#It's been over 2 years since her only major appearance

[thenotificationmachine]

The internet: Guys, the new episode's out!!

Me: ...Does it have Verosika in any substantial role?

The internet: No, but-

Me: Don't care, bye. skips episode

[loviingpedri]

tripling the fun -jude and jobe bellingham

prompt: three best friends take over the house by babysitting the bellingham boys’ two nephews and niece.

pt.2 here

bellinghams & fem!reader platonic friendship

warnings: grammar issues, all characters are fictional (except jude and jobe ofc)

click to help palestine

credits to owners for all images

knocking on the door, anticipation grew.

you have grown up with jude and jobe, considering your parents and their parents were very close friends.

you practically were like their sister. you did everything with them. you were there at their biggest accomplishments or lowest levels.

the door opened to jude and jobe’s aunt, ready for dinner. recently, the bellingham boys recently had a new addition to their family, a little baby nephew. the parents had 3 kids, and one still being about 6 months old, it was a major hassle. they needed a little break, some time for themselves.

who else better to call? the famous trio!

the parents trusted you and the brothers very much. trust me, the babies were in good hands. (might be delusional, but we’ll see!)

“oh my goodness, thank you guys for coming.” the mom hugged all of you. giving you a little peek on the cheek.

suddenly, jude and jobe’s uncle appeared behind her. “you’re here! thank you guys. come in.” stepping into the house, you were met with cold air.

“i see the kids really love this house.” you spoke with a smile as you noticed toys were scattered around the floor. ending your sentence, jobe nearly tripped over a toy truck.

catching himself as you were frightened for him, the three of you burst into a laughter.

“okay mate, it’s not that funny.” jobe said while pushing the truck away from his path.

“jobe, how do you not see a bright yellow and green truck?” jude was dying from laughter.

“i’m really grateful that you took this opportunity. it has been quite awhile since my husband and i have gone out.”

suddenly, a huge commotion was made. all eyes going to the stairway, you could see a little boy about the age of 6 running down the stairs in a little dinosaur onesie.

“there’s my little guy!” the boy ran into jude’s arms into a tight hug.

“i knew it! i knew you were coming! i heard your voice.”

“did you really?” jude fixed his onesie and gave him a little pat on the back.

then, you heard a door slam. staring at the stairs once again, you could see a 4 year old girl in a pink princess dress with a tiara and wand, strutting down with a bright smile (and one missing tooth).

“all hail the princess.” jobe spoke as she slowly walked down with her head held up high. smiles appeared on everyone’s faces, except her brother’s. she only earned an eye roll from him.

finally reaching downstairs, you curtsied to her as jude and jobe did a little bow.

breaking character, she did not hesitate to run to jobe. giving him the biggest hug he has probably ever been given.

“i think the baby is still asleep. the formula is already prepped since he should be waking up soon. we have to get going, good luck guys!” quickly grabbing her purse and getting the hell out of there with her husband, it was time to finally have some fun and bonding times.

“alright kiddos, what should we do today?” jude put down his nephew and immediately patting his head for reassurance.

“we should build a castle!” jobe, also putting down the niece, agreed.

“what kind of castle?”

“castles are for losers!” her big brother snarled at her.

“now, dinosaurs may be big and strong, but they are certainly not rude.” you bent down to his level. he crossed his arms, but unexpectedly, you started tickling him.

“tickle attack!” jude yelled as everyone was tickling the dinosaur and princess.

all laughter came to a quick stop. cries of a baby were echoing throughout the house. jude and jobe were no professionals for caring for a child under 1, therefore both synchronized to look at you for help.

and to be honest, you wanted to hold that baby forever. your motherly instincts kicked in. running up the stairs, you could not wait. meeting the little guy at just 2 months old, he was probably the most adorable baby you’ve ever seen (maybe because he looks a little like baby jude, but we’re gonna ignore that fact).

slowly and gently opening the door, you were met with a baby with a small tear falling down his cheek, but having the brightest smile as soon as he saw you. your heart melted.

“aren’t you the cutest,” you picked him up and could see his chubby face and rolls on his arms. “the baby fever is really kicking in.”

wiping the little tear, you placed his head on your shoulder as you walked down the stairs. putting your hand on his semi-bald head to create a shield just in case, jude and jobe lit up to seeing him.

crowding the little one, jude took him into his arms as you prepared the milk. in the kitchen, you were met with a little princess eating a sugar cookie (jobe couldn’t say no to her).

“hello your royal highness.” you gave a smile to her as you grabbed a little bottle.

“hi y/n. how’s it going?”

“it’s going great! how’s your cookie?”

“it’s good. you should be a mom.”

the statement created a pause for you. the measuring cup filled with formula almost fell on the counter.

“sorry ma’am, but what?”

“you should be a mom.”

“oh no thank you, it is definitely not for me.”

“well you definitely need a boyfriend. i have one! his name is james, he’s 6. i like them older.”

“hold on, you’re talking about your brother’s friend?”

“yep! that james. he’s so dashing. you know you should get with jude.” a frown appeared on your face. kids are full of creative ideas, but this was not on your bingo card.

“i really appreciate your feedback, but i need time to review this information.” jude suddenly appeared in the kitchen, giving you a scare.

“what are y’all talking about?”

in panic, you shouted “nothing!” which created high suspicion. the princess got off the chair after finishing the cookie, and walking off with jude.

finishing on making the bottle, you weren’t sure on what you were about to see, but it was definitely a sight.

jude and jobe bellingham were in pink and purple tutu’s and tiaras. you gasped at the sight.

“y/n, please don’t laugh.” jobe pleaded, sensing his embarrassment already.

“who said i was gonna laugh?” you picked up the baby trying to hide the fact, you were gonna laugh. sitting on the couch to feed him, the boys were being ordered around.

“alright, what’s next to protect the precious princess?”

“it is i! the knight! and i have come to destroy this kingdom!” the once dinosaur jumped out from the hallway holding a fake sword and shield.

the princess let out a tiny scream.

“uncle jude! protect the castle now!” jude nodded in agreement as he picked up a fake sword and play fighting with the knight. tutu’s were dropping and tiaras were falling.

“meanwhile you, uncle jobe, you should totally dance with me.” hiding your smile with the bottle, jobe didn’t really have a choice.

the house was chaotic. a ballerina and knight were battling it out, jobe and the princess were turning and spinning. jobe even had a little purple magic wand as his prop for his dance recital. you were glad you could lay back with a baby who did not give any trouble.

the fun continued to grow as the night went.

[drvscarlett]

Let Him Cook Pt4

Series Part 1, 2, 3, 4

Taglist: @bookstore-of-dreams @barcelonaloverf1life @ririyulife @minseok-smaus @mehrmonga @sltwins @charlesgirl16 @six-call @spideybv28 @casperlikej @weekendlusting @janeholt3 @evie-119 @leilanixx @randomgirlnumber-13 @itsjustkhaos

Y/NCooks just posted a photo.

Y/NCooks Finally some vitamin seaaaaaaaaaaaaa

User1 Oh she is living the life!

Friend1 Say hi to the boyfriend for me

YNCooks he says hi Friend1 enjoy lovebirds!!!

User2 She is so hot and her boyfriend is equally hot. Power couple!

User3 Something about that back and that filter seems kinda familiar.

User4 OMG right? Its like I know it from somewhere but I can't pinpoint it. User5 I thought I was the only one but it seems like its really familiar.

User6 Its giving a pinterest vibes! She is everything I aspire to be.

User7 Are you still the one in-charge of cooking Y/N?

Y/NCooks Yuppp. But don't worry because he lifts the grocery and pays for the food, its an equal relationship User8 The boyfriend seems like a catch

User9 God when will it be me?

Charles_Leclerc just posted a photo.

Charles_Leclerc good food and good company

User1 Who is that??? Who is that hand?????

User2 Charles is finally breaking his single streak, a sad day for all the Charles girlies

PierreGasly Oh so that's why your boat was missing Charles_Leclerc I'm not discussing it here PierreGasly We just want to know, who is the lucky lady User3 Ohmygod Pierre just found out just like we all did

User4 That blue filter is back

User5 Just when we thought he forgot about it

User6 why is everyone and their partners softlaunching in a yacht

User7 who else is in a yacht? User6 There's this homecook and masterchef winner named Y/N that is softlaunching their partner on a yacht User7 Oh bestie that back looks familiar, don't you think User9 User9 SUSPICIOUS!!! User9 Nah, I highly doubt Charles can bag a chef. I mean the man couldn't cook pasta and its just pasta User7 you are probably right, im just delulu

"This is getting mildly annoying"Charles pouted "Usually they are quick to connect the pieces"

"All in due time honey"

It was actually a funny thing for you since fans find it highly impossible that Charles could bag a chef as his partner. You wouldn't tell Charles but you admit that his cooking skills is not a major selling point to a lot of chefs out there.

Ever since MasterChef ended, you two have been open about going public. The relationship has been kept in wraps for over 3 years so Charles is feeling pretty confident that it has already been a tested by time. But more than that, Charles opened up how he wanted to go public so that he'll be able to showcase his support.

"I can't wait for them to figure it out just so I can tell the world that I am the luckiest guy in the world for having you as my partner" he clings to you as a loopy smile appears on his face.

"And I can't wait to showcase the world how you have been drastically improving with your cooking skills" you smile "You can be my sous chef when you are off season"

"I'm not really sure if you are being sarcastic but I'll take this as a win and I'm considering myself masterchef approved"

The Gordon incident

There were 5 missed calls from Charles which made you slightly worried. You were unable to answer the call since you were driving home. You immediately rushed to the apartment and you saw a weird scenario. Charles was spread out on the floor, face down and seems to be in pain.

"What happened to you?"you asked as you set down your bag at the counter.

"Leave me be, I am a disgrace. I have fallen from heaven." Charles moped.

"Seriously honey, what's going on. You are scaring me"

Charles only lifted his phone for you to look at. You looked at it and it was a screenshot from Twitter with a quote tweet from Gordon about the pasta incident.

"Charles, you can't bag a chef if your cooking is as disastrous as that. Call me when you have the time-Oh my god. Gordon did not just say that" you burst out laughing.

"Laugh in my misery, go ahead and laugh."

You have to contain your giggles but then you cannot seem to help yourself. Charles continued to mope at the floor how no one will believe that you are his girlfriend now.

"It was just one time that I wasn't able to cook pasta properly, one time"

"Yes honey but the internet is forever"

After a while, Charles got up and you were slightly confused when he started bringing out the pots and pans out of the cupboard. He took out some of the pasta and then he grabbed his apron.

"You are going to teach me and we won't stop till I get a good pasta redemption" Charles said with full determination.

There was a bright idea that suddenly popped in your head, "I think I can do something better than that"

You started to type in your phone and after a while your phone started ringing. A familiar face on the screen and Charles almost fainted after hearing the accent.

"YOU GOT GORDON ON SPEED DIAL TO TEACH ME?"

Dinner with the drivers

The Australian Grand Prix was the first time that you actually met Charles' friends and former teammates. Charles arranged for an exclusive dinner with the grid drivers of 2025 in your restaurant.

"How did you get a reservation here Charles? I have been trying to get one for my parents, they love the Chef here and supported her during the masterchef days"Oscar asked.

"I know someone" Charles was trying his best to suppress his grin and elaborate further.

"Make sure to tell me later, I would love to bring my parents here. Cheers mate"

Dinner went on progressively well. There were variation of cuisines available and it catered to their specific Even Lewis loved that the vegan option was vast and Nando even agrees that if this is how much food options vegan has then he can go Vegan.

It was now tiMe for dessert and some drivers opted for a coffee while some thinks they deserve for a cheat day.

"Is this Ferrari's new strategy to shaving weight?"Max joked "Make the other drivers eat more so the car will be unbalanced"

"Fred is getting more creative with his strategy eh. Last year with my appendix and this year with Charles' food"Carlos agreed

The whole table erupted with the antics but Pierre is dying with curiosity already. Charles kept on mentioning how tonight is a really important night for him to announce something. He can't forget this dinner since its all that Charles has been talking about ever since they arrived in Australia.

"But in all honesty, you said you have something to tell us Charles" Pierre wondered "I'm dying to know"

Charles excused himself for a second and all the drivers on the table watched as he went to the kitchen. You were still in your chef's jacket when Charles spotted you.

"Is it time already? Do I look okay?"

"You look more than gorgeous mon amour"Charles replied, giving you a soft kiss to the cheeks.

The two of you walked out of the kitchen with hands interlaced with one another. The table suddenly fell quiet as they saw the two of you approaching the table. Charles has the most smug grin on his face.

"Everyone, I would like you to introduce the talented and amazing Chef for tonight Y/N" Charles lifted your intertwined hands "And she's also my girlfriend"

The drivers were all silent and shocked as they pieced out everything together. Then the flurry of questions started.

"Did you try Charles' pasta?" "Were you poisoned to say yes to him?" "How on earth did Charles get a MasterChef winner" "Can you teach me how you made the appetizer with the pea and corn"

It was so funny and you two were in a long night for explaining. But as you sat down bext to Charles, you felt at ease. You know that you can handle anything together.

The accidental reveal

Charles_Leclerc just posted a photo.

Charles_Leclerc We’ll do everything together to get as many of those trophies in the years to come

User1 Charles is a future WDC

User2 those trophies needs a little bit of polishing, don't you think?

User3 The dust that they have been collecting

User4 Leave the man alone, he's away from home 24/7

User5 is it just me or did you guys see the MasterChef trophy at the back

User6 isn't that the australian trophy, maybe its the p2 from last year User7 nooo! User5 is right, it has the logo

User8 SIR THAT TROPHY IN THE BACK ISN'T YOURS

landonorris lol since when did you have time to do a sidequest with masterchef while we race User10 LANDO! maxverstappen1 surprised he can hold himself till the end. CarlosSainz55 surprised he can cook Charles_Leclerc uninvited for dinner landonorris NOW WAIT A SECOND

Charles_Leclerc and Y/NCooks posted a photo.

Charles_Leclerc spot the game difference is getting difficult.

User1 Man really said fuck it!

User2 I can't believe this crossover

User3 If someone told me this happened a year ago, I would have laughed at you User4 There is no way Charles_Leclerc Why not, I have lots of redeeming qualities

User5 So you mean to say Charles Leclerc is the boyfriend she has been talking about in MasterChef. How did we not piece this out together?

User6 The adopted by the italian family. The cake after Charles P3 in Jeddah. The long distance relationship. THE LECLERC BROTHERS AS HER CLOSEST FRIENDS. HOW DID WE NOT SEE IT User7 I think its because we think Charles can't bag Y/N Charles_Leclerc you all underestimated me

User8 My new favorite trope, the woman who loves to cook for Gordon and the man who loves to get grilled by Gordon

User9 IM LAUGHING! Remember that tweet Charles_Leclerc I'll have you know that I have improved!

User12 Where can I get Y/N, she is so beautiful and talented

Charles_Leclerc sorry out of stock!!!!

User10 Im laughing at how Charles is fighting everyone in the comment section. He really said, he has time

Y/NCooks posted a photo

Y/NCooks the first two was taken two weeks into dating. We preferred staying indoors and the comforts of the house so we could have our privacy. Charles burned the fries and that's a photo of him insisting it was crispy not burnt // fast forward to two weeks ago when he insisted on cooking pasta and making pizza, it was pretty good. The pasta was actually al dente and the pizza was made from scratch.

Thank you honey for growing with me for the past 3 years. I love you all the way from Melbourne to Monaco (or whichever country you are in rn)

User1 This is so wholesome, I ship them together

User2 CHARLES CREMATED THE FRIES

User3 3 YEARS???? THAT MADE ME EVEN MORE SURPRISED

Gordongram FINALLY. The boyfriend is revealed. Hope I can taste some of your cooking Charles_Leclerc

Charles_Leclerc please have mercy on me Y/NCooks He cooks as much as he can so he can cook for you as a thanks for your tutorial lessons User5 GORDON TAUGHT CHARLES???? WHATTTT

User6 God I have seen what you have done for others

User7 I'm looking back at every post of Y/N about the boyfriend. I think I'm sleeping at the highway

User8 same, they are so lovely with each other

User9 Couple goals!

Charles_Leclerc I love you so much. But I thought you deleted that first date photo

Y/NCooks the internet is forever honeyyyyy User10 I love them so much

landonorris so now the cat is out of the bag, can you teach me how to cook now?

yukitsunoda0511 me tooooo! maxverstappen1 i wanna learn too Charles_Leclerc you're cooking maxverstappen1 ??? maxverstappen1 if you can cook, anyone can cook Charles_Leclerc you are always cooking during the races, let me have this maxverstappen1 no :)) landonorris I JUST WANT COOKING LESSONS!

[lovinglokilaufeyson]

The Devil You Know - A.A.

Pairings: Spawn!Astarion x Fem!Reader (Mephistopheles Tiefling! Raphael’s Daughter)

Warnings: Abandonment by parent, implied loss of parent, BG3 Spoilers (set sometime in Act 2), Angst, Conflict/Yelling/Disagreement between Tav & Astarion, Past Trauma, Not Proofread

Wordcount: 1,364

Summary: You are Raphael’s daughter, who he disowned for her good nature. You are abducted from Baldur’s Gate and receive a tadpole in your head. You have bonded with Astarion, but you are not about to let him ask your father for help.

A/N: Requested by anon! I loved loved loved this prompt so so so much God! Thank you for requesting this, I loved writing it! Also, I did some research as to what race Tav would end up being. From what I understand, if Raphael (Cambion) had a child with a human, it would be either a Tiefling or a Cambion?? (Still really muddy for me) Therefore, Tav/Reader is a Tiefling for the sake of this story, and to make the fact that she is “good” more realistic. There will definitely be a part two of this (with substantial fluff, maybe even smut).

It had been years since you had spoken to your father. He was on the verge of abandoning you when your mother gave birth to you, a Tiefling. Raphael would have preferred you to be a Cambion, as he was. You still had similar appearance like he flourished, but you showed an innocence that juxtaposed his own behaviors. He tolerated your presence for a while, but the time came when he was unable to process you frolicking through fields of flowers, basking in the sunshine, the pure happiness that radiated from you. He tried to destroy everything you loved: the flowers, the light. And yet, you were still happy.

He hated it.

He dropped you off at the orphanage at once, you were maturing, but not fast enough for him. That, and he practically despised you. Perhaps, for what Raphael himself lacked. However, who ever claimed that devils were self-aware was definitely a devil themselves.

You spent much of your childhood wondering what you did to deserve to be dropped off at the orphanage that day. The truth was you didn’t. You didn’t deserve to be abandoned by your father. You were just too dissimilar, and that was something Raphael couldn’t handle. You spent a bit of your upbringing attempting to enhance your magical skills, your father had rescinded the vast majority of your abilities upon plopping you at the door of the orphanage with no explanation. However, you were able to regain a lot through your studies in Candlekeep. You were a bookworm, and you loved learning, not only that but you had an innate proficiency with arcana. You became well-versed in magic, but you didn’t know that your adventures had yet to begin.

You had a tadpole placed in your head, and suddenly you felt a kind of freedom you hadn’t felt previously. Then, you were able to escape, with the help of your Githyanki “friend” (you had grown closer over time, she could tolerate you now) Lae’zel. You recruited Shadowheart, Astarion, and Gale along the way. Later on, you met Wyll and Karlach. Karlach was most similar to yourself, being a Zariel Tiefling. Her skin was darker than yours, warmer, but if a stranger met you two they would have thought you sisters.

One person that you didn’t think you would bond with was Astarion. Astarion had his walls up very high from the very beginning, but something within you tore them down. Maybe it was your giddiness, or your general inexperience, but he felt the need to protect you, in a sense. Sure, you had fucked up in battle more times than they all could count, but you tried your hardest, anytime you misfired a spell you would study it over and over again with Gale until you could do it right 100% of the time.

You were perplexed on how you bonded more with Astarion than Gale, but the further you dug with Astarion the more you wanted to know. You had slept together a few times; little did you know that Astarion mostly pursued you for his own gain. He figured that if he got on the good side of the fearless, well-liked leader, she and the rest of the party wouldn’t turn on him. What Astarion didn’t realize was that he didn’t have to sleep with you to get on your good side. He just simply had to be him. You enjoyed his sass, his quips, the bantering that he tried to pursue with you. It never lasted long, which invigorated him, you were simply too easy going. A lover, rather than a fighter.

You were like a ray of sunshine. If he could, Astarion would douse himself in your rays every moment. Similarly to his newfound love for basking in the sun, you were intoxicating to him. Astarion hadn’t met many people who glowed as you did. Ironically, your contrasted, dark correspondent, your father, Raphael, had been following you and your crew around for the past few weeks. Of course, given the whole tadpole situation, the group reeked of desperation. And devils loved desperation. Desperation would lead to deals.

You were adamant that that would not be occurring.

It became evident, one night, that Astarion would be pushing you on that boundary. Astarion’s former master, Cazador,  had written a piece of infernal text on his back. You didn’t think much of it until Astarion became fixated on it one night. You could tell him what it said, but that would mean releasing the information that you were indeed Raphael’s daughter to the rest of the party, which you would have preferred not to do.

This, in itself, was a big step for Astarion. Talking about his past, his troubles, all of it. He felt comfortable around you, perhaps partially because you had shared so little with him regarding your past. You analyzed the scars on his back, running your fingertips over them as you did. “So, darling?” He inquired, pondering if you had an answer for him.

“I can tell you its written in infernal” you spoke simply, only giving him a glimpse into the answer he truly wanted. You bent down on the ground, drawing it on the sand for him, “here.” “I’ve never seen it before” Astarion spoke, and you nodded. “Infernal, you say?” He questioned again, as if an idea was coming to mind. You gestured in approval yet again.

“Darling, thank you. I believe we need to seek out Raphael, that devil who has been creeping on us the past few weeks. I bet he could tell us the meaning of the scars Cazador left on me.”

“Astarion, you can’t possibly be serious. Raphael is a devil. Devils always require a deal, and there is always a catch. You can’t pay that price.” You argued. You had wanted to do something nice for Astarion, given the horrific situation, but you knew one thing for sure. You would not be approaching your father for anything, not even over your own dead body.

“Darling, please. I’m not stupid. I need to know what these marks on me say, and Raphael can do that for me. We can adjust the pricing, I’m sure. You’re just inexperienced.” He quipped, and you gasped at his remark.

“We are not talking to Raphael, and that is final, Astarion.” You were worked up now, Astarion could see it. Gods, even the owlbear across camp half asleep could see it.

“It’s not your decision to make, Tav. It’s mine. If I want to make a deal with the devil, so be it. You can stay out of it.” From across camp, you could hear both Wyll and Karlach trying to intervene and talk some sense into Astarion. He wouldn’t take it anymore. He was his own person, and he could make his own decisions outside of what Cazador – or anyone else – decided for him. You looked at Astarion with glistening eyes, on the verge of tears. He knew he had hurt you, as well as hurt his position with you. But part of him didn’t care anymore about that.

“You’re just too naïve” he spat, and with that, a Barbarian-like rage emanated from you, your typical glow radiated into a powerful force that was nearly too much for Astarion. Your eyes were glowing most prominently, your hands formed into tight fists, and your teeth gnawed against one another. “You want to know what the damned scars say, Astarion?! Do you!?” Astarion, for the first time in weeks, was mildly scared for his life.

He nodded ever so gently, careful not to push you further. “It’s a contract. One between Cazador and Mephistopheles. The rite of profane ascension to a fate similar to godhood, but for vampires. He needs seven thousand souls, and you’re one of them.” Astarion had to bite back a chuckle. You had to be kidding him, right? This was a joke. Right?

“I’m dead fucking serious Astarion.” Your eyebrows were shifted downward, reciprocating your tone of voice.

“How would you know?” He quipped, anxious to break the pattern of seriousness and – perhaps lies that you were spreading. He didn’t want it to be true.

“I’m Raphael’s daughter."

Part Two is now out! Read it here.

[southtopaz]

PSYCHO KILLER - SCREAM

Summary: in which Iris Morris has to navigate her personal relationships while surviving a psycho.

Warnings: Fem!reader, angst, mention of violence, swearing, mention of death, Tara Carpenter x Fem reader, multiple parts.

Word count: 3k

A/n: the next 3 chapters won’t follow Scream 6 plot as I wanted to add more storyline to the characters outside of the movies. If you want to read just Scream 6 plot, skip to Part 12. I’m also not going to follow the original timeline as Scream 6 will take place two years later from Scream 5. English is not my first language, so I apologize for any grammatical mistake.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11

Iris leaned against the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee in hand, gazing out the window at the bustling streets of New York. The city hummed with life, a vibrant symphony of honking cars, distant sirens, and the chatter of people rushing by. It had been a month since she, Tara, and Sam had moved into their modest apartment in Brooklyn, and slowly everything was falling right into place.

"Can you believe we actually live here?" Tara exclaimed, bouncing into the kitchen with a bright smile that lit up the room. Iris, lost in her thoughts, jumped slightly at her voice. She turned to look at her friend and found herself taking in Tara's relaxed appearance. Her hair was still damp from her morning shower, and she wore an oversized sweatshirt that hung loosely on her frame. Feeling a strange flutter in her chest, Iris quickly averted her gaze, a wave of confusion washing over her. What was happening to her? As a distraction, she reached for the coffee pot and passed Tara a steaming cup. "It feels like a dream," she said, her voice steadier than she felt.

"More like a chaotic dream," Sam replied, emerging from her room with a stack of books. "I can't find anything in this mess. I'm still trying to locate my favorite sweater."

Iris chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Which one? The black one? Or the other one that's also black? Or wait—what about..."

"Point taken! It's not my fault black goes with everything!" Sam exclaimed, feigning annoyance at Iris's playful critique.

"Oh, I see you're breaking out the spring colors," .

Sam threw a small book at her, but Iris was quick to dodge it, laughter bubbling up as she ducked.

"Maybe it's a sign that you need to embrace the New York fashion scene," Tara chimed in, grinning.

"I rather die but thanks"

As they settled into their new routine, the trio found joy in the small things: discovering local coffee shops, exploring vibrant street markets, and hosting movie nights along with Chad and Mindy in their living room, which was still adorned with unpacked boxes. Soon they were going to start their classes so they were trying to enjoy the most they could before they inmersed themselves in books. Iris was also searching for a job because she didn't want Sam to be the only one contributing financially, and she wanted to stop her mom from having to spend money on her.

Some weeks later, even with Iris getting a job on a coffee shop, they soon realized that money was still running short. With rent prices in New York being what they were, they knew they needed a fourth person to share the burden. They set up an anonymus ad, detailing their apartment and what they were looking for. They were all wary but they knew they didn't have a choice.

After a few interviews that felt more like awkward first dates than roommate searches, the trio finally met Quinn, a girl with fiery ginger hair that seemed to glow under the dim light of their cluttered living room, and strikingly blue eyes that sparkled with confidence. She was majoring in biology, and perhaps the most intriguing detail was that her dad was a cop. As she strolled into their apartment, she instantly filled the space with a vibrant energy.

The living room was still a whirlwind of unpacked boxes and mismatched furniture, a mix of secondhand finds and items from their old homes. Colorful pillows were scattered across an old couch, while a coffee table was littered with snacks from their latest movie night. A small bookshelf leaned against the wall, stuffed with books that had yet to find their proper places. The air carried the faint aroma of popcorn mixed with the floral scent of a candle they had lit in a moment of desperation to mask the smell of takeout.

"So, how long have you guys been looking for a roommate?" Quinn asked, casually leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed with an air of confidence.

"For a few weeks, but as you can see, we haven't had much luck," Sam replied, gesturing toward the chaos. Her tone was laced with a hint of frustration, but there was also a flicker of curiosity in her eyes.

"Is it because people in New York are weird, or are you guys just too strict?" Quinn quipped, raising an eyebrow playfully, a smirk dancing on her lips.

"Honestly? A little bit of both," Tara admitted, sharing a knowing glance with Iris as they both recalled some of the more bizarre people they met.

Quinn let out a soft laugh. "I get it! You should have seen my last roommate, she was a little bit weird. She had a pet rat, and that little fucker would sneak into my room all the time!" She shuddered dramatically, her eyes wide with mock horror, and Iris couldn't help but snort at her antics.

After a bit of small talk, Quinn leaned in closer, her curiosity piqued. "So, where are you guys from?"

The three friends exchanged glances, an unspoken agreement passing between them. "We're from Woodsboro," Sam said, determined to be honest, at least about this part.

"Oh, okay. I think I've heard that name before," Quinn replied, making a nonchalant face as she glanced around the apartment. "I come from Philadelphia, but I think I already mentioned that" she added with a light laugh, her eyes sparkling.

"Why did you move here? Just for college?" Sam asked, genuinely curious about the girl who seemed to fit right in.

"Well, actually, I moved because my dad got a job here at the police station, and I figured I'd apply to a university while I was at it," Quinn explained, her tone brightening with pride.

"Your dad is a cop?" Iris inquired, raising an eyebrow, intrigued. After Quinn nodded, she exchanged a quick glance with Tara. Having a roommate whose father was a cop felt like a safety net in their world, right?

Sam, sensing the conversation flowing nicely, offered to show Quinn what would be her room and slipped away, leaving Iris and Tara alone in the living room. They both knew that Sam had her own agenda, to continue interrogating the new girl.

"So, what do you think of Quinn?" Iris wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

"She seems nice. It could be good," Tara replied, her tone thoughtful as she leaned back against the couch, letting the cushions cradle her.

"Maybe she likes horror movies too, she could even join our movie nights!" Iris exclaimed, though she knew no one was going to interrupt the nights in where Tara tried to convince her that horror movies are the best.

"Nope, that's our thing, just you and me," Tara said, playfully rolling her eyes as Iris draped an arm around her shoulder.

At that moment, Sam and Quinn returned, and Sam subtly nodded at Iris and Tara, signaling that they'd found their new roommate. . "Well, Quinn, pleasure to meet you, and welcome to your new home, I guess!" Sam said, her smile a bit awkward but genuine. "My sister and Iris will fill you in on everything else you need to know."

Iris gave a thumbs-up to Quinn, feeling a mix of excitement and nervous energy. She had to get used to someone else living here. "Yeah, welcome! It's a bit chaotic, but it's home," she added, trying to reassure her.

"Okay, cool!" Quinn replied, then added with a teasing grin, "By the way, you guys look really cute together. How long have you been dating?"

Both Iris and Tara froze, their eyes wide in shock. They exchanged a quick glance and suddenly they realized that Iris still had her arm around Tara's shoulder, and Tara had inadvertently intertwined their fingers. This was not looking good for them.

They quickly disentangled themselves, deep blushes spreading across their faces. "Oh, no, we're not—" Iris stammered, her heart racing.

"What? No, no—" they spoke in unison, completely flustered and embarrassed.

"We're just friends," Iris clarified, trying to regain her composure, her voice a little shaky. "Best friends!"

"Omg, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to assume!" Quinn exclaimed, her face a mix of embarrassment and amusement, her cheeks flushing as she realized the misunderstanding.

Iris and Tara waved it off, trying to hide their awkwardness, while Sam stood to the side, silently laughing at the whole situation, her shoulders shaking with suppressed giggles.

After some time, Quinn excused herself, and the three friends were left alone once again, the tension still hanging in the air. "Well, that was fun. I'm just gonna go..." Iris said, signaling backward toward her room, desperate to escape the lingering awkwardness. "To my room."

Once Iris left, Sam turned to her sister with a teasing grin, her eyes sparkling with mirth. Tara, however, pointed a finger at her, ready to defend herself against any teasing that was sure to come.

"Not a word, Sam," she warned, her voice stern.

"I didn't say anything," Sam replied innocently, her grin widening as she leaned against the wall.

"You're thinking it," Tara shot back, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Everyone is thinking it" Sam quipped, unable to hold back her laughter any longer.

"Shut the fuck up".

Two weeks later, classes started. Iris adjusted her backpack as she hurried across the bustling campus of Blackmore University, her heart racing with a mix of excitement and nerves. It was her first day, and the sprawling brick buildings felt both intimidating and inviting. The crisp autumn air filled her lungs, energizing her as she navigated through a bunch of students chatting animatedly.

She finally reached her classroom, a bright, airy space filled with wooden desks and large windows that let in the golden sunlight. As she stepped inside, Iris found a seat near the front and unpacked her notebooks, eager to absorb everything she could. Just as the professor began the lecture on cognitive behavioral therapy, a girl with brown hair and a bright smile plopped down in the seat next to her. "Hey! Is this seat taken?" she asked.

"Not at all, you can sit".

"Thanks, I'm Anika". she introduced herself with an enthusiastic smile.

"Iris," she replied, returning the smile. "Nice to meet you!"

The lecture unfolded, filled with complex theories and intriguing concepts, but Iris couldn't help but sneak glances at Anika. The way she scribbled notes furiously, then made funny faces at the professor's overly serious demeanor, made Iris chuckle more than once.

As the class came to an end, Iris gathered her things, and Anika turned to her, an excited glint in her eyes. "So, what did you think of the class? Aside from the professors boring voice"

Iris laughed. "It was interesting but I'm not gonna lie, he did make me wanna go to sleep at some point"

"God, I wish we could steal their coffee" Anika quipped, her smile wide. They both stood, now surrounded by a stream of students making their way out of the classroom. "What other classes do you have today?" Anika asked as they walked down the hallway together.

"I have social psychology next. How about you?" Iris replied, feeling a sense of ease as they chatted.

"Same! I guess we're officially psychology buddies," Anika said, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm.

As they settled into their seats for the next class, Iris couldn't shake the feeling that she had just made her first friend. Throughout the lecture, they exchanged snarky comments and jokes, growing more comfortable with each passing moment.

After class, as they wandered outside, the campus was buzzing with energy, students lounging on the grass or rushing to their next classes. Anika turned to Iris, her expression turning more serious. "So, what made you choose psychology? Just curious."

Iris took a deep breath, thinking about how her own experiences shaped her decision. "I guess I've always been fascinated by why people do what they do, why they are willing to do things that sometimes are not morally correct" Iris had always been interested in psychology but after what happened eight months ago, it was like she had this need to understand people's actions and maybe to understand her own. She pulled the trigger that killed someone and she still doesn't feel bad about it to this day. She couldn't say all of that to Anika yet so she decided for a simpler explanation. "It feels like understanding people can help us navigate through the chaos of life. Plus, I just want to help others find their way, you know?"

Anika nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I get that. I want to figure out how to help people but also how to help myself. I mean, if we can understand our own minds, maybe we can navigate better this world."

"Exactly!" Iris said, her heart swelling with the connection. They exchanged numbers before parting ways, both feeling a spark of excitement for what lay ahead. As Iris walked back to her apartment, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of her first day.

After two months of classes at Blackmore University, they all settled pretty well into their new lives. They had already met Chad's roommate and new friend Ethan, and even though they didn't really talk, he seemed great. So she decided it was time to introduce her new friend Anika to the rest and what a better introduction to her group than a movie night.

*Hey! We're having a movie night at my place this Friday. Wanna join?* Iris sent a quick text to Anika.

Within minutes, Anika replied with an enthusiastic thumbs-up emoji and a string of excited messages. *Count me in! What are we watching?*

Iris grinned as she typed back, *Some classics, does pizza sound good to you?*

As Friday evening approached, everyone was already there, arranging cozy blankets and cushions on the floor.

"So tell me again, on a scale of 1 to 10, how pretty is your friend?" Mindy asked, her tone mischievous as she plopped down onto a cushion. Just as Iris prepared to respond, she swiftly threw a pillow at Mindy, who expertly dodged it.

"What? I'm asking an important question!" Mindy defended, her laughter echoing in the room.

"I agree with Mindy; I want to know too!" Chad chimed in, raising his hand like an eager student, a grin stretching across his face. He leaned forward, clearly invested in the banter.

"You both are disgusting. I'm not going to answer that," Iris said, rolling her eyes but unable to hide the amusement dancing in her gaze.

"So, like, a ten then?" Mindy shot back, winking at her brother, who snickered at the playful exchange.

Just then, the doorbell rang, slicing through their lighthearted conversation. Iris jumped up, a flutter of excitement in her chest, and rushed to the door. She swung it open to find Anika standing there, vibrant and cheerful, a large bag of gummy bears in one hand and a couple of cold beers in the other.

"Hi, girl!" Anika greeted as they embraced each other, stepping inside with a wide smile that radiated warmth. "Didn't know what to bring, so I brought my two faves!"

"Beer and candy? Yeah, everyone is going to love you," Iris exclaimed, grinning as she led her friend into the living room.

Chad was the first to approach, extending his hand with an inviting smile. "Hi, pleasure to meet you! We thought Iris invented herself a friend,".

"Asshole," Iris muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes at Chad's antics while stifling a laugh.

Ethan, Quinn, and Sam soon joined the introductions, each welcoming Anika with friendly smiles. Sam, however, approached a bit more cautiously. Still, she was as nice as she could be for Iris's sake.

Anika's gaze then shifted to the shorter girl in front of her, and her smile widened. "Ohh, you must be Tara!" They embraced warmly. "Iris talks about you all the time."

Iris's eyes went wide, and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "The fuck, no, I do not!" she protested, trying to sound incredulous but failing to mask her embarrassment.

Tara beamed at Anika, her confidence surging. Once she heard Iris's flustered response, she couldn't resist. "I mean, she just said you do. Can't get enough of me?" Tara declared, her tone playfully bold, reveling in the moment.

"I only talk about how much you annoy me," Iris shot back, grabbing a pillow and tossing it at Tara, who laughed heartily, her joy infectious.

Tara turned around just in time to see Anika mouthing to her, "No, that's not true," and the girl couldn't help but smile. Oh, Tara really liked Anika.

Tara moved closer, a playful glint in her eye as she threw the pillow back at Iris, leaning in as she did. "You're extremely red," she teased, enjoying Iris's flustered reaction.

"No, I'm not!" Iris protested, her voice a little too defensive.

"Like, actually crimson," Tara quipped, laughter bubbling in her throat.

"Go to hell Carpenter".

"I just love to annoy you".

"Yeah well I'm going to love to push you out of the balcony".

Anika then turned her attention to the last person she hadn't met yet. She found herself in front of a strikingly attractive woman with curly hair, who was staring at her with her mouth slightly agape, as if trying to process the situation.

"Hi, I'm Anika," she said, her smile bright and amused as she took in the girl's stunned expression.

"H...hi, I'm Min...dy," Mindy stammered, her cheeks flushing a deep shade of red. The moment was comically awkward, and both Chad and Iris exchanged glances, barely able to contain their laughter at the sight of Mindy's flustered face.

"Nice to meet you Mindy"

"Yeah same". Mindy came out of her stupor. "Please make yourself comfortable". And she proceed to show her around the apartment.

"It's not even her apartment". Iris said.

"Let her be gay in peace".

As the evening unfolded, soon laughter filled the room as they settled in. Mindy, strategically positioned herself next to Anika. Even with the movie playing, they all stayed up talking. Mindy and Anika continued to find ways to strike up a conversation with each other, it seemed that they had a lot in common. Anika cracked an extremely funny joke at one point, to which Mindy gave a loud snort.

"Did I really just laugh-snort? Oh no." She was embarrassed as Anika just giggled in endearment.

"It was cute".

Iris stared at her two friends lightly flirting with each other and she couldn't help but smile at Mindy's face, she was in complete awe as she listened to everything Anika had to say.

Well, mission get Mindy and Anika together just started.

[coraniaid]

There's an interesting symmetry in the pattern of Faith and the Watcher's Council appearances on Buffy.

It's perhaps worth noting that neither Faith not the Council are ever quite as integral to the show as fandom likes to suggest.

Faith only appears in twenty episodes across the entire show (plus six more in Angel), and is only mentioned in just over a dozen more. That means she appears in fewer episodes of Buffy than Daniel Osbourne, Riley Finn, Jonathan Levinson or Andrew Wells, all of whom can also boast of having somthing something Faith never had during her time on the show: a last name. ('Lehane' is a post-Chosen reveal to support a tie-in RPG.) She never appears in the opening credits, suggesting she has less of a claim to be a major character than any of Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Spike, Anya, Dawn, Angel, Cordelia, Riley, Tara or Oz. Faith isn't the first Slayer other than Buffy we meet, and she isn't the last. There is a run of over forty episodes in a row (starting from Blood Ties in Season 5) in which Faith's name is simply not spoken by anybody on screen.

It would be very easy for a casual fan of the show to completely forget that Faith ever existed. Pick a random episode of the show and there's a more than 75% chance she won't be mentioned in it.

The Watcher's Council are first mentioned by name in Season 3's Faith, Hope & Trick (the first episode in which Faith herself appears), though there were occasional references to Watchers other than Giles before that. We hear about Giles's father and grandmother having been Watchers before him in Season 1's Never Kill A Boy On The First Date; we're told about Kendra's Watcher Sam Zabuto in Season 2's What's My Line?; and we briefly see Buffy's unnamed first Wacher during a flashback in the same season's Becoming.  (Perhaps most notably, when she hears the prophecy of her own imminent death in Season 1’s Prophecy Girl, Buffy wonders what the Slayer after her will be like and asks Giles: “will you train her, or will they send someone else?”.) But the Council themselves, as a group capable of giving Giles orders, are only mentioned in a total of twenty episodes, and (other than Watchers like Giles and Wesley), representatives of the Council only appears in six of those twenty episodes. Buffy quits the Council in Graduation Day (the same time that she tries to kill Faith), and they never really feature much in her life after that.

It would be very easy for a casual fan of the show to completely forget that the Council ever existed. Pick a random episode of the show and there's a more than 85% chance they won't be mentioned in it.

And yet, if you pick an episode with Faith in it, the odds of the Council being mentioned increase from less than 14% to exactly 60%. If you pick an episode with the Council in it, the odds of Faith being mentioned jump from under 23% to over 83% (the only episode to feature the Council which doesn't mention Faith is their last appearance in Never Leave Me). This isn't just because both of them feature heavily in Season 3, either.

Giles refers to the Watchers' Council by name for the first time when he tells Buffy that "the Council has approved our request" for Faith to stay in Sunnydale. Faith does not appear in Helpless (she couldn't, or the episode wouldn't work) but unlike in previous episodes where she isn't around her absence is noted. Giles convinces Buffy in part to spend time staring at the crystals he will use to hypnotize her and drug her by favorably comparing her to Faith: "since Faith is not interested in proper training, I must rely on you to keep up with yours". The Council come to Sunnydale in Consequences and This Year's Girl and Who Are You? to abduct Faith and either kill her or take her away to England. The one time Buffy says Faith's name in Season 5 -- the one reason that run of forty episodes I mentioned earlier isn't a run of fifty-two episodes -- comes when the Council visit again in Checkpoint and she remembers that "when I was Faith" the Council tried to kill her. (Buffy also brings up the Cruciamentum for the first time since Helpless in this episode; another time that the Council tried to kill her.) The Council's last ever mention on the show comes in Dirty Girls, which is also the episode in which Faith returns to the show.

None of which, of course, is a coincidence. While the show doesn't care about Faith or the Council as much as the fandom does, they do both have a very clear and deliberate metaphorical meaning. Faith is Buffy: the Buffy we see in When She Was Bad and in Anne and the Buffy we later see clawing her way out of the grave in Season 6. A Buffy with no friends or family, a Buffy who desperately wants some sort of parental figure in her life but refuses to listen to anyone who she thinks might be trying to control her or stop her enjoying being a Slayer. And the Council are an embodiment of all the worst parts of Giles we see in the first two seasons: Watchers who only see Buffy as a weapon and refuse to let her have an ordinary life, who risk her life and her mother's life for no good reason, who give her orders and offer scraps of information but are revealed ultimately to be hollow and powerless.

(I've complained a lot before about fandom trying to pretend there isn't this sort of complexity to Buffy and Giles's relationships in the early season -- that Buffy doesn't have nightmares about her Watcher secretly being one of the monsters who wants to kill her, or that he doesn't make unjustified and hypocritical attempts to contol her personal life while shutting her firmly out of his, or that Joyce isn't justified in being angry at Giles for what he's been putting her daughter through for years -- but it's only fair to note that this is something the writers do too. The Cruciamentum of Helpless becomes, in Buffy's later retelling in Helpless, something that "the Council" did to Buffy, as if it wasn't Giles who drugged her and lied to her face about it; as if Giles really had made the conscious decision to choose Buffy over his career as a Watcher and not been forced into it by being fired. But remember what Giles says in Helpless: how he justifies the need for Buffy to study the crystals he shows her -- to undergo the preparation for the Cruciamentum in other words. This is a part of a Slayer's "proper training", and since Faith is "not interested" in that he has to rely on Buffy.)

Faith is the part of Buffy who stubbornly rebels against all authority and the Council exist to be an authority that Buffy is justified in cutting all ties with. No wonder then that the Council spend so much time trying to capture or kill Faith. No wonder that their fates are intertwined so thoroughly.

No wonder that Buffy's early Season 2 nightmare of being murdered by her Watcher ("I mean, I've killed you once: it shouldn't be too difficult to do it again") becomes, by Season 5, a memory that "when [she] was Faith" (or When She Was Bad, you might say...) "the Council" tried to kill her. No wonder we never see Faith go through the Cruciamentum: Faith does not have anyone in her life she trusts enough to be betrayed like that. No wonder that, since Faith is the part of Buffy who refuses "proper training" from the start, Buffy is forced by the Council -- and by Giles -- to symbolically undergo the Cruciamentum in her place.

[fantastic-nonsense]

I have a fun [citation needed] hypothetical for you. Say you have been granted the authority to make FIVE editorial directives for DC comics that will be followed for at least the next five years. What are you demanding?

No company events.

No major events with ten thousand tie-in comics.

No big crossover events.

No big gimmick events.

No event comics.

Okay, I kid, but only slightly. I'm actually going cheat slightly and give you five plus an extra one that needs a bit more explanation:

No company-wide crossover events or gimmick events that derail major ongoing stories in individual books shall be made. If an event comic is published, any tie-ins will be published separately from the character's ongoing/mini (for reference: like the Blackest Night tie-in specials).

Institute a lore consistency team within the Archives department. Mandate that every single creative team MUST read and utilize a character/story bible before writing any scripts. The scripts will be looked over by a member of the lore team as well as the book editor before being approved for publication.

The Young Justice generation is finally allowed to grow up and, where necessary, get new hero names. In particular, Tim Drake finally gets to age and stop being Robin. He picks 'Blackbird' as his new name, gets a cool new red-and-black costume, and stars in a rebooted Young Justice book alongside his friends.

Barbara Gordon has to formally retire from the Batgirl role and become Oracle full time again. This is handled in a way that is respectful of her character and her disability. Cassandra Cain will be Batgirl full-time again while Stephanie Brown goes back to Spoiler; Cass gets a Batgirl solo ongoing while Steph would join a rebooted Gotham Knights team book that includes her, Kate, Helena, Luke Fox, and Jean-Paul Valley.

Wonder Woman's established lore is acknowledged, respected, and re-emphasized. Diana is a clay baby again, Cassie is Zeus's daughter again, The Return of Donna Troy is acknowledged as the definitive explanation of Donna's multiple-choice backstory (while the fire origin stays the definitive origin), Artemis gets her original origin back, etc. Full acceptance of the Rucka Rebirth retcon to reset Diana's origins and childhood back to the post-Crisis status quo. No references to the Zeus origin or the New 52 Amazons are allowed to be made except in context of Rucka's "it was a lie" explanation.

In priority order, those editorial mandates probably fall out to be something like 2>1>5>3 and 4 in a tie; 3 and 4 are kinda interchangable since they collectively would fix a wide swath of what's wrong with the Bat books right now.

My "extra" mandate would be that writers must utilize existing characters where possible for their stories. No new "major" heroes are to be introduced unless a writer can prove that a book needs a new character to fill an identified gap. Prioritization should go to a) characters who used to be used on a regular basis in a given book but have not been seen in 10+ years and b) characters introduced within the past 5-7 years.

I'd want this one for two reasons: one, there's a ton of pre-existing characters who used to be staple or regularly recurring characters who have failed to get regular appearances since 2011, for a variety of reasons. Forcing writers to use them instead of creating new characters would allow DC to rebuild some continuity, bring back old favorites, and provide closure to lingering storylines that were cut short or never followed up on. Two, there's a hell of a lot of new characters have been introduced and discarded without actually building them out properly the last few years. I would honestly only put this one in place for around 3 years...long enough to force DC to actually flesh out the underutilized newbies and provide some closure and new beginnings for some old favorites.

[ghcstao3]

hi again, hope school isn't being too hard on you :( I figured I'd send a few ideas in & you can answer whenever!

IT'S COLD! so how about the 141 during the summer, doing some of your favorite activities! Or maybe a teeny ramble about what each likes doing the most...?

if it's not triggering...SoapGhost in uni. The class they share is for 1 of their majors & the other's minor (or maybe just for extra credits). The extra credit assignment involves taking a day trip somewhere & they're the only 2 who go.

Soap's 2nd job happens to be helping out his local unicorn community, who have all but gone extinct. He comes across the fabled Simon Riley, the Ghost of Soap's hometown, as the poor guy wanders around after being held captive by fey for decades.

school’s just been busy more than anything thankfully!! it’s a lot of work but certainly not too difficult:)

and ahh it was hard to choose from one of these i might have to return to the others. but honestly writing about them in uni is like therapy

-

Simon and John meet in an upper level English literature course.

Well—Simon never really had much say in the matter, not when John had plopped himself down in the seat beside him on the first day even in spite of all the other empty desks in the small classroom. Apparently it’s what John’s heart had desired, and never having been one for unnecessary confrontation, Simon never says anything of it.

He could never really pinpoint when their friendship began, maybe forged through general interest in the topic and whispered comments and jokes about some of the contents during lectures, or maybe through necessity when they’re not familiar with many others in the class, but either way—John ends up becoming one of the better friends Simon’s made in all his years of university.

The thing is, though, with majors that don’t overlap in the slightest—be it Simon’s English major and John’s own in chemistry—they don’t really see much of each other outside of class, unless it means working on a group project. Simon thinks—believes—they’d both like to be friends outside of the course, but… for whatever reason, they each have difficulty initiating anything.

Simon, personally, would like something more. But he doesn’t need it. Just wants John’s company regardless.

But they have their difficulties throughout the semester, that is, until their professor—a sweet old woman, who endures far too much from the few immature students in her class—announces that she had received funding from the department to take interested students to a professional production of Macbeth in a town an hour over. It’s without hesitation that Simon and John both agree to go.

But since it’s so close to finals season, they end up being the only two to go through with attending.

Not that Simon’s complaining—it just means more time spent with John alone. Sort of.

And not to mention he gets to see how nicely John cleans up for the event.

“I’m so glad you boys still came,” their professor says in greeting. “I was afraid no one wanted to go anymore.”

John smiles that stupidly charming smile at her, and Simon’s really beginning to feel the extent of his growing crush on his friend.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” he says.

“Oh, thank you, John.” She glances between them both, some knowing expression appearing briefly on her face before she ushers them inside the theatre. She hands them their tickets, tells them to go ahead, she has some friends from the local university she wants to meet with before the performance starts.

As they settle into their seats, John leans into Simon’s space—closer than he could ever manage at a desk. Simon hopes the theatre’s dark enough that John can’t see the way his ears burn red.

“Warning you now,” John whispers. “I know fuck all about Shakespeare language, so you’re gonna have a lot of explainin’ to do.”

Simon huffs, trying to dispel some of the heat of his blush. “Maybe you should’ve paid more attention in class, then, Johnny.”

John laughs, knocking his shoulder against Simon’s. “Maybe you shouldn’t have been telling me so many jokes during lectures, Mr. English major.”

Simon rolls his eyes but doesn’t bother retaliating. Instead they fall into meaningless conversation until the play begins, quieting only slightly when their professor arrives and sits on the other side of Simon.

The lights dim in the audience, and the performance starts. Simon watches with rapt attention, but true to his word, John asks him far too many questions.

He doesn’t particularly mind, though, when he can feel John’s knee press against his all the while.

John rambles when it’s over, and despite the interrogation, he seemed to understand and enjoy it as much as Simon and their professor had. Simon’s more than content to listen as their professor bids them goodnight, and they both head to the train station while she heads to her car.

Simon isn’t sure what it is that causes it—but the entire ride back, John seems to encroach in his space more than usual, stuck to Simon like glue. Simon does notice his eyes drooping and his head nodding off every once in a while, so he has the excuse of writing it off as exhaustion.

Particularly when John is resting his head on Simon’s shoulder.

“Don’t wanna walk back to my flat,” John laments once they’re climbing off at their stop. “Too far.”

It’s a fit of impulse that has Simon offering, “You could stay at mine? It’s only five minutes.”

And there’s no hesitation when John accepts with a weary grin.

“You’re a lifesaver, Si,” John sighs. “Could kiss you right now.”

Simon freezes. John doesn’t notice as he ambles further away from the train platform.

“What’d you say?”

John pauses, and his brow furrows. He looks to Simon, simultaneously confused and entirely too casual. “Said I could kiss you,” he repeats. “Why? S’that a problem?”

Simon’s gaze falls to the ground as he quickly shakes his head. “No, no, it’s not—that’s not—“

“Would you like me to kiss you?” John pushes, peeking up at Simon through thick lashes. Simon knows he’d give in immediately, if he were looking into those sapphire-blue eyes.

“I mean—“ Simon shrugs a shoulder. His blush has returned in full force, from the nape of his neck, to his cheeks, to the tips of his ears. “—I wouldn’t say no.”

“Okay,” John hums, like it’s nothing, before grabbing Simon’s face and doing exactly as promised.

It isn’t anything life changing, but it’s still—it’s still everything Simon could hope for, even here as a chill runs through him from the night’s cool temperature, even if their only sources of light are the moon and a flickering streetlamp.

John eventually pulls away first, delivering a hearty pat to Simon’s chest. “Now get me back to your flat and we can do that again, aye? It’s fuckin’ freezing out here.”

Simon can’t help the smile that appears on his face. His face tingles a little less now, though he’s sure it’s still stained a deep pink. “Sure, Johnny.”

And if they hold hands the entire way back—Simon will just claim it was for warmth.

[jedimasterbailey]

Tales of the Empire Thoughts (Mostly About Barriss)

I know I’m a little late to the party in terms of laying out my thoughts on Tales of the Empire but honestly I needed a few days to process and digest what happened (not to mention being on vacation delayed that process as well). Obviously as a Barriss stan/fanfic writer/blogger y’all know that those episodes were the upmost priority for me and I will be rewatching those episodes on repeat like no other since it’s been far too long since Barriss has had her time to shine. 

The majority of this post will be centered around those specific episodes because I’m just gonna just go ahead and say that the Morgan Elsbeth episodes were boring and didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about the character. Also the bullshit reasoning as to why Morgan doesn’t obviously look Dathomiran is so dumb in that my brain will malfunction if I think about it too much. If the “magic going away” thing was true then how do you explain Merrin and Ventress who still have power and retain their clear Dathomiran appearance? Either way, there is no way Darth Felonious could explain his “logic” to me there because it is all too clear that Morgan was never meant to be Dathomiran in the first place. She was just a bad lady with a spear and that’s that. Love the actress, but the character is just lame. Furthermore, it is so clear that the hat man knows absolutely nothing about Thrawn and I’m not even a Thrawn stan but why even if the guy involved if he just says a few words and leaves? Now before y’all come for me, yes I’m aware these episodes are shorts and the time is precious but to me they could have dedicated more time into explaining to me why Morgan is so loyal to Thrawn. Her reasoning for wanting to join the Empire is empty too in that the Separatists that annihilated her race is now the Empire so…to me that’s not enough reasoning for Morgan to be so dedicated. The only parts that had me engaged were the Grevious bits which were both beautiful and frightening at the same time.

Now onto the meat which is the Barriss arc which has me both elated and frustrated at the same time. Let’s begin with the stuff I absolutely love.

1.) Barriss proving herself to not be committed to the Dark Side/Empire is a huge win for me and other Barriss super fans who have been preaching this for over a decade. We knew from the moment the trailer came out that Barriss was just going to do what it took to survive and even though she was forced into doing things she really did not want to do, she stayed true to herself and escaped before it was too late. The light in her never left nor did it ever leave her and I just know that Luminara would have been so proud of her. Barriss constantly questioning the Grand Inquisitor and the Fourth Sister had me smiling because that is just Barriss. She will always question things that seem off and will defend her beliefs and values no matter what the danger to herself may be. The line of reclaiming her position of a Jedi is my absolute favorite line and gave me all the feels I get whenever Luke tells Palpatine that he is a Jedi like his father. On a final note, I loved that she showed genuine concern/fear for what was happening to the Jedi when Order 66 was happening and demanded an answer. 

2.) Barriss being a healer and a protector. It is so satisfying to see it canon on screen that Barriss remains to be a healer after years of being obsessed with the Legends Medstar lore. I absolutely loved that Barriss took off her mask to the terrified boy in the village and protected him against the Fourth Sister’s unnecessary wrath only to save the non-binary (yay representation!) Jedi from death later that day. It all just makes me so happy to get that validation that Barriss has always had a big heart which makes her stand out from other Jedi in my opinion. 

3.) Barriss sporting that lesbian pixie cut with the adorable laugh/smile lines and being a healer in the mountains helping Force sensitive and the sick/injured just makes my day. It warms my heart to see Barriss be at peace and doing so much good after so much pain and trauma from her past. Though I do miss her hood and would like to see a head covering on her again. Also doing the math, Barriss should be in her thirties during the third episodes so why did they age her up so much? I’ve heard the theory of the Force healing taking her life force but damn Luminara was in her late thirties during the Clone Wars and she had like nothing 😅 One other note that makes me smile is that Barriss is referred to as a “wise mother” and that’s just everything.  Also she looks and acts like just like Luminara they truly could be mother and daughter it’s so sweet 💚💙

4.) Barriss defeating an Inquisitor without a weapon of her own and catching a blade with the Force is so fucking badass, I could re-watch that sequence on repeat forever. 

5.)The vague Ahsoka mention had my Barrissoka heart exploding. I demand an animated Barrissoka show immediately. 

Now here are the bits that have me frustrated and I demand that Darth Felonious fixes them later.

1.) The lack of closure between Barriss and Ahsoka/Luminara. Barriss hurt a lot of people from her actions but at the very least it would be nice to see her repair the damage she inflicted on the people closest to her. We never saw anything in regards to Luminara’s reaction to the bombing and knowing what gruesome fate awaits her in Rebels, I was so hoping the two would meet again, make amends before Luminara inevitably sacrificed herself as a final act of love and forgiveness for her Padawan. As for Ahsoka…if the two are able to work together in the future, could we at least see how exactly that came to be? I’m personally growing tired of major developments happening off-screen and we as an audience are just expected to roll with it. Again I’m aware these are shorts, but why do they have to be shorts? Why can’t we just delete the boring Morgan episodes and get like a movie or limited series on this exact journey? 

2.) The return of yet another ambiguous ending for Barriss. I am a firm believer that Barriss is alive granted that people seem to get stabbed all the time in Star Wars and they get to live so why not Barriss? I understand what they’re doing with Barriss getting through to the Fourth Sister to show us that Barriss has come full circle in her journey from dark to light, however since I’m forced to believe that Barriss had some sort of relationship with this random Inquisitor pre-Empire instead of someone who did have a significant relationship to her, it falls flat for me and it enrages me that if Barriss were to die from this….well I just don’t have words for that. So now I’m wondering if I’m going to have to wait another 10 years to get answers. Thank the Force for fanfic and fanart to get me through. 

3.) Does Barriss even know what the Empire did her Master? Because… I feel that’s another huge story thats being missed here. Ahsoka was able to get some closure with Anakin, why can’t Barriss have the same with Luminara? 

4.) Never getting anything in terms of what pushed Barriss to bomb the Jedi temple in the first place. That’s my biggest beef with the original Clone Wars series since we see no development as to how Barriss goes from a kind gifted Padawan healer to mastermind of a terror plot. That could a book or show on its own. 

5.) Star Wars continuing to miss what a satisfying redemption arc is. Not only do we need to understand what got a character to do the crime(s) but we need to see the growth that comes from it. That’s what makes the Obi-Wan Kenobi show so good to me is that I now know how Obi-Wan grew from RotS to where we meet him in ANH. I would love to see the same for Barriss, because you just know she’s been on very spiritual/emotional journey to get to where she was at the end of the show. 

6.) Why was Vader even in this? Given the history Barriss and Anakin share, it is incredible that nothing happened between them post ROTS. And this is like fresh Vader still full of grief and anger by what’s happened so I doubt seeing Barriss even as an Inquisitor initiate would be anymore soothing. I just don’t understand…what a waste. Something more epic and cathartic could have come out of that interaction.

Well I’m done ranting for now, I’m curious to know what your guy’s thoughts are. Otherwise my brain is buzzing with fanfic story ideas and I’ll be getting back on the writing horse as I re-Watch the Barriss episodes into oblivion. 

[galadrieljones]

Zabel Interview, Team Delusional Round-up, re: the past few weeks (months?) 💫

(Based on an ask from @natural-blue-26! This post contains spoilers, pertaining to the script leak. If you don't want them, turn back!!)

First, let me say that @twdmusicboxmystery has posted an excellent video covering this topic over at her youtube channel. This post is jumping off of that, with some additional takes and analysis by me!

Also, note that I wanted to wait to post or to talk about this too much publicly until today, as I think there are a lot of genuine shippers who might be let down right now. Not all c*rylers are unhappy, unruly people. Many are shippers just like us, and even though I don't ship it, I support them. I am only putting this in the Team Delusional tag, so anyone who sees this is seeing it either because they follow me, follow the tag, follow someone who follows me, or they went looking for it themselves. I am not making drama or inciting a "ship war." If you're here out of anger, I suggest you turn back. I am just going to go over what I see.

The Facts

There has been a recent spate of events that have lead Team Delusional to a rare and more than modest resurgence. Until now, we were mostly just working with templates and symbolism, with a healthy dose of informed meta and speculation: We were seeing how the season 4/5 template was beginning to unfold toward the Grady arc, which includes Carol in a major role.

BUT. Let's check in with what's been going on over the past six months. A lot of this new resurgence starts with Emily's multiple trips to Europe for TWD cons in the past six months, integrated with her (yet unrealized) insinuation that she has been in studio recording one or more songs that Beth sang on TWD. Massive financial burdens aside, these are unusual undertakings for Emily. While she has done many fan cons over the years, visiting Europe twice in a four month period is bizarre (as well as expensive). She also talked openly and excitedly in the panel at French comic-con about how cool it would be if Beth returned. Further, Emily's "re-recording" of "Parting Glass" and possibly other TWD songs was a fairly big announcement for us at the time, but we haven't seen any more on it since. Speculation went everywhere from "She'll be singing in a flashback in Daryl Dixon season 2" to "Her songs will be part of the soundtrack" to "She'll actually BE in season 2, singing, in the present moment."

A lot of these things, if they were spread out over a 5 year period, wouldn't matter at all. But the fact that they're all taking place in the six-month run-up to Daryl Dixon s. 2, when we've already been able to speculate her tenuous return based on templates and other tells, is exciting. It's been almost ten years to the day of Beth's *death.* Why now? The timing on all of this is very suspicious.

Now, a few weeks ago, there was a LEAKED SCRIPT excerpt, which was claimed to be the final scene of DD 2.6. In the script, we learn that Isabelle has died and is appearing to Daryl in the form of a hallucination while he fights walkers in the Chunnel. This was confusing for many reasons. First, we already know, given their ruthless advertisement of the fact, that season 3 is already being filmed in Spain. So why are they headed to England? Also, where the hell is Laurent? Further, Isabelle's death, while unsurprising to many of us, creates some new questions. Many members of a certain *other* ship were ecstatic to learn about Isabelle's death, as Daryl/Isabelle ship rumors have been rampant in the fandom basically since season 1. Forget the fact that the same ship FREAKED out over Daryl/Leah three years ago (a clear nothingburger). Any time another female character even comes into contact with Daryl, a notable portion of fans must make their "displeasure" widely known.

Moving on. Yesterday, an article came out summarizing a yet-unreleased interview with David Zabel in SFX magazine. You can read it here. In the interview, Zabel makes the following comment about "C*ryl":

"The obvious thing to do, and the easier thing to do would be, 'Okay, now they're falling in love and they're a couple.' But I always felt like that would be a mistake, because it would feel like you were going into the TV book of tricks," he explains. "To me, there was never a question that [their connection] was something other than what it is, and what it seems to want to be, and why it works so well."

Zabel then goes on to hint at a highly-contentious romance with Daryl and Isabelle:

"What happened in season one was that you could see a connection forming, for sure," he says. "We didn't manufacture that but we left room for it. A lot of season two is about the development of that and where that relationship goes, and that little surrogate family of Isabelle, Daryl and Laurent."

Now, the full interview doesn't come out until September 4, at which point, we may get a clearer picture of what's going on. However, it seems that Zabel is politely declining the "C*ryl as romance" narrative. In the quote, he uses the excuse of wanting to avoid TV tropes; however, he then goes on to say (in a portion of the quote that is being wildly misinterpreted among the c*ryl ship) that "To [him]," there was "never a question that [their connection was something other than what it is." He then equates "what it is" with "what it seems to want to be" and "why it works so well." The misinterpretation is coming with that second part. "What it is" = friendship. Zabel is clearly saying that c*ryl "seems to want to be" exactly "what it is," aka: a sacred friendship and nothing more. He's basically saying that this already "works so well," and so why fix what ain't broke? Why create a romance between two characters who are clearly just very, very good friends when he could go another, more interesting direction?

Certain c*ryl accounts have misinterpreted that section of the quote. They seem to think he's saying that the c*ryl ship "seems to want to be" something else, something other than what it is. But if you follow the grammatical logic of the sentence, you can see that they're wrong here. It wants to be what it already is, which is friendship. Of course, to c*rylers, what it already is = romance, but that isn't canon. There's no proof of this. In fact, there's more proof to the contrary, that they're best friends. They're family. Carol was married to somebody else, raised a child with him, still holds a contentious relationship with the other man, allowed Daryl to toil away in the woods alone for five years because she needed to stay with her husband...

In addition to factual evidence from the show, the C*ryl Friendship Campaign has been going strong on social media for MONTHS. In her video this morning, twdmusicboxmystery also goes over quasi-recent comments from Angela Kang which are UNSUPPORTIVE of a c*ryl romance. The notion that this perspective is coming out of nowhere, which some fans are claiming as a way of blaming Zabel for either lying or betraying his fanbase (and the actors), is, frankly, absurd.

Please note that I'm not saying that nobody should ship c*ryl just because it isn't canon. That would be silly. I ship non-canon ships all the time. BETHYL is a non-canon ship! I've written whole fanfics for Beth and Daryl (well, I've tried lol, but most remain unfinished). It's one of the funnest parts of being in a fandom.

What I'm saying is that c*ryl is NOT CANON. It never has been. And the people who get angry about this, who want to get professionals fired over this, who think that they're entitled to getting exactly what they want, lest the show perish, are wrong. They're doing it wrong. It's totalitarian and, frankly, obsessive. This is not how you be in a fandom, and my interpretation here of the Zabel interview in conjunction with the C*ryl Friendship Campaign is that they are TRYING to let this highly volatile and frankly unpleasant faction of the fandom down lightly in an effort to get them off tptb's AND the actors' backs. They don't want to deal with this shit anymore. And by the way, they're actually not leading anyone on. They've been insanely clear here, in their rebranding of c*ryl to a platonic ship, as to what's happening and what's going on, and while I really do feel for the good people who may feel let down by this, I am GLAD to see that the showrunners aren't going to heed the demands of one tiny, loud faction of a giant fandom, and that despite the haters, they're going to tell the story they want to tell.

ANYWAY.

Over the past 48 hours, things have gotten...weird. Zabel's interview dropped less than a day after the TWD Skybound social media accounts appear to have...posted a Bethyl edit out of nowhere. @sweetz1919 also posted early this morning, bringing together a few more Beth-related posts on either official accounts or *near* official accounts, which post promotional material, and which are followed by AMC TWD. One of these posts is a repost on twitter by Scott Gimple, who so rarely posts on social media, that any time he does, it's like a unicorn, symbolically notable and certainly important.

Now, pertaining to the Zabel interview, another wide complaint taking place in the c*ryl camp is that Zabel is likely LYING or he is being taken grossly out of context, because if c*ryl isn't happening, AND Isabelle is going to die, then how could Daryl POSSIBLY get his happy ending?

THIS is where Team Delusional comes in. Of course, we have our theories. Most people think WE'RE the delusional ones. And maybe we are! Lol. I don't really care. Most of our theories are crafted through a TON of hard, circumstantial, pattern-driven, and symbolic evidence, evidence taken from IRL sources, and hypotheses made after paying very close attention to what's been going on and making LOTS and LOTS of connections over a period of many years. Me, myself, I've only been here for four, but some of you guys have been doing this for almost ten, and for that, I salute you! As I said earlier, TD has been theorizing Beth's "return" in DD2 based greatly on symbolic and template-driven evidence alone for a while. A lot of what we're seeing now on social media is playing directly into our hand.

Emily in Europe multiple times in a 4mo period, including a trip to Paris, with her latest stint being just a week before "official" filming for season 3 was set to begin? Emily re-recording tracks from TWD? Leaked script pages in which Daryl mentions Beth specifically AND suggest that Isabelle is going to die? Romantic!C*ryl = not happening? HOW could Daryl possibly get his happy ending now? The rest is TD theory, ie: WHY we think Beth will come back to manifest Daryl's "happy ending." Speculation and theories on how she could come back, the connection to Spain/England/France, that's basically all we talk about lol, each of us with our own interests and niche perspectives, all arriving at the same point.

SO while there is still no proof that she is coming back, all of this is a Good thing, actually. For us. Because while everyone is looking around, freaking out, wondering what's going to happen next, we are seeing and able to read a LOT of signs that others ignore. And rightly so! There's no reason the rest of the GA needs to think that Beth is legitimately coming back. That would overshadow Carol's role in season 2, which is significant. It's just important that the GA REMEMBERS who Beth IS, that she was important to Daryl, and that hey, people used to really like Beth, and they liked Beth and Daryl together, and that was hopeful, and nice for him, and he hasn't had much "hope" or "niceness" since, and wouldn't it be nice if he could have that again...? All of these things are really there to do just this: let the c*ryl ship down easy, and remind people that Daryl once held a very strong connection to a woman whose life "ended" too soon, and who has really never been mentioned again.

While I really have no idea what's coming next, I wonder if we'll begin to see more astroturfed discussion on Beth's *death.* How weird it was, what the hell was going on at Grady, etc. If we don't see it in promotional material, we may hear about it in-show. Because if Daryl is casually mentioning Beth (along with Merle and Glenn) to Isabelle's ghost/vision in episode 2.6, then this likely implies that he's told her about Beth before, and that he's talked to her about what happened. It implies that Isabelle knows who Beth is, which would be a truly insane development, since he's literally never talked about her to anyone, including Carol, as far as we know.

So anyway, as usual, we should all just keep our heads down, chins to our chest, keep hope alive, but with a balanced sense of anticipation. We still really don't know what's going to happen, so it's important to be rational, but it also won't hurt to have a little faith 💫

[lolasimms]

a lots gonna change pt.3

Summary: Married life isn’t great, infidelity ensues and things change.

next part

In light of the mishap that had occurred at Dina and Jesse’ things had been tense in the Williams household. After the hate sex that you two had in the car, you’d made good on your vow to ignore her as best you could. Until she decided to make an effort to apologise adequately, she wouldn’t be graced with your presence or conversation. This was driving Ellie up the wall, she really hated that you resorted to icing her out anytime the two of you were in disagreement.

You’d caught up with your sister over the phone, informing her on all the chaos that ensued and make no mistake, she was on your side. Though she disagreed with your choice to work from home, managing to convince you to go back to working at the office. You’d pondered with the idea ever since the argument between Ellie and agreed that it was best you went back to work, not that you’d tell her. Upon hearing your distressed tone and the utter exhaustion you were dealing with, your sister decided that she would come down on an impromptu visit to see you and her niece, making clear not to mention Ellie as she wanted you to know just how pissed off she was at your wife.

-

Your morning started like any other, awoken by the soft rays of sunshine, peeking through your ivory curtains. To your left Ellie was still asleep, the both of you sleeping with distance between yourselves.

You ascended from the bed, alarming Ellie who rose her head from the pillows, tufts of her auburn hair haphazardly falling out of the messy bun they’d been tied in. You glanced at her, offering nothing more than I tight lipped glare before walking out the door. You heard her groan before dropping her head back into the assortment of pillows. She had no idea you’d be going back to work today and you’d like it to remain that way, communicating with her as of recent had been a pain in the ass.

You dropped Lila off at preschool and went into work, dreading your return to the now unfamiliar offices you hadn’t seen in almost 2 years. Ellie would be occupied for majority of the day, as she had offered to pick up your sister from the airport. You made no mention of the fact that your sister was made at Ellie at the moment, you just hoped she’d be civil enough, as not to make things awkward for the three of you.

-

You’d been at it for three hours now, the work was boring but not unfamiliar. Honestly you were impressed with your ability to get straight back into your work, but you couldn’t deny the silence of your office was foreign. Home life mainly consisted of your daughters noisiness, loud banging and swearing from one of Ellies many tasks or the loud music from your rowdy neighbours.

The only sounds in the office were the taps of your keyboard, the soft whoosh sounds that came from your air conditioning and the gentle taps your heels made against the hardwood floors. As you toyed with the excel spreadsheet you were organised you were interrupted by the sound of knocking. You looked up to see a muscular woman in slacks and a work shirt, dirty blonde hair and a plaid tie. You nodded and she entered.

-

"You must be Y/n, pleased to meet you. I'm Abigail Anderson." The tall blonde holds out her toned arm towards you, introducing herself. You quickly shake it, and look up at her with a kind smile.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Anderson I'm looking forward to be working alongside you" your words of seem to please her, as a wide grin stretches across her face.

"I have to say the same, I've seen the things you can do and let's just say... very impressive." You can't help the smile that appears on your face, to have your work appreciated always made you feel validated.

"That means more than you'll ever know" you mutter, finding it hard to make eye contact with her.

-

"How was your flight, any troubles?" Ellie takes the bags from your sister, Nara's hands and looks down at her, trying to make conversation, as they walk through the airports busy parking lot.

"Nope, it was fine." she replies meekly, avoiding eye contact with her. If she weren't bad at reading signals she’d think Nara was mad at her. Nara loved Ellie, that was on of the things that always made her love you, how easy it was to get along with your family, so the sudden shift in Nara’s demeanour threw her off.

"Is something the matter Nara?" She asks, as they make it to the car and by the click of her key, the trunk of her car opens. Nara finally looks at her and she places her bags down harder than necessary.

"I don't like cunts Ellie, and I've heard through the grapevine that you've been acting like one" Nara's eyes bore holes into the brunette and for a split second she can feel herself becoming self conscious.

"What I don't know wha-" she attempts to speak, before your sister cuts her off.

"My little sister deserves someone who's going to treat her right, make time for her, and not be a cunt. So if you don't plan on doing that, we're not going to be on good terms" she walks to the front of the car and slams the door shut. Ellie is stood there dumbfounded, honestly shocked at the confrontation.

-

Incoming call, Nara

“Hey, did you land safely?" You ask as you sway around in your desk chair. Toying with the card that read “welcome back” attached to a bouquet your boss had left on your table.

"Yeah, I'm at your house right now, when were you going to tell me you were rich" she jokes.

"Real funny, but seriously how was the flight?"

"It was fine, it picked me up"

"Oh my god don't be rude to Ellie, can you please be civil?" you were now fidgeting with the pens on your desk.

"I don't know... can I?" She retorts playfully.

"I'm serious, just don't be a bitch to her, I want everyone getting along this weekend."

"Too late for that, I kinda already went off on her at the airport" you can hear the smirk in her voice.

"Nara." You press firmly

"Fine, I'm sorry I'll be nice to it"

"It?"

"Fine, I'll be nice to Ellie" she makes sure to enunciate her name, letting you know she got the memo.

"Good, I finish work in two hours, I'll pick up Lila and then come home. See you soon"

"Bye sis"

You place your phone onto your desk and sit back in your seat. Lunch sounded really good right now, so you grabbed your purse and set your sights on locating the nearest vending machine. You shut the door of your office closed and turn around to find Abigail standing in-front of you.

"Oh, hi Abigail"

“Just call me Abby, and I was about to ask if you wanted to get lunch” she smiles as she looks down at you. The size of her was unreal, her height, her arms, you were taken aback, really.

"Oh sure, I was actually headed to the vending machine, to find myself something to eat" you awkwardly nod towards the machine down the corridor.

"I'm not letting you eat vending machine food on your first day back, there's a cafe on the 3rd floor, they have good stuff, my treat" she begins walking, so you follow.

-

"Nara, we're here!" You shout as you drop Lila to the floor and walk through the foyer of your home. The bouquet of flowers you received tucked under your left arm. The lights are all off, and by the extra pair of shoes, sitting on the shoe rack, you can tell she has arrived.

"She's upstairs" Ellie calls from the living room. Lila wastes no time, bolting to her and dropping her backpack in the process. You pick it up and place her light bag on the rack by the door, then remove your shoes. You walk into the living room and immediately place the bouquet of flowers into the empty vase that sits on the coffee table.

"Where'd you go today?" Ellie questions, Lila is seated in her lap as Ellie plays with her hair. She looks at you expectantly.

"I went to work" you say nonchalantly, as you distribute the flowers evenly throughout the vase.

"Since when we're you back at work?" She leans forward in disbelief, and Lila whines and places her moms hands back on her head. Ellie resumes the massage, not wanting to upset her daughter.

"I sent in a request to return, last week and Aaron approved"

"Oh, well congratulations honey, just thought you’d tell me”

"Slipped my mind I guess"

Your comment makes the atmosphere in the room awkward, the only sound that can be heard is the distant chatter of the news anchor on tv he, as he raves on about football. You don't know if it's ESPN or the silence that makes you want to scream, so you get up and exit the living room. Once you are in the kitchen, you pour yourself some water from the pitcher and then reach into the medicine cabinet for your Valium.

"She fell asleep, on the couch" Ellie enters the kitchen with her hands in her pocket. She’s wearing silk pyjamas, and has her reading glasses on, you'd never get used to how hot they looked on her.

"Long day at preschool I guess" you swallow the pill and then spill the rest of the water from your glass down the sink's drain.

"Are we going to talk about the fact that you went back to work today and acted like it was nothing" she crosses her arms and walks closer to you.

"Ellie, I don't feel like having an argument right now, can we just co-exist?" you plead as you walk away from her and head into the pantry to try and find something to cook for dinner.

"I'm not trying to start a fight, hey look at me" she’s followed you into the large pantry and is pulling you into her. She puts her arms around your waist, making you look up at her.

"Mm?" You question.

"I'm proud of you, I know you wanted to stay home with her, but I'm glad you're putting yourself and your career first" you're taken back by her kind words.

"Thank you" you smile up at her and stand on your tiptoes so you can reach her mouth, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

“I’m sorry for how I acted at Dina and Jesse’s, will you take me back and love me again?” She jokes at the last part, your face resting against her chest.

“I’ll think about it” you joke as you hug her tighter, taking the wind out of her and then leaning forwards for another kiss.

"So I’m forgiven?" She smiles into the kiss and you nod.

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but I'd like a hug from my sister" Nara says, her hair wet and coiled up, meaning she had just taken a shower.

"Nara!" You move yourself out of Ellie’s arms and run over to your sister who you envelop in a bear like hug, she returns the affection and squeezes you tightly as the both of you move side to side.

"I missed you so fucking much, how are you?" You ask as you let go of her, to just take in her presence.

"I'm good, I missed you too, where's my niece I wanna see her"

"Unfortunately, she fell asleep on the couch, long day at preschool" Nara pouts at that and you roll your eyes.

"Preschool? she's getting so big already" she says, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I know and it's killing me" you say, dreading the thought of how much your daughter has been growing.

"You can always have more. Anyways, I'm sorry to be that person but I'm like fucking starving" she says.

"Oh shit, Ellie will go pick some food up for us, won't you?" You turn to see a confused and innocent looking Ellie, stood behind the marble island.

"I thought you were cooking?" She says, she’s not half wrong as you did intend to cook, but you were tired from your first day and wanted instead to relax and catch up with your sister.

"You have 2 minutes, honey" she rolls her eyes and makes her way to the front door, knowing it's a battle she won't win.

-

"She was, but Y/n's always been the favourite" Nara laughs, as she recalls stories from your childhood. The three of you; her, you and Ellie are sat in the dining room, adjacent to the living room, eating the takeout that Ellie had so graciously picked up from the local Thai restaurant.

"No kidding, even Joel likes her more than me" says Ellie as she glances towards you. You laugh at the both of them, shaking your head in denial.

"I'm not the favourite, you two just don't like communicating with people, I just find it easy to get on peoples good side" you defend yourself.

"That's exactly what the favourite would say" Nara retorts, causing all of you to erupt in laughter. The fun comes to a halt when a small voice is heard from the entry way.

"Mommy?" Lila says. Her pigtails that were once neatly tied, are now frizzled, as strands poke out from each side of her head. She yawns tiredly and you can tell she had just awoken from her nap.

"Did you just wake up? Come here baby" she nods at your question and tiredly walks up to your chair.

You waste no time in lifting her onto your lap, where she is greeted by Ellie’s tickles. She whines in protest not in the mood to play.

"Look who's here baby, Aunt Nara"

Ellie coax's her gently, as to not startle her. She turns her sleepy form towards Nara and waves shyly.

"Hi" she whispers and then tucks her head into your chest. She often acts this way in the presence of people she’s not around often, you were sure she would warm up to your sister in no time. Nara is smiling wildly and waves at her niece.

"Hiiii baby, you're so cute" she practically whines as she looks at the child. You slowly nudge Lila, reminding her of her manners and she turns to face Nara.

"Thank you" Lila whispers, Nara is sat in awe and disbelief that you had made such a perfect tiny human.

"I can't believe she's real, like my little sister made that" she puts her hand over her mouth, and you can't help but laugh at her hyperbolic tendencies.

-

The entirety of the evening goes exceptionally well, and you are pleased with your sisters ability to remain civil. Lila warms up to Nara in no time, even accepting to be held by her aunt as the three of you play on the jungle gym Ellie had built Lila in the backyard. You ended the night watching Tangled, which was slowly becoming Lila’s favourite film. Both Ellie and her daughter had spent majority of the movie singing along to the songs obnoxiously leaving you and your sister a laughing mess. Towards the end of the movie, Lila falls asleep in Ellie’s arms, and you take it upon yourself to carry her into her room. Ellie and Nara are packing up the living room while you put Lila down for the night, when Ellie’s phone starts ringing. Nara picks it up, and walks over to her.

"It's…Vic?" She announces and Ellie gives a sigh of relief before taking the phone and thanking her. She exits the living room and makes her way to the alfresco outside for privacy.

"What's up, Vic ?" She questions, her best-friend and coworker, not in the mood for conversation.

"She's here at the office, and she's losing her shit" Vic hesitates, trying not to piss Ellie off. Ellie can hear the commotion and inaudible voices in the background, which sets her off.

"What the fuck is she doing at my fucking office?" Ellie almost growls out of anger. She was putting her privacy at risk, what if one of her employees at the office who you were mutual friends with, caught wind of this and told you about it. Then she would be completely fucked.

"She's crying, something about you leaving her, what should we do?" Vic asks.

"Let me talk to her." She finally decides and Vic doesn't hesitate to give her the phone.

"Els?" She asks, she can tell by the sniffling on the other end of the phone that she'd been crying.

"Listen baby, I need you to leave the office and go home, okay?" Amelia continues to sniffle, but doesn't reply to Ellie’s coaxing. Ellie decides the only way to get the crazy bitch out of the office is to sweet talk her, almost making her want to vomit."Baby, can you hear me?" Ellie continues and Amelia finally replies."Ye-yeah, I can hear you. I don't wanna go home. You don't love me and I love you and I need you he-" she continues to ramble, and is cut off when Vic takes the phone back."So... what should we do?" The man asks."Take her home, now and tell her to leave or else I'll be dealing with her myself" she ends the call and sighs.

"What was that about" Nara says, startling her and she feels her heart drop to the floor. Had she caught any of that?"What was what? She asks, trying to play dumb."Who needs to be dealt with?" Nara asks, confused.

"Oh just an intern that didn't get hired, she broke in tonight, crazy shit" the lies spew from her mouth so easily, it was a habit she’d developed since starting the affair. Ellie was someone who hated lying and yet it felt so natural to her now.

Nara seems to believe her made up story, as her eyes grow wide and she shakes her head.

"We'll shit, crazy day huh?" She pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one up.

"Pretty much" Ellie agrees.

"Want one?" She asks, as she holds the box towards her, was this a peace offering? She thinks to herself and quickly shakes it off, she’s done nothing wrong to Nara, so why does he feel like she has?

"I'm good, Y/n made me quit once she got pregnant, and it kinda just stuck, secondhand smoke and shit"

"That's a wise decision Ellie, now that you have the little one, you've gotta protect her" Nara says as she blows the smoke out of her mouth.

"Y/n's the wise one, I think she makes everyone in her life just a little wiser, and don't worry I intend to keep them both protected."

Yet she couldn’t, the only person they needed protecting from was herself. She had actively put her family in jeopardy and taken them for granted, all in the name of her own selfish desires.

[therossgarden]

Have you ever noticed that ever since season one of What If introduced Captain Carter, she's been showing up a lot more than Sam Wilson as Captain America? I once queationed it, which pissed off some Peggy stans on this site to the point where I had to alter the tags so I wouldn't have to deal with them.

Oh yeah I did, trust me, you’re not the only one. Many Sam or Steve or Bucky stans and, yk, Peggy antis here on tumblr noticed it, but her stans are just too stubborn to accept it.

In my humble opinion, I think Peggy is simply a better character for marvel to sell as cap (and not for the right reasons), which is why Sam’s cap hasn’t appeared in 2/3 years and all of Steve’s appearances were butchered.

Steve is noble, all about freedom and doing what’s right. He was a disabled son of immigrants who knew struggle and, in his own words, didn’t like bullies no matter where they came from, which means that doing what was right to him was more important than any government, any authority. Civil War is all about this characterization of Steve, and it’s why he was the perfect man for the job.

Sam is like Steve. He is a noble man who knew struggle and suffering growing up, who lost loved ones, his place in the world the moment he chose to follow what was right instead of what was ordered to him. He was ridiculed and beaten down, and risked losing it all multiple times, but that never made him back down. Plus, to add fuel to the fire, the higher powers would have never accepted him as Captain America because he’s black, no matter if Captain America himself passed the mantle to him, they wouldn’t have accepted him and still didn’t right up to the finale of TFATWS. Sam is perfect for the job and mirrors Steve as the perfect Captain America of his time.

Peggy is… well, she’s nothing of these things.

Yes, she’s a woman, and so everyone would be expected to find sympathy for her, to root for her, but aside from her stans no one actually does. Peggy has a support system and respect, like it or not, and she was relevant. She’s arrogant, she’s headstrong, and she doesn’t go against the system because she is the system. She’s not a minority, she never knew struggle, hell, she lived a comfortable life up until the war and after. And marvel can use her more than Sam or Steve because she’s not troublesome like them, she’s not going to rebel the system if not for selfish reasons or plot points. She’s not Steve, she’s not Sam, and she shouldn’t be, but at the same time Peggy should not be a Captain that marvel should enforce in their media over and over again.

As Erskine said, “Because the strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength and knows... compassion.” And while Steve and Sam don’t know strength in the sense that Erskine disregards, Peggy does. And if anything, she resembles John Walker.

Not to mention she is no character of her own, she’s simply the mixture of some characters thrown together in a cauldron, and in addition she’s a Mary Sue. She is a villain masked as hero, one that is convenient as a character and can be thrown from side to side as if she was some Y/N insert in an avengers fanfic.

Not only she has made more appearances than the current Captain America, but she managed to insert herself in the majority of What If…’s storylines, even more than actual main characters. Like, you want to tell me people actually want yet another episode about Peggy or with Peggy being a major character instead of Wanda, Loki or the main six avengers? No one does, not even the stans with a functioning brain. But Marvel will not stop, and whatever chokehold Hayley Atwell has on them will last until she’ll be satisfied with the colonization of all the possible marvel projects.

So ultimately, to answer your question: yes, I did notice Sam is being overshadow by a dusty side character that should have stayed dead back in 2016. You’re not alone, and I’m glad I’m not either. If you scroll on my profile you’ll soon find an old post of mine from last year, during the MoM era, where I was talking about this issue, and a Peggy stan went ballistic and on a rant on how I was using Sam as an excuse to hate on Peggy and justify Stucky. (Btw nice move altering the hashtags, I’ve done it too and it’s been a blessing for me.)

Feel free to check that post and come back in the asks, I’d love to discuss that and maybe share some posts regarding the issue (if I can find them lol)

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

whoops had a dream about this au where sonic.exe was there for some reason and doodled them again. some notes:

sorta vaguely still takes place in the sonic universe just very au. the main divergence is both shadow and maria escaped the ark, lived in hiding for a long time, and while shadow eventually obviously got in touch with his relatives (since eggman is dumping his kids on him) but he faked maria's death after the Portal Incident. so like vaguely the sonic plot is going on in the background but stuff like sonic adventure 2 never happened and characters like rouge and shadow never really got involved with stuff.

sage and metal obviously aren’t twins, but they’re both vaguely on the level of 11-12 year olds. metal isn’t really past the mental state she was created at bc she was neglected so much, sage is only a few months old but she had to mature too quick bc. look at her father and her sister.

sage is generally the more rational of the two (bc she isn’t instantly killing people bc she’s bored mostly), though she's absolutely not as cold and logical as she appears. she's very driven to be “useful”, because she’s terrified that she’s been abandoned and that she wasn’t “good enough” and she doesn’t want to lose the few things she still has, which drives her into her intense investigation of anything abnormal she can find. her lil hat has a sage on it 💚

metal is. metal. she's a tiny whirlwind of anger and hate. she's the emotional sister, but not in the excited and enthusiastic sense she’s just extremely messed up emotionally and reacts with violence towards the slightest provocation. she does open up a bit after time with someone who treats her as a person (which makes her become extremely clingy towards shadow which he’s. concerned about) but even when out of her shell a bit her joy is violence. she's recently realised she’s a girl and is experimenting by going full 12 year old girly girl bc she hasn’t realised she’s a goth yet (and is honestly kind of having fun with glitter and sequins, especially after she learnt you can take peoples eyes out with them, but she will Not admit it ever)

shadow is fucking Concerned bc like. all he knows about these two at first is that they’re his nephew who’s trying to take over the world or somethings kids and he doesn’t want to have to deal with robot invasions into his town bc he’s fucking tired of life. he did Not expect the two most traumatised robot kids known to man. he’s still laying low in a small town where interpol won’t find him, but he’s aimless as shit and has like 0 friends. his protectiveness over maria lead to the argument that caused the Portal Incident, and in his guilt he’s lost sight of what he once promised in a singleminded quest to get her back. yes he runs a scam ass tourist trap. he hates every second of it it’s just good business when ur kind of a passive beacon of chaos energy and you cannot avoid weird shit.

maria robotnik inherited the genius in most of her family and wanted to use it for good, but due to her nids she knew her time was running out. blood transfusions from shadow kept her alive as an emergency treatment, but as her disease progressed she sunk more and more into her research and eventually felt like she was trapped and unable to spread her inventions before she passed, leading to her and shadow's falling out. also demon consorting. she managed to find a somewhat of a cure after the Portal Incident but at a high price, she still suffers with the majority of symptoms even worse than before and is very sickly and weak but won’t die from it progressing. she’s grown rather jaded and bitter, a far cry from her innocent self as a child, but she’s still optimistic and wants to help the world. starting with the murder children her lil baby cousin ivo built for some reason what the fuck she is getting those two therapy immediately.

since sonic adventure 2 never happened rogue never ended up involved in the plot but she did eventually meet shadow anyway, when she was still a teenager looking for gems Very Illegally (shadow gives off the same readings as a chaos emerald, unfortunately for her). he's kind of become a very grumpy mentor figure to her bc she still hangs out around him bc she finds him very funny to tease when she’s not out stealing gems. sage finds her cool (and has a bit of a crush, but she’s unaware bc she doesn’t really know about romance let alone lesbianism) and she lets metal stab things if he gives her jewellery to make her look the other way, so she kind of ends up becoming a cool older friend to the robotnik sisters tho she does think they’re kind of weird.

sonic.exe is here bc it’s funny for him to be bill and that’s the only reason. but that aside he's a demon fucking around before he implements his plan to turn the world into his playground. he's barely more mature than the siblings, roughly on the same level as a teenager (which was also the age maria was when she did her consorting with demons) but he’s also completely sadistic and an absolute asshole (which… is kind of true for metal too but she's vaguely developing a moral compass and a sense of humanity after having a semi decent guardian) and likes hurting people for fun. his form is edgy sonic bc he takes the form of something his targets recognise to fuck with them.

big literally just lives here. he moved back in after adventure 1. he's literally just chilling. good for him.

[anangelwhodidntfall]

I would love if a 6 year Time skip part 2 of You and Me Forever was written. I absoultely loved the first part!!!!!!

@headsincloud9

You and Me Forever II: Tsu'tey

Six years. Six beautiful and happy years with Tsu'tey, where do you even begin? Well for starters, Tsu'tey was Jake's second in command and was in charge of training the new warriors and you were one of the main healers of the clan. The main thing that had changed for you two while you guys waited for your avatar to grow, was that you two had adopted Spider as your own. 

You two had been in the lab talking with Max and Norm about how your avatar was growing and what would happen once it was grown and everything when you heard the sound of familiar footsteps running towards you.

"Y/n!" You heard making a smile appear on your face as you bend down and picked up Spider. 

"How are you, my gorgeous boy?" You asked him as Tsu'tey watched with a smile as Spider talked to you.

"You can touch him, babe, he's not gonna break." You said looking at Tsu'tey who was very worried about touching the child due to the major size difference. 

Tsu'tey ran a hand through the boy's hair which made Spider smile as he looked at him before turning his attention toward you. 

"Is this the kid everyone's been referring to including you?" He asked you as you sighed. 

"Yes but that ass isn't his father, as far as I'm concerned, he's an orphan like me 'Tey, he doesn't have anyone, these guys barely remember he exists most days." You said which made Tsu'tey frown, the child didn't deserve that kinda treatment. 

"We could adopt him, take care of him as our own." Tsu'tey said giving you a smile that made you smile. 

"Really? I was gonna ask you eventually but I just wanted you two to meet today." You said to him with a smile. 

"I don't want to wait a minute longer, I will talk with Jake about what we need to do so that he can live with us and go from there." He said looking at Spider with a smile already imagining what it would be like to raise the boy. 

"You hear that Spider? You gonna come to live with me and Tsu'tey?!" You asked him which made him smile. 

After talking with Jake, Tsu'tey with the help of Norm had extra masks and oxygen reserves brought over to his home for Spider. He also made some new toys for Spider since the ones he had made for Jake's kids when they visited you two were a little damaged.

Spider fit in so well with the village children often seen hanging around with Jake and Neytiri's kids, and you got to see a new side of Tsu'tey as a father which made you even more excited to have children with him. 

Currently, Tsu'tey was preparing for his hunting trip that him and Jake were taking some of the new warriors on, while Spider played with his toys and you worked on making a new necklace for Spider. 

"I'm gonna miss you both so much." Tsu'tey said hugging and kissing both you and Spider as he got ready for his hunting trip. 

"It's only a few days my love. I think we can manage, ain't that right buddy?" You asked your son who was playing with his toy ikran. 

"Yeah, but I'm gonna miss Daddy." He said looking making Tsu'tey smile. 

Oh yeah, Spider was a total daddy's boy, he was his father's shadow and Tsu'tey treated him as such making him his own bow and everything, though there were moments when he was a mama's boy as well. 

Tsu'tey had been gone a few days so far and you and Spider were doing well and still talked with him every night through the cell phone. The next day Max and Norm called you to let you know that your avatar was ready. After asking Neytiri if she could come with you so she left Neteyam and Kiri with Mo'at and came with you and Spider to the lab. 

"So basically you will go into the link pod with Norm who will be in his avatar and we will do some tests and whatnot just to make sure everything is functioning." Max said.

"Go ahead, I've got him." Neytiri said as Spider stood next to her watching what was happening. 

When you woke up, you allowed your eyes to adjust to the brightness, as you looked around and saw Norm and heard some of the scientists start asking you questions as you responded to them. You gently stood up before following Norm outside to where Max, Neytiri were waiting. 

"Oh my y/n, look at you." Neytiri said with a smile as she hugged you. 

"Think he will still find me pretty?" You asked her with a smile. 

"Absolutely but more importantly me and you can do more things together without me having to worry about you getting hurt." She said making you smile. 

"Mama?" Spider asked looking at you. 

"Yeah, it's me, buddy. What do you think?" You asked taking him in your arms. 

"You look so pretty like Aunt Neytiri!" He said making you both laugh as you hugged him.

"See if your son thinks you're pretty then I just know that Tsu'tey will think you are absolutely beautiful." She said giving you a smile.

Tsu'tey had returned from his hunting trip eager to see you and his son, he missed you guys so much while he was gone. After helping the warriors drop off the food from the hunt, he made his up the familiar staircase to his home.

"Daddy!" Spider said running over to his father who smiled and kneeled to his level. 

"Hey, buddy. Where's your mama at? Hmm?" He asked picking Spider up in his arms and looking around for his mate and Neytiri.

"Hi, Tsu'tey." Neytiri said to him taking Spider from his hands. 

"Where's y/n at Neytiri?" Tsu'tey asked ready to see his mate after being apart for so long.

"I'm right here ma Tsu'tey." You said making him turn and see you standing in your avatar form for the first time ever.

"Yawne, is that? Is that really you?" He asked completely stunned seeing you in your avatar he knew this day would come soon but never did he think it would actually happen.

"Yes it's me, what do you think?" You asked giving him a small twirl.

"You look absolutely beautiful my y/n, all of my adventures will be our adventures now." He said as he lifted you in the air spinning you around with a smile on his face. 

"Short stack is that really you?" Jake asked hugging you.

"Ow you giant, I got a new body but doesn't mean you can crush the soul of it." You said making him laugh.

"Sorry, I'm just so excited for you! I know how much you wanted this." He said.

After Jake and Neytiri left, you two made dinner and you two caught up after your week apart which was Spider telling his dad all about what he did. You smiled listening to him put Spider to bed as you stood by the doorway hoping he would be in the mood to go mate before Eywa, especially with this new body.

"So what do you want to do since Spider is finally asleep?" He asked you.

"I think you know what I want." You said smirking at him.

"You are trouble, you know that?" He asked you as he kissed you before dragging you out of your home and towards the home tree.

"I missed you so much beautiful." He said kissing you as you laid down on ground underneath the tree.

"I missed you too. Being able to properly mate and bind with you was all I dreamed about." You said making him smile as he reached for his braid.

You two made the bond and suddenly everything was more intense, you could feel everything he was feeling.

"Me too yawne. I love you so much." He said looking at you.

"I love you too." You said kissing him.

You were sound asleep in his arms after the many rounds you went, while Tsu'tey looked at you with so much love in his eyes.

"Thank you great mother. I love you so much my y/n." He said placing a kiss on your forehead.

He gently picked you up and carried you back home where spider was still asleep and set you down on the bed and covered you up before settling in next to you.

The next month you trained with your new body since you were able to complete all the tasks you couldn't do like taming an ikran which was your favorite.

"Did you see that ma Tsu'tey!" You said happily as you two landed your ikrans.

"I did yawne, I'm so proud of you." He said smiling at you looking at happier you were.

Mo'at suggested doing the conscious transfer soon since you had completed all the tasks and so you wouldn't have to worry about doing the whole human and na'vi thing like Jake did. Tsu'tey was currently helping you prepare for it, while Spider stayed with Norm that night. Jake had taken your avatar body to the ceremony area and Tsu'tey would take you there.

"I know you are anxious because of what happened with Grace, but that won't happen to you we are just transferring you to your new body permanently." He said pressing a kiss to your forehead.

"Thank you." You said looking at him.

"They're ready for you." Jake said as Tsu'tey thanked him.

"Let me carry you one last time as a baby demon?" He asked you with a smile.

"I would love nothing more." You said allowing him to carry you bridal style to where the ceremony was being held.

He placed you gently on the ground where your avatar was laying and took a seat next to you, holding your hand as Mo'at explained what was happening.

"Relax my child, you will be with us in just a few minutes." She said as you shut your eyes.

"Please Great Mother...please don't take her from us....please..." He said as he felt your hand go cold.

"Come back to me yawne." He said placing one final kiss on your human body before going over to your avatar.

You woke up with a gasp, as you felt Tsu'tey pull you into his chest and hug you as tightly as he could, making you wrap your arms around him.

"Thank you, great mother." He said placing a kiss on your forehead as everyone cheered.

You were finally one of the people where you truly fit in with the man you belonged with and a son who loved you more than anything in this world. You were excited about the future with Tsu'tey and Spider.

[acourtofthought]

I'm sitting here amused over comments that claim I don't care about Elain's happiness because I ship her with Lucien.

First off, SJM mated her to Lucien. It's not unreasonable to imagine that she likes Elain enough not to give her a poorly matched bond therefore it's acceptable for those in the fandom to ship two confirmed mates who are decent people. Especially when, for all their arguments that Elain has no interest in him, she has not freed him from their bond. When she hasn't rejected the thing linking them together, it still sends a message to Lucien 🤷

Second, Elain is in the middle of processing very major traumas therefore what Elain thinks she wants isn't necessarily the best thing for her. Just like Nesta wanting to drink and gamble were things she wanted while not being healthy outlets.

So between Elriels and Eluciens, who truly cares more about her happiness?

With Az:

She ends up with a male whose job in the NC is to inflict pain to gather information though cruelty bothers her.

She ends up with a male who prefers the shadows and his space though she craves sunshine and loves parties.

She ends up with a male who only wants her because her brothers are with her sisters and because she's attractive.

She ends up with a male who has never thought of a future with her beyond his X rated fantasies.

She ends up with a male who showed zero concern when she was put into the Cauldron and zero concern when she was not eating, sleeping or drinking while in the HOW.

She ends up with a male who doesn't think she can handle the darkness of the Trove.

She ends up with a male who has never given her credit for anything. Not for her part in saving Nesta and Cassian, not for her part in saving Briar or him from the hounds, not for her standing up to Nesta.

She ends up with a male who confirmed to hiding major parts of himself from her.

She ends up with one male while always feeling a tug to another.

She ends up with a male that wants a mate above all else, something she cannot give him.

With Lucien:

She ends up with a male who has treated her only with respect since their bond snapped.

She ends up with a male who enjoys the outdoors and nature as she does.

She ends up with a male who has the power of the sun running through his veins when she craves sunshine.

She ends up with a male who prefers his words to win his battles rather than a sword.

She ends up with a male who has been willing to suffer by never asking her about their bond in order to give her the freedom to do what she wants.

She ends up with a male who met her father and thought him a good man, someone who could share memories of him with Elain.

She ends up with someone who is good at talking to people, as she is.

She ends up with someone who enjoys parties as she does.

She ends up with someone who is often underestimated as she is, who could understand how that feels.

She ends up with the only male who tried to get to her side as she was being dragged to the Cauldron.

She ends up with a male who acknowledged her bravery in the war.

She ends up with a male who understands humanity a bit more after living in the Human Lands.

She ends up with a male who was devastated over her depression in ACOWAR.

She ends up with a male who still looks at her with longing (and only her) for over 2 years. That he found her so worthy after meeting her, he still holds out hope that she'll give him a chance.

Elain appearing fine with her "glances" and nearly having a make out session with Az is nothing compared to the clear evidence of which male could truly make her happy long term.

Thinking the path to Elain's true happiness is agreeing with decisions she's making for herself while still processing trauma and avoiding certain truths is a very flimsy argument when you compare it to which of the two males is set up to provide Elain lasting happiness because of their similar morals, personalities, and the way one of the males has much more respect for Elain as an individual than the other does.

[countrymusiclover]

2 - Prisoners of Sky People

Part 3

Star Crossed Enemies

Tag list ( send ask to be added ) @severa-kane @100foreverfiles @ocappreciation @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @lover-of-books-and-tea @kmc1989 @caprisunzz

The moment I began to regain consciousness I felt a lot of pain. Blinking my eyes open I instantly shut them seeing bright lights shining above my head. Finally peeking one eye open I got adjusted to the brightness enough where I attempted to move forward seeing I was inside a large metal dropship compared to the one I came down in two years ago.

Unfortunately the second I went to take a step forward my body was yanked backwards rather harshly making me nearly scream till I bit my lip. “Agh! - smart play using zip ties.” Eyeing my wrists and ankles were held down on metal poles.

Shifting my gaze around the room I didn’t see many shortcuts to escape. The hatch in the floor was shut and there were zero sharp objects I could use to snap my restraints so I was a sitting duck. My pack and weapons were laying on the opposite side of the room beside a makeshift chair. “We’re smarter than you people think we are, grounder girl.”

“Bellamy.” I muttered barely above a whisper not hearing the metal hatch open and close before I noticed the boy with curly hair sitting a few feet away from me on the makeshift chair.

He pushed himself up to stand , coming to stand directly in front of me. “You’re friend downstairs isn’t much for talking. So I’m hoping you will be up to having a conversation with me. What’s your name?”

“Cassio.” I simply replied preferring to be called by a nickname Glass gave me then my full birth name the Ark had given me. “Yours is Bellamy, right?”

He sent me a slight glare. “You were listening in on our conversations weren’t you. What did you find out about us hmm?”

“That they sent you down here like lab rats to die. You may look at us like we’re the enemy who wants to kill you but you should consider the ones who put you all on this ship and dumped you down here just to save the place you came from. Doesn’t sound like you’re leaders care too much about anyone but themselves.”

Bellamy lifted his head silently biting his lips as he took in the girls words before himself. In the few weeks they had been there he had declared the same philosophy to get the majority to remove their wristbands.

There was something about the way she said the words with such anger that he began contemplating if she was from the Ark or not, but he instantly pushed the crazy thought to the back of his mind.

“How many of you are there?” Bellamy asked me.

“12 different clans with over thousands upon thousands of grounders and only about 80 of you now. Is my math right?” I tilted my head to the side smirking until I heard a girls voice shouting from downstairs even though the metal hatch was shut.

“This is Raven Reyes. I- I'm from Mecha Station. I'm transmitting from the ground. The hundred are alive. Please, you need to get Doctor Abby Griffin. Doctor Abby Griffin. Now!”

My whole body stiffened up when I heard someone say her name. It had been a long time since I’d heard my mothers name. It sickened me to my stomach.

All that hate and pain coming back to the surface.

Bellamy saw my facial expression completely change. From where he was standing I appeared very pale and like I had seen or rather heard the name of a ghost. “You know someone down there don’t you, grounder girl?”

“N - no I don’t.” I did the best lie I could.

Yet it was like he could see right through my facade now where he stomped over yanking me up from the ground. He firmly held me by my forearm with my hands still tied behind my back by zip ties. “You’re lying and I’m going to find out why soon enough. Come on, let’s get your ass down there.” He pushed me down the ladder where I landed harshly on the harsh metal floor with half the group's attention on the radio and some of the others looking at me.

My mothers voice brought tears to my eyes that I couldn’t hide. “Raven? Are you there?”

Shifting my gaze over to the girl that was standing next to the one manning the radio it wasn’t difficult at all for me to recognize who it was. “Mom? Mom it's me.” The familiar figure of long blonde hair that belongs to my sister spoke towards our mother, even though she didn’t know I was her sister.

“Clarke?” Our mother asked with such relief in her tone over the radio static.

Our mother made sure of that with all the lies she spewed out over the years.

“Bellamy! What the hell are you doing to her? She could’ve been severely injured.” Clarke, my sister whipped her head around dropping down on her knees searching me over for any injuries.

He jumped down the last two ladder steps coming over to the two of us. He lifted me up from the floor dragging me by my blonde hair making me wince. “Gah! Bellam - no, no, no. I don’t want to!” He pushed my head down on the table beside the radio.

“Clarke, what was that commotion?” My mother questioned through the device causing me to whimper, clutching my eyes tightly shut, hating that I am showing emotions around members of the people I hate.

Clarke came up behind Bellamy who was holding me down with all eyes focused on the three of us. “Bellamy, this is not who we are. This grounder didn’t kidnap Octavia or kill any of our people.”

“That isn’t what this is about. She knows you’re mothers voice and I want to know why.” He barked back at her.

My sister made a confused face. “You think she’s originally from the Ark. How is that even possible?”

“Yo curly haired dude.” I finally spoke, raising my voice to get his attention.

He lowered his head down where our noses could almost touch if either of us moved forward towards the other. “You wanna tell us who you really are now?”

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know just not how I know the doctor on the radio.”

Bellamy yanked me upward and pushed me up the ladder then he pushed me down in the corner beside my friend who was beaten badly. “Lincoln…”

“Which one? Which one is it? If you tell us, they'll stop.” My sister begged my friend who was tied to the wall with chains. Bellamy had been repeatedly beating him with a seatbelt strap until she got down on her knees and begged my friend. “Please tell us which is the antidote and they'll stop this.”

Bellamy tossed the strap on the floor turning on his heels grabbing me up to stand. “If that doesn't work, maybe this will.”

“Bellamy, don’t hurt her.” Octavia his sister begged him before he picked up the poisoned knife in his freehand, dragging me directly to stand in front of my friend.

He suddenly made me cut whatever I was about to say short once I felt the cold blade pressed against my neck drawing some blood. “Bellamy, he won’t-“

“You’re friend won’t let you die. He’ll have no choice but to tell us the antidote to save your life and Finn’s.” Bellamy growled in my ear speaking towards my sister in a softer voice. “Clarke, you don't have to be here for this.”

Unfortunately I knew my sister wouldn’t back down from saving someone. She was exactly like our mother. “I'm not leaving until I get that antidote.”

“No more!” Octavia shouted, pushing me out of her brother’s tight grasp before he could cut my throat.

I collapsed against the nearest wall behind me. Pressing my body against it as much as I could not expect her to react in that way for someone she didn’t even know. Holding a hand to the small wound on my neck as best I could manage I didn’t utter another word.

Bellamy raised his voice. “Octavia what the hell are you doing?”

“He won’t let me die.” She muttered looking at Lincoln who nodded his head at the last vial that she had shown him.

Clarke takes the vial from the girl rushing down the ladder. “Thank you.”

Bellamy tried to help his sister up from the floor but she smacked his hand away. He slowly shifted his dark brown eyes over in my direction where I sucked in a breath unsure of what he would attempt to do to me next. He bent himself down on one knee brushing some of my messy hair out of my face. “What are you going to do with me now, sky boy?”

“We’re keeping you both here in our camp. Your friend will be here as leverage and we’ll use you to gather as much information as we can. And I know you’ll do it because if you don��t I’ll start hurting your friend. Do you understand that?”

I gulped nervously before he climbed down the ladder and shut it leaving me upstairs with Lincoln chained to the wall. “I understand, sir.”