#if you hate Gavin for no good reason just say that

[gavin-reed-is-gay]

“I hate this character cause they canonically did something bad in cut content”

[dizzyjelly]

Kryptonite(18+)

Word Count: 4.2k

Summary: ellie hated everyone, except you. You go out to the bar one night and some guy bothers you, she punched his ass ofc. You get into a small fight but then you guys go back to her place and things get freaky;)

Cw: fighting, drinking, smut, strap-on sucking, strap-on sex, scissoring, rough sex, degrading, praising, spanking, the tiniest bit of overstimulation

A/n: ooh this is seriously dirtyyy! 😭 sorry if I missed any content warnings but I really think that's all. Also, I've been going back to my previous fics and rereading and I just now realize I misspell so much and like forget words, so I'm sorry for all my grammar fuck ups lmao

Ellie Williams was many things, but nice was not one of them. People usually tried to steer clear of her, knowing her mood was negative more often than not. But of course, there was the occasional time when somebody made the mistake of trying to be friendly with her. It typically ended with Ellie cursing them out, or insulting them somehow. And then you'd come around, always calming her down and putting a smile on her face.

Everybody found it odd, from the minute you'd been welcomed to Jackson, Ellie was always so sweet to you. It honestly had jaw dropping, everyone was shocked to say the least. On top of that, it made no sense. I mean, some random girl comes into town and she just happened to be Ellie Williams kryptonite? Absolutely zero sense.

Nobody dared to question it though, and anytime they did Ellie had a lot to say. The main point she'd give was that it was simply 'none of their fucking business', among other things. You, yourself, found it a bit odd. You'd heard stories about Ellie from various people around town, and it was hard to believe she could be so harsh and mean. Was she really as cruel as they'd said? You'd never know, because she was nothing but kind to you.

-------------------

After deciding to get ballsy on patrol, Ellie was sentenced to the unbearable punishment of laundry duty for a week. The only good part of it being that she got to see you, you had been a clothing designer before all this apocalypse shit happened so you knew a lot about clothing. This being the reason for your permanent work assignment staying laundry duty, you'd requested that it be permanent. Maria had no issue doing thst for you, and you were beyond thankful. You and no interest in getting yourself into any kind of danger, doing patrol or something else.

Currently, Ellie was trying to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do with the laundry detergent. She looked at the various bottles, grabbing then to read the instructions on the back. After a minute of trying to comprehend what she was meant to do, she let out a frustrated sigh before slamming the yellow bottle back in its place on the shelf.

"I could help you out, you know?" A brunette boy suggested with a sweet smile, he was younger and very clearly meant no harm.

"Fuck off" She scoffed harshly, "I don't need your help." Her tone was aggressive as she walked back over to the baskets of clothing.

She decided to sort them by color instead, that was something she was capable of. Five minutes or so passed and you came in, late. Very unusual for you, you were one of those people who was either early or on time. But late, you were never late. Ellie's face immediately lit up when she saw you, she smiled from ear to ear as she ran over to pull you in for a hug.

"Oh, hi" You laughed, wrapping your own arms around the girl, "somebody missed me." You joked.

"Shut up" She smirked at you, rolling her eyes, "why are you late? You're never late." She asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"Um, I was just talking to Gavin, guess I got caught up." Your cheeks flushed red, Gavin was the guy you had a crush on for weeks now.

Ellie couldn't wrap her head around why, he was such a dick. Not that you'd be able to figure that out by the way he acted. He pretended to be a nice, caring guy. But he wasn't either of those things. And since he had you in a chokehold, for some unknown reason, you'd have to find that out the hard way. Ellie tried to tell you, relaying stories she'd heard from friends who'd been with him. But you were just lovesick.

"Oh, k." Her smile dropped now, and she spoke monotonly as she had no interest in why you were so busy talking with Gavin.

You furrowed your brows slightly at her sudden change in demeanor, but ultimately you ignored it. Smiling, you walked over to greet Samuel, the brunette boy who'd usually help you out with laundry.

"Good afternoon, Samuel! How are you today?" You asked, but he seemed kinda down.

He hadn't given you an answer, just shrugged, so you walked over to him and asked what was up. He motioned for you to lean in, so that he could whisper in your ear. Samuel told you about how Ellie had told him to 'fuck off.' And you let out a dramatic gasp.

"Ellie Williams! Did you tell my sweet bo Samuel to fuck off?" You asked sternly, hands on you hips as you made your way over to the girl.

She bit her lip, her cheeks flushed red as she knew she'd been caught.

"Maybe... I'm sorry!" She apologized with a frown, looking at you with pleading eyes.

"Do not talk to my sweet little helper that way, he's my friend." You scolded her just a bit more, and she nodded in understanding.

"Oh, hey could you help me with the detergent? I'm not really sure what to use." She asked you, pointing her thumb in the direction of the shelf filled with various laundry detergents.

"Yes, if you promise to be nicer to my dear friend Samuel." You raised your brows.

"Promise..." She smiled with a playful eye roll.

You proceeded to help her with the detergent, making sure she'd remember for next time. Ellie would continue her work duties, bored out of her mind as she prayed to be let back onto patrol early for good behavior. At a certain point in the day, she'd just be eyeing the clock, counting down the hours until she could finally be free from this torture. You, however, didn't mind the job one bit. It actually brought you joy, helped you to relax even. It reminded you of the days before.. everything.

Once it did fall time to clock out, Ellie was quick to rush out of the laundry area, waiting for you outside. You'd chuckle to yourself and shake your head, she was so dramatic. On your way out, you waved a goodbye to Samuel then smiled as you found Ellie leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Hey, wanna go to the bar?" She asked with a cheeky smile.

You sighed through your nose, hesitant as Ellie was a terrible drunk.

"Fine. But Ellie, please don't get too drunk." You asked, taking her hands in your own.

"Ok... come on." She smiled as she held your hand and walked the two of you to the bar.

Once you got there, you took seats at the bar and Ellie ordered for the both of you. Alcohol wasn't really your thing, but she seemed to know her way around it pretty well. And you trusted her, which was a good choice because when you took a sip of your drink it was absolutely delicious. After another drink and the passing of some time, Gavin had made an appearance.

You saw him and a smile spread across your face, your eyes lit up and your knees felt weak. Ellie took notice to your mood change, following your eyes to see the man himself. She rolled her eyes and let out a small groan as she rested her head in her hand. You turned back around, sipping from your drink and trying to act cool. Then, Gavin had come to sit beside you.

"Hey Y/n, how you doing?" He greeted, the sound of his voice had you giggling.

"Hi, I'm good. How are you?" You asked in return, playing with your hair a bit.

"Oh I'm doing just great. Who's your friend?" He asked, gesturing to Ellie who was now on her third drink.

You sucked in a breath through clenched teeth.

"Oh, this is-" Ellie had cut you off.

"I'm Ellie." She answered him with a harsh tone.

"Well, nice to meet ya Ellie" Gavins voice trailed off as he looked at the door, "I've gotta go." He sent a little wave your way.

You waved back with furrowed brows, then frowned as he was meeting a girl who just walked in. She was pretty, long blonde hair and a striking figure. You sighed, dropping your head down on the bar with a groan. Ellie sighed.

"What's wrong?" She asked in a soft tone, bringing a hand to rub up and down your back soothingly.

"I'm a fucking idiot." Was all you muttered, not picking your head up until a minute later.

You turned around and honestly felt like you could cry when you saw the two of then dancing together, he had his hands on her waist and pulled her unbelievably closer. She laughed as her hands wrapped around the back of his neck. You turned back to look at Ellie, the pout on your face more evident than anything.

"Oh, come on, he's an asshole anyways" Ellie rolled her eyes, glancing over at the dancing pair, then she stood and reached out a hand, "come on baby, dance with me."

You smiled, placing your hand in hers and letting out a small laugh as she pulled you to stand with her. At first, you just held hands and bounced around to some faster songs. But then about two songs later, a slower song came on. Your cheeks flushed red and you took a step back, only for Ellie to snake a hand around your waist and pull you closer.

"Ellie.. what are you doing?" You whispered as she held your waist and pulled you in tight, so that you were practically hugging.

"Dancing." She whispered in return.

You giggled and brought your arms around her shoulders, leaning in so your head rested on one of them. Ellie smiled as her eyes fell shut, your perfume greeting her kindly. You sighed as you relaxed under her touch, nobody could make you feel the way she did. Her hands found their way to your lower back, rubbing small circles onto it. You'd nuzzle your face in her neck, smiling as you brought your hands to play with her hair.

"Fuck Y/n.." Ellie groaned under her breath.

You giggled, lifting your head to meet her eyes. She looked at you like you were the only girl in the world. You looked down at your feet, then back at her. Your breath hitched as your eyes couldn't seem to focus on hers anymore, but rather on her slightly chapped lips. She had to have noticed because a smirk slowly formed on her face. Before you'd do anything you would regret, you stepped back from her. The loss of her touch left you feeling empty, but you would ignore it and just smile as you excused yourself.

"I have to use the bathroom." You simply said, and she took a seat at the bar once again as you made your way to the restroom.

You didn't actually have to go, so instead you washed your hands underneath cold water. And you splashed some on your face for good measure, you'd been getting unbelievably hot during your dance with Ellie. Once you could no longer feel your heart beating in your ears, you left the bathroom to return to Ellie. Unfortunately, there had been someone waiting for you outside.

"Hey, you know you look really good tonight." Gavin spoke smugly as he leaned against the wall.

"Yeah? Thanks." You scoffed, "shouldn't you be getting back to your date?" You spoke matter of factly, trying to push past him.

Your efforts didn't get you much of anywhere, his hand now finding a tight grip on your forearm while the other went to hold your face. You rolled your eyes with a frustrated sigh.

"Ok, come on Gavin I'm really not in the mood." You spoke coldly, willing him to just take the hint and leave you alone.

He tsked, leaning down to whisper in your ear,

"Come on angel, just let me show you a good time." You shuddered at his words, disgusted.

That was your last straw and you found the energy to shove him off of you and into the wall with a hard thud. Then, you saw Ellie turning the corner, her fists balled at her sides as her brows knitted together with anger.

"The fucks going on here?" She asked gruffly.

"Ellie, it's nothing. I'm fine." You placed a hand on her chest, trying to convince her.

Of course it didn't work because the next thing you knew you were watching as she punched Gavin so hard he'd fallen over. Her knuckles were red, and his face began to bruise.

"Ellie!" You screamed as your hands went over your mouth in shock.

Before she could get any other hits in, you'd held her by her shoulders as you dragged her outside. She yelled at the poor guy the entire time. Sending a good amount of threats his way.

"What is wrong with you!" You shouted at the girl as the two of you now stood outside in the chilly night.

"Me? He deserved it and you know it!" She'd shouted back, gesturing with her hands, something she did often when she was angry.

"Yeah maybe, but still! You can't just go around punching every guy that bothers me, I can take care of myself you know?" Your hands were on your hips.

"Oh god, this again? I can't keep having this fucking conversation with you, Y/n!" She gritted her teeth.

"What conversation? The one where I have to constantly remind you that I'm a full grown adult, and I am entirely capable of taking care of and defening myself? I mean seriously Ellie, what's the problem? Do you think that I can't take care of myself?" You asked with a frustrated sigh.

"What, no! Of course I know you can, but I just- I care about you a lot and you shouldn't have to take care of yourself. It makes me feel good to defend you, I don't know why it just does. And I'm... sorry." Sge struggled to get the apology out.

"It's ok. Let's just go home, sleep it off." Your suggestion sounded good, but Ellie stopped you with a hand on your wrist.

"Wait." You looked at her with questioning eyes, wondering what else she had to say.

Turns out, she didn't have anything to say. Instead, she had brought one hand to your waist and the other to the back of your neck. She bit her lip, her eyes flickering between your own and your lips. After a minute or so had passed, she just couldn't resist. She pulled you in and connected her lips with yours, kissing you like it was the end of the world.

"Ellie~" You whined as you parted from the kiss for a moment, immediately diving back in.

This time, you pressed your tongue to her bottom lip. And she gladly let you in, opening her mouth wide so she could taste your tongue on hers. It was something from another world, you'd felt dizzy and giddy, and there was something else too. There was this heat between your legs, it almost hurt. You whimpered into her mouth at the unfamiliar feeling.

"What's wrong baby?" She asked, her forehead resting against yours.

"I don't know, 's all achy down there." You admitted, embarrassed as you'd only dare to stare down at her shoes.

Ellie let out a sinful chuckle,

"Well, I think I could help with that." She gave you one last kiss before taking you to her house.

You stood in her living room, your hand coming to scratch the back of your neck awkwardly as she rushed upstairs to grab 'a little something special' from her room. You'd wondered what she could be grabbing, but not for long as she returned swiftly without her bottoms now and a large black strap tightened around her hips. Your eyes widened at the sight of it, and you knew you wanted it inside of you. Your mouth watered at just the thought of her fucking your brains out.

She walked over to you with a smirk, pulling you in for yet another kiss. You smiled into it, letting out small moans here and there as the taste of her tongue felt so good against your own. You'd sighed as she pulled your top off, now placing kisses along your jaw and neck. It wasn't long before she was placing feather light kisses to the top of your boobs, then palming them roughly as she watched your face contort with pleasure.

"Get on your knees." She ordered after a minute, and you were quick to oblige.

Getting down on the floor, you looked up at Ellie with lustful eyes. She grabbed a fistful of your hair, taking a step closer to you as she held her strap in the other hand. You licked your lips before chewing slightly at your bottom one.

"Open that pretty little mouth of yours for me baby." She cooed, her hand tightening in your hair as you'd opened wide.

She chuckled as she pushed her cock into your mouth, watching with nothing but joy as she shoved it as far as it could go. You'd gagged, unable to help it, then you let out a small whimper which was muffled by her large cock. She groaned at this, tugging your hair a bit, which brought a lengthy moan from your lips.

"Fuck baby, look at you being a good little slut. Taking my cock down your throat so well. Good girl." The praise she'd given you had gotten you even wetter, if that was even possible.

Ellie would continue to move your head up and down for a bit longer until she was satisfied, carefully she removed her hand from your hair and let you pull back. Your lips left her cock with a satisfying pop sound and she smiled sinfully as she pulled you to stand. She brought a hand to your chin, wiping your saliva that had dripped down your chin while you were kept busy deep-throating her.

She'd snaked her hands around you now, gripping at your ass before giving it a harsh smack that made your body jolt with pleasure and excitement. Another kiss was brought to your lips by her, but not for long as you'd pulled away quickly.

"Ellie, please." You whimpered, she only let out a small chuckle.

"Please what? Use your words baby." She kept a finger under your chin.

"Please," another moan, "fuck me. Fuck me good and hard, please I need you." You were begging shamelessly now, and she loved it.

"Well, aren't you cute. Your wish is my command, princess." She smiled as she backed you up to the couch, lying down before pulling you on top of her.

You sat straddling her for a minute, she rubbed your thighs with her hands soothingly before ridding you of both your jeans and panties in just one motion. You bit your lip as she held your hips, lifting you so the head of her strap just grazed your dripping hole. She'd continue to tease you for what felt like ages, before you just couldn't take it anymore so you'd taken it upon yourself to lower down onto her cock. You threw your head back with a loud, pornagraphic moan as you felt the burning stretch inside of you.

Ellie scoffed,

"Did I say you could do that? Eager little slut, you're gonna regret that." She groaned as you continued making the sweetest sounds as she gripped your hips harder.

She'd waste no time, immediately thrusting into you roughly and at a fast pace that had your head spinning. Occasionally, she'd bring a hand up from your hip to place a firm smack against your ass, in the same spot every time. You were sure there'd be a mark, but you didn't care because it felt so fucking good. Then, she'd angled herself just ever so slightly differently and began to hit a spot that you didn't even know existed.

"Oh, oh god! Fuck yes, right there Ellie. Fuckk." You moaned as you called out her name, your hands finding their way to her chest as you began to grind your hips down against her.

"Oh yeah, you like that slut?" She asked, using the rather vulgar name that only got you hotter.

You nodded, feeling as if your vision went hot white at the pleasure you were feeling. It was so phenomenal, you almost thought you mightve been dreaming. But then, she stopped and held your hips tightly so you couldn't move an inch.

"Fucking answer me." She commanded.

"Yes yes. Yes I love it. Please keep going. Please." You whimpered, tears welling in your eyes.

"That's my girl." She smiled as she resumed her rough thrusts, loosening her grip on your hips so you could rut against her as well.

She bit back a moan as the strap had been hitting against her clit just right, that and the sight of you was more than enough to make her cum. The way your tits bounced underneath your scarlet red lace bra, and how beautiful your face looked as you moaned loudly. And oh the way you said her name was just so fucking sexy.

"Ellie- I'm gonna" your breath hitched with a gasp, "fuck 'm gonna cum." your moans got even louder somehow.

"Me too baby, come on cum with me. Come on baby." She'd finally let out a small moan and that sent you over the edge.

However you didn't just cum, you were gushing all over her beautifully long strap as well as her thighs. Ellie moaned louder at the sight of you squirting all over her cock, and then got her own release. She didn't stop pounding into you as she rode out her own high, and it didn't take long before you were feeling overstimulated. But you'd do anything to watch as her eyes squeezed shut with the pleasure of her orgasm.

"Mmn- fuck." She let out a small groan as she removed her cock from your hole, a small string of your slick connecting it still.

You let out a small sigh of exhaustion as you layed against her chest, smiling as her hands came to rub up and down your back. You lied there together for a minute or so before she finally spoke.

"Let's go to my room." She whispered, and you didn't say anything in return.

You'd just followed her upstairs and watched as she removed her strap, sitting on the bed and patting the spot next to her. You joined her and sat with your back against the headboard, leaning forward as she came to kiss you. You'd pulled at her shirt and giggled a bit as she ripped it off, revealing her black sports bra. Then, she'd used one hand to spread your legs before getting into position.

One of her legs straddled your hip, a hand on your shoulder and the other on your waist. Her eyes fell shut as she let out an airy moan when she'd ground her throbbing clit against your own, and you'd let out a similar sound.

"Fuck, baby. Your pussy feels so good against mine." She bit her lip, letting out more moans as she thrusted against you.

Sure, the way Ellie had pounded into you earlier was amazing and beyond pleasurable. But there was just something so euphoric about her sopping wet pussy gliding against your own. The feeling of your slicks mixing together just drove you insane. Apparently it had the same effect on Ellie because she was louder than ever, moaning and whimpering with great pleasure.

Your breath quickened as you felt yourself getting close again, and began to move your own hips against her as well. This made Ellie let out a guttural groan.

"Oh yeah, just like that baby." She said in an almost whisper, her eyes falling shut with pleasure.

And with a few more thrusts, the both of you reached yet another release. Now you weren't the only one making noise, Ellie was moaning while also letting out "thank you's and 'fuck's. After fully riding out your highs, Ellie lied down next to you. She brought a hand to wipe her forehead, it dribbled with sweat and her hair stuck to it a bit.

You felt your eyes vetting heavy, snuggling against Ellies side as you let them fall shut. She'd hold you for a minute before standing up.

"Don't fall asleep yet, baby. I wanna get you cleaned up first." She placed a kiss to your forehead, going to the bathroom then returning with a wet rag.

She wiped you down gently, placing soft kisses along your body on the way. Once she finished that, she'd given you a t-shirt of hers to wear to sleep. She climbed back into bed, pulling you to lay on her chest. You snuggled your head into the crook of her neck, bringing your hands to wrap around her shoulders.

"Goodnight Els." You said sleepily.

"Goodnight baby." She responded with a kiss on top of your head.

[serqphites]

hiii i saw u needed requests to blurbs/ headcanons so here i am 🤭 could u write julien x reader where julien has a crush on a random youtuber (that like talks about books and stuff) and phoebe and lucy makes fun of julien bc she wasn’t this type of person before and then one day this bookworm youtuber says that she’s going to a boygenius show and julien tries everything to meet reader?

pls and thank u

i hope this isn’t too long

julien baker x yt!crush ღ

format: blurb

warnings: none!

a/n: i literally fell in love with this the second i saw it omg it’s so cute<3 been working on some anxiety comfort ideas but can’t choose a member of muna or boygenius to do first so if there’s one anyone would like to be first please do request it!! thank you so much for all the likes on my stuff it means the world 💞

okay so, the boys are on tour but tonight is a very special night for them becauseeeee… they have a night off!! they go out, have some nice dinner then decide to just chill in the tour bus for the rest of the night because they don’t need to wake up extra early to go to their next tour destination

so julien is in her lil bunk (pls i can just imagine how snuggled up she is) and she is so beyond bored

so what do you do when you’re bored? you browse tiktok until you fry your brain!!

she’s scrolling on her fyp not really bothering to actually watch through any of the tiktoks she's starting, that is until she sees…you

she mutters a barely audible “woah”

within a minute she’s followed you and is now stalking your whole account

cut to around 20 minutes later and she’s holding her phone sideways (pretty close to her face but not that close that she can’t see) watching one of your youtube videos.

this spiral continues until she is that exhausted she physically can’t keep her eyes open anymore

for the next few weeks this is her new routine: getting ready for shows watching your videos, buying your favourite books online and reading them on her phone when she gets the chance. she never falls asleep without watching at least one of your videos & a few tiktoks

one time she’s watching your newest video after having to wait a whole excruciatingly long day, she’s got headphones in, she’s never been so relaxed until…

you say you HATE people who read books online

“just buy the real book? why can’t people put down their screens anymore” and you’re clearly not being serious as you laugh and continue to joke about how all millennials are just taller ipad kids

but julien? it is no joke to her. in an instant she has removed her online books and has planned to go to the nearest bookstore when she’s next free and buy them all ‘for real’

i feel like the moment phoebe and lucy find out is SO FUNNY like i can picture them all sat together before a show, lucy just talking about the most recent book she’s been reading when julien chimes in with “oh yeah i just finished reading that, so good”

silence fills the entire room… phoebe and lucy share a look of horror

“where’s julien and what have you done with her??” phoebe would joke absolutely cackling with lucy about it

this is where the ‘bullying’ starts and never ends!

somehow they manage to convince julien to give them your name so now all of boygenius + katie gavin follow you on tiktok AND instagram

after seeing this you obviously have to make a tiktok about it. your favourite band members of all time just followed you back! you continue to rant and rave about it in your tiktok, also choosing to mention that you are seeing boygenius the following week and how crazyyy it is that they have followed you for a reason unbeknownst to you

this causes julien to go into panic mode. she was going to be performing to you NEXT WEEK

jump forward a week to the show, it’s going great! julien spent the whole day checking your instagram to see where you were at and when you’d be arriving. there’s barely and service in the venue, so unfortunately, her last update was a photo of you in the queue (she definitely took a screenshot because you look amazing)

so, they’re around 5 songs into the show, then she spots you. you’re standing only one row back from the barrier. julien can’t help but stare because you look beautiful

phoebe and lucy take notice of this but play it off cool. they share a menacing look before phoebe leans into the mic and says, “so, anyone got a crush right now?”

julien swears she nearly puked the second she heard that.

the conversation drags on for what feels like hours to julien when in reality it was only really around 5 minutes, majority of it being taken up by the crowd screaming in response to their several questions about crushes

it goes quiet for a second

“jb has a crush… she’s actually here tonight” the crowd starts SCREAMINGGG. people literally praying it’s them (so real)

julien has now sat on the floor of the stage with her face completely buried in her knees, lucy is still standing in front of her microphone dying with laughter over how embarrassed julien is getting.

little did she know though, it was about to get so much worse!!

lucy had dmed you the night before and basically just told you that julien had like changed her whole personality because of her crush on you. she also very sneakily organised for you to come backstage after the show and meet for the first time ever!

PLEASEEE imagine LUCY DACUS messaging you randomly and telling you that JULIEN MF BAKER HAS A CRUSH ON YOU.

lil time skip to that but imagine julien stood there fiddling with her fingers while she waits for you because she’s so nervous

you asking her the best books she’s read because of you<33

i can perfectly picture lucy and phoebe just stood there like ‘😁’ before having an “oh shit” moment and realising they’re intruding LMAO

your first date is to your favourite bookstore btw

I LOVE SOFT MASCS. (i am one)

a/n: this is my first blurb ever 😮 i’m so sorry i didn’t see this until now! hope you liked it :) again please feel free to send any other requests you have i love munagenius 🫶

[eddiediazismyhusband]

My (embarrassingly okay-ish) 9-1-1 Sims

so I do not claim to be good at remaking real people in the sims... I want to go ahead and get that out of the way first and foremost

however I don't think I did *terrible* on these sims (some are definitely better than others) but with that said, here are my 9-1-1 sims

(please don't judge me too hard)

Evan "Buck" Buckley

the tattoo cc I made for buck is definitely way out-of-date, but alas i am too lazy to go back and make a new tattoo to add all of his current 6,000 tattoos (love your tats oliver but no thanks <3) Including that last shirtless pic to show them off a little better.

Eddie Diaz

I know that Eddie doesn't have Ryan's map&compass tattoo in the show but I love that tattoo on Ryan so I included it on Eddie. I chose this hair for him bc I wanted to like blend the length it's at now with his s6 style a little bit- very floofy yet tidy, but also not a schoolboy or slicked back to the gods.

Maddie Han

I think I spent hours trying to get JLH's face as perfect as I could in-game and honestly I don't hate the outcome? like it's definitely NOT perfect by any means, but I think Maddie is one of my favorite sims in terms of how she turned out.

Chimney Han

Chimney is where things started to go a little downhill for me... I don't know why, but after HOURS of working, I just cold not get him right so I eventually had to sit back, take a deep breath, and say 'this is as good as it's gonna get.' I'd like to issue my formal apology to Kenneth Choi for this <3 (pls don't judge too harshly I swear I tried)

Karen Wilson

Karen, like Chimney, was a sim I spent HOURS on trying to get right, but for some reason I just could not for the life of me perfectly replicate Tracie's face... and unfortunately when I first made these sims (a LONG time ago) there wasn't a hair that fit Karen perfectly until (imo) THIS one came with the Lovestruck Expansion pack... I did make the executive decision to give her light brown hair rather than the blonde/brown she actually has, because the blonde in-game looked weird on her. I know these aren't her classic dreads, but I feel like they evoke the general vibe of hers better than some of the options we have in-game.

Hen Wilson

so Hen turned out being one of my favorites. I really love the outfits I picked out for her (bc lets be honest Hen loves wearing some of the WILDEST fits on the show) but unfortunately, this game hates to give female sims just plain slacks that are higher-waisted, so I was stuck with a cc pair that don't quite match but what can I do

Bobby Nash

yet another sim who I feel like I missed the mark on- Peter Krause's face was just IMPOSSIBLE to replicate, so I did my best. I also made the executive decision to not go full-grey for Bobby bc then he looked ancient rather than just late-50s.

Athena Grant

All I have to say about Athena is ANGELA BASSETT DID THE THING (also the cop outfit does NOT do her justice in this- I promise I worked hard to make sure Athena was giving just as much mommy vibes as she does on the show in her other outfits) (she's also ripped as fuck in my game bc I said so)

May Grant

I have a love-hate relationship with this sim because I spent so much time trying to perfectly replicate Corrinne's face, but no matter what I did there was always something that was always just the tiniest bit off... she's definitely not the worst of these sims though

Ravi Panikkar

all I have to say about Ravi is that if they want to give him a boyfriend in s8 i am available, and willing to travel to shoot in Los Angeles-

Also, I DID make a Josh sim, but I accidentally deleted him bc my mouse battery was dying and it was glitching out and i misclicked the "yes delete" button rather than the "don't delete" on the "are you sure?" tab and I didn't feel like going back and finding him again in the depths of my library so I will have to remake him :/

Oh and I made Chris too but every child sim looks exactly the same so he doesn't look anything like Gavin, but that was out of my hands I fear 💀

But anyway, these are my 9-1-1 sims... I made these forever ago and went through last night and updated their hair/outfits, but I haven't touched their physical attributes since I first made them. I'm excited to start playing with them again 😭😭

[phoeebsbuffay]

Imagine you are Hayden Christensen's closest friend from college and you help him going through his divorce. Will friendship be enough for either of you? Based on the request made by @calzone-d ...

Warnings: *long post*, drama, explicit smut, fluffy endings.

Recommendations: "Summertime Sadness", "Ride", by Lana Del Rey; “Scared to be Lonely” by Dua Lipa; “Here with me”, by the Killers; “Always” by Gavin James.

***

How it started...

You were 19 years old when you finally got the chance to study cinema at Y/C's university. An old dream you had, to be able to transmit onscreen all your ideas. Your family encouraged you to pursuit the academy of arts in order to become an actress, but you thought yourself too introspective to act.

Well, here you were when you met him. The one who was destined to remain a principal figure in your life over the years. Taking acting classes--well, you did need to study it anyway--you bumped into Hayden Christensen.

"Excuse me", he said to you, a little out of breath.."Is this the acting class with Miss H/N? I fear I am slightly late..."

You remembered finding his blue eyes the handsomest pair of eyes you ever came across with: they were intense, secretive, but friendly too, somewhat emotional. You were instantly captivated.

"Yes, it is. And you are not in the slightest late, young man, but /very/ late indeed. Come in, take your seat, I'll have you updated..."

He gives you a long gaze, relieved for being saved from a bigger trouble—and you can tell he is a freshman like you.

“My name is Y/N”, you side smirk at him.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. I am Hayden.”

You both shake hands. Something ignites within, but you think it’s because he has such a good aura…

*

“You are such a great actress!”, he is telling you, so many months later. “Quit with the production, you are better than me in decorating the lines.”

You grimace, which makes him laugh. The sound of his laughter is so comforting, like this call to your home.

“I don’t like this acting thing”, you dismiss his compliments nonchalantly. Today, you are in a cafeteria, celebrating the end of another semester. One more to go and you will be ready to keep up with your lives, though you and Hayden had vowed to each other never to be apart. “I feel more comfortable behind the cameras. By the way, I just had this idea!”

And then you lean to him, ready to shake him by his shoulders. He nearly chokes with his coke—but then laughing as always because your impulsiveness often brings him to laughters.

“For the love of God, woman. Do you want to see me dead before the time?”

You side smirk, silently apologizing with your puppy eyes. Hayden smiles back, before encouraging with what you had to say with only a nod. As you do, he seems to suddenly notice how nice your hair looks this day.

“I just had the greatest idea ever! I could film your audition and send to George Lucas. The Star Wars director is looking for someone of our age to portray young Anakin Skywalker. You know, before he becomes Darth Vader, of course.”

Hayden is taken aback by what you tell him. You can see the mix of sentiments that rises behind his blue eyes: insecurity, suspicious before reasoning to excitement.

“What? Are you for real, Y/N? How come did you hear about it? I mean…”

You tell him how your internship led you to it. This is how the fun begins, how both of you in fact begin your career.

*

You are there in every moment of his life: when Hayden has to conciliate his last semester with the filming of “Episode II: Attack of the Clones”, when he tells you that he and his on-screen romantic pair are having a thing.

He is also present at your graduation, the moment when you begin to transit to adulthood. What about it when you get yourself drunk for the very first time?

He is there too.

“I hate the taste of alcohol”, you grumble, unsure how come you are at his couch. “It aches my stomach, makes me sick.”

Hayden chuckles at how all of a suddenly you turn into these kind of discoveries after spending five years in college doing nothing but well behaving. However, due to such a strong bond you two share, he takes care of you.

“This is the moment where I tell you something you told me once: better to put out than to swallow all in.”

You raise your face, eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Did you just hear yourself?!”

“Wasn’t that what you told me?”

“No!”, you laugh hard at his remark. “Oh my God, H!”

He chuckles after you.

“Well, it did make you laugh, didn’t it?”

***

• The subtle changes…

You are single again. Your ex dumped you. Coincidently, Hayden is single as well. He’s also been going through a difficult phase in his life after all the critics coming from the fans of “Star Wars”. “Episode III” of the franchise didn’t go that well and even though it’s been a year since it’s release, he’s still affected by it.

“We’ve been through so much together”, Hayden tells you one day. “We should definitely do something new for a change.”

“I agree”, you sigh. Currently unemployed, you haven’t been yourself lately either. “Any thoughts?”

“A good journey would do us well. Let us go to Scotland”, so he says, excited. “Come on, Y/N. I’ll let you drive!”

You chuckle at his old tendency to be so reckless. And you do so because you can’t refuse him anything. A bad omen you clearly ignore, of course.

“Very well. When should we do this trip?”

But why’d you bother to ask when you know the answer? Hayden smiles warmly at him.

Oh that damn smile…

“Tomorrow. I’ve already bought the tickets and booked the hotel.”

You scoff at him, offended.

“What? Why? Are you taking me for granted, Christensen? For the love of God…”

Just like that he lifts you up and throws you over his shoulder, smiling as you scream out of surprise. As he puts you down, Hayden messes with your hair, delighted when seeing he’s the reason of your amusement.

And he realizes this is a nice view to contemplate: the sight of your smile, the sound of your laughters, the joy that sparks in your eyes… Seeing you like this makes him genuinely smile in his turn and forget about his bad phase.

But he doesn’t realize that this may mean something else. Or perhaps he doesn’t want to. It’s been years now since you and him became the closest of the friends, so what if all of this is just the result of genuine admiration from one friend to the other?

Regardless, he’s going to take you with him to Scotland. And so you go with him… It is wild to consider how you are usually all straight, not doing nothing that goes out the line all the whilst Hayden is more prompted to take chances and live the present quite intently.

On that fact you blame him being very aries all the whilst you, as taurus lady, prefer to know where you are going. However, he makes life so interesting that even you, as already observed, cannot deny him anything.

So here you are now at Edinburgh.

“I love everything that is medieval”, you tell him excitedly with a spark in your eyes that makes Hayden smile. He does like when you speak passionately about the things you are interested. “I cannot believe I took so long to come here!”

“Yeah, me neither!”

It is a good time to be alive, both of you agree. The landscape is seductive, peaceful, traits much sought after such a bad period you both went through. People too are kind, albeit reserved, but very pleasant.

Those days are being built in your memory as something great to be remembered, but perhaps there is just more that neither seem too attentive…

“Lady, one bedroom with two beds”, asks Hayden, when you got to London eventually because he, of course, is a man who plans very little—much to your distress, the woman who likes everything settled.

But this is not any hotel, but a fanciful one. The said lady looks at him pitifully.

“Mr Christensen, my apologies, but there is only a suite with one bed.”

You two blush, but Hayden somehow doesn’t mind it. This is when you realize you not only don’t mind it but you also want it…badly. Perhaps that’s why you sabotage it.

“You know what? Let’s make it for another day. Come now, Hayden. Thank you”, you blurt out, pushing him outside.

“What the hell was that?”, he frowns at you. “Y/N, what’s wrong with sharing a bed? Do you honestly think anything would happen or what?”

He doesn’t realize his words hurt you, but in truth there is more than his subtle frustration at your refusal allows him to admit. There is an unspoken rising desire between you.

And of course you have to ruin everything.

“I just… please don’t be upset! It’s because I cannot afford it and…” and you tell him the other reason for it, which appeases his anger and is more palpable than you’d care to admit: you are expecting an interview.

Hayden softens, naturally, but you know he’s changed. You hate it because you know why. There are so many things that suddenly rise in your throat but they die choked.

Somehow Hayden knows it too. But he chickens away. He hugs you instead, not willing to lose his best friend.

“I’m sorry for being such an impulsive jackass. But we did have a great time, didn’t we?”

Oh but if only you knew what waits for you back to US…

***

• The marriage

Here you are, dressed in yellow, standing as a maid in honor for the bride and groom. Your heart breaks because you realize a little too late that you are in love with your best friend.

Worse is: had you accepted to share one bed with Hayden in London, everything would be different. Yeah, you may not have gotten that job as a producer of that movie, but Hayden wouldn’t meet Rachel Bilson.

Nonetheless, here you are. Celebrating their vows, wondering if you could be there for a moment, what would be like if you were her.

“Hey, Y/Nickname!”, Hayden exclaims after the ceremony is over. He is wearing his gorgeous smile and dressed in fanciful robes, which all highlights his handsomeness. But you have learned to bury everything deep inside your heart. A secret that you’d take to your grave.

“I can’t believe you are married, Hay!”, you giggle when you greet him with a tight embrace. “I’m so happy for you! Oh my God, look how grown up you are!”

He laughs quietly.

“I know right? Who’d ever thought? The idea of marriage was hardly ever entertained for me”, so he says.

“Oh right! As I told Rachel once, I do have recollections of your drunkenness state and all that came between”, you laugh too, remembering the first time he had a hangover.

“What a time to be alive”, says Hayden in his typical good mood.

As you speak, you do seem to come to terms that if he is happy, so are you. You are at peace with it at long last. Hayden, on his turn, for a time seems to have suspected that you harbored feelings for him. But he always ignored it for the sake of your friendship. Now seeing how genuinely happy you are for him, certainly he believes it was all a thing of his head.

But why does he have a bittersweet taste of it?

“Could you introduce me to that man over there?” You nudge his sides, pointing to a handsome man that is not very far from Rachel herself.

Hayden raises an eyebrow.

“Really, now, Y/N?”

“You don���t expect me to be a nun, do you?”

He chuckles.

“Well I don’t want to see you get hurt, is all…”

Quite unwillingly, though, he leads the way. And maybe the night will not end that bad for you, after all.

***

•The divorce and the consequences…

In fact, looking back now it was really a great job pushing Hayden to introduce the guy to you because he ended up becoming your boyfriend.

This new relationship of yours, however, changed the dynamics of your friendship with Hayden for some time—but maybe it was all because he was living a different life now, becoming a father in the process.

A few years rolled upon, though, when everything started to fall apart—for you and Hayden. You found out that your new relationship was damaged because you and your boyfriend were scared to be lonely. A crisis developed to fights, to exchange of words that only broke hearts.

In the meantime, Hayden realized how long he missed his best friend. His own marriage started to fall apart, but the more it broke down, the more he needed you again.

Was it a selfish wish to have you by his side? Such questionings never reached you out due to his pride, that masked his hurt. Perhaps he was only scared to be lonely too. He could deal with it himself.

Nonetheless, destiny—the same destiny that pushed one from the other—is about to bring you two together again. One call and your night would be different.

You are single now, ready to go out that night with your girlfriends when suddenly a phone call startles you. It’s Hayden. Your heart races: he hasn’t been the one to call, and hasn’t done so for a long while.

“Hey, H. How are you? Haven’t heard of you for some time. Is everything ok?”, you ask, concerned.

There is a pause that accelerates your heart. You know he is not well. Before he answers, you immediately add:

“I’ll be in your home in a few minutes.”

“I’ll give you the new address. I’m not living with Rachel anymore: we got divorced.”

You are stunned upon those words. Now your silence leaves Hayden uncomfortable. He breaks it by saying:

“Y/Nickname? Are you there?”

“Yes, honey, I am. I’m so sorry, Hay. Please stay there… I’ll be on my way.”

He chuckles.

“Where else would I go to?”

In a matter of minutes, after requesting an Uber, you, dressed the way you are, arrive to his new home. Hayden side smirks when seeing you, though how he eyes you up and down makes you blush lightly.

“Wow, Y/N. Looking hot, aren’t you?”, he laughs when seeing the pink painting your cheeks, hugging you tight when receiving you. “Please tell me I didn’t ruin your night.”

You slap his shoulder playfully, eyes rolling at his drama.

“Don’t say bullshit to me, Christensen. I just wish I knew it properly before. I hope you don’t mind me looking like this.”

“You have always been a distraction to my eyes”, he teases you, pleased to see nothing has really changed between the two of you. “We need some wine, it’s not really a warming night, I suppose.”

As you look into his new apartment, he promptly gets the best wine to serve you. Without your knowledge, Hayden’s eyes follow your moves: noticing your y/c hair is now on your shoulders, how vivid your eyes are, remaining as observing and curious as before.

He cannot help admiring you physically too: though this is a cold night and you are dressed accordingly, when you drop your black coat on his coach, he sees your warming blouse shows some skin.

Indeed, Y/N, looking as hot and beautiful as always. Such is his thought.

He never really told you but Rachel was jealous of you. According to her, she could see you harbored feelings for him and part of her feared Hayden would correspond. Nonsense, he’d tell her.

But now, was she really so wrong? Yet, another and more important question he asks himself is: how could have he let go of you? Not only about matters of sentimentalism, but you’ve been an important piece of his life.

Seeing you back hurts his heart because he now sees the stupidity in letting go of you. He wishes he could have asked you to wait for him, to never let go of you. But this is such a state of complex selfishness that he quiets his internal riot and puts a smile on his lips when bringing the two of you the best wine he has, aware you prefer the sweet ones.

“I was admiring your new apartment”, you tell him, smiling in thanks as he passes you a full glass. “Whoa, looks like we are having a full drinking night, aren’t we? Christensen, I am not that young anymore. Not sure I am prepared to have a full hangover again.”

Hayden cracks loud and the sound of his laughters makes your heart skip a beat. Nothing feels different, you think, pleased.

“I’m bringing us something to eat, silly head. Besides I’ve always taken care of you, right?”

“That is true”, you agree. “But what are we having to eat today?”

“Always hungry, eh?”, he teases you.

You shrug playfully before saying:

“What can I do? I am a Taurus, you know it!”

He rolls his eyes, laughing loud again at your remarks—and that sound has always made your heart race, hasn’t it?

“Not with that astrology nonsense again!”

You slap his arm playfully before joining him in chuckles.

“Always with that astrology nonsense, silly.”

It is not until pizza is brought to you that the serious conversation is finally there.

“So what happened, Hayden?”, you ask him softly.

He sighs heavily, avoiding your gaze. He is silent, but you are patient, giving some time, for which he appreciates it.

“How often do we fall for the idea our minds make of the person?”, says he, sounding frustrated. “Not rarely we come to romantic ideas of marriage that break before the crude reality, you know? It’s not just about being different, Y/N, it’s… the commitment, I suppose, in making everything right. Turns out we had very different ideas of making it right.”

“I’m sorry, Hay. I really am”, you speak gently, taking his hand to yours, realizing how broken he is makes your heart sensitive to his pain.

He appreciates it, but when feeling your skin against him, Hayden is remembered the days before he met Rachel. The way he made you smile, the jokes that brought him to laughters. How easily it was to be around you, how you softened him. He, who was never a sentimental man, hugged you more times than he realized.

But Hayden sweeps away such memories.

“I am too. But I am fine now”, he shrugs. “I mean, not entirely recovered, but better than being broken.”

“Take your time, it’s the best you can do. How long has it been going on?”

Hayden hesitates but says:

“Six months.”

Your eyes go wide and your voice comes louder than expected:

“YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH A DIVORCE SIX MONTHS AGO?”

At least he has the decency to blush.

“Hayden! How could you keep me in secret for such a long time?!”

You’d remove his hand but Hayden doesn’t let you to. Pulling you to his side, he says, almost in a tone of desperation:

“I thought I could handle this by myself”, he explains. “I really didn’t want to bother you…”

Perhaps it’s the wine, but your tongue runs loose with words that have long been choked in your throat.

“And what am I to you? A second option, a plan B that didn’t work out? You’ve kicked me out of your life, Hayden. You’ve never called me to ask me if I was doing ok!”

He gives you a painful look that makes you regret instantly of what you said. You’d think he let go of you and a fight would come—this happened once when both of you were drunk, though by then you were both silly and immature.

“I’ve got a war in my mind for a long while”, he exclaims, holding your wrist and he pulls you even closer to him. “I was fucking stupid, I screwed it, I know. But never would I kick you out of my heart, Y/N! And I… I’m sorry I was fucking blinded by my pain. But only because I feared to hurt you.”

You await for his burst to end, very familiar with his intensity—but when his blue eyes search for yours, your soul is denuded.

Oh fuck.

“I stepped away because he was a douchebag”, he proceeds. “You deserved better than such a man, Y/N. I’ve heard of his doings but I couldn’t reach you out when… when I was in the mid of a crisis myself.”

“You’ve always been too shut in yourself to let others in”, you sigh. “But what relation is there with the fact I was in a relationship?”

“You deserved better”, he says with greeted teeth, holding your face with his hands, both of you barely noticing how your bodies have been dancing dangerously close to each other. “You are still slow after all this time?”

You are shocked, perplexed by his words. You freeze. Hayden smiles slowly at your reaction.

“I feel it everywhere, nothing scares me anymore. I won’t let you go. Now now, not ever. Fuck, I married the wrong person. Heaven has always been my favourite place on Earth when I was with you.”

“You have always been the best”, you mumble incoherently.

Just like that your lips clash against his. In between fervent kisses, where he pulls you to his lap, no reason is admitted. Not anymore.

“I’ve missed you, Y/Nickname”, he groans against your lips. “Like the sun misses the moon.”

“Always the romantic”, you chew his bottom lip as your hands run over his hair, pulling it gently. “Don’t want your memories anymore. Fuck, Christensen, you took so long.”

“This is not a game, I swear”, he breaks the kiss to pursuit your skin, his tongue already on your neck as his hands hold your hips, making you feel his rigid pants.

“Oh Lord. My worst sin is to never be able to refuse you anything”, you hate how wine makes you speak your mind.

Raising his head to watch you intently, he messes with your hair before holding your chin, drawing you closer to him.

Oh that intensity that involves one to the other!

“Then make me a sinner too for giving you all that you deserve.”

You crawl over him, you know you do, when your tongue pursuits his, one pairs the other rhythmically, perfectly. And then he lies you there on the couch, hands already working to remove your pants.

His eyes are set on yours like that of a hunter about to capture his prey. He knows you are on fire and that he is the gasoline. You lean partly to remove his shirt, hands all over him. You gasp when feeling his muscles under your touch and you want more, but…

“Patience, Y/Nickname”, his voice is husky and domineering when laying you down again.

“Yes, Master”, you giggle softly, in such a state that makes you both smile to the other.

And just like that his hands find way to your thighs, gently parting before inserting one right there in your feminine parts, not really taking away your panties for such.

“Oh, God!” You moan sensually, enjoying his eyes on you as he works wonderfully on you. “This is better than I thought!”

“Is it?”, he groans softly in your ear. “How long have you been thinking about it, dear one?”

“For a long while! God knows how much…”, another moan breaks you, earning him a smirk. “Hayden…”

“Yeah?”

“I fucked him thinking about you”, you admit.

His eyes dart, his body shakes lightly with desire. Slowly moving on top of you, his moves increase intently, watching you with desire.

“Damned be you for never speaking your thoughts to me”, he lifts your blouse gently but you help him removing it. As he starts to kiss your neck down to your chest, your legs begin to get heavy at his tenderness. “You should have spoken it to me…”

“Never had I the courage to do so”, you moan, enjoying having his hand over your neck lightly as he bites down your bra, slowly removing it with his mouth.

“For you should. It would have spared us some time. I fucked her thinking of you too”, he admits it drunkly before burying his lips to your nipple, much to your delight.

Hayden ruins you and it’s better than you could have thought. You want him to yourself, to make him unspeakable things but it’s difficult to do or say anything when his lips are so occupied with each nipple, twirling his tongue around it, sucking and biting it.

The sounds in his living room go louder each time. You are brought to heaven, and only then you take control of yourself again.

“Hayden…”, you barely speak when he finishes with you.

You both are a puddle of mess when you, nude, sit over his lap. You share a drunk look, one filled with the darkest desires for so long muffled, now brought to light.

“Yes, babe?” He kisses your shoulders, groaning as you rub yourself against his hardness. “Will you forgive me for such a behavior?”

His words are barely heard when his head is thrown back because your skillful hands find way to his pants and remove it so soon.

You glance at his manhood, impressed by how it is when it’s this hard under your touch.

“You don’t deserve forgiveness”, you giggle softly as you start rubbing it, enjoying to feel the drip of it. “You should be punished.”

He holds back a gasp at your words. Now eyeing you, interested in your upcoming moves. And when you slide to your knees…

“Babe…”

“Yeah?”

One glance. Unspoken words fill the air. And you take with his mouth at long last, not stopping until you have it all down your throat.

“For God’s sake!”, he gasps. “I can’t wait any longer to have you with me!”

All gentleness is left aside when he helps you settle on his lips and he slides inside you. To feel him throbbing like this, going so hard in you makes you arch your back.

“This feels so good!”

His hands move down your back as his lips pursuit your skin, licking and taking every bit of you—though he does know how much you enjoy when he takes his time around your nipples, which he does graciously.

But it’s not until his eyes meet yours, sealing your lips as much as you seal your bodies together, that all is at long last truly consumed….

***

• Nowadays

In a sober state, everything is better appreciated. Hayden watches as you gleefully prepare breakfast. There is nothing but genuinely love in his eyes.

What had started as an explosion of sentiments for so long kept in secret has now flown to what should have always been: a genuine relationship. From friends to lovers. From lovers to something better.

He smiles, not now missing the lateness of his realization that you have always been the love of his life. He stands and moves to behind you, holding you close and smelling your scent as you prepare him some eggs.

“What? I’ve been sensing your eyes over me”, you giggle like a little girl. “Don’t get me weak again, Christensen. This is so not you.”

He turns you at him and holds your face between his hands.

“I love you, Y/Nickname.”

Hayden smiles wide when seeing a blush painting your cheeks. And he beams when you tell him the same.

“I love you too, H. Though I fear I love you more.”

“That is not true”, he protests in between laughters.

But before you fall into that old cliche you and him enjoy in secret intimacy, breakfast is ready. As you two enjoy that morning moment, it doesn’t strike as how many years have passed before you two achieved it at long last.

“I have news to tell”, says Hayden with a bright smile on his lips.

You rest your chin over your hands and say:

“Well? Tell me at once.”

He appreciates all the love that comes from you. The way you look at him, how genuinely you listen and help him in every moment, how kind you always are, how sincere you speak your heart out. So many virtues and even your flaws he appreciates.

There is so much love between the lines and out of them too.

“I was asked to play Anakin Skywalker again.”

And how fantastic you are as his soon to be wife when you jump in his arms excited with his news.

“That is awesome, my darling! I’m so happy for you!”

“A better start than I could have thought”, he admits, pulling you to sit on his lap.

“You deserve it all”, you brush your lips against his. “I love you, my heart.”

“I love you, my soul”, he whispers back.

And this is the ending you deserve.

***

•Epilogue…

When you show up dressed in red—from your full lips to your body—Hayden feels something rise in his chest.

“My God, you look gorgeous, Y/N…”, so he says mischievously when you show up after leaving him waiting for 30 minutes. “It was worth the time…”

You giggle, blushing lightly after all this time. Your hair is loose wavily, put on side as you wear the necklace and earrings Hayden gifted you in your birthday.

“Don’t be silly. Have they arrived yet?”

The occasion is to celebrate Hayden and Ewan’s series “Kenobi”. Hayden’s aforementioned friend said he was going to pick them up in a limo so they’d go all together.

“They are about to… which leaves us a few minutes”, he places right behind you, holding your waist tightly.

“Hayden… It took me some time to get properly dressed. Besides, I…” you get lost at your words when he starts kissing your neck and his hands move up and down your back.

“What are you trying to say?”

Hayden smirks, enjoying the effect he has over you. It’s been some good years since you got together, but even now he manages to get you speechless.

“I…”

Your mind goes blank when he turns you to the mirror and see the naughty look that rests in those blue eyes. His hands move to your breasts, playing with your nipples before slowly exposing them.

“Hayden… they are….” You moan softly, struggling to keep your composure.

He turns you now against the wall of your bathroom, mouth dropping to your full chest all the whilst his hands move to your thighs.

“Hmm”, he sings softly, humming against your skin. “Hot as hell, wife.”

You try not to fall from your heels.

“Hayden!” You cry out when his fingers find all the way to you.

“You get your man on knees every single time. Getting me overzealous, uh?”, he smirks when going to his knees. “All wet for me, honey? Let me taste you thus…”

You are almost ruined as he does so, his tongue in you the way you want him to. You forget yourself, forget the reason why this expensive gown you bought three months ago was quite difficult to dress—precisely why you’d want to tell him by the end of the night.

You forget your state, you forget you should be checking time before your friends arrive. There is nothing to remember as he fucks you with his tongue deliciously until you are about to come undone…

Just like that he lifts your thighs and before you complain, he slides his manhood within, fucking you slowly and pleasantly.

“Oh God!” You scream but he has to quiet your sounds, especially because… the bell is rang.

“That was quick”, he manages to say breathlessly as he rushes to keep himself recomposed.

You giggle, suddenly shy as you do the same.

“Indeed…”

Hayden finds you adorable and peppers kisses around your face.

“They can wait a little. I thought you wanted to say something… you know, before…”

You two share a giggle and he smiles when you bury your face in his shoulder.

“I… I am pregnant, H.”

He hugs you closer. What a night, what a life with you is. Hayden Christensen could not have been any happier…

[thornpixie]

I am Team Jeremiah, but that doesn’t mean I hate Conrad. However, I find it very hard to feel any sympathy for him: an essay.

I truly hope Conrad finds happiness. I just don’t think he and Belly are right for each other. And no, I haven’t read the books (you can read my feelings on that argument in another post I’ve done lol), so I’m just going off the show.

I am Team Jeremiah, I make no secret of it. But that’s because he is just the better choice for Belly. Not because he is better than Conrad, full stop. They both have their flaws. Should Jeremiah have made out with his brothers ex girlfriend like that, without at least talking to him first? Hell no. But come on - the guy tried to resist. He tried so hard. Belly kept pushing. And let’s remember what Conrad said to Belly at the start of the season after they kissed - ‘Do you want to be with him?’ ‘Being with you is all I’ve ever wanted.’ ‘Okay so be with me then.’

Belly choosing Conrad over Jeremiah was all that mattered back then, not how it affected anyone else, even though she was quasi-dating his brother for most of the summer. He didn’t give a fuck about Jeremiah and if it wasn’t for Belly saying no, he would have flaunted her immediately, even knowing she had kissed Jere a few times. When he asked Jeremiah for his blessing, I don’t believe he did that for any other reason than Belly would continue to distance herself from him until she believed Jere was over it. Conrad did not go to Jeremiah to make sure he truly was okay. He was ticking a box for Belly. Jeremiah was quite obviously not okay with it but Conrad chose to ignore that because he wanted Belly. We saw that in what he told Belly about it afterwards. He took the parts of the conversation that suited his narrative and the outcome he wanted, and he ran with it. And it worked. Jeremiah got hurt, and Conrad didn’t care, because he had Belly.

Their relationship wasn’t this epic love story. I still don’t understand where it came from. I understand Belly’s crush. But when and how and why did Conrad start loving her? The writers of the show seemed to just say ‘he just does’ and we are supposed to say ‘okay yeah sound makes sense.’ I just don’t understand the timeline. Besides that though… Look, I understand and empathise with the fact that his mom was dying while they were dating, and that he was struggling with his mental health. It was a lot for an 18 year old to deal with. (Of course, Jeremiah was dealing with it, too, but Conrad stans conveniently forget that). But Belly suffered in that relationship because of it, and no one should have to do that. To me, it seemed like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for him to pull away. Scared. Maybe Conrad wasn’t going to break up with her at prom, and she jumped the gun, but it says a lot about how she was feeling that she immediately assumed that. A relationship shouldn’t be like that.

Jeremiah, though… from day one he was open and honest with her. He asked her straight up if she could ever love him like she did Conrad and she said YES. Belly said herself - Jeremiah is always there when she needs him. That’s what you need in a life partner. And fuck me, the passion they have. A perfect blend of supportive and passionate. Tie that man DOWN. He is supportive, he defends her, he speaks his mind, he is honest and reliable (the only time we saw him ‘let her down’ in any way was when he missed the dance at the Deb Ball and jeez, he had a damn good reason so no one can blame him). He makes her laugh. They can have fun together, but can also have the serious conversations. I married my best friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s honestly amazing to know you have that person who truly sees you, loves and supports you. Who is your comfort. Jeremiah is that for Belly. Honestly, I could go on and on about how Jeremiah is the perfect match for her - and the chemistry between Gavin and Lola definitely adds to it, but it isn’t the only factor - but everyone has probably given up reading by now…

Both boys have been dealt a shit hand, losing their mother. Both boys have made mistakes and have flaws. But they both have incredibly good qualities, too. Personally, I just think that Jeremiah is more suited to Belly, and they will have a happy, healthy relationship.

Also, the way she kissed him back in that episode… I’m sorry but there’s no way she’s not jumping his bones when they start officially dating. It wouldn’t make sense to me. She was smiling against his mouth and knotting her fingers in his hair, and it was ‘Wattpad level hot’, as Taylor would say. Considering she’s already done the deed, I can’t see any logical way for the writers to incorporate a ‘no intimacy’ storyline for them. Especially after that scene in particular, but also their first kiss in the pool back in season one, and the booby fondling in the car - WHERE BELLY STRAIGHT UP SAID SHE WAS NOT NERVOUS BECAUSE IT WAS JEREMIAH. Sorry, but let’s be real - there’s not a chance in hell those two are not banging the brains out of each other. And good on them. So I hope that is a change made to the books. Furthermore, show-Jeremiah cheating? I cannot see it happening. I really really hope it doesn’t.

IF Bonrad must be endgame, then please, Jenny Han, I beg of you to right your wrongs and not assassinate Jeremiah’s character to reach that ending. There are better ways to do it. But I maintain that the better choice for Belly is Jeremiah. And Conrad should meet someone new who is more emotionally mature and able to deal with his very obvious mental health problems. Someone he feels he can open up to about them. Because, as a sufferer myself, you need that support. Belly doesn’t provide that for Conrad and, as a result, Conrad doesn’t give Belly what she needs either.

One last parting thought - what the fuck happened to Jeremiah and Steven’s friendship? Jeremiah told Steven how much he cared for Belly in season one. Why did literally no one listen to him? And how did no one see it in the way his entire personality seemed to shift in season two. He’s lost his sparkle. YES most of that is because of his mom, but is everyone really that blind to him? No one notices that poor guy. He’s completely overshadowed by Conrad in every aspect. Everyone just expects Jeremiah to roll over and let everyone else have their happy ending while he gets trampled on because he’ll ‘just get over it’. Come on. WRITERS - DO BETTER. There is too much phenomenal acting talent in this show to let bad writing and tropes ruin it.

In conclusion, I haven’t written this much on one topic since I did my degree and I am obsessed with this show. Goodbye.

[amber-lucca44]

Favorite song titles 💕

I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me (Fall Out Boy)

Just When You Thought We Couldn't Get Any More Emo, We Go And Pull A Stunt Like This (Motionless In White)

This Song Is Called (The Devil Wears Prada)

I Used To Have A Best Friend (But Then He Gave Me An STD) (Asking Alexandria)

There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet (Panic! At The Disco)

I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About (Mayday Parade)

Someday, In The Event That Mankind Actually Figures Out What It Is That This World Revolves Around, Thousands Of People Are Going To Be Shocked And Perplexed To Find Out It Was Not Them. Sometimes, This Includes Me (The Chariot)

No Need For Introductions, I've Read About Girls Like You On The Back Of Toilet Doors (Bring Me The Horizon)

I've Got 10 Friends And A Crow Bar That Says You Ain't Gonna Do Jack (Underoath)

Surprise! I'm From Cuba, Everyone Has One Brain (Dance Gavin Dance)

[deathblacksmoke]

Dramamine—Part 1

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x Nick Ruffilo

Series Summary: Cynical, brooding bartender Nick meets too-earnest, pretty boy singer Noah when The Rabbit’s Foot starts hosting an open mic night.

CW: Descriptions of a panic attack, vague angst, Nick is kind of a dick (but we love him anyway!)

*Content warnings will be updated by chapter*

Word Count: 1.2K

Taglist: @concretenoah / @ladyveronikawrites / @circle-with-me / @darksigns-exe / @xxrainstorm / @monotoniscreaming / @agravemisstake / @iknownothingpeople

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future fics!

Author’s Note: Thank you @darksigns-exe for planting this seed, thank you @ladyveronikawrites for the beta, thank you @concretenoah and @circle-with-me for allowing me to talk about this shit constantly. This series, to me, is a big bad scary thing. I’ve been mulling it for a while. Feedback is appreciated but please be gentle with me 🤍

dividers by @cafekitsune 💐

“Tuesdays are our worst nights. We don’t even have a stage.”

When Jolly had floated the idea of an open mic night 2 weeks ago, Nick had thought it was a joke. Open mic night, sure, perfect idea for a Tuesday night in an almost-failing dive.

Bud thinks it’s a good idea, he’d said. Bud hasn’t been into the bar on a Tuesday in months, hasn’t shown up at all in almost as long. He has no idea what a ghost town this place can be—always is on Tuesday nights. Nick had agreed, but he was clearly being funny. Can no one sense his tone anymore?

“We moved some tables. It’ll be fine,” Jolly says, and Nick just has to laugh. Moved some tables. “Not so empty tonight, is it? Look around you, Nicholas, we’re full. Gavin’s turning people away at the door.”

He can’t imagine why anyone is being turned away—in front of him, he only sees mostly empty bar stools and a couple of unoccupied tables. A little busier than their typical Tuesday night, sure, but he’s still not impressed.

“Gavin’s a fucking idiot.” Nick says, shaking his head, resigning himself to the idiocy that is this night. “These fucks better tip cash or I’ll deck someone.”

He doesn’t know how many more Alanis Morrissette covers he can handle. The spoken word is worse. The Bob Dylan impersonator was unbearably painful. The recorder felt a little bit like a joke, and if it was, it was his favorite performance of the night.

He hates open mic nights. He took the job here 8 years ago specifically because it’s the exact type of dump that doesn’t buy into this shit. He hates it when he’s proven wrong. He’ll demand he be able to pre-screen everyone for next week, if god forbid Jolly allows this to continue.

He does have to admit the tips have been good—he may even be able to fill his tank—but when Folio comes out of the back with a glass full of offending green leaves, Nick has to take a deep breath to keep himself from losing his mind.

More changes. More tiny, stupid changes that won’t do anything to actually improve the direction that this bar is heading. All of Nick’s perfectly-reasonable suggestions have gone ignored, but sure, mint will revive the place.

“What are you doing with mint?” Nick scoffs, and Folio has the nerve to laugh at him.

“Jolly said that Bud wants us to be able to make mojitos. The new crowd brought in by the open mic night might want them.” 

“This is a dive bar. I’m not making mojitos.”

“No one even orders—”

Nick’s attention is taken elsewhere when a soft-looking, long-haired, too-tall, pretty-faced boy with a guitar shows up on the stage. Rather, the special spot of the floor where tables used to be.

Nick’s first thought is that he doesn’t belong in a place like this. He’s off-put by the buzzy feeling in his tummy about it and pushes it away. He can’t focus on that. When the boy introduces himself, painfully earnest, Nick is too zoned out to catch a name. Instead, he’s focused on the way his pretty lips move dangerously close to the microphone. 

The first chords played take him out of his thoughts.

The melody bubbles up a feeling he hasn’t felt in a long time. 706 days, not that he’s counting. When he starts singing, Nick’s stomach drops and his head spins.

Traveling, swallowing, dramamine—

He’ll be sick. He can’t see anything. He can’t breathe.

“Folio, watch the bar. I’ll be—” Nick starts to storm off, “—just watch it for me, okay?” he yells, not bothering to wait for an affirmative or consider the fact that Folio couldn’t make more than a Jack and Coke if he tried. He has to get the fuck out of here.

He slams through the front door to see Gavin in front of a short line of people, flirting with a girl who can’t be 21 years old. He should have gone out back, but he can’t bring himself to even scoff, taking a hard left and slipping into an alleyway.

His legs give out beneath him—he slumps against the brick wall, hard against his back. He can’t catch his breath and his vision is blacking. 

He can still hear the song playing through the walls, cursing the fact that of course the better sound system last year was Nick’s one suggestion that actually went through. He closes his eyes and he sees hers. The only thing he can focus on as he gasps for air is keeping his eyes open.

He remembers what that useless therapist told him about breathing into a paper bag. He thinks now that it sounds ridiculous, but he’s going to lose consciousness and he has a $20 in his wallet that he really can’t afford to lose.

He finds a nasty, grease-soaked bag on the ground by his feet. He pushes thoughts away of any diseases he could contract when he closes the opening around his nose and mouth. Normal breathing. In, out. Thank god the music has stopped. In, out, in, out. 12 breaths. He feels foolish, but a little less like he’s going to die on the ground of this alley tonight, and his vision is clearing.

He sits for a moment and really laments the fact that he can’t go back in there. He can’t go back in there and pretend he wasn’t breathing in someone else’s old burger on the wet ground of an alleyway, but Folio can’t make a drink and he needs those tips.

“You okay, man?” Folio asks, clapping him on the back when Nick sneaks back in behind the bar. 

Every once in a while, the sunshiny persona of the barback Nick never asked for nor needed almost has the ability to bring a smile to his face, but right now it takes all his might to not cringe away from the touch.

“All good, Folio, thanks.”

He shifts his eyes to see Jolly putting the mic stand away, moving tables back, and table after table of unfamiliar faces leaving the bar. No more tips tonight, but he’s grateful for the impending peace and quiet of a now normal Tuesday night at The Rabbit’s Foot.

He sees the singer approaching the bar and he finds it difficult to make eye contact. 

“ID,” Nick says, without so much as a hello. He can tell he’s old enough but he wishes he’d caught his name, and this way he doesn’t have to ask. Noah Sebastian Davis, he reads. Brown eyes. 6’3”. 1995. Too pretty. “What can I get for you?”

“Can I have a mojito?” Noah asks, cringing when Nick barely tries and ultimately fails to hide his scoff.

“No mint,” he says, but Noah points to the little container Folio had brought out earlier. Nick picks up the dish, handing it off to Folio. “Little prank. It’s spinach.”

Noah narrows his eyes. Too pretty.

“I’m not making you a mojito, pretty boy. It’s after 11, you can have a beer. Cash only.”

Noah rolls his eyes but smiles anyway. It’s a little too toothy and it makes Nick’s stomach swoop. “I have cash. Yuengling is fine.”

“That I can do,” Nick says, pushing away the butterflies when he hands the bottle off and their fingers touch.

[sunflowersolace]

i feel like we as a fandom tend to either over uwuify klapollo or over stoicify them and this is by no means a real character analysis or genuine conversation because it is 4am for me and i’m not very good at articulating myself i don’t actually care that much i’m in fandom spaces i’m used to mischaracterising bullshit but

why does it seem to be the only options are “apollo is an actual child and klavier is sexy and suave” or “apollo doesn’t experience emotions and klavier is a cringefail babygirl”. like genuinely can they not both be people.

i feel like a lot of the infantilisng apollo stuff is partially the usual fandom short man = yaoi bottom shit but i’m not gonna sit here and pretend it isn’t also bc of the transmasc apollo headcanon. like it can’t be a coincidence that the most infantilised grown man in the game is also the one that’s most widely headcanoned as ftm. like it feels like a lot of it is your typical uwu short trans uke baby x big strong suave tall hot cis seme and i’m used to that but man it sucks to see people making weird shit about Flustered Virgin apollo getting his first ever kiss from Playboy klavier and. y’all know he’s 25 right? not 15?

there’s also the other side of things where people make klavier into this cringefail babygirl boyfailure who’s hopelessly in love with apollo and spends every waking moment thinking about apollo and can’t do anything without relating it to apollo and apollo just fucking does not like him. and that’s almost worse because at least the first kind of mischaracterisation still feels like a ship. why are we pretending apollo doesn’t care about klavier. he doesn’t like his boy band music but it’s not personal. he still likes klavier.

and then there’s the ones who take one half of the mischaracterising and applies it to both characters. apollo is an uwu baby and klavier is a soyboy and they can’t spend a second apart because they’re so in love. OR they’re both robots who might as well not even be dating with how little they speak to each other.

y’all know you can make them act normal, right? they can be in love with each other and silly about it and also be serious characters? apollo is a dork ass who cracks jokes and is bitchy but he’s also a genuinely smart guy like he’s a lawyer he’s a politician he’s helping rebuild a whole country’s legal system from the ground up and he’s still a bitch and a loser. klavier is ALSO a bitch and a loser and a smart guy. he’s kind, but he’s not a wimp. he’s bitchy but he’s not insufferable. he’s passionate about music and law and everything he talks about. and he says corny shit and openly flirts with apollo but he’s also a damn good prosecutor and id argue he’s the only one who actually understands his job without the defense having to Fix Him tm. and they can both love each other and be all these things.

for a lot of y’all there’s only two options: klavier has trauma (excruciating) (all encompassing) or klavier is silly :3. and like. he can do both. you can acknowledge his trauma and also acknowledge he’s a dumbass who air guitars during court. human beings are multifaceted and fictional characters should reflect that. you gotta make the people you’re writing feel like people yes even the japanese visual novel people.

back to the living each other thing. klavier can openly flirt with apollo and also actually like him. apollo can ignore klavier’s first flirts and still actually like him. maybe he doesn’t wanna get it with the brother of his murderous boss while investigating a crime scene i think that’s reasonable of him. but he also clearly likes and cares about klavier as a person (“i have to pull the darkness out of him” or whatever he says) so just because he didn’t immediately throw himself at klavier the second he hit him with the never felt this way with a man doesn’t mean he’s annoyed by klavier’s flirting it just means it wasn’t the right time. apollo can hate the gavineers shitty music and still love the man who sung it. he can think klavier’s office is ugly and still love him. i don’t love every single thing about the people i love but i still love them. if my qpp made a dog shit song i hated i would tell him bc he and i understand each other.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Hi how's your day going? Just wanted to vent and say I'm pissed at what sounds like Ryan being sidelined and casually belittled in the latest cast interview/promo 😑 i.e. apparently zero mention of Eddie's storyline for s7, Tim once again making the tired joke about eddie being "too pretty to kill off" (kind of insulting considering how much Eddie and Chris have brought to the show since s2), seems like the only thing Ryan got to say was something incredibly sweet and complimentary about working with Gavin 🥺😍 and fandom just thinks it's funny "well he IS pretty". If that's all Eddie is to buddie fandom...that just confirms everything I've been complaining about the last couple of years 🙃

Thank you @blutterlie for the ask. I'm doing well and I hope you're doing well too.

I read through the snippets that were posted on 911blr from the panel interview that was done a couple of nights ago with the main cast and the showrunner and... I really don't have words. But to say I was disappointed is an understatement.

I was really hoping things would be different for Eddie and Chris, the characters and RG and GM, the actors this season since it seems like KR got the boot and is no longer sitting in the showrunner's chair. Hopefully she is gone and if so, maybe someone other than Buck (Eddie, Chris, Chimney and Bobby because they were all sidelined in the last two years while the other half of their ships got good storylines) can get a storyline or two but I can't say I'm surprised with the outcome.

Apparently TM cares about the big emergencies which is great and all but it would be better IMO if they stopped trying to recreate scenes from movies (Speed, Poseidon and whatever other movies they've copied) and focus on growth of the main characters. I've mentioned this before in my Constructive Criticisms posts but none of the first responders have been promoted. How long are they going to remain in their same roles? For me, the show has lost something and I'm not sure a cruise disaster that puts Bobby and Athena in danger again for the umpteenth time is going to make people watch... but I digress.

I'm saddened because RG and GM the actors and the characters they play, Eddie and Chris have been sidelined and given minimal screentime for a while but the little amount they do get is always solid gold because both RG and GM are superb actors. They work very well together and I had hope for season 7 that they would finally be given the screentime they deserve especially since they barely got any in seasons 5 and 6 but it looks like another wash, rinse and repeat season with Buck still looking for answers (which I figured would be the case after I completed a post about his attire in the still of him and Chris). I was really hoping it wasn't going to be another season 4 with Eddie and Chris suffering with another recurring character (all they did was replace AF with M) while they wait for Buck to finally "get it" but apparently some people think it's fun and cute for Buck to be in the words of OS, "stuck on a hamster wheel" but I don't and honestly, unless he's headed for a massive breakdown SO he can finally DEAL AND COPE with all his issues, they can keep it.

The comment TM made about RG being pretty was just... 🙄. IMO, it was disrespectful, disgusting, disingenuous and completely discrediting. If it's true and he was initially hired for his looks for whatever reason, shouldn't they be past that by now? It's been six years and RG has proven time and time again that he's a fantastic actor. For those who forgot, EDDIE carried the ENTIRETY OF SEASON 5 on his back while KR was stumbling around as showrunner with most of the "top billed" cast (that's two-thirds of those who are paid the most) out of pocket. AB was working on A LOT of other projects and that's no hate to her but it's true, JLH was on maternity leave, RD and MR left the show and instead of giving more screentime to Eddie, Bobby and Chimney, they forced TK into the spotlight just to show how bad she was for Buck. They could have done that in episode 1 without giving her a back story so they could have dedicated more time to Eddie’s PTSD and therapy. Buck got two whole seasons and he still hasn't figured anything out but they rushed Eddie’s story and wouldn't even let him say he was going back to the 118🤔.

How many times will the audience have to watch these repetitive storylines? Also, how many times will RG, AH, GM, KC, CM and PK be sidelined for the other mains? It's supposed to be an ensemble cast but someone keeps forgetting that and pushing certain characters out front while they push the others to the side. In season 5, Chimney was sent on a road trip to drive across America with a 6-month-old instead of him staying in L.A. so Buck and Albert could help him with Jee-Yun. In season 6, Bobby was given a sponsor (Wendell) no one had ever heard of before and he appeared out of thin air. Hen's medical school storyline went absolutely nowhere and May disappeared after 6x11. And Eddie and Chris were once again sidelined and then pushed into another "Eddie has to date" because "Chris needs a mother" storyline with another bland and ridiculous recurring character because they keep dragging out whatever the "F" they're doing.

Now with the comment about RG being "too pretty to die", it made me wonder if Eddie and Chris being left out of the promos was a mistake after all🤷‍♀️.

I hope RG and GM can find a show that will appreciate their contributions and give them the screentime they deserve and it be based on how great they are as actors because they deserve so much better.

Anyway, this got longer than I expected and I didn't mean for it to but I'm disappointed in how they're treated and I'm tired of watching the same ole same old.

[sarah-cam]

This is the same anon that just messaged about Jeremiah/Conrad! I forgot to add sort of in the analysis Jelly/Bonrad and why you think one is "better" analysis-wise or even personal-preference-wise 😊

alright i’m going to start this with just my personal preference and then get into an analytical side. a lot of my opinions on the ships revolve around my opinions of conrad vs jeremiah, because a lot of the reasons i don't like jere have to do with jelly (that post is here)

again, i want to start this by saying that if you ship jelly that’s awesome for you but to be blunt lbr y’all are delulu if you genuinely believe that bonrad won’t be endgame 😂

jenny han spent several years and three books building the relationship between belly and conrad, and now two seasons of a show where not only are belly and conrad ALWAYS the underlying relationship, but conrad is imo clearly the lead male over jeremiah. he continuously has storylines outside of his relationship with belly, vs jere's focus pretty much only revolving around that so far. she’s not going to change the endgame… she’s just not 🤷🏻‍♀️

first things first — i don’t choose the ship, the ships choose me 🙏🏼 it’s pretty simple and probably is for a lot of people, i just get all the tingly feelings and that’s that

from that first slow motion walk up, the chemistry was CHEM👏🏼IS👏🏼TRY👏🏼ING👏🏼!!! lola and chris have such amazing chemistry in every single scene, even when they don’t even say anything, and that chemistry is romantic straight from that very first scene

and i will admit, lola and gavin have good chemistry too!! (lola honestly has such great, unique chemistry with every other actor) even though i have my issues with it, the scene between belly and jeremiah on the side of the road DID hit me in the feels. the issue for me though is that the vibes i get are just not romantic in the same way as it is with conrad, its bestie vibes. at the very least, they start the show with bestie vibes and romantic vibes "develop". it just feels forced in a way, especially since belly and conrad is just always there.

i should be able to see it - you shouldn't have to tell me. most notably, when trusky goes on that weird rant about their "vibes" when they were literally just standing next to each other, worrying about conrad, and jere was rolling his eyes about conrad being depressed over belly. they constantly talk about their "ESP" but when it comes time to show how well he knows her, it's not even just that he doesn't know her favorite candy is sour patch kids - he literally doesn't know that she hates swedish fish

taking some points from my conrad/jeremiah analysis, i don't like the way jeremiah is manipulative and constantly makes belly feel guilty for being happy or simply just existing next to conrad. rolling his eyes when she seems a little jealous of sophie and when she has a little smile when she learns conrad was staring at pictures of her, constantly eyeing them when belly worries about conrad in "love fool", interrupts them with an angry look when they talk in the store in "love fest", brings her up in his fight with conrad also in "love fest", keeps giving nasty looks in "love triangle" when conrad gives her his sweatshirt, the stuff with the candy, and when their hands BARELY touch at the motel. in that same lane, i just feel like he invalidates her feelings a lot, shames her for loving conrad, and dismisses/shuts her down when she tries to talk about it (which was funny when lola said in an interview that jere made belly feel more heard 😂 she's fighting for her life out there)

the episode with his narration was PAINFUL. i'm sorry but he gave off the biggest incel vibes. everything he said revolved around hating on conrad or victimizing himself, like "doesn't she know i would treat her so much better?? doesn't she know how much i want to be sitting next to her?? conrad had no right to date her after ignoring her for years." IT WAS GROSS. and also, not true. jere said himself that he started liking her after she 'turned pretty' which... i don't even believe. he only started liking her after he saw her almost kiss conrad. he is supportive of cam cameron and encourages their relationship. he's only jealous of conrad.

to conrad, this isn't a competition or a game. and if it was, he would voluntarily lose if it meant belly would be happy.

and in case you were still doubting the iconic soulmatism that only occurs in the ultimate endgames - here ya go!!

tropes: i found an amazing list laid out here and picked out some of the best ones

all girls want bad boys

anguished declaration of love (more so the 3rd book so it hasn't happened yet)

childhood friends/best friends to lovers (yes because conrad is ALSO her best friend)

childhood crush

everyone can see it

first love/first guy wins

i want my beloved to be happy

settle for sibling

single-target sexuality (conrad only ever loves belly and lbr she only ever truly loves him)

unrequited/secretly-requited love

music: like... come on... it's pretty clear (and before you bring up delicate, don't: "this ain't for the best" "we can't make any promises")

lover, "can we always be this close forever and ever?"

the way i loved you, "and i never knew i could feel that much"

this love, "these hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me"

false god, "we'd still worship this love"

august, "for me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all"

back to december, "it turns out freedom ain’t nothing but missing you"

last kiss, "i never thought we'd have a last kiss"

invisible string, "all along there was some invisible string tying you to me"

sweet nothing, "i find myself running home to your sweet nothings"

snow on the beach, "time can't stop me quite like you did"

exile, "we always walked a very thin line"

when the party's over, "i've learned to lose you, can't afford to"

drivers license, "how could i ever love someone else?

deja vu, "she thinks it's special but it's all reused"

never really over, "just because it's over doesn't mean it's really over"

steal my girl, "we want the same things we dream the same dreams"

i'm kissing you, "but watching stars without you my soul cried"

little things:

conrad was the only one growing up that ever included her

they have their own handshake in the volleyball game (vs belly teaching jere her and taylor’s)

he gets her meaningful presents (junior mint, glass unicorn, infinity necklace, bouquet of candy)

he always knows and gets her favorite things (muffins, candy)

they call each other all the time

he gives her his sweaters even when she says she's not cold, because he knows she doesn't mind the cold but likes being cozy

pictures of the two of them are constantly showed (belly's phone, her room, the polaroid)

conrad is the leader but they also look to belly as a leader too (deciding to throw the party, boardwalk, team belly/team conrad)

conrad cheers for steven to fight milo but breaks it up as soon as belly tells him to

always worrying about each other (conrad jumps in to defend laurel from adam when belly gets upset, she always looks to him first when something bad happens)

he can tell that she's awake in the motel because she isn't snoring

they have the same dream of the future (coming back to cousins)

and most of all, susannah, laurel, AND steven ship it 👑

parallels:

first off, the flashbacks typically mirror what's going on in present day and almost every flashback is of something important with conrad

the pool scenes with belly swimming while conrad has his feet in

she dreams of him kissing her in the beginning of s2 in the same way he kisses her when they are in front of the fireplace

they continuously have important scenes on the beach

he picks her up the same way the last time they were on the beach as a couple and the first time since their breakup

her wearing his cousins rowing shirt and then still having it, wearing his sweater/sweatshirt, wearing his t-shirt even when broken up

she brings up how he helped her with trig during 'shoot your shot'

he always plays with her hair/brushes it from her face

the infinity necklace and junior mint always being there

constant parallels to staylor (i made a post about them here), jenny has literally said that steven is taylor's conrad

quotes:

conrad - "i'm glad that it was me" "i do want you" "you're it for me" "my chest physically hurts to not be able to tell her that i'm in love with her" "i don't think i could ever get over you" "[you're cold-hearted] for everyone else maybe, not for you"

belly - "you were great" "being with you is all i'ver ever wanted" "i want it to be with you" "there's only you, there's only ever been you" "i was in love, steven, like, out of my mind in love" "he made it so hard not to love him" "i loved conrad longer and truer than anyone in my whole life" "i'll probably never love anyone like that again" "i would've fought for you" "i don't regret any of the times we were together"

laurel - "for belly, conrad is the sun, and when the sun comes out, the stars disappear", saying that a cozy campfire (jeremiah) is not enough compared to fireworks (conrad)

steven - "conrad's her soulmate"

susannah - "i knew it" "take care of him", the letters she's writing in her last scene

foreshadowing:

most obviously, infinity - like it's pretty hard to argue with. also, when conrad explains infinity he compares it to a racetrack, and at the boardwalk him and belly cross the finish line of the racetrack together

dancing - all of the times belly dances, it's with conrad. the deb ball dance especially foreshadows a first dance at a wedding

venus - it is an evening star before it disappears, and then it returns as a morning star. conrad disappears from her life before returning

belly flops - conrad is always holding her under the arms, by her heart

rollerblades - belly talks about her feelings for conrad being tucked away like her rollerblades, which came out of storage in s2

staylor - belly and taylor's conversation about forgetting first loves and then taylor immediately ignoring that and getting with steven... she's so real

deja vu - belly constantly sees things that remind her of conrad, especially when she is with jeremiah. the song literally plays while she's in the car with him. like again... "it's all reused" 😂

names- isabel susannah conklin and conrad beck fisher... talk about fate amirite

lighting - the motel scene... enough said

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

The Flip Side Part 8

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~8.4k

Summary: Your motivation to continue working as a mobster in Chicago is dwindling after the birth of your daughter.

A/N: Here’s the next part where we find out who is behind all of the madness! Things get worse and unfortunately they’ll continue to get worse. Enjoy! 😁

Warnings: Angst, break ins, injury, and ER visit

Lab results still weren’t in by 36 hours, and as Gavin had said, you and your cellmates had been transferred to the state prison for however long they could hold you. You had grumpily submitted to another search and an even uglier outfit before being not-so-kindly escorted to a jail cell that was already occupied.

You had been given no information about her, but just looking at her you hoped to God that she didn’t know you. She was covered in gang tattoos and despite actually being shorter than you, you got very little comfort from this. When you sat down on your cot you just stared at the floor in front of you, and prayed that you got out of here quickly. You’re almost grateful that you’re instructed to change and get ready to work in the yard a little later. The silence is tense and you would love to escape it for the silence outside. You end up doing the only yard job that there really is at the moment. Despite hating yard work, you pull weeds like it’s the most fun you’d had all day. Honestly it was the most fun you’d had in almost two days. Miraculously shower time goes fine, albeit uncomfortable, no one tries to assault you which you’re grateful for. You feel self-conscious of your body, and you try to shower as quickly as possible. You stay turned toward a wall so you can’t see anyone looking your way as you try not to think about the scars that litter your body. You have so many at this point that you don’t remember what they all came from. Work certainly, but you stopped keeping track after the first 6. You’ve been shot a couple of times and cut more than that. It was just another reason why you’d like to leave your job for good. You’re not sure how much more abuse your body could take.

Lying down at the end of the day was a relief you didn’t think you’d really needed. The moment your head hit your pillow, you remembered that you hadn’t slept the night before. You were exhausted, and despite the somewhat intimidating presence in the cell you’re able to fall asleep easily. The rest of Wanda’s day had been relatively uneventful. She’d spent the night watching sitcoms and cuddling with her dogs and occasionally bickering with her brother. He’d wanted to go out and get food, but he hadn’t wanted her to leave, so they both just ended up pouting for the night before they went to bed. Wanda had decided to let one of the dogs sleep with her, not on the bed, but in the bedroom and this quickly became two. She should have known better than to try to leave Boone out. He’d practically howled when Wanda tried to shut the door in his face, and Rogue had just panted happily as he settled at the end of the bed. Now, as Wanda wakes up to the sound of her phone ringing when it’s still way too early to be up, she realizes that at least one of the dogs is on the bed with her.

“Bad dog. Get off the bed.” Unsurprisingly, they don’t listen, but Wanda’s more concerned about making her phone stop ringing to worry about that right now. She’s barely awake enough to find it let alone see what the screen says, so she just allows muscle memory to answer the call.

“Hello?” Wanda shifts to get a little more comfortable as she tries to figure out which dog snuck onto the bed with her. She sees black and brown fur in the dim light of her phone and she realizes it’s Rogue. She’s about to try and urge him to get off, but the voice she hears makes her start in surprise. “Wanda? Sorry to call you so early, but there’s been a break in at the restaurant.” Maria had been sleeping when she received a call from the security company that monitored the restaurant. Apparently, the alarm had been set off and an intruder was spotted on the premises. It sounded like they moved some things and took a couple, but nothing major had happened. Nothing valuable was stolen from what they could tell, but they’d called the police to follow procedure. Maria had been called since she was listed as the primary contact while Wanda was only working part time, but she’d of course called Wanda. The brunette is already getting out of bed to get dressed because she can’t help but wonder what the hell was going on. Did this have something to do with you, or was this just a random occurrence that happened to coincide with your shitshow? Wanda had learned to not believe in coincidences since meeting you, and she was already trying to figure out how to get there right now. Checking her phone, she realized it was only 5 in the morning. Later than she thought, but still too early to leave the house. She had to either wake up her brother or take care of Natalya before she left, and she wasn’t sure which sounded more unappealing. Delay her arrival at her restaurant or have to wake up her brother who would certainly be grumpy? Her decision is taken from her when she arrives to the kitchen and starts to warm a bottle for Natalya before going to check on her. She’d told Maria that she would be there as soon as possible. Apparently, she had just arrived and the cops were only just getting there as well. Wanda turns to go to the nursery when she sees Steve standing in the hallway like a creeper. She gasps, and a hand flies to her chest as she jumps in surprise. Neither of the dogs had followed her out here, but one of them sticks their head out the door to see what the commotion is about. Steve shoots her an apologetic look that quickly becomes questioning as he tries to figure out why Wanda was up so early. “What’s going on? It’s a little early.” Wanda just groans in agreement before she motions for Steve to follow her to the nursery. She’d rather talk in there so she doesn’t wake up her brother. She waits until they’re inside before explaining what’s happened and Steve has a dreaded feeling that he’s going to be leaving with her soon. “Maria called. There’s been a break in at the restaurant. The cops are there and everything.” Steve considers this just like Wanda had and he comes to a similar conclusion. He knows that if Wanda’s going to check on things he has to go with her. As Wanda picks up her daughter and gently starts to rock her awake, he realizes that she needs to bring her as well. He’s about to ask about this when he hears whining from outside the door. Wanda beats him to it though and she goes to open it and check on the bottle she’d left in the kitchen. “Hey, bud. Sorry, we were waking up your sister.” Rogue sticks his nose up and sniffs her briefly before heading toward the kitchen. He probably thinks it’s time for his breakfast as well. She supposes she can feed him a little earlier than usual. The sound of metal bowls being filled with food cause Boone to come running out of the bedroom and toward his breakfast. Steve had offered to hold Natalya while Wanda goes to let the other dogs out for food as well. She smiled before handing her daughter over to her uncle. “Boys, slow down you’re going to vomit.” Wanda just rolls her eyes as she’s completely ignored, and she hears someone hacking only a few seconds later. She turns her attention back to Nat and Steve and she asks what she knows he’s already considered. She doesn’t want to take Nat out immediately when it’s still barely light outside and her daughter should be sleeping. She figures that Steve’s going to accompany her to the restaurant whether she likes it or not, so she won’t even bother telling him to stay behind. “Maybe Pietro can watch her while they both wake up, and then bring her to the restaurant later? I’m not sure how long this will take.” So that’s what they ended up doing. Wanda had been brave and knocked on her brother’s door and opens it when she hears him groan in response. She was bouncing Natalya who wasn’t quite hungry yet because she’d rather sleep more. Understandable. “Pietro?” Another groan is what she gets as a response, so Wanda decides to get to the point. She tells him what’s happened and by the time she asks him to watch Natalya, he’s sitting up with a yawn.

“She hasn’t eaten yet, but there’s a bottle ready for her on the counter for later. You can come meet us if we end up being there longer than an hour or two. I’ll even make you breakfast.” After handing her daughter off and quickly getting ready, she and Steve head for the restaurant. She calls Maria again to get an update, only for her to be talking to the police. She listens in and makes sure that the police know that she’s there as well. She asks Steve to drive faster and they make it there in record time to find Maria and a couple of officers sitting in the dining room. Wanda hurries to hug the older woman while trying to figure out what was left for her to do. Wanda watches as Steve begins to wander around before she sits down next to Maria. “I’m Wanda Maximoff, the owner of this restaurant. What can you tell me about what happened here?” One of the officers is clearly nicer than the other and he explains everything that he’d already gone over with Maria. He tells her how the security company would send over the available footage to the police and they would see if there is a good enough image of the thief. Wanda smiles at the prospect of catching someone on film, but she can’t say she’s too optimistic. She’s also a little preoccupied with what they’d want from her anyway, other than money the only valuable items in the restaurant were all of the appliances. She turns to the other cop who’s still watching Steve suspiciously, but she doesn’t pay him any mind at the moment. “Do you think they left any evidence, finger prints or anything like that?” When she’s told that they were wearing gloves, she realizes there’s nothing more the police can do other than wait at this time. The person had arrived in the dark and cameras show them walking down the street until they disappeared from sight. Wanda’s not super optimistic about this, but she’s at least glad that nothing worse has happened. As long as no one was hurt and nothing too expensive was stolen, she’ll call it a win. “Okay, thank you, officers. I assume you’ll be in touch?” Once they’re gone Wanda turns to Maria and wraps an arm around her shoulder. She can tell that the older woman is shaken even if she won’t admit it. She decides that the best thing to do is try to reassure them both that everything is fine. Maybe they’ll run through the kitchen and the back to make sure nothing else is amiss. “Are you alright? I know this is a little scary.” Maria has to admit that she’s a little spooked by the whole thing. Since starting here with Wanda back in the day, there had only been a couple of incidents at the restaurant. The first was when they were opening and someone had shouted a slur at them before throwing a bottle through their front window. The second time was a year after opening and it had been a robbery that cleaned them out of the day’s tips. Maria had been here alone after hours counting when someone broke in and robbed her at gunpoint. Since then, nothing had happened due to their better security system, and their policy on keeping all cash in a safe in the locked back office. Wanda wasn’t open about it at all, but Maria had seen enough over the years to realize that you might have something to do with the decreased amount of crime that affected the restaurant. Despite not being legally connected to it in any way, all of the papers were in Wanda and Pietro’s names, Maria knew that you made sure that things ran smoothly here. You kept criminals away from the entire block and although she had no idea how you accomplished this, she’d say that being one of the top criminals in the city probably had something to do with it. It was hard to not figure this out when Wanda had come to her not long after meeting you. She didn’t have anyone to talk to about you since her brother was not a fan of yours and she hadn’t made many friends at this point. So Wanda had come to her to ask for advice about potentially dating someone like you. She’d let it slip that you weren’t on the right side of the law, and understandably she had a lot of reservations about this. Maria did too, but as she saw how much happier Wanda got each time she saw or spoke of you, she realized that it might not be as big of an issue as she thought. At the very least, you might prove to be worth it. Then you’d started drinking too much and Wanda’s mood had begun to tank with each bender you had. It had been a difficult couple of years and Maria was actually still surprised to this day that Wanda had stuck around. She’d known earlier that she wanted to get married and have a family with someone that would support her decision to work at a place that she loved for as long as she wanted to. You had seemed to be on board, but your own life was a bit of a mess.

Maria had tried to get Wanda to reconsider her relationship when things got so bad that Wanda was miserable most of the time. She’d been reluctant to leave you especially when things were so tumultuous, and once you started to make progress, she decided that she would commit to you fully. “It’s just been a while since this has happened. I’m glad I wasn’t here for this one.” Wanda smiles at her friend before helping her to her feet. She looks over her shoulder to see that Steve’s finished his own sweep before deciding that they could all at least use some coffee. “I’m very grateful that you weren’t. How about we get some coffee and maybe something to eat? I did promise to bribe Pietro with food, and he’s going to bring Natalya by soon.” Wanda and Maria head for the kitchen that’s already lit up from the police and then Steve looking through it. Wanda starts the coffee as she glances around to see if anything is obviously missing. It honestly takes her a minute to find that anything is misplaced until she opens up one of the cupboards looking for coffee mugs. They’re all there, but there’s something else in there that catches her eye. “Have you seen this before?” Maria turns away from the coffee machine to see that Wanda’s holding up what looked like an engagement ring. Both Steve and Maria are frowning in confusion and Maria shrugs before she reaches out to take a better look at it. It’s pretty, if a little dated, but either way she doesn’t recognize it and has no idea where it came from. Wanda watches as she puts it on the counter before offering to take one of the mugs as the coffee began to brew. “We’ll ask the kids later.”

The second day you spent out in the prison yard was much worse than the first. Not only was it ridiculously hot outside and you were sweating profusely, but your cellmate apparently did know who you were, and she’d woken you up by trying to smother you. After throwing her off of you and kicking her until the guards came to pull you apart, you’d been denied breakfast and told to get to work. Now you were hungry, grumpy and slightly sore from bending over for so long. You’re piling your weeds together and throwing them in your bag when you hear someone walk toward you. You’re sure it’s not another inmate because you’d been told to steer clear from them which is why you were on the side of the yard with the prickly weeds while they dealt with the clover. “Y/L/N. A friend is on the phone for you.” Pietro stifled another yawn as he drove his niece to breakfast. At least he thought he remembered his sister saying that she’d cook for him. He couldn’t be 100% sure. The only things he really heard were ‘break in at the restaurant’ and ‘feed Natalya’ everything else got lost in his sleep-addled brain. He pulls into the parking lot slowly and turns around to face Natalya where she’s starting to wiggle impatiently.

“Ready to go see your second favorite Maximoff?” When Pietro walks into the restaurant he immediately smells his sister’s cooking and he smiles widely. Everyone’s in the kitchen so Pietro doesn’t waste anytime heading there. Steve’s standing by the door drinking coffee while he watches Maria and Wanda cook together. From the looks of it they’re almost done, and they both turn at the sound of the door opening. “There she is! Wanda, here take over.” Wanda just rolls her eyes but does as she’s told as Maria wipes her hands on her apron before grabbing a cup and pouring some coffee into it. “Here, I’ll trade you.” Pietro would be ashamed of how quickly he gives up Natalya if anyone reminds him of this later, but for now he just needs caffeine and whatever the duo had been cooking. He watches as his sister continues to stir the food with a stifled yawn. She reaches for her coffee only to find it empty and she frowns. Pietro stops short of grabbing plates when he sees this and he changes direction to grab the coffee pot. “So it doesn’t look like anything was stolen.” Wanda sighs as she shrugs before leaning over to kiss Natalya’s cheek as Maria walks her over. She’s definitely more awake now and Wanda’s already thinking about how squirmy she’ll be when they sit down to eat. Pietro pours her more coffee before grabbing plates to set beside the stove. “Not that I can tell, and they might have left a ring?” Wanda points toward the ring that Pietro just noticed was sitting on the counter beside the carton of eggs. He picks it up and squints in confusion before setting it down as he shoots his sister a look. “It’s not yours?” Wanda shakes her head before holding up her left hand to show her rings. She just laughs as her brother waves her off before walking over to Steve with a yawn. He’ll need about three more cups of coffee to make up for his lost sleep. “Anything else?” Wanda just shakes her head as she plates the food from the pan and turns off the stove. Pietro smiles at this and makes a point of leaning in to look at breakfast. He’s surprised his stomach isn’t growling. “That’s all for me, right sestra? You’re going to make everyone else more?” Wanda sighs in defeat but she decides to humor her brother at least a little bit because he did wake up at the crack of dawn for her. He’s also been helping out a lot lately which he usually did, so she supposes she’s just grateful for him. Especially for the fact that he seems serious about trying to be nicer to you. She turns back on the stove and grabs the squeeze bottle of oil she’d been using. “Alright, Pietro. For you I’ll do it.” When Wanda realizes that the bottle she’d grabbed was empty, she just sighs inaudibly before grabbing the second one. She’s starting to get a little tired now that the adrenaline of this morning’s phone call had started to wear off. She was still worried and curious about what happened, but she’s also thinking about you. You’ve spent too many nights in jail and it was almost the 48-hour mark. Hopefully you’d be freed soon. Wanda is still thinking about this as she tilts the bottle over the pan to drizzle the oil. She realizes that something’s not right as soon as it comes pouring out, and the smell tips her off only milliseconds before the liquid touches the pan. Pietro and Steve are standing by the door, and Maria has Natalya near the fridge when the stove is engulfed in flames. Pietro drops his mug and Steve jumps into action when Wanda screams and falls back away from the stove. Maria hands Nat to Pietro before quickly grabbing a towel to put out the flames. “Wanda!” “Out of the way, out of the way!” She’d thrown her arms up as soon as she saw the flames, but she still felt heat on her face and an unbearable amount on her arms. She staggers blindly toward the sink and doesn’t even realize that her shirt is on fire until Maria’s patting her down with a towel. She hears the sink being turned on and she hisses in pain as her arms are suddenly doused in lukewarm water. “Ow, shit, shit!” “I’m going to call an ambulance.” Wanda’s no longer on fire and Steve’s smothered the fire on the stove, but even from across the room, Pietro can see how red and angry the skin on his sister’s arms looks. He pulls out his phone and dials 9-1-1 before rushing over to his sister. She has tears in her eyes and she’s shaking as she holds both arms under the water. There’s a small area of her face that’s burnt as well, but she barely notices as she tries to calm her breathing. Pietro’s speaking frantically on the phone and Steve’s grabbing the bottle that Wanda had used and sniffs it to confirm his suspicions. “It’s alcohol.” Maria’s eyes widen as she looks to the bottle that Steve’s holding. She doesn’t have time to comment before Pietro’s speaking up and reaching out for his sister. Natalya is starting to get fussy and she tries to reach out for her mom, but she’s a little preoccupied so she starts to cry. Pietro bounces her while he does his best to keep both mom and daughter calm. “An ambulance is on the way, Wands. Just hold on.” You hadn’t realized how late it had gotten until you walk into the building and catch a glimpse of a clock. It’s almost lunchtime and you’re hoping that you get to eat. You follow behind the bored looking guard with a silent groan, and you’re still thinking about what you’ll get for lunch today when you arrive to the phones. You sit down at the little cubicle that he points to and you smile and grab the phone to talk to Gavin. “Gavin, please tell me you have good news.” After Wanda was rushed to the hospital, the police were called again and they returned to do a more thorough investigation while the fire department made sure that nothing mechanical caused the fire. Despite keeping the bottle of alcohol for them to see, they had wanted to double check which made Maria angrier than Pietro had ever seen her. Steve had ridden in the ambulance with Wanda and Pietro was prepared to follow her when Maria mentioned calling you. You were in jail and probably wouldn’t be out today, but you deserved to know about what happened. If you found out that you weren’t told fairly shortly after it happened, you’d be furious. Pietro agreed that you’d be called, but he wanted a little more information first. He wanted his sister to get examined and treated before he tried to field your many questions. Somehow Bucky had gotten the honor of calling you after arriving to the hospital to meet Steve once Wanda was triaged. She was in a lot of pain, but she was seen fairly quickly given how early it was in the day. She’d suffered second-degree burns on her arms, her right being the most extensive, and a small one on her chin. She was currently lying in a bed in triage trying to find a way to comfortably lay her arms down in her lap. Pietro arrives soon after, but since he can’t bring Natalya back to see Wanda, he switches places with Bucky. However, before Bucky can leave, Wanda starts to cry which stops him cold. He exchanges a worried look with Steve who just decides he’ll do whatever Wanda asks of him. He doesn’t realize how difficult of an ask it is until Wanda tells him what she wants. “S-someone needs to call, Y/n.” That’s how Bucky found himself outside near the ER entrance with Natalya. He can tell that she’s upset and he wished that Wanda could hold her and calm her down. Unfortunately, he was the best she was going to get for a while. “Gavin, please tell me you have good news.” This nearly makes Bucky want to hang up but he takes a deep breath before turning toward the parking lot as an ambulance comes roaring up the road. Maybe this wasn’t the best place to make the call. You clearly hear the sirens and you’re sitting up a little in your seat in surprise. “Hello? Gavin?” Bucky heads back inside because he can’t hear what you’re saying and you undoubtedly won’t hear him. He tries unsuccessfully to hush Nat who begins to squirm again as he walks down a hall to nowhere in particular. “It’s Bucky. Y/n there was an accident at the restaurant this morning. Wanda’s okay, but she’s in the ER after getting pretty badly burnt.” You’re not sure how long you sit in silence after Bucky breaks the news. He didn’t ease into it which was fine with you because anticipation was already killing you when you heard the ambulance in the background. Hearing that Wanda was at the restaurant already hadn’t surprised you too much, but she certainly would have taken Nat with her, and if there was a fire… “W-what happened? Is Nat, okay?” You listen in horror as Bucky tells you about how Wanda was with her brother, Steve, Maria and Natalya in the restaurant this morning making breakfast when it literally went up in flames. There’d been a break in last night and your wife had gone in to check on things and she’d brought her entourage. Everything had appeared fine and not much if anything was stolen. However, while cooking, Wanda had picked up a bottle that had been switched out with alcohol and poured that unknowingly on a hot pan. “Wanda’s the only one who was hurt, but the fire department’s there now speaking with Maria and they’re doing a more thorough investigation.” You run your hand through your hair with a groan at the thought of something like this happening. First the massacre at the docks, and now this? Someone wasn’t just targeting you. They were targeting your friends, your family, and you were just sitting in jail thinking about lunch. “Fuck. Do they have any idea who was behind it? Did they catch anyone on camera?” Bucky mentions what the police had said and that the security company was on it. He wasn’t sure how long it would take, but he promised to tell you as soon as he had anything useful. You are still in shock as you just nod absentmindedly. You want to get out of here and see your wife. You want to hold her and promise that you’ll make whoever did this to her pay. “I can have Gavin reach out.” You nod in agreement because as much as it would be nice to see another familiar face, you wanted Bucky and Steve to stay with Wanda and Nat. Especially now that Wanda was hurt. “Thank you. Once Wanda’s out of the hospital, can you make sure she goes home and stays there?” Bucky’s already nodding because although he had things to do today, more after this happened, he was going to make sure Steve got the message. There was no way that they’d let something like this happen again. They would keep her in the penthouse until you were released and then maybe even after. “Of course.” You sigh in exhaustion before realizing that you need to call Gavin. You need to figure out if you’re getting out of here. Instead of focusing on that right now you decide to ask Bucky for another favor. “Can I talk to her, Bucky? Is she awake?” Bucky stops in his tracks before turning around and heading back the way he came. Nat had just started to settle a little and he hoped that passing her off to Steve wouldn’t upset her too much. He’s already nodding as he pulls the phone away from his ear and goes to his texts. “Sure, let me text Steve so he can watch Little Nat.” A couple of minutes later, Bucky is back by Wanda’s bedside and he frowns when he sees how uncomfortable she still looks. They’d put the IV for her medication and fluids in her hand and she probably doesn’t want to move her arms much at all. He decides that he’s going to have to hold the phone for her. “Wanda, Y/n wants to talk to you.” Wanda sits up quickly with a pained hiss but she ignores the way her arms ache as she reaches for the phone. Doing so tugs at her IV and its starts to beep so Wanda just drops her arms and shoots her friend a questioning look. He just nods and circles the bed to hold his phone to her ear. “Thank you, Bucky” Wanda takes a deep breath before she speaks up and she has to keep herself from crying at the sound of your voice. It had only been a couple of days, but she missed you so much. “Detka?” You sigh in relief when you hear Wanda’s voice come through the phone. You lean into the table in front of you as if it will help you get closer to your wife and you smile widely. You hate that you can’t be with her right now. “Wands, how are you doing? How do you feel? Are you in a lot of pain?” Wanda can’t help but smile at your obvious concern, your borderline panic and despite how poorly she feels at the moment she doesn’t want to worry you too much. She only briefly glances at her friend and brother before shaking her head in response to your question.

“I’m okay, Y/n. It’s stings more than it hurts, but it felt pretty horrible when it happened.” You don’t doubt this and you’re not sure how you would have fared being burnt like this. You don’t want to think about it because you’d rather focus on your wife. The fact that your mind keeps imagining Wanda in her kitchen cooking one second and then being overwhelmed by fire the next makes you break out into a cold sweat. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Wanda. I’m so glad you’re okay though.” Wanda shifts a little on the bed and can’t stop herself from wincing at the movement. Her arms ache and looking at them makes her feel worse. She hadn’t asked because she didn’t want to seem vain, but she also felt self-conscious of the fact that she could be scarred from her injuries. They were pretty extensive and she was already worried about how they would heal. She’d been told how to continue treating them at home with regular bandage changes for 5 to 7 days before keeping them uncovered. She could take over the counter pain medications, but the doctor had recommended taking home some oxy. She’d immediately rejected that option because she didn’t want opioids. She was understandably averse to addiction. “Me too. I miss you though.” You wipe your eyes with a frustrated scowl. You’re annoyed by how emotional you’re getting, but you can’t help it. You’ve been in prison for two days now and you missed your family and you were stressed about the chaos that was happening in your absence. You knew your time was coming to an end for both this call and for being in jail, but one couldn’t come quickly enough. You sigh in defeat before you return your wife’s sentiment. “I miss you too, Wands. I’ll be home soon, and then I promise we’ll figure out who did this.” Wanda nods in understanding and she slowly lifts her hand to wipe her eyes. She’s crying and she’s afraid you can tell when she sniffles quietly before responding. “Good. I love you, detka.” When you hear the guard clear his throat behind you to remind you of your limited time remaining you decide that your next call will be to your lawyer. “I love you too, stay safe until I get home, okay? I’ll see you soon.” Wanda promises to do this and she waits until you hang up before she looks to Bucky with a grateful smile. He puts up his phone before deciding to see if he missed anything while he was with Natalya. “How long do they want to keep you here for?” He’s mostly asking so he can make sure things are taken care of for her at home. The dogs should be fine, but he should maybe have someone go shopping for her so she doesn’t have to worry about that. She might not want to cook for a while which is understandable, so he’ll make sure they pick up something that’s already prepared. Wanda looks to her brother for this answer because he had been paying more attention than she was. She was studiously trying to ignore her pain at that time and that included not listening to someone talk about it. She’s regretting it a little bit because she wishes she could go home sooner rather than later, but she feels very unprepared for it. It’s just occurred to her that she will need more help taking care of Natalya until her arms feel better. The idea of picking up her daughter right now makes her cringe in pain. “They wanted her to stay for at least the day. If she’s feeling better, or at least not worse by then they’ll send her home with meds and more meds.” Wanda sighs at the thought but she doesn’t protest. She looks to her arms that are covered in bandages that make her itchy. She wonders if she’ll be sent home with this or if she’ll need to go out and buy it. These thoughts are cut short by Bucky’s phone beeping signaling a text message. He reads it quickly before deciding that he he’s going to head out now. “Okay, well one of us will take Natalya home, and Steve can stay here with you until you’re discharged. We’ll get some things arranged so you’ll be all set when you get home.” Wanda wants to argue that she doesn’t need a babysitter, but she’d already argued against a lockdown yesterday and look where she was now. She figured that she should just take the help and say thank you so she doesn’t suffer any more bodily harm. “Thank you, guys.” Yelena’s pissed when she arrives home after a long 24 hours of running around for answers. She hadn’t found out anything about the attack that she hadn’t already known. No one knew anything or they simply just weren’t telling her which was frustrating to say the least. She’d started with the others that had survived to hear what they had to say, but they’d mostly been focusing on avoiding the spray of bullets like her so they had no leads. She knew it was near impossible for a group of that size to ride in, shoot up everything, and then disappear without a trace. She’d retraced her steps and then gone down multiple possible routes to see if any of the businesses on these streets had cameras with a view of the roads. It proved fruitless, and Yelena was in the mood to punch something and throw back a couple bottles when she finally sat down to rest. Her leg didn’t hurt too much as she ambled through her front door that was opened for some reason. She was immediately greeted by her three dogs and she smiled widely as she reached out for them. This smile was short lived as she heard someone shriek from upstairs, and almost immediately after there were loud, heavy footsteps on the stairs. “Yelena! Is that you!?” The blonde looks up at her fiancée prepared to respond with a sarcastic remark, but she’s cut off by a swift slap to the face. She curses under her breath before turning to glare at the brunette who’s breathing heavily from her run down here. Yelena’s about to complain but Kate beats her to it, and when the blonde spots movement out of the corner of her eye in the kitchen she realizes she really is in trouble. “Where the hell have you been!? You can’t just disappear after you’ve been shot!” Kate slaps her again, but not as hard this time and Yelena holds up her hands in defeat as she shies away behind one of her rotties, Rose. “I was trying to figure out what fucker shot me, but there’s nothing! No trace of them.” At this point, Nat’s come to stand a few feet behind Kate with her hands on her hips and a pissed look. Yelena avoids it like the plague as she shuts the door behind her so the dogs don’t escape before she shakes her head in anticipation of the next question that one or both of them are going to ask. “I’m fine by the way. Barely limping after all the walking I’ve done.” Yelena realizes quickly that this is not what she should have said because Kate somehow looks even angrier. She contemplates slapping her fiancée again but she knows it won’t do anything but annoy her, so she does the next best thing and storms off. She heads toward the kitchen for a drink figuring that a couple of hours or more of the silent treatment will be a good start to the blonde’s punishment.

Nat’s still glaring at her sister as she takes a couple of steps toward her to close the distance. Yelena doesn’t even flinch because she knows that her sister isn’t likely to hit her like Kate. The brunette usually reserved the right to knock sense into her. Fiancée and all. “We could and did do that for you, Yelena. We found nothing, but a lot happened while you were gone. You really shouldn’t have gone dark on us.” Yelena frowns at the thought of something else happening while she was gone. She wants to say she would have heard about it, but she was a little preoccupied and she’d silenced her phone after the first 12 times Kate called her. She tilts her head slightly as she steps away from the door to glance into the kitchen. Kate’s preparing dinner with a deep scowl. She was fucked. “What happened while I was gone?” By the time dinner rolls around, you’re so anxious that you’d isolated yourself and barely eaten a bite. You can’t stop thinking about what happened to your wife, and more importantly what could be next. You hope that she’s able to go home soon, you’d feel better if she was there so she can relax and be better protected. You knew Steve would watch her and keep her in the house, but you still couldn’t stop your mind from running wild. The thought of something else happening made you want to run for the nearest exit and keep running until you found a way out. Despite how impossible this would be, you kept looking around you as you stabbed something on your tray. You’re not even sure what it is. “Y/L/N. Your lawyer’s here.” You spin around so quickly you nearly fall out of your seat, but you don’t even care. You stand up grabbing your tray and trashing it before following the guard. You aren’t sure what Gavin has to tell you, but you hope it’s good news. Gavin shifts slightly in his chair as he looks back to the photograph in his hand. He’s convinced the guards to let him bring this in here because it was the only clue they had about what was going on. The only evidence from any of the three incidences that could point toward who was responsible. He passed the photo to his other hand as he waited for you to arrive. He was told it’s dinner time, but he’d wanted to come here as soon as he’d received this. He was sure you’d forgive him for interrupting your dinner if this proved fruitful. He's still staring at the picture wondering who it could be when the door opens and you’re in front of him. He temporarily forgets what he wanted to show you as he takes in your appearance. You’d only been here for a couple of days, but you looked exhausted. He figured your stress was understandable given what had happened to Wanda this morning. Honestly that was another reason why he was here so late. He wanted to give you the good news that you were going to be released tomorrow. He tried to pull strings to get it done tonight, but he’d been given a bullshit answer about abiding by a set schedule for releasing inmates. Since Wanda was sent home from the hospital a bit ago and Steve and Pietro were planning to stay with her, he figured that it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. As much as he’s sure you want to see your wife, one last night hopefully won’t break you. “Gavin. Please tell me I’m getting out of here. Or at least that you have something for me.” Gavin doesn’t realize what you’re talking about at first, but the only thing he has for you is the picture. Wanda hadn’t been in the right mind to give him more of your meds. She was drugged up herself and she apparently immediately went to sleep. He watches as you move to sit down in front of him, just noticing that he was holding something in his hands. He decides to get to the point because he really should let you go back to dinner. “I do. Two things actually.”

Gavin tells you about how you’re getting out of here tomorrow morning, first thing. You smile widely and quite possibly for the first time since you spoke with your wife. You honestly don’t think that he could have given you better news than this, and you’re tempted to hug him. You’re sure it’s against the rules, but you don’t care. You are considering standing back up to do it when he holds up something, a picture in his hand and speaks up. What he says makes you stop and you have to remind yourself that it would be rude to reach over and grab the photo from his hand. “Also, I spoke with the security company, and they got a shot of the person who broke into the restaurant this morning.” Time seems to slow as Gavin flips the photo around and slides it toward you. You look down at it and see someone who’s wearing a hoodie, a pair of sunglasses, and a wide smile. You realize that she’s brunette because some of her hair peeks out from under her hood, but it’s the smile that does it for you. You feel your entire body stiffen as you realize who this is, and that she’s here in your city. She was in your wife’s restaurant. She’s found you. Wanda was asleep by the time that Natasha came by with some food for her. She was mostly checking in on her, but she figured she wouldn’t be cooking herself dinner so she picked up something on the way. She arrives a little after 7 and finds both Steve and Pietro in the living room with Natalya on the ground asleep. She was actually sleeping mostly on one of her shepherds, and with her thumb in her mouth she looked like the cutest thing. Natasha had to remind herself who she was here for, and that pictures would have to wait. She sets the dish on the counter before looking between the two tired men. “How’s everyone doing?” A loaded question if they’d ever heard one. Pietro groans under his breath as he looks to his niece who really does look precious. He’s glad that she’s sleeping because she’d had a long day of being out of the house. She hadn’t spent so much time away from Wanda in a while and she’d had another crying fit on the way home when Wanda couldn’t hold her. She was in too much pain and she’d also been so drugged that she was afraid of dropping her. “Well, Little Nat and Wanda are asleep, but here we are. Is Yelena, okay?’ Nat can only shrug at this because she can’t be sure at this time. She doesn’t want to get into it with them because they have their own thing going on. They don’t need to know that Yelena skipped out and disappeared for a day. “We’ll have to see. She’s with Kate, probably being ordered to rest. I heard that we had good news?” Bucky had told her most of it so far, but she wanted to hear what Pietro and Steve had to say about it. She’d seen the photo on Bucky’s phone, but she hadn’t recognized the brunette either. She figured that these two didn’t know her either, but she moves to sit beside Steve as he shakes his head. “We caught a face on camera, but they’re still trying to match it. We have no idea who she is.” Pietro nods in agreement. He hadn’t expected to recognize who it was, but it was still a little disappointing. He’s just glad to be out of the hospital and at least sitting down on something comfortable. He’d love to go to sleep, but he feels the need to stay up in case his sister needs anything. He doesn’t realize that she’ll likely be out until morning, maybe longer given the drugs she’s on. He sighs as he sits back and tries to get more comfortable as he stifles a yawn. “Yeah, and Y/n will be getting out of prison first thing tomorrow. We’ll pick her up at 9.” Nat smiles at the good news and she sighs in relief as she considers how your time in prison may have gone. She feels bad for not reaching out to you, but she’d hoped to see you a little sooner than this. She’s glad that Gavin is able to visit you, and the justice system isn’t doing too much to fuck you over at the moment. She was still terrified that they wouldn’t let you out. She hangs out for a little while to catch up, and she’s almost on her way out to let the boys relax when she realizes they’re almost asleep already. She considers what else she has to do tonight before deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to delay it for a bit. “How about you two try and get some rest? I’ll watch over things for a bit.” You don’t realize you’re sweating until you reach for the photo with clammy hands. You haven’t said a word and Gavin is a little worried by how stricken you look. He supposes it would be useless to ask if you recognized the woman, and he tries to figure out how to break the silence. You’re still lost in your horrifying thoughts of your abusive ex when Gavin finally speaks up. Your head snaps up and you watch as he shoots you a questioning look. “What would you like me to tell your family?” You don’t respond immediately because you’re stuck thinking about how you’re going to have to tell everyone, at the very least Wanda about this. You’d kept this secret to yourself for so many years, and you still weren’t really ready to talk about it. Somehow over the years, during all of your drunken benders, you’d never mentioned the woman to anyone. You were certain that everyone would be a little taken aback to hear about how you really ended up in Chicago all those years ago. “Please tell them that they all need to be careful. Things are going to get worse if we don’t find her.” Gavin doesn’t like the sound of this at all. He can tell that he’s about to lose you because you keep staring at the photo and getting a haunted look on your face. Although it’s not strictly necessary, he knows that everyone will ask so he figures he should try to have an answer for them. He’s not sure that what you tell him is of any real use though. “Who is she, Y/n?” You can’t bring yourself to answer him immediately. You open your mouth to respond but your breath catches in your throat. You haven’t said her name in nearly 13 years. You’d gotten around saying it during therapy despite talking about her a lot. You have to squeeze your eyes shut to keep yourself from panicking as you take a deep breath. You really never thought you’d have to say her name again. Not even after having that dream last week. “Her name is Hela. If you can remember me at my worst? She’s on a whole different level.”

Masterlist

[starlooove]

I’ve said this before but y’all think black people and writers are fucking stupid when you lie about Duke being boring or hard to get into or whatever. Like black writers who care about black characters KNOW what they’re writing and who’s gonna see it. They HAVE to justify the inclusion of these characters from the jump with different stories or dynamics or they’d get buried immediately which is still happening despite their best efforts, look at Orpheus. Like it’s so disingenuous to say Duke being there doesn’t make sense in any capacity because it HAD to make sense because he KNEW he was writing a black character into a white space. Duke Thomas or Luke/Jace Fox or Onyx Adams or Gavin King could NEVER just show up at dicks door then put on the costume all whilst making fun of the dead kid and be taken seriously! They could NEVER have their personality just be “relatable” for a good chunk of years, get carried by their friend groups, and then have contradiction on contradiction stacked on their ideals and still be called the best character! They could NEVER get the 2nd longest Robin run (in character bc I have some shit to say on how Damian is being written rn) and still be called most hated! We KNOW we have to work hard when we want black stories out, we KNOW we have to have a reason for them to be there! Y’all acting like they’re just shoved in and you HAVE to like them is stupid as hell and a fucking lie I’m tired of it.

[anexistingexistence]

Saw someone do something like this somewhere, no idea where the post went otherwise I would have linked it but whatever-

Assigning Redacted characters Mindless Self Indulgence songs (From someone who is very normal about that band) in no particular order and with the occasional quote from the song:

Gavin: Tight. [I didn't have a say in the matter, he picked it himself-]

Damien: Witness. [Me assigning him this song is a positive thing, I promise.]

Huxley: On It. [The Imperium is strong with this one...]

Kody: Get It Up. [ :) ]

Lasko: Revenge. [We all know this man just wants to bash some heads in and is doing his best not to.]

The Shaw pack in general: Ass Backwards. [Listen to the song, it's a vibe.]

Vincent: Molly. [Because Vincent was a good girl and he knew the reasons why-]

Sam: Bed Of Roses. [He deserves his little emo song, let him have it.]

Alexis: Evening Wear. [Originally planned on only doing voiced characters, but "It's not fair to be compared to you" is a line that just fit too well.]

William(/Vega): 1989. [*insert old man joke here]

Elliott: What Do They Know. ["Mess me up beyond all recognition. For what it's worth, I'd do it again" - because this man will sacrifice himself and everything for Sunshine with no regrets and we love him for that.]

Blake: Pay For It. ["I don't want you to hate me. I want you to wanna hate me. I don't want you to date me, I want you to wanna date me" - his constant internal struggle with his feelings for Bestie summed up very nicely.]

Regulus: 3 S'. [Doesn't fit 100% but the sentiment is there.]

Avior: Due. [I could quote a line from the song here, but I'd end up just putting most of the lyrics here. So. "Die, my darling" is the one I will go with.]

Guy: Bitches. ["This is how it should be done" indeed.]

Aaron: Mastermind. [No, I will not elaborate.]

Honorable listener mention:

Freelancer: Sex for Homework. [In homage to their humble beginnings.]

[star-light-shadows]

Hot take: This fandom needs to seriously get over Apollo Justice Ace Attorney.

I saw someone on here recently say that "it's cool in this fandom to hate on Dual Destinies and praise Apollo Justice." In my experience, this is true, and it infuriates me to no end.

There is some serious rose-tinted lensing going on in this fandom for this game, cause the simple fact is, Apollo Justice is a trainwreck of an Ace Attorney narrative, and Dual Destinies was more than justified in doing its own thing.

First of all, Apollo Justice's narrative is chronically not fleshed out, to the point of nearly being outright unfinished.

Every overarching plotline in the game is either painfully bare-bones or left with massive gaping holes.

Phoenix's disbarment, the main center of the narrative, is given the bare minimum of effort by the narrative, with a short case about why he loses his badge that has him only do so by acting like an idiot, and then 8 disconnected investigation segments that tell us little to nothing about the struggles and emotional turns that phoenix goes through.

2/3rds of Thalassa's whole story is flat-out not told to us. Her disappearance to Borginia after her near-death is completely unexplained, her presence in Borginia/her singer persona being completely irrelevant to the rest of her backstory or the main plot of the game at large. Then, it's revealed near the end that she had a previous marriage and a son. The game tells us nothing about the husband or why he's apparently dead, and the son literally just "slips through the cracks" to randomly show up later.

Apollo, the protagonist of the game, is one giant question mark. He's revealed at the end of the game to be the aforementioned son of Thalassa, but he didn't come back with Thalassa to live as a Gramarye for no explained reason, and just randomly shows up again as a lawyer tuteled under Gavin. The fact that this makes him and Trucy siblings is also completely glossed over, with Phoenix and Thalassa just choosing not to say anything for no good reason. (Special mention goes to the writer of this game outright saying he had no clue where to take Apollo and Trucy.)

Kristoph is sort-of-half-suggested to have some kind of backstory or deeper reason for his actions, but said reason is blocked off. And his relationship with Klavier is practically narratively nonexistent.

Both cases 2 and 3 are glaringly unrelated to the main plot, contributing nothing besides Thalassa's undercover introduction (as her singer persona, which, as mentioned earlier, is irrelevant to the main plot) and a horrifically bungled overarching theme I'll get to later.

The last case is also chock full of plot holes, like an entire segment of investigations that only makes sense if you assume time travel, and a good chunk of the very plot-important exposition in said segment being something that the first case indirectly tells us DIDN'T HAPPEN.

Then, even worse, its main characters are just as narratively deficient.

Apollo is a rip-off of Phoenix without the narrative stakes. Any role he has in the overarching plot and any relationship he has with the other characters is completely glossed over. And his personality is basically the exact same as Phoenix's. He's the one with his name on the box and yet he spends the entire game just being there, with Phoenix stealing as much of the show as physically possible.

Trucy is the blandest flattest assistant in the entire series. She can literally be summed up with the words "cutesy magic girl." Half of the game is effectively themed around her gimmick, but that gimmick is all her character has. She contributes nothing meaningful to the narrative, her dynamic with Apollo isn't even anything memorable. Then the game has the gall to reveal in the end credits that she's secretly sad as if that means anything when the game didn't even bother to acknowledge the obvious potential reason.

Klavier just exists. His relationship with his brother doesn't get any elaboration or narrative depth. The 3rd case uses his rockstar gig as an excuse for a central gimmick, but beyond that, he could literally be replaced by Winston Payne and it would make no difference.

Ema does her job well, but detectives rarely ever have all that much depth to begin with, and she certainly did not rise to the impossible challenge of carrying this game herself.

And Phoenix, when you strip off all the layers of poorly thought through mystery, just does what the narrative wants him to without any depth or further thought put into this iteration of his character.

All this would already be a bad enough look for AJ. But it does get worse. Because a lot of the big decisions actively made about this game's narrative were either terribly executed or in poor taste to begin with.

To start with, the elephant in the room, is Phoenix's disbarment.

There are way longer way more insightful analyses than I could write on how Phoenix's disbarment was a terrible writing choice, but to summarize;

Phoenix was disbarred so that he could play a more mentor-ish role in the game instead of being the protagonist.

Despite this not being an inherently bad move, in the end, Apollo Justice made every single self-sabotaging decision that could possibly have been made regarding this plotline.

Instead of actually pushing Phoenix to the backburner and giving the spotlight to the new protagonist, as his disbarment was supposed to do, the game decided to make it this huge mystery that it ended up spending the majority of its time weeding through.

Despite it very blatantly being the intention, Phoenix just straight up IS NOT a mentor in this game. He doesn't do a single thing the entire game that actually helps Apollo out besides giving him cases to work.

Instead of respecting Phoenix's existing character, portraying him in an any way-dignified light, and letting him have the reputation and legacy he built up in the first 3 games, Phoenix is straight-up character assassinated. They could've had him be the head of a legal firm tutoring bright up-coming lawyers like Apollo and Athena despite lacking a license of his own, but instead they dress him up like a hobo, turn his office into a clearly failing "talent agency," give him a daughter, (which you just KNOW the game wants you to assume has a scandalous origin,) and everything he does relating to the law is actively portrayed as the shadiest shit it could possibly be.

The actual case that caused his disbarment requires him to make the brain-dead decision to use blatantly dodgy evidence when simply pointing out the obviously visible ripped paper would've made his argument just as well. And when his presenting forged evidence is revealed, he's not even given a chance to defend himself despite 3 years of heroic and honorable exploits, including taking down MULTIPLE evidence forgers in high positions of law.

This also all happens literally 2 months after the end of Trials and Tribulations, completely ruining any semblance of the happy ending that the game was supposed to end with. (And yet none of his friends are present for this dark time, not even when one of them could probably pull strings and get his badge back within a year.)

Then, at the beginning of the game Phoenix deliberately has evidence forged and handed to Apollo to take down Kristoph, putting Apollo's badge in danger and proving the committee that took his badge away right.

And at the end of the game, the entire plot of the last case is literally just Phoenix puppeteering a trial to reveal Kristoph's crimes, but after how the entire game was spent making Phoenix look like a shady immoral prick, you can't expect the player to see this as a victory and not the horrifically manipulated circus court that it is.

Along with this atrociously thought-through plotline is a supposed theme of distrust, both in people and in the court system.

This is something a lot of hardcore fans of this game will parade as being the game being brilliant and more mature than other games, but when you actually look at what's going on here using any media literacy or genre awareness, it's not even a particularly strong argument that it was intended let alone is it good.

First of all, the game does not acknowledge this theme in the slightest. At no point does Apollo actually acknowledge how untrustworthy and unfair everything seems, much less struggle with that fact or what to do in spite of it. There's such a thing as too subtle, and Apollo Justice's "theme" of distrust is a master class.

The theme starts with Phoenix and his forging evidence in the first case. And despite everything I just explained about how horrible Phoenix is portrayed in this game, anyone who knows anything about how media works will know that Capcom isn't going to ACTUALLY deliberately portray Phoenix as the villain or the one in the wrong, so it's dead on arrival.

Along with Phoenix, the proponents of this concept argue that the other 3 defendants are also supposed to be untrustworthy, but in reality, they simply are not. It's a running gag (A very annoying one,) in this game that none of the defendants can/will actually talk with Apollo, but despite that, it's painfully obvious for all 3 that they are as innocent as defendants can get. * Wocky tries to act like a gangster but is so obviously a wannabe that it's questionable he even has the guts to kill someone. * Machi Tobaye is A F*CKING CHILD. In a case where the murder weapon is stated at least 3 times to dislocate the shoulder of a grown man if he's not trained to use it. * And Vera Misham is the most obvious stereotypical depiction of social anxiety I've ever seen.

Along with the defendants, this supposed theme is supposed to extend to the court, with the proceedings themselves being meant to be stacked against the defense in a particularly dystopian way. This is often compared to "The Dark Age of the Law" from Dual Destinies as somehow being a better version of said theme, but once again it's terrible. Specifically, the only way this supposed concept manifests is in the 3rd case. (Every other case is the same as any other game in the franchise) Where the fact that Machi is being accused as the killer is so blatantly nuts that it's basically the game laughing at the series and the improbability of some defendants' suggested guilt. Which, in practice, does not suggest to the player that the law is in a dark age; it just pisses them off.

Lastly, as an aside, Apollo Justice is also strikingly lacking in the more light-hearted aspects Ace Attorney is typically known for. Besides case 2, the game is pretty much devoid of humor or goofy antics. (And half of case 2's antics are centered around women's underwear.) This is defended by fans as the game being more mature, but in reality it's just a lack of an important piece of Ace Attorney.

As I've explained thus far, Apollo Justice is fundamentally flawed and appallingly far from even a functional narrative, much less a well-written Ace Attorney game.

The next mainline game to come after it, Dual Destinies, has become a punching bag in this fandom primarily for the crime of not being Apollo Justice 2.

But while there's a lot more that can be said about Dual Destinies and its relationship with Apollo Justice, I feel what I've explained thus far is already enough to justify its choice to largely leave AJ behind.

I'm going to finish this post here for now, but later I will reblog it with a 2nd part covering exactly that, explaining not only why Dual Destinies was justified in the direction it took, but how it is a truly phenomenal narrative that avoids Apollo Justice's deep-rooted flaws and frankly completely blows it out of the water.

[aydaptic]

Hi there! Just passing by to ramble about how much I love your take on Gavin since he's also my favorite non-playable character in the game.

(Connor is my fave playable character ((predictable, ig?)) and I know [read it somewhere in your post, at least] you're not very fond of him, and that's okay.)

I know Gavin may not be everyone's favorite, but I just love how you see him differently regardless of what people say. I'm always relieved to read all your posts about him because it makes me feel like I'm crazy for even liking him while others are very against him.

I think some people are just conditioned to hate him instantaneously for being antagonistic towards Connor and Hank. And I think he has a good reason for it too. He's not a saint and I guess it's fine to like a character who's a bit cocky and with a lot of flaws.

But you had to admit that despite how seemingly shallow he is in the game, he does show a bit of his character upon extensive scrutiny and that's the beauty of what you're doing. I'll be reading (quietly) more of your opinions about this lovable jerk and I'll be loving every bit of it. ❤️❤️❤️

Hi :)

I'm glad to hear that. The toxicity/vitriol towards Gav has always made me concerned for humanity. It proves that so many ppl are incapable of thinking logically instead of emotionally. Where are their empathy? Likes/dislikes are subjective, but to say he's "nothing but a bad guy" and/or "has no redeemable qualities" are such brain-dead takes.

Despite his unpleasant attitude, Gav has every right to be canonically concerned about androids, and he has every right to believe they're not alive. It's logical. The guy doesn't have the insider knowledge that we, as players, do. Gav's not a psychic.

I love the gameplay of Con -- the detective aspect -- as well as his journey... but his awkward + overtly positive + doormat personality type annoys the shit out of me, lol. I'm Team Gavin Reed™ in disliking Con. Kudos to you for having enough intelligence to put aside your love for him and recognize that Gav has a point.

These are the reasons I've seen ppl hate Gav for:

some are too blinded by their love for Con and/or Hank (as you say)

some are narcissistic enough to feel entitled to their personal favorite characters having more fandom content (...and thus they take it out on fandom favorites)

some feel envious that Gav has the charisma to get away with being a dick (...and they aren't capable of doing the same bc they don't have charisma)

some try to take some BS moral high ground (...and fail)

some see parts of themselves in Gav and thus desperately try to convince others that, "I'm not like him!" (...and funnily enough, every Gav hater I've interacted with has proven themselves to be worse ppl than he is -- so yeah, they're not like him, they're worse)

some ppl are envious that Gav is better/more beloved than them and/or their favorite characters

some ppl hate white ppl (racists)

some ppl hate men (sexists/misandrists)

some ppl ignore the lead writer's statement that "the game is about androids and not race" so they can make it a modern-day political issue, and get brownie points saying stuff like "androids are real-life POCs meaning anyone who dislikes them is racist," bc they can't separate fiction from reality (...and thus they have the brain-dead take that Gav is "racist." I don't like AI such as ChatGPT taking jobs. Does that make me a racist, too?)

some ppl claim to hate Gav just bc it's popular (pack mentality)

some ppl just wanna create drama

some ppl are so starved for attention that they claim to hate him "just bc"

some ppl lack empathy (...and thus they don't understand what losing a job you love is like -- especially to someone who was just programmed to be better than you -- when you worked your ass off for decades getting said job)

some ppl didn't pay attention (...and thus they don't know that Gav had every right to step in both in The Interrogation and Last Chance, Connor bc Con was literally breaking the law)

some ppl see the world as black and white meaning they only think in extremes (...and are incapable of seeing the greys/finding balance)

some ppl are specifically looking to get triggered and thus bring up completely unrelated topics like "misogyny" bc god forbid you like Gav and not North even when they're completely different ppl (...and it's hypocritical that they protect North for hating humans, while at the same time, cursing Gav out for hating androids -- I don't go around with the false claim that, "you're sexist/misandrist for liking North and not Gav" bc I'm not an idiot)

That hatred is all based on emotions instead of rational thought.

"He's a dick!" So is Hank, North, and Con can be. "They have good reasons for it!" So has Gav. These ppl are in no position to decide who's 'the most' affected/traumatized, etc. bc we all react differently. Some are more distraught by their pet dying than a parent. That doesn't make their pain any less real.

Disliking him is fine, but don't give BS moral reasons for doing so. Sometimes we just don't vibe with a person/character and that's perfectly fine. Not vibing with someone, however, isn't hatred. It's apathy. Ppl who are just "meh" about him and don't spout BS excuses are valid.