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moonlight-breeze-44 · 4 years ago

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Information Post!

Hi, all! I realised that I haven’t done an official information thing on Tumblr, so this is that <3

First of all, thank you for being here! I appreciate everyone who stops by this blog, even if it’s just for a quick look. In the wise words of Dean Winchester, you’re awesome.

~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~

A little information about this blog:

- Multifandom blog. Fandoms include: Shadowhunters, Supernatural, Criminal Minds, Leverage, Detroit: Become Human, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Dan and Phil, Supergirl, Rizzoli and Isles, Blue Bloods, The X-Files, Hawaii Five-0, Nancy Drew, The Untamed, the Borderlands video game franchise, FNAF, Scorpion, Devil in Ohio, Hamilton, Rent, House, Law & Order: SVU, Hazbin Hotel, and more micro-obsessions pending!

- Multishipper. While I have favourites for each fandom, I am nothing if not a multishipper, and I write fic for ships that I don't personally ship all the time. If you have a ship that I don't mention here, chances are that I'll probably write for it anyway. Nevertheless, here's a list of my main ships for my main fandoms:

For Shadowhunters -

Malec

Jalec

Jimon

Malace

Lysabelle

Claia

Maiabelle

For Supernatural -

Destiel

Sabriel

Saileen

Dodio

Sam/Ruby

Dean/Bela

For Criminal Minds -

Jemily

Morcia

Hotchniss

Morreid

Hotch/Rossi

For Leverage -

The OT3

Damien Moreau/Eliot Spencer

Sophie/Nate

For Detroit: Become Human -

Reed900

Jericho polycule

For Hazbin Hotel -

Guitarspear

Huskerdust

Chaggie

Appledust

Poly Vees

For Supergirl -

Sanvers

Karamel

Dansen

Supercorp

Director Danvers

Supercat

And alternatively, here's a (much smaller) list of ships that are squicky for me or I won't write:

Tibbs (Tony/Gibbs)

Harmione

Clizzy

Nate/Eliot

Pride/LaSalle

Alec Lightwood with any woman

Tammy Gregorio with any man

Alastor with anyone (unless a QPR or platonic, non-sexual BDSM)

- Shipping rules and expectations. On this blog, I believe in 'ship and let ship' and the age-old fandom testament of 'Dead Dove Do Not Eat', as well as kink tomato. I write dark ships. I write ships that I don't personally like, or sometimes, even endorse. I write RPF. I have written beloved characters as abusers, and I have written "controversial" ships. I will not apologise for any of these things. I believe that everyone has a right to read, write, and create whatever they want as long as proper tags & warnings are utilized. I don't believe in policing anyone's creative expression, nor purity culture in general. Respect is key, and at the end of the day, we're all just friends on the Internet writing shit for one another. You don't know someone else's story, and it isn't on you to judge. On this blog, if you don't like something, you're expected to skip it and move on. Curate your own fandom experience.

- Prompting rules and expectations. While I encourage those who visit this blog to submit whatever prompts they would like to, I reserve the right to refuse any prompt at any time if I do not feel I can write it or don't feel comfortable doing so. I also reserve the right to answer prompts in whatever order I choose, which may not necessarily be in the order that I received them. If you submit a prompt off of anon, I will reach out to you through Tumblr to get your AO3 username and gift the fic to you. If you submit a prompt on anon, the fic will be posted on Tumblr and AO3 without a dedication. Please be mindful when sending in prompts, as I answer these asks publicly and the wording of your prompt will be repeated both on Tumblr and AO3. You are welcome to submit prompts for any of the fandoms listed above, for any ship not listed in my squicks section.

Notes: I am primarily an angst writer, so asks that include angst, hurt/comfort, or trauma will likely be filled much quicker than others. Some of my other writing likes include: mental health issues, self-harm, suicide/suicidal thoughts, abuse, non-con, nightmares, found family, first kiss/getting together, mutual pining, poly relationships, QPRs, non-sexual BDSM, canon rewrites/add-ons, angst with no happy ending, and MCD. I will not write smut or sickfics.

Prompts are: OPEN

- Detailed tagging system. I tag each post I reblog with its respective fandom and character, and I use other identifying tags like 'animals' and 'positivity' for posts that aren't fandom-related.

- Queued up at all times. My Shadowhunters queue will be tagged with ‘fatty queuena’ and my non-Shadowhunters queue will be tagged with ‘curly q’.

- My tag rants and tag headcanons will be tagged with ‘em rambles too much’.

- My work for past prompt challenges (such as Whumptober) can be found under the ‘my masterlists’ tag.

- This is a kind, welcoming place. If you don’t have anything nice to say here, please don’t say anything at all. Fandom drama is unavoidable at times, but this blog is meant to be a safe space. Please keep that in mind.

- Don't be afraid to reach out to me to share thoughts, ask for something, or let me know of anything (like a trigger or some context) that I'm missing!

- My opinions are my opinions and it’s okay to disagree, but I won’t tolerate hate. Respect me and I’ll respect you.

- I tend to get a bit obsessive, so you might see multiple posts about the same thing one after the other at times.

I think that’s it :)

~ ~ ~

My social media + contact info:

Email: [email protected]

Archive of Our Own: MoonlightBreeze

Twitter: brokencomfort

Discord: moonlightbreeze4318

Spotify: Em (I make character + fandom playlists sometimes)

Come join a funny (or should I say punny /ref) farm-themed Discord server for fandom of all kinds here.

I don’t have very much social media, so that’s it ^

~ ~ ~

My Schedule:

- My queue is scheduled to drop one post per day.

- I liveblog Nancy Drew on Twitter sometimes! Check my Twitter on airing days to see if I'm up for a liveblog.

- I do my best to participate in Whumptober every year! You can subscribe to my AO3 to track my progress in October :)

- I participate in lots of Secret Santas every year; please feel free to track my progress online or ask me how it's going!

- I am much more active on weekends when I don’t have work!

This will be updated as needed! :)

~ ~ ~

About Me:

- Em

- She/her

- Disaster, but the fun kind

- Neurodivergent, mental health advocate, LGBTQ+

- I angst the fuck out of every character I write

- On that note, I curse a lot, especially in my tags

- My favourite colour is blue

- I write in British English, even though I’m not British

- Generally don’t know what the fuck I’m doing

- Hobbies include reading, writing, binge watching TV shows, playing video games (badly), driving around for no particular reason, listening to music, and baking

I think that’s it for now. Thank you to everyone who’s read this far! <3

~ ~ ~

If you still have questions or you’d like to get to know the person behind the keyboard a little more, don’t be afraid to drop an ask or send me a message! I’ll respond as soon as I can.

With that, I hope that you all have a wonderful day/night! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I’m so glad you’re here. <3

~ Em

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void-kissed · 2 years ago

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actually you know what while I remember

I have now officially added.. *checks the carrd* SEVEN new familial F/Os to my carrd! ..All of which are my own OCs, haha.

In no particular order, we have:

Tobias and Charlotte, who are FE3H OCs I created to be my self-insert Catarina's older (half-)siblings! They would appear as part of her Paralogue and then also be the people in charge of the Battalions you get from successfully completing that Paralogue; not super major characters, but an important aspect of Catarina's own theme of family. Charlotte is a Falcon Knight but also went to the Royal School of Sorcery in Fhirdiad and still currently lives in Faerghus, while Tobias is a gauntlets user (maybe a War Master?) who went to the Officers Academy as a Blue Lion, so probably also would still stay in Faerghus as well. Their tags are going to be "sister: azure stormrider (charlotte)" and "brother: indigo gauntlets (tobias)" respectively!

Ruby, who as previously mentioned (quite recently in fact) is my fankid for my selfship with Pyra. I still don't have a tag for her yet, but she's on the carrd now, since I hadn't done that prior to now!

Mistral, Rime, and Virga, who are my fankids for my selfship with Aqua! Specifically, they're a trio of Keyblade wielders apprenticed to Aqua, but we very much have a familial dynamic with all three (as shown by their names all being types of weather phenomena, reflecting Aqua and Aria's names meaning "water" and "air" respectively). For reference, Mistral's tag is "son: masterly gales (mistral)", Rime's tag is "child: feathered frost (rime)", and Virga's tag is "child: raining skyfall (virga)". I'm still in the process of figuring out each of their characters, but having their names finalised is definitely helping with that!

And finally, yet another fankid, Sophie! She is my fankid for my selfship with Skye, because.. I forgot you can canonically have a child in his game, haha. I still haven't figured out a tag for her yet, but.. she exists now! And maybe one day I'll have a save file with her in it, as well.

So, yeah, that's all those! I might possibly use some of my remaining sparkles to talk about some of them if that's alright, just so that a) every sparkle ask from that batch has been for a different OC or version of an OC that I selfship with in some way, and b) I get to have fun developing each of their characters more. Or, if anyone has any specific questions, they're welcome to ask those as well!

I'm just doing this because it's fun ^-^

#a call from the void #heart of the void #selfshipping #oookay this is going to be a lot of tags #sister: azure stormrider (charlotte)#brother: indigo gauntlets (tobias)#who are the siblings of the briefly-mentioned #self‑insert: lone lynx (catarina)#of war and tactics (fire emblem)#then #daughter: ruby tag pending #of gods and titans (xenoblade chronicles)#and then the weather trio (not in a pokémon way)#son: masterly gales (mistral)#child: feathered frost (rime)#child: raining skyfall (virga)#selfship: survivors of the dark (aqua/aria)#of hearts and friendship (kingdom hearts)#and *then*#daughter: sophie tag pending #familial F/Os #my OCs #selfshipping fankids #*hopefully that's all the tags*#if i'm not careful i'll be up when my writing posts and that's.. probably not going to be the best for my emotional state #so i really should get ready to sleep now ;w;#hopefully all this rambling is okay

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demcnsinmymind · 1 year ago

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@pantslessoptimism sent : need a ride? | From the depths of my meme tag | Always Open!

Sure enough. From the outside, it totally might look like he needs a ride. Seemingly standing around in the middle of nowhere, nothing else but a notepad, a phone and a camera in hand. But he's here for work. And most of the time, that would be enough to get him all annoyed the second anyone dares interrupt his little thought bubble. Considering how...boring this place has turned out to be though, he's anything but irritated this time, actually meets her gaze with a smirk when he looks up from his notepad.

"My parents told me not to talk to strangers in cars. So no thanks" he replies, but the look on his face makes it obvious that he's joking. He puts the notepad down and casually walks over to her car, pointing behind himself with the pen still in his right hand.

"I'm parked way over there. So really, I'm good. Thanks for the offer though" he says through a smile, figuring that since they're talking already, he might as welll...

"I might just need some info from you though. I'm thinking about shooting a show around here. People say this stretch of road is haunted. You know anything about that?"

#pantslessoptimism #sophie tag pending #i'm shooting a tv show : pre collingwood

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miss-smrxtiee · 4 years ago

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-Forgetfulness-

Ch.2- The Forgotten and the Lost.

The Elementalists AU

Beckett Harrington x f!MC (Ellie Valentine)

Summary: An incident causes Ellie to loose her memory, what lengths will Beckett and the Pend Pals go to to ensure her saftey?

Warnings: none really, memory loss and “kidnappin’”

A/N: Memory loss AU

Tag list:

@vampireblissblog @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @holystxne @oofchoices @kinkypot @choicesstan1 @sophie-and-shizuku @herarmoredheart if you would like to be added just lmk!

I unfortunately do not own these characters I only own Ellie, my MC.

Masterlist -series masterlist there as well.

——————————————-

Beckett’s POV.

Panic settles as Beckett frantically searches the room, not even Alma and/or The Dean are here.

W-what?!? Where did she go? Did they take her? They promised not to keep secrets but this doesn’t seem okay...

Becket speed walks to the desk and asks the nurse about the situation.

“I’m sorry sir but we can’t give out information unless you are specifically in her emergency contact list.” The nurse replied. Beckett sighed, running a hand through his hair before nodding and going back to the lounge room where the Pend Pals where waiting for updates.

“Sh-she’s gone.” Beckett says, panting from running up the stairs. They all look at him with confused looks.

“Whose gone?” Atlas asks standing up narrowing her eyes.

“...Ellie?” She guessed. Beckett could only nod.

“Where the hell is she?!?” Zeph said, putting the ping pong paddles that he and Griffin where playing with away.

“I just knocked on the door and I heard nothing and walked in to absolutely nobody there, the lights where on and the covers where thrown over so something must’ve taken her.” Beckett explained, still in shock himself. He ran a hand through his hair again before speaking.

“I asked the nurse and she said only emergency contacts could be given information.” He explained further while Atlas perked up.

“I’m on the list, she had me put on during the summer.” Atlas quickly said before walking out to the stairwell. The others just shrug and follow behind.

They reach the desk and the nurse turns her attention to the group.

“Hello, how can I help you?” The nurse politely asked.

“Can you tell me any news on my sister? I’m on the emergency list.” Atlas said briefly before the nurse checked and nodded.

“It looks like Ms. Valentine was admitted roughly an hour and a half ago and the Dean requested the equipment for their procedure” the nurse flipped the chart, her eyes scanning over the page before continuing. “And ithe Dean requested more equipment once again about 10 minutes before she was discharged. but it’s strange, it’s not the equipment they would use for the spell the Dean informed us on. They had no help from the nurses per request.”

That’s not strange at all.... Beckett sarcastically said in his head.

“Did they say where they where going?” Atlas’ brows furrowed and you could tell she was starting to get worried.

“I’m afraid not, they didn’t leave through the doors though, they walked to our mirror room down the hall with her over that strange ladies’ shoulder. They also called a code Blue. During that 10 minutes before hand but it seems as though they had it under control.”The nurse answered before resting the chart down.

Wait... code blue? Beckett thought back to that chart in the hallway.

Life Threatening?!?!?

“Did that lady have a red cloak and short brown hair?” Atlas asked tapping her fingers against the flat surface of the front desk.

The nurse nodded and Atlas thanked her before walking away, clearly lost in thought.

“Should we go to the mirror room? Surly you know a spell that could track their magick.” Griffin said while walking up next to her.

“Usually I would say yes but these mirrors are more commonly used by doctors and paitents and it would be harder to track because the magick would be drowned out.” Atlas answered tapping her chin in thought.

Everyone looked up at Beckett who was practically shaking from worry.

“Man, you okay?” Zeph asked clapping his hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, you look like you need a spa day.” Shreya said checking her nails.

Beckett couldn’t believe how calm they where about everything. “Code blue means life threatening! Something could’ve happened to her!” Beckett said. They all looked at him with worried expressions.

“ Alma and Swan rolled her out and discharged her then that means she’s okay.” Griffin stated gesturing to the mirror room.

“How are you guys not worried about this?!? Ellie could be in danger! And how could we trust Sawn after last years ‘incident’ where she didn’t tell us anything for our ‘saftey’” Beckett wasn’t pleased with his friends way of looking at the situation.

“Swan promised us she wouldn’t play anymore games since the whole Raife thing, and she wouldn’t let Alma do anything.” Atlas says back.

“Well wouldn’t they tell us that they where taking us?”

Before any of them could respond...

“ribbit.”

“What was that?”

“blorg.”

Suddenly, Zeph feels a cold goo settle into is scalp and they look to find Tim contently lying atop his head.

“Wait... why isn’t Tim with Ellie?”Shreya asked walking over to stroke the frogs back.

“I’m not sure...” Atlas said deep in thought.

“Maybe Tim can bring us to Ellie!” Beckett said and walked up lifting the slimey pet into his hand

“hey bud, can you find Ellie for us?” Beckett asked the Gorge.

“blug” the frog blinked slowly at the student and looked at him with confusion.

“Here lemmie try and get him to go to the either to find her.” Griffin replied taking Beckett’s place with the frog in his own hand this time.

“Come on little guy, can you go to the either to check on Ellie for us?” Griffin asked

The only response they got was...

“Blurged” Tim’s eyes slowly flutter asleep and they all sigh.

Every instinct in Beckett’s body told him something was wrong but he couldn’t tell what. Ellie was with Alma and the Dean and they all knew they could trust them.

They where on her side after all.

Atlas takes Tim in her hand and starts to examine him and Beckett notices Tim isn’t like himself. He’s more stoic and he’s usually very cheery and bubbly like Ellie but something was off.

“We should go to Professor Kontos...” She says briefly, only to be met by confused faces.

“Why? Professor Kontos doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Shreya exclaimed, clearly starting to worry more.

“Professor Kontos’ class is where Ellie got Tim, right?”

They all nod.

“Well Tim isn’t being himself and if anyone knows how to figure out what’s wrong, it’s him.”

“She has a point” Beckett said tapping his chin and the others agree it was a solid plan and walk towards his office.

Atlas frantically knocks on the greenhouse door to the Professor’s office and the door swings open.

“What on earth is wrong here Ms. Erndhart?” He looks around at your group before turning back to Atlas.

“I need you to check on Tim, he doesn’t seem like himself and I’m worried.” Atlas replied.

“Where is Ellie? It’s her Familiar after al-“

A gasp escapes his mouth before he could finish his sentence.

“What?” They all say in usion as he continues to search the small animal.

He motions you with his finger to join him inside, not breaking his gaze from the frog.

You all walk inside to the various plants and herbs growing inside.

“...Do you mind telling me where Ellie is.”

“She’s uh... with the Dean right now.” Shreya replied trying to avoid the plant that’s attempting to sniff her hair.

“That’s strange...”

“What?”

“It seems as though Ellie has completely lost her emotional and spiritual connection to Tim.”

What??!! Beckett’s confusion and worry skyrocket as he explains.

“This sort of thing only happens if the Owner loses any recognition of the familiar or...”

“Or what?” Griffin demands.

“...or the owner is dead.” He finishes.

“Are you kidding me?!? Ellie isn’t dead, we know that much.” Zeph said walking up and taking Tim to pet his cold skin.

“I’m terribly sorry, but if you so desire, one of you can take Tim as your own until if or when Ellie is able to regain her connection with him.”

“I will.” Beckett said without hesitation.

I will?!

Zeph hands Tim to Beckett and he just stares up at him.

“Blurh.”

Don’t worry buddy, we’ll get Ellie back very soon.

A few minutes prior

Alma & Swan

“Hurry!”

“I’m trying!!”

Alma rushes The Dean to carry Ellie out of her room. Ellie was still unconscious and was completely limp as Swan struggled to carry her.

“Oh here I’ll do it.” Alma doesn’t wait for a response and picks up Ellie and lifts her over her shoulder and starts walking towards the mirror room of the hospital.

“Ok then..” Swan follows, still nervous and clammy. She didn’t know how the Pend Pals would react to this. Alma had convinced her this was for her safety but she didn’t know how this would effect her happiness. The amount of growth she saw in Ellie from the first day to now was a sight for sore eyes. She watched Ellie make wonderful friends and save the world, she didn’t want to make Ellie leave that all but Alma said otherwise. They had preformed that spell last minute and quickly rushed to cover it up. Alma apparently had a plan and now Swan would have to tell everyone a lie to also cover it up.

And who am I to go up against the source of all Blood Magick...

“Evelyn? Did you hear me?” Alma said quirking an eyebrow at her as they stood in front of the mirror.

“Huh?!” She snapped her head towards Alma. “Oh sorry, can you repeat that?”

She sighed.

“I need you to use metal magick to open this to Ellie’s childhood home, I know you’ve been there to check on her as a kid so you should have no problem.” She said.

“Oh, okay.” She answered, to afraid to go against her orders.

Swan walks up to the mirror and starts making small hand gestures to conjure the metal magick into the mirror. Her hands softly glow with a faint grey shine to them as the mirror starts to turn into a picture of Ellie’s bedroom. Swan tests the mirror by placing her index finger on the surface of it. Her finger slightly sinks into it and she nods at Alma before walking through.

The room was quite nice, it had fairy lights hung around the room and the bed laid neatly made in the center of the room with a nice window and desk off to the side. The walls where a pale yellow and there where several pictures and plants decorated around the room. Alma swiftly walks over to the bed and lays Ellie down while Swan closes the mirror.

“Whose there?!” They heard Ellie’s foster mother, Mrs. Valentine calling from outside her door.

“It’s Evelyn.” She answered not wanting to scare her. Swan and Ellie’s foster mother where mutual friends through Theia during their college years and became closer when she and her husband took Ellie in. “We have Ellie in here on her bed and her, uh... friend accompanied us.” She added as Ellie’s foster mother walked in.

“Oh my!” She said at the sight of Ellie. “What happened?!”

“Well, you see Ellie was at a tea par-“

“She got hurt during battle and lost her memory, we need you to keep her here and treat her as if she never went to Pendergast. If she starts to remember things, tell Evelyn.” Alma briefly said.

“Way to be subtle about it...” Swan murmured to Alma while Ms. Valentine looks sadly at her daughter.

“What? She’ll remember us right?” They nodded. “Why can’t you retrieve her memories?? There has to be something!” Mrs. Valentine said walking over to sit on the bed and stroke Ellie’s hair.

“We could, but it would take a week or so for her to fully recover from the side effects and the effects of the spell she was attacked with. That’s why I need her here to heal.” She replied.

“Evelyn?” Her mother quirked a brow at her trying to get a second opinion.

“Uh. Yes, she’s right. It’s for the best.”

The group goes over more details of what she needs to do while Ellie is there and to contact them when she wakes up and how she is feeling. Ms. Valentine nods sadly and they open the mirror to walk back to the hospital.

“What will we tell Atlas and the rest of the group?” Swan questions trying to keep up with Alma’s brisk pace.

“Simply tell them she’s recovering and that they don’t need to worry, it’s none of their business anyway.”

“No you don’t understand, Atlas especially won’t stop there. The rest of her friends are just as concerned to and they won’t stop at ‘it’s not their business.’”

Alma sighed.

“Just figure it out, I blocked the mirrors in Ellie’s house and area after we left so they can’t find her, just tell them she’s safe and don’t say another word.” Alma replied.

Guess I can do that.

“Even though I won’t tell them anything I’m going to avoid them so I-“

“Swan!!” She heard Atlas yell from behind her.

Just lovely...

Beckett, Zeph, And Atlas jog up to the pair with worried expressions.

“Where’s Ellie?” Zeph asked.

“Yeah, you left!” Atlas added.

“Is Ellie safe?” Beckett’s forehead creased as he looked at them.

“I’m uh- I just- she!- I mean.” Swan stutterd

Oh boy, this is gonna be a lot harder than I thought...

Phew! Thank you for reading this weeks chapter, I was in writers block for a few days but it’s here and I’ve started on the next chapter for my mini series Vacationing With Distance so I hope you guys enjoy that as well!

-Sol💖

#choices stories you play #pixelberry #choices #playchoices #incorrect quotes #the elementalists #beckett harrington #for the love of god give me pend pals back please

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ardentmuse · 5 years ago

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His Three Girls (Thomas Mendez x Reader)

Choices: Mother of the Year - Thomas Mendez x Fem!Reader (MC)

Wordcount: 1.6

Warnings: fluff, so much fluff, talk of sex

Masterlist

A/N: Just because it is over doesn’t mean I’m any less trash about it. Also, sorry I’ve been MIA. Between my two jobs and my toddler, life has been kicking my ass.

Quick key: Y/D/N - Your Daughter’s Name

Work had been exhausting. Since returning from his honeymoon — two weeks on the beach alternating between enjoying the natural beauty of the water and making slow, passionate, blissful love to his new wife over and over again — Thomas has been spending many late nights catching up on all the case work he had missed. A month now with the new Mrs. Mendez to come home to and he had yet to make it home before dinner.

But things are finally winding down. Pending any major disasters, his latest settlement offer should be accepted by the morning and Thomas could begin enjoying this beautiful chapter of his life he never thought he’d see, one where he comes home to the brilliant faces of not one but two sharp and thoughtful daughters and falls asleep at night holding the strongest, more caring woman against his chest.

Thomas sneaks into his own house, careful not to slam the door as he steps into the threshold. The winter storms are coming on now. Slick sleet is covering the streets and the strange combination of thunderstorms and flurry showers mean Thomas is a little drenched through his coat and his dress shoes need a proper polish.

Thomas strips of his outerwear quietly and slinks into the kitchen. He looks to the clock. The numbers flash 12:00 repeatedly; power outages around the region. Thomas sighed. It could be 10 PM or 4 AM for all his brain knows. He’s just tired.

By the time he makes it to his bedroom door, he’s ready to simply fall in— no brushing teeth or combing hair or stripping down properly. He doesn’t even think he’ll bother peppering his wife with kisses. She also deserves her rest for putting up with his schedule. But when he enters his bedroom — not his but theirs he corrects his brain — he stops dead.

The television mounted on the wall is paused on the credits of some movie he can’t recognize. The fireplace glows with embers still warm and inviting. Mugs of hot chocolate sit mostly finished upon his nightstand. And in the middle of the mattress lay his wife — god, she really is stunning — dressed in her warmest pajamas deep in sleep. On her right lays Y/D/N, nuzzling into her mother’s shoulder and smiling in her sleep. And on his wife’s left is Luz, clinking gently to her stepmom’s hips as she rests her head against her rib cage.

Thomas blinks as he feels tears swell in his eyes. His life, his content but bland life, exploded when Y/N came into it. He really never believed love would find him again but there was no stopping the way you wormed into his mind, warmed his heart, and sent his loins to attention. You reminded him that he was a man, a man capable of loving a woman with every bit of himself, loss or no. And to see you here, in his life, filling it with the kinds of simple joys that make it all worth living, was enough to make him weak for the moment.

My girls.

With a sigh, one of both resignation and longing, Thomas moves slowly to the bed. He kisses his daughter, and then yours, upon the forehead, before turning his attention to you.

He takes in your face, the soft lines and plump curves that he is enjoying memorizing every morning. He brushes a hand across your forehead, pushing away the loose hairs before offering you, in all your perfect motherly essence, a forehead kiss as well.

And with one last look upon his perfect new life, Thomas leaves his room for his office, where he makes do on the sofa bed for the night.

The next morning, Thomas awakens to the smell of pancakes and sausage wafting his way from the kitchen. He hears the laughter of his daughter and the soft hums of you as you undoubtedly sing one of Levi’s new songs as you scramble eggs. His life really was turning into something immeasurably happy.

He only takes a few moments getting ready before he joins you in the kitchen, surprising you with a tight grab around the waist.

“How’d you sleep, Mrs. Mendez?” he purred in your ear, his fingers dancing across the fabric of your apron.

You turn in his hold, a wide smile on your face. “You’re never going to tire of calling me that, are you?”

Thomas just laughs, “No, I won’t, not so long as that title is yours.”

He kisses you then, full and passionate as he clings to your waist. It’s enough to make you lightheaded if not for the girls interrupting from their place at the barstools.

“We slept great, dad,” Y/D/N pipes up. It still warms Thomas to hear her call him that. Sure, she has Guy now but Thomas likes to believe he is more of a father than that oaf ever could be. And the day your daughter approached him after dinner and asked if she could call him dad was the night be decided it was finally time to give you the engagement ring he’d been holding onto for months, since your third real date without the girls. It hadn’t taken him long to know you were the one. It just took him some time to figure out how it all might fit together.

Luz lets out a laugh, “Yeah, Mom had us watch some movie called Die Hard. A guy fell out of a building! It was awesome!”

Thomas rolls his eyes at just how predictable his daughter is.

Thomas turns to you, “Die Hard? Really?”

You shrug, “It’s almost Christmas.”

Thomas laughs as he holds tight to your belly. He kisses your neck as you turn your attention back to the stovetop.

“Girls, can you set the table for me? Food’s almost ready.”

The girls scramble up and grab flatware and plates from the cabinets before heading into the kitchen. Once gone, Thomas snuggles into you more.

“You know, I saw you all sleeping in bed together last night. Best sight of my life— well, besides that one you gave me that second night in Hawaii.

You swat at Thomas’s arm and he watches your face and neck heat up at the memory of just how skimpy that lingerie set had been, and how very impractical for getting to the activities you wanted to enjoy so badly.

“All in bed together. My three perfect girls,” he hums.

You turn in his arms once again. You stare at your feet for a moment before looking up to meet his eyes. “Four,” you say, before adding more softly, “maybe.”

Thomas’s eyebrows pull together in confusion. When it clicks, he stares into your eyes. You nod, a smile tear rolling down your cheek.

Thomas can’t stop his hands from moving from your back to your front, cradling at your stomach. There is nothing there to feel yet, no lump or movement or even a hint of the growth happening deep within. But he knows and that is all the matters.

“Your daughter, my daughter, and now our daughter,” you whisper up to him, placing you palms on top of his. Thomas’s tears fall downward onto your joined hands.

He chokes a little on his laugh, “All I hear you saying is, ‘our three daughters.’”

You smile at him then, and Thomas thinks it may be the single most beautiful sight he’s ever seen— even more than that second night in Hawaii.

You spend a beat just holding each other, each feeling the moment, the pure joy of building your life together into something filled with the kinds of joy only true love can bring. A call from the girls in the other room means that finally, and regrettably, you pull away.

“Check your stocking,” you say before turning once more to the stove and plating breakfast. As you head into the dining room, Thomas heads to the living room where your Christmas tree stands tall, expanding up into the vaulted ceiling. On the mantle sits four stockings, each a little different and each still empty— that is until he notices the tiny little lump inside his white knit one with green holly on the lining.

He reaches for the bag and pulls out the contents: a small plastic stick displaying two lines and a second for good measure, an ultrasound photo showing a bean-shaped sack containing a small, but distinctly human, embryo measuring 7 weeks, 6 day, and a pocket calendar showing the date of the ultrasound, the baby’s due date, and the assumed date of conception… and the pair of impossibly skimpy panties you had been wearing right before it happened.

Thomas laughs. Of course that’s how it would go. It was good to know his swimmers agreed at just how undeniably sexy you had been riding him that night.

Thomas replaces everything in his stocking — except the panties. He pockets those. Couldn’t have him pulling those out Christmas morning in front of the girls, at least that was the logical reason he gave in his mind. And with a smile too wide to contain, Thomas entered the dining room where his three (or maybe four) girls were eating their breakfast.

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winterisakiller · 5 years ago

Text

Get Better - Chapter Three

Title: Get Better

Chapter: 3/18

Character: Tom Hiddleston/Cath Richardson (OFC)

Genre: Romance

Rating: Teen and up

Summary: Love. Companionship. Family. These are all of the things Tom Hiddleston desperately wanted. But his life and his choices left that a distant and unlikely prospect. So he did his best to move on and live his life as is. When an opportunity to return to the theater arises, he jumps at the chance and along the way finds that maybe, just maybe, those distant and unlikely prospects are closer than he could have imagined. Sequel to Brave Face.

Authors Notes/Warnings: So as I was writing Brave Face I knew that Tom’s story wasn’t over, even if that particular part of it was. And while I knew, more or less, what the overall ending to the story would be, its taken me a while to figure out the time in between. Thanks to @redfoxwritesstuff for letting me continually throw ideas off and at you. I still can’t fathom why you put up with it, but I am eternally grateful you do. This story will update on Thursdays.

Tag list: @tinchentitri @theheartofpenelope @noplacelikehome77 @nonsensicalobsessions @blacksuitofdoom @messy-insomniac-bookgirl @just-the-hiddles @theoneanna @wolfsmom1

Previous Chapter

CHAPTER THREE

A sharp wind whipped down the florescent lit tunnel, sending a sudden shiver down his spine. Tom pulled the blanket he’d been handed tighter around him, stifling a yawn. It had been an early morning and despite several cups of coffee, with more espresso shots than he’d care to admit to, he still felt the pull of sleep dragging on him. The excitement, however, was winning by leaps and bounds. He had been intrigued when the idea was pitched to him, of making a teaser for Betrayal and posting it as-is before formally announcing the show the following day. It was a creative and fun way of drawing attention to the production and getting buzz going around it.

The teaser’s premise was simple, Tom would come into focus walking down the aforementioned tunnel, something out of the camera’s range would catch his eye, and the viewer would watch his reaction unfold. Watch the shock, pain, anger, and finally defeat play across his features. No dialogue, no real explanation; just him and music. Beautiful in its simplicity.

He stood to the side, watching as the days’ crew reset the shot and fiddled with the lighting. It was their third, and hopefully last, take; the lighting have gone a touch fuzzy during the last set up. It was a bustle of controlled chaos and something he’d always found fascinating. The way in which the crew flittered around each other was almost an elaborate dance.

“Alright, places everyone!” The director called once things had been set to rights. Tom nodded, took a deep breath and stepped onto his mark.

The rest of the shoot passed with little issue. The fourth take had been the one Tom was certain he’d nailed. He’d watched the final footage with the director and found himself pleased with the initial result. The days’ footage, Tom was told, would be edited that evening and should be ready to go up the day after. With a warm smile, Tom bid farewell and headed out into the bustle of the now busy streets.

He’d taken the tube that morning, enjoying being able to sit and people watch. It helped keep him grounded, just doing the everyday tasks that so many seemed to take for granted. He could usually take the tube with little fuss or fanfare. That was one of the wonderful things about London, very few people seemed to care who or what he was. True, there would be the occasional fan who would approach him or the rare ‘sneaky’ photograph (which he never really understood the point of) but for the most part he was left to his own devices.

He’d fired off a quick text to Luke before he’d entered the station, letting him know all had gone well and that he was off home. Luke responded quickly, reminding him that his phone meeting with Marvel regarding updates for the Loki limited series had been pushed back until following afternoon. Which meant for the time being, Tom had the rest of the day to himself and he was greatly looking forward to the lack of demand. He made his way through the ticket barrier and followed commuters down the escalators and onto the platform. The train rumbled into the station a few minutes later and he joined the mass of people making their way into various carriages.

Tom quickly settled into the first available seat, letting his mind wander as he watched the eclectic mix of people filling the carriage. It was something he’d always enjoyed about the city; the mix of cultures and people that had always made it uniquely London. The carriage was busy but not packed, it was still early enough in the day that most commuters were still at work. Tom enjoyed the relative peace as the carriage jostled along, silently counting the stops until his own.

He made his way from the train onto the platform once the train had pulled into his station. A flash of dark hair and a familiar laugh caught his attention as he made his way through the busy station to the ticketing barrier. Tom turned his head in reflex and a jolt of recognition shot through him. Cath. The name materialized in his head without conscious thought. But she was gone before he could make a move, disappeared into the crowd heading towards the platforms.

Tom shook himself back into the present and carried on through the gate and then out onto the street. It was just as well she’d gone, he reasoned, pulling his coat tighter around himself as a swift breeze raced down the pavements. He didn’t actually know her, had no reason to approach her other than his own, admittedly overabundant, curiosity. And that had often caused more trouble than it was worth.

Silently, he carried on down the pavements and back towards home. Bobby, none too pleased with being shut in the back room in his crate, barked repeatedly as Tom unlocked and pushed open the front door. “Alright, alright,” he called. “I’m coming.”

He shrugged out of his woolen coat, hanging it on the rack near the door, and jogged through the house towards the back room. Bobby, finally free of his confinement, let his displeasure be known with several more loud and growly barks. Tom rolled his eyes and let the spaniel out through the door into the back garden to do his business and terrorize the local wildlife.

The following day’s teaser release and subsequent play announcement were well received, which had been a major relief. The response on social media had been overwhelmingly positive and Tom was more than pleased. Zawe had begun talks to secure her involvement in the show and from what Tom had been able to gather, Charlie Cox was in talks to join as well. Nothing had been set in stone and probably wouldn’t until closer to the New Year, but Tom couldn’t have been happier. He’d known Charlie for years and was glad to at least have the chance of potentially working with him.

His phone had been ringing off and on throughout the day following the official announcement; friends and family sharing their well wishes and excitement. His mother had been particularly thrilled as she could talk more openly about the play now that had it been announced publically. His mother and her enthusiasm had become the stuff of legend in and around Suffolk.

“So someone actually took pity on you and hired your sorry face. I must send them flowers…and my condolences as well,” Benedict laughed. His call had come just after Tom had finished an impromptu afternoon run. He was in desperate need of a shower but hadn’t the heart to tell his friend to buzz off.

“Well,” Tom quipped back. “If they actually hire you on occasion, I figured I would be a shoe-in this time round. And,” he added as an afterthought, “there is a much better chance they can actually pronounce my name.” Ben snorted laughter at the comment which pulled Tom into a laughing fit of his own. “But in all seriousness,” Tom continued once he’d managed to calm himself, “I am ridiculously excited to be able to be doing this. It’s going to be a challenging role and I am looking forward to it.”

“So who are you playing? Robert or Jerry?”

“Robert.”

Ben laughed in delight. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. And they’ve cast Emma and Jerry?”

“Not officially no,” Tom answered, laughing as well.

“Unofficially?” Ben goaded.

“Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox, pending availability.”

“Very nice indeed, Mr. Hiddleston. You’re moving up in the world.” He paused, taking a breath. “Hopefully Sophie and I will be able to make it during the run.”

“Don’t feel obligated,” Tom admonished. “I know things are going to be a bit mad with the little one coming.” He had been beyond thrilled, and quietly jealous, when Ben had told him that he and Sophie were expecting again. The baby was due in late January and Tom was well aware that their lives would be chaotic for a least the first few months while their family settled into its new routine. The play would be the absolute least of their priorities. “If you make it, that will be amazing but don’t feel like you must. Honestly.”

Ben laughed. “I have a feeling that by the time your show opens we’ll both be ready for a break and grown up company.”

Tom laughed as well. “I can only imagine.”

A loud scream echoed from Ben’s side of the line. “I’m terribly sorry to cut this short but I need to make sure my sons aren’t killing one another. Sophie will be awfully cross if any damage comes to them in my care.”

“Yes. Yes. Go on, take care of your offspring. Talk to you later.” Tom ended the call and stretched his back, it having started to get a bit stiff. He really needed to make sure he stretched pre and post run now. God, I’m getting old, he thought with a grimace. Tom toed out of his running shoes and took the stairs two at a time, more eager than ever for a hot shower.

—

The rest of November passed in a blur of various appointments and meetings cumulating in an appearance at Tokyo Comic Con. Tom always thoroughly enjoyed being able to attend Asian events, especially fan ones. The welcome he received was always warm and the fan base vocal and tremendously supportive. It made the long flight and horrendous jetlag worth it. And this time had been no exception. He’d thoroughly enjoyed talking with fans and participating in numerous panels. But he had to admit, he was grateful to be going home. He’d joked with Luke about the real possibility of him sleeping for at least a week on the way to the airport.

“Good,” Luke deadpanned back. “Please do. Less chance of you causing me headache.”

The flight home had been a long one, with just enough layover to make his usual jetlag feel a hundred times worse. He’d practically fallen into the car awaiting him at Heathrow and slept all the way home. It certainly wouldn’t do his re-acclimation to British Standard Time any good, but he’d been far too tired to care. How he’d made his way from the car and into the house, he still didn’t know. Nor how he’d fumbled his way from the entry way, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He’d woken late the following afternoon still in his clothes and momentarily unaware of just where he was.

Tom blinked around the room several times before the familiar shapes of his dresser and the door to the ensuite came into focus. Home. He pushed himself upright, a jaw cracking yawn escaping him. He was still tired, still a bit fuzzy-headed, but now that he was conscious he could sense the grime of several hours confined in a small space with far too many people all over him. With a fair amount of effort, he pulled himself to his feet and padded into the bathroom, stripping as he went.

Freshly showered and feeling much more like himself, Tom climbed downstairs nearly twenty minutes later and set about fixing both coffee and food. Plate of egg and toast in one hand and a steaming mug of coffee doctored to his liking in the other, Tom padded into the living room and settled himself on the couch. He let himself revel, selfishly, in the silence of the house.

Bobby was still at Emma’s; she and her husband had volunteered to watch the little devil while he’d been out of the country. Why they’d agreed, Tom still wasn’t entirely sure. And while he’d missed the little bugger, it was nice to be able to eat a meal without having to face those large, pleading eyes. He’d never been able to completely resist them, and he knew Bobby knew.

Tom took his time eating, he had nowhere in particular he needed to be and fully intended to laze about for as long as possible. He pondered actually taking on his ever-growing ‘to-be-read’ pile. It had been ages since he’d allowed himself the luxury of just sitting and reading a book. Yes, he still read as often as was possible, but it was usually during filming breaks when he wasn’t going over lines or blocking or a few moments before falling asleep. Actually sitting about and just reading, that was a true rarity. Possibilities.

Once he’d finished the last of his meal and drained the very last of his coffee, Tom pushed himself to his feet and padded to the kitchen. He contemplated simply leaving his used plate and mug in the sink for later, after all it wasn’t as if he won’t have the time later. But the impulse was quickly abated; his mother would box his ears, metaphorically speaking, for doing such a thing even now. He shook his head and laughed at himself, washing and drying them quickly before heading out of the kitchen and into the main hall.

As Tom made his way down the hall his suitcase and backpack, left carelessly by the door the night before, caught his eye and he groaned. He should take his clothing out and get a load of washing started, knowing if he put it off it wouldn’t get done. With a muffled curse, he lugged the case towards the laundry room, setting it on the floor and sorting through his clothing. He’d gotten a load in the wash and started the sorting of the next when the sharp ring of his mobile echoed from the front of the house.

Tom sighed and padded back into the hall, finding this mobile vibrating and ringing away on the table; Emma’s number flashing across the screen. He had to have pulled it from his pocket by reflex the night before as tended to keep in beside him the majority of the time unless he purposefully needed a break from the outside world.

“Yes, little sister?” he said as way of greeting after he’d grabbed the offending object and slid his finger across the screen to accept the call.

Emma snorted a laugh. “He lives! I was wondering if you’d be conscious and functional yet or not.”

“I do live, the conscious and functional part is debatable. Now what can I do for you?”

A loud, piercing cry echoed through the line and Emma sighed, wearily. “Take my child off my hands for the next…I don’t know…Eighteen or so years?”

“Somehow I think Jack might have a few objections to that idea.” Tom chuckled, padding back into the living room and dropping onto the couch.

“He’ll live,” Emma grumbled. “I’ve got to dash. Just give us a call when you’re ready to swing by for Bobby. And if you want to take Allie with you, feel free.”

“I think I’m good. One adorable yet demanding creature is more than enough for me at this juncture,” he reasoned adding, “And Bobby doesn’t scream” as an afterthought.

“Oh ha bloody ha. See if I agree to help you with anything in future….Allie no, put that down…Alice Marie…Sorry, Tom, I’ve got to go.” The line clicked and Tom let his phone drop beside him on the couch. He scrubbed his face with his hands before standing and heading back into the laundry room. He’d finish sorting his laundry and then call her back, letting her know he was on the way.

The drive across town wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared it would be; London traffic being what it was. He pulled his car to a stop in the drive leading to the house forty minutes later, almost reluctant to turn the engine off and lose the heating. Emma had the door open, his niece on her hip, before he’d climbed out of the car.

“She’s calmed I see,” he called, reaching out to take the little girl from her mother’s arms. She smiled in delight and clung to her uncle, babbling excitedly. “Hello there, angel.” He kissed the top of her head before returning his attention to his sister. “And how has my boy been?”

Emma laughed and shook her head, ushering Tom inside. “He’s been his usual self. Luckily he hasn’t dug up the back garden…again. Only because it’s been so bloody cold.”

Tom threw back his head and laughed. “Well thank goodness for small miracles.” The aforementioned spaniel, upon hearing his master’s voice, came sprinting out into the hallway, barking. Alice let out a squeal, clapping her hands together and reaching for the excited dog jumping at her uncle’s feet. Tom bent down and gave Bobby an affectionate scratch behind the ears. Alice reached out and grabbed at Bobby’s ears. “No, sweetie. We need to be gentle with the doggy.” He demonstrated by petting Bobby softly on the head. Alice mimicked his motions and Bobby tossed his head up, licking her face. She squealed in delight and wriggled out of Tom’s arms.

Behind him, Tom could hear Emma laughing. “You are a natural, you know?” He turned around, blinking at her in puzzlement. “With kids,” she continued, “have been for years.”

He shrugged, turning his attention back towards his niece and his dog to ensure neither was misbehaving. Alice was contentedly patting Bobby on the head and babbling at him. “So are lots of people.”

“I’m just saying…You are great as Uncle Tommy and I think you’d made quite a good father in your own right.”

“Em.”

“I know you want that, Tom. It’s plain as day to anyone who knows you,” she pressed, giving him a knowing look.

“Of course I want that, Em. I just…Sometimes we can’t get what we want.” He let out a resigned sigh. “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want and we’ve no one to blame but ourselves. I’ve come to terms with it.”

Emma folded her arms over chest, “You and I both know that’s a boldfaced lie.”

Tom pushed himself to his feet, turning to face his sister, frustration clear in his eyes. “Just let it go, Em. Seriously.” His tone brooked no argument. “Do you have the rest of his things gathered or do I need to go into the back and fetch them?”

“Tom…” It was clear though that Tom was no longer willing to entertain the conversation at hand. “All his stuff is gathered in the back room.” He gave her a nod and headed down the hallway towards the room in question. Alice who had until that point been contentedly patting Bobby on the head, raised her attention to her mother and inquired, in her own fashion, after her missing uncle. Her mother sighed, “Uncle Tommy’s gone to get Bobby’s things then they are going bye-byes. But we’ll see them again soon.”

Alice pouted at this, “No bye-byes!”

“It’s alright Allie,” Tom spoke, dropping the bundle of Bobby’s things carefully by the door and settling on his knees beside her. “Bobby and I will come back soon. But I think right now mummy and daddy want a little time with just you.” Alice sniffled and grabbed at Tom who pulled the toddler into his arms. “I know, I know.” He kissed her head, and standing, handed the girl to her mother. “You be good for your mummy and daddy okay?”

Emma looked at him over the head of her still sniffling daughter. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

Tom nodded and mouthed, “It’s alright.” Picking up the bundle once more, Tom leant down and hooked Bobby’s lead to his collar. “Come on, boy.” He pushed open the front door and led them out into the dark and cold December evening. Bobby had hopped into the backseat of the car willingly enough but throughout the drive home insisted on sticking his nose further and further between the two front seats, nudging at his master’s arm.

“You, my lad, are a menace,” Tom laughed as he pulled back onto the main road and into traffic. The drive home took twice as long as the initial trip. Tom hadn’t been surprised; London traffic was a nightmare, regardless of the time of day. As they sat, Tom’s mind wandered back to Emma’s earlier words. She’d meant well and he’d known it. And he’d hated being so short with her. But they’d had the conversation far too many times over the last few years and he was tired.

There were things he wanted; someone to come home to, a family of his own, the things he saw in the lives of his sisters and friends. And yet here he was inching ever closer to forty and still, more or less, alone. Most days it hadn’t bothered him. He had more than enough to fill his life. He had friends, nieces and honorary nephews aplenty. He had a rewarding and engaging career that he still loved, despite its pitfalls and stresses. But somedays…Somedays that nagging voice inside his head reminding him that he was alone grew loud and became difficult to ignore.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to concentrate on the road before him. Behind him, Tom could hear Bobby’s incessant whining. “Fine, come on up.” He patted the seat beside him and Bobby let out an excited bark and quickly leapt into the front seat where he sat, watching the traffic around him.

—

Christmas, as always, came far too quickly. Tom had spent the week before scrambling to make sure he found the bits and bobs he’d purchased throughout the year and hidden away ‘for safe keeping’. Why he never bothered to use the same spot twice, he’d never understand. Though, if pushed, he could admit it most likely came from a lifelong habit of trying to hide his things from nosey and inquisitive sisters and later from intrusive school mates.

But he’d found them all in the end, and the evening before he’d been set to drive to his mother’s, Tom sat in his living room surrounded by wrapping paper and sellotape, wondering just what he’d been thinking. Despite his ability to master almost anything thrown his way, Tom had always been rubbish at wrapping and practice, he’d found, made little difference.

Cursing and muttering under his breath, he fumbled his way through. The end results were far from perfect, but they were wrapped. Bobby had taken great pleasure in chasing the loose paper, gleefully tearing it to shreds. Watching this, Tom wisely made the decision to pack the gifts away where the spaniel could not reach. He didn’t think Bobby would actually go after them but experience had taught him that trusting the playful spaniel in that regard was not a risk worth taking.

With a jaw cracking yawn, Tom pushed himself up to his feet. A quick glance at the clock informed him that it had just gone one in the morning. Much later than he’d intended. “Bed,” he murmured to himself. Bobby fast on his heels, Tom climbed the stairs and, after a quick detour to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, fell into bed.

He set out for his mother’s at a little before noon the following day. Traffic wasn’t nearly as hectic as he’d thought it would be, especially for the day before Christmas. Bobby sat contentedly in the front seat, every so often barking at passing motorists. He had tried, and failed, to keep the spaniel in the backseat and as they left the city limits, he’d relented and allowed Bobby what the spaniel firmly believed was his spot. Christmas music rang out of the speakers, Tom had always had a soft spot for these songs, and found himself humming along quietly as he drove.

It hadn’t snowed yet, which was a blessing. But darkening skies loomed low and threateningly. Tom only hoped it would hold out until he was safely in Suffolk and inside with the hot beverage of his choosing before they broke. His luck, and the weather, held and he pulled into the drive only half an hour later than he’d planned. Bobby barked excitedly as Tom killed the engine, his tail a blur of motion. “Alright, alright. I know you’re dying for a walk.”

Once he was certain Bobby’s lead was tightly fastened, Tom climbed out of the car and darted to the passenger side. Bobby hopped out and took three laps around the front garden before Tom led him back to the car. Pulling his backpack and the bag of gifts from the trunk, Tom headed up the walk and to the front door, the spaniel following closely behind.

The door opened and a chorus of warm welcomes and a loud and enthusiastic “Uncle Tommy!” from his eldest niece, Cora, greeted him.

He was pulled into a tight hug by his mother as he crossed the threshold. “So glad you made it before the weather turned. The thought of you out in the snow in that car…” Diana had made her dislike of Tom’s Jaguar plain from the moment he’d received it as a perk for his appearance in one of their marketing campaigns years ago.

“Mum,” he groaned, unable to mask his annoyance, “It’s a perfectly safe car and you know fair well that I’m a good driver.”

Diana huffed and shut the door behind him. “I’m still not a fan.”

Settling in hadn’t taken long, he’d been placed in his old bedroom and had wasted no time in jogging up the stairs (Diana’s voice echoing after him with an admonishing “no running in the house!”) and dropping his bag on the recently made bed. The room hadn’t changed overmuch in the years since he’d lived in it; a new bedspread had been laid out but otherwise it was still very much the room of his teenaged years. Tom found an odd comfort in that. He returned downstairs and quickly found himself pulled into rolling around the floor with Alice and Cora while they laughed and screamed in delight. He could hear Emma and Sarah behind him, laughing hysterically at his antics.

Dinner was a causal affair that evening, eaten mostly in the living room while everyone chatted and the children played with Bobby, occasionally sneaking him bits of food much to the spaniel’s delight. At quarter of nine the children were tucked into bed with the promise of a visit from Santa if they settled to sleep. He’d been roped into reading several bedtime stories because, according to Cora, “you do all the best voices”. The girls’ parents were quick to agree and so Tom settled on the floor between the two beds and read from the collection of bedtime stories that had been in the house for as long as he could remember.

Once both girls were fast asleep, Tom rejoined the adults downstairs. He took the proffered glass of whiskey from his brother-in-law and settled on the couch. It was wonderful, getting to spend time with his family. He hadn’t seen Sarah nor her family since Emma’s wedding, something he promised himself to rectify in future. They sat up talking until well into the early hours of the morning, though Diana had turned in shorty before ten, and as they finally climbed the stairs to bed he heard Sarah grumble, “Cora will be up at first light and demand everyone join her.” And her husband grunt in response.

Cora was in fact up at just before six Christmas morning. After waking her parents, she’d darted into Tom’s room and woke him as well by jumping repeatedly on the bed yelling “it’s Christmas, Uncle Tommy! It’s Christmas!”

Startled into consciousness, Tom swallowed his heart and grumbled a “that’s lovely” while patting Cora on the back. He heard Sarah snort in amusement from the doorway and shot her an evil look, which only made her laugh harder. He sat up in time to watch Cora dash from the room, grabbing her mother by the hand and dragging her towards the stairs. Tom chuckled to himself, stretched, and slowly climbed out of bed. God, it was far too early. He pulled on a jumper, as his mother tended to keep the house on the cooler side even in winter, and padded downstairs in search of coffee.

Diana stood in the kitchen when he stumbled in, a steaming mug outstretched towards him which he took gratefully. It was a strong roast, rich and bitter. He drank it slowly, feeling the comforting rush of caffeine through his bloodstream. Gods above, he loved coffee. Excited cries soon echoed in from the living room, beckoning his attention. He made his way into the living room behind his mother and settled into one of the open arm chairs, watching as Alice and Cora were settled before their respective pile of gifts.

The actual present opening portion of the morning lasted all of twenty minutes in Cora’s case. Alice took longer due to the fact she became easily distracted by the shiny paper. But all in all, they had their presents opened in well less than an hour. They saved the adult gift giving for later, once both girls were sufficiently distracted enough by toys to allow them a moment’s peace.

Breakfast and lunch, much like dinner the night before, were eaten in the living room surrounded by bin bags full of wrapping paper. Tom had been drafted into throwing out said bags, very much without his consent he’d pointed out. No one, however, took his protests seriously. After he’d finished lunch and could put off the inevitable no longer, Tom threw on his coat with a grumble and grabbed the bags. Bobby was quick on his heels, sensing walkies afoot. The spaniel was hooked into his lead and headed out into the cold alongside Tom. Once the bin bags were tossed in the bins at the side of the house, they took a quick lap around the front garden then up and down the drive before heading back inside.

He unhooked Bobby from his lead once he’d had the front door firmly shut and the spaniel had shot off back in the direction of the living room where moments later he heard the delighted cries of his nieces. Tom padded towards the kitchen in search of another mug of coffee, or if he was truly lucky, hot chocolate. He found his mother pacing around the kitchen, phone balanced between her ear and shoulder as she puttered around making hot chocolate. Bless her, he thought.

“Oh, dear heart that is fine…Honestly, I know it’s a long drive and a short stop is perfectly fine. I just want to meet that little man of yours…Yes…Alright…Speak soon.” She turned to hang the phone back into its base and jumped when she caught sight of Tom in the doorway. “Goodness, Thomas! You gave me quite a fright.”

“Sorry, Mum.”

“No matter. Now that you’re here you can help me finish these up…And I mean get them ready not sample the lot, young man.” She wagged a reproachful finger at him and he laughed and ducked his head sheepishly. How was it his fault that her hot chocolate was so amazing that he couldn’t help himself? Chocolate was a weakness of his, surely she knew that by now.

Diana shook her head and began passing him the mugs she had started and the various toppings they required. Tom worked dutifully at his task though temptation to sample was strong. “Mum…”

“No, Tom, you may not test them out.” She answered automatically.

Tom laughed. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Diana chuckled. “Anytime, my boy. Anytime.” She nudged him gently with her shoulder. “So what was your question then?”

“Who was on the phone earlier?”

“Amy,” Diana answered simply, offering Tom a look of understanding. “They can’t stay for lunch tomorrow, but are going to stop by on their drive home.”

Tom smiled back. “I’m glad they can make it. I know you’ve been dying to meet Henry.” Her eyes narrowed just a fraction, and Tom let out a sigh. “Mum, honestly its fine. What happened between Amy and I is in the past. She’s moved on and so have I. Honestly.”

Diana’s eyes studied his face, an unreadable expression in her eyes. It felt like an age before she spoke, “Then why, my boy, do you look so sad?” Tom opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off with a quick wave of her hand. “Don’t, Thomas. You forget I’ve known you all of your life. I see you. You might have accepted what happened between you and Amy, that I do believe, but I don’t know if you have truly moved on.” She shot him a knowing look. “You haven’t had a steady nor serious relationship since…And what happened that summer doesn’t count.” Diana came to stand beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “You are my boy and I just want you to be happy.”

Tom blinked up at her, the smile on his face not quite reaching his eyes. “I am…I mean, yes, there are times I wish for things that I don’t have. But doesn’t everyone?” He let out a sigh. “I made some spectacularly bad choices and I’ve learned from them. Things aren’t…Perfect. But they are good. I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Diana shook her head, “Oh my boy, that’s one thing you still don’t quite understand. I am your mother, I am always going to worry about you.” She leaned down and kissed his head. “No let’s get this drinks out there before the rest of the family starts to riot.”

Both laughing, they worked together to place the mugs onto a tray and carried them back into the living room.

Next Chapter

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston rpf #tom hiddleston x ofc #tom hiddleston x oc #tom hiddleston x original female character #tom hiddleston x orignal character #get better fic #Tom and Cath

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wolfpawn · 5 years ago

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I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 39

Chapter Summary - Ben tries to eavesdrop on the women before Tom admits to his worries and concerns for his relationship.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long. This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @lys-syl @youcantcatchafallingstar

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

“They seem to get on well.” Ben beamed, eavesdropping from the kitchen.

“Seriously, I hope they open that door and it hits you in the head. Stop listening.”

“No, I want to know what they are saying, why are they talking in the hall.”

“I neither know or care why ” Tom stated. “I am just glad they are getting on well.”

“Sophie feels like she needs to take her under her wing, she feels sorry for her that she was thrown to the wolves like she was that time at your dinner out, but she took it well.”

“She’s not the kind to say anything if she isn’t.” Tom sighed, causing Ben to frown. “I think she thinks she is overweight.”

“What? She is about a size ten at most.”

“Eight to ten, pending the make. But she is starting to look at food as though not certain if she should eat it, and she commented earlier about being called ‘wholesome’ by some papers.”

“Wholesome doesn’t imply fat, though, does it?”

“To us no, to women; I don’t know, I mean, they are all being told they are fat all the time.” Tom sighed.

“But it means down to earth, the whole package, the girl next door sort of thing. So you think she’s starving herself?”

“She said it is her new work schedule, I just…I love her, and I want to be with her, but if she is becoming unhappy in herself because of me, it is doing more harm than good throwing all of this at her, I cannot expect her to be okay with my life if she is not happy with herself because of it.”

“You need to talk about this with her, she needs to hear this from you, and for you to see what is going on with her,” Ben stated clearly.

“I’m scared it means losing her, I just got her.”

“I cannot believe it took you this long to get your shit together.” Ben shook his head.

“Me neither, she admitted today she has felt this way for years, years Ben, we could be like you and Sophie now if I took my head out of my ass.”

“You think she’s ‘it’ for you, the one you want it all with?” Ben asked curiously.

“I think she is the closest I have been to it. I am not saying that as though I am settling, or like it is the only viable option, but I always wanted a family of my own, I wanted a happy home, but never thought of who with, but now, all I think about is how long is it appropriate to wait for everything with her, I see it all with her, I never did with anyone else, they were all just a bit of fun, mutually understood, well since Susannah, but I mean, we were naive then.”

“Does she know you feel like this?”

“Are you kidding me, I can’t say anything like this to her yet, she would swim back to Ireland if I said I wanted to have with her what you have with Sophie this early.” Tom scoffed.

“You’ll need to have that talk someday.”

“Someday I can handle.”

“But for now, the whole other thing needs to be discussed,” Ben ordered. “Though she seemed to eat well at dinner.”

“Yeah, she did. Am I coming across as being paranoid and am I going to scare her off by mentioning it?”

“You are nowhere near as confident as you imply you are in public, you know that?” Ben shook his head.

“When it comes to her, no. I am scared of losing her to something stupid, I mean, if we cannot make this work, if there are too many things between us on a personal level, I would have to get over that, I would be gutted, but I would not want to see her compromise herself for this, but if I was to lose her for something stupid, some simple miscommunication, that would kill me.” Tom explained.

“Good, now tell her that,” Ben stated.

Tom nodded. “I will.”

“Before you leave.”

“What if she decides while I’m gone that I am a controlling jerk.”

“Her loss then, because you’re just concerned, not controlling, you are not forcing her to eat, just asking if she is alright if she is feeling pressurised. But she won’t go, she is smarter than that.”

“What if I’m the reason she is like that, that Paul guy seemed to like how she looked and she did not seem to think to change herself, but I…”

“Your last fling was with a woman that only feeds by sucking the life out of people through terrible music and singing.” Tom gave him a glare. “We went to dinner and she ate a starter salad as a main course, and don’t say it’s because she’s a vegetarian, I know vegetarians, and they eat a hell of a lot more than that, so it’s not that she’s a vegetarian.”

“I am sure it is some sort of diet.” Tom dismissed. “But Elle doesn’t need any of that.”

“Yes, I can see by the look on your face you think that,” Ben grinned knowingly. “I thought you dealt with that before we came?”

“I may need to deal with it again when we go to bed.” He winked.

“Fuck sake man, you’re in your mid-thirties, and you’re like a teenager.” Ben shook his head. “What are you taking?”

“I don’t need to take anything; I have a gorgeous girlfriend in her late twenties.”

“Yeah, yeah, you and your twenty-something-year-olds.”

“You’re jealous.”

“Not really, I have a gorgeous wife that I adore, who is smart and makes me happy, a great son, and another baby on the way. I rather it to emotionless thrills if I’m honest, it’s everything I have always wanted.”

“How did you know you’re ready for all of that?” Tom asked seriously.

“Fuck I wasn’t ready, I thought I was, but when the test told us we were going to be parents, that all went out the window, but I could never want it any other way.”

“I am so envious of you.” Ben scoffed. “No, seriously, I am. I spent so long chasing everything, terrified of missing anything, what if I am after missing the most important thing?”

“It’s not too late, I am four years older than you, you have time.”

“But is Elle ready for that, she is just starting out in her job.”

“I can tell you here and now Tom, she is not ready for kids today, but that does not mean she won’t be in the future, like I said, talk to her.” Tom sighed in resignation. “Has your mum said anymore?”

“No, I haven’t had the balls to face her.”

“How was she, after the initial shock?”

“Good, I mean, she seems happy with it, or at least, I think she is. I have no idea if I’m honest.”

“You look happier this time Tom, more yourself, she is a far better option for you.” Ben smiled fondly. “She is amazing, fun, smart, understanding, hardworking…”

“Give Taylor her due, she was hardworking too.”

“Yes, it takes considerable work to be that spiteful and hateful to people.” Ben nodded. “I have nothing nice to say about her Tom, and to expect me to be nice is bollix, she tried to pin her shit on Sophie and was nothing but rude to her.”

“I really fucked up there.”

“You still have your friends and you are out of it now, glass half full, mate.”

“But it could have cost me everything, for a while, I thought it did; there were a few weeks there where I swear, I thought I was relegated to shitty Rom-Coms.”

“Well, your actions…you looked like you were having a crisis.” Ben shrugged.

Mac rose and stretched before going to Tom, who scratched his ear as the dog lay his head on his lap. “I did, I just…felt so alone, it seemed the right idea at the time.”

“Understandable, but you’re doing fine now, work is going okay, your fans are as mad about you as ever and you have Danielle.”

“Will they like her?”

“You know there are some that won’t, they will hate her no matter what she does or is, but overall, honestly I think they will. She will be adored for being normal, everything but the tabloids will obsess with how she is the ‘girl next door’.”

“And the tabloids?” Tom asked though he knew the response already.

“They will do everything from saying she is brainwashing you to calling you gay and her being your cover.” Ben shrugged. “What did Luke say?”

“To ready her, to get her to block certain websites and he will do everything he can to help look after her, but to say nothing.”

“She seems to do that as is.”

“Except for when she met Taylor, if that was caught on camera, you know…”

“She would manipulate it around.” Ben nodded. “It’s her MO.”

Tom sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Why did I…”

“Don’t, you will get nowhere beating yourself up. Come on, I think the women will be wondering where we are.” He encouraged. “Danielle is strong enough for all this, you can usually tell who is and who isn’t.”

Elle and Sophie had made their way upstairs and were busy talking about the latter’s ideas for the logistics of Christopher and the new baby and having two little nurseries.

“If it’s another boy they probably can share for a while, but if it is waking at three am for a feed, I doubt you want to have himself up as well,” Danielle commented.

“No, separate rooms,” Benedict stated as he and Tom walked in. “I am not having Kit dictating nappy changings in the middle of the night and being as cranky as hell the next day.”

“Because of course, you will be the one that did all the hard work.” Sophie scoffed.

Elle edged towards the door, “I am not getting in the way for this.”

“I think I’ll join you.” Tom gently made his way out also. “See you two in the morning, don’t kill each other.” He joked as he did so. When he made his way into the hallway, to the sound of Sophie threatening Ben’s manhood, there was no sign of Danielle, assuming she had gone to her room, he went to the door and knocked.

She came out, thinking it was Sophie asking for something, possibly even how to drag dead weight, so when she saw Tom on the other side, she frowned. “What…?”

“Would it possible for me to stay over also?” he asked, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

“You knocked?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to assume…” he began, but she pulled him in and closed the door behind him, causing him to chuckle. “Elle,” there was a fondness in his voice, not born of lust or want, but of true feelings. “I…” he kissed her chastely. “I love you.” He smiled timidly, knowing that it was very early to say it, but her sleepy grumbles that morning had made her think he was not as serious as her regarding everything. “I adore you.”

She kissed him back, smiling widely at the declaration, “What a coincidence, Mr Hiddleston, for the feeling is mutual.”

“The food was great, the evening was great, I…I am so glad we could do this.”

“It’s all so very grown-up and serious,” Elle joked. “But I loved it, I loved being able to talk to people who actually understand all of this, who…” her hands moved around as she talked. “I can’t even think of the best way to say it.”

“I understand, and I am so happy you got to speak with Sophie.”

“She was able to understand stuff I can’t explain.” She stated.

Tom frowned. “You can always talk to me.”

Danielle nodded. “I know, but you cannot understand the perspective as well as she can. You can understand the scrutiny, the limelight, but not the exact feeling being the ‘plus one’ in that situation, you are the star, not the tagalong.”

“You’re not a…” Tom stopped himself, seeing she wanted to continue to explain herself.

“I am, and I understand that, so does Sophie, you and Ben are great, you make sure we feel secure, but you can’t really get it,” Tom’s brows furrowed. “I love you, Tom; but there is a lot involved in loving you too. It includes a lot of other people involving themselves, and I need to thicken my skin, I know that but I need to have a person that understands that too; so thank you.” Tom cocked his head slightly. “Having Ben and Sophie come here, I don’t feel so scared or stressed about it now, I feel like it’s nowhere near as difficult as my mind was telling me it was.” As she leant up to kiss him, Tom pressed his lips down to hers, pulling her to the bed. “But what about our guests,” she whispered.

“I don’t give a fuck, I love you, I hate being away from you, and I want you to remember me for the next few weeks.”

She giggled at his words. “It is three weeks, Tom. Not six months, we will be fine.”

“Don’t care, still going to fuck you.” He commented back, his lips still pressed to hers.

“You are insatiable.”

“You love it.” He grinned, starting to unbutton and unzip her jeans.

#I Hate You I Love You #chapter 39 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years ago

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Maya?? Maya!!

also Athenas lmao

finally i am free to work on this

boy i sure hope we don’t get more info soon *squints at Amara’s character trailer just around the corner*

tl;dr: athenas. wow. uhhh temple areas with the weird vault-shaped statue things might be a teleportation hub or something like a Stargate cuz, uh… they’re probably not Vaults. i mean. given what we know maybe they are Vaults but not like vaults with important stuff inside, just teleportation vaults. you know what im trying to say? i mean it’s not like the eridians had any spaceships we’ve seen. but they had to get around somehow.

also it’s possible the big temple area we see is on Athenas, is in that giant fucking pyramid in the background that i completely and totally did not notice for the longest time.

i also discuss Maya and her thoughtlock skill (if she gets her powers taken away from her) and if she’s gonna die or not. because she’s got the Cloud Kill legendary (’oh noo she ded’), an apprentice (let’s be real, the cliches aren’t looking great), and she seems to working beside rampagers in that giant temple area (also another reason i think it’s on athenas) and tbh i didn’t see her tattoos in either of those shots (but that could be cuz she’s so smoll). so that’s cool.

oh also the order of the impending storm was probably pretty respectable back in the day, since they can track sirens (maya’s assassin in son of crawmerax), and maybe that’s how maya figured out ava was gonna be a siren even tho she hasn’t manifested her powers yet. and Maya’s probably unearthing all this buried Siren/Vault knowledge and bringing the Academic District back into power while also protecting the Order from Maliwan. who’s still v sus.

wow we have a lot to go over

so to start, im taking a wild guess and saying the temple is on Athenas. why? because we really haven’t gotten a lot of looks at either of those areas too much (compared to promethea and eden-6) and the architecture lines up to me.

also i, an idiot, was all like ‘mannnn Athenas is super mountainy, that’s wild. love it’ and neglected to realize there’s literally a giant fucking pyramid in the background of a lot of shots

on the right

behind the tower

to the right of ava

on the left

so i feel really dumb right now for not noticing this sooner and writing it off as a mountain. It's literally the fuckin Vault symbol like. ~triangles~. i played skyrim i should know what mountains look like when they’re not 1 polygon

either way, if that’s not at least part of the temple, it’s definitely important. somehow.

but let’s talk about the temple. the parts we know.

let’s try to look out the windows of this wild place

see cause this looks like inside a mountain

so my first instinct was eden-6 because we see a volcano on there

i mean im under the assumption this is eden-6???

bc all the plants match up

… maybe there’s more than one temple?

oh god i don’t wanna separate these by temple that’s going to be IMPOSSIBLE

but yeah i guess it’s possible there’s one on Eden-6 and one on Athenas… dear god…

but yeah my first instinct for that was ‘inside a volcano’

possible mountain on the left there

very rocky all around. im assuming this is underground or smth?

it feels like we’re underground

so maybe it’s a thing where it just keeps going further down. iunno.

it’s hard to place exactly where this is going to be because of the whole ‘underground’ thing

the part that’s throwing me off the most is this

because this looks like Pandora bc of Elpis and the rocks

and it looks like we’re walking outside a temple with the same friggen tiles on the floor, which means it is possible that this is The Temple, but you think we’d know about a giant-ass temple just on pandora. especially with the big dig site

but then we see a super similar dig site (supposedly on promethea). so what the HELL

im almost inclined to believe this is some sort of Eridian teleportation system. i know, i know, we have Sanctuary-III so it’s pointless. but… will we always have Sanc-III throughout the story? yada yada orange/gray -> blue/yellow/red markings. you get the dealio by now.

when taken by the cult or smth.

idk it’s possible we won’t have sanc-III for the entire game (just like normal sanctuary in bl2, in that we’ll get it back eventually (or ill kill someone for taking my room decorations)) and then we’ll have to use this wicked eridian tech to move between planets with these gateways. sort of like a stargate…

this thing is a stargate. I’ll call back to this in a hot second.

what kinda shit am i tripping on? i don’t really know. but given how it seems like these temples could be on ANY of the planets we see, im trying to figure out wtf the connection could be.

and give me this: we have never actually seen an eridian spacecraft, but we know they’ve traveled across the galaxy, putting vaults on different places. how in the fuck could they have done that if, you know, they didn’t have spaceships to travel through… space?

well we know they have the power of teleportation down pat. i mean down so hard they were able to create a ‘teleportation gland’ that allowed a giant vault monster to teleport at will. (now im wondering if lilith has one… hm.)

this blue thing (which… is the same color as siren stuff. okay. im sorry. i won’t get off topic this time. but it’s stewing in my gray matter)

and given that we know all the (okay, we only know for certain some) vaults open up into this other dimension (space place), would it be so hard to believe that they’re created links between planets using this dimension? i just… something isn’t right here and this seems like the most logical solution.

take a look at Eleseer. look at all those holograms of labeled planets. of galaxies and stars in the distance. it’s possible eleseer is like the Hub for this teleportation system (explaining why it’s always open) and explaining why it’s got all those weird planet holograms sitting around. could also explain why Moon = Key.

These aren’t Vaults, they wouldn’t show up on the Vault Map- explaining why we never saw this one on Pandora- these are like… gateways or something, iunno. name pending until sept. 13th i guess.

so why tf am i going off about this on a post about maya and athenas?

because i think athenas has a gateway in it too

yeah you should recognize that thing in the background!

that’s this place!!! from the behind closed doors demo!!

and it still

doesn’t look like a vault to me

it’s intact (also it looks like stairs…). all the Vaults we’ve seen are 100% not intact. they’re all chunky and in pieces (we’re gonna ignore eleseer and uhhhh all that business right now, but even thinking about how the sentinel tried to emulate a vault by spawning it in chunks and THEN assembling it)

chunky

im just saying there has to be a reason these vault-like shapes are intact. they’re either just statues/monuments or they have a purpose.

so why tf am i convinced they have a purpose?

bc we’ve seen one light up

taken straight from the void itself (seriously it’s like a gradient back there. which is weird.)

so there’s gotta be a reason it does this right? and if it’s not a Vault, because it’s on Pandora and the Crimson Raiders would have seen it on the Vault Map, then what the fuck is it?

welllllllll i just don’t know. but my best guess right now is some sort of teleportation system to travel between planets. if there are ‘temples’ on every planet then it would make sense that there is some way for eridians to travel btwn them.

personally i think there’s one on eden-6 (maybe in that volcano area??) and one on Athenas (cause we really haven’t seen a lot of athenas yet and… i dunno i just have a feeling). and there’s apparently one on Pandora (given we see it with elpis in the background) and possibly one on Promethea. i don’t know what that instagram video was trying to imply. i don’t wanna think too hard about it right now my brain hurts enough already as it is.

but uhhh i was gonna talk more about athenas than this

i promise this is gonna lead into maya

the academic district, with a Vault symbol on the door, to boot.

so this place is really interesting to me for a lot of reasons.

1. that vault symbol on the door

2. they’re flying flags with the vault symbol on it

3. giant pyramid in the back

it’s staggeringly huge

4. they have siren tattoos on the building in the back there. specifically, amara’s tattoos

yeah. maybe this is Partali? a smaller area on Athenas, like Meridian is a city on Promethea, and this is Amara’s way of tagging her presence/an area under her protection as the Tiger

more shots of Athenas from the amd horizons e3 stream

it’s a very pretty planet

so if anything, this is the place we’re going to go to learn about Sirens.

and i don’t know how much the Order of the Impending Storm actually KNOWS about Sirens, because all we know about them from maya’s backstory is that they were assholes and using maya to keep the people scared and giving them money

also that they knew how to track sirens

that’s probably important…

“Maya, you’ll like this next dude. He’s a Siren tracker named Mordo Sophis, Father of Brother Stephen Sophis, that dude you ganked back on Athenas. And boy, oh boy, is he just itching for vengeance.”

who isn’t, mr. mordo, sir? get in line

anyway apparently the Order knows how to track Sirens. Which could explain how Maya has a Siren apprentice when Ava uhhh apparently hasn’t manifested her powers (or tattoos) yet. might also explain how they got their hands on Maya when she was a baby. cuz yeah… i got the feeling they stole her and killed her parents… just a feeling.

y’know if tannis didn’t kill that siren tracker dude maybe she could’ve learned something from him first. that could’ve been interesting.

anyway, idk. maybe at one point the Order was respectable and, like, didn’t force people into giving them money by using sirens as a scare tactic.

it looks like they have/had an academic district (which im sure maya is helping cultivate) focused on Sirens/Vaults.

and there’s a lot of importance on books this game

seriously

apparently

there’s

lot.

but let’s get back to this in a minute, because i do wanna talk about the name of the Order.

it’s full name is the Order of the Impending Storm.

I know while writing bl2 they probably didn’t know that they were gonna be building towards a war in tps, but it’s still interesting that they decided to bring them back into play now. because they 100% could have just left them as a background monastery that Maya came from and have maya refuse to return/start her own organization. but they made her specifically return there.

so does their name have significance now? i’d be willing to bet a yes. I mean, war is coming. Impending Storm sounds like it’d be a pretty fitting name for an organization that knew this. Especially because according to Maya’s cosplay guide, they worshipped her like a God (seriously lol are all Sirens worshipped as minor deities? most people know Sirens are Sirens right? like just people with magic powers..? hmmm)

And if Maya returned to learn more about Sirens, then isn’t it implied that the Order did, in fact, know more about Sirens than Maya did? hell, maybe even Tannis…

especially if the temple or eridian ruins are nearby. Say… In this giant pyramid…

so this doesn’t fit in with the aesthetic of Athenas at all. it’s almost like those are caution colors on the bottom strip there. warning you to not go inside. i don’t know if this was built by the eridians or by whoever is on Athenas to keep whatever’s inside… inside (cough Rampagers cough)

either way that pyramid is FUCKING HUGE

seriously, just compared to the academic district, it’s insanely big (that is the BASE in the background)

also guess who just realized this would be a hilarious joke by gearbox

to have pyramids built by ancient aliens. oh, you.

also, side note, there’s a crew challenge for moxxi in the academic district

i just have no idea how we’re getting up there…

oh but the Order. yeah i get the feeling they know A LOT about Sirens/Eridians. maybe even what’s about to go down. but maybe a majority of that was lost in the archives when some corrupts assholes came into power. and now Maya returned and is slowly but surely unarchiving everything we need to know about Sirens.

perhapith this book has some Siren-y knowledge within it? from someone who went into the temple on Athenas and… never came back out.

and I would bet Maya is waging war against Maliwan at the same time as she’s uncovering all this buried info (protecting the Order) because Maliwan is trying to get this info as well.

Seriously, anyone else notice Maliwan is SPREADING?? They’re not just on Promethea. they’re on Eden-6. They’re on Athenas. They’re even fuckin on Pandora in some trailers (although I would not trust any trailer with roses at this point. something’s really fucky. I will make a seperate post about that i think, once we get Amara’s and Fl4k’s trailers). I’m really suspicious that Maliwan has either joined the cult, or they’re going to become the main villains. which, y’know, given corporations are the big bad in borderlands always… that seems about right.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if Maya/the Order knows something about the Children of the Vault. Given that one pic of her holding a book with the CoV symbol on it.

that she seems to be passing on to Ava

I dunno. I don’t think Children of the Vault is a name that the cultists/Calypsos just HAPPENED to come up with. And I still don’t think that the broadcast easter egg is from the Calypsos. it doesn’t make sense. I know I went over this in-depth in the Promethea post but god damn it im going to do it again because i feel so strongly about this.

i feel like the cult stumbled upon this name and decided to adopt it as their own. or tried revive an old cult with the same name. and if they didn’t, why in the hell does the message say ‘Do Not Open the Vaults’? How do the twins know about Tannis by name?

i mean, okay, granted we don’t know exactly how she fixed the Vault Map and it could be that the twins know how she did it. Because I still haven’t been able to place that one shot of them walking outside the Recruitment Center

this one

and we know tannis fixes (??) the Vault Map in the recruitment center, so, maybe they saw it happen or there’s some sort of record in the vault map? that shows her fixing it and when they get to Promethea they send out that message?

i meannn she seems pretty surprised it’s functioning, herself.

so maybe they come while/after tannis fixes the key/map to get it back and Lilith like alright everyone let’s book it to Ellie’s garage with the Map. she’ll help us get to Sanc-III.

and in that they see that she’s able to fix it (possibly with weird Siren/Destroyer/Slag/pickurpoison powers) and that’s how they know Tannis is not what she seems.

and maybe the twins just don’t want their cultists opening the vaults because they want to be the ones to open it.

Sure

BUT that’s boring sauce to theorize about because it’s all just there. I’m still partial to the idea that Children of the Vault is actually referring to Sirens tho. It would explain why Maya has a book with the symbol for the CoV on it and is offering it to Ava. Because why would Ava need a book about the Calypsos? who would WRITE a book about the Calypsos?? and make it look THAT old? like… c’mon.

At the very least, it’s an old name for a cult that got revived by the Calypso twins.

At the most, it’s the name for Sirens.

Or it’s the symbol for the Order of the Impending Storm, back when they were respectable. tho you think we’d see maya wearing the symbol somewhere in bl2, so maybe not. unless she took it off her clothes because they had her try to kill unarmed civilians.

I mean, why is the cult’s symbol the Vault symbol upside down, anyway? We know that the symbol for the Vaults in Eridian is the upside-down V in a circle, because Tannis tells us so in bl1. So why would a cult of people who believe the Vaults to be their birthright go around slapping what is essentially the opposite symbol everywhere?

i personally wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the symbol for Siren or something, given how closely intertwined they both seem to be to that alternate dimension.

regardless. let’s keep going

so let’s talk about Maya’s fate in BL3. Is she gonna die? is she not gonna die? i dunno. let’s discuss.

i personally would not be surprised if she does, but i’d be a little disappointed regardless. if any Siren is gonna die… Lilith is going to finish her character arc this game. not that I want her to die, but still. I get that they gotta keep the Siren cycle going.

sooo one big point in the ‘maya dies’ category:

“Oh noo she ded” i mean. that’s just mean, gearbox.

of course we don’t know if that’s talking specifically about Maya, could be talking about Tyreen, or a miniboss, or something. but i do think it’s interesting that it’s on maya’s legendary. plus uhhh given we had a death out of Roland in BL2, and in TPS 2 of those VHs died as well, I think it’s a given at least one BL2 VH isn’t gonna live to see the end of 3. as much as that actually physically pains me to type.

And… to tip the scales further to Maya, Zer0 has crew challenges, which probably means they won’t be biting the dust anytime soon, unless you wanna completely ruin doing all the crew challenges by beating the game before doing the assassination quests. which doesn’t seem like something they’re keen on doing, if Roland giving out side quests had anything to say about it. Of course there’s always the argument that someone will take over Zer0′s crew challenges if they die, but… who would? Rhys? maybe. i get the feeling he might be too busy with Atlas though. Lorelei..? … i don’t know her well enough to make a statement on that.

taken from K6′s awesome legendary loot vid

Back to the legendary. we know it’s hers based off the name ‘Cloud Kill’, which is one of her best skills (after the buff lol). It’s a corrosive only Maliwan smg (as far as i can tell. it doesn’t look like there’s the option to swap elements. so it’s cool to know uniques might throw out their manufacturer’s alternate firing modes). i’m gonna take a guess and say it mimics cloud kill by spawning a cloud on top of enemies that are shot with it. that could clean out an entire room in seconds, especially on Amara with Phasegrasp.

anyway i got more

so Ava is Maya’s apprentice, hmmmm?

well i dunno about you guys but whenever a character gets an apprentice/kid/whatever, it’s not good news for the character. and given that borderlands definitely doesn’t need children to keep the premise fresh, I’m a bit worried for Maya.

Ava must be important to the main story, or they could’ve taken her out or put Gaige in. The devs themselves said they only wanted to bring in characters that they knew had significant importance to the plot and so that characters wouldn’t feel shoehorned in.

so there’s a few ways things can go down with Ava, using apprentice stereotypes:

1) She takes over after Maya dies/has her powers stolen/is brainwashed and helps us bring Maya back by proving herself using the stuff she learned from Maya (or, the stuff she taught herself that Maya said wasn’t important)

1b) she inherits Maya’s powers and Maya trains her in the way of Phaselock

possibly maya handing over her class mod or smth

2) she’s evil and the cult is using her to get info and secretly hates maya or whatever

Given Ava is like… 12… I wanna believe she’s not evil. of course we don’t actually know if she’s 12 cause apparently the Siren lore got messed up knowing Angel had her powers manifest at 5. but that’s not canon until mentioned in-game, so fuck it: let’s believe Ava is 12 and not evil and is just Maya’s kickass Siren apprentice.

The apprentice Maya was able to find because the Order knew how to track Sirens/determine if someone is going to exhibit Siren powers.

yes, let’s go with that.

So… what’s gonna happen to Maya, then?

I personally believe she’s going to have her powers stolen and used against her. One major part of her powers is that she’s able to ‘Thoughtlock’, which basically brainwashes an enemy to fight for her.

That sounds like it would be insanely powerful in the hands of the Calypso twins, especially since Maya has gotten more powerful since bl2, and tbh I can’t see them wanting to pass it up. Of course it could also be story-breaking, but let’s say they can only have one person ever Thoughtlock-ed at a time and suddenly it’s a lot less troublesome.

so this scene makes me do a big thonk

(also, another reason im thinking this temple area is on Athenas is bc Maya’s there! plus there are triangles everywhere. Triangles… pyramids… iunno. just spitballing)

also idk if this is just cause she’s super teeny-tiny buuuut

im worried i can’t see maya’s tattoos

she’s also entirely focused on the player instead of… oh, idk, the giant rampager right next to her

and idk it looks almost like she’s holding a gun and aiming it at us?

which hey, i wouldn’t jump to conclusions right away because she does have a skill that allows her to heal allies by shooting them

but also… if she doesn’t have her siren powers, then that’d just be like… regular shooting, wouldn’t it? and if she DOES have her Siren powers, why in the hell is she not using them on the giant monster right next to her???

we see her again in the background of this shot

again… tattoos not 100% clear.

she also seems to be taking radiation damage from the rampager! which is good. but also she doesn’t seem to care that much about it.

we can also see her gun here

sorry it was kinda being obscured by the youtube progress bar

but uhhh it’s not looking good.

boy i really hope Maya doesn’t die

we also know it was hinted that Krieg might be making a return! from his voice actor’s twitter:

tho, he also soon made a tweet after that was all like “this doesn’t confirm nor deny that krieg is returning” which, yeah i get that.

either way, if Krieg is coming back, it’d be interesting to see what goes down with him, especially if Maya dies. or even if Maya’s ‘just’ in trouble, I could see him going absolutely apeshit.

maybe krieg will sacrifice himself to save maya, somehow. maybe he’s have a moment of pure lucidity and save her. maybe she’ll die and he’ll lose his mind and become a boss battle. maybe she’ll save him and they’ll live happily ever after ;w; who knows~

maybe ava will have heard about Krieg through Maya and will go to get him to try and help save her. that’d be really interesting to see- krieg smashing through a wall with Ava riding on his shoulder lol

anyway, holy shit im exhausted. i gotta wrap this up because it’s like 1am and i’ve been working on this post for like… 3 days straight now. ech.

if maya does die, it would be interesting to see is Ava inherits her powers after we kill the Calypsos. like, would the powers try to go back to their original host? would they see she’s dead and just find another Siren to give the powers to? i wonder if maya dying/being about to die would be enough of a traumatic experience for ava to unlock her siren powers.

ohh it’d be cool if Ava unlocked her siren powers and used them to save Maya from the cult/brainwashing/whatves

alright. im tired lmao

good night.

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #maya #ava #the order of the impending storm

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