He smiled at the feeling of your lips that you made sure to moisturise before you went to bed. His head turned lazily to capture said soft lips in an idle good morning kiss that; even though it was nothing special, yet it took his breath away. The look in your eyes every morning with the sun rays accentuating your warm eye colour made him get lost in a non-existent dreamy world of fluffy clouds and cosy feelings bubbling inside his chest. He pulled you into his arms, basking in the warm silence of the morning before you both had to get up and begin your day.

Hoseok loved how you preserved your innocence in a harsh world. You were not some kind of angel, but your insistence to teach yourself to be patient and to learn to always see the good in the bad amazed him, and he slowly found himself infected by your persistence to become a better person because as you always told him: "nobody's perfect, Hobi, but we can always aspire to become whatever is near perfect," He found himself agreeing with you; however you were the only exception. To him, you are perfect.

The child-like behaviour that took over you when you were surrounded by kids never failed to draw a big fat smile on his lips. After running around, chasing your little cousin in an attempt to try and catch him, you settled on one of the bean bags next to Hoseok as your little cousin settled in the one in front of you. His small body lied on the big bean bag, small feet kicking at your knee, eyes looking at you with mischief from underneath his heavy lashes as he suddenly burst into childish babbles, making you chuckle and start to imitate him. The action made your other cousin, his sister who was only older than him by two years, join in with your babbling. Hoseok looked at you in admiration; he felt lucky to experience such private and sweet little moments with you. That night before you departed from your family's house, your baby cousin was sound asleep in your arms, a scene that made Hoseok's heart full as his eyes engraved the memory in the back of his mind. Something that like any other couple you both dreamed of and that is to start your own family...someday.

Apologizing was never an issue to you, seeing that you grew up owning your mistakes and taking responsibility whenever it was your fault. "I am sorry," you whispered kneeling in front of Hoseok looking right into his eyes. Sincerity evident in your glistening eyes, you set your hands on his knees as you waited for his reply. Sometimes he wondered how your ego never stood in the way of you apologising. "I am sorry. I promise I won't do it again," you apologised again for the discomfort that you've caused your husband. Hoseok sighed as he hugged you in a tight embrace, he could never stay mad at you, never. "It's okay Jagiya," he kept saying, rubbing your back in soothing circles to calm your silent sobs. "I am sorry,"

"I know, Jagiya. It's okay,"

Being intimate nowadays to some young couples like you represented nothing but wild, crazy, sex. You realised how it became a non-existent competition between whose husband or boyfriend made his partner feel better whenever you hang out with your friends. When it came to you and Hoseok, you vowed to never share such intimate details; it was something about the both of you that did not concern anybody else. You both also agreed to cherish those moments like how you both held hands when you both reached your peak. Your wedding ring glistening in the soft glow of the soft light that engulfed you both, catching Hoseok's eyes, reminding him that you were his and he was yours. He adored the way your lips met his in a desperate kiss, silently telling him how much you love him. Your muffled moans, like a rare good piece of music to his ears. The way you circle your arms over his shoulders pulling him close for a few seconds before the two of you pulled apart from the heaving and sweaty embrace. This was a world of your own that no one has the right to invade its borders. Exclusive only for both of you to enjoy and experience.

Communication was also the main contributor to your relationship. Hoseok remembers during Jimin's wedding when he made a toast saying "Hobi hyung and y/n are like role models to me. The way they loved and doted on each other isn't like anything I have ever seen before." Hoseok took your hand in his, lightly squeezing it. I love you, you turned your head smiling softly at him, your smile saying I love you, too back. Your eyes searched his face with a look of adoration before you pecked his lips and settled your head on his shoulder. Jimin was right; the boys rarely witnessed any of you raising your voice in anger towards the other, instead, you would both try and talk to each other. The fact that you were aware that communication is an important element to any relationship made you stand against so many hardships that could've broken you up. "So, here's to Hobi hyung and y/n for being my favourite couple of all time," Jimin said raising his glass, making his wedding attendees burst in laughter and awes.

Life wasn't always easy on the both of you, just as there were ups, there were downs as well; nevertheless, you remained stronger than ever with each others' embrace, not just physically but also mentally. Hoseok sighed as you pulled him into your chest, tears escaping down his face. Your warm embrace was enough to put his fast heartbeats in sync with your steady ones. You didn't say anything, you didn't need to, you just pulled him into your arms ready to stand and fight against what was bothering him. Hoseok also didn't need anything else other than the reassurance of you being there for him. "Do you want to talk about it, baby?" You whispered softly, running your finger through his chestnut hair. Shaking his head, he put his head into your neck, body entangled with yours in a beautiful mess on your sofa. "I just want you to keep on holding me," he answered back. You closed your eyes for a moment, sighing. If that's what he needs then that's what you're giving him. I am right here, love you tried to put your thoughts into action by rubbing his back and running your fingers through his hair now and then. He placed a small kiss on your neck as a silent thank you.

One of the things that you loved about your relationship was sharing what you both loved to do together.

You sat between Hoseok's spread legs, his arms circling you in a tight embrace as you read a book that held a small collection of poems that you really liked. Hoseok kept on slowly placing passionate kisses along your face starting with the side of your forehead, your cheek, your jaw, till he reached your neck and nibbled lightly on your skin. "Hobi!" You whined turning to look at him. " What, love," he smiled at your pout, "please, focus," you said trying to sound serious as you turned your attention to the poem that you were reading. "Baby, I am focused," he said continuing with his distractions making you giggle as you turned your whole body into his embrace, circling your hands around his neck with the poetry book still in your grasp. He felt the cold pages that flowed with art slightly touching the back of his neck. You looked all over his face before leaning in, kissing him, softly biting his bottom lip as you slowly released it. A playful gaze underneath your lashes was displayed to him as soon as you opened your eyes. You pecked his lips one last time before turning in your original position with a smirk on your pretty features. "Focus," you said again continuing with your reading, leaving Hoseok in a complete daze. He chuckled, before pulling you closely and nestling his head beside yours as his eyes scanned the poem you were reading.

"Y/n!" Hoseok whined as you yet again made a wrong step making you both stumble and fall on the floor of the dance studio. Lately, you've been wanting to try learning tango. Something which made Hoseok not hesitate for a second and jump immediately at the chance of dragging you to his safe haven, the dance studio. You laughed at your failed attempt with Hoseok hovering over you shaking his head with a smile on his face. "I am sorry, turns out it's not as easy as it looks," you said calming down from your laughter. "Baby, it is easy you just need to pay attention," he said pulling you up with him. "Come on. Let's try again," Not a few minutes later Hoseok whined your name, again, as he pulled back from your laughing figure, pulling slightly at his hair in frustration. Your laugh echoing throughout the studio put a small smile on his face as he shook his head. "Baby, no don't be frustrated," you whined playfully running towards him, jumping to wrap your legs around him. Hoseok holding you by your thighs while your hands rested on his shoulders. He laughed at your attempt to lighten up the atmosphere as you sensed his failure to help you learn a few moves. He looked up at you, chuckling when he was faced by your excited gaze and your small smile that he knew would burst any moment into a big one any second now. You leaned in to give him a kiss to encourage him which he reciprocated with so much love. Pulling back you push yourself off him, "let's try again. I promise I'll get it right this time," you said pecking his jaw. He nodded, his eyes no longer held frustration, but determination mixed with adoration to help you learn. That's how it always has been with you and Hoseok.

Shaking his head slightly to come out of his bubble, he looked at the interviewer still incapable of describing your relationship. Maybe someday when you both grow old together, he would consider writing a book to try and convey his feelings for you because by then you both would have learned more about each other and experienced every dimension of the other. So, for now, he was satisfied with his short answer which he knew that only you and he understood that it held so much more than the simplicity of it, "I don't know, I guess that's what love does, right?" He said smiling into the camera...

[chocolatemillkk]

Call me Out (CM)

"Soo what are we doing again?" I ask for the fifth time, hugging my arms to my chest. It was an unusually cool evening in LA and although my bottom half was covered appropriately in a pair of jeans, I had on only a tube top leaving my bare arms covered in goosebumps.

"Well Rick forgot his ID and so did Omar and Anth's still on the damn phone." My friend sighs. "So I don't know!"

"Just go to the club without us!" Rick says for the millionth time and I seriously wonder why we didn't do just that. "We'll come next time."

"The whole point was to go together since we've all finally got fake IDs." Omar pouts. "They can go if they want. But-"

"We could go to one of those all-age clubs-"

"No! No, those suck-"

"I have an idea." My friends all pause at the new voice. It was Anth's friend Conor who he introduced us to earlier that evening. We'd all said hello and included him in the group without a question even though he was obviously British and not from around here. Which we all secretly thought was really cool...but were just too LA to admit. But Conor hadn't gone unnoticed for me-catching my eye and sending my heart racing. Not only because he had the same accent as my favourite movie ever made at the time (Bridget Jone's Diary) but he was cute in a way that wasn't intimidating. "Those of us with ID can get the beer and we can find some place to hang out." Conor licks his lips. "We can still make the most of the night that way."

All eyes are on the group newbie until Omar speaks up, obviously relieved from his fomo: "You're genius. Let's do that."

"Okay, my basement's empty we can head there. So how about Y/N goes and..." Malia stares at our newcomer for an uncomfortable second as she blanks on his name.

"Conor." I cut in. "Conor and I will go."

At the sound of his name, Conor looks up sharply at who said it. I feel myself blushing clumsily as I try not to look as excited as I felt but I couldn't help it! I would finally get some time alone to get to know my sudden new crush.

Since the closest liquor store was right up the street, Conor and I head off and tell the gang we would meet them at Malia's. As we walk, I'm nervous. I fold my arms into myself, and then unfold them, and fold them again before Conor offers his leather jacket.

"Oh I'm fine," I say politely. Damn. I wasn't fine in any way. But I couldn't just accept his-

"No take it. I'm warm." Conor begins stripping the jacket off before I could politely decline again. "I've got a jumper underneath anyway."

"A jumper?" I ask, looking at the sweatshirt he wore underneath and back up at his face.

"Yeah," he picks the fabric up to show me. "A jumper?"

I take the jacket from him and eagerly drape it over my shoulders; its leftover warmth blankets my body. "Is that like, a British thing?" I ask, intrigued and still staring at him, forgetting we should be continuing our walk instead of standing under the street lamp.

"I don't know...I guess?" Conor seems just as nervous as me as he shoves his hands into his pocket. I tug the jacket closer around my body which catches his attention, his eyes roaming all over me. I sense a shift in him, almost unnoticeable except in the way that he finally meets my gaze.

"You've got really nice eyes," he says and then immediately looks away.

"Thanks," I laugh nervously. "You've got a really toasty jacket."

He looks back up, his cheeks a slight pink under the sodium lights, and his tensed face melts into a smile that warms me up from the inside. He has a playful glint as he tugs at the jacket's lapel, "I'm a hot guy-didn't I already say?"

He was hot. But I don't stroke his ego. I turn away instead, continuing again on our trek to the store, calling out behind me. "If I remember correctly the only thing you said was you were warm!"

He laug loudly into the night and the ice between us. We begin talking and asking about the other, greedily tearing up the rare time alone, wanting to know each other as well as we could before we had to return to our group. By the time we get into the liquor store I've told him about growing up in LA, how I hated school, and how my brother drove me crazy and he's told me about the town he's from, his younger brother and sister, and why he was in LA--to work on music. And I was impressed, he was only my age.

"So are you any good?" I ask him as we track down the aisle with the cheaper beer. We're the only ones inside so we try not to draw too much attention.

"No. Not yet," he laughs and his face does the squinty thing I'd started to find adorable. I stare at him as he leans down and picks up two cases.

"Well will you let me hear it? When it is good?" I ask seriously.

He straightens up and turns to me, nodding his head vigorously. "Yeah," he answers, his voice suddenly serious. "I will."

Two Years Later: "I've heard it then," I'm on the phone with Conor as I look out the taxi window into the crowds of tourists. I was on my way to my boyfriend's place and the radio surprised me with a familiar voice. "Your song just came on the radio and I've finally heard it!"

"I was on the radio?" Conor asks from the other side of the world. I wished he was here to hear it with me so I could see his reaction myself. "You heard me in LA?"

"I'm in a taxi," I say. "And I'd recognise your stupid voice anywhere."

"And?" Conor asks, not hiding his excitement at all.

"It's still not good-I told you to only show me when-"

"Shut up!" Conor shouts and I have to move the phone away slightly as his belly-laugh emenates from the phone. "You're a little shit!"

"No!" I insist. "You're shit!"

"Don't say that," Conor's humour is slowly leaking out of his voice and I decide I'd taken the joke far enough.

"It’s-as you would call it-bloody amazing! I was totally kidding. The song. Is. Amazing."

"Really?" Conor asks, his excitement apparent again.

"Yes!" I shout. "You should be so proud of yourself! Soon you'll be as big as Beiber!"

We go back and forth as he shies from the compliments and finally accepts them. We move onto the cliffnotes version of life updates before I reach my destination and tell him I had to go. This was the way it had been with Conor and I over the two years we'd known the other. After an intense first time hanging out, we'd eased up and stuck to the safe option of being good friends. The constant distance between us and the fact that we shared a mutual friend group, prevented us from hooking up-if things went south, it would be very awkward. Plus, we were both busy figuring out our own futures. Mine, currently, was going to school so I could get into acting.

But I still couldn't control my erratic heartbeat whenever I spotted Conor in LA. There was an undeniable attraction, made stronger with the easy chemistry we had. He had a pull on me none of my other crushes or boyfriends ever had. But after a few weeks every time, I had to let Conor go back home to London and as painful as it was each time, it would be made more painful if we were anything more than friends. So I simply chalked it up to a juvenile crush and forced myself onwards.

One Year Later: "Y/N..." Conor pulls his pants onto his hips and secures it with a belt. "I don't know what to-"

"It's fine," I laugh like I thought everything that had happened over the last 10 hours was all one big joke. But my hands shake under the covers and I have a hard time looking him in the eye.

I had turned 21 yesterday and my boyfriend dumped me the morning of because I was being too "clingy”. He was leaving in the afternoon, flying out across the country for some modelling jobs he'd landed and I was mildly upset he had to leave on my birthday. Meanwhile, Conor suprised me at my apartment, completely oblivious, with birthday champagne and a balloon he'd stuck a picture of his face on. It was his only free night because he had to fly out the next morning.

But he'd found me: mascara on my cheeks, crumpled pyjamas, and a fistful of tissues. He sat and listened so patiently before helping me clean up. Once I'd cried it out however, the inevitable happened. We popped the champagne, swore at my ex, drank the bottle between us, and then reached for each other. Because of loneliness or our long history, we ended up in bed. My bed. And I wish I hadn't drank so much so I could remember even half of it but as soon as I woke up I knew I fucked up. I was simultaneously heartbroken over my ex and absolutely gutted that my first time with Conor was under circumstances like this.

"You were comforting me. We're both adults now and we made an adult decision right? It's fine." I sit up, making sure the blankets were wrapped tight around my torso. Conor looks at me hesitantly, his hands dropping to the side and he looks just as gutted. We weren't supposed to let this happen. Not like this. We knew eventually we would sleep together with all the sexual tension we had between us-but never ever like this. This felt cheap...we could barely even remember it.

"So you're okay I have to go again?" Conor asks slowly.

"I'm fine. You have a life to go back to." I say more confidently than I felt-I didn't want to be clingy again. And what would I even say if I wasn't okay? It was a stupid question to ask. "And my shift starts in a couple hours anyway-acting doesn't pay the bills!"

Conor throws his shirt on before sitting beside me. He looks down at my hands clasped around the covers and then my collar where the pendant I always wore rests. He picks it up and rubs it like I usually did when I was nervous. It was hard to reconcile the person Conor put on in public to this gentler version of him in my bedroom. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I'll see you on the big screen soon enough."

"You'll only see me when I'm good enough," I give him a wry smile, calling him out. He drops the necklace, his hand curving around the back of my neck. For a split second I think he was maybe going to kiss me again but he kisses my forehead instead. I close my eyes, stretching the brief millisecond into an hour, or two, or five. I create some alternate timeline where I can do this all over, so that when Conor kisses my forehead it doesn't feel cheap with regret and stink of pity.

Fourteen Months Later: "It's nothing!" I pull my hand out of Malia's grip but she grabs my hand again.

"You call that a promise ring?" She asks skeptically of the diamond ring my boyfriend had gifted me yesterday evening.

"Promise ring?" Anth asks as he comes back with Conor who'd arrived late-a bad habit we'd all gotten used to. I try to stuff my hand back into my hoodie but Conor catches the light glinting off the diamond. I don't want to see his expression but I can't help but watch as it falls, a look of betrayal settling in. It wasn't my fault-not really. Conor and I kept up a false pretense of being friendly after the last time we saw each other but we unravelled quickly the longer we went without addressing it. How could we be the same when we suddenly carried so much baggage?

Our relationship suffered. Meanwhile, my boyfriend came back to LA on his knees begging for forgiveness. He had been stressed out about his shoots and he regretted our breakup as soon as he'd landed at JFK. So I kept my own regret from that night to myself and taken him back. A month in and we'd moved to New York for the year where he modelled and I miraculously landed a very small Broadway part. When we moved back, he'd given me the promise ring. That was last night. Malia messaged me this morning to tell me the gang was in town and we were meeting up again. I didn't realise Conor would be there too. Our conversations had fizzled out once he realised I’d moved to New York with my boyfriend.

"Y/N's settling down," Anth teases. "Y/B/N is making a wife out of you!"

"It's not an engagement ring guys!" I insist but it sounds false even to me. It was supposed to be one. But the look of horror on my face when my boyfriend got on one knee at the beach had him stuttering and then insisting it was just a promise ring. So I had accepted like the coward I was because I was too scared to be on my own again. Three years of our relationship and Anth was right-I was settling.

"That's a big ass diamond," Conor jokes but it has a sharp edge to it. "Good for you. So uh-I'm getting a drink."

When I track Conor down, away from the group, he's stony faced.

"It's been a while." I say, feeling like that first night we met when I didn't know how to talk to him.

"Yeah," his eyes flick down to my hand. "A lot's happened it seems."

"Con-" I try.

"I'm alright." Conor cuts me off.

"No. You're not." I call him out.

He clenches his jaw, glancing at me and then sighing. "I know we fucked up Y/N but why did we just stop talking? You're bloody engaged and why am I only finding out now? I've never even met your boyfriend!"

"It-I know-it's complicated. We...complicated things!"

"It shouldn't be complicated! It was just sex!" Conor shouts. "It wasn't complicated! I'm still your friend!"

"Right..." I look down and try to blink away the sudden tears. That all it was to him? "Right. Yeah of course...obviously-duh! It was! I just got...I was unsure! I didn't know what you thought about it. But I'm cool if you are. We're still friends?"

"Yes we're still fucking friends!" Conor is instantly a ball of sunshine as we slip off our past like an oversized, stuffy jacket. I grab his hand and intertwine our fingers, trying to toss out the confused emotions I was feeling. Conor squeezes my hand and I snap out of my thoughts to his smiling face and when he looks at me it feels like that night, I first saw him smiling under sodium lights. When we wouldn't even know this was how we would turn out. I wish I could go back then. Maybe tell Y/N to keep things simple.

As his mouth moves to tell me something, I can’t focus as my head buzzes with the words he'd said earlier. But maybe it's better this way, I think. I didn't want to end up hating Conor, or be hurt by him, when I cared for him this much. I would just have to see it his way, I decide. Just sex. Only friends. "-always your friend."

One Year Later: "Happy birthday!" I shout at Conor. He was in LA for his 24th and the party was massive. Like this-many-people-could-never-fit-in-my-house massive. "Look at you! You're so spoiled now!"

Conor crushes me against him-it had been a good six months since I'd seen him. I was travelling all over for a movie I'd gotten a small role in and barely had time to see friends let alone Conor. I missed his energy. And he was super famous now too. Somewhere between seeing him last on New Year's, breaking up with my boyfriend and moving out, auditioning like crazy, and finding a role-Conor had blown up online and my heart swelled every time I saw his ad or his music somewhere. Despite our messy mishap, I'd realigned myself to realise Conor and I could only ever be friends.

"I love your jumper," I say-the term an inside joke by now.

"This is actually a hoodie." Conor teases.

"Fuck I can never get the terminology right!" I laugh and wrap my arms around him again, his "hoodie" a snug fabric to rest my head on.

"Y/N." Conor says seriously so I look at him again, concerned. "Y/N I-I think I'm finally good!" Conor shouts in my ear and when I give him a questioning look he explains. "My music! I think it's finally good enough!"

"Oh Conor," I can't help but grab his face between my hands and squish his cheeks. "It was always good enough!"

Conor laughs causing his face between my hands to morph oddly so I let go. "You're not as much of a bitch as you used to be!"

"Watch your mouth!" I pull his hood over his head and continue tugging it over his face until he apologizes between laughter. When I let go, he takes off the hood and wraps his arm around my shoulder. We stay that way for the rest of the night as he introduces me to everyone we meet. They all assume I'm his girlfriend, joking with me that I should watch out. And I didn't blame them with the way Conor's hand was always on my shoulder or my waist, my hips, touching my hair, leaning in to say something in my ear. I crave his touch every time I don't have it and by the end of the night, I feel drunk on desire more than any of the cocktails I'd had. So when Conor looks at me with a question in his eyes at the end of the night, I don’t call him out. I simply take his hand and go back home with him. Just sex. Only friends. Always friends.

Eighteen Months Later: Since Conor's 24th, we'd made a routine. Unless one of us were in a relationship, every time Conor was in LA, he would stop by. We'd catch up on life and then end up in bed for however long he was here for.

"I'm only in LA for two week." He would say. Or "I go to New York next week." Or "I have a flight on Thursday for Dubai."

It wasn't permanent, he meant to remind me. It wasn't a relationship. It was just sex. And we were just friends. And this was just a bad habit. Or a good habit-was there such a thing? I always looked forward to it. It felt like we were each other's safe space, a secret the other held close to their chest. Minus the emotional attachments of course. It happened so often like this that I'd forgotten I ever wanted more. Being like this actually gave us more time to catch up on every detail of each other’s lives. We opened up about our insecurities, our goals, and all our shared memories. When Conor was staying longer he would work on things in the same room I was in or he would help me practice lines and we created small bubbles in time where everything was blissful between us as long as we were together. It was harder some days than others like when I wanted to kiss him in public or gush to my friends about him-but it was worth it to be close again.

Months Later: I had my first anxiety attack that morning. I didn't even realise I was having it until my knees hit the carpet and I tried to look up at the time.

I had a big audition that afternoon for a children's movie. My agent was so sure I was going to get it-she'd talked me up to every friend she had in high places and knew the company hiring so I knew I had it in the bag yet a movie on such a scale was terrifying. Conor had told me he was coming over after auditions to see how it went and I was oddly nervous to see him too-I'd gotten out of a short relationship so it had been a while since Conor and I got together. And then my mom called me worried about my brother who'd been making all the wrong choices in life as of of late which kept running through my mind. So when my agent called to tell me they wanted a Skype interview now, I knew that usually meant it was a courtesy interview and they didn't actually want me. I did the interview with a really bad connection, my anxiety heightening with every scene looking at their impassive expressions. As soon as it ended, I ignored my agen't phone call and suddenly found it hard to breath, my vision narrowing as everything looked off, and the room tilted around me. I fell to my knees and located my phone, calling the only person I knew who'd understand: Conor.

By the time he arrived, I had managed to calm down but I still couldn't take a deep breath nor could I talk in full sentences. Conor squeezed my hands and helped ground me until I could focus and then he'd gathered me in his arms so carefully, so lovingly, that it scared me enough to start crying. He mistook this for being sad about not getting the part and helped me to bed, setting up his laptop beside me. I didn't correct him, falling asleep as I felt exhausted, and awakening to a vibrating hum.

I don't open my eyes, anxiety clutching my chest as I remembered where I was and what had happened. But the humming beside me helped, the dread slowly unravelling it's hold on me. When I do open my eyes Conor's concentrated on the screen as he hums the same few lines again and again. And the tenderness with which I felt towards him sends me tipping into the panic zone so I get up and yank the covers off. I couldn't do this. We said we wouldn't.

"Hey you're up," Conor looks at me. "I'm gonna hum something does it sound like something you've already heard or is it-"

"You have to go." I say abruptly and he stops talking immediately. "I need to be alone Conor please go. Now."

He stays for a heartbeat before closing his screen and getting out of bed. His mouth opens to say something but he looks at me and closes it, bowing his head and moving out the door. I listen as he leaves and take a deep ragged breath. I felt wild, like a frantic ball of confused energy was buzzing within me like a pinball machine. Like a panic attack hangover and as soon as Conor goes I want him back. I make it so far to the front door when I retreat until my back hits the wall. What was I doing? But I craved the comfort of his touch and it urged me to call him back. I couldn’t though. He wasn’t my boyfriend, I couldn’t keep doing this. But the sudden sound of a knock at the door echos my pounding heartbeat.

I carefully open it to Conor, running his fingers through his hair. I barely register what he says; opening the door wider, just wanting him back in. He drops his bag to the floor as he closes the door behind him. In an instant, his hand finds my waist, our foreheads touch, our eyes locked. It felt like we were the center of a volcano of passion and desire, boiling as his hand tightens on my waist, bubbling as my hand slips around the the base of his neck, simmering and leaking as I close my eyes and he crashes his lips into mine.

I can't remember what happens next-not chronologically. We're bumping into walls and shedding the day, as well as our clothes, and as we ease into the sheets the volcano bursts with hot molten lava, destroying anything that was ever left of us before.

I must have nodded off again right after because I wake to Conor in bed facing me. Behind him, my window shows streaks of pinks in the sky as day goes down to dusk. Conor's eyes are watching me carefully, his expression unreadable as he watches me watch him. I trace the bridge of his nose to distract him but he continues staring, something budding in the way he looks at me. It was scaring me and I tell him so.

Yet Conor doesn’t take his eyes off of me, his thumb brushing my cheek and my breath catches as I realise why I was so scared. His eyes hold no trace of its usual playful spark. Instead they're unguarded and clear as day with what he was thinking. Shit. This was it. This was the end. We'd both fallen. Made this something important.

"When are you leaving LA?" I ask, almost begging him to reply with a deadline to our romance for some sort of normalcy. The only way this worked was when he put a time stamp for us to stop waking up in each other's arms. Even if it was one month or one week we would have the most fun as the end date was our safety net.

But when he shrugs and continues to gaze at me, my heart feels like it would burst from my chest. And it practically does as all the hopes I ever ignored of Conor and I as something more than friends, all the fantasies I ever had of Conor wanting more with me, the thoughts I suppressed before they could even manifest-shoving them into a dark corner of my mind-roll forward and flash before me. This was Conor-the first person I think I ever fell in love with. And I can admit it to myself now, looking at him-at us, like this. This was Conor-how could I have ever thought we could be anything but in love in the end? So I remove Conor's hand from my face and hold it to my chest, willingly showing him how much I was feeling in the moment. "I feel it now, can you feel it too?" Conor takes my other hand with his free hand and places it against his own palpitations. My own races faster; was this our demise?

"I feel it too." Conor answers slowly.

"But this is exactly what we said we wouldn't do." I remind him. What he said we wouldn't do. What we weren't.

"What was that exactly?" Conor asks me and his mouth flicks up in a slow smile as the playfulness returns in the blink of an eye. He's weightless as he rolls over me and brings his lips down in a kiss so tender, I never realised he had it in him. When he moves away, he rests his forehead against mine, his lips a hair's breadth away from my own. The look he gives me is a challenge, a dare like we would give when we were younger. His brown eyes looking into mine are daring me just one simple thing:

Call me out.

[avengers2k18]

Taken - Spencer Reid

Words - 2301

Requested - None

Description - You are abducted by the unsub, during the team's investigation. 

The team are all sitting around the table listening to Garcia brief them on the latest case. As Garica is talking about the unsub, pictures of the four latest victims pop up on the large tv screen that is mounted on the wall. “These are the four victims so far, they are Nicole Hull, Hailey Soloman, Elle Preston and Carina Barton, all girls were taken from the street at dark,”Garica explains. “All girls look very similar, brown hair, blue eyes, roughly the same height and weight, he’s targeting girls who look similar to someone he knows maybe a passed girlfriend or wife”. Rossi points out, everyone agreeing. Spencer looks at the girls pictures again, he can't help but think about Y/N who all the girls look similar too, a smile forms on his face at the thought of his girlfriend who’s probably sitting on the couch reading a book with a mug of tea in hand since it's Saturday and she doesn't work on the weekends. 

“The bodies were found in different alleyways in the city, all four of the bodies were dressed as if they were from the 40s and all were strangled to death”. Hotch says with a straight face. Hotch stands up and looks at his team, all ready to receive orders, “Morgan and Rossi you to head to the latest crime scene, see what you can find, Prentiss and Reid, go investigate the bodies see if there is any evidence or marks left on the bodies, JJ and I will head to the local Police station and get set up there and talk to the victims families, Garica research the victims and see if there are any connections between the four of them, also try to identify who he's dressing them up as maybe someone for the 40s or 50s”. Everyone nods and heads to the SUV.

“The bodies all have marks on the wrists and ankles which means they were tied down to a chair maybe,” Spencer thinks out loud. “They also all have multiple slashes to the skin” which makes me think he wasn't trying to kill them but torture them by causing intense pain, maybe he was punishing them”. “These women were also sexually assaulted as well”, the doctor states. Spencer and Emily were currently in the morgue analyzing the four victims. “He used his hands to strangle the victims, you can see the imprints of where he pressed down on the neck” Emily states, bending down to have a closer look. “That's odd, the unsub has used some type of weapon to hurt them, he even dressed them up so why would he use his hands on something he potentially created” Spencer says looking slightly confused, “Maybe he got angry, they weren't cooperating and took it out on them”, Emily stands up straight, “let's get this information to Hotch and the team”.

Spencer and Emily are in the SUV heading to the local police station to meet with the rest of the team and discuss what information they all have found. While in the car Spencer decides to text Y/N, can't wait to see you later wanna watch Stark Trek when I get back? x. A few moments pass and his phone vibrate, he looks down at the text, of course, how does chicken sound for dinner? x, he texts back almost immediately, sounds perfect x.

When everyone arrived back, Garica was the first to deliver the information she found, “there weren't any connections between any of the victims besides, their physical features but I did find out who he is dressing them up as and that is  Gene Tierney, she was a famous movie actor in the 40s and she looks just like the victims”. ”So the unsub is dressing them up to look like Gene Tierney but why kill them?” Jj explains. “ It seems like the unsub has an obsession with this woman and it has driven him to try and create his fantasies with them but none of them cooperated and therefore he killed them”, Spencer concluded. “So what you're saying is that this guy won't stop until he has the right girl”? Morgan added.”Unfortunately yes” Spencer sighed. Hotch stands up and grabs the files “lest deliver the profile”. 

“We're looking for a white male in his early 40s to late 50s, this unsub is patient and obsessive, maybe an unemployed local who is antisocial”, Rossi declares as the team stands in front of dozens of police officers. “He is moving his victims around the city unseen, so he has a vehicle, probably an older model, but well-maintained”, Morgan adds. Emily continues “by killing the victims, it is believed that in the unsub's mind, they failed to live up to his expectations and this is their punishment”. “His behaviour says that we might be dealing with someone who suffers from borderline personality disorder and this could be mean that he's creating his fantasies with these women”, Spencer proceeded “he’s looking for white women with brown and blue eyes and he grabs them at night if they are alone that is all thank you”, Hotch finishes the profile and dismisses the officers.

The team all get back to work on the investigation while Spencer pulls out his phone to call Y/N to notify her that he won't be home till late when he sees multiple miss calls from her. Spencer calls her phone but it goes straight to voicemail. He tries not to panic and decides to text her asking whats wrong. Hotch walks over to the team with an angry look, “A woman was just abducted off the streets by a guy in a van, it looks like our guy, Garcia has CCTV”. Hotch leads his team into a room with a large TV screen and Garica holding a remote. “This happened just half an hour ago outside of a grocery store on Lincoln Avenue” Gracia explains, “That's not far from, where the other victims were abducted”, Morgan exclaims. “That is correct hot stuff and this is what we caught”. Gracia presses the remote and the footage starts to play. The footage shows a young woman carrying a bag of groceries and trying to call someone on her phone, while a van slowly pulls up beside her, a man jumps out of the van and pulls her in, then the van drives away. “Garica can you get facial recognition on the victim and the unsub” Hotch demands. “Yes, sir”. Garcia hops on her computer and starts typing away. The team narrow it down by adding the location and age range. “Okay the man goes by the name Stanley Swanson, he's had multiple run-ins with the law, one was sexually assaulting a teenage girl but the charges were dropped and the girl is...omg” “what is it Garcia, Hotch interrogates,Garica faces the others, looking like she just saw a ghost,”Its Y/N”

The room goes silent, “where did he take her?” Spencer asks panic in his voice. “The footage from the other CCTV cameras show it leads to an abandoned mansion on Colonial Drive” “Everyone get ready to leave I'll go tell the chief to get the S.W.A.T team ready”. Hotch states.The team all reassure Reid that they will get to her safely and start load up their guns and put on bulletproof vests. “Don't worry kid, we will get to her, I've been there before just don't lose focus alright,” Morgan said comforting Spencer. “I know it's just we've seen what he did to the other victims, I don't want to lose her too,” Spencer said looking down, eyes glazed with tears, “and we won't, that's a promise”. Jj and Emily meet each other's eye both angry and worried for their friend. The whole team loves Y/N, they know how much you mean to Spencer and how nice and caring you are towards them when you first met the team especially the girls, they had quickly become your new best friends while Hotch, Morgan and Rossi become like brothers you never had, always having a laugh with each of them. The team splits into two SUVs with cop cars following their lead. 

“Please just let me go, I won't tell anyone I swear”, you sobbed tears streaming down your face. What was going to be a night filled with laughter and love turned into a night of terror, fearing for your own life. You were currently strapped in a chair, your wrists and ankles tightly wrapped with rope. Your abductor was currently doing your makeup and hair. “I'm not going to ask you again shut up!”. You sit there in silence scared he will hurt you if you plead anymore. The man stands up and looks at you with a wide creepy smile. “You look perfect, now just for your outfit, and then we are ready for the scene”. The man walks over to the wardrobe and pulls out a black lace nightgown. He walks over back to you, while you are shaking with fear. “calm down you will enjoy this, you have been the best so far you wouldn't want to ruin that would you?”. You nod agreeing with him for the sake of the situation. “If you try anything I will kill you got it?” He demands, spitting in my face. “yes” I say sadly.

He starts to untie my wrists and my ankles leaving me free from restrains, as soon as he's done untieing me I kick him in the crotch and make a bolt for the door only to find it locked. “HELP, SOMEBODY HELP ME” I shout screaming as loud as I can. He hits me on the back of the head, I scream in pain. “You shouldn't have done that”. He grabs both my arms and pins them to the floor, with one hand holding my arms down, the other hand starts to cut open my clothes, leaving me in just my bra and panties. “Stop please”. I sob. He ignores me and puts the lace gown on me. He stands me up and forces me to the bed. I try to fight back but he's too strong. He ties my arms to the headrest atop of the bed tightly so I cant escape. A new level of fear takes over my body as I know whats about to happen next. The man starts to light candles around the room, “What do you want from me” I ask looking right at him. He doesn't stop what he's doing but merely glances and me and says “I want you”. I continue to sob and hope Spencer is able to save me, even though he probably doesn't know where I am. 

My abducter takes off his suit jakcet and shoes and starts to unbutton his shirt while walking over to me. “Do you know how long I have been waiting for you Gene, how many others I had to kill for you? and now it has lead to this”. I start to scream as loud as I can ruining the mood for the abductor. “SHUT UP!” he roars. Having had enough with my screaming, he opens the side drawers and grabs duck tape and seals my mouth. All that can be heard from me is muffled sobs. He climbs on top of me and straddles my waist, “I was going to slice your skin open like I did to the others but I cant ruin your such perfect skin now cant I Gene” He starts to kiss the side of my neck while his hands travel down my waist, when the door is busted open, by Derek Morgan. I cry out In relief. “F.B.I drop your weapon”. The abductor laughs and drops his knife.Just before they arrest him, He leans down and kisses me, Hotch body slams him to the ground. 

Morgan and Rossi untie me from the ropes and they both hug me in relief. After I hug Rossi I see Reid come in alongside Emily and Jj. I meet Spencer in the middle of the room and hug the life out of him, fresh tears running down my cheeks. He hugs me back tightly afraid I will be taken again. He grabs both my cheeks and brings me into a passionate kiss. After the kiss is over Emily comes from behind me and wraps a blanket around my shoulders, I hug her and Jj back, both of my best friends relieved to see me. We all make our way out of the abandoned mansion. After I've been checked over by medics, Spencer never leaving my side. After saying goodbye to the team Spencer and I climb into the backseat of an SUV and are taken back home.

“Y/N I thought I lost you and I wasn't ever going to see you again”. Spencer says with tears in his eyes. “me too” I say honestly with a shaky breath, I really thought I wasn't going to see him again. I shift over the middle seat to sit beside him. He wraps an arm around my shoulder and hugs me to his chest. I cuddle into him and smile warmly. “Get some rest Y/N, you've had a rough night and it is quite a drive back to our house”. I agree and close my eyes. “Thank you for saving me Spencer”, Spencer kisses my forehead “I will always be there to save you”.

[fireflake-art]

HC: Coco Pommel

Coco Pommel was not always the wealthy, though kind mare she is now. Earlier in life, she was hardly a force to be reckoned with. She was a timid, weak colt from the poor traditional village of rustic Appleloosa, where she lived with her older brother Braeburn. Her name was not Coco Pommel. Rather, she was Cocoa Bean; the shy country boy.

[[MORE]]

Even as a young foal, Cocoa Bean wasn't like the other boys. He didn't have a taste for rough-housing, mud-wrestling and rodeo-watching like the small handful of colts that mildly tolerated Cocoa's presence. He was frail and fragile. He didn't know why he hated the look of his own face, or his name, or his body. The bullying didn't help; how'd they would call him names like "sissy" or "fag" until he was sobbing. Of course when the tears came, the bullies only had more ammunition.

Cocoa hated himself. He hated his bullies and his supposed friends; he hated dirt and rust and those stupid Celestia-damned rodeos! He grew a resentment for his parents, Apple Brown Betty and Half Baked Apple, blaming them for his existence. The only pony Cocoa Bean didn't have the energy to hate was his big brother, Braeburn, and baby sisters Jonagold and Apple Fritter.

Their relationship wasn't without strain. Braeburn was the model son, Appleloosa's golden boy. Top of his class, he was a very chivalrous young stallion; kind, brave, courageous, friendly, charming, straight forward... Anything you could want in a kid, a friend, or a brother. Cocoa Bean got told so many times that he was lucky to have a sibling like Braeburn. Cocoa wanted to hate his brother-- everybody loved him, and for what? Because he could smile? Cocoa wanted to smile, why couldn't they allow that?

Yet still... Braeburn was very important to him. Cocoa Bean looked up to Braeburn. So much so that he spilled his guts to him, only after Braeburn had found him about to run away.

Cocoa Bean confessed everything to Braeburn. The torment, the self-hatred, the neverending confusion over who he was. Cocoa Bean feared that he was a teenage monster. A defective pony. That he was born wrong, because... Because he, a young colt, not only yearned for another colt to like him in more than a friend way, but... he also wanted to be a mare.

Now, in a small dirt village like Appleloosa, not everypony is educated on things like gender dysphoria. Braeburn was one of these ponies. He didn't hate Cocoa, he was just confused and trying, trying to understand. Even when he didn't really get it, he comforted his... his sister, as best as he could. He encouraged her to be who she, erm, wanted. Or was.

Cocoa couldn't bare coming out to the whole town, but Braeburn convinced her that their parents wouldn't be mad at her. Cocoa quietly admitted her true self to them. Her parents didn't understand, but they could see the pain their child was going through. They wanted Cocoa Bean to be happy, and if that meant Cocoa would be a girl, then the family could manage that.

So Cocoa Bean's name was changed to Cocoa Butter. The town's delicate little punchbag colt became Appleloosa's own freak.

Once word got out that Cocoa Bean was no more, her bullies couldn't stop cackling. Everywhere she went, Cocoa Butter felt like ponies were whispering about her. Gossiping about the weird tranny, the confused colt, the contagious faggot... She couldn't take the staring eyes. With a final note to the family she loved, she left on the next train to Manehattan.

Barely getting by, she became determined to find a way to earn a living. She had always had a fixation for fashion, so she started working towards something in that department. She showed up to a various popular clothing stores, meekly asking for a job only to be rejected again and again.

Just as she was thinking it was time to go back to Appleloosa, a customer came up and offered the mare an internship. The customer promised that she would be housed, fed, and clothed; in exchange, the naive young lady would be her assistant. Of course she quickly agreed! But first, she would need a name change... No one would know she was in the fashion business with a name like Cocoa Butter. So Cocoa Butter became Coco Pommel, and Coco was kindly taken in by this sweet stranger... Suri Polomare.

We know how the story goes from there. Power of generosity. Nonetheless, Rarity got Coco Pommel hired by Hoity Toity, who turned her life around! Hoity Toity is close friends with Sapphire Shores, her wives Songbird Serenade and Countess Coloratura, and even Grand Duke Blueblood, is already famous as hell, and they all wanted Coco to design their newest wardrobe items.

Coco Pommel was no longer just a lowly assistant to a short-cut designer, and ponies reconigzed that. Ponies like Svengallop.

While Quincy Svengallop the III did have a brief buckle in his career thanks to Coloratura, he managed to revive his name, albeit not without hardships. After the disagreement, he had to be on his best behavior. He shifted gears into a more subtle manipulation tactic... Enough that he was able to snag a short job as Sweetie Belle's agent, and even jumpstart the modeling career of Duke Blueblood's daughter.

With that résumé, how could Coco Pommel refuse when the charming stallion suggested his services?

Svengallop became the mare's agent. He was rugged, handsome, and played the role of a gentlemen very convincingly. She fell fast. Coco tried to push the feelings down, but over the course of the next few months, a nice bond manifested.

Since they were good friends, Svengallop convinced her that the deal with Countess Coloratura was a misunderstanding. The deal with Bellevue was a misunderstanding. Coco Pommel believed him. He lied so kindly and so, so easily that he found warmth in how quick Coco Pommel was to think him a good pony. Svengallop thought her understanding nature was cute. The naive, innocent little mare was adorable, honest, and meek. So honest that she told Svengallop that she loved him, and so meek that she accepted his proposal to elope that same night.

Svengallop sired twin children with his wife; Noteworthy and Cherry Chapstick. They weren't his firstborn. Mayor Mare birthed his eldest Pencil Pusher, the product of a one night stand. Years of Coco Pommel, Svengallop grew bored and started an affair with young culinary upstart Silver Spoon; it ended when she announced a pregnancy. He left Silver Spoon to raise the foals, Cordon and Nouvelle, on her own.

Teenager/young adult Pencil Pusher soon found out their father's identity, declaring Sven's infidelities. Outraged, humiliated and broken-hearted, Coco Pommel divorced his ungrateful ass and took the kids.

After finding everything out, Coco Pommel is now surrounded by ponies who actually love and accept her. She remarried to a kind stallion the name of Quibble Pants. Mayor Mare is the aunt of Pinkie Pie and her sisters, so there's a lot of nieces and nephews. Coco Pommel now co-runs a shop with Sassy Saddles, with Ritzy Ring, Cherry Chapstick and Bellevue being the main models.

Other notes~

- Despite her dainty persona, Coco Pommel is not as weak or shy as one would assume. She's a fairly assertive mare, and doesn't hold back when defending either herself, her ideas, her family, friends, or a random stranger. She's still sweet, but bolder. Coco believes in herself more than she ever did. She's not trapped in a web anymore, whether its of her own making or Svengallop's, and the best part? She got herself out of it. She's proud of how far she's come, Celestia damn it. She's a good, strong mare that doesn't need anybody to push her to be tough.

- Coco Pommel did eventually get back in touch with her family. Slowly, they're working to make Appleloosa a more accepting place. The town was silently hateful when Jonagold got a girlfriend; Appleloosa quietly talked when Fritter turned out genderqueer (nb demigirl)... They were shocked when Braeburn himself came out as gay. Their parents supported their children and changed their biases. Brown Betty even started talking about how she was raised by two mothers, one who was appearantly a trans mare. The family are very close now and are happy for each other.

- Brown Betty is Granny Smith's daughter, younger than Bright Mac but older than her youngest Apple Bumpkin. Bumpkin is married to Hayseed Turnip Truck; they're Babs Seed and her big sister Sunflower's parents.

- Slowly with Braeburn's care, Appleloosa adopted a more friendly and open-minded community, and the citizens even apologized for the uncomfortableness they caused to the transgender or gay ponies in the town. Braeburn married Score (from RD's Boy Bullies) and had their stoic son, Snapple.

- Coco Pommel doesn't mind her family calling her Cocoa Butter.

- Cherry Chapstick is mtf transgender. Svengallop rejects her true self. He disagrees with Pencil Pusher being non-binary as well. Once Coco Pommel publicly announced that she herself was born a stallion, Svengallop felt humiliated and was honestly disgusted to his core.

- Noteworthy always favored his dear ol' dad. Coco has tried to fester a good relationship with her boy, but he blames her for Svengallop being a bad father.

- Just to sum up the family tree, Svengallop's first-born is Mayor Mare's nb offspring Pencil "Pen" Pusher from a one-night-stand. Mayor Mare is Pinkie Pie's dad Igneous Rock's big sister; she ran away to pursue a life outside the rock farm and its traditions. Svengallop married Coco Pommel and had their twins Noteworthy and Cherry. After some years, Sven cheated and sired Silver Spoon's twins, Cordon and Nouvelle. The pair divorced once Pen uncovered Svengallop's infidelities. Coco married a childless Quibble.

Pinkie Pie also has about nine kids; five stepchildren, four biological. She and her wife Rainbow Dash had Airhead, Creampuff, Starburst and Jawbreaker, before they became the girlfriends of Dumbbell, who had previously had Featherweight with Bulk Biceps and Thunderweight, Phoenix Ashes, Hailstorm and Whirlwind with Lightning Dust.

- The mentioned Ritzy Ring is Sassy Saddles' daughter. Bellevue is Blueblood's.

I'm very aware this is a lot more scattered than my usual HC: Character but hey, writing when you have writer's block be like that sometimes. It took me a few months to actually get this down

Why do so many of my headcanons involve secret family members and ugly truths? I honestly do not know.

Thanks for the read. If you use this headcanon, please give me credit, otherwise don't plagiarize

HC: Apple Bloom;

https://www.deviantart.com/gayswillrule/art/HC-Apple-Bloom-809352963

HC: Cake Twins;

HC: Mayor Smith;

Peace ✌️