#the tv show one had me rollin

[crashandlivewrites]

@soapsgf and I were feeling gay so we wrote lesbian fics for each other <3

Pairing: fem!Ghost x fem!reader (or rather, stone top butch Ghost x pillow princess reader)

CW: MDNI 18+ content, NSFW, cunnilingus, mention of a strap, relationship insecurities, Ghost communicating (?!?!), use of daddy one (1) time

Word Count: 2.1k (this was meant to be a drabble oops)

You were cuddled up on the couch late at night in your small flat you shared with your girlfriend, Simone, whenever she was back from deployment. Your hands had slithered their way underneath her jacket and shirt, leeching the warmth from her body as she had one of her muscled arms thrown casually over you, keeping you tucked into her side as her fingers traced mindless patterns over your body.

Playing on the tv was a reality show you enjoyed, yet tonight you weren’t really paying attention to it. Simone had even chimed in a few times, to show her interest in the show for you, but her statements and questions remained unanswered. It wasn’t until something ridiculous happened that would normally have pulled a barking laugh from you that she decided enough was enough.

Switching the tv, she placed a hand over your shoulder, shaking you lightly.

“You gonna tell me what’s been rollin’ in your head since I got home or not, pretty girl?” Her voice startled you, breaking you out of your daydream as you pulled back from her, furrowing your brows.

“What? I’m sorry, wasn’t listening.”

“Clearly.” She gave you a pointed look. “Wanna know what’s on your mind, lovie. You haven’t been right since I got back.”

“Nothing. Just tired. Been a long day.” You tried to dissuade her, waving your hand as you reached over her to take the remote, only to my stopped by her firm fingers on your wrist.

“I’m not stupid, nor blind, love. You haven’t been yourself. You’ve been quiet.”

Cursing inwardly, you looked away from your overly observant girlfriend, trying not to show your discomfort. Of course, she’d noticed the small things that no one else would. Your brows furrowed and you wrung your fingers as you tried to search for the right words. Simone just sat there, a reassuring hand against your shoulder, letting you know she was there to listen. She always was.

“It’s stupid… really, I don’t know why it’s affected me so much.” The hesitancy was evident in your voice, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

“It’s not nothing. It’s got you in a tiff.”

“It’s…” You faltered, eyes flicking around the room as you were unable to look at her. Only when her hand reached out to grip your jaw did you force yourself to meet her gaze and continue. “It’s about sex.”

“What about it?”

“I just… don’t you feel left out?” Her brows knitted together, and she angled her head, signalling for you to continue. “I feel like I’m always just lying there when we have sex. I do nothing. You’re doing everything, Simone, including getting me off but not yourself. Don’t you hate that?”

Her hand went soft on your jaw as her thumb stroked your cheek, eyes boring into yours.

“What stupid video have you seen now?” Blinking, you cocked your head and looked at her in bewilderment.

“How did you—”

“Doesn’t take much. Let me guess, some wanker of a broad on tiktok made a video about how pillow princesses are lazy and should do more work, hmm?” Simone leaned forward, getting into your space as you stared at her, dumbfounded.

“But isn’t it true?”

“I think you’re missing the point of the term, princess.” She elongated the term of endearment as her hand ran down your neck. “I like making you feel good. Just you. Besides, the way you sound when you come, who wouldn’t want to hear that?”

Your face heated and you tried to push her away in protest as she smiled, flashing a toothy grin before running her tongue along her lips. Though her words struck a chord with you, there was still some lingering doubts swimming in your head.

You could count the total amount of times you’d gotten her off with your own mouth or fingers on one hand. The queasiness in your stomach, however, didn’t fade with her reassurance.

“Do you not like me in that way?” Your voice was small and filled with shame, as if you already knew the question was stupid, but you couldn’t stop the feeling from clawing its way up. Simone’s eyes softened and her long fingers ran along the back of your head.

“Lovie, it’s not like that. You know it takes me a lot to want to be in the mood to receive. It’s got nothing to do with not wanting you. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“But your job is stressful! Surely you’d want some release when you come back?”

“You’re my release, princess.” She whispers, voice lowering as she leans in. “The way you’re so obedient for me, how you spread your legs so eagerly, how wet you get when my fingers barely graze your skin… you’re a fucking sight, princess. And you’re mine.”

The drop in her tone sent a rush of arousal through you. Pursing your lips and squeezing your thighs together, you whine in protest.

“I want to please you!”

“You do fuckin’ please me, lovie. The sight of you on our bed, legs spread open, begging for me to touch you like a good little slut. My good little slut. Makes my head spin. Hearin’ you scream my name as you squirt over my face? A fucking godsend.”

Simone was now shuffling over the couch into your space. You felt the sturdy armrest pressing into your body as you leaned back, face heating and heart thumping. True to her words, your legs were unconsciously spreading for her, accomodating her broad frame as she nestled between your thighs, her large hands caressing your pliant one.

“Simmy…” Your voice was barely above a squeak as she cocked her eyebrow up at you, the smirk on her face deadly.

“What is it, my little princess? What do you need?”

“You.” Simone hummed, shaking her head.

“More specific, princess. You know the rules.” Her hands slid up your thin shirt, tweaking at your nipples and drawing a gasping moan from you.

“Mouth… want your mouth Simmy please.”

“My mouth where?” She pressed, squeezing your tits now in her large hands as her mouth descended on the bare skin of your stomach, pressing soft kisses as she waits for you to reply.

Moaning both in delirious pleasure and frustration, you managed to lift your head up and look down at her with a frown.

“You’re so cruel.” You pouted accusingly at her, and she laughed darkly in response, but she didn’t make any further movements. Not able to resist any longer, you tilted your hips up so they were closer to her mouth. “Want your mouth on my pussy and want you to make me come.”

This time, your girlfriend grinned wickedly, adjusting you both so your legs were thrown over her muscled shoulders.

“My good fucking girl, using her words. Gonna reward you for that.” And she did.

Her lips immediately latched onto your clit after pushing your underwear aside, dragging her tongue up your slit as she moaned, fingers digging into the plushness of your thighs. Moaning into your cunt, she moved down, tongue lapping over your wetness as your fingers wound their way into her hair.

She usually buzzed it short whenever she left for the field, then let it grow. Right now, it was just long enough for you to tug at with your fingers as you cried out her name. Simone had always been godly with her mouth, and tonight was no different.

Tonight, she was taking her time with you, pressing soft kisses over your sensitive flesh, her tongue sliding languidly up your cunt, delving into your wet hole and groaning at your taste.

“So fuckin’ wet f’me lovie. Practically dripping on our couch.” Our couch, she says. You grin amidst the pleasure, thinking about how quickly Simone began to call your home hers as well.

Sucking your clit back into her mouth, she reached down so the pads of her fingers were prodding at your soaked entrance. Clutching at her hair, you rolled your hips, eager to feel the delicious stretch as she pressed her long fingers into you. But she didn’t. Instead, she clicked her tongue and pulled back.

“So greedy tonight, princess. What was all that talk about earlier? Wanting to do all the work? No sweets, you belong here, beneath me writhing and moaning like the little slutty princess you are.”

“Simone.” You whined, rolling your hips once more as your cunt throbbed in need.

“Look at you.” She cooed, grinning salaciously as her eyes raked over your body, clothes having been shoved haphazardly out of the way. “Looking like a proper slag now, princess. Cunt all wet and swollen, perfect tits out on display. Should take a photo.”

Your lips parted at the suggestion, the debate waging in your head.

“Is that what you want?” She hummed thoughtfully.

“Probably not. As much as I’d love to show you off and brag to the blokes that you’re a fuckin’ babe, you’re mine, princess. And only I can see you like this.” To back up her words, Simone’s teeth dragged possessively along your inner thigh, wringing out another moan from you.

Returning her attention to your clit, she flicked it with the tip of her tongue, the barest stimulation still sending shivers up your spine and making your thighs clench around her ears. Ghosting her middle finger down your slit, she pressed it inside you, groaning at the ease.

“Fuck lovie… never gonna get over that feeling.” She pressed another in for good measure and curled, making you squeal and grip her hair tightly, holding her face to your cunt as she ravished you.

“Please… oh god please Simmy. ‘m gonna come.” You panted, heat pooling in you. She pulled back, thumbing your clit as she grinned down at you, fingers still plunging into your slick hole.

“Yeah? You gonna be a good girl for me and come, aren’t you? Gonna make a mess all over our couch and make it smell like you?” Now it was her turn to moan as she leaned back down, alternating between her tongue and thumb as she spoke.

“Love the way you smell, the way you taste… I’d live off you if I could, sweet girl. My good girl. Mine.”

“Yours, Simmy… always yours.” You managed to get out, head spinning as your fingers tightened. You were spiralling, her attentiveness to you was unparalleled, knowing exactly where to press, flick, and suck.

Unable to contain the feeling, you cried out, one hand flying to grip the couch below you as your back arched and thighs trembled. You could feel your pussy pulsing around her fingers, clenching around them tighter as the coil in your gut tightened. Your body was tantalisingly close, perched on a knife’s edge before the spring snapped and you moaned her name as your eyes fluttered closed, head tipping back.

Simone hummed contentedly into your pussy, lapping gently as she worked you through your release. Once your body had sagged back down onto the couch and your walls had stopped spasming around her fingers, she lowered back down to place a soft kiss on the hood of your clit. Jerking from overstimulation, you whined softly, but giggled as you opened your eyes blearily to look up into her smiling face.

“So fuckin’ pretty, lovie.” She whispered before diving in to claim your mouth, tongue immediately pressing in so you could taste yourself. Pulling back just as quickly, her eyes darkened with lust, she looked down at you, head cocked slightly.

“Got an idea, princess. Since you had all that talk about doing some work in the bedroom, why don’t you get out that strap of mine that makes you scream?”

Drawing your lip into your mouth, you nodded eagerly, quickly getting up on shaky legs as you stumbled to the bedroom. You could hear Simone laughing as you walked, but you didn’t care. Returning, strap in hand, you held it out to her.

It was a mean thing, cruelly thick and curved, large enough to hit that spot inside you that made you cream with ease, and she knew it too. Standing up, Simone loomed over you, shucking off her jacket and pants revealing her hulking frame, she tugged on the strap before sitting back down on the couch, legs spread in a way that made you want to crawl between them and worship her. But she had other plans.

“Want you to ride me, lovie. Ride my cock until you can’t take it anymore and need me to take over. Wanna watch that pretty face fall apart as you realise you can’t come without me, then I’ll plow you into the couch.” Whining softly, you crawled into her lap, positioning yourself over her strap.

“Be a good girl and ride Daddy’s cock, like a pretty little slut.”

[deansdelicate]

I CAN SEE YOU

CHAPTER III: TRYING NOT TO FEEL IT

seth rollins x fem!writer+producer reader

word count: [9.6K]

warnings: no use of y/n, mild cursing, slight mention of anxiety, pining and two idiots flirting not so subtly <3

🎧 the soundtrack

summary: You and Seth's paths are intersecting deeper than any of you anticipated. With a new storyline set to begin, it leaves you both filled with a yearning to know if it only ever will be platonic, even if biting the forbidden fruit is only just mindless dreaming.

Another week came with another Monday, and this time for you it meant not just being on screen, but finally getting the chance to work behind the scenes with one of your storylines being rolled out on Raw.

You were mentally ecstatic, finally getting a chance to be in your own element behind the camera, but your body told an entirely different story.

Exhaustion infested your bones, and the last thing on your mind was getting to TV, because all you wanted to do was sleep the day away. Your body was facing the consequences of the constant travel combined with jet lag that you were positive you’d never get used to.

Getting directly off a red eye only made matters worse, muscles aching with heaviness and longing desperately for your bed to make it all go away. The drive to the hotel offered limited solace, especially with the hustle and bustle of the city—road rage and honking keeping you up through the morning traffic jam during the stretch of time where you wanted to cram in more sleep.

Instead, you found yourself staring mindlessly out the window, taking in New York city through the tinted pane, zoning off into secret gardens in your mind, escaping into your thoughts, trying to get away from the chaos pulling you back.

And then, suddenly, everything shifted. The noise of the city seeming to fading into silence as a familiar name cut through the stereo’s hum.

“Welcome to the morning show. We’re joined by none other than the man and my personal favorite wrestler, Seth Rollins. How you doing, man?”

You perked up in your seat, a small smile becoming evident across your sleepy features, when his voice finally hit your ears.

“I’m doing great, looking forward to sight seeing the big apple after this. Thanks for having me.”

His voice sounded a little hoarse, fatigued from matches, the grueling travel schedule, and on top of that, having to do media in the early hours—nevertheless, it seemed as though he was championing it a lot better than you were. Clearly he was a veteran of the fast life already and you desperately needed to play catch up.

For the rest of the drive, you found yourself not only wide awake, but clinging to his voice as if he was the stimulant keeping you up. His laughter and quick wit filling the car, making you giggle despite his physical absence, that felt as if he was right there next to you all along.

You laid back, listening intently to the rest of the radio show. Eyes half closed as Seth talked about his run with Dean and Roman, his favorite matches he’s had, and some of the memorable cities he’s visited. He had so many stories to tell, and you surely wanted to pick his brain apart just so you could hear all of them and get to know him a little better.

“One last question before we let you go: Triple H’s daughter…” the radio host started curiously.

Seth hummed pleasantly, and you swore you could practically hear the smile in his voice.

“What a debut am I right?” He spoke with a mixture of pride and affection.

Your stomach twisted into knots, teeth digging softly into your bottom lip as you tried to hold back a smile that you didn’t even realize was creeping upon you so feverishly.

“The pop she got was insane! What do you think about her so far?” The interviewer pressed for more, and suddenly you felt yourself becoming interested as you waited for Seth’s response.

“I mean other than being extremely impressed, I think the company is going to be in good hands when Triple H feels ready to pass the torch onto her.” Seth’s voice softening with sincerity as he went on.

“She’s a hard worker, and she’s hilarious, and she’s completely selfless.” Seth said, honestly.

“Any chance we can see you two working together?” The interviewer prodded, a teasing tone in his voice.

Seth laughed lightly. “Oh man, I don’t know what the future holds, but if there ever comes an opportunity, I would love to work with her.” He admitted, making you feel giddy all over as you hung your head and tried to fight the smile.

“You heard it here first, ladies and gents…”

His voice was like a looped track echoing over and over again in your mind—the cadence of every answer memorized like the melody to your favorite song.

And even then, when hours passed, you couldn’t help but still feel warm all over just thinking about all the generous things he had to say about you. It was one of the qualities you admired about him the most despite the short measure of time you knew him for. All of things he said to your face, was the same things he said when you weren’t around—a kind of authenticity that was rare to come across.

Music blared through your phone speakers, resounding off the bathroom walls where you found yourself conflicted as to why you still couldn’t shake Seth’s kind words even after the time had passed. Everyone else had met you with the same kindness that he showed you, but not in the way that left you reeling the way Seth did.

But before you could ponder it any longer and get too in your head than you already were, a knock echoed against your hotel door, prompting you to pull back from the bathroom mirror and hit pause on your phone’s music, strolling over and taking a peak through the peephole to see who it was.

You grinned, unlocking the door and opening it wide to reveal your dad on the other side, already dressed in his suit ready to head out to the arena.

“Hey honey,” He embraced you in a hug before you stepped aside, letting him step into your room, “What time did you get in?”

“A little after nine,” you replied, retreating back to the bathroom to finish up your makeup and you continued to talk, “I checked in and decided to nap. I nearly slept through my alarm, but I’m all rested now.”

Originally, you both had planned to travel together, as you often did when arriving in new cities. But your dad had to cut his weekend short, heading out the morning after your sister’s birthday to join the crew because they were short a producer for the local house show. Knowing your dad, you had mentally begun preparing for more solo trips, seeing as though he was always prone to travel changes now that he was the big boss in charge.

“I forgot to ask, how was dinner last Friday?” He leaned against the doorframe, changing the subject after realizing over the weekend you hadn’t talked about work at all.

You barked out a laugh, trying not to poke your eye out while you combed the mascara through your lashes.

“The food was delicious, and everyone was great. They’re all really nice and welcoming—I even told them about the whole ‘suck it!’ car gate situation.”

Your dad smiled upon hearing you talk about the night so up beat, relieved that you were making friends with everyone since you were going to start seeing them more often than not.

He knew that being on the road meant the constant change of scenery, which in some ways were great for your writing process, but it also brought a certain kind of loneliness with not having any established friends around to keep you company—but thankfully that was all starting to change.

“That’s nice. I’m glad you’re feeling a bit settled.” He chuckled with satisfaction, happy that you weren’t miserable on the road after all the convincing he had to do to get you on board.

“Nepotism apparently makes great conversation starters.” You quipped finished up your mascara.

Sure, you loved being in the comfort of your hometown where you grew up and where all of your family and friends were just a drive away when you needed to see them most. And it certainly wasn’t easy coming to terms that your new job meant a lack of permanence but you knew you could adjust with the more time that went on, and you were positive that you could balance your home and the town you were a guest in.

“I actually wanted to talk about your final storyline,” He paused for a moment, catching your eyes in the mirror’s reflection as you stared anxiously.

“I read through it and man…it’s good.”

Your dad smiled proudly, prompting you to squeal mainly out of relief and clapped your hands frantically. He didn’t know why you were so nervous when he was constantly in awe of everything you created, even since you were a child with a rapid imagination that he couldn’t even keep up with.

“I honestly thought you’d hate it because it’s so work.” You whispered, reaching for your powder compact and a brush, beginning to swirl the bristles into the product and tapping the excess off.

“Does it require me to do a little more work? Yeah.” He laughed, as you half rolled your eyes, gliding the brush across your face as he went on.

“But I think if we do some chemistry reads with the superstars we can find the right fit. And if not, then we’ll put a pin in it. It’s still a good script. We just need the right people to play it out.”

You were pleased with his feedback, and if anyone knew creative direction as well as you did, it was your father. You trusted him enough with your ideas, and he respected them all to want to ensure they were brought to life as vividly as they could be.

You both were like the perfect little dream team, and you couldn’t have been happier to have the best boss and father in one person.

“Look at you using my director lingo.” You mocked with a smirk, tipping the brush at him while he rolled his eyes.

“Hurry up and a pin in this,” He retorted, gesturing to the messy bathroom counter, “We’ll drive down to the arena together.”

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you in the lobby?” You replied, getting up close in the mirror to see if you needed any last touch ups.

“Preferably in the next ten minutes.” He scoffed, shooting you a knowing look as he pressed off the door frame.

“Shoo!” You waved him off with a grunt, and he snickered his way out the door, leaving you to it.

Arriving at the arena a few hours early was far better than the early morning drive that consisted of bumper to bumper traffic, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss Seth’s voice over the radio to listen to throughout the way.

You guessed it was just you being a little self absorbed, loving the way he spoke about you, but you decided to steer clear of thinking too much of it because no way did it mean anything deeper than him just being a kind person.

As you and your dad pulled up to the arena, you both rolled down the windows of the car, waving hello and smiling for pictures with fans who waited outside the parking garage gates. Heading inside, you and your dad went separate ways, you dropping your stuff off into your office and heading to set where you were going to be working behind the camera.

The camera crew and sound engineers were already getting set up in a quiet hallway, where the lights were purposely dimmed for dramatic effect. You took it upon yourself to say hello and catch up with everyone as you got mic’d up and helped frame the shot for the pre-recorded promo that would air later in the show.

Soon after, you felt a tap on your shoulder, and there towered over you the one and only Braun Strowman.

“Hey! You excited?” You said eagerly, removing the headsets from over your ears and letting them rest around your neck.

“You know I am.” He rubbed his hands together before giving you a small side hug.

Braun was still fairly new to the main roster with no big storyline or arch that truly set him apart from everyone else except his stature and strength. But ever since you had been tuning into the show for your storyline research, you knew wanted to develop him into a more prominent character and you were glad your dad approved of what you thought up for him.

“Did you want to change anything about the promo?” You asked, grabbing your binder to pull up his script.

He flipped through his copy, looking at you skeptically with a shrug as he pointed to a specific section.

“I’m sorta confused about how I should play this part.” He confessed, hoping you wouldn’t take his critique the wrong way.

You nodded, flipping to the same page as him and reading it to yourself to refresh your memory of what you had planned. You reassured him with another nod, retrieving a red ballpoint pen for edits as you waved him over to a nereby cart where you two could go over what he wanted to change.

“Do you want to go through it and then we can feel out what you want to change?” You suggested, already beginning to make notes in the margins of the script.

“You sure?” He rose his brow, expecting you to tell him to do what he was asked, instead of trying to wiggle his way into the writer’s room.

“Of course!” You nodded, and he began to get into the parts he required more clarity on and the suggestions he had for his character.

You two spent a total of fifteen minutes, revising and going over the script, and much to his surprise, and the entire crew who were listening in, you took every single suggestion with stride and trusted Braun completely to do what he felt resonated with his character and the overall promo. All the edits and suggestions he made were approved, and you were happy he felt comfortable enough to come and tell you why he felt it was right to do so.

You watched closely on the monitors as Braun stood in front of the camera, situatating himself on his mark, before you peered past the lens and counted him down.

“Okay, we’re rolling in 3…2…” your voice died out, giving him the thumbs up and he began his promo.

Seth watched from the opposite end of the hallway, not paying too much attention to the words leaving Braun’s mouth, but more so the sight of you looking as if you were in your natural habitat. You silently helped the camera man pan in different directions as you followed Braun’s movement and gave him cues to speak louder or pause.

Usually in pre-taped segments or promos there were a lot of stopping and reshooting, most times because the producers wanted it absolutely perfect. However with you the process seemed a lot more laid back. A less stressful environment that they were used to back when Vince was around constantly picking apart everything to the point where everyone felt like they didn’t have any say whatsoever.

“And cut!” You announced out, clapping your hands as Braun relaxed up and came back around the camera to see what you thought.

Seth watched as you two exchanged a few words and nods, happy with the product that it didn’t need another take, so the crew began to clear out. You embraced in a quick hug, patting his back, before you spun around to get your mic and ear piece removed.

Seth then made his way to you, brushing past Braun in the process and giving each other a handshake before the giant went down another turn in the hallway.

“Hey, hey Ms. Director.” He chirped happily, getting your attention.

A smile immediately crossed your features, looking over your shoulder while your fingers fidgeted behind your back removing your mic and handing it off to a stagehand.

“Hey you,” you grinned, arms crossing over your chest, glad that he was stopping by to say hello.

“How was the sightseeing?” You eyed the wristband wrapped around his joint, the same one you recognized from the other superstars you ran into who had the pleasure of sightseeing the Statue Of Liberty after media this morning.

Seth rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, frowning somewhat, “Gotta be honest with you, it was pretty anticlimactic.” He confessed, causing you to laugh lightly with a scorn.

“You didn’t happen to get one of those ‘I Heart New York’ shirts did you?” You joked, and he chuckled, shaking his head.

“They did try to sell me one.” He retorted with a point of his finger.

In some odd way, the familiar knots that formed in your stomach when you listened to his voice over the radio were back again, only this time they kept you grounded, beaming warmly at him as warmth flushed over your skin. You knew it was nothing other than pure appreciation, guessing that if it was anyone else who said the things he did about you, you would be feeling the exact same emotions.

“Thanks for putting me over this morning.” You finally broke the momentary silence, politely reaching out to rest a cordial hand over his arm before dropping it back to your sides swiftly.

He thought for a moment, lifting his brows unknowingly not knowing what you were talking about before realization crossed his face. “You heard that?”

You giggled, nodding as you tucked your cheek into your shoulder. “It helps when you have a driver who only ever listens to the local radio.”

“Well, I meant what I said.” He said sweetly, watching you nod, before looking down the hall.

“Your dad wants to see me in his office. It’s about some chemistry read?” He supposed curiously, wondering if you knew what it was about.

You tilted your head, surprised for a quick second that your dad thought of him for the male lead, but you understood why—especially when he possessed the talent for it.

“It’s my final assignment storyline.” You revealed, wringing your hands together nervously, hoping he would like the script when he read over it himself.

“Really?” He was stunned, thrilled to read what you had after learning about it last week. “ I guess I really gotta nail it.” He cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck comically.

“I’ll see you, Seth.” You waved.

“See you,” He nodded, heading in the opposite direction.

You thanked the crew who were still hanging around, before setting off to your office to relax and answer some emails prior to the show starting. To your surprise, when you got there Xavier and his buddies Big E and Kofi were lingering around and immediately perked up when they saw you coming around the corner.

“Ah, Ms. Levesque! I’ve been searching for you,” Xavier stood, holding his arms out excitedly as he did a curtsy.

“What can I do for you Mr. Woods?” You said in your best English accent, bowing slightly making them laugh.

“So I don’t know if you know, but I run a YouTube channel called UpUpDownDown.” He explained, and you nodded enthusiastically, pointing to him.

“Yeah! You had my mom and dad on there, right?” You laughed to yourself, remembering the time you stumbled upon the videos and proceeded to tease them about how not so tech savvy they were these days.

“Oh, man, you really did do your research.” He complimented, happy that you had a jist of what he did outside of the ring.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you’d be interested in coming on the show? I think the fans would really love it, plus I’m always looking for new people to game with.” He shimmied his shoulders, hoping you would be down for the opportunity.

You grinned, immediately nodding, “Do you have Mario Kart?”

“You know I do.”

“Then I’ll be there!”

You invited them into your office so that you and Xavier could sit down and go over a day to film the content. You both settled for the upcoming week during on an off day where there weren’t any scheduled house shows or media to get in the way and cut the day short. The three were incredibly funny and made you feel extra included which was great because you wanted to form friendships and bonds, not just soley being the new writer or boss’s daughter.

You were thankful that Xavier thought about you for his side hobby that he was incredibly passionate about, and it gave you the perfect excuse to sit back and relax without worrying about work. Soon after they said their goodbye’s, a knock echoed on your door and the familiar voice rang through on the other side.

“Ms. Levesque?” It was Eddie.

You went to open it, smiling when you saw him. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Your dad wants to see you in his office.” He informed you, pointing down one side of the hallway as you stuck your head out.

“Did he say why?” You peered over at him and he shook his head with a shrug.

“Apparently, it has something to do with the chemistry reads, but that’s about all I know.”

“Okay, thank you.” You figured it’d be best to head to your father’s office first to see what he needed then get changed for the show.

“When you’re done, meet me in catering. You have some posters that need autographs, and we can catch up.” He offered with a smile, and you nodded.

Coming across your father’s office, you turned the knob, letting yourself in, assuming it must have been urgent if he sent Eddie as opposed to shooting you a text.

“Are we putting a pin in—hey!” You greeted, suddenly taken aback, with the setup in front of you.

A few creative members and producers sat along the elongated table with a camcorder set up on a tripod facing the opposite wall where none other than Seth sat, passing you a welcoming smile as he looked up from the script in his hands.

You smiled tightly, giving him a timid wave before peering over at your dad.

“You really weren’t joking when you said chemistry reads were you?”

He chuckled, shaking his head as he handed you another copy of the script.

“Have a seat, sweetheart.”

Your dad pointed you towards the empty chair next to Seth and with everything happening so abruptly, you didn’t question his instruction and went right ahead and made yourself cozy next to the superstar.

“I want you to read from the first page to right about halfway through the second.” Your dad directed you, and you nodded, beginning to go through the lines that were practically seared into your brain from all the proofreading.

You and Seth both gawked over at your dad, waiting for his cue as he fidgeted with the camcorder, hitting the red button before giving you both a silent nod and a thumbs up.

“Isn’t there something bigger you should be chasing after? Like WWE Championship for instance?” You began, eyes looking up to meet Seth’s.

He chuckled, shaking his head, wearing a maniacal grin. “If you have already forgotten, let me remind you…I’ve already held the most prestigious championship in this company. I’ve carried this company on my back, and even when my knee gave out, I came back to reclaim what I never lost, and now I want something else.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, trying to decode what he meant. “I can’t give you what you won’t say.”

“I’m looking at her.” He whispered, staring at you deeply as if you were the only person around.

Before you could get lost, a look of disgust covered your face, as you pulled back from him scoffing begrudgingly.

“You don’t possibly think I would want anything to do with you do you? I have my priorities straight and I don’t need you getting in the way of them.”

As Seth’s lips parted, getting ready to read the next line, your father cleared his throat, holding his palm up in the air and stopping you both as you looked in his direction.

“Now I want you both to improvise. Keep it rolling…” Your dad declared, guiding his hands in a tumbling motion and you both nodded getting ready to proceed.

Seth tsk’ed, fingers rolling up the script, as he tapped it against his leg.

“Haven’t you ever thought about it? The prodigy of Triple H, myself, and his genius daughter. What’s not to like about that?”

He smirked, looking you up and down before you promptly cut in, trying not to feel the warmth of your blood seizing in your veins. It was just improvising.

“You’re power hungry. Need I remind you this time that my father only did what he did because he wanted what was best for business? And sure, it might have gotten you high up that mountain, but it came crashing down just as fast when your loyalty meant nothing to him.” You retorted sharply, watching his smirk fall into a hurt expression.

“What makes you think I’m still that man? I changed, I became better, and I am better than I ever was before.” His voice suddenly held a gentleness, as if he was trying to prove himself to you.

You stayed indifferent, pressing yourself forward as you spoke with a sternness he couldn’t look away from.

“You’ll get clouded by that same power hungry haze sooner or later. You’ll never be able to outgrow the man that stabbed your bothers in the back with a steel chair, the man that sold out for his own success, and the man who reclaimed it all not because he was destined to, but because you care all too much about proving you aren’t who people think you are because you’re scared it might truer than you think.”

You both held eye contact, searching each other’s eyes for a fleeting moment all before a faint applaud broke the scene and caused you both to grin and look over at the table and your father who seemed rather fascinated with the chemistry you had.

“Was that any good?” You bit down on your lip anxiously, hoping their applause wasn’t strictly out of pity for your mediocre acting.

Your father stopped the recording, passing you a sly and proud nod.

“If I say ‘yes’ does it mean that you’re okay with starring in your own storyline with Seth?” He responded with a convincing expression.

Your eyes widened. “Seriously?”

He nodded and chuckled, walking around to stand in front of you both.

“We couldn’t find anyone who meshed well with the script playing opposite of Seth. Originally, I was going to put a pin in it, but I figured I might as well give you a shot before I called it off.” He explained.

“I mean, if it’s okay with you then I’d be glad to do it.” You sputtered, looking over at Seth with a mix of uncertainty and excitement.

The superstar immediately nodded, washing away your initial worry about him needing to work with a rookie like you. It was safe to say that you were clearly still getting used to be on camera, and you didn’t want to hinder the path of Seth’s career that was on a steady incline.

“I’d be dumb to turn this down. I would love to work with you on your very own storyline.” He grinned, your knees knocking into one another when he reached out for you to shake his hand as if you both were sealing the deal.

You clutched his softly, his hands giving yours a tender yet encouraging squeeze before you released at the sound of your father clapping his hands.

“Well, it’s settled…do you guys want to start tonight?”

Your eyes widened, looking at him in disbelief “T-tonight?”

“Yeah,” He shrugged, knowing you and Seth’s characters needed a little revamp, a different storyline would help a ton, “A little run in segment in the middle of the show. It’ll be great for your character and we can get the ball rolling on this thing.”

“We can work something out before the show,” Seth suggested, pulling out his phone to check the time, flashing it to you, “We have plenty of time.”

“Yeah, okay, that sounds somewhat reassuring.” You gave him a small smile, turning to your dad. “Do we have to hit anything specific?”

“The audience should know you know about him and his history, and that you aren’t too fond. That’s about it.” He looked back at the table of producers and writers who agreed.

“Wanna meet in my office in like ten minutes? I just have to get changed.” You looked down at yourself, still dressed in jeans and a fitted tee, plus some sneakers.

Seth nodded, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “I’m gonna head to catering for a little and I’ll come right over.”

You both got up, taking a moment to say thank you to everyone who approved of your script to get it this far this early. Seth took an extra moment to give his thanks to your dad who picked him out of the many superstars that could’ve fulfilled the role instead. As you exited his office, you pointed Seth down to where he could find you before you both waved a quick goodbye.

Seth had a smile glued to his face on the walk to catering, pleased that it was you who he was working with on a storyline that frankly was entirely different from any other he worked on in the past.

He certainly didn’t expect himself to be picked for the role, and to be fair he was a bit hesitant to take it because he knew your script deserved the utmost justice being served to it.

But when your dad called for Eddie to find you for the read, he just knew there was no way he would be able to let anyone else play the part beside himself if it meant getting to work with you.

It was safe to say Seth was in good spirits, honored that it was him getting to work with you for your first big storyline. And while he couldn’t take you on a proper coffee outing to thank you for last week, and now the storyline under his belt—he could totally try to make you the best cup of instant coffee to make up for it.

He walked through catering doors, making a beeline for the beverage table and retrieving two cups as he got to work.

“Did you get cut too?” Finn called out to him from the table nearby.

Seth chuckled, shaking his head as he twisted the spigot of the jug to dispense some of the coffee into the cups.

“Actually, no.”

“So who are they pairing you with?” Renee suspected, keeping her eyes on him curiously.

“Nattie?” Charlotte wondered, knowing she was also called in for the chemistry read earlier in the day.

“Over my dead body.” TJ called out from another table, causing them all to laugh.

“Sasha?” Finn pressed once again.

“Nope.” Seth said quickly, ripping two sugar packets and pouring it into your cup.

“Boss lady?” Roman called out jokingly.

Seth’s silence was all they needed to hear and before he could even tell them the good news, the entire room was filled with “oh’s” and “ah’s” coming from left and right.

“No fucking way.” Dean hailed, pressing his hands against the table, sitting up straighter in his seat.

“How in the hell did you manage to get paired up with her?” Renee choked, perplexed and entertained by the sudden news.

“Paul, made the call,” Seth exhaled annoyingly, turning to them as he stirred the contents of your cup. “He called her in to read and it just felt natural. We meshed and now we’re working together.”

The group of wrestlers whistled like a bunch of high schoolers struck with the fact that their very own friend was getting closer and closer to the principal’s daughter—or at least that’s how Seth saw it. Sure, they were all grown adults, but his friends especially were guilty of their childish play and this was one of those moments he wished ended sooner, but they were only getting started.

“Maybe Paul knew all along he wanted you and her together, and he held that meeting last week mostly for you.” Kofi quipped and everyone laughed, making him roll his eyes.

“Yeah, right, are you getting paid for these conspiracy theories?” Seth scoffed, shooting them all a glare.

“No, but I do know I’m not the one who’s potentially going to get his ass fired by Triple H if I get too cozy with his daughter!” He boosted, as everyone shook his hand and laughed cheekily.

“You wanna know what I think?” Seth got ready to leave, wrapping his hands around the warm cups.

“Please enlighten us Mr. Monday Night.” Renee grinned, propping her chin up on her fist.

Seth scanned the entire room with a smug smirk on his face. “That you guys are jealous that I’m the first one out of all of us to get a script written by her and I get to work with her.”

“Oh, shut it!” Charlotte rolled her eyes as everyone boo’d him out.

“Catch you losers later.” He singsonged, strolling over to your office with a victorious smile on his face.

Stopping in front of your office, he balanced his coffee against his chest, knocking firmly on the door, letting you know it was him. There was some shuffling and mumbling coming from the inside, smoothing out your skirt and top before you pulled the door open and met him with a smile as you tossed your hair over your shoulder.

“Hey, come in.” You opened the door wider, making room for him to pass, before shutting it behind him.

Seth stepped in further into your office, holding out one of the cups towards you, “It’s not the best coffee but I did promise you some last time.”

You pressed your lips into a thankful pout, taking it from him.

“I did need an extra buzz to get through the show, so thank you.” You laughed.

He watched as you took a sip, concern muddled in his orbs, hoping you’d like it, and if you didn’t, then he’d have to hope the sugar packets hidden in his pocket could solve the problem.

“Not too bitter is it?” Seth rose his brow skeptically, and you went in for another sip before shaking your head.

“It’s actually just right.” You swirled the cup in your palm, running your tongue over your lips.

“If we’re ever in Iowa, I’ll take you to a better coffee spot.” He offered, following your lead to the couch getting comfortable.

“You know a place?” You lifted your brow, falling onto the cushions, and hit him right beside you not a second later.

“I own it.” He said proudly, containing a chuckle when you snapped your head at him in awe.

“No way, you don’t.” You gasped, poking his arm thinking that he was just messing with you.

He shook his head, holding his hands up in defense. “Believe it or not, I’m a coffee connoisseur myself and decided to open up a little shop in my hometown.”

“Okay now you legitimately need to take me out for coffee.” You insisted with a stern point, the two of you began laughing.

“You have my word.” He promised, tipping his cup into the air towards you.

Sure it was a gamble to make such a promise, especially considering everyone’s concern about him getting in trouble with Paul for getting too close, but it also came with the territory of the business and if anyone knew what that was like then it was certainly your father.

You and him were strictly business…and friends. But nothing more than that. The way that you two smiled and held conversations with each other was strictly platonic—at least that’s what he was trying to convince himself as he stared at you tenderly.

He didn’t understand why his friends were causing such a ruckus between you and him, because surely they all thought that he was better than that, right? There wasn’t any plausible way that you or he could fall into something deeper than platonic friends…right?

“Oh! Let me grab my laptop.” You remembered getting off the couch, causing Seth to blink wildly, shaking his head at himself for getting caught up in his thoughts.

You sat beside him once more, this time with your laptop in hand as you set your coffee down on the ground before lifting the screen and typing your password in. He grinned behind his cup as he took a sip, eyes trained on the wallpaper of you and your sisters, plus a few dogs that he assumed were a part of the family.

“So, how should we do this?” You puffed out a breath of air through your nose, opening an application from the toolbar, causing another screen to pop up, an empty document.

You typed your name and Seth’s in the same line, followed by ‘backstage segment’ before assigning two different colors for your lines.

Seth slanted closer to you, and you looked up at him for a quick second, doing the same so you could tilt the laptop towards him, giving him a better view of the screen.

“Why don’t I come in looking for your dad, but it’s actually you I run into?” He suggested, looking at you for approval.

You thought for a second, eyes trained up to the ceiling, trying to paint the picture in your head, and before you knew it, there was a certain twinkle in your eye, suddenly looking at him with a thoughtful grin.

“Yeah, I like that.” You nodded, getting to typing away.

Effortless was the best way to describe the time that passed as you and Seth bounced ideas off one another. In fact, your office was filled with laughter, “oh’s” and “ah’s” that reflected the ease that came with the process that most times were filled with silence and pondering. He made it all feel easy, even with the worry that lingered in the back of your mind about being on live TV again.

You bit down on your lip, fingers working across the keyboard thoughtfully as you typed.

“Why don’t you do what your mother did and be gone witch?” Seth read it aloud as you typed and he covered his mouth, and you threw your head back laughing.

“No way! Your mom would kill, then your dad.” He grimaced lightly, causing you to giggle uncontrollably, sliding your laptop off your lap as you hunched over your legs.

“I personally think the crowd would pop over it.” You caught your breath laying back against the cushions.

“I like what we have so far. Usually sitting in script writing isn’t this fun,” Seth admitted, watching as you reached for your laptop and deleted the last line.

You hummed, tilting your head, “Writing has never not been fun for me. Sure, sometimes there’s writer’s block, but I always find that jumping from script to script can help.”

You saved the script to your laptop, pulling up your emails and sending it to Eddie with ‘please print’ in the subject line followed by a smiley face. He grinned, shaking his head as he sipped his coffee, watching you hit the send button before closing your laptop.

He swallowed the bitter liquid, the two of you sitting in short silence before he nudged your side with his elbow, getting you to meet his eyes.

“I’m lucky, really. There’s no one I would rather work with.” He spoke with a sincerity that made those knots loop and tighten in your stomach all over again.

It tugged inside of you in a way that you could not even begin to pinpoint. The idea of it being because you were starting to form a little crush on him just didn’t seem fathomable for reasons that you knew were obvious. He would never go after his boss’s daughter. You were the forbidden fruit he couldn’t have, and you were positive it was just you misinterpreting his kindness so foolishly.

Before you could even thank him, a heavy knock sounded on the other side of the door, causing you both to whip your head in its direction.

“Come in!” You called out, immediately standing and brushing your palms against your skirt.

It was a camera crew and sound techs lugging their equipment, as one of them spoke.

“Is it okay if we set up?” They proposed, looking between you and Seth.

You nodded, glancing over at the superstar who stood upright beside you.

“Yeah, of course, we were just wrapping up.”

They all nodded, letting themselves in to prepare for the segment tonight.

“I’ll meet you here okay?” Seth held his arm out, letting you walk into a small hug.

“Sounds like a plan.” You murmured, rubbing his back, watching him leave, hoping time would go by faster.

As if you manifested it, time certainly did pass by quicker than you anticipated and Seth was already changed into a fitted tee and black skinny jeans. His hair tugged out of the low bun he had been wearing and misted with leave in conditioner. He was reading over the copy of his script while you got your hair and makeup touched up and the camera crew began framing the shot.

One of the producers instructed you both to get into places, anticipating the end of the second match of the night where directly after the cameras would cut to backstage. You stood off camera, shooting Seth a thumbs up and a big ole smile, while a stage hand counted down and the cameras were live.

“Hello hello, is anyone here?” He tapped on the already cracked door, pushing against it and letting himself in, looking around.

You snuck in from the opposite side of the camera, revealing yourself.

“Can I help you?”

Seth stared at you surprised, for a split second before giving you a tense nod and looking past you.

“Actually, you can’t, but if you could get me your dad, then I think I’ll be able to get my issue resolved.”

You rolled your eyes, hands resting on your hips, “Well my dad’s actually a little busy right now, but I can assure you, whatever it is you need, I can assist.”

“Yeah?” Seth crossed his arms over his chest, meeting your eyes skeptically.

“Come on, hit me.” You nodded with a smile, feigning assurance as you guided him to tell you what he so desperately wanted.

“A match against—”

“Yeah no,” You cut him off, dropping the smile on your face and causing Seth to furrow his brows perplexed.

“Excuse me?” He spoke taken aback by your harshness.

“You don’t think I’m stupid do you? I know your history, Seth, and to be quite frank, I’m not the fondest of you. To be honest, I don’t even like you all that much.”

“Look lady, I did nothing to you, so I don’t see why you’re treating me the way you are right now.”

“It’s not about what you did to me, Seth. It’s about what you did to other people. What you did to your brothers, Roman and Dean. What you did to my dad after everything he did for you. And right now, I have my guard up because I don’t know what you’ll do to me.”

“I’ll have you know that I apologized to my brothers. We’ve moved on and they’ve forgiven me. As for your dad,” Seth paused, looking at you, “He got what he had coming…and so did you mom.”

You gritted your teeth, palm lifting up as if you were going to slap him before your dad, cleared his throat, entering the frame and you hurriedly lowered your hand and shot him a sweet smile.

“Hi dad!” You beamed, attempting to cut the tension in the small space.

“Hey sweetie,” He greeted you with a hug, ignoring Seth for a moment, before turning to face him finally, “You met my daughter I see.”

“She’s a real delight.” Seth faked a smile, and you rolled your eyes when your dad wasn’t looking.

“Was there something you needed?” Hunter requested, and Seth’s mouth opened about to speak.

“He was actually just leaving dad.” You interjected, shaking your head and gesturing Seth out the door.

But he stood in place, glaring at you until you hardened your gaze and pointed him out once more.

“Bye-bye now.” You twiddled your fingers, smiling evilly when he turned his back and walked out.

The camera cut back to the ring, and you immediately broke character with a giggle relieved that it went better than you had planned, and to your surprise you and Seth worked effortlessly. Your father shook his head, impressed by how good you were at playing the bad guy, even after you were initially opposed to being a heel because you didn’t know if you possessed any of the bad guy qualities.

“I’m sure everyone is now officially going to call me mom’s mini me.” You joked, meeting your father’s palm with a high five.

“You sure are.” Your dad grinned, ruffling the top of your head, a warm gesture of his approval that you always had.

The two of you moved towards your desk, allowing the crew to clear out with all their equipment, and it wasn’t long before Seth had made his way back in, wearing the same grin that you had glued onto your face even after the cameras called cut.

“For a second, I thought you really were going to hit me.” Seth shook his head playfully, rubbing his hand over his cheek where you were going to hit him.

You gasped dramatically, holding a hand over your heart, “I would never!” You insisted, the two of you laughing as your dad watched on.

He was well aware that the decision to have you and Seth work together was the best one he could have made, despite the oppositions who argued otherwise. Sure, many of the producers and writers were weary of Paul allowing his daughter to act in her very own script, especially a romantic one, but Paul knew better than anyone that you were the perfect fit, and Seth was the perfect partner to make it all happen.

While Seth was the one who named Paul one of his biggest mentors, Paul trusted Seth with not just his creative take on wrestling, but the ability to work with new talent not just to put them over, but to make him better in the process. It was no different from trusting Seth with you, knowing he would help you develop your character for the long run while also getting the chance to explore a creative direction that the fans had never seen from him before.

Your father knew you and Seth were the perfect match for TV and that was it.

“Wanna go to catering?” Seth suggested, hoping you’d tag along since he had virtually nothing else to do for the night.

You nodded, retrieving your phone off your desk. “Yeah, I’m actually meting Eddie there. I have a few posters to sign and he wants to catch up.” You shot Eddie a quick text that you would be there soon.

“Well, great job you two.” Your dad spoke, giving you both a pat on the back, content with how the segment went and hoping the fans would be excited for next week where they got to see more of you two together.

“Fun weekend?” Seth asked, falling into step beside you, walking through the hallways.

You nodded enthusiastically, retelling what you and your family had been up to.

“It was actually really fun and relaxing at the same time. Plus, I really hit a home run when my sister opened the present I got her.”

You unlocked your phone, opening the photos app, and scrolling to find the photo your mom snapped of you and your sister as she ripped open her present.

“What’d you get her?” He stared, watching as you slid through some images before finally finding the one and passing it over to him.

“It’s one of those vintagey polaroid cameras.” You explained, excitement woven into your voice, “And it’s not the modern ones they brought back into style. It’s like an actual one from the 80s I think? I found it at consignment store and picked up some film to go along with it.”

Seth laughed, fingers scrolling through the play-by-play photos which revealed your sisters surprised expression the more she got through the wrapping paper and realized what she got. It ended with you two embracing in a hug, and Seth smiled warmly at the thought you put in, making sure you got her something that was worth a reaction like that.

“She looks super stoked.” Seth chuckled, passing the phone back to you.

You hummed, pouting slightly at the screen a little at the screen and locking it. “I’m a little jealous because I’ve been wanting one myself.” You admitted with a laugh, shaking your head at your own wistfulness.

Seth smirked, opening the catering doors for you, letting you walk in first.

“You should get one. It’ll complete the whole director look you got going on.” He spoke, walking in behind you and gesturing his hand in the air over your silhouette.

You giggled softly, looking towards the table in the back of the room where Eddie was waving you over.

“I’ll be over there.” You pointed, and Seth nodded, giving Eddie a little wave before turning his attention back to you.

“Stop by if you have time.” Seth replied, tone inviting, tilting his head towards the table where all of his friends were seated waiting for him to join them.

“I will.” You assured him with a smile, heading to Eddie while Seth went to grab food.

The fine tip sharpie was nestled into your hand and you began the time consuming and finger cramping process of getting the stack of posters signed for the beloved WWE fans. Thankfully, you and Eddie both created an efficient rhythm where you would sign and he would stack them, keeping to process going smoothly.

“How was your sister’s birthday?” He swiped away another poster into the growing signed pile.

“Adorable! She had a few friends over for her birthday party, and she was surprised my dad and I flew down in time.” You gushed, hand working overtime to get everything done in one sitting.

“That’s nice. Why didn’t I see you Friday, by the way?” He was too busy with your father’s tasks for him to find you or shoot you a text last week.

“I got dinner with Seth and a few other people, and I caught a ride with them back to the hotel.” You stopped for a moment, looking at him with a soft smile. “Thanks for sending my stuff to the suite by the way.”

Eddie nodded, keeping the posters going, but not without a little laugh getting caught in his throat before he spoke, “Seth, huh?”

You furrowed your brows, the pen still working against the glossy photos.

“What about him?” You pressed, wondering what he was getting at.

Eddie shrugged, his knowing eyes avoided with yours trained on the photos in front of you. “Nothing, he just seems to cozy up to you that’s all.”

“Oh, come on, that’s not true.” You argued, shaking your head dismissively.

“You ran into each other like a billion times on your first day—two of which I was there to see with my own eyes.” He retorted, as if it meant something deeper than two people coincidentally bumping into each other.

“Well, we work together now, and now with the new storyline expect to see more of us together.” You replied, attempting to brush off any implications that it was deeper than surface level.

“In a cozy way or?” Eddie teased, knocking his foot lightly into your calves under the table.

“Oh my god, stop.” You groaned, rolling your eyes at his childish behavior that was borderline schoolgirl like.

“I’m messing with you,” Eddie eased up with a chuckle, “Plus, your dad already made it clear that talent is off limits.” He admitted, sucking in a sharp breath at the memory of the tense meeting just a few days ago.

“He’s not actually serious about that.” You countered with a huff, defiance creeping into your voice.

Eddie deadpanned, staring at you in disbelief, “What do you mean ‘not serious’? He is totally absolutely serious about it.”

You shrugged, not understanding what the big deal was anyway.

“Well for one, I am a grown woman who gets to decide what I want, and two, he and my mom literally did what he’s now tell me not to do, which is very hypocritical if you ask me.”

Eddie nodded, understanding your point, but at the same time weary of what your father was capable of if anyone thought about pursing you.

“No I know that, but…wouldn’t he like absolutely freak out if you went against him?”

“This is all hypothetical you know that, right? I’m not actually going to go after Seth.” You laughed lightly, shaking your head at him, hoping he knew you weren’t being actually serious about you and your new on-screen interest.

“What if Seth wants to go after you?” Eddie’s tone was suddenly a lot less teasing and more so serious.

“He’d be out of his mind.” You sighed, waving off the thought of that even happening.

“He already is.” Eddie muttered under his breath, eyes catching the sigh of Seth staring at you from across the room while you tried not to feel it.

Seth settled his eyes back on his plate of salad and grilled chicken, seated between Dean and Kofi as everyone began talking about the elephant in the room, which was you and Seth—of course.

“Nice segment,” Dean patted him on the back with a smirk. “You guys have chemistry.” He added, and the table agreed with hums and smiles.

Seth chewed his food and swallowed, nodding his head thankfully, “Well I mean, that’s why Paul picked her and I.”

Dean snorted, shaking his head with a lopsided grin. “I mean, romantic sexual chemistry.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Seth cursed, shaking his head in disagreement.

The table giggled and failed to hide their growing smirks, knowing damn well there was an unspoken chemistry between you both no matter how hard Seth tried to deny it.

“It’s no surprise when we were practically barging in on your date last week.” Charlotte piped with a soft whistle, sipping her energy drink through a straw.

“Hold up what?” Xavier’s eyes shot towards Seth, lifting a troubling brow.

Seth sighed, forking pieces of dressed lettuce onto the prongs as he spoke.

“We just went out to dinner and I walked her up to her hotel room. We were on the same floor, so it was just coincidence.”

“Chivalry, my man!” Big E hooted.

“Thank you.” Seth looked over at him with an empathetic expression, knowing at least he understood what it meant to be a courteous person.

But Kofi piped in, shaking his head. “Oh, it wasn’t a compliment. You’re down bad dude.” He corrected with a laughed, reaching across the table to give Big E a fist bump.

“What does that even mean?” Seth furrowed his brows confused, before ultimately shaking his head not wanting to hear it.

“We’re friends. And you guys have to drop this, we’re gonna be working together a lot and the last thing—”

Before he could even finish his statement, he felt a hand slide across the slope of his shoulder, causing him to look behind him, only to be met by you. Your stood above him, wearing your infectious smile as your hand remained on his clothed shoulder.

“I gotta run, but I’ll try to find you later if I have time.” You told him, eyes darting quickly to Eddie who was waiting up for you near the catering doors.

Seth nodded, immediately smiling, “Yeah, of course,” He replied.

He dropped the fork onto his plate, hand reaching up to cover yours. “Good job earlier by the way.”

You squeezed his skin tenderly, his rough fingertips grazing over your knuckles as you two smiled idiotically at each other. Everyone catching the way you both acted as if you were the only two people in the room—as if it really was just an innocent start of a friendship.

“Thanks. It always helps when you have a good scene partner to work with.” You spoke softly with another gracious nod.

With that, Seth let his hand fall off yours, and you brought your arm back to your side, finally tearing your eyes away from solely his and finally acknowledging everyone else with a wave.

“Bye guys,” you chorused, looking at Seth once more, mouthing “bye” and spinning on your heel, leaving with Eddie.

“That’s what it is.” Kofi muttered, draping his arm across Seth’s shoulder.

“What?” Seth finally tore his eyes from the catering door and his smile gradually dropped.

“That look on your face.” He pointed, gesturing a finger in a circular motion over his face.

“You being so gushy mushy over her? That’s being down bad my friend.”

Seth didn’t entertain the accusation, not even in the slightest convinced as he continued to eat his food and his friends went on with their badgering. He wasn’t down bad or whatever it was they were claiming.

All of it was completely and utterly foolish—he just wondered if you thought so too.

💌 reblogs, tags, comments, + likes are greatly appreciated! leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!! 💌

a/n: i hope you guys like chapter three of icsy!!! i had been working on this chapter for awhile and it is longer than i expected it to be, but thats just me being a typical yappersorous (my bad). let me know what you thing!!! seems like reader and seth are down bad and they don't even know it just yet 😜

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Ok y’all it’s time for a grishaverse world-building rant (mainly linked to soc/ck) and there’s a good chance this is gonna turn into a long and rambling post but bare with me.

*CONSISTENT GRISHAVERSE SPOILERS AHEAD*

In the Netflix show, why did they replace Alby’s lion toy with a toy train? I wanna talk about the absence of the lion, but also of all things why did they choose a train?

The train really stuck out to me when watching season 2 and at first I wasn’t my sure why, and just struck it up to the fact that I was expecting a plush lion. I think it’s absolutely notable that they exchanged the lion for a different toy, because the TV show didn’t give us as much opportunity for the foreshadowing surrounding Alby Rollins’ existence as we had in the book, since Van Eck is the key to a lot of the passages that foreshadow Rollins having a child. The fact that Kaz was able to present the lion was what served as “proof” for his attack on Alby, and is one of the best scenes showcasing Kaz’s incredible intellect. Since Kaz had never seen Alby, in fact had no concrete evidence of his existence whatsoever, he based the entire presence of the toy lion on Pekka’s pride in his gang, the Dime Lions. But since the show doesn’t have the opportunity to explain the gang culture of Ketterdam in as much detail as the books, which is obviously understandable and it’s the kind of thing I would expect to be lost in the transition from source to adaptation, they can’t make the assumption that the audience will associate the lion with the Dime Lions, particularly since they haven’t explored the gang tattoos (as a side note the meanings behind the tattoos are just *chefs kiss* but anyway-) So unless they were making specific effort to try and include more references to the lions earlier on, it makes sense to change the toy. It also leaves open the option for later in the show (fingers crossed, I’m praying for good news right now) to bring the lion in for different schemes and to create more anticipation and build up for the absolutely iconic Inej move of replacing the lion with a crow in the last chapter of Crooked Kingdom. So I understand the choice to change the type of toy that Kaz takes from Alby, especially since we already know that it’s Alby being used as the threat in this scene and in the books we didn’t, but of all the options why would they choose a toy train? My best guess is that it’s a nod to the Conductor and the train across the fold in season one, but it kind of annoys me because, other than the train that was added for the show and the tank in ck that is explained as amongst the first of its kind, THERE ARE NO MECHANICAL VEHICLES IN THIS UNIVERSE YET. None!!

We have to remember that the development of a constructed world is based on its needs and it’s understanding of it’s resources, not on mimicking the development of our own world; so although some people are probably thinking ‘well they recently developed flying vehicles, it makes sense for trains to exist before that’ I would genuinely argue that in this world it makes no sense whatsoever. We know from explanations in soc and ck (in Retvenko’s chapter mostly, but also in Joost’s and a few other references) that there has been no need to develop engines for boats because the winds can be calmed or summoned by Squallers; they fill the sails or fend off storms to keep the ships moving, there is no need for development thus far because grisha possess the natural resources to maintain the power they need. But in Ravka the presence of the shadow fold meant it became necessary to develop other options, so progress came about and Nikolai developed the Hummingbird. But it’s very important to note that (to my understanding at least, if you happen to know I’m wrong please feel free to correct me) the Hummingbird is still entirely dependent on Squaller power to maintain its flight, because development is always based on the previous model. Similarly, the tanks being the first motorised vehicles we’re introduced to makes perfect sense in the world we’ve come to know and understand, especially since we’re learning from the perspective of mostly Kerch-born or Kerch-living characters. Jesper tells us that there are very few carriages on the streets of Ketterdam, that horses are a luxury because the space to keep them is a luxury, not because they open up further modes of transportation - this is also emphasised by the knowledge that one of the greatest signs of prosperity in Ketterdam is a house with its own dock. This is because canals are the main way of moving, and since the boats and their squallers are a time-proven method of travel there’s no current need to develop engine mechanisms for boats, and cars aren’t needed because no-one would use them to travel. I’d also like to add that I realise not everyone has access to Squaller power, but the rich of Ketterdam do and they live in an incredibly classist society. In the Barrel, most of the boats are moved by rowing and/or punting, as is made clear at the end of soc when the crew row to meet Van Eck and he is brought by Squallers, and the theme is continued throughout ck.

The most likely place for cars to crop up first, based on what we’ve seen of the different countries, is probably Ravka; the country is a hub of innovation and the fabrikators there are the most free to practice their craft. However, Ravka is also a country that has been at war since it was founded, there is no room for any type of development that does not further their chances of survival against Fjerda, Shu Han, or their own civil war. Other places we might have expected to see motorisation pop up faster could be the farming provinces of Kerch and Novyi Zem, since they could be utilised for tractors and ploughs. But most innovation in Kerch is centralised around Ketterdam, where the engines are currently unecessary, and although I don’t know enough about Novyi Zem to argue either way the auction in Crooked Kingdom may imply that their government’s budget is lower those of Kerch, Fjerda, and Shu Han. (But again, we don’t have bundles of information about the Zemeni government so I’m not super confident there). We do, however, know that Jesper was the only one other than Matthias who already knew what a tank was when they got to Fjerda, and so it’s fair to predict that there’s been at least some development in that area in Novyi Zem, or at least enough interest for news of them to reach the gunsmith Jesper worked with. But let’s assume that the invention did come from Fjerda itself, at least for the time being. This makes perfect sense!! It was mostly likely developed, unbeknownst to Matthias, by the parem-drugged fabrikators being held at the Ice Court. Now that they have access to this power, Fjerda achieves all of the same tickboxes to be the initial place of engine development as Ravka does. Of course, Fjerda is also at war or under threat of it, but I think it’s important to remember that the Fjerdan government doesn’t really see war with Ravka as a threat at all. They see it more as an opportunity to prove themselves, to properly cement their position in the world economy and as a global power, which we know Kerch - or at least the general population of the country, if not the government - does not currently see it as. So it makes sense that their developmental focus would not be on ease of travel for the majority of its people by developing cars or flight machines, but on engines that can be used for dominance: tanks.

I’m hoping I’ve kind of got my point across here even if in a slightly convoluted way, but I want to add Inej’s quote from the scene with the tank to really cement the idea that this was development on a scale they had never experienced before: “They were moving - and not a horse in sight!” Someone who has seen a train at any point in her life, or who has any understanding that trains exist and work, is not going to be absolutely blown away by the concept of moving without the aid of horses. So why pick a train??? I don’t know, I’m clearly thinking far too much into it but I just… I dunno, it bothered me, there were so many other things to choose. I didn’t really mind the train in season one because it was set up like a one-of-a-kind contraption, but the idea of there being toy replicas of steam trains implies a very different level of development in a world clearly implied to be pre- its industrial revolutions.

Anyway, thanks for reading my mad ramblings! I have SO MANY thoughts about world building and structure in the Grishaverse, and world building as a browser topic as well, so if you want to hear anything more please let me know!

[alexiaugustin]

season two of shadow and bone should have shown absolutely every last fucking person that this show is a soulless piece of trash adaptation that doesn’t understand nor gives two fucks about the source material they're allegedly trying to adapt and that the people behind this show were all lying to your faces when they apologized for the things that upset people for 24 hours before season one streamed two years ago, because after all this show still erases the trauma of a woman’s sexual abuse story and they are still sexualizing bisexual people and they are still fucking everything about these characters and their dynamics up.

season one should have upset most people enough to stop stanning this show but during the last two years we have learned that there’s A Lot that the tv industry can do that people won’t care about. an ableist, colorist and fatphobic and age inaccurate casting that hurts people by taking their representation away is something people won’t care about. complex characters being reduced to an inch of what they actually are like so they and their relationship can neatly fit into archetypes, tropes and ao3 tags is something people won’t care about. showrunners getting exposed for having their white stunt doubles do brownface is something people won’t care about. a show having a dumb script that makes everyone on the show look like a fucking loser is something people won’t care about.

and now season two is out and they did everything they already did in season one wrong but it’s somehow still so much worse. after watching season one i felt like the deeply offensive and wrong things about this show were still explainable, season two actually has me at loss for words because of how bad it is. because of how there’s not a single thing they did right about the soc books; not the characters, not their relationships, not their storyline, nor the world they live in. i could give a few examples like the fact that kaz told inej that feeling as if she’s not really free from the menagerie where she was sex trafficked as a child "isn’t her fight anymore, it’s his“ just because pekka rollins owns her now. or the fact that wylan and jesper met via a one night stand and were fucking by episode four even tho they don’t even kiss before the end of ck. or that they turned pekka rollins into a super villain who wants to kill kaz even though the whole point of his role in the books is that he has no idea why kaz has it out for him and he doesn’t care abt these teenagers.

i could explain all these and so many more examples in depth, and still it wouldn’t be enough to capture the the true scope of how bad and truly horrible this show is. and yet. and yet when i log into tumblr dot com or twitter dot com i see gifsets of this show, of the relationships they don’t understand, of the characters they butchered and i'm seeing people rooting for another season of this nonsense. at this point this show feels like a social experiment that’s trying to see how far people will go to defend a deeply offensive and atrociously bad piece of media. and during the last 48 hours i've come to realize that some of y'all will never be able to be pushed too far. some of y’all had their brains rotted away a long time ago when tiktok and ao3 made you believe that media is nothing more than the consumption of aesthetics, tropes and archetypes and that it’s a good thing if these are responsible for the death of art. if you claim to love the book and the show at the same time you are lying to yourself because that is simply impossible. you have, in short, truly lost the fucking plot.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

A Shade of Gray: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Your abilities are put to the test when you have to gather evidence based on what your psyche is telling you. Hotch believes in you, and that’s the only thing that matters.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

You and Rossi walk down to the kitchen to see what Bill was called away for. You need to inspect every inch of this house so you'll know where to start looking.

"Our tech guys found this dishrag and a glass of water. Kyle's fingerprints were all over it," Bill says.

"So, he wakes up thirsty, comes to the kitchen, and gets some water."

"When we got here, the deadbolt on the French doors was unlocked."

"That must have been his exit."

"Rossi! Y/N! Check this out!" Derek calls from the basement. You and Rossi join Derek in the basement. You're immediately floored at the energy left behind down here. "This window was definitely broken from the outside. Given the size of it, the unsub would have to be really small to get through it. What did you find upstairs?"

"There were signs of a struggle. It looks like Kyle was abducted from his room. The unsub went out through the family room door."

"So, he finds a safe and quiet place to break in."

"Everything about how Kyle was taken is consistent with the previous abductions."

Yeah, too consistent.

Hotch, JJ, Spencer, and Penelope came up with a short list of suspects they thought might have done this. You'll be back to this house to inspect it further so you leave with Derek, Bill, and Rossi back to the police station to find out what list they have.

"We've already narrowed the list to five men."

"Already?"

"Hugh Rollins, forty-three, lived in Camden County his whole life, in and out of foster care since he was a toddler, and acquired quite the nice rap sheet."

"What's his connection to the victims?"

"Two years ago, he got a steady job installing TVs. The first two families recently purchased a new one. Garcia found something else. Rollins had no cell or bank activity on the days the boys were abducted."

Relief washes over you, and you look at Bill to see his eyes closed. Why is he relieved at this news?

"We haven't been able to connect Rollins to Kyle yet," you say.

"You're saying you wanna wait for more evidence?"

"No, there isn't time. We have sufficient probable cause."

"Hotch, you need to hear what Y/N has to say," Rossi says.

All eyes are on you, and you look at Bill who is waiting for you to say something. Rossi understands what needs to happen, so he makes up some bullshit and takes him off to the side.

"What is it?" Hotch asks.

"I don't think Rollins did it. At least not with Kyle. I know you told me to gather physical evidence, but forget that for a moment. Sarah and Dan are racked with guilt. There's so much there that I started to feel guilty about things from my past. Danny is the complete opposite. He has no emotion about any of this. When I was talking to his dad, he was sitting next to him with a clear bored expression on his face. It felt forced when he started crying.

"The reason why I don't think Rollins did it is because the first two victims were taken from their homes, right? There is not an energy out of place in that house. I've never met Rollins, but I would have noticed a stray energy. Plus, I saw Kyle. He's dead.

"Soley based on this energy, I think Danny killed his brother in a fit of rage, and based on his parents' energies, I think they're covering it up or they know what happened. The relief I felt from Bill when you said Rollins might be responsible for this is concerning. Bill knows what happened and they're all keeping it a secret."

"Y/N--"

"I know what you're going to say," you cut Derek off. "I need physical proof to back my theory up. I get it. I'm telling you this because I'd like you to give me a little leash." You turn to Hotch. "Give me some time to gather what I can. I'm not saying Rollins didn't kill those two little boys, but he didn't kill Kyle. Please."

"Fine. You and Reid go to the Murphy house and the rest of us will take Rollins. You'll have your leash. Don't choke me with it."

"Thank you. Come on, Spencer."

The Murphys are surprised to see you back at their place so shortly after leaving.

"Agents. I didn't expect you to come back so quickly," Dan says.

"Yes. Could we take a look inside? I want to make sure we didn't miss anything in our initial sweep. Can we start with Kyle's room?"

"Of course. Come in."

You and Spencer walk into the house and take a look around. Dan and Sarah stay downstairs while you and Spencer head up to Kyle's room which is still in a state of array.

"So, what are we looking for?"

"Anything that would suggest Danny killed his brother or that Sarah and Dan covered it up. I have the crime scene photos of the first two victims' bedrooms." You take out the folder and put the two pictures side by side to compare it to the state of Kyle's room. "Take a look at the sheets. The first two were ripped as if the kids tried to fight back. Look at Kyle's."

Kyle's sheets are thrown on the ground as if someone placed them there instead of an actual struggle occurring. You take your phone out and take a picture of Kyle's room so that you can compare it to the other two later on.

"Isn't there something off about this room?"

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like this was staged. Like someone came in here and messed everything up to make it look like a struggle. Did he even sleep in this room last night?"

"It does look that way compared to the other two, but that doesn't mean Danny killed his brother."

"No, but it helps my theory. Come on." You take Spencer over to Danny's room which is neat for a kid. The only thing out of place is the bunk beds because both beds are messed up like two people slept here and not one. "I thought only one kid lives here."

"They do."

"I think Kyle slept in here last night. The sheets wouldn't look slept in if he didn't." You walk closer to the bed and notice a dark spot in the middle of the bed underneath a teddy bear. "Kyle wet the bed. Come on." You take Spencer back downstairs where Dan is waiting eagerly. He stands up as soon as he sees you, and he wipes his hands on his jeans as if they're starting to clam up. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just want my little boy to come home."

"I understand. Thank you for letting us do this," Spencer says.

"Anything you need that might help."

You notice Dan's knuckles are freshly busted like he hit something over and over again. You didn't see any workout equipment in the house, so you're not sure where he got that if he got that here.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your hand?" you ask.

Dan puts his left hand over his right to hide it but you've already seen it.

"I was working out at the gym and forgot to bring my gloves. I'm always forgetting things like that," he chuckles.

"Right, well, give us five more minutes and we'll be out of your hair." You take Spencer down to the basement where the collective energy of the family resides. "This is where most of the energy is."

"What do you feel?"

"Well, it doesn't really matter what I feel. According to Hotch, I need physical proof."

"Come on, don't do that. He's not here. It's just me. What do you feel?"

"A lot of anger. A lot of pain. Whatever happened to Kyle happened in this room."

"How can you be sure?"

"He's standing in the corner watching us. Hotch doesn't understand. This is why I don't rely on physical evidence. I know people's secrets and when you confront them about it, nine out of ten times, they crack."

The glass from the broken window catches the light, and you walk over to it carefully. They've cleaned the glass up but the hole is still there. Ghost pieces of glass hover off the ground and fit back into place. All the pieces are there but one. Why would one be missing? The police have the pieces of glass in evidence, so you'll need to get those to reconstruct what the window looked like before it was smashed. Dan was nervous when you asked him about his hand which is more suspicious when you know a piece of the window is missing.

"We'll need to get those glass pieces back. I bet one of them is missing. I don't think Dan was working out when he busted his knuckles." You look out the broken window to see the neighbor across the street working in her flower garden, and she periodically looks over at the Murphy house. "Let's talk to her."

"Why? Police already talked to all the neighbors."

"We didn't."

As soon as you thank the Murphys, you leave their house and head over to the neighbor's house. She is working in her garden when she hears the clack of your heels on the concrete.

"May I help you?"

"Yes. I'm Agent Y/N and he's Dr. Spencer Reid. We're investigating the disappearance of Kyle Murphy. I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

"I already told the police everything I know."

"Still. I'd appreciate it if you give me a moment of your time. I promise to keep this short." The woman stands up, wipes her dirt-covered hands on her jeans, and gives you the okay. "Thank you. Do you spend a lot of time in your garden?"

"Yes. I grow rare flowers that need my attention multiple times a day."

"Would you say you have a good view of the Murphy house?"

"Yes."

"Have you noticed anyone lingering around their house? It could be a car you don't recognize or someone passing by their house multiple times a day."

"No. I lost my job recently so I've been home all day to tend to my garden. I know everyone in this neighborhood because I attend the weekly meetings at the church. I would have noticed someone out of place."

You look up at her house and notice a small security camera in the corner that points toward the Murphy house.

"Excuse me, is your camera on?" you ask.

"Always. I don't want people stealing my flowers."

"Does it point to the Murphy house?"

"Not in the way you're hoping. It doesn't capture the whole house. The police already asked to see the footage but it didn't help them."

"Do you mind releasing footage to us? It might help us."

"Sure. I'll be right back." The woman goes inside and returns moments later with a file in her hand. "I've already looked. I don't know what you're going to find."

"Thank you for your help. If you can think of anything else, please give me a call." You turn to Spencer. "We need to get this to Garcia, and I think we should check the woods next. We might find Kyle there."

You'd call this successful and wonder if the other half of the team is doing well. Emily and Derek found child pornography on his computer but nothing that connects him to the three boys. However, they did find a black bag filled with children's toys, more specifically, his victims'.

"I'll check out back," Bill announces.

When he gets back there, Rollins can be seen trying to run away. Bill takes out his gun and starts firing without trying to pursue him on foot.

"Stop! Bill, stop!" Derek yells when he runs outside. Derek and Emily take off running toward Rollins who tries to climb the fence to get out. Derek tackles him to the ground and arrests him right there and then. Emily takes him to the police car while Derek walks back to Bill with an angry look on his face. "What the hell was that about?"

"I thought he might get away. I wasn't thinking."

"You're damn right you weren't."

"I know. It was stupid."

"What if you'd killed him? He's the only one who knows where Kyle is."

"I said I know."

The relief I felt from Bill when you said Rollins might be responsible for this is concerning. Bill knows what happened and they're all keeping it a secret.

Derek thinks about your words from earlier and looks between Bill and Rollins. If you're right about this, and he knows you probably are, then Bill knows the truth about what happened to Kyle.

"Lancaster, I've been where you are. I was a cop, too. That's why I knew this wasn't a good idea. You are way too close."

"I'm not gonna stop until we find Kyle," Bill glares and leaves Derek's side.

"Kyle isn't here," Rossi says and leaves the house with Emily.

"No, and if he isn't on this property, he's already in the woods. So, Rollins goes to the trouble of breaking into the Murphys' house? It's a big risk to take Kyle. If he's already in the woods, then he only kept him for a few hours. This doesn't make any sense."

I saw Kyle downstairs as a spirit. He died, and not that long ago.

The reason why I don't think Rollins did it is because the first two victims were taken from their homes, right? There is not an energy out of place in that house. I've never met Rollins, but I would have noticed a stray energy.

Soley based on this energy, I think Danny killed his brother in a fit of rage, and based on his parents' energies, I think they're covering it up or they know what happened.

Rossi thinks back to your words.

"I think Y/N might be right on this one. We need to find Kyle's body to be sure."

x

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[maxbuck]

a lot of people fundamentally misunderstand seth as a character which is Fair its wrestling it doesnt spell it out for you like a tv show, but it does irk me alittle. shes not a Good Person by any means but shes also not . evil? She doesn't take joy in hurting people Especially not the other shield members. After the attack on them ends she just holds the steel chair in her hand staring at it in something between dissociation and regret immediately. Its heavily implied if not outright stated that Hunter talked to her for Months before plan b was put into place so to speak. And it didnt start out with hating on the other shield members because she wouldnt have let that slide. It started out with questioning if shes worth something without them, or if they need her at all. It starts with the fact that seth has had to play mediator for months as the other two get more volatile. It starts with seth leaving mid match, hunters words in her head, and them doing fine in the tag team without her. She says she sacrificed herself to help them work themselves out, and while how she did it was selfish that was truly her intentions. Shes a deeply self sacrificial borderline suicidal person in how she behaves at all times, not caring about the personal harm. As the time goes on hunters words seep in and she allows herself to imagine a world where she isnt just one of the shield and shes worth something. Because she doesnt think she is. And of course when she leaves, she just is a tool for hunter instead of the team, but that was never her plan. She left because of her own insecurities and fears and genuine beliefs of self worthlessness and while its implied in a lot of promos its flat out stated in the comics. I did what i had to do because i saw it coming. I did it so no one would get rid of me first. Its only ironic after the fact when hunter disposes of her the same way she'd imagined the shield would. She cant take back whats already been done though. Again ive talked about how i dont like her smiling in this rendition, but its also more similar to an imaginary version in her mind of what occured. Her wearing her own merch pants instead of the shield vest. The casual cruelty. A projection of everything hunter wants her to be and she cant live up to. She failed the shield the exact opposite of how she failed hunter and it haunts how she behaves currently. A desperate search for her own person while still only acting for approval of the crowd, of the titles. Who is seth rollins? Well. She doesn't really know the answer to that does she.

[bishopsbelova]

what is your top 10 favorite rollisi scenes/moments?

16x05 - I know it's so small; but the ending scene is when I think there's a slight shift in their partnership. When she's trying to push the case and he stops her and tells her to "walk away" and she does? If it were anyone else, Amanda would have fought and stood her ground. But she goes with Sonny

17x07 - the whole "my mother's in church lighting a candle for you right now" and "there's nothing you can't handle" gets me every single time

17x10 - when they're walking and Jesse starts crying and Sonny doesn't even hestiate before he picks up her and starts soothing her???? That was the moment I fell for that man - and I think that’s when Amanda realized that maybe it could be something deeper

The entirety of 17x19 - I think it's literally impossible to not just love this episode. Sonny undercover and Amanda having worried wifey energy the entire time? Her inviting him over for dinner (mostly for Jesse time) because the case did a number on him and she knows that it's exactly what he needs.

21x10 - just for that elevator scene. Amanda had kept it together for so long to keep up appearances; but the second she's alone with Sonny, she lets herself break down because she trusts him that fucking much

22x12 - “You’ve been the grown up for a while now Amanda Rollins" and the way he grabs her hand???? SIR. Not to mention the fact that he had clearly cancelled a date to sit with her at the hospital for who knows how long.

22x16 - their first kiss seems obvious. I'm sorry but it's the best first kiss moment that I have ever seen in any tv show.

The entirety of the moments in 23x01; but specifically the office scene where Amanda asks him if he can take a little break. Just the smile on her face? I think that's the happiest we'd ever seen Amanda Rollins in the entire series up to that point and then the look of shock on her face when he offers to take her out to dinner? Because she wasn't expecting that but like this man would drop everything for her.

The trash scene in 23x05 - like Sonny's the one who took the brunt of the trash - he literally got HIT with a slushy straight to the chest - but he doesn't even worry about himself??? Just turns straight to Amanda and makes sure that she's okay even though she didn't get hit; because she was on the opposite side of him???? It's so little and so skippable but says so much??

The office scene in 24x03. I hate season 24 so damn much; but this scene hits so much. The way Amanda admits this is the healthiest relationship she's ever been in? The way she's over here drowning in her PTSD and is struggling so much and is afraid she's ruined everything; but Sonny assures her she hasn't and she literally clings to him because he's her fucking life line?

Honorable mentions

23x13 - their first public kiss after they disclose because they both just seem so fucking happy.

23x22 - their first I love you

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: Are you a Mission Impossible fan? I’m not a Tom Cruise fan but it’s great dumb fun. And it has a cast full of talented (and beautiful) women. You seem the type to enjoy a good adrenaline rush of a flick (I’m sure the French have a fancy cinematic term for that)

I am unashamedly both a Mission Impossible fan - of the television series and the Cruise movies - and a Tom Cruise fan.

Obviously being born decades after the original Mission Impossible tv series created by Bruce Geller was first aired in the 60s and 70s, I only had the pleasure of watching the box set episodes later in life. I have to say I loved that series. I loved when they hatched the plan. Loved the fake masks. And of course I loved the Lao Schifrin music - one of the most recognisable signature themes in music and TV history.

Classic television has a bit of a blessing and a curse working on it. Most shows of the Golden Age of television didn't have a structured narrative through-line. The idea that one episode will build upon the next is a pretty modern concept. As such, Mission Impossible had a prescribed routine. Mr. Briggs in Season One and then Mr. Phelps in the subsequent seasons drive to a random location, find a hidden mission briefing that self destructs, discusses the plan with the team, and then they execute the mission.

There wasn't much variation to the structure. Thankfully by season three, they got rid of the silly waste of time where Jim Phelps selects his team - because aside from the random guest the team was virtually the same from episode to episode. The thing that changed was how the team pulled off their mission. It was always a mixture of subterfuge and fancy fakery, but it was always exciting and the great team of writers, directors, and the dynamic cast always kept the audience just enough out of the loop for there to be plenty of surprises and suspense.

It's not that Season One wasn't any good, but you could really feel the show was still working itself out. Steven Hill as original team leader Daniel Briggs is decent enough, but he's just not as interesting a performer as Peter Graves as Jim Phelps. Graves is indelible to the show. But it's not just who leads the team that made the show - it was the great actors who made up the series regulars. Greg Morris as Barney Collier and Peter Lupus as Willy Armitage are always great as the tech masters and inside guys who narrowly complete their tasks with milliseconds to spare. Husband and Wife duo Martin Landau as Rollin Hand and Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter really helped cement the show through the first three seasons.

So when I got around to watching Tom Cruise’s first Mission Impossible film I was a little miffed. It seemed like the story bumped off his team - a staple of the original tv series - within the first act and the rest of the film is on Cruise control ie it’s just about Ethan Hunt. But slowly as the other MI films came out I was won over. In fact in my mind I tend to think there are two Impossible Missions Force (IMF) operating in two different universes, just because the dynamics are different. That way I don’t waste time whining on which is better or poke holes in the Cruise films for its lack of purity to the original series. I prefer to enjoy both on their own separate terms.

To me Thomas Cruise Mapother IV is the biggest movie star in our current culture of excess entertainment. That’s my gut feeling.  The definition of a movie star, in my personal opinion, has changed dramatically. There was a time and period when the movie star was defined by the name alone. If a Hollywood star had a film coming out people didn’t know what the film was, they just saw it because of who was in it: Will Smith or Jim Carrey or even Stallone and Schwarzenegger. No one else comes close.

The two exceptions might be Leonardo DiCaprio or Keanu Reeves. I think of the two Reeves comes closest because of the success of the franchises he’s been in - The Matrix and the John Wick franchises - but he’s not a movie star. What I mean he doesn’t behave like a movie star in the sense that he is not immersed in the film business as a business nor does he cultivate his star power (he prefers to travel around on a bus and sit on park benches looking forlorn) in the way Tom Cruise does.

Interestingly there are even few directors that can open a movie on name alone. Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, and Steven Spielberg can still get people into the cinema based on their name alone, but the movie star, not so much. Audiences today want IP. They want franchises. However Tom Cruise has navigated all of that and consistently shifted.

Cruise’s dedication to big screen spectacle, also offset by interesting asides like American Made, and very underrated sci-fi and high concept films like Minority Report, Oblivion (very underrated) and Edge of Tomorrow, brings a sense of anticipation to his films. Maybe we’re there because we expect stunts, or we know that he’ll give nothing less than 100%, or it’s an example of a creatively driven project, rather than a marketing machine, but we still show up. It may not always go right, like the misfiring The Mummy or Jack Reacher (where he felt miscast in both), but Cruise has his sure-fires and his surprises.

When a movie like The Mummy doesn’t work out, he reimagines Mission: Impossible, and he is able to take what everyone loved in the 80s about Top Gun and magnify that to what the audience wants today. Honestly, did anyone expect Top Gun: Maverick to be the box office behemoth it has been? I expected it to impress, to be a good example of Cruise’s fervent passion for as much practical work as possible (as opposed to doing 95% with CGI), but after 36 years, that it’s his highest grossing film ever - and the highest-grossing movie of 2022 - is impressive.

It helps that he almost never 100 percent disappears into his roles; we still get that Tom Cruise smile and stare no matter who he’s playing. And the fact that he still looks like 1980s-era Tom Cruise only adds to the lustre. Indeed when Tom Cruise does it, whether that’s fighting for justice in a courtroom, making cocktails, jumping off a roof, flying a fighter jet,  or even singing “I Want To Know What Love Is” shirtless while wearing leather pants, we’re like, ‘Sure. I buy that.’ He’s relatable even when what he’s doing on screen is so far removed from our reality that it’s insane. There is a grounded matinee idol musk to Cruise’s presence on screen that seems to transcend class and political divides. He’s America’s hero and the nice guy who is tough with a sensitive side, as well as the kind of wisdom that impresses but never intimidates. He’s Hollywood’s fine wine.

Tom Cruise is not only the biggest movie star working today, he’s the last movie star working today.

There are plenty of actors who people recognise, and the right combination of actor and role can still be explosive, like Keanu Reeves. But “Tom Holland as Spider-Man” is a very different thing than “Tom Holland as anything except Spider-Man,” and to some degree, that’s by design. Studios would rather own the biggest part of the equation. Tom Cruise doesn’t need your IP, though. Tom Cruise is the IP. People buy a ticket to see Tom Cruise, and they do that because Tom Cruise has figured out how to be the most Tom Cruise that any Tom Cruise could ever hope to be, and every time out, he does his very best to turn the Tom Cruise up just a little bit more.

When he was younger, Cruise built his career by trusting himself and his image to the very best directors he could find, slowly refining a certain kind of alpha masculine ideal. What makes his late-era stardom more remarkable is how he only transitioned into action movies once he was in his 40s, and he has pushed himself harder than arguably any action star of any age in the last few decades. When you see a Tom Cruise film and you see an insane stunt, part of the kick is knowing that’s really him and that he’s entering his fourth decade of being an icon.

That Cruise almost died after becoming entangled in his parachute in the water in Top Gun was somewhat irrelevant, because it was this first Mission: Impossible where Tom Cruise: Stunt Man was also born. From the infamous wire descent, to leaping out of a window to outrun a surge of water from the restaurant he’d just blown a window out from, Cruise was in on the action.

If audiences didn’t quite get that dedication to being visibly involved in the action then, they certainly would by the time he made the more action packed second film, directed by John Woo. M:I 2 cemented the lure of the Cruise stunt. From mountain leaps, to motorcycle rides and more, Cruise set a new expectation for his work going forward. It was a string to his bow, a selling point, and it has proven a tool of forgiveness and resurrection even as his career has threatened to implode under off screen contention.

I think that’s why we rush to go and see the next Mission Impossible film. It’s not for the thread-bare plot or the fantastic action - although it’s better than most action franchises these days. But it’s the mind blowing stunts which we know is not CGI driven nor is done by a stunt double. It’s done by Tom Cruise himself.

He is the Tom Brady/Mark Cavendish/Ronaldo/Roger Federer (delete as appropriate) of movie stars, not just because of his success, but the longevity of his career, as he has found ways to adapt to each change in the industry while also not giving in to what others have had to do.

The key thing is he adapts just enough to make it fresh. The Mission Impossible films are a case in point. Even as the stunts have got bigger, more dangerous, and more spectacular (as all franchise films must it seems), the characters portraits and arcs have got more intimate and more relatable.

In the MI movies he is of course super spy Ethan Hunt but he’s not super-human. But Tom Cruise’s secret is that even when appearing borderline super-human on screen, there’s still an air about him that makes the viewer want to be him or be with him and believe that’s possible. There’s an old-school debonair swagger and a hot everyman to him that many movie stars lack. Dwayne Johnson is many things, including a mountain of a man and a brilliant business person, but few of us could carry that off or believe that what he’s doing on screen is something we could replicate. Inspire, sure, but we could never be him. With each film the character is finding it harder and harder to be cocky and confident. There is a world weariness etched on his strained face. He barely wins fights and often he relies on others to help him or bail him out. Cruise is self-aware that he is getting older, like his character. It’s these little details which count.

Interestingly, I find his women character also infinitely more relatable than any current iteration of the action female heroine. Marvel are lost in swamp of woke feminist BS where all their franchise films have to be led by the cookie cutter ’Strong Single Female’ - the one who doesn’t need mentoring (because that’s just sexist mansplaining); can pick up a life time of a superior set of skills in a matter of seconds; can beat to a pulp a man much stronger than she is; she never falls, stumbles, or fails like the men do; and she alone saves the day of course. Look at Rey in Star Wars or Captain Marvel in the MCU or even Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character in the latest risible Indiana Jones film and tell me any of that isn’t true.

The women in MI franchise are far more relatable within the context of a hyper-realised film about super spies but not beyonds the laws of gravity. They are strong, independent, smart, sure. But they are also feminine and vulnerable. They fight like skilled women and not prize fighters that play to their feminine strengths (they get punched a lot in the gut and it shows). More importantly, they fuck up and fail, but they still come and help others to save the day. From Emmanuelle Beart to Thandie Newton to Rebecca Ferguson, these are kick ass women but in a much more believable way than any Marvel movie she-heroine. Go back and see these movies and you will see what I mean.

What I also like about him is the vibe he gives off that he cares deeply about his movies. It’s not a cynical exercise in money. Of course ego is a different matter, but I’ll give him a pass because he is the consummate professional and perfectionist about his craft. To me Tom Cruise is one of the few performers today who generally thinks of the audience first. Maybe even to his own detriment. But you can tell with everything he does, in all of his films, there is a different kind of commitment he makes to the audience. He actually gives the impression that he cares about giving his audience a good time.

Moreover, to hear it from Cruise himself, as we did during leaked audio of the dressing down he gave M:I7 crew members who were flouting COVID-19 safety regulations: “That’s what I sleep with every night - the future of this fucking industry!” Cruise makes a grand spectacle of carrying every film on his back, so it’s never in question who calls the shots or who, rather than what, makes the movies cinematic. Cruise’s power as a producer really deserves kudos for this. His steadfast aversion to shrinking theatrical windows for any of his projects, and his continued allegiance to, especially in the case of his flagship franchise, adding more ambitious stunts and exotic locations with every entry.

He doesn’t do television. Don’t you dare ask him about streaming. Other stars have also made that transition to streaming. You might call it selling your soul. Deals with the devil. We’ve seen other films in difficult circumstances, having to change their models to incorporate simultaneous streaming and cinema releases. Dwayne Johnson had seen a decline in box office revenue prior to the pandemic that has seen him go a little safer with more Disney material, as well as become a big fish in the Netflix pond. Cruise however… is all about the big screen experience.

Everything Cruise does is about maintaining his star power in the face of any and all obstacles, from a diminished global box office and studio manoeuvring to his own mortality. His legacy decades since secured, Cruise’s latest impossible mission appears to be nothing less than saving the movies themselves.

For that reason and that reason alone, I will always take time to see a Tom Cruise movie especially his Mission Impossible franchise films. Roll on summer. Cue the Palo Schifrin guitar chords. And action!

Thanks for your question.

[thequietesthing]

SHADOW & BONE SEASON 2 THOUGHTS

SPOILERS AHEAD - read at your own risk

Ok, I think I made it clear enough

So, yesterday I finished watching the second season of S&B and I have contrasting thoughts.

Let's start with the good ok?

THE ACTORS. Cannot stress this enough. That is definitely a bunch of very talented people. They had one job and boy if they delivered. I liked everyone but my favourite performances were the ones of Freddy Carter (the Bastard of the Barrel psychotic gaze couldn't have been done better, and also his relationship with Inej... chef's kiss – straight out from the books) Amita Suman (if possible she did an even better job than in the first season, I loved Amita in every scene, from the fight ones to her SCENE with Kaz, and especially what she says to him after that "Hope is dangerous", which I don't think is very much in line with the Inej from the book, but it fits really well in the storyline of the tv series) Daisy Head (THE WOMAN WAS AMAZING, thank god she was given a bigger role in this season! the way she portrayed Genya was brilliant, the hurt, the shame, the fear you could read everything from her face, simply brilliant) Patrick Gibson (my love Nikolai, he also did a very good job and I liked his transitioning from a very swaggering and outgoing performance of Sturmhond, to his portrayal of Nikolai – I've seen some critics in the way he portrayed Nikolai, but in my opinion it couldn't have been better. Sturmhond is not the same as Nikolai otherwise it wouldn't have made sense to create the alter ego; for as much as he has the confident exterior, Nikolai is extremely thoughtful (and I think that you can recognise that by reading KOS/ROW) and Patrick was able to show the thought process that we read in the books, so I liked him). All the others were all extremely good, Ben Barnes off the charts as always, Jessie Mei Li and Archie Renaux did a brilliant job to give us Malina (sometimes definitely too diabetic but alright), the rest of the Crows, Danielle, Kit, Jack and Calahan were AMAZING, they embodied their characters perfectly (Wesper was done beautifully, different than the books, but Kit and Jack are so good that it just came flawless anyway; Helnik was pure angst and I LOVED IT). Also special mentions to Lewis Tan and Anna Leong Brophy because they NAILED the twins performance.

Then we have the plot. Now I wouldn't discard the thing as necessarily bad, because in its own right it wasn't. The issue with book adaptations is that we have such high standards given by the books that we always expect too much. I have to say, some things I liked some things I didn't. Shadow & Bone parts I have to say I'm partial to the second book, especially the whole attack at the Little Palace is just one of my favourites scenes ever and it felt a bit meh. Other issue they have not tackled at all was the religious role Alina had (especially with Tamar and Tolya that in the tv series look more like Nikolai's sidekicks) that instead I wanted to see. A character that basically disappears is the Apparat: I don't like the guy but he was kind of important (how he always schemes around, how he imprisoned Alina, now he's just a guy that gives shady advice to everyone who'd listen). I wish I could have seen more Zoya simply because I love her very much and the fact that she and the Darkling didn't have any type of scenes together is absurd to me. All the scenes where Nikolai was were better in my opinion but I may be a little biased, but I just don't want him to pine over Alina for too long! Not with Zoya right there! But we'll see. Also the whole thing Mal/Alina/Darkling was done in a pretty good way; could have been done better? obviously, but since the objective was not to copy word by word from the books I think it went well. Six of Crows parts I liked how they portrayed Kaz (his childhood story I wanted to cry everytime), very on point BUT I didn't like how rushed it was the vengeance against Pekka Rollins; it was done too quickly for the sake of giving the Crows something to do the first half of the season and it deserved more time for me. I like the new dynamics with the integration of Nina and Wylan, but once again we couldn't really see much of it because there was always someone else and never just the Crows. I've said it before but I'll say it again, Wesper was majestic, Jack must have understood Wylan to a soul level because it was the same as reading Leigh words. I don't particularly mind the fact that Wesper had a thing before rather than not having met at all. Also Jesper embracing its powers was really nice if not a bit rushed. Then, KANEJ SCENES PEOPLE. The talent of Amita and Freddy shone through so brightly it's amazing (the "How will you have me" scene pierced me to the core – not to mention Inej's dream.... ughh so good). KOS foreshadowing They killed David and I was so not okay with that, but then I thought "Did they though?" bc there was no body no anything, so maybe and I say maybe he still alive somewhere (he better be bc he has to marry Genya and be happy and I'll be in denial until it is confirmed). WHEN THE BEE LANDED ON ZOYA SHOULDER the scream that came out of me people thought I was possessed I swear. Nikolai as he finds out he's the nichevo’ya was really well done. What Nina said to Zoya "someone will sweep you off your feet so hard you won't know what hit you" I wanted to cry, I swear if they don't give me Zoyalai next season I'll riot. I didn't particularly enjoy the Genya,Zoya and Alina triumvirate, but I'm feeling it may be short lived. (Also Zoya's "I could fix him" energy is what we want in S3)

Now for what may happen next, I'm really happy about the jurda parem storyline because it affects everyone in different ways. I hope that now that they'll tackle KOS it won't become the Alina show pt 2 but they'll give Zoya the story she deserves. I need Zoya to be the general and right hand of the King and Alina is kind in the middle of that but then I thought that Alina will probably go on her own journey with the fact she has the sword to return to Shu Han and now dark powers and so she may enter her villain era with maybe Mal bringing her again on the right path (also let's not forget that the tree the Darkling goes into is in Shu Han, so I think they'll play around with that a bit), idk honestly all I care at this point is that by the end Alina's hair have to be white. I hope the Crows finally free poor Matthias from Hellgate and finally finally go do the Ice Court heist, that it has been a long time coming.

All in all I honestly liked the season, there was only one main issue that affected everything else: too many characters. In Italian there is a saying "troppa carne al fuoco" which means literally "too much meat on the fire" which translates to the fact that there were too many things to follow to do it properly. Too many stories to follow, too many people on the move with too many things to accomplish, and even with good writing it can easily become a shitty thing. So whatever it is to come (hopefully season 3 and also the rumoured SOC spinoff) I'm glad they are planning to separate the cast.

Ok I'm done.

[smolwritingchick]

Forced To Believe Chapter 72- I Win (All Hell Breaks Loose)

Chapter Summary: All hell breaks loose as Morgan shocks the world when she watches Ambrose and Rollins go at it at SummerSlam.

Words: 5,000+

Author's Note: Relax....

---------

Backstage as Melanie and Milena walked together, the duo received a standing ovation from everyone which got them emotional. Their rivalry was over. And now those two were headed to different storylines after tonight. It was bittersweet as they were praised for their hard work despite the time cut on the match.

After numerous conversations with staff and their peers, Brie rushed over to them.

"Oh my God! You two scared the crap out of me, during that whole match!" Brie said to them. "How are you two still standing!?"

Melanie laughed and smiled at Milena. "We did good. If you excuse me, I seriously need a doctor to get rid of all these crazy thumbtacks. Thanks Milena."

"No problem!" Milena replied with a giggle.

"Grapes, that match was awesome." Randy hugged her.

"OW! OW!" She yelled.

"Aw crap! Sorry!" He pulled away and backed up, but showed a half smile when he saw her laughing.

"Joking! The look on your face was priceless. I'm okay. The pain isn't that bad anymore. And thanks."

"I hate it when you do that."

"I love you too, buddy!" She gave him a pat on the back and began walking around backstage, to the trainer's room.

Everywhere she went, her and Milena would receive compliments and praises for the match, despite how short it was. It made them smile at how much respect they were earning from the locker room.

SummerSlam continued to go off with a great start with WWE's favorite show off winning the intercontinental championship. Then they showed Paige going up against AJ for the Diva's Championship. Melanie watched as AJ started pulling Paige's hair out, from the diva's locker room.

She laughed when she heard Paige yell "What the hell!?"

Melanie had on skinny jeans, boots, and a Dean Ambrose Unstable shirt that was cropped and showed her right shoulder, along with her fingerless gloves. Luckily all the thumbtacks she had been pulled out and she took a shower to wash off the blood while placing ointment on her wounds. As she looked at the TV again, she saw that Paige won the championship again, and on her 22nd birthday.

She headed out of the locker room to meet up with Jon at the gorilla while Rusev had his match against Jack. She saw her Lunatic already in his wrestling attire, and a Dean Ambrose themed hoodie, checking himself out in a mirror.

"And...I look like crap." He rasped out.

"Haha! You look cute." She embraced him.

"Saw your match. Badass. Those thumbtacks made me think about Christina."

"I thought about her, too."

"You did great out there. I'm proud of you." He smiled at her.

"Thank you." She returned the smile and kissed him softly. "Now lemme do something about this." She tried to do something with his hair.

"It's already ruined; you're making it worse!"

"Aye! I'm making it better!"

"Lies..."

"Get a room!" Colby chuckled as he stood by them, with his briefcase.

"Shut up, Colby." Jon and Melanie simultaneously say.

-------

For one final Rosa segment, Rosa was getting treated in the trainer's room, clearly exhausted and defeated. The crowd cheered when Triple H came into the room. Triple H wasn't too pleased with her as he eyed her down, shaking his head.

"You're out," he declared, officially kicking her out of everything associated with The Authority.

Shocked at the sudden news, Rosa began to freak out as she begged him while he left the room. "W—wait! Wait, Hunter, please!"

As the screen transitioned back to the ring, the Lumberjacks surrounded the ring, and they were Big E, Bo Dallas, Cesaro, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Damien Sandow, Luke & Erick, Fandango, Goldust & Stardust, Heath, Jimmy & Jey, Kofi, RVD, Sin Cara, and Titus.

"Well, it looks like that is the last of Rosa Mendes associating herself with The Authority," Cole said as he shook his head.

"She couldn't get the job done. Morgan prevailed. The Authority saw her as a weak link. Gotta get rid of the dead weight," JBL bluntly said.

"Almost every one of these men were at sometime victims of the former Shield." Cole informed as the camera showed all of the lumberjacks.

"I'm not sure I want to be surrounded by the ring, with 20 people who don't like me." JBL stated as Seth's theme came on with him walking out with his briefcase.

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is the Lumberjack match! Introducing first, from Davenport, Iowa, weighing 217 pounds, Mister Money in The Bank, Seth Rollins!" Lilian announced.

Cole starts acknowledging some celebrities in the crowd, while Seth raises up his briefcase on the top rope, before jumping off. Dean's theme comes on, to a big pop.

"And his opponent, being accompanied by Morgan Lopez, from Cincinnati, Ohio, weighing in at 225 pounds, Dean Ambrose!" Lilian announced.

"The fact that Morgan is still walking around with her head up high after the most insane opening women's match is beyond me. She had thumbtacks all over her body earlier tonight and she is good as new. Talk about strength," King informed.

"Shades of Chyna flowing through her veins," Cole praised.

Morgan seriously did not want to see these two kill each other but it had to be done. Dean needed closure and wanted to get even with Seth, after what he did, these past months. And having a strong feeling Kane or even Triple H was going to come out and interrupt the match, made her blood boil. She just had to come out here and keep a close eye.

"Why is she here? She has no business out here!" JBL shouted as the couple held hands and walked down the ramp.

"Actually, she does have business out here. She's just as involved in this situation, as Dean. And Morgan isn't stupid. She knows The Authority is going to try something. So, why not be at ringside to keep a close eye." King countered.

"Here we go guys, this has been building, and building for months," Cole said.

Dean takes off his jacket and gives it to Morgan. The couple stop at the end of the ramp and she gives him a sweet kiss on the lips, before walking around ringside, placing his jacket near the timekeeper's area.

Ambrose gets in the ring and has a stare down with Rollins. Meanwhile, all the lumberjacks move out of Morgan's way, still acknowledging the match she just had. The men knew not to even think about putting their hands on her.

If there was one thing that Morgan was sure of, is that as soon as that bell rings, all hell was going to break loose. And boy was she ever right.

'Ding Ding Ding'

The Outspoken Diva heard the bell ring as she stood by, near the time keeper's area, leaning on the barricade.

"And here we go!" Cole shouted as Ambrose & Rollins started brawling back and forth. "These former best friends, buddies who grew up in this industry, together, now going after one another."

Dean catches Seth with an elbow, dropping him down.

"This may turn into a slug fest inside and outside the ring," King said. "I wonder what's going through the mind of Morgan as she watches these two go at it."

"Would you stop worrying about her? She's fine." JBL replied.

Dean starts stomping away at Seth, seated in a corner. He tosses Seth across the ring as Seth rolls over to the edge. Stardust, Goldust, and Titus shove him back instead, making Morgan laugh.

"Come on!" Seth shouted at the Lumberjacks.

He turns around to get blasted back down by Dean. Moments later, he clotheslines Seth out of the ring, and he gets shoved back inside by the Lumberjacks.

"So, far guys, Ambrose has gotta be liking this stipulation that he picked," Cole said as Dean stomped on Seth's stomach, making him yell out in pain. "Ambrose has gotta be loving this."

"This is exactly what Dean Ambrose wanted. Seth Rollins, in the ring, where he can get his hands on him. No place for Seth Rollins to go—oh the nose!" King shouted as he trapped Seth in a submission and gripped his nose back, making him yell out in pain.

Morgan looks on with an amused facial expression. This was priceless.

"Ambrose is gonna punish Rollins. He's gonna torture Rollins." Cole guaranteed.

Dean gives Seth a chop to the chest, as the crowd 'Woos' in response. He drags Seth's face into the ropes but gets kicked in the midsection and tossed out the ring.

"He built Dean Ambrose. Ambrose should thank him." JBL stated.

"Wait a minute, did you just say he built Dean Ambrose?" Cole asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, and now Ambrose tossed out." Cole looked on but then Dean punched Fandango and Damien before sliding back in the ring, unloading on Seth. "And Ambrose is not gonna go in quietly. That's one way to go about it. Now Ambrose taking down Rollins."

Seth manages to hit him with a reverse STO into the turnbuckle, gaining the upper hand. Seth runs to the ropes and dropkicks Ambrose out of the ring. Still holding a grudge, Bo Dallas, Fandango, and Damien begin stomping down on Dean.

"Oh and look out. The Lumberjacks." Cole pointed out.

"Aye! The heck are you doing!?" Morgan shouted as the heel Lumberjacks continued to beat down Ambrose.

The face Lumberjacks try to break it up while Dean gets thrown back into the ring. Seth gets on top of Ambrose and continues pummeling him down with punches.

"Rollins called Dean Ambrose a hellcat with rabies, and a bipolar nutjob." Cole quoted.

"I dunno if he has rabies but everything else is true." JBL agreed.

Seth hits Dean with a knee to the face, as he was laid out, on the mat, and goes for a pin.

"1!" The referee counted but Dean managed to kick out.

Dean begins fighting back with punches but gets irish whipped into a corner. Seth runs to attack but gets kicked back. Dean gets on the top rope, with his back to Rollins. Rollins takes advantage and catches Ambrose in the tree of woe. This catches Morgan's attention and she starts to look worried.

"Déjà vu. We saw Morgan in this position, earlier tonight." Cole recalled as Seth stomped away on Dean and then he fell off, clenching his stomach.

Seth puts Dean in an arm bar while the crowd begins to clap, to motivate him. Ambrose begins gaining more momentum and tries to go for a crossbody but Seth moves out the way. Dean gets on the apron and kicks Luke away, who was near him. Rollins tries to go for a suplex but Dean counters and hits Rollins with the suplex instead, onto the Lumberjacks.

"Whoa!" King shouted as Seth slammed his head on the announce table.

"Rollins! And Ambrose!" Cole shouted as the crowd cheered.

"Man, oh man!"

"Wow! Taking out the Lumberjacks. And this is a dangerous situation for both Rollins and Ambrose, out here." Cole said as the two continued fighting at ringside.

"As I feared." Morgan looked on, amused at the two.

She moves out of harms way as all the Lumberjacks get involved, trying to break the two up. As soon as they do, Dean jumps on top of Rollins and the group holding him back.

"And now Ambrose startin' to brawl. Ambrose brawling out here with the Lumberjacks, trying to get to Seth Rollins." Cole looked on as the Lumberjacks desperately tried to break them up.

"This is melee!" King exclaimed.

Dean and Seth finally get separated but start punching and elbowing the Lumberjacks away from them. Seth runs over to Dean but gets tossed up in the air, over the barricade as he holds his knee.

"Rollins sent over to the WWE fans!" Cole shouted.

Dean tries to get over the barricade but gets Ryback's arms wrapped around his waist, trying to pull him back, along with the other Lumberjacks.

"Just let them fight! It's no use." Morgan mentioned.

The crowd boos once Ambrose gets thrown back into the ring.

"Lumberjacks finally doing their job," JBL said.

"Ambrose now taking out more Lumberjacks!" Cole shouted as he hit them with a suicide dive. Dean got on top of the announce table. "Look—a—look at this! Look at it! Ambrose! Ambrose! Ambrose!"

"Look out!" King shouted in a high pitched voice as he jumped on top of Rollins, in the crowd, taking out Kofi and Bo as well.

"That's my lunatic." Morgan grinned and looked on, entertained.

The crowd cheers as Dean tosses Bo and Kofi back at ringside and goes right after Rollins. Rollins starts running away, through the crowd.

"He's a wild one, ain't he?" RVD grinned at her as the Outspoken Diva nodded in response and chuckled.

"Rollins is trying to escape in the Staples Center but Ambrose is huntin' him down!" Cole looked on while Dean hit Seth from behind.

"I love you, Dean! You're the best, Dean!" A male fan shouted.

Ambrose continues pummeling Seth through the crowd as they go up the steps.

"These Lumberjacks are at ringside, watching the fight!" JBL scolded.

While the two fight in the crowd, the crowd boos loudly when Kane walks out.

"Oh great..." Morgan retorted and rolled her eyes.

This was exactly why she came out here. She knew someone was going to come out and try to ruin the match.

Kane started yelling at the Lumberjacks. "Get them back in the ring! Do your job!"

Dean prepares for the dirty deeds in the crowd until some of the Lumberjacks go and separate the two, earning more boos. The Lumberjacks drag Dean back to the ring, while Rollins continues to escape. He punches Sin Cara and hits his head on the railing.

"Seth's leaving! Seth's leaving!" JBL shouted.

"Seth Rollins has had enough!" Cole said. "I think Rollins is taking off, guys."

"I don't blame him." King replied.

Seth sees the Usos, Big E, and Stardust in front of him. He tries to reason with them but then attempts to jump over them. He fails as he gets caught as the crowd cheers.

"Now they're doing their job!" King added.

"Seth Rollins gonna be dragged back down to the ring, by the Lumberjacks," Cole said.

Morgan starts cracking up as Rollins desperately tries to escape but gets lifted up in the air by the Lumberjacks, Adam Rose style.

"There you go, guys! Get him back in the ring!" JBL shouted.

Dean climbs on the top rope, as the crowd cheers loudly with anticipation.

"Ambrose!" Cole shouted as he leaped on top of Seth and all the Lumberjacks.

Dean sits up and widens his eyes, revealing a crazed look. Kane doesn't look too happy, as he begins to look worried.

"Kane's gonna blow! This is incredible!" Cole said in amazement.

Dean tosses Seth back in the ring as the crowd chants 'This is awesome!'.

Seth gets on his knees, looking groggy as Ambrose makes gun sign and shoots it to the back of Rollins' head.

"Ambrose gonna finish him off here! He's been waiting on this!" JBL said as Dean positioned Seth for the Dirty Deeds.

Seth counters and pushes him away. He kicks him from behind, making Dean lean back, between the ropes to come back with a vicious clothesline.

"Yeah!" Morgan cheered with the crowd.

"Ambrose explodes off the ropes!" Cole shouted.

"Ahh!" King screamed in a high pitched voice as Dean went for the pin.

"1!"

"2!"

"Kick out by Rollins!" Cole said with excitement.

Things were really starting to pick up as Kane looks relieved. Ambrose starts to show a cheeky grin.

"What a blast!" King said happily.

Dean begins to show a blank look before getting on his knees, and turning his attention to Rollins. Seth begins gripping his grey tank top, trying to get up. Ambrose stands up and grabs Seth's hair.

"I love you, brother." He kissed his head and ran to the ropes.

He lays Seth out with the curb stomp, making everyone 'Oh!'

Morgan puts her hands over her mouth in shock.

"Curb stomp!" Cole shouted as Dean started to get emotional. "That's Rollins' move!"

"He hit him with his own finish!" JBL shouted.

"Here's the cover and now wait a minute!" Cole shouted as Kane broke up the pin. "Kane!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Morgan shouted as the crowd booed.

They start to cheer once Goldust gets in the ring and gets in his face.

"Hey! What are you doing!? What are you doing, man!" Goldust shouted but Kane hit him in the face.

And that's when all the Lumberjacks get in the ring and start fighting, as Kane gets out of harms way. The crowd cheers loudly as the big brawl breaks out. Kane returns to ringside, adjusting his tie. Morgan glares at him and starts heading his way, shaking her head. It was not going to be like this. Not this way.

"And now Morgan!" Cole shouted as the crowd cheered.

"Hey, asshole!" She shouted.

Kane turns around only to get kicked in the groin. Face scrunched up in pain, he falls down.

"That's what you get!" She shouted and turned her attention back to the ring.

"Woo hoo! Low blow!" King cheered and turned his attention back to the ring. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute, look out!" He shouted as some of the Lumberjacks got thrown out of the ring. "What in the world!? What is happening here?"

"Kane was supposed to control things, and he set this thing into this!" Cole replied.

"Not to mention getting low blowed in the process," JBL recalled.

Dean and the Wyatts were the last ones in the ring. Luke tries to go after the Lunatic but gets tossed out the ring. Erick tries to clothesline him but gets clotheslined instead. Meanwhile, Seth manages to snatch his briefcase while Dean was distracted by the Wyatts. Morgan decides to take action by stepping on top of the apron, yanking the briefcase out of his hands, as the crowd cheers.

"The hell are you doing!?" Seth shouted.

"Look at Morgan!" Cole shouted.

"She has no business doing that!" JBL exclaimed.

"She's looking out for Dean! Seth was about to cheat! She had every right to do that!" King retorted to JBL.

"Give me my briefcase!" Seth got in her face.

The Outspoken Diva glared at him. "Forget it! You think you're gonna win, like that!? Hell no!" She turned around, about to jump off, but got yanked back, by her hair as she yelled out in shock.

"Oh, come on! Get off of her!" King shouted as she got forced into the ring, by Rollins.

"You think you are gonna ruin this for me!?" Seth shouted, backing her up into the corner.

"Seth! Stop it! Get off!" She shouted back.

"Rollins is putting her in her place! She shouldn't have messed with his briefcase." JBL shrugged.

"He doesn't have to do this! Just leave her alone, Seth!" King exclaimed, sounding concerned for Morgan's safety.

Seth can be dangerous when he wants to be. And having Morgan ruin his chance of stealing a win, made him irate.

"Always in the way!" He growled as she struggled to escape his grip.

"Enough!" She shouted back.

"This is uncalled for! Let her go!" King demanded.

"Always in the damn way! Just stay in your place!" He struck her in the face, making her fall down as the crowd looked on in surprise.

"Oh my God, is Morgan okay!?" Cole said with worry.

Morgan holds her face and rolls over to the apron. Seth kicks his briefcase over to its original spot in the corner and continues seething, trying to cool down after being so angry with the Outspoken Diva.

"Stay out of my business!" He shouted and ran his gloved hands through his hair.

"This is what happens when you stick your nose where it doesn't belong." JBL scolded as Morgan held the side of her face.

"How can you say that? Morgan saw that something was wrong, and tried to stop it." King exclaimed, getting fired up at JBL criticizing Morgan's actions.

"It was a stupid move."

"I wish you'd shut up. If you saw things in Morgan's point of view, you would have done the same thing. So, shut your trap."

Turning around after dealing with the Wyatts, Dean sees Morgan laid out, face first, holding her face in pain. Seeing red, Ambrose goes berserk and starts attacking Rollins, viciously unloading on him with punches.

"And now Dean Ambrose! Dean Ambrose getting fired up!" Cole shouted in anticipation as the crowd gave him a big pop.

Dean drops Rollins with DDT as the crowd gets hyped up. He waits for Rollins to get up, but then Kane gets on the ropes to distract the referee. Rollins rolls over to the corner, diagonal from where Morgan was recovering at the bottom turnbuckle. Ambrose starts yelling at Kane, while standing in the middle of the ring, between his former teammates.

"Can somebody get Kane out of here so he can stop distracting Ambrose? Ambrose had this match won!" King exclaimed.

"Lesson learned. You shouldn't get distracted in a match like this. This is chaos! What kind of Lumberjack match is this? First Rollins and Ambrose fight outside the ring, and into the crowd! Then Kane has to try to restore order, but caused a brawl with all the Lumberjacks. And now Morgan gets involved and gets hit in the face, for heaven's sake!" JBL rambled on. "And she's not even in the damn match! What is going on!?"

While Jerry and JBL continue to argue, Morgan begins standing up. Dean starts walking up to Rollins, who is still in the corner.

"And now Ambrose looks to finish Seth Rollins off," Cole said. "This may be it!"

"I think you're right!" King said in a high pitched voice.

Morgan narrows her eyes across the ring and walks up to Dean from behind. She drops down to her knees and gives him a low blow as the commotion from the crowd causes the arena to get loud at the sudden turn of events.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! What the hell!?" Cole shouted as the crowd got loud with cheers and boos.

Dean's face expression shows pain and discomfort as he drops to his knees, falling down, face first. The Outspoken Diva rises up and shoots Ambrose a blank look while Rollins looks on in shock. The Architect widens his eyes, processing what just happened in front of him.

"Oh my God! Morgan, what the hell are you doing!?" King screamed as she ran a hand through her hair.

"The hell is going on!?" JBL exclaimed.

"What about her face!?" King shouted as the crowd chanted 'Holy shit!'

Celeste tweets 'WHAT THE HELL!? What are you doing WWEMorgan101!?'

"Never trust a woman!" JBL stated.

Morgan looks at her hand and takes her ring off her ring finger. She examines it before putting it on her right index finger instead, showing power and Authority, instead of love.

"What is going on!?" King exclaimed. "And was that ring what I think it was!?"

Seth begins to grin, revealing that he was faking his shocked look and continues to watch on.

"L­—look at Rollins, grinning. He knew this was going to happen?!" Cole exclaimed. "Don't tell me Morgan just joined The Authority!"

"But he punched her in the face," JBL recalled.

"Morgan doesn't seemed to be hurt. I think they faked it."

"What are you doing!?" Fans shouted. "Why!? Why!?"

"I­—I can't believe Morgan just...she just low blowed Dean! Her boyfriend! Why? Why help Seth Rollins?" King asked, looking startled.

Ambrose starts to get on his hands and knees, while Morgan continues to stare at how helpless he looked. Seth grabs Ambrose and gives him to Morgan, putting him in the backfire position for her.

"W—­wait a minute! Wait! Morgan! Don't do it! It's not too late to reconsider! Don't do it!" King shouted.

"After what she just did? There's no turning back, now! This is a done deal!" JBL said as the crowd gave off mixed reactions.

"Oh no. You've gotta be kiddin' me!" Cole shouted as she slammed Ambrose down hard with the backfire.

Dean grunts as she sits down, next to his laid out body. Morgan begins to look uncharacteristically relaxed after what she's done. She glances at Dean and shakes her head, smirking as she gets helped up by Rollins.

"I don't believe this..." Cole grumbled.

The crowd boos as Seth and Morgan grin at each other and embrace.

"Morgan, what are you doing!? This isn't you!" King said in disbelief.

"Maybe this is the real Morgan," JBL replied.

"Man...the look on the face of Morgan! No regret. No remorse."

"I don't understand. What did we just see?!" Cole asked as the crowd chanted loudly, 'You sold out!'

Dean, who is struggling to get up, manages to grab Morgan's left boot, for support. With one of Rollins' arms around her waist, as she holds onto him, she and Seth look down at the beaten up Lunatic.

After getting released by Rollins, she kneels and lifts up Dean's chin. She roughly shoves his face away and gets up to hit him with a sickening heel kick to the face. The crowd 'Ohs' and continues to look shocked. She turned all those smiles into frowns after what she did. And there was not a sign of regret on her face.

She tosses Seth his briefcase and leans her back against the corner, crossing her arms. Dean begins to get back on his hands and knees, turning his head to his ex. She slowly shoots him a wicked smirk as he clenches his fists. Ambrose shot her a dangerous glare, but in his eyes, they showed the look of distress. Not phased by his look, she continued to look indifferent as she watched Seth lay him out with his briefcase.

"Rollins with the briefcase to the face!" Cole shouted as Kane let the referee go, and he started to count. "No! Not like this! Not this way!"

"1!"

"2!"

"3!"

"And Rollins takes advantage of this disarray out here,"

"Here is your winner! Seth Rollins!" Lilian announced.

"Guys, that was more action than my eyes could follow. I can't even speak after what Morgan just did." King said as they went to the highlights of the match.

"The Architect of The Shield, Seth Rollins, just beat Dean Ambrose." JBL proudly announced as Morgan helped Rollins up.

"What a disappointing night for Dean Ambrose," Cole added.

"For sure. He just lost Morgan. Got low blowed and hit with a backfire, and lost the match." JBL replied as Seth lifted up Morgan's chin and examined her face, amused that they fooled everyone. "She's not even hurt. I wonder how long these two planned this."

"I am even more excited for RAW, tomorrow. I cannot wait to hear Morgan's explanation for her actions." Cole said as Seth laughed and raised up his briefcase with Morgan.

"Wait a minute, look who it is." Cole pointed out as Triple H walked down the ramp, with a huge grin on his face.

He gets in the ring and embraces Morgan as the crowd boos, loudly. "For crying out loud...After all that she's done to The Authority? Why is she with Triple H and Seth Rollins?" King asked.

"Morgan has sold her soul to The Authority. I...I can't wrap my head around that." Cole murmured.

Triple H raises her hand and smirks at the crowd.

"I win. I finally got her." He proudly said.

"Triple H saying he won, he finally got Morgan. The question that is on everyone's mind, is how did The Authority get into the mind of the Outspoken Diva? After all, that she's done to fight against them? I just can't believe this is happening." Cole said.

Morgan, Seth and Triple H exit the ring. Triple H goes backstage after patting the two on the back. Morgan and Seth head up to stand in the middle of the ramp.

Rollins wraps his arms around her waist from behind, and rests his chin on her shoulder, laughing at Ambrose. Dean manages to get up on his knees, looking at his ex with sorrow and shock.

The shocking events played back in his mind.

She hit him with a low blow.

She hit him with the backfire.

And now she aligned herself with The Authority. With Seth. It was a slap in the face to the WWE Universe. And a dagger to his heart.

Morgan shrugs at Ambrose, giving him another smirk. It was absolutely hilarious to her, seeing the shocked crowd reactions and Dean's face. She could have sworn she saw his eyes getting watery.

"Hah, hah, hah. She's mine, Ambrose. She's where she belongs. Dark side called her home." Seth taunted, kissing her on the cheek.

"This has to be one of the most shocking scenes we've ever seen in WWE history. I can't..." Cole trailed off.

Fans tweet:

'Oh they pulled the trigger?! I didn't think they were gonna do it!'

'BOLD! They teased it but I didn't think they'd actually do it!'

'What the fuck they made her heel!?'

'That was a total #SlapInTheFace'

'WWEMorgan101 has lost yet another screw for betraying Ambrose #YouReallyDoneItNow'

'Just cleaned my glasses to make sure I was looking at what WWEMorgan101 did clearly. #IsThisReallyHappening?'

'It's about time! Finally, she's with The Authority! If you can't beat them, join them. And that's exactly what WWEMorgan101 did!'

'WWEMorgan101 must be really confident about her safety after attacking Dean Ambrose. Watch your back.'

'How dare you do that Dean Ambrose!? You are gonna get it WWEMorgan101! #WhyMorganWhy'

'Please just do not let Morgan explain anything tonight. Let this marinate. I'm loving this,'

'And just like that Morgan has become the most hated woman in WWE'

Celeste tweets 'I don't understand. Was this about power? Success? It's not worth it. #SoldYourSoulForWhat?'

Naomi tweets 'WWEMorgan101 just made the biggest mistake of her life! #DeanAmbroseAlwaysGetsEven'

Triple H tweets 'I finally got her. Welcome to The Authority WWEMorgan101. You won't regret it. #WelcomeToTheDarkSide'

Paul Heyman tweets 'WWEMorgan101 is a brilliant conniver! She fooled everyone.'

Seth Rollins tweets 'What can I say? I knew she'd give in to me. She deserves better. She's mine, now.'

AJ Lee tweets 'WWEMorgan101 Why? You just pissed off all your fans! What do you gain from this? You and I need to talk on Raw.'

--------

Natalya and Naomi angrily walk around backstage.

"Where is she? Where the hell is she? We are gonna find her little ass. She isn't going to be off the hook from this." Natalya looked around while walking with Naomi, in a hurry. "I can't believe her...What the hell was that!?"

"I know. I mean after all she's done to The Authority? Now she joins them? This is not right," Naomi said in disappointment.

"Did you see that engagement ring on her finger that Ambrose gave her? And how she took it off, like it was nothing to her? That is unforgivable! Dean loves her to death! He did everything for her! He sacrificed so much for her, and now she turns around and does this?"

"Yeah. Wonder why she didn't tell us about that, ring. There is no loyalty around here. How could she?"

"Guess there's no engagement now since she wants to take off the ring and sell out. It's a slap in the face—there she is. Morgan!"

The two divas walked up to her and Seth. "Why would you do that!? Why!?" Natalya shouted.

"How could you? Why would you do that to Dean?" Naomi asked, looking at her in disappointment.

Seth, who had his arm around Morgan, spoke up. "Ladies, can't you see that this doesn't concern you? Now move it, along. Morgan doesn't have to explain herself to you."

Natalya shook her head, shooting her an angry look. She firmly stated, "You...are such a hypocrite. You chose power. The Authority over a man who loves you? Who stood by you through everything? Dean deserves so much better."

"Correction. Morgan deserves so much better." Seth smirked and continued walking with the Outspoken Diva.

Natayla's words did not bother Morgan at all. She couldn't care less what she thought.

"After all you've done against The Authority...? For your family and friends? For the fans? For Jane? Your own mother?" Nattie asked.

"She did what was best for business," Seth stated.

"I'm pretty sure the OUTSPOKEN diva can speak for herself." she sharply replied to Rollins, giving him a dirty look, before turning her attention back to Morgan. "How could you? Why? We were all rooting for you and Dean. Ever since that last week before WrestleMania. And now you do this?"

Morgan looked at them up and down before smirking. She brushed past them and kept walking with her held up high.

"Instead of worrying about Morgan, worry about yourselves," Rollins glared at them and walked away to catch up with her.

The two continued to walk around backstage as everyone stared at them in shock.

"Morgan! Morgan." Renee rushed over to her. "Morgan, why did you attack Dean Ambrose and align yourself with Seth Rollins?"

All of a sudden, Morgan starts laughing. Getting Seth's arm wrapped around her, she sighed and left with him, leaving Renee confused.

----

"Damn it!"

The sounds of growls, thumps, kicks, and punches were heard backstage, as a vexed Lunatic paced around. He wanted to rip Seth Rollins' head off. He wanted to tear him apart. But most of all, he wanted to get his hands on the woman he envisioned to have a life together. He thought their relationship was going great. He gained her trust back after what he did back in January. He thought he was doing everything right, and nothing could stop them.

His mind went back to the day he asked her to marry him. He remembered the innocent gasp she made when he went down on one knee. Her angelic laugh she let out when he said cheesy things about how

much he loved her. Her emotional 'Yes!' and how she tackled him into a hug, letting out tears of joy.

How could all of that be an act? How couldn't he see right through her deceiving ways? She looked fine. Smiling, loving the crowd, and taking on Rosa and The Authority. What happened?

Ambrose ran his hands through his damp hair, which was covered with water and sweat. WWE Superstars, divas, and backstage workers looked on with sympathy, worry, and fear as Ambrose continued to assault everything in his path, from black storage boxes to walls, chairs, and tables. They kept their distance, letting him take all his anger out. They pondered if Morgan knew what she was doing. Dean can lose his cool, but no one saw him become this enraged. Not even when Seth betrayed The Shield.

"Dean." Eden's voice filled his ears as she cautiously walked up to him, for an interview.

His cool, blue eyes filled with sadness, rage, and disgust over the events that transpired, turned his attention to her.

"Morgan shocked the WWE Universe when she low blowed you­—" Her words got blocked away in his mind as he mentally cringed at the thought.

He begins to remember the events that happened in the ring, not too long ago. That uncharacteristic look she gave him when he was helpless in the ring.

"Dean, can you please give me your thoughts on what happened out there?"

Ambrose came back to reality and exhaled, letting the question sink in. He shook his head, trying to calm himself down. He then let out an unamused laugh.

"Oh, Morgan...she really done it, now. She really screwed up this time." He growled. "She broke my heart. She tore my heart into pieces. She stood there and watched me get beaten. No...that isn't going to happen again. It won't happen again." He looked at the camera, with a crazed look. "Harley...I want you to know that this isn't over. I'm going to get you. And I want my damn ring back. And if I have to rip or bite it off your finger, I will. You're going to pay for this." He stormed off.

[storiesofsvu]

Amanda Rollins HC's

Who reaches out to new neighbours?

It’s probably going to be Amanda. Not that she’s overly social, but she knows that she’s in an apartment with a medium sized dog and two kids, so her direct neighbours she always wants to meet so she knows who to hand off a bottle of wine or junk food gift basket kinda thing whenever they have a night that’s a little bit too loud and obnoxious. She’s also a cop, and protective of her girls so she’s gonna notice who lives in the building and who the regular guests are, especially on her floor.

Who remembers to buy healthy food?

Okay, hear me out, it’s going to be both of you, but that DOES NOT mean that Amanda is going to use or eat it before it goes rotten and you’re the one left cleaning out the fridge.

Who remembers to buy junk food?

Amanda. She’s the one that always makes sure to have the chicken nuggets, tater tots, mini corn dogs for the girls, and honestly, sometimes they’re for her too. They’re easy to cook, they don’t take a lot of time and she doesn’t have to put in a lot of effort to get a semi balance meal ready so she can keep working and keep the apartment clean.

Who fixes the oven when it’s broken?

Neither of you. You call Carisi and when he can’t figure it out, you call the super who gets things properly fixed.

Who waters the plants/feeds the pets?

Amanda. She’s had Frannie for a long time already so it’s part of her routine. She wakes up in the morning, makes a quick pit stop in the bathroom, maybe takes Frannie out so she can pee and then its breakfast for Frannie and coffee for Amanda before she starts on breakfast and wakes up the girls.

Who wakes up earlier?

Frannie or Billie lol. Jesse’s old enough she can get up on her own, grab an Uncrustable and turn the tv on by herself. But Frannie’s usually the first up, nudging at the two of you or pawing at the door (cause you cannot tell me Amanda does not let that dog sleep in her bed). So, between the two of you, it’s Amanda cause she has more duties to take care of, BUT if she’s taking Frannie out you’re definitely going to get up and make sure the girls have supervision and Billie has a snack too.

Who makes the bed?

Probably neither of you, I don’t think it’s something Amanda really cares about, esp on busy mornings she’s got enough going on. But if anyone does it’s whoever was the second person out of bed.

Who makes the coffee?

I like to think that it auto brews. Otherwise Amanda will turn on a pot to brew before she takes Frannie out so it’s nice and piping hot by the time she gets back and everyone else is up

Who burns the breakfast?

Amanda. We already know she’s terrible in the kitchen and very bare minimal to what she can make. She’s great with eggo’s, but the moment she tries to make waffles from scratch?! They’re completely blackened and you have to open the window to make sure the smoke alarm doesn’t go off.

How do they let each other know they’re leaving the house?

You usually know when Amanda is going out, when she’s leaving so it’s usually just her calling out through the apartment that she’s leaving and will see you later.

How do they greet each other when one of them gets home?

The two of you always search each other out for a quick kiss and greeting when one of you gets home. Amanda finds it particularly heartwarming when she comes home to you and the girls curled up on the couch watching a movie, dinner eaten, dishes in the sink. The entire thing makes her heart swell.

Who brings home little gifts like flowers/chocolates more often?

Flowers? You. Chocolates? Amanda, and secretly they’re actually for her, but she knows you like them and it gives her an excuse to indulge.

Who picks the movie on movie night?

The girls. They always get to make the first choice and get their faves in before bedtime. Your recommended movies and shows are always littered with family friendly and Disney stuff because it’s what they love and what you can all watch together. Otherwise you and Amanda swap back and fourth.

Their favourite kind of move to watch?

We all know Amanda is a sucker for trashy reality television, so she’s about the dramatics, but homegirl loves and adores a good rom com!!

Who first suggests a pillow fort?

Amanda, the girls, or a combination of both and before you know it the entire living room is a chaotic but controlled mess of pillows, blankets, cushions and laughter as the four of you build the most epic fort ever seen in manhattan

Who tries to distract the other during the movie?

Amanda. She doesn’t even realize she’s doing it but her hands are lingering, trailing across your body, lips meeting your bare skin at more frequent intervals before you’re riled up and letting out a huff, pouncing on her

Who falls asleep first

You know Amanda has trouble sleeping, so you always wait for her to fall asleep first unless you’re absolutely fucking exhausted and simply can’t. You like to hold her to you, let her nestle against your chest as her breathing regulates and she falls into a peaceful sleep

Who is the big spoon/little spoon?

Amanda’s usually the little spoon. She has some time accepting it, she takes a while to get used to giving someone else not the power…but you get what I’m trying to say, right? Lololol. My brain is broken rn. She loves feeling your arms and body wrapped around her, she feels impeccably safe, loved and adored and wouldn’t have it any other way.

____________________________

@mickey-gomez @naturalxselection @hbkpopp @bisexualcrowley @red1culous @imlike-so-gaydude @altsvu @lesbianspacecowboy @wannabe-fic-reader @lawandorderimagines @gaylorrds @whimsicallymad @beccabarba @oliviaswifey @screenee @mysticfalls01 @alexbllake @infernumlilith @australiancarisi @wandas-wife @emskisworld @lawandorderuswnt @wandasbrat @samwithnoplan @multifandomlesbianic @sia2raw @dxtery @anlin2058 @swimmingstudentchaos891 @yesterdaysgone @itisdoctortoyousir @softgamerking @summergeezburr @alexxavicry @thatesqcrush

[daffodilsonaprettystring]

Ok I swear to god this is the last rant I’ll go on about Shadow and Bone SPOILERS BELOWWWWW

Ok initially I’ll admit I was on the side of WTF WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL PLOT and WHY CANT THEY FOLLOW CANON and all that HOWEVER

having had time to sit in it now. I’m not mad anymore. And this is for a few reasons, but mostly? Because it wasn’t bad!!! Yeah they shifted around plot points and certain storylines but like it was GOOD. I was on the edge of my seat the whole season (yes mostly for the crows lmao but still)

The thing that really makes me set in this now is the fact that last year, I watched a show called Shadowhunters than I absolutely FELL IN LOVE with and THEN read the books, so I was able to see them as seperate entities and love both at the same time. Shadowhunters was beautiful to me because while it did not follow the book at all, I felt it still very much honored the original source material, and Shadow and Bone has done the same thing. Are there things I missed that I wish they’d put in? Yes, but they also ADDED things that I wouldve never thought of but adore with all my heart.

What’s funny also is that my two favorite characters in Shadowhunters and Shadow and Bone are Wylan Van Eck and Alec Lightwood, and both of their romantic storylines were one of my favorite part of their books AND one of my favorite part of their shows, despite both being so VASTLY different once they reached the screen. Can a tv show be glorified fanfiction? Yes, and I’m not angry. Shadow and Bone was GLORIOUS and we need to stop shitting on it so we can get more please😭😭 don’t let it be canceled like Shadowhunters was 🙏

We lucked out with the best casting of all time with this show, we cannot let it go to waste. At this point I don’t even care that we’ve run through the Pekka Rollins storyline so fast, we still have the Ice Court and LISTEN I NEED TO SEE ESTABLISHED WESPER IN THE ICE COURT PLEASE AND THANK YOU. I NEED TO SEE JESPERS REACTION WHEN VAN ECK BLOWS UP THE SHIP WYLAN IS ON. DONT TAKE THIS FROM MEEEEEEE

[sharpestasp]

Devil's Night Watch: The Crow (1994)

Thank you to @eerian-sadow and @ilyena-sylph for watching with me, even if it was just by discord for the incomparable eerian-sadow!

++

Graeme Revell knocked it out of the park for the OST Ilyena_Sylph: 💯 eeriansadow: YES

I love the kid that played Sarah. She just… she's perfect Ilyena_Sylph: i love Sarah so much

I am VERY glad Eric's introduction as the Crow is SO extensive and long. I know some complain that it is slow in relation to the rest, but… it works so well. Then again, comic book feel of it is perfection to me. eeriansadow: I agree Ilyena_Sylph: i can't imagine it being even a frame shorter. it's just. it's perfect. eeriansadow: — It IS. It's exactly what he needed. And it's an indrawn breath before the madness hits Yeah. And the transition, once the memories play out, into the rock music from the eerie haunting music? +chef kiss+ eeriansadow: So good, yes I just… you feel ALL OF HIS LOVE and his PAIN eeriansadow: nodnod

Still amused that my two roles for Tin-Tin's actors are THIS and Hackers -- where he was a bit Flaming

I love that both The Cure and Nine Inch Nails limited how often they would play their songs from this movie, despite both being frequently requested.

That is not murder strut. That is VENGEANCE WALKING

Ilyena_Sylph: i adore that they put the lyrics in the proper closed captions.

Ilyena_Sylph: i have such a love-hate with the fucking pawnshop owner and Tin-Tin and how much they despise each other. Ilyena_Sylph: like, it's just enjoyable in a truly bizarre way. Ilyena_Sylph: and gods, his sheer physical power.

I love the fight with Tin-Tin for showing how he is learning his abilities. I totally think "it's all in the reflexes" when he catches the knife.

Top Dollar and his sister are CREEPY. And I love it. Ilyena_Sylph: they are and it's gloriously terrible. Michael Wincott is still so pretty here.

Brandon Lee wasn't actually on the short list for the role. Lee himself convinced O'Barr. And then helped shape the final film creatively.

Torres is such a DICK.

Super strength, nigh-invulnerability, speed, animal senses, post-cognition…

Ilyena_Sylph: "jolly pirate nicknames!" "Is that gasoline I smell?" Creator cameo! (looter taking the TV)

Was it just me, or was there some Looks going on between Myca and T-Bird? Ilyena_Sylph: such a delightful little meeting there. Ilyena_Sylph: there were some interesting looks, for sure.

OH ERIC Touching her was SO HARD for his mind. Ilyena_Sylph: and doing anything good.

For those that never looked it up, the lady cop is Annabella. Tony Todd's character is Grange. Neither is named in the movie.

"Stop me if you've heard this one before…" I actually had not heard that joke before this movie, and I love it. I am sad they had to abbreviate the Fun Boy scene. But it works the way they handled it. We didn't actually NEED to see Eric interrogate him, though it served to show for every thing he did that wasn't directly part of the vengeance, it weakened him. (If you don't know, Fun Boy recovers enough before Eric is done to hurt him because of Eric healing Darla's addiction.)

I LOVE Albrecht. "You still have your hat on." Ilyena_Sylph: ACAB, but he tries not to be. Ilyena_Sylph: "Boo." He's what I used to believe cops were supposed to be. People who really wanted to make the world better. A fairy tale, in other words. OH ERIC. Ilyena_Sylph: "nothing is trivial." I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC. "I thought I'd use your front door."

Now, I've never verified, but the sword Top Dollar uses here is the same blade from The Three Musketeers. I should get a copy of that to verify… Oh Gideon you dug your grave, insulting Myca. Ilyena_Sylph: "for fuck's sake, die, willya?!"

Actual Vinyl. But then, Detroit. Makes sense there would have still been vinyl presses running for the indie scene up there. eeriansadow: Yep

"Drive." Hello Henry Rollins. In the Yugo. Ilyena_Sylph: +giggle+ Coffee in the lap of an ACAB. Ilyena_Sylph: hot coffee to the crotch. Ilyena_Sylph: say what you will about Skank, he's loyal as fuck. crazy little bastard. Yes, he very much is. I love that T-Bird is actually the one that has to endure TERROR before his death. Fun Boy was too high to be really terrified, Tin-Tin didn't last long enough… Skank, yeah, he winds up having to watch the melee, but he ain't all there enough to really feel what T-Bird just did.

Ilyena_Sylph: Grange's 'what the fuuuuuuck' face perched at the edge of the opened grave. INDEED!

Ilyena_Sylph: oh, Darla. Yeah. Side note - Darla is a good character in the TV show.

Ilyena_Sylph: god i hate Torres. Yes, we do. Ilyena_Sylph: racist prick

The story BEHIND the reunion between Sarah and Eric HURTS. Ilyena_Sylph: ?? She filmed this after Brandon's death. Ilyena_Sylph: oH GODS YES "You're not dead, are you" to the CAT Ilyena_Sylph: WELL?! it's a reasonable question! Ilyena_Sylph: given her last 24 hours! And I always though Gabriel was touched by the supernatural because of the events.

The Skank scene with Grange and Top Dollar… Skank's actor played it well.

Sarah and Albrecht coming clean about Eric is so touching. Ilyena_Sylph: 'he can't be my friend because… because i'm alive.'

Thrill Kill Cult's song is so PERFECT for the coming scene. Jeff Imada, legendary stuntman and stunt coordinator. "Devil's night greeting cards." I love how Brandon MOVES. And the kill floor is live. Ilyena_Sylph: YES the change from the techno metal to the eerie music, the almost quiet around the bullets… Ilyena_Sylph: when did you become a shootist, Eric? (talking about Brandon's other roles) - Showdown in Little Tokyo? Or Rapid Fire

What was with the 90s and Helicopter chases over skylines? "So many cops, you'd think they were giving away donuts." Also, ALL the blood on Albrecht's car seat was a really good sign of his power waning. eeriansadow: It was, yes. Good visual storytelling

Sarah sleeping at the graves is just so her. He CAN'T tell her goodbye, because you don't get that chance before you die and can't take it after. And that is a promise she kept, about not taking off the ring, if I remember the second movie right. eeriansadow: I haven't watched the second in a LONG time but I believe you're right I think it gets taken off of her at one point? But. Just like Top Dollar just did to her. eeriansadow: Yeah

Metatextually (as Top Dollar will monologue in a few minutes), Eric's job WASN'T done. But oh he's waning on power. Ilyena_Sylph: but he thought it was Ilyena_Sylph: he didn't know. Yeah.

Albrecht to the RESCUE! Grange going down to Albrecht, when he was the enforcer for Top Dollar, the man behind most of Albrecht's cases, felt good. Ilyena_Sylph: yep And Myca, the mystic, dies at the actual crow's actions. Weather-vane versus sword…. Top Dollar is one of the best amoral villains in cinema. Ilyena_Sylph: and stupid enough to not be able to not gloat. Ilyena_Sylph: and make himself a justified target again. Well, Lawful Evil. He has rules, they're just… fucked up.

"I've been meaning to come to church anyway." And Albrecht pins it all on Top Dollar. Gotta love that.

MY HEART ALWAYS THUMPS SO HARD AT SHELLY COMING FOR ERIC. "For Brandon and Eliza" - yep, there's the tears now. eeriansadow: Yes. I always cry at the dedication

And new to me trivia - Eliza, his fiancée, was his assistant on the movie.

[omegawhiskers]

RAW 30/10/23

A Build To Crown Jewel.

This was the last Raw before Crown Jewel, and it was a decent episode. The Judgement Day’s, Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh open the show as Rhea recaps a few things before Sami Zayn hits the ring and vows he will put a stop to the stable. Of course the numbers are against Zayn and he gets backup from Ricochet. The funny because Sami doesn’t stick around to even the odds as Ricochet has his match with Dom. The matches itself was good. Dom picked up the win thanks to a distraction. Dirty Dom used the ropes to his advantage for the pin, but the announcers never picked up on it.

The Alpha Academy had a pretty great match with The Creed Brothers. This is my first time seeing this tag team and I was impressed with the fast and technical style. The Creed Brothers got the upset victory with the Brutus Ball.

I’m generally not interested in The Miz. I haven’t seen him evolve over the past few years, and his character never gripped me. But the segment with Gunther showed a vulnerable side to The Miz that I believe is needed. Next week, Miz will have a number one contender’s match with Bronson Reed, Ricochet and Ivar. I think Miz needs to lose or lose against Gunther, causing Miz to go down a down spiral where he has to overcome his doubts. To me, that's a story I can get behind.

Sometimes angles don’t work, and this seems to be the case here as Candice LeRae lost to Xia Li via KO. LeRae received a kick to the head. The angle was awkward because I wasn’t sure if this was a work or shoot. It turns out it was a work, but I wasn’t that into it. Li would show back up to tease a match with Becky Lynch.

Things picked up with a video package from Drew McIntyre. This package really emphasized Drew’s story, his motivation and what the World Heavyweight Championship means to him. I would like to see a heel Drew as champion. The Scottish Warrior has yet to resign with WWE, so we don’t even know if McIntyre will be around this time next year. Seth Rollins gave a good reason why he doesn’t sympathise with Drew. Seth said we all suffered due to the pandemic, some more than others. The conviction between both men is there. Rollins would follow put with a decent TV match against JD.

As far as costumes go, I think Chelsea Green and Piper Niven win with their Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart costumes. The Trick or Street Fight was what it was. I’m just not a fan of this level of silliness, but the costumes were worth it.

The main event also wasn't worth much. Sami and Priest didn't go on for long, and before you know it everybody was getting involved. This led to a DQ. The highlight was Cody Rhodes delivering a cross rhodes on JD onto the announce table.

I liked the stories that were told, but the matches as whole were just average as a total.

[belle-keys]

my thoughts on shadow & bone season 2

okay, i finished late last night and had a blast watching this. we'll see if it gets canceled or not (it might). but oh my god i had so much fun even though i was like hmm at some things. here's some of my thoughts and impressions in case you would like to feel #seen.

don't @ me about dark!alina. i like it. i love it. i've always wanted a corrupt alina. i've been a darklina shipper for a hot minute and while that wouldn't have made sense to do in the show, a dark!alina does make sense and it deepens her character imo. the use of the merzost had major consequences for her and i love that. aleksander and baghra did warn her, and she didn't listen. and now we get payoff. this is how you write powerful characters!!!

paddy gibson was a great nikolai like come @ me and i will defend this man. alina’s interactions with him, tolya, and tamar were awesome like it felt very natural.

the spirit of cillian murphy possessed my man freddy carter in episode 4 like idk mans was giving me the kaz i had expected from season 1 ong he was not playing in that pekka rollins scene, like he stole so much of the show for me i loved it and i just got chills seeing the kaz we know and tolerate clearly living deep down under freddy's skin.

matthias spent the whole season in jail to simply remain in jail for the whole season and not end the season out of jail despite spending a whole season in jail despite jail being all he did for the season despite-

when aleksander was choking alina and telling her how much he wanted to destroy her and had her pressed up against that table and was muttering evil nothings into her ear? i felt that.

ben was excellent as well in this season as we expected, but as i previously noted, this entire season was identical in both fundamental and superficial ways to billy russo’s season 2 in the punisher like i can’t make this shit up. as soon as daddie darkie opened his mouth to speak, i immediately knew via osmosis what the speech’s delivery would sound like. it's just hilarious i'm sorry i'm not mad but it's just so unserious.

when zoya said "that one's a mess. i can fix him"??? i felt that shit so hard like meee finally a female character to represent meee

we did not need reminders that tolya loves poems 100 times we get it like cmon do more with your side characters if you're gonna make them quip every two seconds.

i will not lie, i’m so happy with how they incorporated the crows into the main story like it really felt like a fun epic fantasy series with different levels you gotta beat until you fight the boss (daddy darkie), like there’s so many interwoven plots and arcs and every time a scene switched i’d be like the leondardo dicaprio pointing at his tv meme i got chills watching everything come together the way it did, i think they really succeeded in making you (me) ooh and ahh this season.

the fight scenes gave me chills like the grisha powers being brought to life like that? slayed. the musical score and the special effects and the cinematography? popped off. the crows bringing guns to a grisha fight? never before seen. inej slicing up daddy darkie monsters? extraordinary. shit had me breaking out in chills.

i think besides kaz's face-off with pekka rollins in ep4, aleksander's death scene and his death monologue was the high point of the season for me. the whole "you need my darkness to balance your light thing"? the whole "let me be your monster so you don't have to" thing? literally took my breath away. he encapsulated every thing i loved about the darkling's character so well and his relationship with alina. he did warn her that she needed him for balance within herself and she just couldn't accept that. now she'll get what he was on to the whole time. it's amazing. it shows the darkling isn't just a character in alina's life.

i feel like splitting mal and alina up at the end wasn't... right? idk, the whole point of malina was supposed to be childhood friends-to-lovers-to-soulmates and her making this huge sacrifice for mal and then have him go away while she stays to... rule ravka??? that fell flat for me as an ending like what was the reason for that change cus i have no idea??? it makes sense from an irl perspective but idk what the showrunners were going for with that.

jessie mei li cannot act. i am not some tv and film expert. but this girl just cannot act. i dare you to change my mind.

oh I absolutely hate how they changed wylan and jesper's relationship. idk what was the reason for the whole "we once hooked up and forgot about each other" thing like WHAT WAS THAT HOW DID THEY MISS THE PLOT OF THE MOVIE SO BADLY IDC I CAN'T VIBE WITH IT NO-

i'm sorry on-screen kanej is still just as dry as book kanej for me like i felt nothing at all during their interactions this season, even the hallucination ones. as individuals they're great, but they made me feel absolutely nothing. not a single tingle.

if i had to cut something from the show, i'd probably either cut matthias' entire presence since he did nothing this season, or, i would cut genya and david's relationship because i do not and never did care about that pairing (or either of them as individuals tbh)

alina doing the darkling's shadow cut at the end??? i was cackling in joy like a maniac. yeah. that was a moment in time.

[xkittypunkerx]

SCREAM - A Beautiful Lie

Chapter Summary and Gang Members: Punk and his gang realize that AJ Lee has returned and begin to make their plans.

Gang Members

2009 Heel CM Punk

SOA Season 1 Jax Teller

James Keenan aka Corey Graves

The Shield Seth Rollins

Jimmy Jacobs

Chapter two

-April Mendez-

Within the next week or so, any stranger would think that we've been living here for years. We installed an amazing improved stereo system, flat screen TV, and a few other needed appliances and such. I guess you could say that our parents really love us.

I groggily opened my eyes to the smell of bacon and eggs flowing through the house. Kofi must be over here showing off his secret culinary skills. I stretched as I got out of bed, and made my way down to the kitchen. "Well look who finally decided to get up," Kaitlyn laughed as she swallowed a forkful of hash browns.

I rolled my eyes, "C'mon, I didn't sleep in that late!"

I noticed that both Kaitlyn and Kofi were staring at the oven clock and suppressing laughter, so I followed their stare and saw that I had slept in until 10 AM! I was supposed to be at an illustration intern meeting in exactly 30 minutes...

"Shit!" I cursed as I ran down the hall to my room and quickly changed into a black and grey pinstriped business suit, straightened my hair, and applied just a slight amount of makeup, enough to look like myself but not so "scary."

I rushed to the kitchen again, noting I only had 10 minutes left. Good thing that this event was on campus, otherwise I'd be mega screwed.

"Ok, I should be back around one, so you guys can go to lunch without me if you want. Um...don't forget to clean up. Peace out!" I yelled as I ran out the door to the truck.

If I wasn't in such a rush, I could've had just enough time to laugh at myself. Seriously, I just sounded like their mother! All humor aside, I pressed the pedal to the metal and pulled into the parking lot mere seconds before the meeting was about to begin.

When I walked in, it turned out that they were still distributing name tags. And much to my surprise, people were still stumbling in after me. Sometimes I honestly believe I worry way too much.

The meeting itself was a great success. I ended up meeting some pretty cool people, some of which I had common classes with this semester, got brochures for internships, and even received a couple of compliments on the drawings I've gathered thus far for my portfolio. Anyone near me could tell that I was excessively ecstatic as I practically skipped back to the truck. At this rate, tonight would definitely be a party night.

I drove home to find two very strange things: it smelled like shit and Kaitlyn had left a note. I plugged my nose in suspicious disgust as I crept into the bathroom to see if I could figure out the source of the massive stench.

I groaned as I looked at the chunk of nastiness resting at the bottom of the toilet. The water was raised unnaturally high, and something told me this thing was clogged. My suspicions were confirmed after four flushes, and no success. No matter how many times I tried to flush afterward, it didn't go up or down...now that's really gross. That note better explain what's going on here.

The note was written on the back of some receipt and resting on the corner of the counter.

It read:

AJ, I'm leaving to go look for a job. Kofi said he'll stay here a little longer, but he'll probably be gone before you get back home.

Love, Kait the Great

I rolled my eyes after reading her signature, but then realized that it must've been Kofi who was the one responsible for the clogged toilet, though it doesn't really seem like something he would do...

I groaned as I pulled the phone book out from under the kitchen desk and looked for a plumber. I dreaded the thought of some gross fat man coming here while I'm helpless and alone - talk about paranoia. Remember: keep the past where it belongs.

I forced myself to dial the number and sat on the couch waiting for him to arrive.

-Jax Teller-

"Is anyone else ready to go look for new prey? I need someone to fuck with," I asked in a bored tone as I skimmed through some text messages in my cell.

All of the guys agreed in their own way as we chugged our liquor besides, as if it were water. At this point in our world, liquor was almost necessary to keep the entertainment and creativity flowing.

As I lounged back in the leather recliner, a random memory suddenly entered my mind, causing some beer to slip past my lips as I began laughing. "What's so funny, man?" James asked, eyeing me strangely.

"Do you guys remember April Mendez, from like 3 or 4 years ago? Damn, I would just love to go hunt her down and finally finish off our first project," I suggested.

Punk had a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was reliving memories, before he finally ended up cheering for the idea. He should be the one to support the idea the most, considering the fact that AJ Lee was his girlfriend at the time.

"You know, that would probably be way better than any of the kills we've done lately. It would be challenging to find her, but damn would it be worth it."

Seth stood up and walked over to the computer nearby. He was always the pro when it came to stalking people. "Don't worry, I'm on it!" he announced with a confidence-filled grin.

He quickly typed April Mendez's name in some weird college database and you'd never believe it, but we found her. It would seem that AJ Lee must have forgotten all about us, because she was stupid enough to return to the neighborhood for her college education.

It's a shame she has no idea what she's in for. And I can promise you that she will greatly regret the day she ever decided to return to Chicago. We each exchanged pleased looks as we gathered around the kitchen table, shoving all the fast food wrappers and bloody utensils out of the way so we could plan properly.

The following morning, Punk, Seth, and I decided to go gather some dirt on AJ Lee, find out where she lives, and create a reason for us to return to her new home later tonight. AJ Lee attended a rather prestigious college located right in the heart of Chicago. It was a sprawling campus, with several residential locations.

Of course, since AJ was so much classier than the other freshman, she's living in the gated community of condos. Luckily, the community was along the edges of the campus, right near a thick forest

Seth drove the van off the main road and down the bumpy, grassy hill to the right. If our calculations were correct, then we should be close to her condo...number 233 A. Once we saw the black rod iron fence, we decided to jump it and try our luck.

"Hers is just a couple feet down the street," Punk noted as we walked slowly down the sidewalk.

I decided to go ahead of the other two slightly, just to get a sneak peak inside the house. As it turns out, it would seem we weren't alone. A girl and a guy were both sitting at the kitchen table, chatting. Looks like all we can do is sit and wait until these little inconveniences disappear.

"Hmm, maybe we could snag that chick as an encore or something?" Seth suggested, nodding toward the black and blond-haired girl.

"That could work...or we could just use them against AJ somehow. I don't really give a shit what we do with them, I just want this to be the best work we've ever done," Punk said.

I nodded, "Don't worry, man. We'll use all our tricks on this one!"

We waited in the bushes until we were sure that both people left the condo. Then, we picked the back door lock and made our way inside. Seth whistled and said, "Check out this place!"

I made my way further into the condo, walking down the short hallway until I ran into two closed doors. "Which one do you think is hers?"

Punk shrugged and kicked both doors open with just enough force to get the job done, yet keep the doors' hinges intact. One room was green and the other was black and white. "This one's definitely her room," he confirmed as he stepped into the green room. Oh that's right, green was her favorite color.

She had tons of band posters plastered across the walls, a HIM comforter on the bed, and framed pictures of her with those two other people along the shelves attached to her desk. Punk stared hard at the photos, his eyes holding a hint of resentment.

He shook his head and placed a hand over his heart and said with a tone of false pain, "She doesn't even have a picture of her and me together! I'm devastated." I humored him with a laugh as I scanned the rest of the room, memorizing every bit of it for our return tonight.

"Hey guys we don't know when the bitch is gonna be back so we better work fast," Seth pointed out, leaning casually against the white door frame.

I got up off her bed and found my way down to the basement to mess with the electric system. And just for a little bit of entertainment, Seth decided to run over to the bathroom and take a massive dump to give me a reason to return as a plumber before the real fun begins.

Before we left, Punk changed the locks around so that we had easy access to the condo tonight, regardless of whether or not little defenseless AJ thinks that the door is locked.

"How'd it go?" James asked, briefly glancing up from his Sports Illustrated magazine.

"It's perfect! We've got the whole house rigged for our benefit and Teller's is gonna head back over there in a couple hours just to fuck with her," Punk exclaimed, reaching into the fridge for an ice cold water bottle. "Also, she doesn't live alone. A girl and guy were there earlier today, so we have a couple toys to use on the side."

"The guy actually lives across the street, but the girl does in fact live with AJ. I think we should take her too for a little extra fun for the rest of us," Seth added, showing off his stalker skills once again.

"I agree with Seth. Do you think you two can keep this chick out of the house until we give you a call confirming AJ Lee's capture?" I asked James and Jimmy.

"Her name is Kaitlyn," Seth interjected.

James smirked, "Sounds hot. Besides, Teller, you know we're the best at stalking, distracting, and capturing!"

I assumed that AJ had to be back home by now, so I drove over to this plumbing place downtown that we had a special connection with. Clearly, we've pulled this particular maneuver before.

Before entering the building, I changed into the navy blue jumpsuit and pulled the hat down low over my forehead. I nodded curtly at the young guy working at the front of the counter.

"Tell... Teller, what are you doing here?" he asked, just barely above a whisper.

I stared at him intently, savoring the fear in his eyes. "Relax kid there's nothing to worry about. I'm actually doing the job this time. No bloodshed involved."

He knew all too well that in most cases I used this cover up to sneak inside homes and steal the beautiful women inside. Technically, I wasn't really lying. AJ would stay safe and sound while I fix her toilet. I wouldn't be using a disguise to take her away tonight.

Ten minutes after my arrival, the phone rang shrilly through the tiny building. "I've got this one," I said reaching excitedly for the phone, clearing my throat to sound professional. "Hello, J T Plumbing. What can I plumb for ya?"

"Um, yeah, my toilet won't flush and, well, someone...you know...emptied a little too much and it won't budge. Do you think you can come out here and fix it?" she asked timidly.

I smiled as the tone of disgust in her voice reached my ears. "Sure, thing darling, that's our job. Can ya give me an address please?"

She told me the address and even gave me the code to get past the gate. I told her I'd be there momentarily and hung up the phone. I loaded a few things into the van and headed back over to the campus.

I arrived at her place a few minutes later and had to silence a laugh as I rang the doorbell and waited to see her filthy little face. The hardest part of this whole thing would be pretending to be nice to her, but it would all be worth it in the end.

I formed a perfectly fake, business-like smile on my face once she opened the door. Her eyes widened momentarily and she hesitated to speak after first seeing me. I knew she didn't recognize me... probably assumed I'd be fat and creepy...even though I didn't think all men of this profession were like that.

But then again, I'm not really a plumber.

In the next Chapter: The Gang Kidnaps AJ Lee