#even though she FELT canceled her numbers and success did not show it at all with reputation

[pop-punklouis]

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[sometipsygnostalgic]

This is the post I was working on that I accidentally sent privately before I’d finished it, LOL. Thanks @imorahtarm107 for sending it back after what must have been a confusing request. 

CONT: Rebecca Sugar  has spoken before about how much they dislike the statement by press that Bubbline only became “canon” in the finale, because Sugar and Muto were working on that pairing all the way back in s3, those characters have been canonically queer the whole time. It’s not some novelty thing that was canonized at the very end just because everyone else was doing it, or that the characters were only queer and dating if they got to kiss on the mouth! 

So yeah, I was a bit salty abouta  few things. I mostly thought that season 10 had been underwhelming compared to the spectacular seasons 7 to 9. Honestly, I still stand by that opinion because those seasons were really good. 

I felt that there were some other things missing from s10, but some of those got followed up either in the finale or in Obsidian, albeit less in depth than I’d have liked (primarily the fallout to Elements on the side of the Elementals themselves - I thought this was only appropriate considering what happened in Jellybeans Have Power. Are they not terrified of themselves? What are the long term consequences of that takeover, if any? It seems much bigger than the stuff with the Lich that barely anyone knew about.)  

HOW MY THOUGHTS HAVE CHANGED

Well, honestly? Just hearing more from the crew about the problems they faced on CN, not just the AT crew but also Rebecca Sugar with SU, it clears SO much up. 

Kent Osborne said to Ghostshrimp in a podcast that, even though they knew the show was ending, the team had no idea how many episodes they had left! Unlike the earlier seasons where CN just made block orders of 52 eps, it seems like from s6 onwards, things were far less stable. CN no longer ordered consistent season lengths. I’m not sure if they instead ordered blocks of eps, or if they gave the crew a flexible budget to work from, like Legend of Korra had. 

From my observations and theories, the reason seasons 7 to 9 have so many miniseries is possibly because Adam Muto was using those as a way to appeal to what CN wanted out of Adventure Time, and therefore, to prolong the lifespan of the show. It worked really well as both standalone miniseries and as episodes of the show. Olivia Olsen commented that there were many times they thought they were on the last season but it turned out they weren’t.  Adam Muto pitched the first eps of Distant Lands originally as miniseries to “extend” season 10. He was probably hoping he would be successful! 

Unfortunately, this time he was not successful, and Kent Osborne said that the crew were taken off guard by Come Along With Me being their last ep. When they started work on it, they thought it was a special in the middle of what could be a longer season. Kent even believed they would’ve had another 26 eps left. Adam had to beg for an extra couple of months so they could figure out how they could turn what would have been a gumbald special (whatever that would have entailed) into a finale for the entire show! 

Watching Come Along With Me with the knowledge that the crew were taken so off guard changes entirely what I think of it, because what originally seemed like lazy rush jobs - Simon turning back but not having any time as himself, the ep havingt so much going on, the conflict between Bonnie and Gumbald being a bit empty - now feels like the best possible outcome!! How on earth did they make Come Along With Me as good as it was?? They gave so many characters good moments, they had the whole thematic resolution to the land of Ooo and the themes of the world going in circles but nothing staying the exact same, they paid respects to Finn’s growth, and had the outro as the finale song while showing life goes on! 

Now that I’ve had so long to process exactly what happened in the ep, I greatly appreciate so many scenes that I previously overlooked or dismissed. The intro sections by Steve and Tom are brilliant at building up tension, which is part of why the second section feels so jarring. However, the dream sequence is so funny, with interesting imagery that it’s still nice to pick apart. Jake gets to be a good brother, Finn gets to battle Fern, and you have that chilling swapperoo epiphany with Gumbald and PB. The scene where they’re all on the beach is so cathartic. 

Then the second half of the special is just intense start to finish - everyone working together at the culmination of their character arcs, to take down GOLB! Until the power of a little robot’s song turns out to be the best tool of holding it back, and Betty performs the ultimate sacrifice for her mistakes with a smile on her face. So good.  The ending scenes with Finn and the treehouse, Shermy and Beth, the music hole, those are a thematic conclusion to the show. 

So, yeah, it did a great job. To an extent it’s better enjoyed if you pick it apart than if you watch it all at once, since it’s unfortunately not as hard-hitting as a lot of the single 11-minute eps of Adventure Time, including the previous season finale Three Buckets. However it absolutely does its job.

As for Bubbline, well...  Adam was trying to get the show extended, and if anyone looks at the twitter comment I currently have as my pinned post, then you’ll understand that there’s no way PB and Marcy could have kissed or made their relationship undeniably explicit unless it was the very end of the show :/ 

Adam said himself that he didn’t see it as much his fight to battle the decisions of execs as Rebecca did. And while that hurts, it makes sense - he was the owner of someone else’s show that is a smorgas board of a large number of people’s ideas, whereas Rebecca was the owner of their own show and felt that if they weren’t able to express themself in their own show, Sugar was willing to completely take down SU. And that actually happened - Steven Universe got cancelled immediately!!! Adam was not prepared to do that with AT, especally when CN were already talking about cancelling it. 

The good news is he didn’t give up on having PB and Marcy’s relationship be at least fairly clear, especially s7 onwards. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but it’s likely a number of the crew members taken on at that time found it important to press for Bubbline, and Adam decidedly agreed. If someone other than him had taken over as showrunner, or even if Pen stayed in charge (he supported it but didn’t want to be wrapped in controversy), I wonder if they’d have never interacted after What Was Missing :/ 

So yeah, with that in mind, as annoying as Marcy and Hunson still is, I can forgive the crew for doing a finale kiss. Rather, I can really thank Hanna K for pressing for one - she knows how important it was to at least confirm what people had expected, without a retroactive tumblr post ala Korrasami. 

[typical-simplelove]

You All Along (J. Markstrom)

Author's Note: While celebrating 200 followers, I did a blurb weekend and wrote a blurb with the prompt: I didn't know where else to go with Jacob Markstrom. I loved the blurb so much that I decided to expand on it. This is the blurb if you haven't read it yet. It isn't embedded into the fic, but it is mentioned. Enjoy!

Warnings: cheating, broken engagements, heartache

Word Count: 11.6k

Additional Note: I didn't give a name to the ex-fiance; she is just referred to as "she", so if you see the pronoun she, then it's about the ex-fiance. Additionally, all italicized lines are in the POV of Jacob.

You and Jacob have been friends for as long as he’s been in Vancouver. You met him when you were on a night out with some friends. He was on his own and looking kind of sad. You walked over to him and introduced yourself hoping to make him happier. Instantly, he thought you were trying to sleep with him. When you told him he looked like he needed a friend, he let out a breath of relief. From there a beautiful friendship formed. You spent every single possible free moment together. As time went on, you began to develop feelings for him. Your friends looked at you the day after you realized how you felt and knew you finally realized yourself. They tried talking you into telling him how you felt. You always told them, though, that the reason your friendship blossomed was that he never had to worry about you falling in love with him. You didn’t want to lose his friendship, so you kept your feelings to yourself.

You watched Jacob date other women. At first, it was just casual dates and hookups here and there. However, when he met her, you knew it wasn’t casual. You watched Jacob fall head over heels for this woman, and she did the same. Unfortunately, you were standing on the side watching your best friend fall in love while you stood on the sidelines. For years, you watched them be all cute and lovey; you told people that you were fine and over him. You tried to be fine. Your best friend was happy, so shouldn’t you be happy, too?

A few months before Jacob got traded to Calgary, you got a new job. A new job in Calgary. You wanted to have Jacob over for dinner to tell him. He showed up at your apartment with his girlfriend in tow. You weren’t expecting her, too, but it made sense considering they were together. When you opened your door, you were met with big smiles on her and Jacob’s faces. You welcomed them, handed them a glass of wine, and immediately, she showed you her left hand. She’s engaged! You were shocked. You should have expected it considering they’ve been together for many years, but you thought Jacob would tell you.

You put a smile on your face and congratulated them. You ended up not telling them about your new job because you didn’t want to upstage them. You put a smile on your face and conducted a successful dinner party. When she and Jacob left that evening, you closed the door and broke down in tears. It was official, then. You truly had no possibility of ever being with Jacob. He was getting married, and you were in love with him.

You ended up taking the job and moving to Calgary. Jacob tried to talk you out of it, but later on, he retracted his statement. He didn’t say why, but you think that his fiance asked him to. As you began to observe the changes in their relationship, you noticed how she began to be controlling in the relationship. You wanted to say something, but you didn’t think Jacob would notice or listen to you because he was hopelessly in love with her.

When Jacob called you saying that he was being traded to Calgary, you were happy for him. In the months you were in Calgary, you felt you were over him. However, when you saw him for the first time standing on the front porch of his new house, you knew you were lying to yourself. You went home and cried. You weren’t sure how long you could pretend to be fine with the wedding and not having Jacob in the way you wanted.

You watched from the sidelines as Jacob and his fiance worked to plan the wedding of their dreams. You watched as she became a bit more controlling as each day went on. Somehow, she might have caught on to your feelings because she loved to flash her ring around. You put on a good facade that was worthy of an Oscars nomination.

You tried your hardest to put yourself out there and get over Jacob, but every date you went on, you were always comparing them to Jacob without knowing it. You did try; however, you knew that it was hopeless. Jacob was the person for you. He always would be. You felt bad stringing these men along, so you opted to stop dating for the time being until you could figure out how to coexist and co-date with the feelings you had for Jacob.

. . .

It was one week before the wedding when everything blew up in Jacob’s face. He thought they were happy; he thought she was also ready for forever. Turns out, she wasn’t. She was in the shower, and her phone was blowing up with texts and calls. He was trying to focus on a book you told him about, but her phone was bothering him, so he went to turn off the ringer. However, he paled at what he saw. What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to ignore it? Does he confront her? Thankfully, though, she walks out of the bathroom in her towel and catches Jacob holding her phone.

“What’re you doing?” she asks in a tone that was a mix of accusation and nervousness.

“I was going to turn off your ringer because it was bothering me, but turns out, you’re cheating on me,” Jacob says blatantly.

She doesn’t meet his eye, but she also doesn’t deny anything.

“So, nothing to say?”

“What was I supposed to do, Jacob? You have Yn! You both have a connection that I can never match or be a part of! You’re too close. I was feeling sad and angry, and I needed someone.”

“So you went to someone else?” Jacob angrily says. “We’re getting married. You’re supposed to tell me when you have issues or problems like this.”

“You don’t think I tried?”

“If you tried then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. If you told me how you felt, then I’d have tried to limit my time with Yn and focus on you. Like it or not, you and I agreed on forever. Yn and I won’t always be forever. At one point, she’ll get married. You have to tell me these things!”

She scoffs at Jacob. “It doesn’t matter if she might be getting married one day because she probably won’t.”

“What? Why would you say that?”

“You’re both too close! The connection you have is ridiculous to ever get between. It’s like you both are together, and I’m standing on the sidelines. Jacob, I tried to slowly take her out of your life, but she’s always there.”

“What do you mean you tried to take her out of my life?” Jacob is getting angry now. You were his best friend, so anyone who said anything bad about you was automatically bad news to him.

“I can’t marry you if she’s in your life. I tried to limit her interactions with you as much as possible, but still, you found a way for her to be in your life regardless of what I wanted.”

“I didn’t know that you felt this way because you didn’t tell me! If you felt this way, why didn’t you say something?”

“I thought she’d back off knowing she can’t have you because I’m with you, but she was still there.”

“What do you mean back off?”

“You mean to tell me that you don’t know that Yn has feelings for you? She’s head over heels for you, and you don’t know?”

“No, you’re wrong,” Jacob denies. There’s no way, right?

“No, I’m right. She has feelings for you, and I think deep down, so do you. Every time she calls you saying she needs you, you’re always right there at her beck and call. Do you know the number of times that you’ve changed our plans to be there for her? You’re supposed to be canceling plans with her for me, not vice versa. Jacob, I tried to take her out of your life, but she’s always there because you refuse to let her leave.”

“Why would I want my best friend to leave? Also, I think we’re missing the fact that you cheated on me!”

“Like you never cheated on me with Yn.”

“I never did,” Jacob retorts, and she just scoffs in response. ���You know why? Because I’m in love with you! I’m marrying you, not Yn!”

“You still want to marry me?” she asks softly.

Jacob doesn’t answer. Does he want to marry her anymore? She cheated and admitted to trying to control his life by taking you out.

“You have two options,” she says. “You pick me, and we get married. I’ll end whatever relationship I have with him, but you don’t get Yn in your life. You don’t get to talk to her, call her, or do anything with her. You stop talking to her cold turkey. Or, you leave me.”

“What? Why would you do that to me?”

“I can’t compete with Yn to be the number one woman in your life.”

“There is no competition because you are the number one woman in my life.”

She scoffs. “As much as I want to believe that, it’s not true.”

Jacob goes silent. She’s not wrong though. Even though she was number one in his life, you were close behind. He could always count on her, but he knew you’d be there no matter what for him. You’d never make him choose. “I’m not picking because there’s no reason to. Yn doesn’t have feelings for me.”

“Answer this, then. In the seven years that you’ve known Yn, has she ever had a relationship that lasted longer than six months?”

Jacob ponders the question briefly. No, you haven’t had any relationships that have lasted longer than six months. He never thought anything of it, though. You always told him that the person wasn’t what you wanted, or you didn’t like him like that. He never thought it had anything to do with him. It didn’t, he thought to himself. You don’t have feelings for him. “Why are you trying so hard to prove this point when it’s not right?”

“So, no, right? Jacob, why can’t you see it? She’s in love with you, and whether or not you realize it, you’re in love with her, too. Deep down, it was always her. It always will be.”

“I’m not picking you or Yn because there is no choice to be made. I love you and want to marry you. If you still want that, then I can find a way to get past the infidelity and everything said here.”

“I can’t. I can’t be with you anymore. I can’t be with you knowing that you know she loves you, and you refuse to do anything about it. I’m not marrying you. I can’t marry you. She’ll always be first in your heart, and I can’t compete with that.”

Jacob nods. “I understand. You can have the house; I’ll sell my rights to you.”

“No, you take the house. You have roots in Calgary; I don’t.”

“Okay, you can stay here for the next few weeks until you figure things out and move out.”

“Where will you go?” she asks.

Jacob shrugs. “I’m not sure.” In reality, though, he knows where he’s going. He’s going to you because he knows he can always count on you.

“That’s bullshit. You’re going to Yn.”

“Goodbye,” Jacob says as he walks out the door with only his wallet, phone, and keys in tow.

. . .

It was one week before Jacob’s wedding when you felt you finally figured it out. You figured out how to ignore the nagging thoughts that the person you were on a date with wasn’t Jacob. You finally figured it out. Sure, maybe it was partially because you haven’t seen him in a month. After all, he was busy, but still, progress is progress.

You had it figured out until Jacob knocked on your door at three in the morning. He knocks telling you he had nowhere else to go. You let him in, and he tells you that she cancelled the wedding. They aren’t getting married next week. Jacob begins rambling on, but you tell him just to ignore it all right now. Take the night to relax and try to calm down. You’ll both deal with the after-effects of the wedding being cancelled in the morning. You lead Jacob into your bedroom to sleep. He insisted on sleeping on the couch, but you both knew that he was way too big for it. You fell asleep that night with Jacob holding you as you fell asleep. You sighed in content. This was the way it was supposed to be.

. . .

As you quickly fell asleep, Jacob couldn’t sleep. He lied to you. He told you that the reason he and his fiance ended the engagement was because of his travel. He thinks you would have called out his lie knowing that she and Jacob have been together for five years. One would think that after being together for five years, the travel wouldn’t be a deal-breaker anymore. How was Jacob supposed to tell you that the reason he isn’t getting married anymore was because of you? How was he supposed to tell you that you were the reason he was in your bed? How was he supposed to wrap his mind around the fact that you might have feelings for him?

His thoughts were immediately halted when you shift around in the bed slightly and lean closer into Jacob. A wide smile crosses his face. Suddenly, though, one thought is coursing through his mind: was she right? Did you have feelings for him? Why did Jacob feel like all his worries slipped away when he walked into your apartment? Why did Jacob feel so much more comfortable holding you than he ever did holding her? Why did he feel more comfortable in your home than he did his own with her? Why did he love the smell of your perfume more than he did hers? Why did he love the feel of you against his body more than he ever did hers? Why wasn’t he more upset about his broken engagement? Why wasn’t he more worried about what would happen in the morning? Did he waste his time with her when you were always there?

. . .

Jacob woke up to an empty bed the next morning. Momentarily, he forgot about the broken engagement. He remembered the events the previous night, though, when he turns over and is met with your cream sheets instead of his grey sheets. He gets out of your bed and walks into the kitchen where you’re sitting there with a bowl of cereal. You left an empty bowl for him sitting there in the event you wanted some. He poured a bowl of cereal and sat next to you.

“Morning,” he says to you.

You nod. “Your mom called me.”

“Why did my mom call you?”

You just look at him with a peculiar, knowing look in your eyes.

“Oh, broken engagement, right.”

“Care to tell me why the engagement is broken?” you ask. He looks at you. He didn’t want to. The same thought went through his head. How is he supposed to tell you that you were the reason the engagement was broken?

“She couldn’t take the travel anymore,” he lies.

You nod. “Okay.”

Jacob knows that you know he lied. He’s grateful, though, that you didn’t call him out on it. He isn’t sure what he’d do if you called him out on it.

He was lying. You knew he was lying, and you weren’t sure why. He told you when he woke you up that it was the distance. You let that lie go knowing that he was probably going through a lot. However, when Jacob’s mom called you that morning saying she heard about the broken engagement, she wanted your opinion. You aren’t sure what Jacob’s ex-fiance told her, but she didn’t tell Jacob’s mom what Jacob told you. Jacob’s mom didn’t believe you when you told her it was the travel, but you were grateful that she didn’t call you out on your lie. What were you supposed to say? Jacob wasn’t telling you what happened, and you weren’t going to press him for any information he didn’t want to give you.

When you told him that his mother called, you knew he was shocked. “I know you wanted to be the one to tell your mother, but you didn’t get the chance to. You should call her back.”

Jacob nods. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Just out of curiosity, how long do you think it will take for her to move out of the house?”

“Already want me gone?” Jacob teases and flashes you his signature grin that makes your heart skip a beat.

“No, no, I’m just asking.”

“I know, I’m only teasing. I told her to take as much time as she needed, but I can go and stay with Elias or go to a hotel.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you reply. “You can stay with me. I don’t have a spare bedroom, but you can take my bed, and I’ll take the couch.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to take you out of your bed.”

“I mean, unless you don’t mind sharing a bed with me then it’s fine then,” you know that sharing a bed with Jacob for a few weeks will make your feelings skyrocket through the roof. You don’t know if you’ll ever be able to get over him.

“That’s perfectly fine with me.”

You nod. “You should call your mom.”

Jacob nods and picks up his phone to call his mom. You could get through a few weeks without breaking your facade right?

. . .

“I don’t believe you, Jacob,” Jacob’s mother tells him.

“What do you mean you don’t believe me?” Jacob asks exasperated. He was hoping his mother wouldn’t call him out on the lie he was telling.

“I don’t believe you because it doesn’t seem likely that distance would be an issue in a five-year relationship. Also, she didn’t tell me distance.”

“What did she say?”

“She told me you both grew apart. Is that true? Jacob, I’ll know when you’re lying to me, and so will Yn, so don’t lie to her either.”

“I have to lie to her,” Jacob blurts out. Shit, he shouldn’t have said that.

“What happened?”

Jacob looks out of the door to where you’re still sitting at the kitchen counter from where he’s sitting on your bed. He walks over off your bed and closes the door. He doesn’t want you hearing this part of the conversation.

“This conversation stays between us, okay?”

“Yes, yes, you’re making me worried.”

“Yeah, well. Okay, so, where do I begin? I was reading a book last night, and her phone was going off like crazy, so I went to turn off the ringer. Her screen was already lit up, and she was getting texts from this guy about when they’d be able to see each other in private again. She was cheating on me. She found me holding her phone, and I confronted her. She was saying how she would always feel second to Yn in my life even though she was always number one. Yn was not at all close to being number one in my life.”

“Jacob, I told you to stop lying to me.”

“Mom, I didn’t lie to you,” Jacob says trying to feign innocence. Wow, his mother was good at calling him out.

“Yes, you did, and you know exactly what you lied about.”

“Fine, Yn is a close second, but my fiance was still number one. She began saying how Yn and I were too close, and she felt like she couldn’t compete. She didn’t have to compete because there was nothing to compete for. She began talking about how Yn had feelings for me, and I deep down have feelings for Yn. I don’t, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She gave me an ultimatum and told me either we got married and Yn was out of my life or no wedding. I couldn’t pick because why would I? Everything she was saying was ridiculous, and Yn and I are just friends. Sure, we’re close, but there’s nothing more than that.”

“She picked for you, then?”

“Yeah,” Jacob says sadly.

“How are you doing with everything?”

“I’m fine, surprisingly,” Jacob answers. “This isn’t me trying to get you off my back. I’m fine. I don’t feel any heartbreak or anything.”

“If you’re doing good then, that’s good. Do you think you know why that is?”

Jacob doesn’t miss a beat with his response. “Because I have Yn.”

Jacob’s mother doesn’t say anything knowing that Jacob is going to realize in just a few moments the impact of his words, hopefully.

“No, that came out wrong,” Jacob rushes out quickly. “That’s not me saying because I love love her. It’s because I know I can count on her, and she can count on me.”

“Look, I’m not going to tell you what I think, but let me just leave you with this,” Jacob’s mother continues. “She has strong feelings for you. This is me asking you to be gentle with her heart. She’s been through a lot as your best friend, so please be gentle with her. ”

“Mom, she doesn’t —”

“Don’t argue with me about how Yn doesn’t feel that way to you, Jacob, okay? Be gentle with her because, whether or not you know it, you’ve caused her lots of heartache and heartbreak over the years, and the fact that she’s still in your life is monumental. Just open your eyes and look while you stay with her, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Jacob says. He and his mother say goodbye. Jacob puts his phone down as he hangs up. He stares at the pictures sitting on your dresser. He looks at you smiling with your young nieces and nephews. His smile widens, and his heart warms looking at your smile. Is it possible that you have feelings for him? If so, is it true that he’s caused heartbreak in your life? He walks out of your bedroom and into the kitchen where you’re still sitting.

“Good talk with you mom?” you ask.

Jacob nods. Suddenly, he isn’t sure what to say to you. He, for the first time, is seeing you. Despite your hair being a bit messy because you woke up a few hours earlier, it’s still beautiful. He, for the first time, is seeing the way your hair perfectly frames your face and how it accentuates your facial features. For the first time, he’s noticing the glimmer and shine in your eyes. He’s noticing the way your voice is laced with kindness despite him waking you at three in the morning.

“Are you okay?” you ask softly.

“Yeah, why?” he asks, and he immediately blushes.

“You’re just acting weird,” you reply with a teasing smile. Jacob’s heart begins hammering in his chest. He’s looking at you and noticing your smile. How collected and beautiful your smile is. Jacob’s always known you were a beautiful woman. He’s told you on numerous occasions how stunning and beautiful you are. For the first time, though, he’s realizing how wrong that is, how much of an understatement beautiful is. You’re drop-dead gorgeous.

“You’re acting weird,” Jacob says mimicking your voice that brings out a giggle from you. Jacob looks at you, and his heart is beating much faster than before.

“You sure you’re okay?” you ask again and walk over to him. You place your hand on his forehead pretending you’re taking his temperature, and Jacob’s breath hitches in his throat. Did you notice? “Maybe you have a fever.”

“I’m fine, I promise,” Jacob whispers.

“Yeah, including everything that has happened?”

Jacob nods. He should probably stay at a hotel, right? He can barely get a single coherent thought, so why does he think he can live with you for a few weeks?

“Okay, well, I’m here if you want to talk,” you answer, taking your hand off of Jacob’s forehead. “I’m going to go get changed and ready for the day, okay? Maybe you should call or text her to talk about getting some of your stuff for basic survival.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Jacob answers. As you’re walking away, he calls out to you. “Hey, yn?”

You turn around and quirk your eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

You scrunch your eyebrows together in confusion. Jacob’s seen that expression before, but for the first time, he’s noticing how cute it is. “What for?”

He shrugs. How is he supposed to tell you he’s sorry for causing you pain and heartache that you’ve never voiced to him before? How is he supposed to apologize for a pain in you that you’ve hidden from him for so long? How is he supposed to continue knowing he’s hurt you so much before, but he’s never noticed? “Nothing in particular, just saying sorry.”

You nod in confusion. “Um, okay. Apology accepted I guess?”

Jacob thinks that if you knew what he was truly apologizing for, you wouldn’t forgive him.

. . .

He was apologizing. What was he apologizing for? What did he have to apologize for? He’s never caused you any hurt or sadness that would require him to apologize for. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Sure, he’s hurt you before, but it was because he fell in love with another woman. He didn’t know the hurt and heartbreak it caused, so he wouldn’t ever need to apologize for it.

You continue to get ready for the day and try to figure out why Jacob apologized and his weird mannerisms today. Normally, Jacob can meet your eye today and get clear, coherent sentences out. However, today, he couldn’t do that. He was giving you short, terse responses and nodding instead of talking.

“Jacob, do you know who’s going to be in charge of canceling everything?” you ask Jacob when you walk out of your bedroom.

He shrugs from where he’s sitting on your couch. “I’m not sure. Maybe I should ask.”

You sit next to him. “Whatever happens, just know, I’m here to help you, okay?”

Jacob nods and a weird look flashes across his face. Did you say something wrong? For the first time in your long friendship with Jacob, you’re second-guessing your words.

“You okay?” you cautiously ask.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Jacob deflects hurriedly.

“You’ve just been acting weird recently which is understandable considering circumstances, but you’re being weird with me which is weird.”

Jacob looks at you, and you try to read his mind and what he’s thinking. It doesn’t work; you weren’t able to.

“Jacob?”

He looks at you with a soft eye. “Yn?”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay, well, make sure you talk to her, so we can start canceling stuff and telling people that there isn’t a wedding this weekend.”

Jacob nods. He watched you get up from the couch and move to the kitchen table to get some work done. He knows you’re catching on to his weird behavior. For the first time, Jacob is befuddled and confused about how to act around you. He has no idea what to do, and he doesn’t like this feeling. You’re his best friend, so it shouldn’t be this hard for him to know how to act around you. Your smile, your concern, your soft facial expressions, your caring heart, all of it is overwhelming to Jacob. It’s always been there, and he’s always been on the other side of your kindness and caring nature and smile, but for the first time in forever, Jacob views it differently — a good difference. He’s going to have to figure out a way to push his conflicting feelings and views to the side if he’s going to be staying with you. He’s going to have to figure out how to act normally around you because he’s going to be staying with you. He’s going to be in your house, your home, your kitchen, your bed. He’s going to be living in your life, and he can’t put more on you than you can take. He now knows he’s hurt you before, and he has to find a way to make up for it.

. . .

For the week on what would have been the week of Jacob’s wedding, you and Jacob work to cancel it. He makes the calls to all his family, friends, and the wedding party. You were in charge of calling all the vendors and the venue. You sat next to Jacob the entire time he made the calls to his family. Much of it wasn’t in English, but you could see the sadness in his eyes. He thought he was starting his forever, but instead, it was crumbling at his feet.

During a particular call to his grandmother, you could see the tears starting to form in his eyes. You wanted to hug him and hold him, but he walked into your bedroom for privacy. You understood why, but you wanted to be there for him in every way possible. He walked out of your bedroom with his eyes puffy. You put your glass down and walk over to him. You wrap him in a hug and hold him as you feel his tears through your shirt. You stroke his back and comfort him as he finally lets all the emotions out. He lets all the emotions that he’s been keeping in for days finally out.

Jacob lifts his head off your shoulder, and you look up at him. You move your hands to his face and wipe the tears off his face. “Hey, it’ll be okay.”

Jacob nods. “How can you be so sure?”

“I don’t know, but I just do. Is that enough?”

“I think so.”

Jacob was a mess. He was sad and angry and upset. He wasn’t upset at her per se. He was more upset at himself. He was upset at himself for not seeing the signs of the relationship falling apart. He was upset that she cheated on him. He was upset that she put the duty of cancelling the wedding on him, not choosing to do anything. Mostly, though, he was upset that he’s been hurting you in the past years. He’s upset at himself for not seeing what he was doing to you and what she was doing to him. He’s angry and confused at himself for not seeing you for who you truly were. He’s confused. He doesn’t know much of anything anymore. He just wants to be okay and feel happy again. Despite all these confusing, angry feelings, Jacob takes one look at you, and he knows he’ll be okay because you always made him feel better. Even though he wasn’t sure the extent of your relationship with him anymore, Jacob knows that he can count on you and vice versa.

On what would have been Jacob’s wedding night, you ask him about his living situation. “Any news on when you’re getting the house back?”

“Already want to get rid of me?” Jacob teases. Was his voice teasing? Was it too accusatory? Is he coming off as teasing?

When you smile at his words, he knows that you knew he was teasing. “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just asking because my apartment is small, so I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or too cramped here.”

“Don’t worry, yn,” Jacob reassures. Was he talking normally? He wasn’t sure. His heartbeat was so loud in his ears that it was hard to know if he sounded normal. “Wherever you are, I’ll always be comfortable.”

You smile at him and return to the book you were reading. That was not normal at all. Has Jacob ever said those words to you? Maybe he should have told you that sooner because he always did feel comfortable wherever you were. Come to think of it, Jacob’s always felt more comfortable around you than he ever did her. He always felt more at ease and more at home whenever you were around. She never had that effect on him. Jacob always had to be on his toes around her making sure he doesn’t say or do anything wrong. Why did he always feel more comfortable with you?

“Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your hair in a few days if she doesn’t give me a plan or anything,” Jacob says.

“No, don’t do that,” you rush out quickly. Jacob knows you well enough to know that you’re flustered. He knows that you’re regretting getting that out so quickly. Despite all the changes that Jacob feels like your friendship is going through, the bottom line is he knows that you haven’t changed. You’re still the smart, beautiful, compassionate, caring person you always were. That’s not changing.

Jacob throws a deep chuckle your way.

“Stay as long as you need, Jacob,” you tell him with a shy smile. Upon seeing your smile, Jacob’s heart races. His stomach erupts in butterflies. Where were these feelings coming from? He’s known you for so long, so why is he just starting to develop romantic feelings for you? Were these romantic feelings? Was that what this is? Was he falling for you romantically?

“Thank you, Yn,” he whispers. You make him blush, flustered, and go crazy. Jacob doesn’t know much about what’s happening in his life, but he knows that as long as he has you, everything will be okay. You make his heart flutter and butterflies erupt whenever you breathe around him. Did Jacob always have these feelings for you? Did he ignore these feelings because he just wanted a friendship with you? Sure, at first that was all he wanted because he wasn’t looking for a relationship. Did he always feel this way? Were the feelings finally coming out because he wasn’t preoccupied with anyone else?

The following Monday, Jacob ventures out to practice for the first time. The coaches and the team gave Jacob a week to sort everything out and figure out his life. He was a bit rusty, but it felt great to get back on the ice. He noticed the pitying glances his teammates gave him, but when Jacob glared at them, they knew to stop.

“Marky? Do you mind staying behind for a moment?” Mark asks. “Just want to talk.”

Jacob nods. He knew this was coming for him; he knew he was going to get a talk from his captain.

“How are you doing?” Mark asks after everyone leaves.

“Um, I think I’m okay?” Jacob answers.

Mark nods. “That’s understandable. So, no sadness or anger or disappointment?”

“I — I, I don’t know how to answer that.”

Mark gives Jacob a weird look, and Jacob tries to put the thoughts into words.

“I’m angry at her for cheating on me and trying to control my life. I’m upset because I was planning this life with her, and she was one step in and one step out. I’m disappointed because I should have seen it. I’m upset and disappointed with myself because my mom told me that I’ve broken Yn’s heart before, and I didn’t notice.”

“Woah, slow down. One woman at a time. I understand all the stuff about her, but Yn? What does she have to do with this?”

“I’m staying with Yn right now until my house is free of my ex. My mom called me and told me to be gentle with Yn’s heart. I questioned her about it, and she was talking about how Yn loves me but romantically. She was telling me to be gentle with Yn’s heart because through my actions I’ve hurt her and shattered her heart. I mean, how have I never seen it? She’s my best friend, so shouldn’t I be able to see when I’m hurting her?”

“She’s good at hiding how she feels,” Mark answers.

“You knew?”

“How she feels about you, or how you’ve unknowingly hurt her before?”

“Both, I guess,” Jacob prompts.

“Yes, to both then.”

“So, you know how she might feel?”

“It’s obvious how she feels,” Mark says.

“How could I not have seen it? How could I have not seen how I’ve hurt her?”

“Don’t beat yourself up, okay? As I said, she’s good at hiding it. It took me a while to notice her feelings for you. She didn’t let you know or see how she felt because she wanted you to be happy. She let her feelings stay hidden, so you could be happy. If you were happy, then she was happy.”

Jacob nods. “I just, I don’t know.”

“I think the question that you should be asking yourself is why you care so much about this. I understand being upset that you didn’t know you’ve broken her in the past, but why is this on the front of your mind even though you just had an ended engagement?”

Jacob ponders the question momentarily. “I think I’m in love with her? I think I always was, but I didn’t let myself feel those feelings. I always did feel more comfortable with Yn than I ever did with my fiance, ex-fiance. I always felt more at home with Yn than I did with her. I think I’ve always had romantic feelings for her, but I didn’t let them out.”

Mark just stares agape at his teammate. He thought he was going to have to nurse this information out of Jacob. He wasn’t expecting Jacob to have gotten to this conclusion on his own.

“I just don’t know what to do,” Jacob says sadly.

“I agree with what your mom said about being gentle with Yn’s heart. She deserves that at least. You shouldn’t say anything without knowing for sure because she deserves that at least. Just act normally around her until you’re ready to say something.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know how to be normal around her!” Jacob says exasperated. “I’m overthinking everything, and I no longer know how to act around her. I don’t know if the way I’m talking is weird or normal; I just don’t know.”

“Okay, okay, calm down. Breathe,” Mark interjects. “Try to stay calm. Sure, it might be difficult and hard to act around Yn, but try. That’s all I can say.”

Jacob nods. He goes back to your apartment after practice running through all the words Mark said. He’s thinking through them. He’s right; you deserve Jacob to gentle with your heart. You deserve the world, but Jacob isn’t sure if he can give you the world. He wants more than anything to be able to know exactly how he feels, but he can’t help but feel like he’s self-sabotaging the entire friendship with his overthinking. If he doesn’t figure out how he feels, Jacob fears your friendship might be doomed.

. . .

It’s been one month since Jacob showed up at your door telling you about his broken engagement. In that one month, you hoped to find little things about Jacob you never knew before and turn them into reasons for you not to love him. You tried, but you couldn’t because he was perfect. Jacob was the perfect house guest, and you hated it. Instead of finding reasons to fall out of love, you found reasons to fall more in love with your best friend. Jacob always made sure that his dirty laundry was in the basket, or his wet towel after showering was always hanging up to dry. He never left a mess in the washroom after using it, and he always cleaned the shaving clippings off the washroom counter. If you made dinner, then Jacob insisted that you relax, and he does the dishes. Even if he cooked, Jacob still did the dishes because that’s the kind of person he was. You tried not to let the domestic vibes of the situation get to your head, but it was hard. It was hard not to pretend that you and Jacob weren’t a married couple. It was hard to pretend that this isn’t permanent. It was plain hard to be around Jacob at all without your heart thumping in your chest. You’ve been good in the past years hiding how you felt, but in the one month Jacob was living with you, it all went berserk. You were overthinking and overanalyzing everything. You only hoped that Jacob didn’t notice.

On a random morning, while you were eating breakfast before going to work, Jacob prompts, “She called me and told me she wants to talk.”

You lookup. “Okay?”

“What’s your opinion on it?”

“None? I mean, you guys need to talk and sort stuff out.”

“Like?” Jacob questions. You have a feeling he knows what you’re talking about but chooses to ignore it.

“Your living situation? Who’s going to pay all the final fees for the cancellations of the wedding? Returning all your wedding and engagement gifts? Stuff like that. Also, I think it’ll be a good way to gain closure, too.”

Jacob nods with a forlorn look in his eyes. “Yeah, closure.”

The topic is immediately dropped, and you both continue in awkward silence.

You hoped Jacob was able to talk to her and sort everything out that he needed to.

. . .

Jacob met her on neutral territory — a coffee shop. Jacob got there ten minutes early hoping his nerves would die down by the time she arrived. They didn’t. She arrived, and Jacob’s heart continued to beat out of his chest. He isn’t sure why. Despite concluding that he’s always loved you, he knows that he loved her, too. Despite harboring feelings for you, he still loved her.

“Hey,” Jacob says when she sits down.

“Hi,” she says back. She and Jacob both stare at each other. Were they supposed to jump right into things or engage in small talk first? “Should we just get to the point?”

“Yeah, I think that’s best.”

“Okay, um, I changed my mind, and I want the house.”

“What?” Jacob asks, shocked.

“I want the house because despite it also being your home, I was the one who did most of the decorating and stuff like that because you were on the road. I’m not blaming you for not doing any of it. I just think it’s fairer if you let me keep the house. I’ll buy your half from you and everything. I just want the house.”

Jacob looks at her, so he’s supposed to find a new place to live in now? Should he find a temporary living place, so he doesn’t have to stay with you? “Okay, that’s fine. I guess just give me a date that works for you, and we’ll head to the bank to sort all the stuff out, and I can move my stuff out.”

“I might have destroyed some of it out of anger, but okay.”

Jacob laughs. “Hate me that much?”

“It’s not you that I hate,” she replies calmly but also coldly.

“Who do you hate then?” Jacob asks, confused.

“Really? You don’t know? Maybe I should remind you of the argument we had when you left. Also, where are you staying? I called Elias a while back asking if you need any of your stuff, but he said you were staying somewhere else.”

Jacob doesn’t answer, and instead, he opts to stare at his mug. She takes his silence as a sign as to where Jacob’s staying.

“Oh my goodness, you’re staying with Yn,” she says angrily. “Did you buy her a bigger apartment, or are you staying in her tiny apartment? If you’re staying in her apartment, then that means either you’re sleeping in her bed and she’s on the couch, or you’re sleeping in her bed.”

Jacob doesn’t look up or meet her eyes.

“No, you’re sleeping in her bed. Of course, you are. You ran right to her, didn’t you? Have you slept with her yet? Have you completely forgotten about us? Me? Was I just a placeholder until that bitch finally came clean about what she felt.”

“Hey! Don’t call her that,” Jacob condemns. “Sure, yes, we’re sharing a bed, but I didn’t think I would have to find a new place to live. I thought it was only temporary. And yes, I ran right to her because she’s my best friend. Who else was I supposed to go to when my future wife cheats on me and ends our engagement?”

“Have you slept with her?” she whispers. She doesn’t know if she wants the answer, but she still needs to ask.

“No, I haven’t slept with her.”

“But you want to.”

Jacob snaps his head up. He doesn’t want to sleep with you. That thought has never crossed his mind. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I think that you’ve finally realized that you’ve always loved her. I think that you realized that she loves you and would do anything for you. I think you’ve realized that you wasted your time on me.”

“That’s only partially true. I think I’ve finally realized that I’ve always loved her, and I think I’ve realized that she loves me, too. However, I don’t think I’ve wasted my time with you. Despite it all, I did love you at one point, and I wouldn’t throw away our relationship.”

“Did? When did you stop?”

“When I found out you cheated on me.”

“So, you’ve loved me our entire relationship?” she asks with worry in her eyes.

He nods. “Yeah, and there will always be a part of me that will always love you. Do you still love me?”

Now, it’s her turn not to answer and just stare at her mug. Jacob doesn’t want to pry for any information. “I stopped loving you a while ago. I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

“Why didn’t you break up with me then?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. You’re a great person, so I thought I could fall back in love with you, but then I started noticing the way Yn looked at you and how she acted. I began watching your patterns around her, and I realized that it didn’t matter if I loved you or not. I realized that even if you loved me, you’d always love her more. So, I cheated on you to find a love that I craved.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry you felt the need to go to another place for the love I couldn’t give you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t love you in the way you wanted,” Jacob apologizes.

“I’m sorry for the hurt I put you through. For what it’s worth, though, I wouldn’t undo our relationship. I think that if I were to redo it, we wouldn’t have gotten this far. We wouldn’t have gotten to an engagement. Deep down, I think we both know that our relationship began to fall apart shortly before you proposed.”

Jacob thinks about it for a moment. Yeah, she was right. “Yeah, you’re right. Doesn’t mean, though, that I didn’t love you.”

“Yeah, same here.”

“If I may ask,” Jacob begins. “Are you with him? I mean, the guy you cheated on me with.”

“Um, yeah, we’re together. He’s been staying with me and stuff, but yes, we’re together.”

Jacob nods.

“Are you mad?”

“No, I’m not,” Jacob says. He wasn’t. He’s moved on from her, and now, he just wants her to be happy.

“Look, Jacob, I’m going to be honest with you, okay? Yn? She’s the one for you. Don’t waste your time staying in your head thinking about whether or not Yn feels the same. She’s loved you for too long. She deserves you to be honest with her, okay? Just tell her how you feel.”

“Okay,” he says. They ended up talking for another hour sorting out things and catching up. Despite breaking up, they both knew that the other would be there if needed. Jacob went back to your apartment with the closure he needed to move on. Now, he needed to figure out how to tell you how much he loved you.

. . .

Jacob moved out into a new home two months later. In those two months, you helped Jacob in any way you could. You helped him pack up his house and move into a storage unit. You helped him look for a new place to live and helped him move in. The first night in almost three months you spent alone, it felt weird. It felt weird to eat dinner alone even though there were some nights you ate alone anyway because he was at a game or on the road. It felt weird to go to sleep in an empty bed, and it felt weird to wake up to cold sheets. It was weird, and you hated it. You missed Jacob, and you wanted him to continue living with you. However, you wouldn’t give up the time you had with Jacob. It was some of the best three months of your friendship, and you’d do anything to go back to it.

Despite spending all that time together, you still didn’t know the real reason why Jacob ended his engagement. You wanted to know what was the reason because you could tell it was eating him up. Jacob has cried and gotten emotional a few times, but you knew he wasn’t fully healed. You knew there was still something eating him up, and you wanted nothing more than to know how to fix what was going on.

Six months after the broken engagement, the Flames season came to a saddening end. Jacob opted to have the Year-End Team Barbeque at his new house. When he approached the idea with you, you told him it was a great idea. It was great that he was moving on and continuing on with his life. He told you he wanted you there. You tried interjecting saying that you weren’t part of the team; however, he countered by saying that families were also invited. When you tried to argue you weren’t family, Jacob gave you a look that made your heart beat faster and told you he expected you to be at his house on the date of the barbeque.

You showed up at his doorstep with a plate of lemon squares and a bag full of nervousness. You weren’t sure why you were particularly nervous today. It was Jacob. Jacob. Your best friend. You shouldn’t have any reason to be nervous. None at all. So, why were you suddenly nervous?

You knocked on the door, and Jacob opened it. “You don’t have to knock, you know.”

You smile. “Yeah, sure, whatever. I made lemon squares.”

He takes them out of your hand and ushers you inside. You take off your shoes, and Jacob places the plate on the bench. He wraps you in a giant hug filled with the warmth and love that you missed from him. Despite him not living with you for quite some time, you still missed him and his warmth. You missed going to sleep next to him and waking up next to him. You missed having a cuddle buddy while you were sitting on your couch reading or watching TV. Mostly, though, you missed him. “Hi,” you whisper shyly. You aren’t sure why you’re so shy all of a sudden.

“Hi,” he whispers back just as shy. You both miss the knowing and curious looks Jacob’s teammates give you. How could you? You were both absorbed in each other so much that the entire world slipped away. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” you whisper into his chest. You aren’t sure if your words are audible because they’re muffled by his shirt. “Anywhere you want me to be, I’ll be there.”

Jacob pulls away and looks down at you. You meet his eyes and notice his look. He looks like he’s contemplating something serious. You can tell the inner monologue and gears in his head are spinning like crazy. What was he thinking? You wanted so badly to know what was going on in his head. Jacob must have decided whatever he was thinking was not important or against it because he shakes his head to himself and takes your hand. He leads you into the kitchen where everyone is with one hand in yours and the other holding the plate of lemon squares you made.

“Get yourself a drink and mingle, I’ll be out on the patio grilling. Come to me if you need anything, okay?” Jacob whispers into your ear. It sends shivers down your spine.

“Okay,” you whisper and head to join the other women. You’re going to need some alcohol in you to get through the day if Jacob was going to keep sending your senses into a spiral.

Jacob isn’t sure what he’s doing, but he knows it’s risky. He knows that one wrong, intimate move or action could tell you what he’s been trying to tell you for months now. When Jacob finally moved into his new home, everything clicked in his mind. Despite designing it exactly how he wanted, it didn’t feel like home. That is, it didn’t feel like home unless you were there visiting. You came two or three times a week when Jacob wasn’t on the road for dinner. Sometimes you brought takeout or you both cooked. It didn’t matter what you were both doing, though, because as long as you were next to him in his house, it felt like home.

It took him three days of living on his own for the first time in a long time to realize how he truly feels for you. It took him three days to know you were the one. It took him three days to know he loved you. Loves you. When he finally realized, Jacob stopped what he was doing. He was cooking dinner. He was making your favorite meal that he’s learned to love and to cook while he was staying with you. After him asking many, many times for you to teach him, you relented and taught him. Jacob had to turn off the stove and sit with it for a moment. He loved you? He loved you. He loves you? He loves you. He will always love you? He will always love you. He loves you, and he can’t take you not knowing anymore. He doesn’t want to rush into another relationship right away, but he also wants you by his side forever.

Jacob didn’t bring you to many team events while he was with her. Before her, he brought you to a few events with the Canucks, but you haven’t gone to many events in Calgary. You met the team and the WAGs, and Jacob thinks you’ve made some great friends amongst them all. Now, though, Jacob never wants to go to a team event where you’re not there. He wants to go to a team event, see you dressed so beautifully, and be his date. Jacob just wants you to be part of every aspect of his life.

“What’re you thinking about?” Mark asks Jacob out of nowhere. Jacob was standing at his grill making food; he was watching you play in the backyard with some of the children. Mark looks to where Jacob’s staring and knows instantly. “Ah, I see. So, did you tell her how you feel? Actually, how do you feel? That should be the first questioning.”

“I haven’t told her how I feel, but I love her,” Jacob answers and a giant smile graces his facial features. A smile that reaches his eyes and shows every smile line. A smile that he only got from talking about you.

“When will you tell her?”

“I don’t know.”

“I mean, be careful because the way you greeted her? That screamed, ‘I’m in love with you,’” Mark tells him.

“It did not!”

“It did, but if it makes you feel better, her actions did the same. She loves you, too.”

Jacob nods. “I’ll tell her soon because I don’t think I can go another day as just her friend."

"You've never been just yn's friend," Mark says.

As everyone gathered around the table in Jacob’s backyard for dinner, you were seated right next to him. As the meal went on, Jacob’s chair got closer and closer to yours. After the meal was finished, you insisted on helping to clean up, but some of the other players and WAGs insisted that you and Jacob stay at the table. As the conversation continued, you began to lean closer and closer to Jacob. So close to the point where your shoulder was right up against his chest, and his arm was around your shoulder. You were as close as physically possible without sharing a chair. Jacob began rubbing patterns on your shoulder, and it sent shivers down your spine. Jacob noticed. He whispered into your ear asking if you wanted a sweater. You told him no, but he still insisted on getting you a sweater, so Jacob got up and grabbed a sweater for you as your conversation continued with Elias, Johnny, Noah, and Annica.

“So, you and Jacob are getting close again,” Noah points out suggestively.

“I mean, we’ve always been close, so I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at,” you reply. You think you understood what Noah was pointing at, but you didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

“Now that he’s single, are you going to make your move?” Elias eggs on.

You stare at them, and the heat drains from your face. “What?”

“I mean, you’re in love with him, and it’s obvious he’s in love with you, too,” Annica replies. “You should tell him how you feel.”

“No, he doesn’t love me like that.”

“Then explain how touchy and lovey he’s been with you. He was never like that with you before,” Johnny points out, and the rest of the group nod in agreement.

“Right, because he had a girlfriend, a fiance.”

“Sure, but he doesn’t have either of those right now, and he’s acting like a madman in love,” Noah says.

“Look, I know your heart has been broken before because of Jacob’s past relationships, so you’re allowed to be scared, but look at this as an opportunity,” Annica says to you sincerely. She leans in closer to you and places a hand comfortingly on yours. “Don’t go too long without telling him because, at the end of the day, Jacob loves you. He does, and he feels the same way. You’re allowed to be scared and nervous, but don’t let that stop you from the great love you can have with him. Don’t let your fears and nervousness stop you from getting the love that you deserve, okay?”

You nod. Out of all the people you’ve talked to, Annica somehow summed it all up perfectly. She seemed to know exactly what was going on in your head and why you were so hesitant to say anything, even now.

“Worse comes to worst, you, me, and Matthew can be a throuple,” Noah jokes, trying to ease the tension. This brings out a giant laugh from the group. It felt good to laugh with your friends again.

Jacob was walking out from his house with a hoodie in tow when he heard your loud laughter in the distance. He looks up to see you laughing along with Noah, Elias, Annica, and Johnny. He smiles at the thought of knowing that you’re happy and in a good mood. That’s all he wants. He wants you to be happy and in a good mood.

His emotion sours though when he sees you giggling along to something Noah says. He knows he’s reading into it too much, but he’s jealous. He’s jealous that Noah is the one who has you giggling. He’s jealous that Noah and Annica and Elias and Johnny get to be on the receiving end of your infectious laugh. He wants to be sitting right there with you and hearing your laugh.

“What are you staring so intently at?” Matthew asks out of nowhere. Where did he come from? Jacob doesn’t answer but continues to watch you interact with his and your friends. “You know Noah isn’t making a move on your girl, right?”

“She’s not my girl,” Jacob scowls. “Yet.”

Jacob wants you to be his girl so bad that he’s reading into a platonic conversation as something more.

“Just tell her. You know, go tell her right now. The entire team will be so happy that you finally figured shit out and are together.”

“I’m going to give her this hoodie, so she’s not cold,” Jacob deflects. He didn’t want to tell you in a public place. He didn’t want you to be pressured into telling him you felt the same. He wanted you to tell him you loved him out of your own free will and not influenced by added stares.

Jacob sits down in the chair next to you and hands you the hoodie without saying anything. He stays in his seat and doesn’t move to hold you close like he was before. You take the hoodie he offered you and put it on. Jacob’s heart begins to beat rapidly as he sees you wearing his clothes. When you put the hoodie on comfortably, you lean over to Jacob and place a soft kiss on his cheek. You whisper a thank you into his ear before sitting back down in your chair. Jacob instantly knows that he has nothing to worry about because you were it for him, and he was it for you. Jacob’s scowl goes away, and he wraps an arm around your shoulder. It didn’t matter who you smiled at or laughed at, as long as you were happy, then Jacob was happy.

You were the last one at Jacob’s that night. You helped him with the final cleaning up and sorting out. You plopped on his couch and let out a giant huff of air dramatically.

“Thank you for inviting me,” you tell Jacob as he sits down next to you.

“Of course,” he responds, but he has a lost look in his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

He looks at you. “Yeah, of course, why?”

“You just have a weird look in your eyes. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing in particular, just how different my life is right now than I thought it would be,” Jacob answers. He hopes you’ll ask what’s changed because he thinks he’s finally going to tell you. He’s begging you to ask, so he can tell you that who he sees spending the rest of his life with has changed.

“Oh yeah? What’s changed?”

“A bunch of things. Like, my house, who I play for, my relationship status, who I want to spend the rest of my life with,” Jacob answers. You nod. You nodded? You nod! That’s it? Do you not have anything to say to Jacob saying the last part? He needs to emphasize it more, he guesses. “Especially the last part.”

“Oh yeah, how much has it changed?” you ask and turn to face him.

“Well, about a year ago, I thought I’d be spending the rest of my life with her, but now, I want to spend the rest of my life with someone else,” Jacob answers.

Your heartbeat quickens. Was this him telling you he’s found someone else or is this finally the confessions about the feelings you both have for each other? “Who is this someone else?” you whisper ask.

Jacob’s heart is beating so fast that it sounds like the rhythm of a dance song. He’s finally going to tell her. What if she doesn’t feel the same way? Despite everyone’s insistence that you feel the same way, Jacob is still nervous that you don’t feel the same way.

“Tell me about her?” you whisper.

“Gladly,” Jacob says. “She happens to be my best friend for the past eight years.”

You snap your head up when you hear Jacob’s words. “What?”

Oh no, you don’t feel the same way. You’re going to turn him down, and Jacob ruined the most important relationship in his life. You realize that your response was a bit terser than you meant. You were shocked. Despite everyone telling you Jacob felt the same way, it was still shocking to hear. You hoped your response didn’t force him to shut down and not continue what he was saying. Jacob moves closer to you on his couch and puts his forehead on yours. It’s now or never.

Your forehead felt warm against Jacob’s, and it was making him go crazy. “Yn, I’m in love with you. It took me eight long years to realize it, but I’m in love with you. I think I always was, but I’ve realized it over the past few months.” Please, let her feel the same way.

You smile. Jacob loves you? He’s in love with you? You place your hands on his cheeks and bring his face to yours and kiss him. You place a soft kiss on his lips before pulling away slowly. “I’m in love with you, too.”

You love him, too? You love him! “I love you, Yn.”

“I love you, too, Jacob,” you say with a giggle. Jacob grabs you and sets you on his lap. You wrap your arms around him and lean in for another kiss.

When Jacob pulls away, you have a giant smile on your face, and your lips are sensitive from the kisses.

“I’m sorry,” Jacob says to you.

“You have to stop apologizing for things you haven’t done,” you tell him.

“I’m sorry for the heartbreak I caused you. I’m sorry you were there for each step of the other relationship I had. I’m sorry I never realized that I was hurting you,” Jacob says ignoring your comment.

“Oh. I’m not upset at you for any of that.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry.”

“How about, moving forward, the past is in the past, okay?” you suggest.

Jacob smiles. “So there’s a future? A moving forward?”

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” you tell him with a kiss. Sure, it took Jacob a while to realize how he felt, but you were able to grow into a person who was ready to spend the rest of your life with this man. It took some time, but it was all worth it now.

. . .

Three Years Later

Jacob twirls you around on the dance floor with a giant smile on his face. It was the last dance of your wedding night. The past three years have been filled with laughter, happiness, and love. There were some difficult moments, but, at the end of the day, the love you both have for each other beat every difficulty faced.

You were dancing the last dance of the night with all your guests making a circle for the two of you on the dance floor. They were using their phones’ flashlights to illuminate you both.

As you both continued to dance to your second first dance song choice, Jacob glances around the room at the guests. Jacob sees your parents holding each other as they watch their daughter dancing with the love of her life. He sees his mother looking at you and Jacob knowing that it was a long time coming but worth it. He sees Elias, Noah, Matthew, and some of his other teammates and friends smiling and giving him a thumbs up. He sees Mark giving him a nod. Without his captain’s help, Jacob isn’t sure you’d be here today. Lastly, before putting his eyes on you, he sees her. He sees the woman he was supposed to marry. She gives him a curt nod and leans her head on her new husband’s shoulder and cradles her swollen, pregnant belly. Jacob isn’t sure what happened between you both, but he knows that you both went to brunch before the wedding and cleared the air. You both talked and cleared up things. Many thought it was weird that Jacob’s ex-fiance was invited to the wedding, but if it weren’t for her, you and Jacob wouldn’t be together. She and Jacob needed that relationship to realize who they truly wanted to be with. They needed the relationship to help them realize the lives they truly wanted to lead.

Jacob, lastly, lays his eyes on you, his new wife, and smiles.

“What are you thinking about so intently?” you ask with your beautiful smile gracing your lips.

“Nothing,” Jacob says and places a kiss on your lips.

“I don’t believe that,” you tease.

“I’m just thinking about how we got here,” Jacob says. The previous relationship Jacob was in was no longer an awkward topic. You were both able to mention it now and then without an awkward silence filling the room. Jacob knew that if he didn’t love her, then he wouldn’t have realized how much he loves you. Without her, Jacob wouldn’t be dancing with his new wife.

“Oh yeah? And what about it?”

Jacob smiles and holds you tighter. “Just how it was you all along.”

Taglist: @goalision @coffee-ontherocks @glassdanse @barzal-burakovsky @beauvibaby @boqvistsbabe @heatherawoowoo @heaveniish @stars-canucks @tkapuckit @mellany1997 @nhlboyshavemyhart88 @heybarzy @2manytabsopen @habsfan @besthockeyfics @plds2000 @kaitieskidmore1 @iwantahockeyhimbo @sidscrosbyy @barzysandmarnersbitch @ollywahlygator @leafs-forever @laurenairay @no-pucks-given @sixmapleleafs (Join my taglist here!)

[hyperfixatedimagines]

The Moon & her Star: Ch 2

Summary: Star crossed lovers trying to make it work but as outside pressures get to them will they choose to stay together?

A/N: Thank you to those that enjoyed the first chapter. I hope you like this one.

(Y/N) knew what their arrangement would be before Luna had even finished kissing her.

She knew Luna would never be with her in the light of day.

Not because they were both girls, Monet had been out and proud since seventh grade (allegedly), but because (y/n) didn’t come from old or new money.

She came from no money.

Luna’s lungs were beginning to burn but she didn’t want to stop kissing (y/n). She knew the moment she stopped (y/n) they would have to talk about the harsh reality of their situation. Luna had plans, plans she couldn’t let (y/n) derail. But god- (y/n)’s lips felt so good. She wanted to throw it all away and keep kissing (y/n) forever.

-

The first month of their clandestine relationship was heaven, or as close as (y/n) ever thought she’d get.

(y/n) loved the secret touches as they’d pass each other in the halls, their fingertips just barely brushing the other’s.

(y/n) loved the adrenaline rush of kissing Luna in the shadowy corners of Constance halls, classrooms, and the occasional girls’ bathroom stall.

Most importantly, (y/n) loved spending evenings in the theater building basement going over her lines with Luna.

Thanks to their passionate kiss that night (y/n) had been able to pull herself together for her audition, and she nailed it.

(y/n) was cast as the female lead for the spring musical, as Maria in west side story.

So she had Luna help her by running lines ,and practicing the choreography together. Luna hated to admit how much she enjoyed the theater, and especially how much she enjoyed acting alongside (y/n).

“You’re overthinking it (y/n),” Luna said as she gently brushed some flyaways from (y/n)’s face.

“Or maybe I’m not thinking enough. This is my one chance Lune, if I don’t-”

Luna cut her girlfriend’s self sabotage off with a delicate finger to (y/n)’s lips.

“(Y/n), you are so insanely talented. These past few weeks that I’ve run lines with you I can see that your star is going to burn so bright. Please don’t overthink it, let your intuition guide you.”

(Y/N) didn’t know how to respond. She’d never heard Luna talk like that.

Luna dropped her finger from (y/n)’s mouth and went to grab the script she’d left on a nearby table. “Now, let’s do another run of the scene at the end of act one.”

“The kissing scene,” (y/n) asked, even though she knew that was exactly what Luna was referring to.

Luna wrapped her arms around (y/n)’s neck.

“I think you need a little more practice,” Luna teased.

(Y/n) wrapped her arms around Luna’s waist, pulling her closer.

“Oh really? Well if it’s for the show, we must practice.”

Luna nodded. “Of course, we have to get it just right. Even if that means doing it over and over,” Luna leaned in closer, “and over again.”

Their lips met and the world around them disappeared. Only their lips and beating hearts mattered.

If only it had stayed that way.

-

The second month of their relationship was….rocky.

As the spring musical approached (y/n) became more and more stressed, unable to enjoy the shadowy kisses and forbidden glances.

Luna tried her best to comfort (y/n) but she had problems of her own to deal with. Her parents were staying at the New York residence less and less. Luna knew it was because of their busy schedules but a part of her wondered if it was them choosing to be away from her.

And then there was Julien.

She had be gaining quite a following online, and wasn’t sure what to do with all the growing attention. Monet had mobilized, but Monet knew exactly what she wanted to do with life. Monet had a clear ten year plan to success, and it included Luna.

There was no Luna without Monet and no Monet without Luna. They had best friends since seventh grade. They both wanted success and would stop at nothing to achieve it.

So they became Julien’s management team. Monet focusing on the business side and Luna the fashion side.

Which left Luna and (y/n) little time to sneak away and pretend they weren’t star crossed lovers.

Luna still came to the theater building basement to be with (y/n) but she was focused on planning Julien’s outfits for the week.

“Lune if you aren’t mentally here what is the point of you being physically here,” (y/n) spat.

She had such little time left until opening night and the director was on her ass about her dancing. The least Luna could do was pay attention the few hours of the day she saw her.

Luna put her phone down, screen side up, next to her on the bench.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

Luna’s phone buzzed with notification after notification. Luna glanced at the phone before guiltily looking back at (y/n).

“Forget it,” (y/n) replied.

(Y/N) sighed and walked over to her book bag.

“I think we should go. I doubt I’m gonna nail the final dance number tonight.”

Luna grabbed her phone and began typing away.

“I won’t be able to see you Saturday. Julien needs me to help her pick out a dress for spring formal.”

(Y/n)’s shoulders sagged. Not surprised Luna cancelled their date yet again.

“Spring formal? Isn’t that months away?”

Luna looked up at (y/n) incredulously. “Do you think the perfect dress just magically appears a week before an event?”

“You’re right, I guess.”

Luna softened. “It’s important to Julien I be there.”

“Then you have to go, be a good friend.”

(Y/n) turned to kiss Luna goodnight but Luna’s phone pinged and once again Luna had mentally left the building. (Y/n) sighed.

“Crap, I have to go meet Monet. I’ll see you next Tuesday?”

She gave (y/n) a quick peck on the lips before leaving.

(Y/n) stood there, wondering where her Luna had gone.

-

In the two weeks leading up to opening night (y/n) hadn’t seen or talked to Luna at all.

Sure she’d seen Luna in class but she knew better than to try to talk to Luna in front of Luna’s friends.

(Y/n)’s texts had been left on delivered for days.

If Luna did respond it was a quick, I promise we’ll meet up soon.

Soon never came.

(Y/N) tried her best to focus on her role, but all she could think about was her failing relationship.

She missed Luna.

And as the distance between them grew the more (y/n) came to resent the secrecy of their relationship.

If people knew they were together then (y/n) and Luna could spend more time together. They’d be able to hold hands in the halls like Aki and Audrey. They could sit together at lunch, and even hang out at each other’s homes.

The more (y/n) thought about what she and Luna could be, the more bitter she became because she knew Luna would never accept it.

(Y/N) stared at Luna in class, wondering if Luna was worth the ache in her chest.

-

Opening night was one day away. (Y/n) had been on edge but that day she was radioactive.

She was messing up her lines, and forgetting dance steps.

The director was worried, and had even threatened to replace (y/n) with her understudy- a freshman. This was her big chance. She couldn’t mess it up now…but she was afraid she was going to.

So she stayed late that day, forcing herself to get it all right.

And it was paying off. That evening (y/n) hadn’t missed one line, and every step was filled with grace.

“You’re going to be the best Maria Constance has ever had.”

(Y/N) turned around, elated at the sound of her lover’s voice.

“Lune!”

She ran towards Luna. Luna stepped into the room meeting (y/n) halfway.

(Y/N) leaned in to kiss her but Luna turned away.

“Is something wrong?”

Luna sighed. “I didn’t want to do this tonight. I know how important tomorrow is to you but-“

(Y/N)’s stomach twisted into knots. She knew what was coming. She’d known this was always going to be the outcome of their relationship. (Y/N) had just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.

“Don’t. Please Luna not tonight.”

Tears started to prick at the edges of Luna’s eyes.

“(Y/N), you and I both know this isn’t working. Why go on pretending another day?”

(Y/N) balled her fists. “Maybe because tomorrow night is the most important day of my life? And having my girlfriend break up with me the night before is beyond cruel.”

Luna turned to face (y/n). “I’m not doing this to hurt you I-“

“It’s kinda hard to see it any other way.”

Luna wiped away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Monet and I are going to spring formal together.”

“What?” (Y/n) staggered backwards onto a nearby bench, the wind knocked out of her.

“She asked me a few days ago and I told her I would.”

(Y/N)’s chest began to ache. “Do you have feelings for her?”

Luna sighed. “That doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? If you’re breaking up with me for Monet I deserve to know.”

Luna took a seat next to (y/n) on the bench.

“I’m not breaking up with you for Monet. I just- when she asked me to the dance I hesitated and she asked if I already had a date.”

Luna turned to (y/n).

“And I realized that we hadn’t talked about spring formal. I realized we hadn’t really spoken in weeks…..I realized it was so easy to forget we were together because we never really had been in the first place. Kissing in the bathroom stall and hanging out in this basement once a week isn’t a relationship (y/n)…we both deserve better.”

Tears ran down the sides of (y/n)’s face as she tried hard to not look at Luna. If she looked at Luna she knew she’d beg Luna to stay.

So she stared at the ground instead. “And we both know you’ll never be better,” (y/n) said with as much venom in her voice as she could muster.

Luna’s stomach sank. She knew (y/n) was right. Luna wanted to be better for (y/n), but she couldn’t be. She was a coward. So she took the coward’s way out and said nothing.

Luna stood up and walked to the door. Just before leaving she turned back to (y/n).

“Break a leg tomorrow night (y/n).”

(Y/N) waited until the door closed behind Luna before breaking down completely. She sobbed into her hands, feeling her lungs burn as she let out silent screams.

She had always known it would end this way but (y/n) couldn’t have predicted it would end the night before her grand debut.

-

Opening night was a blur to (y/n).

All she remembered of the night was the heat of the stage lights, and the silence of the crowd.

The silence. The deadly silence. And the scorching heat.

(Y/N) had waited for that night for months, years even, and now that it had come all (y/n) could think about was Luna La’s peach lip gloss.

She remembered the heat of the stage lights and the silence of the crowd…then she remembered darkness.

[sunflowerandco]

After the Fact: Act V - The Duncan Special

Rating: T

I wanted to dedicate this chapter to @straighttxhell for just being so nice and supportive of this story! And I really hope you all like this one for the fact that’s it’s all very soft so prepare.

previous acts here

         Duncan, DJ, and Geoff were all settled on the couch in need of a game plan.

         "As much Courtney gives off that energy, I can't imagine her wanting this grand gesture, and I don't either. I'd rather it happen in the moment, like in a moment you wouldn't expect." DJ came up with an easy solution to Duncan's dilemma.

         "So basically, do the complete opposite of what Geoff did." Geoff responded in offense to DJ's suggestion. "Then why am I here?!"

         Duncan removed the hands behind his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Moral support?"

         "I think there'd have to be morality involved then..." DJ trailed off. They heard the door unlock and immediately straightened up despite only having to stop talking. Courtney walked into the living room and their joint silence automatically raised her suspicion.

         "Why are you being so quiet? What did you do? Did you eat my key lime squares?"

         Duncan didn't know what the hell a key lime square was, but his answer gave him a free ticket out of her line of questioning. "...Yes?"

         Courtney gasped like she just witnessed him kick a puppy. "Carlos makes them specifically for me! Now I have to go back to the bakery!"

         "I'm sorry, baby." Duncan grabbed one of her reusable grocery bags, handed it to her, and kissed her on the cheek in baseless consolidation. "Tell Carlos he's gonna be busy making you more." He went as far to turn her toward the door by her shoulders. She yelled out before closing the door.

         "You're picking up the order though!" As soon as the door closed Duncan turned back to his friends.

         "I don't even know what the hell a key lime square is." DJ felt sympathy for Courtney's unneeded frustration.

         "You didn't have to lie to ol' girl."

         "If I didn't, she would still be on my ass. Trust me, you don't wanna see Courtroom Courtney." It was the nickname he came up with after she got accepted into law school. It made her even better at arguing her point across, which Duncan didn't even know was possible for her to do.

         Geoff got up from the couch, eager to get his point across to his friends. "All I'm saying is it would be a shame if it wasn't a memorable moment. That's why I went all out for Bridge."

         Duncan pondered on what he said. He could understand why Geoff felt the way he did, considered the aspect of the event being memorable for Courtney, and not just a passing moment between them. He thought maybe grand gestures weren't such a bad idea. "Alright, then. What do you think I should do? When it comes to big, I have a few ideas.

        The three of them exchanged ideas until they could think of the most extra idea for the amount of time they had left to plan.

                                                        ***

        Duncan stood in the kitchen, leaning his back on the counter as he awaited an answer on the other end of the phone.

         "Hi, yeah, I'm calling to book a balloon ride for two on Saturday evening?"

        …

        "Uh, yeah it's Duncan Miller and Courtney Álvarez. I haven't been on one, but I think she has."

       …

        "Five-thirty's great. Okay, we'll be there. Thank you."

        Duncan mentally crossed a line on his list. If doing this meant they'd have a memorable, story-worthy day, it would all be worth it in the end. He turned to walk back to the living room but jumped at the sight of Courtney looking in the refrigerator. "Oh my God! How long have been standing there?"

        Courtney looked at him before refocusing on the contents of their refrigerator. She seemed to be low-energy and confused by him being startled. "Oh, hey, Babe. I just got here?" He appeared to calm down after she told him. She couldn't find anything that she wanted, so she closed the door defeated, and sighed against the door.

        "What's wrong? Didn't you have another class today?"

        "Yeah, but my professor went into labor, so it got cancelled. I'm happy for her and all, but now I'm glum." This was one thing he knew upset her, but one thing he couldn't understand. Her personal enjoyment for classroom settings, participation points, and homework made her feel most productive. So, missing out on it made her star dim.

        "Needa hug?" Duncan held his arms out to invite her in and hoped his heart rate didn't give away nearly getting caught by her. She responded by entering and wrapping her arms around his torso. She looked up at him. Her voice was so low and the number of times he'd seen her like this were very seldom.

        "Thank you. I'm gonna go shower now." He let her go do whatever she could to raise her spirits, but he couldn't help but find her crestfallen demeanor cute.

        He heard the bathroom door shut and he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding in. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this nervous around her. Duncan habitually relied on his confidence as a stand in and he couldn't decipher whether it weakened from the act of posing the question, or the method he chose to take under the influence of his best friends' views.

         Duncan's cell phone went off. It was a number he couldn't place but answered anyway. before he could say anything, he heard another man's voice speaking in a sultry tone.

         "Hey, Courtney. It's Carlos. You gave me this number for the order, right?"

         "This isn't Courtney. It's Duncan, her boyfriend. She wanted me to pick up her order. But, if you plan on talking to my girlfriend like that again, I can give you something I'm good at, too."

         "Oh, alright. it's ready for pickup. Bye"

         The call dropped immediately after he spoke.

                                                       ***

         Duncan sat on their couch with a picnic basket in his hands. It would be their first time in a month where they were able to devote a day to themselves without their busy lives getting in the way. Duncan was feeling the pressure now in hopes of the success of this day; he just hoped he'd done right by her with his plans. His head filled with preoccupations and all the possible ways it can go while Courtney readied herself for their outing. Duncan looked in the direction her voice was coming from, abruptly bringing him out of his contemplative state.

        "What do you think?" Her white dress highlighted her warm skin. The puffed sleeves-cottage core look was not her usual style, but she pulled it off effortlessly. He stood up from the couch, ready to hype his girl up.

         "I just thought I'd try something new since I haven't dressed up in a while. I think I look pretty good."

         "My god you look gorgeous, Princess."

         "Oh, stop. You really think so?" Courtney feigned bashfulness before she broke out into a few poses, looking over her shoulder and putting her hands on her hips. Duncan playfully scooped her up and kissed her on her cheek.

        "Ready to head out?"

        The car ride to the dock park filled with conversation of Courtney's excitement and Duncan's guise of normalness. When they arrived, the sky took on a gray hue, one Duncan did not expect from the forecast he checked today. They found the spot of their choice and unfolded their blanket. Their time was spent indulging in their favorite foods packed, relaxing, and reading.

        Courtney laid her head on Duncan's lap, holding a book in her face while he fed her grapes, helping her live up to his name for her. She closed it when she looked up and noticed Duncan was being quieter than usual. "What are you thinking about?" Courtney sat up to face him.

        Duncan tried to shift the focus of the conversation to her to deflect. Still, Courtney persisted. "How beautiful you are right now."

        "Nice one, but seriously. What's going on?"

        "Nothing. Why are you being such a lawyer?"

        "Because it gives me answers; you've been acting weird, key-lime-square-eater."

        Duncan threw a grape at her hoping to distract her. Courtney tried not to laugh when her mouth dropped open. To counter, she reached for the can of whipped cream to dispense some on top of his head. She couldn't suppress her laughter after some of it fell on the tip of his nose, using her finger to catch enough to eat. Duncan challenged her even further. This was just their one of many food wars, just at a new, unexpected location. "You really wanna do this. Right here?" He grabbed the can, making Courtney retreat behind a nearby tree. He felt a few droplets from the sky fall on his head, but it was nothing serious enough to wreck their plans. He caught up to her, grabbing her from behind and carrying her back to their blanket while he threatened to dispense confectionary mousse on her hair. Courtney pleaded for mercy in between laughs.

        "Duncan, please don't!"

        "Don't dish what you can't take, Princess!"

         Then, there were more droplets to which they didn't mind. The rain got a little heavier, but it didn't interrupt their preoccupation.

         A bolt of lightning near a tree and shower-like pour down confirmed their decision to make a run for it in the boathouse near the docks.

         They thanked the Gods for the door being unlocked as they entered the boathouse; the rain still beating loudly on the tin roof. This cabin proved to be nightmare fuel and they were surrounded by live bait, large, sharp fishhooks, and surprisingly no boat resting on the inside dock. Thunder rumbled loudly over the roof of the cabin just as they secured the door shut. Duncan's instincts compelled him to slip his leather jacket over Courtney's shoulders to stop her from shivering but took the ring box out of his pocket before doing so and stuffed it in his jeans pocket. He tried his best not to show his annoyance to their plans, but then it dawned on him that maybe this happened for a reason. He could read the signs the universe usually gave him, and this time he determined that the storm was a sign that he was right all along. He subtly joked about the fortunate event, trying to throw a curve to keep her surprised.

         "Worst date ever, huh?"

         Her hair was still dripping wet, and her natural waves made her hair shrink slightly. She was cold, wet. Her response surprised him. It was as if she tore a page from his book and didn't base her happiness on perfection. "I mean... it depends on how you look at it. I'm with you. We haven't had a day like this in a while." She wrapped her fingers around his arms to pull him in and attach her lips to his. Her acceptance of their situation confirmed his perception of their moment, and he felt more ready than he'd ever been to ask her. Their kiss was shortened when Duncan pulled away slowly, and his hands went from her hips to hold onto her forearms. He kept his eyes on hers as he brought one knee to the floor, still holding onto her when he started.

         "It isn't gonna get more memorable than this."

        Courtney caught on immediately and had no control over the tears flowing to her eyes. Her voice broke when she tried to speak. "Duncan..."

         "Courtney, when I told you that you save my life every time, I meant it. I don't know where the hell I'd be if you weren't in my life." He continued, and the more he spoke, the more relief he felt.

         "You are the only person who makes change worth it because you deserve the best of me if it means dealing with the worst sometimes. I want to keep giving the best of me to you. I love you so much, it's been this way for so long, and I don't think I'll stop."

        He reached into his pocket and pulled out that small box, and held it open in front of her while she tried to wipe away the tears on her face. "Will you marr-"

        "Yes" Duncan let out a breathy laugh, both relieved and humored by her fervent nature.

        She giggled as she choked back tears while Duncan slid the ring on her finger. He stood up to hold her in his arms tightly, not wanting to let go as she left lipstick marks all over his face and neck.

         Courtney forgot they were in a fish cabin. Duncan often had that effect on her.

                                                       ***

        When the rain let up, they decided the best way to spend the rest of their day was in the comfort of their own home, on the couch, wrapped up in blankets. Courtney finally got her hands on her favorite dessert, and they were watching whatever interested them on TV.

         "Carlos always nails it perfectly with these!" He glanced at her and remembered his interaction with that baker.

         "By the way that guy has it bad for you. I don't blame him though. Now, he knows better than to bother you, though." Courtney objected in disbelief, still chewing her dessert.

         "He does not!"

         "Of course you're blind to any guy having the hots for you. If it weren't that way, we would've been together since ninth grade."

         "That sheer confidence. What gave you the idea I wanted to date you in the ninth grade?"

         "The ring on your finger tells me otherwise."

         She held her hand out proudly and admired the oval-shaped gem on her finger.

         "How did you afford this? You didn't rob a jewelry store, did you?" Duncan gave her a blank stare before she started giggling. He brought her hand down and intertwined his fingers with hers, looking at the TV again.

         "No. I started saving the day before you moved in with me."

         Courtney's chest warmed up with an unexplained feeling of completeness when he told her. She looked in his direction and into his eyes; she felt even more soothed after realizing he rubbed circles on her hand with this thumb. She gave him a look of contentment before positioned her head on his shoulder and stared at the TV while he slid his arm around her shoulder.

        "Thank you." He looked down at her, puzzled at her sudden gratitude.

        "For what?"

        "For giving me your shirt at the beach. For opening conversations about our feelings that I was too scared to have, and just growing with me. Had it been anyone else, I think my life would be very... fragmentary. Like, this just wouldn't feel right with another person. Maybe even... insipid? We might not make total sense to some, but I feel like I perfectly fit here." She let her mind speak for itself in this moment while she traced the lines of the tattoo on his hand out of habit.

        "You said it better than I did. I love you, and if I can express that in any way, I'll take it." Duncan knew he'd always remember feeling unfathomably lucky to have taken this route of fate.

        "I love you, too."

A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed this one! Again thank you for reading and I’ll see you in act vi

[welcometomy20s]

June 30, 2021

Coco (and Lulu’s) Legacy

Coco wrote the book on how to be a Hololive member, from front to back. She plotted out how one can amass an audience, how to interact and build a worldwide fandom, how to integrate ideas of the audience to the grand narrative of the company, how to deal with tee-tee and pairings, how to cope when YouTube strikes you down in its impunity, and how to cope when Cancel Brigade comes to destroy your work, along with how to bring a more cohesive workplace, how to protect yourself from the unmooring of identity that is inherent in VTube, and finally how to leave when you are in a rollercoaster that is only going up. Coco wrote the book and now we follow.

AsaCoco was brilliant from its outset. Having a place to know the ins and outs of various members of Hololive was a great way to connect the rabbit hole. But there is a deeper reason for the brilliance. I talked before about how the major tension in VTube is one between the corporate back-end tradition of Japan colliding with the audience front-end tradition of YouTube. AsaCoco is something directly in line with that second tradition. The visual language of YouTube is different from those of movies. A jump cut in a movie denotes a different idea than a jump cut on YouTube. Movie critic complaining about jump cuts in vlogs is like a Spanish reader complaining about a sentence in English being awkward. Of course it is, it’s in a different language. Unlike movies, which come from theatre and literature, vlogs’ lineage comes from news broadcasts. Many of the early web successes were styled in a news format (rocketboom, Ze Frank, What the Buck and so on…) One does not complain about the jump cut between different presenters in a newscast, and so one does not complain when a similar thing happens in vlogs. But the point is that AsaCoco harkens to the audience-based tradition.

One might write off the ARK arc as an aberration, but I think ARK did add something constructive to Hololive and VTubers as a whole. I like to think of ARK as a training wheel for Minecraft. Minecraft is relatively challenging compared to ARK. Minecraft speedruns are mildly impressive, ARK speedrun less so. ARK is actually like the middle ground between Monster Hunter and Minecraft. You can play ARK like Monster Hunter, gather a bunch of friends to hunt monsters, or like Minecraft, build your own zoo or house or so on… And in that flexibility, one can easily learn how to tell a compelling narrative in an open-world setting. Pekora’s war criminal tendencies developed there, Miko’s ‘pon’ nature was crystalized there, and so on…

Holohouse was an underrated achievement. At first, the idea feels like the natural extension of their idol nature. Idols live together, so why not virtual idols? But having virtual idols living together comes with additional benefits that Nijisanji should note.

Stalking is an awful thing, I know since I experienced and have done something similar in my past, but stalking is also a desperate thing. And desperation tends to abate when people are more open about themselves. One of the articles talking about Coco’s graduation infamously notes the mystery of Coco’s identity, which is chucklesome since Coco’s identity might be the most open secret in all of Hololive. This was in line with Hololive’s more open policy, several of Hololive members do their own personal work on the side, while in many early companies, this was forbidden. Nijisanji’s background is less open than Hololive, perhaps due to the number and less mass attention, and that leads to stalking being a more adventurous one. One that livers have to deal with more alone, while for Hololive, it’s likely people would catch and perhaps even tar the perpetrator. More attention means more risk with less excitement.

Holohouse also protects aggressive fan behavior by introducing VTuber solidarity. With more offline collabs, the people would know each other more personally and therefore have a ground of contacts in which to alert suspicious behavior. Safety in numbers.

Holohouse also brought us KanaCoco, which was a lesser known pairing until the couple ring story, and now it has become one of three big couples of Hololive, the other two being NoeFlare and OkaKoro. The big three all have a different style of their tee tee. KanaCoco is the type of a longtime buddy. Both Kanata and Coco struggled with familial and economic circumstances, and they are both struggling under the same roof. And within that struggle comes comity and friendship. It’s not love in your typical sense, but it is a type that would lead to marriage and childrens… but the current LBGTQ+ status in Japan is pretty bad, so tee tee and hush hush it is.

In a sense, KanaCoco provides for an excellent cover. It is one of the most inspiring portrayals of woman-woman friendships in media and it would be one of the more enduring aspect of Coco’s legacy as it passes down through the generations.

[Note: This somehow became an apologia of the past week. Well, I do like to show my thinking with my behavior, perhaps to my detriment, so… just be warned.]

For the past week, I was hyping about the fact that Gura passed Kizuna Ai to become the most-subscribed VTuber. And I made the point, not through immaturity, but because I realized this coincided with Coco’s graduation. Without Coco, there wouldn’t be Hololive English, or Gawr Gura, and therefore this event would not have happened. This, therefore, was one of the last great accomplishments of Coco. An indelible mark of her foresight and perseverance. A realization of her plans. So, in a sense, this was one of my ways of celebrating Coco’s career, albeit in an admittedly twisted way.

But beyond Hololive English, there was the famous Meme Review, which has a weak lineage with the early meme review series from PewDiePie. Now for the digression, whoever ends up at the top gives us a flavor for that specific era, since one naturally assumes success means finesse and would try to emulate the style. Vlogbrother’s visual style and mannerism was largely lifted from Ze Frank. PBS Idea Channel famously emulated Ray William Johnson’s background to his own ends. And Kizuna Ai was famously inspired by PewDiePie at several points in her career. Which is why PewDiePie’s Congratulations felt right as a tribute. One of the big shared characteristics of the two was the lonely years at the top. PewDiePie is probably going to be longest reigning ‘King’ of YouTube for a while (of course, depends on if Cocomelon catches T-Series in due time) and at the time his reign was abnormally long. Most people hold onto the top spot for a year or two, so it felt odd that PewDiePie was untouchable for so long. Similar things must have been raised for Kizuna Ai as well. Many people must have felt that Kizuna Ai just did not represent VTubers at the current time.

So, when competition showed up, of course people were excited. It felt like it was time. I believe PewDiePie’s Congratulations was not a simple diss track, although it’s formatted like one, just due to the culture at the time. So the hypothetical Kizuna Ai version would be extremely light-hearted. The ‘diss’ would be your typical “she’s short”, “she’s hydrodynamic” and so on… it would be clear there is no actual bad blood, and the song would be welcoming of the new era. Era, as I said before, brought on by Coco.

Back to the Meme Review, meme review was great as it centered reddit as the base for the fandom, rather than twitter, which is a horrible platform to bring a sense of communal welcomeness. Reddit is probably the best functional place for stuff like this, even though we all know it has its host of problems that needs to be resolved.

What is the most important stream in Hololive? Well, some people would point to Aqua and Coco’s The Raft stream, which is a poignant encapsulation of a stream. The dramatic counterweight to the other greatest stream in Hololive, Korone’s all-english Mario stream. Aqua and Coco are always the odd pairing, but it could have worked, and it might have been beneficial. Aqua is one of the most shy people in Hololive, and Mio is already busy with Ayame and Subaru, so the best person might have been Coco.

But China. There were two big beneficiaries from China in Hololive, one was Fubuki and the other was Aqua. While Fubuki, in Coco’s last months, famously went out of her way to intertwine herself with Coco to directly redirect her audience, like the mensch she is, Aqua always struggled with her audience retention, therefore played shy with Coco.

Edit: Well, my initial final impression was… what a wonderful finish. The interview portion was well-meant, but honestly a little formal. When the 4th Gen went together, is when the stream turned into something special for me, and the final performance was actually really well-done. Coco went out like an idol, which makes sense. For whatever provocation Coco perpetuated, Coco only did them out of love. And ultimately Cover knew that. Coco’s final month was a warning and a reminder.

Can I talk about all the different tributes lately? In some sense, Usaken Summer Festival is part of this… for an organization that is immensely popular, I just adore how Cover and their talent always has this drive to throw everything and see if it works. I noticed this during Golden Week. Golden Week in Hololive was jam packed. There were great events, Mio’s morning stream was astounding, leading to one of biggest growth spurt for Mio. Miko’s drawing collab was absolutely hilarious, for such a simple and seemingly hastily put idea. One of the people in a forum commented on this and affixed something that left my mind… what did Nijisanji during the same week? Even I was surprised by how little Nijisanji did that Golden week. They barely did anything!

The innovative spirit does give them trouble, more than it is worth, but Cover never really stopped its momentum, even when most other companies would have stopped a long time ago! This is the greatest thing about Hololive and Cover, the most redeeming feature. One that would serve them well. Coco wrote the playing book, let us pray that Cover sticks to them, because the fall of Cover comes the moment they stray.

The Pre-Coco era was about a company struggling to get their idea through. The Coco era was about writing the playing book. So the Post-Coco era will be about remembrance, it’ll be a struggle to keep the memory of what the playing book is. It’ll be about them being Hololive as they become part of the global zeitgeist.

[khaotic-kitsunes]

Cancellation

I just wanna straight up apologise for whatever the fuck this is because I have NEVER written for this man in my life, the only reason I have the urge to at the moment is because of a tik tok series done by an amazing user called thisnerdcosplays

BUT, people always say things get better with practice, so here’s to that long ass road because how dare people make me thirst for this man.

To clarify the content is usually about their hilarious OC but the Vlad King interactions have me fucking dying. So yeah.

AND YES. I did have to make a new cover image for Vlad King...I don’t like it, at all but fuck it, I’ll update this one and the rest too at some point when it isn’t 2:30am hahahaha

Cheeky Kitsune 🦊💋

 You stared at the bouquet of luscious red tulips as you placed them in a conveniently empty vase, still unsure as to why you had nearly trodden on them when you went to collect your mail. There had been no knock on your door, if there had been then you could have found out who was leaving you flowers every few days; the only clue you had that the flowers were truly meant for you, was the little white note attached to them with your name written out in a strangely bright red ink.

 “Wonder if I should call Nemuri…tell her that I’ve got more flowers?” You mumbled out the question to yourself quietly, flipping over the note that came with the flowers; all the other notes had your name and nothing else. However, this time the note had more writing messily scribbled out on the back; an address, accompanied by a phone number. Two things that you should throw away.

 Before you could think on your decision too much, your phone began to sound off with an almost hideous tune that Nemuri had insisted you set for her number; so that you would recognise her calls and not ignore them. A deviously successful tactic on her part, given that you hated to let the tune drag on for longer than you had to.

 “You know, I was just thinking about calling you” You didn’t bother greeting her as you answered the phone, running your fingertips over the note before setting it down to instead admire the brilliance of the tulips you had been gifted with.

   “Oh, so I was right. You did get more flowers today! What are they?”

   You rolled your eyes at her remark, surprised that you hadn’t been expecting her call; Nemuri always said you needed a love life. It should have been obvious to you that she would cling onto any new hope that might show up; which is exactly what Nemuri called your flower dilemma.

 “Don’t make me hang up on you, especially when I have something to tell you” Your warning seemed to sink in fairly quickly, given the quickly uttered apology, the only prompt you needed from the eager woman on the other side of the phone call. Her interest in your love life would be worrying if it weren’t for the fact that she had heard your drunken ramblings about being interested in such things.

 “Okay, so the notes are usually blank right? Except for my name? Well this time…there’s an address and a phone number” You pulled your phone away from your ear, wincing slightly when your friend’s screech of excitement came through the line, nearly deafening you.

   “So, what are you going to do? You’re going to call right?”

   You pursed your lips, looking back towards the tulips hesitantly, fingers tapping against the soft petals to distract yourself from the decision you knew you would have to make eventually; to accept the clear invitation at finding out who your mystery admirer was, or to throw the note away and go about your life as if it had never happened.

 “I…don’t know” The words felt foreign to your tongue, an answer you most certainly weren’t satisfied with and yet, it was the only one you had for the moment. It was something that needed more thought than you had been able to give.

   “What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’? (Name), you’ve been going insane trying to work out who’s been sending you these flowers and this is your opportunity!”

   “Well, yeah, I know that Nemuri. But what if it’s just some trick and…and I get kidnapped or something?” Your cheeks flushed in embarrassment when Nemuri’s laughter filled your ears, having gained a little too much entertainment from the suggestion that someone would want to kidnap you. It was almost insulting, except that even you had to admit how farfetched it sounded.

   “Listen, (Name), I’m not saying just rock up to the address. All I’m telling you to do, is give the number a call…see where it goes from there? You never know, could be a fun night involved for you!”

   You let out a noise of protest, quickly withdrawing your hand from the beautiful flowers, despite the fact that your teasing friend couldn’t see you; thrown by the boldness of her joke considering the circumstances.

 “Nemuri, that isn’t funny!” You wished that your voice hadn’t sounded so high-pitched while you scolded the still giggling woman, entirely unimpressed with how the phone call had gone and debating if it would be worth her complaints later if you were to hang up on her now.

   “Oh, alright. Listen, I have to go, I only called to see if you got any flowers from your secret admirer. Try not to chicken out (Name)!”

    ~  ~  ~

    “Um…hi? I’m looking for someone named…Sekijiro?” You stared up at the man that had moved to stop you walking into the building further, his deep frown somehow making you even more nervous than you already were; which, at this point, was what you thought to be an impossibility.

 “Name?” You opened your mouth to answer the terrifying man’s one-word question, closing it when someone else rushed over to the two of you and with a few whispered words exchanged; you found yourself following after the person that had interrupted what felt like an interrogation.

 “Sorry about that miss…(Name), was it? The boss was a little busy so not everyone was given the memo to be expecting your visit today” The explanation was almost as rushed as your pace, stopping only when you reached a large door with a sign that clearly stated not to disturb whoever was in there.

 “Ah, it’s fine. Really. Should you be knocking on that door? It says…not to disturb…?” You went quiet when you were flashed a reassuring smile, though any relief the smile offered you went right out the window when the door was opened; a giant of a man greeting the both of you with a stern and particularly unimpressed look on his face.

 “Miss (Name) is here, I thought I’d show her to your office before leaving for the day” With an explanation shorter than the one you had been given, the person that guided you to the room was gone; leaving you alone with the giant that now stood to the side, an arm extended in a motion for you to enter the strangely cosy looking office.

 “So…you’re Sekijiro?” You spoke softly, hesitant as you wandered into the room, taking particular note of the quiet click that you assumed signalled the lock on the door; meaning that you were effectively trapped alone with a man you didn’t officially know.

 “I wasn’t expecting you to actually show up…alone no less” He moved past you as he spoke, his voice surprisingly soothing to the nerves that currently wreaked havoc on your body and mind; exactly as he had sounded on the phone. The entire reason you had agreed to meet in the first place, unfortunately, it wasn’t until now that you realised you had forgotten to send Nemuri a message about your location.

 “I said I would come see you” You blinked in surprise when he turned back towards you, offering you a glass of what appeared to be water; another in his other hand, though that one he was already drinking from.

 “I have bottled water in here as well, if you’d prefer that instead” He nodded his head towards the small mini-fridge that you had failed to notice, the silent implications of being unable to trust him at this stage running around in your mind as you took the glass from him; probably not your best move of the day. Yet certainly not your worst.

 “Thank you” You sipped at the water quietly, eager to distract yourself from the awkward silence that settled over the both of you; there didn’t seem to be a great deal to speak about with a man that terrified you to the point where you could barely think clearly.

 “I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to keep you hear for our first meeting…but something has come up and I can’t leave for a few hours. I can have one of my men drive you home if you want to try this again another time?” You peeked over at Sekijiro curiously, tilting your head to the side while he watched you silently, waiting for your answer to a question he seemed to be reluctant to ask; the awkward consideration surprisingly sweet.

 “I don’t mind spending some time here for a little while…but, what do you mean? One of your men? What sort of place is this? The guy from earlier called you boss too…” You were hesitant to ask, nothing about the building screamed official legal business to you; which meant that it was probably a case of questions better left unasked.

   “The easiest way to explain it would be to say that this is my main place of business. I’m the leader of this gang.”

   You stared at him for a moment, your mouth falling open while your brain struggled to process the new information; trying desperately to work out how you had gotten yourself into such a mess.

 “Are you sure you don’t want to go home? You can stay if you want…but given the look on your face…” He trailed off, motioning to your shocked expression and causing you to shake your head quickly, forcing every ounce of surprise off of your features; even though he had just called himself a mafia boss, the man hadn’t technically harmed you despite clearly having the means to. You might as well stay, see where things went.

 “No, no…it’s…I’m sorry, this is a bit surprising…but I would like to stay. Given that I’m free to leave, if I get the urge to?” He nodded slowly to your awkwardly asked question, motioning towards a comfortable looking couch before moving to sit at the solid looking desk in the room; one that looked fun to occupy, if you hadn’t just met the man.

 “As I said, I can have one of my men take you home any time you’d like. The same applies for if you need anything, all you need to do is ask and I’ll arrange it.” His words had you nodding in agreement, happy that things seemed to be going well so far, despite the unexpected developments that had already taken place.

 “…I would like a proper date, another time I mean. Since this isn’t exactly the romantic night out you offered over the phone” You gave a small, nervous smile with your attempt at a joke, getting yourself comfortable on the couch that he had motioned to; nearly missing the slight grin that tugged at his lips.

   “Of course, I would love to take you out properly next time, (Name).”

[noxtms]

MARCH 15TH, 2021. it’s two days before the planned st patrick’s day parade ( and evening celebrations ), and the spring festival is in full swing. the joint events have been as huge a success as they always have been : local business has boomed, and to those that care, it’s a pity that arcanum wasn’t back up and running in time to cash in like so many other stores had.

the building that had once been both life’s work & ancestral home of the trelawney’s had lay empty for the best part of two decades, and unfortunately, it showed. structurally sound though it was, near everything within required replacing - be it from water damage caused by several large holes found in the roof or destruction that had been caused by the innumerous break-ins over the years. magic could only go so far, especially when one was working alone. since the purchase of the building had gone through the month before, sybill had taken to apparating to london each weekend, working room by room. a vinyl of celestina warbeck’s greatest hits played loudly from a vintage turntable was her only company as she bustled throughout the building, early morning to darkest evening. it was slow going, and the work had grown monotonous, over time - but she had never expected anything else.

the fifth floor - containing two mirrored bedrooms sybill intended to invite cassia & oriana to personalize - was the first finished. she was making her way top to bottom, slowed even more by the onslaught that was memory. this was the birthplace of cassandra trelawney, the originator of their family status. this was where sybill had spent formative years, walking thin corridors, climbing spindly stairs, learning to read tea leaves at a shaky table in a now dusty kitchen, recording her dreams in a leather bound notebook she had kept on bedside cabinet in the room she had now reclaimed. this was home, and she had been gone from it for far too long. 

the lower shop level would be the last to be tackled, working as she was, and so, the bell above the main entrance remained broken. this would join the long list of things to be blamed for why sybill did not hear anyone approaching - scrawled somewhere between the loud record that they’ll find scratching at it’s end & the happy crowd beyond grubby windows that did not remain so, for long. the truth is that when the ministry finds sybill, they’ll only be able to make a guess at what truly happened.

they will theorize that it was unlikely she had any forewarning ( a uniquely ironic phrase, given the woman’s status as a debated seer ). she probably knew her attacker, though it’s hard to say - there is no sign of struggle, and the killing curse does not leave a mark. even if she had realized in time to have a defensive instinct, her wand - nine and a half inch hazel, with a unicorn tail hair core - was found on the floor above her, resting on a rickety coffee table and so very far from reach. they will say she died before it happened, and there’s no reason to think that she felt any pain, or that the situations were connected. 

the formal report will lodged by overworked aurors some hours later will not have certain details. there is no witness to the woman with wild hair & hooded eyes, nor her two companions, who apparated into the lane behind the building and entered through unlocked door. no one saw her look of fear, when throat cleared behind her & she turned on heel to see them looming in the doorway. there was no need for a silencing charm. sybill, unable to understand the position she was in, never called for help. bellatrix wasn’t there to interrogate her, and thus, didn’t give her much of a chance, anyway. their time together was short & sweet. the green light went unnoticed, and the loose cannon that was a seer with potential to urge foes in right direction against them was taken off of the playing field, with ease. conspiracy theorists in the future, inclined to look that bit deeper, may get a closer approximation of the truth than those aurors ever did. 

but then again : it wasn’t their first priority. 

it was such a lovely day. the sun, not quite beating down upon the heads of everyone bustling through the alley, still shone with more strength than it had all winter. the lack of brisk breeze made even the long shadows cast by mismatched buildings almost warm. the wwn predicted rain later that evening, and mothers ushering their children along stole glances every now and again towards the sky, waiting to see the telltale sign of dark clouds rolling in.

the first indication that anyone has to something being truly amiss was actually the sharp drop to the temperature, and the rolling fog that fell over them all, thick enough to hide anyone - and anything - more than a few feet away. thick enough to blot out the sun. the shadows grew longer. they stretched outwards. when the first scream pierces the air, only those nearest are able to see what’s causing those notes of fear.

it doesn’t take more than a moment for everyone else to realize. as the alley explodes into pandemonium, the dementors descend onto them all. 

ROUNDUP OF INITIAL FATALITIES & INJURIES ( AS OF THIS DROP ):

sybill trelawney is very, very dead. as brutal as this’ll sound - that isn’t very relevant to this plot drop as a whole, so don’t worry about it ! she’s not.

OUT OF CHARACTER:

rather than transition the on dash event threads towards this plot drop, we’re going to do things a little differently with everyone’s current needs in mind. on dash will remain the period of time that is the start of the month through to the 15th ( which will make things a little less intensive as we begin the next part of the ooc noxtms ~ celebrations ~ ). off dash, and on the discord, several channels covering a number of businesses have been established. they each have a character cap of seven to make things less confusing, and can be used for plot drop rping !

as always with a plot drop of this nature, the discord announcement will include the allowance for injurys. there’s a smaller cap on these than usual, since the dementors themselves are sort of .... 0 - 100, and the injuries themselves will have to be discussed as happening in the chaos rather than from the dementors. that is, unless you uhhh ... really want your character to get a little kiss kiss ! that can be arranged !  

the galleon system list has also been updated and now includes a reward of 250 galleons ( per character it’s completed for ) for a 250 word minimum drabble / self para, written with the patronus charm & it’s much-needed usage during this plot drop in mind. if this were english class, the prompt would probably be something to the effect of : write a detailed description of your characters happy memory, or what their experience is about to be, conjuring their patronus in this specific situation. you have a LOT of freedom on it, and can write it in any way you see fit. please feel free to use the tag nox.task on any posted to the dash ! 

there was never any intention of having a st patrick’s parade / party event. sorry for bamboozling you all, but i think it’s safe to say that after this disastrous ides of march, those events will have been cancelled ! once you’ve read this post, please give it a little like ! 

[dudeandduchess]

Affairs of the Heart: Chapter 2 [Knight!Sanemi x Princess!Reader](Royalty AU, Westernized Plot, SFW Scenario)

Summary: Sanemi is a knight for the (L/n) Empire’s second princess; only, their relationship isn’t simply that of a princess and her retainer. Behind closed doors, they’re merely a man and his lover. At least, until the day they dreaded the most comes: the day when (Y/n) finally gets engaged to another man.

Chapter: 2/3 Word Count: 3,420 blaze it

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

***

“Your Imperial Highness,” One of the maids dropped into a curtsy, maintaining her good composure as they waited for (Y/n) to acknowledge her with a simple ‘proceed’, before rising back up with a couple of letters in hand. “Greetings to the Jewel of the Empire.”

With that greeting, the maid set the letters down on (Y/n)’s table— a few inches away from the document that she had been reviewing, but still well within her sight. “Thank you. You’re dismissed.”

She didn’t even bother to look up from her work, preferring instead to keep scanning the numbers which had been written down on the paper. However, once the telltale sound of the door closing echoed in the room, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose— all in an effort to alleviate the headache she felt coming on.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” At Sanemi’s words, (Y/n)’s gaze immediately darted over to him. But instead of reminding him of how she’d wanted him to address her in private, she chose to turn her face away from him and let out a deep sigh.

His formality was to be expected; since they were in her office on official hours. Still, that didn’t make (Y/n) wish for him to be less formal with her; they were lovers, after all.

“You can always tell me what troubles you, my dear.”

(Y/n)’s eyes widened at the rarely spoken moniker, cheeks burning a warm and vibrant red as she tried to calm her fluttering heart. Of all the times to be sweet to her, Sanemi had to choose a moment when she least expected it.

To save face as much as possible, the young woman pressed her fingers against her warm cheeks— hiding the blush that showed her lover just how flustered he’d made her. And, with a quiet chuckle, Sanemi glanced over at the door before standing directly behind his beloved princess.

Gently, the silver-haired knight set his hands on his lover’s shoulders; kneading her tense muscles while trying not to grin even more at the way that she practically melted beneath his touch.

Then slowly, he let his left hand glide up her neck, settling for cupping her chin so he could tilt her head up to look at him. “(Y/n)?”

Immediately, the hands that were still covering (Y/n)’s cheeks moved to cover her entire face; effectively shielding her embarrassment from Sanemi. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” His answer was teasing, totally meant to discombobulate her even more than she already was. And it amused Sanemi immensely. “I’m just asking you to tell me what’s been bothering you.”

At that, the young man moved his hands to encircle (Y/n’s) wrists— gently prying her hands away from her face so he could fully bask in her beauty. However, it was her eyes that drew him in— watching them practically glittering as the morning light illuminated the world around them.

He could feel his pulse race slightly at that; even more so when she gingerly shook off the grip he had on her right wrist, before reaching up to touch his cheek gently— feather light at first, until he felt her trying to pull him down for what he could only guess was a kiss.

It still amazed him that (Y/n) could go from shy to tenderly bold in the blink of an eye, especially when it concerned things that she wanted from him. She would blush at the tender words and gestures he doled out, but would retaliate with gestures that were enough to have him feeling lightheaded.

He chalked it up to her competitive nature, what with her always having to stay on the top of her game; as well as adding in all of the other noble ladies trying to get the upper hand.

But he would be lying if he said that he didn’t love the fact that he was the only one who could fluster her as much as he did.

Slowly, he bent down to give in to her silent whim; pressing his mouth to hers in a light, fleeting kiss that had him smiling against her lips. Still, that wasn’t enough to tide over his own need for her, so he swooped in once more and kissed her in such a way that he was slightly sucking on her lower lip.

And, with a quiet pop, he released her lip— which had her lifting her head in an effort to chase after him.

“You’re so unfair, Sanemi.” (Y/n) pouted, pursing her lips together while pinching her lover’s right ear lobe between her thumb and forefinger.

In response, the knight chuckled and claimed her lips in a kiss once more. “What’s unfair is you teasing me like this, my dear.”

(Y/n) was just about to answer, when a couple of sharp knocks rasped against the door. It had both of them springing apart, with (Y/n) quickly righting herself and fanning her warm cheeks— as if that would help her blush go down faster.

Meanwhile, Sanemi went back to his post a few feet adjacent from (Y/n), fixing the collar of his regal knight’s uniform, before assuming a neutral stance like before; hands firmly clasped together at the small of his back, and feet together in the off chance that he would need to spring into action.

“State your name and business,” (Y/n) answered coolly, her tone completely at odds with the residual butterflies that still fluttered around in her stomach.

“It’s Grey, My Lady. I bring a message from His Majesty, the Emperor.”

“Enter, but make it quick, Grey.” I have no patience for this today, the young woman thought to herself, while biting back the deep sigh that wanted to escape her lips. She already had the palace’s Autumn budget to go through, as well as her own social duties to attend to— which was only evidenced by the short stack of letters on her desk; all of them being invitations for parties among the nobles.

Immediately after her response, the door swung open quietly which was followed by her family’s head butler stepping into the room.

Grey swept down in a low bow, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground for a few seconds, before moving to stand upright once more. “Greetings to the Jewel of the Empire.”

The expression on (Y/n)’s face gave little to no indication of the irritation she felt at the greeting, as years of schooling her expression had trained her to keep a stoic façade even when she had the strongest urge to scream. After all, it would be unwise to tarnish her family’s reputation.

It was one of the reasons why she cherished every stolen moment with Sanemi; as he was the only one who knew her so well— to the point where he didn’t even bat an eye at the less than stellar attitude that she presented at times. She could be herself with him, and she could be honest about her emotions when he was the only one there.

He was her solace. The one person whom she knew would never turn his back on her, even when the world has forsaken her.

“You said you have a message from my father?” (Y/n)’s hands tightened into loose fists at her question, with her thumbs rubbing at the sides of both her index fingers in an effort to drown out the dread she felt brewing inside her.

Her father never bothered her in her own palace— the Lilac Palace, which was where she used to reside with her older sister before she had been married off. Aside from the occasional meetings, both of them never saw each other much; so, to have Grey personally deliver a message from him spelled something foreboding.

Especially when he had already had to cancel their prior tea engagement the other day. Something was not sitting right with (Y/n), and she didn’t like it at all.

“His Majesty is inviting My Lady to a party at the main palace, tonight at six.”

“A party? For who? And so soon?” She could feel her chest tighten up at that, dread stirring up within her to the point where she had to tamp down the urge to look over at Sanemi for comfort.

The butler’s words harped at the nerves inside her; making her so on-edge in her seat. Parties were held for delegates of foreign countries all the time, but for that particular party to have slipped her notice… it screamed suspicious to her.

“His Majesty has a few guests from the Eastern Kingdom, but that is all that he had permitted me to say. I apologize, Your Highness.” Grey wasn’t apologetic, at all; his words were no more than lip service and, even though it irked (Y/n) that he clearly knew what was going to transpire, he still chose to obey her father’s orders.

Then again, she couldn’t blame him. In the hierarchy for power, she was on the lower half of the spectrum— especially with three of her older brothers already ahead of her in the succession for the throne.

With her being fourth in line for the throne, the chances of her becoming the Empress Regnant were slim to none. So, she had banished the thoughts of those early on, most especially when she met Sanemi.

All she wanted was to live her days out as peacefully as she could with him beside her, even if they could never bring the real extent of their relationship to light.

“Why am I not surprised?” The princess whispered under her breath, sneering to hide the fact that she was already dreading whatever underhanded plot that her father had put in place.

Because she just knew, whatever was going to happen at that party was not something that she would like. And the Eastern Kingdom’s involvement only made her all the more apprehensive, as there had been talks of the peace treaty between the (L/n) Empire, as well as that Kingdom, slowly being breached.

(Y/n) wasn’t dumb; she could loosely piece together that all of it was a set up to announce another treaty with the Eastern Kingdom. And what quicker way to do negotiations, than to settle things with marriage? As was customary in their day and age.

The princess had never felt so helpless in her life, than in that moment.

“You’re dismissed, Grey.”

The old man didn’t even wait any longer. With one more bow to the only remaining Lady of the empire, he made haste to exit the room. And once the door had clicked shut behind him, (Y/n) brought her fists down on the table; out of both anger and sheer helplessness.

“Fuck!” She yelled irately, banging her fists once more against the hardwood. Tears pricked the backs of her eyes, yet she could do nothing to stop them from forming. “Fuck. Damn it.”

She had known that it was coming— both her and Sanemi did— yet it still didn’t lessen the pain that both of them felt at that moment.

Sanemi, despite his blood feeling like ice in his veins, forced his own legs to carry him back to stand beside (Y/n); gently swiveling her chair to face him, as he got down on one knee in front of her.

It was all he could do to prove to her that he would be there for her, no matter what. And it was all that was left of him to give to her.

He’d known that he would only get hurt in the end, yet he’d still given in and pursued a relationship with her. For six long years, they had been together— he had been hers, just as much as she was his; but there was no changing the fact that he had always known that her place was never with him.

All he could do was accept their fate, no matter how much he wanted to ask her to run away with him.

Gently, the silver haired knight took his lover’s hands in his own, squeezing them when he felt just how cold and shaky they had gotten. Tears pricked the backs of his eyes, yet he blinked them away as he focused on staring into her own tear-filled gaze.

“(Y/n), whatever happens… I swear on my honor as a knight, that I will never leave you.” Sanemi’s heart broke when a tear rolled down his beloved’s cheek, yet he forced himself to look past it to continue with his oath. He swallowed past the lump in his throat, willing his lips to keep moving.

“I swear on my life, that you will always come first. And I swear on my heart… that you will always own everything that I am…” He took a deep breath at that, trying to center himself to make his voice sound even, yet it still came out softer than he intended. “And everything that I will be. From this day, until the day I leave this earth.”

What Sanemi had just recited was the sacred oath of the Imperial Knights, and it was only uttered when one was completely devoting a part of themselves to their master or mistress. As it was, a knight could choose which oaths to give, and which to omit; but to promise all three meant that (Y/n) had full ownership of him.

If proven that Sanemi had broken his oath, she could choose to end his life; which made it a dangerous one to make, even when there were no magical or extraordinary factors involved.

With Sanemi’s piece already given, (Y/n) could only stare at him as more and more of her tears rolled down her cheeks. Part of her had wanted to stop him, but a bigger part of her didn’t want to turn him down like that. Not only would it be a hit to his pride, but it would be akin to throwing his feelings back in his face.

Shakily, the young woman shook off her lover’s hold on her hands; moving to cup his face tenderly. She then shook her head, and bent down to press her forehead to his in a tender gesture that had Sanemi’s heart racing wildly in his chest. “You’re an idiot. An absolute idiot.”

Instead of dampening his mood even further, however, it only served to make the silver haired knight smile, as he blanketed his hands over the princess’. “I know, (Y/n). You make me so goddamn stupid for you.”

***

The party was already in full swing inside the palace’s grand ballroom, yet (Y/n) still made no move to get out from behind the trees where she and Sanemi had ensconced themselves between. Her legs were already shaking with the effort it took to balance herself on the balls of her feet— if only to keep her heels from sinking into the ground beneath them; but the last thing that she wanted was to go and enter the lion’s den.

Because she knew, she would never be able to do anything if she willingly fell into the trap that her father had set for her. Originality was not his strong suit, as he had done the same thing with (Y/n)’s older sister.

However, unlike the first imperial princess, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Even if it meant tarnishing her family’s reputation, and possibly getting imprisoned, then she would take any punishment; as long as she could remain beside Sanemi forever.

But Sanemi didn’t know the reckless plan that she had in mind. If he’d known what she was planning to do, he definitely wouldn’t have allowed her to leave her palace.

(Y/n) took another deep breath to calm her nerves, biting down on her lower lip before looking at her lover. He looked so handsome even in the dim light, almost ethereal with the faint glow of the chandeliers in the palace illuminating his fair skin.

“Have I told you that you look very beautiful?” Sanemi whispered softly, as he lifted a hand up to trail the tips of his fingers across the princess’ right cheek. He then glided his fingers closer to her hair, tugging on a tendril that artfully framed her face.

All he could think was that, and how it was the last time that he was going to be allowed to touch her like he was doing at that moment. His heart was breaking inside his chest, but he still pushed himself to give her a small smile; if only to ease some of her worries.

“You have, but I’m not complaining,” (Y/n) returned his smile at that, placing a hand on top of the one that was still by her face, and nuzzling her cheek against Sanemi’s warm palm. She closed her eyes then, breathing deeply for a handful of seconds, and taking in the music that drifted out into the night.

Her heart felt so heavy in her chest, and her stomach felt like it was in knots, yet the longer that Sanemi touched her, the more she felt at ease; as if nothing could hurt her when she was with him. And that was how she found herself wrapping her arms around his middle— pressing her cheek against his shoulder, and closing her eyes as she breathed in the minty scent that she’d always associated with her silver haired knight.

In turn, Sanemi locked his arms around her and pressed his lips to the side of her head— kissing her temple in such a tender gesture that had him fighting back tears.

Inadvertently, both of them had begun swaying to the music; shrouded in the darkness, and well away from prying eyes and listening ears— much like how they had spent the last six years together: as a secret from everyone.

(Y/n) balled held on to the back of her lover’s uniform then, balling her hands into fists as she savored another moment of peace with him.

No words were spoken between them; only the soft rustling of grass beneath their feet, the music wafting from the ballroom, and the occasional sound of clothes shifting coloring the air between them.

Neither of them could have wished for a more perfect moment.

And that moment had Sanemi thinking: Was he ready to let go of (Y/n)? Would he ever be ready to let her go? He already knew the answers to those questions, yet he pushed them down in favor of doing what was expected of him— and what was right in the eyes of the Imperial Family.

Still, he held (Y/n) closer and shut his own eyes to bask in her touch even further. For a moment more, he could still play blind to all of the truths that the world held for both of them.

“Run away with me.” The words were spoken quietly, but it still surprised Sanemi that they had even spilled from his mouth. Immediately, he tried to pull away from (Y/n)— in order to apologize for such an unthinkable question— but she held him in her arms as tightly as she could.

It wasn’t his intention to be selfish, but it had just come out in his moment of weakness.

Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, the princess blinked almost owlishly at her lover. She couldn’t quite believe it herself: that her straight-laced and selfless knight had uttered something so… utterly selfish and reckless. Still, instead of worrying her, she felt herself grinning at his words.

The dread that had stewed inside her slowly turned into excitement, and the tightness she felt in her chest lightened up to make way for the excited thumping of her heart.

“I’m sor-” He couldn’t continue his apology, as the princess took her right hand and laid her index finger flat against his lips; effectively silencing him.

“That has to be the most reckless thing I’ve ever heard you say, Sanemi,” She mused with that same excited grin. “I was planning on refusing the engagement the moment I went in there, but I prefer this. Let’s do it; let’s run away.”

Note: Initially, I wanted everything to have been a huge misunderstanding, but where’s the fun in that??? 😂 Next one will have sexy times tho.

Also, please tell me if any part is confusing, as I wanted to include all the details and may have forgotten to write down some clarifications. 🥰🍉

[five-hxrgreeves]

I Won’t Back Down - Five Hargreeves x OC

Word Count: 1,982

You can stand me up at the gates of hell But I won't back down I'm gonna stand my ground Won't be turned around And I'll keep this world from dragging me down

1 |  2  | 3 |  4 |

Pt. 3- Monday, April 1, 2019

The morning of the first dawned with a bright blue sky and perfect spring temperatures, almost in  mocking irony of the fate it would meet later on that same day. Suspecting nothing amiss, Lola began her usual morning routine of getting ready for school. After brushing her teeth, she went to her closet and decided on a pair of jeans, a white, long-sleeved v-necked shirt with black polka-dots and after brushing her hair, hesitated over a choice of hats that she owned. While there was no strict dress code at her school, she did like to make a good first impression on Mondays. The rest of the week was up for grabs.

Coming to a decision, she reached for a yellow hat with a navy-blue ribbon around the crown that was tied in a bow and placed it jauntily on her head. The brunette was somewhat known around school for her unique accessories so she’d only been indecisive over which style she’d wanted, not actually whether or not to wear a hat. She then pulled on a pair of riding-styled boots and picked up her backpack, sliding her deck of cards into the back pocket of her jeans. Lunchtime was usually a boring affair so it was often when she would practice her magic- sometimes with a crowd to entertain.

On her route to school, Lola passed the familiar Umbrella Academy house and wondered what transpired within the walls, remembering the strange man she’d met the previous week. She wondered how long it had been since all of the siblings had seen each other since from Vanya’s book, it hadn’t seemed like they’d lived under the same roof for a long, long time. A smile flickered across her face as she thought of grown-up superheroes attempting to act like real siblings and the interesting, chaotic bickering that might ensue.

(Of course, she had no idea that such arguments might result in the end of life on earth.)

After that, the day passed as it usually did, with millions and billions of people completely unaware of what the night would bring.

--

Once dinner was over, Lola scraped her plate clean and set it in the dishwasher before turning it on to run, blatantly unaware that this would be the last time she did such a mundane action for a long, long time. Then, she made her way into the family room where her mother, father and uncle were sitting on the couch about to watch TV. Both men had their traditional after-dinner drink of two fingers of whiskey while her mother sipped on spiked hot coffee.

“Mom?” Lola asked.

“Yes, dear?”

“I’m going to the basement now, all of the dinner dishes are cleaned up.”

Her mother’s blue eyes- the ones she’d inherited- flicked to the younger girl, “alright, but don’t stay up too late. It’s a school night, you know.”

Her uncle grinned, “yeah,” he said, breaking to take a sip from his glass, “wouldn’t want you to show up all grumpy for school tomorrow.”

Lola sighed and nodded in acceptance, “alright, I’ll do my best,” she said, knowing it was more than likely she’d lose track of time anyway.

Moving first towards her mother, then father and finally her uncle, she gave them each a goodnight hug and exchanged their daily I love yous.

(She would be grateful that these were the last words she’d ever said to her family. At least she wouldn’t have to live wondering if her family had known she’d loved them.)

Then, she went to the basement.

Not even a mile away, the beginnings of an altercation were occurring at the house the size of a single block where the seventh, disregarded member of the family of superheroes was receiving a hostile welcome at the introduction of her new boyfriend, Leonard Peabody.

--

Lola liked her basement. It wasn’t terribly large but it wasn’t terribly small, either. Half of it was unfinished and the other half was lived-in, creating a perfect balance. In the unfinished side, metal shelves that one might see in a hardware store stood floor-to-ceiling with various tools and stored holiday items. Paint cans, electric machinery, extension cords and other items one would normally find in a shed were scattered haphazardly along the shelves.

In the other half, a carpeted floor of some green color stretched from the back wall to right before Lola’s writing desk. On top of it sat an old, brown-leather couch, a black wooden coffee table from IKEA and a TV hung mounted on the wall. After the carpet ended, removable foam-padded tiles formed the floor. This was the area where Lola’s desk sat which was a large, white table. The desktop itself was almost empty except for her half-filled notebook, three different-sized candles, a pencil sharpener and a pencil holder. Her papers- both for school and other things- were stored in a hand-me-down brown file cabinet that stood to the left of her workspace.

Before sitting down to write, the brunette carried out her ritual warm-up: lighting the candles, flipping to the next available page, sharpening her pencil and placing her reference books on her desk- The Book Thief, of course, and her new book from Vanya Hargreeves. Then, she pulled her deck of cards from her back pocket and placed the rectangular box carefully on the lower-left corner of her desk, making sure to match up the corners of the box with the outlined shape created by the corner. She wasn’t sure why she did this, it just was something she absolutely had to do before she finally sat down.

Once finished, Lola made sure to flip the electric lights off and returned to her seat which was a rolly-chair with one broken wheel. She began to write surrounded by her small pool of glowing, flickering light.

Today’s memory is from when I was six. (Note to self: find a better opening.) It was my first time at the store for hours on end. Usually, a babysitter would come by and pick me up but I suppose she cancelled. (NtS: get more details. Just kidding, nobody cares about that.) Anyway, I was super bored and since I was little, I didn’t have any schoolwork to do. I wandered around the store for a bit, probably causing mischief. Anyway (you already said that, dummy) the funny part is that I sat down at a group of mannequins because there weren’t any other seats and I must’ve sat so still that everyone thought I was one because when I finally stood up, a woman screamed. I didn’t know why at the time but it happened again when I was older. Then I started doing it for my own amusement. It was funny to see people think that I was a fake, plastic doll only to realize I was actually real. Sometimes, I even went to the back and dressed in clothes that would soon be modeled by the mannequins- although I think the effect was ruined because I didn’t fit them.

--

A story up and a block over, the altercation had grown to a full-blown verbal assault, the main four members of the family heatedly questioning the new boyfriend’s insistence on them coming to their sister’s concert. The seventh member, feeling hurt and angry that her family wouldn’t, just once support her, felt the tension build up within her, her emotions unusually high from the lack of medication she’d consistently taken for years until this week.

--

The spot was also great for people-watching. While Gimbel Brothers has mostly ordinary clients, there are some cases that are more noteworthy (NtS: fix wording, sounds awkward). There are many people who bring children to the store as well. On Mondays, there is an average of twelve children, usually after school. The number varies throughout the week until Saturday where there are usually fifteen or twenty. One time, as an outlier during the holidays, there were twenty-five. I know this because I counted them. I don’t usually do it intentionally and I’m sure I miss some customers but for some reason, all the numbers stick in my head. The funny thing is, I’m terrible at math. I’m also really good at cards, though. I’ve never lost a game of War or Go Fish. My uncle says I’m a counter, which I suppose is true. I’ve also counted all the sequins on one of our formal dresses, just for fun. There were two-hundred and eighty-six.

--

As the sky grew dark outside, the argument in the large house had reached an all-time high with Leonard Peabody outwardly insulting his girlfriend’s largest brother, inciting his anger and riling him up purposefully, causing him to throw the first punch. The seventh member of the family desperately tried to pull her boyfriend away, to save him from an assault that he would surely not survive. She was right about that, but there was nothing she could do. There was only one person Number One listened to and it wasn’t her.

--

Anyway, back to people-watching. There was once a rich woman who came to our store. No one could figure out why; we’re not exactly the high-end type. She brought her daughter with her, a pretty, blonde girl with bright blue eyes. Almost like mine, I think, but they looked better on her. I heard her tell Brittany that she wanted to get her granddaughter ‘normal clothes,’ except she said it like an insult. I figure that when her granddaughter came to visit, all she provided were expensive outfits and the girl spilled on them, teaching her the lesson of buying cheaper clothes for little kids. She didn’t say all of that but I made up the story to go along with her request.

--

Standing over Leonard’s body, the seventh member of the Hargeeves turned on her brother, eyes shining white against her pale face. In his hand, he held a bloody, glass eyeball. Her siblings crowded together, trying to calm her, but she spent all of her life being calm and she was tired of it. Turning her gaze to the academy, the building shook under a ten-point-zero earthquake, the bricks and concrete falling down in rapid succession. Tearing her gaze away from the sight of her childhood hell, she let sound waves resonate through the street, knocking over buildings and causing them to collapse, burying her siblings in rubble. Carelessly, she walked away as anger, sadness and hatred fueled her steps to her apartment where she changed and gathered up her violin for the world’s last performance.

--

She was very posh too, with fur and everything. She stood still long enough that I could study her coat, which had thirty spots. I’m not sure if it was real fur (if it was, she’s a horrible person), but she certainly acted very high-class, even speaking a little nasally and tilting her head up to look down on Brittany. I think it might’ve been because of Brittany’s skin color. The woman didn’t seem to be very accepting of hard-working people that looked different from her.

--

At ten o’clock pm, the close of the concert, sound waves so large they felled the building and many blocks over swept through the city. A short, dark-haired woman with a glowing white light in the center of her chest rose above the destruction, sending out pulses of sound to the far-reaching corners of the world. With no one to stop her, no one to shoot a gun next to her ear, the bottled power exploded from her chest sharing with everyone the feelings of hurt and neglect that she’d been forced to endure throughout her childhood. One person alone survived in a basement not much deeper than the fictional character’s she admired, writing away and completely unaware that the world above had changed beyond recognition.

[aion-rsa]

Josie and The Pussycats is the Spinoff Riverdale Deserves

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This RIVERDALE review contains spoilers.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 15

“Our story is about three young women bursting with talent.”

When last we saw Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), she was in New York City trying to make her dreams come true on the ill-fated (and gone-too-soon) Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. Often when characters are spun-off and their subsequent shows fail, they vanish into the pop culture ether — The Ropers from Three’s Company being the textbook case of this phenomenon. But not so for Josie. This latest episode debuts a new iteration of the character, one who has achieved her dreams but still finds herself wanting more. It is a decidedly more mature take on the previously underwritten character, and one that allows Murray’s considerable acting and musical abilities to shine.

In short, it is the Josie that fans have always wanted to see.

But what good is the character without the backing of her Pussycats? Drummer Melody Valentine (Asha Bromfield) and multi-instrumentalist Valerie Brown (Hayley Law) have been estranged from Josie since she blew off the Pussycats for a solo career when they were in high school. Seven years later and the wounds are still raw, even though Melody has since become a renowned author with movie rights optioned by Tyler Perry, and Valerie is a talented artist and actress.

When Josie returns to Riverdale to take stock following the sudden death of her father, she finds herself coming to terms with her past. More than that though, she has found her voice in every sense of the word. She dismisses Mr. Lodge, the show’s big bad in a hilarious kiss off that sums up many viewers’ opinions on the often irksome character. Better still, the episode allows her to get meta to discuss how Riverdale often sidelined the Josie character in her previous iteration on the series. “I didn’t have much to say in old times,” she plaintively declares, commenting on the problem that Riverdale had with diversity in its early seasons. She then accurately dismisses Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead not as old friends but as acquaintances. It’s a bold and surprising scene that takes responsibility for past sins that the series committed, further illustrating that it is aware that it can do better and has been attempting to do so.

After a steamy reunion with old flame Sweet Pea (Jordan Connor), Josie begins the work of reaching out to Valerie and Melody. It is here that the episode goes from great to an all-timer. The chemistry that Murray, Bromfield and Law possess is lightning in a bottle. As old injustices are aired and attempts to repair wounded hearts and egos are undertaken, these actresses embody the old friends they portray fully. But this backdoor pilot, fortunately, has zero interest in having its women of color tear each other down. The characters candidly discuss their shared past, and begin to repair the rift that will — if The Pussycats goes to series — lead them to becoming the global superstars they are destined to be.

Josie, Melody and Valerie are icons. They know it, and the world will soon follow.

Inspired by her renewed friendship with her once and future bandmates, Josie decides to do a concert with the Pussycats that will raise money to help reincorporate the town of Riverdale. It is a performance that highlights each of the women’s musical strengths, even if Josie does steal the spotlight for an emotional rendition of Nina Simone’s “Stars.” Despite being cut short when Toni goes into labor, the concert is enough of a success for The Pussycats to agree to go on the road together — playing in towns where Josie’s late father wanted his ashes scattered. The women consider themselves to be equals now, thus the “Josie and” is jettisoned from the band name. This still being Riverdale, a friend of Josie’s dad appears moments before she leaves town to tell her that her father may have been murdered in New Orleans, and that voodoo might be involved.

With this incredible/ridiculous plot development thrown at us, the full image of what The Pussycats will be as a series comes into view: A mixture of Fame and 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo that celebrates these characters and their comic/cartoon legacy in an unexpected way. (As an Archie comics historian even I was taken off guard by the last-minute introduction of the potential show’s mystery angle, and my mind reels at the possibilities).

Hopefully sooner rather than later a series order for The Pussycats will be announced. There is so much potential here to tell exciting, fun, music-packed stories featuring strong women of color that it feels like a surefire hit. “The Return of the Pussycats” is not only the best episode of Riverdale this season, but a perfect pilot episode. There desperately needs to be lots more long tails and ears for hats in our future, for these are the Pussycats we’ve been waiting for.

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Riverdale Rundown

While nothing has been officially announced as of yet, it feels ridiculous for The CW to not do a full series of The Pussycats, yes? This logo appearing at the end of the episode instead of the usual Riverdale bumper bodes well for things to come. Fingers crossed…

My guess is that this episode didn’t have Alexandra and Josie cross paths due to their Katy Keene past, which had the characters begin as enemies who were slowly forming a friendship before that series was cancelled. By not having them interact, the writers didn’t have to figure out where their relationship currently is — making this a narrative thread that The Pussycats could potentially pull on down the line.

The character of Alan M. briefly appears as Melody’s love interest, which indeed he is in the comics and fondly remembered 2001 movie.

Speaking of the Josie and the Pussycats movie, that film’s ever-growing cult continues to delight me. Thanks to multiverses, there’s no reason why that version of these characters and the ones of The Pussycats can’t co-exist in the same pop culture landscape.

Let’s give a special shoutout to Robin Givens, who not only reprises her role as Sierra McCoy here but also did a terrific job directing this installment.

Melody narrates this episode a la Jughead, except that her writing is bright and full of hope, a sharp and intentional contrast to her brooding counterpoint.

If you didn’t cheer when Josie and the Pussycats took the stage to their cartoon theme song, you are dead inside.

“Entertainment Tomorrow” enters the Riverdale fake product lexicon in this episode (which also includes the returning chestnut “Vanity Flair”).

Toni gives birth to a boy, Anthony.

Expect to see more about the franchising of Pop’s in upcoming restaurants, and Tabitha’s speech about the importance of the Chok’lit Shoppe being a black-owned restaurant in a time when Riverdale had no other such establishments was one of the most powerful scenes this series has ever done.

It’s worth noting that a franchise for real-life Archie restaurants did exist in the early 1970s. However the idea never really took off, and pictures of the three diners that were opened have never surfaced online.

What the hell was up with the Old Navy product placement in this episode, which felt like it was ripped from the Josie and the Pussycats movie, minus the irony.

Kevin’s dancing during the Little Shop of Horrors musical number was, unsurprisingly, everything.

Melody’s book being named Summer Storm is a sly reference to actress Asha Bromfield having a newly released novel called Hurricane Summer that was released in May.

Josie uses the alias Ms. Newmar to check into hotels. Julie Newmar famously portrayed Catwoman on the Batman TV series, which not only plays into Josie’s feline motif, but also is yet another of the show’s near-constant DC Comics references of late.

Mr. Lodge being called a “little bitch” was so unbelievably pleasing to watch. Josie is just SO OVER Riverdale’s bullshit.

In a nice character moment, Cheryl immediately leaps into action to help deliver ex-lover Toni’s baby.

Dr. Curdle Jr. being a Josie and the Pussycats superfan is comedic brilliance (as is the fact that nobody trusts him enough to have him anywhere near Toni’s delivery.

The post Josie and The Pussycats is the Spinoff Riverdale Deserves appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3BQYwym

[demivampirew]

Keep Calm and go to London chapter 17

Synopsis: This is the story of (y/n), a successful actress,  musician, musical producer and songwriter. After battling depression and  breaking up a long relationship, she seeks for a change of air,  escaping LA for a while going to visit some friends in London and there  she meets Henry. -Disclaimer: some chapters are mostly smut.

Previous Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 (smut)

Chapter 6

Chapter 7 (smut)

Chapter 8 (smut/roleplay)

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12 (smut)

Chapter 13

Chapter 14 (smut)

Chapter 15

Chapter 16 (smut/ s&m)

Triggers:   Crying; talking about depression, low self-steem and body image issues; talking about toxic relationships.

Tag list:  Here’s the incredible people who showed me support (thank  you    so  much for that) and people who asked me to tag them too  ☺️   (I    think  I will write a few chapters of this story, if you want me to  tag     you, tell me ☺️   ) @cavillanche @mary-ann84 @henry-owns-these-tatas @yespolkadotkitty @dancingwendigo   constip8merm8     penwieldingdreamer iloveyouyen  littlefreya  wondersofdreaming    alyxkbrl solariumss  sweetybuzz25 @thethirstyarchive @agniavateira   @honeyloverogers @hell1129-blog   @lunedelorient​  @michelle-1185​  

Henry was playing games while you played with Kal, making the little bear follow you around the house. It surprise you the amound of energy that the puppy had. While running, you got caught in the the door knob of one bedroom and ripped the t-shirt you were wearing, living a little hole in it. You cursed because that was one of your boyfriend's t-shirts. You were in trouble, for sure. You put your best sad kitty face and went to Henry to tell him about the t-shirt. He was sitting on the couch with his laptop and closed it after you sat next to him, pointing out that you have something to confess. He put his whole attention on you as you showed him his peace of clothing and apologized, assuring him that you'd tried to fix it. He looked at you with a cute smile and told you that was ok. He was not mad at you at all, "it's just a t-shirt" he said and gave you a kiss on the cheeks to make you feel better and proved to you that he wasn't angry at all. You hugged him and kissed him. He was the best. - I'm still sorry, though. I know you love this t-shirt.- you apologized once again. - It's kind of special.- he admitted. - Where did you bought it? I can replace it, I'll buy you the exact same one if I find it. - I didn't bought it; it was a gift. - From Charlie? Maybe I could send him a direct message in Instagram and ask him where he bought it. I will ask you his phone number, but we haven't officially met yet so he might find it weird if I text him. - No, it wasn't Charlie.- he answered and then took a deep breath before speaking again.- An ex-girlfriend gave it to me for a birthday. - Oh, I see.- you replied and went silent for a moment. - Was it Lucy? You questioned curiously. He raise an eyebrow and looked at you. - No, not her. - he said with a suspious tone. - Tara, Gina? -you asked again. -Sorry, I'm really curious - you said smiling - Tara. - he informed you - Wait, how do you know my exs's names? I never said her names to you? - he pointed out and you blushed of embarresment. "shit" you thought. - Have you been googling me by any chance? - I had to make sure you were not a serial killer - you joked, making an "ops" face. - I'm curious. I wanted to know how were the girls that you dated before me. - That's ok. I must admit that I googled you as well. - And what did you found out about me? - you were dying to know - That you have more money than me; that you're on the top 20 of Forbes lists of most influencial people; that people adore you on the internet. Basically, that you're ten times more amazing that I thought. Oh, I also found out that you have a college degree from Harvard. - Yep. While it cost me a lot. I practically did not sleep for like 5 years - you joked. It was kind of true, though. - Did you not expected you girlfriend to be the kind of person who goes to college? - I didn't imagine that giving all the work that you've done in your long career you'd had found to study for a degree. - he explained - I'm awesome - you said proudly - Giving my impressive career and my high grades in highschool, I was accepted at Harvard. I had to arrenge a few things to make the time, but I reached my goal. So, now you're in front of a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. - My baby is smart, damn! - he replied proudly. You gave him the brightest smile. - I found out that you were enganged once.- you continue the topic discused before. - Yes. It didn't work out, though. - Yes, I figured that out. Otherwise, it'd be an interesting situation the one that we're in right now. - Yes, it'd be for sure- he admited while laughing for your comment. - Do you missed them? - you questioned. He gave you a look, trying to see what you expected of him by those weird questions. - Come on, I know that you have a past. I have one too. I won't judge you. I just want to know how you feel about them. Do you still care for them? - Yes. - he admited.- But I don't do it in a romantic way. They were people important to me. Now they're part of my past, but I still want them to be happy. Sometimes I missed them a bit, more nostalgia for the good memories than anything, but I wouldn't go back with any of them, especially since I've met you. Now, I only have eyes for you. - he assured you, kissing your hand. - I understand.- you say smiling.- I still miss Jared sometimes. Like you said, I don't want to be with him at all and I only have eyes for you, but he was a great part of my life. He was the first man I've been with and, until you showed up in my life, he was the only one. - you confessed. You've talked before about having intimacy with few men, but never actually told him that was actually only one man before him. He looked at you surprise. - You are telling me that you only been intimate with two men and I'm one of them? -he asked you, speechless. - Yes. Before Jared I was afraid of being intimate with someone because I've always had body image issues. I didn't felt comfortable with my body and didn't want anybody to see me naked. When I started to date him, I wasn't ready to sleep with him and he respected that. He actually waited a whole year for me to finally be ready to have sex. I think that was another reason why even though it was clear he was not a good boyfriend, I stood with him. I always remembered that he promised to be patient and wait and not force me and he kept his word. After our first breakup, I was in that angry stage of "I hate all men", then soon enough I went to the "I don't hate men, but I don't have time to date either" I concentrated in study and work. Then, when I got back together with him, at first we'd had sex all the time, because despite the fact that I took care of my own pleasure during my time alone, I enjoyed to be intimate with another person that I cared about. But soon enough, things started to go South for us, and we barely had sex or was boring sex and I did most of the work. On one occasion, after a month of not doing it because he was working in his latest album, I put on a sexy lingerie and try to seduce him and he completely ignored me, like I wasn't even there. That broke me. By that point, I was already having body issues again, but that finally got to me and, until I met you, never again felt confident with my body or felt sexy. Knowing that a man like you was interested on me, made me feel great and then my confident side came back to me. - you explain, smiling at him. He kissed your hand again. - You know, I used to like him. I've met him twice and seemed like a nice guy. Now, I kind of want to punch him for hurting you. - He didn't do it un purpose, though. I know, so typical of me to deffend him, but that's true. I've known him for a long time. We were friends before and went through difficult times together until one day our friendship turned into something else. But now, I think those hard times we went through and that we've been surporting each other is the reason why he wanted to be with me. Why everytime we fought and I said that I was leaving he'd beg me to stay... because he knew that not matter what, he could count on me to be there for him. He clearly lost all the love and desire that he once felt for me, on the last period of our relationship I was just his support system; the one person he could count to help him when he need it. He's not a bad guy, but he was selfish. He concentrated on his needs and did not think on what I need it or what was the best for me. When I was diagnosed with major depression last year and was on those periods in which I would cry for entire days, for the first time in our entire relationship, he cancel a few plans to stay with me and hold me while I cried. But he didn't do it for love, no; he did it because he felt guilty. At that moment, he realized that he probably should have let me go, but he couldn't do that. As much as he'd love to have his single life back, he wanted me to be there for him, but he also knew that as soon as I walked out of the door, he would never see me again. So he kept me, unhappy and miserable until I finally realized myself from that toxic life I was living. - you finished and looked at your boyfriend's eyes. Henry was stroking your face and your hair. He looked worried and sad for hearing all you went through. - Your ex girlfriends were lucky. - you told him smiling - They had you. - I'm not perfect. I made mistakes as well, but I always try to look after their needs as well as mine. - That sounds like perfect to me. Perfection is not about not making mistakes, but recognize that you make them and try to correct them. Is not bad to look after your needs, we all need that, it's part of loving yourself, but, in a relationship, you have to care for your partner's needs as well. So yeah, you're the perfect boyfriend.- you assured him and he smiled. - I've seen photos of them and I must admit they're pretty, at least base on looks. The blonde one, Tara, if it wasn't weird, I'd totally high-five you for getting that chick. Even I must admit that she's hot. Although, I'm hotter than her.- you smile devilishly. - One houndred percent, baby. - he agreed. - They must have been really special to you. All of them. I saw the pictures. You'd take them with you to premieres and be by their sides, looking at them with proud. You'd post pictures or videos of them, and even if you're not longer together, you never deleted those things. That proved that they were special to you. I'm really jealous of them. - you admited - Not jealous because they were with you, like I said before, I know you have your past and that's ok, the important is that you're mine now. I'm jealous because I would have loved to be with someone that did those things for me. I'd had been great if my ex took me with him to an event or came with me to one of my premieres or award shows. Or took my hand in public. When I won my last two Oscars, he was there, but he didn't sat with me. I had to hug a friend to celebrate the fact that I won. You didn't get mad at them and ignored them for suggesting going out and getting caught by paparazzi. You would not tell them that you could spend time with them or have sex due to the lack of time and the hang out with your friends and former lovers instead. Why I could not have their luck once? Just once I'd love to know how it feels to be with someone who would proudly walk with me, go out with me or take me to places, happy to know that I'm by his side. Just one time I'd like to know who it feels not to be scared that your partner is going to be mad if someone for being seen together or acted as if he'd ashame and embarrased if people knew we're together, as if he could do so much better than you... just once I'd like to know how that feels. - you said and could not stop the tears. The tears covered your eyes and cheeks. The lump in your throat hurt badly. Henry grabbed your shoulders and pulled you closer, making you rest your head on his chest as he stroked your face and hair. He knew that you needed to let go of your tears in order to feel better. He promesed you would heal. He'd make sure that your future is bright and full of smiles instead of tears.

[itsunclebucky]

The Bride of Bucky

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Weddingplanner!Reader Summary: Bucky marries you, his girlfriend who works as a wedding planner and planned their wedding.  Word Count: 2,402 Warnings: FLUFF, a little talk about sex but nothing explicit.  A/N: It’s @the-ss-horniest-book-club​ surprise AU and I was given permission to use this for the challenge. Thank you so much and hope everyone enjoys it!! 

As Bucky stood in the floor-length mirror, adjusting his tie for the hundredth time that morning, he remembers how it all started and how he became the world's luckiest man.

He once believed that once Hydra had control of his mind and made him their personal puppet and killing machine it would be the end for him. He was just waiting for the day to die.

He never expected to unknowingly run into his long lost friend Steve Rogers during a mission to take the targets down and he didn't expect Steve to help him.

And he didn't expect Shuri to reboot his memory in Wakanda where he healed successfully, for the first time feeling healthy and happy.

Steve and Tony had sat down and put their differences aside, Tony accepting the fact that Bucky didn't know what he was doing at the time Hydra had control of his mind, and subsequently offered Bucky a room at the compound where he stayed for a while.

He had total freedom, he was allowed to leave the compound whenever he wanted, roam the city whenever he pleased. He wasn't trapped in his room like an animal and how Hydra had once treated him.

Bucky had left the compound early that morning to grab some coffee and something tasty he liked to eat as he walked around the city, visiting old neighborhoods and diners he once knew of.

As he stepped in the small cozy cafe, he allowed an old frail woman with her Walker goes in front of him. The delay in the queue allowed him to look around the cafe and that's where he saw you, huddled up in a corner with umpteen folders and your computer, he watched as you typed away with your nose scrunched up. He was curious about what kind of work you did, why you needed so many folders.

And then your phone rang and you had answered it. "Hi, Y/N speaking." Your voice was like music to his ears. His heart strummed in his chest as he listened to you talking about the different kinds of flowers you recommended for a big day. He didn't understand, he was still learning about everything. As you hung up, your eyes glanced in his direction.

A blush crept up to your cheek as you smiled in his direction. You didn't recognize him and never saw someone so handsome.

"Sir?" The person standing behind Bucky tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the barista standing behind the counter patiently with a smile on her face, waiting for his order.

"Sorry, was another planet." He chuckled nervously. The barista smiled and he relaxed. He wasn't sure how he would handle being yelled at in front of you for daydreaming. "Can I get an almond milk latte and whatever that lady over there ordered?" He pointed in your direction and your gaze dropped to your keyboard. You couldn't tear your eyes away from the adonis of a man. His eyes captivated you and you didn't even know his name. His beard lined his cheeks beautifully and you wanted to run your fingers through his hair because it looked so inviting.

You were replying to an email to try and distract yourself. But from your peripheral, you could see the man approaching you.

You stopped typing and looked up at him, smiling.

"Uh, I'm sorry to bother you but you seemed really busy and thought you would be in the need of a hot chocolate." He smiled sheepishly, lowering your cup by your hand.

"Thank you so much. That's so kind of you." You motioned for him to sit down in the seat opposite you. Work was forgotten for over an hour as you talked to the man who called himself Bucky.

He found out a lot about you, about your job. You were a wedding planner and by the looks of it a very successful one. He listened as you talked about why orchids were a better choice for a wedding. And you had for some reason told him your dream wedding.

"It'll happen one day." He reassured you.

You chuckled and shook your head. "Not without a boyfriend it won't."

Bucky's eyes grew wide in surprise. He was expecting you to be in a relationship, which he realized he probably should have asked at the beginning before he started to chat you up.

"If a man is too blind to be with you doll, they aren't worth your time."

It was almost midday when Bucky looked at the time and he had to reluctantly say goodbye. He couldn't believe he was sat talking to you for hours. He didn't leave without your number though.

The texts started out friendly, and then they became flirty the longer you talked to him.

His confidence grew as he was remembering how to talk to a woman, but also leaning to type with one hand on his iPhone Wanda had very generously gifted him a few Christmases ago.

After a couple of weeks of flirting, Bucky had asked you out on a date. Which you very excitedly accepted and couldn't wait for.

Tony had worked his magic and booked a reservation at a top restaurant in Manhattan. During dinner, you had learned a little more about Bucky. His metal arm didn't once bother you and you made sure to let him know you weren't afraid of it or him.

One date turned into five dates and you were dating each other officially.

He confessed to you everything that happened in his past. He didn't want to enter a relationship without you knowing. The things he did, the regret and guilt he still feels. You assured him that whatever happened in the past is in the past. He was a new man and this is a new chapter.

The Winter Soldier was a different man to Bucky Barnes. Bucky was sweet, kind and considerate with a lot of sass and a great sense of humor.

For every day he was with you, there wasn't a day that went by where he didn't have a smile on his face or laughed.

Bucky wanted to take it slow and you were happy to comply since it was his first relationship in a long time.

But by your 8-month mark, Bucky was already living with you in your apartment.

"Sam is driving me crazy doll, making sex jokes and asking if I can 'still get it up'." He announced as he walked in the door with his duffel bag and another bag full of his DVDs.

"Why does he want to know that?" You laughed as you pecked his lips.

"Maybe he's jealous?" He laughed with a shrug. "He's a strange guy."

You chuckled and said it was alright and it was. You would be lying if you said you didn't enjoy his company and you felt safer with Bucky around.

Two years into your relationship and you were still happy together and in love.

As much as it shocked you, it shocked Bucky more but the two of you never fought. You were perfectly in sync and shared the same taste in style, food, drink, and art. There were no arguments about who washed the dishes, who cooked because whoever did one, the other person would do the other.

And judging by your complete happiness. It was absolutely no surprise when Bucky finally asked you to marry him on the rooftop of the compound surrounded by his closest friends and teammates.

Almost as if he had predicted your answer, Tony went to great lengths setting up fairy lights, candles, and expensive champagne.

It was Bucky's favorite memory because the two of you didn't get out of bed afterward for a good couple of days, celebrating a new step in your relationship.

It was your decision to plan your wedding. Because of your organization skills, you didn't trust anyone to do it. You were a perfectionist and this was your special day, it was Bucky's special day and it had to be just perfect.

The date was set for 9 months. And because you were so organized, your dress was already picked out and you had the arrangements set up for his suit.

Because Wanda, Nat, and Pepper became close friends to you. The invitation for them to be your bridesmaids was an easy decision to make. And they were overjoyed with happiness.

As the day got nearer and nearer, your nerves were through the roof.

Bucky had watched as you paced back and forth your living room, close to tears as the photographer had canceled on you at the last minute.

The wedding was in 2 days and there was no way on this planet you would find another photographer this close to the date.

"It's a disaster! We're not going to have any photos to show our kids. Oh my God, what do we do!" A sob broke out as you hung up the phone. Bucky stood and wrapped you in his strong arms and shushed you.

"It's gonna be ok, doll. I promise. You've worked so hard, go and run yourself a hot bath, relax and let me find a last-minute photographer." He insisted, leaving no room for arguing.

The bath had relaxed you, and Bucky took care of you in the night. Assuring you he had found a replacement but didn't say who it was, but you trusted Bucky.

On the morning of the wedding, you were shaking as you sat in your bathrobe in the hotel room in front of the mirror, having your hair and makeup done professionally. Your flowers had arrived on time, the girls were getting ready, everything was going according to plan.

You and Bucky decided to stick to the traditional way and spend the night apart. The first night he had spent away from you and he wouldn't do it again. He missed you and he was worried about you. He started overthinking the reasons why you would leave him but Steve quickly quieted his thoughts.

"I see the way she looks at you Buck, there is no way she would stand you up," Steve said, squeezing his shoulder as they got ready in their tailor-made suits.

"I love her so much." Bucky chuckled with tears in his eyes. He would carve his love for you over his heart if he wasn't afraid of needles.

"And she loves you. Enjoy the day, relax."

As the boys back at your shared apartment got ready. You were ready to slip into your dress. It was a gorgeous white lace dress, and it was one of your dreams. Even after you had spent hours upon hours searching Pinterest for dresses, they never compared to this one.

Your dress was tightened, and your veil was attached. You had half an hour to go before you needed to go to the venue.

You hoped Bucky didn't change his mind. Your love for him so was pure, ever since the day, you laid your eyes on him in the cafe. You couldn't imagine your life without him now.

He took care of you, took care of each other.

Bucky was the first to arrive. He walked down the aisle, greeting, smiling and thanking friends and family for coming. He waited by the priest, with Steve, Sam, Clint and Tony standing behind him. Everyone had a smile on their face. He was just waiting to see you.

With each second that passed, his heart beat faster. Then the doors opened, the music started to play and your bridesmaids walked down the aisle first and waited on the bride's side.

His eyes were fixated on the door. He gleamed when he saw you walk through them in your gorgeous dress. Flowers in your right hand, your left hand-linked around your father's arm as he walked you down the aisle.

You kept your eyes on your Bucky. And you couldn't believe how handsome he looked. His suit, his white flower pinned on the left side of his blazer. His hair slicked back and tied at the nape of his neck. He had shaved his beard and was left with stubble, one you couldn't wait to feel later tonight.

Everyone around you was invisible and each step you took towards him felt longer.

But you made it. You were given away, thanked your father and kissed his cheek as you stood next to Bucky and smiled lovingly at him.

"Hey, you." You whispered. Taking his hand in yours.

"Hey back. You ready for this?" He squeezed your hand. You squeezed it back assuring him you're ready.

The priest spoke, welcoming everyone as he joined you in matrimony.

Your eyes welled up as your vows were told. His words hit your heart and your love for this man just kept on growing.

"By the power invested in me. I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may now kiss your wife."

"I love you so much," Bucky whispered against your lips as he pressed his own to them.

"I love you too, so very much." You smiled as you pulled away. The sounds of applauds surrounded the two of you as you walked the aisle together. Confetti was thrown over you when you made it outside.

The photographer was Bruce. And you chuckled. His great green body had somehow managed to squeeze into a suit.

"Say cheese!" Bruce said. The flash blinded you but you honestly didn't care. "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Barnes!"

Everyone cheered and you kissed your husband with a passion.

The start of a new life as husband and wife.

Bucky would continue to count his lucky stars every day for the rest of his life. Fate caused you to be in that cafe on that day.

His ma would have absolutely adored you. His father too. And you cried one night as he was sad they couldn't be here for his special day.

You reminded him they were, in his heart and they forgave him. They loved him.

And your family was his family, he would never be alone.

Bucky once believed he deserved to be caged up and fed to dogs.

Bucky was once convinced that would happen.

This is his family and his life and nobody could ever dare take that away from him.

Taglist: @leosandbuckysgirl​ @jobean12-blog​ @sebbbystaaan​ Some others: @littledarlinhavefaithinme​​ @book-dragon-13​​ @criminal-cookies​​ @valkyriesryde​​ @mushyjellybeans​​ @emmandhercoffecrisp​​ @captainchrisstan​​ @this-kitten-is-smitten​ @godofplumsandthunder​​ @moonbeambucky​​ @searchingforbucky​​ ​ @buckythewhitewolfx​​ @your-highnessmarvel​ @katbtracy​ @mermaidxatxheart​

[myherowritings]

Strawberry Scented Dreams

Overview: The 3 Times Todoroki Falls Asleep On You + The 1 Time You Fall Asleep On Him. Shouto is always sleepy and needs some rest, and your shoulder just happens to be the comfiest place to get it.

Pairing: Todoroki Shouto x Reader

Word Count: 3,697

Warning(s): Language, tooth-rotting fluff.

Author’s Note: This is so self-indulgent I literally have no words, LOL. I just wish Shouto were real so this could happen. *cries* A girl can dream.

1ST TIME: DURING A CLASS 1-A MOVIE NIGHT

“All in favor of a Twilight movie marathon say I!”

“No way in hell, Raccoon Eyes,” roared Bakugou, voicing the general consensus of Class 1-A.

Even Midoriya piped up, “Ah-- We did watch that the last movie night, Ashido. Maybe we should watch something else?”

The class nodded and began suggesting ideas of their own.

“Lord of the Rings?”

“Nah.”

“Avengers?”

“Ouch!”

“Harry Potter?” you suggested.

The class looked around at each other, no forthright dissent amongst the members. After noticing a few shrugs and why not?’s, Iida stepped forward.

“Does anyone have any objections?” said Iida, glancing at his classmates.

The majority of them shook their heads and you cheered.

“Harry Potter marathon it is!”

As Iida and Jirou set up the movie and mirrored it only the television screen, you happily returned from the kitchen with bowls of popcorn in hand. You passed them around to different groups before looking around trying to find a seat.

“Y/N.”

You turned to the direction of the voice and spotted Todoroki shifting to make room on the sofa cushion.

“You can sit here, if you’d like,” he offered, placing his hand on the spot next to him.

Beaming, you bounded over to him and sat down-- He even gave you the corner seat. “Thank you, Todoroki-kun!”  

“It’s no problem.”

As the first movie started, you munched on your snacks in excitement, offering a piece of chocolate to Shouto.

“Which movie is your favorite?” you whispered, gaze briefly flickering from the screen to the man next to you.

“My favorite?” He blinked, pressing his lips together. “I’m...not sure. I’ve never actually watched them all.”

Your eyes shot open. “What!?”

“Inside voice, please!” yelled Iida from across the room.

“Sorry,” you said sheepishly before turning back to Todoroki. “Have you really never watched or read Harry Potter before?”

Shouto shook his head, eyebrows furrowing as he licked a spot of melted chocolate off his thumb.

You pressed a hand to your chest. How had he never watched them before? It was an essential part of adolescence. “You wound me, Todoroki-kun. It’s one of my favorite series ever!”

“I’m sure I’ll love it then,” Todoroki said simply, giving you a brief smile. “I trust your judgment.”

You tried not to puff up your chest at his flattery. You wouldn’t have considered Shouto your best friend, but you did think you were close. And you would not let the fact that that you thought he was attractive, intelligent, tall, smart, or...perfect, get in the way of your friendship.

By the time you got to the fourth movie, your popcorn had run out and the rest of the class were either completely knocked out, or completely invested in the movie.

“I’m so confused! Is Professor Moody evil or not?” said Hagakure, scratching her head from her seat on the adjacent couch.

“I think the real Moody isn’t evil, but this one is,” replied Yaoyorozu.

“What does that even mean!?”

Chuckling to yourself, you continued to enjoy the scene in front of you. Your focus was only diverted when you felt a small thud on your side.

“Huh--?”

You craned your neck to find Todoroki’s head resting on your shoulder, his soft hair tickling the sensitive skin of your collarbone.

His mouth was slightly askew as he deeply breathed in and out, and his eyes were shut in a way that exaggerated his tired eye bags. You weren’t sure why, but you were certain Shouto wasn’t getting enough sleep during the nights.

“Todoroki-kun?” you whispered. When he didn’t stir, you gave him a small smile before pushing his bangs out of his face, shifting slightly so he wouldn’t wake up with a neck crick. “Sleep well.”

As the next movie in the series played, you felt the warmth on your side lull you into a tired state. Your eyelids grew heavier and heavier and your head landed on a firm, silky pillow that smelled of pine and peppermint.

Before you knew it, you were drifting off into a dream that consisted of golden eggs and friendly dragons, meeting a headstrong prince along the way.

It was the best sleep you had in awhile.

When you awoke, it was to sharp flashes of white and loud sounds of snickers from above you.

Your eyes fluttered open and you squinted at the bright light.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!”

“Wha--?” you said groggily.

When your gaze adjusted, you noticed the bare and spacious walls were not the ones of your dorm room. And the pillow you were on wasn’t a pillow, but rather a sleeping Todoroki.

You blinked.

“Is the movie marathon over?” you cautioned, piecing together the events of the previous night.

Mina snickered, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “It’s been over for eight hours now, Y/L/N. You and Todoroki fell asleep after the Goblet of Flames, or whatever.”

“Fire,” you corrected instinctively.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Look! We even have pictures of how cute you two are while sleeping,” Uraraka chimed, and you noticed for the first time it wasn’t just a small group of you outside in the common room, but half the class.

They were all gathered in a circle around you and Shouto, phones out recording and taking photos with an ungodly flash.

Todoroki stirred from your shoulder, his eyes opening slowly as a confused expression made its way to his face.

“Good morning, Todoroki-kun,” you said softly.

He looked around a few times. “Good morning, Y/L/N-chan.”

Chan!? you thought, face flaming. Since when did Shouto use honorifics with you? Especially one like that…

“Oh, my God! You guys are so cute!” squealed Mina, clasping her hands against her heart as she spun around in circles. “Kirishima, can you send me the picture? I want to make it my lock screen background.”

You exchanged glances with a very dazed looking Todoroki.

“Wait a minute--” you started.

“I’ll send them to the group chat!” Kirishima said proudly, typing away on his phone. “I had the best angle of their faces and their hands.”

Hands?

“Can I see the picture?” asked Shouto suddenly.

Eijirou handed Todoroki his phone with a wink. “You’re welcome.”

Shouto grabbed the phone and opened up the photo, tilting the screen your way so you were bath able to see it.

As expected, the picture showed Todoroki sleeping on your shoulder with your head resting on top of his. His eyes were snapped shut and he had a peaceful expression on his face. So did you.

But what you did not expect to see was your body tilted ever so slightly towards Shouto, your limp handing falling on his lap while his own palm covered yours.

You felt your cheeks heat up as Todoroki glanced from the photo to you.

You were on fire from embarrassment and you suddenly felt the need to scoot away and create distance between you and your insanely sweet and attractive friend.

“Um-- I…” you stuttered, biting your lip. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you, Todoroki-kun.”

“It was my fault,” he said, waving you off. “I’m the one who fell asleep first. I hope your night wasn’t too uncomfortable, then.”

“Uncomfortable? Not at all! I haven’t slept that well in ages,” you insisted, face flaming once more when you realized what you just said.

But Todoroki’s eyes widened as he straightened in his seat. “Really?”

You nodded, reluctantly.

“I don’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep like that, either,” he admitted.

Uraraka made a strangled noise from behind you and you remembered you weren’t alone.

“That is so cute!” she cried, squishing her cheeks between her hands. “I also want it as my wallpaper!”

You shook your head fervently, rubbing the back of your neck. “O-Oh. Are you sure that’s a good idea--?”

“I think I do, too,” Shouto agreed, his voice soft but firm.

He what?

“Todoroki-kun…? You--?”

When your phone sounded with a ding and you saw the photograph on your screen, you couldn’t help but smile to yourself despite the embarrassed heat in your face.

You reckoned it was a rather cute photo of a rather cute moment… It would be a shame to let it go to waste.

And you hated to admit it, but the picture did make for a good phone background.

- - - - -

2ND TIME: ON THE TRAIN RIDE BACK FROM A SHOPPING TRIP

It wasn’t Todoroki’s fault.

Truly.

How could anyone blame him for falling asleep on someone with such a warm and soothing presence? Shouto found himself gravitating towards your very aura, only to have his senses attacked by your twinkling laughter and dimpled smile.

It was only natural for him to feel tranquil around you. He couldn’t help that in addition your comforting nature, your shoulder looked so inviting as well.

“Did you buy everything you needed?” you asked as you shifted all your bags to one wrist.

Uraraka invited you, Todoroki, and some of your other classmates to go to the mall this Saturday, but when the time came, everyone said they had last minute plans and had to cancel. Everyone except you and Todoroki, that is.

Shouto didn’t mind, but he was worried he couldn’t be much help to you when you were deciding on which outfits to get.

“I did buy everything I need,” he replied, quickly placing Endeavor’s credit card back into his wallet.

It was safe to say he bought more than what he needed.

As the two of you boarded the train back to Musutafu, Todoroki found two seats next to each other and placed his items in the floor.

“I’d say that was a successful shopping trip,” you said, plopping into the seat. “Especially for you. Look at all the things you bought!”

He shrugged, eyeing your normal number of bags and his slightly excessive one. “It’s not all for me, though. I got some sweets for Uraraka-- And I saw an All Might jacket I thought Midoriya might like.”

“Aw, Todoroki-kun! That’s so sweet of you.”

He shifted uncomfortably at your praise.

“I got you something, too,” Shouto admitted, suddenly feeling a strange nervousness in his stomach he never felt before.

You tilted your head to the side and he reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a small box. He saw your eyes widen in realization when you figured out what it was, but he waved you off before you could protest.

“You were looking at it in the store,” he said, opening the box to expose a dainty gold necklace with a small diamond star as the pendant. “I wanted to get it for you.”

“But Todoroki--” You swallowed. “That necklace was almost 15,000 yen!”

“Is that...too much?”

Your lips quirked into a frown and Shouto mentally scolded himself for making you feel upset.

“I apologize, Y/L/N,” he said, reluctantly withdrawing the box from in front of you. “I... thought you’d like it. I didn’t mean to anger you.”

You shook your head, eyes wide. “I’m not mad, Todoroki-kun. I really do love it! But I just can’t accept something so expensive from you without giving you anything in return.”

“You’ve given me plenty. This is what I’m giving you in return.”

Todoroki fought back a yawn as the constant hum and bumps of the train relaxed his muscles, instead taking the necklace out of the box and holding it up.

“It is really pretty,” you said hesitantly.

When he heard that, Shouto began to grin and you folded your arms.

“But I’ll only accept it if I can get you a gift, too!”

Todoroki thought of how comfortable your shoulder was and how you smelled like strawberries and mangoes. What he wouldn’t give to sleep with you again like during the movie night…

His face brightened at the idea. “I know what you can do for me in return. But I’ll tell you them after you accept the necklace.”

You peered at him cautiously through the tops of your lashes, but agreed.

Brushing your hair to one side of your neck, Todoroki felt a shiver run through your body. He paused.

“Sorry, is my hand too cold?”

You shook your head fervently. “No! Ah, I mean-- That’s not why I…” He felt a subte heat radiating from your face. “It’s fine.”

With a shrug, Shouto continued to put the necklace on. He brought the star to the front and ran his fingers down the chain to the clasp in the back. Swiftly, he secured the chain on your neck, letting his fingers linger for a beat longer than necessary.

He cleared his throat. “There.”

You brought your hand to the base of your neck to feel the dainty pendant. Todoroki thought the gold accents looked quite fitting on you.

“Thank you, Todoroki-kun.”

“Shouto.”

You blinked. “Shou… Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“Then call me Y/N,” you said with a beam, your smile so bright it made the whole train lighten up. “Thank you, Shouto.”

“You’re welcome...Y/N.”

Your given name was unfamiliar on his tongue, but he decided he quite enjoyed it. For a while, you sat there in befitting silence, just enjoying each other’s presence until you cleared your throat.

“So, what payment did you have in mind?”

Shouto smiled. “Your shoulder.”

“My what?”

“Shoulder.” At your confused look, he continued, “It’s rather comfortable. And...you smell quite nice.”

Your expression was still puzzled, but this time embarrassed as well.

Todoroki tried again. “Being with you helps me sleep better. I don’t know why, but it does…”

Your eyes flashed with realization and a small grin spread across your face. “Oh, I see. You want to lay down on my shoulder again?”

He felt the temperature rise on his left side, but he nodded.

“You’re the cutest!” you squealed, giving him a quick hug. “You can sleep on my shoulder anytime you want, Shouto.”

Todoroki’s face flamed even more. “Thank you, Y/N.”

“Of course!”

And as the train made its way to the stop in Musutafu, Todoroki found himself dozing off with his head in the crook of your neck, strands of your hair tickling his nose.

But he didn’t mind.

You smelled like strawberries and the next time Shouto woke up, he found himself having fond thoughts of the fruit.

- - - - -

3RD TIME: STARGAZING ON THE ROOF

Next week were your final exams and Class 1-A found themselves working their hardest to do their best. After a long day of classes and extensive hero training, you wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed after a hot shower and sleep.

But for some reason you couldn’t.

You stirred in your bed, unable to find a comfortable position. As your gaze roamed around to different part of the ceiling, you found yourself wondering whether or not Shouto had been able to fall asleep yet before snapping yourself out of your thoughts.

Restlessly, you grabbed a fluffy blanket from your bed before walking out of your dorm room.

If you weren’t going to get a good night’s rest, you might as well spend your time looking at the stars (or a single star that somehow shined through the light pollution) rather than the flat white expanse of your ceiling.

But after making your way up the stairs and scaling the rest of the building to reach the rooftop, you found that you weren’t the only one there.

“Shouto?”

He turned his head toward the sound of your voice. “Y/N. Hello.”

You walked over to Todoroki, who was leaning against the railing with his forearms, the wind blowing his hair all over his face.

Somehow, it suited him.

“Couldn’t sleep?” you asked, mimicking his stance.

Reluctantly, Shouto shook his head. “No. And you?”

“I was having a bit of trouble,” you admitted with a shrug.

Laying your blanket out on the cold floor, you sat down and tilted your head up to look at the sky. When you patted the spot next to you, Todoroki slowly made his way there.

There was a lapse of silence as the two of you stared at the sky, shoulders touching and legs slightly brushing each other with no words exchanged.

“I wish more stars were visible where we live,” you said quietly, almost afraid to ruin the moment.

Shouto turned to you, head tilted in question.

“When I was younger, my family and I always went to Mount Ibuki for a while during summer.” You smiled at the memory. “I never saw so many stars in the sky before. It was beautiful.”

“Have you gone recently?”

You sighed. “No. We’ve all been so busy lately.” You shifted your weight onto the palms of your hands as you leaned back. “How about you? Have you ever gone?”

“My father was never one for vacations,” replied Todoroki wryly.

“Right,” you said with a wince. “Well, I’d take you to the mountains, Shouto. We could go hiking and see the stars and have a campfire with s’mores!”

He stared off into the distance for a while, a corner of his mouth quirked upward as he found himself lost in his thoughts. You were quite fond of that smile.

“I’d like that.”

You beamed, bumping your elbow to his side playfully. “Then we’ll do it! Regardless of how busy we become.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

As the two of stared off into space, surrounding yourselves with the stillness of the night, you felt Todoroki’s head fall gently onto your shoulder. You shivered.

“Cold?” he asked, wrapping his left arm around your waist and pulling you closer.

“That’s not why I--” Your cheeks heated, feeling an odd sense of deja vu. “Never mind. Thank you.”

Shouto buried his face deeper in the crook of your neck, his warm palm still resting on the curve of your hip and you couldn’t help but wonder if his heart was beating as fast as yours. “Anytime.”

His abdomen was warm and firm, and his arm enveloped you in a comforting hug that even the biting wind couldn’t interfere with. Beneath you, you felt the steady beat of his heart pick up when you brushed your fingers against the side of his face.

“What are you doing to me, Y/N?” Todoroki said, but you were certain he wasn’t asking in the literal sense.

Your stomach clenched and you felt a flutter in your chest. What was this?

You couldn’t stop thinking about him during the passing moments of the day. You wanted to be by his side in the most random and inconvenient times. And you were never able to get his annoyingly soft hair out of your mind.

You even found random strands of red hair on your clothes-- And you didn’t even mind!

“I don’t know, Shouto,” you replied, voice barely above a whisper.

“Me neither.” He exhaled deeply. “But whatever it is, I don’t want it to stop.”

- - - - -

+1: YOU FALL ASLEEP ON HIM

“You’re quite comfortable yourself, did you know that?”

“Am I?”

You and Shouto were lounging on a the common room couch on a Saturday night and he never wanted to get up. A random movie was streaming on the television as you traced circles onto his pectoral muscle with the tip of your finger.

As he toyed with the ends of your hair, you replied, “Especially with your quirk. Sometimes cuddling can be uncomfortable and sweaty-- But it’s better with you because of your temperature regulation.”

He frowned, touching an ice cold hand to your arm. Todoroki grinned when you squealed, trying to squirm away from his clutches. “Is that the only reason?”

Giggling, you placed your lips against his before resting your head back down on his chest. “No, but it is a bonus.”

Shouto hummed.

“I also like cuddling with you because you smell like Christmas.”

“Christmas?”

“Pine and peppermint-- Like a candy cane on a Christmas tree!”

Todoroki blinked, scratching his head at your observation. He wasn’t exactly sure how he smelled like that, but he supposed it could’ve been much worse.

“Do I?” he said.

“You do. It’s very comforting.” Todoroki noticed your voice grow softer and more lax as he continued stroking small circles against a point of pressure he felt on the nape of your neck. You sighed in contentment. “I feel more relaxed when I’m with you.”

“I feel that way, too.”

When you didn’t reply Shouto looked down to find your eyes shut as you snuggled deeper into his arms. Your hair cascaded around your face and he brushed them away before pressing a kiss against your forehead.

You were beautiful and you were all his, he thought with a small smile as he felt your breathing grow heavier.

Soon enough, Todoroki found his own eyes fluttering shut, his breath matching the steady beat of your heart as he drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Kirishima and Ashido walked into the common room, phones in hand as they spotted the sleeping pair.

“I knew they were bound to get together!” Kirishima exclaimed triumphantly, taking in the way Todoroki’s arm was braced protectively around your waist. He snapped a few photos and sent them to the group chat before turning to Mina with a pinched face. “But the longer I stare at them, the grosser they become.”

Ashido whacked him on the backside of his head before continuing to swoon over the sight of you and Todoroki.

“You just don’t know what love is, Kiri,” said Mina with a dramatic sigh. “Maybe one day when you’re manly enough you will.”

“Hey! You take that back--!”

When Todoroki awoke to a quarrelling flash of red and pink, he wasn’t quite sure what was going on. But when he checked the notification on his phone, what he was certain of was that he now had a new photo to set as his lock screen.

And as he looked from his phone to you sleeping next to him, Shouto caught a whiff of strawberries and realized that if he thought the picture was good, the real thing was a million times better.

[upthenorthmountain]

Heartwood - Chapter Six

Previous Chapters This got super long, I hope that isn’t a problem for anyone Chapter 6

Anna spent the evening sitting next to Kristoff by the fire, and a few people had teased them a little but nothing too much. She’d rested her head on his shoulder and kissed him when she felt like it; and that seemed to be perfectly fine with him. He’d kissed her goodnight outside her tent then retreated to his own.

Anna lay awake for a long time. She ran over the events of the last few hours in her head, and found them good. She wondered if she should have been disappointed that he had gone straight back to his own tent, but she also definitely felt like she’d had enough excitement for one day. Her stomach was full of a million butterflies. He’d said yes. Tomorrow she was going to move into his little house in the forest, and in a month they were going to get married. She could do whatever she wanted. She’d have to make a new will; she wanted to leave half her money to Kristoff and half to - she’d have to do some research into charities. No, wait. They wouldn’t be able to build on Bennett’s Field now, so the developers would want to sell it, probably for a fraction of what they paid. If she bought it, then she could leave that to Kristoff too and no one would ever build on it ever. Maybe she could buy out Elsa’s share of the other land, too.

Anna hugged herself. What a perfect plan.

-----

No one seemed surprised when Anna left the campsite with Kristoff the next morning.

Everyone packed up, and hugged, and said goodbye. The mood was a little more subdued but still fairly jubilant. The camp had been a success, and the bats were safe. Anna managed to get her tent back in its bag and stowed it in the back of Kristoff’s campervan, next to his. He was parked in a layby a little way down the road but she insisted on carrying all her things there herself.

“I told Lillian I was going to stay with you for a bit,” Anna said as they drove off, the camper clattering along the country road. “And do you know what she did?”

“No, what?”

“She put one hand on my shoulder and asked if I was on the pill.”

Kristoff laughed. “Of course she did.”

“I’m not, but I have one of those implant thingies. Um, just so you know.”

“Noted,” Kristoff said, not meeting her eye. Anna bit her lip; she’d wanted him to have that information but clearly it was too soon and now he was uncomfortable. Or maybe he just thought of her as an invalid. “You have to promise me something,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t want to think about - my health. I don’t want to talk about it. I haven’t told anyone except you and I’m not going to. And I don’t want you to treat me any different that you would otherwise, like I’m delicate. Okay? I just want to forget about it and live my life.”

He glanced sideways at her. “I can do that.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Thank you.” Anna pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to ring the registry office, okay?”

“Sure. What’s your address, your sister’s address?”

“Why?”

“Aren’t we going there to get some more of your things?”

Anna pulled a face. “Ugh. I suppose we should. Can we go to yours first, though?”

“I mean, sure, if you like.”

“Let me just make this call. If you’re still sure -”

“I said yes.”

Anna found the number on the web and dialled it. She spoke to a very nice woman who told her the wait at this time of year would be several weeks; then put her on hold, then came back and said “I just overheard my colleague on the phone and we’ve had a cancellation for this afternoon. Can you come in at three?”

“Um - yes. I think so. Can we go in at three?”

“Today?” Kristoff said. Anna nodded. “I guess so. Sure.”

“Okay, yes, that’s great,” Anna said into her phone. “Do we need anything?”

“You’ll both need to bring birth certificates and passports. Have either of you been married before?”

Anna hesitated.

“If so,” the woman continued, “You’ll need to bring the marriage certificate and either a death certificate or proof of divorce.”

“No problem.”

“Do you have a ceremony booked?”

“No. We need to do that too.”

“Well, when you come in we can sort that out. Three’o’clock, you know where the registry office is?”

“Yes, thank you. Okay. Thank you, see you later.” And she hung up.

“We need to bring our birth certificates and passports. Have you been married before?”

He gave her an odd look. “No.”

“Okay. Good. I mean, that’s simpler. Oh, no, now I have to go home.”

“Might as well get it done,” Kristoff said. Anna pulled a face, but she gave him the address.

----

Elsa opened the door while Anna was still fumbling for her key. “I was expecting you yesterday,” she said.

“Everyone stayed another night.”

“Well, in you come. Where’s your bag?”

“I’m not coming home, I’m just here to pick up some things. I’m going to stay with - a friend, for a while. Not sure how long.”

“A friend?”

“Mm. Someone I met at the camp. But he thinks you were at school with him.”

“Him?”

“Kristoff Bjorgman. He lives just outside town, he’s waiting in his car. Do I have any post?” And Anna headed for the stairs.

She got no answer. Elsa stayed in the hall, staring after her.

Anna went up to her room, and pulled out her suitcase from under the bed. Then she went round her room, gathering up a few of her clothes that she actually liked, and some jewellery and make-up and toiletries that she hadn’t felt she would need in the middle of a field. She took an old photo album with pictures of her parents, and a nice fluffy towel from her bathroom, and then on top she put her red dress and the sparkly shoes and shut the case. That would do.

Now she just needed her documents. Hopefully they were in the house, or that would set everything else back. Wheeling the case out into the hall, Anna ran into Stephanie coming out of Elsa’s office. “Oh, Stephanie,” Anna said. “How are you? Do you know where my passport and birth certificate are? I’m moving out.”

“Oh!” Stephanie said. “They’ll be in the safe. Let me just ask your sister if I should -”

“You’re going to ask my sister whether I can have my own passport and birth certificate?” Anna said. She felt a thrill; a month ago she’d have nodded and let Stephanie do it. But now she just stood there and raised her eyebrows, until Stephanie ducked back into the office and went behind the desk to the safe.

-----

Elsa was standing by the front door when Anna came down, bumping her case down the stairs, documents in her other hand. She said nothing until Anna was actually opening the door and lifting her suitcase over the frame.

“You know his mother was a drug addict.”

“How sad,” Anna said. “I don’t want the things I left in my room, feel free to take them to the charity shop or something. Or I can come back and do it another day.”

“And does he even know who his father is?”

“I haven’t asked. Because it doesn’t matter. Goodbye, Elsa. I hope you’ll be happy.”

“There’s more to life than being happy.”

“Is there?”

Anna pulled her suitcase to the end of the path. She waited for her sister to say something else, but she didn’t; all she heard was the door being shut behind her.

Kristoff was waiting by the camper, with the back open. He lifted her suitcase in and then went round to the driver’s side. Anna climbed back into the passenger seat.

“Okay?” he said.

“Mmhmm.”

“Got everything?”

She waved the documents at him. 

“Okay. Better go home and get mine then.” He started the engine.

-----

They drove back out towards the country. Anna felt her breathing ease as they left the town, as the surroundings once more became green and leafy. Partway down a winding country road Kristoff slowed and turned into a driveway that Anna wouldn’t even have noticed; they bumped down a track for a quarter of a mile, then he pulled up alongside a bungalow half-hidden in greenery.

Anna opened her door and hopped straight out of the campervan. Kristoff laughed and got out, heading to the front door. “It’s not much,” he said. “It’s basically a pile of breeze blocks covered in peeling plaster.”

Anna was bouncing on her toes. “Show me, show me everything,” she said.

“Okay. This is the front garden.” He gestured at the weedy gravel and straggly bushes along the drive. “First key, for the porch.”

He opened the outside door and led her through the porch that covered almost the whole front of the building. It had huge glass windows and was lined with shelves covered in plants, succulents and spider plants and busy lizzies. The spring sunshine through the windows made it as warm as a greenhouse. “Second key,” he said, and opened the heavier wooden door at the end.

This one led straight into the living room. One side had a cosy sofa and armchair in front of a woodstove in a tiled fireplace; the other had a wooden table and chairs, and a piano in the corner. Every wall had bookshelves, none of them matching, and there were plants on top of the piano and on the windowsills. And there was a ginger cat asleep in the middle of the table. 

“This is Banjo,” Kristoff said, scritching the cat under its chin. “Banj, this is Anna. She’s going to be stopping with us for a while.”

“Hello Banjo,” Anna said. Banjo lifted his head, looked at her, then put it back down and went back to sleep.

“He’s pretty old. He sleeps most of the time,” Kristoff said. “He has a bed by the fire but he never sleeps in it.”

“You have a real fire, I love it,” Anna said, stroking the cat gently.

“There’s another in the bedroom. It’s on the other side of the same chimney. There are electric storage heaters but I don’t use them, they’re a pain.”

He went over to one of the bookshelves and pulled a box off the bottom shelf, and rummaged in it until he pulled out his passport, then an envelope with B CERT written on it. 

Anna left the cat, who was fast asleep, and wandered down the hallway behind the living room. To the right there was a small kitchen, with a window that looked out onto a hedge. The opposite door, on the left, opened into the bedroom. It was a small room, with a wardrobe on one side of the chimney breast and a chest of drawers on the other, and a double bed facing them. The window looked out over what seemed to be the garden. 

The third door off the hall opened into the room behind the kitchen, which turned out to be the bathroom. Anna looked at it for a minute before realising what was missing; there was a bath and a sink, but no toilet.

Kristoff had come up behind her. “It’s not a big place,” he said. “But it does me.”

“...where’s the loo?”

“Oh, sure. It’s outside.”

“Outside? Like - in the garden?”

“I mean it’s inside. But it’s out here -” he reached past her and unbolted the back door that was at the end of the hall. It led out onto a covered walkway, and to the right there were two more doors, to two small rooms. One did indeed contain a toilet, and the other a washing machine.

“I didn’t think anyone had outside toilets any more,” Anna said. At least it looked clean.

“Well, it all works. I’ve thought of knocking it through and redoing the bathroom but that would cost a lot and take a long time so I’ve never got round to it. Also you should know that the shower is electric and twenty years old, it gets hot okay but the pressure is dismal. Baths are a better idea.”

“Okay.”

“And this is the garden.” Kristoff walked along the path. “That’s the shed. Vegetable patch. Those are fruit trees, that’s a natural wildflower meadow that is completely deliberate and not because I don’t own a lawnmower, and that’s my office.”

The office was a new building, in the back corner of the garden. It looked a little incongruous amongst the wildflowers and bushes. Anna waited for him to tell her what work he did in the office, but he didn’t. “Through that gate is the bridleway,” he said instead, “And if you go left and walk for about seven or eight minutes, then turn right at the road and go about fifty yards, you’re at Lillian’s house.”

“I thought you were neighbours?”

“That is neighbours. Unless you go round by the road. It’s nearly a ten-minute drive. Do you want to bring your stuff into the house? Though we should head back into town soon, there’s no food in the house so we’ll need to get some lunch somewhere. And stop at the supermarket before we come back.”

“Okay. Yes, I guess I should bring my things inside.” Anna gave his office another long look, not that there was much to see. There was a window, but it had a closed blind. She should just ask. But Kristoff was already walking back into the house.

They walked back through to the front. Anna fetched her suitcase from the back of the campervan and rolled it through to the bedroom. She stopped just inside the door, not sure where to put anything.

“Um. I cleared out a drawer for you. And the wardrobe isn’t full, there should be room for your things,” Kristoff said.

“When did you do that?”

“This morning when I came to feed Banjo. You were in your tent asleep,” he added.

“Oh. Thank you.” She heaved the case up onto the bed and opened it.

“And, ah, listen, Anna,” Kristoff said. “About - all this -”

“Uh-huh?”

“- I don’t want you to think - I mean, I’ll sleep in the living room. I can put my sleeping mat and sleeping bag on the floor -”

“Don’t be silly!”

“I mean it. I don’t want to assume anything, or…”

“We can sleep in the same bed. And if - anything else happens - then it happens. This is your house, you don’t have to sleep on the floor.”

Kristoff put his hands in his pockets.

“You’d better not sleep on the floor,” Anna said. She took out her red dress and turned towards the wardrobe. Kristoff looked at his watch.  “Let me just hang this up,” Anna said. “Then we can go.”

“I didn’t mean to -”

“It’s fine.” She hung up the dress - the wardrobe had maybe three shirts and one jacket in it, and that was all - and left the suitcase open on the bed. Kristoff reached behind her and flipped the top of the case closed. “Cat,” he explained.

----

“I’ve never lived with anyone before,” Kristoff said as they drove back towards town. “I’m sorry if I - I don’t know. Am inconsiderate, I guess. I’m so used to only having to think about myself.”

“I’ve never lived with anyone except my sister,” Anna said. “And she was a control freak. So I don’t really know how to live with someone in a normal way, either. I guess we just have to make it up as we go along.”

“I guess.” He still looked worried.

“Kristoff,” Anna said. “I don’t want to get in your way. I mean. I don’t want to impose too much.”

“You aren’t. Please don’t feel that you aren’t welcome. I mean. I was hoping to see more of you, after the camp was over, I just didn’t anticipate seeing this much of you.”

His expression was earnest again, and Anna felt bad for the snort of laughter that she couldn’t repress. When he looked puzzled she said “Play your cards right and you might see all of me.”

She half-thought he’d start apologising and trying to explain again, but he just laughed. “Noted.”

-----

The meeting with the registrar went fine; Anna was half-expecting questions about how long they’d been together and why they wanted to get married so quickly but it was mainly showing documents and proving they could legally marry. Other than that it was just the registrar trying to fit them in for the ceremony - she managed to find them a slot in five weeks time - and checking how they wanted it to go.

They got halfway home, and realised they’d forgotten to go to the supermarket; then with backtracking, and unpacking, and making dinner, the rest of the day was gone. Anna was glad she’d been selective about what she brought with her; it really was only a small house, but she supposed she didn’t need much. While she was putting away her clothes Kristoff put their tents and other camping things away in the shed. 

He also cooked. Anna helped him with some preparation, and insisted that she would wash up, though he said he didn’t mind. But she was determined she wasn’t going to loaf around and expect him to do everything.

“So,” Kristoff said, when they sat down to eat. “What are you going to do? Once you have your trust fund. Live it up?”

Anna picked up her fork and twirled it in her fingers for a moment. “I guess I could do anything,” she said. “I could go to - Disneyworld. Or the Maldives. Or New York.”

Kristoff nodded, swallowing. “Well, you can always come back here, in between. If you like.”

“Oh, I don’t think...I don’t know if I’ll travel the whole time, anyway. And I like being here with you.” She peeked up at him as she took a mouthful of food. “If that’s okay.”

He smiled. “I like you being here. It…” he hesitated, poking at his dinner. “I was used to living alone, I guess, but it’s almost like I didn’t realise I was lonely. Having someone else here, it’s nice.”

Anna smiled, relieved. “I’m glad. I mean. I’m not even a good cook.”

“You’re good company. And cooking is something you can learn, if you want to. It isn’t hard.”

“I’ve always wanted to bake bread. Is that weird?”

“Why would it be weird? Lillian bakes her own bread, I think. And all sorts of things. Ask her about it, she’ll show you.”

“She said she had some things I could help her with for her nature club. I was going to walk over there tomorrow.”

“It’s almost a mile. I think there’s a bike in the shed, if you like.”

“Oh, goodness. I haven’t ridden a bike in years.”

“I’ll see if I can find it after dinner. Tyres probably need pumping up.”

“I don’t have a helmet.” 

“It’s bridleway most of the way. Just don’t hit any trees.”

She must still have looked doubtful, because he added “Or walk, up to you. Take a bag, though, in case she gives you any eggs. I put your rucksack by the chair. She’s got about twenty semi-feral chickens, I haven’t bought an egg in years. I’m not sure I’ve ever bought an egg.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

He pulled a face. “I would, but I’ve been neglecting my work for a while now. I should get on. Give me a couple of days and I’ll show you around the neighbourhood a bit more.”

“Your work?”

“Yeah, I’ll need to shut myself up in my office, I’m sorry about that.”

“No, I mean...what do you actually do?”

Kristoff looked down at his plate, not meeting her eyes. “It’s not very interesting.” Anna folded her arms. “Tell you what,” he said, “If you can guess, I’ll tell you if you’re right.”

“Why? What do you do in there? Are you selling drugs.”

“No. Nothing illegal.”

“Something creative.”

“Okay, you have to make specific guesses.”

“Or you could just tell me.”

Kristoff put the last piece of pasta in his mouth and stood up, picking up his plate and cutlery. “Let me go and see if I can find that bike before it gets dark.”

“Are you a painter?”

“No.”

“Do you - repair antique watches.”

“No. Washing up liquid’s in the cupboard under the sink.”

-----

Anna washed up the plates and saucepans and stacked them neatly on the drying rack. What did it matter what he did, anyway? It was nice he had something he could do at home, and fit round the other things he wanted to do. He was very lucky in that. She guessed he couldn’t make very much, but since he’d inherited a free house he probably didn’t have to spend very much either. 

Without Kristoff in the room she felt she could look around a little more. The fittings in the kitchen had a distinctly homemade look to them - these weren’t units from B&Q, someone had put these together from actual bits of wood, and some years ago by the look of it. The cups and crockery might have been fifty years old if not more. A couple of the saucepans were new, and a couple more looked as if they might have been listed in the Domesday Book. 

The living room was similar. If she’d been dropped into the house with no knowledge of its occupant, she would never have imagined a young man living here; if you’d told her it still belonged to his grandparents, that would have made more sense. But she couldn’t blame him for working a job he enjoyed that let him have so much free time, if that balance with still using his grandmother’s old sofa, or a kitchen table with folded paper stuck under three of the four legs.

Anna put on her pyjamas and brushed her teeth. She wanted a bath but was too tired; she was a bit campsite-y but it could wait until the morning. At first she thought she’d sit in the living room and wait for Kristoff; then she thought she’d just lie down on the bed and read; and then she was startled awake by someone climbing into the bed next to her.

“Sorry,” Kristoff whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you. But maybe I should have. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Am I on the right side? I mean, the correct side.”

“Yes, you’re good. Goodnight, then.”

He was lying on his back. Anna pushed herself up on her elbow and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Goodnight,” she said, then turned over and pulled the blankets around her. It was strange, sharing a bed with someone. It was quiet; she couldn’t hear any traffic, the birds were asleep, there was just Kristoff’s breathing and a rustle as he turned onto his side. It was almost eerie. Hopefully it wouldn’t keep her awake.

And then it was morning.

[popculturebuffet]

Tom and Jerry 2021 Review: It’s Almost Adequate!

Hello you happy people, and welcome to a surprise review! While this was on my schedule, I moved it out to make room for my new Patreon Sponsored review. Yes at the 5 dollar tier you too can get a review a month.. but enough shilling. Point is I had some thoughts on the film, and felt I could squeeze a review of it into the schedule since my review for yesterday, the 90′s Tom and Jerry movie, got canceled as I both had to finish up my tex avery birthday review and hadn’t noticed it wasn’t on HBO Max like I thought. I could’ve sworn it was once but not anymore. Gee it’s almost like they removed their overtly awful Tom and Jerry movie from the service so people woudln’t be reminded of it when they watched the mediocre  new one. Or it was never on there because HBO wants to bury that mistake in a hole. You make the call. 

Point is I had some room in my schedule, so if I can’t cover the 1990 movie this weekend, though I FULLY intend to still do that at some point as it still fascinates me, might as well cover the one everyone’s actually watching. So join me under the cut with spoilers to go into why this film is .. ehhhh. under the cut

Tom and Jerry follows, as you’d expect, our working boys up to their ass in shit, what is this buisness. In this case Tom literally rides in on a rail with his keyboard wanting to be a big musician one day, while Jerry is shopping around for a home but can’t find any in his bracket. The two end up fighting, as you’d expect, when Tom performs as a blind cat in a park, a great gag, and Jerry first steals his customers by dancing to his music, but then when Tom tries to stop him, not only exposes his scam, but gets Tom’s beloved Keyboard broken. 

In the process of Tom trying to get Jerry back for runing his day, Tom ruins the day of Kayla, a cynical young lady played by Chole Grace Moretz who like Robin in the last theatrical film, is a blonde girl who takes up way more screen time than our heroes for some reason. Tom accidently destroys the clothes she was sent to deliver, and she gets fired from her Task Rabbit esque job... despite the fact that TaskRabbit is app based, entirely built around how you do jobs for hire as needed, and that at most she’d get a bad review and that the app dosen’t actually hire people. I know this both because i’ve seen the apps and parodies of it show up on tv shows I watch, most recently Close Enough, and because I took the 2 minutes it took to google it , read some of the Wikipedia article and do the bare minimum that me, a paid only by commissions and patreons reviewer, did to prove a point, and that the writers of this film, who likely got paid at least 10000 for a rewrite, and more for whoever wrote the treatment, which is about 30,000 at lowest as told to me by this article on what screenwriters get paid I looked up solely to prove a point. So they got paid tens of thousands of dollars, probably more than standard... to not spend 5 minutes looking up what task rabbit is, becuase they wanted to give her a “hip” job instead of just having her work for a dry cleaner. Then again they got thousands upon thousands to half ass it and i’m getting paid nothing to go on a rant about how they half assed it, so maybe i’m the dumbass, I dunno, but at least I take pride in my work. And i’ve had trouble spellchecking at times so take that as you will. 

But so far the film is not bad: the slapstick is blended really well, the action is pitch perfect and our heroes are given good motivations: Kayla’s to find a job, Tom to play piano professionally and Jerry to find a proper home. You ready for some letdown?!

 All three of our heroes converge at the Royal Gate Hotel, a prestigious hotel that’s been host to popes, dignitaries and Drake. Jerry sneaks inside, and soon finds himself at home and making himself home, Tom TRIES to and ends up getting on the wrong side of Butch, the black cat from the shorts played in this film by reggaton performer Nicky Jam. Why they choose him over a comedian or anyone who could actually act, especially since Butch dosen’t have a musical number or anything, is a riddle for the ages. My best guest, as it always is, is that Tim Story owes him a Wookie-Style life debt. Not only that but even more bafflingly Butch’s gang, who to the films credit like him are all his gang of cats from the classic shorts, are played by Kevin Hart’s Improve Troop, The Plastic Cup Boyz. I got a preview for what passing a kidney stone’s going to feel like just typing that name. I thought I had no explanation for this, not even a wookie life debt can explain how Kevin Hart’s posse, because he has one for some reason but at least unlike Adam Sandler he’s helping his smaller named friends get big instead of just promoting guys who really shouldn’t have a career or dragging poor guys like Shaq or Terry Crews into your bullcrap because they like you., can explain how this happened. But I forgot I looked up Tim Story’s filmography when I first found out he was director here, more on him later, and found out he directed both Ride Along films, both think like a man films, and one of Kevin Hart’s specials, so the two presumably are friends or at least have a solid working relationship, and given how successful the first Ride Along was for both men, I doubt Tim would turn down a favor from him and vice versa. 

And while I find the Plastic Cup Boyz inclusion in this film bizzare and wish it was fellow comedy troupe and starkid adjacent wonderkinds the Tin Can Bros so I could get Joey Richter voicing an animated cat, they at least try their best, their just not given much to do and I don’t get casting them in these side rolls or not giving the butch role to one of them as Nicky Jam just sucks in the role. And I get Butch isn’t the most solid or complex character, but it still isn’t THAT hard, with the 80 drumloads of great comedians out there, to find SOMEONE better, and it’s weird Kevin Hart himself isn’t in the roll. If it wasn’t a wookie life debt i’m betting Hart was going to play Butch, had to back out due to scheduling conflicts or whatever, and Tim found the first guy he could who’d take almost nothing instead of an actual actor. 

Kayla meanwhile somehow takes herself from sympathetic to wholly unlikeable in the span of the scene by maniuplating and terrifying a poor woman into not taking the job, outright STEALING HER RESUME, meaning if she screwed up this might go on the poor woman’s record, and lying her way into the job. And if the woman had been you know a classist dick or something, i’d understand but this is a perfectly nice lady who worked really hard, and who looses out on a job because some little bitch talked her out of it and then stole her identity. This one act really just makes me not care: It’s one thing to do what you gotta to get a job, I myself have never lied on an application but I get new york’s insanely expensive. Even if she presumibly lives in a hole that’s cramped, has roaches or rats, who given this unvierse probably have tiny tv’s that are still way too loud and binge watch way too much Jersey Shore at 2 in the morning, and is probably haunted, probably by Droopy wearing a bedsheet going boo but still, and yes he’s also alive here but he has identical cousins. Not the point. Point is even if she has sympathetic motives.. what she did is not okay and when she get flashes of guilt throughtout hte film it’s never long enough to feel like it’s not her simply feeling bad she didn’t get this herself and not that she STOLE IT FROM ANOTHER PERSON. Again if she’d FAKED her resume, this would’ve been fine, simply set up some websites, and it would’ve worked so why they went with this elaborate setup that takes her into outright crimes is beyond me. 

Point is she gets hired by the manager/owner, Mr. Dubrois, played by Rob Delany, but since his name isn’t used enough i’m just going to call him Mustache Manager. Her direct superior whose against her being hired is Terrance, the Gate’s Event Manager played by a way too good for this film Micheal Pena, who sadly is given nothing to work with. Terrance.. is supposed to be the bad guy because he distrusts kayla. And while one of those reasons is stupid, she makes a joke about the goldfish being an aquatics manger and he takes it dead seriously, he’s rightfully supscious she’s not who she says she is, since one of the places on her resume is a place he knows people from. The only way the film manages to make him the bad guy is he is COMICALLY out of touch: he dosen’t get sarcasm, as seen before, dosen’t want people posting jerry to “snapgram or instaface”, and seems to have trouble relating to his guests. What makes this not work is that he’s manger at a ludicrously expensive hotel. As such a good chunk of his events would be for Celebrties, since New York’s a big hub for them, having tons living there and visiting for films, apperances on late night talk shows, SNL and what have you and being a prime spot for events and it’s clear part of his job is talking to the guests as the two the film focuses on, more on that in a minute, know him and have met him before. He also mentions Drake having stayed there... he would NOT have kept this job. 

You’d need to do through research on these kinds of celebrates and social media is the easiest way to do that, to get what they like, what they don’t, what they don’t want to talk about, what scandals or gos might be going on to keep paparazzi out. I don’t even know how this business works nor did I google it.. and I didn’t to prove a point.. that even with no real idea how this works.. I still get what you’d probably need to know to make events for rich famous people. I’m not convinced Terrance knows how an internet works.  And given writer Kevin Costello wrote the well received and weird film I still want to see Brigbsby Bear, I get the sense a lot of this nonsense was added in rewrites demanded by executives and credit him more for what works in the film. More on that in a moment. 

Kayla is hired on because the Royal Gate has it’s biggest event ever, the wedding of Ben, played by Colin Jost, and Preeta, played by Pallavi Sharda. Why is it big? What do they do exactly? Are they trust fund babies? Did Ben invent an app? Did Preeta cure global warming? Did they both help defeat Galactus DEVOURER OF WORLDS?!... I dont’ know. If the film told me at all why their big names, even if it’s just because their famous for being famous which would be fine, why this is bigger than a fucking pope visiting, I missed it and I actually went back to their first scene and the scene where Mustache Manager brings up the wedding in the first place to Kayla, and found nothing. We just know their rich, their getting married, Ben doesn’t listen to Preeta and is insufferable, and that they own two classic Tom and Jerry characters: Ben owns spike whose played by Bobby Canavale who isn’t bad but dosen’t try to sound like spike at all and that annoys me given unlike Tom and Jerry, the former of whom’s signature noises from the cartoon were used archivally and otherwise dosen’t talk and only sings on occasion or does that wonderfully weird “don’t you belivie it” thing., has a distinct voice they could’ve got someone to imitate. The other is Preeya’s cat toodles, that white cat Tom is always trying to bang, who got a neat less anthro redesign. 

Toots, Toodles whatever you call her the redesign works, making her more of a cat, and only speaking in meows for some reason, and combinging the two female cats tom’s liked, but while still being just funny animal enough that him wanting some pussy, so to speak, isn’t too creepy. 

And this is where the film undergoes a bit of a shift. While the 20 or so minutes are rightfully focused on our boys with a bit of focus on Kayla, from here on out she’s our defacto lead. Given the last film did the same damn thing of making Tom and Jerry not the main leads in their own movie, you can see the problem.  I will say to the film’s credit it is still LEAGUES better in a lot of other ways than the 90′s film in that the plot is actually centered around them: Jerry, when stealing some cheese, and runs afoul of the tempermental Chef Jackie played by Kim Jeong. Though i’m 100% not convinced Ben Chang didn’t just lie on his resume at some place and has now somehow become a michline star canditate. He finds Jerry, and Kayla volunteers to catch him to help her own career and validly points out her doing this discreetly with only the staff knowing about the mouse will keep it from becoming a social media nightmare. 

The 90′s film could work without them, replacing them with any animal sidekick for Robin, since nit’s so far removed from Tom and Jerry their really an afterthought. Here the film DOES feel like a tom and jerry plot at it’s core, Jerry’s somewhere he shoudln’t be, Tom wants to chase him either due to personal greivance or his job depending on it, in this case both. The small side cast are all involved, and given decent if thin justifications for being there: Butch is an ally cat and Spike and Tootles are the pets of the happy couple. 

And honestly the slapstick portions, the portions that are tom and jerry focused or use the humans well, are BRILLIANT. No really, it’s good stuff once in a while using a bit from the classics but mostly coming up with new gags and the animation is gorgeous. I won’t lie and say it’s always perfect, sometimes the models are a bit off and look unfinished and that’s not forgivable when you delay your film two months, and thus have extra time to work on that. But that’s a few shots here and there versus the majority of hte film where the various animals all blend perfectly. Unlike most Live Action adaptations of an old cartoon, this one actually seemed to have good reason, as they’ve taken the basic roger rabbit tech of decades ago and expanded on it well. Just like that classic you often wonder how the hell they pulled this off, and outside of one egregrous sequence where tom sets up an elaborate trap we spend far too much time on, when they do use CG for any props, you can’t tell. This is best highlighted by what I consdier to be the film’s best sequence and what brings Tom into the plot proper after lurking on the fringes for a good 15 minutes: Tom, miserable in the rain, finds jerry living it up in an empty room, and after some fun shenanigans trying to get in, finally succeds leading to a good 2-3 minute sequence of the two chasing after each other in the room. There are no actors, no one else and the room is empty, but perfectly gimmicked to time with thier movments. Wether they used cg and I couldn’t tell or just simply timed things great, it’s utterly fantastic and shows why this film is live action: while i’td be fine animated they cleary ahd the tech and ideas to do it live and thus did it this way. Naturally Kayla meets Tom again, and after finding out the room was trashed by both him and Jerry gets Mustache Manager to hire him. 

But this is the problem: While there are great set pieces like this, or a REALLY damn impressive one later where Terrance gets dragged into a ball of violence while walking Spike for Ben and we see INSIDE IT, with Terrance not moving as fast but that being okay. And I love the movie’s commitment that ALL animals are animated. So it has it’s charms and gets a LOT right.

It’s clear to me from this strong core that the script was messed with, either by director Tim Story or the execs. Some misguided and stupid bits I get even if it was a bad idea: Tom does do the piano at one point, after he thinks he’s gotten rid of Jerry thanks to again an unwieldy overly long bit of CGI that’s a down spot on the usually good just tom and jerry stuff. And he STARTS singing a 40′s jazz song, and I thought “Okay they really got this and are doing something like is you is or is you ain’t my baby this will be fun”. Then T-Pain started using autotune, because of course, and Tom’s shoulder devil started scratching next to him...

By the way Tom’s Shoulder Devil and Angel are played very well by Lil Rel Howrey , aka Rod from Get Out. So good on you man, one bit of non miscasting.  There’s one or two cringe inducing moment of trying to be hip here or there though for a film like this it isn’t nearly as bad as you’d expect. Still bad but i’ve seen so much worse at this point i’m not going to bother getting mad or upset over it. I’m used to this kind of thing from kids movies. 

But while the film dosen’t really lack Tom and Jerry, it sidelines them way too often> There’s just too many scenes  just about Kayla, whose not only not a great character despite Chole trying her absolute hardest god bless her. Her hitting it off with the bartender, her arguing with Terrance whose even more insufferable and her bonding with Preeta and Ben being annoying, we’ll get to him.. WE’LL GET TO HIM. But they aren’t funny or interesting, there’s nothing THERE to really get me interested, nothing new or fresh that we haven’t seen done better before. There’s just nothing, it feels like large parts of blank space. And to illustrate this my Niece, who I watched the film with and really loves Tom and Jerry after I showed it to her... played with other stuff during most of those scenes. And she’s young, her attention span is not great.. but noticably during the actual scenes of slapstick she was glued to the tv, just like she was when I showed her the classic shorts. It’s not just old farts like me who remember tom and jerry from their youth.. it’s the kids your TRYING to appeal to that don’t want this. If you can’t get kids, who in general and speaking from my own personal experience will watch just about anything, to pay attention YOU. HAVE. FAILED. 

Okay took a second to compose myself, let’s move on to the rest of the movie. So after T-Pain stabbed music in the throat, we get to the worst section of the film as Kayla brokers peace between the two to get Preeta’s ring back after the three end up in the aformnetioned violence ball with Terrance, who she ducks his claims that she didn’t catch the mouse.. which she did not but for once she’s sympathetic as Terrance is much more likeable either, though gaslighting him and getting him put on leave is a bit extreme. Bafflingly, Kayla gets his job as event cordinator for now, and thus has to broker peace between the two warring factions.. and does so in the strangest way possible: by booking a day for them in new york to hang out and be BUDDIES!. This isn’t bad as the last film as it dosen’t last, but it is just.. surreal seeing the two having a hanging out montage around new york. Like the film just took a really weird turn with this, the montage itself isn’t weird, it’s standard shenanigans minus the fighting but still good stuff. Unlike the 90′s movie instead of singing about being palls or helping a small child, they just get into cartoony shenanigans together. More proof the film could’ve been so much better just with them. 

Speaking of proof the film would’ve been better without them , Ben fucks around with a drone for the wedding, after Preeta confided in Kayla the wedding’s getting to be a bit much. So let’s talk about Ben shall we? While Preeta is just nice, friendly and down to earth, Ben... is a dumbass, a jackass and just an ass. His whole schtick is that he keeps escalting the wedding despite her wishing he’d stop, and i’ts just.. not funny. A guy ignoring his partner’s wishes, constnatly doing big gestures in large part to try and win over her dad who RIGHTFULLY hates, and in general just sucks. I do not blame this on Colin Jost: He’s perfectly charming on SNL, and Weekend Update is usually damn fun under him and Micheal Che. But like with Pena and Mortez, he’s given NOTHING to work with, and furthe rmore can’t improvise.. aka the skill most SNL cast and almnus walk away with. So it’s no suprise he instead comes off like an anoying plank of wood you want to see fall down a manhole and never return so Preeta can marry someone else. I dunno the Doorman’s a pretty cool guy, and if he’s taken or something there’s always Droopy. Droopy’s the smoothest motherfucker and we all know. And if HE’S taken there’s mustache man. The point is we have a Dating Game’s worth of elligble bachelors and the film tries to sell a plank of wood who clearly wants to bang Preeta’s dad more than he wants a genuine equal relationship with Preeta. 

So that dosen’t help the final act.. which is started with something REALLY weird to round off tom and jerry’s day as Tom catches a ball, interupts a play and get.s. thrown in the pound for it?

I don’t know how tha’ts a crime, I don’t get it either, point is the animal control guy is a creep who shows them off as they pass some angry dogs.. and.. 

MY BOY. There was an earlier joke with him taking the place of The Joker, and I thought that was it sadly but nope there he is! While, given they don’t really have much to do with each other, it is a tad weird he’s been grafted onto the tom and jerry legacy.. I really don’t care because it means Droopy gets to show up every so often in other stuff like this.. And hopefully the spinoff series coming in the summer. I”ve talked before about how much I love this dog so having him show up here was a HUGE delight and easily the higlihgt of the film and the gag is perfect. WHy is he in prison? I don’t know. But given who we’re dealing with I also assume he just disappeared later and showed up at the Wolf’s place again to get the evidence to clear his name and to help a young brodway hopeful played by Peyton R LIst get to her audition in time. And yes I just imagined another live action film with a classic character.. but admit it you’d rather be watching that one. They also run into butch who tries to force him to eat Jerry or they’ll kill him. 

Terence saw the arrest on the tv though, so he bails the two out, pits them against each other, and sets them loose at the wedding. This goes how you’d expect. the two cause chaos and thanks to Weekend UpDumbass there’s pecocks, tigers and elephants, and Jerry naturally spooks the elephants, Spike, who has it in for tom as usual, goes after tom the tiger goes after him and the wedding is destroyed. Preeta breaks up with Ben and leaves, and Kayla is fired.

Less good is that Tom gets thrown out because Terrance backed out on his deal because he’s a fucking asshole. So while Kayla gripes to her sorta loveintrest bartender man, and wishes she could fix things, T and J show up, both realizing it’s their fault and both with a plan to fix things leading to our climax. Kayla goes back to the hotel, and while Terrance tries to boject she rightfully blackmails him. Sadly neither get their commupance and while Mustache Manager puts two and two together, he’s all for ending this PR Nightmare and helping with Kayla’s plan to get ben to stage a wedding in central park that Preeta actually wants while our two actual heroes go to stop her and do some light kidnapping of toodles to get Preeta to stop. 

So it ends how you’d expect: Preeta makes a huge mistake, seriously Droopy go to their honemoon I guarantee Ben will wonder off into the ocean because he thought it looked sick bro, Kayla gets her job back and in a move that makes her almost tolerable hires the woman she stole from who Terrance clearly wants to bang, and Tom actually catches Toot’s eye, but then Jerry mucks it up because cockblocking tom has been his job since the 40′s, they fight, Kayla tells them to cut it out, they put an the end thing over it. Roll credits. 

As you could tell I had issues with this film and had more the more I thought about it. So it’s not very good.. but I still recommend watching it if you have Max right now. Yes really. While the human parts are pretty awful as you could tell, you can have some fun mocking them, and it’s worth suffering through them for the bits with our boys, as those bits are geneuinely energetic, fun and what you came for. If you like tom and Jerry, you probably won’t like this movie.. but you’ll enjoy those bits. Hopefully if there’s a sequel, and this film was a suprise hit so their probably will be, they’ll learn their lesson from this one and focus less on the humans and more on the hyjinks but overall this is just a medicore waste of some really great technology and slapstick. This is just one huge ball of dispaointment instead of cartoon violence and i’m sorry it ended this way.  If you liked this review, you can follow me on my patreon at patreon.com/popculturebuffet. Even 1 dollar a month helps and my next stretch goal nets a Darkwing Duck episode a month, so if that excites you, please sign up. And if you can’t afford to that’s fine and feel free to stick around anyway. Times are hard and I get that. And I will see you at the next rainbow.