#i'll miss tori

[variousqueerthings]

writes many thousands of words of meta over the course of years to explain why cobra kai is about closeted gay people, when really I could've just left it at "it's a martial arts sports show in which everyone has a same-gender rival that they're obsessed with but can't admit to being obsessed with, while they blunder aimlessly from underwritten het-romance to underwritten het-romance"

[lee-laurent]

Playing House - Luke Hughes

Summary: Tori makes the decision to introduce Riley to Luke

content: angst, some fluff, arguing, kissing, money issues

wc: 2.5k

notes: here it is! as requested by one of my anons :)) this is part 5 of the done trying series! here we goooo

Tori woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing repeatedly on the bedside table. She groaned, reaching out to silence it, but the name on the screen made her sit up immediately.

John Marino.

"Hello? Is everything okay?"

"Hey, Tori. Sorry to call you so early. Riley wanted to talk to you."

Her heart melted at the sound of her son's voice. "Mama! Hi!"

"Hi, baby! Are you having fun with Dada, Nanny, and Pop?"

"Yes! We has pancakes!"

"That sounds so yummy! Are you being a good boy?"

"Uh-huh. Miss 'oo, Mama!"

"I miss you too, Ri-Ri! I'll see you super soon though, okay?"

"O-tay! 'Uv 'oo!"

"Love you too, Riley. Be good for Dada."

She heard John take the phone back. "He just wanted to say hi. I'll bring back tomorrow morning, as planned."

"Right. Thanks, Johnny. See you then."

As she hung up, she felt Luke stir beside her. He blinked a few times, then smiled sleepily. "G'morning."

"Morning, Lu," she replied, leaning in to kiss him. "Riley called. He misses me."

"Of course he does. Who wouldn't?" he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "So, what's the plan today?"

"I was thinking we could relax for a bit, then maybe go for a walk? Show you around the neighbourhood."

"Sounds perfect," he murmured, his voice still heavy with sleep. "But first, more cuddles."

Tori laughed, snuggling into his chest. "Deal."

Later that morning, they were walking hand in hand through the park near Tori's apartment. The sun was shining, and the air was warm- the perfect day to be outside. The found a spot near the small pond, enjoying the peacefulness.

"I love this place," Luke said, looking around. "It's nice and calm. Feels like we're not even in the city at all. Miles away from everything."

"It's been my little escape since we moved here. Riley loves it too. He calls it the 'duck park' 'cause of all the ducks, which unfortunately sounds like 'fuck park' when he says it, but we move."

Luke laughed. "I can't wait to meet him properly. I hope he likes me."

"He will," Tori assured, squeezing his hand. "You're great with kids. I've seen how patient and kind you are with all the kids that come to fan events."

"I guess. But this... this is different. This is your son. I like need to make a good impression."

"You will, Lu. Trust me."

The rest of their day was spent adventuring. They walked around the neighbourhood, talking about everything and nothing. By they time they arrived back at Tori's apartment, they were both beyond tired.

As they settled onto the couch to watch a movie, Tori's phone buzzed again. This time a text from John instead of a call.

Can we talk tomorrow when I drop off Riley?

Tori sighed, "Looks like John wants to talk tomorrow. Probably about you."

Luke nodded, "Figures. But we'll deal with it... together."

"Together," she grinned. Luke chuckled, pressing a loving kiss to her cheek. She shook her head, pulling him in for a proper kiss.

"Together."

Tori was a bundle of nerves the next morning. She busied herself by tidying up the apartment, acting like her two-year-old would notice whether or not the place was clean. Luke tried to reassure her multiple times, even trying to pull her back into bed, but she could clearly see the tension in his eyes too.

"I- Luke I think I should talk with John alone to start. I know him... and he'd just get angrier if you were there."

"But I want to help you, Vic. I wanna be there to back you up."

"I know, babe. But... just trust me on this one."

"Fine. But if he raises his voice, even just a little, I'm coming in to beat his ass."

Finally, there was a knock at her door. Tori opened it to find Johns standing there with Riley. She felt a knot form in her stomach as John stepped into the apartment, his expression grim. Riley was already distracted, happily playing with his toys in the living room, , with Luke sitting nearby, making car noises to match Riley’s play. She took a deep breath and led John into the kitchen, bracing herself for the confrontation she knew was coming.

"What's this about you introducing Luke to Riley?" John started, his voice low but edged with anger.

Tori crossed her arms, trying to keep her composure. "John, Luke is an important part of my life now. Riley needs to know who he is. Slowly. We'll take it slowly."

"An important part of you life?" John scoffed. "You've barely even been together. He's just another hockey player. He'll probably just break your heart. You really think that's a good idea for Riley? For our son?"

"It's not about him being a hockey player. You know I'm not a puck bunny, John," Tori shot back, her frustration showing. "It's about him being someone else who cares about me and in extension cares about Riley. Someone who wants to be there for us."

In the living room, Luke was playing with Riley, making sure the little boy was entertained. He could hear the heated conversation in the kitchen and felt a pang of concern. He wanted to support Tori, to show John that he genuinely cared for Riley, but he respected Tori's wish to handle it herself.

"Hey, buddy, wanna race cars?" Luke asked Riley, trying to keep his focus on the child.

Riley giggled, nodding enthusiastically. "Yes! Vroom! Vroom!"

John shook his head, his fists clenching at his sides. "You barely known him! Wh- what if he leaves you?"

Tori's eyes narrowed. "You don't get to judge my decisions, John. I'm careful, I don't let just anyone in like this. Luke isn't like other people. He cares about me. And he wants to care about Riley too."

"And you think that's enough?" John challenged. "Does he have what it takes to be a dad? You think just because he says he cares, it's okay to bring him into my son's life? What if Riley gets attached and then Luke leaves? Huh? What if Riley gets hurt?"

"Riley deserves to have people in his life that love him. And Luke wants to do that. He wants to be there for Riley, to be a positive influence."

John sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just... I don't want Riley to get hurt, Tori. He's already been through so much."

"I know," Tori replied gently. "But keeping him away from people isn't the answer. Luke isn't trying to replace you, John. You'll always be his dad. He's just trying to be there for Riley, to be a friend."

Luke turned to Riley, who was now making his toy car zoom circles around the coffee table.

"You're doing great, Riley!"

Luke looked back to the kitchen, then at Riley, weighing the situation. He took a deep breath and called out, "Tori, maybe I should talk to John too."

Tori turned her head to Luke, her eyes softening. "I appreciate it, Luke, but this is conversation that we need to have alone."

John also glanced towards the living room, his expression hardening at the sight of his son playing with Luke. "If he has something to say, he should say it now."

Tori reached out, placing a comforting hand on John's arm. "John, please. Let's just talk, okay? Don't... don't worry about Luke right now."

They stood in silence for a moment, the tension slowly easing. Finally, John nodded, though he still looked conflicted. "Okay, fine. But if he ever hurts Riley, Tori, I won't forgive him. Or you."

"He won't. I promise."

John sighed again, the fight leaving him. "Okay. I will try to be civil."

"Thank you," Tori smiled. "For Riley's sake."

John nodded, heading towards the door. "Bye, Riley. Dada will see you later. You have fun with Mama and Luke."

"Bye, Dada! 'Uv 'oo!"

"I love you too, baby."

After John left, the atmosphere in the apartment lightened. Luke continued to play with Riley, who was still a bit hesitant but seemed to overall enjoy Luke's company. Tori watched them for a moment, her heart filling with love and affection for both her son and Luke.

"Hey, Riley, do you wanna show Luke your favourite car?" Tori suggest, kneeling next to her son.

Riley looked up at his mom and then back at Luke, his small fingers fidgeting with a toy car. He seemed unsure, glancing between the two, seeking reassurance from his mom.

"It's okay, bud," Luke said softly, smiling at the toddler. "I'd love to see your favourite car."

Riley slowly reached out, handing Luke a small fire truck. "Dis one," he murmured, still clinging to Tori's side.

"Wow, this is a really cool fire truck!" Luke said, examining it with genuine interest. "Does it make sounds?"

Riley nodded, pressing a button that made the fire truck's siren wail. He glanced up at Luke to see his reaction.

"That's awesome!" Luke exclaimed, his enthusiasm making Riley smile.

Encouraged by Riley's reaction, Tori suggest they go to the park. "How about we take your fire truck to the park, Ri-Ri? We can play on the playground and look at the ducks."

"Yes!" They all put their shoes and headed out, Riley clutching his fire truck tightly.

At the park, Riley stayed close to Tori at first, his eyes wide as he observed the other children playing. Luke sat down on the grass, setting up a small area with Riley's toys.

"Riley, look! We can drive your fire truck on this road," Luke grinned, drawing a pretend road in the dirt with a stuck.

Riley watched for a moment, inching closer, intrigued by the game. He glanced at Tori, who nodded encouragingly.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Go play with Luke."

Riley finally sat next to the boy, still a bit tentative but clearly interested. He placed his fire truck down and together they drove it along the makeshift road, adding little sound effects and making up stories about rescues.

As they played, Riley's shyness began to fade. He started to laugh more, his small voice growing more confident as he directed the fire truck and explained a story to Luke. Tori watched on with a smile, feeling an immense sense of relief.

After some time at the park, they headed back home for lunch. Tori prepared sandwiches while Luke and Riley played with more toys in the living room. Riley was now fully engaged, laughing as Luke pretended to be a new character in their game.

"Mama, 'ook! 'uke is dino!" He exclaimed, pointing at Luke, who was stomping around and making growling noises.

Tori laughed, setting the plate of sandwiches on the table. "That's awesome, Ri! Let's eat lunch, and then we can play some more."

The next few hours were spent playing, completely skipping over Riley's afternoon nap completely. He was too busy playing with Luke.

Dinner time was always an adventure with Riley. As they sat around the small kitchen table, Tori served up plates of spaghetti, Riley's favourite food after mac and cheese. Luke took a seat next to Riley, who was already eagerly stabbing at the noodles with his little plastic fork.

"'Ook, 'uke! I do it all mine-self." Riley exclaimed, proudly showing off his newfound skill.

Luke watched with an amused smile as Riley attempted to twist the spaghetti onto his fork, only to have most of it slip back onto his plate. Undettered, Riley tried again, managing to get a very small clump of noodles into his mouth.

"Great job, buddy!" Luke praised, genuinely impressed by Riley's determination.

Riley beamed, his face lighting up with joy. "Tank 'oo! Mama show me."

"You're doing great, Ri-Ri. But remember to take small bites," Tori added.

As dinner continued, Riley's enthusiasm led to more spaghetti ending up on the table and his high chair than in his mouth. He giggled as a particularly long noodle dangled from his chin.

Luke couldn't help but laugh. "You're making quite the mess, little man," he said, reaching over to wipe a bit of sauce off Riley's cheek.

"'Ghetti is fun! 'Ook, 'uke!"

With that, Riley took another forkful of noodles and lifted it high, causing several noodles to fall on the table. He giggled, kicking his feet, waiting for Luke's reaction.

"Whoa, that's some impressive skill. You might need to teach me how to do that."

Tori shook her head in mock exasperation. "You two are a pair," she said fondly. "But let's try to keep some of the food on the plate, okay?"

Riley nodded, his face serious as he tried to be more careful. Despite the mess, the atmosphere was filled with warmth and laughter. Luke felt like he belonged, enjoying the simple moment with his girlfriend and her son.

After dinner, they all moved to the living room for some relaxation. Tori flipped through their apps on the TV before settling on "Paw Patrol," one of Riley's favourites.

"Patrol!" Riley cheered, clapping his hands as he snuggled into Tori's lap.

Luke sat beside them, throwing his arm over Tori's shoulder. "I've heard a lot about these puppies. Which one is your favourite?"

"What his name, Mama?"

"Marshall, bubba."

"Dat one!" Riley pointed at the screen where the fire pup was making a daring rescue with his friends.

"That's a good choice, bud," Luke nodded, making a mental note to research the rest of the characters in the show.

As the episode played, Riley's eyes remained glued to the screen, occasionally glancing up at Tori and Luke with a large green. Luke couldn't help but feel his heart swell at the sight. The little boy was growing on him, and quickly.

After the episode ended, Tori stood up and stretched. "Alright, Ri-Ri. Bathtime."

Riley pouted, but slid off the couch. "O-tay, Mama."

Luke followed them, watching as Tori began filling the tub with warm water, adding a generous amount of bubble bath.

"Need any help?" Luke asked.

"Sure," Tori laughed, handing him a cup. "You can rinse his hair."

Riley splashed happily, creating mountains of bubbles. Luke carefully poured water over Riley's head, using his hand to shield the boy's eyes.

"You've got this down, buddy," Luke said, impressed by how easy the toddler was being.

"Tank 'oo, 'uke! Bubbles are mine favourite!"

"Mine too."

Once Riley was clean and wrapped in a fluffy towel, they all headed to Tori's bedroom for storytime. Riley picked out a book he loved to read over and over again, "Goodnight Moon." He climbed onto the bed, snuggling between Tori and Luke.

Tori began reading, her voice soft and soothing. Riley leaned against her, his eyes growing heavy. Luke listened intently, feeling a sense of peace wash over him.

"Night-night, Mama. Night-night, 'uke," Riley murmured, already drifting off to sleep.

Luke picked him up, carrying him down the hall to his room. Once he was settled in his crib, they closed the door quietly behind them. Tori turned to Luke, her eyes shining with gratitude. "Thank you for helping me tonight. It means a lot to me. And to Riley too."

Luke wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "It was my pleasure, V. I loved every minute of it."

Together, they made their way back to the living room, ready to enjoy the rest of their evening, knowing they were building something special not just for themselves but for Riley too.

Victoria prayed it would stay that way...

[davidtennantgenderenvy]

I don't even know what to say. Tori told me last week that she was dying. I was foolish enough to assume she was joking.

I'm so so saddened by this but I'm also... really angry. Because of what Tori chose to do with her platform on this site, she dealt with hateful messages every week, including doxxing and death threats to her and her family. And now, she's gone. I don't want to speak out of hatred because I know it isn't what Tori would want, but I hope that to everyone who left one of those messages, this teaches you a valuable lesson that behind every profile on this site is a living, breathing, hurting person with people who love them very much. And though many of us never had the privilege to meet Tori in person, we loved her too.

Tori had been dealing with debilitating illness all year, and I doubt many of us truly knew the extent to which she was suffering. But what we did know is that Tori faced her pain with humor, strength, and kindness. She has always spoken out for what she believes in in this fandom, and set a valuable example for others in this fandom to do the same. She was funny, intelligent, and had so much love for her husband and her baby girl. She stuck up for me when I was receiving merely a fraction of the hate messages she got every day. I'm so sad that I'll never get to DM her or see one of her trademark pithy remarks on my dash again, but that' absolutely incomparable to what I know her family must be feeling.

We'll miss you so much, Tori, and I treasure the months that I got to be your mutual and friend.

[communistkenobi]

Wegenschimmel & McLaughlin (2024) - The Great Canadian Paradox: Jordan Peterson, Right‑Wing Canadian Internet Personalities, and the End of Canadian Exceptionalism?

This article was published this year. what the fuck are you bozos talking about

Jordan Peterson is not "difficult to classify" he is a far-right public figure very plainly and openly, if you have a hard time sussing out his politics you are a moron who takes everything he says at face value and are therefore completely useless as a social scientist

there are many right wing 'populist' politicians in Canadian politics! Doug Ford modeled himself after Trump during his campaign in Ontario in 2018 and has been in power since then. Pierre Poilievre is the current leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and is doing anti-woke transsexual groomer and "stop radical immigration" shit, and the CPC are almost certainly going to win the upcoming federal election. The People's Party of Canada was created in 2018 by Maxime Bernier and quadrupled their vote in the last federal election running on an anti-vax platform. Jason Kenny is a lifelong right-wing anti-abortion homophobic shithead who was premiere of Alberta from 2019-2022. Kevin O'Leary ran for the leader of the CPC! a fucking celebrity host on a stupid reality television show. and these are all off the top of my head, all in the last 5-10 years. if i were writing an academic article about this surely i would find more examples

Proving that all Canadian academics have terminal US brain by bringing up Putin, who is completely irrelevant to domestic right wing organizing and only matters if you've spent the last eight years having public panic attacks about russian interference in US elections

idk i grew up under Stephen Harper, I remember how stupidly right wing the ambient discourse was from adults around me, I remember how right-wing our media was and still is, particularly how openly islamophobic and racist Quebec is, how anti-immigrant and anti-indigenous Ontario is, how racist and christian Alberta is, the current catastrophic opioid crisis in British Columbia because even the granola-munching libs in BC hate the poor and the unhoused. Like I'll grant that Canadian conservativism trends Tory instead of Evangelical, that we have lagged behind the culture war and played catch-up with the US on shit like climate denial and rabid homophobia from our politicians, but I see this claim often in academic discussions of the Canadian right-wing, that we've missed the boat on the far-right movements happening in other western countries, but I never see any facts mustered for this claim, and the arguments I do see are shit like this, plainly and obviously stupid and wrong. The fact that the Canadian right-wing doesnt have the global reach of the United States or the UK/France isn't evidence against far-right movements in Canada, we are a stupid middle power western country with a fraction of the population of the US, why would you expect us to compete with the head of the imperial core

[pluckyredhead]

…Sorry if this is a bit weird but do you have any queer romance book recommendations? I ended up finishing the last binding trilogy because you posted about it (you have excellent taste lol) and I’m a bit stuck at the moment with what to read next.

Not weird at all! I absolutely have recs! Also Freya Marske has a brand new book out called Swordcrossed if you want more of her writing. (For people who are not anon: The Last Binding is an Edwardian historical fantasy romance trilogy and it's excellent.)

Okay recs:

KJ Charles: My favorite queer romance author, hands down, and also the most prolific! She's written over 30 queer historical romance novels (and one queer historical mystery), mostly M/M, all historical and set in the UK during various time periods ranging from the 1810s to the 1920s. My two favorite things about her work: 1. It draws very heavily on the history, meaning that her characters never come across like modern people in historical cosplay. And 2. she's great at creating genuine conflict between or around characters. I have read too many romances where everything is uwu softness and nothing hurts but Charles's characters are always either fundamentally divided by politics, class, ethical perspectives, lies, and/or tragic backstories, OR they get along fine but a murderer is trying to kill them, OR, in the best of her books, both.

My favorites are probably The Will Darling Adventures (1920s trilogy all about the same couple fighting a criminal secret society), A Seditious Affair (1810s, a radical firebrand and a Tory government official accidentally fall in love while having extremely kinky sex), An Unnatural Vice (1870s, "spiritualist" con artist and the crusading journalist trying to expose him), and Any Old Diamonds (1890s, The Saddest Boy in the World hires a sexy jewel thief to rob his horrible father, kink ensues), but you can really start anywhere - Think of England is where I jumped on and it's nice because it's more of a standalone (there is a companion book but Think of England comes first). If you liked The Last Binding, you might want to start with her Magpie Lord series because they are also fantasy romance. (Freya Marske is a big KJ Charles fan and it shows, in a good way.)

Allie Therin: Sticking with the fantasy romance angle here for a moment, Therin has a 1920s trilogy called Magic in Manhattan that is all about the same couple, a prickly magic-user named Rory and the big hunky WWI vet who loves him, as they fight various evil magicians. (HUGE oversimplification but you get it.) There's a spinoff trilogy, the Roaring Twenties Magic series, which has two books out so far. I love NYC, the 1920s, fantasy, and queer romance, so obviously I love all of this.

But I'm particularly obsessed with her Sugar and Vice series (also a trilogy, first book is out already and the second one comes out next month) which is set in modern day Seattle and is about an empath named Reece and the super dangerous empath hunter called the Dead Man who may or may not be here to kill Reece, and also there's a serial killer on the loose. This one is a suuuuuuper slow burn (they don't even kiss in the first book!), so you have to be patient but I read the second book early and yeah I'm obsessed and desperate to talk to other people about these books.

Charlie Adhara: More paranormal romance! I wrote about these books at greater length recently, but the short version is: FBI agent gets transferred to the super secret werewolf division of the FBI and partnered with a hot werewolf, they fall in love, spend five books developing into The Ultimate Power Couple, I'm in love with their love. There's a spinoff series called Monster Hunt but only one book is out so far.

TJ Klune: I probably don't have to tell anyone about TJ Klune anymore and I'll admit he can be hit or miss for me but I did really love Wolfsong. As long as we're talking werewolves.

Dessa Lux: Okay these are more erotica than romance but Omega Required is a comfort read for me, which is funny because I'm not usually an omegaverse gal. But this is about a very sweet alpha doctor who offers a marriage of convenience to a very traumatized omega and it's literally just nonstop cuddling and soup. She also has a series that's just ever-growing werewolf gangbangs, if that's a thing you're into. Like. A cartoonish amount of werewolves at the gangbang. It's delightful.

Cat Sebastian: I will admit Sebastian is also a little bit hit or miss for me. I loved her very first trilogy, the Turner series, which is very much in the vein of KJ Charles (Regency romance, class divides, lots of conflict). She wrote some more 19th century stuff after that and then moved into mid-20th century romance (50s-70s) which is honestly very rare. She also basically...stopped writing any conflict at all. I would say a large portion of her books after the Turner series can be accurately described as "two best friends who are secretly in love with each other sit in the same house/apartment and enjoy each other's company until they get together." I know a BUNCH of people who absolutely love that and they are well-written! But I really have to be in the right mood for them.

Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy: Okay I am not a hockey person, but you must, you MUST read Him and its sequel, Us. Hockey-playing BFFs, one is gay and secretly in love with the the other, the other one is like "I don't think I'm into dudes but I'd better give you 300 blowjobs to make sure." (Spoiler: he's into dudes.) Honestly the stupidest men imaginable. I love them so much. Bowen has written a few other queer romances solo and I'm working my way through her back catalog now.

Rachel Reid: Yes it's more hockey romance but. BUT. Heated Rivalry. Two of the top players in the NHL, on rival teams, have famously hated each other for years...and have secretly been fucking since they were rookies. Reid is another one where I'm still working my way through her books but Heated Rivalry is something special.

I am SURE there are more I'm forgetting but this is long so I'll stop it here for now! Also folks should feel free to reblog with further recs, she said selfishly.

[roostersbby69]

Back to you

Summary: After having a son and graduating top gun, you get a call to come back. This may be a new opportunity for reconnection, and maybe for love.

Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x OC

OC name: Victoria

The drive to the Hard Deck was making my anxiety sky rocket. As soon as I turned the car off I could see through the window, a crowd of people wearing khaki uniforms were conversing and had drinks in their hands. It's been so long since i've seen them.

I got out of my truck and opened the back door to get Dallas, my son, out. Penny, who’s been there for me ever since I found out I was pregnant, was going to watch Dallas while we were in town.

I grabbed his bag and got him out of his car seat, he was previously asleep and waking him up wasn’t usually a good idea.

"Where we going mama?" He asked me rubbing his eyes.

"Miss. Penny is going to watch you remember?" I situated him on my hip comfortably. "You like Miss Penny."

"Yeah she gives me blue lemonade."

"Is that so?" I gasped. "I want some."

He giggled as I locked my truck and walked to the door taking a deep breath.

I adjusted his book bag on my shoulder and opened the door. The sound of chattering, glass clinking, and laughter filled my ears. Many people in uniform, just like me, shot pool and sat at the bar flirting with the bartenders.

Nobody noticed me yet, so I walked over to the bar to set his bag down by Pennys purse. She was nowhere to be seen. Great, just great.

"Let's go sit, yeah?" I asked Dallas.

Once we sat down at an empty spot at the bar I got out his cup and toy dinosaur and let him play and eat his snack. I looked around watching my people drink and laugh and have a good time. Sometimes I wondered what it was like. No priorities, no care in the world. I love my son to death and would do anything for him, but mama needs a break.

    Penny came into my view in front of us as her beautiful pearly white smile greeted us. "Miss Penny!" Dallas smiled. "Hi buddy!" her energy was equal to his as she smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "What's going on Tori?" she asked me as I was still staring into space at the other aviators.

    "Nothing much, just came here you know, business stuff." I blankly said.

"Why don't you go hang out? You know I've got him." She said, "Go have some fun." she poked my arm. "I don't know Penny." She shushed me and shooed me off with her hand. "I've got him, you go do your business. If you need me I'll be right here." I smiled at her and took a deep breath before walking over to one of my good friends, Phoenix.

    "Tori!" She pulled me in for a big hug as she laughed. "Oh my gosh it's been so long!" She squealed. "I know! I've missed you so much." I held onto her arms as I looked at her.

    "Well, well, well" a voice came from behind me, "if it isn't Tiny herself." I looked back to see a familiar face walking towards me. Hangman. His superstar face smiled big as he stopped right by me and Phoenix.

    "Miss me?" I asked him cocking an eyebrow.

    "Always, sweetheart." He smiled down at me slinging an arm around my shoulders.

"Want to introduce me to your friends?" I asked them.

    "Mickey Garcia, callsign Fanboy."

"Nice to meet you, Victoria Austine, callsign Tiny."

    "Tiny?" one of them asked me.

    "You can see where she gets that from." Hangman laughed.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. He was right, standing at 5ft I weigh no more than 110. Most of the women were five foot seven, eleven, etcetera etcetera.

    A little bit later I turned my head to check on Dallas when a certain someone caught my eye, just walking into the room.

    "Hey fellas!" he shouted, taking off his sunglasses. He hung them on his floral shirt as he walked over shaking hands with several of the guys.

    I stood back a little bit to hide myself but, too late. He spotted me.

"My, my Miss Tori." He spoke just for us to hear.

    "Hello Rooster." I greeted him. "Long time no see."

    "You ain't lying." He laughed as he gave me a side hug. I returned one back to him.

    "How've you been?" I asked him.

    "You know, here and there." He said as we pulled apart.

    "I don't know how to feel about that." I laughed.

    He laughed with me. "I've been good. How have you been? It's been a w-" he started to say but something tugged on my khaki pants. I looked down to see Dallas' fingers wrapped around the fabric tugging.

    No, not now. "Uhm, Dallas this is my good friend mister Bradley. Can you say hello?" I grabbed his hand gently.

    "Hello mister Bradley." He spoke to him.

    "Hello Dallas." Bradley spoke. He looked at me, "Is this your brother?" he asked me.

    "Uhm, son actually." I corrected him softly.

    "Oh! Oh, I didn't know you had one, uh kid." He stuttered. "I didn't know you were married." He said.

    I sucked in a breath, "Dallas, honey, why don't you go help miss penny. I'll be right there baby." I said as I looked down at him.

    "Okay mama." He said. I kissed his head as he ran off.

    "Uhm, I'm not. Married." I rubbed my arm.

    "Oh." He said rather loudly, surprised.

    "Yeah." I whispered. There was a long pause.

    "How old is he?" He asked me, changing the subject.

    "He just turned five." I smiled.

    "Wow." he whispered watching Dallas run off. "You're a mama." he looked back down to me.

    "I'm a mama." I smiled.

    "So who's the lucky guy?" He asked.

I hated that question. Because there was no lucky guy. I was young and thought I was in love with this guy. Got pregnant and a year after I had Dallas I found out he cheated on me with my cousin. Yep, word gets around fast in a small town.

    "It's been so long since I've seen you." I said. "Used to be best friends." I looked down.

    "We still are."

    I looked up at him and smiled a small smile.

    "You got any other little ones running around anywhere?" he asked me.

    "Nope, it's just Dallas" I looked over at him, "just me and Dallas."

I looked back up to Rooster who was looking down at me with a frown. I rubbed my hands together and took a deep breath. "So, you want me to buy you a drink or something?" I asked him.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Tori?" He smirked at me.

"I'm trying to be nice, Rooster." I frowned and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Bradshaw, as they live and breathe." Hangman came up to us holding a few beers. He handed one to Bradley and tried to hand me one.

"No thank you, I'm driving tonight." I politely declined him.

"Hangman, you look...good." Bradley said.

"Well, I'm very good, Rooster." He took a pool stick from a nearby guy. "I am very good. In fact, I am too good to be true."

Me and Rooster made eye contact and I rolled my eyes. Maybe our friendship is still there somewhere.

"Does anyone have any idea what this special detachment is about?" Payback asked.

"A mission is a mission. They don't confront me." Hangman said walking away to go play pool. "What I want to know, whos going to be the team leader?" He bent down to line the stick up. "And who's gonna have the guts to follow me."

"Hangman, the only place you'll lead anyone is an early grave." Rooster said from beside me. I forgot he was there.

"Well, anyone who follows you is gonna run out of fuel." He stood up with a shit eating grin. "I love this song." he said as he dropped the pool stick and walked off.

"He hasn't changed, not one bit." I said with folded arms to Rooster and Phoenix.

"Nope, not one bit." Phoenix said.

Me, Rooster, Hangman, and Phoenix all went to Top Gun together. Good times. We were like teenagers, dumb, ruthless, and unstoppable.

    I heard a piano playing and a specific voice that snapped my head into its direction.

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain!" he sang as his fingers danced along the piano.

"Too much love drives a man insane! You broke my will, oh what a thrill. Goodness gracious great balls of fire!" Everyone in the room yelled.

    It's good to be back.

—————————————————————

Authors note: It’s good to be back.

[diana-bluewolf]

I'm coming back slowly. Like, really slowly.

I'll start with these because I abandoned Tumblr for quite a while 😅 Thank you for sending me the sunflowers even though I wasn't active ☀️ You're so cute 😊🌻

+ some sweet asks under the cut (mainly birthday congrats)

Anons, thank you so much!!! 🥺 Let me hug you! <3

Thank you anon!!!💙

Thank you!!! Also, who would have thought that your own things could be a perfect present for your own birthday 🤭 Thank you for returning Chris's broom! 😁

Aww, thank you so much! 🥺 I always love seeing Tori on my feed, her chaotic and golden retriever energy is awesome! Also, I have a huge respect for people like you who can be creative with their MCs in the game even without mods 👏

Thank you so much Matty! Womb eviction day is such a chris thing to say 🤣🤣🤣

ZEV!!! Thank you so much!!! I missed you and Charlie 💙💙💙

[tkwrites]

Second Nature - Quinn Hughes x ofc

Photos from Pinterest

Title: Second Nature

Author: Tory / @tkwrites 

Relationship: Pre-established: Quinn x Sarah

Warnings: Grief, mentions of dead parents, making out (if I missed any, let me know)

Summary: Sequel to Worth the Wait, Quinn and Sarah have their second date. Getting to know each other in many ways is like second nature.

Word count: 5,900

Comments: This took a long time to write. I caught the bug, got swamped at work, lost it and finally caught it again. I'd love to know what you think and what you'd like to see next in their little universe.

Second Nature

A Quinn & Sarah Snapshot

Quinn woke to three messages from Sarah. They had actually been delivered in the middle of the night - at 2am. He didn't see them until he stumbled into his bathroom in the morning, but they woke him right out of his listless journey to the sink. 

Thank you for last night. It was the best first date I've ever been on. 

I’d love to come over for dinner on Saturday. 

Maybe send me your address and I'll come there and we’ll see where the night goes? 

He did celebrate this time, pumping a fist in the air. It felt like a battle won that not only she was coming to his house and they could be alone, but also that he might be able to take her home. He felt like he’d slain a giant in winning her trust. Or, at least, he was on his way. He felt outrageously victorious. 

Twenty minutes before she was supposed to arrive, his phone rang. 

“Hey.” 

“Quinn?” 

“Sarah?’

 “Yeah. Hey, it’s raining buckets out here. Do you think you could come get me from the station?” 

“Of course,” he said, putting the asparagus he’d just pulled out of the fridge back into the dish, “I’ll be right there. Can you send me a pin?” 

He washed his hands, shut off the stove and ran out of the apartment. 

When he pulled out of the parking garage, his jeep was assaulted with rain. Huge, heavy drops of it that splashed and splattered over his windshield. 

He called when he got close, and she sprinted to his idling SUV. He’d even thrown the door open for her. 

“Oh my gosh,” she said, breathless, shutting out the heavy wind and rain, “I knew it was going to rain tonight, but I didn’t think it was gonna get this bad.” 

He glanced over at her. “I’m glad you called. I wouldn’t want you walking in this mess.” 

She giggled, “how noble of you.” 

“I’m serious,” he said, turning onto his street, “you would have been soaked by the time you made it.” 

It was true, she would have been. It had been shocking to come up from the platform and find that much water in the streets. It had only been drizzling when she left less than 20 minutes before. 

After he pulled into the parking garage, and into his reserved parking space by the elevator, he sprinted around the car to open her door. 

“Thank you,” she said, blushing. It had been a long, long time since someone had made such an effort. 

He scanned into the elevator and up to the penthouse. Sarah watched the numbers count up, feeling a little dizzy when they finally stopped at twenty.

When he let her into the apartment, she was overcome. In general, Quinn seemed like a nice, really normal guy who just happened to play sports professionally for a living. Standing in this gorgeous, penthouse, though, she thought about how much money he must be making playing hockey. It was certainly much, much more than she could ever make as a zoologist. She would never dare to even dream of an apartment like this. 

Her eyes caught on the floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the harbor and northern skyline. Even though everything was dark and moody outside, it made the warm, modern interior of his home feel more cozy. 

“Can I take your coat?” he asked, resting his hands on her shoulders as she looked around. Quinn loved this apartment, and it fit every bill - close to the arena, comfortable, and big enough to have a party - but at times like this when someone was gazing around in awe, it made him a bit uncomfortable. He never wanted to be better than anyone else, and didn’t think he was, but sometimes, he wondered why he was the one to deserve a top story penthouse in Gastown.

“You have such a beautiful house,” she said, still looking around at the plush dark furniture and modern, sleek lines. 

"Thanks. I can't take all the credit, though. It was furnished when I moved in." 

"Still, it's so lovely," she said, taking her bag off her shoulder. It clinked when it hit the ground. 

“Did you bring supplies?” he teased. 

“I brought wine. I wasn’t sure what you were cooking, so I bought a red and a white.” she said, turning to face him as he pulled the jacket off her arm. 

It was such a thoughtful thing for her to do that he paused for a moment before hanging her coat on the hook by the door. 

It was something out of a dream to have her in his house in her jeans and simple, blousey top. 

“I was just about to start cooking when you called, so come into the kitchen,” he said, taking her hand. 

He led her through the open concept living space that butted up to a small formal dining room before they reached the long, narrow kitchen. 

“Oh, I love your kitchen,” she said. “I've always loved a galley kitchen.”

He looked over his shoulder at her. 

“My mom was an interior designer, so we talked about this kind of stuff a lot.”

“Yeah? What does your dad do?”

“My dad was an aerospace engineer.”

“Was?” he repeated, dread filling his limbs. Surely, he was just retired. 

Her sad smile told him otherwise. “He died two years before mom did.”

Quinn set the wrapped salmon down and went to her. 

“Sarah, I'm so sorry,” he said, gathering her against him. 

“Thank you.” Accepting the embrace, she tucked her face into the curve of his neck and let him hold her. It was so rare for her to get this kind of physical affection, she relished it whenever it was offered. 

He pulled away, and looked into her face. She was so strong. How could anyone be this strong? To lose both your parents by the time you were twenty-four? He didn’t know how he’d survive. 

Suddenly, he was overcome with how much he liked her. Not just because she was pretty, which she was, but because she had so much character, so much strength in her spine. 

The red of her top made the blue in her eyes brighter and more vivid than he'd seen before. Words fell out of his mouth, "God, your eyes are pretty." 

“Thank you,” she said with a shy smile. “I really like your eyes too.”

He chuffed. “Brown. They're boring.”

She took a hold of his jaw and made him look at her. “They're not. Your eyes are the color of whiskey and I think they're really beautiful.”

A blush bloomed into his cheeks. 

"Plus, aren't they a little hazel?" she asked, studying him, "they looked kind of green on Thursday." 

He shrugged, "I've never really noticed." 

Continuing to look into his eyes, Sarah decided they were hazel. Even in the kitchen light, she could see flecks of green in them. 

Quinn was thinking about kissing her when she said, “so, how can I help?” 

“I’m cooking you dinner,” he reprimanded, “you can open the wine and talk to me.” 

A smile spread over her face. 

He handed her the corkscrew, and she got to work. When she turned around to ask for glasses, he already had them out on the counter for her. 

“So,” she did a little hop to sit on the counter next to where he was working, “how was your day?” 

“Good,” he said, “practice this morning."

“What does that look like? When you have practice in the morning, I mean.” 

“I’m usually up at 8, go to the rink and we have breakfast. Then we watch tape with some of the coaches, sometimes have a meeting, and then we’re on the ice for an hour or two. Then we have strength training, and lunch, and I’m off for the rest of the day unless we have a game.” 

“Could you teach me?” she asked. 

He looked up from snapping the ends off of the asparagus, “teach you what?” 

“About hockey. I started watching your games with my roommate Eunice, last week but I still don't really understand a lot of the rules. It’s so confusing.”

“You never watched hockey before?” he asked, feeling a corner of his mouth turn up in a smile. She had started watching for him?

“I’m from the desert. Ice hockey wasn’t really on the PE docket.” 

“And no one watched?”

“I’m sure some people did, but football was the big thing in my family. We were so thrilled when the Raiders came to Vegas, and we had our own team to cheer for.” 

“There’s a hockey team in Vegas now,” he said, his tone light and teasing. 

“I know,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. 

His eyes followed her movements, drinking in the shape of her mouth on the rim of the glass. 

“So you won’t teach me? You’re just going to let me flounder all on my own?” she teased when he didn’t answer. 

Laughing, he slid the asparagus into the oven before putting the salmon into a hot pan. It sizzled and snapped, and he stepped back to avoid getting hot oil on himself.

Once that was done, he moved to stand in front of her. 

Instinctively, her knees widened so he could stand between them.

“I’d love to teach you about hockey,” he said. 

This was ultimate flirting in Quinn’s book. Something he knew he could do. When someone wanted to talk about music, or art or classic cars, he was a fish out of water. But talking hockey? He could do that all day long. Convincing someone to like the sport he loved so much? There wasn't a more ideal situation. 

“Oh, good,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him. 

This was a perfect evening. Casual and comfortable. Cooking for someone he - liked, and kissing her whenever he wanted, taking no worry of who might be watching. 

Letting himself get swept up in the kiss, he slid his hands over her hips and tried to commit her scent to memory. No matter what happened - though he was pretty sure nothing bad was ever going to happen with Sarah - he wanted to remember this. She smelled like a dream he’d had as a boy. Like vanilla and warm skin and fireside, summer nights. It was an outlandish notion, but he couldn’t shake it. 

All her life, Sarah had read stories about star-crossed, fated lovers thrown together by chance and circumstance and serendipity. But those were all just stories. Even when her grandpa talked about meeting her grandma - like they were always meant to be together, and just had to find each other to make it happen - it seemed like folklore. A tall tale he spun to make their love story seem more epic. 

These past few weeks with Quinn made her realize how it could be possible to meet someone and decide that marrying them seven days later was a good idea. She’d never do that, but experiencing this kind of attraction first hand made her grandparents seem a little less crazy. 

She didn’t know Quinn very well, but in a way it felt like she’d somehow known him all along. Everything felt so comfortable with him.

Something popped on the stove and Quinn pulled away to check on it. His tongue darted over his plush bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth briefly as he flipped the salmon. The action made something in Sarah ache for him. 

“How was your day?” he asked. “Were you at the aquarium?” 

“No, I’m usually only there Tuesday through Friday. I was working a special shift when you came in that Monday because we had so many school field trips that day.”

They could have missed each other so easily, the fact of it made him a little dizzy. 

“I finished all my midterms on Thursday, so I actually took the weekend off. My roommates and I went to the market this morning, and then I finished a bunch of stuff I’ve been putting off because of school.” 

“So it was a good day?” he asked. 

She nodded, “better now that I'm here.” 

Quinn felt himself grin. 

“This is so good,” she said after her first bite.

“Thank you.” 

“Thank you for cooking,” she said, “It’s such a treat to get a home cooked meal.” 

His shock must have shown his face. 

She laughed, “I never have time to cook with school and work. I’m usually eating a sandwich for dinner.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. "That was my freshman year whenever I was away from the dining hall." 

“Yeah? I assumed you didn’t go to college. I thought players were drafted and that was that.” 

He shrugged. “I actually played a year of college hockey before I was drafted. Some guys don't need any extra development after the draft, my younger brother Jack didn’t. But some guys need a few years in college or the minors before they're ready.  I needed a little more development before I could come into the NHL, so I played another year at Michigan.” 

“Did you like it?”

"College?" She nodded and he continued,  "I loved it. It was time for me to move up to the NHL, but I wouldn’t have been too mad to stay there until I graduated.”

“Did you finish your degree?” she asked. 

“Yeah. In Communications.” 

“Did your mom teach you to cook?” 

Quinn couldn’t help but snort, “no.” 

Realizing how rude that sounded, he rushed to explain, “my mom is a great cook, but I really had to learn over COVID when I wasn’t allowed out.” 

“You weren’t allowed out?” she repeated. 

“They were really concerned about us getting sick, so the only time we could go out was to go to the rink or to games.”

“That sounds awful.” 

“It was, and I still got COVID twice,” he said ruefully. “So I had to learn to cook because I couldn’t go out to eat. I watched a lot of cooking shows,” he admitted with a smile.

“So what do your parents do?”

“Mom stayed at home, mostly, but she did broadcasting for women's hockey for a while before she had us kids, and dad was a development coach for a long time in the AHL and NHL.”

An amused smile spread over her lips, “so you really had no choice, did you? It was all hockey all the time in your house.” 

“I mean, my parents would have been happy with whatever we decided to do, but it was pretty impossible to avoid.” 

Her smile got bigger, and Quinn found himself smiling back. 

“When did you start playing?” 

“When I was three.” 

He jumped on a question of his own before she could get another one in, “when did you know you wanted to study the ocean?” 

Smiling, she rolled her eyes at herself. “It was a pretty classic girl who grows up in a desert, land-locked state is obsessed with what she doesn’t have. But it really kicked into gear when I moved to Hawaii after I graduated with my undergrad.” 

“Hawaii?” he asked. 

She swallowed hard and took a sip of wine, “yeah. I moved pretty soon after my dad died. I got an internship working for a conservation group on Kauai, and just kind of ran away with it,” she said. “I felt like I found my calling there in a way.” 

“Why didn’t you study there?” 

“Well, it’s really expensive to live and study in Hawaii,” she said, “and my mom died, and I found out pretty soon after that I couldn’t be that far away from my family.” 

This was the second time she’d mentioned needing to be close by family. Quinn felt like there was something she wasn’t telling him, but didn’t want to push, it would probably come out with time.  

They finished their meal in companionable conversation, getting to know each other more. He learned about her research on octopus social behavior, and she learned about some of his teammates, who were his best friends in the city. 

Sarah insisted on doing the dishes. “I may not be much of a cook, but I do know how to clean,” she said. 

Quinn followed her into the kitchen. He was getting antsy. He wanted to kiss her. 

“What did you have in mind for the rest of the night?” she asked, looking up from loading plates in the dishwasher. 

Making out. Really, he wanted to pull her into his bed, but he was only one half of that equation and the last thing he wanted was to scare her away now. 

“I'm not really sure. I figured we'd figure it out together,” he said. 

Something in Sarah melted a little at his words. It was good to have a plan sometimes. And sometimes, it was good to let the evening take you where it wanted. 

Meeting his eyes, she said, “I like the sound of that.”

After a house tour, they ended up upstairs, on his favorite couch. Gray suede softer than anything he’d ever owned. He'd been meaning to ask his real estate agent if he could take it with him when he left. 

Fingers entwined, she tugged him closer, letting her lips fall against his. 

A distinct feeling of, finally, seeped through Quinn as he deepened the kiss. One hand woven into her hair, while the other caressed her waist.

Sarah’s fingers slid behind his neck, pulling him closer. God, she wanted him so much closer. 

A breathy moan escaped her mouth when he brushed his tongue over hers just so.

Her body drove her next actions, pulling herself into his lap, knees bracketing his hips as she rested her weight on his thighs. 

He sucked in a deep breath. 

She pulled away to look into his face, “is this okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding too fast, he didn’t want her to go anywhere. He hadn’t been shocked so much as trying to brace himself. 

Smiling, she leaned in again. Just as their lips met, words she'd been thinking for the past eleven days tumbled out of her mouth and into his, “I really like you, Quinn.”

His heart twisted at the tenderness, and he pulled back to look into her eyes as he responded, “I really like you, too, Sarah.”

His sincerity burrowed into her and hummed there, heating her from the inside out. Nudging his mouth with hers again, she sighed. This kiss was far more tender and slow than any of the ones before. It wasn’t so much passion as it was an expression of gratitude for companionship, and hope for the future. 

In a way, these kinds of beginnings in their relationship felt perfunctory, like they needed to get through them in order to get to the good stuff. Still, Quinn didn’t want to rush. 

Their kiss in the kitchen felt like a glimpse into a future time when the awkwardness of firsts was done away. It had taken months to get that comfortable with his last girlfriend, June. She hadn’t been as into him as he’d been into her (and hadn't been afraid to wield that fact like a sword), so that had been most of the problem. He didn’t get that game playing vibe from Sarah; just this reciprocated, gentle passion like he’d never experienced before. They even seemed to naturally kiss at the same pace. 

Her kisses were unlike anything he’d experienced. Hot, of course, but there was an underlying tenderness and safety he hadn’t known he was seeking. 

It didn’t take long for the gentleness to evaporate. After a few minutes, Sarah angled herself closer. Desperate to feel more of his skin, her fingers snuck under his shirt, splaying over his stomach.

He grunted at the skin to skin contact and felt his temperature spike.

That was it. With that sexy grunt, she was a woman possessed. “Can I take this off?” she asked, tugging at the hem of his shirt, too anxious to wait for a more natural moment. 

He leaned away from the couch to grab the collar and stripped the fabric over his head before throwing it on the floor. 

Giggling, she went back to kissing him, letting her hands explore his shoulders and chest. Feeling the smattering of coarse hair there, visions of how it would feel brushing her own chest flooded her mind. She had to stop herself from rubbing up against him like a cat.

His hands snuck under her shirt, and set fire to her skin. Sitting back on his thighs, she stripped her shirt off, letting it drop to the floor by his. 

Quinn sucked in a shallow breath. His heart kicked forcefully into his spine as if to ask, are you seeing this? 

He was and he couldn't believe it either. 

The bra she wore was dark blue, and cradled her breasts so they swelled gently above the fabric. Lace peeked over the solid lining, drawing shapes on her skin.

It had been a stroke of genius when she decided to buy this bra, even though at the time, she didn’t have anyone but herself to wear it for. Comfortable for the most part, it made her boobs look killer: pushed up and round. It was a confidence booster to just wear it under her clothing. Getting ready earlier in the day, Sarah knew herself well enough to know there was more than a slim chance she'd end up losing her shirt. She wanted this to be the first bra he saw her in.

Finally forcing his eyes up to her face, he found her nervously biting her lip, a hopeful sort of look in her eyes. 

“You’re…" He didn’t want to come off cheesy, or like he was trying too hard, but eventually, he just said what was going through his mind. Cheese be damned. "Jesus, you’re so pretty, Sarah.” 

She flushed the most adorable shade of pink. “Thank you.” 

He pulled her in to kiss her again. He wanted her so much. 

“Leave that on,” she said, moving his hands away from the clasp of her bra, not quite ready for him to see the stretch marks and asymmetry of her breasts. 

“Okay,” he whispered against her lips, entwining his fingers with hers. 

It was such a respectful, sweet gesture that she almost took her bra off anyway just because she liked him so much.  

The temptation to look at her more grew too strong and he pulled away. 

He kept their hands laced together as his eyes roved over her, from her soft stomach to the curve that dipped from hip to chest. 

His eyes caught on something dark peeing out from under the band of her bra. 

“Do you have a tattoo?” he asked. 

She nodded, lifting her left arm and twisting her torso to show him. 

“Is it a tree?” 

Looking down, she realized that while the roots and poem intertwined into them were visible, the thick band of this bra covered most of the design. 

Her hands were moving before she really had time to think it through. The need to know if he would accept this part of her consumed her until she was doing something she'd just asked him not to. Consequences be damned. She wanted to show him this part of herself - this reminder she'd had permanently added to her body. 

Quinn watched, enthralled, as she wrapped her right arm in front of her to cup her left breast, reaching back to unsnap her bra with the other hand. His mind raced with images of his hands replacing hers. 

Keeping her bra flush to her, she dropped her left shoulder until the strap fell, pulling the band forward. 

Even though he knew she would stay covered, his breathing still jumped when she lifted her arm. 

“The tree is based on a beech tree that was in my grandma's backyard. We used to play in it all the time.” 

"Can I touch it?" he asked reverently. 

"Yeah," her voice was breathy. 

The tree was a sepia photograph - dark brown, expertly detailed roots, trunk and branches leading up to lighter, autumn toned leaves that looked as if they might just blow away with the right gust of wind. 

“What do the roots say?” he asked, tracing his finger over the fine cursive text, looping and weaving itself among the chaotic web of lines. 

Goosebumps rippled over her skin. 

“It’s a poem my mom had hanging in our house. It says, ‘Good timber does not grow with ease: / The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees; / The further the sky, the greater the length; / The more the storm, the more the strength. / By sun and cold, by rain and snow, / In trees and men good timbers grow.’” 

It had been a long time since someone had seen her tattoo close enough to ask about the poem, and she’d had to recite it. Saying the words out loud after so long choked her voice with emotion. She tried to not let it overwhelm her, but it was like trying to stop a dam from collapsing when it had already cracked. Tears pooled in her vision.

Quinn stared at her for a few heartbeats, terrified to fail, before his common sense and advice from his mom kicked in. His first thought was to hold her, but she would probably be uncomfortable with her bra undone like it was. So, he threaded the strap back onto her shoulder and clumsily hooked the clasp together - that was something he’d never done before - before wrapping his arms around her. 

Sarah was stunned, but welcomed the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. This act of receiving care and comfort when she started to cry, only made her want to cry more, this time out of gratitude. 

This was something she’d never dared to say out loud when her friends asked about the kind of man she wanted. It was impossible to explain to someone that had never lost a loved one. She wanted a man who wasn’t afraid of her grief, and wouldn’t try to solve it. She’d written that very phrase in her journal, and it seemed the Universe held onto that wish until both she and Quinn were ready. 

“What can I do?” he asked, feeling so inadequately prepared. 

A small laugh chuffed out of her mouth at the absurdity that he felt he needed to do more. “This is enough. This is exactly what I need.”

A sigh breathed through his body and he tightened his hold around her. 

It was a bizarre situation. Cuddling on their third date with shirts off because Sarah had started crying over a poem her mother had loved. It wasn’t where she had envisioned the night to be going in the slightest. 

She sat up and blinked the moisture on her lashes onto her finger, leaving streaks of mascara on her skin. “I’m sorry.” 

He shook his head, letting his hands rest at her hips. When he’d called her for advice, his mom told him how sometimes, grief just came up and swept you away, and the best thing he could do as a support was be there. Be a physical presence, tethering her to the shore so she could find her way back. 

A forced little, self conscious laugh escaped her chest, and she reached behind to re-clasp her bra. He’d done up only two of the three clasps and on the wrong hooks.   

“That was my first time,” he said, self-deprecating. “Can you tell?”  

She laughed - fully, out loud - and it banished the tears from her eyes. 

“I really like this,” he said, brushing his thumb over the roots winding to the front of her ribcage. “I like that it’s something so important to you, and has so many memories in it. It’s not like one of those sticker tattoos, you know?” 

One of those adorned her thigh. A heart small enough, it could be mistaken for a birthmark in the right light. She’d gotten it on a drunken dare, and was glad she’d had enough sense at the time to at least pick something simple. 

“You don’t like sticker tattoos?” 

“Tattoos are so permanent, I think they should mean something. I have a friend that has a whole bunch of dumb stuff tattooed on his arm just because he can.” 

Quinn’s hand was still on her side. The feeling of his warm palm on her skin was grounding and comforting. 

The rest of the night was spent kissing and cuddling. Her bra stayed on, though she thought about flinging it across the room more than once when he asked if he could touch her there, and then did, heating her blood to a boil. 

When Quinn’s phone buzzed with an alarm at 11, he pulled away reluctantly and smiled at her dazed, over-kissed expression. Memorizing the feeling of her skin to sustain him through the night, he ran his palm from its place on the back of her neck to the small of her back.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet, almost as if he was trying to keep himself from hearing it. “I’m really sorry, I have practice in the morning, and a game tomorrow.” 

She nodded, pursing her lips, which were flushed and more pouty than usual. “Can you take me home, then?” 

The last remnants of the test anxiety he’d been feeling blew away. “Of course.”  

Watching unashamedly as she pulled her shirt on, Quinn tried to commit the way she moved to memory. He wanted to remember everything about this night. 

Reaching for his hand, Sarah still felt a small thrill when he took it as they walked to the elevator. 

As she directed him to her apartment in Yaletown, she watched his profile in the city lights. 

“Have you broken your nose?” 

Laughter bubbled out of him, and he glanced over. “Yeah, a couple of times. Why?” 

“I just wondered,” she said, “You have a really distinctive nose.” 

“Is that a good thing?” 

“Yes.” 

She told him to turn left and pointed to her building. 

He stopped in front of her apartment building. “Are you still taking tomorrow off?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Do you…” he didn’t know why he was so nervous about this, “do you want to come to the game? I can get you a ticket.” 

A smile beamed over her face, “I’d love that. Do you think my roommates could come too? They’d never forgive me if I went without them.” 

“Sure.” 

“Am I supposed to wear your jersey?” 

He grimaced and shook his head, “no. Just wear whatever you want. I always think it’s kind of weird when girls wear my jersey.” In some ways, he’d love to see his name across her back, but not at a game. She’d be just another fangirl there. 

“Okay.” she leaned over the console to kiss him. 

He fumbled for the gear shift and slid the car into park. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," she said when she pulled away a while later. 

After watching her scan into the building, Quinn drove the ten minutes home knowing, having won her trust in this way, he would sleep like a rock. 

Both Eunice and Jane were in the living room when Sarah opened the apartment door. Eunice immediately shut off the TV, effectively blowing their cover that they were awake for any other reason than talking to her. 

"How was it?" Jane demanded. 

Sarah allowed herself a moment of self indulgence, and sank dramatically into the giant black chair Jane had inherited from her cousin's best friend’s brother or something equally convoluted.

"It was so good."

"Did you fuck?"

"Eunice," Jane reprimanded, rolling her eyes. "It was only their second date."

"So? I'd be stripping him down the second I got him alone."

Sarah cut in before Jane could snark back or Eunice could say something even worse, "No, we didn't. But we made out and if it's any indication of what's to come, it'll be amazing."

"Tell us everything."

The last time Sarah had rehashed a date minute for minute, she'd been in Hawaii, home from the first of many dates with her last boyfriend. She'd forgotten how exciting it could be. 

"Oh man," Eunice said when she was done. "That sounds so magical."

"It really was."

"I like the way you talk about him, like it's fate or something." Jane said dreamily. 

"It feels like fate," Sarah admitted. "It feels like something just plopped us together."

Eunice sighed. "I want that so much."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Quinn invited me to the game tomorrow."

"Oh, that's exciting," Eunice said, voice lacking any and all excitement. She was failing to look like she wasn't pouting. 

"I told him you'd never forgive me if I went without you, so he's getting tickets for all three of us."

"Really?" Eunice squealed as she took Jane's hands, forcing her to stand and started jumping around the living room. "I've never been to a game in person! Is he getting us rinkside?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. I was just glad he was getting three tickets."

"You have to wear his jersey. I have one you can borrow."

"Oh," Sarah paused, "he actually told me he didn't want me to."

Eunice looked perplexed for a long moment before she continued her jumping that was sure to wake their downstairs neighbors. “I'll wear it then.”

The following evening, Quinn wasn't sure what to expect as he skated out for warm up. He'd sent Sarah the tickets and asked if she would stay after the game so he could take her home, which she'd agreed to. He had warned her it might be a while before he was ready to go, and she’d assured him she would bring a book. He didn't ask her if she would be there for warm ups or if she would be down at the glass instead of up by the box. 

He did a lap, and didn't see her. He felt on edge in a way he didn't usually before a game. Hockey was something he could practically do in his sleep. It was a learned and inherited skill he'd been honing for the past 18 years. But knowing she was watching made him a little bit nervous. 

When he went back to run some passing drills, he spotted her at the glass wearing a simple blue shirt that matched his colors under a black jacket. Her hair was in an intricate braid, twined around her head like a crown. She looked so much better than she would have wearing a jersey. 

He skated over to her and knocked on the glass to get her attention. 

Her roommate shrieked and Sarah turned. A beautiful, easy smile bloomed on her face. He smiled back in a way he usually didn't allow himself to in public. 

He grabbed a puck and tossed it over the glass for her. It was dumb, he knew that, but it was all he had to offer at that moment. 

When he went back into the drill, Conor was the first to skate up beside him, "who is that?"

Quinn felt himself blush and tried to brush it off, but Petey saddled up to both of them. 

"Is that Sarah?" He asked. 

"Sarah?" Conor repeated, a smirk on his face. "Who is Sarah?"

Want more Quinn & Sarah? Check out the Snapshots Masterlist

To read all my fics, check out the Fanfiction Masterlist

[bluektw]

CK S6 Part 1 Spoilers

I'M SO FUCKING PISSED.

ok, Keenry is still the best couple? Yes

But it was so out of character for him not go console her, like I'm sorry I would care more about my girlfriend than getting a headband. Other than that, he and Tory have probably the best set ups in this part.

I'm really pissed at Robby, but I do think that in part 2 maybe their promise will come back up, and they might support each other even in different dojos (Hard to believe, but it would be the best outcome) I also hope we finally see him going after Tory this time, S5 was only her pining, now is his turn

Tory Nichols they could never make hate you. You wanna fight in CK? go queen. I get why she's doing it, it's not healthy, will probably end bad for her again, but I do hope her going back has SOME payoff, please don't let her go back just to lose to Sam again. I'm thinking either her or Robby will be injured in the tournament, and I have seen theories she will jump back to MF but I don't know (and now I'm pretty sure Sam will win, and honestly I'll just have to make my peace with that).

Btw that flashback she had? ALL PAIN. I was crying. Also really sad no Brandon and that the first time we saw her mom she was dead. Can't she get a break? Like we know she's not the writers favorite, but come on?? You really gave her ALL a teenager shouldn't have to deal with in one episode.

Now hm... Why is Kwon so interesting? Can I have more of him? Why is he so angry with the world? is his family shitty? What happened for him to become like this? I need answers. (Manifesting him and Tory developing an ACTUAL friendship, I don't usually win but I hope I get this) (Also, three fucking revolutions in that move. THREE. How exactly is he going to lose? I don't know, but if the world didn't revolve around Miyagi Fang, my bets were on him to win)

Kreese... Holy fuck you know? Like wow, hallucination 10/10 loved that scene. And sure, it is for selfish reasons, but I still love that he felt something was missing without Tory. (Love this fucked up dynamic so fucking much)

How could they possibly make Chozen boring after episode 1? Why didn't we have more of him training students? One on one? I FUCKING WANTED HIM AND TORY TO HAVE A BOND.

Honestly Daniel, Johnny they could never make me like you, but not at least I'm more indifferent than disliking altogether. (I like Johnny a bit more than Daniel, not sure why)

Devon... Devon... I get why she did it, but come on? I really wanted Kenny to go. Also, the less Anthony in my screen the better, just let Kenny and Devon being friends and I'm good.

Sam and Miguel I have NEVER been more indifferent to your characters, arcs and whatever. How could they make them SO boring? I was almost skipping their scenes.

edit: Forgot to mention I did enjoy Sam and Tory dynamic an how they got over their shit, but now all is back to hell thank you Kreese.

[starrywyatt]

chapter 7: what if i choke and die? 

☆ never saw it comin'- a george clarkey story ☆

! THIS STORY READS BEST IN DARK MODE !

intro

chapter 1

chapter 2

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

───────── ౨ৎ ──────── tw: drinking and mentions of throwing up

george's pov:

i was sat in the living room, scrolling tiktok and suddenly madison is calling. "hello" i answer. "hey, um abi's not answering her phone but i'm outside" she laughs nervously. why did i feel nervous to see her? i mean what's actually changed? "oh okay, i'll come down now" i say and i begin to make my way downstairs. and there she is, stood at the entrance with a bag. "hello stranger" i greet her, slightly making her jump as she was facing the other way. "oh hey" she laughs and we both reach out for a hug.

"how was new york?" i ask, as i grab her bag and we head upstairs. "tiring, fun but tiring. plus i can't believe i'm saying this but i missed london" she laughs softly and a messed up side of me is kind of glad she felt that way. "well, they do say distance makes the heart grow fonder" i say, referring to the city but honestly also referring to her. "it certainly does" she smiles nervously. "have you seen abi today? she's been quite distant" she says, looking down and her tone showing emotion. "umm not really, i wouldn't take it too personally. her and chris are glued at the hip but the honeymoon period is bound to end soon" i shrug, trying to reassure her.

madison's pov:

we walk up to the boy's apartment and i don't know why but being around george was making me nervous, i mean what really has changed since the last time i saw him? as he opened the door, abi, chris and arthur were stood waiting and a bunting that read 'welcome home' was hanging across the kitchen cupboards. "omg guys!" i run over to hug abi and then arthur and then chris. "we missed you so so much! well i did" abi laughs and i hug her again and i'm so glad things are okay between us because her distance has been sad.

we sit on the sofa and i dissect my new york trip and everyone is keen to hear all the details. we soon realise it's getting closer to the evening and none of us have eaten or got drinks to pre with. "shall we go to tesco?" i ask. "i need to jump on a zoom call, but you guys go. i'll just have whatever is going but with pepsi please" arthur says and goes to his room so me, george, abi and chris head to tesco. we were being rather unproductive just scaling the aisles so i say "i can make some pasta or something for everyone?" george looks at me and i can tell somethings on his mind. "cwazy idea, we do a cook off and i film it for youtube?" he says. "omg you guys should definitely do that" chris says and abi agrees. "fine, challenge is on. i'll definitely win" i smirk. "it's on baby!" george says in a funny voice. we gather our ingredients and also some vodka and mixers, of course including pepsi for arthur.

we make it back to the flat and george sets up his camera and lighting, insisting i wear a clip on microphone. "hello guys! welcome back to my channel, today we have a very special guest in the name of madison scott! you've probably never heard of her but that's okay i haven't either. she's paying me" he shrugs. "very rude, you should be paying me for all the views you're about to get" i say. "moving on" george laughs. "we are actually going out drinking tonight, so the whole flat needs something edible to line their stomachs so i'm taking one for the team because we all know women are shit cooks, right guys?" george laughs and high fives himself. "years ago, women's only job was to be in the kitchen so we'll see" i shrug and we begin.

i decide to cook creamy chicken pasta, as it was a speciality of mine. me and george hadn't seen each other's ingredients yet, but i notice him pulling a steak out of his bag. "no way you're doing steak! what a tory" i joke. "sorry i don't have the palette of a toddler" "wow, that's not true you'll be crying like one when everyone wants to eat my food"

we continue cooking and george thinks it's funny to turn my hob off to try sabotage me but thankfully i notice. "cheat" i nudge him.

we're both done and we call in abi, chris and arthur to be the judges. "okay, on presentation george might win" chris says. "well it's easier to display steak and vegetables than it is pasta" i point out. "that is true, but most important thing is taste" chris says, taking a bite out of mine first and arthur cuts into george's steak. "mate! did you even cook that, it's like raw" arthur says, screwing up his face. "this is, delicious. lots of flavour and the sauce is thick. literally perfect" chris says as he eats mine and i just smirk at george. "well this is going well" george sighs. abigail tries both and also agrees george's steak is not cooked enough. "can i just say george, you shot yourself in the foot doing a dish which everyone likes cooked differently" i say and i can tell he's regretting his choice. "okay, well looks like madison is the winner which is bullshit considering it's my video. luckily she's made enough to feed everyone because i'm feeding no one" george shrugs sadly. "it's the taking part that counts" i tap george's back sympathetically.

we end the video and we all sit down to eat. "let me try this shitty pasta" george says, taking a forkful. "for fuck sake, i can't even be mad because it's so good" he sighs.

it was now time to start getting ready, me and abi decided to take over chris' room as he said we could. i bought my outfit with me and borrowed some of abi's makeup. i was curling my hair and me and abi were singing along to our usual joint playlist. "so i'm guessing you and chris have kissed?" i raise my eyebrow. "maybeeee" she says and hides her face. "we haven't done anything else though! we're going kinda slow but i like it, it just feels nice" she smiles. "aww that's actually really sweet. but gross, i'm too single for that" i say. "okay, but george! you definitely like him" she grills me. "i don't know. he's nice but i just can't figure out my feelings plus i don't think he sees me like that. i see him liking girl's instagram posts all the time and they look nothing like me" i shrug, curling my ends. "okay, that last sentence just confirmed everything i need to know. the fact you know who's instagram posts he's been liking tells me you like him" "well they just appear on my feed!" abi turns to look at me and i stay silent, i have no defence for it to be honest.

"hello ladies, the others are arriving in like 10 minutes for pres" chris pops his head in the door and we finish up getting ready and head back into the kitchen. george had been put in charge of music and i knew he was feeling nervous about it, so i was prepared to roast him for his taste. i walk into the kitchen and grab a cup, of course george was stood right next to the cups, on his phone but he looks up. "you look nice" he smiles and it catches me off guard so i take a second to reply. "oh thanks" i nervously smile. why does he have this effect on me? i now have to pour lemonade into my cup but my hands were shaking slightly from his words.

arthur tv, max and andrew soon arrive. "madi!" andrew runs straight over to hug me. "andrew! i missed you so much" "we're so proud of you, new york is fucking crazy!" he says referring to him and max, i turn to max and hug him also. we briefly catchup and then carry on drinking. i turn back to the kitchen and see george stood by himself, so i walk over. "how are you, mr dj?" i nudge his side and i can tell something's on his mind.

george's pov:

truth is, erin keeps texting me and i know she's going to be there this evening with her friends and i haven't exactly told her i'm not interested so i don't know how to play it. i can't tell madi about it because i don't want to put her off, thinking i'm not interested in her on the odd chance she's interested in me, but then if she isn't interested it's a good way to make her think i'm also uninterested.

"how are you, mr dj?" she says, nudging my side. "not drunk enough" i laugh. "do you want some of this?" she reaches out her cup. "what is it?" i ask and she tells me it's a vodka lemonade and i down the cup and i look up and she's staring right at me. "yep, didn't want my drink anyways" she laughs. "i'll pour you a new one" i say and do just that.

soon enough, it's time to leave and we all bundle into ubers. i go with the boys and abi and madi go with max and andrew. they arrive a bit before us, so we say we'll meet them in there.

as i walk into the bar, i notice erin immediately. for god sake. she comes straight over, hugging me. "hey, i missed you" she says and i don't want to be rude so i hug her back but don't say anything. i look around and arthur raises his eyebrows and laughs but i can see abi giving me a funny look and i realise this is a bad idea. i turn back to face erin and i can hear madi's voice behind me talking to abi. "just don't look. it's fine, he's just saying hi" i can hear abi say and i begin to wonder is she talking about me? surely not.

i make small talk with erin and her friends but try to move away, "i'm gonna go find arthur but i'll see you soon" i say and as i turn around i hear her and her friends squeal with excitement and i feel so bad. i go back and find both arthurs, chris and abi. i look to the right and see max, andrew and madison on the dancefloor, having the time of their lives but i can see some aggression in the words madi is singing and i can't help but think of what abigail was saying.

i decide to order some shots, so i go over to max, andrew and madison. "gonna get some shots, do you guys want some?" i ask, max and andrew agree but madison just follows behind them and says no. we head to the bar and madison turns to abi and says she's going toilet and i can see abi looks concerned but lets her go. we do our shots and i turn to abi, "is she okay?" i ask, slightly concerned. "umm i think so" she shrugs before walking off to go see her.

madison's pov:

okay, truth is i was already very drunk so all my emotions were heightened. but watching george with erin made my stomach turn because we couldn't be more different if we tried and it makes me feel like shit, especially whilst i'm trying to come to terms with my feelings. "i'm just so confused! and this isn't helping!" i almost shout to abigail. "i know, i understand. but i really do think he likes you, i think erin is just trying to get with him but he doesn't seem interested honestly" she tries to reason with me and i take some deep breathes before going back out to the bar. george, arthur tv and chris have been put on karaoke and my ears literally hurt. we walk over to arthur hill filming them and laugh at them. "oh dear, don't quit the day job guys" i say, before ordering a water. george notices and asks me if i'm okay. i fight every urge of anger in me and instead be polite, "yeah, just peaked too soon" i slur. "do you want to get some fresh air?" he asks and i nod and follow his path outside, almost falling over a couple times.

we take a seat on a bench and i turn to him, "how's erin?" i turn to him bluntly and i can't even believe i said it, i clear my throat and hope he didn't hear. "umm yeah, she's good. i think. i didn't really ask actually" he says, trying not to make eye contact. "i'm not really interested in her, but she just keeps appearing" he says and the 100kg weight is lifted off my chest. "oh really? how come you're not interested? i mean she's really pretty" i shrug, the alcohol slowly wearing off and my speech becoming more coherent. "i don't know honestly, just something doesn't feel right and i think i'd be better suited to someone else" he shrugs and i smirk to myself. "oh really" i say sarcastically, confidence appearing out of nowhere. "hmm maybe" he smirks, looking at me. "i think you owe me a shot" i say standing up, holding my hand out for him to take. "but you were just trying to sober up" he laughs. "yeah but it's not even 1am yet. one more drink won't hurt" i laugh and he holds me hand and follows me in. i notice erin across the room and all my girl's girl qualities go out the window and i stand as close to george as i can and laugh extra loudly at his snarky comments. why was i doing this? i suddenly realised what i was doing and took a step back, smiling at her but she looked sad. "umm erin just saw me with you, might wanna go say something. not that we're anything but-" i began to stumble over my words. "it's fine, i've been meaning to all night. i should say something" george says and i down my shot and head back over to the others.

'shake it off' by taylor swift plays and me, max, abi and andrew lose our minds. both arthurs and chris also joining us and soon we're all singing along to the song and dancing together and i just feel so happy. like my life was finally on track and i had the best friends ever. we all kept singing to the next few songs and george finally appears again. i see arthur hill nudge his side and they whisper amongst themselves but i try not to pay attention.

about an hour later, i am now somehow 6 shots deeper and it's all max's fault. chris and abi left as abi wasn't feeling well before we came out anyways and wanted to go to bed and george and arthur h promised they'd get me back safely. i was now back to slurring on my words and losing all balance. "i think we should get you home" george turns to me. "no, i wanna dance!" i protest, turning to andrew and max but they also look tired, so i lose this battle and we all head home.

george's pov:

we're stood outside, waiting to book ubers and andrew turns to madison. "do you want to go home or back to george and arthur's with abi?" he asks. "ohhhh, i miss abi" she frowns like she's about to cry. "you'll see her in a few hours" i reassure her. "i think she should sleep on your sofa or something. i'd be a bit worried for her to be left unaccompanied. i'd take her back to ours but the building work's still going on" andrew says laughing. "yeah, it's fine, we'll look after her" i say, "come on, you crazy girl" i say slightly tugging her arm to follow us to our uber, silently praying she doesn't throw up inside it.

arthur gets in the front and me and madison get in the back, i help her buckle in as she was too busy talking about the clouds or something like that. "madi, we can do this all the time when we're on tour" arthur calls from the front, still also slightly drunk. "yayy! i can't wait" she cheers, throwing her arms in the air like a child. "not sure that's the best idea" i laugh. "oh shush george" she says and arthur agrees, both laughing. thankfully, madi begins to doze off so the rest of the journey is quiet.

we make it back to the flat and me and arthur (mostly me) help madison up the stairs to make sure she doesn't trip. "mate, i feel like i'm gonna throw up. can you sort the sofa bed out by yourself?" arthur says, making sure i was okay dealing with madison and i let him go toilet and bed.

"omg, we're in your living room" madi says, still completely out of it. "no way, crazy isn't it" i say, slightly laughing. "i feel a bit scared" she says and i'm confused. "why?" i ask. "i don't really know what's going on. my mind is a bit like this" she says and does some weird hand movements. "that's okay, just sit there. i'm just sorting pillows out on the sofa for me to sleep" i explain. "but you have a bed" she shrugs. "yeah, and you're sleeping in it" i tell her. "no, that's okay" she slurs and i laugh, "well where are you gonna sleep then?" i ask, pretty much fully sober now and finding her state slightly amusing. "i don't know!" she sighs, looking at the floor. "don't worry, i'll give you some water and help you go to bed in a second" i say, finishing off my makeshift bed with a blanket.

we walk into my bedroom and find madi's bag outside chris' bedroom door. there's some clothes inside which i assume are pyjamas. "do you want to get your pyjamas out your bag?" i say, not wanting to invade her privacy. i hand her the bag and she's squinting to try find the clothes. "these aren't mine!" she giggles like it's the funniest thing ever. "well who's are they?" i ask, laughing at her laughter. "abigail's! that's so silly" she laughs again and i'm also laughing but at her not with her. "okay, well she obviously gave them to you to wear tonight so i'll go outside and you can put them on" i say and she just nods and starts taking her shoes off, almost falling over. "sit down as you do it" i say, almost laughing.

i stood outside my bedroom door before i hear "georgeeee" and i assume she's done, i peer round the door just in case but thankfully she's fully clothed. "okay, drink some of this water and take this paracetamol and then go to sleep" i say, handing them over to her. "what if? what if-" she stutters over her words, trying hard to get them out. "huh?" i ask, sitting down next to her as she looks scared. "i'm sick in my sleep and i choke and die" she says, like she's about to cry and i'm slightly taken aback by her jump to extreme. "i think you'll be okay" i say calmly. "but what if i'm not and i'm alone" she says, still scared im not sure what of but the alcohol must still be plaguing her. "well i can give you a sick bowl and i'll leave the door open so i'll hear you if you do" i explain, trying to reassure her. "george" she says, staring at me and not finishing the sentence. "please sleep in your bed. i'm scared" she says and i can gather what she's suggesting and i don't know what the right thing to do is. i want to respect her and give her personal space but i'm obviously not going to try anything and she's innocently asking out of drunken fear and at this point i do just want to sleep... but what if she wakes up and thinks i'm a weirdo? is she in the correct head space to make a decision? for fuck sake. "okay, fine. i'll go grab my pillows from the living room" i say and she smiles and climbs into my bed.

i return with the blanket and pillows, "oi, that's my side missus" i say and she just giggles. "my side now!" and i just roll my eyes playfully, not in the mood to argue it. i get into bed, trying to keep as much distance as possible as i watch madi chug the water i gave her, before resting her head on the pillow. she turns to face me, moving slightly closer. "your eyes are really bright" she says, staring at me "thank you?" i laugh. "i'm still really drunk" she giggles like a child. "no way?" i laugh sarcastically. "shush" she says and moves even closer. i don't mind but i do feel the tiredness take over me and just want to sleep so i turn the light off and put my head back on the pillow, now even closer to madison. i move my arm into a more comfortable position and end up accidentally smacking her in the head. "shit, i'm sorry" i say, putting my hand on top of her head, patting her gently. "ouch" she slightly laughs and pushes her head forward in pain and ends up landing on my chest. the sudden physical contact shocks me slightly, especially when she doesn't make an effort to move away. "i'm so sorry" i say, trying not to laugh and rubbing her head gently again to show my apology. "it's fine, just minor concussion" she joke and we both laugh. her head is still on my chest and i can't tell if she's noticed or not so i just choose to ignore it. "okay, let's go bed now" i say, still slightly laughing but i look down and she's fast asleep. how has she done that in a matter of seconds. my arm was currently just hanging in the air and the only way for me to sleep comfortably was to wrap it around her, so i guess this is how we're sleeping and oddly enough part of me doesn't hate it.

[weclassybouquetfun]

Netflix is so funny. The streamer goes radio silence on their projects for years ::cough:: THE OLD GUARD sequel ::cough::, then turn around and say, "By the way: this and that drops tomorrow."

Or tonight in the case of the new SING short. Did you know there was going to be a SING short? Neither did I. But today Netflix announced that tonight at midnight, the Halloween themed SING short will debut.

SING THRILLER.

What is is about? Well, just that. The gang decides to stage their version of Michael Jackson's music video "Thriiller"

Returning for the short is Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, Tori Kelly as Meena, Nick Kroll as Gunter, Scarlette Johannsson as Ash, Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly and Taron Egerton as Johnny.

To prove the global reach of "Thriller" Taika Watiti did a Haka inspired bent at the end of his film BOY.

Taron Egerton's not coming off of his IG hiatus for this, but perhaps he will in December when his Netflix thriller CARRY ON is finally released (on December 13th, to be exact.).

Maybe by December 13th they will release a better poster.

Entertainment Weekly exclusive pictures from the upcoming film (and other KINGSMAN alums goings-on).

Since Edward Holcroft has provided Taron's fans with a few glimpses of Taron since his self-imposed social media hiatus,

I'll give Ed equal time.

Holcroft's Lithuanian limited series A WOLF'S PALATE (which, to date is Lithuania's most expensive sereis) is one of the five series selected to screen at TV Beats Forum's inaugural screening day on November 20th.  The six-parter, A WOLF's PALATE is described as a psychological drama with supernatural elements.

While I await Ed's return to the screen, I just have to be satisfied with his selfies.

Our other KINGSMAN alum, Colin Firth has been absent from screens for a moment, but he will soon be back with the Sky/Peacock five-part limted series, LOCKERBIE: A SEARCH FOR TRUTH.

LOCKERBIE: A SEARCH FOR TRUTH tells the real-life story of Dr. Jim Swire whose daughter was among the 259 people who lost their lives in the 1988 bombing of a PamAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland (with an additional eleven who died on the ground due to the disintergrating plane). It will drop January 2nd in the UK and the US.

Like Mark Strong, Firth will set foot in the Sherlock Holmes universe. He has been cast in Guy Ritchie's upcoming YOUNG SHERLOCK series for Amazon Prime Video starring Heros Fiennes-Tiffins as the young detective, Fiennes-Tiffin's uncle Joseph Fiennes as his father Silas,

Natascha McElhone as his mother Cordelia, Max Irons as Mycroft Holmes, Tsine Tseng (3 BODY PROBLEM) as Princess Gulun Shou'an, Dónal Finn (WHEEL OF TIME) as Moriarty and Firth as  Sir Bucephalus Hodge (no further character details have been announced).

And while not confirmed, there was a report that Colin Firth will be joining his ARTHUR NEWMAN and MARY POPPINS RETURNS costar Emily Blunt in Steven Spielberg's next film that is slated for a 2026 release.

[emloafs]

ep by ep thoughts (ck s6ep5)

my live thoughts from watching part one of cobra kai season 6. this ep is where shit got real in my opinion. spoilers below!!!!!

Ep5:

Stop manipulating tory, kreese!!!!!! She deserves friends!!!!!!! Get out of her head!!!!!!!

Im so uncomfortable

AISHA MENTION??? HOLY SHIT HELL YEAH

Dem didn’t tell Eli he got into MIT :(((( Dads stop fighting pls 

Oh tory really needs this tournament doesn’t she

I hate the power couples going head to head im over it like genuinely I am also over Daniel and Johnny bickering but its fine

Tbh not enough Miguel storyline so far I miss my baby

MIGGY GOT DEFERRED NOOOOOOO

WHAT THHE FUCK TORYS MOM 

OH IM NOT FUCKING OKAY

Peyton lists acting just brought tears to me eyes I feel sick fuck the writers 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck the writers

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK the writers

Im so fucking heartbroken

Peyton list’s acting is so impressive

I hope that when everyone realizes the SHIT that tory is going through they realize their petty karate bullshit is STUPID

Tory flashback has me sobbing fr

“I am your partner” actual line from Daniel to Johnny

Tory is either not showing up or she’s murdering whoever stands in her way

I am afraid she may go back to kreese because she’s hurting

Kiaz fight choreo is VERYY good

TORY NOOOO my baby

Robby need a win tbh but Miguel is crying  so what am I supposed to do with that

Oh im sick to my stomach about samtory fight

Genuinely no more notes because im speechless

This is Peytons season.

Everyone else go home. She’s acting circles around you. 

LETS GO ELI but im fucking heartbroken about tory she’s gonna end up with fuckinng kreese again

ELI LOOKING UP TO DEMETRI AND DEMETRI GIVING HIM THE COLD SHOULDER I CAN’T DO THIS I NEED THEM LIKE WATER

Like I won. dem and Eli are both going but at WHAT COST

I feel like sam and robby as captains low key are so fitting because miyagi do started with them

Those headbands are ugly… sorry someone had to say it

Miyagi fought in an international karate tournament? Are we for real? That doesn’t seem like him to meeeee

OH SHIT BARCELONA NOW???????

Demetri put away your shoulders in that slutty gi jesus fucking christ 

Robby man bun returns feels full circle

The venue is smaller than I imagined…..?

Oh shit cobra kai is back baby and they’re hot (not kreese vomit)

USA looks like a bunch of idiots just saying

OH SHIT TORY

I KNEW IT I FUCKING KNEW IT BABYGIRL IK YOURE HURTING

Cobra kai never dies

What a betrayal (that I absolutely saw coming) 

so ive actually died now and i'll be thinking about this for the next 3-5 business days (4 months until pt 2)

seriously someone hold me. i gotta rewatch this to process it all.

[lee-laurent]

Picture Perfect - Luke Hughes

Summary: There was a reason that Tori and John broke up. Was there not?

content: children, angst, fluff, mentions of breakups, kissing, mentions of sex but no actual smut, mentions of pregnancy, crying, oc x ex!john marino

wc: 4.5k

notes: PART 8!! we're wrapping up guys! there are gonna be 10 parts, so the end is in sight. so happy that ppl have enjoyed this series!! :)

John's shirt was soaked, but he really couldn't have cared less. He was spending quality time with Riley. Getting to spend more time with his son than he almost ever had.

Riley giggled, launching his rubber duck off the faucet and into the bubbles below. He turned, making sure that his dad, who was sitting on the floor next to the tub, had seen the splash that the duck at made.

"Oo' watchin', Dada?" Riley beamed, clapping his hands as the duck resurfaced.

"I am! Very impressive, bud," he chuckled, scooping up some of the bubbles and placing them on Riley's head. The toddler giggled again, smacking the water with his hands. John lived for moments like that. Moments where he wasn't a professional hockey player. Moments where he was one thing and one thing only--Riley's dad.

"More! More!" Riley demanded, scooting forward to put the duck back on the faucet. He gave it a little push and it fell into the water with a plonk. His giggles filled the room again, kicking his legs to make waves that the duck "surfed" on.

John couldn't help but wonder how many moments like that he'd missed because of his career. How many bathtimes? How many storybooks? How many nights spent cuddling because Riley couldn't sleep? How many nights spent ridding the closet of monsters? Sure things with Tori were complicated, but he didn't want to miss out on those moments anymore.

"Alright, Ri-Ri, time to wash up before Mama gets on our case," John said, gently pulling the duck from Riley's grasp and reaching for the washcloth.

"Noooo, more ducky!"

"Hey, hey, no pouting. If we wash up fast and get all clean, maybe Mama will let us watch Scooby Doo before bed. What do you think?"

Riley blinked, considering the offer before finally nodding. "Otay, Dada."

John smiled, relived that he didn't have to deal with a tantrum. He reached for the Spiderman themed "no-tears" shampoo and body wash. Riley giggled as John created a mohawk using the watermelon-scented soap.

"Rockstar Riley."

"Woc-staw Wiley."

"That's right, Rockstar Riley," he said, carefully washing the suds out with a cup of warm water. The bath was winding down, and Riley seemed far more relaxed since the promise of watching Scooby Doo.

Once Riley was clean and towel-wrapped, John hoisted him out of the tub, careful to balance him on his hip as they headed to the bedroom. Tori met them in the hall, smiling when she saw Riley's sleepy eyes peeking out from under the towel.

"Looks like bathtime was a success."

"Yeah, we had a blast," John replied, rocking the bundled toddler back and forth.

"Watch 'Ooby Doo!" Riley piped up, his voice full of energy despite his half-closed eyes.

"Alright, but just one episode. Bedtime is soon."

"Otay, Mama."

Once pajamas were on, they settled into the living room, Riley snuggled between his parents on the couch. John sat back, his arm on the back of the sofa, while Riley rested his head on Tori's chest. His eyelids grew heavier with each passing moment but he refused to fall asleep.

"This... this feels right," John said quietly, more to himself than anyone.

"Yeah... it does."

The credits rolled and John picked up a sleeping Riley. "I'll put him down."

"He, uh, he needs a sleep sack... so he doesn't climb out."

"I know, Tori. He's slept at mine," John grinned, shaking his head.

"Right. I... I forgot."

"I'll be back."

"Night, Ri-Ri. Mama loves you," she mumbled, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

~~

"You heading out?" Tori asked, pausing the episode of Gossip Girl she had put on.

"I, uh, I assumed I was sleeping over."

"Sleeping over?"

John rubbed the back of his neck, "I just figured, since Ri's asleep and I did last night... maybe I'd stay again tonight."

Tori stared at him a moment, processing his words. Having him stay the first night had been because she needed him for support, the second night had been a moment of passion, but a third night? That felt different in her mind. It felt like they were sliding back into something they shouldn't. Especially since she and Luke hadn't officially... broken up.

"John... I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why not? I mean, Riley's asleep, and we've had a good couple days. Why make things harder?"

She sighed, pulling her legs up against her chest. "It's not about making things harder. It's about... what's right. We haven't really talked about what's happening between us. And I don't think we can just fall back into this without figuring things out."

"I'm not saying we have to figure everything out tonight, Tori. But things have been working well. And I've missed so much not being here... I just-"

Tori swallowed, guilt twisting in her chest. She missed the simplicity of having John around too. The easy routine, the helping hands when it came to having a toddler, the family dynamic she'd always wanted for Riley. But what if their old issues snuck their way back in?

"And Luke," she said softly, not meeting John's eyes. "Things with Luke... we haven't officially broken up."

John tensed, "Right. Luke."

Tori winced at the bitterness in his voice. "It's complicated, John. You know that."

"It's always complicated with him, isn't it?" John muttered. "You're not with him, but you're not breaking up with him either. Meanwhile, you're having sex with me. I'm trying to figure out where I stand. Am I supposed to just wait around, Victoria?"

"That's not what I'm asking for. I just... we need to slow down. For our sake. For Riley's sake."

John just exhaled sharply, crossing his arms over his chest, but gave a nod. "I get it. You're right. I just... I need to be here, Tori. To be with Riley. To be with... I'll go. But I'm coming over after the game tomorrow night."

She stood up, walking him to the door, hoping that she'd made the right decision. "Thanks for understanding," she murmured.

"I'm always here for my son. Just, uh, I'll text tomorrow."

"Okay. Night, John."

"Goodnight, Tori."

It wasn't until she heard the click of the lock that she felt like she could breathe. She went into the kitchen, popping open a bottle of wine, before settling back onto the couch to finish her show. Why couldn't her life be easier?

~~

Tori woke up to Gossip Girl still playing on the TV. She blinked, groggy, realizing that she had fallen asleep on the couch. The empty glass of wine on the coffee table in front of her, a reminder of the emotionally charged conversation she'd had with John.

She stretched, rubbing her temples, but before she could get up to make herself a cup of coffee, Riley's voice echoed from his bedroom.

"Mama! Where Dada?"

Tori felt her heart sink. Riley's voice was getting louder, more insistent, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was a tantrum. So, she pulled herself up from the couch and made her way down the hall.

"Mama's coming! Mama's coming, baby!"

She opened the door to find Riley standing in his crib, his hands gripping the wooden rail, eyes wide and expectant.

"Where Dada?"

"Dada went home, sweetpea. He had to get ready for his game today."

"But who play dinos?"

Tori lifted him from his crib, holding him close. "I know, Ri-Ri. We'll see Dada soon, I promise."

"'oon?"

"Yes, baby. After his game, okay? He loves playing with you, remember?"

Riley nodded, "Play now?"

Tori hated this. Hated how complicated everything felt. She wanted Riley to be happy, to have the world he deserved--one where his dad was there when he wanted. But things didn't fall into place that easily. Last night had reminded her of how stubborn John could be, but maybe he could get over that for Riley.

"How about we eat breakfast first? Then maybe we can call Dada?"

"Otay."

Tori placed him in his high chair, getting him a bowl of cheerios and blueberries together. She knew deep down that he'd play with them more than he'd eat them, but she really wasn't in the mood to make pancakes or waffles.

"Mama?" he asked, sticking cheerios to his spit covered hand.

"Yes, baby?"

"Dada come home?"

She sighed, "We'll see him soon, Ri-Ri."

"'Uke?"

Tori nearly dropped her mug on the floor, her breath catching in her throat. She hadn't expected Riley to ask about him, especially when he seemed so fixated on his dad. She turned to look at him, placing her coffee down for safety.

"Luke?" she repeated, brushing his curls from his face.

Riley nodded, poking at another Cheerio. "Dada no play. 'Uke play?"

His innocent question cut deeper than she had expected. He had grown fond of Luke, and Tori now had to face that fact that Luke had been more than a casual part of Riley's life.

"Luke's... busy right now, baby."

"'ockey?"

"Yes, Luke's busy with hockey. So, he's not coming over today."

Riley's face scrunched up in disappointment, but he didn't press further. He instead just grabbed a blueberry and squished it under his finger.

"Don't play with your food, Riley. It's for eating."

"Otay," he replied, clearly not listening as he squished another berry. Tori just rolled her eyes, letting it go. She grabbed her coffee, leaning against the window. She had already felt bad about asking John to leave the previous night, and now Riley was asking for not just his dad but also Luke. She felt so stuck, like she was being pulled in two directions at once. On one hand was John, the father of her child. On the other, Luke, who had shown her a different kind of love, one that made her feel seen. Like she was more than just Riley's mom.

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, hoping it would be Luke. But her prayers remained unanswered... it was just John.

Hope Ri slept well. I'll be by after game, like we talked about.

They hadn't really "talked" about it. He'd just kind of stated that he would be by after the game. It didn't really seem like Tori had much choice in the matter.

"Mama! Dinos?"

She shook herself from her daze, grabbing a washcloth to clean up Riley. "Dinos it is."

~~

When 7 o'clock rolled around, Tori had Riley sat in the living room in his 'Marino' jersey, playing dinos with the game on the TV. Even though he seemed only interested in his toys, Tori knew that the moment he heard John's name or his face flashed across the screen, his eyes would be glued to the TV.

Riley looked up, waving his dino in the air. "'Ook, Mama! Dino 's gonna eat Dada! Nom nom nom!"

"Oh no! You better tell dino to be nice to Dada!"

Riley made the dino "apologize," then went back to his game. John was out there, doing his job, being his best self while she sat at home and tried to put her life back together. The image of John being a larger-than-life hockey player conflicted with the John that she knew. The John that she fell in love with.

The game announcer mentioned John's name, and Riley perked up just as Tori expected. "Dada on TV!" he squealed, scrambling to his feet.

"Yep! They said Dada's name, huh?"

"Dada 'gon score?"

"Maybe." She wasn't really sure how much of the game Riley truely understood, but seeing him light up when John played brought a smile to her face.

It was funny how after years of being with John and then being friends that she still found it surreal to watch him on TV. To know that thousands of people knew his name and went to watch his team play, while she sat at home with their child at her feet, talking about how he was going to be just like Dada when he grew up. She'd always respond with "I bet Dada would love that." Although deep down she didn't want him to end up "just like" John. Sure things had been better recently, but John had his flaws. She just hoped that they could keep making things work for Riley.

But she also didn't want to lead him on. She had Luke to worry about, he--

"'Ook, Mama! Dada skatin'!"

"Yeah, baby. He's skating fast, isn't he?"

"Fast! Dada super fast!" He grabbed one of his dinosaurs, making it zoom across the table. God, could Riley possibly admire John more? He was like a fucking superhero to the toddler.

A commercial break started and Tori stood up to grab herself a snack.

"Riley, do you want a--"

Her phone buzzed. Probably just John again, giving her an update on the game.

Hey, we need to talk. I'll call after the game?

Luke? Why now? Why did he want to talk now?

"What, Mama?"

"Sorry, Ri. D'you want a pouch?"

"Yes p'wease! Pouch!"

Tori continued to stare at her phone as she grabbed Riley a fruit pouch from the cupboard. Luke's text felt like it was staring into her soul. Why had he decided to reach out halfway through a game? Had John made a comment, said something he shouldn't have? All the possibilities and she wouldn't get an answer until after the game.

She took a deep breath, then placed her phone face-down on the counter, grabbing herself a bowl of Goldfish crackers. Riley was happily bouncing around to the music playing in one of the commercials. If only she could be so relaxed.

"No more phone for the rest of the game," she mumbled, taking the pouch to Riley.

"Tank 'oo, Mama!"

"Of course, baby. Is Dada back on the TV yet?"

"'Uke! I see'd 'Uke!"

"You saw Luke on the TV?"

"Yes! In jail."

"In jail?" she furrowed her brow. What in the world did that mean?

"Yes, 'Uke in jail."

"I-" then the screen flashed to a furious looking Luke sitting in the penalty box. Of course Riley thought that was jail. John had probably taught him that, she rolled her eyes. "You're right. Luke is in timeout."

"He be bad, so they put him in jail," Riley nodded, making his dinos fight.

A few moments later, Luke skated back onto the ice. It felt weird watching him on the TV too. Like he was even more distant, more unreachable. The man who had become such an important part of hers and Riley's lives, now felt like a complication that she didn't want to deal with.

"'Uke is free. No more jail," Riley pointed, singing 'no more jail' to himself a couple more times.

"That's right. They freed him from timeout."

Tori spent the rest of the game on the floor with Riley, trying to keep her mind off things. And it worked, the rest of the game flew by and before she knew it, John was knocking at the door.

She forced herself to stand up, smoothing down her Devils t-shirt as she walked to the door. With a deep breath, she opened the door. John stood there in casual clothes, opposed to the suit that the Devils had posted a picture of him arriving in. His hair was damp from the showers, a reminder of the game that he had just won.

"Hey! Did you guys watch the game?"

"Yeah, he was glued to the screen everytime he heard your name," she smiled, motioning towards Riley, who was now busy making his dinos 'free' each other from jail just like Luke. "He was excited."

"Hey bud! Did you watch Dada on the TV?" John asked, scooping up the toddler.

"Dada went 'uper fast! Like zooooom! And then Dada win! And then my dino eat 'oo, Dada!"

"What?! Dino ate me?! You gotta be careful with those dinos, huh?"

"It's okay. I kiss it better," Riley grinned, pressing a kiss to John's cheek.

"Aww, thanks, Ri-Ri. I feel all better now."

Riley squirmed out of John's arms to go back to his dinos. Tori caught John's eye and for a moment it felt just the way it did when Riley was first born.

"You gonna stay for a bit?"

"Yeah. It'd be nice to play with him for a bit before bed."

"Perfect. I--"

Her phone started buzzing rhythmically. Someone was calling her. Luke was calling her.

"Shit. I gotta take this. I'll be right back," she forced a smile, taking her phone down the hall to her bedroom. "Hey."

"Hey. I, uh, sorry for texting during the name, but we need to talk. I've been doing a lot of thinking."

Tori sat on the edge of her bed. She had been expecting this, but now that it was happening, she didn't know how to respond. "Okay. What's on your mind?"

"I... I know things have been weird lately. I needed time to think. And I'm sorry I aired you for so long. But I need to know if we're still on the same page here, Tori. If this... if we still have a chance."

Tori swallowed, glancing at the closed door. John was out there, playing with Riley, and the reality of the situation felt heavier than it did before. She hated that no matter what, someone was going to get hurt.

"Things are complicated right now, Luke. I care about you, I do. But John... he's Riley's dad--"

"And you feel like you owe it to Riley to make things work with John," Luke finished for her, his tone clipped. "I get it, Tori. I do. But you need to figure out what you want. What's going to make you happy. Not just Riley."

"I'm a mom, Luke. Riley's happiness comes first. H--"

"Is that why you slept with John?"

"What?"

"Heard him talking to some of the other guys about it. Were you going to tell me?"

"I was going to tell you. I just didn't know when... or how. It-- it was just kind of happened. And we've been on this weird break, so--"

"So you decided that because I wasn't there, you'd sleep with your ex. Great. Do you have feelings for him, Tori? Is that what this is?"

"I don't know."

"You don't seem to know much, d'you? D'you know if you love me? Or is that still up in the air too?"

"Luke--"

"I don't know why I even called you. Call me when you figure your shit out. Until then, good luck."

The line went dead. Luke's words hit like a punch to the face. She blinked back her tears, refusing to have a break down right now--not with John and Riley both a few feet away. She didn't know what she wanted, and that was the truth. But hearing him throw it back at her didn't feel very nice.

Figure your shit out.

He was right. She couldn't keep doing this. Dragging two people she cared about--Hell, three people. Riley was part of this too--into a mess she made because she couldn't make a decision.

She composed herself, making her way back to the living room. John glanced up at her. He could see right through her fake smile. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just, uh, just some stuff with Luke."

"If he makes you upset, why are you still wasting your time on him?"

"John. Not in front of Riley."

"They put 'Uke in jail, Dada," Riley decided to join the conversation.

"Yeah, you're right, Riley. Luke got a penalty," John had to keep himself from sighing listening to his son mention his mother's boyfriend.

"But you no in jail."

"Mhm."

"You was good."

"It's past time bedtime, Ri-Ri," Tori cut off, sensing that she and John weren't going to accomplish much with Riley in the room.

"Dada read cat-pilla?"

"You want Dada to ready you 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'?" Tori asked for clarification.

"Uh huh."

"Alright. Let's go brush our teeth and get in our jammies. Then Dada and you can read." Tori picked him up and headed down the hall, John following behind. Once they'd settled on a pair of blue pajamas to wear under his sleepsack, he cuddled up with John on his rocking chair. He continued to babble about Luke and being put in jail. Talking about how bad guys go to jail. John sat there with an unreadable expression on his face, holding the picture book that Riley had requested.

"Okay, Ri. That's enough talking about jail. Let Dada read."

"Otay. 'oo stay Mama?"

"No, Mama's gonna go take a bath."

"Say 'goodnight' to Mama."

"Night, Mama."

"Night, baby," she responded, blowing him a kiss.

"In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf," John read aloud, Riley tracing little patterns on his dad's arm.

Tori double-checked that his nightlight was plugged-in before making her way to the bathroom for a much needed hot bath. She turned on the hot water and let the room fill with steam. She even poured in lavendar bath salts because it was one of those days. As she slid into the warm water, she could still make out John's voice reading out "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." It felt like everything was okay. Like they were a real family again.

But deep down, she knew that wasn't true. Luke's call had been a wake-up call. She needed to stop the indecision. She couldn't ignore the cracks forming around her. John was Riley's father, and he'd been there for her. Well, sort of. He was there for Riley, who was an extension of her. Luke had come into her life and been there for her. Not just for Riley, but for her. No questions ask. John always asked questions. He always had a motive behind his actions, but not Luke. Luke cared about her in a way that she wasn't sure John did. Sure, she was the mother of his child, so he'd always have some love for her. But she found it kind of convinent how he'd only tried to push more into her life once she started seeing Luke.

After what felt like an eternity with her thoughts, there was a knock at the bathroom door. "Ri's down for the night."

"Thanks."

"Mind if I hang out for a bit? Talk?"

"Uh, yeah, give me a minute."

"We can talk in there if you want."

"John..."

"Right. I'll be in your room."

"Thanks."

She sank deeper into the water, trying to get a few more moments of peace before she had to talk to John. Figure your shit out. No more limbo. It was time to face reality, no matter how uncomfortable it was.

She dried off and wrapped herself in a robe before finally heading down to her room. John was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands resting on his knees.

"So what's on your mind?"

"I don't want to push you, V. I know things have been complicated and I don't want to make them harder. But I need to know where we stand. With Luke in the picture, I just... I can't keep pretending everything is fine."

"I get that. And I can't blame you for wanting answers. I just, I need to figure out what's best for Riley, for me. For everyone."

"I'm Riley's dad. Am I not what's best for him?"

"You know that's not what I mean, John. We'll always need you. You're his dad. And seeing the two of you recently, it... it's been so amazing."

"Victoria. I need to know what you want, though. Not for Riley. For yourself."

"God, you sound just like Luke," she threw her hands up.

"Why? Because we both want you to care for yourself too?"

Tori bit her lip, a lump rising in her throat. She had been asking herself the same questions for weeks, and now, sitting there with John, maybe things were become a little more clear. She cared about him. Hell, she loved him and she loved the family that they could be for Riley. But that wasn't enough, was it?

"I do care about me. But Riley comes first. And I thought... maybe we could try again, for his sake. But then, there's Luke. And he's been there for me, John, in ways that you... you haven't been in a long time."

John's jaw tightened, but he didn't interrupt.

"I feel like you've only really tried to be here for me since Luke came into the picture. And... that's not fair to any of us. I don't want to force something just because... just because we have a child together. I need to feel wanted for me... not because I'm Riley's mom."

John exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "I get that. And you're right, I... I wasn't always there like I shoul've been. But I'm trying now. I want to be there for you, for Riley, because I care about you. Not just because of him. But I can't wait around forever while you figure this out."

"I want to believe you, John. I really do. But... we haven't worked for a reason."

"Tori, I--" His words caught in his throat. "I know we haven't worked in the past, but things change. People can change. I'm trying. I am."

She didn't doubt that he was trying, but it was too late now. The damage had been done. And Luke had finally shown her what real, true love looked like.

"John--"

"I can't just walk away from this, from us. Not without knowing we've given us a real second chance."

"I don't know if... if there is a second chance here. We've tried so many times, but it's always for Riley. It's never for us. Us doesn't work, John. We... we work as co-parents, but we don't work as us."

"Tori, please..."

"John..."

"So that's it? You're choosing Luke?"

"I'm choosing what feels right for me. I can't keep pretending there's something here that isn't. I can't pretend just for Riley."

"But Riley needs us. Together."

"Riley needs us to be good parents. And we can do that without being together. We can give me stability, love, everything he needs. Everything you've been giving him the last few days. He needs that John to be around. I know work is draining, John. I can't even imagine what it's like being a professional athlete. But the John that's been here the last few days, playing and reading books to our boy. That's the John he needs all the time."

"You're right. I just... I haven't been ready to admit it."

"You're a great dad, John. And Riley is always going to need you. I will always need you here as his father. Luke isn't going to replace that. But we need to stop holding onto the past. It's time to move forward."

"I don't want to lose you guys."

"And you won't. We'll figure this out, John. Together, as Ri's parents."

"Yeah. As Riley's parents," John nodded, his voice hoarse.

With that, John leaned down and pressed a kiss to Tori's forehead before making his way to the door. Tori stood there, watching him go, feeling both the weight of what she'd done but also the relief that she was no longer trapped in two seperate worlds.

Now she needed to let Luke know that she'd figured her shit out.

[genericpuff]

I can't remember exactly what chapter but early on when Persephone went to talk to Hades during the "one day of the year the citizens get to see their king and file complaints" and side lines it (and the citizens time) to talk about Tori and Alex and his missing eye and they eat lunch... didn't Hades just conjure food instead of making them lunch or am I misremembering?

so this ask sent me on a bit of a ride because i went to go find the scene you were talking about, i knew exactly where it was but i had actually completely FORGOTTEN about the whole lunch bit that came with it

and oh, my fucking god-

MAN'S IS EATING AN ENTIRE STEAK ALL TO HIMSELF. AND HE GIVES HER JUST A COUPLE PASTRIES ???

and yes, he does basically magic it out of nowhere because he casts an 'illusion' to change her outfit and they're basically in a secret room right now. So he definitely didn't prepare this by hand or ahead of time (unless he lied about the whole 'illusion' thing and he really did knock her out and change her clothes against her will, oh god no-) And yet despite this being the "woman of his dreams", he STILL feeds her like a squirrel.

This is more proof as to why Persephone was never plus-sized rep and is written purely through the male gaze. For some reason Rachel is DEAD SET AGAINST feeding this poor girl or letting her chew food onscreen, and that's just the BARE MINIMUM of like, healthy fucking behavior.

Seriously, stop reading this post RIGHT NOW and ask yourself, "When has Persephone actually eaten a meal onscreen?"

Go ahead, I'll wait.

THAT'S RIGHT. SHE NEVER HAS.

The CLOSEST we've ever gotten to her eating a meal was that time she ordered takeout (fucking Chinese takeout???) and we never actually see her eating it. She's stirring it around in one panel and then by the end of the conversation, the food is gone.

Even in scenes where you'd think she'd be eating, like in the scene where she stays at Hera's for dinner, they come up with some random excuse as to why she can't have a full meal.

(I just noticed writing this up btw that they're all eating the same thing she is so why are they so apologetic as if they're all feasting on meat and she's just eating lettuce and cheese??? But it looks like all they're eating is greens and toast, what the fuck is happening-)

It's astounding to me at all that a Greek family wouldn't have anything more in the house for a vegetarian to eat than lettuce and halloumi. Need I remind you that Greek food is Mediterranean, it is primarily vegetarian. Beans, veggies, fruit, breads, and cheeses make up much of the foundation of Greek food so why don't they have anything else in the house; and why in the world is Zeus being all judgmental over her being vegetarian when most of what he eats - AND WHAT HE'S LITERALLY GOT ON HIS PLATE RIGHT NOW - is vegetarian???

And when she DOES eat, it's always the tiniest morsels, like she's a squirrel or a delicate little baby who's never seen food before and whose teeth haven't grown in yet. She'll be holding utensils, she'll have a plate in front of her, but will she eat the food? Will there even be food on the plate?

Anything we see her legitimately consume is juice. Happy little baby needs her juice, her sippy sip.

This is honestly so indicative of how Americanized LO is. From the lack of actual Greek food to vegetarianism being treated like an inferior diet to the main female character not being allowed to even CHEW food onscreen let alone eat, like... what year is it ??? Being a vegetarian isn't a radical idea anymore, and for fuck's sakes, Greek food is readily available even in North America so it shouldn't be this hard to get right! Can we please throw out this 1950's misogyny bullshit of the man stuffing his face with steak while the woman eats nothing but grapefruit skins, hard boiled eggs, and wine??

NO, SHE HASN'T. SHE HASN'T BEEN EATING ENOUGH, WE HAVEN'T SEEN HER EAT A GODDAMN MEAL ONCE SINCE SHE LEFT THE MORTAL REALM. CALL SOMEONE.

NO DON'T FALL FOR THE DISTRACTION PERSEPHONE, IT'S A PLOY TO KEEP YOU FROM EATING, PLEASE JUST TAKE ONE BITE YOU'RE SO CLOSE-

YOUR DAUGHTER IS HUNGRY. SHE SCREAMS FOR THE CHICKEN NUGGER. FEED HER.

[miriadalia]

Things I wanna see in Cobra Kai S6 part 2

Since I'm on a Cobra Kai streak since they dropped the new photos, I want to make a list of things I wish to see in part 2. And then check if they become true 🙏🏻 (I'm writing this before they drop the trailer)

Feel free to add whatever you want <3

Alright, HAJIME!!

1. Kwon's backstory and character development

I don't want him to be a 2D villain. Every character until now has had at least some internal conflict and reasons behind their behaviour (even bullies like Kyler), so please, PLEASE, give the guy an interesting background. If we have to tolerate Daniel and Johnny love-hate every season, I want my little Kdrama too 😂

Also, if they're going to add even more secondary characters (who, according to the leaks, will be kind of villains too), I need them to focus on Kwon first.

2. Tory defending herself from whatever BS the Miyagi Do's will tell her

Yes, she's not well at all after her mother's death and yes, Cobra Kai isn't the way to heal from her wounds... But if I hear one of them getting angry at her or calling her a traitor when none of them went after her, I'll be kicking 540s in my room................

I would also love to watch her train in Korea with the new team, giving Kim a "TAKE THAT B*TCH, who wouldn't have lasted one minute in your dojang back home??" (In season 5 Kim told that to Tory and Devon) and watch her training her hardest and truly fighting and earning her position as captain, not to appear magically in Barcelona as sensei Kreese's pet ('cause I don't think neither Kwon nor Yoon will like that).

They can even do this as flashbacks before each round of the tournament. But... I'm kind of losing hope on this because of the producers' comments. I write it here just in case :(

3. Johnny being a real father to Robby

I understand his main interest is defeating Cobra Kai, especially now that they know Kreese is back. But Robby will need him more than anyone during this tournament: the poor boy has the pression of being the team captain in a televised international competition, he needs to win the Sekai Taikai because that's the only way he could be offered a better future after being in juvie for so long, his girlfriend (ex?) has been MIA only to appear with their nemesis' team........

I've seen an interview where Xolo said Miguel's going to be Robby's main support during part 2. And while I like that, I still feel that, for once in his life, Johnny should step up and put the son he abandoned for so many years first. That would be his REAL redemption arc, more than being sensei for his own version of Cobra Kai.

4. Demetri and Hawk fixing their problems FAST

I understand them both, but their argument seems like the typical post-high school crisis where you have to separate yourself from your lifelong friends because (surprise!) each one wants and must follow their own path and dreams.

So for me it's alright if they solve this with just one conversation after winning together some round during the Sekai Taikai. I don't need something like one of them DYING or ending up in the hospital (though that's probably what will happen to Demetri seeing the X-men-mutants they've chosen as their rivals........).

In short, for me the character arcs of Hawk and Demetri are already complete and do not need more drama. They can become secondary characters, although I love both actors and I'll miss them so much :')

5. Bring back #MiguelSeason 1!!!!

I don't think there's anyone who doesn't want this to be honest haha. But in my case what I mean is I want the concentration and power he had back then, not him playing dirty or seriously injuring someone.

I want FULL POWER Miguel, the ultimate version of this young fighter we saw growing each season, using every style he's learned and making it his own.

And who knows, I won't be mad if he wins after all, but that only if Robby gets an awesome final character arc.

6. Sam and Tory supporting each other even if enemies on the tatami

These girls have already apologised to each other and now Sam understands Tory's situation and mental state without any judgement, so I want Tory to find selfless support in Sam and to learn how to confide in her.

And I want Sam to fully embrace Mr.Miyagi's teachings of forgiveness, balance and strength.

And what better way to do it than by applying them to your former arch-nemesis?

EXTRA POINTS if they fight together against Zara or any other enemy!

7. Silver NOT coming back in this second part...

At least until the end of the last episode.

We have villains already. We have NEW characters (villains?) already. And as much as I like chaos and drama, I don't think it will be easy to follow a story where everyone is against Miyagi Do lol

They can save him for the finale.

... Plus I just can't stand that dude :'), I prefer Kreese as an antagonist all the way.

8. Sassy arguments, teenage drama and funny scenes

I already read that part 2 is gonna be very action-oriented. But Cobra Kai is much more than amazing stunts and choreographies (which I love, don't get me wrong). I just don't want them to forget the potential of having a hotel and a sports park full of troublesome teenagers, with even more troublesome senseis.

They're participating in a hard competition abroad, but that doesn't mean they can't have some comedy scenes here and there like the ones they have in the Valley.

Idk, you have a Korean dude with an anime-looking hair and an American dude with a freaking American flag in his mohawk!!!!! Someone has to make at least a comment about that.

9. The characters eating Spanish food or trying to speak Spanish

This one is personal hahaha

I grew up in Spain so I need to watch them tasting a tortilla or trying to buy something and getting scolded by a Spanish "abuela" (grandma).

BONUS POINTS if Johnny Lawrence drinks the typical beer from there (Estrella Galicia). (Know this won't happen as it would be free advertising haha).

10. Amanda and Carmen being the queens they are, finally happy and in peace as every karate freak (including their respective husbands) are booked and busy at the other side of the world

[sizzlingcandyjellyfishhhhhh]

Tori I miss mass liking your posts 😭

I'll be back once the world stops kicking my ass long enough for me to be on my phone longer than 2 minutes.

just imagine me liking your posts the second you post them

I’m imagining it and it’s great thank you Lilly

and no problem your life sounds stressful rn I hope you get through it!!