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hugmekenobi · 2 years ago

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Goes Both Ways

A Bad Batch Series interlude oneshot

Gif by @transkestis

(no, the S2 fits aren’t here yet, this gif just worked the best)

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Summary: You and Hunter both realise there are trickier feelings that need navigating in a relationship but the two of you manage to work with them.

Warnings: Swearing, possessiveness/jealousy, reader doesn’t really stick the Jedi teachings (but we knew this anyway lol), pet name (sweetheart), Gregor being what I need in the form of a flirtatious plot device, Force communication working how I say it does, brief mention of death, no y/n, PDA in the form of making out, affectionate biting/marking, spicy and suggestive language and touches, awkwardness, getting caught/interrupted

Masterlist for S1 chapters

Word Count: 3.4K

Rating: 18+

Author’s notes: I can’t justify the main trope here, my brain just went into this headspace and took it and ran lol. Things get a bit spicier, but I appreciate this sorta thing isn’t for everyone but to those who do read, hope you enjoy :)

The three of them watched from the bar at the scene unfolding in front of them. They weren’t sure how exactly you would react once you came back from putting Omega in Cid’s room, but one thing was certain, you weren’t going to be very happy.

“Hey guys, what are we looking-” You stopped as you saw what it what they were staring at, or rather who they were staring at. “Who the fuck’s that?” You asked, attempting levity but it wasn’t very convincing.

“We don’t know. She appeared once you left.” Tech answered.

“Did she now?” You replied, your voice tense. The feelings bubbling within you were unfamiliar and you were still getting used to the whole relationship thing, but you could already tell you weren’t a fan of what was happening in front of you.

You continued to stare at the young woman currently standing by Hunter at the other end of the bar counter. She was being a little too touchy-feely for your liking, her hands kept wandering to Hunter’s chest and hands. Hunter, to his credit, kept inching away every time she did that, but she was not for dissuading.

“Are you alright?” Echo asked.

“Uh huh.” You replied stiffly.

“You sure?” Wrecker asked as he saw the way your jaw clenched.

You sucked air through your teeth. “Yup.”

“You know he’s not going to do anything.” Tech added.

“It’s not him I’m worried about.”

“Are you sure you-”

“Relax Echo, I’m not going to cause a scene.” You said calmy as you watched them.

You understood to a degree, hell if you were in her position you’d probably try too, but he was taken now.

Now he was yours.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, where the fuck did that line of thought come from? You thought to yourself, shocked that you’d even gone down that road so quickly. That jealousy and possessiveness was something you’d been taught for years was a very bad thing, yet you jumped to it immediately. You took a deep breath. “It’s fine, I’m fine. He’ll come back over once he's done talking.”

The three of them regarded you suspiciously.

“Chill with the fourth degree. I’m okay.” You reiterated as you felt their eyes on you.

“You’ve still not looked away.” Tech pointed out.

“And that bar stool leg wasn’t bent like that before.” Echo said, indicating to the chair you were closest to.

You glanced down and sure enough, the leg has curved slightly. Clearly you weren’t as fine as you were trying to make yourself out to be. “Wrecker, stand in front of me.”

Wrecker did as you asked. “That better?”

You took another deep breath. “Yeah. Just gotta wait until they’re done.” You stole a swig from Echo’s drink and willed the streak of possessiveness that was residing with in you to go away.

“Okay, how long has it been? Seriously, what could she be saying that’s so interesting?” You asked irritably. “Also, Hunter isn’t exactly a conversationalist, what could she be so captivated by?

The others shared a smirk. It had been five minutes and you’d only lasted two before you’d moved past Wrecker to watch them again.

“I don’t think it’s his conversation skills she’s interested in.” Tech said simply as if he was answering a question about the weather.

You shot him a glare as Wrecker and Echo both shook their heads at him. “Sometimes Tech, I forget you’re the smartest one here. I know what she’s interested in but how many times does he need to back away for her to get the hint? Or better yet, why doesn’t he leave?”

“Maybe he’s just being polite?” Wrecker offered.

“Or they’re genuinely having a conversation?” Echo suggested.

You hid your head in your hands, but you couldn’t help but laugh. “Sometimes I really can’t talk to you boys.”

“Although I doubt a genuine conversation would involve that.” Tech said indicating over to them.

You lifted your head and that possessiveness you had been attempting to quash came to a head as you saw the way she looped an arm around the back of his neck and drew her closer to him. “Oh, for fucks sake.” You muttered. The Jedi were dead, and they weren’t perfect anyway, so you didn’t have to be. You downed the rest of your drink and began to walk over to him.

“I have 5 credits on her bumping into her and making her spill her drink.” Wrecker said as he watched you go.

“Nah, she’ll use her Jedi abilities for that.” Echo countered. “Tech?”

“I think she’ll rise above and merely ask her to leave.”

Echo and Wrecker just stared at him; eyebrows raised.

Tech sighed, “Fine. She’s using the Force.”

Hunter had been itching to leave for the past ten minutes but this woman was not getting the message. He had just taken her hands off him for what felt like the one hundredth time when he felt you next to him as you wrapped an arm around his waist.

He glanced at you and saw a hint of darkness in your eyes as well as something he couldn’t quite place. “Hey, how are-” Your lips on his abruptly cut him off and it was a kiss that was definitely not meant for a public space. It was deep and intense, and he was sure it had something to do with whatever it was that was lurking behind your eyes. After what was probably too long for a casual expression of affection, you pulled away and he found that all words had left his brain.

“You were stolen away from me. I had to come check on you.” You said sweetly as you gazed at him, pleased with the slightly dazed look on his face. Keeping your hand wrapped around him, you faced the woman, and you felt a hint of smugness as you saw the flash of irritation on her face. “I see you’ve met my Hunter.”

Your Hunter? He regarded you curiously, but your eyes were focused on the woman in front of you.

“Yeah, we just got chatting.” She said innocently.

“Oh, chatting, was it? Looked to me like you were hitting on him.” You said with fake politeness.

Oh, that’s what this was, Hunter realised. You were jealous. He worried for the woman across from him since he’d never seen you like this, so he didn’t know what to expect. “Sweetheart, I wasn’t-”

“Oh, don’t worry, I trust you.” You said, leaning up to plant a kiss on his neck and you smirked to yourself as you saw her frown out of the corner of your eye.

You faced her again. “Honey, you should really look for men that are interested in you. You’re not going to get what you’re looking for here, I can tell you that.”

“Oh, I’d never-” She began, placing her hand over her heart as if she was shocked by such an insinuation.

“No?” You asked as if you were willing to believe her.

“It’s just he never mentioned you, so I assumed-”

You could tell she was lying and that was confirmed by the way Hunter stiffened next to you. “See, I think he did, and you just don’t know when to quit.”

“Well, I didn’t think sewer rats were his type.” She sneered.

You were glad you could be done with the fake niceties. You placed a hand on Hunter’s chest as you sensed him getting ready to speak. “I think you better be going now.” You said coolly and with a subtle flick of your finger, her drink spilt on her lap.

She shouted in annoyance at the red puddle that was now forming on her lap.

“Oh, now that’s unfortunate. You better get outta here and sort that cause white and red? That’s a bitch to clean and I wouldn’t want your lovely dress to get ruined.” You said with a cat-like grin.

She glowered at you and walked out of the bar.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Hunter kidded into your hair as he kissed your temple.

You looked back at him and looped your arms around his neck.

Hunter’s hands found your waist and as he stared into your eyes, he saw that that hint of possessiveness hadn’t left yet, and he realised it wasn’t necessarily just the woman he had to worry about.

“She was trying to take something that wasn’t hers.” You said as your hands threaded themselves in his hair. You pulled on it and brought his lips down, so they were mere inches from yours.

Hunter had to bite back the groan that threatened to leave his mouth and instead he tightened his hold on your waist. “We can’t… not here.” He managed to rasp out.

“See, I think it should be here. How else are people going to know that you’re mine?” You purred as you moved your lips to his ear before you bit down on his neck, using your tongue to sooth the sting of it.

“Fuck.” Hunter hissed out and he had to grab the counter so as to stay upright.

“Did you like talking to her?” You continued to whisper as you kissed along his jaw.

“No.” He replied hoarsely. His brain was having to work overtime to form even the simplest of words.

“You didn’t leave.” You murmured as you traced your lips over his. You took them away as you saw him go to make something more of it. “Why didn’t you leave?” You asked again, your hand trailing up and down his chest- thankful that they’d all decided they could take a break tonight since his armour would’ve made this difficult- whilst you sucked a mark on his pulse point.

Hunter’s head fell back, and it took all the willpower he possessed not to let out a moan. “Didn’t- Maker- didn’t want to be- Fucking hell- rude.” He ground out as your lips and tongue continued to do things to his neck that left him unable to think straight.

“If there’s a next time, Sergeant…” You crooned, bringing his head back up. “Be rude.” You whispered before kissing him once more, gently biting his lip and relishing in the way he couldn’t keep it together anymore as you heard him groan and hold you tightly to him.

“Oi, you two! This is a public space. Do that in your own place!”

Hunter snapped back to the current moment. He broke away and he saw Cid standing behind you.

You didn’t seem bothered at all. “We will.” You said simply as you took Hunter’s hand and led him out the bar.

All Hunter could do was follow you, too hooked on whatever it was you were acting like to argue or even really think.

The others had turned away from the moment that was unfolding between the two of you now, but Wrecker handed the credits over to Echo and Tech.

Echo heard Cid shout and risked a glance over his shoulder and as he saw you lead Hunter out, he guessed they’d be banned from the Marauder for a while. He sighed.

Tech and Wrecker stopped their conversation and followed Echo’s gaze.

“Ah.” Tech said plainly.

“Guess we’re going to be here a while.” Wrecker grumbled.

Hunter watched as you laughed at whatever it was Gregor had said. He wasn’t that funny. His jaw went tight as he saw the way Gregor placed a quick hand on your back. He felt that cold stab of jealousy, something he thought he’d risen above since he knew that it was really nothing more than friendly banter between the two of you, you’d told him as much and he trusted you. Plus, Gregor was a brother, and he was doing what brothers do which was very successfully winding him up and Hunter knew he should’ve been better at ignoring it. But seeing the flirtatious repartee come so easily to Gregor and watching him lean in closer to you was doing enough so that the primal feeling of possessiveness was able to take over his brain.

He got up as he saw you pass the table and followed you as you headed into Cid’s office.

Echo, Tech, and Wrecker watched from another table as you picked up your communicator and gently nudged Gregor out of your path, making your way out of the bar. Their eyes then fell to Hunter, who stood upon seeing you leave and followed you out of the room. The scene was all too familiar, and they all shared a knowing look as the deja vu settled over them.

“Who knew he could get jealous too.” Wrecker said. “I figured he’d be better than that.”

“Not with her, he’s always had an issue with Gregor. He flirts with her. It’s innocent enough but it gets to him.” Echo said.

“Yeah. Remember when Gregor brought her those flowers? Hunter didn’t leave her side the entire day.” Tech reminded Wrecker.

Wrecker nodded his head in agreement as he remembered.

“Hey fellas.” Gregor said as he sat down next to Wrecker. “Where’s the Sergeant?”

“No idea.” They all said together, and they were thankful that Omega was out running errands with Cid.

You finished finding those datapads Cid had asked you to bring to her but just as you were turning to leave, you felt Hunter’s presence but before you could say anything, he’d whirled you around and brought his lips to yours. It was the kind of kiss that took your breath away and left your head spinning as he pulled away. Gathering yourself, you put the datapads down and stared at him as he kept a firm grip of your waist. “What was that for?”

Hunter didn’t answer. He just kissed you again and tangled his fingers in your hair.

You felt it then. You felt the possessiveness that was flowing through him, and this kiss definitely had that in it. It was rough but it felt really fucking good. You just didn’t know what had set this off. What’s going on? You managed to send as you kissed him back just as eagerly.

“I never like it when he flirts with you.” Hunter muttered as he followed your jawline with his lips.

Letting out a happy sigh, you tilted your head back and let him explore your neck. “Who? Gregor?” You watched as his gaze met yours and you nearly let out a groan at the sight. His eyes were dark, and he was breathing heavily. “He’s harmless.” You managed to say, though it was a struggle.

“He wants you and I don’t like what that does to me.” Hunter growled as he kissed you again and pressed himself tighter to you.

“What if I like what it does to you?” You whispered breathlessly as you broke away, a coy smile on your lips as you leaned forward.

No. He wasn’t going to let you turn this one around. It was his turn now. “I don’t like people coming for what’s mine.”

The guttural way he said that had tingles running down your spine and your toes curled as he made his own mark on you. You’re lucky I love you, had that come from anyone else, I’d have kicked their ass.

“I must not be doing a very good job if you’re still able to find a way to speak.” With that, he kissed you again and he tugged on your lip, delighting in the way your breathing hitched as he did that. He grabbed the backs of your thighs and picked you up and carried you over to the edge of Cid’s desk.

You were grateful that the mission you’d been on had been tamer and involved blending in because if he was wearing his armour right now, you wouldn’t have been able to grab fistfuls of his shirt to hold him close to you.

Hunter brought his lips back to your neck. “Do you like it when he flirts with you?” He rumbled against your skin whilst his hand began to steadily trail a path along the inside of your thigh.

You couldn’t help the moan that left your mouth, but you stopped his hand from going any higher. “Someone could-” You broke off with another groan as he bit the sensitive spot just behind your ear before he cooled the sting of it with his tongue. “Walk in.” You said, your voice hoarse with effort.

“Maybe that’s what I want.” Hunter crooned. “Maybe Gregor should see who you’re with so he could get the message that you’re mine.” He kissed you again before he repeated his question, “Do you like it when he flirts with you?” He needed you as speechless as he was when you were this way, so he made another mark on the junction where your neck and shoulder met.

“Fuck!” You couldn’t help but shout and you removed your grip on his wrist since you needed both hands to keep yourself upright.

“Answer me.” Hunter ordered as he slowly continued to move his hand upwards.

Right. Words. Come on. “I-um- shit-” His teasing touches were killing you. “No. I’m just being nice.” You managed gasp out as your head fell back.

“Hmm.” Hunter stopped just before he reached where he knew you were wanting him. He grabbed the back of your neck so that you were forced to look at him.

You could barely keep your breathing under control. You’d never seen him like this, and you were scared by how much you were loving it. You found the edges of his shirt and found that all worries of being discovered were rapidly leaving you.

“If I went higher, what I would find there, would that be because of me or because of Gregor?” He hummed against your lips as he moved his fingers in small circles at the juncture of your thigh.

You could only moan in reply and your head fell into the crook of his neck.

Hunter paused what he was doing, pleased that you were as wrecked as you’d made him.

“You.” You croaked out as you felt him stop. “Please, Hunter.” He’d reduced you to a begging mess, but you were too far gone to care. “It’s only you. I’m just being nice. I’m yours. Please just-”

Your words sent him over the edge, and he kissed you hungrily.

You were about to lift his shirt over his head when the office door opened.

“Kriffing hell! Not my office!”

You pushed Hunter away and jumped down from Cid’s desk and you wanted to curl up on the floor and die but Hunter… he looked cool as can be.

“You two, out!” Cid yelled, shooing you out the door.

“The datapads are there.” You said sheepishly as you pointed to the small pile on the end of her desk.

“Well, now I know why you never brought them to me.” Cid snapped. “What if it was the kid instead of me?”

“It wasn’t.” Hunter replied breezily as he re-entered the bar.

You glanced at him, confused as to how he could answer so casually, but then you saw the look on his face, and you could feel that he wasn’t done with you yet and the thought sent a thrill through your veins.

Hunter snaked an arm around your waist and began to hurry you out the parlour.

“Ready to hear the rest?”

You stopped and turned to face Gregor. Hunter’s arm had wrapped itself around your front and he was pressed into your back. “Not right now but yeah, Gregor, you can finish that story later tonight.” You let out a small yelp as you felt Hunter nip the back of your neck. “Tomorrow. Can talk tomorrow.” You corrected quickly and you let Hunter push you out the parlour.

Neither of you had noticed Omega squashed between Wrecker and Gregor.

“Um…” Wrecker said.

“I know, I know. ‘We’ll tell you when you’re older.’” Omega said grumpily as she crossed her arms and slouched.

“Just don’t go to the ship tonight. I think we gotta crash here.” Echo said.

“Those two…” Cid came in shaking her head.

“Hey, we gotta live with them.” Wrecker pointed out.

“So long as we don’t get our timings mixed up, we should be fine.” Tech said.

“We can only hope.” Echo muttered.

Masterlist

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @tpwkcalli, @fuckoffthanos, @arctrooper69 @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @a-streakofazure, @ladytano420, @dragonrider9905, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx

#the bad batch #hunter x reader #hunter x fem!reader #hunter x femaleJedi!reader #hunter x female!reader #sergeant hunter x reader #sergeant hunter #hunter tbb #hunter the bad batch #the bad batch hunter x you #hunter x y/n #tbb hunter x reader #the bad batch fanfiction #star war #friends to lovers #smut

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wewebaggit · 2 years ago

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i love how ur bio says safe space for hopper haters bc too many ppl in this fandom are always like “whaaaaat!? but how can u not like jopper 🥺” when he is not only a full grown man who abuses his power and was horrible to Joyce in s3 but also his character itself is literally copaganda

and it’s concerning and so weird (but also unsurprising) that jopper is like… elevated as this god tier ship, even in queer spaces, when in reality it’s pretty mid and also why would I want to ship Joyce byers with a cop

Hey booksandpaperss!

I am a safe space for ALL HATING. But specifically Jim Copper hate simply because he is shown a lot of undeserved grace by the fandom and the writers.

Since it's now in vogue to hate on s3 I'll take this opportunity to escape being called a negative nancy for once and just a hatering hater. Here goes:

My hate for Hopper is not as a result of season 3 but in fact it began with s2. (s1 a wee bit) But truly honestly deeply since season 2.

Hopper in season 2

After giving up Eleven's location in the prior season, Hopper then out of the goodness of his heart (😒) starts leaving Eggos for El in a reverse HansEl and GretEl. The feral El now has a home. But is it a home? Or just another prison? Hopper leaves her alone in the cabin with nothing but a TV. And so El spends her days mindlessly going through all the shit the idiot box has to offer. The only time she's actively interested in the TV is when she wants to use the static to get into the void. Because she has been kept away from the ONE friend she made out of the lab. And let's bffr. It's Mike. She is looking for Mike. And Mike too is the only one thinking about her. Hopper keeping her away from him and lying and being nothing but and angy aggressive cop of a dad is supposed to make the audience feel.....wait what are we supposed to feel? Mad at Hopper? Cuz the end result was people hating on El rebelling against Hopper. And it is all because El's resolution at the end of the Lost Sister episode was......that she needed to go back to Hopper and her friends. However, again it is a point in time when Hopper's at the lab and in mortal danger.

So since we love deep dives and shit and developing lore around characters, would she have been compelled to return to Hopper were he just, idk sitting in his cabin or at the station or whatever. A lot of ST is just about characters deciding to do stuff when someone is in REAL DANGER™️ But specifically with Hopper, he only steps up as dad when El's in danger. Otherwise he's treating her as a pet, something Mike was wrongfully accused of.

The whole entire (almost) year that El was with Hopper we do not see a change in her personality. Her rage has worsened. Her vocabulary is still lacking. In spite of the word of the days. There's no female presence in her life. He neither recruited Joyce nor her aunt (though that would have been sus, agreed n yet would it have been any different seeing as El managed to do it alone.) She's been held hostage for her own good.

Hopper: You put us in danger.

El: You promise. I go. I never leave. Nothing ever happens.

And then he grounds her. Like she was living it up otherwise. (S2E4)

We know it was because this was El's story of rebellion and trying to find her identity and so the story does not have Hopper do these things. But that still means that the story chose for Hopper to not do these things. He is even shown apologising (meh. half assed like his foil Mike, but that's for later) for it towards the end. And yet, that's something that's rarely discussed in fandom circles while talking about Hopper.

Hopper in Season 3

Oh he proves he's a blackhole alright. Sucked Joyce's character development. He's only marginally improved letting Mike see her but beyond that it's still mostly the same. She still is under-socialised. Speaks like that. El herself seeks out Max. Joyce is still too busy being ungrateful (I know not the intent, but the execution nonetheless) she's still not leaving the cabin much and has some curfew. Again which is, well why is it there? Cuz she's been coolly gallivanting with Max at the mall and everywhere else without a problem.

He's a proper asshole to Mike and a bully. Who tf threatens murder to a 13 year old kid? Like between having a chat and threatening homicide, he could come up with ZERO options. He needs emotional laxatives that aren't just anger and bullying.

Hopper in season 3 is an unfunny comic relief. A man baby. A bully who uses his cop privileges. Who treats the woman he supposedly likes like shit. He was so mad about Joyce not meeting up with him despite her telling him the reason. I mean mister you did that with Eleven too and just expected her to understand. The juvenile hUmOUr and the macho man action scenes where he's outwitting trained Russian mercenaries (lmao) is a step down from the basement he was already in. Him treating Alexei like shit when he was the only one who could have helped them. Make it make sense. (Anti-Russia/USSR pro USA copaganda and nothing else)

Also beyond all of this I simply hate Hopper for taking away valuable screentime from the kids that this show is supposedly about but hasn't really been that for some time now. He's a white male war veteran cop who's a Hawkins native and was a popular kid in school too. So he's not even an outsider in terms of being the new man in town, let alone the shit that really matters.

Hopper in Season 4

Not dead enough.

Jopper throughout the show

Mid chemistry. Joyce is already a semi-absent mother but becomes entirely absent after Hopper's message from Russia. She has ZERO clue of what her kids are going through in Cali and then has the fucking audacity to walk out on them without even letting them know that she might not return. She also leaves the only responsible person in that household with the charge as if she ever took it. She is now been relegated to being the comic relief which is neither comical and far from a relief and Hopper's girlfriend. Every season she has proven to be right on the money with her instincts and every season everyone including Hopper question her as if she's the dumb one. Hello. Do you guys clear up your memory after every season? It's annoying and one note. Hopper is a jealous manbaby all of s3 and a fucking liar. "i shOuldn't hAVe seNt yOu the LeTteR" Bitch u did. You wanted out. Dasvidaniya! El's college fund. But you'll only need it if you make it through school 🤷‍♀️. WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN HOMESCHOOL HELLO. Though I do commend the subversion of the found family trope where both the adults are pathetic parents. Do love one of the main couples being failparents! (is that a thing? or are they pioneers?)

#byler #stranger things #wewe's askbox #jim hopper #jim copper #joyce byers #anti jopper #kinda had to reel it in

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accirax · 6 months ago

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Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 18)

Get in, losers, we're going to the Motel.

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings, the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. However, given that there will be no elimination this episode, we're doing something a little bit different. Instead, @venus-is-thinking and I will be discussing who we think will be rooting for who in the finale episode! There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Connor's Elimination

Current Score: 76 acquired/113 total

(Points versus @venus-is-thinking: 27 acquired/38 total)

Who would've thought that Grett would be the last player actually voted out of the game? Okay, I did, back when I thought that Grett would be voted out at Final 4, but not when she was voted out at Final 5! I still can't believe that it wasn't Riya.

This is another elimination I already talked a lot about in my initial thoughts, but I'm happy with when and how they chose to eliminate Connor, just unhappy about the surrounding characterization of Jake in particular. Although Connor is overall a likeable guy (barring the potential anti-union stances), from a gameplay and in-universe wealth standpoint he absolutely did not need to be in the finale. I should've counted his broken leg as more of a death flag than it was, and put him at #3 (given that it was never going to be #4).

But hey, maybe I was conditioned to believe that it wouldn't matter much after Yul also injured his foot and I talked about it for weeks for it to ultimately not matter at all! Alec, watch the fuck out for the Yellow Boy Leg Curse.

Trailer Analysis

Given that there's no elimination in this episode, I'm really just going through the trailer to point out things that I think are fun as opposed to any real game logic :D

Awww, glad to see that neither of them are too upset about their eliminations. At this point, at least.

Winners on the right, please B)

They are literally so clingy throughout this entire trailer. Love them <3

It's very interesting that this does seem to be an in-universe filmed event. I wonder what Kristal wants from all the competitors.

Okay, actually relevantly to the ranking, could this possibly be Riya's bench? I wouldn't expect that Yul would root for Riya, given that they hate each other, but it's not like Yul liked the others. And, Riya at least didn't vote for him to go home in his boot episode. It could just be an interview about Riya, but then I don't know why Fiore would be there and Grett wouldn't.

If he's out here being fatphobic again...

Ooh, it'll be fun if they take some time to explore Grett's relationship with Ellie as well as with Gabby in a post-S1 landscape! This one goes out to the GabGreLlie(?) shippers.

OLD PEOPLE DOMINATION!!!

Oh my god, I forgot they were on the same tribe at the beginning.

Hang on, is there a challenge going on this episode? If so, what for?

Lake and Ashley being friends feels so natural. I know that Ashley has already talked about having little sisters in the past, and Lake absolutely feels like she could use a supportive older sister figure. It's like Rosa...! Again.

Another classic Alec/Tom duel. I'm assuming this has something to do with the challenge-looking thing that's going on?

This too, maybe? I'd say that Hunter was somehow helping Emily and Trevor with their plan to ruin the show, but Hunter should have no incentive to end Disventure Camp, especially when his girlfriend is in the finale.

"Daaaaaaamn, that's good shiiiiiit." "AAH! Kristal! Were you spying on us?"

Tom's feet, for free? (/j) On a more serious note, they're probably saying something heartfelt about Jake here.

"Power Ranking"

Following Venus' suggestion, I'm going to rank my people in terms of how confident I am in which bench they'll be on! It'll have no effect on my score-- we're scoring this round separate from the main competition, and even so it'll be a simple 1 or 0 points for if you get it right-- but it'll probably make the flow of the rankings better.

#1: Miriam - Jake's Bench

I see literally no reason why Miriam would be on the bench of anyone other than Jake. They're super close, with Miriam essentially having adopted Jake as her grandson. The only possible argument to the contrary would be if Miriam rooted for Riya in support of the Yellow Team, but Riya literally voted her out, sooo...

#2: Tess - Ally's Bench

(I know that Ally was on the Magenta Team and not the Cyan team, but Ally has an overall blue palette, so she gets blue.)

Similarly, I see no reason why Tess wouldn't root for Ally. The whole reason why she came to play again was to spend time with Ally and Hunter, and even if she didn't get to do that as much as she would've liked, she can at least show Ally her support by rooting for her in the finals.

The only path I see to Tess not rooting for Ally would be if Hunter decided that he was too mad at Ally to root for her, and Tess decided to join him in solidarity. However...

#3: Hunter - Ally's Bench

Let's be realistic. You don't say "we'll always support you 100%" or whatever Hunter and Tess said to Ally in the comeback episode and then choose to be petty and root for... Jake, I guess? When she actually makes the finals. Rooting for Jake specifically would just be fucking cruel. Double damage fr.

Also, Venus and I have been talking about potential scenarios for who the finalists might be able to choose to help them in the finale. There are pretty much four scenarios we've discussed:

Each finalist chooses one former competitor to help them, like what happened in Seasons 1 and 2.

Each finalist chooses two former competitors to help them, evocative of how this season has more competitors.

Each finalist chooses two former competitors to help them, but there has to be one from Season 1 and one from Season 2, to celebrate both seasons equally.

Everyone will be able to lend a helping hand to their finalist of choice.

In any of those scenarios, I think that Hunter will be helping Ally in the finale. He is her literal boyfriend, the person who should be closest to her, and he's really good at challenges. Tess will also likely help Ally in case of #2. That would be a nice way to pay off her finally getting to spend time with the two of them together!

#4: Tom - Jake's Bench

The only reasons why Tom isn't higher up on this list are just because 1) the other three are so obvious, and 2) Tom and Jake are still sort of in a weird zone. However, it's not like Tom has any reason to root for Ally or Riya pretty much at all. If he chose to sit on either of their benches, he could pretty much kiss any chance of a future relationship with Jake goodbye. Or, perhaps "not kiss" is more fitting to the circumstances.

I also find it pretty likely that Tom will help Jake in the finale. His greatest competitor for Jake's hand is Ashley, who's also a strong physical competitor from Season 1. However, Tom is basically a lock for Jake's bench, while Ashley still may wind up supporting Ally. Plus, I feel like the writers (and some of the fans) would love to have Tom support Jake, especially if it winds up leading Jake to a win. Regardless, I have high confidence that Tom will be rooting for Jake.

#5: Aiden - Jake's Bench

Although Aiden and Jake obviously didn't start this season on the best terms, by the end, they became really good friends. Plus, it's not like Aiden is rooting for Riya, and I can't really see why he'd root for Ally either. Especially when Ally was the one who flipped to take him out of the game.

Aiden has the most likelihood of being on Jake's finale team if Jake is forced to pick one Season 1 character and one Season 2 character, although it's possible he could even make the team in a vacuum if Ashley is on Ally's team. A Jake/Tom/Aiden teamup is possibly even more appealing than just a Jake/Tom teamup. This is the last one that I think has almost 100% chance of success.

#6: Lake - Jake's Bench

While Lake and Jake didn't interact pretty much at all in the main season, there have certainly been seeds sown to lay the groundwork for Lake supporting Jake in the end. Most importantly, she was the one advocating to Aiden that Jake deserved a second chance, citing that she saw a lot of herself in Jake. We also had Lake and Jake form a quick connection in the premiere with Jake saying that he enjoyed Lake's writing. That feels like it could have been put in there intentionally to preemptively explain why they would gravitate towards one another.

Also, with no Cyan players remaining, I wouldn't be surprised if Lake is essentially just here to support whoever Aiden chooses to support, which I expect to be Jake. As the cherry on top, she's shown hanging out with Ashley a lot in the trailer, who is very pro-Jake even if she doesn't ultimately wind up on his bench. I find this to be pretty likely.

#7: Grett - Ally's Bench

Although Gabby and Riya worked together for much of the game, I expect that Grett will still be on her "no forgiveness for Riya for voting with Yul" grind, and therefore not be on Riya's bench. And, similarly, while she did wind up working with Jake near the end of the game, she was working with Ally for longer and more closely. Both Jake and Ally wound up uniting to take Grett out, so I think that lands Grett pretty solidly in Ally's camp.

I could also see that they had Grett clarify that she held no ill will towards Ally in her elimination just to make it clear that Grett didn't feel at all betrayed by her. As one of the strongest players of the season, Grett would also make a great assistant to Ally's team, should she choose to accept it. Just watch out that you don't get out-sabotaged again this time, Grett...

#8: Gabby - Ally's Bench

Gabby is mostly here to hang out with Grett. If Grett is taking a no-Riya stance, Gabby would support her all the way. It's possible that she could wind up on Jake's bench through Tom/to support a S1 player, but... that feels like it's valuing Gabby's relationship with Tom over her relationship with Grett, which was not the moral of this season. I just have to be right that Grett would choose to support Ally!

Please let me be right that Grett would choose to support Ally.

#9: Connor - Riya's Bench

Okay, let me preface this by saying that I do NOT think that Connor has once again relapsed into his Riya simp phase to genuinely support her. I think that the twinge of pain he gets any time he moves his ankle would be enough to remind him that that's a terrible idea. I simply think that Connor will join Riya's bench for strategic purposes. There are a lot of strong reasons why sitting on Riya's bench is the optimal choice for Connor.

Number 1: choosing between whether to sit on Ally or Jake's bench could have disastrous results at this point. If he chooses to directly support one of Ally or Jake over the other, it might make it more difficult for them to work together. The safest move is to remove himself from that fight entirely, and choose Riya to NOT choose Jake or Ally.

Number 2: Seeing Connor on Riya's bench could give Riya some sort of psychic damage, whether it's Season 2 loser flashbacks or through confusion as to why Connor is "still there stanning her." You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Number 3: This gives Connor the opportunity to be an anti-helper for Riya. If Riya's bench is mostly unoccupied, then she may be forced to select Connor as her assistant. Even beyond any deliberate sabotage he tries to throw her way, forcing her to wait while he hobbles behind on his broken leg could eat up a lot of time. It would all be deliciously karmic, especially as a bookend to Connor's arc by having him defeat Riya by deliberately screwing up her endgame, again.

#10: Ellie - Ally's Bench

Gabby is here for Grett, and Ellie is here for Gabby. I know that Ellie and Ally have had, like, negative amounts of screentime together, unless you count every time I've mixed up which name various other characters were saying. But otherwise, like, who else?

No way in hell Ellie is rooting for Jake; she's the OG Jake hater and nothing this season has changed that. I did initially think that Ellie could support Riya as a fellow villainous winner, but would she really value a member of the alliance that almost drove her and her girlfriend apart that she hardly talked to over hanging out with said girlfriend and supporting a young artist who needs the money to support her career? I think not.

Please let me be right that Grett would decide to support Ally so that I'm also right that Gabby would decide to support Ally.

#11: Alec - Riya's Bench

Given how, uh, terribly these two's relationship ended, it may come as somewhat of a surprise that I think that Alec would still "root for" Riya in the end. However, Alec and Riya just had such a connection this season that I feel like it would be wrong if he didn't wind up tied to her in the end somehow. Then again, he didn't wind up rooting for Fiore in the Season 1 finale, so maybe he will just pick, like, Jake or whatever at random.

I'm more confident that Alec would be on Riya's bench in the case that Riya needs two assistants, S1+S2 specific or not. I could totally see Alec and Connor conspiring together to be the only two assistants available to Riya, so that no matter who she chooses she's going to get someone who's actively working against her. The plan still works if she only needs one assistant, obviously, but I think it packs more of a narrative punch if Alec and Connor could do it together.

#12: Ashley - Jake's Bench

So, obviously Ashley is going to pick either Jake or Ally, and she's only this low down because it's a little tricky to figure out which one of them it is. You might be surprised to see that I ultimately decided to have her pick Jake based on the way I wrote this post, but the truth is that I wrote the post that way because initially, I also thought that I was going to have Ashley pick Ally.

That was because, under the possibility of S1+S2 helpers, I didn't really see who Ally could possibly pick up from S1 other than Ashley. However, that specific scenario is dubious enough as is, and once I realized that Grett could fill that S1 slot for Ally, Ashley felt a lot less locked down. I could also see that (in the S1+S2 situation), if Jake picks Tom really quickly, Ashley could volunteer to join Ally's team from Jake's bench, swapping sides like Rosa did to support James. (Because you can never pass on an opportunity to make Ashley Rosa.)

I just feel like, after making such a statement to Jake about being proud of him and wanting him to succeed, and after them working together in the comeback challenge, it would be really weird for her to not wind up on Jake's bench in the end. Plus, Ashley was Jake's friend first. Those are just the facts.

#13: James - Jake's Bench

Much like Ashley, James winds up this low because I can't tell whether he would root for Ally or Jake. It's not going to be Riya. Obviously.

The argument for Ally is that I feel like the writers have been... lowkey pushing that Ally and James are closer than I at least thought they were? When the Magenta team initially formed, he seemed really excited to be on the same team as Ally and Hunter, saying that the team was stacked. Also, in this greeting from about two months ago, James said that he was rooting for Aiden or Ally to win. Of course, that was from a while ago in the competition, so James' opinions might have changed. But, if he sticks to his word, he would be rooting for Ally.

However... is he really going to pass up the opportunity to sit with Aiden AND Lake just to support Ally? Notably, I do think that greeting may have been from before Aiden and Jake became friends, and I can believe James rooting for Jake much more if he's doing it through the lens of supporting Aiden's friend. I also don't know how James feels about Ally's descent into villainy. As someone who became more heroic over the course of his season, I could see James being disappointed (on the level of being a friend, not just in her "character development") in what Ally has been doing, and not want to support that behavior.

Also, we see James hanging out with Ashley, Lake, and Miriam in that one scene, who are all people who I, at least, have determined will be supporting Jake in the finale. To the extent that the former campers have already determined who they're rooting for and have sorted themselves into factions because of it, that may be an indication that James will be repping Jake.

#14: Yul - Riya's Bench

"Seriously? You're making me pair with curry girl?! Gross!" That's my Yul impression. I don't like it either, Yul, but you don't like anyone and nobody likes you. Thus, my only real lead is that Yul would want to support a villain winner, bolstered by that scene of him sitting for an interview with Connor, Alec, and Fiore.

Yul also did wind up rooting for Riya in the Final 2 of Season 2 eventually, although he initially supported... Aiden? In the Final 3? Wait, I totally forgot that Yul ever supported Aiden. You really threw your support towards our GT king, Yul? Anyways. He does have a past history of rooting for Riya, although their relationship probably got worse throughout the course of All Stars. I really don't know with Yul.

#15: Fiore - Riya's Bench

As I described to Venus, Fiore is really tricky because she has, like, a 2/5 good reason to support any one of these people in the finale.

Jake is from her season and the one she was trying to appeal to, but he's also an idiot and didn't side with her in the end. Ally was trying to protect Fiore from Hunter, at least, but they never became particularly close, and Fiore left the game throwing her under the bus. Riya is a villainous #slayqueen that was once close with Alec, but she also left Alec much worse for wear and screwed Fiore over in that one challenge to win the reward. I don't think Fiore will be particularly happy with rooting for any of these finalists.

Thus, I think that Fiore will probably just be hanging out with Alec, who I've pegged as supporting Riya. I could also see her stanning Riya as a statement about wanting villains to win, much like Yul could, and to further complain about how more people should have helped her in the Season 1 finale.

It might seem like putting Yul and Fiore on Riya's bench would ruin Connor and Alec's plans, but I don't really think it does. First of all, for Fiore at least, if she's united with Alec, Fiore might be another rotten pick for Riya. And, even if she would genuinely help Riya to win, Alec and Connor being two terrible choices for Riya's team only further forces her to work with Fiore (a child) and Yul (Yul). Those are also terrible teammates! Riya can be taken down by her own lack of a social game in either situation.

And that's everyone! Here's how I've laid out the teams, ordered in terms of how likely it is that I think they could be an assistant to whoever they're supporting (which sort of crosses over with how confident I am that they'll be there):

Jake: Tom - Ashley - Aiden - Miriam - Lake - James

Ally: Hunter - Tess - Grett - Gabby - Ellie

Riya: Connor - Alec - Yul - Fiore

I guess, in the end, the teams wound up pretty even, with one extra person for Jake and one person missing for Riya. I kinda thought that Ally would have fewer, but picking up the Grett/Gabby/Ellie trio does a lot.

This was a really fun and unique power ranking to write, so I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it! I feel like DCAS has been at its best when it has the most of its characters in the episode at once, so let's hope that this is another fire episode. And, no matter what, my overall score ain't gettin' any worse!

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avatarskywalker78 · 9 days ago

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It's WIP Wednesday and I have been working a lot on 'Nicky Connors Part 4' (fight scenes my beloathed) so here's a longer extract!

“So this Halloween thing,” she said, once they’d composed themselves. “You got any ideas?” “I refuse to believe you’ve never been to a Halloween thing before.” “I’ve been trick-or-treating, but I can’t exactly wear a cheap dollar store costume to a high school event, and I like to stand out.” “We noticed.” Bobby said dryly. “Still, Johnny had a point - it’s not such a big deal.” “What are you guys going as?” “Probably whatever we feel like.” “Helpful.” “I thought you just said you’d like to stand out.” “I figured we could co-ordinate a little bit, unless I just show up as a witch.” “One letter out.” Dutch muttered. Nicky threw her empty fry carton directly at his head. “Hey.” “Asshole. Just because you know I’d have the best costume out of the lot of you.” “Are you sure you don’t just want a broomstick to hit people with?” Tommy asked, sniggering. “You could probably use Halloween as an excuse.” “Yeah, except a witch doesn’t need to hit people, she can just curse them.” Nicky pointed out. “I’ve no intention of hitting anyone unless they try and hit me first, because then it becomes self-defence – I’d have a broom because it looks the part.” “I think you could pull it off.” Johnny said, finishing his soda and crumpling the can, chucking it into the bin. “But I’m gonna call bullshit on you having the best costume – you’ve not seen what Bobby can rustle up.” “That so, huh? You holding out on me, Brown?” “I’m not exactly a costume designer and I’d have no idea where to start with a Halloween one.” He protested. “You’d be better off splashing out on a shop one.” “That brings us back to the problem of not standing out, though.” “You’ve still got a couple weeks.” Jimmy said. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

I'll also share some more of the 'Tory is a Barnes' AU.

“Miguel was nearly killed!” He snapped. “Keene being in juvie isn’t enough, they all have to pay for it—” “By that logic I should be going after you and the rest of your classmates because Tory hospitalised my sister.” Sarah said coldly. “And yet here I am, not pressing charges.” “That’s different.” Hawk retorted. “Besides, you’ve not even pressed charges against Tory, so why should I believe you—” “Because Elaine wanted to help her and knew she’d only done this because of your dojo.” Sarah pointed out – no way she was telling him they were related. “And you’re avoiding what I said. Robby Keene is serving his sentence. Daniel LaRusso shut down Miyagi-Do. Johnny Lawrence is focusing on helping Miguel Diaz. Several students have been suspended or taken out of the dojos entirely. Almost all those responsible for the brawl and its consequences are being held accountable one way or another, so what’s your point here, Moskowitz? Who can you possibly want to go after?” “Fuck you!” Hawk’s eyes blazed at her. “Cobra Kais don’t show mercy! One of our own nearly died and there’s no coming back from that, and Kreese says—” “Oh, yeah, Kreese.” Tory snarled. “You mean the man who encouraged me to go after LaRusso in the first place and stomped all over Sensei Lawrence’s lessons behind his back? Give me a break, Hawk, he doesn’t give a shit about us, and the sooner you realise that the better.”

I also tried rewriting my Nyssa x Dev x Lyta Krypton fic - only to find that does need a rewatch as while I watched S1 a few times I've only seen S2 the once, so I do need to refresh...but here's a snippet anyway!

It didn’t make any sense. Zods had a strong sense of duty to Kandor, that was true, but Dru-Zod was not what Kandor – not what Krypton – needed, because whatever he said he did not have the people’s best interests at heart. No, this was about power, about enslaving the rest of the universe to prove Krypton’s might – to prove his might – and surely even Lyta’s sense of familial duty and responsibility couldn’t have blinded her to that. It was yet another foundation ripped out from under her, and all she could do was focus on protecting her child and helping Val’s rebellion, six months organising, rebelling, fighting, retreating, recruiting— Six months later, Adam Strange turned up alive. His zeta-beam device had transported him away at the very last second, and he’d ended up in one of Brainiac’s frozen cities…which turned out to be one of his cities, with a statue of Dru-Zod in the centre of it, and Nyssa wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry over the fact that Zod was apparently going to succeed, but ultimately Brainiac would come for everything anyway. From Adam’s perspective, he’d only been gone a few hours as opposed to the six months it had been on Krypton, and even though he made light of it… The time skip, his failure to protect his planet, and Seg’s loss were weighing heavily on him. Oh, he pretended it didn’t, deflected Val’s enquiries – constantly made quips, wisecracks, terrible attempts at flirting with Jax-Ur – but Nyssa could see the mask for what it was, recognised that underneath the humour was someone whose hurts ran deep and the only way he could cope was through humour.

Tagging (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @shrinkthisviolet @starstruckpurpledragon @dream-beyond-the-fantasy @ofbriarandrose

#work in progress wednesday #oc: nicky connors #johnny lawrence #bobby brown #jimmy (karate kid)#tommy (karate kid)#dutch (karate kid)#the karate kid #wip: nicky connors part 4 #oc: sarah barnes #eli hawk moskowitz #tory nichols #wip: tory is a barnes au #cobra kai #nyssa-vex #lyta-zod #adam strange #wip: nyssa x lyta x dev - pining #krypton syfy

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sun-undone · 6 months ago

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I just watched the season 4 teaser and I neeed your thoughts

AHHH HELLO FRIEND it's been a fucking minute hasn't it???? obx is back after what feels like a billion years and for the first time in about that long i'm feeling the buzz for it again!!!

SO the teaser let's ramble about it for way too long

before getting into any of the specific content, i just wanna say that this teaser felt SO different from the s3 teaser. and that might sound like a bad thing at first cause imo the s3 teaser is the best piece of promo the obx team has ever put out, BUTTTT i think this teaser needed to have a different feel.

the writers and some of the actors (i think chase mainly) have repeatedly stated that this season goes back to basics a bit and refocuses on the characters and the bonds between them, and it truly feels like this teaser was doing exactly that. it wasn't really showing us many hints about the plot or massive action set pieces, it seemed much more interested in showing us our pogues. THAT is where the hype comes from with this teaser.

it might seem a bit lackluster and small compared to other teasers we've gotten, but i'm very happy with how they're already choosing to promo this season so far BECAUSE it feels more intimate reminiscent of s1 in that way.

i could absolutely eat my words about their intentions with this as promo continues, and i do think they'll still end up doing their usual bigger, action heavy plot heavy trailer, but as a first real teaser??? it's really making me trust their statements about refocusing the show.

MOVING ON

i mean. I MEAN

if this ISNT how the season starts i am going to be absolutely floored. i'm hoping so badly that it's an even more direct parallel to the opening scene of 1x01, with pope, kie, and jj down below ragging on john b to come help them build the dock or whatever. bonus points if john b drops the gold he's holding and almost breaks jj's foot or something. like i want as dead on of a parallel as humanly possible pates if you're gonna go for it, fucking GO FOR IT

i'm very curious as to how much of the time jump is gonna be exposited via montage and john b narration. i assume a lot of the building of the bunkhouse and dock and fixing up jj's house (which is kind of a shame cause how emotional must that have been for him????? but it's fine it's just RIPE for fanfic that way). but according to bts there's at least one scene that was filmed from the in between that might be an actual scene rather than montage (i won't say in case people don't want spoilers but it involves jiara). or maybe that's part of the montage too, we truly have no clue at this point. i'm just so stoked to see these new sets!!!! i'll forever miss the chateau like my heart actually splinters every time i think about it but the pogues having a new home base on jj's land is something really special too.

core 4 scuba mission as yet another parallel to s1 like are we in heaven??? and jiara are the ones that actually dive???????? jj reassuring her beforehand????????????? john b and pope teasing them???? potential jiara cheek kiss?????? it doesn't get better than this

oh actually no it does

LOOK AT HER SMILE AND YOU CAN TELL JJ IS CHEESING JUST AS HARD TOO LIKE HELLO

also jarah b watching from the dock house like proud parents I KNOW THATS RIGHT

we have a fair amount of bts about this so i'm not gonna say too much but john b looks PISSED. and i'm right there with him but hey at least we'll get hot jj bike stuff?? rivalry with rafe (and maybe topper too cause we just can't have nice things) and worried kie having to watch from the sidelines??? it might not all be bad!!!! i'm already pretty sure i'm gonna hate this plot point so i'm trying to get the anger out now so i'll be all out of it by october

IS THIS A POGUE SURFING SCENE MAYHAPS

i swear to god if this ends up being a random extra i will lose my shit

there is no screenshot of this that doesn't look absolutely horrid but that doesn't matter WHAT MATTERS IS THAT JJ FINALLY GETS TO PUNCH RAFE. they fucking heard our prayers i cannot believe it. i REALLY hope this is juicy as hell and leads into a full on fight that the pogues have to try to break up (i would've liked it even better if they had a truly one on one fight with no one else around so we could see how evenly matched they undoubtedly are but whatever whatever this could be super dramatic and fun in different ways too).

also double points if he's defending sarah and/or kie in some way. double double points if this tension has been building for the entire season up until this point cause i've been saying for YEARS that jj and rafe could have such an interesting dynamic but they barely have ANY scenes together. i am desperate and begging and this gives me so much hope oh my GOD also if you saw me edit this into this post cause i forgot to include it the first time no you didn't

aaaaand with that, that's pretty much all i feel like i wanted to talk about, there's a few other interesting things to speculate about but like i said before, this teaser really gives nothing away. or at least it doesn't if you've been following bts

ALSO the song is water on mars by the nude party and it's absolutely perfect which is no surprise whatsoever

#feel free to send more questions if you want me to talk about anything specific i didn't touch on here!!!#the obx brain rot is right around the corner y'all

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spaceorphan18 · 1 year ago

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I think I'm losing my mind. I was on reddit and I uninstall that yesterday cause of glee subreddit(if you don't know what is glee subreddit, there is a social media app called reddit where people of common interest or region can get together and discuss on topics posted) . So the glee reddit is kinda annoying. As far as what I've observed , that reddit has more of brittana fans and they kept bashing klaine.

The funny thing is that they hate klaine for the same reason they love brittana. Well hate and love is one's feeling. But I don't know if this particular incident triggered me. Someone was as usual bashing on klaine in a klaine Christmas celebration post. Not a hate post. So I got into a heated argument. Then there was a DM that a person accused me of lifting lines from other peoples fic to mine. And they blocked.

The thing is this fandom is not so young. Meaning you would have fics on almost all genres with similar kinda writing. I am just pissed that person accused me without any proof. Not just that.

There is this another person, who is on tumblr too. They say that they love Kurt but they said what Kurt did to get back to klaine relationship was cringey. I asked what made him cringey cause he didn't do much to get into relationship. It was all sue. And they just typed "stfu" get as spontaneously as they can.

Now what broke the camels back was I put a misinterpreted statement on another post. And I didn't know one of Rachel's dad in s3 was black but not as black as what they showed in the s1. Someone explained that the actor Brian stokes was mixed ,has black ethnicity and had lighter colour than the dude shown in s1. I agreed and I said that was my point and oh my god,the downvotes.

I just said call me racist if you want,I don't care and there is this person who called me stfu came up,called me annoying and I need help. I just cited that they have less temper and I don't need a psychology lesson from them and the person just bitched and said to seek professional help.

I don't know why I am ranting to you. I'm so sorry. I just want someone to talk me through this. This keeps pissing me off.

Hey dear! No, it's fine - sometimes it's just easier to write it all out and just let yourself feel all the things. And it's totally fine.

I'm sorry for all the crap you've been going through! It's rough when fandom does not feel like the fun place you want it to be.

I am aware of reddit and have never really been a fan. I've heard the Glee fandom on there is pretty terrible in general, so I've always avoided it. It's hard, sometimes, when there doesn't feel like a lot of places to go -- especially when the fandom has very much faded and dwindled. But my best advice is to always step away from the places that make you angry.

(It can be hard, I know! When I first joined tumblr, I think I followed people I didn't really like mostly because I felt like I /needed/ to hear their wrong take. It took me a while to figure out that it was better mentally to not engage at all.)

There are also a lot of people who would rather revel in their hate of a thing than rejoice in their enjoyment. There have been psychological studies about how anger brings people together more than love. (Interestingly, I remember a long time ago there used to be a forum for Chris fans and the biggest, most trafficked thread was about hating Darren.)

I think the other unfortunate thing so often in fandoms is that people only really want to hear what they want to hear and be validated that their opinion is the /right/ one instead of listening to what other people have to say and respecting that some people don't respond to the same things you do. It's unfortunate that things become black and white and lines need to be drawn, but alas, the internet (and humans) have always been tribal like this.

Meanwhile, the best thing I can say is just enjoy the thing you like. These people are just going to be assholes whether you engage with them or not, so why give them a platform? Your mental health is worth more than their time - so give yourself a break.

You're welcome to come chat with me any time. :)

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tonydaddingham · 1 year ago

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okay so... we do agree that the most sense for the first scene of season 3 is to show in some way the fall, right? we saw the before, we saw the after (as in eden), we now need to know why there was this schism in the first place

and so, my question is, since i've just finished rewatching the job episode - what do you think, in gomens' universe, is the point of that schism? why did the fall happen? why was there a Great War? who started the war, was the war just between the different angels? who actually cast the losing side away?

the whole bit with "an angel/demon who goes along with Heaven/Hell as far as he can" really made me think about this all. plus, i personally would find it very satisfying to finally find out at least a little bit of context of why this separation happened in the first place for the moment (i hope) when the whole system is finally broken down and dismantled

hey lovely!!!✨ i do think it will open with some reference to the fall (as you said, imo it makes the most narrative, poetic, and thematic sense!!!), but i also feel like a lot of the show's answers are going to be within the fall, so idk if we'll see all of it in the beginning cold open, or if some will be continued towards the end of the series?

as for the fall questions, wowzers, i'll do my best to answer what i potentially think could factor in here, although they may not answer your qs outright!!!✨ and probably link to some other specs/metas that ive had jumbling around!!!

i think aziraphale knew or suspected something about why it would be risky to question god; maybe not that the fall was already bandied about as a concept, but maybe that there were Things Afoot that made him think that going against her will and plan could be bad news

i think that god is ultimately a very neutral, very amoral party. i don't think she is good or bad, right or wrong, well-meaning or malicious; she just is. i even possibly think that the ineffable plan, if there is even such a thing like she says in s1, is that she has no plan at all. everything is up to everyone else. (don't really have a singular meta on this, but perhaps a bit of this and that)

metatron is the Big Bad. dunno why, necessarily (ie what are his motivations other than Power?), but i think when god goes AWOL somewhere between job (or maybe actually after golgotha?) and present day, he fills the void and acts like he is still the voice of god, that he is still receiving orders. (again, no singular meta on this, and ive kinda got it sprinkled across many posts tbh!!!)

so with those kind of things in mind, here are my possible thoughts (not committing to any singular one) on the fall and the schism you've mentioned.

the fall was not necessarily meant to be what it turned out to be. i think ultimately angels came to god asking questions, or questioning her and her Ineffability, or the plan, whatever.

god wanted all of her creation to have free will. if that free will was to break away from heaven and from her, and act in their own interest, under their own orders, by their own conscience, i don't think she ever had an issue with this. even if - in the presumed case of lucifer - the intention was to break away as a direct challenge to god, to have the same power as god, i similarly don't think she wanted to stop this. that is literally free will. so she does nothing to stop whatever happens when they choose to break away.

metatron however has other ideas; heaven is good, and is correct, and is right. anyone who even questions it, even if out of love and devotion to god, those who just want to understand, were forfeit. god has removed herself from the picture, not even there at the (literal? figurative?) trial, so metatron acts as judge, jury, and executioner. in some cases, i think there were angels who were pushed, not fallen.

we know there was a war, but i think it was out of the angels that remained 'on heaven's side' being told lies about their fellow angels - told that these defectors were actively working against god to jeopardise her creations and her plans. that heaven will fall if they are not cast out. conflict ensues - from their perspective - to protect the sanctity of heaven.

then, possibly, i think a memory wipe kinda thing did happen, but specifically on the events of the fall. i do also wonder if this is where the book of life comes into play, but not overly confident (on any of this, really)

and ultimately i think the whole concept of true free will might have been god's plan - if you can call Nothing a plan - all along? that she completely steps back, and let's heaven and humanity kinda work it out for themselves.

like, this is the kinda stuff that i hope they reveal later on s3; crowley falling with lucifer, and possibly meeting aziraphale again etc. would, imo, be great for the ep1 cold open, but the actual events of the fall i think needs to be the belter that comes out in maybe ep5 or 6. obviously i haven't gone into where i think crowley and aziraphale may slot within all of this, but most things can be found in my masterpost anyway, or indeed happy to summarise for anyone who wants it!!!✨

#this got the cogs whirring #what a lovely delicious ask #good omens #ask #the fall/the great war spec #pre-fall aziraphale spec #AWCW spec #god is dead theory #ineffable plan spec #memory wipe theory #s3 narrative spec #metatron spec

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eatnightmares · 6 months ago

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1.12 fiddler's feast time :)))))))) (<- can't fucking do this anymore i'm at my limit i can't do it i can't-)

they're so cute :((( they're soooooo so cute :((((((((((( but also paigggge :(((((

(guy who works at a restaurant voice) i need that hog dead

THEY'RE SOOOOOO CUUUUUUTE I'M NOT GONNA FUCKING MAKE IIIIITTTTTTTT

"does not require a fleshly sacrifice" bro i hate it here 😭

the state of tech is so interesting like early internet era but some things are still held back bc of the gods' whims...

as if she's already thought about it 😭😭😭

"asked for a gift to be given, offered a gift in return" makes me so crazy when they use the word gift for sacrifice. not what that means!!!! win for religious pseudo cannibalism at least

GWUUUHHHH CARPENTERRRRR SOUNDING SO EXCITED TO EXPLAIN HOW HER FAMILY DID IT. MENTIONING EM BY NAME.

GRINDING MY TEETH INTO DUST. (with a certain loyalty) i can't stand them he wants to give her the right answer and make a good impressionnnnnn. carpenter having one of the few things she enjoys about her religion being sharing food...even back in ep1 when she's egging faulkner about getting pancakes...

SHE HAS A LITTLE JEALOUSY IN HER VOICE. KILLING MYSELF 👍👍

exploding exploding exploding. "we're talking about ancient history, laws from 50 years back" PAIGE THAT IS NOT ANCIENT HISTORY

DRIVING ME FUCKING CRAAAAAZYYYYYYYY OH THE WAY THINGS CHANGE OH THE WAYS THEY STAY THE SAME. SO VERY FUCKING NUTS CARPENTER WAS THE FIRST ONE TO OBJECT TO LEGALIZATION.

oh carpenter oh carpenter oh carpenter. i don't even know what to say oh my babygirl

devlin drowned dragged delivered tho am i right...am i right guys...

faulkner wanting to have a proper goodbye for paige is doing things to me. never having had that for his family, his final goodbye with carpenter...

GRAAAAUUGHH. A GODLESS GREETING/FAREWELL. I HOPE YOU CAN FIND A WAY FORWARD THAT MEANS NO ONE ELSE HAS TO GET HURT. FAULKNER'S FINAL INTERACTION WITH A MAIN CHARACTER OTHER THAN CARPENTER AND IT'S THAT. TAKE CARE PAIGE. OUR PAIGE. MAY YOUR PEACE WALK ON WITH YOU FOR A WHILE. WALK ON UNTIL YOU'RE LOST FROM ME.

head in my hands. paige.

listen this is very touching with how she goes on to open up to him but u have to understand how it reads like that fucking sonic fandub bit. "just me and the ocean...just alone with my thoughts..." "hey silver-" "GODDAMNIT"

ok i have to start limiting screenshots b4 i just cap the whole scene but. oooowaaagghhhh. it was refreshing to see some fire in you when you came to speak of the faith. i used to be very much like you faulkner. you can call it a compliment, if you like - but I always forget that you converted. oh, there's always entanglements. I don’t think I feel the same way I used to. i don't understand, but that's okay. 💥💥💥💥💥

liquefies into paste.

head in my hands. the siblingssss

he's so normal. something about carpenter not necessarily taking that last part as a red flag. correcting herself from had that to have that. like to her it's a feeling that's necessary to have at some point but then needs to be let go. she really does see so much of herself in him...she isn't even out yet and she knows he needs to get out too...

(big red flashing sign held up to the audience that says STOP LISTENING NOW U ARE GOING TO GET HURT)

HEY. HEY CAN WE CIRCLE BACK ON THIS. WHAT'S THE ONLY OTHER SACRIFICE WE KNOW HE'S MADE. HEY FAULKNER WHAT DOES THIS MEAN HEY HELLO?

giggling smiling tearing out the floorboards eating drywall etc etc. how very s1 carpenter-core he is in s3. she takes that. accepts it. perhaps he only wishes for me to prove once and for all that i have the courage to finally let you go. yeah, perhaps that's it. do you?

banging my fist against the floor. it's faulkner not understanding her but trying to give her kindness. an escape. paige and carpenter, the unfaithful, the ones who are going to leave him, but he still has love for them and doesn't resent them. what does that make everyone else?

fiona apple voice i resent you for being raised right...i resent you for being so sure...i resent you presenting your life like a fucking propaganda brochure!!!!!! but i know if i hate you for hating me i will have entered the endless race!!!!!!!!!

i know they're picking grass and putting it in each others laps i know they are

oughh this episode...another top 3 of s1 for me i think...and it's all downhill (emotionally) from here lads 🫡

#venus speaks #tsv relisten

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fastcardotmp3 · 2 years ago

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toooootally agree that steve dying in s4 would have made sense. after all the mentions of running away and steve never doing that, his death would have hit home that standing and fighting isn't always the best (or smartest) choice. also think about how interesting that could have been for eddie, unceremoniously placed in the big brother position

LOTS of potential for interesting character moments but. 🤷‍♀️

no EXACTLY.

It's a plotline that not only /didn't/ fit Eddie's overall story, but /would/ have fit Steve's arc so perfectly if they hadn't decided to use him largely for comic relief and regurgitated relationship drama in S4 and had actually, y'know, written him an arc.

This is a guy we've seen come back from having the absolute shit kicked out of him three seasons in a row, who throws himself into the line of fire with very few questions asked of himself other than "will this choice help keep these people safe" and who-- this is the interesting part for me-- always gets back up.

He's almost over powered with the way he can take a hit and keep going and it grows with intensity every season 1-3 to the point where you can see him getting more reckless with his human shield endeavors. Steve has gotten up before, he knows this about himself, he has convinced himself that this means he'll be able to get up again, convinced himself that he'll resurface from that lake to the degree where he just does it so casually.

But that's not true. The opportunity to have Steve run headlong into a frenzy of creatures that he was already almost taken out by once and /needed/ backup to survive without that backup, to do it for Dustin's sake after building that relationship up so thoroughly during s2-3, and then for him to not only not get back up again, but for it to have BEEN IN VAIN? because they still don't WIN?

AND THEY DECIDED NOT TO TAKE THAT OPPORTUNITY?

The version of that scene where Dustin is sobbing over Steve's dying body pleading "No-- Steve-- you die, I die-- Hey, stop, you die, I die, got it? You son of a bitch you die. I die. Don't you fucking dare, please, please--" while Steve smiles and reassures him because he has so much faith that this is worth it because it's over now, it must be lives rent free in my mind.

The version of S5 that gives us the opportunity to see the fallout of what losing one of our original s1 characters does to the rest of them-- does to Dustin in the trauma of watching it happen, does to ROBIN who is half a soul down when she was within /walking distance/ of his final stand, does to Nancy who has got to be convinced at that point that her love is a death sentence, does to Max who has now lost two older brothers (even if this one is both less and more complicated because she actually felt /safe/ around him), does to Lucas who has looked up to Steve in so many ways, does to Eddie who is new to this group and now feels the utterly incomprehensible size of the shoes dropped at his feet to fill-- a sword to carry when his chosen path had always been a shield? Yeah. that lives rent free in my mind too.

The Duffers are cowards who didn't want to kill off a fan favorite and risk losing viewership in their last season and I for one think it hurt them in the long run.

sorry for blabbering I have so many thoughts about this 😭

#ask #dot post #'we're not afraid of high stakes look at all the characters we've killed' oh you mean the short-term one season guest stars?#also the fallout from a major death on s5 and the desperation but also change of perspective it would add to the mix #and it's not like joe keery couldn't still make a cameo!! vecna's still around! these people are ALL going to be haunted by steve's ghost #think about the ADULTS realizing they weren't around and a /kid/ died #okay i'll shut up now or I never will

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andiwriteordie · 2 years ago

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First off, I wanna say I adore your take here. Killing Steve at this point would be dumb, and I am love loving your take on him realizing what he was looking for is familial love and comfort like el (!!!!!!!!!) cuz honestly steve in any kind of relationship at this point does not work for me whatsoever

though i do have a question, what do you mean by he's bones coded? context clues can tell me you think that means he's going to die, esp considering his original fate in s1, but which character are you comparing him to? (I'm assuming bones is a character)

hi hello!!!!! i just saw you replied back to my post about rambling about steve and i got so excited because i have too many thoughts lol. so i'll answer this out of order, then jump into my thoughts on it.

i wasn't referring to any characters here, just using that same phrase i think i saw either from who i rb'd from or from the og post! :) just i think there are a lot of arguments for why steve could die, and tbh i REALLY thought we were gonna lose him in s4, so i can definitely see why people think steve is like a for sure going to die in s5. i've seen a lot of people discuss it on here, just because of things such as the st*ncy relationship, how his relationship with dustin was a little sidelined this season, and how his arc is "complete" in a sense.

and i mean with this with so much love in my heart because to me, fandom is so much fun and the best part of it is that we're all allowed to have different thoughts/opinions/interpretations (with the caveat that these opinions shouldn't be harmful to people or people groups) of the media, but i STRONGLY disagree. and here's why.

i was thinking this morning about how interesting of a character steve harrington is when we meet him. he's the stereotypical jock, cool boyfriend for nancy's girl next door kind of trope. he's wealthy and popular and well-loved. on the surface, steve has everything you could want, right? outsider looking in sees a kid well taken care of (familial love), with lots of friends (platonic love), and a beautiful girlfriend (romantic love).

but that's just not the case. because we also learn that steve's parents don't really give a shit about him, and they're never around. we see that his popularity is surface level—that tommy and carol don't actually care about steve as a person and are just kind of existing, because they too are miserable in the overarching hawkins/small town sort of ideal. but then you have nancy wheeler, is is unabashedly herself, who went through basically hell to try and find her best friend, and who essentially kicked steve's ass into shape and showed him... hey, maybe i can be better. (which steve himself tells nancy in s4)

so i think personally, steve has projected his need for love and also the gratitude he feels from being afforded the opportunity and realization to change onto his romantic relationships—particularly his relationship with nancy.

let's rewind for a moment and talk about the other major love triangle in stranger things.

now, by no means whatsoever am i trying to say el and steve's backgrounds are comparable, because while steve does have an implied difficult relationship with his parents, this obviously can't compare to the abuse el endured. they are two characters with separate backgrounds, personalities, and story arcs, and i love them both so much for all those differences. but narrowing it down to how both steve and el are members of a love triangle with a wheeler and a byers kid, and how i believe both steve and el will end up as the member of the love triangle who remains single, i think there's something to be said here about the way parts of their arcs parallel each other.

with el's case, unlike steve, we're never given the facade that she's happy and should be happy. nope, we're introduced to her from the get go as someone who is lacking love of any kind in her life—so much so that she doesn't even know what a friend is. el has never ever experienced familial, platonic, or romantic love, but then she meets mike (and dustin and lucas). but it's mike she first connects with. mike who first shows her kindness and teaches her friendship. this, then quickly advances to something romantic, and isn't necessarily something el understands. but she "learns" it from her time in hopper's cabin by watching movies and tv shows.

similar to how steve has projected his need for love and also the gratitude he feels from how nancy helped him to change, el has projected her own need for love and gratitude for how mike showed her kindness onto their relationship. they stumble quickly into codependency in s2 and definitely in s3, and we see how that damages both of them by the time we hit s4.

so, we now have two characters who really don't have much in common except for the fact that they began their stories lacking in familial and platonic love (and romantic in el's case as well), found it early on in their story arcs, then proceeded to be 1/2 of what are two arguably toxic couples wherein neither one of the partners of these couples are having their needs met. both couples break up at some point. both then are rekindled, or have begun to be rekindled. both are left a bit open-ended by the time s4 ends.

now, let's talk about the other side of the story: the byers brothers. contrary to steve and to el, we meet jonathan and will, and we fairly quickly learn that they do have a support system. they do have familial love (through their mom and through each other), and in will's case, he also has platonic love through the party. the byers brothers begin in contrast to steve and el, because i think they have a better understanding then in that sense of what's familial vs platonic vs romantic. and because of this, their story arcs don't invlove them elevating this romantic love on a higher level than their platonic and familial relationships.

we see this evidenced in how both jonathan and will step aside and push their feelings away from their wheeler sibling in order to preserve their friendship with them as well as do what is best for nancy and mike. jonathan did it in s2, letting nancy believe that steve asked him to drop her home. will gives up his painting and confession and says el asked him to make it for mike. furthermore, we see that neither of them are trying to advance their relationships with nancy and mike further than a friendship. s2 jonathan actually sort of does the opposite and distances himself from nancy until she initiates, whereas s4 will really just shows us that he wants his best friend back.

two other characters, with similar backgrounds (makes sense, they are brothers) with similar understandings of the different types of loves they've grown up with and experienced, are introduced as a "third" member of two love triangle that are left unresolved by the end of the penultimate season.

so, then, to circle back to how this relates to steve, i say all of this to say: i believe both steve and el's story arcs will end with them having an understanding that their platonic and familial relationships and love they've gained are just as valid and fulfilling as the potential for romantic relationships. the other thing i didn't touch a whole lot on is the fact that throughout steve's arc and throughout el's arc, yes, we do see each of these characters gaining a romantic partner, but more than that? we see them gaining friends and family.

look me in the eye and tell me who's most associated with steve harrington. it's not nancy. it's dustin, or it's robin. steve's biggest character growth comes from how he befriends and mentors dustin and then how he befriends and learns from robin. he even makes the comment about 6 little nuggets and having experience because of the party members? and yeah, that right there tells me that steve's character is being developed and built around his familial/platonic relationships. his two most important relationships established in the show are not romantic.

(similarly, and i won't go into it as much because this post isn't about her, el is strongly associated with her relationships to hopper, the dad she finds who helps her heal from her abuser, and max, her best friend who helps her learn how to be el and pursue her own likes and dislikes. again, two of the most important relationships for this character are not necessarily romantic... though we all know my thoughts on how elmax/elumax should totally become canon lol.)

so, now we come back to s4, and it feels like one step forward two steps back for steve and for el. s4 is a season built on grief. on how to react in the midst of change and distance and separation from the people you love. it's a bit ironic that steve has his speech about crawling forwards/backwards because in trying to bring up and hold onto his flame with nancy, he is essentially taking a step backwards.

steve is still caught in this mindset and a lack of understanding the fact that he can be happy, and he can be whole and valued as a person without a romantic partner. it's something he's shown to want, but also? we see in his s3 interactions with dustin that so much of steve's dating life is motivated by his need to be liked and with someone "cool" (which is why, bless his heart, dustin tries to push steve towards robin). he gets frustrated by his lack of having a partner because he's dating and dating and dating, and it just isn't working—so he falls back into trying to recreate that s1 magical feeling of change and of getting to become a better person, which nancy helped to motivate.

anyways, when i look at steve's story, i just don't think it's done yet. i don't think he's learned that he can be happy on his own, and i think he has learned bits and pieces of this along the way as he's loved and helped dustin, as he and robin have loved and helped each other, and even as he and nancy have loved and helped each other. i don't think it's wrong for steve to want these dreams of a big, happy family that is the opposite of what he received growing up, but i just think that a satisfying end to steve's arc will be him realizing that he doesn't have to rush into that. that good things take time, and god, look how happy he is right now, surrounded by his child friends (who aren't children anymore? holy shit the kids he babysat are now 17-18 years old?) and by the friends his age (because robin duh, but also i am here for steve and nancy becoming friends and putting their romantic relationship in the past, and i am ALSO here for a steve and jonathan reconciliation since that has not been touched since their s1 fight). the found family he's gained throughout his story is enough, and he, like el, i believe is going to represent that form of familial and platonic love in the relationships he's part of.

stranger things is such a good story in that it covers familial relationships, platonic relationships, and romantic relationships, and i'm pretty confident the duffers are going to do both love triangles justice and slot them into their right places. because within both the older teen love triangle and the younger teen love triangle, there is a lot of love to be shared—just a bit of a mismatch as to what type of love goes where.

(also. this is not really part of the serious analysis, but i'm sorry. i think the dumbest, shittiest thing you can do in a show like this is complete a character's story arc and show how they've grown as a character, then just kill them off with no motivating reason. how would steve's death progress the plot forward? and if you're going to say it would give them all a reason to keep fighting, i'm gonna call bs on that because i think there are plenty of other reasons these people have to keep fighting. also their canonical main fighter, el, is not that close with steve. so. next.

i also didn't touch on how steve's death would impact both dustin and robin, and you know what, i'm also gonna be bold and say nancy. you wanna tell me they'd kill two brother figures in dustin's life? you wanna tell me they'd kill one of robin's first friends, the first one she opened up to with a secret she was so scared of telling? you wanna tell me that they'd cause nancy to lose another friend—the same friend who was there with her the night that nancy's upside down related trauma began with the loss of barb? NO. it would be such an injustice to steve's arc and to other characters' arcs, and i will die on that hill.)

#andi's asks #oh i got carried away again #oops #steve harrington #duffers don't kill anybody off challenge #the only things that need to die in s5 of stranger things are vecna and mike wheeler's thinly veiled heterosexuality #anti st*ncy

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perfectarmony · 2 years ago

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Sorry, not sure if this went through (having computer problems), so am resending: Looking forward to your TLC review. Not to be a downer but the ep was a bit of a snoozer for me. The Armony reunion was lackluster - they came across as casual business partners IMO. I feel like they are regressing Armony without much explanation. Arman asks how Thony and Luca are doing and that's about it - kind of flat. Hopefully their new biz venture will create some interesting dynamics but of course Nadia is the middle of it. Messy isn't always interesting. The Nadia and Arman dynamic is just weird, without much insight into their relationship. She gets jealous of Thony, makes snarky comments and Arman looks uncomfortable. I thought Nadia was more interesting last season - more complex and unpredictable. Arman seems all in on his marriage - again, what changed from S1? The Garret storyline is getting tired too - how many times is he going to blackmail Thony to spy for him? I like NA but could care less about his relationship with Nadia except for how it impacts Armony. How do you like the pacing so far? Did you like the ep? Tx.

Hey Anon! 😏

There's a lot going on right now - they have to lay the foundation for the new storylines/characters and that could be one of the reasons why something feels a bit off.

They did an amazing job in S1, making it so easy to appreciate and understand characters, almost as if we had already known them for a season prior to that, and at times, it feels like they may have trouble finding their footing now with all these changes?

For me, 2.03 was a solid episode, a bit all over the place but solid nonetheless!

To avoid losing myself, I'll rely on the points you made 😉

Again, the following is just my opinion, don't throw anything at me 😏

------

Armony

I appreciated their scenes but I agree, I'm sure everyone expected more from their reunion. They didn't really know what to do when they were face to face and free of their movements - which I found cute but a bit awkward too hehe. Not much more to say from a ''romantic'' pov but in the situation they are in - Thony having once again to deal with her son's health issues and Arman giving up everything with no guarantee that he'll get it back - I can't really blame them, it just wasn't the right time.

Now I hear you, I'm also a die-hard Armony shipper, and sure I would have loved to see Arman get worried and show more when Thony reminded him that Luca is still only able to survive with those meds - but honestly, Arman has been way more anxious and has a lot on his mind since the premiere so this could explain that.

BUT Arman said Bosco wouldn't risk getting the meds across but he still managed to convince him, and after hearing Bosco's comment ''that's what happens when you got the ladies running you around'', I wish we would have heard their conversation - I'd like to think that it was Arman's worries and a note of urgency in his voice that made Bosco agree rather than just him doing his friend a favor.

One thing that struck me and that keeps running in my mind - Arman said he didn't want to get involved in this business with Thony because he didn't know anything about it...I might be stretching things here and seeing things that don't exist - but if you extent that to Armony, maybe their distance is here to show him being scared of ''losing control'' with her, scared of not being able to give her what she needs - so he sticks to what he knows for now...which is Nadia...does it make sense or is all of that just my head messing with me? 😂

Nadia has always felt threatened by Thony, and she knows that without her help Arman couldn't have gotten out of jail, and now she is once again ''saving him'' - if you take it from this side, I think Nadia's reaction is understandable. Arman had to get her involved in their business - but Thony stood her ground and proved herself in their office and Nadia almost seemed to be impressed by her, so maybe things will get a bit easier now between the two? But yes, Arman was definitely uncomfortable in that scene.

I'm not sure Arman is all-in on his marriage. For some reason, he didn't respond when Nadia told him she loved him and he was quick to shrug off her accusations after helping Thony. As I already said a couple times, they care about each other - and like you said, not knowing about their story as a couple makes it harder to understand their relationship.

Robert/Nadia

To be honest, as much as Robert freaks me out through his calm and charming way of threatening people, I like him and I'm always open for more backstories (yes even when it concerns Garrett 🙈 I AM A SUCKER FOR BACKSTORIES I can't help it). The problem I have here though, is that we still haven't heard Nadia's story - and I'd hate to only hear about it because it is tied to Robert's - or worse...only hear about their past romance..not that I don't want to hear that story, but hers is much overdue.

I'm all over the place...but (so far) the connection Hayak had with Arman made him a more interesting character. I expected Robert and Arman to have a history too, but we actually got to witness their first encounter - so Nadia is the only one linking us to his character...okay Maya also is (and the new FBI Agent probably too) but we don't know her yet so it doesn't count..

Garrett

From a storyline point of view, I can understand them having Garrett use Thony to get to Maya because without that scene..well the only thing we had was Garrett getting into his former office and stealing evidence. Now I know most (if not all) of you don't care about all of that - but we didn't get to see him watch Maya, notice her black eye, probably getting upset, maybe feeling responsible - all of those things leading up to him reaching out to Thony...and forcing her hand. Seeing those scenes still wouldn't make his behavior okay, but they could have helped to not have him appear like a total ass. Again they are trying to build this Cortez storyline, and are slowly creating a link with Thony to tie everything together, so I get why this had to happen but completely agree with you - it could have been done differently.

------

We're only 3 episodes in and they have a lot on their plates...they did great last season, so let's keep our hopes up - I'm sure we just have to give them a little more time and once everything is set into motion, we should have superb episodes that will hopefully satisfy the entire fandom 😏

Geez why do I feel like this post is just full of complains when I love this show to death? Can I make myself feel better by saying that it's constructive cristicism? 😭

#the cleaning lady #Asks #S02E03

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fific7 · 4 years ago

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Fake or Fortune

For @omgrachwrites 1K Follower Celebration - congratulations!

AU: Fake Relationship

Billy Russo x Reader

A/N: This does not follow canon, it takes place in my Alternative S1 Punisher Universe, with Arrogant!Billy in attendance.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, slightly questionable consent, some dom/sub interaction, oral and unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Swearing and drinking.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My Photo Edit)

Karen put a large G&T down in front of you, accompanied by a sympathetic look. You picked it up and took a large sip, sighing as you put it back down again.

“I give up, Karen. No matter what I do, without fail I either pick the wrong guy or else think everything’s fine, and then boom - it isn’t.”

This was a commiseration drinking session, which Karen had suggested after she’d noticed you moping around the office. You both worked at the same big newspaper but in different departments, and became good friends after spending numerous lunchtimes together in the staff restaurant.

“What happened this time?” she asked, then winced as she realised maybe that wasn’t the most tactful way of putting things. “I mean, I thought you and David were getting on really well?” You took a larger gulp of your drink, “Well, that’s the thing - so did I. Until I got the “it’s not you, it’s me” talk on Saturday.” You’d been seeing this guy from your Digital News Content section for a few months, and you’d really thought everything had been on track.

Karen sighed, “Oh lord, not that old pile of bullshit.” You nodded, “Yeah, right. I tried to pin him down to exactly what the problem was, but I guess it was just me, when it all came down to it. In fact, I saw him chatting up a girl from Accounts yesterday so he’s already moved on to pastures new. That didn’t take long, did it? Or maybe he’d already moved on but didn’t have the balls to tell me.”

“Look, I’m meeting up with Frank on Friday night for a drink...” her cheeks pinked up, and you smiled at her obvious pleasure in that thought, “....so why don’t you come along? He mentioned one of his friends might tag along.” You held up a hand, “Oh no! No! I’m not being set up.” She shook her head, “It’s not a set-up, I swear. They’ve got a little....issue.... with Homeland and we’re going to talk about it.”

You knew she’d recently met this ex-Marine called Frank when - in her role as investigative reporter - she’d been digging into some big CIA scandal. When was there not a scandal about the CIA, you thought. You knew she’d met him several times over the past couple of weeks and had detected a more-than-just-business interest in him. “Oh, so.... strictly business, then?” you teased. She shifted in her seat, “Well, mainly.... we’ve also been talking about more personal stuff.” “Uh-huh,” you nodded, smirking, “Karen fancies Frank, Karen fancies Frank!” you sang, while she batted your arm and gave an embarrassed laugh.

“Oh shut up, you,” she said, “...are you coming along or not?”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

And that’s why you found yourself sitting in a neighbourhood bar with Karen on Friday night, feeling quite nervous for some reason. Probably because Karen was fidgeting like hell next to you, and you were picking up on her nervous energy. You smiled over at her, “So you really like this guy, huh?” “No!”she denied, then as you raised an eyebrow at her, “Well... okay, yes I do like him. He’s so sweet.” Her eyes widened as she spoke, catching sight of two approaching figures, “Oh! Here he comes.” A big bear of a man came up to your table, smiling broadly at Karen and then including you in the smile as he stopped beside you. “Hey, Karen,” he greeted her, and she beamed back at him. “Hey, Frank,” and then she introduced you to him. His friend, who’d been partially blocked from your sight by Frank’s bulk, moved out from behind him and said ‘Hi - I’m Billy Russo,’ and shook your hand as he did so. “Nice ta meet ya,” said Frank, also shaking your hand and sitting down in the booth next to Karen.

The man who’d just introduced himself as Billy slid in next to you, and you tried not to stare. He was hot. Like, really hot. Dressed in a smart suit and overcoat, he really didn’t look like an ex-Marine, but Karen had told you that both Frank and his friend were ex-service, and that the friend had opened up a security firm called Anvil when he left the Marines. His handsome face turned towards you, and two very dark eyes looked into yours, “So.... you’re a friend of Karen’s?” You nodded, “Yeah, we just worked together to start with but now we’re besties.” “You a reporter too?” “Nah, I’m a lowly sub-editor on the news desk.” A sudden thought occurred to you, “Oh... and just to reassure you, this isn’t a set-up... you and me, I mean.” He smirked, and you found yourself staring at his lush brushed-back hair and sculpted jaw with its light beard. “Would it have been a big problem if it had been?” he was saying to you, and you shook yourself out of your little trance.

“No, I guess not...” you replied, laughing nervously, “...but I just wanted to get it out there.” He looked you over appraisingly, “Well, I wouldn’t have been disappointed at all,” the smirk got bigger, “....so if you change your mind, just let me know.” This left you speechless but he was still looking at you, asking, “Whaddya want to drink? First round’s on me,” before turning his gaze to the others.

Several beers later, you were sitting listening to the other three talking about a lot of indecipherable nonsense (from your point of view), and you were beginning to get antsy. “Karen, I’m going to head off,” you said in a break in the conversation and she looked slightly guilty, “Oh sorry... we’ve been going on about this for ages.” You shrugged, “It’s fine, Karen, honestly. I’ll see you Monday, okay? Have a great weekend.” You turned to the guys, “You too, and thanks for the drinks,” and made to move out of the booth. But Billy didn’t move. “See you home?” he questioned you, and you saw small smiles on both Karen and Frank’s faces. “Yeah, okay,” you nodded, and then he moved, standing aside as you slid out of the booth. As you headed to the door through the crowd of people, you felt his arm snaking around your lower back. Oooh, very confident, you thought. You’d marked him out as a player as soon as you’d set eyes on him.

“Sorry about the boring shop talk,” he said as you both hit the street, “....me and Frankie’ve got some problems with Homeland right now.” “That doesn’t sound good,” you said as you found yourself being guided around the corner from the bar. “Oh, I was going to take the subway,” you protested, but he shook his head, “This time on a Friday night? Nah.” He pointed towards a rather flashy-looking car parked in the street, “Got the car with me so I’ll take you home. I only had one beer, case you didn’t notice.” “I didn’t,” you admitted, “I thought you were sinking beers like the rest of us.” He gave a low laugh, “I was a sniper in the service, so I like to be aware of my surroundings at all times.” A little frisson ran through you, this guy was quite dangerous, you could tell. As you reached the car, he held the passenger door open for you and you climbed in, trying to be as elegant as possible although you weren’t sure you quite achieved that.

As he started the engine and moved the car out into the flow of traffic, he asked, “So what made you come along tonight if it wasn’t a set-up?” “I was bored. I just split up with my boyfriend of a few months so...” you shrugged. You heard a chuckle, “His loss.” “I don’t think that’s what he thought,” you replied, with a self-deprecating laugh. “Well, it’s true,” said Billy, “...believe me. He must be mad to give you up.” “You silver-tongued charmer,” you said back to him, and again you heard his deep chuckle.

“Seriously, it’s my gain. Look, this might seem a bit of an odd request seein’ as how we’ve only just met...” he began, looking across at you as he pulled up outside your apartment block, “....but you’d be doin’ me a big favour. How ‘bout you come along to this charity event I gotta go to next week? As my ‘plus one’?” You hesitated, and he carried on, “No strings, I promise. Just come along as my girlfriend and be on my arm all night. Help me ward off the attentions of someone I’d rather avoid.” You scoffed, “Fake dating? Really?!”

Much to your surprise, you found yourself walking into your building a few minutes later having just agreed to go to this event with Billy. He’d looked pleased, thanking you for saying yes. And you’d also been on the receiving end of a surprise kiss from him. He’d suddenly leant in, slid his big hand around the back of your neck and pulled you in, his mouth finding yours as he did. The kiss had been short but very sexy and you were still tingling from the after-effects.

He’d laughed at your look of total surprise, and wished you sweet dreams. You’d better be careful, warned your internal guardian angel, he said ‘No Strings’.... remember? So don’t go getting all invested in this guy. He’s a player.... for sure.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy and you had swapped numbers, and the following morning you were pleasantly surprised to get a text asking if you could meet him later that day. Intrigued, you texted back saying you didn’t have any other plans but why did he need to meet up? He came back saying he’d had an idea to help out with the event next week, and said he could pick you up. Feeling like you could be making a big mistake, you agreed so he said he’d be at your place around two.

You made sure you dressed casually. Not having any idea where you were going, but sure it wouldn’t be a date as such, you just chose a shirt and jeans with some suede ankle boots. When Billy texted you to say he was parked outside, you left your apartment and locked up, feeling a spark of excitement run through you as you did. “This is not a date, this is not a date, this is not a date!” you chanted in your head as you went downstairs. Billy, you saw with relief, was also dressed casually in jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket and combat boots. He gave you a big grin as you got in the car, the luxurious leather aroma of the interior filling your nostrils. “What make of car is this?” you asked, being an “it’s a black one” kind of girl. He gave you what could only be described as a smug smile, “Rolls Royce Wraith, sweetheart,” he answered. “Oh, okay,” you said, “....expensive, I take it?” “Very.” “Surprised you park it on the street the way you do then,” you shrugged, and he burst out laughing. “Is it one of those so-called penis extensions?” you asked next, and Billy nearly choked he was laughing so hard.

“Firstly, I take it that means you aren’t particularly impressed,” he gasped, getting his breath back after his laughing fit, “...and secondly, no darlin’, it definitely isn’t one of those ‘penis extensions‘ as you put it. Got no need for one-a those.” You returned his smirk, “Really? Well, I don’t care what car a guy drives,” you said firmly, “...that’s got nothing to do with what he’s like.” He glanced across at you as he swung the car into one of the downtown underground car parks. “And what do you think I’m like?” You looked at his profile as he concentrated on parking the big car in a corner space, “Mmmm... I think you’ve had a hard upbringing and now you’re making up for it. Big time.”

Billy switched the engine off and turned to stare at you, the dark eyes drilling into yours with an intensity you hadn’t been expecting. “Wow,” said Billy, “....you sure you’re not one-a these psychoanalysts or somethin’?” “Definitely,” you replied. “Well, you sure sound like you’ve been analysing me, sweetheart,” he said. You didn’t know him well enough to gauge his mood, and he carried on, “I mean, you got all that from meetin’ me last night and just now?” You nodded, saying neutrally, “I’m just speculating of course... but the expensive suits, the car, and I bet a big flashy apartment too, it just says ‘I can afford this now and I’m gonna enjoy it’ to me.” You were relieved to hear a chuckle as you’d been worried you’d really offended him. “Spot on,” he said, “...yeah, you’re spot on. I think you’re maybe in the wrong business.” You decided to change the subject, “So... where are we going, Billy?” “You’ll see in a minute,” he grinned, “....c’mon, let’s go sweetheart.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Minutes later, you were standing outside one of the expensive and trendy boutiques in the area. Billy’s hand went under your elbow and he steered you inside. “Billy... what’s going on?” He nodded to one of the staff who started making her way over to the two of you. “Look, it was my bright idea to drag you along to this thing, so the least I can do is treat you to a new outfit.” You were shaking your head before he’d stopped speaking, “Oh no, no... I can’t let you do that!” He was nodding back at you - it must’ve looked quite comical to the store assistant, “Oh yes, you will - I insist.” He turned to the woman, “Please can you help my girlfriend pick out an outfit for a formal event?” And before you could say anything else, he’d wandered over to a seating area near the changing rooms and seated himself in a comfortable armchair. “I’ll be right here, sweets,” he said, beaming at you. Girlfriend indeed, you thought.

The store assistant looked expectantly at you and you nodded hesitantly at her, so she led you over to some rails filled with lots of beautiful dresses. “How nice of your boyfriend to buy you a whole new outfit,” she commented, beginning to slide the dresses back and forth along the rail looking for a selection for you, “He’s very charming,” she continued, admiringly. “Yes, isn’t he,” you said between gritted teeth. Truthfully, you were feeling as if you were out shopping with your sugar daddy. But you had to admit that your bank account would’ve been protesting loudly if you’d had to make the purchase yourself, and you definitely would’ve had to buy something new as nothing in your wardrobe was even remotely suitable for a formal event. And he was right, this was all his bright idea. So you’d just suck it up, you thought, however reluctantly.

Eventually the assistant had several dresses folded over her arm for you to try on, and you sailed past Billy to the changing rooms without as much as a glance at him. But you just knew he was staring at you as disappeared behind the curtain.

After twenty minutes of struggling in and out of the various dresses, you had to admit that the assistant had made some good choices. There were three that you really liked, and you finally chose a midnight blue silky sheath of mid-thigh length, an asymmetric one-shoulder-strap neckline and a swirl of sequins diagonally across it from neck to hem. It was tight-fitting but didn’t show off an excessive amount of skin - you didn’t want to have it all out there on show after all.

The assistant had also brought several pairs of shoes to you once you’d chosen your dress, and you picked out a pair of matching delicate strappy sandals. Pleased with your choices, you put your own clothes back on and went out to find Billy. He looked up from his phone as you exited the changing room, a disappointed look on his face, “What.... no catwalk show for your boyfriend?” You leant down and whispered, “Okay, you’re laying it on a bit thick, Russo,” to which he grinned, gently took hold of your chin and softly kissed you. “You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he smirked. Then a horrible thought occurred to you, “Billy!” you whispered forcefully. He looked a bit nervously at you, “What?” “There was no price tag on that dress or the shoes either!” He waved a hand at you, “Yeah? That’s okay, just leave it to me.” “No! That’s not on. I’m going to ask her what the price is.” He jumped up out of the armchair, “Nah, nah! Told ya, it was my idea you come along so just let me do this, okay?”

He set off without further delay to the cash desk, while you reluctantly waited in the seating area. Not particularly comfortable with the idea of him buying you an outfit, you decided that you’d offer to buy him dinner to kind of offset his no doubt hefty bill for the dress purchase. He came back over to you a few moments later carrying a large box in one of the boutique’s carrier bags which he handed to you with a grin. “She’d already boxed it before I could see it so it’s still gonna be a surprise when I see it on the night.” You smirked back, you were quite pleased about that. “Billy, let me buy you dinner as a thank you for the dress.” “Okay, I won’t say no to a free dinner,” he grinned, “...where d’ya wanna go?” You mentally reviewed your bank balance and named a mid-priced restaurant close by.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After a pleasant couple of hours chatting over dinner, Billy drove you home. Debating how to end the night, you came up with what you felt was a decent plan. Not that you were trying to extend the evening of course. That would be just plain stupid as the ‘relationship’ was all a big fake. Remember? your brain asked you. “You know Billy, we haven’t prepared a back story yet, have we?” you said as he drew up outside your place. “A back story?” “Yeah. I mean, if this person you’re trying to avoid happens to ask us - together or separately - about our relationship, we need to be singing from the same songsheet, don’t we?” He looked thoughtful, “Uh yeah, you’ve got a point there.” “OK, well how about you come in for a glass of wine or a coffee and we can get that sorted now?” A devilish smirk appeared, “Plannin’ to ravish me, sweetheart?”

You felt your face heat up with a sudden blush, “No!! Purely to agree on the back story. But hey - we can just text about it if you’d prefer!” Embarrassed, you grabbed your bags, opened the car door and began to get out, but Billy grabbed your arm, “Hey, hey, sweetheart - I’m just kiddin’. Hold on an’ I’ll park up. We can walk up together.” You huffed slightly and closed the car door again, while Billy looked around for a parking space. Once parked, the two of you went up to your apartment and you unlocked the door, waving him inside and over to the sofa while you stashed the bags and headed to the kitchen area. “What would you like? Wine, beer or coffee?” “I’d better just have a coffee,” he said, “...don’t wanna get drunk and pass out in your apartment. Not a good look.” “I don’t see you as a ‘getting drunk’ kinda guy, Billy. You already told me you like to be aware of your surroundings.” He laughed, “You’re right, I don’t make a habit of gettin’ wasted.”

So you switched on your coffee machine and asked what kind of coffee he’d like, holding up a handful of different capsules. He strolled over to you, draping his leather jacket over the back of one of the high stools at your breakfast bar as he reached you. He leaned down slightly and looked at the selection you had in your hand, and you were suddenly very aware of the scent of his aftershave. “Whattya got there, then?” You took his hand and dumped them all in it, saying, “I’m just gonna fill up the water jug while you decide,” and moving swiftly away from him. You were finding it very difficult indeed to ignore the magnetic attraction he was exerting over you, but you really had to try harder as you were only going to end up getting hurt otherwise. He held out a capsule toward you, “Americano’s fine,” he said.

The two cups of coffee made a few moments later, you led him back over to the sofa and you both sat down at opposite ends. “Okayyyy,” said Billy, “....back story then?” You nodded, “Yeah. Nothing too fancy as the less details we have to remember the better.” “Good idea. We should probably add in some truth too. So.... we met through Karen & Frank?” “Yes, that’s a good start. Where did we meet and how long have we been seeing each other?” “Neighbourhood bar, and a coupla months?” “Okay, yeah. Actually is that about it? That was easier than I thought! Or...what else might they ask? Who is this person you’re avoiding - are they gonna be really nosy?” Billy snorted, “Oh yeah! Her name’s Caroline, a spoilt rich bitch. Her father owns a tech company and he supplies some of our equipment. She came along to one of the meetings recently and now she’s stalking me.” You grinned, “And that’s a problem for you? I would’ve thought you’d quite enjoy that, Billy.”

He grinned back, “Are you sayin’ I’m a player or somethin’?” “Well, aren’t you? I’m kinda getting that vibe.” Now he laughed out loud, “Maybe. But I like doin’ the chasing, sweetheart, not the other way round. If she ever got hold-a me, I’d never get outta her clutches.” “What - you wouldn’t? Not much of an ex-Marine then, are you?” He rolled his eyes, “Seriously, this woman’s so clingy she’d attach herself to me like a limpet mine. And I don’t like violence against women so I’d be in a difficult situation. Plus the main thing’s the business link with her daddy. His stuff’s good, I wouldn’t wanna have to replace him as a supplier. So you see, you’re doing me a solid here.” “When you say stalking you, do you mean literally?” “Well, like turning up at Anvil all the time to ‘check on the equipment’ and shit like that.” “So not outside the office then? I’m just thinking along the lines of her not seeing us around together before the event if she’s around you outside business hours. She might not buy it.” “As far as I know, only in office hours.”

“As far as you know? That’s not exactly reassuring if she’s as much of a stalker as you say she is.” He laughed, “No, I’m sure she’s not around apart from that.” “Okay, well is there anything else you can think of that she might ask?” He gave you a sly grin, “If we’ve slept together.” You got up and took your empty cup over to the kitchen sink, “Uh-huh.... well she can ask! We’ll just have to lie, won’t we?” You turned round only to find Billy invading your personal space again, and you moved back slightly in surprise. He followed, crowding you against the counter, dark eyes gazing into yours, “Uh... we don’t have to lie.” You leaned further back, your brain yelling ‘don’t give in to him!’ at you. “Billy... you suggested this whole thing and you also said ‘no strings’, remember? Well, if we did that... that would be strings, don’t you agree?” He reached round you and put his cup in the sink too, “Yeah, I guess so. Just thought we could make things look a little more.... authentic, y’know?” He turned and grabbed his jacket off the back of the stool, but then took you by surprise again by swooping in for a long kiss, pulling you against his body and his big hand sliding around the back of your neck. You pulled away, trying to catch your breath.

Those espresso-coloured eyes were gazing into yours, a lazy grin on his face. “Hey, you’ll need to get less jumpy when I do that else she’s definitely not gonna buy it.” He stood back from you, shrugging into his jacket, “Might need a bit more practice, sweetheart,” he smirked, “....so how about we meet up again tomorrow? We can learn a bit more about each other, as well as you getting more comfortable when I get physical with you,” and wiggled his eyebrows at you. Against your better judgement, you agreed and so he said he’d pick you up at four the next day.

Once he’d gone, you poured yourself a stiff brandy. You couldn’t deny you wanted to spend more time with him, much as you knew you were setting yourself up for a fall. Really... just what the hell did you think you were doing?

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy was thinking the very same thing to himself as he drove away. He was enjoying those kisses way too much. But he was the one who’d suggested this whole fake relationship thing, and definitely with ‘no strings’. Because that was the Russo Way.

He’d better get his head back on straight, and stop thinking about the gorgeous woman in the apartment back there as anything other than a way to ditch the very irritating Caroline.

He also got the distinct feeling she’d marked him out as a player and wouldn’t want to get involved with him anyhow. Well, he was a player and he couldn’t deny that. Wasn’t sure he could ever see himself as a one-woman man. Caroline was attractive enough and in the normal way of things, he’d’ve taken her out maybe a couple of times, fucked and then forgotten her. But her father and Billy’s business relationship complicated things somewhat.

So yeah, he’d make sure she saw him with a lovely woman on his arm at the gala, kiss (and maybe fuck if he got lucky) the lovely woman at the end of the night and move right along. Apart from anything else, the fact that she was Karen’s friend complicated things way beyond what he wanted to get involved in, because he couldn’t afford to upset either her or her friend, Frankie’d kill him if he did.

Definitely better stick with the Russo Way. It had never failed him before, had it?

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The next day, Billy glided the car to a stop outside her apartment block at 4 o’clock as promised, dropping her a quick text to announce his arrival. Soon, he saw her figure walking out of the main door and making her way towards him.

Damn! Mmm, she was looking good. Little pink sundress, short denim jacket, bare legs and low wedge pink sandals. Yeah, really cute. Smart and funny too. And sexy, of course. Very sexy. Totally fuckable. Completely and utterly fuckable. Woah - stop that Russo! Right now!

All these thoughts ran through his head in the 10 seconds it took her to reach the car.

He leant over and pushed open the passenger door for her, “Hi sweetheart.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d noticed Billy’s eyes running over you as you went up to the car, and then spotted his tongue making a swift trip over his bottom lip as he greeted you. You got the feeling he was looking at you like you were a snack to be consumed. Determined to resist how attracted you felt to him, you hopped into the car and said Hi back. Billy’s big hand landed on your thigh as you fastened your seat belt, his long fingers sliding upwards. Batting them away, you continued clipping yourself in and he laughed, leaning across and pulling you to him, kissing you long and slow. Breaking apart, he said, “Remember we gotta practice, sweetheart,” grinning at you. “Mmmhuh,” you nodded, “I remember you saying that.” “Just relax! Get comfortable with me touchin’ and kissin’ you. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend after all.” “Mmmhuh,” you said again, and once more his hand found its way onto your thigh and began stroking, eventually inching upwards again.

This time, you decided to stay still, thinking that yes, you had better get comfortable with this if this whole stupid fake relationship thing was going to work. But when his hand parted your legs and one long slim finger swiftly made its way inside your panties and - without further warning - actually inside you, you jumped like a startled deer and squirmed away from him. “Billy!” you protested loudly, but he merely smirked victoriously at you and pushed a second finger inside you to join its cousin. You shoved at his resistant arm, “Stop it!” His mouth found yours and he began kissing you as his fingers moved steadily in and out of you then his thumb was on your clit, and he began massaging firmly. “Sssshhh, sweetheart, we’re just messin’ around,” you heard his low voice in your ear, “...this is high school stuff.” “But I didn’t say you could do this to me!” you snarled, trying to ignore how good he was making you feel, and you felt his fingers leave you. He sat back in his car seat, taking a tissue out of his jacket pocket and slowly wiping his fingers, looking across at you all the while with a contemplative look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, but not sounding regretful at all, “I didn’t think you’d mind. Thought it’d loosen you up a bit like we said.” He smirked at you, “You can’t deny I got you wet, and I know you’re attracted to me. Thought you’d enjoy it.” Your mouth dropped open, “You arrogant fucker!” you exclaimed, “You know what, you can take your fake dating shit and shove it where the sun doesn’t fucking shine!” You jumped out of the car, slamming the door with an almighty bang behind you. Stomping back up to your apartment, you opened your front door and slammed it behind you too, angrily throwing your bag onto the sofa as you passed on your way to the kitchen. You took off your jacket and threw it onto a high stool, furious enough to take a bottle of gin out of the cupboard and grab a clean glass from the dishwasher. You were just taking a bottle of tonic water out of the fridge when there was a knock at your door.

Okay, well that was either your annoying across-the-hall neighbour... who complained about anything and everything... here to moan about the door-slamming, or else it was Billy. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to be greeted by your frowning face, and you really didn’t give a shit which one it was. You dramatically swung open the door, and it was in fact Billy Russo who was confronted by your unhappy visage. He immediately held up his hands in a placatory gesture. “Look, I am really, truly, sorry. I ... can I come in and explain?” You turned on your heel and walked back to the kitchen, leaving him to close the door behind him and follow in your footsteps. “Want a drink?” He nodded, “I’d love a beer if you’ve got one, please.” You took a bottle of beer out of the fridge and handed it to him, then got a bottle top remover for him out of one of your drawers.

He popped off the cap then took a long swig, as he watched you prepare a G&T for yourself. You also took a big sip then leant back against the counter and regarded him with a steely gaze. “You said you wanted to explain.” He took another gulp of beer and began, “I.... look, I’m so sorry okay? I totally misread the situation.” Sipping your gin, you said, “I’ll say you did, Billy! I get the distinct impression you mistook me for one of the easy lays you no doubt pick up in bars. Is that how you treat your one-and-done’s, huh? Well, don’t try that shit with me, okay?” He looked over at you shamefaced and shrugged, “Uhhh...I ..uhh.. yeah, I guess I did.... look, I really am sorry, sweetheart. I can’t apologise enough, and I really didn’t mean to upset you.” You took another big hit of your gin, slightly - but only very slightly - mollified. “And as for your comment that I’m attracted to you...!!!” Momentarily you were speechless, unsure what you wanted to say or how to put it. Mainly because it was the truth, you acknowledged to yourself.

Before you could say anything, Billy held up his hands again, “I’m incredibly embarrassed about saying that. Really crass. And arrogant, as you said.” You noticed that his face had pinked up somewhat. “In fact just forget I said it,” he carried on. “Bit late for that now isn’t it! Did you say it because you’re used to women falling at your feet, Billy?”

He looked down at the beer bottle in his hand, waggling it back and forward before saying, “Yeah. If I’m honest, I don’t usually haveta try too hard.” His eyes met yours, “And if I’m bein’ even more honest, gotta admit I’m attracted to you. Like, really attracted. So, yeah - I was hoping for something more than just going to the charity event with you.”

You drew in a big breath. What? What did he just say to you? No. You mentally shook your head, and then realised you were actually shaking it. “Billy.... you’re a player, that much is blatantly obvious. Would you know what a relationship is if it came up and bit you on the ass? Something tells me you wouldn’t.” He had the grace to look guilty. You continued, “So here’s what we’ll do. If you still need me to come along to the gala, then I’ll do that. And then we’ll go back to being strangers. Okay?”

He twirled his beer bottle between his long fingers, and shrugged, “Okay, sweetheart. M’happy you’re still gonna help me out. But can’t we at least be friends afterwards? Reckon Karen ‘n Frank’re gonna be seeing a lot of each other so we’ll probably keep bumping into each other.” Your face softened into a smile, “Yeah, they like each other don’t they? You’re right, we probably will be spending some time together because of those two. Okay... friends, then.”

He smiled at you, approaching warily and sliding his hand round to the back of your head and up into your hair, pulling you closer. “M’gonna kiss you, s’that okay?” but being Billy, didn’t wait for your reply. His lips met yours in a gentler kiss than earlier, his fingers stroking the back of your neck. He moved his hips against yours, and you knew he’d done this so you’d feel his erection against your body. You moved sideways and pulled away from him, why did he have to make you breathless when you just wanted to be cool, calm and collected around him? He looked a bit crestfallen, but recovered swiftly and asked, “How about we order in some food and just spend some quality time together?” You sighed, “Okay, Billy, let’s do that. But no more groping or anything, okay?” He nodded, looking serious and miming a cross over his heart, “Promise.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You pushed the pizza box away from you, “God, I’m stuffed.” Billy picked up his beer bottle and drank, giving a small delicate burp as he did so, “Me too.” Reaching over, he picked up the remote and began flicking through Netflix, “Whaddya wanna watch next?” he asked. “Mmmm, you pick a movie. But not one about war.” He laughed, “Oh don’t worry, I never watch war films, had enough-a that in real life.” Lying back and letting out a deep breath, you said apologetically, “I bet you did. Sorry.” Shrugging, he also lay back, his head turning towards you, “S’okay. We can talk about it sometime if you like. And about my less-than-perfect childhood. And some of my more recent fuck-ups.” He gave a bitter laugh, “I’m a fuckin’ train wreck, sweetheart - you’ve made the right decision, best you don’t get involved with me.” His eyes looked big and a bit glossy, and before you could help yourself you’d laid your hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure you’re not that bad, Billy.” He turned away from you, looking at the TV before selecting a sci-fi fantasy movie, “Oh believe me, I am,” he said in a low voice.

You shifted a bit closer to him on the sofa, “Don’t be so down on yourself, Billy. You’ve achieved a lot of things... got your own company, fancy car, fine suits, lots of money, prestige.” He grinned at you, “But all that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” You shook your head, “No, but they’re still achievements to be proud of.” His head dropped and some locks of hair fell over his forehead. “Thank you,” he mumbled, and you watched as your hand went of its own accord to his face and stroked the errant hair back off his forehead. His head swivelled towards you, dark eyes gazing into yours; he took hold of your arms and drew you against his chest. “Can we snuggle?” he asked you, then wrapped his arms right around you, before lying down and swinging his long legs up onto the sofa, pulling you with him. You snorted out a laugh, “Snuggle? That doesn’t exactly fit with your ex-soldier or current playboy personas!” “Aw, c’mon sweetheart, gimme a break - I’m tryin’ to be a well-behaved boy here!” You snuggled into his chest a bit, “Okay, but remember - no wandering hands!” He held up both hands, “Not wandering - look!” before placing them chastely on your arm and shoulder.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Your eyes opened, and you groggily looked around you, disorientated. Hearing soft little snores from beneath you, you raised your head to look at Billy’s sleeping face. Oh. You’d both obviously dozed off in front of the TV, the Netflix menu now on the screen. Moving slowly, you started to try and stand up but two hands went round your arms in a vice-like grip. “Where you off to?” said Billy’s deep voice. “Just...ummm... just...” you stuttered, but suddenly you were underneath him, his weight pressing you down as his mouth found yours in a hungry kiss. You knew you should resist but damn, he was a good kisser! Feeling yourself dissolve into the kiss, one of your hands moved up to his bristly jawline.

His kisses became more passionate and he pushed himself against you even more, his arousal very evident. You tried to ignore them but your feelings of desire for him were becoming overwhelming, and your arms went round his neck almost unbidden. He was smiling against your lips, and you heard, “Wanna sleep with me? D’you wanna?” Your treacherous mouth said “Yes!” in a breathy whisper, and that was all Billy needed to hear.

He picked you up in his arms, whispering “Where’s your bedroom?” You nodded towards its general direction and he carried you across the apartment and into your room. Setting you down, his fingers were immediately at the zip of your dress, pulling it down, pushing the fabric down then further down until your dress was round your ankles, before whipping it fully off and dropping it onto the floor. You watched him as his eyes roamed all over your body, taking in your lacy lingerie and moving the straps of your bra off your shoulders. “Mmmmm, sweetheart - wow - even better than I imagined,” he said hoarsely, his hands going round your back and unclipping your bra. He stripped it off you and dropped it, both hands immediately cupping your breasts and massaging firmly, thumbs running over your nipples as they peaked. Moving you backwards until your head hit the pillows, you felt his fingers pulling the fabric of your panties aside and suddenly the head of his cock was at your core and pushing inside you. “No time for foreplay, sorry,” you heard and you gave a deep groan when he kept going, feeling his balls brushing your pussy as he fully sheathed himself. His head went back and he gasped, “Fuck!” before he began to thrust. He lifted your legs and draped them over his hips, encouraging you to cross your ankles on his back to pull him even closer.

His mouth was everywhere on you, kissing you deeply one minute before his mouth went to one of your nipples, teasing it with his tongue while his thumb and fingers toyed with the other, then his mouth and teeth were on your neck and shoulders while he set a ferocious pace. A constant stream of low groans were leaving your lips as he moved on you, and you could hear him gasping and muttering words above you, not all of which you could catch, but you did hear “Uhhh, been wantin’ to do this to ya since the minute we met” between thrusts. You ran your hands over his chest and up around his neck, threading your fingers through his lush hair, and you felt him shiver as you pulled on it gently. His thumb was on your clit now, rubbing at you relentlessly and your orgasm washed over you like a wave. His teeth were fastened onto your shoulder and he bit down as you felt his body tense as he came. He lowered himself gently onto you before rolling off, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling as he got his breath back. “Wow,” he said quietly, before moving onto his side and gazing at you, running a finger gently along your jaw. “Yes, wow,” you replied, putting your hand on his bristly cheek.

“Well, if Caroline does ask if we’ve slept together, now we don’t have to lie,” smirked Billy. This instantly ruined the mood and you sat up, prior to wrapping one of the covers round you and getting out of bed. He looked a bit surprised, but you began moving away from the bed towards the bathroom. Returning a few moments later, you hesitated for a moment before climbing back into bed beside Billy, who was still lying there in all his naked glory. He immediately moved next you, his hands on your arm, “Did I say something wrong earlier? You were up and off like a ballistic missile.” You looked over at him, “A girl doesn’t exactly like to hear another one’s name getting mentioned just seconds after lovemaking.” A guilty look passed over his face, “Awww, shit!... I didn’t think, I’m really sorry... I was just so happy you slept with me, sweetheart.” He stroked your hair away from your face, “Forgive me? And my big clumsy mouth?” You huffed a bit but eventually nodded, not least due to the soft kisses he was peppering over your face and neck.

He breathed a sigh of relief, “I seem to spend all my time apologising to you,” he chuckled, “I’m really making a mess of this fake dating.” “Can’t argue with you there, Billy,” you agreed. “Look, I’m gonna try a lot harder, okay?” he said, running a finger along your arm. You sighed, “Okay... well here’s hoping it’ll be alright on the night.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The rest of the week, you and Billy had traded phone calls and text messages but (to your secret disappointment) the two of you didn’t meet up. To your mind that could only mean that Billy, who’d admitted to you that he liked the thrill of the chase, had now already caught you so that was it as far as he was concerned. He’d said that his work had been crazy busy but you didn’t feel at all convinced by that.

Friday eventually rolled around, and you were glad you’d decided to take a half day off work to get ready. Karen had strolled up to your desk as you were packing up your stuff before leaving, and you recognised her ‘Serious Talk’ look on her face. She walked along to the elevator with you and followed you inside. “Y’know I hope you really enjoy your evening with Billy tonight, but....” she bit her lip before continuing, “...you know he’s a player, right?” She quickly put her hand on your arm as the elevator reached the ground floor, “I’m not trying to spoil your fun, honestly I’m not, but some of the things Frank’s let slip recently would make your toes curl. Billy’s totally ruthless when it comes to cutting women loose.” The elevator doors opened and you both walked out, with you saying, “Don’t worry Karen, I sussed that out the minute I saw him,” over your shoulder as you continued out into the main lobby. You stopped and turned to her, lowering your voice and continuing, “But I slept with him last weekend and just as expected, he’s avoided meeting up with me all during this week.” Her mouth tightened, and you knew you were in for a Page Lecture. “Gahhh! What were you thinking?! You’ve just reinforced his impression that he can pull any woman he wants and then disappear on her! I can’t believe you didn’t even wait for this gala thing tonight! You could at least have held off till then.”

“Yes, mom,” you sighed, then smiled at her. “But you know what Karen, he’s so hot I just couldn’t resist! And I knew exactly what his reaction would be, and he hasn’t disappointed. He’s been in touch obviously because we’ve got this thing tonight, but he’s been ‘too busy at work’ to meet up. I’m sure that in Russo-speak, that really means ‘too busy chasing tail’ but I’m cool with that. Like I said, it’s what I expected,” shrugging as you said this. “Hmmmm,” replied Karen, staring at you intensely as if trying to read your mind, “...well as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into.” “I do,” you reassured her, hugging her before walking away with a nonchalant wave.

Out on the street you exhaled a big breath. If only you truly believed that.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy pulled up outside her apartment block and, as before, texted her to say he was there.

He was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to meet up with her during the week, and was also aware she probably thought he was avoiding her now they’d slept together. But he’d truly been up to his ears in it at work, and he wasn’t yet established enough in the security market to turn down job offers. So he’d taken on probably a few more than he should have done, and both he and Frank had had to weigh in on a couple of them to make sure they were handled correctly.

So apart from calls and texts, he’d had to miss out on seeing her. In fact, all he’d been thinking of the entire week was the prolonged session they’d indulged in last weekend. Once he’d apologised for mentioning Caroline’s name after they’d first made love, (really smart move Russo, he thought to himself) there had been a whole night of energetic and very enjoyable sex. Then a shared shower late the next morning after she’d woken him up with a surprise and very welcome blow job. God, the things she could do with her mouth! He squirmed in his seat, starting to get hard just thinking about it. He couldn’t wait for another one of those, that was for sure. Tonight after the gala if he was lucky!

He saw the main door to her apartment block open and she started walking towards the car. Wish I could get a better idea of how she looked in her dress, he thought. Oh well, I’ll just need to wait till we actually get to the place.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You slid into Billy’s flashy car, tucking your feet in last in an effort to be elegant. He leaned over, grabbing the back of your neck and kissing you long and hard. You eventually shoved him away, exclaiming “Billy! My lipstick!” You peered at his face, “And you’re covered in it!”

He burst out laughing, “Well, hello sweetheart!”

You handed him a tissue whilst you began trying to repair the smudges around your lips. He dampened it on his tongue and then quickly rubbed the burgundy colour off his mouth. Once you’d fixed your face, you leant over towards him and his mouth headed to yours again but you pulled back. “I’m checking your shirt collar to make sure there’s none on there!” Chuckling, he started up the car, “I did wonder why you waited till you’d put your lipstick back on before kissin’ me again.” “You kissed me!” you protested. He just laughed and manoeuvred the car into the traffic stream.

His head then swung towards you, “If you say so, sweetheart! Hey, I’d say you look beautiful but I can’t get a proper look at you in the car. So wait a little while till we get there and then I can compliment you properly, okay?” You nodded, “Yeah, same. I can’t get a look at you either.” Another chuckle, “You can see as much of me as you want later tonight, sweetheart.” “You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?!” Billy’s hand stole onto your thigh and travelled higher. “Wearin’ panties?” You tolerated his wandering fingers, “Yes I am, Marine. Sorry to disappoint.” He shrugged, smirk firmly in place, “Fine by me. They’re not gonna stop me gettin’ to where I wanna be anyhow.” Somewhat surprisingly to you, his hand went back onto the steering wheel. “But I’m gonna wait till we’re alone later. See, sweetheart - I’ve learned my lesson!” “Glad to hear it!” you shot back at him, before looking out of the window at the passing streets.

After arriving and parking at the venue, one of the big downtown hotels, you and Billy made your way upstairs to the function room. Leaving your coats at the cloakroom, Billy twirled you round in front of him, looking you over slowly from top to toe. “You look gorgeous,” he said admiringly, “really beautiful.” “Thank you. Not so bad yourself, Russo.” He was in one of his bespoke suits and was looking edible. He mock-bowed then leant down and kissed you on the lips, and you reminded yourself to act naturally when he did that. You both began walking towards the sound of music and chatter, his hand straying down onto the top of your ass as you went. Karen’s voice rang in your ears about how much of a player he was, and once again you fought the instinct to swat his hand away. If you could just do your duty and get through tonight, then you could put yourself deep into protective mode over this handsome devil.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Several gin & tonics later, you were returning from the ladies’ room and heading back to where you’d left your ‘boyfriend’ at the bar, wondering how much more of this tedious event you could stand, when you heard a high-pitched voice trilling, “Oh Billy! There you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Hahah! you thought, this must be the infamous Caroline! Well, at least this next part is going to inject some much-needed fun into the evening.

You could see a small brunette standing in front of Billy with her hands grasping his biceps and beginning to pull him towards her. He spotted you approaching over her shoulder and extricated himself from her clutches saying, “Caroline.... how nice to see you! Just in time for me to introduce you to my girlfriend...” “Girlfriend?!” She whirled round and met your eyes, her own narrowing as she looked you up and down in a flash. You continued walking towards the two of them, noting that she was pretty but was heavily made up; she really didn’t need to plaster it on like she had but - whatever, you thought. Billy moved past her to swiftly put his arm around your waist and draw you to him, introducing you at the same time. She nodded her head briefly at you, “Hi, I’m Caroline. A friend of Billy’s.” She emphasised the word ‘friend’. You beamed back a big smile at her, “Lovely to meet another of his friends,” you said, also emphasising the word. You felt Billy tense up a bit, but you thought that playing the jealous girlfriend might be a good way to go, especially when you noticed the little smirk on her face. You tugged on his arm, “C’mon Billy, you promised me a dance,” you said in a ‘little girl’ voice, which nearly made you heave quite frankly but you felt struck the right note.

Billy raised a hand vaguely towards Caroline as he said to you, “Yes I did, sweetheart. Let’s go. Bye, Caroline - good to see you,” and then gave you a long kiss as the two of you headed to the dance floor. Once Billy had you in his arms, you felt his lips next to your ear and he whispered, “So.... jealous girlfriend, huh?” You nodded, smiling up at him, “She’ll like the fact that I think she’s a threat. But as long as you keep up the PDA’s, I think she’ll buy it.” He immediately kissed you, the hand which had been on your waist surreptitiously sliding downwards at the same time. As you broke apart from the kiss, you caught sight of Caroline glaring at the two of you from a table near the edge of the dance floor. You ran your hand up onto Billy’s jaw before continuing to the back of his neck. You’d discovered during your night together that this was one of Billy’s weak spots, so you trailed your fingers over his skin and had him wrapped round your finger within seconds, just as had happened that other night. He pressed his body close against you, ensuring you felt how aroused he was. “When can we skip out of here?” he breathed to you, making you laugh. “I don’t know! It’s your event - when do you want to stay until?”

Before he could reply, you were aware of a figure next to you and a hand went onto Billy’s arm. “Mind if I cut in?” asked Caroline, giving you a nasty smirk. However it dropped off her face when Billy said hurriedly, “Sorry, Caroline - we’re just leaving,” and began leading you off the dance floor. “Oh, that’s such a shame,” you heard, and realised she was trailing after you and Billy as you left the dance floor. “I was so looking forward to hearing all about how you & Billy met.” You stole a quick glance at Billy before saying over your shoulder, “Through mutual friends.” Still following you both as you headed over to pick up your coats, she rattled out, “it’s just that I’m a bit surprised - it seems quite strange that Billy never mentioned a girlfriend before tonight.” Billy looked irritated but his face became blank as he turned slightly back towards her and replied, “Uh, I am right here y’know!.... well Caroline, we never spoke about our personal lives so it’s not that strange at all to be honest.” You’d reached the small counter by now and had handed over the tickets to the attendant, and while you’d hoped that Billy’s answer would have silenced her, Caroline continued, “So how long have you been dating?” You turned and stared at her, and found her already staring back at you, “Mmm, it’s about two months now, isn’t it Billy?” and moved your eyes to his. He glanced quickly behind him at her, “ Yes, sweetheart - a little over two months actually,” he turned back to you, smiling fondly, “and I gotta say, they’ve been two of the sweetest months of my life.” He leant down and kissed you full on the lips.

Caroline’s lip curled up at this and was still curling as you met her annoyed gaze once Billy’s lips left yours. “Well,” she began, but was then interrupted by a tall older man who came up to the three of you and placed a hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “Hello, Russo,” he said, shaking hands with Billy who greeted him with a “Hi, Mike,” as the older guy’s eyes wandered quizzically over to you. “And who’s this lovely young lady, then?” he asked but before either you or Billy could say anything, Caroline spat out, “His girlfriend, Daddy - imagine that!” However her father merely gave you a friendly grin while Billy introduced you. After a quick handshake, he commented that it was a real shame that you were both leaving before he could buy you a drink. But Billy said firmly, with a mischievous look at you, “Sorry, Mike.... we’re... uhhh... quite anxious to get home.” Mike laughed knowingly while you heard a loud ‘tut’ from his daughter. You smiled brightly at both of them, “Well.... lovely to meet you and hope you enjoy the rest of the evening. Bye!” Taking your coat from the attendant, Billy helped you into it before putting on his own and the two of you said final goodbyes to Mike and Caroline before making your escape.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

“Thank god that’s over!” you breathed out a sigh of relief as you settled back into your seat, while Billy switched on the car’s powerful engine and it purred into life. “You didn’t enjoy it?” he grinned, “...even with such a charming boyfriend attending to your every need all evening?!” You laughed, “Sorry Billy, no I didn’t. I hated every second of it! But I think we accomplished the mission, don’t you?” Turning your head and watching his profile as he reversed the car out of the parking space, you asked, “D’you want me to get the dress dry-cleaned and you can take it back to the store? I mean I’ve only had it on for a few hours and I managed not to spill anything down it.” He glanced over at you, a strange look in his eyes. “No, I don’t want you to clean it and return it. It’s yours to keep. And yes, we did achieve our goal.” He started driving away from the hotel, and you realised it was the wrong direction for your place. You’d never been to his apartment but had a feeling that’s where you were heading.

“Where are you going, Billy? I just want dropped off at home so I can get out of all of this and relax.” He laughed, and for some reason you thought he sounded a bit pissed off. “Ahh no, that’s not happenin’, sweetheart,” he said, looking across at you, eyes gleaming with something but you weren’t sure exactly what. Determination? Desire? “We’re headin’ to mine. And yeah, you’re gonna be gettin’ out of those clothes, don’t worry.” “Look, Billy,” you said, feeling a bit uneasy for some reason, “...we’re done here, okay? We’ve already slept together, you got what you wanted so now you move on, correct? That’s your usual M.O. isn’t it? You made that obvious this week. Don’t worry, I got the message loud and clear. I’m not some clingy desperate woman that’s gonna keep chasing after you. I knew what the deal was with you the minute I set eyes on you. So.... just turn around and take me home.” You’d been staring at the road ahead but were aware of him shaking his head, “No.” You looked across at him, “No? What, you’re kidnapping me now?” “You can think of it that way if you like, sweetheart. I knew you’d think I was avoidin’ you this week, but I wasn’t. I’m not ready to let you get away just yet. We’re gonna go to mine, and you’re gonna spend the night on your back - and in various other positions - cos I need another night of sex with you.”

“And what if that’s not what I want? What if I don’t want to be used like a fuck toy before you disappear over the horizon? Doesn’t it matter to you what I want?” He chuckled, and you felt a little shiver of fear run through you, “Not right now, no. Because this is all I’ve been thinkin’ about the whole week. And because you’re sayin’ one thing, but you mean another.” “Really?! That’s what you think?” you scoffed, shaking your head, “You’re unbelievable, you know that? The level of arrogance....!” He pulled the car over into the inside lane and then turned into an underground car park. He killed the engine, and in the sudden silence you heard him say in a low voice, “Call it arrogance if you like. I call it knowing what I want and makin’ sure I get it.” He released his seat belt and got out of the car, coming round and opening your door before taking hold of your arm and pulling you out of it. He locked the car with a bleep of the remote on his keychain, then dragged you - firmly but not roughly - over to an elevator which he unlocked with a key before calling it down. Once it arrived, he hustled you inside and once the doors closed, his mouth was instantly on yours. He kissed you roughly, open-mouthed with teeth and lips and tongue all involved. His hands were undoing the buttons on your coat and then were inside it, immediately going to your breasts.

You struggled with him, trying to push him off but he continued kissing you, and you heard his voice telling you to just admit you wanted it. The awful thing was, you did want him and it annoyed the hell out of you. However his current attitude was also annoying the hell out of you so you continued to push at his muscled, toned body to get him off you. But you were no match for the ex-Marine and you heard a ‘ting’ and the elevator doors opening as Billy continued to kiss and grope you. He pushed you firmly out of the lift, keeping hold of your arm and propelling you towards a door - the only door, you noticed - and then into the apartment after he unlocked the door. He slammed it behind him then was on you in a flash, grabbing your bag and throwing it onto the sofa before stripping off your coat and dropping it on the floor. You were aware of being in a large open-plan space with floor-to-ceiling windows and trendy furniture, before you were scooped up as easily as if you were a throw cushion and carried into an equally large bedroom. He kicked the door shut behind him and dumped you rather unceremoniously on the bed, stripping his clothes off in a matter of seconds and letting them fall where they may. Then he was back on you, flipping you over and unzipping your dress in one quick motion. He stripped it down off your shoulders, turned you back over and pulled it off you. You looked up at him, finally finding your voice, “Billy! Stop it.” He shook his head, “Nah, not happenin’ sweetheart. We’re gonna have sex now.” You opened your mouth but nothing would come out. Why couldn’t you say anything else?

Because you do want it, said a sly voice in your head. And whilst the caveman routine might not be the most appealing of Billy’s wooing techniques, he’d excited you beyond belief and you could feel how damp your panties were. You’d told yourself before the evening started that you weren’t going to have sex with him that night, but at the same time had perversely hoped that it would in fact happen. You were absolutely furious with yourself but at the same time, totally conflicted and unable to ignore the desire you felt for him.

You felt his fingers fumbling a bit at your back and then your bra was dramatically whipped off and thrown across the room. His mouth and hands were immediately on your breasts, fingers massaging and toying with one nipple while he licked the other, his tongue roughly raking over its peak and surrounding skin before he started to suck and bite at it, enough to make you squeal but not hard enough to cause you real pain. Then he swapped and your other breast came in for the same treatment. You felt his fingers sliding down your body and pulling at your panties, after a few seconds he then sat up and stripped them off you. They also joined your bra across the other side of the room. He lowered himself onto you, hands parting your legs and you knew he was guiding himself inside you. His hard length pushed into you and you felt the stretch much more than you had the first time you’d had sex with him. Of course he was in a more of a rush this time, seemingly desperate to have sex with you, judging by the way he’d thrown you down, ripped your clothes off and immediately got between your legs.

He slid his hands under your knees and lifted your legs up until your ankles were on his shoulders, deeply thrusting into you as he did so, and you heard yourself give a loud groan. He gave a long, low groan himself as he picked up his pace, and you heard his whispered words next to your ear, “You like that, sweetheart? Feel good?” “Yes!!!!!” you gasped, hating yourself for admitting it but it was the absolute truth. He kissed you passionately, hands running up and down your legs and onto your body as he thrust hard into you, mouth moving to your neck and collarbone, nipping at your skin then licking where he’d lightly bitten you. You climaxed first, Billy’s thumb having found its favourite place on your clit, and you’d dug your nails into his shoulders before running your hands up into his hair and pulling it. Hearing his answering chuckle, his hips cannoned into yours a final few times before you felt him release into you, and he sank down heavily on top of you, panting and trying to get his breath back. He moved off you and laid on his back, seemingly exhausted by his over-eager exertions. His head tilted towards you, “I’m not finished with you yet, sweetheart. Need more.”

You propped yourself up on an elbow, “Just what the fuck is all this neanderthal stuff about, Billy?” He sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. “Remember you said I wouldn’t know what a relationship was if it bit me on the ass?” “Yeah?” “You’re right. I’ve never experienced a loving relationship in my life. I dunno what love is, really.” Then out it all spilled.... his abandonment as a very young kid, the group homes, the abuse, the stigma. How he’d signed up for the Marines as soon as he was old enough, got a business degree before shipping out, how Frank had his back almost from day one. The dark eyes eventually looked into yours, “So just confirmin’ - I’m officially shit at relationships.” You nodded thoughtfully, “Well... now I understand things a little bit better, Billy. You discard women after a very short time as a self-defence measure, because you have a fear of being abandoned again. Ditch them before they can ditch you, right? Because you still have self-esteem issues, deep down underneath that confident exterior. It’s hard to overcome years of being looked down upon and sidelined.” You reached out and ran your fingers through his small patch of chest hair. He flinched slightly so you withdrew your hand, but his own hand went out and he laid it on top of yours for a brief moment.

Then he sat up a bit and stretched, laughing as he did so, “Told you, you’re in the wrong job, sweetheart.” He leaned back onto the pillows, carefully looking away from you, “Guess I didn’t do a very good job of lettin’ you know I want you to stay around and be with me?” You sat up, pulling one of the sheets over you, “What?” you asked. He looked over at you again, “All of this,” his hand waved vaguely between you and him, “This is me tryna let you know I really like you. I honestly missed bein’ with you during the week. An’ I was really busy, me and Frank, all week - I wasn’t tryna avoid you, okay? All I could think about was the night we spent together, how I want that to be a regular thing. Spend time with you.”

You started chuckling to yourself before it bubbled up into real laughter. He’d been looking down and fidgeting with the covers but now his head swung up and his eyebrows pulled into a frown. You calmed down a little and reached out to him, softly stroking his shoulder, “Billy... I’m not really laughing at you. Well, I suppose I am but only because I’m really surprised. That’s not how guys usually let girls know they’re interested! - kidnapping them and telling them that they will have sex with them.” Billy grunted, “Yeah, I realise that. It’s what I’m tryna tell you, sweetheart. I’m shit at this kinda stuff.”

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Sunday lunchtime, you met up with Karen who was gagging to know what had happened on Friday night. You dutifully recounted everything, even Billy’s metamorphosis into caveman as you left the hotel. Karen’s expression got more and more incredulous and as you drew to a close with his admission of being completely crap at all things relationship-related, she finally said, “Fuck! That’s unbelievable. So how did you leave things? You kick him to the curb?”

You took a sip of your G&T, and smiled back at her, “He wants me to teach him what a real relationship is all about.”

“And you’re prepared to take a chance on him and show him, are you?” You nodded, “Yeah I guess I am, Karen. I know it sounds crazy, but he wants to try. And I’d like to try. So we went from fake to genuine as of Friday night.”

She chuckled, shaking her head and sipping her drink before saying, “Well, you’re a glutton for punishment, I’ll say that for you. And I wish you the best of luck trying to tame that bad boy.” She lifted her glass and you clinked yours against hers, “Thanks, Karen. I’m just gonna take it one day at a time. If it doesn’t work out...” you shrugged, “...at least I gave it a shot.” She put her hand over yours, “Do you think he’ll keep it in his pants? He’s used to putting it about all over town,” squeezing your hand, “...sorry to have to say that honey, but it’s true.” You nodded, “Yeah I know, and all I can say is he’s promised he won’t be doing that from now on. But if I get even a whiff of another woman’s perfume off him, I will be kicking him to the curb faster than he can say ‘it’s not what you think, sweetheart’, believe me! And I’ve told him that too, in no uncertain terms.” She nodded, “Well, you’ve given him fair warning so if he fucks up, that’s definitely on him.”

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Frank threw his head back, giving a great belly laugh which went on for a lot longer than Billy Russo thought it should do. After a few moments, Frank’s face had gone beet red and tears were squeezing out of the corners of his eyes. Billy folded his arms across his chest, sitting back in the diner booth and scowling at Frank, “Okay, okay, Frankie - enough already,” he grumbled as Frank continued to laugh. Eventually Frank calmed down enough to speak, “Russo! I don’t believe it, I really don’t. Does that girl know what she’s letting herself in for?! She must be missing a few rounds out of her ammo clip.” Billy pulled a face, “Look... I like her, okay? She’s gonna teach me what a proper relationship’s like. She’s willin’ to give me a chance, so cut me some slack over here, will ya?” Frank took a big pull at his beer, “Oh Russo, how the fuck ya gonna keep it in your pants?” (unknowingly parroting Karen’s very same comment to her friend). Billy shrugged, “Look...I will, I tell ya. I mean it, I only want her. The sex is....” he made a chef’s kiss hand gesture, “....and she doesn’t take any of my shit, either. I really like her, Frankie. I think I’m ready to...” “Settle down? Really, Bill - are you? Cos if you fuck this up, you’ve got Karen to deal with as well as your girl.”

Billy took a hit of his beer, “You think I don’t know that? And I’d get a ton of crap from you too, cos Karen’d be upset. You like her, dontcha?” Frank’s cheeks went a slight shade of pink, “Well, yeah. I guess I do.” Now it was Billy’s turn to laugh, “You guess you do? Frankie, you’re like a teenager with a major crush every time your phone rings! ‘Ooh, it’s Karen!’” he said, the last bit in a high-pitched voice. “I do not talk like that!” Frank growled at him, “And you better spend your energy learning how to treat a woman properly, rather than ripping the shit outta me, Russo!”

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Your phone dinged and you picked it up, seeing a text notification from Billy on the screen. Turning your phone briefly towards Karen to show her this, you clicked on it and then smiled as you read it. Showing the message to her, she also smiled, “Wow, seems like he’s definitely trying!” You agreed, “I do believe he is!” Maybe this crazy relationship thing you and Billy had agreed to embark on did have a chance of working out after all. You definitely still had your misgivings - does a leopard (or panther) really change its spots? - but you were willing to give it a try as long as Billy stuck to his end of the bargain. No other women, no lying, spending a lot of quality time together... let’s just see how all that goes, you thought. Re-reading the text, it made you smile once more.

Billy’s text said simply, “I’m missing you, sweetheart. Come over to mine, I’ll cook you dinner.”

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(My photo edit)

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Tags: @blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry

(Using D&D’s taglist, if you’d prefer to be removed, just let me know!)

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#ben barnes #billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo fanfiction #billy russo imagine

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