#anyways i had to steal that old tank for john... almost as not fun as the white arabian and chasing jamie

[a-chaotic-dumbass]

playing rdr2 for 7 hours straight while drinking and going outside to walk my dog try not to hallucinate challenge failed

[ziracona]

So last night I wound up reading Amanda's wiki and It made me kind of sad for her, because it very much sounds like she was suffering from stockholme syndrome of a kind there, to me, atleast. Which makes me wonder, what do you think of the pig/amanda? What's your Amanda like in your stories? Do you think she had any potential for redemption (with A LOT of work)? I guess I just wanna hear your thoughts on her character because ur always rly good at it?? - Sleepy

Yeah, whoever wrote the Saw wiki loves Amanda and hates Hoffman and it’s genuinely hilarious. They make a lot of assumptions (like that her motive for killing Adam after he won his game was mercy killing, which is a throughly unconfirmed opinion), and use the most sympthetic & extreme language possible. I’ve watched all the Saw films, and as a character, Amanda is a very enjoyable villain, but as a person? She’s a truly awful human being. (Side note—this typed last— So, mentioning certain Saw characters sends me flying into a rage like a D&D berserker, so this is gonna get angry as hell, but 0 of it is at you. I love you. This is at the Jigsaw squad. WHO I FUCKING HATE. Ahem. Anyway. Felt like the level of unbridled and sudden fury needed a heads up lol.) It’s not Stockholm syndrome. In Saw one, she’s a victim who is put in a reverse beartrap and forced to either die, or cut the key out of the stomach of a paralyzed by drugs but very alive (which she knew) other kidnap victim, whom she cut open and killed. After enduring that trauma and barely surviving, she immediately accepted John’s offer to join him. She was not forced, she was not tricked. He asked, and because she wanted to feel special and important, she agreed to inflict suffering she knew goddamn well the horrible level of on others first hand, and went willingly. She is self-centered to her core, and became dependent on and infatuated with John, and obsessed with his approval. She kidnapped Adam and Lawrence with him, who were kidnapped for fuckall reason (literally John just thought photography was pathetic) and for almost cheating on his wife (lol this was John’s ‘stated’ reason—his real reason was John is the world’s pettiest bitch, and Lawrence was the doctor who told him he had cancer. I’m not fkn kidding he’s that level of petty self-absorbed, self-righteous bastard) respectively. Then killed Adam after he won his game, which should have given him freedom but John reneged on like he always does like the pissy little bitch he is, Amanda killed him for reasons up to speculation. However, given John usually tests people who win a second time or tries to get them to join or some bullshit, it’s more plausible to assume her motive was seeing him as a threat than that it was mercy killing, and it’s only stated in-film to be an emotion based decision, not her actual movtive. Everyone’s opinion on this action is just that—opinion. With varying degrees of factual basis behind the educated level of educated guess.

In Saw 2, she helps John kidnap a bunch of drug addicts like herself who all got false arrests by the same officer at one time or another, along with a poor fucking 15 year old whose crime is having that cop for a dad. She then spent the next two hours watching people whose only crime was drug use, like herself, die horribly of organ deterioration, knowing at any time she could have stopped it and saved them all because she knew how to get the antidotes. Bitch even holds one girl in her arms and stokes her head and pretends to care about her while she hacks up deteriorated lung and blood and fucking dies, when at any moment she could have chosen to let her live. Literally no one should be more sympathetic to them than her. She knows how addicted to drugs feels, and the help you need. Anyway, she doesn’t, she lets them die and plays with them, and then when it’s to her, the 15 year old—who multiple times saves or helps her when hurt by other participants, and is nothing but kind—and one other man, the man shows up to kill her to get an antidote, and the poor fucking 15 year old child kills him with a saw to save her, traumatizing himself to a breakdown afterwords, and instead of being even thankful, she attacks and knocks him out, ties him up and attaches an oxygen tank so he won’t suffocate, and locks him in a fucking like tiny ass safe to be a game piece for another trial and leaves him there. His dad, who admittedly needs to serve jail time but isn’t a fucking murderer at least & does love his son, shows up distraught looking for his kid he’s afraid is dead, and she sneak attacks and takes him down, then leaves him chained up in a nasty lost bathroom to starve slowly to death, and doesn’t even do him the decency of telling him his kid isn’t dead. When he breaks his foot to get free and comes hobbling wounded after her, she sneak attacks again and he nearly wins, but she fucks up his broken foot and starts to leave, then comes back and beats him (she thinks) to death becuase he said she would never be Jigsaw, and she’s that petty and proud. Kid never gets to know what happened to his dad, and even alive, will definitely die young from the complications one, you know, gets from almost dying of chemical organ deterioration.

In Saw 3, the main victim is a man whose kid was lost in a hit and run. Jigsaw has Amanda kidnap his wife because she’s a surgeon and also was once not as sympathetic as he thought she should be when talking to him about his cancer at the hospital (I’m not even fucking exaggerating—side note, I will beat John Kramer to death myself with my huge fucking meat fists and laugh as I watch his bones crumble to dust). This poor bitch just lost a kid, then separated from her husband because he was a fucking mess consumed with revenge against the poor college kid who accidentally hit his son & totally withdrew from the world, and she wakes up with a collar filled with shotgun shells basically a 360 gun blow off your head collar deal on, and Amanda wheeling her around in the wheelchair she’s tied to. They tell her if she keeps John alive until the person being tested finishes his test, she can go free. The whole movie, Amanda keeps trying to convince John to kill the poor woman even though she complies just because she’s a throughly selfish, petty, conceited, self-pitying bastard with no regard for others, and wants this “Bitch” to die for fun. She feels she’s a threat for John’s attentions, and John isn’t even romantically inclined toward her, but she’s obsessed and doesn’t care. Amanda decides between Saws 2 and 3 that people aren’t fixable—even though she herself was supposedly “helped” by her Jigsaw game and this is hypocritical as fuck—and just starts straight up fucking torture murdering for fun. To the point even John thinks she has to be stopped. Like if John fucking Kramer thinks you’ve gone to far? Jesus help you because no one else can. She still does the torture, but instead of like, chopping off your own hand with a paring knife and getting to live, you chop it off and then still slowly get your head crushed between two beams being screwed closer and closer together. She kills Kerry for fuckall reason except she wants to (Kerry is a detective who did jack shit wrong—she was just on the case. It’s utter bullshit). Kidnaps her, straps a thing with hooks in her ribs that will tear out her rib cage when a timer runs out, and kill her that way, and had her hung up above the ground tied by chains, and tells her if she burns her hand up in a bottle of acid to get the key at the bottom which is hard period in the suit—never mind losing the hand—she can live. And Kerry fucking does, ruins her hand, unlocks the lock, and the suit won’t come off becuase the cunt rigged it. Then Amanda shows up to watch her die for fun just to smile smugly at her and watch her fear. Because she’s a fucking soulless, sadistic, evil, self-centered, self-important asshole.

Obsessed dad let’s a fucking bystander whose only crime was seeing a hit and run and running off freeze to death stripped naked and sprayed with water in a freezer slowly, saves a judge who gave too weak a sentence to the hit and run kid after the man begs, and then lets the poor fucking college kid who did it and already feels awful get his arms twisted till they snap off, legs twisted till the same, and then his head twisted around back so far it twist snap kills him. The rack is fucking beyond inhumane death. Amanda monitors this while threading Lynn (the poor doctor lady) for fun and crying over poow wittwe John who is dying of cancer (thank you god for doing what we couldn’t), and being miserable. Eventually, Hoffman sends her a letter saying if she doesn’t kill Lynn, he’ll tell John that she was one of the people there to steal drugs the night his wife got injured and miscarried (he probably already knew 🙄), and becuase Amanda cares about nothing more than Amanda, she fucking monolgauges at John about how special and sad she is how he needs to fix her and she’s a murderer but she doesn’t care because you know—she’s depressed : ( so she gets a pass for her self she’s UwU sad so her poor little crisis can have a massive torture body count bc she’s that special UwU and why is Lynn not gonna die even though she did her job!??? So unfair! No one changes kill them all but tell me I’m special I’m symapthetic because I’m sad and that makes it fun for me to tear people’s ribs out :’( —and then she fucking shoots Lynn becuase she cares less about an innocent woman’s life than the potential for John to be mad at her :’-( you know—such symapthetic stuff! And then John is like “Ok then fkn die :’(“ and Jeff/unstable dad/Lynn’s husband runs in and shoots her and then kills John.

Anyway! I fucking hate Amanda with a passion, and John. I cannot stand humans who hurt each other for fun, especially when they target those who most need help. But above all I cannot abide a person who is a sadistic, selfish, wholly self-absorbed fuck of a human, and refuses to take any responsibility for their actions or admit how fucking bad they are and has the goddamn nerve to act like a victim. Like if you’re going to be an evil son of a bitch, at least have the decency to admit it. If you’re a self-pitying “im uwu special and sad and better and more important than everyone else” —double points for “& becuase I am attractive I can get away with being a soulless shit without any being held accountable” from fandom or the media itself, tripple if from both—? I will kill you myself. I will rip out your eyes and chew on them. I will kill my self on a bomb to take you too. I will chew off my left arm for the sole purpose of getting to beat you to death with it. The wiki writer bends over back so bad they’re gonna need a brace the rest of their life to make her sound sympthetic, but they’re just a fan. She’s not. At all. She doesn’t have Stockholm, and I see people say “she got manipulated and used : (“ all the time, but without fail so far it’s people who think she’s hot and just want a reason to stan that because somehow a hot white woman with short hair even if canonically infatuated with John Kramer is somehow both a lesbian, and excusable for every horrible torture murder she ever did to feel uwu special in her depressed sad times. She wasn’t manipualated. It happened fast, she wasn’t courted into it, and she didn’t even hesitate to say yes. He offered her an out, made sure she was serious, and she stayed. And then she escalated to the point John took her out to stop her, because it was worse than what he wanted to do. I enjoyed her as a villain but as a person I fucking hate Amanda, and don’t really want to see her get another chance. Bastard doesn’t deserve one. I can’t say there’s no continuum in which she could never improve or be redeemed becuase who the fuck knows, and I like to think there’s a smidgen of hope for anyone, but that said, I do think the more evil you willfully do, the more you lose your humanity, and you can hit a point there’s just no person left. So. Anyway, hah, I don’t think she’s redeemable and frankly don’t want her redeemed. I want to burn her to death myself if I have to die that way too. Also! This was a wildly angry answer but none of it is directed at you. That wiki writer does make her sound symapthetic, I’ve read the wiki too—just I go into a blind rage any time John or Amanda is even mentioned and it takes me a half hour to come back down. I fly into a rage. If I ever go into anaphylactic shock, all a friend has to do is start mentioning the names of Saw villains and my adrenaline will start pumping like jet fuel and I’ll be fine. I just have a whole lot of righteously just rage at horrible awful self-righteous self-absorbed malicious manipulative dehumanizing self-pity bastards who take 0 responsibility for their evil or admit it, and Amanda & John are two at the way top of that rage list. It’s a dark but powerful headspace when I think of them. I become very powerful...but also very enraged. Lol, anyway, here’s the breakdown you didn’t need, but it is throrough!

[jamdropx35]

In the Sand

So, a few days ago I had this vision of the Seed brothers playing beach volleyball, almost Top Gun montage-esque like. ANYWAY, started writing it, because why not, and this is what came out... not at all like Top Gun, but still a bit of fun, i guess?

Anyway, ENJOY !

Word count : 4347

Ships : John Seed x Deputy.... that’s it.

Synopsis : Casey’s put together a bit of a Volleyball tournament for the Testy Festy, and it’s the perfect weather for it. Rooks pulled together her Justice League, and is aiming for a win, but John has other plans - his Seed Suicide Squad is definitely coming first. Jacob is shirtless... and in tiny shorts... for reasons.... good reasons....

Warning : This is crack. This is also a bit shit. I don’t even know what was happening. Also, obviously, no cult, no animosity - well, okay, a little bit -, no events of Far Cry 5.

ALSO I KNOW LITTLE TO NOTHING ABOUT VOLLEYBALL. IM SO SORRY

The sun beat down on Rook, unusually warm for mid-September in Montana, and she turned her face to take in as much of it as possible, sighing contently. She was sitting on the bleachers around the baseball-field-turned-festival-grounds, which was now covered in sand, watching as Casey set up the Volleyball net he had somehow managed to procure.

“Hey, Rook, give us a hand” Whitehorse barked to her, and she quickly jumped up in order to help them erect the net. With Casey and Whitehorse on one side, and Pratt and Rook on the other, they got the poles slammed into the pre-dug holes in the sand, and the net evened out. Hudson whooped as she carried another esky over to the erected tents.

“I gotta say Casey,” the tall, dark haired woman began, “this volleyball tournament was a brilliant idea – and it’s perfect for the weather”

“When was the last time we had sunshine like this in September? This is a California summer day. How did you organise this Casey?” Pratt added, also turning into the sun and beaming. Whitehorse paused a moment, removed his hat and rubbed his head briefly before replacing the hat.

Hudson sidled up to Earl, comfortably resting her hand on his shoulder, “You know you’re gonna have to ditch the hat, Earl, if we wanna win”, she grinned at him.

Whitehorse was the only team member in full gear, the three deputies had all opted to go a bit more relaxed, on account of the heat and in honour of the festival. Pratt had a pair of sunset coloured swimming trunks and a black tank top, his Deputy jacket piled on the bleachers with the girls’ jackets. Both Hudson and Rook were in denim shorts, Rooks more worn and ripped than Hudsons, and Hudson wore a plain white t-shirt, while Rook had an oversized Cougars Baseball tee tucked loosely into her shorts.

“The hat stays on” Whitehorse told them, voice allowing no room for argument.

“If you want to win, the hat will have to come off… or you can sub out, and I’ll play instead” Casey and the three Deputies all swung around as Marshall Burke swaggered onto the baseball field, sporting a pair of, perhaps too small, black trunks and a plain black t-shirt.

Earl grinned, “That was the plan, thanks Burke”. Rook launched herself at Burke, hugged him deeply, and Hudson moved over to shake his hand, Pratt pulling him in for a quick hug, “I called in back up sorry kids, I’m too old for this shit” Whitehorse explained happily. Rook beamed at him and moved to give him a quick hug.

Rook had quickly been established in the community as a hugger in the year since she’d arrived. Most people in the County accepted the hugs as part of her being around, particularly her team.

They continued the set-up, with the assistance of Burke and Mary May, and managed to pull it all together very quickly, thanks to Casey’s brilliant planning. They praised the chef for his planning, and his brilliant volleyball idea. The sign-up sheet had been placed in the bar two weeks ago, asking teams of 4 to sign up to compete in the tournament at the testy festy. There had been a few surprise volunteers – Nick Rye had teamed up with Sharky, Hurk and Jess, and The Seed family had signed up.

Well, John had signed up the Seed family.

Rook rolled her shoulders, grinning at Hudson as the woman approached her, hand held up for a high five. Rook smacked her hand into the other woman’s, and Hudson gently held her hand there for a second, “You ready to win, Rookie? Cause I don’t like losing”.

Rook beamed up at the taller woman, “I named our team the Justice League for a reason, Joey, we always win in the end”.

Hudson beamed at her.

It took a while for the festival to get into full swing, most patrons arriving around 11, and the tournament starting at 12. Rook was standing with Adelaide, both admiring the display of bare legs and shoulders. Adelaide was starting a betting ring of how many shirts would come off, with bonuses for guesses about who would lose their shirts first.

Most of the women in the county were in on it, and Adelaide had an almost predatory grin permanently stuck to her face. Joseph Seed was of course not included, as he was renowned for his lack of a shirt.

The Seed family rocked up just before 12, and Rook struggled to not let her jaw drop. Jacob, well over six foot, wearing nothing but a pair of grey, way-too-small, basketball shorts and no shirt, considerable amounts of muscle on display. Joseph in a pair of modest black swim trunks and, as per usual, no shirt. Faith in…. was that a tennis outfit? A white skort and matching white sports bra.

And then John jumped out of the truck in a pair of what had to be designer blue swim trunks, again way too small for him, and a plain black t-shirt. Rook worked hard to keep the frown from her face. Why did John have to be the only Seed brother with his shirt on?

Life wasn’t fair. Rook sighed, and Adelaide chuckled knowingly from beside her, “Don’t worry, Deputy, I’m sure John will lose it before too long”

Rook blushed brightly, and she turned to fix Adelaide with a glare, “Not another word, Addy, not one more”.

Adelaide’s grin spread, and her eyes narrowed, “Of course. But the entire County knows of your little crush on John. In fact, I think John is the only one who doesn’t know,” Rook glared at her and Adelaide held her hands up, quickly re-evaluating a few things in her head “Now, Jacob is disqualified for arriving without a shirt on. Oh look, there’s Xander… why does he still have his shirt on?!”

Rook shook her head, smiling, as Adelaide stormed off towards Xander.

Hudson quickly took Adelaide’s place next to Rook, bumping her shoulder into Rooks, “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna let John Seed distract you from winning this thing” she kept her voice low, but raised an eyebrow at Rook, teasing gently.

Rook growled, “Nothing is gonna distract me from winning today, Joey. Justice League doesn’t lose”

“They will lose to the Seed Suicide Squad” Neither woman had heard John approach them, and Rook jumped slightly when his voice appeared behind them.

Hudson just rolled her eyes, “Of course you would name yourselves that” she muttered as she walked away.

Rook pouted at John, “You totally stole my theme”. John laughed at her as Jacob moved in behind him, towering over Deputy.

“No one else agreed to that name, Dep, don’t worry” Jacobs voice was gruff, but still kind, and he rested a large hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.

Rook poked her tongue out at John, who smacked his brothers shoulder, “What happened to family first?!”

Jacob raised an eyebrow at his youngest brother, “Dep basically is family now, John. And besides, you did steal her theme”

Rook grinned as John spluttered and began trying to argue with Jacob, which quickly proved pointless, and turned as a bell rang out.

Mary May was standing on a crate, holding up a large bell. “It’s time for the volleyball tournament to begin! Can we have ‘Planes on Fire’ and the Seed Family on the court please, and everyone else off!”

Rook turned around and wished Jacob and John good luck before moving over to stand by Burke and Pratt, who were deep in discussion on the far side of the court, both nursing already half empty beer bottles. She stood by them for a moment as they discussed tactics, before growing bored and moving to sit on the bleachers next to Grace Armstrong, and they were soon joined by Adelaide, who brought three beers with her, offering one to both other women.

Adelaide elbowed Rook lightly when the Seed family took to the court, discussed some last minute plans, “bets are set for John to take his shirt off within five minutes” she told her with a smirk.

Rook rolled her eyes and swigged her beer again, smiling when Nick, Sharky, Hurk and Jess took their place on the field. The three boys were all wearing matching American flag swim trunks, while Jess sported denim shorts and an oversized American flag tee that clearly belonged to one of the boys. Kim Rye sat next to Rook and Adelaide, carrying the sleeping baby closely.

Rook briefly played with her goddaughter before focussing on the match as it began, taking note of Adelaide standing up with her stop watch running on her phone.

Joseph served for the Seed family, jumping elegantly and tossing the ball gracefully over the net, for it to be returned aggressively by Sharky. Faith easily pumped the ball back up, setting it up for Jacob, who leapt up and forward, slamming the ball over the net onto the ground on the other side of the court. Faith cheered along with half the members of the crowd, while John smirked, high fiving his brothers.

Adelaide was smirking when John started to pull up his shirt, turning her phone around show Rook the 4:57 showing on her phone, proving that it had indeed taken less than five minutes, as John threw his shirt off to the side, and Addy quickly moved off to start passing out money to women throughout the crowd.

Hudson made her way over and sat down next to Rook, who struggled to take her eyes off of the now shirtless John. “Rook, Rook focus on me,” Hudson shook her a little and Rook turned to eye her impatiently, “Hey, no distractions. Eyes on the prize, not the runner up”

Rook raised an eyebrow, “Is that not a prize?” She asked, gesturing to the three Seed brothers.

Hudson glared at her, “No, Rook. The trophy is the prize. Pay attention and try to find their weaknesses. Focus”

Rook huffed, but leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and grumbled “Okay”.

Jess was surprisingly the best player on their team, moving around so quickly that it seemed impossible, diving into the sand to hit balls back up for Nick or Sharky to spike back to the Seed family. Hurk used his bulk to block as much as he could but wasn’t quick enough for Jacobs spikes or Faiths returns. Faith was almost ethereal, flitting over the court to smack balls over the net, but was easily distracted.

Rook was blushing, sure that she must be red as a tomato, and Kim laughed at her as she wheezed when John leapt into the air and spiked the ball, stretching out and showing off all the muscles in his chest, shoulders and arms.

The smell of Casey’s cooking started to drift over as they got ever closer to the main reason for the festival, and Rook downed her second beer as the teams switched sides. Pratt and Burke made their way over, sitting with Kim, Rook and Hudson, trading notes on what they had picked up about the two teams.

Rook struggled to take her eyes off of John, now having his back to her, and she was thoroughly enjoying the way his back muscles clenched and stretched. Even with her preference for the youngest Seed brother, she was very happy to appreciate the other two Seed brothers.

Kim thoroughly enjoyed teasing Rook for the second half of the game, happily talking as loudly as possible and laughing when Rook grabbed her pointing hands.

Jacob spiked, yet again, but Hurk smacked it back into their court, punching the air as Faith narrowly missed saving the ball. John cried out, about to start yelling but Joseph grabbed his arm, pulling their heads together so their foreheads rested together and spoke quietly to him, and he calmed down immediately.

John stepped back and rolled his shoulders, turning away from his brother.

Rook saw his eyes blazing with barely contained fury.

By the end of the game, the score was tight, but the Seed family won by a few points, which meant they continued in the tournament.

There was a half hour break while everyone grabbed some food and Rook and her team prepped to verse the Whitetails – Eli, Tammy, Wheaty and Walker. John went in search of his shirt, which seemed to have disappeared, and if Rook saw Adelaide picking up a piece of material and ducking off to the bar with it, who was she to say?

Burke was acting like a professional, giving them tips and hints and talking tactics, which Rook tried to absorb as much as possible, but that was hard when over Burkes shoulder she could see the Seed brothers and Faith huddled together talking.

And John was pouring a bottle of water over his head, which trailed down his chest.

He caught her staring and winked at her as she tore her eyes away, back to Burke.

Hudson smacked her lightly in the arm and Rook rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, mouthing ‘sorry. Focused now’.

Mary May stood on her stool and asked them the Justice League and the Whitetails to get on the court, and Rook rolled her shoulders, laughing as Hudson pulled her top off to reveal an olive green sports bra, and threw a wink over her shoulder to Rook, who followed suit and pulled the oversized cougars jersey over her head, revealing her matching olive sports bra. Then the high fived and followed through with a butt smack.

Burke raised an eyebrow at them, and Rook laughed as Hudson explained, “We’ve watched Top Gun so many times to prepare for this, we know what we’re doing”

Pratt laughed then too, “I didn’t realise that’s what we were aiming for”

Adelaide wolf whistled, and Rook blew her a kiss.

John wanted to win and knew that the best way to do that was to pay attention to the teams playing, identify their weaknesses and build a strategy from there.

But paying attention was hard when his Deputy was out there running around in a sports bra and tiny ripped shorts, sweating and stretching and grunting in the hot sun.

He hadn’t been expecting that, hadn’t expected to be so distracted by her.

Jacob sat down beside him, “I hope you aren’t as distracted by her as she is by you,” John could hear the slight laughter in Jacobs voice, and anger flared in him, “I was planning on using you against her… but I think we might just have to write both of you off”

John glared at his brother, “I’m not distracted by her” he hissed.

Jacob raised an eyebrow, smirking, “Of course not,” he waived over Joseph and Faith, who came over with a large stick of fairy floss, and leaned back as he spoke, “I’m planning on using John to distract the Deputy”

Faith and Joseph both nodded without argument, “That’s a good idea” Faith added, happily munching on the colourful treat, which she then offered to Jacob, who raised an eyebrow but took a small pinch.

John was fuming, “I’m not just a piece of meat,” he snarled, “I’m not just going to stand there and look pretty, I’m going to play to win”

As he stormed off, Joseph moved to go after him, but Jacob stopped him, “let him go. He’s going to get angry, and then he’ll play better”

Joseph frowned at him, “He is our brother, not just a pawn in your strategy”

Jacob grunted, “He wanted this game, and he wants to win, I’m giving him what he wants”

Rook was sweating heavily by the time the game was almost over, but at least they were in the lead. There had been a few close calls, but between Hudson and Burkes height, and Pratt and Rooks speed, they'd managed to pull ahead on the score board, and they were down to the last point needed to win.

Eli threw the ball up and Wheaty smashed it over the net, and Rook dove, flicking the ball back up so that Pratt could smack it up higher and Hudson threw herself up and spiked the ball back over the net.

Tammy dove, but didn’t quite make it, and Rook whooped along with the team and half of the crowd. That was it, they’d won, now it was between them and the Seed family.

Rook high fived Hudson again and Pratt picked her up and spun her around as she laughed. Mary May announced another half hour break before the final, and that Casey was ready to serve up his famous testy delicacies.

John approached Rook while the rest of her team moved out to grab some food, offering her a smile as he came to stand before her, “Congratulations, Deputy, you played really well”

Rook couldn’t help the blush that painted her cheeks as his stood in front of her, still shirtless, with his hands on his hips, the muscles in his arms tensed.

“Thanks John,” she mumbled, “You did too”

John put his hand on her arm, and thanked her, before a look of concern flashed over his face and he put one hand against her forehead, “You’re really burning up, are you feeling okay?”. He stepped a little bit closer, forcing her to look up at him, and she could feel her blush get more apparent as she fell into his blue eyes.

“N- no, no… I’m…. I’m fine, thank… thank you John”, he had to know that she had feelings for him, everyone else in the county did, but she wasn’t able to feel anything but wobbly as he moved his hand from her forehead to under her chin.

He smiled softly to her, “Okay, just look after yourself, Deputy, I don’t want you getting hurt”

Her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she was sure he’d be able to see it, but he didn’t break eye contact and he seemed to be leaning closer.

Rook stopped breathing.

And she was being pulled away, and Hudson stepped between her and John, “Hey now, that’s a dirty trick, John” she hissed at him.

Rook felt herself deflate, and she rubbed the back of her neck as Hudson guided her away from John and towards the food. Burke offered her a bottle of water and a plate of barbecued meat, which she sheepishly thanked him for. Pratt was over with Jacob, and they seemed to be arguing quietly.

Hudson stood in front of Rook as she ate, putting her hands on both her shoulders, “Don’t let him distract you, Rook. Eyes on the prize”

Rook was too busy chewing to respond, but Hudson nodded anyway, “yeah, I know, that seemed like a really cute, genuine moment. But you know how dramatic John is, and you also know how much he hates losing. So, don’t let him get into your head, okay Rook? We’re relying on you”

Rook nodded, still blushing, swallowing her food and mumbling a “Yes, Joey”

It took everything in her to not look over her should to find out look for John.

When the two teams stepped back onto the court after the break, Rook was ready for John to be as distracting as possible. Hudson had told her to fight fire with fire, so she was very careful to stretch where he could see her, bending and stretching with Hudson.

John had only raised an eyebrow, looking to Jacob, who shrugged, “Guess we aren’t the only ones who had intended to use someone as a distraction”

And then Jacob chuckled at John, and John struggled to contain his fury; Deputy was more than just a tool, how dare they treat her as such.

“Okay, Jacob, lets win this thing” Jacob held Johns eye contact for a moment, and nodded once. John squared his shoulders, letting the rage filter into his muscles.

The Seeds played a hard game, and Rook struggled to not get distracted by John. He took every opportunity to make eye contact with her, flexing in absurd ways that made her both laugh and blush, winking at her when he saw the red paint her cheeks.

Hudson had smacked her on the arm four times now, and even Pratt was starting to glare at her.

It wasn’t until Jacob and John high fived that Rook started to get angry. She watched as John turned back to her and she glared at him.

How dare he take advantage of her feelings like that?!

So she rolled her shoulders, and got ready to play.

They’d brought it back, and somehow managed to get to the final point as a tie.

John had realised quickly that the game was up and had returned his focus on the game, but it hadn’t been enough to stop Rooks fury. She had been completely focussed on setting up spikes, diving all over the court to smack the ball up off of the sand, and up into the air for the others to throw over the net. She played hyper aggressively, furious that John had discovered her feelings, which she had managed to keep a secret for so long, and that he had tried to take advantage of them.

Pratt hit the ball up for Burke to spike, and Burke thumped it over, Faith caught it, flinging it upwards towards Jacob, who thumped it back down. Rook dove forward, flicking the ball back up to Pratt, who popped it over to Hudson.

Hudson flew into the air, bringing her hand back to smash the ball over the net.

John dove for it, but Faith dove at the same time, and they ended up smacking into each other, and missing the ball.

Rook roared in victory along with the rest of the team, and most of the crowd. She was hoisted into the air by Pratt, who swung her around, before Burke came over and they rested her on their shoulders as she punched the air.

Hudson caught her as she jumped down and pulled her in for a tight hug and then pulled back to high five her.

The Seed family came over and shook all their hands, Jacob even giving Pratt a chest bump, which earned a lot of laughs from the crowd.

Sharky and Hurk popped bottles of champagne all over them before handing the bottles over, and Mary May stood on her stool to announce them the official winners, and hand them a medium sized trophy, which they gave to Rook and then held her up again as she waved it around, cheered on by the crowd.

Once the excitement died down a bit, Rook ended up with a whole bottle of champagne, which she drank straight from, and Hudson had the other. John approached her as the others stepped away, and she glared at him, resting her weight on her back leg.

He grinned as he stood in front of her, “That was a beautiful game, Deputy”, he drew out her title, which he did when he wanted something or was frustrated with her.

She grunted, “Yeah, you too, John. You still upset that your little tactic didn’t work?”

She felt the blush hit her cheeks, but her anger kept her going.

Johns grin turned smug, “Well, it was working, wasn’t it? You just got angry,” He scratched his chin, “and we all know that nothing can stop you once you’re angry”. He reached out and rested a hand on her cheek.

All the anger drained out of Rook and was immediately replaced with nervous energy. She giggled uneasily, “Yeah, that’s me, the angry Deputy”

John laughed, but Rook was praying for the Earth to open up and swallow her whole. John took a step closer, forcing to Rook to look up at him like he had earlier in the day. Confusion swept over her – there was no game to play now, no reason for him to take advantage of her feelings. She managed to stammer out a quiet “what’re you doing, John?” and his grin softened to a small smile, his blue eyes flashing with determination.

“Not all of it was for the game, Deputy”

Rook didn’t have time to question this, Johns lips were on hers before she could even process what was happening.

And then his arms snaked around her, pulling her closer, hauling every inch of her body against him, bare chest against barely covered chest. The champagne bottle slipped from her hands, landing in the sand with a soft thunk.

Rook took a few seconds to catch up, but when she realised what was going on, her arms snaked up along his chest to rest on his shoulders. John pulled back for a brief moment, and Rook squeaked when his arms slipped down her back, gripped her ass and hauled her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

His lips were on hers again, hints of beer and barbeque sauce mixing with the champagne stain on her lips. John kissed her impatiently, as if he had been waiting for a long time to do it, teeth nipping at her bottom lip, before his tongue darted out and swept across it to ease the sting.

Rook groaned, her back arching involuntarily.

John and Rook froze as the crowd around them cheered, and Adelaide hollered “FINALLY”. Rook leaned back to look at them all, while John rested his head against her shoulder, but didn’t let her go.

“Oi, bugger off, nothing to see here at all”

The crowd laughed, and Rook glared as she watched Hudson dig into her purse and begrudgingly handed a few notes to Pratt, who was grinning and threw Rook a thumbs up. Rook considered asking a question, but John nuzzled her cheek and she turned her attention back to him, beaming down at him.

“this is a much better ending than the Top Gun ending”

FIN

Thank you for reading :)