#lionel always ruins everything

[raelis1]

#'why can't you see what's right in front of your face lex?' god. god. godddd.#I think there's a really interesting discussion to be had (with many potential viewpoints)#re: to what extent lex actually knew the truth either consciously or subconsciously at any particular time#and how much he was just in denial about it (and why)#I'm not really prepared to have that discussion in these tags but like#let's face it - lex figured out that clark had powers all the way back in 1x12#just because clark convinced him he was wrong at the time doesn't mean he just forgot that whole thing#and yet it seemed like the more seasons went on and the more obvious the truth became#especially the fact that clark was so heavily tied to all the alien weirdness of smallville#the more lex seemed to (subconsciously?) push back against accepting or recognizing that truth#I mean that's literally what he's doing in the 4x21 scene with jason#so it's like he both desperately wanted to know clark's secret but also didn't want to know at all#and that's just SO interesting#I mean jesus the 7x20 scene is supposed to be peak evil lex and yet he STILL has to be pushed into accepting the truth#and he does so with his eyes glistening because yeah he wanted to know clark's secret once upon a time but he never wanted THIS#(remember when lex told jonathan in s1 that he just wanted clark to have a happy normal life bc clark was such a good person?#and then he's told in 7x20 that to save the world he has to KILL clark and take that life away from him hahaha [crying] it's fine I'm FINE)#wow I really said 'I'm not prepared to have this discussion' and then just. proceeded to have it anyway huh. lmao oops (via @fairyroses)

He was about to kill you, Lex. Or divulge something you didn't want me to know.

— SMALLVILLE, "Forever" (4.21)

+ bonus from "Arctic" (7.20):

[spidybaby]

Stressed

Summary: When he's stressed and worried about work, that's the only thing on his mind.

Warnings: angst because I'm a sucker for it 😤

A/N: So I'm inspired, and you already know I love angst, I breathe angst, I eat angst. (Okay, I'm done exaggerating), but lemme know how you are? Are you drinking water? Hope you're fine 💐❤️

Since Kylian sent that letter to the higher-ups of PSG about not wanting to stay until 2025, everything is drama.

The french tabloids, for some reason, want him to look bad, want him to look like this ungrateful man.

He's experiencing too much pressure, Sergio leaving, Lionel leaving, possibly Verrati leaving. It was a mess. The whole teams is.

Especially now that this dumb reporter, her name is Sam, she's all over him about the whole side of him about the leaving, the selling, the quitting of Galtier. He's done with her, with the other reporters, with the ultras hating him for even breathing.

"Don't worry, Kyky, everything's going to be fine." Sergio pat his back, Kylian was one of the first ones to know about his retirement of the club. "Don't let that chick got to you."

"I just want her away from me." He drinks too fast for what he's used to. "Can't she cover something else?"

"Look, hermano." Ney says, he had to deal with the same reporter a few months before. "Just tell her something completely different from what she's asking, and she'll leave."

He knows she just wants to write something before anyone else, something that comes from his own, not for speculation. "Lie to her."

He scuff, it's not that easy to be away from her when she's also part of the PSG press people. She has access to everywhere. That makes him uncomfortable.

"Mira Kylian." Leo says. He's not new to this whole press drama. "Just don't mind her, ignore her, saying you have to be somewhere." He smiles, nodding to his advice.

Leo and Sergio are the ones he trusts with this media hate. They're goats, and they come from a long road. He can't deny that even Neymar is an expert. But he's been there for his own stupid mind, even tho he denied it.

He followed the advice Leo gave him, always ignoring her, saying the usual bonjour or a revoir. Nothing else.

That made her mad. She even asked Galtier for his number, not caring about writing him. That took him to the limit. He couldn't escape her. She was everywhere and anywhere at the same time.

"Don't stress, mon amour." You say kissing his cheek. You're massaging him, wanting to help him relax. "I know it's hard, but I'm here for you. It's only you and me."

You tried everything for him to relax, you didn't know the whole story. He never told you about this reporter. So you only think it's because of the whole letter drama.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

"Bonjour, Kylian." Sam says, looking at him. She's blocking the door of the lockers. "Can we talk." She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm busy." He tries to pass her, but she's not moving, and the last thing he wants is touching her or making any type of contact. "Please move."

"Just five minutes." She says, begging him. "And I'll leave you alone forever."

"I prefer you to leave me alone now." His voice is this deep tone. He's done with her games. "Get out of the way." He ask nicely.

"Four minutes." She begged again.

"Sam, out of the way."

"Three."

He breathes deeply, and he's losing his temper. "I'll say it only one more time, and believe me, that I hate repeating myself." He grabs her arm, not hard but the right amount of pressure to move her gently. "I'm busy." He's mad. His whole day is ruined, thanks to her.

He enters his car, asking the driver to take him home. He's supposed to go to his mother's house, but he's too mad for that.

He arrived home funding. His train bag is now on the floor, you're home early, and you notice the noise, thinking maybe he fell.

"Are you okay?" You ask from your bedroom. Maybe he's hurt. "Ky? Amour?" You talk louder this time.

After a few minutes, you hear the footsteps on the stairs. A very agitated Kylian enters the room. "Hi, handsome." You say, opening your arms to him.

"Remember how you said you can take the stress out of me?" He sais breathless, you nod smiling. "Do it."

You throw the covers away from you. Ready to attack your boyfriend with kisses and attention. Your lips feel heavy on his own. He's tense. You can feel him.

There was no other reason for his mind to be elsewhere, hes uncomfortable by the fact that he has Sam on the back of his head, tunning after him, basically harrassi him.

There's no other reason for him to focus on anything other than you. The way your lips feel on his neck, the way your hands are touching the right places, the way you're making him feel good.

His hips are moving to a very fast pace. He's not one to take his frustration on you, but the way you're moaning his name and how your nails are scratching his back is making him lose control.

He doesn't know how, but it happens. He can't take her name out of his mind, now even when you're taking him so well.

When he dips his hips at a certain angle, the back of your head digs further into the pillow, and he attacks the exposed side of your neck. He's leaving red marks, marking you as his. The groan that's escaping his lips are pornographyc.

You could feel nothing but him, the weight of his body over yours, the thin layer of sweat on his back under your fingertips and on his forehead, making the hair close to your neck to stick to it.

What's making the entire situation so much worse is the fact that no matter how much he tries, he can't stop thinking about her. Not in a sexual way, but angrily wanting her to go away, to leave his mind alone.

His hand is griping your waist so hard. He knows he'll leave a mark. Moans coming out of his mouth. “Fuck, you feel so good.” he goes faster, knowing by the sounds you're making that you're close.

"Sam-" that's when he stops. His whole body stop. He doesn't know why he's saying her name. His eyes are open in a panic.

"Get off," you say out of breath. Your heart is beating as fast as if it's going off your body. "Get off of me."

You push his shoulders for him to get off of you. He pulled out and tried to explain. "Y/n, please, I didn't mean to do that."

Your mind is lost, one moment you're under him, holding him closer, kissing him and enjoying him.

And now you're pushing him away, not wanting him to touch you. You grab the covers of the bed. You wrap it around your body before running to the bathroom.

"Amour, please." He tries to grab your arms. "Amour." He almost catch you, but he's not fast enough.

The next thing he knows is you slamming the door in his face. He can hear the way you're breathing and how you sob. The sound is making his heart hurt.

"I promise I wasn't-" he can't even think of an excuse. He's fucked up, he's hearing the way you're crying and can't think of how to solve it. "Listen, she's a reporter that has been harassing me. She's always on me, and I".

You open the door, interrupting his explanation. You're standing there, tears running down your face, blanket around your body, eyes sad.

"Mon amour." He doesn't know if he can touch you. He doesn't want to make you more uncomfortable than what you already are. "I promise it's not what you think."

You pass him, walking to the room to get your clothes, dressing yourself again, hurried to get away from him.

"Please don't go." He says, hand grabbing your arm. "Please, let me explain." He feels like crying, not wanting to let go.

"Not now." You get off his hold. "I can't do this. Please get away from me." You push him lightly.

"Don't go, I'll go, but you don't have to go." He dresses himself, not wanting you to leave. "I'm fucking sorry." Your back is facing him. You can't look at him in the eyes.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

The past week, you were running away from Kylian, leaving extra early for work and returning while he was still training.

For him, it was hard not being able to speak with you. But you needed time, and he's willing to let you have it. Even if that hurt him in the process.

For you, it's been weird. You can't wrap your mind around the fact of what's going on. For you, it hurts that he didn't trust you enough to talk to you about what's happening, and the other part of you is your ego being hurt by him naming another girls name.

You were sure with a talk and being honest, you both can make up. You trusted him when he says he has never been with her, but you also needed to know the whole story.

The sound of keys jiggling is the way you know he's home. When he walks he sees you sitting on the couch.

He's tired, everyone is hating on him for the stupid tabloids, and he can't even find comfort in your arms because he hurt you without intended to.

"Can we talk?" He swears the sound of your voice is magical. He missed it. He missed you. He nods and takes a seat next to you. "Who's Sam?"

He didn't hesitate to detail the whole thing. The things his playmates advised him. "Kylian, why didn't you report her to the management?" You're mad, not with him but with her for being such a bitch and harass him about a stupid football news.

"Because I thought she was going to leave me alone." He yells, frustrated. "I can't do this anymore."

You hug him, caressing his back and him cry his frustration. His not crying about her. He's crying about the news, about the hate, about the media not leaving him alone.

"I'm here, don't cry." You kiss the top of his head. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you before."

"It's not you, I'm the one who made the mistake of letting her abuse her power." He let you dry his tears. "I'm so done."

"It's not your fault. Don't say that." You kiss his cheeks. "You're fine now, I'm not letting her or anyone hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable." You hugged him. Promising you'll never let him feel that way again.

[hornyramostan]

After all this time?; Cristiano Ronaldo

Two years had passed since you last saw your best friend. He had left Portugal for Spain to expand his football career and join a team. You yourself recommended it to him after watching him play throughout his life trying so hard to go far, because you also trusted what he could do. You also recommended it to him, because you hadn't thought about all the time you weren't going to see him. You lied when you told him not to think so important and that you didn't miss him madly.

Cristiano and you have known each other for more than ten years and throughout your life you have been asked many times if you were a couple, you always denied it with a certain disgust, as if it was crazy, but deep down you knew that you would not dislike the idea of dating the attractive soccer player you had as a friend. Clearly you never confessed it to him because it could go very wrong and ruin your relationship, so in that time when Cris wasn't around, you tried to meet new people to distract your head, and, why not, find a part-time lover.

When you entered university you met a boy named Lionel who sat next to you. The both chatted a couple of times from the moment he went to class wearing a T-shirt from your favorite band "The Strokes" If there was something you liked in boys it was that they have good musical tastes, and this was the case with this boy. A few days ago the teacher had given the instructions for a work in pairs and you had no better idea than to do it together. Leo would go to your house that afternoon to meet, what you didn't know is that someone else had also planned to go to your house that afternoon, but as a surprise.

Half past three in the afternoon and the doorbell rang at your house. You finished accommodating the books and went to open the door. By the time you could see what was behind it, you had to hold on to the frame "Have you missed me darling?" There he was, your best friend was back. "CRISTIANO" You said as you detached yourself from the door to jump into his arms. You didn't remember hugging him so tight ever, you really missed him. "What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Spain? "Well I missed my family and I also wanted to tell you that-" "Wait, let's go home because it looks like it's going to rain and I don't want you to catch a cold"

When the both entered you noticed that he had a confused face "Did something happen?" You asked curiously "Why is everything so arranged and why is there a snack for two prepared? Were you expecting someone else?" "Actually-" You were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell "Yes, I invited a friend to do some university work at home, I hope you don't mind" You told him as you reached the front door, which you opened with a huge smile,naccording to Cristiano, who had changed his expression from confused to furious.

"I brought yerba to drink mate, it's a very common drink in Argentina and I think you'll like it" "Awww leo thanks, now let's go inside because it's cold and raining" As soon as you closed the door you noticed the tension that existed among your guests, but you decided to ignore her "Well, let me introduce you, Cris this is Leo, a friend from uni and Leo this is Cris, a childhood friend" "BEST friend, you mean" the Portuguese plaintiff corrected. Both, Leo and you, looked at each other being complicit in a clear scene of jealousy "Well, let's get to work"

This is how the afternoon passed, Leo and you did what you had to do. You laughed and drank mate with biscuits while Cristiano watched the scene from affair, although they offered him several times to join the conversation, he just shook his head.

"Well, thanks for coming leo, I had a lot of fun, see you on Monday!" "I'm saying the same y/n, greetings to you and your friend!" Your coworker said as he walked out the door.

"May I know why you laughed so much with him?" The Portuguese blurted out "Because at least he spoke, not like others who sit with an ass face judging with their eyes, oh and I didn't like that little scene you did at the beginning Cristiano, nothing at all" "And how do you want me to react if MY best friend just replaces me as if nothing?" "SORRY? AS IF NOTHING? YOU WERE THE ONE WHO DIDN'T WRITE TO ME FOR TWO YEARS CRISTIANO, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I MISSED YOU AND HOW MUCH IT HURTS ME TO SEE THAT YOU NEVER REMEMBERED ME" You were furious. Like nothing? He didn't know how much you missed him? "DO YOU THINK I HAD TIME TO WRITE YOU? I COULDN'T EVEN WRITE TO MY PARENTS" They were both silent "I missed you a lot too, more than you can imagine, I missed your hugs, your face, your voice, seeing your eyes, god I missed you so much y/n, and when I saw that another person arrived I was afraid, I was afraid because I thought I had lost my chance" "Your chance for what?" "From this" And before you could react, he grabbed you by the waist, attracting you to him and the both melted into a passionate kiss. You separated due to lack of air and once ecovered it, you kissed again. It was as if the both could finally demonstrate that desire that they had.

They separated and looked into each other's eyes, and the only thing they could say was "I love you".

[mik-mania]

hiiii question for mun/newest characters. how do you think condes, zander, and lionel describe themselves compared to how others("others" being like friends/acquaintances/colleagues) would?

BITING YOU AFFECTIONATELY....THANK YOU.......

i'll go ahead and say this first, condes and lionel dont really have..................................friends. due to the whole Condes Being A Militant Dictator thing. it kinda limits the friend pool.

Condes:

firstly, he sees himself as the best fucking thing since sliced bread. he's strong and powerful. he is above everyone else and makes sure they know it. his confidence is off the fucking charts.

he and Lionel have a..... complicated relationship. to where I wouldn't call them kismesises or matesprits, but Vacillates. cus. yknow. they vacillate a lot. i'll be honest, their relationship is toxic as hell! theyre so tangled up in each others messes that the two of them are a package deal. lionel would love to see condes killed, or even kill the man himself, but at the same time he wont ever let him die. he would let himself be killed to defend the guy. its a special sort of stockholm that's progressed past "poor Lionel" to "well, you didnt have to commit warcrimes about it."

zander..................hates condes' guts. she thinks hes a nasty piece of work and she can't believe that the two of them ever used to be on good terms (although it was a long, long time ago). she remembers when Avatakra wasnt war-torn planet filled with death and ruin, before condes went on his campaign to ruin their world. before he killed Dabria. now all she wants is his death.

condes has a pretty strong empire beneath him. i say empire, but it's more of a large totalitarian militia. while he has control of nearly half of the planet, it's a struggle for complete control between him and various other groups vying for power. other leaders find him despicable, powerful, and mendacious. those beneath him view him as terrifying. they may not like him, but he has witchery he can punish them with. no one is sure how to defeat him because nobody knows where he's gotten these powers from.

LIONEL:

lionel hates himself. deep, deep down, he despises himself and is the same scared kid he used to be. but that was long, long, long ago. he views himself as despicable and twisted. his senses have been all switched up by sweeps and sweeps of abuse to the point that pain and suffering are simultaneously gratifying to him. he's given up on the notion of being a good person. anyone who can write off their own humanity (trollmanity?) like that is a dangerous person, because they no longer have any limits to what they're willing to do. and he is willing to do whatever Condes wants.

Condes views him as a pathetic plaything. he has the urge to control everything the man does--he wants him all to himself. i feel like his desire to control and hurt and destroy lionel comes from their childhood attachment to each other. Condes used to be a sweet kid, believe it or not. they both used to be. but condes got into some dark, dark magic shit and it changed him. and he changed lionel. he sees lionel and he wants to kill him, but he cant quite make himself do it. it pisses him off that lionel is a living reminder of his past self. no matter how much he disfigures and remakes this man, the reminder will still always be there. and Condes hates it.

zander... doesn't feel much for lionel tbh. she used to feel bad for him. she's tried many, many times to help him escape. to bring him with her and save him. but you really cant help a person who doesnt want to be helped. she used to feel conflicted about him, watching as he only descended into being Condes' tool and weapon. conflicted that that used to be her friend, that he refuses to fight her, but wont join her either. then, she pitied him for a long time until it slowly fizzled into complete apathy. the man known as Lionel Farlow today is not the boy she once knew. and if that means eventually cutting him down in front of god and everybody, then so be it.

lionel isnt thought of much by his and condes' subordinates, nor is he a thought in the mind of other world leaders. those under him view him mostly with a mix of pity and disgust. to see such a pathetic violet blood be mistreated and slapped around by a small jade blood is something of an upset. lionel is effectively a traitor of the empress' empire at large and the entire social hierarchy that's been established for milennia before Avatakra's existence. but those on the planet lack any method of contact to reach out to the rest of the universe, let alone even leave the planet. so in lieu of any other sort of action, lionel receives the collective brunt of society's resentment.

ZANDER:

she doesn't think much of herself. in all honesty, she tries not to. she doesn't have much of a sense of self and feels that most of her died along with her childhood. introspection only reveals one thing to her: she wants things to change and she is willing to fight for it.

Condes hates her. she is yet another reminder of his past that just seemingly wont go away. while "her" forces (how he views them--zander is not part of an organization) are nowhere near as strong as his, she is a constant thorn in his fucking side. she's sneaky and she knows him well enough to get around any defenses he may set up. she's come close to killing him a handful of times and vice versa. she has a few nasty scars from the man and he remembers every single one of them proudly. if Condes ever takes her captive, he will take extreme satisfaction in her prolonged torture.

Lionel... feels guilty when he thinks about zander. so he tries not to think about her very often. when it's come right down to making the decision whether or not to kill her--he has decided against it, every single time. which is saying something, considering how often he's had the advantage over her. he cares about her in a nostalgic way, wishing that things could go back to how they used to be. but he's already chosen where his heart resides and there is no going back, regardless of how zander tries to convince him. the least he can do is refuse to kill or capture her--even if it earns him severe punishment from condes every time.

zander lives covertly in a small community just outside of Condes' territory. the community is mostly like-minded rebels such as her; trolls who have no loyalty to any of the rising powers in the world and only wish for freedom. they're brought together by the radical ideals of abolishing the social hierarchy, seeking to live in equality all together. condes is not the only power they rebuke, but he is the largest and the closest.

despite their ideologies, most of trolls in the community aren't active members. most people there only wish to live their lives, living off the land and depending on each other. zander has good standing in the community, being known as somewhat of a loner that lives a bit farther from the town. she spends her time building relationships with the trolls there, helping with development of the settlement. it's a fulfilling day-job and she earns companionship and food in return.

although she knows the handful of folks in town that actively rebel, she refuses to work with them. their rebellion is very small-time, targeted toward wandering foot-soldiers and hostile threats. zander refuses to involve them in anything more dangerous, as it would lead not only to their deaths, but most likely the whole community. she intentionally has no deep relationships with any of the townsfolk because when the day finally comes that she disappears for good, she doesnt want anybody to come looking for her.

[aparticularbandit]

IDK how you’d feel about this for the physical affection prompts but…7, 9, 15 (feel free to choose one or mutiple) for Lionel and Claire (Post-movie. Platonically? Romantically? Something in-between?)?

physical affection prompts! 7) squishing their cheeks 9) wiping away someone’s tears 15) the biggest, warmest hugs

I combined them all into one longer thing, so I hope that's okay! Sorry it took so long for me to finish!

It has been the most harrowing three days of Claire’s life.

Actually, that’s not entirely true.  Claire has had a lot of singularly harrowing days, and while she wants to say these particular three are the most harrowing she’s ever had in sequence, that’s not really true either.  The trial was.  She couldn’t numb out the trial.  She couldn’t numb out—

     Look me in the eye, Claire!

Claire shivers, rubs one of her arms, and turns away from the window.

Devon hasn’t been able to join them in Greece because the kids haven’t been able to join them in Greece.  They’d decided this together; an international murder investigation didn’t seem like something Rowena or Mark should be involved with.  Besides, they were perfectly happy to stay cozied up at the house, perfectly happy to see their mom in Zoom meetings when they happen to all be awake at the same time (the eight hour time difference is horrible, but they can get around it if they try hard enough).  She’d needed to see them, after.  Needed to see their smiling, happy, enthusiastic faces.

Helen still thought they were all shitheads, but she’d…oddly warmed when she caught Claire with her kids.  She had, of course, assured her that she still didn’t like Claire one bit and insisted that it was just the kids she liked, but that was fine.  Is fine.  Claire hasn’t – isn’t – trying to patch things up with Helen.  She doesn’t deserve her forgiveness and won’t try to get it.

     If we’d only gotten there earlier, she thinks to herself sometimes.  If I’d only let Duke pound the door in.  If we hadn’t—

But regrets and wishing couldn’t bring Andi back.

Regrets and wishing couldn’t—

Claire and Lionel don’t share a room.

For a lot of reasons, really, one of which being that it doesn’t matter exactly how open her marriage with Devon is, they still need to keep some protocol.  They’re all under investigation, even with the truth coming to light, because that’s how these sorts of things work, especially with Miles’s team of lawyers, none of whom any of them can use now like they had during Andi’s—

     She’d just needed oxygen—

But they can’t forbid them from going to see each other.

Sometimes, the three of them who are left – and Peg, of course, because Peg should always have been included with them, even when Miles pretended she shouldn’t, and Whiskey, too, who was turning out to be much better of a woman than Claire had assumed based on how Duke treated her, which really just reminded her that she shouldn’t assume anything about anyone and maybe if she hadn’t—

     Which really just goes down the regrets and wishing train again—

They gather around the hotel pool sometimes.  They don’t go swimming, probably because they all think of the last time they were swimming, when Duke had been so blatant about something and they’d all just missed it, but they stand and stare at the pool and then sometimes go back to one of their rooms for drinks, except that it’s hard to drink now because all of their favorite drinks have been ruined by that last party, by what Miles had used Duke’s drink to do, by…by everything—

     Maybe, if they’d gotten there earlier, if they hadn’t turned on Andi, maybe they would still all be there—

Birdie and Peg share a room.  Whiskey spends a lot of time with them.  Spends a lot of time with Peg, spends a lot of time with Helen.

     She hadn’t thought Andi could actually die.

They have a community room they all share sometimes.  It’s less sharing and more they’re all there at the same time.  Every now and again, Claire thinks she should go talk to Helen, but every time she gets that thought Benoit is there, and she just…doesn’t.  That’s not the worst thing (although Birdie would say it was, Duke would say it was, in that aggravating streamer way of knocking the actual worst thing for something lesser as a sort of joke (and she tries not to think about how he will never, never, never be able to do that again)), but she’d spent so long following Benoit’s cases – particularly after he’d gotten married to Phillip (that, too, had made the news, and she’d thrilled because he was, he was like her, and she’d thought he was and Devon wouldn’t fucking believe her, he was like them) – that she’d built him up as someone who would understand her, who would look at her and know and say, “Guhvanuh Debella, you are uhn uhmazing womuhn,” in that wonderful southern accent of his, and to be honest, he probably does know, given how easily he’d read that shitty murder mystery game Miles set up, given how he’d figured out everything Miles was doing when none of them had even—

She wants to talk to Helen, not to apologize, but just to…to talk.

But Helen terrifies her.

Benoit does even more, the way he sits next to her like the cutest little Pomeranian guard dog with ascot (a different color every day because he’d planned for this, hadn’t he, while the rest of them were still trying to figure out how to get everything clean.  Claire is able to use the hotel’s washer because she has children and everything she has needs to be able to go straight into the washer without worry because Devon isn’t going to pay attention and neither are the children, but Birdie….  Birdie’s just sending someone out to buy her new clothes every day.  It’s going to get old.  She’s going to run out of money.  They’ll be gone before that happens).  His eyes always seem kinder when he notices Claire, but part of her is convinced that’s just a lie.  Once, out of the corner of her eye, she catches him keeping an eye on her chess game with Lionel.  She bites her lower lip and stares at the board and thinks maybe – maybe – she will impress him.

It is the only time Benoit places a hand on her shoulder, and Claire freezes, expecting him to offer a word of advice or the potential next best move.  Instead, he says, in that adorable accent of his, “If you really want to challenge your mind, you should play Go.”

Claire flinches, freezes, unable to speak, but Lionel looks up, leans on his hand where his elbow rests on the table, and asks, “Do you have a board handy?  We haven’t been able to play in months.”

“Why don’t you ask your benefactor—”

Helen’s voice, then, cutting through their idle conversation, and Claire’s phone vibrates with the call from Devon that led to speaking with her children, that led to Helen peeking in and meeting them.

(Andi’s sister might hate all of them, but she loves children, and like Lionel, she peeks in every now and again and, crossing her arms, barks out a correction when Claire teaches them something wrong.  It’s a small thing, but it’s…but it’s something, maybe.)

Three days of feeling sick and horrible and the worst of the world only made worse because she is the worst of the world, isn’t she, aren’t they all, because if they hadn’t—

     Andi could still be—

And Claire finds herself alone in Lionel’s room.  It isn’t that she’d gone there alone; Birdie had been there, too, briefly, because Peg invited Whiskey to their room, and she hadn’t been particularly comfortable with all of that.  But she’d barely been with them ten minutes before heaving a huge, disappointed sigh and storming out of the room, leaving them both there, alone, while she stomped back to her room.  Lionel stared at her through the window, let out a huff of a laugh, and let the curtains slide shut again as he turned back, “Looks like someone doesn’t like to share—”

But it’s the weight of it all, crushing into Claire’s chest, and suddenly she can’t breathe.  Tears prick at the corners of her eyes.  She sits down hard on the edge of Lionel’s mattress, unable to look at him, unable to look out the window, unable to look at the shitty hotel artwork that’s hanging on either side of the flat-screen tv because every time she does, she just thinks about the stupid college poster Mona Lisa that Miles hadn’t had in his fucked up Glass Onion, unable to look at anything, really, and so she looks down at her thighs where they’re brushed together because her hands are clenching the mattress on either side of her.

“Claire, Claire, hey—”

It’s only a second, and Lionel is crouching in front of her with those knees that he always complains really can’t do this anymore (and yet always, always he still kneels before her), one hand reaching up to gently wipe away her tears with the soft pad of his right thumb.  “It’s okay—”

“It’s not okay, Lionel; she’s dead.”

Claire can’t help the way that she spits it out – she shouldn’t be spitting it out at him because Lionel certainly doesn’t deserve her vitriol – Miles does, but she couldn’t spit at him the way that she can spit now – and, really, she isn’t mad at Lionel, she’s mad at herself.  “She’s dead, and Helen was right – we killed her.”

“No,” Lionel counters, voice as gentle as he can make it.  “No, Claire.  We didn’t kill any—”

“We killed her when lied for Miles over—”

“Miles killed Andi, Claire.”  Lionel’s hands move to her knees, and he gives them a gentle squeeze.  “We couldn’t have known that he would—”

Claire pushes herself off of the bed, away from Lionel’s touch, and starts to pace, arms crossed.  “He wouldn’t have even known that she’d found it if you hadn’t—”

Lionel’s face contorts.  “Now, Claire, be reasonable.  None of us could have guessed that—”

“We shouldn’t have had to guess!” Claire hisses out, turning back to him, arms spread wide, tears streaming down her face.  “We should have stuck with—”

     Look me in the eye, Claire!

The words lump in her throat, choking her, and Claire can’t get them out.  She wraps her arms around herself, and her gaze drops, head lowering.  She feels like a child again, only when she was a child everyone loved her because they didn’t know who wrong she felt in her own skin.  How wrong she feels now, but for an entirely different reason.

Lionel crosses the distance between them again and brushes her tears back with both thumbs at once.  “It’s okay to be mad, Claire,” he says as soothingly as he can.  “It’s okay to try and think of things we could have done, but we didn’t know, Claire.  We were trying to—”

“—to save ourselves,” Claire finishes for him, and she rubs at her tears with the back of one hand.  “It’s exactly like Helen said.  We’re all shits.  All of us.”

“I think the term is shitheads—”

Claire punches Lionel’s shoulder.  Then she leans forward, rests her forehead on his shoulder.  “We fucked up.”

“Then we need to do our best to make it better.”  Lionel shifts again, lifts Claire’s head, squeezes her cheeks.  “You’re allowed to be cute while we try to save the world, Claire.”

“We’re not saving anything, Lionel,” Claire says, although with her cheeks squeezed like they are, her words sound muffled, wrong, and she laughs at the sound before pulling herself away.  “We’re just saving ourselves.”

Lionel offers her the gentlest of smiles.  “Sometimes saving the world starts with saving ourselves.”  He reaches forward and boops her nose with the tip of one finger.  “So we stood up to Miles too late.  We learn.  We do better next time.  And maybe nobody dies.”

“Nobody should have died this time—”

But before she can finish, Lionel wraps his arms around her.  He always was good at giving hugs, and this time is no different.  She crumples in his embrace, buries her head against his chest, and lets herself cry – glad that he apparently brought trashy clothes with him so that when she gets snot all over his shirt, it won’t be a problem.  He strokes her hair gently, and when she’s finished enough, she murmurs into his chest, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lionel doesn’t ask her to stay with him because with the police and journalists who are likely to be swarming the place and waiting for something like that, she can’t risk the further blow to her reputation.  But she stays for as long as she believes she is reasonably able, curled up against him, letting herself rest.

[nunesbytko]

Netflix- Dahmer- Monster- The Jeff Dahmer Story- Episode Eight- “LIONEL”

Episode Eight-  Lionel

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

  Trigger warning [Suicide mention]

  Back to Lionel crying at the station.

  He asks to see his son, they permit it.

  Jeff apologises, his dad as you can imagine is in bits. He tells him that he needs help. He believes his son can get better.

  Lionels trying to pick his brain, asking him why. He doesn't know.

  Jeff tries to tell him about the roadkill and Lionel gets triggered and completely takes it the wrong way. He's clearly blaming himself.

  Joyce Jeff's mother is getting hounded by the press.

  She's working with LGBT men, introduces herself as "Joyce Flint" gets emotional at work.

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

Lionel can't sleep. He hasn't slept in 5 days. He's blaming Joyce for all the pills that ruined Jeff. He's raging, blaming Joyce for everything. Shari comforts him.

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

The police have closed off Jeff's Grandma's house. She has dementia now and Lionel has to go to help her. Police and press are outside and inside.

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

Reverend Jackson does a march of solidarity with the victims families.

The Reverend is preaching the truth. But I used he's being coached by the police as well? He knows how to get a crowd going.

  The Konerack cops, Balzerack and Gabrish are both put on paid leave. They complain and say they are going to fight this [ Really, they should have been FIRED, FIRED, but hey what do I know?]

  Victims are going on TV,

  A blacked out guest makes an accusation that Jeff was abused by Lionel.

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

Lionel meets up with Jeff and his lawyer to try to convince Jeff to put through an insanity plea. Jeff said that he knew what he was doing, that he wasn't crazy. But his dad pushes for this change, telling him about the Ed Gein case. He's already read about Gein in a comic book.

  Lionel is blaming comic book culture now

  The Judge turns down the insanity plea.

  Outside of the courtroom Joyce and Lionel have a shouting match.,

  Joyce goes to the Grandmother of one of his victims [Curtis Straughter] to ask them to put in a good word for Jeff???

  Whaaaaaatttttt???????

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

Victims impact statement are read out.

  I feel for Glenda

Lionel meets Jeff and breaks down finally blaming himself in part for what happened.

  Joyce tries to kill herself.

  Lionel gets the news, but he's not too bothered. But he'll call David soon. but right now he's busy typing his book on everything he's been going through.

  The Konerack officers get re promoted and repaid.

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

  Notes

Acting off the charts as usual

  Joyce is Self centred AF!!! How dare she go to the families  of the victims!!!!

Even in jail, Lionel doesn't really listen to Jeff

The Konerack police officers getting reinstated did make me sick! This did happen in real life. These officers ruined lives and nothing really happens. They get their jobs back. BACKPAY. They just go back to the force like nothing has happened. They should have been BANNED AND I mean BANNED from any type of umbrella term  Law work.

  It's just so disturbing to me!

  As always Richard Jenkins makes me cry lol. This actor is frigging amazeballs. Every scene!!!

My favourite scenes.........

[cobrakatharsis]

johnny lost his childhood stuffed toy when he was twelve.

it was a lion plush his mother had bought for him, some time soon after he was born. when he was very young, she’d said it was because he’d had this little wild tuft of baby blond hair, like a lion’s mane, and in part too it had reminded her of his father’s hair. wild and golden. so, a lion. his name was lionel, at first - his mother had named him, but johnny as he learnt to talk couldn’t quite pronounce the name, so it was “ryan” then, based off of his slurred pronunciation.

lionel-ryan was his best friend. his only friend, really. a classic comfort item, held tight throughout every argument he heard, sometimes through the walls and sometimes right in front of him. cuddled through everything he shouldn’t have witnessed, and all the money troubles, and all of his mother’s nights spent drunk and crying, and his father leaving, and moving to a strange new place with a man johnny didn’t like and who didn’t particularly like johnny either.

after the first time sid broke one of johnny’s toys - tore apart an action figure he’d tripped over after johnny had left it on the floor - he learnt to keep lionel-ryan hidden away in his bedroom.

sid still knew, though. and when johnny brought forth his argument, age twelve, to start taking karate lessons - join cobra kai - sid looked hard at johnny. “if you’re grown up enough for karate,” he’d said, “then you’re far too grown up for stuffed toys. don’t you think?”

and he’d made johnny go and get lionel-ryan, pulling him out from where he’d been tucked carefully into johnny’s neatly-made bed. he’d told johnny that he could take karate in exchange for proving he was mature enough for it, proving this wasn’t another passing interest of a child, proving that johnny was grown up now, and the way to do that was by giving up his silly ugly bear.

(sid always called lionel-ryan a bear. johnny learnt to stop correcting him.)

johnny had thought about kreese, about what he wanted from johnny and what johnny wanted from himself too, and he’d agreed. and though he’d cried as sid tossed the stuffed animal into the fireplace and lit it like kindling, made johnny stand there and watch the fur burn until there was nothing recognisable left, he’d let johnny join cobra kai.

like most things about johnny’s life, daniel learns this far too late. it’s one of their late night conversations, when it’s dark and they’re curled together in bed and johnny can close his eyes and stomach his vulnerability solely by pretending he’s not really speaking the words out loud, and like most things about johnny’s life it makes daniel nauseous. nauseous and blindingly angry, imagining johnny as a helpless child, crying as his comfort item is burned.

(he suddenly understands why johnny doesn’t like fireplaces.)

he wants to ask, the next day and then again a few days later, for more details about what exactly the plushie had looked like, what brand it had been, but decides that that might ruin it - if he asks johnny. but there’s nobody else to ask (and god, that thought makes daniel nauseous again) so he goes in blind.

the lion he gets from the toy store is a distinctly modern stuffed animal, with baby-safe eyes and a mane of wild fur and a smile on his little cartoonish face. nothing like the one johnny would have had, but daniel hopes it’ll be better this way. he’s not trying to replace anything, just honour it, and he thinks maybe he made the right decision when johnny comes home and sees it on the kitchen island and bursts immediately into tears.

he cradles the lion in his arms and sobs into its mane. he keeps crying, crying hard, even when daniel rounds the island and takes johnny into his arm, the plush toy held between them, and daniel soothes him but doesn’t try to make him stop. he lets johnny cry for as long as he needs to, for his child self and everything he lost in those years, everything that people took from him.

and a little while later, when johnny’s all cried out and still holding the lion plush tight in his arms, daniel gets out his phone and - at johnny’s behest - types “badass names for a lion stuffie” into safari.

[thevindicativevordan]

Hey Ive been reading your stuff, and first of all loving it, I'm a massive Supes fan and i agree with a lot of your takes. Wanted to ask you, DC tend to give Lex Luthor a complicated backstory of either him growing poor and bulding himself from the ground up (Byrne) or him growing rich and having an abusive dad (Smallville) What do you think is the better option for Lex

Blending the two the way they've merged Byrne's billionaire mogul and Pre-Crisis mad scientist Lex is the best option. Make it so the Luthors were rich, but that Lionel caused them to fall from grace for various reasons, forcing them to leave Metropolis and move to their last remaining relic of their lost wealth: the mansion in Smallville. Lex is the one who ultimately puts them back on top, restoring the prestige of the family name and fortune. That way you get Lex always believing he was supposed to have more growing up, and that knowledge feeding his entitlement and superiority complex. He could've grown up in the lap of luxury, but his dad had to go and ruin everything. But hey, he's not a privileged trust fund baby like Wayne or Queen either, he "earned" his wealth through hard (if not honest) work.

Then you get both the old money arrogance and the new money god complex in Lex. That makes him a great way to talk about the nature of billionaires, both those who inherited their wealth, and the "self-made" ones.

[from-a-reckless-writer]

Supercorp - 49 please

Jess has been with her ever since the beginning of time. It might sound like an exaggeration but it really isn't.

Jess was already assigned with her ever since she was the Junior VP of LuthorCorp's Research division back when Lionel was still alive.

And when Lex inevitably drove the whole company into ruin and forced Lena into the limelight as CEO, Jess remained by her side.

So, really, Lena couldn't refuse Jess's resignation letter when it came, finally telling Lena that she wants to expand her horizons. Lena was beyond happy to hear that Jess was interested in going to grad school and finishing her Master's that's been put on hold. At the same time though, she also doesn't know how to let her go. It might sound a little selfish to keep Jess all to herself, but Lena's sure she's going to die the moment, Jess leaves her office.

But of course, Lena let her go, with a hefty final pay and a promise that Jess always has a place with L-Corp.

So truthfully, she doesn't have a problem with Jess leaving, what she does have a problem with, though, is Jess's replacement.

Jess made sure to choose the best of the best from L-Corp's array of eager interns.

Which means Lena has to work with the smartest, kindest, most fucking beautiful intern to ever grace her office.

How inconvenient.

"I'm her boss," she snipes at Sam, for the nth time that night. It's been 6 months of this. Of Kara coming into her office and making Lena's shitty day, less shitty. Of Kara being the most caring person in Lena's life. Of Kara somehow making Lena eat three full meals a day and getting her to sleep on time. Of Kara making her fall and fall, deeper and deeper.

Of Lena trying hard to suppress every little feeling she has when it comes to Kara by whining about it to her friends.

It's been 6 months of this and now it's Christmas and Kara is looking more and more tempting as the evening passes.

"Right, because that hasn't happened before." Sam rolls her eyes. "I haven't seen you look at another woman this way ever, Lena."

"Again," Lena stresses. "I'm her boss. As in, she works for me. She answers calls for me and she arranged this goddamn Christmas party."

"Then fire her," Andrea deadpans, taking a sip from her champagne flute, arm casually wrapped around Sam.

"Mm. I second that idea." Of course, they're ganging up on her. That's their favorite past time--making Lena's love life a source of entertainment.

"Remind me why I'm even talking to the both of you?"

"Because, you've fallen in love for the first time in your life and you don't know what to do because you're emotionally constipated due to family issues and it's Christmas and Kara's standing right there and I'm pretty sure you want to pull her under the mistletoe and we're the only ones who can help," Sam impressively lets out all in one breath.

"I hate you."

"We love you too, Lena," Andrea automatically responds. "Now, go tell Kara she's now unemployed because you want to rail her for the rest of the night."

"You can do it, sweetie. We believe in you." Sam raises her glass in solidarity.

"The both of you should be ashamed of yourselves." Lena glares at the both of them. "Christ, railing..." she murmurs under her breath at the same time she looks up from her drink and into Kara's eyes across the ballroom floor. Kara gives her a small wave, picks up her champagne float as if to toast, Lena raises her drink in turn.

Kara smiles. Lena flushes.

She's going to blame it on the alcohol when Andrea starts to ask.

Kara is on the other side of the ballroom floor, chatting up one of Lena's tech and bioinformatics staff, Wilfred? Winslow?

Whatever his name is, but Kara doesn't seem to be paying any attention, Lena keeps catching her looking at where she is every 5 seconds.

"Lena, for the love of God, stop with the eye-fucking already. If you aren't going to woman up, I'm gonna get Kara over here myself."

Lena knows Sam isn't kidding with her threat. Sam raises her brow in that 'Well, what are you going to do about it?' way that she always does.

"Fire her and get it over with. I heard Cat Grant is hiring."

"Oh my god, you two! Stop it already, I am not going to fire her, and I am not going to break moral code and for the love of God, I DON'T WANT TO RAIL KARA DANVERS, OKAY?!"

She breathes in deep, her heart pounding from her little outburst. Sam's eyes is twice in size and Andrea's lips bitten in an attempt to hold everything in, her left brow twitching.

"What?" Lena grits. "Why are you looking at me like-"

"Ms. Luthor." Somebody taps her on the shoulder and Lena is confronted with the reason why her friends are completely silent all of a sudden.

"Kara," she whispers in horror.

"Uhm." Kara fidgets with the her dress. "I was wondering if I could take a moment of your time? I want to talk with you about something."

Lena clenches and unclenches her fist and tries to rein it in. Fuck, did Kara hear?

"Is it urgent?"

"Uhm yes, sort of," Kara mumbles. And then more nervously, "I promise, it'll be quick!"

"Alright," Lena acquiesces, heart running a mile a minute. She follows Kara and doesn't dare glance back at Sam and Andrea. She doesn't really want to hear what they have to say about the whole turn of events.

Kara leads them out into the empty balcony, National City gleaming brighter than ever before them.

The jazz notes of the holiday serenade from the ballroom fades out and becomes replaced with the soft quiet of the falling snow instead.

"What did you want to talk about, Kara?" Lena dares to ask, goosebumps running along her arm at the cold.

"I, uhm promise me you won't be angry after I tell you?" Kara says, almost a whisper, a plea.

What could be so bad that Kara looks so afraid at the moment?

"I promise, Kara." The words waiting on the tip of her tongue. Eager to give Kara whatever she needs.

"Okay, okay here it goes, okay," Kara mutters under her breath, hands wringing nervously, clearly itching to fiddle with her glasses.

"I want to leave L-Corp."

Lena's heart plummets.

"What?"

Kara steps forward, looks down at the ground and then back to her.

"I- I want to resign. I want to leave L-Corp. I've been thinking about it for a few months now, and I've finally made up my mind. I wanted you to know in advance. I'll be passing a formal letter to HR in January."

Kara's eyes are so blue under the moonlight and her words are chasing each other around in Lena's head. Kara wants to leave. Kara has been thinking about leaving for months.

And here Lena was, expecting her to stick around for forever.

"Why? I thought you were happy at L-Corp? What could possibly be the reason for you to want to leave?"

I thought you were happy with me?

Lena can't help it, the question comes out of her lips without her permission and she can't take it back.

She thought Kara was happy spending time with her, working with her.

But what Kara says next turns Lena's entire world upside down in a heartbeat.

"You," Kara answers.

Everything slows. Time stops and all Lena can see is Kara and only Kara.

"I want to leave. I need to leave. Because of you, Lena. I'm in love with you, Lena."

Lena's first thought is, Fucking hell Andrea and Sam are gonna insufferable after this. Her second being, KARA'S IN LOVE WITH ME, KARA'S IN LOVE WITH ME, KARA'S IN LOVE WI-

"I'm in love with you. And I think you feel something for me too," Kara utters softly.

"And, I also know how much you value L-Corp and how everybody perceives you and I don't want to start something between us, if it would cost you more than it would cost me," Kara tells her reverently, finally closing the gap and taking Lena's shaking hands into hers.

"Oh, God, Kara, I love you too. God, this is crazy, I love you too. I'm so in love with you."

Lena doesn't even feel the cold, all she feels is this crazy, dizzying rush of happiness at finally being able to say what she's been feeling. And to hear it said back to her.

God, is this what it feels like?

Kara is smiling so wide and it takes a moment for Lena to realize that she is, too. She's smiling so hard her cheeks are hurting.

"I really want to kiss you now."

"I really want you to kiss me now, too, Ka-"

She doesn't even get to finish.

Kara presses their lips together and Lena tastes the cinnamon of Kara's lip gloss, because of course, she's the kind of girl who would wear cinnamon chapstick for Christmas.

They're both smiling too hard to kiss properly for the first time.

Lena breaks away for a moment, only to kiss her again for the second time. This time, deeper, more passionate. 6 months of pent-up emotions and want and love.

"To be clear, you love me, you're not going to fire me and you don't want to rail me??"

"I am never going to let Andrea and Sam near you ever again."

prompts list here

[vermillioncrown]

which acnh villagers would mdzs characters like best? ruby and dotty sound like easy answers to lwj's dreamies, but who'd appreciate coco?actually, which personality types do zyx (meaning you) and dbd characters like?

all villagers are just a combo of animal, personality, and hobbies, but it's their interaction w other villagers and your day-to-days and a player's projection that gives them life

(why i have an irrational hatred towards wart jr., i'm only tolerating him on my island until i get his portrait then i'm shipping him off to my friend)

(this little plague ruined my park in acnl by planting his home right behind mine. literally, only a buttcrack's worth of space and he STILL manages to ruin everything. and had the gall to get uppity about the neighborhood that he destroyed)

(also frobert has invaded my ww town, and i forgot what he did but i wanted frobert the probert dead)

(with the way my houses are spaced out in nh and the fact you actually get a choice, there aren't many conflicts between my villagers, but my friend fucking hated baabara bc that bitch made every one of her villagers cry, and she couldn't kick her out bc her boyfriend that shared the island loved that mean ole bitch lmao)

(i said i was gonna share my island w verm bf, but he knew before i did that i was a tyrant and he'd rather wait for his own switch and own island, but i spent over 24 hrs w three different map planners to sculpt his desired wizarding enclave ; - ;)

=

(i'm almost willing to pay real people money for tiansheng, fuck all those people and their fucking shino and sasha)

=

let's say this is a combo of dbd/college au lol, and i'll go over the characters given most screen time

=

zyx: you can pry kiki and dobie from her cold dead hands. cranky villagers are the funniest, and then jocks, and then normals. says she goes dreamie hunting (cats and wolves), but gives up at the sight of a villager that makes her laugh (benedict and his little face). hurts her feelings to think about villagers not having homes, but is the first to say "EW NO" when on a mystery island. stinky is a rising favorite. somehow has a bunch of chickens on her island without meaning to??

(zyx's juniors - sa runyi: soleil, likes a sassy girl; li shanghui: lionel, thinks he's well-behaved; yan xichao: jitters, looks haunted and down for fun)

zxz: cannot stand snooty or smugs. he's the guy that got raymond and marshal (at different times) and bonks them w his net. loves a good jock, sisterly, lazy, or normal type, just uncomplicated folk. most orderly island of everyone. bonus points if they have a cute little smile. he loves lyman bc that's one of the villagers he overheard zyx say "EW FUCK I'M LEAVING" to. and of course he has drago and phoebe (longlei and yueling)

(zxz's juniors - jiu liwen: barold, he's relaxed and weird-cute; zhao xiucheng: merengue, bc she's cute-cute and sweet-natured)

lwj: again, i think he's a c'est la vie player, gearing more towards tiny, prey-type villagers. there are preferences but he's not going to chase anyone out to make room. keeping it mostly unterraformed, just minor adjustments to fit infrastructure for traversing the island. villagers come and go on their time (once he learns of wwx's dogphobia, he will deny them residence on his island w a heavy heart). it's just fortuitous that dotty hasn't asked to leave yet. finds cole relaxing, likes to sit w him once the sit reaction is there. coco has asked to leave, but he said no every time until...

wwx: he'd appreciate coco. in fact, he likes all the weird looking villagers (and not just basic bitch weirdos like pietro, we're going after the tier 4 and below weirdos and coco is the only tier 1), but no dogs/wolves. he gets gifted coco by lwj when he's ready for her (wwx is always fucking with his island and villager composition, but he also likes them going to friends and other islands instead of back to the void). another one he has a soft spot for is hopkins (segue: also wwx is the only person here that thinks zipper t is hilarious and not creepy). he manages to get all the hybrids first, caught the dupe trick asap

jc: this is the only place he can drown in dogs. between him and jzx (good), they have a good amount of dogs and wolves that they can have a civil conversation when jc has to accompany jyl to visit the jins. he also has a bunch of frogs (henry has a little spot of honor at the beautiful lake on his island). found kyle himself, will never admit how happy he was that wwx gave him butch (wwx got stuck w butch as one of the mandatory move-ins)

jzx: again, dogs and wolves. starting villager mac, best bud forever. he has a winner's luck w mystery islands. fang, whitney, audie; lucky, goldie, cherry - jzx is privileged irl and privileged in animal crossing. everyone on his island is spread apart (they all have lavish yards and shit) so that they can't argue with one another bc our king hates conflict resolution. judy lives there until he can muster the guts to talk to jyl like a normal guy and gift her

lqy: she has a smattering of different villagers, has dreamies (pudge bc his little face invokes a bit of necessary schadenfreude to survive her peers irl), but doesn't feel it's necessary to put in real manhours into hunting them down. diligently breeds flowers without time travel, is the second to get all hybrids after wwx ("come get your non-cheater flowers here!"). grows to love her villagers as they live on her island, hazel is the queen

[tibby]

definitive ranking of all of the trr gang’s parents:

godfrey: sucks for a lot of reasons but he committed the worst crime imaginable: being from england. 0/10.

king kyle maclachlan: yeah yeah his name is constantine but looking like kyle maclachlan is his only redeeming quality so. lame, royal, didn’t care about his kids, slutshamed mc, died the cringe and fail death of being crushed by falling rubble. 0.5/10.

regina: is this old bat still alive? genuine question. 1/10.

lorelai lee: fuck you for how you treat(ed) hana. 1.5/10.

mc’s mystery parents: either dead or just don’t care that their daughter moved to a foreign country, got married, had several attempts made on her life, had a kid, became a duchess and possibly a queen, had a movie made about her, and obtained several fancy hats. if it’s the latter then they have the potential to be the funniest characters of all time but if it’s the former that’s just boring. 2/10.

barthelemy beaumont: as a person with morals and a bertrand stannie, i give him a 0/10. however, as a lover of chaos and comedy, i have to give credit where credit is due and award a full 10/10. he committed regicide, pretended to be in a coma for two decades so he could do evil schemes instead of raising his kids, bankrupted his family on said schemes and then claimed it was because he kept trying miracle cures, decided to come back onto the scene by crashing his son’s rehearsal dinner and announcing that he was cured, blackmailed and kidnapped various royals so he could obtain custody of mc’s child, and his weakness is crows. say what you will about the guy but he’s committed to the bit. overall i think that’s like, a 2.5 or something.

emmeline ebrim: was fun until it turned out she was part of the evil cult and therefore everything she did in the past few books made her fake as hell. still a milf though. 3/10.

lionel nevrakis: shitty dad and can’t even do a successful coup, but i respect the feminism of taking his wife’s name. also i really like his scar. 3.5/10.

milf adelaide: objectively too high in this ranking given that she gave madeleine about fifty complexes and betrayed you several times, but she was the first milf in the series and she’ll always have a special place in my heart for that. nothing like an older woman who just wants to party. 3.8/10.

camellia nevrakis: shitty mother but sexy as hell and hated king kyle maclachlan. credit where credit is due. 4/10.

xinghai lee: the whole “unconditionally supporting his wife” thing would be nice if it was for anything other than allowing her to mistreat hana. 4.2/10.

landon ebrim: absolutely useless in every situation and kind of two faced but he doesn’t seem to be actively evil. mostly he’s just dumber than a sack of bricks. a solid 5/10.

annabelle beaumont: dead and hasn’t appeared in any flashback scenes so it’s hard to know, but maxwell used to be a mama’s boy which is good enough for me. 5.5/10.

bianca walker: much like her daughter, she’s really fucking boring, but she seems nice enough and apparently makes good coffee. also i know that she had “”fallen out of favour”” and it was their choice to stay in cordonia but ditching her children in a foreign country not long after their dad died is kind of a low blow. however it’s also pretty funny. 6/10.

hakim theron: loses points for being friends with king kyle maclachlan for years and not supporting ezekiel’s vet dreams, but overall a nice man who cares about his kids. also one of the few parents in this series who hasn’t tried to ruin mc’s life. 7/10.

drake’s dead dad: all the flashback scenes suggest that jackson was a cool guy, even if i don’t support his choice in career. bonus points for his untimely death kicking off the comedy of errors that is drake’s life. nice ass, sorry you died protecting nobility. 8/10.

queen eleanor: we only get her in flashbacks but she has yet to disappoint. cared for her son but also his ragtag group of besties, something her cringefail husband couldn’t do. will be heartbroken if we find out that she was up to evil shenanigans in the royal finale. kind of shitty that it took a bunch of idiots stumbling onto things for someone to solve her murder but cordonia isn’t known for being competent. the secret daughter thing was kind of wild and i sort of hope we never get any context for it. hope she found a better spouse in the afterlife. 9/10.

joelle theron: loves her children equally, loyal to mc and everyone in the cordonian crew, doesn’t appear to be part of any secret groups and didn’t play a role in any fail coups, cares more about art than she does boring royal stuff, total milf. would hang up one of her paintings on my wall. 10/10.

[ladystrallan]

Most memorable fanfic scene! Monty looking between Phoebe and Sibella at the masquerade ball 😍

I love this one! This fic was a collab with ComingandGoingByBubble (@sibella-mysibella). I loved writing this part :) Thanks for sharing!

“Lionel always ruined everything.

Monty suggested him and Phoebe go watch the dancing after she expressed disinterest in participating herself. Phoebe wasn’t one for dancing. They set off arm in arm in the direction the Hollands had left in.

A small woodwind and strings orchestra commenced a waltz, and the various society couples began their dance.

Monty immediately spotted Sibella, hand and waist gripped by Lionel. Despite how graceful she looked from here, she undoubtedly was having her toes stepped on.

The sight brought Monty back to the time Sibella had brought Monty to her cotillion in her debutante days. It was a happy memory, despite the odd looks they had gotten from the other girls and their dates, wondering why Sibella had taken the son of the disgraced D'ysquith daughter and a penniless musician.

He tried not to cringe as he watched them, but the sight of another man holding his Sibella like that made his blood boil. His Sibella. After fights, and trysts, and marriages, and murder trials she was still his Sibella.

It was even worse that her husband was Lionel. Lionel who so obviously didn’t deserve her. Then again, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. It almost didn’t matter who she had married, he would love her the same nonetheless. And hate the man who stole his chance of marrying Sibella Hallward. Monty wasn’t sure he could ever deem any man worthy of his first love. He almost couldn’t bear the jealousy he felt when he heard her referred to as ‘Mrs Holland’.

He looked at her face; her eyes glazed over, and her lips curved in a performative smile.

Phoebe leaned over to him. “Marvelous, isn’t it?” Surely she had noticed his enthrallment in the waltz.

“Beautiful,” Monty replied. His eyes were still fixed on Sibella’s charming eyes, her delicate frame, her mischievous demeanor.

His focus on Sibella broke and he looked over at Phoebe. Heavens, did she look exquisite tonight. Their costumes had been her idea; and what a wonderful idea they were. He imagined Phoebe portraying Ophelia in some sort of London production of Hamlet. No doubt she would be a better actress than the late Lady Salome.

He smiled at her softly, watching her eyes glitter as they observed the festivities. How he adored her. Her kindness never failed to warm his heart in times of trouble.

He looked back at the clumsy sight of Lionel trying to waltz with Sibella.

Monty noticed how incredibly fitting Sibella’s costume was. She was a rose. Beautiful, yes, but accompanied by pointed thorns. He knew she meant no harm with her harsh words and cold attitudes; she only wanted to protect her heart. Phoebe was a daisy. Innocent and genuine, and softer than Sibella. Phoebe wore her heart on her sleeves rather plainly. Some would deem her as weak, hysterical; but Monty knew she had strength in her own right.

Monty could hardly see a flaw in Phoebe D'ysquith, whereas he could detect every minute flaw in Sibella Hallward. And every fault, every deceitful lie, every vain insecurity, every imperfection made him love her more.

He thought of what was said in Phoebe’s tales of romance. True love; two beings destined to be with each other no matter the peril that would befall them. He did not believe this to be true indefinitely. One precise detail was complete nonsense in his mind.

He was truly, inescapably, inordinately in love with Sibella and Phoebe. And the whole mess of it was meant to be.”

From All the World’s a Stage

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736011

[outlander-babes]

A Breath Of Snow And Ashes Thoughts

Those poor people

I don’t trust MacDonald

THE LASSIE REFERENCE OH MY GOD

Lmao I had to ask my dad when Lassie came out

I love fat raccoons but not when they’re eating stuff they’re not supposed to

I can’t fucking believe Bree hit Roger with a potato

They’re so cute lmao

Ian and Rollo are babies

IANS NAMED AFTER MURTAGH IM GONNA CRY

The Beardsley’s I love my boys so much

The McGillverays are as always iconic

Baby Jemmy is drunk lmao

Hmm Bobby Higgin’s backstory is making my American education act up lmao

This just in: I’m in love with Bobby Higgins

Oh noo Lizzie!!

THE BEARDSLEYS ARE SO CUTE THEY LOVE LIZZIE SO MUCH OH MY GOOOOOD

Bree’s gonna blow shit up and I love that for her

Jemmy and Roger have my whole heart

Jamie and Ian are SO FUNNY

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE DUNCAN INNES

Phaedre is a QUEEN and I think if she didn’t have to protect Jemmy she would’ve decked Steven Bonnet

ROGER IS SUCH A GOOD DAD

Jamie’s fixation with Claire’s ass always makes me giggle

Malva’s so cute

Tom makes me laugh

Brianna is so cute and I’m so proud of her matches

That poor little baby she was so small

Why do we keep fucking traumatizing roger Jesus Christ

Marsali and her baby better be ok or so help me god

Listen I get it he didn’t really help her and Jamie made a good call but Tebbe should have been allowed to escape

Donner and Lionel Brown can choke

GOD DIANA GABALDONS PROSE IS SO GOOD

The way I literally got my favorite teacher to agree to read Outlander based off the back of this book and a snippet of prose

Roger is baby

I’m glad Claire finds Jamie’s naked women situation as funny as I do

MRS BUG IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

FUCK LIONEL BROWN UGH

Mrs Bug is a bad bitch and I love her

ITS WHAT HE DESERVES

THE BUGS ARE SO CUTE AHHHH

Fergus get your shit together

YAY THE BABY AND MARSALI ARE OK

I would DIE for Henri-Christian

Ian is baby I feel so bad

Roger is becoming the unofficial minister that’s so cute!!!

I love Mrs MacCallum

Mrs Wilson is HYSTERICAL

Bobby and Lizzie are so cute omg

YAY I LOVE THE TUSCARORA!!

Jamie baby it’s gonna be ok I believe in you

The old lady seems very nice

Jenny is into bdsm and I’m very proud of her

I love Malva she’s baby

MANFRED OWN UP TO YOUR SHIT

Lizzie sweetie I love you so much

NOOO DONT BE MEAN TO JOSEPH ITS NOT HIS FAULT YOUR SON FELL IN LOVE WITH A PROSTITUTE

Poor baby Aiden

Allen Christie can suck a dick

ROGER IS BABY SWEET BOY

I love Jamie he’s such a good dad

Jamie having a little crushey crush on Flora MacDonald is so cute!!

Yay Roger go be a minister!!

WINDY GOAT DONNER SUCK A WHOLE PENIS CHALLENGE

I would THROW DOWN for Dr Fentiman

I hope Mrs Slyvie is a reoccurring character I like her

Yay Roger’s a minister!!

Smh teenage boys out to ruin everything

Bobby’s so cute!!!

Nooo the poor baby and her mom 😭😭

Claire is such a good doctor

The fact that Claire was straight up on the verge of death, saw one (1) girl flirting with Jamie and went “HELL NO” is sO FUNNY

Roger blessing Henri-Christian was so sweet omg

NOOOO FERGUS MY SWEET BOY

Jamie only being worried about Claire’s ass is so on brand lord help me

“You look like a convict” MR CHRISTIE YOU CANT SAY THINGS LIKE THAT

Claire playing detective lmao

Jemmy and Germaine’s friendship is so wholesome

Mrs Bug carrying an entire spinning wheel on her back…strong queen

Ian and Bree are cousin goals

Poor Ian he just wanted to be happy

Listen I would DIE for Duncan and Phaedre

THEY DESERVE TO BE HAPPY

LIZZIE IS MY QUEEN!!!

Like yes girl get those identical husbands!!

ROGER IS JEMMY’S BIO DAD YAY!!!

Him shaving his head so they match is sO SOFT 🥺🥺

Lizzie and the Beardsley’s are so cute they love their baby so much

THE WAR HAS BEGUN!!!

The Christie’s can kick rocks

Stan Mary MacNab

Claire and Jamie are and have always been the power couple

Roger’s trying to be a good person

Oh sweet baby Ian don’t worry you’ll be happy one day

Yes!! Get that independence!!

“My malva” the way Claire has me in tEARS over this little girl

LET JOSEPH BE HAPPY

Stan Tom Christie

I would die for Sadie Ferguson

Mrs Martin is a vibe

STAN TOM CHRISTIE

Manfred and Eppie are so cute!!

Do I feel bad for Bonnet…HELL FUCKING NO JESUS CHRIST

YAY ITS PHADRE!!!

Brianna’s a bamf but we knew that

NOOOO JOSH!!!

I FUCKING HATE BONNET DROWN HIS ASS ITS WHAT HE DESERVES

Stan the Lindsey brothers

Ok ok ok they keep fucking up Lillywhite’s name and it’s sO FUNNY

Murtagh 🥺🥺

John babe wtf

Listen I love John I do but he fuckin pisses me off ok

MOTHERFUCKER GAVE AWAY HECTOR’S RING EVEN THOUGH HE HAD A DIFFERENT STONE

Hector I’m so sorry a bitch would do that

Brianna should have fucking told Willie the truth idgaf

Lowkey wishing Brianna let bonnet drown

Ian did the right thing

WINDY GOAT’S DEAD HALLELUJAH

Stan the Bugs

Listen I want to know the logistics of this 200 y/o chest

The way all the facts of that paper are false lmao

[kuiperblog]

Feel-good “bad ends”

Movie protagonists are often breaking the rules. This is true even when our protagonists are on the right side of the law: after all, nobody’s perfect. (And if they were, we probably wouldn’t like them as much: after all, it’s hard for a character to have a “growth arc” if they start from a place of perfection. And making occasional mistakes reminds us that, just like us, they’re only human: they’re more relatable.)

But when our protagonists break the rules, it often leads toward one of two different endings: either they get caught and punished for their transgressions (which can make for a feelbad ending), or they get away with it scot-free. Most movies opt for the latter, but it can often feel unsatisfying, because there’s a real sense in which we want to see our protagonists reap the consequences of their actions.

Usually, it’s not a problem for them to suffer the consequences if their transgression is minor. For example, if the main character says something mean to his love interest, he can get a slap in the face -- and having paid for his transgressions, he can then immediately be rewarded with whatever feel-good conclusion the audience is in the mood for.

However, sometimes the protagonist’s transgressions are more dire, and demand more dire consequences. Recently, I’ve found two movies that manage to end with something that is, in an objective sense, a very bad outcome for the main characters, and exactly in proportion to what they deserve for their significant transgressions during the film, yet still allows for a “feel-good” ending. Naming those examples would by itself probably be a spoiler, so...spoilers for an Edgar Wright movie and a Pixar movie (and a Rocky movie) below the fold.

Heist movies are the classic example of a movie formula where the protagonists break a ton of rules and, in the case of a feelgood ending, basically can’t suffer any consequences. Either they get caught and it’s a moral aesop about how crime doesn’t pay, or they get away with it and we’re happy that our characters, who are really quite morally virtuous apart from their tendency to commit acts of robbery, are able to enjoy the spoils they’ve absconded with.

Baby Driver is a movie that I think strikes the perfect balance.  In the end, our main character Baby doesn’t get away with his crimes. He’s committed a lot of crimes, and been involved in a lot of robberies. And not the non-violent kind, either!

At the same time, Baby was always “one of the good ones.” He was never the guy who held the gun; he was always the one behind the wheel. In fact, for basically his entire criminal career, he was blackmailed into it. Of course, the lazy method would be for the judge to have pity on him -- he was forced to commit crimes! But that would be ignoring the fact that the entire reason he got blackmailed in the first place is that he happened to steal a car from a criminal kingpin -- Baby was boosting cars well before a villain put a gun to his head and forced him to do it.

But as we see Baby marched to his prison cell, it’s intercut with testimony during his trial. Everything that we could have said in Baby’s defense is articulated by witnesses speaking in his defense:

“He got himself into a bad spot. I was just trying to get him out. I believe the defendant is of good character. He didn't deserve what happened to him.”

“It was the strangest thing. Before he drove off, he threw my purse right at me. Then he actually said ‘I'm sorry.’” (A delightful callback to a comedic moment earlier in the movie: Baby might resort to carjacking when he’s in a pinch, but he is the most polite carjacker you will ever meet. He doesn’t need your valuables; he just needs a getaway vehicle.)

“He made a mistake when he was younger, and it's haunted him ever since. When he tried to get out, he was pressured even harder. It was never his fault. He's got a good heart. Always has. Always will.”

Maybe it’s the fact that Sky Ferreira’s cover of Lionel Richie’s “Easy Like Sunday Morning” is the musical bed for this scene, but there’s something about the scene that feels incredibly cathartic. Baby Driver might be our protagonist, but he’s not innocent in all of this. His actions have consequences, and he gets sentenced to prison time for them.

At the same time, we’re left with the distinct impression that he has a life waiting for him on the outside. At the very least, Deborah is there waiting for him.

We can rest assured that Baby has no desire to return to a life of crime -- he and Deborah will be content with a modest life together. Indeed, a “modest life” is never something that either of them would need to settle for. Having a quiet simple life has been their aspiration for as long as they’ve known each other. Baby ends the movie knowing that he has years of prison time ahead of him, but also knowing that he’s on the start of a path to redemption. It’s enough to put a skip in his step as he walks across the prison yard.  (Well, maybe not a literal skip in his step, but at the very least, it’s written on his face: he feels good about the path he’s on.)

Baby Driver came out in 2017, but I’ve already lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. I think the ending is a big part of what keeps me coming back to it. I love this ending -- there’s really nothing like the catharsis of seeing Baby held to account for his actions, while also having his virtues acknowledged. Those virtues might not be enough for him to avoid punishment, but in a way, his virtue its its own reward.  It’s a heist movie that ends with the main character getting caught and spending years behind bars, and yet it’s an incredibly feelgood ending that just leaves you satisfied for all the right reasons. (After all, we’ve seen the fate of Baby’s confederates: we know that he could have encountered fates much worse than prison.) There’s really nothing like it.

Well, almost nothing. Last night I finally got around to watching Monsters University.

It’s a fun movie -- the central plot is the classic “underdog sports story.” Mike Wazowski has no talent for scaring -- according to the bigshot jock voiced by Nathan Fillion, the only way someone like Mike could end up working at a place like Monsters Inc is in the mailroom. Of course, because this is a prequel, we know that Mike’s story ends with him and Sulley being best buds together working at the Monsters Inc scream factory, so the odds can’t be that stacked against them, right?  After all, the stakes are too high for them to fail: besides the fact that they need to be ready for the events of Monsters Inc, Mike is able to parley for a chance to get into the university’s scare program only because he makes an agreement with the Dean that if he fails, he’ll leave the school. With stakes that high, it seems only inevitable that Mike and Sulley will fulfill the classic underdog trope and lead a team of lovable losers to victory through sheer force of will (and the power of friendship).

Except, as we find out, force of will and the power of friendship aren’t enough to win you the big game when the thing you’re being tested on is talent and athleticism. Mike gets to experience the triumph of victory...but quickly learns that it only happened because Sulley cheated.

Mike and Sulley both bit off more than they could chew, and made a number of poor choices along the way. Sulley, unable to accept loss, cheated to achieve victory. Mike, unable to cope with experiencing loss, breaks into the university’s door department to mope around in the human world -- which is strictly verboten and extremely dangerous. 

But...in the course of solving the problem that they’ve created themselves (combining their efforts to escape the human world by using scare techniques the likes of which have never been seen before), we learn that Mike and Sulley do have what it takes. The Dean recognizes it, too. It almost feels like she’s about to offer them leniency. After all, this is a prequel movie: we know that all of this has to end with Mike and Sulley working at Monsters Inc in the scare department, right? That means the Dean has to let them back into the university’s scare program! Surely their acts of daring and bravery show they have what it takes to make it in the Monsters University scare program!

And so it comes as no surprise when, at the end of the third act, the Dean comes out just as they’re about to depart. We see what looks like a smile on her face for the first time in the movie.

Except, of course, it would be crazy if they got off scot-free. Mike broke into the human world, which is about the worst possible thing a monster can do. And if the cheating scandal weren’t enough to sink Sulley, there’s also the fact that he followed Mike into the human world (his intentions were noble as he wanted to save his friend, but still extremely dangerous and just as verboten).

The Dean has nothing but kind things to say to them. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to rescue them from the consequences of their actions.

The two get no leniency. We feel an odd mixture of elation and defeat. On one hand, they got the validation that they craved: the Dean, who thought it was impossible for Mike Wazowski to ever be a scarer, now admits that she may have misjudged him. On the other hand, their lives are ruined. They must now reap what they have sown. What will become of their dreams now? And maybe more importantly, how the heck are we supposed to get from here to the events of the original movie that takes place several years later in the Monsters Inc chronology?

And then, Mike remembers something.

“You know, there is still one way we can work at a scare company. They’re always hiring in the mail room.”

Mike and Sulley start at the absolute bottom rung of the corporate ladder. But there are worse fates than doing blue collar work. After all, the entire theme of the underdog sports story that got us to this point was to show that Mike (and, with Mike’s encouragement, also Sulley) are the kind of monsters who will do whatever it takes to achieve their dreams, simply willing it to happen through sheer enthusiasm and force of will and, of course, the power of friendship. After all, anything can be fun when you’re doing it with your friends. As Sulley says, “This is better than I ever imagined!” They approach the job with an enthusiasm that tells us that they’re on their way up within this company.

The rest of their journey is shown to us in montage: 

They’ve got that ambition, baby. This week they’re mopping floors, next week it’s the fries:

Of course, it’s only a matter of time before the company holds “try-outs” for the scare team, and from there, the rest is history.  Plus, if the original movie is fresh enough in your mind, you’ll appreciate the easter egg references to the girlfriend that Mike met during this time (and the constant beratement he constantly got over needing to file his paperwork): 

Over the course of the movie, they made some good decisions -- mostly the ones relating to the power of friendship and hard work. They also made some bad decisions -- mostly relating to playing fast-and-loose with the rules of their institution. Their college careers come to an unceremonious end.

And yet, even though the movie ends with them getting kicked out of college and spending “the best years of their lives” working blue collar jobs, it feels like an undeniably happy ending for the two of them. They reap exactly what they sow -- for worse, and for better. They don’t get to hide from the consequences of their actions...but that doesn’t mean things have to end on a dour note.

There’s something I really dig about that. It feels exactly like the first Rocky movie: Rocky is an athlete who trained and tried and fought as hard as he could -- and still lost. And yet, though he lost the big boxing match, there’s dignity in his loss. And in the end, he succeeded at the thing that really mattered.

In all three of these movies, it feels as though we as the audience are being set up for a specific happy ending. Of course Baby Driver has to end with the getaway driver getting away. Of course Monsters University has to end with Mike and Sulley graduating from the scare program. Of course Rocky has to end with our main character winning the big climactic boxing match. But in the end, we don’t get these “obvious” endings, because getting them wouldn’t really be a reflection of everything that led up to that point. And yet, we don’t walk away disappointed, because we somehow get something better. These characters may not get the “obvious” reward, the thing that they thought they wanted (and the thing that we, as the audience, thought that we wanted). But they get the things that really matter.

[cali-holland]

Family Getaways- Tom Holland One Shot

Pairing: Tom Holland X Reader

Requested by anon: hi! i love your writing so much 💗 if it’s not a big deal, could you please write a oneshot where tom proposes to the reader while on vacation with both of their families, fast forward to the wedding and their vows to each other just has everyone crying cause it’s so sweet?

Prompt: A joint family vacation in California leads to you and Tom seeking your own romantic getaway.

Word Count: 1600

Inspired by: From this Moment On by Shania Twain & the movie The Vow

A/N: So yeah I haven’t actually been to legit weddings, so my bad if I messed up. Also, I’m Californian and I’ve never been to Lake Tahoe so idk why I chose that...

Masterlist   Tom Holland Masterlist  

*gif is not mine*

~~~

“You know, for how many times we’ve been to California, we’ve never been up here.” You pondered with a laugh as you and Tom stepped into your hotel room.

“I know, which is why I suggested it.” He replied, a smug smile on his face, pleased with his decision. The two of you set your luggage down at the foot of the bed and you wrapped your arms around his neck while his went to your waist, pulling you closer to him.

“And to think we could’ve been on a beach in the Bahamas.” You teased.

“Hey, now,” Tom pouted, “Lake Tahoe is supposed to be incredibly romantic.”

“Oh really,” You smirked. He leaned down to kiss you, but stopped when a loud knock sounded from your door.

“Tom, can I use your bathroom? Harry’s blowing up ours, and I just really got to piss.” Harrison asked with a sense of urgency. 

“So romantic.” You laughed as Tom sighed, letting go of you to open the door for his friend. Leave it to Harrison (and Harry) to ruin the moment and bring you two back to reality.

“Thanks.” Haz said, immediately ducking into the en suite bathroom.

Ever since your family moved next door to the Hollands and you all became close friends, it was a tradition to take a joint family vacation (plus Harrison) all together at least once a year. And for the past three years, you and Tom had attempted to use this as your own personal romantic getaway, but your families made sure there was no escaping them- and they also made sure that you two didn’t share a room. That was, until this year at least, and you were not going to complain. Still, the large holiday was always one that you looked forward to. Normally, you’d all go to a resort on the beach or have some sort of nice private beach house, but this year Tom had suggested Lake Tahoe in California of all places; though it wasn’t your typical family vacation, you still saw the appeal of the destination.

You couldn’t really enjoy your alone time with Tom- once Haz had left, it was already time to reconvene with your families in the hotel lobby for dinner. Choosing the steakhouse across the street, all of you (you, the Holland clan, Harrison, your younger sister, and your parents) made your way over there and somehow managed to get a table rather quickly. Tom sat beside you and instantly brought your chair closer to him so that he could put his arm around the back of your chair.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Your mom asked.

“We haven’t even been here three hours yet.” You laughed.

“Skiing?” Sam suggested.

“Snowboarding!” Tom and Harrison cheered simultaneously. Everyone broke off into their own conversations, and Tom turned to you.

“What do you think about going on one of those hot air balloon rides?” He asked, leaning in closer to you.

“Now, that sounds romantic.” You teased.

“And a good way to escape all of them.” Tom laughed, nodding back at your families.

“I also want to do some shopping in some of the boutiques.” You said and he jokingly frowned.

“That doesn’t sound romantic.”

“It doesn’t have to be with you.” You joked, making him shake his head.

“No, no, you’re not escaping me for the next week.” He leaned in further to kiss you.

“Hey, hey, not at the dinner table!” Harry called out as Paddy started to fake gage.

“Whatever.” Tom rolled his eyes at his brothers, shifting back into his seat but still keeping his arm around your chair.

It wasn’t until the third day on your vacation that you and Tom finally managed to break away from your families and take your hot air balloon ride together. After a few days of shopping, snowboarding, hiking, the works, you and Tom were due for your romantic getaway. The balloon lifted off the ground and you held tightly onto Tom’s hand, starting to wonder if maybe taking a relatively unstable floating device over Lake Tahoe was a good idea. Once it was steady in the air, you leaned on the edge of the basket in awe of the view.

“Damn, I’m so good at these ideas.” Tom said proudly, wrapping his arms around you from behind.

“This is incredible.” You smiled, turning to kiss him. “You’re incredible.”

“Mm, I know.” He teased, “You’re pretty incredible, too.”

“Did you plan all this out?” You asked him, skeptically. You looked over at the small table in the balloon that held an assortment of fruits and cheeses, all things that Tom knew to be your favorite.

“What? You don’t think I could spontaneously suggest the perfect hot air balloon ride without any prior research into just how romantic it could be?”

“Considering romantic seems to be your favorite word on this holiday, I’d dare to say this wasn’t spontaneous.” You smirked, and he kissed you again.

“Just try the damn cheese.” Tom laughed. You turned to the table and helped yourself to some cheese blocks.

“Open up.” You said, holding up a cheese block for him. He opened up his mouth and you placed it on his tongue.

“Shit, that’s the good stuff.”

“Mhm,” You hummed, turning back to the table. You bit into a strawberry and went to turn back around to face Tom. You let out a small shriek,freezing, as he was down on one knee.

“Y/N,Y/L/N, you’re my best friend, and I love you more than anything in the world. You’re my soulmate, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” Tom asked with a hopeful smile on his face as he held out an open blue ring box, a beautiful diamond ring sitting in the center.

“You asshole,” You coughed, smiling and slapping his arm lightly. He laughed, confused by your reaction- he had definitely expected a ‘yes’. “I almost choked on that strawberry ‘cause of you.”

“So is that a-”

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” You smiled as he stood up to his full height. He pulled you in for a passionate kiss.

“Oh, shit, the ring.” Tom laughed, remembering he had to actually seal the deal. He carefully took it out of the box and slipped it onto your left ring finger.

“You totally planned this whole holiday around this.” You teased.

“I’ll never tell.” He shook his head as you pulled him in for another kiss.

A few hours later when you two met back up with your families, you could tell that they were all well aware of Tom’s intentions behind the hot air balloon ride, by the way everyone was eyeing you two so expectantly and faked surprise once you showed them the ring.

~~~

And just eight months later, it was the big day. Everything was set up perfectly in the small church near your homes in Kingston. You were more excited than nervous; your new life as an official Holland was just moments away from beginning.

Tom was waiting anxiously at the altar. His palms were a little sweaty and he was resisting the urge to mess with his hair like he always did when he was anxious. He was nearly shaking in anticipation as the music kicked on and his brothers and Harrison walked down the aisle with your sister and your bridesmaids- he was just one step closer to seeing you, his beautiful bride.

“You got this.” Harrison reassured him, from his position as best man. 

Tom nodded, and the music changed to an instrumental version of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’ “Endless Love”. He let out a breath that he didn’t even realize he’d been holding as you emerged from the back of the church with your father leading you down the aisle. You smiled at him, trying to refrain yourself from crying; meanwhile, Tom not so subtly wiped away the tears that had slipped.

As you stood in front of him, you handed your bouquet off to your sister, your maid of honor. Tom took your hands in his and the two of you turned to the officiant. The ceremony went on, but you couldn’t focus on much. You were too focused on the fact that you were standing next to your favorite person in the world, about to marry him. When the time for the vows came, you turned back to fully face Tom.

“Y/N,” He started, smiling softly at you and you could still see the tears in his eyes. “I vow to always be there for you, to hold you whenever life gets hard, to help you throughout life, to always make you smile. From this moment on, I vow to love you for the rest of my life.”

“Tom,” You began, tears beginning to well up in your own eyes. “I vow to love you for the rest of my life, with every beat of my heart; I vow to always care for you, to always support you, and to always give you anything and everything you need. I vow to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.”

“And, now the rings.” The officiant announced and Harrison stepped up, handing over the rings to the two of you. You and Tom went through the “I Do”s and the exchanging of rings.

“You may kiss the bride.”

At the official words, Tom pulled you in for a passionate first kiss as husband and wife.

[bongaboi]

In Lionel Messi’s Move, a Dim Portrait of Modern Soccer

In Lionel Messi’s Move, a Dim Portrait of Modern Soccer

He could not stay where he wanted; few teams could afford him. Even one of the best players of all time was not able to resist the economic forces that carry the game along.

By Rory Smith

Aug. 10, 2021

In those frantic, final hours in April, before a cabal of owners of Europe’s grandest clubs unveiled their plan for a breakaway superleague to an unsuspecting and unwelcoming world, a schism emerged in their ranks.

One faction, driven by Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus, and Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, wanted to go public as quickly as possible. Agnelli, in particular, was feeling the personal pressure of acting, in effect, as a double agent. Everything, they said, was ready; or at least as ready as it needed to be.

Another group, centered on the American ownership groups that control England’s traditional giants, counseled caution. The plans still had to be finessed. There was still debate, for example, on how many spots might be handed over to teams that had qualified for the competition. They felt it better to wait until summer.

If the first group had not won the day — if the whole project had not exploded into existence and collapsed in ignominy in 48 tumultuous hours — this would have been the week, after the Olympics but before the new season began, when they presented their self-serving, elitist vision of soccer’s future.

That the Super League fell apart, of course, was a blessed relief. That this week has, instead, been given over to a dystopian illustration of where, exactly, soccer stands suggests that no great solace should be found in its failure.

On Thursday, Manchester City broke the British transfer record — paying Aston Villa $138 million for Jack Grealish — for what may not be the last time this summer. The club remains hopeful of adding Harry Kane, talisman of Tottenham and captain of England, for a fee that could rise as high as $200 million.

And then, of course, dwarfing everything else, it emerged that Lionel Messi would be leaving — would have to leave — F.C. Barcelona. Under La Liga’s rules, the club’s finances are such that it could not physically, fiscally, register the greatest player of all time for the coming season. It had no choice but to let him go. He had no choice but to leave.

Everything that has played out since has felt so shocking as to be surreal, but so predictable as to be inevitable.

There was the tear-stained news conference, in which Messi revealed he had volunteered to accept a 50 percent pay cut to stay at the club he has called home since he was 13, where he scored 672 goals in 778 games, where he broke every record there was to break, won everything there was to win and forged a legend that may never be matched.

As soon as that was over, there came the first wisps of smoke from Paris, suggesting the identity of Messi’s new home. Paris St.-Germain was, apparently, crunching the numbers. Messi had been in touch with Neymar, his old compadre, to talk things through. He had called Mauricio Pochettino, the manager, to get an idea of how it might work. P.S.G. was in touch with Jorge, his agent and father.

Then, on Tuesday, it happened. Everything was agreed upon: a salary worth $41 million a year, basic, over two years, with an option for a third. As his image was stripped from Camp Nou, a hole appearing between the vast posters of Gerard Piqué and Antoine Griezmann, Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, boarded a plane in Barcelona, all packed and ready to go.

Jorge Messi assured reporters at the airport that the deal was done. P.S.G. teased it with a tweet. Messi landed at Le Bourget airport, near Paris, wearing that shy smile and a T-shirt reading: “Ici, C’est Paris.”

This was not a journey many had ever envisaged him making. But he had no other choice; or, rather, the player for whom anything has always been possible, for once, had only a narrow suite of options.

There is a portrait of modern soccer in that restricted choice, and it is a stark one. Lionel Messi, the best of all time, does not have true agency over where he plays his final few years. Even he was not able to resist the economic forces that carry the game along.

He could not stay where he wanted to stay, at Barcelona, because the club has walked, headlong, into financial ruin. A mixture of the incompetence of its executives and the hubris of the institution is largely responsible for that, but not wholly.

The club has spent vastly and poorly in recent years, of course. It has squandered the legacy that Messi had done so much to construct. But it has done so in a context in which it was asked and expected to compete with clubs backed not just by oligarchs and billionaires but by whole nation states, their ambitions unchecked and their spending unrestricted.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the onset of calamity, and so Barcelona was no longer in a position where it could keep even a player who wanted to stay. When it came time for him to leave, he found a landscape in which only a handful of clubs — nine at most — could offer the prospect of allowing him to compete for another Champions League trophy. They had long since left everybody else behind, relegated them to second-class status.

And of those, only three could even come close to taking on a salary as deservedly gargantuan as his. He should not be begrudged a desire to be paid his worth. He is the finest exponent of his art in history. It would be churlish to demand that he should do it on the cheap, as though it is his duty to entertain us. It could only have been Chelsea or Manchester City or Paris.

To some — and not just those who hold P.S.G. close to their hearts — that will be an appetizing prospect: a chance to see Messi not just reunited with Neymar, but aligned for the first time with Kylian Mbappé, who many assume will eventually take his crown as the best, and with his old enemy Sergio Ramos, too.

That it will be captivating is not in doubt. And doubtless profitable: The jerseys will fly off the shelves; the sponsorships will roll in; the TV ratings will rise, too, perhaps lifting all of French soccer with it. It may well be successful, on the field; it will doubtless be good to watch. But that is no measure. So, too, is the sinking of a ship.

That the architects of the Super League arrived, in April, at the wrong answer is not in doubt. The vision of soccer’s future that they put forward was one that benefited them and left everyone else, in effect, to burn.

But the question that prompted it was the right one. The vast majority of those dozen teams knew that the game in its current form was not sustainable. The costs were too high, the risks too great. The arms race that they were locked into led only to destruction. They recognized the need for change, even if their desperation and self-interest meant they could not identify what form that change should take.

They worried that they could not compete with the power and the wealth of the two or three clubs that are not subject to the same rules as everybody else. They felt that the playing field was no longer level. They believed that, sooner or later, first the players and then the trophies would coalesce around P.S.G., Chelsea and Manchester City.

It was sooner, as it turns out. P.S.G. has signed Messi. City may commit more than $300 million on just two players in a matter of weeks, as the rest of the game comes to terms with the impact of the pandemic. Chelsea has spent $140 million on a striker, too. This is the week when all their fears, all their dire predictions, have come to pass.

There should be no sympathy, of course. Those same clubs did not care at all about competitive balance while the imbalances suited them. Nothing has damaged the chances of meaningful change more than their abortive attempt to corral as much of the game’s wealth as possible to their own ends.

But they are not the only ones to lose in this situation. In April, in those whirlwind 48 hours, it felt like soccer avoided a grim vision of its future. As Messi touched down on the ground near Paris on Tuesday, as the surreal and the inevitable collided, it was hard to ignore the feeling that it had merely traded it for another.

Rory Smith is the chief soccer correspondent, based in Manchester, England. He covers all aspects of European soccer and has reported from three World Cups, the Olympics, and numerous European tournaments. @RorySmith