#and once they explain and she Gets It camila would have a moment of shock and a small internal monolog about grief and priorities

[branmuffins22]

via @imhumanguysiswear

not technically what this post was talking about, but a while ago i found a fic by eedsknees that pads this scene with one of MY favorite things: petrification angst!

and while id probably do it differently, its still really really good and it makes me super duper glad that someone else saw the potential :)

Okay but can we talk about Camila seeing the Grom memory.

[offthebandwagon]

run (you are nearly there)

Chapter two of run (you are nearly there)

--

Vincent pulls Beatrice into a short but tight hug. “We cannot stay here for long. We have to go.”

There are a hundred questions running through her mind but she agrees. Being this close to the raiders is not a good idea. She looks behind Vincent to see a few others who are looking at her warily. Three of them, all girls. Two of them look more experienced and wary of the sisters but there is a hint of understanding in their eyes. Out of all of them, there’s one who looks too young and too doe eyed to be considered a survivor. Her eyes skitter around, and it lands on Beatrice’s who holds her gaze. She breaks it after a second and retreats behind the two older girls.

Everyone from that group is armed; top to bottom, including Vincent, with various assortment of firearms and blades, but the girl has on a backpack with no weapons visibly equipped.

Beatrice looks over her shoulder and motions for Lilith and Camila to follow her.

“Vincent” Lilith greets curtly as she approaches.

“Lilith,” he offers a smile, “it’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise?” Lilith looks over at Beatrice who shrugs.

Camila nods at him, unsure of the relationship between Vincent and Beatrice but she trusts Beatrice and Lilith. She stays quiet as she follows everyone to the other end of the crumbling building.

The group moves silently. Once they are out of earshot of the raiders, they ease up a little but remain vigilant for the presence of any infected that may be wandering the area. They slip into an enclosed room where the two older girls offer to guard.

Knowing of the relationship between Beatrice and Vincent, Lilith gives Beatrice a gentle squeeze on her arm before taking Camila to scour the room for any usable. Beatrice looks at Lilith and offers a grateful smile.

Vincent motions for Beatrice to take a seat. Beatrice takes a glance at the dusty desk and frowns. No amount of time spent in the apocalypse will make Beatrice comfortable with the dirt and grime of the world. Vincent, on the other hand, has no qualms about lifting himself up onto the dusty table and making himself comfortable. She waits for Vincent to get comfortable before she tilts her head.

He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. The heavy bags under his eyes are much more prominent compared to the last time she saw him. His hair is also turning grey. The man who picked her up and lugged her into the helicopter had darker hair and much broader shoulders.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

Beatrice says nothing. She stops herself before her emotions could take over.

Where were you? Why did you not come back? I grieved you for months. Why did you leave me alone? Like my parents did years ago? Why didn’t you tell me anything?

Vincent sees the hurt in Beatrice’s eyes, the pain reflecting off the unshed tears. He reaches out but Beatrice steps back, away from Vincent. The initial shock of seeing Vincent has worn off. Vincent sighs again. He stops and gives Beatrice the space she is silently asking for.

“This must’ve been a shock for you. I would explain but we do not have much time. Long story short - I ran away from the church six months ago and I joined the OCS.” He introduces the two older girls guarding the door as Mary and Shannon, and gestures to the younger girl who lingers in the room.

Beatrice has never heard of the OCS; it seems inconsequential at the moment. She nods to get Vincent to continue talking.

“That’s Ava. She’s… untrained.”

Beatrice’s gaze skates over to the younger girl who flinches at the intensity. Her eyes rove over Ava’s frame - short, frail looking and clumsy. She wonders how Ava managed to stay alive for so long. Her eyes snap back to Vincent and she waits for him to continue.

“We are bringing Ava with us because she might be the cure to this madness.”

The cure? The Vatican had been working on a cure for the past seven years since the infection started to devastate the world. Up till today, no one found anything relatively close to a cure, or even a way to delay the symptoms from spreading so quickly.

“Explain.”

“She was bitten-“

Beatrice stiffens. But before she manages to digest the information and make a proper, logical assessment, a loud bang pierces the silence. Their heads turn to Mary who triggers another shot and reloads the shotgun.

“RAIDERS!”

Bullets ricochet off the walls around them. Beatrice instinctively leaves Vincent and regroups with her girls. She redirects her attention to the approaching Raiders. Camila and Lilith simultaneously spring into action, pulling their weapons out and firing. All the noise inevitably attracts more of the infected.

“Brace yourselves!” Shannon yells. The Clickers charge towards the stray Raiders advancing towards their group.

Vincent vaguely promises that Ava is harmless, and he will explain once they deal with the current threat.

“INFECTED!” Mary warns.

The wave of infected forces the raiders to close in on them as they try to outrun the horde. With no other exits, Vincent and the girls retreat into a corner of the building and watch as the infected start tearing the Raiders apart. Blood splatters across the broken walls, and they watch in silence as the Raiders beg them for help against the Infected but no one moves. Shannon has her hand on Ava’s shoulder to keep her low.

Several runners start climbing through the broken windows and cut themselves on the broken glass. Blood drips out of their spore festooned skin as they run manically towards the Raiders. The screams of the once vicious Raiders dwindle into gurgles as blood fills their lungs and their flesh torn.

It quietens once the last of the Raiders dies under the merciless hands of the Infected. The clicking from the Infected unnerves Beatrice but she stays low. Thanks to the infection, the heads of the Clickers had morphed into an unrecognisable growth. The growth inevitably pushed the eyes of the host out, rendering them blind. In place, they developed a form of crude echolocation where they produce clicking and croaking noises to map their surroundings, which earned them their namesake.

Their group assesses the situation wordlessly. The Infected has yet to locate them, after taking down the group of Raiders who were too loud for their own benefit. Vincent looks at the two older girls and nods.

Shannon moves first. She slowly sneaks up behind one of the infected and grabs them by the neck, dragging them down to avoid being seen by the others before applying force, twisting their neck and snapping it. The way Shannon moves with such practised ease makes Beatrice uncomfortable. It triggers some of her memories which she shakes away to focus on the present.

Mary and the other sister warriors move in tandem, each grabbing hold of one infected and taking them down simultaneously. Beatrice pulls one down and snaps their back with her knee. Vincent stays behind, ensuring Ava’s safety. They work their way across the room, quietly taking out the infected one by one. Camila jabs a shiv into the last Runner before shutting the door.

“We should have some time.” Camila turns around and smiles. She immediately resumes scouring the place looking for usable items. Lilith joins her, refusing to be involved in the conversation between her other sister and her pseudo caretaker.

Beatrice trains her eyes on Ava again who immediately steps behind Mary and Shannon. The knowledge of her being infected makes her wary, but Vincent puts his hand on Beatrice’s shoulder and reclaims her attention. He explains how they found Ava a few days ago and she was already bitten. The usual two days it took for people to turn after being bitten had lapsed but Ava is unaffected. They had confirmed it with a bioscanner.  The expression on Beatrice’s face spells distrust. With no other way of proving his case, he asks for Ava to come forth. The younger girl eyes Beatrice warily. Shannon gives her an encouraging pat on the shoulder and whispers something to her as she walks over.

Ava slows and hides behind Vincent. An unfamiliar pang of loneliness slams into her chest. The lump in her throat grows as she watches Vincent gently guide her forward before he rolls the sleeve of her left arm to reveal the bite mark. Beatrice’s eyes widen, the grief in her chest temporarily forgotten.

The puncture wound has healed over, and the skin around the wound is ragged and pale. It was a contrast from the usual bites they have seen over the years where red angry boils would start spreading from the bite mark.

Beatrice almost reaches out to touch it but she catches herself and withdraws her hand. The proof is in front of her and she cannot deny that Ava may be the cure to this madness. She sighs before looking at Ava and apologising. For what, Beatrice isn’t sure.

Ava accepts the apology with a frown but keeps her distance from Beatrice. She is, after all, a stranger recently introduced to her. Ava unrolls her sleeve to cover up the bite and retreats to where Mary and Shannon are.

“What was your plan with this?” Beatrice looks at Vincent.

“Nothing,” he pauses, “yet.”

Beatrice resists the urge to roll her eyes. A lack of plan is a suicide plan in this world. Vincent knows it too.

“Ava was not part of our original plans,” Vincent sighs, “look, Beatrice. You know I care about you. But there are things I want to tell you but I can’t. Not yet. Not here, not now. But if you choose to join us, we might have more time for this conversation.”

He doesn’t press, doesn’t guilt her with a speech of how they are trying to change the world and Beatrice is vital to their fight. He leaves her with options.

“I need time to think about it.”

“Of course,” Vincent nods. He steps back and looks over at his shoulder, meets Lilith’s hard gaze with an understanding nod before addressing the three of them, “keep your distance from Sister Frances.”

The warning sends a sharp chill down her back.

“We have to go.” Vincent drops his backpack and pulls out a medallion. He presses it into Beatrice’s hand and leans forward to whisper something into her ear before backing away and motioning for Ava to follow as they slip out of the bloodied door and into the wild.

The medallion rests slack on Beatrice’s palm, its chain dangles off her hand. Her eyes gloss over. She blinks, and wraps her fingers tightly around the cold medallion.

“We should go too.” Lilith approaches gently, breaking Beatrice out of her trance. She notices the faraway look on Beatrice but refrains from commenting. Over the years of training together, she learned that forcing Beatrice would only backfire. She will share when she is ready.

Beatrice nods and pockets the medallion before following Lilith and Camila out the door. She catches sight of Vincent running in the distance with Ava and a deep sadness settles in her heart.

It takes them another two hours to return to the Quarantine Zone. While they manoeuvre around the everlasting threats around them, Beatrice wonders what they should tell the church. There are no records of such acts of savagery. No Cardinals or any of the congregation ever committed such unholy atrocities. They could lie, claim that they were caught by the Raiders and the team perished but that would be discrediting the other Sisters who died because of the cursed Cardinals.

They put their weapons away as they near the guard post. The guards at the entrance of the Quarantine Zone greet them politely and apologise for intruding when the sisters turn around for them to do a virus scan. It is a mandatory rule for everyone stepping into town to be scammed before they are allowed back in, no exceptions. The scanners beep green, and the soldiers bid them good day as they cross the gate into safer territory.

Camila breaks the silence between them.

“So… what are we supposed to tell them?”

Beatrice sighs. She has no answer for the youngest girl. Camila shouldn't have been involved in the mission at all. But when you’re on a suicide mission, there is little to no consideration for who dies. You take down as many people as you can.

Thankfully, Lilith speaks for them.

“We’ll tell them the truth - the Cardinals and the other Sisters perished because we ran into Raiders and the Infected.”

Beatrice catches on, “I agree. Let's stick to that.”

Camila nods. “The infected Cardinals shouldn't have been able to slip through the guards unless they had help. And that someone must be familiar with how the church and the soldiers work.”

Lilith beams at Camila. The smart lass is catching on quickly. She worries for Camila’s well-being, given her inexperience. But Camila is smart, and she's handling the traumatic event pretty well.

They make their way back to the Vatican quietly. The nearer they are to the Vatican, the more ears around. Their suspicion has to be contained for now. A part of her is dying to know the truth from Vincent but she cannot act rashly. Not yet.

Sister Frances frowns at their report. She hurries away and leaves them sitting at the pews for a good ten minutes before returning with Cardinal Duretti.

There are words that Cardinal Duretti is next in line as pope. His popularity with the congregation has been rising steadily throughout the years. Despite the increasing number of rebels and disbelievers, he has managed to retain the church’s followers and beliefs that the church is their salvation in this wretched world. He promises their safety in exchange for their faith in the church, in Him. With all the resources the Vatican has, his words ring true, and so the commoners stay and continue praying for His protection. The elderly man strides into the room and addresses the three sisters, mumbling some prayers for the dead congregation before dismissing them to leave with Sister Frances.

The dismissal raises their eyebrows but they shrug it off. They bid their farewells and retreat to their own sleeping quarters. Camila says her goodbye before entering her own room, leaving Lilith with Beatrice.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Beatrice shakes her head but motions for Lilith to join her in her room. She stays quiet as she retrieves some pen and paper from her drawer before scribbling on them.

‘Don’t worry about me. I am okay. But I’ve had a bad feeling ever since we were called for the mission with Cardinal Foster.’

Lilith takes the other pen and responds.

‘Me too. I felt like we could have saved the rest. But we couldn't have known that the Cardinals were turning.’

‘Vincent found someone who is immune to the infection.’

‘Ava?’

Beatrice nods.

‘The bite on her arm healed. It didn’t spread.’

‘And what was their plan? Did he tell you what happened or why he disappeared?’

‘Didn’t have the time. He told me that he would tell me everything if I see him again.’

‘And how would that happen?’

‘I don’t know. I would probably have to leave and go missing like how he did. Not like they would bat an eyelid to another dead sister.’

Lilith frowns.

‘I care.’

Beatrice pauses at the admission. She knows Lilith cares about her, she cares about the other girl too but they’ve never verbalised it. They silently blame it on the church for how detached they’ve grown to be.

‘I know. But I told him I need time to think about it. He said he could only wait for two days.’

‘Do you trust him?’

‘I do. But I can't just uproot seven years of my life for him who left me alone here.’

‘He might have a reason.’

Beatrice sighs.

‘I’m sure too, but I can't reconcile with the fact that he knows he would be leaving me behind and he chose to do it anyway.’

‘That, and also the Cardinals and Sister Frances have been behaving oddly recently.’

‘Their behaviour is making me anxious. But there's not much we can do except watch each other’s back. We can’t really fight the church.’

Lilith nods and she glances at the clock.

‘I should probably get back before someone grows suspicious. We haven’t been talking at all.’

‘You're right. Please have a good rest and lock your door when you sleep.’

‘I always do. You rest well too.’

Lilith pats Beatrice on the shoulder as she stands up to leave. “Rest well, Beatrice.”

“You too.” Beatrice locks the door after Lilith. She lights a candle and sets the piece of paper on fire. The smell of burnt paper fills the air. It takes her a moment before she opens the window, leaving it open for fresh air to clear out the burnt smell.

Two days. It provides Beatrice the option to sleep the night off and make a decision the next day. Always better to think with a clear mind than one shrouded by emotions.

The day has been exhausting. A seemingly simple and easy mission turned out to be a complete mess because of homicidal Cardinals who think their final act of mercy or act of honour was to kill other devouts. Even if they weren’t devouts, those girls had trained for years together with the church. Seeing Vincent again feels like a fever dream. She can’t tell she’s relieved that Vincent is alive, or she’s mad at him for abandoning her. It’s a blurred line. The day ends with her having to make a decision whether to leave the church, her safe haven for the past few years, or to continue with her life here and continue pretending that Vincent is dead.

She gives no indication of whether she will be leaving to both Lilith and Camila. The church has been suspicious as it is. She doesn’t want to get the two of them involved with whatever Vincent is planning. So she accepts a solo mission that would take her up north the next day and sets off quietly.

The Vatican City remains well maintained while the rest of the surrounding buildings crumble from neglect and abuse. Some of the walls are graffitied with hate messages toward the church. Many buildings probably require maintenance; it's an impossible task. Resources are scarce and prioritised to keep the population alive.

Loud screaming draws Beatrice’s attention to her left where several men in personal protective equipment hover over a family on their knees. With guns in their faces, the family has no choice but to comply or risk death. The youngest clings onto their mother and wails.

“We were just scanned last week! We are clean!”

Beatrice mutters quiet prayers under her breath and tries her best to block out the exchange. She wishes she could do something but under the military law, she risks prosecution if she missteps, even if she’s a member of the congregation. The soldiers at the gate greet her and let her out without hesitation. Beatrice thanks them and keeps her head low as she ventures out of the Quarantine Zone. She passes several Sisters who are tasked to extend the perimeter of the Quarantine Zone. They exchange tired smiles and extend their prayers to Beatrice as she sets on her journey up north.

At the next outpost that belonged to the church, the soldiers let her through easily as well with just a quick bioscan to ensure she’s not infected. She stays out of sight and quickly makes her way from checkpoint to checkpoint, avoiding most of the infected and gangs of known raiders in the area.

Once she starts to stray from the path to her mission, she slips into an abandoned building nearby and strips off her habit and wimple. She folds them carefully and slots them neatly into her backpack. If she plans to stray from her original mission, best for her to not be as easily identifiable as a Sister with the church.

She circles the small outpost around what used to be the Eubion Medical Center. It is now another checkpoint meant for the congregation to rest and take stock. A small number of guards patrol the perimeter, keeping stray Infected and other survivors from accessing. She sneaks further up north towards the circular building with a cross perched on top of it.

Parrocchia Santa Chiara. The Vatican had abandoned the church, citing how the small distance with the Eubion Medical Center is too minor to dispense more resources to maintain. Between the medical centre and the church, they prioritised the medical centre.

What a twist. The church willingly abandoning their sacred grounds.

The remnants of abandoned vehicles line the streets of the once bustling city. Years of neglect allowed the grass and trees in the vicinity to overgrow and circle the church. Shattered glasses and debris littered the area outside the church. Beatrice crouches low and slips between the overgrown shrubs and bushes. Two men stand right outside the doors of the church, armed with firearms. Beatrice spots the scope of a rifle poking out of the makeshift outpost on top of the first level and another pair of eyes scanning the vicinity. The circular shape of the building provided much visibility to those occupying the building, but it also means that more people are needed to cover the perimeter. The lack of manpower allows Beatrice to slip past the peripheral view of those on duty.

She stills and considers her next move. Taking down two men at close distance will definitely attract the attention of those on the outpost. If Lilith was with her, they could probably take the two guards in front of the door but being alone puts her at a disadvantage. There is no other way for her to get through the men without causing a ruckus. Scaling the walls isn’t an option either because the walls are crumbling, and the circular and high walls make it impossible to scale.

The pendant Vincent gave her rests warmly against her skin. She pulls it from under her shirt and lets it dangle on top of her black, skintight tactical gear. It glistens slightly as it catches the sunlight streaking through the leaves.

“FREEZE!”

Beatrice sees a barrel trained on her.

“GET OUT OF THERE AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!”

She raises both hands.

“NOW SLOWLY WALK OUT FROM WHERE YOU’RE HIDING!”

Taking small, slow steps, Beatrice emerges from the shade and steps out into the scorching sun. She keeps her head low and waits, catching pieces of murmurs between the men who have their firearm trained on her.

“She’s alone…”

“Not sure… and he said…”

“Mentioned…”

“I… the pendant…”

They turn to Beatrice, “where did you get the pendant?”

“Vincent gave it to me.” Beatrice says.

The armed men consider her for a second before lowering their firearm. Their radio crackles.

“… update?”

Beatrice drops her arms and takes a proper look at them. They’re young. She guesses that they are around her age, maybe slightly older. Their eyes are dull and empty, their skin marred with dirt and exhaustion weighs heavy on their shoulders.

“Tell Vincent it’s her.”

Beatrice holds her breath.

“Clear.”

One of them circles around to take position behind Beatrice as they escort her into the guarded perimeter. “No funny business.”

The heavy gate creaks as it pulls back, revealing the once vibrant paintings of Mariano Villalta as faded murals on the walls. The pews of the church have all been replaced by tables and makeshift beds. She stares at the now muddied and cracked crucifixion for a moment before a familiar voice catches her attention.

“Beatrice!”

The two guards accompany Beatrice steps away when they see Vincent approaching. He thanks them before turning to Beatrice who looks at him expectantly. She spots Mary and Ava resting at one corner of the room. Shannon is not with them.

“I’m glad you decided to join us.”

Beatrice clears her throat and refocuses on Vincent, “I have questions, and it seems like you’re the only one who can provide me with the answers.”

“Yes, of course.” Vincent nods, and his smile drops into a forlorn one.

Before Beatrice catches on to the shift, she feels a sharp pain in her neck. She turns to her right to see Shannon dropping her arm, a tranquiliser gun in her hand. Her attempt to speak is feeble as the tranquiliser seeps into her bloodstream, slowing her movements. She turns back to Vincent who appears to be speaking to her but she can’t hear a thing. The world spins as her vision swims. Despite the fear kicking in, her flight response fails to activate as she feels her legs give way as she collapses.

Vincent catches her before she hits the ground. She vaguely hears him yelling.

“Everybody, clear out. This place has been compromised.”

Her vision goes black.

[blush-and-books]

always you-shaped thoughts inside my head

so, we found wonderland, the amazing fanfic by @pink-flame ended this week. as a result of my deep and sorrowful mourning, i wrote a fanfic for a fucking fanfic. yes, everyone, we have reached that point. so if you’re one of the unfortunate souls who hasn’t read it then you can start here and do not read this if you don’t want spoilers babes!!!!

anyways, i don’t want to talk about how much i cried when i wrote this. moving on. title from find u again by mark ronson ft. camila cabello and once again THANK YOU @pink-flame FOR THIS WORK, I LOVED IT, I LOVE YOU, ENJOY

A/N: the first part of this is a reimagining of a scene from the story, and the second part is more of a deleted scene. grab tissues if you’re one who cries easily. also tagging @bluefirewrites because i kept texting you while writing this

Julie doesn’t know in what timeline she thought that going to the bookstore would be a good idea. 

Even with her back flat against the wall and Luke’s book clutched identically between her hands and the palms of every other eager fan in the room, she felt like she was too close. Like this was a mistake.

She was the one who insisted they don’t look for each other. 

But here they were. Him, with a poem that crossed time with the silent, lost plea for her to come back to him; her, who chose to answer the call even if she knew she shouldn’t have. Julie should have realized that she couldn’t avoid him forever. Their paths were meant to cross in every universe. 

When he takes the stage, she doesn’t shatter. Yet. 

People are swamped beside her and Flynn on all sides, and she still feels like it’s just the two of them. Once he’s in her line of sight, it’s only him in the room, only him that exists. 

In a world where she’s jumped to and from across time, Luke may be the most real thing she’s ever known. 

The words he says as he reads and answers questions hit her ears as just a series of tones and syllables that are achingly familiar. He’s laughing through one of the book’s anecdotes and suddenly she’s back in the arcade, laughing with him at the pinball machine. He’s talking about the rush of playing their first sold-out show, and she’s back in the greenroom as he heatedly kisses her up against a wall after she spent so much time fighting for him to love her again. 

He’s reading about his parents, and she’s back on that pull-out couch that was only comfy when he was in it; listening to him whisper about their fragmented relationship. 

But then a 20-year-old pokes him about the poem. And he says he loves her -- well, not explicitly, but he says it’s about love -- and the other shoe drops. 

Tears inundate her eyes. 

“I have to go,” her voice shakes as a sob threatens to rip through her words. Flynn offers to join, but Julie needs fresh air and to be alone and to just let her tears fall onto the asphalt of an alleyway without feeling the need to explain herself. She will always be alone in these emotions, in this heartbreak, and that’s okay -- she just doesn’t want anyone to act like they get it.

So she passes her book to Flynn, urges her to get it signed, and flees out the side door. 

Right before she’s out, the 20-year-old presses on about Find Me: “Well, what if they came to you now? What if they found you? Wouldn’t you be happy to see them?”

The exit slams shut behind her and she doesn’t get to hear his answer. 

--

“Well, what if they came to you now? What if they found you? Wouldn’t you be happy to see them?”

Flynn watches intently as Luke’s eyes darken. The book feels heavy in her hands, and she feels like she is suddenly intruding on an intimate moment between Luke and Julie -- even with Julie gone. 

She didn’t always understand what happened with her best friend. But this was clearly a mind, body and soul situation. 

Luke has to clear his throat and blink rapidly before answering. “God, sorry, that one caught me a little!” The audience chuckles. “No one’s asked me that so far on this tour. That’s a good question. I probably think about it more than I should, but… I mean, first of all, they wouldn’t come and find me. I know them well enough to know that Find Me just… Went out into the universe with no expectation of a response. But if they decided too, I… I’d wanna make sure they were happy. And I’d probably thank them one more time for everything they did when I was younger. I would probably be in shock, honestly. I haven’t seen them in a long time.”

Flynn is wiping her nose with a stray tissue from her purse before she can even register that she’s started crying. 

The random people in the back row with her send her strange looks, wondering why she’s getting so emotional, but hearing Luke talk about her best friend like that… 

“Do you still love them?”

God, this person won’t give him a break!

The rockstar visibly tenses up, and the easy grin plastered on his face breaks. That’s when his manager hustles onstage and announces that they are going to start the signing; and everyone needs to start lining up. 

Flynn has to fight to get farther up in line, but it’s worth it when she reaches him.

“Hi,” he smiles, “who should I make it out to?”

The word makes her tongue feel like lead. “Julie.”

His head snaps up, and he’s fully looking at her for the first time. There are a thousand Julie’s in the world, but he knows it’s his. 

“I’m her best friend,” Flynn continues, shifting her teary eyes down to her converse because fuck Julie wasn’t kidding when she said his eyes were intense sometimes. 

“Flynn.”

“Oh... She told you-”

“Where is she? Is she here?”

She’s not even looking at him, but he sounds so desperate, and the water in her eyes swells as she glances at the exit off to her side. “Not right now. But she wanted me to get this signed for her.”

Luke’s Sharpie doesn’t move across the inside cover. In fact, he’s frozen; staring off in the distance with what Flynn is sure must be a whirlwind of emotion that he didn’t ask for. Flynn isn’t sure how to handle it -- they’re in public, and she’s minorly concerned she just sent him spiraling, and they don’t even know each other -- but she feels the need to relay a message since he’ll never get to hear it from Julie himself. 

“She…” Luke looks back up at her; eyes boring into hers in a way that could tug the truth out of anybody. As she blinks, an enthusiastic tear drops onto her cheek, and she instantly lifts her index finger under her eye to catch anything else. “Fuck, my eyeliner. Sorry. Anyways-”

The words get caught in her throat again, so she has to take another deep breath. Helping star-crossed lovers communicate when they are almost thirty years apart is more emotionally taxing than she anticipated. 

“She’s really proud of you,” Flynn finally manages with a voice squeakier and higher than she ever wants to hear it again. Another tear falls from her other eye. “She loves y- your music, and hopes that you have everything you wanted and she’s so proud of you for everything you’ve built.”

At this point, the crumpled tissue in her hand has been helping her dry her eyes because standing in front of Luke Patterson and trying to tell him that the love of his life still cares -- still watches from afar, still wants the world for him -- is making her realize the emotional turmoil that Julie must have been feeling all this time. 

How did she do it?

In front of her, Luke is rubbing his hands over his face and audibly takes a deep, sniffly breath in. Turning to the same woman who got onstage to transition the event before, he informs her: “I need to get some air.”

“Luke, where are you-”

But he’s already forcefully pushing himself back in his chair, grasping the book off of the signing table, and darting out the same exit that Julie stormed through ten minutes ago. 

When the manager turns to look at Flynn -- she bolts away and towards the front entrance. If Julie and Luke are about to meet in that alleyway, she doesn’t want to intrude. Even if she already fucked up both of their plans to never see each other again. 

--

Julie is still hyperventilating and sobbing in the alleyway when the emergency exit loudly flings open against the wall of the bookstore. Her arms are wrapped tightly around herself with a childish prayer to have Teddy Luke in her arms, because at least then there would be a little piece of him to stay with her when the rest of him is gone.

She’s expecting Flynn, or an employee on their smoke break, but not-

“Luke.”

“Julie.”

A whimper leaves her lips at hearing him say her name for the first time in so long. His own eyes are glassy, and even though he’s so much older his eyes are still the same. He’s still her Luke, and that’s such a dangerous idea to touch in this timeline but she can’t let it go. 

“I’m so sorry,” she wails, trying to avoid looking at his heartbroken expression for too long. “I know, I said we can’t do this, I just-”

“Julie.”

“Did you want me to find you?”

Air puffs from his mouth in a harsh sigh as he takes a few steps closer to her; incredulously focused on the fact that she’s there, in front of him, real. “I- Of course, of course I did, Julie. I just didn’t think you’d come. But I wanted you to know I was looking.”

Her eyelids fall shut. More tears are pushed out, and she doesn’t know if she’s crying or laughing because of course Luke would look even when she told him not to. He respected her, and he respected her wishes, but he could never help himself from pushing the boundaries. 

Achingly, she’s always been so grateful for that trait in him. 

But now the two of them are awkwardly standing only a few feet away, and the urge to just feel him, assure that he’s solid in front of her is becoming all too real. 

Gravel rolls under the soles of her shoes. “I loved the book,” she confesses. “All of the stories. I mean, I’m sorry about the- About your splits-”

“I shouldn’t have even tried with them-”

“But everything else, just…”

How does she say it?

“When- Back when, in the other timeline, and you guys were ghosts… Those stories were the kind of thing you had always wanted. You were so determined to get it, and-” She sniffles. “I’m so glad you got it.”

His lips turn downward. It’s a flash of the familiarly frustrated Luke who is trying to make a tough decision, but in this case, she doesn’t know what that decision is. All she sees is the wince at her saying it was what he wanted, and how happy she was that he got it, and-

A conceited part of her contemplates if he’s about to correct her, tell her that life hasn’t been great, say that he would have rather had it differently; but he doesn’t want her to think her sacrifice was for nothing. 

Oh, God, please say he’s happy. She doesn’t think she could handle anything less. 

“It’s thanks to you,” he responds instead, gulping down any more that threatens to come up. “You saved me.” Beat. “Are- Are you happy? Is everything in this timeline okay?”

Well, in her head, not exactly. Of course she still had her dad and brother and Flynn, but Sunset Curve never stayed together, she erased Carrie’s entire existence, and everything felt just a little tilted on its axis. Julie felt like a stranger in a world of her own creation. 

She yearned for the days back in Wonderland where everyone belonged. They were a little scarred and a little broken, but they were home. Her house from the original 2020 timeline was her home. Luke was her home, and he was right in front of her; the only security blanket she has right now. 

Once again, she finds herself bursting into tears and wanting so badly to reach out to him, to give him a hug and tell him she wishes that she stayed in bed in Wonderland with him forever. She wants to jump back down the black hole and go back to 1995 when things made more sense than they did now and Luke could be hers again; and not a distant love that could never materialize in the present. 

Julie, miraculously, holds herself back. But watching Luke’s hands flinch at the sight of her crying doesn’t make things easier. 

“Please don’t cry.” His voice is a whisper but the words hit with a force that almost buckles her knees. “Julie, please, take a deep breath.”

She takes in a breath that makes her lungs expand into her ribs. “I’m happy,” she lies through her teeth as she breathes out slowly. “I’m happy. We’re happy.”

“Good.” 

Tears are running down his face. She recalls a time where it was easy for her to hold his face and swipe under his eyes with her thumbs until there were no more tears for her to kiss away. 

In unison, they clear their throats and shift their eyes. The air changes; they know they’re in a public place again, and Luke is an adult musician, and he’s with a fan. He holds his hand up, the one that has the book, and shakes it a little back and forth. 

“Flynn said you wanted this signed?”

A watery smile blooms on her face in spite of the bitter moment. “Yeah,” she nods. “Thought it could be another memento.”

To put emphasis on the idea, she lifts up onto her tiptoes and tilts her voice up. Make it a more positive moment. Don’t dwell. Stop crying. 

You can’t change things now. 

Luke pops the cap off with his teeth, and toys around with it in his mouth like it’s one of his marked-up guitar picks as he holds the book open and scribbles something (probably illegible) on the inside of the front cover. 

Then, once he’s done there, he starts flipping the pages around like he knows where every detail of the story is and marks up certain pages with… Something. She doesn’t know. After he’s made his wanted notes, he writes something out on the last page before firmly shutting it and returning it to her possession. 

“Thank you,” she smiles simply as she pulls the book from his hands and carefully assures that their hands don’t overlap. If she touches him, she falls apart. 

Luke hums in response. 

Stupidly, Julie decides that moment to open up the book and see what he wrote while he’s standing right in front of her. But she isn’t thinking about him, or looking at him -- she’s looking at the inside cover. 

We were always meant to find each other. Don’t forget that - please. 

Yours,

Luke

When a tear drops on the page, she quickly turns farther into the book because she doesn’t want her feelings to ruin his beautiful, even if messy, words. These words are all she’ll have after today. 

The few pages in the book that he made notes on were just little things that she never knew she needed to hear. 

The chapter about his first sold out stadium show? Thought of you the whole time

When he heard he was nominated for a Grammy? Wanted to call you first

The night he won his first Grammy? Almost thanked you in my speech

The last page he wrote on was the Acknowledgements page. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t that long. Luke kept a core circle of people and that was that. But below that short list, in bold, black letters:

To Julie Molina, who sacrificed everything so that I could be able to tell these stories. I wish she could have been a part of them. 

Her tears slip from her face so clear and quickly that she’s surprised her tear ducts are generating such a mass amount. The words replay in her head, in Luke’s voice, over and over. The affirmation that he wanted her with him all this time. 

But she had to go again. This had to be a one-time thing. This hurt too much for her to put either of them through it again, and besides -- now she had closure in his own writing; with her tears notarizing each word. 

“It’s time, Julie,” she mutters to herself. “It’s time.”

To say goodbye. Again. 

But Luke never answers. It’s dead silent, even though cars should be racing on the road behind them. When she looks up, Luke is frozen to the spot. Everything is, except her. 

“Time is a funny thing isn’t it? Just when you think you have a handle on it, it manages to surprise you.” 

It’s Willie, but not actually Willie. The one who was giving her the clues and trying to lead her in directions all over 1995; the one who she hasn’t seen in a really, really long time. For a moment, she doesn’t believe it. 

But he tells her that fate is in her hands. This is her choice. And despite the doubt that lingers uneasily in her chest, she can’t help but be desperate for this to be real. 

“Why not you? Who better than Julie Molina? Teenage girl with a good heart and music in her soul. Braver than most. Why not you?” 

Julie jumped across time to save her boys, and now she is willing to make the trip again if it means there’s a chance of saving them all. 

But there’s one more thing she wants to do. Just before everything either is perfect again or goes to complete shit. 

Spinning away from Willie, she takes a second glance at Luke’s still frame and softens her face into a smile. He had been looking down at her while she was reading his notes with tears in his eyes and a sad grin on his face. 

No one is looking or judging anymore -- so she stands on her toes and throws her arms around his neck, squeezing him close even if he can’t hug her back. She’s been dying to do this since she saw him in the bookstore. 

And it feels like coming home. 

“I’ll find you again,” she whispers into his ear that probably isn’t listening. “I promise.”

And without any more hesitation, she turns back to Willie with her chin up and shoulders back. 

“What do I have to do?”

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

The book never finds its way back to her the way that the bear does or the way that the ring does. 

But that’s okay, because the bookstore does, and she’s with Luke when she registers that they are walking by the bookstore on their way to meet everyone at one of their favorite diners. 

By now, Luke had been told everything. She felt herself starting to fall in love with this third Luke just as she had all the others, but could never tell if he was falling back in love with her. Julie found herself -- while this timeline was infinitely better than the old one -- pining for Luke to come back to her and love her like he did in two other lifetimes. 

Their hands were brushing each other’s on the sidewalk when the bookstore sign met her eyes. 

“Jules?” 

Her feet are glued to the cement; her eyes are glued to the alleyway. Luke approaches behind her and lays a hesitant hand on her shoulder. 

“Jules, are you- Is everything okay?”

“Can we take a detour, really quick?”

And suddenly, he’s letting her lace her fingers through his and pull him through traffic -- no crosswalk in sight -- across the street to stand in front of a bookstore that has zero meaning to him whatsoever. Julie selfishly revels in his calluses rubbing her knuckles and doesn’t make a move to let go unless he will. 

He doesn’t. At least, until they hit the alleyway.

“Julie, what is this place? Why are we out here? Is this… Did I like it here, or something?”

They never spoke much about the Luke’s of other timelines. Julie quickly caught onto the fact that he got uncomfortable when she talked about guys with his name and face that he knew virtually nothing about even though he felt pressured to know everything. 

But he dealt with her when she had moments like these. She never thanked him properly for it.

“It wasn’t like that,” she shakes her head, “we were here in the other 2020. The one where you were older, and this huge Grammy-winning solo musician. The one that was a result of what I did in 1995.”

The exit door is still rusty on the hinges. The brick is the same shade of red, and-

“Okay… And? What did you guys do?”

His use of third person is a clear message. “Him and I had made this promise in ‘95 that we wouldn't find each other, right?” “Because he would be old.”

“Yeah. But he published this book and had a whole signing tour called Find Me, and Flynn told me we should go, and… Basically, I had a mental breakdown at seeing him, and then he came back here and signed the book for me, and we talked, and-”

Her voice cracks. Her eyes feel wet. 

Fuck. 

Can’t she make it one timeline without sobbing in an alleyway?

A familiar hand rubs up and down her back as she stares, firmly, at the spot where her and Luke were so vividly standing and talking and pining for the other. 

“Jules, hey, look at me.” 

Because it’s Luke -- because it’s her Luke -- she listens to him, and rotates to face him. The soft fabric of his shirt hits her cheeks as he presses his fingers into the cotton and lifts his hand to wipe the tears from her face in a gesture that tempts her to cry more. Instead, she tries to laugh it off. “God, I really need to stop having meltdowns in alleyways, huh?” He stays quiet; looking at her in a recognizable Luke way that reminds her of all of their loving times in other lives. But she can’t get her hopes up. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t like when I talk about it. Sometimes I just-”

“You need to,” he nods. “I get it.”

Her feet are planted identically where they were in alternate-2020. But Luke is in a different spot, because this is a new Luke. One that’s right in front of her, lightly holding her arms; not one that’s a few feet out of reach. 

“He told me that we would always find each other.” Her voice is watered down, and quiet, but Luke is close enough to hear it. 

“Well, he was right, wasn’t he? We did it. For like, the fourth time, according to you.”

And then, she’s hit with a Luke Patterson smile. She sees it all of the time now but it never gets old because he’s young, and he’s happy, and he’s here. 

Her lips turn up to reflect it, and in a shocking turn of events: Luke instigates the hug. 

They are nearly best friends, so they’ve hugged before. But this one is different. 

His arms fold around her shoulders and tug her close and snug into his chest so that his chin is nearly resting on her hair. This leaves her able to press him close to her with her arms wrapped tightly and lovingly around his waist -- almost, dare she say it, like he was a teddy bear. 

“I never said I’m sorry,” he murmurs into her forehead. “Or thank you, for that matter.” “For what?” “I’m sorry you went through so much for me. For us. It still affects you a lot and I’m sorry you have to carry that alone.” His chest rises and falls under her cheek as he takes a deep breath, and she doesn’t think she’ll ever get tired of feeling him breathe or hearing his heartbeat. “And thank you for loving us enough to do it. You sacrificed a lot.”

She is too choked up to verbally comment -- but she squeezes him tighter, almost tempting her arms to swish through him. 

They don’t. 

And Luke continues talking after a moment of a peaceful silence. “It’s kind of cool, though, for me to think about this person I have in the universe. You know? The whole thing with us finding each other. I always have you, no matter where I am. You’ll be out there.”

“Always,” she sighs into his chest, because she can’t help it. It took them a few tries, but here they are: In the same timeline, with full family and friends and lives, in a reciprocated hug. 

“Always.” Luke repeats the word, almost feeling it out in his mouth. “Well, thanks for doing it again. Maybe let me do the work next time. You need a break.”

God, this Luke is always so good at making her laugh. Ghost-Luke was, too, but the other Luke’s and her were always swept up in emotionally-taxing situations for her to be laughing like she could when she was with this Luke. 

It was almost as if this one had practice. Maybe those other lives were kicking in.

He was her final Luke, hopefully. 

As she props her chin up on his chest, she gives him the widest grin she’s worn all day. “I would appreciate that. Just don’t take too long.” Her forehead nuzzles itself into his neck as she settles herself back into his arms; fully content to be wrapped up in him for as long as he will let her stay. “I’ll get worried.”

A soothing hand over her hair is all the confirmation she needs. 

“Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll be there.”

[tedturneriscrazy]

And here we are with Yesterday's Lie, the season 2A finale!

Wow, this came up quick, huh?

Anyways...

What are you doing with all that, not-Luz?

(Also, cute photo of younger Luz. She had hair!)

That musical cue when not-Luz adjusted her hair was rather unnerving

Judging by Camila's reaction to that box being set out, she wasn't lying when she said she loved Luz's creativity

Freeing the rabbit from the trap did a lot to establish more of Camila's character. I'm glad we're finally getting more of her.

OH SHIT REAL LUZ IN THE MIRROR

"Are you sure this isn't gonna blow our faces off?" "Nope!"

That's a rather eclectic collection of ingredients for the door

I wonder if Amity also provided the abomination head

Group hug❤

There's the trailer shot

You only appear in reflections, huh? Interesting...

Jeez, Luz, priorities!

(Oh who am I kidding, the fact she's still thinking about her girlfriend is adorable)

I do love it when her accent comes through

Whoops, looks like wherever this is the magic of the Isles doesn't reach

Previously unmentioned dad whose face is obscured in the photo

GASP

Spider-Man moment

Oh, voice change in not-Luz!

Classic "I ain't goin' back, man!" moment

Also, it's beta Luz's bat!

"Monster Slayer Academia" I'm not entirely sure that doesn't actually exist...

"I will never understand anime..."😂😂😂

Oh, true form time!

Vee's gonna be a fan favorite, isn't she? (I ask, full well knowing the answer)

I mean, I've already seen plenty of Luca x Owl House fan art, so I imagine that may intensify

Luz seems to be quite understanding all things considered. I suppose all the people in the "Doppelganger isn't evil, actually" camp have been vindicated.

Oh, Eda

I don't think I like that camera...

So Gravesfield, Connecticut, huh?

Welp, there's a statue of a man that's probably Philip Wittebane

Oh, partially transformed Vee is gonna be irresistible to fanartists

Witch obsessed guy? Pamphlets? Hmm...

Wait, MARILYN?! As in Stan's ex?!

(I know she wasn't actually since the two shows don't take place in the same universe, but no way that nod wasn't deliberate)

"She tried to pay for a latte with a live raccoon" Eda I'm saying this in the nicest way possible: What the fuck

Those rats...buh

"BREAD OF WISDOM GRANTS US SPEECH! WE DESIRE MORE!"

Can't say I don't relate to Vee wrt confrontation

Luz has definitely had some...previous experiences with other kids. Creepy talking rats? Yes. Human high schoolers? No thank you.

Oh, fellow campers! Luz isn't the only one who had off-screen experiences.

That reading seemed...ominous

Right...contacts...

Side note: seems like that camp doesn't stomp out weirdness as thoroughly as previously speculated

Oh shit it's Sonic the Hedgehog! I mean Warden Wrath! I mean Roger Craig Smith!

I saw someone take issue with how Vee reacted to Luz running away to the Demon Realm, but considering her past experience and trauma, her reaction is understandable

Belos I don't care how much of a foxy grandpa you are, you fucking suck

"Skin's sure weird!"

She took the day off work to drive "Luz" to camp I just😭

Whether you think camp was a bad idea or not, Camila's a good mom

Oh dear, Sonic is a conspiracy bro

I guess we know who set up that camera. And the traps.

Oh, seems Eda didn't have elixir with her on one of her trips to the human realm...

"After watching a few Mew-tube videos I learned the truth!" Yup he's a conspiracy bro. Goddamnit, Sonic!

(I can rag on Sonic the Hedgehog all I want, I've been into the games since the Genesis days, well before most of y'all were even born)

Luz having a "BOI" moment

This guy definitely watches Alex Jones. Props to the TOH crew for teaching a new generation about these conspiracy creeps.

Vee is accustomed to a life on the run, but apparently not with Luz's determination and quick thinking.

Also, all this talk about being "outed?" Yeah I'm definitely seeing the trans allegory everyone's talking about.

Now Luz turns to the one person who can help

That "boop"❤ (Now we know where Luz gets it from)

Camila not believing all the Demon Realm stuff. Shocked. SHOCKED, I say.

Well shit, Camila's been a veterinarian all this time! Don't we all have egg on our faces!

It would explain how Luz is so good with animals

Sonic the Curator sure is something, huh

The scary thing is that there are people like him in real life. Worse, even.

Okay, I know this is a dire situation, but I am enamored with Camila's mom energy here. She's adorable.

Dude with a ponytail and cardinal on his shoulder to send the theorists in a tizzy. It'll be interesting to see how this all eventually comes together.

I just realized that that's a training wand on the table

And now Camila realizes this is no game

Further props to the TOH crew for making the antagonist of the episode a crackpot white dude. This is correct.

Yup, further trans allegory. Plus a nice example of a supportive-if-not-quite-understanding-everything parent.

And there's Camila going ham on a motherfucker. Turns out there was no lie in the "Two Truths and a Lie!" Rather, the lie was that there was a lie in the first place...My brain hurts.

Oh, she can appear in the rain. That's cool!

Now is time for Real Sad Hours

The way Camila is reacting...god...it hurts...

"Is this the only way I can touch you?" STOP😢

"Staying here was the best decision I ever made!" Uh oh...

That promise is totally not gonna come back up later in the most tragic, gutwrenching way possible. Nope. Nuh uh. No way that'll happen.

Dammit, Luz, not more lies! Oh, right. The episode title.

Her face really says it all.

Well, it wasn't quite the continuous pain train we convinced ourselves it was gonna be, but that ending? Ow. I'm glad Vee has the support she needs, but my heart hurts for the Nocedas. I really hope they can resolve the issues they clearly still have, because damn.

And now we get to chew on all that for the next however many months! Hooray! I knew I said I was ready for a hiatus, but it turns out I'm a big fat liar, because I'm not! Augh!

Well, I'll try to look on the bright side: At least my sleep schedule can normalize again? Also I can cancel my Sling subscription once 6-10 drop on D+. Neither DisneyNow nor Sling are optimal VOD experiences.

[sun-to-my-luna]

-𝓛𝓲𝓪𝓻 -  

Her fiance at the beginning begins to explain how he can’t believe he found his missing piece. That person that has “a one of a kind beauty with a glow that makes the moon look like a sad chipped tooth”

Followed afterwards  her fiance in this scene is going to give Camila  a necklace because they’re apparently (based on context clues) celebrating their recent “engagement.” 

This is where the symbolism begins.  As he cheekily describes the type of person he found himself with Camila takes a huge gulp of wine.  A sign that shows she’s uncomfortable with what he’s saying or feeling guilty about something.

The bus boy “accidentally” spills a drink onto Camila’s fiance and gets his expensive suit dirty. The fiance begins to yell at the bus boy. Camila becomes fascinated putting all her attention onto the bus boy.

A.

She falls in love with the bus boy at first sight and  then he leaves a note on the table for Camila.

Since the “Liar” cover art  has to do with cupid. The heart that forms after the buss boy cleans the drink he spilled on the table represents “falling in love at first sight.” In other words the drink that the bus boy spilled was cupid’s arrow. 

 B.

The buss boy already knew Camila. He spilled the drink on purpose because he knew that she was  in love with  him and not Reese. He knew she was making a mistake. Therefore was trying to prevent her from marrying a guy she’s not interested in.

In this situation Camila is shocked and nervous because of her fiance’s reaction  but she was smiling at the buss boy while he was yelling. That meant that  she liked what he did for her.   

“Oh no, there you go, you're making me a liar I kinda like it though.”

After meeting with the buss boy she can’t say that she “loves”  the necklace her fiance gave her. Why? because that would be lying. She’s chocking because her  body is literally preventing her from spilling out lies, and wants to speak out the truth. 

“Oh no, there you go, you're making me a liar Got me begging you for more.”

Then she wakes up in her mansion next to her fiance to find the television turned on.

Parodying what ALL tabloids do every time celebrities are rumored to be together.  In a sense think of her fiance as a “PR” partnership.  Her character is in love with someone else and she’s not with Reese Witherspoon because she loves him.  She looks at the note that the buss boy left behind because she can’t stop thinking about them. The other thing that’s important to pay attention to is the fact that she’s “living” inside a mansion.

 So, she wakes up and she remembers that the buss boy gave her a note at the table while he spilled the drink. At this point I’m going to assume that the buss boy had already known Camila before she got with Reese because she sneaks out of the room as if she was keeping a secret away from him.

We further on can see her actually running away from Reese in circles around the house, looking at the note, but pushing it away. Proving that she is keeping a secret from him. The secret being her relationship with the buss boy that she’s having behind his back in secrecy. This next scene is extremely important, and brings me back to why I said her living in a mansion is something you should pay attention to.

Camila is caught cleaning the mansion, she lives in, herself with her normal regular comfortable sleeping gown instead of the cleaning staff. If this was a normal everyday situation there wouldn’t have been a reason for her to be shocked if he caught her cleaning.  However at this point I gathered one of two things.

A.

Wealth, Money and Fame.

Reese Witherspoon symbolizes wealth, money and fame itself. He bought her all those materialistic items. He has all these maids, cooking staff, and butlers. He has this big ass mansion and he expects her to dress the part and act accordingly so to her new rich lifestyle. That’s why he bought her what to wear and the necklace at the beginning of the music video. Going back to the reporters in the music video. At the beginning when he was describing her I felt like in itself was mimicking or mocking fake love and affection because what he said was cheesy and she wasn’t interested in it.   (Kind of like her posts about Shawn, and Matthew.)

B. 

She doesn’t care about money, wealth, or fame.

That fact that in this scene she just smiles and looks at him and feels comfortable wearing what she’s got on while she’s cleaning shows that she just wants to be herself. She doesn’t want to wear what he buys her to show off. She just wants to be herself.  Therefore in that moment at the start of the MV when he asked her what she thought.. she was making a decision between Real Love or Wealth, Money, and Fame.

Then we get a flashback to where we started except this time she comes to a realization. She tries to change the outcome but  it’s the same. The heart on the table still appears and the buss boy is still there. “I said I won’t get too close but I can’t stop it.” She starts to crack and let’s out a bit of the truth and as she does she feels relief. Things start to get better. The truth starts to spread, and people bring out their real colors.

Reese gets confused about her rejection, but  Buss Boy has hearts in his eyes meaning that he appreciates her courage to be honest.

BUT then she gets crushed by an elephant. She didn’t say the full honest truth and this is an idiom for “there’s still an elephant in the room.” 

She once again wakes up except this time it’s not just with a note. She wakes up with both men in her bed. The buss boy she’s actually in love with never leaves her mind and wakes up with her while Reese ( her wealth, money and fame) lays next to her fast asleep. The more people talk about them the more anxiety Camila seems to have every time she sees the news reports.

She gets terrified of the fact that Reese could wake up and see him being with her in the same bed and starts running away from her thoughts and problems again. With the note in her hand.  This could very well be interpreted in many ways.

Considering that Reese represents fame she’s scared that her real relationship that’s a secret will be discovered so she runs away from it but she can’t stop thinking about them. That’s why she’s continuously running around in circles in Reese’s mansion. 

“But what if he kissed and what if I like it?”

Changes the lyrics to “she” in this part and the meaning changes, but in the music video it stays the same because the Buss Boy is her secret relationship.  I know a lot of people before me already pointed out that Flamingos = Gay... so I’m going to point you in a different direction. She is among a flock of  Flamingos, and they are believed to be a powerful spirit animal.

  Reference: “Spiritually, if this spirit animal comes up– you need to listen to your heart and follow what it says in all that you do. This is because it will assist you in choosing the true path of life. In case, you consider this bird to be your spirit animal, then you should let out your emotions. It is necessary to vent out your feelings & expressions to the entire world without any modifications. You should also allow these feelings to help you lead to your life path. Listening to your heart will allow you to derive proper solutions to overcome all problems in life. If you find it tough to come up with a decision, then you should allow your heart to take over. This spirit animal teaches you to follow sincerely your heart to enable you to derive the best results.”

Again, she’s looking at the note, trying to follow her heart and making a choice between Real Love and Wealth. (Which follows the same pattern in Shameless, and another song.)

He comes out showing off his butlers and staff and again the stupid thing he bought her to wear. Then we go once again back to the start of mv where she’s thinking about things and coming into realizations.  She spews out even more truth, but doesn’t get hit by the elephant again. However she does get hit by people riding their bikes.

It seems like no matter how hard she tries or wants to say the truth she can’t. That’s why she’s getting attacked by elephants and drones, and people because when she does they stop her from continuing to live by the truth. The more she resists saying the truth though  the more the truth haunts her.

It’s interesting to me that this scene is included with the whole, “trouble in paradise.” The whole world is watching her fake relationship crumble because she doesn’t want to be in it anymore and she just wants to choose who she really loves.  I think that this song is ultimately aimed at Roger or her team who make her seem like she’s a “Liar.”

We have her here once again laying next to Reese (wealth), but she’s surrounded by thoughts of the person she really loves so she’s trying to burn the love she has for the other person she shouldn’t love. 

While in that process she actually ends up burning herself, and running away from the situation.  The “Truth Police” actually end up catching her and want to know why she did what she did.  The truth police mention in my opinion could be someone that intervenes with her life. Someone close to her.

Anyways, Wealth and Fame starts investigating  and questioning her. She starts getting really nervous that they’re going to find out the truth as to why she went insane and burned down the mansion. Even though they probably already know as she looks over at the Buss Boy who is pretending to read the note he obviously didn’t give to her himself.

She won’t tell them  the truth so she starts screaming at the Buss Boy, and blames him for giving her the feelings that she’s feeling, but the Buss Boy stands his ground and acts as if saying, “is that so?” 

Reese is surprised and presumably seems as if he’s asking what’s going on. The Buss Boy and Camila are arguing back and forth, but they start dancing and get really close.

At that point the truth was discovered and Reese was devastated and angry. The lie detector showed that she really loves the Buss Boy, “her real love” and not Reese. The person she was pretending to be in a relationship with. The person that bought her fame and wealthy things.

In the end she wakes up in her normal house, with her normal clothes, and inside her normal bed. Without pretending to be someone else or in love with somebody that she’s not in love with. She loves Disney, and the bird to me says that’s her real fairy tale ending.

In the end she chose her real love over everything and will always choose love over everything.  But also remember how I kept saying she can’t stop thinking about the person she really loves?  That’s what the note is about. She only thinks about the person she actually is in love with. Not the person she shows she’s with.

“All I do the whole day through is dream of you.”

[prinxlyart]

Since you like Luz and Camilla's bond and since it's Luz appreciation week, would you give some headcanons you have about how they interact after Camila finds out about the isles?

I don’t remember when this was sent but it’s certainly not Luz appreciation week anymore lol

But imma still answer it because I love Camilla Noceda

Luz, for the first time probably in Camilla’s presence, picks her words very carefully. I think she’s relieved beyond belief that she’s in her mother’s arms again, but then once the initial reunion is done, Camilla puts her hands on her hips and Luz just sorta shrinks and laughs nervously because what do you even say????

I think it’s a lot of culture shock for Camilla at first too; much like Luz jumping at every little thing when she first arrived, Camilla is on edge 24/7 even with her daughter explaining how things work. How no, there’s nothing wrong with that demon, he just is a sentient slime and is totally chill. Or yeah, that demon does like eating the flesh of the living, but like, only if you piss them off, so just leave them be and you’ll be fine. Camilla has to keep her head in like, Emergency Nurse Mode in order to remain calm and not scream at everything (she still screams at a lot of things).

Camilla is mostly just overwhelmed I think? So Luz takes things super slow. As much as she would love to just tell her mom everything, she knows this is already a lot after not knowing if they’d ever see each other again. So I think Luz just sorta...sprinkles in new information into conversation. She DOES tell her about Hexside though because Luz has never loved school so much before and she knows her mom would love to hear about that.

I think it takes at least a week or so for Camilla to like. Get used to the Demon Realm in general? And after that point Luz starts telling her more stories of the adventures she’s gone on and magic she’s learned how to do. And don’t get me wrong, every single story makes Camilla want to just take her baby back to the Human Realm and lock her in the house so she’s never in danger like this again, but she’s also seeing how much Luz has grown; how much more mature she seems, how grounded she’s become, and it’s all this growth that makes Camilla see how much this world has helped Luz. So she holds her tongue as she watches her baby girl gush about everything she’s done and learned, because she looks so happy. And Luz was happy in the Human Realm too, but it wasn’t nearly this happy. Her happiness in the Human Realm was always tinted with a hint of apprehension, an underlying sense of resignation at the expectation of not being accepted by her peers.

I can’t remember which post it was, but I know I said previously that for the first few weeks, Camilla absolutely despises Eda. Any time Eda throws her two cents in to a story Luz is telling, Camilla just glares at her with a sort of murderous look that makes Eda pause and go silent again. Camilla has the right to be angry, sure, Eda should’ve sent Luz home the moment Luz showed up in the Demon Realm. But, she also gave her a place to sleep and food and knowledge and a familial love that Luz treasures. She’s given experiences that really shook Luz up overall (like facing Adaghast and Piniat), but allowed her to learn how to separate fantasy from reality. At least, in private conversation Luz explains as much, but now Camilla just wants to be petty because she never thought she’d see her baby again after she discovered Luz never went to camp. And to find out she’d been under Eda’s care this whole time? Oh Camilla wishes she could just throttle that woman’s neck for not bringing her baby back to her sooner.

Luz I think is mostly just scared that her mom won’t accept this new life Luz has made for herself. She’s on edge for as long as her mom is on edge and is only able to relax when she sees her mom start to get used to her surroundings. The apprehension is always there, just sort of simmering in the background, at least until the day she comes back to the Owl House after an outing with Lilith and sees Eda and her mom having a civil conversation. And not just civil, they actually look like they’re enjoying each other’s company ?? Camilla’s petty grudge against Eda seems to have completely vanished in the time Luz was out with Lilith and now they’re chatting like they’re best friends. That’s when Luz finally lets out the metaphorical breath she’d been holding this whole time. Her family, both versions of it, aren’t at odds anymore.

It still takes a lot of talking between them for Camilla to really accept the reality of it all. Luz will always be her baby, that will never change, but it’s hard to watch Luz grow up and make her own life-changing decisions and put herself in dangerous situations. Camilla has to remind herself to put herself in Luz’s shoes and really think about why Luz is so much happier.

I don’t know how this compromise shakes out tbqh. I’d like to imagine they have to sit down and really discuss what Luz wants to do next. Because as much as Luz loves the Demon Realm, is it actually what she wants? Does she really want to only live in the Demon Realm? She’s still a kid; opinions change as you age. I think they find a sort of compromise with Luz agreeing to be “home-schooled”. She needs to finish her human education before she devotes herself entirely to life in the Demon Realm. That way, at the very least, if Luz decides at some point in the future that she wants to go back to the Human Realm more permanently, she’ll at least have her GED under her belt. Luz is only hesitant because she’s already got so much work as the only All-Track student at Hexside, but that’s a better compromise than being forced to leave the Demon Realm and start attending Human school again.

Camilla’s seen her fair share of kids coming into the hospital with concerned parents, she’s attended to some of them personally and discovered they were in because the child was suffering from debilitating amounts of stress. She knows it can be hard. She was learning how to raise her own baby when she was still in school after all. She gets it. But she insists that Luz at least finish human high school online; she can get tutoring if need be, but she is not just dropping her entire life to go pursue life in the Demon Realm. Not on her watch. She’s going to make damn well sure that her baby is prepared for life in either Realm.

So Camilla rolls up her sleeves and gets to work; she formally pulls Luz out of public school and starts researching online schools with flexible schedules. She makes sure Eda is in on this plan too; she will NOT be making Luz work for her potions business OR Human Collectibles stand unless absolutely necessary (as in, Eda and Lilith are both unable and they are in dire need of funds and only Luz knows how to Turn That Profit™️). If Luz is caught up on ALL her school work and wants to chip in on Eda’s businesses, then yes, she can go, but not until then. Eda’s sort of sour about that (she’d never admit it in a million years but she loves having Luz at her stand; having company is nice and with the whole No Magic thing, they’ve been spending their downtime studying and practicing glyphs) but she lets out an over dramatic groan and agrees. (Luz, somehow, in what little downtime she has nowadays, draws up actual lesson plans for Eda to go over on the weekends when she can’t join her at the Human Collectibles stand. Eda adores them because 1) holy shit, her apprentice is so fucking talented, look at her GO and 2) Luz adds??? All sorts of cute encouraging notes??? In the margins of her lesson plans???? And little doodles too and it’s Eda’s favorite part. It’s almost like Luz is there with her going over the lessons with her goofy commentary).

On Camilla’s days off she’ll head over to the Demon Realm and help Luz with her (human) homework to the best of her ability; she knows it’s hard and Luz has a lot of stuff on her plate, so she helps her calm down her overwhelmed ADHD brain by helping her sort out what work she has and organizing it all into Doable Piles. Whenever she helps Luz with her homework, it’s all peppered with stories of various things Luz and her friends did that week. Camilla always uses that to her advantage; the more she learns about the things that are exciting to Luz, the more ammo she has in making her Human Homework more interesting. She’ll use analogies to Luz’s stories to make whatever homework thing relatable and will hide a sneaky smile whenever she sees Luz’s eyes light up with interest/recognition. She knows how her baby’s brain works: Luz will only do the homework if it interests her. If it relates to her friends? Sure fire method of getting homework done.

My brain has been absolute mush in the last like, month?????? So I apologize for how late this is ! But thank you so much for the ask, I love Luz and Camilla’s relationship, you’re so right. <3333

[selenitawars]

Pressentimento

Never Be The Same - Part 7.

Pairing: Sam x Daughter!Reader, Dean x Niece!Reader, Castiel x Platonic!Reader.

Summary: To save Dean’s life, Sam changes a big part of his past, hoping that he’d only forget memories with his college girlfriend. But, not only he changes his life, he also creates a new one.

Word Count: 2332.

Warnings: None.

A/N: Yes, I’m back after over a year and a half. I know I’m a dumbass for making y’all wait for so long, but, honestly, I want this to be a fun writing, so I try not to pressure myself. Won’t make promises. Either way, always love to know your opinions. Hope  you enjoy this comeback haha!

Pressentimento masculine noun 1. act of feeling in advance, more through emotion than reason, the occurrence of a future fact; suspicion. "I have a p. that this will not work" 2. knowledge of what will happen, obtained by intuition; forecast, hunch, omen.

You still hadn't explained everything to your father nor your uncle. Cas remembered one of the episodes that occurred with you when you were younger, around ten or so. It was hard for you. Every time you tried to explain yourself, things were hard to explain. All the time, something blocked you from exposing the fear inside you, the fear of letting things out.

The way their "new" memories came to them didn't help. It was so unpredictable. Cas remembered you praying first and then, mixed memories, tiny ones, which made him assume a lot about you already; and worry as well. Dean remembered more, like the time Sam was soulless and you lived with him for months, you concluded he was remembering things by the impact they had in his life. As for Sam, well, apparently things were coming more chronologically for him, but a little late, since he also had a lot of Camila to remember.

You tried to think how to talk to them about your crisis. The big ones. It was so complicated. When it started happening, you had your godmother to help with calming down and understanding how sensible you were; but even Vanessa had to talk with the Winchesters to fully understand what made you so much stronger and sensitive. Anyway, she wouldn't help you now that she was in the list of people to whom you never existed.

Oh, and your mother...

Looking at pictures of her nowadays became an addiction. You couldn't sleep before searching a little more about her, not that you've been having much sleep or any of this helped. You wish so bad you could talk to her. And now that Sam told ya you reminded him so much of Camila, you really studied her, trying to find the resemblance.

How would you tell them there's more? More of you to worry. You wanted to wait for a time when the memories hangovers weren't so heavy on them. They were all trying to act normal, but it was obvious - you've never been at home for this long, they were never so quiet. Dean wasn't even drinking, to make sure he wouldn't be more confused.

You were lying down on your bed, trying to ease the headache. It was normal to have a day just to be tired, but after the all day just resting you still got a headache by night. Went to get a pill to make it better and when you swallow it, you realize something.

"I don't exist." You whisper to yourself.

For the first time in that day, you felt useful. Even with the headache, you got in front of the computer and started to do your thing. For some reason you got happy when you confirmed your theory.

"I was never born."

"You gotta stop thinking about that." Dean warned you.

"No, I mean... I don't exist."

The three men stared at you with confusion, you repeated.

"I don't exist."

Still nothing. The room was filled with silence while you hoped for the clicking in their minds. It never came. You sighed.

"I never existed! Never did anything!"

Sam looked at you like he was starting to worry, while holding a bowl with cereal. Just like Dean, who chewed his, probably thinking you've gone crazy.

"I don't understand why you're so excited saying it." Cas finally said.

"Isn't it obvious?" They once more, didn't react. "There are no records of me, at all. Nobody knows about me. I only left the bunker once."

"What's your point?" Dean asked.

"We should keep it that way."

"What? Why?" The brothers said together.

"Well, if nobody knows I'm here, we're in advantage. It's always good to have a secret backup, right?"

"Like... as a surprise element?" Castiel suggested, you nodded. "Y/N, you don't truly expect us to treat you like a secret weapon..."

"Hell no." Dean agreed.

"It's not like it."

"Well, I don't see your point." You father stated. "I know this seems messed up, but, we can fix it. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried, I'm thinking!" You made them quiet. "C'mon, think with me: I barely left the bunker, how could anyone know about me?"

"We know about you." Dean answered.

"But you've seen me. And your memories, are just yours, this doesn't mean the world knows about me."

"Ok, but you'll need to use an ID sometime. Or will you live forever here, inside the bunker?"

"Dean, you should know it's easier to make a fake ID look real if there isn't a real one to prove the fake one as fake."

Sam took a deep breath.

"Ok, so we leave it as it is. How much long do you think it would last?"

"Not much, I know. But at least, for a while it could be useful."

"I don't see how, Y/N. I'm not using you as my secret-spy-soldier or whatever."

"Sam is right. It's not worth it."

"Castiel?" You looked at him, only to find the agreeing look. You looked down.

"Look, how can you be sure nobody else remembers you?" The angel tried to clear your mind.

"For most people I know, I never happened. And the others, will probably only remember me when they see me, if they do. Until then..."

"That's not right." Sam interrupted. "I had this feeling about you, before we arrived on that day; like I left something behind, but I couldn't remember why."

"So did I."

"I got one your prayers for not getting news from us." You stood there, silent.

"That's it? A feeling you forgot something?!" You left for your bedroom, a little ofended they didn't listen to you. Your idea was good, logical. You genuinely thought they would see it as a good thing out of all this.

Reflecting on it, you finally notice: you may not know your family as well as before. At first it sounds crazy, but this is all crazy, ain't it? And after doing their exercise for a couple hours, thinking about your childhood, the events that crossed it and when it all began, you got yourself some questions.

You fell asleep while still thinking, trying to find logic somewhere and always getting to the same point, a lost point. Somehow while sleeping, you had no dreams, didn't wake up once; not even the fact that you were with a jacket bothered you.

"Hey, man. You good?" Dean noticed Sam squeeze his eyes.

"Yep. Just those flashbacks. I hate to have them by day, but I can't sleep no longer."

"Like a constant hangover, thank God it's not a heavy one." Sam did not answer. "Sam?"

"Right..." Sam stared at the floor, seeing stuff in his mind. He blinked multiple times after a little.

"You all right? You seem shocked. What did you remember?"

"It's just... Y/N's suggestion."

"Dude, that was today."

"Very funny!" Dean smiled a little to ease his brother. "It got me thinking. Why would she want that?"

"Honestly," Castiel entered suddenly. "I think she is trying to get something good out of this."

"Good? I see her point, but..."

"Not good." Cas interrupted, correcting himself. "Useful, at least."

"It's not as useful as she thinks." Dean says as if it's obvious.

"It's the only thing she has to offer." Castiel putted it in a weird way, but made sense. They silented for an instant. "Still, how does that has to do with your flashback, Sam?"

"I thought that maybe I should listen to her. Maybe there was a point."

"You, Sammy, considered the possibility of being saved by her?"

"Obviously not. I wondered: what if her non-existence helped her get away from this craziness. Like, she could get to any school if we put some effort."

"You concluded it fast." Cas commented.

"Well, yeah. Then I... questioned." Sam felt the gazes at him. "How did she get dragged into hunting in the first place? Why did I not stop it? And one more thing popped up: why did I leave college?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Dean couldn't understand his brother.

"Dean, if it wasn't for my anger towards Jessica's death, who knows..." He explained. "So why I left Stanford, making Camila stay behind and after weeks drop out too?"

Castiel took a seat.

"Why did you?"

Sam opened the door, showly. You were in your bed, far from his atmosphere, enjoying a rest you needed. He passed the door carefully, took a look at your room and turned the lights off. Ever since that hunt days ago, when he saw you sleep at the motel bed while he was reading about the case, the day he woke up before you and as you slept in the car coming back home, Sam felt peace as he watched you.

It was the moment he could breath easily and a little relaxed. You were resting, next to him, nothing could hurt you in your sleep. There, you were safe and wasn't leaving soon. So he couldn't help watch you once more; just stood by the door for a couple seconds, smiled at the taught of you having a break from this madness for some hours. Grabbed the door and heard your move, turning to check if he had woken ya.

"Sorry."

"Don't be." Your voice sounded lazy. "I have a light sleep."

"So do I." You nodded. You knew it. He regrets commenting it.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

"No, tell me." He understood you couldn't sleep anymore.

"You don't want to talk now."

"It's about earlier, I know." You said while rubbing your eyes. "Just spit it." He gave in and sat in your chair.

"Why do you wanna do it?"

"Why don't you?"

"Why would I?"

"You've always wanted this." He gulped.

"What? No!"

"You never wanted me to be in risk, you hated the fact I made you all vulnerable, now nobody knows I'm here. I know this isn't permanent and things can change, but for now, you could finally be at peace. Nobody knows me, none of you have to worry."

Samuel digested everything you said and got his answer prepared fastly enough.

"For a long time I asked myself if Jessica never died, would I be here? And you know, as things turned out to be, as I found out more and more throughout the years I got the answer." He paused. "I would. Because if it wasn't Jess, it would be Dean or dad, or a friend."

"What do you mean?"

"I left college for revenge." You got surprised. "It wasn't Jess. Not anymore." That sounded weird. "I made a choice and I know now that somehow, at some point, no matter how many times... I would make that choice again. As soon as somebody I care about got in danger. So I left college. For you."

Sam got back from his first hunt after two years. Camila was waiting. They talked and she was serious when she told him to call Dean. Leave as soon as he could. She said she had a bad feeling, he had to find his father. Was something repentine, fast and clear - the fear in her voice stopped Sam from questioning.

"The way she talked to me... her eyes, getting sudden tears. At first I tried to calm her, jokes on me, I blamed her hormones. Camila proved me wrong. I knew she had that sometimes, like with tests or bad decisions, maybe something simple like knowing staying in was better than going to a party. She was always right. If not totally right, fast enough to avoid regret." He looked down as her voice came to his head and repeated her words. "'This is your family we're talking about, Samuel! Your child's grandfather.' She screamed. I was scared." You two laughed a little. "She begged. Aggressively. But, I didn't leave because she did."

"Why then?"

"I called Dean to get back there and pick me up because once we talked, I got that bad feeling too. And was suddenly afraid. Afraid something would happen to either of you." You stayed silent. "I hoped things would be more simple, soon I'd be back and things would go back to normal. You would be born and grow up, normal. We would be a family..."

"Please, don't say normal." He smiled.

"Your mother's bad feeling... I don't know what is was about exactly. She got scared too in that moment and it was the only time I saw her that scared. But I know that mine became true. Only, it was even worse. There was no blame. Of all things that happened in those months, how worried I was with my father, you, Camila and even Dean... The hunts, the confusion and overwhelming information all at once. The fear. Your mother's death was the most sudden and painful." You saw a tear run down his cheek, followed by a couple more. Sam had more to say but you spoke before, in the heat of the moment.

"She knew." He looked back at you, now with red eyes. "I think she knew something bad was going to happen."

"She knew we would be in danger." By we, he meant himself, his uncle and your grandpa.

"No. Not that. She knew that something terrible was happening already and would get worse. But she didn't tell you to go to stop it." His tears froze, lost in your words. "Like you said. Camila was always right about this bad feelings. She was certain." You were sure thanks to your own experience with it.

"About Dean needing me more than her?" You denied.

"About you needing the rest of your family once I was born."

[wholesomemendes]

I have another idea for a request. Shawn's on tour and you and him argue on the phone about the VMA performance with Camila and then you fall and hurt your head. Your mom calls his phone and he rushes home and pleads for you to forgive him because of the argument.

Author’s Note: I feel like it’s important to say in here that I do mention Shawn’s relationship with Camila in this fic and the way it is described is solely based on what I felt was necessary for this request. This no way a form of me expressing my opinion about them and I do not wish for it to be taken that way. Anyways now that that has been cleared up, here is 2.2k of angst to fluff (because we all know I can’t end with angst). Also sorry this took so long it’s been sitting in my drafts for almost a week now and I kept forgetting to post it.

Warnings: Swearing (just in case you’re not into that)

“It’s not just a silly little performance Shawn! She was practically fucking you with her eyes!” When you planned on calling your boyfriend tonight after his VMA performance you would never have imagined it turning into a screaming fest between the two of you. You were never known to have arguments in your relationship, usually just small ones that were resolved in a matter of minutes, but ever since Señorita came out, all the two of you seemed to be doing was fighting. Shawn was required to do PR for the song because of his contract, and your insecurities about his closeness with Camila, along with the fact that your relationship with Shawn was completely hidden from the public, only spurred your self doubt and managed to spark many arguments between the two of you.

“Can you stop being jealous for just one second and be proud of me?! I didn’t call you just to be screamed at about something that you’ve made up in your head!” Shawn had never used this tone of voice with you before but with the distance between the two of you right now, arguing on the phone only seemed to increase the tension in the air.

“It’s not made up Shawn! The two of you almost kissed onstage! If I wasn’t your girlfriend I would’ve thought she was! You know how embarrassing it is to watch your boyfriend touch someone the way he’s only supposed to do to you!”

“Do you even hear yourself right now? You’re acting like I fucked her up there when all I did was sing a 3 minute song! You’re my girlfriend and you know it and that’s all that should matter!”

“Shawn, it’s humiliating seeing you acting like that up there with the girl you’ve been singing songs about for years. How am I supposed to compete with that?”

“I’m not asking you to compete against her, I’m asking you to be proud of me instead of acting like a jealous bitch all the time!” he shouted, pacing back and forth in his hotel room, hand scrubbing over his face in frustration.

“A jealous bitch? Really, Shawn? I have been so supportive of you through our whole entire relationship and you’re gonna tell me that I spend more time being a jealous bitch instead of being proud of you?!” Your heart clenched in your chest. Were all the endless nights staying up listening to his music meaningless to him? Or the times when you were up past the crack of dawn in the studio with him because he claimed you were his muse and he couldn’t finish without you? Did that all mean nothing to him? And that’s not even talking about all of the award shows and performances you’ve supported him through.

“Yes I am! You’ve spent more time complaining about my performance with Camila then congratulating me on If I Can’t Have You!”

“I’m sorry I haven’t fed your ego enough before trying to talk to you about my concerns. Guess I should’ve realized you were always the more important one in the relationship.”

“Shut up! I’m so sick of you and your attitude, I’m done!”

Your breath caught in your throat, the tears that were pooling in your eyes beginning to stream down your face, “You’re done?”

“Yeah, I’m done I can’t do this anymore. Good night.” The sound of the phone call ending filled your ears and you collapsed to the floor with a heavy heart, sobs coming out of your mouth. You didn’t know what to do besides cry. How else were you supposed to react after you got into a heated argument with your secret boyfriend of over a year, while he’s thousands of miles away from you?

Two hours later your tears were dried, head pounding and heart aching from the stressful night you had. You used the last ounce of strength inside of you to move yourself into the bathroom, starting a hot shower in hopes of calming you down. You undressed slowly, staring at yourself in the mirror only to be met with a shell of your former self staring back at you. Your eyes were swollen and red from the endless amount of crying you did and the longer you looked into them, the more lifeless they seemed. The warm water felt relaxing on your skin, but you stood there for the longest time before you could find the strength inside of yourself to do anything. You managed to grab your shampoo with a weak, shaky hand, accidentally squirting some on the ground in an attempt to squeeze it into your palm. You sighed to yourself in sadness as you turned around in the shower to scrub the shampoo in your hair. Just as you placed your foot back down, it slipped out from underneath you, sliding on the fallen shampoo on the floor. Your arms reached for something, anything to grab onto in order to stop your fall, but you came up short, head banging into the wall next to the faucet, barely missing the metal knob. Your eyes fluttered shut, life flashing before your eyes. You saw when you first met Shawn at the cafe, his blushed cheeks as he asked you on your first date, when he said I love you for the first time, the look in his eyes he always had before he kissed you. But then you saw the way he looked at Camila, his recent music video, and finally your reflection in the mirror from when he was screaming his lungs out at you and told you he was done.

Your eyes shot open, body propelling you forward to sit up, causing you to grasp your head in pain as the water streamed onto you from overhead. Blindly reaching for the knob, you manged to turn off the water, removing your hand from your head only to see blood pouring over it. Your heart stopped in shock, panic rushing over your body as you scrambled to get out of the shower. You were never known to be good with blood and as you grabbed a towel to cover yourself, the only thing you could think to do was call your mom. And fortunately for you, she always answered her daughter’s calls.

“Mom, I have a problem...”

___________

Meanwhile in New Jersey, Shawn was frustrated beyond belief, pacing the floor of his hotel room with his phone in his hand. “You know man....I can kinda see where she’s coming from...” Brian began only to be cut off harshly by his best friend.

“I know! I just-ugh, I don’t know what to do! If I don’t do the PR, management and Camila are gonna kill me and I mean she’s one of my best friends! I can’t have her be mad at me!”

“Yeah, but would you rather have an angry girlfriend? Cause that’s what happening right now.”

Shawn groaned, throwing his head back before leaning his hands on the dresser and hanging his head, “I don’t want her to be mad at me but I don’t have a solution for this. I love her, but all we’re doing since that stupid music video is fighting and I can’t take it anymore. I’m not even in the same country as her right now! Fuck, why did this have to happen now?”

“Are you gonna break up with her?”

“What?!” Shawn turned back to his red haired friend, shock written all over his face, “Of course I don’t want to break up with her!”

“Are you sure she knows that?”

“Of course she does...”

“Really? Cause you told her you were done before you ended the call.”

“Yeah, but...shit. She doesn’t really think that, does she?”

“I don’t know man, but...” Brian’s words were cut off by Shawn’s phone ringing and the two boys looked down at it, an anxious feeling bubbling inside of the two of them. “Bro, why is her mom calling you?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, why would she call me?”

“How would I know? Answer it!”

Shawn stumbled to hit the green button with shaky fingers, holding the phone up to his ear cautiously, “H-Hello?”

“Shawn...it’s Y/n, she’s in the hospital right now.” Shawn almost dropped the phone out of his hand, entire body going numb as your mother explained everything she knew about your accident. He hardly processed any of the information given to him, mind barely registering when she hung up the phone. His heart pounded in his ears and all he could think of was how he wasn’t with you right now, and how much you were probably panicking when you fell in the shower with no one around you. He should’ve been home with you, not thousands of miles at an award show. Not doing press for a new single. Not screaming at you over the phone about things he didn’t even mean. No. He should’ve been home being a good boyfriend, loving you and protecting you, making sure you never felt alone. So the moment he got his bearings straight he knew exactly what he had to do and no one, especially not Andrew, was gonna stop him.

___________

You groaned as the bright lights of the hospital room met your weary eyes. After going through scan after scan to ensure their was no internal bleeding, you got enough stitches in your head to make you pass out for hours. Your head still hurt, but more than that, your heart felt like it had been through hell and back. Trying to move your arm, you frowned when you felt a heavy weight preventing it from moving, your eyes falling on a mop of brown curls sleeping with his head on the edge of the bed, hand in yours. “Shawn?”

“Hm, what?” he mumbled, regaining consciousness once again, “Baby, are you awake?”

“Yeah, I- what are you doing here?” Before he could even begin to answer he was already lunging towards you, wrapping his arms around you as tight as he could, being cautious about your injuries in the process.

“I love you so so much,” he mumbled into your shoulder as he squeezed you tighter, “I don’t ever wanna fight again.”

You sighed in relief of your boyfriend just being here again, telling you he loved you, and you wrapped your arms around him, reciprocating his hug with as much strength as you had, “I’m sorry I was acting jealous I shouldn’t have accused you of-”

“No, stop.” Shawn sat up, lifting your chin to look him in the eyes, his holding nothing but seriousness in them, “You have no need to apologize. I’m so sorry, baby. I should have been here for you and I shouldn’t be doing things like that without talking about it with you first. I hate fighting with you and I especially hate fighting with you over the phone. It’s my fault you’re here and I’m so sorry.”

A tear slipped down his face and you cupped his cheeks tenderly, wanting nothing more than to take his pain away no matter how much he hurt you. That was one of the things you loved about Shawn. He felt things so deeply that it almost made you forget everything that was going on in your own life and just feel how he was feeling. But now, you wanted to see the Shawn you loved that was full of happiness and joy, and you would do anything to get that back. “It’s ok baby, we both said things we didn’t mean and we’re gonna be ok. Alright? We’re ok.”

“I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry, baby, please forgive me,” he sobbed into your shoulder again, heart weighing down with guilt even after hearing your words.

“Shawn look at me,” you pulled his head out of your chest to be level with your own, “I love you and I forgive you, for everything. No matter what’s weighing on your heart right now, I forgive you for it.”

He sniffled, tear still streaming down his face as he pulled you in for a salty kiss, needing to feel closer to you. “I thought I lost you when your mom called me,” he mumbled against your lips, “Don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you. I had to hop on the first flight back home because I couldn’t live with myself knowing I was responsible for losing the one thing that means the most to me.”

“Stop,” you disconnected your lips from his to stare into his honey brown eyes, the ones that usually held so much love and joy only holding guilt and sadness, “I’m fine, it was an accident. I could have slipped even if you were home and we weren’t arguing. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more. You and me together forever.”

“Forever.”

[violetta-incorrect-quotes]

Ima just do some headcanons for the (girl) characters finding out they aren’t straight

Violetta: Never really had a chance to feel something for anybody until she moved back to Buenos Aires. She spent most of her childhood either alone or making friends but having to leave a month afterwards. Violetta hadn’t even heard of the word bisexual until she came and thought having crushes on both the female villain and the male hero in her favorite show was normal.

She came to the studio and probably had a crush on Francesca since the first day but pushed it away as a friend crush. The two hung out a little and Violetta’s feelings developed more. Once at a sleepover with Camila and Francesca, Cami mentions something about thinking a few of the students are bisexual which prompts Violetta to think about herself more.

The summer in between season 1 and 2 is when she probably realized. Once she went to pick Francesca up and was overwhelmed with feelings is when she knew. She never really mentioned it and continued to live on but both of the girls tended to do things that you wouldn’t exactly do with just a friend.

Eventually one day Camila probably either locks them in a closet or tells one of the two to just confess already. She shoved them into the instrument room and locked the door.

Violetta knows what she meant but she isn’t sure if Fran does. Suddenly Francesca asked her if there’s something she needs to say and Violetta confesses that she’s bisexual. Francesca seems relieved and admits the same. Both of the girls have a little moment but nothing else, until their at Madrid that is.

Francesca: She never really bothered to label herself while younger. Had her first crush on a girl she met in Italy at a young age but she’d forgotten about it. Once she arrives at the studio, she meets Camila, who she assumed was bisexual from the moment she saw her. Francesca wasn’t really interested in figuring out who she was until Violetta came.

Obviously at the time she was into Tomás, but she couldn’t deny what she was feeling for Violetta either. It didn’t hit her until one night where Camila just tells her she should tell Violetta how she feels. Francesca hesitates and thinks about it but she never does.

Then she’s with Marco, who she really does love and care about but no matter what, she can’t forget Violetta. Once she broke up with Marco, she kind of felt free and got closer to Violetta who didn’t really notice.

Obviously, in Madrid they almost kissed but didn’t discuss it. Both of them knew the other was bi but had a mutual agreement not to mention it. Once they got back, Francesca and Violetta eventually sat down and talked over their feelings.

They agreed to having crushes on each other but decided to not take it further. There were a few times where one or the other wanted to make a move but held back. Although when Roxy and Fausta started, the two saw it as maybe a little chance to break free and possibly could have gone on a “date” as them.

Camila: She’s always had a great “gaydar,” (predicting Franletta, telling Fran to go for it, always noticing the tension between Naty and Ludmila etc...) but never really thought about it for herself. She’s always assumed she was straight but probably has had crushes on girls in the past and thought that’s how everyone felt. Although she’s always been interested in the LGBTQ+ community and knows a lot. One night over the phone (pre season 3) she brings it up to Francesca who’s like, “That’s not very straight.” And Camila’s more confused then ever, claiming “What are you talking about? Everyone does that?”

After Francesca’s explaining, Camila just kind of hangs up and thinks about it. She’s embarrassed at herself (especially for being the last one to realize it) but also kind of relieved. Now it makes sense. She thinks back to when she was testing with the different boys and realizes why. She stayed up most of the night to think about it and decided to label herself as Bisexual, which she’s very open about now and loves talking about it.

She probably went to the studio and realized how Naty acted around her which she just didn’t see before and realized she does the same thing, which lead to some awkwardness and Naty finally asking what’s wrong. Cami just kind of mumbled something and moved on. Her crush grew, which is when she also realized she kind of had feelings on Ludmila which confused her more.

Then she had to practice the kissing scene and she’s like “Ok, this is it.” Camila asked Naty who accepted and that’s where it happened.

She’s also the studios supplier of pride flags which she has a worrying amount of that she gives out in June but won’t reveal where they came from.

Ludmila: Has so much internalized homophobia she tells Naty in season one that she would rather die than date a girl. Naty doesn’t respond and draws back a little, causing her to go with Maxi which makes Ludmila unbelievably jealous.

All her life her mother has always told her to find a rich boy, and that girls shouldn’t marry girls. Ludmila took after that, probably why she didn’t like Camila originally because she always thought she was bisexual. Eventually Ludmila’s jealousy gets the best of her and she tells Naty that Maxi will just hurt her. Naty snaps, almost crying and tells her that she would do the same. Then she storms off, leaving Ludmila confused and hurt.

Once it hits around season 2, Ludmila’s started to recognize her feelings for Natalia but forces them away. She hates herself for it and has a few bad months where she just felt terrible and confused, leading her to come up with the idea to hurt Violetta, who she’s always admired and kind of crushed on but would never admit it. She kind of catches feelings for Camila which just makes her worse and she keeps so many of her emotions kept up she just snaps one night and doesn’t leave her room for a week. Eventually Ludmila realizes she never really felt the same way for a guy that she has for girls and her world is literally crushed. Federico was there to try to help her but she just lied and said she was done hurting people, never revealing the actual reason she was like this. She did like him but never in the same way.

Then it’s season 3. Ludmila becomes Violetta’s stepsister and her feelings for her are gone, but her ones for Naty and Camila grow. One night it’s probably 3:00 am and she’s sleep delirious and mentions to Violetta something about not knowing who she loved. Violetta gives her advice and tells her about how she was feeling. The girls never mention it again.

One day she and Naty are arguing and they both accidentally confess their feelings. Naty is shocked and Ludmila immediately regrets it, saying she could never be with a girl and runs, leaving Naty heartbroken. The day her mom is arrested though, Violetta urges her to go talk to Naty and Ludmila realizes she can finally be herself.

Natalia: Always admired her sister who wasn’t afraid to tell anyone who she was and was open to anything. She caught feelings for Ludmila around the end of season 1 and tries to push them away by being with Maxi. Eventually she confides in her sister who tells her to just be who she is.

Naty liked Maxi a lot, she still does. She’s always thought that was what a crush felt like, but in the end she realizes it was more one sided and platonic.

Knowing Ludmila would never be with her, she stays with Maxi in an attempt to maybe just forget her feelings but she never can. That’s when she catches feelings for Camila at the start of season 3 and now she’s more confused than ever.

She starts to hang out with Cami more. The two of them connect immediately. Naty realizes she’s only ever really crushed on girls and takes a few quizzes one night. She eventually decides she identifies as a lesbian and is terrified to tell anybody. She’s also poly.

Camila probably figured it out before her and Naty wasn’t sure what to do about it. Then they kiss, which is when she admits her feelings and Camila does the same. Naty really loves her but feels bad about it because she feels like she’s betraying Ludmila. Camila tells her that she needs to talk to her.

Once she does, Ludmila gets jealous but understands. She admits she has a crush on Cami too and Naty’s shocked. Eventually the girls figure it out and Camila brings them little matching pride pins .

I’ll do some for the boys later, or at least Diego and Leon but I don’t want this to be too long lol

[maree-ff]

Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

CAMILA

Opening the blinds to let in the slightest amount of light I glanced over my shoulder. Andre’s been out for four days since the surgery and I’m growing impatient. I’ve prayed every morning and night since the shooting with hopes that he will wake up soon. The kids have been rotating their stays here with me but I always send them home before their bedtime rolls around. I can’t fathom staying home right now so Divya is taking my place.

A soft knock on the door reverted my attention from Andre to the entrance of his room. Elaine, the night shift nurse, walked in the room with a fresh set of towels, linen, flowers and medication.

Smiling gently at her I met her halfway to take some of the items off of her hands. “Good morning and thank you for bringing these in.” I began.

“Good morning to you. Don’t mention it honey, any updates for me?” She inquired.

Inhaling soundly I shook my head and parted ways with her to put the towels aside. “I’m doing all that I can to stay positive but I’m starting to worry.” The uneasiness in my tone earned me some encouraging words from Elaine. After I adjusted the temperature in the room I took a seat, watching in silence as she finished out her shift. She prepped Andre with a new morphine bag, took his vitals and tidied up the room. As Elaine began to wrap up her work a thought came to me.

“Elaine..” I called out to her. Rising from my chair I set my journal and planner aside, walking to her side of the room. “I know your shift is pretty much over but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind praying with me? It would mean the world to me.” I twiddled my fingers awaiting her response.

Elaine’s prayer over Andre’s health, recovery and my willpower brought me to tears. I said my temporary farewell to her and did my part in Andre’s upkeep. Once I was all done I sat down beside his bed studying the monitor watching his heart beat steadily. My mind must’ve gone blank for quite some time. I found myself listening to my cell phone vibrate within my bag and the rain began to downpour.

“I remember when you came down with the flu and Zoe stayed up all night trying to take care of you. She was yawning every two minutes..” I chuckled lightly at the memory. “She kept trying to convince herself that she wasn’t tired and you were too weak to argue with her. That’s when Kenja stepped in to drag her out of our bed and into their room. I listened to them bicker for a solid twenty minutes or so about how best to care for you when they got home from school the next day.” Using my thumbs to dab underneath my eyes I made the slightest turn of my head surprised at what I’m seeing.

Andre’s eyes fluttered open and closed before settling on remaining half open.

“Andre..” I said gently. Turning around I minimized the distance between us to get a closer look at him. His gaze met mine and a very shy smile set itself up on his face. I’m bubbling over with inquisition but I can’t overwhelm him at a time like this. “Andre? Honey, if you can feel this..nod your head for me please.” Tucking my hair behind my ear I exposed one of his feet to run my fingernail along his sole.

He nodded reluctantly prompting me to keep testing his senses. We went five rounds of this, easing my nerves about serious loss of sensation. “Can you hear me okay? Am I being too loud?” I asked.

“Yes and no.” He mumbled with ease. “How long have....I been here?” He shifted around, rotating a tad on his side. A tear rolled over his right cheek as he took a deep breath in and out.

“Four days.” I sighed. “Tell me what you remember.” I pulled my chair up to his bedside, leaning forward to clutch his hands. He struggled but successfully managed to intertwine our fingers. “I’m not rushing you. Take your time, sweetie.”

“Where’s Jo? Is he hurt? Are the girls okay?” I can see the deep concern for our children in his eyes and I can feel it passing through me.

“Jo is doing just fine baby, not a hair missing or a scratch on him. The girls are alright too. You can’t get your heart rate up or you’ll go into shock. Deep breaths okay? Can you tell me what you remember?” I asked again.

“Jo and I were outside getting the mail. Next thing I know, I heard the shot. I didn’t let him go.” Caressing the back of my hand, Andre fidgeted from underneath the blankets. “He was asking for you.”

I lowered my head as my brain flooded itself with the scene I was faced with when I walked out of our front door four days ago. To see my son shielded by his unconscious father who was bleeding out on the concrete scared me nearly to death. My mother’s voice flooded my brain to advise me against killing April point blank. My lawyer told me that if I had aimed just centimeters off of where I did shoot April, she’d be dead and I would be behind bars. That’s a mighty uncanny coincidence being that if the bullet from April’s gun had ended up just centimeters from where Andre was shot, he’d be dead. I owe God my never ending faith and obedience for sparing the lives of my boys.

“Hey..” he called out to me. Andre found some strength to squeeze the fists my hands turned into. I raised my head to see him kissing my hands. He bore into my eyes to say, “my hero yet again. When do I get the chance to save you?” He smirked.

I blinked rapidly to rid my eyes of tears. “I was so scared. My mind froze and my heart was racing but my body was doing all of the work. I didn’t think to pay attention to my surroundings because I was so focused on you and Jo.” I took a moment to reign in my feelings before continuing to share my point of view. “I didn’t even blink when I fired. I shoved the gun in the back of my pants, ran over to you guys and balled my eyes out trying to get Jorden from underneath you. The look on his face is burned into memory. The girls were screaming on the phone with 911, Jorden was foaming at the mouth with questions and your mom...she was hysterical.” I explained. The last thing I want to do is freak him out or upset him but I’m confident that he wants to hear my perspective.

“Come here, lay with me..” Andre created as much space for me on the bed as he could allowing me to stretch out beside him.

“I thought you died. For eight hours my mind had convinced me that I lost you. That we lost you.” I confessed. More tears sprang forward admitting the truth. “After Jo was finished being monitored he kept asking for you. Not one answer that I gave him was good enough.” I told him.

“Camila,” Andre ushered me to look him in the eye. “Thank you for saving our son’s life and mine.  I don’t take the sacrifice you took regarding your freedom lightly.”

I nodded graciously. “How do you feel?” I quizzed.

“I’m worried about you more than myself right now. I can hold a long conversation. I’m not that weak.” Andre’s familiar snicker put a smile on my face. “Talk to me.” His hands on my face brought more tears to my eyes. “Baby, I’m okay and I’ll heal just fine. Our family is safe thanks to you. Where is my little boy?”

“He’s at home with your mom. You want me to call her and have her bring him here? It’s his day. He and the girls have been taking turns staying here with me. He needs to see you. He’s been very distant, curious and angry about what happened. He doesn’t understand why April did what she did.” I sniffled.

“Call her.” He uttered sharply. I urgently called his mom and she answered on the first round of rings.

“Camila? Is everything alright?” She panicked.

“That mommy? I wanna talk!!!” Jorden exclaimed.

“Hey mama, he’s awake.” I smiled. Divya began to cry and repeat her vocalized gratitude for Andre coming out of his four day coma. We agreed to talk later as she handed the phone to Jorden who’s still babbling with anticipation. “Jorden, baby, take a breath for mama please. Talk slow.” I advised him.

“Mommy, where’s papa? I wanna talk to him.” Jorden said boldly. Not arguing I handed Andre my phone.

“Jo?” Andre began.

Jorden went quiet on his end. “Are you okay?” He spoke up after a brief pause.

“Yeah, I’m alright. How are you feeling buddy?” Andre looked down at me, lowering his eyebrows to minimize the tension in his face.

“Sad. I want to see you papa, can I come back? Please. It’s my turn.” Jorden begged.

“Of course you can. Mama and I are waiting for you.” Andre spoke briefly to his mother agreeing that she would bring Jorden back to the hospital. In the meantime we shared our last moments alone before I had to bring the nurse and doctor in to examine Andre. They tested him to the fullest extent, talked in grave detail about the surgery and the blood transfusion. By the time they were done, I heard Jorden rambling from outside the door. I invited Jo and Divya inside, shutting the door behind them.

Jorden clung to me once he saw his father. It saddened me because I know Jorden is just confused by his dad’s current health status. He doesn’t quite understand the complexity of this matter. While I emphasize with him, I also want to comfort my little boy.

“Mommy..” Jorden pulled at my sweater, asking to be held. I hooked him on my hip holding him close. He and Andre stared at one another in silence. “Is daddy okay?” He whispered.

“Daddy’s okay. He’s been waiting to see you.” Looking down at my son I searched his eyes, confident he would settle down.  Cautiously I walked over to the bed, sat down and waited for Jorden to let go of me.

“Hey man, you’re not scared of me are you?” Andre went to stretch out his bad arm, wincing in pain.

Jorden’s face twisted up in agony watching his dad reorient himself back to comfort. “Where does it hurt, dad?” That was Jorden’s cue to play doctor and tend to his father as best he can. Stepping away to allow Andre and Jorden their long awaited reunion, Divya and I stepped into the hallway. The minute I shut the door I threw my arms around her needing a moment to be selfish. She consoled me with the utmost love and empathy. She didn’t speak either. My mother-in-law simply allowed me time to cry, count my blessings and openly praise God for saving Andre’s life.

I used another couple of minutes to finish releasing these emotions before backing up to stand on my own two feet.

“I bet you feel so much better now.” She smiled warmly. A tissue appeared and she used it to dry my teary eyes.

Nodding with a growing smile on my face I fixed my sweater. “Much. I still have more left in me but I’ll be okay for now. Has Jo been terrorizing you or the house?”

“He’s been hostile but I know it’s only because he was confused about what happened. I’m sure that not seeing Andre for days after what went down has scarred Jorden to some capacity. It has scarred the girls and I, too. How are you feeling now?” Divya was quick to stop me from going back into the room. I know why and I’m grateful that she wants to check on me. I’m grateful that she cares for how I’m feeling mentally and emotionally.

“I just feel relieved. I hope that I never again have to answer the question of “where’s daddy” or “any updates on dad” or anything close to it. I’ve been telling Andre for quite some time now that I want the drama to be over. The girls have been through enough, Andre has been through more than enough and now Jorden…” shaking my head in disbelief at the trauma this family has faced I straightened out my top. “This has to be the end of it. I can’t take any more police reports and hospital visits. I may even talk to Andre about relocating. I think it would do all of us good.”

“Moving? Where to?!” Divya’s shock ruffled my feathers. I found her concern humorous.

“Not too far away mama I promise. Besides, it’s just an idea for now. Just to a better city where no one knows us. I just want the kids to be safe. I want for all of us to feel safe and at ease.” Divya and I went back into the room to find Jorden and Andre chest to chest. They look like they're asleep but I know this is how they are all the time at home.

Andre opened his eyes to smile at us.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Divya asked. She set her purse down to go over and greet her son.

“A little out of touch with reality but having you guys here is helping a l-lot.” He stumbled over his words freaking me out to the max. With Jorden front and center I have to remain calm. Jorden picks up on the slightest adjustment in attitudes and tones.

“Dre..” I hesitated to ask because I also don’t want to freak his mother out. Andre must have caught my drift because when he met my stare he smiled again.

“I’m okay. I just got tongue tied. I promise.” His sentence was crystal clear this time around so I had no choice but to take a deep breath and enjoy this time. God has yet again shown this family never ending mercy. Now is not the time to be ungrateful for God’s effort to bring the love of my life back to me. Back to earth and this family.

[loveforpreserumsteve]

About Last Night (Pre-Serum Omega!Steve and Alpha!Bucky Modern Mpreg AU)

Thirty-One:

Admittedly, Steve wasn't sure what a, "normal," Passover was like, but the Barneses sure did make his first one a good one. And an informative one with the family being patient with him and explaining that the seder plate represented the hardship that their ancestors suffered before eventually escaping from Egypt. As it happened to go: (1) eating the hopefulness of spring with the tears of slavery (parsley dipped in saltwater), (2) remembering the brokenness that slavery represented (breaking the matzah in half), (3) tasting the bitterness of slavery (by eating some bitter herbs that Steve surprisingly liked best; Squirt sure is a weird kid), (4) and then spreading the maror (bitter herbs) and charoset (spiced fruity, nutty mixture) onto a matzah. Which was what Steve enjoyed the most.

Then, it was time for the real meal.

With his appetite being akin to a bottomless pit, Steve stuffed himself with the matzah ball soup (that George promised to give him the recipe of before he and Bucky left), hard boiled eggs, lamb meatloaf, and veggies. Lots of veggies. Even taking his nieces' leftovers from them. Besides it wasn't like Steve could get enough of them as of recently. Especially carrots. Bucky even joked that he was going to wake up looking like an Oompa Loompa because he had been eating so many carrots.

Although Steve had never been one to eat when he was stressed – being much more likely to bake when he was in that mindset – Steve had been carefully watching everyone's dishes while he kept chowing down. When his fingers finally scraped against the empty porcelain, Steve glanced down, shocked.

Beside him, Bucky discreetly slid his plate over to Steve while keeping up the conversation with his tipsy sister. Well, kept arguing with her, "I wasn't that bad."

"Right," Becca snorted, "That's why you played a tree."

Steve good-humoredly scoffed at that, taking a bite of the baby carrot. Bucky smirked over at him, quirking a brow in a mute challenge. Simply enough, Steve shook his head and rolled his eyes, even with a smile on his lips while he chewed.

"You can't be good at everything," Steve shrugged.

Bucky's smirk softened into something more affectionate. Leaning closer, Bucky kissed Steve's temple, "Who's ready for dessert?"

A flutter in Steve's stomach erupted. He had been thinking about this moment all day. However, now that it was here, he didn't know if he wanted to go through with it.

"Ooh! Me!" Tibby answered, hopping out of her seat, "Then, we can watch Rugrats!"

"Do we have to?" Violet asked while Camila informed, "I heard Miri's family puts on a play."

"Babe, your kids are so weird," Dum Dum informed his wife, shaking his head all the while.

Winnie agreed and said, "Just be lucky that you don't have to spend hours reading the Haggadah like I had to growing up."

The two older girls' faces scrunched up in dislike. Winnie nodded, silently communicating that they were lucky.

Removing Gracie from her highchair, Mandy changed the subject back to dessert as she joked, "I'm just glad that Steve is celebrating with us this year. After all, if this cake roll tastes half as good as those snickerdoodles, I'm going to marry Steve."

Before the cake roll could be cut, Bucky stood and raced to the kitchen after his sisters. Just as he and Bucky discussed, Bucky carried the special gender reveal dessert into the dining room. Setting it down on the large wooden table, Bucky gestured for his family to move towards the other side, "Stevie and I have a surprise."

"Wait!" Silas excitedly climbed out of his seat to be on the other side of the table. Mandy also moved along with the nieces. Tibby even nabbed Bucky's previous seat beside Steve.

Winking at Steve, Bucky made sure to cut the end of the dessert, so the inside swirl would reveal they were having a boy. Only, once the green frosting covered end was removed, showing the inside mousse, Steve slumped in his seat.

"Shit," Steve sighed, and looked around the table where some of the relatives were confused with the purple inside, "It was supposed to be blue."

It took a moment for the family to realize what was going on. The first person to realize was George, who gasped and covered his mouth. Large tears welled over his eyes and rolled down his cheeks into his salt-n-pepper beard. Winnie connected the dots next, and soon enough, Bucky's siblings and nieces were cheering.

Tibby hugged Steve, kissing his cheek, and Dum Dum's loud voice boomed, "Congratulations!"

"Oh my goodness!" Sadie cheered, covering her mouth as she giggled.

"Thank you," Steve patted Tibby's back while Bucky hugged Becca, "Thanks."

"This is so exciting," George wiped at his tears.

"Have you decided on a name?" Winnie asked, then suggested, "Because I think today is a good day to mull over Moses."

Eyebrows arching, Steve looked over at Bucky. Not wanting to turn down his pseudo-in-law. After all, Steve was still building a relationship with the Barneses. He didn't want to ruin that by possibly insulting the matriarch.

Fortunately, Bucky didn't fear that fragility as he flat-out declined, "Hard veto."

"Damn," Becca chuckled, taking the end piece of the cake roll for herself. Taking a bite, a moan escaped her, "Okay, this is it." Pointing her fork at Steve, "You're not allowed to leave. Ever."

Blushing, Steve rubbed over Squirt. All he could do was think, I wasn't planning on it. The flutter from Squirt seemed to agree.

When everyone had a piece of the pistachio-strawberry dessert, they made their way to the living room. Taking the spot in the loveseat beside Steve, Bucky draped his arm around his slender shoulders, holding Steve close. While everyone else tried to squeeze in where they could, Sadie and Harper climbed up onto the loveseat, joining their uncles.

Steve wrapped his arm around Sadie, holding the four year old close. Sadie hugged him, rubbing her tiny hand over his bump. Steve couldn't help but smile at that and drop a kiss onto the top of her head.

"Ready?" Tibby asked, getting the, A Rugrats Passover, episode set up. Looking around, the family nodded and continued eating their dessert. Nodding herself, Tibby pressed play before digging into her own.

Growing up on Rugrats, Steve vaguely remembered the episode, but was glad for the refresher. Especially with the new context. As Steve ate his slice – and half of Bucky's – he learned about the history of their heritage and adopted a new tradition to pass down to Squirt. Knowing the importance of one's lineage, and how the past can shape the future. All he could do was hope he could raise a kid half as good as his nieces were. And with Bucky's help, he was confident they would.

TAG LIST: @t3a-bag

[spooky-z]

NETi

NeTi au is from @rhub4rb Maribat (Daminette) from @ozmav

The songs NETi sings are Shameless & Easy by Camila Cabello.

Warning: This is 4K and has brief mentions of suicide in the "EXTRA".

The red carpet was full of journalists, fans, curious and bloggers. It was the night of the Paris Music Awards, where musicians like Jagged Stone and Clara Nigthingale competed for the biggest prize of the night.

But beyond expecting to see Jagged, there was also another buzz. One that could be bigger even than the prizes themselves and competitors.

NETi. The musical revelation of 2028, the sweetie of almost every artist (even non-artist), the girl who broke records and records in less than a year.

Someone who, despite all the explosive success, still kept her personal life private and secret identity. No one had found out who NETi was, and she had made it clear that she would only reveal herself at PMA. Then the mood was high.

At any moment the exclusive of the year would happen.

The red carpet had already passed some other important personalities, both from the music industry and the entertainment industry.

Even people from the fashion world was here.

People like Mayor Bourgeois and his family; Kagami and Tomoe Tsurugi; Luka Couffaine and his girlfriend Aurore Beauréal, TVi's new climate host; American tycoon Bruce Wayne with his wife Selina Kyle; the four Wayne heirs had also passed the red carpet. They were accompanied by their loved ones.

Among the four couples, Damian Wayne and his wife, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, stood out. Also known as MDC, a designer who had entered the fashion industry shaking the structures of everything.

The couple had dressed to impress. There was no doubt that these were original MDC.

Damian Wayne alone would not have attracted much attention had it not been for the red kufiyyah on his head. He was wearing a completely black suit, as was his tie. So, the highlight was all in his head.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was her own show. With a front slit in her black dress, the highlight went to the upper torso. The gold and red details, the raised feathers, the tight belt at the waist. She made it clear where the inspiration for her outfit came from.

Their passage across the red carpet had been a blast. Everyone wanting a piece, an interview, a photo of the couple, as Wayne's family was famous for leaving their personal lives in private. Apart from what they purposely let others know, the rest was a complete mystery. So everyone was euphoric to get some of their attention.

A pleasant surprise on the red carpet had been the famous couple of reporters, Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They were accompanied by son Jonathan (another reporter in the family), who was holding hands with another sweetie from Paris, Adrien Agreste. All four with huge smiles on their faces.

When a more fearless reporter got an opportunity to interview them, she jumped at the question everyone was asking.

“Adrien, could you please tell us why you are holding hands with Jonathan Kent?” She waves the microphone at the model's face. All cameras facing them.

The blond looks at the brunette, who smiles and blinks mischievously, before returning to the reporter. He looks straight into the camera, a shitty smile on his lips.

"He's my boyfriend." And leaves. Waving to everyone, signing some posters and fan notebooks. The boyfriend firmly by his side, never failing to smile.

When all the guests had arrived and there was no one else to walk the red carpet, the rumors that it was possible that NETi would not actually appear began and that made everyone upset.

Until, well, notification of an official tweet from NETi.

NETi @NETiOfficial

Are you ready? Because I am!

#NETiatPMAs

And they all went crazy again.

She had passed without anyone noticing. Probably using the entrance to the paying audience to keep everyone expectant.

-

Nadja Chamack and her team were the ones covering the event inside. She was standing at the camera, waiting for the signal from Jean (the cameraman) so she could finally start talking live with viewers.

Some interviews had already been done, ready to air as the event unfolded and when Jean “ok” with his fingers, pointing at her, Nadja smiles.

“Good night, Paris!” She begins. “I am Nadja Chamack at a special event. The Paris Music Awards, or rather PMAs. Where our greatest talents come together in wonderful performances and awards are given to those who stand out!”

-

“I'm so happy for Lila!” Sabrina squeaks.

"My girl will be the highlight of the night." Alya brags and Nino laughs at his girlfriend.

"Too bad she won't walk the red carpet." Mylene sighs sadly. "It would have been a triumphant entrance."

"She already explained why, My." Ivan comforts the girl.

Nathaniel says nothing, but laughs at his friends.

Although they were busy with their careers, they had found time to gather to attend the PMAs. Watch when NETi-or rather, Lila, revealed herself to all of Paris.

Yes. They were proud to be friends with such a talented person as Lila. She could have time to be such a good friend! Even when her schedule was so tight being a humanitarian and now a successful artist. Besides being a model.

“And is Adrien Agreste there? Oh my gosh! Is Adrien Agreste holding hands with the famous American journalist Jonathan Samuel Kent?!” They were startled by the reporter's scream and went back to watching the live TV shoot.

They sigh in surprise.

"I didn't know Adrien knew Jonathan Kent!" Alya shouts.

"And who is Jonathan Kent?" Nathaniel asks.

She turns to him, a familiar fire in her eyes.

“He's just the youngest voted best journalist in the world!” She replies, hysteria in her tone. “Adrien Agreste will pay for hiding it from me!”

“Could you tell us why you are holding hands with Jonathan Kent?” The reporter asks, placing the microphone toward his face, waiting for an answer.

Adrien exchanges glances with Jonathan before turning to the camera, a mischievous smile on his face.

"He's my boyfriend." And keeps walking the red carpet.

The reporter is speechless, looking shocked. She shakes with the screams of the fans and goes back to interview other famous as they passed. Pretending the embarrassment had not happened.

In the living room of Nino's, everyone's mouth was open. Without understanding.

"Wait- Is Adrien gay?" Sabrina asks, looking at Nino.

He looks as lost as the rest of the room.

"He never said anything to me." He says. "I'm his best friend and he never told me!" The anger in his tone.

Alya feels sorry for her boyfriend, not knowing how to comfort him.

“Maybe he wanted to make a big revelation?” He says. "Do you know how he is-"

“It's MDC with Damian Wayne! Hey, MDC!”

Once again, their attention was diverted back to the TV and there was the camera focusing on a couple posing for the photos on the red carpet. Of the two people, one was recognizable.

"Marinette...?" Alya sighs, not believing what she saw.

The couple finish taking the pictures together and start posing alone, turning only to get a better angle for all photographers.

"These are Damian Al-Ghul Wayne and Marinette Dupain-Cheng." The reporter says, looking at the camera. “Damian, son and one of Bruce Wayne's heirs, came with his wife MDC, the newest successful designer in the fashion world. They are known for not being very open about their relationship, but it is obvious that the two love each other and make a powerful couple.” She blinks, wiggling her eyebrow.

“What-” Nino chokes.

“Look! They are coming. I'll try to get an exclusive for you!"She squeezes among other journalists, almost falling on the red carpet after tripping over someone's feet, but is saved by none other than Marinette.

Damian right behind her like a shadow, his face serious. The camera takes everything.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" The girl moans as she stands up. "I hurt you? Pardon. I'm very clumsy.” She doesn't even fake an act for the camera, nor does she notice Marinette's affectionate smile.

“It happens to the best of us, Manon. It's okay.” Marinette says, the flashes doing nothing to diminish her beauty and kindness. "Good to see you. You look beautiful."

The reporter-Manon straightens, her face red. She seemed to have forgotten she was live.

"Thanks. You look awesome too.” Coughing, straightening her clothes and hair, before turning to the camera again. “Would you mind giving a little interview? In the name of the old days when you took care of me.” Teases.

Marinette laughs, dyed red lips and flowing hair. Damian's expression softened at that.

"What I don't do for those puppy eyes, isn't it?!" Marinette plays with Manon, making the girl blush.

“So, could you tell us something about your relationship? I don't want to be invasive, but a lot of us are curious.” Manon says. “I know you've been together since you were fourteen, but a lot of people don't know that. There are plenty of rumors about you with Adrien Agreste and Luka Couffaine.” She extends the microphone to the designer, looking more professional than a few seconds ago.

Marinette rolls her eyes. This was clearly a subject she was fed up with.

“Like you said, we've been together since I was fourteen. Eight years of dating, one of marriage.” She responds, raising her left hand to display the gold ring with a huge blue diamond in the center. The sassy expression on her face. "About Adrien and Luka... Well, you got your answer when Adrien came in with Jon and Luka with Aurore."

Manon jumps when Marinette mentions Jonathan Kent. The eyes shining.

“Can you tell us something about Adrien and Jonathan? Like how long they've been together.” She asks. “Just for everyone to cry over from missing the start of such a good ship.”

The designer looks at Damian quickly, eyebrow raised, and he responds for her.

“We had to put up with them being gross for five years now.” Despite the laid-back affair and the funny speech, his voice was pure steel. "I don't understand why nobody noticed this before, it wasn't as if they were hiding."

Manon moans, upset. (She hadn't really seen it coming. Of course they had photos together on Instagram, funny tweets to each other, traveled together, but she was sure it was purely platonic.)

“FIVE YEARS?” Nino gets up from the couch, indignant. “FIVE YEARS AND I DIDN'T KNOW NOTHING. MARINETTE DID KNOW! EVEN DAMIAN WAYNE KNEW AND I, THE BEST FRIEND DIDNT!” He shouts in frustration.

"Marinette has been dating for almost ten years and I didn't know." Alya whispers, still not believing. "I was her best friend and she never told me."

"Guys..." Mylene mumbles, heartbroken for her friends.

“Thank you for giving us this interview, Mari! Hope to see you at family dinner on Thursday! You too, Damian.” Manon nods, a bright smile pasted on her face.

Marinette smiles, returning the wave with her hands and Damian with his head. They walk until they enter the theater, disappearing from camera view.

Other famous people were passing and being interviewed, but no one else was paying attention to it. They were more focused on understanding what had happened. Alya, especially, was the one that was most shaken, because she was a journalist (intern, but journalist) and was proud of it.

But here were things she didn't even realize. Things that were no secret, but that everyone seemed to know but her.

The break came and went, no one daring to say anything. Each trying to assimilate what had happened, when suddenly the cell phone of the six began to beep, signaling messages. Chat messages from former students of Ms. Bustier.

Sabrina was the one who got the phone first.

[Alix 8:40]: Hey, did you guys see Mari on tv? [Max 8:42]: Yes! She said she would show up with Damian. [Alix 8:42]: Dude. They were beautiful. [Kim 8:42]: Adrien had texted that he was nervous. [Max 8:44]: Nervous?! [Juleka 8:44]: I think it was because of Jon. [Rose 8:45]: They are both so cute! [Kim 8:46]: Damian was very funny with the question about them. [Juleka 8:46]: Luka said he's still complaining about both of them. [Rose 8:47]: He sent pictures!

Mylene looked up from her cell phone, confused.

“Does that mean they knew? I don’t understand."

"There's only one way to know." Ivan replies.

[Ivan 8:49]: Did you know? [Alya 8:50]: HOW DID YOU KNOW AND I DON’T?! [Nino 8:51]: Why would Adrien tell you and not me? [Sabrina 8:51]: Can you explain that? [Mylene 8:52]: I'm very disappointed with you. [Nathaniel 8:52]: Guys.

They waited for answers, seeing the "writing" balloon disappearing and appearing several times before a single answer appeared.

[Alix 8:55]: Shit. Wrong chat. Sorry guys.

After that she went offline, as did the other four.

"They just...?" Nathaniel muttered incredulously.

"What the hell is going on?!" Alya screams in frustration.

“-and awards are given to those who stand out!” Nadja Chamack's voice comes from the tv. “Now what everyone was expecting: NETi. The presentation of the latest music discovery will start anytime!”

"Oh my God! It's now.” Alya shouts, forgetting what had happened.

The stage light goes out, everyone screaming for NETi.

The screen turns on, starting a quick sequence of indistinguishable images before stopping on an empty avenue.

The camera begins to slowly approach a person standing in the middle of the street. The sound of the bass playing rhythmically. The camera focuses on the person dressed in white in the middle of the street.

NETi.

MDC.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“What the hell is going on??” Ivan snorts, already annoyed by everything he has seen.

She walks slowly, powerful and barefoot. The sharp eyes. Her lips move and she whispers "Shameless" before the screen goes out and red lights take over the stage.

The audience screaming at the top of their lungs. The cameras filming the reactions of guests and fans, each one more surprised than the other.

Don't speak, no, don't try It's been a secret for the longest time

NETi's voice echoes through the theater, the audience calms down.

Don't run (oh), no, don't hide Been running from it for the longest time

The camera focuses on NETi standing on the stage, her hair loose and wild. It was not possible to distinguish the color of the dress she wore, but it was noticeable in certain parts of the fabric and had sleeves. The cleavage dropped to above the navel, details with flowers on the side of the ribs and a dangerous slit in the thigh.

She was still barefoot.

So many mornings, I woke up confused In my dreams, I do anything I want to you My emotions are naked, they're taking me out of my mind

She squats on stage, the slit in the dress giving wide mobility in her movements and the microphone was firmly in her right hand. The left arm resting on the bare thigh.

Right now, I'm shameles Screamin' my lungs out for ya Not afraid to face it I need you more than I want to Need you more than I want to

She closes her eyes, running a hand through her hair and pulling tightly. Showing despair.

Show me you're shameless Write it on my neck, why don't ya?

The hand goes down to the neck, showing that there was something written there.

Damian Wayne

The camera focuses on him standing next to his family, the Kents, Adrien, Luka and Aurore.

Jonathan and Jason tease him with pats on the back and malicious smiles. He just remains mesmerized by the presentation.

And I won't erase it I need you more than I want to I need you more than I want to

She opens her fierce eyes and stands up. The dancers come in, circling her, dancing to the powerful beat of the music.

No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now

She swings the hips to the beat, the camera surrounding her with the dancers and she never looking away from the camera.

There's just inches in between us I want you to give in, I want you to give in, oh

The camera comes closer to her as to her face be the only thing in sight, before pulling away again.

There is tension in between us I just wanna give in And I don't care if I'm forgiven

She reaches the middle of the stage, where a microphone stand rested and the dancers leave. That's when the melody cuts off abruptly, before a softer one starts. More innocent.

NETi attaches the microphone to the stand and the lights brighten.

Her dress was lavender with purple accents.

(Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

The camera refocuses solely on her and she does not take her eyes off the lens.

You tell me that I'm complicated And that might be an understatement Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

She blinks at the camera. A sly smile on her face.

You tell me that I'm indecisive Fickle, but I try to hide it Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

NETi shrugs, demonstrating that she didn't care.

You tell me that I overthink 'Til I ruin a good thing Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

She tilts her head, daring. Never failing to look at the camera.

You tell me that you'd rather fight Than spend a single peaceful night With somebody else (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

The camera zooms out a bit to catch a full-length scene. The whole dark stage, just her lit up.

You really, really know me The future and the old me All of the mazes and the madness in my mind

The voice rises a little and she closes her eyes, feeling the letters.

You really, really love me You know me and you love me And it's the kind of thing I always hoped I'd find, yeah

A satisfied smile appears on her face and she squeezes the microphone in the hands.

Always thought I was hard to love 'Til you made it seem so easy, seem so easy

She dances along with the beat of the drums, the melody rocking her body. It was hard to take the eyes off.

Touch me 'til I find myself, in a feeling Tell me with your hands that you're never leaving (no)

She pulls her hair, showing once again, despair.

Always thought I was hard to love 'Til you made it seem so easy I never liked my crooked teeth You tell me they're you're favorite thing (mm-mmm) Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

The eyes back open and she smiles at the camera.

The stretch marks all around my thighs Kiss 'em 'til I change my mind About everything else (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

Her hands navigate the bare skin until they close around her waist in a single hug.

The camera returns to film Damian, capturing a rare smile from the man.

You really, really know me The future and the old me All of the mazes and the madness in my mind

She stares at the camera.

You really, really love me You know me and you love me (uh, huh) And it's the kind of thing I always hoped I'd find

She winks and the audience screams again in delirium.

All I know is you Heal me when I'm broken, heal me when I'm broken, oh

Eyes closed, she intones the voice.

All I know is you Saved me and you know it, saved me and you know it

The raw emotion in her expression and voice.

Always thought I was hard to love 'Til you made it seem so easy, seem so easy

The song ends and there is hysteria. Screams, applause. It is a mess.

NETi moves away from the microphone to take a breath before returning.

“Thank you, PMAs. That was amazing.”

She waves her hand at the audience, greeting everyone gratefully before having to leave the stage.

The camera goes back to Nadja Chamack who was the example of the confusion.

“Well, great day to know that my daughter's old nanny is a designer and a pop star.” She jokes blandly. “Now we are going to take a break and we will be back with Luka Couffaine's performance.”

The group of friends were sitting motionless. A hard lump to swallow stuck in their throats.

Sabrina is the first to speak.

"There has to be some explanation for that."

Nathaniel smiles weakly.

"Yes. Of course, there is.” But there is no conviction in his voice.

Alya quickly pulls out her phone, typing something and waiting.

“Al, what-” Nino is interrupted by Alya's hand spread out in a “stop” sign.

Her cell phone beeps and she chokes, her eyes teary.

"Alya, what happened?" Mylene asks, already desperate.

She doesn't answer, just passes her cellphone to her friends before leaving the room.

"I'll go after her." Nino says and leaves.

Mylene, Sabrina, Ivan and Nathaniel come together to see what had left their friend in that deplorable state, but they regret not long after.

[Alya 9:26]: Did you lie to me? [Lila 9:28]: ...I didn't lie. [Lila 9:28]: Just said what people wanted to hear.

Sabrina sighs, her eyes wide.

"Does that mean she-"

"Yes." Ivan whispers shaken.

Marinette and the others were right. They were blind.

Alya returns to the room next to Nino, eyes red and unrivaled fury.

She reaches for the phone and Mylene gives it back.

“She lied to me for years. Fool me all these years. If she thinks this is going to be it...” She says. "Then she better gets ready, because I'm going to destroy her life."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Nathaniel questions.

Alya stares at her friends.

“I have everything recorded. Everything. And I'll still look for more.” Growls. "She'll regret everything she did and said."

She would do not only for her, but also for Marinette.

Alya owed it to her former best friend.

It was the least she could do.

EXTRA:

“Earlier today, the Italian model Lila Alois Rossi, was arrested by the Parisian police. It is still unclear whether she will remain in prison here in Paris or be deported back to Italy, but we have had access to the prosecution and I tell you: there is no way she can escape it by just bailing.” Nadja Chamack was sitting in the armchair her studio. The expression was hard as stone.

"Along with the prosecution, irrevocable evidence was attached, giving no breach for Ms. Rossi to mount a defense."

Nadja's image is placed in the corner, highlighting the video of Lila Rossi being handcuffed in the police car to the police station.

The Italian had lost the healthy tone of her skin. Her pale lips and the obvious discomfort with the flashes. They didn't realize they would ever be able to see this: Lila Rossi hating the attention on her.

“Among accusations of defamation, there are also many about sexual harassment, blackmail, bullying and… accomplice of murder. Apparently, she was the reason for some suicides in the schools she studied, told no one and even encouraged the victims.”

Damian raises his eyebrow at the television, turning to Marinette and Adrien, sitting beside him on Chloe's couch.

“How do you think this happened?” He asks. He was right that Lila Rossi would get over after all these years of trying to knock her down.

Adrien tilts his head, thinking.

"Alya." Marinette doesn't even have to think before answering.

Adrien nods frantically.

"Certainly, Alya."

"She must have finally discovered Lila's lies and that's her way to get revenge." Marinette says.

"And raise a white flag for us." Adrien continues.

Damian turns his attention back to the TV. He was impressed by Césarie's work. She could be a decent reporter when she researched and checked her sources first.

[tag list]

@northernbluetongue @crazylittlemunchkin @cynicalwonders @casual-darkness @auradonfairy @bitterheart12224  @mycupisbroken   @virgil-is-a-cutie  @luciferge @crazylittlemunchkin @2sunchild2 @unholykrow @poshplumcot @ayuchan07 @michellemagic @tazanna-blythe @slytherinsheashire @roseinbloom02 @xxmadamjinxx @momo456200 @mewwitch @kuroko26 @sassdowflame @neko249 @wookiestephen @wookiestephen @captainmac6 @yamadochie @emjrabbitwolf  @alvaery @yin-390 @dragonfruit2017​ @st0rmy-w1th1n @vixen-uchiha @iggy-of-fans @indecisive-mess-named-me @im-here-for-the-content @seraphichana @mochinek0 @g-arya @taleeuuhhh @ezio-demon @quipsquaps  @elspethshadow @normal-piece-of-shit @sweatyruinsstudentbored @interobanginyourmom @elliecake5 @resignedcatservant @theatreandcomicfreak @hetalia-lover-is-here @yazz-frost @astoryyettotell @blue-peach14  @ivymala07 @spider-person95 @kandi-pie @zebrabaker @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @skyel0ve @bigcheeseyboi @octoberscorn @certainvoidsludgeskeleton @superrrpc @romanoff-queen @saphiraazure2708 @ladybug-182​ @mjisntme

[corinthbayrpg]

NAME. Paloma Vega AGE & BIRTH DATE. 25 & December 11th, 1995 GENDER & PRONOUNS. Female & She/Her SPECIES. Reaper OCCUPATION. DJ & Cashier at Woven FACE CLAIM. Camila Morrone

BIOGRAPHY

(tw: death, murder, abuse, infidelity)  If the story was told by Paloma’s grandmother, it would be told like this. Valentina Vega was just a young girl who had always been looking for love. The woman was a hopeless romantic that just wanted to fall madly in love. She wanted children and a white picket fence. She wanted everything and more. When she had met Paloma’s father, she had thought that would be the love of her life. They had went on a few dates. Valentina was smitten by a man she hardly knew. He gave her flowers that had a mind of their own that she kept for as long as she could until they wilted. The woman thought he was the perfect man for her. Well, that was until he left her as soon as she fell pregnant with his child. But he had loved her, right? Paloma’s grandfather would tell the story completely different. Valentina was corrupted by some man she did not even know and was left to fend for herself as soon as he got her pregnant. Unfortunately for Valentina, her heart was just far too broken to make it through the birth of her baby girl. Before she could even meet the eyes of her precious Paloma, her own were shutting for the last time.

Paloma lived with her grandparents her entire life from that point on. Her childhood was an easy one in theory, but her emotions had always been out of whack. Ever since her grandmother had told her about the story of her mother and father, she had wanted love like the one that was being described to her. However, her grandfather made her believe otherwise. As a child, she resented the man that ran away and left her mother on her own throughout her entire pregnancy. Paloma hated the man with every fiber of her being. Maybe, if he hadn’t left Valentina like he had, she would still be alive now. Unfortunately, she was left growing up without a mother or father. Of course she would always thank her grandparents for taking her in when they had, but they would only be around for so long. They were old and all they had was each other and their granddaughter. Her grandmother tried her best to push happiness into all of their lives, but her grandfather wouldn’t hear any of it. Pessimism was forced into her veins from a young age and it had been stuck there for the rest of her life.

Something else that was forced onto Paloma, without her even realizing, were abilities she didn’t know how to deal with. She remembered the first time she experienced magic. She had been at home helping her grandmother with the garden they had grown together when the ground in front of her took on a life of its own. The ground had creaked beneath her hands with no heavy pressure at all and the both of them had looked on in disbelief. They had not been aware of what was happening at the time until Paloma tried to run away in shock and anger. As her grandmother pleaded with her to not run away, all Paloma could do was that. And, well, also turn invisible. It was crazy to her, the situation she was in. What was this that was going through her? None of it made any sense and not even her grandmother could figure out how to explain it to her as Paloma ran away from the house and never looked back.

She had been so young when she left home that she wasn’t even sure what to do with herself. Being a teenager meant she had so many things to worry about that didn’t involve her trying to figure out where to live. How would she survive without her grandparents? They would surely be worried about her, but with her newfound power of invisibility, she found it easy to hide from anyone that may have wanted to harm her. And that was how she lived for years and years until she was eighteen and had to worry about finding a job. It sure was easier than she had expected to find a simple place such as a gas station to work at. It wasn’t what she had always expected, but it was what lead her to finding her passion.

It had all started with a bunch of young people like her coming from a party. She had supposed they were just stopping at the gas station to find a bathroom or get some snacks to eat. One of them had stopped to talk to her though. That was all she remembered. The guy’s name was Martin. If love at first sight was such a thing, then she was sure that was what that moment felt like to her. The way he looked at her made her feel like she was the only girl in the world. And he had introduced her into a world she had never truly imagined she could be within. Music had always been something that made her feel like she could be transported to another world. It made her feel safe when she felt anything but. And Martin made her feel safe when she had nobody else she felt she could turn to. When she showed him the magic she possessed, he didn’t run away from her. He had taught her everything she could ever know about music and how to make it her own.

Paloma’s vice became finding every beat and every sound she could to make her and everyone around her feel the same as she did. Soon enough, she was playing in clubs that Martin had booked for her. Of course it had started out as only a strip club gig, but it had been just the right type of place for her. All of the women she came into contact with were going through something similar to her. They had felt alone and had nobody else to turn to. Perhaps that was why she had found safety within another’s arms that were not Martin’s. One of the strippers had taken an interest in her and Paloma could only find herself returning the interest from the other woman. Why had it been so easy for her to fall in love? Maybe, if it hadn’t been that way, Martin wouldn’t have been so upset. Maybe she would have still been alive.

That night was a blur to her to this day. If she could have turned invisible faster, she would have. Unfortunately, the anger in Martin’s eyes were enough to make her cower. It had seemed like that day when she first discovered her powers, but it was so much worse than that. His fist had met her cheek once, twice, three times. Everything was a blur to her after that. She couldn’t have remembered anything past that other than one of the strippers finding her in the back alley and trying to save her. The last face she saw before her eyes closed for the final time was that of some helpless woman who had no idea what to do. Was that what she looked like to everyone else? Was that what she had looked like to Martin? He had taken her life and she would never get that back.

Except for the fact that she did. Paloma remembered the river, the eyes of a goddess directing her into something unknown. All her life, she had been completely unaware of where her power came from. It had been lost with time like everything else. However, when she had died, it seemed like everything was so much clearer. A reaper, that was what Atropos had called her. She had been taken from one world and swept into another she had no idea how to cope with. Nevertheless, she was prepared for anything that was thrown her way. She found that, regardless of everything that had happened before, she still had music to fall back onto. And she only hoped she haunted the life of her ex boyfriend for as long as possible so she could live as long as possible. Paloma would take her time tormenting him.

However, she was off to Corinth Bay. That was where she had been sent to. She had no idea why, but she assumed it had something to do with the reapers that were already there. More manpower meant more people winning in the war that was supposedly being fought. That was something she learned about from the others like her that were still below ground at least. Regardless, she had been thrust into Corinth Bay with some sort of safety net underneath her. Paloma knew better than that though. She knew she could not trust anyone so easily. Even the goddess that had given her a second chance. Even the people that were just like her and were wronged by death.

PERSONALITY

+ independent, witty, creative - pessimistic, reckless, blunt

PLAYED BY Kenyer. EST. She/Her.

[chappedandfadedvds]

Nov 2nd, Monday 14:06

Jens was just on his way to head back to the classroom, after having texted his mom about the left overs in the oven from last night, when a hand pulled him around a corner.

Confused he looked at the shyly smiling round face of the girl, before she got onto her toes and proceeded to kiss him right there and then. Truth be told, it felt fucking good to be kissed and for a moment he reciprocated her advances, openening his lips, so he could feel her tounge against his. It actually was also quite hot to be pushed back against a wall. Out of reflex more than anything, his hands found her waist, but instead of pulling her closer he pushed her slightly away. Breaking them apart.

This was wrong. All of it felt wrong, it dawned on him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t liked her body under his fingers, her soft lips tasting after sweet lip gloss, and her breasts pressing against his chest. In fact he quite enjoyed that. Always had. It was what had gotten him off, just thinking about where else it could lead to. But at the same time, he didn’t want that at all. Not when he spent most his nights nowadays thinking about a face that was all hard edges, and slim, and perfect really. But most importantly not a girl’s.

Shaking his head to get the thoughts out of his mind and the image far, far back into the tiny corner it had crawled out of, he looked at the girl in front of him. She regarded him with a puzzled and expecting look. Strands of dark hair falling into her face.  And who could blame her really, the last time they saw each other, he had his hand up her skirt, while making out on an empty bed, with a promise to maybe have more another time.

„Sorry, but I don’t think, this is gonna be a thing between us.“ He tried, knowing damn well how much of an asshole he sounded. Especially having kissed her back right now. But he just wanted her to get it. Instead she leaned back, looking at him still confused. And slightly angry.

„Are you kidding me? Is that why you didn’t answer my text? I thought this was mutual last time and that you liked it. We don’t have to be a couple to have some fun, wasn’t that what you had said?“

Fuck. He forgot about all of that. To his defense he was drunk, and high. Like really high. That didn’t explain though the text he had gotten, read, never answered and forgotten all about on the same day.

„Camila, I don’t know what to say here. Really it was a party and we had some fun, and you are super pretty and cute and nice, I just...“

„Just, what? Have a girlfriend? Another girl you try to make jealous? A crazy ex?“ She bombarded him with suggestions, that all were wrong, because none of them included Lucas appearing in his life.

„No, I’m just not interested and I’m not going to lead you on. Seriously, I’m sorry.“

She sighed, the dissapointment and sadness appearing in her expression over the realisation that Jens just wasn’t into her. He took his hands off of her waist, as she withdrew hers from his chest to take a larger step back.

„Well, shit. Because I really liked you, you know.“

„Sorry.“ He repeated like a broken record, not sure what else to say to her as she shook her head.

„No, thank you for letting me know at least. And I’m sorry for suddenly attacking you, I guess. A text would have been nice though, nonetheless. Instead of leaving me hanging, wondering what I have done wrong, like an idiot.“

„I’d definitely change that, if I could. I just didn’t think about it as much. It was a simple hook-up.“

„Oh great, that’s exactly what a girl likes to hear.“ She scoffed, a smile on her lips, that never reached the rest of her face being still sad, so fucking sad and it affected him too. He didn’t mean to hurt this girl. Especially her being here for two month, in a country she has never been to before, without family and friends around. He was such an ass.

„Ehm, if you ever need help though, you can ask anytime. You have my number, right?“ Jens tried to be friendly. Not that he expected them to become friends, but just so she wouldn’t think he didn’t care about her feelings in this at all. He wasn’t sure he conveyed that though. Probably not.

„Thanks, but no. I’m good. I don’t think I need that. Well,“ Camila said, grabbing her bag, that Jens now noticed she had thrown next to his feet by the wall behind him. She looked at him a last time, nodding towards him, as a sort of goodbye: „See you around, I guess.“

„See you around.“ He replied, smiling at her and recieving a more genuine smile of her in return, before she vanished down the hallway. He buried his face in his hands for a moment to come back to reality and to this school day. Right. Class would be starting shortly, he should head back like he had planned to do before Camlia appeared.

As he arrived in his classroom, an already too excited Moyo jumped up from his and Robbe’s table, grinning at him from ear to ear.

„Nicely done! Securing yourself the hot spanish exchange student. I just told the others that I saw you two down the hall. Good for you, bro!“

Jens felt his as if a train had just hit him, as he stared at his friend in complete and utter shock. He could only imagine what words Moyo had used to describe the kiss. Always in the dirtiest exaggerations possible. Usually it was funny, but not this time. This couldn’t be happening. Moyo was supposed to be here in this room the whole time. He couldn’t have seen it. Why would he assume that what he had seen was a sign of dating Camila. That is of course if he had even seen anything beside Jens sticking his tounge down her throat. 

His gaze drifted over, finding Robbe and Aaron smirking at him, just as brightly. Of course they would. These two had seen Jens’s hand exploring Camila’s body, before he had directed them both away from the ongoing party. They had just as much tried to convince him to find a girl and try dating again over the last months after the lockdown ended.

He almost didn’t want to look further at all. He didn’t want to see the expression on the one face he had rather kissed in an unoccupied corner of the school’s hallway.

But Lucas didn’t grin at him, he didn’t even looked hurt or pissed. He just watched Jens with a complete neutral face, giving none of his thoughts or feelings away. 

And maybe, just maybe this was even worse.

„Look at him being all shocked we found out.“ Aaron blurted out, amused it sounded like, he guessed. Because Jens couldn’t take his eyes off of Lucas. He was the only important person in his world right now. Especially after yesterday felt like getting somewhere. Jens needed to clear things up, fast.

„I’m not with her. There is absolutely nothing going on between us.“ He stated in the most cliche way. He hated himself for it. All of it was directed towards Lucas, who stared at him just as intensly. Whatever words came out of his mouth, none of them were destined for his best friends, all of them belonged entirely to Lucas. Him alone.

„We kind of hooked up one night at the party, absolutely wasted, and she kind of had it in her head that there was more going on between us, so she pulled me into a kiss. And yes I did kiss her back briefly, but I pushed her away once my brain caught up to it. I told her right away, this was nothing. Because I’m really,“ And now he may just sound a bit desperate, but he simply needed Lucas to understand, „really not interested in her. Not even to just hook up again.“

Jens never got a reply to his frenetic attempt to sort this out, as the teacher just had walked in behind him, telling everyone to find their seats immidiately and pull out their homework from last week.

The bell rung.

So Jens tore his eyes off of the dutch boy, who had wordlessly broken their eye contact first in order to get to his table two rows behind Robbe and his.

Robbe had stopped grinning midway sensing the sincerety in Jens’s speech, possibly noting his inner turmoil too. Unlike Aaron and Moyo  that just nodded along still excited, not believing a word he said. 

He found Robbe had patted his thigh under the table as they had sat down and Jens couldn’t do more then look down on his homework in front of him. He felt sick.

Fuck.

[amyscascadingtabs]

all the kingdom lights shined just for me and you

read on ao3

(jake's internal monologue in the scene™️ from manhunter. that's it.)

Amy doesn’t seem to agree with him about Brad Pitt being Jake’s natural replacement in the upcoming action movie he’s sure they’re going to make about today’s epic manhunt, and, frankly, it offends him a little. He’s gotten pretty buff lately, thanks to the occasional visit to the precinct gym and the fact that his best pizza place closed for renovations. Pitt would totally be the logical choice.

 But then she mentions another thing happening today, and he can tell she’s nervous. It’s in the higher tone of her voice, the way her expression turns all weighty like she’s confessing something, and she says the words I thought I might be pregnant and a multitude of thoughts fire through his head at once.

First, there’s shock. Out of all the things he might have expected her to say, pregnant was not among them. He feels guilty for it throwing him off like that, but he conceals it.

There’s not fear, exactly, but there’s a bit of apprehension. If she’s pregnant that means they’re doing this, no take-backs, and if they’re doing this, he has to be ready. Kids are definite, kids aren’t something you change your mind about if you as much as vaguely care about being a parent, and there are nervous butterflies in his stomach as he quickly puts his phone away.

 “Really?”

“Yeah. I’m not,” she assures him, saying the words in a rush before explaining about her period and the failed pregnancy test. It’s clearly the water’s fault, which, it should be obvious. Water ruins everything. He makes a joke to mask the odd feeling of disappointment he can’t explain even to himself, but she doesn’t play along, just reminds him of the actual matter at hand, which makes him shift into a worried mode. Whatever his feelings about this might be, hers are more important right now, and she doesn’t look sad but she looks let down in a sense that makes him wonder. He asks, and she launches into an explanation of how she was stressed, how it wouldn’t have agreed with the careful plan they’ve made, and then she says that it would’ve been crazy, right?

 It would be crazy. It would be absolutely insane. It would go against their official agreement of waiting another year, and they even wrote that down to have proof of the decision. A year is a long time, and he was sure it would be long enough for him to feel certain before they started trying. He thought he would have longer. He’s made massive strides of progress in his mental journey towards feeling like he might not completely ruin a child, but there’s still such a long list of things he doesn’t know if he’s ready for, just yet.

“It would have been,” he agrees, and she says okay in this voice that sounds of reluctant acceptance and awakens another stream of thoughts for him, one going in a very different direction.

 He’s accepted that maybe he’s always going to be that little bit scared of fatherhood, that his fear doesn’t have to be an entirely negative thing. Being scared means he cares about whether he fucks up or not and that distinction already sets him apart from Roger Peralta. He still wants to be ready, desperately doesn’t want to bring a child into this world if it’s not one-hundred percent wanted and welcomed.

 At the same time, the longer he goes, the more he sees that it doesn’t seem like anyone is ever fully ready to have kids. They met the newest Santiago baby a couple of weekends ago. Her parents looked like they hadn’t slept in months, and they still seemed fully mesmerized by their daughter. It was like they were zombies, but also fully in a trance, and they wouldn’t stop talking about how parenting was so different from what they thought it’d be and it was worse but it was also better.

 Recently, Jake’s had this new feeling washing over him at seemingly random times, and it’s unlike anything he’s ever felt but it’s not unpleasant. It happened when he watched Amy hold her youngest niece and the baby looked so at home in her arms, so right, that suddenly he was picturing her holding their future kid and getting emotional at the thought. It was there when it was his turn to hold her, too, although that was much more terrifying because Camila was giving him scrutinizing looks throughout. It’s come to him as he’s walked past a display of baby clothes while out shopping, making him wonder how small a pair of socks really can be, and whether it would be crazy of him to buy a pair now and save them. There are these moments when he sees a couple out walking with a stroller, and the thought of that being him and Amy doesn’t paralyze him with fear anymore. It makes him excited.

It doesn’t matter, because she’s not pregnant, but he realizes that if she’d said she was, he wouldn’t have panicked. He would have been happy, and it’s a novel kind of sensation but he likes it.

 “But also,” he says, speaking the words out loud which have been slowly taking shape inside his head for the last months, “might’ve been… kind of cool.”

“Honestly? I was secretly bummed when the test came back negative.”

 It’s a spontaneous thought, but at the same time, it’s not spontaneous at all. It’s been there for a while, growing on him with the persistence and security of something permanent, vaguely reminding him of the feeling he got that evening of April 28th, 2017, when he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Amy. It’s different, still containing a small dose of fear he’ll have to learn how to live with, but it’s safe and it’s unwavering and it keeps growing stronger.

 He shrugs, even though this is as far from casual as it gets, and then he asks,

“Should we just start trying?”

“Seriously?”

 He’s serious. Amy looks relieved, or maybe it’s surprise, maybe it’s a combination of the two. She laughs - that subtle little laugh, it’s one of the cutest things she does, he should tell her that more often - and then her hand is on his cheek and she’s kissing him something soft and light and yet with all the meaning of a thousand declarations of love.

 Her forehead rests against his for a second after, her nose softly rubbing against his, and he’s holding onto her wrist as she laughs again and he thinks, not for the first time, that his wife is magic.

 After the whole news fiasco, they cuddle. Even though he’s feeling pretty sorry for himself, because come on, he lets Amy be the little spoon since she’s on her period and she’s had a long day and also, he just really wants to hug her. The television stays on for a while, playing a segment about the weather on low volume.

 Jake wonders quietly to himself around which age their kids would be old enough to start watching cartoons. He imagines them creeping into their bed early on a Saturday morning, making space between him and Amy to make sure they're the center of attention before asking to turn on the TV. He knows kids shouldn't have too much screen time, but he could never tell them no if they wanted to watch Ninja Turtles with him. He also can't remember if you're supposed to allow your kids in your bed or not. He might be thinking of dogs. It doesn't matter, because Jake wouldn't be able to stop them. Most likely he’d be longing for a chance to snuggle them anyway, pepper their sweet little faces with kisses the way he does with Amy sometimes, until they started complaining.

Jake decides that his kids will always be welcome in their bed, and always be allowed to watch cartoons there. It feels right.

Amy turns off the television. They both turn out the light from the nightstands, and he hugs her even closer because she's warm and she smells good and god, he loves her so much. She's not pregnant, but maybe one day in the near future, she will be, and the thought makes him feel all warm inside.

 He brushes his hand over her stomach through her pink t-shirt. Someday soon, she'll be growing their child there, and one day, he’ll get to feel them kick underneath his hands. Maybe they’ll recognize his voice the way he's learned that babies can do already before they're born, or maybe he’ll play them Taylor Swift songs so they’re familiar with the greatest songwriter of all time at a young age. One day, and maybe it’s closer than he could guess, he’ll get to hold them in his arms for the very first time.

 He can't even picture what it will feel like, but he presses another kiss to Amy’s cheek before closing his eyes, and he knows he can’t wait to find out.

[prinxlyart]

Oh thos warm moments of redemption hit me right in the feels >///<. (I'mma definitely gonna compile all your headcanons in one doc and you can't stop me!). Anyways, now getting back to lumity (prepare thyselve because I'm HUNGRY): How does the redeemed Odalia's relationship with Luz and Willow develop? And regarding our three girls in particular, how do they act right after their proposals, during the wedding and on their honeymoon?

(Lmao please, lord knows I’ll never put any of these into a doc)

Hmmm, that’s a really good question. Er, several questions. Imma go in order of how they were asked.

[tw: for mentions of severe depression /thoughts of suicide starting with bullet #4. I’ll be sure to add the warnings before and after the section as well. Please continue with caution.]

Blight Parents’ relationship with their daughters-in-law:

I think just due to how they got to where they are by this point, they both have a soft spot for Luz. She’s the one that reached out to them in the first place after all of their kids left the family. They feel a v specific gratitude towards her and Camila both because these humans work so hard to get shit done. It’s an admirable trait. One they’re glad the Nocedas aimed at them. It’s taken so much time and energy to get the Blights be, like. Tolerable people? And then even more to get them to actually act like parents.

I think at first, any time they’re unsure of how to act or react to a situation, they’ll go to Luz for guidance. They’ve gone their whole lives up until just a few years ago acting a certain way and just flipping all that? It can be difficult to break those habits. Any time they feel they should react in anger or irritation or disgust, they stop and think “no, wait. What would Luz/Camila do? Would they get mad...?” And they just give her a look of confusion and guilt before Luz mimes the sort of reaction that would be healthiest. Any time Amity catches them literally looking to Luz on how to act supportive she just rolls her eyes. They’re trying and that’s what matters.

I think at first they just don’t know how to interact with Willow. They apologized for how they treated her in the past at great length, but Willow just sort of nodded along quietly. They weren’t used to that sort of reaction (granted they’ve only just started doing this “apologizing” thing for a few months at this point in time. They’re still getting the hang of it). So they sit uncomfortably for a while until Willow sighs and sort of sits up straighter. She’d resolved to tell them about how their careless and cruel treatment of Amity was the first step in a chain reaction to Willow’s life becoming absolutely miserable for years to follow.

Not only was she forced to lose her best friend at that birthday party, but she had to do so in the cruelest way possible. Amity explained to her years back that she pretended to not like her because she couldn’t do magic to hide the fact that her parents threatened Willow. Because the Blights are supposed to be perfect. Amity has always been smart and she knew what would happen if she let it slip that they had threatened her. If Willow knew the truth, she’d tell her dads and her dads would try to confront them about it. It would end up turning into a scandal (although Amity admitted she wasn’t familiar with the word at the time; it was just one of those words she heard her mom use a lot for situations that were bad). So as a result of Amity doing her part to “protect” the Blight name, she shunned Willow from her life and broke both their hearts in the process.

[TW: discussion of severe depression and thoughts/intentions of suicide. If you’re in a vulnerable headspace right now, please scroll until you see the next notice signaling the end of the section. And please, if you’re struggling with depression and/or thoughts of suicide, please please please seek professional help.]

Willow recounts the years of endless bullying, not always by Amity’s new friends, but often by them. She tells them how Amity wouldn’t necessarily participate so much as observe with a carefully schooled expression. And then there were times when Amity did bully her, and that hurt so much more than everyone else combined. All so she wouldn’t be publicly shamed or get in trouble with her parents for associating with someone like Willow.

She tells them that it literally took Luz coming into their lives for any of that to change. Amity had turned 7 on the birthday she cut Willow out of her life, and they were 14 when Luz showed up. Half of Willow’s entire life up to that point had been friendless (or nearly friendless) and so severely bullied that she was actually debating growing a Graveleaf plant to brew tea with. She still has to take a daily healing potion prescribed by her doctor to keep her mind from falling back to that same state it used to be in. Yes, her life has greatly improved ever since Luz showed up and helped repair her friendship with Amity. Yes, it’s only gotten better since then. Yes, she loves her fiancées with everything she has. But that doesn’t mean all that pain has suddenly been erased and it doesn’t always stop her brain from sinking back into its depressed state.

Needless to say, the Blights are absolutely floored with all of this information. They’re both frozen in shock, they don’t know what to do or say to such an admission. Willow just continues though. She tells them that she’s so grateful to have Amity back in her life. That with therapy, her daily medicine, and time, she’s come a long way from where she once was. Her bad days aren’t nearly as bad as they were when she was a kid. She has both of her fiancées to support her and love her when she’s feeling down. She tells them that no, she can’t forgive them for what they’ve done. But she accepts their apology and appreciates them making the effort to make things right. Seeing Amity happy because her parents are actually trying to be better makes Willow happy.

I think......Alador would be the one to go to Willow and kneel before her and take her hand, apologizing with as much intent as he can muster. He’s a little more in touch with his emotions these days than Odalia is, and he’s lost a family member to suicide before. He knows how devastating it can be to everyone around them and he’s mortified at the fact that Willow had almost done the same. He understands how much she means to Amity and he comes to the realization mid-apology that he could have very well lost his own daughter in a similar fashion had Willow gone through with that. Odalia goes white as a sheet at hearing that, steadying herself in her chair and it makes Willow feel queasy, but she’s glad that he understands the severity of what they’d done. She does put a hand to Alador’s shoulder to comfort him as he reels from this realization and he stands properly again to wrap Willow in a hug as he cried, still muttering apologies through his tears. I think it takes a while for Odalia to be able to speak again, but Willow is able to see that that struggle means it’s rocked her to her core. Once Odalia is able to also stammer out her own apologies, Willow just gives her a small smile and nods.

[END OF SECTION. Now it’s all fluff from here on out. Have fun, kids.]

After that discussion, Alador and Odalia double down on the whole “being better” thing. During one of their weekly tea meetings, they ask Camila how they might start doing that in their daily lives too, not just for their children. Camila doesn’t know the first thing about their jobs or what they do or the people they work with, so she tells them to make a list of things they can think of that might’ve been considered hurtful to some degree. The tea definitely goes cold long before the list is done; Camila actually needs to leave before they finish it. The next meeting, there’s a comically large scroll of shit they’ve done sitting on the table and they are sitting with their heads cowed in shame. I think Camila pops an ibuprofen before her headache settles in.

They still don’t know how to do nice things without throwing money at it first. That takes a while for them to wrap their heads around. Luz and Willow aren’t ones for like. Big, extravagant, expensive things. They prefer the heartfelt stuff, like hand-made gifts or thoughtful acts of service. (Amity, however, insists they accept her parents ridiculously expensive weekend getaway trip to the Iliac Crest Hot Springs; the top of the left hip bone of the Titan. A well-known vacation spot for romantic getaways. Willow only accepts because she knows they’d never be able to afford that on their own and Luz accepts it as a wedding gift and an opportunity to go to a part of the Boiling Isles she’s never explored before.)

Alador is like every dad ever; he loves talking about random trivia shit to anyone who will listen. Luz is literally the only person that will listen because even though she’s lived in the Demon Realm for years now, she still doesn’t know all the “fun facts” that everyone else has grown up with. Sometimes she’ll bring up points about random trivia bits Alador is going on about and put in her own two snails about something she’s experienced regarding it, and she and Alador will go back and forth for a while like that, talking about the stuff they’ve experienced relating to that thing. Willow thinks it’s adorable and Amity is mostly just exasperated (but she also thinks it’s cute and she loves watching her dad bond with her fiancée like this).

Odalia will occasionally ask Amity about her abominations and they’ll sort of awkwardly talk for a while about the technicalities and ingredients and Odalia will mention adding an ingredient Amity’s never even considered before. When she inquires further, Odalia tells her that she’ll sometimes work with a friend in the Emperor’s coven that specialized in the plant track to experiment with creating abominations with different kinds of ingredients for different tasks. Amity is shocked and impressed to hear about her own mother mixing magic and teases her for breaking the rules right under the emperor’s nose. Odalia stammers at that (she’s still getting used to Belos no longer being in power and the stigma against mixing magic still runs strong in her mind), but eventually admits that yes, technically she’s mixed magic. Amity makes her promise to show her how with Willow and they make a whole day of it.

Spending the day making weird abominations with Odalia Blight was Not something Willow thought she’d ever say she’d done, but hey. She didn’t think King could beat Luz in that one eating contest either because where does he put all that food, but he ended up winning anyway. Willow and Amity are actually super excited to try mixing their knowledge of magic together; it almost feels intimate in a way. It’s something neither have tried before and are able to try for the first time together because it’s their specialties. Odalia guides them through the process of mixing different types of plants into the abomination mixture to make abominations specific for extra strength or abominations that help enhance healing magic just due to its properties. They all end up having a lot of fun that day, just making all sorts of varieties of abominations. By the time the day is done, they’re all covered in abomination goop because one of them accidentally exploded. Luz managed to get a picture of them all laughing together and covered in goop before they go to clean up. It’s one of her favorite pictures.

As time goes on, things get less and less tense between the Blight parents and Luz and Willow (especially with Willow). They grow more comfortable with being good parents, good people, and just kinder and more loving in general. There’s one day when the Blights come to visit and they greet each girl with a hug and kiss without really realizing it. They all go to settle down in the living room, but Amity’s still frozen at the doorway, covering her mouth and trying desperately to wipe away the tears that crept up at the display of affection. No one else had thought anything of it, but that was the first time her parents had shown the same and love and affection to both of her wives without any hesitation or fear of crossing boundaries. She cherishes the memory of that moment often.

Proposal Reactions:

I genuinely don’t know how these girls would propose to each other. There’s any number of possibilities; they’re all so creative. The part of me that wants to make funny cartoons would have them each scrambling to figure out the best way to propose to each other and getting into ridiculous hijinks when they try to get their friends’ help (Amity would ask Emira and Edric [and the detention gang by extension; Viney’s remained best friends with Jerbo and Barcus after all this time]. Willow I think would recruit Gus and oddly enough, Lilith [she sees Eda as too much of a mother to Luz to feel comfortable with asking her to help her propose to her daughter]. Luz would definitely ask Eda, King and Camila to help but regret it almost instantly). Of course everyone would end up tripping over one another and each proposal attempt would end in disaster but all three girls would see the resulting destruction (maybe several things on fire?) and just laugh their asses off. Because wow, this could’ve gone so much better, but hey, you guys wanna get married?

The sappy romantic in me tho. Would want them to discuss it thoroughly before hand; agree that yes they’d love to get married, they’re just not sure if it’s the right time. But Luz, being the person she is, would go and recruit everyone’s help in coming up with the best proposal ever. Willow and Amity are both busy with their respective jobs just enough to not notice all the scheming going on. And then one day when all 3 of them have the same day off, Luz takes them out for a fun day (whatever that entails; maybe a day at a carnival or just wandering around town or something). At the end of the day, she takes them somewhere significant (this could literally be anywhere, Grom Tree is a good place because of the view it has over the cliff’s edge, but yknow. Whatever suits their relationship as a trio) and everything is decked out in lights and decorations. And Amity and Willow are both stunned and enthralled by the display and they turn to see Luz down on one knee and holding two small boxes, holding one out to each of them and a super nervous smile on her face. Amity and Willow maybe accidentally tackle her to the ground when they tried to hug her.

During the wedding:

I think they’re all stressed during the wedding itself. They’re excited, of course, a whole ceremony dedicated to the three of them vowing to spend the rest of their lives together. They aren’t capable of imaging a life without each other at this point. But that doesn’t stop the nerves from settling in.

Eda’s constantly telling Luz to calm down before the ceremony actually begins; Luz is found pacing and coming up with doomsday scenarios out loud at light speed like she always does when she’s nervous. Camila and Eda are also nervous, but they’re doing their best to keep it together for Luz’s sanity. Camila’s making sure (with Emira, as Em is the Maid of Honor) that everything is going smoothly and according to plan. But she has similar nervous habits to Luz when she doesn’t have something to focus her attention on. She ends up fussing over Luz’s hair and getting rid of any imaginary wrinkles in her outfit, making sure her makeup is perfect until Eda tells her to quit treating Luz like a dress up doll. Eda’s really good at pep talks, even when she’s nervous, but she manages to calm both Nocedas down with her patented Soft Encouraging Voice.

Amity’s freaking out in her own way in a separate room with all of her girls (Emira, Skara, a fully and properly redeemed Boscha). She’s freaking out similarly to Luz in that she’s mumbling to herself all sorts of ridiculous what-ifs and wishing desperately that she could just be with Luz and Willow already because they bring her the most comfort. She’s not pacing like Luz though, she’s sitting while Emira and Skara do some intricate thing with her hair while Boscha’s doing her makeup but that doesn’t stop her from wringing her hands and bouncing her leg (something that Boscha has to tell her to stop doing every 30 seconds or she’ll mess up the makeup she’s doing). Emira’s giving her advice for every little “what-if” she can hear coming out of Amity, with some silly remarks from Boscha and Skara that actually puts Amity somewhat at ease. Having her girls acting calm and natural did help. She thanks them for doing as much at the reception.

Willow’s trying to get herself into game mode with a pep talk. No place for nerves, only well-thought action. She’s actually got Viney there with her (who had to kick Gus out because he was crying at just the sight of Willow in her wedding dress), as well as Bo and Kat (I think those are the names of the two healing track girls....someone tell me if I’m wrong, but I think Bo is the one in the Human Appreciation Society and I think Kat is the one with the glasses that played on Boscha’s team in the Grudgby match). Willow’s girls are all hyping her up like she’s about to enter a Grudgby match rather than a wedding ceremony, and the ridiculousness of it all is staving off her nerves. Viney’s also giving her own personal experience as advice; she may or may not have tripped during her own wedding and is making sure Willow knows how to avoid that at all costs.

I genuinely don’t know what the role of the Best Man is, but I know in one of my past headcanon posts I mentioned that both Edric and Gus are asked to fill that role (there’s no such thing as rules when you’ve got a human and two witches getting married on the boiling isles). I think while Emira and Camilia are helping their respective brides-to-be get ready, Edric and Gus are taking over making sure everything is running smoothly and all the guests know where to go. When they’re just sort of standing around and waiting for their next task, Gus starts tearing up again at the thought of Willow in her dress. Willow’s like the big sister he never had and now she’s getting married. Gus is constantly having to perform minor illusions on his face to make it look like he’s not about to cry or has already been crying. Edric hasn’t seen Amity yet, but he’s secretly doing the same thing whenever their minds aren’t preoccupied with whatever Event Tasks they need to focus on.

I think.....rather than a one-by-one thing, all three of our girls enter at the same time from different doors. Luz comes in from the left side door, Amity comes in from the right, and Willow comes in from the main entrance at the back. Luz is practically vibrating with nerves and excitement and the only reason she doesn’t run to the front to sweep her beautiful girls into excited, passionate kisses is solely due to her own mother’s iron grip on her arm as she walks her up. I actually don’t know if Alador has redeemed himself enough at this point for Amity to allow him to walk her up to the front, but I also think Edric would be too much of a mess to do so. I think a lifetime of keeping up a mask helps Alador maintain his composure long enough to get Amity up to the front and to take his seat before he lets the waterworks take over. I actually don’t know which of Willow’s dads would walk her up; we don’t know enough about either of them to make personality judegement calls. Whichever dad can hold it together for longer, probably.

Polyamory isn’t a new thing on the Boiling Isles; it may not be practiced as often among witches, but demons do it all the time, so the person officiating their wedding (it could be literally anyone, I have no idea. Maybe principal bump, just for funsies) knows exactly how this ceremony needs to go. They all planned beforehand exactly the order they’d kiss one another once they were proclaimed officially married: Luz would be too excited to wait and would kiss each of her girls first, Amity then Willow, and then Amity and Willow would share their own kiss once Luz had gotten that out of her system.

Honeymoon:

I don’t know enough about honeymoons to know if there’s a difference between a honeymoon and a normal vacation except Now You’re Married. Maybe they go on a grand expedition around the Boiling Isles? Maybe they honeymoon in the Human Realm? That’s exactly like the proposal situation; it could be literally anything. Far too many variables and ideas that could make it perfect for each of them. Hell, they could probably just say they’re going out and doing all sorts of stuff and actually just locking themselves in their house so they can just be together and relish in the relief of no longer needing to plan such a large and important event. They can just enjoy each other’s company as Wives now. I really don’t know.

Regardless of what they do, I think they’d be like any other person on their honeymoon: absolutely love struck and over the moon with how much they love each other. Sometimes they’ll catch one another staring and tease each other about it ( “awww you liiiikkkke meeee” “we literally just got married” “yeah I know but stiiiiiillllllllll”)

I actually don’t know what else you expect me to put here, so I guess I’ll just say they lived happily ever after, the end.