#i hate this show and i'm heartbroken that I'm already halfway through

[ariesqueencobra]

what we used to be | XlV

Pairing: Eli Moskowitz x Fem!Reader

Summary: Heartbroken, you have no idea what to do. Thankfully you still have Demitri and he shows you exactly what you need– peace.

Warnings: swearing, dojo rivalry, mentions of toxic relationships

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: I'm eating up this drama right now! I freaking love it!

Thank you to those who already reblog and comment, I see you and I love you all for it!

I don't consent to this work being copied, translated or reposted.

You wiped your eyes again, and the skin around them felt puffy and sore from all the rubbing you did. But you couldn’t help it, you were heartbroken. 

All because you broke up with the guy you were in love with and left the dojo that made you strong.

Staring at the AP Bio packet in front of you, you cried harder. You couldn’t get the problem right, if Eli were here, he would’ve helped. But even thinking of that didn’t help the tears. 

Exhaling a shaky breath, you ate from the tub of ice cream your mother gave you, claiming it would help with the heartache. It kinda did, but then again, it was ice cream.

About to admit defeat and crawl back into bed where you spent the better part of the last two days, you shrieked at the sight of someone at your door.

“Woah didn’t mean to startle you,” Demitri grinned, holding his arms out in defense.

“How did you get inside?” You asked him, quick to wipe your eyes even though your state was evident.

“Your mom let me in,” he shrugged, taking a step into your room. “You weren’t answering your texts,” he sat on your bed in front of you. “I got worried when I found out you left Cobra Kai after you broke up with you know who.”

You frowned. “How’d you find out?” You turned around, doodling on the page as you rested your chin on your knee. You didn’t want to be reminded that gossip was spreading around.

“Sam heard from Moon who heard from Aisha,” he said. “It’s nice to hear you got out before things got worse,” he offered a smile. “I know it may not seem like it, but this was a good decision.”

“I miss it,” you said. “I liked being there with my friends and well,” you trailed. “Part of me wonders if the reason I walked out was because I couldn’t stand seeing him anymore knowing what he did to you,” you turned halfway to face him.

“You broke up with Eli because of me?” He processed it.

You glanced at him expectantly. “I thought he would change but he didn’t,” you shrugged. “Or I thought he wasn’t going to change but he did,” you corrected. “He hurt you, Demitri,” you blinked a few tears away.

“Yeah, but you loved him,” he said matter of factly. 

“Love,” you corrected. “If I loved him, this would be easier,” you chewed on your lip, furrowing your brows as another wave of pain shocked through your chest. “I didn’t think it’d be this bad,” you began. “Everything was perfect and it all came crumbling down,” you snapped your fingers. “I have nothing left going for me.”

No boyfriend, no dojo. What were you to do? 

“You should join Miyagi-Do,” he suggested.

Your eyes widened and you looked at him like he grew two heads. “I can’t betray Cobra Kai like that and I’m sure Sam and Robby would hate me.” 

“Hear me out,” he held his arms out. “Miyagi-Do isn’t about fighting, it’s about finding inner peace, right now, after everything you’re going through, you deserve some tranquility,” he said. “Plus, it’ll keep your mind off of you know who,” he emphasized, repeating in the same manner as before.

You cracked a smile, rolling your lips against your teeth after a pause. “Can I think about it?” 

He nodded. “We’re having class tomorrow, doors are open for anyone and everyone,” he stood up. “I’ll head out before your dad gets home,” he patted your shoulder. 

“It’s fine if you stay, he doesn’t mind you,” you stopped him. “He only disliked Eli because he knew I liked him,” you shrugged, offering him a smile. “He didn’t want me to get hurt.”

“I knew it!” He smiled in satisfaction. 

You let out a genuine laugh.

“C’mon, I bet my mom is making that cream cheese dip you love so much,” you chuckled, standing up and making your way to the kitchen.

“Now, I do love a good dip,” he wrapped his arm around your shoulders, making you erupt in giggles. 

~

Later in the day, after Demitri had left for practice, you were feeling better. Your spirits were lifted more after you received a message from Aisha, asking to meet you at your usual restaurant. 

You were excited to see her but when you walked inside, you didn’t catch sight of your friend, only spiky red hair. You turned around the moment he saw you, walking out into the parking lot and back toward your bike.

“Wait!” He caught up to you, hands placed on your handlebars. “I want to talk.” 

“I don’t!” You exclaimed, trying to side-step him but he was quicker. 

“You shouldn’t have left Cobra Kai,” he said, sighing. 

“Why? Did my leaving throw off your plan of winning me back?” You cocked a brow. 

His jaw clenched. “Why did you leave then?” He raised his hands slightly. 

“Because I realized how it turned a sweet guy into a bully,” you stated, not missing the way his eyes darkened. “I needed to get out before I changed as well,” you gulped.

“You’re so focused on how I changed that you’re forgetting you did too,” he said, leaning onto your handlebars as he towered over you. “But unlike you, I really liked the changes,” he smiled. “You’re more confident, you started wearing makeup, wear fitted clothes,” he listed off, dragging his gaze over your frame, noting the denim shorts and cropped tank top you had on.

You frowned that you couldn’t deny it, last summer you wouldn’t have been caught dead in that outfit. But here you are. Even if it was a four-step makeup routine or better-fitting clothes—the changes were small but they were there.

“That’s the thing, they’re just clothes,” you stared at him. “Just like your mohawk but the difference between you and me is that I’m not beating up my friend over a stupid Yelp review,” you stated clearly.

His nostrils flared. “Why does that matter? Nothing else should matter but us,” he gestured between the two of you.

“Us? What us? We’re done, Eli,” You sneered. 

“I’m not admitting defeat,” he shook his head. 

“Am I prize to you?” You raised a brow, feeling hurt that’s all he saw.

“No, you’re so much more than that.” he furrowed his brows. “I love you, so I’m not giving up on our relationship,” he said.

“You did the moment you hurt Demitri. And he’s important to me so if there was truly an “us”, he would’ve mattered to you too,” you stated. “Now please get your hands off my bike and move out of the way before I scream,” you warned. 

He stared you down before he sighed, taking his weight off your bike and stepping to the side, watching as you rode off.

The second you were out of earshot, the waterworks began. A recollection of two nights before hit you and you were reconsidering Demitri’s offer about getting some tranquility.

~

You followed the directions Demitri sent you the next day. You were intrigued the moment you stepped foot on Miyagi-Do, seeing the small structure and the many vintage cars lined up to the side. And just like your friend said, the doors were open. 

Nerves racked through you as you made your way to the back where a crowd of students were greeting Mr. LaRusso.

He seemed approachable compared to Sensei and the smile he sent your way as he greeted you pushed all the nerves away. 

“Welcome to Miyagi-Do,” he shook your hand. 

“Hi, Mr. LaRusso,” you greeted. “This is a dojo?” You asked, unsure why it was outside, still the scenery was picture-perfect. You were inclined to ask if you could paint it one day.

He chuckled at your question. “Yes, it is, why don’t you follow the rest of the group, we’ll get ready for your first lesson,” he gestured to the group of boys.

Knowing Sam was here, you’d be outnumbered by boys again. 

Scanning over the dojo, you caught sight of Demitri, he sent a smile your way, waving. You returned it, pausing when Sam and Robby sneered at you, clearly not wanting you here. You looked away, making your way for your first lesson.

Your first lesson wasn’t any drills you were used to before. Though, didn’t mean your first lesson was easy as you were tasked to help Robby and Sam repot the plants that were destroyed. 

Manual labor, yet that wasn’t the hard part. It was awkward, clearly something going on between them but also them not wanting you there. 

“Wait, the hole is too small, it won’t be able to grow,” you stopped Sam from placing the plant in the pot. 

“How do you know that?” She asked you, beginning to dig a wider hole. 

“I garden with my parents sometimes,” you said, shrugging. 

She sent Robby a look that you noticed. During the next few minutes, you kept quiet to yourself, just doing your task as you were told. 

To be honest, it wasn’t even a full day and you could already feel the peace. Being outside, in nature—it was great. 

“Why are you here?” Robby asked suddenly.

You raised your brows in shock. While you understood, the third degree was kinda rough. 

“Demitri told me Miyagi-Do would help me,” you explained. “I wanted to give it a shot,” you shrugged, offering him a smile.

He didn’t return it. “I don’t understand how he’s friends with you after what your boyfriend did,” he scoffed, focusing back on the task at hand.

“I had nothing to do with that,” you grew defensive but kept your tone even. “I broke up with Eli because of what he pulled at the mall with you guys,” you frowned. “I left Cobra Kai because I didn’t want to become an asshole.” 

His face softened a bit. “I didn’t know that.”

“I know,” you said lightly. “But now you do. I’m not here to make enemies, I’m just here to find peace. I know my affiliation with Cobra Kai may contradict it, but I always respected Miyagi-Do.” 

“Well, you’re in the right place,” Sam offered, while she was a little hesitant, she seemed warmer to you being there. 

A commotion was heard where Demitri and Chris stood, suddenly Chris was pushing Demitri to the ground.

The three of you ran over. 

“Woah, what’s going on? We’re all on the same team now,” Mr. LaRusso came running over. 

“Once a Cobra Kai, always a Cobra Kai,” Robby gestured, face pinched.

You frowned, glancing at Chris sympathetically before you checked on Demitri to make sure he was okay. 

“That’s not true, I know it’s not true ‘cause I used to be a Cobra Kai,” he confessed.

Your brows raised in shock.

He then guided you all to join him inside to tell the story. 

It began in 1985 when he won his first All Valley, Mr. Miyagi didn’t want him fighting anymore because he didn’t believe in fighting for trophies. 

You kept your attention on his voice, interested to learn about his sensei.

He sounded so different compared to Kreese.

“I’ll admit, Cobra Kai makes you feel tougher, stronger. But it will also get you in trouble, that’s what happened to me,” he said. He continued how Mr. Miyagi accepted him back, that now it didn’t matter where we came from, all that matters is, “We are all Miyagi-Do.” 

You smiled, glancing at Robby briefly.

Chris and Demitri attempted their fulcrum again, this time it worked as they teamed together.

“You see, if we work as a team, anything is possible,” Mr. LaRusso praised.

~

“We’re heading to the beach just to hang out, do you want to come?” Demitri asked. 

You glanced at Robby and Sam behind him, talking amongst themselves. 

“Are you sure I’m wanted?”

He sighed. “They just have to get to know you, besides, there’s some heavy romantic tension between them and I don’t want to be the third wheel,” he said, almost pleadingly.

“Sure, why not?” You shrugged. 

The two were okay with you tagging along and if they showed any reluctance, they didn’t voice it.

So here you were on the beach, playing a fun game of soccer before Sam went to take a break and you followed her.

“Thanks for letting me tag along. I know you don’t trust me yet,” you said.

She arched a brow, sipping her water. “If Demitri trusts you, then I’ll have to take his word for it, but jumping from Cobra Kai to Miyagi-Do isn’t an easy switch.”

“Or maybe it’s refreshing to find peace after being in a toxic relationship,” you hummed, unaware that you made a personal connection. 

“It was that bad, huh?” 

“Seeing the boy you fell in love with change into something he’s not is bad, right?” You raised a brow, offering a smile.

She contemplated before nodding. “I get that.”

“We don’t have to be best friends or anything, but as long as we get along, I’ll be happy,” you said.

“Me too.”

The next day, you joined class again. 

Standing near Demitri, you kept focus on Sensei LaRusso. 

“Face me, bow,” he instructed.

You followed. 

“Aits,” he began the movement. 

You mirrored him, your breath controlled and steady with your movements. It was therapeutic and for once, you felt calm. 

It was a change you embraced.

[young-royals-confessions]

Hello hello, it's anon from the flight! And how lovely it's this fandom that I got a moniker from an anon confession? I've read the messages and checked the reblogs and wow! I seriously didn't expect for my unhinged message to be this welcomed since I'm three years too late to this beautiful show! With this beautiful people and thank you so much to everyone who recommended me to listen to the Simon-not-actually-made-by-AI actor. AND SINGER! BEAUTIFUL AND TALENTED. I'm still in disbelief he's real, like Omar Rudberg is so pretty AND has such a nice voice??? AND HE'S GORGEOUS and he's a great actor and UGH THE CHEMISTRY. With who I now know iis called Edvin and now I feel the need to see them acting next to eachother forever and ever, so much chemistry can't be wasted!! (looking at Netflix. I'm still so crossed I missed out of this beauty for three years wtf Netflix)

SO I binge watched the second season, patience isn't my name, and WHAT THE FUCK. Was not prepared for that rollercoaster. I gotta be honest, I almost stopped watching and went to sleep halfway through the season like ugh I fucking hate that Marcus dude, sure in the end I understand why he was a necessary evil for the plot but I fucking hate love triangles. I was a teenage girl during the height of love triangles in tv shows, I hate them. But I hate August the most. I think of his face and feel enraged.

BUUUUUUUUUUT UGHHHH. THE LOVE BETWEEN SIMON AND WILLE. That overpowered everything. Seriously, how am I supposed to be functional after being a witness to their valentine's ball kiss? And Simon's song? (Which I have been obbsessively listening on repeat WTF I understand nothing but I can feel FEEL the meaning on my bones. This beautiful dude's voice wtf. I can understand Wille's obsession, I'm practically obsessed too now wtf)

AND THE END OHMYGOD. A BALM FOR MY SOUL. I was kind of hoping to get heartbroken AGAin for shit and giggles but noooo, I got the best ending and I'm trying to not be too spoiler-ey since I'm sure I'm not the only human being living in this planet called Earth who's unaware the most perfect TV show exists and it's called Young Royals and beautiful people are in it to everyone taste no matter your sexual orientation (like hello Felice too!)(still shocked Omar Rudberg is a real person and not generated by artificial intelligence, maybe I'll be convinced after some proper sleep time, but for now he's too beautiful to be real. Not even exaggerating and I'm really good at that okay!)

I'm still processing the second season, I took a nap after I finished but I'm still tired since I cried and laughed and was left with the biggest smile in my face (and I also was in an 8 hour flight!) and then went to youtube and saw a clip from season 3 AND OMFG THESE TWO DUDES ARE TOO PRETTY FOR WORDS. Happiness and love look wonderful in Wille, like the literal heart eyes he's delivering there? That's how I feel when I see Simon too. Relatable character is relatable. What can I say about Simon without sounding crazy except I need to protect him at all costs??

I don't know what else to say except THANK YOU for reading me and thank you to everyone who has been nice to me in the comments even when I'm still anon, it means the world to me. I hope I'll be more coherent after eight hours of sleep and I won't be too embarrassed reading my own message tomorrow lmao and I don't know how I'm going to survive until 2024 for season 3, I'm sitting here taking notes for that too! I already know the answer it's fanfics so I'll be checking AO3 but also analysis? Meta? how are you guys for real? I was expecting a teenage fandom with just vibes but I guess I was wrong. And I love it. As much as I love the show and Simon and Wille's relationship and I gotta be honest, Omar Rudberg's face and voice. UGH.

Thank you so much for reading me again and for everyone who has left messages for me, I'll freak out more once I get some proper sleep!

Thank you and I'm sorry again XOXO

YAY thanks for coming back!! 💜💜💜

[rahleeyah]

I think my main problem with the TL final is that I actually liked and enjoyed it and, with the exception of Ted, Rebecca, and Beard, I was happy with where it left everyone. So it's been hard for me to properly reconcile these positive emotions with how sad and annoyed I am at the way Ted's and Rebecca's and Beard's stories ended. It feels like they got 'paper endings' - endings that they should have had, that made sense for them to have; endings that looked good on paper but that somehow failed to transition properly to the screen. Like Beard choosing his new life and girlfriend in Richmond over his old life in Kansas makes perfect sense. He doesn't appear to have anyone or anything waiting for him back in Kansas so of course he decides to stay. Except the show has spent three seasons showing both Jane and their relationship to be toxic (at best) and outright abusive (at worst) and I'm sad that (dream or not) married to Jane with a baby on the way was deemed the best ending for him.

After her relationship with Rupert Rebecca deserved to have a happy ending surrounded by her friends and with someone who loves her. And she gets that! And the chance to be a mother! And yet her ending feels so unsatisfactory because they put their female lead with a man with no name who was introduced halfway through the final season with only 20 minutes of screen time. But the thing that I'm really annoyed about is that I would have been fine with her ending up with him if they had put the effort into building their relationship. Amsterdam showed that there was something between them and they could have easily used that as a jumping off point to build something more solid between them that would make their ending satisfying. Instead, they chose to have Rebecca decide not to know his name; they chose for her to decide not to keep in contact with him; they drew a line under Amsterdam as soon as the episode had finished and now I can't be happy that a character I love is in a relationship that (appears to) make her happy because I have absolutely no emotional investment in it whatsoever. She got the ending I wanted for her and I cannot enjoy it and I am heartbroken by that. (1/2)

Hi ok I know it's been a minute but let's get into it:

(this is a lot I'm gonna try to do this in order)

I did like parts of it, sort of, and I agree with you on the 'paper endings' thing - it looks good on paper but it doesn't resonate, emotionally.

I hated what they did with Roy/Keeley/Jamie but that's a separate post.

Yes the Beard thing works on paper - he stays with his new love - but not in practice bc she's awful, and everything Brendan has said about it has raised huge red flags to me; it's not abuse why? Bc she's a woman and it's cute/endearing when women are abusive??

Rebecca finding a supportive man, and family, is great, except you're right - who is this guy? Why do we care? It was so on the nose, also; I was looking for "Rebecca is already a mother to the team, to the fans, and that is a valid way of nurturing and loving people" but instead we got "the traditional heterosexual family structure is the only valid family structure."

Ted doesn't really grow; he's right back where he started, putting aside his own needs and desires for other people, his life hopelessly entangled with the woman who left him for their couples therapist.

And Ted and Rebecca!! What was the point of the parallels with their fathers, their awful exes, the when Harry met Sally couple in the stands! What was the point of these deliberate choices that were made to draw a line between Ted and Rebecca only for the writers and cast to now mock people who thought all those choices meant something? That is a profound piece of cruelty; I've had ships that were fan creations, that weren't ever gonna be main text, and that is not what this was. This wasn't delusion; this was baked right in, and now they're shaking their heads at us?

And Ted, at the end, looks miserable.

I've been thinking lately that there feels like a lot about the ending of this show that is deeply masculine, by which I mean it is reflective of how our society says men are supposed to behave and what our society says men are supposed to believe.

Sport is one of the few places where men's emotions are encouraged. You're meant to love your team, your teammates, meant to laugh and cry and scream with them, but being on a sports team is by its very definition transient. Those relationships are so profound when you're in them, but they are meant to come to an end; the season's over, a player gets traded, you're too old to do it anymore, etc, and then the men have to go back to what society will allow them to have: family. A woman and child to love, not a found family of fellow men. The man can't aspire to stay with his team; he's only meant to be with them for a season.

And that's true of a lot of different kinds of relationships, but I just think it's very telling that we have a bunch of men running this show saying obviously the romance with Rebecca wasn't real - she's not Ted's wife, not the mother of his child, she can't take priority - saying Ted had to put Henry, had to put being a father (being a father in the strictest, most traditional way, no out of the box thinking or creative solutions here) above any other relationships he might have, bc he's not supposed to want kinship with those men, he's only supposed to want it with his family.

Idk this is something I'm still trying to articulate but it makes me very, very sad bc I think it reflects an attitude of people who think they don't deserve to stay with their friends, with their community, where they're happy, bc they have obligations that they are only permitted to fulfill in one very strict, structured, lonesome way.

[brookriver-mudlark]

i will be one with the Allspark soon

[passable-talent]

OMG is it too much to ask for a continuation of the last person's ask request ? Like I loved it so much but was heartbroken at the angst ending. Could you like do where the reader has to adjust to him being there and they work through there feelings them eventually falling hard for zuko as they did for Lee and Zuko tries his best to make things right them and whether or not it works is up to you I'm down for a surprise will they/won't they?

I’m going to... scream

someone, you my friend, loved my fic SO MUCH you want a continuation??????

I owe u my life thank you so much 💕💕💕💕

side bar I watched The Western Air Temple to get the true 👌🏻👌🏻 canon compliance of this ask and I am like, not okay. i would give my life for Zuko and the episode is SUCH a rollercoaster and a masterpiece of the group’s collective opinions of Zuko, I could go off but I’m not gonna. mostly? 18 y/o me cannot handle the resurgence of 6 y/o me that just crushes on Zuko like crazy

this is gonna be another long one because I actually really like this storyline? also ya boi is a sucker for angst

continuation of this post

You’d stalked back into the temple, finding an empty room to sulk in, anger and sadness and betrayal and all sorts of upset wrestling in your heart. You thumped your back against the wall, scowling, and reached up to wipe a tear you weren’t aware had fallen, forcefully, as though you were angry at it.

Maybe you were.

Zuko had betrayed you. He had been given the choice, and he chose poorly. He had no excuse for that. You could’ve even understood if he’d regretted it immediately, but he hadn’t! He had stayed in the fire nation for months!

What had changed? What had rocked his life so deeply that he’d come to the avatar? Was he being honest, or was it a trap? You wouldn’t put a trap past him, not after all of his past treachery.

Though you didn’t want to see him, you did want to know what was going on, in case there was a fight and you needed to intervene. It was as good a time as ever, you decided, to practice seismic senses. You weren’t quite good at it yet, and not nearly as good as Toph, but you’d been learning.

Pushing off of the wall with a motion still angry, you took a step forward and kneeled, settling both knees onto the floor. Already you closed your eyes, regulating your breathing as though deep in meditation.

The touch of your fingertips to the stone floor was light, at first, feathery, but slowly you moved your hands forward and laid the palm down. You stilled, your body not moving even a bit, and slowly a scene began to take form. It wasn’t a picture, and you couldn’t see it exactly, it was like the way that your fingers could find your nose even when your eyes were closed. You just knew, as though the ground itself was an extension of your body.

You could sense Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, standing together and facing Zuko. You couldn’t quite understand his movements, but you knew they were frantic, whereas Team Avatar stood ready in stances prepared to fight.

The image went fuzzy as your heartbeat sped up, and by the time you could get it to clear up again enough to make sense of it, Zuko was gone. You stood up, and walked back out to the rest of the group, fists clenched at your side.

“So you kicked him out, huh?”

“We had to!” Katara said, a snarl in her voice. “He’s-“

“Don’t defend yourself to me,” you interrupted, “I probably would’ve done something worse.” There was a pause, in which you followed their lead to grab your sleeping bundle from Appa’s saddle. “And even if I hadn’t, my voice will only confuse our decision. I’m not even sure what I think of him, but I know I’m angry.”

“We can’t trust him,” Katara said, and you dropped your bundle so you could use it as a seat.

“I kind of have a confession to make,” Aang said, and the night only got weirder from there.

When Toph came back, you weren’t surprised she’d been burnt. And you weren’t surprised when Combustion Man resurfaced, too. You had the forethought to throw a rock shield from rubble in front of your friends, but very quickly Aang and Katara’s attempts at fighting back made the five of you realize you needed to find an even better place to hide.

What did surprise you was that Zuko swooped in, to try to stop the assassin. Despite everything about yourself, despite everything he’d done, you felt cold dread grip your heart when he was thrown back over the edge of the temple, and may have even tried to save him if it weren’t for Combustion Man’s constant explosions.

But Sokka did what Sokka did best, and soon the assassin was gone, leaving behind a clear view of the fire prince climbing a vine back up to safety.

“Oh. Zuko made it,” you said, your tone halfway between relief and annoyance.

His speech to Aang was everything you expected to hear, and it seemed as though he’d earned Aang’s forgiveness. Your heart still racing, you listened, to Aang’s words. You didn’t dare look at Zuko, and so stood beside Katara, staring at the ground by her feet. You tried to let anger be your shield, because Zuko’s presence made you remember all to easily how much you cared for him, even if it was a different part of him, under a different name.

“Now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love.” The sentence made you lift your head, and for the first time you let your gaze slide to Zuko. You caught his eye, just for a moment, as though the sentence had had the same effect on him. But he brought his focus back to Aang, to be told that he needed permission from all members of Team Avatar. Toph and Sokka’s answers were affirmative, and you knew yours would be the same- but that didn’t mean that you had to go easy on him.

“Y/N?” Aang asked, and you raised your chin, though still your gaze was on the floor, unfolding your arms from your chest.

“There’s good in him,” you started, and you raised your gaze finally to Aang. “I’ve seen it. And if you think that this is proof that he can let it-“ you slid your eyes to Zuko, a soft glare making up your expression. “-guide his actions,” you looked back to Aang with a small nod, “then I’m okay with it.” You didn’t dare look back at Zuko, you didn’t want to know his reaction. But mostly, you didn’t want to see his face, remind yourself how much you still cared for him.

It was easy, you decided as you laid in bed that night, to hate him when he wasn’t in front of you. It was easy to be angry and talk of how you’d hurt him when you couldn’t see him, hear his voice. But now that he was here, and you’d watched him fight, you knew that that wasn’t the truth of it. You still cared for him. Lee hadn’t been washed away in Ba Sing Se- the aspects of Zuko’s personality that Lee was made of were still there, and very much alive. You saw it in the small smile he’d let himself crack when you glanced back as Team Avatar walked away from him.

The boy you’d almost fallen in love with was very much alive. And though he’d betrayed you, he’d hurt you, he’d betrayed and hurt the people you cared about- it didn’t stop you from wanting to love him again.

“Y/N?” came Zuko’s voice from just outside your door, and your first response was to earthbend a slab from the floor that sealed the door shut. “I know you’re angry, please, just let me in so that I can talk. You don’t need to listen, or look at me, I just want to say things to you. I need to.” Despite yourself, you wanted to hear what he had to say, and so you uncurled just enough to pull your slab through the door, though you didn’t move it far enough to allow him to enter the room.

Reaching down to press your palm to the floor, you used seismic sense to make out that he’d sat down on the other side of the slab.

“Thank you,” were his first words, and you assumed that he meant for moving the slab. You were wrong. “-for saying that about me. You, I feel like I’ve hurt you the most. I know that that’s selfish, or- or ignorant, because I’ve done terrible things to Aang and Sokka and Katara, but-“ he sighed, and you heard what you thought was an impact between palm and forehead.

“But when I did those things to them, I didn’t care about them. I cared about you.” Though you couldn’t see him, through your little wall of rock, his words made you turn, rolling over to face where his body was.

“I cared about you a lot, and still I let Azula-“ once again he cut himself off. “You deserve a proper explanation, Y/N, even if it isn’t a good one.”

“My mom always treated me differently than my sister, I know that. My father did too, but in a different way. He didn’t- he wanted nothing to do with me. I was his eldest, his son, and he didn’t seem to like me at all. He was the one that gave me my scar, you know.” His next sentence was lost on you as you sat up, anger hot as lightning coursing through your veins.

You knew that scar had come from a firebender. But between Ba Sing Se and this moment, you’d been so caught up in your anger that you never stopped to realize that Zuko was a firebender too, and so a firebender must’ve hurt another firebender, and who would’ve done that? His father, the fire lord? If Aang didn’t take him down, you decided that you would.

“I spent years blindly searching for the avatar, not letting anything get in my way. I was so cruel. To Katara and Sokka, to Toph and Aang, I was so cruel because I just wanted to go home. I wanted to earn my honor, but moreso I just wanted to show my father that I could do what he asked.” You heard a tremor in his voice.

“And I was so blind, it made me ignore how important my uncle was to me. I see it now- and I think back on his face right after I betrayed him, and I just feel so ashamed.” He paused, leveling his voice before he said his next words.

“I think about how you looked. When Azula said that you were my enemy, too. I know it’s no excuse, but she’s so manipulative, she’s such a-“ There was quiet as he let out a breath.

“I don’t regret spending my time in Ba Sing Se with you. But I do regret how it ended. You have every reason to be angry with me, you’re right to be. I’m so sorry, Y/N.” You thought, for a moment, that he was done, but still he didn’t move.

“When I went back to the fire nation, I fell back in with an old girlfriend I’d had before I was banished. But it felt wrong. It felt like- like I was just with her to try to regain my life from before, but I wasn’t that person anymore. I wrote her a letter, but I didn’t know what to say, and...” Zuko paused, and sighed. You wondered, with a bit of bitterness, why he would tell you about a girlfriend he’d had between the last time the two of you saw each other. Wasn’t he just giving you more reason to be angry with him?

“I’ll never have enough words to tell you how sorry I am. And I know I don’t deserve a second chance from you. I deserve nothing but hatred and- and anger and everything you can throw at me, because I asked for it when I turned against you.” You stared at your slab, and wondered how long it would be before your eyes bore holes straight through it.

“Just... just know that I’m sorry, and I- I’m never going to treat you like that again.” He took a deep breath, as though meditating, or summoning his courage. “Know that I’ve thought about you almost every day. About that time you spilled tea on me and tried to pay for a replacement shirt, and-“ he tapered off, and let out the rest of his breath. “You’re probably asleep.” He was silent, for a moment, as he reached up to press his hand onto the rock keeping him from you.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” You heard him stand up and walk away.

You remembered the night he was talking about. Mushi- Iroh- had let you stay past when the shop closed, before you worked there. Zuko had sat down across from you and closed your textbook whenever you tried to read, and finally you’d gotten frustrated and put it away. You’d tried to put your feet up, but instead kneed the table, and sent his cup rolling, spilling his tea onto his shirt.

Looking back on it, it made sense why the heat of the tea didn’t bother him. He was a firebender, after all.

The part that he’d failed to mention tonight was how he’d walked to a back room to get another shirt, as you followed, insisting on paying for the ‘damages’. But the words had caught in your throat when he took off his shirt because wow, and that was all you could really fathom yourself to think, and you’d stuttered, and he’d just laughed before putting another shirt on.

You wondered, now, if things would have turned out differently if you had kissed him that night, instead of pulling away. Had you called him boyfriend, would he have been so quick to betray you?

Laying down slowly, you reached out to press your palm to the ground again. It took you a moment to get a clear seismic understanding, as your heart was pounding and your breath shaking, but you could sense him in the room he’d taken up as his own. You pulled your hand to your chest, losing the image, and closed your eyes.

Your throat burned the next morning.

ok this bitch got LONG AS FUCK so stay tuned for a pt 3 probably tomorrow

edit: | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 |

-🦌 Roe

[evierena]

The demon brothers reacting to a MC that got cheated on. Part 2

Hello, I come here with the second part of my first headcanon, and I wanted to say that I did found a mistake in Satan’s hc, but I already fixed it. Just like last time, if you see a mistake, please kindly point it out for me, I really want to improve in everything I can. 

TW: Mentions of death. 

Intro:

MC was going to get married to their high school sweetheart, they were deeply in love and had been very clear about their status. They had made friends with everyone but never accepted any advances.

Halfway through the year, they get a text from the third party informing them about their significant other affair.

And now, heartbroken and angry, it was up to the rest to help them pick up the pieces. How? Well... Let's see.

Asmodeus

(In this one MC is GN, but the cheater and third party are female and male respectively)

This demon would love to talk with you about your wedding preparations. The theme, your outfit, the flowers, the music, the lingerie for your wedding night *wink, wink*. He would absolutely adore going through pictures upon pictures of weddings.

However, at the same time, as much as he is the Avatar of Lust, he wouldn't like to talk specifically about you with your fiancée. Yes, he would offer to *show* you how to make your bride go crazy on the wedding night, but since you always shot him down (gently, because you know he is sensitive about rejection) he wouldn't actually give any input to help you in that matter.

There is something else that only he, as the Avatar of Lust, sort of anticipated as he listened to you talking about how you met your girlfriend thanks to her being your younger brother's best friend.

And there were nights when, as much as Asmo could feel guilty later, he just couldn't help but fantasise about it coming true so that he could steal you away.

When it finally came true, he felt... Well, overjoyed and immensely guilty for even feeling like that.

You see, you were video calling your girlfriend, and as she was telling you about her day someone entered her room while saying "Honey, I'm home" and you recognized your little brother's voice.

Your girlfriend's face was in shock, and then you saw your brother placing a kiss on her lips casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world, like she was his and not yours. Then, he turned to the camera and his face was disfigured with shock and remorse.

But you had seen enough so you finished the call.

Asmo was in your room, but he was busy doing a face mask in the bathroom and when he came out and saw you crying and sobbing, head between your knees, he just knew it.

I wouldn't say he went as far as hating himself for that (knowing he could've given you a heads up) but he did feel remorseful.

So, for the rest of the week he made it up by pampering the hell out of you.

He lend you his bathtub, he made sure your skin didn't suffer the consequences of crying so much, he gave you massages, he took you shopping, he distracted you by inviting you to clubs, parties,  he bragged about you in his social media, giving your self esteem and ego a much needed boost.

Of course, he would always make sexual innuendos, but he never did anything to make you feel uncomfortable, more like friendly reminders that you are desired.

"Oh, MC, you look delectable with that, I could just eat you up" and "If she saw you like that, she would beg for you to take her back" and some more "You'll see they'll regret everything, you are beautiful inside and out, and they will soon realize what an amazing person they let go"

Asmodeus will try to be in constant touch with you (as long as you allow him) holding hands, a hand in your back, sitting really close to you in school, cuddling with you on movie nights, fingers brushing delicately through your hair, etc.

His revenge is by far the most direct and cruel out of his brothers.

He teamed up with Solomon, the latter getting permission to go to the Human Realm for some errands he needed, and then he summoned Asmo.

In there, he went and meet your ex and brother, and with just a few words he charmed your ex so badly she forgot all about your brother, falling forever in love with Asmo (Solomon helped with a spell that would keep the charm on forever), effectively breaking your little brothers heart and driving your ex to a state of desperation, for she was obsessed with the demon until she died.  

As for you, as time went by, you moved on and once you were ready to embrace your new found feelings for the pink haired demon, you decided to let him know.

"I love you, Asmo"

"Ow, of course you do, peaches, I love myself too" he would say, playfully.

"I mean, I love love you, Asmodeus"

Cue to squeals of joy loud enough to be heard in all House of Lamentation.

" Really?!! Ohhh, I love you too, MC!!!!"

Beelzebub

You and Beel had an amazing friendship, he was very protective of you, and soon everyone knew that you never were far from each other. You would cook for him, accompany him in his nightly carvings when you were also awake, he would share his food with you, pretty much the most wholesome friendship you ever had.

As such, you told each other everything. He would tell you about Lilith and his nightmares, how he felt about his brothers and himself, and you would tell him about your future spouse, the nervousness and eagerness of sharing your life with the love of your life and the want of starting a family with them.

He only wanted for you to be happy, so if that person was making you happy, he would ignore the ache in his heart every time you talked about it and wished you the best.

One day, you were on cooking duty, and you decided to make Beel a feast of his favorite Human Realm recipes, so you left your human phone charging in your room and put yourself to work, but you took your D.D.D with you.

Beel was coming back from practice when you texted him if he could bring you some stuff from your room before you finished everything in the kitchen.

He saw the tilting screen with several notifications and decided to also bring it to you. However, one text captured his attention.

He didn't recognized the name of the sender, but the text read "I can't keep up with the lies and I wouldn't want someone as important to me as (name of your soon-to-be spouse) is to you to do this kind of thing" Beel furrowed his brows, trying to read more in the screen, but he decided it was best for you to read it first.

And just in time, you called out to him.

He went and when he saw you he gave you your phone with a pained look on his face.

"I think you need to see this before eating, MC"

You were puzzled, "what could have happened that was more important than eating?" you thought. Oh, but when you started to read everything, you understood. 

Your ex co worker had confessed to you to be having an affair with your soon-to-be spouse.

You looked up to see your best demon friend, your big teddy bear for some sort of comfort when your world was coming crashing down on you.

Beel hugged you tight, letting your tears stain his shirt, engulfing your entire being in his bigger and warmer frame.

He didn't say anything, he even forgot all about the feast you had prepared, his soft and big heart was broken for you. However, he did feel a sudden craving for a certain human up in the human realm.

Finally you pushed yourself out of his embrace and said "Beel, I'm hungry" causing him to smile gently at you.

"Me too".

With Beel, you eat your woes away. He would always make sure that you had at least a snack in your hand, because in his experience, food can make you feel better.

He became your personal body heater, always keeping you at arm's length. If before you both were close, now you were joined by the hip.

You welcomed him, his compassionate and sweet presence was all you needed to keep going.

With time, you began to recover from the blow, started to smile more, be more happy and lively, like you used to. Beel would always smile at your way, and he always offered his help when things got a little too much for you.

If you felt like you gained weight from all the comfort food you had been eating, he would remind you, by lifting your body, that you were still really light for him and that you would always be very pretty to his eyes. Nonetheless, if you still felt insecure or uncomfortable, he would offer to help you train and get back on track.

If someone dared to make you feel guilty about what happened, Beel would growl at them and then he would remind you that it was not your fault and that you are an incredible person who helped him to get his family together again, and that he would always be there for you.

If you fall for this sweet, adorable teddy bear I don't blame you (honestly, same) you would also need to be the one to come forth about it, not because he is dense or clueless about your feelings for him, but because he was already happy with your friendship and didn't want to push for more.

"Beel, I love you"

He would look at you with big and excited puppy eyes, and the biggest, most heartwarming smile you had seen

Belphegor

(Spoilers from lesson 16 read under your own risk)

When you found him in the attic, and accepted to help him, you started to sneak to try and keep him company when Lucifer wasn't around.

You would try to make conversation to help him feel not so lonely up there, and in his efforts to gain your trust he let you ramble about your future marriage.

He HATED hearing you talk about it, it just made his blood boil. How could an insignificant and naïve human like you even dared to think about being remotely happy when he lost everything because of humans? Oh, he would be so thrilled to crush your pathetic dreams of happiness by taking your life. But all that  had to wait until you were stupid enough to let him out.

Well, after the whole Incident™, you, Belphie and Beel had The Talk™ because you wanted to start over, forgive and forget and give yourselves a new chance at friendship.

Who knew you two would become such good friends??

When you weren't busy doing your tasks or studying for class, you would be with Belphie, napping and recharging energy in the most weird places. One time, Lucifer found both of you sleeping hanging from the horns of that demon head at the entrance.

Somehow you would always get dragged with Belphie's pranks at Lucifer, and more often than not, you were the reason he stopped from doing the really dangerous ones, something that the Avatar of Pride was mildly grateful for, if only you could make his little brother stop completely.

With your new blossoming friendship with the youngest of the demon brothers, you confide in him with your worries about your future. He would listen to you, if he wasn't too tired or if he didn't fall asleep, and in his heart still remained a little bit of the annoyance of hearing you talk about your wedding, but for entirely different reasons.

After everything that happened between the two, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop you from leaving back to the human realm, but it still hurt him to think that he wasted his short time with you trying to trick you instead of enjoying your company.

One night, you were napping in the attic next to him, and he just stared at you, unable to sleep, when your phone started to vibrate unceasingly.

He was annoyed to say the least, thinking that it could wake you up and break his peaceful time with you, so he took it to turn it off when he saw the preview of a concerning amount of texts you were receiving.

He froze reading the previews, (I do not justfy invadig someone else´s privacy at all, but he is a brat and a demon, so he just did it) so he decided to investigate further by unblocking the device and read thoroughly what seemed to be... a confession.

Once he was completely informed of the current situation, he put the phone down, took his own and texted Beel asking him to bring you some comfort snacks, because you were going to need it.

Once he got the confirmation from his twin, he turned to you and, against his own desires, woke you up.

"What is it Belphie?" your sleepy eyes trying to focus on his, your voice barely audible. He was almost convinced to let you go back to sleep and deal with this shit tomorrow. But he stopped himself from giving in to his sin.

"MC, you need to read something"

The severity in his voice helped you clear the haziness from your mind as you sat up.

He knew the moment you were completely awake while you were reading the messages from who, he deduced, was your partner's ex telling you that they were having an affair from at least two years prior to your coming to Devildom and now that you were gone, they were planning to move in together despite all your daily calls and weekly video calls.

When you looked at Belphie, tears clouding your beautiful eyes, he remembered why he hated humanity so much. They didn't hesitate to crush souls as pure and kind as yours, they were selfish bastards.

He held you, firmly pressed against his chest, rubbing your back, while he let you know his feelings against your now ex.

That's when Beel showed up with your favorite snacks in tons. And when he saw the scene before him, Belphie just looked at him while still whispering to you that you have them, he and Beel, that they were going to look after you and that you were going to be fine. Cue to Beel sitting by your side and took you and his twin in his arms, reaffirming the youngest words.

After they helped you calm down, Beel and Belphie offered your snacks and all three of you ate quietly, you were leaning in Belphie's shoulder and he even kept quiet about the crumbs you were spilling on him.

Once you were done and full, you went back to their room, and all three of you decided to join the beds and sleep together for the night. So, you were resting in the twins's bed, in the middle of them, engulfed by their comforting warmth when you felt Belphegor's hand snake his way until he found yours.

"I will never let anyone hurt you ever again" he swore to you, and you fell asleep.

Belphegor would be the type of friend who would diss and bad-mouth your ex to help you feel better, and he definitely teamed up with Satan and Solomon to effectively curse the people who hurt his favorite human so much. How? You'll never know, but one day you found him staring at a wall as if he was reminiscing something with a malicious grin, and when you asked he simply said "I was just wondering how long can a human stand with only three intermittent hours of sleep daily".

You dropped the subject and never brought it up again.

Belphie would make sure no one bothered you, and he kept his promise to you, whenever he wasn't awake and around you, Beel was.

The Avatar of Sloth guarded your dreams, allowing you to sleep soundly and safe, he would steal you to nap the moment he sensed you were feeling down, and the glare he gave to others left no room to argue.

He wouldn't make a move with you, directly, but he would *subtly* and most of the time while falling asleep, let you know about his own feelings so if you did end up falling for this sleepyhead, you would be sure he felt the same.

"Belphegor?" you whispered while you both were in the middle of one of your napping sessions, snuggling up to him more.

"Mm?"

"I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life"

You didn't see him, but you felt him hugging you closer to him, tangling his legs with yours, pressing kisses to your head. But he would still tease you.

"Took you long enough, MC"

Again, thank you so much for reading all of this long ass headcanon. I hope you have a great day, and remember to take breaks and stay hydrated. 

P.s: In case you haven’t found it, here’s Part 1

[janiedean]

I have to tell you something but PLEASE, please, don't be mad. I love Brienne, and I loved her with Jamie, and I'm mad and sad that they didn't get to have their happy ending...but I don't think his ending was shit. Or OOC. First at all, book!Jamie is not TV!Jamie: his relationship with Cersei is different, not as sick or manipulative. He loves his siter and is loved by her in a more "helthier" way: in the show she told Tywing the truth about them, and it's huge considering the love for power1/?

He watched her lose their 3 children, he learned about her walk of shame to get back to Tommen, he witnessed Robert’s humiliations. I think he would have stayed with Brienne if she knew his sister was safe, but he couldn’t be happy if his siter died and he did nothing to save her. He needed to be that person, otherwise all his growth would be lost, and he would have dragged Brienne in his spiral, and he didn’t want to make her miserable. To me he is still an honorable man, bc when there was a chance to do something, he did it: he killed the king to save KL, he fought the dead army, but over and over he said that the Lannister army didn’t stand a chance against the dragons or the Dathraki, he was not a fool. His speech was not about NOT CARING, it was about knowing there was nothing he could have done. He did good, he was good, and till his last moment he tried to be honorable, he tried to be the person Brienne inspired him. P.s.: Still heartbroken that he died, but I think there is some poetic justice with Cercei crashed by the symbol of the power she tried lo long to hold.

anon, I appreciate that you’re being nice and I appreciate that you’re trying to find some sense in this entire thing, but… okay, I’ll go over it and please don’t take me as *me* being mad or whatever but I don’t think a few things were clear here so I’ll try to do it now:

jc in the show is not healthier. it might be different, but it’s not and the fact that it might have been less obvious doesn’t mean that they didn’t drag that toxic mess out for four seasons when it had no reasons to exist. now: I was down with looking at it until s4 because that was book canon and I can deal with book canon. I had to look at three more fucking seasons of that toxic abusive mess happening and I don’t know if it’s obvious or not, but if I have one thing, like one in the universe that I can’t deal with, that I hate and that makes me feel sick more than anything else it’s emotional/psychological manipulation. and show!jc has that in spades and I can’t. like, as it is right now I’m pretty damn sure I’d take reading explicit thramsay fic that ends horribly with annexed detailed fanart than even rewatching five seconds of a scene where those two are in the same frame and is2g if they had kissed at the end of 8x05 I’d have thrown up. please for the love of everything if you think it’s better than book canon your prerogative, but don’t come at me informing me of that because I can’t. especially not right now;

I honestly can’t give much of a damn about the stuff c. suffered when 80% of that is her damn fault and I’m especially talking about tommen who only did that because she gave zero shits about his opinion in anything but we’re supposed to think she’s a good mother or that she cares which makes me especially sick because people have decided that for her out of nowhere when we all know how much leeway they give catelyn for that and I’m honestly done with it, and maybe it’s not inconsistent that he’d care, but it’s inconsistent how they wrote it;

because I mean if they showed some half-regret over leaving brienne or she was mentioned or if the entire thing was addressed instead of spending four episodes building it up and then did in four minutes what it took six feet under an entire season to do with nate and brenda back in the day is bad writing, has no consistency, it also murdered tyrion as a character because I can’t believe that in the span of two episodes he goes from I’m happy that you’re happy to WELL I DON’T HATE MY SISTER SO MUCH JUST GO TO PENTOS when ah, wait, c. sent bronn to kill both of them?

also ‘who ever cared abotu the innocents’ or whatever the fuck that line was??? wow, that’s all this asshole has ever cared about in canon to the point of losing his reputation for it not counting c. or tyrion at least in the very beginning of the series when everyone thinks he’s an ass, and I have to buy that this episode was halfway decent writing?

also: even if I was okay with jaime’s ending - which I could have been if at least it amounted to something because that entire episode was a plot hole after plot hole (where’s widow’s wail? he waves WITH THE FAKE HAND??? WTF??, did he ring the bells so he actually helped destroy the city without knowing dany would lose her shit through jon connington’s ghost possessing her? if bran didn’t rat him out bc he had A ROLE TO PLAY what was the damned role since he hasn’t done anything until now that warranted it??? just the first four) and he didn’t even… help cersei or take her out like he literally was there to just give her some basic human comfort and rocks fall everyone dies, what’s the sense of it?? -, anon, this entire narrative leaves brienne horribly;

because sorry but in the best of chances she’s not pregnant and someone lies to her and tells her jaime went there to stop cersei and tried to be honorable (which given what they made him say about not caring for the innocents makes it bad writing but nvm) and she can think okay, I waited years for the right guy to trust/open myself to and then he left me like that but at least he did it for a good reason now will I ever trust anyone again, maybe, and I assure you that getting over such a thing is not too easy, but that would be the best option. mid-bad option: she still thinks he did it for the right reasons but she’s pregnant so hey, she has an illegitimate child from a man who left her like that to go into a senseless death making her believe she was wrong about him and breaking her heart and she has to play single mother in tarth without him or maybe she can hedge knight along with the kid or leave him with pod or smth but that doesn’t look good on jaime either. or worse, she’s pregnant and she finds out he went just to die with cersei and didn’t even mention her or anything to tyrion along the way so she did all of the above…. for a guy who at the end of it as the narration puts it just went back to die with c. and a kid he didn’t even know might be real or not when she could have given him what he always craved/wanted/needed and left her like that? like, anon, even if it was a good ending for jaime, there is no bloody way that brienne gets out of this mess of a season with a dignified ending unless they somehow manage to pull a miracle out of their arses and sorry but their writing has been so bad that I honestly doubt it, not even david milch showing up like the calvarly could salvage this crap of a finale, and for all characters tbqh, not just them;

on top of that, sorry but it passes the message that brienne, only rep. in this show for nonstandard attractive people who spends years thinking she’ll never find love and suddenly thinks she can be happy with the guy who also fulfilled her greatest dream and opens herself up to him putting her vulnerability on the line (and while I don’t really think the whole virginity thing is that much of an issue since she actually did manage to give it to the guy she wanted it does mean something in this context)…………. shouldn’t have done it because wow, left like that without a second thought and without being addressed in the next episode at all by at least tyrion who has spent the previous four episodes either admiring her or trying to get her and jaime together never mind jaime? wow, I mean, I surely signed up to see the character I always saw myself in getting this shit treatment by people who obviously didn’t understand either her or jaime at the bottom of it for as much as I still think 8x04 did it right until the end?

anon, I appreciate your optimism about that narrative, but this episode was so badly written that it managed to about destroy the narratives of characters that weren’t even in it (sansa and brienne, and let’s not even discuss sansa because lmao), to have every single person but davos and possibly jon but meh behave ooc given what half of their lines said if not their actions because even if we take jaime’s actions as your reading (legit) what they made him say was still atrocious and ooc and same for tyrion, let’s not even touch dany or sandor/arya or really anyone that wasn’t davos. I cannot, in all good conscience, find anything good about this mess because it was badly written. period. even if we decide that the plot and motivations were fine and we try to make them make sense the way you did, the execution was shit, the dialogue was shit, it looked like they weren’t even trying, it did a disservice to every single character that was in it except davos who was there for five seconds to smuggle stuff and I honestly, honestly, cannot even find the force of will to try to make sense of it.

this entire season has been a gigantic plot hole, it wasn’t coherent within its own narration see ep. 2 clashing with ep. 8, 90% of what happened post 8x02 was for shock value without giving a single fuck about making it look in character and making the characters behave nonsensically - and I don’t mean just jaime, I mean all of them to serve the undoubtedly wtf shocking ending they have in plan for us which if I guessed already I’ll hate with the force of a thousand suns, and I’m honestly done with trying to make sense of this thing because nothing makes sense anymore. I appreciate that y’all are trying but I give up. I can’t make sense of a narrative that goes like ‘we’re doing this because it’s cool and if it doesn’t add up with everything we did before who gives a fuck’, and I honestly can do without trying to find a silver lining in a show that has totally twisted the message of the books and turned into an angst fest for which everyone has to be miserable at all costs or it’s not good tv, and that’s the last I’m going to say about this specific matter because:

a) I’m tired, b) I want to finish my spitefics and ignore this mess ever happened and concentrate on doing something that makes me happy, c) if I just keep on thinking about how bad this was IN GENERAL I wish jaime was my #1 problem I just feel worse and I don’t need it, d) the fact that they did brienne this dirty and she wasn’t even in this episode is really leaving the worst sour taste in my mouth and it’s already bad enough that I have to hope her ending is only 80% crap and not 100% crap, I honestly can’t with discourse that tries to find any basic sense in how this episode was conceived and executed beyond my problems with jc, jaime’s writing and the fact that they managed to get wrong one of his three most basic character traits that has nothing to do with brienne or jb for that matter.

thanks for being polite and nice about this and I swear I’m not mad but I honestly can’t with this episode and I would appreciate if from this point on anyone could refrain from trying to make jc sound better than it is where I can see it/where I can’t blacklist it because it’s really not a good idea right now. thanks again and have a possibly nicer than than mine. ;)

[omgkatsudonplease]

Lily, you know what I'm going to ask ;) Because that Viktuuri Eurovision commentator/contestant AU is something the world needs to see

guess who has two thumbs and no sense of self-preservation? IT’S ME

so basically kaz and i were talking about eurovision and then i had this sudden thought of a fake rivals-verse fic idea where yuuri’s an exasperated commentator who’s suddenly been forced to host esc and viktor’s the winning contestant from last year who is co-hosting with him and…. because this is rivals-verse, yuuri hated viktor’s entry last year. hoo boy. 

Love Love, Peace Peace

Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov to Co-host 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Saint PetersburgBeloved TV commentator Yuuri Katsuki, known for his sharp and witty commentary during previous contests, and 2015 ESC winner Viktor Nikiforov will be co-hosting the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This year’s theme will be “Making History” and will be held at the Alexei Panin Arena from 11-15 May. 

Nikiforov won last year with his stunning ballad “Stay Close to Me”, featuring a figure skating segment halfway through the song… (more)

Yuuri clicks out of the article with a groan and takes a sip of his coffee, waiting for his new co-host to arrive. The office is a busy drone in the background, with only the sounds of ringing phones and beeping machines filling the silence. He checks his mobile. Nikiforov is late.

Typical.

Yuuri rubs at his temples, before casting a baleful gaze out the window of this conference room. He hadn’t had much of a say in being asked to host this godforsaken song contest – Celestino had thought it would be entertaining for him, and apparently no other TV host in this entire broadcasting company wanted the job. Probably because Nikiforov’s an asshole, but Yuuri’s not going to let that get to him. Much.

He fires off a text to Phichit, asking the man if he’d seen Nikiforov, and then leans back in his chair to stare at the ceiling, drumming his fingers against the faux mahogany table. If Nikiforov doesn’t show up within the next three minutes, Yuuri’s going to leave. And tell Celestino to find another co-host. Because he’s not going to waste his time on some asshole with a nice voice who doesn’t even bother showing up on time to meetings and who –

“Sorry I’m late!” The door bangs open, and Viktor Nikiforov is in the doorway, silver hair askew, bright blue eyes widened in excitement. “I brought you coffee! Or rather, tea!”

Yuuri raises an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected that. Perhaps an apology? “Thank you,” he says, his tone clipped, as he takes the travel mug from Nikiforov. “Though, I already had some, so that was unnecessary.”

Nikiforov blanches slightly. “Sorry, I just thought –”

“No matter.” Yuuri’s going to be professional about this. Which means he’s going to accept the tea as the peace offering it clearly was. “Thank you.”

“Okay!” And the man beams at him. Yuuri has to suppress the urge to shudder. Nikiforov is far too chipper for someone who’s about to be working with someone who’s expressed their dislike of his entry last year several times on national television, but perhaps all of this is just part of Nikiforov’s facade. “I’ve got these really great ideas for our show this year – I was thinking that we could have half-time musical numbers explaining the history of Eurovision, covering some notable winners, talking about the perfect Eurovision song. And we could also have some pre-filmed shorts about the impact of Eurovision on Russian culture –”

Yuuri nods. “Right,” he says, and then pauses. “Musical numbers?”

“Yeah!” says Viktor, nodding enthusiastically. “We’re being broadcast on Chinese and American networks this year as well, so we’ve got some confused American viewers who’ll probably want to be tuned in in an entertaining way, and I’ve looked up some of the stuff you’ve done in the past besides commentating, and I know you can sing, so, we should do musical numbers. We could duet!”

A duet. With a guy who tried to sing and skate at the same time and who had worn the tackiest costume Yuuri had seen in decades. He sighs, resisting the urge to rub his temples.

“As long as you don’t insist on skating on the stage, I’ll be fine with whatever you do,” he replies.

He regrets those words days (and countless rehearsals) later. 

Nikiforov really can sing. And dance. That’s not really the problem, though. 

The problem is that he’s too nice.

Suspiciously nice. Like he’s buttering Yuuri up because he knows what Yuuri said about his routine last year and he’s just waiting to drop it on him when he least expects it. Yuuri has never felt this paranoid in ages.

The backup dancers they’re working with seem to think the same, as they constantly send Viktor odd looks, as if expecting the other shoe to drop any second. But as rehearsals wear on with no sign of that in sight, Yuuri begins to wonder (with a sort of horror) if this means that Viktor is just genuinely trying to be nice to him.

Viktor Nikiforov - Stay Close to Me (Russia) 2015 + YUURI KATSUKI COMMENTARY

568 Comments

braveliedwow he really doesn’t hold back does he? poor viktor! :(

shiftyshardon’t you love how yuuri katsuki just -clenches fist- hates viktor’s performance

hearseire911 I AM WITNESSING A MURDER

ebbehmoththis makes me sad :( viktor deserved his victory…. who hurt you, yuuri? :(

rosesummerfieldd a n g he really Did That

vodkaluce12 points to yuuri katsuki that was one hell of a roast

And finally, it’s the night of the performance. The light at the end of the tunnel is growing fast and bright and Yuuri has been up since eight, running on nothing but red bull and desperation. All of the costume changes are lined up. He knows most of his lines by heart. He’s been humming his halves of the songs about the history of Eurovision and the perfect Eurovision song in his sleep. And now – 

Viktor greets him, his smile a couple watts less than its usual brilliance. Yuuri’s brows furrow a little at that; he’d gotten accustomed to the man beaming at him every morning like he’d personally hung the sun in the sky. What could have changed? 

“Good morning, Yuuri,” he says. 

“Good morning, Viktor,” Yuuri replies almost automatically, reading the minutiae of Viktor’s expression as the man then turns away to consult some last minute notes from an assistant. His stomach is rolling and churning in a way that he knows has nothing to do with nerves. 

He clears his throat. “Ready to host the semifinals?” he asks.

Viktor nods at him, but the smile that’s there doesn’t meet his eyes. “Can’t wait,” he says, and Yuuri’s heart lurches.

How could this have happened? Yuuri leans his head against the cool metal of the bathroom stall, trying to slow his breathing and the racing of his heart. How could he be feeling such disappointment in seeing Viktor unhappy? 

The door to the bathroom opens, and two people enter. Yuuri freezes when he hears the voice of Viktor’s agent, Yakov, talking to him.

“Just let it go, Vitya. You saw the video. He loathes you.”

“He doesn’t loathe me.” Viktor’s voice sounds almost heartbroken. “I worked with him on this show for months. We’ve gotten to know each other. This shouldn’t matter anymore.”

“He clearly hasn’t changed his attitude towards you, though. Everyone can see it. He still doesn’t think you have any sort of musical talent.”

“No.” And Yuuri can almost imagine Viktor staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, his blue eyes determined. His heart skips a beat. “He’s changed, Yakov. And I’ll prove it.”