#we absolutely don't have to set it like that i just find the idea hilarious | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

milfp1lled · 1 year

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hi! i'd love to request a chessy x reader fic where reader is a friend of the twins when they're all in college ish times (of age) and reader is crushing on chess

The Chessy Trap

Pairing: Chessy x Reader

Summary: After noticing the chemistry between you and their housekeeper Chessy, your college friends Hallie and Annie decide to try and set the two of you up

Two times Hallie and Annie try to set an oblivious Y/N and Chessy up with each other and the third time it actually works

Warnings: Mostly just fluff. Very brief mention of homophobia, mentions of drinking/underage drinking, strong language.

Words: 6975

Note: The word count on this is absolutely atrocious and I have no idea how that happened. Sorry/You're welcome (depending how you feel about it haha). Hope you enjoyed it anyway!

Sorry for any mistakes! It's not been proofread (yet!).

"Parker-James family vineyards" you read aloud with a dreamy sigh as Annie drives the car beneath the archway sign at the entrance of the estate- there was lush greenery as far as the eye could see...miles away from the concrete jungle that was Atlanta, or the loud hustle and bustle of LA. You tilt your head skywards, closing your eyes to take in deep breaths of clean air and to revel in the feeling of the sun on your skin...it was even more beautiful than the way they had described it.

It'd been a long 6 and a half hour drive up to Napa (the three of you deciding to split the drive between you in two hour increments) but you were finally on the last stretch.

Hallie let out a leisurely sigh from the back seat of the jeep, stretching her arms up to cradle the back of her head.

"I know we're only here for a week, but trust me when I say this Thanksgiving break will be a blast...not to mention it's so needed! We have a pool, and there'll be music...also Chessy and Mom make the best thanksgiving dinner" she rambled talking at 50 miles a minute (as per usual).

You'd not had the pleasure of meeting Chessy before. Sure you heard of lots of stories about her and their butler Martin before, but you'd only gotten the chance to meet the second half of the duo when you were down in London.

Beside you, Annie nodded in agreement with her sister, eyes still trained on the road;

"It really will...and our Mum and Dad quite literally live on a vineyard so there's no need for Hallie and I to crack out those ridiculous fake IDs either" she grumbled in mock irritation.

You let out a hearty chuckle at that, "No fake IDs...are you sure?" You grin.

"Because I would like to see Hallie bring out 28 year old London expat 'Philomena Crocker' for a night out in Napa Valley" you quip, mimicking a British accent.

Taking one hand off of the wheel of the car, the Brit gives you a playful shove in response, Hallie on the other hand snorting with laughter,

"I have class and you don't!"

Back in your first year of college, Annie had (mistakenly) tasked you and Hallie with finding someone to make some fake IDs for the three of you so you could get into this trendy bar, which lead to the two of you selecting the most ridiculous aliases you could think of...it would be fair to say the Annie didn't take kindly to having to assume the identity of 'Talulah Higginsbottom' for the next two years.

The three of you had been friends for a while now, having met during your first year of college at UCLA.

Annie was a fellow English major and her abundant enthusiasm and charm meant that you quickly became fast friends and Hallie was your volleyball teammate; effortlessly hilarious and always bouncing with energy.

You first met her at volleyball tryouts mistaking her for Annie, the only other freshman trying out who you recognised, so you'd waltzed up to her to engage in conversation...only to find out that she'd all of a sudden adopted an American accept and in fact went by Hallie...because she was a completely different person who had no idea who you were.

In hindsight...after two seconds of conversation (accent aside) you should've seen it coming...where Annie was prim and proper, Hallie cursed like a sailor and said whatever she was thinking at any given moment. After that mix up you were mortified (Annie found it hilarious)...safe to say the three of you had been inseparable ever since.

You were known as 'The Three Musketeers' around campus—you'd taken a big sister role in their lives and you'd do everything together; study, go shopping, eat...get embarrassingly drunk at frat parties.

So when it came down to holidays, of course they'd offered to extend an invitation for you to spend it with them and their family...they'd considered you as such anyway at this point.

Before college you'd taken a year out post highschool to work and save up to move states after getting your dream spot at UCLA, but it just wasn't enough to cover everything, which meant you'd come to terms with the fact that you'd spend most of your time outside of the semester in California.

To fly from LA to Atlanta for thanksgiving just wasn't feasible...well that and the fact that you weren't exactly jumping at the chance to go home seeing as things between you and your conservative parents were on the rocks ever since you'd come out as a lesbian.

Your original plan for Thanksgiving was to spend it back in your dorm with some Seinfeld reruns and a Turkey microwave dinner to keep you company and you'd actually grown to accept that...it wasn't like you had any emotional tie to such a pointless holiday anyway...not to mention there were much worse places to be spending it than LA.

But of course, the twins weren't having it; outraged upon hearing this, demanding you spend it with them in Napa. You loved them and appreciated their offer, but first denied the invite, feeling guilty for intruding on their family thanksgiving...you knew that they came from wealth but regardless having them incur further expenses because of you made you feel like you were taking advantage.

Following this Hallie had barged into your room complaining and pouting about how not coming with them to California was 'so unfair' because they really wanted you there. Annie on the other hand, always leading with logic, had given you a stern 'talking to' about how not coming with them would be a "disservice to yourself" as they were making the journey regardless of whether you tagged along or not...not to mention you'd be able to join in with the driving which was a relief to Annie as she hated driving on "the other side of the road".

...eventually you gave in.

How could you possibly argue with that?

It wasn't like the stakes would be too high anyway. This would be the third time you'd met their parents as you'd spent the final months of last summer with them at their townhouse in London, (Their parents being convinced for some bizarre reason that you were Annie's girlfriend for the entire duration of the trip).

_______________________

As you near the house, you could already see someone standing in the archway of the door, clearly waiting for the car to arrive. Annie turns down the Britney Spears song playing on the radio to focus as she squints to see who it is before it dawns on her and she haphazardly parks the car, bounding into action to greet them.

"Chessy!" She squeals, uncharacteristically excited as she jumps out of the car, Hallie following closely behind as they sandwich the shorter woman in a hug.

"My gorgeous gorgeous girls! Every time I see you you've grown taller, there's gotta be something in that LA air I'm telling 'ya!"

"How was the drive up?"

Hiking her duffel pack further up her shoulder, Hallie raises her eyebrows up to her hairline,

"Oh it was just riveting...Annie forgot what damn country she was in and nearly wiped out a deer changing sides on the road!" she smirks with a chuckle,

Annie fake laughs in reply,

"Oh Yeah? Wow that's so funny Hal, how about you tell Chessy about the fact you made us take an hour-and-a-half detour to find a gas station because you needed another pack of smokes?"

At least to their credit...both of their claims were in fact true...your turn behind the wheel had probably the most peaceful time of the whole trip. You chose to put it down to the fact that you had the latest Gorillaz album playing on repeat, (But honestly, it was probably just because you didn't have a raging nic addiction and knew which side of the road to drive on).

Watching the exchange on from a distance you let out a breath of laughter that seemed to catch the attention of the trio, three pairs of eyes turning to look at you leaning against Hallie's jeep.

That was when you really saw her.

She seemed slightly shorter than you (you put that down to the pair of 6-inch wedges you had on) and was dressed casually, wearing a pair of beige Chinos, her button-up tucked askew into them, but regardless she had that kind of beauty that you couldn't help but notice.

To put it simply she was gorgeous. And boy, were you starstruck.

Shiny brown hair flying in the California breeze, the older woman shoots you a smirk before sliding her sunglasses onto of her head to get a better look at you. You hold your breath at the way her gaze rakes up and down your form as she walks over to you before holding her hand out for you to shake:

"And who is this? She asks without averting her stare from your face.

"Chessy this is Y/n...Y/n, Chessy"

This was Chessy? You friends had not given you the heads up that she was this...hot. Honestly, you didn't know what you'd expected.

"This is the famous Y/n!?" Chessy beams, her unwavering gaze rooting you on the spot.

"I've heard a lot about you"

"Uhh...I'm y/n" you gawk, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

Real smooth.

Chessy chuckles as she lets go of your hand before giving your forearm a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah...I gathered that hon."

Hallie and Annie look between the two of you before exchanging a glance...you had no idea what for.

That damn twin intuition.

They could sometimes have entire conversations between them without saying a word and you were left clueless every time.

Elizabeth runs down the stairs, Nick hot on her heels and the twins head towards them, enveloping them each in a hug too, before the two parents turn to you.

"And y/n! so good to see you again!"

"Great to see you again Mr and Mrs Parker-James"

Elizabeth gives you a look and you correct yourself sheepishly,

"Sorry I keep on forgetting...Liz and Nick" before she pulls you into a hug.

"So how is college girls?" She asks the twins, and Hallie bursts into action, animatedly telling her parents about some scientific field trip she went on last week,

You and Annie look at each other holding back laughter.

Here she goes

This was about to be a long conversation, the twin would talk all day about her environmental science degree if you let her.

Then a blur of yellow runs out of the still ajar door, crashing into you and sending you teetering backwards slightly on your heels.

You manage to catch yourself (thank God).

Falling in front of a beautiful woman right after stumbling over your words like an idiot would've been the nail in the coffin for your ego.

You look down to see the sweetest looking golden retriever you've ever seen, pawing at your capris for your attention. Without hesitation you quickly crouch down to your knees in the gravel, letting him jump up and lick your face,

"Oh hi!" You coo in a baby voice, as you begin fawning over him,

"You must be Sammy!" You exclaim, leaning down to scratch his belly.

"Aren't you just such a good boy!"

"Huh..." Chessy states in confusion,

You shield your eyes against the sun to peer up at her through your fingers, the sun haloing around her chocolate brown hair,

It seemed fitting... Chessy had to be an angel.

"Sammy doesn't usually like strangers but he came to greet you first..." she explains,

"...Guess you must be special"

You bite your lip with a shy smile as you feel a slight blush tinting your cheeks,

Oh, Chessy.

"...I am."

__________________________

"Hey." you smile softly, hip leaning against the doorway of the kitchen,

It'd been two days since you'd arrived here and sure you'd obviously seen Chessy around (as expected embarrassing yourself each time by being a fumbling mess), but only now had you finally managed to work up the courage and confidence to say something to her without short-circuiting.

Chessy startles momentarily before turning away from the pot in front of her expecting to see Annie or Hallie,

"You scared the shit out of m- Oh! How you doing hon?" she smiles softly.

"You looking for one of the twins?" She offers.

"No it's okay...Annie is reading by the pool and Hallie will probably be knocked out taking her afternoon nap right about now..." you share a laugh with Chessy,

"I..." you smile shyly at the ground with a nervous giggle before looking back up to meet her gaze "I, uh, actually came here to see if you needed any help with anything?"

The housekeeper tucks a strand of messy hair behind her ear, a small smile blooming across her lips,

"Me?"

"Well...yeah."

"Do you even know how to cook?"

"Do I know how to cook!?...I'll have you know I worked at an Olive Garden in my teens!" you joke back pretending to toss your updoed hair over your shoulder.

Chessy pauses before bursting into loud laughter, clutching her stomach slightly. You noted how her entire face crinkled up, like her laugh was trying to force its way out of her, when she smiled unabashedly like that and you couldn't help but feel some sort of weird pride swell in your chest at being the cause of it.

...all you'd really done was tell a joke.

But making her laugh was addicting and you all of a sudden wanted more.

"Who am I to refuse the help of someone with such high expertise?" She quips grabbing another apron from the hook behind her and tossing it your way, as you grab it with a seamless catch.

"You can start on chopping the onions for the sauce" she points, and with a salute, you move to stand at the counter.

That you could do.

Surprisingly, you get a good rhythm going between the two of you, smoothly manoeuvring around each other as you focus on chopping and dicing, whilst Chessy takes the ingredients to the pot after you're done.

The only thing was you hadn't said a word to one another yet.

You opened your mouth to speak before clamping it shut immediately.

What did you say to her? What if you said something weird? That would be a nightmare; You didn't want her to think you were weird.

"So...you're an English major like Annie huh?" Chessy starts after a while, and you're thankful she's the one to fill the silence,

"Ya' planning on going to law school like She is?".

You let out an amused snort in reply,

"God no! After I graduate next year I'm not going back! Annie is as smart as anything but law school is not for me..." you state moving on to dice up some carrots.

"I think wanna teach kids: I'm pretty good with them and love being around them, so...but honestly I think I originally chose to major in it because I love to read...it's all I do."

You pause, reaching out your hand to pretend to smack yourself, "Sorry...I'm rambling.".

It was a habit of yours when you were nervous...Chessy made you nervous. Which you knew was ridiculous because she was so incredibly warm.

She was so disarming and open and welcoming and kind...so why couldn't you look her in the eye?

Chessy smiles, "No...it's cute."

She thought you were cute.

"I like to read too...I'm a sucker for a good romance novel..." she starts,

"I've been at this house so long though I think I've already read my way through all of the books on the shelves here so I'm starting to read the same ones over and over".

"I love romance novels too,” you begin, feeling a slow blush spreading across your cheeks,

"I brought some books from my collection with me this week so I could lend you some of mine?" you don’t look at her when you make the offer, trying to seem unbothered despite your heart beating out of your chest.

Chessy beams at you, "I'd love that.".

"So...do you think that love like in the books actually exists like that? ...in the real world?"

She pauses with a frown and you can tell she’s really mulling your question over, "I don't know...I mean I've been around for a while now and I haven't seen it yet but who knows".

"That's kind of a deep question to ask me over some pasta...you got your eye on a boy at your college?"

You laugh like its the funniest thing you’ve ever heard,

"I mean...I'm a lesbian so no boys...no 'girls' at the moment either though, I've not really clicked with anyone "

She gives you a look like she wants to say something but doesn't.

"What about you...I'm sure someone must've snapped you up by now."

You mean...look at her.

Chessy rolls her eyes at you as though taking what you said as a joke,

"Not at the moment...been on a couple of dates but nothing stuck...the dating pool in Napa is quite small let's just say"

Hm.

Chessy turns to look at you pensively with a tilt of her head,

"I know you want to ask...I can see you've got that look in your eyes"

You relent immediately,

"I heard that you and the butler, Martin were engaged a while back..."

This time it's Chessy's time to laugh and you're thrown off.

That wasn't the reaction you were expecting.

"That's what you were to afraid to ask me?" She looks up with a contemplative pause,

"It was around 10 years back now but, there's not really much to tell...we realised neither of us were exactly each other's type... I'm assuming you met Martin's partner Edward?".

You nod in understanding.

"Anyway..." she begins with a clap of her hands to change the subject,

"I'd say we just need to leave the sauce to simmer now, so I don't really need your help with chopping anymore...It could be useful to have someone roll out the pasta for me though"

Turns out that was something you in fact could not do.

"Is this how they had you kneading dough at Olive Garden?"she teases with a bump of her hip

"Shameful..."

"Here let me show you how to do it..." she offers gently, standing closely beside you

"Can I?" She asks hands hovering above yours, and you nod as she weaves your fingers together guiding you to follow her actions,

"You have to work the dough, see like th-" Naturally of course, you tune her out completely. Too dazed by your proximity to her and the entrancing flex of her fingers as she kneads.

You weren't even going to let your mind go to that place... you refused.

But she did seem to know what she was doing. Chessy was really good with her hands…

The woman herself pauses before turning her head around to face you eyebrows raised.

"Did you get that?"

"Yeah...but I think I'm better off being on pasta sauce duty." You mutter, shaking yourself out of your daze as you walk back over to the pot,

"You're gonna quit just like that?" She chuckles and you shrug with a smirk as she gets back to work.

You look at across Chessy, the older woman trying to blow away a stray wisp of hair as she wipes her hands on her apron to no avail,

She mutters an expletive under her breath, opting to tuck her hair behind her ear with the side of her hand, leaving a huge white flour mark on her face (Chessy of course none the wiser)

With a chuckle, you lean forward to wipe the flour off her cheek with your thumb, pausing to admire how the flecks of light shining through the window twinkle in her sparkling green eyes.

"Thanks..." she smiles staring back at you just as intensely.

"You're welcome"

You drag your gaze from those piercing green eyes down to her lips and back up again. You were so close. It would be so easy to kiss her if you wanted to.

And you really really did. At that moment you wanted to kiss her more than you've ever wanted anything in your life.

"Shit! The pasta sauce is bubbling over " exclaims Chessy and suddenly the moment is gone as you both spring into action.

____________________________ 1.

Turning to the next page of your book, Annie punctuates the silence with an exhausted sigh,

You ignore her.

She sighs again, this one even louder and more obnoxious than the last,

You slam your book closed throwing it onto your lap,

"Hmm...something the matter Annie?" You grin,

"Well...Chessy left her glasses on the table and is blind as a bat without them...do me a huge favour and go give them to her?"

You raise your eyebrow, Seriously?

"Well...I can't be bothered to go!?" Explains the Brit as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Hallie looks away from the tv to join in on your conversation, frowning at her sister as though she had lost her mind, "Huh? Those glasses aren't eve-"

Annie cuts her off with a look.

Something was up here...but if you were being honest you were too happy to have an excuse to see Chessy to even bother to even attempt to figure out what.

You hesitate, before looking at your outfit, smoothing down your T-shirt,

You'd been laying around all afternoon...you didn't want to go in there looking like a mess.

"Well go on! If you take too long she's gonna confuse the salt with the sugar again" Nudges Hallie.

You don't move.

"...y/n?"

"Sorry it's just.." you shake your head, feeling like an idiot, you knew deep down you were being ridiculous but you couldn't help it.

"...do I look okay?"

The twins look at you, nonplussed and you can't say you can blame them, you normally oozed confidence so suddenly being flustered like this was even scaring you a little.

There was just something about Chessy that made you feel like you a teenager having your first schoolgirl crush again.

You laugh at yourself, discreetly fanning your face,

"It's just...you guys didn't tell me that..."

Hallie looks even more confused "Didn't tell you what?"

"You know...that Chessy was so.." a blush creeps up on your cheeks and realisation appears on Hallie's face as she turns to look at her sister, eyes wide.

Oh. Your best friend gives you an encouraging smile,

"You look amazing as usual...go and give Chessy her glasses princess charming" and you're shooed out of the room before you can even protest.

You don't even fully register the sensation of your feet moving until you find yourself in the entryway of the kitchen.

"You okay y/n?" begins Chessy, peering up at you from over her cup of coffee,

First thing you notice was the fact that she in fact already had a pair of glasses on.

You frown. "Uh...we saw you forgot your glasses so I was gonna bring these over to you"

She holds them up to her face to inspect them for a moment, perplexed before folding them again to place in her breast pocket.

"Huh. These are actually an old prescription so I'm not sure how they got there..."

You look liked a kicked puppy.

"But...thanks anyway Hon!" she smiles giving your shoulder a squeeze upon seeing the look on your face,

"Whilst you're here, I need someone to taste test this chilli for me...I mean I think it's the best thing I've ever tasted but who knows, I could be biased"

Loading up a spoon, she blows on it momentarily, hand cupped beneath it, before holding it up to you.

"Come on...I'm not gonna stand here all day!" she states with a snicker and you lean forward to allow her to slip the spoon into your mouth,

She shoots you an enchanting smile as you swallow.

"Good girl...was that so hard?"

What.

You chastise yourself for the place you just went to mentally before closing your eyes and taking a deep breath to compose yourself.

God, she was so hot.

"Come again?"

You'd said that out loud.

"The chilli I mean. The chili is so hot. But so good! I mean it's hot but it's like hot just to the right level. I think you'r--it's perfect!"

"The chilli! Really good"

You run a hand through your hair, face beet red as you turn around to flee the kitchen before things could possibly get any more embarrassing for you.

Chessy shakes her head with an empty chuckle as she turns to resume stirring the ladle in the pot,

Cute.

God she was losing her mind. _________________

"Honestly don't worry about it sweetheart, do you want me to make you some soup?" You hear muttering outside your door and you poke your head out of the doorway, towel still wrapped around your hair to see what's going on.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Whispers the older woman as she turns around to look at you, her gaze wandering with a blush as she sees what you're wearing,

You look down at yourself realising you're wearing the skimpiest pair of pyjamas you own and scratch the back of your neck in embarrassment

"No it's okay...I'm an early riser, what's going on?"

"Annie was supposed to lend me an extra hand and tag along with me to the market to get stuff for the house and some last bits ready for the Thanksgiving dinner but she's not feeling well..."

You raise an eyebrow, Annie? Sick? That girl was never sick.

She shrugs throwing her hands in the air

"Never mind... I'll see if Hal is up to getting out of bed"

Both of you knew that hell would freeze over before Hallie 'don't bother me unless someone's dying' Parker-James got out of bed before eleven.

"No! No, I mean, you don't have to...I could go with you?" You offer, trying to hide the fact your heart was racing out of your chest.

"Chessy's face lights up

"I mean...if you're sure?"

"Yeah...you're in luck: I've got strong volleyball player arms so I can do all the heavy lifting for you too" you jest holding your arms up with a flex,

"Just give me a moment to change and I'll be down." ___

As you and Chessy walk back into the house arm in arm and rosy-cheeked from a day in the Californian sunshine, you're thankful that the others don't acknowledge how a trip to the market that should've taken an hour instead took you four. In return, neither of you opts to say anything about the fact that Annie who this morning was on her deathbed, seemed to have miraculously been cured of her illness upon your return.

And if the others catch you mooning over Chessy, whose smile was that little bit brighter that day, at the dinner table, they decide to chalk it up to coincidence and not say anything.

—

Chessy catches you after dinner, appearing slightly nervous as her hands are held behind her back.

"Hey I got you a little...you know, something to say thanks for your help today?"

she holds out a bouquet to you and you smile at her like you've just won the lottery.

You feel like you have.

"Freesias!" you exclaim giving them a sniff, practically bursting with joy,

"...you really didn't have to Chess" you beam, "I honestly had fun today...the market was fun.".

The housekeeper shrugs, eyes somehow managing to look even more glazed over over than yours.

"...they're gorgeous..." you begin shyly "...almost as gorgeous as you"

Chessy bursts into laughter,

"Real smooth. Do you use that trick on all your college girls?" She quips

You look back at her, eyes shining with reverence,

"Nope...freesias are my favourite so that's a compliment that I'd reserve for only the most beautiful of women" You state with a nod of your head.

Chessy giggles uncharacteristically before placing a hand over her mouth as though she didn't realise where the sound had come from.

Her laughter sounded like the tinkling of bells...you felt like your heart was going explode.

She shakes her head with a chuckle, "That's sweet" she murmurs, not believing you,

"I mean it. You really are! So beautiful…just gorgeous.”

You sigh, feeling yourself get lost again in those kind, soft green eyes.

You wondered what it would be like to kiss her...would she give you that same sweet laugh again? Or couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to trail your lips down her neck and see what kind of sounds she'd make.

You were getting ahead of yourself.

You've only known this woman for a couple of days and you were already acting head over heels for her.

"Sleep well Chessy." You smile sweetly with a sigh, before hurriedly turning to make your way up the stairs.

You miss the longing gaze directed at your retreating form as Chessy lets out a dreamy sigh.

__________________

"Hey, so I saw you helping Chess cook dinner again this afternoon...." Annie quips perching on the end of the bed,

"Oh Chessy! I'm so clueless I don't know how to roll pizza dough...can you show me how...with your mouth?" she mocks you, speaking in a high pitched voice and a faux American accent.

"That doesn't even make any sense." You deadpan,

Hallie bursts into laughter before joining in, giving you her best attempt of Chessy,

"Oh y/n hon, you're such a good helper! Can I sleep in your bed tonight so you can hold me with your big strong hands?" She jumps in, wrapping her arms around herself before launching into a round of kissing noises.

You bite your lip trying to stop yourself from laughing at your friends' theatrics...

"Real fucking mature guys...you're in your 20s by the way, just in case you forgot" you chuckle giving in to the humour of it.

Hallie ignores you, continuing with the kissing noises and you throw a pillow at her, the throw landing perfectly on her head with a satisfying thud,

Volleyball came in handy sometimes

"If you keep on fucking with me, I'm gonna put strawberries in your smoothies tomorrow morning when Chessy isn't looking" you tease, eyes narrowed as you give Annie a gentle shove

Your friend laughs, an inquisitive look on her face, "So what you're saying is....you're planning on waking up at the crack of dawn to help her cook breakfast..."

"Isn't that so interesting Hal?"

Hallie taps her chin, "Very Interesting..."

"You know what else is interesting Annie? The fact that Chessy has been making our friend over here special cups of peach tea like some kind of barista"

"...we don't even have peach tea in our pantry but I do know that it's y/n's favourite"

You pout, suddenly fascinated by a piece of lint on your sweater.

"Well...maybe she was just being nice and appreciated the help I gave her..."

Hallie placed her hands on her knees like she was sitting on a piece of top secret information before turning to face the group,

"Or...what about the fact that I saw Chessy reading y/n's copy of Great expectations yesterday"

"What!?" yells Annie in shock, jumping up with so much force she knocks her blackberry on the floor, the battery within it clattering to the floor beside it.

She looks at her sister mouth agape and Hallie nods her head enthusiastically in reply, "It's true! She was holding that book like it was a fucking bible or something"

"You tried to crucify me for even looking at your antiquarian book collection and Chessy has free reign over it after a couple of days!?"

"Oh you really do like her"

"What? No, I just lent them to her because she a- I was being nice! It was just a-...shut up." You stutter in resignation, face turning as red as the twins' hair

"Look anyway...does Chessy even swing that way?" You question inspecting your nails to fake casualness again.

Your friends look as you as though you were stupid.

"Seriously y/n? Do you know any straight women who own that many buttons ups? That's exclusively been her wardrobe for over 20 years by the way"

"she literally drives a pick up"

"Did she not tell you the story of why she and Martin split up?"

"Yeah because Martin was gay...so?" You question being met with a collective of groans at your obliviousness,

"Look y/n...none of us care that you've obviously got the hots for our nanny...but the tension between you guys at the dinner table is getting weird to the point that I feel like for everyone's sake you need to just go for it" explains Annie crouching down to talk to you the way a kindergarten teacher would to a student.

"Look we're all grown women here! Just sleep together and be done with it...you're grossing me out" adds Hallie with a playful eye roll

"Hal!"

Your best friends had the worst delivery you'd ever heard but maybe they had a point. Maybe you did just need to go for it. _____________________________

It's just gone 13:30 when you pad softly into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes as you're still waking up from your nap.

"You? You're still here?" Snorts Chessy at the kitchen island, nose deep in today's paper but somehow still sensing you before you could even got a word out.

You perk up as you walk over to where she's stood.

"Oh please, you love having me around! You're definitely gonna miss me" You bite back, laughter in your tone

"Yeah..."

The truth is you and Chessy had been spending a lot of time together and tomorrow was your last day in Napa. You'd be lying if the thought of leaving the place, no, the thought of leaving Chessy didn't make your heart ache.

"You seem really invested in that paper...haven't even looked at me once...How'd you even know it was me?"

With a dramatic sigh, she neatly folds the newspaper before placing it on the table in front of her with a flourish and you grin as you finally get to see her face...it was quickly becoming the highlight of your day.

She was glowing... she probably had no makeup on either and still looked breathtaking. But that was just Chessy; stunning,even without trying.

"I don't know...just did." She explains simply, looking at you with a warm smile.

And boy was it warm.

You felt your insides turning to mush again and you lean against the countertop behind you to keep yourself upright.

Sure you were in California but Chessy had one of those smiles that you think could warm you up even on the coldest day...heck you reckoned her smile could probably melt the ice caps.

She casts an appraising look at your outfit, and you ask yourself if you imagined the lingering gaze on your chest,

"Where are you off to looking so sharp?" She asks after a while, eyes darkening,

Oblivious, you give her a twirl with your arms out by your sides before tucking your sunhat back under your arm

"You like?"

"you look gorgeous y/n" She remarks sincerely, gaze unwavering and you turn around momentarily, tucking your lips into your mouth to suppress your grin.

"I was supposed to go out for a picnic with the girls but, I overslept a little and now can't find them...I need your help with that actually..."

"I'm supposed to meet them at some spot by a tree? I was gonna walk down but I don't know where it is."

Her eyes light up in recognition,

"I know where they mean...but walk!?"

"It's at least a mile and a half out...on the trails...you're better off riding there"

"Riding?"

_____

Chessy watches on with her hands in her pockets as you reach out to gingerly to pet the horse,

Sure you were good with animals...but by that you meant ones that were a little...smaller. Like house pets.

Take dogs for example, (especially sweethearts like Sammy) they were easy; give them belly rubs and slide them a couple pieces of chicken and they'd be anyone's best friend.

"Hmm...that's Annie's horse..." The housekeeper states after a while,

"Hallie's horse is gone so I'm assuming they're waiting for you to catch up with them"

"I feel like I already know the answer, but do you know how to ride a horse?" Chessy asks softly,

"Uh, no" You reply incredulous with a head shake.

She sighs, a small smile on her lips before climbing on

"Guess I'm gonna have to give you a ride then...hop on hon" She starts holding a hand out and you look anywhere but at Chessy,

You had a feeling this wouldn't end well

"Today hopefully," she nudges and you sigh softly, taking her hand with a sheepish grin as she helps you get on the horse behind her,

"Never ridden a horse?...You city slickers" she playfully mumbles to herself with a soft shake of her head grabbing your hands to place them on her waist,

"Look it'll be fine...I'll take care of you" she reminds you, clearly sensing your nerves and you barely manage to suppress a shudder,

Take care of you huh?

"Actually I'm from a small town in Georgia." you quip in reply, refusing to acknowledge her first statement and admit your fear.

Chessy teasingly scoffs and you feel her shoulders shake with laughter, giving away the fact that she's joking,

"Yeah, yeah...that's what they all say. You holding on tight?"

You do as told, tightening your grip to wrap your arms around her waist as you lean your head against the older woman's back,

"Yeah."

And the two of you take off.

As the wind blows through your hair you take deep breaths to inhale the musky, floral scent of her perfume closing your eyes and as if it would somehow burn it into your memory.

She smelt like wood fire , and lilies and coffee and you suddenly feel that same pang in your chest at the thought of going home in a couple of days time.

You seriously really needed to get it together...it'd been 10 days. But you don't know if you could.

As you stop to a halt, Chessy expertly dismounts the horse, turning around to hold a hand out to help lift you down after her:

Or course you completely tumble head first and Chessy helps you to your feet, non-judging and patient as per usual.

"How are you so good at that?" You ask with a blush,

"I live and work on a 60 acre vineyard so I had to learn" she explains with a gentle shrug.

You turn to survey the scene:

There was absolutely no sign of Hallie and Annie.

The apple tree that Annie and Hallie had advised you to meet them at was indeed there, a picnic blanket laid on the lush green grass, adorned with a spread that you think belonged on a lifestyle magazine; candles nestled amongst a display of grapes and chocolate coloured strawberries, and fancy cheeses and glasses of wine.

It looked really romantic. Oh.

Hold on a minute...romantic candlelit meal? That sounded familiar.

Chessy crouches down to pick up a piece of paper wedged beneath the basket and unfolds it leaning closer so the two of you could read it:

Chessy and Y/N,

Enjoy your picnic! Thank us later :)

-Annie and Hal xx p.s don't do anything I wouldn't do! ;) -Hal

You look at each other in realisation clearly having just come to the same conclusion.

Hallie and Annie's matchmaking trap.

You really should’ve known...The twins had told you about how they got their parents (back together) when they were 10.... you'd even helped Hallie reenact a similar plan like this to set Annie up with a girl on the cheer team she had a crush on.

Step 1 and 2 were "spontaneous" meet-cutes and step 3 was a romantic candlelit dinner.

The only thing was...what had been step 1 and 2 of the girls' plan?

Chessy bursts into laughter

"They set us up on a picnic date huh?" She smiles shaking her head looking at the spread,

"We've been parent trapped..."

You look across at Chessy and for the first time since you've met her, she looks unsure of what to do.

"Look..." you begin,

"we might aswell enjoy their effort before we head back...I suppose the food does look good" You smile and Chessy relents, her hand sitting on the small of your back as she guides you to sit down beside her.

She gives you a look you can't quite recognise before picking up one of the glasses of red wine, and downing it in a single gulp.

It you didn't know any better you'd say she looked...nervous.

That made two of you.

For the second time today you have to stop yourself from losing your cool. The goosebumps forming on your arms give you away regardless.

"You cold?" Whispers Chessy, taking off her button up without a second thought and draping it over your shoulders

"I get to wear one of the Chessy's famous button ups?" you hum as the taller woman smooths it down over your shoulders

"I know," she agrees playing into your joke, "Guess you must be really special."

She's wearing a tight tank top beneath it and you give an appraising glance at the cleavage now on show, in turn earning a smirk from Chessy. Your gaze then drifts down to the freckles dusted on her arms and you reach out to skate your fingers across them, smirking at the way Chessy shivers.

"...I am."

"...I'm really gonna miss you when I go." You sigh sadly after a while,

Chessy takes your hand in hers, "I'm really gonna miss you too."

You look up at her in surprise, being met with a pensive look from the older woman.

Just go for it y/n. Fuck it.

With a shuddering breath you allow yourself one last glance at her plump lips before leaning in an-

Chessy places her hands on your sternum to stop you a sheepish look on her face,

You frown.

Were you being rejected? Oh, God this was humiliating.

You quickly began to pull away to stand up but she doesn't release her grip on your arm,

"wait...please?" she begs, looking at you conflicted

"Look, you're in your 20s...you sure you want this?”she explains

“Don't you want a nice college girl who's your age? That would be a lot less complicated..."

"I'm sure a hot young thing like you wouldn't have any issues finding someone in your class."

That's all this was about?

You shake your head with a smile, looking at her like she'd just said the most ridiculous thing in the world,

"Sure, I'm young. But Im also a grown woman. I know what I want and I want you."

"You're witty, outspoken and gorgeous , and compassionate...I've just...I've never met anyone like you and I won't forgive myself if I don't at least tr-"

you're interrupted as Chessy cuts you off with a bruising kiss and you let out a squeak of surprise before relaxing into it with a whimper,

You push her onto her back with a giggle, straddling her waist as you lift your hands to her cup her face, trying to pull her as close to you as possible.

Her lips were soft and warm against yours and she parted them slightly with a groan to allow your tongue to slip inside. Chessy tasted sweet; like red wine and strawberries and future lazy afternoons spent cuddling beneath the napa sun...like hope.

Breathless, you begrudgingly pull away from her, leaning your forehead against hers, up close like this you could see every single little detail on her face;

The laughter lines that were deepest beside her eyes, the way the slithers of sunlight, peeking through the leaves of the tree illuminated little specks of brown that danced around in her eyes, her swollen pouty lips that now had your lipstick all over them

She was the most gorgeous thing you'd ever seen.

You let out an airy laugh but you couldn't pinpoint what at...relief, happiness,just general amusement at the situation?

You got the girl. You really did need to thank the twins later.

Chessy chuckles too, turning to press a soft kiss against your palm, hands slowly snaking up your thighs.

"...Just incase we haven't covered it already...I want you too."

#first ever fic on here ahhh #used to writing full on chapters on ao3 so writing short oneshots will be a learning curve #chessy x reader #chessy #the parent trap #wlw fanfic #genuinely was terrified to post this

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bronx-bomber87 · 8 months

Text

Happy Saturday wonderful fandom :) Ahhh the next in the line of goodies to come. This one doesn’t have a ton for them but doesn’t mean there isn’t absolute gems in it. So it'll be a littler shorter than the last one ha Also Aaron is amazingly hilarious in this episode. I love him to death. Let us get started.

5x09 Take Back

We start off with Tim being Watch Commander while Grey is miserable in NYC ha Things get immediately awkward when Chris arrives. Still clueless as ever asking Tim of all people about Lucy’s taste in houses. I mean if you don’t know her taste at this point should you really be buying a house together? Tim looks intrigued when he says he needs his opinion then it gets so awkward when it's about a house...

Tim is so very uncomfortable when he asks his opinion. Knowing this is going NOWHERE for Chris. I’ll never forget this hilarious post I saw about this scene after it premiered. I couldn't find it this time around. Had the lyrics from anti-hero by Taylor swift. ‘It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem it’s me.’ You ain’t ever getting that house with her because of that man sitting there LOL Idk why that post made me laugh so hard but it did. It stuck with me clearly haha

It’s so very weird Chris comes to Tim for this. It's obvious he knows Tim knows her the best. Crazy to me he's not threatened at all by that fact. Clearly he isn’t if he’s coming to Tim for advice. Blows my mind how blind he is. Lucy comes in asking what they’re talking about? Chris tells her he found THE house. Lucy looking as uncomfortable as ever at this news. Saying he's going to call the realtor and call her later. Lucy's high pitched 'I can't wait...' Couldn't be more awkward if she tried.

He gives her a kiss on the cheek and leaves. Tim giving that good ole fake Sanford smile when he does. Tim's face crack me up. Like he stole your girl and you have no idea you putz heh Also just so on brand for Chris to not see how uncomfortable Lucy was. He’s been blind their entire relationship It’s unreal. You can also see how much Tim hates seeing him kiss her. Even if it’s on the cheek.

It’s almost a grimace really as he watches it. Probably thinking of all the ways he could easily kick his scrawny ass haha That fake smile begging for Chris to leave the room so this awkwardness can pass. How Chris doesn’t pick up on either of these vibes I don't know. But then we call him the clueless clown for a reason don’t we?

Lucy doesn’t look comfortable till Chris leaves the office. Tim asking 'How the breakup is going?' HA Cleary it's going well Timothy...Lucy tells him she’s in the planning stages. Just reviewing the literature. Classic Lucy response. Wanting to plan this out completely before pursuing it. Tim telling her a psychology journal isn’t going to tell her how to break up with Chris. I mean he's not wrong.... It's just a bandaid you have to rip off even if its uncomfortable as hell.

He’s so matter of fact with his wording. Using a sports metaphor to explain how she should do it. Makes me wonder if he's actually done this before? Ha She’s adorable in her reply of saying ‘Playbill?’ She truly has no idea what he’s talking about. It’s too funny. It's comical really Tim giving her advice on how to break up with Chris. So you know he can date her haha

Tim has been very patient in all this but you can see him getting a little antsy about it. It is interesting how full circle this moment is. He set them up in 4x12 and now he’s ready to help break them down in this 5x09. Tim is just so ready for Lucy to do this cause he’s anxiously waiting to be with her. It’s pretty damn cute if you ask me. He’s trying to be patient but also is like can we hurry this along a bit?

Lucy says that’s too cruel she wants to handle it her way. No matter how this goes down Chris is going to be hurt though. It's how breakups go there is alway someone who walks away more upset about it. Her empathy taking the front seat in this decision. Where Tim just wants her to rip the bandaid off. Get this over with ASAP.

This is where we see little bit of Tim’s self doubt kick in. It's written all over his face when he asks her if she's having doubts? Worried she’s delaying this because she is having second thoughts about him. About them. Lucy immediately squashes his anxiety with her reply. Shooting massive heart eyes his way as well. She wants Tim to know she’s all in just like he is. That there is nothing for him to worry about.

I love how sure Lucy looks when she tells him 'No, I'm not'. She is so certain this is what she wants. Needs him to know this as well. Not a doubt in her mind about this whole thing. She just has stuff to work out with this breakup first. The certainty in her eyes is everything. Nothing makes more sense to her in this moment than him.

That confidence of hers is why Tim relaxes the way he does above. His whole body draining of the tension he was carrying. His cute smile saying ‘Good.’ Could this man be more of a soft puppy for her? Look at him. That hope and excitement back in his eyes. Lucy replying in kind with her own 'In love 'gaze. They’re both all in and it makes my heart very happy. Also they’re having a full on flirt session in Grey’s office for everyone to see.

I adore Tim being so open and vulnerable in this scene. Making sure she wasn’t backing out. The same Tim who couldn’t communicate in his other relationships to save his life. But with this he is checking in with her. Letting Lucy know his stress about her not breaking up with Chris yet. Lucy assuages his worries instantly. When it’s the right one the harder stuff seems a little easier. More natural. Lucy sensed that panic and instantly calms him with her words and heart eyes. Gah so good. Look at these idiots in love. I just adore them so very much.

This next scene with Aaron is pure gold. I love him so much he cracks me up. Never expected him to be as funny as he is. He notes how quiet she is being and is asking what's going on? Lucy letting him know she needs to break up with Chris. First off like to say we are all Aaron when he says ‘Finally.’ To her breaking up with Chris. Yesssss and Hallelujah finally breaking up with the clown. Nails it even further when he says Chris was never on her level. I mean yeah he never was. Not ever.

Aaron is speaking for the whole Chenford fandom in this moment LOL Chris had nine lives with her and they've finally run out. Aaron's reaction is the best part of this scene. I love that he knew where Lucy's heart was and it obviously wasn't with Chris. He knows it’s with Tim 100 percent. Like most people in their world do. Tim is her equal in so many ways it’s insane. Chris could never compare as Lucy figured out last ep.

Aaron tells her they can practice her breaking up with him. So it’s much easier when the time comes. It’s not a bad idea tbh. This is where it gets hilarious. Lucy brings up them looking at houses. Aaron kinda judging her for letting get as far as looking at houses. Telling her 'Yikes....' HA Tell us how you really feel my man. Lucy reprimanding him saying that is not helpful....Oh Aaron I love you so very much.

Lucy starts her speech trying to find her footing in what she is trying to say. She looks over at Aaron in the middle of it and see he is crying. lol If you didn't laugh at this scene you're dead inside. It's so damn funny. Lucy asking him WTF he is doing? Aaron telling her he is channeling Chris's pain LMFAO I mean he's not wrong she had to be prepared for an emotional response. It's just the way he went about this that is so hysterical. He is having way too much fun with this.

Telling her they should do angry next. I'm rolling. Lucy is doing some channeling of her own. She is channeling her man in this scene. It’s so funny. So aggravated with his role playing in this. Wondering why she asked for his advice in the first place? hahaha They then get a call about a 'Navi'. Lucy is so confused. Aaron geeks out and says it's from Avatar. Tells Lucy she should ask if it’s full grown. The look she gives she is channeling her husband again so much. ‘Aaron, it’s a fictional character...’ LMAO

I really love this ending scene with them. Aaron wants to do one more practice run with her. Lucy tells him she doesn’t need it. (Oh but you do....) That she’s just going to go with her gut on this one. It sounds like a solid idea in the moment but it's honestly the worst thing to wing it. Especially when it's something this intense.

When something is this emotional the right words tend not to just come to you IMO. They sure don't for me. I love him being brutally honest with her about it LOL Saying it’s a terrible idea. That he likes the sentiment but this isn't going to end well. I mean he’s not wrong as we will see here in a bit. Lucy once again channeling Tim in this moment. Cutting him off from saying anything else and just tells him good night haha

We get to the breakup scene we’ve all been waiting for. Lucy is bumbling and awkward. Not knowing where to start. Chris once again blind as a bat. He has no idea why she’s acting this way. Lucy curses Aaron for being right about this moment. Saying she should practiced more LOL I adore her panicking and defaulting to Tim’s playbook advice haha idk what’s funnier that or her being shocked Chris knows what she means by saying that.

All that prep and thinking this out and she went with her man’s advice on how to end this. This makes me giddy to no end. I bet you it’s cause Tim was on her mind from the minute Chris entered the apartment. My guess is that is part of the reason she fell back on his advice. Literally the most Lucy Chen thing ever to use it then be surprised Chris knew what she meant. I love her sfm haha

Chris stumbles around shocked as hell she’s breaking up with him. He seems so very blindsided by the whole thing. I mean if the man opened his eyes for once he wouldn’t be that shocked…But this Chris we are talking about. Lucy tries to get him to talk to her more. Saying they should sit down and talk this out. Chris just bails not wanting to talk at all. Not wanting to fight for her at all. Just takes off like a child who didn't get what he wanted.

Now I’m ok with this. Obviously we all are. Just goes to show you Tim was willing to fight for her and Chris wasn’t in the end. Lucy said it was over and he just left. I mean he wasn’t wrong there isn’t much to talk about out. She doesn’t love him. But still no fight in him at all after Lucy does this. Just folds like a cheap suit. A clueless clown from beginning to end...

We’ve reached the scene of the ep that made us all swoon and squee. I remember feeling so anxious to get to this scene. I had to re-watch the episode to truly appreciate it all. I was too antsy to get back to them sharing a screen. I was so damn giddy this was the place we were in. They spent the majority of this episode apart. So all I could focus on was her coming back to him in this moment.

I adore Lucy coming back into the station to talk about the breakup right away. Needing to share this news with him as soon as she could. I love that she returned to work just to tell him about this. So anxious to get back to Tim after it was done. Lucy wanted him to know as soon as she could it was over with Chris. Knowing he was just as anxious as she was about the breakup. It's sweet how he tentatively approaches her when she says why she is back.

He wants to be understanding about it. Seeing if she wants to talk about it more. Doesn't just want to jump the gun and bulldoze her feelings about the matter. Lucy isn't there to chat about that though. She wants to cash in on him asking her out. Because she couldn’t wait another second without him asking her out again. They're both so damn nervous and sweet in this scene. Fidgety and excited about the prospect of their future. Lucy messing with her hands the entire time as she explains the breakup. Tim keeping his distance while she explains it.

Gah I love her fidgeting near her ring as she approaches Tim. Anxiously awaiting for him to ask her out again. Lucy’s nervous way of reminding him to ask her again like they decided. How she looks into the bullpen before approaching Tim. Saying ‘So…’ He looks nervously excited by her doing this. Eric the king of expressions strikes again. The way his eyes go to check the bullpen as well before refocusing on her. He isn't sure what she is going to do in this moment.

The entire station can see into this office. He looks so friggin cute in his nervousness. I love that that she makes him nervous like this it's so adorable. Lucy gains her confidence and looks him directly in the eye flirty as can be. Asking him if there's something he wants to ask her? The whole purpose of her returning to work is to secure their date. Telling him about the breakup was the catalyst yes. But truly she was wanting to hear him ask her out again.

Tim see's her confidence and starts shaking off his own nerves. Replying in a sassy manner. Their banter the undercurrent of this moment going forward. Fueling them with the courage to say what they want to. Tim can't help being playful and sassy with her replying ‘I can’t remember.’ Doing that cute smirk of his that I love so very much. Wanting to push her buttons a little because well it's Tim.

Lucy is affectionately violent in her reply haha Look at her she is beaming with adoration. She loves this goober in front of her so very much. ‘Don't make me hurt you.’ Because she would legit hurt him if she had to in this moment haha I saw a funny parallel from this to her ripping that tape off in 4x07. She'll do it Timothy LOL Don't test your girl.

I love how he gets serious after she says this. It's the way he slowly moves towards her. That intent look on his face in the first one. *fans self* gah. Then in the second one the way he melts for her. In a way only Lucy gets to see. Asking with as much giddiness and excitement as I ever seen in this man. "Do you wanna go out on a date? Look at this puppy of a man. He is beyond excited to ask her this question again. Knowing now he will get a yes with no stipulations this time around. There is still a little nervous hesitation in his delivery which is precious.

Lucy is bursting at the seams with absolute giddiness when she replies ‘Yeah. I do.’ So happy he's asked her again. How one looks when the man they love asks them out. There’s so much to love about this scene. He’s asking her out in the Watch Commanders office. I love that sfm. Both ecstatic they’re finally going on a date with nothing holding them back now. They’re at work and have to restrain themselves from being too obvious. Which you know they suck at heh

My god anyone looking in on them in that last gif could see how in love these two are. They're so excited just to be around each other right now. The way they’re just standing there looking into each other’s eyes with the dopiest in love smiles. I cannot. I remember thinking the break was gonna take forever to get through. What a time to be alive watching this the first time I remember. LOL

~~~

Side notes -non Chenford

Is it just me or does John have more chemistry with Genny than he does Bailey? Thought I’ve always had from this ep. Probably just me but I always thought they had solid chemistry.

Greys have a ROUGH SL in NYC.

Celina also has a hard time in the ep. With their suspect dying in custody. She has a tough rookie year.

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pensat-i-fet · 2 years

Text

A not so soft launch (Pablo Gavi x Reader)

**@dohmeti suggested I could do a part 2 for Dealing with the enemy where both of them have to be on the red carpet and I thought it was a great idea. So after some brainstorming, this is what I came up with. This can be read on its own but reading part 1 definetely adds nice context for the characters. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the love for part 1 ❤️**

Word count: 1342

Masterlist

Wattpad

"I'm going to follow you on Instagram".

"Why?"

"To kick start our soft launch".

"Our what?"

Your boyfriend's confusion was hilarious.

"A soft launch is when you leave hints on like social media to let people know we are together. And then we do the hard launch".

"Which is?"

"Posting together, Pablo. What else?"

You keep walking around the room, phone in hand, nervous about this moment. While he just lays down in bed not understanding what a big deal this is.

"It sounds like a lot of work".

"Says the guy who spends 90 minutes running around the pitch like a headless chicken. Liking a couple of posts won't be that tiring".

"But why can't we just say we are together?"

"Because that's not how things are done nowadays. We need to do this and maybe mention something in interviews if we are asked. That type of thing".

He shakes his head and keeps scrolling on his phone while you sit on the edge of the bed, index finger hovering over your phone screen.

"Imagine it's a handbag".

"What?"

"Instead of the follow button, imagine it's the buy button for one of those handbags you love so much. You don't hesitate to press that button…at all".

"I hate you".

He reaches to you to grab you by the waist and take you closer to him.

"It'll be fine when people know about us. Stop worrying".

"But what if I lose my Madrid season ticket? Imagine the scandal".

"I'll give you one for the better team. Swapping Madrid for Barça will be an even better decision than dating me".

"Never!"

You take the phone back and press follow.

"Done!"

"So proud of you, baby", he teases, kissing your head.

"Shouldn't you be happy? You were begging me to follow you on Instagram for ages".

"Until you said yes to my offer to be my girlfriend on the first attempt. That's much better than a follow. And I know you stalk my profile anyways".

"I do not stalk your Instagram".

"And my fan accounts".

"I don't even check those. Stop lying".

"How about that time I saw you watching a video from one of them?"

"It was recommended on my explore page, Gavira".

"The explore page that recommends similar content to the one you search…makes sense".

You get up, taking the clothes you had picked before.

"I'm going to take a shower and you're not invited to join me for being an annoying idiot".

"You still love me!"

"I might change my mind about that!"

After your follow, several media outlets posted about why you would follow a Barça player on Instagram and most just assume you had your eye on him. Well, they weren't completely wrong.

There were also comments about it on Gavi's fan pages. You know, those ones you didn't check…while he was around and could see you doing it. They have great photos of him and you liked looking at them when you missed him.

"Maybe you can comment something on my new photo".

"Like what?"

You go to your Instagram to find the photo you posted a couple of hours ago. It was a behind-the-scenes shot of your show.

"I got it", he says. But he doesn't let you look at what he is writing.

A notification on your phone alerts you he had sent it and so you check it to see what he came up with.

Smart. Just a comment about work. It gets people talking without being too obvious.

"You're good at this. Ok, what should I answer?"

"How about the zipper emoji?"

"Wait. You're too good at this. I think I've found you a career for when you retire".

Throwback to when I got to celebrate my birthday on set with my absolute favourite humans!

Pablogavi: when is season 3 out?? I need it now!

Yourusername: 🤐🤐

"There are already comments from people who noticed our interaction. Perfect!", you said, pleased.

"What's next?"

“I have an interview tomorrow. I’ll suggest I might be seeing someone. And I’ll share my location too. So people can wonder why I spend so much time in Barcelona”.

He shakes his head, muttering. “So much work”.

"I've been invited to the movie premiere you are going to".

"Why?"

"I don't know", he shrugs. "I just have. I get invited to a lot of things but refuse to go. I don't want people to think I'm not focused on my career because they see me at parties".

"Makes sense", you say, cuddling to his side. "Why are you telling me about the invitation then?"

"I thought we could go together".

You think about it for a second and yes, it is a good idea. But it also feels too soon. You had only been doing the soft launch for two weeks.

"I don't know…".

"Come on. It's perfect. We show up together on the red carpet and we don't need to do anything else".

"Can I think about it?"

He nods but you could tell he was unhappy you had refused. So you mentally proceed to do a list of pros and cons.

"I don't think it's a good idea".

"Well", says Gavi, getting up and leaving you on the sofa alone. "I'm going anyway. The movie sounds fun".

Saying you feel bad would be an understatement but it is what feels like the right decision at the moment.

There had been some tension in the days prior to the premiere and Gavi uses your not wanting to be seen with him as an excuse to leave in a different car to the event.

So when you get there, you see him already attending the press. He had gone through a couple of groups of journalists and now it is your time to be interviewed by them.

"Oh my God! You look stunning. Tell us who you are wearing tonight".

"Valentino. When I saw this dress at the fitting, I didn't need to see more".

Rehearsed answers are always a winner.

"Have you seen who's here at the premiere?"

"A lot of people, I would assume", you laugh nervously, knowing who they meant.

"Well, you see, we noticed you following Gavi on Instagram a couple of weeks ago and now he's here. Maybe you'll have a chat with him? Even if he is the enemy?"

"Maybe".

You move to the next groups of reporters and, of course, there are more questions about the footballer that was getting all the attention tonight.

Too much attention, if you were to be asked. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see a group of women surrounding him. Their flirty giggles were so annoying. Could they be more obvious?

You try not to roll your eyes while you keep talking to the press.

But then, one of them really pushes her luck, offering her arm so your boyfriend can take her to the red carpet to pose with her. And he accepts her offer. Obviously, she doesn't know he has a girlfriend but what the heck?

While you wait your turn to go to the carpet, you see her getting closer to him. And then…she kisses his cheek when the photographers asked her to do it!

"Oh no she didn't!"

You walk to where they are posing and when Gavi sees it is you approaching them, he starts to smirk.

"Excuse me", you tell the girl who is still holding onto his arm. "That's my boyfriend so I would appreciate it if you stopped touching him".

She looks at you, shocked, and does as you told her.

“I think you scared her”.

“Good!”

"But what are you doing here? I thought you didn't want anyone seeing us together".

"Oh shut up!"

You grab his face with your hands and kiss him, causing all photographers to move to where you two are standing so they can get the best photo.

Gavi immediately grabs your waist and deepens the kiss. His plan to make you jealous had worked perfectly.

"There is your hard launch".

#pablo gavi #gavi #pablo gavi imagine #pablo gavi one shot #pablo gavi fluff #pablo gavi angst #footballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer fluff #footballers angst

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thesherrinfordfacility · 1 year

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okay ahem so-

couple of things!!! first off, we know from the two below pictures that:

first pic shows crowley with short sideburns, the second with long

can't quite tell but i think the glasses have changed too

also is it me or has aziraphale's hair gotten longer???

both show crowley in the turtleneck which is now suddenly like a Thing™

dirty donkey obvs very prominently in place in both pics.

now this has sent me for a loop bc im still adamant that the sideburns indicate a time skip, so let's go with that for the moment. i think we can be fairly certain that the first pic can't be around the time of the 'naked man friend' incident bc its a different top etc and aziraphale has the record so this must presumably be toward the end of ep1 or in ep2. and tbh doesn't it seem really ooc for aziraphale to suddenly be frequenting a pub??? or even crowley for that matter??? and they're not even drinking wine (that's THEIR drink)

so this led me to an absolutely insane idea that crowley is picking up part time work as a bartender in the donkey (which honestly is hilarious to me and i hope it's true, but times are tough and a girl has to eat!!!) (and which when you consider on the table that aziraphale's drink is finished but crowley's is not... is he on the clock???)

in any case there must be an interaction between crowley finding out about gabriel, and the force lightning scene, and then the pub scene. crowley's lewk (ie chic office fit) feels a deliberate departure from his standard wardrobe (something he dug out of the back when he had to vacate the flat?) and a return to the 1967 scene when he first wore it- we don't see him wear it at any other point after '67 and before now, so when exactly is this new photo set?

so what if aziraphale gets the record sent to him as a clue to solving the goob mystery/second coming, goes to crowley as he's arriving for/in work, "something has just been delivered to me, and i think it might be ✨A cLuE✨"-

-gets told to get stuffed by crowley (ie first photo), but aziraphale reattempts to speak to crowley later on (second photo) and this time he agrees? SHAX SPEAKS TO CROWLEY and says he needs to get aziraphale on side, and then that's when crowley saunters back into the bookshop "I'm back"?????

i don't even know what im saying anymore someone help me

#good omens #good omens season 2 #crowley #aziraphale #not tagging as a spoiler bc its an officially released photo #good omens speculation #not a shitpost but its good omens babyyyy

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findafight · 1 year

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Controversial headcanons/opinions! That are mostly about Steve now that I read them back.

1. Stancy’s biggest roadblock is Nancy’s inability to admit she’s wrong/makes mistakes.

2. Jancy’s biggest roadblock is Jonathan’s parentification. Jon loves Will, but some of his devotion to him is tied up in that - something I think fandom tends to overlook. We’ve already seen that Nancy either forgets or underestimates how much the Byers rely on Jon and I would not put it past her to view him looking after Will on the same level as her having to look after Mike & Holly.

Even once it’s revealed and they talk about it, it’s going to open a rift between them.

3. Joyce doesn’t give a shit about Steve and never will. Hop gives a shit reluctantly, in a mostly professional capacity but will be haunted with guilt if Steve dies.

4. Karen Wheeler is a shitty person and if the Duffers wanted me to think different maybe shouldn’t have teased her considering sleeping with a kid her daughter’s age. Also doesn’t give a shit about Steve, but is better at hiding it.

5. Billy, while being in the closet and brimming with self hatred, did not have a crush on Steve - he wanted the weird codependent yet weirdly void of sexual tension friendship that Steve would go onto have with Robin.

The fact that Steve hated him and was constantly ignoring him or pushing back at him was part of the appeal. That and the fact Steve’s a bitch - Billy thought that was hilarious.

6. Steve intelligence wise is average and actually has a fairly broad general knowledge - he just has difficulty with the terminology and isn’t great at explaining things to other people.

7. Steve’s kids are Dustin, Max, Lucas and Erica. He will absolutely protect the other three, but any presence he continues to have in their lives is a by-product of the other four.

8. Mike has a on again/off again crush on Steve and it’s part of the reason he turns into an angry cat around him.

9. We will meet Vickie’s entire family before we see the Harringtons on-screen.

10. Jon would *not* react well to Stargyle happening - he refuses to believe Steve is queer, assuming he’s just messing with Argyle/trying to get revenge on Jon for cheating with Nancy (for added tragicomedy, this is how Steve finds out about that).

11. Eddie likes ABBA. I have no fucking idea why fandom seems to think that he’d hate it and has me genuinely questioning how many people in fandom have met an actual metalhead. I know he’s a pretentious douche, but *Jesus*.

12. Whatever else happens between them, Robin will always hold a grudge against Nancy for not knowing who she was when they were first introduced. Steve has the excuse of being a popular kid who was ignorant of his surroundings at all times. Robin is the person who could swipe Valedictorian out from under Nancy but chooses not too. See also, Barb and the handful of grudges she has with Nancy regarding Steve.

omg so many anon! let's do this. long post so I'm going to add a readmore!

Yeah I mostly agree? The inability to let Nancy apologize or be wrong I think really sets back her growth as a character no matter what, and it's really pronounced with stancy! It is something that could be resolved but I do not think the show will do that. Steve wasn't the person Nancy needed in s2, but maybe he is now. Idk there's better stancy meta out there haha There are issues they have I'd love to see addressed but. doubtful they will. Idk if nancy will end up single (like I think she should) but I also don't know if they're actually going to follow through on stancy revival in s5 or just leave jancy as is.

2. Jonathan's parentification!! Absolutely agree. He needs to work through his inability to move on and look to the future for himself. His focus is on Will, who needs more of an older brother from him than another parent, especially now Will is closer to the age Jon was when everything started. Jon is defined by his family, and them needing him. But we sort of see in s4 that Will is growing up, El is too, and they don't need him in the same way Will needed to depend on him in earlier seasons, and Jon is spending time smoking with Argyle, but not actually dealing with what he's feeling.

this is room for Jonathan to develop character-wise, but it's also so interesting how his parentification has been an issue with Nancy! Like she wants to be a priority, but Jon can't do that, because he hasn't figured out how to 1) focus on himself and his wants 2) let himself look at the future as something that isn't looming but something to look forward to!

God I would love to see him figure out what he actually wants and how to balance that with his loyaty to his family in the show! or read a jon focused fic where he gets to deal with these things.

3. Joyce doesn't like steve :'| why would she? he's just some guy to her that Jon didn't like and who used to date her son's girlfriend. Steve's not on her radar at all she doesn't give a shit about him lol (I should write more of the joyce doesn't like steve fic)

4. uhg yeah I think I've already posted about alternatives to the stupid Karen side-plot where it's like. random pool middle age affair man, flirting with mr. clarke, or just her making moves on her own husband to show she wants to make changes in their marriage and the fair being a little date for the wheelers or SOMETHING to make her not creepy and actual have it mean something to her character? or just. not! include! any karen plotline at all!

5. billy is interesting because i would say there might be some one-sided sexual thing happening between him and Steve, and Steve hating and ignoring him would totally egg him on with whatever was going on in his brain. idk if he wanted it actually actionable but was probably going for some weird and very intense pscho-sexual homoerotic relationship. maybe not what could be described as a crush but certainly not whatever stobin has going on (though if he had lived stobin would have also pissed him off lol)

6. Yes! steve can understand a lot if he's given time to understand it. like he's just not a genius or talking fast, and he asks clarifying questions so he (and everyone else) knows exactly what's happening. maybe that might look like he's getting left behind but he's making sure everyone is on the same page, which is actually an important part of plans and sharing info. I'd also say he'd probably have pretty good head for strategy!

7. Dustin, Max, Lucas and Erica are absolutely steve's kids! thank goodness we got Steve and Max content in s4, but I'd love to see more of Steve and Lucas and Erica! I do love Steve with El too, because I think they should and could have a great dynamic, but that's all fanon, unfortunately. Mike and Will having some kind of relationship with Steve are just byproducts of Steve being friends with the others.

8. Mike and his mortifying crush on steve is so precious to me. He'd be so mad about it. It'd be so funny. to me. not for him. but for me :)

9. Harrington parents will remain an unsolved mystery haunting the fandom forever and always. We will know the names of Robin's grandparents and their pets before we see or hear anything more than Mr. and Mrs. Harrington.

10. I am obsessed with this idea. I love stargyle sort of coming out of nowhere for other people. My favourite. They can bond over having great hair and being a chauffeur for children not related to them. Jon side-eyeing this so hard even tho maybe he's been focusing on Nancy and their relationship when steve and argyle are having their Bonding Moments. The confrontation of Jon accusing Steve of getting with Argyle to mess with him, Steve going "what the hell. why would I have an elaborate polt to mess with you that included pretending to be queer? and kissing a man? multiple times??"

and Jon blurting about how of course he would to get back at jon for cheating with Nancy and steve just stopping. and trying to clarify. and Jon digging himself deeper. ooooooh. something to think about and expand on?? 👀👀👀

11. it was the 80s and disco was way out of style but also. who doesn't like ABBA. don't trust anyone who doesn't like at least one ABBA song. suspicious. Eddie would be vocal about his hatred for Progressive Rock though.

12. Robin and her grudges!!!! omg yes if robin was holding herself back from being valedictorian she'd be Pissed that Nancy didn't know who she was. like at least know your rivals! that in combination with the barb thing and all the steve things. Robin's not letting it go. I love her pettiness she's so funny and great. Queen.

#findaanswers #stranger things #steve harrington #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #eddie munson #argyle stranger things #idk if i should tag the ships #not billy hargrove friendly #even though it's not not friendly let's be safe i guess #anonasaurus #stranger things meta #honestly i had some computer issues answering this and ive been trying to finish it for. hours no so here it is I'm going to bed #stargyle

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casualaruanienjoyer · 2 months

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Prompt idea: AU where Niccolo introduces Sasha to his parents 🙂

Anon!!!! Aaa this is adorable😭 right right, there are many ways to go about this one, but I think I have an idea, so enjoy!! Sorry it's so long!! (Also my headcanon is that Niccolo's family is whatever the equivalent of Italian is in the world of AOT)

Meeting Niccolo's parents

Niccolo and Sasha have known each other for a while now. Since he got tasked with cooking for the military, they meet almost every day. Sasha was always there first, breakfast, lunch, dinner. It didn't matter! She'd arrive early to ask him about the menu for the day, and she'd usually manage to get extra food from him too. She was always the last one to leave.

Niccolo is, quite frankly, absolutely smitten with this unsophisticated woman. The more he cooked for her, the more he fell for her. She's just… hilarious! He'd never met anyone like her before, someone that enjoys his food so much. Someone that is so unapologetically gluttonous and wild. It amuses him.

Sasha, on the other hand, felt rather confused. Every time she saw Niccolo, she felt very happy, bashful even. But was it her love for his food making her feel like that, or was there something else? She decided to not think about it too much. She didn't usually take feelings like this very seriously.

But today she finds this to be almost impossible.

Today they are set to visit Marley, take a bit of time off to explore the world beyond the walls. And Niccolo somehow managed to convince Captain Levi to let him tag along. Niccolo owns him a lifetime supply of exotic tea, but that doesn't matter now.

What matters is that today he will visit his parents. This was an agreement between him and Captain Levi alone, since it has been a while since Niccolo last saw his parents. They are growing old, and he doesn't know when he'll get to see them again.

"Come, I'd like you to meet someone" Niccolo whispers and pulls Sasha into the crowd with him. It doesn't take long for them to lose the others, and Sasha is confused. "Don't worry, the Captain knows about this."

His grip on her hand is firm, and they walk so fast that she has to hold onto her hat to stop it from being taken away by the ocean breeze.

"Not long now" he turns to her, smiling, and Sasha's heart skips a beat. Her brows furrow and she looks down at the rhythmic movement of her feet. Why did she feel like this?

They soon arrive before a narrow building, squished between many others. Niccolo fixes his clothes and hair, then knocks on the door.

An older, taller man with a pretty impressive moustache opens the door slightly and his eyes widen when he sees Niccolo. "BIANCA, COME HERE! IT'S NICCOLO!!" The two basically yank Niccolo and Sasha inside. His mom checks him all over while his dad rushes out the room to set the dining table.

Sasha feels out of place. Why did Niccolo bring her here?

His parents ask numerous questions.

"Where have you been???"

"Have you eaten???"

"Are they treating you well in the navy???"

"Who is this pretty young lady???"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! I swear!" Niccolo scratches the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Papa, Mamma, I want you to meet Sasha" and he gestures towards Sasha, taking her hand in his.

Sasha's heart skips another beat. What is happening?

"Oh my, what a pretty name!"

Sasha clears her throat. "Ah-um. Nice to meet you!" She says a bit too seriously, extending a determined hand towards the dad, shaking his vigorously. She then proceeds to do the same for his mom. She comes off a bit stiff, but they smile regardless.

"Wow, such strong arms! Are you also in the navy?" Bianca asks.

Niccolo looks at Sasha with a knowing gaze. "Yeah. Yes, we met in the navy. Of course" she smiles, hoping they buy their story. Sasha's never even been good with boats. They make her sea sick.

"Unfortunately, we can't stay long, our ship only pulled in here for a few hours. But I thought we could enjoy lunch together?"

"Yes yes of course bambino mio, we were just about to enjoy some home made pasta together."

The table is now set and everyone grabs a seat. Sasha can't help but admire their beautiful home. It feels very warm and cosy.

"Sasha, have you ever had Testaroli? I hope you'll like mine!" Bianca says as she bring out plates full of delicious looking food. Sasha has no idea what Testaroli was, but she couldn't care less. She was now INCREDIBLY hungry.

"Ah mamma, I'm sure Sasha will lo-" but the moment the plates touch the table Sasha immediately digs in. She takes a forkful of pasta and shoves it in her mouth. She looks incredibly focused, assessing every foreign flavour in her mouth. Her brows furrow and relax and her expression changes several times per second.

She lowers her cutlery, one hand reaching up to wipe some tears that hang at the corners of her eyes. "This… this is MAGNIFICENT! AMAZING! DELICIOUS! HOW HAVE I LIVED MY WHOLE LIFE WITHOUT KNOWING ABOUT TESTAROLI" she whines dramatically, leaning back in her chair and throwing her arms in the air.

Her parents are in complete shock, but Niccolo laughs and pats Sasha on the back. "There there, don't worry about it, I can make it for you any time you want!"

Sasha looks at him with big sparkly eyes and smiles widely.

Niccolo and his parents burst out laughing while Sasha continues to devour her pasta. They spend the rest of their lunch chatting about Niccolo's parents and what they have been up to.

Time finally comes for them to leave, and Niccolo hugs his parents very tightly. "I hope to see you again, mamma, papa. Please take care of yourselves!"

Bianca wipes some tears away while Stefano proceeds to slap Niccolo's back really hard, dad style.

"Next time see you at the wedding, no? HAHAHA" Niccolo's dad shouts as they leave through the door, and Sasha almost trips and falls down the modest set of stairs in front of the entrance.

"The WHAT-?"

💜This fic is now also on AO3

#niccolo #niccosasha #sasha braus #aot sasha #sasha aot #niccolo aot #aot #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #aot headcanons #aot scenarios #aot ship #captain levi #my fic #nicosasha

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

Note

I’m probably more forgiving than I should be, but I would say most people understand there are perfectly reasonable and compassionate people who have their personal reasons for continuing to enjoy mainstream or other media with massive issues. We all have our own opinions and baggage and that doesn’t make us enemies. But “its just too hard to find indie stuff!” isn’t that. If someone has enough internet access to send a defensive anon ask they can use Google or just ask for recs.

It's more than that.

Fandom is a subculture, or a set of subcultures, even with how mainstream fic is now. Supernatural was on for years, so yes, it clearly had a lot of people viewing compared to some novel. However, SPN had garbage viewership compared to lots of hit shows, and most randos at one's job likely did not watch it. It was an inescapable pillar of fandom culture for a while.

Film Bros have such distinct taste someone made that hilarious fanvid to Pretty Fly for a White Guy that used all of those movies they love. Sure, everyone's heard of most of them, but have we seen them?

Film noir nerds have festivals where they go watch increasingly obscure films noir, and there are "classics" all of them have seen that other people haven't.

I know no one who cares about The Secret History... aside from literally every dark academia social media account ever.

Everyone is the protagonist of their own story if they'd just act like it.

People come to my tumblr as a sort of central location, so when I'm melting down about Beyond Evil or even some indie novel, a certain number of people will go consume it too. I'm always picking up tastes from costubers or whatever internet micro-celebrity I like this month.

If you are excited about the stuff you like, other people will consume it so they can talk to you about it. You do not have to passively jump on every bandwagon. Even the supposed normies don't all watch the same shows. (And the idea of normies is a mirage anyway.)

There are whole facebook groups and social circles around indie original m/m novels these days. There are tastemaker super fans who seem to mostly engage in that sphere, and people who hang out in those spaces have all read the big names... big names absolutely nobody outside of the m/m world has heard of.

Go look up the website for GRL, the industry conference, and see how many of the attending authors you've heard of. Probably five of sixty or something unless you follow m/m very closely.

Last time I bothered with After Ellen, they were breathlessly following that Spanish historical soap's f/f subplot. Who else outside of Spain even heard of that show?

I get not wanting to be 100% alone forever, but there is no such thing as universally popular media. We make little pods of taste, some of which amount to full on subcultures.

Those taste groups form when we take a stand for our particular Thing, whatever it is. It requires a tiny bit of proactiveness, but honestly, not that much. People who are already un-normie enough to spend their time on AO3 and Tumblr instead of Instagram or whatever are already making choices about what kinds of tastes to prioritize and what circles to join.

We could make a minimal effort for our favorite types of content and build indie versions into small but viable industries.

Or we could be lazy, spineless cowards.

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eriexplosion · 7 months

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I have nothing to do this weekend so it is Catch Up On Rewatch time. We're up to Decomissioned!

I genuinely love that this episode begins a very long tradition of the batch making basically Zero goddamn money for Cid because they never accomplish the actual goal she sent them there for

I love the Grime of Ord Mantell so much

Like this? It is a fucking look.

"What if it was shiny" WHAT IF IT WAS GROSS AND COVERED IN DIRT AND RUST AND HAD SOME GUY SLEEPING ON IT?

The woman wandering into Cid's looked drunk already but Omega nearly shooting her in the face sobered her up REAL goddamn quick.

Bolo and Ketch are my beloved boys, crime uncles to go with the crime grandma for Omega. I don't know what their crimes actually are but look at them. They're definitely up to crimes.

This is just a sweet moment though, even if Omega is getting frustrated, everyone gathered around to watch her practice. She's not a natural but SHE'S LEARNING.

Cid: I assume you boys know what a tactical droid is?

Tech:

This is unsurprisingly one of my favorite moments he literally looks like he's going to explode when no one speaks up. IS NO ONE ELSE GOING TO TAKE THIS INCREDIBLY EASY QUESTION?

"You make money, I make money, and I watch your back." You fool. You will never get any money from these people.

CID WITH THE BOW IS HOT OKAY, I AM AN EASY MARK.

You know I'm surprised this facility doesn't sell the tactical droid modules themselves, like I'm sure it's imperial funded to get rid of all the separatist droids but come on, no one in the factory other than the Martez sisters is stealing these things?

BEING THE LOOKOUT WAS CROSSHAIR'S JOB. I'm sure Hunter loves getting that reminder of his Failure to keep his family together.

THE GIRLS ARE HERE <3

DON'T JUST STAND THERE. GRAB A WEAPON. "I had one >:T"

Omega was literally about to shoot Rafa at point blank range though like imagine her first kill was from about 2 feet away

SHOULD I HAVE LET THE DROID SHOOT YOU? Hunter has zero patience right now he is So Grouchy the instant Rafa opens her mouth

No worries just jump over the flaming pit of death Wrecker. Nothing bad can happen when you jump over the flaming pit of death.

LITERALLY STOLE THE DROID HEAD AND LEFT THE CHILD TRAPPED ON THE CONVEYOR BELT TO HELL.

God this moment with Wrecker's chip partially activating is so good.

Trace literally stops and realizes the child is going to be dumped into the slag and does NOTHING ABOUT IT FOR SO DAMN LONG. SHE COMES THROUGH IN THE END BUT GOD HOW LONG YOU GONNA STAND THERE?

I love them, they're disasters.

"Fine but I still don't like you." "I'M USED TO IT." This is very much like Hunter with Phee in season 2 he just gets so fucking cranky.

WRECKER HEARING "GOOD SOLDIERS FOLLOW ORDERS" IN CROSSHAIR'S VOICE IS SO FUCKING MUCH. Love this set up for next episode by which I mean I am horrified by it.

I'm easy, I find it hilarious when Echo makes a dad joke about their name.

THIS WILL HELP ME ACCESS THE PROGRAM. *TECH LITERALLY STABS THE DROID WITH SOME FORM OF SPIKE*

Honestly seeing Rafa again makes me remember those fake leaks when everyone was freaking the absolute fuck out over the idea that Rex/Rafa was going to be a thing in season 2 and honestly I still love the idea. I think that Rex falling for a garbage girl with thieving little raccoon hands is the funniest thing I've ever heard. He found a girlfriend in the dumpster.

Our first real push towards 'you can't just endlessly run away while doing it all for the money' from Trace. Again I am stuck on this, that you can't push for two seasons for the batch to actually stand up to the Empire and fight, to actually push back, and then have it turn out they should have just kept never getting involved anyway if they wanted to live. I'm chewing on the walls and the beams.

"in the end, we all choose sides" anyway this is why I think the very end of the show will be the batch together and actively choosing to go against the Empire, not because they're soldiers but because they're a family and they're fighting for each other. But unfortunately I don't think it will be as simple as retirement even if it's what they deserve, because of bits like this. At the very least, they're active in helping Rex get the other clones somewhere safe, even if they're not diving in to fight directly.

The way they hide who Rex is to make it look like the girls immediately turned on them doijsofd

SOON WE'RE GONNA HAVE REX THOUGH. THE BOY.

#the bad batch rewatch

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topazshadowwolf · 9 months

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for the growing up gooptales would Dream or anyone else know about what happend to the gang? i remember you saying gooptales takes place a lil bit after a truce i think. If so then I would assume Dream eventually finds out. although i'm not sure nightmare would tell him very willingly. But if not then it would be very very suspicious that all of your brothers henchmen are nowhere to be found... food for thought...

Yeah, everyone will eventually find out. How Dream does will be 1) first answered later in GoopTales, then 2) answered in this ask I answered earlier. These asks can in about the same time. There will be more bitter-sweet feelings, as Epic best friend is now a "little dude." And Error finds it absolutely hilarious that the pains in his coccyx are now babies. (And he's not above punting children.)

But since this was mostly answered and it deals mostly with Dream, have some more Uncle Dream. :3

---

"uncle dream!" Killer squealed happily as he ran over and hugged the golden-clad skeleton around the legs.

Dream smiled and grabbed the kid up, tossing him in the air, hearing another happy squeal from the child before catching him. "Greetings, little one!"

"me too!" Cross said as he hurried over before lightly tugging on Dream's tunic. "toss me too, please?"

"Well, since you said please!" Dream said as he flipped Killer over and carefully set the child down upside down as the boy giggled away. Arms now free, the positive skeleton scooped up Cross, ignoring the glare from his brother as he gave Cross a toss and caught him. "Are you ready for a four-day camping trip?"

"yeah!" Cross cheered and giggled.

"They better not return to me brain damaged...," Nightmare said as he watched Cross be flipped and held upside down. The worry wort. Dream had no idea his brother would be this protective of a father. It was amusing, really.

"Please, we all know bumps and bruises are part of learning and growing. Right boys?" Dream asked as he flipped Cross right-side up and set him down.

"yeah!" Killer and Cross said as they ran around Dream's legs excitedly.

"is that, like, learning from mistakes?" Horror asked.

"Yes... though they better be mistakes you learn from," Nightmare sighed. He then looked down at Dust. The child was hesitant to leave Nighty's side, and Nightmare would be inclined to the the kiddo stay with him because that's the way he is with these kids. But NOPE! Dream wanted Nighty and Lyra to have four days to just... being a couple and grow their bond.

"Hey, Dust," Dream said, squatting down. "Ferrous is coming with us, right?" The child nodded. "That is wonderful! I think you and him are going to learn a lot in the woods."

"there's things to learn?" Dust asked nervously.

"Yup! Your dad, Mr. Night, already gave me a list of things to try teaching you while you are out there. Why don't you be the one in charge of writing down what we learn so you can show Mr. Night when you get back," Dream asked, and Dust looked up at Nightmare and then back to Dream.

"okay," Dust replied, and Dream held his hand out to the boy, who made his way over to take it. Ferrous, the blue-guy pit bull with tiny nubs for ears followed along behind.

Both Lyra and Nightmare went over everything Dream already knew, including the little bonnets Lyra made to protect Ferrous' ear holes from rain. Whoever owned him before Dust found him thought the dog didn't need ears. The poor thing. Still, even though he heard this all before, Dream pretended this was all stuff he needed to hear again for their sake as Blue, Stretch, and Epic grabbed the boys' things.

#Since I already answered most of this ask #Have some more Uncle Dream #I notice my Dream is different than most I see depicted #This Dream is ready to get his hands dirty to help others #then spend a relaxing afternoon running around and napping in nature #picking up dirt and leaves as he goes #He loves his naps #but a nap outside #the best #10/10 #he will always recommend #Growing up gooptales #Uncle!Dream #Dream!sans

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burning-sol · 2 months

Text

Ranking JRWI PC meetups (not listing campaigns where the characters already knew each other so sorry Riptide):

Apotheosis: Everything about their meet up is spectacular and great characterisation and sets up conflicts between the characters.. It's easy in other situations for the meetup of PCs to feel forced, but here it's that unnatural pull that is weaponised to make Rumi's character SO much more interesting. Like the whole idea of Rumi being willing to drag Peter into their world, to recruit Thanatos despite being so clearly immoral, to be dismissive of Exandroth in favour of Peter.. The absolute brilliance of this cannot be understated.

Wonderlust: Also REALLY good and future context might make this intro even better once we get into the series- honestly would not blame people if they rank this over Apotheosis because it's amazing. Blink has such good characterisation through backstory and actions, it 100% makes sense that Blink would help Troy, it feels very very natural. And the fact that through Runt's backstory we get a REALLY good reason for Runt to join up with the group too?? There's such a coherent world here, all the characters are believably being pulled together, truly amazing.

Prime Defenders (Prequel): I'm honestly not sure where to rank this because I think while the meetup was really effective and funny, it's also a very simple premise. I'm ranking it third because I did enjoy it but I did consider ranking it fourth because the Suckening did have more on its plate than what the Prime Force did, you know? But at the end of the day, I would rather rewatch this instead because I found it funnier that all the caretakers on a school trip got turned into superheroes than some random vampires happen to stumble into each other and struggle to find a reason to hang out.

Suckening: The Suckening isn't my fav in terms of meetups but, I've said it before and will say it again, these characters seem like they were gonna be tough to bring together regardless of how you spun it. I think Arthur is the main issue since Arthur just clearly didn't want to be responsible for the other two, he was doing his own thing?? Shilo was trying his best, but characters don't gel well together when one of them wants to clearly not be there. It's in character but doesn't necessarily flow that well.. But aside from that, they still find a reason to all come together in a way that makes sense, so it's not the worst.

Fated: I'm sorry but Fated has such a BAD meetup I swear. It doesn't feel like the characters are naturally drawn together, it feels like they interact with each other because they're in a video game lobby and know everybody else in the world are NPCs who aren't worth talking to. Their introductions are FUNNY, but I don't immediately get a sense there's any reason for them to be hanging out the way they are. Do you get what I mean when I say it's like they were all put into a Gmod map and Br'aad has walked up to Taxi trying to start Gmod roleplay. Fucking hilarious but not that immersive.

And if you disagree w/ me that okay.

#📚 my posts #📌 thoughts #i hope i didnt miss any?#cus riptide;pd;bitb;mythborne;convergence everyone already knew eachother #i guess i could have mentioned the twitch one-shot but i dont think anyone minds if i leave out the smaller stuff.#if i missed something big you can kill me sorry.

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glaucophane · 2 years

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I'll be up front. I don't like the kind of fan speculation that tries to tease out some deeper, hidden meaning to throwaway lines. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, so to speak, and not necessarily an indicator of some hidden truth.

What I do like is when that kind of speculation takes a more comedic turn, which is why I spent a good 45 minutes retrieving screencaps from a 17-year-old game this evening.

I want to take a sec to emphasize the throwaway nature of these two lines from the first dungeon in Tales of the Abyss. They have absolutely no relevance to the broader plot, they don't provide much insight into the nature of the animalistic monsters of Auldrant (they have a more persistent problem with monstrous humans making monstrous decisions), and mostly come off as very clunky exposition in a scene that already has some problems with maintaining a good story pace. You, the player, can safely forget about them the moment that the boss fight that they precede starts.

I can't. These lines have hooked into some part of my brain that I can't shut off, and I think I know why now. Abyss spends so much time on explaining its world in a no-nonsense, almost scientific manner that it feels less like a fantasy story and more like a sci-fi story that's dressed up to look like a fantasy story. The world has had any mysticism stripped out and replaced by cold, and oftentimes harsh, scientific realities. Magic adheres to strict and unforgiving rules. There are no angels, no elves, no extranormal beings that can swoop in and instantly fix a broken world. The story wants to be treated with the same seriousness in its worldbuilding as the hardest of hard sci-fi. So I really don't have a reason to not treat all of its worldbuilding with the same level of seriousness.

Which brings us back to egg-laying monsters. More specifically, to fur-bearing, warm-blooded monsters that lay eggs. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this.

In real life, we call animals that fit these traits - with a few more, but these are the big two - monotremes. There are currently only four living species of monotremes, though they have a fossil record going back at least 100 million years and estimates put their origins as far back as the Triassic. You may be familiar with the platypus and the echidna, the living descendants of this weird, basal group of animals.

A couple of throwaway lines in a clunky scene that don't matter to the plot could be interpreted to mean that Bamco accidentally made a world that's populated by animals so weird and basal that we still don't have a complete picture of their evolutionary history. Is it a stretch? Sure. But it's a stretch that I find hilarious. The idea of this soaring drama about self-determination and free will being set against a backdrop that accidentally includes monotremes delights me in a way that I'm not sure I can properly articulate.

And if it was, we'd be able to call Mieu by the cutest name for a baby animal there is - a puggle. :)

#Tales of the Abyss #tales of series #tales series #I'm definitely overthinking it but it's just *funny*

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maitaiwiththecorpses · 1 year

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Avoidance Of The First Class

Making this a separate post bc I absolutely died trying to find it again.

@queenofapeacefuldawn thanks so much for the idea and letting me use it! It was and honor!

Avoidance Of The First Class

Coming back to the museum for Thanksgiving was weird.

Her mom was determined to make a feast, celebrate with her sisters, and just be super festive this year.

Aru had a feeling Krithika Shah was feeling lonely.

In the time since the Potatoes had gone off to college, her mom had become besties with Malini across the street, and a painful dread came over Aru as her mom said, "This weekend, beti, we're going to have a big feast. Malini and I planned it! Isn't that exciting?" She asked, bustling around the kitchen.

"That's great, mom," Aru said. She slyly left the room, pulling her phone out and scrolling through her contacts till she found one at the bottom.

Aiden Acharya

She sighed and clicked on the contact, tapping out a hasty text to her ex-boyfriend.

Aru: Did you know about this dinner our moms are hosting? Aiden: Actually? Aru: Yes... You didn't tell her did you?

The palpable pause in the conversation made her heart sink They'd decided to not tell anyone they'd broken up, to keep the dynamic of the Potatoes afloat. Aru remembered that conversation, with both of them dripping in apathy. It was the worst thing to happen-

Aiden: No. Should I? Aru: I think we can get through a dinner. Aiden: Avoidance of the first class?

She thought about responding to that- it was hilarious, it was perfect, it was so utterly them.

Aru left him on read.

THAT SATURDAY, THE MUSEUM KITCHEN.

Brynne bustled around the kitchen with Krithika, stuffing the turkey and stirring the curry as Aru's mom rolled out the roti. Mini was washing rice and Rudy was working on tunes. Hira was watching the football game with Gunky and Funky as the twins set the table.

"Beta!" Malini called. Aru, who had been at the door of the kitchen on her phone looked up to see what all the commotion was about, when she saw Malini bringing Aiden to her.

What a momma's boy.

"I want you two to go back to the house and make the peas and mac and cheese. Oh, and take the turkey," she handed the tray to Aru, who scowled at the bird. "And don't come back until it's done cooking. If you two are going to sit around then I might as well get you out of the way."

Aiden nodded as Aru made her way out of the house, not wanting to deal with anyone else's bullshit. It's not her fault she arrived late!

When they got to Aiden's house, she threw the turkey in the oven without a single thought. "Woah, there Shah. You gotta baste it first!"

Aru stiffened, rolling her eyes. "Fine. You do it. I'm going to get the peas." Who was Aiden to behave like an authority to her?

She pulled the frozen peas out of the freezer and put them on a pan, turning the heat up and throwing frozen butter on it. She rummaged through a few drawers, looking for a spatula, when Aiden came up behind her, tapping her back and handing her the spatula. Aru felt the ghost of a hand around her waist, a phantom kiss on her cheek, and she practically shook at the memories of him cooking with her.

Krithika Shah wasn't the only one who was lonely.

It had been so long since she'd been around other human beings, since she'd occupied the same space as one, worked with someone. Aru had to remind herself to breathe.

We don't need Aiden anymore, Shah. She exhaled deeply, thinking back as to why they broke up in the first place.

=================================

"I'm gonna be moving around a lot, Shah."

"I can handle it."

A pause.

"I can't."

=================================

Photojournalism. His dream. His one passion.

Their downfall.

Aru snapped back into reality when the doorbell rang, frantically stirring the peas, praying that they hadn't burnt yet.

"Is Aru home?" A voice came from the door. Probably some estranged relative, looking to see 'how much she'd grown!'

"Uh, she doesn't live here," Aiden said, an edge to his voice.

Aru turned the stove off, and ran to the door to see...

Andy?

The blond boy from college who'd been on her debate team for finals?

"Hey, Andy... what're you doing here?" She asked cautiously.

"Oh! Aru! Hi," he waved, a small grin gracing his features.

"Hi?" Aru said lamely.

"Uh, I'm probably interrupting something, I can leave-" Andy's eyes ping-ponged between Aiden and her, and Aru desperately stepped out of the door, grabbing his arm.

"No, it's ok. What's up?" She looked at Andy searchingly- could this be the rebound she'd been looking for?

Andy took a deep breath, as if psyching himself up, and Aru heard Aiden shift behind them.

"I was wondering if you maybe wanna go get some coffee with me?" He asked hopefully. "Like. Now?"

Aru's heart sank a bit, despite having a cute boy actively ask her out. No, she couldn't go now, she was helping with dinner. She was spending time with her family. She was trying to get not-so-lonely.

But this was an opportunity to get not-so-lonely!

"Shah, did you turn off the stove?" Aiden asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, it's off," she said quietly.

"Aru?" Andy called softly. She hadn't answered him. Oh.

"I can't go right now, Andy. It's, like, Thanksgiving, and I'm spending time with my family-"

"Seems like an awfully small family with just your boyfriend," he mumbled.

"He's not my- Andy! Come on, you can't expect me to drop everything and be with you!" She yelled as he walked away to his car.

Rude.

She turned to Aiden, glaring at him like a surly teenager, and stormed inside.

She sat on the couch, flipping through the channels when Aiden came in, closing the door softly.

"I'm sorry he did that."

"What? Asked me out? Please," she scoffed. Aru sounded pathetic, and she knew it.

"That he doesn't understand how important family is to you," Aiden finished, leaning over to her. He put a hand on hers, and static shocked him a bit, but still Aiden would not move.

These things were always easier when she was with him. She didn't have to choose between spending Thanksgiving with family or him. They were one and the same.

He did this.

And I can't do it.

The oven beeped. The peas were loaded into a Tupperware container, and now all they had to do was make the mac and cheese.

As the macaroni boiled, Aiden and Aru bickered about what cheese to use.

"All of it." Was Aru's argument.

"Just the string cheese." Was Aiden's.

Aru won with her famous throw-all-the-shit-in-when-they-least-expect-it method.

The mac and cheese was incredible.

Aiden chopped up pieces of bacon to put in the dish before it went into the oven, and Aru made the most awkward conversation ever.

"So. What did you think of Andy?"

Aiden whipped his head to her at breakneck speeds. "He's... blond."

"He's quite nice."

"Not the most understanding one you've found," he remarked, going back to the bacon. Right. Andy had just thrown a tantrum.

Fucking hell, Andy, can't you just make my life easier?

"And you? How many girls have fallen over themselves to have you?" Aru eyed him, slowly stirring the thick mac and cheese.

"A few."

"And how many have you taken?" She asked sharply. He knew what she was asking, but he was making Aru spell it out.

He set the knife down harder than necessary, turning to glare at her. "None. You know that."

"Do I?" She said, raising her voice.

"Yes you do!" He yelled back. "I was ready to wait my whole life for you, I died for you, and I was ready to do it again!"

Right. Aru had forgotten about that part.

=================================

"I can't."

"Why not?" She was on the verge of tears.

"I can't handle being away from you. And I don't want you to waste your time waiting for me."

"Aiden."

"I'm setting you free, Shah. I'll wait and wait and wait my whole life, but the thought of you doing that..." He paused, as if picturing a horror. "You've got better things coming your way."

=================================

"You didn't need to do that," she whispered. It had been a hero-complex moment, unnecessary, unexpected, and painful for the both of them.

"Yes, I did," Aiden said, walking towards her. He reached behind her, turning the gas off, and then took her hands in his. She looked up at him, and in his eyes she knew she would find galaxies. She didn't look for them this time, though.

"Aiden," she said softly, as if that were it. That was the whole sentence, that was everything.

"I'm back, you know." This time she looked him in the eye, shocked.

"What?" She dropped his hands, moving out of being in between him and the stove.

"I did my work. I took my photos, got my money, and lived everywhere. I'm writing now. Poetry. I'll pair the photos I take with a few of them, but yeah. Basically," he shrugged. "I'm back."

"What about school?" She asked, ignoring that open-ended unsaid question. Him being back meant that she didn't have to wait any longer, and neither did he, and they could be together-

"Getting my degree in English. It'll be chill." Aru stared at him, shocked. "Shah, I came back because, sure, I'm tired of moving every month, but also..." He smiled gently. "Family, right?"

She put the mac and cheese in the oven, he sprinkled the bacon bits on top. Family.

"I don't want Andy," she said suddenly. "I don't want to choose family or dating, I don't want to wait for someone else to find me, and I don't want you to hide from me anymore." She glared at him, tears pooling in her vision.

"Oh, Shah," he said sadly, hugging her.

"Are you going to leave me again?" She asked softly.

Aiden paused thoughtfully. This wasn't hesitation, and she knew it. This was him thinking and calculating, giving her the most honest answer possible.

Because Aru would not accept lies.

"No, I don't think I could."

She slumped into him, out of relief, exhaustion, or just starved for comfort. "Good, cause I was dying of boredom these past few months."

He laughed and kissed her once, swiftly and softly, then pulled away searching her face for something telling him to stop. He grinned when he found none, Aru smiling softly, and she leaned in this time.

The oven beeped.

They brought the food to the museum, barely four hours later. No one knew that they had ever broken up, her sisters making jokes about them, her mom smiling sweetly at them, as if to say, "look at the happy couple," but Malini, she looked at Aru and winked.

"When you marry my son, Arundhati, you will mention me in your toasts at the wedding," she said, a hint of menace in the apsara's voice.

Family.

Things were easy with her family. Rarely simple, but easy, yes. She did not have to compromise on her values, she could eat happily, watch movies.

And in the middle of it all, Aiden would be there.

Because family, right?

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