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willowsnook · 4 months ago

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Right Place, Right Time pt. 3 (LN)

pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4

@seasonswinter @drdbnkl2008 @jaematthews15

Lily's POV

Lily was waiting in the garage on Thursday for Oscar to finish his practice when Lando sauntered over to her.

"What's up?" He asked and she smirked.

"You look happy," she said. "How was last night?" A pink tint flushed over his cheeks as he looked away.

"It was good," he mumbled.

"What's your endgame here?" Lily asked. "She lives here." He shrugged.

"I don't know," he admitted. "It's refreshing to spend time around someone who isn't obsessed with me."

"Just don't get hurt," she told him and he gave her a soft smile. Oscar had just finished up and walked over to the two.

"Hi babe," he said, leaning in for a kiss. "Are you still really ditching me tonight?"

"You will survive," Lily said with a laugh. "Both of you," she added after seeing Lando's frown.

Lando got called away by an engineer leaving Lily and Oscar alone.

"Are you sure you're good being there all night?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said. "I guess part of me is just worried it's some ploy to get to Lando."

Oscar nodded sympathetically, rubbing her arm. There had been girls before that Lily had met who were just using her for connection to F1.

"Here's an idea," he started. "Why don't you text her and see if she would want to ditch the girls night to hang with me and Lando?"

"Ooo that feels shady but is a good idea," she said pulling out her phone.

LIly: Hey, I know we had planned girls night tonight, but Osc is being clingy. How about just getting dinner with him + Lando and then all hanging out?

Y/n: Hey! Can he not live without you for one night haha? I actually already bought snacks and drinks and my two other friends are still coming so I don't want to ditch them. Would still love for you to come but totally understand if not.

Lily smiled and showed Oscar the text.

"So Lando hasn't totally snuck his claws in her yet," he joked and Lily rolled her eyes playfully.

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Y/n POV

Someone knocked on my apartment just as I pulled cookies out of the oven.

"Coming," you yelled and headed towards the door. You opened it to see Lily standing there with a bottle of wine. You reached in to give her a hug.

"It's so good to see you," you said. "I'm glad you could come."

"Me too, Osc will live," she replied following you into the apartment.

"Welcome to mi casa," you said gesturing your hands. You had lived in this one-bed apartment ever since you moved to Austin and loved it.

"Maggie and Jaelen are running late but we can start drinking," you said and pulled out two wine glasses. You poured both of you a glass and Lily thanked you.

"Have fun last night?" She asked and you nodded.

"Yeah, it was a good time," you said not adding much else. Her head tilted as she looked at you waiting for you to say more.

"I don't know what else you want me to say Lily, we're just friends," you huffed.

"I know," she said taking a sip. "I just know I haven't seen him act like this about someone before."

"It's complicated," you said sighing. "If he wasn't the Lando Norris who travelled constantly and had a whole life overseas I would probably be head over heels by now. But that's unfortunately not the reality."

"I get that," she said. "I just like seeing him like this, that's all."

You heard your other friends come into your apartment, no curtesy of knocking of course.

"Hey guys, this is Lily," you introduced and they greeted her. "Alright everyone get drinks and let's head to the living room. Up first is Clueless and we will go from there."

Your friends got along really well with Lily which made you happy. As the night went on you all got a little more tipsy and the deep secrets started coming out. Lily gave a mini presentation on all the WAGs which you all found very amusing.

By the end of the night you were very tipsy and so was Lily. The two of you were going to share your bed while Maggie and Jaelen took the pull out in the living room.

You were in the middle of a laughing fit over some tik tok when Lily's phone rang.

"It's Oscar facetiming," she said with wide eyes.

"Answer!!!" you exclaimed and she giggled hitting accept.

"Hi baby," she slurred and you bust out laughing. Oscar looked amused.

"Hi love, how much have you guys had to drink?" He asked.

"Only this much," you said holding your fingers up in a pinch causing Lily to giggle.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked. We could see that he was outside somewhere.

"We just got done meeting with the team and are headed back to the hotel," he said panning the camera over to Lando who was next to him.

"Lando!" you cheered and his eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Hi sweetheart," he said and you folded, blushing.

"I miss you," you said and he laughed. Lily threw her hand over your mouth.

"You aren't supposed to say that," she said and you nodded.

"Oh yeah I forgot," you replied and you both fell into a laughing fit.

"Can we please come over," Lando asked, giving you both puppy dog eyes.

"No!" You both yelled and he pouted.

"It's girls night, and we're going to bed soonish," you said fake yawning. He rolled his eyes and gave the phone back to Oscar.

"I'll see you in the morning baby alright?" He asked and Lily nodded, saying goodbye.

You ended up staying awake for another two hours just talking before you eventually drifted off.

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Walking into the paddock the next morning was rough. You had dragged Lily to go through your favorite coffee drive thru and you had decided your sunglasses were not leaving your face today.

"This is horrible," she said as you made your way towards McLaren.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad," you agreed. You had opted for a comfy look, wearing your favorite lulu leggings paired with an oversized Monster branded tshirt. "And I have to see my boss."

"Yeah that'll be fun, when is your team getting here?"

"Around 2, which sucks because I don't want to be here that long," you said.

"Yeah but then you get to spend more time with me," she said linking arms.

You entered the garage and saw Lando leaning against a wall on his phone. Lily hip bumped you towards him giving you a look which you returned with your favorite finger. Lando looked up as you approached, his face breaking out in a big smile.

"Well don't you look well rested," he said.

"Fuck off," you whined and he laughed, pulling you into him for a hug.

"I'm glad you're here," he said in your ear and you hummed in reply. "Do you need something to eat?"

"Probably," he guided you through the garage back into the main paddock area. They had breakfast burritos laid out which you happily took advantage of.

"How were your meetings last night?" You asked and he shrugged.

"Boring, I much rather would have been at girls night," he said.

"You're a clingy one aren't you," you said raising your eyebrows and taking a bite of your burrito.

"Yeah I am, what about it?" He said and you snorted. You told him about your plans for the day and listened to him talk about how the car was yesterday and what he expected for today. You had started to head back when you felt someone sling their arm around your shoulder stopping you.

"Hey y/n," Max said and you smiled.

"Hi Max," you replied.

"What are you doing now?" He asked and Lando cut in.

"I'm taking her back to the garage before I go out," he said.

"Do you want to see the Red Bull garage?" Max asked.

"No she doesn't," Lando answered for you and you shot him a look.

"That would actually be cool, I need to get some competitive intel for Monster," you joked and Max laughed. Lando frowned and started pulling your elbow with him.

"Lando," you said causing him to stop and look at you. "You are going on the track anyways, I'll be back when you are back."

"Fine," he said turning and leaving you without a word. You rolled your eyes making Max laugh.

"He's so down bad," he said and you snorted.

Max took you on a tour of the garage which was cool even though you got shit from pretty much everyone for being in Monster gear. You enjoyed hanging out with Max, finding him funny and easy to get along with.

"Who's this we have here?" Someone called out and you turned to see a taller brunette coming towards you with a massive smile.

"This is y/n, she's a McLaren special guest," Max said. "This is Daniel."

"Hi Daniel," you said reaching out your hand and he shook it.

"Ahh I saw you on F1 gossip," he said nonchalantly and you frowned.

"First of all, why do you follow them?" You asked. "And second of all, why am I on there?"

"I like to keep up with the drama," Daniel replied.

"You were out with a driver y/n, of course people noticed," Max said.

Daniel pulled up the picture to show you. It was a candid of you and Lando at mini-golf, your face tight with concentration as you were about to putt but the more interesting part of the picture was the way Lando was looking at you. Like the world could be on fire and he wouldn't notice.

"Lovely," you said handing Daniel his phone back. You chatted with them for a little longer before being interrupted by someone in McLaren apparel.

"Sorry to interrupt Ms. y/l/n, but your presence has been requested back in the garage by Mr. Norris," the person said and you sighed.

"Sorry boys, my handler needs me back," you joked and Daniel laughed.

"I bet he's just standing there with his arms crossed watching the door," Daniel said and Max agreed.

You bid them goodbye and followed the McLaren personnel back to the garage. You did indeed find Lando by the door waiting for you.

"You are ridiculous ya know," you teased and he pouted. "Also I don't have much more time for you because my team is getting here in a bit."

"I know," he said. "Want to come hang in my driver's room before you have to go?"

"Absolutely not," you said shaking your head. "I'm already on one gossip site, I'm not looking for it to be worse. "

"Fine, hospitality it is," he grumbled. You both walked up stairs to that area and you were happy to see Lily and Oscar at a table.

You told LIly all about the tour at Red Bull mostly because it was something to talk about but also because you knew it was pissing Lando off. You pulled out a hat that Max had given you and put it on.

"And they gave me this hat, isn't it cute?" You asked and Lily gave you a knowing look. Lando snatched it off your head instantly.

"I will buy you a million hats," he said and you laughed. He pulled off the hat that was on his head and put it on yours. "There, much better."

"It's sweaty though," you said scrunching up your face.

You looked down at your phone and realized you had to be back in main paddock area in 10 minutes.

"I should probably head down there," you said getting up and Lando did the same.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked and Oscar gave him a confused look.

"Nothing, why?" You asked.

"Be my plus one for our team dinner tonight please," he asked and you looked down at Lily.

"You should totally come, I get so bored at those things so it will be nice to have someone to talk to," she said.

"Are you sure it wouldn't be weird?" You asked. "It's not like we're dating or anything." Oscar snorted and Lando shot him a look.

"It won't be weird I promise, can I pick you up?"

"Sure," you finally agreed and he grinned. "I will see you guys tonight then."

#f1 imagine #f1 x reader #lando norris x reader #lando norris

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bubbles-for-all-of-us · 9 months ago

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hi I loved you're never again fic with az it's so good we definitely need a part two protective az is endgame!

Part I

Never again

“You should sit down”, you motioned for the side of the bed. Azriel had been passing back and forth for hours. “This is not your fault”, you reached out for him but he only shook his head. “I should have known, should have seen the signs”, Azriel grumbled, brushing some of the messy strands of hair away.

“My love”, you called out, hatting seeing him so overwhelmed with all of it. “You need to know that I never, not even once, entered it once we met”, he breathed out, moving closer to you. “Azriel…”, you sighed. “No, I never. I told her. I told her that whatever that was going on was over. Done. No more”, he said firmly. Pleading with his eyes for forgiveness. “I’m not accusing you of anything”, you muttered softly, reaching for his palms. “I just need you to know”, “And I believe you”, you lifted his hands closer to your lips, kissing the scared skin softly.

“I need to go fetch Madja”, he huffed, standing up. “No, you do not”, you pulled him closer to you, halting his steps. “But your legs”, Azriel argued firmly. “They are well and whatever is left of the scratch will heal in no time”, you reassured him. Hoping to chase some of the panic away. Azriel let out a deep sigh.

“I never thought the first dinner would turn into such disaster”, he shook his head. You knew how much this meant to him. How much he had wanted to show you off. To finally sit with his family not feeling as if something was missing. To finally let go of the past and enjoy the present. “I don’t agree. I had a wonderful time with everyone”, you smiled at him softly. “You were… She…”, Azriel muttered out, the overwhelming feeling rising within him once more. “Why don’t you move in with me for a bit”, you cut into his thoughts, “Come stay in winter and we can invite your family over”, you suggested, “Everything would have time to die down a little”. The last thing you wanted was for him to fall into a guilt-ridden mess. You knew how protective Azriel could be. “I want to make sure that she knows”, he said firmly, “And I want to make sure that she won’t get to see you”, you cut in, “Not now at least. What if she targets you next”, your voice died down at the very end. Azriel tilted his head to the side his eyes growing soft. “My love, she will never harm”, he reached out cupping your face, “I will never let her get close to both of us”. “That’s exactly what scares me. I want you free from the burden that she is”, you whispered. Azriel was silent for a moment before he nodded slowly, “I’ll inform Rhys tomorrow and we will move”, he said tenderly, leaning in to brush his lips over your temple.

#azriel acotar x reader #azriel acotar imagine #azriel x you #azriel x oc #azriel imagine #azriel x reader #azriel spymaster #azriel shadowsinger #azriel acotar #azriel #acotar x reader #acotar imagine #acotar x you

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thedevilspearl · 2 years ago

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The brothers unintentionally finding out Mc has a secret porn account where they upload videos of themselves with different people(OR DIFFERENT DEMONS >UO)/relieving themselves

finding out mc has onlydevils — all brothers

a/n: if you didn’t realise, onlydevils is the devildom version of onlyfans lol i tried to be creative but that’s the best i could do. thank you for this idea anon, i absolutely love it!!!

tags: no gender specified, no explicit smut but consistent discussion of mature content so minors do not interact!

𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐑 would be the most surprised and probably the most avoidant after finding out. he’s not the happiest about it, but it’s also not the end of his world. he knows you have your reason to do it so he doesn’t pry. but he is interested and would make an undercover burner account to see what all the fuss is about. and oh man, you take his breath away. late nights in his office always end up with him making a mess of himself at his desk after watching your videos for hours. he would confront you about it after he’s had his fun (which would last months) and would only ever ask you to stop if your relationship became serious, as in, endgame.

the first words out of 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍’s mouth would be “what the hell are ya doing it for? stop it! ain’t nobody gotta see ya doing all that!” this doesn’t come from a place of trying to control you, but rather, it’s entirely out of jealousy and his instinctual need to protect you, even if it doesn’t come out the right way. of course, if you’re persistent in wanting to continue, he won’t stop you. however, it deeply upsets him knowing others see you in your most intimate act, and some even take part in it. he doesn’t know how to act, or react, and it would require a lot of time and conversation to understand it all and bring his feelings to a conclusion. but he wouldn’t be opposed to taking part in the content with you. he knows exactly how to make hotter content.

𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 is sort of stuck in the middle. he is definitely surprised but he’s also not surprised because you truly are something else. he knew that from the beginning. but this is different. you would never expect him to find out about it, let alone confront you. but he would be the first to let you know that he knows. and he hopes that none of his brothers know so that it can be your dirty little secret. he would never take part in your content, but he would surely give suggestions and feedback to help you improve. he’d maybe slip in some suggestions secretly catered to his own tastes, but you’d realise straight away and film an entire video just for him. his criticisms are worth a lot and so is his attention to detail in your content.

power to the people, is what 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐍 likes to say. upon finding out, he was taken aback by many feelings but in the end, he was impressed. he is definitely irked seeing you film content with other people, other demons, some of those are people he knows. and he cannot stand it because he wishes to be the only one to see you like that, to do those things with you. he’d let you do your thing but if things ever became serious between you, he’d want some boundaries in place. and if you want to continue, he would certainly become your new partner. he’d never show his face but he’d have no qualms showing your viewers how to please you better than anyone you ever had.

believe it or not, 𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐔𝐒 would be one of the last to find out because it’s something he would never expect to stumble across. in fact, you kept on the lowdown so well that he never would have known had you not accidentally slipped up. he asked if you were free one night and you casually said “sorry, asmo, but i’m busy filming content tonight” and so began his hunt in finding out what exactly it is that you film, and he hits the gold mine. as soon as he does, he’s all up in your business wanting to know everything, and he most certainly wants to take part. screw all those other demons. you could make millions together, if that’s what you want. he’d become a most loyal and devoted partner.

𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐙𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐁 was just looking for something to get him going. it was a rough day at practise and his usual hunger was taken over by a hunger for pleasure. and upon looking for some content, he came across a certain trending human. he didn’t think it would be you. it had to be someone else. but when he clicked on a video after purchasing it….well, his cock grew and hardened faster than it ever did before, simply from seeing you touch yourself in in front of a camera, making eye contact with him through a screen and moaning so sweetly. he instantly becomes a loyal follower. but beel unintentionally found your account, so he would never intentionally confront you about it. he’d wait for you to open up, and he’d support your every decision.

𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐑 isn’t proud of how he stumbled upon your account. to be honest, he didn’t have an onlydevils account until one day, he was super horny and used beel’s account to watch some stuff. little did he know, beel had been watching his precious human doing all sorts of dirty things and that’s how he discovered it. so he quickly makes his own account and blows all of his money on your content, watching you go from pleasuring yourself with toys to getting lain into by some other demon. he’d wish for you to stop if you got serious with him, but other than that, your videos become the only thing he can use to get off, and soon he craves the real thing more and more.

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madlori · 8 months ago

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i don't even know what this is, a bit of non-buddie-endgame heartbreak maybe.

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"One more?" Eddie says, holding up the decanter of fine ten-year-old bourbon.

Buck sighs. "I better not. Don't want to be hungover tomorrow like I was at the last wedding we were at."

"At least you weren't the groom that time," Eddie said, grinning as he puts down the decanter, apparently deciding to forgo a refill for himself.

"All the more reason."

"It took me a year to pay off the credit card bill for that fucking hotel room," Eddie groans.

"Hey, you say that like I wasn't paying half."

"At least it put us off having some kind of wild party tonight."

"Yeah. Plus it just feels weird. Like, how does a bachelor party work if you're marrying a man? Seems like he ought to be invited, too."

"What is Tommy doing tonight?"

"His brothers and a couple of the guys from Harbor took him to Top Golf."

"Stop this crazy party train."

"I kinda like Top Golf, it's like golf but also skeeball."

Eddie put down his glass and leaned forward. "So I know a traditional part of my job tonight is to like...check how you're feeling. Like, make sure you're doing the right thing. See if you're having cold feet."

"It is?"

"Apparently. But...I don't really need to. You're practically vibrating with excitement."

Buck felt himself go warm and liquid at the idea that in 24 hours, he'd be Tommy's husband. "I am doing the right thing. I've never had any doubts."

"Never?"

"No. I love him so much, Eddie."

"I know you do. And that guy is so in love with you it's embarrassing. I've never had doubts about either of you, either. And you know I get protective."

"Gee, you don't say."

"Shut up!" They laughed together, the quiet, easy laughter of a nearly decade-old friendship that in some ways was even closer than a marriage.

Buck sighed. "Well, I better get to bed. I need sleep if I want to look pretty to marry the man of my dreams tomorrow."

Eddie nodded, making no move to get up himself. "I'll wake you up at 9."

"Thanks." He patted Eddie's knee and went to the door. Something felt...electric. The air was crackling and he didn't really know why.

He was at the door when Eddie's voice stopped him.

"Did we just miss our chance? Somewhere along the way?" he said, quietly, but his voice cut into the silence clearly.

Buck paused, still facing the door. He took a deep breath and turned, his eyes locking on to Eddie's immediately. He did not even try to pretend that he didn't know exactly what Eddie was talking about. "Yeah. I think we did."

Eddie nodded. "I think so, too."

Buck took a step forward. "But you will always be my guy, Eddie. Always."

Eddie stood up, hands in his pockets. "I love you. And I love him. I love what you two have, together. And I will always have your back."

Buck took the two steps to close the distance and pulled Eddie into an embrace, pressing his face into his hair. "I love you, too." He drew back and let his forehead rest against Eddie's. They took a few breaths together, and it felt like they were releasing something into the air between them. Buck pulled away and pressed a kiss to Eddie's forehead. Eddie smiled, an easy, familiar smile, and it was okay again.

Buck grinned, squeezed his hand, and left the room.

He got to his own hotel room - they were all staying in the historic inn where the ceremony would be tomorrow - and made it inside. A shuddering breath escaped him, and as if he'd been waiting for a cue, he heard Tommy's key in the lock and he came inside. "Evan, wha..." was all he got out before Buck buried himself in his arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm amazing. I'm just..." He sighed, pressing his face into Tommy's neck. "I think I just let go of something I've been holding onto for a long time."

Tommy pulled back and met his eyes. "Eddie?"

He knew. Of course he knew. This man who was about to marry him absolutely knew. Buck nodded.

"And you're both okay?"

"Yes. Better than that, I think." Tommy pulled him back into his arms, rocking them both back and forth. "I love you."

"I know, Evan. I've always known."

Buck stood in the embrace of the man he loved, and wept both for what he was about to gain, and a little bit for what he'd never had.

#buddie #bucktommy #spec fic #madlori's fic #evan buckley #eddie diaz #tommy kinard

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justchillandshipit · 2 months ago

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More thoughts:

I linked a post below that has me thinking about Tommy's actions & Eddie's place in the narrative. In retrospect, I 100% believe Tommy knows and understands that Eddie is likely going to be Buck's last. (as much as anybody can know this sort of thing.) I know Tim and Oliver said Eddie had nothing to do with the obstacles in Buck's relationship, but I think that was a partial truth on their part. Technically, Buck does spiral because of Abby and #stagefoureddiediaz has talked about the way Buck is still stuck on the hamster wheel. I think both of these things are part of the obstacles mentioned in one of Oliver's interviews. However, if you look only at those things, you overlook the Pink Eddie in the room. While I agree that Eddie didn't interfere or try to stop Buck & Tommy from being together, his friendship with Buck has remained a constant. (see the link at the very bottom for more about Eddie in the narrative.) If you check out Buddielifer's post, several good points demonstrate the breakup was about Eddie. I'll try to avoid repeating what was said there as I explain. My opinion does differ on a few small points, but I'll get to that later.

Ok. I'm going to talk about Tommy a little but stick with me. This is a Buddie post. I promise, and I do have a point. I do believe Buck was attracted to Tommy, not because he had some great destiny to be the love of Buck's life, but because he did a few really cool things while helping to save Bobby & Athena's lives. Plus, Tommy did it in the coolest way possible. Helicopter pilots are cool, or they would be if they weren't dating one-half of your favorite ship. lol. Before the kiss, Buck wasn't self-aware enough to fully engage with his sexuality, I suspect that he handled his attraction to Tommy the way he handled it with other men before we knew him as a firefighter.

As we saw in a flashback, when Buck met a man he felt attracted to, he processed those feelings by befriending him. It was the same with Tommy. That is why he was at the hangar that day. When he offered to buy Tommy a beer, I truly think Buck thought he was making a new friend. If you think about it, you can see this was a pattern for Buck. He did have a meltdown over Eddie when they first met (but with Eddie, bigger things were and are still in play) It doesn't change the fact that once Buck got past his initial jealousy or whatever that was, he threw himself all in with Eddie. It was part of his pattern and part of #stagefour's hamster wheel. (Endgame will have Buck get off the wheel and look around. The person standing there was never part of the wheel, but the person waiting for him to stop and get off of it.)

The situation with Tommy is probably closer to how Buck reacted to his friend who wanted Buck as a sperm donor. Buck actually followed that 'friend' to Peru. I have a post from a while back where I discuss Buck sending mixed signals. In his mind, he is making a friend, but he is also unconsciously flirting. Tommy was the first to push through and just kiss Buck. I don't think this was nefarious so much as an attempt to interpret the signals Buck was sending. (I'm sure many see Tommy as having bad intentions but stick with me. I'm trying to put him into the context where Tim claimed he wanted him to be seen. Tommy was supposed to be a mentor or a more experienced man helping Buck navigate this side of himself.) As a teacher, Tommy did help him navigate, but he also let Buck set the pace. Although never shown, we know Buck is a very sexual being, and the deleted scene with Tommy, Hen, and Karen confirmed that Tommy was just trying to keep up with him.

But I digress. Buck's intention to befriend Tommy ended the exact moment that Eddie showed up at the hangar with a huge smile on his face. Stoic Eddie who does not show his emotions was smiling hugely. Even though this is from Buck's perspective and he is an unreliable narrator, it is plausible to me that Eddie would be excited to go to a live fight in Vegas. Oliver and Tim have talked a lot over the past few weeks about how Buck spirals. When Eddie left with Tommy, Buck began to spiral in a way that we have never seen before or since. He was absolutely unhinged with jealousy. There is no way that Buck, who didn't even ask about Tommy's dating history until six months into the relationship, was that insane to get the attention of a man he has known for a few days or weeks. Now that we are pulling in new material from the current season, it isn't even remotely believable that Buck's reaction was about Tommy.

If Buck had experienced some sort of love-at-first-sight moment with Tommy, then he would have asked Tommy about his past at the beginning of the relationship. In fact, people entering into something serious generally ask about past partners in the first few weeks of getting to know each other or before sex. The fact that Buck didn't, is a change in pattern for him. Buck typically throws himself all in and then when things go wrong, he doesn't know how he got there. (Also part of the hamster wheel.) However, I attribute the difference this time to the fact that, subconsciously, Buck knows what he's feeling. He can use his body. (borderline sex addict). However, he can't bring himself to share with Tommy what he already shares with Eddie, but you know our unaware cowboy can't see it yet.

At the hangar, Tommy didn't have a feel for Buck yet. However, by the end of the Vegas trip, I think he had picked up a good idea from Eddie that there was something there. (not because Eddie has made some sort of confession, but because I'm confident that Eddie talked about Buck nonstop. I'm hoping that we get some sort of confirmation of this in the current season. I don't want it to be forgotten.) At any rate, whatever conclusions Tommy drew from his time in Vegas with Eddie and the time they spent hanging out afterward didn't bother him enough to refuse to date Buck. I do think Tommy was longing for the family and support he could see Buck has with the 118, but I don't think he was ever planning a wedding in his head. In fact, I know he wasn't. That's part of why he broke up with Buck.

Sidenote: (Thanks to StageFourEddieDiaz, for pointing out how Buck failed to understand the mission from Josh's speech because this is what caused Buck to shift from not letting Tommy get too close to asking Tommy to move in with him.) Until the conversation with Josh, Buck was actively shutting Tommy out of anything other than sex and possibly learning the ins and outs of the LGBTQ community.

Again, in the beginning, this didn't bother Tommy. He knew what Buck needed, and as he stated a few times during the sixth episode, Buck was hot and fun. If you need examples of Buck shutting Tommy out, I point you to anything that happened in the Halloween episode. I'm not saying Buck didn't care about Tommy at all, but he was holding back. The look on Buck's face as Josh asked about his feelings really said it all. I think this is probably why Josh was a little shy of the mark when giving his speech about comphet. Josh had to give a long list of, "Do you feel "this or that" for your boyfriend of six months," before he finally hit on something that Buck did feel. I don't want to get off topic or repeat too much from the linked post, I just wanted to illustrate that the jealousy from Buck's coming out episode was 100% for Eddie and that it was something that Tommy realized before entering the relationship.

I know there will be some disagreement here, but I also feel like Tommy's feelings for Buck actually were on the verge of changing, and he hadn't expected that. When they were standing at the grave, Buck gave his eulogy directed to Billy Boils. Tommy's face went through a series of changes. First, he seemed annoyed or concerned. I couldn't quite tell, but the more Buck talked, the more you could see of our Buck. The guy with a huge heart who can empathize with the skeletal remains of a criminal. I'll link the clip for you to judge. What Buck had to say to Billy was more open and revealed more about Buck's character than anything he had been saying to Tommy over the past six months. It was a small scene, but one that probably came back to Tommy when Buck suggested moving in together.

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It was scenes like this one combined with Tommy's exclusion from group chat, etc., that probably helped to remind him that Buck's feelings six months ago were not about him and nothing had changed despite Buck's suggestion that he move in. Tommy's insecurities took over and reminded him what the inevitable end was going to be for them. He was the first not the last.

For the past six months, he's known that Eddie was between them, but you could see how comfortable he was with it. He didn't seem annoyed by Eddie's presence at all. I disagree with either Tim or Oliver when they try to play up that Tommy was Eddie's friend and this was natural. Eddie and Buck met Tommy at the same time, and Tommy was trying to shoot his shot by taking Eddie to Vegas. I don't know what was discussed between Eddie & Tommy during those few weeks where Buck was being left out, but it is clear that whatever conclusion he had drawn from the Vegas trip had been solidified by what happened on the basketball court, so much so that he wanted to apologize to Buck in person. We all know how that went, and I still think that was a good scene.

This brings me to the breakup scene itself. In the end, when Tommy talks about how he didn't see it coming. I don't think he was referring to the breakup. I think he was referring to the feelings he caught close to the end. He thought he would help Buck, provide a safe space for Buck to explore that he personally didn't have, and have some fun with a hot young thing, but he let it go too far. (His reasons are pretty much part of what Tim has said in interviews.) I don't think Tommy realized how much he had gotten caught up in the fantasy of Buck until Buck asked him to move in with him. I do think he's sincere when he says his heart would end up broken because, despite his feelings, he still understands there is something between Buck and Eddie even if they don't.

(One side note. I agree with Buck that first and last can be the same thing. I don't buy into the belief that you have to be with dozens of sexual partners, but I also don't think that would have been the case with Buck. He is a sexual character, and he's openly curious. I know people were mad about the interview where Oliver talked about letting Buck F#ck, but I think that would be in character for an upset Buck who was just dumped. It is less about his sexuality than it is about his abandonment issues and neglect trauma. That's my take anyway. We'll see what Tim does with it. I do think the part of Buck that craves monogamy already belongs to someone else, and the di was cast before Tommy came into his life, and we are back again to the hamster wheel.)

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If you stuck with me this long, thank you. I know there are few, if any, fans of Tommy around here so I appreciate that you were willing to objectively view him the way Tim kept trying to present him. I'm tired and I'm pretty sure I rambled a couple of times, but I do understand Tommy is a problematic character. I consider that to be a writing issue that never got a satisfying resolution. I'm equally aware some people hate him simply because he was with Buck. I'm not doing a lot of judging these days because I already know how unreasonable I'm going to be over Eddie being with another man. After seven seasons of subtext, they are already in love. These other relationships are like cheating. lol I'm not so secretly hoping that if Eddie needed a "first" he got it when he was a teenager or when he was in Afghanistan.

I can tell I'm going to be bad because when I see posts about Eddie sleeping with a priest, I want to scream into a pillow and pretend that I'm flipping over furniture and tossing chairs across the room. I just can't be reasonable. I would never attack the actors or writers though. That's not me. My jealousy is on Buck's behalf, and my bad behavior remains entirely inside my head. I don't know what they'll do with Eddie, but they are going to need a chat group to make sure Eddie's boyfriends do not meet with Buck's subconscious mind.

Click here to see the meta on Eddie Haunting the Narrative from #buddielifers.

#911 abc #buddie #ryan guzman #oliver stark #buck buckley #eddie diaz #911 spoilers #speculation really #Youtube

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cieloclercs · 1 year ago

Text

what would you say (if i told you i love you)? — charles leclerc

PART: 4/? (read part 3 here)

summary. in which childhood best friends blur the lines between what they’ve always known, and something more

warnings. pure angst lmao, charles is an idiot with a capital I, swearing, basically everyone hates charles, the leclercs (minus charles) and joris being iconic + your unnamed bestie, i used pictures from france 2022 so sorry about that 🫠

pairings. charles leclerc x artsy!reader

face claim. tara michelle

author’s note. alex is in one of the pictures as a face claim for a different character but absolutely no hate is intended to her at all !! sorry for the angst in this one 😭 but i promise it won’t stay like that for much longer! <33

liked by yourfriend and 27,836 others

y/nsart experimenting with new textures and media! super happy with the outcome 🖤

view all comments…

yourfriend incredible 😍

*y/nsart liked this comment

username oh fuck.

username now i really want to know what charles did

username so i’m not the only one getting REALLY sad vibes off these paintings??

username nope 😃

username will any of these be going for sale? 👀

y/nsart i don’t think so unfortunately! i’m just painting for me at the moment :)

username @charles_leclerc what the fuck did you do?

username what happened to y/n’s light tones and summer landscapes? ☹️

username charles happened apparently

username pascale normally comments on y/n’s art posts…is this confirmation? 🥲

username babes you’re reaching

username or at least i hope you are

username the charles thing aside, these are so beautiful!

username no charles like either 😭😭

username it’s the beginning of the end girls :’(

arthur_leclerc amazing as always 🖤

*y/nsart liked this comment

username at least arthur’s still here !!

username wrong leclerc. no offence arthur

arthur_leclerc none taken, i fully agree 😃

username WHAT

username ok so we’ve got no pascale or charles…but there’s still some leclerc presence 🤔

username i’ll be honest i’ve got no idea what’s going on

username same bestie !!

username i mean it’s got to be all connected. charles’ dnf in zandvoort and how sad he looked all weekend (he didn’t even post after!!) and now this?? something weird is going on

username i just want charlesy/n back 🥲

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f1wags Charles Leclerc arrived in the Monza paddock today with Italian model Bianca Santoro. Sources suggest they looked pretty cosy 👀

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username it’s over for us charlesy/n nation 🥲

username i’m literally sobbing

username YOU’RE JOKING

username this can’t be happening.

username it’s only been three weeks and he’s already forgotten about y/n??

username you say that like they ever actually dated 🙄

username no they didn’t, but they’ve been best friends since they were literal toddlers! that’s not something you just get over in a few weeks imo

username my heart is breaking wtf

username @charles_leclerc WHAT ABOUT Y/N???

username oh my god for the last time, THEY NEVER DATED !! 🙄🙄

username i seriously believed charles was in love with y/n 💔💔

username why does this feel like a betrayal 😭

username i feel so bad for y/n 🥲

username yikes

username guys this girl might actually be nice! don’t be so quick to judge just because you all want charles and y/n together 😁

username we never said she isn’t.

username but they were my endgame 😭😭

username the only positive out of this is that we’re about to be fed with the most beautiful, haunting, gut-wrenchingly tragic paintings OF ALL TIME

username y/n’s rep era (painter edition) loading…

liked by leclerc_pascale and 104,357 others

y/nsart the heart was made to be broken

view all comments…

username oh.

username not the oscar wilde quote 💔

username i was not mentally prepared for this

username i don’t think any of us were babe 🥲

username i’m never going to forgive charles for this

username why am i feeling this so deeply 😭

leclerc_pascale ❤️

username i can just imagine what pascale’s going to say to charles after this lmao

username she’s gonna tear him apart 😭

arthur_leclerc stop this now i will cry.

username arthur 😭😭

username phahah he’s one of us

username @arthur_leclerc same bestie

username as sad as this is i wish i had an outlet for my emotions like this…i feel like it would be so liberating

*y/nsart liked this comment

username this is exactly what heartbreak feels like. i’m not ok.

username charles is now enemy number 1 after making my girl y/n feel like this

username i was going to say i hope he dnfs but he’s already cursed enough it’ll probably happen anyway

username HAHAHA SO TRUE 😭

username someone said y/n’s rep era would be the only positive out of the charles-bianca thing BUT THIS IS PAINFUL. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP I WANT HAPPY Y/N BACK.

username oh god the first and last slides 💔💔💔

username she’s not even denying it anymore…

username i’m going to pray every day from now that charles comes to his senses and tells her how he feels 🙏🙏

username can i join you

username and me

username our delusional asses need to stick together rn 😔🙏

username on a slightly less sad note THE AMOUNT OF LIKES THIS HAS GOT OMG.

username as it should! y/n’s talent needs to be more widely recognised 😌

username @charles_leclerc you’re breaking all our hearts here

liked by f1wags and 15,736 others

formula1updates Charles Leclerc after his DNF in Monza 💔

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username karma.

username honestly it serves him right

username we manifesting it guys !!

username i want to be sad because that’s his championship hopes completely out of the window but he genuinely deserves it after the way he’s treated y/n…

username you mess with y/n you mess WITH GOD BITCH

username lmao it’s so funny that he brings his little girlfriend with him and then crashes out 3 laps in 😭

username he KNOWS he deserves it as well

comments on this post have been limited.

yourfriend

yourusername toujours mon amour 🩷 arthur_leclerc take care of her please ↳ yourfriend what do you think i’m doing? 🙄 joris_trouche can’t believe i wasn’t invited 😔 ↳ yourfriend do you understand the meaning of a ‘girl’s trip’? charles_leclerc please can you ask her to answer my texts? ↳ yourfriend why should i? you’ve already hurt her enough.

three weeks later…

liked by charles_leclerc and 26,836 others

tagged: yourfriend

yourusername healing 🌊🤍🌙

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yourfriend la plus belle fille 💕/ the most beautiful girl

yourusername je t’aime <3

leclerc_pascale Reviens vite à la maison, mon ange 🤍 / come home soon, angel

yourusername tu me manques, maman 🥹

username the strongest person i know 🩵

*yourusername liked this comment

arthur_leclerc i never thought i’d say these words but i miss you ☹️

yourusername awww arth 🥹🥹 i miss you too x

joris_trouche still sad i wasn’t invited on the girl’s trip :’((

yourfriend tais toi, stupide 🙄 / shut up, stupid

yourusername 😭😭

joris_trouche rude 🙁

username guys are we all seeing the same thing right now or am i hallucinating 😳

username charles liked??

username OMG IM NOT HALLUCINATING

username CODE RED 🚨🚨🚨‼️‼️‼️ CHARLES LIKED EVERYBODY STAY CALM

username not charles trying to crawl his way back bitch please 😭

username @/yourusername tell him to go fuck himself x

username HAHSHAH STOP

username nah i’m calling it he’s definitely been lurking around her and y/f/n’s stories for weeks trying to figure out how to win her back 🤞🤞🤞

username girl you’re delulu if you think y/n’s gonna take him back that easily 🙄

username y’all just ignoring the fact that he still has a whole ass girlfriend 😭😭

username let me be delulu in peace please and thanks. 😐

username this is the mediterranean girl summer i want 😍

username how to be y/n y/l/n

username babe this isn’t google

username this bianca girl has NOTHING on y/n

username fr she’s literally a goddess 😫

username if charles doesn’t want her i’ll gladly take her 🤭

username two pretty best friends 🤩

username the growth 🤍 @/yourusername i’m manifesting love and happiness for you girl !! no one deserves it more 😘

yourusername thank you my love 🥹🥹

username charles get tf out of here 😂

username lmaooo he’s ruining the hot girl summer vibe

➜ part 5

tagged: @incoherenciass

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lovemyromance · 2 months ago

Note

After I finished reading the books and the bonus chapter I thought there was a 50% chance that the next book could be about elriel and 50% it could be about gwynriel, especially when I saw how popular gwynriel was. I didn’t pick up on any of the lightsinger hints. I feel like most people don’t pick up on them the first time they read the books. Without the lightsinger theory, the bonus chapter seems to introduce gwyn as a possible love interest for az.

With everything we learn in hofas and what Sarah said in the today interview, I think she’s more likely to write elriel. But that doesn’t mean that elucien or gwynriel can’t happen, after all she said she writes based on vibes and she’s prone to change love interests.

*I don't even care if this is a troll ask I already had a draft along these lines saved so thanks for letting me use it*

Walk with me, 🚶🏽‍♀️

I mean, I agree. If I had ONLY read the bonus chapter and none of the other books, then yeah I'd say he starts the BC with Elain and ends with Gwyn. So he could go either way.

But that would be ignoring the rest of the books outside the singular, 5page bonus chapter 🤷🏻‍♀️

Though you're right, truly, SJM can take it any which way she wants. You see it as 50/50 chance between Elriel and Gwynriel, I see it as 99/1, SJM herself could be 75/25 who knows! She could do 0/0 and make Azriel end up with Eris too!

And yet - when you read that last sentence - where I claimed SJM could write Azris endgame just as likely as she could write Gwynriel or Elriel - I'm sure a part of you disagreed, didn't it?

"There's no way Azris is as likely as Gwynriel!"

You're right. It's not. You know that. I know that. And you know why we both believe it's unlikely that SJM will throw away both Elriel and Gwynriel in favor of Azris?

It's because SJM doesn't just "switch love interests" without buildup.

We all knows she can do whatever she wants - she's the author. But I think it's kind of an inaccurate statement to say "she's prone to switching love interests", point blank. She NEVER has done that without proper buildup.

SJM has two ways she "changes" a love interest:

1. A main character has a minor relationship that is summarized in a passing sentence or paragraph long thought about their ex/current lover. They might not have even been in an actual relationship just had romantic feelings at one point. Either way, it's never a focus of the story.

Ex: Hunt & Shahar, Feyre & Isaac Hale, Elain & Greyson, Mor & Azriel (and cassian ig), Bryce & Connor, Hypaxia & Ruhn

2. A main character has a full blown relationship with another main character and they fully explore all stages of falling in love, lust, breaking up, and then moving on to another character.

Ex: Tamlin/Feyre/Rhys; Dorian/Aelin/Chaol/Rowan

She does it both ways. Here's the difference though:

The first method is minor stakes. It's typically just the beginning of a relationship, or a retrospective point of view. There is very rarely any physical intimacy. It is also typically only the female's point of view.

In my opinion, it shouldn't really even count as a love interest switch up. It is so small in the scale of things and it never pans out or is given any importance in the main story. It fizzles out after the first 10 pages (not literally guys chill), basically.

Then we get to the second method of her "love interest switch". She doesnt do this one often, and it takes MULTIPLE books to cover. It is about a MAIN FEMALE character. The Feyre & Aelins, if you will.

Both of those situations were not something that was just sprung on us without adequate build up.

Feyre fell in love with Tamlin. Met Rhys. Slowly fell OUT of love with Tamlin. Then fell in love with Rhys. It took her 3 books.

They did not have a romance in ACOTAR while she was still falling for Tamlin. That would've been like if she went to Calanmai, saw Rhys, and then decided she didn't want Tamlin and only wanted Rhys from then.

Aelin & Dorian and Aelin & Chaol were two relationships that were FULLY fleshed out. She did not abruptly leave Chaol and immediately fall for Rowan. These aren't instances where anything happened abruptly in a bonus chapter or even in ONE book- these "switch ups" happened over multiple books.

Now let's look at Elain and Azriel.

In the context of the series, let's evaluate where these two stand in the two ways SJM does a love interest switch up:

1. Minor character romance switch up

- Are Azriel & Elain minor characters? ❌ no

- Did they share only one sentence or paragraph thinking about each other? ❌ no, they had multiple major scenes together

- Was it from a female POV? ❌ no

- do they only briefly show physical intimacy? Yes ✅

So clearly, Azriel and Elain don't fit into the first type of "switch up" she does. The only criteria they fit is that they have had one scene of minor physical intimacy.

2. Major character love interest switch

- Are Azriel & Elain main characters at this point? Yes ✅

- Did Azriel & Elain get a chance to fully explore their relationship and fall in love? No ❌

- Did Azriel & Elain get multiple books to cover this changing of feelings? No ❌

So clearly, Azriel and Elain don't fit into the second type of "switch up" she does either. The only criteria they fit is that they are both major characters right now.

Now what did we conclude as a result of this long ass post, if yall are still with me on this 10k hike?

Azriel & Elain have had buildup together that cannot be ignored.

They have been the main focus (Azriel's Hybern camp rescue of Elain was VERY similar to Nesta saving/willing to die for Cassain)

They have had clear romantic feelings for each other as evidenced by the bonus chapter

They have obstacles in place now (thanks Rhys).

There's foreshadowing in droves scattered throughout the bonus chapters and books.

The natural flow of the story supports Elriel

The POV before Elain's book is Azriel's not Lucien's

SJM is on the Today show talking about rejected mates

SJM has made Azriel step into the role Lucien should have been playing for Elain

If you're willing to ignore this and say "Gwynriel could have a 50/50 percent chance of happening bc of the singular bonus chapter" ... then go ahead. But don't act surprised when you get the next book in your hands and it's indeed Elriel 🤷🏻‍♀️

There is always a slight chance the author could do anything. That's like if I said "yeah - in every soccer game there's a chance the goalie could stop blocking shots and let the other team win."

Like yes. Quite literally they could do that. It's up to them.

But is it likely? No.

Will it go against everything they've set up and trained for? Yes.

SJM could write Gwynriel. She could write Azris then too, as that has equal buildup. She could write Nezris or Azquin. She could write anything. But that minuscule possibly of "anything could happen" doesn't affect typical calculations when it comes to statistics, so I don't know why it's playing a part here. SJM's plot does not defy the normal laws of physics and chance🙄

So at the end of this long walk, if you're still with me, I just want yall to know that yes SJM could do anything she wants she's the author - but Elriel is the most likely conclusion by far.

#elriel #acotar #elain x azriel #elain archeron #azriel #pro elain #elain #antielucien #pro elriel #antigwynriel

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alexiethymia · 11 months ago

Text

I have a lot of thoughts.

Ok so I loved it. It was cheesy but I do love the entire hotel’s dynamic. They’re such a messed up found family. It was sweet as hell (pun intended) that they all stayed for Charlie and their home (gosh darn it, the hotel’s become home for them)!

The duet between Chaggie was adorable.

BUT BUT the last two episodes only cemented my intrigue with Charlastor. I do love fanon Charlastor.

But their canon dynamic on its own is so interesting. Like it doesn’t have to be romantic.

It’s in the way he didn’t immediately deal for her soul and yet we just know the deal is going to be heartbreaking.

It’s in the way despite his touch-aversion he is STILL so touchy with her. Like I always thought that it was power play, and to some extent it still is. But he already got the deal he wanted from her, and yet he still caresses her hair, pinches her cheeks, loops her arm around his in some parody of a gentleman’s hold?? (So so touchy, and it even seems different in the past that it seems almost friendly. It was weirdly adorable how proud he was in showing off Cannibal Town to Charlie). Sure it may be manufactured, but part of me thinks that part of it is unconscious because he displays a level of comfort with her similar to what he displays with Rosie, with his friends in other words. He’s called her ‘charming’ twice now!

It’s in the way that despite that Charlie has always been the underdog and mocked, in his own sadistic way, he HAS always believed in her (even as he still thinks it’s all for his own amusement). Even if he’s only using her there’s something to be said that he’s always believed her side was the winning side. He parallels Vaggie in that way I think. He seems proud of her (like seriously I wouldn’t expect him to actually smile sincerely with Charlie’s heartfelt declaration of love for all of them - him of all sinners!) AND here’s the thing, I could easily believe he thinks he will leave everyone high and dry if it’s a choice between him or them. He’s in it for himself after all. But when he sings about seeing and polishing Charlie’s potential, yeah it’s definitely villainous, but it’s striking that whatever mysterious endgame he has in the future still seems to include her.

And the most striking thing for me! We now know that his staff is his weakness, possibly a large source of his power. AND what this heartless sinner who trusts no one hands it over to Charlie?? Twice? He literally puts his weakness in her hands? It shows that (despite not admitting to it) he trusts in Charlie’s inherent goodness that she won’t take advantage of his vulnerability, because for some reason I don’t see him doing that with anyone else.

Charlie and Alastor are foils. Their dynamic forms a crucial part of the show. Absolute goodness versus absolute evil is boring. Alastor’s villainous breakdown is prepping the audience for a heartbreaking betrayal. But again it would be a boring development to watch if Alastor was his usual smug and evil self through it all. For it to have weight, Alastor also has to go through inner turmoil as well. Corrupt the cutie is a favorite trope for a reason. But who’s corrupting who? From Alastor’s breakdown, it’s clear he’s not as in control of everything anymore. I love love Alastor’s unwilling, conflicting, growing attachment to the hotel (which is best shown through his relationship with Charlie, though I would hope he develops his relationships with the other hotel residents too).

And it would be so interesting (and satisfying! and heartbreaking) if Charlie ends up playing Alastor at his own game. If Charlie is the one factor that Alastor doesn’t see coming because he (shock!) actually DOES trust her. In other words, in the same way Charlie (and the hotel) is influencing Alastor to become softer (and in his view, weak), what if Charlie does end up being influenced enough by Alastor’s mentoring that she ends up becoming all the more ruthless. Because I can see a scenario where Charlie ends up ‘betraying’ Alastor for what she deems a justified reason. Alastor’s ruthlessness with the self-righteousness of an angel? Whoo boy. There would be so many layers of dramatic irony there that Alastor’s plan of corrupting Charlie ends up working so well but it ends up hurting him because she’s the chink that manages to get past that smiling armor.

And compounding this inevitable tragedy is the knowledge that this could have all been avoided. Alastor trusts her, but it seems like it’s not enough or his urge for control still wins out in the end. Because for me there was no need to go through a deal. If it’s Charlie, she wouldn’t abandon Alastor and she’d do everything to help free him if that’s what the deal was for because that’s the only deal I can think of that wouldn’t require Charlie to hurt anyone.

Unless the deal isn’t about that. Unless typical power-hungry Alastor’s goal really is to depose Lucifer and to rule Hell. Because Charlie definitely wouldn’t help in that (unless she was forced to through their deal) but perhaps there’s something only she can do that ends up handing power over to Alastor.

That is to say Chaggie fulfills that itch for stability and a happy ending. Charlastor fulfills that itch for angst and push-and-pull. From the beginning, it’s been a tug of war and a battle of wills between Charlie and Alastor and I’m glad to see that theme has remained in the show. Alastor will be the truest test of Charlie’s belief in redemption. It’s exciting to see who’ll win out. Will Alastor corrupt her first or will Charlie redeem him first?

Like I thought I’d only see this is in fic, but heck I didn’t think we would actually get a group hug with Alastor but wow omg I can’t believe we actually got it in the show proper!

That is to say this long spiel is just to say that the show ended up turning me into a multishipper haha.

#hazbin hotel #charlastor #alastor #charlie morningstar #chaggie #don’t come @me pls #like I said I don’t need it to be romantic #but ever since the pilot I’ve been excited for the canon charlastor dynamic #and the show sure didn’t disappoint!#everything that intrigued me about it at first was still there #and got better!#vaggie #to think even vaggie would be smiling that alastor came back?? wow

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buddiebeginz · 3 months ago

Text

So B*mmy's attacked another journalist and caused them to go private on twitter. This time it was the person who wrote the article for USWeekly. The one about couples people want to see happen and because they included Buddie B*mmy's went after them.

You know they go on and on about how their ship is endgame and how Buddie is never going to happen. Well if that were truly the case they wouldn't need to attack us for our head canons. They wouldn't care if we saw Eddie as queer. They wouldn't even care if Eddie came out. They certainly wouldn't need to care about random articles that talked about how Buddie could happen.

But they do care and they do feel threatened because they know deep down that everything since s7 is screaming that their ship isn't going to last. Everytime they harrass people so publicly and loud like this all they do is make their entire fandom look awful. Fandom drama doesn't dictate what decisions Tim is going to make for the show but I do think it can play a factor. I think fandom in general can play a role in what stories get made. I don't think Buck would have ever even come out as bi if not for the Buddie fandom being as loud and supportive of it happening as we've been over the years.

I'm positive that Tim, the higher ups at abc, and the actors have all taken notice of the toxicity of the B*mmy fandom. Tim himself called them out in that podcast during the hiatus. And while Buddie fandom have said and done things that have crossed lines over the years we have never been as bad as some of the stuff I've seen coming from B*mmy stans since last season. They have repeatedly attacked not only our fandom but journalists, the actors (literally making a 4 hour podcast of their hate for Oliver and also telling Ryan he should have finished the job after he opened up about being s*icidal), the 911news account, etc.

From what I've seen they can't handle anyone having a different opinion than them. Almost since 7x04 happened I've seen them attacking Buddie shippers and calling us homophobic for still shipping Buddie. Even though the majority of Buddie shippers were supportive of the kiss when it happened and were thrilled Buck had his bi awakening. But because we've continued to talk about how we want to see Buddie happen, something a lot of us have done for years regardless of whatever love interest the guys have been with and because we've talked about our issues with T*mmy, especially with how he treats Buck, they think that gives them the right to attack us personally.

I fully support everyone's right to like the stuff they like and dislike the stuff they don't. Lord knows I've shipped a lot of unpopular ships over the years. But B*mmy stans have made this not just about a fictional show and ships anymore. This isn't just about how one group likes one ship and one group likes another. This is about how one group in the 911 fandom uses the fact that they ship a canon m|m ship as a shield to be abusive to anyone who disagrees with them.

They've made it so it's not just Buddie shippers who want T*mmy and that ship to go it's also everyone who is tired of dealing with the poison they've injected into the 911 fandom. They don't just make their own fandom look bad when they act out the way they do they make 911 fandom as whole look bad. I've been a part of this fandom for years and never seen animosity as bad it's been this year. I hope that when T*mmy goes our fandom can heal though to be honest there a lot of people I no longer care to interact with after all this.

#buddie #911 buddie #911!

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girl4music · 4 days ago

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Those last 2 episodes. Appropriately titled ‘Heart Part 1’ and ‘Heart Part 2’ because my heart is so full. I have so much to say and have no idea where to start with it.

So much happened. Every lead character’s individual arc was thoroughly concluded in a very satisfying way. Even some of the recurring ones got an endgame so there’s a lot to cover in this recap of a fantastic finale and I feel so fulfilled on great storytelling and great representation packed into a neatly tied up ending.

MAJOR SPOILERS: do not read this if you have not seen the finale of ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’.

I guess I’ll start with Shadow Weaver because she had an endgame that I had predicted. Well, sort of. I said that Shadow Weaver’s arc can only go in 1 of 2 ways. I said it was either personal attainment (villainy) or personal sacrifice (heroism). So I wasn’t surprised when it was the latter. But I wasn’t able to trust in her going that way sincerely until she started attacking that monster, told Catra that she was proud of her, took off her mask and then told them both ‘you’re welcome’. I couldn’t trust that she was sincerely helping them to achieve releasing and channelling the Heart of Etheria’s magic… which by the way, is what almost brought them to the brink of destruction the first time they tried to do it. However, I understood that because She-Ra was the conduit for that, that it could have a different outcome. Still destructive but destructive only to the opposition. I think anyway. I might have to rewatch that part again because I don’t think I fully understood what was going on there. But yes, Shadow Weaver went out in a heroes death rather than was the cause of her own demise out of hunger for power and a desire to attain the magic of the Heart Of Etheria for selfish aim. I was happy with it.

Glimmer and Bow: I decided to talk about these 2 lead characters together since part of their arc involves each other. It was no surprise to me that they would declare their love for each other. I mean Glimmer has always had a crush on Bow and they’ve been the very best of friends since they were children. I wasn’t sure about Bow at first but I knew intense romantic feelings would develop and I’m glad it was Glimmer who said it first. I am a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a kiss on the lips but I think I understand why that was. I’ll get there. Be patient. There’s way too much to talk about first and I really want to save Catradora until the very last section because I’ll have the most to say about them as a lot of their arc informs well… pretty much the whole TV show.

Glimmer individually had more of an arc in the TV show than Bow did so a significant amount of my meta goes to her. It was mainly how she was fairing as Queen but also how useful she could be to the team because of it. Then of course there was Micah. Reuniting with him but having to battle with him because he was an unwilling agent of Horde Prime. I laughed with pure joy when the influence on him ended and he said “Hi, I’m your dad.” I really felt for Glimmer when she was desperately trying to heal him and she said “I won’t lose another parent!” So it was so satisfying for me to realize she healed him and that she poured all the love she could into that heal and when she succeeded, the proud smile that he wore must have made her feel like Queen of the world, never mind just her little town of Brightmoon. She deserves it.

Likewise it was wonderful to see how proud Bow’s dads were of him when he gave that rousing battle speech to the reawakened masses of Etherians, telling them to be their own warriors and fight for their home. It was right that it was Bow to do that rather than Adora or Glimmer because that is what he had trained himself to do from the beginning. He wants to be an archer battling on the side of the greater good and not a historian. So to see his dads holding each other, proudly watching him… it brought a tear to my eye, I have to admit. So beautiful!

Hordak and Entrapta: I had no idea that I would get a closure for Entrapta, let alone Hordak. I did and I’m so happy about it because even though she was only a recurring character, Entrapta buried her way into my science, tech and engineering loving heart (with a spanner and a blowtorch? You will never know 🤣) but I am glad that she got over her obsession enough to focus on what really mattered. Saving her friends.

The fact that what stopped Horde Prime wasn’t Adora or Glimmer or who you would expect, but Hordak and Entrapta? That hit so hard with me. To give THEM the hero moment of defeating the villain. I was like “Oh my god! That’s brilliant!” Because it is. Think about it. Who do you think Horde Prime tortured the most? His Little Brother! I still don’t know if that was literally or not. 🤷‍♀️ Was he actually related or was he just another clone because he did call Catra his “Little Sister” too? That’s still so creepy to me. But yeah, for Hordak to get that moment of retribution was absolutely delicious for me and then for Entrapta to reach him when Horde Prime tried to take over through the Hive Mind? So, so, good! That made total sense and it was brilliantly executed!

Scorpia and Mermista: The only reason to lump these 2 characters together is because they were chipped and controlled the longest that they caused significant damage to Etherians. There’s not really much to say about them other than that they’re going to have huge headaches now that this is all over due to how far gone they were. I mean I’m glad that they were able to save them but I just don’t know what the aftermath will be for them or whether they will be the same ever again.

From the way I watched and interpreted the TV show, I understood that one of the main narrative themes of it was psychological conditioning and I’ve been in awe that this children’s show was brave enough to tell that very dark story,… let alone see it right through until the end because it’s an ambitious, elaborate and difficult narrative undertaking. Especially to do it properly,… which they definitely did. To tell the darkness of… well… basically radicalization and genocide but to do so in such a way that it could teach and motivate kids to develop on their innate judgement and discernment so if - god forbid - they ever end up in that situation, they’ll know exactly what to do about it. With team She-Ra being their idols, they’ll be able to fight conditioning. I can imagine that’s what the creators intended with this and I cannot acknowledge and commend them on it high enough. I think that ND Stevenson and the entire creative team are incredibly courageous and amazing to make this a main thematic narrative all throughout this TV show and handle it with skill and compassion that it does not once come across as too much for PG.

Catradora: (Yes, I’m using the ship name because the way they tie up their individual character storyline arcs seamlessly also ties in with their romantic arc and you do not know how hard it is to find this with WLW ships.)

First off, I want to point out something that may or may not have been pointed out before with Catradora but this is just how it came across to me in the narrative given I interpret psychological conditioning as a main theme within it. To me, a lot of the reason why Catra is the way she is as a villainous character when it comes to receiving love and affection has do with this factor. She’s so closed off and repressed to the point that she cannot even see that she’s corrupting and sabotaging herself. She is a lot like Xena in this way. But a major striking difference for Catra is that she physically loses the one person in the world that stops her from doing this, whereas Xena physically gains that one person. Trust issues, abandonment issues, parental issues all tie in together - but that was all tolerable when Adora was around her. As soon as Adora leaves her behind in the Fright Zone and, furthermore, begins to oppose her as the hero of Etheria, she spirals so hard and so fast that all of those issues - which were always issues caused by the abusive treatment from Lord Hordak and Shadow Weaver - come crashing down one by one on top of her because she no longer has the person who makes those issues just inconveniences for her. Not only that but … it feels like personal betrayal for her that Adora fights her. She genuinely does think that Adora hates her. I mean who wouldn’t if they were in her shoes (paws?) and had the “upbringing” and “nurturing” backstory she’s had? So Catra has this preconceived notion that Adora never cared about her and left her because she thought she was better than her and was chasing after heroic glory and believes that she was too weak to go with her. In a way it’s a personal vendetta out of misunderstandings Catra has against Adora and those feelings are intense not just because the Horde brainwashing is that deep and severe but also because her love is that deep too and she can’t differentiate which feelings are which. So she becomes She-Ra’s mortal enemy because in her mind, She-Ra is what has taken Adora away from her.

But obviously, from Adora’s side, She-Ra was sprung on her, Etheria was sprung on her. In fact her entire world upended once she recognized her life for what it was. A lie. That she was the villain brutalizing innocent people. She couldn’t go back to them even if she had wanted to because everything she had ever knew was fraudulent and she had been coerced and deceived into being a weapon. And what I really like about Adora’s individual arc is that eventually this was revealed to be true on both sides of the war. She was a weapon for evil and for the greater good. But all she wanted - as all heroes do - was just to protect and defend her loved ones. That’s it. Catra could never see it that way though and it makes sense that she couldn’t given her conditioning was even worse as it involved one-on-one attacks from Shadow Weaver as well as whatever the treatment was with the entire group. Catra’s psychological conditioning was much more personal, intimate and isolated so what was ingrained into her had much deeper and stronger layers added on to it. Hers was a solid brick wall built trauma complex. Those are always much harder to recognize and escape from but with the right therapy,… it can be done. Given her issues weren’t so bad when Adora was around her but got much worse when Adora left her… it is clear that Adora represented a sort of therapy for her. Adora helped her keep all the crippling thoughts of self-doubt and self-contempt at bay. But they were on full volume when Adora left and kept attempting to kill her.

Okay, so let’s finally get on to their romantic arc and how the finale not only concluded their individual character representation and development arcs but also ended their ship slow burn. It wasn’t until the fantastic episode of ‘Save The Cat’ did I realize they were going there. See,… to start with, I knew that they were going to become a canon WLW couple at some point otherwise I would have never started watching it. That was the draw for me. That they were both lead characters in a canon WLW ship in a children’s TV show. That floored me. But I was not prepared at all for what I got to see in the finale. It was groundbreaking. It was phenomenal. In fact I’m sure it was life changing for many queer kids to see that kiss happen the way it did. Or… just happen on-screen at all. Look, I am so used to the “implied” and “assumed” and “disguised” when it comes to WLW physical intimacy that I just do not ever expect blatant leaves-absolutely-no-doubt-whatsoever kisses. I certainly don’t expect WLW kisses written and portrayed as “the power of love” kind. It’s extremely rare. To see it in a children’s show nailed me to the floor. But furthermore - added on to that astonishing feat - is that both lead characters overcome all their issues and obstacles through that very act like… a fairytale story. It’s like… when the Princess kisses the Princess, all is well… there’s no stopping either from that point on. It seems corny but it all just depends on how it’s done. But the fact is you don’t see it done between WLW at all. So to see it done WELL alongside seeing it done at all… I mean Indy knew that he had an assignment with this but the phrase “he understood the assignment” doesn’t cover or justify what was accomplished with this and I can’t believe it’s took me this long to see it.

Every TV art/entertainment creator should watch this TV show and regard this finale as the perfect example of what queer representation can and should provide in TV because this was just the epitome of what true love is. But the fact it was between 2 female lead characters.

I can’t even begin to explain how much it meant to me but I will spend the rest of my life trying to express it because this really was a groundbreaking achievement and I will be adding this WLW ship to my very short list of WLW ships that shape and satisfy every piece of me.

I have had the best fucking time watching this TV show and I will be doing reruns of it for god knows how long because I am sure there is so much more there for me just like there is with Xena, Buffy, Charmed, Dragon Ball Z, Wynonna Earp and Arcane. All these beloved shows are timeless to me for a reason and She-Ra is the same.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my recaps of my very first watch of ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. 🎄

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longbobmckenzie · 6 months ago

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Things I'd do...

... if I were a Fusebox writer. Fusebox, if you're reading this, feel free to take these into consideration. I know you won't though because it would require more work on your part.

(note: this ended up being a lot longer than I expected, but I probably should have expected that)

5 girls, 5 boys

Let's go back to the early seasons when we started off with a full lineup of 5 couples to start off with. Like I said, this means more work, more characters. But it also allows for...

More unromanceable characters

Hear me out. The last truly unromanceable male character was... Toby? I think? But for the most part, all the male characters from S6-S9 are available in some way (even if it's only at the finale/reunion, which is really just a copout from FB because they don't want to branch routes but still want to be able to say that everyone's romanceable).

Here's the thing. Everyone wants to romance their favourite characters, nobody wants to meet a character and really love them only to find out you can't have them. Trust me, I've been there. But it's also not the end of the world, and it means you can read/write fanfics for that character, pine for them from afar, etc etc. Maybe it's my sadism talking, but it kind of makes things more interesting in a way? To me it's kinda boring to have all these guys in the villa who would get with me at the drop of a hat (obviously excepting the slow burn LIs).

But the thing about unromanceable characters is that you NEED them in order to write a realistic season with distinct characters who aren't just interchangeable with one another based on MC's choices. Those characters can help drive the plot, they can have canon storylines, they can be friends, they don't have to share dialogue, etc etc.

First coupling

So with those first 2 points out of the way, here's what I'd like for the first coupling:

Of the 5 guys, 1 is completely unavailable to be chosen, and another is not an endgame LI. Think Noah and Rocco in S2 - one can't be coupled up with but is still a slow burn LI, the other CAN be coupled up with but is always going to be dumped. I think this formula from S2 works so well because it still means you have 3 OG guys to be endgame LIs but also allows for the other 2 to be part of fixed plots.

I want the boys to choose instead of the girls. HOW HAS THIS NOT BEEN DONE YET?!?!?! On the show, the girls only picked on day 1 for the first... 1 or 2 seasons? and then it was always boys choosing until they started messing around with other options. But this could work SO WELL for the game! MC has the choice for each guy to step forward or not. If she steps forward for the unromanceable guy, he picks someone else. If she doesn't step forward for someone, he won't pick her. If she steps forward, gets picked, and then steps forward again for someone else, that person steals her and it gets acknowledged throughout the game a bit (minor branching!) If she doesn't step forward for anyone, she ends up being the last picked. IT WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN

Couples/Sneaking around

You shouldn't be able to do bits with someone you're not coupled up with except under certain circumstances:

Casa Amor

You're developing a relationship with someone but not able to couple up with them (or one of you gets stolen) and you're upfront with your partners about going to the daybeds together

You're sneaking around behind people's backs but there WILL be consequences

Just honour the couples, that's the point of the game. Stop letting people go to the hideaway with people they're not coupled up with.

Consequences/Drama

Further to the above, there should be consequences for BOTH parties if you sleep with someone you're not coupled up with. Even if you go to the daybeds and your partners know about it, they should be able to say how disrespectful that is to them.

Sneaky kisses always have a way of coming out on the show, so the same thing should be done in the game. It's harder to branch because some players may choose not to kiss anyway, so those people shouldn't be attacked for something they haven't done. But if you kiss someone and your partner finds out and breaks up with you because of it? And the partner of the person you kissed also dumps them? That would be fun!

Female villains

Just stop with the whole thing where one girl constantly gets up in MC's face. Whether it's because the girl is gunning for the same guy or for other reasons, it's so tired and annoying. Or a girl being a bitch for absolutely no reason.

And especially stop making them WOC!

More filler scenes

This has been one of the big complaints over the last few seasons, and that's the lack of filler scenes. There needs to be a balance, obviously, because you don't want too much filler - but this is how we learn about the characters' personalities. Let us be involved in fun chats, give our MC a personality other than "everyone loves me except that one bitch who hates me for no apparent reason," let us chill with the other islanders instead of constantly being involved in drama, eavesdropping on conversations, investigating who slept with who, and doing a million challenges

(Slightly) Longer season

Season 2 is the only deviation from the typical 13-14 "day" season (S1 is technically 7 weeks squeezed into 14 days, later seasons use volumes instead of sticking to a morning/afternoon/evening format but they fit so much into them that they just feel chaotic). Adding a little filler and stretching the seasons out a bit (5-7 volumes seems reasonable?) should make them more enjoyable to play (and replay?)

Cliffhangers

I love cliffhangers (insert joke about all the LIs I like who do rock climbing), but not every episode/volume needs one. It's perfectly fine to find a natural ending to an episode (like going to bed at the end of the night, which was common in S2), and save the cliffhangers for when they really matter

Make the challenges make sense

I didn't play S8 and I'm not playing S9, but I've heard some complaints about the order of challenges - playing Mr & Mrs in Casa Amor, etc. And I saw that today's volume included the Excess Baggage challenge, which is fine, but that one should always be near the beginning

Have the 'get to know people' challenges (kissing challenges, truth/dare, never have I ever) in the first few volumes. Once people are coupled up and relationships are developing, hit 'em with the snogathon to maybe create some drama (and do it when new bombshells have just come in so you get a chance to kiss the new guy). After Casa Amor, you can do Mr & Mrs, any other couple compatibility challenges (or do one of these just before Casa Amor to create some drama just before splitting up the couples), and of course Snog, Marry, Pie.

Have a few of the random obstacle course challenges, food challenges, building tents/sandcastles/whatever challenges interspersed throughout, but make them mean something.

And for the love of donuts, make the challenges in Raunchy Races objective - none of this 'coolest person' or 'hottest person' or whatever, just stick to tallest/shortest/oldest/etc or 'one person must snog the person they fancy the most' or whatever like in S2

Casa Amor

I think CA is a great plot device, but there's a fine line between 'too long' and 'not long enough' that's hard to figure out. But either way, let's stop with the hideaway and sending couples on dates, because nobody's coupled up in CA. Give everyone a chance to get to know everyone. Have a couple guys who aren't interested in MC. If MC is wlw, give some scenes with her LI where they can talk about the future and wanting to couple up when they have a chance, etc.

WLW Routes

I don't do WLW routes in the game so I don't know exactly what the experience is like, but I know that it's not great - carrying on a romance with someone with no consequences but also not being able to couple up with them and sometimes watching them also be carrying on a relationship with whoever they're coupled up with.

I don't have any brilliant solutions, but why not spend every night on the daybeds together until being able to couple up? Why not have two guys who couple up together on these routes, like in S3? Or bring in another character like Sammi in S1 to even out the couples? Or an NB/bisexual character who could couple up with a girl or guy depending on what MC does?

Ultimately, the show and the game are extremely straight-coded, and it's not easy to account for players being able to couple up with female LIs early on, but every option should be explored instead of just doing what they're doing every season.

#litg #love island the game #fusebox #fusebox games

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bunniekittiee · 1 year ago

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Cheater, Cheater, Raiden’s Eager

Pairings: Kung Lao x Fem. Reader, Raiden x Fem. Reader

A/N: Bi-Han won the poll, but I just could not stop myself from writing Kung Lao's fic. Shout out to @engie-main for giving me ideas on how I could approach this! You were a huge help! If some parts are poorly written or don’t make much sense, I apologize. I was in multiple different states of mind while writing this so it affected my writing too. I also suck at writing endings lol. But Happy New Year everyone! First fic of the year!!

Content Warning: A little angsty, cheating, physical cheating, NSFW, making out, oral (69)

Summary: Kung Lao has secretly been cheating behind his girlfriend’s back. After being exposed by Fujin, Y/N ends things for good. Raiden begins to fall for her, but his conflicts with Lao make them more estranged.

No one would have ever thought it would come to this. They seemed like they were endgame, enough to get married, have children, grow old together. At least, that is what Y/N thought. She never thought he would have done what he did. And she did not want to find out this way. It devastated her.

It was a group outing. Liu Kang wanted his champions to get together for a special dinner at Madame Bo's. Fujin, Raiden's sister, helped Y/N get ready for the date, as well as herself. They were the closest of friends, just like Raiden and Kung Lao. She introduced Kung Lao to Y/N originally, and the two hit it off from there.

She was happy to know that her best friend had found someone who loved and adored her, even if it was ill-mannered Kung Lao. He did have good attributes, she guessed. But Kung Lao was never her first pick for her best friend.

Raiden was used to having Y/N over often because of their friendship. He thought she was very pretty, maybe a little too good for Lao, but nonetheless he was happy for his best friend as well.

"Raiden!" Fujin yelled out of her room as she helped Y/N curl her hair. "Ten more minutes!"

Raiden sighed. He had been waiting for them to finish for over thirty minutes now. "We are going to be late."

Fujin peeked her head out of the room and glared at her brother. "Excuse me?"

Raiden looked away. "Nothing, sister."

"That's what I thought." she replied with her eyes narrowed, returning back to helping her best friend. Y/N giggled as Fujin smiled wide. She was quite the character.

They had finished up and left the room, making Raiden let out a small sigh. "I see that you are both finally ready."

Y/N smiled at Raiden while Fujin rolled her eyes. "Stop with the sassiness, I can't deal with it today."

Raiden raised a brow while he opened the front door for the two women. "Sassiness? I'm not anything."

"There you go again!" Fujin exclaimed as Y/N laughed. They interlocked arms together and talked on their way to Madame Bo's. Lao was going to meet them there with Johnny and Kenshi. She was excited to see her boyfriend. It had been some time since they had went out on a date, especially a group date.

After a few minutes of walking, they had arrived at Madame Bo's. It was quite busy, but as they scanned the room, they saw that the men were sitting at one of the bigger tables in the middle of the restaurant. Perfect.

Raiden led them to the table, and they sat in their respective spots, Y/N next to Kung Lao and Fujin sitting between Raiden and Y/N. Johnny tried to flirt with Fujin for a minute before she shut him down quickly. Raiden almost felt bad for the actor, but Kenshi thought it was hilarious.

Liu Kang arrived last, but he was very happy. When was he not? "I am happy to see that everyone made it tonight."

"A night out at Madame Bo's? We couldn’t turn that down." Lao said with a smirk. "Raiden's paying."

Raiden raised a brow. "I never said that."

"Raiden told me the same thing too." Fujin said with a wink while Raiden looked offended.

Liu chuckled. "I guess we will have to find out at the end of the night. Now let us begin dinner!"

A waitress came by and took everyone's drink orders. But not before she locked eyes with Kung Lao and almost looked nervous. Fujin noticed this, and she narrowed her eyes slightly. She did not want to say anything, maybe it was just a reaction the girl had to a table almost completely full of men. But why specifically Kung Lao?

Y/N was too caught up in Lao tickling her side to notice this, but Fujin brushed it off. She told herself to be on the lookout. For her best friend. Johnny had dared Raiden to electrocute the water tank full of fish near them which horrified him, but Liu thought it was funny. There was never a dull moment with his champions.

The drinks came to the table, the same waitress handing them out. When handing Lao's drink, she settled her hand on his shoulder before quickly pulling it away. This caught Y/N's attention.

"Do you know her?" She asked him, confusion written on her face.

"Yeah, she's my cousin." Lao said with his mouth full of an appetizer. "I thought I told you that?"

"No, you didn't." she replied back. She was never the jealous type of person, but she didn't like him keeping secrets from her. They were a team, what was the point of secrets? She told him everything. Ignoring the little splinters that went into her heart, Y/N continued munching on her food. Fujin had a bad feeling in her stomach. But she did not want to say anything. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks. She hoped it was.

Taking the last order, the waitress went back to the kitchen to get the chefs started on the orders. It would take a little bit of time, and Fujin felt nauseated. She excused herself to the bathroom where the same waitress caught her arm as soon as she was away from the table.

"Excuse me, how can I help you?" Fujin asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

The waitress chewed on her lip. "I must confess something as I do not know how to approach it."

Fujin's stomach did a somersault. "What is it?"

"Kung Lao and I have had relations with each other for the past six months." She said as Fujin's eyes widened. "He never told me he had a relationship. He never told me anything about her, and I feel so guilty knowing that she doesn’t know."

Fujin was beyond angry. Not at the woman, at Lao. He had betrayed her best friend. "I... I am at a little loss for words.”

The waitress nodded her head. “I understand. I think she needs to know. She is worth so much more than a cheating man.”

Fujin huffed. “She is. If I had known he would’ve did this to her, I would have never let him around her.”

"I am really sorry. If I had known he had a girlfriend, I would have never entertained him. He approached me first." She said sadly. "I feel horrible."

"He will get his karma, believe me." Fujin said. "I have to return to the table, but keep your eyes open."

The waitress and her both exchanged a head nod as Fujin went back to the table. They were laughing loudly and enjoying their time, not knowing that their nice outing was going to end badly. She would make sure Kung Lao regret ever committing adultery. She sat down again, and Raiden gave her a weird look.

She could not look at Kung Lao without her body filling with rage, but she kept quiet. Y/N was close to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Fujin felt awful knowing that her best friend's world was about to come crashing down.

Their food arrived at their table, and the same waitress helped her coworkers put their food on the wooden table. She locked eyes with Lao before quickly averting her gaze. As soon as they left, Fujin cleared her throat. "I am amazed, Lao. I guess the waitress’ seem to know you around here."

"He said that's his cousin." Y/N replied with a small shrug.

Raiden was puzzled. "Cousin? You never told me you had a cousin that worked at the restaurant?"

"I swear I did." Kung Lao said with a small hint of annoyance. "Do you ever pay attention?"

"I thought your cousins have moved away from Fengjian?" Raiden said as he looked at Lao with confusion. The entire table went silent as they watched the situation unfold. "Lao, I don’t believe that is your cousin.”

Lao started to stress a bit, but he tried to keep it cool. "I think your memory is off, Raiden. And what do you know about my family?"

"I know enough to know that she isn't your cousin.” Raiden replied back with a frown. Johnny and Kenshi exchanged 'oh shit' looks before turning their attention back to the rest of the table.

Y/N looked at Lao. "Do you care to explain to me who she really is?"

"Babe, like I said, she's my cousin. Raiden's memory is off. And let's not do this in front of everyone." He forced an awkward smile at her.

Fujin was done. She immediately got up, eyes burning with anger and smoke practically coming out of her ears. "And to think I let her around you, you filthy dog.” Fujin’s face held malice. “You deceive all of us, especially your own lover!”

The restaurant was still bustling, but other tables were now watching the drama unfold at the middle table.

Bi-Han sighed angrily at one of the side tables, Kuai Liang and Tomas both looking up from their food to watch what was going to happen next. "I wanted a quiet night. Instead, we have to listen to Liu Kang's champions argue."

"But brother, it is about to get good." Kuai Liang replied as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Kung Lao is about to get exposed."

Bi-Han snapped his neck to the table. "I would do anything to watch that imbecile crumble."

"Fujin, can you keep it quiet?" Kung Lao hissed at her. "Stop being dramatic, I did nothing."

Raiden let out an exasperated sigh. That was the worst thing he could tell Fujin.

Fujin clenched her jaw. "The waitress herself told me that you and her have been sleeping with each other for six months. While Y/N has been oblivious to it!”

Liu Kang covered his mouth with his hand while Johnny's mouth was agape. Kenshi’s eyebrows had risen in shock. Kung Lao mentally cursed. "She's lying to you! We have never crossed paths with each other."

Y/N turned to Kung Lao slowly. "Then explain the shoulder touching and the eye contact Lao. You were practically undressing her with your eyes!"

Raiden shook his head at his friend. "All those times you told me to tell Y/N you were out buying her gifts; you were seeing your "cousin"?" he said in disbelief. "I covered for you thinking you were doing something nice for her!"

All eyes were now on Kung Lao who was metaphorically backed into a corner. The group stared at him, waiting for an answer. "It is all a misunderstanding, I promise you!"

Y/N shook her head. "I don't believe you, Lao."

"You're going to trust Fujin's and some harlot's word over mine? I thought you trusted me." Lao said angrily at Y/N.

Fujina gasped as the waitress walked up to Kung Lao and slapped him in the face. "How dare you! You came to me first and flirted with me! It is you that is the harlot." She walked off as Lao held his stinging cheek with his hand.

Bi-Han held in the laugh that was stuck in his chest. Watching Lao being exposed after each and every lie he told was hilarious. However, Kuai Liang and Tomas felt horrible for Y/N who sat there looking defeated. Heartbroken.

But that was an understatement for what she felt. Her whole world was ripped away from her. And Kung Lao continued to bury himself in a deeper hole with every lie he told. Everyone at the table knew that he was making it worse for himself.

"Enough!" Liu Kang exclaimed, his white eyes narrowing. "Kung Lao, you are not helping your situation with every lie you tell. Be truthful, especially to your significant other."

Kung Lao sighed, looking at Y/N. "Let’s talk outside of here. Not when everyone is staring at us.”

Figuring he was right, they both got up from their seats and went outside, all eyes on them as they exited the establishment. Madame Bo was observing from afar of the events unfolding between Kung Lao and his lover.

“Tell me the truth, Lao! It is what I deserve.” Y/N told him as soon as they were outside. The night sky’s stars were twinkling at them, but there was nothing to twinkle about.

Kung Lao chewed on his lip. “I love you very much and-”

“No you do not.” She interrupted him. “Do not give me the sob story. Tell me the truth now.” She crossed her arms and looked up at him.

“I did it because I was tired of waiting for you.” Lao said as he fidgeted with his hat. “You are very adamant about keeping your innocence until marriage, and that’s nice. But when you’re with someone like me, it’s not ideal.”

Suffocation. Her entire body felt like it was being suffocated. Lao always said he didn't mind waiting for her. But she guessed that was another lie of his. She wondered how many other lies he had told her.

“I am so sorry, Y/N. I want to be with you. And only you.”

She scoffed. “I can hardly believe that. If you wanted me, you would have never made this mistake. We are over, Kung Lao.” She said as she turned away to go back inside the restaurant to grab Fujin. She just wanted to go home. She did not want to be out anymore.

As soon as Y/N entered the restaurant, Fujin hopped to her feet and bid farewell to the men who only watched as both women left. It was Fujin’s duty to be there for her.

Kung Lao entered the restaurant as well, sitting down at the table again looking at his plate miserably. Madame Bo came by the table and smacked Kung Lao in the head with a wad of newspaper. "You have made a grave mistake, Kung Lao. I thought you were better than that. I guess I thought wrong." He did not like the disappointment that radiated off of his friends, especially Madame Bo. She was like a mother figure to him.

Finishing dinner would have been like pulling teeth. The air was filled with tension and awkwardness as Johnny eyed Lao with resentment. He as well liked Y/N. He thought she was a sweetheart. And Lao absolutely destroyed her trust. Liu Kang told his champions that he would pay for dinner, giving Raiden a look as he glanced at him. The Thunder God caught this look and grabbed Kung Lao to lead him out of the restaurant. Johnny and Kenshi thanked Liu Kang and trailed after the two men.

“Tell us the truth, Lao. We are away from everyone else. We want the truth.” Raiden reiterated to his friend. He gave him a hardened look that Lao avoided.

Lao frowned. "I just couldn’t wait any longer for her. She was… always adamant on keeping her innocence until marriage. I love her, I really do, but I couldn't keep waiting. I was having difficulty."

"Woah, brother." Johnny said as he made a face. "You don't ever insult a girl and her virginity. And you don’t ever lead her on like that.”

Kenshi shook his head. “That isn’t an excuse. You should have known from the beginning that she was taking things slow. And if it wasn’t for you, you should have not gotten together with her.”

Raiden was bewildered. Every time he saw them together, they were happy. Lao looked happy, in love with her. Yet he was unfaithful most of their relationship. This was not like the Lao he knew and was close to. Raiden felt like he was looking at a stranger. "Lao, I can't believe you. I thought you were better than this. I expected you to be better."

Kung Lao's eyes began to water, and Raiden started to feel guilty. "Lao?" The hat-man started to cry, but he quickly wiped his tears away. "I know I messed up. I know I did, but I don't know what I can do to make it right."

Raiden sighed quietly. "There isn't much you can do, Lao. You can't make it right, sadly. I'm sorry." Despite what Raiden was feeling, he had to be there for his friend. Just like Fujin had to be there for Y/N.

The other men comforted Lao, putting their own feelings to the side about the situation. They knew he made the biggest mistake of his life, but they had to stay neutral.

Fujin held Y/N's hair back as she threw up the contents of her stomach into the toilet. What was supposed to be a nice outing turned into her worst nightmare. She felt horrible for her friend. She was inconsolable.

After Fujin helped her wash her mouth out and get ready for bed, she laid in Fujin’s bed. Tonight, she would stay with her, she did not want to be alone. Not when her heart felt like it was going to stop beating. She cried into Fujin’s shoulder, and she rubbed Y/N's back gently. She was beyond angry at Kung Lao, but she knew she had to be there for her friend. She needed her.

Raiden arrived home a bit later than usual, and he noticed Fujin sitting at the table with a cup of tea, mind wandering. "Is Y/N okay? How is she feeling?"

Startled, Fujin slightly jumped. "I apologize, I was deep in thought." She sighed. "She's not taking it the best. She was throwing up and had a panic attack. It is a miracle that she is even asleep right now."

Raiden frowned. "I am sorry to hear that. I cannot believe Kung Lao and his actions. It feels like an intense nightmare." He sat down near Fujin. "His reasoning is unforgivable."

"His existence is unforgivable. Y/N gave him everything, she was always too good for him." Fujin looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn't.

Raiden quirked an eyebrow. "You look like you have more to say."

Fujin sipped her tea. "I always thought that you and Y/N would have ended up together."

Raiden's brown eyes widened. "You have?"

She nodded. "I had hoped that you both would have. I would have rather seen her with you than Kung Lao. I always had a feeling he would cause heartache, but we cannot help who we love."

"Wow, I never would have thought that you would have wanted us together." Raiden was bewildered. "I have always thought she was pretty."

Fujin chuckled. "Well, give her some time before you go and try to romance her. She is going to be heartbroken for a long while. But she will come around again."

It was a long while before Y/N was ready to go back into the dating world. Kung Lao’s actions had completely warped her sense of trustworthiness with others, and she felt very insecure. Like she wasn’t enough. She wouldn’t be enough for the next man who came into her life. She was afraid of the same thing happening once more to her.

She spent a lot of time with Fujin and Raiden. Her best friend made sure she was distracted from her intense thoughts, as well as check on her mental health. Whether it was girl outings, sit-downs, tea times, or sitting at home, Fujin made sure Y/N’s heartbreak would not worsen.

As disappointed as Raiden was in Kung Lao, he was still his best friend. He had to interact with him on a day-to-day basis at the academy, and he couldn’t let personal problems interfere with his work. Even if Kung Lao allowed it to affect his.

His moods were dampened, he started to sleep less, he never ate frequently, and when training, he never seemed focused. He was beginning to lose his touch in his work. And Liu Kang had begun to notice.

“Raiden, come, I must discuss something important with you.” Liu Kang said as he approached Raiden who was in the middle of meditating. Raiden got up from the ground, walking with Liu Kang to somewhere away from the others.

“I have seen Kung Lao’s performance declining since that night at Madame Bo’s.” Liu said as his white eyes were staring into Raiden’s soul. “If he cannot focus, I will have to send him home until he improves.”

Raiden sighed. “I understand, Lord Liu Kang. He has not handled his breakup well.”

Liu Kang nodded. “I understand. Tough situations like that require lots of time to process and move on. I would hate to send him home and have him depart from us for the time being. But his actions may cause liabilities on missions. And we cannot afford that.”

Raiden understood where Liu Kang was coming from. He had a lot to lose, especially if he were to lose his champions. They were a part of protecting Earthrealm, they could not lose their lives because Kung Lao could not put his own self-brought issues to the side.

"I completely understand, Lord Liu Kang." Raiden said, bowing to the Fire God. "I will talk to Kung Lao and get through to him as much as I can."

Liu put a hand on Raiden's shoulder. "Thank you, Raiden. And one more thing,” Raiden looked at him as he said this. “When you plan on romancing Y/N, be sure to not take her to Madame Bo’s. It will remind her of the unforgivable.”

Raiden’s cheeks tinged pink as he stuttered. “Yes, Lord Liu Kang.” He walked back outside as Liu chuckled.

Liu sighed happily to himself with a small smile on his face. Raiden deserved to be happy, as they always were in every timeline. It was only different because Kung Lao had changed the course of events. But Raiden would never know that.

Raiden walked back to where his friends were. Kung Lao was sitting on one of the benches while Johnny and Kenshi sandwiched him. They looked concerned for him. Raiden quickened his pace. "Lao, are you okay?"

Lao sniffled as he harshly wiped his tears off his face. "No, I am not. I miss her. I don't know why I hurt her."

Raiden gave Johnny and Kenshi a look that signaled them to give them their space. Raiden would fill them in later. As they walked away, Raiden sat down next to him. "We all make mistakes that change our lives. But we cannot be stuck on them. It is unhealthy."

"Does she ever talk about me? Does she ever think about me?" Lao turned to Raiden, tears streaking down his face, his eyes red. "Does she still love me, Raiden?"

Raiden stared back at his friend. He did not want to tell Lao the truth. He often overheard her and Fujin's conversations in their home, and she did not harbor any feelings for him. She was recovering from it. Raiden stayed quiet, but Lao was not having it.

"Tell me now, Raiden. You are my best friend. Even if it hurts, I need to know. For my own sake." Lao was desperate.

He frowned. "From what I hear, she does not. I am very sorry, Lao. I wish it was different." Raiden felt horribly for his friend. Although he created it for himself, he still could not help but feel bad.

Eyes watering once again, Kung Lao blinked to prevent them from spilling. He sighed quietly, nodding his head. Their relationship was never going to be repaired. Kung Lao never had another chance. He stayed silent as he was afraid if he were to speak, he would never be able to stop crying. He avoided Raiden's gaze and stared off into the distance.

"You need to put your focus and energy into your training and work. It will help distract you." Raiden was trying to be as encouraging as possible. "I know it takes time, but you will feel better."

Lao did not reply back to Raiden which made him feel like he was being ignored. But he did not let him annoy him. He knew Lao needed more time. So, he sat there quietly until it was time to resume their training. Another day, Raiden would attempt to talk to his friend.

Walking back to his home, Raiden felt relieved as he approached the front door. He was exhausted and ready to relax. He had a long, draining day at the academy, and all he wanted was rest. Entering inside, he spotted Y/N in the kitchen. Fujin was not with her.

"Where's Fujin?" Raiden asked her when he went to the kitchen. She smiled. "Well, hello to you too, Raiden."

Raiden's cheeks flushed. "I apologize for not greeting you."

She giggled. "Don't apologize, I'm only kidding. Fujin's bathing, so I am passing the time. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please," Raiden replied with a small sigh. "I've had a very excruciatingly long day."

She poured Raiden a cup of tea as they sat down at the table together. She was the closest to Fujin, but she and Raiden could still hold conversations fairly well. Even if the main topic of discussion was not in her life anymore. "Tell me about your day. I am all ears."

Raiden told her about his day as she listened intently to him. He felt his stresses begin to lift off as he breathed in the steam from his cup and talked. She nodded her head at him here and there and kept eye contact. Raiden noticed how bright her eyes were. How beautiful they were.

"And I am emotionally drained from comforting Kung Lao. He is my best friend, and I will always be there for him. But he is jeopardizing his place at the academy." Raiden continued. His eyes widened slightly as he realized his mistake. "I am so sorry. I do not mean to bring him up, especially to you."

She waved her hand with a small chuckle. "Kung Lao is a man from the past. I am in a new chapter of life. I can handle him being brought up in conversations."

Raiden nodded and decided it was best to not tell her what Lao had said. He was not her concern anymore, and Raiden never wanted to make her feel guilty for her choices. He knew that Lao deserved it.

"More tea?" she asked him as she began to get up. Raiden nodded and thanked her. Her smile seemed to enlarge. Raiden returned the smile. As she walked away, he was in his thoughts again. He thought about what Liu Kang said. He felt like a bad friend if he were to ask her out. Kung Lao was his best friend ever since their childhood. And here he was, thinking about asking his ex-girlfriend out.

But Lao made a huge mistake. One that could never be fixed. So Raiden was okay, right?

That’s what he thought but he wasn’t so sure anymore. He wondered if he should talk to Kung Lao first, but Raiden knew he would be even more devastated. Maybe it was not the right time-

“Raiden? Are you okay?” She asked him, eyebrows furrowed as she gently held his hands. Raiden noticed and immediately turned red, almost jumping in his seat.

“Yes yes, I am okay. Thank you. I was deep in thought.” He said as he tried to contain himself. They were still holding hands.

She giggled. “Fujin does the same thing. You are both definitely related.”

“Of course we’re related.” Fujin interrupted, making both of them jump and Y/N unlock her hands from Raiden’s. Fujin’s eyes twinkled as she made eye contact with her friend before turning to Raiden. “I hope your day was well, brother.”

“Could be better but I am thankful for another day.” Raiden replied as he tried to contain his blush.

“So darn humble it’s almost irritating.” Fujin said as she brushed her hair.

Raiden finished his tea and began to get up. “I have a few things to do. I will see you both later.” He nodded his head at Y/N and shuffled away. Once Fujin knew he was out of earshot, she snuffled at her friend. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your hand-holding.”

Her friend groaned and lightly pushed Fujin as she made her away over to her. “You are horrible.”

“What’s next, you two creating a family out here? Goodness.” She joked as her friend turned tomato red and hid her face. “Rather it be Raiden than anyone else.”

“Yes yes, I know. Don’t go into any more detail.” She said as she sat down on a seat.

Fujin only smiled. She would much rather it be Raiden any day over Kung Lao or Raiden’s other friends. She knew her brother was good. The absolute best. She trusted him with her best friend.

Another day of training. Raiden was happy to live another day, but he felt like he was stagnant. Just a little bit. He did not feel as enthusiastic in his training, but he knew he needed to be. He had to set a good example for the others, as well as prove his potential to Liu Kang. And he needed to talk to Kung Lao.

Kung Lao was hitting the punching bag when Raiden entered one of the rooms. He was focused despite blood seeping through the bandages on his hands. Raiden figured he was taking his anger out.

“Lao, I need to talk to you.” Raiden said as he approached him.

Lao’s eyes averted to Raiden, and he stopped for a moment. “Can it wait? I’m a little busy here.”

Ignoring his attitude, Raiden continued. “No. It can’t wait.”

Lao sighed. “If you’re going to give me another speech about how I need to get over my relationship and focus, then keep it to yourself. I’ve heard it enough.”

Raiden was never one to ever get angry. He seemed to have had that part of him somewhat turned off. Or maybe it was dormant. But as of now, he was irritated. “No, I wasn’t going to do that. Can you please talk to me?”

“Just because Liu Kang gave you an amulet does not mean I have to listen to you.” Kung Lao replied.

“I want to take Y/N out for dinner.” Raiden said as he stared at his friend. “I am telling you so you are not blindsided.”

Kung Lao stopped for a second and scoffed. “What a friend you are, taking my ex-girlfriend who I am not over, out to dinner. What else do you want to take from me, Raiden?”

“We are going as friends. Nothing more than that.” Raiden retorted back.

“As friends? We both know you want to date her. How long has that been going on for? Did you want to date her while I was with her?” Kung Lao started to get into Raiden’s face. “Tell me, Raiden. What is it?”

“So what, Kung Lao? You made the mistake of cheating. You knew what you were doing.” Raiden argued, his eyes narrowing and his body language beginning to shift. “Do not try to turn this around on me and make it my fault. I was never interested when you were with her. She was your girlfriend until you decided that you could not wait for her.”

“So what? So what?” Lao’s voice was rising. “You came to tell me about taking her out. You know I am not over her. You know I am still struggling getting over her. And yet, here you are, already trying to take my place. What more do you want from me, Raiden?”

“None of that is my fault. I am sorry that you are not over her. I am sorry that you are struggling. But you made the mistake of cheating. Not me, Fujin, or Y/N. You made that mistake.” Raiden stared into his eyes. “If you never cheated, this would have never happened. And you know that.”

Kung Lao stayed quiet and began to wail on the punching bag. Raiden stepped out of the room and began to walk to another training area in the academy. He was frustrated. But this wouldn’t stop him from asking her out. He liked her, and why would he let Kung Lao get in the way? He was the one who made the mistake. Not Raiden.

Palms sweaty, Raiden fumbled with the front door of his home. He knew Fujin and Y/N would be here. He wanted to ask her. He was too irritated with Kung Lao to reason if it was a good idea or not.

He entered his home with a small sigh, and his eyes caught the women sitting and enjoying a cup of tea together. She recognized his footsteps and turned around with a sweet smile. “Hey Raiden!”

Raiden smiled back. At least someone was happy to see him. “Hey Y/N! How’s your day been?”

She got up from her chair to prepare a cup of tea for Raiden. He never asked her to, but she knew him well. That warmed his heart. “It’s been okay. I am ready for a relaxing break.”

Fujin nodded. “Has Kung Lao been giving you issues?”

Raiden gave her a ‘be quiet’ look that Y/N did not notice as she was busy. “No, he has not.”

Fujin frowned. “I don’t believe that. If he even thinks about being an imbecile to you, I will choke him out.”

Raiden knew she would definitely do it, and Lao would not win against her. Fujin was incredibly strong. And Raiden realized this when she put him in a chokehold and made him eat dirt because he ate the last few pieces of her chocolate. Raiden learned two very valuable lessons that day. Never touch a woman’s food, especially when she is on her period. And that you have to floss very well to get the dirt out of every crevice of your teeth.

“I know, sister. You don’t need to save me. I can handle my own.” Raiden replied. “As much as I appreciate it.”

“Liu Kang may not appreciate you and Kung Lao getting into physical fights with animosity. But he cannot say much when it is me. I’m not a part of the academy.”

“She’s essentially saying that Kung Lao can mess around and find out what happens when he angers Fujin.” Y/N said as she put tea in front of Raiden. Raiden thanked her and chuckled. Fujin nodded with a mischievous smile. “He will not stand a chance.”

“He shouldn’t be an issue.” Raiden sighed as he did not want to think about his work. “He is prideful, but it can crumble easily. That’s how he’s always been.”

Y/N giggled. “It is funny to hear you talk about your closest friend.”

“Well, it is the truth.” Raiden said with a small smile. Her giggles made him warm. “At the end of the day, he is still my friend.”

Fujin, being quite the observer she is, noticed how radiant both Raiden and her best friend were. Eyes flicking between the both of them, Fujin made up her mind. “Oh my goodness! I forgot to help Madame Bo with food shopping!” Fujin scrambled for her satchel and began to run out the door. “I’ll see you both later!”

Raiden was puzzled, but he had a feeling Fujin did it so he could ask her out. She always worked in mysterious ways.

“I wonder what that’s all about.” Y/N said, just as confused as Raiden.

“I have no clue. But I wanted to ask you something.” Raiden said as he took the leap of faith. Raiden was never that confident, but right now he was feeling it. He wanted to ask her now so he could either wallow in his own pity or celebrate his victory.

She looked at him with her bright eyes that made Raiden feel tingly. She waited for his question.

“I know it may be too soon, but I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date. Somewhere of your liking.” Raiden’s palms were sweaty.

She was taken aback. A date with Raiden? He and Kung Lao were friends, and here Raiden was asking her out. But Lao was not a factor in her life anymore. She would not make decisions based on his feelings or thoughts. He betrayed her and made her feel unworthy. That was something she could not forgive.

And she would be a liar if she said she wasn’t interested in Raiden. While dating Lao, she never found Raiden attractive, but he was always sweet. But after, Raiden unlocked something in her. His eyes held much love and kindness. His hands were so gentle and warm. He was inviting. His lips looked so soft, and she always had the urge to kiss him. He was so sweet. So loving. Always positive.

Despite being a virgin, her sex drive had always been a bit low. But with Raiden, she felt it increase. There were many sleepless nights that she had to take care of herself because the thoughts of Raiden made her desiring. With Lao, she wanted their relationship to go slow. But with Raiden she wanted to give him her all.

Raiden saw her space out, and he began to feel extremely nervous. Maybe he said the wrong thing? Maybe she isn’t interested? Was it too soon? He was overthinking it. “Well?” He asked her. He was ready to be rejected.

“I would love to go, Raiden.” She replied softly, snapping out of her trance. “I must confess something.”

He nodded his head at her. Was it what he hoped for?

She let out a small sigh. “I have fallen for you. I am enamored by you. I don’t want to go on a date as friends, I want to go as lovers.” Now it was her turn to be nervous.

The Thunder God was about to combust on the spot. His chest fluttered, his thoughts were everywhere at once, and butterflies had invaded his stomach. She felt the same way too. “I would like to go as lovers too.” He replied with a small tinge of pink on his cheeks.

She smiled at him again. “Then it’s a date. I would like to go out to the carnival. If that’s okay with you.”

Raiden smiled back. “I would love to. When do you want to go?”

Bashfully grinning, she giggled. “Tonight, if that’s not too soon.”

“Absolutely! We will go tonight.” Raiden gently grabbed her hands and held them. They were soft. He wanted to kiss her hands, but he refrained from doing so. She held his hands as well, and she stared into his brown eyes. They seemed more beautiful than usual. Their excitement consumed them as eventually she left to get ready in her home. Raiden felt himself become giddy as the time grew nearer. Fujin had come back eventually, and Raiden filled her in. She clapped her hands and smiled, congratulating her brother while also threatening him. Just as Fujin menaced Lao, she would do the same to Raiden. Even if they were related.

Looking himself over in the mirror one last time, Raiden let out a nervous breath. Fujin stood nearby. “Don’t be nervous. You’ve known her for almost your entire life.”

“I know,” he replied as he fidgeted with his hands. “But I can’t help my nervousness. I must leave soon so I can buy her flowers.”

Fujin grinned. “How sweet. Have fun, brother. And be safe. If anything gets crazy, I will be there.” Her face turned serious. “Especially if it’s Kung Lao giving you issues.”

“Liu Kang gave me an amulet forged by the Elder Gods. And yet, you are worried that Lao will challenge me.” Raiden said with his head tilting slightly.

“I know you can handle yourself, Raiden. But as family, it is my job to protect you as well.” Fujin glanced at one of the clocks. “You must be on your way! Have fun! Tell Y/N I said hi!” Fujin practically shoved Raiden out of the house.

Raiden shook his head with a small chuckle and made his way to one of the shops to buy her flowers. He knew her favorites already from Lao dragging him along, as well as Fujin’s suggestions. Raiden went the extra mile to find some lace and ribbon to tie a bow around the flowers. He was so extra in every way possible, but he did it out of the kindness of his heart. He wanted to leave a long-lasting impression.

Approaching the door to her home, he knocked. He felt the butterflies creep back into his stomach, but it all went away when she opened the door. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was done to perfection, her makeup accentuated her features, and her outfit complimented her well. Raiden could not help his awe. “You look stunning.”

She smiled with a small blush dusting her cheeks. “Thank you, Raiden. You look handsome yourself.”

He handed the flowers to her, and she gasped. “These are so beautiful! And the bow-” Her fingers gently curled around the fabric. “Oh Raiden! You are so thoughtful. Let me put these in a vase before we leave! You can come in as well.” She moved quickly back inside of her home, and Raiden stepped inside. It was cozy, but it felt… lonely. He knew she lived here alone. That was why she had often stayed at his and Fujin’s home. He felt guilty that she had to come home to an empty home.

But before it could get to him more, she reappeared back in front of him. “Shall we go?”

He pulled out of his thoughts and smiled. “Yes, we shall.” They left her home and began to make their way to the carnival. He was excited but still felt the nerves pool in his lower stomach.

She talked excitedly on their walk, stars shining in her eyes. He could listen to her talk for hours. Raiden wondered how Lao could ever betray such a beautiful, sweet woman like Y/N. Lao had to have been on some sort of psychedelic herb to even think about betraying her.

But if Lao didn’t make that mistake, Raiden wouldn’t be here with her. It worked out in his favor.

As they approached, they could see and hear the crowds of people enjoying the carnival. They stood at the many tents to win prizes for their loved ones. Raiden felt like a little kid again.

Suddenly, he felt his hand being grabbed by Y/N. “That one! Let’s go to that one.” It did not register right away that she was holding his hand until he was being dragged along to the tent. He felt a small smile on his lips. She was so cute. After paying a small fee, her and Raiden both began to play the game. Raiden, being great at almost everything, beat her at it. She giggled at him as he picked a fairly large stuffed animal out. But it wasn’t for him.

He held a large dragon stuffed animal in his arms and gave it to Y/N. She squealed with excitement as she took it from him, giving him a hug as she did so. “Awww! Raiden, you are so sweet!”

He hugged her back and chuckled. “Anything for you. Now let’s get to the other games!”

They had lost a few games but also won a few as well. Whatever prizes he won, they went to her. And whatever prizes she won, they went to Raiden. Eventually, they had to buy a basket to carry their prizes because of how many they had. There were moments where Raiden felt that he wanted to kiss her, but he never made the move to do so. He didn’t want to scare her off.

Sharing one of the fried foods off to the side, they ate and talked. They were in their own little world. That was, until someone had decided to show up.

“Going as friends? You are a liar, Raiden.” Kung Lao said as he frowned. His eyes flickered to his ex-girlfriend who narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s none of your concern, Lao. Leave us be.” Raiden replied back. He did not want to be cold towards his friend, but he didn’t want him to ruin his date.

“How odd is it that after we break up, you go and flirt your way into my friend group.” Lao turned his attention to Y/N.

Wiping at her mouth, she rolled her eyes. “I did not flirt my way into your friend group. I am on a date with Raiden. I haven’t went out with anyone else. What is the big deal?”

“Big deal? Big deal?” Kung Lao exclaimed in frustration. “We break up, and you are over here on a date with MY best friend! Do you realize how weird and hurtful that is? Knowing that my best friend also has a piece of you too.”

“Lao st-”

“You are not my boyfriend anymore!” She snapped, eyes burning with anger. “I broke up with you because you cheated on me! You cheated on me our entire relationship, Kung Lao. And you are hurt that I’m on a date with Raiden?” She scoffed at him as he looked at her with shock.

“Don’t you see how much I love you? How much miss you?” Lao argued back. “I have been miserable, and I know you know that. I want you back. I don’t want our story to end now.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “How much do you really miss me? If you loved me from the start, you would have never cheated. I was hurt knowing that you could not wait for me. I was hurt knowing that you picked another woman over me. After I have supported you and loved you.”

“Don’t you realize that I can be better?” He grabbed her by the shoulders, and Raiden wanted to step in, but he knew that she would handle it herself. There was nothing he could do. “We can start on a fresh clean slate. We can make it work, Y/N. I can’t bear to continue my life without you.”

“You are not a factor in my life anymore, Kung Lao. And it will stay that way.” She said with a small sigh as she removed his hands off of her. “We can never restart. I will never forgive you for what you have done to me. Let me enjoy my date with Raiden, and you get back to doing whatever you were before you decided to rudely interrupt our time.”

She grabbed Raiden’s hand and pulled him away from Lao who stood there with tears glistening in his eyes and his fists shaking with anger and sadness. She was holding his hand. Raiden had taken his place. It should have been him, not Raiden. He watched them disappear into the crowd. His heart hurt so badly. There was nothing he could change. Absolutely nothing.

They pulled themselves away from the carnival and into a more quiet spot. Her eyebrows were scrunched in frustration. “I cannot believe him. Interrupting our peaceful date like that. I am so sorry, Raiden.”

Raiden rested his hand on her lower back. “Don’t apologize. You did what had to be done. I have enjoyed my time with you very much.”

He saw her lips curl into a grin. “I enjoyed my time too. And look at all the stuff we won!”

She lingered on her words for a second, and Raiden tilted his head at her to continue. “I was just thinking that… we go back to your house. And drink some tea. Unwind, you know?”

Interlocking their hands, Raiden nodded. “Of course. That sounds amazing right now.”

It was a little quiet on the walk to Raiden and Fujin’s home. The wind began to stir, making her shiver. Raiden wrapped an arm around her to keep her warm and close to him. Even though he was nervous and wondering if he was making the right moves. He did not want to scare her off or make her feel like it was moving too fast. But she leaned in towards his touch and let him pull her close to his body.

Arriving to his home, he opened the door and ushered her inside. Fujin was snacking on something that Raiden had no clue what it was. “Hey! You are both back early.” She tilted her head at them slightly.

Y/N sighed as she set the stuffed animals down that they had won. “It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed my time. And then Kung Lao decided to interfere.”

Fujin’s face hardened. She set her wrapper down carefully. “And what did he have to say?”

“He gave a whole speech about how I was on a date with his best friend and how much he loves and misses me. You know, the usual speech a cheater will say after their significant other leaves.” She sat down at a chair with one of the stuffed animals hugged close to her. Raiden sat on the other side of her.

“Of course he did. He’s dramatic. He’s lucky it’s just Raiden you’re on a date with. Imagine if you went with Liu Kang.” Fujin laughed.

“What’s wrong with me?” Raiden asked jokingly. “I think I’m equivalent to Liu Kang.”

“Have you seen Liu’s body?” Fujin said sarcastically. “He was literally carved by the Elder Gods.”

“Well, I would rather it be Raiden.” Y/N interjected while squeezing his hand. “He was carved by a Fire God.”

Fujin groaned. “By the Gods, not the sappiness. You guys have made me feel so ooey gooey that I’m going to Madame Bo’s. Goodbye!” As she was making her exit, she gave Y/N one last look and winked. She blushed a bit before her and Raiden settled together in each other’s presence.

The tension was strong as they were watching TV. Raiden’s hand was settled around her shoulders while she cuddled close to him. Her mind began to wander as her thoughts about Raiden started to turn sexual. She wanted to run her hands all along his body. She wanted to feel him against her. She wanted his lips on her.

Feeling her excitement, she rubbed her legs together to create some friction. She did not want to ruin their date with her horny thoughts.

“Are you cold? I can get you a blanket.” Raiden asked her as he noticed her moving around. He didn’t ask her if she needed a blanket. He felt rude.

“No, I’m okay. Thank you, Raiden.” She said as her cheeks tinged pink. At least he was a little innocent about it.

They returned their attention back to the movie, but her thoughts were still running astray. Thoughts about Raiden using his fingers on her. His mouth on her. The excitement was too much for her. She needed him now, but she knew that he was not in the mood. She didn’t want to pressure him into doing something he didn’t want to do.

Raiden knew something was going on. She was spacing out a lot, and he wondered what she was thinking about. It was just them at the house. Fujin was gone and would be gone for a while.

“You are quiet. Is there something bothering you?” He asked her. He hoped he didn’t do anything wrong.

She jumped slightly. “Oh, of course not! I am just in my thoughts, I’m sorry.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you thinking about?”

She started to feel embarrassed. She didn’t want to tell Raiden her thoughts. Especially when they were perverted about him. “It’s nothing really.”

“You can tell me anything.” He said to her as he gentle squeezed her hand. They were close in proximity, his face inching forward to hers. Her eyes flickered down to his lips and back to his eyes, and she realized what she had done at the very last second. He definitely caught her.

Raiden gently grabbed her face with one hand and guided her towards him, connecting his lips with her and giving her a gentle kiss. It started off with small kisses, kisses that were so sweet it almost gave her a sugar rush. His other hand settled on the back of her neck to pull her closer to him. It almost felt like electricity. She kissed him back, desperately wanting to feel his love, but she didn’t want to rush it. As much as she wanted her release.

He was just winging it. He had hardly any experience, and he had gotten advice mainly from Johnny who had a lot more experience than him and Kung Lao combined. Johnny was the one who told Raiden where to touch and what to do that would drive a woman crazy. That was how he described it.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom.” Raiden whispered as he pulled away from her. He picked her up, making her squeal as she wrapped her legs around his torso. He gave her kisses as he walked to his room, kicking the door open and setting her down onto his bed gently. He continued to kiss her, peppering kisses down her jawline and onto her neck. He moved her hair to the side so he had full access to her neck. Kissing and licking different spots, she moaned quietly while she tangled her fingers in Raiden’s hair. She started to undo the bun that it was in, so she could see him at his full glory. His black hair trickled down his shoulders, the smell of shampoo and fresh rosemary hitting her senses. She ran her hands through his hair, making Raiden hum in content. It was comfortable. He felt like he belonged in her arms.

He took his shirt off, making her do the same for herself. Raiden resumed kissing her collarbone as he wrapped his fingers around the clasp of her bra, looking at her for permission. With a nod of her head, he unclasped it and let her breasts fall freely. He kissed lower, gently licking and sucking on her soft skin. She moaned with every move he made. He made her feel good. Better than Lao ever did. He focused more on himself where Raiden was not selfish.

She felt up his body as he continued to kiss lower and lower, reaching the waistband of her skirt. Looking up once again for permission, she enthusiastically nodded her head quickly. He wrapped his fingers around the waistband and slipped them off, face to face with her aching core. Her panties were soaked, a large wet spot making it obvious. He smiled to himself.

He slid off her underwear and threw them across the room, moving himself closer to her. She was beautiful in ever way possible. He wondered how Lao could ever love another woman when she was the greatest. Giving a long lick, he eyed her as her face scrunched up in pleasure. He pushed her thighs up around his shoulders and dove his face into her sopping wet pussy. He ate like it was his last meal of a lifetime. She moaned louder, her hand tangled in his black locks as he tongued her clit. Sucking, licking, nibbling very softly, he drove her insane. She felt the warm knot tying in her stomach.

She pushed his head away rather quickly. Her wetness and his saliva was smeared across his mouth and chin. Wiping some of it away, he furrowed his brows. “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?”

“I have an idea.” She replied as she noticed his hard-on pressed against his underwear. Her mouth watered at what he would taste like. “Lay down.” She moved over where Raiden could lay down comfortably. She removed his boxers, letting his cock spring freely. The tip was wet with pre-cum.

Moving her body on top of his, but in the opposite direction, Raiden understood what she was trying to do. He felt himself become more excited as her pussy was in his face. He settled his arms around her ass and dove back into his meal. Meanwhile, she kitten-licked his tip, teasing him before taking him completely in her mouth. He groaned quietly, sending the vibrations through her. All that was echoing in the room were groans and moans, along with wet sloppy noises from their mouths.

The pleasure continued to build within one another. Almost like bounded souls, they felt their release coming onto them around the same time. Raiden tried not to thrust his hips despite how good her mouth felt.

Sucking on her clit, she squealed in pleasure as she took Raiden completely in her mouth, entirely engulfed in the warmness of her throat. She continued to moan, rutting against his mouth. Raiden’s stomach knot released, and his mind was frazzled in pleasure while her throat took all of his cum. She swallowed as her eyes rolled into the back of her head while she released in Raiden’s mouth.

Minds frazzled with pleasure, she moved off of him and laid next to him. Both of them were panting quietly as they stared at the ceiling. “Wow… that was… amazing.” She said as she glanced at him.

“It was. That felt so good.” He responded, brushing his hair away from his face.

They sat in a comfortable silence before Raiden got up. He started to put on his underwear. “I’ll make us some tea. Especially to ease your throat. I’m sure it is a little bruised.” He slipped on a shirt and grabbed one for Y/N. She slipped it on after she put on her panties, his shirt oversized on her in the cutest ways possible. He smiled sweetly. “You look adorable.”

“You think?” She asked with a giggle. “I probably look like a hot mess.”

“You are beautiful no matter what.” He replied as he went to the kitchen to heat up water for tea. She followed behind him, her legs slightly shaking from the position she was in. While waiting, she leaned against him.

“I really enjoyed today. I would like to have many more days like this.” She said quietly.

“As do I.” He said while leaning against her as well. He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with anything. We can take it as slow as you want.”

“I understand. I would like to take it slow as well. But with what we just did, we definitely did the opposite.” She grinned.

He blushed. “I apologize for that. I’m sorry if I coaxed you into anything.”

“You worry wort,” she laughed. “You didn’t coax me into anything. We both enjoyed ourselves.”

He chuckled. Pouring their cups of tea, they settled back into his room. They cuddled underneath his bed sheets, her head resting on his chest. She listened to his heartbeat. Eventually, it put her to sleep. It was too comforting.

Raiden fell asleep soon after, but not before thinking about the night. He wanted many more nights like this. With her. He knew that he would have a lot of explaining and arguments with Kung Lao, but nothing could separate him from his love. Things worked out for the best, in his benefit.

But what mattered the most was that he had her. And she had him. It was meant to be.

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