#her storylines like that. and we don't even have to talk about her marriage to carson

[dollypopup]

y'all can all cancel me (again) for this, but if there's even a SHRED of 'who should I pick?' from Penelope in season 3, I am tuning out SO fast because like. . .sorry not sorry, there IS no choice. Debling is some crusty OC suitor she barely even knows and Colin is a man who she has been so supposedly in love with to the point where she'd ruin her entire family's reputation to have a potential love story with him. Penelope and Colin have background, years of knowing each other, intimacy that few people in the Ton can boast of having (letters, conversations about purpose, fights and arguments and makeups) and her and Debling have. . .a dance or two at a ball because he's a rebound for Penelope's broken heart. he means nothing. he has no nuance, he has no weight to the story, he is such an afterthought to me. either I wanna see Penelope going 'you know what? I don't even LIKE this dude. he's. . .fine, but I don't care about him even a shred as much as I care about Colin' or the INSTANT Colin's like 'you know what? we should get married' if it's not an immediate 'say less, you're already my husband, try returning me without the receipt, Debling whomst?' then I don't want it!

like. . .it's just so frustrating to see all the 'I hope Debling sweeps her off her feet and she rejects Colin's proposal and she makes him work for it and and and-' nonsense from the fandom and it's always tagged and no matter how many times I block it, it just keeps popping up. I go into the Polin tag for POLIN. I don't give a SHIT about a male love interest other than Colin. Not one. Not a shred. Not an iota.

and also. . .Debling has the 'benefit' of not having depth, or character traits, or HISTORY, so peeps can project onto him however they want, but I'm calling it now, there is NOTHING he could do or be that would make me like him more than Colin. Colin will always hit different, and I will always love him more. and if Pen's not on that same page? lol bye

you want me to believe Penelope and Colin are soulmates and it's romance for her to hem and haw about how difficult a decision it is for her to marry a stranger who knows barely anything about her. . .

when Marina was out here dropping banger lines like 'You were the only man with which I could see myself being happy' and 'I do not care about any of these men, where is Colin?'? like hello??? and she wasn't even fully in love with him!!!! but we'll demonize her until the cows come home in our fandom and make her the villain in Polin's love story for DARING to get in between Polin, yet Debling, a white man, is a darling dear perfect prince for getting in between Polin? existing in our fandom solely so Penelope can be like 'lol, Colin ain't shit, let me entertain any and everyone else'?

if that's the direction it goes then, ten toes down and on my mama, she doesn't deserve Colin and she can move because I'm on my way to court him my damn self

and that's that on that

#you know what? lol it's been a bit since i've posted a controversial opinion #tagging it #polin #sorry not sorry i ship polin. . .so i wanna see. . .polin. . .and i'm getting damn sick and tired #of all the bullshit pen/oc pen/other dude theories and stories in the polin tag #and i don't want polin to lose screentime over a frankly bleh male oc #you can't change my mind #if i don't see at least marina's 'you've seen him with the little bridgertons!' level of squee and 'i only want to talk to colin' #levels of devotion then i don't fucking WANT IT!!!!! #yeah definitely try out the marriage market #realize that NO ONE has a good time on the marriage market #try to get over him w/ whomstever #but then be like 'i don't even LIKE this dude where's colin i miss him' about it!!!!! #because otherwise i am not here #i am asleep #and i am courting colin in your place pen #i'm coming for your man #anti debling #if debling has 100 haters i am one of them if he has 10 haters i'm one of them if he has 1 hater i am the hater if he has 0 haters i'm dead #it's incredibly obvious that 'pebling' is half rooted in a revenge storyline fueled by anger at Colin and his complexity #and half a projection of wanting Penelope to have 'choices' because she is a representation and manifestation of the fans themselves #and so people think an OC that can be 'perfect' for them- whoops I mean Pen (because he doesn't have any real depth or interest) #he's a cardboard cutout we can throw whatever you want onto #so we can make him 'perfect' instead of the much more meaningful storyline of pen and colin both being messy and loving each other more #and part of it is bitterness over Polin not being insta-love #which. . .if it was i wouldn't like them as much as i do #anyways y'all ain't slick #and it's fucking WEIRD to be in a fandom that's like 'i ship this couple but i hope she gets with ANYONE else' #maybe you. . .don't ship the couple?? #like. . .to the point of wanting her necklace to be from debling. . .and her wearing it everywhere??? WHAT??

[eileenleahy]

downton abbey stupid misogyny show. because why did mrs hughes never get a story of her own except for like. a little ex proposing to her one episode (best episode). she's always auxiliary to someone else's story she was written the way a 20 year old would talk about their mom omfg if you dont give her a life outside of parenting grown people

#she's an eavesdropper she's caring she knows everyone's business she's scottish. she's so messy but tight about it pleasee why would they do #her storylines like that. and we don't even have to talk about her marriage to carson #downton abbey

[yumeka-sxf]

Thoughts on Spy x Family CODE: White

My thoughts on CODE: White will likely be different from most people since I knew pretty much the entire plot beforehand. I'm a spoiler fiend when it comes to my hyperfixations like SxF, so I read the novelization of the movie back in January and kept up on all the promotional videos and images that were released. But when it was finally time to see the movie for myself, did that ruin my enjoyment? Not at all. For me, it actually made me enjoy it more because 1) I knew what to expect so I wasn't disappointed, and 2) I found myself looking forward to seeing all the scenes I only read about or saw short clips of.

With that said, yes, I enjoyed the movie so much! If you're a Spy x Family fan, or even just a casual enjoyer of the series, it's a ton of fun. It has all the elements we love about the series: clever humor, sweet family moments, and spy action/drama. And because it's a movie, we get to see all of this with a movie animation budget instead of a TV series budget, which is another plus!

One thing to keep in mind with these original, stand-alone anime films based on series is that they're meant for a more general crowd than just fans of the series. Since theaters attract a wider audience than late-night TV and online manga chapters, movies like this serve as a means to introduce the series to people who may only have a vague idea of what it's about. That's why these movies contain a storyline that can fit mostly anywhere in the series chronology and don't have anything canon-altering.

CODE: White is an interesting mix of plots that, for the most part, blend together well. There's the main plot that continues throughout, which is saving Operation Strix by having Anya learn how to make the meremere for the cooking contest, but then there's the Yor jealousy plot B which is resolved in the first half, but is then replaced by the next "plot B" in the latter half of the movie, which is saving Anya from the military.

A lot of people didn't like the "Yor gets jealous" subplot when it was first revealed before the movie even came out, since it seemed to be a rehash of her being jealous about Fiona. I personally didn't have a problem with this since I don't think it's unreasonable for her to get jealous a second time, especially when she thinks she sees Loid doing something extreme like kissing another woman (as opposed to just talking). But the way it was resolved could have been a bit better in my opinion. The ferris wheel scene in the movie very much mirrored the bar scene from the series, but the reason the latter is so effective is because we get to hear Loid's inner thoughts during it; we know he's going full Twilight-mode and isn't being sincere, and that's why Yor kicks him. But then at the park, he talks to her much more genuinely and they work things out. But in the ferris wheel scene, we don't get to hear his inner thoughts so we don't get any indication as to whether his repeating of the marriage vows, etc, is him being sincere or not. Then she smacks him, they insist they aren't fighting when Anya brings it up, and that's the end of it.

I do like the fact that Anya reads their minds and seems happy with what she "hears" in their heads, but I still think the subplot would have felt more complete if it ended after Yor realized her mistake rather than have Loid do the ambiguous Romeo act again. Or it could have been brought up one more time later in the movie, for example, Yor apologizes for hitting him, he talks to her more sincerely, etc. If you're gonna rehash the bar scene, at least rehash the scene that brought it closure, which is the park bench scene. Again, I'm totally fine with the jealously subplot overall, just thought it could have been wrapped up a bit better.

Other than that, there were just a few little issues I had, like how was Anya able to afford what was probably an expensive liquor? (was she really packing that much dough in her little bag? She went straight from the bedroom out the window so it's not like she "borrowed" any money from Loid). Also seemed weird that she didn't pick up on Yor's infidelity worries until last minute. A few things stretched the line of believability a bit far too, like Loid's ability to make perfect masks so quickly, and Anya just happening to hit her head on the button that conveniently opened all the windows on the bridge. Also something here and there that didn't align with the manga, like Yor not having any reaction to sharing a room with Loid, whereas she has a totally different reaction to this in chapter 94. Maybe a bit more resolution for the fates of the villains too. I guess Luca and Dmitri survived the crash, but what about Snidel? Did Loid actually kill him or just knock him out? And if it's the latter, Snidel seems like the type who would want to get revenge. A quick cameo of what happened to them in the end would have been nice.

Speaking of the villains, normally I wouldn't like the fact that they're pretty one-dimensional and not that interesting, but for a movie like this where most people just want to see the Forgers being themselves in fun and exciting scenarios, taking time away from that to make more developed villains who likely won't be seen again in the franchise, would have not been the best choice, lol.

But even though I had some criticisms of the movie, all of them are minor and not enough to overshadow everything else that was enjoyable about it. Besides all the humor, of which there was plenty, there were so many cute "awww" family moments that perhaps didn't lend anything to the plot, but were still important to establish the characters and their relationships, and thus make us care about what happens to them. Like the scene of Anya, Yor, and Bond playing at the hotel...it could have been skipped without anything seeming out of place, but it reveals so much about the characters without being blatant about it: how Yor wants to please Anya despite being a bit embarrassed at first to take part in her game, and then how Anya's eyes light up with happiness when Yor starts playing with her...for a series like SxF that's character-driven rather than plot-driven, scenes like this are so important and I'm glad the film creators realized this too!

There were also so many cute, subtle scenes as well, like when Loid and Yor smile at each other after chiding Anya, as if they're happy to share this moment of exhausting yet satisfying parenting; when Anya reads Loid's mind after he saves her but doesn't reveal what he's actually thinking yet we can imagine what it is based on her expression; Loid showing feelings of comradery with the restaurant owner because their pasts are so similar; Anya quietly and sadly hugging Bond in the bedroom; and in the ferris wheel after Yor feels so embarrassed about misunderstanding what happened with Loid and the woman but then can't help but smile with motherly love when she sees Anya waving at her...the movie is filled with moments like this that are like little love letters to fans who know the true heart of SxF isn't so much the action and spy drama as it is the family relationships.

And of course, as I mentioned before, the animation of the movie is fantastic! Not just the action scenes, which are great by the way, especially Yor's fight with Type F, but the character expressions as well. Anya's always had the most varied and hilarious faces of all the characters, but the movie goes even harder with her expressions, especially when she has to hold in her stool! Her faces were making me both cringe and laugh at the same time! The animators did such a good job making me feel sorry for her but also laugh at her.

I'm not a fan of potty humor, but I was confident SxF would make it funny, and I was right! The poop god sequence in particular was as equally cringe as it was hilarious!

To conclude, CODE: White is a must-see for anyone who likes or loves Spy x Family. I can't say it's a cinematic masterpiece or anything, but for what it's supposed to be - a fun and enjoyable film for those who like the series, it definitely delivers! Can't wait to see it at least two more times during its showing in the US...and more times in the future!

#spy x family #sxf #spy family #spyxfamily #loid forger #yor forger #anya forger #bond forger #sxf code white #spy x family code white #sxf movie spoilers #sxf movie #sxf spoilers #sxf manga spoilers

[aromanticbuck]

The way so many people within the fandom are reacting to Buck being canonically queer (bisexual, specifically, according to Oliver) is making me so uncomfortable

I made a post about it last night, but Buck being attracted to men isn't about anyone else. This is about Buck and only Buck. And making it about another character - namely, I'm seeing people make it about Eddie and Hen - is such a disservice to Buck as a character and Oliver's clear excitement to portray this storyline.

Buck being attracted to a man other than Eddie is canon. Buck being attracted to men is canon. We have a storyline involving a man in his 30s having a self discovery arc. Whether you believe his attraction to Tommy is genuine or not, the way I've seen people talking about it is so... Not believing someone can be attracted to someone because they must actually be attracted to this other person instead is biphobic rhetoric.

Being excited for this storyline and not acknowledging all of the other representation in this show in the same breath is not "forgetting Hen" or "erasing her" or "ignoring her marriage to Karen." Yes, Hen and Karen have been there the entire time. No one is saying there wasn't any queer representation in this show before. We're simply excited to see a grown man having a bisexual awakening in real time after headcanoning it for years. Don't tell people they're ignoring or erasing another character because they're talking about an arc that doesn't have anything to do with that character. Pulling attention away from a bisexual storyline in favor of other representation is biphobic.

A lot of people are also talking about Buck coming out as if it's going to happen in the next episode. Stop it. If Buck does not feel comfortable coming out to anyone (he looks clearly uncomfortable in the promo for next week when Eddie shows up during his first date with Tommy) then he does not have to. There is nothing that says Buck has to come out within a certain timeline. In fact, considering how short this season is, it wouldn't even be surprising or unreasonable for him to not come out until the end of the season or even in season 8. Talking about that like he's "lying to Eddie" by not coming out is queerphobic. He's allowed to not be ready for that, no matter who he's surrounded himself with.

Yeah, Buck is a fictional character, Oliver doesn't have a Tumblr and won't see any of what you're saying. But, to use a cliché, all of your bisexual friends and followers (especially those who don't watch the show and therefore have almost no context) will see it.

And yes, even if you yourself are bisexual, this is still biphobic rhetoric. These are arguments that people used against bisexuals all the time.

Insisting that he's not actually attracted to Tommy because he's secretly in love with Eddie is pick a side rhetoric.

"Reminding" people of Hen and Karen when they're celebrating furthers the idea that bisexuals aren't "queer enough" to deserve celebration.

Saying a character "gets to" be out is shaming people who are still closeted.

Buck's storyline is about Buck. It's not about Tommy. It's not about Eddie. It's not about Hen. It's. About. Buck.

#alex says things #911 #evan buckley #eddie diaz #tommy kinard #hen wilson #911 spoilers #buddie #bucktommy #stop being biphobic about the bi character istg #i've already had to mute the tag of my otp #because y'all don't know how to fucking behave

[sevensoulmates]

7x05 Buddie Meta "You Don't Know Me" Part 1 (of 4)

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Welp. I'm back at it again with the four-part metas. I was hoping this one wouldn't take too long but alas there was even more to unpack in this episode than last episode.

Fair warning my meta does contain speculation, and is very much my opinion/interpretation. I will be diving into my personal opinions about Eddie's sexuality and marriage to Shannon here. My headcanon is that Eddie is a repressed gay man, not bisexual, and I believe that while he did love Shannon, he was not in love with her and their marriage was something they were pressured into and was not healthy for either of them. I do my best to look at these topics in a nuanced light, but if you are sensitive to reading opinions that differ from yours I'm warning you of mine now. Let's begin!

Taylor Wong is nothing if not an amazing comedy writer. This call didn't end up being as psychological as I may have hoped but it still acts as an interesting parallel and metaphor. "I'm the Boss of Me!" is the tagline for a self-control conference and Buck and Eddie being the ones hurt here. How they got hurt is interesting too and reflects their exact conflicts in this episode.

Buck is being choked, stopping his ability to breathe but also his ability to talk. In the context of this episode, his inability to bring himself to tell Eddie the truth weighs on him--chokes him with guilt-- until he finally does come clean near the end, and only then is he able to exhale again. For Eddie, his being grabbed by the crotch is funny, but it's also an indicator of his storyline in this episode too. He deals with sexual dysfunction because learning about Marisol being a nun makes him feel so deeply uncomfortable that the idea of being with her sexually disgusts him and stops him from having a functioning sex life. For both of them, the pain and discomfort still linger even after the claw arm guy lets him go, but my hope is that this is indicative that one day both of them will get clarity and be set free too.

"Keeping our options open" is a call back to the last episode where Buck says he's "keeping his options fluid". Whereas the last episode it seemed to be more about sexuality, options open with men and women, this time it seems to be about something else. Maybe it's an indicator of Buck keeping his options open with different people? Which is interesting considering who pops up a second later.

This is part of why I think it's a good idea they're having Buck get used to queerness with another man other than Eddie. I feel like if Buck had discovered his queerness with Eddie, these kinds of issues might've been blown out of proportion on both of their ends and probably caused much MUCH bigger problems. Allowing Buck the chance to work through this with someone safer was a good bet.

Additionally, I find it interesting here that both Buck and Eddie are dealing with external and internal conflicts that mirror each other in this episode. In this instance, it's the fear of being Perceived. For Eddie, being perceived by God. For Buck, being perceived by Heteronormative Society at large.

This would be an adjustment for anyone, so I don't necessarily think Buck is dealing with internalized homophobia that's too detrimental. I think it's more so he needs an adjustment period and needs to figure out why he's uncomfortable. Is it the idea of being perceived as queer by others? Is it the idea of being perceived as queer by Eddie? Is it the fact that you are on a date with a man? Or is it because you're not sure if you're on a date with the right man? More on this when we get to his scene with Maddie.

Now I had a strong feeling that Tommy was going to be someone who only figured out who he was later in life too. And it seems a lot of that was due to his past, possibly how he grew up, and being in the 118 under Gerard who was every "ist" in the book. It goes to show how far Tommy has come and also proves to be interesting if we keep thinking of Tommy as a parallel to Eddie. I also had a feeling that Tommy was going to lean slightly more toward the gay side (though he's purposefully unlabeled which is fair).

To me, the phrase "lying about who I was" seems to align more with someone who is into men and not into women, but that's just my interpretation. Especially because in the next moment, Buck says that he's not lying about how he is, which is more in line with the bisexual experience.

Because Buck isn't lying. He was always/still currently is attracted to women, and is only just now discovering a new aspect of himself with his attraction to men. Whereas Tommy seems to be implying that when he was with women he was lying to himself about his attraction to them. Sound like anyone else we know?

Additionally, we have another call back to 7x04 (plus a myriad of other episodes) where Buck "makes it about him" when Tommy was really just trying to tell Buck more about himself, not imply that Buck was also lying. I'm going to give Buck some grace here because this is all new for him, so I understand his hyper-sensitivity. But it is once again showing another instance of Buck failing to really connect with Tommy about something related just to Tommy. Last episode, every conversation they had always found its way back to Eddie or was about Buck's feelings regarding what was happening. This time, when Tommy tries to be vulnerable and connect with Buck, Buck makes it about him and it feels like a misconnection (like how I predicted with the missed hand grab in 7x03 with Tommy and Buck trying to connect, but something always not quite hitting the intended target).

If down the road we see Tommy's (abridged) story about "lying to himself" come to fruition in a similar light with Eddie's storyline I'm going to be delighted. Here Buck is out on a date with a man who the last episode spent the entire time telling us was extremely similar to Eddie, only to have Tommy align perfectly with a lot of our headcanons about Eddie's sexuality too. I think this is something to stick a pin in to come back to later for sure.

Oh, Buck. OH, baby bi Buck. My heart aches for you and my body cringes. He's obviously on edge, but Eddie showing up just makes it worse. Buck immediately tries to no homo not just himself, but Tommy as well, stating that they're going to go find some "hot chicks" to pick up. Eddie makes a face, obviously picking up on the weirdness of Buck's statement (because "picking up chicks" is wildly out of character for current Buck and has been for years) but he's too distracted with Marisol to dig any deeper into it. He believes it very easily instead of stopping to question why else these two men might be on what looks like an intimate date. Tommy looks hurt, and I feel bad for him, but this was obviously his breaking point, and I can understand why.

I want to briefly touch on Eddie and the way he was speaking about Marisol throughout the entire episode separately from the whole nun thing. I found this piece of dialogue so odd here, because in general this isn't really how Eddie talks, it doesn't feel natural for him, but at the same time, it also harkens back to some of his horrendous dialogue with Ana back in season 5. "This hot chick already found her firefighter" "Spank me with a ruler" "kinda naughty" "Grade me on a curve" "Maybe you need to keep me after class", etc.

I've always wondered why Eddie starts talking like this about or with his girlfriends. I was discussing it with my roommate and she said to her it sounded like an "8th grade boy sitting with his guy friends trying to talk up how he banged some chick when really it's just a ploy to make himself look good to the boys and like he's more sexually active than he actually is for social clout". And you know what? I think that's exactly what it is. Eddie speaking like this feels like overcompensation on so many levels (not to mention Marisol looks lowkey uncomfortable here, that smile is fake af). Trying to make himself seem way more into sex or kinky things (like roleplaying with a teacher or nun) than he actually is. The dialogue is cringey and Ryan overacts it because the audience isn't supposed to feel comfortable with it. It's not supposed to feel natural. It's not supposed to endear us to the couple, it's meant to feel out of place and wrong because Eddie being with Ana and Marisol was and is out of place and wrong. It feels like a performance to us because IT IS A PERFORMANCE.

This is only enhanced by the new jarring information that Eddie has apparently asked Marisol to move in with him (offscreen). Keep in mind that they've been together for (I'm assuming) less than six months, he obviously didn't discuss it with anyone since both Tommy, Buck, and Bobby later are surprised. Christopher is also noticeably absent from this episode which leads me to believe he likely didn't really discuss it with him beforehand. This choice feels simultaneously like an OOC choice AND so very in character.

It's OOC because Eddie has stated that he doesn't like performing, he doesn't want a "ready-made family" and one would think that he would sit and contemplate this seriously given that if something goes wrong, he's providing another example of a failed relationship to his son. Not to mention that living with your parent's girlfriend is a huge thing. I've been through that process before in my own life with my mom and it's really only something you do if you're really committing to a person for the long haul because that's the message that sends to your kids.

But at the same time, this is also so severely in character for Eddie. As is pointed out later, he got married to Shannon because he was guilted into it, he dated Ana because he was pressured into it, and then overcommitted to her far too fast. And now he's doing the same thing with Marisol. This is very much a PATTERN for Eddie. Maybe, as this episode suggests, it's a facet of Catholic guilt that pushes Eddie to move way too fast in his relationships. Or maybe, Eddie finds the idea of being settled with a woman comforting, and he'd be okay sacrificing his happiness and settling with any woman as long as he got to have that comforting facade. All of this points to very obvious compulsory heterosexuality for me. More on this later.

I'm going to talk more about the way the show is choosing to use physical objects, Marisol's things, as a metaphor for who Marisol is, and Eddie's willingness to receive/learn about them as a literary device later. For now, I wanna talk about the exchange of Eddie being the one to bring up "closet space", Tommy being the one to say "Aint't that the truth" and point it towards Buck, who hammers it home with his "bro" line. I find it interesting that they had Eddie say this line, when it very easily could've been Marisol (after all it is her armoire) with Tommy in the middle. Tommy (IMO) is in the center of these two men's queer realization arc. The more subtle one in the earliest stages (Eddie) and the more present one (Buck). The way all of them volleyed this dialogue felt like I was watching a choreographed play, and the lines landed perfectly.

This is also the third line in five episodes specifically poking at Eddie possibly being queer alongside Tommy and Buck. "I've never seen a man turn off a woman with such skill. it's a gift" "you both like to watch half-naked men pummel each other" and now this. "You can never have enough closet space" suggesting that not only was there Tommy in the closet in the past, Buck in the closet recently (and somewhat presently given that Buck just shoved himself and Tommy back into it), and Eddie right now still deep in that closet. Hopefully, there's enough space for all y'all!

I very much liked how this went down. Tommy has a right to break things off if the person he's with clearly exhibits weirdness around being out with you. I don't blame him for his choice here. I like that he's also not making it about the fact that's he inexperienced. Additionally, I think this is another instance of Tommy witnessing something weird between Buck and Eddie, and I'm not sure how much of that he's picking up on, or if he thinks it's generally about being perceived as queer, or just needing to slow things down and process before he actually starts a relationship with a man. All are valid, but I think it's just interesting that a lot of it had to do with Eddie yet again, and I wonder how much of that Tommy is aware of.

From the start of this conversation with Maddie, Buck makes it seem like the thing that's making him uncomfortable most is the fact that he lied to Eddie about the truth of his date with Tommy. Obviously, he's not going to immediately jump into telling Maddie the truth, and he's gotta start the conversation somewhere, but I do find it interesting that rather than seeking her advice on "how to get his date back" he instead is seeking advice on why he lied to Eddie and can't bring himself to tell him the truth.

This could be deflecting because he's not yet ready to tell Maddie. Or it could be the truth that all of this angst may stem from him still trying to get comfortable in his queerness. But the main issue that isn't sitting right with his soul is that he lied to Eddie, that he's hiding a fundamental piece of the truth of who he is from Eddie. Because to Buck it is unthinkable that Eddie doesn't always know the whole truth, all of who Buck is, at all times. At this point in their relationship, they're supposed to know everything about each other, and yet something about sharing this part of himself with Eddie in particular scares him. Could it possibly be that he's aware that sometimes "straight" men get weird around their queer male friends? Could it be that he thinks his relationship with Eddie would be negatively effected if he told Eddie this truth? I will touch more on this later. But for now, Buck makes it clear that his interest isn't wholly in getting Tommy back right now. It's making sure that all is right in his relationship with Eddie.

Once again, this choice by the writers to center Eddie in every step of the way of Buck's queer realization journey is telling. Especially given that he's able to tell Maddie without ~too~ much struggle.

I understand where Buck is coming from. It's again distancing himself from Tommy, trying to get her advice about Eddie. But also, it's an attempt by him to normalize him going on a date with a man, which should be normal, but it's not in Buck's personal historical normal.

Buck wants to believe that because he was an "ally" that that means he'd just be automatically okay with dating a man right away. But I think he's trying to push himself at a speed faster than he's comfortable with (which he again does at the end by inviting Tommy to Madney's wedding) and needs to realize that he can slow down, which is a parallel with Eddie the whole episode. Which is why I think Tommy was right to step back and give him some time. The other part that is interesting is that Buck once again appears confused about the truth of his feelings, similar to the last episode and I just find it interesting in this scene where Buck and Maddie are once again talking about Eddie at her house, it's once again ambiguous if the subject Buck's really hung up on is Tommy....or Eddie. Both are true at the same time.

Go to part 2!

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

#911 abc #buddie #911 meta #bucktommy #speculation #911 speculation #buddie speculation #buddie meta

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping |

Chapter 4: The Pool Party

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia. 

Series Masterlist

Rating: Explicit (18+) - This is here as a blanket rating 

Word Count: 8.8k

Chapter Summary: It’s pool party time. Once we get to the party we are going to be bouncing around to a lot of little scenes amongst various characters. Some stuff from the party hit the cutting room floor.

Chapter Warning: Allusions to cheating, co-dependent relationship. Some military/veteran talk. If something else should be added here please let me know! Also, I don’t have a beta for this, so any mistakes are all me.

A/N: At the beginning of this chapter, I provide some background on another one of the neighbors – the most in-depth I think I've gone since Lucille. I’m not trying to pass a moral judgment on this character one way or another, but I think it’s important to lay out some of her past.

Also, shoutout to @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain whose comment from Chapter 3 about Benny’s choice in swim trunks took me down a rabbit hole.  Another shoutout to @trulybetty for bouncing ideas about one of the storylines with me!

“So…that Santiago sure was giving you the fuck me eyes wasn’t he?” David chuckled as he, Ty, and Melissa made their way back to their respective houses after the watch party at Lucille’s.

“Yeah, Mel, the guy couldn’t take his eyes off you."

“Oh it's fine, just some harmless flirting,” she waved them off. “Doesn’t hurt that he’s also gorgeous and probably a really good kis-” she cut herself off as they side-eyed her.

“Ten cuidado con eso,” Ty cautioned her. “It's harmless flirting to you, but he may not see it that way…"

"Yea, girl…don't write checks your ass can't cash."

Melissa rolled her eyes as the trio stopped in front of David and Ty's house.

"Anyway," Ty cleared his throat. "With the party tomorrow, I guess we have to cancel our appointment with the event planner at the golf course. That's the third venue in a row we've canceled. You getting cold feet or somethin?”

“No, of course not,” she shook her head, nervously laughing. "We can always reschedule, right? Everyone seemed so excited to do it tomorrow so why wait…sorry for the short notice, I didn't leave you with enough time to come up with a theme.” She wanted to change the subject and change it fast. 

_______________

Melissa was no stranger to turning heads. She was one of the younger women who lived in Torrey Hills. She was fit, attractive, and had an infectious laugh and quickly bonded with David and Ty over RuPaul's Drag Race after they saw Melissa wearing an Alyssa Edwards shirt one day. The three alternated locations for their weekly watch parties, even going back and watching old seasons in between the new ones. 

They also bonded over wedding planning. David and Ty were some of the most sought-after wedding planners in the greater Tampa Bay area. And when Danny confided in them that he thought Melissa was overwhelmed with wedding planning, trying to do it all herself, they knew they had to step in and help…free of charge.

The idea of a wedding and impending marriage loomed over Melissa like a dark cloud. She loved Danny, they were high school sweethearts, but more and more she felt like her life was planned for her and not by her. For the last 12 years, all they knew was each other. They were each other's firsts and last in so many respects. First relationship. Last kiss. And when it came to sex, they had been each other's first and last in almost every respect. 

In high school, Danny was the star quarterback and Melissa was the head cheerleader, so of course they were bound to get together. When Danny suffered a torn ACL in the last game of his senior season, all hopes of a college scholarship were dashed. Devastated, he had to rethink his plans since the hopes of a prospective NFL career were no more. He reluctantly decided to follow in his father's footsteps and attend Embry-Riddle and start on the path toward being a commercial airline pilot. 

Melissa was a fantastic athlete in her own right and received a cheerleading scholarship to attend the University of Florida. Despite the distance, she and Danny wanted to make it work; everyone told them since they were high school sweethearts, and clearly soulmates, this was just the next logical step for their relationship.

They alternated making the two-hour drive on weekends to see each other. Although it was tough for Danny to attend the football games, wishing it was him on the field, he absolutely beamed seeing Melissa on the sidelines getting tossed in the air and leading the crowd in cheers.

When it came to her college experience, Melissa had a much different one than her sorority sisters. She didn't go out with the girls as much because she was either visiting Danny or he was there seeing her. It was hard for her to turn down social events. One of the reasons she decided to go to a big school like UF was to live the ultimate college experience. But, she loved Danny and the distance was hard, so she relished any opportunity to see him even if it meant they wouldn’t leave their rooms the whole time.

Fast forward a few years, and a couple of changes in majors, and Melissa graduated with a degree in health education with a minor in Spanish. After he graduated, Danny benefitted from the pilot shortage and quickly made the jump from a regional to a major airline. Moving in together after college was the next milestone on their trajectory – their families assumed marriage and babies wouldn’t be too far behind.

The next few years they moved wherever Danny's job took them, before ultimately landing in the Tampa Bay area. Danny knew he wanted to marry Melissa from the moment she agreed to go on a date with him. She was it for him. He proposed during a romantic beachside dinner in Clearwater Beach 10 years to the day he asked her out for the first time. He even organized it so their families were there as a surprise. Everyone was absolutely over the moon as the next milestone got checked off the list. 

Danny was all in on wedding planning, suggesting they attend a local wedding expo so they could start to meet with vendors. Melissa, on the other hand, was not as gung ho to get started. Most of her sorority sisters either were married already or in the midst of wedding planning, so she was no stranger to the machine that was the wedding industry.

Everyone had questions. Were they having an engagement party? Where were the bachelorette and bachelor parties going to be? Did they want a local wedding or a destination wedding? Were kids going to be invited? What colors for the bridesmaids' dresses?

Melissa's head was spinning with all of these decisions she needed to make. Everyone meant well, encouraging her to do whatever she wanted because it was her day, yet she came to the realization that this - a wedding, marriage, kids - wasn’t what she wanted. 

This epiphany tore her up inside and she hated herself for it. Danny was a good man and deserved to be with someone who worshiped him the way he worshiped her. But, at the same time, she didn’t know how to navigate life without him. He was her best friend and had been by her side through her highest highs and lowest lows.

She couldn't bring herself to call things off, she couldn’t bear to break Danny's heart. She rationalized her hesitation saying it was a phase or something she needed to work through. So, she tried to find some distraction to help put off wedding planning just a bit longer – and buying a house seemed like the perfect distraction. Their focus would be on stalking Zillow, going to open houses, and driving around looking at neighborhoods.

When they drove through Torrey Hills with their realtor, Melissa immediately fell in love with 305 Mulefall Court, a house newly on the market. She was awed by its spacious, inviting interiors and massive backyard. She could envision a life with Danny here. Things moved quickly from that point on from making an offer to closing, and before they knew it, the two of them were homeowners. 

Once they moved in, her focus immediately went to making her home perfect. She had a list of projects, which included lots of additions, including a pool, and Danny was receptive to it all. He hadn't seen her this focused and excited in a long time.

"Whatever makes you happy babe," he'd say whenever she came to him with an idea.

Every so often Danny would broach the subject of wedding planning and Melissa would find some convenient excuse as to why she couldn't focus on it. She was changing jobs, she didn't want to compete with another friend's wedding, or her sister-in-law was pregnant. She latched onto anything that could delay wedding planning more.

When construction started on their pool, the last of the big home improvement projects, Danny upped the pressure for a date. Melissa, David, and Ty went to see nearly every possible wedding venue in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater and even drove to Orlando to check out what a Disney wedding would entail. Making matters worse, their respective parents were also starting to run out of patience, blaming it on their desires to spoil their future grandchildren.

Melissa knew she was destined for a crossroads and she felt the walls closing in on her. She was turning 30 in a few months and had lost track of who she was. Danny was the only boyfriend she had ever had. He was the only sexual partner she'd ever had. And for the past 12 years, they navigated life together, their whole adulthood wrapped up in each other.

_______________

"Hey…Fish and I are at the store, what do you need us to pick up again?" Santiago stared at the wall of beers as Frankie checked out the whiskey selection.

"You know the beers we all like, but maybe add in some…uh…I don't know…hard seltzers or something." Will tried to be sly with that inclusion. The other day coming home from his run he noticed Katie had an Instacart delivery which included hard seltzers.

"Hard seltzers? The fuck?  You watching your figure?"

"Shut up. I’m just thinking we should bring…a variety. We don't know what everyone likes to drink."

"A variety…ok man. Lemme add some Sunny D and juice boxes while I'm at it." Santiago countered sarcastically.

"Fuck off, we'll see you and what I imagine is your obnoxious as-hell swimsuit soon." 

Will hung up the phone as he walked into the kitchen, shaking his head. Benny was at the kitchen table doodling in his notebook. 

"Are they on their way?" He asked without looking up, concentrating on his drawing.

"Yeah, they’re wrapping up at the store. What are you working on?"

"Oh, nothing…just had an idea I couldn't get out of my head," Benny looked up and gave a half smile. He heard his phone ding and saw it was Connor.

Connor: Guess what I did?

Benny: ?

Connor: I asked Aria if she and her parents were coming to the party.

Connor: I had Mom ask Ms. Melissa if that was cool, but turns out they were invited already lol

Benny: FUCK YEA

Benny: I mean hell yeah!

Benny: You excited?

Connor: Haha. Yea. And nervous.

Benny: I get it. I'll give ya a pep talk when you get there 😉

"What are you smiling at?"

"Oh, it's Connor," Benny waved his phone. "That girl he likes is coming to the party."

"He's a good kid. You're not trying to replace me are ya?"

Benny rolled his eyes and laughed. "Nah, man. Wherever you go, I go, you know that."

___________________

"Wait, I thought we were supposed to go look at a venue today. I leave tomorrow for a couple of weeks, Lis, what're we doing hosting a party?"

Danny was the planner. Meticulous and always wanting to have things in order. And, for the most part, Melissa was the same way. Except in recent months, he noticed she was getting more spontaneous, erratic even, randomly deciding to go off and do things with a moment's notice…including hosting the entire neighborhood at their house for a pool party.

"I know, but I was talking with D and we just don't think that place is our vibe, so like why waste everyone's time."

"Well, what is our vibe? Jesus Lis, you've seen like, what 20 places…you don't like any of them? Budget isn’t a hurdle, you know. I want you to have your dream wedding."

"I know, baby,” she walked to him, putting her arms around his waist. “I want it to be someplace special. I'll know it when I see it. I just haven't had that..feeling yet when I've gone places. But we're close, I know we are." She kissed Danny, trying to reassure him although she could practically see his patience wearing thin.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. "At this point, why don't we just go to the courthouse?"

"The what?" She pulled back to look up at him.

"Yea. It's just a piece of paper anyway. Then we can go on a trip or something…whatever you want - Lord knows I have miles for it. Take the pressure off of planning a big party," he rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

"You know both of our moms would not go for that. Heck, I'm my dad's only daughter so he will be heartbroken if he can't walk me down the aisle," she chuckled. "We'll figure it out, baby. Now, can you help and put the tables out back?"

___________

"Lulu, need help?" Megan opened the door to Lucille’s. She had Connor bring their wagon, knowing that Lucille was going to have several different platters to haul down the street.

"Sí, por favor!" She called from the kitchen. It was no surprise that she had made a ton of food, including a flan, another one of Connor’s favorites.

The three of them got everything loaded up and started walking toward Melissa and Danny’s house, stopping abruptly when they heard a loud whistle from behind them. Turning, they saw Benny giving them a big wave with his free hand as he hauled a case of beer on his other shoulder. 

He was decked out in what, on a normal person, would look like the most obnoxious pair of swim trunks, but somehow he made look cool. They hung low on his hips and were all black, with a retro flame design in various shades of orange, red, and yellow extending up from his knees towards his crotch. His shirt choice was much more understated, a red cut-off shirt paired with a white Houston Astros baseball cap which he wore backward, of course.

Will followed, donning a pair of mostly red swim trunks with alternating stripes of white and navy blue near the waistband, and a plain gray T-shirt. Behind him was Frankie who had on solid black swim shorts with a light gray, button-down short-sleeve shirt with what looked like a crane pattern on it. He left the top several buttons of his shirt unbuttoned exposing his tanned chest. His signature baseball cap was affixed to his head and his aviators were tucked into the pocket of his shirt.

Santiago trailed behind with the shortest trunks of the bunch, showing off several inches of thigh. They were navy blue with white and baby blue tie-dyed roosters scattered across them. He paired the shorts with a baby blue tank top. Not wanting to mess up his hair, he went sans hat but did have on his Oakley sunglasses.

All the men carried various cases of alcoholic beverages. Frankie knew they should have just driven it all over, but the other three insisted on walking. 

"Wait up!" Benny called after Megan, Connor, and Lucille. 

"Hey, where's the party?" David shouted from his porch across the street as Ty wheeled their wagon full of goodies down the driveway. "You boys actually planning on going into the water?" 

"Well…yea…I mean, it's a pool party right?" Benny was confused at the lack of swim attire and towels from David and Ty. 

"David never goes into the water, he prefers to sit on a lounger and get the chisme from Lucille. Those two know everything," Ty laughed.

David and Ty bickered about their pool party behavior as they all made the relatively short trek to Melissa and Danny's.

"So, Megan…is uh…Melissa's fiancé cool?" Santiago asked as they reached the driveway.

"Oh, Danny? Yeah, he's a sweetheart, really nice guy."

"Awesome…great," Santiago said flatly, trying to avoid the confused look he could feel Frankie giving him.

"Party's here!!" David announced as the crew made their way into the backyard.

The backyard was almost as big as Will and Benny’s. It was a little sparse, with just a few palm trees, but it had lush green grass and a large sparkling pool. The lanai was expansive with a full outdoor kitchen and a table that could easily seat eight comfortably. Loungers and chairs were scattered throughout for seating.

Danny was just finishing setting up the last of the foldout tables as Melissa walked outside with a plastic tablecloth to cover it.

"Oh hey! Welcome!" She gave a dazzling smile to everyone, pleased that the four new additions to the neighborhood all came with their swim trunks on.

She had a black, sheer cover-up on over her blue and white tie-dyed bikini, a more revealing swimsuit than her usual pool party attire.

“Ok hot momma, I see you!” David whistled as he saw her, bringing her in for a big bear hug.

When David finally put her down, her eyes immediately connected with Santiago, who tilted his head down to peer from over his sunglasses. He didn’t hide the up and down he gave Melissa, leaving her a bit flustered at the attention. She walked over to Lucille who was helping Connor and Frankie unload the contents of her wagon onto one of the tables.

"Lulu, esto es demasiado…you didn't have to make all of this!"

"¡Ay, basta! You know I can't help myself when there’s a party," she winked. 

"Oh babe, here meet the guys," Melissa called Danny over. "This is Will and Benny, they moved into 319. And these are their friends Frankie and Santiago."

"Hey guys, nice to meet you," he shook all of their hands. "You guys are fixing that house up really nicely, it looks awesome."

"Well, it couldn't look any worse," Will joked.

Once they started talking, Danny and Frankie immediately hit it off once they realized their aviation connection.

"Do…do you need help with anything?" Santiago asked Melissa as Frankie and Danny started to nerd out about engines on their walk over to the grill.

"Uh…yeah. Actually, I have a cooler I need to bring around from the garage."

"Lead the way," he opened his arms for her to pass, trying to discreetly check her out as she walked by him. 

Frankie quickly side-eyed where his best friend was going, trying to not make it too apparent as Danny continued on his rant about the impending pilot strike.

Melissa could practically feel Santiago’s eyes on her as she walked toward the front of her house. She put a little extra sway in her hips, not hating the attention but knowing she was playing with fire.

Danny loved Melissa and tried to show her as often as he could, but his work schedule had definitely put a damper on their sex life. Gone were the days of ripping each other's clothes off at a moment's notice and having passionate sex everywhere and anywhere they could. With Danny away for work as often as he was, they'd had more phone sex than actual sex over the last couple of months and she was going a little stir-crazy. A handsome stranger certainly didn't help things either.

"Here it is, think you can handle it?" She turned to face Santiago. She resolved that she wouldn’t do anything other than flirt with him. 

"Oh, I think I'd be able to manage just fine." He winked.

For his part, Santiago was conflicted too. He was never one to shy away from a beautiful woman flirting with him, but he drew the line if they were taken. He had been there, done that, and didn’t want to go down that painful road again. But he also couldn’t deny that there was something there when he looked at Melissa. 

He didn’t want to say anything to the guys, especially Frankie, because he knew what their reactions would be. They’d tell him that he was just attracted to her because she was the young, hot thing on the block and remind him that she was very much unavailable. 

"That's uh…a nice suit you have there," he nodded towards her. "Looks like we both like tie-dye," he chuckled.

The two stayed with their eyes locked on each other, trying to read the other’s face for what felt like minutes before they heard someone clear their throat.

"Oh hey, sorry we're late!" 

They turned to see Olivia, with Diana on one hip and a baby bag slung on the other shoulder. Her husband, Chris, and their sons CJ and Max were right behind followed by Katie who was helping the family with their bags.

"It feels like we have to pack the whole house even when we just come down the street," Olivia laughed, oblivious to the awkward tension between Santiago and Melissa.

"Aw don't even worry, everyone just got here! Come, they're out back!" Melissa waved toward the backyard.

Santiago introduced himself to Chris, who helped him bring the cooler along with a couple more fold-out chairs to the back.

Frankie spotted Santiago as he came back with a man carrying a cooler and some more chairs. Seeing Olivia and her kids, he figured it was her husband. He also clocked how Santiago's eyes lingered on Melissa, who was walking in front of him.

"Hey babe, where are the burgers?" Danny yelled out to Melissa.

"They're inside, here I'll help you."

"I'll be right back," he told Frankie.

As Danny and Melissa headed inside, Santiago stopped to get a beer before walking over towards Frankie. He could feel the side eye Frankie was giving him.

"Don't."

Frankie lifted his hands up in protest. "I haven't even said anything."

"Yeah, but you're giving me that look."

"She's engaged, hermano. Besides, isn't she a little young, even for you? Ow-" 

Santiago slapped Frankie in his chest. "I'm not that much older. And besides, I'm just…flirting with her. Nothing else."

"Ha, yea ok, Pope," Frankie took a swig of his beer, shaking his head.

Frankie knew his friend had a knack for fixating on the most unavailable women. He never understood why Santiago did this, he was arguably the biggest flirt of the bunch and a good-looking guy, so he could, and did, get any woman he wanted. But yet, it was as if he thrived on the drama, on the secrecy of it all.

“Don’t act all high and mighty, you were right there with me too.” Santiago snapped back.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t the one who caught feelings…that was you, remember?”

Santiago rolled his eyes and walked over to Lucille, who was arranging a plate of food for herself.

____________

After more neighbors trickled in, the party really started getting going. David and Ty were in charge of the playlist, rolling their eyes whenever Olivia glared at them for playing a song that wasn't child-appropriate.

"There's literally a summer barbecue playlist on Spotify, just pick that one!" She went over to them in a huff.

"Ok, momma bear. No more Cardi B noted!" David teased.

"Boys no running!" Olivia called after her sons as she dipped a carrot in some ranch.

"Are they twins?" 

She heard a low voice, turning to see it was Frankie next to her.

"Yes, unfortunately," she sighed and then smiled. "They're great, just a lot of fucking energy."

"Ha, I can see that. And how old are you?" He bent down smiling at Diana, who was still attached to her mom's hip. 

"Oh, this is Diana, she's nine months, 10 months in two weeks!"

"Well, she's beautiful," he rubbed the little girl's cheek with his thumb, which elicited a small smile, barely visible from behind her pacifier. Her eyes were fixated on Frankie.

"Ooo she likes you, she doesn't smile for just anyone." 

Frankie smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Do you have any kids?"

"Ah, n-no. My sister has two, so uncle mode is where I'm at these days," he chuckled.

“Ah, well maybe someday…”

“Maybe…I’m getting a little old…” he rubbed the back of his neck. “But, I like kids, so I dunno, we’ll see.”

“I mean, I can give you one of mine if you want,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood after she unintentionally struck a nerve.

_________________________

"Havin' fun?" Benny walked up to Megan, as she loitered around the coolers, observing her son who was pacing near the back of the yard by some bushes.

"Huh, oh yeah," she looked over at Benny, giving him a smile. "Hey, do you know what's bothering him? He's seemed on edge since we got here."

"Uh…yea…at least I think so. I think he's waiting for a girl to show up."

"Aw, is it Aria?" She looked over to Benny who nodded. "Ah, I knew it! I swear that boy has had a crush on her since middle school…has he…told you anything? Does he like her?"

"Yeah he likes her, he's just too scared to ask her out."

"My sweet baby, of course, he is…did he…talk to you about it? I've tried but I'm mom you know…"

"He mentioned it, I just listened. Tried to give some advice. I was a teenage boy at one point, ya know," he chuckled.

"Well, you have one on me there. I can't believe I'm at this stage now, where he likes girls," she shook her head.

"Want me to go talk with him? I told him I'd give him a pep talk if he wanted."

Megan's heart was about to burst at how sweet Benny was being toward her son. She felt a pang in her chest that Jacob wasn't here to see how much their son had grown up.

"I'd like that," she smiled.

Benny squeezed her shoulder, before bending down to the cooler to grab a soda and a beer and head toward Connor.

"Where's your girl?" He asked as he offered the boy the can and cracked open his beer.

"She's not my girl…and I don't know…" He tried but couldn't cover his disappointment, wondering why she hadn't shown up yet.

Benny put his arm around his shoulder, "She'll show up, the party just started man. Maybe she wants to make an entrance,” he winked. “ C'mon, let’s go kick Will’s ass in cornhole," he smirked.

Megan wiped away a tear as she observed her son and Benny, thankful for the little family she had created and fostered in this neighborhood.

______________

"Ooo hard seltzers, yes!" Katie pumped her fist as she opened the cooler to see her drink of choice nestled right on top.

"Which flavor’s your favorite?" Will appeared behind her with a smirk, pleased with himself that his plan to surprise Katie with her favorite beverage worked.

"Oh, hey…um, black cherry," she held the can up to show him. "Ty hates that flavor so we usually end up doing a swap whenever one of us buys a case since I'm not a huge fan of the grapefruit one. It works out for both of us," she chuckled. "You, ah, gonna go swim?" She motioned over to the pool, whose only inhabitants so far were Olivia’s twins and her husband. As Will turned to look, Katie gave him a quick up and down, trying not to salivate at the thought of him shirtless.

“Yeah, it’s so hot out, I’ll probably go in. How about you? Did you bring your suit?” He was thankful his sunglasses were able to hide his eyes as he checked her out.

“Sure did!” She lifted up her tank top just enough to show off her one-piece, which had cutouts along her hips.

The glimpse of her suit, and bare skin, caused Will to choke a bit on his beer. “N-nice, well, we’ll have to get in soon.” He smiled, annoyed at himself for being so awkward. 

Katie was amused that a guy who looked like a male model would be nervous talking to a woman, and with her no less. It definitely was a bit of an ego boost and gave her the courage to continue the conversation to try and learn a little bit about Will. After all, the only thing she really knew was that he was a hot, seemingly nice guy with equally attractive friends.

"So, tell me about yourself, Will."

"Well, what d'you wanna know?" He asked as he leaned onto a table, getting a little bit closer.

“So, you casually build fences with your friends and know how to do a bunch of other house stuff. You work in construction or something?"

“Ha, well, when it comes to the house stuff, Benny and I would be kicked out of the family if we weren't handy," he laughed. "Our grandfather was a contractor…had his own business. When he passed, our uncle took over since he and his family already lived in Austin. When I was in high school, I spent my summers there working for him, with my cousins. When Benny was old enough he came too."

"Ooo a family business, then?"

"Yeah, my cousin actually took it over a couple of years ago. He's been helping me with questions I've had for the house, so I can't claim to have done it all myself," he smirked.

"Well, you're still the one who did the work. It looks great…so, what do you do? When you're not calling your cousin for construction advice?"

"Ha. Well, I used to be in the military. Actually me and the guys. It was like…damn, almost 20 years…felt like a lifetime,” a quick wave of sadness flashed across his face. His mind was flooded with memories of all of the horrific things he had seen and done over the years, the most recent memory being the death of their leader Tom. “But…we all got out and retired. We…uh…saved well and have taken some time to just live as civilians,” he rubbed the back of his neck.

“So, were you guys some like badass G.I. Joe’s?”

“Ha, something like that,” he tried to play it off. “We were part of a special unit called Delta Force.”

“What kind of stuff do you do as part of this special unit…if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s not that I don’t mind, it’s just I can’t really tell you a lot … it’s … uh …classified,” he scratched his head, bringing one arm to rest on the back of his neck. “We traveled all over, did a bunch of different things...”

Will and the boys had long since agreed that they would never talk about any of the details around their missions to anyone…especially Colombia. Tom’s wife and daughters didn’t even know the true reason why he was in South America. He knew Katie meant well and was just trying to make conversation, but this was a prime example of why he didn’t like talking about himself.

Katie sensed his unease, chastising herself that she made him uncomfortable. She should have known better than to start asking a bunch of questions without knowing him. Her own brothers never really wanted to talk about their time in the service. She hoped she didn't just trigger some bad memories for him.

“So uh, what do you do now then?”

“I try to do stuff for veterans. There's some speaking engagements I do from time to time, but I mostly volunteer at the VA. We have this uh…service, where we basically are like their Uber to doctor’s appointments. But I don’t just do that, I’ll drive them wherever they need to go, even if it's to the CVS to get some M&Ms,” he chuckled.

“That’s nice, I bet you meet some interesting people,” she gave an encouraging smile.

“Yea. I mean, some of them don’t really like to talk much, which is fine. But for those who do, I’m there to listen. A lot of times they don’t have anyone who can relate to them as veterans or gives a shit or wants to hear what they have to say, especially the older ones. So I am just an unbiased ear for them…I’ve met some cool people. Some of the old timers have some crazy stories.”

Katie was a bit thrown off by this thoughtful and considerate side to Will, it was so unexpected. He seemed like this quiet, hard ass, but there was a depth to him that piqued her curiosity.

“So, you’re patient and a good listener, quite the winning combo,” she teased, moving to sit against the edge of the table inches from Will.

“I’ve been told I listen and follow directions quite well,” his eyebrow twitched as he looked her up and down, now a bit more obviously, before clearing his throat. “So, now it’s my turn to uh…listen. Tell me about you.”

“Me? Oh, it’s not a very interesting story.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case.” He moved even closer as both of them sat perched at the edge of the table, their arms slightly touching.

“Well, let's see…I'm originally from Chicago. I moved here a few months ago. I work from home which has been pretty sweet. I get to rock sweatpants most days,” she laughed.

“What made you move to Florida?”

Katie hesitated but ultimately gave her rote answer whenever anyone asked what brought her down to Florida from the Midwest. “Well…I…I moved down here for the weather, couldn’t take another blizzard, ya know” She kept her gaze forward as she took another swig from her drink.

"You move down here alone?"

"Uh, yeah."

"For the weather?" He furrowed his brows, knowing there was more to the story.

Katie turned her face slightly to face Will, trying to put on a poker face.

"The weather was a reason."

"But not the only one?"

"Were you an interrogator in this military unit?" She countered.

"Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to pry…" He shook his head, annoyed at himself for pushing.

"It's ok. I don't like to just dump my whole life story on someone. The weather thing’s usually enough…most people who ask that question don't really care, it's just for conversation."

"Well, I'm not most people."

Katie gulped down another sip of her drink, the can almost empty. 

"I'm divorced." She blurted out.

Will continued looking at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but it seemed she was waiting to gauge his reaction.

"Oh okay."

"That's it?" She furrowed her brows.

"Whaddya mean?"

"You don't want the sad backstory with all the gory details?" 

"Not if you don't feel comfortable sharing it."

They sat in silence for a little bit. Will didn't mind awkward silences, hell there were some veterans he drove who had only spoken five words to him in months. But Katie, on the other hand, was not the same. She always felt the need to ramble and fill any silence.

"My husband…ex-husband…he left me. Just up and left one day.” Her nose wrinkled.

"That's shitty, I'm sorry."

"Yea…It was for his ex,” she huffed. “I shoulda known, honestly. He was never really over her. She was always kind of like a dark cloud over our relationship…'The one that got away,'” she made air quotes. “Honestly, from her perspective, it was probably the most romantic shit…the love of her life coming to his senses and getting her back. Problem is nobody ever sees it from the other side of the story.” She emptied the can and reached into the cooler for another one.

Will stayed silent, unsure how to react – he wanted to give her the space to share whatever she felt comfortable sharing.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to unload that all on you,” she shook her head, bringing her hand to her forehead.

“Hey, hey…it’s ok,” Will put his hand on her back, lightly rubbing circles with his thumb. “I’m a good listener, remember?” He winked.

The corners of Katie’s mouth curled up. Will was a good listener. Megan was the only person who knew the details of her divorce, all of the red flags ignored, and the scars left behind.

“Well, thank you. And to answer your question from earlier, no the weather wasn’t the only reason. He kept the house, which is a joke if you ask me, I was the one who actually gave a shit about that house…” she took a swig of her beer.

“How so?”

“Our house was my little project, I had a Pinterest board for pretty much every room and every occasion,” she laughed. “And Seb, my ex, he thought I was being too much, too extra about it. But it was a lot of fun for me, the creative stuff you know.” She looked over at Will who nodded. 

“Is that what you’re trying to do with your house now?”

“Ha yea…”

“I was serious when I said I, er, we would be happy to help you … not saying you can’t do it yourself or anything. Just let me know. I can come over sometime to see what you have in mind, you can show me a Pinterest board or two,” he bumped his arm against hers, which elicited a small smile from Katie. “That way I can tell you if it’s somethin’ we could take care of. May be able to help you save some money too so you don’t have to hire someone,” he chuckled.

“Really? Yeah, that would be awesome. So…Mondays tend to be a little lighter for me, so would you want to come tomorrow? Is that too soon? You're probably doing your VA stuf-”

“Sure!” he interrupted. “I mean, yeah, tomorrow’s great. What time?”

“Really? Uh…I usually take lunch around noon…would that work?”

“Yea. I…uh…I can bring over lunch. If you want.”

“Hold on a second. You’re coming over to help me and you’re bringing food? I feel like that’s too good to be true,” she winked.

“Well, let’s see what kind of uh, projects you have in mind first,” he laughed. "Here, gimme your number so I can give you a heads up when I'm on my way," he handed her his phone.

Katie smiled to herself and she typed in her number.

"Nice, here let me text you so you have my number…it's a…plan, it's a plan," he smiled.

“Hey! I was looking for you,” Benny bounded over with Connor on his tail. “Hey, Katie! I was going to ask Will if he wanted to take Connor and me on in some cornhole, but do you want to join too? It’s probably more fair for it to be two on two anyway,” he chuckled.

“You mean bags? Uh…sure, let’s do it. Sorry in advance Will, you may have been better off alone,” she laughed as she walked towards the cornhole set.

“I doubt that…” Will whispered to himself.

_____________________

"Oye jefa," David squeezed Lucille's shoulder as he sat down and brought her a rum and Coke. "Extra limes, just how you like it."

"Thanks, mijito. Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, although I will be having even more when the boys decide to go into the pool," he winked as Lucille rolled her eyes and laughed at him. "So, have any good chisme for me?"

"I saw Ethan at Publix earlier today and he told me that another house is going up for sale on the block."

"Ooo, which one?" David scooted his chair closer. He didn't know how she did it, but Lucille always had the best gossip on the block. 

"Melissa's neighbors, 306."

"Oh, aren't those the snowbirds?"

"Yes, apparently their son and his wife are having triplets, can you believe that? So they are going to stay up in New York to help with all of the babies."

"Woof, three babies?" David shuddered. "Ugh, I hope that we don't have some rental company come in and scoop up that house."

"I said the same thing to Ethan. He figured someone would want to scoop up that house pretty fast once it goes on the market, not like Benny and Will's house," she laughed. 

"D'you think he'll give you a heads up on who the buyers may end up being…when we get to that point?"

"Oh yes, as long as I make him some empanadas I think we can find out whatever," she giggled.

"Speaking of, I need another one. Quieres algo?" 

"No, mijito, I'm good."

________________

"Ari!" CJ and Max said in unison, jumping out of the pool and running over to give Aria a hug once she, her little, sister, and parents made their way into the backyard.

"Boys! I said no running! Also, give Ari some space ok? She's here to have fun, not watch you two," Olivia winked.

She hired Aria last summer to help her watch the boys once she got too pregnant to do much of anything. The boys loved her and she had been a big help over the last year as Olivia transitioned to life with three kids.

Benny and Connor had their backs to the party, so they didn't see Aria and her family walk in. But once he heard the commotion of the twins, Connor tensed up.

"Showtime, bud!" Benny slapped the back of his shoulder. "Hey, Katie, Will, I think Connor and I are gonna take you both out of your misery. Let's get some refills on drinks?"

As they turned around, Connor saw Aria taking off her coverup. The twins were begging her to get in the pool to play with them. 

"C'mon, Ari let's play sharks and minnows!" CJ jumped up and down.

"Yea, c'mon let's gooooo," Max whined.

"I'm coming, gimme a sec. Do you two have sunscreen on?"

"We don't need sunscreen, a kid at school said we have more melly men so we don't need it," CJ said confidently.

"It's melanin, and that's not true. We need to wear sunscreen too, c'mere." She grabbed the spray bottle of sunscreen from her bag and doused the boys and her little sister with it before using it on herself.

She spotted Connor and gave him a nervous wave. She recognized the guy with him in the hat, he was the same guy who complimented her dog. The two were making their way across the yard toward the pool.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Davis," Connor smiled and waved at Aria's parents. "Have you all met Benny, he lives in 319?"

"Oh, so you're the one making that house look beautiful," Mrs. Davis winked.

"Yes ma'am, well it's my brother Will and I. We moved in not too long ago."

Benny stayed talking to Mr. and Mrs. Davis as Connor made his way to the pool, which brought a little smirk to Benny's face.

"Hey, Aria!"

"Hey, Connor!" She went in for a sideways hug, which caught Connor off guard. He could feel his face getting hot and his mouth went dry.

"Connor, are you going to play with us?" One of the twins said, he honestly wasn't sure which one because his brain was short-circuiting.

"Yea, wanna play? I'm going to need help trying to chase these two," Aria giggled.

Connor couldn't find words, but as if he telepathically knew, Benny was there to save him.

"What're we playing?" He said with the biggest smile on his face, wrapping his arm around Connor.

"Mr. Benny, d'you wanna play sharks and minnows with us?" Max asked, tugging on Benny's shirt.

"Hmmm…let me think about that," he bent down to get on Max and CJ's level. "We gotta set some ground rules if I'm gonna play, ok?" The boys eagerly nodded. "Ok cool. So I'm gonna be a shark and you two are minnows. Aria, you're a shark. Connor you're a minnow. And see that guy over there in the red shorts?" He pointed towards Will whose head was thrown back in laughter as he talked with Katie and Megan. "We're gonna all need to work together to get him, ok? He's a special kind of shark."

The twins were already halfway to the pool before Benny could finish. 

"Will, c'mon we gotta catch some minnows, and I'm not talking about you Fish!" Benny laughed as he took off his shirt, flip-flops, and hat, and threw them down on a lounger.

He saw Connor hesitate, knowing the boy was self-conscious to take his shirt off. It didn't help he was standing next to all six foot three of Benny who had a toned stomach and a defined upper body. 

"C'mon kid, she's into you, I can tell." 

Once Connor got his shirt off, Benny lifted him up and threw him in the pool. He followed by doing a cannonball, which made all of the kids laugh. 

By this point, the rest of the party was focused on the pool. Will and Katie headed over, getting down to their swimsuits and getting in. Will was immediately tackled by CJ and Max.

"Hey! What'd I do?" He laughed as he hoisted each of the boys out of the water to throw them, which elicited lots of laughs from both.

"Mr. Benny said you're a special kind of shark, so we had to work together to get you!" Max panted as he caught his breath from all of the excitement.

"Did he now? Well, did you know he and I are brothers? So if I'm a special kind of shark, that means Mr. Benny over there is one too!" Will winked over at Katie who was smiling at the interaction.

"Hey, Mr. Benny! You didn't tell us you guys were brothers!"

"Yeah, that means you're a special kind of shark too!"

"Oop, you caught me!" Benny flashed another brilliant smile as he started swimming away.

"We're chasing Benny? Sign me up!" Santiago jumped in and tackled Benny, followed closely by Frankie.

The four men ended up chasing after the boys, although Will spent most of the time near Katie, pretending to try and catch her a few times too.

"Got ya!" Connor had been play chasing after Aria and finally caught her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. They both froze, Aria turning her head toward Connor and they both smiled.

Splash

One of the twins splashed the pair as they were frantically trying to get away from Benny and Will who were in wild pursuit. 

_________________

"Again, can we just acknowledge the fact that we are seeing this all for free?" David laughed as he, Ty, Lucille, and Melissa watched the antics of the poolgoers from a table.

“Are you losing your mind now that Frankie’s hat fell off?” Ty teased.

With all of the splashing and playfighting, both Benny and Frankie had lost their hats. Frankie’s curls stuck to his neck as Benny’s bangs kept getting into his eyes. 

“Baby, that’s not the only thing making me lose my mind!”

“Ay, dios mio!” Lucille shook her head laughing at them.

“Oh come on, Lulu, you can’t tell me you’re not enjoying the view too, right?” Melissa asked as she kept her eyes on the pool. Santiago was in the midst of hoisting one of the twins up and throwing him - his biceps flexing and the water dripping down his chest as he jumped out of the water.

“It’s definitely not the worst way to spend an afternoon,” she winked, giving a sly smile.

“Katie seems to be having fun with Will, right Meg?” Ty asked.

“Yeah…best believe I am getting all of those details later,” Megan replied, noting how close Will had stayed to Katie the whole time, the two were now laughing in a corner, talking as the rest of the guys splashed with the kids.

"Ok everyone, food's ready!" Danny called out.

______________________

Megan smiled as she saw Connor and Aria sitting together on a lounger wrapped up in towels, laughing and talking.

Benny came up and handed her a beer.

"So, that's your doing?"

"Nah, that's all him. I just gave him a push, well, I guess it was more of a toss," he winked.

"He really liked hanging out with you guys yesterday, by the way. Couldn't stop talking about it," she chuckled as she took a swig of her beer. "He mentioned something about you both working out together?"

"Y-yea, we talked about it yesterday while driving. Would you be cool with that? I think it may help his confidence a little."

"I think that would be really nice Benny, thank you. But don't let him take up too much of your time, I'm sure you have a girlfriend or something, right?"

"Ah, no. I'm not dating right now," he moved his bangs out of his eyes, realizing he needed to go find his hat.

"I may have some friends if you’re interested," she laughed.

"Ha, no, I appreciate it. I'm uh…taking some time for me. I'm not really looking for anything right now."

"You know, I feel I wanna make some type of liar liar pants of fire kinda joke," she motioned to his swim trunks. "But that feels too on the nose," she laughed.

"Hey! I like these trunks, I usually get a lot of compliments about them," he smiled. 

__________

The party continued well into the early part of the evening. After the raucous game of sharks and minnows followed by a big meal, the twins were starting to lose steam, so Olivia and her family left. 

Aria and her family were next to leave, she went over and gave Connor a hug goodbye. He watched her walk away before turning back to see Benny smirking at him. 

Connor walked over to Benny and the older man gave him a side hug and messed with his hair.

"Proud of you, bud."

"Ha, thanks. I had a good time. I think we might hang out soon."

"Hell yeah!" He gave the boy a high five.

"Well, I guess we're going to head out," Lucille said as the rest of the neighbors got their things together. "Thank you so much for hosting us all mija it was beautiful as always over here."

"Thank you, Lulu," Melissa gave the woman a kiss on the cheek. 

Melissa and Danny gave hugs and handshakes to everyone. When it was her turn to say goodbye to Santiago they both hesitated on whether to go in for a hug or a handshake, but he committed and went for the hug. Whereas normally he would reach for the waist, resting his hand on the upper part of a woman's ass, he decided to hug her around her shoulders. For her part, Melissa put her hands on Santiago's midback, feeling the cords of his muscles tense.

"Have a good night," he said softly as she smiled at him 

Frankie gave Lucille his arm to make the walk back to her house as Santiago wheeled the wagon. David and Ty chatted with Megan, Connor, and Benny, as Will and Katie lagged behind.

David and Ty said their goodbyes, followed by Connor and Megan. Lucille asked if Frankie and Santiago could help unload her wagon. Knowing that it probably meant they would get leftovers to take home, the two men eagerly agreed. That left Benny, Will, and Katie. 

Benny looked at his brother, knowing very well that he was trying to put the moves on Katie.

"Ah, shoot!" he smacked himself in the forehead. "I forgot, Tommy called me earlier, let me go call him back, see ya Katie!" He gave his brother a wink over Katie's shoulder as he hugged her goodbye.

"So…and then there were two, huh?' Katie laughed.

"Ha, yeah. I'm…uh, looking forward to lunch tomorrow," he smiled. "Hey, speaking of, what do you want me to pick up?"

"Oh, I'm not picky. Surprise me. Whatever's your favorite. Just as long as there's no pickles."

"Got it, extra pickles," he winked as they both let out a nervous laugh. "Just kidding, I just so happen to love pickles, so if you ever get them I'll gladly take them off your plate."

"Well, aren't you my hero!" She teased.

"Here, let me walk you home."

"Will, it's like three doors down," she smirked.

"I know, but it's late and I just want to know you made it safe."

"Ok, Boy Scout let's go."

The trip to Katie's house was short, but Will didn't mind. 

"Well, this is me. I had fun today."

"Yeah, I did too," he smiled, keeping her gaze for a beat before she reached into her bag for her keys.

"I'll ah see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yea."

They both looked at each other for another moment before Katie went in for a hug, which Will reciprocated.

"Good night, Will."

"Good night, Katie. See you tomorrow."

She closed the door and Will turned on his heel to head back home. He didn't realize that a smile hadn't left his face the whole walk back.

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

A/N: I know this was a longer chapter, so thank you if you made it this far! Our little soap opera continues to unfold. 

What didn't make the cut? I had an additional scene with Santiago and Melissa along with one with Danny and Frankie, but decided we could cover what happened in conversations later on.

Let me know if you want to be on the tag list moving forward!! Apologies if I accidentally left you off, I added it all manually and may have missed someone … just let me know!

@goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @patti7dc / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beholdbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @primosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain

#delta landscaping #triple frontier fic #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier fanfic #triple frontier au

[andreal831]

Do you think that Hayley/Elijah/Jackson could’ve potentially worked as a throuple? 👀

I actually laughed when I read this question. Not because I think it would be impossible but because I think it would be absolutely wild. Maybe if the show was being run by more interesting people we could have had a storyline like this. It would make sense.

I mean on one hand, we have Hayley and Elijah who are in love and on the other hand we have a forced marriage. If anyone was going to have a throuple, they were primed for it. I have said it before but I don't believe the unification magic is so aware that Hayley and Elijah couldn't have stayed in a relationship. Also, no one proposed the idea of a throuple. I feel like that would have worked for the magic aspect of it.

If it did work, Hayley would have had to be the one to introduce it, and you know she would have. Hayley, especially at that time, was definitely a 'have your cake and eat it too' kind of person. And that is not a critique on her. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. So why not bring up the idea to the men.

Elijah would have been on board. He had been pinning after Hayley for like two years at that point and would have jumped at the opportunity to be with her in any way possible. He also has lived so long that I don't think it would have been strange to him. I joke that I love jealous Elijah but we really didn't get many scenes where he was obviously jealous. I feel like he was just, essentially, too old for that teen drama. So it wouldn't have bothered him that Hayley was also with Jackson. Especially because it would mean he got to be with her as well. Jackson would have been resistant for a variety of reasons. I can see him saying "That's not how we do things." But there definitely was a power imbalance there so I could see him caving and agreeing, but resenting it. So not a healthy throuple.

However, overtime, I could see Jackson and Elijah finding common ground. People love to say the men are so different, but they really aren't. They just wear different clothes. Jackson is more like a Mikaelson than he or the fandom want to admit. Jackson treats his pack similar to how the Mikaelsons treat their family. I think this is something Elijah and he could bond over. They've both had to make tough decisions, even bad decisions, in order to protect the ones they love. They've both also messed up a lot. They also both cared for Hayley and Hope which would likely be the first common ground they could come to.

I also love to think over time, given the chance, Elijah and Jackson would become friends. I can just see Jackson talking about hunting or some nature thing and Elijah just casually asking questions, trying to pretend he's not that interested. We view Elijah as an uptight business man, but let's not forget he was originally a farmer/warrior from what is present day Virginia. Elijah is a country boy. I would love a scene where Jackson is surprised by Elijah's knowledge of farming or hunting and then Hayley walks into an intense discussion about crop yields or the best way to skin a deer.

To me, it wouldn't ever be a true throuple, it would more likely be an open relationship. I just never got queer vibes from Jackson, but who knows. But if the show had focused more on character development and family, and less on drama, we may have actually seen a begrudging friendship and mutual respect from the two men. And Hayley would have truly benefited from that. But we all know how little Julie likes to let women have control over their relationships.

Thanks for the ask! These are always so fun for me.

#the show desperately needed throuples #it would have solved so many problems #why have love triangles #when everyone can be happy #obviously not on tvd #they were brothers #just wanted to clarify that #tvdu #the originals #the vampire diaries #tvd #the mikaelsons #hayley marshall #elijah mikealson #jackson kenner #elijah x hayley x jackson #haylijson ? #jaylijah ? #haylijah #jayley #fandom answers #tvd anon ask #tvd ask #fandom asks #anon ask #anonymous #tvdu metas #metas

[buckybarnesss]

Something I think is interesting is how Stiles and Scott both have troubled childhoods but it's very under the radar. Almost invisible.

Physical abuse, like what we see with Isaac's dad, is very visible. Everyone sees it and says "yes that is abuse."

But Stiles being left alone at the hospital with his dying, delusion mother? Scott's dad being a drunken, violent mess?

It's hidden.

I think this is why the sheriff is so beloved: the trauma he caused Stiles isn't something easily recognizable unless you've had experiences with a parent who tells you to your face that you're a troublemaker. I think this is why Scott's instinctive reaction to Derek is so divisive: it's a trauma response that is going unrecognized because Scott and Stiles don't really talk about it.

it really does fly under the radar that each of the og main cast of teens are deeply troubled one way or another.

teen wolf gets dismissed so easily because it is a campy, silly show that isn't some high brow avant garde piece of television. people online only know it because of the shipping or because jeff davis isn't the best at understanding how time works.

it's also in turn dismissed because it's not buffy or angel and only see it as some emulation that only existed to try to cash in on the twilight craze.

which fair. i'm certainly not going to argue it's prestige television but teen wolf contains multitudes actually. it says something actually.

at it's very heart the show is about generational trauma and overcoming said trauma. it's about growing up. it's about grief. it's about loneliness.

teen wolf says "be your own anchor". teen wolf says the people you choose to have in your life -- your pack --they make you stronger. teen wolf says even when you are at your lowest you can still rise.

it's not perfect by any means but i think people dismiss it too easily.

it tried.

but no one wants my treatise on the underlying themes of silly ol' teen wolf.

scott and stiles resolutely do not talk about their respective issues. it's unspoken between them. they don't need to because they know.

stiles is actively and openly hostile to rafael mccall for a reason. scott is quietly radiating worry and concern when stiles appears to be losing it in riddled because he knows about claudia.

the parents aren't prefect in this show. they are various shades of bad parents.

knowing rafael mccall is an alcoholic that all but abandoned his family explains everything about scott's attitude and behavior towards derek in season 1 and 2.

(no really i need to know if rafael paid melissa child support because it doesn't seem like it. throw this whole man away.)

knowing stiles has unresolved grief about not just the death of his mother but from the trauma of her illness on the family explains why he is the way he is. (the stilinski's storyline is one of the best carried emotional beats of the show).

and it's not like it's just scott and stiles.

lydia's parents are in the middle of a divorce in s1, her father talks shit about her in the parent teacher conference in the tell. he's seen when she's in the hospital after being attacked by peter but he's never seen again after that. it's natalie we see tell lydia about her mother-in-law lorraine so it seems lydia's father had his own trauma and ditched his daughter. natalie is the only parent lydia has from s2 onwards and natalie is spotty at best.

i've gone over allison's abusive family. jackson has so many issues he became a kanima instead of a werewolf. kira has sooooo many issues with noshiko. malia's traumas have traumas. liam has IED and an unexplained absent biological parent.

even the parents have trauma. chris argent has gerard as a father. the man would sell him for a bugle chip. noah stilinski had an abusive father. melissa was in an abusive marriage with an alcoholic.

and of course the king of trauma on television himself -- derek hale.

not all trauma is seen and not all abuse leaves marks on your skin.

#my blog #thoughts on teen wolf #teen wolf

[markantonys]

a few more bridgerton thoughts! i've always been only a casual enjoyer who watches just for a few hours of fun and doesn't get super invested, but even so, i'm still feeling pretty underwhelmed by this season so far. i watched it in one sitting and enjoyed it while it was happening but just immediately forgot about it as soon as i was done. maybe all the memorable moments are going to be in the second half of the season, but for these first four episodes, i feel like it was all just kinda bland and forgettable (granted, of all the romance tropes in the world, m/f childhood-friends-to-lovers is just about the #1 most boring one to me, so this never would've been my favorite season regardless)

i adore romance and romcoms, always have, and am pretty happy to watch The Classic Marriage Plot play out a thousand times, yet i feel like bridgerton is maybe becoming TOO formulaic and repetitive. although, to be fair, i WAS giggling and kicking my feet during all the Classic Romance Scenes, but the problem was maybe just that there weren't enough of them, which brings me to my second point of too many subplots. too much padding and filler and not enough Classic Romance, which is what i'm here for.

8 hours is way more time than is needed to tell 1 love story, so to fill up the time they invent 17 random subplots that are ultimately pointless and have little relevance outside of the current season. i would way rather a season be only 4 episodes but tightly focused on the main love story, or that a season be about two siblings and two main love stories at a time, than have all this extra time they need to fill up with random unimportant shit. why have we had 3 seasons' worth of storylines about benedict having one-off non-endgame girlfriends that don't have a lasting impact on his character development? what's the point? he's been treading water for so long that i'm not even going to care about him anymore by the time he finally comes into the spotlight, and same with eloise. god, the thought of eloise's season potentially not being until like 2027 is insane. it's past time to start picking up the pace and doing 2 siblings per season!

and the kicker is that all these subplots, which were only invented to fill up the time, end up filling too MUCH time and taking away from the main love story, which is left feeling underbaked. this sort of happened last season, but it's way worse this season. penelope is an excellent character, but her back is breaking from trying to carry the season because colin is kinda giving us nothing due to lack of narrative attention given to him as an individual. he's supposed to be the co-lead, yet i couldn't tell you a single personality trait of his besides "vaguely nice" because he's just had no development and exists more as a prop for penelope to love than as a fleshed-out character in his own right. there was that whole scene where violet was talking about how he's a people pleaser who focuses on making others happy at the expense of his own wants and happiness, and i was just sitting there going "he is?" because i didn't feel i'd ever gotten to know him enough as a person to see this trait in him.

i also think the "dropping a season in 2 halves" model is just about the worst possible release model. if you drop 1 episode a week, that's constant engagement and allows for longer time to digest and appreciate each individual episode. if you drop the whole season at once, it's all over too fast but on the flipside you can experience the entire story at once without risking forgetting things or losing interest while waiting for new episodes. but dropping in two halves a month apart is the worst of both models (over too quickly yet also makes you wait too long to finish the story).

i do like some of the subplots, though. cressida getting to be more than just a mean girl caricature has been a particular highlight, the mondrich family going suddenly from working class to noble is interesting to see, and as a mega-introvert myself (and a music lover!) whose ideal partner would be someone who's happy to sit in silence with me, francesca and john's whole vibe is THE definition of romance to me and has me absolutely swooning (and it's a nice change of pace from all the loud dramatic romances on this show). violet potentially finding new love is also very sweet and i'm rooting hard for her! meanwhile i am not a fan of the featherington subplot; after s1 portraying regency girls' lack of sex education as a serious issue, it feels.........odd for the show to now be playing that very same thing for laughs this season and it just kinda makes me uncomfortable.

but otherwise there isn't much i dislike about the season, it's just kinda "meh" to me so far. the second half might turn things around if it's more memorable!

#bridgerton #bridgerton spoilers #i am not active in the bridgerton fandom at all so i don't want to get into TOO much discourse or anything here haha #just recording my thoughts! and curious if any of my followers have similar ones

[enhashoutout]

Plot Holes in High and Low We Need to Discuss

@tiredlittlewriter always gassing me up 🤭🫶🏼 @cheshirecatuniverse @mrskenpachizaraki @books-n-guns

Thank you so much everyone tagged for staying up and talking about the movies with me last night😂❤

Trigger warnings before you start reading, this ramble posts contains spoilers for the movies, cuss words, mentions of character d3aths, mention of SA that happens to a character, and other violence and cr!me associated with the H&L franchise. Please don't read if you do not want to see any of these.

Anywaysssas as you can tell by the title of this post and this screenshot, we are talking about plot holes in the High and Low franchise that we need to talk about because they BUG THE SHIT OUT OF ME.

I would like to start by saying that I do love this franchise, it is my everything. It's not like I have anything bad to say about it, I love it as it is, but some of the stuff within the franchise definitely could've been more thought out. It could've been worse! So I am thankful it wasn't bad but there are some things I wish the writing team did a little differently.

Also, I do attribute a lot of the plot holes to 1) the creators not being entirely sure whether or not they would get a green light on more movies, 2) trying to make sure the movies made money (it's a business unfortunately and not just art), and 3) High and Low is a multi-media franchise so some stuff is probably explained in the mangas, TV shows, games, etc. I will contradict myself and discuss this more in detail as we keep going.

These are in no particular order, just what comes to mind first

S.W.O.R.D Era

1)Noboru and Miho's story

I have beef with whoever on the H&L writing team thought that condensing the 2 seasons of Story of S.W.O.R.D into Road to High & Low was a good idea. "It's both seasons condensed into one movie" THAT'S A FUCKIN LIE. So much of what is in the shows is cut out from the movie.

Tell me why I learned here on Tumblr that Noboru actually spent a while in a coma in the hospital after getting body slammed by a Kuryu car? And then Cobra and Yamato had to do the "IF YOU DIE I'M GONNA BE SO MAD AT YOU" speech you always see in Asian dramas to get Noboru to wake up?!

And tell me why I learned from a fanfic on Wattpad that Miho isn't dead?! She literally comes to visit Noboru while he's in the hospital. Road to High & Low frames the situation to make it look like Noboru goes to beat up Miho's SA perpetrators after he finds he d3ad in her apartment. Then when I brought this up a couple weeks ago the Discord besties told me she broke up with him through a letter😭 A LETTER GIRL?! HE WENT THROUGH ALL THAT FOR YOU! IF I WAS YOU I WOULD'VE KEPT HIM. NOBORU. GIVE ME YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE PLEASE GOOD SIR💍 (I'm completely joking I don't think anyone is entitled to another person's feelings, love, affection, etc. I'm just delusional because I love Noboru and Keita Machida)

Then I learned last night from Discord that Miho needs serious therapy because she was working for Doubt and it was addressed in season 2 of the show. Like HUUUH?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!

I do think the storyline between them as a couple and their stories individually definitely could've been explored and explained more. It was probably explained better in the show than RTH&L but I don't have access to the show so idk... which brings me to my first contradiction!

LDH AND EXILE TRIBE PLEASE MAKE YOUR MEDIA MORE ACCESIBLE GOSH. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SUB IT THAT'S FINE AT LEAST MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND SO THAT WE CAN GET FAN SUBS OR I CAN JUST WATCH THE RAW FOOTAGE AND PRETEND I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. There's so many films like the 2 DTC films, the Mighty Warriors film, the shows, even the manga that a lot of us don't have access to😭 Yes this franchise is multi-media but at least make the media accessible😭

2) Mighty Warriors working with Doubt

In the first and second High & Low movie MW and Doubt work together... AND THAT LITERALLY DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. Last I checked Mighty Warriors don't fuck with tr@ffickers in general so I don't even know why this happened.

And last I checked, MW rescued Sarah from Doubt so why would they work with Doubt when one of their members was literally a Doubt victim? That just doesn't make sense to me. Like yes the MW tend to just take up whatever whack-ass jobs for money they can get considering they fought with literal children (Oya and Rude Boys. I'm like 99.9% sure the Rude Boys members were all 16-19 and that is the age of children. Smoky might've been 20-22 which is not exactly a child but he's still young compared to the MW who were all mercenaries and in the military before they were musical bandits alluding to the fact they are older) but you would think that people who claim to have a club that is a utopia with music that is supposed to impact people positively and save their lives just like music saved the MW members' lives, they would have more moral and standards than to work with Doubt.... but I digress.

3) The alliance with a foreign mafia

This one I can kind of understand but also can't.

I understand that MW take up whatever job they can to make money. It's said directly multiple times in the movies by a MW member that there is no use doing a job for someone without getting paid so they do a lot of stuff just for the money. I also understand Doubt take whatever job pays them but also benefits their tr@fficking business. Hence why they took this job because not only were they getting paid by Lee who runs the Korean mafia but they could kidnap women in the S.W.O.R.D district which worked in their favor.

What I can't understand though is how this alliance even came to be. Hear me out. MW and Doubt will probably do whatever to get money, but where did the trust come from? Like how did they trust that a foreign mafia of all people would uphold their deal and pay them? Was it because Kohaku was made the front-man/face of the plan? Like did they believe that it would be fine because Kohaku was the one "leading" even though it seemed like Lee was pulling a lot of the strings? DOES KOHAKU EVEN HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BE PAYING EVERYONE?! I SWEAR EVERY TIME WE SEE HIM THAT MAN IS JUST LAYING ON A SOFA IN A JUNKYARD! WDYM DOUBT AND MIGHTY WARRIORS BELIEVED THIS MAN WAS THE ONE WHO WAS GONNA GIVE THEM MONEY?!

4) Who the fuck are Bulge? And what happened to Kuryu?

In End of Sky, we learn that Bulge are interested in the fight between Doubt, Prison Gang, and White Rascals and would sponsor Prison Gang. That's why the scene where we see Jesse fighting with another prisoner, after he kicks him down the guards tell Jesse that Bulge wants to see him to. This is why Jesse and Prison Gang are released early. When Jesse goes back to Funk Jungle he's asking if Mighty want to join but Ice says that they are gonna focus on promoting Funk Jungle, but like he's a liar they show up at the fight anyways lol.

A the end of Final Mission, the movie closes off with a dramatic shot of Mighty Warriors and a typed out message stating "Hello, everyone. This is Bulge. The takeover plan has begun." We never get an explanation of who they are, what they do, etc. I did learn from Ryu's Wiki Fandom page however that "It is presumed that he and Bulge orchestrated the fall of Kuryu Group. In the music video of the MIghty Warriors' new song "Warriors Anthem", it is revealed that he took over Kuryu as the leader after the events of Final Mission, and having Mighty Warriors occupy the remaining 8 heads of Kuryu."

So who exactly are Bulge? How are they powerful enough to be able to take down all of the original Kuryu members who have been seen as indestructible the whole franchise? Why did they allow Ryu to be the new leader?

After Final Mission, the next media pieces that were released were the DTC show and DTC movie, and then we moved into The Worst era with High&Low: The Worst Episode 0 along with the two Worst movies that followed.

I had made the assumption that around the start of the Worst era the creators probably wanted to integrate more of Jr.Exile into the franchise because of their 1) popularity and 2) new stories. The popularity of Exile members like Hokuto and Kazuma would probably bring in more viewership which does good on the numbers and money side because as I said above, unfortunately this is also a business not just art. The H&L creators probably also needed new stories to follow because they can't keep adding to S.W.O.R.D

Vis said that they think the Mighty Warriors were probably dropped because we haven't seen anything from them since the third movie, but Taiga also brought up how the new Mighty Warriors music video was also dropped right around the time the most recent movie Worst X was released. This probably means they are trying to figure out the story within S.W.O.R.D behind the scenes and it's just taking a while to do the world building. Tired also brought up a good point that considering most of the actors in H&L are also Exile members, they have to also continue their jobs as artists so tours, making music, schedules, etc. are probably also clashing with filming and working on High and Low.

Hopefully that is the case and we see more because I have too many questions and no answers.

5) Wtf happened to Rude Boys, Nameless City, and Nikaido?

If you read my fics, you know that when I write about Nameless City after Smoky's passing, I write about how the Rude Boys, Lala, and Eri go and visit Smoky's grave all the time. About a month ago the besties in the Discord made it known to me that Smoky's gravesite and like 3/4 of Nameless City was completely blown up. I was like 😧when I read those messages because it wasn't even like a head-canon thing I genuinely thought that only a small section of Nameless City was blown up so we were fine BUT APPARENTLY WE AREN'T FINE. So what does this mean for the Nameless City residents?

Did they get government housing to stay in while they got tested for the disease from the pollution? Did the residents get released back into Nameless City after the whole casino project exposure? If they were released back into Nameless City, are they all just cramming into that little 1/4 of Nameless City that wasn't blown up?

What happened to Rude Boys afterwards? Are they all back in Nameless City? Or did they move to a different area? Where would they go though? Little Asia? Did Eri get adopted afterwards? Are they finding ways to make money like how they mined the crystal to get money to rebuild Nameless City? Do they even want to return to Nameless City considering the pollution from the toxic waste was causing the disease that killed their leader?

Wtf happened to Nikaido/Cain? Is he finally happy now that he purged his past? Was purging his past and killing his brother worth it? If Kuryu was overthrown and taken over by Mighty Warriors, what does that mean for Nikaido? Is he working for them? Was purging his past worth anything if he didn't even gain anything from it because MW took over Kuryu? Again, so many questions and no answers😭

6) Give us a more clear timeline

This isn't a plot hole, just something I wish the creators would do is give us a clearer timeline. We're never given any clear timeline of how much time has past between each movie or even how much time is between the S.W.O.R.D and Worst era. I'm always trying to calculate the timeline or everyone's ages based off of the only two characters we get ages for and Noboru's school timeline.

The only two characters in the whole franchise that we get ages for are Chiharu and Seki. At the start of the series we know that Chiharu is 20 because when he joins Sannoh, in the scene at the bar Cobra offers him a drink but takes it back and says "wait but aren't you underaged?" to which Chiharu replies that he is 20 (which is the legal adult age in Japan) and Tettsu makes fun of him for still being in high school as an adult (in good fun of course not in a mean way).

When we first are introduced to Oya, the narrator tells us that Seki is the oldest part-timer student there at age 25.

Noboru, Yamato, and Cobra were high schoolers while Mugen was still active. This is deduced by the scene where Yamato drops Noboru off in front of the school for the day he takes his exam, then when he opens up his college acceptance letter with them. I'm assuming Yamato and Cobra dropped out to be apart of Mugen and take care of their parents' shops. Then, we see when Noboru starts college but doesn't make it super far into his bachelors degree after getting sent to jail. We don't get to see how long he was in jail for, just that he was released early because Kuryu paid to get him out early.

I always use these ages and Noboru's vague school timeline to try and figure out the character's ages and shit but they are just estimates because we never get clear timelines from the creators. Like why couldn't they at least tell us how much time passed between the end of Final Mission and the start of The Worst?!😭anyways.... onto the next thing

The Worst Era (mainly X)

Like I said in the screenshot, The Worst isn't my favorite movie out of the franchise but I think it was the best executed in terms of plot out of all the movies. The plot was clear, very concise, and relatively had no plot holes. (I haven't seen The Worst Episode 0 so if there is something that is missing plot wise please let me know)

It was fun to see the cross with Housen and the themes and messages we got from not only the plot but also from each character were all really good too. It was a solid movie, no complaints.

The Worst X however... I have questions. It's not to say it wasn't good, I still liked it and obviously it was good considering I watched it with no context and it got me into the whole H&L universe, but I feel like it fell a bit short. There was more the writers could've done for not only plot development but character development.

1)How did that 3 school alliance actually even start?

From the movies, it seems like Kohei Amagai is well known as "the annoying son of the Amagai group". Like EVERYONE knows him and knows he throws around money to get people to work for him. And like yeah, we see when he is able to take control of the school with the beige uniforms because Senomon, Kamasaka, and Ebara are quite literally beating the shit out of them, but how did Senomon get Kamasaka and Ebara to cooperate?

I refuse to believe that Amagai was able to get Kamasaka who fight with weapons like brass knuckles and metal rods and Ebara who are all literal gym bros to join his stupid ass plan with just money. As dumb as I think boys are I don't think Reiji, Ghandi, Shoji, Raijin, or Fujin are actually dumb enough to join an alliance for money. Even if this alliance did win and take over Oya, what would they have done with each other afterwards? Those dudes have so much pride we all know that there is NO WAY they would all continue working under Amagai. Amagai is also stupid as hell if he thought he could be at the top without someone from Kamasaka or Ebara trying to overthrow him if he had taken down Oya like Kohei.... be fuckin for real bitch.

I need more of an explanation to this like someone from the H&L writing room please sit down with me and answer my questions so I can publish it in an interview for all of us we need answers.

2) What the fuck is the story behind Todoroki and the dudes from Ebara?

The whole time Fujin and Raijin are running around screaming about how they're gonna crush Todoroki and I literally sit there like

👁️👄👁️Why? No matter how many times I watch the movies because we never get an explanation! Idk was this in the show? Someone please tell me.

And like the scene after Todoroki beats up Fujin and Raijin, Shoji goes "you're different now" and I'm always like "Different? DIFFERENT HOW?! DON'T BE SHY SHARE WITH THE CLASS PLEASE"

Todoroki responds with something along the lines of "now I have friends to protect" which is so wholesome I love that, but what is the detailed history of him and the guys from Ebara? We never get that explained to us. I remember reading somewhere that Todoroki trained hard to beat his bullies and because he got so strong that's why he always tried to fight for the leader position because he believed he could beat Murayama. I also saw a clip on Youtube where when Murayama is fighting with Todoroki, he sees his old self in Todoroki who is being reckless which probably adds to Todoroki's character development.

Did the guys from Ebara bully Todoroki? Were they old friends who fell apart? Did they just have a bad run in when Todoroki was being a little shit and fought but now hold a grudge because they are teenagers with a lot of pride and anger issues and it's not that deep? Idk🤷‍♀️The thing that bugs me is the fact that their feud was added a solid amount to the plot and why Ebara joined then dropped the alliance so I don't know why we didn't get at least a vague explanation of who these characters are to each other.

3) Questions and what I want to see next movie

This obviously isn't plot holes but just some questions I have and what I want to see in the next installments of the franchise.

Why were these high schoolers doing THE FUCKIN MOST to see who was stronger?! The first time I watched I was so confused because why was this movie serious but also so unserious?! They did not need to be doing all that.

Why didn't Amagai get in any trouble for anything?! Is it because he has money?! Like how did this man commit literal crime and everyone was like okei. He literally kidnapped Tsukasa and tortured him for like half a day and 1 night...

How did Tsukasa not die?! The was literally beat over the head with a metal pipe, kidnapped, tied up, tortured, and then dropped from a balcony. I digress, he probably has plot armor as Sun calls it because how did he not die or at least end up in the hospital for a long time.

I want to see the movies circle back to the S.W.O.R.D plotline so it would be really cool if Amagai's little plan was part of a larger plan to break down the peace in S.W.O.R.D. It wouldn't be the first time the adults used kids to push their agenda. Kuryu originally wanted to use Murayama to tear down the peace in S.W.O.R.D because he used to look up to the man who was the head of Iemura but because he chose not to do it, they went after Noboru.

Maybe MW are thriving as the new heads of Kuryu so someone on the outside is trying to take over and Amagai's family is apart of that. Or maybe his family is trying to gain favor from Mighty and are working for them. Idk but it would be cool if we circle back to S.W.O.R.D and see the new Oya characters have to integrate into the S.W.O.R.D world also.

I also want to see a segment of how Rude Boys and Oya adjust to their new leaders.

I want to see what happened to the rest of S.W.O.R.D after the third movie. We saw Oya in The Worst era but what happened to everyone else? Which I also know these are probably kind of far fetched considering the Exile Tribe member who played Rocky is retired from the entertainment industry now... but a girl can dream I guess.

You made it to the end! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this big rant. This wasn't proof read and is kind of everywhere but thank you for reading it anyways! ❤️

#high&low #high and low #oya high #high&low story of sword #oya kou #sannoh hoodlum squad #the rampage from exile tribe #hanaoka fujio #high and low the movie #high and low end of sky #high and low final mission #white rascals #daruma ikka #high&low rude boys #be:first #exile tribe #jsb3

[madhatterbri]

New Beginnings | C.C.

Summary: Christian and you finally confess each other's feelings.

Author's Note: Part two of Too Late

Dedicated to @1dluver13xx and her incredible taste in men. 🤌

The tension was suffocating during dinner. Adam and Beth continued to talk about your brother's new adventure with AEW. He was still so hyped about having one last ride with his best friend. Meanwhile, Christian sat across from you doing everything in his path for you to look at him. You were ignoring him.

Deep down you knew despite everything that happened you needed him. He was in your life before he debuted in wrestling almost thirty years ago. The past three years had been absolute hell for you. It felt like you lost an arm. Christian was always there for everything.

"I wonder if we can get these two involved in some story line," Beth teased and elbowed you softly. Your sad thoughts pushed to the back of your mind. You looked at her with a fake smile. There was no way you wanted to be around Christian after tonight. "Maybe you can be with me while Christian is yelling at us while Adam is out in the ring,"

"Whatever brings viewers I am in," you answered and looked around the restaurant. Christian's light eyes continued to watch your every move closely. Despite being the one to break your heart he had to make sure you were going to be okay.

"Maybe even a cheesy storyline where you find out they had an affair," Beth joked to Adam and rubbed his hand with her thumb. Adam laughed and looked at his wife before turning his attention to you and Christian. "Imagine the whole best friend and little sister story. They would eat it up,"

"I would kill him," he laughed and playfully punched his best friend in the arm. "You want a husband in jail?"

The dinner ended longer than you hoped. Adam drove back to the hotel. Christian was in his own car allowing you space to breathe.

"Talk to her," Beth whispered and motioned her head towards you. Adam looked at you through the rear view mirror. Your head rested against the glass while watching the city pass you by. He noticed the crushed expression on your face. One similar to when your mom died.

At the hotel, Beth rushed off to attend to the girls. Her parents had come down to watch them. They must need some sort of break at this point. Adam assured her he would be right up after he walked you to your room.

"Everything okay?" Adam asked and placed his hand on your shoulder. The elevator ride suddenly felt a lot longer. You prayed someone would come in to interrupt but it was late.

You smiled briefly and looked away. He could always tell when you were lying. Your face turned a bright red. Your eyes watered. Damnit.

"I can't tell you. You would kill him and my nieces wouldn't have their dad," you confided in him. He sighed instantly remembering dinner. You wrapped your arms around him and buried your head in his shoulder. After a few seconds you took a step back.

"I love him, Adam. We were together one night three years ago and the next morning he told me they were giving their marriage a second chance," you stuttered trying to hold in your sobs. "Tonight he tried talking to me but... I don't know what to do,"

"Hear him out, sis. He misses you. He always asked about you whenever we went to a hockey game or he whenever he saw Beth and I," he admitted. "I didn't want to get involved but since we all are going to be seeing each other more. Text him to see you. I won't stop you both from being happy,"

He gave you one last hug before the elevator doors opened signaling your stop.

For the first time in three years you unblocked Christian. The weight of the world lifted off your shoulders. Your heart swelled at the thought of him coming back into your life. You stared at the message screen and sighed. Your thumbs quickly typed a message and sent it to him.

Hey don't fuck yourself quite yet. I'm in room 807. I'm ready to talk.

Within minutes Christian knocked on your door. You opened the door to see him with a bouquet of white roses. Your favorite.

"Come in," you greeted and opened the door wider. Christian walked in and handed you the roses. You thanked him and placed them on the counter for now.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked standing uncomfortably by the door. The talk at the arena didn't go exactly as planned. He hoped the two of you would have gone to being a couple.

"Christian, I'm sorry for what I said at the arena. I was so hurt and I... I missed you," you confessed. His eyes widened in shock but you couldn't read them. "I told Adam what happened between us,"

Christian flinched unsure if this was good or bad news especially after dinner. Once he didn't hear Adam running at him to murder him he calmed down a little more. He still didn't say anything. The man that always had so much to say. Speechless.

"I love you, Christian, and I need to know how you feel about me before I can continue,"

You were met with silence but he appeared to be thinking. This was the moment, his moment. The things he should have told you before breaking you. He cleared his throat.

"You and I have always had something, your name. I couldn't put a finger on it until that night. It wasn't just the sex but the way we acted like a couple. The dinner and just cuddling on the couch watching hockey. I hadn't had that in so long and it made me realize I had to end it with her once and for all," he licked his lip trying to figure out his next words. "I told her what happened between us and she was going to tell Adam unless I stayed. I figured our daughter deserved both her parents and tried with her again. You know the rest,"

The air felt light once more like it always had been between the two of you.

"So where does that leave us?" You asked wanting to hear him say it. He pointed at the white roses. The symbol of purity, innocence, and....

"A new beginning,"

The next morning found you lounging in a pool chair. Today was going to be an easy day for the two of you. Just making up for lost time. You chatted away with Beth while Adam sat next to Christian.

"Some of those punches are going to connect next week," Adam warned him and looked at him. His serious face clashed with the playful twinkle in his eyes.

"Wouldn't doubt it, brother," Christian smiled. "And I'll gladly take them,"

#fanfiction #imagine #aew #angst #comfort #christian cage #aew christian cage #christian cage aew #christian cage x reader #christian cage x y/n

[eruherdiriel]

Who's getting married at the end of ASoIaF?

Marriage, alliances, and heirs are all tied together in Westeros and are important parts of the nobles' lives. Since A Dream of Spring is never seeing the light of day and The Winds of Winter is a big fat probably not "we'll see," I will go to my grave haunted by this question. So I decided to reason it out. My Jonsa brain wants it to be them but that seems potentially too "happy." But who else could it be?

George made the comment in May 2016.

Yes, I mean, I did partly joke when I said I don’t know where I was going. I know the broad strokes, and I’ve known the broad strokes since 1991. I know who’s going to be on the Iron Throne. I know who’s gonna win some of the battles, I know the major characters, who’s gonna die and how they’re gonna die, and who’s gonna get married and all that. The major characters. Of course along the way I made up a lot of minor characters, you know.

I've decided to look at living POV characters, except for the one-offs, some as individuals and some as couples. Many POV characters are not "major characters" in my eyes and there are some non-POV characters who are more important, but this was the most objective way I could find to decide who made the list. POV characters are bolded in blue.

I initially read George's comment as meaning two mains are getting married, but as I wrote this, I second guessed myself and thought maybe he meant a main character and someone else. But since marriage is transactional and important to the highborn characters in this story, most of them will get married eventually (unless they die or join a celibate order), which brought me back around to thinking GRRM did mean the marriage would be between two key characters. And it would be relevant to the plot, and not mentioned as an afterthought in an epilogue or family tree. Otherwise, why call it out? With that in mind, let's begin.

Sansa and Tyrion are already married, but GRRM spoke in the future tense so he wasn't referring to an existing marriage. The relationship was unconsummated, their stories have diverged, and they are headed for an annulment. I can't see anyone we know ending up with Tyrion. His plotlines with women have involved prostitution, assault, unfulfilled desire, and violent anger. He seems more likely to kill another partner than marry again. More on Sansa later.

Bran is a possibility plot wise, but who would he marry? Meera is significantly older when they meet in the books, so I don't think that match is realistic in this context. And if Bran is the Summer King, he will likely have to marry a southerner for political reasons (unless there is a new succession plan and/or he can't have children). So it's probably someone we don't know yet or has been mentioned in passing. The last book would also need a time jump to make Bran of marriageable age, or the last two books would need to cover much more time than the previous five.

Arya's arc isn't about who she marries. In fact, she tells us whose plot is about marriage.

“You,” Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, “will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon.” Arya screwed up her face. "No," she said, "that's Sansa." (A Game of Thrones - Eddard V)

But if further convincing is needed that Arya's storyline isn't about marriage, know that a search for "Arya" and "marriage" or "marry" in the books mostly returns results for Sansa talking about marrying Joffrey and then talking about Arya, lol. There's a few other contexts, particularly with fArya, but this one jumped out at me:

Robb was to marry one of their aunts, and Arya one of their uncles. "She never will," Bran said, "not Arya," but Maester Luwin was unyielding, so there they were beside Rickon. (A Clash of Kings - Bran III)

She's not going to be old enough at the end of the series anyway, unless there's a time jump. Next.

Arianne and Aegon/Young Griff: This seems like one of the most possible impending marriages to me, no matter who the Young Griff is in truth. A strategic Dorne marriage is plot relevant and makes sense with Arianne's arc. However, I think it is possible the Young Griff dies before the end of the story. He also doesn't qualify under my slightly arbitrary logic for who a major character is. And Arianne barely qualifies.

Daenerys is dying. Take it up with George. Though technically still married to Hizdahr zo Loraq, maybe she marries a Greyjoy (Victarion or Euron) before she dies, but it won't be relevant long term. Next.

Cersei and Jaime are doomed, as a couple (not that they can marry anyway, as much as they have wished to) and probably individually. Cersei is also vehemently against getting married again, and there's no more Tywin to force her.

Aeron Greyjoy: Can Drowned God priests get married? Doesn't matter. It's not him.

Areo Hotah has two chapters and only made this list because I checked ASoIaF wiki for POV characters to make sure I got everyone with more than one, lol. No weddings to see here.

Asha Greyjoy is sort of married already? Perhaps she gets out of it and later marries a Northerner to ease relations between the North and Iron Islands. A non-POV character likely, but maybe Jon??? Huh. It's not the least or most possible thing here. Not what I expected coming into this.

Brienne: Like Arya, marriage isn't the point of her narrative. It could become important for her to marry in the aftermath of all the wars. But for major characters as her suitor, there's none that make sense. Her interactions with Jaime serve to humanize him and complicate her, but they're not ending up together, even if Jaime ends up alive.

Theon's not getting married if he lives.

Sam is a member of the Night's Watch and technically can't marry. Maybe he gets released from his vows or there is no NW in the end and he is free to marry ... Gilly? Some rando in the Reach? Even if he's not in the Night's Watch, there's that whole maester thing that should prevent him from having a wife.

Davos is already married. Next.

Barristan Selmy is old and a long-serving member of a celibate order.

Jon Connington will be more focused on getting his "son" a match.

And we are back to Sansa. I won't go through all the potential suitors for her. See this brilliant post for that. Given Sansa's narrative themes and that she is headed for a leadership position, a good match for her will be extremely important. She has also been involved in too many marriage plots for one to not work out and be relevant to the larger story.

Jon and Sansa are undoubtedly two of the major characters of the series. Marriage and children are referenced explicitly and implicitly throughout the books for both of them, and they are two of the most romantic characters.

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. (A Storm of Swords - Jon XII)

Implication of bold text = he dreamed of it before, and here he is doing it again. Notice also that he's thinking less of Val specifically and more of what a marriage would give him access to. Sansa does something similar when thinking about Willas.

If I give him sons, he may come to love me. She would name them Eddard and Brandon and Rickon, and raise them all to be as valiant as Ser Loras. And to hate Lannisters, too. In Sansa's dreams, her children looked just like the brothers she had lost. Sometimes there was even a girl who looked like Arya. (A Storm of Swords - Sansa II)

(The parallel content of these passages is ... a lot. One sentence for finding love with Val/Willas, then multiple sentences [three for Jon, four for Sansa] about children. The opening sentences are flipped in order [purple and pink text], and there's the shared idea of dreams [in red] and wanting to name their children for people they've lost [orange].)

Who knows how much time the final two books cover, but Jon and Sansa are both of marriageable age by Westeros/George's standards and will be more so by the end of the series, with a much more appropriate age gap between them than a lot of other possibilities. A union between them makes sense, since Jon would get to become a Stark, something he has always wanted, thought not in the way he dreamt might happen. Sansa would get her true knight, though he is imperfect and not the fantasy version she imagined when younger. It solidifies Stark power in the North. The last book was originally A Time for Wolves, after all.

The questions it leaves though are when does this happen? What does Jon's punishment or social status look like if he plays a role in Daenerys's death (for kinslaying and potentially queenslaying)? Is forsaking the Targ name and kneeling to Bran enough, or does he have to serve an exile period? (Am I letting the show influence me too much with these questions?) Can he acknowledge any children he has, or does that get in the way of the Targ line coming to an end, even if the children are Starks (or Snows)?

The final possibility is George changed his mind since that comment. The garden grew in a different direction. This feels hollow and unfulfilling, especially if you take the view that GRRM is deconstructing tropes so he can reconstruct them. There has to be a hopeful marriage/romance after everything else. And marriage is a big enough point in the books for there to be at least one that helps wrap up the story.

Summary of potential matches between two named characters (does not meet full criteria):

Arianne and Aegon/fAegon

Sam and Gilly

And between POV characters (meets full criteria):

Asha and Jon? (Once again, huh.)

Sansa and Jon

But since Sansa is the character I am most confident in having a plot-relevant marriage, Jon x Sansa wins.

This was not rigged, I swear.

#a song of ice and fire #a dream of spring #asoiaf ending #who's getting married #long post #jonsa #i did this mostly to reassure myself there's hope #there is nothing new here but i needed to play this out #except new crackship asha and jon haha #ignore me #let's pretend my analysis of the greyjoy brothers isn't so pathetic #asoiaf meta #my asoiaf meta #my text

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

The Problems with HOTD's Alicent

Hotd made a lot of interesting choices about their characterizations, especially when it comes to Alicent. First off, there's the obvious age change, which I know has been commented on a lot, so I'm not going to be talking about that in this post. What I'm going to talk about is the changes in her character itself (made supposedly in the name of feminism might I add) and why that hurts the story itself.

To start off: the constant victimization. Now, having Alicent being a victim of marital rape is not my issue, it was definitely not uncommon in the time period asoiaf is based on. My issue is turning it and her many other victimizations into one of her only personality traits. Literally Alicent's main traits are: Rhaenyra's former bff, victim of Otto, victim of Viserys, teen mom, and victim of Larys. Can everyone see the pattern? Victimization for the sake of it is disgusting and exploitative, and it's even worse when they, in order to fulfill the storyline created by grrm, turn her into an abuser herself. Like she has no development past the victim-abuser cycle and its depressing at best and enraging at worst. How is that feminist?

Now how does that hurt the story? Well I did allude to it above, but I say it clearly this time: it gives her no character arc and stunts one of the main characters which cripples any emotional tension the writers are trying to build. Rhaenyra in episode 8 may as well be talking to Alicent in episode 5, which is the last time we see Alicent develop at all. We see Rhaenyra change over the episodes, especially over the 10 year time skip, but Alicent remains the spiteful, paranoid girl she was at the end of episode 5. That's half the fucking season as a stagnant character! This wouldn't be so bad if she was a side character, like Harwin and Lyonel, but she's literally one of the main characters, how the fuck is this good writing?

Next change: turning Alicent's main motivation into protecting her children. This is something I like to call the Cersei effect: the belief that if your main female antagonist, just giving her the role of protective mom is all you need to make her nuanc3ed. Which is total bs and totally misses what exactly it was that makes Cersei an interesting antagonist. Actually they took more than just the children thing from Cersei, I think that's also where they got the marital rape, loveless marriage, and being called the ex's name from. But anyway, the reason this angle doesn't work (aside from it being fucking lazy) is because, in this story, Alicent helps start a fucking civil war. How the fuck does that protect her kids?? And on top of that, how does forcing your 13 y/o daughter to her 15 y/o abusive brother (and don't say Aegon wasn't an abuser yet, he was bullying and harassing Aemond long before the marriage) protect her? By keeping her close? What was she going to do, supervise them every time they're alone? Make sure Aegon is sober and not assaulting her? Basically what I'm getting at: Alicent's actions are completely counter-intuitive to her supposed main goal of protecting her children. And it shows since she had to live through all of them dying because of her and Otto's actions.

The reason that is harmful to the story is pretty much what I said above, but I'll say it more clearly here: if your antagonist/rival's actions are completely nonsensical with their goal, they are a bad antagonist/rival and the story is therefore lacking any real conflict. The only time Alicent's actions made some sense were in episode 7 when she attacked Rhaenyra, that was clearly years of resentment boiling over and anger over how Viserys reacted to her son's maiming. That is the only time I've ever found her compelling after episode 3.

All this to say: Alicent's hotd characterization makes no sense and it destroys any actual conflict beyond pettiness in the story, which completely ruins it. Thank you for reading this far, I know this was really fucking long.

#alicent hightower #anti hotd #anti team green #anti alicent stans #anti alicent hightower #team black #rhaenyra targaryen #rant post

[neversatisfiedwithlife]

Long tangent. Started as marina and andy but got carried away. Don't read if you're sensitive and can't handle being critical of media.

On screen this season have we actively seen Andy interact with maya about the pregnancy? I want to say no. We really haven't seen a lot of Andy to begin with(it really feels like they leaned more on moving the story of the station through ross. Which just feels lazy and unnecessary. Ross does not need to be a focal point. Yes we get the bits about Andy trying to find ways of saving money without getting rid of anyone. But other than that she's just there. She got captain and then just really became this background character... they really said this is her only personality.)

But I digress, so Andy is the one to tell the team about liam right. At the ross/sullivan thing. But that just feels so lazy too. We get the moment where maya(as always) is supportive and there for Andy's captaincy christening or whatever, and the little moment before that where we get a flash back of them at the academy. Plus in episode one we get maya kind of giving Andy the pep talk. But other than that🤷‍♀️

So yea it just feels really lazy to have Andy suddenly be in the know about maya and carina and the possible struggle of adopting liam.(yes things can happen off screen but there's so much important talks and interactions happening off screen while irrelevant things happen on screen. TV is visual. We should be seeing and experiencing these moments)

This season has spent so much time on characters that do not need it. So many dynamics that do not need it. But when it comes to maya and andy... one of their root relationships, like andy and maya have been special to this show since s1... but we can't even get them actually talking?

Like we can't see andy talking about how far maya has come. Can't see her telling maya how happy for her she is? Nobody thought this would be good scenes to film? Andy who was there for their wedding, who helped convinced maya to stand up to Lane and invite her mom to the wedding?? Or like it would've been cool to have Andy come over to their new home, Andy having moments with liam in an "aunt herrera" type of way...(like just anything that could kind up resemble baby prue).

It really is just maya and carina in their own bubble until the writers suddenly want to put in a line(that feels half assed or last minute) to show "Hey yea remember the firehouse is a family"...)

This also reminds me of the way Jack's story is just resolved off screen after like 1 or 2 episodes? They could've drawn it out, could've shown the team, shown andy(give her something more than background captain character) being there for him and helping him find his next calling.

The way they just so easily write him out but then have him lingering in moments like the funeral and andy captain thing...like if they cared at all about their og characters they could've given him more.

Instead we got an episode storyline with beckett and his family(and like cool we see where the alcoholism comes from) but the continued desperation to have the audience sympathize with beckett. The continued way of trying to have the audience forget he spent a whole season and a half tormenting, harassing, and abusing his power while putting his team and civilians in danger...(no he doesn't need to be condemned to his actions-although the story has done no hesitations about condemning maya at every turn-but it would be nice if his story was actually well rounded. There was no real consequences for him. No real inner reflection when it comes to what he did to maya and the position he put the team in. Same with Ross. They really just wrote her as complacent(and wrote most of her time as chief with the only concern being her relationship with sullivan... but we're also supposed to forget that while they constantly have them talking about their marriage and how much they love each other and blah blah. Girl couldn't even balance being chief.)

#station 19 #maya bishop #maya x carina #carina x maya

[theflyindutchwoman]

How do you think the writers will take Chenford moving forward? I know exploring long-term UC for Lucy and how that will impact Chenford's relationship is a possibility, but what do you think about other things like proposal, marriage and kids? Especially kids, since that is something Tim and Lucy have talked about numerous times.

I have this thought that pregnancy storyline was always written mainly due to logistics instead of what the writers wanted in originally. This mainly stems from the fact that the few times they have pregnancy in the show were because the actresses that played Angela Lopez and Nyla Harper were pregnant themselves and thus pregnancy was written in the storyline, so it kinda makes me think Tim and Lucy having kids may not be something we will see in the series. What do you think?

Ooh speculation time… This might be an unpopular opinion, but I agree, I don't see Lucy and Tim having a baby in the near future, at least not if the writers have a say in it.

As you mentioned, these storylines have been written to accommodate the actresses' real life pregnancies (not sure for Angela's second baby). They didn't get to properly prepare in advance, hence the three unplanned pregnancies plotlines. And I think that's partially the reason why Tim and Lucy have been speaking about kids so much : the writers want to do with them what they didn't get to do with the other couples. We didn't see the conversation, the planning… None of that. They have this opportunity here. Even better, Lucy and Tim had both already their own arc about this topic : her with the fertility clinic and him with having his dream of being a father being dashed repeatedly. And it's something they've discussed together in the past, so it makes sense that they would bring it up from time to time. But I don't think that means they are planning babies just yet. Ideally, Lucy would first get settled in her career - same with Tim for that matter. Otherwise, it would simply be a repeat of Angela's struggles when she got pregnant just as she was becoming a detective. I also wonder whether they're going to reopen the fertility clinic arc or not… In the meantime, having them coach Little League or spend a day with their Make-A-Dream kid is actually a smart way to give us some insights on what kind of parents they could be, without having to introduce a child just quite yet. We may get to see them as parents one day, I'm not ruling it out completely, but it will depend on how many more seasons we get.

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the first order of business would be to resolve the undercover/promotion storyline for Lucy. The writers have been teasing this arc all season long, so it's time to move forward. I don't mean that Lucy necessarily has to take a final decision regarding undercover, just that she needs to get to the next stage of her career. Undercover aside, Tim already mentioned that their scheduling hours could present an issue once she makes detective, that they might spend less time together. So it would be interesting to delve a little into that, see how they make it work… which could, in turn, lead to a conversation about moving in together and/or buying a house. After all, that's the discussion that set the wheels in motion and brought Tim and Lucy together. So that could be a full-circle moment. And it could pave the way for the next step : proposal.

Now, I don't think we will see one next season : with S6 shortened, it might be tricky. I know it might also seem too soon, but these two are already serious and committed, they know what they want and they know the other very well. Besides, so far, all the main couples got engaged relatively fast : Wesley proposed to Angela after 6-9 months of dating, Nyla and James got married after a few months (though in all fairness, it was precipitated by the pregnancy) and Nolan was ready to ask Bailey after dating her for like 8 episodes?! There's clearly a pattern here. But again, with a shorter season and a wedding already planned, the writers might want to keep that for later… All in all, it will really depend on how short this season will be (we stand with WGA/SAG-AFTRA in this house) and whether they can get a renewal for s7.

#ask & ye shall receive #the rookie #chenford #lucy chen #tim bradford

[luminouswriter]

Some #Chenford thoughts.

↪I want all the good things for Tim & Lucy—as Chenford but also as individuals. That being said, I don't want them to rush. I want them to be the one couple that the show dives deeper into and let's unfold naturally. I don't want by the end of the season for Tim to propose and Lucy be pregnant by episode one of S6.

I want to experience them dating. The cute and fluffy stuff, the stolen glances at work, the slight barely there touches, I want to watch them freak out when the other is in danger, I want to watch them get to know each other even better on their couches and beds and laugh and open up about all the ugly stuff that they know each others hearts completely. I want them to grow into their "You know you're my best friend right?" Era. I want the angst and growing pains until they settle into their own.

I want what makes Tim —Tim and what makes Lucy—Lucy to be brought into the writing to make their relationship more complex.

For example with Tim Bradford—if you deeply get his character and see things from his perspective and not your own then you get why he is the way he is. He is the most layered character and it's all got to do with his past.

He is a grump and smug and sarcastic and I think they have all been coping mechanisms with his whole past being abused then the army that he won't talk about then the Academy and Isabel.

He won't say it—but he has abandonment issues, it's why he keeps people at a distance. I think Lucy breached that barrier pretty quickly and easily it's why Tim tried by all means to keep things "professional". It's why he didn't want her to talk too much about personal stuff and why he calls her Chen and even with we see how easily he folds when it comes to her. " Air Conditioning makes you weak." Lucy gets hurt "How about I fix that air conditioning." And this was early on when he was still a big grump.

Tim fell for Lucy first, it's easy to see and this didn't happen this season. We've established that Tim is a great guy who cares about people. We saw how he stood up for Jackson or how we've had it mentioned in passing that he's helped Nolan out but I don't think if either those two or even another female Rookie like Barnes had wanted to go into UC that Tim would have acted the way he did when Lucy got interested in UC. He probably didn't even understand why he felt like that but Lucy and UC scared him shitless. Here is this woman that he has unexplainable feelings for taking the same path his wife took and later abandoned him & their marriage for.

Tim is terrified of loosing Lucy—we've seen that play out and not just losing her as in dying or getting addicted to like drugs but if you've paid attention then you've noticed after he asked her to go to UC school and she misunderstood why he told her that and this distance was created between them then you did notice he is scared of losing her in his life as—a friend or whatever. The sneaked in glances and facial expressions showed how much he hated that they weren't close anymore.

His issues are the reason why he didn't leave Ashley when she said she didn't want to have kids or marriage (I don't even remember) he cared about her and maybe loved her to some degree but it wasn't something so profound that he was seeing forever with her 💁🏾‍♀️. The way she left him hurt him but he wasn't madly in love with her, Ashley was safe while Lucy—for Tim is danger. She collapses his walls without even doing much and that needs to be played into their relationship. That love that he didn't think he could find again—even deeper this time, that fear of losing in more ways that one and the fear that she so easily sees past his defences and he can't protect himself.

Lucy is such a complex character too. (And I love that they are doing something a little more with her this season but they need to dig deeper. We need more of her for the seasons to come.) She deserves more, especially with her family storyline wise.

I think Lucy's biggest plotline is that she needed support, one that her own family didn't give her. And to prove to herself and others that she belonged. Tim gave her that. Even with all his rough edges he pushed Lucy and gave her the net under the ledge that she deserved. But even with that—i think her insecurities kicked in when Tim asked her to go to UC, she felt rejected esp knowing that they were about to cross a line. Her need to prove herself and her not being able to see herself the way others see her can be such a great incorporation in their relationship.

Chenford has the potential to be one of the best ships because both characters are not written to be perfect (acting like a character doesn't have faults and is this perfect person who deserves to only be treated with kid gloves does a disservice to them) and are so intricate and lovable. The obstacles at work alone makes their ship more interesting and then you add their personal lives? They could be so great and we need the show to follow through.

#chenford #tim bradford #lucy chen #tucy #tim x lucy #chenford edit #therookieedit #chenfordedit #tim bradford edit #therookie