#something about dakota is just so fun to draw

[embodiment-of-stress]

I think I found my new favorite subject

[igncrxntripley]

Can i request a Rhea x fem imagine, where the R’s personality is like original alexa bliss NXT debut, like girly/fairy all that. She’s also part of the bloodline and has a secret relationship with Rhea, cause the judgement day and bloodline are in a feud. Then hints about their relationship drops to both groups, then after a huge win Rhea congratulates her exposing their relationship. It causes both groups to majorly buttheads about it, making like slick remarks. It just ends in fluff, and has angst and all that. Lol thank you so much!💛💛

blood is thicker than water

a/n: pls i hope i did this idea justice

tags: fem!reader, poc!reader, wlw, little cousin!reader w/ the uso's/roman reigns, brief mention of the judgement day, SFW

There was something so fun about sneaking around behind your cousins' backs. None of them needed to know about your relationship with Rhea because it was truly none of their business, but they also wanted nothing more than to keep you away from them. The Judgement Day was the same way with Rhea, but she was more assertive when it came to standing up for herself in comparison to you.

You and Rhea apparently weren't as sneaky as you originally thought though, as someone had begun to drop hints to not only your cousins and Paul and to The Judgement Day as well. You didn't even know until your older cousins sat with you looking incredibly pissed.

"You better be honest with us, Y/N." Jey said. Jimmy was pacing around the room, and Paul was watching you very closely to see what your answer would be. But you just rolled your eyes and pretended like nothing happened. "You guys just really have zero faith in me, don't you?" You asked them; that alone unleashed a whole argument. Of course you loved your family, but they couldn't just let you be yourself and it was incredibly frustrating.

The Judgement Day had been pestering Rhea about it just as much. "So now you're sneaking around with The Bloodline?" Damian would ask. Finn would chime in and provide his two sense, Dominik being too confused and upset to even say anything. But Rhea just shook her head and ignored them as well. "If you're gonna believe some sneak who has no clue what they're talking about then you're no better than them." She would say.

After having those conversations though, you and Rhea had your usual secret meet-up in a tech closet backstage. You sat in her lap, Rhea's fingers drawing gentle patterns on your arms as you talked about the conversations each group was having. "I don't get it's even an issue." You mumbled to her, and Rhea sighed in frustration along with you.

"It doesn't," she assured you. "They're all too controlling for their own good." Rhea titled your face up to look at you sadly. "This doesn't change anything for me though, okay?" She assured you. "I'm not going anywhere."

You nodded at her words, your foreheads leaning together as you sat in comfortable silence. After some time though, Rhea giggled at you and you stared at her in confusion. "I'm glad our pain is funny." You mumbled, making her laugh again.

Rhea lifted your face and held your cheeks as she smirked. "I have an idea." She told you.

--- ---

Originally you thought Rhea was insane; was she truly going to just...expose your relationship? After The Bloodline and The Judgement Day were already butting heads? The thought made you just slightly nauseous but you had to trust her. Rhea already had a plan, and you just needed to sit back and let it happen.

You had a huge match that night against Bayley, and it was going to determine whether you were going to get the championship match you'd been dying for. Not only were you itching for that opportunity but your cousins had been down your throat about it.

Nothing about that match was easy; not only were you fighting Bayley, but Io and Dakota were trying to make everything that much difficult. They kept interfering, distracting you, doing anything they could to give Bayley the upper hand. It didn't work though, and you came out on top in arguably one of the biggest matches of your career so far. Not only that, but you did it without your cousin. You proved that you don't need them, and you hoped they could finally realize that.

As you stood in the ring celebrating your big win, Rhea's music hit and she was slowly making her way down the ramp. With both of you still in character, she stared at you with the same shit-eating grin she always had on her face and you watched at her with the intense stare you'd mastered from watching your cousins. Rhea took her time getting up into the ring and she stood across from you. She slowly inched closer and you tried to hide the smirk tugging at the corner of your lips but it was nearly impossible.

Before you knew it, her hands were on your hips and she was pulling you into a passionate kiss. The audience went wild, and you know both your cousins and Rhea's partners were backstage going absolutely mad. But you didn't care; all you needed in this moment was Rhea, and for the first time in a long time things felt...okay. All because you didn't need to hide anymore.

--- ---

"Y/N, what the hell do you think this is? A game?" Jimmy asked you. As soon as you got backstage with Rhea, your cousins led you into your locker room while The Judgement Day began pestering Rhea. You sat on the couch as your cousins and Paul stood in front of you; your family watched you in anger, while the Wise Man was in disbelief.

You crossed your arms before answering Jimmy. "I never said this was a game." You said. "I don't get why this is such a big deal! We wouldn't have this issue if you guys would just let us do what we wanted to do!"

Paul moved to sit across from you. He was someone who always tried to butter you up and appeal to your senses, but he wasn't going to win this. "It's not that we don't want you to." He said softly. "Your cousins want you to be happy. The Tribal Chief wants you to be happy." You rolled her eyes and looked away from Paul. "But being happy is not always what's best for your tribe."

Paul's words made your blood boil. "Well sometimes the tribe doesn't always need to come first." You said, standing up and grabbing your bag. "We'll talk about this later. But just so you guys know, I'm not giving up on Rhea just because you guys can't get along with The Judgement Day." Before anyone else could say anything, you left the room and walked to the parking lot where Rhea was waiting for you at her rental.

She looked up from where she leaned against the side of the car, and she immediately wrapped her arms around you in a hug. "The boys finished your tongue lashing?" Rhea teased softly.

You chuckled against her neck and breathed in her scent. "More like I cut it short." You mumbled, pulling back to give her a kiss. "I take it your boys weren't thrilled either?"

Rhea hummed and gave you another kiss. "They'll survive." She chuckled. "I'm done talking about them though. Tonight's about us." She opened the car door for you, and for the first time since being with Rhea you felt like things were normal...even if your respective factions were anything but thrilled.

[deimosbreakfrost]

I had to stop my homework just to focus on this. Y'all better be glad.

- the trailer of episode 1 just dropped... It's prediction time, you FUCKS.

- anyways, something that anyone i can notice in this trailer is that it focused on 9 characters.

Whose are; Anastasia, Ted, Isabel, Alessio, Ivy Marissa, Lyndia, Spencer and Amelie. I theorize that they'll either be really important to the season or just make the plots of episode 1 happen.

(I think that the ones that will actually be important will be Anastasia, Ted, Lyndia, Isabel and maybe Marissa. I could've put Spencer on there too but I already know that he is just there to be the disventure camp Twink™ of this season, I just know he isn't a big deal)

1. Anastasia:

- umm... Funny story but-- the UNIC audition tapes that I've saw we're from Ted, Richard and Isabel. So I was surprised with her accent, I think that she'll be the main antagonist of this season. I just can't look at her and Don't see a fusion of Heather and Julia, my predictions is that she'll pull a Heather move on half of the cast till she either go to the finals or at least till the final 5.

2. Ted:

- MY MEN WILL BE IMPORTANT AND NOT JUST A JOKE ANTAGONIST, I SWEAR. I'm already not normal about him but with the fact that he'll definitely do something in this season actually makes me wanna tweak out, I don't think that'll he be a heather type of manipulator but a Scott one. He'll definitely have the S1 Ripper and ROTI Scott treatment, he will either be hated by the fandom or the characters in the show but will still go far.

AND I HOPE SO, I really want to him to go to the merge or finals and eliminate Spencer along the way, I already have a beef on Spencer just because of DCAS Jake and I want that ugly ass Twink to simply be humiliated along the season. Is that cruel? Yeah, but he's a white twink that it's own character development will definitely go around a guy that he'll date, don't take it seriously.

(you all bet me a follow if I'm actually right about the fact that Spencer and Diego will date)

3. Isabel:

- GIRLIE IS A TIKTOKER??? Okay, you know what? Girl literally killed the "antagonist" allegations. I just hope that her interactions with Natalia aren't the same that with S1 Gabby and Grett, I want them both to be friends 😭😭 (or girlfriends. Wait, am I allowed to say that I lowkey ship them 2??)

4. Alessio:

- umm... Well... Yeah, he's definitely on my favorite characters list. HE GIVES HUGE "festa?" BY SUPERCOMBO VIBES I LOVE HIM. I WANT TO DRAW HIM LIKE THOSE GRIMM EMO ALBUM COVERS LIKE: The jaws of life by Pierce The Veil, Fever by Bullet for my valentine and Silverstein's discovering the waterfront. I WANT TO DRAW HIM AND MAKE HIM BEAUTIFUL STOP.

Anyways, I think he'll have some fun dinamics with the characters. I think it would be fun if him and Ted Interact alot, Ted would definitely love to annoy him and Alessio just wants him to die. I don't know, they give Ripper x Damien vibes...

5.Ivy:

(I forgot to take a screenshot of her, sorry. I'll probably put in here later)

- My first impressions on her is that she would've been this season's Gabby or Izzy but she low-key gives Dakota & Nichelle vibes...?? Like, Nichelle because she is an actress and wants to proove that not all actresses are bad people and Dakota because she's rich but is genuinely really nice and caring to the people around her. Until now I actually like practically the entire cast

(not counting with Benji and Spencer. If they we're my Ocs I would do horrible things against them.)

6. Marissa:

- I have a HUGE feeling that she'll end up like S1 Axel oh lord. And also, I HOPE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN WITH HER. On TDI 2023 I love both Axel and Ripper but on S1 they made their team lose and voted Axel instead of Ripper and the fandom started to hate him, AND THAT TIME GIVES ME PTSD. ONC FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T DO THIS TO ME AGAIN😭😭

Anyways, again. She gives off huge Axel vibes. But like, a fusion of Axel and Leshawna. She's Strong but she also seems pretty nice and caring to the people, and judging by how she acted on her audition tape and what she said during this trailer, she'll definitely slay a lot of times. Anyways, I LOVE HER, ONC PLEASE DON'T MAKE A RIPPER VS AXEL FANDOM DISCOURSE 2.0 STOP I'M SCARED 😭😭

7. Lyndia:

- she's actually so nice and cute?? I already love this women. But again, I strongly believe that mostly of the time she'll be there so someone can ask her to vote on someone. I don't believe that she'll just be a S2 Ally and stuff, but I also think that she's well aware of what she'll will be go through and she'll be confident enough to actually go far in the (different of Ally, whoops! You haven't heard nothing.)

8. Spencer:

- ... Is it cruel that I want him to go through the worse on this season just to lose in the end? Seriously, I really don't expect much of this character but just to be there to be the be part of the Gay Couple™ of this season. I'm sorry but I actually don't like this guy really much and I genuinely think he's just there for fandom "oh! A Twink!" Gaze.

- 9. Amelie:

- okay, she's actually the one that I wanted to take about the most (not counting with *giggle* Teeeed😻😻)

For me she's most likely the Eva of this season, but I don't want her to end up just LIKE Eva. I WANT THIS WOMEN TO EAT EVERYONE UP, she gives huge "I'm on my way" vibes. Oh and also, the fact that's she's REALLY strong will mostly be really helpful to her team on this season. And maybe... Even be an antagonist? GIRL IS WAY TOO PRETTY JUST TO BE ELIMINATED.

And by conclusion, I hope Benji dies, Spencer receives hell, Ted becomes more loved than what Ripper was (or hated just to I have him to all my self...) and Amelie or Jade win (or Ted, idk)

[a-cat-in-toffee]

POST WHERE I TALK ABOUT MY HERO OUTFIT DESIGNS FOR END OF SEASON 2 SLASH SEASON 3 PRIME DEFNDERS :33 LONG ASS POST FOR THE RECORD

also I have pictures of their og design in this so. warning for white skinny pd jumpscare /joking

for sake of navigation I'm going in the order I drew them, and the order theyre in on the above image heart emoji.

"Virion" Vyncent Sol up first!! also can we talk about how his hero name is straight up just his name. lol. lmao even.

I HAD THE MOST PLAN FOR VYNCENT GOING IN TBH I wanted something similiar to the origami outfit while still staying reminiscent of his old outfit

I knew I wanted the jacket and I went with the turtleneck so it was the same as Jason's outfit. also Jason has really cool glove sleeve things I thought that was so fucking cool guys. and vyncent is generally from an actual outfit standpoint like... really simplistic? so just ourple pants and boots seemed most logical. I liked the mask and it was in both of his old designs so I decided to stick with it.

and then of course. the belts. there are ten total belts on his outfit jot including the two that would come with the sheath LMAO. plus the two pd colored belts on his boots!! I decided while drawing I wanted them all to have something in eachothers colors cause thats really cute.

i MUCHHH prefer the shorter jacket because of how it shows off the outfit and is reminiscent of his s2 post fauna design . . .

generally had the most idea going into his so there was very little in ways of additional sketching

also the Japanese where Jason's jacket had said Origami straight up just says Knife. I thought that was so funny. ENTIRELY ACCIDENTAL THING his outfit is basically just cantrips but colors flipped LMAO

BUT THATS ALL FOR VYNCENT. next up is (drum roll please)

"Wisperer" William Wisp!!! El wiwi himself. OKAY SO AS YOU MAY NOTICE. THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE DESIGN I ORIGINALLY POSTED. I had Not been happy with that one because it felt too cluttered and a little out of character so I ended up redesigning his jacket and redrawing the refs.

WILLIAMS OUTFIT WAS REALLY FUN THO I ended up going with a gas mask like he had in the greyscale arc, hoodie (which will get its own paragraph), cargo pants!! for his cargo and gadgets and gizmos, and then. because it's me and he's william. platformish boots laced with the orlther pds colors.

the hoodie was the thing I had changed in the new design because the old design wasn't william wisp enough for me yknow

i wnjoyed the outfit and it looked really need but it was much more complicated than his original hero suit and didn't really seem like smthn he'd design and wear.

i really liked the wisp belt and wanted to keep that wisp motif, which is why I ended up putting the flames on his sleeves! it looks cool as hell and keeps w the flame designs. IM ALSO SUPER ATTACHED TO THE WISPERER W THAT WAS ON HIS ORIGINAL HERO DESIGN.... so the hoodie has a stylized w.

also dakota and vyncent beads :)

I HAD A.... PROCESS MAKING THIS ONE LMAO. SO THERES A HANDFUL OF DRAFTS

i cinsidered adding stuff to make his outfit like Silhouettes then remebered i haye Silhouettes outfit. the images are out of order but I'm on mobile and can't be fucked to fix it. NEXT UP!!!!!!

"DC" Dakota Cole! only SLIGHTLY better than vyncent just using his name, bro is using his initials......

I CHANGED THE LEAST ABOUT HIS DESIGN HONESTLY. it was very nice to just get to draw Dakota though :)

the most I changed was I made it a bit simpler, and changed the jacket to be more like the Hexpert armor

also made the zipper look like her weird chest thingy....

I REALLY DISLIKE THE SHOES AND THE LITTLE BITS ON HIS ANKLES THOUGH. SO I CHANGED EM. they're now his thing in the others color heart emoji. I'd like to think they all sat down together and brainstormed ways to encorperate eachother into their costumes.....

i also made a little note of the back of hia jacket and I tried to make it look like a jersey

because he played soccer :)

ALSO.... DAKOTA COLE HONEY YOU SHOULD NOT ME WEARING A BELT EITH A BUCKLE. but it looks cool </3 if a little impractical

BUT THATS ALL OF EM FOR NOW..... love these guys.

next I. tackle redesigning this thing.

sighs. I so got this

[scoobydoodean]

regarding jesse and dean saying they could use him in a fight… do you think maybe dean’s motivations are two fold in the sense that he is thinking about how useful jesse could be but also thinking about being able to protect jesse better if he’s just already with them? somewhat like sam’s initial motivations regarding jack if that makes sense

Context

Sam and Dean definitely wanted to protect Jesse—there's no question about that one. They both burst into Jesse's house after Cas flies away to kill Jesse when Sam and Dean refused to go along with it. Even Cas didn't want to kill Jesse—he just thought it was what was necessary (and Cas's ruthlessness in these sorts of circumstances is also a through line—all the way to the Rosemary's Baby storyline in season 12 where he goes behind Sam and Dean's backs to kill Kelly). But the actual plan to take Jesse with them was born out of an argument with Cas where Sam and Dean were trying to keep Jesse alive while being realistic about the fact that demons would continue hunting him.

When Cas first arrives in the motel and opens with "We should kill Jesse", Sam and Dean let him explain, but then Dean tries to reason Cas toward the solution being, "We should just leave him the hell alone":

DEAN Well, if Jesse's a demonic howitzer, then what the hell's he doing in Nebraska? CASTIEL The demons lost him. They can't find him. But they're looking. DEAN And they lost him because? CASTIEL Because of the child's power. It hides him from both angels and demons. For now. DEAN So he's got, like, a force field around him. Well, that's great. Problem solved.

Cas insists that Jesse is growing stronger because of Lucifer's rise, and something he does will draw the demons attention and he'll be found. This crushes Dean's "Just leave him alone with his parents" angle, and Sam interjects to tell Cas that they aren't killing a child not matter what. Dean backs Sam on this, while pushing a new solution that takes Cas's concerns into account:

Okay. Hey, look, we are not going to kill him. All right? But we can't leave Jesse here either. We know that. So...we take him to Bobby's. He'll know what to do.

Cas objects to this too, saying they have no way to actually get Jesse to come with them to Bobby's, much less stay with them. So Sam pushes another solution, which is to tell Jesse the truth. This does the opposite of placate Cas, and he flies off to kill Jesse without their support.

So Sam and Dean both wanted to protect Jesse. They didn't want to kill him. They tried to compromise with Cas by saying they'd take Jesse to Bobby's where he'd be safe.

Nobody was talking about Jesse actually helping them in a fight until Sam and Dean rushed over to the house, and Dean, who never said he was onboard with telling Jesse the truth, tries to get him to come with them somewhere safe without telling him the truth, because (as he says at the end of the episode) he wishes his own dad had lied to them when they were kids. Jesse's become aware of his own powers though, so what Dean comes up with is that Jesse is a superhero.

DEAN You're a superhero. JESSE I am? DEAN Yeah. Yeah. I mean, who else could turn someone into a toy? You're Superman—minus the cape and the go-go boots. See, my—my partner and I, we work for a secret government agency. It's our job to find kids with special powers. In fact, we're here to take you to a hidden base in South Dakota, where you'll be trained to fight evil. JESSE Like the X-Men? DEAN Exactly like the X-Men. In fact, the, uh, guy we're taking you to—he's even in a wheelchair. You'll be a hero. You'll save lives. You'll get the girl. Sounds like fun, right?

Much of season 4 is about the inevitability of hunting from Sam and Dean's perspectives—that at a certain point, you are in the life too deep to get out. Sam and Dean never had a choice in this life and now it's too late and they have to make the best of it. In season 4, Sam mainly talks about it as something he wouldn't change anyway (until the end) but Dean pretty consistently grieves (4.04, 4.08, 4.12, 4.12, 4.19, 4.21). Jesse is similarly already trapped in the life by the circumstances of his birth and the fact that demons are looking for him.

So what Dean does here is a reflection of his own coping skills with being trapped in hunting when he was a kid. This is a Dabb and Loflin episode, and what Dean does here mirrors Dean's childhood romanticization of hunting according to their previous episode, 4.13 "After School Special", where it's obvious that in order to cope with the weight of John's neglect and the stress of responsibility to the family and being trapped in the life, a young Dean pushes himself to focus on the fact that they're a family of heroes, that they have a sweet setup at the motel with free ice, and being left there for weeks in charge with no curfew is fun and not stressful and soul-crushing at all. Dean talks about a similar narrative from around that age in 2.03 when he describes to Gordon how he embraced the life as a teenager by telling himself he was seeing things other kids his age never got to see, and we later contrast this with "Bad Boys".

Adult Dean's feelings are very different from the feelings of that kid who was just trying to cope. We see this starting in 2.10 and 2.11 when Dean refers to John's last words as "Screaming in his head all day" and says "I wish to god he never opened his mouth" and "Well Dad's an ass! He never should have said anything. I mean, you don't do that, you don't, you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids!" Then at the end of 5.06:

DEAN You know, we destroyed that kid's life by telling him the truth. SAM We didn't have a choice, Dean. DEAN Yeah. You know, I'm starting to get why parents lie to their kids. You want them to believe that the worst thing out there is mixing Pop Rocks and Coke—protect them from the real evil. You want them going to bed feeling safe. If that means lying to them, so be it. The more I think about it...the more I wish Dad had lied to us. SAM Yeah, me too.

Dean wishes John had protected them. He didn't want to be left with the weight of Sam's demonic destiny on his shoulders (that also signified Dean's own potential to become a monster he didn't want to be). So at first, Dean tries to fill Jesse's head with vague ideas that he's a hero and destined for good. Then when Sam tells Jesse the truth, Dean urges Jesse to come with them somewhere safe, where he can train and "you'd be handy in a fight, kid". I don't know—I think it's hard to say whether Dean really meant he'd ask Jesse to fight side by side with them in the apocalypse, and also how far that would go even if they did end up asking Jesse to use his powers to assist them. Like Dean is pretty consistently against involving kids in the life. I do think at the very least, Dean was trying to instill a sense of heroism into Jesse to reinforce that he doesn't have to be evil just because he's half demon and some demons want him to help them kill people. Sam also doesn't object because he also sees Jesse having to come with them as inevitable. After Jesse says "What if I don't want to fight?" Sam tries to talk him through it (he also suggests Jesse has to abandon his parents to protect them). The thing is, Jesse proves all of them wrong. He proves Cas wrong by never doing what he was foretold to do, and he proves Sam and Dean wrong about the inescapability of hunting by flying off to Australia never to be seen again.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

hi I think I already left an ask about this but I'm gonna do it again lol

sooooo... im pretty sure I already said that william is gonna die at some point in the au, but I think I've figured out why + how. unfortunately the trickster still exists in this au so I'm thinking that he gets killed by it? maybe??? like they're still gonna fight overlord and have the trickster happen, so I'm thinking that maybe this time the fight takes place on a rooftop. where everyone can see it. it's totally broadcast to the news too. william, having no powers, tries to stay out of sight and help from the sidelines. that is, until ashe gets possessed. (maybe the same way as in canon? maybe not?) something happens, and they end up trying to fight the trickster immediately. wiwi gets targeted because he's weak(I guess?) and gets uh. more or less speared through the heart and sent off the side of the building. fun!

so now vyncent and dakota have lost two(2) friends in the same battle. so they're... probably not doing well. anyway, they get distracted by trying to save william or at least see where he fell, and the trickster escapes while they're distracted.

meanwhile, william is in the spirit world. talking to mal. skip ahead a bit, he gets sent back to prime, but in his wisp form. (like his death in season one). and unfortunately for him, his body is. kinda destroyed. so he can't go back to it. he's still visible and tangible, he s just stuck in his wisp form (and looks pretty different. like the way I draw his wisp form) vyncent and dakota find him freaking out over his dead body and don't recognize him at first, and he doesn't know he doesn't look like...him. yet.

(also his parents totally saw him die on live television!!! it was probably censored, but still!!! messed up!!!)

uhhh after that idk what happens!!!! i need to think about it more!!! if u have any ideas please share!!!!

hiiiiiii omg yes I'm so sorry. had a couple mental illness days i didn't have the words to properly answer this. but oh my GODDDDD DUDE.

william getting stabbed. and then pushed off a roof. he still gets to fall. he still gets mutilated by the trickster. it just happens all at once. that's SO FUCKED UP.

ive always been a HUGE fan of william looking way different in his wisp form i think that's awesome. make him otherworldly and offputting !!!!! this is so good and so absolutely heartbreaking. because like.... before this. they weren't heroes. dakota and vyncent maybe had a little more combat experience based on their various backgrounds but william???? william was judt a guy!!! he had no reason to be in that fight other than the fact that it was his friend and he wanted to save him. and he gets killed for it. man. that's so absolutely devastating ‼️

[windng-down]

ten hobbies to try out this winter ₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

baking/cooking - These two are like versatility Olympians; they are fun to do, they are a useful skill, they make your house smell great, they make your house warm in the winter, and they produce perfect holiday presents. That's right, you can bake/cook up a storm then pass the food around as presents. It's actually a really sweet gesture. I'd fold if a pretty girl brought me homemade food.

reading - You know that blanket you cozy up in for bedrotting? Cozy up for reading instead! (Btw if you're genuinely bedrotting ignore that, take all the time you need, and try and rebuild your spoons <33 Seasonal depression hits different) Actually though, reading a good book is one hell of a high. It's like you never want to put it down. Winter is the perfect time to find that book! My favorite books of all time include The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Bunny by Mona Awad, and The Hunger Games Series! I recommend finding more recommendations from book bloggers like Dakota Warren or Kalilah D.

ice skating - This one isn't for me, but it is such a beautiful winter sport. If you're the active type and you like a challenge, you should look into skating!

blogging - You heard me right! You've been thinking about starting that Tumblr blog? Now is the time to do it! Everyone is stuck inside on their phones, you should give them something to read! Also it's a really nice way to find community, even if it is really small. Nothing makes me happier when someone reblogs my posts with a hashtag of them rambling. I read it all every time.

writing - For me personally, writing is more than just a hobby it's a lifestyle. I take it way to seriously, don't be like me! Have fun, find writing prompts online, cozy up with Google docs, and put on a playlist. Write a romcom or a mystery or a poem or a journal entry, it doesn't matter as long as you're writing! It is just the most wonderful form of self-expression, and I think everyone should try it at least once.

working out - No, not as in your "winter Arc", as in having fun! It's hard to get physical in the winter, don't make it harder by seeing it as a chore. Find something you like, such as dance workouts or weight lifting. Just make sure whatever you're doing, that you enjoy it. I think those treadmill playlists Allieh Bennett makes on TikTok seem super fun. If you guys don't know, they are playlists designed to sync to your treadmill run!

drawing - I am serious girl (or anyone else reading this)! You don't have to be good at art to do it. Go get yourself a pencil and dollar store sketchpad! Personally, I am trying to learn how to draw portraits and it's very calming. Imagine it: It's cold outside, you're cuddled up with pillows and blankets, you light a candle, and- most importantly- you pull out a pencil and some paper. You can draw anything! You can draw flowers, friends, yourself, characters, optical illusions, or literally anything else! If that still intimidates you though, I highly recommend color books. They are a great alternative, and I love them.

painting - Everything I said about drawing applies here. Also, during the winter, there are probably some great inspirations all around you! Between the weather and the decorations, you've got loads of landscapes to replicate. If that sounds like too much though, try paint by numbers. They are just as cozy and perfect for winter.

crocheting - Okay, so this may be the most difficult one on the list. Yes, even more difficult than ice skating. But, at least give it a shot! People who have the patience to really learn this hobby can make some incredible things- especially for winter. I'm talking scarves, sweaters, blankets, and gloves! I also recommend hand crocheting. It's a lot simpler and you can make a nice, chunky blanket with it. I hand crochet when I'm nervous so I don't pick my face, actually. It's very useful.

bracelet making - Now this is the last one, y'all. Thanks for reading this far! This hobby seems like so much fun and it's so personal. There are all kinds of ways to make bracelets. I mean you can make charm bracelets, bead bracelets, rope bracelets, and even clay bracelets. This one is great for winter too, because once again you're gonna need presents! Make a bracelet to go with your favorite winter jumper, then you can make your bff a matching one!

Signing Off,

W.D.

( P.S. Love y'all! Stay warm! )

[intertexts]

oh god i just realized I forgot to send you this. behold: the worst trivia ask out of all of them:

EPISODE 22 TRIVIA:

- they spend the first. 9 whole minutes talking about the logistics of snapping someones neck irl only to learn that its not actually possible and thats just something that was make up for movies

- "this is the most guy talk we've ever had at the beginning of a rolled. i feel like we need a trigger warning for boys"

- bizly wanted them seeing tide again to feel awkward and weird! like you're going back to your parents house after not seeing them for a really long time

- talking about how dakota has so many parental figures now and grizzly goes "except for ms. g. she has my whole heart" and WITHOUT missing a beat charlie goes "no. *i* have your whole heart"

- there was apparently a group of people on twitter who made a VERY long VERY well researched document about how all the medical stuff esp involving william would work and kept tagging bizly in posts asking how things would work and hes like "man i dont know!! i write a silly superhero show im not a doctor! it all comes down to his parents built a very strange machine that was designed to view worlds unseen!" (<< quoting the dp theme song in the most EXASPERATED voice possible.)

- "WILLIAM WISP SHOULD HAVE FUCKIN WORMS IN HIM. if we were playing this realistically william would be fuckin LOCKED UP with rigor mortis and COVERED in worms and FULL OF GASSES. he should be FOUL. and FULL OF WORMS. and I DONT WANT THAT" << hes a coward for this. btw. i feel like william should be grosser

- they just keep saying more things about how william should be so grotesque. at one point charlie goes "please dont draw this. its so gross". me, looks at my 4/7 jrwi freak week canvases that are william wisp themed. um. well.

- WARM BODIES MENTION. i love that movie. charlies like "thats how i want william to work hes undead but hes like. pretty about it"

- bizly: "because we've already explored this plot thread of William Being Dead so much, i dont want him getting a heart to just automatically fix that. its not like hes just magically alive now. i havent thought of the exact consequences yet but i want there to be some drawbacks to this to keep things interesting"

charlie: "william is just thrilled right now to be feeling stuff. i dont think hes considering the possible drawbacks"

- "ive never been prouder of any of my characters than when william wisp dented drywall"

- "why didnt vyncent get a fun surgery too" "because I'm a coward"

- they were on some absolutely insane energy for this rolled they keep going on like 5-10 minute long tangents and BARELY talk about the episode other than to mention how william should be a rotting corpse. I REMEMBER NOW that this was a SIGNIFICANT factor in my being frustrated with the heart surgery thing LMAO

- THATS IT. THATS LITERALLY IT. THE ROLLED IS OVER NOW. THIS WAS NOTHING !!!!!

TERRIBLE rolled youre right!!!!! help!!! this is so funny. great rolled guys lets wrap it up. william should be wormy and u cant snap peoples necks. good job everybody. it is really funny to me that people were... expecting medical accuracy?? how do u really seriously research putting one guys heart and another guys blood inside a body that's been dead for several years. frankly i would love to see it i'm very curious.

LOWKEY I'M GLAD HE *ISN'T* A BLOATED LOCKED UP DECAYING CORPSE!!!!! PERSONALLY!!!! i fully respect ur rights and taste to think he should be rotting and worm filled and stinky but frankly i'm on charlies side w this one. hes undead and pretty about it <33

anyway. i still have many thoughts about wiwi's soul/body/wisp relationship that i will NOT start talking about now because it would get LONG. but. its always great hearing their thoughts on it. eyes emoji. but yeah i really don't want him to be just magically fixed and alive now.... we'll see!! we'll see how it goes!!!!

[leechiourdes]

Ticciwork headcanons because I adore them together (also; rant about Clockwork after the hcs)

Since its pretty hard for them to go out on "normal" dates (because of the whole...serial killer thing) their ideal date is going out on little trips through the Forest. They'll set up picnics by lakes, stargaze during the earliest of mornings or the latest of nights, sit together by rivers and watch the water rush by, simple little things like that. Of course, they'll also have the occasional going out to kill an innocent family of five "dates" together.

Clockwork still draws for fun, and she always shows her drawings to Toby. When they first started dating, she was pretty scared of showing them to him (considering how she lost her last boyfriend) but Toby loved them. Seeing how he's also well acquainted with blood, guts, gore, and the smell of rotting flesh, Nat's gore art isn't repulsive or shocking to him.

They aren't too big on pda. Toby's got ADHD and all the sensory issues that come with it, so he doesn't really like being touched in any way. Nat doesn't like being touched because it reminds her of her brother. Instead, they give copious amounts of sweet talk to one another, get each other nice gifts, help each other out when they're having trouble with something, and comfort each other if they're feeling sad or scared.

They don't usually sleep in the same bed, but occasionally will, especially if either of them are going through an episode.

They like to watch movies at home. They will fr kick everyone else out of the Mansion's living room so they can be alone and watch their Adam Sandler movies together

If they were to ever have a child together, they would probably name the kid Quincy because they're both terrible at naming things. (If not Quincy, then Ulysses, Dakota or Morgan)

Before they were dating, it was Toby who caught feelings for Nat first. He thought she was really cool, but that she was way out of his league and wouldn't even think about doing so much as holding his hand. He would endlessly talk about his crush on her to EJ, since he knew that he was the only one who would keep it a secret.

It got so bad EJ eventually said "Just tell her how you feel and be yourself." Toby was so inspired by these words he went up to Nat and said "Hey girl, your ass makes me forget about my dead family." Suffice to say, Nat fell in love instantly.

I really don't like how the fandom portrays Clockwork. I see her being depicted as this stone-cold, tough as nails, ass-kicking, emotionless girlboss who either hates a person or tolerates them, no inbetween. I don't like that characterization at all. Seeing as she was or is canonically dating Toby, and Toby's general personality is pretty much agreed to be "angsty, really odd pyromaniac-adjacent guy who probably watched Spiderverse once and it became his whole personality for like a week," I feel like Natalie should be like, more similar to him, you know?? Like, I feel with the type of person Toby is, he wouldn't like dating someone like the current fanon Clockwork. She seems like the type of be a sarcastic, easygoing person who loves watching those documentaries about how popular bands broke up late at night, not as cold and distant as people portray her as. Idk, that's just me, but I get really frustrated when I see her characterized like this. I NEED her to loosen up! I NEED her to stop being such a hardass! I NEED the fandom's characterization of her to CHANGE!!

[misiahasahardname]

Thoughts on

Katie and Sadie

Mike

Trent

Dakota

and Sierra?

katie and sadie -

they have very little screentime so i don’t have much to say about them. i have definetly seen a lot of girls like them, but that was usually when i was primary school age, not as a teenager. at times they can be really annoying, but their friendship can be pretty wholesome at times. reminds me of how attached i was to my friends at… well, not their age. there’s nothing really bad about them, but not much good either? really indifferent about them.

mike -

fresh tv did NOT know how to write a character with a mental disorder… besides the bad representation, i think mike is a pretty nice guy! i love silly-with-a-hint-of-mental-disorder characters like him. he’s one of the better characters from gen 2, and he’s… sweet? that’s how i’m going to word it. also. i‘m going to say it right here. i LOVE svetlana (or swjetłana, as they call her in the Polish dub). my favourite alter (i think that’s the term?) of his. totally not just because she’s slavic and i crave representation, she’s just a very fun character and a very skilled gymnast! i also like vito. he’s cool. very unfortunate what they did with mike in ass stars!

trent -

trent is a very interesting character. i could go on for ages, analysing his behaviours, figuring out his past traumas and what caused him to end up the way he is. there is so much to talk about with trent! that’s why i love trentcourse: it’s just a bunch of people talking about this guy!! he’s a sweetheart. his chill, coolheaded, and a really kind person. he’s not made much real enemies, and. ugh. i love his relationship with gwen. just,,,,, so pure. action kinda fucked him up a little bit, but in a way it gave him a bit of depth? my personal theory on why he kinda just. snapped was that since action started so early after island, he hadn’t gotten the chance to pack enough meds, and anyone who’s needed to take any sort of medication for that kind of thing will probably know that if you’re going to go off of medication/start taking medication, you need to do it gradually, and that’s for a good reason!!!!!! anyways i love trent. he and cody are the traumatised boyfriends.

dakota -

I LOVE LOVE LOVE DAKOTA!!!!!! SHE’S SO FUCKING SILLY. genuinely. she is my favourite character of gen 2 alongside jo. she’s a bit how i used to imagine myself to be in the future! fashionable, famous, rich, successful, and in a healthy relationship!! (samkota is SO WHOLESOME) her turning into dakotazoid was actually really great. i kinda prefer her that way! she could still be confident with her body despite being a twelve foot tall mutant! i don’t fully understand people who draw her as ‘healed’ from that because like. i don’t think you can reverse something that drastic. and also she’s comfortable with it! she doesn’t seem too upset about it (iirc of course. been a while since i’ve rewatched roti). anyways dakota is amazing, i love her and her relationship with sam, and i think she and zoey should be best friends!!

sierra -

ok i don’t know if you’d want to hear it but. i’m sorry. i hate her. like every moment she was on screen i’d get SUPER uncomfortable. her actions towards cody were horrible and i am not going to ignore them even though yeah she’s a fictional character!!!! i don’t know if her actions were meant to come off as jokes or not but either way it’s not funny at all. i like her design, her voice acting is AMAZING, her face is very expressive (and i love that in a cartoon!), paris in the springtime was one of the best songs of the season (but it will never beat her real name isn’t blaineley), but she’s just. not a good character. she had potential! i would’ve loved it if she was a villain, like, you set up alejandro to be the main villain but them BOOM! sierra is actually a manipulative mastermind who will blackmail anyone and get them eliminated!! or something like that. but yeah i don’t like sierra.

i hope this is an ok response!

[foxtricksterwriting]

My Yandere MCs and OCs; Dakota

Part 1(Dakota) |

Author's Note: I'll add parts for anyone interested in my other ocs and mcs as I do them. Also, I'm using picrew cause I can't draw to save my life

If you are not +18, DO NOT INTERACT!!

This is my OC made specifically for Krow(@thekrows-nest) imsorryinadvancelol

FullLegal Name; ???? Evans(Surname's a WIP)

Nickname; Dakota ("Any other name is a dead name :)")

Gender(Pronouns); Nonbinary(They/them)

Age; 27 ("Ahah, you thought I was a lot younger? I get that a lot.")

Height; 6'5

Occupation; Bar owner, bartender ("Oh, the name of my bar? Delilah's. Why? My grandfather opened it after my grandmother passed away and named it after her. So, family business and all that.")

More About Them; A thembo to the truest extent. Don't get me wrong, they can be smart when it relates to their interests. If it's not related? They don't care enough to try to learn it. Dakota's the first person to offer their help in any situation, and tends not to question the weird things that happen around them. They also tend to give people... too many chances to right their wrongs. Dakota believes that everybody deserves a chance to prove themselves, and tries to stick up for who they perceive as the underdog. Many of their friends have described them as 'the epitome of a golden retriever' and that's really not far off.

Dakota falls in love easily, and hard. They're extremely lucky to have not ended up in a bad relationship. They tend to take the advice and opinions of their friends very seriously, even if it's not good or healthy... They have a surprisingly small inner circle; made up of four people. Dakota has set their opinions on a very, very high pedestal; high enough to surpass some laws. Luckily for Dakota, these four people are decent people and try to steer them away from others looking to take advantage of Dakota's trusting nature.

Dakota has a abundance of confidence and is very blunt. They always speak their mind, even if it means they'd get hurt because of it. If they like you, you'll know. If they dislike you, you'll know that too.

And finally, Dakota has surprisingly good business and bartending skills. This is due to their family's bar being left to them. They've owned said bar, Delilah's, since they were 21. They took to the business like a fish to water. They're proud enough of their bar to brag about it at least once when they meet someone new. Their insistent endorsements of the bar has become a joke in their friend group.

Fun Facts;

Will happily sit and listen to someone ramble for hours and hours at a time. They ask leading questions, too, to get them to talk more. If they're talking to someone important/someone they care about, they'll write everything down so they'll actually remember it.

Knows how to pick most locks. Don't ask how, they won't tell you.

Green is not their favorite color, surprisingly. Their favorite color is black.

Has said "Think twice? Bestie, I don't even think once, lol" before. That's also a running joke in their friend group.

Is a human garbage disposal. They have pica, which means they often try to eat non-food items. Usually, it won't cause them any issues. They've eaten corks from wine bottles and a couple of beer bottle tops before and ended up just fine. They've also eaten marbles before. If they can't keep something down, then no living creature should eat whatever they tried to eat.

Doesn't remember anything from before their 9th birthday. They don't seemed worried about it, either....

gets cold very easily, and their hands and feet tend to stay cold. Warm gloves and socks don't help, that just makes them sweaty :/

HATES socks. The only time they willing wear socks is when they plan on wearing their boots for a long while (ie +5 hours)

Has no shame AND has a hard time reading a room. Can and will ask their friends and loved ones embarrassing things, incredibly seriously, at terrible times. The same applies to intimacy and sex, too.

Is a lightweight and a very emotional drunk. It's pretty easy for them to get black-out drunk and it's for that exact reason they don't drink.

Before meeting Krow, Dakota had never felt any kind of sexual attraction or even arousal. Now that they have, they are completely insatiable.

On that note, one of their kinks is marathon sex~

"Oh, hey!! You're here!! Oh, this is great! You wanna go get something to eat??? ....Okay, let's go shopping instead! Time spent with you is time spent well, bestie!"

[dakota-and-paris]

Ooc

Hi guys!! I'm going to post something tomorrow but I intend to make the interrogation of the Unown T tomorrow a little more interactive than the arc has been so far and allow you guys to ask questions which will be answered by the lil guy :D

I also have prepped a background to draw Paris and the tiny guy onto, with maybe some little things going on behind them too, but if you'd like to ask any questions to the Unown (about where Dakota is, about what Darkrai or Giratina could want, for example, can also ask silly questions too!) I will have them answer them tomorrow with accompanying imagery like a classic ask blog.

I. Don't know if any of what I just said makes sense I'm tired lol. But regardless here's the mock-up of what it's gonna look like :)

I unfortunately won't have much time to work on the art portion until after I'm done with work but I think it'll be fun regardless <3

[good-night-space-kid]

Just because you've mentioned it a couple times... Can we see the WWII era army field jacket it sounds really cool 🥺👉👈

Ask and ye shall receive! I'm super excited about it so lets go. I'm only 5'2 and pretty petite overall, so I never find things that fit me but I found it at an estate sale for $44 which is actually a steal because they usually sell for around $200 and I've been looking for a good windproof coat that I can comfortably wear layers under. Also the pockets are huge. I don't have any connection to the former owner, but I am going to leave the name tag on it as I fear it has been unevenly sun bleached and it completes the look anyways.

This specific jacket style is actually one that I have a bit of personal history with lol. I have a side blog so I don't post about it on here, but back in 2020 I was obsessed with Band of Brothers and it was also around the same time that I came to terms with being trans and started thinking about what I wanted to look like in the future, and it turns out the achievable answer to that question is Donnie Wahlberg as Carwood Lipton 😂 Honestly that could go for anybody in that show, but Lipton is 100% the most likely body type for me in 15 years given my family history. In BoB, they wear this jacket or ones very similar during a lot of the episodes because it was pretty standard issue. I've attached proof. Mine doesn't have any of the patches other than the name though, which I don't think their have.

If you're interested in specifics, what I have is an M1943/M-43 field jacked produced for the US Army in 1943. I attached a photo of the label below because I think it's fun that it includes all these little details. It's partially coming off, so I need to sew it back on. It was meant to be worn over a pile jacket or other insulated layer, so it's not super insulated.

It's apparent too dark in my room for photos even with all the lights on, but this is what the inside looks like. It's mostly canvas and has this draw string so you can tighten it on the waist. I have it tied off, but probably should tighten it tbh. I attached another photo to show how it looks tied where it is.

This is how it looks open (ignore that i have something heavy in the one pocket lol). It's missing a button on the opening, and there would normally be an extra button on each cuff to tighten the cuffs more, and I plan on ordering some new ones to replace those. The jacket is a little big on me as well, but as you can see in the above photos they are supposed to be layered under and fit pretty loose, even on the shoulders.

There a couple different ways you can button it to have the collar lie differently. I love in North Dakota and it's very cold and windy so I wear a hat and scarf everywhere so this is my most commonly used configuration

You can also wear the collar button further up. I didn't tuck the end of the collar in on the mid button, whoops. Fully button it comes up about to my chin (as it should) so it does offer decent wind protection even without a scarf.

Overall it's turned out to be pretty perfect! It fits really nice and is very comfortable to layer under and has big pockets, which is pretty much all of the criteria I wanted in a new (to me) coat. It doesn't have a hood, but I could find one if I wanted. It's surprisingly windproof, which you definitely need in North Dakota, so it's working great as a lightweight cold weather jacket!

[pbandjesse]

We are driving though glacier national park and I could cry it's so beautiful. Today has been so beautiful. I am seriously having the best trip. 

It has been a very long day, both figuratively and literally. Because we cross two timezones we gained hours! And it's just been really neat.

I did not sleep a lot last night. After I got my post up I decided I would stay up for Minneapolis even if it wouldn't be until midnight. But the stop isn't actually in Minneapolis, it's in St Paul. But it was still fun to sit and watch things go by I loved so dearly. 

And I just watched videos and watched the world go by. 

James woke up to use the bathroom and sat with me for a little bit. I had gotten a little upset when I realized I lost the back and battery of my Bluetooth remote for my phone camera. I was sure it was in this cabin but with the beds set up I could not find it. And it made me feel really dumb and bad. But James helped me feel a little better because we went to sleep for real. 

I was woken up by the sunrise. James was trying to come down from the top bunk and I grabbed their foot. We cuddled a little. But then it was time to get dressed. Which was a little hard but basically like changing in the back of the car so it was fine. And then it was time for breakfast. 

Which was very good! Mine did get lost for a little. It eventually came out after getting stuck in the dumbwaiter.  I got a breakfast quesadilla which I would enjoy very much. James had French toast. We talked to the women at our table a little but they weren't super chatty. Which was fine. I enjoyed James's company. And once we were done we went back to the cabin, where our attendant had changed our space back to seats. 

We would just enjoy watching the world go by. We would talk. And take pictures. Lots of laughs. I did some drawing. And eventually we got to go outside for a little break in North Dakota. We walked the length of the train and took pictures. And then it was back inside. 

They told us lunch would be at noon mountain time. So we had some extra time. We hadn't even switched to that time zone yet. But that was just fine. I had the rest of my quesadilla and played a game. It was just so beautiful outside and I was having the best day. 

Eventually we got the call for lunch, our table mates from yesterday basically run past our door so we ran after that. It was very silly and we were all giggling at how dramatic we were being. 

Lunch was good! I just had a salad, it was nice to have some kind of vegetable. It was a strawberry salad which isn't my top pick but I actually enjoyed a lot. The movement of the train is a little hard on my tummy though and I would get nauseous really quick so that is something I have to consider with the foods I choose. But the salad was good and I felt happy. Me and James shared a butter cake. Our table mates this time were our neighbors! And it was very fun talking to them about my thesis and art. They were very good sports about me talking to much. I was telling James I know that Europeans can think Americans are a lot, but Americans can already think I'm a lot so I hope I didn't scare them. They are very nice.

Me and James went to the observation car next. And while it is neat, I prefer our car. We can be cozier, my things are there, I have my activities. But we stayed there for about an hour. I listen to the rest of the scary story I had been listening to. And James worked on figuring out how to fix the airport mistake.

Somehow we got a return flight to an airport in Virginia. 2 hours from home. So thankfully we were able to find a car to rent but it was just not what I was hoping we were going to have to do. But there are no flights direct to bwi, so unless we want a 20 hour layover this is our best choice. If something has to go wrong I'm glad it was just that. 

We went back the our car after that was sorted. Where I found the back of my shutter! I was thrilled. 

We would take silly pictures in the cabin. And I just felt so happy and relaxed. I did some sewing. I did some drawing. I was just in a great mood. 

We were finally in mountain time. And a little into Montana we got another fresh air break. At this stop we got to see an old train that I think was the former empire builder engine car. We took pictures with that and were just enjoying the sunshine even if we forgot our sunglasses and could not see without squinting. We were just giggly and happy and this has been such a wonderful trip so far and it's literally just the begining. If the rest of the trip is half as fun it'll be a blessing. 

The rest of the afternoon was watching the plains. It is unreasonably pretty. And I took over 130 pictures just today because it's so stinking pretty. 

And then it was dinner time. The woman we sat with wanted to see our wedding pictures and had lots of questions and that made me feel so good. She said we were such a fashionable couple and that was such a big compliment. Made me feel great. And the dinner we had was good too. I got Mac and cheese, James got a steak. It was fun watching on the map to see when we went through the Blackfoot Indian reservation, and all of us were speculating when we would get to the mountains. 

Me and James went back to the cabin and watched the world. We fixed our bags a bit so tomorrow will be easier for packing to move out of here and arriving in Seattle. We saw some interesting things. Like pheasants, antelopes, bleached bones, and even a child mooning the train. Hilarious. 

But all I cared about were the mountains. I was practically vibrating with excitement once we could see them out in the distance. As we edged closer I saw a white fox and a beaver and a horse that had left it's fence. But then the mountains were closer. And they were beautiful. My pictures don't do them justice. I'm so glad we got to see them for almost two hours before the sun went down. Because it was everything. We saw meandering water, babbling brooks, we went under tunnels and saw cabins and snow. We went through clouds and fog. It was just. Magical. 

But I did lose service as soon as well got up here. So this post won't be there when I want it to. But as soon as I can get it up I will. I apologize but I'm on my honeymoon so you don't get to be upset with me. Just know I am having an absolute blast. 

Tomorrow we should arrive in Seattle in the early afternoon. We will see when it actually happens. We are both excited for full showers and a hopefully big bed. But also I'm excited to see another place! 

I hope you are all having fun as well, sleeping good and appreciating the nature around you. Goodnight!! 

[creativecuteness]

Welp it's done, might not look the greatest, Mabel's line art is the wrong color and Dakota might look a bit weird, but you know what I don't really care. Anatomy is not my strong suit as of right now, it was just fun to draw something without worrying about the quality this was just a simple line art skitch anyway so no harm no foul. Or at least I hope it is anyway.

Take it or leave it, love it or hate it you'll be seeing more of these two again soon

Program Ibis Paint PC version (It's got a time limit I recommend Fire alpaca or just getting the app on tablet.)

Character's used Dakota Natalie (OC)

Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls

[butterflyintochains]

Reaching The Summit

Two wonderful years after her return to tennis in 2024, and getting together with the two loves of her life after the worst trauma she's ever been through, life is good for World Number Eight, Gabriella Lemieux. She's taken her comeback era slowly, building her career back after her mental health hiatus in 2023. And, it's worked out amazingly so far. The 2026 season has been her annus mirabilis so far. With titles in Indian Wells and Stuttgart, as well as her first slam final in Melbourne.

Now, the Whistler Trio land in London for Wimbledon.

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

She might be getting ahead of herself, which isn't something Renee would usually like, but this might just be the one. Gabriella has never allowed herself to think like this before, even after her return from hiatus. She's always taken every slam attendance as a gift, and never let herself think of winning one until now. But, as she heads down to the tournament complex for media day ahead of the tournament beginning, she thinks that this might just be the one that works out. Elias and Quinn are doing some grocery shopping for them for the week, she's been told to expect a Canucks invasion for this fortnight. The boys are running on the high of winning their first Stanley Cup, so this is going to be fun. Her first media engagement is a short press conference, something all of the top seeds will be doing today. Then, she's given her ID card. Then, the interview rounds, she gets in for her last interview of the day, for ESPN with Todd Martin. ''Good afternoon, Gabriella, how are you feeling ahead of this year's tournament?'' Todd asks her.

Gabriella says, turning her nana's ring on her finger. ''Good. Happy, healthy, confident. I love grass, I love this tournament, very eager to get going.''

Todd asks her, a kind smile on his face. ''Excited to add some silverware to the Cup rings from your boyfriends?'' Gabriella laughs, she hates that she wasn't there to watch that game five against Toronto. ''Yeah, here's hoping. I've no idea how they've handled the turnaround, but I'm glad they have.''

Todd asks her. ''Now, we all know that you like taking things slowly, but are there any little inklings in you that are telling you that this is the one?''

Gabriella candidly says, honest as always. ''There always are, but I just ignore them until things look realistic.'' Her interviews are done after that, and so is she. Gabriella heads home to help put the groceries away. ''When does the draw come out, Ella?'' Elias asks her. Gabriella checks her phone for the order of events. ''Tomorrow, I'm also booked for a session on Court One with Coco.'' Quinn asks her, pressing a kiss to her temple. ''Here's hoping you get a good one.''

Elias nods, running his hand through his hair, somehow they managed to convince him to ditch the buzzcut. ''Amen, Roland Garros was just unfair.''

She's tried to teach her boyfriends about how truly random tennis draws are, about how she never knows who she's facing until the draw actually comes out. But, it seems they love her too much to care. She still hates the Oilers for beating them in the playoffs the year they got together. How has she gotten so lucky? What Angel did she appease two and a half years ago? All she hopes is that Angel lifts her to her first slam title.

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

Round One

Brock, Nils, Conor, and Dakota arrive from home for her first round match on Court Two against Eugenie Bouchard. A rematch of the same match from Roland Garros. First Mondays are always hectic, but Gabriella tapes her pink Head racquets up, gifts to emulate her first ever racquet, the one she still carries in her bags. She takes to the court, and opts to serve first. The sun is shining, it's a lovely day, and she's dead set upon getting this match done quickly. She takes the first set 6-2 with very little fuss, but for Eugenie arguing with the umpire over a line call after she wasted her last challenge on Gabriella's clearly good ace down the middle. She looks to Daniel, the two share an amused look about her opponent's histrionics.

Gabriella races ahead in the second set to a 5-0 lead, and is at deuce on Eugenie's serve. Seems as if her opponent has chosen now to lock in, firing up two amazing serves to salvage the set. ''Game: Bouchard. Lemieux leads by five games to one, and by one set to love.'' Gabriella goes to serve for the match with six Vancouver Canucks watching her. She holds to love, and seals the match. ''Game, set, match: Lemieux, two sets to love: six-two, six-one.''

After handshakes, on court media, and a shower, Gabriella goes for her press conference. ''Amazing match, Gabriella, how important is it to you to get these early matches done quickly?'' Gabriella downs some water, and says. ''Really important, Michael and I are always talking about conserving energy for the stretch ahead, if I'm to make the final eight, these matches must be over quickly.''

Someone from L'Equipe asks her. ''How big was getting drawn against the first Canadian finalist first round?'' Gabriella laughs, and corrects the journalist. ''Singles finalist, Daniel won here in doubles before she lost to Petra in 2014. It's just another match, that was then, this is now.'' It may sound harsh, but it's not like she played Petra herself, everyone plays a one time runner up at some point, right?

She gets home for an early dinner with the gang, Daniel says to her. ''Thank you for bringing me up in your presser by the way, kiddo.'' Gabriella says, forking some pasta. ''Well, you started what the five of us are carrying on, so... besides, Eugenie was a waste of space even when she was good.''

Brock and Conor burst out laughing. ''Meow.'' Brock says. Gabriella shrugs, and says. ''Well, I'm right, aren't I? Leylah and I have both made slam finals, Denis and Felix are working on winning this in doubles, Bianca has won a slam. We're the golden generation.'' Dakota asks her. ''Who have you got next, Ella?''

Gabriella finishes eating, and says. ''Clara Tauson from Denmark. Played her a bit in juniors and a bunch since, so I know her game. We're on Court One on Wednesday.''

That night, Gabriella finishes writing in her journal, and gets ready for bed before the boys do. She throws the windows open, and ties her hair up for sleep. She studies the draw a bit, she could face Bianca in the semis, and Ostapenko in the quarters. She's in the bottom half, so she's dodged Coco and Aryna for now. ''Alright, enough draw studying, time for sleep.'' Quinn says to her.

Gabriella cocks an eyebrow. ''Coming from the captain of the Stanley Cup winners, and his primary alternate.'' They kiss her cheeks, and climb into bed either side of her. ''Got us there, huh?'' Elias says.

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

Round Two

The worst part of tennis has to be the waiting, waiting for your turn to go on court, waiting in the locker room after your match, waiting to see who you're playing next. That's why Gabriella is thankful to be first up on Court One today, so she can play, and get home for some lunch with her boys. Gabriella gets set up, and goes for pictures and coin toss, electing to serve first as she always does. After warmups, they get on with the match. ''Gabriella Lemieux has elected to serve first. Ready? Play.'' Gabriella's first service game goes to deuce, but she closes it out with some expert net play.

The set goes with serve to 4-4. Both players using all of their skill to hold on with each other, this is what matches look like when you've played against someone since you were a teenager. But, Gabriella breaks Clara to thirty to serve for the set at 5-4. ''Game, Lemieux.'' They change ends, and Gabriella serves the set out to two deuces with a massive ace out wide to seal it. ''Game, and first set, Lemieux: six games to four.'' Clara takes her break before set two starts.

The second set is a battle of attrition, going with serve to 6-6 after Clara holds to love. ''Game, Tauson. Tiebreak.'' Gabriella loves tiebreaks, she trains for them most often of all the pressure situations. She quickly races to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak, Clara wins her final service point for 5-1. Gabriella serves up an ace for 6-1, and takes the match after Clara sends a forehand wide. Two down, five to go. She has Annabel for on-court media. ''Gabriella, stunning match today, how are you feeling right now?''

Gabriella smiles, and says. ''I'm feeling great, I've never been better. Having six Stanley Cup winners in my camp helps.''

Annabel smiles, looking up to the boys in her box. ''I can tell, I am getting a new aura from you this year, Gabriella. You seem so much more confident on court this year.''

Gabriella nods, and adjusts her watch. ''Yeah, I'm here to play, I'm here to win. Obviously, I'm taking this each match as they come, but I'm not going down so easy anymore.''

Gabriella gets back to the house for something to eat and some rest. Elias is scrolling through his phone while she rests her legs across his, when six dings sound out around the living room. Gabriella was nodding off on Quinn's shoulder, but not anymore. ''Oh, wow...'' Nils says, breathless.

Intrigued by the stunned faces of her boyfriends, Gabriella asks. ''What's going on?'' Quinn hands her his phone, kissing her head softly. ''The design for our cup rings.'' The design is overwhelming, but beautiful all the same. The team logo in sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds. With the year of victory, the team motto 'All Together, All In' and several other tiny details. ''Wow, all of you are getting one of those?''

Elias nods, and rests his hand on her knee. ''Yeah, all of us.'' Conor asks her a similar question. ''What do you get for winning this, Ella?'' Gabriella hands Quinn back his phone, and says. ''A quarter size replica of the Venus Rosewater Dish, and a members badge - which allows me free use of Wimbledon grounds for life.'' Daniel notes, having already won this title twice in doubles. ''Which means we could move our grass training camp here instead of going to Germany.''

Gabriella says, keeping herself in check as always, there's still a mountain to climb after all. ''That is; if I win this, I've still got five more matches to win to do that.''

Quinn assures her, only the two of them can get through to her sometimes. ''You'll get this done, if today was anything to go off of.'' She so wants to believe him, but she's been burned so many times. But, she has just as good odds as anyone else does, doesn't she?

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

Round Three

Center Court, finally, her first match on the main court. She was expecting to face fellow seed Linda Noskova, but she lost on Wednesday to Daria Saville in a massive three set match just after Gabriella herself beat Clara. She gets in from physio, and goes to get ready for her match. Her racquets are all prepared, she gets changed into her whites, and waits for her signal by praying. Finally, at two, she and Daria are called for their match, and walk down to the court entrance. They'll be playing under the roof today, British summer is nothing if not rainy when it wants to be. James Keothavong is umpiring the match, and does the coin toss, Daria wins and elects to serve first. They do photos, and get on with warmups. ''Ready? Play.'' Daria's first service game goes to deuce, Daria taking it with some baseline rallying. ''Game, Saville. First game, first set.''

Gabriella races to a 3-2 lead in the first set, the sound in here is deafening with the roof on. But, in time, she's 5-3 up, and has set points. Which she converts to take the set. ''Game, and first set, Lemieux: six games to three.'' Gabriella takes her break after the first set, splashing some water on her face, and moisturizing her hands. She gets back to the court, and holds to love to open the set. ''Game, Lemieux. First game, second set.''

The second set goes with serve to 4-4, Daria holding with three deuces. Gabriella goes up for what she hopes is her final service game. The game also goes to deuce, she serves out wide. ''Out!'' The line judge calls. Gabriella says. ''Challenge!''

James says. ''Lemieux is challenging the call on the left far side line, the ball was called 'out'.'' Hawkeye proves her right. ''Advantage, Lemieux, Lemieux has one challenge remaining.'' The rally goes long, Daria sending a forehand wide. ''Game, Lemieux.'' She follows that up with going 40-15 up on Daria's serve. Daria serves up the line, Gabriella finds the corner, and seals the match. ''Game, set, match: Lemieux. Two sets to love: six-three, six-four.'' She's in the fourth round again! Her third year in a row getting this deep!

After the match, in her press conference, someone from the Tennis Channel informs her. ''Your next match is against Badosa, you had a big match in Rome in May, how will you approach this on grass?'' Gabriella downs some water. ''The same way I do every match: treat it as my first time ever playing her, and stick to my own plans.'' She's lying through her teeth, of course. But, she's not going to tell the world's media that she'll be going in furious about Paula criticizing her for her relationship with Elias and Quinn in Rome two months ago. This is the happiest she's ever been, and she'll have no one talk down to her for it. ''Gabriella, Paula leveled some harsh words your way regarding your relationship in Rome, will that impact your match on Sunday?''

Gabriella snaps a chunk off her energy bar, and eats it. ''I'm not getting into a war of words with anyone. But, I have two men who I love, and love me, and if she doesn't get it, I don't care.''

After press, Gabriella gets home to the boys, and kisses them both on the lips. They take dinner outside that night, it finally being dry enough to eat outside. Then, relax while watching Felix and Denis' doubles match with the guys, Leylah, and Bianca. They're playing two Chinese players. ''Where's Danny?'' Bianca asks.

Gabriella says, resting her head on Elias' shoulder. ''Having dinner with Nenad.'' The match gets going, Denis and Felix off to a roaring start, going up 5-0 in the first set. Sealing it 6-1 with a lovely ace from Felix. ''That's our boy, Oxford!'' Leylah says. She should be resting for her doubles match with Taylor Townsend tomorrow evening. They take the second set in a close tiebreak.

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

Round Four

No more Middle Sunday means a busy day for the bottom half of the women's draw and the top half of the men's. Gabriella is up third on Center Court today. And, the holding pattern begins anew for her after lunch. Finally, at four, they're given the signal to take to the court. Paula leads them out as the lower ranked player usually does. The roof is open today, and it's beautiful. Gabriella is fired up, the ice in her veins that have given her the name 'Ice Queen' replaced with fire from a point to prove. She'll have no one insult her or her boyfriends. Not after Antoine broke her so completely. Renee would tell her to be the bigger person, but she's in the box right now. The umpire does the coin toss, Gabriella winning, and electing to serve. She holds to love with four aces to open the match. ''Game, Lemieux. First game, first set.''

The set goes with serve to 5-5, Gabriella goes up for her last service game of the set, feeling better than ever in her legs and arms. Her game goes to 40-30, and she closes it out with an ace. Paula responds with a hold to fifteen. ''Game, Badosa. Tiebreak.'' They change ends for the tiebreak. Paula wins the opening point after Gabriella nets a backhand. But, Gabriella responds with a point from an overhead after a short rally. ''One-all, new balls, please.''

After 3-2, Gabriella somehow reels off four points in a row to take the breaker and the first set. ''Game, and first set, Lemieux: seven games to six.''

The second set goes much the same way, with serve to 5-5, Paula wins her final service game with a big love hold. But, Gabriella responds with one of her own in just a minute. ''Game, Lemieux. Tiebreak.''

She has no idea how she does it in this heat, but Gabriella reels off five points in a row to go up 5-0 in the second tiebreak. Paula fires up an ace on her service point for 5-1 to salvage the score a bit. But, it's not enough, Gabriella takes the final two points, and the match. ''Game, set, match: Lemieux. Seven-six, seven-six.'' After handshakes, Gabriella blows some kisses to her box, and gets ready for her on-court interview.

Once home, she does a debrief with Daniel while the boys get dinner going. She's up against Ostapenko in the quarters on Tuesday. They review her matches, two straight set wins, and two big threes. ''Her serve is a bit weak this tournament, isn't it?'' Gabriella says, writing that down in her notebook. ''Yeah, the net game is not great either.'' Daniel observes.

Elias puts their plates of pasta down. ''I'd have thought you'd be done with homework at 25, alskling.'' He jokes, pressing a kiss into her hair. Daniel laughs. ''Not in this sport, Elias.''

Quinn kisses them both on the cheek. ''Or in ours, Pistol.'' Gabriella puts her notebook and laptop away, and says. ''I'm technically a year behind on my tennis study as well, since I took almost all of 2023 out.''

They eat dinner, the rest of the team out eating elsewhere tonight. Gabriella finishes eating first, and a mass text goes out to the first quarter-finalists about dress code for the post-tournament dinner. Black tie as always. And, the semi finalists will be taken to get kitted out after their next matches. ''Do you two have suits on hand?'' Gabriella asks the boys while in bed that night.

Quinn nods, and says. ''Yeah, we do, why?'' Gabriella pulls up the text, and says. ''The Champions Dinner is black tie, no sneakers. I'll be taken to get an evening gown after my match.''

Elias says, assuring her. ''We're good on our end. Can't wait to see your dress.'' It's premature, she's still got three matches left to win, but their faith in her is all she's ever wanted. She always had to 'earn it' from Antoine, he always withheld support until she made a final, but here they both are, believing in her so completely.

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

Quarter Final

The match blows by her as if it was a dream, a very simple and straightforward 6-3, 6-3 win over Jelena Ostapenko gets her into the semi finals to either face her best friend or Jasmine Paolini. Her third Wimbledon semi final in a row since her return from hiatus. She's also the only remaining player in the women's draw to not drop a set yet. After that, she is taken to a fancy evening gown shop with Camille to pick up her dress for Sunday night if she wins. If not, she can re-use the gown for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She tries on a few dresses in different colours, one in black, one in red, and one in blue. ''Any inklings, dear?'' The manager asks her.

Gabriella hates this indecision, there are still so many things left over from her mental breakdown three years ago, she says. ''Not yet, Mrs Lockhart.''

Camille proposes, having an idea. ''How about white? This is Wimbledon after all, right?'' Why hadn't she thought of that? White is perfect, she's playing in white, she should celebrate in white. ''I like that idea, Camille, thank you.''

Mrs Lockhart brings out a few white gowns, she tries one on, looking herself over in the mirrors. The dress is Greek inspired, and feels like wearing clouds. ''Ella... you look like a princess.'' Camille says, in awe of her. And, she does, she looks like a totally different person to the woman who just walked off court two and a half hours ago. ''I think this is the one, my boyfriends will love it.'' Mrs Lockhart takes the dress to ring it up for her. ''Boyfriends? Plural?'' Gabriella gets back into her casual clothes. ''Yeah, it's a long story.''

They leave for home with the dress in a garment bag, and a matching clutch bag. Gabriella already has a pair of white heels to match. She gets in with the dress, and hangs it in the wardrobe, the boys are giving her sad looks when she joins them in the living room. ''What's happened, my loves?''

Quinn looks to Elias, as though he can't bring himself to say something. ''Pistol, you tell her, I can't.'' Elias takes her hand, and says to her. ''You're playing Bianca on Thursday.'' Initially, Gabriella feels sick to her stomach, her first title run at a slam might go through her best friend. But, she's a tennis player, she is honed and trained to be ready for anything, even playing someone who means so much to her. ''Oh... okay, that's fine.''

Quinn seems surprised at her acceptance of this match, and says. ''How is that 'fine', Angel? She's your best friend.'' Gabriella takes Quinn's hand in her free one, and says. ''You play your brothers twice a season, honey, it doesn't change how much you love them, does it?'' Quinn shakes his head. ''Bianca and I are basically sisters, we'll be fine. I'm just happy she's back in the deep end of a slam.''

Elias says, also in awe of how calm their girlfriend is. ''How can you be so calm about this, Angel?''

Gabriella laughs, and kisses them both, these two men who healed her heart. ''My medicines, firstly. But, I'm a tennis player, these things happen, I've played both Bianca and Leylah plenty of times, nothing changes for us.'' She also says, thinking it over a bit more. ''If you think about it, it's better like this, really.''

Quinn seems taken aback at that statement, as much as they love her, the differences between their sports are still a bit of a puzzle to solve. ''How is it better?''

She tries to think of a hockey analogy, but finds none available to her. ''If I'm to win this, shouldn't my first slam run include the last Canadian slam champion? Make it more legitimate in that sense?'' Daniel comes in from outside, and says. ''Gabriella is right, boys, the friendship is safe, and this match does lend her some legitimacy.'' Gabriella loves these two so much, even if it's hard to explain these things to them sometimes.

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

Semi Finals

The All-Canadian semi final is the first of the two on Center Court on Thursday. Normally, the two best friends would talk to each other in the locker room, but there's nothing except for silence between them this time. Jessica and Coco are also hanging around, waiting to play their match afterwards. Two Canadians and two Americans in the final four. Safe to say, their era has begun at last. Gabriella and Bianca take to the sunlit court, and get set up for the match. They're taken for photos and the coin toss. ''Gabriella, heads or tails?'' Gabriella says. ''Heads.'' She wins the toss, and elects to serve.

After warmups, they get going. Gabriella racing ahead to a 3-1 lead, with no points lost on serve so far. She goes up for her third service game, which is a comfortable hold to fifteen. ''Game, Lemieux.'' Bianca's next service game goes long, four deuces until Gabriella hits a really good backhand passing shot. ''Advantage, Lemieux.'' The last rally is long as well, Gabriella putting the break away with a volley. ''Game, Lemieux.'' One more game until the ball change, Gabriella holds to thirty to seal the set with a breadstick. ''Game, and first set: Lemieux, six games to one. New balls, please.''

The second set goes with serve to 3-3, when Gabriella breaks Bianca to love to go ahead 4-3 for the second ball change. ''Game, Lemieux, new balls, please.'' However, Bianca pulls out all of her best shots t break Gabriella to love to level it back up at 4-4. ''Game, Andreescu.''

The next two games go with serve to 5-5, but it's a struggle, both games going to deuce. As does Bianca's final service game, Gabriella is fighting for her life at the baseline, Bianca feeding her deep shots, until Bianca nets a slice. ''Advantage, Lemieux.'' She wins the game after Bianca double faults, another break. ''Game, Lemieux.''

Bianca, the slam champion she is, breaks Gabriella to thirty to force a tiebreaker. They have a short sit down before the tiebreak, then get back to work. The tiebreak goes as normal to 6-4, Gabriella having match points, but Bianca comes back to level it up at 6-6. Chasing Gabriella to 8-8 for the next few points. Bianca hits a double fault, giving Gabriella back the lead at 9-8, which she finally puts away at 10-8 in the tiebreak. ''Game, set, match: Lemieux, two sets to love: Six-one, seven-six.''

Gabriella embraces her best friend at the net, shaking like a leaf. ''Go and win this one, Ella.'' Bianca says to her. Gabriella says, voice trembling. ''I will, Bianca, I promise.''

She has her on-court interview with Marion Bartoli. ''Gabriella... that match, the emotions in it, describe them.''

Gabriella takes a deep breath, and says. ''I can't really, I mean, Bianca is one of my best friends, since I was seven or eight, I could not have asked for a better semi-final opponent.'' It's now that the tears come, she finally realizes what's going on. ''And now, I'm in a Wimbledon final!''

Marion chuckles, understanding completely how she's feeling. ''You are, there's one match left. But, I assume you want your boyfriends, yeah?''

Gabriella dries her eyes with her hands, which won't stop shaking. ''Yeah, yeah I do.''

Marion says, looking to her box, where Elias and Quinn are in tears. ''I'll let you go in just a second. Who do you want for your next opponent?'' Taking more deep breaths, Gabriella thinks of how best to answer this. ''I want a good match on Saturday.''

After doping control, and her press conference, Gabriella gets home for a nap. The emotions of today overcoming her, she's in her second ever slam final, her first here, and it's so agonizingly close. Three and a half years ago, she never once dared to dream of a Wimbledon final, and now she's here. She has some time with her boyfriends outside after dinner. ''I'm one match away from my first slam title.'' She says, almost breathless from it.

Elias says, kissing her temple. ''And, we're going to be in your box the whole way on Saturday.''

Quinn says, informing her of who is awaiting her in that final on Saturday afternoon. ''You're facing Jessica Pegula, by the way.'' The defending champion, a rematch of her semi-final from last year, one she lost in three close sets. ''Cool, can't wait.'' They decide to turn in for bed after Gabriella has some time to update her journal.

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

Finals

The team head down to Center Court after breakfast on final Saturday. This has been the longest morning of Gabriella's life, she's taken her meds, checked and triple checked her bags, and revised her match notes hundreds of times. Denis and Felix have just won the doubles title together as the team arrive for the singles final. They get checked in, Camille hugs her before going to the box. Elias and Quinn kiss her lips, and follow her. The next time she kisses them, she'll either be a champion or a runner-up. Michael gets her conditioned in the gym. ''Alright, Ella, I'm handing you over to Danny and Renee. Good luck, we're with you.'' He says. Gabriella embraces him, and turns to her parents. ''We love you, Ella, and we're so proud of you already.'' Her dad says.

Her mom says. ''Stay calm, and look to us if you need strength.'' Gabriella nods, and says. ''I will, I love you both so much.'' They go off to the box to take their seats. She's slowly shedding her entourage. She runs over strategy with Daniel one final time, and he says. ''If you need help, you know where I'll be, kiddo.''

Gabriella nods, and says. ''Always, Danny.'' He too leaves for the support box, leaving her to talk with Renee while she changes for the match. ''Any little worries, ma cherie?'' Renee asks. Smiling brightly, Gabriella shakes her head. ''For once in my life: no, Renee.'' And, for a change, she's not lying, she honestly cannot think of anything she's worried about, for the first time in four years, her mind is clear. ''That's my girl, I'll see you soon.'' Renee hugs her, and heads for the box. Then, she's alone, nana's rosary in hand, praying for victory.

They're given the call to take to the court, and walk out to massive applause. Beautiful bouquets of flowers in their arms from the board. The rest of the Canucks will be back at the house for the match, due to fly home in the morning for their cup days. Gabriella and Jessica set up, and go for photo calls and coin toss, which Jessica wins, and elects to serve. After warmups, it's off to the races. ''Jessica Pegula to serve. Ready? Play.'' Jessica holds to love to seal the first game. ''Game, Pegula. First game, first set.''

The first set goes with serve to 5-5, Gabriella saving a set point on her fifth service game. Jessica holds to two deuces to go ahead 6-5, and breaks Gabriella to thirty to seal the first set. ''Game, and first set, Pegula: Seven games to five.'' The first set of the whole tournament Gabriella has dropped. She takes her break after the end of the set, coming back with a fresh pair of shoes on.

The extra grip does wonders for her into the second set, she goes up 3-1, feeling much more settled in now. In game five, Jessica holds to love to salvage the scoreline. ''Game, Pegula.'' Not to be outdone, Gabriella holds to love to go ahead 4-2. ''Game, Lemieux.''

Jessica chases her in the scoreline to 5-4 and a ball change. Gabriella will have to serve for the set, she goes up 40-15 in no time, and serves up an ace that's called 'out'. ''Challenge!'' She quickly says. The umpire says. ''Lemieux is challenging the call on the service line, the ball was called 'out'.'' Hawkeye proves her right. ''Game, and second set, Lemieux: six games to four. Players are tied and one set all, first set: Pegula.'' Jessica goes for her break between the sets. It's now that Gabriella notices that she's playing in front of the Princess of Wales, and tires to not get swept away by that. This is just another match, after all.

The third set is mostly Gabriella, she goes up 3-1 in just under twenty minutes. Jessica holds to one deuce to get her serve back at 4-2. ''Game, Pegula.'' Gabriella goes up to serve before the final ball change of the match, she's taken all the way to two deuces, but holds tight for 4-2. ''Game, Lemieux. New balls, please.'' She's two games away from her first slam title.

They exchange holds for the next two games, the set going to 5-3, but Gabriella is one game away, Jessica is two away. It's so close, closer than it was in Melbourne where Aryna blew her off the court in two hours. Jessica goes up for her service game, and the rally goes long, Gabriella winning with a beautiful volley. ''Love-fifteen.'' Three points left. Jessica deals up a soft serve, which Gabriella answers with a forehand passing shot. ''Love-thirty.'' Two points away now. Jessica serves an ace to stay in it. ''Fifteen-thirty.'' The next rally goes long as well, Jessica sending a backhand long. ''Fifteen-forty.'' One more point left. Jessica serves, Gabriella nets a backhand, the nerves taking over for a bit. ''Thirty-forty.'' This is fine, still one final point to win, it's okay. Jessica serves, the rally goes to ten shots, Gabriella putting it away with a backhand down the line. ''Game, set, match: Lemieux, two sets to one: fife-seven, six-four, six-three.''

It's all a blur from there, the hug at the net, her tears on court, running up to her box to be mobbed by her people. Four years ago, she didn't even want to be alive anymore, and now she's a Wimbledon champion. She returns to her bench floating on air, and gets herself ready for the trophy ceremony. Jessica is presented with the runner-up trophy, and gives a lovely speech to her box, and congratulates Gabriella. ''Ella, as a friend, I'm so proud of you. You've not had the easiest career, it's been hard watching the struggles you've been through. If I was gonna lose to anyone, I'm glad it was you, Angel. You and your team deserve this so much.'' Gabriella dries her eyes again.

Finally, Gabriella is presented with the Venus Rosewater Dish, she holds it high, and takes a few deep breaths before making her speech. ''First, an honour to finally meet you, your highness.'' She says to her future queen. ''I'm glad my first slam win was in this country, Canada and the UK are family.'' She says, holding her trophy close. ''First, to my friends and family - none of this would be possible without you here to hold me up when I need it. Camille - thank you for taking me on all those years ago. Renee - thank you for being an ear when my mind betrays me. Michael and Daniel - I'd not be here at all without you both, thank you for taking a risk on a teenager when you did. All of you mean the world to me.'' She looks to her boyfriends. ''Elias, Quinn - when we met, I was still healing from horrible trauma, and you two are all of my missing pieces, I love you both more than you'll ever know. This is going to look great with your cup rings.'' She gives credit to Jessica's team, and addresses her friend last. ''Jess, Mama Bear, I am so lucky to be your friend, and have you in my life, I'm so happy to have had this match against someone I care about, thank you for giving me a fight, thank you for being my friend, thank you for being someone the New World Kids lean on.''

After her victory lap, she's escorted inside for photos, and a chat in private with the princess. After that, she presents the trophy to the crowds outside from the balcony. Then, finally, she's reunited with her team. The trophy is taken for engraving. ''Wait, why did they take it?'' Quinn asks.

Gabriella says, kissing him again. ''It needs engraved, I'll get my replica tomorrow night.''

Elias says. ''You've done it.'' Gabriella laughs, and shakes her head, correcting him. ''No, Lias, we've done it.''

After doping control, showering, and changing; Gabriella goes for her final press conference, and gets back to the house to a party. One which she retires early from to take a well-earned nap. That was three hours of battle, plus a further two of ceremony. The boys join her not long after, three champions in one bed.

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

Sunday

Taylor won the men's title a couple of hours ago, a massive five setter against Tsitsipas. The first American men's winner since Sampras. Gabriella is ecstatic for her friend, Taylor always looks so disappointed in himself for even losing a set, so she's happy that he gets to be a champion for once. Camille is helping her get ready for the Champions' Dinner, where she'll get to dance with her friend instead of a sexist with his equally sexist girlfriend watching them. They've opted for a simple wavy half-updo decorated with white flower pins. Her makeup is also simple but for a silver and gold eye. Gabriella gets into her gown and heels, and adjusts her necklaces. ''Oh, don't forget this.'' Camille pins her members badge to her dress. Now, she's ready. She meets the boys, all suited and booted, downstairs. ''Well, don't you two look handsome?'' Gabriella says, kissing them both.

Quinn says. ''Well, we've gotta keep up with you, don't we? You look like a goddess.''

Gabriella confesses, smoothing her white dress down a bit. ''I feel like one too.''

Placing a hand on her back, Elias says. ''So you should.'' Their limo arrives, and they're driven to the clubhouse, and welcomed into the hall. All decked out with plants and crystal decorations. They find Taylor and Morgan, who look amazing themselves. ''Thought you'd go with white.'' Morgan says, looking beautiful in seafoam green. Gabriella laughs, and says. ''When in Rome, y'know?'' She hugs Taylor as well after he greets her boyfriends. ''Here we are, Taylor!'' Taylor beams down at her, still taller even when she's in four inch heels. ''Here we are, Ella.''

Elias asks as they are lead to their table. ''How does tonight go, then?''

Taylor says, helping Morgan to her seat. ''We're presented with our replicas, make speeches, and have our dance.'' Gabriella adds, they were briefed about this in a text after the men's final was done. ''Then; dinner, and we get to relax.''

The wheelchair champions and all three doubles teams are presented with their trophies, then Gabriella and Taylor go up onto the stage. They're interviewed about their runs to their titles, and given their trophies before sharing the first dance of the night, a slow waltz to accommodate how tired their legs are. They're finally taken for photos before joining everyone again for dinner. ''That was really nice, guys.'' Quinn says.

Morgan asks them. ''How do cup parties look compared to this?'' The boys share a cheeky look, something clearly happened at Trevor's cup party they haven't told Gabriella about. ''Not as civilized as this, let's just put it that way.'' Elias says.

The quintet eat dinner and talk about the tournament while a highlight reel plays on a big screen. Gabriella can barely believe she's sitting here, there will always be that evil part of her brain that tells her she's living someone else's life. That says she doesn't deserve any of this, but that part of her grows smaller every year. This is her life, and no one can take it from her. Dinner is done, and the quintet watch the dancing from their table. Then, join the party after some time to talk to some of the board.

The trio leave at ten, and head home to get some quiet time together. They change for bed, and the boys get into bed together. Gabriella undoes her hair, removes her makeup, and does her skincare before writing in her journal. Finally, with aching feet, she slides into bed between her boyfriends, they all share kisses, and get some well-earned sleep. ''I love you both so much.''

Quinn says, kissing her shoulder. ''I love you both as well.'' Elias kisses her forehead. ''I love you too, both of you.'' Two hockey boyfriends and their tennis girlfriend finally get some rest.

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

Vancouver

The Whistler Trio got home a few days ago, the emotions and jet lag finally wearing off after four days. They're happy to be home with the cats and Finn at any rate. But, today is a special day for them. Gabriella will be presenting her Wimbledon trophy to the team. They're up early, dressed nicely, and Gabriella packs the trophy into its travel case. After breakfast, they head down to Rogers Arena, and are met by Allvin and Rutherford. ''Congratulations on the slam title, Gabriella.'' Rutherford says.

Gabriella smiles, still very tired from all the action over the last two and a bit weeks. ''Thank you, sir. I'll get the trophy out in a bit.'' They stop on their way to admire the team's first Stanley Cup, Gabriella reads the names of the team on the cup, both of her boyfriends' names are the first two names on the top row of the team's section. ''God, it's beautiful, wish I could've been here to see you win it.'' She says. She was busy in Paris at the time.

Allvin says to her. ''You had every reason of your own to miss the final, Gabriella.''

They carry on to the team's common area, where Gabriella is mobbed in hugs from the team. Teddy is ecstatic, and says. ''Show us the trophy!'' She's surprised at how excited Teddy and Arturs are, given she beat one of their own to win this trophy. Gabriella sits down to take the trophy replica out, and pin her members badge onto her white summer dress. She proudly holds the trophy in her hands, still as perfect as it was last Sunday. ''Here it is, my replica of the Venus Rosewater Dish! And, my members badge.''

JT looks at the engravings, and says. ''It's beautiful, is your name on it?''

Gabriella nods. ''Yeah, on the back with the year, and my nationality.'' Thatcher says, drinking some coffee. ''First of many on both ends, hopefully.''

Jake asks her, sitting next to Elias on her left side. ''What's the badge for?''

Gabriella explains, still holding the trophy, she's already so attached to it. ''I'm now a member of the club at Wimbledon. So, this badge means I have free use of the facilities there for life. All champions get one.'' She adds with a smile. ''Which means; no more training camp in Germany! I can go straight to London from Paris if I want to.''

Filip asks her. ''Where are you ranked now?'' Gabriella puts the trophy back in its case, and pulls her phone out to check. ''I went in as Number Eight, I'm now Number Five.'' She adds, speaking to the guys. ''When do you get your rings?''

Tyler Myers says, almost as if he can't believe he's being asked that. ''Early October.'' Gabriella nods, and checks her schedule, she's in Japan that week, with a title to defend. She'll see what she can do with Camille in that time, she wants to be present when they get their rings.

A couple of days pass, Gabriella finally has her trophy shelves sorted out with all of her trophies looking nice together. Her slam trophy is next to her comeback award from 2024. Those two bookend her journey to being who she is now. Her Dubai trophy is right next to them with her Montreal trophy. She's won a grand slam, it'll probably take a while to sink in with her. But, at least it can sink in at the same time as the cup win does with her wonderful boyfriends.

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

This took forever to work out! Still kinda sick, but on the mend thankfully. Wanted to save this up for a big milestone post as well, so this'll be my 1000th post! Loved working on this fic, even if it took forever. I also wanted all of Gabriella's matches to feel significant to her personally, having her beat two fellow Canadians on the way was important, one of whom is her best friend. Having Taylor win the men's title was the cherry on the cake as well. So was having the Canucks win the 2025/26 Stanley Cup. Three champions in one relationship.

So, here it is! Finally done after so long of working on it!

Enjoy!