#Cordelia magazine

[astagsart]

80s fashion sick af

[yuikomorii]

I got a question but I need an objective answer please. So I saw a lot of people complain about Yui being written in a very bad way in Ayato’s routes starting with More Blood and was curious if you think that she became a bad girlfriend as the story progressed?

// I will analyze Yui’s versions from Ayato’s routes and provide an answer at the end of this post.

More Blood:

Even from the first two chapters we are aware of the fact that Yui got a big crush on Ayato merely because of his looks and pleasure he gave her. At first sight, these reasons seem very superficial, but at the same time you can’t blame her completely for that. Yui went to a normal school and used to read magazines for teens, therefore it’s obvious she would have hormones and fall in love with someone who got features portrayed as the beauty standard.

It's understandable why some found her annoying, as she repeatedly cried for Ayato's love without making any real effort to earn it. Apart from giving him her blood, she didn't try to understand what he was going through, even when she noticed changes in him that made him crave so much blood.

Nevertheless, I believe that she did redeem herself in the last chapters, where she admitted being selfish and only thinking about her own desires, instead of focusing on Ayato’s struggles too. I know she paralyzed him out of jealousy and cheated on him in the bad endings, but in the good one, she’s actually a really loyal person. Yui waited years for Ayato to wake up from the coma and Ayato searched for Yui for years in his dream until he finally woke up. This ending confirmed the genuineness of their love.

In the After Story, Ayato planned to attend university for Yui's sake, aiming to get a job and buy a house. Yui helped Ayato with his studies and praised his skills. Initially, she fell for his looks, but in the After Story, she mentioned falling in love with him again because of his caring, determined, and hardworking personality.

Vandead Carnival & Lunatic Parade:

I really liked Yui in both of Ayato's routes and honestly, I can't find anything to criticize about her behavior.

It's not that Yui was a bad partner; it's just that Ayato was portrayed as too good, such as when he ran through flames for her or protected her from a bomb explosion. But that's likely because these are fan service games, where the love interests are designed to be your knights in shining armor. xD

Dark Fate:

I absolutely loved Yui’s portrayal in that route. It was the sweetest version of Yui I’ve ever seen, and I really enjoyed seeing her so happy and soft. Regarding her relationship with Ayato, he was truly the apple of her eye, lol.

The only problematic thing she did was pushing Ayato to face his abuser, Cordelia, even though he didn’t want to. I honestly don’t care if a character does something to another character, as long as it doesn’t affect them and the story, so since Ayato didn’t get mad at her for that, I didn’t mind it much either. However, from an objective point of view, I agree that doing such a thing is quite bad. Being in the presence of someone who ruined your life can trigger intense memories and forcing a confrontation removes the victim's agency in deciding how to cope with their trauma. Ayato might not have been mad at Yui for planning that, but if it had been Laito, I’m sure he would have shown why Yui was in the wrong.

Other than that, she was a kind and supportive girlfriend throughout the whole route, clearly having no ill intent, and I appreciate that she had an actual important role in the route.

Lost Eden:

Ok, I really can’t defend her anymore there. She literally had no redeeming qualities, no matter how many times she got the chance to fix herself. I discussed my thoughts about LE Yui in this post, but I’ll sum it up.

She tried to convince Ayato that despite Cordelia abusing him, she actually did it because she “cared about his future”, and then acted surprised when Ayato started feeling uncomfortable because of her words.

Yui knew the reasons behind Ayato’s behavior, yet when his brothers started mocking him, she didn’t even try to defend him. Everyone ganged up on Ayato, and he was on the verge of a panic attack, yet she remained silent.

Another terrible scene was in one of the last chapters, when Ruki admitted to turning the Vibora Clan and Church organization against Ayato out of envy, aiming to kill him. Instead of criticizing Ruki’s actions, Yui justified them and spoke ill of Ayato behind his back. I wouldn’t like to date someone who claims to love me but keeps hurting me without learning anything… It felt as if Ayato only continued being together with her because he had no one else. No wonder he didn’t marry her there.

Chaos Lineage:

I found Yui quite boring in CL in general, but she started off as determined and sweet in his route, so I liked that.

For most of the route, Yui’s entire personality seemed to revolve around Ayato, and she didn’t do much. There were many cheesy moments between them that made me cringe. Still, I’m sure a certain audience enjoyed those.

My only complaint is that when his brothers started treating Ayato unfairly, despite the fact that he came up with the idea of breaking the glass floor of the church, Yui did nothing to defend him, again.

However, I do appreciate that she gave him that adorable monologue. I just wish she had done it in front of others instead of only acting when Ayato was already insecure and sad.

Now… let’s see what kind of girlfriend Yui was in each route by judging her progress:

MB: Good

VC: Good

DF: Very good

LP: Good

LE: Very bad

CL: Decent

[lilianvanrouge]

Yandere Ayato, Kanato, and Laito Sakamaki x Female Reader Headcanons

Ayato

Whether you’re a sacrificial bride or an ordinary student at Ryotei Gakuin High School you’re getting kidnapped. The kidnapping will most likely be during school since he has no problem skipping classes. During the kidnapping he won’t be gentle, he’ll use his super strength to knock you unconscious at the back of your head.

You’re either chained up in his room or in the dungeon. Your wrists, ankles, neck have heavy, tight shackles on them. The chains are chained up to the wall above your bed. Luckily the chains are long enough so you can go to the bathroom and not anywhere else.

When you wake up you have nothing but the clothes on your back. He already took your phone, money, pictures of your loved ones, and everything else you hold valuable. Because in Ayato’s mind, you aren’t going to need any of those.

Doesn’t matter the room your trapped in Ayato supplies you with sex toys, magazines he likes, a comfortable bed, pictures of him so you’ll always feel his eyes on you, and his torture devices. Ayato brings your food himself and tried to hand feed you. If you resist or decide to starve yourself he’ll forcibly grab your face and force feed you. This usually results in a broken jaw from Ayato being angry and rough and also a punishment with his torture devices.

When he visits you he always makes sure to always lock the door, so you can’t escape. And don’t even bother shouting for help from his brothers or from the servents.

He’s always has been the hands on type touching your face, hair, and all over your body. Always expect ear nips, bites and dark hickies on the neck and collarbone. His favorite place to suck your blood neck or shoulder blade. He also likes groping your butt and boobs.

He obviously forces himself onto which is the only reason why he got you such an expensive, comfortable bed. He’s the one you scream the most against. And second to get you pregnant and baby trap you.

Kanato

You’re most likely have to be a sacrificial bride to be kidnapped by this maniac. But if you are a student the main reason why he kidnapped you is because you’re down right cute looking or you can bake some amazing sweets.

You’re definitely chained up in a secret room where he keeps the wax dolls. Just like Ayato, he already took your phone, money, pictures of your loved ones, and everything else you hold valuable. He threatens you that if you ever try to escape that would be your fate.

Unlike Ayato, Kanato let’s you wander around the locked room without any chains. The chains are for punishment when you’re difficult. The only source of light in your stone prison is a couple of candle sticks. Your bed is literally a mattress on the stone floor with cute, girly sheets, blankets, and pillows. There are stuffed animals taking up all the space up in your room, creepily staring at you. There’s also a tiny table where Kanato forces you to have tea parties with him, Teddy, and the other stuffed animals in the room.

He always visits you with a smile and with Teddy in tow. He brings food which he feeds you or you feed him. He makes a game out of it for you pretending that you’re a baby or a stuffed animal. Get ready because this will last for a long time, even when the tea is cold and when the food had gotten cold and hard. Starving yourself is also not an option with throwing a super loud and destructive temper tantrum which terrified the life out of you.

Kanato took pride in being Cordelia’s song bird. He’ll sing for you and better give him praise if you want to live. There’s also a good chance that you’re a gifted singer. This makes him force you to sing to him and Teddy, and do duets with him.

He’ll make sure to brainwash you to make you forget about the outside world, just like he did to Yui. This makes you less encouraged to escape believing that there’s nothing beyond the room. He gives kisses and such, but he really doesn’t get that sexual. He also doesn’t try to get you pregnant, because he’s not willing to share you and deal with a loud and stinky baby.

Laito

Your case of kidnapping is just like Ayato’s, except he uses Reiji’s drugs. Whether he puts it in your food or drink or on a cloth he uses to cover your nose and mouth from behind. No matter what the last thing you see is Laito’s smiling face, while blacking out. During this he took your phone, money, pictures of your loved ones, and everything else you hold valuable.

Laito is the only brother who will let you remain free around the mansion. You have to always remember this is a privilege not a right. If you miss behave or any of his brothers gets to touchy with you’ll be locked in the dungeon. He also has the familiars keep an eye on you. Other than that you live in his room, where he likes to wrap himself in the sheets and blankets with you trapped against him.

The way he feeds you exactly like Ayato’s, but probably more sexual by putting you on his lap as you feel him getting excited. The punishments for not eating are also the same as Ayato’s but less aggressive. Also since you have the freedom to move around you’ll be making macarons for him.

Also just like Ayato, he’s always has been the hands on type touching your all over your body, especially the shoulders, and pressing his cold lips against your neck and shuddering feeling his hot lustful breath. Always expect bites and dark hickies on the throat and thighs. His favorite place to suck is your blood neck, thighs, or calves. He’s also a licker, licking slowly up your neck or leg or in small circles where he’s about to bite. Another turn on from Laito is having you read passages from Richter’s novels out loud.

He loves to punish you in the dungeon with handcuffs and whips while they tear your clothes and flesh. This is a punishment for talking to other guys just like he did to Yui. Apologies won’t work and you have to pay him back with your body since it’s his now. He would the same torture device he did on Yui to keep her from touching any other guys except him, and you’ll have to say goodbye to your panties because the device is locked on and he has the key. He believes any time you get worked up in this you’ll remember that you belong to him. So you know, it’s made out of metal so it’s heavy, cold, and can rust. So it’ll be difficult to bathe, deal with your period, and you better get excited.

He tries to mentally destroy and is the king of sexual harassment out of all his brothers. He wraps you in a super tight embrace from behind and tries to explore all over your body as you struggle. To further sexually arouse himself he’ll put you in Cordelia’s dress. He’ll most likely drug with Reiji’s aphrodisiacs and numb you so you can’t move while you fully watch him rip your clothes and take your virginity. And he’s number one to get you pregnant and baby trap you.

[dyke-ulaura]

It’s so important to me that Charlotte cares about what’s happening with the AIDS crisis and its coverage before Marvin and Whizzer get sick. Before it directly affects her. Yes she is fighting for them, but also because that’s just who she is, reading whatever medical journals she can for any information they may give.

And I guess because of this, I don’t really like the changes made to Something Bad Is Happening for the revival. In both Falsettoland and the obc Falsettos production, Charlotte and Cordelia are both on stage for the entire song - not just Charlotte. While Charlotte desperately searches for any answers on the mysterious disease, Cordelia trials new recipes (presumably for the bar mitzvah).

And I think this really exemplified the conflict Charlotte was facing, how completely oblivious the rest of the world seemed to what was happening and how isolated she must have felt. When she does notice Charlotte’s mood, Cordelia assumes she’s sick because of something she cooked, and then goes back to the kitchen where she cries “woe is me” until Charlotte forces her to look at the magazine because people are dying. And I think the clear frustration in Charlotte’s expression and the look of absolute shock Cordelia shows as the realisation finally sinks in are incredibly powerful.

In the revival Cordelia stays with Charlotte and is much more attentive to what she’s saying, she picks up the magazine herself. And this - while great for Cordelia’s character - kind of diminishes Charlotte’s struggle and the idea that she’s been fighting this alone because nobody else cares. And how could they? There’s very little information available even to Charlotte. Not to say Tracy Thoms and Betsy Wolfe don’t do an amazing job, this scene is still very powerful as the turning point of the show.

Anyway Charlotte is just incredibly important to me as a dyke in medicine, the world needs more doctors like her.

[theemporium]

maybe a Ceo!Sirius x fem reader but she's also the heiress of a great family(please let her name be cordelia) and yk,enemies to lovers

Thank you and I loooooooove your writings

Keep you the exception and fantastic work<33

i don't really give my readers any other names, sorry! but thank you for requesting!🖤

.

“You brush up nice.” 

“Wish I could share the sentiment.” 

“At least I know your personality hasn’t changed.”

Black and Sons was a name known throughout the country. An empire in itself, one that had made billions over the generations it had run through. There wasn’t a person in the country, maybe even countries beyond that didn’t know the company. It was plastered on billboards and magazine covers and radio stations alike. It was one of the top companies in the world. 

But not number one. 

No, that spot was shared with another family business—one not as flashy or attention-seeking as the Blacks’ to put their name over everything they can but one that proved more than enough times over the years that it was tough competition. 

For years, the companies had competed in different revenues and business ventures. For years, it had been family head against family head. And for years, it had always been cut close. 

It was no different for you and Sirius Black. 

Both heirs to empires that you had spent your whole lives preparing and being disciplined for, your paths had crossed more than enough times over the years as you grew up. But unlike everyone else in your families who could keep public meetings civil and polite, you and Sirius were at each other’s throats from the first time you met the boy when you were young and wild and prepared to go to war over the five year old putting shrimp down the back of your dress. 

It had only escalated from there. 

The harsh glares from across the room when you were thirteen. The snarky remarks when you were sixteen. The arguing and goading and pestering as you both reached adulthood, years away from taking over the businesses yourselves. 

Nobody could quite understand the hostility between you and the eldest Black son, not even your own family who knew very well how deep the rivalry ran between the families. No one could understand why Sirius Black got under your skin, or why you got on his nerves so much.

Not even yourselves. 

“I am surprised you even showed up today,” you commented casually as you kept your back to the wall, eyes scanning the crowd of future business partners like a hawk as you sipped your wine. 

Sirius raised his brows. “And why wouldn’t I be here?” 

“Because your drunk face was plastered all over page seven this morning,” you told him with an innocent smile, but your eyes gave away just how pleased you were with his humiliation.

“Someone had to take your spot after your last bender,” he shot back, taking a long swig from his glass. 

“At least my damage control doesn’t consist of shabby, staged photos being taken in food banks,” you scoffed. 

“No, you just prefer puppy adoption centres,” he said with a feline smile on his face.

But there was another dynamic that nobody would ever understand between you and Sirius. 

Nobody would understand that despite the way you spited and provoked and spurred each other on in public, and no matter how many glares and insults you would throw at each other during these high-end events that would have multiple eyes and cameras plastered to you, that each one of them would end just in the same way.

In the same way that it had after that first night when you were both nineteen, drunk and completely helpless to the tension between you. 

“You’re a prick,” you groaned against his lips, impatiently tugging on the knot of his tie as it seamlessly came undone under your touch.

“And you’re a bitch,” he retorted, his hands grabbing the globes of your ass through the tight-fitting dress you had been teasing him in all night as he nipped your bottom lip.

“Put that mouth to good use, would ya, Black?” you muttered to him, your fingers tangling in between the locks of his long, black hair as his lips travelled down the column of your neck and down to your tits as he pulled at the fabric of the dress. 

“Only if you can keep yours shut, love.”

.

[dreamypqulson]

— two queens in a king sized bed

summary: on your way home from a council meeting across country, you and cordelia's flight gets canceled due to a snowstorm. the issue is, christmas is tomorrow. The bigger issue is that you have to share a bed with the woman that you've fantasized a relationship with since your first arrival at the academy.

pairing: cordelia goode x reader

word count: 3200

The thing about Cordelia Goode is that she books ahead. She's consistently on time for everything and always has her plans set in stone months ahead. That's why, the flight back to New Orleans getting canceled was a huge stump in her road.

It was December 24th and Christmas was approaching faster with each hour that passed. It was completely devastating that Cordelia could not be home with the girls for Christmas eve. She always made the holidays extra special for them since most came from a broken or abusive home. For Cordelia to miss Christmas day was like a parent missing their child's birth.

"What do you mean it's canceled? New Orleans doesn't ever snow!" Cordelia was getting agitated. For her to pull her unusual tempestuous demeanor was certainly alarming.

"Well, this year it is ma'am," The woman at the desk said flatly. She seemed unfazed by the infuriation.

Cordelia sighed, her face fell into her hands. Your first instinct was to put your hand on her back, but you immediately retracted that thought. You never truly saw Cordelia in this condition and so you did not know how she would react to being touched.

You could feel the heat radiating off of Cordelia's body from the anger and stress that fumed her. "The earliest flight we have is tomorrow morning at eleven," The lady intervened once more.

"Fine. If that's all you have, we'll take it." Cordelia became completely composed, especially when she spoke. You could see the tears threatening at her eyes, but she had already been far too trained at keeping them in.

Cordelia bought the tickets and walked out of the building with a rapid step. She didn't say a single word to you, you just tried your hardest to keep up with her.

You both waited outside for a taxi. It was snowing here, too. It reminded Cordelia of the reason she couldn't be home with her girls. But it was too pretty to be mad at. Still, she kicked a big chunk of snow with the tip of her shoe. "Fuck!" She yelled, wrathfully. It startled you.

"I'm going to disappoint all of the girls! They look forward to this all year and now i'm just abandoning them on the holidays like their own parents did!" Tears prickled down her face. You didn't know if it was the coldness or the anger that made her face turn so red. Both, probably.

"You're not disappointing anyone!" You finally said. She looked at you; like a small child, millions emotions danced across her face at once. Her lower lip trembled; she bit down on it. "It's not your fault. You can't control the weather. You tried your best and that's all that matters. They'll understand. We all know you would never abandon any of us."

Cordelia went to speak, opening her mouth to only close it when the taxi arrived. The conversation ended and was not brought up for the time being. She knew you were right. A huge part of her truly believed it too. She knew you would never lie to her, anyways.

The driver dropped you both off at the only motel in town. The only actual building in town, really. The deserted area was covered in snow. Without a couple of cars filling up the small parking lot you would've thought the place had been abandoned. The motel, however, seemed to be in great condition.

You and Cordelia both shared a look of uncertainty and then you followed her in. The lobby was empty besides an older woman at the front desk. You could hear muffled chatter and movement from the rooms down the hall.

"If you're coming to book a room, we only have one available," The woman said. She didn't look up from a magazine she was reading until silence filled up the room.

Cordelia finally spoke up, "We'll take it. Just for tonight please." The supremes sweet voice and glowing smile made the encounter slightly less awkward. The woman's eyes averted once to you, once to Cordelia, judgingly.

"It's only one bed," She said flatly, her lips pursed.

Cordelia looked over at you, without giving it a thought, she took the room. It was unlikely that you'd be able to fully sleep in an unfamiliar place. It's even more unlikely that'd you'd get any rest sharing a room with Cordelia. 

You walked down to the end of the hall and opened the door with the key. The place didn't gross you out. It wasn't unclean. It had a dark red carpet, crème colored walls, and was richly decorated. A place like this was far too nice to be in an area like this.

Cordelia dropped her bags to the ground. With the time change, the sun was beginning to set as early as it was. She sighed and walked over to the only bed in the room. It was small; a twin sized bed. Neither of you would possibly be able to sleep contently without holding each other so close...

She threw herself on it with a grunt, looking over a you with a slight smile. "Come here," she said, reaching her arms out like a clingy child. You looked at her with questioning eye's. Cordelia has always been touchy. She's a very close friend of yours. But this seems like an entirely new boundary being crossed. You like it.

"Come onnn," She dragged on, her arms stretching further and smile becoming full. Your feet dragged across the rug as if they were locked in shackles. You were trying to hold this off as much as possible so your feelings could compose itself first.

You finally got to the bed. You crawled towards her and she watched you with hungry eyes. You could both melt into puddles with the heat between yous. Before you could figure out the confusing pounding in your chest, you were grabbed around the waist by Cordelia.

You squealed as you fell against her body. It was cold and you were tired and she was so warm and comfortable. However, your body tensed when her fingers snuck under your shirt, lightly tracing patterns against the expense of your back.

She noticed this and stopped, for a moment, before continuing on. "You're so tense, sweetheart," She said and her fingers dug softly into your flesh. It didn't hurt; it felt good and you had to contain yourself from the loud groan you were nearing to let out. She smiled slyly. She knew. "It's just me, darling. It's okay."

Exactly. It's just you. It's only you. That's the problem. "I know," you pushed out a gentle huff, "i'm just tired from all the traveling and everything. I think i'm going to go take a shower."

You got up and immediately made way to the shower without looking at her. You could feel her intense gaze on your back and you made slight eye contact as you closed the bathroom door.

-

You got out of the shower, wrapped a soft white towel around your body. You looked around the room only to realized that you had failed to take your pajamas with you. You scolded yourself. It's not that you were uncomfortable with Cordelia seeing you in just a towel, it was simply that mere fact that you don't think you would be able to handle her eyes on you.

There was no other option besides fully going out into the room with your towel. Why does she have to make you so crazy? Why does that fact that she takes up most of your heart make things so difficult?

"Cordelia?" You called, against the door. You soon heard her shuffling feet come towards it.

“Yes, sweetheart?" Stop it.

"Do you mind grabbing me my pajamas?" Your voice was shy, hesitant. Why was it such a big deal? You were covered.

"Of course not. Which ones would you like, honey?"

Once it was all figured out, she knocked on the bathroom door. Of course she would knock, even knowing that you are expecting her. She's so sweet.

You turned the knob and the door slowly slipped open. She smiled at you as soon as eyes met. She handed you your pajamas and you could swear that her eyes were wondering everywhere except your eyes at this point. However, you didn't look up to meet her eyes anymore. Oddly enough, you liked the feeling of her gaze deeply burning through your skin.

"Don't take too long, beautiful. I don't want to get too bored without you," She winked. What the fuck. The air knocked out of your lungs and your knees nearly buckled. You shut the door after pushing up a smile for her. How could one have such an effect on you.

-

Cordelia looked up from her place on the bed as soon as you walked into the room, her gaze adverting from the book on her lap to you. She smiled again and sat up with criss-crossed legs. She had already dressed herself in pajamas from the time you've spent putting your own on.

"Hey, you," She said. Her pajamas were silk and they draped on her slim frame perfectly. As if her clothes were more for decoration than necessity. "Come sit." Cordelia patted the spot next to her and you only took a mere second to contemplate until you were beside her, feeling her body warmth generating on you like a heater.

"So I have a present for you. I know it would be best tomorrow morning but I just couldn't wait any longer."

You could've sworn there was a baby bird inside your chest; trying out its new wings for the first time as your heartbeat accelerated. She thought of you. Even if she had bought you the ugliest sweater that was ten times too small, you would still wear it every day like a prized piece.

"Cordelia I- you didn't have to do that." Yet she already bought it. She already thought deeply about what she should get you. And she was already pulling out a tiny box wrapped in holiday wrapping paper, topped with a gold bow. It was perfect and so, so Cordelia.

"Shush. Don't be silly. Open it."

You peered at her swiftly and began to gently rip the wrapping paper off. A small, black box was revealed. You looked up at her questionably, however, knowing what the content must be.

You opened the box and softly gasped at the gorgeous silver necklace that looked right back at you. Tears pricked at your eyes when you saw the engraved writing on it; Cordelia's initial plus yours. You were overflowing with emotions for everything. The mere fact that Cordelia does this for you yet you've yet to believe that your feelings could ever be reciprocated. It hurt.

Cordelia chuckled lightly and that's what brought you back from your headspace. “Open it up. It's a locket." Everything about her was soft and her voice so close to you ear had sent goosebumps to arise on your skin and shivers to course through you; it wasn't from the coldness of the December bite this time.

Your breath hitched harshly when her warm hand was placed onto your back. You assumed she noticed by the way you heard her smile once more. You lifted the necklace out of the box and did as you were instructed. A gentle cry wracked your body at the picture stored in it.

"Cordelia, this is so beautiful," You said. A picture of a simple yet heart stopping day at the academy looked up at you. It was of Cordelia hugging you from behind with her lips pressed against your cheek. It was certainly the most intimate she had ever been with you and Zoe was great enough to capture a picture of it.

"I- I don't even know what to say," you wiped away the tears off your cold cheek and eventually looked over at her. The look she gave you was the moment you knew your heart would never feel the same as it did in this moment. It was the closest you'd ever be to her and it made you feel a way that most people don't ever get to experience.

"You don’t have to say anything. Let me put it on you," her voice ever so gentle, she picked it up out of your hands and you lifted your hair to give her a clear view.

Her fingertips brushed against the back of your neck, causing your body to twitch in the slightest. She clipped it and it nicely draped over your chest. She relaxed her hand against your shoulder, other hand grabbing your locks of hair and running her fingers through them. "It's look gorgeous on you," she whispers against the shell of your ear. Her lips are so close that the softness rubs against your ear.

You gulped down the urge of lean forward and figure out how they would feel against your own lips. Finally, you find that tiny voice in the back of your throat that allows you to speak, "I wish I brought your present with me. It's back at the house."

"You could give me another gift right here to hold me off," Cordelia smirked

"Oh really? And what would that be?" You watched as a wave of emotions crashed across her face. She hesitated to speak and her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink.

"Cuddle with me?" Innocence took over. She was nervous. She could've admitted everything right there, right then. But she didn't. So it was clear to you that you're feelings were not reciprocated. She asked you for such a simple, sweet thing and you couldn't deny her. You wouldn't deny her of anything.

"You're lucky that i'm very cold right now," You decided to take over the teasing roll. She bit her lip, holding herself back from the wide smile that would've taken up her whole face.

She got under the covers and you followed, the merky light being turned off with a flick of her wrist. Her arm came back around and draped over your waist. Gratefully, you weren't faced towards her; she couldn't see the single pathetic tear roll down your face. However, as silence beat by with your racing heart that never seemed to slow, she could certainly feel that something was amiss

Light illuminated the room once more. You closed your eyes to try and block it out when you really just thought you would be able to get away from here if you did. It was too much. These emotions, this closeness; it was all consuming you.

"What's wrong," Cordelia asked, and if she spoke any lower, any softer, you were certain that you wouldn't have heard it. As if you didn't; you failed to respond to her. You didn't know what to say, you didn't even know what was entirely wrong. "Hey, look at me please."

She grabbed your shoulders and turned your body around for you. You didn't look at her; refused to open your eyes. But she hadn't asked you to. Because if she had; you would. You would climb into a cage of hungry gorillas if she asked you to. You always want to please her in any way you possibly can.

"Please talk to me," she softly exhaled through her nose, waiting and waiting for you to finally brake this barrier that you had. She would wait eternity for you.

You simply shook your head. "I feel like," she began to lightly cry, "like you always have this wall up around you. Like no matter what I do, no matter how close we are, there's this part of you that's hiding."

Hiding my heart. I'm hiding my heart because i'm so terrified that you'll shatter it. But a part of you argued, she’s too gentle. She never hurt you before.

“I’m sorry,” You said simply, and you were. You were sorry for yourself, too, that you have to feel so strongly about your supreme. It was pathetic. “I’m sorry. I care about you a lot. I guess i’m just guarded,” you reached up and cupped her cheek, letting a hot tear slide down your own.

“Well don’t be. Not around me. I want all of you.” You could’ve sworn, or it was just your tired brain hallucinating, that she started to lean in closer. I want all of you, she said, but you knew she could never want the real you. She wanted all of this person that you’d pretended to be to mask your true feelings.

“You don’t..”

“I do. Do you want me to show you?”

You nodded again, slow and hesitant. You wanted whatever she would give you but you were afraid you wouldn’t be able to possibly handle it. Within seconds her lips came crashing down onto yours, desperateness nearly dripping out of her mouth.

She hovered over you but her sudden weakened arms were hardly able to hold herself up without quivering. The budding love for her passionately spread all over your body like vines growing on it’s home. Somewhere, in your dazzling haze of soft vanilla flavored lips molding against yours, had you let out an ungodly sound that made your cheeks turn the exact shade of red as the rugged floor.

She pulled back, looked down at you and smiled. You wanted to say so many things but could not build the courage after she had felt your strong desires for her. She sat back on her legs but kept a hand on the sliver of skin on your abdomen from your night shirt slightly rising. Just so you could feel that she was still there.

“You’re trembling,” was all she said, looking proud that she had shaken you up in the most exhilarating way that she possibly could. Her fingers began to move in slow circles on the soft flesh of your stomach.

“Kiss me again,” came out as a mere whisper, “please.”

She did just that. She wasn’t going to deny you of anything when you were so desperate for her. But she didn’t kiss your lips, it was your neck. And then your clothes were throw somewhere in room and her lips were everywhere elsewhere. “Please don’t ever stop.”

“I’ll never stop loving you,” Cordelia admits, and comes back at to look you dead in the eye. You gasp, feeling her soft skin brush against yours. “As for this,” her finger is drawing patterns on your chest as to which you cannot suppress the smile that creeps up on your face, “Well…I have all night with you for this.”

“Oh darling, I promise you’re stuck with me for life now.”

Her dark eyebrow raises at your sudden dominance, however, she new she would have you melted into a puddle again, within seconds if she pleased. “Hm, doesn’t sound like such a bad vow, my pretty girl.”

taglist: @loverofallthingssarah @goodeday2u @lanawinters-ily @tal @sapphicforsarahh @ahsfan05 @stayevildarling @isle-of-earle @cordithatgurl @mistysswampmud @billiedeansbitch @billiedeanspearls @cigaretteology @favoriteredhead @lovingsarah @cordeliass @citizenoftheworld-stuff-blog

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[cordeliaeli]

Who: Cordelia Browning & Nari Gim @narilily

What: Cordelia invites Nari over to talk wedding planning and wedding dresses, after trying on several that she just doesn't love.

Where: Cordelia's home in the countryside

Wedding planning in between raising a family, working, and going to school wasn't easy, but it was something that she wanted to take priority in. They had a date set, plans were in motion, and while they were legally married, she wanted to be able to throw a party for their friends and family that would blow them all away. This was the day that she had planned for since she was young, and she didn't want to be disappointed or disappoint anyone either. Which meant after a few days of trying on dresses she knew that she wasn't finding what she wanted. Right now in her mind she had the idea of two wedding dresses, one for her ceremony right up through the first dance, and the second to party the night away. So, there was someone she knew she needed to talk to now after picking things apart. Nari she knew was skilled with design, so she knew she needed to at least see what she had to say. Maybe she'd be the one she would need to design her dress.

it was mid-afternoon and the kids were away from the house, Rosalyn with the babysitter and Colton with friends, Cage still working as she put out a few snacks, wedding magazines and the most important grabbed a few choices of wine and put them into an ice bucket next to two glasses, figuring it would make things a bit more relaxed. As she had learned it was definitely stressful planning a wedding, and she wanted a little more fun today.

[ashesrebirthed-a]

It was just another average day at Angel Investigations. That was, if you counted 'average' as Cordelia coming back from her nice, paid vacation away from the psycho slayer that knocked her out and kidnapped Wesley on some homicidal trip-out, only to discover that said psycho slayer was not only still hanging around, but living with her boss. In their office's basement! And then, to add insult to injury, being left behind while Angel and Wes were off playing hero to babysit her. Alone.

Not that she'd been very around to do much babysitting of. The sun was beyond high in the sky already, and there hadn't been a peep from Faith all day. Honestly, Cordelia wouldn't have minded if she'd just stayed holed away down there until Angel got back. At least then she'd be left to read her magazines in peace - which, practically a continuation of her paid vacation, couldn't complain about that part - but eventually the sound of footsteps did come, and, well. Nothing good ever did last forever, did it?

"Well, look who finally rises from Angel’s crypt.” Flipping to another page of her magazine, Cordelia didn't even bother to glance up. She might trust Faith about as far as she could throw her - which was to say, not at all - but she also knew she wasn't stupid enough to hurt her in plain sight. Not again, anyway. “Not really much with the shining, though, are you? If you're trying to beat out my boss for biggest creature of the night, I hate to break it to you, but that guy pretty much has it down to an art form already.” // @wickedlehane + plotted starter!

[on-this-day-btvs]

November 23, 1999

I Will Remember You aired for ATS season 1, episode 8. This was the first of two Buffy appearances in ATS. In a 2005 Angel magazine poll this was voted as the readers' favorite ATS episode. Often this is referred to as "IWRY." This is the last time ever in the Buffyverse that Buffy and Cordelia interact.

Angel eats a lot of food in this episode: donut, apple, chocolate, yogurt, peanut butter, ice cream, chocolate waffle. Buffy joins him in eating ice cream.

(image credit to buffyversefans) (Angel magazine poll details)

[ang3lik]

omg please do a dialogue for a phone call with cordelia love you 💕

˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚ WHITE JEANS.

cordelia held the phone up to her ear, squishing it between her shoulder and head as she twisted open the bottle of purple polish.

“…and i bought the cutest pear of white jeans the other day at that hazel store down the road, we need to check it out together! i saw this beautiful black blazer that would look amazing on you!”

she continued on as you sipped at the wine in your glass, sat on the sofa reading a magazine as you responded. “totally! oh my gosh, i forgot to fill you in about that guy the other day, i went to dinner with…”

she gasped as you reminded her of your date.

“tell me everything!”

[heyho-simonrussellbeale]

A Piece of Work — Simon Russell Beale on a career spent playing Shakespearean roles

Simon Russell Beale’s memoir of a career spent playing some of the great (and many of the minor) Shakespearean roles, is as much a work of criticism as of autobiography. It is a better read for that.

By Cordelia Jenkins August 30 2024

“It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue,” says William Shakespeare’s heroine Rosalind, breaking character to speak to the audience at the end of As You Like It, written in 1599. Neither has it been the fashion, since then, to see the actor play the critic. In fact, the whole idea of character analysis in Shakespeare studies was out of fashion until relatively recently. But Simon Russell Beale’s memoir of a career spent playing some of the great (and many of the minor) Shakespearean roles, is as much a work of criticism as of autobiography. It is a better read for that.

At the age of 63, Beale can claim to be one of Britain’s most prolific and revered stage actors. The book is a patchwork of episodes from his life and sketches of the characters he has played over the years, starting with the lonely Roman, Cassius, and moving through some of the great comic and tragic heroes, Benedick, Richard III, Macbeth, Leontes and Lear.

While Beale is careful to avoid making claims to be “an academic, or even a genuine amateur specialist”, he confesses that he finds it impossible not to think of the characters he plays “as less than living, breathing men and women”. And when he breaks off from telling the story of his own life to deliver his observations on a particular role, the insights feel truer for being born of emotional, rather than purely intellectual, labour.

Beale is honest about the pitfalls of this approach. His interpretations are partial and deeply subjective. His chosen characters are typically loners or outsiders in some sense, looking for acceptance and, above all, redemption. And the themes he draws out from them are reflected in the telling of his own life story. It is easy, for example, to see what the appeal of joining a company of actors might have been to the son of an army doctor who had a peripatetic and often isolated boyhood.

His meditation on the crippling grief of Leontes, the jealous king who is responsible for the death of a beloved child, turns upon Beale’s memories of the death of his younger sister, Lucy, who suffered from a congenital heart defect and died at the age of four.

Readers may flag at the level of detail with which Beale describes his early career at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. But 30 years working in British theatre have given him an unusually acute understanding of the relationship between what he describes as the “work in the study and the work on the stage”.

He interrogates the centuries-long scepticism that actors have had for scholars, and vice versa. “I have met scholars who believe that Macbeth and King Lear should never be performed, because any attempt to do those plays justice will fail,” he writes, gearing up to dismantle that argument in his account of his own performance of Lear in Sam Mendes’ production of 2014.

In an interview with the FT this year about playing the part, Beale remembered a game with a fellow actor in which they habitually ranked “our top five favourites and our bottom five” of Shakespeare’s plays. “The bottom five were always the same. And the top five used to change, but Lear was always in them,” he said. It’s a revealing anecdote that hints at how consistent a presence Shakespeare’s plays have been through his career. A life’s work in fact — irrespective of the changing fashions.

Cordelia Jenkins is deputy editor of FT Weekend Magazine

A Piece of Work: Playing Shakespeare and Other Stories by Simon Russell Beale Abacus £25, 288 pages

[coraniaid]

Bad Eggs regularly shows up close to the top of lists of the worst episodes the show ever aired, and has done so pretty consistently for a very long time.

To cite just a handful of examples: 

it’s currently the fourth worst episode on IMDB by user rating  

it was ranked eleventh worst in this 2023 list from Rolling Stone 

it was ranked as the single worst episode on this list from Paste Magazine in the same year (quote: “there’s literally nothing good about this episode”)  

it was ranked ninth worst on this 2017 list from Vox 

it was ranked second worst on this 2013 list from BuzzFeed 

So obviously quite a lot of people really don’t like it.

And I’ve never really understood why that is.  In my view, Bad Eggs is … basically fine? A bit boring, sure.  A bit inconsequential in the grander scheme of the season.  A bit awkwardly written in places, with some clunky dialogue and some plotting choices that could have done with a rewrite or three. Underwhelming. But, yes,  basically fine.

The worst episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are so very much worse than this.  I wish I lived in a reality where this was the worst episode of the show.

During this rewatch alone I’ve already sat through at least two episodes that are significantly, qualitatively worse than Bad Eggs, as well as four or five episodes where I suspect you could make the case either way.  And before this season is over I will have watched two more episodes that are definitely worse, too.  Off the top of my head, there are at least two worse episodes next season too.  And at least two more in every season after that.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I could name a couple of dozen worse episodes than this one without much trouble.

But yeah, it’s not great.

(And yet somehow I'm not finished talking about it.)

Beyond the obvious bit of foreshadowing (“sex can have negative consequences!” a teacher reminds a health class that Buffy’s unfortunately absent from, one episode before Buffy is destined to discover for herself that sex can indeed have negative consequences), the thing that I always remember about this episode is the way that same health class teacher – whose name is Mr Whitmore, we’ll learn later – explains how the egg-raising project he’s setting his students will work.

“You will split into parenting teams.  You and your partner will share equally in the daily task of raising your egg.  Now, please choose a partner.”

Note the words in bold.  The kids will be raising their eggs in partnerships.  Let’s make a note of this for future reference.  It seems to be important!

Well, it is.  Sort of.  Until it isn’t. 

You see, the episode sets things up like this for exactly two reasons.

The first is to have Xander and Cordelia very deliberately not partner up, showing us that … oh, look, sorry, I can’t pretend to take the Xander/Cordelia subplot seriously and I won’t even try.  It’s just very silly.  They both have very weird and conflicting feelings about their nascent relationship for reasons that boil down to this: it simply doesn’t make any sense.  Let’s move on.

The second and, I think, primary reason for the partnership set-up is so that Buffy can find out she wasn’t assigned a partner of her own (there are an odd number of students in the class). On finding this out, Buffy laments that she is now “a single mother … doomed to live my mother’s life”.  

In fact, the episode is so keen for Buffy to reach this conclusion that she initially assumes she has been assigned a partner.  Even before anybody tells her the assignment was structured that way. Even though Buffy wasn’t in class to be told about it, and even though her only reaction on being shown the egg in question was befuddlement.  

Buffy is presented with the egg, assumes it must be some sort of “fairly abstract” punishment, and on being told that she has to take care of it immediately realizes that this is the sort of hard work that can only be done by a team of two.  “My partner ... who did I get?” she asks hopefully.  Well, okay, I guess. Maybe that’s how Mr Whitmore sets up all his assignments.

In any case, we know that these are the only two reasons the egg assignment is described this way, because after Buffy expresses her horror at the prospect of becoming a single mother, the concept of the egg raising being done with a partner is never mentioned again.

Not only is it not raised again, a moment’s thought shows it is completely at odds with the actual plot of the episode.

The rest of Bad Eggs proceeds exactly as if each of the students has sole custody of their eggs.  We see the eggs hatch at night, and strange creatures climb out to possesses the students taking care of them.  What happens to the other student in the partnership, the one who didn’t take the egg home that night?  What does Xander’s partner think about the fact he boiled their shared egg? Are they in on the scheme? What do they think about the fact he named it “Xander Junior”?  We don’t know, because we don’t know who Xander’s partner is and we will never find out.  We never see his egg partner, or Willow’s, or Cordelia’s.  They do not exist.  They will never exist.  For the episode to work, they cannot have existed.

And why would Mr Whitmore, presumably already possessed by sinister egg creatures at this point, want to limit the distribution of eggs like this?  Doesn’t he want to possess as many students as possible? Just give them all individual eggs! We know that there are plenty more of them to go around, because later in this episode we see lots of other people get possessed by the egg creatures – Giles, Joyce and Jonathan to name just a few – people who very clearly were not in the original health class.

No, I’m pretty sure that the only reason the script pretends that the eggs are being raised in partnerships at the start is so that Buffy can worry about becoming her mother.  Something that she has never expressed any concern about before, something the episode never even pretends to comes back to, and something that Buffy herself won’t worry about again for another seventy-one episodes (and then only in vastly different circumstances).  

And “how deeply scary is that?” is asked as a rhetorical question, but I’m going with … “not very?”.  We see Buffy fight monsters every night; we’ve seen her mourn friends; we’ve seen her drown and die.  Surely being a single mother isn’t quite so scary compared to all of that?  Especially when, again, Buffy hasn’t ever shown any signs of thinking her mom is unlucky to be a single mother.  Just last episode it was a plot point that Buffy wasn’t happy about her mother meeting somebody new!  Buffy clearly doesn’t think her life would be better if her mother was seeing somebody, so why does she think her mother’s life is so terrible as it is?

What does Buffy’s little speech in the library mean?  What are we supposed to take away from it?  Why did the script go to all that trouble of setting it up?

But just to ask the question is to put more thought into the substance and meaning of this episode than I think anybody involved in writing it did.  

In an interview a few years ago, Marti Noxon (who wrote not just this episode but also most of What’s My Line?, as well as next week’s Surprise and two further episodes this season alone) described the pace of writing episodes for the show as “bananas”.  In that interview she also suggested that sometimes episodes had to be written in as little as four days, generally without much support or involvement from the rest of the writing team, but noted that “sometimes that results in really good writing”.

Maybe sometimes it does. I will say that I think that two of Noxon’s episodes this season are genuinely very good, to say nothing of future episodes she’ll write like Consequences and The Prom and Forever.  But sometimes it results in … well, Bad Eggs.  Not even close to the worst episode ever, despite the fandom consensus, but certainly not something worth thinking too hard about either.

Or as the script has Xander say, in what could easily be meta commentary on the episode itself:

“It says nothing.  It means nothing.  This whole egg experiment is completely pointless.”

[helenofsimblr]

Dream: What can I say, I’m a sucker for drama! Let’s visit the Robinson house. I wonder how Mrs. Robinson is faring with her new deadline.

****

Dream: After the run in with the ever flamboyant Cedric, the stress on Lyra is quite malleable and it’s no wonder that her dear sweet and most saintly husband has picked up on this. 

Bob: Hey honey, just wanted to check in on you, you’ve been in here a while. Is everything ok?

Lyra *rubbing her head*: Yeah, it's fine, just… stuff at work, you know the usual corporate bullshit. Some aggravating little man gave me a deadline.

Bob: You know you don’t have to keep working at that magazine, if it’s causing you stress, that’s the last thing we want.

Lyra: I guess so. What’s up with you, you got something on your mind?

Dream: Oh the many lovely thousand little paper cuts of stress these two share without speaking them aloud to one another. It’s like the sweetest nectar to the gods. If only I could share their thoughts with each other… I wonder how shocked or unshocked as the case may be, to hear each other’s thoughts. 

****

Bob: Yeah, Judith… I was reading in the paper this morning that a body was found in the river. Cops think it ended up there out of the subway… Which is strange, because Tynas said to look in the subway…

Lyra: So, what are you going to do?

Dream: Strange indeed, I wonder where that body did come from? When last we saw the great and terrible Judith, she had been suitably knocked into a stupor by Cordelia Stimpfield and was slumming it in said subway system. Could that body have been one of Judith’s kills? Hmm… I digress, I’m sure Lyra was grateful for the distraction from her own impending deadline, but unfortunately, deadlines do come due, so pretending won’t alleviate the matter for her. 

Bob: Only what you’re comfortable with me doing. You and that baby are my number one priority.

Lyra: You want to go after her, I know, but Bob… Is… is there anything there to save? I know Cat suggested maybe, but, what do we do with her if you do catch her?

Bob: Tynas suggested that maybe your dad could help undo the vampirism. I don’t know if that’s possible, we have so little information on Spellcasters… I figure it's worth an ask. Maybe Guy could do something about it? 

Lyra: No Bob, Guy has done enough dealing with that maniac super clone, I don’t want this on his shoulders. If you do go after her, we have to solve this, maybe with Cat and my dad’s help.

[deathbysatellite]

Capp 1 Household: Week 1 - Part 2

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

The next day, Elizabeth Ng returns as a friend from school.

This dining table is entirely comprised of redheads.

The handheld ended up being a good investment, as Juliette discovers her passion for Games.

Being a typical Fortune Sim, Consort made Cleo get a job in the Security Career.

That night, Cordelia manages to scare the shit out of all three of her kids.

Consort tries to improve his relationship with Cleo, so he can teach her the commands she needs in order to be promoted. It's less than successful.

Consort then spends his day off building his skills so he can get promoted instead.

Gordon Nott proves to be the most popular Sim in my game, and the orphan bus glitch apparently comes with brief levitation powers.

A pleasant autumn day for the teens. Also the least agreeable sibling turns out to be the first to get along with the slow to trust dog. For some reason this feels kinda similar to how my brother's aggressively asocial cat chose my toddler nephew—who had to be told to quit headbutting the pets for the first three years of his life—as his favorite human. Like it takes two years for this cat to let you pet him, and even then he'll start batting your hand away after a couple minutes. My nephew didn't start being consistently gentle with animals (accept geckos) until last year. And somehow they're buds.

First he stays the night at the Specter's uninvited, now Gordon helps himself to some rancid cereal. He's probably the weirdest Sim in addition to being the most popular.

He also continues to spread the chest pounding, which I don't think I've seen since Pleasantview. I've seen plenty of bowing in Strangetown, but the last I remember seeing the chest pounding was with the Burbs.

Given that Scribonia's teeth seem to be glitching through her chin (perhaps something that wasn't fixed in the clean template?), I don't blame Tybalt for being scared.

Cleo made the smart choice by investigating the truck, and managed to earn that promotion Consort was hoping for.

Juliette invites over her not-yet boyfriend, while the ghost of Julius rages about his son, Octavius.

Ouch, make that not-ever boyfriend.

Juliette can't decide between crying and swooning.

Is Tybalt mad on behalf of Juliette, or does he just hate Romeo's guts? Neither. Romeo actually slapped him first.

Scribonia manages to scare the shit out of Tybalt again, resulting in him passing out on his way to bed.

With her Aspiration tanked, Juliette spends the next morning throwing a tantrum.

Opal Raymond also returns. You know, I've noticed most of the teens who my Sims bring home from school seem to be from Bon Voyage.

Tybalt finally manages to command Cleo to speak, something he's been wanting to do for a couple days.

Dancing the Smustle inspires Tybalt's love for Music & Dance.

Consort gets a call from his niece, Miranda.

Juliette spends so much time playing that handheld, she get's offered a magazine subscription.

[enigmatist17]

Entropy (Pt 3)

Part 1 2

---

"So, how is it?" It's too early for any reasonable person to be awake, but Angel wasn't exactly one of those, so neither was Cordelia. Well, Wesley too, the Brit currently sitting next to her on one of the office couches rubbing his eyes, having almost fallen asleep reading had Angel not called.

"Honestly? It's rough." Angel watched as Tara carried a suitcase out the front door of the Summers' household, Willow trailing after with her own and a slightly angry look at Angel.

---

He'd spent the day at Anya's apartment to give the witches some time to make plans and figure out logistics. That afternoon, he woke to find Dawn sitting on the floor next to the couch he'd slept on, working on her homework while something droned on the TV in the background. She'd grown a lot since he'd last seen her, or sort of anyway, and seemed happy to find he's awake when she glanced back after finishing some of her work.

"Hey, get enough sleep?" She pushes aside the rest of her homework so she can give him her full attention, smiling when Angel reaches over to ruffle her hair a little.

"I slept fine, how was school?" Dawn shrugged, hugging her legs to her chest with a shrug.

"I don't really remember, kind of went around on auto-pilot."

"I can relate." Finally upright, Angel stretched as he looked around, Anya's scent clearly from this morning. "She's still working?"

"Should be closing up soon I think, she's going to swing by the butcher's and grab you some blood." Angel blinked before giving Dawn a small smile. "Oh hey, you do remember how to smile!"

"Why does everyone always seem so surprised?" Angel rolled his eyes, Dawn giggling a bit as he got to his feet. "I'm going to shower, unless you'd like to?"

"Nah, I did earlier, you're all good." The vampire nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, happy to wash off the travel and overall feeling from the night previous down the drain. Dawn shoved her schoolwork into her backpack before pulling out a magazine from Anya's stack by the coffee table, moving Angel's blanket out of the way before taking up a spot on the couch. The two of them had never really had too much of a chance to interact both before and after Angelus, but Dawn had always thought he was pretty cool living in his mansion and helping to fight evil. It was nice to have him around now, his quiet presence comforting when everyone else had been nervous or upset about Buffy.

"I guess the magazine isn't that riveting huh?" Blinking, Dawn looked up to see Angel toweling his wet hair, looking down slightly amusedly.

"Just thinking." Angel shot her a sympathetic look before going to deposit his wet towel back in the bathroom. He trod back over and joined Dawn on the couch with his arm raised, the teen settling against his side without a word. "I'm a little scared."

"Of what?" The vampire pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he waited for her answer, having a pretty decent idea of what she was about to say next.

"Seeing Buffy? Seeing Willow and the others? I don't know, I'm just...scared." Whatever had been sitting on her chest vanished the moment all of those thoughts escaped her lips. "Scared that maybe she came back different, came back wrong."

"That's understandable, magic like the ones Willow used..." Angel sighed, giving Dawn a gentle squeeze. "As much as it pains me to say this, you know that if the worst came to pass, Giles and Ethan would have made sure nothing would harm you."

"I know." They both were aware that Giles might have hesitated and might not have been able to swing a killing blow to the potential horror that could have come back instead of Buffy, but those thoughts stayed in the back of their minds. "Will you stay in town with us? At least for a little while?"

"I'm here as long as you need me." Dawn burrowed further into his side, staring at the TV with a blank expression as she considered the tasks to come next.

---

"If you need backup, we're there." Angel smiled at Cordelia's no-nonsense tone, watching Tara and Willow load their bags into the back of Xander's car, quietly chatting amongst themselves.

"I need to get all of them home first, then we can talk about backup if it's needed." He could hear her sigh on the other end of the line, before there's some shuffling as the cradle was passed to someone else.

"How are you holding up?" Wesley's soft question rolled some tension off Angel's shoulders, and for a moment, he closed his eyes.

"I haven't seen her yet, but Dawn is upset, so I'm upset." It's the truth as far as his crew knows, but then again Wes is far sharper than anyone ever gave him credit for.

"Angel." When had he been so weak against hearing his own name?

"Wes...let me get them settled, and then maybe having some friends isn't the worst idea I've ever had." Oh, Angel had it bad, but maybe that was okay right now.

"I'll pack, just call when you're ready."

"I will, just see if you can call in some favors for extra patrolling, just in case."

"Focus on Sunnydale right now, we'll handle Los Angeles." Angel watched the three Scoobies finally get into Xander's car and leave, the trio having been staring at Angel for a few silent minutes before conceding. "Goodnight Angel."

"Night Wes." With a click, Angel was gone, cracking his neck before doing a cursory sweep of the home he hadn't been inside for a long time. Anything vaguely related to Willow and Tara, which came in the form of herbs and crystals littered all over the home, was placed in a few boxes and stashed in the furnished basement. Spike had evidently been living there before Buffy had died, Angel noting some of his things neatly stacked on top of a bed that was covered in a sheen of dust. The two witches had settled in what used to be Joyce's room, Angel not doing too much aside from filling the ensuite bathroom with fresh towels before closing off the room, just in case Buffy became distressed at the sight. He had just finished pulling the door closed when he heard the telltale noise of Giles's car pulling into the driveway, the vampire descending the stairs and opening the door for everyone.

"Cheers." Ethan was the first to step in, Spike's suitcase being pulled behind and set at the edge of the stairs. Dawn trailed after him with her own bag, standing beside Angel and hugging his free arm as she watched Buffy slowly come into view, the Slayer pausing when she locked eyes with Angel.

"Angel?" Hazel eyes that she had spent hours memorizing in a life past were staring into hers, filled with loss and hope swirling in step with each other in a never-ending waltz.

"Buffy," Angel spoke her name like a prayer, watching her step forward and reach up, cupping the side of his face. "I-"

"Thank you for keeping them safe." Buffy hadn't been sure these were the words she wanted to say, but they seemed to be the right ones as Angel moved his head just enough to kiss her palm.

"Always." They keep their gazes on each other before Angel moves back, breaking whatever spell had been cast between them. Buffy seemed a little hesitant to enter her home until Dawn offered her hand with a smile; the teen quietly relieved her sister's hand was as warm as she remembered from before the world nearly ended.

"Come on, I'll show you around." Dawn motioned for Buffy to follow her upstairs, the older Summers' doing so without resistance.

"She was expecting them to be here." Giles shook his head as he entered, Spike right behind him subtly scenting the air for said witches with a growl only Angel could hear.

"They're gone." The younger just gave Angel a weary look before moving for the living room, sitting on the couch as Giles closed the front door. All four can hear Dawn filling Buffy in on a few changes that had occurred since she was gone on the floor above, Angel snagging a free armchair while Ethan and Giles just stood in front of the fireplace.

"Is there anything you may need before we head out? Groceries? Blood?" Giles pulled off his glasses to polish them out of habit as he waited for an answer, leaning into the arm that slips around his waist.

"Probably, I didn't think to check the kitchen, but we can manage tonight." Angel shrugged, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped as he glanced over at the stairs. "Has Buffy eaten since...?"

"Bits here and there." Ethan supplied, surprised Giles had lasted this long in the day. "I'll stop by and check on them in the morning."

"You can if you want, I know how to cook." The older vampire smiled faintly, tilting his head slightly when he heard Dawn show Buffy to her room. "That reminds me, I'll need to make sure the curtains are all drawn before I forget, don't feel like waking up on fire."

"I can re-enchant the windows tomorrow, I wasn't expecting Spike back so soon."

"Oh...you can do that?" Angel blinked, surprised and a little suspicious of something so simple.

"I can, though it's not permanent." Ethan shook his head. "For a better solution, you'd need that rather fancy necro-tempered glass, but it's bloody expensive."

"Enchantments work." Spike shrugged from his spot on the couch, looking a little bit more at ease now that Buffy had been returned home. "You two headin' home?"

"If you're ready," Giles slipped his glasses back on. The vampire nodded as he and Angel stood as one, the sight a little unnerving if Giles was honest with himself. "I'll be in the shop with Anya if you need anything."

"Go, we can handle it from here." Angel motioned toward the door with a short nod, the two younger men wishing them goodnight before heading out, Revello Drive now relatively quiet once the couple had driven away.

"I'll pull the curtains down 'ere, you get upstairs?" Angel glanced over at the younger before nodding, treading up familiar stairs and starting with the hallway window. He'd noticed that all of the curtains had been lined with a blackout liner, the ends of each one also sporting a weight sewn in to prevent the off chance of something brushing the fabric aside. Joyce's old room was next, the faint smell of magic and herbs setting his teeth on edge just a touch, but was relatively ignored as he moved to Dawn's room next, pausing when he noticed the two Summers' on the bed.

"Hey, Angel." Dawn waved with her free hand, the other holding a book Buffy had been reading before they were interrupted.

"Hey," Shifting from one foot to the other, he motioned to her curtains. "Mind closing those before you go to sleep? Just in case."

"Oh, yea, don't sweat it!" The teen waved him off, smiling at Buffy. "I guess we should turn in for the night, it is kinda late and I have school tomorrow."

"Get some sleep then, okay?" Buffy reached up and rested her hand on Dawn's cheek, the two holding each other's gaze. "Night Dawn."

"Night Buffy...I'm glad you're home."

"...me too." It's not the most confident statement, but neither sister nor vampire has the heart to say anything, so they remain silent as Buffy gets off the bed and out of Dawn's room.

Buffy's room has changed since Angel last saw it as he opened the door for her, not by much, but enough to show that she is no longer a high school student who wanted to avoid her calling. She steps inside and toward the bed, looking around with a blank look before taking a seat, looking at Angel with the slightest tilt of her head.

"Do you need anything?" Buffy looked down for a moment before looking back up at him, uncertainty shimmering beneath her calm facade.

"I don't really know." Vampire and Slayer gaze at each other in silence, before something else comes to her mind.

"Spike...he has a soul."

"Yes. I don't know how, and I don't know where, but it's there." Angel looks so very tired as he looks back at the hallway, knowing that Spike is listening to them. "If I had my choice, I would have kept him in L.A longer, but I know he would have come regardless."

"With you trailing behind." Buffy smiled a little, knowing Angel would have protected them regardless of his comfort. "How long will you stay?"

"As long as you need me." Angel gave a short bow before running a hand through his hair. "I'll sleep downstairs, call if you need anything."

"Okay...it's good to see you." Angel breaks into one of his rare smiles before stepping back into the hallway, heading down and out of sight. Not a few seconds later Spike has taken his spot, the vampire looking at her with a curious tilt of his head, like a dog who isn't sure if he was to get a treat or not.

"You should rest pet, you'll be right as rain sleepin' in yer own bed."

"You think so?" Wordlessly, she raised a hand, her cool hands taking it before her arm was fully outstretched, Spike kneeling in front of her with wide eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Sane, for now." He shrugged, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Don't worry your beautiful head about me, I'm hardy."

"I will, and I am." She carded her free hand through his curls, rewarded with a gentle purr after a few seconds. "Join me."

When Angel comes to check on them not long before sunrise, he finds Buffy cradled in Spike's arms, yellow eyes flickering up at Angel without a word. No one was going to harm the Slayer that had changed their unlives so effortlessly, and with a nod, Angel melts into the darkness to stand guard over their home.

[cornaby]

List of things in Falsettos that Killed Me ™️

**This is based on Mad Theatre of Tampa’s production which I saw on Friday, not the 2016 revival 

I basically decided to compile a bullet list of my favorite little moments the cast added  in (they had SUCH good chemistry ;-;)

-Whizzer held Jason protectively during the Slap, it was genuinely so fucking heartbreaking and cute

-’I’ve improved, or else the hydrants moved’ *Cordelia hysterically laughs* ‘SEE, I’M FUNNY!’ *silence*

-During act two, Marvin and Whizzer are in the hospital bed (it’s located in the foreground) during other scenes, and they’re doing little things like snuggling and talking, at one point Marvin is flipping through a magazine with him. You can tell he doesn’t really get it, but he’s so desperate to spend time with Whizzer before it runs out. Even though stuff was happening with Mendel/Trina/Jason during Canceling the Bar Mitzvah, my eyes were just glued to Whizzer and Marvin, it was so cute and sweet.

-After Father to Son, Marvin extended his hand out to Jason, they made eye contact for a brief moment, and then Jason ran to him and hugged him. Everyone was crying

-This isn’t really an acting decision or anything but Evan (Whizzer)’s long luscious hair is so important to me and I didnt think I needed long haired Whiz but now idk if I could see it any other way. He was also flamboyant to the nth degree (after meeting him afterwards I can conclude it wasn’t even acting, he’s just that perfect for the role)

-In a similar way Markus (Marvin) was honestly the perfect Marvin, both in looks and voice/acting. He was really scruffy looking in a perfectly dad way and his voice was super deep (that vibrato was killer too) -Sam (Jason) was very reminiscent of Anthony Rosenthal, he was so so good. If that kid keeps acting he’s def gonna end up on Broadway someday.

-SPEAKING of Jason, during act 1 he was wearing a Star Wars shirt, which I thought was adorable and time-appropriate BUT THEN in act 2 he was wearing an Empire Strikes Back shirt Fuck the deep meaningful symbolism, that shit was so clever LOL

-Before the show started, they were playing music and I feel like someone made a Whizzer playlist because both It’s Raining Men and Dancing Queen played 

-After the show, I Am What I Am from La Cage Aux Folles was playing, and it caused me to immediately burst back into a sob

-During The Games I Play, Whizzer was crying. Like, tears streaming down his face.

-THEY USED THE HAIRLINE LINE IN THE BASEBALL GAME

-Mendel (during Everyone Hates his Parents): I. AM. YOUR. STEPFATHER.