#and then the guy that was supposed to be here at 8 called but claims the call didn’t go through and claims he texted the GM but the text did

[sluttyten]

the vibe of the day is to be in a bad fucking mood

[whore-ibly-hot]

Yan!Cage-Fighter x Fem!Reader

'Paying bills ain't easy'

18+ Minors DNI

Warnings: Toxic behavior, traditionally masculine roles, power dynamics, violence, murder, jealousy, subpar spanish, cursing, mentions of sex, description of unsafe neighborhoods.

(AN: I know I said I was working on the part two for the fae fic, and a fashion designer piece, but the idea for this guy hit me like a train. Apologies for any Spanish mistakes, I'm coming along in my learning!)

The sound of raucous cheering rings out throughout the crowd of the 'Dog Pit' Den, Harlem's most prolific underground fighting spot. Fighters from all over the city come here to try and earn a living wage. Backbreaking, degrading work, boxing, kicking, and spitting in the no-rules ring. A crack, a cheer, and the sound of a collapsing body, before the announcer yells that Matias Lopez has taken yet another challenger down. A sweaty, tanned man hops back and forth on his feet, arms raised in the air as he celebrates his victory.

"Ladies and gentleman, Matias 'The Mayhem' has taken down yet another challenger! You know what that means! Make some noise!" The announcer yells, and the room shakes with boos and cheers, the stomping of feet making the ground tremble. "Matias Lopez has won the 500 dollar Rookie Fighters Championship prize!" Another round of yells, and Matias spits on the ground. He makes his way out of the cage, kissing the rosary his mother always makes him wear, even when he's cracking skulls in an illegal cage-fighting circuit. To be fair, she doesn't know. He sighs, tearing his fist-wrappings off and running a hand through his sweaty locks. He changes out of his outfit, switching into a casual gray hoodie, a pair of sweats, and some slides. After reapplying deodorant, he hears someone outside. One of the guys who runs the 'Dog Pit' has come to give him his check.

"Yo, Matias, my man!" He greets, slapping a hand on Matias's toned shoulder. "Me and some of the 'execs' as we've taken to calling ourselves are gonna hit the club', you in?" Mattias, clicks his tongue, and shakes his head. "Nah man, not tonight. I gotta get home n' see my girl. I was supposed to be home earlier." He glances down at the floor. "Shit, alright man, here's your check. I'll see you later." Mattias nods as the man heads out, stuffing the check into his duffle bag, before sliding out the alley exit.

Matias and you have been dating for a little over a year now. Both of you met in a pretty rough part of town, he was working a day-job at a gas station, and you were a cafe worker. He'd come in occasionally, claiming that the gas station coffee just wasn't up to his standards. He scared you, at first. Mattias has a very tough exterior, tattoos and muscles, but an even tougher interior. He was kind of stoic when you first met, and you couldn't quite get a read on him. He wasn't outwardly flirty or affectionate, which is why it took six weeks of him stopping by the coffee shop for him to pull you aside and ask what he was doing wrong, and why you weren't picking up on his advances. You had explained, and shortly after that you began dating. It was only a month or so into dating when you had learned of his cage-fighting career, but he assured you that he was tough, and no guy was gonna hurt him. You both needed the money on the side, so you reluctantly agree. That's what leads up to where you are now, passed out on your couch, waiting for him to come home.

He heads towards your shared apartment as quickly as he can, taking the subway about 8 blocks east, before running up the fire escape to the flat's balcony. He knows you deadbolted the door any time past 8:00, and doesn't blame you. It's kind of a dangerous neighborhood, and he feels bad enough leaving his girl home alone as much as he does.

"Pobre mami, espero que no me haya esperado." (Poor mami, hope she didn't wait up for me.) He pulls up the window, making sure to slip in quietly, in case you had already gone to sleep. As he places one foot on the floor, the wood barely creaks beneath him, when he hears a soft groan coming from the couch.

"Matty?" You mumble, sitting up from the plush couch and rubbing your eyes, trying to make out his large silhouette. He sighs, tossing his bag to the side as he stretches "Hey, hermosa, did I wake you up?" He asks, looking at you with his usual hooded gaze. "I guess, I don't think I was asleep that long..." You run a hand through your hair. "How'd it go?" He smiles softly, chuckling. "You know me, baby, I don't lose." He sits on the arm of the couch. "Gotchu' five hundred dollars, gonna' get you something real pretty with it." You sigh, and shake your head. "You've got me plenty of gifts, what we should be doing is saving up for somewhere else to live." You explain. He shrugs. "Yeah, you right, you right. That's my bad." He puts his hands up in surrender. "Well, if you aren't gonna let me get you somethin' pretty, you outta lemme' take ya to bed." Before you can react, he scoops you up in his arms, causing you to squeak.

"Don't scare me like that, God!" You smack his chest, but your hand only bounces off his firm pecs. e chuckles. "Gonna' have to hit harder than that, mami." He flicks off the living room light as he carries you to your shared bed. He lays you down, gently this time as opposed to the times he throws you on the bed, usually to pin you down and tickle you, saying things like '¿Qué pasa, bonita? Solo empújame, no es tan difícil...' (What's wrong, Pretty? Just push me off, it's not that hard...). Sometimes though, his manhandling isn't that innocent. As you snuggle down into the bed, Matias strips off his hoodie, and you blush at the way the light coming in through the blinds hits his chest. He lets out a soft groan, as the plush mattress and soft bed sheets soothe his sore body. Matias bites his lips as his eyes trace over your sleepy form, and he rolls over onto his side, tucking an arm around your waist.

"Mmm, no Matias... m' too tired tonight." You whisper, your face scrunching up. Matias was never a very soft guy. Playful and devilish, sure, but soft? No. His hands were calloused from years of bruising skin and bloodying faces, working and scrounging every penny he can get to get a better life for himself. Deep down, he couldn't imagine placing these damaged, dangerous hands on something as soft and sweet as you. He could snap you in half if he desired, and the thought terrifies him.

"What, no baby... I'm not tryna' smash at-" He looks over at the clock. "Shit, 1:00 am already? Jesus Christo..." He turns back to you. "Just wanna hold you, mami." He presses his long torso up against the curve of your back, pressing his face into your curls and inhaling your scent. "You feeling okay?" You ask. He knows he doesn't. He knows he should have been home for you sooner, and it didn't help that he had to make a stop on the way back home.

He feels a sense of dread in his stomach. You won't ever know about the stop he made, you were asleep. Besides, he comes home late all the time. What you will learn about is your bloodied new co-worker being found with his skull smashed in, just a few blocks from the cafe. Due to the graphic scene he left behind, it's sure to be on the morning news. Matias hadn't expected your new friend to be working the late shift, but he was still on an adrenaline high from the fight, and god... he couldn't stand the idea of that bitch getting to spend more time with you than him. He wants to be home for you more, he does, but he can't. Still, that doesn't mean he's going to let any other guy fill that void. Hell no.

"I'm fine, Hermosa. Just sore from the fight, wanna' hold my baby." He whispers, placing a chapped kiss on the shell of your ear, making you flinch. "That tickles..." You giggle. He smiles, and squeezes you gently. "C'mon, stop being silly. Necesitas descansar, especialmente después de quedarte despierto para mí." (You need to sleep, especially after staying up for me.) He scolds. You roll over to face him, and tuck your head into the crook of his neck. "Love you, Matty." You sleepily coo, before drifting off in his arms. He freezes, his breath labored for a minute as he looks down at you. Even now, after dating for so long, he can't process the softness of you juxtaposed with the beatings he both takes and gives every other weeknight. It's a transition he sometimes struggles to handle. He feels a smile creep onto his face, and he curls your small form into him, practically cradling you against his broad chest. God, he'll take on an extra five challengers next time, all for you.

"Gonna get you a penthouse baby, real nice neighborhood too. Somewhere safe, somewhere that makes me feel better about leavin' you all alone..." He whispers, knowing you can't really hear him. "Better not have anyone but me over, no fucker's from work, aight'? I'll kick the shit out of any of em' just for you..."

[milaisreading]

Plushie incident in the morning

Pairing: Various Blue Lock x Reader

Warnings ⚠️: none in particular, Y/n uses she/her here. Reader is 18 here.

Summary: The Blue Lock project was both a pretty big success in the football world, but also with the fans who were watching it through the TV. Enter Anri introducing new merch not only in the form of the players, but also of their manager, (Y/n) (L/n). Everything was fine until the players came across the plushie. Chaos starts and Ego is regretting ever agreeing to this project.

It was a quiet and normal morning at the Blue Lock building, the players were still asleep, Ego was preparing some new exercises for them and (Y/n) was running some errands Anri asked her to. All in all, it was a really normal and boring morning for the (h/c) girl... until it wasn't.

Anri had given her the task to bring a box into Ego's office, this one she didn't recognize as one from their usual suppliers. So when she entered Ego's office, where he was talking about something with Anri, (Y/n) couldn't help but let her curiosity show.

"Teieri-san, Ego-san what is this thing about? Some new equipment?"

The two adults looked up at (Y/n) and the woman smiled brightly, running to where she was and taking the box from her.

"No, this is actually some of the new merch we are introducing today!"

"Merch? We are starting merch now?" (Y/n) asked confusedly then looked at Ego as Anri ignored her.

"This wasn't my idea, but JFU. If you asked me, you all are trash for merch."

"We?! What did I do?!" (Y/n) asked, offended at the man lumping her in with the rest.

'I didn't even do anything!'

"You are in this too! A lot of the watchers have a soft spot for you and in a survey JFU had, the fans really want merch of you too."

"O-oh..." Was the only response that came from (Y/n), who was embarrassed and flattered by Anri's claims.

Once the woman had opened the box, Ego and (Y/n) peeked inside, only to find plushies of the players.

"They are so adorable!" Anri exclaimed, rummaging through it.

"Found it! This is yours!" (Y/n) looked in disbelief at the item in Anri's hands. It was an exact replica of her in the staff uniform, just smaller and softer. It was creepy how well they replicated her. Same shade of (h/c) hair, same (e/c) color and a small smile adoring the plushie's face as it held a small (f/c) football.

"And what am I supposed to do with this now?" The girl wondered as Anri handed it to her.

"I don't know? Keep it in your room or something, the rest will probably do the same with theirs."

'This is so weird. I bet Baro will make fun of this.' (Y/n) thought, mentally preparing herself for the taller's words.

"Alright. Now that this is out of the way, go and do your duties. It's nearly 8 o'clock, the players will have to be awakened soon too." Ego clapped his hands, bored with the conversion the two had.

"Alright..." Anri sighed and (Y/n) said her goodbyes before walking out.

'This wasn't something I expected to wake up to.' She thought, looking down at the plushie, which was smiling up at her.

Carrying the basket with the uniforms all washed and ready for use, (Y/n) opened the door to the room all the current players shared.

"Wake up, unpolished gems! Time for breakfast and then off to training!" Ego's voice from the speakers boomed as (Y/n) heard the players groan, asking for a few more minutes.

"No." The girl held back a laugh from Ego's answer and put down the basket neat the door.

"Wake up, guys! Your uniforms are here too!"

"Nooo..."

"Just a few more minutes..."

"This is such a hassle."

The girl was about to speak up again, when one of the staff members from down the hall called for her.

"Coming!" She yelled, closing the door behind herself, completely forgetting she left her plushie on top of the basket.

Silence fell again and the players sighed in relief, thinking they got what they asked for. Gagamaru turned around in his futon to look at the door, inspecting the area.

'There is the basket with our uniforms... a (Y/n) pluahie... the door-'

The white/black haired player blinked as he looked at the basket again, the slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Am I hallucinating?" The boy wondered, getting up and walking to the basket, grabbing the soft item.

"It's soft too... but why does it look like (Y/n)?" The boy muttered, walking back to his futon, bot breaking eye contact with the inanimate object.

'Whoever made this was spot on. The plushie looks just as adorable and sweet as (Y/n).' Gagamaru thought, blushing a little as he patted its head.

"Did Ego-san and (Y/n) that easily give up on waking us up?" Isagi wondered as both him and Bachira stretched out.

"I hope so. I am still tired from yesterday." Chigiri yawned as Kunigami took of his covers.

"Hey!" Chigiri yelled as he sat up quickly, not liking how cold it felt.

"You all are so noisy, can't you be like Gagamaru a little bit?" Baro said, pointing at the said boy, who didn't even answer or look at him.

"What are you holding?!" Bachira suddenly yelled, getting up from his futon and running to the former Team Z member, who was by now pinching the plushie's cheek.

"Bachira! Shut up!" Reo yelled, making Karasu and Nagi wince at the loudness.

"You are all annoying." Otoya sighed as Kurona tried to slap his arm away.

Bachira ignored them as he inspected the small plushie in Gagamaru's hands, his grin widening when he realized who it was and he quickly took it from the boy.

"Adorable! Is this (Y/n)?! Where did you get it, Gagamaru?!"

"Hey, give it back." Gagamaru protested, upset that Bachira took the soft item like that.

'I found it first.' He pouted.

"I just want to see~"

Bachira said,annoyed that he didn't get to it first. Chigiri, Kunigami and Isagi look at the duo in confusion as the rest blinked in alarm at the mention on the manager's name.

"What do you have there?" Isagi said, getting up rather guickly as he inspected the item, recognizing the (h/c) hair. Chigiri, being a speedster, was already next to Bachira and took the item as he and Gagamaru argued over the toy.

"I found it first! Give it back to me."

"No! It's adorable just like (Y/n), I want to keep it."

Chigiri moved away a little and inspected the toy, a fond smile making its way on his face while Kunigami and Isagi were on either side of him, blinking down at the plushie.

"How did this come into our room? And why does it look like (Y/n)?" Isagi wondered, his hands trembling to grab it from Chigiri.

"I don't know, she doesn't seem like the person to buy stuff of herself." Kunigami answered back, blushing a little as he tried to grab it from Chigiri. But the boy as fast as he is, hugged it to his chest and dodged Kunigami.

"Hey!"

"We don't know why it's here, and for all we know it could be important to (Y/n). So in any case we should be gentle with it." Chigiri argued as the other 4 nodded their heads.

"Now that we have established that, I will claim it as mine till (Y/n) returns." The red head announced proudly, which caused the other others to glare at him.

"No way! Chigiri, I am by far the gentlest among you! I should take care of her!" Isagi said back, walking closer to his friend. Kunigami shook his head, equally annoyed at Chigiri's claim on the (Y/n) plushie.

"You are both being childish. Chigiri, I am the strongest of you all, I would do a better job in protecting (Y/n). Give me."

'Why does it sound like they are arguing over the real person? What is even going on?' Reo rubbed his eyes as he walked over to them.

"Hey! I found her first, Bachira stole her."

"I didn't steal! I was just faster!" Gagamaru and Bachira glared at each other. Using the distraction, Reo grabbed the plushie and turned away from the group.

"You all are acting rediculous over a stupid plush toy. Are you children or something-" Reo stopped in his tracks as he looked down at said item. The more he inspected the thing, the more he realized it looked just like the real (Y/n), just smaller. Blushing, he grabbed tightly onto it as Kunigami attempted to take it from him.

"On second thought, I think she would be much safer in my mansion."

"What?! Give her back!" Bachira grinned like a maniac as Nagi finally got up to look at the plushie as well. The boy looked in boredom for a few seconds, then nodded his head.

"Reo will buy it from you guys." Nagi said simply as the purple haired boy handed the plushie to him.

'So soft. Feels like that one time I fell asleep on her.' Nagi thought, hugging the toy protectively.

By now the chaos caught everyone else's attention as well, and the players tried to get a glimpse of the smaller (Y/n) as well.

"How much do you want? A thousand? Hundred thousand? Million Yen? Just say and it's yours." Reo argued, pissing the former Team Z members off even more.

"No! Now give me (Y/n) back, I laid my claim on her first!" Chigiri yelled.

"She isn't yours! Nagi, hand her over." Bachira yelled trying to jump at the white haired boy.

"Hmm? No, I like her here. Besides, it reminds me of that one time I slept on her." Nagi said absent-mindedly.

"You what?! When did that happen?!" Isagi asked the boy.

"You remember the time Baro tripped me and I couldn't play?"

"Lucky... Couldn't you have injured me, Kunigami?" Chigiri pouted, earning a glare from the orange haired boy.

"Chigiri, you ungrateful piece of shit-"

Gagamaru kept quiet as he started sulking in the corner.

"But I found her first..."

Niko shook his head at their behavior and kept quiet, but still sent a few side glances the inanimate object in Nagi's arms.

"Hmm? Oh! The plushie really just like (Y/n), can I have it?" Karasu wondered as Otoya poked its cheeks, blushing at how cute it was.

'I basically poked (Y/n)! Now I can die happily!' Otoya thought as Nagi slapped his hand away and glaring at the duo.

"No. Mine."

"Nagi, we are sharing." Reo added, stopping is argument with Bachira and Isagi for a moment.

"All of you shut up!" Baro yelled, grabbing the toy forcefully from the tall genius.

"Hey!"

Baro rolled his eyes as he took a look at the doll along with Kurona, both blushing at the replica of their crus-friend!

"Give me." The red haired boy said, making grabby hands at the plushie, but Baro sent him a warning glare.

"Move it, peasant. I will take care of (Y/n), besides unlike all of you I can treat her like a queen."

"A queen? Really?" Kunigami rolled his eyes.

"Damn right, because I am the king!"

"More like a donkey." Isagi commented.

"Come on, we can't fight over a plushie like that. (Y/n) would probably think we are stupid." Yukimiya said, earning silent nods from the team.

"That's why I suggest you guys can have the (Y/n) plushie, and I will take the real (Y/n)." Yukimiya said, fixing his glasses.

"Where did that come from?!"

"Hell no!"

"If anything (Y/n) would look better with me!"

"You all are being rediculous. I should be with (Y/n) since I can offer her anything she desires."

"Respectfully, fuck off Reo!"

"No!"

"Shut up! All of you are loud!" The room fell quiet as everyone looked at the annoyed Rin as he approached them, observing the doll in Baro's hands.

"I am the number 1 player here. You lukewarms are no competition against me, so you better hand the plushie to me."

"Forget it!"

The chaos got louder and the noise caught both Ego's attention from the office, and Anri's who was nearby. Inspecting through the camera, Ego facepalmed when he noticed they were fighting over that doll.

'I knew this was a mistake.'

Anri opened the door as Ego's voice boomed through the room, making everyone freeze up.

"What is going on here! I called you all to train on not fight over a plushie like a bunch of kids." The boys stopped and looked at the speakers, a little embarrassed by the fact that Ego caught them.

"Anri, confiscate that plushie. Don't even give it to (Y/n), she will probably forget it again somewhere."

"Alright!" The woman sighed, walking over to Baro and taking it from him. The boys deflated a little as they looked at the doll in Anri's hands and Ego sighed in annoyance.

"Whoever performs the best today will get the plushie tonight."

That part caused the players to perk up a little.

"Alright! That will be me then!" Bachira yelled.

"No, me! My special awareness will come in handy today!" Isagi argued.

"You lukewarm striker will not even be able to get to the goal."

Anri rolled her eyes at the argument and she knew she had to stop it before Ego has another tantrum.

"If you so much want a plushie of (Y/n), Blue Lock's website will launch it today. It's just some limited merch offer tho~"

With a laugh, Anri was out the door as the boys looked at her dumbfounded for a moment, then each took their phones.

"What a great day to be rich." Reo muttered as Nagi sent him a look.

"You better order me one too."

The same night the whole room was sending death glares towards Gagamaru as Anri handed him the plushie. He was today the top scorer and the only one who kept his peace during practice, much to Ego's delight. (Y/n) was for the whole day confused where she had left the doll and asked everyone around the building, but nobody knew.

'Maybe someone threw it away.' She shrugged and went on with her night routine. She somehow hoped the plushie of her would not do well and they won't use her face for these merch launches, but...

"Why are there so many boxes?! What did you guys even order?" (Y/n) questioned a few days later as the boys looked excitedly at them, but refused to open.

"Ohhh no reason! By the way, how did your merch do?" Bachira wondered.

"For some odd reason it went well. Just my luck..." (Y/n) said in annoyance, still unsure how her plushie did better than any of the others.

[luhafraser]

Let me be clear: although many think I don't have a real life, I do. I'm not just a Tumblr account... I have a family, dogs and a cat. I'm currently recovering from bronchitis 😮‍💨🫁, and dealing with the school holidays 👧🏼🛝 and lots to do at work. 🤯🤯🤯 That's why I'm not at all sorry for being MIA... I have my priorities, my family and my health...

I've said it a few times... Sam and Cait's shitshow is just a pastime for me... So back off, nasty Anons... You're wasting your time here🖕😜

---

It's not a real timeline, but look at this amazing script... Brilliant... 😝🤣

1) Sam in London; 2) a "fan" says Sam was with a "female friend"; 3) Susie in London; 4) P's innuendos; 5) Susie posts latergrams in a hotel room and gym, it looks like one of rooms at the Firmdale hotels; 6) P says she won't publish without a real evidence 🤣; 7) Susie returns to her home; 8) Another "fan" says she saw Sam on a flight to Gran Canaria; 9) Sam shows himself in a mysterious room on IG Live; 10) Sam's small group of stalkers (surprisingly, they're not the evil shippers 😜🤣) certainly discover that it's not a room in a luxurious hotel (the kind Sam usually stays in) ***(Sam has people monitoring his online steps and who he follows on Instagram, etc... Nothing new there... But I'm curious how someone who isn't a fan gets "here"?! And this fandom have some here, they are not fans of Sam and Cait or Outlander. See below 😉); 11) P releases the name of the new blonde; 12) the current blonde posts several pics/videos showing some gym in Gran Canaria and an airbnb Villa; 13) Sam's voice appears in two of the blonde's videos; 14) B posts the blonde's airbnb Villa; 15) The war of the "queens of Mordor" begins (I don't believe anything about this war, but it's funny and keeps people entertained, just what SamCait and PR want); 16) B says that airbnb Villa is not the place where Sam did his Live; 17) B goes back on what she said, and shows that the male SH and the female SH are in the same Villa 🤣; 18) Chaos begins in the fandom; 19) Sam appears in Austria/Audi Ambassador stuff; 20) blonde posts with her son at her home (latergram... 🤦🏻‍♀️); 21) Ok... Susie, Sarah, who will be the next S? ⏰️

😜🤣

***⬇️

Script to look like James Bond... Women and cars... ?! 🤦🏻‍♀️😬 No, you are not Bond, Mr. Heughan... Sorry! 😝😂

---

But on the other hand...

You know.. I'm not on the "gay train", but hey... I can't blame anyone who thinks he's gay. And have you noticed how several women, linked to Sam, are always traveling to paradisiacal beaches or going to gyms with their gay friends... ?!? You don't even need to follow them on Instagram to know this, there are accounts here that posted everything about them... All that was missing was their blood type... 😝🤣

"Hawaiigate Oops Gran Canaria gate" didn't seem like a good script to prove that Sam occasionally has affairs with women... Even because the place is known for...

But, it certainly moves things around here... Just saying 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

---

OMG... Laughing a lot with #Samarah... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

---

And Sam/PR decided to fix a flaw in the script and his speech, something that became a joke in this fandom, at least among shippers...

There are women in Glasgow, people! After 10 years, he finally had time to meet a woman there...

Amen 🙌

🤣🤣🤣

---

I find it very difficult for a taurus man, who calls himself a romantic, who is used to staying in hotels like those from the FS and Firmdale chains and who has already made this type of comment...

Taking his supposed girlfriend to a place with these reviews... 🤔😬😂

After 10 years, Sam knowing how this fandom is, being the guy who claims to preserve his loved ones, would he leave breadcrumbs for "fans" to create a new story if he was really dating this woman? I'm amazed that she, with a son, gets involved in this shitshow, but who will know her reasons.... Even Cait used her pregnancy and child in the Belfast promo.

---

Let's see if Sam will follow P's wishes and take Sarah to the TCND event... And let's pray 🙏.

I see THE RING 👰🏼‍♀️ #Samarah 🤣🤣🤣 This didn't even take 7 days, it seems! 🤣🤣🤣

---

I still spend my free time looking at what SamCait shows and what this fandom says because I want to see the end of this shit, when Sam no longer has P or B and his onlys... One day Sam and Cait will fall into oblivion and that's why that they keep feeding this whole circus... What, or rather, who would Sam and Cait be without all this crap? I think it's funny that Sam pulls all this on himself... Except during promo, he's the one who moves things around here (right now Gran Canaria gate, Austria trip, Scottish Sun article, a new company with an enigmatic name... It could be SDFGINEEDTHISSHITSHOWCVBN 😝🤣, "Audi Quattro",...). But to me... This seems like something from someone protecting their loved ones, taking on all the shit for himself. Although, every now and then Cait needs to show that she is alive and with her husband by her side.

I watch and wait... And I know I'm not alone in this! 🧘🏻‍♀️😜

[definitelynotstable]

Camomile pt. 9 [Ghost x gn!Reader]

pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4, pt. 5, pt. 6, pt. 7, pt. 8, pt. 9, pt. 10

AN: Ok this series just started out as cute one shots and now I have to think of a plot god damn.

Synopsis: The 141 celebrate your return to duty with a night out at the local pub. Ghost and you argue over Price's decision to clear you for duty. Word count: 1.8k Warnings: Casual drinking, mention of past trauma, arguments Ghost x gn!Reader (callsign Rags): Soap doesn’t know what kombucha is, Gaz doesn’t like mulled wine and Ghost gets a bit overprotective. Fluff, light-angst, etc.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

It’s nearly a month till you’re cleared for duty. You would be lying if you said you hadn’t been lonely. The guys were gone for recon missions half the time and you were either stuck behind a desk playing secretary, in physic therapy or in therapy therapy. It was a tiring routine. 

But it didn’t stop you from feeling a little proud when you were able to present Price with a clean bill of health. He’d raised a skeptical brow as he skimmed the mental health section – no one in the military was well in that regard and most of you knew how to con a therapist. The nightmares hadn’t stopped and you supposed they never would. But  you’d stopped jumping at random sounds or flinching when touched unexpectedly. You were fit for work and you knew it. 

“Everything okay, Captain?” You asked, felling slightly nervous. He could, in theory, refuse to accept the medical certificate and write you off. The man instead sighed and with a flick of his pen he signed off on it. 

“You have any problems, you come to me – am I clear?” He said sternly, leaning his elbows on his desk and creating a steeple with his fingertips. “I’m not stupid – wiser soldiers than you and I take years to get over this kind of shit, Rags. No on e would blame you off you needed more time.”

You frown, jaw set. “I’m ready, sir.”

He looks at you for a moment, eyes hard and unwavering – searching for any cracks in your resolve. Finally he nods, pushing up with his hands on the desk to stand. “Alright,” he reaches over the desk to shake your hand, “Welcome back, sergeant.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

“Good on ye!” Soap claps you on the back with a grin, “Glad tae have ye back!”

Soap and Gaz had negotiated with Price on the optics of a mid-week visit to the local pub. They never confirmed nor denied his verdict. You suspect permission wasn’t explicitly given. 

Nevertheless, here you were. The three of you crammed into the usual booth in the back corner, a spot with the best view of all possible exists and entries. An old habit. It wasn’t particularly fancy – some might even call it dingy. But you liked the exposed brick walls, the dented and paint chipped bar made it feel homey. You favourite part was the roaring fire in the centre of the wall at the back, cracked leather armchairs with slightly scratchy pillows arranged in front of it. There was a dartboard off to one side, the wall behind completely littered in holes from drunken misses. The health and safety concerns behind having darts in a pub was certainly still up for debate – though you’d certainly spent a few evenings versing Gaz at the game.

“Thanks mate,” you smile over your mug of mulled wine – another reason this spot was a favourite – “Price was a bit hesitant, but I don’t think he could say no to the med-cert.”

“You’d be surprised,” Gaz remarked, some foam from his beer clinging to his upper lip, “he held LT back from an op once, claimed he faked the certificate.”

“And had he?”

“I had.” The low voice makes you jump as Ghost himself slides in next to Gaz, in the space across from you. “In fairness, I was a lot younger than I am now – and stupider.”

“Can’t’ve been that long ago then, mate.” Gaz jokes, passing the Lieutenant the drink he’d bough for him earlier. Ghost gives his arm a punch but thanks Gaz quietly for the drink anyway, taking a small sip. 

“What held ye up?” Soap asks when the lieutenant shrugs of his jacket.

“Bloody paperwork,” he grumbles, “I don’t envy you, Rags. Just a couple of hours has me going mental – I can’t fathom a full day.”

You nod sympathetically, “Yeah, can’t say I’d recommend it.”

“Rags was just tellin’ us Price cleared ‘em for duty,” Soap says proudly, “I said we’d each buy ‘em a drink.”

“That so?” Ghost raises a pale brow at you, balaclava pulled up so he can drink. You blush under his stare. “Not sure how he’d react if you showed up to trainin’ hungover.”

You scoff, “It’s a week night, I’m drinking mulled wine.”

“Surely mulled wine can still get you drunk.” Gaz says, setting his empty glass down with a thud.

You shake your head with a laugh, “They cook it out, Gaz. There isn’t much alcohol left in here at all.”

“But surely there’s an amount you could have that’d do it – like kombucha – right?”

“What in the world is kombucha?!” Soap splutters, licking at the beer on his upper lip. You laugh as Gaz attempts to explain it. 

“Tha’ sounds horrid.” The scot says, looking ill. 

“It’s not bad,” you say, still grinning at Soap’s expression. “I’m sure there is an amount, Gaz, but you’d probably die of overconsumption before getting drunk, or something like that.”

“Boring.” Gaz mutters, flicking his empty glass away, “What’s the point in non-alcoholic wine, anyway?”

“Because they put spices and shit in it – it’s delicious.”

“Doubt that.”

“Here, try some,” you shove your half empty mug in his direction, some splashed onto the table, “it’s good, I promise.”

Gaz wrinkles his nose, pushing the mug away with a single finger, “I’m ok, thanks.”

You roll your eyes and reach out to take your drink back when a pale hand intercepts you. Ghost takes a long sip and licks the excess from his lips, watching you with something playful in his eyes. 

“You’d do well to expand your palette, Gaz,” the lieutenant drawls, setting the mug back down in front of you, “instead of only drinking beer like you’ve just turned eighteen.”

Gaz snorts indignantly, “Ok, grandad.”

Ghost just smirks, sculling the rest of his whiskey.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Though Gaz and Soap are smarter than to get drunk the night before an early training, it still takes Ghost and you a while to drag them away from the bar. 

“Social butterflies,” you scoff, slumping onto the couch in the kitchen after successfully directing the two men to their rooms. Ghost clicks the door to the hallway shut and flicks in the jug. 

“Horny bastards.” Ghost offers instead and you laugh.

“All it takes is for the pair to have a single sip of alcohol and suddenly the pub’s their oyster.”

The lieutenant hums in agreement. “Camomile?”

“Yes please,” you groan, kicking off your boots and sinking further into the couch. You sling an arm across your eyes but still watch the man as he potters around in the kitchen. You smile as he reshuffles the mug shelf to find your favourite mug. He finds it and turns to place it on the bench next to his when he notices you watching.

“What?”

You grin, snuggling further into the couch with a sigh.“Nothing.”

The lieutenant huffs, returning to the mugs. Steam curls around him as the boiling water hits the cool ceramic. God he looks gorgeous in such a domestic setting. You’ll never get over it. 

“Here,” a mug hovers in front of your face, you push yourself up and take it from him with a small “thanks”.

Instead of settling at the table like usual, the lieutenant nods at the other side of the couch. “Scoot.”

You curl your legs under you, careful not to spill your tea as the couch shifts as he sinks down next to you. 

“So,” he says, leaning into the arm of the chair and angling himself to face you, “Price cleared you for duty, huh?”

You nod slowly, unsure where this is going. “Albeit hesitantly, but yes.”

“Hmm.” He replies, taking a long sip from his mug. 

You frown, “What? You disagree?”

“I didn’t say that.”

You scoff, “Ok well that reaction heavily implied you did.”

He leans forward, eyes hard. “I just think – look none of us would judge you if you needed more time.”

“It’s been over a month!” You point out, exasperated. “Price wouldn’t have said yes if he didn’t think I was ready –”

–“I never said I thought you weren’t ready –“

“Then what are you saying?!” You cry, hitting the side of the couch with your free hand, Ghost watches you with wide eyes. “What is your problem?”

“I’m just saying – recovery doesn’t have a deadline.”

“I know that,” you snap, “but I can't keep babying myself. It's been long enough.”

The man across from you narrows his cobalt eyes, “Babying yourself? You call healing from trauma babying yourself?”

“No, I call wrapping myself in cotton wool and avoiding anything that reminds me of what happened babying myself.”

“Or maybe it's about bein’ cautious,” Ghost replies, voice stern and hard as steel, “about making sure you're in the right mental state before jumpin’ back into a warzone.”

“I've faced worse – we all have. I'm not going to let fear control me.” You’re glaring at him now and he glares back.

He shakes his head. “This isn't about fear, it's about being smart. You could be a liability out there if you're not mentally prepared.”

You let out a disbelieving laugh, pushing yourself off of the couch. “So now you think I can't handle myself? That I'm a liability to the team?” 

“I never said that.” He growls firmly. “But if you're not thinking clearly, you put yourself and others at risk.”

“You're overthinking this.” You hiss, “I told you I’m fine.”

“You're not fine!” Ghost mirrors you, pushing himself to his feet where he towers over you, eyes shimmering. “You're pushing yourself into something you're not ready for.”

You push him with your freehand. He doesn’t budge and it only adds fuel to the fire. “And you're being overprotective, as always!”

The lieutenant steps closer, his voice low and intense “Because I care about you, damn it.”

You pause, mouth slightly agape – your retort forgotten. 

“I care about what happens to you out there.” He says, stepping closer, eyes softer now.

“I know,” you say, searching his eyes, “I know you do. And I don’t expect you to understand. I just need you to respect my choice.”

You watch as he sighs, shoulder slumping. “I do understand,” he murmurs, “and I do respect your choice, I just –“

You cut him off by stepping closer, wrapping your arms around him. He tenses for a moment but relaxes in your hold. “I know.” You whisper into his warm chest, “I know you understand.”

He sighs again, arms finally wrapping around you, a hand settling in your hair. “I’m sorry for raising my voice.”

You laugh into his chest, “I raised mine first, I should be the one apologising. “

He lowers his chin to rest on the top of your head. “I know you’ve been trying, I know you’re doing better. I just can’t help but think of how you were when we found you –“

“Shh,” you hush, rubbing small circles into his back, “I’m ok, you got me back. I’m safe.”

A deep breath shudders through his chest beneath your cheek. “Promise?”

You pull away, his arms loosen but still around you. “Promise.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Tag list:

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[bitchinbarzal]

Last Christmas | M.Barzal

this is my entry for @antoineroussel christmas fic exchange!

this is for you, @lhugh! happy holidays annie 🎄🤍

this fic does use they/them pronouns as they are annie’s pronouns! 🫶🏼

word count: 2,461 words

-

Last Christmas, you walked into December planning every festive activity possible; the Rockefeller Christmas tree, Nutcracker at New York City ballet, Radio City Rockettes even letting Mat show you up at skating.

That was until Mat dropped the break up bomb on you. You couldn’t really comprehend it all, too confused and hurt at once.

You were supposed to spend Christmas with Mat and the team at the Martin’s. You never answered Sydney’s texts after the breakup.

You spent Christmas alone.

You were thankful the islanders tanked their 21/22 season. It meant that they all left to go home as soon as possible.

That meant no islanders, no jerseys, no chants on the train home from work.

No Mat.

He went home to Coquitlam two days after the islanders lost to Tampa.

Mat spent his first summer in seven years bouncing around from place to place. He was out on the lake with Tyson for a few weeks and he visited Anthony and Emma when they bought their new home in Quebec.

He wasn’t home long with his family until he got a call, from Brock. His dad had died.

He asked if you and Mat could attend the funeral, his father really adored you both in the time he’d met you and he knew Mat well. Mathew agreed to attend, claiming you were busy but sent your well wishes.

He flew into Minnesota the day prior, dropping off flowers to Brock’s mom and she welcomed him into her home giving him a drink and thanking him for coming.

“He always liked watching you play, unless you played against Vancouver of course” she laughed, Mat gave her a smile “It’s a shame y/n couldn’t come”

“Yeah, it’s a shame” he mumbled.

Next he saw her was at the funeral, listening while she stood talking about her husband, the love she had for him, how much she missed him already.

All Mat could think about when he heard her words were you.

You were his best friend.

You were the person who knew him best.

You were supposed to be around forever.

When Mat got home after that trip he didn’t do much, he was no longer in the mood to go out partying, celebrating with friends.

Mat returned to Long Island in the end of August.

He frequented the coffee shop you guys often did and he even walked the route in the morning you did. He didn’t see you.

It wasn’t until week 3 of attending the same coffee shop that the barista, Logan said to him

“Mat, they don’t come in here anymore I’m sorry. Said they needed a fresh start after the breakup”

He silently nodded to the girl, hoping she hadn’t caught his face falling. He simply took his flat white from the counter and exited to building.

Contract talks started in mid-september.

The organization called in May to the office to discuss; throwing around money and perks.

He took the time to digest the information. He called him mom and dad to see what their opinions were on the whole thing, called his financial advisor and even called Anders but the number he kept hovering over belonged to you.

Everyone’s advice was along the lines of “you need to see yourself settling down in Long Island with a contract term like that” and he did, with you.

The deal was signed on October 4th.

@ny_islanders: “I love It here” says Mathew Barzal, after signing his 8 year extension to stay here in Long Island 💙🤍🧡

You read the tweet, saw the posts and the stories from your mutual friends. You wanted to text him — tell him congratulations, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

So instead, you simply put an orange heart emoji under the islanders post about his extension and scrolled on.

Mat saw it. His heart soared at the simplicity of it but yet the fact he knew you were still thinking of him, that you in some way still cared.

Late October, the leaves were starting to fall and hockey was beginning again. Mat wasn’t playing his best — missing goals, easy passes and a lot of falling over.

People started doubting him; calling him a fake, a money grabber and claiming they wished Lou hadn’t even drafted his extension papers.

Mat started to doubt himself too.

was he good enough?

should he have signed the papers?

was he worth the money?

was Long Island better off without him? were you?

There is was! The real problem.

Ever since that last December his mind had been stuck on you and really it shouldn’t have because it was his fault, he broke up with you.

If anyone asked Mat why you broke up he would say “We just wanted different things”

If Mat was honest with himself he would say “I was scared I wasn’t enough for them”

The first few months of hockey came and passed with not a single goal from Mat.

Lambert pulled him aside one morning at practice to tell him “You better get your head out of your ass son because one more game the way you’ve been going and you’ll be benched for the rest of this year”

The last game in November, against Philadelphia Mat was a healthy scratch.

His punishment was over by the next game but Lane told him in no specific terms he had to step up. Mat just groaned and mumbled a “Yeah, I’m fucking trying” before leaving the office.

It was harder now that it was December.

In summer he could just pretend things weren’t different.

You weren’t at his families house? You had to be with your mom.

He was alone at the casino event? You had work.

But Christmas, that was different. Christmas wasn’t something he could sweep under the rug and pretend you were busy.

You’d spent every Christmas together since Mat was eighteen years old. Your first Christmas in New York was an overwhelming experience and Mat thought it adorable at how excited you were about everything.

He bought you a necklace that year. It had his number on it, the gold chain necklace held the number thirteen on your chest and you never took it off.

It was a staple piece in your collection, whenever someone at one of your fancy work dinners or meetings would ask

“Hey why does your necklace have the thirteen on it?”

You would smile so bright, in such adoration and reply “My boyfriend, mat. He plays hockey for the New York Islanders and he’s number thirteen! but always number one to me” and everyone would laugh and call you cute.

You’d left that necklace behind the night you’d packed your stuff up to leave. Mat found it when he returned home from Boston on an away game to find you’d obviously been in and cleared out your belongings too while he was gone.

He took the necklace and posted it to your mom’s house, the only address connected to you he knew. He never knew if you’d gotten it back, not that it mattered much anyway because why would you want to wear it after you’d broken up?

Mat’s no goal streak continued up to the last game before Christmas, December 23rd and he was goal-less.

He was so frustrated at everything he couldn’t think straight about getting this goal. He was spending Christmas alone for the second year in a row — alone, without you.

He couldn’t stop thinking about you no matter how hard he tried. How you’d been here tonight wearing a silly Christmas jumper and cheering about the last game before Christmas.

They tanked the first period, Tkachuk got away with the puck leaving them up one by the end of the first. There were so many penalties, stupid penalties. It was a mess.

Second period, they equalised in the first few minutes with a goal from Beau before Brock got them up another which was matched not long after by Florida.

When the third period hit it was like something went off in Mat, that he had a surge of energy.

He got a goal, his first season goal! Then another and another with only a few seconds left on the clock.

Hat-trick. He got a hatty.

He’d done it. He finally scored a goal this season, they won the game and he got a hat-trick!

So why didn’t he feel like it was enough?

When he got back to the locker room, Mat pulled his phone out of his bag and looked at his notifications; texts from friends and family congratulating him on the goals, random emails but it was as though he was searching for something.

He clicked through the phone until he landed on what he wanted and pressed it before holding the phone up to his ear.

It rang twice before it connected

“Hello?”

“Um, hey! This is weird and I’m not sure why I’m doing this but I felt like I had to because, well because I scored my first goal of the season tonight. I scored my first season goal and I got a hatty too which I mean is a lot but I don’t feel like it’s enough”

Mat sighed, completely blocking out his team-mates listening to this conversation and looking on with sympathy

“It’s not enough because I know you’re not here-“

“-Mat-“

“No, please let me finish it’s taken me long enough to get the courage to call you. I was stupid for what I did last Christmas and I will wholeheartedly tell you that this year has been the worst year of my life and maybe you call that karma, I call it a wake up call that you… you’re the love of my life and that I want to be with you, I was scared and stupid but I’m better I will be better for you! I’m ready to be the man you need”

After his spiel, Mat took a deep breath awaiting your answer but instead was met with a dead line.

You hung up on him.

Mat looked dejectedly at him phone in hand before he got up to get dressed as he was very spitefully aware of the media and press awaiting him outside the door.

He breezed through media by giving them one word answers and a bored look, they usually let him away early when he did that.

Collecting his bag from the now empty locker room and sulking down the hallway towards the car park.

He wasn’t even looking up, instead opted for the wonderful view of his scuffed shoes. Paying so little attention he didn’t even see you standing at the end of the hallway.

“Nice shot!” His head whipped up, locking eyes with you almost immediately.

You watched his face go through a multitude of emotions before it softened and he muttered “What-“

“I was here Mat” is what you said, gesturing to the stairs you’d descended from your seat “I was sat up there and I watched it, I was cheering you on”

Mat was speechless, fumbling over his words and his eyes flickered across your body, trying to drink you in while you were stood in front of him before his eyes landed on your neck.

Lay on your black shirt was a necklace, the necklace.

The number thirteen lay to elegantly on your chest “You got it”

You looked down and smiled “Oh yeah, my mom sent it to my apartment” playing with it between your thumb and pointer finger.

A soft silence settled between you both, it wasn’t weird or awkward — it could never be awkward between you and Mat.

Until Mat broke the silence by asking

“Why are you here?”

You smiled gently “The islanders last game before Christmas has always been my tradition since I moved to New York you know that and so I never changed it this year, despite the circumstances” the last bit was a little snappy and he knew that.

“I meant what i said on that call by the way” you nodded curtly as a reply before holding out your hand for him to take

“How about you drive us around that neighbourhood with the good Christmas lights and we can talk, in the car eh?”

The Christmas lights, another tradition between you both.

Mat reached out, clasping his hand in yours and nodding “Yeah, let’s do that”

The lights on peoples home’s had somehow gotten better this year and you admired them all in a childlike fashion from the passenger seat of Mathew’s Range Rover.

“This is one of my favourite traditions we started” you say, still looking out the window. Your hand rested now on the console in the middle of the car.

Mat slipped his hand into yours, taking a leap of faith which paid off when you clasped it in yours and squeezed it.

“Yeah, i love it” he muttered, pulling the car into the side of the road now you’d reached the end of the street.

You turned to him now, waiting for him to say something.

“Listen, this is all really weird and I wish I was better with words because I would like to be able to tell you the million and one ways in which I absolutely adore you and regret what I did last Christmas every single day. However, what I can do is promise you, I promise you that I will work everyday to prove to you how much I love you and how sorry I am — I ruined Christmas and I think that’s what hurts the most is that I tainted something you love so much-“

You cut him off then, your hands resting on his cheeks; forcing him to look at you and you said “Christmas is not ruined, Christmas has brought me back to the boy I love with my whole heart and being. Don’t you ever think that you ruined Christmas because sure it wasn’t fun last year but we will have a million more Christmas’ to make up for it”

He nodded, head moving slightly so he could press a kiss onto your palm “I’ll make every Christmas the most special just for you”

“As long as I’ve got you, baby any Christmas is special”

On Christmas, when Mat arrived late to the Lee’s for Christmas with the team he walked in smiling

“Sorry, sorry I’m late I had to pick something up!”

“Dude it’s Christmas Day where could you possibly have gone to pick-“ Anthony cut himself off when he saw you enter the house, gifts stacked up in your arms that you placed on the table next to the door before grabbing Mat’s outreached hand.

“Oh my god, it’s a Christmas miracle!”

[qinluofu]

₍^..^₎　⌅　Day in the life of younger sibling ＠sae&rin ‹𝟥

(# >o<) 　 ❛ 　💐 　 ♡⃘ 　 pure fluff ﹒ ❀ ﹒no warnings

₍ᵔ⑅..ᵔ₎　　⤷　　masterlists ➷ send in requests

waking up in the morning at 7:00am sharp, getting ready for the minature version of prison but with your 2 older brothers. sae, the oldest, sleeps at the bedroom right side of yours - along with rin, second oldest, who sleeps at the bedroom left side of yours.

they're already awake by the time you are. in fact they wake you up, because if they didn't we'd be here until noon. sae makes the pancakes and rin makes the orange juice, your in charge of eating it.

since its the morning there's not much conversations being made & it's dead quiet aside from the rustling sounds of plates and bags being taken out. the itoshi brothers don't mind you being reliant on them, as they think it's a responsibility. they'd be willing to make you breakfast and wake you up everyday until you die.

when you arrive to the gates of hell, sae has to go to the other building. he tells you to stay safe and walks away, leaving rin to take care of you. rin always walks with you till the lockers cuz what if some creep goes up to you?? you need a 6 ft tall brother to handle this ( emo dog priviledges )

hanging out with your friends is cool, but not when the captain of the junior soccer club rin itoshi is constantly staring at your guy friends while his team mate isagi yoichi tries to get his attention. everytime you tell him that your fine and it's alright he goes :|.

class goes by smoothly and now its lunch time, yippie :D. oh but you don't need to get in line to get school lunch food that's ew, you already have a handmade lunch box made by sae.

today's lunch box consisted of sticky white rice along with fried egg, baby carrots with sweet & sour chicken. all in separated containers, packed nicely in a heating bag - oh and a pot of seaweed soup. nice.

as usual, the baby carrots are left untouch with a few white rice left sticking on the container. that's gonna be sae's business later on in the afternoon. you don't miss the way sae passes by your classroom, claiming he wants to see the school's newest football player isagi yoichi but everytime isagi talks to him he looks at the container of untouched baby carrots instead with an annoyed glare

isagi is starting to think the family has some issues going on.

school life is tough but when its finally over, you practically sprint to the metal gates only for sae to grab your hand and tells you "it's not safe" and to "calm down" while rin crosses his hands and gives you an unimpressed look.

"too slow turtle, i was already here" "you were supposed to wait for them dumbass" "says who?"

since its a hot summer day, sae takes you and rin to an ice cream shop to cool down a little. sae never eats the ice cream though, just hands you and rin a cone each and pays for it.

when you get home, you leave your lunchboxes on the table and decided to get a cooling bath. you don't do your homework immediately despite the constant nagging from sae and instead play some games.

at 8:24pm you went downstairs to eat dinner. rin always drags you off the bed because no matter how loud sae calls you to come down and eat you never seem to find the energy to do so.

at 11:30pm, after a tired day of everything you finally fall back to bed and sleep. you always forget to shut the lights so rin has to personally go to your room to do that for you, he says its a bad habit that you should fix soon but somehow his eyes never show a hint of annoyance.

at 12:00am does sae finally sleep, not without checking up on you and rin's room to make sure your both snoozing away. only after doing that does he find the comfort to be able to fall asleep, dreaming about whats to come.

a/n - this was not proof read guys so ignore the spelling & grmmar mistakes ...

[hilarychuff]

Chrissy hesitates while getting dressed Thursday morning. She’s got her uniform on, her cheer cardigan too, but when she looks at herself in the mirror, she half wants to shrug the sweater off. Hang it back up in her closet. She won’t be swapping it out for Jason’s letterman after first period today. What would happen if she just… left it at home. Maybe, if she gets cold, someone else will let her borrow their jacket for the day. She wonders if Jason would offer. Would he insist? Can’t have my girl looking cold, Chris, she imagines in his voice. I know it’s game day, but here, you should take it. Maybe it wouldn’t be like that, though. Maybe it would be the opposite. Baby, how am I supposed to feel you cheering me on all day long if I don’t have my jacket? Plus, you know all the guys are wearing theirs. It’s good for team unity, and I have to set the right example as captain. I thought you girls were wearing your sweaters today. She half entertains the idea of sneaking into her father’s room to borrow one of his sport coats. What would Robin think if she showed up in a blazer of her own? Or could Chrissy maybe not pull it off the same as Robin does? Robin always looks so cool and effortless in her outfits, like putting them together comes as naturally to her as breathing. Her style is so — her own compared to most of the other girls at Hawkins High. Maybe if Chrissy tried to copy it, she’d just look exactly like she would be: a little girl playing dress up in her father’s closet. Maybe she could squeeze into one of PJ’s. His size probably isn’t so different from hers. As long as he has something that fits over her shoulders, it wouldn’t matter too much if the arms were a little short. She could roll the sleeves to her elbows the same way Robin usually does. Chrissy doesn’t typically wear anything tight, though. Her own sense of style tends to favor a looser fit, her closet full of long cardigans and pleated pants, structured jumpsuits and billowy dresses that can be belted in at the waist. Her mom would call those sorts of items forgiving. Things that can change with or hide her fluctuating weight. It also tends to mean it’s less noticeable when her mother buys her clothes a size too large or decides she’s gained another few pounds and takes it upon herself to let out all the seams. Oh. Her mother. Her mother would never let her leave the house in something like that. Not ladylike enough. Of course, it’s one thing to wear her boyfriend’s jacket at school, but it’s another to include men’s clothing as part of her regular wardrobe. And it’s not like she’d be able to hide it from her parents. Even if she managed to sneak into someone else’s closet without being discovered, she couldn’t just stuff a blazer into her backpack and pull it out later. Not if she also wanted to fit any of her books in there. She’s pretty sure there isn’t a world where her mother would be swayed by any claims that it’s some sort of new trend either. Laura Cunningham always insists that truly well-dressed women always look timeless. Classic. They don’t chase trends that will look silly in pictures they’ll be showing their children one day. There’s no use, really, in trying to prepare for a conversation she’ll just lose. She keeps the cardigan on.

all the best people see you (all the best people know), chapter 8, a season 4 buckingham au

[babyboyxandy]

We can chat on tumblr chat what have been your favorite episodes in Chicago fire are you OK with love sences. Just wondering.

Awesome! Some of my favourite episode would have to be...

Season 1 Episode 1 - I hate that Andy died but honestly I find it adorable how Matt and Kelly fight like a couple! Like seriously! It's like they broke up over Andy's death and still wanna be together. And how Kelly sneaks a piece of the corned beef from the fridge at the end. "Oh god it's so good!"

Season 2 Episode 13 - Where they have the blackout and everyone comes to stay at the firehouse. Matt is having memory loss issues and Kelly just seems so worried and internally protective of him.

Season 2 Episode 20 - The explosion at the charity run. Matt and Kelly's commentary is hilarious when they are under the rubble looking for Gabby. "Casey if we don't find a place big enough to turn around were gonna have to do all this backwards." "were gonna be smart about this now?" "er... No... Keep going"

Season 3 Episode 3 - The collision between Truck 81 and Truck 66. Kelly climbs up and says "You okay Case?" like what about everyone else? Giggles.

Season 3 Episode 4 - The subway shooting Kelly was involved in. This is actually the episode that inspired me to write my story The Journey Of 3 To 81.

Season 3 Episode 19 - Chicago Med on lockdown because the guy claiming to have the deadly virus explodes himself. Kelly was so heroic and Matt was so worried about him.

Season 4 Episode 8 - Herrmann rescues a robot! Not! It's a tortoise! So cool!!!

Season 5 Episode 4 - Matt is in the warehouse doing an inspection and the forklift driver bust open a chemical tank. Matt is so quick and saves the father and daughter. He digs through a wall with a chair leg! Kelly shows up and is calling for him and Matt calling out to him. So intense! Sparks were LITERALLY flying!

Season 5 Episode 8 - After Matt and Gabby say "I do" Kelly grabs Matts butt! I'm not even sure if that is supposed to be seen or is Taylor was joking around on set and they just left it in.

Season 7 Episode 10 - Matts apartment has burned down and he receives an offer from Kelly to move in with him. Need I say more?

Season 7 Episode 13 - The polar plunge and Kelly takes Matt out for date night. This is the episode that inspired me to write my story Call You Sev.

Season 7 Episode 14 - The chili cook off. Kelly and Matt cooking together is adorable. And Ritter and Tuesday as a team? That's just too adorable!

Season 8 Episode 3 - Where they get the new high tech call system. This always makes me laugh. Especially when Boden throws it out the door!

Season 8 Episode 4 - The infection episode. After they are cleaning up from the fire at the college, Kelly and Kidd are having a moment. All you hear is "Kelly get over here! Boden wants to talk to us" it's almost like Matt was jealous. It makes me giggle.

Season 8 Episode 13 - This one ALWAYS makes me cry. Where the elderly couple just moved to Chicago! There house burns down. The wife doesn't survive. Matt and Sylvie go find the man's cat Dusty. Then the tear jerker. Everyone shows up at the funeral to show the man the true Chicago support.

Season 8 Episode 20 - Capp is injured. Kelly and Matt go visit him and go to the doctor with him. It's so sweet.

Sorry thats a really long list. If you read all of that I'm so happy. If not I really don't blame you. I have autism and I kinda hyperfixated on your question. I love Chicago Fire!

My favourite ship is Sevasey. I don't really like Stella Kidd at all.

I'm totally OK with love scenes. My fanfics are proof of that.

Thanks for the ASK! Love you!

💙 Xandy

[gyumibear]

💖 create a sim(p)! — 8: lix’s opinion

synopsis — after stupidly claiming on stream that you’ve been dating popular youtuber choi beomgyu in secret after accidentally creating an identically looking sim, you beg him not to reveal your lie to the public when it goes viral. weirdly, he agrees and you two begin to fool the public. can your lie become the truth or will it eventually catch up with you?

prev / masterlist / next

a/n — gyu and yn have yet to be nice to each other… no warnings except gyu swears like once.

“hey...” you greeted felix with as much enthusiasm as you could muster, but anyone could tell just from listening to your voice that you were upset.

“hey hey, no sadness,” felix’s cute aussie accent flowed through your phone, “don’t think about beomgyu right now. let’s just play some games and hang out.”

opening one of your favorite games, you sent the invite code to him. it wasn’t often that you played games with him over a call, but when you did you two could easily go for hours. it reminded you of the earlier stages of your relationship, way back when you two were freshly dating and did almost everything together. he was the reason you had gotten into streaming, saying your commentary was so funny that you deserved to be an internet personality.

thinking more on your relationship, you still sort of regretting breaking up with him. it wasn’t something you liked to think about because it made you feel really guilty. see, felix was moving back to korea and you were on board with going with him, but then your channel started blowing up. felix offered to stay in california, wanting to make you happy, but you just told him to go. you split up after that, neither of you being able to handle long distance. sometimes you wished you would’ve just went with him...

“what’re you thinking about? you’re quiet.”

“ah... still reeling over beomgyu,” you lied, “sorry... i’m just trying to figure out what to do about him.”

“wanna hear my opinion?”

“of course.”

“now that i’m thinking about it, i’m not really liking the idea of you and him fake dating... for reasons. it was a stupid idea and seeing how he treats you? but i think you guys just got off on the wrong foot. maybe you should ask him if you guys can start over? get a clean slate.”

that made sense to you. you didn’t think beomgyu was actually a bad person, but you were conflicted. he was always so rude to you for no reason! well, maybe he did have a reason... but still, common etiquette! nevertheless, the thought of starting over wasn’t exactly unappealing to you... beomgyu was an internet crush of yours, and maybe you two could actually end up being somewhat friends?

“that’s not a bad idea actually... but we have a problem.”

“and what’s that?”

“he lives in korea, i live here... how are we supposed to convince people of a healthy, working relationship if we’re never seen together?”

“well...” you could hear felix smirking into his phone, “i may have an answer to that...”

“what are you trying to say?”

“let me share my screen…” he fumbled around for a bit before showing you an airline website. “what do you think about bringing soobin and kai on a little vacation?”

© GYUMIBEAR. do not repost, modify or translate my work onto other social media sites.

[cyandreamsinwords]

Cut and Run — Pt 7 (BoaWT AU)

Again, none of this is cannon to the main fic, I just like to self-indulge. (3.1k)

Now also on Ao3

Link to the main fic here

A/N: So, I never claimed to tell the truth. There will be one more part after this and THAT'S IT! NO MORE! THAT'S ALL I HAVE IN ME! This was supposed to be the end, but I was hexed by an angsty witch who gave me heavy-feels-worms. So if you're only reading this AU for the good time vibes...maybe don't get excited.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 • Pt 8 (Final)

As the next few months passed, and no one came knocking, Sirius and Remus’ shared tension began to release. Even with Harry here, the world’s eyes were not keen enough to find them, and in their house up in the woods, they were able to start something reminiscent of normalcy. It finally felt safe enough to let the children out to play and explore the woods around them. No one came knocking. And every day they started behaving more and more like actual children. And less and less did Sirius find himself dreaming of his confinement. Even in the cold, he felt content. 

Remus still came and went, picking up supplies and keeping them connected to the outside world. But now that they weren’t living one on top of another, he stayed for longer, really only leaving when the full moon drew near, back to a place he referred to as the flat. He didn’t like to be anywhere near when he experienced his change, which Sirius couldn’t really blame him for, but couldn’t help but miss the nights he used to spend with him when it happened. And how perfect a place this would be for it too, all woods and empty acres to explore on canine legs.

They didn’t have to live in the snow for long. It began to melt a few weeks ago, exposing the forest floor beneath it, ushering in spring. Now only patches of it remained. Sirius was sitting out on the narrow porch in the rickety old chair they’d found, watching the kids as they picked up any rocks or leaves that caught their eye and showing them off to one another. Remus apperated in with a loud snap that had them scurrying into the underbrush with shrill screeches and giggles.

“It’s just Moony!” he called out to them, taking a deep drag of his cigarette. They’d practiced what to do when they heard the noise, even though so far only Remus had been the culprit. For now, it was just a game to them, but one day…one day they may need to truly hide. 

Remus approached him with a frown. “Those are awful for you, you know.”

Sirius smiled, blowing out a sharp cloud of smoke. “Rich, coming from the guy who introduced me to them in the first place. I was innocent to the dangers of these things until you gave me one.”

He reached out, snagging the cigarette, taking one quick breath, before flicking it to the ground and stomping it out. “You live with children, you shouldn’t be smoking.”

“Hypocrite.” His smile widened. “Why buy them for me then? Trying to tempt me or yourself?”

Still Remus didn’t crack a smile. He looked off, actually. His own slipped off his face, and Sirius began to sit up, dreading what that meant. “What is it then?”

Rems looked off towards the kids. “...your mother’s dead.”

It took a long second to realize he was feeling any sort of emotion at all at the statement, but once he did, he felt so overwhelmed by them he couldn’t even identify what it was exactly that he was feeling the most. It took an even longer second to actually comprehend what Remus had actually said—his mother was dead.

Walburga Black. Dead and gone.

In the end, he simply hummed through it all, slouched back in his seat and said evenly, “That so? From anything interesting? Tell me it was Kreature. That’d be a laugh.”

Remus shook his head. “The most dramatic of people are saying that she died of a broken heart after her granddaughter was taken.” Remus leaned up against the side of the house. “In reality, she was just due for it. Nothing special, just…her time.”

He gave him his silence then, a watchful shadow against the house keeping an eye on the children while Sirius sorted himself. He must have figured, even after all these years, that Sirius did better with having a moment.

There was relief. Relief that regardless of what happened to him now, Lyra wasn’t going to return to that house to live with that woman. He could be found and taken back to prison and die there, and she’d never again have to stay in 12 Grimmauld Place with a woman who punished her by locking her outside in the cold by herself. There was still so much he didn’t know about how his mother had raised his daughter, but he saw the aftermath and he hated her for what he could assume. 

Yet…there was something else clawing inside of him. It wasn’t regret, just something akin to it. He realized he wished he could have spoken to her one last time. Not to work things out, but to listen to her try and justify herself and for him to tell her that any excuse she made wasn’t good enough. He wanted to talk to her one more time just to scream over her, to be louder and angrier than her. He never got the chance to tell her just how little he regretted leaving, never got to prove to her just how wrong she’d been when she told him he’d become nothing, that he’d be an awful father. 

He wanted one last fight with her. He wanted to win just once. 

It left such a bitter taste in his mouth, that feeling like she’d had the last laugh and he’d lost once again. “Well good riddance to bad rubbish,” he huffed, leaning further into his chair like it didn’t matter, wishing Remus hadn’t stomped out his cigarette so he could take a nonchalant drag just to better sell himself. “I’m starved, Moony. What do you say to an early dinner.” He leaned back to shoot a smile his way. “My mother just died, so you’re taking my turn to cook, yeah?”

Remus snorted, not at all convinced by his smile full of teeth. “You’re a shit cook anyway, so if any of us want to actually be able to swallow a spoonful tonight, I’d better.” He pushed off the wall, walking towards the kids. “You relax, I’ll get them rounded up.”

Sirius’ lips twitched irritably, annoyed at Remus for continuing to give him his space to breathe, when he’d already started convincing himself he was perfectly fine. He had no love anymore for the woman, she was at best a stranger, and at worse an evil harpy he and many others could safely celebrate the defeat of. 

Remus knelt down as the two ran up to him, their cheeks red with exertion and the cool weather. He spoke briefly to them, likely the familiar speech on how playtime was done for a bit now, but after food there’d be time for more. This was obvious by the way their voices pitched up with pleas for more time. Ever the reasonable and responsible one, Moony talked them round, ruffling both of their hair before they raced back toward the cabin.

Harry reached him first, but Lyra barreled right on him. He groaned, scrambling to keep her steady as she scurried up into his lap, where she already cuddled into his side. “Geez, you’ll knock me right out of my chair one day,” he wheezed. 

“Moony says it’s time for food,” Harry announced.

“He also says you need extra love today,” Lyra said, hugging him tighter.

“Oh did he? Maybe Moony can give me some extra love.” He shot him an exaggerated wink. “What do you say, Moons? Give me a kiss?”

The heavy roll of his eyes could not distract from Remus’ fond smile. “C’mon idiot,” he said, immaturely palming Sirius’ face with a THWACK, making the two children giggle. “Let’s see what we have left for supper.”

“One day,” he whispered to Lyra as he stood, readjusting her in his arms, “that’s going to work.”

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

That night, Lyra came paddling into his room. He was still wide awake at this point, and unbothered by the intrusion. She came to stand beside his bed, holding tightly to her little frog stuffie. “Daddy?” She’d started calling him that now, dropping the awkward term of father (thank Merlin) after Harry had asked her why she called him that and not daddy like most other boys and girls.

“Yeah, baby moon?” He asked, rolling to his side. “Can’t sleep, can you?”

She shook her head.

He scrubbed at his eyes. “That’s okay, neither can I.”

Her entire little face lit up at this. “Can we go and look at the stars?! Until we’re sleepy?”

He’d made the mistake before, once she’d started in on the bad habit of riling Harry up too much before bed time, and he needed to resort to bribery to get her to settle. A sure way to get Lyra to do whatever he asked was to take her out and let her stare up for a while. He didn’t get how it didn’t remind her of being locked outside in the cold, but he was happy they’d made it into something fun they did together.

He looked toward the window. “How are the clouds tonight?”

She ran to the window, standing up on her tippy toes to see out. “I don’t see any!”

Sirius snorted, sure that wasn’t true, but sat up and turned his feet out onto the cold wooden floor. “Under such perfect conditions, we’ll be sure to sleep soundly tonight. Go get a blanket then. QUIETLY—” He hissed, reaching for a shirt to put on as she squealed and scampered off. 

She stood waiting for him at the door, her feet tapping on the ground as she danced excitedly, blanket in her arms. He took it from her, pulled on his slippers, before holding the door open for her to go tapping out. He’d just barely pulled her up into his lap before she’d started her babbling.

“There’s the daddy star—” she pointed to Sirius, “And there’s the Lyra stars. And there’s Moony.” She looked at him, a question suddenly occurring to her. “Which one is Harry?”

“He doesn’t really have one, yet. The star names are kind of our family’s thing, and Moony’s name is a bit of a coincidence.”

Her lips twisted. “You need to find him one, daddy. Otherwise he’ll be left out.”

Sirius huffed. “Will do, Mini Moon. I’ll need your help though, so start looking and make a case for one.”

She continued to babble for a while more, searching through them though Sirius was only half paying attention. Try as he might to forget the earlier news of the day, his mother still lingered on his mind. An evil, mind consuming parasite, even in death.

He’d learned from a young age that he’d never garner the woman’s approval the way that he was, and very quickly came to the realization that he would much rather be himself than whatever she desired from him, a decision she made his life hell for. He’d grown a thick layer of skin protecting himself from her barbs and barks, and later, for that short period he’d allowed it when things really reached their breaking point, her fists. 

He recalled the day she’d come to confront him about Lyra, and the horrible words she’d said to him. After every encounter, he’d always comfort himself with the words I’ll show her. But now, all those things she’d ever said to him ran through his head like a never ending whirlwind of hate and vitriol, and it was picking up speed. 

“Why are you so sad?” Lyra asked, turning to lean sideways into him.

“I’m not really sad,” he said stiffly. “Just thinking really hard about something that doesn’t make me happy.”

She frowned, confused by his wording, which admittedly didn’t make a whole lot of sense. “Then why are you thinking about it?”

“Can’t really help it, sweetheart. Not how the head works.” He rubbed her arm up and down, chasing away the goosebumps and pulling her closer. “Trust me, I’m trying.”

Nearly four years old now, Sirius could try and explain to Lyra the truth. Maybe she’d understand that her grandmother was dead. But really, what good would that do? They’d done well so far, rarely ever bringing her up. Why not go another day longer, or perhaps forever.

“Should I get Moony?” Lyra asked. “You like when he’s around.”

Sirius cracked a smile. “You noticed that, huh?”

She nodded. “I like when he’s around too. Him and Harry.”

He looked down at her. “Yeah? You might be onto something, Mini Moon. Should we go wake them up and bring them out here too? Make it a party.”

“Yeah!” Lyra quickly jumped off his lap and ran back into the house.

“You get Harry, I’ll get Moony,” he instructed, following in after her and heading towards the stairs.

Remus was so sound asleep in his bed up in the loft he didn’t stir at all as Sirius approached him. He’d almost feel bad about waking him, as peaceful as he was, especially so soon after the full moon. “Moons. Get up.” He prodded his side.

Remus groaned, blurry eyes cracking open to stare at him in confusion. “‘Irius? Wha’s goin on?” he grumbled thickly, turning over onto his back to try and sit up.

“Family time outside. Let’s go.”

His groan this time was unamused and borderline angry, stifling it in his pillow as he rolled over. “You prick.”

Sirius leaned down, hands on either side of him so he could lean over and say sarcastically, “My mother died today, Remus. I’m in need of extra love and care.”

“What you need is therapy.”

“Probably.” The two little ones could be heard shuffling around downstairs. “C’mon, you don’t want to be left out, do you?”

Remus continued to curse and groan, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Fine. I’ll be down in a minute. Get out.”

“It’s going to be a blast, Moony. Just like the old days.” Sirius started to descend the stairs, whistling obnoxiously as Remus swung his legs out, revealing his bare chest and flannel sleep pants. “Be sure to cover up, don’t want me jumping you in front of the kids.” Remus flipped him off, reaching for a sweater. 

Down below, Lyra pulled Harry from their shared room, explaining excitedly what was going on. The boy’s little footie pjs shuffled along the wooden floor, tired and groggy. He rubbed his eyes with his hand and looked to Sirius for an explanation that made sense.

Remus followed soon after, taking the stairs down slowly. Lyra ran up to him, jumping up and down and he put on a happier expression just for her. 

“I was told the skies look lovely tonight, would that be correct?” he asked her, reaching down to swing her into his arms. “Well, I’d hate to miss such a night. Lead the way, Little Moon.”

“Arm yourself,” Sirius said, throwing him a blanket. “It’s still pretty nippy out.”

The four of them settled outside, Lyra happily pointing out her own stars, Sirius’, as well as the beetle from her story. She told Harry how the moon was for Remus, and that they’d need to pick out one for him as well. He slumped heavily in the crook of Sirius’ arm, eyes fluttering as he tried to stay awake. 

 He looked so much like his father in this moment, the version that he first met on the train heading off to school. Memories of James overtook him, and he shuttered with the grief of it. Harry looked up at him because of it, turning Lily’s green eyes on him, only making it worse. 

They should be here. Harry should have his parents, and Sirius and Remus their best friend, Lyra an aunt and uncle. People just kept slipping away, even the ones who didn’t matter.

“Harry, which one do you want?” Lyra said, leaning forward. “You should pick a pretty one, one with a good story.”

“But I don’t know the stories,” he grumbled.

“I just told you—!”

Yet here they were together, against all the odds. Sirius should still be locked up and forgotten right now, Harry with those horrible muggles, Remus off on his own, and Lyra in that house with a grandmother who just died. They were missing parts, but not everything. And Sirius had followed through, just as he’d promised James, and made sure his son was safe and loved. 

He’d served his chosen family, pulling them all back to him. A fact his mother would never have understood or appreciated, no matter how much he’d have argued. And even though earlier that night that same thought would have infuriated him, now it brought a smile to his face.

“Fuck that old woman,” he sighed contently, slouching back in his chair.

“Sirius!” Remus scolded, alerting both children to the fact that he’d said something naughty.

“What does fuck mean?” Harry asked him in all seriousness.

“Don’t repeat that,” Remus said with more patience for him than Sirius.

“It’s a cuss word,” Sirius explained. “Very naughty.”

“One he shouldn’t be using around the two of you,” Remus glared.

Sirius shrugged, jostling Harry and smirking widely. “I promised James I’d teach you to swear properly. And me, I like to go straight for the big ones.”

“That’s my dad’s name,” Harry said, more awake now than a moment ago.

“Yeah. James was Moony and I’s best friend. I’ve told you that.”

Harry nodded. “What about my mom? Were you friends with her too?”

“Not as long as your dad, but yeah. Actually, your mom didn’t like us all very much at the start. Not even your dad. But we grew on her, in the end.”

“Tell me?”

Sirius shared a smile with his old friend. “What do you say, Remus? Start at the beginning?”

Remus’ lips twitched, drawing the blanket tighter around Lyra, as it was clear they wouldn’t be going in any time soon. “Have we even the time? You have several years of pranks, troubles and misdemeanors to cover.”

“Probably won’t get to it all tonight, but it’s a start.” He cleared his throat, feeling himself growing lighter. “Anyway, if we start at the very beginning, I first met James while on the train to Hogwarts, when we were eleven or so. That’s the school we all went to, and at the beginning of your first year there, the sorting hat will put you in one of four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. That last one is the worst of them, full of backstabbing, power hungry cowards, but we all had the great fortune of being sorted into the best, Gryffindor. You see, what makes someone a Gryffindor is that they are brave and courageous, and fiercely loyal, none more so than James…”

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

A/N: if any of you have great memories and noticed that Lyra is 5 in the main fic when Walburga dies but is still 3 here, know that I know that too. I guess even evil harpies can die of broken hearts.

[mrs-monaghan]

Bro some of these jikook bloggers here are funny af. You are telling me these people are getting upset JK has a schedule on 8th ? LMFAO. These people had an imagination in their heads that he'll drop a gcf on 8th. For one, we all are expecting that content from NYC-CT. But people really believed we are getting a jkk gcf right in middle of his release week ? Please don't be dumb... it's literally his solo album week and it should be about him and only him.

Now some are sad he's not staying back in SK on that day and salty towards JK for 'agreeing' to this schedule. Be fr. It's just 5 days past his album release and these people expect him to be free to spent his day with his bf ? 🤡🤡🤡🤡 Was Jimin even a minute free during his debut week? No, it was most hectic week. It's same with JK, who we know will have 2x promos than Jimin. He maynot write songs but he's also working and traveling constantly.. and has most tiring type of schedule out of all.

Me personally, is happy he put his career before than just an 'supposed' anniversary date. Guys, that's how it's supposed to be. No real professional will take a day off when it's their peak busy time to celebrate their 'anniversary', especially if they have a schedule out of country 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

Istg these jikookers think they are some fuckass idols who are jobless half the year or expect them to be lovey dovey with each other on every special day as a domestic couple lol. We are talking about 2 most in demand professional af idols here and more than anyone else it's Jimin who understands what JK's work demands. You all don't have to worry about their anniversary dates, what lyrics he's singing, how much hours he's working etc

Jimin is worried. And if Jimin is worried about the hours JK is working then so are we 🤷🏽‍♀️

But that's not what this is about. While I agree with what you're saying, I don't like your tone of voice. It's coming off way judgy and condescending... portraying us like we don't have common sense.

Let me remind you again why we support Jikook. We believe they are in a relationship due to their CONSISTENCY. Consistency = patterns. Patterns are important. 11/8 is an important pattern. Thats why all Jokers, I-Jikookers and Kjikookers alike, all expected something. Because this has happened many a times in the past.

Now, I do not claim anyone getting mad at JK for being busy during their anniversary. But it's perfectly okay for us to be collectively disappointed.

I mean, on the plus side, people won't shit on Jikook and Jimin, calling them fanservice and calling what they have work but on the other hand, we really did want that GCF Cunneticut and its a bummer that we ain't getting it on this special date.

But all hope is not lost. At least on my end. There is content from that time and I know its coming. We just aren't getting Jikookery on 11/8 like we wanted... which is fine. And who knows anyway? There's still time. So we will see.

But don't judge us for thinking we were right. We've been right plenty of times before...

[solradguy]

Mr. Rad Guy, I've wanted to get your opinion on something for a while now, and finally snagged what I was looking for on twitter. I normally don't pay any of those transphobic Bridget discourse peddlers any mind, but they bring up her appearence in the canon pachinko game Vastege as supposed "proof" that Strive's story direction for her is a contradictory retcon. This game's plot takes place just three months before Xrd's, and they claim that through her voicelines she is still insisting sternly that she's a man and not to call her cute, but also that she STILL hasn't broken her village's superstition at this point in time. This is the only image they ever have as so-called evidence, so I wanted to see if you know if these lines are legitimately in the game, scrapped content, or made up altogether. I don't trust these lunatics as far as I can throw them when it comes to telling the whole truth 🤨

This screenshot is from same manuscript of dialog that is in the lore server archives and in the GG VXT archive pack that I compiled and uploaded to Archive.org. As far as I know, these lines were all used in the game and no unused lines have been (or even could be) datamined. Two of the lines here are highlighted so I'm assuming they're the ones these dorks are using to try to prove their point. I've translated them.

First line:

I want to break the village's rule/law*, and return to the village as a young man.

*In the official localizations I think they might translate this as "tradition" or "superstition" instead of rule or law.

"Young man" in that line is 男の子 (otokonoko). Do not let anyone convince you Bridget is using the other otokonoko there (男の娘；"young man with a feminine aesthetic"). They like to do that a lot, argue that it's the one that uses 娘.

Second line:

Cute is uncalled for... I'm a man.

In conclusion: Yes. Bridget is using almost 1:1 recycled dialog in Vastedge that she used in XX and the spinoffs. The Twitter grifters' Google Translating was correct this time.

Vastedge's plot may take place only 3 months before Xrd, but Vastedge itself came out in 2013—8 entire years before Strive released in 2021. A lot can change in 3 months in real life, but after almost a decade most people are entirely different altogether (wrt Daisuke and his plot decisions). Also it's a friggin pachislot machine lmfao Like, are people really expecting something as earth shattering as a character as irrelevant to the general plot like Bridget suddenly stopping all of the action to explore her identity on a slot machine? I have no patience for these people anymore. They're just stupid and arguing because they have no hobbies.

There's also the fact that Daisuke originally planned for Bridget to be a cis girl until the very last minute. So if anything her coming out in Strive was just returning to the starting concept. He mentions this in the interview in the back of Artworks of Guilty Gear X 2000-2004. Translation by fairymisao.

(27)---The character Bridget, introduced in Guilty Gear XX, looks like a girl but is actually a boy, right? What was your intention in deciding on creating this kind of character? Ishiwatari: The creation of Bridget as a boy happened at the very last second; during development I was drawing him as purely a girl. It's just that when there is a need to give a worldly backbone (to the game), in order for me to try to not forget each character, and in order to revive the character, I give them my very heart. As a result, the creation of Bridget as actually a boy instead of a girl was because I thought he could become my alter ego. [...]

It's also important to note that Vastedge was the first thing ASW made for Guilty Gear after getting the full rights to the IP back from Sega after the Sega-Sammy merger in 2011 (which they had started to lose a bit before Overture's release in 2004). They were absolutely more focused on making something that would generate income and looked flashy than they were a compelling cinematic experience.

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Riding the Lightning

Season One Masterlist

Poison

Unfinished Business

Summary: The team of investigators interview husband and wife serial killers with their execution date set for two days time but then they start to speculate that things aren’t as clear as they seem.

Warning: Implications of past sexual assault, Implication of a past sexual psychopath, Mentions of teenage victims, Flashbacks, Flashback to a twelve-year-old being injured, Mention of J.D., Mention of Abuse

“An abusive man is not a reliable source of information about his partner.” — Lundy Bancroft

The team was driving down to Central Florida to interview a supposed serial killing couple just before their execution.

JJ, Elle, Gideon, and Morgan took one car.

"Sarah Jean and Jacob Dawes butchered what, twelve girls?" JJ asked.

"Thirteen, counting the girl that was just found. Hilary Dickson." Gideon said, "Disappeared fifteen years ago. Buried her under Sarah's mother's living room."

"You think that was their last victim?" Elle asked.

"Well, that's what we're here to find out."

Alexander, Hotch, Zoe, Spencer, and Garcia took the other car, much to Zoe's annoyance, as Garcia would complain about leaving her corner.

"There's nothing about the dynamics of Sarah Jean and Jacob's relationship." Spencer noted.

"The state isn't interested in dynamics or profiles. They just want this case to go away." Zoe said, cynically, fidgeting.

"They were caught. They confessed. They got the death penalty." Hotch said.

"You guys do realize that visiting death row is not part of my job description?" Garcia complained.

"Mmm." Zoe hummed, tilting her head in disagreement.

"Garcia, this will be the first serial killer couple ever recorded for ViCAP." Spencer said.

"They slaughtered thirteen young girls with blonde hair. Hello?" Garcia said with judgement and disgust and gestured to her own blonde hair.

"Stop complaining, Garcia. Those girls were way ­younger than you." Zoe said, unintentionally insulting Garcia.

In 1990, when they were caught, the media called Sarah Jean Dawes, "The Ice Queen" because that's how they had interpreted her demeanour during the trial. Zoe saw different, though. Even though, she had only been five, she had watched the video of the trial. She hadn't seen her demeanor as apathetic... more traumatized. Like she would become in so soon in life.

She had only confessed to killing her two-year-old son, Riley but she was still charged with the murders of those girls. However, there had no evidence of Rile

When they arrived, there was a crowd outside the prison, most of them declaring their hate of the couple but there were a dozen blondes, proclaiming their love for Jacob.

"They call themselves the Women of Jacob." Zoe said, rolling her eyes.

"Try to look like his victims."

"Creepy." Garcia said.

"It happens more than you think. It's called hybristophilia. Richard Ramieraz killed twelve people but had fans who would write him and pay him visits, including Foreen Lioy who married him in San Quentin State Prison. Carol Ann Booth married Ted Bundy the day before he was sentenced to death and conceived a daughter while he was in prison." Spencer said.

"Oh yeah, I met her very briefly." Zoe recalled and then nodded to the women, "There's only twelve of them. Should we tell them they're one short? At least?"

——————————————————————————————————

"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." — Genesis 9:6.

January 23, 2006, MONDAY, 8 AM — 35 Hours Remaining

Garcia started up the prison computer system as Morgan said, "In 1985, there was a string of missing girls reported in Northern Florida. Police subsequently got an anonymous call from a woman claiming to have seen Jacob with some of the girls."

"Did they ever find out who the anonymous woman was?" JJ asked.

"No." Spencer drawled

"Police interviewed Jacob Dawes. Also present were Sarah Jean Dawes and their two-year-old son, Riley. Police were suspicious. They came back three hours later with a search warrant only to find that Riley had vanished. They also eventually found the dismembered bodies of twelve missing girls buried in the ground underneath Jacob's workshop." Hotch explained.

"Fearing that the police were onto them, Jacob figured Riley would slow them down so he ordered Sarah Jean to kill him and dispose of the body." Spencer said.

"Sarah confessed to killing Riley, but never admitted her role in the deaths of the girls." Gideon said.

"Yeah, but she never denied it, either." Elle said.

"Well, according to Jacob, Sarah Jean was fully complicit in the targeting, abduction and murder of all twelve, and, well, now thirteen victims."

"Prison records show that Jacob is a sexual psychopath. They were inconclusive on Sarah Jean, though. They said her demeanor was more like that of a war victim's." Spencer said.

Alexander looked at Zoe, she had said the same thing when she was younger on this very case. Multiple times. It was how one could describe her after those five days. When she woke up, she never cried but her eyes were still bloodshot from the tears she had cried in captivity. She had been in shock and couldn't remember anything, but still she lied to everyone but Alexander and Zarah.

And when she came back from those eight months. Apart from her breaking into tears at the realization that Zarah had never been found, she had remained distant, nearly emotionless. Until the first bouquet arrived. The moment she saw those blood-covered white roses, she had broken down, screaming and crying so hard that she had difficulty breathing. In hysterics, only muffled when she buried her face into Alexander's chest.

Not quite as much as after those six months. She had learned to be strong by then. Well, Zoe's definition of strength. By refusing to show weakness.

"And as with all sexual psychopaths, Jacob is obsessed with the idea of the total possession of his victims. He's shown no remorse or guilt.

Well, Jacob saw Sarah Jean as a possession. Somebody to control. To dominate." Gideon said.

Zoe's memory flashed back to the first stab as that scar burned as if being cut open again. It was the closest thing she could remember to her time with him other than him holding the gun to her head until he pistol-whipped her.

He had kept the blade in her body for a long time, he had pulled her flush against his body and the knife piercing deep into her flesh. She wasn't sure if more tears welled up in her eyes or if it just felt like it from five full days of... whatever he did to her. He had his hand on the back of her head, and he was shushing her and whispering but she couldn't remember what he was saying. She got the feeling his voice was husky though... and it made her feel sick. She felt him grip her hair and pull, but her scalp had already been throbbing. Had he pulled her hair a lot? Her head jerked up, meeting those gold hazel eyes, shining with mirth and pleasure. She knew in that moment that he owned her. He had done terrible things to her the past five days, things that had never been done to her, she knew that. She had never been stabbed before, not with a knife. This was her first UnSub scar, just below the scar that saved her life twelve years ago. He had irretrievably damaged her, he had tricked her and taken her right in front of her sister because of what her dad hadn't done. Then he pulled the blade out to start stabbing again. All while she refused to break eye contact. If he was going to kill her, he was going to have to look her in the eyes.

Now, even nearly eight years later, she was still his plaything. She knew he watched the news for her. Followed her every step. She was his possession in his twisted mind. She could never escape even though she let him escape.

Zoe felt like she couldn't breathe but she had had practice in hiding her PTSD. Her brokenness.

She nearly flinched when Alexander put a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes darted up and she saw Gideon looking at her. Oh, he knew. Did that make him as guilty as she was? The lives

"Just so we're clear, they've agreed to these interviews?" A man asked.

"Yes, sir." Gideon nodded.

"Wait. I'm sorry." Zoe asked, and her voice was briefly hoarse. Which Spencer picked up on. "Who are you, exactly?"

"I'm Sam Shapiro. I'm their appeals attorney."

"Not only have they agreed to them, they were initially requested by them." Hotch said, handing Shapiro a paper.

"Yeah, I can't get them a stay of execution."

"Garcia. Remember, seventy-five percent of all communication..." Gideon said.

"Is non-verbal." Garcia finished.

"Hotch, Alexander, interview Jacob. Morgan, Elle?" Gideon said. He knew it was best not to have Zoe be near him. If her zone-out PTSD attack was anything, he didn't want to remind her of her repressed memories sooner than she had to.

"We're not going to get anything new, but..." Hotch said.

"Well, find a new way to ask." Gideon said and handed a picture to Morgan, "696 Hennessy Street, Jacob and Sarah Jean's home. It's due for demolition. Take a look around."

——————————————————————————————————

Gideon, Zoe, and Spencer walked with the warden to see Sarah Jean.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked Zoe.

"Just peachy." Zoe huffed.

"The guards call this dead man's alley." The warden said.

"Has she had any contact with Jacob?" Gideon asked.

"Well, until today she's declined contact with anyone." The warden said. "For her own safety, we keep her away from the other prisoners. The hate for this woman is as fresh today as it was fifteen years ago. Open on four!"

They reached Sarah Jean's cell which was full of paintings that she was staring at.

"Accomplished work." Gideon said.

"I've had plenty of time." Sarah Jean said. Her voice was hoarse as if she hadn't been in the habit of using it a lot. She turned around, showing them the face Zoe had seen on TV when she was five. Sarah Jean was a middle-aged blonde woman with blue eyes that seemed to be much older in the way that Gideon's were, and she had a kind, gentle smile. "What is it you want to know?"

"I think it's time the mothers of those girls learned why their children had to die. Don't you?" Gideon asked.

Sarah Jean was perfectly lovely, she asked for their names as they walked.

"This is Doctor Spencer Reid and I'm Doctor Zoe Noble-Valdez, M.D." Zoe said.

"A doctor and so young. Your mother must be very proud." She told Spencer and he nodded slightly. She turned to Zoe, "Your mother must be proud too."

"My dad is... my mom's... she's dead." Zoe said and Sarah Jean showed true sympathy in her eyes.

Jacob caught sight of his wife between the cages that separated the walkways.

"Sarah Jean." He said and Sarah Jean's face fell. "Sarah Jean." She turned to see her husband whom she hadn't seen in fifteen years. "You look so fine, baby cakes. This was meant to be. Our names will live forever."

"Let's go." Hotch said and they forced Jacob to move.

"It's a beautiful thing."

"Let's go!"

"It's a beautiful thing."

Sarah Jean turned to Gideon, "You designed that to happen. Did you learn anything, Agent?" She turned to Zoe, "What about you, doctor?"

"The same thing I knew when I saw you appear on my TV screen when I was five years old." Zoe said.

——————————————————————————————————

They sat Sarah Jean at a table to talk to her.

"So what did you see in Jacob?"  Gideon asked.

"Freedom." Sarah Jean asked.

"Freedom from what?" Spencer asked.

But she didn't reply she just looked at him.

"Sarah Jean, I get it. I had a boyfriend that my dad very much didn't approve of either." Zoe said.

"And what did you see in him?" Sarah Jean asked, she was genuinely curious and Zoe knew it was best to answer her if they wanted a rapport.

Zoe considered it for a moment. it was a loaded question. J.D. saw a part of her, she hadn't allowed anyone else to see. Simply because he personally knew what signs to look for.

"Relatable trauma. He was broken like I am." Zoe replied. Spencer furrowed his brows in confusion.

Garcia's voice came over the earpieces.

"Gideon? It's Elle. She says it's urgent." She said and Gideon stood up to listen with no distractions.

"We're at the mother's house. She gave me a letter. I want to read to you." Elle's voice said as Sarah Jean

"Read the letter, Elle." Gideon said.

"What?" Sarah Jean gasped, looking at Spencer and Zoe.

"Mom, I know how difficult this must be..."

Gideon started to repeat Elle's words to Sarah Jean, the letter she wrote.

"...difficult this must be. Things between us were never what they should be between a mother and her daughter."

"That is a private letter." Sarah Jean said, standing up.

"I want you to know that the best part of me, the most important part of me is now in a better place than you or I will ever be."

"Stop it!"  Sarah Jean screamed, pulling the earpiece out of Gideon's ear.

"I am responsible for the deaths of those girls." Spencer continued repeating it aloud, "I neglected my duty as a woman and as a mother."

Sarah Jean started to hit Spencer but Zoe was on her feet, grabbing her and Sarah Jean spun around and raised her hand to hit Zoe but Zoe just moved her head, looking at it but not flinching... like she was all too used to it.

"Do you think hurting me like the men who hurt us is going to help?" Zoe asked, sincerely.

Sarah Jean retracted her hand as if she had been burned as she stared into Zoe's eyes.

"You neglected your duty?" Gideon asked and Zoe swallowed, looking away as Sarah Jean sat down in a chair, holding her head in one hand. "That doesn't make you responsible. You didn't kill those girls. Why didn't you say this in court?"

"I knew he brought women back to his workshop." Sarah Jean confessed, but she still wasn't answering truthfully, she was still hiding something.

"That's a long way from knowing he was killing them." Spencer said, sympathetically.

"They died as a result of my neglect."  Sarah Jean said.

Zoe's heart clenched with guilt, a guilt she had forced herself to learn to live with from an age that no one should have to live with that sort of guilt. A guilt she learned to accept as the norm... before more guilt piled up on her. To the point that she felt like she couldn't breathe... literally... the emotional guilt had become physical to her like it was choking her. But she couldn't let it show. She couldn't let anyone know. That was the power he had over her. These cases were the hardest. When she related to someone so much that she couldn't help but be painfully reminded of her own pain. As if the physical scars weren't enough. As if the nightmares weren't enough. As if the future repercussions weren't enough.

"This letter suggests to me that an innocent woman is about to be executed for crimes she did not commit." Gideon said.

——————————————————————————————————

MONDAY, 9:00 — Twenty-Four Hours Remaining

They rewatched the video from the camera.

"They died as a result of my neglect."

"This letter suggests to me that an innocent woman is about to be executed for crimes she did not commit."

"Well, I can tell you right now, it's not enough to get a stay." Shapiro said to Gideon.

"You want facts?" Gideon asked and turned to Spencer, "Reid."

"Human sexuality is a complex dynamic of three components, biological, physiological and emotional. Jacob's needs were informed by the emotional and sexual abuse that he received at the hand of his mother." Spencer explained.

"Long-term repetitive abuse informed the template of his love map, something we refer to as a signature. Jacob was an only child..." Zoe continued.

"Thus he was alone when the abuse occurred. So in order for him to fulfill his fantasy, he has got to be alone with his victims." Spencer finished.

They played a video of the interview Jacob had with Hotch

"If I told you that, what would I have left for myself?" He had asked Hotch.

"He said, 'myself'." Gideon pointed out, "If Sarah Jean was present, it would have destroyed his fantasy."

"She confessed to killing her son." The warden said.

"Yes, true, but we're also convinced that she was the anonymous caller that made the phone call that nailed Jacob." Spencer pointed out.

"Henry Lee Lucas claimed he killed over six hundred people. Just because someone claims they killed someone doesn't make it true." Zoe said.

"Guilt-ridden, filled with remorse, she called the police." Gideon explained, "That's not the profile of a woman who would then kill her child.

"What else do you need?" Spencer asked.

"Evidence." Shapiro said.

"If we prove Jacob killed Riley, would that get a stay?" Gideon asked.

"Absolutely." Shapiro said.

"If either of them killed them..." Zoe muttered.

"What?" The warden asked.

Zoe nodded at the live footage of Sarah Jean holding a painting including a little blonde boy. "She protects the painting. She protects the boy."

"What?" Shapiro asked this time.

"The paintings are a statement. We need to figure out what they say." Gideon explained, but it didn't clarify Zoe's words too much more for them.

"Zoe, you catch her off guard. You remind her of her when she was younger." Gideon said, looking at Zoe who gave him a deadpan look back like a sarcastic, thanks. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"I've survived worst." She said.

——————————————————————————————————

Somehow the possibility of stay of execution got out to the public. JJ, wanting to help, and being most like Jacob's victims, young and blonde, went to help Hotch while Zoe and Gideon went back to talk to Sarah Jean again.

"Sorry about before. You know, breaking your earthing and..." Her eyes flickered over Zoe who sat with a guarded posture. Arms crossed over her chest, her body stiff, but ready to fight at a moment's notice. Fifteen years ago, she wouldn't have noticed but now she did.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty." Zoe said softly.

Sarah Jean smiled; Zoe was only a few years older than Riley. Zoe was only twenty and still very much looked like a teenager. She dressed like one, not like an FBI agent. She dressed like a girl determined to show who she was through her clothing but they weren't as quirky as they could've been, showing just an ounce of professionalism. Zoe wore a dark gray t-shirt with multiple colorful crayon scribbles on it and in white words: Broken crayons still color under a black leather jacket, ripped black jeans, and high black boots. Her shirt had creases in it that implied that it had been tied in a knot but to show just a bit of professionalism Zoe had had undone the knot and tried to smooth out the crinkles.

"I think your mom would've been proud of you."

Both Zoe and Gideon smiled. Both were bittersweet in a way but still a smile.

"You both have a lovely smile."

"Thank you." Gideon said but Zoe didn't take the compliment.

"But neither of you smile much. Not really." It was hard to notice how fake Zoe's smiles were if you didn't know what to look for. She didn't know when she started using smiles to mask her pain, to her she had always been in pain, there had always been pain to mask but she didn't think she could stop the fake smiles if she wanted to. At some point, the mask of fake smiles merged with her true face. At some point, she became the mask.

"Neither do you."

“What's your excuse?

Zoe couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle, "Even without the execution scheduled tomorrow, we wouldn't have enough time to list them all."

The cell door unlocked, and a guard brought Sarah Jean's paintings in.

"I took the liberty of getting these from your cell." Gideon informed her.

"No, those are private." Sarah Jean protested but the guard placed them on the table anyways.

"Thank you." Gideon thanked them and they left, leaving them with Sarah Jean and the other guards who "just wallpaper."

"They're very good." Zoe said, kindly. In her time that could be compared to prison, if she were being kind, she only had her mind to pass the time as the UnSubs did as they pleased to her.

Gideon looked at the first painting. The painting she was most attached to. "Riley running free." He placed the painting on the floor propped up against the cage door so they could see it. He picked up another, The river. Flowing positive energy, maybe." He placed it next to the one with Riley. And he picked up the last painting, "Twelve roses. One for each girl Jacob killed."

"Until a few days ago. Jacob's thirteenth victim was found." Zoe said and Sarah Jean looked at her, shocked. "Her name was Hilary Dickson."

"You didn't know about her. You didn't really know about any of them." Gideon said.

"I never said I did."

"You confessed to killing Riley. Why would you lie about killing your own son?" Gideon asked.

"I didn't." Sarah Jean said.

"You're right. What always bothered me about your case is that you never fought the accusations, and you went along with the accusation that you killed your son. But there's no evidence. No body. No struggle. Just a missing toddler." Zoe said.

"Do you have any children?" Sarah Jean asked.

"No." Zoe said, sharply at once, her body tensing once again.

"That's irrelevant." Gideon said.

"Do you carry pictures of your children, Agent Gideon?" She pressed on.

"We're getting off point."

"Are we?"

"How old would your son be now?" Gideon asked. "Seventeen? Imagine what he could have become. Jacob put an end to any chance of that."

"Does the strain of your work affect your marriage?" Sarah Jean asked.

"I'm not married."

“You wear a ring.”

Jill Gideon was a silent partner in getting the BAU up and running. She also helped raise Zoe, she was the only therapist both Zoe and Jason could trust. They divorced just two years after David Rossi "retired".

"Why would you still be protecting Jacob?" Gideon asked.

"Did your suffer relationship because of your work?" Sarah Jean asked Zoe.

"Yes and no." Zoe said. And that was that.

"Did you divorce because of putting people like me away?"

"I think you're innocent." Gideon said.

"We're all guilty of something. But it's our children that suffers for our sins, isn't it?"

"You'd have to ask him."

"Can't I ask you?" Sarah Jean asked Zoe. "You're the other agent's daughter."

"I don't think so." Zoe said, truthfully. Despite her dad insisting she and Zarah come along on cases, she never blamed him for getting on UnSubs' radars. Not once. Her dad would say different.

"How old is your son?" Sarah Jean asked Gideon.

"He's twenty-two." Gideon said with a smile.

"Oh!" Sarah Jean smiled. "Do you have a picture of him?"

"In my office." Gideon said, gesturing.

"You don't carry him with you?"

"No."

"Does your father carry pictures of you?"

"Not of me, no. But a few weeks after my twin and I were born he got a necklace engraved with a Linnaea borealis or more commonly known as the twinflower, it's a bell-like flower that come in pairs on Y-shaped stalks. Inside are our baby footprints and our birth names." Zoe explained.

"To protect you." She smiled and looked at Gideon, "You want to leave him somewhere safe. Somewhere clean."

"You killed Riley to protect him from Jacob?" Gideon asked.

"I protect my son as you protect yours." Sarah Jean said.

"Where's he buried?" Gideon asked.

"All that matters is that he's safe."

"Where is he?" Zoe asked.

"He's in a better place."

The warden entered and said, "The chaplain's here to see you."

——————————————————————————————————

When Jacob heard that Sarah Jean had been granted a stay of execution, he claimed he could tell them where he was buried. They searched under a gazebo that was built by Jacob while Zoe spoke some more to Sarah Jean after she spoke with the chaplain while Spencer stayed back, shifting awkwardly.

Zoe didn't ask her questions; they just played a game of chess. Sarah Jean hadn't played against someone in a while. Zoe went easy on her.

“Did your boyfriend ever hurt you?” Sarah Jean asked her.

Zoe looked up at her. It was a common assumption. If you knew J.D. separately you would assume so, if you even just looked at his records, you'd think so. He had a tendency for violence, but he was a lot like Zoe. Layered. A rough exterior hiding a soft center. He didn't play by the rules and could be violently aggressive. But he never hurt Zoe. Not once.

“Ex-boyfriend. We broke up less than a year ago. And no. He… he was hurt a lot. His mom hurt him. His uncle couldn’t protect him from his stepmother. But he saw that other people hurt me. People like your husband. Possibly someone very similar to your husband. But he would never hurt me. I’m the only person he would never hurt.”

"You seem sure about that."

"I am."

“Do you still love him?” Sarah Jean asked and behind Zoe, Spencer shifted his weight.

Zoe took a moment to answer. “I’m always going to have this fondness for him. But I don’t love him like that anymore. He did a bad thing. A few bad things. And people will suffer because of it. And I will suffer because I caused it. I believed I deserved to be loved but I don’t."

"That can't be true."

"It is." She said, sharply, and then her voice softened, "I pushed him when I was trying to save him."

Spencer had to excuse himself as he got word on what the rest of the team found.

"Who hurt you?"

"A lot of men. My dad tried his best to protect me but... my mom she killed by an UnSub, a serial killer who killed pregnant women, my sister managed to be born but she was taken when she was still pregnant with me. She willingly let herself be hurt to protect me until she died."

“She did what any true mother would do.” Sarah Jean said, softly.

“Yeah, doesn’t make her death any less my fault. So my dad was too afraid for me and my sister to be out of his sight so he would take us on cases and I was not a cooperative child. I wanted to help and that got the attention of some bad men. Particularly when I was twelve, a man, a lot like your husband. Psychopath, hebephile, sexual sadist, gets off on the power he has over someone. He held a gun to my head and I was found five days later stabbed thirteen times and he still holds power over me. In the worst way."

"How?"

"I can't." Zoe whispered, shaking her head. "But I understand so much more than you know."

"Zoe." Spencer came back, "The team's back. They have something."

——————————————————————————————————

Eight Hours Remaining

They found a skeleton under the gazebo and checked for the ID.

"Guys, the body's ID's coming through," Garcia said and it brought up a picture of a young teenage girl with blonde hair. "It's not Riley Dawes. It's Ashley Farley. She was fourteen when she was killed."

"Why would Jacob give us another victim?" Spencer asked. It completely goes against his need for power, manipulation, and control."

"Taking the secret of an old victim to his grave satisfies that need." Gideon said.

"Why give it up? I mean, what's the payoff?" Spencer asked.

"Sarah Jean's the payoff." Zoe said, darkly. "Sarah Jean will be his last victim. That'd be the ultimate of control."

"Gideon, check this out. Guess who used to be the Farleys' house cleaner?

——————————————————————————————————

Zoe walked to Sarah Jean's cell where she was eating Hardee's on her prison bed with the painting with Riley hanging behind her.

"My last supper. Like some?" She asked, softly and picked up a little stuffed animal, "Look, came with a toy."

"I'm a vegetarian." Zoe declined and asked, "May I sit down?"

"Please."

Zoe and Gideon stepped inside her cell and it slid shut behind her and Zoe sat on the bed to break the news to Sarah Jean.

"Ashley Farley. You cleaned her parents' house. Remember?" Zoe asked.

"Fondly."

"I'm so sorry but we found her buried beneath a children's gazebo." Zoe said and Sarah Jean gasped loudly in grief and despair and stood up. "At another house Jacob renovated. He put her there." She went to the cell door, clutching the bars.

"I might as well have brought her home to that bastard."

"It's what Jacob wants. He wants to torture you." Zoe tried.

"Did he do to you too?" Sarah Jean asked, sharply.

"Not yet. But he will. And that's the worst part." Zoe said.

"How can you stand it?"

"I couldn't. I repressed it from my mind. The only reason I remember is because of the thirteen stab wounds he gave me." Zoe sighed and she turned to the painting of the river. "The high reeds. The river." She pointed to a brown object near the water. "This here, what is this, a basket?" Then she looked at the painting of Riley playing, "The boy in that painting is what, ten? Maybe more. Is that how you see him, or how he is?"

"I only have a few hours left. I'm respectfully asking you to leave." Sarah Jean pleaded.

"Where is he? Where is Riley?" Zoe pleaded back.

Sarah Jean turned back to the bars and said, "Please see Doctor Noble-Valdez out."

"Open four."

The door opened and Zoe walked through it, She remembered the heaviness in her jacket and she turned back to Sarah Jean in an act of kindness.

"Sarah Jean. I thought... you might want a book. This was one of my mom's favorites. Little Women. Please, be careful. It was her own copy. She wrote anecdotes in it... in case she didn't get to tell me them in person." Zoe said, taking out a copy of the classic that was over two decades old and handing it to her through the bars. "Just... to pass the time."

——————————————————————————————————

Five Hours Left

Zoe walked back inside, feeling like she left part of her behind with the book. "Garcia, pull up the interview with Sarah Jean."

"What is it?"

"If my memory of the Bible is correct, Hebrew sons were supposed to be drowned but Moses' mother sent him down the Nile in a basket.

"Exodus 2:3." Spencer recalled. "The Birth of Moses."

"Where's he buried?" Gideon asked in the video.

All that matters is that he's safe.

"Where is he?" Zoe asked.

"He's in a better place."

"Dad, do you remember what you told me when we first heard this story on the news?" Zoe asked.

It had just been months since Zoe's heart stopped from an incident with their grandfather and Alexander had made it clear that if he was anywhere near them again, he'd get a restraining order. Alexander had promised he'd never let Cain hurt Zoe again, that she wouldn't have to go through what he put Alexander and Isobel through. Even if he'd have to fake their deaths.

"Jacob didn't bury Riley anywhere." Alexander said.

"Sarah Jean had already taken care of him." Zoe

"Then she did kill him." JJ said, confused.

"No, she sent him somewhere where she believed he'd be safe." Spencer explained.

"He's alive." Garcia gasped, typing on the keyboard and bringing up a picture of a two-year-old boy with blonde hair and brown eyes.

"When I told her about what happened to my mom, she said she did what any true mom would do. She protected me from the man who killed her. Sarah Jean said that because she did the same for Riley. Protected her from someone who wanted to kill him." Zoe explained.

"We're running out of time." Gideon said, "This is the proof we need to save Sarah Jean."

——————————————————————————————————

Two Hours Left

"Check all police and hospital records dating back to September 1990." Gideon told Garcia.

"You know, you should check local newspapers, too. See if anyone reported any abandoned babies.

"Yeah, I don't give a damn where the Governor is." Shapiro passed them on his phone. "We may have found proof that Sarah Jean is innocent."

"She really only had a maximum of three hours between police visits." Spencer set up the timeline. "It was 4:00 p.m., so traffic was pretty heavy. Whatever she did with Riley, it had to be local."

"1990. Three babies were abandoned in September." Garcia said.

"But no two-year-old boys?" Zoe said, looking over her shoulder and Garcia slumped.

"Why doesn't she just tell us where Riley is?" Spencer asked.

"She'll protect him for as long as Jacob is alive." Gideon said.

"Look, they're being executed within an hour of each other. What hope do we even have of finding him in time?" JJ complained.

"You know, it's quite possible she doesn't even know where he is anyway."

"No. She'd know." Gideon said. "We've got to get into her cell."

——————————————————————————————————

Gideon, Hotch, and Zoe walked to the warden who was watching Jacob get his head shaved in prep for the electric chair.

"Where have you been hiding this hottie, Hotch?" Jacob asked at seeing Zoe, "You come to see the show?"

"Screw you, you Fred West wannabe." She scoffed, barely looking at him but not in a fearful or intimidated way but like he wasn't even worth her time and Gideon pulled the warden away to speak to him.

"We need to get into Sarah Jean's cell. I believe the proof we..." Gideon told him.

"I can't do that!" The warden insisted, "All official lines of communication are now over."

"I just need five minutes.

"Agent, they want the memory of these two individuals erased.

"They'll be condemning an innocent woman to death just for protecting her child. Is it worth risking that just because they want to get this over this and not have to deal with them anymore?" Zoe spat.

"Five minutes. That's all I need." Gideon said, much calmer than Zoe.

The warden ultimately granted them five minutes to get into the cell.

Meanwhile, Gideon and Zoe entered her cell. Gideon started to go through the mattress, but Zoe went straight up to the Riley painting and she took it off the wall and pulled the back out to find a picture of a teenage boy with a cello taped to it. It was a cutout clipping from a paper.

——————————————————————————————————

They brought it back to the team and put it side by side to the picture of two-year-old Riley.

"That's Riley. That's her son. Isn't it?" Garcia pleaded, "Someone tell me it's him, please."

"Maybe." Zoe said.

"JJ, circulate this photo to the press." Hotch said, "See if anybody recognizes this boy."

"Do I say who we think he is?" JJ asked.

"No, just put him out as a Missing Persons."  Hotch told her and JJ went to leave to do so when there was a beep.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"It means Jacob is being moved to the execution chamber."

Hotch left to see Jacob off and Jacob confessed to killing four more girls before he willingly walked to the execution chamber.

"She cut around the photo so no one can read the text." Spencer said, "He was two when he disappeared. This boy's sixteen or seventeen. If it's Riley, it would mean it's a recent photo."

"Once Jacob's dead, you think Sarah Jean will tell us if this is Riley?" JJ asked. Gideon didn't answer. He just turned and left. "Zoe?"

"I don't know." She answered.

She looked at a photo of Riley and suddenly a rage shot through her as memories came back of him. His hazel-brown eyes. Soulless but full of sick pleasure as he drove a knife through her skin. Her memory suddenly came back to something she hadn't thought about in a while. A few days after she had lied... straight to the BAU's faces. The day before she was discharged, she woke up to find the note. She had let him win. She was still letting him win. And if the theories were right he could've died thinking he won but she doubted it.

Jacob was not going to die, thinking he won.

She grabbed a print of Riley and walked with long determined strides through the hallway. She felt only rage and injustice, but she had an empty look in her eyes, she felt disconnected from the world in a way she hadn't for a long time.

She passed Hotch who called her name but she didn't seem to hear him, she wouldn't remember him saying her name. The next thing she remembered she was on the other side of the glass looking at Jacob's smug face and she slammed the picture against it so he could see it.

"Riley!" She said with coldness and spite in her tone. Jacob's face fell in realization and horror. "He's alive. You lose!"

Jacob scrunched his face in outrage and growled out, "No!"

The guard rolled the black cloth over Jacob's face, the last thing he saw was Zoe with cold, merciless eyes and a smirk on her face with proof that Sarah Jean would not be joining him in death. The lights flickered as they pulled the lever and Jacob was dead.

Zoe blinked, barely having remembered having gotten all the way here. There was quite a bit of satisfaction at taking it from Jacob but there was still an empty hole left since she was twelve.

——————————————————————————————————

Sarah Jane still refused after Jacob was dead. Garcia looked through the adoption registry as Gideon said,

"The only people Jacob allowed Sarah Jean to know were the families she cleaned for."

"Sarah Jean worked for wealthy families, all of whom lived in Hampton." Hotch said. "Let's go over all the families in the state of Florida who were looking to adopt in 1990 and let's see how many lived in Hampton."

"Families looking to adopt? Hundreds."

"How many from Hampton?" Gideon asked.

"Three families. The Jameses, the Kopples and the Sheffields." Garcia said after narrowing down the list.

"Looks like the Sheffields removed themselves from the list in October 1990 and then moved out of Hampton." Zoe read the screen, "That's one month after Riley vanished. Where'd they go?

"Keystone Heights." Garcia said, "We got a match on the photo. It was in the local daily news."

"Call Morgan and Elle. Tell them to get to the Sheffield house." Hotch said as he left the room.

"Byron Sheffield." Spencer read Riley's new name.

"Local cello prodigy, seventeen-year-old Byron Sheffield, won a scholarship to play cello." Zoe read.

"They'll stop it right?"

"The warden is duty-bound to see it through without an official stay of execution from the Governor.

Zoe left and joined Hotch, Gideon, and Sarah Jean at the door as the warden went in.

"What wouldn't you do for your son to give him a life you could never hope to dream of? I am at peace in the knowledge that my son is free to be whatever he chooses to be." Sarah Jean said.

"If he knew who you were, do you think he'd choose to allow you to walk in there?" Gideon asked.

"If he knew who his parents were, can you imagine the damage my legacy would leave him?"

"Your legacy is hearsay off the assumption you killed your son, but you didn't." Zoe protested.

"Can you imagine what he would feel knowing his mother spent 15 years on death row, innocent of all charges, just so he could be free of her?" Gideon asked.

"Not me. Jacob. It isn't just my life you have in your hands, it's Riley's life, too. You have the chance to save my son's life."

"I choose to save yours, too."

"My life ended the day I met Jacob."

"That's not true." Zoe pleaded but she couldn't ignore the knowledge she felt the same way. That fateful February day.

"Gideon, I've got Elle. She says they're at the Sheffield house." Garcia that through the earpieces.

The warden stepped back out and said, "It's time."

"Take your hands off her." Gideon said when the guards grabbed onto Sarah Jean "Tell Morgan to kick the door down if he has to."

"Morgan, you're gonna get in the house, whatever it takes." Hotch said.

"I said take your hands off her."

"Agent Gideon."

"It's not right. To send this woman to her death just because she asks for it." Zoe shouted. "Just because you want to forget about the things her husband did!"

"Gideon, they've got him. What are we doing here, Gideon?

"I am standing here because of choices I made. Don't let my son be Jacob's last victim. Please, Doctor Noble-Valdez, don't let him go through what you've gone through."

Zoe wanted to protest but suddenly all she could see were those eyes again and a breathy chuckle in her ear. She could almost feel his weight on top of her again.

"Let me go. Let us both go."

"Tell Morgan it's not her son. That we made a mistake."

Zoe looked at him, her breath still caught in her throat.

Zoe then felt Sarah Jean take her hand, "You're stronger than I am."

"I'm not." She whispered.

"I think when the time comes, you'll do the right thing." She told her and she let the guards take her before turning back to her and Gideon. "Would it be too much to ask if yours is the last faces I see?

"Of course not." Zoe said.

"I know your mother would be proud of you." She promised her.

Zoe and Gideon sat on the other side of the glass, watching her until they put the black cloth over Sarah Jean's face.

It wasn't quite Sarah Jean's words kept coming back to Zoe: "I think when the time comes, you'll do the right thing."

But the reply Zoe had in her head: How many people will he have killed by then. Who will he have killed?

Albert Pine said, "What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."

——————————————————————————————

The line: Gideon thanked them and they left, leaving them with Sarah Jean and the other guards who "just wallpaper." is a reference of the SNL skit "Jail Scene" with Woody Harrelson.

Edited October 23, 2024

[lupuslikethewolf]

it really does piss me off when people call the war against the others 'the north's war' or 'the stark's war' or 'jon's/sansa's war' and claim that daenerys was helping because she just wanted to or something along those lines

as if the north/night's watch/the stark's/common sense wasn't saying the entire time "if these guys manage to defeat us they will come and kill all of you too, and have an army of millions of soldiers that cannot die to do so."

dany deciding to fight in the war in seasons 7/8 was not simply an act of compassion or allyship or whatnot, it was an act of self-preservation and (kinda) proactivity, considering that the war against the others is everyone's war. not just the north's, not just the stark's, and not just the night's watch.

the show and the books have been telling us the entire time that, when people get too caught up in politics and playing the "game of thrones", they end up ignoring, if not helping, the actual threat.

in fact, her fighting in the war is beneficial to her if she wishes to establish a reputation as the hero, and the liberator, coming first to conquer or reclaim, but then deciding that stopping the apocalypse is actually more important than ambition for the throne. whether or not i agree with that statement is a bit iffy, considering she needed the north to help in the fight as much as they needed her, but it is good PR.

no-one is indebted to dany because she decided to fight against the long night alongside everyone else, who had been doing it/preparing for it for far longer than she had. if the north/house stark had not sent word to dany, she would have been caught completely unawares and likely suffered a far worse fate at the hands of the others.

they helped each other, as just because dany had dragons and an army, she had no way of knowing what would kill the others or the wights, or what the legends surrounding them were, or even that it was a threat to be addressed until it would have been too late.

now this isn't me saying that i at all agree with the directions of seasons 6/7/8, or with how D+D handled the aftermath of the war with others, or jon, or dany, or any of the show in the later seasons really. dany (among others) absolutely deserved much better treatment, and so many characters were absolutely assassinated for no reason (*coughjoncough*). but, working with the material we have, dany made the only intelligent choice in those circumstances. the north are not supposed to worship for acknowledging what they have been saying and preparing for since the beginning: 'winter is coming'.

they helped each other: just because dany arrived at the war with the westerosi equivalent of nukes does not mean that everything else that was done by the north was useless compared to that. it was their land, and funds, and food stores, and shelter that was providing for dany's army and dany's dragons. "what do dragon's eat, anyway?" is a legitimate concern when you are trying to feed an entire nation of people during winter. "whatever they want" is not helpful here, babes, even if it is a badass line. my girl was just trying to figure out how to feed your kids without starving everyone else.

what happened after the long night is a different story entirely, but when it comes down to the actual war, there was never any question of what dany should do/should have done. had she ignored the others, and instead focused on "conquering" westeros, in the end, there would have been no westeros for her to conquer and rule.

tl:dr: the north is not to blame for what happened to dany during the long night, as if she had chosen to simply ignore the problem, it would have been so much worse for her in the end. nor are they indebted to her, as the problem would have become hers anyway, except on a much larger scale with much worse consequences. they helped each other, because it was never the north vs the others, it was humanity vs the others. life vs death.

[bnhaobservation]

can you tell us details about the Himura family?

That's a difficult question as there are very few info on the Himura family through the story.

The first time we hear something about them is in chap 31 and all we have is Shouto saying Enji used his wealth and fame to get Shouto's mother's family to agree to let him marry her in a Quirk marriage...

...as his mother had a ice Quirk, the implication being that, since she had an ice Quirk, at least one of her parents should have an ice Quirk as well since children inherit their Quirk from their parents.

There's something else we know, which is that, by the time Shouto gets burned, his maternal grandmother is alive and not living with them, as his mother phones her to ask her for help...

...and calls her Okā-san (お母さん), which is the standard way to say mother in normal families (people from upper class families might use, for example, the much more respectful Okā-sama (お母様)).

Still, for a long while, beyond the incident during which she accidentally burned Shouto, we won't know anything about Shouto's mom, not even her given name, and the "Ultra Archive" book won't be of any help either.

We'll have to wait till chap 187 to learn she's called Rei...

...as well as learn Natsuo's name and age.

The "Ultra Analysis" book also hardly offer any info.

But still... no info about the Himura. In chap 290 Touya will claim his father forced Rei to marry him

We jump to chap 301 in which we see Enji taking part to what is supposed to be a Miai (見合い) with Rei, as the anime confirms.

'Ichiō, miai to iu katachi o totte wa iruga, koreha “kosei” kon’ 一応、見合いという形をとってはいるが、これは"個性"婚 “Just in case, although it was made to look like an arranged marriage meeting, this was a "Quirk” marriage.” [Ep 130]

Here we finally learn that Rei's family name is Himura.

The guy talking is, as confirmed by the anime, the family head (当主tōshu), who could be Rei's father or grandfather. In the manga we hardly see him but in the anime we do.

He doesn't seem so old he's her grandfather so I'll assume he's her father instead... but take it with a huge grain of salt as Horikoshi might have had different plans for that guy.

The guy is absolutely delighted to give Rei to Enji.

'Himura mo katsute wa meika to yoba reta yuisho aru iegara ni gozaimasu ko ― top Hero-sama no hanryo to shimashite wa jūbun ni tsuriai ga toreru mono to' 「氷叢もかつては名家と呼ばれた由緒ある家柄にございます故―トップヒーロー様の伴侶としましては充分に釣り合いがとれるものと。。。」 ``The Himuras also come from a distinguished family with a prestigious lineage, so I think she would be a perfect match as the Top Hero-sama's companion…''

So we learn that the Himura are a 'Meika' (名家) which can be translated as noble/distinguished family with a 'yuisho aru iegara' (由緒ある家柄) which can be translated with a prestigious/with a long history social standing/lineage.

In the anime Endeavor also confirms this, adding also how they now were having economical troubles.

'Katsute wa meika datta Himura-ke mo ima wa aoikitoiki…’ かつては名家だった氷叢家も今は青息吐息… “The Himura family, which was once a prestigious family, was now in deep distress…” [Ep 130]

The house we see in the episode might be the Himura's one...

... though this isn't mandatory as Miai can also take place in other locations. But since there's no intermediary, it seems more likely Enji either discovered from the Quirk Registry (introduced in chap 8) about their Quirk or was told about them and just went to visit them.

Theoretically they might have been the ones who proposed to sell Rei to him, but since he's generally always blamed for 'winning Rei over', I'll assume he's the one who approached them.

Just to be clear, in Japanese Miai it's perfectly okay to investigate the potential partner (they often actually check more than one potential partner), so Enji knowing about Rei's family isn't as weird as it might seem here in the west.

According to Rei and to Enji, Rei could have refused the marriage, so it's not like the family forced her to go at it against her will.

This still seems to clash with what young Touya says:

Touya calls his grandmother Obā-chan (おばあちゃん), which is an affectionate way to call your grandmother (he might have used the more respectful Obā-san (おばあさん), and his view on them is sympathetic (they were really poor so they had to sell his mother off) so it can be that he has a good relationship with his grandmother.

As for the bit about Rei having no choice despite Enji and Rei claiming Rei had a choice... likely, what the whole means could be that even if Rei wasn't blackmailed into marriage or told their parents would kick her out of the house if she weren't to marry or something like that... due to family obligations she had to agree (more on the topic later on).

We won't hear about the Himura again until chap 387 in which Geten will reveal to belong to the Himura family as well as a bit of their backstory.

So what we can do of all this info?

The Himura started as 'Shōya' (庄屋), "village heads". Basically a Shōya was a person who, during the Edo period (1603-1868), was in charge of the village affairs under the direction of the magistrate and worked as the leader of the village. The term was used predominantly in the Kansai regions (other regions used other names), so we can assume the Himura were originally from that region.

To be more exact, the office of Shōya was generally established between 1688 and 1704.

To get a better idea of how rich Shōya could be, even though they technically were considered peasants, many of them were financially better off than samurai, or even top class Daimyo, lived in large mansions, owned large tracts of farmland , and were also intellectuals representing the village due to their work involved in document creation . The families that served as Shoya during the Edo period were often from prestigious families or previously were powerful vassals of warlords of the Sengoku period (1467-1638).

Their duties included tax collection, general village administration, management of public natural resources (such as mountain, field, river and ocean) of a village, as well as negotiating with the territorial lord as the representative of the villagers. The most powerful od them, administered between a dozen to several dozen villages, and ruled an extremely large territory. Some of them were given the privilege to bear a surname and to wear a katana and were treated like members of the samurai class. Their duties also included the communication of laws and the coordination of lawsuits.

Just so you know, Japanese surnames were not really born until 1875. Before, the Japanese mainly carried the name of their clan. Before this date, only people of high rank such as nobles and samurai had a surname. The common people used, in case of need, the name of their place of birth, for example, their village.

Now... Himura is writte with the kanji for "ice" (氷 'hi') and "gathering, collection" (叢 'mura')... but the interesting part is that 'mura', written with this kanji 村 means "village".

So it's possible originally they were the people from the Hi village, and then they took the word Himura, changed the kanji so as to make it sound less common people and turned it into their surname... either by becoming important enough to gain the right to a surname or much later, in 1875 (I tend to think they gained the right to their surname but that's just me).

Now... Geten talks of a 'Nōchi kaikaku' (農地改革) which means "agricoltural revolution" or "Land reform".

Although this can refer to various land reforms, generally speaking, in Japan, when you talk of such thing, you talk of the reform of the agricultural land ownership system carried out by the Japanese government in 1947 under the direction of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.

The purpose was to reduce the wide gap between absentee landlords who owned agricultural land but did not farm it themselves, and tenant farmers who rented the land in exchange for giving the landlord a high proportion of the crop. The land reform laws were intended to limit the amount of farm land one household could own to about the amount of land that one family could farm themselves, without outside labor. The government forced absentee landlords to sell all their land to the government. Farmers were allowed to own a small amount of farm land that they could rent out to others, and had to sell any excess to the government. The government then sold this land, usually to the tenant who had been farming it. The result greatly improved the living conditions of farmers.

Why Geten says the Himura mantained their wealth and pride creating branch families?

Likely the Himura owned more than the land allowed by the reform... but my guess is that, in order to continue controlling it, they decided to split their family in many branch families and share the land among them so that the control would still remain in their hands even if they would technically comply with the law.

I'm speculating, I don't know if this is how they handled the whole thing but it seems the most logical assumption.

Demo chōjō ga okiru to tomoni kasokudo-teki ni reiraku shite itta でも超常が起きると共に加速度的に零落していった But as the exceptional happened, things started falling down at an accelerating rate.

Chi ga mazaru no wo kirattanda 血が混ざるのを嫌ったんだ They hated mixing their blood.

The way Geten claims it was the advent of the extraordinary which speeded up their downfall as they didn't want to dilute their blood seems to imply only when they turned out with having an ice Quirk, they decided to marry between branch families so as not to dilute their blood... but it can be something that was present prior to it and merely became worse after it.

During feudal Japan clans traditionally encouraged cousin relationships to perpetuate family dynasties, and the Himura split their family on paper to keep control of their land... so it can be the Himura always married between themselves.

It's hard to say.

How distant had to be those distant relatives the Himura married each other off?

By law, in order to marry among them they had to be at least second cousins or more distantly related (4th degree or higher).

Anyway Geten blames the Himura downfall to the thinning of their numbers.

Honestly though, I tend to think it's more like they were bad investors/administrators and so they lost their own capitals.

I mean, whatever you think about their marriage policies, they shouldn't affect the money they had.

Geten also says the Himura family came to an end when the main family started selling themselves.

What does this mean?

The family is carried on by a male heir. Likely Rei's family had no male children and, since Rei didn't marry a Himura, the family couldn't continue.

Well, to be honest, in theory it could have continued if Enji had agreed to take Rei's name (yes, the husband can take the wife's surname in Japan) but, of course, Enji wouldn't have agreed... also the Himura could have adopted someone (it's something that's often done exactly so that the family wouldn't end)... but since they were very focused on blood, they wouldn't have likely done it.

Probably the main family kind of kept the organization of the other families because Geten said with its end, the branch families are scattered and he ended up being picked up by Re-Destro.

Geten, we know, was something I would call a 'Quirk supremacist'. He believed those with the strongest Quirk should rule.

This might fit with how, in his story, he paints the Himura as refusing to marry outside the family because they didn't want to mix blood after the advent of the extraordinary.

The saddest part of all this though, is that it looks like the Himura continued to organize their children's marriages. Rei's options were apparently a distant cousin or Enji. She was likely never expected to marry out of love, her family would have always decided for her.

Maybe all she could decide was actually that, if to marry a cousin or marry Enji, which would give a new meaning to why she said her options were limited.

Doylistically speaking, the whole Himura plot feels like Horikoshi's way to explain why Enji's kids have more predisposition for ice than for fire to the point even Touya reveals to have a minor ice Quirk...

...as well as a way for Horikoshi to lessen the fact Enji plaied with genetics by distracting us with the fact the Himura family is basically breeding pure blood ice Quirk users by likely 5 generations, Rei being an exception to the rule as she wasn't used to breed more ice Quirk users.

Don't take me wrong, narratively it's not a bad idea per se... but it's the long story of a family that comes really late in the story, hits the Todoroki only tangentially (they've strong ice factor due to it) and involves directly no characters we know of, Rei's parents basically being non-characters and Geten having an already perfectly funtional backstory as a victim of Re-Destro ideology.

So Geten's chat felt more like an info dump, and while I love everything about the Todoroki... I wish this revelation had been placed in a more harmonic way through the story.

Same with Enji's father's revelation though, it can be that originally the Dark Hero arc was meant to be longer and this revelation was meant to find space/foreshadowing inside it and then instead it got aborted and this was all Horikoshi could salvage.

We'll never know.

Thank you for your ask!