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severalforraelee · 2 years ago

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Max’s Reaction: Prove It Short Story

Prompt: I was rereading Prove it for like the thousandth time and was wondering if you could do a blurb maybe of Max finding out about the labor! Like his reaction and rushing to get to you! And maybe some of Rowan's first like word and steps! I absolutely love your writing!!

Written by raelee / Posted Mar 19

Word count: 2,329

Masterlist

Formula 1 Masterlist

Prove It Masterlist

Max’s POV

I stare down at my phone screen, tapping it awake for what feels like the millionth time in the past five minutes. It shows my lockscreen, a picture I took of Y/N when she wasn’t looking because I knew that if she saw me taking it, she would yell at me. She’s looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, toothbrush halfway in her mouth with foam falling from her lips. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, my Red Bull T-shirt falling to her mid-thigh and hugging the top of her baby bump. It’s her freshly woken in the morning getting ready for the day. I took this photo without her knowing because, In her words, she looks tired and gross in the morning. But it’s her, and that’s why I love it so much.

I’ve been trying not to contact Y/N every five minutes, knowing how exhausted she must be with the arrival of our son coming at any minute. But I feel anxious just from being away from her, despite it being for something as good as winning the Formula 1 Drivers World Championship. Hell, I’m even feeling exhausted from all of the worry.

“Max.”

I snap my head up at my PR officer’s irritated tone, giving her a sheepish look while she gives me an annoyed one.

“Did you hear anything that I just said to you?”

“No,” I admit.

She sighs, starting from the beginning. Truthfully, I don’t care what she’s saying. I don’t care what anyone’s saying to me. I just want to rush through everything that I have to unfortunately do after winning the second world championship before I can go home to my family.

Her sighing again snaps me out of my thoughts of holding my girl in my arms, and soon, my son.

“Max, you realize that the sooner you do this, the sooner that you can leave to go be with her?” She points out.

I nod, standing up to follow her to the filming room.

“Morning,” I sit down at the conference table, staring down at the hot coffee cup in my hands. I didn’t even add any sugar or creamer this morning, my mind completely preoccupied by the conversation that I had with Y/N last night.

I wish more than anything that I could be there with her. Hearing the anxiety in her voice as she asks when I’m coming home, reassuring me just to get my work done so that she doesn’t cause me any more anxiety than I’m already feeling makes me feel like shit. It makes me feel like a bad partner for even putting her in this situation, and a bad father for making my son’s mother feel so unsure.

I want her to feel valued. I want to be by her side, but it’s so hard when there’s so much pressure from everyone in the Formula 1 world. From fans to the crew at Red Bull racing to the FIA to other teams, everyone expects me to be celebrating right now. They’re expecting me to do media duties by day and celebratory duties, also known as getting wasted, by night. And I can’t help but give in to that pressure, not wanting to let down the tons of people relying on me.

“You’ve been awfully quiet over there, Maxie,” Christian calls across the table.

I swallow the lump in my throat, nodding. I open my mouth to speak before realizing just how dry my throat is, raising my coffee to my lips and taking a sip.

“Just wishing that I was with Y/N,” I confess.

Everyone at the table freezes at my words. They all know that the reason why I’ve been so calm about this championship as compared to my last one is because of the unknown delivery date of my son. But I’ve never really talked about it with anyone at Red Bull, wanting to keep such vulnerable emotions somewhat secretive.

Christian nods in understanding. He knows what it’s like to balance being a father and working in such a chaotic environment.

“Tell you what, let’s rush through what we have planned for today, get the things that we have to do tomorrow done today, then we can get you on a plane tonight and send you back to be with your missus?” He questions.

I nod in excitement, heart fluttering as he refers to Y/N as my missus.

Someday she will be.

My phone dings as the meeting comes to an end and I’m rising from the office chair.

“You know, we’ll get things done faster if you don’t have that to distract you all day,” my PR officer lets me know.

I pull it out of my pocket, handing it to her before rushing out the room without another word.

At the time, I was just so enthusiastic to start the media duties and other things that I have to do, wanting to get them done as quickly as possible, that I didn’t even think to check who was texting me or what it said.

If I did, I would’ve seen the first text of many that Y/N sent me. I would’ve turned around, ran out of the Red Bull complex, and gotten the hell out of Milton Keynes.

If I didn’t put so much pressure on myself to fulfill the duties of a world champion, I could’ve been there for the birth of my son.

It isn’t until I get my phone back half a day later- time slipping away from me without the device being on me and being hidden away in dark rooms for the media that I realize what happened.

“Hey, Max, Daniel walked in while I was having contractions and we’re on our way to the birthing center now. Call me back when you get this.” Her voice fills my ears as I ride the plane back to Italy to be with my family.

I wish I could fly this plane myself to get back there faster.

“I’ve been getting contractions about every- what did you say earlier, Daniel, every five minutes? Yeah, every five minutes, and contractions are lasting about a minute each. I’m five centimeters dilated. The predicted birth is in four to eight hours, so you still have time to get here.”

I listen to the one from Daniel next. “Hey, Max, Y/N’s in labor, as you probably know from the dozens of phone calls, texts, and voicemails that we’ve both left you,” he lets out a fake chuckle, “Funny story, Nurse Emma- you know Nurse Emma, right? She asked if the dad was going to be joining us for the birth and you know what I told her? I told her that he’s a-”I end that voicemail with a wince before it can get to the surely explicit part.

My fingers tremble as I click on the next voicemail. “This is the last time that I’m calling you, Max, if you wanted to be here by now you would be. The doctor just left to make sure everything is ready for our son’s arrival and when she gets back I’m going to start pushing. Hope getting media done was worth it.”

I just delete the one from Charles, already knowing that it’s not going to be a pleasant one to listen to. But I can’t blame him. I left one of his best friend’s and the mother of my child to go through one of the most traumatic and important moments of her life alone.

Well, she has Daniel with her, but if he wasn’t there- I shake my head, not wanting to go there.

I stare out the window, willing the plane to go faster. From the texts and calls, I know that she’s already had the baby. I wish I could be there with them both, holding and meeting my son and reassuring my partner that she did an amazing job.

And I’m sure she did, but I feel like shit for not even knowing that. I want to know all of the gritty details of the labor. I want to know if she needed any stitches, how loud our son cried when he came out, if he’s latching on properly.

But I’m the only one to blame for missing out on that experience.

I run through the hallways of the birthing center, wanting to get to her as fast as possible. The bouquet of red roses that my assistant greeted me as soon as I got off the plane to give to her is gripped tightly in my fist, the anxiety of seeing her reaction and holding our son for the first time causing me to hold them a little tighter than I’d prefer to.

Charles points at me as soon as I enter. “No.”

My eyes slide past him, focusing on her lying on the bed. She looks exhausted, hair messy and bags under her eyes but she’s never looked so beautiful. She looks so disheveled because she’s a mom. She’s a mom to our son.

Despite the clear anger and resentment in her eyes at the sight of me, I fall even more in love at the sight of her.

The guilt of not being there with them for the birth encourages me to work even harder to repair the relationship with Y/N and to spend more time bonding with Rowan. And it works, because I’m there for his first word.

As unfortunate as a first word it may be.

“Who am I, Rowan?” Charles holds the eleven month old baby in his arms, something that I’m already grumpy about. I can’t take him from Charles' arms, though, because he cries every time I try.

I hate this obsession-with-Uncle-Charles phase.

“Who am I?” He coos to the baby, bouncing him up and down in his arms in a playful action. “Am I Uncle Charles? Can you say Uncle Charles?”

“Cha,” Rowan cheers, clapping his hands in excitement at the attention from his uncle.

I freeze at his words. Y/N pauses her conversation with Carlos. Charles' face just- ugh, shows the arrogance of a man who’s name was the first word of a baby. Specifically his rival’s baby.

“Was that his first word?” Y/N questions, staring with wide eyes at Rowan as he stares back at his mom.

“No, Cha is not a word,” I immediately disagree, shaking my head.

Truthfully, I just don’t want my kid’s first word to be my rival’s name.

“Say it again, Rowan, say Charles,” Charles encourages, excitement lacing his tone.

“Cha,” Rowan repeats.

Carlos, Charles, and Y/N- then quickly after, Rowan, erupt into cheers, hollering at Rowan’s first official word.

“Good job, baby,” Y/N coos, leaning down to press kisses all over his face.

I suppose I’ll give Charles a win with this one.

And I’m there for his first steps.

As unfortunate as they may be, too.

“Little man’s not walking yet?” It’s one of the few times that Lewis and I actually get along. When we’re talking about Rowan.

“He’s working on it, he just gets so nervous,” I explain. We both watch as he pulls himself up on the chair in the hotel lobby, doing it with ease because of how often he does it at home.

“Come here, Rowan,” Lando grins, bending down and opening his arms for the thirteen month old to come to.

The blonde baby eyes him curiously, looking down at his feet, as if he’s wondering if they actually work.

“Don’t look at your feet, kid, that’ll sike you out,” Daniel advises, bending down beside Lando and opening his arms. “Come to Uncle Daniel.”

“Daniel, let me have this moment with him,” Lando whines.

“May I remind you-”Lando groans at the piece of information that Daniel loves to bring up every chance he gets. “He is named after me.”

“Just his middle name.”

“Still. He’s named after me.”

“Uh, guys?” Lewis’ tone cuts out the fight.

We all turn to see Rowan hobbling unsurely towards his uncles.

On two feet.

We erupt into cheers, startling the rest of the lobby.

“He just took his first steps,” Daniel informs everyone like a proud parent. The rest of the lobby erupts into cheers as well.

Rowan reaches Lando and the Brit pulls the little boy into his arms, rising to his feet and throwing him in the air playfully.

“Look at you go, mate.”

Rowan giggles at the compliment.

“Y/N,” I holler, looking around me to find my beautiful partner. “Y/N- wait, where is she?”

“Shit,” Daniel’s eyes are wide, “She’s still in that meeting.”

“Oh shit,” I rub my forehead in stress, “Okay, this never happened, okay? She will be so upset if she found out she missed his first steps. The next time she’s around and takes his first steps, we’re treating that as his first steps, got it?”

The three other drivers nod in agreement, knowing how momentous first steps are to a mother. Especially a first time mother.

Y/N exits the elevator, Carlos and Charles following her after their Ferrari meeting has ended.

An elderly woman stops in front of Y/N, patting her on the arm gently. “Congratulations on your son’s first steps.”

She leaves before we can say anything and Y/N stands there, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

“I missed his first steps?”

“No,” Charles cries from behind her, his face in his hands.

“Charles, are you- are you crying?” Daniel asks.

“I just can’t believe I missed his first steps. He should’ve been walking towards his favorite uncle.”

“He was walking towards his favorite uncle,” Lando chimes in, “He was walking towards me.”

“May I remind you,” Daniel interrupts, “He was named after me.”

Eye rolls and groans are heard around the group, Carlos even throwing a water bottle that hits him right in the nuts.

#formula 1 imagine #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #sfrproveit

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acowardinmordor · 11 months ago

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Contractual Obligation

The plan went perfectly, is the thing. TMZ got the scoop, Tiktok had hundreds of reaction videos in the first few hours. They were trending on Twitter. Which was good. Steve would get his pay day, Eddie would get past the rumors and back to the good press, back to the path towards platinum records. According to the plan, Eddie would even have new ideas and inspiration for his next album.

It was only five months. Long enough for the gossips to pick it up, long enough to be a big deal, not long enough that anyone would expect Eddie to be too broken up about it.

Steve torched all his social media accounts a few hours after TMZ posted the story. He had to. The handful of messages and notifications he saw while deleting it all made his stomach flip. Once it calmed down a bit, he might make anonymous accounts again, if only so he could follow the kids and see the weird pictures of Robin's travels. Not with his own face though. Part of the agreement. Steve Harrington wasn't going to exist online as himself for a minimum of three years. That would keep anyone noticing that he got paid. It would also keep Steve from being torn apart by Eddie's fans.

It wasn't like he had to worry about money for a while. That was why he signed the contract with the PR firm. They needed to erase the memory of his slut era - capped off with photos of Eddie in a decadent orgy - show that Eddie Munson was capable of a committed relationship, and then get him single again. His sales were better when he was single, and being seen on celebrity dates was great for PR. They needed someone to play a part to make the change.

Steve's dad hadn't cut him off or thrown him out for being queer, or for how he got GNC when the mood struck. No, Richard Harrington was a proud liberal supporter, and didn't give a damn about any of that. But Steve flunked out of his degree in business at Richard's alma mater, and that was unforgivable.

So he was working days at an amazon warehouse, and overnight at a 24 hour diner in Chicago, because he needed money to keep his crappy studio. The PR team found him at the diner. Steve accepted the job and the contract without knowing who the hell Eddie Munson was. It was that much money. Steve really should have thought through the final phase of the contract before he signed. But it was almost a quarter million dollars for just under five months of work. "Work". Five months of dating a guy who permanently altered Steve's brain chemistry with his first smile.

Steve knew this was his fault. How he felt was his own fault. He wanted the money so he took the job, and he agreed to the terms. He went in with open eyes. Eddie didn't know Steve wasn't a genuine relationship. A real moment of serendipity that put them in the same place. Didn't know there was an end date inked and signed before they ever met. Steve agreed to this stupid fucking job because his parents cut him off and he wasn't used to having to budget for food and use coupons and hunt for deals to get phone service.

He may have flunked out in his junior year, but he was a business major. Steve read the contract and knew there was no getting around the financial penalty if he broke the terms. Seven fold repayment. How biblical of them.

He wasn't stupid. Eddie had the cash to cover the contract breach. And the inevitable court case over it. But Steve was stupid, and when he signed, he'd thought it wouldn't matter to either of them. Then Steve realized it mattered to him, but thought Eddie would be fine. He was a rockstar. Surrounded by friends. Endlessly laughing and happy. Eddie would get over Steve quick. It was just a couple months with some broke college drop out.

Then he saw Eddie's face three days ago when the rockstar found his boyfriend in bed with two models.

So yeah, Eddie had the cash, and maybe if Steve had told him from the start, he would have spent it, but now? Eddie didn't have a poker face. He walked into the scene set up by the PR team - Steve in bed with two peppy blonde models after standing Eddie up on a date - and Steve knew there was no way Eddie would cover anything. The truth could have helped early. Now that it was done? Telling Eddie the truth would only hurt him more.

All the stories were on Eddie's side. The firm made sure of that. Photos were already being 'found' by the gossip sites. Steve had been 'cheating' for weeks. Really had fucked both women that night to satisfy contractual obligation and to make sure Steve knew there was no fixing it. Steve had his fifteen minutes of fame, and the thing he'd be known for forever, was the guy who cheated on Eddie Munson.

His phone pinged with a message from one of the only two numbers saved to it. The way his chest soared and sank in the moment before his brain caught up was awful. Hope and fear, neither of which made sense.

Steve had deleted all of his socials. The PR firm had taken his old phone and disconnected the number. Now he had a brand new samsung, with one contact for the PR agent, and one for Robin. One was a threat, the other was a lifeline.

Robin's message was a calendar with her locations for the next month, and a link to AirFrance. It was a good idea. She was absolutely furious with him, and had been since he told her about the contract a month ago. She was still his best friend. Eddie was famous, but mostly an American celebrity. Steve could be a no one easier in Europe.

His phone, the one he handed over, had hundreds of contacts and thousands of messages and conversations across apps. Hundreds of photos of him and Eddie. Messages and voicemails and stupid jokes and memes.

This one had the default background, the default apps, and a single conversation in the messages. Robin was going to scream at him when she saw him, but she'd give him a hug first.

That was a better choice than sitting in the dark in his new apartment, which was too big, and too nice for crappy stuff they'd moved from his studio. He tapped the link she sent, and started looking for the first available flight.

#steve harrington angst #steddie angst #my writing #as ever guys #I did not write this with any intent #just responding to a fic that ended happily #and my brain going 'ok but what if'#this idea is agony to me #that Steve completed the contract like he was supposed to #it is technically a success #this was the expected outcome #and it hurts like hell

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yanderend · 2 years ago

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Male Yandere Idol (OC) x Gender Neutral Reader

Jamison, The Idol Headcanons

The Idol is a somewhat sadistic yandere that likes to flaunt what's his. Despite the destructive tendencies, he's one of the more wholesome yanderes who really wants you to be proud of yourself.

## The Idol has been reveling in his stardom since his debut, and he's glad to finally be getting the attention he deserves. It's stressful work, though...

## So there he is, looking for a way to let off steam in those few free hours he has in his schedule when you come along. In his over-dramatised brain, the spotlight shone on you as you approached.

## Jamie has a habit of embarrassing his fans-- nothing malicious, but he didn't see anything wrong with a little playful flirting to get them flustered. Whether or not you were a fan, he had the urge to do the same thing to you.

## But oh god, did his heart seem to skip a beat at your reaction. The way your face cycled through emotions was entertaining; and if it were up to him, he'd push it further.

## Bitterly, he knew he'd have to say goodbye and got it over with quickly.

## Even after goodbyes were said, he'd keep thinking about that one interaction for days; even going to the extent of getting his agent to find your social media under the guise of 'keeping up with PR.'

## He'd keep tabs on you, and quietly stalk your page in his downtime-- squealing to himself giddily whenever you freaked out over him liking one of your posts. Weren't you just the cutest thing he'd ever seen?

## The Idol realises he's acting more like your fan than you are his, and wants desperately to flip the narrative back to the way it's 'supposed to be.'

## What does he do about it exactly? Use his influence to entirely change the tour dates so that you're bound to meet.

## That doesn't go quite to plan, as he only ends up falling for you further. Seeing you in person only solidifies his beliefs that you NEED to stay with him-- that you shouldn't be a fan of anyone else's work.

## So he works it out in a matter of minutes- demanding you be a part of the team.

## 'Don't you worry at all, little play-thing, you'll fit right in~' He whispers, with a strangely ominous aura about him.

## After that, he'll work twice as hard for you, and act out for your attention. Jamie even gets so desperate as to severely injure himself one time so that you'll look after him. He especially likes the jealous looks of his coworkers as he lays his head in your lap, smirking up at you.

## Once he hears that first lovestruck sigh from you, he feels like celebrating... So prepare to be pampered on a night out in a skimpy outfit.

## He'll never turn down any theories that the two of you are dating, even going out of his way to try and push that narrative by taking you to events, arm wrapped around your waist while you blush and stutter around the press.

## 'Smile for the camera, darling! Don't keep our fans waiting, now...'

## The Idol's blood will boil if anyone denies the rumours, even if he knows he can't say anything against it. He doesn't want anyone else performing for you. Your eyes should be stuck on him, and him alone.

## Any time you're not watching, be assured that his time is spent sending threats to those he saw eyeing you in a less than reputable way. They need to learn their place: Far, far away from his darling.

## It works out all too well that he can take you out in public and flirt with you, only for you to get so anxious that you cling to him for comfort. That's exactly what he wants from it - for everyone to watch the most talented couple alive, and know that they don't compare.

#The Idol #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere scenarios #yandere oc #male yandere #yandere idol #yandere

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wejustvibing · 2 months ago

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maybe this post could have worked if team itself had posted an apology-explanation immediately after the race. But after the patronas event and a week (!!!) who needs it anyway, especially from his side. What kind of reaction did they expect, that now we will definitely see that they wanted the best despite all the facts? They were really lucky that everyone forgot all this because of the Ricciardo drama, what kind of idiots are sitting in the PR department. Again, at least in Ferrari, from what I saw, they know how to admit mistakes without gaslighting.

separately all these non-fans are wonderful with their insanely important opinion, I assure you we will stick to our opinion in any case, please do not write anything in his tag.

(sorry for all this ted talk but i just want february so badly)

it's hard to change fact based opinions anyway.

idk if ferrari knows how to admit their mistakes or not. what i do know is merc's incapable of getting anything right. the car is shit, strategy is mudded, PR in shambles, and TP is on his knees for some guy who doesn't want him rip

#anonymous

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somuchyoudontknow · 1 year ago

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If I may add my two cents worth… I’ve seen the ongoing narrative that Chris is being taken advantage of by Scott, his friends and family etc, and that he is being held hostage by CAA or by Alba herself.

My honest, intuitive feel is that this is simply a PR arrangement gone wrong. The reason he continues to associate with her, in my opinion so I may be wrong, is simply because he signed a contract.

Now, I dont believe for one second that he signed it without reading. Chris is not a bumbling golden retriever; RDJ himself has commented that Chris is shrewd.

What I think happened is simply that he signed the contract agreeing to all these things for some good benefits that will come once the arrangement is over.

This ties in to your visions, Sophia, where you say he will get a good blockbuster project that may result in nominations and wins and other good things coming his way.

He may have only realised the optics of being seen as Alba’s boyfriend once he saw that a) she still looks very young and b) once the evidence of her racism and sexual innuendo leaked. Many are saying this was done or it happened after the contract was signed.

By this point in time, they were already knee-deep in the contract, and there was no backing out. He may have lawyers try and negotiate an end, but the contract may not have had clauses or loopholes — and Chris may not have thought he needed them since he has never done long-term PR relationships before. Lesson learnt for him.

Think of it as you signing an employment contract for your job. If you dont understand the terms when you sign, and you try to escape from it later — that is exactly what is happening here with Chris and CAA.

But the point is, whether he likes it or not, he has to ride this contract out and honour whatever he has agreed to.

The reason he looks sick and stressed is simply because of the sheer backlash against him and even his family. His fans hate Alba, and I dont think he or his team could estimate just how much. After all, the fandom has had his back for decades. There was no reason for them to think we would all flip a 180 and walk away from him. There was no reason to ever think that his family and friends would also get the backlash and hate comments and possibly death threats.

And now he is simply seeing the side effects of playing games with people who have supported him through A LOT of crap. In other words, Chrissy just had a “Fuck Around and Find Out” moment.

In many ways, this is the major tower moment that so many readers have predicted for him. Many of them did warn that to get into a relationship with a “20-something clout chaser” — this was talkingtarot’s description of her — would be disastrous for him and would bring a lot of heartache. This is now being proven.

The question is how long he wants to take to learn his lessons in this major tower moment. There is no way out, so he has to suck it up, learn from it and take the opportunity to rebrand himself the way he desires (but never says out loud).

I believe he wants to be taken seriously as an actor — this is backed by the fact he pursued roles like Knives Out and Defending Jacob. He has the chops and the potential, now he needs to reshape himself and his reputation to get the things he wants.

❤️ StarStruck 💫

Hiiii Hope you are doing well 🤗

Oh, I have missed my anon fellow intuitives so much 💙❤ Thank you for coming back and sharing your reading with us.

In, regards to the big role, I feel since he is helping Wild Bunch promote their European movies, he would get a very good payout in the end.

And I strongly agree that Chris is very smart and intelligent. He is not a fool as some people are persistent to make him look like. He knows what he is doing and he must have signed the contract after taking into consideration the condition of the industry and the work prospects available to him after his Cap Era and Covid. The only downside of this pr has been his team underestimated his fandom's reaction due to the age gap and now , no matter how much he dislikes the situation or wants to end it, it might not be possible.

He also wants to be taken seriously as an actor. he doesn't seem to be interested in going back to Disney or doing any superhero roles in the future which is quite understandable. Going back to Disney would not be beneficial. They would lock him down for years and he will not have the creative freedom that he is looking for. He is already in his 40s and almost all his career he has spent a big chunk of his career doing superhero roles. He seems to be desiring to expand his career and not stay limited. If we look at his approach it would be pretty understandable why he chose to do a PR.

#chris evans pr #chris-evans #alba-baptista #intuition #intuitive reading #❤️ StarStruck 💫

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introvertedlass · 2 years ago

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I just want to share something, it’s a lot but here it goes:

Like they started it off doing it horribly wrong yet heavily PR with the pap walk being on the drop of her new WN season. I think the teams and them realized how obvious they made it after the fact and when they saw what the reactions and responses were from people and particularly the fans. And this caused them to dial it back with public appearances, but they keep it through social media. And by doing so, it shows how calculated the likes and comments are. We all saw how fast they like each others posts. That’s all staged because the ig algorithm isn’t set up in a way to have made her post the top of his feed. IG algorithm doesn’t work that way anymore. And it’s very clear that by censoring and trying to have a controlled PR, it shows how he never discusses her- I like what that anon said- he doesn’t speak on it or even utters her name so that he can’t get quoted and there isn’t proof that “Captain America, Chris Evans said…… about his GF…” like yes there are ig stories and the pap walk, but that’s controlled by him and his team. And he can ignore it later on as though it never existed aka 24 hour ig story even though screenshots/recordings exist. But him verbally discussing it is another level. And I don’t think he and his team want that. Plausible deniability.

Yes. Everything is very intentional. Real relationships are not.

#chris evans #pr nightmare

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jaywritesrps · 6 months ago

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Why can’t you say much on the pr person. When that all came out that actually shifted my mindset that someone in Ali’s camp actual was the leak or at least lose lipped. I never thought it was any of them (I don’t think either were cruel and would do that) and it was just nosy fans. But when you add that to ashlyns statement and Sophia’s video comments to a degree. It does point to Ali having an agenda and her pr rollout has been shady but did win the optics. Also the make up lady is a red flag and the fact that she did comment on there rs was odd and just helped fan the flames of something in fact being wrong with ash and Ali at the start of this mess. Cause only a few days later ak turned her comments off.

Because there's and NDA about this subject and some people might be in trouble if details of it comes out and I might lose a friend/source in this process.

So, to keep this safe for everyone, I am going to share my theory with you guys from what happen in Ali's corner instead based on everything we have about this story and that I have shared here:

I think that although Ali was blindsided (which we know it's true cause there's a lot of people to back this story), a part of her must have thought the divorce as a distant possibility, cause they had bad moments before, especially since there was rumors around Sophia and Ashlyn. It was also why she went in the EA party, not to talk with Ashlyn, but to send a message and a reminder of what she was going to lose by pulling this stunt before they talked after the season was over.

But Ali Krieger isn't someone that likes to be made a fool of, neither someone that will be caught off guard, so she asked for help. As the military says, you prepare for the worst and hope for the best, right? And what's the worst case scenario in this situation: Ashlyn asking for the divorce, trashing her in the press by using Sophia's connections and that ruining the work chances she could have after the retirement. In order to prepare for that worst case scenario, she surrounded herself with people that could help her to face it, cause in the other side, she had to face a B- list celebrity that had more money, contacts, influence and just as good as her in the PR game and that it could fuck her up if Ashlyn pulled the right moves (and rememeber, AH is really good in it).

So, what does AK do? She hold her position and wait to see if the hit will come or not. She has other stuff to worry about and she has people in her corner to help. Also, if Ashlyn attacks first, she won't need to lie when she claims she was the victim.

And then, mysteriously someone from L Chat leaks the divorce to the press and forcing them to assume their relationship, and starting the mess we saw. (My guess is that Ali and Kyle really don't know who was it, because it was better to get an honest reaction from them if they were in the dark, but it was probably someone either from her team or Gotham's cause it shed a big light in Gotham too) and since Ashlyn didn't hit back, cause she would have to explain that she was leading both Sophia and Ali on and Sophia is/has been ever since a nice shield to protect her (as you can see by today's story, she is reaaaaally comfortable being Sophia's plus one, it's like that tiny fish that feeds from shark's leftover), All Ali and her team have to do is let the woso fandom do the work and spread the hate, while she focusing in soccer.

And now we are in the third part, where she moved on from this subject, because she can milk the sympathy cow too long or it will looks like she is playing the victim card. Also, She already got what she wanted and she is growing in the sports press' environment in a steady pace, Ali doesn't need that anymore, she got rid of the dead weight and got her payback, while this story pushed Ashlyn outside the soccer world and it will haunt her forever with the public,

#jay rants #krashinbush debacle

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charlewiss · 2 years ago

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soft side / charles leclerc

masterlist

pairing: grumpy!charles x sunshine!reader

word count: 757 words.

summary: everything seems to be going wrong for him. somehow, you make it better.

it wasn't usual to see your boyfriend being grumpy. after all, he always had that beautiful smile on his face and if it wasn't for the presence of daniel ricciardo in the paddock, charles for sure would be the one in charge of making everyone smile.

but today everything seemed to be going wrong for him. it started yesterday, actually, when he had less than 20 minutes to be on track during practice. obviously, he still managed to get a few laps in and he did his best to get p2, but you could see the annoyance in his face even from carlos' side of the garage, where you worked.

charles and you had met back in his sauber days when he was just a kid entering the formula 1 world. you too were starting in that year, being part of marcus ericsson's side of the garage. still, you hit it off almost instantly with his teammate, charles, which resulted in a friendship first, and a few years later, a beautiful relationship.

after it was announced that he had joined ferrari in 2019, you thought that it wouldn't be possible to keep working on the same team. you stayed on sauber until carlos joined ferrari in 2021, and he needed a new pr manager. after you sent the resume, the team contacted you immediately due to how impressed they were with your experience in the field, and offered the job almost immediately.

still, the team didn't know about your relationship with charles, but it wasn't unusual to see you two together. after all, you two were best friends even before starting dating, and without being a fan of public displays of affection, you two still seemed to be only friends. but there was something else in the way that you two looked at eachother, the lingering touches and how you were always checking on the other, even when no one saw. that's how you realized he was upset, even when everyone else probably thought that he was just too focused on the race. but you saw how his brows were furrowed in a certain way and how his eyes didn't leave the little notebook where he kept his notes from the race ahead, something he picked up from seb.

so you made your way to the little cafeteria area that was in the hospitality, choosing to make a little tea for you and one for charles too. you knew exactly how he liked it, so once it was done, you made your way back to the garage. he was in the same exact position he was the last time you saw him, even though at least 10 minutes had passed and it was getting closer and closer to the start of the race.

when he saw you getting closer to him, his whole expression softened. his eyebrows went up, and you laughed a little, giving the hot beverage to him. he grabbed it with both hands, keeping his palms warm meanwhile. 'you don't have to worry about anything, charles. it'll go great. you always make it work'.

your interaction was short, and you immediately made it back to carlos' side of the garage to avoid any suspicion, and also, to avoid distracting charles too much. still, the spanish driver had watched it all unfold, and appeared behind your back. 'you bring out his soft side' he pointed out, and you jumped by his sudden appearance. you turned so you could look at him, and smiled, while jokingly answering 'yeah, I guess ferrari needs to pay me more. apparently I'm not only your pr manager but also charles' mood booster'.

with a mocking tone he said, almost instantly 'so that's your subtle way of saying you're his girlfriend, no?'. your eyes went wide at the comment and carlos just grinned from ear to ear at your surprised face. you didn't know charles had told him, even though it made sense if he had figured it out on his own. still, it was funny to the spanish driver to see your reaction. it was also funny to the monegasque, who was already watching you two, and, somehow, caught the whole interaction. when your panic-filled eyes met his calm-blue ones, you released the tension that was apparently building in your shoulders without you noticing. charles just sent a reassuring smile your way and nodded, while winking at you. soon after, he left the little mug behind and got on his feet to get to the car. it was race time.

#f1 imagine #formula 1 imagine #f1 one shot #formula 1 one shot #f1 drabble #formula 1 drabble #f1 x yn #f1 x y/n #f1 x you #f1 x reader #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 x you #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc one shot #charles leclerc x y/n #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x you

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alltoomaples · 3 years ago

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roaming star | c. leclerc

I'm left alone chasing the roaming star

summary: it's your first day as an intern after being selected as a photographer. and little did you know you were the girlfriend of the ferrari driver who secretly admired you alot.

here's part 2 to this one

pairing: reader x charles leclerc | word count: 1394 words

warning: fluff, sweet, rom-com ft. adorable blushy sharl <33

prompt: song Roaming Star by Graham Coxon from playlist prompts

a/n: here's the first one based on songs. made a playlist for it. and its been a while since i've wrote proper fanfic/imagines but either ways, i hope you'll enjoy reading this. I've used some italian convo and it's translated ones, so any grammatical mistakes, my apologies!

let me know if you've got any suggestions or your thoughts about this one! and requests are open as well. happy reading :))

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

Photography was something that your heart settled for. The love and passion you had for photography turned out to be your purpose to pursue it as your career.

While doing something you love, you also got the opportunity to meet so many people like Jennifer Aniston, Andy Samberg, Robert Downey Jr and the list goes on. You also had the opportunity to work with the F1 team, Scuderia Ferrari which you were super thrilled as you're a big fan of the sport itself.

The shoot was mainly for new start with their drivers named Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc. The three of you met and little did you know that the driver 16 was in lovestruck with you. Leclerc couldn't get to talk with you seeing you were busy with the shoot. Before he even got a chance, you two had parted in different ways.

Charles couldn't even get to talk yet your name wanders around in his mind. You were always on his mind.

His teammate, Carlos would tease him about how he's madly in love. Charles always rolls his eyes at him but in his head, he wonders what it would be like to be together.

Couple months after the shoot, Formula 1 team had offered you an intern position for photography as many teams where looking for one. You didn't think twice and quickly accepted the offer.

Your first day as an intern started from Australia GP. You, along with your best friend, Y/F/N, walked around the track, seeing as it was a Saturday morning at Melbourne.

As you two were busy talking around the paddock, Carlos seemed to caught your face and he was shocked yet excited to see his teammate's reaction.

"Charles Charles Charleessss" Carlos said, vigorously shaking him by his arm.

"Carlos, what happened!?!" Charles says, looking at his friend.

"I think the universe must have heard your thoughts, mate!" Carlos said, smiling giddy at him. This made Charles more confused.

"Ay ay ay what are you even talking about?" Charles said, confusion written all over his face.

"Your so-called girlfriend is here" the Spaniard said.

"Ha ha ha, isn't that funny enough to stab my little soul" Charles said, smiling sarcastically at Sainz Jr.

"Don't believe me? Alright then look" He said, grabbing Charles face and turning towards where you were standing previously.

All the noise and mayhem went silent as his mouth slight open, shook at what he was seeing. He couldn't believe his eyes that YOU, after all people that could possible be, you were at the Australia GP. around the Ferrari paddock.

around him.

The Ferrari drivers just stood and saw you and your friend walk into their paddock, meeting their PR managers.

"Wow. I mean- Wow" Charles said, as that's all he could say. Carlos patted his back, feeling happy for his friend that he finally talk and ask her out.

Before any further discussion, Mattia Binotto, their team principal saw the drivers standing so he made his way to them.

"Ciao Carlos! Ciao Charles" Mattia said.

"Ciao Mattia" the drivers said, sharing a hand shake with him.

"Abbiamo un nuovo stagista, vedo" (we've got new interns i see) Mattia said, Charles nodding his head.

"Also new love too" Carlos whispers, Charles gives him death glare.

"Vermante? chi è lei?" (really who is she?) Mattia said, Charles mouthing no at Carlos but he says it anyways.

"Remember the girl we did a photoshoot for our team couple months back? that's the one. the one who's wearing a white dress. what was her name..."

"Y/N, questo è il suo nome" (Y/N, that's her name) Charles says, Mattia and Carlos looking at him. Leclerc goes full red.

"You found yourself a good kid. your girlfriend seems to be lovely" Carlos says, smiling at you which makes you wanna smack him right then and there. Before anyone could further take it, Mattia's phone began to ring.

"Mi scusi" (excuse me) Mattia says and leaves the two drivers down to talk.

"Thanks for making her my girlfriend" Charles says sarcastically, smacking his head from back.

"De nada, mon amour" (you're welcome, my love) Carlos says, squishing his cheeks.

"And here's our drivers. Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc" Their PR manager introduced the interns to the drivers. You looked at the two of them instantly recognizing them.

"Oh i remember you guys! you're at the ferrari shoot right?" you say, the drivers nodding.

Carlos take it as his mission and takes y/f/n to the pits to show her around, leaving you and Charles alone.

"Practice 3 and Quali today. how you feeling?" You ask him, pinning your hair behind your ear.

"I-i i guess i'm confident and excited to be back on track, mo-" Charles said but before he could say mon amor, he saw Mattia coming back.

"Hey uhm, just do me a little favour and keep nodding your head to whatever i say" Charles say to you. Before you could ask anything, you see the team principal approach you two.

"Mi dispiace per quello" (I'm sorry about that) Mattia said, looking up from his phone and sees you beside Charles. He shows a surprised smile.

"Ahh! è questo il tuo y/n?" (ahh! is this your y/n?) Mattia asks. Charles glances at you and nods.

"Sì! Mattia, questo è y/n, mia ragazza" (yes! Mattia, this is y/n, my girlfriend) As soon as the words left from Charles mouth, you looked at the driver standing beside you, butterflies erupting in your stomach.

He introduced you to his team principal not as a friend but as HIS GIRLFRIEND!?!

"è bello averti qui" (its lovely to have you here) Mattia says, extending his hand. You shook his hand and you heard Charles getting relaxed as you heard him deep sigh.

But little did Charles saw this coming.

"Grazie Mattia! Grazie per avermi riaccompagnato qui con la famiglia Ferrari" (thank you Mattia! thank you for having me back here with the ferrari family) You said, smiling proudly.

"Oh tu parli italiano?" (oh you speak italian?) Mattia ask, surprised at your smooth italian reply.

"Non fluente ma sì un po' " (not fluent at it but yes a little) you say, standing next to the Monegasque.

"Charles, immagino tu ne abbia trovato uno fortunato" (Charles, i guess you found a lucky one) Mattia says, looking at the two of you.

You turn your head to see Charles, wonderstuck and all red. Charles felt so stupid after what he did. He is caught red handed now.

"Immagino che l'abbiamo fatto entrambi" (i guess we both did) you say, wrapping your arm around his waist and leans your head on his chest, listening to his heart beating as fast as his car on track probably.

"bene, allora ci vediamo entrambi più tardi. ciao" (well then see you both later. bye) Mattia said and walks past you two.

You look up at him to see him already looking at you. You laugh a little before you stand in front of him.

"I didn't know you speak Italian" Charles said, scratching the back of his neck, feeling slight embarrassed and soo stupid.

"And i didn't know i had a boyfriend until today" You say, pulling your hair to one side.

Charles chuckled at your response, making you shake your head.

"Hey Charles! We need you in the pits now!" One of his crew member gave a quick call.

"Be there in a minute" Charles said, looking back at you. You smile at him, showing your dimples which swoons over his heart.

"Well you better get going champ. Your girlfriend will be cheering for you" You said, squishing by his chin.

Charles left a deep breath, his smile so big that made you heart warm.

"Looking forward to it, ma cherie" Charles said, quickly kissing your forehead and runs past you.

"and Leclerc!" you gave a shout to the monegasquean, making him turn around to look at you.

"Yeah bub?" he says, making your heart go fuzzy.

"You have a date pending mister" Charles let out a hearty laugh.

"Gonna get a pole position for you to make it up!" Charles said, sending a wink which was the cutest wink as he failed doing it but you overlooked at it.

You felt content and you told yourself "well, the universe must have heard my thoughts"

and just like he said, he finished P1 for quali and took you out for a cute date. this was start of something new and the two of you thanked the sun, moon and stars for bringing them back to each other.

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

lmk what you guys thought about this one :)) xx

here's part 2 to this one

#charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc #formula one #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc blurb #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 2022 #charles leclerc fanfic #formula 1

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frostironfudge · 2 years ago

Text

Silhouettes In the Spotlight - Bucky Barnes - Nine

Summary: Bucky Barnes has worked immensely hard to have a filmography expanding across genres and garnering accolades from critics, peers and fans. Y/N Y/L/N, with her debut novel (fan-fiction turned New York Times Bestseller) has two other best sellers under her belt. Next is her highly anticipated fourth book lined up for release. SHEILD Productions has acquired the film rights to her debut novel and they want Bucky Barnes to play the lead (aka himself) by any means necessary. This story is about angst, lust, heartbreak, and love. After all fairytales only exist in books and movies right?

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing, making out, angst, steve is well steve, jealous bucky, fake PR relationship mentioned, dolores is a bitch, secondary character death, allusions to a funeral, alot of emotional reactions, allusions to previous abuse tolerated by reader (not explicitly described)

Pairing: Actor!Bucky Barnes x Plus Size!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 8k || Dividers: @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist || Fic Masterlist || AO3

Chapter Eight|| Chapter Ten

HEADLINES:

SHIELD Issues Statement to Delay Shooting Commencement At Backlash Received In View of Y/L/N Family Tragedy.

Dolores Busy Spotted Partying As Rest Of The Cast Comes Out In Support Of Author Y/N.

Steve Rogers Releases Statement That Picture Was Leaked From Set And Is Launching An Enquiry Into Who Is Responsible.

Y/L/N Family Requests Privacy At This Time.

You’re watching as they escort him into the emergency room. Your mother grasps at your arm from her wheelchair stopping you from following behind the two way doors that shut with a soft hiss of the hydraulic. From the glass window you see people in scrubs running around. Muffled shouting and orders are yelled, trays wheeled about.

Your phone vibrating in your hands, you look down the screen blurred. You blink it doesn’t clear.

Someone stands in front of you, you look up, then to your mother, she is already crying. You try to make sense of the words above the piercing ring in your ears. The woman’s words are muffled, her hands rest on your shoulder.

“Breathe.” She urges. You inhale, exhale.

“Breathe.” She requests again.

You follow.

“Breathe.” She turns when a team member calls her back, the doctor leaves you, you look down at your mom.

“I don’t, I don’t think he’s going to make it.” She muffles a sob against her cardigan.

“He, he will, Dad can’t leave us.” You bend down, to grasp at her free hand, the phone won’t stop vibrating.

Yelena Calling.

You pick up the phone to your ear,

“I just saw your message, I am on my way. How is he doing? Is your mother okay? Foggy is handling this so I know it won’t leak, have you told anyone else?” You can hear the click of her heels through the silent office, her steps frantic.

“She’s crying, Lena, it looks b-bad, I texted, I texted James as well, I didn’t, I didn’t know who else to, Loki’s flown out, Ace is travelling, I don’t, I don’t have anyone apart from you all—,” your resolve breaks, you can’t be bothered to take care of anything. You just want to hide.

You want to be the little girl who had both her parents strong, healthy and happy. Keeping her safe.

“It’s okay, I’m telling Sam to keep a lockdown okay? You be there for your parents, I will reach in a few. It’ll be alright.” Yelena assures.

Your sob breaks free yet again, you tuck the phone away.

You kneel, resting your head against your mother’s knees uncaring if you’re on the floor. Her hand stays upon your head trying to console you as she herself is inconsolable.

You clutch at her blanket, praying, hoping your father makes it, as horrible as everything had gotten you needed him, he is your dad. You wanted him to live, maybe get a second chance at being a better family.

You don’t know how much longer you kneel, your limbs numb, knees burning in pain. Your mother’s head tilts side to side as her fatigue overcomes her making her succumb to slumber. You reach, placing the neck pillow around her and remain kneeling resting your head against her thigh.

The harsh light of the hospital dwindles and then it is blocked. You look up, blinking to clear your eyes.

Soft azure fills your vision. Bucky kneels, warm hand cupping your cheek, his face hidden behind a mask, hair hidden by a snapback.

Fresh tears spring to life, you gently move away from your mother into the safety of his arms. Bucky wraps his arms around your frame, tucking your head under his chin.

“I’ve got you, I’m here, I’ve got you.” He whispers, his hand moving over your head. You close your eyes, pressing your face against his chest. Your tears stain his hoodie. You cling onto him for dear life.

“I’ve got you, Feather. I’m here to take care of you.” He assures, letting you hold onto him, and cry.

“Will he be okay?” You ask Bucky as if he knows the answer.

“I’m hoping he makes it through without too many complications.” He answers, unable to fathom the state of your heart right now.

Your sobs turn into soft sniffles. Bucky’s hand keeps rubbing over your back.

Yelena and Sam enter, their pace frantic. Their steps falter when they see the two of you in an embrace on the floor.

“I’ll get bottles of water for everyone.” Sam whispers to her. She nods.

Yelena walks over her eyes, moves to your mom, then to the two of you. Bucky meets her gaze.

Her gaze then falls to you.

“Feather, come on, let's sit down okay? You’ve been kneeling for quite a while.” He murmurs, you shake your head, “Okay, how about I move you alright?” His left arm moves at the back of your thighs, he allows your head to remain against his chest, you’re now placed perpendicular to him, his arm hooked under your knees, the blood rushes feeling like tiny ants crawling across your skin.

In one swoop, you’re sitting across his lap, he brings his arms back to wrap around you.

“Yelena is here and so is Sam,” He whispers, you look up at him.

“Hi.” Yelena speaks softly, “Sam’s getting some water for you and your mom, okay?”

You nod, “Thank you.”

“Don’t have to say that, we’re here for you.” She grasps the hand you reach out towards her.

Sam returns, then handing everyone a bottle he keeps holding the one for your mom.

Bucky’s palm rubs up and down your back. Unwavering. You let yourself be held by him.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Sam questions raising a brow.

“Hayden drove like a maniac when I told him.” Bucky answers.

“You should give him a raise.” Sam tries to coax a smile from you to no avail.

You feel familiar lips on your forehead, Bucky smiles down at you, his mask hanging from one ear.

You tilt your head back, reaching up, brushing your lips against his cheek.

It had been a week since Bucky and you confessed your feelings. A week of feeling everything would go right, despite everything going on.

Then it came crashing down with the call and the background sirens.

A week Ago.

—<>—

Bucky’s arms wrap around your waist, your hands move over his as he hugs you from behind. Chest to your back. His smile isn’t contained. Yours isn’t either.

Rain pours against the window. Thunder rumbles, your grip on his hands tighten, Bucky brushes his lips over your temple.

“I see what you mean about the first rain, doll.” He murmurs.

“Told you.” You chuckle.

“You did, seeing it with you, however, is—,”

“Ugh this again? Can’t you people ever fucking wait?” Dolores cuts him off.

“Cut!” Natasha calls out rolling her eyes, Bucky shifts away from you, his hand lingers for a few more seconds before parting from your own.

You begin moving away.

“I don’t understand why you use her to set up the scenes?” Dolores grumbles.

“Because she wrote the book that was the basis of this movie.” Steve snaps at her.

“Ugh.” She rolls her eyes.

“And she reaches at the call time.” Natasha adds. Bucky subdues his chuckle.

Steve smiles brightly as you make your way to him.

“Hi Steve.” You greet, still riding on the high of yesterday’s kiss with Bucky and the whispered confession.

“You’re in a good mood.” He observes.

“Yeah, I am.” You turn, Bucky catches your gaze and winks. Your cheeks heat.

“Alright positions!” Natasha calls out.

“Lights! Camera—,”

There is a phone that rings with a shrill tone. Everyone looks around.

Dolores answers her phone, chirping away excitedly and walking off set.

“Motherfucker.” Natasha completes adding a few Russian expletives.

“Pietro, is the set ready for the scene with Beckham, Doll and Rhys?” She rubs her temples.

“Yeah we have the rooms ready for the breakfast date turning into the introduction of Beckham.” He answers.

“Set change!” She declares. Heading over to Maria.

“I know, but there is nothing we can do.” She sighs as well, tired of the nonsense.

“We can, I showed you and Nick, you both have seen it with your own eyes.”

“Guess I’ll have the set up scene with you finally.” Steve chuckles, having you tune out from Nat and Maria’s conversation.

“I feel I should be setting up all the scenes at this point.” You shake your head.

“You should be.” Bucky answers joining them.

“Barnes.”

“Rogers.”

“Y/L/N.”

The two of them look at you. You shrug then chuckle. Bucky laughs.

“I’m liking this good mood of yours makes me happy.” Steve seems happy as well.

“Maybe because you had the decency to redact the image?” Bucky raises his eyebrow.

“Hey, Y/N?” Sharon waves her hand.

“Yeah?” You turn to her.

“It’s Alexander on call.” She gestures to the phone.

“Oh, yeah, um excuse me.” You move from the bickering men, drawing in a deep breath.

Steve and Bucky watch you go to the corner. Bucky finds worry gnawing at his chest. He knew you were stressed over the leaks occurring.

“Why did it piss you off? The picture?” The blonde chuckles.

“Why would it piss me off?”

“Oh you know maybe you’re jealous, that I have her and you don’t.”

Bucky scoffs, “You wish you had her.”

“Maybe I will, you can keep pining.” Steve pushes at his chest.

“Don’t.” Bucky warns.

“Or what?”

“You won’t just get punched in the movie.”

“Are the two of you done?” Natasha interrupts and they step back.

“Go take your positions. Steve, we're recording you entering the apartment fully, then just positioning with Y/N. Till Dolores returns.” She explains as they begin moving to the new set.

You glance up as Steve and Bucky both signal they were shifting sets. You nod.

“Sweetheart, do you understand?” Alexander questions.

“I do, I don’t understand why they would do that… leaking the author's hard-work..” you trail off.

“It's to drive their prices, because your works are that in demand.” He sighs, you swallow.

“I’ve called the other authors as well, I think a meeting should suffice. I’ll have the details emailed to you.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you dear, your work and contributions will help strengthen SHIELD and especially Hydra—I mean Hydrangeas.” He laughs.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Alexander, sweetheart.”

“Yes, Alexander.”

“Good, can you pass the phone back to Sharon? I want to speak to Dolores.”

You hand the phone and move towards the second set.

A trailer door opens, you read Loki’s name on the door.

“Oh hey, listen, can you see this thing I have inside?” Loki smiles at you.

“Um?” You tilt your head.

“It's a complicated book. I want your opinion.” He says urging you inside.

“Um sure,” you take the steps up, he shuts the door behind you, “Loki—, James?” You find him grinning sitting on the small sofa.

“I’m borrowing it while Steve films, and Loki and Ace film.” He opens his arm, the bionic one taken off for filming.

You move over to him, “So we’re sneaking around?”

“Unfortunately.” He frowns, you sit next to him, his arm wraps around you.

“I know we discussed it yesterday. I just…” you shift closer, resting your head on his chest.

“I know you’re worried, I know it isn’t ideal. I want nothing more than to be with you in everyone’s eyes.” He rests his cheek on your head.

“Is it this hard? Watching this unfold? Seeing who you’re with, being with someone else even when you know it isn’t real?” Your question has him draw a deep breath.

“It does, I won’t lie, but reminding yourself that it is just another acting job helps sometimes.” He says, lips pressing to your forehead, “What did Alexander say?”

“He wants dinner with all the authors and Hydrangeas’ heads, he says they’ve been leaking the work.” You explain, looking up at him.

Bucky ponders not trusting Alexander, “Promise me you will be careful?”

You nod, “I will, I wish you could be there.”

“I wish I was, Feather.” He gives a sad smile.

You nod, solemn. Then you notice the popcorn and laptop, “What is all this?”

“I thought we could watch some book to tv or movie adaptations.” He grins when you smile.

“Is Gossip Girl on the list?” You tease.

“I still don’t understand why Rhys’ surname is not Baizen.” He grumbles.

“I had a thing for Mr. Chuck Bass.” You tease, he narrows his eyes.

“Please you had to have been a Baizen girl.” He leans back observing you.

Your cheeks heat, “I did think he was the ‘oh rejecting the money and wants to do good’, then he turned out to be a con but then he helped Serena but he had certain selfish connotations. Who doesn’t? Although I did admire Blair and him. He had a thing for being a sorta fucked up knight in shining armour. Plus when he pissed off Chuck it was fun to watch.” You have that little smile on your face.

Bucky grins, “Morally grey?” Oh now he’s beaming because he has you caught.

“James.” You hide your face against his chest.

“I knew it, call Nat we have to change it to Rhys Baizen.” He urges, you laugh, swatting his chest with the back of your hand lightly.

“I also have travel scrabble.” He offers, gesturing to the round box.

You reach over to grab it. When you turn back his face is inches from yours.

Your mind going back to the moments like these, Bucky leans in closer.

“Don’t have to hold back.” He murmurs, your perfume pulling him in closer.

“Don’t want to,” you swallow, brushing your lips against his, his palm cups your cheek.

His lips press to yours, the scrabble tin falls to the floor as you shift onto his lap, knees either side of his legs. Bucky’s hand moves to your back supporting you. His lips move in a slow languid pace, learning, memorising your lips, your taste, the way you feel.

His breath doesn’t hitch when your hands are placed on his shoulders. His tongue moves over your bottom lip, palm moving up your back, your hand moves to his neck then cradling his face as your lips part.

Bucky hums in delight, the rumble in his chest against yours, your right hand moves from his left shoulder to his hair, tugging on it, the sound it elicits from him sends shivers through you.

Your lips part, his forehead rests against yours, a smile on his features, his skin tinged red.

“I regret not kissing you that first night in the elevator, at Winnie’s.” He admits, a laugh escapes your lips.

“Maybe, we could go again?” You wonder, your thumb brushes over his jaw, his stubble grown more you knew he would have to trim it soon.

“You want to go on a date with me little miss writer?” His grin is wolfish. You bite your bottom lip.

“I do little mister actor.” You laugh when he presses his lips softly to yours and grins.

“Tomorrow then, I’ll pick you up, at six.” He decides, you nod.

“Okay.” You agree, your face breaking into a grin.

Bucky smiles when you lean over to retrieve travel scrabble. He finds your warmth against him something he craved and finally felt satiety but not completely. He doesn’t think he can get enough of you.

Enough of your laugh, your jokes, the way your nose scrunches in ten different ways that indicate your reaction. They way you aren’t afraid to call him out. The way you feel in his arms. The way you belong in his arms.

“Think you can beat me, Barnes?” You wiggle your brows.

“Set it up, I can beat you with one hand, Feather.” Then he laughs.

“James—,” you begin, he nuzzles against the crook of your neck, nipping at a spot he knows brings forth laughter.

—<>—

Hayden gives you a beaming smile as he opens the door for you, Bucky offers you his left hand. Hayden’s eyes shift to Bucky, the happiness only increases seeing his boss happy.

The hostess greets the two of you at the elevator, Bucky’s hand is in yours, he raises it to his lips as you both walk into the elevator. It opens to the upper floor.

The homey feel of Winnie’s is ever present despite the plush interiors. Bucky guides you to the table as before, pulling out your chair for you.

The sunset still a few minutes away but the view still is breathtaking. The server places your drinks.

“Why did you chose to show me the sunset?” You ask. His cheeks tinge red.

“Well after I read your book, I ordered for the others. In your third you’ve depicted a sunrise vividly. I thought it was only fair to show you a sunset of equal if not more beauty.” He admits.

You smile, “I haven’t seen a sunrise as that yet, I do imagine it exists.”

“Well I’ll find it for you.” He promises, you laugh.

“James, you don’t have to, I’m happy you shared the sunset.” Your hand reaches out to touch his, he brings his right hand’s index finger to trace the edge of your own. He traces the lines of the white ink tattoo.

“I’ll find it for you.” He promises more to himself than you.

You lean closer, pressing your lips to his cheek.

He smiles, then both of you turn your gaze to the changing hues from orange to violet.

—<>—

Steve watches as you disappear, then Bucky disappears. His jaw clenches. The remainder of the cast and crew remain oblivious but when you’re focused on someone you notice patterns and actions others don’t, he moves through the set, heading for the trailers.

It’s not that he wants to pursue a relationship with you, you’re about seven years younger than him, Bucky and he have a two year difference. Yet Valarie suggested it would do good for him to date someone normal-ish.

Show that he’s grounded and not only into models, or actresses. If you’re parading around with Bucky then that makes his story difficult. You’re making life difficult for Steve.

He hears laughter from between the trailers.

“James, someone could see—,” you’re cut off.

Steve can hear the sound of kissing and laughter, he peeks out from his hiding spot, sure enough, Bucky has you against the trailer door, he’s smiling happily in between the kisses being shared.

Steve grits his teeth, something ripples through his chest. It grows in depth when your eyes open and you look into blue eyes with affection that isn’t his to keep.

“No one will see.” Bucky assures you, his thumb brushing your cheek.

Steve moves away, returning to set.

When Bucky and you return minutes apart no one questions it, you walk up to Steve after Natasha tells you to run lines with him since Dolores went for a power nap.

The ire he harbours fades when you reward him with a smile.

“Running lines with you again, Steve.” You open the iPad.

“I think you should just take the role.” He jokes, you give him an incredulous look.

Your phone buzzes before you can provide a quip, Bucky sends you a picture from weeks before, it is the polaroid he tucked away before Loki or you could see.

Steve busies himself with reading the script.

Loki and you were looking into the polaroid camera but Bucky’s gaze is on you the smile he gives only to you is etched on his face.

You find his gaze from across the set, he gives you the same smile. Your own grin breaks free.

—<>—

Loki and Ace were in on it. They knew and Sam and Yelena did, you had a hunch Natasha knew. The two of you rotated between three trailers for your secret moments on set.

Ace was ecstatic, happiness pouring from every pore of theirs for the two of you. Loki warned Bucky not to fuck up, he was on your side.

Ace chuckled when you weren’t able to focus on your lines because Bucky was shirtless. The two of you had kept the making out to base two, clothes on. Agreeing that only when publicly you could be out and about should the physical relationship progress.

Bucky feared you might leave before it could, he worried the PR would drive you away. You were afraid he may realise its too much work sneaking around.

The scene was his trial for the arm that went awry, he was shirtless, your eyes couldn’t stop roaming over his frame. He was nervous to be this open on set, though in the weeks he had regained his muscle mass. Bucky couldn’t look at his own body more than a few minutes.

He confided in you about his dysmorphia, your eyes bringing forth tears of moments you knew intimately. Your hands set forth on a mission then, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, Bucky kept his eyes on you, as you traced the freckles on his skin. Creating your own constellations for him.

That night he wasn’t harsh on his body, he wasn’t critical, he could simply be without his mind overtaking and toying with his perception.

Bucky catches your gaze and winks at you, cheeks burning when you turned around you didn’t expect Tony Stark to be grinning at you.

“I,” Your words die on your tongue.

“You absolute writing genius.” He praises.

“Oh my god.” You manage to get out.

“Here I thought only someone could have that effect on you.” Ace whispers.

“I do tend to be compared to God.” He chuckles.

“Wait so you, you’re playing—,”

“Yes, I am.” Tony grins, “Even got my godson Peter to play Peter. We love the story by the way.”

“Thank you.” Your voice is thick with emotion, the actors walk over, greeting Tony and Peter a lot of their work over lapping or meeting through mutual connections.

Natasha grins at you, “Told you you would love the surprise today.”

“How did you or SHEILD manage this? I thought he said no?” You’re watching Tony interact with Bucky cracking jokes and patting his back.

“Oh I didn’t, Barnes did, when I met with him to discuss Rhys one on one he enquired who would be playing his boss originally envisioned as Tony Stark. I told him you were hopeful Tony would say yes, but then disappointed when SHEILD couldn’t land him. After that conversation within a week I get a call from Tony saying he’d only do it if he could have Peter be Peter and Tony be Tony.” Nat smiles, your gaze shifts from her to Bucky.

“So since about more than three months he did this all for you.” She pats your arm.

You swallow the lump in your throat, bringing out your phone you text him.

Y/N🪶: Thank you, Natasha told me.

Bucky looks down at his phone a huge grin on his face, he finds your eyes. You’re smiling wide.

James📚: Just keep that smile on your face. Makes me happy.

That day post the shoot, you request Sam and Yelena to somehow help you get into his car. So he holds Bucky back, delaying him with contract nonsense while Yelena has you get into the car as Hayden gives you a grin.

“Hi Hayden.” You greet, hands fiddling nervously.

“Hello Miss Y/L/N.” He meets your gaze through the rearview mirror.

“Hayden, please use my first name?” You request he only chuckles lightly.

“He’s approaching.” He says, you sit back.

Sam keeps talking to Bucky so he doesn’t look your way when he settles into the car.

“Sam, come on I’m tired and I just want to go home and video call my girl okay?” Bucky’s exhale is audible in his tiredness. You begin to question your plan altogether.

“Man, if you’re tired how are you going to enjoy the drive back home?” Sam has a shit-eating grin on his face as Bucky’s brows furrow.

“What?”

“You don’t need to video call your girl.” His manager shuts the door, Bucky’s gaze shifts to you while he’s shaking his head in confusion.

“If you’re tired I can—,” your thought isn’t completed Bucky presses his lips to yours, a satisfied rumble in his chest when your arms wrap around him as well. Hayden raises the partition.

When he pulls away he immediately pulls you across his lap, his face buried against your chest, your fingers run through his hair, softly scratching at his scalp, his shoulders relax under your ministrations.

“Sneak into the drive home everyday?” He says, voice muffled against your chest. You smile.

“I could do that, yeah.” You agree, he hums content.

Hayden navigates out of the studio space, Bucky holds onto you. When he looks up at you you smile down at him.

Lips brushing over his tired eyes, cheek and his forehead.

His palms find their way under your shirt, the warmth and cool sensations both evoking goosebumps. His thumb brushes over your skin.

The raised flesh making him hum in delight. He smiles realising the effect he too has upon you. The way you have him responsive to everything you do.

—<>—

“Where is Y/N? Also where in the world is Barnes?” Nick’s gaze roams over the set an impromptu meeting was called. Loki was tapping away hurriedly on his phone to reach out to the group chat formulated.

Ace bites their bottom lip, everyone was hear even Dolores, since she decided to walk in on set.

Steve is grinning smugly at the back, you’d be caught any second. Any moment now. Bucky walks in on set looking put together not a hair out of place.

“I met Y/N on the way here, she got a call from the home nurse, her mom isn’t feeling too well and father is unreachable.” He shares, “she apologises but she had to rush home.”

Nick nods, looking over at Maria.

Steve looks into his own phone, sure enough seven minutes ago the nurse sent him the same update that had you rushing back home.

Bucky stands next to him, “Will you be visiting her today?”

“My scenes get done earlier so I intend to, why?” Steve tucks his phone back.

Bucky knew Steve still visited you, he had not yet come over since last time because of the sole reason of Steve.

Today however he decided he would, you were so worried and scared when you left, it left a sour taste in his mouth when he knew he would have to speak to Steve about this.

“Make sure she’s fine, her dad is… for lack of a better word an absolute fucking asshole.” Bucky’s jaw clenches.

“I know I’ve heard his crap through the walls, can’t understand why won’t she leave, she has the means now.” Steve grumbles, wishing you’d remove yourself from a shitty place like that.

“It took you a long time as well.” The brunette’s gaze softens, recollection of Steve’s own burdens clear despite the years gone by

“You had helped.” The blonde haired man admits reluctant, “You even punched him once.” Steve laughs.

“That landed you in trouble.” Bucky chuckles.

“It helped me move away, think I should punch him?” He enquires, it almost, almost felt as if the animosity was gone.

“To keep her mom and her safe? Throw a punch from me too, or call me, I’ll give one or two myself.” Bucky looks back as Nick claps to get everyone’s attention.

———<>

Steve leaves from your home at close to ten, your mom asleep and you looked as if you would pass out any second. He offered to stay but knew he was pushing it.

When he hugged you goodbye you didn’t tense up, you simply just allowed yourself to be comforted. Steve’s lips pressed to your head.

“It’ll be okay.” He assures, the garage door opens, your father’s car speeds out, gone for the night again.

“Thank you.” You whisper.

Steve shrugs, “I just told him to shut up, someone had to, good it came from me.”

You chuckle when he pulls away from the hug and cups your face. Gazing into your eyes, his thumbs brush over your cheekbones.

“I’ll have those other pictures taken down okay?” He speaks, knowing Valentina will bite into his arm and make a fuss.

“Steve—,”

“I know you never liked the whole ordeal and just went along with it. You’re too nice for your own good, I don’t want Valentina to take advantage of you.” He cuts you off.

“It’s not that I don’t enjoy being speculated to be your boyfriend, I prefer it if it was true.” He gives a sheepish grin.

“Steve, I don’t reciprocate-,”

“I know, but I’m willing to wait if you do, hold your hand in public, kiss you whenever my heart desires or yours does, take you to MoMA to see Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Maybe find and empty wall and kiss you against it’ll be our own masterpiece.” The back of his knuckles brush over your jaw. He gives another smile, one bordering on sadness.

“Steve,” you grasp his hand when he leans in too close, you step back.

“Give it a thought.” He tucks his hands into his pockets. “I’ll see you on set the day after, m’eudail (my darling).”

Your brows furrow at the term.

“When you accept, I’ll tell you what it means.” He grins wearing his tinted glasses while walking to his car, a few stray camera flashes occur, he looks up from the driver’s side, his jaw clenched. Immediately taking out his phone as he turns the ignition on.

After ten minutes when Bucky knocks on your door, dressed in his hoodie, mask, snapback and glasses.

“Paps are gone.” He observes.

“Steve called Valentina I think.” You tell him, the second the door closes, he finds your lips with his, his hands move from your upper back downwards, over your hips.

The kiss is searing, Bucky knows his possessiveness is seeping through his action, your body moulds against his, he lowers his hands further, squeezing your cheeks.

The moan you sing against his mouth has him smirk, your fingers tug on his hair. The snapback falls, his hands move to the back of your thighs he taps upon the flesh, your hands move to his shoulders, bracing yourself.

“Got you, Feather.” He assures, you give a small jump, Bucky lifts you, your legs wrap around his waist. He turns and you’re pressed against the door.

His flesh hand reaches for your right, index finger tracing the tattoo, your foreheads touching, every-time he touches the tattoo you feel closer to him.

“I missed you.” He breathes.

“I missed you.” You smile as he peppers your face in kisses.

“Steve texted me.” He says, you lean away to look at him, “I knew he was going to visit, asked him to look out for you.”

“Oh, he, he did tell off my dad.” You tell him.

“Do you feel okay?” The tip of his nose traces your jaw.

“I do, I, Steve said something else too, I, told him no but I want you to know.” Your words have Bucky pause his affections.

“You can tell me.” He helps you get down, hands still holding yours as you lead him to the living room.

You recount everything, his gaze hardens turning cold.

“Do you think he knows?” He questions.

“If I have his attention then he might have put things together.” You put forth the theory.

Bucky hums, “Look you might be pushed for the PR too, or they might just leave it at speculation with whatever interactions they can spin with your pictures with him.”

“What if they want kissing and stuff, I’m not going to do that to you.” You press.

Bucky bites the inside of his cheek, “I feel guilty putting you through the whole thing with Dolores, you having to watch… While I can’t declare my affection for you.”

“Bucky, I know your hands are tied and its okay, well it’s not okay but, I know what I’m getting into, believe me I wish things were different.” You cup his face.

He sits in quiet contemplation, “I’m going to try to get out of the contract.”

“She’s going to throw a fit.”

“She’s got the benefits from my name.” He shrugs, “My obligation should be done.”

“James, you won’t do anything that will land you in trouble.” You warn.

“Why do you want to suffer? Watching me be with her when all I want to do is be with you?” He begs to know, not understanding.

You look away from him.

“I, I’ve never gotten anything without sacrifices or getting hurt.” Your voice is thick, Bucky’s heart breaks.

“Feather, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer always to find happiness.” He cups your face now.

“It’s always that way, James.”

“I refuse to let you think that.” He finalises. Taking his phone out, Sam’s number being dialled.

Bucky pulls you against his chest so that the two of you are laying on the sofa. His arms around you as he speaks to Sam over the speaker phone.

You can feel his voice rumble and his heartbeat under your cheek. The combination lulling you towards sleep despite you wanting to hear the solution.

Bucky kisses your forehead and temple every few minutes, he smiles noticing you ebbing towards sleep.

Sam’s parting words are that he would have his lawyer take a look at a redacted copy of the contract.

Hopefully there was a solution.

—<>—

You are awoken by soft lips tracing over your jaw, chin and eyelids. You hum, moving closer to his warmth. A rumble of laughter has you groan.

“James.” You huff, he pulls you closer.

“Sleepy, Feather.” He whispers, you nuzzle closer, contented to have his warmth return.

“What time is it?” You enquire.

“Past one fifteen.” He speaks softly, hands tracing over your form.

“Why did you not wake me up?” You sit up to look at him.

“You needed the nap, plus I fell asleep too.” He grins, you notice the sleep in his eyes. You reach up, softly tracing his under eyes.

“You’re really comfy.” You compliment him, Bucky laughs.

“I’m glad.” He grins, “I don’t think I slept that good in a long time.”

“Glad I could be of help.” You chuckle.

“Come on, let’s go make some ramen so you can eat while we watch my scenes from Gossip Girl.” He teases.

“Oh my god. I just said I didn’t recall the season’s storyline.” You shake your head.

“You’re hurting your boyfriend’s sentiments.” He pouts.

“Oh is that right? I thought Carter Baizen didn’t do emotions.” You raise a brow.

“Just admit Rhys Baizen sounds better.” He bargains.

“Oh my god, okay let me do a poll alright? Tomorrow we’ll put one up.” You counter.

“Fine.” He grumbles, you kiss his jaw.

“Alright boyfriend, girlfriend is hungry, ramen time.” You laugh as he still pouts.

You reach out, lips brushing over his, he grabs the back of your head. The ramen forgotten as his lips devour yours, turning your thoughts to mush.

—<>—

Sam: Spoke to Andy Barber, he can get you out of it, will take a week tops.

Bucky: thank you.

Sam: you might have to do a finishing PR bit, so stay prepared.

Bucky: i’ll tell, Y/N as well. Also could you have him look at her contracts?

Sam: Barber works with Murdock, he’s already on board with Yelena.

Bucky: she’s in good hands then?

Sam: the very best.

Bucky: good.

Your laugh draws him back to present, he’s back at your home after his routine.

“What is it?” His brows furrow.

“Look at the poll.” You laugh.

He opens your story, he glares at the results.

“Your fans have no taste.” He grumbles.

“Hey! Just cause they don’t like the name Baizen doesn’t mean they have no taste.” You defend.

Bucky pouts.

“At the end of the day, Rhys Bass is better than Carter.” You know the glare is fixed on you, then he gives a grin, he’s out of his seat and chasing you around the house.

Your mother smiles when Bucky catches you right outside her door, your smile having her smile brightly.

Bucky grins gazing intently at you, head dipping to give you a quick kiss.

Present.

“Mrs. and Ms. Y/L/N?” The doctor calls out, your mom wakes up.

You look up, Bucky helping you stand, you lean on him for support.

The doctor looks solemn. Your world begins to crumble with each word.

“We tried our level best; he had stabilised, we began the transfusion and taking him up to CT for internal scans. Unfortunately the extent of damage was massive. Major arteries had received trauma, he coded in during the transfer to the surgical suite.”

“He’s….” Your mother’s words are silent.

“The extent of his injuries was too much, I’m sorry, we couldn’t save him. We tried our level best. He did not respond to the CPR.” The doctor stands as someone screams, only when you feel your mouth muffled against something hard but soft you realise you’re the source of the scream.

“I’ve got you.” Bucky’s voice finds you, “breathe, feel my chest, breathe with me.” He urges.

You distantly hear Yelena asking for the next steps taking care of the formalities, Sam is taking care of your mom.

Bucky’s chest moves with yours, till your breathing calms. You tap at his chest. He shifts back.

“What do you need?” He asks, wiping your tears.

“Need, need to take care of everything.” You tell him.

Your mom reaches for you, she cries against your abdomen.

Yelena stands next to Bucky, “Do they have the funds for everything?” He questions whispering.

“They should be able to get it under control. Her finances are enough to support, mom’s got insurance.”

“If anything more is needed do not burden her, I’ll take care of it.” Bucky presses his lips into a thin line.

“We have to tell SHIELD.” Sam adds, “She could get an extension to not be at work.”

“Let’s wait for her before we disclose the news, which will rampantly leak.” Bucky decides.

“I’ll have Murdock and Barber on call.” Yelena takes her phone out.

You pull away from your mom, turning to the three of them. Wiping at your tears, you fix your expression. The stained tracks of your tears still remain.

Your expression is solemn but Yelena recognises it from before.

“You need to be there, she’s gone numb before, will break anytime.” She urges Bucky forward.He reaches for your hand you grasp.

“What is the plan of action?” You ask, looking at the three of them.

Yelena steps forward, “I suggest we take your mum to the nursing home overnight.”

“While we prepare for his last rights, okay.” You nod, turning to your mother.

She stares at her hands, sniffling every few minutes.

“You can see him if you want to,” The doctor adds, “I’m really sorry for your loss.”

You nod, “Mum, let’s go see him okay? Let’s say goodbye.”

“Call the nursing home, please?” You request him, he nods.

You let go of Bucky’s hand to push her wheelchair in, the staff holds the doors for you. He stands there, watching the way the light in your eyes dims, you’ve thrown yourself onto autopilot.

Steve is at the nursing home, you can’t be bothered to even question or understand what is going on, you can’t even be bothered by the bright flashes outside.

Bucky had spotted them, Sam cautioned him to remain outside in his vehicle. Hayden being there was also a nod to who it would be, he sat there staring jaw clenched as Steve tried to get through to you. His car parked right outside the office you were in with Steve.

“Steve, please, don’t.” You push away the hand that comes to console you. You don't need that, what you need is to get through the tasks mechanically.

“I’m just trying to help.” he says while looming over you as you fill the forms in a private room.

“I know you are, I appreciate it but I need to do things, please.” You look up at him, tears threatening to fall.

“Please let me take–,”

“Why are the paps here Steve? Did Valentina think, ‘Oh her father’s funeral is great PR to make us look serious?’ or did the paps follow you? I don’t remember texting you, hell I only know SHIELD and Hydrangeas were emailed ten minutes ago.” You stand up, you push at his chest.

“I know the facility they called–,” He moves when you push at him again.

“They called you? You aren’t family, you aren’t my mother’s assigned person, I am. So tell me, is that how you know when to visit? Is that how you rushed over because you have an inside source?” You’re yelling at him.

He says nothing, lips pressed into a thin line.

“I should have listened to James. I still thought I could give you a benefit of the doubt, that maybe, maybe your motivations aren’t selfish? Hell you said those public outing things to manipulate me didn’t you?” You scoff.

“I didn’t m'eudail–,” Steve’s chest cracks at your words.

“What part of anything that you shared with me was not a script written by your manager? Which Steve is the real one? The vulnerable one or the one trying to act suave? You know what? Don’t bother telling me. You have to find him before you lose yourself.” You seethe, cutting him off yet again, his mouth parts, his fists clench.

Bucky bursts into the room, his eyes meet with Steve’s. The two friends share a look.

“Steve, go.” Bucky pulls your shaking form against him, “I will call you. Go. I know you want to help speak to Yelena, get the paps away please. She’s going through enough.”

“I, m'eudail–Y/N, I’m sorry.”

His apology falls on unhearing ears, as you press yourself further into Bucky’s embrace.

Steve leaves, one last glance towards the two of you, “Take care of her.”

Bucky nods, his palm running over your head.

“As you know we at SHIELD are a family.” Alexander announces, a flurry of shutters resound.

“A family that puts their members first. We know the news of the passing of Ms. Y/L/N’s father has shaken the entirety of our family, cast and crew. We all are praying for her mother and her. In light of this news and the understanding and the cost and consequences calculated. Effective immediately I Think I Met You In My Dreams Once is placed on a forty day hold, while our family recovers from this tragic loss.” Alexander provides a solemn expression returning to his seat.

Maria Hill approaches the dais, “We at SHIELD Productions provide our full support to Ms. Y/N Y/L/N, she is a hard-worker and a visionary. Having her upon our panel of producers has provided insight. We will be taking questions now, Natasha, if you could please join me.” Maria turns as Natasha walks over.

You watch from inside the conference room, the working day ended abruptly an hour ago. Alexander and Sharon coming down to shut filming. Dolores was missing hence the proceedings for scenes that did not involve her were done.

Your mother was at home with a new nursing facility’s staff, you didn’t trust the old facility after Steve’s intervening, you still didn’t trust Steve..

Bucky sat to your right, Yelena to your left. Sam stays standing watching the live broadcast of the press conference.

Loki sat behind you. The minute you saw him on set you broke down as he hugged you. He apologised profusely for not being there because his work commitments had him miss the funeral and being by your side.

Steve sat in the far corner. Eight days you hadn’t spoken to him, of the eight even the five days you were at work filling in for Dolores you mechanically read the lines.

The entire ordeal too much, you haven't slept. You only ate when either of your friends held food in front of you. Ace was staying with you, Bucky visited daily, the paparazzi cataloguing his hours.

The collective fanbase had launched into a campaign against SHIELD Productions, the entertainment channels airing your story. Hydrangea’s leaked emails between the then chief editor and you who point blank asked if indeed your father was an abusive man. Your naive trusting self admitting under the pretence of false confidentiality that ‘yes, some of it is true’.

The entire world knew what you covered up as just a tale Your father had amassed an insurmountable debt, his gambling and the bills he claimed he paid all remained unpaid, the mortgage on the house to support your mother — unpaid.

The house was lost, the bank didn’t even wait for the mud on his grave to dry. Your maternal grandmother had left a two bedroom apartment to your name which you had rented out, the lease somehow on that was up, and your mother and you moved into it. The rent earned over the two years you had it could help with the expenses.

The apartment turned out to be in the same complex as Bucky’s rented unit. Another field day for paps.

Your focus dwindled and then returned when you heard Dolores’ name spoken with yours,

“I am sure Dolores is returning as we speak, she knows the familial values of SHIELD and its core ethics code of conduct–,”

“I’m hereeeeee!” She grins, her steps faltering as she drinks from a small bottle of vodka, Maria Hill stands on the dais utterly baffled.

Alexander Pierce looks up, the camera moves to Dolores.

“Where is the whiney bitch?” She laughs, “Oh whoops,” the bottle rolls across the floor, “Oh Alexander, I’m here, your staaaaar!”

“Dolores! You’ve been late to set and seen partying all the time.” A reporter asks,

“Yes, Dolores, your relationship with Bucky has also fizzled, due to your unprofessional behaviour.” Another yells out.

“Dolores, where were you?” a third questions.

“I was partying in Ibiza bitch! God this fucking movie, and that fucking boring ass man with one working arm.” She groans, “Ugh, talk about me, and my brand deals, baby.” She stumbles to the stage and walks up to the dais.

“Don’t make a scene.” Maria warns, covering the mic.

“Scene? God, you uptight bitch and where is the redhead director of horrors?”

“Watch your mouth Dolores.” Natasha warns.

“Please what fucking power you have over the main bosses? They keep that fat bitch around for nothing. Ruining my scenes.” Dolores looks at the audience pouting.

“Do it.” Nick sighs, turning to Natasha.

“I have your consent?” Natasha questions.

Maria turns to her, “Mine as well.”

“Two of three, very well.” Nat grins walking up to the dais.

Maria movies away from the mic, a smug expression upon her face.

“Dolores, you are hereby fired from the project.” Natasha declares the silence turns into an uproar.

Dolores begins hurling abuses as female security guards begin to escort her out.

There are sighs of relief in the conference room.

Ace laughs, “Final-fucking-ly.”

You look towards Bucky, his left palm cups your cheek.

Steve watches his chest tightening at the sight the two of you, as your forehead touches Bucky’s own.

HEADLINES:

Fans Of Barnes, Laufeyson and Rogers Crash Funeral. Security Provided By SHIELD Put To The Test.

Steve Rogers Looks Solemn Sitting Alone At Airport Bar. Will He Write About Lost Love?

Y/N Spotted Moving Into New Home Amid Bank Ceasing Her Father’s Home.

Bucky Barnes Seen At The Gym Burning Off The Sadness At His Relationship Ending With Dolores.

Dolores Checks Into Rehab, Pictures of Her Breakdown Post Public Firing From SHIELD Here.

A.N.: i know this chapter has some heavy scenes, if anyone needs to talk my DMs are open, I hope you liked this update

Taglist is Open comment or DM to be added!

Taglist: @stevesmewmew @elle14-blog1 @crazyunsexycool @sebsgirl71479 @pandaxnienke @slutforsexyseabass @eclecticpatrolroadlawyer @pandaxnienke @vampire7595

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onrainynights · 4 years ago

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why you can't compare buddie to destiel (from someone who ships both)

this is kind of addressing the recent negativity in the buddie tag, but it's also a collection of my thoughts and reasoning for being buddie-positive despite my experiences with destiel and spn in general. the text of 911 is not really discussed at all, and this is relatively spoiler-free, so if you're thinking of watching 911 I encourage you to read it. if you haven't seen both shows it probably won't make perfect sense, but I wrote this with spn fans who haven't seen 911 in mind, since that's most of my followers (and also seems to be where much of the negativity was coming from) pretty long post under the cut to save your dash

I just want to prepare y'all for the fact that buddie could be the slow burn will they/won't they mlm romance we've been waiting for practically forever.

at this point it's not fair to call it queerbait because where their relationship is now fits the characters and their development. this is not like destiel, where there were many moments over the years that could've ended with them getting together and it would've made sense with the story. buddie right now is in this sweet, wholesome pre-relationship kind of place, which on its own is a compelling dynamic and so fun and good to see. a resolution of it right now would feel out of character—they both still have some development to do before that would feel natural. and so, I don't think we can really call it queerbaiting unless the characters get to that point and there is still no resolution.

also I'd like to point out the overall positivity from the cast when it comes to buddie. both Eddie's and Buck's actors have said (I'm paraphrasing cast statements in this post unless they are in quotations) positive things about the pairing, and Buck's actor has said that he likes the interpretation of Buck as queer, and he would be happy if the writers took his character in that direction. also Eddie's actor with "that's what they all say" when buddie was referred to as a "bromance". Jennifer Love Hewitt, who plays Buck's sister (another main character), is very supportive of buddie, saying she's "rooting for it", that it would be "amazing", she doesn't "see how it couldn't happen one day". this was in response to hearing that a fan insists Buck and Eddie will be a couple. She flat-out said "I think so, too." She jokes about buddie with Buck's and Eddie's actors all the time. Also, my favorite bit from the video of her saying all this, "Let's manifest it together!"

It's safe to say this is a VERY different environment to spn. I don't think I've ever seen a cast this positive about a show's main non-canon queer ship before. NEVER. I think it's safe to say that if/when buddie is canonized, the cast will be just as excited as the fans—at least JLH will be! Add into the fact that the show's PR seems to be leaning into bi buck and buddie right now, it's a VERY different vibe than spn had, definitely. There's no gaslighting of the fans here, at least not that I've seen. also, although 911 has a large casual viewership, I think it's safe to say the GA would not be upset by buddie—there are only 3 serious, long-term romantic relationships involving main characters in this show, and one of them is a lesbian marriage with two children. And yes, the characters are shown being lesbians, it's not just a stated fact; the audience is privy to their relationship (and their interactions with their adorable kids). I think it's safe to say that buddie would go over well with the fans, even the casual viewers (of which there are many). buddie doesn't seem to be a huge divider in fandom like destiel is, either. reactions generally seem to be either "I ship it" or "I don't care either way."

Also I'd like to point out that while yes, it's possible that buddie is only bait (which would be disappointing), there's a reason queerbaiting works. people WANT to be queerbaited, because it's nearly indistinguishable from a slow burn will they/won't they queer romance. queerbaiting allows fans to make theories, create fan content (including fic), and keeps them engaged with the dynamic and the show. fans who are vulnerable to queerbaiting want a slow burn will they/won't they queer romance, which is currently an almost completely untapped market. spn could've tapped it, but despite the huge fandom they did not. there are SO MANY people outside of spn fandom who want a slow burn mlm romance, one that keeps the audience guessing, one that's will they/won't they, one that is not guaranteed, and that is why queerbaiting works so well. the audience doesn't just want the payoff, they also want the build-up. the longer the build-up, the higher the payoff, and the suspense of the build-up is gone if you know from the start that the payoff is definitely coming. that's part of why malec from shadowhunters didn't fully tap this market—there was no question of if, only the question of when (which wasn't really a question either, given there was an episode in season 1 literally titled "malec" when they got together.) the characters were always queer, the show being an adaptation of a book series where they were in a relationship and eventually had children together.

this was why November 5th was such a big deal—fans were so far past the will they/won't they aspect of destiel, firmly believing that destiel would always end as a "won't they" and not a "will they" that when cas confessed his romantic love for dean, destiel trended on Twitter over the US election. you all know that story, but maybe not everyone reading this knows that after Nov. 5 there was a case of hundreds if not thousands of spn fans experiencing love sickness because of the confession scene. the payoff of making destiel fully canon (and reciprocated, in English) would've been huge. fans would've been throwing their money at the c/w.

which leads me to the possibility (this is not at all me saying that I think this happened or even is likely, just that it's one possibility that /could/ have happened) that buddie started as bait, that the writers never intended for them to be a couple, but saw fan reactions to buddie during season 2 and started to lean into it in season 3 (and 4 so far, but it just started so I don't want to make any generalized statements about it) possibly still as bait or maybe not deciding yet if they'll go anywhere with it. and then maybe they saw destiel trending on November 5th, realized just how BIG the market for a slow burn will they/won't they mlm romance is, and said "hey, we already have the foundations for one of those. why not go for it and draw in all those viewers who clearly want one so badly?"

if buddie goes canon, because the cast and PR have been so positive about it, unlike spn, and because of the text of the show itself, the show's creatives could VERY EASILY claim that they were never baiting, that it was all an intentional slow burn will they/won't they romance from the beginning, and most people would believe them; there isn't really any evidence to the contrary, although I am sure there would be at least a few fans convinced it started as queerbaiting, and there might not be any evidence to refute that, either.

the point is that 911 is currently sitting on a gold mine. if they play their cards right, and execute buddie well, they will monopolize this market that old straight white men serving as network executives have failed so far to really tap into. they queerbait without the payoff, which gives the show a reputation among those in the market who haven't seen it, guaranteeing they will never watch it. shows in this vein: sherlock (huge reputation for queerbaiting and a finale fans didn't like) and spn (huge reputation for queerbaiting and a finale fans didn't like). spn got so, so close with cas's confession but then continued to gaslight its fans, and PR did not lean into destiel AT ALL. if 911 did buddie? the PR team would be all over it. it would be a moneymaker, big time, and Fox knows it. if buddie, or even just bi buck, went canon, tumblr would be all over it. viewership for the show, which is already impressive, would skyrocket. 911 would monopolize this market, because fans wary of queerbaiting would watch it with the knowledge that the payoff is there, and there really wouldn't be a competitor until other shows saw the success of buddie and followed suit with their own pairings, and given the fact that the market specifically wants /slow burn/ queer romances, that might take a couple years. that puts 911 in a really good position, where suddenly the fandom of the show, not just the GA, is very large and likely very dedicated to the show. the success of canon buddie might just change the landscape of TV in the coming years, showing execs that while queerbaiting does work, actually going through with it is really where the money is. 911 would not just monopolize the market for a while; it would pioneer it.

if buddie never goes canon, I would probably be a bit disappointed at the wasted potential, but unless the characters get to that point where canon buddie seems like the most logical outcome and they /don't/ go for it, I won't be truly upset because I don't think it's fair to claim its queerbaiting until then. I can't tell you how likely it is that buddie will be canon at some point, but it seems FAR more likely than destiel /ever/ did, and we ended up getting cas's confession in the end. I have hope, despite being hurt so badly by spn. 911 is a genuinely great show with some fantastic writing, and they don't leave chekov's gun unfired, unlike spn.

really, it comes down to this: if Jennifer Love Hewitt is allowed to clown for buddie, then so am I, and I'll enjoy this show—which is amazing even without canon buddie—while I apply my clown makeup.

#9-1-1 #spn #buddie #tagging as #destiel #so anyone with that tag blacklisted can avoid this post #unfortunately I have seen w/ncest shippers in the buddie tag so that's just a precaution so I don't get attacked #posts for puck #I might add more to this later who knows but I think this is a pretty good collection of my thoughts #buddie positivity #911natural

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sohoharlem · 4 years ago

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Everything’s just....weird. So many questions left unanswered and so many things doesnt feel right. Looking at her history, Henry’s new girl was on My Super Sweet 16 and it was pretty nasty back then. But well the past is the past right, hopefully people change. But still everything seems off to me, moreover when i saw this headline on WGTC that Henry will have a bigger role on Enola Holmes 2 just 16 hours ago which means 10 hours before the instagram official reveal... what a timing. I’ve been following henry cavill for the past years and have been a huge fans since man of steel. I saw his past relationships and how it was revealed. By far this is the most structured one of all. The paparazzi photos (that seemed so neetly taken, with the girl on his side and Kal on the other) and Daily Mail revelation, then the seem-to-be-candid photo of him and his girl that was posted today, and MAN, that photo of them watching rugby with a hand on her chest... it seems like she wanted people to see and approve of her relationship and him, knowing people will definitely notice and wanting them to believe that the relationship does started “before” the announcement. But cmon, HC PR team shouldve known by now that it actualy gave a “pretentious” vibes lol. Funny how some fans react naively in believing this wasnt a PR thing. IT DOES. In my personal thought, this is so much different with Lucy Cork. I genuinely thought that Lucy was the one, remembering how their relationship seems to be so genuine and wasnt staged. And there is actually no advantages taken from each other. Talking about lucy. Another funfact is that she was also working on DUNE movie in which was produced by Legendary Production. So in conclusion, everything is a mess. The relationship he had now vs then gave soooo different vibe and reaction. I do wanted to genuinely support him as a fan, but i kinda felt dissatisfied and disappointed with that actually happened right now 😞 but at the same time, as a fan, all i could hope is for his happiness.

You have a good outlook on things which is great. Everyone needs to just sit back and wait.

- SH

#henry cavill

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rachelbethhines · 4 years ago

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Happiness Is

This is possibly my favorite episode of season two. Yet, it is also the point the where the series starts to fall off a cliff. Only that’s not something that you would realize upon a first watch; just in hindsight and only with some basic knowledge of the behind the scenes drama that led to this and the fall out with the fandom that followed afterwards.

Summary: Rapunzel begins to feel homesick for Corona when she finds an old letter written by her father in one of the many lanterns sent from her previous birthdays. In attempts to uplift her spirits, Rapunzel explores the island and comes across a magical idol that brings instant happiness to whomever possesses it. Rapunzel begins to hallucinate her family and friends back in Corona and soon shares the idol with the rest of the group. However, everyone starts to become obsessive over the idol, desperately wanting it for themselves. Rapunzel tricks everyone into giving her the idol, but when the Lorbs try to help Rapunzel, they fall under the idol's control and soon begin to terrorize the village.

Let’s Start with the First Elephant in the Room; Frederic

So throughout the episode Rapunzel is struggling with being homesick. Which is fair enough, that’s an understable reaction to being on the road for months by now. However, to showcase this Rapunzel keeps seeing hallucinations of her father. There are some other characters too, but her dad is the first person she sees and the only one in Corona with speaking lines. He’s the one to tempt her with the idol.

Did we just forget that Frederic is her abuser?

Look, even if you accept his apology in Secret of the Sundrop and believe he has learned his lesson, that doesn’t just erase the pain he caused her. Her thoughts about her father should be more realistically complex then this. Now add in how she makes a such a clean break from her other abuser, Gothel, but still holds him on a pedestal shows a disturbing bias on the part of the writers.

Also where’s this love for Arianna? You know the only real mother on the show? The show that’s aimed at little girls? The one parent who hasn’t flat out abused the main character yet?

Seriously, Chris, what the fuck?

This is a Missed Opportunity

So part of the reason why I like this episode is that we get insights into each of the characters and their desires. As such this is one of the few episodes where the group actual feels like a group friends. However, Cass’s vision is wasted here.

So at first glance this seems to aline with what we know of the character thus far. She loves her dad and wishes to impress him. That’s only if you take season one into account, though. Later episodes will contradict this goal. If you wanted to set up praise and validation in general as Cassandra’s motives, then here is where that should have happened.

Show her getting a medal, have cheering crowds surround her, have her be a hero, or something. You can’t claim her relationship with her parents as the driving force of behind her later actions if you don’t actually involve one of those parents as part of the resolution to her arc.

Either she lacking attention from her dad or she’s jealous of Rapunzel. You can’t have it be both because those two things don’t intersect. Rapunzel is not and never was a threat to her relationship with her father.

So Umm...I Don’t Think This Plot Point Has the Impact That the Writers Think It Does

So this hilarious, and it is intended to be funny, but it’s not for the reasons that the show gives.

The idea is that this is some shocking revelation. That Rapunzel would never do this under normal circumstances and it’s a hint that the idol is corrupting her.

Only the rest of the series doesn’t aline with that at all. This is just the real Rapunzel behaving as the she normally would but without the usual veneer of excuses.

It’s funny because it’s the show calling out Rapunzel hypocrisy for what it is plainly, not because it’s out of character.

But funny only gets you so far. The show is perfectly happy to play up Rapunzel’s awfulness for laughs, but then conventily ignore it when it comes time for the characters themselves to call her out on it so that she can grow and learn.

The show runs under the sitcom idea that comedy excuses all sins; which then backfires horribly when it tries to be serious and mature.

You can’t joke that the king threw a random person in a stockade for little reason and then expect us to still like him when he persecutes a child. Same applies here.

The sitcom set up only works when there is minimal at stake and all parties involved are equally awful in their own ways.

Then Why Not Just Go Home?

Once again, there’s nothing at stake in season two. Rapunzel has no real reason to be on this trip. Nothing is stopping her from just going home if that’s what she wants. The idol only makes her happy because it shows her want she wants, but she could actually have what she wants as soon as the next ship arrives. So what’s the issue here?

This is why you need external conflict in order to make internal conflicts work. There’s has to be something preventing the main character from achieving her goal or otherwise she just comes across as a dumbass.

And Now Here Comes the Second Elephant; Varian

I have several things to talk about here, and none of them actually concern the scene itself but the creator’s treatment of the character and the show’s fan base.

For you see, Chris did a very, very stupid thing.

He wrote the character driving the plot out of the show. The character who also happens to be the most popular person in the series. Only to then use said character’s VA and this one cameo as promotion for this whole season.

Needless to say, fans were disappointed.

However, the Tangled fandom is exceedingly polite; more so than most. The lack of Varian was met mostly with confusion, and maybe a few off handed jokes, rather than anger. When opportunity arose people naturally had questions concerning the character.

And that’s when Chris put his foot in mouth.

This Tumblr post details how Chris got kicked off the Tangled The Series Discord by bullying a bunch of Varian fans while on there.

https://starxapple.tumblr.com/post/617852117763391488/zhantiri-uuugh-fine-since-people-are-getting

I shan’t get into it fully, but for those who discovered the show after season two had aired, this caused a massive backlash from the fandom.

A good chunk of the fandom just walked away, and rightly so. The few that stuck around despite these remarks found themselves harassed by certain sections of the fandom who saw Chris’s bullying as permission to pursue the same behavior. However, most importantly, the ratings plummeted.

Season one hovered around the the 1 million mark, give or take a five point difference. The first part of season two dropped to half of that, and after this episode and the hiatus it sunk even lower, down to the mid-thirties. That’s over 20,000 people who just jumped ship over this. That’s not a normal decline.

No matter what your personal feelings are of the character of Varian or how he was handled in the show, that’s still a massive PR fassico that cost the series big time.

To add to this mountain of bullshit, there was also a massive walk out of crew members after season one had finished production. Most of them women. They even desperately threw out ‘we’re hiring’ calls to cover this. Which given that’s it’s Disney and that nepotism is usually how one gains employment in the entertainment industry, something unusual must have happened behind the scenes. Especially if most of the people who left were women.

We’ll probably never know what really happened. People don't usually talk about behind the scenes stuff like that due to contracts and the aforementioned nepotism. However, all clues point to Varian.

Something changed at the last minute concerning his story. Chris himself had confirmed as much when discussing the note and the Brotherhood. We also gotten other hints that content was edited out at the last minute. Plus the writing becomes more shoddy as the series goes along, showing how slapped dashed everything is together.

Then there’s the rumors.

I must stress to you that this is only a rumor. As pointed out earlier, most animators aren’t in a position to talk freely about what goes on behind the scenes. Do NOT harass them over it or make things awkward by asking them to clarify this. However it’s been suggested that the female crew warned Chris that removing Varian from season two and re-writing his story, along with making Cass the villain, would be a bad idea before they left and Chris didn’t listen. Much to his folly.

Chris is no longer a Disney employee and has yet to move on to any other projects. He says he left, but I more suspect that Disney just didn't renew his contract and no one has picked him up since. I take no joy in the idea that someone may have lost their job, but if true, then Chris has little to blame but himself.

So What Did Change?

We don't know anything for sure. We know from discussions about the note that there was a proposed Brotherhood plot that involved Varian that was then cut. There was also talks about a Cass and Varian team up in season three.

This was then changed to the Saporian take over, which is foreshadowed in this scene. However even that got edited down and under the flimsiest of excuses.

One of the writers, Ricky, suggested that they thought cutting back to Corona would be too confusing for the audience; which is a load of bull. I mean how poorly do you think of your audience’s comprehension skills that they wouldn’t understand a change of scene or a flashback? Yet you fully expect them to pick up on your lazy foreshadowing involving the mirror? So much so that you sent them on a quest to find it between seasons two and three.

Then there’s this gem from Chris.

Ok ignoring the fact that you so totally could have featured both Gothel and Varian, seeing as they serve two different functions in the story and mean different things to Rapunzel.... What guilt?!!!

Rapunzel doesn’t ever act guilty over anything involving her treatment of Varian.

That’s when you realize Chris isn’t talking about her feeling guilty about Varian’s predicament. He’s saying that Rapunzel feels guilty of leaving her father behind with this ‘dangerous’ criminal. Which is a big fuck you to everyone.

That’s why Frederic is the center focus of Rapunzel’s hallucinations. Why she’s more concerned for his safety over Varian’s trauma. Chris really be out here trying to use the abused 14/15 year old orphan as a scapegoat for the grown ass dictator who ruined countless lives. Because he thinks a grown woman should feel guilty for leaving her abusive father behind and pursuing her life’s dream.

Dude, I try not to assume the worst of people just cause they write fictional characters that I dislike, but Chris really makes things hard not to when he treats his self insert this way.

Oh but we’re not done yet.

When Varian Fans Complain About the Lack of Varian; We’re Complaining About the Lack of a Coherent Plot.

Certain sections of the fandom, bolstered by Chris’s BS, try to act like simply being a Varian fan is grounds for dismissal of any criticism of the show and it’s writing. As if having personal preference for something makes you automatically ‘entitled’ or some such bull. Yet doing so ignores the fundamental complaint that they are making.

We’re not whining about our favorite character not getting enough screen time. No one would have complained about his lack of presence in season two if they had properly resolved his story in season three and had Chris not been a dick to the fans. But it becomes evidently clear as the series goes along that removing Varian left a major hole in the plot. One that makes the entire story and the rest of characters suffer as well.

Think season two is boring? That’s cause they cut out their main villain at the last minute and failed to replace him with anything.

Upset that Hookfoot was brought along for zero reason? He’s the replacement character for Varian who no doubt was going to appear in season two originally.

Wish there was more on the Brotherhood and the Dark Kingdom? Their story impact was greatly reduced when Varian was written out.

Are you a Eugene fan and mad about how the Dark Prince plot went nowhere? That’s cause the original Brotherhood/Dark Kingdom plot was dropped when Varian was.

Dislike how Cassandra’s character was ruined with her villain arc? She was originally meant to be possessed but was changed last minute to be a Varian rip-off in the hopes that she would gain some of his popularity.

Wish Zhan Tiri, Demantius, and the Disciples actually went somewhere and that ZT had coherent plan? That plot were changed last minute to make Zhan Tiri a scapegoat for Cassandra now that her story was changed to replace Varian.

And of course let’s not ignore the character who suffers the most from lack of Varian.... Rapunzel.

Chris’s defense for leaving Varian out of S2 is that it’s “Rapunzel’s Story” and that Varian was only ever a plot device meant to push her along on her quest. Which means that Rapunzel no longer has anyone pushing her along on her quest!!!

All characters are plot devices. If they aren’t there to serve a story function then they need to be cut. Even Rapunzel herself serves a plot function. She’s meant to be the protagonist of a coming of age story. Which means she needs both an external conflict to face and an emotional arc where she grows as a person. Varian is the plot device that serves both of those functions but he’s now been removed and is no longer allowed to serve his original purpose.

Chris reached into the machine while it was running and pulled out one of the main gears and acted like he always meant to do that. He legit sat there and pretended that everything was running smoothly even as smoke poured out and warring alarms blared. He then tried to shove bubble gum in its place hoping no one would notice as everything fell apart around him.

Cause he’s the thing; no idea is without merit. It’s all about presentation. Removing Varian from season three still could have worked, but it required A.) replacing him with another foe and B.) making sure his arc still got a proper conclusion.

I’ll talk more about Varian’s half-arsed redemption when we get to it; but for now let's focus on the more immediate problem. No one thought to give season two an actual overarching conflict in light of Varian’s absence.

That’s a fundamental oversight that pretty much signals that season two was re-written at the last minute. You have an overarching plot in an action adventure show but no main adversary? I refuse to believe that everyone involved was too stupid to do that on purpose; but if they were rushed and lacked a crew because they walked out due to last minute story changes....yeah that’d I buy.

Because there’s more than enough options to go around; Lady Caine, The Baron and Styalan, Hector and/or Adria, Zhan Tiri’s Disciples ect. were all options. So was keeping the rocks a threat, or have Cass start her villian arc earlier; with proper motivation this time. They could have even come up with someone entirely new.

You had over four years to plan this shit out; why is it not more well put together?!

How Come Rapunzel Can Easily Admit Fault to Pascal But Not Anyone Else?

Pascal should have sat perched on Varian’s and Eugene’s shoulders giving Rapunzel ‘I’m done with this’ looks all throughout season three. It’s apparently the only thing that she responds to.

Why is the untalkative camelanion the only one allowed to call out the main character’s BS without going villain?

Conclusion

That’s all there really is to talk about in this story. The actual episode itself is good. It’s the behind the scenes crap that bubbles underneath its surface that needed to be discussed. That way when going forward with the marathon you’ll better see what I’m talking about when I explain how future episode suffered from the lack of planning and foresight.

#Varian #tangled #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #cassandra #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #tts #rta #king frederic

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