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thegirlwhowrites642 · 11 months

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Do you think petunia dursley deserve redemption?

Now a days many people say she was manipulated by Vernon or James insulted her( she saw james in harry) and they try to excuse her actions because she was woman.

After the war Petunia will divorce Vernon and harry will forgive her. They even say Petunia secretly always cared about Harry.

Please share your thoughts(only if you have time/want to ofcourse)

Thank you

I think young Petunia is a character it's easy to feel compassion for.

I can't really blame her for not wanting Lily around or not wanting anything to do with magic.

As a child, she is quite close to her younger sister and she has to witness that younger sister all of a sudden going on an adventure without her because her sister has magic and Petunia doesn't.

I dare anyone to not feel resentful and envious in that situation.

And the fact that she is the older sister makes it worse because when Lily goes to Hogwarts they are still in that age where the younger sibling tends to admire and still wants to follow the older and out of the blue that dynamic radically changes.

When in DH we find out that Petunia sent a letter to Dumbledore asking to go to Hogwarts, my heart absolutely breaks for her every single time I re-read it.

And then when Lily enters the wizarding world, Petunia is left to her normal life, which is probably not that great. The Evanses aren't poor but they are definitely not rich. And she is still very much a girl in the 70s, not as bad as the 30s but not as good as today. All of this is to say that she is not left in a situation of privilege and luxury and therefore has nothing to complain about.

Petunia is also left to deal with lying to protect Lily's secret, probably having to say something about how she was sent to some special school for very talented kids, therefore having to make herself appear as the stupid sister. And so everyone would be super curious about this brilliant sister of Petunia, forcing her to live in Lily's shadow even outside of the house and with Lily in Scotland. It's also implied that Lily is the beautiful sister, which I'm sure doesn't help Petunia's resentment. It writes itself a scene from a summer in 1976, where Petunia's friends are eager to meet/see again her beautiful brilliant sister, and Petunia dies of envy.

It's true that Lily enters a world in which as a muggle-born she is subjected to discrimination but I doubt Petunia knew much about it:

Even though Petunia was raised alongside a witch, she is remarkably ignorant about magic. - from Vernon and Petunia Dursley by JK Rowling

Then Lily ends up marrying James Potter, rich, athletic, and good-looking. While Petunia marries Vernon. Tell me you wouldn't hate Lily even more. Lily marrying a wizard so soon after Hogwarts also adds to the separation of the two sisters into two different worlds. Other factors are the war in the wizarding world and the death of their parents.

And speaking of the devil, Petunia seems also resentful towards her parents for showing, according to her, a preference for Lily:

I was the only one who saw her for what she was -- a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. -Chapter 4, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowing

If you notice, Harry doesn't know anything about Mr and Mrs Evans, one thing is him not knowing about the Potters but if Harry doesn't know anything about the Evans grandparents, it means Dudley doesn't either, it means Petunia doesn't talk about them, doesn't have photos of them. Frankly, seeing the relationship between the two sisters, the Envases mustn't have been geniuses at the whole parenting thing.

And for all of this, again, I can't blame her for hating magic, especially when you consider that the first and one of the only experiences with wizards she has is Snape [how hilarious it is that those two know each other?], someone that hates muggles and literally made a tree branch fall on her. Then there's the sister that seems to live to outshine her and Dumbledore who tells her she is not special (not in those terms obviously, he is quite kind actually, but how is a young girl going to perceive that letter if not like that?). By the time she meets James, she already hates magic too deeply.

This Petunia is someone that makes you wish life had been a little kinder to her, and maybe then she could have been better.

But the Petunia since she takes Harry in? She is a monster. What she does to Harry should have put her in jail, and there's no indication that it's Vernon who forces her to behave like that. Like there's no indication that Vernon and Petunia don't love each other. If anything, the fact that Vernon agrees to have Harry in the house despite hating him seems a testament to how much he loves Petunia.

Harry does seem to hate Vernon in particular but the more fitting explanation seems to be that Vernon is a man and therefore more intimidating.

As wrong as it would have been, I could have even forgiven Petunia if she had just been a little colder towards Harry and shown a preference for Dudley. She is substantially forced to take this boy into her house, a boy who has a genocidal maniac after him and therefore potentially puts in danger her, her husband and her son, and she is also forced to see the dynamic that brought so much pain to her repeat again. Dudley is Petunia, and Harry is Lily. Dudley is a muggle, and Harry is a wizard. It's pretty reasonable for her to hate the idea that one day her son will feel like she did. Maybe she was even planning to not have more than one child just to avoid that. Petunia hates Harry because she sees Lily in him, not James. James canonically never insulted Petunia, the only reasons Petunia has for hating him are that he is a wizard and Lily's husband. At best she may have reason to not find him particularly likeable:

The first meeting between Lily, her boyfriend James Potter, and the engaged couple, went badly, and the relationship nose-dived from there. James was amused by Vernon, and made the mistake of showing it. Vernon tried to patronise James, asking what car he drove. James described his racing broom. Vernon supposed out loud that wizards had to live on unemployment benefit. James explained about Gringotts, and the fortune his parents had saved there, in solid gold. Vernon could not tell whether he was being made fun of or not, and grew angry. The evening ended with Vernon and Petunia storming out of the restaurant, while Lily burst into tears and James (a little ashamed of himself) promised to make things up with Vernon at the earliest opportunity. This never happened. Petunia did not want Lily as a bridesmaid, because she was tired of being overshadowed; Lily was hurt. Vernon refused to speak to James at the reception, but described him, within James’ earshot, as ‘some kind of amateur magician’. -from Vernon and Petunia Dursley by JK Rowling

But what Petunia does to Harry goes way beyond anything that could have been excused. And of course, we are also forced to re-read a younger Petunia through that lens, you don't become someone that could do that to a child out of the blue. Was there really ever a time in which she could have been saved?

As for redemption, the personality that is presented to us is not remotely complex enough to consider a redemption arc. Nothing that could be considered in-character. Among the established core traits of her character, there are being envious, and full of hatred.

But even if Petunia decided to become a better person for who knows what spiritual awakening, I don't see why that should become Harry's problem. Each person may have a right to become a better one but that doesn't mean they stop being the person who did the bad things. Even if Petunia became a saint who volunteers in children's hospitals, she would still be the woman who abused Harry, mentally and physically, throughout the first two decades of his life.

I do think that Harry would probably make some sort of attempt to hear her out if that were the case (as much as I also think Ginny would absolutely hate the idea and refuse to let him go alone) because Harry is too compassionate for his own good, and shows more than once to have a problem when it comes to setting boundaries in favour of his own emotional comfort. But I also think it would cause him a great deal of pain and distress and they would never be able to be more than just civil to each other.

In light of that, but also as a general statement in regards to this morbid obsession a lot of people seem to have for redemption arcs, I'd like to say that there's no acceptable reason for the redemption of the abuser to become the punishment of the abused.

[I would advise reading the piece written by Rowling on Vernon and Petunia, there it's made very clear that they love each other]

#petunia evans #petunia dursley #lily evans #lily potter #harry potter #thegirlwhowrites642HPmeta

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inkblooming · 3 months

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The conflict inherent to Stoliz is a feature, not a bug.

To preface: these are two demons who want to be together. That really isn't in question. They keep pictures of each other on their phones, help each other out when it comes to what's important (their daughters), and save each other's asses. Stolas thinks Blitzø's jokes are the height of comedy, and Blitzø has in Stolas someone who appreciates his fascinating attempts at humor; this, more than anything else, speaks to a base compatibility.

Why aren't they together is the question, and, happily, it leads to an interesting answer! If you're holding your couple apart, there should be good reasons for that. Nothing turns one off a couple like forced conflict. If conflict is convoluted, one can start questioning: why are these characters so incompetent? If they can't figure out something so simple how can we expect them to navigate an established relationship? Stoliz, well... they have so much shit to navigate I really can't blame them for fucking it up.

Yes, there's the external pressures. Striker is a reflection of it; he highlights the class divide between Blitzø and Stolas every time he comes on screen. Something Blitzø is deeply aware of and Stolas is coming to realize.

There's also major personality characteristics that mesh so poorly one might want to bang their head against the wall. Luckily, these characteristics are actually things that Blitzø and Stolas need to grow out of to be more functional for themselves. The fact that it will lead to them being capable of holding a relationship together is a sweet consequence of the fact, and, if I dare say so, damn good writing.

Stolas is a character who is haunted by inaction. He's passive and has been since childhood. His relationship with Stella is a reflection of that. It's not something to blame him for, but it doesn't serve him in getting what he needs. It makes him fairly miserable, in fact. The show isn't subtle about it; he needs happy pills to get through the day.

You can see this trait come out in his relationship with Blitzø when, confronted with his obligations, he hides behind a menu at Ozzie's to avoid dealing with the repercussions of standing up for himself and his wants. This is something he's been working on, and we can see it in his relationship with Stella: against his father's wishes and royal society, he demands a divorce and engages in a not-relationship with Blitzø. This puts him in active danger; Stella wants his head. Things with Octavia become more complicated. And yet: he needs to do it, in order to make life more than merely bearable for himself.

Stolas is also someone who is not great at reading other people's emotional states. His relationship conflicts with Octavia are a reflection of that. There are multiple episodes where he doesn't catch onto her sadness or dislike. But he always, always, apologies and attempts to empathize the second he is made aware of his ignorance. He loves very deeply and very much, and he wants what's best for those he cares about. Octavia is a teenager, so it's understandable that she has trouble conveying what she needs from her father as her family fractures around her. But this brings us to...

Blitzø. Because Blitz�� struggles heavily with communicating his needs. Worse, he seems to only be semi-aware of what his needs are. He shies away from even acknowledging he has a thing for Stolas, because it would force him to acknowledge other things that are hard for him: that he's vulnerable, that he's hopeful, that he wants to try despite everything. He holds everything in, denying himself, until it bursts out or reveals itself in twisted up ways. Such as obsessing over Millie and Moxxie's loving relationship, something he can't bring himself to admit he wants, or his near breakdown in the car after Ozzie's, where he finally reveals parts of himself he's been holding separate from Stolas.

Blitzø also has severe self-worth issues and barricades his heart behind two tons of concrete. It's not something to blame him for, but it doesn't serve him in getting what he needs. He almost requires that Stolas be a towering figure incapable of getting hurt, someone who only wants to use him for sexual favors, because it confirms his worldview. The belief that he's not able to hold a loving relationship and that everything he touches is made a mess. We hear him tell Fizz that Stolas has been asking over him, trying to connect, but Blitzø in unwilling to consider positive meanings for any of it. He’s stuck inside his bubble of critical reflection.

Mid-way through season two, and we've reached a delicious crossroads. Stolas is aware, now, that their arrangement has been hurting Blitzø, because of his outburst after their date at Ozzie's. He's been reflecting on it ever since. We can glean this through his songs, and the way he's been looking into obtaining a crystal for Blitzø that will break-off their arrangement all throughout season two.

Neither of these two are good at being upfront and honest. Their text-log that's shown following Stolas' hospitalization is a lesson in writing miscommunication and fits their particular brands of communicative failure perfectly (it's a bit of a crime they're so blink-and-you-miss-it). They've been avoiding the very real break in their relationship following Ozzie's... until. Now. Soon. Stolas is going to give Blitzø the crystal. And it’s going to be a hard tilt into something real that frankly they very likely are not ready for.

It’s prime drama. It’s necessary tension. And it’s compelling as fuck. Both characters are sketched out nicely, and it tickles to see them bump up against each other. It's because they're both so fully realized, with their own individual flaws, that they're able to have this conflict. I love them for those flaws. I love them because it’s a struggle to get on the same page. It does not come naturally, and yet they keep trying because they’re pulled to each other. Mwah. The effort, the mutual effort, they have to put in makes it more special.

#stoliz #helluva boss #stolas #blitzø #blitzo #sorry this pairing took over my brain #i deeply love their conflict & i wish others did as well tbh

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frevandrest · 7 months

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Hérault's Mistresses

Hérault was known as a huge womanizer, to the point where it's said that it's one of the reasons he never married, which is unusual for a noble - his father was 20 and his mother 16 when they married. Apparently, Hérault was matched with an aristocrat woman (girl, probably) but her father heard about his hoeing and demanded he is faithful to his future wife, or else the engagement is off. To which Hérault was like "it's off, then". No idea how truthful this is - it was reported in a royalist bio written by an aristocrat, a descendant of Hérault's biological grandfather (there's a mess surrounding that). But the anecdote doesn't sound so wildly OOC for Hérault, so I can see it.

I only know of three of his mistresses: Sainte-Amaranthe, Suzanne Giroux (or Giroult) de Morency and Adelle de Bellegarde.

I actually know the least about Hérault's relationship with Sainthe Amaranthe, except that she was about 8 years older than him and that, according to what he told Suzanne, "she was clever enough to keep me for a longer time". (Implying that his relationships were typically short.) In 1792, they were no longer together (?) but they remained friends.

Suzanne Giroux de Morency (de Morency is her pen name) was a woman in her early 20s (in 1792) and unhappily married. I found some claims (but absolutely no proof, though I have to look) that Hérault was the one who pushed for legalizing divorce because she asked him to help her (he would, but I think divorce was a super hot subject widely debated even before Hérault hooked up with her, so it's either totally made up, or Hérault boasted about it even though it wasn't technically true - it wouldn't be the first time that he did that (or, possibly, the last, if it's true that he took credit for others' work on the Constitution, as SJ claimed).

In 1792, Suzanne was a mistress of another deputy of the Convention. This didn't bother Hérault (or her) in the slightest. They actually met during a dinner that she attended with her lover and she was smitten on the spot. Hérault kissed her when her lover was not in the room (?) and stole a painting of her to have an artist copy it for him.

Suzanne describes their relationship (along with other stuff, as well as her dealings with other lovers) in her book "Illyrine ou l'éveil de l’inexpérience" [tome 2; tome 3]. Not sure how much of that is true and what's made up, but basic events check out. (Except that there is a possibility that she stole letters Hérault wrote to another woman - Adelle de Bellegarde - and passed them off as letters written to her). In the book, she describes the sex cave (grotto) that they sometimes visited with another couple, but sadly doesn't share any juicy details, except that the experience was "sublime" (and basically, Hérault is the best lover on the face of the Earth and how could any other man ever satisfy her after him).

In the book, she says she was there when Hérault was arrested - that he came to her when he realized that he would be arrested, saying that he "wants to have fun and live one day as it's ten years, so they are arresting an old man" (not the most precise quote - will need to find it- but that's the vibe). And she said he cried a lot in those days before the arrest. She was allegedly there when they arrested him, and she was also arrested and imprisoned for a while, but released.

Finally, Adelle de Bellegarde of the "Sabines" painting fame. Hérault met her when he was a representative on the mission in Savoy in late 1792 (he was dating Suzanne at the time and he told her, basically: "I will be away and I am not faithful. I know you have another lover [that other deputy] so while I am away, think about which one of us you like more so you'll tell me when I get back". And he got back to Paris with Adelle, but still continued to see Suzanne, I believe).

Adelle de Bellegarde was 21 and married (it's a pattern for Hérault - he didn't seduce maidens, not that I know of at least). She had a younger sister who became a lover of another representative that was there with Hérault.

It seems that Hérault cared for her more than usual mistresses, since he brought her to Paris and she remained with him for the rest of his life (this is why I am not 100% sure it was Suzanne who was with him when he was arrested. I mean, maybe - he sure wasn't into monogamy - but I don't necessarily trust Suzanne's word on it).

Anyway, Adelle was one of the reasons he was suspicious, since she was married to a man loyal to the king of Sardinia (which Savoy was part of before France annexed it in 1792), and, it seems (or was suspected) had connections to Austria. During the growing doubt in CSP over Hérault's loyalty, I think it was assumed that Hérault had contacts with the enemy through her (but I have to look more closely into it).

I don't know much about other lovers. There is an interesting (as in: wtf did it come from?) rumour I found at many places, but absolutely unproven: that Hérault and SJ were rivals for the love of the same woman. The woman's identity is not always stated (Claire Lacombe is mentioned, and Sainte Amaranthe?), but the point is that both were interested in the same woman, yet she chose Hérault (implied: of course, since he was better looking/charming/better lover/etc.) As a result, SJ gets super jealous and goes after Hérault, which results in his arrest and death.

Now, I couldn't find any origins of this rumour nor anything substantial. It is very difficult to judge its truthfulness when we know of only two women ever associated with Saint-Just: Thérèse Gellé and Henriette Le Bas (none of which are in any way associated with Hérault). The Sainte Amaranthe rumour is weird, because while there were (mainly post-Thermidor) slanders about SJ being interested in her daughter (that horrid "human coat girl" shit of a story), there are no specific proofs that he was. Plus, why would this cause love rivalry with Hérault? He was the lover of the mother, not daughter. (I wouldn't put it past Hérault to seduce the daughter, but there are zero rumours that connect them).

So, it's really in the realm of the random gossip I think, especially since... well, the rivalry between Hérault and SJ could easily be explained by political reasons (writing of the Constitution, then the whole mess around spy in the CSP), so not sure why the whole love rivals thing? Come to think of it, it's a rare male example of "women bickering because of a man" (you know, a sexist trope that whenever women are in a conflict, it had to be over a man or jealousy over who is prettier, and not about things like politics).

Male Lovers?

That's for female lovers I know of. As for men... We don't know anything for certain. A 100+ page Girondin slander pamphlet from 1793 claims that he started with "antiphysical passions" back when he was 18 and a young advocate general (and that he was even reprimanded for it, but he took no notice and continued). The pamphlet implies that Hérault took male lovers even after that, but provides no proof. So we don't know.

All I can say is that Suzanne tells us about times when Hérault invited another couple to the sex cave with them (so, to an orgy). There are no mentions of what happened, so I can't claim that there was anything same sex going on, but.... "Women swapping" seemed to be a common occurrence among some people, and sometimes, well, it didn't only include m/f stuff. (As in, it was a foursome more than just "I bang your wife and you bang mine"). And tbh, it was easier (more acceptable) to do same sex stuff if there were women present, instead of meeting with another man alone. So, I wouldn't be surprised if those orgy foursomes included same sex stuff, too.

#fun #frev #hérault

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worldgreatestarchersimp · 1 year

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Joining Station 19 and dating Andrea Herrera (female!reader) please?

Joining Station 19 and dating Andrea Herrera hc

Navigation | Station 19 Masterlist

Andy Herrera

When you joined Station 19, Andy was fresh out of her divorce with Sulivan.

You befriend yourself quickly with Travis and Maya. Who were also queer and sadly to you the only ones. Cause you may or may not found Andy incredible hot. But Maya broke your fantasy of dating this Woman, who is and I may quote super Straight.

So you tried to put the aadmiration you have to this woman beside. But just wouldn't leave your side. Andy wanted to be your friend and not just any she wanted to be close to you. But didn't even know why and it confussed you.

One thing Andy didn't want, was falling in love that fast again. But shit happens.

And this was more confussion than any other crush she had, who ended up to be boys.

She got this butterflies like when she crushed on a boy when you touched her arm unintentionally. Or when you smile to her. Once she wondered what it feels like to kiss a girl or better kissing you. As she couldn't hold it any longer for herself, so she talked with Maya about this. The blonde freacked completely out.

But Andy was not the only who felt this way. You also got little crush on her. It was the typical queer woman falls for straight woman thrope. So told your frustration to Carina, who also happened to be a close friend of your.

So with both Maya and Carina knowing you have a crush on each other, they played wingwomen. Both tried the other to build up the courage to ask the other out.

But nothing happened. You just couldn't believe that straight Andy isn't straight. So kept it all to yourself.

Your relationship started on a night shift. Both of you laid on top the truck the one where tey always lay on when something happened just don't know the name anymore

You both looked at each other, starring into each others eyes with glanced to the lips. This was the first time Andy felt confident about herself and sexuality, she doesn't wanna label.

So she was the first to lean in. You followed.

Your lips touched each other and started to move. The moment you realized what's happening you stopped the kiss and apologized and ran away. Andy right behind you.

"Look I'm so sorry for that. I know your Straight and-" She kissed you again.

This was just the start of a beautiful relationship.

You both went slowly with your relationship. The opposite of what Andy is usualy used too. Maya was confussed how the 'I fell fast and everything in my relationship goes fast' latina to 'let's starts slowly with everything'. It was your idea to go slowly. First of all it's your type of starting a relationship and it was Andys first relationship with a woman.

You helped Andy to find herself and to come out to her friends, family and the Station. Everyone was shocked but didn't make it a big deal. Sulivan was also there and her and you the best luck

Since this is her first relationship with a woman she's a little scared to do something wrong. But she quickly realized that there's nothing different.

You're getting invited to her families weekly park afternoon.

She's telling you about her family drama, the death of her bestfriend and father. When you first heard that, you didn't know what to say but just hug her.

When anything is in her life she goes to you and visca versa

She helps you with your insecurities

Going to Joes after day shifts alone or with the team.

Babysitting Pru together and putting her against Miller and Hughes

Since Andy lives with Maya and Carina and they time alone need, since they are married, Andy asked you if she could move in with you. Of course you said yes. You were happy that you both make the next step.

You always wanted to speak Spanish because it sounds sexy as fuck, so you found a teacher in Andy. Who needs a lot of patience.

She is always worried about you when you both are not in the same team. And asked Maya always to put you into the same team. Something she can do everytime, so still has to worry when your out.

You both would run into a building of fire for each other and fight everyone who gets in their way.

She fell fast, again. But this shouldn't end like her last relationship. She married to soon. She loved him but it looks like it was not enough. So she got a little scared. But you prove her everytime she doesn't need to be scared.

This relationship is perfect. The perfect dream she deserves. And she definitive wants to marry you in a few years. With no rush. Just pure love. And time.

#station 19 x reader #andrea herrera x reader #andy herrera x reader #station 19 #Andrea Herrera #andy herrera

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darkmasterofcupcakes · 1 month

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So basically, CWF Human AU Adam, alongside obviously being a better person, is also a healthier one, since here, there's not this thousands years old gap between his human time and modern actions, and specifically for CWF, between being a father for his sons and having fathered Vaggie.

So while CWF Adam only vaguely did stuff regarding to Vaggie once or twice, this Human AU Adam didn't really want to do father shit with Vaggie, but only a early*on thing, a majority of his mind was reassured about Lute wanting to take care of Vaggie alone, but he at least wanted it to be known he's her father at least by her, even if Lute is the main parent, which would give him room to deal with his shit and see if he feel like being a father.

Which make sense since here, Lute dealt with a less messy, and one which hasn't yet coped regarding Eve by being the worst™.

So he's definitely a bit more honest, at least to himself, that he care for Lute, so even if they aren't a full on couple, it not even being put on the official paper is what really hurt him, since he can see why Vaggie have the Guerrera name, but it doesn't mean he couldn't be on the official document.

Lute probably felt guilty about it, but felt like it was for the better.

Though this drama also explain why Adam became more of a womanizer I think, because Lute kinda closed the door to becoming his full-on romantic partner, let alone wife.

And considering Lute and Adam pretty much always stick around one another, poor Sera definitely had to care for Vaggie while her parents were being messes.

At least Vaggie didn't lacked for aunts, because Lute's army buddies (which I think, due to administrative mistakes, were all women soldiers with the exception of Adam) also stepped in.

I think Lute said to Vaggie that Adam was her Godfather prior to Vaggie learning the truth from Cain.

So, what were Vaggie and Seth's reaction to Cain's reveal of Vaggie being Adam's daughter?

Yeah, Adam is a lot healthier in the human AU, in part because his sons are all pretty active kids and while Adam isn't really into playing sports, he will usually play around with them, both when he still lived with Eve and the boys, and when they visit him at his new place following the separation and divorce. He’s not skinny by any means - he’s still got a bit of a gut, especially by the time his youngest are teenagers, but he’s got some muscle on him too.

He's definitely not looking to actually help when it comes to raising Vaggie. He can't deny that he was relieved when Lute made it clear that, if she did end up keeping the baby (because she did admit to Adam, pretty much as soon as she told him she planned to carry the pregnancy to term, that she genuinely wasn't sure if she was going to keep the baby or put it up for adoption) she would be raising them on her own and didn't expect or really want, any help from him. Which worked fine for Adam. He loved his sons, and he did take care of them when they visited, but if he was honest, he hadn't been ready for fatherhood when Cain was born, and that didn't change much, if at all, with the births of Abel and Seth, and if anything, he felt even more unprepared to even consider the idea of being a father to Lute's baby.

But he did want to be acknowledged as being Vaggie's father, even if it would only really be known by a select few people and would likely rarely come up outside of official documents. And, yeah, part of that was because part of him didn't want to completely shut the door on the idea of at least sometimes doing things a dad would do with their kid, with Vaggie. Or even just spending time with her sometimes as she got older.

He even gets into a very short argument with Lute about it, because he was honestly hurt she didn't want him even to be listed as Vaggie's father. To him, it kind of felt like a bit of an insult that she would go that far to try and deny it, but it also didn't help that, on at least some level, I do think he had started to realize he did have genuine feelings for her - which was part of why, even if he didn't plan to be actively involved with the pregnancy or the baby afterwards, he did do what he could to make sure Lute was taken care of the whole time.

And Lute does feel kind of bad about it, but tells everyone, including herself, that it's really for the best that she does this. Whether anyone would agree with her or not, especially once Vaggie learns the truth, is the real question.

It did not help at all when it came to that. I don't think Adam was really thinking that far ahead at the time - he and Lute had literally only hooked up twice before she showed up at this place and told him she was pregnant. But before that happened, he had actually started wondering about the possibility of properly asking Lute out, once his divorce was finalized. Personally he saw nothing wrong with just starting already, since he and Eve both agreed the divorce was happening and while they'd try to get along when they had to be around each other, especially for the sake of their sons, they weren't going to get back together. But after they hooked up each time, Lute did kind of scold herself for "sleeping with a married man" despite Adam's insistence that it was fine. So he decided he'd drop the whole thing until after he was no longer legally married...then she got pregnant before that could happen.

Adam did actually ask Lute about the idea that maybe they could give a real relationship a shot. It was in part his way to trying to convince her to put his name on Vaggie's birth certificate when he saw it. But Lute very firmly shot the idea down. They pretty bluntly said that they were just friends, they made some mistakes, now it was best to just pretend none of it ever happened and they should just move on with their lives. And Adam, hurt but kind of knowing he's not going to be able to change her mind, does accept the decision, if begrudgingly. And yes, this does help turn him into more of a womanizer. He gives up any desire to have proper relationships with any woman, and just starts resorting to casual short term hook ups and one night stands.

Vaggie was close to all her mother's old army buddies, who she did consider to basically be her honorary aunts. She also did sometimes try to get any of them to tell her about her father, since she had a feeling they had at least some idea, but none of them would tell her anything that actually helped her with trying to figure out who he was.

Adam is actually Vaggie's godfather, and the person who would be charged with taking care of her if anything happened to Lute. Something that Sera actually convinced her to do, by pointing out that since Adam isn't listed as Vaggie's father anywhere legally, if Lute doesn't specify a guardian for her daughter in a will or something...should anything happen to her, Vaggie would either be immediately placed into the system, or put into the care of her next of kin. Which would be Lute's parents, Agatha and Hector....and Lute pretty much knew that they'd refuse to raise Vaggie, since they don't even like that she was born, meaning her daughter would end up in foster care no matter what if she didn't do something. So after talking to Adam and making sure he'd be okay with it, Lute officially wrote up her will to leave all her possessions and assets to Vaggie, and officially named Adam as Vaggie's legal guardian, should anything happen to Lute before Vaggie is legally old enough to be on her own.

When Cain accidentally spilled the truth, Seth and Vaggie were both stunned, though Vaggie quickly became angry. She kept trying to deny it, calling Cain a liar and insisting he had no idea...but deep down she did start to wonder if it could be true, and then the anger started turning a bit towards her mother for never telling her. And she did confront Lute about it when she picked her up from the party - a confrontation that did result in a bit of an argument because of course Vaggie was angry her mother kept this secret from her for her whole life, and Lute was angry that someone else told Vaggie the truth.

#Hazbin Hotel #Adam #Lute #Vaggie #Hazbin Adam #Hazbin Lute #Hazbin Vaggie #Cradle Will Fall #Vaggie is a Guitarspear Baby AU #Human AU

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cloudysonder · 3 months

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On "Daddy Issues"

Ok, I know I'm a bit late to the game here, but I was gathering my thoughts after experiencing episode 5 and 6

Let me preface this with the fact that I am a Hazbin Hotel fan; it's cringe and it's not the best writing in the world, but I love the characters and the concept and the art. I know a lot of people disagree and completely despise it and hey, you do you, but this is a silly little thing I enjoy and think is fun

but oof. episode 5 and 6 were rough, execution-wise. Also worth mentioning that episode 5 followed on the heels of episode 4, which was dealing with a lot of heavy topics and gave Angel a lot of character development very quickly and had a wonderful song and a budding relationship between Husk and Angel that was fantastic, so to get a confusing and overwhelming yet completely inefficient episode (ep 5) and then an episode with SO MUCH HAPPENING that it absolutely bowled you over with plot points and world building that weren't given a single second to breathe was really disappointing. I'll put the meat under a read more, but that's the thesis

this post is just gonna be on episode 5, and I'll make another one on episode 6 bc christ almighty both of them are gonna be long

Episode 5 was something I was really looking forward to-- Of the main cast, Charlie and Vaggie seemed the least intriguing to me (oh, did I say "seemed" past tense? haha! they still most definitely are the least interesting!), and I wanted to see how they would introduce something they've been building up to for a while: Charlie's famed "Daddy issues"!

Turns out, instead of actually keeping it as a point of intrigue for Charlie's character and using it as a point of tension to show that hey, Charlie isn't actually a perfect person, and she's also in pain with the rest of the sinners because her own family relationships are falling apart, they solve it in a single episode. That's right! The long-awaited, complicated, divorced parent and child relationship that twisted Charlie into a validation seeking, people pleasing princess that "wants to fix other people so she doesn't have to deal with her own daddy issues" (quote by Husk) is solved with a charming performance by Jeremy Jordan and a song!

Look, it's no secret I'm a huge fan of Loser, Baby-- I clearly have no qualms with storytelling through song. But you cannot song-plain this one away. We've established over 4 episodes that Charlie and her father have kept in minimal contact for seven years. That's a Long time (don't go trying to be like, oh time to charlie works differently, bc that shit's not established, and everyone in the show still treats seven years like a long time). We know that the last time they called each other was 5 months ago.

"More than Anything," solves basically everything by making the following points

Charlie was inspired by her Dad's dreaming

Lucifer was ashamed of his failures and hid away from her

Lucifer does, however, want so so deeply to know Charlie

Charlie wants to know Lucifer

They love each other <3

these are fine endgame points. Dare I say... good endgame points to arrive at?? But you can't stuff ALL these revelations into a single song and call it a finished relationship arc when they haven't spoken for real in 7 YEARS. Also, making Lucifer so goofy and silly and fun and charming is Not helping the establishment of his character as a self-hating former dreamer who doesn't want his daughter to make the same mistakes he did. It just turns him to tumblr sexyman cute quirky sympathetic never did anything wrong and loves his daughter, completely downplaying his absentee parenting.

You can't have him turn from "I do not care about your life. I do not care about your project. I will not ask about your passions and your dreams. I am already ashamed of my own." to "ur so right bestie!!! dreaming is so slay mama!!! I love you so much you're my little baby girl I love you so much, you're right and I will support you!!!" in the course of a single episode without like.... at least 3 real, in depth conversations happening. The song is beautiful, but you can't poetry your way out of an actual relationship arc.

BUT! But, but but! The fault does not lie completely with Lucifer, but also with Charlie. girl just forgave him??? For everything????? Despite having been so scared to call him at the beginning of the episode? It's very unrealistic for a kid to just accept that a parent loves them apparently so so deeply when they've never seen proof of it in the last idk just spitballing a number here SEVEN YEARS. If you want to make the crux of a failed parent-child relationship miscommunication, you're gonna have to get into the ugly--- the grieving of what you could've had earlier, the wondering why you didn't reach out earlier, the anger at why they've suddenly changed now--- and you're gonna have to explain why the miscommunication went on so long.

sometimes, if you have a pair of completely uncommunicative people, seven years may be reasonable. But Charlie is open about her passions! She's public! She constantly reads about "The Story of Hell" and paints Lucifer in a positive light! And Lucifer is quick to reciprocate any interest Charlie shows in him! He's quick to offer help, to spoil Charlie and show love! (Lucifer's points are two points that make SEVEN YEARS of MINIMAL CONTACT and MISCOMMUNICATION make ZERO SENSE).

additionally, Charlie's lowkey only point of intrigue that was set up (her relationship to Lucifer, the King of Hell) is now just... kapoot. solved. pish posh. now she's a done character.

THEN EXPLAIN WHY I STILL DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT HER???? I haven't seen her actually struggle in a way that's not played off as a bit, we don't get a real charlie breakdown monologue, there are no stakes for me as a hazbin hotel viewer to want everything to go well for charlie besides my acab rad leftist ass being like redemption and forgiveness is good and ultimately benefits society

she's fun, she's bubbly, she's kind! but those are all basic things we knew from minute 1 she was on screen. I need to see her struggle. For a main character, she sure as hell doesn't feel main. And I expected better female characters from female writers (feat. in my next post, Vaggie????? What the hell?).

goodnight new york city, you've been great!

#hazbin hotel character analysis #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel review #charlie morningstar #vaggie #lucifer hazbin hotel #adam hazbin hotel #more than anything #hazbin hotel #hazbin #hazbin spoilers #vivziepop #me post

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gabessquishytum · 6 months

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Gabe I am kissing you on the mouth bc yes!!! Hob would be such a good influence on Dream! He helps him get his shit together during the tour and when it finally ends and they head back home, the offer is made for Hob to become their permanent guitarist. They had already spent most of the tour writing new material and so just two months after it, they already have a double album's worth of songs to record.

The recording process is smooth sailing. They're really meshing well as a band and being home around his son begets a wave of creativity that was unknown to him. He also cuts back significantly on the drugs so his mind could be focused at home with his son and the divorce proceedings with his wife. Calliope doesn't want anything really since she's made her money and prefers to be independent. Orpheus also finally starts to reconcile with his father. He even starts writing love songs again, first to his son and then to Hob. But he never tells Hob that these happier songs are for him. The press would rip them apart if they ever knew so he keeps it under wraps.

But with the record company happy with the new demos, life gets better. The bassist position filled by a long time and much-beloved musician Gault who Lucienne convinced to join when she saw her preform in a little club in Manchester, even Hob is better off when he finally and officially joins the band and gets some money coming in from it. It's his first real label deal since '76 when EMI had come sniffing around. He can now afford to send his son off to a really nice school and make sure he's cared for when he goes off on tour.

The record comes out and becomes their biggest seller. Their sound, while still a bit down, now has this air of optimism and pop sensibility. For the first time, they get offered a worldwide tour. Over two hundred dates in 15 countries. They play everywhere from LA to Capetown. They're giving interviews. It really feels like their moment has come.

But there's trouble on the horizon. First off, Constantine's drinking has worsened. He's a rockstar now and likes to party as such, which is a shame because now Hob has been chiding him for partying so hard. His work performance has been slacking and that's led to some fights. Which he finds hypocritical, as Dream has cut back, he hasn't gotten clean either. This leads Dream to rent a hotel room for a week and lock himself inside to sweat out the worst of the addiction. Which he does without telling anyone.

Hob obviously loses his mind looking for him and finds him on the floor of the bathroom, shivering like a shitting dog and so cold. He helps nurse him back to health, but by then it's too late. The tour starts and what a tumultuous tour it is! The first month or so, Dream barely has the energy to walk let alone give a three-hour performance. Lucienne loses her mind trying to manage his mood swings and Constantine's drinking problem. Gault nearly bails after the first show when he snaps at her for fucking up during rehearsals. Mr. Record Company also isn't happy with how expensive the set is to move and decorate which makes Dream threaten to walk. Hob has to talk him down. Even their relationship falters when they get hounded by paparazzi wherever they go and they start arguing over stupid issues. Like Hob sees a female fan getting harassed during their set and stops the show to have it out with the guy which leads him to jumping off the stage, over the barricade and into the crowd to fight him. Which is not a good look. Hob might be punk rock, but that's not their image. He can't be fighting whoever pisses him off anymore! Which plants it in his head that maybe him and Dream are a little too different for this work out.

I have more ideas like Hob being spotted during a show in LA when he sneaks off to go see Black Flag and gets fucking wrecked by the crowd who call him a sellout and bounce him from their space. He's not a real punk anymore! Or Dream's little catfight with Morrissey when he gets big, but I won't bore you anymore lol

🎸 (is this taken? if it is my apologies)

I'm still relentlessly obsessed with late 70s musicians au!! Here is the first part if anyone missed it! Thank you so much for giving us more 🎸 anon!!

I love the rollercoaster of this whole relationship. On the one hand the band is seeing so much success, and there's money, and the press is in a good mood for once. But fame brings so many issues and Hob finds himself almost missing the days when he was scrounging for gigs. He wants to make music and he wants to be with Dream but he's hyper aware - he's not immune to alcohol and drugs, he's a little scared that he might relapse when the stuff is just laying around in the dressing rooms all the time. He knows that Dream partly got clean for his sake but he hates seeing his lover in such a fragile state. Basically Hob is trying very hard to hold the whole band together: caring for Dream, dragging Constantine out of clubs at 3am so he doesn't get arrested again, trying to persuade Gault that it's really not all that bad, next week will be better... he's tired. He gets into more fights. He listens to a lot of Def Leppard. He's spotted outside strip clubs (mostly hunting down Constantine) and starts to get a reputation in the press as some kind of sleazy guy. Dream gets jealous even though he knows the truth. It's the most stressful period of Hob’s life and he is SO burnt out.

They have a couple of days off from the tour and Hob goes AWOL. Dream can't find him anyway, at the hotel or the bus or at any of the nearby cafes. Dream eventually finds him at a local church, just sitting hunched over in one of the pews. Dream can see that he's been crying, and suddenly he feels so awful for taking advantage of his friend, his lover. He's been so selfish but Hob still smiles at him and takes his hand. Dream ends up holding him in the empty church, rocking him gently and humming one of the songs that they've been writing together.

Dream tells him that they can go home. They can cancel the last 50 or so dates and just go back to Hob’s suburban home and get some fucking sleep. But Hob shakes his head and nudges Dream gently. The show must go on, right? No point in giving up now. It's just that they've all lost sight of the music somewhere along the way.

It doesn't get much easier, but Dream steps up a bit. Constantine is cajoled into toning down his rockstar behavior. Dream and Gault sweet talk the press by giving a few interviews and photo ops where they make sure to emphasise that Hob is NOT sleazy, he's actually a family man and a brilliant friend so everyone can fuck off talking shit about him. They even get a couple of other big name artists to say nice things about Hob. He's worked on so many sessions that everyone knows him. And yeah, there are some shitheads (and probably also johnny rotten) who call him a talentless sellout. But Hob is touched by how much effort Dream has put in to making him feel better.

And eventually they get to go home. Dream is still a shivery wreck but he hasn't relapsed, the record is still selling, the paps have calmed down now the tour is over so Hob doesn't feel terrified every time he meets Dream in public. Their relationship FINALLY gets more physical in private. They make love for the first time!! Dream finally sees the anarchy tattoo and writes a ballad about Hob’s wonderful arse (which will, mortifyingly, go on to be a top 20 hit).

Of course they're a pair of disasters and they have their ups and downs. But I honestly feel like their relationship is a rollercoaster that neither of them really want to get off. They're basically soulmates and however insane their lives get, they're always going to end up together.

#🎸 anon #the sandman #dreamling #nsft #cw drugs #cw alcohol

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theghostbunnie · 1 year

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Pls don't mind that none of this is recent art- also! third picture was a collab with @chloetoey69 go check them out! (sorry if you didn't want to be @ 'ed in this I'll take it out if you want/gen)

But basically for this pairing to work it has to be in certain AUs they both grow as people first becaused they're both flawed parents, partners, and people. Candy has had an off/on relationship with Nikki's father Andrew and Arjun has been in a codependent relationship with his wife for years. It starts deviating from my cannon adjacent stuff when Arjun decides Max deserves better. He eventually gets a divorce and starts working on gaining his trust back. (Very important his redemption arc for enabling the situation for so long/being emotionally absent doesn't happen overnight and although Max wanted a better relationship with him he realizes his feelings and hurt don't just disappear, it takes work to get better)

Arjun and Candy knew each other in HS and were friends (he had a crush on her, but nothing ever became of it) and they hadn't really connected in years but Candy ending up letting them stay with her while he was dealing with finding a place, a job, giving up bad coping mechanisms, and fixing his relationship with his son.

That's where they start to become friends again and Candy becomes aware she hasn't been the most emotionally attentive towards Nikki either, it wasn't intentional but that only means she never was *aware* of the issue. (I literally have so many HCs about Candy I'm so sorry for being cringe. It will happen again)

The genuine friendship is very healing for both of them. Arjun gains weight and it's seen as a positive, aswell as his curl pattern growing back. Candy doesn't visually change in any way but her intentions for the way she dresses become way more about being herself than being alluring for others. (Something it was always to an extent but as I've mentioned she has her issues)

Romantic feelings start to develop, they're mutually in love with each other alot. Candy loves helping him develop a new fashion sense as his old one doesn't "feel like him" anymore and he even he participates in buying matching clothes for them, surprising each other with wearable gifts is a big part of their love language. Physical affection on the other hand Arjun had to take time to be used to giving (adores giving it) but it took even longer to get used to receiving it. He's not necessarily uncomfortable about it just?? Surprised??

GB AU she's named Aarya check pic up above of her being pleasantly caught off guard by compliments and proximity

I'll be happy to awnser any questions I love these sillies I'm sorry again camp camp fandom for taking a one off character that wasn't supposed to be taken seriously and doing this do you forgive me 💖💖

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anonymoushouseplantfan · 1 year

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Yes!! I could not agree more. It's clear she doesn't want to set off alarm bells too early in her process because shes setting up her next moves now.

BUT

She's outwardly trying to be very much indifferent to not attending the coronation but some of the more negative Harry leaks shes put our very clearly insinuate that she's pissed off he didn't negotiate for more.

I mean I think everyone is kinda wondering WHY he's coming if the leaks are true (no uniform, 3rd row, no photos). He either wants to have a conversation with his father and ask for something OR he knows he desperately needs to start being friendly with some of his family again because state side things aren't working out.

From the he missed UK greatly, he still has cousins on his side, he is coming to support his father and will accept whatever now that the security issue is settled to Meghans nervous about Kate, 24 hours round trip. The Laker game box and the WME announcement (now that Harrys likely been signed for the better part of 2 years) and they never announced that. My tin hat theory is that she couldn't get the TIG relaunch off the ground the way she wants it. Not with the people inside and her own money. She needed outside help and she finally realized she needs to do it now, she can't wait another year. I don't think it has anything to do with the Netflix deal. It wouldn't surprise me if the only thing Netflix accepts for fulfillment of their contract is season two of their Netflix show. The romcom idea she floated got shut down pretty quickly and then she tried the African docuseries but that seems to have gotten a pretty negative response.

I bet she's pissed at a lot of things. She wanted the half-in and half-out and he wasn't able to get that. She also wanted to make tons of money and he wasn't able to do that. Plus, the memoir and miniseries backfired and made them laughingstocks. It's just been one debacle after another.

I thought they would get a season two from Netflix and that doesn't seem to be happening. I thought they would publish the paperback biography with new material and that isn't happening either. I thought they would use the coronation to launch their own projects but there doesn't seem to be anything to launch. It's just a bunch of pr about potential projects that may (but probably won't) happen.

Personally, I think he's attending because she told him he had to attend. This isn't working for her and she wants out. She knows the only divorce narrative that works for her is that she tried to work it out and build a family with him, but he was too damaged and obsessed with his family trauma/media fights and she simply couldn't make it work.

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yumenoyousei · 5 months

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Notes for my Sokkla Celebrity AU (Azula's side)

This AU idea came to me earlier this year (like May??) and wouldn't leave me alone so I wrote all the notes related to it.

I then wrote a Sokkla fic based in this universe, which I struggled a lot with. To motivate me to finish it post it on AO3, I decided to share the notes of that universe.

So here are the Azula-centric notes for it. I'll post the Sokka-centric shortly and in a few days, the fic.

*Note, all the songs/artists are references in style and/or mood/vibe and/or lyrics. I do not think it would be the exact same song if in that Universe Azula would sing it but it just gives an idea

TW: mental health issues and mention of su*cide and attempts

Notes for Sokka's side

Without further ado,

ATLA Celebrity AU (Azula-centric)

Azula 0-12

Azula is a child actor with Zuko, gets more roles than her older brother

The whole Sozin family are renowned actors and/or singers (Ozai was an okay actor, Iroh was an amazing actor and singer, and Ursa was an amazing singer who didn't get that much recognition until she got married to Ozai)

Ozai is still very much a piece of shit, setting his children against one another

Ursa doesn't help as she unconsciously supports Zuko more, gives him his love for music and playing guitar & piano

By the time Zuko is 13 (Azula 11) he focuses on music

Azula being always pitched against him, starts dancing & is good at it

Still, the fire siblings are closer than in canon; Zuko teaches Azula to song-write and express her feelings through lyrics

Meanwhile:

Ursa is trying to divorce Ozai, but Ozai (and the Sozin family) is having none of it because of the image it would give them

Lu Ten dies (suicide, the pressure of being an actor, Iroh is never the same, remove himself from the limelight)

Azula 13 - 16

At Ozai pressure, forms a girl group with Mai and Ty Lee (think: Morning Musume & e-girls). Mai is a better singer, and Ty Lee is a better dancer but Azula is still made the leader. She puts immense pressure on herself to be better than them. Does fewer acting gigs but is known as an actress.

Ozai hurt Zuko (scar-like in canon?) to the media they say it's an accident but behind closed doors, it gives Ursa the out she needed. She leaves with Zuko (they go stay with Iroh) intending to get Azula too but:

1- Ozai fights her even more to keep Azula

2-Ozai makes sure to make Azula believe Ursa left her because she doesn't want her

Azula dates publicly actor Chan; gives him all her firsts "to get rid of them", and breaks up soon after

Azula 17-18

The girls make more sexual dances/songs. Mai and Ty Lee are not comfortable but Azula thrives in the "sex sells" mentality (Ozai influence)

Azula snaps at reporters that ask her about Zuko which gives her a "bad girl" personality which she also thrives in (somehow her doesn't give a fuck attitude boosts her popularity)

The girls have an ugly fallout making their 4th album and get kicked out of the agency (to the girls, it looks like Azula told her father and to Azula, it looks like they left her, but it is all Ozai)

Zuko starts a solo career under Avatar Industries (they have the Gaang also and Zuko makes friends)

Before releasing his first single, he tries to contact Azula but she's having none of it: she believes Zuko also abandoned her

Rumours about Ozai's shady money deals come out and Azula has to lay low

Azula 18

Mai and Zuko start to date in the public eye and Mai makes one (1) comment about the girls' split which makes the media go into a frenzy

Azula's mental health starts to slip, stops acting altogether after she snaps at a director

Ozai makes Azula go see Zuko telling her to "check what the rivals are doing" but Azula just misses her brother so takes the occasion

Sokka is there also because of my Sokkla agenda to support Zukko

Azula actually has a good time with her brother, they mostly talk about music, and Azula can mock him (friendly) about his cheesy music (think early Shawn Mendes) She also surprisingly has fun with Sokka

(somehow develops a tiny crush that she destroys as soon as she hears Sokka mentioning his girlfriend)

The next day, a rumour explodes that Sokka cheated on Suki (Olympic Athlete) with Azula because Azula seduced him

Even if Sokka, Azula, and Zuko deny it, the rumours spiral

Azula writes her frustration in a song about how the media portrays her as evil even if Sokka gets less heat. Ozai made Azula release it as her first official solo single (think Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy")

It explodes and Azula releases her first solo album, the second single from the album is actually about Zuko (think Rihanna's "Bitch better have my money" energy, but saying things like; you left me and I trusted you) and it does very well on the chart

Azula 19

Azula is about to go on tour when Ozai gets arrested for money laundering

Her mental health slips even more as they discover his other shady practices and an "anonymous source" relates the abuse Azula & Zuko got

Her tour gets cancelled

Azula gets into a mental psychosis and believes it's her mother who said it to hurt her career

The media tries to get a scoop about it

Azula almost drowns in her bath; Zuko rescues her last-minute

She gets hospitalized; diagnostic OCD, and stays for 8 months

Writes a lot while she's hospitalized

Zuko visits often, and they get a heart to heart, Zuko is also followed for GAD and PTSD

Ursa visits, the first time it makes Azula slip, the second she screams at Ursa. After, the doctors tell Ursa it's best if she doesn't come

Azula 20

After she gets released, (and followed by a therapist) Azula discovers that a lot of rumours were actually set up by her father, like the cheating scandal

(He wanted to make it seem like Azula was the one trying to reach out while Zuko was the one pushing her away, thus chipping his "cute awkward turtleduck" persona he has but when Ozai sees the pictures of Azula laughing at Sokka's joke, another idea comes to his mind)

And the "anonymous source" was actually Ozai's entourage in an "if I'm going down, you're going down with me" attempt

Azula is 100% heartbroken but also 300% mad

She writes a lot of songs

At some point, Zuko tries to make her reconnect with Mai & Ty Lee and even if Azula knows most of the conflict was amplified by her father, she's scared to contact them

Zuko manages to make Azula meet Ty Lee and one thing brings another, they write a song together which they never did because the agency used to write/decide what they sang

They invite Mai to join and through songwriting, they do an album as a group (think ChloexHalle's album "Ungodly Hours")

They become better friends but decide to officially split as a band after the release of the album (Mai & Ty Lee's careers are going great anyway)

(Mai & Zuko break up and might come back together I dunno, haven't thought that far about those 2)

Azula 21

Before releasing the album, Azula announced on social media her mental health conditions and said it was the biggest reason why she was out of the public eye for 2 years.

She tries the best she can to avoid mentions of her father

The girls release the album and it does well, they are praised for their new maturity and powerful vocals

Azula works on a solo album but even with all she has written, she is stuck.

She asks for help (in a very Azula way) from Zuko and she officially meets the Gaang

Azula and Aang become weirdly fast friends

Finished by releasing an EP that is 100% about her father that she conceals as break-up songs (think Naika's EP "Transitions")

Her mother announces she's pregnant with her boyfriend's baby, it lowkey makes Azula spiral for a few weeks, writes about it

Azula 22

Azula wins prices for her EP and with the album with the girls

She still has a "bad girl" persona (she loves to call herself a bad bitch) to the media but the way she talks about her mental health makes her relatable - she's flippantly talking about tho which a lot called "refreshing"

As she hangs out more with her brother + the Gaang, her crush on Sokka comes back, especially now that he is single, though she doesn't want to act on it

To her surprise, she writes a love song that is just that, a love song (think Selena Gomez's "Souvenir")

Because in the song she sings about blue eyes, the media/internet speculate that it's about Sokka which she denies (even if it's true)

She does a fun danceable song with Aang (think Bruno Mars & Cardi B's "Finesse remix"), surprising everyone

She does a lot of featuring that summer, with other artists but she cannot see what she wants for an album

Something with her father's sentence happens (it got almost revoked or something) which makes her revisit all the (other) songs she has about him

**Sokkla story** (Link to the fic added !!)

Notes for Sokka's side

#sokkla #fic notes #my fic writing #atla azula #celebrity au #srsly why is it so long #sokka side is so much shorter #atla au

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psychobratuserunknown · 6 days

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A second chance at love★ b.b

—three ;; copper heart

Beatrix gets left at the altar by atlas. while also loosing her part-time teaching job. she discovers that her ex-fiancé fell in love with someone else. he was also going to take her on THEIR honeymoon. while he is on their honeymoon with his new girl bea takes things into her own hands by selling his belongings and moving away from the apartment they shared.

content warning — Discussions of grief, casual misogyny, a dash of sexual tension, and the perils of being a woman in academia. I'm sorry beatrix and James don't have much time on the page together as of yet, but we'll get there! Enjoy the journey, because when these two idiots realize they like each other, it's gonna get spicy.

pairing — older!bucky x younger!Beatrix

chapter summary — James, a man who has long shied away from relationships, is out at a bar with his friend Steve. He assumes Beatrix was a one-night encounter, and they talk about his past with her. Steve tells James that Beatrix is now happy and has moved on, and James is upset with him for bringing hurt and ruin.

James is enrolled in a research methods course taught by Dr. Farnes. Although he lacks a solid qualitative background, he is questioned about the new professor he works with. Inquiries are also made on the incoming professor's name and preferences.

word count — 6.4k

SERIES MASTERLIST || MAIN MASTERLIST

-James-

January 2, 2023

the sapphire hotel

Steve's laughter rang in James' ears, a sharp sting that felt like a jab to his chest. But he wasn't angry for himself; it was on Beatrix's behalf. The bar was packed and noisy, filled with rowdy freshmen who were probably just starting their orientation week at the university. James could tell by the way they looked and acted, and he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed by their antics. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

"I can't believe you hooked up with her," Steve continued, grinning. "She's hot as hell."

James ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. She did have a great body, he couldn't deny that.

"She was just a one-night stand," he replied dismissively. "It was New Year's Eve, I needed to blow off some steam."

Steve laughed again. "You say that every year."

James glared at him, feeling his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Why? Can't admit she's attractive?" Steve prodded. "Come on man, if it had been anyone else you wouldn't have said a word to them. But you couldn't resist kicking her chair all night."

"It doesn't matter," James snapped back. "I don't want anything more than just sex."

"You can't keep using your divorce as an excuse to avoid relationships," Steve said seriously. "It's been five years, man. Natasha has moved on and is happy now."

James felt a surge of anger rise within him. He hated being called out on his mistakes and bad choices. It reminded him of how mad he had gotten earlier with Beatrix, even though she didn't know him well enough to judge him.

But maybe that's all he deserved anyways - to be judged and punished for his past actions. After his wife died, he shut down emotionally and pushed everyone away. Beatrix was the first person in a long time to make him feel something, even if it was anger. He couldn't deny the adrenaline that had been coursing through him since their argument earlier.

He knew he was bad news. Every woman he touched seemed to end up getting hurt. And yet, he couldn't seem to stop himself from causing pain and destruction in his wake. It almost felt like a form of self-punishment, a way for him to deal with all the ways he had failed as a husband, father, and man - all being thrown back in his face. It was twisted, but somehow it made sense to him.

James finished his drink and set the glass down on the table as Steve leaned back against the booth. His tattooed arm draped over the top of the seat, highlighted by the dim lighting of the bar.

"You know what? Why don't you go after her then?" James challenged, feeling defensive. "If you like her so much."

"Hey, man, if you're not interested in her, I'll give it a shot. What's her name again? FeeFee?— No, Phoebe!" He paused and shook his head, adjusting his glasses. "That's not right either. It's an B sound, right?"

"I can't stand you," James sighed as he finished his drink and got up from the booth, making his way to the bar.

"What's going on?" Steve laughed. "Why are you leaving!?"

James flipped him off and leaned against the bar.

"Can I have another double Jack?" He asked.

"Of course, Mr. Farnes."

The bartender was one of his students, Peter Parker. A good kid, though a bit arrogant at times. At least he didn't argue with the women in their class.

"How's your night going?" James inquired.

"Not bad," Peter replied as he poured him another drink. "I just registered for your research methods class."

"Oh, great. I'll send out the syllabus in a few days," James responded. "We're focusing on interviews."

"No quantitative methods?" Peter asked.

"Nah," James said. "That's not my area of expertise. Sam is our quant guy."

"What methodology are you using for your project?"

"Mixed methods."

"Okay, so you'll need a strong qualitative background, which you don't have,"

James commented with a smirk.

Peter rolled his eyes.

"I'm doing my best, okay? Numbers just make sense to me."

"I understand," James replied. "Words make sense to me."

"Literally. That's what they're meant for."

"Smartass," James chuckled.

Peter leaned closer to the counter.

"Hey, do you know anything about the new professor Sam hired? What's she like?"

Yeah, I could tell you exactly how it feels when I sleep with her, what she tastes like, what her voice sounds like, and how stunning she is, James thought.

He shook his head.

"Nah, I met her at the department meeting this morning. Don't know much about her. She seemed pretty quiet."

"Is she teaching graduate courses?"

"Only those of us with something called tenure get to teach those," James replied with a wink as Peter slid his whiskey towards him. "See you Monday, Parker. 11:00am. Don't forget."

He checked his watch. It was only 8:30pm. He should be home by now, but home hadn't felt like home in a long time. He was still living in the house he shared with Natasha while she had moved on. It was her way of giving him a cruel gift. But both of their names were still on the deed. It was the same house where Matilda took her last breath. James kept the door to her bedroom locked and never went inside.

He couldn't bear to walk past that room every day on his way to his office - which used to be their bedroom with Natasha.

Natasha had wanted to turn it into a nursery before they got divorced, but James couldn't bring himself to have another child.

That was ultimately the end of their marriage. They still followed each other on Instagram though, and James slept in the spare bedroom on a large queen-sized bed, with nothing else in the room.

Steve and Sam had both told him he needed to move on, but he didn't know how.

But maybe what he was about to do would help. James finished his whiskey and then felt someone clap him on the back.

"Hey, Pete!" Steve's voice filled the air. He turned to face James. "You hate me that much, huh?"

"No, I just have to go," James replied.

"Go where?" Steve asked.

"Home," James said.

Steve lifted his eyebrow in amusement.

"A Tinder date, huh?"

"Don't be ridiculous," James scoffed. "I don't use that app."

"Oh really? I saw it on your phone last week."

"Well, consider it a New Year's resolution," James retorted inwardly cringing at the thought of using dating apps. He tapped the bar counter impatiently. "I should go."

"Fine, I'll play pool by myself then."

"I'm off in 10 minutes, Dr. Rogers," Peter offered.

Steve grinned and playfully pushed his arms out.

"Looks like you've already got a replacement for me, Farnes!"

"Yeah, yeah," James sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, before you go, let me send you the link for that federal grant we were talking about. Make sure you apply this year and actually follow through with it."

"I will," James promised. "I gave my word."

He paid for his drink, patted Steve on the shoulder and left the bar, feeling the cool January air hit him as he stepped outside. At least it wasn't raining. He reached into his leather jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper he had found on the bathroom floor last night before he left… What was her name again? He asked himself while looking up at the sky.

He shook his head in frustration.

"Fuck."

James unfolded the pamphlet as he walked, trying to smooth out the creases. "Experienced loss? We can help." The words caught his eye and he read on. "Circles of Empathy meets every Tuesday at 9:00pm at the East Portland Community Center. All are welcome." He could have sought therapy through the university, but there was something shameful about going to a therapist's office and pouring out his problems. They would try to analyze him, fix him. But right now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be fixed. He just wanted to be understood.

The night was peaceful and quiet as cars rushed past him on the sidewalk. He stopped and ordered an Uber, knowing it would take about 10 minutes to reach the community center. He didn't want to arrive too early, but he also didn't want to show up late and draw attention to himself. As he searched for a car, he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Hi there, Dr. Farnes," a soft feminine voice called out.

He turned around and saw Delores Ferkley, an undergraduate who had been in his class during her final year. She had red hair and an hourglass figure, and she smiled flirtatiously at him while twirling her hair around her finger.

"Hello, Delores."

"It's Dot," she laughed. "I already told you."

"Oh," he said, pulling out his phone to order an Uber before shoving it back into his pocket. He realized he was still holding onto the pamphlet and crumpled it in his hand. "Are you here for orientation week?"

"No," she giggled. "I graduated, remember?"

"Right," he sighed. "Sorry, it all blurs together sometimes."

She smirked and sashayed towards him, purposely swaying her hips. He licked his lips.

"I graduated a year ago, Dr. Farnes."

He chuckled.

"Sometimes the years just blend together."

She bit her lip and looked up at him through thick lashes.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Well, I have… I need to get home and work on some stuff."

"Do you want to grab a drink?" She gestured towards the Sapphire Hotel.

There was no way he was going in there with a former student.

Steve would never let him forget about it. Fesides, James may have many flaws, but jeopardizing his job for a fling with a former student wasn't one of them.

Even if she was attractive and seemed interested in him.

"I can't, Delores. It wouldn't be appropriate since you used to be my student."

"But you can have a beer with Emily Green?"

"I'm Emily's supervisor," James laughed. "It's different."

Delores sneered at him and stepped back, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Fine," she spat. "See you around, James."

He furrowed his brows as he watched her enter the bar.

"What the hell? All I tried to do was the right thing…" He sighed. "For once."

James ran his fingers through his hair and checked his phone; the Uber was arriving soon.

"Thank god," he muttered.

It often felt like he was stuck in the same routine: taking Ubers to and from bars, occasionally bringing someone home with him. Rarely did he get to ride his motorcycle. Maybe he would do that next Monday.

Perhaps Beatrix would see him on it.

Stop thinking like that.

He had already pushed her away. James could still see the anger and contempt in her eyes, which made him hate himself even more. It was why he walked away. All he could think about when she yelled at him was how much he wanted to kiss her.

He knew why he acted this way. Tonight was just a small step towards fixing it.

James got into the Uber and opened up his Instagram as he waited for the driver to take him to his destination. Most of his feed was filled with posts from Natasha, showing her and her two young daughters with their striking red hair and big green eyes. Seeing her smiling with them made James' heart ache, causing him to inhale deeply as he continued scrolling through. As he went through his feed, a suggestion popped up:

"People you may know: Beatrix Matthews."

James despised social media for this very reason, but curiosity got the best of him and he clicked on her profile. He saw pictures of what appeared to be wedding preparations, and his shock only grew as he realized she was married.

Married, and she never even told him? Not that it was any of his business, but it seemed like she had just gotten… oh. He checked her latest post, a picture from Hawthorne bridge stating, "Back on the west coast. New year, new me, new life." Perhaps the soon-to-be husband was no longer in the picture. He kept scrolling and noticed that the Beatrix on her Instagram seemed like a completely different person from the one he had met.

She was engaged to some blonde guy who looked like an asshole according to James' judgement. He clicked on his profile: Atlas Walker, defense attorney who seemed to enjoy football, beer, and… another woman who wasn't Beatrix. There was a picture of him in Australia with a much younger woman who could possibly be 21 years old.

"Christ," James muttered to himself.

He was many things, but he certainly wasn't that kind of guy.

The Uber arrived at its destination - a community center - and James locked his phone before getting out of the car. He thanked and tipped the driver through the app before heading inside the building. Signs directing him towards "Circles of Empathy" led him to a gymnasium. He hesitated outside before realizing that the meeting had already started.

Everyone was sitting in a circle, holding styrofoam cups. James cursed under his breath and slowly pushed the door open, causing all eyes to turn towards him. He swallowed hard and smiled as he made his way to the big carafe of coffee, poured himself a cup, and found a chair. People made room for him with warm smiles and gentleness in their eyes. Someone was just finishing speaking as he settled into his chair, listening intently.

It turned out that the woman had recently lost her spouse in an accident - something James could relate to all too well. As she finished talking, people thanked her and James nodded in understanding.

"Well, it looks like we have a newcomer tonight," a woman said, catching James' attention. She had long dark hair tied back in a ponytail and kind eyes. She dressed casually with a soft pink cardigan and blue jeans, giving off a teacher-like vibe.

"Oh, uh… yeah," James stammered. "I… I found your pamphlet and… it seemed…"

He cleared his throat, feeling nervous. Despite spending most of his life lecturing and writing, it was rare for someone to actually listen to what he had to say.

"Welcome," a woman whispered softly.

"I'm James," he introduced himself quietly.

"Hi, James," echoed around the circle.

"Thanks," he replied sincerely.

"It's great to see you here, James," the woman named Maria said with a smile. "I'm Maria."

"Hi, Maria," James greeted back awkwardly.

"Let's begin," Maria announced kindly, beginning the meeting.

The offer to share or listen made him want to grab his coffee and run. He considered it, but decided against it. Instead, he nodded his head slowly.

"Sure, I'll share," he sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and stared off into the distance. "Six years ago, I lost my daughter. Brain cancer. It was too late when we found out. My wife- ex-wife- and I were convinced that we could beat it somehow. People have beaten stage four cancer before, right? Kids have beaten cancer. So why couldn't Matilda? But she didn't make it." He let out a dry laugh and leaned back in his chair. "And ever since then, it's been…it's been tearing me apart."

A few people in the group nodded sympathetically, their eyes filled with understanding. James could tell by their body language that they had all experienced some form of loss as well. His throat tightened and he stared down at his coffee.

"It's been six years, but I don't think I've really moved on…I mean, I have, in a way. I don't think about it every day, but sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the motions of survival over and over again. Like Groundhog Day." He shook his head and took a sip of his coffee to calm himself down.

"And then something pops up unexpectedly and triggers me," he continued. "Like on New Year's Eve, I met this incredible woman." A small smile appeared on his face as he remembered Beatrix on the balcony, holding her in his arms. "She was funny, she was sweet…but then my thoughts went to the future. Is she going to leave me like my ex did? Will there come a day when I'm not good enough for her?" He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know if these thoughts are tied to grief, but it's hard to separate them."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's like there's the person I was before Matilda died, and then there's who I am now. And I would do anything to go back to being the man I used to be." He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, blurring his vision. One tear fell into his coffee, momentarily clearing his sight.

"Sorry," he sniffled. "I guess I needed to get that off my chest." He chuckled weakly. "Thanks for listening."

James received murmured thanks from the group and gentle shoulder pats as he looked around the room with a feeling of relief. Another person chimed in, building off of what he had just shared. James took a deep breath, determined to make this year different. This time, he would break the patterns that had held him back. This year, he was determined to rediscover his former self.

-beatrix-

January 2, 2023

Lincoln st, portland

"This is unbelievable!" Tilly exclaimed, pouring Beatrix her third glass of wine.

Rain pounded against the windows, creating a rhythmic background for their supposed "quiet night in" that had turned into two bottles of wine and an abundance of chicken wings. And of course, they were yelling. They always yelled when they got together. Beatrix had missed this. John hated Tilly, claiming she changed Beatrix into a "different person". A person he couldn't control. She still couldn't believe she married that asshole. He hadn't even bothered to call or text her while he was off on his dream vacation with his 21-year-old secretary.

What a snake.

Tilly refilled Beatrix's chardonnay as she grabbed her drink from the table. Beatrix missed the local wine and craft beer here too. Tilly always kept the fridge stocked with it.

Beatrix had two syllabi to work on, but that could wait.

"I'm serious! I walked into that room and there he was," Beatrix said.

"Oh my God!" Tilly gasped, gripping Beatrix's shoulders and shaking her. "Tell me exactly what his face looked like!"

"Do you want me to paint a picture?" Beatrix laughed.

Tilly slammed her hand on the table, a big smile on her face.

"Yes! Paint it, bitch!"

Beatrix grinned and held out both hands, slowly extending her arms with wide eyes, as if demonstrating a pan-out shot in a movie.

"Picture it…"

"Sicily, 1922!" They both shouted at the same time before bursting into laughter and hugging each other.

Nights like this with friends like Tilly were what kept Beatrix going. And three glasses of wine helped her digest what the hell happened today. She couldn't believe it; she still couldn't believe she was stuck in an office between him and Yelena. Yelena was fine, but why did it have to be him?!

"Tell me more!" Tilly demanded, sipping her wine and slumping against the couch. "Put on a show! Dance for me!"

Beatrix stood up and walked to the front of the table.

"Okay, picture this: you walk into your first staff meeting in your new department…and who do you see? The Devil himself. What would you do?"

"I'd probably ask him how he's doing, what's the weather like down there this time of year. Does that fire ever lose its hellish magic?" Tilly pondered.

"Stuff like that."

"Imagine if the Devil gave you the best sex of your life and then ghosted you."

"That bastard!" Tilly declared. "I'd castrate him."

"Exactly!" Beatrix agreed, pointing at Tilly. "So I walk in, and he's sitting there, and of course the only two available seats are right next to him. So I have to sit beside him the whole fucking time."

"What did he look like?"

"Embarrassed," Beatrix answered honestly, taking a sip of her wine and placing one hand on her hip. "I couldn't tell if it was embarrassment from me being there or embarrassment from having slept with me at all."

Tilly snapped her fingers.

"As someone who's been inside you with these—" She wiggled her fingers. "And a strap-on, let me just say it's been a pleasure having sex with you, and if he's embarrassed by it, he can fight me in the parking lot."

Beatrix grabbed her chest.

"Aww, thank you Tilly!"

"You're welcome," Tilly chirped.

"And it was great having sex with you too," Beatrix added with a smile.

Tilly wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Beatrix couldn't help but laugh at Tilly's teasing. They looked back on their brief relationship with nostalgia, filled with young love and chaos. They had dated from 18 to 20 years old, on and off, unsure of what they wanted. Eventually, they realized they were better as friends than lovers.

They did hook up a few times after that, but it stopped when Beatrix met John. But the best part was that they could now laugh about their past selves. Tilly was the first person Beatrix had seriously dated, and she learned a lot from the experience. She appreciated the fact that Tilly was always there for her, through every other relationship she had been in since they broke up. Beatrix wished everyone had a friend like Tilly.

"So, you see him and he looks embarrassed," Tilly prompted.

"I went over and sat beside him," Beatrix continued.

"Ew," Tilly wrinkled her nose in mock disgust.

"Shut up," Beatrix chuckled. "He's still hot."

"Ugh, I hate that he still thinks he's hot," Tilly rolled her eyes. "But go on."

"So, I introduced myself and then the meeting started. And then he and Steve- the Steve you made out with at that party…"

Tilly gasped dramatically and raised her head to the ceiling.

"The Steve!" Beatrix confirmed with a laugh. "They were snickering and James kept trying to kick my chair like we were in high school or something. And then… oh my God, Tilly. And then he has the nerve to tell me that I'm chasing after him."

"What?!" Tilly exclaimed.

"Yeah!"

"Chasing after him?!"

"That's exactly what I said!" Beatrix shook her head. "I thought it though, I was too stunned to say anything in the moment."

"He must think very highly of himself," Tilly scoffed.

"Well, he is a white man in academia. It's like a requirement for them to constantly pat themselves on the back," Beatrix joked.

"They should all be fired and thrown to the side of the road like trash!" Tilly exclaimed.

"Oh, don't be too hard on them. Who else is going to do mediocre work and get paid way more than they deserve? And also tell everyone who's not like them that they're wrong about everything?" Beatrix teased.

Tilly laughed along with her.

"I can't believe he said that," Tilly shook her head in disbelief. "What did you do?"

"I threw his money back at him," Beatrix replied.

"You mean you didn't use it to buy weed?" Tilly smirked.

Beatrix chuckled. "No, I used my own money for that."

"Well, you could have had an extra $40," Tilly pointed out. "But I guess that's just your integrity getting in the way."

"Hey, support me here! It was a matter of principle," Beatrix defended herself.

"Yeah, you love the principle of things," Tilly snorted into her glass. "If avoiding confrontation when you should have stood up for yourself was an Olympic sport, you'd definitely win silver."

"Not even gold?" Beatrix pouted playfully.

"Nope, not even close," Tilly grinned.

Tilly scoffed, "Don't have that attitude. And you can't avoid this guy forever."

"I have to for now. I don't want to lose my job during my first week here."

Tilly sighed in agreement.

"Fine, but just know that he's going to get under your skin at some point. I know you, even the slightest irritation can set you off."

"I do not!" Beatrix protested.

"You do! Remember when we were on the bus and there was a stranger on the other side, and you hated him without even talking to him?"

"That never happened."

"Yes it did! He was wearing a fedora."

"Oh, screw that guy. You know how I feel about men who wear fedoras."

Tilly laughed, "Yes, you've made that very clear."

Beatrix sat down next to her and they both sipped their drinks while Taylor Swift played in the background. She leaned against Tilly and sighed.

"Sam invited me to a department dinner at his place."

Tilly burst into laughter.

"With James?"

"Yeah," Beatrix muttered into her glass. "Asshole. But he mentioned that he wants you to come too. Apparently, your New Year's Eve date has taken a liking to you and wants some alone time with you."

"Well, if he's going to antagonize my best friend, he won't be getting any alone time with me."

Beatrix chuckled, "Men always ruin things for themselves, don't they?"

"Constantly. But to be fair, the last girl I dated - Violet? She ghosted me multiple times. Some people are just like that."

"Oh right, I remember that. How did things end with her?"

Tilly shrugged sadly.

"We just kind of drifted apart. It sucks, she was great."

"Yeah, I remember how much you liked her."

Tilly sighed and Beatrix looked at her with concern.

"You don't have to come to the dinner if you don't want to."

"Oh no, I do," Tilly replied with a mischievous grin. "I want to see you throw a drink in this guy's face."

"Well unfortunately, he's a colleague now so I have to be somewhat professional."

"Always taking the high road when you should be kicking him in the crotch," Tilly joked.

Beatrix snickered.

"I have to be nice to him for my job's sake." She paused. "He thinks I got this job on purpose."

Tilly scoffed.

"As if you would lower yourself to chase a man and get a job where he works. That's insane - and he's insane for even thinking that."

"Thank you!" Beatrix exclaimed. "That's what I thought too. He's just trying to save face."

"Well, he should be embarrassed."

Beatrix sighed.

"I'm not even that upset about him leaving. It's more about the fact that he thinks I'm some desperate little girl. I'm not. I had no idea what I was getting into yesterday." She pushed her hair away from her face. "I wanted a fresh start and what did I get? Thrown into the lion's den."

Tilly shook her head and wrapped her arm around Beatrix.

"The guy is a jerk."

Beatrix let out a heavy sigh as Tilly's lips pressed against her temple.

"You're going to focus on your work, publish papers, teach classes, and inspire people to love sociology. And he'll be left alone with his sadness."

Beatrix nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Tilly."

"I'll have your back at dinner. It's at Sam's house?"

"Yes," Beatrix replied.

"Alright then, we need to plan our outfits. You want to look effortlessly hot and like you don't care about him."

"I really don't care about him!"

"But you're still stuck on him," teased Tilly.

"Only because I'm in shock and he was such an asshole. Who says something like that? I'd almost prefer if he just gaslighted me and pretended he didn't even know me." She sighed. "But I shouldn't be dwelling on this, right? I have two classes to teach."

"Exactly. Get your head in the game," Tilly encouraged.

Beatrix looked around the living room, admiring Tilly's cozy home. Tilly had always had a knack for creating a minimalist yet welcoming atmosphere with her bohemian style. There were plants everywhere - hanging from the walls, draped over bookshelves - but it all somehow fit together perfectly.

Meanwhile, Beatrix's own attempts at interior decorating consisted of throwing up posters from bands she liked ten years ago and picking out random pieces of furniture from thrift stores. She couldn't quite achieve the same level of aesthetic as Tilly.

Tilly noticed her looking around and smiled.

"I'm happy to have you here anytime."

Beatrix hugged her friend and felt a wave of gratitude wash over her. This semester was going to be challenging, but she knew she could count on Tilly's support.

"You're a lifesaver, Tilly."

Tilly held onto her tightly.

"I love you, Beebee."

"I love you too," Beatrix sighed.

She didn't know what the next week held, but she was bracing herself for whatever challenges came her way. And dealing with John would have to wait for now.

"Just know that you're always welcome here," reminded Tilly.

"I do, thank you," Beatrix whispered. "I'm so lucky to have you."

Tilly refused to let go.

"Me too."

January 9, 2023

Beatrix rummaged through her bag, searching for her keys. She needed to get to her office by 7:30am to teach an 8:30 class, a time block she dreaded but was stuck with. The students would be tired and hungover from the night before, barely paying attention during the lecture. Then, like clockwork, she would receive countless emails asking about the syllabus as if they hadn't read it.

But Beatrix was prepared; she had her USB drive with her introductory lecture ready to go. It would only take an hour to go over the syllabus, due dates, and introduce herself. There was no point in doing ice breakers for a class of 175 students.

As she entered the building, a small cafe caught her eye next to the elevators where students could grab coffee and snacks before class. However, Beatrix had her own Nespresso machine set up in her office, a gift from Tilly, with cute thrifted mugs.

Feeling relieved to make it inside, Beatrix's mood quickly changed when she saw him. With his long dark hair, leather jacket, tattooed hand holding a cup of coffee and tight black jeans, he was walking with a younger woman who talked animatedly beside him. And they were heading towards the elevators.

"Great," Beatrix sighed as she approached.

Her stomach twisted in knots at the sight of him. She had hoped that having a week away from him would help ease her nerves, but it only made them worse. He wasn't around last week when she was decorating her office; she purposely waited until later in the evening to avoid running into him.

James had his back turned slightly as she pressed the call button for the elevator. The young woman continued talking beside him.

"I'm stuck on my epistemological framework," Beatrix heard James say.

Dorothy Smith, she thought. Even PhD students struggle with her work.

The woman sighed, "I know, I read it, but it's so complicated. It's more than just a framework, right?"

"Yeah, it's an entire lens," James chuckled. "That's why I assigned it. Your project might require it."

"But Dorothy Smith said she had to rethink her entire project, including the interviews she was doing! My questions were already approved by the IRB!"

James murmured something in response as Beatrix stepped into the elevator. She went to press the button for the 11th floor, but James beat her to it. Their fingers brushed together, sending a spark of electricity up her arm. It reminded her of that night when they had first kissed; she could still feel his lips on hers and his strong arms holding her up as she screamed his name.

Their eyes met, and Beatrix could see the desire burning in his gaze. It was like he wanted to say something to her.

She noticed the twitch of his lips and resisted the urge to smile back at him. James apologized, but for some reason, she found it both irritating and attractive. HehDo'you remember when I said I was sorry?' She recoiled at his chuckle.

'I'm meeting with Dr. Page today.'

Beatrix's gaze shifted to the buttons on the elevator as she tried to escape James's intense stare. The tension between them was almost palpable, and she wanted to run away from it.

Thankfully, a group of students got on the elevator and provided a physical barrier between her and James. He turned to one of the students.

'Why are you here so early?'

'I have a meeting with my professor for TAing.'

'Please tell me it's not Rogers,' James chuckled.

'Hell no,' Emily laughed. 'I know he's your friend, but five essays in one semester? Does he want us all to die? I didn't even apply for his class this term.'

'I'll make sure to break his heart for you.' Beatrix couldn't help but laugh as James teased Emily about her workload. She only had two essays assigned for her Intro to Sociology course, while Emily had multiple essays for hers.

'There's nothing about essays in the Geneva Convention,' James quipped, cutting off Emily's rant as people began getting off on different floors.

Bishop. That name sounded familiar. Beatrix pulled out her phone and checked her emails, noticing one from Emily Green about meeting that morning. As they stepped out of the elevator, James grinned at Emily.

'Who are you TAing for?'

'Beatrix Page. Do you know her?'

He kept that smug grin on his face and looked over at Beatrix before stepping off the elevator.

'No,' he replied simply.

Beatrix couldn't believe what just happened as she watched him walk away, adjusting his leather bag on his shoulder. She muttered under her breath, earning a surprised look from Emily.

'What an asshole.'

'I'm Beatrix Page,' she said, stepping off the elevator and walking alongside Emily.

'Oh! Oh God, I'm so sorry!' Emily winced. 'I didn't mean to talk about you like you weren't there.'

Beatrix laughed it off.

'It's fine, don't worry about it. Thanks for meeting with me.'

'No problem.' They continued down the hallway towards her office, and Beatrix couldn't help but hear James's voice carrying through the halls. She let out a small sigh of frustration before redirecting her attention back to Emily.

'Do you have some sort of issue with him?'

'What? With who?'

'Dr. Barnes.'

Beatrix felt her cheeks flush as she shook her head.

'No, not at all. It's just…'

He's kind of a dick. You get used to it."

'I've had plenty of experience dealing with people like that,' Beatrix replied wryly.

'So he does know you," Emily chuckled.

'Not really,' Beatrix admitted as they turned the corner and saw Steve standing in the doorway of James's office. He looked over his shoulder at them.

'What's up, Bishop? Do you need to see Buck?'

'No, I'm actually here for a meeting with Dr. Page.'

Beatrix smiled as she walked past Steve and into her office. From where she was standing, she could see James leaning back in his chair behind his desk through the open doorway. She was grateful that she couldn't see his smug expression; otherwise, she might have lost it.

Focusing on getting settled in her new office space, she quickly unpacked her laptop while Emily commented on how nice the space looked. Beatrix simply nodded in agreement, hoping that her time at this university would be long and successful.

"I have your contract ready, I'll send it over to you now. Take your time signing it, but please return it by the end of the week."

"Sure," Emily replied.

Beatrix heard loud laughter coming from James's office and pursed her lips. It felt like he was intentionally drawing attention to himself.

"Does he always make that much noise?"

"No," Emily laughed. "He's usually quiet. It's Steve who is boisterous, but as Vice Dean of Graduate Studies, he can do whatever he wants. He's basically James's right-hand man."

"What exactly is Dr. Barnes's role in the department?"

"He's the Dean of Graduate Studies," Emily replied. "Didn't Sam tell you that?"

Beatrix sank back into her chair. How did that buffoon land such a high position? She'd have to read some of his papers to find out more about him. Truthfully, she had never even heard of him until now.

In many ways, academia was both a small and large world. Beatrix only knew people in her specific field because she didn't attend conferences or keep up with current research due to being out of the game for so long.

"No, he didn't mention it."

"Oh well…" Emily shrugged and chuckled. "Now you know."

"Can I ask what your thesis topic is, Emily?"

"I'm studying sexual assault in the military."

"That's heavy stuff."

"Yeah, Dr. Barnes specializes in phenomenological studies related to the military. He works closely with veterans." Emily shrugged. "It makes sense since he lost his arm in Afghanistan."

Okay, combat veteran. That explains his erratic behavior and tattoos.

"Wow. I didn't know that either."

"You should talk to him about it sometime," Emily suggested with a grin. "Unless you're already judging him."

Beatrix raised an eyebrow.

"Be careful, Green. We've only known each other for ten minutes."

Emily perked up, her eyes widening.

"Oops, sorry Dr. Page. Sometimes I speak without thinking about whether it's going to be a hit or miss. It's like a game of chance and it can be fun if it goes well. But if not, then I want to crawl into a hole and die. I never know which way it's going to go and sometimes that adds to the excitement- but only if it goes the right way and oh my gosh am I talking too much! Wow!" She took a deep breath. "Sorry."

Beatrix laughed.

"It's alright, Emily. I was just teasing. I think we'll make a good team this semester. Take a look at the syllabus and let me know which classes you'd like to lead, and I can assist with the lectures."

"Seriously?!"

"Yes, really. We'll split grading 50/50, and you can hold office hours whenever it fits your schedule."

Emily pulled her laptop out of her bag with an excited grin.

"I actually already read through the syllabus because I wanted to ask if you needed any help with teaching some of the classes, so I have a few ideas already.."

Sam was right, she was enthusiastic. Beatrix smiled and bit her lip.

"Alright Green, let me hear your ideas."

Maybe, just maybe, she would finally rediscover herself - the person she was before John tried to mold her into someone she didn't recognize.

Already, she could feel herself finding her place again.

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pepmint-art · 6 months

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May we have some badguyshipping headcanons? And maybe learn Wu’s reaction to seeing his son date former(current??) bad guys?

Wait… Did Harumi try pulling what she did to Lloyd on canon on Morro? And she dragged Echo along with her?

IT'S LORE TIME, BABY~

ninjas' team and lloyd (who did not want to be there) met harumi (and echo) in line with canonical events and it was a love at first sight, but only for morro. harumi had other plans, in which she ignors and doesn't acknowledge his existence while having a typical teen girls' crush on older guy who, reasonably had many reasons to try and run away from them. and we goes like that till crystalized.

and to explain a little more, harumi doesn't hate lloyd in here. while the team and garmadon were dealing with great devourer in season 2, lloyd knew he couldn't do much as he's not a fighter, he can't use his powers intentionally (he does it accidentaly in the end but still), he would go for a sure death, so he did all he could and helped escorting people out from the danger zone and he actually rescued little harumi. garmadon was a hero, he saved ninjago, but lloyd was her hero. she litteraly wanted to reunite son and father in season 8, but it all went wrong and we have exactly same shit going on as in oni trilogy.

harumi is obsessed with lloyd in the end understanding that he's old and she's a god damn weirdo (girl, leave him alone, he has a puppy and boyfriend and HE'S TOO OLD FOR YOU), morro has multiply mental breakdowns and grows up to accept that he can't make someone love him, love will come by itself to him (give me cute cousins moment with lloyd being intelligent for the first time in his life), and echo is happy to be there (he deserves all the hugs)

and than, no one knows why or how, things happened AND BOOM they're in love.

for the headcanons:

-their love aroused over my chemical romance and my little pony

that's all. the rest is just FACTS and facts only.

echo is a true romantic. for him love always wins. for him, there always his partners to love. he's neat.

also them getting to have their teen years as a couple is what i live for. even if only a little, it still works. were they drinking heavily? no, it was a capri sun. were they smoking? no, they're too cool and poor for this. were they doing crack. yes.

morro is bi. bi himself. and two bad bitches he pulled out by being autistic.

like, rumi and echo are walking fushion icons, baddest of the bad bitches, they slay while doing crimes, charming and deadly beautiful/handsome

and wu is surprisingly supportive :)

and really competitive with misako. they hate each other so badly. trans woman that destroyed his (also trans, but he forgets about this. he actually refused to remember he ever had a sister in his life, because he didn't, it never happened, life is a simulation and everyone made it up) brother (not really, actually made him really happy) and garmadon was never the same

oh, and one more thing

in dragons rising, they are divorced

I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE HAPPY ENDING FOR THEM

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actual-arrrchie · 10 months

Note

What are some of ypurMichael/Jeremike headcanons? Could you share them with us?

Oooooh there's SO MANYYY These two are all I've been thinking about for over a year now and I don't plan to stop anytime soon lmao Putting a read more in there so you don't spend 10 years scrolling past this post

MICHAEL W. AFTON (voice claim: Kenai from Brother Bear)

His full name is Michael William Afton, he never mentions his second name to anyone for obvious reasons though

He was born in Utah

Autistic

Bisexual

Big sharp canines

He has vitiligo

He's a momma's boy

Pathetic wet cat boyloser

Clara and William divorced when the kids were very young. William got to keep them because he had better income and could provide "a better home" for them. He made it impossible for Clara to meet the kids again and told them that mom doesn't love them anymore. Michael didn't want to believe it but as the time passed, he eventually did

Clara was writing letters to the kids but William would burn them all before they could see them

Michael took the worst traits after William, unfortunately. He deals with sudden mood swings and serious anger issues

He was never taught a healthy way to cope with his emotions.

Michael sucks at explaining what he feels so he would often get frustrated and angry when people don't get why he's feeling a certain way

He's been dealing with night terrors every since his parents divorced

William always treated Evan and Elizabeth better than him so he feels jealous of them. Evan was too little to truly understand what's been happening around him but he did have a feeling that it's unfair, Elizabeth on the other hand was a daddy's girl and despite feeling like Williams wasn't giving her enough attention, she still always agreed with him and would stay on his side

Michael breaks stuff a lot. His room is always a mess because of this. He tore apart countless sketchbooks and notebooks, broke mirrors and even threw furniture around. After this kind of anger outbreaks, he always breaks down in tears and cries himself to sleep

Mike rarely looks in the mirror because of his many times people told him he looks just like his father. He never looks at family photos either

Michael and William have more in common than their appearance. Mike's small gestures and body language are exactly the same too. He hates it because people point it out all. the. time. There's nothing ha can do about it though

Even tho Michael hates his father, deep inside he still desperately craves his love and attention so he clings to any, even the slightest bits of kindness he gets from him. That makes it really easy for William to manipulate him and make him do whatever he wants him to do

Michael gets in fist fights a lot

He's not a stranger to violence in general but he's also really anxious and insecure. He always feels like he has to prove to everyone that he's nothing like William but most of the times it only shows how similar they are

Michael only cries when he's sure nobody can see it. William used to yell at him for crying when he was a child so he learned that he can never show any weakness

After the bite of 83, Michael experienced really bad panic attacks when he was exposed to animatronics or even his Foxy mask.

William would still force him to help in the pizzeria and make him work with the robots on purpose

Michael was forced to help at the diner/pizzerias since he was only 8 years old. Even when he was older, he never got officially hired there. William would just pull the "I pay for everything, you live off of my money so you owe me" card and make him work

He was anemic when he was about 13-14 years old, mostly because of how quickly he grew in that time and bad eating habits

Michael frowns a lot, not only when he's angry or irritated though. He tends to frown as a default expression which leads to a lot of misunderstandings

He's REALLY bad at taking care of plants

He loves cats and animals in general

JEREMY "REMY" FITZGERALD (voice claim: Seán McLoughlin aka Jacksepticeye)

Irish

Nonbinary [he/they]

Gay

Has two older brothers

Himbo

Big dumb silly idiot

Jeremy was born in Galway, Ireland and moved to California with his brothers and parents when he was 3 years old

They moved to Hurricane, Utah 16 years later and lived alone since

BIGGEST QUEEN FAN

Absolutely adores plants and has so many of them in their small apartment

Did construction work before getting a job at Freddy's

Has lots of religious trauma, all of it actually

Many piercings, most of them done by himself (idiot)

Has a big ivy tattoo

Was kicked out by his parents for being gay and struggled a lot to survive before starting a construction job. He even had to steal food a couple of times

Has ADHD

Has type 2 diabetes

Jeremy always dreamed about having a beautiful home with a big garden with lots of flowers and other plants in it but the best he got was a small old apartment filled with plants in pots.

They're very allergic to cats but that doesn't stop him from shoving his face into every kitty's belly

Jeremy was neglected as a child, his parents never planning a third child and not being too keen on having to raise another one. They put most of the responsibilities on their older sons which made them dislike their youngest sibling from the very beginning

Mary Anne and Patrick (the parents) never really tried to hide their indifference towards Jeremy, at east when they weren't in public. Because, naturally, they would hate for people to talk badly about them

Jeremy spent most of his childhood alone in their room, wandering the streets or spending time with Citlali, their best friend, and her parents. Remy adored them all and preferred hanging out with them over being with their own family

After moving to Utah he became very open about their identity. Moving away from his parents was difficult but also provided a whole new opportunity to finally be himself and make their own decisions

there is A WHOLE LOT more but this is all I've got in my head right now saiduhsada SHAMELESS PLUG TIME BUT YOU WILL LEARN A LOT MORE ABOUT MY JEREMIKE IN THE FIC I'M WRITING, IT'S CALLED "Insufficient" ON AO3

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #jeremy fitzgerald #insufficient au #fnaf au #michael afton #headcanons #my au

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princess-of-the-corner · 9 months

Note

winx rewrite: what are the personal challenges that the characters overcome to earn enchantix?

Okay so some of the Enchantix Challenges tie into the larger plot as a whole, but others are more personal sideplots.

So!

Bloom:

Hers plays into the main plot, as we have fuckery with Valtor. Even though he's much different than Canon. But anyway!

Bloom feels very out of place. She always has. She didn't belong on Earth. She thought she was belonging in Magix as a whole, but she's part of a Realm that was nearly destroyed. In Season 3 she meets with and tries to connect to the remaining survivors from Domino, but she still feels out of place because it's a place she never knew or got a chance to grow up in.

This isn't helped by the more major plot point, which involves Valtor preying on these insecurities to manipulate her(after all, even if they manage to revive the Planet itself, how can she rule a kingdom where she barely knows the culture?)

Her overcoming this is her realizing that she doesn't need one singular 'place' to belong to, and it would be impossible to do so because everyone she loves are from completely different places.

Stella:

Hers also plays into the bigger plots because of her father's attempts at his second marriage to Countess Cassandra, and the rivalry with Chimera. Cassandra is still evil and just seducing Radius for power, even using mind magic. Chimera knows about at least the first part, but she's not part of it.

Though Stella's main issue is in how she handles problems and stress: by ignoring them. She makes jokes, she pretends everything's fine and goes shopping instead. She plays the ditzy princess. Nothing bothers her, does it? Not her parents divorce(and how she feels like it was her fault for not keeping them together(it's not but she tried to mediate them through her childhood and they divorced once she left for Alfea)). Not the pressures of being Solaria's Princess and eventually it's Queen and, by their rules, having to master both Faerie and Witch forms. Not any of the horrific near-death experiences the past two years! Not how hard she's learned and practiced her Magic to make it look so effortless and like she's just a moron with talent instead of someone smart! Nope nope nope everything's fine here!

This comes up because of Chimera. Who has been dropped in age slightly, and is the height of the 'I'm not like other girls' phase. So even without Stella ignoring her problems, she would see her as some 'dumbass bitchy bimbo'. So with the marriage, they're not getting along as step sisters.

There's eventually a bit of a heart-to-heart when Chimera is trying to practice for when Cassandra makes her heir to the throne instead. And while she can get her Faerie Form going fine, Witch is difficult. Stella at least tries to be a good older sister and give pointers, which has Chimera snap at her because 'she doesn't need help from some moron riding on talent'. And Stella snaps back for a moment, confessing how much she actually did have to practice as a child. And it turns into a slight ramble about some of the above issues. Which does lean into a more genuine talk about the pressures they're both under.

And Stella is like "Hey. Wait. Venting about my stress and having someone relate and be helpful actually fucking helped? The fuck?" and overall learns that yeah she should. She should let those who care about her know when she's struggling and talk with them and let others help her.

Musa:

Her issues are very similar to Stella's in the 'running away from problems' thing. But it's more specific because I moved her mother's death to be more recent. Just before Season 1 when she left for Alfea.

Musa has been running away from her grief and just not dealing with it. To the point that she hasn't been home at all. She talks to her dad on the phone of course and sees him occasionally, but she's either at Alfea or during school breaks she ended up traveling/crashing with her friends.

But eventually, homesick outweighs the need to run away. So she returns. And has to confront everything she ran from.

Now, grief is a process. She's not going to get over it and make peace in just a day. But choosing to start that process, deciding to quit fearing a world where she's used to not having her mother, does kick in the Enchantix.

Tecna:

Tecna's issue evolves around expressing emotion. Not in that she can't, but in that everyone has different emotional languages.

Her own personality and her homeworld's culture have Tecna as very blunt, stating how she feels about a situation instead of letting her body language alone say so. Which means that if someone else says they're fine despite tone and body language clearly indicating otherwise, she takes it at face value. Why say you're fine when you're not?

The past few years she's been navigating pretty well, barring a few incidents. But it really comes to a head because of her relationship with Timmy and how their love languages are very different.

Tecna's love language is, again, to blatantly say 'I love you' as often as she thinks to. Timmy, on the other hand is more of a 'gifts and acts of service' type, where he will spontaneously buy things he thinks will make her happy or offer to help her on a project. Of course, the issue is that when your love language is something, it's also how you perceive others' love. So from Tecna's pov, Timmy doesn't say that he loves her as often as she'd like because he rarely says it directly. On the flipside, Timmy hears the words often, but it begins to feel like an automated response rather than genuine because it's not accompanied by 'I saw this and thought of you/would you like me to help you' actions.

They don't have a fight exactly. But they do sit down and discuss this. Tecna admits that she does have this problem with everyone, but this is the first time she's really put in the effort to learn someone else's love language to genuinely understand them rather than just guess and work it out later if she misunderstood in the moment

Which leads to a bigger conversation with the group as a whole about putting in as much effort to both understand what they mean, and to make sure she is understood. The others agree to do the same.

Aisha:

One of Aisha's biggest fears is loneliness. She just made this big friend group but..... with the other plots taking them all over the place, and with most of them focusing on the idea of their own careers, it's hard not to think about how they might drift apart.

While she can't change the fact that they might not all stick together and see each other anywhere near as often, she can confront those fears and voice them to the group. Being met with reassurances that even when they're knee-deep in their own lives, they're still friends and can drop in on each other for company anytime.

Flora:

Flora feels kind of.. Like she’s the weakest of the Winx. Obviously she isn’t weak but… Bloom has the Dragon Flame. Stella is one of the few Magixae pursuing both Faerie and Witch. Aisha and Musa’s powers are very flashy and able to adapt to most scenarios. If Techna does lack in the Magic department, she makes up in the Strategy Department.

One reason Flora has felt weaker is because she is at a bit of a disadvantage when fighting people like Icy. To use Pokemon terms, Ice is super effective against Grass. And as Icy was a major player on the antagonist side, she was taken out somewhat easily.

It’s something she voices later in the Season when they go to Dyamond, a planet that is very covered in ice and snow and all that. She feels like she won’t be helpful if they run into trouble.

But when they do run into trouble? Oh boy. Ice might be effective against Grass, but every Spring the grass breaks through the snow doesn’t it? She gets to go feral at some point and is actually very good, despite the disadvantage.

She realizes that she’s not as weak as she thought, and that even if she was, it shouldn’t stop her from trying to do what is right, earning her Enchantix.

#winx club reboot project

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