#I also thought it was interesting that Abby seemed to have lots of pictures of animatronics on her walls before she ever even visited

[kinardsevan]

i wrote a whole ass psychology breakdown (for the first time in FOREVER) about the break-up. enjoy (if you so choose):

so I've been reading a lot in relation to Tommy's speech during the break-up (and have actually gotten through the scene several times now, mostly as a creative reference for these fix-it fics. I think one of the first things that I've seen completely tossed aside (that bothers the shit out of me as someone with over a decade of therapy treatment and a psychology degree) is whatever trauma Tommy carries.

We know that there are issues with his dad. We know Lou's lore behind him is that he spent a lot of his childhood alone. We don't know anything in relation to his mom, but she may or may not be the cause of more trauma. We know that his way of dealing with abuse of authority is to shut down and follow the leader, which is likely a mix of his military time and growing up in his father's household (and when I say this, I mean from what we saw of him under Gerrard's command). This is a person who has put years into getting himself into some version of okay after all that he's endured, and we know he still generally does it on his own.

To that end, here, have my breakdown of the break up (roughly right about the time Buck says "I want you to move in with me"). (with pictures!)

Prior to the offer, we watch Tommy process through Evan's explanation about his relationship with Abby, things being transformative for him, etc. We have to bare in mind that this is where we also start to get what I've dubbed "starry-eyed Buck". He's so in the throes of what he's saying that I don't think he's really considering the connotation of his words. At the same time, Tommy doesn't know what lore Evan is about to drop him about this prior relationship. Remember that he now has to contend with the fact that they both have strong opinions on their relations toward Abby, and Tommy can't know if their feelings toward her as a person will be the same. I think Lou played this beautifully, appearing anxious and apprehensive as Tommy listened to Evan explain that Abby was transformative for him. Then he shifts into how Tommy has been transformative for him (which, he has, and we as the audience know this, but we understand it from a bigger POV than what Evan is saying with his words.)

There have been posts about Evan putting Tommy up on a pedestal throughout this speech (and really, possibly even sooner, but this is where we really get it expressed). Tommy tries to rectify this to a degree by countering "I wasn't always that way".

To that end, we then get Evan telling him "I know, and it just makes me admire you more." Tommy gives a bashful smile, clearly heartened by the statement, and even opening his mouth as though he's going to respond to it in some form. It would be interesting to know what was on Lou's mind of what (if anything) he thought would've been said there. Are there lines that were removed in this scene? Was 'I love you' actually going to come up? We can't really know. However, there's this part of me that thinks that Tommy thought that they were having a discussion on the depth of their relationship which would've possibly brought those 7 letters to the equation. Either way, this entire bit of facial acting is SO important, because it speaks volumes about how Tommy feels about how Evan feels about him.

From there we get the "I want you to move in with me, and this, THIS, THIS is such an important point for this ENTIRE scene. It's two seconds, but it holds SO much for the narrative. This man, who seems to be on the verge of ...something, clearly (who knows if I Love You was on his mind, or if it was just the fact that Evan was expressing how much he cares about him.) The reason this is all so important is THIS REACTION:

Now again, we don't know Tommy's trauma, but the joy literally drops out of his expression and shifts to panic. Now, speaking solely from the standpoint that these two haven't even said "I love you" yet, his boyfriend steamrolled over him from a possible declaration of love straight to moving in together without discussing semantics. Further, it's not even "I want to live together", it's "move in with me". We don't know much about Tommy's house (because these shitheads haven't built him a set yet), but we know that he has a HOUSE. With a GARAGE. Buck lives in a LOFT. Regardless of how much of an asshole this makes me sound like, it's crawling with red flags. It comes across as "fit more into my life" instead of "lets do this thing together". Further, if that's not bad enough, mention of getting engaged and married is thrown at Tommy as well, which holds two major bits of information: One, these are on Evan's mind. We've NEVER heard him talk about getting engaged or married to anyone. This speaks to the importance of their relationship to him, but the lack of I Love You also speaks on his own trauma. If we truly are getting the rom-com trope, at some point there's likely to be a conversation about why he lept over it (*cough* Taylor, his parents *cough cough*). Meanwhile, as he's continued in his starry-eyed speech, this is what Tommy is giving:

Now for those who don't know how to spot it, this my friends is a PANIC RESPONSE. The shift forward, the move to get up, the literal deep breath. He's having a panic attack. Now, obviously we don't know what brought this on, but god-willing, we WILL get the answers.

Now, to his own point, Tommy doesn't just straight up pop Evan's pink bubble. He does express that it's a sweet sentiment, but that it's a bad idea. To which point we get:

"Evan, that is so sweet. But I can't move in with you." "And why not?" Because. I know how this ends." "Uh, what-what's that supposed to mean?"

At which point, we clearly get the qualities about Evan that Tommy likes. "Incredible guy. Big-hearted. Hot as hell. Impulsive." I don't feel that the expression here matters as much as his tone of voice, because we can see on his face that he's expressing these qualities from a good place. The next point of reference isn't until Tommy's next line, when he says that Evan's reaction is out of things being "new and exciting".

To that end, the way Evan is talking to him makes this statement valid. He's not talking to Tommy like they've been together for six months and have built a relationship that should be moving in this direction. (For the tenth time I will repeat, he couldn't even dignify whether he was in love with Tommy when Josh asked).

Furthermore, I think when you consider this part of the scene, you also have to consider the strain in Tommy's voice. Something about those concepts (living together, getting engaged, married) is terrifying. It definitely gives the impression that Tommy has been faced with some version of this before and he got burned. Why is this important? Because of this:

"I'm saying no matter how bad I want it to be, I'm not your last." Those 9 words are important on their own, but when you couple them with the expression on Tommy's face and what we've just seen him go through, there's a clear point to the fact that he's been through this before. I also think that there can't be enough importance placed on the way he intonates "how bad". This is not a man saying no because he doesn't want to. He's backpedaling because he's sure that he's going to get burned. We get this point further driven home with this exchange:

"I'm your first." "But hey, they can be the same thing." "But, they usually aren't."

See this doesn't read to me as someone who's scared because he knows Evan has never been with another man. They're both fully grown adults who have had multiple relationships. What this speaks to me (now) as, is someone who has let someone convince him before that he would be their forever, that they were all in, and then broke him. When you include his childhood trauma and whatever abandonment issues it's left him with in correlation with all of this, yes, it's still an extremely biphobic set of lines. But in the context of what he's expressing and why, it's not about telling Evan he needs more experience, it's about telling him that he doesn't believe that he'll want to stay settled down with him six months, a year, etc., down the road. And THAT my friends, is abandonment issues 101. "Everyone else has left, so it doesn't matter that I'm in love with you, because you will leave too, and I need to protect myself from that."

Following that, we get this: "if I were to move in with you, you wouldn't mean to, you wouldn't plan for it, but you'd end up breaking my heart."

This line is SO important, right next to Evan's exchange with Josh about his relationship with Tommy. Why? Because even though neither of them have said it, it spells out that these two are in fact in love with each other, even if they haven't said it.

"I don't think I could deal with that." Tommy is fucking GONE on him. He's expressing that if he gave himself fully over to what Evan's referring to, losing him would break him. Again, we don't have the full picture on his trauma, but we know there's a mountain there. It's also worth noting again, that the intonation he uses in these statements clearly come across as someone trying to reign in their emotions and keep it together. That says to me that we're dangeously close to touching his trauma.

I don't feel like I have to include the final few bits of the scene in gifs because they're all over the site now, but the next line gives over the fact that he hasn't really been open about his trauma to Evan, given that his immediate response to expressing all of this is "I should go". This kind of reaction is generally brought on as not being accepted for having certain feelings. Now, obviously Evan is caught off guard by the entire interaction, the same way Tommy was (but for different reasons), so we have to take all of that into account when we think about the fact that instead of countering Tommy's logic, he asks instead if Tommy is breaking up with him.

Body language is also so important here for Tommy. His shoulders are hunched in, we see him wipe his face (meaning there are likely tears), and when he turns around, he's so caught up in whatever wave has taken him over that it takes Evan asking him for Tommy to state "yeah, I guess I did" about breaking up. Further, there's the fact that he states that he didn't see the break-up coming, which goes back to my point at the top of this post, that he clearly thought the conversation was going one direction, and instead it goes the other. From this point, we have Evan reeling, because he wants to create more of a life with Tommy, while Tommy is shutting down because of whatever is holding him back.

Finally, as I've referenced before, we get this line:

"Should've known that parking spot was too good to be true."

That line makes zero sense out of context, but in consideration of someone trying to lighten the weight they're carrying (which you can literally see by the way he has his hand on his neck, which you generally only see people do as a stress response). You can also double entendre this statement that getting to be with Evan was too good to be true. We get that little inhale with the smile, and I swear to God the only time I've seen that kind of reaction is right before someone cracks.

And then in closing, we get the "I'll see you 'round, Buck," our closing gut punch. Evan is still reeling, clearly. His face is very "what the hell just happened". Tommy is clearly not okay. This entire scene has opened an entire can of worms on them without a whole lot of answers.

Now, I've owned the fact that basically from the end of 806, I felt like this had to be a swerve, and that there has to be more to the story. I've also pretty much owned the fact that if the writers did actually just do this for kicks and don't have a resolution for it, I may not keep watching. However, in the context of the fact that, for the moment, I'm choosing to put hope in some kind of resolution, these lines make so much more sense. It is worth noting though, most people in the fandom, let alone the general audience, aren't going to psychologically break this shit down line-by-line. They're not going to lean into whatever trauma Tommy has that we don't know about yet. Its why the internet has been a mess since Thursday night. But it's also why I talk about how, when this situation gets resolved (because right now I refuse to say if), Buck has to give up the loft and give more of himself. Tommy, by the nature of the show, has fully immersed himself in Evan's life, but we haven't seen or heard mention of Evan doing so at all in Tommy's life. That doesn't mean he hasn't, but we haven't gotten any version of that. So when I say Evan needs to give things up... it's about matching what he's asking Tommy to give up. Because at the end of the day, when this circles back around, he's effectively going to be asking Tommy to trust that he won't break his heart like others have, and when you have a lifetime of abandonment issues and have learned to cope by being hyper-independent and alone, moving in the opposite direction is more terrifying than anything else. ESPECIALLY when you love that person, which we saw Tommy spell out. Evan has the ability to break him (and probably already is via this cut-off-at-the-quick break up.)

So, I'm really gonna need these shit heads to figure out that they'll be more miserable apart than they'd ever be together.

That's all. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[doofnoof]

Okay so I have a theory.

I think Vanessa, Mike, and Garrett are Aftons. Their mom divorced William and took the kids but due to a traumatic event William blackmailed Vanessa into lying and saying she wanted to stay with William instead of her mom. I also think Vanessa may have accidentally killed Garrett, and William covered it up for her and used it to keep her loyal and obedient.

I don't think she knew Mike was her brother until that last scene where she's bandaging him and he asks her to save Abby with him, but she was definitely starting to figure it out by the time she throws his meds away. Her reaction to Abby being in danger is an intense one, because of the trauma she went through as a child for certain, but what if she knows Abby is her little sister? What if she reacted that way because she already lost her little brother, remembers him dying, and now she has the chance to protect her little sister from a similar fate?

I think she knows that William is capable of messing with their memories, and that's why she tells Mike that the dreaming thing doesn't work/isn't helpful, because she's seen first hand how he can change things to be different than what they really were. For instance, there was a yellow frisbee in the park mentioned again and again, as well as a scene where too much ketchup is put on a hamburger. I think Mike actually saw Vanessa killing Garrett and William changed his memories so he only saw Garrett being taken, not the actual incriminating act of William disposing of his body, nor of Vanessa actually accidentally killing Garrett.

I think they were all together having a fun day out as a family, with Mrs. Afton pregnant with Abby, and while playing Vanessa (or maybe even Mike) accidentally killed Garrett, and William came to see what happened when they didn't come eat when they were called. William saw what happened, realized this would look really bad, and possibly threaten his already shakey marriage with his wife, and decided to dispose of the body, maybe even teaching the kids how to do so along the way. Perhaps he even took Vanessa with him and left Michael to watch him drive away. Once he was done, he messed with their memories so that what really happened would be completely buried. Mike only remembers the airplane, Garrett in the car, the blood Ketchup, the yellow rabbit Frisbee, and his family not all of them sitting at the picnic table. This didn't bring the family closer together like William had hoped, his wife didn't lean on him for support while grieving and looking for their lost child, and eventually the Aftons divorced. William took Vanessa, because she asked to stay with him (because he told her to ask to stay with him, unless she wanted her mom to find out about Garrett) while Mike and Abby went with Mrs. Afton, who became Mrs. Schmidt. I wonder if he changed their names around while scrambling their memories one last time after the divorce, maybe Garrett was Evan at one point, and Mike (as he prefers to be called) was Michael, and Abby was going to be named Elizabeth.

Vanessa is given Garrett's plane as a trophy from William, and they continue luring children away from parties in the Pizzeria, while Mike does his best to take care of his mom and Abby. Years pass. The movie takes place.

I also think Garrett is haunting Abby. If she wasn't born yet when the Aftons went on that picnic, it would make sense that Garrett would attach himself to something or someone after a particularly traumatic death, right? Abby is seen talking to ghosts in the movie long before she visits Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and one of her "imaginary friends" calls Mike a rude name after he sits on him. (It's gonna be so fun when Mike realized he said "at least I'm real" to his dead baby brother.) Afterwards, when Mike asks about what she remembers of Garrett disappearing, it seems like someone is telling her what to say for a second there. I think Garrett told her not to tell him anything, because he knew Mike would obsess over it and it would ruin their relationship. This was the moment Mike would have to choose Pizza or Spaghetti, because he can't have both, and the Pizza (Garrett) is already gone.

[springsketches]

When making my slay the princess OC, I went through a lot of phases in the beginning. Namely because I had to decide what route I wanted her to be a branch off of. My first three picks were the razor, the adversary, and the tower. I thought of doing multiple or all three, but decided to go with the razor. I thought of the prisoner too but she didn’t really click with my vision. I ultimately went with the razor because I enjoy the razor and was a little saddened that multiple routes weren’t really an option. I also felt like the Knightess being a branch from the razor would be the most interesting route because it makes a character hell bent on hurting the mc into a much more defensive character. Still on the attack but less lethal and harder to kill. I decided her route would be somewhat like the thorn’s solely in the way that it is difficult to get. My initial designs ended up with somewhat of a gladiator inspired look because I wanted to replicate the design of the razor in her final form, somewhat as a nod to her roots. While I like the ideas of this I also think it reflects what my initial ideas of the Knightess were, in that she was going to be much more brutal and less sympathetic than her current form. I decided to change her character a lot through development mostly because, when looking up references of knights, I realized that knights are not really just associated with brutality. A lot of depictions of knights showed them being intensely loyal, honorable, or incredibly romantic. I felt that would make the route more fun because it offers variety rather than a character that is prepared for battle and just wants to fight. So she became a character that values honor and chivalry above all else, it’s her drive for everything. Romancing her is an option too even if she’s a little hard to win over initially. I ended up removing the gladiator look more I’m favor of a medieval look. The next two designs more or less became the design I decided to follow more closely as a result.

While this character was initially just going to be uploaded as a clean sketch because I was working on other projects, I wanted to make it look much better as a way to show how I had improved from my first post. I changed the drawing to look like one of the title screens in the demo and wanted it to look really similar if not exactly like one of Abby’s drawings. This sketch is basically the rough draft of the final product. As you can see, I removed some of the plating for the final picture in favor of a less clunky silhouette.

I also decided to put effort into what the tiara would look like on a knight helmet. I decided to make a crown with cross and royalty (fleur de lis) motifs because it’s a reflection of the medieval inspiration I took. This also became my main tease for what was to come:

The final step was giving her her name. Initially I was just going to name her “the knight” but I wanted to see if there was a more feminine name I could use. I found two, the Knightess and the Dame. I chose the Knightess because I felt it suited her better and I learned Dames did not really battle like knights did. Dames just held an equal position of power and moreso knighted people rather than being knights themselves. Also the Dame felt like a name too similar to the Damsel, so Knightess she was. I’m really happy with how the final product turned out from this sketch because I feel I kept the personality my sketches have while producing a polished product. I had a lot of fun making this and I’m glad other people seem to like her too!

[mints-leaf]

A Bookstore Meet Cute: First date

Summary: Abby takes you out to dinner for your first date

Pairing: Abby Anderson x Fem!Reader (modern au) 

Word count: 1,371 

A/N: This blurb can be read as part of my Bookstore mini series but I think it can also be read as a stand alone fic.  

•❅──✧❅✦❅✧──❅••❅──✧❅✦❅✧──❅••❅──✧❅✦❅✧──❅• 

Abby had overheard you talking to Joy about a restaurant that you wanted to check out called the Test Kitchen. After Abby got home from the book club meeting, she immediately called the restaurant and crossed her fingers that they would have an opening for Saturday night. Thankfully they did and Abby set in motion planning out the evening that you two would share. 

(side note: I think Abby would be a bit nervous when trying to figure out what to wear. After looking at pictures online she realized that this was a really trendy restaurant and Abby is used to dressing more on the casual side. Thankfully Manny and Nora swooped in to help, in the form of forcing Abby to put on a fashion show so they can decide what she should wear. While she groaned and moaned about it, she was able to put together an outfit that she thought looked nice thanks to her annoying friends.) 

Abby had told you that she would pick you up at 6:45 and as you watched the clock change you heard a soft knock on your door. 'Right on time’ you thought to yourself as you attempted to shake the nerves out of your arms before grabbing the doorknob. As you opened your door you were greeted by a smiling Abby and a bouquet of flowers.   

“Oh my gosh Abby,” you said with a small gasp as you reached out for the flowers, “these are beautiful, thank you so much!”  

“I'm glad you like them.” Abby said with her cute little smile (you know the one). 

You invited Abby in and while you grabbed a vase from your cabinets, she looked around your apartment. The room was filled with tons of mismatched colorful furniture but somehow it all seemed to work together. Books, plants, and little knick knacks were scattered all over the place in a sort of organized chaos. You apologized for the mess, but Abby assured you that she didn’t mind, it all seemed to fit you.   

After placing the flowers in a vase on your small dining table, you and Abby left your apartment, and she led you to her car. The drive to the restaurant didn’t last long and was mainly filled with you asking where you two were going and Abby insisting that it was a surprise. You were definitely surprised when she pulled up outside of the Test Kitchen and not so casually mentioned that she had overheard you and Joy talking about it at the last book club meeting. Your heart swelled as you realized that Abby had been listening to you and remembered.   

Once in the restaurant you two were seated at your table and you shared some idle chit chat while you looked over the menus. When you were getting ready for the date you realized that, while you and Abby had spent a lot of time together, most of your conversations revolved around books. You had worried that you two might not have enough in common and the date would end up being awkward.  

Your fears disappeared when, after placing your orders, Abby turned to you and started up a full conversation. You two talked about the usual things like your jobs, hobbies, and interests. You also found out that you two attended the same university at the same time but since your majors were so different you tended to stay on opposite sides of campus. Abby told you about her two best friends and mentioned a bit about their friend group while you also talked about some of your good friends. You two laughed and shared stories over your meal and it felt like time didn’t exist. You were caught up in your own little world until you heard shuffling and realized that you two were some of the last people there and the employees were trying to clean up for the night.   

You and Abby had a bit of an argument over who would pay (she won but you made her promise to let you pay for the next date) and after tipping the waitress Abby helped you out of your seat and led you out of the restaurant. Even though dinner had ended you were still hoping to spend more time with Abby but didn’t want to come off as clingy. Thankfully she was thinking along the same lines. 

“When I was looking this place up, I saw that there is a pretty nice bar just down the street. We could check it out if you’re up for it, but if not, I can take you home.”  

You were eager to agree and you two decided to walk since it was just a block away. The night was a bit windy and as Abby saw you shiver, she placed an arm around you.   

“Is this okay?” she asked, not wanting to cross any boundaries.  

“Yeah, thank you.” You smiled up at her and basked in her warmth (I just know she’s like a human furnace).

When you made it to the entrance Abby held the door open for you and you stepped into a beautiful old building. You two made your way to the bar and you ordered your favorite drink while Abby got a mocktail since she would be driving (so responsible).   

After getting your drinks you two made your way up to the second level in search of a quiet space to talk. Abby found a secluded table and you carried on with your conversation from dinner. After a while you start to feel yourself getting tired and try to brush it off but when you yawn Abby notices.  

“Am I boring you that much?” she asks sarcastically.  

“…well now that you mention it.” You play along and give her an exaggerated face. You two share a laugh and Abby suggests that she take you home. You try to tell her that you’re fine, but you’re cut off by another yawn and a stern look from Abby.  

The ride back to your apartment is filled with a comfortable silence and Abby walks you up to your apartment. “I had a really great time tonight Abby. Maybe we could do this again?” You ask her after you fish your keys out of your purse and lean against your door jam.  

“I had a great time too,” Abby agrees, “and I would really like it if we could do this again.”  

You see her eyes dart down to your lips and that’s all you need to lean up and kiss her. What was intended to be a simple kiss turns heated as your hands slide from her shoulders to the back of her neck, and she pulls you in by your waist and backs you into your door. Eventually you two have to break apart for air and you stare into her dilated eyes, no doubt in your mind that yours look the same. “Do you want to come inside?” you ask through little huffs as you try to catch your breath.   

At this question you can feel Abby stiffen under your touch, and you immediately regret asking. Before you can tell her to forget it, she responds. “Trust me I want to, and I really like you y/n, but” you mentally brace yourself as Abby tries to find the right words. “I don’t want us to rush into things too quickly. Would it be okay if we take it slow?” she asks, a bit worried that you might not be okay with her request.

You’re relieved that she hadn’t changed her mind about you and eagerly nod in reassurance. “We can absolutely take things slow. Let’s just see where this takes us, yeah?”  

Abby gives you a smile and places one last kiss on your lips before wishing you a good night. You reciprocate and watch her make her way to the elevator with a goofy smile on your face. As the elevator doors close you make your way into your apartment and as soon as you walk in your eyes are drawn to the flowers that Abby had brought you. You let out an excited squeal, hopeful and ready to see where things would go from here.

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Ivy and Elusian

Oh, Ivy. I remember half a year ago, when we first saw you in the leaks, and we thought your name was Abby. Back then, all we really knew was that you were a wyvern riding mage, and your zoomed in, blurry face portrait made me think you had a Jotaro style hat. Ah, memories.

Without further adieu, here's Ivy’s official twitter posts… Starting with Elusia…

Elusia is a country in northeast Elyos, a religious nation ruled by the Sage King Hyacinth, seeker of knowledge and wisdom. They largely worship the Fell Dragon, and strange movements have been seen there in recent years.

So, it seems like that dark mage guy we kept seeing is the king after all. Makes sense. Don’t exactly see the family resemblance with his daughters, though. Him being a seeker of knowledge is interesting. Perhaps this led him to discovering corrupting forbidden knowledge or something like that. As for why the nation worships the fell dragon… My current theory is that it’ll have something to do with military pressure from Brodia somehow.

Also, I do dig the gothic vibes of this country.

Now, for Ivy’s artwork tweet…

Ivy is the first princess of the Kingdom of Elusia, and Hortensia's elder sister. She has a mysterious air about her, and she's a serious and stoic person.

And her portrait tweet…

The Kingdom of Elusia worships the Fell Dragon. It seems Ivy is seeking the Rings of Emblems as the princess.

Then finally, her cutscene tweet… (It’s just the cutscene we saw in that trailer a couple weeks ago)

Brodia and Elusia have been at odds for many years. Ivy attacked Brodia to obtain the Rings of Emblems.

And here we finally have our big waifu bait character. Seeing how hard Edelgard left the target audience of straight dudes, it makes sense they’d go back to Camilla. In all seriousness, though, even if Ivy’s appearance has some pretty obvious influences, her personality is rather different. Give’s me more Sonya vides than anything else, really. I wonder if she’ll also have daddy issues.

All in all, Ivy’s a rather curious character. The cutscene paints a rather menacing picture of her, yet it’s clear she’s going to switch sides and become a good guy. Still, how the story will go about this change is still up in the air. I assume a lot of her motivations are based around her country and it’s people, so perhaps serving the fell dragon helps them in some way. My guess is she eventually grows tired of the Four Hounds and her father being increasingly evil, and concludes they’ll do more harm to her country than good.

Now for the crit clip, which has a lot going on… 

Ivy's starting class is Wing Tamer. Knights who bond with beasts and have them do their bidding. Riding a dragon, they can use magic and staves.

So, first things first. The Elusian royals both have the Wing Tamer/ Flying class. In fact, they both wield tomes and staves, meaning the only true difference is their stats and mounts. I’m curious what kind of weapons they’ll get to use when they promote, if any. And considering we haven’t seen falcon knights at all, perhaps Hortensia will get a griffon upon promotion.

Considering Ivy is level 1 on this map, I think this will be where we recruit her. We’ve also already seen this map in the Emblem Ring trailer, the one where Chloe showed off some of Corrin’s abilities. And considering Chloe was promoted level three, I’d say this is around one half to two thirds of the way through the game. The enemies even look promoted too. Seems like at some point, Elusia attacks Firene. And considering the official website shows we’ll have Hortensia in the Solm chapter at some point, I wonder if this attack will be the breaking point for Ivy, or just the first chance she gets to join us.

Speaking of the map itself, we’ve got burning tiles making a return, along with rubble that seems to function as slowing terrain like forests and mountains. We’ve also got giant monster units, this chameleon looking creature with a pure brief attack. Hopefully this further confirms manakete units, and perhaps the weapon is purple to show it’s unaffected by fists. That’d actually be pretty funny, since grapplers were kind of my go to unit in Three Houses when it came to taking out giant monsters. Just ripped those hp sponges to shreds. I’m curious if they are dragons in lore. Considering the cobra look of Sombron, perhaps dark dragons just have a reptile based look in this game. Maybe we’ll see turtle and crocodile monsters too.

But that’s not all. In the corner, we can actually see Zephia charging up some kind of aoe attack, likely something akin to Upheaval in echoes. It even tells us it’ll deal 19 damage. Nice. Yet there's still more. During a brief moment, we can see that Zephia actually has a corrupted Sigurd emblem equipped. 

So, I have a story theory. Well, a continuation of my current ones. Basically, you know how Ivy says she’ll take the rings in that cutscene… Yeah, I think that’s gonna be more than just a threat. Then at some point our heroes are captured, Sombron turns Marth into evil Marth. Our heroes escape to Solm, and basically go about reclaiming their lost rings and the like. This likely ends with Marth reclaimed, coinciding with Alears character arc. I also think this won’t be our last fight with Zephia. Considering her being descended from the dark dragon clan, and her ears and horns, I think her final fight will be against her as a manakete.

All in all, I’m curious that we only got Ivy today. Perhaps since there isn’t another trailer to show this week, news will be slowing down again. Hopefully we’ll get her later in the week. And considering how many weeks are left until the game comes out, maybe another emblem showcase this week as well. Also, curious to see who Ivy's retainers will be like.

[mi6021miakillackey]

Character Design - what can be said?

As I have my own personal interest in character design and potential desire to work within this field, I want to look deeper into this area of animation/ pre production aspect of film, game and thing making.

I have had some thought on what character designs, concepts and representations convey to a wider audience and how it can be used to shift a perception of a gender, race, culture etc of real people outside of media. One of these I wanted to look upon in this final project was the designs of female characters in juxtaposition to male characters - why there seems to be less range with designs of girls and women than there is with men and boys - for example how small the margin is for what is "acceptable" or "desirable" of a feminine concept of a character, with majority of them having a slim figure and a "pretty face".

The elements that make them seem to fit a very niche, westernised view of what a woman should look, talk, move and behave like - and we have a lot of characters, old and new that support this.

A good example would be Daphne and Velma from the children's television cartoon Scooby Doo - we have Velma, an intelligent, rigid character whose design has embodied her whit as well as a lack of concern with male attention by making her look "less attractive' by giving her freckles, squared man-like glasses, a frumpy sweater that conceals her less defined figure and no makeup.

Then Daphne who we know to have a romantic interest in Fred, a handsome dimwit. Her design is polar opposite to that of Velma's, she is slim and curvaceous, she wears heels and adorns makeup, a stylish vibrant head of curled locks and feminine aspects to her outfit like a headband and classy scarf. This is a deliberate choice of designs and representation for these two women - but also ingrains into viewers what a woman who is smart and self focused looks like, compared to what a woman who is more self centred and concerned with looks and romantic interest looks like.

Then we have a figure like Jessica Rabbit from the movie Who Framed Rodger Rabbit - all of the characters express their disbelief towards her marriage with Rodger, a significantly "less attractive" character than Jessica, depicted as a sultry, sensual woman much like that of Marilyn Monroe - the picture of sexual desire and lust - a teeny waist, long toned legs and small heeled feet, plump red lips, big prominent breasts, low and seductive "bedroom eyes", and a head of luxurious curled red hair. she is an icon of sex within everything she does, and knows it "I'm just drawn that way"

But why is the focus mostly pinned upon the woman figure to uphold these impossible body and beauty standards as well as how they should behind and present themselves?

In the gaming world - the same patten is presented.

Lara Croft has always been another sex symbol used for male satisfaction in the games - with her wildly inappropriate outfits for the life and environments she is placed in and her strangely unscarred skin on a swimsuit model body - it would make sense for her to be more clothed and covered in action and to have a muscular, perhaps less "feminine" body type indicating her great strength.

A character from a much more recent game, 2020, would be Abby Anderson from the game The Last Of Us part 2 - a strong, deeply complex character who while beautiful and feminine in her own way (as all women are) is designed to suit her environment and willingness to survive in the harsh reality in which there is no escape to. This design was rejected and criticised by a lot of fans and players of the game upon release and to this day nearly four years on - majority of these rejections came from male players who found her design "disgusting" and some going as far to call it an abomination.

But here we have two very strong female characters in all aspects of themselves and yet their designs couldn't be more different.

I have looked at a few studies done on this matter that I will be including in my dissertation to support my question and argument, but I want to use this to question if I fall into this category also, am I representing women in a diverse progressive way? what can I change about my approach to designs if not? does there need to be a change? why is it important to show a variety of forms and details within characters?

I decided to do a little sketch of a concept of Cordelia - thinking of more range with body proportions and colour palettes that could work. I will stick with my previous design of her however I think because I like how she looks and her shape/clothing is easier for me to keep consistent I would say.

but I like exploring more designs and coming up with a wider range of ideas for characters. representing different body types and styles really matters to me personally.

[freddie-weaselbee]

April Fools//F.W.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Silly pranks and a little angst, a tiny bit of small language

Summary: April 1st was a special day for many reasons, and it’s about to get a whole lot more special once Fred asks an important question.

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: Here’s a special fic for the twins birthday, as well as April Fools’ Day!  Fourth fic in Abby’s Week of Weasley. 

~Abby’s Week of Weasley Masterlist~   ~Masterlist~

Message me to join the taglist!

March 31, 1995

For the third time that night, Angelina Johnson rolled her eyes at you and hit you with her pillow. Hard. So hard that you ended up toppling off of your bed due to the excited, unbalanced position you were in, practically standing at the edge of your bed. 

“Angie!” you screamed from the floor, your smile cracking through the angry façade you were putting on. 

“Oh you deserved it Y/N!” your roommate yelled. “If I have to hear you talk about Fred for one more minute I swear...”

“I second that,” said Alicia Spinnet from her bed, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time that night. “Just grow a pair and ask him out already!”

 “You’re crazy, absolutely insane,” you replied, climbing back onto your sheets only to be knocked down by your friend once again. 

 “Ok I swear I’m done now,” Angelina said through her giggles. “But Alicia’s right. It’s been two bloody years, why don’t you get up off your timid ass and actually do something? What could go wrong?”

 “What could go wrong?” 

 Alicia groaned at your incredulous tone, knowing exactly what Angelina had just started. She covered her ears with her pillow, hoping to drown out the next barrage of rapid fire words from your mouth.

 “Would you like the possibilities listed alphabetically or by order of significance?” you quipped, not giving either of the girls any time before you started again. “First of all, he would laugh at me. Then he’d realize how sad it was that I thought I actually had a chance with him and he’d make fun of me to the entire school. And you know that Fred can’t keep his damn mouth shut!”

 The girls murmured in agreement, knowing firsthand to never tell Fred any secrets unless they wanted the entire student body and population of England to know as well.

 “So he’d tell everyone,” you continued, “and they’d all make fun of me and talk about me behind my back. ‘Oh there goes poor Y/N, she’s so sad that she thought that the hottest guy in school would be interested in her! What a stupid stupid girl.’”

 “I personally think his brother is hotter, but to each his own,” Angelina murmured.

 “Bloody hell they’re identical twins, they’re practically the same,” said Alicia.

 “They’re not the same,” you and Angelina replied in sync, turning to each other and giggling before you finished your rant.

 “Anyways, the whole school would think I’m a moron, all of Fred’s family would think I’m a moron, and I’d probably be a laughing stock at The Burrow and I’d be too embarrassed to spend another summer there with everyone making fun of me! So that is why I will not be confessing my feelings any time soon.”

 Your friends just sighed and rubbed their temples, used to hearing this kind of talk from you. 

 “You know you’re hot as fuck, right?” said Alicia, gesturing up and down and seeming to check you out.

 “I know that,” you replied confidently. Something about being friends with Alicia and Angelina had brought out your confidence and you knew your self worth, but not when it came to the love of your life. “But there’s plenty of girls here who are hotter and haven’t had their hair held back by him while they threw up their guts into the toilet.”

 Alicia choked on the drink she was sipping, remembering that party a few months ago. “Yeah, remind us not to let you have firewhisky again you lightweight.”

 You tossed your pillow at her, making her spill her drink and grumble in your direction. 

 “Alright if you won’t tell him, why don’t you hint at it and hope for him to make a move?” Angelina suggested. “His birthday’s tomorrow, what did you get him?”

 “I, umm, I didn’t have that much money, so I had to be more... creative about it.” You pulled a sweater from one of your drawers, a deep purple color with orange stitching along the sleeves and collar. “Molly taught me how to knit over the summer and I’ve been working on this ever since. Do you think he’ll like it?”

 “That is the sweetest thing ever, Y/N,” said Angelina. “And Fred doesn’t care about money or wealth, I’m sure he’ll love it. Trust me, give him this and flirt with him all day tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll get the hint.”

 “He hasn’t gotten it yet, and I’ve done nothing but flirt all year!”

 “Then flirt harder,” said Alicia. “Give it all you have, and if it doesn’t work out then he’s a good for nothing prick. That’s how I live my life,” she said shrugging.

 “Great advice, thanks,” you drawled. “But alright, I’ll try harder. Tomorrow’s gonna be a day to remember!”

 ------------------------------

 April 1, 1995

 You and your roommates slowly snuck out of your room the next morning, being as quiet as humanly possible. On a normal day you wouldn’t bother to be this careful, but today was not a normal day. It was April 1st, the twins’ birthday. Also know as their favorite day of the year, April Fools’ Day. 

 Alicia stubbed her toe on one of the steps and let out a small peep, making you and Angelina turn to her in horror. Your cover was blown. 

 “Well, well, well,” came a voice from down the stairs. “What do we have here?”

 You shoved Angelina in front of you, clutching the back of her uniform for dear life. “You go,” you whispered. “You’re the strongest.”

 “No,” she said quickly, “Alicia’s the fastest, she can outrun them and cause a distraction!”

 “You know I wouldn’t even make it out of the common room,” Alicia replied. “Y/N can go first, she can talk them out of doing anything.”

 “Yeah, right,” you scoffed. “Like that’s ever worked before. I ended up going to bed to find a giant snake my sheets.”

 “Well, someone has to go first!” Angelina hissed. 

 The three of you continued your argument in low voices, none of you wanting to be the first to face Fred and George's wrath. You were so caught up in your conversation that you didn’t even notice the figure behind you until they cleared their throat.

 You all screamed and you tripped over Angelina, causing you all to tumble down the few last stairs. The second you made it to the bottom, you felt a warm, gooey liquid dripping down your head. Reaching your hand up to touch it, you saw that it was a green goop that was now covering you and your friends. 

 Laughter erupted from both sides of you. The person who had been standing behind you, who you now realized was George, was holding Colin Creevey’s camera and snapping a picture. Fred, standing practically over top of you, was doubled over clutching his stomach from laughing so hard.

 You sighed and looked down, already defeated. “Happy birthday, Freddie.”

 “I think you mean,” he said through giggles, “happy April Fools’ Day!”

 Angelina and Alicia were shooting daggers at the twins, who were still laughing and snapping photos.

 “This makes quite the pretty picture, doesn’t it Freddie?” George asked, showing him the camera.

 “Ah, yes it does! Y/N, you look beautiful as ever darling, even covered in goo.”

 You put your hands out, expected for him to help you stand up. Once he hoisted you to your feet you threw your arms around him, wiping as much substance as you could onto his clothes. 

 “Hey!” he said, trying to escape your death grip. 

 “What?” you asked innocently. “Can’t a girl hug her friend on his birthday?” You emphasized your words by grabbing some goo from your hair and reaching up to ruffle his, spreading it through his ginger locks. 

 “You’re a handful, love,” he said, finally giving up on escaping the revenge. 

 “But you can handle me, can’t you?” You winked at him and let him go, turning around to see George pinned to the ground by Angelina, face covered in green. 

 “I give, I give! I’m sorry!” She got off of him and offered him a hand up. You looked around at everyone to see that you all were a mess, covered head to two in Fred and George’s prank. 

 “Well,” said Alicia, “this is not how I wanted my morning to go, but I didn’t expect anything less. I’m gonna go get changed.”

 “Me too,” said Angelina and George nodded as well, heading to their respective dorms. 

 This left only you and Fred. Your heart started pounding. How were you supposed to flirt even more than you usually did? Were you supposed to make a move, maybe confess your feelings?

“I, umm, I have your present upstairs,” you said finally. “It’s not very good, but I can go grab it for you now if you’d like. After I’m clean that is.”

He bumped your shoulder with his, making your heart beat even faster. “I’m sure I’ll adore it, love. And actually, I was wondering if I could ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course, what is it?”

Fred avoided eye contact, fidgeting with his messy uniform. “Umm, why don’t we hang out today and I can tell you then. We could maybe, go on a picnic for lunch? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

A large grin grew on your face, spreading slowly but surely. Maybe you didn’t have to be the one to make a move after all. “Of course I want to, Freddie! It’ll be fun.”

“Great!” he said relieved. “I’ll see you then.”

You nodded as he ran to catch up with George. As soon as he left the common room you nearly fell over, having to hold onto a wall to keep yourself up. You sprinted to your room, mind racing with exactly what you were going to wear this afternoon. 

------------------------------

“Hey, love,” Fred called from across the entrance hall. “You look great.”

You blushed a little, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear and trying to subtly look him up and down. Fred had dressed a little nicer than usual for your picnic, which made you feel better about putting in so much effort yourself. 

He came over and grabbed your hand in his, linking your fingers together and pulling you out the door. You wished your hands weren’t so clammy, and you hoped that Fred couldn’t tell. 

He took you to a secluded part of the courtyard, the corner where most kids would go to make out. Was that what was happening? Did he want to kiss you?

Fred spread out a blanket and opened the picnic basket, containing both of your favorite foods. 

“Looks so good Freddie,” you said. “Snuck into the kitchen again, didn’t you?”

“What can I say,” he shrugged. “Guy’s gotta eat.”

“You said like Ron.”

“Don’t ever insult me like that again, woman, or I will never speak to you”

You rolled your eyes at him and leaned back on your elbows. “Having Fred Weasley actually leave me alone for five minutes? That would be absolutely horrible. What would I do, not being able to hear about your pranks and projects?”

He leaned forward to tickle your sides, making you flail around and kick him away. “You’d be so desperate for me back, you’d probably lock yourself in your room all day.”

“Oh I’m sure,” you replied, sarcasm dripping from your tongue. 

The two of you continued to eat and talk, mostly about his plans for his birthday and how he was going to terrorize his mum once he got home for the summer because he could now legally do magic outside of Hogwarts. After what felt like forever of laughing and rolling around on the blanket and grass, your curiosity was finally getting the best of you. 

“Alright Fred, enough’s enough,” you said, turning partly serious. “Why did you ask me out here with you?”

Fred got nervous once again, grabbing some more food to shove in his mouth to buy him some time before answering. 

“I’m waiting. What, you wanted to ask me out but got too nervous? Huh, is that it?” You were completely joking, but Fred didn’t seem to correct you. He just turned to you and gave you a small nod, shocking you to your core. 

“What?” you asked, needing clarification. 

“Uh, well, Y/N, there’s something important I need to say.” He looked jumpy and excitable, but there was also a cocky gleam in his eye, which was always present with the boy. “I’m madly in love with you. I have been since we were 15, and I just needed to let you know. I want to hold you and kiss you and grow old with you, my darling princess. Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?”

You sat there in complete surprise. This couldn’t be real, could it? Fred Weasley had loved you since you were 15? The tingles you always got when he said something to yo couldn’t compare to what you were feeling now.

Fred opened his mouth in a wide grin about to say something, when you cut him off with a hug. “Oh Freddie, you don’t understand how happy that makes me! I’ve loved you for forever, you’re perfect. Of course I’ll be your girlfriend.”

You held him tighter, burying your face in his neck and soaking in the feeling of being Fred’s girlfriend. But Fred had a completely different feeling running through him. 

He made eye contact with George, who was hiding in the bushes with his camera ready. He mouthed a question but Fred just shook his head in confusion. This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

You were supposed to laugh at him, become super uncomfortable. Fred knew that you only saw him as a friend and flirted with him jokingly. He’d never in a million years expect for you to confess your feelings back to him. 

He didn’t know what to do. You were just so open and vulnerable, confessing everything you’d been holding back. So, acting against George’s frantic suggestions, he completed the hug, resting his head on the top of yours.

What was he supposed to do? You were his best friend, he couldn’t bear to see you get hurt. How was he supposed to tell you, that this was all an April Fools?

Tag List: @famdomhideout @amourtentiaa

[fluffymisha97]

Falling, Fallen - Part 3 - Part 2/2

Summary: Last part of that very ‘first real date’ with Chris. The man had several tricks up his sleeves. 

Warnings: Language. 

Word count: 5,447 (Loooong I know) 

(Updated 06-03, I forgot to add the pictures I wanted to use lol.) 

You were still reeling from the shock of finding out where you were going next. For a moment you felt speechless due to the surprise and excitement of going in there. You hadn’t gone to one of these things for so long. You grabbed onto Chris’ arm for support worried that you would tip over.

“Omg, are we going in here? I didn’t even know that there was anything like this during this season.”

“Well, that’s the plan. There’s some rides that are closed but very few.”

“Wow, Chris this is really great- but what about all the people? It looks pretty packed.”

“I think we’re good. Besides it’s sometimes easier to blend in with a lot of people rather than a few. If things go south, I’ve got a backup plan.”

You let out a small snort.

“Wait, you got like a secret disguise in the back of your car or something?”

“Something like that.”

Chris was in fact wearing something that offered him some discretion with his Boston Cap and some black sunglasses. He hadn’t been wearing the glasses before arriving at the fair. He’d yet again asked if you were okay with him wearing them while with you. You truly appreciated the thought and didn’t mind it at all. Chris went to a stand where he paid for two entrance tickets and some tickets for the rides and such.

You were all giddy inside and very much excited for the second time that day. This date was looking very well compared to the first one. You and Chris went ‘inside’ where the fair was indeed packed with a great amount of people. Chris stayed close to you while you walked around trying to get a feeling of the place. The place was huge and you were almost overwhelmed by everything there. You felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Chris felt the same way but tried hard to contain it not wanting to make a further fool of himself. He’d already done that twice that day.

You and Chris had come to a stop by some rides. You instantly spotted the giant Ferris wheel which Chris noticed. You stared at it hesitantly and stayed put. You felt Chris’ hand on your back briefly.

“You want to go?”

“Yes and no. The last time I was on one of these things was when I was about 8 years old and I cried when I got to the top because I got scared.”

“How about I’ll let you hold onto me if you get scared.”

“Ever the gentleman, Evans.”

“My ma raised me right.”

You smirked at him. The two of you small talked while you waited in line. 5 minutes later, you were the next to go. You could feel yourself growing more nervous as you got closer. Chris seemed to have noticed your nervous state when he cautiously reached out and grabbed your hand. He didn’t say anything as he held your hand. You smiled at the action and tried to calm down. ‘Remember be cool and chill’ Emmett’s words rang in your head again. ‘Right, breathe in and out slowly. Be cool as a cucumber’. You snorted to yourself hearing your own thoughts.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Just me being me.”

“Okayyy... Looks like it’s our turn.”

Chris led you to the loading by the passenger cars where you went to sit down on the right side. Chris quietly sat down next to you where the girl shut the latch. You took a deep breath as the ride started.

“You still with me?”

“Ask me when we’re at the top.”

You felt small butterflies as you’d reached the top. You couldn’t contain the giggles escaping your mouth as you took in the breathtaking view. It was a sight worth writing home about for sure. The view was great but taking a closer look at the sight next to you, was also pretty great to look at.

“So, have I lost you or...?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“I’m glad.”

“This wasn’t as bad as I remembered it- OMG, they have a swinging carousel! We have to go there next.”

Chris grinned at your child-like enthusiastic behavior. You cleared your throat as you heard yourself coming off as anything other than ladylike.

“I mean, can we please go there next? If you act like a gentleman, then I should perhaps try to act like a lady.”

“By all means go crazy, Y/N.”

“Good man.”

After the ride, you had quickly run off to the next ride, while Chris struggled to keep up with you.  You guys went on the swinging carousel right after and it happened so that you and Chris were often the biggest and in fact the oldest people on several of the rides. A part of you should’ve probably been more embarrassed but you were having such a wonderful time that you didn't give a damn. You and Chris had gone on several rides and each one was better than the previous. You honestly couldn't remember the last time that you’d had this much fun.

You went to the bumper cars where Chris was soon chased around by younger boys who’d discovered that Captain America was riding in a bumper car. Afterward they’d asked for a picture which Chris agreed to and nervously checked if you were okay with it. You shook your head and waited patiently while Chris took the last few pictures. You smiled when one very young boy quietly hugged Chris’ leg before running off with the rest of the group. The little boy briefly turned around and waved at Chris.

“Thank you, Mister ‘Mercia.”

You and Chris shared a soft smile at the action and he soon joined you.

“Sorry about that.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll gladly take those boys over teenage girls and well ...women chasing you around.”

Chris nervously laughed but was thankful that you didn't mind it. Chris gestured for you guys to move out. The two of you walked in a comfortable silence before you turned to him.

“How is that by the way? Getting recognized by people and asked to do pictures and such. If you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s fine. Uh, I guess it was kind of daunting in the beginning but I’m used to it by now I mean. The kids are great, truly, I love that they look up to someone like Captain America. That I can play a part that can change someone's life. I'm sorry if that sounds selfish and arrogant.”

You smiled and shook your head at him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say something arrogant before. But I think I understand what you mean. If I had a job like that, where I could be a part of something so big and mean something for so many people, I would love that.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and that’s the reason why I keep doing it.”

“But?”

“But sometimes I do think about doing something else than acting.”

“I think it’s normal to consider other things in that industry. To have a plan or something to fall back on. Not that I think you need it. I haven’t seen you in action or anything like that. I’ve seen clips of those Marvel movies.”

“And here I thought that you would’ve stalked me online and everything…anyway what did you think of the movies then?”

“I get the appeal. They do seem like great movies. My friends Emmett and Abby love them but mostly because of all the hot guys in it.”

“Hot guys? Huh, such as?”

“Well, the other Chris is like a wall and very nice looking. Abby loves him the most. He looks good shirtless you know. Then there’s Tom Hiddleston quite handsome too.”

“Wait, are those the only ones that you guys like?”

“Well, nooo...Henry Cavill is a real fine one too.”

You giggled when Chris gasped in an excessive manner.

“He ain't in the Marvel movies! He’s Superman which isn't Marvel.”

“That may be but he is hella fine.”

You wiggled your eyebrows at him and laughed at the ‘hurt’ face he made as he huffed out loud.

“Well, you’ve just revealed yourself to have absolutely no taste then.”

“Oh really?”

“Really.”

“You sure about that?”

“If you go for Cavill then yeah?”

“Huh… Bad taste in men then?”

“Apparently so, Y/N.”

“Interesting then.”

“What is?”

“I’m here with you now, aren't I?”

Chris’ mouth clamped shut like an oyster at that. His ears turned pink-ish at your snarky little comment.

“Well, maybe not entirely bad taste.”

You only laughed as the two of you continued walking close next to each bumping shoulders a few times. Yours bumped into his arm though, seeing you were inches shorter than him. During your exploring of the fair, conversations rolled easily and constantly off your tongue. Chris was so very easy and comfortable to talk with about everything and nothing. You also enjoyed each other's silence without it feeling weird or awkward at all which was so nice.

You and Chris would subconsciously hold hands every once in a while and it just happened so naturally that neither one of you gave it another thought. You liked it and it seemed like he did too. Or that’s what you hoped for.

After a while you’d been sure that you and Chris had tried almost all of the rides, you ventured on into what looked like an arcade hall. There weren't too many people around the hall probably because people wanted to get that last bit of sunlight. Chris walked ahead of you looking at all of the different kinds of games stationed around the place. He came to a stop by an Air Hockey table.

“How about a friendly game of air hockey? I’ll go easy on you.”

You rolled your eyes at him and went to stand on the opposite end of the table.

“Oh, such a gentleman.”

“You ready?”

You nodded your head and prepared yourself. Chris kept his word and went easy on you. Which you would’ve appreciated a lot more had you been terrible at the game. The puck went back and forth three times before you pounced and fired it into his goal.

“What the hell just happened?”

“Was that too fast for you?”

“Wait, what?”

You gave him a sly smirk as you rolled up your sleeves.

“I never said that I would go easy on you.”

“Ohh? That’s how it is.”

“Yup. Give it your best.”

The two of you yelled and shouted like maniacs as the game went on. You’d been winning each set and each time you’d done a little victory dance for yourself.

“Oh, you think that’s attractive? Real cute.”

“I know. I’ve been told I’m rather cute.”

Chris huffed at you and placed the puck on the table.

“Sudden death. Loser buys fries.”

“You’re on, Evans.”

The next game went back and forth. You were so amped up and so was Chris. He wasn’t backing down and neither were you. This was a fight to death. Your eyebrow quirked as an evil thought went through your head.

“You know it’s a good thing that you’re so invested in the game because otherwise you would’ve seen how my boob nearly fell right out.”

“Wha-”

Chris hadn’t even heard half of your sentence before he looked up at you with a puzzled face and you seized your chance. The puck went right in and you threw your hands in the air.

“YES, mother of everything good.”

Chris rubbed his face in embarrassment and chuckled as he looked down on the table.

“I think I’ve met my match. You’re even worse than me.”

“Ehh, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Alright then how about those fries?”

“Yes! You’ve just earned yourself some golden points.”

The two of you went back outside the arcade hall in the search of a food stand. As you finally found a stand, you both felt and heard your stomach growling meaning you were hungry for more than fries. You were about to excuse yourself when you heard Chris in the middle of ordering you some food.

“Hey, can I get two hotdogs with everything, and two curly fries, two cokes?”

Chris briefly checked with you if you had any objections which you didn’t. A few moments later, your food was done. You took the cokes even though Chris had protested wanting to be a gentleman and bring you the food. It was a nice gesture but you couldn't not help when he’d bought you the food to begin with. You found a free table where you sat down. Chris sat on the other side of the table.

You both began eating shortly after enjoying the food and the scenery around you.

“This is soo good.”

“Yup. It kinda goes with the whole thing.”

“I love me some curly fries. Even though I should hold back on them.”

“I’ll gladly buy you all the fries you want.”

“Oohh he scores another golden point.”

Chris softly smiled at you as you took a sip of your coke.

“How am I doing so far?”

“So far so good.”

Chris gave you a smile that could go for miles. It was also annoying how dashingly charming he could be without even trying to.

“I gotta say that you really surprised me by bringing me here. A nice thing.”

“Glad you like it.”

The conversation flowed naturally with Chris and when there was any silence it didn't feel awkward or weird. It was a comfortable silence. You enjoyed listening to Chris animatedly telling you about his job and life. It was clear that he was a passionate guy. You could listen all day to him. Sometimes he would blush when he felt like he’d been talking too much. You couldn't help but find it cute. You just leaned back in your seat and listened to him talk. After a while when you were both done with your food, Chris offered you his hand and you were off to see what else the Fair had to offer.

You moved onto some of the booth games, there were hundreds of them. First you’d gone and tried the bottle ring toss for old times. Each booth you went to, it turned into a competition with Chris. He was so determined about wanting to impress you but you were most of the time just as good as him or even better. Which felt less than good for his ego. You both played Balloon Darts, Knock the cans, and Feed the clown and many more. You saw how Chris almost looked ‘deflated’ by your continuing luck and fortune with the games. You couldn’t help but cringe a little bit inside over yourself.

“Well, this is slightly embarrassing now.”

“What, c’mon, Chris. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yeah. Nothing that matters anyway.”

“Sureee...How is it possible that you’ve aced everything we’ve tried so far?”

“I don’t know.”

You could only shrug your shoulders as you looked down at your feet feeling less desirable and dorkier.

“So you’re just naturally good at everything then?”

“Well no, not everything.”

“Oh yeah? Mention one thing you’re bad at.”

You smirked at him and then looked around at the several stands nearby. Something caught your eye. You spotted a stand with a basket net where one would shoot hoops and win prizes. You grabbed Chris by the arm and dragged him along with you close by the booth.

“That. Right there.”

“For real?”

“Yeah. Imagine little ol’e me never having had a little stuffed animal.”

Chris puffed out his chest and straightened his back as he looked at the booth

“I guess we better do something about that.”

Chris gave you a small smile before walking over to the young guy behind the counter. The guy easily recognized Chris but tried playing it cool. Chris removed his sunglasses and pulled out the tickets.

“Hey man, can I get 5?”

“S-s-sure d-dude.”

You stood next to Chris and watched him tank the first 3 shots. You watched how he craned his neck and breathed in through his nose. You stifled a laugh when Chris missed the last 2 ones. Chris looked at you rather nervously.

“You good?”

“Yeah, just a little stiff… just need to have full access you know full range of motion.”

Chris then removed his jacket and before he could lay it elsewhere you stepped in and took it off his hands. You couldn’t help it as you obviously ogled him. His flannel shirt fit him like a glove. It wasn’t until now you saw his whole outfit. He was wearing a red and black flannel shirt and a white undershirt with some darkish jeans. Those jeans also hugged his form very well. You had to snap out of it as you were starting to feel all pervy. ‘Y/N, don’t be a dick nor dick-ish’, you could hear Abby and your friend Emmett’s voice in your head.

Chris bought some more balls. Another few minutes passed and the ball was close but not close enough. You could sense Chris starting to get frustrated and figured you may as well seize the moment.

“Hey, I’ll be right back. I’m going to powder my nose.”

“Okay. I’ll be here and keep on losing to the giant teddy-bear.”

“Chris. You got this. I believe in you.”

You could hear Chris huff out loud as you went to find a restroom. You heard Chris mumble something under his breath.

‘Damn right, I got this. Gotta win the girl her freaking teddy bear.’

You finally spotted a restroom and went and did your business. You checked your phone to see if Abby had written you. Before leaving, you briefly checked yourself in the mirror.

As you got back towards the stand you saw an odd exchange between the guy and Chris. You stilled as you saw Chris handing the guy what looked like a dollar bill but instead the guy grabbed a piece of paper, a pen and his phone. They took a selfie which left the guy rather happy looking and he handed over the biggest bear from the shelves. You smirked to yourself but still felt giddy inside over his obviously failed attempts to win it on his own but giddy over the lengths he would go to get you that bear. You sauntered back over to the stand where Chris lifted the bear up in the air victoriously. Chris felt his heart skip just a bit as he saw the grin on your face unaware of just how much you’d seen. You happily skipped over in front of him.

“Oh my… you got it? You won me a bear. No one’s ever done that for me.”

Chris offered you a sheepishly smile as he handed over the giant bear.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. He put up quite the fight but was no match in the end.”

You giggled as you watched him parade around in ‘false’ triumph. It was still cute no matter what. Chris put his jacket back on and let out a small cough.

“Oh really? I wished I could’ve seen that.”

Chris scratched the back of his neck and went to move around you.

“Where are you going?”

“Out… I gotta go and powder my nose.”

You could see the dazzling smile fall from his face once he realized what he’d said.

“Can I take that back?”

“Nope, too late.”

You smirked at him as he slowly turned around and muttered something to himself.

‘Powder my nose, Jesus. Why don’t you just tell her how much ya ass is sweating too, you dumb-ass’

You chuckled to yourself and turned around to face the booth. The guy still looked like he was star struck as he stared at the autograph which he quickly put away as you walked over. You figured you could kill some time before Chris got back. You reached down in your pocket and fished out some tickets.

“5 balls, please.”

The guy exchanged your tickets and handed you the basket containing the balls but not before uttering his opinion.

“Didn’t you just tell that guy that you sucked at this game?”

“Boy, you got long ears…- Didn’t you just hand off a prize in a way that your supervisor wouldn’t want to hear about?”

“Sorryyy.”

You just ‘mmm-hmm’-ed the crap out of him and placed your bear up on the counter. You scored right away as you aimed for the basket. While you were passing time, someone else had joined the party. Chris stopped dead in his tracks as he watched how you nailed every single shot.  

“Aha! A liar with a good arm it seems.”

You turned around flustered that he’d caught you red-handed. You only shrugged your shoulders as you picked up your bear.

“Ohhh, that? Pftt… Just lucky I guess.”

“Mhm, I think not. I’m wounded by the deceiving lies.”

You made a face at him causing him to crack a smile. Considering what you’d seen earlier it was clear that you weren’t the only one who was lying. You placed the bear back on the counter and firmly placed your hands on your hips as you stared into Chris’ blue eyes.

“Okay, okay, okay… So can you look me in the eye and tell me that you won my bear fair and square?”

Chris instantly looked like the kid who’d been caught with his hand down the cookie jar. Anything that resembled a ‘poker face’ instantly fell from his face.

“Well… okay, initially I was going for that BUT that bear wasn’t coming down on its own. So maybe I helped it down a bit yeah. I tried, Y/N. I mean, you saw me miss that shot way too many times and then when you’d said that you never won a stuffed toy, I just wanted to win it for you.”

You placed your hand on Chris’ chest as you leaned up and quickly placed a small and brief peck on his cheek leaving Chris speechless.

“What’s that for?”

“For this. No one’s ever gone to this much trouble to win me a bear.”

Chris blushed from the peck on the cheek and your words. Yes, the two of you had both lied but that didn’t seem to matter at all anymore. The two of you walked off, Chris offered to carry your bear for you like the smooth gentleman he turned out to be. You’d gone to sit down on a bench feeling the day seeping through you. You didn't want to be tired yet. If you were tired, Chris would no doubt take you home and you weren't ready to go home yet. Chris must’ve thought something like that too because he returned with two giant cotton candies. One pink and one blue.

“Pick your poison, my lady.”

“Uhh fancy. The lady wants a little bit of both.”

“Luckily, I was raised to share.”

You gave him a toothy smile as you took the pink one. You small talked while eating the delicious sugary candy while both getting quite sticky in the process.

“Wait a second, you got some on your cheek.”

You moved to wipe your face and then turned to look at Chris again.

“Did I get it?”

“Argh no, you just spread it further. Here let me-.”

You sat very still whilst Chris with careful and gentle hands touched your right cheek. His calloused fingers swiped across your cheek. You watched silently as Chris removed his hand and wiped it across his lips getting the cotton candy off his fingers. You watched how Chris’ eyes widened as he noticed his actions. He opened his mouth to apologize no doubt but you beat him to it.

“Always the gentleman. Thanks for not allowing me to prance around with that stuff on my face.”

“No problem.”

You hadn't even noticed how late it had gotten before you saw the dark skies above you. You finally looked around you and saw how lit up the funfair was. All of the lights from the rides mixed with the lighting from the booths made quite the impact on you. Christmas trees had nothing on this.

“Wow, this looks so pretty.”

“Yeah you do- Uh yeah, it’s great.”

Your cheeks felt hot after hearing Chris’ compliment which you pretended not to hear.

“I don’t even want to leave this place. It’s like magic here. There’s no drama or...gossipy chicks around any corner. There’s happiness all around here.”

“Well, then we better come up with an act if we’re to stay here.”

“Yes, the basket thing is out of question with well you know… your bad aim.”

Chris let out a dry crackle as he playfully shoved you but not too hard. You only grinned in return.

“Think you’re being cute again? Huh?”

“I know I’m cute.”

“You’re lucky that’s true. SO, an act. We can just have you perform some songs, you got a great voice and I’ll...I don't know.”

“You can be my backup dancer in your Captain America costume.”

You both burst out laughing at the mere idea. Chris was so easy to let loose with. You’d found out during the day how much you enjoyed his laugh. It was so very much contagious to be around. Hearing him laugh like that made you smile.

“Oh God, imagine that.”

“Imagine that.”

You’d been having the time of your life but you were only human which meant that the whole day of activity began to latch onto you. You tried fighting the yawn making its debut but it was too late. Chris had noticed you trying to hide your yawn. He chuckled at your attempt to hide it and then casually move on.

“I guess we better get you back home. We’ve got an hour long drive ahead of us.”

“What, no. I’m fine really.”

Another yawn escaped your mouth and you hid your face in your jacket.

“Y/N, it’s okay. We’ve had quite the day.”

Chris stood from his seat and offered you his hand. He managed to balance the giant bear in one hand or rather arm whilst keeping an arm around your waist. He didn’t want to overstep and had almost retracted his arm worried about offending you but your own hand stopped him before he could do something. He smiled to himself feeling you leaning into his side as you walked. Chris strapped your bear in the backseat and opened the car door for you again. The car ride home was less chatty, not that either of you minded. Truthfully you were both a little bit tired but the silence in the car was still comfortable. The music in the car mixed with the feeling of fatigue washing over you made your eyes droopy. Before you knew it, you’d fallen asleep. Chris saw how you’d fallen asleep some moments later and smiled for himself. Carefully while still keeping an eye on the road, Chris used his jacket to cover you so you wouldn’t get cold.

Gentle fingers woke you up. Chris brushed some loose strays of hair behind your ear as he whispered your name.

“Y/N, wake up…- We’re here.”

You stirred awake feeling embarrassed as you came to it. You’d fallen asleep in front of Chris. In his car on your way home. You lazily rubbed your eyes and tried to shake the sleep right off you. You let out a small groan as Chris chuckled beside you.

“I’m sorry. I’m not a fun car buddy...I can’t believe I fell asleep- Oh God, I didn’t snore or say something did I? Abby says that I sometimes talk or mumble in my sleep.”

“Oh, you didn’t snore that’s for sure. Although you did say that Cavill isn’t as hot as that guy who plays Captain America.”

“You sure that I said that?”

“Oh, yeah. No doubt.”

You let out a small throaty laugh as you quietly removed Chris’ jacket from your body and handed it back to him.

“Thanks for that.”

“No problem. You go on ahead. I’ll get your bear.”

You got out of the car and went up to the door of your apartment building. Chris carried your gigantic teddy bear while you were holding onto your small heart shaped pillow that Chris got you as you’d been leaving the fair from one of those claw machines. As you fished out your key, Chris walked up with your bear and placed it on the ground next to you.

“You got all of your stuffed animals?”

“Yup. I think that’s about it.”

“So, I had an amazing time today-…”

“So, I wanted to thank you for a wonderful time-…”

You spoke simultaneously. You both chuckled at this as you looked down a bit.

“I got to say that you went all out today. I mean, how are we ever going to be able to top this day? The next date is going to seem so… bland next to this one.”

Chris smiled widely hearing you mentioning ‘the next date’.

“What?”

“You said our next date.”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I did have a really good time and it seemed like you did too so maybe it was bold of me to assume that there would be a next date but if you aren’t-…”

“No! no, no. Uhh... I also had a great time, so of course I wouldn’t be opposed to going on another date with you.”

Your cheeks felt warm as he flashed you a warm smile. Silence fell over the two of you as you looked at one another. Your breathing picked up as Chris leaned in. Just as he was centimeters from your face you took a deep breath before gently speaking up.

“I don’t kiss on the first date.”

Chris chuckled as he stayed in the same spot.

“Well, technically this isn’t our first date.”

“Oh right, since we made a deal to strike out our first real date you mean?”

“Yes and no…It’s after 12, so technically it’s a brand new day meaning it’s the second date (well actually the third), sooo…”

You smirked at him hearing his arguments and justified reasons.

“So, based on technicalities, you just assume that we’re going to kiss?”

“I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Again he flashed you an all dimpled-smile your way. You remained frozen in your spot and waited for Chris’ move. You stood very close and you could smell his scent and breath on your face. He smelled of cotton candy, hotdogs and popcorn. Slowly you felt the absence of his closeness and you opened your eyes when you felt your hand being grabbed. Chris had taken a step backwards and brought your hand up to his lips where he placed a soft kiss on the back of your hand.

“Miss Y/L/N, thanks for an amazing time today. I hope to hear from you soon for that next date.”

You watched in amazement as Chris gave you a small bow and turned to walk back to his car. You let out a small gasp of the air you’d been holding in.

“Hey!”

Chris turned around to face you.

“Are you just going to leave now?...I mean…- You’re not even going to try to kiss me?”

Chris’ face lit up a bit and you could’ve sworn you saw a smug smirk form on his face. Chris took three long strides before he stood right back in front of you. He leaned in once again and you found yourself closing your eyes again waiting and anticipating what were to come. You felt his face come closer to yours. His beard softly tickled you. Just as your lips were about to touch, he moved his lips to your cheek where he pressed a very soft and delicate kiss. You couldn’t contain the small gasp that left your lips as realization hit you.

“Sleep tight, Y/N.”

Your eyes soon found two blue intense one staring at you before he turned around and walked back to his car. You let out a small huff in annoyance as you watched the handsome man walk off wishing he’d kissed you.

“Well, you’re certainly something else!”

“Right back at ya.”

“So you’re really just leaving, now?”

“Yup. Think about how big the anticipation will be now.”

“It better be good then, Christopher.”

“It will be, Y/N. I know it.”

Before getting into his car, Chris waved at you and drove off. You stood back feeling dumbstruck but in the best ways. You were already looking forward to your next date with Chris.

Tag list

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Tag list for Falling, Fallen: 

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[abbysfrenchbraid]

Nothing Else Matters

reference picture by @amisthiosintraining​

anonymous said:  Abby + Female reader, but it's Abby the one being f—cked with the strap on (I'm curious on that one)

Well, here you go. Abby and the reader have been hooking up for a while and the reader has managed to get their hands on some toys to make things more interesting. (5k words of SMUT)

content warning for bondage, light degradation and swearing, risk of exposure, ask to tag

Nothing Else Matters

The air in the room was damp and the smell of the sweaty bodies twitching and jumping reached your nostrils as you sat down to watch. You took off your sweater and placed it beside you, scanning the group of people for a familiar face.

There she was, her blonde braid flying as she whirled around, her face red and sweaty, full of concentrated rage. With an angry cry, she backhanded her partner across the face and sent him straight to the ground. She was glorious, muscles glistening in the neon light as she straddled the man on the ground and caught him in a headlock, grunting as she tightened her grip while he thrashed about trying to free himself. You could see her bicep flexing against his throat and his eyes widening at the sensation. 

Finally, he tapped her underarm two times and she let go immediately, rolling off of him and laying on the ground next to him, arms and legs spread wide. The man with hazel hair and a short beard was half-coughing, half-laughing and clutching his throat while the other soldiers ignored the pair and kept training.

“Jesus Christ Abby, do you want to kill me?”

She huffed and sat up, giving him a pat on the thigh.

“You deserved it, always skipping combat training to fool around with Mel.”

“Oh, so that’s the reason you’re so angry! You’re jealous,” he laughed and immediately put his arms up in defense before she could slap him, but she only leaned back on her arms and shrugged. When she looked up, she caught your gaze and you almost believed she had known you were there all along. The look only lasted a moment, then she smiled back at Owen.

“I’m not, you know that. Why would I waste my time thinking about you when there’s someone a million times hotter than you?”

Owen gasped in feigned shock and sat up as well.

“Better than this beautiful face and these” - he flexed his biceps - “perfectly sculpted muscles?”

Now Abby actually slapped him. He stood up and reached out a hand to help her up.

“Come on, tell me who it is. A soldier?”

The blonde slapped his hand away and got up on her own.

“I’ll tell you if you win this next round. Let’s go!”

She clapped her hands and let him attack, dodging his first few punches with ease before knocking him back into another pair of fighting wolves.

You smiled to yourself and leaned forward to rest your elbows on your knees. As your thoughts drifted elsewhere, the heavy breathing and grunting became white noise and Abby’s arms were the only thing you saw.

Working as a cook, you had often seen her and her friends in the cafeteria, always joking around and making a mess, clearly the popular kids at the base. Abby had been the one to clean up after the boys and apologize for their behavior when they were gone, always making sure to thank your colleagues for their effort and be nice to everyone.

She had noticed you a few weeks ago when you were on your break, sitting alone at a table reading and enjoying the silence in the big hall between mealtimes. The wolf had come over and asked if there were some leftovers for her as she had missed lunchtime for an extra round of training. You had made her some food and kept her company, both of you quickly finding out you got along extremely well and had many shared interests, especially the books you liked to read.

It had gone very fast from there. Secret meetings in empty hallways, sneaking out from work to steal a kiss between the clothing racks, slipping into her room when Manny was away for missions, you always found your way into each other’s arms. While you hadn’t admitted to yourself that it was anything more than just sex, you also spent quite a lot of time just reading or watching movies together, cooking or playing cards and Abby had even shown you some self-defense and wrestling moves that always ended with the two of you naked.

While the wolf was usually very dominant and protective, it was entirely different when you were alone. After you had hooked up the first few times, she had asked you to be rougher with her, leaving you surprised but not at all disinclined.

 You had found out that she actually liked to let go of all control and submit in the safe environment you had created for yourselves. While you had never really been super dominant before, you had quickly learned to enjoy this new role, always coming up with new ideas to make your lover squirm, suffer and cry beneath you.

Today you had something special in mind. Manny was out taking younger soldiers to an outpost for the first time and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow night, so you’d have the room to yourself. 

Your friend Jessie was running a little secret business on the base and you had already purchased a few goods for yourself but never shared them with Abby. Jessie, a trained soldier that wasn’t on active duty because of an injury but still did regular patrol runs to secure the area, had made it her purpose to find all the sex shops in the city and bring back merchandise that was still good to use. Together with her girlfriend who worked in the clothing department, she had started to sell toys, lingerie, and anything of that kind you couldn’t get at the commissary.

You often had coffee with the two of them, referring them to new customers around the stadium and talking about your new sexual adventures. Of course they didn’t know your partner was Isaac’s top soldier, but they gave you a lot of good ideas. Today you had decided it was time to try something more daring. Jessie had shown you how to use the things you had bought and now they were lying in a bag between your feet, drawing your eyes and thoughts toward them and whispering to you about all the things you could do with them.

You were torn from your thoughts by the trainer in the corner clapping loudly.

“Alright guys, dinner’s in half an hour. Good work, I’ll see you on Wednesday. You too, Owen.”

She gave the grinning man a stern look, but he just winked at her and turned around to Abby.

“So, you gonna tell me who you’ve got your eye on?”

“Hell no, you lost three times. Try again next time.” Abby shoved him playfully and walked past him to collect her bag. She emptied half her water bottle in one go and looked up at you before splashing some water on her face. What a tease.

“You coming?” Owen was already at the door.

“I need a minute to talk to someone. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Alright.” He shrugged and disappeared into the hallway.

The sweaty blonde casually came over to your bench and sat next to you, keeping a few inches between you.

“Did you enjoy the show?” You didn’t look at her but you could tell by her voice she was trying to stifle a grin.

“Oh, I most definitely did. It stopped far too soon though.” You turned your head and let your eyes wander over her freckled shoulders, her neck glistening with sweat and her chest still moving rapidly underneath the tight sports bra. “I was thinking maybe I could get a private encore back at your room.”

Abby suddenly sat up straight and her face seemed to go even more red than it already was. She was still staring at the floor in front of you, tightening her grip around the water bottle and biting her lip. You decided to take a risk and ran your fingertips over her lower back, otherwise completely relaxed and watching the remaining few people in case anyone noticed.

“You fought so well today, baby. What would they say if they knew how you surrender to me with a single word from me? How you’ll beg me to fuck you just for the chance of having my fingers inside of you?”

Abby let out a shaky breath and squirmed on her seat, a mere tilt of her head in your direction telling you she enjoyed this as much as she hated it.

“What would they say if they knew I have a rope inside my bag, waiting for me to tie you up and leave you completely defenseless at my mercy?”

Her knuckles were white from the tension in her hands and she pressed her thighs together.

“Baby…” she gave you a pleading look, “please stop torturing me.”

The last few people were clearing out and the trainer nodded at Abby who just raised a hand in greeting, trying to act normal. As soon as the room was empty you turned to her, grabbed her braid and pulled it down and towards you, her face only an inch from yours as a moan escaped her.

“Are you so needy already, you little slut?” You lightly pinched her breast and she whined, leaning into you and pressing her head against your collarbone.

“Please, please, baby, let’s go back to my room. I’ll do everything you want. I need you.”

You let go of her braid, stood up abruptly and turned to her. Abby immediately grabbed your thighs and pulled you in, pressing her forehead to the seam of your jeans. You put your hands on your hips and sighed.

“I don’t know, maybe we should have dinner first. Also, you need to shower, you’re filthy.”

In reality, Abby being all sweaty and hot made you want to pin her against a wall and lick her clean, but you kept that to yourself for now.

“Please, Y/N. I’ll be good. I can’t wait that long.”

You freed yourself and pulled her up, giving her a peck on the lips.

“You go shower. I’ll wait for you in your room.”

She smiled and quickly grabbed her stuff, stealing another kiss before rushing toward the community showers. Also not a bad place for some secret public action, you thought. Maybe in the early morning when no one was there. You could order the soldier to be quiet as you fucked her senseless and force her to relive the moment every time she took a shower afterward.

You slung the bag over your shoulder and grabbed your sweater, debating if you should make Abby have dinner with you in the cafeteria, teasing her the entire time and forcing her to keep calm in front of everyone while she was dripping wet for you. But you had to admit that you needed her, too. You could always get some leftovers for you later or wait until the morning when you had to work the breakfast shift anyway.

When you arrived at Abby’s room, you quickly looked left and right before entering and then headed straight for her bed. You took the smooth, black rope from your bag and laid it on the bed. Your second surprise could wait until later.

You let your fingers run over the spines of the books on the top bunk, smiling to yourself over the selection of old classics that definitely worked as a form of escapism from this place. Don Quijote, A Thousand and One Nights, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Abby didn’t seem like it at first glance, but she was a dreamer, always mentally wandering off and spending her time in other realities, ones where adventures were something you chose to go on. No infected, no sad remnants of what the world had once been, but beautiful landscapes, interesting strangers, and the joy of being alone but never lonely, wandering but at home anywhere in the world.

Her life had never been easy and she had suffered unspeakable pain, but she always found something worth smiling for, worth living for and she loved letting go of all the sadness and harshness and enjoying herself in those short, sweet moments when everything was okay.

Your time together had definitely made her happier than she had been in a long time and you were so, so good at letting her escape this reality and carrying her somewhere else.

The door opened and you snapped out of your reverie, turning around to see a freshly showered Abby come down the stairs to the lower part of the room. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, unintentionally showing off her round shoulders, her breasts, and her thick, hard thighs stretching out the fabric of her shorts as she walked towards you. Her hair was still wet and she had already brushed it, the dark strands falling over her shoulders and framing her beautiful, still slightly flushed face.

“Hey baby,” she murmured and moved in for a kiss. Her lips were incredibly soft, gently brushing against yours and opening slightly for her tongue to touch your upper lip. You grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in, immediately deepening the kiss, dipping your tongue into her mouth and biting the blonde’s bottom lip. She sighed and fell into you, pushing you towards the bed but you grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled without too much force, just enough to make her stand straight and look at you with pleading eyes. She knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

You took a step back and looked her up and down.

“Clothes off.”

Abby’s eyes quickly went to the privacy shield next to her bed that she normally used to get dressed without half the stadium being able to see her naked, but you shook your head and she dropped her gaze, blushing again. You watched her as she pulled up the shirt over her head, revealing her freckled chest, perfectly sculpted abs and hard, dark pink nipples in the center of soft, ivory flesh.

When she ran her thumbs along the waistband of her shorts, she stared at you defiantly but you just held her gaze and smiled. You knew she was probably already dripping wet, secretly liking the risk and humiliation. If anyone were to walk by below you or stare up from afar knowing who’s room they were looking at, they would see the two of you facing each other, one clothed and one completely naked, the tension between you almost flickering in the air.

You stepped aside and pointed towards the bed.

“On the bed, Abigail.”

The wolf shuddered at your use of her full name and you could see goosebumps forming on her arms. She lay down on the bed and you took the rope, very content about her eyes widening at the sight. Before you could say anything she held out her hands, breath catching in her throat.

You wrapped the black rope around her wrists, gently pulling it tight, and tied her hands to the metal rods at the top of the bed. Still having a few meters left, you tied the next knot around Abby’s left ankle, fastening it to the bed frame pressed to the wall and doing the same to the other foot, spreading her legs and pinning them in place.

You crouched down next to her head, brushing a strand of hair out of her face and cupping her cheek with your hand.

“I know this is new for you and I promise you, I’ll never do anything you don’t want. Just say the safeword and I’ll stop.”

The blonde nodded, squirming in her restraints.

“Abby, I need to hear you say it.”

“I’m okay. I’ll let you know if something is wrong. Now can you please fucking touch me already?” She bucked her hips up and tried to pull down her hands to touch you, grunting in frustration when the rope didn’t let her move an inch.

You reached out and ran your fingertips over her collarbone, her chest and down over her stomach, stopping right above the curls between her legs. She tried to press her legs together to get some form of friction but and whined when she couldn’t, but you just let your fingers wander further down her leg and up the other, caressing the inside of her thigh. When your fingers came closer to her sex, her breathing got faster and she stopped moving, hoping you would grant her a touch now that she was good.

Watching her face, you ran a finger along her hot folds, immediately coating your fingertip in her juices. She gasped when you stopped to draw small circles around her clit.

“So wet already? God, you just love being completely in my power.”

You dipped your finger in the pooling wetness, holding back for just a moment longer. Abby was already a mess beneath you, her legs twitching and her back arching in response to your teasing. You suddenly pulled your hand away and her eyes flew open to stare at you with a mixture of frustration and pleading.

“What if I just let you lie there while I get myself off over here? Make you watch without being able to do anything about it while you lie in your own juices? Take you to dinner after while you’re all needy and soaked?”

Abby’s mouth twisted into a pout and she looked like she was about to cry.

“Please, Y/N, please touch me. I can’t take it any longer. Please?” The last word was a whine and you decided to stop being cruel.

With one swift motion, you pushed two fingers all the way inside her. The blonde cried out and immediately pushed back against your hand, craving more. You slowly pulled your fingers back out and made sure to catch her gaze as you put them in your mouth and licked them clean.

“Such a sweet girl.”

Her eyes were full of longing when she accepted your fingers into her mouth, sucking on them as she looked up at you. You moved your hand downwards again, pushing your fingers inside her much slower this time and pulling them out again, beginning to stroke her in a slow rhythm.

With your other hand, you squeezed her breast and trailed your fingers over her nipples before running your fingers along the delicate skin of her jaw and throat.

You picked up the pace, fucking Abby harder while her whining got louder. Curving your fingers upwards and letting them flutter against that tender spot inside her, you heard her breath stop for a second before she let out a high pitched moan. You didn’t give her time to catch her breath, now hitting her in all the right spots, your fingers thrusting deep inside her and your thumb on that sweet, pulsing nub that had patiently waited for its turn.

It was wonderful, watching the small muscles on her stomach contract and her broad thighs pull on the restraints as she got closer and closer. Her whole body was tensing up and her moans got faster and higher until she cried out “I’m gonna cum, can I please cum!” and you immediately pulled your hand away.

She almost screamed in frustration.

“Baby, please, I’m so close!”

You slowly drew your digit along her bottom lip.

“Only if you ask me nicely. No cumming without my permission.”

She licked the tip of your finger and looked up at you.

“I promise I’ll be good, please.”

You lightly scratched her stomach on the way down and she trembled at the sensation. This time you lightly placed two fingers on her clit and started rubbing it in slow circles, never losing your pace as your lover’s moans got louder again. As soon as she asked if she could cum, you stopped moving but left your hand in place, keeping her dangerously close to the edge and to the possibility of a ruined orgasm.

The wolf was now actively fighting her restraints, pulling her hands downwards and trying to get loose but you had known what you were doing and the knots didn’t budge. Some strands of hair had fallen into her face, a thin coat of sweat was glistening on her forehead and between her breasts. She was a mess.

“Baby, please, please, I’m begging you. Please let me cum.”

You slid a finger inside her again, brushing against her g-spot as you gently put your other hand on her lower stomach and pressed down. She arched beneath you, pushing her hips into your touch and letting out a much deeper, almost animalistic groan. You took your time driving her closer and closer to that sweet high and waited for her to ask again, knowing she was scared to lose your fingers again but also not wanting to be punished for not asking permission.

Finally, she couldn’t wait any longer. “Can I please cum, please, please, oh god -”

The words fell from her lips just as you pressed the pad of your thumb to her clit.

“Cum for me, baby.”

You were out of breath, pressing your thighs together to soothe the ache that had been growing between your legs. Suddenly the wolf beneath you cried out, her entire body twitching and convulsing around your fingers as you carried her through her orgasm. When she finally stopped moving, the room was filled with the sound of both of you panting and the smell of sex, sweat and heat had spread in every corner.

Slowly, you pulled your fingers from the blonde’s body and got up. She was still disoriented and gave you a confused look as you bent down to pick up your bag.

“You gonna cut me loose here?”

You didn’t reply, instead choosing to pull your shirt over your head and take off your pants and ignoring your lover’s squirming.

“I got something else for you. I know I already make you scream with the touch of a single finger, but I think it’s time I gave you something bigger.”

Her eyes widened as you pulled a harness and a small package out of the bag. Sitting down next to her, you opened the carton and pulled out a black silicone dildo. Abby visibly shifted next to you and pressed her lips together, unwilling to give away her thoughts. As if she had any chance of hiding from you how much she wanted you to fuck her senseless, to make her see stars and completely destroy her.

You turned to her. “I need you to tell me what you want. We can do this another time or not at all. I’m all ears.”

You knew exactly what you were doing. While being an absolute service top, it was also extremely fun to watch Abby blush and stammer trying to pluck up the courage to tell you what she wanted. She was always so shy and embarrassed about wanting to be dominated, so you had made it your little game to force her to admit it.

“You can do whatever you want with me, baby.”

“Oh Abs, you know you don’t get it that easily. What do you want me to do with it?”

She tried to avoid your gaze.

“You could fuck me with it?” she mumbled.

“I didn’t hear you. Speak up.” Oh, this was so much fun.

“Fuck you! You heard me right, you’re just teasing me.”

You slapped her breast and she sucked in a sharp breath.

“You don’t speak that way to me, you little whore. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve been eyeing that dick. You want me to fucking ruin you and you’re too cowardly to say it. How disappointing.”

With a theatrical sigh, you got up and took a few steps towards your clothes on the stairs.

“Wait, baby, please. I’m sorry. Please.”

You turned on your heel and stared at her, lifting a brow.

“Come here, please. I want you to fuck me. Fuck me until I can’t do anything but scream your name. Please, baby.”

Satisfied, you stepped into the loops of the harness and put the dildo through the metal ring, pulling everything tight as you felt Abby’s eyes roaming over you. Then you were next to her and started untying her feet. On second thought, you loosened the rope around her wrists as well.

“I’m not making this easy for you by tying you up. Your hands stay at the head of the bed. If you touch me, I’ll stop. If you behave, I’ll think about letting you cum a second time.”

The fear in Abby’s eyes was exhilarating. She nodded.

“Am I allowed to make noise?”

You thought about it for a second, then you agreed. This was the first time with a strap on, it would surely be hard enough to keep her hands still.

Checking to see if you’d need more lubrication, you inserted a finger into her - she was dripping wet.

“Pathetic.”

Before she could respond, you spat into your hand and coated the dildo in it. The wolf audibly swallowed at the sight. You knelt between her legs, rubbing your hand over her abs and breasts and mixing your saliva with her sweat. Goosebumps grew on her freckled skin.

Slowly, you lined yourself up with her throbbing cunt and started pushing into her. When you were all the way in, you stopped for a moment so Abby could adjust to the size. You slowly ran a hand up her body again and wrapped your fingers around her throat.

“I want to hear you.”

She gasped as you pulled out just a tiny bit and thrust back into her.

“Fuck me, please. I can take it. Fuck me hard.”

Without taking your hand off her, you pulled all the way out and watched her face as you pushed back into her with deep, hard strokes. She melted in your fingers. Her expression was a mixture of surprise, lust, satisfaction, a little bit of pain and an ever-growing hunger.

“Faster, baby,” she whined, her hands twitching towards your face for a moment before she stopped herself and pushed her hips up against you instead.

Deciding the wolf had begged enough, you straightened up and started picking up a faster pace. She started moaning, arching her back and pressing her hands against the metal bed frame. Going faster and faster, you savored every second of seeing her writhe beneath you, hearing the slaps of your skin against hers and the delightfully obscene wet noises her cunt made as it swallowed every thrust.

The strap on and the leather front of the harness worked just right in putting pressure on your clit, your breathing getting harder from effort and arousal at the same time. With one swift motion, you grabbed Abby’s ankles and pulled them up on your shoulders to get a deeper angle.

She let out a deep, coarse moan coming from deep within her and her eyelids flew open. Giving her a devilish smile, you folded your arms around her legs and began slamming your hips into her, your groans falling into the rhythm of Abby’s cries. Her biceps flexed deliciously as she pulled on the bed frame and threw her head back in ecstasy, a steady flow of curses streaming from her mouth.

Losing strength in your arms, you let go of her legs and they fell to your sides as you dropped forward onto your lover’s chest, keeping a steady pace. The friction to your own core was much stronger now and you felt yourself getting close to the peak.

“Touch me, now!” you commanded and her arms flew down and closed around your back, holding you close while digging her nails into your skin. She dragged them down as you fucked her harder, leaving burning streaks on your shoulder blades. Her legs also closed around your hips, amplifying your thrusts into her as you grabbed a fistful of her hair and made her scream out in pain and pleasure. You wanted her to cum with you, to ride this high together.

“Baby, I’m so close.” Finally.

“Come for me, Abby.” You sank your teeth into her throat and tightened your grip in her hair, grinding into her with all your strength until you both started crying out each other’s names, scratching and grabbing at each other’s bodies as waves of pleasure rushed over you and made you twitch and shake.

Still inside her, you lay on Abby’s chest, both of you coated in sweat, spit and each other’s juices. She ran a hand through your hair and drew the pad of her thumb over the red marks on your back.

“Oh Y/N, what are you doing to me?”

You reached back a hand to loosen the straps of the harness and lifted your head to look at the flustered blonde. Slowly, you pulled out of her and enjoyed the almost unnoticeable twitches of her face, small echoes of the sensations she had felt minutes before. The strap on fell to the floor with a heavy thud and you both had to laugh at the sound.

Abby sighed and pulled you closer.

“I think every single person on the base either saw or heard us. Or both.”

You buried your face between her breasts and soaked in her wonderful musk before licking a line all the way up to her earlobe.

“Do you care?”

She laughed again, her chest vibrating against yours.

“Not really, no. When I have you, nothing else matters.”

You both paused for a second, letting that sentence sink in. Carefully, you placed a soft kiss to her lips and she deepened it, caressing your tongue with hers and gently biting your bottom lip.

You would have to have this conversation sometime soon. But right now, it was enough to feel the deep, intense connection between you as you nestled your face in the crook of your lover’s neck and she pulled a sheet over both of you, enjoying this moment together without thinking of anything else, especially not the future.

When you were together, nothing else mattered.

-

Author’s note: Thank you for reading, feel free to tell me what you thought 💌 if you’d like, you can support me by buying me a coffee 💛

[matbarzyy]

Wasted Love (part 1) [T.S.]

A/N: Hi I’m back!! Starting the year right with a new series (probably about five parts) with Tyler since I haven’t posted a full length fic for him yet. This isn’t fully written so bear with me and my slow updates, I’ve had this outlined for a long time and I’m very excited to start sharing it with you all! Please let me know what you think of it, feedback really means the world. <3

Word count: 2863

Warnings: alludes to smut, an abusive boyfriend

.

“It’s too early for this,” Alessia muttered to herself and stifled a yawn as she walked into the room the meeting was to be held in.

A few people were already in the room, some with disposable coffee cups set on the table and others standing around and talking to their colleagues. The green light of the stars logo on the screen reflected on the faces of those standing closest to it.

Alessia headed straight for the table, finding an empty spot that wasn’t next to anyone. Everyone in the room was older than her, at least in their thirties, and she didn’t know a single person. At twenty two, Alessia had been more than lucky to score a position in team services for the Dallas Stars.

She was dressed simply but professionally with navy suit trousers and a white blouse. She was well aware of how pointless spending hours picking an outfit had been this morning, but she couldn’t help but want to try her hardest to look a little bit older in the middle of all those people. It was hard enough to be a woman in the middle of a male dominated company, she didn’t need to hear anyone be condescending to her because of her age too.

It was still Alessia’s first week in this facility, so she wasn’t used to how things worked just yet. Giving clear instructions didn’t seem to be in anyone’s habits around here, she was shown to an office on her first day and everything else came by email. It was the reason she was fifteen minutes early to this meeting rather than on time, she had been worried she wouldn’t be able to find the room.

A familiar face eventually came into view, but Alessia didn’t feel any comfort. Her boss was more scary than reassuring. Surely enough, everyone else followed quickly after the man and took their seats. A lot remained empty, including the one to Alessia’s right, and she only understood why when a group of men dressed in gym clothes walked in.

The guys on the team were rarely dressed professionally if they didn’t need to be, and Alessia knew they’d practice as soon as the meeting was over.

“Morning,” One of them grinned as he took a seat next to her.

“Hello,” Alessia smiled politely before returning her attention to the front page of the presentation that was being projected on the screen.

A giddy feeling filled her as the reality of her life sunk in. She made it. She got a job for the NHL that she had dreamed of for so many years, and she was now sitting in a meeting with her favorite team of players. The nerves of being new weren’t going away anytime soon, but Alessia still took a moment to remind herself she deserved to be proud of what she had achieved.

You don’t get to sit next to Tyler freaking Seguin for the first time every day.

The fangirling in her mind lasted very few seconds as she drifted into work mode to focus on the meeting. She knew all too well that nothing of importance would be said for her, but she also hoped it’d give her a better sense of what everyone else did.

.

It was only hours later in her office that someone finally came to talk to her. Alessia almost jumped in excitement when she heard the knock on her open door. She was already sick of emails and she was ready for some human interactions.

“Oh, hi,” Alessia straightened up in her seat at the sight of Tyler. “What can I do for you?”

“I just came to say hello, I’m Tyler,” he smiled and introduced himself. “I figured it was your first meeting this morning?”

“You figured right,” She got up and shook his hand. “I’m Alessia, I just started on Monday,”

“That’s cool, you even made old Abby’s office look kinda nice,” Tyler looked at the plant on her desk and the one framed picture of a golden retriever hanging on the wall. It wasn’t much decoration, but if there was a picture of a dog it was good enough for him to like it.

“Old Abby?” She frowned at the words and he cringed.

“I take it you didn’t meet the woman who worked here before you took the job?”

“No I didn’t have a chance to meet anyone around here, really,” Alessia admitted, it was a relief that someone was here for a little bit of small talk with her.

“Well, let’s just say she was old and cranky. It’s nice to see someone that actually knows how to smile,” Tyler explained and chuckled at the look of shock on her face. “I’m not joking, everyone on the team avoided asking her for anything because of it, she was that bad.”

“Ah, so did you lose a bet or something to be the one to check out who replaced her?” She grinned and he had the decency of looking a little embarrassed.

“It was a rocks paper scissors game,” Tyler admitted, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m glad I’ve met you though. I’ll let you get work done, see you around?”

“Yeah, sure, I promise I’ll be smiling if you ever need to ask me for anything,” Alessia teased and he beamed in response.

“Careful there, I might start needing a lot of things.” He winked before walking out.

.

In the following weeks Alessia got to know everyone on the team. As it turned out, the guys always needed help with something and she was the one they constantly went to. She was part of a small team of people, she wasn’t their only option, but she was still the one who received the most visits and emails.

Tyler liked to joke and say it was because of her undeniable charm, to which Alessia shook her head and laughed. He of all people had heard the most about her personal life, so he was well aware of her relationship status and knew she wasn’t flirting with anyone. He had asked about Jordan one day when he noticed all the pictures she had put up on the wall behind her desk to join the one of the golden retriever.

Jordan was Alessia’s boyfriend when she was still at university, he worked in finances for a pharmaceutical company and they shared an apartment. Tyler never asked her much about that once he got the basic info, he was too focused on her dog to care about anything else.

Alessia got him when she was fourteen for Christmas, it was her uncle’s idea and her parents had no choice but to roll with it once the puppy was in her arms. The only issue was that this specific uncle also had a five years old daughter who had decided Peanut was a great name for a goldie. No one had the heart to argue with her on such a happy day and the name stuck.

“You’re making me want to take a trip to London just to pet him,” He admitted when Alessia showed him a video of the ball of fluff running into a pile of autumn leaves.

“If you go, take me with you. All I want is Peanut and cuddles on the couch,” She sighed, leaning back into her desk chair to relax. Tyler was the closest thing she had to a friend here, and he spent more time than he should in her office with the door closed so that they could both catch a break while pretending to work.

“I’m not sure your parents would be too happy to hear that,” Tyler thought of what her family would say at the words, but she only laughed.

“Oh they know, don’t worry, my dog is my life, as soon as I get a big enough place I’m bringing him here to live with me.” She explained her plan, she simply couldn’t have a dog this big in her apartment, especially since she wasn’t home at all during the day.

“Alright, until then if I go to London I’ll drag you along. You’ll have to make me visit all the best places in exchange,” he told her, which she figured wasn’t much in exchange for a trip on another continent.

“I can agree to that,” Alessia hummed and he grinned.

“Then it’s a deal, Allie,”

“Allie?” Her eyebrow raised at the use of the nickname, and Tyler suddenly felt a lot less confident.

“Can I call you that? I didn’t know what to shorten your name to,” he asked with some hesitancy in case there was something she didn’t like about it.

“Yeah, yeah Allie is fine,” she nodded while a shy smile grew on her face.

No one apart from her family and childhood best friend called her that, but she didn’t feel like explaining it. She could only hope it wouldn’t spread to the rest of the team and ruin how special the nickname was to her. She got along with most of the guys well, the younger ones needed her help a lot and they weren’t formal so it made for easy friendships. Tyler was the right in between, he was a few years older than her but still goofy, so she got along with him best, and for some reason she felt like giving him the special privilege of using that nickname.

.

“Hey J,” Alessia pushed the door to their shared apartment open and relaxed in the warmth of the air she was met with.

“Hey, how was your day?” Jordan got up from the couch, walking over to kiss her.

“Normal work day,” She replied after they parted. “I had lunch with the team, Tyler spilled coffee on my blouse, but other than that nothing interesting,” She relayed the only event that was special about the day and Jordan noticed the stain. 

“He sounds like a prick, why are you friends with him?” He asked, still standing in her way to get in. Alessia bit the inside of her cheek as she thought of her answer. It was something she had to do often, Jordan was always pointing out things her friends did that he didn’t like.

“It was just an accident,” She bent down to take her shoes off before placing them on the rack. She noticed his were in the way and put them in the right place too. He must have simply kicked them off when he walked in.

“He’s just another one of those guys,” Jordan shrugged, and she frowned at that.

“What do you mean?” She didn’t want to start an argument with him, but Tyler was one of the people she got along with best on the team. He was her closest work friend, so she didn’t want Jordan to think he was a bad guy.

“You know, one of those guys that wouldn’t even look your way if they didn’t have to,” He explained himself. “I’m here with you though,” He tilted her chin up and she nodded.

“I’m glad I have you,” Alessia whispered softly, letting him kiss her.

Jordan did a lot for her. He helped her be more confident when he paid attention to her. She knew he was right with his statement, other guys rarely ever looked her way. He was the most important person in her life, she wouldn’t have many people around her if it weren’t for him.

When he stepped away, Alessia took her jacket off and hung it by the door before finally walking into the apartment. It felt good to be home. Jordan returned to the couch and grabbed his phone, going back to staring at the screen. An occasional chuckle left him when he stumbled onto something that made him laugh.

“Can you make dinner?” He asked her with a glance, not even adding a please at the end of his sentence.

“Sure,” Alessia took a deep breath and pushed the sleeves of her blouse up to her elbows. There was no point in changing now that it was stained.

She didn’t say anything when he didn’t thank her and headed to the kitchen silently. He didn’t usually help her when she cooked, so she knew she at least wouldn’t have to hear him complain while she prepared dinner.

A hint of guilt filled her when she realised she was thinking of him so badly. Jordan treated her well, he was just having a rough day. He wasn’t very good at cooking, it only made sense that she’d make dinner.

Alessia sighed as she placed a pot full of water on the stove to boil and began chopping an onion on the cutting board to make a decent sauce to go with the pasta.

Her day at work had been long too, not so bad that she had to spend the rest of the night on the couch, but tiring enough that she didn’t feel like cooking at all. Still, she put her energy into it and convinced herself that she’d be doing this if she were alone anyway. She had to eat dinner no matter who she lived with, and making dinner for one was the same as making dinner for two.

Jordan had been her boyfriend for the past two years. They met each other while Alessia was still studying, and he was just a year older. It was exciting for her to finally meet someone that wasn’t a student, and she was flattered by all the attention he gave her. No one had ever been interested in her that way, so whenever he took her out on a date her heart fluttered and she found herself falling for him.

Moving in together a few months ago had been an easy decision. Jordan always texted her to come over, sometimes very late at night. Alessia was tired of running around between both of their places, so she thought it’d be great for them to see each other more.

Now, as the tomato sauce simmered in the pan while the pasta cooked, she found herself missing her old studio and how peaceful it was. Putting two plates together only took her a few more minutes, and she set the rest of the table before calling Jordan over.

“Thanks babe,” He gave her lips a quick kiss before sitting down across from her, and Alessia let her smile grow back on her face.

“You’re welcome,” She got filled with a sense of pride for getting a thank you from him. Jordan wasn’t always very talkative, so anything he told her that was positive made her happy.

He always enjoyed the things she cooked, and it was satisfying to know she made something good. He was smiling and telling her about his day, talking about everything he did at work but also how draining it was. Alessia listened to it all, chiming in with a few words here and there when she knew they were needed. This was their routine, she prided herself in being a good listener, and Jordan often told her he felt better after talking to her.

“I’ve got a call to make, be right back,” He excused himself from the table once their plates were empty, disappearing on the small balcony their apartment had.

Alessia knew it might last a while, so she used that time to clean up. She tidied the kitchen and quickly hoovered the whole place to keep it spotless. The apartment was always organised, mostly because she didn’t like it when things were out of place and spent most of her time home keeping things clean.

When she was done, Jordan was still outside talking. She could hear him laugh from time to time, so she assumed he was talking to one of his friends. Alessia stretched her hands over her head and took a deep breath, relaxing her muscles with a satisfied little noise.

The bed was still perfectly made when she walked into the bedroom, and she took her pajamas folded under her pillow before heading to the bathroom. She was ready for a nice, relaxing shower. Some time to exfoliate her skin and bask in the soothing scent of her lavender shower gel was sure to help her relax before going to bed.

“Cute,” Jordan startled her by walking into the bathroom and grinning at the sight of her in her underwear.

He chuckled at her little jump and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her against his chest.

“Thanks,” She whispered, glancing at her exfoliant on the side of the bathtub. She knew her plans of a relaxing shower would have to wait another day at least.

“Need you to help me relax,” Jordan kissed the side of her neck and nibbled at her skin, making her wince and squirm in his arms.

Alessia nodded silently and allowed him to push her forward to bend over the bathroom sink. She hid her face into her arm, and just like every night, she let him have his way with her even if she got nothing out of it.

[caitsyoi]

I made a post about the Seraphites, so now I want to make one about the WLF. This post is mostly about the WLF's home base, aka the stadium and the area immediately around it. I've included some of my favorite pictures, and my thoughts and observations about where they live and their culture.

Under the cut again to keep things nice and clean.

I gotta say, this blew my mind when I first saw this as Abby. The WLF really have their shit together. Multiple power sources, a bunch of the resources FEDRA left behind, and multiple food sources. The field has cattle, sheep, and chickens plus some farming. On the steps they have even more areas for farming. They have a way to collect water, and even people to design and string up their logo everywhere.

It makes sense, supposedly thousands of people live here (you can't see it unless except via glitch, but there is also baseball stadium immediately next to this that they might also occupy).

We only see where Abby and other soldiers (perhaps squad leaders?) live. They have a pretty cushy life, two per luxury box (the rooms NFL teams overcharge for that run along the upper level of stadiums). Mel also mentions a special area for young families, I wouldn't be surprised if these areas were further divided. Perhaps there is also housing for larger families and single people who aren't soldiers or squad leaders. I very much wonder if those who join the military get better housing than those that work as farmers (or dishwashers, teachers, laundry washers, cooks, etc.). As mentioned earlier, Abby and Manny live in a luxury box, and there are 112 of those in the stadium this is based on. That's housing for 224 people, if they all live like the people in Abby's hallway. That would mean there has to be more housing in other parts of the stadium.

This stadium was once used by FEDRA, and you can see the concrete barriers they left behind along the edge of the field. They have to have more cattle than this, to feed all the people that supposedly live under the WLF. There is farmland around the stadium (more on that later), so maybe they mostly let them graze out there, then move some in when they plan on slaughtering them soon.

I love that they have wind turbines AND solar panels. You can see the influence that the Fireflies had on Issac and the WLF, they really focus on stability and restoring what was lost (at least when it comes to comfort). So they have electricity, sustainable food sources (and multiple kinds too), and a way to collect water (you can't see it in this shot, but they use a system similar to Jackson's, just on a much wider scale).

They teach a curriculum similar to what was taught to kids before the outbreak. We only see two classrooms, but from what I can tell they try to give the gives the type of education they could have received in the old days (as best they can, at least). Both the teachers you see are pretty young, which makes me wonder who taught them.

Most of the kinds you see in class are pretty young, like less than 10. These look a little order (they are outside the stadium in the market area, which I will talk about more a little later). I wonder how long WLF children are required to attend school (I think I saw a sign for 1st through 6th grade, so at least that?). I imagine they get a basic education with some broad looks into various topics, and maybe the ones most apt for study are selected to do specialized careers like teaching or meteorology. Other children are probably pushed into farming or the military portion of the WLF. Regardless of what they study, they probably also get a heavy dose of WLF propaganda. That aligns with how gung-ho many of them are to fight.

I wonder if military service is compulsory, like everyone has has to do at least so much time and then they can do other things if they want. Or maybe they make it so you don't have to fight if you don't want to, but those that do get better perks.

Most of the WLF you see appear to be in their 20's or 30's, or at least the fighters. That would mean they have spent most (if not all) of their lives under military rule, and they would have a special allegiance to the WLF since they manage things so much better than FEDRA did. Plus, you know, all that propaganda. I imagine they are told a lot about how the WLF is restoring society and how the WLF saved them from FEDRA/Scars/infected.

Sorta related, I thought of an WLF AU. Ellie grows up in Seattle under the WLF, perhaps with Riley and Dina and the other characters from canon. So many interesting things can be done with this, but that's for another post maybe.

This is one the cafeteria's the WLF use. I believe this is one of a few, although this is the only one you see. There is also a butcher and small market for clothing and items here too. They prepare food here, but I think the majority of cooking is done in an area set up for it in the stands.

They have posted meal times for groups A-F, and separate meal times for children and the late night patrol. So maybe this is the only cafeteria? Each end is blocked off, so maybe they use some of the corridor that circles the stadium for more living quarters.

This is also community space where they can play games, chat, or read. There also seems to be a mix of soldiers and other workers eating together, as well as young families (there is at least 1 or 2 women with young babies in here).

This little detail was super cute to me, but it also tells you a lot about WLF society. Everyone has a job to do, there is a role and place for everyone to contribute.

I'll talk more about this in another post (titled "It's Silly to Call a Post-apocalyptic Group 'Fascists', but Still the WLF Is Pretty Messed Up"), but an important thing to remember about the WLF is that everything comes down to Issac. He has the final say on everything, he makes all the major decisions, he picks squad leaders, he decides who needs to be punished, he's basically the Supreme Leader. Issac has been shown to be somewhat progressive with some things (you can follow whatever religion you want or none at all in the WLF, the WLF has no problem with LGBTQ people, you can get medical waivers for military duty, they provide support for pregnant women and parents, etc.), and in other ways he is very much the opposite (he punishes anyone who disagrees with him - this could be a relatively light punishment of a crappy assignment or it could be a beating, then there's the whole attempted genocide thing). Anyway, my point is that there are good things about the WLF, but also there is a serious darkside.

Anyway, when I saw this lady and her baby I immediately thought of Dina doing this with JJ while she gardens.

I absolutely loveeeee this little detail. A mural for the fallen. This really reminds me of some stuff you could see today, just replace the wolf with an eagle and make the uniforms camo.

There are 46ish names on this wall, so I wonder if it is continuously updated or if there are multiple murals, because they definitely have lost more people than that over the years. Also, there are about 150 people at the FOB (the amount of bodies at the FOB, yes I counted) that will need to be added. Maybe the war with the Seraphites just really exploded in the last few weeks (or maybe longer) leading up to Ellie's arrival.

I love that you can pause during the ride with Abby, Mel, and Manny to look around the outside of the stadium. Immediately outside there are train tracks and what appears to be a large market running along side of it. This is on the west side of the stadium, I believe. A major highway intersection is also nearby.

The market has all sorts of goods, food, gas, clothing, cleaning products, TVs and other electronics, records, and even more. I wonder if this is some sort of intake area for any goods they bring back to the base. But who runs these little shops? From some notes you can find we know their economy runs on trade, so how does this work?

Once you get past the market area, you see a pretty vast section of farmland. I loved this shot because it also shows one of their rain water storage areas. They mark this water as to be used only for irrigation, so they must use something else for people to drink and bathe with. Or maybe they just filter some water for people to use, and the rest goes to the plants.

In the background you can see the wall and a guard tower. There is a larger wall (like much larger, I'm talking maybe 5 stories) around the QZ, and a smaller one that runs around the stadium.

This is labeled "Checkpoint #4", so I'm not sure if that means there are other gates, but this is the only one we see in game.

The wall is pretty thick, and you can see these guard towers spaced out all alongside it (much like in Jackson). Once you leave the walls you are immediately surrounded by the wasteland that is post-apocalyptic Seattle.

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 3.08 - Someone to Watch Over Me

Why am I such a sap and the end scene basically had me tearing up?

(Also why is the last scene now- some an hour later - the only thing I remember of the whole episode? Selective amnesia anyone?)

Anyhow, let’s take a breath and try to bring some thoughts back...

We start off with our somewhat clingy “Higgy and Ethan acting like they’re in high school” scene... then progressing into being college students leaving a party to go hook up...

Which I mean...alright, at least we got interrupted with a phone call (also someone i having way too much fun with everyone personalizing their ring tones!)

Honestly, I kind of like Ethan at this moment. 

(When he’s leaving to go take care of a patient, like a good doctor, leaving Higgy all frustrated and ready to play poker and take everyone’s money!)

Then we get one of my favorite moments:

Higgy just casually walking into Magnum’s bedroom and poking him, trying to wake him, and then pouring some water on him to get the job done. I can’t imagine how much fun that was to film (well for Perdie at least).

Anyhow, let’s run down the ep. 

Case of the week is finding Ethan’s dying patient before he...well... dies. 

Magnum/ Higgy are annoyed with each other because she’s trying to help with his sleeping problems  and he is upset she talked to Ethan about him. I kind of see both points of view but I fully agree with Magnum on the whole “What’s between us stays between us, cone of silence”. Which Higgy realizes is right too at the end and that gives us that fab #soft ending! 

Then there is also the side plot with the recruit and the painter girl from last season coming back and maybe being Rick’s love interest (which was on my season 3 wish list!! Yay! Well Rick having a GF/ some more female characters) 

It felt like there was just kind of a lot of things, or so it seemed to me, which meant I only focused on what I felt was most important. Which is Higgy and Magnum, Higgy and Ethan and kinda a bit on the case. 

The case for me was the weakest we’ve had for a few episodes. There was nothing wrong with it really. Some twists and turns, yadayada, feel good moment, take responsibility, at least you have each other... I liked it BUT wasn’t it a little hard to connect with? 

I wish they’d have shown us an actual picture of the person we were looking for at the start (rather than just his lung scans...). Given us a second where Ethan met him even? Or the two brothers taking care of on another in some way? It was like it took too long for me to actually care even though I felt pretty awful for the little kid getting shot, he didn’t feel connected to the adult dying missing character. Does that make sense?

Some of my favorite moments through out this was...

Higgy coming back to the poker table and everyone being just a little confused and then smug about it (presumably until she starts taking their money). 

Magnum being sulky about being dragged along to help Ethan (well for a minute).

TC being honorable and all about the right thing through out the ep.

Higgy trying to explain why Magnum is wrong to be upset about her talking to Ethan about him...

(I really liked this, because she’s all “YOU CAN’T BE MAD I CARE ABOUT YOU!” and I think she does have a point, even if you know it’s not really right -or in Ethan’s case, professional- of a thing to do, it is coming from a good place. She cares about Magnum. He isn’t doing anything about his sleeplessness and so she talks to the person she’s getting closer to who is also a doctor... I can see why to Higgy that makes sense.)

Continuation of this is the Abby-thing!

OMG, I love the Abby conversation. 

I love every single thing about it.

Juliet: Um, what did Abby know about me? 

Magnum: Huhm? 

Juliet: Well, you seem to have this issue with Ethan and I discussing you, but you and Abby were pretty serious there for a minute. And since it's absolutely normal to discuss your partner with your...partner. Surely I must have come up in conversation?

Magnum: No. Not at all.

Juliet: *surprised Pikachu face*

(Okay, I tried to get a good screenshot of just how upset this makes her but I couldn’t. But I think she was actually genuinely surprised and hurt he hadn’t talked about her to Abby!)

Also is it weird I have a dream that I’ll one day find someone to stand next to and just have us look half as good as these two mange all the time?

Moving on...

So yeah, we get a bit too much surgery/ hospital stuff there for my taste. I don’t know what was going on, like where they trying to show off Ethan’s doctor skills? Make us worried about the outcome? But honestly I’m not watching Grey’s Anatomy, I’m watching Magnum PI!

IDK, I for one would maybe have liked the guy to have died and the brother to have gone off the deep end and for the dad to have been a bit less remorseful and really have gone off the island and into hiding! Like an actual Not So Good ending for once? Perhaps the dad comes back to say goodbye before doing the right thing and going prison but his son is dead?

Because sure, I love me my happy ending and I’m glad that’s what we get most of the time but come on folks, once in a while you gotta throw some else in there. IDK, this was nice too, but maybe one out of 20 cases ONE should be a total fail?

This was a nice moment through.

The most important question I have after this episode is however...

Is Rick not the bartender at La Marianna?

Like I thought that was kind of what he did. Owner and bartender. Apparently not? (I mean I don’t really care if it means we’re getting Susie as a regular character, like come on, how can we have only 2 recurring female characters and 6 male ones?)

Also, not really a question but... can two people just be any more adorable together?

Just look at that; two (NS)SM having a beer and being soft together... does life get any better than that really?

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Kismet {7}

Henry Cavill x Famous OFC Aliya Taylor

Warning: Plot, Slow Burn, Mild Cursing

Words: 5.1k

Summary: Aliya is a singer turned model turned actress. Since she was fifteen, she’s been creating her empire in the entertainment world. As the daughter of a famous fashion model/designer and Hollywood director, you’d think life is easy for her, but her past has been anything but easy. Due to past trauma, she’s forever changed and no longer trusts any man that is not in her family and a select few in her team. She’s sworn off love and serious relationships and has planned never to fall again, but love isn’t something that can be planned. It just happens when it’s meant to. Can Aliya outrun a love that seems hellbent on holding tight to her, a love that is Kismet?

If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!! 😘  

As always, thank you so much for reading. ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 

-Henry-

 He tossed from his right.

 “This has been fun. You seem like a really good person on top of being uber-talented. I wish you nothing but continued success in your career and life, but for anything here, I don’t think it’s going to happen,”

 He turned to his left.

 “I don’t do drama or messy, and your situation screams drama and mess.”

 He rolled from his back.

“The bottom line is I’ve broken three rules already when it comes to you, and I will not break this one.”

 He flipped to his stomach.

 “Goodbye, Henry.”

 That was always when he leaped up, sweating, panting, and wide awake. It was always the same time. Two in the morning and he always had the same feelings. Regret. Resentment. Emptiness. He hated those words when put together. Every night for the last two days, it was the same thing. He’d go about his business, work, fulfill his obligations, meet family and friends to catch up, all the while thinking he saw you at the most inopportune times. He remembered the first time he thought he saw you. He was having lunch with his brothers, their wives, girlfriends, and nephews. In the middle of his conversation, from clear across the restaurant, he thought he saw you. The woman didn’t even look a lot like you. The only thing you shared in resemblance was the complexion of your skin and your hair color. He knew then he’d lost his mind and was acting out of character.

 Usually, if he were in this situation, he would have already moved on. He never dwelled on situations that didn’t serve a purpose for him. He was straightforward and preferred those he spent his time with to be the same. If a woman didn’t seem interested and went as far as to tell him goodbye at every chance she got, he would fade away. That is what he should do; instead, he continuously thought about you.

 He went back and forth in his head about where you were getting your assumptions and why were you so quick to think the worst of him. It was apparent to deduce that you probably had a bad past experience with someone to have become so standoffish. There was no way someone would give off such conflicting vibes if they hadn’t been burned before.

 If he didn’t imagine you throughout his day, he was dreaming of you coming up with words he should have or could have said when you were in front of him. When he thought to call you, he always turned against it. What was the point? You’d made your decision and come up with your assumptions on who he was. He wasn’t in the practice of pleading with women to give him a second chance or even a true first one.

 By day three, he found himself ignoring his wounded pride and ego. By no means was it easy to do. In truth, it had been years since he’d ever felt this way—rejected. It was humbling. Since the years when his star had officially risen so far in the Hollywood stratosphere, every woman he’d ever either approached or been approached by never rejected him. In no way was he cocky enough to think women couldn’t reject him. He just thought he felt something and that something was mutual.

 “Another beer?”

 “Uh—no, a glass of water, please.”

 “Tap, sparkling, flavored sparkling?”

 Scoffing, he shrugged then said the first that that came to mind. “Sparkling lemon is fine. Thank you.”

 The waitress nodded and walked back the way she came with his empty beer glass in hand. Today was necessary. It was long overdue. Glancing at his watch, he noted it was ten minutes past when he suggested the meetup. He also noted that he was annoyed with this lateness but not with yours. Groaning, he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to rub out the tension that rested there.

 “Hey, honey.”

 Snapping his eyes open, he saw Abby’s cheerfully smiling face. Her blonde hair was styled with bouncy curls that framed her blue-eyed face. She leaned closer as if she intended to kiss him, tilting his face to the side, her lips landed on his cheek.

 “Oh,” Abby said, voice filled with disappointment.

 “Sit, join me,” he said, hoping to distract from the slight he’d just shown her.

 Abby sat on the stool across from him after placing her purse to hand on the side of it. When she leaned forward, his eyes dropped to her top's cleavage before they instantly came right back up to her face.

 “How are you, babe?”

 “Good.

 “I missed you so much. You have no idea. There were so many things I wanted to tell you,” Abby began before he could start the conversation.

 He listened and nodded along as she went on and on about the things that were going on in her life. She talked for so long that he was able to drink the entire glass of water the waitress brought over. When the waitress came back to take their orders, he had to step in.

 “Uh, can you give us a few moments?”

 “Sure.”

 Abby’s eyebrows knitted, showing her confusion.

 “I wanted to talk, Abby.”

 “About what, Henners?”

 Taking a deep breath, he slowly released it. “A while ago, we talked, and I thought it was clear where my head was when I said we need space and to distance ourselves from each other. I thought we both understood what that meant, but—I can see I wasn’t clear.”

 He could see the worry in her eyes, and he hated to do this, but it had to be done. “I think you should move on…we both should. I didn’t mean to give the impression that there was hope for reconciliation or even that this would turn into a fling of some sort. I’m sorry for not being clear. However, I think I have to be crystal now. You have to stop calling and texting and allow yourself to move on.”

 She didn’t speak for a full two minutes.

 “Really?”

 “Yes, I’m sorry. I just--.”

 “—No, no, I get it. I really do. I--,” Abby stuttered without making any eye contact. She stood, reached for her purse, and schlepped it onto her shoulder.

 “Abby, I’m--,” He began begore she cut him off.

 “Don’t worry about it. You were clear before I just thought—guess I hoped if I showed you I was serious and willing to try that you’d come back.”

 He felt like a world-class wanker. As he opened his mouth to say something, Abby held her hand up, smirked, and turned to walk out of the restaurant. Sighing, he made eye contact with the waitress and raised his hand for the check. One down, one more to go. By the time dinner rolled around, his FaceTime call with Francesca went a lot better. Though he could tell her defiance and reluctance to accept his wishes, she eventually did, eventually being the operative word. It took nearly twenty minutes.

 As he sat with his glass of red wine and his pasta dinner with Kal at his feet with his bowl filled with his gourmet feast and a new bone for dessert, he noted everything was quiet. His home was silent, and his thoughts were even more so. It dawned on him then. This was the first time in three years he was absolutely free with no attachments to anyone. It was something that made him pause. His life was a busy one, and he’d seen the inside of a movie trailer more than he’d seen the inside of his own home. With him traveling so much, dating was hard and more a nuisance.

 That was how Abby and Francesca came into the picture. He’d dated Francesca on and off for years before she ended things believing he didn’t want anything stable only to come back into the picture. Abby was a one-night thing that kept happening whenever he was home. Both required so little besides some attention here or there. It was probably what he gravitated to. It was low stress and a low chance of any emotional entanglement that he didn’t want--until he met you.

 After dinner and a quick walk for Kal, he found himself in for the night with one thing on his mind. You.

 “Bollocks! Just call her. Call her. It’s no big deal,” he said, trying to hype himself up.

 Feeling brave, he quickly grabbed his phone and tapped your number in his contacts. By the time the first ring began, he’d changed his mind and promptly ended the call.

 “You’re an idiot, mate!”

 He knew he was in for another sleepless night.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

-Aliya-

 <Missed Call Henry>

 Chewing your bottom lip, you stared at his name on your phone. It could have been seen as a little bit of divine intervention. For the last week, you’d gone back and forth, up and down, and around your decision to walk away from him and end things. Part of you knew it was the right thing to do. He was clearly tangled up in some sort of drama, some sort of playboy lifestyle that you didn’t want any part of. There were even times you felt like a hypocrite. You were dating two men at once. Yes, they both knew about each other, but still, it was technically the same thing. Your life was drama free because you worked hard to keep it that way, and that included exchanges between Jesse and Liam.

 In the beginning, six months ago, you’d made it crystal clear to both of them that you didn’t want any serious commitments. You told them that your career, businesses, and workload kept you plenty busy and gave you enough headaches, and you expected none from them. You set out the rules; they followed them and kept the drama to themselves. Did they like each other? Maybe not. Did they like the idea of sharing you? Maybe not. Did you care? Eh, not really. You mainly entertained them when you had some free time and wanted to de-stress. As said before, you liked drama free.

 “Why’re you staring so hard at your phone?”

 Jumping, you tried to hide it, but you weren’t quick enough. Amaya was the one to grab it from you to see Henry’s name. The sound she made said she disapproved.

 “Still can’t believe you did that man like that.”

 Kissing your teeth, you snatched your device back and sat on one of the stools around the kitchen island.

 “What else was I supposed to do?  Join the equation and become part of a square?

 “The only fun shapes are triangles because they equal threesomes,” Amaya began, making you and Alicia stare at her as if she’d lost her mind. “However, squares can be fun.”

 “You’ve lost your mind. In no situation is three women duking it out for one man fun. A quick departure was the only move,” you defended.

 “Honestly if, and I say if with hella contingencies, if, if, if he were actually sleeping with two other women, then yes, you did the right thing. There is no sharing unless it’s with another man for my attention,” Amaya announced.

 “The problem is, though, we don’t know if he was sleeping with these women. You made an assumption, didn’t really allow him to explain,” Alicia countered.

 “What! He had the entire discussion on the corner.”

 “After you’d accused him of being a cheat and fuckboi? After you’d probably offended him by taking strikes on his character? There are plenty of things that are different between Americans and Brits. What was you asserting your position could be disrespect to them,” Alicia, the voice of reason, theorized.

 You knew she was right on some level. You’d spent enough time in England to know the etiquette and social differences. From his cold demeanor, before you walked away, you knew you’d either injured his pride or pissed him off. Hell, both were very possible.

 “Look, I’m not saying don’t stand up for yourself with letting someone know what you will or won’t accept. I’m saying maybe there was a better way. Maybe one that didn’t leave you second-guessing yourself and thinking about him.”

 You hated when she saw right through you, hated when she was right, and hated even more when she called you out rather than letting you rock. Groaning, you shut your phone off and placed it face down, deciding to do what you did best—ignore everything.

 You’d thought about him a lot over the last week, and within the last week, you’d come across more Henry Cavill content than you had in the entire year. There were InStyle interviews, promos, magazine articles, Instagram posts that were now on your feed because of one time you tapped on a picture to get a closer look. There were even YouTube videos of him reading thirsty tweets. Lord have mercy. He was everywhere, and the more you saw of him, the more you thought of him.

 One thing you didn’t see regarding him were any tabloid pictures of him out and out with any woman. He was always pictured with family, his dog, friends, or by himself. That tidbit had you wondering if you’d been wrong about things. You hated second-guessing; it always left you in this weird hyper anxious state. You usually got a lot done when you were like this, but it left you exhausted.

 “Have you thought of your two boyfriends as much as you’ve thought about this never was one?”

 Why was she like this? She’d always been this way. She held nothing back, but where Alicia was the same, they differed in that Alicia had a way of being blunt but also being gentle. Amaya didn’t give a shit. She said what she meant with no care if the recipient felt offended.

 “I’m gonna take your silence as a no. when was the last time you’ve actually spent any time with them? Bored?”

 “I’m hungry, let’s eat,” you said, walking out of the kitchen making your way to the home cinema room. You knew how to flip a subject if you no longer wanted to talk about it.

 The two of them followed behind you, then dropped into one of the large relaxing couches. Knowing you didn’t want to talk about it anymore, the two focused on figuring out a movie for tonight’s movie cinema. It had been weeks since the three of you had been able to do this, and it was long overdue.

 Once you’d found something, the rest of the night was spent laughing, gossiping, being extra, eating and drinking while watching movie after movie. Thankfully the conversation remained off of you and on the two of them. Alicia spoke about her recent date while Amaya let you in on the status of her latest situationship. While the focus didn’t return to you and yours, your mind was sure focused on one thing. Henry.

 Two days later, while you were locked in your office trying to make something of the mess of work before you, you got a notification from Instagram. Deciding you needed a break, you opened up the app and scrolled through your feed. After a minute or so, you came across a post on some gossip site. It was a picture of Henry’s smiling face with a caption that read, “Happy Birthday to Henry Cavill. This hunk of a man is celebrating a birthday today across the pond, and many women wish they could ring it in with him. From your fans on this side of the pond, Happy birthday!”

 Your jaw dropped. It was Henry’s birthday.

 “Is it really?”

 That began a dive into the internet, which led you to the first site, IMDB. Sure enough, according to his fans, it was his birthday, May fifth.

 “Wow.” Jumping back to Instagram, you typed his name in for a tag search and scrolled through the plethora of birthday wishes and fan page tributes. It was plain as day to see that his fans sure loved them some Henry Cavill. It was cute. After almost twenty minutes of scrolling, you began to debate if you should send him a birthday message. You wondered if it was appropriate.

 “Is it appropriate to send a birthday wish to a man that wasn’t really yours to begin with but knew what your mouth tasted like?”

 Closing your eyes for a few moments, you decided it wasn’t.

 “Not appropriate, especially considering you were the one to end things. However, there was really nothing to end. We were never a we.”

 Sitting in silence for another few minutes, you rolled your eyes.

 “It is rude, though, if I don’t send something,” you finalized, admonishing the British etiquette coursing through your blood.

 You dropped your head to the desk and groaned. This was ridiculous, you thought. It shouldn’t be this complicated.

 “You’re making it complicated, dummy. Just send the message.”

 Taking a few moments to gather your thoughts, you sat up again as if nothing had happened for the last fifteen minutes of indecisiveness and began your text. You typed a few beginnings and deleted them. You didn’t know how to begin. Did you just jump in and ignore the massive elephant in the room? Did you address the elephant but get right to the birthday wish? Your etiquette training said to address the elephant but in a ladylike manner then proceed to the birthday wish. That’s what you should have done. Your real-world girl living said to ignore that elephant and get right to it, then bury your head and see how he takes it.

 MSG: It’s your birthday, well, according to IMDB and all your Cavillry fans. Did you know your fans call themselves the Cavillry? That’s pretty insane and hilarious. Anyway, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I know you never told me when it was but the wonders of the internet. Yes, I might have googled you. Anyway, I hope your birthday is filled with laughter, fun, happiness, and wonder because you just might deserve all three. Be safe and live like it’s your last.

 Yeah, you ignored the fuck out of that elephant and took it to a whole other level. Full-on avoidance. As you looked over the message, you chewed your bottom lip, a nervous tick you never got rid of. When three or four minutes passed by with no response, your anxiousness picked up. That was when you slid it away and got back to work, determined not to obsesses over it.

  ~~~~~~~

-Henry-

 Shocked could have summed up what he felt when he saw your message. Shocked and stunned silent. It happened at the weirdest time too. He was in the middle of a get together with his family for his birthday. With his Guinness in hand, he just happened to glance at his phone as he was going to snap a picture of something funny Simon was doing.

 “What’s the matter with you?”

 Shaking his head, he spun around to face Piers on his right. “Nothing. I’m good,” he lied.

 “No, you’re not,” Simon said, coming up on his left to sit at the table. “Which one is it, Francesca or Abby?”

 He rolled his eyes at Simon, not finding any humor in his words. His brothers laughed at him because they all knew the story there.

 “You have the worst taste in women,” Nik began slapping him hard on his shoulder. “You either choose the ones who have ulterior motives hence Abby, or the ones who want different things than you, Francesca,” he finished.

 “At least the women I get are beautiful,” he compensated quite pathetically. It was a horrible comeback, but it was all he had. He hated not having some sort of comeback when his brothers ganged up on him. It took him back to being a child.

 “Francesca was beautiful, Abby—was adorable a little immature though,” Piers added with a shrug to the end.

 He couldn’t deny that. “She was,” he said with a nod. “Very jealous too.”

 “So, who was the message from?”

 “No one.”

 It was a blatant lie.

 “Oh, it’s someone all right,” Piers called out.

 He groaned, knowing they wouldn't let it go until he’d told them. Sighing, he gulped his beer before he began.

 “Remember the woman I told you about?”

 The three of them looked confused as if he'd never mentioned you before.

 “The one who had your phone?”

 “Yes. Turns out, she saw the messages for and from Abby and Francesca.”

 They all looked confused again. “So what?”

 Simon shook his head before he spoke. “He’s interested in her.”

 “Who is this woman, anyway?”

 “Don’t worry about it,” he replied to Nik’s curiosity. He wanted to keep some privacy, especially now that you’d decided he was some male gigolo.

 “We went out on three dates. The second date goes well--.”

 “—How well?”

 He couldn’t help but smile at Simon’s inquiry. His memory was still fresh from what he was classifying as the best second date he’d ever had. When his chuckle broke through, his brothers’ interest piqued.

 “Really well, I see,” Nik professed.

 “Not like that. It was just a kiss, or three kisses, three incredible kisses. Anyway, she ignores me for a few days; then I see her in New York about a week ago. We had dinner with her friends, then breakfast the next day. Everything seemed fine, after she tells me that nothing is going to happen between us.”

 “Just like that?”

 “Just like that. She said she saw the messages, and she doesn’t do drama or messy, and she thinks I’m juggling two women, and she has rules she’s broken and won’t break the drama rule,” he informed. As he said the words, his annoyance rose again.

 “Woah. A lot going on there,” Simon began before he gulped his beer.

 “What rules?”

 “I don’t know. She said she wished me success in the future, but we were done,” he finished.

 “To be fair, you are juggling two women. You and Francesca have this weird relationship where she wants more from you, but you’re not willing to give it to her, so she tries to see if it’s enough, and it’s not. That’s the back and forth,” Piers summed up. He finished his beer then continued. “With Abby, I don’t know your problem. You know you need to end it, but maybe the shag is too good.”

 “Hey!”

 Their laughter rang out again.

 “Honestly, my world gets lonely, and it’s nice to have someone that wants you around instead of being all work,” he divulged.

 “Even if you don’t feel anything for that someone?”

Simon hit the nail right on the head. Sighing, he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I cut ties with them both.”

 “Whatever,” Nik scoffed.

 “I’m serious. It was last week. It was like breaking up with them all over again.” He shuddered, thinking back to the experience.

 “So, they’re gone?”

 “Gone and done,” he confirmed.

 “And things with this woman?”

 “I don’t know what to do. She doesn’t seem that interested. It seems as if she’s being friendly, but that’s it.”

 “Did she kiss you back?”

 Nodding to Piers, he replied. “She did.”

 “Does she give you eye contact, or do you catch her watching you sometimes?”

 It was an odd question, but he briefly thought it over before he answered Simon's inquiry.

 “Yes.”

 “She’s into you,” Piers, Simon, and Nik said in unison.

 “Then why brush me off? She just seems—unattainable.”

 “Be careful with those types of women,” Nik warned.

 “I’ve heard nothing for a little over a week, and now she sends me this message.”

 “Read it.”

 Opening the message back up, he read your text to his curious brothers. As he read, he glanced at each of their faces trying to gauge what they were thinking. They each looked to be thinking different things, though. Once he finished, he looked at all of them.

 “That was nice of her,” Simon expressed.

 “Sounds like she’s being friendly,” Piers added.

 “That’s good and well. What do I say?”

 “Nothing.”

 “No. Thanks,” Piers suggested conflicting with Nik’s advice.

 “Thanks? That’s it?”

 “That’s it. Guarantee it’ll drive her crazy.”

 He looked between them again, and seeing them nodding together; he decided what the hell.

 MSG Henry: Thanks.

 “Good. Now forget her, and let’s get out of here to enjoy your birthday!”

 Five minutes later, they were on their way to one of the city's exclusive gentlemen's clubs. While this establishment wasn’t a traditional strip club, there were women in cages and frames throughout the club. It was a popular location among Londoners and one he’d been to once or twice already.

Once they walked into the club through the VIP entrance, they were led to one of the private sections for celebrities. After almost ten minutes inside, he noticed the eyes on him, but he did his best to ignore it. It was his birthday, after all, and he intended to enjoy it to the fullest.

 Fifteen minutes later, he’d had two more beers and was now surrounded by a few women who eagerly tried to gain his favor. They each talked about something different, making it difficult to focus on anyone. When one of the women pulled him up to dance, the other sandwiched him making him the prime meat between them all. When his brothers glanced over, they all released an uproar of cheers. It was absolute lunacy, and the longer he remained there, the crazier things became. Though he partied and enjoyed the night, you weren’t far from his mind.

 By the time they staggered out of the club, the paps were there to catch the women's desperateness as they exited the club. Though they tried, he got into the taxi with only his brothers as his company. He wasn’t the kind of man to have a string of one night affairs. It was too reckless for him.

 ~~~~~~~~~

-Aliya-

 Thanks. That’s what he chose to reply with thirty minutes from when I sent the message. Thanks. Not thank you, but thanks. Not I appreciate you taking the time. Thanks. Not you’re so sweet to think of me. Just thanks. It boiled your blood. You were confused by, annoyed with, and dissatisfied with the message. Couldn’t he have mustered up another reply? Anything. You tried to have work be enough, but you gave up an hour after receiving the message. Instead, you relieved your annoyance in the kitchen. When you were angry, you always had to chop things. You had no intention of cooking. You just wanted to chop.

 Thanks to the near hour of your obsessing, you had Ziploc bags of diced onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, and carrots. You doubted you’d be able to go through it within the week, but that wasn’t the point. By the time one in the morning rolled around, you were still anxious and annoyed. You couldn’t believe this. You hadn’t had a reaction like this to someone in a long time—if ever.

 That was when your phone rang. Grabbing it off of the nightstand, you saw Henry’s name illuminate the screen. Your nerves shot up like a rocket, and no matter how many deep breaths you took, they remained sky-high. After a few rings, you answered.

 “Hello?”

 A sigh echoed on the other end before Henry spoke. “I honestly didn’t think you were going to answer. I was hoping to leave a message.”

 “Well, I answered. What message were you going to leave?”

 The deepness of his voice sounded deeper from what you remembered, and it had goosebumps prickling your skin.

 “One so you’d realize what you’re missing,” Henry replied. Your eyes bugged.

 Did he really just say that? Your mouth gaped open as you wondered incredulously while sitting up in your bed to rest against the cushioned headboard.

 “It’s dawned on me that you must think you’re not missing anything when it comes to me. So let me assure you you’re missing out on plenty.”

 Pinching your lips, you tried to stifle your snicker. “Oh, really?”

 “Really,” Henry confidently confirmed. The way he said it had your back straightening and any amusement quickly fading. The tone of his voice spoke to you, making your belly flutter.

 “Like what?” It was barely above a whisper.

 “You’re missing out on my kindness, my sensitivity. You’re missing out on flowers just because, surprise handwritten notes just to show I care. You’re missing out on romance women only dream about. You’re missing out on all the captivating intellectual conversations we could have about the stars, Rome, Greece, Egypt, and why we’re all descendants of black kings and queens. You’re missing out on someone being there for you unconditionally because they want to be because fate has led them to you. You’re missing out on lazy days of playing video games, eating pizza and drinking beer, missing out on a man who doesn’t care if you’re in sweatpants and messy hair, or all dolled up in makeup and heels. You’re missing out on me, my passion, my strength, my heart. You’re missing out on the chance never to cry again, missing out on the chance to feel more complete than you have ever felt in your life. You’re missing out on being able to stare in my eyes whenever you want, missing out on these hands to hold you, these lips to kiss you—missing out on us.”

 If a gentle breeze somehow blew through your house right now, you’d be knocked off your bed. You were hanging on that little. You were so rattled you were speechless and actually physically shaking. The conviction and raw emotion in his voice was something that shook you to your core and left you raw, wanting, and on the verge of tears. The pounding of your heart was so loud that it was all you could here for a few moments. Trying to use your breathing to slow it you realized it was impossible.

 “Are you—drunk?”

 “I’ve had a lot to drink, yes, but I’ve never been more clear-headed in my life. You're not only missing out, but you’re also making me miss out on all of that as well. Goodbye, Aliya.”

 Your phone beeped, signaling the end of the call. You sat there speechless, motionless, rattled to the bone, and completely wrecked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[dirtykpopsnaps]

Mr. and Mrs. World Wide Handsome - Kim Seokjin (soulmate au)

Warnings: None

Contains: Cute soulmates!Jin and Y/N meeting

Requested: no

Words: 6, 896

———————————————————————

I walk out of the campus library, several books clutched in my arms. Just behind me, the girl that I’m working with steps out as well, several books also clutched in her arms. “So, where do you think we should start?” I ask, leading her back towards my on campus apartment.

“Well, I think we should start focusing on the groundwork first. That would make things easier,” she says. We make our way across campus, talking calmly about the project that our professor just put out. After a few minutes, however, I realize that the girl’s attention isn’t fully on me anymore. Her head is whipping around, looking in all directions.

Calmly, I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. “What’s wrong?” I ask, stopping and placing my hand on her shoulder. She quickly snaps her head in my direction.

“Alright. I, um, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but...everyone is staring at us,” she whispers the last part. Without even having to look up, I roll my eyes in annoyance. I know exactly what’s going on. I sigh softly.

“Just ignore it. I’ll...explain when we get to my dorm,” I say, leading her towards my dorm again.

As I walk with her, I suddenly feel everyone’s eyes on us again. I’ve gotten used to the feeling over the years, but it still doesn’t make it any more comfortable. When we finally reach my dorm, I open the door and lead her up the stairs towards my small apartment. Everyone’s eyes turn to us as we pass. Finally, we make it to my door and I quickly open it before ushering her inside. As soon as the door closes, before I even have the chance to put down my books she turns to me. “What...was that?” She asks, gesturing out the door. I groan softly, sliding down the inside of the door.

“I’m so sorry. I swear I don’t do it on purpose,” I groan, looking up at her. She raises an eyebrow at me and I sigh. “It’s my attachment,” I explain.

Immediately, her eyebrows shoot into her hairline. “Wait...*that* was your attachment?” She asks in surprise. I nod my head and sigh again.

“I mean, that’s what everyone figures. We don’t have a name for it or anything, but it’s always happened. Even when I was little, everyone would just...stare at me. Freaked my mom out to no end. I’ve gotten used to it over the years.” My project partner just stares at me, her jaw on the ground.

“Oh my gosh...you have a beauty attachment!” She gasps. I stare at her I surprise.

“Is...Is that what it’s called?” I question. She nods her head vigorously, setting her books down on the carpet in my living room.

“Yeah! It’s called a beauty attachment! Basically, everyone is, like, drawn to you, right?” She asks. I nod my head lightly.

“Yeah, basically. It’s literally so annoying,” I groan, resting my cheek in my hand. I set my books down on the carpet next to her’s and sit down with her.

For a while, this girl (I learn her name is Abby) and I talk about our attachments. She seems to know quite a bit about my ‘beauty’ attachment, which I find pretty interesting. “Can I ask you something?” I question. Abby nods her head lightly, smiling happily. “How do you know so much about my attachment?” As soon as I ask, she becomes a little more awkward and bites her lip.

“Well...I kinda know...well, I don’t *know* him, but I kinda do?? It’s weird. Let me rephrase. I’ve *heard of*-slash-*seen* a person with your attachment before,” she says, rambling slightly.

“You...You have?!” I gasp. She rubs at the back of her neck awkwardly.

“I mean, yeah, I have. But, I don’t know him. He’s...He’s part of this group. This really *really* popular music group,” she explains. The happy bubble inside of my deflates slightly at the mention of a popular music group. However, I can’t stop myself from asking.

“What are they called?” She sighs softly.

“Okay, so...they’re called...BTS. They’re this really popular k-pop group. The, um...the member with your attachment, his name is Jin. Well, technically, Seokjin, but everyone calls him ‘Jin’,” she says.

For a few seconds, I search my brain. That name, BTS, sounds oddly familiar, but I’m not sure why. Finally, I just shrug off the feeling. “Really? You’re sure he also has this attachment?” I ask. She nods her head again.

“Absolutely. He’s talked about it before. He’s even coined himself a name because of his attachment, ‘World Wide Handsome’,” she chuckles lightly. I cover my mouth, giggling lightly at that information.

“Don’t I know that feeling?” I giggle. I stop giggling after a few seconds. “Can I...Can I see a picture of him?” I ask quietly. Immediately, Abby grabs her phone and searches up something on her phone. Seconds later, she flips it around and shows me a picture of one the handsomest men I’ve ever seen.

Just seeing him, my heart starts beating rapidly and I feel as though all of my breath has been stolen away. “Oh, my God,” I mutter softly, looking up at Abby with wide eyes. She nods her head, showing me the same wide eyes.

“I know, right? It’s crazy,” she says.

Nervously, I play with my hair. “So, um, what if he is my soulmate? How am I gonna know?” I ask, biting my lip lightly, still staring at the picture of Jin.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, when you’re near him, you’ll feel this kind of...pull. Like you *need* to be as close to him as you can be. And, when you finally meet your soulmate, your beauty attachment should just...dissolve,” she shrugs. I stare at her with wide eyes.

“Dissolve, what does that mean?” I ask worriedly. She giggles lightly.

“Nothing serious, promise. Your appearance won’t change at all, but that spell that you have over people? It won’t be there anymore. People will still think your beautiful and attractive and stuff, but they won’t stare at you, there shouldn’t be anymore sudden declarations of love, and you shouldn’t be offered presents by strangers,” she says, listing off a couple of encounters that I had described to her. I let out a big sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank God. you don’t even understand how much of a relief that is to hear,” I sigh. Abby smiles sweetly at me, giggling.

“But, enough about attachments. I think we should start on this project,” she says, pulling one of the books off of the pile and towards her. I nod my head lightly, moving closer so that we could both read the book.

“I think that’s a good idea,” I say softly.

————————

For the next few hours, Abby and I start to work on the project. I do my best to focus on the work, but my mind keeps going back to that picture of Jin that she showed me. After a while, Abby seems to realize that I’m too preoccupied. She shuts the book and smiles, shaking her head. “Well, I think that’s enough work for tonight. It’s obvious that all you can think of is Jin,” she giggles lightly. I flash her an apologetic smile, but she just brushes it off without complaint. “It’s alright, I understand,” she says.

“It’s just...I know my attachment is so rare and to what about someone who has the same attachment as me...it makes me think...” I say, trailing off. Abby nods her head lightly.

“I totally understand. I know I wouldn’t be able to get my mind off of the idea, either,” she chuckles.

Calmly, I lean against the couch in the living room and look at her again. “Tell me about him,” I say softly. She smiles to herself and thinks for a moment.

“Well, he’s the oldest in the group. He just turned 28 in early December...” Abby trails off at the look I give her. My jaw dropped and I stare at her in shock.

“He’s 6 years older than me!” I shout in surprise.

“I know, I know. But, really, that age difference isn’t that big of a problem at our age,” she reassured me. I take a deep breath, lying back again to listen. Abby watches me carefully before continuing.

“He’s obviously South Korean and still lives there when he’s not going around the world with BTS. He went to college for film and acting, and was in college when he was recruited for BTS. Most of this is stuff that you can find online. Um...he’s pretty funny, actually. Really likes dad jokes and, he’s a *really* good cook,” Abby smiles sweetly. I listen intently, trying to get myself to remember all of this. I don’t want to forget anything.

Without much prompting on my end, Abby tells me as much as she can about Jin. She even tells me about some websites that I can use to research him and come up with some good material. Abby eventually starts playing some of their music for me to listen to. She makes sure to show me some of Jin’s solo songs, as well, like Epiphany and Abyss. I close my eyes and just listen to the music, letting myself listen to it without being distracted. With every piece of information that I learn about him, my heart feels lighter and lighter. There’s always the chance that he’s not my soulmate, but with the rarity of my attachment, I also know that there is a large chance that he is. Whenever I look at a picture of him, I almost feel this light pull like something is telling me I need to be near this person.

After hours of being together, Abby slowly starts packing up her things. She grabs her pile of books off the floor and starts to leave when I finally say something that has been on my mind all night. “Abby...” I say, trailing off. She turns back to me curiously and tilts her head.

“Hmm?” She hums, tucking some hair behind her ear.

“How...How am I ever going to be able to meet him?” I ask, my eyes already starting to prickle at the thought. She smiles softly, adjusting the books in her arms.

“Don’t worry, okay? Leave that to me. I have an idea, but it’s going to take *a lot* of convincing,” she tells me. I nod my head slowly. After a few moments, she smiles happily and waves goodbye as she leaves my apartment.

————————

For the next couple weeks, Abby and I meet almost nightly. Most of our meetings are for the project, however we do get together on the weekends to talk specifically about BTS. She tells me about upcoming interviews and music releases that they’re doing. She even gives me their social media accounts so that I can follow them and see some of the information for myself. When we get together, I try not to mention the idea that she had mentioned. I figure that she’ll tell me if it works out and I do my best not to think about it. Thankfully, this seems to be the right way to go.

About three weeks after our first project night together, she comes running up to me on campus. “Do you have some time?” She asks hurriedly. I nod my head lightly. I had just been headed back to my apartment after classes. “Let’s have lunch together,” she suggests.

“Okay, alright? But, is everything okay, Abby?” I ask nervously. She quickly nods her head.

“Absolutely, everything’s great! I have some news about that idea I had mentioned a little while back,” she smiles. My heart immediately soars in surprise and I gasp.

“Really?!” I gasp.

“Yes! Let’s go to lunch. We can talk there and not have so many people overhear,” she says, hurrying towards the cafeteria. I run after her, my heart pumping rapidly.

Abby and I hurry into the cafeteria and find a table together before grabbing our food. The table is smack dab in the center of the cafeteria, so there should be enough talking around us that not many other people will hear us. Setting our plates on the table, we both sit down. I wait anxiously as Abby settles herself before speaking up again. “Okay, so, I didn’t mention this before because I wanted to get to know you a bit before saying this...my family is fairly rich. That’s how I was able to do this. It wasn’t cheap, but that doesn’t matter to me, so long as we get close enough for Jin to notice you,” she explains. My jaw drops and I’m about to thank her, but she holds up her hand to keep me quiet. “Just let me tell you everything, okay? Well, I already had tickets to a concert that BTS is having around here in a few weeks. I was going to go by myself, but by some *miracle, I was able to get another ticket for you to join me. The tickets are VIP, which means that we’ll be as close to the stage as possible. It *also* means that we’ll be able to be there during their sound check. *That* is going to be our best opportunity to get Jin’s attention and bring up the attachment. I hope that as soon as you two are in close enough proximity, he’ll feel the pull that your attachment has to bring you two together. However, it’s still going to be hard to get his attention. We’ll really need to do our best, okay?” She says. I nod my head silently, my jaw still hanging open. Abby giggles lightly. “Okay, you can talk now. That’s my plan right now.”

For a few seconds, I’m still silent. My mind is running a mile a minute, but the first thing that comes out of my mouth is...”Thank you...thank you!” I exclaim, getting up from my seat and running over to hug Abby. She laughs loudly, getting up from her seat and accepting the hug.

“You’re welcome! I’m just so glad that I can help bring you and Jin together!” She smiles happily.

“When is the concert?” I ask, finally getting into my seat again.

“The end of this month, February 27th. It’s a Saturday,” she reassures me. I sigh in relief, at least able to comfort myself in knowing that it’s a Saturday.

“Okay, February 27th, I’ll have to write that down on my calendar. But, we’ll need to come up with what to wear and everything,” I remind her. She nods her head calmly.

“That we will. And we’ll want it to be really good so we can get their attention,” she says.

All throughout lunch, Abby and I converse about the concert. When we’re both finished, we head back to my dorm and start looking through the clothes in my closet. For hours, we search through all of the clothes in my closet and dresser, trying to pair them together into an outfit that will catch Jin’s eye. Abby taps her chin lightly, looking at everything places out in front of us. “I think this will work well. It looks good together and it’s definitely eye-catching,” she says, putting pieces of an outfit together. When everything is put together, I look down at the outfit that she has made. The outfit consists of a plain black short-sleeve shirt, a dark red skirt that buttons in the front, and black shoes.

“How about we add leggings since it’s cold,” I giggle. Abby rolls her eyes and starts laughing.

“I’m literally such an idiot, yes, absolutely. Don’t want you to freeze,” she giggles.

When Abby and I have finally sorted out the outfit, we set the pieces next to each other in my closet. I take a deep breath and nod my head lightly. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that, in just a few weeks...I could be meeting my soulmate. My mind is swimming with everything that could happen within those weeks and I can’t help but feel a bit of anxiety creeping into my body. I try to push the thoughts away and just focus on spending some time with Abby.

————————

For the next few weeks, the upcoming concert is all that Abby and I can talk about. As it draws nearer and nearer, my anxiety gets worse and worse. Abby comforts me as much as she can, trying her best to calm me down. On the day of the concert, after my classes have ended, I change into the outfit we picked out and look at myself in the mirror. I fix my hair and even put on a little makeup, which is very new for me. Thankfully, I told Abby this and she was able to teach me a few things over the weeks coming up to the concert.

When I’m done getting ready, I pace the apartment and keep wringing my hands. My nervousness gets worse and worse as the concert time creeps nearer and nearer. I can’t seem to calm myself down completely, but I do my best to take deep breaths and remind myself that this isn’t a big deal. I mean, if is because he might be my soulmate, but he’s also just another person. Another person who just happens to be a part of the biggest music group in the world right now...and my possible soulmate. No pressure, right?

At the last minute, I add one of my favorite necklaces to compliment the outfit. I’m just starting to look at myself in the mirror again when I hear a knock at the door of my apartment. I hurry into the living room and pull open the door. At the door, Abby is dressed and ready for the concert, too. A huge smile spreads across her face when she sees me. “You look amazing. Jin won’t be able to look away when he sees you,” she smiles excitedly. Quickly, I grab my wallet, phone, and keys before closing the apartment door and locking it.

Down on the street, Abby’s car is parked just outside of my dorm. She leads me up to the car and we both climb inside. Abby turns on the car and gets directions on her phone before we leave the parking lot. The stadium where the concert is taking place is about a 45 minute drive away from our school. Abby and I have small conversations during the drive, mostly just letting the music play. I can’t stop myself from continuing to wring my hands as we get closer and closer to the stadium. When Abby catches me doing this, she chuckles and places her hand on top of mine. “Hey, no need to be nervous. Everything’s gonna turn out just fine,”

She smiles sweetly. I nod my head, swallowing down the lump that has developed in my throat.

After a while, we reach the stadium and Abby parks the car. Calmly, she gets out a pulls out two bags with characters on the sides of them. I recognize the characters as the BT21 characters and smile to myself. Without hesitation, Abby hands me a bag with a cute, white alpaca on it. “That’s RJ and he’s Jin’s character. I’m hoping it’ll help get his attention,” she smiles brightly. I giggle and place my things within the bag, throwing it over my shoulder. Abby puts her things in a bag with a little yellow dog on it. I tilt my head while looking at it and she smiles.

“I may not have the same attachment as Jimin, but I still want to try and get his attention,” she giggles, throwing the bag over her shoulder. With that, we make our way towards the stadium.

While we walk towards the stadium, we walk happily between ourselves. At the ticket booth, we’re stopped and Abby pulls two tickets out of her bag. The ticket checker looks over them for a few moments before he nods his head and allows us into the stadium. For a while, Abby and I walk around the stadium, trying to find our way out to our seats. We finally find a hallway that leads onto the main floor of the stadium and walk down it quickly. When we get to the end of the hallway, it opens up to the main floor of the stadium. Some people are walking around, looking for their seats already. I see other people hurrying around and checking to make sure that things are ready for the concert. I look around in all directions, but look at Abby when I feel her elbow my side. I knit my eyebrows together and look over at her. Her jaw is on the ground and her wide eyes are trained on the stage.

Quickly, I turn my head in that direction and my heart stops. Standing on top of the stage, talking to each other and going through their sound check is BTS. All of the members are gathered on the stage and talking amongst themselves. My eyes trail over each of them, their names being shouted in my head as I recognize them. Almost instantly, my eyes land on Jin and my heart skips several beats again. He looks even more handsome in person. Almost all eyes in the stadium are pulled to him and I watch as he laughs at something one of the other members said. Even from this far back, I can make out his signature windshield wiper laugh.

Finally, Abby seems to snap out of it and she quickly grabs my hand. She starts pulling me towards the seats right at the edge of the stage. When we find our seats, we sit down quickly and continue watching the sound check. However, as I sit in my seat, I feel this almost magnetic pull towards the group. I can’t pull my eyes off of Jin and I have to physically keep myself from jumping on stage and giving into the magnetic pull. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long before something amazing happens. I swallow down another thick lump in my throat, trying to steady my shaking hands and taking a few deep breaths. When I look back up at the group, I watch as Jungkook elbows Jin and nods his head towards Abby and I.

As soon as his eyes land on me, a huge smile spreads across his face. Without hesitation, he leaves the groups and starts walking over to Abby and I. My heart starts beating wildly and my hands are shaking worse than ever the closer he gets. The magnetic pull keeps getting stronger and stronger until, finally, he sits on the edge of the stage and looks down at us. He looks back and forth between Abby and I, obviously trying to decide what to say. Finally, he comes up with something and a smile spreads across his face again. “So...which one of you has the beauty attachment?” He asks, continuing to flit his eyes between Abby and I. As soon as he asks, Abby points to me and I raise my hand slowly. His eyes land on me and he smiles even wider. “You’re my soulmate, huh? It’s very nice to meet you,” he chuckles, scooting off the edge of the stage and landing on the ground.

As soon as he does this, there’s a loud commotion from the stage and several guards come hurrying over. They start to surround Jin, but he puts up his hand to stop them. “It’s alright, she’s my soulmate,” he says calmly, shooting a gorgeous smile at me. My heart melts instantly and I’m surprised that I haven’t suddenly turned into a large puddle of mush. Heat spreads across my cheeks and I giggle, brushing my hair behind my ears. The guards listen to Jin and slowly start going back to their posts at the edge of the stage.

As soon as the guards are gone, Jin turns his attention back to me. “What’s your name?” He asks, tilting his head adorably.

“I-I’m Y/N,” I stammer. Immediately, I close my eyes and take a few more steadying breaths. “I’m sorry, Jin, I’ve just been *really* nervous about today and suddenly it’s here and you’re here and I’m just...nervous,” I laugh, steadying my voice again. He chuckles lightly, nodding his head.

“I understand. It’s not every day that you meet your soulmate. Besides, I’ve been a bit nervous myself. I’ve been feeling that pull get stronger all day and I just...knew,” he shrugs, yet another smile gracing his beautiful face.

“As soon as I saw you, I had to actually stop myself from running on stage and up to you,” I giggle, brushing my hair behind my ear again. He laughs lightly and nods his head.

Suddenly, I hear more feet hitting the ground as some people join us. I drag my attention away from Jin and take more deep breaths as I recognize Jimin and Namjoon. Both have large smiles on their faces as they look between Jin and I. “I suppose you’re the lucky girl?” Namjoon asks, glancing over at Jin. Jin nods his head lightly, stepping back and letting Namjoon step up closer. Without hesitation, he pulls me into a big hug and I gasp in surprise, just standing there for a few moments before I hug him back. Namjoon pulls back, then turns his attention to Abby. “It’s nice to meet you, as well,” he smiles charmingly. Abby stares at him in shock, then her eyes flit to me.

“It’s...It’s nice to meet you, too! I’m Abby and this is my friend, Y/N,” she giggles, her hands shaking almost as bad as mine.

Slowly, we strike up a conversation with Namjoon, Jimin, and Jin. However, I can’t take my eyes off of Jin and he can’t seem to take my eyes off of me. Calmly, he steps closer and takes my hand into his, squeezing it lightly. As soon as he touches me, I feel the magnetic pull slowly dissolve and my heart soars happily. A bright smile shows on his face again. “And if I had any doubts, that proves that you’re my soulmate,” he chuckles, pulling me in close to his side. All around us, the other’s flash bright smiles in our direction at Jim’s words. I smile to myself, leaning into Jin’s side comfortably.

Suddenly, another person appears at the edge of the stage. “Come on, we need to finish sound check,” J-Hope complains, looking around at his group mates. Namjoon sighs and bids us goodbye before climbing on the stage. Jimin pulls both Abby and I into a big hug before following Namjoon. Jin, however, doesn’t seem to want to leave my side. He holds my hand tightly in his and just looks up at J-Hope. In response, J-Hope raises an eyebrow. “Are you coming?” He questions. Jin looks down at me and I smile softly, nodding towards the stage. He sighs and squeezes my hand before letting go and climbing back into the stage. J-Hope shakes his head at Jin’s reluctance to continue the sound check. “If you really want to see her again, just ask the guards to bring her backstage after the concert.” Immediately, Jin’s face lights up and I watch he runs the length of the stage and over to the security guards. He has a quick conversation with them and points towards Abby and I. We wave slightly and Jin smiles before turning back to the guards. Finally, the guards nod their heads and Jin smiles gratefully before returning to his group and continuing the sound check.

The sound check continues on for what feels like hours. When it’s finally over, Jin comes back to the edge of the stage and sits down. “I can’t stay long. I’ll need to go back to makeup soon and change,” he says. I nod my head and open my mouth to answer, but loud screams echo through the stadium before I can. Suddenly, there’s the sound of running feet and I’m shoved aside as several of the other VIP fans try to get to Jin. He frowns at them, standing up on the stage so that they can’t get to him. Pieces of paper and different objects are being shoved up at him on the stage as fans try to get him to sign their different things. He sighs softly and signs a few of them before looking back towards me sadly. Several of the fans follow his gaze and, when they realize he’s looking at me, I feel a hard shove as someone pushes me to the ground. I shout in surprise and land hard on the ground. Above me, the fan that pushed me smirks, looking pleased with herself, and crosses her arms.

On the ground, I try to get up again, but so many people are gathered around me that I can barely move. Almost as if my magic, the crowd separates and I feel someone pull me to my feet again. I look up and smile softly when I see Jin’s handsome face. He holds me tightly in his arms and glares around at the fans surrounding us. “Who pushed her?” He asks, his voice quivering slightly. No one answers and I lean into his chest. His arms tighten around my waist. “I said ‘who. pushed. her’?!” He exclaims angrily, his gaze flirting around the group. Slowly, nervously, the fan who pushed me raises her hand. Jin scowls at her, still holding me to his chest, then he looks around at all of the other fans. “This girl is my soulmate. Anyone who is rude to her is in turn rude to BTS,” he growls. The girl stares at him in shock, then just crosses her arms again and scowls at us.

Huffing angrily, Jin looks back at the security guards who separated the crowd. “Show her out. I don’t want her here,” he says. The girl’s mouth drops open in shock and she screams in frustration and anger as she is lead out of the stadium. When she’s far enough away and the other fans have dispersed, Jin turns to me and Abby. “Are you alright?” He asks, looking around to make sure that I didn’t get hurt. I giggle lightly, pushing him away.

“I’m fine, Jin. I’ll probably get a bruise, but that’s the worst of it,” I tell him. He scowls in the direction that the security guard left with the girl.

“I won’t let that happen again. I’m not letting you get hurt just because of who I am,” he says plainly. I don’t know what he means by that, but I nod my head lightly. He flashes a small smile and hugs me one more time before turning to Abby and hugging her, as well. “Do me a favor and don’t let anyone hurt her, okay?” He asks. Abby nods her head quickly. Slowly, Jin climbs back on the stage and walks towards the curtains again.

As soon as Jin is out of earshot, Abby turns to me, her mouth hanging open. “I have *never* seen him get that angry. I didn’t know he *could* get that angry!” She says in shock. I shrug my shoulders, sighing softly.

“Well, he had good reason. That is not how I wanted ARMY to figure out that Jin found his soulmate,” I groan. Abby sighs softly and nods her head.

“Yeah...that didn’t go well. But, don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll warm up to you. Well, true fans will. But, I would definitely suggest making all of your social media private. That might discourage hate messages and stuff,” Abby suggests. As soon as she mentions the idea, I grab my phone out of my bag and do exactly that. Abby chuckles lightly at my actions and nods her head. When I’m done, I shoot her a soft smile.

“Let’s just sit down, okay?” I suggest. Abby nods her head and we make our way back to our seats.

As Abby and I sit, fans slowly start to fill in all the seats in the stadium. The noise rises higher and higher as more people sit down and start talking before the concert. While we wait, Abby suggests that we get some merch from some of the stands, so we get up and head out into the stadium’s corridors. Abby and I each get a t-shirt and a poster from the merchandise stall. People brush passed us, calmly looking around and trying to find their seats before the concert. When we have our merch, we head back to our seats and weave between the filled seats on the floor. As we walk through the seats, a few of the fans that were at the sound check stare at us and smile softly, waving. I smile and wave back, wanting to be friendly. At least they weren’t the ones who pushed me.

When we get back to our seats, Abby and I only have to wait about half an hour before the concert starts. There’s so much going on and I’m amazed. I’ve been to several concerts before, but this is definitely one of the best ones I’ve ever seen. Throughout the concert, Jin throws Abby and I soft smiles and even waves once or twice. However, I try to get him to focus on the concert. There are screaming fans all around us and, if someone were to get jealous now, I would be much more scared than I was at the sound check earlier. Abby seems to understand this, so she also keeps her interactions with the boys to a minimum. Although we’re trying to just act like normal fans, the boys do give us a bit more attention than they might give normal fans.

The concert continues on and I greatly enjoy the concert. However, I’m very surprised near the end. Just as the boys have come out for their encore and are going into a third song, Jin runs back down the stage and disappears behind the curtains. Several fans make confused noises and the boys finish up the last little bit of their song before looking around for their friend in confusion. Jin appears seconds later and some security guards come out with him. The security guards climb off the stage and begin making their way through the fans, coming toward us. Both Abby and I stand up, making it a little easier for them, as we know they’re searching for us.

As soon as the guards see us, they weave through the seats and come up to us. They take our hands wordlessly and start leading us back toward the stage. I look at Abby in shock, not certain what Jin has planned. As soon as he get to the stage, Jin helps me up and Namjoon pulls Abby up onto the stage. All of the fans eyes are fixed on us, very confused about who these two new girls could be. Why would BTS pull these girls up on stage with them? Jin holds my hand tightly, a bright and happy smile spreading across his face. “ARMY...I have a confession,” he shouts out, looking around at everyone in the seats. Whisper start making their way through the silent crowd. Calmly, Jin looks over at me, then back out to the seats. “I’m very sorry to inform you, but...World Wide Handsome is no longer on the market. I’ve found my soulmate!” He shouts happily, thrusting our joined hands into the air. Behind me, Abby laughs loudly and starts cheering in excitement. Slowly, other fans join Abby’s cheering and happiness for Jin. He beams happily, looking around at all the fans and pulls me into his side. I giggle lightly and lean up to kiss his cheek lightly. At my action, a loud chorus of ‘awww!’ rips its way through the stadium. Jin laughs lightly, keeping his arm tightly around my waist. “Well, I hope you’ll join me in my excitement, ARMY!” He cheers. More cheers follow this.

Calmly, the boys make their last small speech for the night before all shouting ‘goodnight’ out into the full stadium. With that, they turn around and make their way down the stage and backstage. Immediately, all seven boys head over to a table and begin drinking heavily from water bottles. I can feel the heat coming off of Jin’s body in heavy waves and I wrinkle my nose in disgust. He flashes me a confused look when I wrinkle my nose, “What?” He asks in confusion.

“You smell,” I say plainly. All around us, choruses of laughter follow this statement. Jin sighs loudly, almost as though I’m forcing him.

“Fiiiine. I guess I can take a shower before we talk and cuddle,” he sighs.

“You better. I’m not cuddling with a stinky, sweaty person, even if they’re my soulmate,” I say. He sticks out his tongue at me and finally sets down the water bottle.

“Alright, you stay here. I’ll be back in a little bit?” He says, squeezing my hand once before letting go and walking down the hall.

As Jin disappears down the hall, the other members decide to talk to us for a little bit. They’ve all stopped gulping down the water, though they’re still panting slightly. Taehyung smiles sweetly at us. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Y/N, Abby. Jin wouldn’t stop talking about you after he met you,” he chuckles. Jungkook throws his arm over Taehyung’s shoulder, joining the conversation.

“It was kind of cute, honestly. Jin doesn’t get that excited, usually,” Jungkook explains.

“I’m glad you thought it was cute,” I giggle, “I’m pretty sure Abby was starting to get tired of hearing about him,” I joke. Abby gasps, leaning over and punching my shoulder.

“Oh, shut up. That is an absolute lie!” She exclaims.

As Abby punches my shoulder, her bag of merchandise crinkles as it moves. Taehyung and Jungkook eye the bag curiously, then they must recognize it as a merchandise bag. “If you’d like, we can sign whatever you have in there,” Jungkook offers, nodding towards the bag. Abby looks at him in shock and nods her head vigorously.

“Please! That would be amazing!” She says happily, pulling out the poster. The boys chuckle lightly and start looking around for a pen. Thankfully, they’re able to find one and our posters are passed around to each member. Jin joins again just as J-Hope, the last person to sign the posters, sets down the pen. Jin picks it up calmly and adds his signature to the mass of others. When he’s done signing it, Abby and I get our posters again and put them back in our bags.

Calmly, Jin comes over and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. “Well, would you gurls like to come back to the hotel we’re at?” Jin asks, looking between Abby and I. I’m about to answer when Abby shakes her head.

“Y/N can, but I think I’ll head back to school. Just remember that she needs to be back to our college by Monday,” she reminds them. Jin nods his head dutifully and shoots her a smile.

“I promise I’ll get her back on time,” he smiles. Abby chuckles and pulls him into a hug. When they pull apart, Abby waves goodbye to the rest of the members.

“I hope to see you guys soon,” she smiles. They all agree and she waves once more before walking back towards the stadium. Jin hums lightly and rests his chin on my head.

“Alright, we should head back to the hotel. I’m exhausted,” he sighs. I chuckle lightly at him.

Calmly, the boys are lead back to a big, black car with tinted windows. They all climb in and I climb in, as well, making sure to sit close to Jin. On the ride back to the hotel, Jin all but falls asleep on my shoulder. The car finally stops at the back of the hotel and the boys are lead in the back entrance by some hotel officials. They’re given keys to their rooms and make their way to the elevator. On the ride up, it’s clear that most of the members are forcing themselves to keep their eyes open. The door of the elevator opens again and Jin sleepily leads me down the hall and into his room.

As soon as we get into the room, Jin flops down on the bed. I look around, biting my lip, then look down at my clothes. “Jin, I’m sorry, but do you have something I can change into?” I ask quietly. He groans sleepily and flips over to look at me.

“Just pick something from my suitcase, okay?” He hums, his eyes barely open. I nod softly and open up the zippers of the suitcase. Calmly, I pull out a random t-shirt and start taking of my clothes. I pull the t-shirt on before taking my bra off with the shirt over top. I leave my underwear on and turn around, climbing into bed with Jin. He hums happily and wraps his arm around my waist, closing his eyes immediately. Smiling to myself, I close my eyes and fall asleep as well.

[miniyrds]

Honestly, I'm just tired of seeing Kevin being shipped with random ocs.

gonna be honest, the most I see about Kevin is from what gets put in the main aftg tag. (I dont know if that’s a lot or what, but that’s where all of my Kevin intel is from lmao). I have seen him shipped in multiple pairings but I typically scroll past because I have my own thoughts about Kevin. actually, most of my Kevin thoughts typically avoid him being in relationships. I honestly have zero opinion on him being shipped with anyone other than it’s not for me and how I imagine the character

anyway, now im gonna word vomit about my thoughts on kevin lmao

also!! these are merely my musings about his character, please continue to write what makes you happy and what you enjoy! this is what I enjoy :)

unpopular opinion, but I kinda dont mind that Kevin stays with thea. in my head, Kevin is aro and all he really wants is a family. (thanks to @sinistercacophony I am now deeply invested in Kevin’s family relationships bc we had like 2 convos about it)

I literally only talk to one person about weird fox headcanons so if anyone wants to bring some to my inbox or messages feel free, I love talking about them bc their lives are more interesting than mine

anyway, aro Kevin. both he an neil are on the same wavelength of “why tf can’t exy be enough” but I think they come to different conclusions at different times. neil realizes that having a found family and friends through exy is really important to him, and the fact that they don’t disappear when they leave college is very important to his outlook on things. Kevin, on the other hand, (in my head) is forced to reconcile his dedication to exy with his desperation to seem close to his mother. by nature, Kevin’s personality is obsessive to the point of desperation. if he doesn’t do well at exy, he loses the last connection to his mother (you can thank the nest for stripping Kevin of literally all other coping mechanism). eventually, he realizes that is not true because wymack is a huge connection to her even if it takes Kevin a moment to realize it. once he comes to that conclusion that he has more means to keep connected to his mother, the Kayleigh shaped hole in him looks less like an exy racquet and more like a family. he has Wymack and abby and neil and Andrew and by extension, the rest of the foxes and thea. I don’t think he holds on to the found family aspect as much as neil does, but he certainly holds on to wymack, abby, and thea. 

so what does that word jumble have to do with Kevin being aro? good question lmao. basically, I think Kevin really wants a family of his own. but, I don’t think in the traditional aspect, that could really work with the way Kevin functions (and not in a bad way, ya know?). Kevin and thea had a thing back in the nest that evolved from quick fucks to note passing. to pretty much nothing when thea graduated. they were never really *together* but they did on some level understand each other. they weren’t dating when all the shit went down with the ravens and foxes and I think that’s a good thing. I don’t think their (platonic) relationship couldve survived had Kevin been openly telling thea everything. (plus, Kevin kinda wanted thea to forget about him, despite her still being interested in him). however, with nearly everything out in the open, thea showing up to “check on” Kevin says something about them. they may not be cut out for traditional relationship stereotypes, but they kinda work as a unit.

for pretty much the rest of his college career, I see Kevin trying to forge his familial/friend relationships with wymack, abby, neil, and andrew. wymack and abby are integral in getting him through riko’s death and that really helps Kevin realize his “bigger picture.” he can’t play exy forever, but he can pass on his skillset and continue the Day bloodline (dramatic as that sounds). he can keep Kayleigh alive in the sport she co-founded by having a child and a family of his own

thea works out in this respect because she is down with having a kid and raising them on exy. her and Kevin kinda just work as a unit (I'm avoiding partner here because they aren't the same as raven partners. they’ve had enough time in the outside world to kinda work through the codependency to an extent)

Amalia doesn’t grow up with two affectionate/romantic parents but she grows up with love and support and a dad with a perfectionist tendency (but that’s okay because paired with Thea’s determination, she can keep her dad in check and still be amazing at exy)

[whistlewhileiblogit]

Thoughts on TLoU Part 2....Again

Yeah, I am back with another vent, rant, thoughts on...thing. I wanted to wait a long time after writing my initial reaction to the game, because I figured I’d get more clarity or something. Anyway, so here are my unedited and unfiltered thoughts...8 months later. So as always, this is going to be rambly, and I’ll probably just bold parts of note in case anyone wants to jump around. So here we go!

Oh and, SPOILERS AHEAD

Things I liked: These pretty much haven’t changed. The game is obviously beautiful, the gameplay itself I enjoyed immensely (when mentally separating it from the plot), the Joel and Ellie flashbacks. They were fantastic, and made me feel very reminiscent of the first game. Jesse and Dina were cool, but I found them underutilised, which is a massive shame because they were cool characters.

Yara and Lev were also great, and again, Yara was another completely wasted character potential. But love them nonetheless.

So yeah...that’s pretty much it, I think?

Now for the things I didn’t like...

The writing is the biggest sin in the game to me, as it creates so many structural issues. The pacing is wild and jarring, we aren’t given enough time to bond with certain characters before they are killed off, the narrative itself manages to be incredible simple yet complex simultaneously, but it is a total mess.

Let me explain. The end of the game essentially comes down to “revenge bad”, no matter how you look at it. Sure, you can also include other aspects like, “do good deeds”, but they seem sort of tacked on, considering what happens throughout the game. Ellie goes through the entire story with vengeance for Joel being basically the only thing on her mind (or at least, at the forefront of it), and then just...doesn’t go through with it at the end.

Honestly, the game felt by that point that she HAD to go through with it, after all, how would she learn her lesson? Yet she learns her lesson, without actually getting revenge? So what was the point? Some have said that she learnt in that final fight with Abby to forgive Joel, but this makes no sense. Ellie had already started to forgive Joel before his death. Obviously, she wasn’t over it yet, but she clearly wanted to make amends with her father figure. Besides, she’s fighting Abby, after all. And she certainly didn’t forgive her.

I think a lot of people took Ellie letting Abby go as forgiveness, but in reality, it was in complete grief. There was no point in killing her anymore.

But again, THIS MAKES NO SENSE. Given every. Single. Thing Ellie went through the game, all to find and kill Abby. Losing others she loved and cared for, her family, her fingers (and her ability to play guitar which was the only thing she had left connecting her to Joel)...all of that and she just let Abby go?

It would have made so much more sense had she gone through with killing Abby, only THEN to realise it didn’t make her feel better in the long run. That she was still conflicted in her feelings for Joel. Why bother having Ellie go through every point in the game, only to have her back out at the last second and STILL lose everything? What is that saying? If you do the “right” thing, you’ll still get shit anyway? Ugh.

So speaking of Abby...I thought hey, maybe after all this time, I’ll be able to grow to like her! Yeah, nope. She is just as unlikable as always. Abby is a deuteragonist that we are meant to grow to care for, like we do Ellie. But here’s the thing; Ellie has an ENTIRE GAME beforehand PLUS a freaking DLC game that gives us so much time to love her. So you would think that the writers must think, we’ll make Abby super likeable! NOPE.

Throughout the game, Abby is stoic (which isn’t a bad thing on its own), serious, and just flat-out boring. Sorry Naughty Dog, but I don’t find a character who collects coins as her biggest personality trait interesting. She isn’t funny, or kind or particularly clever. She has her strength, and that doesn’t count as a personality. She’s also a shitty friend, and person, and gets called out for that in the game by Dr Preggers (still don’t remember her name).

Even Abby’s flashbacks do little to make me like her. Oh wow, she has a magical, amazing, super perfect animal-helping papa? And? I just can’t latch onto her character and story. Even if she were really well written and interesting, I wonder if I could have after the game presents her as a total fucking barbaric monster in the first two hours of gameplay.

No, I’m still not over Joel’s death. And despite what some people try and say, it isn’t BECAUSE he died. I went into the game fully expecting Joel to die (I was lucky enough to see no spoilers prior to playing), because I felt like that would be the next step narratively that ND would go. This was a terrible decision on ND’s behalf, but I’ll get into that later.

Joel’s death as the way it plays out, does not only Joel a great disservice- but Abby as well. If ND wanted us all to like Abby so much, they easily could have just made her show some remorse, or conflict, or even just a quick, somewhat merciful death to Joel. But instead, we get ~torture porn~, which becomes the first scene of many of these in the game. This scene is so fucking brutal and sickening, I personally cannot watch it. I have seen it ONCE, and after that I have avoided having to watch it again. And I am not a person with a weak stomach.

Instead of having a death scene worthy of Joel’s character, like having him save Ellie somehow or going out in a blaze of glory, as many have suggested...we got an incredibly beloved character being treated as merely a plot device.

Imagine if the roles were reversed, and Ellie had been killed in Part 2, not Joel. I doubt those saying they’d be cool with it really would be. Especially in such a disgusting, horrific manner.

And one of my biggest grievances with the game- the retconning. I’ve had some people argue with me, that the game doesn’t retcon anything. Those people are fooling themselves or just being wilfully ignorant. Part 2 completely contradicts facts from Part 1. Including:

- Joel didn’t completely lie to Ellie. He half lied. If Joel finds all of the recorders in the hospital, it is revealed that the fireflies DID find dozens of immune people. And killed all of them trying to make a cure...and it didn’t work. This is literal in-game proof that the fireflies never would have succeeded in their quest, had Joel let them kill Ellie.

- Part 2 would have you believe that the fireflies were doing well with their groups and their research. Part 2 shows a beautiful, modern-day looking hospital. But the fact is, as shown in Part 1, the fireflies were on their last legs, and killing Ellie to try and find a cure was their last-ditch attempt to find meaning in their cause. It never was going to work. The hospital is shown to be filthy, and barely up to scratch by all standards. The fireflies were struggling, despite what part 2 tells us.

- The character design changes. We have all seen the comparison pictures of the doctor in part 1 vs part 2. They tried to make Jerry (?) look so wholesome and kind, begging for humanities sake. That isn’t how it went down, and he isn’t the same person. They just wanted Joel to look like a total villain.

I also want to mention what a disservice the marketing was to this game. I know Naughty Dog is very anti-spoiler, for obvious reasons, but they went above and beyond hiding spoilers that they straight up falsely advertised the game. And no, I will not forgive them for that.

The game completely undoes what made the first game special. It was a story about two people, struggling to survive, and somehow through it all, finding a familial love and trust within each other, and fighting to keep it, no matter what.

Ellie and Joel ARE The Last of Us, and Part 2 literally kills of half of what made the first game so incredibly special. As soon as Joel was killed, I wondered how the game would remedy those moments, and aside from the few Joel flashbacks, there really isn’t anything comparable to these scenes. Ellie is alone, so she doesn’t get to develop, or show her personality. And even when she is partnered up for short periods of time, she is too miserable (for good reason), to be the joking, lovable character we knew from the first game.

Final thoughts...

All in all, I would say my opinions have stayed pretty much the same for Part 2. I will forever love Part 1 (played it not long ago for the millionth time), and it is always going to be special to me.

But part 2, as it is, is nonredeemable to me. It really could have been something truly special, like part 1, but I guess that’s just what made The Last of Us so special.