#oh to have another season where they are in this exact situation

[sorrydetka]

tom would’ve 100% taken greg with him on the oceangate submersible to the titanic wreck

[rinhaler]

THERE'S NOBODY HERE

CHAPTER SUMMARY: So you're trapped in a cabin with your hot ex who you haven't seen in months as well as his hot friends. Now what? Party and make him jealous, of course.

ex-fiancé!rin x f!reader

WARNINGS : 18+, alcohol consumption, oui'd smoking, shotgunning, lots of flirting, sex talk/discussions, squirting mention, dry humping?? (grinding while dancing), rejection, pet names (baby, princess).

WORDS : 8.6k

notes : this series may be a flop but I like it 😭🫶🏽

       LAST CHAPTER┊MASTERLIST ┊ NEXT CHAPTER

Rin’s eyes lower from staring up at you, instead focusing on talking to his brother and the other guests as he comes into the cabin and finally shuts the door behind himself. They’re all catching up, it’s plain to see how close they all are and how happy they are to see each other.

Even Rin looks uncharacteristically happy to see everyone. Usually, the only thing on his mind is football and training. Maybe the holiday season is bringing out this new side of him.

Though you can’t help but feel a little nauseated. You know Sae is just as surprised to see him as you are, but still, if you trusted your better judgement, you wouldn’t have come just in case this happened. Your fingers curl around the banister tightly as you try to steel yourself.

“I can’t believe this.” you whisper to Chigiri, who runs a soft palm soothingly across your back.

“Come on.” he tilts his head towards the top of the stairs, suggesting you go and reassess the situation in the safety of your bedroom. He leads the way, and you follow hurriedly, not getting the chance to see Rin glance up at you disappearing. “It’s giving main character.” Chigiri can’t help but smirk as he shuts the door behind you both.

“It’s giving… I’m fucked.” you laugh back before screaming into a pillow. You pull it away, your hair messed up a little before Chigiri puts it back into place for you. “I literally can’t believe this is happening. So much for no Rin talk all week!”

“Oh fuck, I know. So much for a rebound, too.” he sighs. You do a fake little cry before genuinely groaning in distress as he thinks. “I mean, you could still do it, but it’ll just end up causing drama.”

“Yeah no way, maybe we should leave?” you suggest, and he doesn’t argue. It might be for the best, it’s an uncomfortable, unexpected change in circumstance and both of you can’t help but feel less welcome. “They’re his friends. We were only invited because he wasn’t supposed to be coming.”

“Plus we can spend the week together anyway since you managed to get out of seeing your parents.”

“Right!” you nod excitedly. “Okay, wanna help me pack and then I’ll help you?”

“Sure. But I don’t need help and I know you won’t help anyway.” he chides, laughing softly as he stands tall and looks around thinking about where to start.

Really, nothing gets done. You talk about packing, but you both end up sitting on top of the bed and gossiping more about what happened.

Rin Itoshi is here.

And you haven’t seen him since the breakup. That awful, painful breakup. Enough time has passed that the memory doesn’t feel as raw. But Christ it still hurts. You can still feel the way tears pricked at your eyes and flooded your lash line as you broke things off with him. They cascaded downwards with no sign of stopping as Rin begged and pleaded, sobbing to give him another chance.

You wanted to.

You remember how agonising it felt to deny him that chance. The fear in his eyes as he realised things weren’t going to be fixed with words and he really was losing you forever. The exact moment his heart broke into pieces will be etched in your mind for the rest of your life. The pain of that vision has dulled but is ever present.

And seeing him, now, look at you with such little care is like a knife tearing into your flesh. His lack of smile is like salt and bleach pouring into a fresh wound.

You do your best to hide a fresh tear rolling down your cheek from Hyoma, but it’s too late. He sits up on the bed and leans over to you to wipe it away. And you know what’s coming, a classic pep talk from him that always make you feel better. Even if he can be harsh, he always knows best.

Just as he’s about to speak, though, the door swings open.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t— are you two a thing now?”

You shake your head, trying to conceal your red, watery eyes from Rin as he stands in the doorway. Hyoma objects. A little too much for your liking. But there isn’t a single indication of jealousy or relief as Rin listens to him speak.

The thought of you moving on doesn’t faze him at all.

“You’re in my room.” Rin tells you, and you nod.

“Rin! I was just about to tell you that your rooms been taken, you’ll have to—” Sae follows his brother into the room, looking at you with a slight look of sorrow as he can tell how upset you are. And if Sae has noticed, Rin definitely has.

“We’ll be gone soon.” you try to sniffle discreetly. You can’t bear looking at Rin, but your eyes meet his brothers as he cocks his head in confusion. “We were just about to pack and head home. You can have your room back, sorry.” you explain. The brothers watch you as you walk over to the wardrobe and begin collecting your clothes, and you’re thankful for the opportunity to hide your face and wipe your shimmering cheeks.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Sae asks, and all you can do is nod. “Rin was going to take the couch.”

“Was I?” he raises an eyebrow and grimaces at his brother who returns a scathing glare back at him. “Don’t leave on my account. I thought we were going to be mature about this.”

“This is being mature, Rin.” you sigh, finally looking at him. “This is your house. Your friends. It’s okay, it makes more sense for us to leave.”

“Chigiri, talk to her.” Sae requests, only to end up disappointed when Chigiri confesses that he agrees with you. He sighs, but tries to think of a solution. “Look, it’s gonna get dark soon. At least wait until morning? You’ve only been here for an hour or so, and you were excited for this. Things don’t have to change.” he reasons, watching you and Hyoma share a look as you consider it.

“It’s a long drive… icy roads… and he’s right about it getting dark.” Chigiri says to you, quietly, though the brothers can hear. You look at all of them as you think, but you focus on Chigiri as he continues. “Why don’t you move your stuff into my room and then Rin can have his own room?” he suggests.

You sigh, nodding. He starts helping you bring your clothes into his room rather than packing them away, and Rin drags his suitcase into his own room so he can unpack when you’re done.

Sae helps with your stuff, too, sticking around in Chigiri’s room to make sure you’re okay.

“I hope you don’t think I’m setting you up or anything…” he tells you, “I swear he told me he wasn’t coming. He actually told me he’d rather break both of his legs than come here.”

“It’s okay, Sae, I know. I trust you.” you smile at him. Him and Chigiri work well as a team, pretty much taking over and not allowing you to lift a finger as they help you transfer your things to his room. “I still feel like I shouldn’t be here. I don’t feel great and I’m probably going to ruin the mood.”

“Not possible, Rin is the biggest buzzkill without trying.” he laughs, picking up the golden glittery dress Chigiri had noticed earlier. “We’re having a party tonight, definitely wear this.” Sae tells you, handing it to you.

You model in front of the standing mirror in the corner of the room and hold the garment up against your body. It’ll definitely turn some heads, for sure. And even if you can’t actually hook up with anyone, you’re sure you’ll get some attention either way.

“I’m going to town for another booze run, wanna come, Chigiri?” Sae asks, turning focus from you to your friend. Chigiri looks at you inquisitively, like he’s asking permission, but you only shrug.

“I should shower and start getting ready for tonight, anyway!” you tell him. “But you better be back in time to do my hair.” you poke out your tongue.

“Ugh you take forever.” he sighs, heading for the exit with Sae. “Go, go.” he mutters, walking ahead of him until he’s completely out of sight and down the stairs.

“Otoya is coming with us,” Sae tells you. “Ryusei will keep you company if you get lonely.” he smiles, leaving you alone with your thoughts and allowing you to ruminate on the fact you’re stuck in a house with your ex.

Chigiri isn’t back by the time you get out of the shower. You rush across the hall, a little deflated that you’ve downgraded to a room without an ensuite. Though you’re sure everyone is downstairs, your adrenaline is through the roof at the thought of being seen in just a towel.

You make it back to your room unseen, however, locking the door behind you when you get inside. You’ll have to hurry and get dressed in case Chigiri comes back. You’re sure he’s seen you naked countless times through your friendship when you’re too hammered to care, but the thought of him walking in on you with nothing on is too embarrassing to even think about.

YOU: are u still out?

CHIGIRI: yeah we’re heading back now tho

You put your phone away and start to lather yourself in all of your lotions and potions. You’re sure he’ll comment on how overpowering the smell of strawberries and coconut is when he returns but you can’t find it in you to care. You feel so smooth and sweet and invigorated.

There’s a short and vest pyjama set plaguing your mind that you bought brand new that you’re itching to wear. Though when you strip yourself of your towel, you realise you should have brought a dressing gown.

It makes you think about Ryusei.

You’re sure there’s a spare in his ensuite, or if not a spare, he might let you borrow his. You unlock the door to your room once you’re dressed in your barely there loungewear, shivering a little as water still drips and spills across your skin.

The corridor with each room is bare as you look up and down. Though as you walk towards where Sae said Ryusei’s room would be, you spot Rin poke his head out of his bedroom. He sees you, too, barely glancing at you for more than a moment before he goes back inside of his room.

Your stomach churns, nerves getting the better of you. But your eyes soon light up when you see Ryusei leave his own room. You want to call out to him, to run towards him, but he disappears just as quickly when he follows Rin into his room.

It makes you pause, unsure of what to do. You don’t particularly want to see Rin again, but you’d quite like to catch up with Ryusei.

You take a breath, and slowly approach. The door is ajar, though you don’t feel confident enough to reveal yourself. Instead, you rest against the wall. It’s not like you’re eavesdropping, you’re just working up the courage to talk to him.

“Crazy that she’s here.” Ryusei laughs. They’re talking about you, you realise. You slow your breathing and actively make the effort to listen in on their conversation, now. It’s icky and invasive and you hate yourself for it. But you can’t help yourself. You want to know what they’re thinking. Both of them. “How’re you feelin’ about it?”

“Well—” he stops, thinking. It goes silent for a while, and he begins moving around the room. It makes your heart race. Does he know you’re there? Is he about to close the door? You inhale a slow, silent breath, holding it in your lungs for as long as possible. “I’m seeing someone… so I don’t really care.”

“You are? You kept that quiet!”

“You never asked.” Rin responds without missing a beat. “We’re also not friends.”

Ryusei laughs at him, though he isn’t sure if he’s joking or not. They’re friends, right? They talk often enough, and Rin probably sees Ryusei more than he sees his own brother. They hang out a lot outside of practices and games, so he doesn’t doubt that they’re friends, despite what Rin says.

You feel your heart stop beating, you swear.

For the first time, maybe ever, Chigiri was wrong. Rin is seeing someone. He actually moved on. You can’t be mad; you have no right to be mad. Not when you ended things. If you cared about him so much, you wouldn’t have broken his heart. He has every right to move on, and so you do.

Though you can’t stop the way your heart aches. The way it bleeds each time it beats, it’s scarring with every thump. You feel the lashing of a whip lacerating it as it does all it can to keep you alive.

But you’ve died inside.

You can’t help the way your throat suffocates itself with a lump in a desperate bid to gain more oxygen. Your eyes are full. They’re wet and pitiful as you come to terms with the news. Maybe you thought you’d find your way back to each other one day.

After the breakup, he didn’t bother you at all. He took it terribly in the moment. But after, he seemed to shut down completely. Everything was so methodical and planned. He arranged to have his stuff moved out by movers and requested you wouldn’t be there. It was quick and seamless, and you never heard from him again after that.

It hurt.

It stung, in fact.

But in your mind, you hoped that things would change. Even up until now, you hoped you would both grow as people and maybe one day find each other again. You’d be ready to grow up and be who you each needed to be so that you could be together in the right way.

But that can’t happen, now.

You were too hopeful that he’d change for you.

You just gave him the freedom to be someone else’s.

The wood floor creaks as you try and stealthily sneak away, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Rin or Ryusei. You hear Ryusei question if someone is there, and it makes everything worse. You quickly try and disguise your tears before you reveal yourself, pretending to be on the phone as you stand in the doorway.

“Sorry I was just talking to my dad and pacing around! Bye!” you tell them, hurrying away before either of them can call you out on it. You aren’t sure if they realised you were listening in, and truthfully, you don’t want to know. If either of them were to ask you, you think you’d have a breakdown.

You rush back to Chigiri’s room and lock the door behind you, and for a while, you manage to keep composed. Tears are flowing and you feel horrible about the situation, but you’re surprisingly calm.

“Hey, kiddo,” you hear a soft knock at the door. “Can I come in?” Ryusei asks. And that is when you begin to sob.

You go to the door and unlock it, opening it wide and allowing him to see your puffy eyes and soaking cheeks. He tuts, sorrowfully, wiping your cheeks with his thumbs as he enters the room. He closes the door behind himself again and locks it before guiding you to the bed.

The tears don’t stop, and he keeps wiping them away for you. It hurts. God, it fucking hurts. If you had some hindsight and known he’d move on this quickly, you never would have ended things. You’re realising a lot about the breakup and what a big mistake you’ve made, now. And it’s stupid and selfish and you hate yourself for it.

You know you weren’t happy at the time.

But you were a lot fucking happier than you are right now.

“You heard, then?” he asks. “What were you doin’? Eavesdropping doesn’t seem like you.”

“I— I wasn’t. Not really… I didn’t mean to.” you try to explain, still stuttering and sniffling through your words. He coos and shushes you, trying to calm you down so that you can speak and think clearly. He urges you to take deep breaths, and finally, you can explain. “I was coming to see you and then I saw you go into Rin’s room so I got nervous and hid.”

“Ah,” he nods. “Well, what did you want to see me for?”

“I just… wanted to know if you had a spare dressing gown.” you tell him half of the truth, the other half glued to your tongue and unwilling to be shared. Though his smile, his cheeky, almost intimidating smirk has you folding for him and confessing the rest. “’n I missed you, thought we could catch up.”

He pulls you into his arms and squeezes tight. He can’t even begin to tell you how much he’s missed you. Of course, you’re all busy doing your own thing, but he got to see you way more when you were dating Rin.

You have no idea how much he cherishes those moments you came with them when they travelled to away games. The pranks you played with him and the nights you spent up watching movies and learning more about each other.

He’s never crossed a line with you, ever.

But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about it.

Rin is one of his closest friends. And, at the time, you were his. He’d never dream of making a move on you. He wouldn’t want to ruin his friend’s relationship and break the trust between them.

You withdraw from his hug, though. Your eyes shimmer and twinkle as they look into his wantonly. They’re so flirtatious yet stern in comparison to how wet and desperate your own look. The tension between you is rife, and you swear the only thing that can be heard is the way your heart pounds.

He doesn’t expect you to lean forward.

He doesn’t expect you to tilt your head and close your eyes as your face gets closer to his.

It takes him aback, his eyes widening in shock as he realises what you’re doing. His hands fly to your shoulders, and he pulls away from you, keeping you at arm’s length. You feel every organ plummet through your body as you realise what an idiot you are.

“Oh my God.” you sigh, moving away from him and covering your hands over your mouth in horror. How could you be so stupid? You’re stone cold sober and don’t have a single excuse to fall back on. You just threw yourself at him, and he didn’t give you any indication that he was interested.

“Hey, it’s okay! You’re just hurting, and I’m here.” he starts, getting closer to you and putting an arm around you before you shrug him off and walk away. “Things don’t need to be weird, baby, I understand.”

You scoff, looking at him briefly before your eyes fill with tears again at the sheer embarrassment. He stands up, desperate to hold you. To console you. But you don’t let him. Keeping him away as far as possible as you move away from him and push him, almost angrily.

A turn of the handle at the bedroom door makes you both freeze. The following knock at the door forces you to look at him.

“Don’t tell anyone.” you request, eyes pleading with him as you begin to panic.

He doesn’t speak, heading to the door to see who’s there. You’re relieved when it swings open, it’s Chigiri. He looks a little surprised to see you in your scanty pyjamas with Ryusei in the room. The latter of the men doesn’t say a word as he slips by him. Not uttering a sound or even looking at him as he goes back to his own room.

Chigiri comes in, quickly, locking the door again and setting down the shopping bag.

You see two glasses in his hand, quickly grabbing them and setting them down as he pulls out a bottle of rosé wine from the shopping bag. He holds it up, raising a brow, asking a silent question of whether you want to start the party early or not.

“Pour the drinks, bitch.” you tell him. He laughs, screwing off the lid as you grab your makeup bag and a few different eyeshadow palettes from your suitcase.

“Do I even want to know?” he wonders, holding your glass out to you. You take it from his hand as you walk by and sit at the dressing table with your makeup. He circles around you, grabbing his hair dryer so he can start doing your hair at the same time.

“I tried to kiss him.” you smile, sarcastically. “Tried being very important, because he was horrified. He couldn’t keep me far enough away, Hyoma.”

“Well… you are his friends ex, babe. Give him some credit.” Hyoma tries to reason. “There’s no way he wouldn’t kiss you back otherwise.”

“Oh! Speaking of my ex, he’s seeing someone.” you start laughing hysterically before fanning your hands in front of your face to try and stop yourself from crying. “Remember,” you laugh-cry again, “remember when you said he’s too focused on work to move on? Hahaha!” you continue, grabbing your wine glass and drinking every last drop.

“Oh boy.” Chigiri speaks, downing his own glass before topping them both up. Admittedly, you feel way calmer as he starts brushing your hair. His soft hands raking through your locks almost sends you to sleep. “Who told you?”

“No one, I accidentally overheard. Not that it matters.” you shrug. “We’re definitely leaving tomorrow. I can’t do this.”

“Fine.” he shrugs. “You know what you can do, though? Wear that slutty little dress you bought and give him a show. You’re literally a model, babe. What are the odds he’s found a hotter girlfriend than you? I bet she’s ugly.” Hyoma smiles.

God, he’s the best. He knows exactly the right thing to say every time you’re in distress. You wish you could offer the same support to him. But honestly, his life is pretty well put together. He rarely gets involved in drama. And even when he does, he always knows how to get himself out of it.

“Gonna get your hair looking perfect, okay? Wear that dress, grind on the guys, get wasted. And then tomorrow we can dip.” he explains, and you nod. “Who cares if he’s dating someone? You think he won’t get jealous if you dry fuck his friends?”

“No, you’re right.” you tell him before taking another drink. You aren’t sure if you’re feeling genuine confidence or if the blush pink liquid is rushing straight to your head. It doesn’t matter, though. Everything he’s saying is true. And you’re ready and raring to go. “He was so possessive when we were together.”

He nods, and you both clink your glasses together as you seem to have a solid plan prepared to set in motion.

Although, it’s half-baked as best.

Time flies as you get ready. Your makeup is settled on your face to perfection and Chigiri finishes off your hair, making sure there isn’t a strand out of place. He applauds as he admires his handiwork. He reaches for the bottle of wine, realising it’s empty as he goes to pour himself another glass.

“Fuck sake.” he mutters. He watches you as you stand up, the two of you finally notice the sound of loud music playing from downstairs as the room falls silent. You do a little dance as you strip down to nothing, not caring about your present company. “Oh we’re doing this.” he exclaims, turning away on instinct.

“Oh fuck I’m sorry, I forgot.” you laugh, and now you realise you’re definitely at the very least tipsy. He laughs too, noting how confident you are as you stand completely bare in front of him. It’s something you’re used to, honestly. Doing runway shows gives you no room to be embarrassed about your natural form. But for whatever reason, Chigiri makes you feel shy unless you’re drunk.

“I can’t believe you got a Hollywood wax you whore.” he laughs. “Trying to act like you weren’t trying to fuck but you were prepared!”

“You never know, Chigs~!” you sing a little as you walk to the wardrobe to grab the golden dress. You slip into it with ease. You aren’t allowing it to wear you, though. It’s yours and you own it. There is no doubt that you are the one wearing it, dominating it like it was created for your body and yours alone. “I can still hook up, y’know? We’re leaving tomorrow. Who cares if I stir the pot?” you shrug.

“Listen, if you call me Chigs one more time I’m gonna suffocate you with a pillow in your sleep.” he warns you, and you giggle as you slip into your high heels. He doesn’t dispute your point, though. This might be the last time you see any of these guys. Rin has moved on, and there’s no reason you can’t too. And while you’re at it, you may as well burn every bridge in the process.

“Let’s party.” you wink, opening the door.

You’re greeted to a cacophony of cheers and wolf whistles as you descend the staircase. The boys are scattered around. A few of them in the kitchen, while the others are in the lounge.

Otoya curls his finger from the kitchen, inviting you over to hang out with him and the others. You look over your shoulder towards the lounge. Ryusei and Rin are staring at you with an intense gaze. Of course there’s a chance Ryusei told him that you threw yourself at him, but you’re choosing to believe they’re admiring how hot you look instead.

“You look stunning.” Eita tells you, offering you a puff of his J as he holds it in front of your face. It’s been a while since you got high. You stopped when you started dating Rin, and you didn’t feel the need to pick it back up when you broke up. But, now, you have nothing to lose.

“Thank you.” you smile, accepting the weed and the compliment. You admire the lights as they change colour quickly, making you feel like you’re at a club. You immediately sink into a bar stool as you feel the drugs take hold of your body, weariness hitting you instantly.

Karasu lights another blunt and hands it to Chigiri, who smokes without hesitation.

“Do you want a drink?” Sae asks you both, looking between you as you get more and more comfortable in the group. Chigiri nods, walking around the counter to help him.

He knows what you like, after all.

“She looks fucking amazing.” Oliver comments, standing up from between Ryusei and Rin before he heads over to join all of the action in the kitchen. “Hi gorgeous,” he whispers in your ear as he places his hand in the small of your back. You smile, cheerfully, resting your body into his as he holds you close.

“Pace yourself.” Chigiri warns you, sliding your drink to you. You sniff it, realising he’s poured you some Malibu and coke into a cup. His warning goes ignored, however, as you drink two thirds of the drink before setting it down.

“I’m fucked.” you laugh, staggering a little as you walk beside Chigiri to get another drink. He looks concerned, but leaves you be for now. It takes all of your power not to look over to the only two men not hanging out with you right now. “Are they looking?” you whisper to Chigiri.

He looks, quickly.

“Mhmm.”

Your smile widens and you can’t help but laugh. Hyoma snatches the bottle from you as you go to pour a new drink. Oliver passes your original cup to you, and you beam as you remember you hadn’t finished it, though it’s gone in an instant.

“Real party girl, aren’tcha?” Karasu asks, putting his arm around your shoulder and forcing his blunt into your mouth. “You’ll be asleep before midnight I bet.” he challenges you.

You ignore him, turning to face him.

His eyes widen in realisation as he notices you’re keeping the smoke deep in your lungs. He closes the gap between your faces and his lips rest against yours, accepting the smoke back as you exhale it.

“Fuuuck, am I in love?” Karasu laughs as the exchange ends. He turns away, biting his lip slightly as you bend over the counter and rest your head in your hands. The skirt of your dress rides up a little, and Chigiri graciously tugs it down for you.

“Babe, stop,” he warns you, leaning over to whisper in your ear. “You’re gonna end up passing out.”

You gulp, nervously, feeling anxious under Chigiri’s intense eyes. You know he’s only looking out for you, but you can’t help feeling a little on edge. Sae comforts you, though, pulling you into his side like a protective big brother as he asks how you’re doing.

“Having fun?”

“Yes! Thanks for inviting us.” you smile.

“Glad you wore this one, suits you.” he nods. You watch him as he smokes beside you, and you decline when he offers you a puff. Chigiri, however, gratefully accepts without even being asked. Sae leaves your side in favour of sitting next to your best friend as they talk and bond over the joint.

You aren’t sure what to do, now. You feel a little deflated after Chigiri’s warning and you aren’t sure what to do with yourself. It seems like you shouldn’t drink or smoke anymore, but you’re brimming with so much energy you don’t particularly want to sit down.

“Hey, c’mere.” Eita orders, Oliver sits down next to him upon his request.

And when you approach, that is when Ryusei finally decides to come over. He smiles at everyone, but can’t seem to catch your attention as you’re too fixated on the two men with different tints of green in their hair.

Eita stands up when you hoist yourself onto the counter, and he slots himself between your open legs. Ryusei watches the scene unfold, anger bubbling at his jawline as he contemplates whether to intervene or not. His protective side roaring at him to get you away from the renowned playboys.

“Let her be.” Chigiri tells him, noticing his irritation. Ryusei sits down opposite to him, leaning over to chat quietly amongst themselves. Sae listens in, too, but only because he’s in close proximity. “I heard what happened. Did you tell Rin?”

“No, I didn’t.” Ryusei answers, though he doesn’t look happy about it. It feels like a betrayal to hide something so big from his friend, but he knows nothing good will come from sharing. “Oliver and Eita, they’re—”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s none of your business. She’s not looking for a boyfriend, she’s letting her hair down. So, whatever you’re planning, stop. Let her have fun. If you wanted her, you should have—” Chigiri stops himself when he remembers Sae is right beside him. He looks over at you, still being showered in attention by Eita and Oliver.

“Do you have feelings for my ex-sister-in-law, Ryusei?” Sae asks, laughing lightly before passing him the gross remainder of his blunt. Ryusei shrugs, smoking.

“’s complicated.” Ryusei announces, uncaring. He’s sure nothing that is discussed here tonight will be remembered come morning. “Rin! Get off your phone and come over!”

Rin flips him off and continues playing on his phone. You’re a little disappointed, but it can’t be helped. Karasu sits on the other side of Chigiri while Sae shuffles a deck of cards.

“Set up ring of fire, dude.”

“Ring of fire sucks.” you yell over your shoulder, though you giggle when Otoya’s fingers gently caress your chin and force you back to look at him. Oliver pours three shots for all of you, handing them to you and his friend. You drink them together, giggling even more when you feel the buzz rush right into your brain.

“What drinking games do you like, sweetheart?” Oliver asks, his hand resting on your thigh while his thumb softly strokes your skin.

You tell them that you like never have I ever the best, prompting Sae to call Rin over. Then, and only then, does he actually listen. Chigiri makes sure everyone has a drink, pouring something random for Rin as he takes a seat next to Ryusei and opposite to his brother.

It’s nice seeing the kitchen island so lively. In a weird way, you feel like a teenager again. Finding out someone’s parents are out of town and having a big, debaucherous house party while you play drinking games and get too fucked up to even know where you are.

Obviously you’re grown, now. And you like to think you’re a bit more responsible than you were back then. Though it’s likely it might just be Chigiri keeping you on the right path. He shoots a smile at you as Eita helps you down from the counter. Oliver moves one seat along and you sit between them, his arm is around the back of your chair while Eita’s hand remains firmly on your thigh.

“Who’s going first?” Ryusei asks.

“I’ll go, let’s start easy.” Karasu answers. “Never have I ever ate food.” you all laugh and everyone takes a drink. He nudges Chigiri to go next.

“Never have I ever had sex.” everyone laughs, drinking again. You and Rin exchange an awkward look before looking elsewhere.

“Horny, Chigiri? Onto the sex questions already?” Ryusei laughs.

“We all know people only play this for the sex questions so I’m just moving the process along.” Chigiri rolls his eyes before looking at Sae, assuming the questions are going around the table clockwise.

“Never have I ever eaten ass.” He drinks as soon as he finishes talking, and he smiles as Rin grunts, realising he stole his little brother’s question.

You watch Oliver and Eita either side of you drink as well as Ryusei. Karasu admits he hasn’t done it but it very open to trying it, earning a laugh from the group. Rin sits silently for a while as he tries to think of a question. It takes him too long, so Ryusei decides to take over.

“Never have I ever cheated.”

Oliver and Eita laugh before drinking. Chigiri hesitates, but drinks too. Everyone hoots and hollers as he flips them all off. In his defence, he got cheated on first, it was a revenge fuck! Though you don’t speak on his behalf, he doesn’t feel the need to defend himself.

“Never have I ever had a threesome.” Oliver laughs, Eita laughs too.

“Fuck you, man.” he chuckles as they both take a drink. Ryusei, Karasu and Sae all drink too.

“I feel so boring.” you giggle, “You two are gonna be drunker than me at this rate.” you tell the men either side of you.

“Maybe we can change your answer tonight.” Eita whispers into your ear. Rin and Ryusei stare daggers at the three of you, and it only makes you play into it more. Chigiri smirks when he looks over at Rin. His face is unchanging, but he can see that cold, calculated rage burning behind his eyes.

You turn to face Eita, your lips ghosting his before you face the rest of the group again. “Never have I ever been to a party at the Itoshi cabin.” you smile, everyone takes a drink, Rin drinking a heartier amount than everyone else before asking Chigiri for a refill.

“Never have I ever made a chick squirt.” Eita smirks as he drinks. Oliver joins in, and you can’t help but wonder if they shared a girl and gave them that experience. You watch on as Ryusei, and Rin drink, too. Your face flushes with embarrassment as Rin drinks and he looks at you again, averting your gaze and hoping nobody notices. “Fair play, Itoshi.” Eita nods towards Rin.

“Shut up.” he responds. “Never have I ever smoked weed.” he shrugs, reclining back in his seat while everyone else drinks. You can’t help but feel a little disappointed that he’s too focused on his phone rather than being entirely present in the moment with you all. You can’t help but wonder if it’s because he’s too preoccupied talking to his girlfriend.

“I was thinking we could do a secret Santa thing while we’re here, by the way.” Sae suggests, and Chigiri smiles at the idea. “We can all head to town together with a spending budget and find something.”

“That’s so cute!” you nod.

“We can’t do it.” Chigiri reminds you. “We’re leaving in the morning.”

“What?” Sae asks, quickly, and Rin is listening in carefully, now. His phone slotted into his back pocket as he observes your exchange. “I thought we figured everything out?”

You look at Ryusei, uncomfortably and gulp. His eyes soften as he realises you want to leave because of him, but he can’t say anything and start senseless drama. He doesn’t want you to go because of him. He doesn’t want you to go at all. However, he knows while everyone is intoxicated and tensions are high, confessing the reason will only lead to an unnecessary uproar.

“You— You should stay, kid.” is the most he can offer. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up properly, right?” he hopes you can take the hint. He can’t talk about it now, but there is definitely a discussion needed. You sigh, and nod.

“We should stay, Hyoma…” you smile at your best friend. And he looks relieved. He looks pleased that you’re spending a few more days with this crazy group and hopefully having more little parties like this. “And secret Santa sounds like a great idea, Sae.” you nod.

Sae smiles, excitedly. He pats Chigiri on the back and they laugh together happily. They start talking about the gift exchange and how to do it. Sae gets up in search of a pen while Chigiri tears up pieces of cardboard from a drink crate to write on. Sae hands him a pen, and they get to work writing down everyone’s names. Ryusei hands them an empty cup to put the names in.

“Just pass the cup around and take a name.” Chigiri tells the group as he draws the first name and passes the cup to Sae. Rin follows and then passes down to Ryusei. You, Oliver and Eita take your names and then Karasu gets the final piece of cardboard. “We good? Cool.”

“What’s the budget?” Rin asks.

“We’ll decide tomorrow,” Sae answers. “Just don’t forget or lose the name.”

“Does anyone want to dance?” you ask, swallowing the last of your drink. Oliver and Eita nod immediately, Chigiri shrugs and Karasu agrees too. The five of you head towards the lounge where the music is playing loudest.

Chigiri doesn’t dance, but he steps from foot to foot in time with the music. He keeps an eye on the grumpy gang still sitting in the kitchen while you take turns dancing on the three men giving you all of their attention.

You hadn’t expected to be so drawn to Eita, but his height and calm demeanour are pulling you in. His hand rests on your waist while you dance together, your ass pressed comfortably against his crotch.

He plays it cool, of course, whispering sweetly in your ear.

You watch Chigiri as he gets bored with the music, skipping the song to something more familiar.

“You’re a model, yeah?” Eita asks, directly into your ear canal. It makes you shudder, but you nod. “Show us.” he orders, though you’re sure it’s intended as a suggestion. They all seem entertained with the idea, though. No one more encouraging than Chigiri.

He’s your number one supporter, and you love him for it.

He looks a little taken aback as you move away from him, and your face turns expressionless yet sultry. You rise up the small steps that connect the lounge and the entryway, doing the best walk that you can towards the kitchen in your drunken state. You take your time when you get closer to Rin, Ryusei and Sae, posing for a while before turning back towards the other half of the guests.

They all clap and smile when you finish, your friendly, warm smile returning to you.

“That’s her drunk, imagine when she’s focused.” Chigiri hiccups, Karasu laughs with him. The two of them get to chatting and dancing again as they discuss the party thus far.

Oliver ruffles your hair and winks, heading back to the kitchen to get a refill.

“She’s good. She’s a little firecracker, isn’t she?” he laughs.

The siblings and Ryusei don’t say a word. As worried as Ryusei is about you, he tries to distract himself by talking to Sae and Oliver instead. Rin, however, can’t stop looking at you. You’ve stopped thinking about him, though. Your attention is entirely with Eita for now. Chigiri is taking it all in, on your behalf, making mental notes of things to tell you tomorrow.

Hopefully he won’t be too drunk to recall it come morning.

Eita squeezes your ass as you get closer to him. Rin stands up, finishing his drink and telling everyone goodnight. He heads up the stairs when he sees you and Eita almost share a kiss, your lips connect, though you break it before it can really be called a kiss.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

You look towards the stairs, and you hate how Ryusei and Sae are looking at you. It’s like you’re so predictable and they know exactly what you’re going to do. You can’t help it, though.

“I’m sorry.” you tell Eita, running away from him and chasing Rin up the stairs.

Rin’s door is closed, but not locked. You feel slightly sober now that you’re here. Part of you regrets running away and leaving Eita behind, but you know you’d have regretted being so petty and hurting Rin in the morning. Especially now that you’re staying.

You knock on the door, and he doesn’t respond.

Really, you should walk away. He’s either sulking or trying to sleep. Maybe even both. Your better judgement is telling you that you should leave him to it. But you can’t. You’ve been trying to get a reaction out of him all night and you finally got it.

Girlfriend or not, you got what you wanted.

It has to mean something.

So you enter without permission. The room is dark, and there’s no sign of him on the bed. You see the balcony door slightly ajar, and the biting breeze confirms his whereabouts. Did he leave because he was tired? Or did he leave because he felt jealous?

Of course there’s a chance you could be overthinking, but you have to know for sure. Admittedly, discussing your feelings whilst drunk might not be the brightest idea. It doesn’t stop you, though. He knows you’re here when he hears your heels click against the wood flooring. He looks over his shoulder, he’s leaning over the balcony railing when you step out and see him.

“You’re in the wrong room.” he tells you, turning around and resting his elbows on the railing as he faces you. The dark night sky obscures most of his face, but the moonlight highlights him gorgeously. It makes your knees weak, and you can barely think of what you want to say.

“I know,” you tell him. “I just wanted to check on you.”

He scoffs, but nods. You stand beside him and look over towards the town. The cold, bitter wind makes you feel drunker. Part of you can’t believe you’re actually staying here after you were so adamant that you were leaving. The glittering lights of the snow-covered village makes you smile unintentionally.

It’s how you’d imagine Santa’s workshop, if he were real.

“Um… congratulations on the new girlfriend, by the way.” you start, instantly regretting bringing it up. You’re sure you’ll start crying if he starts fawning over her. You don’t even know her, but you hate her. You try to keep calm and remember Chigiri saying she’s probably ugly. At the very least she’s got to be less attractive than you. “I’m glad you found someone… I hope you’re very happy together.”

“We are.” he tells you, immediately. You gulp and it feels like swallowing glass. He’s always been blunt, it’s not because he’s particularly angry or bitter towards you. It’s just who he is. And still, it hurts. “Are you interested in Otoya?”

You’re frozen without a response. You aren’t sure whether to lie or be honest, though you fear he knows you too well and will know if you’re lying to him.

“He’s fun.” you shrug. His lips curls into a smirk at that. It tells him all he needs to know without you saying anything at all. You feel defeated, completely and utterly, as you look at his expression. “I don’t want to come between you and your friends, Rin.”

“I don’t care.” he shrugs, “Do what you want.”

His words are like bullets shredding through your skin. You do what you can to maintain your composure, trying to regain control of the situation and the conversation.

“I thought you might be upset when you left the party…”

“No,” he corrects you, his gorgeous teal eyes fixate on your own as he speaks. “I’m tired. I wanted to say goodnight to my girlfriend, but she must already be asleep.”

And, with that, you run out of willpower to continue talking. He sees how tears begin to prick at your eyes, and you try to walk away before they spill over again. You offer him a quick goodnight as you try to hurry back through the cabin and to yours and Chigiri’s room.

He stops you, grabbing your wrist and pulling you back out into the cold.

“You’re unbelievable.” he tells you, bending down so that your noses almost touch. His eyes bore into yours as he offers nothing but a harsh, callous stare. You want to run, but you can’t. His grip on your wrist is firm, and you’re worried the cold temperature will aid in any bruising. The strength of his hold isn’t painful, but the chill of your skin is intensifying it. “You broke up with me. Yet you have the gall to be jealous?”

“That’s not fair…” you whimper, but he’s right. You’ve been saying the same thing all day. Even before you knew he was seeing anyone, you knew you had no right to be upset considering you were the one who ended things. And yet, here you are, trying to defend yourself now that you’re suffering the consequences of your own actions. “I didn’t know you’d move on so quickly… I didn’t know I’d be seeing you again… I didn’t know it would h-hurt.” you hiccup, and you do your best to wipe away your tears with your free hand.

“You just wanted me to grieve forever, yeah?” he wonders. “You thought I’d be waiting in the wings for you, waiting for you to decide you want me back.”

“That’s not true, Rin,” you sniffle, “I care about you. I always will…”

“I don’t want you to.” he informs you. “You’re—”

“I think you still care about me too…” you interrupt him, looking down at the way he grasps harder onto your wrist as you speak. You look up at him again, his face somehow even closer to yours now. “Y-You can’t just turn feelings off that quick… I—”

“I’ve moved on. You’re moving on.” he tells you. “Fuck everyone here for all I care, princess.”

“Rinnie…” a tear silently rolls down your cheek as he calls you a name you never thought you’d hear spill from his lips in reference to you ever again. You can’t help but wonder if he calls his new girlfriend the same sweet names he once called you.

Rin is chillingly composed.

But if only you knew.

He feels a lump in his throat as he replays the way you said Rinnie to him, a nickname long forgotten since your breakup. A name he’d never allow another soul to call him for the rest of his days. It’s yours, all yours. It wouldn’t sound right coming from anyone else, he can’t imagine feeling anything but disdain hearing it from another.

You melt into his touch as he cups your face with his free hand, his thumb swiping at the spilled tear glimmering against your cheek. He looks down at you with a heavy-lidded stare, and you want him.

You miss him.

Especially like this.

His eyes so tired and heavy as he gives into his lust and claims you. Your eyes close completely as you feel his head tilt.

He does still care about you.

He’s going to kiss you. He’s going to cheat on his girlfriend for you. You weren’t far off on your suspicions, after all. He still cares. He might even still love you. You’re too drunk and delirious, though. Your eyes are closed and awaiting his kiss. His are barely open, lazily gazing at you knowing he isn’t about to give you what you so desperately crave.

“Goodnight, princess.” he whispers, the bitter scent of alcohol dusting across your face as he breathes.

You pull away, slowly, horrified that you’ve been denied of a simple kiss twice in one excruciating day. Your wrist is free, now. And he watches as you back away from him. He feels a little bad, but not much. He’s sure you’re only feeling a fraction of the pain and humiliation you put him through when you ended things.

He’s sure you can handle a little rejection.

“Goodnight, Rinnie.” you sniff, walking away calmly until you’re through his room and heading to your own.

You think about telling Chigiri. You even start walking down the stairs so you can cry on his shoulder. But you see him with the boys. His smile is so wide, and he looks really happy. You don’t want to ruin his night, too.

Eita looks up at you, though you don’t catch him looking. You’re too focused on yourself and Chigiri. You don’t notice him follow you as you ascend the stairs. He waits outside of your room as you decide you ought to go to bed.

You don’t even have the energy to take off your makeup or your dress. All you can do is shake your feet until your shoes fly off in different directions. Your body breaks out in goosebumps when you hear a soft knock at the door, and you can only hope your disappointment isn’t obvious when you realise it isn’t Rin coming to talk to you some more.

Eita holds up a joint, offering it to you.

You’re pretty much sober, now.

You’re surprised you haven’t burst into tears, too. So, you nod. You accept his offer, gratefully, hoping you’ll slip off into a blissful sleep once you finish smoking. Eita closes the door behind him, locking it so you won’t be disturbed as he sits on the bed beside you.

© 2023 rinhaler

[burstbub]

Oh they were both doomed from the start.

Chapter 339

Blykes "Everything will be fine" mentality was the key on what led to his imprisonment, because for them, that's exactly the way it's always been. All 3 of them have gone through more numerous death situations than anyone else in the series, and yet despite being exposed to the reality if their world, they still hold hope. Despite knowing the numerous deaths the authorities drop in order to prevent vigilantes and the era of peace, they still fight and stand for what they believe in. Instead for worrying of themselves and the stakes they're currently going through, they continue forward for the people they see need their help. They live selflessly in a setting where its preferred to live in a way for only yourself. Its exactly this what makes the remi-blyke-and-isen trio so distinct from the rest of the characters. In a world where the selfish strive, the selfless have no place. And here comes Arlo.

From the beginning Arlo was always seen as an arrogant selfish bastard who cared for the order of the hierarchy and control. It's the exact reason on why he attacked John in the first place. Midway through out the story, Arlo is exposed the terrors and reality of the world they live in, processing it in a different approach: denial. It's during this time where Arlo starts to see situations from a different perspective, using Remi, Seraphina, and John's situations as a way for him to understand. He begins to show more of his selflessness in an environment (the Bureau) where only the powerfully and selfish thrive upon in, putting himself at risk. It's been stated multiple times the actions Arlo takes in order to cover for the main 5 can easily get him arrested and stripped from his position, and yet he continues to do so anyways. The change in Arlo was something dramatic and critical to the story, as it changed his environments view of the ways he ruled before, to his act now (ex: elaine, zeeke, isen, cece, JOHN, SERAPHINA). The moment he realized he was living more selflessly, he always reminded himself of the consequences his actions will lead to. Because he himself doesn't want to live this way. And he has said it multiple times as well.

These 2 moments where what set in stone both of their imprisonment. The selfless once again committing an act in order to save another, and the "selfish" going against his own ideals in order to protect those he cares for.

Blyke litteraly had an opportunity to get out. To leave, to live another day once again. And yet a simple act in the moment in order to save someone in need was the result of his abandonment and imprisonment (not blaming isen and remi for this they genuinely had to choice).

And the same goes for Arlo. Despite being the oldest out of the main 6, he's still just a kid in highschool. Throughout the entire 2nd season, all he wanted was to graduate. The moment he uttered the words he was going to kill fury, it was clear he was going through mental crisis. The most composed and well kept character in the entire series was going to be the first one to commit murder from the main characters. And the thing is, it really was no surprise who couldn't do it. That's the contrast between him and John. Both going through mental and identity crisis and similar approaches, yet having different results (but that's for another day). If he did succeed is murdering the very obstacle in a moment that will probably never repeat again, they both could've escaped. But how can an unstable kid commit murder? The best scenario was not killing fury. Because even if all 5 of them got away, fury wouldn't be the only one who was killed that day. Arlo as a person would've died as well. People often forget Arlo is not John, they do not share the same mentality. (And the thing is no matter what John says, he wouldn't have been okay either if he did succeed in killing all the Bureau.)

Which leads us to now. I think it's interesting how the selfless and selfish characters where the ones taken captive in different environments, despite both committing the same crimes on the day of their capture. Because then again, who's the stronger one out of the 2?

[littlewestern]

Henryships, please!

This one goes out to @belle-aesthetics who asked for Henry as well!

Henry!! Oh Henry, how troublesome you are to ship sometimes. I feel as though he's in a similar situation to Gordon where there aren't any engines that are an exact perfect fit in a way that I find satisfying.

I prefer ships where the whole is greater than the sum and facets of all characters involved are brought out by the relationship that wouldn't be revealed otherwise. But Henry has so much work to do on himself and his own confidence that it's hard to set him up in a relationship that feels balanced in that way. It's not impossible to make work, but it often feels like shipping him with other engines is an exercise in trying to pair everyone off who doesn't have a partner, which I don't care for... But I do have a few thoughts.

HIRO:

Good ship! Solid canonical foundation, mutual respect and admiration, shared experiences on which to build further growth!

I mentioned in the Gordon post that Hiro likes being supportive and leading by example, and it's easy to imagine him finding a relationship with Henry satisfying for that reason. Henry needs someone who will build him up with reassurances and encourage him to be more self-assured. It's really cute, and I think that they'd both get something out of it.

The thing I think holds this ship back from being really top-tier is that I feel like Hiro might fall into the trap of being too helpful? Because he is so cool and nice, I could see him doing the thing he does in Henry's Hero where he tries to let Henry off the hook and ends up taking on way more work/responsibility because of it. Someone with more investment than me could do something with that, but I just don't see the potential for growth here in either of them. That wouldn't (and shouldn't) be a dealbreaker, but it makes it far less appealing for me personally. Now, a similar ship with a little bit more edge to it, that might be something. Which is why I might suggest...

EMILY:

Oh you know I love me some Green Engine Solidarity. And it doesn't get much more solidary than this!

Rewatching the show this last time around, I was a bit surprised by how many incidental little moments these two have together, it's probably about as many interactions as Henry has with, say, Edward - intrigue!

I like this ship for a few reasons. Emily, like Hiro, enjoys "helping" other engines, but she's usually much less gracious about it, especially in the early seasons (which are the ones where I like her the most). Unlike Hiro though, Emily would not be out here cutting Henry any slack if he started getting skittish about ghosts or rain or whatever else. This is an opportunity for growth on both their parts, as Henry gets encouragement without coddling, and Emily gets practice being a bit more defthanded and gentle with her attempts at building Henry up. This is the kind of relationship I like to see!

A unique thing about Bossy Emily, though, is that she's actually never rude to Henry as far as I can remember. She ticks off quite a few engines in those bad old seasons, but Henry she's always quite sweet to. Henry matches that with a joking kind of camaraderie we don't see much from him, which I love. When Hatt asks another engine to take the mail in Percy's stead, Emily volunteers Edward for the job and Henry immediately picks up the assist by saying how Edward knows how to do everything, swanky eyebrows and all.

After all, the mail is a job for a small engine.

They also have a connection with being safety oriented. Henry cares deeply about protocol, and does not fuck around when someone is out here flouting them for the sake of convenience Gator ahem. In another episode, Emily is assigned the title of Safety Engine, which would have been a great addition to her character arc of feeling like she has no job except for the fact that it's never brought up again afterward. Ray never forgets, though, and if it were up to me I would simply pull that into being a regular and acknowledged aspect of her character. But nobody asked me, of course.

Henry is also among the engines Emily asks to be her best friend in a later episode, which... Y'know, she asks every engine she sees but Henry readily agrees!

Idk, I think they're cute. If I wasn't ride or die for Emily/Caitlin also I think this would be my favorite ship for the both of them. That being said I do have one more dark horse contender that might be. Slightly controversial.

SPENCER:

OKAY WAIT. LISTEN. HEAR ME OUT.

I love this episode, it's so funny to me.

"You need a big, strong, Duke's Engine to protect you? ;)" takes me out every time I watch it, and I have watched it a frankly embarrassing number of times.

Spencer, to me, is the kind of blue-blood type who is aware of his station, aware that his build and breeding make him the envy of every railway, and finds the idea of being brought down into the gutter with these common engines... utterly thrilling. He can't say that's what he wants, but oh god does he want it - and it manifests in him trying to get Henry to hide behind him like a scared teen watching a horror movie with their crush. Hi-larious.

They're not good for each other and I'm not sorry. This is my favorite Henry ship by miles. Go watch The Beast of Sodor if you haven't already, it's so great.

[cathchicken]

Ok so after a bit of me actually taking time to think about the collectors situation this is my sort of realized opinion: (warning: it is very long)

As I saw someone else state, the collector was previously imprisoned for like hundreds of years on the isles. Probably not a nice memory to have. Although, it was pretty much only with you know who, so it’s not like he’s gotten sick of or holds a feeling to flee the entire demon realm itself. But I dont feel bad if he wants some space (haha)

Aside from his siblings, there wasn’t really a specified thing for him to dislike the stars in any way. If anything he felt more comfortable there. he probably misses it a little bit, given the starry aesthetic of the archives and stuff. NOW don’t take this as me saying he is better off there. If anything, I am still a little nervous about the whole situation. The ambiguity of “the stars”, while I like in a petty fashion, doesn’t give much confirmation on what he’s actually dealing with. It is something familiar at least, but we don’t even know if it’s literally space or just another realm (parallel to the demon realm or human realm). If I had to hope of anything though, that if they meet their siblings, he beats them to a pulp. Fuck them. I don’t think he’d get tricked by them again, since he’s clearly figured out their shit even before season 3. Overall, I wish they elaborated on the realm before having him just whizz off there at the end. It could be good or bad, but in the end we do sort of have a reason to feel “wait wtf come back” and “where are you going??” In a way.

NOW the other thing! That people who are angry about this situation are bringing up (and that I mainly agree with). Which is the whole “found family” message of the show, and also the “nobody argued” line. Now, thinking about it from the shoes of Luz/Eda: powerful being who sort of just brainwashed (? Idk what to call the puppet situation. Controlled..? Eh, you know what I mean) a shit ton of people and doesn’t seem to care about their well being. Face-value. BUT!! (Big but) They also see that this being is a child that genuinely does want normal things like love and truth, but doesn’t understand concepts like death and friendship. They see a kid that is really upset, but trying their best to make others perceive themselves as “approachable” and/or worthy of their time (oof). Overall, trying his very best. Luz specifically sees all of this, and even makes an effort to congratulate the Collector when he attempts to take what she said into heart. He IS perfectly capable of expressing himself in a healthy way, he really just needs a proper parental figure to help him out. (Stares aggressively at Camila until she burns up). He’s not “uncontrollable”, he’s just lived the past few years with a crusty old puritan and has essentially learned the exact opposite of what he’s trying to accomplish.

Then, we get to the scene where the “nobody argued” line hits. Oog. I can understand that they think he should take time to himself after all of… that. And they probably respect his choice to mature too. ALTHOUGH. Like, after everything I’ve previously pointed out… wouldn’t any of them be a t i n y bit concerned about him going off all alone again? His whole ordeal these years has him being afraid of being alone!! He is ofc welcomed to the owl house, and can return whenever he likes, but, just like us, we don’t know crap about the star realm. The only things they know is that out there, he has shit siblings that fucked him up. Wouldn’t at least some of them be concerned? I do have a feeling he is going to be fine (we “sort” of see him in the credits so he’s alive which is to be expected). But still, in that moment, it would be weird that “no one argued”. All I would have wanted was someone to say “but will you be ok alone?” And then saying “oh yeah! I like it there, I know how to get around/ I have people there that I am cool with 👍” and then that. Like a little thing… idk. I do like that idea that after a few days he comes back because he realizes “actually I am mentally 9 (and possibly autistic) I don’t know how to figure out social cues on my own.” Like again there could be star people who are cool and will fill that place, but that’s only speculation. This whole time they were building up the idea that he shouldn’t be alone and needs others to figure stuff out! Because he was with Luz, only for a little bit, he absorbed the idea that giving kindness, when it’s deserved, is a better way to make friends than forcing people. And because he was with Luz, he learned (the hard way) how scary and forever death really is. Then in that ending scene with him, he just… figures he will be cool without them for a bit, and they agree too. (?) rehghfjk. This wasn’t a totally terrible decision, but the ambiguity of it just!! Makes it reasonably to feel ok with. How long will he be gone at a time? Are there other people he will be with? We aren’t exactly given an answer. We get allusions, but that’s it.

I am at least glad that King, of all people, would tell them that he wishes the collector would come back soon. (Was that another way of them saying he would come back sooner than later? It’s not confirmed so idk) I like this because, well, King was essentially the person that the Collector was closest to. (Besides Belos but he was the exact opposite on the spectrum of cool people to hang out with) King, as a kid himself, would relate most to him. He says that himself in FTF. He is understandably pissed at the whole puppet thing, but he understands that “I should address this but also acknowledge he doesn’t know better to an extent”. King would want to treat the Collector as he would himself, and how he knows how important having a family, whether it is blood or found, is important to oneself. King wouldn’t be half the character he is nowadays if it wasn’t for Eda and Luz to accompany him. When he told the collector “I hope to see you again” that makes sense; he knows that the collector would benefit from having people like how he did, and it would be beneficial, regardless if the collector does get proper parental figures in the star realm, if he would see them often. And ofc, he would probably genuinely want to hang out with them as well. He was glad to be their friend, to an extent. He was never totally unhappy about his situation in FTF. Also, him giving the Collector Francois at the end was really cute. Just in case he needs a buddy until he gets there. As far as we know, the collector needs Francois more than King does. And I think King knows that.

Ok so I think that’s it for my thoughts. If I suddenly remember something I will add it in. I’m not saying that I’m right or wrong, this is just how I genuinely feel. Feel free to comment your own opinions!! I am open to have my mind changed. In the end, I guess I just want the best for my little blorbo. Can you blame me…??

[thefirstknife]

I have not played since The Traveler left and Rasputin died. WHAT is GOING ON in there? THere's pyramids, Eris is a Hive god, Xivu Arath is dead(??? unsure), there's a. A Veil in the Traveler? ??????????????????????

Oh dear, welcome back! I highly recommend checking Destiny Lore Vault for playlists for the campaign, post-campaign quests and seasonal stories (Defiance, Deep, Witch, Wish)!

Speedrun cliffnotes:

Lightfall! Witness found something called the Veil on Neomuna. The Veil is to the Darkness what the Traveler is to the Light; a paracausal entity that controls aspects of it. We also knew about it because Osiris had a vision of it and Rasputin confirmed that! We go to Neptune where we find Neomuna and Cloud Striders, a civilisation that escaped the Collapse. The Witness tricks us into getting near the Veil and uses our Ghost to create a link between the Veil and the Traveler which opens a big portal on the Traveler. The Witness goes through and has been missing since. This whole year was dedicated to figuring out how to follow it into the Traveler!

Defiance! The Witness left its fleet to attack Earth, we defend the Earth from its forces. Mara and the Awoken help us, Crow and Mara begin their reconciliation, Amanda dies sacrificing herself to save civilians.

Deep! Titan returns from the anomaly! We've been told previously that we have to go there because an "enemy of the Witness" lives there; the enemy is a proto-worm Ahsa who fled the Fundament and settled on Titan back in the Golden Age. Ahsa helped Sloane survive on Titan. The two of them team up to help us against Xivu Arath and to figure out the portal. Ahsa tells us that Savathun knows how to get into the portal which means we have to rez her.

Witch! We meet up with Immaru who tells us that Sav left instructions for this exact situation; she will only tell us about the portal if we "deal with" Xivu Arath. Eris embraces her Hive side and bonds with Ahsa, to become a temporary Hive God of Vengeance. She collects tithes from us, the Guardians, and becomes super powerful. Once she's ready to face Xivu, we rez Savathun and Eris kills her, scooping up all of Sav's power on top of our tithes and becomes the most powerful Hive god briefly. She uses that power to cut off Xivu Arath from her throne world; Xivu is now mortal. Eris releases her power and returns to normal, rejecting the Sword Logic and laughing in the face of every Hive ever. Savathun honors her deal and tells us that she already showed us how to get through the portal, then she strikes another deal; she is to be free, but we keep Immaru so if she does anything we don't like, we can crush him. Savathun's answer is hidden in the pattern of her wings - it's the 15th wish. The 15th wish is to get one person through the portal. We need an ahamkara!

Wish! Mara and the techeuns conjure Riven's spirit through her cleansed heart; ahamkara persist after death! Riven tells us she will grant the wish only if we help save her remaining uncorrupted eggs because she wants her children and her species to go on. We agree to this and spend weeks saving her eggs which were scattered through the ley lines to protect them (this was done by Riven's mate, Taranis, a kind and benevolent ahamkara). We fight the Sol Divisive Vex for these eggs, who are doing incomprehensible things as Vex do, and when we succeed, Riven grants the wish. Crow is the one to go through the portal because he and Mara share a bond and through that bond, Osiris and Mara figure they can use the Veil just like the Witness did and forge a connection that will open the portal for the rest of us. We're currently waiting for the final mission of Season of the Wish which will likely conclude by showing us that Crow made it and that the portal is opening.

That's the shortest I could get! Definitely recommend checking out DLV and all the stuff because there's A LOT going on and there's a lot of stuff also happening in the background, especially in dungeons, and with everything that appears to be hinting at post-TFS content. There's also a lot of stuff with the Veil and the nature of Light and Darkness, mostly in LF campaign and Parting the Veil quest from post-campaign; some incredibly cool reveals and information going on.

I'll be happy to answer any further questions, if anything interests you more than other stuff, but also feel free to dive into the content yourself! And as usual, Ishtar Collective will help as well, with all the lore books and lore tabs.

We're currently in the free update, Into the Light, which focuses on the continued attack of the Pyramids on Earth, something that appears to be a last ditch effort of the Witness' forces to prevent us from following it to the portal.

[woodenfawn]

The Rem Infodump.

The one where i rant about rem and subaru's dynamic and why it's special but i dont think a lot of people really understand it!

This was written a while ago and i may have some things wrong, and it's also good to note I don't think subaru and rem are unnhealthy for each other in the sense that they shouldn't be together (whether romantic or platonic), i just mean the situations they were in forced them to act in certain ways!

I think a lot of people who are bigger re zero fans (who also understand what the story is about) shy away from rem as a character because she's the one "only fake fans who watch the anime for the waifus" like, but while she's not my favorite character i want to bring her a little more appreciation from this side of the fandom!!

new-to-tumblr post spam 3/4 complete, i'll slow down after this XD

I tried tagging with spoilers but just in case it didn't work: spoilers ahead!

So. The rem thing. Ive talked about it vaguely before but never went into detail cause there were people that could be spoiled. The whole point of rems attraction to subaru is not because of harem wish fulfillment. The author clearly stated he hates harems. Subaru does love both rem and emilia, but he has solidly chosen emilia and that's the end of that. It doesn't matter what romantic feelings he could have towards rem because it's already doomed. They both know it. The relationship they form episode 12 and beyond is not meant to be healthy for either of them!! Rem has been saved from her mindset of needing to atone for what she thought of her sister, but her self esteem is still AWFUL which is why she attaches herself to a "hero" instead of learning to recognize her own self worth. Subaru saved her from some things but he's not a hero and he's not exactly the person rem says he is. Partially, but not all of it. It's kind of a mutual decision of theirs to lie to each other and themselves because they need it to cope with themselves. Subaru needs to be a hero for rem or he could never step out of his depressive state. Rem needs a hero in subaru or she cannot feel loved and understood. It's not good for either of them but they don't have an alternative. NOTICE: When subaru rants about how awful he is and rem responds with her famous speech, she doesn't actually contradict much of what he says. They love each other and need each other but it's bad for the both of them. Rem lost her memories because the witches (later correction: it's the bishops) targeted her for her sin, and subaru killing himself over rem is not the action of a person in a healthy mindset. Rem's development was cut short and kind of fridging, its frustrating, but it's not basic waifu stuff and it is meant to be tragic!!!! This is also all a mirror to how subaru and emilia are!

Because while subaru constantly talks about needing to save emilia, he also calls her the main heroine. I used to think about rem as a yesman, but she does many a thing behind subaru's back for his sake the exact way he did to emilia. He learns more about the consequences of his actions that way. oh, it hurts. and oh boy the speech is so misunderstood. That is rem's promise to love him "unconditionally", without acknowledging his flaws, and it helped. It's absolutely what he needed to hear. But it wasn't good. but also, for other reasons, it mirrors another little speech.... subaru's season 2 confession to emilia. Where she can't believe he'd love her, and where he starts to list off things he's done for her and the ways she's made it hard for him. And then tells her, he still loves her, because that's who she is and he wouldn't want it any other way. Which could be taken as another niceguy rant (like a repeat of the season 1 fight) but it's NOT!! Because this is what Emilia needed to hear, because she is not the kind of person who can accept praise without a drawback or asterisk. If she heard all that, all she'd see is another pedestal to fill. this is the healthier version of the rem speech, where she can accept she's flawed and realize she's still loved. Both despite, but also for it. And... it's still not perfect. Because the characters are still growing and learning!!! They are young adults with so many problems and a whole life ahead of them and they still need to learn!!! The upsides and downsides of unconditional love,,,, and is it more unconditional if you love them "despite flaws" or "with flaws" or without seeing any? And is any of that healthy? How can it be good? How can it be bad? Maybe it can be both at once, maybe love isnt perfect!!! a lot of this is hidden in subtext, and the framing of rem's speech may even trick you cause it's triumphant but no there's so much complexity to why they say every single thing they say!!!

Subaru is a character who struggles with love for himself and with love for others, he doesn't know how to make others happy and gets caught in a loop of thinking the only way he can possibly be loved is if he's constantly putting his life on the line for others, without asking anything of them in return. which ends up with him breaking and needing support, and not knowing how to ask, which is why he yells at emilia in season 1 (doesn't help that his deepest trauma is something he is magically obligated not to share for fear of death). His relationship with emilia in season 1 is both very sweet and very unhealthy. he's just a guy with a crush on a girl who's far too good for him and he's trying to work for it but the basis for it is not good- he's attached himself to the first kind person in this new world that he knows and due to "return by death" he's far more invested in her than she is in him- she will never know everything they went through together. and then.... he finds rem. someone who didn't trust him. someone who killed him multiple times throughout the mansion arc, but someone who could understand his loneliness because she was also lonely, and wow- he managed to save her, too! and she doesn't know everything about what he's gone through, but she knows how to read his emotions like no one else can. so they... fall into a codependency. like said before, they can't live without each other, but not everything they do is good for each other. subaru, while gladly taking the role that emilia has in this new relationship, learns more about how she feels. with rem, he learns more about what it means to love, and they both know that it won't last. they didn't expect it to end so soon, though. but oh well, subaru does not have the option to stop. the nature of his powers means dying is pointless, and he has to press on anyways. and he does!!! He meets more people he thinks he can trust. some betray him, but some stick with him. Otto (my sweet boy!!!) is notable!

and now he knows more about love, about trust, about how to treat people, and how he should expect to be treated. so many things. keeping in mind it's been a while since i've watched re zero so i probably don't even have everything there is to say. but like.... then in the end, he can approach emilia with his true emotions. and he can tell her about it in a way she'll understand. and he knows he can do it without being a burden this time. he's become a better person. he's not sure if he'll be rejected, but that's not the point anymore! The point is he loves her and wants the best for her and wants her to know and hopes, no matter the outcome, that she'll be happy to know she's not alone! and the honesty, that's what his speech has over rem's. he's not putting her on a pedestal, he's not using her for the sake of his own self esteem anymore, he just wants to love!

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Extra note on the end (talk about suicidal thinking, be warned!!!)

something I've talked about but don't have saved writing for, a bit more about rem!

I do also think Rem is suicidal. i think she and Subaru recognized each other in that mindset without ever really talking about it. To me, this relationship is two suicidal people trying to prop each other up so the other will keep living, and knowing that if they really give up the other will too. That's why the season 2 development was so punishing for Subaru. I think that Rem's terrible self esteem and feeling of needing to atone for """"ruining her sister's life"""" contributed to it, though i don't know if that's all of it. She also makes multiple comments that are extremely concerning, like how Subaru is her "reason to die", how when she was ready to die fighting the white whale she said she felt like this was the moment she was made for, and biggest of all!! When she was telling her hypothetical story of how she and Subaru would run away together, she planned it all up to the death "I'd like to die first and I'd like my family to be with me", and to me it felt like she was *trying to think of a death that would make her life worth living*. Her motivation to live is following people she can die for, and that's, that's concerning. i hope her character arc properly follows through on what's happening in her head (i don't know how arc 7 goes yet)

...and i also think that Beatrice is the first time Subaru's had to confront his mindset head-on, because Beatrice would refuse to dance around the subject. The lesson he takes from Rem carries over to both Emilia and Beatrice in healthier ways, and I think that's incredibly important!!!!

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thank you for reading!

[brotherdusk]

it's time again for my favourite genre of post: tumblr user bee brotherdusk theorises wildly during the Foundation midseason!

on the menu this time is Poly and Constant's Imperial Vacation From Hell, or "oh god, I just wanted to make sure one of my favourite guys was going to be okay, but somehow I ended up sending over two dozen increasingly frantic messages to the discord while everyone else was asleep, pepe silvia-style"

(today I learned that grandpa joe shows up when you type "pepe silvia" into the gif search. deserved)

I'm gonna stick this under a readmore as it gets pretty long and image heavy, and potentially contains big spoilers for upcoming episodes, and I know some people want to watch the show completely unspoiled. all theories are based on official promotional videos already released by apple. no leaks or insider book knowledge here!

so I sort of stumbled into this theory in three stages, and I'm going to stick to that template as I talk through my analysis here, starting with:

Part 1 - I'm Genre Aware Now And Everything Hurts

let's be real, nobody saw Hari's (apparent) death coming in the last episode. death is far less of a concern in this show than in others, as the narrative all but guarantees the long-term survival of its core characters. Hari (apparently) dying so quickly after having his body restored was a massive shock, and jolted us out of the complacency that the show had lulled us into.

when the title and description of next week's episode dropped, fan concern quickly turned to Poly, who @gaal-dornick and @aquitainequeen noted has started to exhibit the classic symptoms of Tragic Mentor Figure Disease:

also, there's, y'know, The Guillotine Situation as shown in Trailer 1:

Poly's death seemed so likely that I was beginning to dread the coming episodes, but something was nagging at me; I had a vague memory of seeing a trailer where he was on Terminus and in a situation that we haven't yet seen him in. maybe he does survive his brush with Brother Day, then? I started rewatching all of the trailers, teasers, and character spotlight videos that Apple released in the run-up to season two, and came across something way wilder than I'd expected:

Part 2 - Star Bridge 2: Council Boogaloo

I found another camera shot of Poly and Constant's apparent execution in the Brother Dawn character spotlight video - note the pillars in front of the crowd, the flags in the back, and Dawn, Sareth, Demerzel, Dusk, and Rue standing on the platform behind Day and the prisoners.

note also the onlookers in the maroon robes, who are also visible in the guillotine closeup I posted above...

...hey, it's the Galactic Council as seen in 2.06, with their GILF-y leader at the front in both scenes!

remember how terrified Cleon XII was of their judgement in the season one finale? we still don't know what their exact deal is, but they're clearly big cheeses politically if XII of all people is afraid of them:

here's yet another angle of the execution from Trailer 2 - same setup, same arrangement of Empire on the podium:

let's see what happens in that shot, will we? ..... oh

... did an explosion just go off in the heart of Trantor and potentially take out the entire galaxy's government in one go???? (I mean, Empire are probably fine with their auras and nanobots and backups, but I'm not feeling too good about the Council's chances right now...)

wait - the pulse and shape that appear on the horizon bear a striking resemblance to the new Foundation whisper ships - especially Poly and Constant's ship, Spirit Rising, which is currently in the hands of Hober Mallow...

why did he take their ship, again?

holy fucking shit Hari Seldon you insane rat bastard (admiring, horrified, impressed). what have you DONE. a blade in case the religious hand of friendship doesn't work out, you say??

(sidenote: this was literally the Anacreon plan for the Invictus in the first season - the scale of the destruction would have been magnitudes worse due to the Invictus' size, but same concept)

honestly, I kind of hope the entire Council perishes in the Mallowpocalypse, if only because it would make this exchange in 2.06 deliciously ironic:

the worst detectives in the world finally found their shared braincell and made a deduction! I'm proud of them!

also, Glawen literally saw this coming in 2.04 and Bel brushed him off. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ sad!

regarding casualties - I think this shot from Trailer 1 is the aftermath of the blast. Day was standing much closer to the explosion than the rest of Empire and Dominion, and so would have taken more damage, aura or not. I also see Sareth, Rue (?), and Dawn - jury's out on whether being dead is the latest item added to Dusk's rapidly expanding list of problems?

a direct attack on Trantor would also explain why Day goes on a personal tour of the Outer Reach and ends up on Terminus, screaming for an audience with Hari Seldon (Trailer 1 again):

and hey, Poly's right behind him! he's Empire's best chance of getting a personal audience with the Prophet, after all. Poly also pops up in Day's character spotlight video, in what I'm guessing is the execution scene again, judging from the collar and the guard restraining him. it might even be the aftermath of the blast, since the shot is pretty chaotic and dusty looking. what's got him so upset?

... and it was at this moment that I realised that while Poly is present in the later Terminus scenes with Day, Brother Constant is not, and I started to worry that I'd been focusing on the wrong person the whole time, leading to...

Part 3 - What About Constant?

oh no. the question of Constant's safety has been hanging over both Poly and the viewer since 2.02. oh no

I thought I might have caught a glimpse of her in the Teaser 1 video - being restrained in the background as Day does his infamously-giffed-to-hell Big Steppy on Hober's throat - but I still wanted more concrete proof of her wellbeing.

and finally I found her in the Pillars of Foundation video, alive and well, but -

HER NECK!! HER NECK!!!

if Constant's life is just barely saved by Hober showing up in the nick of time to prevent her decapitation by an insane tyrant I will literally never be normal again. romance. that's romance. (also incredibly shitty of Vault!Hari to take her blind faith and turn her into a pawn for the Empire to slaughter, but I guess that's expected behaviour from him by now.)

... I was literally about to hit post on this theory, but I just realised; that scene in Teaser 1 where Day is facing down a bishop's claw... we all assumed he was being attacked by a wild beast in the Outer Reach - but what if he's lying in the ruins of the podium on Trantor, and the bishop's claw is a freed Beki going on a rampage? god I hope this happens. imagine being Emperor of the Galaxy, about to perform some casual executions before dinner, and suddenly you're flat on your ass with a Hell Dinosaur about to bite your face off. incredible scenes

and that's all I've got! TLDR; Hari knew that the emperors and Galactic Council would become increasingly paranoid and aggressive as the Empire contracted, and would jump at the chance to publicly end an attempted religious takeover by the "barbarian" Outer Reach. That mass gathering at the execution would be the perfect time to strike with a whisper ship, a technology which the Empire has no idea even exists. This enrages Day into visiting Terminus to deal with the Foundation in person, and potentially destabilises the Empire further if the Council have been wiped out. Empire's structure and dignity are decimated without a single shot being fired - and if there is going to be an eventual, physical war, the Foundation is now in a much better position to fight it.

again, this is just me making a theory and connecting everything together with red string etc etc. I haven't attempted to explain everything, such as the Spacers' or Riose's involvement, and have doubtless got some details wrong - but I'm really excited by how things are connecting and can't wait for next week's episode :}

[heatwa-ves]

okay tell me a bit abt clara i need to know more abt my blorbo in law

YAYYY I did try to keep this reasonably short but I failed. and there's like 20 minutes worth of videos in here too but I hope it's still an enjoyable read

clara was introduced as a character in one episode and she dies at the end of it and people were like oh okay she's just a minor character in that one episode, and then later on it that series after the previous companion characters leave there's another episode with clara and it's in a completely different setting and the doctor (matt smith/eleven) is like huh. what. I saw you die on a spaceship why are you in victorian london. and she has no memory of him and is like lol what the fuck are you talking about. so they gallivant around and she dies at the end of that episode again with the exact same last words and at this point the doctor is getting a bit freaked out. anyway he ends up finding clara again in modern day london (because it's always fucking london. why is it never idk. bournemouth. let's have a character from bournemouth next.) and again she has no memory of him bla bla plot stuff happens and at the end of the episode he asks her to travel with him and she tells him to ask her again tomorrow because while everything in her wants to say yes she wants to keep control of the situation and have this be on her terms. anyway they travel together for a bit in what I refer to as dws flop era it's just. not a good season with the exception of maybe two episodes. but at the end of this series in order to save the doctors life clara enters his like. time stream? and so she's in so many places in his life to like. save him or whatever which is why there's so many versions of her all of whom die. the real her is fine tho. anyway a few episodes later the doctor is dying it's a really shit episode in my opinion but he regenerates into the next doctor (peter capaldi/twelve) and this is where things get good.

so when a doctor regenerates ofc their appearance changes but also some aspects of their personality do too for example nine who has been hurt by the war is healing and being loved and he becomes ten who's young and flirty and perfect for the girl he loves and then ten after going through so much emotional pain and loss regeneration is like healing and he becomes eleven who's happy and fun and then eleven after spending the final hundreds of years of his life in one place rather than travelling he becomes twelve who is older wiser and a little gruff and sarcastic but to clara this is a completely different man to the doctor she loved and she kinda hates him for it!! he also abandons her (not really but it feels like it to her) in a room full of robots who want to kill her and she has a really nice monologue etc etc more stuff happens and at the end of the episode she assumes he's abandoned her in victorian london but he comes back to her of course and then there's my favourite scene ever which is SO important for their relationship

they end up traveling together for a while and while they're not traveling clara works as an english teacher and ends up getting to know another teacher there called danny. I hate danny. which sucks because I like the idea and I like some of the things they do with him but he's SO annoying his only personality trait is that he's an ex soldier which okay fair there's a lot of similar themes throughout this series but that's all he is. he's an ex soldier there is nothing else to him. anyway their first date is kind of disastrous and clara storms out but then ends up meeting him in the past and also his descendant in the future and that makes her go back to the date and try to make it work even tho it really isn't. then they rob a bank this isn't particularly relevant but it is fun. by this point she is slightly spiralling trying to keep both parts of her life separate and working perfectly and she's kind of exhausted. then in a catastrophic series of events danny finds out about the doctor and that's claras not good very bad day but she keeps going. anyway then her and the doctor and one of her students end up on the moon and after a lot of bullshit they're left with the choice of if to blow up the moon or not. and here the doctor leaves her he says he's not human he has nothing to say and she calls him essentially a selfish asshole how can he say it's not his world when he breaths their air walks their ground and loves their people and she despises him for doing this to her and for putting her student at risk. there's also a 2014 tumblr cameo in this episode which is deeply disturbing.

at this point she talks with danny and she decides to stop traveling with the doctor. so they plan one last trip before she leaves for good and they go to the orient express in space! except of course it's not a nice relaxing trip there's murders and a mummy! Yay! clara meets and befriends another passenger called maisie who's one of my fav minor characters and they get trapped in a room and talk a lot and there's a line I love "it would be so much easier if we just liked the people we're supposed to like (danny) but then there wouldn't be any fairy tales (the doctor and the tardis and the whole universe)" which is confirmation for what was pretty obvious at this point; that clara doesn't actually love danny, she just thinks she should. again, control freak, wants a perfect life, this is what she SHOULD have but this is not what she wants. anyway turns out maisie will be the next to die and the doctor tells clara to lie to her that she can be saved. and this is only furthering claras hatred for him but she does it anyway (and so begins the doctorification. she becomes more and more similar to him which then leads to a whole arc later on) turns out he could save maisie but he wasn't sure if he could so he would rather clara think him cruel for lying to maisie rather than have her feel betrayed if he promised to save her and failed. and then there's this scene and she hasn't completely forgiven him but she's reminded of how much she loves him and "sometimes the only choices are bad ones, but you still have to choose" is perfectly reflective of her impossible decision in the last episode. after this danny calls and he asks if it's over and she says yes despite the fact she fully intends to keep traveling with the doctor. and thus begins the lying to danny! at the end of this phone call she hesitates and then says really loudly "I love you" to which danny replies out of focus and then it cuts to the doctor. and the actor confirmed she's saying this to twelve not to danny. insanity!!!!

and wow. all that was just on one episode. and the next episode is equally a banger!!! this one is entirely clara centric and it's more doctorification. the doctor becomes her little purse dog (he gets shrunk really tiny and can't do anything) and she takes on his role in investigating and leading people. there's a part where he asks what she's going to do and she says "lie to them, give them hope" and that's an oh moment because now she's doing exactly what he did last episode. it's brilliant. she also lies to Danny about how she's so totally not with the doctor lol and then through some very clever antics they save the day and she says "why won't you tell me I was good" and he says something along the lines of "you were an excellent doctor, goodness had nothing to do with it." banger line. moving on some more episodes happen and there's one where the earth is about to be destroyed and I do like this episode it gets a lot of hate but I don't think it's bad aside from a really weird anti meds sentiment which he would not fucking say. anyway! more clara danny interactions where she doesn't love him but thinks she should and there's a part where the doctor says he has a role because earth is his planet too which is a lovely callback to what clara told him before! we love a man who learns. and then more stuff happens and it gets to a point where clara decides she can't keep lying to danny and she plans to tell him everything but as they're on the phone he gets into a car accident on his way to see her and by the time she gets there it's too late.

she gets so upset and irrational and calls the doctor and there's these two incredible scenes anddd then the doctors childhood friend slash lover slash nemesis shows up and is like happy birthday babe here's a present (invasion of earth) there's not too much clara in this episode but she does (accidentally) tell danny to his face that the only man she'll ever love is the doctor. ouch. and then danny dies and clara lies to the doctor that he's alive and she'll be fine so that the doctor can return to his home planet and the doctor lies to clara that he's found his home planet so that she can live a normal life with danny but neither of these things are true and so they're just both pretty miserable for a bit. and then santa saves the day brings them back together etc etc lovely episode brilliant claraisms gorgeous ending scene but I've shown you enough scenes that I'll try and speed through this one

and so begins series 9 and their messy codependent era where they are both insanely hurt from the events of the last few episodes and losing danny and the return of twelves weird ex who he's still forever in love with. yay! let's go quickly through S9 first of all the doctor reunites with his arch nemesis (not the gay one from a few episodes ago) meanwhile clara is having lesbian hate sex without any actual sex involved and getting put inside of a dalek. then there's under the lake/before the flood which are some really nice episodes for twelveclaraisms they parallel the finale PERFECTLY but an actual discussion of that would take several hours and I don't wanna take up any more of your time. just know there's an incredible clara line "if you love me in any way you'll come back" some stuff happens they go to viking britain slash scandanavia it's unclear and I got really mad because there are electric eels featured heavily in this episode and they don't live outside of south america. anyway there's some really nice doctor characterization but that's not the point all that's relevant is he forces immortality upon a dying girl to save her and she grows to hate him for it. he gives her a second immortality thing in case "she meets someone she can't bear to lose." the foreshadowing is heavy handed. then clara gets impersonated by an alien then there's a bullshit episode that idr much about other than twelveclara hold hands and it's something along the lines of clara saying im not scared and the doctor saying i am. 💖 AND NOW. THE FINALE. THE TWELVECLARA EPISODES. MY ROMAN EMPIRE.

so there's three parts to the finale the first is called face the raven and clara gets a call from a friend of hers who I don't think I mentioned yet but anyway. he woke up with a timer counting down on the back of his neck and is freaked out so they investigate and discover a hidden alien village in, you guessed it, london! It's always fucking london. anyway the vibes are delectable it's soooo cool and here they run into the woman the doctor made immortal her name is lady me and she's essentially leading this village. turns out the timer is counting down to death and it's put on him because he's been framed for a murder etc etc plot stuff very good. it turns out you can transfer the timer to another person of they're willing and do clara convinces him to transfer it to her to buy them more time because reasons I forgot. turns out once the timer is transferred it can't be removed! and the doctor gets pissed he's threatened to bring hell down upon lady me if she doesn't do anything but clara tells him to stop and she's always been the only person he listens to. he goes to say something to her and she stops him and says "whatever you're about to say, I already know" and they have such a tender moment and then she steps out alone as the timer runs out and she dies.

the next part is called heaven sent and this one is about the doctor long story short he's trapped in a giant castle and is looking through it while hiding from this spectre of sorts born from his childhood nightmares. there's a portrait of clara on one of the walls and the show writers said on the back of the portrait is the clue to how he can get out but he can't bring himself to turn her face to the wall to see the back. sobs. anyway he journeys through this castle and at the end there's a massive wall made of a material harder than diamond between him and the exit and he punches the wall but nothing happens ofc because it's so thick. the spectre thing then has him on the brink of death and he drags himself back to where he entered the castle and through some sci-fi nonsense repeats the day. it's a timeloop yippee!!! the tiny tiny crack his fist made on the wall stays and so he repeats this again and again and again and again and he dies repeatedly in this loop making miniscule chips in the wall for FOUR AND A HALF BILLION YEARS just for the minute CHANCE that he could save clara. if I had to pick an absolute favourite doctor who episode it would be this one it is a masterpiece

and the final episode is called hell bent. the doctor emerges onto his home planet does some time travel shit and manages to find clara at the very moment of her death between her last heartbeat and extracts her from there. she's able to talk and move but she's kind of in stasis and half dead. he goes against his moral code in this moment and kills a man (she wakes up as a woman it's fine) because that's how dedicated he is to clara!!!! sobs.. they escape and travel to the end of the universe in the hopes that as they're so far from her point of death the stasis will end and she'll come back to life even tho this goes against the laws of time and could destroy everything he doesn't care because it's her. here they run into lady me again and she talks about how they've become so similar that they drive eachother to extremes. more conversations and stuff and the doctor says he plans to erase claras memory of him so his people can't find and kill her because she's a defect in the flow of time. Or something. and she goes FUCK no and attempts to reverse the polarity on the memory thing but they don't know if she succeeded and there's some very lovely moments meanwhile me is in the corner just standing there and they decide they'll press the thing together and one of them will lose their memory but they don't know who and clara says I dont think I'll ever forget you and the doctor says I don't think you'll have to. and falls unconscious.

he wakes up in america (jumpscare) and makes his way to a diner which he had been to before with previous friends. he talks to the waitress there and plays her a song and everything in the diner is another contender for best dw scene ever. he plays a song on his guitar and he says I think it's called "clara" and she says something along the lines of "if memories we have forgotten because stories, maybe some of them become songs" and the waitress is clara of course but he doesn't recognise or remember her and im stupid emotional just thinking about it. and she leaves and she along with lady me have to travel back to the point of her death and restore the flow of time atho they definitely have weird lesbianisms beforehand but that's beside the point. the doctor leaves and he sees the tardis is painted

and when I tell you I sobbed upon seeing this. I will never recover.

in his last episode one season later he ends up regaining his memories of clara right before dying and I sobbed like a baby. yay! anyway this turned into more of a twelveclara answer than just clara but I hope you enjoyed reading and you see why I'm so insane over them 🥺

[coolcattime]

Back on my yuri train of thoughts, this time with some Capsize and Martha thoughts.

So, my little setup thought of this is that Capsize is in Ruxomar and the champions know this but not where she’s ended up. I've not thought of the exact reason why and it's not all that important so let’s just say she got chucked into the void in the S1 finale.

Capsize doesn’t arrive in Dagrun, rather she falls from the sky half the world away where Martha currently is. She wakes up a few days later aboard the airship, her wounds bandaged and tended to. And Capsize is confused as all hell. The last she remembers she was imprisoned and while she remembered Ianite reassuring her that rescue was coming, being surrounded by objects she’s never seen before makes it clear that something entirely different has happened.

Martha enters, happy that the woman has finally woken and immediately introduces herself. Capsize all the more confused by the stranger but relieved that she does seem to be out of Dianite’s clutches and similarly introduces herself. Even just within this first conversation, the fact that Capsize is from another world becomes pretty apparent. Martha gives her the run down on the situation in Ruxomar (Mianite being the "one true god" with Dianite dead and Ianite missing), but not her own family connections to the situation. The two get set on researching ways to get Capsize back to her own world, currently oblivious that others have also arrived.

Their relationship is kinda odd. Neither would describe it as anything romantic. Capsize is more focused on attempting to come to grips with the new world she’s found herself in. While, Martha is focused on researching way she might be able to send her back to her own world between the jobs she’d typically be doing prior to gaining a passenger, solving magical problems for those who cannot solve them themselves.

But they certainly grow close. Capsize enjoys the exploration provided by Martha who has frankly never had someone actually listen to and want to learn from her for this long before. On days where they’re sailing, they can spend hours just talking. Martha is as curious about Capsize’s world as the pirate is about the one that she finds herself in so they’ll often end up talking about their own lives and experiences. Also the airship only has one bed sooooo…

Eventually Martha gets the letter from Steve about the problems arising in Dagrun. She knows it must be important, so reluctantly she sets course for that direction. She does however give Capsize a warning that the town’s leader (who she decides to not mention is her brother) is particularly anti-Ianite so to really just lay low while they’re there and hopefully whatever this is won’t take long.

And Capsize does plan to do just that, to not get too involved in whatever is needed in the town and hopefully just explore around the general area while Martha sorts whatever problem is present. Except they’re greeted by people Capsize recognises. She quickly gets swept up in the reunions, getting promises to be told what she missed when they’re somewhere more private. 

Then someone starts up the Sparksize bullshit again, Capsize grimacing as she did not miss this. Except Martha has only been half paying attention and goes: “Oh darling, is he your ex?”

And immediately Tom starts yelling about having been right, that he knew that Capsize liked women. Capsize knows she is not going to be able to convince them that she isn’t dating Martha, but it’s at least better than them insisting she’s dating Jordan.

And suddenly Season Two has even more romantic stupid bullshit going on but now it's yuri!! (and idk, maybe Steve and Jordan both try their "that's my girl" bullshit to zero success)

[captainhunnicutt]

8, 14, 17, 18 for BJ please 🙏 ♥️

Oh gosh. I just looked at the questions and... I hope I don't fuck this up. Thanks for asking, lovely.

8.) What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I genuinely don't understand a few things the fandom does when it comes to BJ, and it may just be because I am still relatively new to the idea of "fandom" in general. I'm all for having fun and enjoying the "thing" however one sees fit, so I'm actively not trying to shit on anything here. I just truly don't understand the "Trapper Complex" or the takes on how "big of a liar," BJ is.

I understand that I am bias. I'm a Beejgirl. Always have been and always will be, but I also am capable of admitting he's got his own share of faults. I, personally, don't think lying is one of them. I think it's exaggerated, maybe for funnies? Again, I don't understand it.

I can maybe, sort of, attempt to understand the "Trapper Complex," but I think that's been blown out of proportion as well. I think what people really are seeing is BJ struggling to cope with the idea that he isn't unique in the situation. He's a draftee. He's a guy in green clothes and a guy in white clothes. He was brought over to do a job. He's friends with Hawkeye. He sleeps in the Swamp. He's stuck in Korea until told otherwise. All of the things that Trapper did already. The only difference is Trapper went home, and as a result BJ came. It's jealousy in the sense that "him and I are truly no different except he is where I want to be," and that's a hard pill to swallow.

That probably doesn't make sense. ANYWAY!

14.) Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don't know. Whatever the first two guys are wearing. He probably has that sort of coat but he would cinch the waist more, right?

17.) What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

It's not even really a ship but Aggie and BJ. I am forever bitter we didn't actually see that happen. If we mean like characters that aren't one offs... maybe BJ and his hand. Let him have some sort of release.

18.) How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

I am SO glad this question got asked, because it allows me to briefly touch on a relationship that I never talk about. Potter and BJ.

I've always felt like Potter and BJ have this weird unspoken bond. Have you ever started a job on the same day as someone else, and you two just always have that connection? Potter and BJ came in to a situation where everything had been flipped upside down. They had to find their footing while navigating the complexity of having lost two loved members of the 4077.

Potter is the one who calmed BJ down in the OR when BJ started panicking. It was like he instinctively took this kid under his wing, but in a way that wasn't placating or demeaning. His authority came from a place of caring and concern and that made all the difference in the world.

There's only a handful of times throughout the series, where Potter calls BJ "BJ." He almost always calls him "Hunnicutt." The exact opposite of Hawkeye (though, somewhere in early/mid-season 4 it switches from "BJ" to "Beej," and then whenever Hawkeye calls him "BJ" it feels weird, but I digress.) And when he uses Beej's name, it's always laced with concern. It feels like a father trying to get a son to open up and talk to him, and BJ never does. "Bombshells," is one of the more notable times this happens, and the look on Potter's face is really telling.

I think Potter had love for all of the maniacs that we know and love, and I won't sit here and say he loved one more than another. He had very special relationships with all of them - but there's something with BJ that is both intriguing and painful, and it constantly makes me want more.

[ezraspiderwick]

Chocolate Cake

You meet Frankie and his kid during a grocery run

Frankie Morales x F!Reader

Word count: 1k

Warnings: talks about birthdays, Reader's favorite cake is chocolate, Frankie's kid is in this, first meetings

A/N: Had this one in my drafts for a long time, this is meant to be the beginning of a longer fic but right now it can be read as a stand-alone.

MASTERLIST

Love resembles a double-edged sword, the likelihood of it healing or hurting an individual is about the same, getting one or the other is solely a matter of luck. Those words acquired more sense the day you meet a handsome and quiet man during a grocery run. 

There is one item left on the shopping list, just one and you’re gonna be able to head home to become a blanket burrito while binge-watching the new season of your favorite show. Said item is a chocolate cake mix. 

Between changing jobs and moving into a new city, celebrating your birthday hasn’t been at the top of your priority list, still, this felt like a big number and you don’t want to glance over it completely, you can have a small celebration by yourself. And for that, you need to bake a cake. 

You locate the aisle where the baking ingredients are sitting, but after multiple searches, you’re unable to locate the exact brand you’re looking for, the one your mom used to make every single birthday. 

Maybe it’s better if you give up and head home, you can always get something from the bakery down the street. Just as you’re about to abandon the mission, one of the store workers rushes past you and places the box you have been looking for on one of the shelves. Someone must have returned it, and just in time. 

Parking your shopping cart on the side of the aisle you walk towards the cake mix. You’re laser focus on it and as your hand closes around the box, someone else grabs it by the other side. The hand is big, its fingers brushing yours across the box. You follow the limb to its owner to find a man who looks just as surprised as you by the encounter. His chestnut curls are hidden by a black cap, and his facial hair consists of a mustache and a patchy beard. He’s wearing a shirt with a flannel thrown over it. You find yourself asking silently who gave him the right to look that good in that outfit?

Next to him stands a small girl, maybe 5 or 6, who is cocking her head to the side in curiosity, probably expecting to see how this plays out. She’s dressed in a rainbow tutu and a shirt that depicts a unicorn covered in glitter, and to top everything off she’s wearing a big bow on her hair, which resembles the man’s both in color and texture.  

“I’m sorry miss,” he says once he has analyzed the situation, yet his fingers hover over yours for a second longer after he has finished talking. “Please take it.” He motions to the cake mix much to the little girl’s dismay, and she doesn’t take long to voice it.

“But what about my birthday cake?” 

The man crouches down to get on her level and places one of his hands on her cheek with softness you wouldn’t have thought he was capable of.

“It’s okay amor, we’ll go to another store or ask if they have more in the back.”

The kid doesn’t seem too convinced but she nods, deciding to trust the man’s words. But you can’t take the box knowing they could go without it. 

“Oh, no, please, it’s not urgent, I can look for another flavor,” you insist handing the kid the box. “The birthday girl should have her cake.” She is quick to take it from you and put it in their shopping cart.

“Thank you,” the man shoots you a small and sweet smile as he stands up, a dimple barely showing on his cheek. Before you can answer him, the girl moves in front of you and starts jumping up and down, clearly excited about something. 

“We are getting pre-birthday ice cream after this!” She tells you with a grin, her own dimples shining on her face. “I’m Rafa and this is my dad Frankie.” She takes the borders of her tutu and does a small bow. You tell her your name mimicking her bow. You turn around and head towards your shopping car believing the interaction to be over but she keeps walking alongside you. 

“Did you want to bake the cake for a birthday too?” she asks as she peeks into your shopping cart, and holds up a tomato. “You really like tomatoes?”

“I was gonna bake it for my birthday.” She extends the tomato to you with a that’s yucky face, and you place it back in your cart before leaning in as if you are going to tell her a secret. “And I prefer ketchup.”

She nods solemnly agreeing with your take on food. “So we share a birthday?”

“It appears we do.”

The man stops with his own cart next to yours and shoots you an apologetic smile as he takes her daughter’s hand and gives you a polite nod. 

“Let’s go pay for this amor.”

Rafa is about to follow her dad but freezes a second later. “Wait daddy! Can she come to get ice cream with us?” She looks back between him and you. “Her birthday is tomorrow!” she adds as if that was a perfectly logical reason to invite a complete stranger to join you, and perhaps in the mind of the child, where social norms don’t apply just yet, it was.

You can see the gears turning in the man’s brain as he tries to find a way to tell his child that this is probably not a good idea without making either you or him look bad.

“I’m sure she has other things to do,” he tries but Rafa’s not having it.

“Pleaseeeeeee,” she looks between you and between him with the biggest puppy eyes, and you suspect this is a trick she employs quite often on her father as the man falls for it quickly. He scratches the back of his head and looks at you for help, but the puppy eyes have worked on you too, and you find yourself without words to refuse the girl’s offer.

“If your dad is okay with it I wouldn’t mind going.” Much to your surprise, this puts a smile on the man’s face. The girl looks at her father waiting for his answer.

“Sure, let’s do it.”

[brightlight-dazzlingeyes]

between the lines | chapter 02

rúben dias x original female character [+18]

synopsis: isabella is a sports journalist covering the premier league. she has sworn to never get involved with a football player. that is, until she meets a handsome portuguese defender. warnings: incorrect journalism references; timeline of events are not faithful to real life; i have never been to england; mutual pining; romantic comedy;  minors dni.

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

Chapter 02 — There’s only one F in Fulham

The very first Premier League game that I’ve covered was at Craven Cottage; it was a sunny day on the riverside and the home team tied with Liverpool, 2-2, on the first matchday of the season. Ever since then I’ve held an over sentimental feeling for the Fulham stadium and the press boxes where you can’t really see the field thanks to the structure poles. On colder days, the Cottage is not as charming and I’m reminded that I actually chose to work in England so I just have to deal with it.

Regardless of the weather, it was always nice to watch City play on a Sunday. Makes the rest of the week feel normal. Melissa, who accompanied me on the way in and on the way out, was having a great day planning what I should wear and what kind of makeup I should put on for my date the next day.

“You have to shave. Full brazilian!" She said, way too loudly, as we were leaving the stadium.

“It’s a first date with a stranger.” I emphasize.

“You never know, honey, better to be prepared.”

She lent me a red dress and a pair of black Louboutins, and it took hours for me to convince myself to wear them. I do look hot, the type of ‘hot’ I'm constantly trying to avoid looking given the circumstances of my job. The dress is tight on the top, with thin straps and it flows to right above my knees.

“Oh my god, I feel like I’ve been standing here for three years.” I speak to myself in the mirror. It was almost time to leave and I didn’t have a second outfit option. Alright, what did Mel say? I’m interesting? I can fix Chelsea? Yes, I can wear a red dress and go on a date. Okay. I call an Uber. It was a penthouse restaurant, and we were supposed to meet at the table. To my surprise, when I reached the elevator, the last person on earth I wanted to see at that moment, was right by my side.

“Oh. Hi.”

“Hi, Isa!”

We both look at the elevator and then back at each other, as if we were waiting for the other to make a move. Neither of us do. Instead, Rúben says:

“I didn’t see you yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah, I was interviewing the Fulham players.”

“You should be interviewing the winners.” He smirks and I smile at him. He looks at me from head to toe and I glance back to the elevator, embarrassed. 

We both decide, at the same time, to press the button. Our hands touch. Barely, but they do. I pull my hand away from him immediately, on instinct, and I hear myself gasping. My face is bright red and the situation becomes even more awkward because I realize he had the exact same reaction as I had. So I stare at him, partially waiting for him to smile again and tell me another joke, partially waiting for him to mock me and reject me. But he just stares right back. The interaction lasted for less than a minute, maybe less than a second, maybe for just a moment. The elevator door opens up and I’m just standing there wondering who the hell pressed the button.

“I think we’re supposed to go in.” Rúben says holding the door open.

We walk in together and I know for a fact that my face matches the color of my dress. I try to avoid looking at him or thinking about how hot he looks. Is he here for a date also? Well, fuck me. At least it is a pretty big space, there’s no way we’re seating close to each other. Right? We don’t say another word to each other until the door opens again, finally at the restaurant entrance hall.

“I hope you have fun on your date.” Rúben is not really looking at me when he says that.

“You too.” I reply and we finally make eye contact again. He shakes his head.

“Oh, no. I’m not on a date. It’s a business lunch.”

“Okay, have fun on your business then.” I wink at him and he smiles, agreeing.

We go search for our tables and of course, of course, we are sitting close to each other. In the horrible angle where I could, if I wanted, to spend the entire lunch just looking at him. I won’t do it, of course, but it pisses me off that I could. Sexy doctor is very sexy in real life so my anger lessens for a second.

“Hi.”

“Hi, you must be Isabella!” 

He has a beautiful voice. We shake hands and start to make small talk. About my sister-in-law and my little niece, about the weather and what it's like to live in Manchester. I have to hold back and not just straight up point at the table at the back to our left and say: ‘Hey, Rúben Dias is sitting right there. And yes, I have a crush on him. So this date is going great.’ Instead I just nod and listen to him talk about his work. Are business lunches supposed to last longer than a date lunch? Who knows, but my brain just turned that into a competition. I’m not leaving this table until he leaves. I’ll show him, for some reason, that I’m having more fun than he is. Fuck, what’s the name of sexy doctor? 

“Turns out it was a racoon the whole time!” He laughs and I accompany him, even though I completely lost the start of the story. “Can you believe it?”

"Unbelievable!" I’m still laughing with him. “A racoon!”

Our order arrives and thank God for inventing the culinary arts. The food is delicious and, at least while I’m eating, everything else seems unimportant. I decided to try once again. He seems like a nice guy and he could be funny if I paid attention to what he was saying. So I excuse myself to the bathroom and text Sienna.

Isabella: girl  whats sexy doctor called?? help

Sienna: oh my god his name is peter warren lol

As I walk back to the table I make the mistake of making eye contact with Rúben. He smiles at me, that handsome jerk, and I smile back, instinctively. When I sit down, I’m blushing again. Peter Warren, huh?

“Sienna told me it was your favorite restaurant.” Peter says.

“Yes, it is!”

“I’m loving it, honestly, the food is heavenly. How did you find out about it?”

He asks and I have to physically hold myself back from facepalming. “Oh. It was through work. I come here a lot with my colleagues.” I answer. Yes, me, my colleagues and literally everyone in Manchester that works with football comes to this restaurant. What an idiot, why did I agree to come here on a date? You know what, at least, is Rúben. It could have been my boss seeing me in this dress. I relax with the realization.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Peter!” I speak, casually making him aware that I know his name.

“We could go to my favorite restaurant next? I mean, as far as blind dating goes, I feel like this is worth a second date?”

“The racoon story definitely earned you a second date.”

Peter laughs loudly when I say that. I really wish I understood the context, though. We’re having dessert and as I look over, Rúben is still talking with God knows who, his agent, maybe? They don’t seem like the’yre leaving the table anytime soon. So I convince Peter that I always order a second dessert, that is a tradition. That buys me more time. Rúben gets up to leave when I’m in the middle of my second tiramisu slice.

As he leaves, I look at him again. Just to make sure, I guess. But he notices, and waves goodbye. Handsome and polite jerk. I can’t help waving back at him, and of course Peter notices.

“You know him?” He asks.

“Just a football player.” 

I take another bite.

Mel: so how was the date?

Isabella: terrible but we already agreed on the second one

Mel: did you kiss :(

Isabella: no but he shook my hand? is that something?

Mel: :(

[dougiejack]

bodyswap attempt 1 sounds intriguing if you‘d like to share something 💙

bodyswap fic, my white whale, my someone so very much needs to write this fic but I don't think it will be me.

Jack and Luke switch bodies. Everything is suddenly very hard because what are you supposed to do when you're the wrong size and your limbs don't work the exact way they're supposed to and oh by the way you have to be elite professional athletes and the season is already not going amazingly.

Oh and by the way by the way your brother is secretly in a relationship with one of your best friends.

Like it's so good and someone should write it but my attempt is....not very good. Here's the first scene before I got to the parts that were too complicated for my attention span

Jack wakes up with a start, immediately shaken by the fact that he is not alone in his bed. Taking stock of his situation, he can feel that he is being spooned from behind, an arm wrapped tightly around his middle and a hard body pressed against his back. He doesn’t remember going out drinking last night, in fact he had gone straight home after the game to sleep off another loss, there’s no chance he went out and hooked up, and that doesn’t even factor in that the body behind him doesn’t exactly feel feminine. His heart is racing when he finally opens his eyes. Immediate impression is that he doesn’t know where the fuck he is. He’s never been in this room before. There’s a crumpled up shirt on a chair in the corner that he can see the Devil’s logo on. Holy shit, has he been kidnapped by some sort of obsessed fan? How is he going to get out of this? 

Slowly, oh so slowly, he extricates himself from the arm holding him, wiggles his way out of the bed, that’s so weird why are his limbs heavy, is he drugged? What the fuck is going on. Turning slowly, quietly so that he can get a good look at his captor and a description to give to the police, he stops in his tracks when he actually sees who he was in bed with.

“Johnny?!?” He all but yells, hardly noticing the high pitched tone of his voice. John startles awake at the sound and looks up at him, it’s at this point that Jack finally notices why his limbs feel weird, he’s taller than he should be. Something is very very wrong. 

Looking frantically around the room he sees a full length mirror in the corner by the closet and what he sees there shakes him to his core. Staring back at him, naked, in John Marino’s bedroom, is Luke.

He doesn’t even hear John calling out Luke’s name, and doesn't feel him catching him before he hits the ground in a full faint.

[narancias-headband]

Kissing La Squadra under the mistletoe

This may be the Christmas post I have been most excited for ヾ(＾▽＾)ﾉ Enjoy!! ❤️💚

Risotto

The others absolutely set him up for this. They've been scheming on how to make you two walk through the doorway at the same time. And now they're all watching. They actually point it out as well.

Ah, well it seems we've ended up under the mistletoe.

He seems a bit unsure of what to do. That is, until a soft chanting of "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" starts echoing from the others.

He leans in slowly, but with a sense of confidence. He closes the space between your lips gently and steadily, not wanting to startle you.

There's a tender sweetness to his kiss. As if some sort of emotion was hiding under the surface of the holiday tradition. It's warm and soft and leaves you extremely disappointed when you have to separate.

You'll probably be doing some of your own scheming the rest of the holiday season, trying to end up under the mistletoe with Ris once again.

Formaggio

He probably literally runs into you in the doorway on accident. What a guy.

While he's apologizing and laughing that off, he realizes what's hanging just over your heads.

He points up at it with a half smile and says, Hey, check out where we ended up.

Prosciutto

He smriks for a second, giving you a moment to adjust and take in the situation at hand before he quickly closes the space between the two of you.

The kiss is warm and happy and intoxicating. You can't help but lean into it, and Formaggio willingly accepts your enthusiasm.

When you two finally split, he gives you a wink.

I hope I'll catch you under the mistletoe again soon, sugar.

This is a bit of an inconvenience to him. He's not real interested in such a silly tradition. But if he must.

I'm not even sure why we hang this thing each year, but it seems we've ended up together under the mistletoe.

He shrugs and straightens out his suit jacket, trying to act nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

Inside he is freaking out a little bit. But that's nothing you'd need to worry about. Or know about. Ever.

Pulls you in sweetly and gently, one hand on your waist and the other on your neck, and gives you a warm and firm kiss, though it seems to be lacking in passion.

He pulls away and fixes his hair and clears his throat. He's a bit mixed up over this, but nothing some time alone, by himself, with no one else there, can't fix.

Pesci

Oh, god, this is gonna be awkward.

He's keenly aware of the doorway with the mistletoe. He's nervously been avoiding it all he can.

But now it's happened. His fears realized. It's not that he has any issue with you, it's just the whole kissing thing makes him uncomfortable. Kisses are supposed to be more special and meaningful than that, right?

He laughs nervously, hoping you'll let him off the hook. There's a possibility that you would, but, unfortunately, you have an audience of a few others who won't let it slide so easy.

He takes a deep breath, gives you an apologetic look, and starts to lean in. His lips brush against yours in a ghost of a kiss that leaves you wanting more before he bashfully pulls away.

It's up to you if you truly want more of a kiss here.

Ghiaccio

At first, he's a bit upset that you've ended up in this exact doorway together. He has places to be and things to do. And now he has to waste time here.

He grumbles angrily. What a stupid tradition.

"Well I guess we have to kiss now, huh?" You pause to brush your hair out of your face.

Okay. Maybe it's not that bad.

He's very unsure about how to do this. He grabs onto your upper arms and leans in... Then leans back again. Maybe another angle... Or not. Ummm. His face is bright red at this point.

You'll have to meet him in the middle on one of the times he leans in close.

His eyes go wide and his face goes impossibly redder as your lips meet, and he timidly kisses back, before his quickly pulls away.

The kiss is short and a bit stiff, but it lingers in both of your minds.

Illuso

Ah, what an honor. You get to be caught under the mistletoe with Illuso? Amazing for you. Or so he thinks.

Looks like it's your lucky day.

He smirks at you while fixing his hair, making sure he looks perfect.

How about we slip away from the prying eyes, my dear?

Before you can even answer he's whisking you into the nearest reflection, likely on some sort of shining Christmas decoration.

Melone

You can't help but roll your eyes. You can't deny that you appreciate his enthusiasm, though.

He pulls you in by your waist in the most dramatic way he can muster, bringing your face close to his. He takes a moment to smile and take in your expression before locking your lips and tilting you back into a dip. He's so extra.

When he pulls away and tips you back onto your feet, he hits you with the smuggest smile, confident you'll be back for more.

This is no accident. He has been on a stakeout watching and waiting for you to near the mistletoe in the doorframe.

Now is finally his chance. He scurries to the doorway and stops you in your tracks.

He says nothing, just glancing up at the mistletoe and back at you, eyebrows raised. He can't stop the smirk that crosses his lips.

He pulls you in quick, before you can hardly process what's happening, pressing his lips to yours and sliding his hands down your sides.

There is much more passion, and tongue, in this kiss than there really should be in a mistletoe kiss.

And it will happen again. He's waiting for his opportunity to do this again and again.

[blossyossyossy]

Hi.... If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 10 favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/games/etc) and your top 5 favorite ships (can be canon or non canon) from any media ? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Hi! I would just like to start off by saying that I was not ignoring this ask, I was just waiting for a time to open up for me to write this long ass response!!

Top ten media:

The original Powerpuff Girls. Nothing will ever top this, not even Pokemon or Precure despite me posting about both far more often. The OG PPG is my favorite media of all time because, as corny as it sounds, I would not be who I am today without it. And plus, who doesn’t like to see three 5-year-old girls kick ass??

Pretty Cure. Yeah, yeah shocking for anyone who’s scrolled through my blog. Funnily enough, it used to be a trigger for me since I used to associate it with some people I’m no longer friends with, but once I coped with the situation, I was really enjoying myself!!! I think part of the reason why I love Precure so much is because it’s a comfort show for me at this point and because I’ve always been enamored by magical series but could never fully get into them. Except for Powerpuff Girls Z which I stand by my rating of 6/10. Oh, and I guess Sailor Moon since I’ve watched 3 of the hour-long movies that are on YouTube but I’ve never even watched a full episode of it. As for a specific Precure season, it would be Fresh Precure! It has Love Momozono (my favorite character of all time) in it, what’s not to love about that?

Danny Phantom. Another comfort show of mine. Danny himself is one of my favorite characters in general and the entire premise of the show is just so cool.

Pokemon. Yeah, yeah shocking for anyone who’s scrolled through my blog. If we ignore the Powerpuff Girls, then I would say that Pokemon has been the most influential piece of media for me. Like, PPG got me to the internet and into drawing but Pokemon got me long time online friends, enemies (lookin at you, homophobic pokemon fans), and improvement in terms of art. Plus, it’s the only series where I feel 100% comfortable writing fanfiction for. Maybe it’s because it was my longest (consistent) obsession, but I feel as though I can actually grasp the characters’ personalities. The animeverse’s characters’ personalities I mean.

Scott Pilgrim. Another comfort media. Did you know that I share a birthday with the Scott Pilgrim franchise down to the exact year? Too bad it took me until I was 18 to finally get into it but better late than never. I prefer the graphic novels, which I’ve read twice already. And since I got the 20th anniversary edition of them for free, that means it’s gonna be three times soon. But anyway, the Scott Pilgrim series unironically got me through some tough times, especially when it came to my nonexistent love life.

Okay, these last five medias are lowkey ass-pulls but shh. Super Mario 64 DS. Yes, the DS version specifically. I still fuck with the n64 version, but I grew up with the DS version instead. Fun fact, SM64DS’s 20th anniversary is coming up soon (November 21st, 2024)!! Other than nostalgia, it’s just a fun time all around except for that godforsaken silver rabbit mission. I cannot stand that bitch. But it’s just easy for me to get sucked into the game without even knowing, which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it’s one of the few medias where I can just lose myself in and a curse because it’s one of the few medias I can lose myself in.

Maximum Ride. Specifically the first book, The Angel Experiment but I have a soft spot for the series as a whole. The Angel Experiment is actually my favorite book of all time. I’ve read it at least four times as a child which doesn’t seem like a lot until you realize that it has upwards to 400 pages. The main character, the titular Maximum Ride, is a classic case of a badass motherfucker and I don’t mean that lightly. I adore how snappy and quick paced it is despite of how long it is. It’s probably due to the chapters being super short. Like, there’s at least a couple of chapters that don’t even fill an entire page. Maybe it’s because I had to read it in fifth grade, but it’s one of the few books that I return to time and time again. Not to say that other books that I’ve read are bad, I just prefer to consume more and more media rather than revisiting them.

Impractical Jokers. Very random choice, I know, but without them, I would not know what a chinchilla was probably until I got to college. For context, they had a crossover with another truTV show and somehow a chinchilla was involved in one of the pranks they were doing.

…Friday Night Funkin. I am cringe, but I am free. Banger music, I still don’t know why that was the rhythm game that drew me in despite me barely even using NewGrounds as a kid (FNF has that good ole NG humor for context).

 The Super Mario franchise! It has Princess Daisy in it, enough said.

Top five ships:

Amourshipping. My version of amourshipping is better than the majority’s amourshipping. Also, it was the reason why I really got into pokemon. Sure, I’d watch the Advance series before but Serena’s crush on Ash unironically got me hooked.

Jellowshipping. The girlfriends of all time!! They’re so sweet together I love them.

Kiribaku. They mesh well together, what can I say?

Lovesetsu / Setsulove. No, they’re not sisters. Don’t even think about bringing that discourse over here. Typical Setsulove fan here, adoring the fight they had in episode 23 and honestly episode 23 overall. It’s enemies to lovers, tragic yuri, (formerly) doomed yuri, opposites attract yuri, they were roommates yuri, and now long distance. Also, let’s be real, Love and Setsuna both associate each other with happiness. Moreso on Love’s part, but where else could Setsuna have gotten her title of the proof of happiness from, hmmmm?

Gray Ghost from Danny Phantom. They’re like setsulove but in reverse. Lovers to enemies and all that jazz I said earlier but minus the opposites attract because both of them are some stubborn ass teenagers. But even as enemies they bounce off each other so well. The push n pull of their dynamic is so intense cause the feelings were still there but…enemies🔥

Also, even if I had been asked these questions before, I'd still answer cause I love to talk about my interests!!