#we absolutely need more of sienna

[adventuringblind]

A female McLaren team principal and Max verstappen They hate eachother but one day after a bad race for McLaren they tease and flirt with eachother and make out

Burnt Sienna

Max Verstappen x Reader

Summary: I followed the request! Without any angst!!!!

Warnings: Reader is older than Max (just for reference, I usually write younger readers because this is really self-indulgent and im younger so felt ), teasing and flirting, playful banter, alcohol consumption

Notes: HCs because I'm tired, but this made me giggle

Masterlist

Becoming the McLaren team principal came fast, and as a shock

The year Lando and Carlos both came to the team

Being the same age as Carlos means absolute chaos at times

It means joining in PR video shenanigans

Then knowing Lando also means eventually meeting Max

Of course Lando would bring him around

The one person you despise

Turns out it goes both ways

But not really

You can't like someone from your rival team

Right?

It's easier just to hate 'em

This weird pretend hate relationship goes on for a few years

Well - pretend on her side at least

If Max is pretending, you would have never guessed it

It comes crashing down on you after a bad race

And it doesn't help that Zak is already up your ass about Daniel

Whom you adore

It's a terrible thing to be put in a position like this

You sit at a bar alone

Thinking

Drowning in self-conscious thoughts and your favorite drink

Alone until a familiar Dutch sits right next to you

"Just you?"

"I'm really not in the mood."

"Well, that's obvious."

Max is laughing

His face isn't flushed, and his words aren't slurred

This is dangerous territory because your sober brain is not working

"How's Daniel doing?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation. You look like you need a friend."

Well, he's technically not wrong

"I'm surprised you aren't here to gloat."

"I don't have to gloat for you to know we're the better team."

His smirk is annoying

"Plus, I don't need to give you anymore reasons to hate me"

Shocked

How is she supposed to respond now?

"I don't hate you?"

"You don't?"

"I actually like you more then I should"

Well, there went any chance of being his friend maybe-

"Really? So this whole time I've been pretending to hate you, you've been doing the same?"

If she were sober, maybe the alarm bells would be ringing

"I can see you staring at my lips you know."

Smug as always

"Is it such a bad thing to want to kiss you?"

"No, but not tonight. Let me take you back and get you cleaned up, and then I can kiss you properly when you're sober in the morning."

"Only if you promise this is real and I won't wake up alone?"

"After years of pining after you, you'd have to kill me first."

"Maybe then we could get ahead of Rebull finally."

"Doubtful"

[hamletshoeratio]

you say i can like a characters and acknowledge their flaws. Okey, did you acknowledge Kate and anthonies flaws???

What's y'all's obsession with Kate and Anthony? Genuinely asking here because some of the anons I've gotten have been saying absolutely vile things about Kate and Simone Ashley, which I refuse to post or give the time of day.

But anyways, I have been critical of Anthony before, particularly of how he handled the "love triangle" in season 2. I also hated his treatment of Sienna in season 1. I can acknowledge that his and Sienna's relationship was an important arc for his character, how ever much I hated his treatment of her. She deserved better. Additionally, a certain section of the fandom has to check their misogyny because the language used to talk about her is absolutely vile - and beyond hypocritical when compared to how the same people talk about Anthony.

Kate was mishandled by the writers. Full stop. The changes from the book were most detrimental to her and Edwina. I think Simone did amazing with what she was given, but they took out so much of Kate's development from the book. Most of my gripes with show!Kate are just frustration with writing decisions.

A lot of the writing decisions in general are just tone deaf. There's been a lot of rightful criticism on how the show has handled its bipoc representation. How Ruby Barker was treated in real life by netflix and the producers was disgusting. The way they've treated both her and her character has been vile. I hope to god her story in the show does not end the way it did in the books because that would be beyond horrific. If you're going to tell stories involving mental health issues, do so respectfully and responsibly. Otherwise, don't do it at all, because you're just doing more harm than good. Additionally, we've only had two minor queer characters for a show that prides itself on its representation. And those characters only appear in season 1. I'm not counting Brimsley because he only got proper characterization and arc in QC, and we have literally no clue where Reynolds is in the present timeline. And, while I enjoyed QC on the whole, the romanticization of Queen Victoria's birth as some sort of win for feminism took me out of the fantasy every single time. I'm not expecting the show to be historically accurate at all, the costuming confirmed to me that it wasn't trying to be back in season 1 and thats ok because its fantasy, but my god the way they include elements of real life history is beyond tone deaf.

Penelope herself was also mishandled by the writers. By making lady whistledown a far more active force in the show, they did not take into consideration what that would mean for her as a character. In the books, the Bridgertons react to the LW reveal like "oh OK, ride on Pen!" because LW hasn't been as destructive a force as she's been in the show. In the show, it makes no sense for them to react like that given what's been written about them and the impact that its had. LW, in the books, was far less harmful. By giving it a more active role in the story, they've unwittingly made her an antagonist because of the harm she's caused. Harm, I may add, that she's been mostly apathetic to. Show!Penelope needs a redemption arc, but she's probably not going to get one.

[thekatebridgerton]

here me out-

season 1 au…Kate is in England and gets to see Anthony in his sideburns

Ohh we need to talk about this. Ironically enough I do think that if Kate and Anthony had met during his fukboi era they would have actually been sort of reluctant friends.

Picture Kate training Edwina for her debut next year, sees this absolute mess of a man trying to marry off Daphne. And both despises him for doing that to his sister but also feels sorry for him because the man is obviously floundering. She basically marches up to him and tells him to get his act together. Then goes back to shepherd Edwina around. Because Edwina is not out in society yet and is making friends with Francesca and Eloise. But their big brother is a walking red flag.

So every once in a while Kate shows up at Anthony's house with her sister and her dog, and while Edwina is playing with Francesca, Eloise and Penelope. Kate indulges in her favorite pastime of roasting Anthony. Which means Daphne likes her a lot too. And invites Kate over even more often just to hear Kate call Anthony a clown.

I imagine there would be a love triangle at one point with Sienna, but more in the sense that Anthony would end up blurting out his relationship troubles to Kate in a moment of weakness and Kate would be like ' Wow, just wow, all this time I've been making fun of you, but turns out you're capable of getting hurt, man, I owe you an apology ' and Kate ends up listening to Anthony's whole story with Sienna and offering whatever comfort and advice she can give. Because she may not like him, and he's a misogynistic jerk, but darn, his mistress does seem to have him tied up in knots.

And Anthony gains a grudging respect for Kate, which people mention to Sienna who in turn gets jealous and tells Anthony he should be marrying someone like Miss Sharma, who comes from the gentry and is accepted in society, especially by his family.

Meanwhile Kate still suffers from an inferiority complex and refuses to admit she likes Anthony, especially after meeting Sienna in a ball, because Sienna is so beautiful and already Anthony's mistress and Kate refuses to like a man who keeps a mistress. Cue Anthony feeling like he's being torn between two women

The thing is that Kate actually does become his friend by the time Anthony finds Simon kissing Daphne and demands a duel. And it's Kate who's trying to talk him out of it and it's also Kate the person he goes to confide in when Simon agrees to marry Daphne. Because at least she already thinks the worst of him anyway and won't ask him to be something he's not... she can make fun of him, he'll even welcome it. And she does, Kate calls him an idiot and an ass anytime she gets a chance, especially for almost ruining Daphne's life. It's almost comforting how she doesn't care about his feelings.

Not even his mother would dare do that. And then at one point after Daphne is safely married and Anthony realizes that things with Sienna were not meant to work out. He keeps going back to visit the Sharmas, keeps promenading with Kate + the gaggle of little sisters she's managed to aquire, trying to extract a measure of respect from her. Which he never can manage

And at the end of s1 it just clicks that he doesn't want Kate to leave for the countryside and return next season. He wants her to stay... with him. So when Simon and Daphne tease Anthony about finding himself a wife and doing the family duty Anthony immediately thinks of his arch nemesis turned friend. And realizes that's the solution, he needs to marry Kate!

Time for a makeover and a personality clean up.

Enter Season 2 Anthony, reformed with his sideburns shaved ready to give chase to the sister of the diamond of the season. And Kate being both elated but also baffled by his romantic attention and super scared he's going to change his mind.

Meanwhile people think he's trying to court Edwina. And we come full circle.

[ryuto12]

Sometimes I wonder what the Belladonna's were up to before Blake was born

Cause like, we're only 80 years past the remnant equivalent of World War I and the American Civil War. WBY were all born in 63 post-war, Ruby in 65.

We also know that after the war there was a faunus revolution. Now the Belladonna's were probably like 20's-early thirties when Blake was born which has them being born 30-40 post war.

And either before Blake was born or in her early years Ghira became High Leader of the White Fang, who believed in talking out disputes and overall was a peace advocate.

Now is Chieftain of Menagerie a hereditary thing? An elected position? Who knows. And while we know that High Leader isn't hereditary, Adam's brief takeover isn't exactly how it usually went. It kinda seemed like a popularity system of whose beliefs were most liked, as Ghira's peace talks gradually faded into Sienna's unwillingness to take the abuses they faced to Adam's full-blown terrorism.

We also know the White Fang was freshly established after the revolution and it's entirely possible Ghira was its first High Leader, coming in straight from a conflict with the need for peace. The White Fang was built on the back of a war and with how well Ghira and Kali were shown to fight it's not out of the question that they were active participants in the revolution.

anyways case and point: that's my theory about what the Belladonna's were up to before Blake was born, they were absolutely active participants in the revolution and while Im here I might as well say I think Sienna was too and it's why she didn't condone Adam's more wild shit because she wanted equality, not another war

[peachykoii]

I just got an idea for a Dislyte Event. Also, this is super long winded so bare with me, lol

We’ve gotten crumbs about Anti-Esper sentiments growing throughout Grandis and I think that it would absolutely be amazing and build up so much lore (and allow other established characters to be in events) if they begin to delve into that.

Say, if there was an event set in Woodsville or Geran (two places that have been demolished by the Miracles but also places that we haven’t learned very much about with the exception of Woodsville because of Sienna’s event) where anti-Esper organizations have planted their roots. There, they convert orphans, disgruntled citizens, and the weak and the scared to their cause. We could follow Hailey’s Ex friend, Sasha, and learn why she joined the efforts. Their beliefs are self-explanatory, but their mission is to strengthen the unity and will of regular people to fight back against the Miramon because, to them, Espers simply can’t be trusted. They believe they can find ways to fight back against the Miracles without the help of Espers.

And then, we learn that the leader of the anti-Esper organization is Dong Mei.

Dong Mei as in the researcher side character from Embla’s event (whom Embla had attacked and kicked off her spiral into Ymir’s bloodthirsty vessel).

Honestly, I think the set up could be perfect.

Dong Mei experienced the terror that stemmed from surviving Embla — the very first Esper ever in existence, your friend, and a “superhero” turning on you. And then, while she was still grappling with that harrowing experience that has changed her life, all of a sudden, she also had to survive another huge betrayal with the Burning of the Union (and having all their research demolished, stolen, and/or wiped by the Shadow Decree). After that, I can absolutely see how she could swear off all help to or from Espers and go her own way. Still, having worked for the Esper Union in their early days of secret research at the Sunrise Isles and being one of the few regular humans to have been inside a Miracle at the time, she could gradually gain credibility and authority with like-minded people. Even better, since she exstensively studied Espers and Miramon, now she has the upper hand on learning how to protect herself from them.

Over time, through the help of people from different factions, classes, and walks of life, she was able to amass a following that quietly but quickly spread to Miracle-stricken areas like Hazlitt, Geran, Woodsville, places in the Raine Tundra negatively affected by the Starlight Miracle, etc. Together, the group uses their collective strength and knowledge to create anti-Esper weaponry in secrecy. Stoked the flames of self-agency for humans and created a tightly woven “human-hood” sworn to help those in need from the Miracles and all Espers alike, good or bad. The event would cover her rise to notoriety in spite of all the bigger and major Esper players in the world. Maybe it could even shine more light on the “Esper Agreement” and if her group potentially influenced that coming to play (it was briefly mentioned in Toland’s bio).

And if we want a good plot twist…

Then Dong Mei could become an Esper.

The experience of accepting that her agency and self-worth aren’t dependent on Espers nor dependent on the things that happen/ed in her life (growing past Embla), but of her own volition and her strong spirit to work for it turns her into the very thing she despises.

And I want her to learn to live with that.

I want to see her struggle to rediscover her place in this huge organization that she’s created. I want to see how things change now that she’s in their shoes and everyone is looking at her differently. Maybe she tries to change their mind or maybe she exiles herself. I want it to be messy and difficult. I want her to become of an anti-hero. She doesn’t necessarily say, “Fuck the humans too,” if anyone, like Sasha, turns on her, but she decides once and for all that she’ll be the one to decide her interests, goals, and future. She still deeply cares about humanity and their suffering regardless of how her organization feels about her, so I’d like to think that she’ll do whatever it takes to find a way to save the humans without compromising her core beliefs, even if that means hurting humans, at times having to use her new powers, or anyone else’s.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

[oneforthemunny]

okay we know what Eddie got nepo!baby for mother's day, but what did the GIRLS get their mother for mother's day?

when they're younger, they always make cards and eddie takes them to pick out something for their mom before. it's literally anything, he lets the girls pick, takes them one by one.

some highlights include, one year persephone picked out a measuring spoon set because "mommy says you use them for your cereal, daddy, and you put them in the wrong drawer." eddie snorts and gets them, and ofc persephone proudly shows you. you just grin bc it's true lol. she's such an eldest daughter tho.

kensington got you a my little pony and got herself one too so you can both match and play. she got you a yellow one because you said it was your favorite color and a happy color, and you absolutely needed one. you keep it in your safe for years to come because it's so sweet.

sienna gets you hair ties with the little bobbles and sparkly puffs on the ends, because you said she looked soooo adorable with her hair like that, and so she got you some too. you put your hair up to match hers one day, and there's still paparazzi pics to prove it lol.

siciliy got you a music box that played 'here comes the sun' which is what you always sang to her. you're not even sure where they found it at, and eddie just grins when you ask him, but it made you happy cry. you still wind it up and play it from time to time.

zarah always got you a house plant. she bought you a peace lily and it's been alive (somehow) for years in the sun room. she added succulents and cacti and others (usually indoor and hard to kill) so your window sill is covered. she'll help you water them too and take care of them.

vega is insane, so she got you corn on the cob holders one year. there was no explantation, eddie really wasn't sure, she was five and adamant you needed them (no one knew why) and threw a fit when you didn't use them that night (there was no corn so you put it in your dinner roll). her gifts, especially when she was little, were all over the place and they were so unexpected and random, they always made you laugh.

as they get older, they try to get more thoughtful obviously, but nepo baby misses the silly little childlike gifts because they were always surprising and sweet. she likes everything tho.

[ilikedyourablogithere]

reference files update

1.first an absolute for most...them busters gotta go back and give Taylor a new reference sheet

and I'm not talking about I don't like his design I mean in a literal, this reference sheet they made is not up to standards. Like he needs one that look more like the actual model used in game

2. Ain's bull is in fact a living creature. It got some emotions in it

3.you know how twitter draws pokemon girls vs what pokemon girls you actually see in official art? ya it's like that with Sienna expression page. like I respect and understand that is how you feel about Professor Sienna on the inside...but like this is for reference purposes so we kinda need you to stay on point with that artwork

4. ...I guess Gabriella has hydrokinesis as her power. I kinda just assumed it was just the super strength. the water was stored inside the core of her anchor this whole time. Never noticed

Also she has reading glasses, which, you know, the older you get the worse you eyesight becomes so invest in a pair sooner rather than later

[alitgblog]

reunion volume thoughts

first off oh damn goodbye Jin, Claudia, and Bea gonna miss yall so much 🥲😭

second, this was just such an anticlimactic way to say goodbye to all these characters lol

I'm not mad at them bringing in all the characters in groups so not everyone gets introduced all at once, but oh why did we start with Sienna and Hazel and then only at the end did we get Claudia, Theo, and Bea? Like I love a drama filled season, but even this I'm like let me take a victory lap with my friends first pleaseeee

I had enough gems so I was like ehh fuck it I'll listen to Hazel's airport drama but I did notice for more details about the same/related story later on you did still have to pay gems which is ridiculous and also if you didn't pay for at least one, then it's literally just them bickering for most of the reunion and then you get a little bit of free drama between your LI and some other dude. Like I think if you care less about the casa islanders' drama (which I absolutely understand bc I also care less about those islanders' stories), then this was a boring volume pretty much

small odd thing was that no other islanders showed up. like I get that not everyone would show if this was real and for the fiction clearly fusebox just doesnt want to draw the other islanders, but fusebox would only have to draw one dress for the missing islanders and it would make sense for them to show up. like Rachel is an OG where is she?? Felicity had some drama with the guys too how abou her?

Tyler's storyline didn't do much for me bc he gets dumped so fast that it's weird he has all these declarations about missing his connection with MC and wishing he had another chance. And it's sweet and tbh after playing this volume I do like Tyler's character more, but it's still so intense so fast. But also, if this whole storyline was for a reunion in s4 for Hazeem??? would love that. Like he got to know MC for a while but was pursuing Najuma and he realized too late he should've went for MC.

Oakley and Emel not making it on the outside was absolutely expected it went exactly how i thought it would but I do still wish they got 3rd or 4th place at least

Sophie and Jack together but unhappy and unpopular also something I would've predicted.

Sophie and Luna need to stopppp. I don't care for the other guys but I did pick Jack as the potential other man just to potentially piss off Sophie (unfortunately didn't really come into play).

why is Luna still salty though

althoughhhhh I did notice Luna and Tyler look good next to each other is all I'm saying. if both of them got more screen time I wouldn't be mad if they coupled with each other after MC stole Jin.

Claudia and Theo still together 🤦‍♀️

I'm so sorry Claudia I will replay for you 😘

Hazel is such a mess

I want whatever tf the remaining casa boys have. like in my game it's Shawn and Kyle and I'm like are they... together? what's going on there? I know Kyle and Hazel have a thing and Shawn and Sienna are no longer a thing but what's happening there? Also I have challengers on the mind so like.. heyyyy Shawn, Kyle, and Hazel, what's uhh the situation

Bea is barely in this. I know I've already said that but I'm so upset

Ngl the bit where Liam is teasing Claudia about hosting the game is kinda funny I wish all the characters had more fun in-character dialogue like that

I can't be bothered with the Max and Hari drama even though that seemed to be the main focus of the reunion and then you still have to pay gems for the whole story

and Jin's texting airport drama was so small too like it's really nothing and went exactly how I'd expect it to go

ok so general thoughts/fixes

the way almost everyone is single and you get a chance to run away with the og boys (plus liam) one last time doesn't really work for me (except Liam I guess his thing was fine, I do like the realism of him being like I came off as such an asshole I'm sorry but then also still being a little messy bc that's just him). I think maybe if there was an actual gap irl between the reunion getting released and the s8 finale it would feel better.

personally I think it could've just gone like the S1 reunion where it's a two parter, first of all. second, we get the scenery change whether it's Christmas in S1 or in S8's case, make it more autumn since it's been a few months. Again, just adds to the feeling like time has passed bc if it's just in the villa, it doesn't feel like we ever really left? THTH2 does this well too because they're still on an island vacation but they changed the backgrounds at least because it's a different location and I think that helps a lot.

I'd like less casa islanders drama and less dumped OG islanders drama

Literally would be okay if it was just partying and seeing like hey what are you up to? Is Hari's business going well? Is Jin booked and busier than ever as a model? Did MC and her partner move in together? Like we got a little bit from Liam's podcast news, Tyler traveling, and the broken up couples' relationship status, but that's it I think.

I'm trying to remember what made the other reunions so fun and I think fusebox gets close but not quite. So the first two revolve around weddings/proposals and S3 around a potential breakup, but I do like the idea of everyone hearing how one or two of the islanders slandered everyone on a podcast and they're all mad. It just also doesn't work because what if MC doesn't care? So it needs to be that plus something with your LI (for good or for bad), and then cut out most of the other stuff. Like we can include that apparently all the casa people hooked up with each other at one point but let's not let that be the main storyline or let it be less prevalent

you should be able to run away with Claudia or Bea if you're allowed to run away with the OG boys at the end. Like they can have the same storylines as the guys too, Bea being single and ready to move into a real relationship that she realized she wasn't really ready for during the show (like Tyler) and then Claudia yet again having doubts about Theo like the broken record that relationship is (like the guys in an unhappy couple with Emel/Sophie/Luna).

also ending in a big group hug is lame, it's very friend island energy and even s3 doesn't end like that. might as well copy S1 just end with your LI or running away with some other character while the person that was pursuing them earlier yells at you (does this only happen with Tim/Jen? I don't remember lol)

[loveislandthegame]

thoughts on today's volume ! claudia and bea having a rivalry with your casa boy is so much fun, but i feel like we're gonna be railroaded into choosing one and dumping the rest very soon . the game can't even handle MC being interested in more than one OG LI, so ... a love square (or pentagon...or hexagon...) lasting longer than one volume is out of the question

the date with kyle was cute, the part about him reading words on MC's skin gave me "kassam reading your palm" vibes ... it's not palmistry at all, but still

claudia's sneaky date was even cuter, was she gonna drop thee L-bomb ? 🥹

i don't understand why mr and mrs was a casa challenge , but i'm glad each guy had unique answers that correlated to what they say on the date . i hope bea ends up in a happy couple without needing to be with MC (also we have the same taste in music ! techno)

i could not stop laughing when max won the challenge for emel & she ended up picking kyle . i would say "poor lad," but ehh ... lowkey he kinda brought that on himself for not throwing the challenge after she moaned kyle's name in bed 😭 i'm a nosey bitch, so choosing between eavesdropping on the date or spending time with claudia wounded me. in the end i went with claudia though

she's so sweet 🥺 dont worry love , they say opposites attract

it's cool to have the choice, but why on earth would i switch partners at this point ??? especially if they are only interested because they realised they screwed themselves over 😭 i wonder if there will be consequences for changing your casa boy though

also i've had enough of liam fr, i'm sure there could've been a way for him to be an antagonist without making him a cartoon supervillain . "put a sock in it" is too gentle for this disrespectful mf, we needed an option to literally throw hands with him

and why is liam even an option here ? 😭😭😭 "enemies to lovers" would kinda eat, but not with him , absolutely not

these being the only options made me laugh out loud, i forgot what the conversation was even about ... i guess there'll be another compatibility challenge next week, and then the actual stick or twist

i still wonder if we'll be forced to twist ?? probably, if the storyline is gonna be OG LI twisting with sienna . but still, she could possibly come in because of hari or your rival's partner (which would be oakley for me)

[mrsbsmooth]

Well it sounds like MC will have to twist regardless… and that sucks cause honestly, none of the CA really tempted my MC. Like don’t get me wrong looks wise Shawn and Max look decent. But didn’t get any excitement from them. My MC slept alone twice lol. And then hearing this side story about Jin and Sienna chick…. Eh I’m not fussed. Jin is in love with MC ain’t not way his head was gonna turn, pretty he meant that she would have been a head turner for the other guys in the villa.

*sigh - gotta wait another week or two until til my reunited with my Jinnie.

Also, the first episode was so rushed. Like we literally just stepped in the CA and they were all like “well who do you fancy in CA?!” Like we’ve been in the villa for 5 secs,

I wasn't tempted until Kyle. He's so freaking sweet. Highly recommend.

I'm so glad you're trusting him, if you go look at reddit right now you'd think it was the nuclear apolcalypse like damn they're so pressed about it.

Us LITG veterans know better. We know he's bringing a girl back and they're gonna draw it out for two episodes only for him to be like "I only brought her back so that I could stay in the villa. I need more time with you. I want to be in an unofficial couple with YOU."

yada yada yada

you know what would be good if one year they actually made casa really early and made whoever our OG guy is cheat on us and twist completely. Like so if you want Oakley, you have to start with Jin and make sure Oakley & Emel stay in the villa, for example. It would be absolute Chaos. The theories saying 'I heard a rumour that if you do X, Y, and Z they won't cheat' and then people frantically buying tickets and replaying to see if it's true MUAHAHAHAH.

[thekatebridgerton]

hello followers, and welcome to another episode of 'on a scale of 1 to 8' bro code edition. In which I rank the Bridgerton men from to absolutely worst bro to best bro ever. here it goes

8) Benedict: when it comes to Sophie, This dude breaks all the rules of the bro code, he is totally a) willing to throw other bros under the bus if he can spend time with her b) failing at wingman duty c) willing to withhold sensitive information from the bros if it means he gets to keep Sophie a secret and I don't know, in AOFAG He just gives off that kind of vibes, that not only would he be willing to date a bro's ex GF, if that GF was Sophie, he'd be the one causing the breakup in the first place.

7) Simon: self explanatory, he hooked up with his bro's little sister, which is totally against the bro code, he's putting Daphne before ANY bro night out and refusing to defend any of his bros if their significant others are attacking them. Simon, however, would not date a bro's ex GF, which makes him a little better than Benedict. He wouldn't even hook up with Sienna. so he gets bro points for that. Also, we all know Simon is also capable of stealing other people's GF, just because he's never done it doesn't mean the rest of his bros are okay with leaving their GF alone while he's in attendance.

6) Anthony: Like all Bridertons, exept Benedict, he IS an excellent wingman, and can keep the secrets of a bro. BUT he's a coward when it comes to his wife, so he would totally throw a bro under the bus if it got him out of trouble with Kate and we all know it. Does NOT believe in bros before girls, does NOT believe in defending bros. But he will bail a bro (most likely Gregory) out of jail while lecturing that they deserved it. When it comes to dating, the only help the bros get from Anthony is a list of who are the crazies that need to be avoided, on everything else, except parenting advice, the bros are on their own.

5) Gregory: I feel like Gregory should be higher up this list because he's just so wholesome, he's one of the nicest bro's in the game, he's a good wingman, he's good keeping his brothers secrets, he helps his bros out of sticky situations. And then I remember that Gregory, (for all his wholesomeness as a bro), has a thing for unavailable women, and has probably tried proposing to Kate and Penelope at least 3 times before they got married to his brothers. And he actually did end up stealing someone else's bride. Haselby may not have been his 'bro' in the strict sense of the word, but they still knew each other and went to school together. Gregory had his reasons, but he was not above breaking the bro code in a spectacular way

4) Gareth: I don't have anything against Gareth, but he kinda does give off the vibe that he can't keep anything from Hyacinth, so no bro would trust him with sensitive information, and he absolutely ditches wingman duty if it's way more trouble than it's worth. I can imagine Gareth being Gregory's wingman with Hermione and failing so badly at it, that he indirectly becomes the reason Lucy has to step up. But he's the sort of bro that gets points for trying at least, and we should respect that. Gareth would never date a bro's little sister, or ex, he'd never leave a bro alone to face the cops, he's a moderately good middle ground.

3) Colin: best wingman in the Bridgerton series, the only reason he's not #1, is because Colin would never sacrifice as much as Phillip and Michael did for the sake of a bro. But in everything else, he's your man, Colin will keep a bro's secrets, he will get the bro together with his girl, he will go above and beyond in the friendship department, hype up his men with super supportive speeches. On the other hand... He would still date his bro's best friend if Eloise had been born a guy. That's the only strike against him, and also that he's okay with throwing Anthony under the bus for his own amusement. Not all his bros, just Anthony. And only when he deserves it. Which is always.

2) Phillip: Was willing to enter a loveless marriage just to honor the memory of a bro. The extent of respect Phillip had for George, led him to marry Marina. And it was a large part on why he took care of her for so long. Phillip is willing to get beaten up by the bros to fit in, he's the guy who went trough every hazing ritual in the frat house and came out all the more manly for it. Also, out of all the bros, he's the one with the third highest alcohol tolerance meter, after Anthony and Michael. So it's very hard to beat him at drinking games. Phillip is just one of those bro guys okay. He does believe in the bros before girls thing, he'd never chose a girl over a bro, so much his bros had to practically beg him to just chose the girl, because they wanted Eloise out of their house. Still, he would never abandon a bro. the downside of this hyper wholesome bro...is that he does not know how to talk to girls

1) Michael: Out #1 best boy. Michael Striling, the man with enough self control to not seduce his bro's wife, even when he was dying inside. This man took being true to a bro's memory to a higher level than Phillip did. Because he actually LIKED his bro's widow. And never made a move until another bro practically pushed him towards it (see, Colin does have his uses) Michael may be the merry rake but this man would never touch someone else's girl, or ex girl, or their sister, or their bestie. he goes after merry widows and courtesans for a reason. Michael is a ride or die bro, so much even girls want him to be their bro. He will not throw a bro under the bus, ever, he will be there for every bro that needs him, even if it means leaving Francesca alone for a few hours. This man is so confident in his masculinity he's probably the one who organizes boys night out whenever he's in town. Because he just knows his bros need to unwind away from their wives. He's right. And we love him

but what do you guys think. Did I rank them correctly. Am I being too hard on Benedict and too soft on Michael? tell me.

because that's the tea for today

[professorspork]

the big 'Faunus worldbuilding in Newsbees' post

as requested by EVER SO MANY OF YOU (!!), I now embark upon a post to talk much more about the Shallow Sea Verses and about the Faunus culture and worldbuilding I did for Newsbees. I've talked about them a little bit before, and I'll try not to repeat myself too much there but there's gonna be some overlap.

I imagine when some of you asked me to say more about this, what you were hoping for was like a "here's all this great stuff I came up with for other traditions that I never got to use in the fic!" and that is--not what this post is, sorry. by virtue of the fact that this was, ultimately, a literary device very much devised to move this story forward, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about in in ways that weren't plot-relevant. if you have prompts for, like, "how would they do/think about X" I'm delighted to give it a think, but it's not something I have just lying around.

instead I'm gonna talk about how it came about, why I did it, and what my priorities were

okay so I'm gonna take this in... I guess chronological order is the best way to make sense of it

from the outset of the fic's conception, I knew that I wanted it to be a reflection of my values. like. it's about unionizing a workforce, it's about socially-conscious community-building and class struggle and FUCK COPS. to disregard the minority oppression of the Faunus (which you'll note is something I always capitalize, for what I should think are now-obvious parallel reasons) in a world and a story like that just felt... not just insulting, but downright stupid. a missed opportunity. and I've always felt like this subject deserved much greater forethought and much better execution than canon provided, which I think can be described most charitably as "mostly serviceable" but is mealy-mouthed, inconsistent, and both-sidesy-whattaboutist at way too many points for me to feel like it merits any credit. like. if you're gonna do catgirl racism and intra-community disagreements over praxis, you gotta actually do catgirl racism and intra-community disagreements over praxis, you know?

(gee, I'm sure you're shocked Sienna is very much alive in Newsbees, wonder why that is)

ANYHOO

so that was thing one.

thing two is that this is perhaps the GREATEST ARGUMENT I HAVE for why I prefer writing everything in advance and then posting on a schedule, because I knew it was something I could then find my way into and then retcon back in, if needed, and that I therefore had the entire canvas available to paint on. and it's a good thing, too, because it saved my ass multiple times plot-wise and not just in this worldbuilding way.

to combine those two thoughts, the first time ANY of this actually came up in the drafting process was when I hit the Ilia scene in chapter 6. I knew what I wanted Blake to say to Ilia in that moment, which she absolutely couldn't say, which was: "I said the Mourner's Kaddish."

which: that's already a lot to unpack, so let's do that a bit! the first thing that drew me towards formulating my conception of Faunus culture around parallels to the diasporic Jewish experience is, of course, "write what you know." I'm not a racial or ethnic minority but I am Jewish, and so it was something I could use the 'draw from wellspring of personal knowledge and emotion' part of my brain for, rather than the 'radically and empathetically imagine the other' part of my brain. I've seen all sorts of fanon Faunus ideas where people drew on different and likely personal interpretations-- including things like the Faunus having their own language, Faunus interpolations of the Maiden myths and other Remnant lore having different values or being scaled more towards the God of Animals, Faunus having their own foods... if someone not-me had written this fic, this could have manifested in any number of ways. because the Faunus don't fit neatly into my (very American) notions of race, religion, or even X-men style "maybe we should regulate the people who have nukes for hands" minority/majority frameworks, I had the freedom to use the one that had the most personal meaning to me... and to deviate from that when it suited and felt appropriate. Neon's rightfully combative stance about Faunus mistreatment and how she reacts to it, for example, is far more aligned with the experiences of my friends and loved ones who are POC than it is anything I've personally gone through as a Jew.

so!

knowing, then, what my destination was (a Faunus cultural framework that would have specific death rites and rituals), I worked backwards from there. what makes a culture FEEL lived in is that people LIVE in it, that it relates to their everyday lives as well as its most significant moments-- what do we eat? how do we treat guests in our home? how do we handle life cycle events (birth/marriage/death)? without a country of origin, as the Faunus have none-- they made Menagerie, not the other way around-- and not wanting to go TOO explicitly religious by having there actually be some sort of dogmatic (har har DOG-matic) text about the God of Animals, I instead lit upon the idea of old poems whose metaphors have been transformed into material gifts. this felt intuitive to me probably largely because I'm Jewish (we're called the People of the Book for a reason lmao, we're all about interpretation and re-interpretation of text) but also, honestly, because the written word is WILDLY IMPORTANT in newsbees. they work at a newspaper! there's a reason the very last words of the story are Blake saying "for the record," which is a reporting pun. in hindsight, however, this is also sort of Sappho-y, which is also neat and, again, shows that ALL the ways I've experienced my own Otherness show up here.

having a text then gave me a scale of orthodoxy to work from, as in "very traditional people still recite these texts in a ceremonial way," but also a background radiation-level casual level of interaction, which is "yeah I leave shells at graves because that's what my parents taught me and I don't even really know why." this also means that all Faunus have the same sort of playbook to work from, regardless of where they're from geographically or what kind of Faunus they are.

once I had that in place, I immediately realized that whatever traditional Mourner's Verse there would be probably would feel kind of insulting re: what happened to the Amitolas, which is why I came up with the Traveler's Verse workaround. and the second I came up with that, I knew I could use it to connect Ghira and Kali back into the text at the end-- I'd been wanting to find a way to do that and hadn't come up with a method.

the first draft of that scene then promptly infodumped every thought I could possibly have about the Verses, immediately. @theseerasures teased me that it read like a Codex entry from Mass Effect, and she was 100% right-- and it totally interrupted the flow of the VERY EMOTIONAL scene with Ilia, which wouldn't do at all.

and that's where the 'writing it all before posting it' thing comes in. that infodumping then became the scene at Doc's in chapter 3. this also solved another problem I had, which was that in the VERY first draft chapters 3 and 4 were one very long chapter. I'd subsequently split them, which left chapter 3 quite short-- but at that point, the moment where Blake is upstairs getting her snack was only a brief explanatory paragraph. moving the Verses stuff back made the chapter a chapter, so it did a lot of heavy lifting for me. wanting the Verses to feel integrated, I also at that point went back and added the engraving on Tukson's door to the prologue, so that it would be seeded in from the start.

which is kind of to say that ALL WRITING IS CHEATING. we get to manipulate circumstances to best suit our needs! callbacks feel elegant and cerebral, but they're actually a very blunt and easy tool to use-- you get tons of mileage out of just establishing something and then bringing it up all the time. I'd already written the thing about Tukson being picky about book damage, and so I let that become a part of the Verses lore by saying it was a Faunus thing, and then doubled down on it with the "throwing the book at Ghira" anecdote.

as for what things mean what, the basic rule I gave for myself is that everything had to be common and easily-obtainable for a community often left impoverished and on the margins. that's why so many of them are food-based, because that's a very "even if we have nothing else, we have THIS" sort of thing. when coming up with the thing that would represent love, I lit upon honey BEFORE i realized "oh duh, lmao, bees" because... I'm an idiot, but luckily I figured it out after a bit. I was very enamored of the idea of it representing not just sweetness, but industry (as in "busy bees"), that love takes steady and determined work. the second I did think it up, the Velvet gag gift ("they're making fun of me") sprang to mind, though ironically it wasn't necessarily tied to the Mantle Bee yet, though that was also already a concept on the page.

probably the hardest thing to come up with was the NOT-honey gift for the epilogue (which ended up being nuts for growth), because I was like... is it a pen and paper for a first job? Is that too bougie? maybe a cute little desk succulent? but what would it represent?

and yeah, that's pretty much how I got there. it was a question of making something specific enough that it would feel authentic, but open-ended enough that I could make up whatever I wanted to suit the moment and have it all feel of a piece. from there, it was just about USING it-- keeping it in the back of my mind in Faunus-related scenes to see if there were ways I could weave it in somehow.

phew! okay I think that's pretty much everything. if anyone is so very enamored of the Verses that they'd like to use them for their own fics, you certainly have my permission to do so (with a link back to Newsbees for credit, please). I'm intrigued to see what you'd do with them! but also, like-- I love how multi-faceted and varied different interpretations of Faunus lore can be, and I'd love to see what y'all come up with for your own systems!

CONSIDER THE GAUNTLET THROWN. HAVE FUN OUT THERE.

<3

[joshscurlyhair]

☽ 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣 - 𝕛𝕠𝕤𝕙 ☽ [𝕤𝕞𝕦𝕥]

18+ MINORS DNI!!!

Warnings: Oral, unprotected sex etc.

Word count: 500

A/N: Credits to @fangirl-problems-blog for the plot idea! 🫶🏼

☾Join the Taglist!☽ : @jordierama

You watched Josh perform on stage as he swifted his hips back and forth and tilted his head back that absolutely made your pussy throb. You squeeze your legs together and bite your lip watching him as you could see the obvious bulge through his blue jumpsuit.

“ Why don’t we bring it up a notch? Yeah that feels good “ Josh says into the mic as Jake plucked some keys on his guitar. You intensely bit your lip from the words that fell out of his mouth. Your pussy was absolutely drenched, you were about to start dripping down your thigh.

——-

You walk back stage needing to go in the bathroom to fix your makeup- “ y/n! “ Josh says behind you, you turn around and cross your legs again trying not to get soaked completely again. “ hey! Did you like the show? I’ve been looking for you “, “ y-yeah I loved it “ I say stuttering from the amount of wetness that was in between my pussy lips. Josh looks at you slightly concerned but then it eventually turns into a smirk.

He pins me up against a wall as I felt his hard cock pressed up against me.

Oh fuck he’s gonna make me drip in wetness

Josh smirks and gets closer to you as your body shivers. “ I know that face “ he says smirking. “ U-um “ Josh then slowly lifts your skirt up. “ Damn mama, you look so fucking delicious-unzip my jumpsuit like a good girl now “

You did as you were told and unzip his jumpsuit until his hard cock sprung out hitting your face. He chuckles. “ Now put that cock in your mouth mama “ he says as I do as I was told and start sucking him gently at first. He moans were heaven and music to my ears. You then continued to suck him and eventually a little faster as you watch him struggle. His moans got more messy as you gagged on his thick cock. He pulls back and leans into you “ Ass up baby I’m gonna fuck you until you can’t walk “ you gulped and got in a doggy style position with your ass up.

He guide his cock on your clit rubbing it up and down teasing you. “ Look at you so fucking drenched already-i know you liked watching me on stage “ You moaned in response wanting him so bad in you. He then finally entered his big cock inside you making you both gasp. “ Fuck so tight “

He felt your tight pussy lips grasp onto his cock as he thrusted his hips back and forth watching your cream form on the base of his cock. “ Damn mama you cream so much “

“ Mmm fuck Josh faster “ You say begging for him to pound you

“ Oh you want me to pound you like a fucking slut huh?-say it “

“ Please daddy please pound me like a slut I want it so fucking bad “ I say begging to him biting my lip now. He smirks then fastens his pace pounding into me now as slaps were heard throughout the back room. He looks down and watched your cream and juice flow freely on the base of his thick cock “ Fuck Josh im gonna cum “

“ Ugh gosh me too baby “

Josh’s moans were now getting messy by the second as his thrusts were now more sloppy. He moans one last time and you could feel his hot cum filling inside you.

You both pant from the intense sex you both just had

“ See you tomorrow princess “ he says kissing my cheek then sipping up his jumpsuit

Holy fuck my fantasy just came to life

[soleminisanction]

I have seen the new Knights of the Zodiac movie and must now scream into the void about this fandom no other English-speakers care about. General thoughts above the cut, spoiler-y thoughts below it.

In general: it's fine. Fun even. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you it's a masterpiece, but I'd watch sequels. I'd be interested to see how they interpret other stories in the series given what they've set up here.

It's basically a reworked, movie-original origin story designed to give Seiya and Sienna actual character arcs, and it does that. Pretty much all the weirdness comes from the fact that they're clearly using the Netflix series as the basis of deviation, not the original manga or anime.

Despite the multinational cast, being filmed in English, and everybody trying to talk it up as a "Hollywood" take on the franchise, I honestly don't think it felt like a Hollywood movie. Something about the pacing, editing and special effects reminded me way more of Japanese cinema, specifically high-budget tokusatsu productions like Gatchaman and Shin Ultraman. Which is honestly what I wanted so I was perfectly happy.

The central cast is great. I'd like to see them come back.

I liked the special effects and designs, personally.

They made some great use of music that was either based on, remixed from, or just completely new orchestral arrangements of the music from the original anime.

Sean Bean made it to the second-act climax before his inevitable death.

The choice to make Guraad, the military leader from the Netflix series, a woman, and also Kido's ex-wife, was a fascinating choice. But hey, it meant the movie passes the Bechdel test, because she and Sienna have this interesting, antagonist mother/daughter relationship that has absolutely nothing to do with the men in their lives and everything to do with the existential horror of humanity confronting the gods so. That's fun.

Marin was appropriately badass. I really liked her chemistry with Seiya's actor.

Honestly in general Mackenyu was a real highlight of the film? Him and Diego Tinoco both, they were great. Madison Iseman and Mark Dacasos were both more Hollywood-y, but they put in good performances, and once Sienna went full Athena the effects and performance were pretty spot-on.

Cassios shows up as a henchgoon and jobber. He's got an Ophiuchus tattoo, which was an interesting little detail.

But speaking of little details -- unsurprisingly, Nero is the one with the most interesting potential for sequels. He's the only other Knight besides Seiya and Marin that we get to see and acts as Guraad's "dragon" and mystical-stuff advisor throughout the film. They don't really explain what his deal is, aside from wanting to kill Athena and steal the Gold Cloth, so he could be there on Sanctuary's behalf. But at one point during their fight he says to Seiya, "Humans don't need any gods." And throughout the movie, he's wearing an earring that is super obviously Shun/Shaun's triangle chain. That has some really interesting potential for sequels, particularly in parallel with what they do with Seika/Patricia protecting Seiya.

Oh, and it ended with both Seiya and Nero shirtless and showing off their very nice abs so hey, kudos for remembering the secondary fanbase that's kept this franchise alive.

So yeah, overall: I see why it only got a limited release, but it'd sure be nice if it was popular enough in Latin America to fund a sequel. I've seen worse movies. This is a cheesy-ass franchise, I never get my hopes up too high, if it entertains me for the length of the film I consider it a success.

Still think it's hilarious that Sean Bean wound up here. How the hell did that happen.

[hannabanana-6]

It’s over

Casey and Bryce argue over him pushing her away. Takes place sometime in Open Heart book 1, because I find it hard to believe Casey wouldn’t have an issue with Bryce still being so secretive with her when they’ve been seeing each other for so long.

“Casey, wait!” Bryce chased her down the corridor.

Case rolled her eyes and kept walking, until she felt Bryce’s hand on her wrist trying to stop her. She whirled around to face him, shooting him a sharp glare.

“Don’t cause a scene at work.” She muttered, as harshly as she could whilst trying not to draw any more attention to them.

“Please, Case. I miss you.”

“No you don’t, Bryce. You said this means something. I never pushed you further than that, I’ve been happy with what we have. But I still thought we were close. You haven’t acted like this means something to you at all. One minute you act like this is serious, like we actually have something, the next you’re pushing me away and ignoring my texts for a week. It’s giving me whiplash.”

“You’re my best friend.” Bryce pleaded.

Casey flinched. She knew they weren’t together, not really, but this hurt.

“You don’t treat a friend like this.” She spat, shaking with anger as she tried to hold back tears. She knew everyone was looking at them, everyone would have something to say. The highest ranked internal medicine intern and highest ranked surgical intern, yelling at each other in the middle of the hospital. Rumours already swirled around the two of them, and Casey knew they weren’t all kind. Half the hospital wanted to be sleeping with Bryce, and they all wondered why he chose her, of all people. Casey often wondered that too, when she wasn’t absolutely livid with him. The rumours about her also sleeping with Ramsey had made things worse recently. Casey didn’t mind a few odd rumours, but she had worked hard for this career, working her way through med school whilst also studying every spare minute, and the idea that she didn’t earn this spot hurt her, especially when she couldn’t even fully deny the rumours. Of course, she hadn’t slept with Ramsey, but she felt that he wanted to sleep with her, and it constantly worried her, making her question whether it was really her talent that got her where she was. It also caused everyone who was wanting to go out with Bryce themselves to resent her more, thinking she was sleeping around, not that it would’ve been any if their business if she was. Then there was the other half of the hospital, who thought Bryce was arrogant and cocky, and wondered why Casey put up with him. Bryce notoriously took what he wanted, and while Casey had always admired his drive, those who didn’t see how sweet, kind and caring he always was were jealous and bitter at how quickly he was making a name for himself at the hospital.

“I know, Case, I’m sorry. Things have been intense lately. I’ve needed to study.”

Casey scoffed. “Things have been no more intense for you than me. You used to tell me when you were stressed. I find it so hard to believe that you couldn’t reply to a single text.”

“Case-”

“No, Bryce. I’m done. Whatever this is- if this was even ever something, it’s over.”

Casey walked away, trying to keep her footsteps steady and avoid running into a supply closet and breaking down into tears. This was already embarrassing enough. She didn’t look back, refused to look back. If she did, she would’ve seen the devastation plainly written on Bryce’s face, seen Bryce grab a doorframe just to hold himself up as he watched her walk away.

That evening, Casey settled herself onto the sofa, piled under fluffy blankets. She had no intention of ever leaving the apartment again, she decided.

“Casey, you’re coming with us tonight.” Jackie commanded.

Casey groaned.

“I’m ill.” She moaned, nursing a hot chocolate bursting with marshmallows and pretending to watch Greys Anatomy.

Sienna looked at her sympathetically, but Jackie rolled her eyes.

“No, you’re wallowing, and you’re scared of seeing Lahela out tonight. It’s a girls night, and you don’t have a choice right now.”

Casey glanced up at Jackie, and realising she really didn’t have a choice, groaned again and padded over to her room to change.

“Put something hot on!” Jackie yelled after her.

An hour later, Casey was on her sixth - no, maybe seventh - tequila shot, and she had to admit she felt better. Her head felt light and fuzzy, and she was still thinking about Bryce, but it was nice to be distracted. She had briefly seen Bryce across the room when they’d walked into the bar, but she’d turned away immediately, and he seemed to have the good sense not to approach her. Sienna and Jackie were good friends, she thought happily. She really loved them.

“Aw, we love you too, Case.” Sienna grinned.

“Did I say that out loud?” Casey mused, slurring slightly.

“Unfortunately, yes. I forgot party Casey is sometimes soppy Casey.” Jackie groaned, looking equal parts irritated and affectionate.

“You love it.” Casey laughed.

“Look, Case! That cute guy is looking at you.” Sienna pointed - very unsubtly - to an attractive, slightly older man across the bar.

“Go over there.” Jackie ordered.

“Noooooo. I’m not ready. It’s girls night. Besides, Bryce would be annoyed.” She moaned.

“I thought you and Bryce were just friends anyway. And that you’re done.” Jackie replied, not very gently in Casey’s opinion. Tough love was not always best. Casey decided to glare at Jackie.

“Come on, he’s so cute. Just get his number.” Sienna giggled.

“Fine.” Casey relented, “But I want you to buy me an extra large cheesy fries on the way home.”

Sienna and Jackie practically pushed her out the booth. Casey went to the bar under the pretence of ordering another drink, and feigned surprise when the cute man next to her introduced himself. She smiled at him, chatting about herself and asking him questions about himself, trying her best to listen and seem interested, although her heart wasn’t really in it. He seemed nice enough, but he wasn’t really nearly as cute as Bryce, and he wasn’t as funny either, despite how many tequila shots she had downed. After a while, she excused herself, but not before giving him her number and agreeing to a potential date. She deserved to have fun and maybe this would help her forget Bryce.

On her way to the bathroom, Casey felt a hand grab her wrist, and she paused, stomach dropping.

“What are you doing?” Bryce growled. He sounded quite drunk too. He wasn’t normally the jealous type, but then he usually knew Casey would be going home with him.

“Having a night out with my friends.” She replied, trying to brush him off.

“Are you trying to make me jealous?”

“No, Lahela.” She snapped, “You have no reason to be jealous now anymore anyway, we’re nothing.”

Bryce ran a hand through his hair, desperately.

“I guess that’s fair. Look, I know how I’ve been acting- well, I know I’ve been off with you. Just let me explain, please.”

Casey could feel tears beginning to prick at her eyes. She couldn’t stay here much longer.

“Your time to explain is done, Bryce. I don’t care anymore.” Casey tried to speak with confidence, but her voice betrayed her, cracking mid-sentence. A tear rolled down her cheek, and Bryce reached forward as if to brush it off, but thought better of it and dropped his hand, letting it hang limply at his side.

“Look, Case. I hate myself for making you feel like this right now.”

“Then don’t make me feel like this.” Casey was dangerously close to full on sobbing now, and a tear ran down Bryce’s cheek as well, something Casey had never seen before.

“Look, Case, I’ve had so much family stuff going on. It’s been a lot, and I didn’t want to burden you with it. I know it was shitty, I should’ve told you, I just don’t like to talk about them. We’ve never been close, and I try not to think about them.” Bryce admits.

“I’m sorry, Bryce.” Casey replied softly, a hint of sympathy in her eyes. “That’s horrible. But you shouldn’t have pushed me away like that. You should’ve said something. You don’t need to tell me everything if you’re not ready, but I can’t feel like that again. I’ve been trying so hard Bryce, but I’ve needed you this past week, and I needed you to need me back. I can’t be doing this with someone that can’t communicate with me.”

Tears were streaming down both of their cheeks at this point, and Casey knew people were looking. She felt a hand gently grab her shoulder, and felt Sienna pulling her away.

“Come on, Case. Let’s get home.” Sienna said gently.

“Case-” Bryce began, but Jackie cut him off.

“Leave it, Bryce. You’re both drunk, just go home.”

Casey blindly followed her friends to the exit, allowing herself to glance quickly back at Bryce, who was staring back at her, a look of gut-wrenching agony on his face.

The next day, Casey was completing her rounds, admittedly slightly hungover. Finally, after what seemed like forever, her shift ended and she headed to the changing rooms. She sighed as she saw Bryce in there - just her luck. He smiled tentatively as she entered, holding out a single red rose. Casey rolled her eyes.

“It’s not that easy, Bryce.”

“I know Case. But I know we have something great. I’m not giving up, I’m going to win you back, I promise.”

Casey carefully kept her face straight, and looked down, refusing to betray any emotion. Bryce looked slightly disappointed, but unsurprised.

“I‘ll see you tomorrow.” He smiled at her again, sadly but sincerely as he headed to the exit.

It was only once he’d left that Casey allowed a small, private smile to appear on her face.

[jerzwriter]

Tobias and Casey, 2, 9, 11

Ethan and Eva, 13, 20, 24

Hey love! Thanks so much for the asks - I desperately need to spend some time with my blorbos so I appreciate them! ❤️

From this list

Tobias & Casey:

2... Who is your best friend?  Tell us about them!

I think both of them would absolutely say that they are each other's best friends because they are. I don't think all couples are best friends, no matter how much they claim to be. Being a best friend is a special level - you have to be able to tell each other anything without fear of being judged, but you know that they will also be willing to tell you the truth - even if you don't want to hear it. They should be the first person they want to call when something good or terrible happens. They have to enjoy each other's company and laugh together. This is NOT every couple, but it is Tobias and Casey.

But it's important to have other friends, too, and they both know that. For Tobias, his other best friends would be Kerry and Sasha (OCs - more about them here) and Ethan.

For Casey, it would be Sienna and Bryce. She becomes very close with Kerry, too, but always respects the boundary that she is Tobias's best friend. She'd never want to put her in a position to feel she has to choose between them.

9... Are you a spiritual person?  If yes, what do you practice?

The answer here may shock - Casey was not - at all, but Tobias was. He is the perfect way of showing we don't know who people are at their core by what you see on the outside. He wasn't a holy roller, by any means, but he absolutely had strong faith. He grew up attending the church where his paternal great-grandfather was a pastor and a civil rights leader. Church on Sunday was part of his life as a child, he even served on the children's choir (which is where we learned he had a great voice.) Did he live a pious life? Hell no. But did his faith steer him throughout his life? Yes. It did. I wrote a fic about this, Just a Little Faith. Casey was agnostic, leaning toward athiest, and didn't believe in much. But after her near death experience, falling in love with Tobias, and becoming pregnant with their child, she started to have a shift in her point of view. This is one of my favorite fics :)

11... What is your favorite type of media (TV, movie, books, etc)?  Name some specific favorites (which shows, movies, books, etc do you like)!

They kind of like all of them. LOL But they're both avid book readers. I would say that's where they find sustenance, followed by movies. TV is something they enjoy, but it's more for relaxation.

Books: They both love non-fiction most of all, and there are many James Baldwin and Bell Hooks titles amongst their favorites.

Some of Tobias's specific favorites (I'll stick to books since they played a big part in how they fell in love) : The Covenant of Water (Abraham Verghese), Dying: A Memoir (Cory Taylor), Lies My Teachers Told Me (James Loewen), The Return (Hisham Matar), and The Alchemist (Paolo Coelho)

And Casey's: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou), All About Love (Bell Hooks), Beloved (Toni Morrison), Atonement (Ian McEwan), and The Invisible Thread (Schroff/Tresniowski).

Ethan & Eva

Man! I really have to get back to that, don't I? lol

13... You’re given an unlimited budget to build anything you want!  What do you build and where do you build it?

Ethan would build a modest but lovely home on a secluded private beach somewhere in New England. Very traditional, think shingle style, surrounded by beautiful landscaping and pure serenity.

Eva would love to have two small homes in her genealogical homelands of Greece and Cuba. Since Cuba is not a possibility at this time, she'd probably build in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic. In Greece, it would be on an island, but NOT Mykonos or Santorini! They'd be small, but comfortable, homey places.

20. Describe your biggest pet peeve.

Ethan - Pointless meetings - especially when he has to put up with board members and such.

Eva - Rude people.

24. What would you consider your main love language?

I would say it's quality time for both (however, I have not done the test for them, I have for E/K and T/C lol)

Thanks so much for asking! :)