#most of the time i go into the city it's school-related or family-related and very rarely for fun

[interact-if]

Black History Month Author Spotlight: Lapin

To kickstart the Black History Month Author Spotlight series, I'd like to introduce everyone to our first IF author, Lapin (@harlequinoccult)!

(I had a ton of fun reading Lapin’s answers, and I’m sure you will too! Read on for a celebration of ‘weird,’ Lapin’s Black southern gothic / horror influences, and how a D&D game could lead to interactive fiction!

Lapin, thank you again for your candid, humorous responses, I am very honored to have gotten to know you better :D)

Author: Lapin

Black creole and cajun, artist and writer, and wannabe game developer

Games: Slaughter Squad (Horror, Slasher, Romance)

Synopsis: YOU HAVE A HUNGER A HUNGER THAT YOU’VE BEEN NEGLECTING For the most part, you’re a pretty normal mid-20-something year old who lives in a shitty apartment in the city. Well, except for one thing. Your.....”Associate” Carter “Dollface” Abernathy. Who is a murderer, and quite frankly, a sloppy one at that. And you’re the accessory to his crimes. No matter what way you’ve gotten to know the man, or how you feel about him, you’re stuck with him, and stuck with just being his little “helper” ........Or are you? Especially when you’re suddenly given a....Unique opportunity.

Games: The Valley of Luck (Fantasy, Adventure, Romance)

Synopsis: The Valley of Luck was said to be a myth. Something that grandparents would tell their grand-kids around a campfire. Even those who worshiped Lucian, The God of Luck, thought it nothing but an old wives tale. Until, one day, a man with an arm made of solid gold started telling people that he'd been there, that he'd seen the Valley. Word spread quickly, and suddenly, every continent was alight with the rumor that The Valley was real, that it could give you all the riches you could ever want, and then some. However, your quest, whether related to The Valley or not, will lead you down a much stranger path.

Quote from the interview:

My upbringing was a bit odd. I am the youngest of three, two older brothers, one being a half brother, in a black military household… Middle school Lapin was a jock. But, lo and behold, the internet started getting more popular and that kid's brain exploded from internet exposure, for better and for worse. … I feel that there is a specific and niche demographic of people like me that were raised by early 2000s to 2010s internet. And on that era of internet, were creepypastas, online horror, early ARGs….I ADORED internet horror, which was my gateway into classic horror, funnily enough. Slaughter Squad, in my eyes, is a letter to that black kid that wanted to be weird. Be weird, be messy, see a fucked up movie, get more out of life.

Read on for the full interview!

Tell me more about yourself! What are some things new readers or long-time readers might not know about you?

Both parts of my family are 100% from Louisiana, New Orleans and the deep south. My moms side have been there so long, we have two streets named after us.

Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?

My main project, of course, is Slaughter Squad. I love slasher movies and horror media in general. But what I always noticed with horror/romance, at least in the visual novel scene, is that the main character is nearly always the one getting screwed over, so I thought, well, what if the bad guys actually are your peers? How would this dynamic change if they don't see you as prey? I never thought that premise would appeal so much to so many but hey, I can't complain! I adore seeing people having fun with the silly little concept I had.

Now, my secondary project, The Valley of Luck. Some may not know this, but this story is based off of a D&D campaign I DM'ed back in the day with my friends. All the ROs are NPCs that my friends had, or where going to encounter. I won't lie, I did shy away from it and changed some things when the whole debacle with Wizards of the coast (the company that "owns" D&D) Where making some...questionable decisions. But this story is my baby. My first born. This one has been in the works far longer than SLSQ and has a lot of background lore that I hope I get the opportunity to share.

I do have a few other projects bumping around, One I am particularly excited for, But that one will have to wait a little bit~

How has your identity, heritage/background, upbringing, or personal experiences influenced your storytelling or writing process? OR How does your work feature aspects of your identity / experience?

My upbringing was a bit odd. I am the youngest of three, two older brothers, one being a half brother, in a black military household. I never felt that I truly had a sense of identity until that household inevitably split up. Everyone talks about being the weird kid in middle school, but no one mentions being the "normal on the outside but wants to be the weird kid so bad its painful on the inside but can't because you were told that stuff is 'white people shit' " type of kid.

Middle school Lapin was a jock. But, lo and behold, the internet started getting more popular and that kid's brain exploded from internet exposure, for better and for worse. I was a little shitter on the internet, I can't lie about that, as much as I want to. But I feel that there is a specific and niche demographic of people like me that were raised by early 2000s to 2010s internet. And on that era of internet, were creepypastas, online horror, early ARGs....I ADORED internet horror, which was my gateway into classic horror, funnily enough. Slaughter Squad, in my eyes, is a letter to that black kid that wanted to be weird. Be weird, be messy, see a fucked up movie, get more out of life.

What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you?

Let your characters speak through you like you're being possessed by a demon.

What’s the one thing you’re really proud of that you’ve written so far? Do you have a favorite character or scene that you’ve written?

I am so serious.

is it wildly inconvenient? yes. does it help your writing a ton? also yes. Doing Roleplay with friends is a fantastic way to learn to do this. being a DM for a D&D game has basically made it so characters can simply speak from my brain at any given moment. It's also annoying because some of these people do NOT shut up. Learning how a character would react on the fly does wonders for dialogue writing and character analysis. Roleplay with your friends, or hell, strangers who are down to clown that could become friends. Be cringe. be free.

I love the opening to Slaughter Squad and if you told me to rewrite it with a gun to my head I would tell you to shoot me. I love how punchy it is and it came out exactly how I wanted it to. I don't play favorites with characters (<- lying) but my two favorites to write are the stinky little bastard cat Sterling in TVoL and.....Carter, from SLSQ. I love writing complete bastards. One being lighthearted and gets a pass for it because he's just a kitty cat and the other you want to actively beat his face in with your bare hands. It's SO funny.

If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be?

Write. Write it now. Doesn't have to be good doesn't have to be polish all that matters is that you WROTE IT. All the bells and whistles can come later!!!! Stop thinking about the later and think about the now!!!! Write what you love and never give two shits about if it's cringe!!! Be excellent to each other!!!

Any books, music, movies etc. you’re obsessed with at the moment, or which changed your life (or perspectives on something)?

GO LISTEN TO CHROMAKOPIA BY TYLER THE CREATOR RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!

This-or-that segment: (bold = Lapin’s pick)

Coffee or tea?

Early mornings or late nights?

City or countryside?

Angsty or Cozy romances? (Or enemies-to-lovers or best-friends-to-lovers?)  

Steady progress or frenzied binge-writing followed by periods of calm?

Summer or Winter?

First drafts or editing?

Introvert or extrovert?

Plotter or pantser?

Characters or plot first?

Lapin’s custom “this-or-that” pairing: Rain or Shine

More on Black Southern Gothic:

Black southern gothic can vary a lot, but when I think of it, I think of old semi abandoned wood shotgun houses in the swamp, all white tiny baptist churches where the white paint is peeling from the heat and humidity, riding horses down a dirt paved street while people still ride by in their old busted down 1960s chevys. Old plantation houses that have been reclaimed by the swamp. The dark, humid heat of the night on a street with no streetlights. Every house you see is absolutely haunted by something and not just ghosts. Voodoo and hoodoo is different than what people will tell you it is.

Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo by Ntozake Shange, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jessamin Ward, and anything by Toni Morrison 100%.

[sunshinetomioka]

More Rdr2 modern AU thoughts no "criminality" in this. I just can imagine them living in some sort of commune centered around a ranch. (this was inspired by Dutch talking about the Paris commune) I changed a few ages so it fits more modern society and like most of them don't really have exact ages. Some aren't as fleshed out as the others but it's not cuz I like them less or more.

Hosea(55) : was the one who bought the ranch with Bessie then slowly Dutch, Arthur and John came to live here too. When she sadly passed away he was glad they were here. Him and Bessie were a foster home, which is how Arthur and John met them. He sees Abigail as the daughter he and Bessie would have had and therefore think of Jack as his grandson. Bessie and him were teachers in primary school.

Dutch (45): got elected mayor of the commune somehow, it doesn't actually do anything but feeds his need of power so it's cool. He is the one talking to the law and intruder most of the time if there's a problem, can't deny he has a way with word. Has like 3 accusations of starting a cult. It is unsure how he and Hosea met and when, everyone gets lost with all the stories they tell.

Arthur(36): lived here almost his whole life but can spend months away on some weird roadtrip and then comeback. Learned many different job to help around. Spend his free time either drawing or enjoying nature. Likes shooting competition too. He's chronically ill/ disabled because of tuberculosis, he's doing better than a year ago but the sequel will follow him all his life.

John (26): hated living here at some point, couldn't find anything he was "good enough" at. After taking a self discovery journey (and fleeing the responsibility of being a father this young) he found out he liked herding the cows or sheep. I can't really imagine him and Abigail still being together in a society that doesn't push women to find men like in 1899. I think there would be tension at first but they'd end up sharing "custody" of Jack, after all they live in the same "town" (and Hosea would kill John if he didn't take care of that kid)

Abigail (24): arrived here with luck, mother of Jack she would have probably aborted if she didn't have a pregnancy denial cuz she feels she's too young to be a mother (which she was, she finished high school only a year or two before!) Hosea loves teaching her the rope of the ranch, she is family after all.

Uncle (67): Came at some point, acted like he belonged and never left. Nobody can tell how he arrived. He usually goes into nearby town to buy or sell or... Well avoid work at the commune.

Susan (49): She knew Dutch for a while now and after some health related issues he decided to offer her to live at the ranch, she greatly helped with setting up everything that the commune became.

Bill (31): after getting discharged by the army he couldn't find any places that wanted him, struggled with homelessness for a while until he joined the commune. He's very helpful when it comes to muscle jobs which they clearly lacked when he joined. He probably works on the day outside the commune to make himself some money, it's mostly helping with manual task.

Javier (26): just like in the OG story he got taken in by Dutch, Trelawny somehow managed to help him get documents so he could be legal. He's an aspiring musician.

Karen (24): She was on a roadtrip when she discovered the commune, she stayed for a while before leaving and then returned a year or so later as she couldn't find anything to please her way of living in the rest of society.

Mary-Beth (23): Met Arthur in one of his roadtrip and absolutely fell in love with the stories he told her, she asked if she could join the commune in hope of finding inspiration for her books.

Tilly (21): She got to be in the commune thanks to foster care after losing both her parents. She sort of grew up with John and loves going into the city and meet people, she spends lots of time with Mary-Beth discussing their respective lives. She probably does tik tok videos to explain how they live in the commune. Her, Karen and Mary-Beth probably take Arthur with them when going to protest march and even tho he's not fond of crowds he always come if they ask.

Molly (27): A rich girl who discovered the commune through Tilly's videos. She decided to live there as a way to rebel against her family. Despite her upbringing she loves the place and the people but never shows it.

Lenny (19): studying in the university in the biggest city near the commune, Dutch met him the day he initially got rejected from uni, he said he could use a guy like him once he'd graduate and somehow found a way to have Lenny accepted. Comes in the commune when he's on holidays or to study before exams.

Sadie (30): After losing her husband in a fire she tried to kill herself, thankfully Dutch and Arthur saw her and stopped her. They took her to the commune, she still suffer from depression but is starting to feel like living again. Spend a lot of her time with the animals. She used to live in the ranch her husband inherited.

Charles (28): When he was only a few years old he was separated from his mother, remembering very little of her and her heritage. He was given to his father who became an alcoholic as time passed. He visited a lot of tribe to try and find his heritage, when passing in the region of the commune he met Arthur and they talked for a while as Arthur guided him to the local tribe. He comes from time to time, stay for a while. It's like a second home.

Sean(24): tried to rob them in order to feed himself when Arthur caught him and brought him to Dutch the latter decided Sean could be forgiven by working around in the commune, he hasn't left since then.

Kieran (28): after an incident in the ranch he worked at, Kieran tried to find a new place to live. He first found a job with the O'Driscoll but didn't like it. He accidentally entered the commune and they thought he was a robber. After he explained his situation they let him go and he decided to stay there.

Pearson (38): he takes care of the general store but it isn't really a general store it's more like where everything is centered to make it more accessible to the rest of the commune. He arrived here after hearing about it in a nearby city, thought it might reminds him of his time in the navy.

Swanson (47): Pretty much like in the game Swanson went through a lot and lost his faith, Hosea and Dutch took pity of him and offered to help him find peace again in the commune. After he got better and decided to serve as the clergyman of the group.

Strauss (53): I think that the canon version still work quite well for him, I can see his family being Austrian immigrants in a big city and deciding he should live in a more rural place and that's how he ends up in the commune. He takes care of everything that falls under bookkeeping (be it money, materials or food)

Trelawny (41): doesn't actually live in the commune but he's a long time friend so he comes by often.

Jack (5): everyone's favorite boy, spent his two first years living with Abigail (who was kindly helped by Hosea and sometime Arthur) right now John and Abigail found an agreement and he spent half his time with Abi and the other half with John. They do some activities all together too.

There's probably lots of inaccuraty since I don't live in the US and like unless it's disrespectful I don't really care lol

[kohakhearts]

goh parentified child syndrome. go(h)

my time is here at last. thank you for enabling me <3 apologies for taking months to finish writing this giant post!

welcome to my dissertation on this fucking Dynamic <3

ok! first thing, let's establish our criteria for Parentified Child Syndrome. this is obviously not like, an actual diagnostic Thing, but there are a million and one articles out there for us to look through. so i did the tough work of scouring those to find some Symptoms we can use as anchor points here. a lot of this is split into "emotional" (parents seeking comfort from their children, rather than comforting them) vs. "material" (parents assigning their children responsibilities that are not age-appropriate (e.g. grocery shopping, paying bills, etc.)) needs, but for simplicity i'll just merge them together - because realistically, they often go hand-in-hand. so the primary symptoms we'll work with here will be:

disruptive childhood behaviours (particularly at school)

stress and anxiety

reluctance to participate in play/age-appropriate activities with their peers

difficulty acknowledging and accepting one's feelings

insecure attachment styles

need to feel "in control"

distrustful of others/self-reliant to a fault

absenteeism and poor performance in school

passive communication style

the other obvious prerequesite here is the family dynamic. so let's dissect that one a bit!

goh's family situation isn't actually like...100% clear. but i have analyzed every episode where his family is even mentioned like it's my full-time job and i have no reason to believe his grandmother actually lives with him. so in the scope of this essay, i am assuming that she lives nearby, and most likely has a key to the apartment, but does not live with them.

otherwise, we are given enough context to assume that camille and walker have been busy with work goh's entire life (though i'd choose to believe for my own sanity that in his infancy his mother at least wasn't working...though given the type of job she has, that's actually...kinda hard to say for sure). we can also assume that they've at least been self-employed for the majority of his life. it's clear that they are fairly well-established in the city/in their field by jn, and since goh is supposed to be 10 at this point, it makes sense to me that they've been building that company up pretty much his whole life.

in terms of the work they do, goh tells ash, my dad is a system engineer and my mom is a programmer. they run a company together. granted, we don't see very much of their actual workplace, but what we do see is completely void of other people. as in, camille and walker do all this work BY THEMSELVES.

nothing in the anime otherwise disputes this! if anything, goh's explanations of his parents' lifestyle just reinforces it. he also suggests that during periods of harsh weather and heavy system use, his parents are busier than usual. this implies that they are most busy during holidays. this is actually further implied by the flashback in jn015 where they explicitly say to him that they're sorry for having to work through the holiday. his reaction, being completely unengaged, not even really even acknowledging it, tells us that this is the norm.

however!! he also shows off a special device to horace in jn032 that he says his parents made specifically for him, to help him learn more about mew. this suggests that they must have some amount of free time to dedicate to him...but they show their love for him through material gifts related to their line of work (his computer set-up, too; he tells scorbunny that his parents set it all up for him).

otherwise, we see camille and walker privately share their concerns about goh (a clear awareness that he doesn't have many friends, concern about him being lonely because of them, etc.) but never actually confront goh with their concerns or appear to go out of their ways to do anything about it. i wrote a bit about this and the symbolism of having him catch a cubone of all pokemon in the episode we're introduced to his family here but the tl;dr is that camille and walker demonstrate care for goh to each other but not to him - presumably to compensate for their physical absence, we get the impression he's given a lot of freedom and little to no discipline.

which brings me to the first criterion:

disruptive childhood behaviours (with a side of absenteeism, which presumably contributes to poor performance in school)

goh's school life is obviously inconvienent to the plot progression, so for narrative purposes the writers have him just not go to school. in jn049 we get the explanation that goh had made a promise to their teacher to show up to school for tests...but the weird thing about this scene is that chloe's surprised by it:

since in jn001 and jn002 we see that chloe is goh's only point of contact amongst his schoolmates and that she hand delivers schoolwork to him at her dad's lab, the only way this exchange really makes sense to me is if it's a new arrangement. even the fact that goh makes a point of saying "hey, i followed through, go me" to their teacher here gives that vibe.

so, we can extrapolate from that that...prior to whenever this agreement was made, goh just didn't go to school because he didn't want to. but given how schools operate, we can pretty safely assume his parents are aware of this. and i have strong reason to believe that they have at least been on the receiving end of phone calls from teachers or administrators, because of these lines from jn015:

all things considered, this is a weird assumption to make, especially about your hyper-independent introverted child...unless there's a history of disruptive or unfriendly behaviour to inform that assumption. and based on goh's behaviour in jn001 at professor oak's pokemon camp, i don't think it's so out there to say the pattern probably was there.

goh is actually a super sweet kid towards his parents and has a clear admiration for them both. even in flashbacks, his whole thing is kind of like...he doesn't want to bother them. they fall asleep on family vacation and don't spend time with him? well, that's fine! he'll just find something else to do! in that same episode in the flashback sequence, they pick him up on the side of the road alone in the pouring rain and he doesn't say a word to them. even though he was angry and upset before.

so, yeah. i think it would make a lot of sense if he were well-behaved at home and not so much so at school. but camille and walker, even when they learn about things that happen, don't seem to probe or discipline him. whether because of any combination of giving him leeway out of guilt or of not wanting to encourage him to act out at home, we don't know. but the disconnect obviously exists.

which then contributes to

stress and anxiety, difficulty acknowleding and accepting one's feelings, and passive communication style

goh is socially awkward, yes, and clearly very anxious socially especially early on in jn, but a lot of that seems to come from an inability to express his wants and needs. i think jn003 has some of the most succinct examples of this - ash having to realize he's struggling and to reach down to him when they're climbing the tower in order for him to even accept that he can get (and needs) help getting up, and then later one when he stumbles over his words trying to ask ash to be his friend.

i think another good example is in jn007, after he gets knocked out at the flute cup. passive communication relies a lot on shifts in body language and in, well, passive statements. when ash approaches him to tell him to cheer up, goh doesn't actually really...respond to that. he does this

and then runs off. which he does fairly often, actually, even as late as jn135. it's emotional avoidance 101. literally just run away from the thing that's bothering you. something else we see in jn135 is him backing out of admitting he wants to go on a journey - because he is concerned about ash's reaction (though i think it's a little more complex than that, but i'll circle back to that).

and of course there's jn062, which i wrote a lot about in this post. but the whole thesis of the episode is that goh has learned through his relationships up to this point that it's okay to not understand your feelings but you still have to feel them. and it's actually a really beautiful character development moment for him, but also reinforces the fact that he still doesn't know how to grapple with his own emotions. after finally finding drizzile and explaining how he knew he would find it there, he starts to cry and doesn't know why. but even aside from feeling vulnerable, it's kind of a culmination of this stress he's been carrying with him throughout the whole episode...and the sense of responsibility he feels for driving drizzile away. which is a great segue into

insecure attachment styles and need to feel "in control"

if there's one thing i feel like people sleep on regarding goh's character, it's how much of a mother hen he is. he's obviously very thorough and thoughtful when it comes to looking after his pokemon - as in jn062 where he spends all that time chasing down drizzile after it runs away, even to the point of telling ash and chloe that they should stay behind because it's getting late but that he's going to keep looking - but he's the same way with ash.

off the top of my head, things like buying extra scones because he knew ash would want them, making ash wash his hands after eating ice cream, chastising him about punctuality, you know...very parental kind of things. he actually does it with horace too, when they first meet, by bringing a lunch for them both when he goes back to the forest to meet him again.

anyway, being a Mom Friend is cute and all, but it also REEKS of parentified child. taking on responsibilities that aren't yours to fulfill? yeah. that's a need to feel in control. it's what he's used to! it offers him security!

the other side of this is...chloe. goh's first friend, who he refuses to consider a friend, or let consider him a friend. but, like, she obviously IS his friend. and yet our introduction to them gives us this exchange

goh and chloe have a pretty tense relationship at the beginning of jn, wherein she is clearly trying to help him (by you know. getting his homework for him and shit) and he blows her off in a text message, which she complains is a repeating behaviour. chloe is obviously very loyal to him, even though he doesn't seem to repay the favour. again, there's a big disconnect here.

insecure attachments generally stem from anxiety over potential rejection and/or poor self-esteem cultivated in childhood based on parents’ emotional availability (or lack thereof) to their children. by keeping chloe an arm's distance away, goh keeps himself safe from the dangers of vulnerability, taught to him through childhood encounters with emotionally unavailable parents.

i'm not here to armchair diagnose (ok, who am i kidding, yeah i am), but i think goh's attachment style is anxious-avoidant. his clear avoidance of making friends, the multiple times we see him break off his friendship with ash only to minutes later be like "me and the bestie"...yeah, that's avoidance. but he does crave intimacy, arguably even more than he fears it.

hence why even though he knows ash would want him to journey on his own...he still convinces himself that actually telling ash that would be, as he calls it, a "betrayal of [their] friendship." my theory is that he's not concerned that ash will be upset - he's concerned that ash won't be upset enough. which is why when then ash turns it around on him and says he's going on a journey, goh gets upset and pushes him away. he does the exact same thing with horace when they're younger. just a complete 180 - he wronged me once, so he's the worst and i can't forgive him, ever.

the difference with chloe is that she actually takes care of him more than he takes care of her - which changes the dynamic from "i have to do everything to keep this person in my life, including suppressing my emotions for their sake" to "i cannot express to this person that i have needs and desires because they'll think i'm too much and they won't stick around if i do." which is primarily avoidant, but insecure attachment nonetheless.

this is extrapolation, but i think his relationship with chloe is so different because we are supposed to get the sense that they have a more familial dynamic. so, she's the one person he can't push away from him - but as he learned in his actual family dynamic, he also can't be too close to her. he doesn't want to be smothered; he doesn't want her to feel smothered by him. so they maintain a degree of separation that only begins to go away after her father begins literally housing and feeding him, thus integrating him and ash into their family in some honorary way.

which brings me to the last point, i guess, which is

reluctance to participate in age-appropriate activities with peers and self-reliant to a fault

these are, i think, the traits that jn is most blatantly attempting to better in goh throughout his arc. so i won't spend too long hashing it out, because i think these are things we all know he struggled with!

in flashbacks, we see him alone at school; during the first episode, at professor oak's camp, he is always physically distanced from the other kids and chloe even points out that he's basically doing professor oak's job at one point! he's not on the same level as the other kids and it's clear he doesn't want to be. when he meets horace, we see that it takes him some time to get comfortable enough with him to go explore the forest together and become friends.

he doesn't go to school, but that doesn't mean he isn't learning things - he becomes a very self-directed learner early on, from what he see. he's not just like...rotting in his room playing video games. he's studying and researching. the only times aside from with horace that we see him in a flashback doing something that isn't solitary is with pokemon - and even then, he's like...reciting their pokedex entries. his abra story at the end of jn is precipitated by him saying he was going through his dad's old pokedex (which is a whole other thing - this implies walker used to be a trainer, but neither of goh's parents seem to have pokemon...perhaps they're too busy with work to look after them? a theory for another time, i suppose, but it has undeniably being gnawing at my brain since that episode aired lol).

and of course, there's the fact that in jn062 he tells drizzile he was never comfortable with confiding in his parents or his grandmother...suggesting that he never confided in anyone, because we don't really get the sense from the whole "i don't NEED friends" exchange in jn001 that he considers chloe a reliable confidant, either.

the other place we see his flawed sense of self-reliance, aside from like...everywhere in the first 10 or so episodes, lol (something that is reflected pretty beautifully and symbolically in scorbunny's story, too!), is in project mew. he has to learn how to work in a team - and he clearly hates it. at this point he's found one person to rely on, but that already feels like too much. the raid battle with articuno is the most obvious example of this. he isn't good at being a leader, but he also isn't good at being a follower. because he's only ever been responsible for himself, and he doesn't trust anyone else to know how to direct him, but he also has no clue how to work within the parameters of a team.

i also want to say, as a final note, that i actually think this is all extremely intentional writing. obviously in the west we have a strong capitalism culture too, but the work culture in japan is very toxic (just google "japan work culture" and you can see right away how intense it is lol) and i'm not actually surprised at all that pokemon would make such a direct commentary on that - a lot of japanese kids could probably relate to goh and his emotionally absent, work-obsessed parents! they are clearly pretty well-off, but their dedication to work supercedes matters of home and family, because that's how it's supposed to be. as a result, goh admires them a lot for this dedication - but his arc is primarily about letting go of the "work" part of interacting with pokemon and learning how to have fun and make the most of his experiences. and i think that's a really lovely message for modern pokemon to be sending to kids :')

[todostiddies]

Eren Boyfriend Headcanons pt 2

Modern Eren headcanons for GNreader, a continuation of pt 1

*** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ***

Texts you goodnight and good morning without fail, but sometimes the good morning texts come at like 12am bruh

He will buckle your seat belt for you

He will open the door for you and if you forget to buckle right away he'll just tell you to scoot over and do it for you before buckling his own

Thinks it's funny to tighten your hood around your face randomly

Absent-mindingly tracing hearts and shapes on you while cuddling

Will call you brat, which he started as a joke to make fun of Levi and now it is unironically a part of his vocabulary much to his dismay

He thinks you being hangry is the adorable even if you're a total demon because of it, in fact, the meaner you get the cuter because he can just poke all the more fun at you when he buys you food and you immediately switch up all sheepishly (which he also loves)

An extra careful driver with you in the car which can then lead to some road rage towards others who aren't, but it never goes past a mean look, the bird, and a couple insults in the privacy of the car. He also deffo does that hot arm hold to you when he brakes too hard and he'll give a little cheeky smile and apology after

Will play Pokemon Go with you and go on Pokemon Go dates where you guys walk the routes and go on hikes or walks around the city to catch pokemon and he always buys you snacks and lunch/dinner during srry but im still in my pokemon go phase

His favorite pokemon is Psyduck

yknow that video where some womans boyfriend/husband was covering the sharp edge of a table while she was on the verge of bumping into it all distracted?? Yeah, that's him. He will cover corners for you and always makes sure you won't clumsily hurt yourself and will watch your step for you depending on how clumsy you are

but at the same time he is constantly trying to trip you and shoves into you with his whole body while walking and tries to push you into puddles like a child

He is fiercely loyal of all of his loved ones and has/will fight anyone on sight for them, as we all know, but he is also very protective of their dreams

He keeps tracks of all his friends and familys most treasured goals/dreams and behind the scenes he is also helping make them come true if he can and/or congratulating them on their progress that no one else may notice and he even will send related things to them like articles or posts

so naturally, things you're really passionate about he will look into and maybe even get into it too

I feel like his mom would have enrolled Eren and Mikasa as junior life guards, she did amazing and really liked it and Eren had fun and was good but didn't care to do it again. Armin went to the wave/beach every day just to hang out with them still, and sometimes Eren abandoned duty or snuck away during a lesson to pick seashells with him

Speaking of, Eren has a mini seashell collection from him and Armin picking them together. He dates each seashell and has given you a couple that he thought you'd like

Because of the whole lifeguard thing, he knows CPR and some basic first aid and the friend group always goes to him if they need extra medical help and he goes straight into his rare mom mode

Him and Mikasa kissed once in a 7 minutes of heaven game in freshmen year of high school, and afterwards decided they were better as friends and never even told Armin until a drunken night of confessions between the three senior year, the night before graduation

He will and has sacrificed himself in little ways for his friends and family, and would do so in bigger ways if the situation ever called for it

He LOVES kissing you

Kisses every morning, before leaving, coming home, when he's bored, when he's excited, when he's sad, all of it. He could be leaving from the dinner table to go to the bathroom and would still kiss you goodbye

He loves making out with you and puts on a romantic playlist he made when you guys hang out and make out in his car he's so cheesy but in a cool way

He thinks you don't realize it's the same playlist but it only has like six songs that just repeat and you have to wrestle him to make you a partner on the playlist so you could add more

When a song you added comes up he'll stop whatever yall are doing just to tell you it was a good choice lmao

He likes flavored Chapstick, but his favorite is vanilla

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!!

[lenalenouilleisblogging]

2024 feminist movie retrospective ~ day 7

Much like with Lee, I went to see this film pretty much just as a thirst watch 😭 because you know... Jessica Chastain. So you can imagine my surprise when instead of gooning, I was left in shambles after seeing the best and most heartbreaking performance of the year. Dark content ahead. Spoilers will be in red.

Watched : June 16th at my city's independent theater. The showing was.... I forgor.

This is a "film d'auteur" by writer/director Michel Franco, and my first time seeing a movie of his. The story follow two characters and their struggle with memories. Sylvia is a social worker, single mom and recovering alcoholic who suffers from PTSD. Saul is a protected adult (at least that's the legal term in France for a disabled adult who is under the responsibility of guardians, i don't know the US equivalent) who suffers from early onset dementia. (his short term memory is very defective) The two go to the same high school reunion party and when Sylvia leaves early, Saul follows her all the way to her apartment. When Sylvia looks through her window the next morning, she realises that he is still right under it, having spent the night sleeping on the side-walk. When she decides to go confront him, he has no idea who she is or why he followed her.

(note : i couldn't find HD screencaps of this film so i took some of my own digital copy. I curated the shots so they would go with what i'm talking about, and added some image descriptions (that are actually additional comments. Don't forget to read them!)

Let's get the technical out of the way, the film is INCREDIBLY shot. I loved the camera work and especially the shot composition, it is SO well thought out and so purposeful. In terms of film-making this is one of my absolute favourites of the year for sure. Like yesterday's film, there is no original soundtrack. You'll only hear music if it's diegetic (:the characters themselves are listening to it). The dialogues feel very real and natural and it works well with the performances. It all feels raw and authentic. The acting is the film's highlight. Everyone is on their A game (with the exception of maybe the actress who plays Sylvia's teenage daughter, her delivery in some scenes is so-so but it didn't ruin it for me) including the two leads who do incredible work. Peter Sarsgaard as Saul is super touching, but honestly he pales in comparison to the absolute masterclass that Jessica Chastain delivers here.

Her performance of Sylvia touched me so much that I honestly have trouble putting it into words, so I won't dwell on it. But her acting works in tandem with the writing and the visual storytelling to make this character one of the most interesting I've seen in years in a film like this.

I described Sylvia as having PTSD earlier, and that's not something the film ever points out explicitly, but all the details are there to detect it. Well it least to me. I suffer from PTSD partially due to sexual trauma and i related a LOT to the character. Everything about the way this character behaves and expresses herself feels very real. I guess this is me warning you that my appreciation of this film's story is very emotional and not very objective. But oh well, what is art for?

After watching the film, i checked out a quick review done by a male film critic i like. His main problem with the film? The characters, according to him, are completely unrelatable and none of their decisions in the story make sense. Fascinating isn't it.

The title of the movie is simple but well chosen. Both the characters lives are made harder by their memories. One remembers too much and because of that, she hid herself in drugs and alcohol. She has little to no social life, and is overprotective of her daughter which is a strain on their relationship. One doesn't remember enough and because of that, he is considered too disabled to make his own decisions and his family barely treats him like an intelligent adult. The two are drawn to each other, but everything seems against them. She wants to experience a healthy, normal sex life but her trauma makes it extremely difficult. He wants to involve himself in a healthy/normal relationship but on top of his disability, his family won't let him date anyone. (which is the only element that makes me understand the previously mentioned review. Saul's brother (and legal guardian) exerts a strict control on him and his actions are never explained. Why is he so against this relationship happening? Is it pure disrespect and ableism? Is he just a sadist? This could have been more fleshed out.)

While the romance is pretty well written and well developed, it is specifically everything about Sylvia that i loved in this film. This is such a well written, believable depiction of PTSD. She is kind and empathetic, but also over-vigilant and easily uncomfortable. When her fridge breaks down, she specifically asks for a repair-woman. When she sees that her daughter is talking to boys at school, she is clearly immediately worried, but plays it cool. Her memory also fails her sometimes. She initially believes Saul to be one of the boys who assaulted her in high-school, but it turns out she was wrong. She was creeped out by his current behaviour and mistakenly made associations. We learn pretty early on in the film that she was taken advantage of by teen boys when she was 12, but i immediately suspected that it wasn't the whole story. At some point, she tells her daughter that when she tried to talk about what was happening to her at school to her mom, she knew she wouldn't be believed because her mom called her a liar. My immediate thought when hearing that was "oh so it started in the family" and i was unfortunately correct, it's revealed later on to have started with her father. Is it just me or is this whole retrospective just me going "look at how well i can clock other survivors in movies!!"

While the third act of this film has frustrating moments because of that whole family sub-plot i mentioned, it's overall a great watch. A really bittersweet one, but still. Sylvia is an incredible character who will stay with me for years to come. Saul's alright i guess.

if you like slow, quiet movies with purposeful camera work and incredible, interesting narratives, this one's for you :) This film gets the official Léna seal of approval! It's one of the best of 2024. Here's a link to the trailer.

Final rating : IHAVENOTHINGFUNNYFORTHISONESORRY/10

[dcdreamblog]

I had a quick follow up to my Phantom Lady question, I wanted to explain why I thought the PLs were related, the WW2 one was Sandra Knight, she's said so herself. And then the third one was actress Stormy Knight who quit super heroics after going to rehab. They have the same last name! And shared a mantle. Also for some reason, their fathers were dudes named Senator Henry Knight. Now I couldn't find hard evidence that they were related (I can't exactly get their birth certificates) but that's too many coincidences for them not to be related somehow.

You've hit the nail on the head, it just take a little bit of digging to find the connection. I, however, happen to have a wonderful resource for it that I've already partially used in another ask.

(An online family tree of the Knight/King/Pemberton family)

Now, the original Phantom Lady was the daughter of famous New Deal senator Henry Knight of the very prestigious Knight Clan of Democratic politicians. Right up there with the Kennedys really. However what this tree DOESN'T show is that that original Henry Knight had two brothers. One of whom was the father of original Starman Ted Knight.

Their OTHER, youngest brother was a Colonel in WWII who, once he returned home from the European theater he was appointed as a diplomatic officer to the Ukrainian SSR. While stationed in Kyiv he had 2 sons. The oldest of whom was Henry Knight Jr, named after his famous uncle. He would be elected to a prestigious term in the Senate under the same Democratic banner as his uncle and many of his other male family members before him. HE would have one daughter, Stormy Knight. Who would eventually go on to become the 3rd Phantom Lady. So as far as I can tell. As the daughter of Stormy Knight Great-Uncle that means that Sandra Knight is Stormy Knight's first cousin once removed. Stormy was often compared to her famous predecessor, as Sandra Knight had obviously also been the daughter of a famous progressive senator and the most eligible bachelorette in DC at the time of both of their youths. However while Sandra Knight was never one to lean into the debutante stereotype, Stormy had always been more easily seduced by the expensive living that her father's popularity afforded her. Some comments by the younger Knight imply that this was partially because of the combination of pressure and construction she felt as the daughter of a prominent politician. She was expected to keep to a rigorous set of standards so as to not embarrass her high profile family and as such acted out as many young people do in circumstances like that.

She was inspired into another act of rebellion that lead to her taking up the mantle of the Phantom Lady which had been tragically been vacated by the well remembered Dee Tyler during the opening assault of the supervillain organization known as the Secret Society (the same that ultimately lead to the Battle for Metropolis). Interestingly enough Ms Tyler was ALSO the raven haired daughter of a famous Washington political figure. This time Pennsylvania born Republican Attorney General Albert Tyler. Tyler and the younger Knight attended the same Washington private high school at the same time, though 2 grades apart. She would connect with a new generation of heroes patterning themselves off the Freedom Fighters in the aftermath of the previous team's tragic last stand. She served with distinction and was well liked by her teammates thought outside commentators made note of the fact that she often seemed unbalanced in the aftermath of missions and didn't make much of a superhero's outward bearing or constitution. Henry Knight Jr would be killed by a government agent named Father Time in an attempt to replace him with a robot, related to machinations revolving around the chemical attacks of the city of Bludhaven. This personal tragedy, along with the manipulation by the Department of Defense in an attempt to bring her into line would ultimately be what drove Stormy Knight to the alcohol and grief fueled binge that would land Stormy Knight in long term rehab seen to by her Freedom Fighters teammates. Stormy Knight is currently on a long term sabbatical from superhero work, which may be temporary or may be permanent it will be hard to say either or for a good while yet. All that is said about her when her family or teammates are asked is that she is taking what steps she needs to recover her life. In which I wish her the best of luck. Any of the missions she's already been on are more than the world could ask of anybody and if she says she's paid her fair share, then I'm in no place to argue with her.

[hisaribi]

reverse robins au where the ages are reversed but not the order of adoption

Dick

He was sorta meant to be the first, there's no escaping that. Eight years old kid who came to Gotham with whole family both blood and performance-related to stay here all alone.

Drakes were sort of benefactors of Haly's circus (not exactly connected to the Court of Owls, just really adoring Graysons in all their generations, which stretched for century already), Tim (the same age difference as between canon Tim and Damian, so he's 15) thought it was sort of awkward and the whole circus thing seemed somewhat childish to him, till he met the bundle of energy and constant movement Dick, who told him with conviction that he's gonna do this cool quadruple somersault just for Tim and it's actually the first time he does it on stage (which is a lie and his elder cousin who was about the same age as Tim later told Dick that lying isn't good, and dick just shrugs, because he does that in every town they stay in, and says that that's something to make a person excited for the show and not be bored the whole time, and Tim looked seconds away from pulling his phone and browsing it).

Then Graysons fell, the only reason Drakes didn't adopt him was because the Court sort of made Dick disappear, logged in under the wrong name into the system, so it would be easier to snitch him for making a Talon, and it wasn't like Drakes would search for him in juvenile detention center first. They even sort of assumed he moved with Haly's, but when they learned that he didn't, well, they were searching for him. But maybe more in a sense that he was a status possession, the last acrobat from a formidable family, such precious thing can't go to waste

Cue Dick running around the city trying to find Zucco and stumbling upon Batman, who, as Bruce Wayne, knew that Drakes were searching for him. He sort of wanted to just tell them where Dick was, but the kid was insistant on killing the person who murderd his whole family, and the kid was running around in yellow oversized hoodie that had been in possession of too many children before him, green shorts and sneakers, with way too much ease jumping from roof to roof, and something like black mask painted over his face. The kid wasn't going to stop, he was going to get himself killed before Drakes get to him, if anything, he would run away again, from them. And still get himself killed.

So he helped Dick get to Zucco, and Dick decided he needed to be taken to the prison and not murdered, even though before he told Batman that he would kill this man and go to jail for his crimes, or actually now he would deserve the place at juvenile.

The worst thing was that he wanted now to bring justice to other criminals, to catch them, ans well, this was how he became the ward of Bruce Wayne, because having him close both as civilian and vigilante was better than having to explain to whoever decided to adopt him why the kid was bruised and escaping home at night. At the age he was meant for just learning the math.

He actually was home-schooled. just like most children in the circus, only coming to some school to pass tests and exams and checks, and because of that he was a weird mix of bored in class while having troubles to concentrate, so he sort of skipped a few grades, because otherwise he would be too bored (Bruce wasn't really great at being aware that he needed school more for socialization and not knowledge and nobody willed to tell Bruce no as he would just pay for the better equipment for his kid, but oh well).

Barbara

is here too, she's eighteen and starts the whole batgirl thing, and I don't feel like reversing her age for any of that. She's so annoyed at Dick and at Batman for allowing a child to come to fight crime, like she had a decency to wait till she was legally adult, thank you very much, what do you mean you brought a literal child to the field. She does learn that it was hard to stop Dick from running around, but well, she grew fond of him, in a very elder sister exasperated way. She has her own canon thing that barely gets connected to whatever dynamic duo is doing so good for her.

So Dick was Robin, running around, being the hope and all that, till that Two-Face thing, where Dick felt sort of responsible for the death of the judge and also beaten to half-death by goons. He was actually about ten at that time so for two years prior he managed to walk everything off.

And while alone and worried Bruce was running around and came to know

Jason

He's fourteen, but too malnutritioned to look this way, usually kids on crime alley already come to the life of crime by that time even join gangs, and Jason went around to steal Batmobile's tires. He ended up not being adopted but taken into Ma Gunn's School for Boys, to not get logged into social services (and B still tries to learn who the hell put Dick under different name to the juvenile, wonders how many kids get lost in the system and outside of them in goddamn Gotham), ends up uncovering criminal plots in there and later adopted by Bruce (Dick fought hard to stay as a ward and not be adopted and yet he became annoyed at B choosing to adopt Jayson even though it was a different thing altogether).

Also Jason has to witness Dick and Bruce constantly arguing, because Bruce benched Dick after what happened with Two-Face, and then was so not nice to give Robin mantle to Jason and he was confused especially because he believed it was something Bruce created, because nobody uses words in this family yet. Dick still teaches Jason about acrobatics and moving over the city, because he doesn't want the kid to fall. And Jason teaches Dick about mechanics and all that. He cared about younger kids on streets after all.

Also both of them think that being with each other is babysitting another one, and Bruce just allows it and plays into that because well they do babysit each other. Babs still technically babysits both of them and has her own life without these meddling kids.

Around this time wild

Stephanie

appears in her whole sixteen years old glory to deal with her dad's bullshit. Why not Tim I see you asking, well, Tim only appeared because B needed Robin after Jason's death, and as right now their family is somewhat fine he doesn't feel like he needs to intervene, even though he still stalks Dick because he learned his identity. He is worried though, and thinks maybe as soon as he's old enough he will intervene, but right now our focus is Steph.

She basically has her canon-type of run, just also is stuck with babysitting Dick, and Jason acts like I'm too old for you to babysit me we're almost the same age. Dick usually had braincells when they meet, he's also the one to make sure Steph was getting trained by Babs, even though she did run as Robin.

Also you probably guessed by now who's my favorite character is.

Anyway, Dick's there, still getting elder sister syndrome while being the youngest because he's overcompetent and has been working and having experience since before he learned how to walk, and everyone do begrudgingly accept he's experienced and can teach and even lead them.

Then two things happen at once, and wasn't that a very chaotic year. Jason dies to Jocker, Steph dies and starts the gang-war, which leads t sorta no man's land and a lockdown, and the appearance of

Cassandra

She's a year younger than Jason, so she's fifteen, just like he was, when he appeared. If you lost your count, it's fine, Dick just turned eleven and isn't happy about the bullshit that's happening.

She's more adopted by Dick who's elder sister magnet, but they aren't greatest together. She takes on Batgirl mantle while Barbara is absent, not ready for her own thing yet.

Also about this time

Tim

eighteen stays in Gotham to well make sure Batman and Robin don't die, as Gotham will need them the most, when the lockdown is lifted. Also Babs is in senate now, and she was so done after the lockdown news and officer Gordon just deciding not to leave and all Bats being inside and Jason just dying and Steph being dead and she's very vicious.

Tim also did take some trainings, because well, he wasn't suicidal and would take on the role he could as a protector in case he's needed, so ye. Wild Red Robin emerges. It's openly a nod to Dick while he's like aware why he used these colors and how he turned his mind to make everyone who wore it a family, despite the fact he was so angry at Bruce for handling it to anyone without even asking. Also Dick's unhealthy coping mechanisms go brr.

So yes, they deal with the raging bullshit that the gang war and also the whole lockdown is lifted and noone to pacify actually because bats dealt with this. Dick does or doesn't beat Joker to death and only didn't kill him because Batman saved him as Dick was way too young end devastated to become the killer. Tim stays as Red Robin, both his parents are still alive at that point. Babs and Cass share Batgirl when Babs comes back and decides that politics sucks and she didn't have it in her to deal with all that rat races even though she knew she should've been able to.

Almost a year is relatively calm, they learn how to work as a team, Dick starts his rebellious phase and runs away forms teen titans, still stays in Gotham most of the time, but well, he craves his place outside of it.

Hello

Damian

You might ask me, but hisa, you didn't say a thing about Bruce's age, how can he have a son who's in his late twenties? Amd my answer is

idk

Flashpoint, alternative universe, time travel, take your pick, but suddenly Bruce has a son who's adult and competent and an assassin and actually helped his mother to upstage and replace Ra's as a leader of the League and didn't allow him to take his body and all that.

He's also unaware of Jason being in Talia's hands at the moment, because he sort of killed Ra's, threw the league on Talia and rode to the sunset, well, to Gotham. He wanted to see what kind of a man his father was, was he worthy, was his conquest going, did Damian want to take this legacy.

He also looked at Cass and Dick and asked Bruce why he didn't really want him, he had two kids running along with him that were trained to be assassins (he didn't explain who they were, and while B knew of Cass, he didn't know who was the second)

Dick bit and scratched him as soon as he saw him (to get his DNA for the test, thank you very much), and they had a rought start, both because Bruce was going through what do you mean I have an adult son that's almost my age, what do you mean you're an assassin, we have a no kill rule here and you will follow it, please don't agree with Poison Ivy, I know both of you are eco-terrorists, but please. Why the hell do we have a Batcow now. Goliath... what.

And then Bruce dies (gets lost in a time stream), barely a year after Damian comes to Gotham. If you noted the lack of Red Hood, fear not, that's when he appears. To take Batman's mantle and his means of justice (smth like that thing he threw while impersonating Nightwing).

Cass took on the cowl because she had the same things Bruce believed in and Tim sort of sided with her (Babs most likely became an Oracle about that time, and Steph run off to do her own thing with Birds of Prey, but they'd also support her, Tim also went with more Robin colored thing, and actually you know what, he's probably out searching for Bruce, because that's funny). Red Hood Batman is all alone but well he's still the biggest he's also eighteen and do you have any idea how annoying eighteen years old who believe they're right and correct are, because I was this sort of eighteen years old.

Damian takes on the cowl because that's his Legacy, and Dick drags himself with him because BATMAN DOESN'T KILL DON'T YOU DARE YOU VAMPIRE BATMAN though I'm sure Dick appreciated the lack of the cape and the existence of a high collar. So yes, thirteen years old still Robin who doesn't want to ever become Batman having to run around trying to put a collar on three Batmans while trying to make sure the city doesn't fall through cracks and let the boy rest.

Also at that goddamn time

Duke

takes off, also as hero, because the city did feel the lack of batman, and instead we're robins somthing like batmans came to be, and he wasn't like really trying to fight for the cowl, but more like keep in check Batmans who used the image for bad-doings like Robin did at the moment, despite the fact that he was an adult and some other did so as well and they were this close to be put back on a lockdown again, but after they sort of decided to share with Robin babysitting them, Duke took his own Signal mantle

So ye, something like that, a plot-bunny jumping off to the wilderness, because it's actually too big and I'm mostly interested in Dick's part of the story and ye, have a nice day.

smth like ages and orders

Dick (29) - Jason (22) - Tim (19) - Steph (20) - Cass (23) - Damian (13) - Duke (17)

Dick (13) - Cass (17) - Jason (18) - Steph (19) - Tim (20) - Duke (22) - Damian (29)

Dick (8) - Cass (12) - Jason (13) - Steph (14) - Tim (15) - Duke (18) - Damian (24)

[inchidentally]

Hey! About your last essay, i've just foudn a proof about the "getting together out of work and out of sight" :

That said, Piastri admits the pair have found time to set aside their differences and unite with the odd padel match in their home city of Monte Carlo. “We don’t hang out that much outside of the track – we don’t really have that much time – but we’ve played padel together a couple of times,” he says. “He’s not bad, but I think I’m better. We’re definitely not the best – the two Spaniards have most of the grid covered when it comes to padel.

We never got one picture of them playing together!

babe literally !! they're both absolutely fine posting playing padel - or any other form of down time - with any other driver but then with each other they switch off from social media and like. I know I compare a lot with the Lily and Lando stuff but in a very sane non-rpf way I think Oscar decided at some point to class his time with Lando in with his time with all the people in his private life! he is extremely specific with when and how he posts/interacts w his family, Lily, his boarding school friends or his friends from karting days. but w the F3, Prema and Alpine folks he was totally fine posting content casually and frequently and the same now goes for other drivers on the grid.

he and Lando posted each other very normally those first like 3-6 months together - but at some point Lando got classed in with the people who Oscar wants to keep his time with largely off the public radar. it's the whole "private not secret" approach. and tbh esp when it comes to Lando bc as he said, they get very little actual downtime together and the rest of their time together is very public.

and what's wild is that Lando has followed suit! the guy who loves posting content of his teammates - and who at first seemed to be the same way about his fresh young teammate - has done the exact same. he even complained that Oscar didn't share a hobby with him (after spending literally a year trying to get Oscar into golf) until Oscar started sharing one of his hobbies, but his aim wasn't to post about it! he just wanted to do something not work related with him!

side note that I have an insane theory for why Lando refused to acknowledge the Williams/McLaren padel matchup proposal and never went on Team Torque bc he hated that Logan was Oscar's childhood friend and how Oscar would go off alone with Logan whenever he could and had all these in-jokes with Logan that Lando wasn't in on and !!! Lando didn't even warm up to the Williams/McLaren fan stages fully until Logan was replaced but that's insane surely like surely that's not the case...

[morgana-larkin]

Me again lol I was wondering if u could do Melissa x reader where reader is autistic and has an autistic meltdown or struggles with change in routine and Melissa helps her (lol sorry I keep requesting fics but your writing is sooooo good I can’t get enough and as always no pressure and look after yourself 🫶)

Hey, thank you for the prompt! I literally just moved 2 weeks ago from one end of the city I live in to the other so I wrote that reader moves since its really relatable to me right now. And feel free to send as many prompts as you want, it’s not a problem😉. Hope you like it!

On another note, I was going to post this tomorrow but kept seeing people like my other fics so I figured I could just post it now lol. Also I can’t believe how many people are liking my fics! Especially ‘her poco sole’ , that was the one I really didn’t know if people were gonna like and it’s the most liked one which surprised me. I’m gonna try to get another one shot to a prompt I got a few hours ago and the next chapter of Worth It. I do have my acting workshop tomorrow and a role on Sunday but I’m gonna try!

Overwhelmed

Warnings: reader has a meltdown

Words: 3.1k

You’ve always done things a certain way, you planned your day ahead of time and you don’t like changes.

You got diagnosed with Autism when you were 13. Your parents knew nothing about it but were super supportive and researched it to better help you. They also liked to ask you questions about what you prefer to help you even further.

You all realised that routine is very important for you, and if something changed then you would need a bit of time to calm down from your mini freak out. If it was small changes like having to wear a different shirt or a friend wants to meet up at a different store, those you can deal with. But big ones like if a friend you were going to hang out with cancelled last minute or a family member dropped by unexpectedly or you moved.

That last one you didn’t experience a lot thankfully. You only remember moving once, and it was moving out of your parents place and in with a friend you’ve known since first grade. The next time would be when you moved in with Melissa.

You got accepted for a job to be a teacher's aide at Abbott Elementary. You walked in at 7:30 and went to the principal's office to get your badge and to know who the teacher you’ll be helping is. You liked being a teacher's aide instead of the teacher. If there was any big changes to the day then the teacher mostly has to deal with it and you just do what you’re told.

You got introduced to the principal, you didn’t understand how she got the job with how she acts but you don’t ask, it’s your first day after all.

« so the teacher that you’ll be an aide for, her name is Melissa Schemmenti. I’ll bring you to meet her now, she’s in the break room. » Ava said and you nodded your head. You followed her there and walked in the room and all the teachers there looked up and looked at you and you blushed a bit. You got nervous when you felt put in the spotlight with a bunch of people you don’t know. « Hey Melissa, your new aide is here. ». She told someone and when Ava moved out of the way your breath caught in your throat. A pair or beautiful green eyes were on you and they belonged to the most beautiful woman you’ve ever met. And then it hit you, she’s the teacher you’ll be helping. You’re either really lucky or really fucked. You then remember that you should introduce yourself.

« Hi, my name is y/n y/l/n. You must be Melissa Schemmenti. » you tell her and she nods then looks at Ava.

« She better be better than the last one Coleman. » she says and you look confused. She already had an aide that she didn’t like?

« I don’t know, I didn’t pick her, the school board did. » Ava says then leaves. And you just stand there not knowing what to do until one of the teachers stands up to greet you.

« Hi y/n it’s nice to meet you, my name is Janine Teagues. I’m a second grade teacher. » she says and is practically bouncing in your face and you lean back a bit, a bit surprised by her energy and enthusiasm.

« Hi. » is all you say, you never really know what to say to someone new.

« Alright kid, follow me, I’ll bring you to the classroom. » Melissa says as she gets up and you nod as you follow her out of the break room.

You stare at her little bit, you don’t know what to think of her yet other than she’s stunning and you oddly feel safe around her. Which is different, it takes you a few times of getting to know someone before you even feel comfortable. But it seems this woman has the power to make herself go from being a complete stranger to all the way to feeling safe around her.

« You’re really quiet. » she says to you as she bends down a bit to unlock her door with her key around her neck.

« Sorry, just nervous. » You tell her and she motions for you to go into the room.

« I didn’t say it was a bad thing, definitely a nice change from the last one. » she says and you want to be better than the last one so you can’t help but ask her.

« What did the last one do that you didn’t like? Just so I don’t repeat it. » You tell her and she looks at you curiously.

« She disrupted the class more that the students did. She made it worse more than she helped. » she simply said and leaned against her desk and folded her arms. And that’s when you get a look at what she’s wearing. Black leggings with a pink top and black leather jacket. Oh. You always found a girl who wears a leather jacket hot. « Do I scare you? » she says as you haven’t said anything.

« I don’t know you yet. I’m just nervous meeting new people and never know what to say. I’m autistic so I’m not as good with social interactions as other people. » You tell her and she nods.

« Well this is the classroom. I have a split class. » she says as she takes a seat on her desk and puts her hands together on her lap. « I have 20 second graders and 10 third graders. »

« Oh fuck. » you say and she laughs.

« That was my reaction too. Do you have any questions? »

« Um » you say and think about it. « What will you be needing me to do? »

« Just stuff to help really. Like photocopy papers, hand out tests, help them with some class work. Might need you to sometimes teach the third graders a quick lesson in the back of the classroom. » she says and you nod. This sounds like it’ll be good, you think. « any other questions? » she asks.

« Just mostly wondering how you’ve been doing this mostly by yourself. You must be a hell of a teacher to have 30 students in your class. » You tell her and she smiles.

« It was hard at first I’ll admit. I even punched the head of a cardboard samurai right off before I asked for an aide. » she says and you laugh.

The two of you talk for a bit before students start arriving. Melissa has you helping the third graders with some work while she teaches currency to the second graders. She gets you to grade some tests for most of the morning then has you help bring them to the cafeteria at lunch.

« You were a great help today so far, keep up the great work. » she says with a smile and you beam.

A month goes by with you helping Melissa and she’s less stressed now that she has an aide that’s helpful and you’ve settled in nicely with the class and some of the teachers. Until you get home from work one day and your friend tells you that her work transferred her to another city and she’s moving in a month and your smile falls. You can’t afford the rent by yourself, that means moving.

The next day at school, Melissa can tell something is bothering you since you seem distracted and in your head a lot. During her prep period, she asks you about it.

« Hey, what’s going on with you? You seem distracted this morning. » she asks you and you look up at her.

« I’m sorry, just a lot on my mind. » you tell her.

« You wanna talk about it? » she asks and you shake your head, you don’t really want to put it on her.

« You sure? »

You sigh and put your chin on your hands. « Just found out last night that I have a month to find a new place and move. And I looked a bit last night and there’s nothing I can afford by myself and very few people are looking for roommates. » you tell her and she doesn’t say anything. « Sorry, I didn’t want to bother you with my problems. » you tell her and she shakes her head.

« I offered remember. And plus I was actually going to start looking for a roommate. » she says and you look at her. « I have a spare room I’m not using and wouldn’t mind some extra cash. » you look at her confused, wondering if she’s saying what you think she is. « I guess what I’m saying is , if you need a place, you can move in with me. »

And that’s how you got here. The day you’re moving in with Melissa. And you’ve been freaking out about it for a week, your friend has been trying to help you pack and comfort you the best she can. You move your things into her place all day, you don’t have a lot of time to think about it until you’re standing in your new room, and it hits you all at once. Everything changed, different room, different house, different roommate, different end of the city. It all changed and you crumble to the ground and bring your legs to your chest and hug your legs and start rocking to comfort yourself.

« Hey y/n I made dinner and was wondering if… » Melissa comes by your room and sees you. « Y/n? You ok? »

You don’t say anything, you feel like you can’t talk right now, it’s all too much. You end up shaking your head and she comes over and sits on the ground next to you. She doesn’t say anything, she just wraps her arms around you and brings you in for a hug. And that’s when you break and start crying and Melissa rubs your back in a circular motion. The repetitive movement and the physical contact of someone you know soothes you. After a minute you pull back and wipe your tears off. And she just sits next to you for a few minutes, letting you calm down « Thank you. » you tell her when you feel like you can talk again.

« Not a problem. I know it can get overwhelming. But I can help you settle in so it’s not so scary. You like knowing about things right? » she asks and you nod. « Ok, well today I can show you around the house so you know where things are. And then tomorrow I can show you where I shop and you can decide if you like it or not. Then I can show you all the best places to get a bite to eat around here and anything else you want to know. » she offers.

« You’d do that for me? » you ask and she nods. « Why? »

She shrugs. « Because you’re a good person who just needs a bit of help. » she says and you smile at her.

« You know at first, I was a bit scared of you. » You tell her and she laughs.

« I knew it! » she says with a smile.

« But after getting to know you, and seeing how you are with the students, I realised how much of a softie you are. » You tell her and she glares at you.

« Don’t go telling anyone that! » she tells you sternly. And you put your hands up in surrender.

« Don’t worry I won’t, I know you got a reputation to keep. » You joke with her. « was there something you needed btw? » You ask her, remembering she was asking you something before she saw you on the floor.

« Just that I made dinner and wanted to know if you wanted something. I always make a lot. » she says and you beam. You’ve heard great things about her cooking but haven’t had any yet.

Turns out what they say about her cooking didn’t live up to how great she actually was. It was better than you thought. She did give you a tour of the house after supper and you felt a little better. You ended up watching tv with her and she stayed right beside you so that your arms are touching. She knows that close proximity with someone you know helps you calm down and process things.

For the next week you barely say anything. You’re more quiet than normal and you hide in your own head, in your own little fantasy world that you have complete control of.

Melissa has no idea what’s going on with you, and that’s when she starts actually looking up autism and how it affects the person and how they act and how to help them. She sees that if they’re dealing with a lot of big changes, they get overwhelmed and they either repress it and pull away from people or have a meltdown, it also says that they can repress it then have a meltdown. And that’s exactly what happens with you. Melissa was prepared in case it happened, it’s just how it happened and what you end up doing after, that shocked her.

You came home after going grocery shopping and slammed the front door. Melissa was dusting her table with all her pictures when you came in.

« You alright there sunshine? » Melissa joked and you glared at her. Melissa came from an Italian family, so glares didn’t even faze her. She went and leaned on the side of the couch and crossed her arms.

« I’m fine, just they didn’t have some things I wanted so I just walked out. » You said, trying to take your jacket off but it got stuck when trying to take your arms out and you let out a huff.

« Need help? » she asks with a raised eyebrow.

« No. » you snap and continue to struggle. « Ugh why is nothing going right! » Melissa walks over to you and pulls at the arm of the jacket and you’re able to take it off. You slam your jacket on the ground « stupid jacket! Stupid grocery store! » You half scream out.

« Hey it’s alright » she tells you and puts a hand on your shoulder trying to comfort you.

You gasp and turn to her with a glare before shrugging her hand off. « Don’t touch me. » you snap at her then try to calm yourself down. Melissa tries again, knowing that physical contact helps you and read that doing things that helps that autistic person calm down helps during a meltdown. « I said don’t touch me! » you tell her and back up to get away. You end up backing into a wall and you feel like everything is too much and you grab your hair and start freaking out.

« Y/n it’s alright » she says and you barely hear her. She wraps her arms around you from behind you and you scream at her to let you go and try to push her off but she hangs on. And then you start crying and fall to the ground and she follows you, still hugging you. You put one of your hands on her hand and lean into her. « it’s ok y/n, you’re ok. » she says, still hugging you from behind. She rests her chin on your shoulder and you relax more into her. After about a minute you sit up a bit and she removes her head from you. You turn around and in a wave of confidence, you lean in and kiss her.

She kisses you back and she feels you smile. You pull back and look into her eyes. « R u ok y/n? » she asks you after it seems you’ve calmed down.

« I think mostly, it’s still a bit hard for me, I’m still processing everything. » You tell her and she gets an idea. She helps you back and tells you to stay there for a second. She goes over and turns on her Bluetooth speaker and it connects to her phone. She opens her Spotify and clicks on a song. The song starts playing through the speaker and you instantly recognize the song, it’s the Macarena.

« Come on I’m sure you know the moves. » she tells you when you raise your eyebrows at her. She pulls you away from the wall and goes behind you and moves your arms to the music with the moves. You start laughing at her goofiness but eventually you start getting into it and she lets your arms go and does the moves with you. At the end of the song, your both laughing and having a great time, then the next starts playing and it’s ‘can you feel the love tonight’ from the lion king. Melissa just goes with it and holds out a hand for you to take. « May I have this dance? » she asks you and you giggle and you take her hand.

She brings you close to her and puts one hand on your shoulder and moves her hand in yours to the proper position and you put your hand on her waist. She starts doing the waltz with you and you’re surprised. She ends up being a really good dancer.

« You seem surprised. » she tells you.

« I am, I’m wondering if there’s something you can’t do. » you tell her and she laughs. « I’m being serious, you’re an amazing teacher, your meals taste like heaven, you can waltz really well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew a second language. » you tell her as a joke but looks at you with a smile.

« Conosco Italian. » she says and you look at her. « That means I know Italian. »

« I was actually joking but at this point I’m not surprised. » You tell her and she giggles. The song ends but both of you don’t pull away. « thank you btw. You’ve helped me so much. » You tell her with a smile and she smiles back at you.

« of course mia carina. » she tells you.

« Ok now you’re just showing off. » You joke and she laughs. Then she puts a hand around your neck and kisses you and you kiss her back. It’ll take time but Melissa is willing to help you with all the changes and to make her house feel like home to you.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

If you want to be added then let me know!

[moononmyfloor]

In the 4th Quarter of 2024 Cdramaland...

1st Quarter, 2nd Quarter, 3th Quarter

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24. Best Ensemble of the Year

The First Shot

Each member of this ragtag cop family had such clear and purposeful narrative that concluded in super satisfactory ways and they were all acted SO masterfully with amazing chemistry all around. It's them who made the show, really. I'd totally watch 3 more seasons of this.

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25. Most Lovable Characters of the Year

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

LGIEF wasn't necessarily a novel story but what made it unique for me was the wholesome family composed of 5 very young people.... well, it still doesn't sound very unique when I say it like that... lemme try again. Usually when you see found family trope in a YA story, it's because the kids bonded over trauma and adventure. Which is cool and amazing yes but also, sometimes it's just refreshing to see a bunch of young people being family just because? And not for any dramatic reason whatsoever? And they are only half-found family, 2 of them are already siblings, and two others are their lovers, the other one is the mascot baby of the four of them. Especially Liu Fuyi, I rarely see a big brother-in-law character who so wholeheartedly spent his time with his girlfriend's silly little younger siblings without being all so haughty or pretentiously overprotective and "responsible" for them. They all just liked each other so they stuck together, simple as that.

99% dramas try to shoehorn unnecessary antics into found family dynamics because they think it's boring otherwise, and it's not that there wasn't drama and hidden agendas among LGIEF group, but it was never the focal point. The genuine sweetness in the moments they spent together, was.

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26. Best Production of the Year

Without a doubt Riverside Code at Qingming Festival. As for why, well I already talked about it at LENGTH so here you go!

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27. Best Opening/Ending Credits of the Year

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, The Story of Pearl Girl

Really liked LGIEF's pixel rpg game run credits and Pearl Girl's shiny and expensive looking graphics.

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28. Favorite Murder Kitten of the Year

Fangs of Fortune: Li Lun (Yan An)

Though he was presented as the most naive, obsessed, one-track and narrow minded character in the show, he literally had the most unassumingly deepest storyline for me, in the entirety of 2024. Yes that's sky-high praise, I know. I related to him in this very personal level and I wrote over 30K fanfics and character analysis for him within 2 weeks. And then I fell down a Yan An rabbit hole because he's the most adorable person ever I've laid eyes on. End of the story.

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29. A Drama That Taught Me Something New

The City of Sunlight: taught me so much niche details about Tibetan culture

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30. Most Inspiring Drama of the Year

She and Her Girls

This semi-autobiographical drama about High School Principal Zhang Guimei (who is still alive and kicking and running the same highschool in Yunnan) is a must watch if you are interested in based-on-real-life stories. Working as a teacher in Yunnan, she noticed that in the extreme rural mountainous areas, families are poverty ridden, only boys get even the slightest opportunity for higher education while girls are forced to marry as young as early teen age, and they remain stuck in those mountains and repeat their mothers' fate. She wanted to change this and build completely free all-girls high school to battle this inequality and provide the girls with a safe haven where they can study worry free and gain opportunities to go beyond the mountains.

It's fully subbed, has amazing acting all over, from both adult and younger cast, and I really liked how it doesn't idolize anything: all the actors are sunbaked and pimple ridden, the political, financial and societal issues that come her way aren't sugar-coated but nobody is demonized either, and she herself is a very real, 3D character who isn't perfect, she's too strict and stubborn and her methods of "tough love" come out as downright mean sometimes, and she's a staunch communist believer to the point it's comical but like I said: the drama doesn't try to filter anything. And it makes her all the more endearing. Plus no matter what she got the thing done and watching her efforts bear fruit was so badass and tearjerking.

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Conclusion

Overall I had so much fun, and I tried my best to come up with all sorts of categories to give nods to as many dramas as possible 🤣 even though some sections must have looked ridiculous to onlookers' eyes lol. There were lots of stuff that I dropped but also there were so much stuff I looked forward to watching this year but simply couldn't because THERE ARE SO MANY OF INTERESTING SOUNDING SHOWS AND SO LITTLE TIME AND ALSO SOMETIMES NO SUBS!

Really, one way or another, I was always entertained.

Blossoms: Shanghai, Born to Run, For the Young Ones, Teresa Teng, The Gate of Xuanwu, The Swimsuit Saga, I look forward to catching up with y'all at least next year!!!

.

More posts by me

[theoddbun]

THEODDBUN! GIVE US SOME NATALIE (and maybe ingo) LORE AND MY LIFE IS YOURS (I really like the goobies and I wish to know more please)

GOSH OKAY. I’m not really sure where to start, I guess I’ll give some backstory for Natalia? Be warned it is really… Really… Long…

CW for mentions of abuse, self harm, and death!

Natalia was born and raised in Unova. Both of her parents divorced when she was young, her father was the pinnacle of alcoholic douchebag while her mother was now a single mother of two trying to raise 3 children.

As a child Nat was very lonely, being a little girl with undiagnosed neurodivergence made her a target for bullying. She was close with her older siblings, having an age gap with them they took on the caretaker role while their mother was busy with work. But a big turning point for her was when her older brother passed away. It was incredibly difficult for her as he was one of the few people that understood her, and from there things only went downhill.

Everyday was battle of trying to overcome her depression. After her brother passed the bullying she faced only got worse, eventually getting to a point that she would attempt suicide. She felt alone, isolated from the world with no one she could turn to. The only person she was close to wasn’t there anymore, and she pushed away everyone else. But one day during recess, she would come across a small zorua behind the school trash bin. It was cold and shivering and without a mother, which was extremely odd for such a young pup. Natalia could relate to its struggle of loosing someone, and would take it in and care for it, eventually naming the little gal Vixen.

Years would pass and Nat and Vixen were nearly inseparable. The two were like family, always looking out for each other no matter what. Eventually her, her sister and her mother would move to Alola. Despite the bond she’d make with Vixen, the teen angst she felt would still reside within her. This would fully manifest in joining Team Skull.

She thought joining Team Skull would finally give her a place she’d belong, but only found she still felt ostracized among her peers. No one wanted to associate with someone on the verge of tears at any moment, it wasn’t becoming of a team member. But during this time she would still somehow form a romantic relationship with Guzma. In no way was it healthy. She was codependent on him and relied on him for nearly every want and need. She’d cling to him, fearful of being alone.

But after a certain dream something in her would change. She didn’t want this, she was only getting worse. Was this really what her brother would have wanted? So after a stressful time of contemplating she decided to leave Team Skull and break up with Guzma for good.

A little while after leaving, her cousin Shauntal would get back in contact with her. The two were friends as children, but became distant as Natalia grew older and became more jaded. Hearing about Natalia’s situation, she thought what perfect opportunity for her to get a fresh new start than to move to Unova. There her cousin would aid her and encourage her enough to live on her own in a small apartment in Nimbasa City, all while Natalia would gain a tattoo apprenticeship under a tattoo artist there.

Things were finally looking up for Nat, but she was most surprised when she found herself gaining a crush on one of the Subway Bosses of the Battle Subway after doing a Multi Train with her cousin. Little did she know, Ingo had gained feelings for her too. The bigger problem was the two were both incredibly shy when it came to confessions, so it took some effort on their relatives part to get them together. But after months of pining, they would make things official.

Years would go by, and all was going well in Nat’s life for once, completing her apprenticeship and becoming a tattoo artist herself. It was perfect, that was until her father tried to creep his way back in after learning that she moved back to the region. He wasn’t particularly the best father in her youth, the court ordered visits to him during the summer as a teen only caused her stress (the only saving grace being she got to spend time with her cousin). But she was willing to give him a second chance. She was able to change, so why couldn’t he?

But soon she’d learn not everyone was willing to. Her father would demean and degrade her, insulting her casually whenever he got the chance. He was the same as he was when she was a child, but after he latched onto her, she couldn’t shake him off.

What was meant to be a fresh new start only had Natalia tuning back to her same bad habits, isolating herself and even lashing out at the people she loved. She saw herself becoming the same person she was before she had moved there. But this time was different, she knew what was happening, and she knew she could stop it. So out of fear that she’d return to the same person she was, she would abruptly move back to Alola, breaking up with Ingo and leaving him behind in the process.

Still despite the abrupt break up he would promise he would wait for her until she was ready, whenever that would be. 🖤

BUT ILL STOP HERE BECAUSE THIS IS TURNING INTO A NOVEL ATP. But yeah! This is the base of the Natalia (with some Ingo) lore! More stuff happens after this too, but maybe I’ll save that for a different time? Also lots of details I left out in here too. The end of this lore blurp is between the end of BW2 and the beginning of USUM. But if you wanted to hear more I’m always happy to lore dump for her!

[remnants]

thots about tommy wayne under the cut 👇🏾😚👍🏾

ok so in my head he's not from gotham lol (my guy is east coast mean, which is pretty mean, but not gotham mean which translates to being the sweetest guy on earth once you’re within the city limits). he's the illegitimate and son of patrick wayne and his daddy wouldn't claim him bc the affair/one-night-stand/whatever-you-wanna-call-it happened while he was very much married (fuck this guy fr!) and his wife was very much pregnant (oh brother this guy STINKS!!!). anywayyyy elizabeth mitchell isn’t stupid and knows a fight she can't win when she sees one so she leaves gotham for new york when the test comes back positive and patrick won’t pick up her calls.

and things are going good! she's made a little name for herself as a local nightclub singer and she's got a job waiting tables during the day that makes good money and sure things were a little touch and go for a while and sure there were times where she was sure that they weren't gonna make it but she got her baby through school (he graduated valedictorian btw) and now he's in the first year of his pre med undergraduate degree at the local university on a full scholarship (her parenting HER parenting).

so imagine her surprise when the billionaire deadbeat of the hour shows up on her doorstep one day talking about family duty and lines of succession.

patrick amadeus wayne jr. is dead. dead dead dead. and while it wasn't really a surprise to anyone with eyes (weak lungs can only take so many wet gotham winters and the tabloids were saying that the cough he sported at the latest gala sounded particularly nasty), he was by all appearances an only child (francesca wayne could barely get pj out let alone carry another baby to term) and the waynes were fumbling for someone to take his place before the body was even cold.

the transition is as rough as you would expect, what with the stony silences from his father’s wife (stepmother? who knows, not that either of them would ever acknowledge the relation) whenever they cross paths in the manor (francesca wayne never makes an outside appearance in gotham society again after the passing of her son. she enters a period of seclusion and never emerges, spending her days wandering the halls in mourning blacks and lighting candles in prayer), and sometimes being called patrick or pj by the gotham upper class (intentionally or not. though he suspects intentionally because his mother’s side of the family got the monopoly on his looks). it’s very obvious that he doesn’t fit in but hey, free college is free college and his mama is gonna be set for life if he can just see this through.

of course the whole thing doesn’t go over well (a long lost father suddenly appearing on your doorstep and claiming you only because his other kid died would put most people off to be completely fair) but after some yelling and screaming and haggling, compromises are made. in exchange for thomas moving to gotham and being prepped to take over as head of wayne enterprises, his mother is also to be put up in a fancy brownstone on the upper east side and given enough in allowance (in addition to the 18 years of child support she never got) so that she never has to work again and thomas is to be allowed to continue his studies, graduate medical school (in gotham and not at john hopkins like he planned. rip it was literally his dream school), and become a doctor (i like to think becoming a doctor was solely a thomas wayne endeavor. all the wayne men before him were men of business and trade but tommy has wanted to help people his entire life and he’ll be damned if he lets his father keep him from following his dreams). there’s a handshake and signatures signed on a drawn-up contract (because patrick wayne doesn’t do anything by halves and of course he brought the family lawyer to meet his son after 19 years of pretending he didn’t exist) and thomas goes from a two-bedroom apartment in hell’s kitchen to a bedroom the same size (and then some) right outside of gotham city.

and he does see it through, very well in fact! thomas wayne graduates top of his class in undergrad at gotham university as well as in medical school, is granted a residency at gotham general, and eventually becomes the head of surgery. Along the way, he meets a girl named martha, gets married, and has a beautiful baby boy named bruce (after his maternal grandfather ofc) and the rest is history!

[misstah-joe]

So, I heard about Lily's takes on Drug Use and stuff

Imagine thinking that marijuana is just as bad as like something like alcohol abuse, heroin addiction, and other drug abuse stuff like that including being addicted to taking a lot of pills.

Especially with the stuff I've seen with my family, random people that I've seen in the towns and cities I lived in, and especially in the world of sports and in music.

Hearing this from her from this random ask really got me thinking for not only feeling confused, but also really flabbergasted talking about this considering in her Patreon audio thing that she was complaining about not getting her fix of Adderall or wanting some higher dosage or some shit.

Like honestly, the drugs I've seen the most being used around me from then to now was mostly weed and did anyone in my family suffered anything bad or faced legal repercussion from Marijuana use whether they still smoke pot or used to? No, they were fine. They were not affected for the most part and they were usually good and upstanding people who go out, make friends, and still work a decently good paying job for a living. I would know, my younger brother used to smoke weed and he still works his ass off in a pizza shop and my uncle is taking care of his kids and still going to some college or adult school for a better education and to get better high paying jobs.

Like seriously, hasn't it been shown in research studies in the past few years that Weed is one of the LEAST dangerous drugs and has also caused the least number of deaths specifically in the US? Like seriously, you can't overdose on weed and it RARELY kills you. I've honestly seen more people ruin their lives with alcohol abuse than I have ever seen with people smoking weed and Lily is out of her mind with these insane thoughts on drug use and legalization especially saying it killed her uncle and it was killing her sister Courtney even though Lily has said that she was a heroin junkie and a bunch of other stuff for god knows how long in these last couple years.

Also, Weed is probably the one of the very few drugs aside from possibly psychedelic drugs like mushrooms that can be used for medicinal purposes. My Mom and My Uncle both have medicinal Marijuana that they use.

Hell, Courtney even brought up that the cause of their Uncle's death wasn't even related to Weed IN THE SLIGHTEST. As someone who had to learn about the dangers of drugs when I was in school and learned more about drugs from family members, YouTube videos and coverage from local news shows on TV. Lily has almost NO IDEA on how most drugs affect people and met others who have experienced taking medicinal drugs or people that have suffered and/or from drug abuse and the fact she almost immediately loses faith in people who are suffering and doesn't provide help at all just really disgusts me and shows the lack of humanity and sympathy she has for others that aren't herself. And it doesn't help that she deeply questions the legalization of Marijuana considering the creator of one of her favorite Adult Cartoons is a strong supporter of weed and the medicinal use for it.

It makes me sad and pretty mad hearing this kind of crap cuz I almost did the same thing with my dad years ago with his alcohol problems and now he's bettering himself and I'm happy to now being back to speaking terms with him and he's getting back to his feet finding a new job.

But yeah, this was really awful to read, and as usual Lily Orchard has no idea what she is talking about that isn't outside of the usual stuff she blabs about in her videos or in her streams.

Just remember to be there for someone no matter what and to give them emotional support and trust they need to overcome their addictions even in times where it could be difficult to persuade them to clean themselves up and to grow as a person.

Thank you to anyone who reads this and hearing me yap about this. You are all amazing.

[howlingday]

A Most Unusual Unit

Good morning, or rather, good evening, "Nightshade". Excellent work on your last assignment. Thanks your efforts, the councilman has lived to see another day, much to the great benefit of Vale. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I have another assignment for you already. Your new target is the leader of the Spiders organization, "Little Miss" Charlotte Malachite. She is a grave threat to peace between Vale and Mistral. Your mission is to get close to her and gain any information that may be related to seditious activities.

In order to do this, you will have to marry and have a child.

Blake: (Spits out her coffee, Coughs) EXCUSE ME?!

Little Miss is a reclusive woman and is notably suspicious of others. At this point, she operates almost entirely behind the scenes. Her only public appearances of late have been her attendance at the elite private school her daughters attend. These events act as informal get-togethers for the upper crust of society and the lowest of low in the criminal underworld. You are to enroll your child at this school and gain entry to these events. However, admission deadlines are approaching fast. YOU'VE ONLY GOT ONE WEEK.

Blake: (Rips encoded-cypher paper in half) THEY EXPECT ME TO HAVE A CHILD IN SEVEN DAYS?! (People stare at her, Ahem!) Excuse me...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blake: Listen up, little girl.

Penny: I'm Penny!

Blake: Listen up, Penny. From now on, you are my child. As far as everyone knows, however, you have always been my child. Understood?

Penny: Understood!

Blake: You will address me as "Mother," as the elites do.

Penny: Mama!

Blake: Very well.

Old Woman: What an adorable girl~.

Blake: Thank you. We're the Belladinas. We just moved in.

Penny: I'm Penny, and I have always been Mama's child!

Old Woman: Huh?

Blake: (Thinking) You don't need to say that!.

Penny: Mama, I want a silenced pistol~!

Blake: If we see one on sale.

Old Woman: What a strange family...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaune: (Answers phone) Hello, Arc residence.

Jaune: Oh, Saph!

Saphron: (Via phone) How are you doing, baby bro?.

Jaune: Good. Everything's good. I'm still hard at work in Vale!

Saphron: Still as weird as ever. Don't make me worry about you.

Jaune: You don't have to sound so mean about it! And I am not weird!

Saphron: Jaune, when are you going to get married? You find a good lady friend yet?

Jaune: (Thinking) Not this again...

Saphron: Listen, I might be offered a big promotion here soon, but that'd mean I'd be too busy to look after you. I'm not gonna say no right off the bat, but it doesn't feel right for me to abandon you in the big city. Like I always tell ya, I'm forever grateful for you taking care of me all this time, and that's why I want to make sure you're happy.

Jaune: I know, Saph. Thank you.

Saphron: I think I know some cuties out here in Argus. Maybe I could put in a good word for you?

Jaune: Ah! N-No! You don't need to do that! A-Actually, I'm heading to a party this weekend... and I'll be bringing someone!

Saphron: A girl?!

Jaune: Uh, y-yeah, I guess that's one way to describe her. So don't worry about me, okay?

Saphron: Alright. So, who's throwing this party? One of your co-workers?

Jaune: Mm-hm!

Saphron: Great! I'll have Pyrrha give me the full details on this girlfriend of yours!

Jaune: Eh?

Saphron: No offense, Jaune, but you can be pretty naive. I just want to make sure the girl you're digging isn't just digging into you, right?

Jaune: Uh, well-

Saphron: And I'm gonna hold off on this promotion until I know you're happy!

Jaune: Y-You don't need to-

Saphron: Can't wait to hear all about her, baby bro! Ciao~! (Click)

Jaune: (Hangs up, Pacing) What do I do?!. What do I do?!. I need to find a girlfriend now!. If Saph finds out I lied, she'll think there's something wrong with me!. Then she'll never get that promotion, and Terra'll be mad at me!. Adrian will never play with me again!.

Jaune: (Phone rings, Answers) Saph, listen! About what I said earlier, I was just joking! I-

Boss: (Via phone) Having family trouble?. That's unusual for you.

Jaune: Oh! Headmistress! I'm so sorry, I was-

Boss: Good evening. I have a client for you, Rusted Knight.

Jaune: (Eyes dim)

Boss: The Glass Unicorn. Room 1220.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaune: Excuse me.

Proprietor: Oh, hello again, Jaune! How can I help you?

Jaune: I'm going to a party tonight, so I need my slacks patched up ASAP. Er, if that's okay, of course.

Blake: (Flinches, Thinking) How did he get by without me noticing?!. Jaune... Hm... Right. Jaune Arc, 26 years old, never married, and never divorced. Parents deceased. Seven sisters, six dexeased, one surviving, couple years older. They're both ordinary civilians with nothing on their files. Maybe I'm getting sloppy-

Jaune: Um, miss? You've been staring at me since I came in here. Is there something I can help you with?

Blake: He sensed me watching him?!. How?!.

Blake: Oh, uh, no. I just thought... you were really cute. Excuse me for being rude.

Jaune: Wait, so... I'm good looking to you?

Blake: Um, yes?

Jaune: Miss-

Penny: Mama! I got measured! Huh? Who's she?

Blake: He's another customer, like us.

Jaune: (Thinking) I almost asked another man's wife on a date! I've heard stories of men being murdered for things like that. BUT THIS TIME, I'D BE THE ONE TO DO THE KILLING.

Penny: !

Jaune: No! I can't even fantasize about a thing so horrible! It's thoughts like those that'll expose me as an ASSASSIN.

Penny: (Thinking) A- A- A- A- ASSASSIN?!.

Blake: (Spy)

Jaune: (Assassin)

Penny: (Telepath, Starved for entertainment) SOOO COOOOL!.

Blake: I thought he'd make for a good fit for the husband role, but his intuition could threaten my mission.

Jaune: I thought she'd be able to pull off the girlfriend role, but I can't afford any kind of unnecessary bloodshed.

Penny: (Looks down, Covering her face) Oh, boo hoo hoo! I am so sad about Papa!

Blake: P-Penny?! What are you-?!

Penny: I just miss my papa so very, very, very much! If only he could see me in my pretty dress!

Jaune: Oh, is your husband away?

Blake: Ah... You see... My husband actually passed a few years ago. I've been working hard to support my daughter as a single mother.

Jaune: Then... Then no one could try to kill me if I asked her!.

Jaune: Um, excuse me...

[starlos-soulmate]

Surface shenanigans!!! Keep in mind there's a LOT. Gonna put most of this under a cut.

Starlo wanting to know Pancake's surface friends better so ge tags along with her when she visits them. And now its his turn to get her interests shoved down his throat.

She found out that her friends have new friends and a couple of them are married, Jerry has a husband, Gwen is dating someone who rarely visits (long distance), and Grunge (her nickname) is still single (cuz aroace).

Stars finds out that they all used to be in a band. He could join if he wanted to. They all used to hang out in this empty parking lot at dusk and have fun while chilling. There's spots where they go exploring in the mountains and caves and even the forest a ways off. He geeks out at the genuine Western ghost town that Pancake and her friends hung out at. There's band practice, damaging lights and doing crimes, exploring abandoned buildings that are said to be haunted.

He learns a lot about her just by being around her friends. Like no wonder she's more calm. This is how she acts. Like wao

I'm still thinking about like. This time for Starcake, cuz I have to relate things to Starcake, Pancake grew up in a small desert town. It's nothing much. Mostly a checkpoint for truckers going from one major city to another. Despite this, there's attempts at making it an actual like, tourist trap or town. There's a rodeo that happens every year in the summer. There's Halloween and Christmas pagents. There's activities and shops. There's an abandoned western town, a genuine ghost town, a few miles off. (Surprise that Pancake knows a lot about cowboys w/o getting into Westerns fjsjdn). There's a 7-11 at the edge of town that people love to hang out at. Rock croppings nearby where teens hang out and parties are sometimes located. There's a couple schools, stores, and yet it's such a tiny town.

Pancake left this town for over a decade. Mostly accidentally, she was planning on camping out on this mountain that people supposedly disappear on. Even though there's like, six or seven records of such and they were all kids. The Appalachians lose so many people per year and that's always open, but this one mountain loses six kids and it's permanently closed off? Especially since one of the kids disappeared a couple years prior.

She's curious, planning on staying there a couple months, just to see the hullabaloo. Her parents and friends know about this, it's common for her to disappear into the mountains for a while and come back with a crazed smile, scratches and bandages, and a ton of stories about the encounters there. So yeah. They don't think too much of it when she's gone for a few months. When those few months turn into a year and a half, thats when they worry. And soon, another year later, they want a search. But it's a forbidden mountain, people are gonna get in trouble, and so one friend goes and hikes it alone. Just to see the remains of Pancake's stuff: a tattered tent, her old camera, some notebooks long since damaged, heck even some clothes and such. They play the recording on the camera when they get home and it just shows Pancake driving up the mountain, being all excited about the adventure, showing the campsite she set up, this massive hole not too far away. It all goes smoothly until she sets the camera up for something and wanders off. And. Doesn't come back. Camera is rolling for days. She doesn't come back. A storm hits and knocks the camera over. Nothing. It keeps rolling till it runs out of space. And there's. Nothing left.

So for a good chunk when Pancake was Underground, her friends and family thought she either fully returned to the wild, got kidnapped, or just straight-up died. Like where did she go, what happened to her. And they can't tell authorities much because she went onto a very illegal mountain

Missing posters went up that soon weathered away, and soon they all thought she died. All while the town changed.

One shop closed, another started up, soon the town grows a bit bigger. Abandoned places get bought, and bought places get abandoned. A couple stores stay but others disappear. The church stays too. Somehow.

All this while Pancake is having a rivalry with a cowboy whom she soon marries and considers having a family with.

When the Underground is freed, the first thing that shows up on the news are the monsters that are released. So her friends and family know about the monsters. It takes Pancake a couple days to get back to the town.

She knows it's changed. It's been over a decade. Almost a decade and a half. Maybe. It's been a LONG time. And she knows just how much would have changed. Is the town still there? If it is, what is still there? Are her parents still alive? Who died while she was gone? Do they think she's dead?

It's daunting. She doesn't like daunting. And it takes a lot before she heads back

And yeah. STUFF CHANGED. The 7-11 and a video store are still somehow there, but one shop was shut down for another shop across the town. The school was rebuilt, there's apartments up. Things have gotten more modern and more retro together. She knew stuff would change. But it didn't stop the whiplash.

One of her best friends was at the 7-11 when she rolled into the parking lot, and holy crap, the two of them were stunned. And news quickly spread when she left that she was back home.

With a husband.

Shocker that she was one of the few people who fell into the Underground with monsters. And married one of them. Cuz yeah that is a Pancake thing to do

Her parents were also shocked she was still alive. She came up to that door, hesitant, and when someone answered it. Yeah.

It was a kid she hadn't seen before. Her brother's kid. Who's heard of the aunt that went missing. And now she's standing in the doorway with some Monsters behind her. And nervously asking where her parents were.

It was just. It wasn't a tearful reunion, as it was shell shocking. And "Oh yeah ofc you'd fall into a society of monsters"

Her mom was both surprised and unsurpised that she got married Underground. It's been over ten years, why would she not. It's just. Wow she married a really good lookin guy. Until he took his hat off and then it made more sense. Yeah. Of course Pancake would marry him pfft

And Pancake has to get used to this new town she grew up in. It's both familiar and not. It's both the same and not. There's still rodeos. But there's apartments where the fields used to be. And the town would get bigger because of the influx of monsters. Lots of people follow the sheriff. And if the sheriff is settling down in this tiny town, then so be it

So yeah.

[corawithfanfiction]

✯ Flawless - Sebastian Stan

the night before the funeral

prologue

MY MASTERLIST! - EVENTS!

This is an original story and may not be copied or translated into another language without permission!

Warnings and Information:

First of all, hello to all of you,

there are a couple of things I want to mention before we start the story.

Nora is a character I created myself. I based her character profile on Taylor Hill and Daisy Edgar Jones, but it is up to you to imagine her as you wish throughout the story :)

Nora first appeared on the Victoria's Secret Show in 2013. Taylor Hill made her debut on this runway in 2014. So, I will make some changes about the 2013 runway. I tried to go as close to real life as possible, but as I said, I want to focus on a specific period of time, so I won't bore you with too many details.

✯

Crowded streets, huge buildings and life. New York was that amazing city that I fell in love with since childhood, always busy, always bustling. I could only dream of being part of the people, I wanted to be in the center of everything.

When I was a little kid and I told my parents that I was going to be a superstar and have all the luxuries of the state, they would smile and tell me it was just a passing fad. Despite all this talk, I have watched countless TV shows and movies based on New York and its undeniably amazing atmosphere. And just because New York is part of it.

As I entered my teenage years, my aspirations and dreams had not changed throughout my high school life, and on top of that, they had become even clearer. My graduating class had written a lot of good wishes in my yearbook that I would become a very famous model. And to be honest, I was a very ambitious baby. I never gave up. When that day came, I had only one thing on my mind. I applied to the top-rated, top-notch, top modelling college in the world. Needless to say, it was in New York City. And that was my biggest motivation to apply.

Waiting for the application results, knowing that was so close and yet so far away from the goal I had dreamed of for all those years were perhaps the most difficult days of my life. Those few days were the most stressful period of my life. It was the most important step to prove myself to everyone, to my family, who thought it was just a whim even though they always supported me. And with just one piece of paper, my whole destiny was going to change.

I can never remember the day the result sheet arrived, I was so excited that it was like a dream those years before I realized I had won. I learned what it meant to walk the walk by earning my degree and soon I was talking and being talked about this industry. My social media accounts were flooded with millions of followers who were completely obsessed.

I walked the runways during New York Fashion Week, countless Victoria's Fashion Shows, not to mention fashion shows in Paris. My face and body were on the covers of magazines around the world. On the cusp of twenty-seven, my fame was only rising to maximum levels. I wanted more, I always wanted more, and that's how I kept getting higher and higher and higher, but at one point I was never satisfied.

When I woke up today, the day had started in a strange way. I received an insisted ringing phone from Russell Clark, my public relations manager. Nothing was wrong except that it was extremely early and Russell doesn't usually make me ring more than twice. He had been with me from the very beginning of my career and at some point he may have known more about my life than I did.

"What's going on, Russie?" I asked Russell on the other end of the phone as I poured myself a morning cup of tea and looked up at the sky, which was easily visible from my penthouse.

"I got a call that could change your life. Can you meet me downtown in forty - five minutes?"

My brow furrowed. I snuggled deeper into the silk robe I was wearing, hesitant about the way Russell was speaking. I always loved hearing his ideas, but something about the timbre of his voice made me very skeptical.

"Now tell me what happened." I demanded an answer and sipped my herbal tea, my awakened senses instantly activated.

"Please? You know I would never steer you wrong."

Sighing, I agreed and hung up the phone. Looking at my freshly manicured nails, which were a gorgeous ruby red, I rolled my eyes and numbly took steps towards my walk-in closet to grab an outfit. Everything I was wearing was by famous designers. It didn't matter if it was pants, dresses, blouses or bags. I had represented a lot of quality brands, and continued to do so. I had walked the runway for many of them to present their new collections. As a result, my closet was filled with a ton of new clothes that were not even out yet.

Forty-five minutes later I was downtown in Russell's office, just like he wanted. I walked in, smiled gratefully and allowed my photographs to be taken while the press screamed for something. I stepped into the entrance of the plaza, not wiping the most sincere smile off my face.

As I passed through the revolving doors, I bumped into someone and a moan escaped my mouth. Yes, it's a cliché.

"Hey, watch where you're going next time." The man's voice was enough to get on my nerves immediately. I turned his eyes to see.

No, it wasn't him!

"Listen you annoying asshole, maybe you shouldn't have answered your phone."

Sebastian Stan. My archenemy, the man whose courage I absolutely hate.

I had been aware of your precious existence for the last ten years, but there had been a series of events that had led to the development of an absolute hatred between the two of us. We couldn't stand each other, our anger was so great that I could feel the liquid coming from my stomach into my mouth.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Why are you here?" I questioned him immediately. Why would your PR guy be in Russell Clark's building? Sebastian remained silent, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Okay, now you can stop being an asshole and answer me." I growled, looking at him closely.

He chuckled.

"Always in my business. You were good at it. And you know what? I don't even know why I'm here. I got a call to meet Alex, my publicist." My eyebrows furrowed together. "In my manager's office?"

Sebastian groaned. "I'm tired of entertaining you." He said and turned around and started walking away. I absolutely hated that man. "Sebastian!" a man announced as he walked into the lobby.

"Darling," Russell smiled, appearing in line.

I looked between the two men, but finally turned my gaze to Russell. "What's going on?" I finally asked.

With that Sebastian grunted.

"There she goes, demanding everything like a queen."

"Shut up, Stan!" I pointed at him.

"You first, bitch," he yelled.

I watched Russell and who I assumed was Alex turn and look at each other, worried looks spreading across their faces.

"You both need to come with us," Russell said quickly, taking me by the hand and pulling me with him.

Sebastian resisted. "I'm not going into a room with her, Alex. Don't make me do this."

"Once we agree!" I screamed, and people started to look in my direction.

We were both ushered into Russell's office and asked to sit down. I looked across the room at Sebastian and grabbed the leather chair and pulled it across the room so that there was some distance between us.

Russell was looking at me. And as Alex was pinching the bridge of his nose, his head apparently fell into his (Russell's) hand.

"Alex, it was your idea, maybe you should start?" Russell finally suggested to the man. Alex cleared his throat and straightened his posture, looking at both of us. Sebastian stayed where he was sitting, but his body language screamed that he was insanely uncomfortable with his hips twisted against mine.

"Russell and I got together and realized something," Alex began. "Sebastian, you're one of the hottest actors right now, especially with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier making so much noise this year. Not to mention Monday, The 355 and Fresh. Pam and Tommy is being finished earlier this year and comes out on Wednesday or something," he looked at Seb intently.

Sebastian looked at him without bothering to say a word. "And you, my favorite model" - I raised my hand. "Don't fall for it, Russell." I reminded him that I absolutely hate it when he tries to look cute around me. He stopped and refreshed himself. "You are the hottest model right now. You've been featured everywhere and your fame is only climbing."

I nodded, knowing he was right, but that was no reason to put me and his enemy in the same room together.

When Sebastian and I both had nothing to add to the conversation, Alex spoke up. "So that's why we've decided to essentially boost your careers. We think it would be wise for two of the sexiest celebrities from opposite worlds… to date."

My breath caught in my throat and Sebastian started coughing. "It's a trick!" I burst into tears. "No, no, no, over my dead body!" Russell was watching me, and Alex's eyes widened. I noticed Sebastian frowning and it only made me push him out of his chair. "Honey, we know your past has been a bit rough, -" - "Rough?!" I almost screamed. I got up from my seat and pointed at Sebastian. "Last time I checked, he cheated on me!" Sebastian's blue eyes widened as he pushed himself up from the seat next to him and looked at me.

"No? I guess I remembered that when you cheated on me with my co-star."

Alex and Russell's eyes widened at my outbursts. I started to mock. "It didn't look like that when the photos of you sucking that redhead were published. On a boat passing through Romania!"

Sebastian growled. "That was after we broke up! You humiliated me in front of everyone on social media!"

"Then who was it who humiliated me at my modeling agency! On my twenty-first birthday!"

Russell and Alex watched me pacing back and forth, their attention focused on the first person to shout.

"You did this to yourself after making a big scene out of nothing." Sebastian fired back. "I remember you fighting me at the red carpet premiere of Civil War because you thought the so-called redhead I cheated with was there!"

Russell raised his hand and signaled us both to stop. "Okay, we get it… your relationship hasn't been great, but at least it's not real. It's just for popularity. People are begging on social media for you to get back together one day. Let's give the people what they want." He tried to say as much as he could but I could only roll my eyes.

"We're serious. Totally fake love. Just look happy for social media, red carpet events and fashion shows." Alex commented. I jumped up from the table and looked at him, wishing I could stab him in the neck for doing this to me.

"You can even date other people, it just has to be done in secret. We can help with that." Russell pointed a finger at Alex, who nodded. "The ad will be jaw-dropping. You think you've got it all now? Let me know when the two most famous celebrities are out."

Alex and Russell were serious. Totally, completely serious. I looked across the table at them and sideways at the man standing to my left, Sebastian Stan, handsome, flamboyant, the man I hated with every fiber of my being.

"What's in it for me?" Sebastian suddenly asked, and I tried to cope with the urge to roll my eyes, which helped me discover how much of a headache I had from rolling my eyes today.

"Sebastian, last time I checked, you underestimated me." I growled without making eye contact. Even though he had already seen my outburst, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction it brought me. "Oh, I know." He said with a grin. "I've hated you from the moment I met you." It wouldn't have happened if he had chosen to date me on his own terms beforehand.

Russell cleared his throat, forcing us both to look at him. "You two are in a fake relationship to exchange money, fame and fortune. Sebastian, you'll be in more movies than you can imagine. And you? You'll walk the runway more times than you can imagine!" Alex carefully pushed what looked like paper in front of us. It was an absolutely binding contract. It was more than ready for your signatures.

"How much longer are we in this?" I asked, but Sebastian was already signing his name in the most disgusting way.

"How about you shut up and sign the damn contract?"

I narrowed my eyes, growled fiercely. "Six months," Alex replied. Muttering a silent curse, I held my breath, wrote my name next to Sebastian's and threw the gel pen on the table. Sebastian continued to sit as I pushed myself out of the chair.

My life was about to become seriously toxic. How could I fake flirt with a man who had caused me so much pain in my life?

✯

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