#totally playing along with it‚ pretending to be distraught about it

[airenyah]

The four of you have worked together before, but never in the same series, is that correct? How was it when you learned that the four of you would be playing the main characters of the series?

BONUS: everyone's reaction

[bestiesenpai]

Acrimony - Choso

Choso is growing on me, and his sudden love for Itadori makes me chuckle. Femme reader

TW: noncon, (face) slapping, choking, blood, choso is an incel

Choso fucking hated you with a passion not unseen by his peers. There was no logical reason for him to hate you as much as he did. He never spoke ill of you, nor made any attempts at causing you harm, but he was coldest to you and often ignored you if you spoke to him, sometimes leaving the room entirely if it was just the two of you in there.

Yes, Choso fucking hated you. You were a strong curse, special grade just like he and the others. You weren’t overly boisterous like Mahito, a nice temperate personality to offset the loud man. You were kind to everyone, even Choso despite the callous way he treated you, and even if he said no you’d leave a few snacks or candies for him so he wouldn’t be left out.

The answer to why he hated you was clear, even though he refused to acknowledge it and shove it deep down inside him and never touch it. It was always screaming right in front of him, no matter what he did, no matter where he was. If you were there, the reason bubbled up like sick bile in his stomach.

He liked you. He liked you and he fucking hated it. It angered him how you made him feel nervous with just a simple glance, how his cheeks would heat up if you sat next to him. He often fumed over the way you were so casual with him, like you had no idea in the world what you did to him.

It made him absolutely sick, it was so vile how innocent you pretended to be. Did you think he was a fool for you to string along like the others? You may have convinced everyone else you were a sweet little thing, but Choso knew better. You were a temptress, a sly fox just waiting for your moment to strike.

Choso wasn’t a fucking idiot. He knew the reasons he liked you were far from pure, but in some twisted way, he knew it wasn’t his fault he felt these things. It was yours. It was all your fucking fault.

Finding you alone one day in the temple Geto controlled, he nearly sneered at your back. The two of you were all alone, no one in the group else was there, and you casually walked around in a sports bra, unknowingly causing Choso great distress with the skin shown.

“Oh! Hi Choso.” You’d just been cleaning up a room the others had occupied before they left on whatever mission they’d set out on. There was a small trash bag in your hand, wrappers from candy you’d given Mahito stuffed inside. “I thought you’d left with the others.”

He’d planned on it, but upon realizing you’d be all alone, he stayed back. No one said anything about it, his absence going unnoticed. Choso grunted in response, his lips pulling into an actual sneer with you now facing him.

Not only was his chest getting tight, his pants were as well. That was another thing he hated about you; you made him aroused beyond all reason. Just seeing the way your top dipped down sometimes, or seeing you being squeezed in a hug by Mahito was enough to get him riled up and hot under the collar.

Choso couldn’t do it anymore. He had to deal with this the only way he knew how. While he was a total virgin, a ‘hopeless lost cause’ in the eyes of Geto and Mahito, he still knew what certain things were. He’d watched porn, a lot of it edging on too dark for mainstream sites, and he knew exactly what to do to rectify the situation.

“Hey, what’re you doing?!” It had taken him only a few seconds to get in front of you and grab you by the shoulder, knocking you out at the knees and forcing you to the ground. You struggled against him but it was futile. Choso was a man on a mission.

“Shut up.” He gave your cheek a quick slap, making you gasp and push against him. Grabbing you roughly by the collar, Choso forced your head to look up at him.

“Let me go!” Your fingers clawed at him, but you might as well have been a struggling kitten and not a fully realized curse.

“Shut up!” He said more forcefully, slapping your other cheek. You began to cry then, tears misting your lashes as he stared down at you. Your hands gripped his tightly, still trying to tug yourself free. “You just don’t fucking listen, do you?”

“What do you want?” Your voice began to shake, lower lip trembling the longer you were in this position.

“I want you to stop the fucking lies.” Choso glared angrily at you, getting more aroused by the second at having you on the ground like this. You were so helpless, eyes wide and scared with tears dripping down your cheeks.

“What lies?”

“I’m not a fucking idiot, (Y/N).” He shook you with every word that left his mouth. His sanity was going to leave him at any minute now from your dumb little act. Letting out a choked whine, you tried again to stand and leave.

Choso quickly wrestled you fully to the ground, getting you on your stomach with his knee on your back. Your legs kicked him, hands attempting to claw out from under him. Choso soon discovered he liked you in this position too.

“Stop!” A shriek left your lips as he pulled down your bottoms, leaving you in just that stupid little sportsbra and panties. Flipping you onto your back, Choso rolled his eyes at your distraught face.

“Pitiful.” Caging in your body between his knees, he roughly squeezed your breasts together, feeling them mold under his fingers and keenly watching how your nipples pebbled underneath the fabric.

“I-I said stop!” Worming a hand out from your side, you slapped Choso hard across the face. It certainly hurt, and it was enough force to turn his head fully to the side. Huffing out a breath, he turned to you.

“Touch me again and I’ll kill you, you little bitch.” His hands flew to your throat, tightening around it so hard for a moment you thought your head would pop off. Your eyes rolled back into your skull the longer you went without air, the hands that had been clawing at Choso to let you go were starting to fall limp.

He let you go soon after. It would be too much of a hassle to explain why he killed you in the first place, so he let you live. Returning his attention to your breasts, Choso yanked down your sports bra until they were free.

Choking and gasping for air, you were too weak to stop him from playing with your nipples roughly. Choso’s hands were rough and unpolished, the dryness of his skin scratching you painfully. He gave your breasts a slap from one side to the other, enjoying the way they moved under his palm.

“You make me sick.” He grunted, a hand going to the front of his pants and rubbing his budding erection, relieving some of the tension. “I hate you.”

But the hate Choso had for you now was different, it was morphing into something else the longer he saw you naked. Was it hatred that made him tear your panties off and force your legs open? Was he truly unable to stand you when he spread your lips with his fingers and felt the urge to stick his tongue inside you?

Maybe it wasn’t hatred, but Choso didn’t want to give it another name.

“Pitiful bitch.” He said when he looked up at your face again and saw you crying and furiously wiping your eyes. The fight in you had been diminished and now all that was left was a sniveling little thing beneath him.

“No, don’t.” You struggled to raise your voice above a whisper as you watched him yank down his pants just enough to free his cock. It was hard, angrily so, leaking a stupid amount of precum already.

Putting a hand on your throat, Choso used the other to guide himself into you. The fit was tight and uncomfortable for both of you, but he made it work. You weren’t dripping wet like the girls in the porns usually were and for a moment it confused him.

Shouldn’t you like this, at least a little bit?

Shaking his head to throw that thought away, he used his elbows to keep your legs spread as he bottomed out. You were crying louder now, a gross and ugly sob filling the room and leaking out into the hallway. Squeezing your neck didn’t do anything to stop the sound, in fact making it worse and causing you to scream.

“I should just kill you, shouldn’t I?” Choso glared down his nose at you, and a small delight went through him at seeing your teary eyes widen in fear. You shook your head as best you could with his hand on your throat, and it made him chuckle. “No? Why not?”

“I- pl-please-” Your babbles were the only thing you could think to say, and even then it couldn’t truly be counted as thinking. The pathetic attempt at keeping yourself alive was just that, a pathetic waste of time.

“Whatever.” Loosening his hand, Choso returned his attention to his cock, currently nestled deep inside you. There was a stain of red surrounding it, a perfect circle of blood. Swiping his thumb along it, he brought it up to his lips and sucked.

The metallic tang of your blood on his tongue excited him and Choso found himself going for another taste. Mixed with the taste of your cunt, it was something he could get addicted to if he wasn’t careful.

Pulling out slowly, there was even more blood coating his cock. It glistened in the light of the room, making Chosos heart pick up speed. Slapping his hips against yours had him letting out a low grunt, pleasure shooting up and down his spine.

“Stop, please.” You whimpered, turning your head to the side to avoid looking at him. Your face was an absolute mess of tears, snot and sweat, and that was something that looked familiar to the porns he watched.

Creating a steady rhythm with his hips, Choso hung his head and watched his cock disappear inside you. He wasn’t a hopeless, loser virgin anymore. With this first taste of sex, regardless of the circumstances surrounding how he got here, he rightfully claim himself an expert.

Putting an experimental roll in his hips nearly made him cum on the spot. He did it a few more times, slower and with more control to keep the almost painful pleasure at bay. The tip of his cock was bumping against something inside you, and no amount of him trying to push past it worked. He wasn’t well versed on female anatomy, but it made his chest puff up a little in pride; he must have a pretty big dick if he’s hitting something.

“I hate you.” He groaned, incorporating his new move into the previous push and pull of his cock. “God, do I fucking hate you!” Planting both hands on either side of your body, Choso couldn’t decide where to look, your face or your cunt.

He could hear your cries easily, they were right below his ear. Every so often you’d let out a little yelp or a hiccup, your neck straining to stay as far away as possible from what was happening.

���Look at me.” It enraged him that you were so distant in this intimate moment, so Choso grabbed your chin and forced you to look him in the eyes. Your sniveling, tear stained face was what gave Choso a shiver down his spine, but there was something else there as well.

In your eyes, deep down inside you, there was hatred. He could see it burning a hole through his head and into the ceiling up above. That unmistakable fire that was usually always present in him was now inside you as well.

“Bitch.” The word came out as a short grunt, caught on the tail end of a wave of pleasure washing over him. Even though he was a self proclaimed expert, this was still his first time having sex. His orgasm was coming faster than he wanted it too and while the option to slow down was there, Choso told himself he didn’t want to savor the moment. He wasn’t about to go soft on you.

“I-I- ugh! Fuck you!” He shouted down at you, making you flinch hard against the floor. With his orgasm mounting, his anger rose as well. The two mixed together in his head, clouding his thoughts and his vision. “Fucking dumb bitch slut!”

He let out a roar and ducked his head down, keeping your head still so he could slam his lips onto yours. The strength of the kiss was enough to nearly crush your skull, Chosos dry and cracked lips rubbing against yours sloppily.

Today was a day of firsts for him: first kiss, first fuck, first time he’s cumming into something other than his fist. Resting more of his weight onto you, Choso slapped his hand against the floor in anguish as he came.

He couldn’t stop himself, couldn’t control his emotions or his actions and he rutted deeply into you, like a miserable animal in heat. It felt too good, all the sensations at once coming over him, and he sunk his teeth deep into your lip and swallowed the pained scream you let out in response.

The taste of your blood once again coated his tongue, lapping it up greedily as it poured out. Despite the urgent need to breathe, Choso refused to part ways. He’d rather die kissing you than go one minute without his lips on yours.

Eventually, he became lightheaded enough that he fell off of you, his body falling limp on top of yours. His thighs twitched, whole body feeling warm and fuzzy in the aftermath of his orgasm. If this was what heaven was like, he would gladly visit over and over.

“I…” Taking a staggeringly deep breath, Choso hoisted himself up on his hands and looked down at you. There was blood smeared around your lips, staining your skin and coating your teeth. There was no doubt you could taste it, he could tell it had coated your tongue the same way it had coated his.

Slowly withdrawing his cock, Choso watched a mixture of blood and his seed spill out of you. It was a sight to behold and if he had a camera, he would have taken a picture of it. Mindlessly, his fingers reached down and swiped some of it up, once again getting the addictive taste of your cunt in his mouth.

Sitting up on his knees, Choso tucked himself back in his pants, mouth suddenly dry the longer he looked at you. You were lifeless, unresponsive to the movement around you. But as soon as Choso scooted back far enough, you scrambled to your feet and ran away, not even grabbing your pants.

With his head no longer fuzzy, Choso could think clearly. There was a twinge of something in his chest, something that missed you and wanted you to still be here so he could do...something to you. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from you, he hated still feeling like he needed you even though he’d taken what he wanted already.

The feeling he refused to give a name to was back, telling him to seek you out once again. But there was no plan in his head, no course of action he wanted to take like before. This hatred was different, even though it wasn’t hate he had. Getting confused even more, he pushed up from the ground.

“Fucking bitch.” He mumbled to himself, letting out a huff. “You could have at least said goodbye.”

[13uswntimagines]

Together (USWNT x Reader)

Request: team x reader where r gets hurt (needs crutches) during practice and the team is of course really worried for her and r stops eating and is upset and takes it out on the team the rest of camp (because she doesn’t think she can make it back in time for Tokyo) but it gets resolved after reader is crying and team is there to comfort her? (maybe some christen x reader) could you also do at the end where the reader either gets named to the roster/ the first game since injury?

You stared unseeingly at the hotel room ceiling, the doctor's words rolling endlessly through your mind. It was an accident, you knew that and you still loved Ali, but the situation fucking sucked. It wicked that her tackle had been late. It sucked that your ankle had gone in the opposite direction of your body. It really sucked that you had needed surgery to fix the compound fracture that had resulted in the collision. And it Really Really fucking sucked that you would “be lucky to walk without a limp for the rest of your life, much less run around on a field,”. 

You were only 22, and the doctor had basically but a death sentence on your career. The only reason you hadn’t been sent home was that your team moms Kelley and Alex hadn’t made the argument that there was no one there to take care of you. It would have been easier if they had let you leave. Then at least you would have more time to figure out how to tell them that you were never going to play soccer again. 

A knock sounded from the hotel room door, and you glanced at it for a few seconds, before retiring your attention to counting the texture in the ceiling, contemplating what the fuck you were supposed to do with the rest of your life. 

The knocking stopped for a second, before starting up louder. Maybe if you didn’t respond, they would think you were asleep and leave you alone. You didn’t want visitors right now anyway. No one else deserved to have the rest of their camp ruined with your sour mood. You needed to make them hate you so it wouldn’t hurt as much when you left. When they stopped talking to you because you weren’t useful anymore. When you lost the only family you had ever had. 

But the telltale click of the door lock told you that the women would not be so easily deterred. You didn’t bother to look at the women as they slid into bed beside you, Kelley on your left and Alex on your right. 

“What ya looking at kiddo?” Kelley asked, nudging your shoulder softly. 

“Just thinking,” You shrugged, your eyes never leaving the ceiling, even as Alex drew circles on your cheeks with her fingers, sharing worried looks with Kelley. Their little ray of sun was even more cloudy than it had been when they left earlier. One of them should have stayed with you. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Alex asked, brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear, trying to coax you to finally look at her. 

You bite your lip, your eyebrows furrowing as you try to get the words past the lump in your throat. 

“I can’t play,” 

You could practically feel Alex’s eye roll at the statement. And you frowned. She didn’t understand that this wasn’t just a temporary thing. 

“Don’t worry about that right now sweetie. Just worry about getting better,” She murmured, using a careful finger to tilt your head so you were making eye contact with her. You stared into her concerned blue eyes, praying that she couldn’t see just how much pain you were in. She didn’t need that burden. 

“Yeah ducky, just work on getting better and you’ll be tearing up the field with us again in no time,” Kelley added, propping her head on your shoulder. You rolled your eyes, nodding slightly. 

Normally they would have attacked you with tickles to get you to smile, but this time they didn’t. They simply sat up and offered you their hands. Even they had given up on you already, what was going to happen when they found out that you were useless to them now. 

“Now, dinners ready and you already skipped lunch today,” Alex said softly as you stared at their hands in discontent. 

“Wasn’t hungry,” You grumbled. The truth was that you didn’t want to confront your new reality. You wanted to stay in your little bubble and pretend that everything was going to work out fine. 

“Sure you weren’t,” Kelley laughed, growing tired of your resistance to them, and grabbing your shoulder to force you into a sitting position. 

“What we mean is that you’re not getting out of it,” Alex shot Kelley a disapproving look, but helped Kelley hoist you up. Her forehead wrinkled when you didn’t laugh at their antics, and instead just crossed your arms. 

“I hate you guys,” You huffed, pouting. 

“No you don’t, now, up you get,” Kelley laughed, kissing your cheek. 

“I can do it myself,” You hissed once you were sitting upright. You grabbed your crutches and forced yourself to your feet. The crutches rubbed uncomfortably against your ribs, but you ignored it. You didn’t need any more help. You didn’t need to give them any more reason to leave you. 

“Stubborn as always,” Kelley sighed, opening the door for you, and you held in your groan. They probably wouldn’t even miss you. 

The ride to the dining room was spent in uncomfortable silence. Neither woman quite sure how to broach the subject of your foul mood. 

“Hey gimpy, need help with your plate,” Ashlyn smiled, clapping you on the shoulder and nearly knocking you over. Kelley glared at her, reaching out a hand to steady you. 

“I got it,” You grumbled, shrugging off their steadying hands and beginning to maneuver yourself towards the food table. You didn’t want to eat (what was the point) but if you didn’t, they would make an even bigger deal than they already were. 

They watched you struggle for a moment, trying to balance a plate and hobble along the food table. Ali sighed, standing and making her way over to you.

“I’ll help you, this is my fault after all,” she said softly, grabbing the plate before you dumped its contents onto the floor by accident. 

“I said I got it,” You huffed, looking away from the woman, frowning as Christen joined you. God, you weren’t a child. You could get a plate of food by yourself. Ignoring the good intentions of your crush, you ground your teeth toge

“Is this all you’re going to eat? You need to keep your strength up kid,” Kelley scoffed at your choice of three dinosaur nuggets. 

“Like it matters now? I can’t play so what’s the point,” You grumbled, ripping the plate out of Ali’s hand and struggling to the closest seat. Christen sat down heavily beside you, followed by Ali, Ash, Kelley and Alex. 

“I’m sorry Y/n,” Ali whispered. It killed her to see you so distraught. To know that she was the reason you were so upset. 

You glanced up from your nuggets, making eye contact with the woman. You took note of the pained crinkles by her eyes. She didn’t have a right to be in pain. You were the one who just had their future destroyed. 

“I know,” You shrugged halfheartedly, playing with your nuggets rather than eating them. 

“You sound super convincing,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes. 

“Well, what would you like me to say?” You snipped back, quirking your eyebrow up at her. 

“We’re not your enemy babe,” Christen soothed, rubbing you back. 

“I know I’m just-.” You huffed, shaking your head frustratedly. What were you? You were angry, sad, a complete and total washout now. What was the point? You paused, taking a deep breath to steady yourself. To do what needed to be done. It would hurt less in the end. “I’m tired and not hungry and I just wanna go to bed,” You finished, staring down at your untouched nuggets. Your hands fidgeted in your lap for a second before you reached for your crutches. 

Your fingertips brushed the dreaded walking device at the wrong angle, sending it crashing to the ground. Just like your dreams. You shoved your plate away, leaning as far as you could in your chair to retrieve the crutch, only for the other one to join it on the floor. You glared at the items, oblivious to the worried mother hens watching you fall apart over being unable to get them on your own. 

It was Christen who took potty on you, lifting the crutches off the floor and presenting them to you. “Let me help you,” she smiled sadly, and you grit your teeth. Your cheeks flamed red as you grabbed the items. 

“Aw kid, don’t feel bad, we all need a little help sometimes,” Ashlyn smiled kindly. The rage and embarrassment boiled inside you. They didn’t fucking get it. 

“Im not a fucking invalid. I don’t need your fucking help. I don’t need these or anything else,” You growled, throwing your crutch across the room and into the food fable with a crash, the other on suffering the same fate as you forced yourself to stand. Pain shot down your leg, but you ignored it, determined to prove to them all that you could do it yourself. 

The room sat in stunned silence. They knew you were upset, but you had never ever lashed out like this before. 

Christen was the first person to jump into action. She held her hands out as she approached you, as if you were a wounded puppy she needed to show she meant no harm. 

“Babe, don’t, you’ll just make it worse and if you ever wanna come back..-“ she tried softly, wrapping her arm under your armpit in an attempt to prevent you from putting weight on your injured foot. You shrugged her off, taking a bold (and excruciatingly painful step forward). What was the point. You would never see the pitch again anyway. 

“You just don’t fucking get it so you? I’ll never ever get to come back. That sloppy tackle made it so I’ll be lucky to walk normally again, much less kick a fucking ball,” You spat, tears finally making their way down your face. 

You could feel the weight of the teams putting gaze. The heaviness that filled the room, like a wave of realization crashing over them. You kept your eyes on the floor, you hand clenching and unclenching around nothing, eating for them to disown you. For the next logical step to happen. 

“Y/n,” Ali started, tears evident in her voice, but your venomous scowl stopped her. “I’m fucking useless now, so just fucking drop it, alright?!” 

You attempted to take another step, using the chair as support, and forcing yourself forward. You nearly collapsed as your full weight landed on your very injured foot. You were stubborn, and you were determined to give them a reason for you to stay. You wobbled, nearly keeling over from the pain, gritting your teeth to stop the anguished cry from threatening to spill out. 

You pulled yourself back upright, about to take another step away from the chair supporting you, but soft calming hands on your shoulders stopped you. “Y/n Stop. You’re going to hurt yourself, more, and then we’ll have even bigger odds to beat,” Christen murmured into your ear, hugging you back into her chest and supporting your weight as she sat back into a chair and pulled you into her lap.  

“Yeah kid, fuck what the doctors say. You’re amazing and so stubborn that I dare them to try and keep you down,” Kelley added, coming to kneel in front of you, her hand in your knee. 

“Plus you’ve got all of us behind you, no matter what,” Alex said, coming up behind her. A sob ripped from your throat. That was your greatest fear. That they would leave you. Your family only tolerated you when they wanted something when you were successful, so you thought your soccer family would feel the same. 

“You promise?” You asked softly. 

“Absolutely kid,” Alex and Kelley said together firmly. You nodded and allowed the women to hold you as you cried. You would all get through this. Together. 

*****

You bounced lightly on your feet, cracking your neck as you waited for the match to start. There had been a tremendous amount of time and effort put into this moment. Hours upon hours of rehab, soccer training and therapy, but here you were in the starting 11 for the Olympic finals. 

“You ready baby?”  Christen hummed, her arms wrapping around you, kissing your cheek before resting her chin on your shoulder. 

You smiled, grabbing her hand. The woman had been instrumental in your recovery, and though it had taken you an embarrassingly, long time to ask her out, you had sacked up. You loved the woman so much that it scared you, and now she was your girlfriend (bum leg or not). “Always baby,” 

You had come a long way, and you had so much further to go. You would win like you always did. Together. 

[badorchestra]

"I rewatched Notting Hill, and there was something I'd never noticed before."

Prior to last night, Notting Hill was one of my favourite movies.

It has all the makings of a classic, including but not limited to: Hugh Grant’s face but also his hair, the weedy roommate who looks like about eight people I know, and some good music that I can’t name off the top of my head right now.

But then I did what no person should ever do if they truly love a movie from the ’90s.

…I watched it again through a goddamn critical lens.

0/10, do not recommend.

You see, my issue lies with the characterisation of Anna Scott.

Scott, played by Julia Roberts, isn't just deeply flawed. She is — in a word Hugh Grant would use — 'insufferable'.

Scott and Will Thacker, played by Hugh Grant, meet in his book shop. Moments later Thacker accidentally spills his orange juice on Scott. He definitely didn't mean it. It's Hugh Grant for goodness sake, he can't exactly help being clumsy AF.

Anyway, Scott isn't happy about it, which I guess is fair enough. And there begins their romance.

Scott invites him to the Ritz hotel where she is staying, but alas he is mistaken for a journalist so claims he works for Horse and Hound.

This is where my scepticism of Ms Scott begins.

Why did she invite him over when she was clearly busy with press interviews? Why did she make him wait and then put him through the agony of pretending he watched some crappy sci-fi movie? Why does she not stop the PR dude and say "Oh, sorry mate, this is actually a friend of mine I wanted to catch up with so it is completely UNNECESSARY to have him sit across from me and ask me questions about the movie I'm in"?

Because she feels bad (which she should), she clears her evening for Will. As it turns out it's his sister Honey's birthday party, so Anna suggests she go as his date.

She's fine at the dinner, I suppose. Although she does try and argue that she's worse off than a woman who suffered a tragic accident, is now in a wheelchair for life, and has just found out she is unable to have children.

After they leave dinner, a romantic song plays and it's all very nice and they kiss.

BUT THEN.

The next night they go on another date, so you could say things are moving along pretty quickly. They have dinner, and then Anna invites him up to her room... this time as himself, rather than forcing him to pretend he works for a magazine about horses.

But when he arrives, her boyfriend is there. Ah. Nothing ruins a good date like your new girlfriend's boyfriend showing up from the US.

Jeff King (Anna's partner) mistakes Will as a room-service waiter, and asks him very nicely to please take out the rubbish.

Anna corrects him and says "No - Jeff. I am seeing this incredible man, who's sister and best friends I have met. He is kind and has puppy dog eyes..."

EXCEPT SHE DOESN'T DO ANY OF THAT.

Instead, she stands there awkwardly as Will collects the rubbish and then proceeds to passionately hook up with Jeff in front of him. Will leaves, she doesn't follow him, and then doesn't make any contact for six months.

Um. I don't know about you, but I would be legitimately traumatised by that encounter. She made him introduce her to his sister when she had a long term movie-star boyfriend. Who does that?

Six months later, Anna turns up distraught on his doorstep. Nude photos of her have been released, and she needs somewhere to hide out - like Will's place (the subtext is "you're a total nobody so I won't be found lol".)

They don't really talk about the whole 'boyfriend' complication, but rather discuss her very exciting career and practice her lines on the rooftop.

The next day she asks if she can stay. BUT then the doorbell rings, and it turns out good ol' Spike told someone at the pub that Anna Scott was staying at his house. No matter how you look at it, this is in no way Will's fault. But she yells at him, accusing him of chasing publicity, and then says she completely regrets their time together.

STRIKE. TWO.

Months pass again, and Will discovers Anna is back in town shooting a film. He visits her on shoot, which I think we can all agree he should not have done given a) she cheated on him and b) she said she regretted their time together.

Will is given headphones to listen to the dialogue (because watching someone at work would just be so much fun, like how Anna watches Will serve people at the bookshop... not) and overhears Anna tell her costar he is "no one important". He leaves, which is the smartest decision he's made in the whole entire film.

By this point, Anna has proven herself to be the actual worst.

All up, they have hung out for only a number of hours and she has managed to be excessively mean to him every time. Thus far, her two 'redeeming' factors are that she is a) rich and b) famous. She tells a total of one joke in the entire movie, which goes something like: "You know what they say about big feet?... Big shoes." It's not even FUNNY. Women are so much FUNNIER than that.

It is clear Will is in love with the idea of Anna, rather than the person. In fact, he doesn't actually know the person. As Dr Phil says "you teach people how to treat you" - and Will is so far sweet with a partner who lies to him, cheats on him, yells at him for no reason, made him interview her as a date, and then flat out denies that she knows him, all before he has even been given the slightest reason to like her.

Then comes the book shop scene. One of the most famous moments in cinematic history.

"I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her," Anna says.

NURR. NUR.

NO YOU'RE NOT. You are, firstly, a full-blown woman who has repeatedly screwed this fully grown man over, and now wants him to take you back because you have serious issues with your self esteem. There I said it.

She buys him an expensive painting, which means nothing, because money is relative and she is a millionaire.

He rejects her, and personally I am very happy that the moral of the story is 'have a bit of self respect and don't take back someone who isn't all that nice to you'. Ah... well done. All finished. Might have a shower and go to b....

WAIT. WHAT.

Will's friends give him the worst advice in the history of the world and they go on an extremely dangerous and irresponsible car ride through Notting Hill, which puts everyone's lives at risk.

They make it to the press conference (just in time!) and Will poses as a journalist (for the second f*cking time!) and asks if she will stay if he loves her back.

She smiles with her absurdly beautiful smile and they just keep smiling and then laughing because what a happy ending.

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED.

Anna is a mess. A self absorbed, confused, sad and vacuous mess. She needs to see a psychologist.

You might be thinking, 'But, why does any of this matter? It's not hurting anyone. It's just a cute rom com! Enjoy it for what it is!' But it does matter. It hurts everyone who is fed false hope. Everyone who has been treated really badly, yet longs for a happy ending.

Worldwide, Notting Hill grossed US$363,889,678. And you know what those numbers mean? That a damn lot of people saw it. And within it sat a lesson, as is the case with all films.

That this is what love looks like.

But that is not true.

Notting Hill is what infatuation looks like. And infatuation, with no substance, never ends well.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/notting-hill-sends-a-bad-message/

[leda-x]

Ladybug has five minutes left with Chat Noir, and she isn't ready to give them up.

Ladybug woke in the cooking section of a library with the word “chance” tumbling from her lips. It was the ancient atrium of a newly modernized building. Like always, she was crouched down behind a bookshelf with Chat Noir at her side.

Far, far above her head, thin marble columns rose upwards, curving into graceful arches to meet in the middle. Early morning light shone through the enormous circular skylight positioned at the center of the atrium’s domed ceiling. It illuminated little specks of golden dust that had been disturbed by them seconds before. The room was empty, sound hushed.

Meeting her gaze, Chat tapped the screen on his baton and the numbers 04:58 began to flash. 04:57… 04:56... He reached down, flipping through a cookbook at his side, stopping at a random page. “Lobster tails meunière,” he read aloud to mark the attempt, green gaze flicking back up for her lead.

There were 2,000 recipes in The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery. That one was new. Ladybug took it as a good omen.

There was nothing but seriousness in Chat’s face right now. Seriousness and a rosy glow of determination and confidence.

Ladybug’s fingers drifted off her bracelet to cradle Chat’s cheek. Her gloved thumb followed the line along the bottom edge of his mask, right at the exposed part of his cheek. She watched the depth and vibrancy in his eyes. Could see a ring of eyelashes through the colored glass. Could feel the heat from his skin. He had a freckle on his upper lip. Not for the first time Ladybug realized her partner was beautiful. The first few times she had stopped to really notice she had cried. An ache started in her throat and grew until her entire chest was sore, until she was breathless with grief.

A blush colored his cheeks and his neck. She watched, with some fascination, the steady beat of his heart through the vein in his neck. It was throbbing quick. He was searching her face for answers now, lip pursing into worry.  “Uh oh… It’s that bad?” Chat joked.

She wasn’t ready. It wasn’t the right time around. Ladybug got up from her crouch and held out her hand.

Chat took it without question and allowed her to lead them both out of the atrium into a modernized foyer, then into an elevator. She pressed floor four. 

“What’s the plan?” he asked as the elevator doors shut. Ladybug could detect a thread of nervousness behind his grin. He was probably wondering why they were going up when the akuma was last spotted below.

Such faith. It cracked her heart a little further every time. Ladybug squeezed his hand, watching the elevator numbers tick so she didn’t have to look him in the eye as she admitted, “No plan.”

The doors opened to an art gallery absent of people.

She let go of Chat’s hand, even though she never really wanted to, and began walking through the exhibit. She could hear the soft sound of his footsteps following her. Extremely large images of sand flicked by in succession. Ladybug didn’t stop to marvel at them.

Chat always did. “Whoah,” he said and she glanced back, catching him craning his neck. “This isn’t a photo. Someone drew this.”

Ladybug used up a few of her seconds to watch her partner, feeling a wash of fondness as Chat placed his hands on his hips and tilted forward, nose scrunched, face inches from the canvas. “LB how long do you think this took to make?”

Years, Ladybug thought. Aloud, she said, “This way.”

Chat let out a low whistle as they passed by a total of ten drawings. Each one looked alike. There were slight variations, however, upon closer inspection. It was the variations in Chat Noir that Ladybug kept discovering that made it impossible for her to stop doing this. They had been here over a thousand times before. Each time was a little different, but always ended the same.

They wound a corner and ended up in a smaller room. Ladybug headed towards the back where a replica of the interior of an old-style french house had been built. There was a bed and a little TV where you could learn all about Château de Blois.

It was the best place she had found for this. She had tried a lot of places. She had already dragged Chat around the entire city of Paris looking for a solution. Not that this Chat Noir remembered any of that.

She gestured at the bed, ignoring the documentary that was playing softly behind her, “I have a lot to tell you and no time to do it. How are we, by the way?”

Chat Noir obeyed, sitting on the bed, cat ears perked straight up, eyes bright now and curious. His knee bounced with pent-up energy. He glanced at his baton. “Three minutes, forty-seven seconds. Why? What’s going to happen?”

“I need you to pretend that everything I’m about to say is true,” Ladybug began.

Chat Noir gave her a funny look like, ‘why wouldn't I?’

Ladybug couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. She crouched down in front of him, placing a palm atop each bouncing knee. “You are going to die in three minutes,” Ladybug said.

Chat froze.

“Your heart. It stops. An arrhythmia,” Ladybug continued, keeping her eyes locked with his, making sure he was following along. They never had time to go over it again. “We’ve been here a lot. Anything you are about to say I’ve tried.” She had tried every hospital, every ER, every doctor; had tried Lucky charm-ing a solution countless times. 

Chat’s eyebrows drew together. His eyes were still present in the room with her, though. They hadn’t glazed off or flicked away in fear. “What?” he breathed. He searched her for a long moment for the joke. 

Ladybug knew better than to so much as flinch or blink right now while he was looking for a way out. Chat’s denial came in different severities every time, but it was never helped by her saying or doing anything until he did first.

A stormy look passed across his face as he took that in. “So... I’m dead and there’s nothing anyone can do about it?” he summarized, grinning.

Ladybug nodded, relaxing a touch. In her experience him grinning was usually the best outcome, even though it did seem a bit deranged. She took her hands from his knees, giving him a bit of space despite every bone in her body aching to hold him close. Even though she had held him so many times, it was always new for him. Too much of her affection too fast could scare him off.

“Wait. What about the cure?” he asked.

“You know Ladybug can’t bring people back to life.”

Chat leaned back a touch. A clawed palm drew up to rest over his heart, expression a bit dazed. Ladybug watched as her partner’s brain spun, processing. Then he glanced back at her, eyes startled. “How… How many times have we done this?”

“Many,” Ladybug admitted. “Each time is a little different. Sometimes you don’t believe me. Sometimes you call your dad. Sometimes you call Nino. Sometimes we just sit together.”

“Nino?” Chat caught.

“I know you are Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug said and then waited to see how he would react.

Sometimes this revelation hit hardest. It was more real, more believable. Often the fact that she knew his name at all was taken as proof she was telling the truth about everything else. That realization typically followed with denial. Sometimes terror.

Ladybug watched closely as Chat’s chest heaved in panic.

A humming noise suddenly kicked off. It was only after it stopped that Ladybug realized the air conditioning had been on. The change shocked Chat back out of whatever place he had gone. “Do I know you?” he whispered.

“Do you want to?”

Suddenly he recoiled, gaze suspicious. “You’re not Ladybug,” he stated, as if the thought had just dawned on him. “This isn’t real.”

Ladybug’s heart sank.

He was standing now, stumbling backwards. His shoulder hit one of the wood beams of the replica, causing him to twist.

With a sigh she reached down and twisted the bracelet back into position.

. .

Ladybug woke again in the cooking section of the library.

Chat tapped the screen on his baton and flipped through the cookbook. “Eggs benedict,” he read aloud.

Ladybug was still reeling from last time. They had almost parted ways on terms she could (maybe) accept. But no— Chat had to get paranoid. Not for the first time she cursed all the replicas of herself that her partner had faced. Maybe if he hadn’t been tricked previously they would have a better chance at this.

“Ladybug?” Chat’s voice broke her out of her thoughts, worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you wake up in the morning?” Ladybug asked, eyes locked down at the book in his hands. At the long pause she got out of her crouch and into a cross-legged position, chancing a look at his face. Sometimes his living face in all it’s animated glory really hurt to look at when seconds before it had been dead.

Chat was staring at her in uncertainty. After a beat he mirrored her, settling down at her side and putting down the book. “That’s a weird question. Why? Something to do with the akuma?”

“Yes,” Ladybug lied. “I need to know.” She needed a break. Even though she never grew physically tired, emotionally she was exhausted. She used up rounds getting to know him better, plucking up the courage to try again to say goodbye again.

He had a grin on his face now. “Usually because of my alarm clock.”

 . .

She was back in the library.

“Grammont pullet,” said Chat Noir, to her right. He set down the cookbook and tapped his baton.

Ladybug laughed. She laughed and then she cried. She wasn’t sure when she stopped doing the first and started doing the second. They sort of happened together, just like all of these second chances and all of these subtle striations.

Chat’s hands hovered beside her arms like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to comfort her. His ears flattened, green eyes distraught. However, when Ladybug leaned in his arms looped around her in an easy embrace, chin resting atop her head.

Eventually emotions passed and Ladybug went quiet, listening to the sound of Chat’s heartbeat and the rumble of his voice as he asked, “What’s the joke?”

“You started the timer after you read the recipe this time,” Ladybug said.

Chat’s grip shifted. He fell silent, as if weighing something, before he admitted, “I don’t get it.”

Ladybug reached up and patted his back. She hadn’t expected him to.

. .

This time around was coq-au-vin.

They had made it to the elevator. This time, Ladybug pressed ‘Floor 4’ right as Chat pressed ‘Basement’. The elevator suddenly had a choice, and it chose to go down, and instead of twisting the bracelet to start over, Ladybug decided to take out some of her own anger on the akuma.

The fight was over before it barely begun.

The umbrella Ladybug tossed to Chat skidded across the floor. Chat stumbled. Ladybug reached down and spun the bracelet before she had a chance to watch him fall.

. .

The last recipe was profiteroles. And it was only the last one, because Chat— like always— surprised her. Ladybug supposed it was only a matter of when, not if. She could only do this so many times before Chat turned it back around on her.

He was glaring at her now, green eyes bright and vivid, unobstructed by goggles. Ladybug internally cursed whenever Chat decided to transform back because it meant there was no more baton— no more timer— and she always felt a bit lost within these three minutes without it.

“How many times have you put yourself through this?” he was asking her, again, since she couldn’t give him a straight answer. Suddenly, and swiftly, he got up from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed and took two steps forward into her personal space before Ladybug had a chance to stumble back. “How many?” he repeated.

“I-I don’t know!” Ladybug answered truthfully, suddenly flustered beyond belief. This was the first time Adrien Agreste had had the audacity to step this close to her, to get this mad at her.

“Marinette,” Adrien realized, sounding a bit punched in the gut. “You’re Marinette. This whole time...”

Not trusting herself to speak, Marinette nodded, eyes wide. The amount of times they had both come to know each other’s identities were slim. Rarely did it ever get this far. From this point on was uncharted territory for Ladybug. This Chat Noir suddenly became very real, no longer this strange version of himself that repeated the same phrases and did the same things over and over. No, all the sudden this profiteroles version of Chat was wholly unique.

“If I die in three minutes—” he began.

“Any second now, actually,” Marinette corrected.

“—you’ll do what, exactly?” he finished.

Marinette knew how bad it sounded, but she said it anyway, “I’ll go back to when you’re not dead.”

Adrien’s eyes flicked to the Miraculous around her wrist for a second, brows scrunching. “And then what?”

Ladybug only had to meet his eyes for a brief second to answer that question.

Suddenly Chat had a strong grip on her arm, yanking it towards him.

It took Ladybug a full three seconds to realize what he was trying to do. “Chat. Stop. Chat, stop,” she hissed, veins icy, mouth dry. If he took the bracelet it was over. She twisted and ripped her arm out of his grip, stumbling back and away. A quick glance down confirmed the bracelet was still there and still activated. She kept it pressed tightly to her polka dotted chest, holding it with her other hand.

Adrien was shaking his head, bits of blond hair falling in and out of his eyes. “You can’t keep doing this,” he said, a little out of breath.

Marinette wondered if his heart had stopped and her fingers rested down upon the bracelet, but after a few seconds passed and he remained standing she let them drift away.

If Adrien noticed, he didn’t mention it. “Other people need you,” he accused. “Paris needs you.”

“Paris can figure it out,” she hissed.

Chat blinked, surprised. His face slowly morphed, surprise bleeding into understanding. “It’s ok, Bug. It will be ok.”

Her throat clenched and it felt like he had cleaved her entire body into two pieces straight down the middle. How? How would it ever be ok? When she thought of her future now she only saw darkness. There was nothing left.

“I know I can’t keep doing this,” she gasped, the words ripping out of her. “I know other people love me, need me. But you’re not the one that has to walk out of here alone." The word 'alone' made her own heart swell ten times too big until it felt like it would burst. She hoped it would. That would be a whole lot easier. She had wished a whole lot of things recently that would have appalled her younger self. “I’m not ready.”

“When will you be?” Adrien asked softly.

A hot surge of anger raced through her and she felt the insane urge to shove him or hurt him or do something because how dare he ask her that. How dare he! How dare he die in the first place! Ladybug was tempted to twist the bracelet just to get away from this Chat and go back to an earlier version who was still malleable and innocent. Just erase this attempt all together from his memory so she would never have to answer.

All she had to do was twist it. But then he’d be right. And if she didn’t twist it, he’d still be right. Because… he was right, regardless. And no matter how many times she could make him forget it, she would never forget it.

Adrien wobbled, taking a few quick steps back until he was slumping back on the bed, face pale. Time’s up.

Her anger evaporated and she was there, tugging him close into her chest, because this was the closest to Chat she had ever gotten in all her attempts. The crown of his head tucked underneath her chin, gloved fingers running through his hair, as she felt all the movement and life drain out of him. It was like this every time. Quick, quiet, sneaky. As quick as a switch. One minute the lights were on, the next they were off.

She had no idea how much time she had before her five minutes were up. If she had to guess it was down to seconds. Her fingers detangled out of blond hair and dragged along her side, along her arm, until they met her wrist and bumped against the bracelet. 

Was she? When would she be? Ready, that is.

[rangergranger11]

Headcanons (I promise these won’t make you cry)

Ok so on @eatyourdamnpears post there were a lot of headcanons, and I decided to put them all in one post, but just bear in mind, half of this is credit to @thedarkestcrew cuz she did some amazing HCs, and I’m by no means stealing hers, just putting it all in a better place.

- Liam sends packages to Ruby because he can't make a fool out of himself in person so it's the next best thing. 

-These packages include things like hand writing notes, stuffed animals, any ruby jewellery he finds, pictures of them on dates that he printed (he has matching pictures and keeps them under his bed)( Cole and Harry find them but it's too cute to tease him), and finally, videos to make her laugh

- He also keeps a menu from Ruby Tuesday, and LOADS of old CDs and rock band t shirts

-Cole and him borrow each others jackets all the time and it's not a problem because they live in the same house and they can just go over to the room next door, 

-But when ruby starts stealing Liam’s jackets that he stole from Cole? well now the Stewart house is missing 10 leather jackets and you can't just get them form the girl who lives a state away. So she has to send them back in the mail,

-keeps a few that smell like Liam because she can

-sometimes people are confused which Stewart brother Ruby is really dating. And the fact that they look like twins it adds to the confusion, and the Ruby and Cole literally love to watch people get so mixed up

-oh absolutely, they’ll walk in on ruby and Liam making out, but two second later see Cole smoothing Down her hair and calling her Gem, AND seeing her he friendly with Chubs and cleaning his glasses because her skirt has better fabric for it, AND seeing her joke around with Nico

-it becomes a bet to see who she's with

-Liam will give Ruby his jacket, but than Cole comes and notices it's his jacket and makes a joke about them dating, she just gives him the jacket because she'd rather wear lee'. bystanders are distraught

-  And then Clancy comes along and brags about how he kissed Ruby and then the people who bet are just like 'where. the. hell. did. clancy. frickin. gray. come. from???

-Ruby thinks most of the rumours are funny and will be really vague about who her boyfriend is. most of the time just seeing Ruby and Liam together will be enough for people to figure it out by how the are relaxed around each other and look lovingly at the other.

-But when she hears the Clancy rumour she shuts that down faster than Charles scarfs Down a pancake

- Also, Liam's mum and Harry have an ongoing bet about who Ruby is actually dating because it's just so confusing at this point. Grace is like 'are you blind???' and Harry Is like 'there's something with Cole, I swear!!' But eventually realised its Liam and gives in

- Grace thinks she’s dating Cole, because when she visited she hugged Cole first and than a minute later hugged Liam. Yes, she went out to the park with Liam but grace doesn't know that, also she spend 20 minutes in Coles room chatting. She thinks Liam just has a crush on her or something 

- Ruby's parents can't tell them apart for anything and made a rule of " announce who you are before talking" after Liam kissed Ruby on the cheek and her mom thought that was the same person who told someone to go-F themselves ten minutes ago and nearly faints. It takes them a while the even figure out there are two blond southern men that flirt with their daughter

 -Grace is always giving Liam encouraging mom advice like, 'there are always others' and 'you'll get there someday' and Liam is just like 'thanks, mom'

-Ruby's dad is just so tired of confusing Liam and Cole, he's like 'Stewart sr' and 'Stewart jr.' He tried to call them 'Ruby's boyfriend' and Ruby's friend, but Cole answered to both just for the fun of it

-Chubs does not think it's funny at all and spits out what he's drinking when he sees Cole look when her dad says ' Ruby's boyfriend'. almost strangles Ruby until he hears about it. 

-Vida thinks it's really funny but event breaks and tells everyone it's a joke the day after. she doesn't know how many more times she can see Liam pouting

-After the Cole fiasco is over. his parents wait about a week and try to get Liam with Ruby. it's a bunch of prep talks, buying new clothes, telling him how to not mess up. when the big date comes her kisses her as a hello and they feel betrayed

-When ruby’s dad says the jr, sr thing he has Harry looking too and now he just needs to have ruby in the room with him, whoever’s face gets softer Is Liam, the one who stands up to tease her about something is Cole

-One day they talk about it and their 70 percent sure it’s Cole because they think he’s more her type while Liam would be good for her. Anyways they see her making out with Liam and are shocked and think she’s cheating on Cole.

-Harry had to sit Cole down and explain that Ruby isn’t faithful and Cole is absolutely loving it. He’s eating it all up, goes along with it, calls ruby in-front of him and ‘breaks up with her’, she also thinks it’s hilarious because for crying out loud it’s been a few month into the new program and why not see how long they can keep going. I swear they have a whole plot on how they met, what line made them fall in love the, whole 9 yards. 

-Grams knows of course because she pulled her aside and threatened her to date Liam because he’s the poster ’ nice southern boy’. Liam does not enjoy his girl friend pretending to date his brother but she throws enough Liam flirting into the mix to make it even.

- when Cole ‘breaks up’ with her, they have a fully fledged fake argument, like ‘remember that time when we got ice cream and you told me you told me you loved me’ and ‘you never loved me!!’ And for Ruby this is easy, because let’s face it Ruby is a grade A liar (in a good way) and Cole should be a 5 star actor because he is so damn dramatic. 

-Harry is totally buying this, and in the end they confess to their parents that Ruby + Cole was never a thing, and Liam is just looking at his mum like ‘SEE, I TOLD YOU I WASN’T A TOTAL LOSER’ and poor Grace just bakes a bunch of things just to make it up to him, and they all have a laugh about it. 

-But it was getting to the point where Ruby’s parents asked Zu which one she was dating and she was like ‘I am not getting involves in this.’ and Cole is just giving her a discreet thumbs up for playing her part while she just rolls her eyes.

-Oh absolutely they get into it, everyone who knows their lying get popcorn and treat it like its a movie. Cole says something absolutely ridiculous like “ you can take my heart, and my dignity, but I’m taking back the popcorn I gave you that one time” and Ruby has to use all of her enegery to not burst out laughing. 

-Ruby can also fake cry quickly so she’s sobbing, and by the end schools her face within a second and wipes away to tears Cooly. Ruby’s mom can’t trust her after that. also still kinda doesnt belive she’s dating anyone because of the Cole thing. Liam comes over 5 times before she’s convinced that this isn’t another prank. Ruby tells her she’s going on a date Saturday and says “ ha ya alright I’m not falling for that again” and than on saturday spends 6 minutes looking around the house for her before calling her and realizing that she wasent kidding

-Vida definitely films the whole thing like it's some telenovela, while Chubs is rolling her eyes at her but Zu secretly loves the drama and her stupid family. And Rubiam parents mention this at their wedding as well like, Ruby's dad would be doing a speech 'today we are gathered for the union of my daughter and Cole- Liam, i meant Liam. Its definitely Liam. Right Ruby??'

-Cole shows up to Haven for a visit about to yell at Liam and Ruby for not inviting him sooner after Harry and Grace let the location slip

( I know cole being dead is one of the things that sparked haven being made on liams part, but let's just say the spark for haven was Ruby getting harassed and Liam not being able to see her like that and asking her to run away with him to the middle of no where. Good? Great)

-Cole is about to walk through the door before a kid puts a frog in his hand and another kid asks if he can beat the level on his game boy.

-he thinks it's really adorable and the kids start calling him Liam for a Few minutes so why not,

-anyways he sneezes in a lone hallway and lights something small on fire before quickly putting it out.

-Owen is coming out of his room but sees the panic in Coles eyes and says ' hey, I'm not one to judge' and walks back into his room.

-When Ruby gets home she stops and stares at him for a full minute like " that's..... not Liam????"

-he calls her gem and she can't decide between jumping a hug onto him or punching him.

-Liam gets home and the kids all do a double take like ' you changed shirts??? can got a hair cut????' before doing a double take between the two

-Loads of the kids gather around and start making daisy chains for Cole’s hair, and he freaking loves it.

-He’s surprisingly good with kids as they all hover around him asking questions, holding his hand and showing him random things and it warms Ruby’s heart so much

Again, credit to @thedarkestcrew for thinking all of this, and this post has been fun 

[amimons]

Miraculous Sweet-ember (Sept. 24th)

September 24th: Backwarder, Gamer 2.0, & Weredad

Backwarder went deeper into Master Fu’s past by introducing an old love interest who has some involvement with the miracle box. Marianne was back in Paris after years apart from Fu due to the sensitive nature of Fu’s position as guardian. Unable to meet in person Fu gave Marinette a request to give Marianne a letter. A simple request made not so simple when Marinette also has a letter of her own she wishes to give Adrien on top of picking up Fu’s prescription at a pharmacy with a Doctors note. Its a classic situation of switching the papers up but it turned distarious when Marianne took Marinette’s note to Adrien as Fu’s note. She turned into Backwarder giving her the ability to reverse things. 

Marianne is used as an example as to why having secret identifies is a positive thing. Since she knew the guardian of the miracle box she was able to inform Hawkmoth. It’s nice seeing the what could go wrong with sharing too much information about the miraculous which gives all the secretiveness a purpose. Backwarder was a tricky akuma to battle. Her defeat called for Ladybug’s most complicated lucky charm. I love seeing how Ladybug’s mind work. She is able to plan out solutions in her head by taking in her surroundings and getting the timing just right. She always has to be one step ahead of the curve. Which makes it interesting when her plan is all about goin backwards to get the result she needs. Ladybug has a brilliant mind and I love seeing it highlighted. 

Gamer 2.0 explores the heavy toll that Marinette’s life takes as she works balances school, projects, and being a super hero. Giving her little to no time on doing activities for fun like playing video games. Because she has a jam pack schedule she lacks the patience to focus more energy on an akuma battle and wants to just quickly finishes things. This effects her performance in the battle which Chat Noir picks up on. Chat is having fun playing along with this akuma video game battle. He is someone who likes to live in the moment not feel stuck in it. He understands Ladybug’s perspective but knows that offering his own can help her get out of the funk she boxed herself in. This is one of the things that we constantly see Chat do over and over in their partnership. He is able to communicate with Ladybug in a way that can reach her and pull her out of a negative mental space. 

This is a big reason why I love them as partners. Chat was just extremely fun to watch this episode. He was not only performing well in battle but having a good time along the way. And as him and Ladybug work their way up to completely the video game battle they are forced to face off against each other. Chat Noir heroically sacrifices himself knowing he can fully trust Ladybug to bring him back and save the day. Another grand gesture of trust shown by Chat Noir. After the battle Chat Noir leaves Ladybug with a sweet sentiment. He tells her that his favorite moments are when he is just with her and he would give up everything for just those moments with her. Not only is this very sweet of him to say especially since Ladybug was having a hard time struggling with sacrifices but because we know what Adrien’s home life is like. He is forced to strict schedules and not allowed enough quality times with his friends. So being with Ladybug gives him that chance to feel free and have fun. 

Weredad puts Marinette’s acting skills to the test. After fearing that her identity was almost exposed to Chat Noir after he went after Ladybug only to find a detransformed Marinette on her balcony she does what any reasonable person will do in her situation. Proclaim her love for Chat Noir. Little did she know she also had an audience, her parents heard her proclamation of love and invited Chat over the apartment to join them in a meal. The whole situation called for some hilariously awkward moments and some really intense irony. Marinette does her best to act like she is hopelessly in love after Chat Noir respectfully decline her stating that he is in love with Ladybug. She pretends she is devastated by the news aiming to be as convincing as possible. Which actually worked a little too well because after seeing his daughter in such a distraught state, Tom gets akumatized into Weredad. 

Weredad traps Marinette in a thorn tower to protect her from getting her heart broken again. This means Chat Noir is temporally going to have to take on the akuma alone. Chat’s determination to save Marinette is so strong. Even though he does not yet understand his romantic feelings for Marinette that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deeply care about her. Not only was this situation confusing for him but it was extremely difficult for him as well. It was hard for Chat to reject Marinette because her friendship means a lot to him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Marinette but he needed to be honest with his feelings. Even when Weredad had Chat bested, Chat refused to lose. Ultimately Marinette was the one who was able to deakumatize her father because she found the hidden rose. I’m glad she was still able to rescue herself from this situation while Chat was willing to fight for Marinette’s safety. 

About Sweet-ember:

For the month of September I wanted to spread some positivity and praise Miraculous Ladybug on the things I’ve appreciated/enjoyed from the show.

Everyday I’m going to select one particular moment, event, theme, etc. from an episode of Miraculous and shared what I liked from that episode. Each post will discuss 2-3 episodes (from season 1-3; 78 episodes in total).

Whether its something big or small there is something positive that I can take away from every single episode of Miraculous.

Please feel free to add a moment from these particular episodes that you loved to this post as well!

Salt towards the show, characters, ships will not be tolerated!

Sweet-ember posts

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

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[ziracona]

So last night I wound up reading Amanda's wiki and It made me kind of sad for her, because it very much sounds like she was suffering from stockholme syndrome of a kind there, to me, atleast. Which makes me wonder, what do you think of the pig/amanda? What's your Amanda like in your stories? Do you think she had any potential for redemption (with A LOT of work)? I guess I just wanna hear your thoughts on her character because ur always rly good at it?? - Sleepy

Yeah, whoever wrote the Saw wiki loves Amanda and hates Hoffman and it’s genuinely hilarious. They make a lot of assumptions (like that her motive for killing Adam after he won his game was mercy killing, which is a throughly unconfirmed opinion), and use the most sympthetic & extreme language possible. I’ve watched all the Saw films, and as a character, Amanda is a very enjoyable villain, but as a person? She’s a truly awful human being. (Side note—this typed last— So, mentioning certain Saw characters sends me flying into a rage like a D&D berserker, so this is gonna get angry as hell, but 0 of it is at you. I love you. This is at the Jigsaw squad. WHO I FUCKING HATE. Ahem. Anyway. Felt like the level of unbridled and sudden fury needed a heads up lol.) It’s not Stockholm syndrome. In Saw one, she’s a victim who is put in a reverse beartrap and forced to either die, or cut the key out of the stomach of a paralyzed by drugs but very alive (which she knew) other kidnap victim, whom she cut open and killed. After enduring that trauma and barely surviving, she immediately accepted John’s offer to join him. She was not forced, she was not tricked. He asked, and because she wanted to feel special and important, she agreed to inflict suffering she knew goddamn well the horrible level of on others first hand, and went willingly. She is self-centered to her core, and became dependent on and infatuated with John, and obsessed with his approval. She kidnapped Adam and Lawrence with him, who were kidnapped for fuckall reason (literally John just thought photography was pathetic) and for almost cheating on his wife (lol this was John’s ‘stated’ reason—his real reason was John is the world’s pettiest bitch, and Lawrence was the doctor who told him he had cancer. I’m not fkn kidding he’s that level of petty self-absorbed, self-righteous bastard) respectively. Then killed Adam after he won his game, which should have given him freedom but John reneged on like he always does like the pissy little bitch he is, Amanda killed him for reasons up to speculation. However, given John usually tests people who win a second time or tries to get them to join or some bullshit, it’s more plausible to assume her motive was seeing him as a threat than that it was mercy killing, and it’s only stated in-film to be an emotion based decision, not her actual movtive. Everyone’s opinion on this action is just that—opinion. With varying degrees of factual basis behind the educated level of educated guess.

In Saw 2, she helps John kidnap a bunch of drug addicts like herself who all got false arrests by the same officer at one time or another, along with a poor fucking 15 year old whose crime is having that cop for a dad. She then spent the next two hours watching people whose only crime was drug use, like herself, die horribly of organ deterioration, knowing at any time she could have stopped it and saved them all because she knew how to get the antidotes. Bitch even holds one girl in her arms and stokes her head and pretends to care about her while she hacks up deteriorated lung and blood and fucking dies, when at any moment she could have chosen to let her live. Literally no one should be more sympathetic to them than her. She knows how addicted to drugs feels, and the help you need. Anyway, she doesn’t, she lets them die and plays with them, and then when it’s to her, the 15 year old—who multiple times saves or helps her when hurt by other participants, and is nothing but kind—and one other man, the man shows up to kill her to get an antidote, and the poor fucking 15 year old child kills him with a saw to save her, traumatizing himself to a breakdown afterwords, and instead of being even thankful, she attacks and knocks him out, ties him up and attaches an oxygen tank so he won’t suffocate, and locks him in a fucking like tiny ass safe to be a game piece for another trial and leaves him there. His dad, who admittedly needs to serve jail time but isn’t a fucking murderer at least & does love his son, shows up distraught looking for his kid he’s afraid is dead, and she sneak attacks and takes him down, then leaves him chained up in a nasty lost bathroom to starve slowly to death, and doesn’t even do him the decency of telling him his kid isn’t dead. When he breaks his foot to get free and comes hobbling wounded after her, she sneak attacks again and he nearly wins, but she fucks up his broken foot and starts to leave, then comes back and beats him (she thinks) to death becuase he said she would never be Jigsaw, and she’s that petty and proud. Kid never gets to know what happened to his dad, and even alive, will definitely die young from the complications one, you know, gets from almost dying of chemical organ deterioration.

In Saw 3, the main victim is a man whose kid was lost in a hit and run. Jigsaw has Amanda kidnap his wife because she’s a surgeon and also was once not as sympathetic as he thought she should be when talking to him about his cancer at the hospital (I’m not even fucking exaggerating—side note, I will beat John Kramer to death myself with my huge fucking meat fists and laugh as I watch his bones crumble to dust). This poor bitch just lost a kid, then separated from her husband because he was a fucking mess consumed with revenge against the poor college kid who accidentally hit his son & totally withdrew from the world, and she wakes up with a collar filled with shotgun shells basically a 360 gun blow off your head collar deal on, and Amanda wheeling her around in the wheelchair she’s tied to. They tell her if she keeps John alive until the person being tested finishes his test, she can go free. The whole movie, Amanda keeps trying to convince John to kill the poor woman even though she complies just because she’s a throughly selfish, petty, conceited, self-pitying bastard with no regard for others, and wants this “Bitch” to die for fun. She feels she’s a threat for John’s attentions, and John isn’t even romantically inclined toward her, but she’s obsessed and doesn’t care. Amanda decides between Saws 2 and 3 that people aren’t fixable—even though she herself was supposedly “helped” by her Jigsaw game and this is hypocritical as fuck—and just starts straight up fucking torture murdering for fun. To the point even John thinks she has to be stopped. Like if John fucking Kramer thinks you’ve gone to far? Jesus help you because no one else can. She still does the torture, but instead of like, chopping off your own hand with a paring knife and getting to live, you chop it off and then still slowly get your head crushed between two beams being screwed closer and closer together. She kills Kerry for fuckall reason except she wants to (Kerry is a detective who did jack shit wrong—she was just on the case. It’s utter bullshit). Kidnaps her, straps a thing with hooks in her ribs that will tear out her rib cage when a timer runs out, and kill her that way, and had her hung up above the ground tied by chains, and tells her if she burns her hand up in a bottle of acid to get the key at the bottom which is hard period in the suit—never mind losing the hand—she can live. And Kerry fucking does, ruins her hand, unlocks the lock, and the suit won’t come off becuase the cunt rigged it. Then Amanda shows up to watch her die for fun just to smile smugly at her and watch her fear. Because she’s a fucking soulless, sadistic, evil, self-centered, self-important asshole.

Obsessed dad let’s a fucking bystander whose only crime was seeing a hit and run and running off freeze to death stripped naked and sprayed with water in a freezer slowly, saves a judge who gave too weak a sentence to the hit and run kid after the man begs, and then lets the poor fucking college kid who did it and already feels awful get his arms twisted till they snap off, legs twisted till the same, and then his head twisted around back so far it twist snap kills him. The rack is fucking beyond inhumane death. Amanda monitors this while threading Lynn (the poor doctor lady) for fun and crying over poow wittwe John who is dying of cancer (thank you god for doing what we couldn’t), and being miserable. Eventually, Hoffman sends her a letter saying if she doesn’t kill Lynn, he’ll tell John that she was one of the people there to steal drugs the night his wife got injured and miscarried (he probably already knew 🙄), and becuase Amanda cares about nothing more than Amanda, she fucking monolgauges at John about how special and sad she is how he needs to fix her and she’s a murderer but she doesn’t care because you know—she’s depressed : ( so she gets a pass for her self she’s UwU sad so her poor little crisis can have a massive torture body count bc she’s that special UwU and why is Lynn not gonna die even though she did her job!??? So unfair! No one changes kill them all but tell me I’m special I’m symapthetic because I’m sad and that makes it fun for me to tear people’s ribs out :’( —and then she fucking shoots Lynn becuase she cares less about an innocent woman’s life than the potential for John to be mad at her :’-( you know—such symapthetic stuff! And then John is like “Ok then fkn die :’(“ and Jeff/unstable dad/Lynn’s husband runs in and shoots her and then kills John.

Anyway! I fucking hate Amanda with a passion, and John. I cannot stand humans who hurt each other for fun, especially when they target those who most need help. But above all I cannot abide a person who is a sadistic, selfish, wholly self-absorbed fuck of a human, and refuses to take any responsibility for their actions or admit how fucking bad they are and has the goddamn nerve to act like a victim. Like if you’re going to be an evil son of a bitch, at least have the decency to admit it. If you’re a self-pitying “im uwu special and sad and better and more important than everyone else” —double points for “& becuase I am attractive I can get away with being a soulless shit without any being held accountable” from fandom or the media itself, tripple if from both—? I will kill you myself. I will rip out your eyes and chew on them. I will kill my self on a bomb to take you too. I will chew off my left arm for the sole purpose of getting to beat you to death with it. The wiki writer bends over back so bad they’re gonna need a brace the rest of their life to make her sound sympthetic, but they’re just a fan. She’s not. At all. She doesn’t have Stockholm, and I see people say “she got manipulated and used : (“ all the time, but without fail so far it’s people who think she’s hot and just want a reason to stan that because somehow a hot white woman with short hair even if canonically infatuated with John Kramer is somehow both a lesbian, and excusable for every horrible torture murder she ever did to feel uwu special in her depressed sad times. She wasn’t manipualated. It happened fast, she wasn’t courted into it, and she didn’t even hesitate to say yes. He offered her an out, made sure she was serious, and she stayed. And then she escalated to the point John took her out to stop her, because it was worse than what he wanted to do. I enjoyed her as a villain but as a person I fucking hate Amanda, and don’t really want to see her get another chance. Bastard doesn’t deserve one. I can’t say there’s no continuum in which she could never improve or be redeemed becuase who the fuck knows, and I like to think there’s a smidgen of hope for anyone, but that said, I do think the more evil you willfully do, the more you lose your humanity, and you can hit a point there’s just no person left. So. Anyway, hah, I don’t think she’s redeemable and frankly don’t want her redeemed. I want to burn her to death myself if I have to die that way too. Also! This was a wildly angry answer but none of it is directed at you. That wiki writer does make her sound symapthetic, I’ve read the wiki too—just I go into a blind rage any time John or Amanda is even mentioned and it takes me a half hour to come back down. I fly into a rage. If I ever go into anaphylactic shock, all a friend has to do is start mentioning the names of Saw villains and my adrenaline will start pumping like jet fuel and I’ll be fine. I just have a whole lot of righteously just rage at horrible awful self-righteous self-absorbed malicious manipulative dehumanizing self-pity bastards who take 0 responsibility for their evil or admit it, and Amanda & John are two at the way top of that rage list. It’s a dark but powerful headspace when I think of them. I become very powerful...but also very enraged. Lol, anyway, here’s the breakdown you didn’t need, but it is throrough!

[begluketostay]

distractions // luke mini series pt 2

distractions - luke mini series pt 1

Word Count: 4.2k

Rating: M (18+)

Keywords: smut, bestfriend!luke

Summary: You’ve loved Luke for as long as you’ve known him. When he gets back from tour, it’s getting harder and harder to live with never being able to have what’s right in front of you. You know you can stay strong, you just need some distractions.

Wattpad Link

A/N: if you haven’t read the first part, i’ve linked it above! this is a mini series so it will have 4-5 parts total. enjoy!!

Your phone buzzes with yet another text from Luke, one of many that you’ve opened and found yourself unable to answer. You know it’s not fair, but you can’t stand to look at him after seeing those pictures and reading those texts. 

It’s entirely hypocritical of you to be upset, because you’ve been doing your own share of sleeping around while he’s been gone, but that’s not the same. You’re in love with Luke, so of course it hurts you that he’s been sleeping with other girls. But Luke isn’t in love with you, so it doesn’t matter that you’ve been doing the same. 

You still don’t want him to know about Hunter though, and you tell yourself it’s solely because you know that he and Hunter have some weird tension between them leftover from some stupid fight years ago. 

Hunter has always been a player, using girls for his pleasure and dumping them whenever he’s done. You weren’t a fan of the way he played the heartstrings of girls, but he was still a good guy and the two of you always got along. There were no feelings between the two of you - you both knew you were using each other and agreed to it from the start. 

You used him to numb and distract yourself from Luke and he used you for sexual pleasure. It was a bit unconventional, but it worked. Everyone was happy. 

Except you weren’t really happy. It’s still never enough for you. There’s no love, no emotional connection. Just raw, rough sex that leaves you feeling slightly empty afterwards. 

But it’s still something. 

You open your messages with Luke, scrolling up and rereading all the texts he’s sent you the past few days. 

You’re right, I’m really regretting those last few drinks lol

Are you awake?

Y/N?

Hellooooooo

Is something wrong?

…. I’m guessing something is wrong

Did I do something to upset you last night?

Can you please just fucking answer me

Okay, I get it, you’re not talking to me

Y/N

You feel guilty, but you just can’t bring yourself to answer him. You’ve never been good at dealing with unpleasant emotions, choosing to ignore them and pretend they don’t exist rather than confronting them. 

It was easy when Luke was on tour. You missed him, of course, but it was easy to ignore the fact that he wasn’t exactly being celibate when you didn’t have to look him in the eye every day and feel that twist in your stomach. 

You’re so glad he’s back, but you didn’t expect it to be so painful. Why is it so hard to be around him all of the sudden?

Your phone lights up with a call, and you turn your volume off so you don’t have to listen to the music ring throughout your empty apartment as you ignore it once more. 

There’s a banging against the door, and you nearly jump out of your seat on the couch. 

“I know you’re in there!” Luke’s voice calls. “I could hear your phone ringing.”

You could keep ignoring him, pretend to be asleep maybe. But then it would become an even bigger thing that you would eventually have to explain and you think maybe you can just play it off if you answer the door now and act like nothing’s wrong. 

You adjust your pajama shorts as you pad over to the door, looking through the peephole and seeing Luke’s face. He looks more well-rested than when you last saw him. The bags under his eyes are nearly gone, but he looks jittery and distraught. 

When you open the door, he just stands there, almost surprised that you’re letting him in. He takes a few steps forward, trying to figure out his words. He didn’t expect to get this far. 

“Are you okay?” he settles on asking, his first priority to check on you. “Did something happen?”

You shrug, looking down at your feet as you lean against the counter. 

“Did I say something that night, at the party?” he presses. “I know you’ve been ignoring me.”

You groan, turning and heading toward your couch where you curl up in the spot you’d been occupying moments before, throwing the blanket back over your bare legs. 

“No, you didn’t say anything wrong Luke. I’ve just been dealing with some stuff,” you shrug nonchalantly. 

“Just dealing with some stuff?” he asks incredulously. “You couldn’t have answered a single one of my texts or calls to tell me that?”

“Not sure why I have to keep you updated on my every move.”

“Ugh,” he groans frustratedly, running his hands through his long curls. “I just wanted to see you, to make sure you’re okay. I missed you while I was gone and I was excited to see you and now you’re just ignoring me and shutting me out and you won’t tell me why. You’re so… frustrating.”

He sits next to you on the couch, reaching for the blanket and throwing some of it over his legs after he takes his shoes off. Your legs touch underneath it, and you try to keep yourself from shivering. 

“Look, Luke, I’m sorry you’re mad that I didn’t answer your texts right away, but I’ve been dealing with a lot of shit and I’m used to dealing with things on my own now. You’re always gone and I’m so proud that you get to go off touring the world and all, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t need your help with everything anymore.”

He frowns. He knows that he can’t blame you, but it hurts him when he realizes that you don’t really need him anymore. You used to come to him for everything and he was always there to comfort you, and now you won’t even tell him what’s wrong. 

“Is it- is it something with Johnny?” he asks hesitantly, trying to get a feel for the cause of your distance from him.

Before Johnny had gotten so bad, the three of you used to be a little group. You loved the fact that your twin brother was your best friend, and Luke was always there with you too. Your parents had always referred to the three of you as the Three Musketeers.

But then Johnny fell in with a different crowd. Even though you loved him and trusted him and gave him endless chances, he became hostile towards you. He changed so quickly from your best friend into someone you barely recognized. You’d find him rifling through your room, searching for something he could sell to pay for his next fix. He’d pushed you so hard in a fight once that your head slammed into the wall and you’d ended up with a slight concussion.

Even still, you loved him and fought for him. You missed your brother. Your parents seemed to be giving up on him, but you really believed he could get clean. You could feel in your bones that he was strong enough to do it, he just needed someone to help him. And that person always ended up having to be you, because your mother could no longer be in the same room as him without crying and your father ended up in screaming matches with him whenever they spoke. 

That’s why you had to fly home when he overdosed again a few weeks ago. You had to be the one to help him, because he had pushed everyone else away. 

When he first started pushing you away in high school, you and Luke became much closer. You could no longer rely on your brother, and Luke was always there to lean on and to make up for it. Even though Luke and Johnny were once best friends, Luke found himself resenting him for putting you through so much. 

He saw how many chances you gave Johnny, how much you believed in him and your willingness to help him, and Luke admired how big your heart was. But it pissed him off that Johnny took advantage of you over and over again, getting your hopes up only to let you down every time.

You close your eyes, not wanting to talk about Johnny with Luke at this moment. 

“Johnny’s… fine,” you mumble. But you can tell he’s not satisfied with so little information. “Dumbass overdosed again a few weeks ago. My parents are fed up, they’re done with him, so I had to go back and help him get in somewhere.” 

“I wish you would just tell me these things,” Luke sighs, and you notice him scoot a little closer to you on the couch. “How is he now?”

“Haven’t even heard from him,” you shrug, trying not to show the disappointment in your voice. “Is it bad that I’m starting to get a little fed up too? I mean, I know he can do it, but… he just doesn’t and it’s so frustrating. Especially since I’m paying for his treatments now, it’s just-”

“Wait, you’re paying for his rehab?” Luke interrupts, pulling back to look at you surprised. You nod. “I thought your parents were paying.”

“Not anymore. They cut him off. They’re done with his shit and they won’t give him any more money. And I don’t blame them,” you admit. You’ve thought about cutting him off too, but you’re not at that point yet. 

You can see wheels spinning in Luke’s head and you know what he’s about to offer. “Please, let me help, it’s not fair that you have to pay for Johnny’s rehab when it’s his own damn fault he’s there in the first place.” You firmly reject the offer, shaking your head and moving away from him. “C’mon, Y/N, how are you even affording it?”

He doesn’t mean it in a bad way, he knows you make a decent income at your job, but not enough to single handedly fund Johnny’s rehab while also making your rent payments. 

“I’m making it work, okay? I don’t need your money, I’m fine.”

“Is this why you’ve been ignoring me?” he asks, and while you know it’s not the truth, you know he’ll probably believe you, so you nod. 

It’s better than telling him the real reason. 

“Just been stressed about it all, you know how I shut down sometimes.”

And boy, does Luke know how you shut down. He’s worked so hard to get you to not push him away every time you do, and you two were doing pretty good with that until he’d left on his most recent tour.

“I know,” he mumbles, and under the blanket, he sets his hand down on your knee, stroking soft patterns with his thumb as a way of saying sorry. Sorry that you’ve been stressed, sorry that he’s been gone, and sorry that you have to go through so much. 

“I’m gonna go get lunch with the boys in a little, you should come. Take your mind off things,” he suggests. “They’re bummed they didn’t get to see you much the other night.”

Lunch sounds good, and you do miss the rest of the boys, so you agree and get yourself dressed and ready and Luke drives the two of you over.

“Y/N!” Calum cheers as you walk in next to Luke. He stands up from his chair and hugs you. You’ve always loved Calum’s hugs, warm and inviting, and you realize just how much you’ve missed not only Luke, but all the boys that are sitting at the table in front of you. “We got bottomless mimosas for everyone,” he says as he releases you and you laugh. 

They know you so well. 

After more hugs and some catching up, you all sip on your drinks and chat. You’re surprised they have so much to talk about and are so excited to see each other since they’ve just been together for months on the road.

“I can’t believe you really jumped out of our hotel window,” Calum laughs, shaking his head as he recalls one of their wild nights in Amsterdam. 

“You’re the one who dared me to do it!” Ashton yells, pointing a finger at Cal. “You knew I wouldn’t turn it down! It’s entirely your fault.”

You’re laughing with them over your drink, not at all shocked by all the crazy stories they’re telling.

“Wait, wait, when did you jump out of a window? I don’t remember that,” Luke laughs, looking around between the guys.

“You don’t remember because you weren’t there,” Ashton rolls his eyes. “You went home with some girl that night.” It’s said teasingly, just a friendly jab at Luke, but it feels like a stab to you and your heart speeds up a little. You definitely don’t want to hear about this, but you can’t stop yourself from listening closely to see if anything else about that night is said.

They’re all laughing, and Ashton is punching Luke’s shoulder, calling him a little tiger, and you’re sure no one has noticed how forced your laughter is until you see Calum is looking at you uncomfortably, a sympathetic look on his face.

You’re pretty sure Calum knows the extent of your feelings for Luke. He’d found you at a party last year, drowning your sorrows in your drinks as you’d watched Luke follow a pretty girl upstairs, and he’d held your hair back as you puked afterwards, drunkenly rambling about how unfair the world is. He never brought it up, but you know that he knows.

Calum easily changes the subject, glancing at you as he asks, “how were things around here while we were gone? You get bored without us?”

“Yeah, things were definitely not as exciting here as they apparently were for you guys,” you force a laugh, taking another sip of your mimosa and tipping it back until the last drop is gone. Michael hands you another one, and they start chanting for you to chug, and you oblige, laughing because of course they would make you chug a mimosa.

The rest of lunch is full of laughter as they all taunt and tease each other and make plans to go to the new bar in town tomorrow night, and you’re trying not to think too hard about what Ashton said about Luke. You briefly wonder how many girls he slept with while on this world tour, but you shake yourself out of that thought when Luke squeezes your thigh under the table, silently asking if you’re okay. 

You know you’re going to need a distraction soon. 

And if Luke is having sex with other people, then you will too.

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

When you get back to your place after lunch, Luke throws himself onto your bed, turning on the TV and flicking through netflix to find something to watch. The two of you get under the covers and lay next to each other just closely enough to be considered cuddling, but far enough apart that anything romantic can still be denied. 

You spend a few hours that way, your bodies scooting closer to each other as the time passes and Luke’s hand is lazily combing through your hair, lightly scratching your scalp every so often. It was times like these when you let your guard down and let yourself pretend that maybe, just maybe, he loves you too. Everything just feels so right when you’re laid together like this. 

At one point, you thought maybe there was a chance. 

While you’d always been close, you and Luke had been inseparable in the months leading up to their latest tour. The night before they left, you’d all been at Ashton’s with the boys and some of their friends for a small going away party. Towards the end of the night, the two of you had snuck away into the backyard and Luke held you in a tight hug, cradling your head, whispering how much he’ll miss you. 

And when he looked in your eyes, you thought you saw something there. And when he leaned in, hope bubbled up in your throat. And when he kissed you, you thought this was finally it. He wanted you just as much as you wanted him. 

But the next morning, he texted you, apologizing for stepping over a line and blamed it on all the champagne he’d had, and asked if you would just forget it ever happened. 

And you agreed to forget about it, but you still haven’t been able to. Looking at him now starts to hurt again, being so close and knowing that you can’t have what you want. 

Luke’s eyes are fluttered shut, his hand resting limply in your hair now that he’s fallen asleep. You sneak out of the bed and into the bathroom, shutting the door and sitting on the toilet as you text the person who can help distract you. It’s not long before you receive a text back.

come over whenever, i’ll get your mind off of him in no time 

You brush your teeth before sneaking back to your room and quietly going through your drawers to find something to change into, making an effort to not wake up Luke. You grab a lace bra and some matching underwear out of your drawer, and of course Luke wakes up right then and sees them in your hands. 

“Mmm, those are nice,” he mumbles, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “What are you doing with those?” 

You blush and continue to go through your drawers to grab a pair of leggings and a tee to throw on over them, saying, “just changing.”

“Into those?” his eyebrow raises. “What for?”

“Just going to meet up with someone,” you reply. It’s vague, but you know he’ll know what you mean, and you don’t particularly feel the need to hide the fact that you’re going to see a guy right now when you know he’s been having one night stands all the way across Europe. 

You watch Luke’s eyes as he looks from the nice underwear set in your hands and back to your face, seeing him realize that you’re not just going to meet up with someone, you’re going to meet up with someone for sex. 

“What do you mean ‘meeting up with someone?’” he questions you, sitting up in your bed. “Like a date, or like…?”

“Not a date, Luke,” you roll your eyes at him. 

“You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?” you press, not sure what you want his words to be, but deciding that you’re going to make him say whatever it is he’s thinking. 

“Are you going on a… booty call?” His voice is full of judgement. You simply nod in return, shutting your bathroom door between the two of you so you can change in private. “With who?” he demands to know.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” you call through the door, gritting your teeth. You don’t know why exactly he seems upset, but you’re kind of glad that he is. It feels nice to give him a taste of his own medicine. 

“Why is someone texting you for a booty call?” He doesn’t mean it to come off as rude as it does. He simply wants to know why there’s someone who is comfortable enough to ask you to come sleep with them in the middle of the evening and why he doesn’t know about whoever this person is. 

What you hear from that question is that he can’t believe anyone would want to sleep with you. A rush of heat fills your belly as you bubble up with anger. You laugh, voice sharp and bitter, and Luke looks guilty. 

“Yeah, why would anyone wanna sleep with plain old me, huh?” you spit, flinging open the drawer next to your bed and unashamedly pull out a pack of condoms, making eye contact with Luke as you shove them into your purse.

“Y/N, that’s not what I- that’s not what I meant,” he reaches out and tries to grab your wrist, but you yank it backwards from him, huffing and puffing. 

“Just because you don’t want me doesn’t mean that no one does, Luke,” you say, and he has no idea how to respond to that. 

He’s processing what you’ve just said. Just because he doesn’t want you? Is that - why would you think that he doesn’t want you? Do you want him?

And before he can figure out what you mean by that, you open up the door to your living room and say, “I think it’s time for you to go, Luke.”

He doesn’t fight back or say anything, just grabs his stuff and walks out resignedly, looking back on his way out the front door and shaking his head at you. 

You don’t see how he can be so disappointed in you. He does the same thing. 

“What a fucking hypocrite,” you mumble under your breath, texting Hunter back and letting him know that you’re on your way. 

When you arrive, there are tears in your eyes and your cheeks are pink with anger. You feel so pathetic and hurt and can’t believe that Luke would actually say that to you. You want to let go of those feelings and let yourself be distracted, and Hunter has no problem with that. You always let him have his way with you and he always makes sure that you come. It’s the perfect arrangement. 

He’s not Luke by any means, but when his mouth is sucking on your neck like this, it’s easy to push Luke out of your mind. 

Hunter nips your skin with his teeth harshly as he pulls away, and a shiver runs down your spine. You let yourself hand over the control to him, and he gladly takes it - enjoys it even. He pushes you backwards against the wall and rips your shirt over your head, immediately attaching his lips to your collarbone and then your chest. 

He gets you undressed and slams you onto the bed, face down and on all fours as he gives a sharp smack to your ass with the palm of his hand. You bite your lip from the pain that is so intertwined with the pleasure.

“You want it rough tonight?” he asks, unzipping his pants and stepping out of them. 

“Yes,” you hum, closing your eyes and waiting for his next touch. 

“Where are your manners?” he asks, and your eyes flutter open as you look up at him and correct yourself. 

“Yes, please.”

He gives you a couple more smacks, red imprints in the shape of his hand beginning to form on your backside, and you fully let go, letting your thoughts and feelings be numbed away and giving into your most basic instincts. 

He warms you up well, fingers fast and merciless inside you until you feel on the edge and he pulls away from you. A condom is frantically grabbed from your purse and wrapped around his length before he shoves himself into you roughly, a gasp escaping from you at this feeling.

“You feel so good,” he grunts as he slams against you from behind. “Fuck, come here,” he reaches forward and grabs you by the front of your neck, pulling you up so your back is flush against his damp chest and squeezes tighter around your throat. You’re feeling light headed and dizzy, but you can’t get enough of it right now. 

It makes you feel numb, and numb is good. 

He throws you back down on the bed and commands you to roll onto your back, so you do and  he continues to fuck into you, hand wrapping back around your throat, and you know it’s going to leave a mark this time. 

You’re gasping for air and so close, right on the edge of an orgasm when he moves his other hand to rub circles against you and send you over that cliff. Your whole body tingles and bucks as you let it overtake you, breathing heavily as you come down.

“You okay?” Hunter asks, peeling the condom off and tying it up. You nod and try to control your breathing a little bit. “Fuck,” he swears when he looks at you. “Your neck.”

You pull your undergarments on and go look in his bathroom mirror, gasping when you see yourself. There are normally a few bruises on you when Hunter is finished with you, but this time you’re wearing a necklace of purple around your throat. 

“People are going to think you’re being abused,” Hunter says, amusement gleaming in his eyes, followed quickly by a twinge of guilt. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you say, trying to reassure him, but you don’t know what you’re going to be able to do to hide this. You’re going to have to find a way to cover this, because there’s no way you’re letting anyone see you like this. Especially not Luke and the boys when they see you tomorrow night at the bar.

Fuck. 

There’s no way you can let Luke see you like this.

[magical-gays-au-fanartfunart]

Chitty Chitty Crash Bang Bang

Summary: Superhero AU- In which Virgil worries over Roman & we get to find out what happened to Remus.

Ships: Logicality and Prinxiety

Warnings: Yelling/Arguing, Parent/family.... issues, running away, brief physical violence, pain/injury (its like a Super reoccurring theme here), death mention, concussion mention/discussion, (Ro may or may not have lasting issues), roman’s pretty good at avoiding talk of doctors or like, anything, crying, probably poorly translated Spanish...

Tell me if anything else needs a warning!

Words: lots. (I give up.)

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - ^ - 8 -

-

They were yelling. The muffled sounds hardly discernible from his room. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel it. Each shriek only made his stomach drop even more.

Stop yelling.

He should turn on his music.

Stop yelling.

He should do Something.

Stop yelling.

Shouldn’t he be down there? Playing mediator like he does far too often now.

Stop yelling stop it stop stop STOP.

A door slammed. Roman froze. Front door. Not a bedroom door. He scrambled up to look out his window. A figure with a well worn backpack and a stained, putrid green hoodie he’d always hated, stalked down the street, retreating from the house. It was like a weight was thrown on his chest.

Roman scrambled down the stairs.

“Let him go,” his mother yelled from the kitchen, voice stained with something close to tears.

Roman turned to look at her, frowning.

“He’ll come back, mijo. Let him blow off some steam.”

Roman curled his hand into a fist, shaking his head, not trusting himself to just get into a screaming match of his own. He darted out the door, slamming it behind him.

He vaguely registered his mother calling after him. She didn’t even call Remus back. She let him storm off and didn’t even- no no she was just mad. She was mad, he was mad, and people make dumb decisions when they’re mad.

His breaths slammed against his chest in time with his feet slamming against pavement. “Remus!”

Remus began to shift from a brisk walk to a full run. Roman raced to catch his brother- he was always just a bit faster than him, just enough. He had to be just fast enough. He had to. “Remus, stop!” He gripped the handle of Remus’s backpack and yanked.

His twin yelped as he was thrown backwards and narrowly missed being entirely thrown to the pavement. Roman huffed as he caught his breath, eyes wild and wide as he stared at his brother. His crying brother.

Remus ripped himself from Roman’s grasp, “Leave me the hell alone.” Remus huffed, voice scratchy and rough.

“Where are you going?”

“None of your damn business!” Remus all but screeched, shoving Roman back. “I don’t need you to play hero! I’m not the damsel in distress, get the hell out of my way!”

“I’m not trying to-” Remus’s fist collided with his jaw. Roman swore, slipping into a fighting stance out of instinct as he gingerly brushed over his tender jaw.

Remus’s breaths came in ragged and sharp. Fist curling in on itself, nails digging into his palm. “Don’t. Just. Don’t. Don’t follow me. Don’t pretend to be sorry. Don’t pretend I belong.”

He wished he’d protested.

That he’d followed him anyway.

That he’d punched that grim little smile right off his face.

Something.

Instead he just watched his brother shake his head and walk away. Instead, he stood there telling himself the same broken logic his mother had used. He’s gonna come back. He’s just gotta blow off some steam. He’ll be back. And it’ll be fine.

It’ll be fine.

-Now

2 years later.-

“Aw, you can call me Kate, no need for formalities! Hey, I’ll even take ‘Mom’ if you’d rather!”

“Mom,” Virgil hissed at the woman who looked exactly and nothing like her child with her brightly colored pink pixie cut and pastel sundress with a black punk jacket hanging on her shoulders, the shoulders and lapel adorned with a small trans flag patch, several buttons and a small gold floral pin. She shared her kind, tired eyes with her son, although she clearly had a few years of laugh lines on him. She was clearly taller than her child, and if she tugged him into a hug right then and there, Roman was sure Virgil would fit perfectly under her chin.

They fit. In their own odd way.

Roman smiled. It felt a bit easier to breathe for a moment.

Kate hummed, gaze flickering over the boy in front of her. She clicked her tongue, “Poor dear- Did anybody clean you up even a little? First thing you’re doing is taking a shower.”

Roman blinked, “Um-” He blinked a few times as Kate began to turn back towards her car.

“I hope you like pizza. Are you allergic to anything at all?”

"Um. No.”

”And what about milk?” Virgil said. There was a flicker of a glare in his eyes, but it was overshadowed by a smirk and a gentle shake of his head.

“That’s an intolerance, not an allergy.” Roman waved a hand dismissively, “Totally different!”

Mother and son made the same skeptical sound.

-

Roman really hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Really. It was just, after they settled in the car- He was exhausted. It was like a switch flipped after he sat down again. And watching the road flicker past was so calming. And Virgil was still talking to his mother, and he was already nodding off and really the only thing left was to let his heavy eyelids fall. He woke up to soft mummers and a gentle brush of a hand on his shoulder. Heavens, did everything hurt this much the first time around? His head was killing him.

“Hey,” Virgil whispered, and really, what business did he have being so gentle?

Roman’s mouth felt like it was full of cotton. He hummed in acknowledgement, eyes reluctant to open, it seemed. Or- oh wait. Never mind. He could see now. …Was that something he should like… be worried about?

“Up an’ at ‘em, Sleeping Beauty,” Virgil’s hushed voice continued, and Roman’s vaugely aware of pressure on his shoulders and a step down.

“Sorry,” Roman muttered, and he wasn’t exactly sure what for yet.

“I don’t mind. You can keep sleeping once we’re inside if you need to.”

Roman took in a breath and ended up nodding somewhere along the surprisingly short walk.

The next time Roman woke up from another dreamless state, he was smothered by a blanket far too heavy to be considered normal and it really wasn’t helping the process of waking up. There was a tap of a keyboard that seemed to echo around the room. Something was cold and wet on his head. The typing stopped. Virgil was putting back on fingerless gloves when Roman finally sat up and looked at him.

Roman blearily looked down at the cloth that had fallen off his head. “Oh.”

“You ‘kay?”

“No, I’m Roman,” he mumbled, lips flickering up a little.

Virgil rolled his eyes, settling on the edge of the bed.

“It’s really dark in here,” Roman whispered, without really meaning to.

“Good, ‘cause it’s apparently helpful for concussions and stuff,” Virgil whispered back, because that’s what you do.

“Oh so I got a concussion now?”

“Hell if I know.”

“Did you put up that black-out blanket for me then, or like, have you always been allergic to daylight?”

“You’ve discovered my secret,” a smile already on his lips, “I’m a vampire.”

“Well hell, here I thought you’d sparkle.”

Roman jumped a little as a creature hopped up from under the bed to onto it. The newcomer rubbed her body against Roman’s side. He froze, suddenly tense and unsure. Virgil’s eyes flickered over the other. He smiled, deciding to focus on his cat.

“Speaking of vampires,” Virgil snapped his fingers, and the cat pranced over to him, allowing him to pet her, “This is Buttercup.”

Roman nodded, watching them.

“How do you feel?” Virgil asked. The hushed tone still lingering in his voice. “For real.”

Roman shrugged, “More tired than I thought, I guess.”

He shifted and smiled as Buttercup passed back over towards him, purring loudly. “Hey lovely lady,” he whispered, rubbing the cat’s head. He glanced up at Virgil, “Sleeping in the car probably made every single bone in my body scream in protest, though.”

Virgil swore, “You don’t have any like-”

“Bleeding? Broken bones?” Roman placed a hand on his chest, leaning back into the pillows of the bed, (the cat following him down and standing on his chest) “Oof. Ouch. My bones.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“No, how would you know I’m not dead?”

Virgil shoved him in a way that was so gentle Roman wasn’t sure he actually touched him.

“Seriously, do we have to like, take you to a doctor?”

Roman shook his head, “I’m okay. I promise.”

“All you need is ‘(not)’ and you’ve got my favorite song.”

“Oh, you can’t be serious!” Roman makes an effort to sound affronted, and Virgil smiles like he holds all the secrets of the universe. Buttercup chirps, and the boys giggle, because the world’s just a little steadier now.

-

“It’s fine Dee! No, I don’t- I’m fine. Estoy bien! Oh my h- Sí claro! I’m staying over at a friend’s, ok?”

Roman raised his hand to mimic the ramble from the other end of the phone. Virgil smirked in return, despite his focus being on how Roman’s movements were a little more tired and sluggish than normal. He’s tired. He gets to be tired. Heck. He should be tired. Didn’t stop Virgil from worrying about it.

“Eres un pesado, ¿sabes que, sí?” Roman snorted, “What! I’m just saying- Yeah, I hate you too.” 

Virgil nestles his head into his arms on the table.

Roman sighs in defeat, and mimics Virgil’s posture, pouting as if to make a point to the other, “Ok, I will. Don’t kill anybody over it, I’d be terribly distraught-” Roman practically freezes.

He swallows, but it doesn’t clear the waver in his voice when he utters, “¿Qué?”

“What?” Virgil whispers, brows knitting together, leaning forward.

Roman glances up at Virgil and shakes his head, “No, Re- um. No. No creo que le vi.” Roman takes in a heavy breath, “¿p- por qué?”

An uneasy smile crosses Roman’s face and he nods, “Ok. Um- I better go, V- my friend’s mom promised to get us pizza. See you later, ok? I feel like I haven’t seen you for forever. Kay. Adiós.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nada, I-” Roman let out a huff of a breath, “Dee just wanted to know if I- saw somebody. It- It doesn’t really matter.”

Virgil shifts to sit up better, nodding, “Um, okay.”

Roman leans back, rubbing the nape of his neck, "What's the emo do on days like this anyway?" Virgil knows a subject change when he sees one, and he sighs, smiling, "I mean- what do you do? I don’t usually have- People. Over." Roman grins, “What’s your opinion on Disney?”

-

The speaker crackles on the other end of the line when it answers. “Hey DeeDee! Pleasure or Business?”

“I hope you have an explanation for yourself Remus.”

“Ah, skipping the pleasure going straight to business, I see how it is.”

Dee sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Where are you?”

“Where I always am DeeDee. Hanging with Choco and Loco, between Nowhere and Noneof Yourbuismess.”

A point is made with silence.

“Fine, fine. I’m in town.” The line crackles. A vague sound of movement, like the rustle of a bag, “Did you know Mama y Papa aren’t home?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Dee shifts the phone to his other ear, leaning to the side, “No idea.”

“Why you lyin!” Remus shouted into the speaker. Dee forced himself to relax his shoulders. Remus sighed exaggeratedly heavily into the phone, “Fine, don’t tell me. How long have they been out? I can’t imagine they’d leave their favorite son all by himself too long now.”

“Remus, do you know what happened?”

“Maybe,” the line crackled in a way that almost sounded like a giggle, “enlighten me.”

Dee leaned back against the door frame of his room, “That’s the clearest confession of guilt out of your mouth if I’ve ever heard it. You’re aware Roman could’ve gotten killed, yes?”

The line falls silent.

“Oh, nevermind, I’m sure you thought about it. What am I saying?” Dee glanced at his hands, checking his nails.

“Do you want to know what his new little power is or not?”

“So that’s what this was about,” Dee said, a gentle smirk crossing his face, “Please. Do inform me. It would be nice to know.”

[okaybutlikeimagine]

What if Joyce and her kids and Hop and his (including Max if you want cus I can’t get enough how you write her and Billy’s relationship) all went on a road trip together?!

(okay i know i have other asks before this that i need to respond to but) I LOVE THIS SO MUCH AND I’M!!!! CRYIN!! (also thanks so much for the lovely compliment ohmydear♥i love writing them too it’s so fun)

Okay so i read this and i was like: ohman they’d have to take 2 cars or something bc there’s Joyce + Will and Jonathan and then Hop + El and Billy and then Max?? That’s 7 of them! But tHEN

IMAGINE THEM ALL IN A VW BUS!!!

Joyce is a hippie in my headcanon bc I love that shit and she could show the boys hippie music and help them through life w/ it and so anyway I’d like to think she’s aLWAYS wanted a VW bus. they’re just… cute as hell and so damn cool and she could decorate the inside w/ cute curtains and i just love that so much. so now imagine Billy and Jonathan knowing she’s always wanted one and Jonathan never having seen one but Billy having seen them everywhere in Cali and knowing exactly what Joyce is talking about and they both save up a SHIT. TON. of money (bc i dunno how expensive they were back then but they’re pretty cool cars that a lot of people wanted and they’re big, so) and Will and El even help out by mowing lawns for people or picking up a paper route (Jonathan doesn’t like the idea of them working but they insist) and they buy a used 1968 Kombi VW bus and Billy fixes it up a bit and it’s a faded light blue color and it’s definitely not pristine, it definitely looks a little loved, but it’s perfect and they all help fix up the interior and it’s??? The most beautiful thing. And they give it to her for her birthday or Christmas or something and Joyce cries an absolute RIVER and would hug them all for hours if Hop hadn’t torn her away to let them breathe

So anyway, when Billy and Jonathan graduate from high school in 1986 (i don’t wanna do all the math on when Billy’s birthday would have to be and when school cut offs are but Jonathan and Billy were both born in ‘67 sooooo) Joyce wants to go on a road trip w/ everyone!!!!! Bc how exciting!! and really it’s Joyce’s idea bc Jim doesn’t really like dealing w/ lots of people in one place but Joyce knows all the kids love Disney movies and she’s also always wanted to go to Disney World so they go! And they bring Max along bc El begs and pleads and Billy thinks it’d be good for her to get out of the house and Joyce 100% agrees bc even though Neil hasn’t done anything, the energy is negative and that shit affects a kid, y’know?? Plus they all love Max and would so adopt her if they could so she’s able to convince her mom and she goes w/ them and! just!

Imagine them all packed into a big VW bus w/ little floral curtains and funky retro seat covers, on the road at 7:30am and Joyce agreeing to drive the first few hours bc Hop is useless in the morning and conks out immediately once they get in. El and Will do too, El on Max’s shoulder and Will on Jonathan’s as Jonathan and Billy and Max start arguing for like, a good half hour about what music they should listen to on the trip down until there’s a lull in the fight and Joyce says she only brought her tapes of 60s and 70s music. so they all get educated on good hippie music.

and Billy and Max love each other, they do. they had a bumpy relationship when Billy was living at home before but they’re a lot closer now and they’ve been siblings for years now. but they’re just both such fiery personalities that they bicker more than half the time down. It’s a 16 hour drive (maybe even more??? If there are more roads now than in 1986) so it takes them 2 days and they’re so bratty towards each other.

So  they’re all trying to explain what Disney World is to El who is still rather confused.

“We’re going to…. Another world?”

“What’s a… roller… coaster?”

“You mean Mickey Mouse is real??”

And that one makes Max giggle and shake her head. 

“It’s like… Santa. People dress up as him and other characters and you can take pictures and stuff.” she gives a dangerous smirk then, turning around to look at Billy. “Billy’s afraid of them.”

“I am not.” He growls, kicking at her seat but trying not to kick too hard bc they worked too hard to get this van looking nice.

“You totally used to cry at anyone in a costume. We barely got to go trick or treating that one year because you were so freaked out.”

“Because our asshole neighbor was dressed as Jason and chased me down the fucking street!”

“Language!” Hop yells at the same time as Jonathan snorts. Billy reaches over Will to pinch Jonathan hard.

“Is that why you were shaking when we saw Mickey Mouse that one time?”

“That was on the Walk of Fame. Everyone is afraid of those guys because they’re all a bunch of coke addicts!”

“Coke… addicts?” El asks and everyone pauses, Jonathan letting out another snort.

“Like Coke and Pepsi?” El asks, and everyone immediately agrees while Jonathan laughs a bit.

“Yeah! Coke and Pepsi!” Joyce agrees, while Hop turns and gives them a harsh look to stop this conversation.

Joyce asks what character El is most excited to see. Joyce says that she herself hopes that they have Winnie the Pooh bc he’s her absolute favorite.

“I like Alice.” she says with a smile. It had kind of scared El when she first saw it, but she thought the colors were cool and Alice is just as curious as El is.

“I hope they have Peter Pan.” Max says a little dreamily.

“You just like him because he’s a ginger like you.” Billy snarks, to which Max sends him a harsh look.

“You like him too! We used to watch that movie all the time when we were little.”

And she’s right, they did. It makes him smile. Maybe there’s some psychological reason- the idea of a cute boy coming by to take him away from his terrible life and whisk him away to a magical world is pretty fucking nice -but he’s not about to overanalyze himself. And if anyone were to ask what he’s most excited for, he definitely wouldn’t admit that it’s Peter Pan.

“I like Peter Pan too.” Will admits, to which Max turns to look at him.

“Isn’t he cute?”

Will nods with a slight blush.

“Who’s Peter Pan?”

Max is distraught at El’s question.

“You haven’t seen Peter Pan???” She turns to Jonathan. “What are you guys doing depriving her of Peter Pan?”

“She’s with you more often than us!” Billy is indignant. “What have you been doing, not showing her Peter Pan?”

Max sticks her tongue out. Jonathan says he’s looking forward to Tomorrow Land and all of the parade floats. When Billy is asked, he mumbles something about wanting to ride all the big rides like Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain.

“What about you, Dad?” El asks happily.

“I’m just excited for the food.” Hopper grunts.

So yes, lots of bickering with the occasional break to listen to whatever song is playing. And you fuckin bet they bicker over where to stop to eat, too, until Hop decides for them all. 

And i was trying to look up different, more obscure theme parks or attractions for them to go to but I just… couldn’t get over the idea of all of them getting matching Mickey Mouse ears. bc just… think about it. Think about a picture of all of them gathered in front of the castle wearing their Mickey Mouse hats, Hop and Joyce w/ an arm around the other, Joyce leaning up against Hop, El and Will smiling the biggest and cheesiest smiles with El’s arm around Will’s shoulder, Jonathan giving a little shy smile bc he feels pretty dumb, Max getting the biggest kick out of Billy freaking out over ruining his hair but giving him an expectant look until he puts the hat on, Billy yanking a strand of her hair out right before the photo is taken and Max shrieking so they have to take another one and when they do Billy rests his arm on Max’s head and max is stepping on Billy’s foot but they chuckle about it afterwards, giving irritated looks that break into smiles.

And i just?????? Jonathan buys Nancy a little bracelet with a Minnie Mouse charm on it and a stuffed version of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh and Billy gets Steve a little stuffed Bambi and a shirt that says “Princess” in big letters and gets himself a matching one that says “Prince Charming”. Steve pretends to be less than impressed but he blushes when Billy mumbles something about how he couldn’t stop looking at the castle and thinking of his princess back home and i just??? I have so many ideas about this Hopper Family Vacation to Disney World AUGH i love this.

(and if you want their Road Trip Playlist just ask me bc i just?? imagine their little van driving back up to Indiana on a calm road through a little patch of tall trees while Harvest Moon plays and its golden hour and Jim is driving and Joyce has her head leaning back against the seat, humming along and the sun is making it look like she’s glowing and Jim is a little worried about swerving bc he just wants to look at her. And Billy is leaning back in his seat all the way in the back, arm out the open window next to him as he waves it around in the soft air. Will and Jonathan are asleep on each other next to him and Max turns around from where she’s sitting in front of Billy to ask him something and sees her brother looking so damn calm. Just so serene and happy, a content smile on his face and golden sun hitting his blond hair gracefully as he blinks slowly. And she can’t think of what she was going to say bc it feels surreal to have this kind of moment w/ a family that feels so oddly whole. And Billy notices her staring and turns to her and she just sticks her tongue out and makes a funny face. Billy swipes gently at the air in front of her a few times w/ his left hand, chuckling a bit. She tries to kick him but she can’t reach and he just huffs a big, sharp breath in her face and she reaches to smack him as they both start giggling. then a soft click comes from their left and they see El has taken a picture of them on her little disposable camera she got on the way there and Max turns back around to talk to El and ask about how many pictures she thinks she’s taken and Billy turns back to look out the window, watching farms pass by in a haze, colored by the soft orange light of the sun, as he hugs the little Bambi plushie he bought for Steve and thinks about how comfortable happiness feels.)

[introvertguide]

Sunset Boulevard (1950); AFI #16

The next film on our AFI list is the film noir drama Sunset Blvd. (1950). This movie was directed and part written by Billie Wilder. It was nominated for all of the acting categories, best director, and best picture...but won none of them. The movie was up for 11 Oscars but only received technical awards because of the very stiff competition that year from the likes of All About Eve, The Third Man, and Harvey. This film is often called the best movie about Hollywood ever written because it bravely looks at the life of a star and how they can be chewed up and spit out of the system when they get too old. This is not an aspect of movie stardom that Hollywood generally likes to advertise, so it is not surprising that this film was not as recognized. I would like to go over the plot before further discussion, so...

YOU KNOW THE DRILL! PREPARE FOR SPOILERS! THIS IS A MYSTERY SO DON’T READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU SEE THE FILM!

At a mansion on Sunset Boulevard, the body of Joe Gillis (William Holden) floats in the swimming pool. Long before it was done in American Beauty, the movie is narrated through a post mortem flashback of the main character.

Six months earlier, down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe tries selling a story to Paramount Pictures.  Producer Sheldrake (Fred Clarke) is somewhat interested but looks to the advice of a script reader that walks in on the conversation. The woman who comes in is Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson) and she harshly critiques the script, unaware that Joe is the writer. There is some awkward banter and Joe leaves in a huff. He is driving home and sees some repossession men seeking his car, so he flees only to barely escape by turning into the driveway of a seemingly deserted mansion. After concealing the car, he hears a woman inside call to him, mistaking him for someone else. Ushered in by Max the butler (Erich von Stroheim) , Joe recognizes the woman as long-forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). She seems to believe that Joe is bringing a coffin for her dead monkey (that is not a typo), but becomes interested when she learns that Joe is a writer. Norma asks his opinion of a script she has written for a film about Salome, which she plans to play the role herself in a return to the screen. Joe finds her script abysmal, but flatters her into hiring him as a script doctor for enough money to buy back his car.

Norma insists that Joe move in and she has Max secretly get all of Joe’s things and move him in. Joe resents this but gradually accepts his situation as her boy toy because Norma is psychologically fragile. He sees that Norma refuses to face the fact that her fame has evaporated and learns that the fan letters she still receives are secretly written by Max, who explains that he has had to hide all of the knives and remove all locks on the doors as Norma has attempted suicide. Norma lavishes attention on Joe and buys him expensive clothes. At her New Year's Eve party, he discovers that he is the only guest and realizes she has fallen in love with him. Joe tries to let her down gently, but Norma slaps him and retreats to her room. Joe visits his friend Artie Green to ask about staying at his place. At Artie's party he again meets Betty, whom he learns is Artie's girl. Betty thinks a scene in one of Joe's scripts has potential, but Joe is uninterested. When he phones Max to have him pack his things, Max tells him Norma cut her wrists with his razor.  

Norma has Max deliver the edited Salome script to her former director Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. She starts getting calls from Paramount executive Gordon Cole, but petulantly refuses to speak to anyone except DeMille. Eventually, she has Max drive her and Joe to Paramount in her 1929 Isotta Fraschini. The older studio employees recognize her and warmly greet her. DeMille receives her affectionately and treats her with great respect, tactfully evading her questions about her script. Meanwhile, Max learns that Cole merely wants to rent her unusual car for a film.

Preparing for her imagined comeback, Norma undergoes rigorous beauty treatments. Joe secretly works nights at Betty's Paramount office, collaborating on an original screenplay. His moonlighting is found out by Max, who reveals that he was a respected film director, discovered Norma as a teenage girl, made her a star and was her first husband. After she divorced him, he found life without her unbearable and abandoned his career to become her servant. Meanwhile, despite Betty's engagement to Artie, she and Joe fall in love. After Norma discovers a manuscript with Joe's and Betty's names on it, she phones Betty and insinuates what sort of man Joe really is. Joe, overhearing, invites Betty to come see for herself. When she arrives, he pretends he is satisfied being a gigolo, but after she tearfully leaves he packs for a return to his old Ohio newspaper job. He bluntly informs Norma there will be no comeback, her fan mail comes from Max, and she has been forgotten. He disregards Norma's threat to kill herself and the gun she shows him to back it up. As Joe walks out of the house, Norma shoots him three times and he falls into the pool.

The flashback ends. The house is filled with police and reporters. Norma, having lost touch with reality, believes the newsreel cameras are there to film Salome. Max and the police play along. Max sets up a scene for her and calls, "Action!" As the cameras roll, Norma dramatically descends her grand staircase. She pauses and makes an impromptu speech about how happy she is to be making a film again, ending with, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." as she makes a series of exaggerated swooping steps towards the camera, an equally exaggerated 'come-hither' expression upon her face. 

Gloria Swanson was in fact a silent film star that was having difficulty finding work. She was very well aware that the part was poking fun at people like herself and old Hollywood in general. She had worked with Cecil B. DeMille and he was happy to be part of the production for the right price. He was paid $20,000 for his cameo, which says that even he was glad to get work but still expected full price for his participation.

As mentioned in the recap, the idea of the post mortem narrator was taken full on by American Beauty. Arguably, so was the idea of somebody dealing with their growing irrelevance as they age. But it is fantastic that the movie can reveal the end result in the opening scene and yet there is still tension and it can act as a whodunnit. It becomes a question of who is going to kill Joe. The jealous butler/director/ex-husband? The crazy out of touch actress? The confused new girl? Artie the spurned fiancée? The repo men? Or maybe a distraught Joe takes his own life? As mentioned it was Norma, but I legitimately did not know the first time I watched the film and it was great.

Some more recent critics have not been kind to the acting of Gloria Swanson because she overacts to the point of camp. Yet that is exactly what you would expect from an emotionally fragile, silent film era actress that was once the biggest star and had lost her fame. She is a total drama queen and that is appropriately so. The reason that it works is that people point it out and she seems weird next to the other actors. She is like the character of Ms. Havisham in Great Expectations, but instead of tempting Pip with the love of Estella, she tries to do it herself. One part hilarious, but three parts absolutely fascinating. 

There is quite a bit of dark humor in this movie and much of it is through the campy acting of Swanson. I am glad to say that she owns it and doesn’t back away at all. There is a scene where she puts on a Charlie Chaplin outfit and attempts to entertain Joe. Also, the entertainment of the evening was watching her old silent movies and she reacts emotionally to her own portrayals. It is fantastic. I think my favorite part is that she thinks that Cecil B. DeMille is trying to get her back for a part and it turns out that an AP simply wants to use her car. 

So should this movie be on the AFI list? Without a doubt. It is brilliant mystery that takes a deep look at the downside of stardom. It was so accurate and appealing that the Academy had to take note despite likely not wanting to. It was one of the first movies to examine the fragility of an actor’s ego. It also has some of the very best single lines in cinema history. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. It might not interest younger viewers and the strange gigolo implications might not be appreciated by all, but it is a pretty fun (and funny) movie that find enjoyable every time. Well worth a watch. 

Side Note: There is a monkey burial scene when Joe first arrives and it might one of the strangest and funniest scenes in cinema. I just wonder...why did she have a monkey and how long did she keep the dead body before the burial? Yet another reason to check out the movie.

[starrose17]

Rose u r killing me with those titanic au tags like where do I sacrifice my soul for that fic

NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ASDJFAKJSDF!!! I have so much story for this plot I spent 4 hours after i woke up yesterday not moving from my bed and just playing out everything in my head! Like the whole film start to finish.

Like, for a start, so we can keep the angel nickname, the “rich” are known as angels and the “poor” are known as demons.  Aziraphale is travelling to the US with Gabriel who he’s being forced to marry to save his highly uncaring family from turning to demons. He knows they don’t care for his feelings but he’s good and kind will do it even if he is the outsider of the family, never acting as “angel” as they want him to. 

He’s up on the top deck looking back at England far off in the distant, letting out a very depressed sigh, when a flash of red catches his eye and he looks down to the lower deck to see what was obviously a demon in that get up, sauntering around through the crowds, his red hair catching in the sunlight.  His heart beat skips, and suddenly Gabriel is at his side, taking his arm and forcibly moving him back inside, something about there being a gym on board that he wanted Aziraphale to go to why they’re here to get him to lose the gut, and Aziraphale takes one panicked glance back at the demon who is looking up at him, before he’s pulled too far away and looses sight.

Days later, Crowley is lounging around on a deck chair in the middle of the night, staring up at the clear starry sky, wondering about that sweet faced angel he saw, when suddenly hurried footsteps rush past behind him along with terrified upset muttering. He swings around on the chair and looks behind him, to see that same angel hurriedly walking past towards the back of the ship.  It takes him a few seconds to decide but he gets up and follows him. When he catches up the angel is standing the other side of railings, holding on to them behind him and leaning right over the edge of the ship.

Crowley asks probably too angrily than it should sound what the hell the angel thinks he’s doing.  Aziraphale whips his head to the side to see the demon he spotted days ago standing against the rails and glaring at him. He begins to stutter, panicking, telling him to please go away, but the tears down his face only make Crowley go closer, and suddenly he’s standing right next to him, albeit on the right side of the railing.

“You really don’t want to jump into that water.”

Despite his distraught state Aziraphale couldn’t help but scoff. “I don’t believe you know what I want, dear.” Crowley raises his eyebrows at the term but says nothing more, “Please,” Aziraphale begs him, “P-please I can’t do this anymore, I can’t I...I get escape it. I can’t say no, and I can’t be who they want, I feel like....like I’m falling, so I might as well just fall.”

“You can’t fall, angel.”

Crowley then begins to remove his boots, and his jacket, and suddenly Aziraphale tears have stopped and he does a double take as he watches this demon undress right next to him.

“What in heavens name are you-”

“Because if you fall, I do, cos I’m not going to be able to live with myself if I just watch you go knowing I couldn’t stop you.”

He starts climbing over the other side of the rail, and Azirpahale is just stuttering wildly, “B-but you can’t, what on earth you’re...you are crazy get back immediately!”

“I don’t really wanna jump in there.” he points down to the blackness of the night ocean, the churned trail of the turbines trailing off into the dark distance. “I mean I love the ocean, full of fish, dolphins, maybe a kracken or two, but that is barely above freezing down there and IF I even survived the fall I don’t fancy freezing to death, because that’s gonna feel like a thousands knifes stabbing you all over when you hit that water, and that’s not really how I was planning to go.”

Aziraphale has paled by this point, he had been staring at the crazy demon but now took one very fretful look down to the water.

“...a thousand knifes, you say.”

“Yeah, so, you know...come back over the rails? Dying wasn’t on my to-do-list today. You don’t really want to kill me right?”

Azirphale looked offended, “I’ve never killed anything in my life!”

Crowley just raises his eyebrows at him and nods back towards the deck.

“Oh alright.” Aziraphale gives in, and as Crowley turns with one swift movement and hops back over onto the deck, Aziraphale slips as he turns.  He cries out, flailing to grab onto the rail when he feels the strong grasp of the demon grab his arm just before he falls out of reach.

“Hold on!!!”

“Help me!! Oh heavens no I don’t want to die I don’t I’m sorry!”

It’s an effort to haul him back up, but he does, and the two collapse onto the deck, panting. They lay there staring up at the stars.

"Thank you...” Aziraphale says after a short silence, and Crowley props himself up on one elbow to look down at him.

“Crowley.” he says, a sly little curl to his lips.

Aziraphale presses his lips together in a small shy smile of his own, glancing away then and quickly back to him again.  The demons eyes look golden in the moonlight.

“I’m Aziraphale.”

Crowley’s smile made his heart flutter. The night sea air was brushing through Crowleys red locks, and Aziraphale could do nothing but stare up at him, a wonderful silent moment growing exponentially between them as the distance between them was suddenly growing less... and was also suddenly interrupted by the voice of Gabriel and several other officers running up to them.

Aziraphale sits up so fast he head buts crowley in the forehead, who goes sprawling out onto the deck.

“Gabriel!! Oh, oh yes thank goodness it’s you yes I was just...I was taking a walk when a-a...a sudden gust of strong wind nearly blew me right off the ship, yes, yes if it wasn’t for this...this very quick-thinking demon here I would have fallen and-and be gone.”

Crowley had to admit, he was impressed with the quick lies, very un-angel like indeed, and slowly got back to his feet rubbing his forehead.

“You?” Gabriel stated with an amused snicker, pointing a Aziraphale, “It’s going to take more than wind to blow you off the ship now isn’t it.” he states, pointing his finger up and down Aziraphales body, and Aziraphale just clears his throat and looks anywhere but at his husband-to-be.

Crowley is fuming.

“And you,” Gabriel now turns his comments to Crowley, “Funny how if he fell so suddenly that you were able to first take off both your boots and jacket huh?”

Crowley glowers at him, “Like he said, I’m quick.”

“Hmph,” Gabriel sasses him, before one of the angels behind him whispers something in his ear, and Gabriel smiles widely. “Yes of course where are my manners, you have saved my fiance, I insist you come to dinner with us tomorrow night at 8.  Dress for the occasion, if it’s possible.” he looks Crowley up and down, taking in the skin tight frayed black trousers and the half open necked shirt, “Best not to dress like a slut for a dinner eh?”

Gabriel turns to the angel behind him as they walk away, “This should be entertaining.” he whispers, grinning, before shouting behind him, “Come on Aziraphale!”

“Oh, y-yes.” he bumbles, hands fidgeting in front of him, before taking one guilty look back at Crowley and hurrying on after the angels.

Crowley watches him go, suddenly understanding why the angel was trying to jump off the back of the ship.

#####################

Alright, I am so gonna turn this into a proper fic, cos like the other ideas I have omg, like the dancing scene in the bowels of the ship, Azirpahale gets all the demons doing the gavotte and Crowley is both mortified and embarrassed and utterly adoring in love all at the same time. And of course as part of the dance at the end Aziraphale must kiss them, but its all pecks on the cheeks, all the demons totally loving this un-angel like angel, but when it comes to Crowley there’s a short, blush filled pause, before Crowley just slips his hands through those platinum curls and kisses him so deeply and the demons are WAHOOING and Aziraphale is just completely melting never being treated so wonderfully in his life.

I have so much more.

Including of course, fucking for the first time in the Bentley. Like the same scene almost word for the word from the movie, Crowley is treating Aziraphale like the angel he is, opening the door for him, they both can’t stop grinning, Crowley jumps in the front pretending to drive “Where to sir?” and Aziraphale, in a suddenly surge of confidence, just wraps his arms around Crowleys neck from behind saying, “To the stars.” because Crowley loves the stars, and then just pulls him into the backseat with him, all overly exited and flustered at how this demon makes him feel.

SO! MUCH! MORE!

People would read this yes???

EDIT: Oh yes, and of course Crowley would survive in this AU.  It’s Good Omens! Happy endings only!

[tvehyungs-gf]

not in that way     2;

☍ Genre: Angst, if u squint theres some fluff :D ☍ Pairings: Taehyung x Reader (oc: female) ☍ Requested: yes! ☍ Word Count: 3.83K ➝ ask box ➝ bts writings masterlist ➝ bts masterlist ➝ w.i.p.s ➝ based off of the song ‘not in that way’ by sam smith. ➝ part 1 + part 3

Hoseok looked at you for a bit longer before he looked away, watching other guests walk around. “You know you don’t have to lie to yourself... And you don’t have to pretend that you’re okay.” He looked back at you with concern in his eyes.

Kim Taehyung, a name that used to have so much meaning to you, now, meant nothing. A man with vibrant blue hair, now turned brown, with a tall nose that had a beautiful dot detailed at the tip of it. A resplendent man with an appealing soul who had a gorgeous diamond ring adorned around his ring finger. A giant rock that shined so bright, even through your laptop screen, made your heart feel empty. She stood there beside him with the same ring fit snug around her finger.

That should’ve been you, you thought. But you were only dreaming.

Only in movies is where dreams come true.

You sat there in the dim light with shaking hands. Seoul never felt so quiet inside of your apartment. The usually busy streets seemed as if it was empty, but maybe that’s because you weren’t focused on the noises around you. Even with an opened window. The cool breeze flowed throughout the room made goosebumps rise on your skin. 

In front of you sat a beige colored envelope that had your name written in cursive with your address right beneath. It eyed you devilishly making you look away from the envelope to take a deep breath.

After the confession, months had passed and you were in a dilemma. Were you still in love with him? After being rejected, you were distraught and hopeless but that didn’t stop your heart from racing when you hear his name. It didn’t help that he was basically everywhere - his name in every article and his face plastered throughout Seoul.

Even the others have wondered if you were still in love with him but they rather asked you if there was someone new. The answer was no every time.

But that didn’t matter anymore because the time has come - it was now or never. You were finally going to know your true feelings. The answer that everyone has been thinking is finally getting answered: were you still in love with the man you once called your best friend?

Taking in another deep breath, you reached for the envelope and opened the heart-shaped seal. Inside was a white card and for some odd reason, you started to feel nauseous. Pulling out the card, you were greeted with beautiful designs. You held the card tightly in your hands as your thumb caressed the embroidery detailing of the border. In the middle of the card was a pink rose. It was engraved into the card, making smooth indentions. 

On top of the rose was their name written in gold, big & in cursive: Kim Taehyung & Yoon Miyoung.

Beneath their name, in the same color, but in regular small font: We like to invite you to...

Opening the card, a laugh erupted out of your mouth. And you laughed and laughed to the point tears pricked your eyes. The laughter turned into sobs, and soon enough, you found yourself crying foolishly. 

“Oh, Kim Taehyung!” You hiccuped. “You’re such an idiot.”

Through glossy eyes, you took one last glance at the card.

The Wedding of Kim Taehyung & Yoon Miyoung Please join us on July 18th, 2019 1 o’clock The Shilla Seoul 249 Dongho-ro, Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Involuntarily, tears were rushing down your cheeks again. Your heart pained with misery. How could he have the audacity to invite you to this? Even though it was months ago where you confessed your true feelings to him, it was basically an unspoken rule that you shouldn’t invite those to special things like these after they had been rejected by you. It physically hurts because, well, you should know, since you lived to tell the day.

Throwing the card back on the table carelessly, you pulled your knees up to your chest and cried into them. The room around you turned foul, staining you with melancholia. 

You still loved him. 

Your sobs filled the room effortlessly. With painful cries and a heart full of anguish, you didn’t hear Hoseok come in. 

The luxurious hotel stood before you. With jaw-dropping exterior design, you instantly felt out of place. The building was immeasurable. It was many stories high with large windows and a configuration between modern and traditional. The sun shined brightly towards the sparkling hotel making you squint your eyes just slightly. 

Suddenly in your peripheral vision, a tall suited man with brown hair came into view and instantly made a smile erupt on your face. “Hobi!”

“Hey Y/N!” Hoseok engulfed you into a hug that so was tight that it almost made you drop the box you were holding. It was white with a rose gold ribbon wrapped around it along with a big rose gold bow on top. “Oops, sorry!” He pulled away with a sheepish grin.

You laughed waving him off. “Haha, you’re good! But how are you? How’s the comeback and everything?” 

“Ah, it’s good!” He gave you a thumbs up. “I’m surprised we all found time to squeeze this huge event in, though.” You laughed shrugging your shoulders. “But, how are you? How are things? I feel as if I haven’t seen you in a while...” He lied.

“I’m good.” You nodded, a smile playing on your lips. “Doing better. I’m just working, and you know, living life.”

Hoseok raised a brow slightly, suspicious of you, before standing beside you. “I mean, that’s good to hear! I’m actually surprised you made it. I kind of wasn’t expecting you to come, if I’m being totally honest.”

The two of you walked inside the double doors and again, you were amazed. If the outside of the hotel was luxurious, you didn’t even know where to explain how the inside looked. It was beyond luxurious, it was just something that no words could explain. It was just breathtaking. 

“I thought about not coming for the longest time, but then, I found this gift,” You lifted up the box. “And I decided that I was going to go. But anyways,” You changed the topic. “I’m in awe, this place is seriously beautiful.”

Hobi glanced at you for second but decided not to question you. “Mhm yeah, this place is insane. A lot of other celebrities has had their wedding here.”

You nodded in agreement and surprise. Silence broke out between the two of you as he led you through the hotel and towards the actual wedding banquet. The silence that you were emitting as you both walked made Hoseok feel uneasy. A worried feeling bubbled inside of him, but, he had a gut feeling he already knew why.

When you both reached the banquet, Hoseok stopped abruptly in front of you. “You okay?” He asked perturbed. His heart ached for you.

You nodded with a perched brow. “Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

He frowned. “You know why.” He placed a caring hand on your shoulder. It hurts him to see someone special to him hurt like this. And it hurts him even more with the fact that Taehyung, someone who he considers a brother, was the reason why you were hurting. “I saw you...” He said, a weight lifted off his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to come in, but when I heard you were crying, I realized that you didn’t hear me come in.” He sighed.

“I wanted to check if you had gotten the invite already but when I heard you crying, I knew.”

You bit your bottom lip, looking at this nose rather than his sad eyes. “I’m over that now.”

“Still.” He squeezed your shoulder. “I was going to go in and comfort you but I decided it was better not to. So I left.”

You nodded slowly. “Did you tell Taehyung?” You looked at him as he shook his head furiously.

“Oh God no. I wouldn’t. Plus, I have no place in your guys business anyway. And I’m no messenger.” 

You let out a small breath relieved. “Thanks for not telling him.”

His dimples deepened as he smiled slightly, “Of course.” His hand fell to his sides before sliding into his pockets. “But I can’t help but worry about you Y/N. You’re one of my good friends.” He told you. “You know, you don’t have to go… You can still walk away.”

“Hobi, I’m fine.” You told him again. Sighing, you gave him a comforting smile. “I promise. I’ve moved on from what happened and it looks like he has too.” Taking his hand off your shoulder, you gave it a small squeeze. “I still consider us friends and I guess it’s only right for me to show my respects. Besides, I’ve already walked away.”

“But…”

You laughed. “It’s fine.” You smiled brightly and pulled him alongside you. “Plus, I’m already here. I’m surprised there’s no paps or anything! He did a good job hiding this whole thing for privacy.”

Hoseok sighed. He knew you weren’t doing fine because the way you sat there in your dining room table, crying into your knees, said otherwise. “He paid a lot of money to keep it as private as possible. He didn’t want any fans or paps to ruin this... special moment in his life. So he hired a lot of security.”

Special moment.

You fought a frown from forming on your lips.

“Right, I bet he sure did.” You nodded. “Uh, anyway, where do I put the gift?” You lifted up the box.

Hobi looked at it before taking it from your hands. “I’ll show you where everything is.”

“Wow.” Your eyes grew wide as the both of you walked inside. Right as you entered through the glass doors, you were greeted with a long table covered with a beige colored lace table cover. On top of the table was an open book where the guests can sign their name and write a message for the soon-to-be-married couple. Red roses were scattered throughout the top, making everything fit together nicely.

Beside the table was a large portrait of Taehyung and Miyoung in their suit and gown with bright smiles adorned on their faces as they looked at one another. “They seriously went all out.”

Hoseok hummed as he walked past the table to the left side of the room where there was a table for gifts and cards. “Hey!” He turned around. “You’re not going to write that it’s from you?” He pointed to the gift. You shook your head.

“No, there’s no need. He’s going to know it’s from me when he opens it.” You told him.

“Oh, okay. So this gift is specifically for Taehyung only?”

You nodded, “More or less. I also have a card for both of them.” You pulled out the card from your bag and handed it to him. 

He took it from you and didn’t question you any further. “Wow! I’m not sure if there’s even any room for any more gifts!” He laughed.

You laughed slightly, “Well, they’re a couple loved by many.” You watched Hoseok place the card on top of the other cards that the other guests have given. He then gave the box to one of the organizers by the table before turning around.

“Are you one of them?”

Your brow raised. “I-” You sighed. “Yeah, I’m happy for them.”

Hoseok looked at you for a bit longer before he looked away, watching other guests walk around. “You know you don’t have to lie to yourself... And you don’t have to pretend that you’re okay.” He looked back at you with concern in his eyes.

“I don’t have to do a lot of things but I still find myself doing them anyway. I can’t help it because at the end of the day, I was once his best friend and I guess I can’t find it in myself to despise him and hate him... Even if he did hurt me.” You shrugged. “I want to be there for him this one last time.”

“But was he there for you when you needed him the most?!” He raised his voice, causing the other guests to turn to look at him in surprise. He sighed and gripped your forearm, his voice lowered. “I don’t care if he didn’t reciprocate the same feelings for you, it was the fact that he let you walk away.”

You looked away from his piercing eyes.

“He’s supposed to be your best friend, he shoul-“

“No.” You shook your head. “That’s selfish of him to ask me to stay even after I told him I loved him. It’s just going to hurt us both more.”

“But if he loved you, even as just a friend, he wouldn’t have let you go like that. At least, not without a proper goodbye.”

“Well,” You pulled your arm away and turned around to look at the picture of the couple. “This is his chance at his last goodbye.”

Hoseok frowned. “What are you instigating? Are you leaving him?”

“I already did, Hobi. But no, this time, I’m leaving everything.”

His heart dropped. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” You laughed, shaking your head. “Never mind, ignore me. I’m just being dramatic.” You smiled. “Where do I sit?”

Hoseok eyed you before guiding you further into the banquet.

The ceremony was over and it was time for the reception. After catching up with your old friends and Taehyung’s family, you decided to explore the hotel. Suddenly, your phone rang and the name you least expected popped up: Kim Taehyung.

“Hello?” You answered.

You haven’t heard his voice in months. “Y/N.” His stern voice broke through the other line. “Where are you?”

His voice seemed deeper than it usually did and it sounded more forbidding. You instantly froze in the middle of the hallway. “I’m walking around the hotel... Why?”

“Come to my suite. Now. I’m in the presidential suite, room number 718. Doors briefly opened.”

Before you could reply, he had already hung up. You stood there for a second staring at the black screen as your heart raced. Did he open your present? Quickly, you rushed to the elevator.

Moments later, you found yourself standing in front of him. Your lips in a straight line as he looked stared at you. Taehyung sat at the edge of the queen sized bed with the box on his lap. “What is this? What does this mean?”

“It’s your wedding present.”

“This isn’t a fucking present, Y/N. This is depression in a box, I-” He ranted angrily, wrinkles formed in between his brows as he frowned. “I don’t even have words. I don’t know what to say.”

You frowned back. “What do you mean? Aren’t you happy?”

“How the hell am I supposed to be happy?!” He stood up quickly, making the box fall to the floor as the contents spilled out but he didn’t care. A dead rose laid lifelessly on the floor along with the thick black scrapbook that held so many memories.

“It’s my official goodbye.”

He walked towards you, calmer now. “I don’t want you to say goodbye.” He looked over at the gifts on the floor. “I don’t want these. I don’t want to end our friendship.”

"Taehyung,” You began. “We haven’t talked since I confessed. Doesn’t that say a lot on where we stand? Don’t you understand that we can never be friends like we used to be ever again?”

He shook his head. “No, because I will fight for you this time.”

“You’re married now.” You pointed out. “There’s no time for you to fight for me.”

“That’s not true.” His large hands took in your small ones. “Our friendship cannot be over because of that.”

You looked at him seriously. “You’re such an idiot.” You sighed, looking down at your hands. “I can’t be friends with you when I still love you.”

“Even after all this time, you still love me?” His eyes grew wide.

“I don’t know.” You said truthfully. “A part of me wants to say no, but honestly?” You looked at his eyes, looking for something - for anything, as long as it’s any form of hope. “I don’t think I can ever stop loving you.”

He pulled you closer. “I’m sorry.” Your head resting against his shoulder, your tears staining his tux.

“Don’t say you’re sorry.” You whispered. “Just don’t say anything.”

Silence. You were met with silence and it stayed like that for so long. With you in his arms and his head looking straight, he stood there. Emotions filing through him quickly that it almost made him pass out. 

That’s when you felt the tears on your shoulders. His salty tears sliding down to your arms. “I’m sorry that it had to be this way.” 

“Me too.”

You pulled away and wiped your tears. “I should go. You should be down there celebrating, not crying.” You reached up to wipe his stained cheeks. “You need to be with Miyoung, okay? She’s probably looking for you right now. Treat her well, Taehyung. Take care of her well, okay?”

Taehyung nodded, “Okay.”

You looked to the door then back at him. “Goodbye, Taehyung.” You started walking to the door but he held your arm back, preventing you from walking any further. You turned around.

“I don’t want this to be a goodbye.” He said quietly, eyes trained to the floor. “I don’t want to let go.”

You looked at him, your hands at your sides now. “You want a lot of things, Taehyung.”

“Then can you grant me one wish before you go?”

Perplexed, you nodded. “S-Sure.”

“This isn’t a goodbye.” He looked at you, piercing eyes burning hope through yours. “This is a see you later. When the times right, I hope, no, we will meet again. In better circumstances.”

Your smile quivered as he walked closer to you. “Then, I’ll see you when the times right.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.” You spoke softly.

His eyes watered again as his hands slid to the sides of your face. He leaned forward and placed a chaste peck to your cheek. “I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

He took a step back, wiping his tears. You nodded, “I’ll see you later.” 

With one last look, you left the room for good.

Minutes after you left, Taehyung sat down on the floor with the gifts in front of him. Immediately, he picked up the dead rose that was crumbling and crunchy. He couldn’t believe it. After all these years, you still kept the rose he picked for you when you both were walking past a flower shop a long time ago.

“Oh my god, Tae, what are you doing now?” You laughed.

He turned around with a cheesy smile. “Becoming your very own flower boy, babe.” He picked up a single rose from the pot and sniffed it. “It smells almost as good as you.” 

You rolled your eyes. “You’re so cheesy.”

Taehyung laughed shrugging. “And you’re a beautiful blooming flower, my love, but too bad, I’m buying you a rose and you have to deal with my cheesiness.”

“What?” You perched your brow confused as you watched him buy the rose. “You didn’t have to buy me a rose, you dork. You know, you only buy roses for someone whose special to you. Like a special lady.”

“Yeah,” He nodded. “I know.” 

“Then...?”

He sighed. “You’re such an idiot. You! You dummy. You’re my special lady.”

“You’re so gross Tae. What’s gotten into you? You’re going to make me gag.” You punched his arm making him grab his new sore spot in pain. He was so dramatic.

“Ow, I take that back, I want my rose back. Gimmie!” He reached for the rose but you shook your head and stuck out your tongue. 

“Too late, no backsies. It’s mine now.” 

Tae fake frowned before you both broke out into waves of laughter.

His pointer finger slid to the welted petals making the petal falling off instantly. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, realizing where he made his mistake. He dropped the rose back down to the floor. “Fuck, I’m such an idiot.” He really did make it hard for you to not fall in love with him.

Looking at the scrapbook next, he hesitantly reached for it. Opening it, he was greeted with pictures upon pictures that were glued inside the book with dates written beneath them. Memories playing inside his mind as he looked through every picture. Whether they were candid pictures or selfies, he managed to break into smiles through every single one as he read the notes and captions you both broke for each picture. He felt happy looking at them - until he reached the last page, dated in 2015.

On the last page, there was a polaroid. It was a selfie of you in his hold, with his arms wrapped around you. Your right arm was out in front of both you to take the picture. His head was on top of yours, his boxy smile in display. His brown hair with green tips covered his entire forehead and eyebrows. You were smiling so bright, so happy at that moment. Beneath the picture was Taehyung’s handwriting. Neatly written, he wrote:

December 3rd, 2015.

We just went to the fair and Y/N couldn’t stop eating the cotton candy >:( It’s not fair but she looks cute with chubby cheeks ! Anyways, here’s a photo of us that Y/N took. She looks so comfy in my arms. :D This picture is a reminder that she will always be in my arms forever. Remember this picture forever and never forget my next words, okay?

I’ll never leave you, I promise,

- Love, Kim Taehyung.

I broke my promise. A salty tear dropped onto the page, conveniently smudging the words ‘I promise’. He sat there, staring at the blurring words. He felt weird but importantly, he felt regret. 

 Before he could even gather his thoughts, a shrill voice broke him out of his stance.

“Baby, where are you?” Miyoung called out from the hallway.

Taehyung sniffled as he quickly closed the scrapbook and tossed everything back into the gift box. In a swift manner, he wiped his eyes and face and closed the lid to the box just in time as Miyoung walked in. “Baby, are you alright? Were you crying?”

“No, no. I was,” He threw his hands up in the air trying to make up some excuse. “Just reading this article in the news and it made me tear up and you know, it’s also hot in here and this tux is making me all sweaty...”

Miyoung looked confused but didn’t care to ask any more questions. “You should touch up before coming back down then. We’re going to open some more presents after we take some pictures!”

Taehyung nodded, “Yeah! I’ll meet you down there, okay?”

“Okay, sounds good. Love you, babe.”

“I love you too!” Taehyung watched Miyoung leave the room before he heaved out a big sigh. He sat down on the bed and looked down at the box. “I do, right?”

A/N: I LOVE ANGST.

[shamelessinnerbeast]

Gift | Background for these two created by my friend below the cut |

Music for them : Love on the Brain - Rihanna

After the Pleasure King was defeated by Kiryu in Kamurocho, she left Tokyo as she had told Kiryu so she could begin another business somewhere else. She ended up in Osaka and located her first business in Sotenbori. As she was involved in a very peculiar kind of business... she quickly got in touch with people managing cabarets, including Majima.

The two of them met in order to discuss business several times, sometimes exchanging threats, as she was as vindictive as always and willing to take over the whole area. Realizing their businesses could rather complete each other, they eventually put an end to their « bickering ». After things finally calmed down, they kept seeing each other, first to establish their plans of action for their businesses, but little by little they started also to go to bars, to karaoke or simply out for a walk and a little chat.

When Majima asked her how he was supposed to call her, she replied she never gave her real name and, hoping she'd finally tell him, he said he'd settle for « Barbie » in the meantime. The thing is she never told him her real name (bad memories probably linked to it) so he'd always call her « Barbie ».

The girls at Club Sunshine started referring to them as « the old couple » since every time they saw them together they'd be either laughing, being flirtatious or yelling at each other as if they were going to jump at each other's throat... Especially her, but she quickly appeared to have the ultimate talent of pushing all his buttons down in no time.

The girls kept making remarks about how Majima seemed so much into fiery passionate women like the Pleasure King. Basically, everyone seemed aware of his crush. Including the main woman involved.

One day, she finally went straight to him, before letting out a « Invite me. » and, as Majima got all startled, she said they should stop pretending and that if he wanted to fuck her, he better invited her first.

Their first date started normally, playing pool, drinking, but she then asked him to get a 9mm so they could shoot stuff along the riverside. All that while drunk. When Majima refused, she became angry at him for being so « serious » and such a « killjoy ». Majima decided to stick with her to make sure she'd not get in further trouble. The last thing they needed was someone calling the cops.

They finished the night on a bench by the river, eating fried food Majima had bought and finishing some sake. They talked essentially about their past, his past as a yakuza and her past as a man and a prostitute, before she turned into a « business woman ». She kinda warned him that she was all about business and money but also that she was « fucked up » and commented on how funny and ironic it was that the very first true date of her life would have been with a man she hadn't had sex with. Majima retorted they could easily change that but she went home on her own.

Still they saw each other again. Again and again. They started an affair and things seemed to go really well for them, whether it came to their relationship or to their business. However, it turned out things weren't going so well in reality.

Basically, Majima asked her to marry him and she announced that she was leaving him, even leaving Osaka in the hope of finding herself a rich old man she would marry. She told him she always wanted to become rich, immensely rich, and that it was not Majima who would allow her to realize her dream and that she didn't love him anyway. Then she left Osaka, leaving Majima behind.

Two years passed and Majima married Mirei Park, only to end up disappointed and quite distraught again... and divorced.

Majima is nearly 30 years old when he meets with his « Barbie » again, in Tokyo. They meet in a dead-end street, which makes Majima remark that she's the one feeling cornered now. After some seriously awkward silence, he finally asks her how things are going now.

She married the rich old man she wanted, persuaded him to disown his children so she would get everything he possessed when he died and Majima understands easily, knowing her, that she then very efficiently « helped » her old husband to die.

She tries to explain him that, to finally get to this point, she sacrificed everything, everything just to be rich, to be where she is now. She swallowed her fears, clenched her teeth when people were mocking her or belittling her, she sacrificed her time, her whole days and nights, she gave away her body, she beat and humiliated others and she also let herself get humiliated and beaten, she gave up on all the values, all the morals she once held dear to her heart. And of course she put an end to every single lovestory that had started in her life. Majima, in Osaka, didn't stand a chance from the very start.

Majima finally asks her if it was worth it, if she'd do it all over again now (including leaving him), and she says yes without a single hesitation, without an ounce of regret. But she confesses that she lied to him, that she was in love with him but that money has always been her top priority, not feelings, not love, and she wanted to make things easier for him by giving him a good reason to hate her before she left.

Only to have Majima retorting he loved her enough to accept her stupid plan and to help her find a rich guy they would have killed together. Awkward silence again then they part ways again none of them being sure of anything at this point.

Time passes and it appears the rich dead man's heirs who had been disowned took it to court and took back all the heritage, leaving her with absolutely nothing. Basically, she lost her Kamurocho business, she lost the heritage so she finds herself with no money at all.

When Majima and her cross paths again, she's back to square one. She's working the streets in a shitty area (she fell really really hard). Majima first thinks of leaving like he hasn't noticed her, but feels totally unable to do so and finally approaches her.

Of course, this time, she seems really really happy to see him. She's a lot more flirtatious etc... and is actually exactly like when she needed to get something from him, back in Osaka after she had to leave Tokyo and her business there.

Majima ultimately refuses to help her since he's sure she's gonna use him like before then abandons him as soon as she doesn't need him anymore and he doesn't want to go through that again. She gets mad at him and he grows angry very quickly too. They have a violent argument and she even threatens to kill herself if he doesn't get her out of here. It could be just lies and emotional blackmail ; he knows she's manipulative and a liar, but he still feels like she didn’t lie about everything, especially about being attached to him. He just can't take the risk and take her home.

In the car, « I Wanna Take You Home », which is a special song for them, is on the radio and she soon starts to look away, feeling very sad, just to brutally turn the radio off, saying she can't listen to it anymore.

They finally reach Majima’s current flat and she goes straight to the bathroom which doesn’t surprise him since she had to deal with clients before he arrived. But the minutes pass and she’s still in there ; Majima kicks the door down and sees her with some pills he instantly smashes away. She tries to calm him down, swearing she didn’t take anything. But she had planned to take them initially tonight, not knowing she’d see Majima again (so she actually was sincere when saying she’d kill herself).

Realizing they still love each other, they sleep together. When Majima wakes up the next day, she’s practically at the door, ready to leave. She promises she’ll come back soon and that she has unfinished business (debts to pay) to attend to before she can finally stay with him. She also of course asks if he can lend her some cash, refusing to tell him anything and asking him to trust her. He still lets her go (last chance left to her).

[That’s all for now. It’s a resume and I hope I didn’t make too many mistakes when translating. It adds explanations also to the brutal change in Majima’s personality and behavior, since his “Barbie” is really fucked up too and the emotional shock didn’t help him.]

[wisepuma23]

I saw your tag on that virgil-with-heterochromia post about the new episode and i double dog dare you to do it. But only if you're up to it, don't feel pressured

Warnings: Angst, Deceit, Spoilers for newest video (Selfishness vs Selflessness), Crying, Feelings

Ships: Implied Moxiety, platonic LAMP

Word Count: 3,746

Notes: You can find the post that anon is talking about here! I’m tagging @believemeitsgoingtobeokay so they can see it too! I really liked this idea and it didn’t come out exactly how I pictured but that’s fine pffft. Got to torture Virgil so that’s a bonus! :D

Read on AO3

Virgil bounced his leg, hoping his jittery energy would leave him already. He bit at a loose strip of skin on his thumb. Patton hummed a song from the kitchen next room over. Smelled like soup with chicken and probably some potatoes too knowing him. Growing kids need veggies, as if they weren’t almost thirty at this point. Virgil couldn’t even focus on the smell for too long. His eyes darted around the common room as his leg bounced up and down, up and down, up and–

A dark shadow loomed behind the sofa, he didn’t dare to pull his eyes away. Virgil sat still and the back of the neck prickled. Finally. That bastard decided to show up. He straightened in his seat as he glared at the hidden shadow. Knock it off already. The shadow squirmed but made no move to slip out of its hiding place.

“Deceit,” Virgil snarled, then shot up from his seat with a growl, “Get OUT! I already told you to fuck off!” The humming in the next room stopped, “Your act is up!”

A low laugh echoed through the room. Virgil followed the glide of darkness past the sofa until it rippled into that dorky black and yellow getup. Why did Deceit insist on looking like a street magician? And not even one of the good ones! Deceit wiggled his fingers at him with a cheeky little wink that he just knew would dig under his skin. Virgil clenched his fists as he ground his teeth together.

“The only act here is you, darling,” Deceit looked him up and down, “And bravo, it’s just so good you’re even deceiving yourself. And you think I’m the liar!”

Virgil tensed but froze as he heard a paper bag crinkle behind him. He whirled around to see goddamn Princey arm-deep into a Dorito bag. Eugh, orange crumbs on his white uniform? Patton would chew him out later. No, not important! Virgil narrowed his eyes at Roman furtively look between them, then another slow crinkle as he reached for another Dorito.

“Roman!”

“Whaaat! Is this not our living room, Stormy Downer?” Roman draped himself across the sofa and dropped Doritos into his gaping mouth hole like they were divine grapes, “Mmph! Keep going! Mmm, like I’m not even here!”

More obnoxious crunches. A vein pulsed in his temple at the sound. Roman chortled as he shook the bag for more.

“Eat with your mouth closed, it’s gross!” Virgil snapped, then shook his head as he turned to face Deceit again, “Ignore him. How about we take this somewhere else and talk.”

“I just love how you ignore Roman, so very cool of you,” Deceit rubbed the pad of his gloves together as he raised an eyebrow, “And I’m sorry to say but this is a family participation talk today so the handsome prince will have to stay.”

Roman sat up, orange Dorito chips falling down and onto the carpet, “Handsome? Oh ho ho ho, you got me listening.”

Patton poked his head in from the kitchen, “I heard a racket in here, what’s the big–”

Deceit snapped his fingers shut and threw it open at the sofa. Patton landed with a yelp onto the soft pillows. He caught a glimpse of Roman’s disastrous uniform and summoned a napkin within seconds to start scrubbing at Roman’s face. Ha! Roman squirmed as Patton pinched at his cheeks. Deceit rolled his eyes as he pursed his lips at the loud doting from Patton. Virgil tensed as that wily snake eye focused on him.

“Logan dear!” Deceit called behind his hand, “Patton wants your opinion on something and he’s just absolutely distraught without your guidance.”

Virgil scoffed, “Like that’s actually gonna–”

Logan turned around adjusting his glasses with a smirk, then his face fell at the sight of Patton scrubbing at Roman’s sash. Several expressions flickered through his face before it settled back into that professional mask. Virgil looked down. Logan’s tie ironed straight and more immaculate than ever. Virgil squinted, did…did Logan have gel in his hair or had he gone crazy? Wow…

“DECEIT!” Logan had gone rigid at the sight of him. Thank god someone else with the sense to not trust that snake. And this is why Virgil preferred him sometimes. Okay fine, Patton was his favorite best friend but no one had to know that. Virgil shoved his hands into his hoodie as he glared at Deceit, ignoring the way his fingers twitched with the urge to smash his face in. The itchy ball in his chest that clawed at his ribs, hungry for wrath and screaming until his throat went hoarse. He could almost feel his eyeshadow darken by several shades.

“Leave us alone,” Virgil stepped forward, letting the shadows nip at his heels, “You’re not welcome here. Not now and not ever.”

“Oohh! Better put a muzzle on that Beast of yours, Beauty,” Deceit said as he glanced over to Patton, “Careful, he might bite you love.”

Patton dropped his hands from Roman’s face, “Hey that’s one of my four best friends you’re talking about! And he wouldn’t hurt me.”

Deceit grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the light, “Yes, that’s totally why I’m here, to talk about your cutesy rainbow vomit friendship,” He clasped his hands behind his back, “Boys? You know what to do.”

Patton yelped in pain as Roman held one arm while Logan pinned the other. Virgil could see how Patton’s eyes stung with the betrayal, brown eyes wide with tears. Patton struggled but grimaced as Logan kept him still until his grip creaked. Trapped on the couch, forced to sit and watch. Virgil snarled as he took a step forward. He knew Roman could be an airhead but Logan too?

“What did he tell you?!” Virgil said, his heart pounding in his throat like the walls threatened to close in, “He’s a liar! Roman, I know you’re thick, but you Logan?” He shook his head as Logan glared up at him, “Wow, I’m sure Thomas is gonna be real happy that his logic went haywire.”

“Me? I’m the problem?” Logan’s eyes shone with cold fire, “HA!”

Virgil stumbled a step back, “But I’m not…”

“Virgil, Virgil, our protective vigil,” Deceit mocked as he leaned in to whisper, “I didn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know.”

Virgil’s eyes flew open, “You didn’t–”

“I just meant your little alliance with Morality over there,” Deceit laid a glove on his shoulder, the touch a red hot iron even through his hoodie, “Not dangerous at all or destroying Thomas in the slightest. If it did,” The glove slid down his back as goosebumps followed, “It would have rather nasty side-effects like crushing his dreams and ignoring his rational thought. Would Thomas be happy about that?”

Virgil screamed as Deceit twisted his wrist until he crumpled to his knees. Fuck. Before Virgil could get back to his feet, Deceit pinned his other wrist behind his back. A sharp knee dug into his back until he bowed under it. Virgil shook as his thoughts raced in his mind. If this really was a family talk, Thomas would be here and not violent at all. No, no, he knew Deceit’s little game here. That dramatic edgelord wanted a show. A dramatic reveal of the boogeyman!

Heh, back to the start then.

Deceit snapped his fingers and cold iron cast shackles clicked around his wrists and a chain bolted to the floor. Like an animal. Virgil rolled his eyes at the overkill. He hissed as a yellow glove yanked his head up by the hair until his back arched. His neck twinged as sharp pangs shot through his back. The common room went dark.

A spotlight turned on with a hum, the bright glare directly on him. Virgil, Anxiety, the problem. He swallowed back a bitter laugh, well they weren’t wrong. If they really knew what he was…He swallowed, he didn’t want to go back to being alone. Alone in the dark. In the cold, until a snake came along pretending to be his friend. No, not again.

“What’s going on? Roman, I’m very disappointed in you!! We have to help Virgil,” Patton rustled in the shadows, Virgil shuddered in relief at his voice, “You’re a prince! How can you stand by and let this happen?! And help him?”

“He’s really nice and he knows what he’s talking about…”

“What? Roman, he’s a liar!”

“Oh honey, it came down to a majority vote,” Deceit twisted his fingers in his hair with a yank, “Three against two. And would you call that fair?”

“Well, no but–”

“Ah ah, you said it not me,” Deceit blew a kiss at Patton with a smack, “Mwah mwah so clever! But Logan is so much more clever and Roman too, far more than you give him due credit,” Deceit loomed over him, yellow snake eyes shining with glee, “It’s been a rigged game for so long and the prizes are full of ash. No candy for us.”

Virgil swallowed back a lump, “You want to make it fair. But you always rig the whole goddamn system anyway! There’s no point in this!” He bucked and convulsed against his shackles as his teeth snapped, “YOU’RE SELFISH!”

Deceit licked his lips, “I told you, glass houses. We’re doing this for Thomas.”

Roman’s voice piped up, small and unsure, “You said you were going to even the playing field but I don’t see how chaining him up is a good idea.”

“It’s not,” Deceit reassured over his shoulder.

“I too have my doubts,” Logan said as he cleared his throat, “Perhaps we can go back to my original idea of talking this out?”

Deceit rolled his eyes, “And how did that work from your bench?”

“Not well.”

“Right, we’re doing this my way,” Deceit shook his head, then whispered with a smirk, “Are they always so easy?”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, “Fuck you.”

“My my such foul language,” Deceit purred, then twirled until he stood behind Virgil so he could be in full view of his family, “I think it’s time to know your partner in crime, Patton. See who you’re really helping win. Oh, you’ll cry and cry and cry…”

Virgil froze, his breath stuck in his throat. No, no, no. They can’t know. He squirmed but the grip on his hair tightened and the cool air on his face reminded him how vulnerable it was. No bangs to cover his face up. The piercing glare of the spotlight made his shadows twist and suck at his heels like piglets. Weak. Sweat slipped down the back of his neck at the answering silence. His own ragged breaths loud in it. They can’t know. Patton can’t.

Deceit traced a finger along the bottom bone of his eye socket, “Have I ever said you got beautiful eyes? Brown? Blue?” He glanced up at his audience, “I don’t know which is it…”

“Let me go! Roman please!” Patton sounded angrier than Virgil had ever heard him, “I swear I will fight you! And I mean it this time! Logan just stop!” A broken little sob came from the darkness, “Stop it, Deceit! I can-I can do whatever you want, just stop.”

“Maybe we should–”

“Should we?” Deceit said before Roman could finish, “The show isn’t over until the fat lady sings, right? Why don’t I ask our guest here some questions? Harmless enough right, Father?”

Patton didn’t protest.

Virgil sagged, of course. Patton couldn’t resist eating play-doh so why wouldn’t he want to know his greatest secret? Deceit hummed in delight as he tapped a finger under his right eye. Virgil wanted to scream and run and hide. Be anywhere but here. Instead, a sick feeling coated his lungs like he couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. His eyes shook too hard from nerves and fear. Deceit had become a wavy blur of darkness and yellow eyes every time he tried to focus on the bastard.

“What’s your name?”

“Virgil but you already knew that, asshat–”

“Sure, but I meant your name,” Deceit’s voice dropped into a velvet purr as he leaned down, “Your real name. Not the one Thomas thought he knew. What your family knew.”

The room silent as the gallows, waiting for the pin to drop.

“It’s Ethan,” Virgil rolled his eyes as he scoffed, “Yeah no, it’s fucking Virgil. Like this is pointless and dumb and dramatic and you hate me!”

“So what if he has a different name!” Patton shouted and for a moment Virgil caught a glimpse of blue eyes glowing, “He’s still my best friend no matter who he is!”

“Yeah if that was it, then this was kind of a letdown,” Roman not so subtly whispered, “I’m just saying.”

Deceit paused then laughed, the sound echoing. Two hands gripped his head, the gloves bruising around his jaw as they forced his face forward. The spotlight grew brighter. Virgil hissed as something burned in his right eye. No! The damn light must’ve–he screamed as half of his vision went red. With blood or anger, he couldn’t tell. His shoulders shook as he dug his fingernails into his palms through the pain. He heard shouts at the distance of his hearing.

The gloves fell away and his head slumped forward. Bangs covered his face as he panted. The spotlight dimmed back to its normal glare. Shit. Shit. Virgil swallowed, hoping his throat didn’t kill itself with screaming. Wrenching away his spell like that? God the minute he got out of these shackles, he would have to punch Deceit in the face ten times more than usual. Manipulative dickwad.

“Virgil?” Patton whispered, “Are you okay? Look at me, please.”

Deceit stepped away with a low chuckle.

Virgil looked up.

Patton’s face was clear in all glory with a spotlight of his own, eyes red-rimmed with tears and cheeks wet. What happened next came in slow motion. Every minuscule expression seemed to last years. His eyebrows drew up as his eyes widened. Patton’s jaw dropped inch by inch. Then, what he had been waiting for, the flinch. The darting of eyes around the room like he needed to make sure it was all real. Sorry Pop, this was one nightmare no one could wake up from.

Patton gasped, the imperceptible lean back of his shoulders, “Your right eye its! Its-its-not brown! You’re a-”

“Two different eye colored freak like the rest of us,” Deceit purred from behind him, “Dark sides? What a totally accurate name for us. Evil and irredeemable and yada yada.”

Virgil didn’t need to look into a mirror to see what Patton saw. His right eye a pale blue that forewarned the rise of the sun. Almost grey in the right light. Whatever. Everything he needed to know about his eye came from Patton’s instinctual shrink in Roman and Logan’s arms. Deceit snapped his fingers and the spotlight and dramatic lighting disappeared. Everything back to normal, including no more shackles.

“I’m not Anxiety,” Virgil swallowed as he stared down at the carpet, “Never have been. It’s just what Thomas assumed I was since I liked to use anxiety a lot to help my purpose.”

Roman’s boots came to a stop in front of him, “Then….who are you?”

“I’m Isolation,” Virgil said as he pulled his hood over his head as his heart raced, “I’m supposed to protect Thomas from the outside world. Can’t really do that if he’s scared, right?” The joke fell flat, “I’m sorry, it’s just–I’m just the same old me. I’m still really weird cause I like being around his friends cause it doesn’t make me feel isolated anymore. Just like I did with anxiety, I can make more or less of it depending on what I need.”

Logan’s loafers came to stand next to Roman’s boots, “Is that why you wanted to go to the wedding? I do recall that you strangely didn’t know about Thomas’ anxiety about going,” He hummed, “So you wanted to go so he wouldn’t be isolated from his friends?”

“Wait, so isolation in all forms?!” Roman stomped the ground, “You were isolating Thomas from his hopes and dreams!”

Logan coughed.

“And oh right, and from his nerd,” Roman added, then tapped the floor, “Isolation, why didn’t you tell us? How can you lie about this?”

The disdain-dripped name drop of Isolation made his heart sting. Virgil croaked but no words came out to his defense. He knew this would happen. No more Disney marathons with Roman, late night talks or Logan, or no more of Dad’s hugs. Virgil froze as the last pair of shoes, brown crocs, came into view. Patton.

“This is the last you’ll see me,” Deceit chuckled as he sank out, “Good luck, best friend.”

Virgil shot to his feet with a snarl but empty air stood where Deceit once stood. Coward. He shoved his hands into his pockets but grimaced as sharp pain laced through his fingers. Oh right. How could he forget the long creepy black nails he had? Like straight out of a horror movie. Virgil adjusted his hands until his nails didn’t scrap against his palms anymore. Idiot, no wonder Patton hated him. Everyone did. He swiped at his eyes with a sleeve and sniffle. Don’t cry, don’t cry.

“Virgil?”

His shoulders drew up at Patton’s quiet voice, “S-sorry, dad. I can just go.”

“No! No, don’t go,” Patton stepped closer and turned Virgil around to face him with gentle hands on his shoulders, “Yeah I’m a bit shocked and angry but please, hear me out first?”

Virgil looked up at him through his bangs, “…Okay, sure shoot.”

“Virgil, I realize now I made a mistake,” Patton said, then continued like his whole world wasn’t shattering, “As much I hate to say it, but Deceit was right.”

Patton’s face became a blur through unbidden tears, “Right, right, of course.”

“Maybe we have been too hard on Thomas lately,” Patton patted his cheek with an emotion he couldn’t understand, “I know you don’t think I’m stupid but you can stop lying now. I was pretty stupid,” Patton laughed, “God I haven’t been helping Thomas at all, neither of us has, if I’d only seen it sooner.”

“You’re not stupid,” Virgil shot back, “And it’s not you could’ve seen it, I had it literally behind a whole spell and whatever. But…you don’t hate me?”

“No, I just only wish I knew earlier then I would’ve known what helped you,” Patton said, then pulled Virgil into a hug and buried his face into his shoulder, “You’re my kiddo. I love you unconditionally, it’s part of the package! But…” Virgil tensed, “I gotta pay attention to my other kiddos too. Roman hasn’t cracked a gay joke in two weeks, clearly I’m not paying attention.”

Virgil wrapped his arms around Patton in a tight squeeze, “You know what, fair. But I’m still pretty pissed at him,” He glared at Roman over his shoulder, “I had one rule and it was to never bring Deceit or any of his friends around here!”

Roman scoffed as he crossed his arms, “You two were acting weird and freakish! Like Patton was a terrible lawyer and he still won a court case! That’s like, impossible!” He nudged Logan, “Right? Very improbable and all that.”

“Indeed,” Logan adjusted his glasses, “Are we all on the same page now? The dramatics over? Because we have a set schedule to go back to and set up another audition to make up for that lost callback.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, “You fricking teamed up with Deceit like that’s the definition of betrayal? Like hell, I’m trusting you and–”

“We also missed several past auditions, helped a friend move in when Thomas had a prior engagement,” Logan listed off his fingers, “Drove to comfort a friend on the other side of town when he needed to work on editing a video, never shuts his phone off so he could be reached at all times, and worries more about what his friends think of him rather than his own desires and needs.”

Virgil sulked, “So what?”

“So what, Isolate-tope Negative?!” Roman gestured to himself with a scowl, “He’s miserable! I’m miserable and Teach here won’t say it, but he’s miserable too without Thomas feeding him!” Patton flinched in Virgil’s arms, “Maybe you should shunt Thomas alone in his house for a while, that’s what you do right? Isolate?”

“Not just that,” Virgil muttered.

“You have made fools of us long enough, and what I am is not a joke,” Logan crossed his arms as he stared at them both, “We need to go inform Thomas of this development. And I advise you, Patton, to keep quiet and listen.”

Virgil’s hackles raised, “You can’t talk to him like that.”

“Virgil, it’s okay,” Patton patted his cheek, then straightened with a sigh, “I think we gotta go face the music, kiddo.”

Roman sank out with a huff. Logan gave them one last glare before he sank out too. They stood together in the common room, alone again. Virgil swallowed thickly as he looked down at Patton. What could he say? All excuses abandoned him. His right eye damned him from the very start, all of his progress from the last year or so down the drain. Great. And he hurt Thomas for however long. Virgil reached up to cover up his ugly right eye.

“Hey hey no,” Patton pulled down his fingers gently, “I know it surprised me. A lot, if I’m honest. Up close it’s very pretty! Virgil,” Patton smiled like the first hopeful rays of a sunrise, “I know best friends are supposed to tell each other secrets but I can see why you didn’t. It’s okay,” Virgil shook his head, “It is! I’m doggone mad about what I’ve done to make you feel like you couldn’t tell me. Or that we may have hurt Thomas. But…”

“Are we even still best friends?” Virgil whispered.

Patton twined his fingers through his, “No, we’re not.”

Virgil sniffled, “O-oh, yeah yeah I get that.”

“We’re not best friends yet,” Patton said, his eyes shining with unshed tears, “So come on. I think Thomas is calling us. I think Roman and Logan will come back around, okay?”

“Yeah I wish, one look at this eye will remind them why they won’t,” Virgil scoffed, then hesitated before continuing, “…You think it’s pretty?”

Patton pulled on his hand and they sank out.