#Alec deserved so much more

[im-out-of-it]

part three of season 1, episode 13 continued

41. well, at least Lydia remembered hodge was the one who whacked her

42. “No way. we’ve known him our entire lives.”- well Izzy, never say never

43. well what would you know Izzy 😭

44. it’s one thing for hodge to be a traitor but for Maryse and Robert to be traitors is a stretch jace. I don’t agree with everything they do but they’re always focused on doing what the clave needs. if they’re doing anything enough, it’s having the clave’s best interests

45. my double standard I see often is the stuff Alec says or does vs jace. Alec outed his parents of being members of the circle and jace and Izzy thought that was crazy. Alec was messed up after and apparently was the bad person after his choices with meliorn. (not defending his actions) but when jace says “that’s what you said about hodge” about being traitors, no one bats an eye or defends them

46. look, I’m not Maryse’s or Roberts biggest fan but it’s a huge stretch to make. I get that jace is upset he let Valentine go and that hodge turned out to be playing them but why doesn’t anyone say anything vs when Alec did, suddenly he’s gone mad????? Alec had every right to be mad that he didn’t know about his family’s history and jace can be mad about Valentine but it’s the double standard for me

47. just because hodge ends up being a traitor, it does not mean that everyone they know is. literally jace was so hard on Alec this whole season and then when jace does similar shit, it’s okay????? because he’s been through a lot????? it irritates me that no one ever smacks the shit out of jace. Alec has had nothing but issues all season

a. he’s had to sort through feelings or feelings of friendship for jace

b. found out his parents were in the circle and never told him

c. had an arranged marriage

d. wasn’t sure if he should come out or not

e. taking the blame for every decision jace and clary made

f. all the shit he dealt with Jace and clary- watching jace fall in love with her while babysitting her and taking the blame and all the hurtful words Maryse and jace threw at him

g. Maryse practically disowning Alec for doing something for himself

48. like I could literally go on. Alec has had nothing but snide remarks and bullshit all season and this has only been a few days. it’s the fact that almost no one says anything to jace when he throws tantrums and all the fucked shit he does. and Alec does get better treatment later on. but I can’t stand the way Alec gets treated vs jace. he practically gets away with any type of behavior

49. side note- show jace is at least better than book jace. but he almost pays zero consequences for any decisions he makes and it’s like everyone is expected to drop everything to save him. literally goes off to join Valentine, a decision he made and almost everyone is like omg let’s save him!

50. honestly it’s easy to see why hodge does what he does. I love my lightwoods but he was basically banned to spend all his life in the institute while the lightwoods got off for probably doing worse 😬 it’s not very often I call out my fav family but I try to look at things from all pov possible. (punishment for Maryse and Robert tends to be incomplete though at this stage) but it’s understandable why hodge does what he does. Alec and Izzy thought they treated hodge like family but that’s not the way hodge felt about it

51. just because you think you treat someone well, it doesn’t mean it’s how they feel. look at alec and jace. alec does about everything for jace no questions asked cause wE’rE pArAbAtAi (ban this word please) and jace treats him like utter shit- and Jace doesn’t see anything wrong with his behavior. I mean, he’s toxic on a whole but he thinks he treats alec fine if I would guess. just like clary and Simon, as well as clary and Izzy. she does hurtful things to both but in her mind, she treats them well. these comparisons obviously aren’t all equal to each other- but point being, you never know what someone is going through and how their actions affect you. either because that person is a dick, shit at communicating, not paying attention, or some other reason. sorry for my rant!!!!!! (am I though?)

52. point being, so many treated Alec shitty in season one and I didn’t see much apologies or changed behavior towards Alec. MY BOY DID NOT DESERVE THAT

53. I haven’t noticed this in forever but apparently they have a Russian flag just hanging at the place Valentine is in???? На хую видеть 💀

54. Valentines actions will never make sense to me

55. “I hate downworlders but I’m going to inject my children with demon and angel blood so they can be the ultimate warriors” so you want them to be downworlders then? IM SORRY HIS ACTIONS DO NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME

56. “when I was trying to find my mom, I didn’t care about anything else”- clary. are we missing some development on clary because I don’t see it. like did she just magically change or something????? because she still seems pretty selfish to me. was she not the one two days ago that was trying to rummage around ragnors stuff when he had just died???? or having Simon have to go to Camille for the book of the white? like am I missing something lmao

57. Jace is like I already have this evil inside of me (we already knew you’re a dick, this isn’t news to us) and clary has to remind jace they’re related lmao

58. nothing like a good reminder that the girl you “love” is really your sister 💀 that’s some good old fashioned karma

59. why does jace have to be like stop thinking with your stele to Alec? so sue a man if he wants to see his boyfriend

60. how nice of Luke to use his wolves for his own agenda. not saying he can’t use them but he’s always telling them to do what HE WANTS but when it comes to keeping them safe, he’s like y’all are on your own bye

61. “the shadowhunters have no business interfering in the night children’s affairs”- tell clary off Raphael 🔥 I mean, they really don’t

62. Hodge: I was a prisoner. not agreeing with his choices but I understand in a way. I don’t agree with what he’s doing because putting the cup in valentines hands is asking for a war but I understand why he did it

63. BEAT HIS ASS HODGE! BEAT HIS ASS HODGE! BEAT HIS ASS HODGE! now y’all got me rooting for hodge lmao

64. why is jace’s facial expressions so weird?

65. it’s so extra lmao I don’t know if it’s because I can’t stand the character but it’s so cringe to me

66. “he’s a traitor, he deserves to pay.”- jace. at least when Alec was following claves orders, he wasn’t actively cutting off meliorns hand. (AGAIN NOT DEFENDING) and jace went out on his own

67. went from “Robert and Maryse raised me to my mother is Maryse to Robert and Maryse aren’t my parents” in short of 10 episodes. well, make up your mind jace. I get he’s going through a crisis or whatever but I can’t sympathize

68. I’m tired of seeing the “I’m going through something” trope so I can do or say whatever. like if you want to be a villain? wonderful! I could probably sympathize but when you go through that villain stage and you don’t adapt, grow, and use excuses. I’m not sorry but get out of here. and that’s all jace does. everyone is constantly fighting for him and saving his life and he’s like ahhhhhh I’m about to go do more reckless shit because I can

69. he’s just as bad as clary doing whatever he feels like while everyone else pays the consequences (mainly Alec)

70. RAPHAEL 🥰 (couldn’t find the gif but I love Raphael’s iconic lines)

71. Raphael and Camille are some of the characters I felt were also underutilized. I understand why they decided not to keep Camille around and Raphael at least gets his storylines but I wished to see more. I think the show could have turned things around and done more for the downworlders or featured them more. yes it’s called shadowhunters but show some growth for fucks sake

and Camille is super iconic and was in like four episodes

72. “Valentine really messed with his head. He went through a lot recently.”-alec. I guess he gets a pass?????

73. CAMILLE IS BACK

74. Simon: I beg your fucking pardon?

75. Camille: you’re such a predictable lot

76!!!!!!!!!! I’m going to forget that but part 4 coming soon!

I’m sorry this one was so long. Jace breathes and irritates me so I rant

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

A collection of Eliot's 'Dammit, _______'s over the years!

Honourable mention:

[lyspunkt-star]

Broadchurch ramble 2

Sometimes I wonder whether BLOODY Tess ever told Daisy the truth about Sandbrook, about HER cheating, the evidence SHE lost, the family SHE destroyed. Instead of Alec Hardy.

And I don’t think she did. She prefers to selfishly keep the truth hidden forever. Or she will lose Daisy for good, at least I believe so. Because look at S3, there’s something missing between Alec and Daisy. Yes, maybe it’s due to their long time apart, they need to warm up and adjust to each other, and Alec was busy. But still, their relationship didn’t seem to get any better compared to S2, still distant (Daisy), awkward and cautious (Alec) until S3E8.

And tbh I really don’t think Daisy would be willing to go back to Tess after knowing the truth. She gave up Alec so easily that she didn’t even want to give her dad a chance to do something. It REALLY broke my heart to see this…how would Alec feel…

There’re so many things unsaid between them in S3. And I do believe something actually happened before S3E8.

God I really can’t stop thinking about this and have already written pieces. And this AU I’m currently writing now is SO much longer than I thought.

Ah, one last thing. Tess will always be Daisy’s mum, she loves Daisy, she and Alec loved each other once, nothing will change these.

But Tess in S2 and now? God no! I don’t know what was she like before, but Tess in and maybe after S2 is awful to me. Really. The way she made fun of Alec when he called her ‘love’ subconsciously in the cut… and OMG she even didn’t have the decency to help Alec to repair his relationship with his own daughter, especially it wasn’t Alec’s fault at the very beginning for god’s sake! What kind of person would do that! Hasn't she hurt him enough??

Christ, she’s so selfish and mean and awful and self-centered now. Alec and Daisy both deserve so much better than her.

[booksandmore]

i’m a slut for the tragic gays sorry not sorry

[tarysande]

There are a couple more Garrus-Vakarian-related hills I'm willing to die on.

Maybe this particular bit of fanon has faded over the years, but there used to be a lot of insistence that Garrus is young and somehow inexperienced when he meets Shepard. Canon doesn't really support this. Turians start their mandatory service at 15. Garrus has at least a decade of experience. Even if he's 2-4 of years younger than Shepard (according to Patrick Weekes), he's got at least as much field experience as she does by dint of the difference in turian and human "enlistment" ages.

Garrus is really damn good at his job at C-Sec. You don't give the Case of Investigating the Rogue Spectre to a greenhorn. You give it to your best, most tenacious agent. Pallin may not always approve of Garrus's actions, but that doesn't actually stop him from putting Garrus on the tough case. Also, we don't know much about how C-Sec works but we do know a bit about how the turian hierarchy works, and we know C-Sec was essentially a turian initiative. That means it's a meritocracy where failure reflects on the superior, not the one who failed. So, in roughly a decade (Shepard's 29 in ME1; I always think of Garrus as about 27), Garrus has not only done shipboard military service, but he's also risen to be one of C-Sec's top investigators; Pallin wouldn't risk having Garrus's "failure" reflect poorly on HIM otherwise. I'd say that actually makes Garrus as remarkable in civilian law enforcement terms as Shepard is considered to be within the ranks of the Alliance military.

Of course Garrus was scouted by the Spectre program. And honestly, if his dad hadn't stepped in, I think Garrus would have become a Spectre, no problem. Especially for a turian, he's cut from precisely the cloth the Spectres would be looking for: extremely skilled, extremely capable, and--most importantly--he's a turian not just able but willing to work outside the chains of command that turians are taught from birth to revere and be loyal to above all else. This is the reason Pallin is leery about Spectres: he's a good turian. Good turians follow straight lines; they don't carve out their own paths.

Garrus's dad's not dumb, and he's not cruel, and he, too, rose to the top of the C-Sec hierarchy. He took one look at his kid, I think, and said, "I love my child, but I'd say it's a 50-50 chance he ends up a shooting-first-asking-questions-later Spectre like Saren Arterius, and I don't want to see that happen." Yeah, he uses his parental influence to try and jam square-peg-Garrus into round-hole-C-Sec and Garrus resents him for it, but there's no way he did it just to stop his son from getting his way or because he doesn't like Spectres. I expect Vakarian Sr. had to clean up more post-Spectre-interference messes than we can possibly imagine. But we also know he and Alec Ryder were pals later.

So the importance of what Garrus learns from a Paragon Spectre Shepard is this: You can't just do what you want and claim the ends always justify the means. That's what Saren does. Over and over again. Garrus's code and his idealism and his sense of justice and his ability to work alone should make him a great Spectre, actually, but he needs Paragon Spectre Shepard's actions to show him the lesson he tells her he's learned during ME1: "If the people I'm sworn to protect can't trust me... well, then I don't deserve to be the one protecting them." (And the seed of Archangel was planted.) I think for the first time he realizes that even though he believes his sense of justice to be correct, it doesn't matter for shit if he can't show others why that's so. And that's where the trust comes in. (Also, ow, the extra level of importance this gives their exchange where she tells him she trusts him and he tells her she's about the only friend he has left is... a lot. Cool, cool. I'm totally fine. Nothing to see here.)

When Shepard asks him what happened on Omega, he replies, "My feelings got in the way of my better judgement." Something tells me that this never happens to "good" turians, which just makes the line so much more devastating. And although the lesson some might take away from this is "feelings bad; no feelings ever," the "grey" that Garrus has to learn to deal with is precisely the grey of recognizing feelings, validating them even, but not acting on them until they've been examined. (Which is why my Shepard stands between him and Sidonis; she doesn't give a shit about Sidonis. But Garrus has refused to process his own feelings of failure and self-loathing, so they have to take the therapy session to the Citadel and deal with it there.)

Ahh yes. The mountain range of character analysis.

[entitled-fangirl]

Two idiots in love. (P10)

Joel Miller x anemic!reader

Summary: the reader gets taken by David. And Joel will do anything to get her back.

Warnings: bruises, creepy comments, kidnapping, manipulation, name-calling, cursing

Author's note: I think 3 updates in one day is enough lmao

Masterlist

Part 1 and 11

.............................................................

Y/N woke up with a labored breath.

In fact, all of her breaths were harsh and painful.

And now that she had truly came to her senses, she couldn't remember taking her medication since Jackson.

She left her medication in Jackson.

"I started worrying you wouldn't wake up."

She sat up slowly, now realizing she was laying on cold tile in a fenced in area of the room.

And she knew that voice.

David.

She hummed, trying to collect her thoughts. 

Her shivering frame no longer had her winter coat.

Her torso was just left in a tank top and Joel's flannel.

She finally managed to look up at David.

He smiled, "Tess… is it?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "…Tess?"

He shook his head, "Apparently not." He held up the piece of paper again, "…Y/N?"

She couldn't stop the small instinctual light up of her eyes.

He smiled again, "There she is… pretty Y/N."

In David's hands was Bill's note to Joel. She remembers Joel keeping the paper, and it must have ended up in her backpack. 

"So, is Tess the girl?"

"Stop saying that fucking name."

His eyebrows rose, "Alright. Touchy subject." He set the paper down, "I just want to get to know you. Understand you? Is that alright?"

"L…Let me out."

"Well, that's certainly the goal." She saw him grimace, "Sorry for that bruising. Can't imagine it feels nice. I talked to James about it, and I truly apologize on his behalf."

The struggle to breathe.

It was the bruising on her neck from her attempted escape.

"Are you hungry?"

"Wh…why am I in a cage?"

David shrugged, "Have you ever had a pet bird, Y/N? You have to make sure it'll stay before you let it out. Otherwise, it may fly away-"

"-Fuck you."

"Or," he continued more harshly, "More realistically, a dog. You're wild. But don't worry. We'll domesticate you. Make you obedient and respectful. Let you eat the scraps off of the table. The others want to kill you. But I saved you. I can help you. Let me protect you."

She shook her head, "We both know I'm not really on my own."

"Right," he nodded, "your family. Your husband, how is he?"

"He's not my fucking husband."

"Well, I can see how much you care about him, so I know it hurts. But that part of your life, it's ending. And what I'm offering you is a beginning. But if you can't find a way to trust me, then yes. You are alone."

Y/N let out a breath, pushing herself against the wall.

"Can I ask about that?" David asked.

"About what?" She replied coldly.

"That bruise on your arm. Is that… from him?"

A bruise in the shape of Joel's fingers laid around her wrist in a deep purple. It was from cleaning his wound only yesterday, and at the time, she didn't think anything of it.

She looked up at him.

"I see." He said, "You know, people that love you- truly love you- they don't hurt you."

"How the fuck would you know about love?"

"Well, I wouldn't hurt you, Y/N."

"The same bruises are on my neck."

"Those are from James. Not me. I would never hurt you. I think you're beautiful. And beauty is meant to be treasured."

"Joel wouldn't hurt me. He's not like that."

David scoffed, "Did you see what he did to Alec at the university? Snapped his neck. You think he wouldn't do that to you?"

"No. He wouldn't." She reasoned. 

"Be serious with yourself, Y/N. That man is dangerous and cruel. You deserve someone kind and protective."

"And you think that person is you?" She scoffed.

He let out a laugh, "Of course, I wish the pretty girl likes me. Who wouldn't? But, I think that's up to you to decide."

And he left her alone with her thoughts. 

…

Joel was livid.

He could barely see through the red that clouded his vision.

In the scheme of things, they had somehow taken Ellie, too. 

And Joel didn't like it when people touched his things.

He continued to punch the man taped to the chair.

"Please," the man pleased, "I don't know any woman."

Joel stabbed a blade through the man's knee.

"Marco-"

"No, no, no, no" Joel said softly, "He can't help you. You focus right here. Or I'll pop your fuckin' kneecap off."

The man took a deep breath, "She's alive."

Joel nodded, "Where?"

When the man wouldn't answer, Joel twisted the man's kneecap with his bare hands.

"Fuck, fuck! The town!"

"WHAT TOWN?!" Joel yelled.

"..S…Silver Lake."

Joel pulled out a map, setting it on the man's lap.

The same map Y/N had used in Bill's truck.

"It's not a real town name," the man said out of breath, "It's a resort."

"A resort?"

Joel sighed and pulled the blade from the man's knee, shoving the handle of it in the man's mouth harshly.

"You're gonna point to where we are, and where your "resort" is. And it better be the exact same spot you buddy over there points to."

The man did as Joel commanded, then he spit the blade out, "Go ask him. He'll tell you. I'm not lying."

Joel nodded, then shoved the knife into the man's stomach with no mercy.

The other man held hostage yelled out at the violent act. "Why did you do that? He told you what you wanted! I won't tell you SHIT!"

"That's okay," Joel said calmly as he walked to him and grabbed a bat, "I believe him."

Joel swung the bat with no remorse.

…

Y/N was sat on the floor in a panic.

A human fucking ear laid on the ground not too far from her cage.

They were cannibals.

David came in with a plate, setting it on the ground and sliding it to the hungry woman.

But the last thing she could do was eat after seeing what laid on the ground.

He noticed her gaze and followed it, then looked back with a clenched jaw, "For what it's worth, this is just deer meat. I swear."

She let out a small cry, "Are you gonna fucking eat me?"

"I'd rather not."

"How… how could you do this?"

"There are only a few of us that know." David said, "but, I would've told you. Sooner or later."

She let out another small cry.

"It was a last resort. You think this doesn't shame me?"

She sniffled lightly and looked up at him.

David grinned slightly at the eye contact, "Your friend is no different. Didn't he take another man's life to save yours?"

"He…he was defending himself."

"No, he was defending you."

Her eyes left his as she took in his words.

"Can I tell you something? Be honest with you, Y/N? I'm just a shepherd tending to my sheep. And all I want… is someone to share it with. A friend."

"What about my friend?"

He nodded, "I can tell the others to stop looking for him. They'll spare him."

"W…what?"

"If he leaves us in peace, they will just let him go. They do what I tell them to do."

"What about my daughter?"

He smiled, "About that…"

Her heart dropped, "Where is my girl, you sick fuck?"

"JAMES!"

James walked in with Ellie in tow. Her hands were tied behind her back and she fought against the man's movements until she saw Y/N.

David smiled, "A happy reunion, indeed."

Y/N stood and approached the bars as close as she could to Ellie. "Ellie! Are… Jesus, are you alright?"

Ellie nodded.

"Let her go, David. She didn't do anything. I'm the adult here. Blame me. Just… let her go, please. Don't touch her."

The preacher sighed, "Well, I really want to, sweetheart. But… I have to domesticate the dog, remember? So, I take something that the dog loves, like…. Ellie, you said?… and I dangle her in front of the dog's nose. The dog will now do anything I say to ensure it gets what it wants."

"I'm not a dog, David."

He smiles, "No…?"

James pulls on Ellie's hair, making her cry out.

"STOP IT!" Y/N yells, "STOP! Fine! I'll do anything. Anything, please. Don't touch her!"

"C'mere then."

She approached where David stood on the other side of the bars.

His hand wandered to her cheek.

It made her remember Joel's touch.

But they were nothing alike.

David smiled, letting his voice drop to in intimate volume due to the proximity, "And now, the pretty bitch bows to her master."

He turns around, "Put the girl in there."

When Ellie is thrown into the cage, Y/N immediately takes her in her arms.

They watch the men leave the room.

"Where are you hurt?!" Y/N asked frantically.

Ellie shakes her head, "I'm fine. Just… scared."

"And Joel?"

Ellie shrugs, "I heard voices, so I did what I could to lead them from the house. Got the horse shot. I'm sorry."

She shakes her head, "I don't give a shit about the horse. You're okay, and that's all the matters."

…

A few hours later, the two found themselves a little more relaxed.

David had left them alone for the last 4 hours.

"Y/N?" Ellie asked. "I have something to confess…"

The woman nods, "Okay."

"It's really bad…."

"Bad as in… you killed someone? That's not exactly considered bad anymore."

"No…I… I read the note."

Y/N froze. "What note?"

"The one Joel left for you in Jackson."

Y/N didn't know what to say, "How… when did you… Ellie…?"

"I saw it when I went to the bathroom before we left. I just… I don't know. Part of me hoped that Joel had left it for me. I understand why he left one for you, but…. I couldn't help myself. And I'm sorry for reading it."

"It's fine, Ellie. Really."

Silence.

"Did you want to know what it said?"

"Well," Y/N shrugged, "that depends. Is it something I have to know?"

Ellie considered the question, then shook her head. 

"Okay then. Is it something I'd want to know?"

Ellie immediately nodded.

"Hmm. Would this information change what I have with Joel? And with you?"

Ellie frowned in thought, then nodded, "Yeah. Big time."

Y/N sighed, "Well, I don't care then. I like what I have with you and Joel. I don't want to change it. I'd rather live life not knowing anything and having you two, then to know everything in the world and live without Joel and my daughter."

Ellie let out a shuddered breath at her response.

"Joel also said he loves you."

Y/N's head shoots up, "…what?"

"I won't get into details but… it was all mushy about how much he loves you and how you ground him… all the shit he'll never say out loud."

Y/N nodded. "I see. I hope Joel is out there looking for us then."

"Me, too."

If only they knew.

............................................................................

Tags: @lover-of-books-and-tea, @pedropascalfan221, @lottieellz101, @bambisweethearts, @hiroikegawa, @elliaze, @littleshadow17, @n7cje

[chasing-posts]

People who deserve redemption, according to Thomas Astruc, written from least to worst of a bad character.

Kim Lê Chiến

Dumbass teenage boy who could have killed Marinette with a dumb prank he was completely concious of, and willing to commit. The boy was also a brat/ bully throughout season 1, but after Dark Cupid had apparently decided to be nicer off screen. Became friends with Max and got a girlfriend... BUT still refers to Chloe as the funniest and prettiest girl, IN FRONT of said girlfriend. Sees nothing wtong with what he did to the point of getting upset enough to become akumatized over the issue. He was allowed to be a super hero without even apologizing to Marinette dor over a year, and did a lot of dumb stuff tht was also forgiven just because. Is also one of the most inconsistently written characters in tbe story.

Jagged Stone

Possibly the most likable man on the list. However this man abandoned his twins and didn't contact them for 14 years. He kept his identity a secret and it's not even known if he paid child support before coming back into their lives, and constantly having fights with their mother.

That said he's put low on the list because we don't know if he did or did not pay child support. He's not mean to his children or kids in general, he is legit trying to make up for his absence and he originally left because his life was too chaotic to have custody. There's a lot of ambiguity and behind the scenes drama that is not explored (*cough thought out cough cough*) in this family, and it's even possible the mom fought for full custody to keep him away after a big break up. The situation is too ambiguous to judge.

Sabrina Raincomprix

Sabrina has been Chloe's number 1 supporter and follower for almost a decade. They were childhood friends and wherever Chloe went, she went. She has been supporting Chloe bad deeds and even happily participating throughout most of them. There were two incidents in season 1 where they almost stopped being friends and Marinette made an attempt to leave the friendship once, but for the most part has stuck throigh and done everything Chloe has wanted her to do and loved doing it. This includes stealing, faking notes, doing her homework, coming up with schemes to bully, laughing at all the chaos, making grown women and other teens cry and so much more. She was even given the dog Miraculous in season 4, by Marinette, despite doing nothing to earn it and only being good at soccer and wanting to SAVE Chloe, so they could bully another day.

In the end she's given a redemption arc because she feels bad for stealing (all of a sudden), and because Chloe was becoming friends with Lilah. The fact she's an active participant in bullying who gets off on the power trip of putting others drown, is not brought up again

Alec Cataldi

Alec's career is based on putting other people down, and is responsible for the first akumatized victim in the show back in episode 1. For four seasons, his entire personality was finding people, mocking them, on television or in person, and getting views off it. He's a spiteful man who makes his living off the suffering of others.

However in season 4 we find out that his biggest dream was to become a drag queen when he was little, and he was mocked for it. After that happened he shaved his hair off and started putting down other people's passions, in the same way his had dreams had been squashed. After his first and only akumatization, he has a break down and epithany, decides to live his true self and raise people up instead instead. On paper, he has the best redemption arc so far.

Félix Fathom

Fèlix was introduced in season 3, and his first on-screen acts include destroying Adrien's things, trying to ruin his cousin's reputation and leave him friendless, sexually assaulting Ladybug, and stealing from the Agreste family. He continues his bad deeds in season four with identity theft, and stealing all the Miraculous' from Ladybug and giving them to Gabriel/ AKA Hawkmoth, in return for the Peacock Miraculous.

We learn in season 5 he's a sentimonster who's been acting out due to an abusive father and his fragile existence in the world. He uses his power to remove everyone in the world in a misplaced effort to make him and his cousin happy, before eventually being talked down by Kagami and Adrian.

He eventually starts stalking Kagami and after revealing himself, they start a relationship together. He seems socially inept and yet despite all his knowledge on his, Adrien's and Kagami's situation, he decides to never tell Adrian aboht what's happening and only Marinette in the most awkward dance number ever.

All in all Fèlix had every opportunity and all the power to reveal Hawkmoth's true identy from the start, but never took the steps to reveal his identity and work towards true redemption. And if he decided to tell Chat Noir/ Ladybug the whole story, the three of them could have defeated monarch. And Adrien and Kagami would nit have been forced to goto London.

André Bourgeois

Andrè is a corrupt mayor, who uses his elected title and money to regularly take advantage of the people of Paris. He has fired people without just cause (even his own "friends"), tried to steal things he was denied, abused funds, and enable his daughters worst decisions. He raised Chloe alone since she was 4-6, and has both neglected her emotional needs, refused to parent his child, rewarded her bad behavior with material possessions, and allowed her to idolize her mother, and even encouraged her to model her behavior after her mother she abandoned them, and then abandons her and hands her over to her abusive mother at the end of the series, while taking in her half sibling, who he has not raised and has no legal claim over.

Andrè blames the women in his life for how he's turned out. Claiming he only wanted to be a film director, and only left to be a successful business tirant and corrupt political figure, for his wife Audrey. Who he still stays married to after she cheats on him, and moves away for half a decade, abandoning hik and their own daughter. He chooses to stay married. Chose to stay in that career and chose to constantly rip off and screw over the people of paris. Often being the cause of akumatization, and ruinging big events for his daughter's whims. Keep in mind, the only reason Chloe is like this now, is because of Aundrè's parenting, yet he never takes responsibility for that, and instead decides to abdocate his position, illigally allow his daughter to take control of the city, let her take all the fall for HIS crimes, and then abandon her to live with his step daughter instead.

All this to say that Andrè may be the second worst on the list, but I hate him the most.

Gabriel Agreste

What can't you say about this man. This man loves being evil. He dances through the halls when a scheme looks like it's about to work. His entire power is taking advantage of people at thier worst, enslaving them and then making them do his bidding. His list of victims includes literal babies, children of all ages, the mentally ill, the elderly, and even his own son. The son which he claims to love but whom he actively manipulates, abuses and mistreats throughout the ENTIRE series. He literally controls him to make him do whatever he wants, and when he acts out or says something he does not like, he belittles him and will actively punish him if he gets less than perfect.

Gabriel also disrespects and will backstab all his allies. Has enslaved 2 kwami's and claims everything he does is for his dead wife, whose corpse he keeps locked away in his basement. He is actively going against her wishes to stay dead and manipulates the love of the women around him, like Natalie, to move forward with his evil plans.

Lastly when he says he does it all for his wife, he's lying. Because the when he has the opportunity to go back in time and save his wife, or fight Ladybug, he actively chooses the latter.

He constantly terrorizes Paris, actively makes situations worst for people to make more akumatized victims, destroys property, all while he hides away in the shadows. Then finally in season 5, when he is confronted by Ladybug, he is given the opportunity to reform and really think about what he did. To reflect on all he's done. He uses a moment of vulnerability and weakness to manipulate Marinette and treats her like the puppet she's named after. His last act of the show is stealing the Miraculous, using the cat and Ladybug to destroy and recreate the world how he wills, where he's the hero and no one knows he's the villain, and his son who he abused for 5 seasons and now has left parentless, now sees him as a hero.

[mysterious-moonstruck-musings]

Closed Position: Week 4 (Jive Part 1)

Closed Position Masterlist ||| Main Masterlist Dieter Bravo x OFC (Katarina)

Series Summary: Dieter Bravo, now sober, was looking to change his bad boy image after hitting rock bottom. His team hoped that having him join the nationally televised family friendly dance competition, Dancing with the Stars, would be a good first step, if they can keep him out of trouble. 

Katarina Stamos expected her last season as a professional dancer on the show to go the same as it had for the past thirteen seasons. That all changed when she was partnered with the infamous Dieter Bravo. 

Dieter and Katarina are reluctantly thrown into their partnership and must learn to work together to succeed in the competition. In the process they form a deeper connection beyond the dance floor that neither anticipated.

Chapter Word Count: 12.1k

👉 Warnings: Themes dealing with intimate partner violence, past alcohol abuse, and past drug abuse. There will be fluff, tears, spicy language, and smut. This will be a slow burn. Read at your own risk. Dieter Bravo comes with his own warnings.

👉 Chapter Warnings: Dieter being Dieter. Gratuitous use of the "f" word and talk about Dieter’s member. Cat and Plant dad Dieter cuteness. Brief mentions of intimate partner violence (more protective Dieter).

Chapter Quote: "It’s gonna be a real test of your stamina."

Katarina’s POV

I was taken aback by Dieter’s reaction to Alec’s attempted apology. I knew he had been upset about the incident, but I wasn’t expecting an outright dismissal from him. There was, however, a small part of me that was internally cheering over it. No one had ever challenged Alec like this, and he deserved every bit of it after how he had behaved.

I could tell Dieter was upset when he left the staging area, and I wasn’t buying his excuse of not feeling well. I assumed he just didn’t want to be around Alec. Once I was finally able to slip away from Alec to go check on Dieter, I was shocked to find that he was avoiding me. Something told me that he was hiding out in his dressing room. He wouldn’t come to the door, and he wouldn’t answer my calls or texts. After several minutes of asking around if anyone had seen him, Alec found me. He insisted it was time to head home since the show was over because he felt we needed to spend some time together. I was annoyed with his pushy behavior but relented. I knew it was the right thing to do if I wanted to work on our relationship. As I was walking to my car, I could see that Dieter’s was still in its spot, so he definitely hadn’t left.

On my drive home, I tried calling Dieter again. Still no answer. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my gut that was making me uneasy. I was half tempted to blow Alec off and drive straight to Dieter’s house to wait for him to get home. I glanced in my rear-view mirror as I waited at a red light. I could see Alec in his car behind me. It looked like he was talking to someone on speakerphone. I couldn’t help wondering who he would be talking to right now. The sick feeling I was having seemed to get a little worse with that thought. I suddenly felt like I was making all of the wrong decisions today and didn’t fully understand why.

Once we got to my house, I started making dinner. I had leftovers we could have eaten, but I saw it as an opportunity to avoid Alec for a little longer while he sat on the couch watching TV. I didn’t say much while we ate. He was doing enough talking for the both of us. He made sure to tell me how the “guys” were bugging him about going out tonight, but he would rather spend time with me instead. He also made a point to say he was avoiding them so he wouldn’t be pressured into drinking. If it was actually true, then good for him, but honestly, it sounded rehearsed and disingenuous. It felt like he was trying to say all the right things to placate me. At this point, I felt so jaded by him, I realized that I couldn’t really believe a word he said. Why did I do this to myself? I had an out. I should have taken it. 

When we were finished eating, I did the dishes. Then, without a word, I went to take a shower, locking the bathroom door behind me. The shower lasted way longer than it should have, but the warm water was soothing and worked the tension out of my body. My mind wandered back to Dieter. I couldn’t understand why he was ignoring me like this. It was so unlike him. 

I stood under the shower head, frozen in place as I stared at the wall, thinking back to the previous week. The time that I had spent with Dieter outside of the dance studio had been so refreshing. I quickly realized that I liked being with him while doing mundane things. He always seemed to be in a good mood and genuinely seemed to enjoy his time with me. Even doing something as simple as going to the pet store with him was enjoyable and honestly, had my stomach in a flutter the entire time. 

That feeling only intensified when he asked me over to his place. A little voice in my head told me that going over there might not be a good idea, like it was stepping over some invisible line that had been drawn between us. I entertained the thought for mere seconds before charging over that line without looking back as I agreed to his plans. 

That voice shouted at me once again when I saw the incoming facetime call from him as I was lying in bed that night after leaving the pet store. I wasn’t expecting him to call after sending a text to check in on the new cat food. I hesitated, watching it ring for what seemed like an eternity before finally accepting the call. I forgot my words as I took in his appearance. It looked like he was shirtless, and his hair was more disheveled than normal, like he had been tugging at it with his fingers. I briefly wondered if it would look like that after I ran my hands through it, or would it be worse? We both silently stared at each other through the screen for several seconds before he spoke up and finally snapped me out of my trance.  

As usual, he kept me laughing during our call. Dramatically complaining about the cat tree he was struggling to put together. I offered to help him with it before I even realized what I was saying. He propped his phone up to free his hands and give me a wide view of what he was doing. Who knew that watching a very attractive shirtless actor put together a cat tree could be so captivating? I kept getting distracted by the soft waves of hair hanging down over his eyes as he worked, or the way the muscles in his arms and chest would tighten as he pushed down on and twisted the screwdriver, or the way his gym shorts would ride up his thighs when he would squat down to pick something up. 

Fucking hell Kat, this is not the time to be getting hot and bothered. The guy is avoiding you. I huffed, feeling frustrated with myself for allowing my mind to go down that path right now. It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t actually done anything to scratch that itch in a while. 

Once out of the shower, I got ready for bed. I was still feeling a little worked up, so when Alec crawled into bed behind me and began to suggestively rub my back and kiss down the side of my neck, I gave in. Turning my head to kiss him as his hand roamed my body, eventually slipping down the front of my shorts to rub at my center. I wiggled against him, attempting to guide him to the right spot, but failed. Jesus Christ, this guy needs a fucking map and a compass. How is he still this clueless? Out of frustration, I grabbed his hand and guided him to where it needed to be. He mistook the action for eagerness, pushing my hand away and telling me that I could come when he was ready for me to - that he was going to take care of me. Like that's gonna happen at this rate. It seemed more like a half-assed attempt to please me just so he could get what he wanted. 

The longer he went on doing whatever the fuck it was he was doing, the more my mood soured. I could tell he was getting frustrated that I was taking too long. I could have faked it like I often did for his sake, but instead, I stopped him. Suggesting that we just go to bed, citing that I was too tired from the long day of filming and that it was making it hard for me to fully get into it. He wasn’t happy about it, but agreed, turning over to shut off the lights as he settled in on the opposite side of the bed.  

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do this with him. His actions didn’t align with his words most of the time and I still couldn’t trust him. Also, he fucking sucked in bed. At one time, I had been willing to overlook that, but now it was beyond frustrating. Especially since it seemed more about his needs rather than both of ours and his unwillingness to try and make it better for me. 

I laid there in silence, listening to Alec’s breathing deepen and eventually turn into soft snores. I couldn’t help letting my mind wander back to Dieter. I really hoped he was OK. The more I thought about it, the more upset he seemed. There was something about the look in his eyes that scared me. Did something else happen that I didn’t know about? I really hoped he hadn’t been triggered by something that was possibly threatening his sobriety. 

My mind began to file through the memories of the last few days. Particularly our evening together at his house. It was now clear to me that he was a very sensitive person. I could tell that from being in his home, among his things, his paintings, and after seeing the way he cared for his plants and Zee. I briefly wondered if perhaps his feelings for me were evolving like mine seemed to be for him. It felt like there had been some serious tension between us that night. I had even caught myself flirting a little, and he was possibly reciprocating it. The way he had looked at me and touched me as he was getting into the cabinet caused my breath to catch in my throat. In that brief moment, I considered what it would be like to grab him and kiss him, but the moment passed as I somehow managed to talk some sense into myself.

There were several things that he had said to me that day that seemed to be flirting, but this was also Dieter Bravo we’re talking about. The man did not have a filter, so it was sometimes hard to tell if he was just being his cocky self. Maybe those two things are one and the same for him?

My mind then drifted to thoughts of his paintings and drawings. They were all so amazing. He really was talented and seeing the transformation his artwork had taken since he became sober really struck a chord with me. I could see the changes in him through his paintings in particular. I was honestly shocked he had allowed me into his art studio and what he called his “sanctuary”. They seemed like very personal spaces, and he gave me free reign to look through them. It was clear that he trusted me, which meant so much to me. 

What I did not expect was to find that he played the guitar. I shocked myself when I moved to share that part of me with him. Alec hadn’t even really seen it. That was a part of me that I locked away after my dad passed, mostly because it just brought up too many memories. They were happy ones, but hard to think about just the same because I didn’t have him here to play and sing with anymore. 

It felt good to pick up that guitar. It felt even better when Dieter did the same and started playing. I didn’t hesitate to join in on the song, singing along as he played. Then eventually joining in on playing too. I was almost dumbfounded when he started singing. Was there anything that beautiful man couldn’t do? He sounded amazing. His voice was smooth like honey, so raw and expressive. I was completely mesmerized by him, staring into his soulful eyes as he belted out a verse. I could feel his voice vibrating throughout my entire body as we connected in a way I had never connected with anyone else. It was this moment that had me reevaluating my entire life. It felt like there was something between us that I couldn’t begin to describe or understand. Then the spell was broken, and he suddenly seemed distant - mentioning how late it was.

I brushed away those new feelings at that point, telling myself that it was nothing. Yet, I found myself feeling oddly protective and jealous when Anika of all people asked him to go out after the show. It wasn’t so much the protectiveness that surprised me, but the jealousy. I realized at that point that this was becoming a problem because I had no right to feel that way. I was technically still with Alec and Dieter was not mine. I got all in my head about it after that, reasoning with myself that it had more to do with protecting his sobriety than anything, but now I’m starting to realize that may not be the case. I care about him, deeply. 

Since the beginning, we had a natural chemistry when dancing together. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced with a partner, including when Alec and I first got together. At the time, I didn’t think it could get any better than that. But with Dieter, it was something else entirely. I couldn’t explain or understand it. Every week it had only gotten more intense, and it didn’t show any signs of slowing. I couldn’t ignore it anymore or deny how it was making me feel. 

It had been obvious to me that I found Dieter to be physically attractive, but it was quickly turning into so much more than that. Every trait that I found lacking in Alec, be it personality wise or emotionally, Dieter had. He was quickly helping me realize what I wanted and what I needed to be happy, and he gave it all so willingly that it was hard not to fall for him. Is that what this was, me falling for him?

I think part of me had known all along, but I was too afraid to admit it. I found myself wondering if he was feeling it too. Surely his subtle flirting wasn’t all in my head. Not that any of it mattered, I still had Alec and I had committed to giving him one last chance. So, there was no reason to even be thinking about any of this. 

I glanced over at the clock, I had been laying here for an hour with my mind swirling with questions and analyzing every interaction Dieter and I ever had. I really needed to get to sleep. I checked my phone one last time, still no response. I sighed, then closed my eyes, finally dozing off. My last thought was of Dieter, hoping he was ok.   

 Dieter’s POV

When I woke up on Tuesday, I felt like shit after having stayed up half the night painting away my feelings. It was the first time I had painted since training had started for the show. It felt good, even though I really needed sleep. I wasn’t even sure what I was painting until an hour into it. Staring at the curves in brilliant red and light bronze tones surrounded by meshed shades of dark blues, pinks, purples, and white, I realized it was Kat that I was looking at. A view of her from behind, wearing that red dress as she danced with her arms raised. Of course it was. I had declared her to be my new muse after all. Her curves and the way her hips moved had been haunting my thoughts since day one. It was only a matter of time before images like this started pouring out of me onto the canvas. I was honestly shocked it had taken this long. 

The paint slowly transitioned from an abstract mesh of colors to a more realistic dreamy appearance as the image solidified in my mind. It wasn’t my usual style, but I didn’t hate it. I was about to start adding in the finer details when I realized how late it was. I called it a night and made it to bed around 2 AM, but it still took me another hour to fall asleep. The 7 AM alarm was quickly approaching, which only made me more anxious in my attempts to doze off and exacerbated the sleeplessness. Once Zee curled up at my side, her soft purrs and comforting presence eventually eased me into an unrestful slumber.

When the alarm did finally go off, I awoke feeling groggy and discontent. My emotions were all over the place, creating the urge to talk to someone about it before I spiraled into darkness. I could feel those old cravings lingering in the back of my mind, waiting for me to slip up. So, I pulled up Dr. Smith’s contact information and typed out a quick message asking if I could see her sometime today, preferably this morning. My weekly meeting was already scheduled with her for the following day, but I couldn’t wait. I needed to see her today. Sensing my urgency, she was able to schedule me for 10:30 AM, which meant I would have to skip out on my early lunch with Kat. It was probably for the best because I wasn’t sure if I could handle being alone with her and still carry a conversation without turning into a sulking puddle. At least during rehearsals, I would have the dancing to focus on rather than her and how she was still with that asshole. 

I spent a few minutes cuddling Zee, listening to her purrs and quiet mewls of appreciation for the scratches I gave her. With a loud huff, I finally drug myself out of bed and headed for the shower to get ready for our weekly production meeting. I was in no mood for Stacia and Joe’s bullshit this morning. I stood under the hot stream, silently hoping they would keep things professional for once. If they started pushing their “romantic relationship” agenda again, there was a good chance I may snap. I couldn’t handle it today.  

I didn’t even bother to dress nice like I normally would. Really, what was the point? I was going to rehearsals after the meeting anyway. I opted for black sweatpants, a fitted gray t-shirt, hat, and glasses instead of contacts. At least this casual look wasn’t ratty looking with holes and stains for once. It was more on the stylish sportswear side than anything. 

Once I was dressed, I quickly made Zee’s breakfast, grabbed my gym bag, then headed out the door toward Television City Studios. I stopped on the way for my usual cup of coffee. I second guessed getting Kat’s usual order, silently berating myself for acting like a lovesick puppy as I waited in line. As I exited the building with two to-go cups in hand, I noticed paparazzi hanging around and snapping pictures. It’s too fucking early for this shit. Why are they even here? I sighed, trying my best to ignore them as I walked the short distance to my vehicle. 

Minutes later, I entered the lobby of my destination. My eyes immediately scanned the room to find Kat. I didn’t see her. My shoulders dropped at the realization that she wasn’t here yet. She was always early. My mind jumped to the memory of Alec asking Kat to let him come home with her, so he could “show her how sorry” he was. My stomach turned. I felt sick all over again as I moved to sit in one of the cushy chairs and sat the two coffees down on the nearby end table. 

After looking around the room for a few minutes, I pulled out my phone to scroll through Instagram. Several posts from the Dieter and Kat hashtag filled my feed that included pictures and videos from the Latin club. I knew how it felt when we were dancing that night, but I hadn’t considered how it looked. It did not look like two friends hanging out and having fun. Instead, it looked like two people eye-fucking each other while getting a little too up close and personal on the dance floor. Did we always look like that? Is this what Alec saw that had him so angry? I could see why he was upset, but that still didn’t give him any right to treat Kat the way he did.

My scrolling was interrupted by Kat breathlessly rushing in like she was running late. I glanced at the time, our meeting wasn’t scheduled to start for another ten minutes. She sank down in the seat beside me as she blew air out through her cheeks. 

I raised an eyebrow in her direction, “Everything OK?” I asked. 

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah…I just feel frazzled this morning. I overslept and it went downhill from there.”

“Long night?” I bit the inside of my cheek, already regretting my question. 

She sighed, “Not really. I mean, I had to put up with Alec and his snoring, but I also just couldn’t sleep. I had a lot on my mind.” 

I realized she was avoiding my gaze. Her eyes were looking everywhere but in my direction. I leaned forward in my seat, into her line of sight. Her brow furrowed as she looked me over.

“Whatta bout you, are you ok? I was worried after you left last night. What happened?” 

I shrugged. Now it was my turn to avoid her gaze, “I just wasn’t feeling well. I guess it finally hit me after the adrenaline rush wore off.”

She pursed her lips, “Why didn’t you answer any of my calls or texts? I was half tempted to drive over to your place to check on you. Are you sure you’re good?”

Wait. Does she think I relapsed? “I’m sorry, my phone was on silent. I didn’t see your messages until late. I didn’t wanna wake you. I’m fine. I promise. I was just feeling a little nauseous.”

She chewed on her bottom lip as she continued to stare at me for a beat, “You look tired, did you get any rest?” 

The way she was looking at me literally took my breath away. All I could manage was a shake of the head before clearing my throat and reaching for her coffee on the table beside me. I needed to change the subject, “I got you some coffee. Sounds like we both need it.” 

She took it from me as she mumbled a quiet “thanks”. Her eyes focused on the cup in her hands for a time. Her brows knitted together, indicating she was deep in thought. I hated seeing her like this. She seemed conflicted or frustrated about something. I sat back in my seat and sighed, propping my chin on my hand and staring out a nearby window. I could sense a weird tension between us now and I hated it. Or was that all in my head? I wasn’t sure. 

When I turned back toward Kat, she was staring at me. Her lips were slightly pursed, and her brow arched as her eyes took me in.

My brows drew downward as I gave her a nervous smile, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

A smile tugged at her lips, “I’ve never seen you in glasses or a hat. It’s just different…”

My brows now shot up into my hairline, “Is that bad? I know I look like a slob this morning…” 

She shook her head, “No…it’s not bad at all. I actually like the glasses. I prefer the soft and wavy hair look, but I could get behind the hat too. It's growing on me.”

My face heated from her words. I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or hitting on me. As I gave her a look of what I’m sure was confusion, we were interrupted by a production assistant letting us know Stacia and Joe were ready for us in the conference room.

Stacia and Joe greeted us from their seats behind the large table with their usual sneaky smiles. It never failed to amaze me how they always looked like they were up to something. Once we got through the pleasantries, Joe got down to business, a sly smirk still on his face.

“Since you two are one the favorites this season, we wanted to check in with you about your social media posting. We’d like to see you posting more behind the scenes stuff to create some buzz for the show.” 

I snorted, “So, you want free promotion? Is that what you’re saying?”  

Kat sighed beside me and sunk down in her seat. 

Stacia smiled, “Didn’t you read your contract? You’re obligated to do certain promotional activities. Social media posts are one of them.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, but we’ve made a couple of posts. I’m pretty sure the contract doesn’t say how much or what type of stuff we have to post.” 

Stacia’s smile widened, “You’re right. It doesn’t give specifics. It says it’s at the discretion of the executive producers. Consider this to be our discretion. We want more posts from you two…from rehearsals or if you happen to be hanging out for lunch…or whatever, just snap a pic and post it. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.” 

I glanced over at Kat, her nostrils flared as a crease formed between her brows. It was obvious to both of us. They were still pushing their agenda, though they were being less obvious with their intentions. They knew all they had to do was create the perception that something was going on between us. Even if it was a subtle one, it would still have the intended effect with viewers. 

I could feel the anger rolling off Kat, but she stayed quiet beside me. They had us backed into a corner on this one. 

I sighed, “Alright, fine. More social media posts. Got it.” 

They both smiled smugly at us, having won that argument. Joe tapped on the table, “Alright. Good. So…the next thing is, we’re gonna start shooting some backstage footage during the live show going forward. It will help fill some of the airtime as couples are voted off. We just wanted to give you a heads up on that because there will be cameras in the staging area and maybe even in hair and makeup too.” 

My mind briefly drifted back to how Kat and I had stood together with our arms around each other to watch the other performances during the last show. Then there was our pre-performance ritual too. Stacia and Joe had noticed it, I just knew it. They wanted to get it on camera for the world to see because it played into their agenda. I suddenly felt like there wasn’t anything that we could do that couldn’t be twisted to look how they wanted it to. It was frustrating and pissed me off. We couldn’t even just enjoy our time together and be friends without it being twisted into something else. 

Neither Kat nor I said anything in response to this new development, but I could sense she was feeling the same as I was about it. Her tense body language told me everything I needed to know. Once Stacia realized we didn’t have any comments on that, she started shuffling through her binder, for I assume, the mockups of our costumes. 

“This week we’re doing a 50’s theme…so all of the music and costumes will be inspired by that time period.”

She slid the drawings over to us. They had Kat in some short black high-waisted shorts, a black and white striped shirt, and a 50’s pin-up model hair style. Mine was the typical white t-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket of that era with slicked back hair. 

“We have you guys scheduled to do the Jive to Jailhouse Rock. Do you have any objections?”

Kat again didn’t say anything, she just shook her head. I did the same as I slid the mockups back toward Stacia. 

Not much more was said between us after that. Kat and I soon found ourselves exiting toward the lobby. We were silent most of the way. She finally turned to me when it seemed we were away from everyone, “Do they think we’re that fucking stupid? I know what they’re trying to do.” 

I shrugged, “Yeah, but it is what it is, I guess. Not much we can do about it. They’re gonna do what they do.” 

I hated what they were doing as much as her, but honestly, it wasn’t the thing that was really bothering me at that moment. Seeing Kat so angry about being associated with me romantically felt like another punch to the gut, even though it shouldn’t. She was engaged to someone else for fucks sake. She should be upset about it. It wasn’t like anything had actually changed between us. I was just being delusional. 

I watched as Kat sighed and ran her hand through the top of her hair out of frustration, “I don’t understand why they can’t just let things happen naturally and stop forcing this shit. It’s not fair to us.” 

What the hell does that mean? I stared at her, unblinking and confused by her words. Her eyes widened slightly, “I just mean, they shouldn’t force cast members into situations is all I’m saying. It’s an asshole move.” 

I nodded along, agreeing with her half-heartedly. I felt so confused. 

She chewed on her cheek for a beat, then shook her head, dismissing the conversation all together. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter. It’s not worth our energy to worry about it…” She paused, then sighed before continuing, “So, where do you wanna go for lunch today? There’s a diner…”

I held up my hand to stop her, “I’m sorry…I can’t have lunch with you today.” 

Confusion clouded her features and she looked almost…disappointed? She frowned, “Why not?” 

“I-I…have an appointment with my therapist.” I paused, watching the look on her face change to one of concern. I suddenly felt like I needed an explanation. “It was the only time our schedules lined up this week…I go once a week.” Stop fucking rambling, Bravo. She seemed relieved now that she knew it was a routine visit, even though it really wasn’t.  

“Oh…you didn’t have to tell me all that. It’s good to hear your going though.” 

I forced a smile, “Yeah…so I’ll see you after that. I may be a few minutes late though…because of traffic.” 

She nodded, “That’s fine. No big deal. You want me to pick you up some lunch then?”

I shook my head, “Na, I’m good. Thanks for the offer though.”

The way she was looking at me made me feel almost uneasy. I felt like she could see right through me, like she knew what was going through my head. I’m sure it was just my paranoia about her realizing my feelings toward her, but that thought didn’t make it any better. 

I looked down at my watch, “Oh shit, I need to go. I’ll see you in a bit, yeah?” She gave me a small smile as we said a quick goodbye.

A short time later, I sat down in a chair in front of Dr. Smith as she asked what was going on. I was fidgety, rubbing the tops of my thighs nervously as I thought of the best way to explain it all. I thought it best to start with the events from last week, filling her in about how Kat and I had gone to the club then the subsequent incident that took place with Alec after. She listened intently as I explained how I had been worried about Kat’s safety and what an asshat Alec is. I paused for a beat, trying to decide on the best way to explain everything after that when she interrupted my thoughts with an unexpected question. 

“Did seeing that bring up any feelings or memories related to your parents? Is that why you’re so upset?” 

Honestly, my past family drama hadn’t even crossed my mind. I shook my head, “No…I mean I guess it did in that I know what those types of people are like. It makes me worried for her safety.” 

Dr. Smith stared at me, she looked confused. 

“I’m in love with her,” I blurted out. No sense in sugar coating it at this point. 

Her eyes widened, “Well…that escalated quickly.” 

I shook my head, “No, not really. I’ve had feelings from day one. I only just realized what it was yesterday when she agreed to give that asshole another chance. After our time together last week, I really thought she would tell him to fuck off.” 

“Your time together? What do you mean?”

I realized I hadn’t gotten to that part yet, so I launched into it. Detailing our trip to the pet store, the facetime call, dinner at my place. The vibes between us and how it was making me feel. All of it. 

“I know a relationship isn’t the best idea right now because I need to focus on my sobriety, but I swear this is different. It’s not an urge for a casual hookup…like…I want to be with her, and I don’t mean that in a sexual way. I want all the mundane domesticated stuff too.” 

Dr. Smith sighed, “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course!”

She leaned forward, “I had a feeling this was coming. I’m a fan of the show, so yes, I’ve been watching. It’s obvious you two have chemistry. That’s why I keep asking about her. The fact that you were avoiding the topic told me that something was going on inside that brain of yours.”

Damn, I knew that would come back to bite me. 

“I am a little shocked to hear all of this has been going on. Her situation is concerning, but she’ll have to make the decision to leave on her own. The best you can do is continue to offer her support and hope she comes around.”

I started rubbing at the back of my neck, “But what am I supposed to do about how I feel? I’ve never felt like this about anyone before and the whole situation is giving me anxiety. I think I almost had a panic attack last night.”

Dr. Smith clasped her hands under her chin as she thought through her next words, “I’m torn about how to approach this…because I do worry about codependency. Especially if she’s currently in an unhealthy relationship and has been for that long. It could cause some unhealthy habits between the two of you.”

I shook my head, “No. It’s not like that with her. I’m confident that’s not an issue. I mean…we tend to look out for each other, and she would totally call me out on my shit. Everything is different with her. I don’t know how to explain it…Her dad was sober after struggling for a while, so she gets what I’m going through with that. She’s been very supportive.”

Dr. Smith nodded and pursed her lips as she took in my words, “Maybe you should tell her how you’re feeling.”

She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Like it wouldn’t completely change everything between Kat and me. 

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way though? It will completely ruin our friendship. And…I don’t want to put her in that situation. She’s engaged to someone else…remember?”

She sighed, “Dieter, I’m not really sure what you came here looking for. I can’t tell you what to do about the situation. The only thing I can help you do is to work through your feelings. It’s clear you have strong feelings toward her. My main concern is you and if it’s causing an urge to use again.” 

I puffed air out of my cheeks, “I mean…I had a brief moment this morning where I thought it would be nice to be numb to it all. That was the main thing that prompted me to come in. I just wanted to talk it out with someone. It was the first time I’ve had that thought in weeks…I’m just a fucking pansy who can’t handle any kind of feelings.”

She gave me an admonishing look, not approving of my negativity toward myself. 

“Sorry…but it’s just facts.” I added.

“Dieter, you are perfectly capable of handling it. You just need to learn how. You’ve made so much progress already…I hope you realize that. I would expect you to have a hard time with something like this. It’s new and different. So, don’t be so hard on yourself. This is all part of the human experience and completely normal emotions to be having.”

I nodded. She wasn’t wrong. I had come a long way from where I had been. The old Dieter probably would have relapsed and never even made it to the first rehearsal. Or if he had made it this far, he would have completely gone on a bender last night without a second thought. I did need to give myself some credit. 

I sighed, “You’re right. I have made progress. I’ll do better to think more positively about myself in that respect.” 

She smiled, “Good. Now, how do you plan to deal with this going forward? I can talk you through that.” 

I shrugged, “I guess…I’ll play it by ear and see what happens? Nothing has really changed. I’m just not really sure how to act around her. I don’t feel like I can be as open with her knowing she’s back with that douche bag. I think I just got my hopes up…ya know what I mean?”

Dr. Smith nodded, “I feel like that’s a good way to deal with it. It sounds like you two do have a good friendship, so try not to let this come between you as far as that goes. I do think she’s been good for you in that sense and as long as you’re managing your expectations you can handle it. For now, just focus on being a supportive friend to her. Maybe that will eventually pay off.” 

My time with Dr. Smith was up soon after that. I did feel a little better after having talked it through with someone. It made me feel a little less crazy for the reaction I had - to know that it was actually normal emotions that I was experiencing. At least I had a plan with how to go forward. I just hoped I could stick to it without making an ass of myself or causing issues for Kat. 

After leaving my appointment, I stopped for some fast food and ate in the parking lot. My mind kept wandering to Kat no matter how hard I tried to focus on other things. The thought of her going home with Alec the previous night was eating away at me. They had clearly spent the night together. It was making me feel sick all over again. I ended up trashing half of my greasy ass food before heading over to the studio to get started on this week’s routine. 

Kat had already started working on the routine while she waited for me to arrive. She didn’t make a big deal out of my appointment, which I appreciated. Only asking if I was feeling ok. Somehow, I got the sense that she knew I was completely full of shit about why I suddenly had therapy this morning. I just hoped she hadn’t figured out the reasons for it. 

We started the way we always did, by listening to our music arrangement and discussing what we wanted to convey with our performance. Then Kat moved into teaching me the basics of the dance since it was new.

“So, the Jive is a little different and is one of the more difficult dances because of the quick footwork. In ballroom it’s considered to be a Latin style dance, however, it’s also part of the swing dance family too. It’s known for its upbeat energy and requires high knee lifts and a lot of hip swinging. It’s gonna be a real test of your stamina.”

I raised a brow at her, and she chuckled. Seriously? I was tempted to make a joke but refrained.

“So, we’re gonna be using both open and closed positions for it. We’ll be doing a triple step with downward leg movements. You have to be sort of bouncy with it. On the finish, legs should be straight with an upright posture.”

She did her usual demonstration as she explained it. She wasn’t wrong, it did look a little more complicated. Even more so when she did it at the speed in which the dance required. It took me a bit to get the footwork down, but I finally caught on. We spent the rest of the afternoon planning out the routine, though I wasn't very engaged. I was unusually quiet and unable to focus on anything other than Kat being with that asshole. From the way she kept eyeing me, I knew she could tell something was up. I hoped that she wouldn’t ask, because I couldn’t lie to her if she asked point blank. Thankfully she didn’t. 

The hours seemed to pass by quickly once we finally got into a groove. My sour mood didn’t abate, but at least I was able to focus on the task at hand. Once our studio time was up, I said a quick goodbye to Kat and moved to leave, instead of waiting around to walk out with her. She didn’t give me a chance to get out the door before calling out to me. I took a deep breath before turning to face her as she approached and placed her hand on my arm. 

“I’m not gonna ask how you’re feeling again…but if you need anything…please call me. I don’t care what time it is. OK?”

The worry in her eyes nearly broke me. It was obvious that she truly cared about me. I would never question that. I felt a lump forming in my throat as I considered telling her everything, just so she wouldn’t worry. I looked away, clearing my throat before speaking. 

“I promise, I’m good. I’m just…working through some things.”

She nodded, the sad look still in her eyes as she released my arm. I gave her a small smile and pulled her in for a side hug. I couldn’t leave her looking like that. It seemed to do the trick as she appeared more relaxed when I pulled away. After another quick goodbye, I headed out and went home.

After having leftovers for dinner, I spent some time checking in with my plants. As I was painting the previous night, I noticed that Goldie, one of my large hanging Pothos plants, was looking a little withered. Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually watered her. I had moved her to the art studio away from Zee and sort of forgot about her hanging in the corner. Realizing that I had potentially neglected the viny greenery made me feel like shit. After providing just the right amount of hydration from my rainwater collection barrel, I spent a good hour clipping back the stems and gently dusting each of her leaves. It made me feel better to watch her perk up before my eyes. It also helped me relax and gain a little mental clarity about everything. 

As I had said to Dr. Smith, nothing had really changed about our situation. Kat had never split from Alec. Therefore, there was no reason to try and patch up the wall that was slowly being chipped away between us. There was nothing wrong with us getting closer as friends. Though, I did have to weigh any emotional trauma that might come with that. However, I reasoned it was worth it if that meant keeping Kat in my life long term. Even if it was only as friends.  

After checking in with the rest of the plants in the art studio, I got ready to go to sleep. Zee was already in bed waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom. It had become sort of a nighttime ritual to have some cuddles before we both zonked out. 

Since I had met with Dr. Smith a day earlier, we canceled my Wednesday appointment. That meant I had the entire morning to do nothing until our evening rehearsal time. I took advantage of it and did not set an alarm - allowing myself to sleep in for once. Not that I got to sleep in too much later. Zee was on a schedule that she would not let me forget. It was nearing 9AM when I felt her pounce on top of me and meow loudly in my face. Which was just as good because I was almost positive I was having a dream I shouldn’t have been having about Kat. My morning wood corroborated that thought. 

After groaning and grumbling loudly, I finally got out of bed and made my way downstairs to make Zee’s breakfast. Once she was finished, she hopped up on her cat tree and indulged in her favorite pastime, bird watching. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I passed by her to go back to bed. After settling back in, I grabbed my phone for some morning social media scrolling. 

Since following the ‘Dieter and Kat’ hashtag, my feed was now populating more and more posts related to us. I ended up going down another rabbit hole, looking at videos of our past two performances and behind the scenes rehearsal clips for the first time. There was no question about it, the chemistry between us was off the charts from the start, and not just while we were dancing. I almost didn’t recognize myself watching the way I interacted with her during the rehearsal clip from last week. I figured this is what people mean when they say you have hearts in your eyes. I looked like a lovesick fool. 

I sighed, “Fucking hell, Bravo. You’re down bad, dude.” 

I let last week's rehearsal clip play again, this time focusing on Kat. It was different seeing things from an outsider’s perspective. Seeing it like this made it obvious that Kat had the same energy toward me. I knew she wasn’t like this with other people, not even with Alec. The way she looked at me sometimes when we were dancing hadn’t gone unnoticed by me. However, to see her body language and the way she looked at me when I wasn’t paying attention was a whole other can of worms. I watched her watching me while I was focused on my foot work. Her eyes were sparkling as they roamed up and down my body, a small smirk playing on her lips. Then she would move in to correct my posture, pushing between my shoulder blades or change the positioning of my arms. Most would probably assume she was just minding my form, but some of her touches were lingering and even unnecessary given that she could provide verbal corrections. 

Seeing this made me realize that Kat was definitely into me. It’s no wonder Alec was so worried. The sparks were there for the world to see even though we were doing our best to keep them from turning into blazing flames. It felt almost inevitable at this point. A part of me felt pretty damn smug about it. The other part made me even more concerned that Alec would do something incredibly stupid. My only hope was that he would have a major fuck up and make Kat realize she needed to dump his ass before anything bad happened to her. 

I continued down my rabbit hole, clicking hashtags for the show to see where they led me. I eventually came to a post with the hashtag ‘Dieterina’. I snorted, busting into laughter over it. We officially had one of those cheesy celebrity couple names. Kat was going to love that. I briefly wondered what she would do if I used it on a post but thought better of it. For now, anyway…

My scrolling activities were briefly interrupted by Zee jumping on the bed and rubbing her face against my hands for pets, nearly knocking the phone out of my grasp. Once I got her situated beside me, I continued scratching her with one hand and scrolling with the other. Her soft purrs filled the silence as I dug further into the ‘Dieterina’ posts. It seemed we had a lot of shippers who enjoyed sharing screenshots of our performances. Shots that were timed just right to look as intimate as possible. I had to admit, we looked amazing together. I now understand why Stacia and Joe were all over it too. It seemed to be a big fucking deal, even with us trying to avoid it. 

I sighed and dropped my phone on the bed beside me, turning to Zee to cuddle her fully. 

“There’s something there, Zee. I fucking know it. I’m just gonna bide my time and wait for that asshole to fuck up again. I know he will. He can’t help himself. When he does, I’m gonna be there for her…and I’ll tell her how I’m feeling when the time's right. For now…I’m just gonna go off her vibes, like I have been.” 

Zee nuzzled into my chin, mewling quietly in response. Her presence helped calm me. It was almost like she knew that I needed it. I was suddenly thankful that this little menace had forced her way into my life. Having her here was a huge positive impact on me mentally. I wondered if she knew? If she could sense it? Is that why she wouldn’t leave? I pondered that thought as I dozed off again.

I woke up a little after noon, shocked at how well I had slept after falling back to sleep. I felt refreshed and ready to deal with whatever the rest of the day brought. After taking a quick shower and throwing on shorts and a t-shirt, I headed to the dance studio for our afternoon rehearsal time. I was surprised to find Alec in our studio space when I entered. It looked like they were just finishing up with a late lunch. I gave Kat a small wave and tight smile as I moved to the empty chairs at the opposite end from where they were. She looked guarded as she returned the wave, her eyes following me as I moved to set my gym bag down. I was completely aware of Alec’s gaze as his eyes shifted between Kat and me with a self-satisfied look on his face. 

I tried to busy myself with looking for nothing in my bag while they told each other goodbye. I just happened to glance over as Alec leaned in to kiss Kat on the cheek. A cocky look overtook his features as he stared me down through it. Like he was asserting his ownership over her and rubbing it in. Fucking asshole. Kat on the other hand seemed tense, not really leaning into his embrace. Why is she doing this to herself? I don’t understand.

Alec made sure to announce rather loudly that he would see her later this evening. He wanted to make sure I heard. Clearly his attitude hadn’t changed any. Kat watched him leave with a stony face before turning to me and smiling. It was so easy for me to tell that it wasn’t a genuine smile. I could read her so well.

I gave her a half-hearted smile in return. I couldn’t fake it like she could. Her smile faltered, she could read me too. 

“Dieter…have I done something to make you mad at me? I just feel like you’ve been a little closed off toward me the last couple of days.” 

I sighed, “Mad…no. I could never be mad at you.” 

Her brow furrowed, “There is something though, right? What is it?”

I gave her another tight smile, “You really wanna talk about this right now? I’m sure I don’t need to tell you.” 

She shook her head, “No, I wanna hear it. Say what you have to.” 

I blew air out through my cheeks, “Fine. I’m not mad, I’m disappointed.” 

Anger briefly flashed in her eyes, “Why?”

I scoffed, “You really have to ask? That asshole physically assaulted you and treats you like shit. I’ve had people like that in my life and I know what they’re capable of. I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you to get hurt…because believe it or not, I do actually care about your well being.” 

Her eyes widened as she placed her hands on her hips, “Is that the only reason?”

What exactly is she asking me? The question took me by surprise, and I didn’t really know how to answer it. No, it’s not, but I can’t say that. I stared at her wide-eyed, “D-Do I really need another reason? Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I have to like him or approve of it. You’re my only concern in this. He can fuck off.”

Her face softened, she looked conflicted for a moment before finally responding, “I’m sorry, you’re right. You have every reason to feel that way after what you saw. I think I’m taking my frustrations out on you, and I shouldn’t.”

She rubbed her hand through the top of her hair, a nervous habit of hers I noticed. 

“Do you regret your decision?” The question was out of my mouth before I had time to consider it. 

A sad smile tugged at her lips, “Am I that transparent?”

“To me you are…Why did you do it?” 

She chuckled, “Oh…you know me, I believe people can change when given the chance. I’m tired though…all I do is worry and wonder what’s coming next. I think I’m just starting to realize that’s never gonna go away with him…but, I promised him one more chance and I’ll stand by it.” 

“Just promise me you won’t let it get bad…that you'll tell me if you need anything.” 

She reached up to cup my cheek and smiled. This time it reached her eyes, “You’re too good to me. I don’t deserve it, but I’m glad.”

I couldn’t help leaning into her touch for a brief moment. I felt like there was more she wanted to say but couldn’t. I reached to grab her hand from my face and held it between both of mine, “You deserve the world. You shouldn’t be punished for his shortcomings.”

She nodded, agreeing with my words. The moment felt a little too intimate. She chuckled suddenly, turning away and mock wiping sweat from her brow, “Whew, did we just have our first argument? I don’t like it. Let’s never do that again.” 

I laughed loudly and pulled her in for a side hug, burying my face in the top of her hair as I spoke, “I think it was more like a mild disagreement…and I don’t like it either. I’ve missed you.”

I felt her arms snake around my waist and squeeze gently. We sat like that for a beat too long, causing the tension to return between us. She loosened her grip but didn’t let go of me as she raised her head to meet my gaze, “We should probably actually rehearse at some point today.” I chuckled and nodded in agreement. 

We got to work after that. The vibes between us quickly shifted back to where they were before. I was right, nothing had changed. We had picked up where we left off. Although, it did appear that a few more chips had fallen from the imaginary wall that separated us. 

This rehearsal turned out to be rather productive even though we had a bumpy start. We had the choreography completely figured out by the end of it. The routine was fun and full of energy. Kat kept joking about putting my loose hips to good use and opening with some of the signature Elvis gyrations. I finally gave in. It sent us into a fit of laughter as she showed me how to do it properly. That was how we ended the day, and I was thankful for it. I had missed hearing her laugh like that so damn much. You’d have thought it had been years instead of a couple of days since I heard it last. 

As we were gathering our things to leave, Kat paused and turned to me. “What are your plans for dinner?”

I shrugged, “Probably leftovers, why?”

She rolled her eyes, “Well if it’s leftovers you cooked, it’s probably better than what I was about to suggest.”

I gave her a cocky smirk, “Maybe not. What did ya have in mind?”

She returned my smile, “There’s this little mom and pop diner about ten minutes away that I’ve been wanting to try. It’s Greek, but they have typical diner foods too.”

I rubbed my chin, pretending to be in deep thought. “I GUESS I could give it a try…” I said sarcastically. Kat laughed and shoved my shoulder lightly. 

“Jerk.” 

I cleared my throat, “Is that really a good idea though? I don’t want Alec to get pissed about it.” 

She sighed, “He can get mad if he wants. I’ve already told him to get over it. Again, I’m not doing anything with you that I haven’t done with my past dance partners.”

I gave her a cheesy smile, “Yeah, but none of your past dance partners were hot.” 

She snorted, “Valid point. Let’s go hot guy, I’m starving.”

Does that mean she thinks I’m hot? Her response shocked me a little. I expected a snarky come back, not that. I followed behind her toward the parking lot in a daze, opening the doors for her as we went. I ended up following her to the diner since I had no idea where we were going. We were parked outside the place within minutes. She gave me a shy smile after she got out of her car, walking over toward me so we could go inside together. 

We were seated across from each other in a booth near one of the front windows, thumbing through the menu in silence and stealing glances at each other. She pursed her lips, fighting a smile when I caught her staring over the top of her menu at me. 

“So, what are ya gettin?” she finally asked. 

“Hmm, I dunno, this place has a little bit of everything. The pasta is looking pretty good.”

“Would you like an appetizer? I kind of wanna try the Spanakopita, but that looks like a lot.”

I chuckled, “I don’t even know what the hell that is…” 

She laughed, “It’s like a Greek spinach pie in a flaky pastry crust. It’s really good with tzatziki sauce…usually.” 

I wrinkled my nose, “Spinach pie?” 

“It’s not as bad as it sounds…my grandma used to make it all the time.” She had a faraway look in her eyes now, seeing some past memory as a sad smile tugged at her lips. It obviously meant something to her. 

“Well, then…we have to try it.”

Her eyes lit up, “Really?” I nodded. Then she gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. “Oh. My. God. They have baklava too! I’m gonna feel miserable when I leave here.”

I snorted out a laugh, eventually managing to ask what baklava was. 

“It’s a dessert…like a pastry, I guess? Smothered in honey.” 

“Mmm, that sounds good actually. You’re right, I think I’m gonna be miserable too.” 

She smiled up at me then, her eyes sparkling with excitement. 

“Now that I know you like Greek food so much, I’ll have to learn to cook some stuff for you.”  Oof, that might have been too forward. 

Her smile widened. Maybe not.

“Dieter Bravo, I told you, don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”

I chuckled, “I told you I’d cook for you anytime and I enjoy learning new dishes. Besides, I’d love to have you back over. Zee says she needs some more girl time anyway.”

Kat squinted at me, like she was trying to figure out a puzzle, but was interrupted by the waitress coming to take our order. After I asked several questions to narrow down my choice, I settled on the Pastitsio pasta bake and Kat got a Gyro with lamb. Of course, we also got the Spanakopita to share for an appetizer. 

As we sat waiting, Kat was distracted by something outside. She stared for a moment before mumbling a low “fuck” under her breath.

My brows furrowed, “What’s wrong?”

She huffed, “I think there are some paparazzi across the street.” 

I turned to look in the direction she had been. Sure enough, there were three standing there using long lenses. 

It was my turn to huff, “What the hell? They aren’t usually hanging out at a place like this.”

“You think they followed us from the studio?” 

I scratched at my chin, “Had to…How else would they know to come here?”

She sighed, “I really hope this doesn’t become a thing. It’s so fucking annoying… can’t even eat in peace.” 

I gave her a tight smile, “I’m sorry, I’m sure it’s because of me. They’re just dying to catch me doing something the old Dieter would have done…waiting for me to fail.” 

I felt her leg nudge against mine under the table, she didn’t pull it away. It made it hard to focus on anything else but the heat of our bare calves touching. 

“Hey, you’re not that person anymore, so fuck them. Just ignore it.” 

I managed a small smile in response before we were interrupted by the waitress bringing our drinks and various condiments. I turned my attention to the waitress, “I don’t want to be a bother, but can we close the shade?”

The woman gave me a puzzled look. “There are paparazzi out there taking pictures.” I added. 

Her eyes widened, perhaps realizing who we were for the first time. “Absolutely, I can. Would you rather move to a booth in the back? We have one that’s away from everything…it’s more private.” 

Kat and I both shook our heads, “Na, I think just closing the shade will be fine…thank you for the offer though.” 

She moved to the empty booth behind me so that she could reach the cord and lowered the window covering. 

“There you go. Let me know if you guys need anything else. Your food should be out soon.” 

She gave us both a warm smile as she walked toward the back. 

I shook my head, “Now, let’s see if a sneaky pic of us shows up on their social media later.”

Kat rolled her eyes, “Geeez, I hope not. We might as well not go anywhere at that rate.” 

I gave her a toothy smile, “All the more reason for me to cook for us instead.”

She nudged my leg again, peering up at me through her lashes in that way that always takes my breath away, “I’m holding you to that.”

I narrowed my eyes and gave her a cocky grin. The look that passed between us was…something else. I’m not even sure how to describe it, but it definitely made my dick twitch. I finally cleared my throat to break whatever was happening between us, then reached to take a drink of my water just to have something to do so that I wouldn’t get lost in her eyes. 

“Speaking of social media…” I finally said as I sat my glass back down. “Have you been paying attention to anything related to the show on there?”

Her eyebrows arched as she shook her head, “No, I try not to get on there too much. Why?”

I chuckled, “Well, we officially have a hashtag now.”

A crease formed between her brows, “What? What do you mean?” 

I had to work to hold in my laugh, “You know, those cheesy celebrity couple names? We have one now.”

She rolled her eyes, “Seriously? You’re joking. What is it?” She moved to take a drink through her straw.

“Dieterina.” 

She nearly choked on her water as she started laughing, “You have got to be fucking kidding me? Really? Surely there’s something better than that? That’s just…no.”

I had to stifle my laugh, she had the exact reaction that I expected from her. 

“I dunno, I mean there are only so many combinations you can do with our names. Kieter? Is it first names only? If not…then Bravos? Stamo? Bramos?” 

Kat was trying to hold in her laughs now, “OK. OK. They’re all cheesy. There’s no win here. I can’t…” She continued to laugh as she tried to catch her breath. It was a glorious sight. 

“I think imma start using that on our Instagram posts…just to be a punk.” 

She shook her head and threw a napkin at my face, “You will not. You might go missing over that one.” 

Our appetizer came out soon after that. Kat wasted no time digging in, groaning at the taste of it, and getting little Bravo’s attention in the process, like always. At this rate, I had a feeling that was an issue I would have to take care of when I got home later. I must have been gawking at her like a perv because she froze as her eyes widened. She moved to cover her full mouth with her hand as she spoke, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I tried to play it off, laughing slightly and shaking my head. “No reason…just watching you make a fool of yourself. I take it that it’s good?” 

She shoved what was left of her half eaten spinach and cheese filled triangular shaped piece toward my mouth, “Yes. Try it. Now.” 

I laughed, “Geez, so bossy.” I didn’t think twice about what I was doing as I leaned forward and took a bite from the same side she had. She watched me intently, waiting on the edge of her seat for my reaction.

“Well?”

My brows arched upward, “Hmmm. Not bad.” 

She scoffed, “Not bad? Are you kidding me? I mean, it’s not as good as my Yaya's was, but it’ll do.”

She popped the rest of the piece I had bitten off of into her mouth, then gave me a cheesy smile. 

I loved her like this. She seemed so relaxed and carefree. I also loved that she was sharing bits of her life with me. It made me feel more connected to her somehow. 

“How was your Yaya’s different? Maybe I could figure out how to make it like hers.” 

Her eyes rounded, “Gosh, I don’t even know how to explain it. I can’t pick out different flavors. It was a little creamier maybe? Or had another type of cheese in it? And maybe some type of herb? I’m not sure. Maybe my sister might know…” 

“You have a sister? Older or younger?” I asked. 

“Three years older…she lives in North Carolina. I don’t get to see her much.” 

I started munching on my own triangle of spinach pie. “Does she look like you?” 

She nodded, “Very much so.” 

I gave her a sly grin as I arched a brow in her direction, “She single?” 

She scoffed, “You better be fucking joking.” 

I started laughing, “I am. One hundred percent joking.” I only want you. 

She rolled her eyes at me, not amused in the slightest as she pulled out her phone. After tapping at it and scrolling, she showed me a picture of herself hugging a girl who looked very much like her. I took a moment to look at it, mainly focusing on Kat the entire time. She looked genuinely happy in that shot. 

“So, you’re the hotter sister. Noted.” I gave her another sly grin before returning to my appetizer. 

I could feel her eyes on me, but I didn’t dare look her way. I knew I was pushing the boundaries with that line. I was afraid to see how she had taken it. 

Luckily the rest of our food arrived at that moment, breaking whatever tension my comment had caused. After getting our dishes situated on the table that almost wasn’t big enough, we dug in.

“Oh. My. God. You have to try this!” Kat mumbled through a mouth full of food. She held the Gyro over to me for a bite. Clearly, my comment hadn’t bothered her too much. I leaned in for a quick nibble. 

“Damn, that is good. I’m getting that next time.”

I started cutting into my baked pasta dish and took a quick bite of the cheesy goodness. “Mmm, maybe not. That’s pretty damn good too. You wanna try it?” 

“Oh, yes please!”

I slid my plate toward her, she didn’t hesitate to pick up my fork and take a bite. I don’t know why that was such a fucking turn on, but it was. 

She leaned back in her seat, “Fuck. That’s good too. This might be my new favorite place.” 

I snickered, pulling my plate back over in front of me. “So, how come you didn’t bring Alec to try this place with you?”

She sighed, “He’s not a very adventurous eater and doesn’t really care for this kind of food. I figured you might appreciate it more.”

I was a little stunned. What an asshat. “So…let me get this right…he’s engaged to marry someone with a Greek heritage, but he doesn’t want to make an effort to experience it with you?” 

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, now staring down at her food. I don’t think she had actually realized that until now. 

“It’s not something I’ve ever really pushed with him to be honest. I’m sure he would try it if I asked…maybe.” 

It was my turn to nudge her leg with mine, leaving it against hers like she had done to me earlier. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” 

She shook her head, “No…I mean, you’re not wrong. He’s really not. He’s not very supportive in general. That’s something I really should think on.” 

Man, fuck this guy. At least it seemed like she was beginning to see where he was lacking. Hopefully that was a good sign. 

I changed the subject after that, shifting to sharing Zee’s antics instead. That seemed to cheer her up some. That topic carried us through the rest of our meal until the waitress asked if we wanted dessert. Kat groaned, “I’m so stuffed, but I really want some baklava. You wanna split a piece?” 

It was my turn to groan, “Ugh, I guess. You may have to roll me out of here though.” 

Kat laughed before confirming our order with the waitress. After the waitress gathered all our other dishes, she left, but returned quickly with one piece of baklava and two forks on a small plate and placed it between us. I realized this sort of felt like a date. Not that I had been on many dates to compare it to, but I imagined it wasn’t far off. It was a little weird given the situation, but it still made me want this with her, for real, even more.

The dessert was good, unfortunately. Which caused Kat to resort to making her moaning noises again as she ate. When she wasn’t moaning, she was licking the fucking honey off the fork. It was a new form of torture.

As we were finishing up, the waitress brought our bill. I grabbed it off the end of the table to pay. Kat grumbled but finally relented and allowed it. Soon after that, we were getting into our respective vehicles to head home for the evening. The paparazzi were still hanging around, so we opted for a smile and wave to say goodbye. Heaven forbid we get close to each other.

The whole ride home, the evening replayed in my mind. The way she kept looking at me. The way it felt to have her leg touching mine through most of the meal. The way she looked licking that fucking fork before sticking it in her mouth. I felt my dick involuntarily twitch. 

“Fucking hell. Looks like I have something to take care of when I get home.”

Next: Week 4 (Part 2)

A/N: As you can see, this is only part 1 of week 4. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm shit at judging the length of chapters based on my outline. 😂 So, yes, you will be getting a part 2 very soon. I'm shooting for posting next week. It's basically done. I just have a little bit left for the ending and proofing...and maybe some fun edits. It will probably end up being around the same word count as this one (maybe a little less). It will also mostly be Kat's POV. Why? Because we will be getting Alec's major fuck up. There may be a little bit from Dieter at the end, we'll see how I end up wrapping it up. Once again, we have a lot going on in week 4. Dieter is going through it after finding out Kat has given Alec another chance. Are we yelling at these two to figure their shit out yet?

We of course had more nonsense from Stacia and Joe. We will get more from them in the second half too. They are pulling all sorts of strings behind the scenes.

We also had some breadcrumbs about Dieter's history. How are we feeling about that? How do you think it could have affected him? How could it affect things going forward?

We also got a little more Cat/Plant Daddy Dieter in this one. Swoon!

Please do share your thoughts and predictions for the second half. You know I love it when you guys yell at me and jump into conspiracy theory mode!

💜Mysty

The video for this chapter is a fun little Jive to Tina Turner’s Rolling On the River. Enjoy!

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@pedrostories

[whatever-imagines]

Can you we please get more Butch Wolverine?! Please?

Merry Christmas.

Literally

Rated: G

——

Logan scratch the back of her neck uncomfortably while staring at the party goers. There were too many sounds, too many smells, too much… everything happening all at once. She craved the solitude of her room; the distraction of you came to mind, maybe she could convince you to ditch the Christmas party all together and hide away from everyone.

Logan’s keen eyes seek you out and find you in the crowd. You’re dressed nice, cute; carrying a bag of presents as you distribute gifts to your friends and teammates. You looked so happy and thrilled to make everyone else happy and thrilled.

On second thought, maybe Logan should just pull a lone wolf card and leave by herself. You seemed to be enjoying yourself too much to have her pull you away for selfish reasons.

As she turns away though, she hears you call her name, hears you wrangling through the crowd, and Logan is equal parts thrilled and worried. What if you try and make her stay? Or worse, join in on the festivities.

“Lo! Logan, wait a sec, I have something for you!”

The Wolverine groans lowly. It wasn’t that she was hard to shop for, it’s just that people misinterpret what she wants, and then she feels bad about not wanting the useless crap given to her.

“Listen princess-“ she starts to protest, starts to stop you, but she couldn’t get a third word out before you toss a very small package at her.

Logan catches it mid air, effortlessly. The wrapping was buffalo plaid, no bows or tinsel or extra dress. With a questioning eyebrow, Logan gives you a look.

You stare at her all starry eyed and excited. “Well? Open it! It’s your present!”

The wolverine shift her step. “I’m not big on gifts-“

“Open it, Logan.” You demand.

The firmness of your voice makes her relent. It’s a rare occasion to see you stand up to her about anything.

With deft fingers, the wrapping was removed, unceremoniously dropped to the floor, and once the small black box was revealed, Logan worries the worst, jewellery.

Sucking in a silent anxious breath, she opens the box.

“A leather keychain?” Logan questions, also taking not of a silver knob looking thing attached to the ring.

“Open the leather bit, it’s a cigar cutter!” You exuberantly explain.

Logan pauses as you continue to ramble. “You always use your claws and I know sometimes you’re in a place you just can’t pop them out, so I got you this nice one instead! And that little silver one is a cigar puncher, you can unscrew it to use it.” You go into detail, moving closer to show off the present you thoughtfully gathered for your companion. “There in this keychain so you can add it to your carabiner. Merry Christmas!”

Logan stares at you intensely. This was… honestly the perfect gift for her. True, she uses her claws mostly to cut her cigars on the road, and if that wasn’t an option, her trusty pocket knife was always there, even if it did a shitty job. This was well thought out and personalised to her specifically. You even got a puncher, another form of to open up certain kinds of cigars. And in a fashion she could carry it with her constantly.

A little reminder of you and your thoughtfulness.

Logan purses her lips together to think carefully about what she’ll say next, all the while you stand there, pretty and perfect, waiting for her to respond.

“Thank you.” She settles on. No jokes, no smart Alec comment. You deserved sincerity at this moment. “I didn’t get you… anything-“

“Well, do you like your gift?” You ask.

She did, Logan really did. She loved it, she loved how the leather smelt like the sweat from your palms, you must’ve messed with it greatly before giving it to her.

“Yes, but-“

“Then that’s the best present you could’ve gotten me!” you chirp, delighted.

Logan wants to respond smoothly, wants to give a compliment suave enough it makes up for not having anything physical to give you, but you’re called away by a smiling and laughing Jean.

Before you leave, you rush Logan for a quick hug, which she reciprocates. The scent of you fills her and makes her almost giddy.

‘Merry Christmas, indeed.’ She thinks idly, looking for mistletoe hanging around and planning on pulling you under it.

[onetimetwotimesthreetimess]

Prompt - Alec being mad at Magnus (something minor, some domestic dispute like not washing the dishes or eating the dessert he'd kept for later in the fridge) and being petty about it ;P

“Will you come to bed?”

He doesn’t get a response. Only a slight huff in return.

Magnus rolls his eyes and pursues his lips, “Alexander. It’s 1 at night. You had a long shift.”

His husband turns over his shoulder and replies in a petulant tone, “Oh, now you remember I had a long shift?”

“You are such a child,” he replies.

If Magnus were to tell the world about the kind of man he is married to, no one would believe him. If were to really tell the world the kind of man, Alexander Gideon Lightwood really is—they would scoff and their eyes would widen with shock and with disdain at Magnus for fueling baseless rumours about their consul.

Because the world knows Alec Lightwood as the stoic but just and fair Consul. Or the abomination.

They don’t know the man behind the doors. Inside their loft.

The shadow world knows Alec, the consul. They don’t know Alec, the husband or the father or the brother.

He thinks that the world is poorer for it.

For Alec like this, with his nose scrunched up and a huge pout on his face is a delight to be with.

“Wow,” Alec says in mock offence. “First you hide something so huge from me, and now you’re calling me a child.”

“Being a child is a wondrous thing, darling,” he teases, just to annoy Alec some more.

“I hate you.”

“For what?” He asks, voice laced with amusement.

“For being a deceitful person.”

“For lying about using magic?”

Alec stands up from the couch, pointing a finger across at Magnus. “No. No. Do not phrase it like I have an issue with magic.”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“I asked you to wash the dishes with hand so that the boys could learn. And you’ve been lying to me about this for the entire week.”

Magnus tries to contain the grin from his face but he fails.

“Max is a warlock and he deserves to learn magic.”

“He does. He also needs to learn how to move from one room to another without magic,” Alec huffs.

“It’s just dishes Alexander.”

“Deceit,” Alec says, exaggeratedly.

Magnus crosses the distance and winds his arms around Alec’s waist. “Come on, come to bed.”

“No. No, absolutely not,” Alec breathes, and releases himself from Magnus’s hold; albeit with great difficulty.

“Are you really going to sleep alone?”

“I love sleeping alone.”

“Without me holding you?” Magnus grins.

“Yes. You’re all over me and suffocate me. I barely survive the nights,” Alec points out, but Magnus can see the crack through his facade.

“Really now?” Magnus raises an eyebrow.

“Hmmm. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings so kept it to myself all these years,” Alec says, a serious pout on his face. “But now that I have found out that I married a liar, I have no reason to keep it a secret.”

“You lie to me plenty, sweetheart.”

“Name one lie,” Alec challenges.

“Yesterday when you said you were ready for round two because you’re so young and have a great body. But I clearly saw you use the stamina runs.”

Alec scoffs indignantly. “I did not.”

Magnus married the pettiest of humans and he loves that.

“Or that time when you told me you were perfectly okay after the hunt but I clearly saw the bruises on your back.”

Alec opens his mouth and then shuts up.

“Or that time when you accidentally said ‘fuck’ in front of Rafael and lied to me about it when he—“

“Okay. Okay,” Alec raises his hand. “Fine.”

“Can we go to bed now?” Magnus laughs.

Alec thinks for a moment before replying. “Fine. But you’re not touching me.”

“Just to be clear, you are allowed to touch me as much as you want, love,” he smirks suggestively.

Magnus drags him to their room because as much as he loves the bantering, he knows Alec is tired and needs to sleep.

His husband creates a wall between them with pillows, separating the two.

He snorts at the pettiness. “You are something else.”

“I just prefer not to bed with liars.”

Alec is relentless if not anything so Magnus gives up, fully knowing it’s going to barely take a few minutes before Alec drags his Magnus’s body behind his.

He lies on his side but immediately shifts closer to Alec, poking his fingers over Alec’s ears.

“Stop.”

“Stop, what?”

He pushes a pillow from between and starts running his dingers through Alec’s hair, pulling a soft hum out of the shadowhunter.

“No touching.”

Magnus smirks because Alec’s body, like it always has, instinctively reacts to his touch and he shifts slightly closer to him.

“You need to sleep.”

“I’m trying. But you’re being annoying.”

He plants a loud kiss on the space right next to Alec’s mouth. “Come on.”

“No.”

“I promise that I will reach the kids to wash the dishes with their hands. Even though, I still do not understand the need for it.”

“Are you lying again?” Alec huffs. “Once a liar. Always a liar.”

“Stop being a baby,” Magnus snorts.

“You’re baby.”

“I know,” he replies. “And you haven’t call me one in two hours and I’m feeling sad now.”

“Lies.”

Magnus groans this time. “Alexanderrrrrrrr.”

“What?”

“Please forgive me,” Magnus accepts defeat, content with the realisation that he’s okay being defeated if it’s Alec on the other side. “I promise to teach our kids good habits.”

Alec turns on his side and looks at Magnus. He raises his finger in his direction, “Pinky Promise?”

He chuckles softly. It’s a thing he started as a joke years ago but has fully become a part of their household now.

You do not break a pinky promise in the Lightwood-Bane household.

“Pinky-promise,” he entwines their fingers, brings their joined fingers to his mouth and places a soft kiss on them.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Alec nods. “I forgive you. You are allowed to cuddle me,” he replies, a grin turning on his face.

Magnus jumps on Alec, enveloping the shadowhunter’s body with his and peppers soft, warm, featherlight kisses al over his face. “Alexander, you are such a bitch sometimes.”

Alec breaks into laughter, squealing in between as Magnus keeps on attacking him with kisses.

“You love me.”

Magnus thinks for the nth time that if were to tell the world about this version of his husband, no one would believe him.

But that’s the thing. Magnus doesn’t want to tell the world, or anyone for that matters about this version of him. About the man inside their loft.

He wants to keep this all for himself.

This version of Alec Lightwood— the one who laughs, and cries and acts bitchy, the one Magnus is besottedly in love with, this, belongs to him and only him.

[im-out-of-it]

this is soooooooo much better than simon’s pov of watching Malec kiss in the accords hall or wherever they shared their public kiss. say what you want about the arranged marriage but Lydia stood by Alec. she told Alec about his parents past, something they didn’t think was necessary to share, admired Alec for his family duty, and never forced anything on him. I loved the mention of Henry. he’s very underrated in TLH and TID.

the way that Magnus knows alec says it all. I’ve seen book fans saying it’s creepy (as if Magnus not communicating and following teenage alec isn’t creepy??????) but it just shows that alec doesn’t need to say anything and nothing is being forced on him. no one is saying “OMG ALEXANDER JUST COME OUT ALREADY BECAUSE IF YOU DONT YOU ARE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT ME- YEAH ALEC JUST COME OUT ALREADY HOW HARD COULD IT BE (Magnus and jace basically in the books)

I sincerely and seriously love that show Magnus isn’t like that. he’s not trying to force a decision on Alec. he’s not pushy, but he just knows he feels something for Alec and Alec feels it too. but he’s not making Alec come out to the clave. and as we can see, Alec is clearly struggling with his parents expectations and what he truly desires

I don’t know, I’ll always love the iconic wedding scene and the parallels that are attached to it. I think this is one of the many reasons people fell in love with Malec to begin with. I loved them from the second I saw Alec and Magnus but this just made it better. and yeah I will shit on the book because book Malec was done dirty. there was no reason for Simon to have a pov for most of their important discussions and moments. like the fact that he has that pov- when they’re fighting and saying ooooo they’re so dramatic and extra, and to their first public kiss is insane to me. it’s an inappropriate pov that has nothing to do with Simon.

ALSO JUST LOOK AT THAT MOTHERFUCKING KISS AND HOW MAGNUS NEEDS MORE SO ALEC GIVES HIM MORE LIKE THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE WE ALL LOVE SHOW MALEC

Magnus and Alec deserved to have a better story in the books but cc didn’t care about them until it made her money. so with everything they did for show Malec, THANK YOU SO MUCH ✨🥹 AND WOW MATT AND HARRY HAVE SO MUCH CHEMISTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAN I LOVE SHOW MALEC SO MUCH 😭

[keepxsolxinxsolxinvictus]

Malec (aka Matthew Daddario and Harry Shum Jr.) Say Goodbye to 'Shadowhunters'...for Now

On that epic finale, fandom, and weddings...onscreen and off.

By Emily Tannenbaum

Published: May 07, 2019

[Bringing back an oldie from Cosmopolitan]

As I corral Harry Shum Jr. and Matthew Daddario around the Cosmo offices, Matt bounces on his heels, pointing to random objects—like a fancy golden coffee table and fuzzy pillows—asking me if he can bring them home with him (the answer is always "no"). Harry is much more calm, back straight and confident, happy to just laugh at his co-star.

It's jarring how their roles are almost the reverse of their characters: For the last three years on Freeform's hit series Shadowhunters (based on The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare). Matt played Alec Lightwood, the stoic half-angel leader with a heart of gold, while Harry embodied the eccentric Warlock Magnus Bane, always moving, portaling somewhere or changing his look...not to mention throwing shit around his beautiful New York apartment.

As they say, opposites attract, and Matt and Harry captured the hearts of the entire Shadowhunters fandom as a certified power couple. Malec has certainly had their share of rom-com moments (they share their first kiss when the warlock crashed Alec's first wedding) and dramatic breakups (don't remind me about 2X18). But last night, Shadowhunters gave Malec the happy ending they deserve, complete with gorgeous wedding and happily ever after as the Inquisitor of the Clave and High Warlock of Alicante.

A wedding finale is hardly unheard of in the TV world, bordering on cliché, but for Shadowhunters there was truly no other option. The union of a strong gay man and proud bisexual has been the cornerstone of this fandom throughout its run, inspiring countless LGBTQ+ fans and landing a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Drama (not to mention sweeping the 2018 People's Choice Awards the same year as its premature cancellation). How else do you celebrate their legacy, if not by throwing a giant party and giving our boys one more showstopping kiss?

Of course, as surreal as it is to discuss the end of Shadowhunters with the ship to end all ships, it's even tougher for them to say goodbye. Here, Matt and Harry talk about the Malec wedding, balancing fandom with real life, and why Alec had to stay mortal.

The Malec Wedding

Tell me about the wedding. You’ve built this relationship for three years now, and you’ve seen how massively people have reacted—what did it feel like to give them that milestone?

Harry Shum Jr.: It had to happen. It was a great moment to bring everyone in and say, "Look at this joyous moment."

It was nice to have everybody back on-set. It really felt both, for the show itself and for us as a whole, that this was a great ending. Because it was the last thing we filmed. I'm happy that we got these two episodes so that we could do it because it would have been really unfortunate if the fans hadn't gotten that wedding. And then fans can play in their heads now, Magnus and Alec are married and doing whatever.

Matthew Daddario: You know, it's like the end of a chapter.

Harry: We're safe now.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but Alec is just a Shadowhunter still? He's not immortal.

Matt: Just a Shadowhunter? [Laughs] Yes, I am.

Some fans were really rooting for Immortal Husbands...like, intensely. How do you feel about this?

Matt: This is the thing I always have trouble understanding is that people want the immortality. And this is a topic that's been written about and discussed for thousands of years, and everyone comes to the same conclusion: the curse of immortality. It is not always the best thing in the world to live forever. In fact, that's close to this kind of a godliness that is considered almost like a living hell.

For Magnus, he's living and living in this endless loop without the repercussion of the totality of life. And if Magnus was instead mortal, would we not celebrate their wonderful life? But it's because he's immortal, we worry about what happens after the fact.

Matt: Right. You can get killed. They're immortal, and then they get the shot off the top of the castle walls, and you're like, "Whoa, that's screwed up." But at the same time, every mortal has to deal with that. [Turns to Harry] So it's not your mortality that you're upset about when you first lost your powers. You're not upset about the mortality, you're upset about the loss of your identity.

Harry: But here’s the difference: It’s not the immortality that you get shot and you can’t die.

Some fans just want Malec on an even playing field. But I find it really sad that Alec would have to live and lose like Jace and Izzy—

Matt: Right. Magnus lost people constantly, and he was kind of a shell of a person at one time. Up until meeting Alec, he's filling his life with debauchery, anything to heighten the senses. And, you know, trying to find places where he can take care of people. And he does get involved with helping vampires because they're immortal as well. There is a kind of emptiness to him in the first season.

Harry: No, for sure. And I think then there is the big switch.

Did you get emotional reading the final episode?

Harry: Everyone did at the table read. One of our producers reading off the narration, he couldn't even get through and actually walked out and someone had to take over. And then there was this silence in the end when the last words were spoken. I think that silence spoke volumes.

Has the end of Shadowhunters hit home for you yet?

Matt: I think it will hit me when I don't think about it for a week. If one week passes without me thinking about Shadowhunters, I will say, "Shit."

We think about it every day. This is a huge part of our lives. This is three years of this. And this show, it's a hit. People are talking about it, people from around the world. It's hard to deny that.

Will you still engage with Shadowhunters stans, or are you emotionally ready to move on to another world?

Matt: Look, we're done filming Shadowhunters, but the fans of the show are always welcome to ask questions and all that kind of stuff. But eventually, we're going to run out of new answers.

I'm always happy to talk to a Shadowhunters fan because they are enthusiastic, they care about what they're talking about, and many of them have built friendships off of it, so it matters to them, and therefore it matters to me.

Harry: Because you gave a part of your life.

Matt: Your job is to have an effect on people, and therefore you have a certain responsibility to engage with the people who are affected by this. You can choose not to, you could choose to go completely incognito or to ignore it, but to dismiss it is, frankly, insulting and kind of silly and maybe slightly narcissistic.

But I think that you do need to have an understanding that you're not any different or special because of this involvement with culture. And why would you want to be miserable about it? Why wouldn't you embrace it?

Matt, you kept your own wedding a secret until your one-year anniversary. Was it harder to keep the details of the finale secret or your wedding?

Matt: [Laughs] It was definitely easier to keep the wedding secret. I just told everyone no one's allowed to take photos. And people did a pretty good job with that.

Harry: Yeah, sometimes I think it's a nice...regardless of what your profession is, but particularly ours, to have something just for yourself.

Matt: Not to say that people don't deserve to know, but I think that anybody would feel like, hey, I would like this moment just to be mine for a little bit.

People can be a little bit demanding. One time this girl is walking down the street, I'm walking down the street, she's on the phone, it's the middle of the day, she's FaceTiming somebody.

She sees me, she stops me by the touching me on the shoulder and says, "Oh, whoa, wait, look! Look who's here!" and hold the phone up like this and goes, "Crazy!" and then keeps walking. And I'm like, fuck you. Like, what the fuck?! [Laughing] You don't do that to someone.

It just felt so invasive. It just feels a little bit like, you're not a human. You're the thing I see on TV. But I guess it's just excitement, whatever.

You obviously know about the #SaveShadowhunters campaign. What would you say if suddenly, some other network wanted to pick up the show?

Harry: I think it's a conversation. You know, we love playing these characters. But as time passes, things change. Like introducing a baby into your life, or whatever the next phase is.

But it's also a wonderful group of people. So, of course, instead of saying, "Absolutely not," it's definitely open for conversation for me.

Matt: Honestly, the ending is successful. And, you know, there's a danger now. What if you screw it up? [Laughs]

[willowshimmer]

The new poster just dropped and it's look awesome!

Alec REALLY does not wanna be there. That's for sure. I mean his life was literally ruined by this show. I am rooting for him to win cause he deserves.

I'm sorry but why is Yul's hand around Grett's waist!? Yul is way to fruity to be straight in my opinion!

Also why is Ally staring at Hunter like that? Are Ally, Tess and Hunter gonna break up?

Also Connor looks so concerned. I think he's probably gonna help Riya not cheat in any of the challenges. Also Riya is looks so sassy. I LOVE IT!

The way Ellie is looking at Gabby is so cute! Agh they are adorable!

Jake looks alot more worried. I think it's cause Tom is here and I hope they reconcile!

Also James and Aiden are back! Yipeee! And Lake! I swear this trio is fun.

There is not much else to say but I am very excited for the next season!

[good-question-love]

ugh ik we have no idea what happened to Theo. I am so mad. He deserved to get some help and have his development acknowledged.

and yeah Hayden (Liam's ex) was a dumbass istg. Liam was so good to her and she up and left him (she was protecting her sister but still).

and Liam and Theo would be perfect together. Theo should have had a chance to discover how he loves and struggle with it and eventually except it. And Liam deserved to get to go through the whole sexuality crisis and realize his feelings for Theo. there was so much potential. there were a dozen ways they could have done it. i'm not particular (kinda am ngl).

okay so can we talk about how dirty they did theo??? not even the whole thiam thing (which totally should have happened, you can fight me on that).

but like the hellscape they sent him to?? like I know he killed people. but so did Peter. so did Chris. so did Jackson. and yeah Jackson in particular had extenuating circumstances. but you're telling me theo didn't?? like he was kidnapped, experimented on, and raised by literal sociopaths from the age of what?? 9?? he probably spent years trying to make friends with the other chimeras before they became failures and died!!

the Dread Doctors mess with people's minds and memories on MULTIPLE occasions and you expect me to believe that that little child maliciously pushed his big sister to her death?? for what?? no, I refuse. I refuse to believe that a nine year old child (in their right mind) decided to murder their older sibling. no. either the Dread Doctors fucked with him like they did Tracy or they killed Tara and made Theo believe it was him.

I also refuse to believe that that was actually Tara that dragged him to hell. no matter what the dessert fox ladies said. I firmly and immovably believe that that was Theo's own creation. that his subconscious believed that this is what he deserved for what happened to Tara. that his own guilt was literally trying to rip him apart.

I acknowledge that without the hellscape Theo would not have been the Theo that anyone would even want around. but I am thoroughly mad about the hypocrisy on everyone involved's part.

The only reason they punished Theo is because he almost beat them. Stiles HATED Theo because he outsmarted him. Malia hated Theo because he tricked her. Liam hated him because he used his own mind against. Scott hated Theo because Theo managed to rip his pack apart and actually killed him. (I will make an exception to the hypocrisy on Malia's part cuz that is actually on brand for her.)

And again he did kill people, but his eyes are still gold/yellow. he never killed an innocent. not like Peter or Chris or Jackson or other characters I am forgetting (leaving out Malia and Derek cuz Malia's was her mom's fault and Derek's was Peter's fault, technically Jackson's was not his fault but the point stands) oh like Deucalion and his alpha pack.

and if someone says that his eyes don't change color bcuz he is a chimera, maybe. just maybe. but can you name someone he killed that had not already killed someone (besides Scott and that is iffy)

i will retract any of the above points if feasible contradicting evidence is found. I am also very, very open to discussions about and additions to my argument.

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunter Promptlet: Empath Alec Lightwood

Imagine an AU where certain powerful Downworlders and some Shadowhunters from the oldest bloodlines, the ones most connected to Raziel, have special powers.

Alec is the eldest son of two ancient lineages and no one is surprised when his gift is unusually strong. Alec is an empath/psychometric and can feel everyone's emotions through touch. The emotions are overpowering and hurt, so he wears gloves almost every waking minute of the day and avoids touch from pretty much everyone, only occasionally allowing Izzy or Jace close, but never any direct skin contact.

Magnus, son of Asmodeus, is equally strong in his gift - a telepath who can influence people's emotions in addition to reading minds. Although, people are horrible, so Magnus has iron clad shields to prevent that as much as possible.

Magnus has locked his heart away for centuries because he is terrified that his partners only 'love' him because he's influenced them without meaning too.

When Magnus and Alec meet, Alec is absolutely entranced. Nobody has ever felt so good to him before, and feeling the edges of Magnus' emotions is like sinking into a warm bath. Magnus resists his own fast fall into love until he finds out that Alec is immune to being influenced by his emotions - he can feel them, but he knows they're not his. Magnus cries for the first time in centuries when he realizes that Alec's open adoration for him isn't something Magnus unknowingly manufactured in the thrall of loneliness and desperation.

Alec is touch-starved, their kiss at the altar the first time Alec has touched anybody's bare skin since he was a child. Afterwards, Alec indulges in Magnus' touch every chance he can get, reveling in every brush of warmth from Magnus' hands and lips and arms.

[Only hit Keep Reading if you want some optional hella angst before returning to the happy ending as scheduled.]

They’re still the wonderful, schmoopy Malec we adore, but Alec always feels in the back of his head like he somehow lucked out and stole Magnus from someone more deserving - he was literally Magnus’ only option after all.

On a mission one day, however, Alec discovers a lead on a magical artifact that would enable Magnus to selectively neutralize his powers.

Alec would do anything for even a small chance at changing his husband’s life like that- letting him be able to finally hug Ragnor and Cat and Raphael, let him hold Madzie’s hand.

But Alec knows in the deepest part of his heart that with every step he comes closer to finding the artifact, he takes one step closer to losing his husband. Why would Magnus choose Alec if this discovery opened up the whole world for Magnus to choose from?

Three weeks later, in an abandoned dockside warehouse, Alec stares down at the gem in his hand and thinks that it’s a cruel irony he would find this on the evening of their third anniversary.

He contemplates waiting, contemplates giving himself just one more time with Magnus, one more night to burn in his memory to last for the rest of his life, but he knows that every stolen touch would feel tainted and wrong.

The only question is, after giving the gem to Magnus, does he wait for his husband to ask for his freedom or does he offer to give it to him before he is forced to hear that request cross Magnus’ lips?

Alec doesn’t know which one will hurt worse.

[Return to happy ending post-haste after suitable amount of Miscommunication and Angst]

[monochromeruby]

REWRITING DCAS???

if I rewrote DCAS like this who would read it be honest: (Reblogs Appreciated)

Here are my thoughts. There’s a lot, so sit down and get a cup of coffee:

The BIGGEST thing I would overhaul is the:

Trevek/Emily disaster.

Emily would still help Yul, but because Yul’s manager wants to see him be better and treat Grett better, so she accepts the payment and tries to get him to genuinely change, but gets promptly fired for wrongful assistance.

Instead of Trevor witnessing Kristal and Derek kiss, he could instead see them do something and misinterpret it as a kiss. But instead of being jealous, he wants to be supportive to his best friend, despite his heartbreak. He would be supportive of Trevor and Kristal and leave them alone so they could have “alone time”. Meanwhile, Derek is just like “???” Misunderstanding trope done correct ^^

Emily would help Trevor get closure with his feelings, as Trevor would vent to her about feeling guilty about not being supportive of their (non-existent) relationship. Emily also wants to talk to Kristal about getting her job back (instead of revenge) so the two of them work together to find out plans about the finale so they both have times to talk to Kristal and Derek separately.

During the finale I would want Kristal and Emily to actually have a talk and the scorpions would probably be the result of a freak accident (I’ll get to it if i actually write this) Derek and Trevor will have their closure moment and it WONT be at the expense of Emily. I really hated how Emily turned out to be because I really liked her and her relationship with Trevor… They ragged on my sister!!!! They did my sister dirty!!!!!!!!

If I’m gonna have Tess and Ashley make it further than Jake, Aiden, and Ally, I need:

Tess and Ashley characterization

I would give Ashley and Tess storylines that don’t revolve around the characters they give therapy to. While they can still have those qualities, I think they could just be their own people too. Ashley had a lot of undertones revolving guilt, so I want to explore that more. I also want her and Fiore to resolve their beef because she was fighting with a literal 8 year old… They could have a sister dynamic but like rivals sisters.

Tess I have less ideas for but she deserved better so my ROUGH draft for her would be: I feel like she could instead work with remedying her situation with Gabby that she never really got the chance to it was kinda resolved in a day. She could also POSSIBLY be the catalyst in Alec and Riya’s recoveries but idk too much about that one.

Next is:

Alec and Riya Redemptions

Instead of having a drunken kiss, I want to actually write out the dinner scene, where they both realize their personal flaws. Alec would realize that his lack of will for confrontation is what is killing his relationships, (Connor’s elimination, his divorce, etc.). If Fiore got hurt because of his lack of a backbone, it would be a huge way for him to start caring about his relationships more.

Riya’s acting in front of the cameras was already an implied flaw, I wish they did more with it. I would want her to push Alec off the horse instead of Connor, and instead of regressing to her villainous personality, I think this is when she begins to show actual care and compassion towards other people, instead of worrying what is shown on the cameras. I also believe Alec would understand that they were both at risk of elimination and she did what she had to to win.

I also want Riya, Alec, and Fiore to be a power trio because who doesn’t love a villain mother, father, and daughter dynamic.

In the final 4, I would change it so it’s structured more like Survivor. (Person wins immunity, they pick someone to join them in the final 3, and the last two would compete in a fire making contest.) I think a good end to Riya’s arc would be her helping Alec win the fire making competition, basically quitting. While she still has a LONG way to go, it’s a good start. It would also parallel how Connor quit for Riya, Riya would quit for Alec.

I want to leave romantic implications as just implications. I think Riyalec is a fine ship, but the show has enough romances as it is, so I can leave it up to interpretation. But I LOVE them as a power duo, so that’s why I want them to be that. Connor just tarnished that for me idk.

Jake Consequences

I am a Jake hater, that much is known. I’m not biased, and I want to give him his redemption too, I still think he needs to be given consequences for his actions that isn’t someone else getting eliminated because of him.

If I got rid of his jealousy spiral, he wouldn’t really have much of a story. So, I want him to get eliminated as a result of his bad behavior. So here’s what I’m thinking.

Ashley would’ve found a totem early on. (Wasn’t it weird how the totem was added to the game so late?) She overhears the villains planning to vote her, so she has to beg Jake to vote a villain so they can idol one out. Jake is stubborn and wants to vote Aiden (possibly because he believes it was Aiden’s fault that Tom got eliminated)

Ashley tried to convince Tess and Ally to vote Aiden (because Jake refuses any other logic), but because they’re both closer to Aiden, they stick to voting for Jake without telling her.

Ashley uses her totem and Jake gets eliminated from a 5-3-2 vote (3 for Jake, 2 for Aiden, 5 for Ashley that are nullified)

Now instead of Ashley getting eliminated as a result of Jake’s pettiness, Jake is eliminated because of his own actions. My soul is healed in the process.

So if he’s not in the finale, what will we do with:

TomJake

I don’t really like TomJake as a ship, as they both need a lot of work before they get into a relationship. But I think that the motel episode could plant the seeds they need to start reconciling, and I don’t think they should necessarily get together. I believe they should both talk about their issues and be able to get closure with one another and be friends, and eventually see where things would go down the line. I know, right, why would I make the motel about yaoi? It’s the trade off to eventually have Jake fix his issues instead of it being shoved in our faces in the finale. Sacrifices must be made, I fear. I COULD leave them apart and Jake unredeemed (and listen to my biased parasites) but I think everyone should have their closure and redemption if All Stars is the last we’ll see of them competing.

Let’s also fix:

The Purge

Ally would be the victim of the purge, but I want to fix it so it’s a little fairer. I think Ally being eliminated like this is best, because for my visions to work, she would need to be out of the picture (unfortunately), but then voting Ally logically makes no sense. So the purge is (unfortunately) in order.

I would change it where the duo who lost the challenge would be the only ones up for elimination. Tess and Ally could be a pair or maybe Gabby and Ally. Either case, I feel like they’d vote Ally over either one of the two. The golden watch will also be replaced with an idol.

ALSO GOODBYE TIKTOK CHALLENGE. INNER PEACE. JESUS WHAT WASSS THAT. I’ll replace it with them taking pictures of the beautiful scenery instead. Or maybe selfies. Ally could have an inner conflict with looking ridiculous and didn’t want more online drama, so she opts to retake the photos. But, when she realizes that it’s slowing her down, and that her and Tess may get eliminated, she decides to grit and bear it. Realizing that, she gets an inner awakening that what she does not mattering actually felt really good. It would help her realize that fan opinion didn’t matter and help her resolve that inner conflict. Perhaps with the help of Tess and Riya’s words, it would be the snowball with this challenge being the climax of her revelation.

Grett winning

MY GIRL WAS ROBBED.

I want her to still be a villain, but in the sense that she made logical and strategical moved. I have lots of ideas, including her, Gabby, Tess, and Ashley being an alliance and having a turf war with Riya, Alec, and Fiore.

I also want her to be the result of Yul’s elimination too once she realizes that he’s an ass thanks to Gabby. Once she starts playing the game for herself, she starts making outstanding moves and winning immunities, setting her up to be a great winner that deserves it. I also want her to help Gabby overcome her ‘evil’ persona, so she isn’t just a comp beast, and actually has more things to do in the story.

In Yul’s elimination, I’ll also have everyone vote for him, including Alec and Riya. In the show, while satisfying, Yul’s elimination was a blunder on Grett’s part, as she was again at a number’s disadvantage with the villains. But with the villains being the majority, Yul’s elimination could be done without it being illogical. I know it wasn’t supposed to be logical, but I think Grett would’ve been smarter to do the math and realize that Yul being eliminated when he did would be bad for her. Now she can do it without it being bad for her game!!! Win for everyone.

I think she would not only be a deserving winner, but a satisfying one, as she made the game moves that are required. Above everything, all I want in a winner is someone who PLAYED THE GAME and that’s what she’ll do.

How Would I Do It?

The challenges will stay the same, (aside from the TikTok one), so how I’ll do it is:

In the earlier episodes, I think I’ll take the transcripts from YouTube and only change minor details (example: Emily’s initial motivations). I’ll also not include the very first episode, since that can stay as it is.

So the earlier portions will look exactly the same. The dialog will look like a script, while the actions I’ll write in.

But once I start changing more about the story, I’ll start actually writing it LIKE a story. So it’ll look less and less like a transcript as we continue and more like a book. Once I’ve overhauled everything, it’ll look completely like an actual story.

As to where I’d post it, I was thinking AO3 but to be honest, I’ll put this anywhere. In the end notes, I’ll also include all of my changes to the transcripts so readers know what tiny changes I made. Once I start changing more aspects of the story, the end notes won’t rlly be necessary.

I think these changes would help fix everything I hated about the season.

I have a lot of ideas, but unfortunately I’m very busy, and I also am writing my own things. But, if people think I should right the world’s wrongs, then maybe I’ll do it.

I really do want to know the public opinion, so reblogs are appreciated so I can get some sampling data.

If you think my ideas are fire and possibly want to help with this hypothetical mini-project, include your own thoughts on how to rework my ideas (I listen to criticism DONT worry) or want to share your own ideas, or if you think I’m the zodiac killer and only wish for my public execution via burning at the stake, then my messages are open. (I think). I would really like to hear critics/inclusions. This is our house. Let’s share it.

That’s all >_<