#very proud of how i did gabe

[ruidiancoffee]

finally got around to watching next to normal

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#48: The Wedding Plans (1.05)

Of all the Jadis and Father Gabriel flashbacks, this was the best one right here because we get to learn something so special - Rick wanted to have a wedding with Michonne. 😭 Officially marrying his wife is one of the many milestones that trifling Jadis stole from them, and Michonne also addresses some other missed milestones Jadis took from them as they hunt her down 🚖...

Flashing back to two years ago, Jadis and Father Gabriel have another one of their annual meetings in the forest. Jadis asks, “How’s Rick’s wife doing?” And I do like hearing Michonne be referred to as 'Rick’s wife' by someone, even tho it’s one of my least favorite someones.

Father Gabriel says, “Michonne? She’s away helping people.” And even with this, I was like...SIR, are you at all curious why Jadis is curious about how Rick’s wife - who Jadis wasn’t close to - is doing? Like, please...

I'm not even saying Father Gabriel needed to immediately put together that Jadis had anything to do with Rick, since he, like many, thought Rick died. But still, he could have at least been a bit more suspicious of Jadis' whole situation and told some people back home about her and her helicopter.

And then I’m side-eying Father Gabriel again when he asks, “Why did you call her his wife?” Gabe, you have to ask? 😑 Lol, I know it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but, the second I even realized these two were having these yearly meet-ups, everything they said and did had me looking at both of them like...

Jadis says, “I mean, wasn’t she?” And I just know she’s thinking about how Rick barely says five words to her in Philly and most of those words are about his wife. 😋

Father Gabriel says, “Well not officially. If that matters anymore.” I said now Father G, I know you see Michonne every day raising those kids and wearing a wedding ring around her neck. That’s Rick’s wife, stop playing. 

Also, in TWD I was proud of Father Gabriel when he had his whole evolution into a real one and became a valued member of the group. But seeing TOWL made me remember that while Father G has grown a lot, this man did in fact enter this franchise with snake tendencies.

Had me wondering if his snake past is what makes him intrinsically drawn to this snake Jadis. But little does Father G know, that while he's actually tried to improve himself, Jadis is still slithering through life and causing so much harm.

Something I do like about this exchange between them tho is it feels like yet another thing TOWL came to set the record straight on regarding Richonne. Like for all the viewers that used to comment “no ring, no marriage,” stuff about Richonne, this was TOWL being like nope, Rick and Michonne are and have long been husband and wife, period. 👌🏽

This show didn't allow any room to downplay, discredit, or dismiss who Rick and Michonne are to each other and how much they mean to each other and I'll always appreciate TOWL for that. 😌

Then we get to the best part of these Jadis/Father Gabriel flashbacks when Father Gabriel says, “It’s funny. One day, Rick said that I should marry them. Maybe we should do it right there on the bridge that we were building”

Y’all. 🫠 When I tell you I was gagged when I heard that the first time.

I had been ready for them to just hurry this Jadis/Father G scene up but then I heard that line and...

I adore that we got to learn that Rick wanted to have a wedding and was making plans for it before he was taken. He wanted to marry Michonne on the bridge. 🥹 The very bridge he was then taken from her for years. 🥺

Watching Rick's season 9 episodes back, they’re now even better knowing that making his marriage to Michonne official was on his mind. It’s almost like you can see it with certain scenes, even tho obviously this detail was more added in TOWL rather than pre-planted in TWD.

It’s so sweet too because Rick was so adamant about that bridge being completed and I love knowing that it was both because of its practicality/symbolism of unity bringing the communities together and because it was where he and Michonne could celebrate their own special union with a wedding.

gif cred: @perryabbott

This was esepcially great to hear because I had always felt that Rick would be the type to give Michonne a ring and want that traditional solidification of their marriage. So it was nice to hear these details that show he really was working on it. 🥹

Also, another TWD scene that becomes extra emotional upon learning that Rick wanted to marry Michonne on the bridge is Michonne’s first scene post-Rick in 9.06.

Michonne goes to the destroyed bridge years later and essentially expresses how she’s still so committed to Rick and still fighting for him and them and their family. It’s almost like she's saying vows.

And little did Michonne know (because I’m sure Father Gabriel’s secret-squirrel behind didn’t tell her) that bridge is the very place Rick wanted them to exchange vows and get married. 😭

Rick truly does look at Michonne and see his future because he had big plans for the two of them in season 9. He was fully ready to have a wedding and a baby with her in his final TWD eps.

Also, in the season 8 premiere, Maggie asks Rick if he’s been thinking about what 'tomorrow' looks like and he confidently says "Yes I have" as well as telling Maggie, "After this, I’m following you."

I already always got the sense that part of that meant Rick was thinking about expanding his family by having a baby with Michonne. But I like how now after TOWL that s8 scene really reads like Rick was thinking about having a baby with Michonne and officially marrying her. That's what he wanted his 'tomorrow' to look like. 🥲

And a Richonne bridge wedding would have been beautiful. 🥹 In my head, Rick and Michonne definitely go on to have a wedding with their kids a part of it now that they’re back home. 

Father Gabriel says, “But I couldn’t see the future he described, so I sat on a log in the forest, and there at my feet in the dirt right in front of me was a ring. It seemed like it’d make a pretty nice wedding ring.”

See, see, see, even when others don’t see your vision, God gon’ see the vision. And He always makes a way. Amen. 🙌🏽

And Richonne is blessed and highly favored so of course a ring showed up. 😇

But then...y’all, I have to side-eye Father Gabriel yet again with what he does next.

Father Gabriel says how he picked up the ring and thought to put it someplace that Rick would find it “because I could suddenly see that someday” and then this man takes the ring out, revealing that he’s been holding onto it all these years 🙃...

Um imo, it would have been nice if shortly after the bridge he had told this story to Michonne and let her decide what she wanted to do with the ring.

Michonne clearly finds a lot of solace in these types of sentimental items and wore a wedding ring around her necklace. It could have possibly been a comforting thought for her to know this was the ring Rick might have proposed with since he was planning on them getting formally married with a priest and everything.

IDK, this was just making me feel like team family tried Michonne once again. 

Father Gabriel says sadly, “But then what happened, happened.” And Jadis, perhaps masking remorse but still as self-centered as always, just starts talking about how she looks forward to their next visit and the chance to just sit and talk and feel like who she was. How can she be so unmoved by the fact that she’s kept two people who love each other dearly apart for years? She got to have moments of feeling like who she was while Rick lost himself day by day. 😑

Jadis starts opening up a bit more about what she does and how it weighs on her but she’s committed to the mission and...they just can never make me like Jadis, tbh. 😪 Even when she's supposed to be showing her more human side I'm still just like...

And then Father Gabriel gets one more side-eye from me when he gives Jadis of all people that ring. What? 🙃

The only thing I like about that choice to give her the ring is that it’s kinda like the ring had a similar journey to Rick. It was stuck with Jadis for years but then eventually found its way to its rightful person - Michonne. 👌🏽

But otherwise, I was like 'Father G, why would you...???' Jadis of all people should hold onto the ring he found for Rick to give to Michonne?? 😪 Wasn’t exactly here for that choice. But that wedding ring leads to not one but two of my absolute favorite Richonne moments going forward so it’s all good now. 😌👌🏽

gif cred: @perryabbott

In the present, Rick and Michonne engage in a car chase with Jadis.

Rick says they can’t kill her but Michonne begs to differ saying, “Oh we can.” I promise Michonne and I stay on the same wavelength at all times lol. 💁🏽‍♀️ Michonne,...

Rick says, “I told you, she left a file about home for the CRM to find.” Michonne knows Jadis is just a neverending source of destruction when she says, “To destroy Alexandria because that’s what she does, Rick. She destroys!” Wrong where? 💯

Also, I love the little detail of seeing Michonne is wearing the M bracelet while she’s driving. Like they had to rush to get dressed and go chase after Jadis but Michonne still said I’m gonna remember to put on this bracelet from my man before we go. Here for it. 😊

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And then I so appreciate that we get a moment for Richonne to acknowledge the valuable and important life moments and milestones Rick missed because of Jadis as Michonne says, “She robbed us of you being there to see your son being born. Taking his first step.” 😭

I love that she says robbed ‘us’ because Rick being there to see his son being born and RJ's first steps would have been such incredibly special moments for Rick and Michonne to share. 😢

And Jadis really took that from them. Because while yes Rick was going to need the kind of medical assistance the Civic Republic could provide to survive the injuries he got from that rebar, he eventually would have been healed up enough to go home and recover there and be present for at least the tail end of Michonne’s pregnancy and birth. If only he hadn’t been held captive somewhere he couldn’t leave. 😞

Then I absolutely adore that, upon hearing Michonne mention super special milestones that Rick has missed in his wife and son’s life, Rick is immediately on the kill-Jadis train as he says, “Okay, what do we do after she’s dead?” I love the switch-up and how he’s instantly on board. 😋 He knows Jadis has got to go for, as he said before, stealing their family.

Michonne says they’ll do whatever they have to do and sis is not playing. 👏🏽 Jadis ain’t making it out of today alive if Michonne has anything to do with it.

gif cred: @nerd4music

Michonne rams into Jadis’ car and then they eventually get Jadis to crash off the path. As they continue their Jadis hunt down on foot, Jadis flees and enlists the help of that one noodle-less trio. She clearly has a scheme in mind because one thing about a snake...

In the woods, Rick tells Michonne that the CRM's bases are spread out across the country and they have to figure out which one Jadis hid the dossier in. Rick suggests there might be a route where they can take Jadis alive and talk to her to get some info.

Rick notes how Jadis clearly hated being called Anne and he thinks that the Anne-version of Jadis is still in there somewhere. (Both versions gotta go, in my book 🤷🏽‍♀️)

He says, “If there’s something she can give us first - something to keep Alexandria safe.” But Michonne feels they don’t need Jadis for that when she says, “We’ll keep it safe." And then, determined for Jadis to meet her maker before the sun sets, Michonne adamantly says, "But she’s gonna die.”

You already know I'm with that energy. But I get where Rick is coming from too as he says, “We need to keep it safe without risking anything."

Rick then adds, "I couldn’t see some things. I couldn’t. You helped me. Maybe we can help her, and if we can’t...” And Michonne is in her full deadly mode as she finishes Rick’s sentence saying, “Then I can kill her.” She is not interested in deprogramming that lady. 😂

gif cred: @taiturner

First; I love that Rick stays giving Michonne credit for how she helped him. He knows that after the mental warfare the CRM did on him, he was finally able to see the light - the real light not ‘the last light of the world’ - because of his wife.

And second; it’s admirable that Rick has it in his heart to want to help even someone who has done him so wrong. However…Jadis done had too many chances for help and she squandered it or took advantage of it every time cuz she’s a snake through and through. So the time for helping her has passed, which is why Michonne is hellbent on killing her.

gif cred: @taiturner

Rick says, “Be my guest." because while he knows Jadis can be a resource to getting things they need, he also doesn't mind if she gets sent six feet under. I mean, killing her was a dream of his so he gets it. 👌🏽

Then Rick says, "Maybe just maim first.” and that delivery is great and always makes me smile. 😊 Rick trying to talk killing down to maiming - you can tell he knows his wife is gonna rip Jadis up somehow someway for everything she’s done to him and their family.

gif cred: @taiturner

I don’t think Michonne even quite heard Rick's 'maim' comment cuz she spots some fresh blood on a tree and as a lethal woman on the hunt, she’s immediately ready to follow where it leads. And as they go, this pursuit leads to Richonne's final confrontation with Jadis. 😌👌🏽

[serafilms]

i wanna elaborate further on my take on sally

i just feel like they’re missing a key aspect of her character, which is how gentle she is and how much of herself she is willing to give up for her son’s wellbeing.

with gabe being kind of a pussy and her arguing with him so easily, i feel like it really undermines how much book sally struggled behind the scenes to make things work (even though percy cares about her and does so much for her, the demigod side of him is something he hasn’t discovered yet and the burden falls on her to handle things — a form of mother’s invisible labour).

book sally married this absolutely horrible guy and went through years of abuse and didn’t fight back directly because the pain was nothing to her if her son was safe. the blue candy was their quiet rebellion against him, and as badass as she was, she wouldn’t have put gabe in his place the way tv sally did, because that wasn’t her priority and it just wouldn’t be worth the effort.

it just feels a little like when they make disney princesses more badass and less feminine?? or like when kpop men do “manlier” versions of girl group/artist’s dances? like it’s undermining her value as a softer female figure, because book sally isn’t a big, strong, badass woman that percy looks up to because she protects him, she’s quietly mischievous and caring and he knows she can protect herself but also protects her as best he can and their dynamic is lost a little bit when she stands up so easily to gabe in a fight that isn’t really worth picking.

and it also irked me a little when she explained why they go to montauk every year, because in the books percy already knows more about his father. she tells him stories growing up because she wants him to see the best in the world and not grow up bitter like luke, because even though she may resent poseidon (since he knocked her up at like 19 after her parents died, and left her broke and with a kid without finishing college), she understands to some extent why he left her and can’t be with percy, and she cares too much about percy and how he feels and what kind of person he is to let him feel her anger towards his father. so she suffers through that quietly too, so that percy can feel like there’s still someone out there who cares about him, like his father is someone to be proud of even though he doesn’t know him.

sally is meant to look for the best in the people that matter, but still be able to see their objective value. it’s a symbolic aspect of her character that she’s a clearsighted mortal, which means she can see these things herself and understand them, but does not have any role in taking action against these things until she has to for her son.

anyways that’s my take. regardless i still am enjoying the show and their relationship very much, but i just don’t think it holds a candle to sally jackson in the books!!!

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTM: Gabe/Stephen; a low-key occasion (pt II)

For the prompt: Stephen Petersen, Bridezilla

Follows from here.

“Unbelievable,” Stephen says. “What are they thinking?”

Gabe’s tired. He just wants to veg in front of the TV with his bento box and his fiancé, but even though Stephen’s supposed to be picking the movie right now, he’s scowling down at his phone instead, his expression the one Gabe can only describe as ‘wedding face’. Gabe’s started to feel dread every time he sees it, and today’s no exception, though tired still narrowly beats it out. “Who is ‘they’?”

“They can’t truly believe that this is an acceptable substitute for our napkins,” Stephen says.

“Wait?” Gabe says. “Substitute? What happened to the original ones?”

“They discontinued the colour,” Stephen huffs. “Of course.”

“They discontinued white?” Gabe asks. “How do you discontinue white?”

“Alabaster,” Stephen says. “Not white.”

“Steve,” Gabe says.

“That’s what it’s called!” Stephen says. “And look what they want us to use instead!”

Gabe is suddenly blinking at a picture of white napkins on Stephen's screen. Presumably they’re different than the napkins they originally picked, but if Stephen hadn’t told Gabe that, he doubts he would have known. They look like napkins. White ones.

“They look fine,” he says.

“This looks fine to you?” Stephen says, shoving his phone in Gabe’s face. “This?”

It’s honestly harder to see with Stephen’s screen an inch from his eye, but —

“Yes?” Gabe says.

“Ridiculous,” Stephen says, yanking the phone away. “At this point it’s getting easier to list the things they haven’t fucked up about my wedding day.”

“It’s my wedding too,” Gabe says, though honestly, that’s feeling less and less true lately. “Are you going to pick a movie, or—“

“I’m not in the mood anymore,” Stephen says,

Of course he isn’t.

“I need my laptop,” Stephen says, springing up from the couch. “I’m sure they’re still available somewhere.”

“Dinner?” Gabe says, but Stephen just dismissively waves a hand at him on his way out of the room.

“They’re fucking napkins,” Gabe says, but very quietly. Stephen has exceptional hearing, especially if the topic involves him.

“Did you say something?” Stephen calls.

Exceptional.

This isn’t a battle Gabe’s willing to fight today. “You need to eat your dinner,” Gabe calls back, but, as he expected, silence is his only response.

“Well,” Gabe says, and grabs the remote, listlessly scrolling through options while he eats. He’s not in the mood anymore either.

~

“I have heard rumours,” Stephen says.

“Tell me!” Dmitry says. “I love rumours.”

“Rumours about you,” Stephen says.

“Even better!” Dmitry says.

Stephen’s mouth twists, and Gabe turns away. It’s not like Stephen doesn’t know he’s hiding a smile when he does it, but at least there’s some plausible deniability. Stephen’s usually fine with Gabe laughing at him, but not if other people are there to see him do it, even if it’s just Dima.

“Apparently,” Stephen says. “At my wedding, you are planning on making a speech.”

“Is my duty,” Dmitry says. “As Gabe’s best man.”

“We don’t—“ Stephen says.

Gabe can already hear the speech about how they don’t have any best men or maids of honour because this is not a traditional wedding and the people in their lives shouldn’t be arbitrarily ranked by — he can’t do it. He can’t listen to it again.

“Stephen,” Gabe says. “He’s baiting you.”

“I’m not!” Dmitry protests, but he does it with a smile.

Stephen takes a deep breath. Gabe’s half predicting Stephen’s preparing himself to give the spiel anyway, half hoping he’s finally listened to Gabe about about the numerous benefits of conscious breathing. Physical and psychological effects aside, if Stephen is focusing on taking deep breaths, he isn’t saying something he may later regret.

Or saying something that he won’t regret at all, but Gabe certainly will.

“What will be involved in your speech?” Stephen asks finally, after several deep breaths. Gabe’s proud of him.

“It’s a surprise,” Dmitry says, still grinning.

Gabe is less proud of Dmitry.

“See, no,” Stephen says, puffing right up. There are deep breaths being taken, but Gabe doesn’t think he’s exhaling them. “That is not acceptable. There will be no surprises on my wedding day. Our wedding day, jeez, Gabe.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Gabe says. Not even under his breath.

“You thought it,” Stephen says. “What’s going in the speech, Dmitry?”

“I haven’t actually decided yet, Stephen,” Dmitry says. “What do you want me to say?”

“Oh, you want me to help you write it?” Stephen asks. “I can do that.”

“I meant—“ Dmitry says, then looks over at Gabe as Stephen springs out of his chair, probably off to grab his laptop. “That is an English saying, yes? ‘What do you want me to say’?”

“Yep,” Gabe says.

“Stephen knows that saying?” Dmitry asks. "He is just pretending to misunderstand?"

“Yep,” Gabe says.

“He is about to write me a very boring speech,” Dmitry says glumly. “Isn’t he.”

Gabe takes a deep breath. He still hasn’t exhaled when Stephen returns, laptop in his arms.

“Okay,” Stephen says, sitting down. “So what sort of tone are we trying for with this speech? Comedy, I’m sure, but what sort? I know you like to play the buffoon, but—”

Dmitry looks at Gabe, presumably for help. What he doesn’t know is that Gabe can’t help him.

Gabe shuts his eyes, and takes another breath.

“Would you stop breathing, Gabriel!” Stephen says.

Gabe opens his eyes.

“Oh come on, I didn’t mean it like that,” Stephen says.

“I am adding this to my speech,” Dmitry says. “I think it will get a big laugh.”

“I knew you had already started it!” Stephen says, spinning on him and pointing an accusing finger.

Gabe takes another breath.

[peachhcs]

Sammy is so happy after last nights win for BC- especially since Will got his first hat trick and was named mvp of the game 🥺

no one else i’d rather celebrate with

yes she was! she had the game on her computer in her dorm where both her and hannah were cheering for the boys as they watched them celebrate on the ice.

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will blurb)

samy couldn’t be more proud of her boyfriend for tonight & they desperately wished they were in the same place to celebrate

i wrote this at like 1 am and i’m actually pretty happy with the outcome LOL keep sending in requests! i’m slowly working though my inbox, but i wanted to get this one out since it just happened and i didn’t wanna wait too long :)

au masterlist

as soon as the buzzer sounded, samy was jumping out of her chair, screaming in excitement with hannah. the two girls grasped one another’s arms, nearly in tears as all the boys immediately stormed the ice to celebrate one another and the hockey east victory.

“they won! holy shit, they won!” hannah couldn’t stop screaming, probably making their neighbors wonder what the hell was happening.

samy scanned her screen for her boyfriend. she quickly found his number 6 and the big smile on his lips warming her heart seeing him so, so happy. she couldn’t believe he scored four entire goals and his very first hat trick of his career.

despite all of the joy in her, the disappointment settled beside it that she couldn’t be there in person celebrating with him and the boys. this was the worst part about long distance. they had to celebrate over a facetime, hiding the disappointment that they weren’t together in person.

the cameras were panning to different shots of the bc boys celebrating. one picked up the freshman exchanging tight hugs with one another. samy’s heart warmed seeing will and gabe exchange a loving, proud hug with one another and she knew how much both of them dreamed of this moment together.

“i’m so proud of them,” the brunette gushed, her eyes glued to her computer.

“they played so well. i just know they have a national title in their future,” hannah agreed.

another few minutes passed before awards and honors started getting announced once the commotion settled down.

“with four goals and 1 assist in tonight’s championship game, we would like to announce forward, will smith, as the 2024 hockey east tournament mvp!”

more screams were heard across the small dorm. samy couldn’t contain her excitement watching will skate up to the coaches, another huge smile on his lips as he stood up between them for the photo and his plaque.

all of his hard work finally payed off. the brunette knew how hard he worked all season for this moment and seeing it all come together had tears lining the girl’s eyes.

“oh my god, you’re crying,” hannah pulled her roommate into a tight hug.

“sorry, i’m just so proud of him. he deserves this so much,” samy wiped some of her tears away.

oh how badly she wished she was there in person to give will a giant hug as soon as he walked out of the locker room.

all-tournament was announced with will and gabe included. samy loved how big their smiles were getting praised for doing so well in the sport they loved.

the live stream ended leaving the girl to patiently wait for will’s call. she knew it’d probably be awhile with press and celebrating with the team, so she tried busying herself with some schoolwork.

will’s contact flashed across her screen forty minutes later. samy didn’t waste anytime picking it up, smiling wide when she saw her boyfriend’s own smiling face.

“we’re tournament champions!!” the boy exclaimed and showed off his impressive medal.

“i know!! i’m so, so proud of you, will! you deserve it,” the girl gushed, blowing quick kisses into the camera.

“did you see my four goals?” will asked excitedly and samy nodded.

“watched the entire game. you played so well. i can’t believe you got four goals,” she gushed again.

“me neither. it still feels like a dream i haven’t woken up from. look at my plaque!” he held up the circular piece of hardware with the words most valuable player carved across the bottom.

“it’s incredible. where are you gonna hang it up?” samy wondered.

“i’m thinking right above my bed. what do you think?” will flipped the camera around so samy could see. she nodded.

“i like it there. gotta show it off,” she grinned. will flipped the camera back around, propping his phone against something so he could lean back in his desk chair. his curls were damp from his shower still and he still had his suit on.

“i wish you were here. i miss you,” the blonde said with a sad smile.

“i wish i was there too. at least you got the boys to celebrate with,” the brunette chuckled some.

“i’d rather celebrate with you. i came out of the locker room just instinctively thinking you’d be there waiting like always. i forgot you wouldn’t be,” will’s confession had samy’s heart clenching. a blush spread across her cheeks as she tried finding something to cheer him up with.

“at least summer’s only two months away,” the girl offered.

“two months too long. doing all of this without you by my side like always has been hard to adjust to,” will leaned forward closer to his phone. his second admission was gonna make samy cry.

long distance really did suck sometimes. especially during moments like these ones.

“you’re gonna make me cry,” the girl frowned, but smiled nonetheless.

“i’m sorry, i don’t mean to. i miss you a lot. i really can’t wait for summer,” will chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

“your haircut looks nice by the way,” samy commented which instantly made will touch his hair. he flushed.

“it does?”

“mhm. your short hair is cute,” the girl nodded.

“gabe begged me to get a mullet, but i just couldn’t do it. i figured i’d cut in shorter to get rid of dead ends,” the boy chuckled earning a giggle from samy.

she dragged her finger across her desk, seeing the time tick closer and closer to 10:30. she had early morning practice tomorrow and she knew will probably had celebrating to do with the boys after their big win.

“i should probably let you go. you probably have a party to get to or something to celebrate the win,” samy said after a moment despite not wanting to hang up the call so soon.

“what? no. you’re hanging up already?” will quickly sat up. his words had her flushing.

“i mean..i don’t wanna keep you from the parties,” she laughed briefly.

“no, no, you’re not. i promise. i told you i’d rather be celebrating with you,” will urged.

“really? i mean there’s not much we can do over the phone. we can celebrate over the summer. belated celebration. maybe there will even be a national title to celebrate too,” the girl grinned.

“let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” the blonde laughed. “you know i’d rather spend the night on the phone with you than at some party where i’d just be thinking of you the whole time, right?” he searched her eyes through the screen. another blush spread scores the brunette’s cheeks.

“you’re sure?” samy asked just to make sure. she hated keeping will from doing things with his friends because she truly didn’t mind knowing tonight was a big night.

“i’m sure,” will stuck his pinky out.

samy copped his motion and the two pretended to hook their pinkies together.

“plus, i can think of a few ways we can celebrate over the phone,” a look crossed in will’s eyes and samy immediately knew what he was thinking.

her poor blush got even worse, glad that hannah was in the bathroom so she didn’t hear what he said.

“will!”

all that could be heard was a laugh from his end and the two sharing wide smiles.

[ilyasorokinn]

home sweet home , erik johnson

note, this is dedicated to @comphyjost. i'm sad, you're sad, we're all sad. also, this fic is part of the "life with the johnsons" series. check out this masterlist for more. pair, erik johnson x reader summary, for the first time in 13 years, erik johnson is playing against the colorado avalanche. warnings, kids/children, pain word count, 1516 words

(gif not mine. by @mattymartin <3)

The entire flight back to Colorado, you felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest. It was more of an excited/nervous. You were excited to be back and see all your friends.

Out of all three kids, only one wanted to come back to Colorado with you. Zach was the only one out of the three who wanted to come back, so you decided to let him miss two days of school and fly with you to Colorado.

When the Landeskogs heard you were coming with Erik, they insisted on picking you up from the airport. You still had your house in Colorado, but

You made your way out of the airport, one hand holding your suitcase and the other holding Zach's hand. You easily spotted the Landeskog's car. When the kids saw each other, they ran to greet each other, leaving their parents in the dust.

Melissa did the same and ran over to you, wrapping you in a hug, "All feels right in the world." She laughed.

"I've missed you guys so much." You squeezed her before pulling away and hugging Gabe, "Missed you, too," You smiled.

"How's Buffalo treating you?"

"Cold, but it's good." You smiled, looking back over to your kids, who were talking a million miles a minute as if no time had passed, "It's not here."

"That's for sure." Melissa looped an arm through yours, leaving Gabe to deal with the bags, as she led you over to the car and began catching you up on everything.

You weren't in Colorado for very long, so you spent the day catching up with old friends and doing everything you missed and couldn't do in Buffalo. You had lunch at your favorite restaurant with a few of the other girls, you visited some old coworkers and by that time, it was time to get ready for the game.

When you got home, Erik was also home and getting ready for the game. You smiled at the scene in front of you. It felt like old times, "This feels familiar." You hummed.

"Doesn't it." He smiled, "It's weird, isn't it?"

"A little. I've only been here for a day and it feels strange." You admitted, wrapping your arms around his waist and leaning your head on his back, "You ready for tonight?"

"No." He admitted, "But it's a game, just like any other game." He shrugged with a sigh.

"It is, but it's not." You shook your head, spinning him around so he was facing it, "Have fun tonight, enjoy yourself." You told him, helping him tie his tie.

"I will." He nodded, a smile on his face as he watched you, "You have fun tonight, too." He nudged you.

"I will. In between all the crying and cheering." You joked, wrapping him in a hug, "I'm so proud of you, EJ."

"None of this would be possible without you." He hummed happily.

Later that night, walking back into Ball Arena, you were having an intense sense of deja vu. Everything was exactly the same but felt new at the same time.

You made your way down to the ice with the Landeskog family, who had made a sign for Erik, which made you cry the first time you saw it. After Zach saw it, he decided he wanted to make one too, so you quickly bought supplies and made a simple sign that read 'We love you, dad' and had his number on it.

You waited by the glass, Zach standing in front of you, bouncing on the balls of his feet, the Landeskog family on either side of you with their own signs.

Zach looked up at you, gesturing for you to bend down to his level, "I miss it here." Zach whispered.

You pulled away and smiled sadly, pressing a kiss to his head and hugging him, "I miss it here, too." You hummed, hugging him. You danced around with Zach, waiting for warmups to start.

A cameraman stopped beside you and Gabe, asking if you wanted to be on the jumbotron, and before you could respond, Zach spoke up before you, "Yes!" So, before you knew it, the four of you were on the jumbotron, showing off your signs.

You heard the crowd's reaction to seeing their captain, but then also to seeing Zach Johnson and Linnea Landeskog in the arena. you kept your kids' lives private but not a secret so people knew about them.

You looked around the Sabres side of the warmup ice and saw a good amount of people with signs for Erik, which warmed your heart and brought a few tears to your eyes, "Oh no, it's starting." Gabe teased.

When the guys skated out, you easily spotted Erik. There was a loud cheer that you knew would only get louder as the arena filled with more people. He skated a few laps, spotting you on the 3rd go-around.

He skated up to the ice with a few pucks. He handed one to Linnea through the photo hole and gave Lucas a few fistbumps, then handed one to Zach and two more to you, which you would pack in your suitcase and bring back to Lila and Ivy.

He gave Zach and fistbump and blew a few kisses before skating off. You wiped a few tears as you watched him skate off, "Don't cry." Melissa pulled you in for a hug.

"It's only going downhill from here." You laughed, knowing that the tribute video was coming up later. You stayed for all of the warmups, watching and marveling at all the people.

You made your way up to your seats, where a few of the other girls were sitting. They greeted you the same way Melissa had, with big hugs. You took your seat and took everything in. There was a buzz in the air. It felt like home.

A little through the first period, the tribute video played. The video had barely started, and you were already crying. The video started and played the videos of him getting drafts, his best goals, winning the cup, everything. You were surprised to see a clip of you and him in the montage.

It was a short clip of you running up to him after they had won the cup and let all the families on the ice. You found him in the sea of people and jumped into his arms, hugging him. The audio in the video was a little busy due to the commotion around you, but your voices were clear.

"You did it!" You said, your voice muffled due to you shoving your face into his neck, but the microphone he was wearing caught it.

"We did it, baby.” He corrected you, squeezing you tighter and pressing a kiss to your head before shoving his head in your neck.

The montage ended with a video of celly's and the interview he did with Emily Kaplan after winning the cup and talking about how he thought he would have to retire and how proud he was of the team.

After the 'Thank you Erik Johnson' picture flashed on the screen, he skated away from the bench and skated around, raising an appreciative hand to the crowd, a thankful and proud smile on his face as he looked out into the sea of people.

Your phone was out the entire time, taking a shaky video as your hands shook. You couldn't stop smiling and only cried more when the crowd started chanting, "EJ, EJ, EJ!"

After the game, you made your way down to the locker room with Zach, who had fallen asleep halfway through the third period. You could see his eyes closing and then shooting open every few seconds before he finally crashed and fell asleep, his head in your lap.

You carried him to the best of your ability down to the locker room and waited for Erik. A few of the Avs (7 guys) came down to the guest dressing room to talk to Erik, but when they saw you, they changed directions and made their way over to you.

Eventually, Erik came out, and when he did, they all cheered and clapped for him. He smiled, setting his stuff down and hugging every single one of them. He talked with them for a few minutes before they all said their goodbyes and made him promise he would get lunch with them before he left.

Once they were gone, it left you and Erik alone. You stared at him, an overwhelmed look on your face as you thought about the events of the night, "They're letting me stay at home tonight again."

"Good." You nodded, wanting to spend a night with him before he would be gone again. You wrapped your arms around him the best you could without jostling Zach too much, "I'm so proud of you." You whispered.

"I love you." He mumbled into your hair, pressing a kiss to your hair.

"I love you, too." You pulled away with a smile on your face.

-

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[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for not inviting a friend of mine into my dnd campaign?

so i (18nb) have a friend (18nb, Martin) who i play in a main dnd campaign with with all our other friends (Ill name them Dan, Virgil, Mark, and Ray). Dan is our DM after we kicked out the old one bc she was horrible. We're a pretty close group of friends, but lately we've all been really busy with respective school & work, ect. so we didnt play dnd for a solid, like,, 4 months. I DMed a one shot for everyone besides Ray cause she was flaky anyway, and added in my boyfriend Zeke for it.

Everyone had a really fun time w it and I loved everyones characters, especially Dan's. I watch a lot of dnd shows, so i just keep getting more ideas- but while the one shot was fun it was messy as hell. Ive been wanting to write a campaign for a smaller group for a while, (because when i tried making a campaign with the whole group the character creations were... disappointing to say the least. this sounds mean but i created a fairy world that was very magical & told everyone to go crazy on character creation in a world with few/no humans, and like 5/6 people opted to be a human with a fighting class :/ )

ive been writing a campaign that im really proud of and have a good vision for, and decided to include Mark (because we're best friends) Zeke (because he wants to play dnd more and has no opportunities) Dan (bc he never gets to be a player) and then another close friend of mine outside the group named Gabe (who i love but never get to see) I love their characters & we're all super excited.

Thing is. I was briefly talking with Dan, Zeke and Mark about it at school bc I'd sent everyone a little intro message for the world and they were all super excited and wanted to talk to me about their classes. Virgil had no problem with this and was excitedly asking abt the world + characters along with some other friends from school, but Martin got quiet and went and sat by himself. I could tell they were off, but Martin is generally a quiet person anyway and is often sad + doesnt want to talk for like a hundred different reasons, so i left her alone. Later that day in a different class I have with Virgil he showed me his phone where Martin had sent him a message saying she was really disappointed & felt left out that i hadnt invited them to my campaign.

i instantly felt bad and started to text him, but,,,, to be honest, i dont think im at all responsible for this.

i have reasons for leaving Martin out, the main one being that they just..... arent a very active player. Hes soft spoken and doesnt actually like rping their characters- her character in our main campaign is/was literally mute bc they said they didnt want to have to speak as him. (theyve since taken this back and went through with a curse breaking thing to be able to speak, but her character,,, still doesnt talk much.) he writes really good, sad backstories but doesnt actually play or do anything with them and gets uncomfortable acting. Their characters are not only emotional, but like. crazy. they play a bunch of cool tieflings with insane magic classes & features and then, again,,,, dont roleplay them. I didnt want the group to be big and had a good reason for including everyone that i did, and our other friends that arent in it (Virgil, Ray who is Martins sister btw, all our other d&d interested friends at school) literally dont mind at all. i just wrote a campaign that theyre not in. Martin also has their feelings hurt very easily, so to be honest i just find her being sad about not being in it just... stupid. id never say that to his face & i get that he feels bad, but like....cmon.

im aware im a very very incredibly low empathy person- to be honest i struggle with depression and bpd very heavily and am often mean to my friends & loved ones without really processing why or how much it affects them. i told Virgil that i thought Martins reaction was stupid, and he said that that wasnt fair bc Martin had always been in my campaigns before (which is, yknow, one. Martin and I were even in a campaign with a completely different group a while back and Martin willingly left it very early because the group was loud & their character wasnt doing anything (yeah)). Every time Martins expressed (or i guess not expressed) sorrow for not being invited to it ive just sort of ignored them. this again isnt that uncommon cuz when shes sad he doesnt like to talk about it, and also they havent directly confronted me with this at all.

ive been talking about the campaign a lot because it occupies frankly a lot of my brain because i have so much to write, and i especially talk to the people that arent in it bc theres no risk of slipping up and telling them something they arent supposed to know. The other friend, Gabe, is friends with Zeke and Mark and I, and Dan is good around new people,, but Martins really quiet around people he doesnt know well, so if i invited her anyway they'd probably play the game even less than they already do.

again, im really bad at having an actual perspecitve on this. Virgil said he feels bad for Martin but not for himself, as far as i know Dan doesnt know about the situation, and i literally just dont wanna involve Mark and Zeke (Zeke HATES conflict and when people fight so he really doesnt have to be involved.) Mark Martin and I have all been really close friends since literally 7th grade and I guess Martin especially feels left out that I involved Mark and not them but Marks both really good at character creation and also talking in character, and like, hes my best friend who i do everything with.

I dont wanna blow off Martins emotions but but i truly dont give a shit that they feel betrayed by my not inviting him. especially because they havent bothered actually telling me this. objectively i dont think its my fault even a little, and Martin is really horrible at handling their emotions anyway (this isnt an insult, just a fact. i am too). aita for not inviting him + not caring that shes upset by it and acting like they arent?

sorry this is so long i really like providing context

What are these acronyms?

[skunkox]

The David/ Darlin Confrontation Video.

David came to tell them off. They were prepared for that. David is tough. A hard ass. He has a handful of people that he'll allow under his shell. Sure, Darlin' hung around the group. But they weren't close. Not in the way Asher got along with everyone. Not in the way They and Milo had an unspoken mutual understanding. There were always walls up with David Darlin didn't bother touching. They had their own.

Gabe's passing only reinforced those walls. There was no way they'd up and leave. Not knowing how alone their new alpha was. They wouldn't break those walls. They'd have to come down at his own time. But they did sit outside of it. Lingering long enough for him to know that they were there. That's what friends are for.

But were they friends? Had they ever been friends? Pack mates, sure. But truly friends?

"You're family. You're one of us. We love you."

Those words sounded too sentimental to come from David's mouth. He sounded broken up. He was upset towards them. Not indifferent or his normal level of irritation. But as if he were hurt. And seeing him like that, if only for a moment, broke then.

Hot, angry tears began to fall from their eyes just as the front door closed. The worst feeling growing up comes when family tell you that they're disappointed in you. Normally, the anger they felt would make it all hurt less. But not when it came from the people you looked up to. Not when it came from Ash or Milo. Especially so with David.

David really gives off big brother with a 10 year age gap. All you wanna do is make them proud. I think at that point, Darlin realized that if they had given those walls a knock, at any time, they would have opened. Not largely. But big enough for a hand to reach in, and a hand would reach back for them too.

Felt really bad that I had interactionl post between Darlin', Asher, and Milo without ever making one for David. But if feels very clear that they hadn't been close growing up. Honestly it a little sad. I can look at other stories where They did seem close as kids. But I feel forced to tell myself that it would have never happened.

I'm really glad that even if they don't have a lot of one on one time, David is looking out for them. He always has.

[choicesmc]

Jia’s Messy Relationships (part 1 of the romantic edition)

okay so I’ve been trying to do this since solidifying jia’s relationships but it is getting ridiculously long and I have decided to split it into parts <33

it might take several parts to cover jia’s romantic relationships + then a couple more for his platonic + familial ones 😬

Like I said, this is long so under the cut it goes <33

banner by: @/inklore in [this] post

To really understand the tangled web her romantic relationships are (we’ll talk about her mom + her sister afterwards) we need to go all the way back to book 1. 

Following his run in with Gabe, Jiahao felt an instant attraction to him. And I mean instant. From just about the minute he laid eyes on Gabe, Jiahao was down bad. His first couple interactions were flirting with him and being absolutely delighted that Gabe was flirting back. Contrast this to his first meeting with Cas. 

Jia immediately booked Cas as a bad girl and figured she’d never fall for her. …Which made Jia groan upon realizing that she had, in fact, fallen for Cas. During the after-school party that Cas crashed, Jia begrudgingly admitted to herself that Cas was very pretty. By the time Cas was stealing Gabe’s date at the fair, Jia realized she kinda liked the flirty, playful relationship she had with Cas. And just a tad bit after that is when Jia really started worrying that she really had fallen for Cas. 

The problem was this was just about ‘round the same time he’d realized he did not have romantic feelings for Gabe and that Cas and Gabe were, y’know, kinda into each other and that neither of them would act on their feelings if Jia didn’t encourage them and, perhaps most importantly, Jia would need to be dating both of them for his encouragement to work. 

In plain words: she started stringing Gabe on in order to encourage Gabe and Cas’ relationship.

Worse than just stringing, she was actively lying to –gaslighting even– Gabe anytime he picked up on any weird vibes. 

Jia does care about Gabe, that’s the thing. Though she doesn’t like him romantically, she really does care about him. She wants Gabe to be happy and also thinks that if he got together with Cas, then he would be happier than he is now. 

That’s her justification: that this is for the greater good. When it’s all said and done, Gabe and Cas will be together and they’ll be so happy together that they’ll understand why he had to get them together despite the year-plus of lying. 

And this has to work. 

Because once Jia stops to consider the actual reality of what he’s doing, all that left in him is crushing guilt. He knows what he’s doing is wrong but he’d accidentally started and couldn’t stop. 

But, Jia also is used to getting what he wants and being the most important person in a room (especially in a small town like Crimson Beech) so there’s a part of him that just ignores any burgeoning guilt. Why? It can’t be her fault, she’s not… a regular person who can be wrong?? She’s always been right. So she must be right this time too.

But by the end of book 2? Jia can’t anymore. It’s weighing on her, crushing her with the constant need to continue lying so this deck of cards won’t fall. Not just guilt but slow spreading horror! She feels so much like Reagan in those moments and she doesn’t want to be like Reagan of all people! 

Instead of the threesome scene at the end of book 2, Jia confesses. He wasn’t planning to. Rather, as the mood got hotter and it became so so clear where they were heading Jia couldn’t go through. 

Has she stolen kisses? Yes. Replied “I love you” to Gabe while knowing what he means and what Gabe thinks he means are two separate things? Yes. Is he particularly proud of either? No.

She can’t –can’t fuck Gabe while knowing he’s reading more into it than she’s giving. 

So she breaks down crying and it all spills out. How long he’s known he wasn’t into Gabe. How much she thought Cas and Gabe would be good together. How much he stayed together with Gabe in order to bring him closer to Cas. 

And, uh, it goes about as well as expected… 1) Gabe is stunned silent, 2) Cas is pissed, and 3) Jia is ashamed.

[inkspottie]

sachi!! some questions i've got about himm:

how did he get into fashion in the first place? was it something he was into from the beginning, or did he slowly warm up to it?

hypothetical relationship with sebastian? (his clothing seems like seb's style. just saying.)

i imagine most of, if not the entire, takahide family to, basically, live off of coffee. it's at least 45% of their blood. so, sachi's preferences in food?

1. Oh from the beginning for sure. I imagine he was the type that made his own clothes and things like that. He also is very tall and was frustrated not a lot of cool outfits fit him well. So he pretty much said fuck it I gotta do everything myself.

2. Probably would get along real well! They both were the sort of metal child (except Sachi went more with white face goth and Seb went with the heavy metal type style) so i imagine they wouldn’t butt heads. Though Sachi is a bit of a shithead so I imagine the teasing would be great much like how Gabe and Seb interact.

3. Oh absolutely they’re proud owners of gucci eyebags lol coffee is in their blood. Sachi loves coffee and salty things. He’s very big on like food that has very strong flavors. Being a fashion designer he’s traveled the world and experienced many things. But he also has his comfort foods. Like Sadao he’s very fond of pastries and sweets

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

It Takes a Mob pt.6

Previous

First

“I still don’t get why Bill gets the kid. He didn’t even want him if the first place!”

Bill sighed he absentmindedly put a hand across the giggling mound on his front.

“Yeah yeah, you forget you’re a crackhead without an’ addiction. Can’t hide shit on you.”

Locking the door behind them, Bill checked that Danny could still breathe under the jacket Marv shoved over them.

Bill, quite frankly, felt like a child messing around in his father’s closet again.

The jacket was big on Marv, so Bill looked was drowning in the thing.

“You act like you aren’t happy that I’m the one doing the heavy lifting.”

Marv let out a guffaw from behind him,

“Heavy lifting? Bill, he’s a baby, weighs less than a handful of grapes.”

“Yeah, well how about we switch, and you say that after afterwards? I have a newfound respect for women.”

Danny poked his head out and seemed very entertained by the commute.

Happily babbling away an swiveling to and fro'.

‘Good instincts,’

Bill mused,

‘Keep them up kid. Watchful eyes, saves your guys and all that.’

The three thugs were walking together in a rough diagonal line with Bill in the center. It was casual enough not to draw attention but if needed they could have the kid covered. Maybe they were being a bit paranoid, but that pays in crime ally. The rest of the walk for what it was worth, was thankfully quiet.

Well, as quiet as Gotham could be. A couple of meagering drunks and some of the nosy ladies of the night withstanding.

A couple light jokes with the ladies and a look from the others got to the guys and they got were they needed to be without any fanfare.

No, problems only arose when they got to work.

It started at the door.

Danny was gently tucked away as they walked to the door.

“Hey fellas, I know we have no official dress code ‘round here but you’re pushing it with that dress.”

“Stan, if I wanted your opinion on my clothes I’d’ve asked ahead of time. Just check us in.”

Stan leaned against the door before dramatically lifting his clipboard.

“Alright, your names?”

“What?”

“What? Need a name to sign you in. Would hate to have all those hours to go unaccounted for.”

Oh, Bill hates Stan, pompous because got a job through daddy dearest. He would blame his upbringing, but Bill knew the Brat’s father. Gabe did his best with that one, just unfortunate that his kid took after his Ex-wife more often than not.

Any normal given night, this would be the moment that someone would have to descale the situation. Bill felt the urge to grab his knife in the back of his mind.

But this was no ordinary night. He was carrying something a lot squishier and more precious than his bruised ego at the moment.

“Bill.”

Was spat through gritted teeth. Stan clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Don’t see a Bill here.”

“Man, just let Bill in, you know him! He’s been working here for two years!”

“Well, I’m just doing my job Marv, you don’t have to be so feisty.”

Bill released out a deep breath be for uttering,

“William. Overbeck. Junior.”

“Ahh! Yup! There you are Junior! Making’ your old man proud, right?”

“Listen here you tweaky little fuck- “

“Stanley? you better not be messing with Bill out there! If you need to learn a thing or two from a senior than I can gladly-“

“No madam! Right this way.”

Bill always had a soft spot for Ken’s Me-mah. He made sure to step aside as Ken ran too her voice.

“Me-maw!!”

“Hi sugar, you’ve been keeping’ out of trouble now?”

Ken was grinning like a mad man as held the elderly lady.

“Only the stuff I’m not given permission to do!”

“That’s my boy.”

“What are you doing in our neck of the woods this evening?”

Marv asked as she walked over to the others.

“Oh, you know how it is in the kitchen, all the hard things to carry I just thought I was best I didn’t bother trying. We got enough flour and rice to feed all of crime alley that needs to be unloaded. Bill, Marv, do you mind helping a weak old woman?”

“Hardly weak, Me-mah. Everybody knows you have just as much sway as a general around here.”

“And don’t you forget it sonny! Now you two, come! We got work to do for tomorrow and the night is young.”

Bill shifted awkwardly on his feet,

“Well, you see- “

“Don’t you start with me William! I still know your daddy’s number! Now get!”

~~~~~~~~

Bill and Marv stepped into the old kitchen single file. The smell of spices and heat of the oven filled the air.

Bringing out a large cutting board Me-mah gestured to Bill with a knife.

“So, before we begin, do you boys want to tell me what you dragged into my kitchen?”

‘Shit,’

The men shared a glance, and Bill raised a hand to try to come up with something plausible.

“Don’t you think about lying or running, we all know I’ll eventually find out. The only question is am I finding out by you or by word of mouth. Now off with the coat Bill, unless you’re finally eating right.”

Bill put down his finger.

Danny let out a sneeze.

Letting out a sigh Bill reached for the zipper on his front and gingerly pulled it down before handing it to Marv.

“Oh.”

Me-mah gasped,

“That’s not a puppy.”

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

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[monstersandmaw]

What do you think is your best work so far? Like not what people liked most or what people talked most but what story did you like to write the most? what is the story you are most proud of?

Ooh! What an interesting question, thank you!

Ask me this on three different days though, and you'll get three different answers. I'm never truly satisfied with my writing, and whenever I revisit an older story that I used to think was the best I could have written it, I always want to change it and tinker with it, so it's kind of an ever-evolving thing, you know? Like the craft of writing itself, I suppose.

Mostly, the stories I'm most proud of don't do as well on here (or Patreon) as I think they're going to in terms of interactions and feedback. Dragon Heart, for example, or The Music of Us, for another.

For the sheer scope and effort and love I poured into it, and how much Odessa's character came to mean to me, I'd say Gabe & Odessa is certainly one of the ones I'm most proud of. (m. werewolf x f. human, 3rd person POV, 22 chapters, plus bonus 'Gabe's POV' chapter).

I have another story which isn't monster related and which isn't published anywhere, and which also isn't finished (!) but I'm pretty proud of that one too for different reasons.

Although I cringe at the writing now, I'm also proud of the Khuruz the orc's story because it's the very first story I ever dared share on here, and it's what kicked off this whole blog, so I'm proud of it from that sense, if not its writing any more because I've grown as an author since then.

I really enjoyed writing Brenn the Gnoll's story, for it's temporal scope, as it were, stretching from the reader's first interaction with him to their relationship years later.

And finally, my MM story Footsteps in the Snow will always be the dearest in my heart, and I think I wrote a few nice sentences here and there too, so I'm proud of it from a writing perspective as well as just being indulgently fond of Lein and Argis.

I think that's proof of my initial 'ask me this on three different days' statement...!

[theerurishipper]

After learning about the leaks about Paris special, I just want to say that all of the comics and headcanons fans created speculating how they would be in emoverse are much better than what we got. Wouldn't it be ironic to say that they're born evil like Chloe in ogverse and that some backstory doesn't justify their wrongdoings. They are evil and very much proud of it with either their cringe worthy fails or terrifying terrorism

Agreed. Like, I don't mind the arc they were intending for with Chloe, I don't mind them showing that some people can't change, but then they'll redeem the terrorist/abuser. And they'd rather say that Chloe is just inherently evil without exploring or acknowledging the backstory and motivations they wrote for her. That's the issue here. And now Shadybug and Claw Noir are going to get some half-assed redemption. Honestly, I would have preferred them being evil, you know, like an everyone has a good and bad side in them and who you are depends on the choices you make kind of thing, especially since Miraculous is so fond of redemptions.

I get it, that's just my wish and the show doesn't have to follow my exact preferred storyline to be good, but the information we have doesn't paint a very promising picture either way. Considering the bullshittery of the Season 5 finale and Gabriel's shitty-ass redemption, it really just feels like this special is pushing the Gabe Is Good agenda in our face, you know? I mean, Guardian Angel? For the child abuser in our main continuity? The one who doesn't seem like he did a good job in the alternate timeline either seeing as his son was so unable to process his grief that he became a magical terrorist? This guy is called Guardian Angel? I mean, maybe he did his best, but we won't know until we watch the special, and the show has a habit of blaming Adrien for Gabriel's actions anyway, so. It just feels like it's pushing the "some people are good and some people are evil no matter in what continuity, and Marinette and Adrien are good deep down, and so is Gabriel. But Chloe is just always evil lmaooooo." I don't mind it too much, but shit's still kinda weird, man.

And like, what do you mean "Shadybug and Claw Noir don't even like each other?" That's kind of the whole appeal for a lot of people lmao, and they hate each other? I mean, I'm not going to judge it based on my expectations and say it's bad just because I didn't get what I wanted, but... really? And I'm also gonna go out on a limb and say Hesperia and Claw Noir have no personal interaction despite them being father and son and Adrien's motivation being to bring Emelie back. Like, at a certain point, it crosses the line from being my insignificant expectation to being just... bad choices and an inability to create proper payoff. I think Hesperia interacts more with Marinette than Adrien in this special. Getting major Season 5 finale-esque "Marinette replaces Adrien in his arc" vibes.

But I'm not disappointed, surprising as that sounds. I never expected it to be good. I was always just here to see Claw Noir on screen so I can properly pick him up and toss him into my fanfics. I was excited for the special, sure, but I didn't have my hopes up and the leaks seem to have proved me right. Idk, maybe they'll surprise me. I doubt it though.

Thank you for your ask!

[ilikelookingatthings]

Thoughts on Miraculous Ladybug : A Comment from YouTube I'm proud of about themes and Gabriel

and don't get me STARTED on Gabriel. the undercut and sabotaged any nuance this man had for 5 freaking seasons. every time he showed nuance or good feelings, they undercut it by forcing him to do something worse to snuff out any sense of sympathy or complexity, so we know who the bad guy and good guy is. yet they try to ham fist a last-minute redemption?!

don't get me wrong I actually DO want a redeemable complex Gabriel but its VERY confusing and just BAD how they handled it. at the very least they could have made it better if they literally said he was good and genuinely had good intentions to save his wife. after all she was 'missing' which means the plan was to use the wish to wake her up and she could come back using going missing as a cover. He wasn't raising the dead as she was in a magical coma.

he has a fix it as he knew if he lost that the ladybug miraculous would fix things and if he won, he could use the ladybug miraculous to fix any damage he did. by making 'hawkmoth' the villain it means people would have a target outside of the victims and the victims technically have to agree to the powers, so Gabe has the illusion of consent. and his plan to make a villain was to lure the ladybug and chat miraculous out of hiding by forcing them to activate to fix the problem since he couldn't track it down otherwise.

Overall, yes, it's not 'good' but his plan made sense in a way of minimizing damage for just wanting to save his wife. play up the fact they had no one to ask for help since the guardians were gone...from his view he was 'acting' as a villain. he had no training and didn't even have a properly translated book and wasn't chosen for his role.

just point to the fact Gabe has been using his miraculous of emotions wrong. he has been amplifying his own negative emotions to feel others negative emotions and forcing a fixation on the miraculous to get his victims to try to steal them. we have literally seen how even being a little emotionally off can have consequences.

Feast with fu was a rouge Senti-monster that sensed Fu's negative emotions, negative emotions that weren't even a part of why he made the Senti-being (which was to get him some snacks, Marinette's miraculous immediately timing down when she used it to separate Adrien and Chloe instead of attacking bubbler due to her jealousy, how Tikki's snack attack affected Mari when Mari transformed. and how Akuma Victims are prone to making dumb mistakes and you literally can't reason with them properly and act more fixated and aggressive.

they could have fixed the situation by just pointing out as a side effect from using his miraculous the way he was...his personality was literally getting twisted like his Akumas due to using mis miraculous in a way it wasn't supposed to be intended. Even more with how they mention using multiple ones can cause a strain on you and literally make you insane.

that way it would validate the times Gabe was reasonable or genuinely cared as the real him while also validating and explaining all the times he became SO much worse and cartoonishly evil.

while I would have preferred Adrien actually being there in the final battle with hawkmoth..... if they just played up that Mari being more willing to sympathize and see the villians genuinely needed help and weren't just evil was due to adrien's/chat's influence because that is adrien's strength in the show. his sympathy and ability to think deeper on motivations and not just punish and how he helped teach mari to not take things entirely at face value and be more patient.

heck the final battle could have worked if they played up the Mari and gabe are actually genuinely VERY similar. they have LOTS of parallels in the show...

like I think they were going for a parallel to collector/the end of collector when mari went to him to give him the book she took(even if lila took it first) where gabe surprised us by him admiring ehr stepping forward and not being mad at her, even answering her questions and agreeing not to tell adrien when she asked him to keep silent. and a reminder about how gabe did give a genuine apology to adrien at the end of collector when he could have gotten away with not doing so since adrien DID steal the book from his locker...Gabe genuinely apologized in depth.

but because the show had spent most of the season undercutting any goodness in Gabriel again with no explanation to cover it like saying it was the influence of him going insane like his victims due to how he had been using his miraculous....it just feels unearned and messed up. even more if he was going to use the wish...why couldn't he had used it so Nathalie and the mom would be okay? if his plan had always been to use himself in case there was a price how would Mari have reacted?

like I still don't get why she trusted him at all. and because they never mentioned Gabe going insane or his behavior was due to how he handled the miraculous (like Akuma victims)

...it just comes across as Gabe just being genuinely terrible and abusive as him as a default for most of the show which makes the redemption/him fighting his choice WEIRD.

like please for the love of GOD WHY did they not just make it a side effect of using his brooch the way he did literally! it would have used the fact they primed us to sympathize/not judge what people do under the Akuma influence/in the deepest throes of their negative feelings because its prompted by them being twisted by the magic to at least give Gabe a BUFFER(for the audience).

It would make him 'fighting' so to speak, literally him fighting how he had twisted himself literally with the way he used the miraculous...like how people can fight drugs or the fought akums before. and the tragedy that Nathalie thought Gabe was just bad...not realizing her enabling him using the brooch the way he did twists someone she genuinely cared about.

like, it is easy to notice at judge the physical effects of the peacock broach, but the mental effect of the butterfly is HONESTLY terrifying/scary and has so many implications if their plan was to hint that original Gabe was more similar to Betterfly.

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I think it works even more because it would also explain why Gabe seemed different in this specific fight because he didn't know Adrien was chat noir. people often use Gabe's reaction to Adrien being Chat Noir to validate seeing Gabe as just an abusive horrible person...but what I've also seen is if Gabe actually talks or is around Adrien for enough time Gabe WILL soften to some degree...pointing to how Gabe does care for Adrien and that it grounds him more in his original motive/personality.

So, the change might be because Gabe has been amplifying his negative feelings so 'hawkmoth' is more focused and fixated on the miraculous and defeating ladybug and chat...finding out Adrien is chat makes the 'hawkmoth' affects take over more.

like how we saw Nate and others relax at times around certain people that breakthrough the delusion (like when Nate was actually convinced to leave Chloe alone to go hang with Marinette) but he snapped back into his villain mindset when Mari's actions echoed Chloe.

I think what's worse is it's not even a rewrite since all the blocks are THERE but the show just never acknowledges it.

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTM: Gabe/Stephen; largesse (pt II)

For the prompt: Gabe and Stephen being sappy at SOME point

Follows this.

Early on, Gabe worries he’s wrong about his 'Stephen loves holidays' thesis: Easter’s during Passover that year, and neither of them do anything for it, unless you count Stephen buying a few bags of mini eggs from the drug store when they go on clearance after, and Gabe doesn’t. At this point mini eggs are entirely secular — they’re not even a seasonal thing. Gabe saw a Christmas edition of them a few months back, though he’s not sure how eggs are supposed to be involved in Christmas. Maybe another gift for Santa? Cookies and milk aren't a very well-balanced diet, some eggs can't hurt.

But then Mother’s Day arrives, and while Gabe orders his mom flowers, Stephen leans over him, sighing about needing to get his mom something, but not flowers, because his mom doesn’t like flowers, she always makes things difficult, why can’t she just like what everyone else does. This is the third straight day of their annual tradition of brainstorming what to get Anouk — twice annual tradition, actually, it comes up on her birthday too, and probably at Christmas, now that Gabe’s thinking about it, it’s just that Stephen worries about what to get everyone for Christmas, with the exception of Gabe and his parents, and that’s just because he worries about what to get them for Hannukah instead.

And then Father’s Day comes around, and Stephen goes through the exact same process for getting Johan a gift. Then Beth’s birthday, and that Stephen pretends not to care about at all, but then gets her and Anna tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto that summer, and Gabe’s pretty sure securing those involved either a sizeable amount of time, money, or both.

Gabe’s not proud to say it takes until Johan’s birthday in October to really click into place. Obviously he’s had some suspicions, or he wouldn’t have been observing Stephen’s demeanour so closely, but honestly, he does that as a matter of course — it’s easier than listening to what Stephen says about how he’s feeling, which is usually not true. And that’s if he’s even willing to talk about it, which isn't likely.

Once again, Stephen’s bitching about how hard it is to buy things for his dad, who is, admittedly, not an easy man to find gifts for, and Gabe finally sees right all the way through Stephen's ‘why is gift giving so frequent, it’s absurd’ speech to the fact that it’s honestly not hard to find a gift for someone if you don’t give a shit whether they like it.

Stephen apparently gives so many shits. Innumerable shits. So Gabe figures he can help him out a bit. Do some research, attempt to make a list.

“I doubt most of them are up to snuff, because, you know, Johan,” Gabe says, waving a hand in a way he’s concerned to notice is an accidental but dead on impression of his mother, “But maybe one or two of them will work.”

“Gabe,” Stephen says, looking up from the list.

“It’s nothing,” Gabe says. “Something to do on the road.”

“You printed it out,” Stephen says.

“Seemed easier,” Gabe says. “But I’ll email it to you as well.”

“And colour coordinated it,” Stephen says.

“It was a boring roadie,” Gabe says, though the end of it is kind of breathless, because Stephen’s crushing the air out of his lungs.

“Thank you,” Stephen mumbles, and Gabe brings a hand up to card through his hair.

“It’s nothing,” he says.

~

The packages start arriving two days later.

Gabe sighs, pushing aside two boxes with his foot so he can unlock the door, grabbing one under each arm to bring inside. One of them’s heavy for its size. Probably the knife set.

“Oh good,” Stephen says, looking up from his laptop as Gabe stacks the packages on top of all the other ones in the living room. “I was getting concerned that those weren’t coming.”

“Stephen,” Gabe says. “You can’t give your dad seventeen gifts for his birthday. He’ll just be disappointed every other year.”

And Gabe did say it was nothing, but that list took him two flights, three breakfasts, a dinner, and the recommendations of half the Canucks and most of the support staff, with dads receiving special consideration, to make.

“I can, however, not have to worry about what to get him for the next five years,” Stephen says gleefully.

Gabe sees trouble coming.

“I’m not making a list for everyone,” Gabe says.

“Gabe,” Stephen whines.

“No way,” Gabe says, taking this as a cue to retreat. “You’re on your own.”

“Gabe,” Stephen says, closing his laptop to trail him out of living room. “Please?”

~

The Canucks, unfortunately, are much less helpful when it comes to what to get middle-aged women. Gabe is disappointed but unsurprised.

“You lose a bet, Marksy?” Coach asks when Gabe brings the question to him. He’s married to one, which likely gives him an edge over the Canucks, who Gabe's learned are all a bunch of terrible sons. Well, other than Bullet. The majority of the ideas he does have on this list are just him trying to keep up with Bullet’s stream-of-consciousness.

“Something like that,” Gabe says, and adds his suggestion for a shawl. Sure, it’s already on the list, but it’s never smart to piss off the guy who controls how many minutes you get.

"My wife likes candles too," Coach says. "The ones that smell up the place."

Stephen can't stand scented candles, and Gabe's almost positive he got that from his mom, but Gabe adds it to the list anyway. It'd serve Stephen right to get a faulty list, and maybe he won't be forced to make one for Beth and Anna if he does a purposefully bad job.

Gabe waits until Coach is long gone, and then he makes sure to scribble those ideas out. Sure, he'll probably remember, and Stephen would probably notice even if he didn't, but, well.

May as well get Anouk something nice.

[cherryredstars]

hi hii cherry !! i love love love ur shit fr 😩

i saw this jjk's gojo fanfic the other day by @hannzai (shoutout bc also a cool writer !!) in passing where reader was his son's ex n they got revenge on him by sleeping w his dad (can't add link :/) n my mind couldn't help but end up thinking abt how the concept would be so fun to apply to miggy

i was thinking non-spider au, billionaire-ceo!single-dad!miguel who had his son, gabe (the second gabriel o'hara bc miggy loves his baby brother but has to give his kid a nickname for a distinction), young (i specifically thought of 20-22 but u could always change it to younger for a teen pregnancy thing, i just wanted him in his forties 💀). with a baby mama that walked out. miguel was a big family man nonetheless and had always made time for gabe n his family, made sure to raise him good. but somehow, his kid turned out a womanizing brat who had zero respect for others—the complete opposite of what miguel had taught n raised him to be. n it frustrates him to no end bc he doesn't know where he went wrong.

one day, gabe randomly tells him over dinner that he met someone (reader, ofc) a little older (i'm thinking four years older, so gabe is 22 n reader is 26 bc it's a good age gap for her n mig) n started dating them seriously n miguel was so surprised but he was so proud n so happy for his son, miggy himself didn't care too much for romance bc even after a little over two decades, he still thinks of how his baby mama left him n w his line of work, trust issues were necessary. but he was so happy n proud of his son !! he met reader very few times, once over dinner and a few times as his son's date to an event/ gala they were invited to n he was so glad that his boy was settling for someone so good n mature n intelligent n elegant n pretty and—

but then he realized it was all for naught be his son slept around anyw, regardless of the fact that he was supposed to be committing to someone, miggy questions his life decisions pt. ii.

reader ofc knows she's totally being cheated on, but she persevered. not be she's in love w gabe or anything, she doesn't even really like him, she was just lonely bc she only moved to nueva york recently for her job n she hadn't made any good friends yet so she's clinging :((

then it's gabe's 23rd birthday bash, they're like two months into dating, reader was hoping to get his attention that night. she wore a new dress that showed her off, shaved, spent hours on hours getting ready to look pretty so that her so-called ‘boyfriend’ would acknowledge her, only to be stumped at the party when gabe was alr sucking face with some other girl, surrounded by other women dressed skimpier than her n didn't even glance at her once. so she just ends up trying not to cry at some balcony, trying to still feel pretty bc she really did like her dress, she's regretting sm bc y did she even decide to go for someone younger, anyw, that was stupid n desperate—she always liked older guys anyw.

n guess who ends up seeing her?? her bf's hot dad!!!!!!

he approached her bc he preferred a familiar face n was never one for parties, but then he sees her crying n he immediately knew why. n for some reason, he wanted to comfort her, she was too pretty to be crying over his stupid manwhore son, anyway. he was too young to understand. miguel was older, he had the experience. he could treat her better—wait, y was he thinking that?? that's still his boy's gf.

but he just feels so so bad for her :(( maybe he should just show her exactly how she should be treated :(( starting by how to properly receive an o'hara dick ;(( (yes nsfw pls if u don't mind)

(she immediately ran off to yell at gabe from a distance n tell him she's breaking up w him ((bc she's not a cheater but which he hardly cared anyw)) before running back to pounce on papi o'hara and kiss him silly.)

optional but i think it would be funny for the next morning to happen n gabe either finds his dad n (ex) gf cuddling naked beneath the sheets in bed or seeing her in his kitchen making coffee (reader does not like coffee she made it for someone else ;)) while trying to nurse his hangover, not remembering that she was there n asking why she was, only for her to say that she was w his dad now n gabe pretty much fell out of his chair.

(preferably afab!reader pls !! also, i thought of reader being slightly more innocent ((doesn't partake in vices; drinking n smoking n all)) n kind of a good girl so do w that as u will <3 I'm so so sozzy this is so long i had to shrink it so it's not that long but i use too many words to summarize things that it's still so long anyw i'm hoping u like it enough to pick it up tho if there aren't roo many requests :D this idea has been stuck in my head for days since i read that oneshot i'm so stupid for this AGH)

Here you go!!!