#sorry if this doesn't make sense i wrote this when going insane

[spideymichelle]

me explaining through my tears that zoya's and the darkling's dynamic goes way deeper (in the books) and it says a lot about zoya's relationship with authority and power but also safety as a whole because of the (almost) parental nature of their relationship like the darkling is already playing favorites with her by the time she is 13

they are close enough for him to pick her over a lot of the older grisha's at the little palace for the possibility of getting an amplifier something we know is so special and not something just anyone could have yet he gave zoya that opportunity and when she felt like she failed him for protecting and releasing the cubs it broke her in a million pieces because she doesn't want to disappoint him

the darkling represented grisha's as a whole. he was their leader, their protector in a world that hates them and wants them eradicated, for a power they were born with. it is the way the little palace was meant to be a sanctuary for grisha's to feel safe, a place where zoya felt safe, yet it was the darkling was the first to completely destroy it and kill any grisha that wasn't on his side he was their biggest protector and he killed them in cold blood like that absolute betrayal

it wasn't just about her losing her aunt, he took away her home, the home she made with her aunt and lada and the one she made at the little palace the friends she made he took everything from her because she believed him when he said they would change the world together like she put so much trust in him, she gave him her power and he broke it so easily that wound just festered on because the darkling betrayed her just like her mother did in the past

and it just parallels the darkling with her mother so well because as a young child just wanted to make her mother happy which meant getting the highest grades, eating only half her meals so her mother could eat the rest, and stealing fruit from the duke's garden so her mother could eat them something she could get severely punished for by the duke zoya a young commoner girl who is from suli descent like she could have died but her mother never stopped her from taking them again and again and didn't her mother truly never saw her other than a pretty face that she could capitalize out of

zoya didn't make a sound on her wedding, didn't cry a single tear on her wedding, and never spoke out because she couldn't bear making her mother angry until the only person who ever spoke up for her was her aunt who almost beat to death for speaking up for her and even then could only be spent little over 2 months with her (mostly on the streets) before being separated for the next 7 years when she first goes back when she is 16. (they did write to each other)

the only adult that "cares" for her was the darkling he had continuous access to her, to groom her, to make her his perfect little girl. she is so desperate to impress him, to be around him, to be noticed, and worst of all he does. he gives her privileges, the important missions and she gets to ride his coach with him like he makes it known and clear that she is special, unlike her mother he gives her the attention she wants. but it doesn't really mean anything to him

he has no issue switching her out with alina sending her faraway as a punishment just like her mother had no issue selling her to a man old enough to have grandchildren of her age

zoya being stuck in a vicious cycle of being abused by people who should be protecting her

and it just speaks volumes that is zoya is the one who advocates for the darkling's victims because if she doesn't speak for alina, genya, liliyana and baghra who will

it speaks to her relationship with nina, her worries, her concerns about her, i wonder if all she sees is a beautiful and powerful girl with a deep love for her country with no support, no family i wonder if she sees herself so desperately trying to prove herself to the world

basically zoya co-wrote would've, could've, should've

*will be edited after i had a good night of rest and crack open the books again

[purinfelix]

hi!! I really love your work! I was wondering if you could do one where Gavi and the reader hate each other, but one day the reader had nobody to turn to so for some reason she found comfort with Gavi if that makes sense

i don't want to talk about anything ₊˚⊹ - pablo gavi

pairing: (academic rival) gavi x reader w/c: 1.5k a/n: ANON i love this idea and im sorry its been sitting in my inbox for so long - i decided to sort of involve it with the academic rivals fic i wrote, since it made sense to me, hope u don't mind! <3

No matter how many times you blinked, the words of your essay refused to stay still on the laptop in front of you, the feeling of your eyes growing tired only adding to your frustration. According to the irritatingly loud clock on the wall, you had been at the university library for almost five hours now, on top of an entire day of lectures and tutorials. Your head ached, and your mouth was dry ever since you had run out of water an hour ago but had been too engrossed in studying to go get more, and every time you closed your eyes you considered falling asleep right there and then. You hadn't even gone insane before, but you were pretty sure this was as close as you were going to get.

Forcing yourself to stand up you tried your best not to dwell on how unprepared you felt for your upcoming finals, or how many assignments you still had to finish. Even with how tired you were, your brain still managed enough energy to stress you out, even as you definitively shut the textbooks you had brought with you. You were more than aware of how childish this was, having thought you'd outgrown your ridiculous study methods years ago. But something about your recent dip in grade, how frustrated and helpless it made you feel, had spurred you into a frenzy you were too far into to stop. You couldn't recall the last spare hour you hadn't spent studying or the last conversation you had that hadn't been about exams.

Slinging your bag over your shoulder you reluctantly left the desk that had been your home for the majority of the evening. After a struggle, you managed to get the library doors open and were immediately. met with the miserably biting cold of the late winter night - the thought of the long trek back to your dorm room acting as salt in the wound. Your hands are already freezing as they dart into your jacket pocket in search of your phone, and you flick it on to check for any response to the many, many texts you had sent to your friends. Most of them were invited to study with you or questions about lectures, but all you were met with was a pathetically empty inbox, the reflection of your own tired face once it switched off, and the stinging realisation of just how isolated you had become, and how lonely you felt. Perhaps it was this, or the howling wind whipping around you, that caused tears to prick up in your eyes as you bit your lip painfully hard to stop them from falling.

You're overcome with a sudden desperation to get back to your dorm as quickly as possible before anyone can see you crying like an idiot. The added barrier of your own fatigue makes this difficult though, and the immense cold doesn't help. Before you know it though you're already halfway there, passing by the campus football court which is still brightly lit and lively despite how late it's getting - a fact you curse as you make out a familiar figure, and the single last person you want to see right now.

Gavi seems to spot you too and even though you hand your head to prevent any more tears, you can hear his loud footsteps as he leaves his friends and game to jog up to you. He calls out your name and the smug tone in his voice is enough for you to will your legs to move faster. When you don't stop, you hear him pause before running up to match your pace.

"Long day at the library, huh?" he jeers, walking beside you and clearly not taking any notice to the fact that you're not in the mood to entertain his ego. Usually, you would've jumped at the opportunity to flex your work ethic in his lazy face but not now, not with how you're feeling. All you wish is for him to leave you alone before he sees you crying and it gives him another thing to make fun of you for - but just as this entire day has turned out, your wishes are far from granted.

"You know, I did notice you've been slacking a little lately. Even I found the last quiz pretty easy and I could tell you struggled with it."

You scoff loudly at his words but don't offer a response in fear of him being able to tell something's off from the quiver you're bound to have. A small part of you does question why he's been paying so much attention to you lately but has little time to when you feel him reach out to grab your hand, suddenly jerking you back and stopping you in your tracks.

Finally, you crane your neck up without thinking and lock eyes with his, and you hear the next comment he was preparing catch in his throat. It happens so quickly that you almost don't notice it, but his smug expression softens immediately and you can almost make out the concern in his eyes once he sees your tear-stricken face. The contrast from the teasing way he normally looks at you is so stark it almost stops the flow of tears from your eyes, and you almost wish it had because now you're standing here sniffling like an idiot, and he's standing there watching you.

"Hey…" he mumbles, and the pity in his voice is enough to make you want to run away, even as he drops your hand. Still, you can tell he's not enjoying the awkward situation any more than you are but is trying his best.

"I'm fine," you blurt out instinctively, messily wiping the stream of tears from your cheeks before laughing - at what you're not entirely sure, but you're desperate for an opportunity to lighten the mood.

"You don't look it," he sounds so mature that it almost takes you aback.

You hang your head, half in shame and half so that you don't have to look into his eyes when you lie. "I'm just really tired."

It's almost irritating how sudden his movements can be and how easily they can catch you off guard, but his athleticism has never blended itself to subtlety. Still, it's hard not to be shocked when he pulls you once more and before you realise it you're enveloped in his arms, pulled flush against his chest. His body still radiates heat from the exercise he was just doing, a fact that you find comfort in. Before you can stop yourself, you're already sinking into his touch, its catharsis being exactly what you needed, but hadn't realised. You wrap your arms back around him and close your eyes as you rest your head against his chest. The rhythm of his heart is bold and quick as you listen to it, and you chalk this up to the exercise as well - an excuse you're not lucky enough to have for your own quickening heart.

He's the first to break the silence. "You're the smartest person I know, you know." He says it barely above a whisper, and he seems to be confessing more to the night sky than to you.

If you had just a little more pride in yourself, you might've met this with one of your usual jabs. Strangely enough though, all signs of the competitive nature you reserve for him have gone missing. Maybe it's because of your surprise that he seems to know exactly what you need to hear, but you're sure it's more because of how tired you are.

"Thank you," is all you can quietly muster up, but given how earnestly it comes out, you hope it'll be enough.

"I don't mean to stress you out, not just now but all the time. I'm sorry for that," he sighs, and you can tell without seeing his face that he really means it.

"It's alright, I appreciate it," you laugh softly, before adding, "sometimes."

He squeezes you a little harder and standing there in his arms, despite how mind-numbingly strange the situation is, you allow yourself to forget about some things for a bit. Forget about how late it is, about all the work you still have to do, about how you're not meant to like him at all, how you're hoping no one you know sees the two of you right now. For just a minute, the two of you share a world you had only gotten teasing glimpses of during your heated conversations in hallways, your quick comparisons after grades get released or quippy comebacks. Only now, not a single word needs to pass between you two - the sound of his beating heart and the strange sense of comfort that falls over you being all you need.

[ivysangel]

Okay but a threesome with Dick and Jason. what would that be like? Are they competing to see who makes you come harder? Does each try to out do the other because he’s secretly jealous? Are they gonna Eiffel Tower? Is one really sweet while the other is being aggressive and rough? I need opinions.

-🧸

honey i am so so so so so sorry. this has been sitting in my drafts for so long and i hope you're still around to see it! i already wrote a lil smth smth about this a while ago here but allow me to elaborate.

i think the dynamic can get pretty crazy because dick can get wayyy nasty; not to say jason doesn't either, but i don't think jason would get crazy nasty in front of dick. dick's there to overstimulate you, tease you, play around with you, and bring you to the edge and back and then over, and jason's there to comfort you through it. i think they both could be "he talks you through it," guys, but in this specific scenario, i think it would be jason who sweet talks you, whispers in your ear, tells you you're doing so good for them, and quiets you down when you get too loud. i don't really know how to explain it, but he'd be the comforting presence out of the two of them, not even taking a submissive role or anything, just not as actively winding you up as much as dick.

dick, a menace as always, treats it like a game. how many times can he make you cum before you're begging for a break, and how many different ways can he make it happen. i think he'd be like that on a normal day, too, but i feel like it's very amplified in this situation because however this threesome happens, it's a very tense and intimate affair, out of character for both of them and, therefore everything about it is just different (?) i can't even think of a good way to explain it other than the next morning you're all kinda like woah. lost all inhibition the night before and don't really know how to go back to the way things were. he's quick to get nasty; he's the one eating you out while jason is kissing your neck and lightly grazing your skin, touching and squeezing, etc. the combination of both of them is really just insane, and both of their actions, in tandem, are what makes it so much more intense.

i do think they could be eiffel tower guys, but idk, i think (and walk with me here)…double penetration might be the way they go. like, you can't say, "dick grayson is an ass man," without admitting that he'd probably be into anal, so boom. and if your pussy is open, then yeah, ofc jasons taking it; it just makes sense TO ME. it's definitely a lot and not for the faint of heart, and you have to hold onto one (or both) of them while you get used to the sensation and while they find a nice rhythm, so it feels good for all three of you. during this part, the talking might die down just because you're all so in the moment; it's definitely out of character for dick because he's a D1 yapper, but it's cool cuz he was dirty talking so much during the foreplay, like lifting his head from between your legs just to look you in the eye and say something nasty.

i'm also ngl i could see the roles reversed where jason is eating you out or fingering you, and dick is the one whispering crazy shit in your ear. i could see it working both ways, but the first more so.

when i tell you this would be probably the best orgasm you've ever had, i mean that. there's just so much that went into it that there's really no way you aren't gasping for air and clutching your chest when it's over. damn near passing out, and they gotta shake you a little to make sure you're still kicking. and it's not even really over because if you show any semblance of energy after, they might try to go another round i fear.

[sylvia-plaths-fig-pie]

Kiss Me ♡ Sam Winchester

Pairing: Sam winchester x reader

Warnings: no use of y/n, I'm very dyslexic so idk witch which is witch, not proof read, I wrote this in an hour? Help, kiss, idk what else to put, this may not make sense but I just needed to write something and all my wips bored me so ✨️tada✨️

Summary: a witch cursed Sam to only awake with a true loves kiss, so naturally Dean calls you, the only problem is you haven't seen the Winchesters in 5 years.

You swore that you would never see the Winchesters again.

That was the only thing that you promised yourself. The one rule you could never break.

As a hunter you don't get a lot of garentees in life, you get close to zero, but this was your one none negotiable rule and everyone knew that.

Which is why you were cursing yourself as you drove down the highway, going at a very illegal speed trying to get to the winchesters as fast as possible.

Or more accurately to one spefic Winchester in particular.

Sam Winchester.

Dean had called you not even an hour ago, you hadn't picked up the fist 5 times, but on the 6th ring you figured it must be important.

He wasn't making alot of sense, but one thing was clear, Sam was in trouble and he needed you.

The winchesters being in trouble wasn't anything new, in fact it was the norm, but this seemed diffrent, it had to be diffrent otherwise you wouldn't have been called. Dean never called you even when you worked together, it was always sam. You and Dean didn't realy get along, it's not that you hated eachother, but you were both weary of eachother. And both of your concerns arose form the same factor, Sam. It was a safe assumption to say that you both cared for Sam, but unfortunately that ment that you often clashed.

But that's all in the past. Because you hadn't spoken to them in years. You hadn't seen Dean or Sam in 5 years. Yet here you were knocking on the door to the address of a motel that Dean frantically gave you over the phone.

"Hi-" you awkwardly began to sat as Dean opened the door, but you were quickly cut off.

"This is going to sound insane but right now I don’t have time to explain." Dean began, as he basically dragged you inside to where Sam lay unconscious on one of the cheap motel beds.

"Can you just kiss him?" Dean bluntly asked looking you in the eyes.

You were completely taken back by the forwardness of his request.

"What?" You muttered, glancing quickly to Sam, laying almost lifeless on the bed. He looked bad. You wouldn't have known he was alive if his chest didn't fall up and down ever so slightly.

As if reading your mind dean began to speak again. "And quickly as he might actually die soon."

"Sorry I'm a bit confused, why-" you began but were quickly cut off again.

"A witch, obsessed with fairy tales, cursed him like sleeping beauty or some princess shit and I thought killing the bitch would end the curse I was wrong so you need to kiss him."

Your head wad spinning. If it was sleeping beauty then that ment that...

That couldn't be true, could it?

No that made no sense you hadn't seen the younger of the brothers in 5 years. He was probably so diffrent. He could have lost his boyish smile. Or his perfect hair. Or his humour. Or-

"That doesn't explain why I specifically-" you began, but just as before you were cut off by Dean.

"Cut the bullshit, and just kiss him. I can waste time explaining but sammy is dieing, please. I just know that this will work, it has to, you look at him like I look-" he stopped himself, sighing almost lost in thought. "It doesn't matter just kiss him goddammit!" He practically shouted.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "just hurry up, I'll be outside."

With that he turned his back and slayed the motel door behind him as he left.

He left you alone with Sam.

Sam.

He looked terrible. He looked dead. It broke your heart. You could have stopped this. If you had just been there. If you'd had stayed....

No. You couldn't have.

You and Sam said things to eachother that you should have never said, and it ended up with you waking up in his bed. And you couldn't do that. Neither of you could. So you had to leave. And that's exactly what you did.

And that's when your rule stared. You told Bobby to never put you on a hunt with them or you wouldn't show.

Your rule spread like wild fire and soon it was a common known fact that you didn't hunt with the winchesters. No one knew why, but no one questioned it, especially given the winchesters track record.

Yet here you are, 5 years down the line, breaking your one rule.

You walked over to the edge of the bed to where Sam lay.

"I'm so sorry." You whispered. You didn't know exactly what you apologising for. Kissing Sam or for everything before this moment.

Closing your eyes you tentatively leaned forward and gently pressed your lips to his for a brief second before pulling away.

He didn't move.

No, no, no no. This couldn't be happening.

You reached to grab his hand, waeving your fingers between his.

"Come on Sam, please wake up." You pleaded as tears began to fill your eyes. How could you be so stupid? You left hom for 5 years, he could have been dead for that whole time and you would have had no idea.

"Please..." you sobbed as you rested your head on his chest.

You felt numb. It felt like you had just been stabbed in the chest and someone kept twisting the knife.

Gently a hand started stroking your hair.

Your head jolted up.

There he was, eyes open, a small smile on his lips.

"Hi love," he bearly whispered, half confused half over joyed.

"Sam!" You cried and you flung your arms round his neck, "you scared me you son of a bitch."

"What are you...?" He began but trailed off.

"Dean called." You answered, quickly remembering the whole situation, pulling shyly away from Sam.

"You came?" He sounded shocked.

"You needed my help."

"I thought-"

"Yeah you made me break my one rule Sam so...?"

A silence fell over the pair of you. You couldn't look him in the eyes. God you felt awkward.

"It was a pretty crap rule." He mumbled, looking directly at you, a half smile playing on his lips.

"I had good reason for it I mean-" you began.

"You ran away beacsue you were scared." He said matter of fact way, his eyes showing his hurt.

"I hunt monsters for a living I doubt that I was scared of some feelings, they're hardly spooky." You laughed. It was painfully obviously forced.

"So why did you leave then?"

You couldn't answer his question. He was right. You were scared. Scared of what you felt for him. And back then it felt like a valid reason. But right now, you felt stupid.

"You know what the curse was don't you?" He asked.

"Sam I-"

"It was the cliche of a true loves kiss. The witch said it didn't exist so I was destined to die."

You stayed silent, you couldn't look at him. You knew what it ment. You both did.

"Yet here I am, here you are." He said as though he was proving evidence in court. You were evidence of true love. After 5 years of not seeing eachother, you both still were irrevocably in love with one another. It was true love.

"Here I am." You agreed, finally meeting his eyes. "So now what?" You asked tentatively.

You were both quiet then. His smile only grew as he leaned closer to you.

"I think it's time you got rid of your stupid rule." He whispered in your ear.

"Why should I do that?" You pulled away, a matching smile on your face.

His smile softened as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

"So that way I can wake up with you beside me, instead of you just living inside my dreams. So I can hold on to you instead of just our memories. So you can kiss me all the time and not just beacsue I'm dieing."

"That does seem like a valid reason, you got anymore?"

"Because I know, even after 5 years, you still feel the same way I do"

"And what's that?"

"I love you."

You were only inches away from his face now. You could feel his breath on your skin. He leaned on closer pressing his lips to yours.

His lips felt so familiar it almost hurt. It felt right. This is where you needed to be, this is where you should have been for five whole years.

You let yourself sink into his embrace as his hands flattened against your spine, drawing you impossibly closer.

His breathing had become more strained; his muscles tensed as he deemed the kiss, your hands finding their way into his hair.

You didn't want to stop,you couldn't, and judging by Sam's reaction to your touch he couldn't either.

"Have you-?" Neither of you hear the door to the motel open as Dean basically ran in. "Oh jesus my eyes, sammy I'm glad you're okay but fucking hell!" He quickly truned on his heels, overdramtically covering his eyes. "Use protection!" He shouted just before he closed the door, muttering under his breath 'these darm kids' as though he were a middle aged man.

You and Sam just looked at eachother for a singular moment before bursting into laughter.

"I might ammend my rule slightly..." you said after a few deep breaths.

"How so?" He asked leaning in closer to you once more.

"I now swear that I'll see the winchesters everyday, or at least one spefic Winchester everyday."

[drewharrisonwriter]

Donor

Part 1 | Part 1.5 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Pairings: Bestie Henry Cavill x OFC A/N, Warnings: 18+, Talk of artificial insemination, peeing in a cup, sperm, and more. LOL I wrote this in an hour, IDK where I pulled this from. Not beta-ed. Also, I'm pretty sure this doesn't make so much sense in terms of plot, and being realistic. But come on, let this delulu queen live her life. You're welcome to join. Summary: You ask (beg) your best friend, Henry to donate--sperm.

I’m AO3, too as MoonDjarin ^_^

“Hank, pleaaaase…” You pleaded, dragging the last word. Henry laughed at your frustration but still could not wrap his head around what you’re asking of him.

“You’re going insane.” He jokes, causing you to drop your back on the carpet with a soft thud, covering your face with your palms as you landed.

“It’s just like peeing in a cup.” Your reply came out muffled. Henry just snorted and tried his best to stifle a laugh.

Nearly 18 years of friendship and here you are, seemingly at the end of your rope, asking your best friend to father the child you so ache for and he laughs at your ridiculous solution, telling you he’s not going to be responsible for a “turkey baster baby”.

“I don’t like peeing in a cup. Besides, why go the turkey baster way when you can go… au naturelle?”

“You know exactly why…” You said, sitting up, and gathering the profiles of sperm donors from the (sperm) bank. You and Henry had been going through each profile over the past few hours, laughing and making faces at the notes.

“And I thought Tinder was bad.” He commented earlier.

Henry got up and took the bottles of beer on the coffee table and walked back to the kitchen to open new ones.

“Tell me why won’t you do it?” You asked him, eyes round and glazed with tears that are threatening to fall any second.

He hates seeing you like this.

He sighed and admitted, “If I were to have any children of my own, I’d rather have them borne out of love and not out of… desperation after a really bad break up.”

“But I’m not asking you to be… a father. Just a donor.” You countered.

"Darling, please. Reaaally think about what you're asking of me."

"I have! I wouldn't be asking you if I haven't. Come on, Hank..."

"Right, not more than an hour after dropping sperm bank Tinder and you've thought this through." He said sarcastically and you pouted.

"Well, think about it, too!" You asked of him. "It's the ideal situation."

"How? Tell me exactly why it's so ideal." He said, running a hand through his face and resting his chin on his palm as he waited for your brilliant idea.

"Well, first of all, we love each other. So the child won't be borne not out of love." You began, mocking his accent and his statement from earlier. He snickered and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Jesus," He muttered.

"Plus, I won't ask you for anything, Hank. No child support, no emotional support. You don't have to see them. You're not even going to be on the birth certificate."

Henry winced at each of your points. "Darling, you know so well that I'm always your emotional support. And d'you really think I can go around just being Uncle Hank?” He replied with an eye roll as he took a sip of his beer.

"Yeah, how hard could that be?" You exclaimed.

"Very." He said sternly, looking you straight in the eye.

"Y/N." He began. "You know so well I won't be able to sit here with you holding a child knowing it's mine and not be involved in all ways."

“God, you’re too emotional.” You rolled your eyes at his response as you drank from your beer bottle.

“I am! And I’m sorry, darling. I can’t just give away my children. They’re not the meals you make for me every week.”

You laughed at that. "So you admit it, you don't like the meals I prep for you?"

"That's beside the point."

You'll get back to that later. You sighed out loud as you both drank.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Why do you desperately want this?”

That ought to get you thinking hard.

You sighed and asked yourself the same thing, reflecting on what started this vision of yourself with a child, and what turned it to longing and aching, then desperation.

Growing up without present parents, you basically become an extended Cavill sibling. The sister they never had, or as the youngest Cavill, Charlie, would like to joke, the no-choice sister. That family took you in like their own kin, having you over for dinner almost every evening, and spending weekends and vacations with them.

It's not that you're not well off, financially. Your parents were just really successful actors who don't pay you much any attention but showers you with plenty of lavish gifts and an American Express Black card. Which, Henry's mother found really heartbreaking and his father pitied you on.

You were 15 when you met Henry. He was already a budding actor with a couple of productions and a movie or two in his portfolio. You were a bright and young singer-songwriter from Italy, about to break it into the English-language audience with a catchy single that Henry happened to star in the music video of.

It was easy falling into a friendship with Henry. He was kind, funny, a little nerdy, but he's also such a gentleman, and treats you and talks to you like an equal despite the five-year age gap.

It didn't take long before you met his family when he invited to his birthday party. You didn't know exactly how the events played out that day, but somehow, at the end of it all, you walked out of their home being a part of it.

You got along so well with his brothers, you and his mother already sharing secrets. You figured she was excited to have a girl in the house as none of her children would bring their girlfriends for them to meet. His father was so easy to please, a couple of jokes here and a few football arguments there, and you won his heart. Not like you were even trying, but you were glad that you got along with all of them.

Henry drove you home that night and when he parked in your empty driveway, he jumped out to open the door for you. You cried in the passenger seat with the door open and he stood there, leaning on the doorframe as you confessed to him your jealousy and longing for that kind of family.

He pulled you in and wrapped you in a tight hug beneath the street lamp.

"Hank, you know so well there is nothing I want more in life at this moment than to have a family."

"I don't get it, Y/N." He said quietly, "You're definitely the smartest person I know. You're a literal genius..." He thought of your first few conversations on the set of your first English-language music video, and learning that not only you spoke several languages fluently, but you are also about to start university at such an early age. It impressed him so much.

"You've accomplished so much in your career, you're still young, there are so many things you can do with your life, why do you go back to this?" He asked and you just shrugged.

"I feel incomplete. What can I say? A dream is a dream."

"Gerry was a dream, too." He said and you looked at him surprised at bringing up your ex fiancé.

He was indeed a dream. You met Gerry at an evening talk show as a fellow guest. He didn't hide the fact that he was so enamored by you and that he's such a big fan of your music. You, being a fan of him, too, was just so happy to hear him say all that in person.

It was an instant connection, and it didn't take long for you and Gerry to start a long, and at the time, seemingly, lasting and perfect relationship.

"Sorry." He muttered. "But it makes me wonder, you never talked about it, just casually said that things didn't work out. Knowing you, things don't just not work out like that."

And he's right, you know he's right.

Gerry loves you a lot. You love him, too. But for all the years you've been together with the high-profile action star, the talk of kids almost never came up, at least the serious talk about kids. Until you brought it up soon after he proposed, and he confessed that he had a vasectomy shortly before you met.

You were not mad. You understood, vasectomies are reversible. But Gerry didn't want to have it reversed, ever. He admitted that the reason he got it in the first place was to not accidentally have kids as he fully intended to be childless.

You understood that, too. But it broke your heart.

Regardless, you had a clean break up, but never felt the need to tell people, even your friends or family as to why. Just that things didn't work out.

"Gerry didn't want to start a family." You told Henry.

"What?" He asked, surprised. His brows furrowed and his mouth hung slightly open at your revelation. You just nodded.

"I don't understand, you were to be married." You just nodded again, and took a sip of your beer. You told him the truth about Gerry, and Henry felt his heart breaking for you.

Henry reached for your hand from across the coffee table, enveloping your tiny hands in his big ones.

"And that's a deal breaker for you." He said softly, coming to the realization.

"Yeah." You replied. "So... there you go."

"But you know what comes after the last one, right?"

"What?"

"The next one." He joked, trying to make the air in the room lighter. He smiled at his success when you snickered.

"I'm tired, Hank. Tired of getting to know new people. I've been with Gerry for four years, and before that... well you know." It was Henry's turn to snicker.

He knows so well. All the heartbreaks, disappointments, even the rebounds, met most of them. He was always there at your highest of highs, and always down with you when things didn't work out.

"I get that." He finally answered, thinking about his own strings of ex girlfriends, and an ex-fiancé. At one point, you both feel very proud of the situation you found yourselves in, both engaged to beautiful people at the same time.

You even toasted to it last New Year's eve, not knowing that both promises of a lifetime of love would fall apart in a matter of months. He, too, wanted what you wanted. A family of his own, being the only one amongst his brothers to be single and childless.

He thought he might have had that with his ex fiance. Telling him she was pregnant when she caught a whiff of him about to break things off. He was caught off guard when she told him and he didn't even waste a moment to put a ring on her finger, falling for her lies.

Maybe it was not so bad, making your dream come true. You can always discuss co-parenting, he thought and he's sure you'd allow it.

He pondered on it some more.

Henry rested his head on the cool glass top of the coffee table, his hand never left yours. He let out a breath, fogging the glass beneath him as he gently squeezed your hand.

He shut his eyes tight, and muttered to himself, "Please don't make me regret this."

"What?" You asked, not quite hearing what he said.

"Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, I'll do it. I'll--be your turkey baster baby's donor."

With that you burst out crying and he stood up, took your hand and guided you to his arms. He wrapped you up in that big, warm hug, that you always find comfort in.

"Set an appointment in the morning, darling." He whispered and you cried some more and muttered a yes, thank you.

18 years of friendship with Henry Cavill, and this is where you find yourself: at a crossroads that neither of you could have predicted.

The weight of his decision settled between you like a tangible presence, and as you hugged each other tightly, you knew that this was a turning point in your relationship, an uncharted territory.

Read next part: Part 1.5 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

[thurio-edau]

SBG GANG MENTAL ANALYSIS

yup, him for part two. funny thing despite Aiden being my favourite character I'm most excited for the other three posts I'll make, especially the last one. there's a lot to unpack here so

also im writing this with a migraine pls read it-

Part 2: Aiden Clark

ah, yes. the obviously-mentally-ill from the start fan favourite Aiden Clark. let's go.

first, I want to start with something I find really important about his character, what makes him heavily mischaracterized in the fandom. the 'psychopath' cliche.

the terms 'psychopath', 'insane' and 'unstable' are often confused with each other due to media stereotypes, such as Aiden here. one, he is not a psychopath. psychopath literally means a self-centered person who lacks sympathy, affection and care; making them far from most other characters in their franchise. their lack of sympathy/empathy often makes them criminalized, here

disturbing content warning, for an example of a psychopath.

let's take Gressil from Homesick for example since a lot of SBG readers also read Homesick. so, here, Gressil is a perfect example of an actual psychopath. his lack of empathy makes him torment others, he's very self-centered. and when asked why he's doing this? he says he was bored. let's look at Aiden here. what does Aiden do when bored? probably dumb ideas or annoy Tyler. not torturing people for fun. Aiden is just a boy who likes thrills, but he has a sense of empathy, care and justice.

you wanna see a psychopathic Aiden?? the canvas is it

(our local Logan hater is publishing the canvas eps go checc beachy out)

but that's him, not our Aiden. canvas does not equal originals y'all

alright, now since we got that cleared out!! firstly, ADHD.

I think everyone in the fandom is already aware that Aiden is ADHD but I'm still going to talk about it just like Ashlyn's autism. Red has also said that she wrote Aiden with ADHD in mind but hadn't canonically confirmed anyone as neurodivergent. let's start with the main symptoms of ADHD, also known as Attention Decifit and Hyperactivity Disorder.

I know about 5 different ADHD people myself and did some research, it probably won't be extremely accurate since I'm not ADHD myself, but I'll try to do whatever I can. first with the AD part, Attention Decifit.

now as seen, he doesn't exactly have any problems with theorizing itself. but the problem is that his attention just goes away easily.

i mean cmon bro was making memes on the job

he tries to do work, but can't. he has a low attention span which makes him not able to concentrate. he can't keep it up for long, he'll get distracted or bored too easily about things that doesn't interest in specially.

it's just distracting. what his attention is on constantly changes, there's more to that after the ADHD part but we're here for now.

the hyperactivity... it's a lot more apparent. but I should explain the insane-unstable thing before that.

insane means that someone's mental health is not in an okay situation, where it prevents the person from thinking normally, acting rationally, very often found together with delusions. the person is seriously mentally ill where it might count as a disability.

unstable, however, where someone is prone to psychiatric problems, has moodswings etc. they're not exactly the most sane person, but they aren't insane either. Aiden here, obviously falls on the unstable side. maybe just a little bit insane if you squint. this will be brought up later too, but it mixed well with his hyperactivity too.

and as we all know, our boy isn't exactly the most stable person. (sorry for the collages, but since there is a tumblr picture limit i have to keep on collaging. yes i learnt from the last time) his hyperactivity mixes with his unstable mindset which makes him incresingly vulnerable to danger- which he likes. from when the first shift happened, he's been really careless about stuff but it's been all about his love for thrill.

and it irritates Tyler, too.

the main subplot about his character is that he's a person of excitement. guess what? ADHD people like the excitement, they like new things, they like the adrenaline and thrill. now, Aiden's main characteristic of being unstable mixed with ADHD makes him an even more reckless person. another thing mixing with the hyperactivity, is boundaries.

this part will mostly be about Ashlyn since the boundary issue only happens with her.

I talked about this on Ashlyn's side on my Ashlyn analysis, now it's time for Aiden's side.

he's really annoying to her at first. Ashlyn is someone with lots of boundaries, like high walls. and who tries to climb them with his dumbass? Aiden of course.

she kept rejecting his efforts to befriend her for some time, until the night they stole the jeep. then she managed to actually bring the walls down, and accept them all into her life. but damn was she blunt.

felt that honestly

and Aiden understands her that night, too.

Ashlyn was hesistant to hug him, yes, he was aware. but she still did which made him realize she was also trying. i have to tell you, people with ADHD and people with autism either have trouble getting along, or go perfectly well. my ADHD sibling for example, I have to push them away for a lot and tell them to lower their voice. but once they remember my boundaries it actually becomes a normal, even pleasant hangout. which, Aiden realizes and tries to get along with. he tries.

seeing his efforts on her boundaries makes something click in her mind. and she starts to be a lot nicer when they hang out in the arcade.

Aiden eventually learns and remembers what she's like and what she loves to do. he already tried to watch her ballet sessions once -got slammed-, he's been to her room where he remembered the mat from and her fighting makes it obvious. I'm sure he knew he'd get cooked by betting that. but he still did,

because he knew it'd interest her. which he succeeded, he saw her smile again. the arcade day went great until Barron and his gang pulled up, but if we ignore that part it all went well. Aiden started to understand and respect her boundaries.

anyways then Tyler fucking dies

he knows that Ashlyn feels guilty. Aiden wants to comfort her through it, but also do it correctly. without going over any boundaries. which makes him really,

really,

really surprised when she responds.

also including this pannel cause its hilarious

here we see that he's still trying. hell, I'm sure he spent minutes thinking if he should come close physically to help her. that's probably why he just nudged her softly before anything else. he's not used to it, he has to conciously make an effort to not cross said boundaries. keeping his voice lower, try to not be so reckless, not doing anything physically close unless she reciprocates. wow how i wish another someone i knew irl tried that hard instead of blaming it on me cOUGH COUGH COUGH

also other small things to include

he's yapping a lot

he has a comically large amount of puzzles in his backpack for one single trip

and sticks his head into lamps for some reason

but that's just Aiden and his little neurodivergent brain for ya.

now the part I wanted to get to the most.

Borderline Personality Disorder.

first, what is Borderline Personality Disorder?

shortened as BPD, borderline is when someone's mood is inconsistent and swinging. think of it's name; the person's mental state is in the border, in the border line, switching up fastly. the most easily understood and common type is when the person goes from a depression to a happy state. but no matter which state they are in and/or go to, one thing stays the same: it is unstable.

one thing about borderline is that it is frequently mixed with bipolar. however bipolar is a neurodivengercy which means it is what someone is born with and cannot be changed. but borderline is obtained later in life. it usually happens with depression. bipolar is much more random and the episodes last longer in comparison. it may last up to hours, and the person's memory might have trouble remembering their episodes. borderline, on the other hand, is a short-lived mood swing.

now here. here's the catch; people with BPD during mood swings can have reckless behaviour, suicidal thoughts -in his case as far as we know, lowered sense of protecting himself- or a loss of understanding danger. sounds familiar?

borderline's recklessness and dangerousness, sometimes self-destructive acts combines with ADHD's love for thrill and excitement, combined with Aiden's own personality all make up for a great condition of instability.

Aiden's behaviour constantly goes crazy, I think his most frequent mood swing might be his normal self (at least, as normal as he could be) to this more maniac way of acting. I noticed it from his eyes, when he's in a more calm-ish normal state his pupils are a bit more dilated. in the pictures above, you can clearly see that he's still in the episode; filled with the adrenaline, the unstable way of thinking.

but, what causes that? surely a mental illness such as borderline doesn't happen on it's own.

right?

cause it didn't.

it never works that way.

but it can get better.

eventually.

but what happened to him?

personally, as much as a large amounnt of people seems to believe it's something like family abuse I don't think so. maybe neglect, maybe withdrawal, maybe maybe. but we've seen his parents. I don't think they would hurt him like that. I can't put any more pictures, but this is the last part anyway. his parents seem to be kind and gentle, despite that picture in his house. I'm thinking the picture was only for the dramatic effect. his parents said that he used to be really calm and quiet during Lily's birthday, and both Aiden and Ben seem comfortable around them. they were happy taking Ben in too, any kind of abusive parent wouldn't do that at least that's what I believe. also there is that Aiden got serious and concerned when he learnt that their parents were also in the facility, most likely worried for his own as you would have thought.

there was a post that I've been trying to find for like half an hour, I commented on it but I can't find the post now. the person talked about their own theory. if I remember correctly it was that when Aiden was depressive as a child, his parents took him to a thrilling activity like the ones he's been talking about (bungee-jumping, skydiving etc.) and the thrill made him actually get excited. which is why his parents allowed him to go even more reckless, because they are aware of how prone their son could be to the depression.

what happened? let's ignore the parents factor. someone can have a loving family and still be traumatized, someone can be taken care of and still feel abandoned, someone can never have confronted a situation they are terrified of.

one of my theories is that, the loneliness. it must get to a child heavily considering children need to not be left alone, but Aiden was. he didn't have any actual friends since they always moved from one place to another from his parents' business, and they might have not had enough time to make for him (which I believe is bullshitting, every child deserves to be taken some time out for. some people quit their jobs entirely for their child.) and be unaware, and that doesn't change that he was still depressed and alone. his depressive state was seemingly before Ben was taken in. now here one thing with borderline, at least from my experience, is faking actions. smiles, laughs, friendships, conversations... almost as if there's two different lives; one fake, and one real. you keep on switching, you keep on swinging between the sides where you're yourself and where you're just mimicking 'normal human behaviour'.

it starts from faking a happy state during their depression, and by time you're faking it it becomes an automatic adition to your personality. to your mind. once it furthers, it becomes the disorder. Aiden we see is always smiling. it becomes a habit that only breaks sometimes. now, I'm not saying his smile is fake- I think his face is literally just stuck like that. it breaks ever so slightly sometimes. fake it till ya make it yanno? that kind of thing. and when he swings from his calm mood to his borderline-d mood, his pupils get small and his smile gets worse. noticably worse. I'll be rereading the series (AGAIN) and this time look at all the small details since Red loves putting them and I love theorizing so

which, wraps up the Aiden thing! im actually really proud of how i could put my thoughts into text which i never could. i'd love any additions because i love other opinions as well.

and you know what? im glad Ash and Ai are out of the place because the rest are what I'm actually looking forward to >:)

...and i should sleep. really.

(wow sorry yall i finished this hours ago and said 'alright reread to make sure its good before sleep' and fell asleep through it lol sorry for 4 hour delay ig)

(leaving for school rn see yall 8 hours later 🫡)

[eponastory]

If they are so in love then...

Why do they break up so much?!!!!

Because they aren't in love, and the writers did this so Zutara fans would shut up. There was ZERO setup for this pairing. ZERO! And you expect me to just jump on board with this very badly written bad relationship?

HELL NO!

I'll say it again for the people in the back...

This is the most unhealthy relationship I've ever seen on TV!!!

You know, besides Daemon and Rhaenyra, and several others that I can tell you straight up how they are bad/toxic.

Mai is a perfect supporting character for Azula. That's where she works. She's a foil for Ty-Lee, and she doesn't give a damn about Azula's toxic behavior. It works in that way. Mai is that one friend that's going to go with the flow, and you might need her to help you bury a body.

As for her relationship with Zuko...

Mai is apathetic. She doesn't communicate at all about what she wants, and Zuko just wants her to open up. She won't, because that's her character. She is also written with the worst backstory for this character archetype because at the same time Avatar was airing, Teen Titans was wrapping up on its final season, and kids loved the character of Raven.

Mai from what I can tell, was written to be like Raven.

Raven is an insanely popular character within the DC Comics and Media, so it makes sense that Bryke wrote Mai in to bring in some support from Raven fans. Except for the fact that Mai's story isn't compelling enough to fill in those Raven parameters.

Fans call Mai and Zuko the perfect Goth couple when Zuko isn't even Goth. Trust me, he isn't. I was Goth/Punk back in the day... Zuko was far from it. He isn't even Emo. He's actually going to take the role of the Loner.

Now, just because a couple looks cute together doesn't mean the work. Like I said, Mai doesn't like opening up because she's supposed to be Brykes' version of Raven (genuinely surprised people have not caught on to this) and be mysterious, Goth, and apathetic. Zuko is none of these things. He's frustrated and lonely, and none of his friends are actually his friends. They're Azula's. Zuko is also willing to communicate while Mai isn't. That is usually not a good thing in a relationship, fiction or real.

So their breakups make a lot of sense. And as of current comics, they are still not together, Mai having moved on to be with some other guy.

And no, I'm not going to go by speculation that they are going to get back together. Unless that comes out in comic form, they are not together.

Sorry... wait, not I'm not.

[greenqueenhightower]

Hey.

I constantly argue back and forth with TB stans that Jace, Luke and Joffrey aren't legitimised just because Laenor, Corlys and Viserys go along with Rhaenyra’s lie about them being "trueborn". As I'm sure you're aware, in Westeros only a king can legitimise the illegitimate by first declaring their bastardy and then legitimising them afterwards. And TB stans. Just. Don't. Get. It. They also seem to think that the King's word is law in Westeros. They don't understand that this a feudal monarchy where the king and his vassals are reliant upon each other and both must respect the social contract in order for the Westerosi social structures e.g. monarchy to be maintained.

IMO, they fall for the narrative trap of the Targaryen characters. Just because Viserys and Rhaenyra say that the King's word is law doesn't actually make it law. It's only law as long as the king has the ability to enforce it. Therefore, if a king did something insane in the eyes of his noble polity, e.g., try to place his bastards in the line of succession, they'd rebel proving accurately that the King's word is in fact not actually law. Aerys's overthrowing is a great example of this. As is the reign of Daeron II: if his word was law and everyone had to obey him, no one would have joined Daemon Blackfyre's rebellion.

Anyway back to TB stans. I think alot of them don't actually realise how the world works. Even GRRM confirmed the bastardy of Rhaenyra’s 3 son's for goodness sake. Every time they try to deny it using the aforementioned argument it only confuses me. Are they insecure about Rhaenyra having illegitimate children? Is that how far they're para-social relationship with her goes?

They also have another stupid argument that Rhaenyra's kids having her blood means that they can inherit her throne. No no no no no no no no no. THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS TB. If it was Westerosi lords with bastard relatives, it would allow them to inherit. You have to be trueborn. It's unfair but these unfair laws are what keeps Westeros from constant civil war. That's the point of inheritance law in the Seven Kingdoms.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. It's just that sometimes when I argue with certain TB stans they don't seem to understand the laws of the world they're fans of. They will bend over backwards to excuse their faves, not understanding that you are allowed to criticise a character you like (& in their case love). I think Rhaenyra is an interesting character - moreso in the book TBH - I just don't get why so many TB stans willfully refuse to understand the way in which the laws of the world she inhabits work. Any thoughts?

Hi anon, it took me forever to get to your ask but you're right! 💚

Not all TB stans share the same views, and there are people in here with whom you can converse intelligently, but I have also seen the discourse you're referring to, and it is very annoying when the stans don't get it.

You put the Westerosi legitimization process very well. If we consider the greater Middle Ages-inspired world-building context that Westeros is based on, it makes sense why bastardy is a stigmatized social issue. Blood "purity," lineage, and legitimacy are important because they are the only way land and titles are bequeathed and inherited.

The King is the only one who can legitimize his own illegitimate children as heirs, but he can do so for other illegitimate children, regardless of whether these are related to him by blood. King Louis IV, for example, legitimized John II Duke of Brabant's son, Jan Cordeken, after a petition John wrote to him thus enabling him to inherit his father's fortune and found the House of Glymes. From Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to Enlightenment Europe, there are examples of Kings legitimizing not only their children but also the children of their officials, courtiers, and friends. It was seen as granting a favor to them, and when it came to personal matters, a King might choose to legitimize his children when he ran out of heirs, or in the case of Louis XIV, because he could and wanted to.

In other words, Viserys, who knew of but chose to ignore Rhaenyra's sons' (his grandsons') bastardy, had ample time and opportunity to legitimize them but chose to blind himself to the truth instead. What was that about Alicent calling Viserys "weak" in one of the deleted scenes of S1? Well, "weak" isn't the only word I would use to describe him... also irresponsible, foolish, and inadequate.

Nevertheless, the legitimization process in history was seldom favored by the court, the King's vassals, and the people, and caused quite a stir. As you say, the King's law didn't hold up that much ground compared to the law of tradition and at times the Church. The people didn't care if a King legitimized a child by naming them heir... the stigma of being born "illegitimate" wasn't washed off that easily, because bastards were seen as devilish, impure, half-breeds, unnatural hybrids, and so forth. So Viserys choosing to ignore the issue face front was bound to be catastrophic, because no matter how he tried to silence the tongues that wagged by threatening to cut them off, the issue of his grandsons' apparent bastardy remained, and THE REALM would not accept any of them on the Iron Throne, for the same reasons.

And Viserys did nothing about it. He could have confronted Rhaenyra when Jace was born and reminded her of the stark reality of the consequences of what she was doing. Not only did he name Rhaenyra (a woman) as his heir, which alone was controversial and unprecedented, but a woman with three illegitimate children, whose existence never even tried to correct or prevent. Viserys alone weakened Rhaenyra's claim with his lack of foresight and counsel.

If TB uphold the "Viserys loved his grandsons and he accepted them as they were" narrative, they are not only deluded but lack media literacy as well, because Viserys DIDN'T CARE if his grandsons were trueborn or not, or if that would plunge the realm to war, the same way he didn't care that he had named Rhaenyra as his successor when the realm, who was so used to having Kings for centuries, knew he had THREE legitimate sons of his own.

So my two cents on the discourse would basically be that those who don't understand the social and political repercussions of Rhaenyra having bastards, not being counseled as to why this is destructive, left on her own to raise them, and having to cope with the consequences of her actions as she realizes that the father she so loved and admired didn't protect or support her at all, are missing out on a much more interesting character in Rhaenyra and a more complex dynamic with her sons, who she now understands are exceptionally vulnerable and potentially threatening to her cause.

This is a far more intriguing reading than anything TB stans are getting at with their "no criticism" ban on Viserys and Rhaenyra.

[desire-mona]

realising none of u have seen my writing before which is. a good thing probably. anyway i thrive best in letter writing format so here's a letter todd wrote to neil after he took a gun induced nap

(obvious tw for death and suicide and general grief adjacent feelings)

-

December 20th, 1959

Neil,

I’ve tried to write this about 7 separate times now, but I feel like I can never get the right combination of words to properly describe how I’m feeling. I don't really know why I’m writing this in the first place, I know you won't be able to read it. I guess I don't need a reason. I don't think I’ll be able to get it right no matter how many times I try, so forgive me if this doesn't make sense.

It's been about 5 days since you killed yourself passed and I still can't confidently say that it feels real. Mr. Keating got fired, Charlie got expelled, Cameron was behind all of it, and I can’t even bring myself to hate him for it. I'm angry, obviously, I’ve never been more furious with anyone in my life, but something in me knows that you wouldn't have hated him either. Things like that have been running through my mind a lot, I find myself operating under what I think you would’ve done, or at least wanted me to do. I hope I’m getting it right. I yelled at Cameron after he ratted us out, and it wasn't like those times before, nobody expected it of me. I like to think you would’ve been proud of me for that.

It's really quiet without you here, in ways that I didn't think I’d notice. You were never all that loud, which I appreciated, but even the small things being gone make me feel like I'm going insane. It's hard getting to sleep without hearing your breathing from across the room. Is that creepy? Sorry. Sometimes I open the window just so I can hear anything but silence. I usually just end up wondering how people can go about their days when someone so important is dead. How are people laughing and enjoying themselves when it feels like my entire world came to a screeching halt? How dare they continue with their lives without even acknowledging how much has changed? That’s about when I close the window, our the room starts to get cold after a while.

I'm trying to stay that more confident version of myself that you were helping me become, I could tell you liked a more outgoing Todd. I think he was buried with you, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to dig him back up. I hope that’s okay, I know how patient you were with me. Thank you for that by the way, you were the first person to give me the time of day when it came to that. It was really special, I wish I had the chance to tell you. There are a lot of things I wish I had the chance to tell you, you were the only person I ever wanted to say things like that to. I'm really sorry that I never did, I realize now that it probably would’ve done you some good to hear it. God only knows how little kindness your father gave you, if I had known how bad it was then I would’ve you deserved better than that. You deserved a lot more than what the world gave you, I think we all do. No amount of sorry’s can fix that.

I miss being near you.

I miss you.

I miss having you around. I’d forgive you if you came back and told us it was all a joke. I wouldn’t be mad at all, I promise.

- Todd Anderson

[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

hii!! i have a question

i redownloaded re4r and i was walking around luis' house again, and it got me thinking about something.

how sure are we that it actually is his childhood home?

whoever lived there was a fisherman, because there are nets and other stuff all over the place and it's right by the lake.

but his grandfather was a hunter, not a fisherman, right? and wouldn't it make more sense for him to live by the woods then?

besides, everything that belongs to luis looks kind of out of place there. like he was maybe carrying it around until he decided to settle there (like it was just an abandoned house, and he needed to stay/hide somewhere?)

AND didn't his childhood house burn down? like, i was imagining it to be destroyed, but that house doesn't look that damaged, just very old and decayed

it's just a genuine question because i confused myself and now i can't stop thinking about it haha 😭

HIHI!!! I saw your ask on my main and meant to respond earlier, but to answer your questions we actually have a TON of information confirming that this is Luis’ childhood home!!!

So the first and most obvious is that photo of baby Luis and his Grandfather sitting on the table. When you flip the photo around it reads, ‘Navarro Family, 1981, which we know for certain now that Navarro is Luis’ last name- unfortunately I couldn’t find a solid photo of the back but we all know what the front looks like I think BXNDHENDJXK

And the SECOND most obvious is the diary entries talking about how much the ‘boy’ loves Don Quixote and could one day be a scholar from his Grandfather (Again I’m so sorry these images are so crusty, I’ll put descriptions on them to help BCNSHSNSJ) and I think it’d be a LITTLE weird to have a photo and diary of a random persons family that aren’t yours sitting in your house HXNSHEND

But if you want to get into the absolute NITTY-GRITTY of it all, there are a TON of random little details that confirm that this is supposed to be Luis’ childhood home. @geddy-leesbian has done an INSANELY INCREDIBLE job getting photos of a BUNCH of tiny details you would never otherwise be able to notice in these series of posts I’d REALLY REALLY REALLY recommend checking out HOWEVER!! The most interesting ones are these ((all photo credits go to @geddy-leesbian !!!!!))

The shoes and jackets(?) in the basement that’re identicle to the ones Luis and his Grandfather wear/wore- ofc these could be just random assets Capcom had on hand but sssshhh- and in terms of Luis’ Grandfather being a hunter, there’s a pretty massive deer skull chilling on the wall, but ‘hunter’ could also just encapsulate killing ANY animals, not just deer n stuff, as well as a guitar that could hint to Luis’ dancing prowess (slayyyy)

((Again credit to Geddy-Leesbian for the photo!!!)) There’s also ofc all those little bottles of medicine and alchemy boxes on the table that Luis realistically would’ve taken with him when trying to hide!!

And as for the house NOT being ‘burnt to ashes’,,,, yeah that one’s weird HCNEHENDJ there’s a chance that whoever wrote in-universe that was just exaggerating in the moment out of shock, but Luis’ house being moooooooore or less intact with super minimal burn marks is honestly a bit of a mystery!!! Like sure maybe Luis or somebody rebuilt it but it’s still super interesting!!!!!!

But the most basic and truest answer is that,,, it just makes sense lore-wise. It makes sense for the place Luis wanted to hide in being his childhood home, it makes thematic sense that he’d be tied up in the basement there, it makes sense that that’s where he would’ve grown up etc etc- which I know is kind of a bleh answer but it’s the truest one HXNEHENDJDN!!!

[jennrypan]

Let's go down the line of fuckassary: LONG ASS POST AHEAD.

1: Gaia looked and acted like everyone else. She should've been WAY angrier, she should be pissed at Persephone for bringing about winter first of all. Should be pissed that she was a sleep and NOTHING got better over the centuries. But sure, she's giggling and happy.

(I liked that she shoved her hand in Ouranos' chest tho.)

2: It's soo funny that people keep SAYING that Persephone and Hades have true love but the comic hasn't showed us that ever 🤨, like if anything those two losers are obsessed with each other. Be so fr.

3: Once again..this should be Persephones story/POV but its in Hades' always. Fascinating.

4: "You have to spend 3 months away from your sugar daddy" OH NOOOO BUT WEVE BEEN APART FOR SO LONGB 🥺. God. At this point does she even NEED to be in the Mortal Realm fr?? Like..Demeter, Metis and Rhea are back now so..what's her purpose there.

5: The way Gaia just isn't. Gaia is baffling. Anyways. Demeter FINALLY found out what happened to Persephone but she's not..having a moment with her daughter?? Not talking to her about it?? Okay.

6: As usual. They're eager to have sex cuz that's the only thing they do. "I can't wait to see that ass--" ..how very Zeus and Posedion of you quote on quote romantic 🤨

7: She gets her coronation but..didn't she already have that when she married Hades?? Ig not then. Also..Apollo just got a slap on the wrist, not surprising.

DEMETER GOT PUNISHED MORE THAN HIM??? Hell the Titans got punished more than that bitch what the fuck??? God.

8: The disrespect to Zeus is so. 😶 Zeus would literally not sit back quietly for this shit the fuck??? Also..Hera didn't divorce Zeus all those years and now she did ?? And she's what..gonna get with Echo now??? Fascinating. Zeus needs to start tossing rocks. Rachel did Zeus and Heras relationship so fucking DIRTY!!!! GOD!! FUCKING DAMMIT. I hate how she wrote them. Anyways.

9: The Mortal Realm is a lot easier cuz Hades is there?? YOU WERE BORN THERE!!! ITS YOUR HOME!! You ungrateful ass spawn. It wasn't that fun cuz you didn't have a man there?? Insane.

10: The way Persephone clearly doesn't love her own mother is sickening actually. Like..we can't even have them talking to each other?? Dancing?? Even the comment about her doesn't have that much emotion. Also..Dionysus' hair looks goofy, and I guess Hades is all for bringing back mortals now despite making a big stink about it in season 1 but whatever. Yay Semele.

11: "hera just gives him busy work" ..He's literally the king. Literally-- oh my god. "His powers having been the same" which..MEANS WHAT?? And the way Zeus would literally not be happy about this shit is so-- UGH. God it's infuriating. Hades and Posedion clearly don't give a shit about their brother if they aren't concerned about his fucking powers 'not being same'??? Die.

12: Echo needs to stand SEVERAL feet away from Hera. That ship is so god damn tasteless and unnecessary. If you're gonna give hera a new love interest. Maybe give them actual moments?? Make it make sense!!

13: "Ares is still a dog!" *cue laugh track sound*, god this is so..why ?? Ares, baby I'm so sorry people keep disrespecting you in every iteration 🤦‍♀️

14: ignoring the Artemis bit cuz she wasn't relevant for any of the major plots and she still isn't. Anyways. Hades stay the FUCK away from Thanatos. "They can have conversations" oh?? How fascinating. Hades just NOW deciding to care about Thanatos doesn't make up for years of his neglect.

15: Persephone, Ares and Aphrodite should beat Eros' ass for being useless about Apollo. I still think that. Eros is an ass of a friend.

16: 'new powers' ..Girl your powers are basically your old powers with one extra step. Shut UP!!! anyways. (No one cares about kassandra, sorry not sorry. Who was worried about that )

17: Hades and Persephones millionth drabble of nonsense fluff. They're not saying anything new, nor are they doing anything new. I do like the art tho. It's just..baffling how..they're relationship started soo much nonsense and we're suppose to see it as a good thing??

THIS is a good ending??

Nevermind the fact Persephone didn't spend time with her friends or her MOTHER, nevermind the fact Zeus and Posedion don't even get to speak to their mother either.

Hera, Hestia and Demeter don't have a moment with Metis either.

Like..what was the point of bringing them back if you weren't gonna bring it to a satisfying conclusion?? Absolutely insane

Also..Eileithyias design is ass. It's sooo boring. It's literally just pilot Hebe but darker. Oh wow she's yellow with purple eyes??? Insidious. Also she just looks boring and bland to be the daughter of the literal king and queen but sure. Give us nothing.

And..again with making the children boring copies of one specific parent! Macaria is so..boring to look at just like Melinoe. Also...hades can..have kids now?? 🤨 okay.

So basically..this was insane from start to finish.

This wasn't a good conclusion. It was absolutely a wreck.

[dumblucksers]

II 15 SPOILERS

here is my taco recap + analysis that I wrote after someone mischaracterized her in front of me:

just a disclaimer I have no idea what I'm talking about half of the time so sorry if some bits don't rlly make sense :P

ok so starting with her in season 1, literally all we see her as is this insane little cray say thing who has an iq of 7, apparently speaks French, spits lemons, screams randomly and says things that make no sense LMAO

she gets close to pickle and they stick together for basically the entire season

obviously we know now that her motivation this time was to become the fan favorite and get to the end so she can win the million (for reasons we don't know honestly, maybe find out in 16)

there are also moments in s1 where she'll slip up the act (but they play off as comedic effect) example when she calculated her fall in ep 12 or in 11 where she revealed her arms and was speaking full sentences to pickle for a second and a half

but anyway right at the end when she loses is where she reveals her true self and tried to steal the million after losing (and also severing her relationship with pickle)

one thing to point out before moving on is that taco is an analyzer, her act of being dumb gave her time to observe all of the contestants and pick the right allies and whatevs

n e way moving on to s2

taco has been stalking the entirety of s2 up until she reveals herself in 9, where she still wants the million (or rather half of it, and for reasons we still don't know) and she takes interest in the grand slams team, particularly microphone, who ironically doesn't exactly have a strong voice in the game and is, in tacos eyes, an easy target. So she reveals herself to mic and offers to help her advance in the game in exchange for 50/50 of the million

at this point taco only rlly sees mic as a pawn, and easily controlled. mic is unsure as all she's hearing is how useless and sad she is from a tiny British taco KSJSJSK

however mic is lowkey desperate herself bc she feels as though she isn't pulling her weight on her team, doesn't have much of a voice in the competition, she just lost soap aswell. so she accepts tacos help in the maze challenge using her gain setting.

now in 11 we see more of tacos strategies play out, as she further analyzes the grand slams, as it's categorized as: the alliance (baseball, nickel, suitcase) the friendship (suitcase and balloon) and the other ppl (knife and mic). Taco is more focused on the alliance and their relation to balloon, and she urges mic to get more involved in the pushing away of balloon to get him eliminated (and to further progress mic in the game) but rather than using the approach of attempting to make allies with baseball and nickel, we learn of tacos more violent tendencies. she wants to use a temporary paralyzer (courtesy of test tubes lab) to decapitate balloon. this is where mic draws the line, and also the episode where she proves herself to taco by instead of using violence, she substitutes subtle verbal and emotional manipulation instead. Taco is greatly impressed by this, and it's at this point where taco realizes that mic may not be as helpless as she originally thought.

now taco and mic are starting to reach equal ground, as in 12 they are more casual with each other and just chilling. it's also where the TIME TRAVEL STUFFF HAPPENS WHWOAOOAOAOAOOWOWOWOWOWOW

basically when they're down in test tubes lab and lightbulb activates the Time Machine portal thing, mic sees taco reach towards the portal, before it closes. this is (I think) the first time mic and the audience has seen taco look built a k o my god how tf do you spell vulnerable. ok there we go anyway this is the first time we see taco look vulnerable, and *possibly* regret towards her past actions. she reaches while saying "another chance, perhaps." and while at the time it could have been taken as another chance at stealing the million, ii 15 adds more context that she wants another chance with her relationships in the past, particularly with pickle, and she clearly regrets what she did.

now after this point mic is now a bit sus of what just happened, seeing taco reach for the portal. we also get to see another silly side of taco (not the cray say silly, just normal silly) as she tries to distract mic from the portal And from the fact that test tube and lightbulb are now in the time stuff.

oh yeah also at the end the episode knife finds out about mic and taco oh nooooo well go into that in a second

in 13 yknow they're trying to get knife to join them cuz now he knows and yeah yeah whatever. also taco and mic are getting closer as equals and as friends too so yeah

mic also brings up the portal and taco ignores, as per usual.

now let's get to the interesting stuff. Taco and mic are following knife around in the minecarts, and taco says smth like "is this you holding a grudge over my true self? For why? Everyone knows who I am now!" And mic says "doooo we thooooo????" this is like. 99% attached to the whole portal thing, bc mic saw that vulnerability and now she knows there's a teeeeeny bit more to the evil lil British Mexican food than what meets the eye

also there's another instance of taco and mics violence is bad bit, where knife is about to fall off, and while taco is like YIPPEEEE mic is like erm. No. And then saves knife

now here's where it gets even MORE interesting, where knife calls out tacos first alliance with pickle. Taco obviously gets mad at this, but mic doesn't rlly have a huge reaction except to tell knife that "she's(tacos) changing", which shows that she prolly put two and two together about the portal thing (prolly isss bc she stops pestering about it at this point)

now at this moment in 14 it's clear that taco and mic are partners in crime (well crime might be stretching it. Or not considering what happens), taco goes to shut down mepad so she and mic can teleport freely (and, to the prime shimmer spaceship) where the last violence is bad instance comes up. mic says PROMISE NO VIOLENCE and taco teeechnically doesn't promise, but yaknoww

now cut to when taco uses violence, she kills test tube and paralyzes fan to mics horror. she won immunity but at the expense of others , and that wasn't smth she was comfortable with, and that was her breaking point. she drops taco AND the entire show and eliminates herself

this is also tacos breaking point, in a way. where she realizes how much the game has shaped her into doing heinous acts, and for what, a chance at a cash prize? And now that she's completely out of luck for that prize, her work was for nothing. and it was at the expense of her two closest friends.

she pinpoints where she screwed up, and it was at the finale of season 1, where she broke her ties completely with her best friend just for a chance to steal the prize money. It was the game that fucked up her mentality, that every horrible thing that is done is for the greater good, and to use the rules of the game and the people you meet to advance for a extremely low chance of winning it all. Realizing all of this, taco doesn't want a repeat of this cycle, since the competition is so close to completion. She requests the challenge information from Mepad, and uses him as an incentive to Mephone.

But before we go there time to talk about her BANGER MUSICAL NUMBER YESSSS MY LIL THEATRE KID

anyway in the song id like to point out the banger lines "and we choose, to feel this pain, and we lose, more than we gain" which is basically everything I mentioned before about using the rules of the game and pushing away friends and whatever, and then eventually losing more than you get

next part "if I can't win the prize, I'll play my last reprisal, just to bring their lies all to an end" and then mepad is all like welll you gotta regenerate and tacos like, yeah that's prolly not gonna happen. And mepad points out how she believes she can't start on a clean slate. taco is like bro. with my track record? dawg there's no slate to begin with LMAO

but seriously with everything tacos done she believes it's too late to restart and that everything she did is irreparable (which ngl, kinda true maybe? but also not cuz she hasn't even apologized just yet) and mepad tries to convince her that yes you can change!!! youuu can make a difference...you can make it right... but taco doesn't rlllly listen

ok long story short she takes over the next part of the challenge which is truth or flare, where platforms rise if the contestants tell the truth and falls if they lie, and their fire has to reach the top and burn their rope. Taco, using her extended stalker knowledge of s2, quizzes the contestants on their interpersonal relationships and ngl as Mephone put it it's just a twisted group therapy session lmao

fast forward to nearing the end and the last question taco asks is to suitcase about what she thought she saw when she was being a floating bow tie. suitcase brings up her hallucinations, to which everyone, including taco, is horrified by. Taco sees how the game has affected suitcase, by making her so anxious that she literally HALLUCINATES, and that is yet another breaking point for her. She urges the remaining 4 to leave the competition before they go in too deep. She admits to her not caring about the cash prize anymore, as she "saw the desire took her to extremes" (the violence thing between her and mic) and how the game changes people based on how deep they get into it. She calls out Mephone for getting too deep aswell, as she brings up his challenges that clean up his messes, using tactics such as surprise double eliminations to add drama that mentally fucks with everyone involved in it. Her lil spiel is interrupted by a bush shake, since lightbulbs lil pen she's been clicking actually calls out a signal, and that anyone nearby could answer the call. Taco starts cracking out of fear? nervousness? Pressure idk anxiety any of those, because as knife points out, anyone could meannnn pickleeeee orrrr miccccc oh nooooo. knife says that she has to face her truths too, And then taco cracks completely and dies. annnnd everyone is horrified and sad, except for Mephone obviously, who is now threatened by taco since everything she said was true ngl jdhdjs

but also goes to show how mentally fucked taco is aswell, which while yes it is her fault that her relationships ended the way they did, the common denominator AND motivator is and was always the game.

anyway mepad and the other contestants force Mephone into reviving taco, and mepad formally resigns from the show convinced by tacos speech about leaving the game before it fucks them up. Mepad teleports away and stays with taco, urging her to stop hiding away from her truths and face pickle and mic, if for the last time. Aaand taco agrees

OK THATS IT WOW so tldr taco did some no no things But her unhealthy obsession with Winning a constantly (and unrightfully) changing game was the main factor, and her realization of this is leading her to a redemption arc that she and the people she hurt will (hopefully) heal from

weeee

[richeeduvie]

ok so i’m in a super deep angst hole and i wondered what would happen if baby jr or baby were to be kidnapped, like how would roman react or the whole family and like how would the reunion would be like

Okay, Baby Jr being kidnapped is kinda funny to me

been a hot minute since I wrote something a lil long for Roman and Baby, and of course it has to be angst to get me in the mood <3

I know it'd actually be so traumatic and sad when it comes to Roman and Baby's little girl because you know she'd be so scared. All she knows is her Mommy and Daddy and the world they made for themselves. Even if nothing's done to her.

But I remember seeing this siblingroyoc headcanon tiktok where they were kidnapped as a child but Logan didn't do anything about it so the kidnappers felt bad and sent them back. Like, the Succession fandom is filled with geniuses. Anyways, I feel like this is what would happen to Baby Jr in the sense that she's kidnapped by people who don't want to hurt her.

Maybe they realize that along the way, Baby Jr was the wrong choice? She's the baby of the guy who got the fuck out of Waystar and is now doing...nothing but being wealthy? Who knows, I just know that what makes it funny is that Baby Jr would eventually calm down and try to be nice to her kidnappers. She asks if they can play Encanto while Roman and Baby are just panicking.

Just imagine that, Roman about to kill himself while Baby Jr's out there having a good time with her kidnappingbabysitters.

It would happen when Baby Jr's at school. Out of the week, after a hesitant Roman allowed it, Baby Jr gets to go to kindergarten for three days. There's the weekend and then one special day saved for the family. But with all the events of wealthy life going on? Roman takes her out of school so much.

So much so that the school staff thinks the person signing her out of class is just one of the Roy family assistants. You'd think private schooling would have a lot more security.

Baby Jr's happy to get taken out of school by Mommy and Daddy, but she slows with her little legs when she sees it's this...person. She's never seen them before. She puts her thumb near her mouth.

"Daddy told me to come pick you up."

Now, she's learned about stranger danger. Just not in the sense the stranger could get into her school and pretend it's one of the many people whose existence benefit minor activities of the Roy family. She's a bit nervous, but okay. If Daddy said so.

"...Okay."

Okay. So they go. It takes the little girl to see another person waiting for them in the car. They talk, they look intense on the face. All scrunched lines.

Baby Jr wants her Mommy. She'll see her soon, but she wants her now.

"Don't be scared, sweetie. You'll just be with us for a little while."

"She still thinks were taking her to them."

"...What she thinks isn't going to change anything."

What gets Roman, in the all of all it, is how long it takes him to find out his daughter is missing.

He's picking her up, picking at his coat jacket. Baby's at home, making brownie bars. He thumps his hands on the office desk.

"Mr. Roy."

"Hi, Ms. school office lady. Here to pick up my kid."

Roman wants to flick her nose. Why the fuck is she staring at him like that? He'll feel bad that he does when him and Baby Jr past the office and waves her little, chubby hand like she always does.

"I know. School's done in ten minutes, but my wife has brownies that are best when they're fresh, which - can somehow be insanely sexual? But yeah...sorry to be a dickfuck and pick her up but I sorta need her now."

"...But you checked your daughter out at eleven."

Roman doesn't blink.

"No. I didn't."

"Not you. I'm sorry, not you - but your assistant. One of them came in and signed her out."

Roman scratches his neck with his middle finger. It digs in at the end, a sharp pain against the way blood rushes through his ears. He blinks fast.

"Yeah...no, I didn't send any fucking...assistant you're saying? No, no one would've came to pick up my daughter but me today."

"Did your wife send anyone to pick he-"

"She's the one at home, baking. Like I told you a minute ago, I would tell her that I'm leaving to pick up our daughter. Which...I'm here to do so did you make a mistake? Someone pick up their own fucking kid and not mines and it's just her name in the system or whatever?"

The office lady watches Roman's finger shake, tapping quickly on the counter, like he's pressing a key over and over and over again. She swallows.

"Sh-she left. She was sent to the office and she went with him."

The tapping stops.

"...Isn't there a list?"

"A list?"

"A list of people who parents put down as people that can pick their child up. Only those people, which...you're Ms. school Office lady so I'm hoping you fucking know about the list. Ours has...has - we have Connor Roy, Frank Vernon, Shiv Roy. Her son is in the building right now. Unless you're telling me you let him walk the fuck out with a stranger? Right? Is that what you're telling me?"

"...I'm...I'm new. It's only my third day."

Roman stares. The office lady watches his chest begin to rise and deepen.

He closes his eyes.

"Did you say eleven?"

"Yes, Mr. Roy. I am so-it's most likely-"

"It's two. It's going to be two."

"Mr. Roy....Mr. Roy-"

The room and it's walls watches the way Roman pressing the heels of his palm into his eyes, stepping back and out into the hall.

"Oh, fuck."

The walls hear this high, cracking pain in his voice. Something panicked with angry coating his throat. Roman bends at his knees to the floor.

"God. Fuck, fuck - fuck! Oh, God. God. You-"

He gets up suddenly, every line twisted in his face with his hair messy. He jabs a finger to the office lady.

"Call fucking 911! You fucking bitch-you're-you're nothing! Call fucking 911!"

It's the sounds of shuffles and buttons, then ringing. Then cursing.

The brownies are done just in time when there's ringing on Baby's end.

"Roman?"

"You need to come down here. You need to-I um...I'm sorry. I don't fucking know. I don't fucking know but you need to come down here and...fuck."

It's a cracking, soft cry. Baby can imagine Roman rubbing his eyes, or the bridge of his nose.

"What happened? Is she okay? Are you okay?"

Roman and her don't know that he feels like a child caught in the act of something bad. He needs to tell her something. He has to tell her something's wrong, and being the barer feels like a crime. It feels like he's going to kill her, and Roman doesn't think he's ever wanted to hurt her in his life.

"Someone fucking took her. They don't know who. The uh, the brainless bitch who gets fed off the tuition money said that it was someone who said they were one of our assistants."

Baby Jr turns to the cat paw oven mitts she got for Baby Jr. She looks to the tile floor.

"No. No."

She says it like saying no will change things. It's simple.

"Can you come down here, please? Please? I'm sorry, I should've picked her up earlier or...or shot the office staff in the head."

"When did h-he he...when did...was it a he?"

"Apparently. But I need that to not...not matter. Please, come down here."

It's all a plea where Baby doesn't know if Roman's on the verge of crying or he's just finished crying.

"I need that to not matter to you. But when? Are you asking when?"

Baby takes a breath that shakes with her body. She holds her palm against her stomach. If she presses in, she can feel her c-section scar.

Tears come as quickly as the panic.

"Roman."

"It's been two hours since they took her."

Baby's head tilts up, face twisting and quivering and her spine curves. She cries harshly.

Roman closes his eyes at the sound. He lowers his head.

"Can you come down? Please, I've sent someone to get you but fuck that if you just wanna come down here by yourself. But please, come down. Please."

It's an long, almost-gentle begging from Roman. He needs her body, he needs her for any sort of reality. He needs to cling onto her and he can't listen to her cry without wanting to touch her, bring her down. But he fucking can't right now because she's there and he's here and their daughter is gone.

Not gone. He'll do a lot of things if she's gone.

It's a big news story even before Baby manages to make it down to the school. It's a Waystar kid kidnapped midday. It's press, parents, people all over. It's a sea she has to cross. She can't cross it without notice, not when she's the mother.

But the flashes and callings fog out at the right of Roman. He's pale and brightly red all at once.

Baby Jr would giggle.

Her feet pick up. His don't even when he sees her. He knows he'll fall into the ground and he won't be able to get back up. But his face against her chest and his arms wrap like suffocation around his crying wife. Hers do too around his.

"Shiv's called about five times. And Karolina, for some reason, as if our daughter's on the company deed. I'm not even on anything anymo-"

"Did they find anything yet?"

Roman can't avoid that question because he's been asking it every thirty seconds. He gets more into a pale rage when the answer doesn't change.

"No. No, because they can't fucking do anything right. They can't find her. They can't-"

"Roman."

Baby pulls his hand away from his shoulder across. He was digging. She thinks he's colored a bit of his shirt red. She sees his coat on the steps of the school.

"Can we do something? Like fucking-they keep telling me I can't do anything and I get the feeling like I could rip their jaw apart but she wouldn't want me to do that."

Baby looks at the small of Roman's body, but the bigness of his rage and panic. It the fidgeting and shifting. For her, it's tears and questions where she can't afford kindness. As a mother, she can't afford cordialness to anyone at the moment.

"Mr. Roy, we got the security footage of them leaving the building. And...are you Mrs. Roy?"

Baby nods. The officer pulls out a phone, makes them watch the footage of a man dressed casually hold their daughter's hand.

Baby breathes so unevenly watching it, she wouldn't give anything to that man in the grained video if she could afford it. Roman keeps his mouth covered by his knuckles.

"Do you recognize this man at all?"

"No. I don't. Roman?" They both wait for Roman. His vein pops out and pumps. Pulses. His brow is raised under it. It's all harsh, it's nerves and it makes Baby even more nervous. She didn't know that was possible. "Roman?"

"Sir-"

He presses play on the video again. It's a short feature, ten seconds of bare information but Roman winds it out to forty seconds.

He presses pause.

"Roman."

It's a soft scolding as Baby licks and bites her lips, as Roman slaps the phone to the ground. He walks away, hands grabbing at the back of his head to pull at his hair.

"Roman, not this. We don't have to talk about everything, about how this happened, but we need to listen to them - we need to think about what's happened? Maybe? To figure out any information?"

She waits half as long in his silence.

"Rom-"

"Do you think she's asking for us right now?"

Baby closes her eyes. "Don't think of these things, baby. It's not going to help-"

She thought of every question she could on the ride here. Roman turns to her but looks to the ground.

"She's asking for us and wondering why we're not there? Our daughter's out there with people who will be dead come time and she's wondering why Daddy hasn't come to get her? Because I don't mean to think that highly of myself as a father but she wants her Dad to come save her and she doesn't know why he can't."

"She knows we're looking for her, Roman."

"She's five. She knows Mommy and Daddy, she doesn't know that things can come in between Mommy and Daddy. She's wondering where we are, isn't she?"

"Roman-"

"Why aren't we there?"

The way he asks the question, it sounds like years ago.

Baby cries silently, into Roman's shoulder when she tries to comfort him. It's this way until a phone rings.

"Mr. Roy. Mrs. Roy. The kidnappers have called, we have them on the phone. They've managed to get the chief's office personal number. With the information they've given, it appears to be a standard ransom case. They have said your daughter is unharmed-"

Roman's dragging Baby, both in the aftermath of their tears to the Chief officer.

"Give me the phone."

"Mr. Roy-"

"Give me the phone."

"Mr.Roy-"

And like a child, Roman snatches the phone out of their hand. It would be humorous if not for the situation. Baby Jr would've giggled.

"...Hello?"

How quickly Roman's hands find the need to pinch and peel at the sound of their voice would be funny too. His nose flares.

"I'm going to take the skin off your feet. Where is my daughter?"

"...She's fine. I said she's unharmed. This is not a political act, this is not a personal one against Waystar or the Roy family, although you can say we picked you due to your politics and what Waystar has done, but this is where we ask for ten million dollars in exchange for your daughter's safety."

Roman sniffs.

"Okay. I'll paypal it to you. Let me speak to her, though."

Baby's more than willing to give up anything for their daughter. She never expected anything less than Roman giving up ten million like it's nothing. Everything is nothing in the face of their baby.

"...Reall-"

"Put her on the fucking phone."

"...Alright."

There's shuffling. Roman and Baby wait as they barely blink.

"Daddy?"

Roman exhales something heavy. It's almost a laugh, but Baby cries fully again. Her forehead presses into the side of his head. Their breathing is unevenly, but somehow aligned with the other's lungs.

"Are you okay? This is Daddy. Daddy's sorry, honey. Did they hurt you?"

"No. We're watching Coco. I was super fear. It was crazy! Cause I didn't know anyone here, but they like Coco like I like coco. And they have Candyland! So it's okay. It is almost done. Where is Mommy?"

"I'm here, baby."

"Hi, Mommy."

It's so sweet and soft. Baby Jr hums.

"Daddy's sorry. We're-" Roman chokes on his own spit. "We'll be with you soon."

"Why are you sorry, Daddy? I go now, so you can say later."

Roman's stomach eats itself at the idea of her going. There's ten to eighty thoughts of how these people could be lying, how this could be the last time he hears her. It could be false, fake. He twitches. They could be doing everything his nightmares are made of. The things that are why he keeps her and Baby to himself.

This could be something that kills him. It drinks his blood and cuts off the air to his head and muscles.

But trusting these fuckers is believing she'll be in his arms soon, to never leave the penthouse or Mommy and Daddy. So, Roman lets her off the phone.

"We will text you the instructions on how we want the money delivered to us."

"Yeah, fuck you. Fucking bitch. You're so fucking ugly too. An ugly little nothing. You go ahead and do that."

Roman shoves the phone into the officers chest.

"Just, do whatever you want with my bank account."

It's a bit of time in trying to get ten million suddenly ready to deliver, but it's done. They wait. Roman can stop twitching and Baby can't stop wringing her hands. They both think of Baby Jr's room. They don't know the other thinks of the same thing.

"They've dropped her off at Waymond park."

They're at Waymond park way too quickly for the ride there to have been legally possible.

"Go fucking faster! Jesus fuck."

Baby wishes she could say that's not what she wanted to say to the driver.

Car doors slam when they see the little girl in the coat they made her wear to school on the swings. Always a bit too warm, that's how Roman likes it.

Baby Jr kicks her little legs. She lifts her head when she hears her named yelled out. She smiles brightly. Those little legs don't run sharply, and they can't catch her when Roman and Baby engulf her.

But they can catch her. They'll always be there to catch her.

Baby Jr giggles at how funny her parents are. They're hugging her like it's a competition to see who can hug the tightest and longest. So, she tries to join in. But she won't win.

Roman kisses her head as tears wet her hair, Baby's tears wet his. He kisses her. They kiss each other.

"I'm going to ask Kendall if we can borrow Colin."

Baby's not against that, not when she's a mother and her daughter's back in her arms.

[walnutcookie]

going insane about this post of yours. THANK YOU for putting it into words omg,,, I was wondering why the story states that CASSA is peaceful/restorative or whatever yet jjanjang’s (I propably spelled that wrong) skill and trial is so. Violent (she gets literal flamethrowers in her trial like???). But uh yeah. Sorry if im not making sense lmao

LITERALLY. AUGHHHH. THANK U SO MUCH IM GLAD THAT IVE HIT SOMEONE ELSE WITH MY BRAIN BEAMS IVE BEEN THINKING SO HARD ABOUT THIS LATELYYYY LIKE. FUCKKKK. Ive been chatting with @cherryformula about jjajangs morals a lot lately and like we were talking about how when jjajang acknowledges that something is wrong she never really looks that deep into it.

For example when she got demoted for exposing a higher up she just... didnt really care??? Not in the way that someone who hates wrongdoing should. she was more pissed that she got demoted and her only focus was getting her position back - she never stopped to think about what it says about CASSA and how corrupted it must be. she just seemed to accept it as "man that was fucked up" and started to think about how she could climb her way back up

the exact same thing happened when aloe pointed out that she was driving recklessly and then directly after that tried to arrest and wipe the memories of the group without giving them a chance to defend themselves. She realized it was wrong and said "ok fine. start talking" instead of. Yknow. Taking a moment to realize really what the orders she was given entails. Wondering why CASSA protocol is to arrest/wipe the memories of anyone who interferes

THATS THE THING AAUGRHRHGHRJH SHE FOLLOWS ORDERS BLINDLY!!!! For someone who stands for justice and hates all wrongdoings shes awfully morally questionable!!!!!!!!!!! i really cant tell if this is what the devs were planning or if they just. Wrote it badly.

i think that jjajang is less against wrongdoings than she is enforcive of justice. She doesn't neccessarily stand for what's right, she stands for the law. (because theres a big difference between what's moral and whats legal!!!) Higher up being funny with funding? Yeah, thats against the rules, so she'll call that out. but shes so unaware of whatever shes doing with the memory wipers because Objectively erasing peoples memory is preeetty fucked up. From the cutscene with bell pepper we can see that they erase more memories than just anything to do with aliens. and anyways based on the job description youd expect that CASSA would advocate for alien acceptance and help protect them instead of just zapping peoples memories away and trying their best to keep the huge alien population under wraps???

Jjajang doesnt think about that though. At least she doesnt like to think about it. i headcanon that she really does try to stand for whats right but also one of her parents was a Cop and with the job she works shes just been taught not to question authority. She does question it all, staring up at the ceiling at night, but its too uncomfortable of a question to truly confront. She doesn't want to abandon that comfort of "I work for CASSA, so im one of the good guys."

all of my headcanons thus far are not set in stone though GXVJDHF there is still the second half of the update and we may see more to her in there so. Mmmmmm

[scoobysnakz]

Hard Luck

It’s hard finding love when your sole reason to live is your daughter, but when her best friends dad is annoyingly attractive and might have something to do with your rent randomly getting paid, who can blame you for being a little curious?

||* slight angst, I just wrote this on the toilet bc I realised I hadn't updated in ages (sorry), Miguel having intense mood swings, teeny tiny fluff if you squint insanely hard

Chap v

“About before,” you awkwardly shuffle towards him, “I want to say thanks.”

Miguel turns to look you, face tight with concern which doesn't go unnoticed by you. He can feel your eyes scanning him, staring at his expression, trying to read him as his mood suddenly shifts.

“I should pay you back,” you mutter before shoving your hands in your pockets and patting them down as if you don't know they're empty.

He has to stop himself from scoffing, paying him back should be the least of your worries. But Miguel’s nice and those gentle eyes you’re looking at him with soften him- slightly.

“No need,” he sighs, a forced kindness in his voice, “I was just helping out a friend.”

You hate the warm feeling those words spark in your skin because you know it's not him saying you don't need to pay him back causing it. There's still a sense of guilt nagging at your brain though. He's still a stranger, no matter how he puts it, and you owe him money.

Owing people is something that you've grown far too accustomed to and you're determined to not add Miguel to that list.

“Still, at least let me pay for Raya’s ice cream?” you change your tone, secretly praying he thinks it's a question.

Miguel grimaces, charming crinkles forming around his narrowed eyes and arched nose crunching in what you hope isn't disgust. “You have a nice apartment.” he frowns as he changes the subject.

It's your turn to grimace. You purse your lips so tight they hurt and the skin around your mouth smudges with your lip balm. It is a nice apartment, for the price, that you can't keep up with.

He doesn't know why it irks him to see you like this. Not lying, not being irresponsible, no, he hates seeing you so nervous around him. The way you instinctively coil up while having to fight your own body to maintain eye contact.

“I’m lucky its so cheap,” you laugh cautiously, your hands once again finding your pocket and finding a home in the deep cave of denim.

“Cheap?” he raises an eyebrow, his tone suddenly hardening.

You force a smile on your face, lips twitching at the corners and fear shining in your irises. “Yeah.”

He takes up so much room in your kitchen. Not just his body but his whole being. His shoulders might block the light from the lamp reaching you but the overpowering scent of cologne infiltrating the cracks in the air is more than enough to make your stomach clench.

Shakily, you take a step back, knees weakening the more intense his gaze becomes.

“What are you going to do?”

And for a moment you swear you might die.

Miguel knows. He knows that you're flat-broke and days away from getting evicted because you didn't think to cover up that godforsaken letter when you carlessy tossed it in the bin.

The concern that drips from his voice fills you with a kind of self-loathing you thought only your father could bring up. You can't look at him, his gaze is too harsh, too threatening, too unkind for someone you barely know.

“Stay with my mum,” you mutter, hands gripping the edge of the counter as you how your head down.

You can practically hear him rolling his eyes as he nears you with dramatically long strides. “What?” he snaps.

“Me and Raya are going to stay with my mum until I can sort something out!” you hiss.

“How is she going to get to school?” he presses further.

“She only lives about twenty minutes away and my mum can drive us.”

“Can she, now?”

The pure disgust that runs from his expression and out through his voice knocks you sick. Your skin burns with a revolting mixture of shame and anger. Who is he to talk down to you like this? But he's right, you've messed up badly.

Miguel’s worried. He doesn't know you but God, he'd rather die then have someone as precious as you on the streets.

“This isn't any of your concern-”

“You’re just going to let her live like this?” he cuts you off harshly, “moving to your mums whenever you don't pay the rent like a responsible adult? Never knowing what's going on because you can't sort out money?”

Tears sting the corners of your eyes but you fight them back, like always. You refuse to let him see you cry. His words sting but you know, deep down, that you are responsible, that you do what's best for Raya, that your love is enough.

You swear he's bigger now, more threatening, more dangerous. There are fangs protruding past his snarling lips that make your chest tighten in fear.

Anger pulses throughout Miguel’s entire being. His blood is hot and thick with pure rage that only strengthens the more he glares down at you and your pathetic, trembling, pretty lips.

You want to run away, push past Miguel and bolt through your front door but you settle for puffing up your chest and snarling him right back.

“This has nothing to do with you. I appreciate you getting Raya ice cream and picking her up but you are still a stranger who has no valuable insight on this issue.” you try so hard to keep a stable voice, take deep breaths when you feel your throat tighten, look at his forehead not his eyes, but it doesn't and you end up stumbling over your words like an idiot.

The words feel wrong in your mouth, being unkind isn't new to you but targetted to someone you know so little about, you almost feel guilt.

Cool metal hits the poorly clothed part of your back and it's only then that you realise you've been backing away. Your body just naturally falls into submission, even when you have every right to stand up for yourself. That small, faint slither of confidence you had instantly faded away.

Miguel notices this as well, the hidden sadistic part of him going insane over the small gasp that escapes your quaking form, but he still frowns. He wants to reach out and comfort you, let you know how easily he can make this okay but the terror in your eyes distinguishes all hope of that.

He towers over you, his chiselled features now highlighted by the glow of tiles on the floor and his beady, blood-red eyes boring down into you. He stalks towards you, long legs easily pulling him sickeningly close.

You feel miserably weak. Your entire body is numb with guilt as sweat builds in the creases of your palms. But what makes you feel even more pathetic is your desire to be mad yet you can't bring yourself to even weasel out a small argument.

“I’m trying, I really am,” you choke, knuckles burning white with the force of your grip on the counter.

And Miguel’s gaze softens, instantly. All his anger dissolves and all he can see is someone who needs protecting. The way your eyes glisten with tears does something to him. You crumbled so effortlessly that it was easy for him to keep himself in check and now he's got you cowering in the corner in your own kitchen.

He takes a step back and sighs while dragging a lazy hand down his face. “Mierda, I'm… fuck, I'm sorry.”

You try to look at him, to wrap your head around this absurd mood swing but you can't. Just seeing the shame in his eyes burns a hole in your stomach.

“Get out.”

“I got mad and I didn't thi-”

“Out.”

You watch his throat bob as he swallows, hard.

“I’ll go get Gabi,” he sighs.

You shake your head, lips pursed and nose scrunched. You don't want him near Raya, don't think he's safe enough for Gabi to home to, not after a mood swing like that.

You croak a pathetic, “I will,” and walk off. His eyes burn holes into the back of your head but you fight the urge to acknowledge him.

The sound of laughter that leaks from Raya’s bedroom door soothes the burning of your nerves. You might have trembling hands and a racing heart but she's fine- and so is Gabi.

Part of you wants to keep Gabi here, make sure she's safe and let her stay the night but knowing you'd have to face Miguel again at some point is too much.

You knock lightly on the door before pushing it open. “Hey, Gabi,” you smile down at the ground but she's not there. All you can see is a mountain of teddies and blankets in the middle of Raya’s bedroom. Their laughter is present but is mixed with the sound of each other's shushing.

The plushness of the blue carpet on the floor dampens the sound of your footsteps as you creep closer to the pile. You can hear them shuffling around but their laughter has subsided.

Suddenly, you lunge forward and throw yourself onto the pillows with a subtle thud. They both scream as they flail their arms and legs in the air while desperately gasping for air between their violent giggles.

“Your dad said it's time to go home,” you just about manage, as their laughter has affected you too.

Reluctantly, she pulls herself up from the plushy mess, Raya doing the same. They cling to each other, still laughing and whispering, as they disappear through the door.

[trigunsbbygirl]

I read both your Vash and Knives reverse isekais and loved them. I wad just sad that the brothers were split up again, so what if you wrote both brothers appearing in our world? That way they can be together and be happy?

ofc!! they deserve to be happy and just be silly little brothers together again hhbmmn

anyways sorry in advance I think I was possessed by like Miku or smth bc I do not shut up about music for the first like 600 words idek why

also kinda bring up potential v relationship for a bullet point or two, but yeah, many thoughts on the two of them..

•do not split them up! (I say after having split them up lol)

•but what I mean is, congratulations! you now have two(2) roommates!🎉 (rip if you live in a v small apartment lol)

•like I said in my Knives isekai hcs, he gets into composing music, but! this time Vash learns along with him and they make music together often. when they collaborate the songs usually end up being longer than 5 minutes and they always have intense emotions put into them. there'll be a soothing piano/violin/flute part before it crescendos into chaos.

•this is kinda their way of dealing with their past with eachother. they haven't talked about it all yet, (they will eventually, it's just a very big can of worms to open that will probably take years to go through and neither one is quite ready) but for now, making music together like this is how they deal with it,,

•over time, especially after Vash and Nai have started deailing with everything,, their songs together do get less anguished, pained and sad, and overall feel much more light. they took a bit of a break during that time, but after the two got past the hardest parts, they wanted to make a new song together and it was rather peaceful. a bit melancholic at times but the song ended happy.

•Vash gets into writing lyrics more than Nai does, although Nai does read over Vash's work and gives suggestions when asked. but when Nai does write lyrics, damn does he do an amazing job.

•Vash does the singing too! unfortunately, I don't think Nai would be too into singing, maybe just being a low harmony just barely audible against Vash's voice and the music. it's a shame, he probably has an insanely good singing voice;(

•if you're into singing Vash begs you to sing the songs he writes, even if you're not great at it. if you agree, he's got the biggest grin on his face, his eyes sparkling. Vash listens very intently, taking in the way you sing every note and syllable. he's committing it to memory and when you're done, Vash bombards you with compliments, saying you should sing more.

•Nai is a little more subtle with asking you to sing any songs he writes, but the way he stares at you a day after you sang for Vash is not. Nai won't ask for you to sing for him, rather, waiting for you to come to him and ask. (it's something Vash is trying to work on with Nai, that it's okay to ask for stuff and that you won't appear weak or next or whatever. idk how to explain it but I hc Nai trying to twist his wants/emotions to appear that you want it rather than him bc of pride and stubbornness? if that makes sense)

•anyways, you tell Vash about Nai staring at you a lot lately, and Vash thinks for a moment before saying he thinks Nai just wants you to sing for him, but he's just stubborn. Vash suggests that you ask if you could sing one of Nai's songs since he doesn't think Nai will actually ask.

•when Nai is listening to you sing, he switches between listening with his eyes closed and watching you carefully. it's honestly a little nerve-racking, but when you're done singing he opens his eyes with a small smile barely showing on his face and says, "you have a nice voice."

so sorry I went crazy with music for a second anyways

•Vash forces Nai to join in on movie night every weekend. Nai doesn't really care about movies but Vash loves them and there's so many he wants to see!

•Nai will watch them but he's got a scowl on his face the whole time, especially if it's a romance or comedy. or both.. he does like mystery and horror movies if they're done well. (I think he'd really like 1982 The Thing (much to Vash's dismay.) Nai really likes the practical effects and mood of it.)

•Nai is also lowkey really happy that he can watch cowboy movies again. unless a movie has really caught his eye, he usually picks westerns. they both really like Rango!

•Vash on the other hand, hates horror movies, especially if they're gorey. but, it was Nai's turn to choose so he'll try to endure it. he stays glued to your side, hugging your arm, and if he's too scared by the end, Vash will ask to sleep with you.

•Vash loves animated movies and comedies! he rewatches a lot of movies like Into the Spiderverse, Puss in Boots. he loves signing along to songs in movies, it's really cute.

•stupid thought that just came up but, if somehow Vash hadn't learned about rabbits and he watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail, he'd sit there wondering if that's what rabbits are actually like.

•there's a song called SEKAI-chan and KAFU-chan's Errand Ensemble and I can envision Vash and Nai having moments like the song.

like Vash wants a certain food, but they don't have ingredients and Nai is like just wait, we're going to the store tomorrow we'll have this instead. but Vash refuses and forces Nai to do rock-paper-scissors, and when Vash wins he's forcing Nai out the door.

•Vash usually forces Nai to go shopping with him. the times that he doesn't, Nai notices that Vash buys a lot of donuts and so Nai brings himself with everytime now so it doesn't happen again. Vash whines saying that they're cheap, but Nai argues that they've got so much dessert at home thanks to Vash already, they don't need more. Vash has a donut restriction now;( 3 a week and he can only bring a box home once a month. the only exception is when Vash makes the donuts himself. you guys always have so many donuts.

•Vash and Nai get insanely good at Mario Kart and they're both brutal too. they get really good at sniping with green shells and bananas it's a little scary. so, good luck getting first. Vash may be nicer and cheer you on if you get into first, but Nai is ruthless and competitive;; (okay there may be a few times where he let's you win but he'll never admit it, even if it's obvious.)

•they aren't afraid to play dirty either lol. they'll punch and push eachother and Nai will use his blade tentacles(?) to try and obscure Vash's vision. Vash will try to just grab Nai's controller and keep it away from him.

•you know it's just silly sibling rivalry, but sometimes you worry it'll just turn into a fist fight. it never actually does and when they're done playing Vash turns to Nai and says "haha good games, I had fun:)" and Nai replies, "likewise."

•it's the same with other games like that too.

•while Nai is more into cooking, Vash loves baking! you always come home to see Vash decorating a dessert or pulling a loaf of bread out of the oven. he's really excited and wants to try as many foods as he can. there's so many different types!

•Vash tends to make a lot of deserts and bread, especially donuts, so when that happens, he's offering them to the neighborhood or apartment complex.

•Vash also shows Nai recipes he wants to try eating and begs Nai to make them. Vash helps by cutting any vegetables or shredding food, but Nai does the mixing and cooking. you've asked if they needed any help but Vash just smiles and says that 'they've got it and that you don't to worry about anything. you just sit back and rest until the food is ready!'

•it's the least they could do they think, since they most likely can't get a job, you know, with no ssn, birth certificate and identity cards..

•you still do the dishes though and Vash always tries to help. if you refuse he kinda sulks before just wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your head. it makes it a bit difficult to move around but you don't mind. he just wants to hang out with you<3

•getting into romance hcs a little, neither of them would make a move on you until after they've started talking and working on their past. not only are tensions high between them, but it would also be too many emotions to deal with. especially Nai. he hardly even acknowledges you in the beginning.

•Vash on the other hand jokingly flirts with you, and if you're comfortable with touch, pats your shoulder, puts an arm around it, hugs you and so on. but it never passes from friendly gestures, even if he does like you.

•if they find out they both like you, it kinda gets tense in an awkward way. they just started learning how to live with eachother, now they have to navigate having feelings for you?

•Nai is actually the first one to bring it up to Vash, stating bluntly that they both like you and it's getting annoying skirting around it. there really isn't too much to talk about, they decide to let things play out. if you end up having feelings for either twin, the other would be happy and supportive. if you like both Nai and Vash, it takes another little talk between all three of you before they're nodding along and saying that they could definitely try for you. it's a little bumpy at first, but you guys make it work<3

•also they don't try to fight over you or try to win you over in any way. Vash may be a little more touchy and Nai more expressive with you, but it's just to try and show you that they like you.

•Vash loves painting everyone's nails. Nai grumbles a little, but he always indulges Vash as long as it isn't a neon color.

•Nai dresses formally in a comfortable way, a (usually white or light blue) button up with the sleeves rolled up and dress pants. it's always either black or white socks and they go past his ankle too so you can't see his skin when he sits down</3 he also always irons his clothes after they've been washed.

•Vash on the other hand dresses a lot more casual, maybe picks up on streetwear? lots of hoodies though, he loves them! his wardrobe is colorful, but there's still more red than any other color

•after 120+ years, they finally get to celebrate a birthday together:(!!! and really, I think it's the first time they'd actually celebrate their birthday in general, Nai seeing no point in it really and Vash thinking he doesn't deserve to celebrate it.

•but! it's their first birthday together again after they've made up so Vash wants to go all out and celebrate eachother and the fact that they have made up.

•lets ignore that money exists for a bit but, Vash goes ALL out. he's decorating the whole living room and kitchen with streamers, balloons, flowers, anything he can get his hands on. Vash buys his and Nai's and favorite drinks and snacks, he's setting the snacks up in fancy looking plates, and even if it were just juice, he's pouring it into wine glasses.

•he gets a fancy two teir white cake with the edges frosted a light blue, with those pearl candies evenly placed on them. there's also frosted flowers placed in certain areas too. the top has happy birthday! written in cursive. (I can't describe it for shit but trust me it's a really pretty cake.)

•a week before, Vash is begging you to take Nai grocery shopping on the day of their birthday so Vash can set everything up.

•Nai knows something is up when Vash refuses to go shopping, trying to keep a straight face, but he decides not to question Vash. he supposed it had something to do with their birthday, so the two of you go shopping.

•Nai can't lie, he's actually really happy to be spending birthdays with his twin again after so many years. he may not have celebrated his birthday, but it was a bit of a lonely and upsetting day. he's thankful that he can be with Vash in peace now, that their presence with eachother is no longer filled with exasperation and violence.

•when you two get home and Nai opens the door, Vash is there, pulling on the string of a confetti popper, yelling out happy birthday before throwing himself at Nai for a hug. Nai only grunts a little, taking in the decorated house as he wraps an arm around Vash. "you know we're going to have to clean this all up?"

Vash only laughs, pulling away with the biggest grin, "it's our first birthday together in forever! of course I had to go all out!"

•even though it's just the three of you, it's a lot of fun. Vash completely spoiled Nai with presents (some heartfelt, others practical, and a few that were just gag gifts. Nai scowls at those much to Vash's joy.) Nai had gotten him a lot more useful/practical gifts, but he did buy Vash a geranium earring and when Vash opens the box, Nai explains that he has the second earring. Vash tears up, immediately putting it on and forcing Nai to put on the other one. he takes a lot of selfies with Nai after that.

•towards the end of the day Vash is asking to make a pillow fort so that you all can have a movie marathon of everyone's favorite movies. it's a little crowded at first with how tall they are, but you all get comfy and they end up cuddled against you.

•you and Vash fall asleep first and Nai notices that, he turns off the movie and device before quietly getting out of the fort to put away leftover food and drinks. once he's done, Nai gets back in and gets back into the position he was in earlier, cuddled up to you, deciding to sleep as well.