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deathsbestgirl · 2 months

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Tell me everything about how insane Scully is please!

how insane is scully????

you guys. i mad it through a lot of s1-3 and then started doing random episodes. this is LONG and incomplete. but you've been waiting so long already. so, under the cut:

my favorite crazy thing about scully is in the pilot, she's assigned to debunk mulder's work, and in the middle she's ready to run back to the fbi to tell them he's right because of dirt. she's known the man a few days and runs to his room to undress in front of him & run into his arms!! her face buried in his chest. she has him whipped on the first day, chasing after her. and she'll follow him anywhere.

in deep throat, mulder runs off on his own and next thing you know, scully takes another government agent hostage at gunpoint (with his own gun??) to get mulder back. she teases him, calls him crazy. he likes it so much she never stops. sucker.

in squeeze, scully just has to stick with mulder because he said she was right & played with her necklace. she has to know every thought in his head. she calls him to gossip about colton because now they're best friends.

in the jersey devil, scully whines when mulder sends her home alone, bails mulder out of jail, ditches her date the moment mulder pages her, turns down a second date & follows mulder...threatening to hurt him for teasing her. she's told her friends he's cute and tries to justify why he isn't an option. and it isn't because they work together. (as much as we say she's not getting into another relationship with a superior / colleague...she would, also insane behavior)

in ghost in the machine, scully meets jerry and dislikes him instantaneously just because he was mulder's partner (she's his partner). she knows mulder's profile without any doubt in her mind, but she still asks mulder to confirm. she tells mulder to go get a beer, as if she doesn't already know he can't stop (and even if he could, he wouldn't)

in ice, she very nearly attacks hodge for suggesting she's been infected because she was yelling at mulder. she pulls a gun on mulder and refuses to give up on him, she goes in to talk to him alone. she tackles a man twice her size with no hesitation.

in eve, she answers the phone in mulder's room!!! (this is silly but clearly, they never gave a second thought to being in each other's rooms lol)

in fire, she hates phoebe right off the bat. scully knew her game before mulder told her anything, but she asks him questions anyway. she single-handedly solves the case and gets that woman back out of his life...then scares him with a fake accent. she takes the sherlock joke and makes it hers & mulder's. phoebe who?

in e.b.e. she meets the lone gunmen, calls them the most paranoid people she's ever met, then proceeds to become the most paranoid person you've ever met, most paranoid person in the world.

in tooms, she lies to skinner to give mulder an alibi. she participated in an illegal stakeout so mulder wouldn't get himself killed. she calls him fox and tells him he's the only person she'd put herself on the line for. she is completely devoted.

in erlenmeyer flask, she teams up with a man she doesn't trust to get mulder back. she goes into a top security government facility to steal an alien fetus, and figures out the password deep throat didn't tell her about.

in little green men, she sets up a secret meeting with mulder using their little code. she talks about george hale, lets herself into mulder's apartment, hacks his computer, and tracks him down to puerto rico. where they end up running from the military. she can barely keep her hands off him.

when krycek shows up, scully snubs him because he's working with mulder. scully is his partner, she's his friend. she doesn't trust anyone else with him — and she's right.

in duane barry, she inserts herself into the hostage situation, to the point they let her talk to mulder to guide him...as the rest of them have failed. she finds the metal implant, scans it at the grocery check out, correctly surmises what it's for (at least one purpose), and screams for mulder. i also think she manages to get her necklace off so mulder will know he's on the right path when he finds it (someone else pointed this out, idr who i'm sorry!!) she remembers squeeze.

in end game, mulder knows he couldn't tell her about his sister because she would have sacrificed herself. while he's in martha's vineyard (?) she's running around d.c. on her own as she's being followed. doing all the things he taught her to evade them.

in dod kalm, she goes on his unsanctioned trip to the middle of the ocean and forces him to drink the little water they have, refusing to take it for herself. the entire time they're stuck there, she figures out what's happening and that's how the doctors save them & reverse the aging effects.

in anasazi/the blessing way, she's nearly shot and makes sure mulder doesn't go back to his apartment and instead comes to hers. she undresses him and puts him in her bed while she investigates to exonerate him. she shoots mulder and drives him across the country to albert hosteen. she tells teena mulder that mulder is okay, after walking to her mother's house with no shoes to tell maggie mulder is dead and argue with her sister. she attempts regression hypnosis but she can't do it because she doesn't have mulder.

in revelations, god is sending her signs and she believes she's supposed to protect kevin. she gets defensive at mulder's derisiveness toward religion and she doesn't hold it against him. in the end, she doesn't push and goes to confession instead, accepts his help with her coat. it's enough.

in war of the coprophages, she calls mulder all day on their day off. she rationalizes everything he finds. when he starts talking about bambi, she sleeps with the phone in her hand for when he calls again. she doesn't want to hear him talk about another woman but she does it anyway. "are you sure it wasn't a girly scream?" and then she just drives out to meet him because no one investigates with mulder except her. smart is sexy. after he asked her what she was wearing after she spouted off about darwin.

in syzygy, i don't even think i need to say anything here. she's just so insane and i love it. she's jealous & petty & mean, but also very honest about how she's feeling. in the end, they're still in sync but she is going to drive like a maniac because she's still mad.

in grotesque, scully is once again prepared to hate mulder's former boss. she doesn't need to know anything and she yells at this man for how he treats mulder. this is a woman who grew up with brothers for sure.

in pusher, scully doesn't believe mulder when he theorizes about modell's abilities. but the second he's the target, she believes. she doesn't hide her fear for him and she walks into that hospital room blind with only a bulletproof vest on. she doesn't run when he tells her too. she will never leave him.

in home, she's thinking about motherhood and having kids and asks mulder about his family. when he swings his head around to her at the question, she stares right back. i swear it's a challenge.

in the field where i died, she yells at mulder for not telling skinner the truth (she never rats on him). she still goes with him to his regression. she doesn't believe these are past lives, but she takes the information he shared and digs into the archives. she finds the american revolution era names. she tells him she wouldn't change a day.

tunguska/terma: she is held in contempt of congress to give mulder time. she trusts his instincts and not her own. she tells the court about the government conspiracy of men and continuously avoids their questions, pushing forward about the lawless men.

in never again, she likes ed because he's interested, because she can talk openly with him without consequences, because he's a sad man & a little dangerous. but then he's really dangerous. she only goes out with ed because she thinks mulder only cares about the work and not her. she gets a tattoo.

in memento mori, she only tells mulder about her cancer. she chooses to investigate instead of pursue treatment right away. she apologize to skinner. she rights letter after letter to mulder, begging forgiveness & asking him to go on. talking about how she feels him close. when she decides to start treatment, she asks mulder to bring her things & call her mother. in the end, she decides to abandon typical treatment and live with cancer.

in gethsemane/reduxes, she doesn't tell mulder he cancer has metastasized. she continues to work, getting injured on the job. she tells police the dead man in his apartment is mulder, she lies to skinner & the fbi. she runs herself ragged to the point she collapses. she begs mulder to blame her & save himself. she's adamant mulder can't trust skinner, even after skinner was shot because he tried to keep melissa's case open.

in chinga, she has no idea how to take a vacation anymore. she can't ignore the x file she stumbles into and she believes it's the doll. she microwaves a little girl's doll to save a woman.

in pine bluff variant, scully chases after mulder when they lose contact. some unknown pathogen just killed someone. she rewatches the tapes after she's sure she saw mulder let whatshisname get away, but stays silent in the meeting. he won't tell her anything but it doesn't stop her from investigating. she can't believe that he's betraying his country, and hiding anything so big from her. it gets to the point skinner has to tell her and she rails at him & that other guy for endangering mulder. she's his partner!! and she makes more headway in a few days than these other idiots did in weeks. she's relentless.

in tithonus, scully has to work a case without mulder and she hates it. she insists it isn't an x file but i think she knows. she's endeared toward fellig despite herself. she asks 'how can you have too much life?' she knows the pain of dying, of leaving people behind, of not being able to finish everything you started. she can't get enough despite all the pain & struggle. she has things to do, someone she wants to be with & they aren't there yet. and when she's got, and fellig tells her to close her eyes, don't look at him — she does it!! in this vulnerable moment, on the cusp of death, she believes. she believed him almost instantly.

in mulder & scully meet the weremonster, she approaches suspects ALONE. mulder scolds her for it both times. she tells him 'you forget, i'm immortal'

in home again, maggie dies and she loses it. she's sobbing, refusing to let them take maggie, mulder tries to get her to take time and she refuses. it's a stark contrast to her grief in beyond the sea. he can't stop her but he can be with her. we hear her call mulder 'fox' for the first time since tooms.

in the my struggles (idk which one lol) scully is desperate to save mulder. she knows what's coming and she can't lose him. "you need him, and i neee you." the truth is she needs william too, and he's so close now. she never tried to find him to keep him safe (supposedly) but for mulder, she'll take the risk. and maybe stop fighting herself for once. she's unbearably good, but her & mulder are the only ones who can save the world and she can't do it alone. (crazy, crazy, crazy)

other things: scully thinks mulder's porn habit is funny, endearing. she doesn't seem to have any (real) negative thoughts or feelings about it. she argues with him relentlessly about his theories/actions/decisions, but never in front of other people. in front of others, she backs him up, defends him, or stays silent (pine bluff variant). but she will good-naturedly make fun of him to strangers ('he chews the furniture' and something in humbug & quagmire). on friday nights, she stays home cleaning her gun, reading books, reading medical journals & writing for them. she loves jose chung. she believes in the possibility of time travel but not in science's current abilities to achieve it. she remembers every word mulder has ever said (dreams, ftf hallway speech). she literally hangs in his every word and incorporates it into her worldview, her behavior, who she is as a person. scully dedicated herself to mulder in the pilot, before she knew what it meant. and once she did know what it meant, she stayed and stayed and stayed. she believes in him so much, in what he can achieve that it drives her to do crazy things herself. something she always had in her, but now she can let it out. it has a purpose. and dana scully with a purpose is someone you don't mess with and can't be hidden in the shadows (despite the effort of a global conspiracy).

#dana scully #the x files #painfully incomplete

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jvstheworld · 7 months

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My Ted Lasso Re-watch: S1E1 (part 3)

Pilot

Ted doesn't always get the hang of the new vocab, but he tries.

I love Roy Kent. He is one of my favourite characters and his use of swear words is perfection.

Did Nate give Ted and Beard Irn Bru?

I love the Tedisms. Makes him adorable.

Jamie is a prick and Sam is an absolute sweetie.

Axe body spray in the US is the same as Lynx in the UK.

Keeley is a wonderful character who is unapologetically herself and confident in her sexuality. I adore her.

Personalising the office, first off, pushing the desks together which might take up more space but it means you don't have to constantly turn around to talk. And also shows the Ted and Beard like working closely together. Next are inspirational sports posters and sport stars of the past. I can not name any of them.

Poor Ted, he needs to sleep, and that nap was the first time he has done since leaving Kansas.

Roy will be absolutely furious when won over, but he'll thank them for it later.

The 'Believe' poster. I have it as the background on my smart watch and as the background on my laptop but with Ted pointing to it while looking at Jamie.

I love Ted and Keeley's friendship. He doesn't get rid of the picture Jamie has in his locker, just makes it a bit more modest for the setting it is in. This is something Roy does later with one of the pictures Phoebe drew.

'I never know how to react when a grown man does...' is said by Keeley when Ted beat boxing, Roy when Ted does the Carlton, and by Chris Powell when Ted does his victory dance.

Earlier, Rebecca called Higgins the 'current' Head of Communications, and now we know why - he is being promoted to Director of Football Operations.

Higgins was complicit during Rupert's affairs. Does anyone else think that Higgins only went along with it out of fear of losing his job? Rupert is a very rich man who could make his life hell and make it hard for him to get another job elsewhere, so maybe Higgins did it to protect his job and continue being able to provide for his family.

The name on the gift basket in Ted's new flat is 'Coach Tim Lasso' because Rebecca doesn't actually care about him enough to get it right, but it's close enough that it could be seen as a clerical error.

Ted tries to work out the time difference between the UK and Kansas. It's a 6 hour time difference.

Ted in the shower. Ted is in the shower. The thoughts that went through my head when I saw this during my re-watch. Well, let's just say they weren't clean. And then the man is dressed in a t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Honey... God damn, you're hot.

Why did Ted move to another country to coach a sport he doesn't know about? Because his marriage is struggling and his wife needs space. A lot of it apparently. He still clearly loves her, but the fact she can't say it anymore clearly hurts him more than he can admit. And it's just a precursor to what happens later on.

I have an overwhelming need to hug him whenever he is sad. Ted needs all the hugs. And to go to sleep, but the conversation with his wife is probably the reason why he can't.

#ted lasso #coach beard #roy kent #rebecca welton #leslie higgins #keeley jones #tv show thoughts #ted lasso rewatch

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izzielizzie · 10 months

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Izzie’s One of Us is Back Celebration (Day 7)

missing moments: phoebe and jules hang out for the first time after brandon

story under the cut

I'm not quite sure why I agreed to spend time with Jules to be honest. When she texted me last week asking if I wanted to hang out, I nearly ignored the text and moved on. But Jules and I have been best friends for years, and even if things have been rocky for the past few months, it's a relationship I can't just ignore.

We meet after school in the parking lot. She's already by my car when I get there, and the sight of her leaning on the car's hood as she looks down at her phone is so normal that it actually hurts.

"Hey," I say as I approach her.

"Hi, Phoebe Jeebies." She smiles at me, her green eyes bright, and for a moment I can imagine that nothing changed between us. But then I unlock the door and slide in behind the passenger seat and the illusion is shattered. Emma used to drive us, and it feels wrong for me to be driving.

Jules buckles her seatbelt as I turn on the car. She reaches forward to turn on the radio, then stops at the last second. "May I?"

My head is starting to hurt from all this formality. I nod. "Yeah, of course."

I concentrate on driving out of the parking lot as Jules flips through the channels. Finally, she lands on a Taylor Swift song and we both start singing along. We wait for the song to end before we start talking.

"Where do you want to go?" I ask.

Jules shrugs. "I guess your place is out of the question?"

"Why?"

Jules looks sheepish. "Because of the trial?"

"Oh." I probably should have guessed that. "No, it's okay. Emma's not there."

Jules brightens at this. "Okay. Cool. Can we just go to your house?"

"Of course."

The apartment is empty when we get home, and Jules and I drop our bags by the door and make a beeline for the kitchen like we used to. I pull open the fridge and take out a bottle of Cherry Coke while Jules gets the glasses. I slide the bottle over to her and she pours out the drinks. While she does that I get a bag of microwave popcorn out of the cabinet and unwrap it before placing it in the microwave and pressing the popcorn button. Finally, I settle at the island next to Jules and wrap my hands around my Coke.

We stare at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say now that we're here. Conversation used to come so easily before, and now? Now I don't know what to say to her.

"So... how are things?" I ask. Clearly, this wasn't the right question because — to my horror — Jules starts sobbing. I stare at her in shock as she cries so hard her entire body shakes. "Um... Jules, are you okay?" I ask, rather stupidly. Clearly she is not okay. She shakes her head.

"I'm sorry!" she says between sobs.

I awkwardly stand and wrap my arms around her. She turns in her chair to press against me, and I hug her harder. The microwave's alarm goes off, and she gently pushes me towards it. I don't want to leave her alone as she cries at the table, but the microwave starts beeping incessantly, and I reluctantly disentangle myself to take the popcorn out, since there's no other way to get the alarm to stop. I carefully open the bag as Jules' sobs slow down.

Once she's stopped crying, I pass her a napkin and the popcorn. She wipes the tears and mascara off her face and gives me a watery smile. "Sorry," she tells me again.

I shake my head, remembering how much I used to cry after the bomb went off. "It's okay. But um... is everything alright?"

"No!" she says emphatically, and for a moment I think she's going to start crying again. She takes a deep breath and gets the tears under control. "I'm mad Phoebe. At you, for not telling me about anything that was going on. I'm supposed to be your best friend!" I open my mouth to argue but she steamrolls on. "And I'm mad at myself because I wasn't a very good friend when you needed me. And I'm mad at Brandon for hurting you. And I'm mad at that stupid guy for his stupid texting game because without it maybe Brandon would still be here and then everything would be a little better... But I'm mostly just mad at myself. And I'm sorry about kissing Nate. That was wrong."

"Oh." We sit in silence and split the popcorn while it's still hot. Finally, I speak: "I'm mad at myself too, a little. For not telling you, and for hooking up with Derek in the first place. But I'm learning that being angry just means you hurt other people. It's better to just try and move on, and learn from your mistakes."

Jules is unconvinced. "That sounds logical, I guess." She takes a sullen sip of Coke. I take a sip and realize that it's flat. Of course it is. No one in my family likes Cherry Coke. My mom only buys it for Jules because I asked her to. Because Jules' mom buys Sprite for me. Jules is a part of me, I realize, one that I thought I was willing to part with.

Turns out I'm not.

"Look, Jules." I say. She turns. "We both were pretty bad friends to each other, and I'm sorry for my part in that. But you mean a lot to me. And I don't want to just give up on our friendship because we fucked up. I want to try to move on, if you want."

Jules studies me for a moment before breaking into a grin. "I'm sorry too. And I'd love to start over. I've really missed you."

I grin back. "I missed you too, Jules."

#izzie's oouib celebration #phoebe lawton #jules crandall #oouin

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prettybea · 11 months

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Welcome Home OC

Detective Phoebe E. Hart

Detective Phoebe is the new neighbor in Welcome Home. She is part of the police department as a detective and whenever there's a hard case they turn their attention to Detective Phoebe

She is a werewolf and fearing that she might hurt someone but someone told her to use her werewolf abilities in good use hence why she became a detective in the first place

She was bitten by a werewolf when she was 16 years old by helping an old lady to get away from those wolves

Detective Phoebe is serious, brave, cynical, and mysterious to the rest of the neighbors in Welcome Home

Detective Phoebe is the stand in of mature content and handles all ages in the show. She shows some information about reality as a lesson for the children to remind them that not everything is black and white

About Detective Phoebe in the show

At the Welcome Home show, after Wally and his friends were done in every episodes the viewer will receive a Bonus episode that was titled as 'Murder Mystery'

In the show Murder Mystery follows Detective Phoebe guiding the viewer on how to be a professional detective but not just a detective but also a doctor, psychology, and more. In the show Detective Phoebe and the viewer would discover some of the culprit's murderous ways and the detective will give the viewer the information about everything on the case and a lot of information ranging to the history of guns, medicines, religion, and etc. It still has the children show but it was perfect for all ages

In some of the Welcome Home shows before the Bonus episode of Murder Mystery Detective Phoebe makes her appearance as a detective but most of the time she is helping Howdy around the shop whenever she has free time

In the show Murder Mystery there is always a moral in every episodes that were sad, truthful, and deep message that audience can relate

Whenever Detective Phoebe is about to transform into her werewolf form every full moon her clothes don't tear apart that's because a friend of her in the police department give a tons of clothes were the fabric is very stretchable so whatever form Detective Phoebe takes it never ripped

At the end of the pilot episode of Murder Mystery Detective Phoebe confesses to the viewers that she is a werewolf but she told them to keep there mouth shut and said that she's going to tell her neighbors about the truth when the time is right

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Detective Phoebe's relationship with Wally Darling

Her relationship with Wally Darling is very platonic, they met when Wally heard the news that a new neighbor is moving in

Detective Phoebe has a suspicious that Wally is a hiding something and Wall is suspicious about Detective Phoebe that she is hiding something

They barely talk to each other at each of the episodes of the show and due to Detective Phoebe's work as a detective they barely learn anything from each other

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Julie Joyful

Julie met the detective when she also heard that there's a new neighbor that has moved in

She was excited to meet the new neighbor already picturing who this new neighbor look like but she did not expect about what Detective Phoebe look like

Julie clearly doesn't trust the detective but everything changes when the pilot episode of the Murder Mystery shows that in the pilot Julie's stickers have been stolen, Howdy called the detective right away as he knows that this must be the detective's job but at first the detective decline as she was packed with so many cases that she needed to solve but Howdy insisted her so in the end she agrees. The stolen sticker case was easy for the detective as she uses her werewolf advance smell to locate and the main culprit was non-other than Sally Starlet. It was at this moment that Julie gained the detective's trust

Julie knows that Detective Phoebe is hiding something big, she tried to ask her some questions but the detective is good at lying and so in the end Julie believes at her lies and never knows the truth

Julie usually tell Detective Phoebe about werewolves since the detective is sometimes fascinated in the supernatural there are times that Julie would make bad jokes about werewolf but little did Julie know is that Detective Phoebe is offended and hurt at the same time upon hearing those jokes

Julie would invite the detective to play her games like hopscotch or play jump rope but the detective always declines because of the new cases that needed to be solved

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Sally Starlet

Sally met the detective when the detective herself knock at her door and ask if she could borrow a needle and a thread because she's making her own pillow case

Sally and Detective Phoebe's relationship is the definition of 'best friends' as they could relate to theater. Detective Phoebe herself has a degree of theater before going to criminology and this makes Sally gasp

Everytime that there's a roleplay Detective Phoebe would join if she was in a day off or has no cases to solve

If Sally is the director of the roleplay, Detective Phoebe is the props design and it's no wonder why audience were so amazed of how the props were designed all thanks to the detective

Sally and Detective Phoebe would talk about other theater but also musicals since musical is the one that introduce to the detective to theater and she was so glad that Sally knows her favorite musicals

Sally has always question in her about why the detective would get so distracted, shaking so violently, or even feeling unwell whenever the full moon is getting near and every night she would hear howling at the forest that is very scary to her. She wanted to ask the detective what's wrong but...she decided to kept it all inside

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Frank Frankly

Frank met the detective when Julie found out that her stickers were stolen. Howdy did call the detective to help them out and that is when he met face to face with Detective Phoebe

He already knows Detective Phoebe because Howdy kept telling him at the shop that she is moving here in Welcome Home

Frank and Detective Phoebe's relationship is neutral. Detective Phoebe usually visits him and asking about butterfly since he is the insect expert. He really can tell that she is always concerned with Howdy since Howdy is a caterpillar

He and the detective were also keeping an eye out of Howdy since they wanted to see him transformed into a newly grown butterfly

On episode 7 of Murder Mystery, Detective Phoebe received a case that someone got murdered and just looking at it and smell at it she knew that the victim was killed by a bee so she look no further to Frank himself who helped her solves the case and fought the bee who is the culprit. The detective almost got herself sting by the bee's stinger but thanks to Frank's warning she fought it with ease

Detective Phoebe ships Frank x Eddie which annoys Frank

Frank knew that just looking at the detective he knew that she is hiding something especially those scars that he found at her arm when she accidentally rolled her sleeve too much. Frank thought that the detective is being abused by someone and wanted to report it but sadly there's no evidence. Julie told him that she ask the detective some questions and she answered them with full honesty but Frank knew that their were all lies

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Barnaby B. Beagle

Barnaby met Detective Phoebe when she visits Howdy's shop

Before her arrival, Barnaby saw a picture of Howdy and Detective Phoebe when they were children. Howdy was embarrassed but he did told him about Detective Phoebe which makes Barnaby interest about the detective

Barnaby and Detective Phoebe were partners in crime. At some of the episodes of Murder Mystery whenever Detective Phoebe and the viewer were stuck or outnumbered by the culprit mostly mobsters and gang Barnaby would appear out of nowhere and join the fight. Detective Phoebe would tell the viewers that this was plan all along

Barnaby usually meets the detective at Howdy's shop who is helping him restock some of the products. In there, Barnaby would crack up a joke that makes Detective Phoebe laugh so hard that the things she is carrying would fall down

Barnaby ships Detective Phoebe x Howdy since they've been friends since childhood

Barnaby started to have suspicious when he and Wally talks about Detective Phoebe and there he has his own questions about the detective already

His suspicious that everytime he visits Detective Phoebe's house he would find her calendars that some of the numbers were circled and it would said: FULL MOON, DON'T FORGET. It was the same thing in Howdy's calendar as well especially since Howdy started writing those words after Detective Phoebe move into this neighborhood

He tried to ask the detective about it but due to her job as a detective she usually ignores him. He just hopes that in the full moon he hopes that it wasn't bad

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Eddie Dear

Eddie and Detective Phoebe first met when she move into the neighborhood when he realize that he received a letter from the police department that belongs to Detective Phoebe and low and behold he found her just moving some of her boxes in her new home

Detective Phoebe ships Frank x Eddie which makes Eddie flustered

Eddie and Detective Phoebe always meet each other outside whenever the detective is going to the police department

There's nothing much more on the two but they are good companions

There's a part of Eddie that he really need to ask the detective some questions especially she is hiding something big. Everyday he would get this box that belongs to Detective Phoebe, the detective told him that this are just clothes that her friend sew together but still Eddie is still curious

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Poppy Partridge

Poppy first met the detective at the 2 episode of Murder Mystery where she plays as the witness when she saw a dead body at the bakery factory. There she meets Detective Phoebe

Howdy talk about her sometimes but she can tell of how excited he is when she heard that she is moving to this neighborhood

Poppy and Detective Phoebe are like a mother and daughter type relationship. Poppy is always concerned with Detective Phoebe as she receives some cases that were in darker tone but the detective told her that it's part of her job as a detective

Detective Phoebe usually visits Poppy for the new pastry she is baking and since Detective Phoebe has advance smelling she can smell Poppy's pastry and the detective can't help but feel hungry

Detective Phoebe usually go to Poppy's bakery shop to give some of her pastry to Howdy's shop to sell it

There is one time that Poppy has so many questions about the detective especially that whenever they heard Julie making bad jokes about werewolves she notice that the detective is somewhat offended and hurt by those words and that raises some questions

Poppy find it strange that the detective is acting strange and off whenever the full moon is appearing. The detective was found tense, serious, and so not her, there is one time at daytime the day that the full moon would appeared Detective Phoebe visits her to talk but then the detective collapse and scream in pain. This panics Poppy as she calls Howdy since they are best friends since childhood, Howdy arrive shortly after and told Poppy that he needs to take the detective home saying that she is not feeling well. This worries Poppy as she started to think that the detective might have some serious illness

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Howdy Pillar

As you all know Howdy and Phoebe have become friends since childhood they are 'BFFs' as the children would say. Whenever there's a problem Phoebe will help him to fix it

Howdy knows that she's a werewolf, he found her locked in a cage with her clothes ripped to shred and half naked, he was 18 years old when he found about this

He is the one that told her to use her werewolf abilities in good use and seeing Phoebe turn into a fully fledge detective he couldn't help but smile

Howdy would always visits her house to check up on her especially if the full moon is approaching. He would usually found her on the couch feeling unwell due to the full moon approaching

At first, Phoebe lock herself up at the basement during the full moon but when Howdy finds out about it he told her that she could transformed at the forest since her werewolf form would need a nature but she doesn't have to worry for he will guide her to the forest and once the full moon is over he will guide her back out of the forest

Howdy didn't tell his friends and neighbors that Phoebe is a werewolf but he did told her that she needs to tell them about the truth since he could tell that they are getting curious and suspicious about her

Howdy usually call the detective Phoebe instead of calling her 'Detective' Phoebe especially in the police department

When Phoebe move to the Welcome Home neighbor she was excited to meet Howdy again after for 29 years apart but she was surprised that Howdy hasn't grow any wings yet. Howdy did told her that he is a late bloomer

Phoebe met Howdy's sibling and boy they are so many of them that they look like Howdy

In some of the episodes of Murder Mystery Howdy would work as some sort of consultant or partner to Phoebe whenever they have a case especially if the full moon is approaching he needs to keep an eye on her condition

Detective Phoebe's relationship with Home

The detective met Home and she find it very eerie to find a living house that can speak in onomatopoeias (Creak, Squeak, Bang.)

Detective Phoebe has a strange feeling whenever she pass Home it was as if it wants something from her but she cannot really tell

Detective Phoebe E. Hart's house

This Detective Phoebe's house and I know it looks like Sci Twi's house from MLP EG but I was so lazy to draw so here is her house and it was right next to Howdy's house.

#welcome home #Welcome Home Wally Darling #Welcome Home Frank Frankly #Welcome Home Barnaby B. Beagle #Welcome Home Eddie Dear #Welcome Home Poppy Partridge #Welcome Home Howdy Pillar #Welcome Home Home #Welcome Home OC Detective Phoebe E. Hart #oc character #Welcome Home Julie Joyful

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ascendancy-echoes · 1 year

Text

The Walls That Sorrow Built

572 AG, Zenan Sea east of Guardia.

Glenn felt nauseous. While part of the source of this was the rocking motion of the ship, a lot of it was the trauma of what he had endured days before. His clothes still smelled like smoke, the memory of why causing him to feel even more ill. The ship was quiet, save for the creaking wood, the wind in the sails and the sound of someone sobbing quietly nearby.

Looking around in the dark, Glenn saw the other refugees from Choras were fast asleep. There had been many people who had wept since fleeing Choras and the fires, Glenn included.

Glenn’s gaze went towards Cyrus who had his back to him. It took Glenn a moment to realize it was Cyrus who was sobbing. Cyrus was wrapped in one of the thin blankets that the sailors from Guardia had provided all of them, his body shaking as he tried to quiet his crying.

“Cyrus?” Glenn whispered, surprised to hear such a strong and brave person like Cyrus openly crying. “Do your burns still hurt a lot?”

The sobbing stopped. Glenn heard Cyrus let out a few shuddering breaths and shuffle to pull the blanket over his shoulders.

“I’ll survive. Go back to sleep, Glenn,” Cyrus eventually whispered back, his voice cracked and weary. “We’ll be in Guardia soon.”

Glenn frowned in the darkness. He couldn’t sleep even if he wanted to. Everytime he closed his eyes, he was back in Choras, surrounded by fire, smoke and seeing his parents overrun by skeletons. Glenn shuffled over to Cyrus and confessed that he couldn’t sleep and why.

Cyrus rolled over and sat up. He let out a sigh, tired and emotionally drained. Like Glenn, Cyrus had lost everyone. In fact, very few families made it out of Choras. Even fewer escaped with their families unscathed. Cyrus normally would have called Glenn too soft for letting nightmares keep him from sleeping but the truth was he was also unable to sleep for the same reasons.

Cyrus couldn’t sleep without dreaming of his family screaming at him to save them. The truth was they never got that chance but that didn’t stop his dreams from asking him what if he had been there for them?

How could their lives have been upended so suddenly? Mystics, Fiends… they were beasts and demons who stayed in the forests, fearful of humans and too dissimilar to unite the way he had seen. Cyrus wondered if he could have saved his mother and siblings if he hadn’t been with his father at the town meeting?

But he had to be there. His father had insisted. At fifteen years old, Cyrus was expected to learn the family business and take on more responsibilities. His family was one of a few prominent merchants in Choras so they had a say in the affairs of the town. It was hard to keep up with all the talking, it was so overwhelming. Cyrus hadn’t paid attention to most of it, but then he heard someone complaining about wolves killing their goats, another said they had heard strange sounds coming from the old, abandoned keep up north.

The next thing Cyrus remembered clearly was the sounds of screaming coming from outside the town hall and the smell of smoke. He ran outside with his father and saw fires in the distance. Homes in the countryside were on fire.

Then the Fiends and skeletons flooded the streets and attacked from nearly every direction.

By the time Cyrus found the courage to run as a Fiend that killed his father right in front of him, his home was already ablaze.

Even in his dreams, Cyrus could feel the flames burning his clothes and the flesh on his back and neck as he pulled his youngest sister, Phoebe, from the fire. It was only once they were outside did he realize her spirit had already departed.

He would have ran back in search for the rest of his family, either to save them or join them in death but that’s when he heard Glenn’s screams for help and he found himself briefly frozen with indecision and fear. In that moment of hesitation, Cyrus heard the wood beams of his family’s house crack and the whole thing collapsed in on itself. Everyone and everything he held dear was gone. Except for one soul.

“Cyrus?”

Cyrus blinked and he was back on the ship with Glenn who was gazing at him with concern. Forcing a smile in the dark, Cyrus said, “I’m fine, Glenn. Just tired like you must be. Let’s get some sleep, okay? Nightmares can’t hurt us.”

~~~

Life in Guardia was different. No one there spoke the same language as they did in Choras. Cyrus had felt so alone after his family perished in the attack by the Fiends but at least with Glenn at his side, he had someone familiar. However, Glenn was sent away to live with a family just outside of Truce just like the rest of the orphans from Choras. It would be nearly three years before Cyrus saw Glenn again.

Arriving at Truce, Cyrus was taken in at the docks by Lord Ashfall, a close friend of his eldest uncle. Cyrus felt grateful to have somewhere to live but life in the Ashfall family was strict.

Almost immediately, Lord Ashfall forbade Cyrus from speaking any Choran and following Choran customs, saying that Cyrus had to fit in as he was now a part of the Ashfall family and Guardia was now his home. Lord Ashfall was also quick to cause Cyrus to feel ashamed for even the smallest moments of vulnerability, telling him that men had to be strong-willed and stalwart.

“I understand you have suffered greatly, but so have others. Your woes are not unique. You must be strong. Your enemies will exploit any weakness,” Lord Ashfall told him one day. “Guard your heart, let only those you can truly trust in. Duty and loyalty to the crown and family comes above all else.”

Cyrus took that mindset to heart. He kept his mind off of the trauma of what happened in Choras by focusing on his duty to his new home and to Guardia. Lord Ashfall soon had Cyrus join the Guardia knighthood ranks as a squire to his own son.m

As a knight-in-training, Cyrus vowed to show Lord Ashfall that he was grateful for his new life. After all, not everyone had found a family to take them in like he had. Cyrus also vowed to avenge his family, all of Choras, and eradicate the Fiend threat for good.

Shortly after Cyrus started his training, King Guardia the Twentieth had been quick to declare war on the Fiends for their brazen attempt at genocide on the people of Choras and their skirmishes into the southern Zenan continent. It wasn’t long before the army was called together and on the move.

Cyrus was nineteen when Lord Ashfall’s son tried to desert the army. He didn’t want to fight, seeing no personal stake in the war. He was quickly caught and imprisoned. Lord Ashfall forsook him as his heir and gave that privilege to Cyrus.

When asked how he could find the strength to turn away from his own son, Lord Ashfall told Cyrus that there was no room for mercy in war. The Fiends and any who sided with them, either by inaction or direct aide, deserved everything they had coming to them. After all, they had shown the people of Choras no mercy… Why should Guardia show those monsters any in return?

While a bit shaken, Cyrus believed that Lord Ashfall was right. What mattered now was their duty to Guardia and ensuring no soul endured the horrors that the Chorans had witnessed. As the weeks turned to months and months into years and the war went on without end, Cyrus rose through the ranks of the knighthood and quelled all that he once was in order to build a better future for others. He had to, it was the right thing to do so no one else would suffer the sorrows that he had.

#Chrono Trigger #Chrono Trigger AU #echoes in time #Chrono Trigger Cyrus #Cyrus Chrono Trigger #chronotrigger

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petite-ely · 3 years

Text

Afraid // JJ Maybank

Seven- Mommy Issues

Pairing: JJ Maybank x fem routledge! reader

Warnings: mommy issues, mother abandonment, anger, maybe some mistakes, tell me if I missed anything

Description: y/n has always wanted answers about her mother, but the truth seems more harsh than what she had in mind.

A/n : hello, hello friends. Sorry for not updating sooner. I had absolutely no inspiration, lol. Anyways, hope you enjoyyyy! :) (also I know the gif is terrible quality but I really wanted to put this clip and I couldn’t find any cleaner option to make a gif)

Previously

Afraid Masterlist

Song recommendation

Gif made by me!

As a child, y/n never realized how her family was different than the others. A lot of kids on the cut had single parents, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Her mom had left when she was only three, to go pursue her dream job in Colorado. It wasn’t a bad thing in the girl’s eyes. It didn’t feel like she was missing out on anything.

As she blossomed into adolescence, y/n finally understood how unconventional her family was. She heard the other girls at her school talk about their mothers. About the cakes they made or the precious moments they spent together. Mother-daughter bonding moments. She had to admit it she felt jealous. Or maybe was it envious?

She had lived all her life without a mother to kiss her scraped knees or braid her hair before going to sleep. And she would have given anything to experience it, even for one single night.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her brother or her father, far from it, she adored them. They were both so precious to her. Still, she felt as if something was missing from her. Or more like someone.

She didn’t remember her mother, she was so young at the time, but she cherished the stories her father had told her. She fed her imagination on these stories. Making up fake memories where her mother was still there. In her heart it was all real. Reality was bitter compared to the sweet comfort of her imagination.

By the time she was 12, she’d heard the famous story enough to know it by heart, each word of the letter engraved into her head. She begged her father again and again. She wanted more stories, even the smallest anecdotes, she wanted to hear them all. Anything to improve the sketch, constantly redrawn, of the woman she didn’t remember. The woman she couldn’t really call a mother.

She knew the story by heart and yet it felt incomplete. She’d heard enough fairytales and read enough books to know when a story was complete. This one wasn’t.

And she was right.

A week after the twins’s 13th birthday, their dad gathered them around the kitchen table. He wanted to talk. It was very important. Y/n had to admit, this was quite strange, as her father was never the one to bring up important issues. In front of him was placed an envelope, yellowed with the years.

The girl knew this envelope all too well. Every scratch, every little bump, she could almost feel them on the tip of her fingers. It was her mother’s letter. This time, when he pulled out the folded pages, a third paper came out. The missing part.

Big John didn’t say anything, only slid the pearl white sheet to the twins. And though no words came out of his mouth, a million could be seen in his gaze. He wore an unfamiliar expression on his face. It was mix of sadness, fear and regrets. It was the expression of a man who only wanted to protect his children from being hurt.

The missing paper read as so:

“This is my dream, John.

And I know you might think there’s a way for us to fix this, but there isn’t. This time you can’t fix it.

When I got pregnant with the kids, I was so scared. And when I told you, I saw this glimmer in your eyes. This flame suddenly being lit inside of you. You were so excited to have your first child and it was twins! You seemed so happy. It was beautiful.

Then I thought that maybe we could do this, maybe I could be a mother. I had you, so everything would be fine. My friends kept talking about this amazing connection that felt with their babies when they were carrying them. But I never felt it with the twins.

And I thought that maybe once I held them in my arms I would finally feel it. That motherly connection. It never came. And I tried, John. I tried so hard. But I just can’t.

I do love them, I love them so much, but not the way you do. Not the way a parent loves their child It can’t do it, I’m sorry. I wasn’t meant to be a mother. Life is cruel that way sometimes.

If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that you were meant for this. I can see it in the way you look at them. You can do this, John. I know.

Be the parent I will never be able to be.”

Y/n’s curious eyes scanned the paper excitedly. Her face showed a variety of emotions in the span of a few minutes. First, excitement and joy, then, confusion and finally, anger. The tip of her ears burned red, her hand shaking beneath the table.

John B. placed the paper on the table, a loud sigh escaping his lips. Though, compared to his sister, he seemed relatively calm.

Y/n couldn’t contain it anymore. She stormed out of the house, her feet shoeless and her shoulders bare. She had no idea where she was going, but she ran.

It didn’t matter. As long as she was going somewhere. As long as she was moving and running, then she wouldn’t have to think. And if she was thinking, then her mind would take her to a bad place. She didn’t want to go there. So she ran.

The Routledges were never reputed to be angry people, much less violent. They were generally very calm, maybe a bit arrogant, but always composed. Of course, when a Routledge was after something, they would do anything in order to obtain it.

But y/n was one of the exception. She was the first Routledge woman in nearly 150 years. For generations, every Routledge man had sons, who had sons, who had sons until her father. He had a son and a daughter.

She wasn’t an angry person or mean in any way. On the contrary, she was kind and gentle. But compared to her brother and her dad, she felt emotions deeply.

And maybe it was her mother’s side and not the Routledge in her. It was so intense, sometimes. Almost blinding, at some moments. It was like the emotions took over her. It didn’t happen very often but it felt like she didn’t control her body anymore.

When she finally came back to her senses, y/n was standing on an empty beach. She hadn’t realized how far she’d gotten until she felt the warm sand under her feet. A cold breeze wrapped itself around her shoulders. She was so far from home. And so alone.

She walked to the ocean, letting her toes dip gently into the water. The water was cold but calming. Her anger slowly disappeared with each breath she took, until finally she could see everything clearly again.

Y/n turned away. She thought of going back home, when a wave of emotions hit her. She fell to the ground. It was like the air had been sucked out of her lungs.

Her chest burned, she felt like she had swallowed fire. Her shoulders shook and loud sobs escaped her lips. She dug her hands into the sand, trying to ground herself. It didn’t stop her tears from crashing onto her shirt.

A shadow appeared in front of her and she recognized its shape in a matter of seconds. It could only be one person.

“Are you hear to laugh at me?” She said through tears.

“No, not this time,” said John B. He sat down beside her, his eyes looking into hers. “Oh, y/n.” He wiped the tears off of her face

“I’m sorry,” she sniffled. “It’s just that, that,” he placed his arm around her shoulder, she took a deep breath. “Part of me always thought that she would come back.”

“That she’d come stay with us and finally be our mom. But she’s never coming back, ever,” her tone was almost accusing. “I lost so much time making up scenarios for her and she doesn’t even love us.”

“You know that’s not true,” reasoned John.

“Yeah, but it feels like it.”

“We don’t need her anyway,” stated the boy. “We’ve got dad, surfing, plenty of fish and well, each other. It’s not that bad is it?”

“No, you’re right.” She looked at him. “I just feel like I’m missing out on something. Like I’m,” she paused, looking for the right word, “incomplete.”

“I get it. If the roles were reversed and dad wasn’t there, I guess I would feel that way too,” confided her brother. “But don’t give her this much power. She doesn’t get to make you feel this way. You’re whole on your own, y/n/n.”

“Thank you, bird.” She slid her arm around his shoulder, letting her head rest on top of it. “You know, you can be an amazing brother sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“Hey, bird?” “Yeah?”

“How did you find me, anyway?”

“You always come here when you wanna be dramatic.”

“I do not!”

“You so do!”

And slowly, the imaginary memories fell apart and disappeared. Y/n didn’t need them anymore. She’d be better in the real world.

Taglist

@kaelyn-lobrutto24 @poguestyle17 @im-a-stranger-thing @lasnaro @thoughtsofthestars @briandaflores19 @lunaposey @allycat449-blog @ifilwtmfc @kitty084 @coloradogirl07 @ponyboys-sunsets @chaoticbisous @p0gue420 @sloaneemily @babygal-babygal @itsagurl @mendesmaybank

If you wanna be added or removed or if I forgot you, tell me and it’ll be modified!

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apinchofm · 2 years

Text

Marcus' Disastrous Dating Past

requested by @katrie-reads - a lot of fun to write, as always.

1987

Matthew knew his son loved a party. Most vampires did.

What he wasn't expecting to come home to was multiple people draped across the living room of his house.

"Father." Marcus greeted. He was covered in blood and reeked of alcohol and sex.

After getting rid of everyone and Marcus cleaning himself up, Matthew sat him down. They needed to talk.

Matthew sighed and put his hands on his hips, "This needs to stop. You're going to end up seriously hurting someone." Or worse, turning them, passing on more blood rage. England didn't need a New Orleans sized incident. The Congregation would surely intervene and kill him.

"Well, there was a lot of moaning and groaning, but I assure you, it wasn't because they were in pain." Marcus retorted, flopping back onto an armchair.

"Christ, Marcus." Matthew sighed, sitting across from him, "What's going on?"

Marcus just shrugged, "Just... the usual." Slightly depressed, tired, needing to feel something.

Matthew wanted to yell, scream at him. But it was no use. Instead, he patted Marcus on the head, pulling him in for a brief hug.

"Sorry, I will try to do better."

2018

"Is that the doorbell?" Diana asked, confused and tired. It rang multiple times and she sat up, very confused. She didn't want them to wake up the kids.

"Yes," Matthew replied. He could smell humans.

They went down to check and could hear high pitched giggling. Diana opened the door, to see three drunk, scantily dressed young women.

"Uh, hi. Are you lost?" Diana asked. The girls were clearly drunk out of their mind, and definitely on something. Probably lost.

"You're not Marcus." One pouted, "Where is he?"

Matthew sighed in exasperation and knocked his head against the wall multiple times. Diana looked at him confused.

"Why don't you come in and we'll call you ladies a car and get you some coffee?" Diana offered and shepherded the three girls in. Matthew got them all blankets, knowing they were coming down from their highs.

"Why would they think that this is Marcus' house?" Diana asked, confused as she made them cups of coffee.

"Because he very much enjoys making my life difficult. The problem with multiple properties is that he uses them all for his... liaisons around the world. Sometimes he doesn't even have to go out, just writes his address

"Your address is on the wall of some rave or seedy club?" Diana tried not to laugh as she placed the cups of coffee on a tray, carrying them carefully into the living room where the girls were sitting.

"Not funny."

"It's kinda funny," Diana said as she handed out the mugs of coffee.

"We had the most amazing night together, and he was gone." One cried and Diana awkwardly patted her shoulder in comfort.

Matthew sighed, questioning every life decision he made for him to end up dealing with drunk women looking for his son.

2021

Phoebe smiled, "I shouldn't be allowed in Harrods by myself."

"Why, because you'll buy the entire store?" Marcus indicated to the multiple bags he held with ease.

"Don't complain, your present is in there," Phoebe warned.

"Well, I have the best present with me, already," Marcus said, kissing her lightly.

The two walked hand in hand down the snowy Knightsbridge street after picking up Christmas presents for their family.

"What's the matter?" Phoebe asked. She could see Marcus had sensed something, stopping and gripping her hand tighter.

"Daemon," Marcus replied. He turned around as the older woman approached him. She was pissed.

"You bastard." She slapped him. It didn't hurt him, but rather surprised him. He resisted the urge to tear out her throat, growling.

Phoebe looked surprised, "What the hell?"

"If I were you, I'd dump him." The woman warned before storming off.

"So, are you going to tell me why a daemon slapped you in the middle of Oxford Street?" Phoebe asked when they got home.

Marcus sighed, "I think I met her sometime in the 70s. Bowie concert. We slept together a couple times, she said she loved me and I ran away."

He was nervously expecting Phoebe to hate him,

Instead, she burst out laughing, at the fact that this man had slept his way through Europe so many times, in multiple eras. She was surprised she didn't run into his exes and former flings on a regular basis.

"How many people have you pissed off?" Marcus thought, but he couldn't... nope. Couldn't count them.

"Aww," She wrapped her arms around his neck, "Your manwhoring is coming back to bite you in the arse. Or slap you in the face." She shouldn't be surprised.

"Hahaha. I am reformed and am a one-woman vampire." Marcus promised, kissing her.

......

The young couple walked down the streets of Paris, after a lovely dinner, Phoebe resting her head on Marcus' shoulder .

"Thomas?" A beautiful, young vampire, approached the couple. Marcus recognised her and braced himself for a punch.

"Sorry, it's Marcus now."

The vampire immediately looked apologetic "Sorry, we haven't seen each other in, a while."

"Elise." Marcus said, surprised, "This is my fiancée, Phoebe."

"Hello, nice to meet you," Phoebe smiled. Elise smiled happily at her, again surprising Marcus.

Elise looked pleasantly surprised, "Most women are not as nice to their fiancee's exes."

"Well, you haven't slapped him yet, but, feel free to," Phoebe replied. Elise laughed at Marcus' 'darling, why would you encourage that?' look.

"Actually, I wanted to thank you. If I hadn't been for you leaving me in some seedy motel, I would've never met my husband." She indicated to the other vampire taking photographs of the scenery "He was working as a stage photographer with Queen at the time, and he helped me out."

"Oh?" Marcus was pleasantly surprised, "So you don't hate me?"

"No, I don't hate you. I understand you, and I'm glad that you found someone who made you want to settle down." She smiled, "You know, we all party to fill that void inside, I'm glad you filled it. It was nice to see you again, and nice to meet you, Phoebe. Have a pleasant evening." And with that, she walked off.

"Well, look at you, Dr Whitmore, matchmaker in disguise." Phoebe teased.

"Well, what can I say?" Marcus replied.

"Seriously, I know you have the endurance. But why so many people in such little time?"

"Being what we are, especially without a mate, gets lonely. You want to feel something, anything. And you've met my family, we're not exactly the most affectionate bunch." Marcus shrugged.

Phoebe frowned and wrapped her arms around him, "Well, you never have to be alone again."

#adow fic #a discovery of witches #marcus whitmore #phoebe taylor #matthew clairmont #all souls series #requested fic #mentions of alcohol #vampires #all souls trilogy #marcus x phoebe

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cedricslover · 3 years

Text

Troubled (final)

Pairing: Cedric Diggory x Fem! Reader

Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5

Series summary: A very unfortunate situation happened and it resulted in very unfortunate events. You had everything, a good boyfriend that everyone dreamed of, best friends that you got in a twin pack, and a loving school. It was a calm before a storm and in your sixth year the storm came. You faced the consequences your deceased parents run from, you were only left with your only family, your little brother. What would you do in order to save him? The answer is, everything, even if it means joining a terrorist group of wizards, joining THE DEATH EATERS…

Chapter Summary: Death is inevitable

Note: there is no specific house:))) I would like to thank everyone that kept waiting and was patient enough, I started this series around March and now it is May. This is my very first series and I hope you all liked it! Again thank you so much❤❤

Warnings: angst, death, little bit of violence

Word Count: 4.2k

You stopped in front of a headstone. Your hair brushing your cheeks as the wind blew it. "Hey" you started talking, through the years the big lump in your throat slowly fades whenever you visit. "It must be nice there" you smiled and placed the flowers that you were holding down to the ground.

You breathed in the familiar smell of the field. The smell of the countryside was really different from London. Closing your eyes, memories of the past came flooding in.

[5 years ago]

"WHAT?" Phoebe, one of your roommates looked at you with shock, "what?" You chuckled as you ate a chocolate frog.

"What do you mean "what"? So we're just going to act like we didn't see Diggory in front of our dorm earlier" Alice rolls her eyes as she brushes her blond hair, "Oh yeah we got back together" you shrugged and sat on your bed.

"You really won't tell us what happened that broke the two of you?" Phoebe's voice became wary, she was trying not to say something bad. You shake your head and smile apologetically. "I'm sorry girls" you felt bad. You wanted to tell them of course, but even your best friends since first year don't even know. And surprisingly didn't even nag you about it.

"It's alright doll, we understand. Besides, Diggory is a great guy, you two are both smart enough to know what is right and wrong" Alice looks at you, there is always comfort in her eyes. Like she always knows what is going on even if you don't talk. She was the perfect example of the person that you can vent to and she will just listen.

"How about you girls, anything going on with your lives? Why is it always mine?" You laid down and stared at the ceiling. Silence filled the room. For about 10 minutes only the brushing of the tip of the quill to a parchment, breathing, and the noise from the common room are the only sounds you heard.

"Nothing much" you heard a bed squeaked, it was probably Phoebe's. "My life is the most boring one yet" Alice mutters and sighed, you can see her sitting on her bed. "I don't think so. Each of our lives have different stories. I don't think that's boring" you replied before you pulled your blanket and be completely eaten up by darkness.

Weeks have passed, it seemed to be doing great. Everything was falling back to pieces. After the school found out that you and Cedric got back together, George and the Beauxbaton girl also publicized their relationship, both of them explained that it really wasn't you in the photograph-which you completely didn't want them to do because you didn't owe anyone any explanation- but they still did.

Fred and Angelina seemed to be also doing great, well, especially how Fred is under Angelina.

Of course Barty Jr.-that's disguising as Professor Moody was always giving you 'the look'. Everytime and everywhere, even at class, even your classmates find it strange why Professor Moody always calls you, and then gets mad. They feel bad but you just let it all go, because you knew what his true colors are.

"Fred" she warns

"Frederick Gideon" with her scary tone

"Frederick Gideon Weasley" that's when you all know Fred was in trouble.

"Hello darling" you smiled and kissed Cedric's lips before you sat beside him at the library. You both have free time, especially him, tomorrow was the final task, he was trying to study spells that he might use.

"Hey" he stops reading and wraps his arms around your waist, "Tired" he murmurs while he buries his head on your neck. "You want to eat sumthin'?" You asked while playing with his fluffy hair, running your fingers through his scalp. "No" you can feel his breathing on your neck, it sends shivers down your spine.

After a while of complete silence, Cedric's breathing seemed to follow a pattern, that's when you knew he was asleep, in your arms.

You started humming a song that your mum used to sing you to sleep. You can't see his face, but felt it instead, his nose, his lips, his forehead, it felt peace. It felt like home.

And later on, you also found yourself getting sleepy, your eyelids drooping down. And before you give up on the warmth, your eyes found the book-or more like a magazine that Cedric was reading earlier, you didn't notice it earlier until now. You let out a smile before you closed your eyes.

'Real Estate Magazine, Countryside Edition'

You woke up early, dressed up early, showered early, and went to get breakfast early, and you didn't expect that a lot of students were up early too. Earlier than usual.

"Y/N!" You turned your head while you chewed a toast. It was the trio. "Hey" you greeted them as they sat in front of you. "You alright?" You looked at them while your forehead creased, "yeah" they all answered in unison, that caught them off guard.

"Harry's going to be fine don't worry" you shake your head and smile as you reach for another toast. "It's just that-" Harry stopped and his hand went to his forehead, where the scar is.

"His scar's been hurting ever since he woke up" Ron told you, his face was screaming with worry, just the same as Hermione.

"You should take a rest Harry. You still have til before dusk. I think that would be enough time to prepare and rest" you said, trying to cover the worry in your voice, and of course the fear.

You four continued to eat, the Great Hall was starting to get more crowded, noise, banners, cheers, they were all anticipating who will win the triwizard tournament. Although you should be joining this crowd, wearing shirts with the one they support, cheering, waving the banners at 8 am. You can't. You were filled with worry, Harry's scar was hurting, and it seemed strange that the Dark Lord wasn't doing anything the whole year.

And as you walked by Moody's office, it seemed like your suspicions were answered.

"I already handled it, Dark Lord. Yes, yes, but how about the girl?" You heard Moody, he was rather loud, obviously he used the opportunity as most of the students would be either outside or the Great Hall.

"She wouldn't be a nuisance, we have his brother. She will be extremely useful for the next few years. She has much more potential than her parents. Let her bloom Barty" a faint voice answered him, that was the reason Harry's scar was hurting since this morning. Mere communication can still cause it, you knew he couldn't possibly be physically here.

"What if Harry wouldn't be the one touching the cup?" Moody's voice was filled with excitement but at the same time, fear.

"I'll kill them. And you next. Better do your job Barty." The voice disappeared. Your eyes widened as you heard footsteps slowly approaching the door. You ran to the closest hiding spot and peeked.

"Better handle that girl then" Moody looked around before he drank again from his flask. "Polyjuice Potion" you whispered as you observed him.

He walked away, to the direction you came from, you waited until you made sure he was gone.

"Mad-Eye Moody!" You started banging the trunk where Moody was prisoned, your hands shaking as you got the key from one of the drawers.

"Moody!" You banged again, panting, your sweat started dripping. Your heart was beating fast, you have to do something. You sure don't know anything, but Moody surely does.

You finally opened the last layer of it and saw that he was there, peering back at you, he was thinner than the last time you saw him. And he lost a lot of hair too.

He seemed mad, of course, you were the only person inside the castle that knew the Professor Moody that was going around the school the whole year was an imposter, well aside from Cedric who was suspicious.

You started explaining to him, now this was the person that deserved your explanation, not the gossip people.

It took a while before he finally understood. He must be thirsty and hungry, but you didn't bring any food but only your wand. You looked for any container and luckily you saw a flask, it must have been a spare Polyjuice Potion, you threw the insides away.

"Aguamenti" you chanted and the flask started to be filled with clean water. You cleaned the mess you made and returned it from what it was when you entered before you slowly dropped the flask to Moody who was now drinking it like he hadn't drank any water for a whole week.

"I cannot hear clearly, but I heard Little Hangleton. You know that right?" You nodded at his question. "I don't know what and how, but they would try to bring the Dark Lord back. In power" he looks directly at your eyes, his gaze was piercing, he was expecting you to do something. And you will.

"I'll be back" the last words you said to him before you slowly closed the trunk, he nods slightly for a response, there was also something in his look, the same look you saw with your parents when they were about to die, the same look you saw with the people of the Order, it was a look of hope and pride.

"Hey hey" you stopped on your tracks and it snapped you back into reality, you didn't know what to do, "Y/N?" Cedric cupped your face, you looked at his eyes, his questioning eyes. "What's wrong, love?" He tucked strands of hair from your face to behind your ear. Your breathing started to calm down.

"They're moving Ced, I have to do something" you admitted, there was no point in keeping it a secret to him. His jaw dropped, he was now looking everywhere, trying to be cautious.

"What can I do to help?" He asks, you felt bad, and it seemed like he noticed it. "Don't feel bad, Y/N. You already carried too much burden, at least let me help you carry it" his mouth curves as he assures you. "It will all be okay" he whispers, still not letting go of your face.

You were still doubting, but he was persistent. "Protect Harry. Help me protect Harry, Ced" your eyes darted to him, both of you knew this was a life and death situation. This wasn't just those silly games you played before, you both only had one chance to save a life, and this was it.

"I will" he nods, there was more than just the tournament in his mind now. And that is to protect Harry. At all costs.

You observed Harry the whole time before the task, ofcourse, not being so obvious. You would join the three of them at some point, or drag Harry with you and the twins as they show the fireworks that they made and plan to light up when he wins or Cedric.

It was a win-win, Harry forgets that bloody scar while you keep an eye on him.

And now, it was Cedric's turn.

He kissed your forehead and gave you a little smile. "You did well. Let me take over" he said before he turned his back and let go of your hand. Amos waited for him and waved in your direction. The corners of your mouth turned up, trying to be nice to him, despite how you somehow despised because of how he always pressures his son, he always has to do this, reach this, be like this. It was not healthy.

You knew he was trying to be a good parent, but you wished he had taken lessons from your father before he died. Thankfully Mrs. Diggory was nice enough to appreciate Cedric's achievements, small or big.

"You alright?" Alice asked you as you sat at the bleachers. "Quite" you smiled at her and returned your gaze to the champions. You were with Alice now, well long story short, the twins were with their girlfriends, even Phoebe, and Alice invited you to join her so here you are now. You know Alice is beautiful, she is also great in academics, even she and Luna Lovegood could really pass as siblings, they have the same interest in things that were believed to be not there, and even their way of clothing were the same. But they both confirmed that they were not related. Still, you were still quite confused as to why she was not out there, having a partner.

"You know that guy?" She pointed to Gregory Goyle's older brother. "Yeah?" There were lines forming between your eyebrows. "He asked me out" she giggled and covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders started shaking, you also laughed. "What really?" You asked in disbelief, you tried your best not to laugh out loud.

You hated Goyle, he always bullies the ones that he believed was weaker, even Alice. He always made fun of Alice and how she always tries to get people's attention. Now look how the tables have turned.

"He asked me out with those cheesy pick up lines, doll. I tried my best not to laugh and just rejected him immediately" you were both still laughing. She stated some of the pick up lines that made you laugh so much but you still tried not to be loud so in the end, you choked on your own saliva while she stifled a laugh as she pats your back.

The laughter seemed to be a curse, bad luck, or just joy before a disaster. Because right after that you all saw a yellow light sparked to the sky, it was from someone in the maze.

You were the only one who was not confused, because as that yellow spark flashed, it was a message for you.

'He is safe. Cedric's with him'

Red sparks were seen earlier, it must have been a marker for the injured ones, but the Yellow ones, the audience and judges didn't know what it meant, only you.

You started praying to the higher ups, if they were ever there, listening to you. You prayed that they would be fine. Only a few scratches, but still good. After just a few minutes another yellow spark was seen, the people decided to shrug it off, but you, you were beyond happy and relieved. The second spark should mean that they got to the cup. They should be arriving any second now.

You anxiously waited for them, ten seconds, twenty, thirty, and then a minute and they weren't still here.

'Little Hangleton' 'Back in power' ‘Dark Lord’ 'Coming Back' 'Do your job' 'Kill'

Voices started to cloud in your mind, Moody, Barty Jr., Voldemort, memories, you patched up the information you got.

And without even thinking twice you disapparated, thankful that Dumbledore lifted the anti-disapparition charm because there were a lot of outsiders anticipating the third task.

You grunted as you stumbled, you hated how apparition makes your insides like they were being squeezed. It was convenient of course, but you didn't like it.

"Kill the spare" you heard, your vision was still dizzy, but you knew that voice. Your vision was blurry, the world was spinning and it felt like your intestines were spinning too. It was the after effect of apparating.

You stood up, still feeling nauseous, “NOOO!” you shouted as you ran, there were figures and you knew who they were. “Avada Kedavra!” it was definitely Pettigrew, no, not Cedric, not me, not Harry, don’t kill us, please, the words repeated in your mind. The few steps felt like a hundred, you wanted to stop time, and as you rushed towards the figures your vision was slowly being clear. And by the time you can entirely see clearly, you wished, you hoped, that someone blinded you, you wished that this was a dream, hallucination, but as you collapsed on your knees, as the rough ground kissed your legs, it was all real.

“Alice...” tears started to fall from your face as you looked at her face. Her reddish cheeks was now white, her lively eyes was now soulless, her warmth,

It’s gone, she’s gone.

“YOU!” You stood up, picking up your wand, Cedric stood beside you, “Free Harry” You commanded him, your nose was now flaring, glaring at the two figures in front of you, Peter Pettigrew carrying the weak Voldemort.

“Expulso!” you incant, in a snap, Voldemort was now dropped to the ground while Pettigrew was far away, “I’ve had enough of you. You and your values” you stared at Voldemort who was now crawling away, he was so weak, and this was the only time you could do it. The only time you could take revenge from all the lives he took.

“You’re so weak, and you should stay weak” You stepped on his thin legs, he screeched like a creature tortured, “You deserve, every, single, pain” now you stomped on his hand, you felt the bone touch the sole of your feet despite wearing shoes.

“Sectumsempra!” you cried at his pleading face, you thanked that potions book you saw in the classroom. You watched as so blood just came out from the child like figure in front of you, for a second you thought you were doing something beyond your morals, but you remembered, the images of people that this person-no- monster killed, the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and friends, he took away so many lives, he made the world like his playground, killing whoever he felt to kill, and that justified what you did. Regret was not even near.

“Incarcerous” Cedric’s voice echoed, the tense was back again, Pettigrew was still here, “We’ll take care of him” he told you, giving a second to glance at the lifeless Voldemort that was on the ground, curled, you nodded as an approval.

And like a vase dropped, or someone threw a big stone to your head, you remember Alice's bleeding body, her opened eyes but why? Why is there a ghost of a smile plastered on that doll-like face?

You slowly walked to her lying body, you never expected that this would happen, that she, she would do something like this. Did she just suddenly hold your arm as you disapparated? Is that why she splinched, her arms, even her legs were bleeding.

“Dumbass, did you even know where I was going.” you kneeled, reached for her face and removed the strands of hair that were blocking her face. “You’re so dumb. Who’s going to call me doll anymore” you blinked and a tear fell straight to her cheek, you blinked again, another tear fell, you blinked, again and again, and at the same time, tears fell on her pale face, you cried, wailed, even shouted while hugging her body.

She was there when you needed her, she was there to understand you. She was there when you cried, laughed, even if you were sick, she was there.

“Doll, come here.” Alice called you while you were packing your things, you were a mess, you just heard that your mother was ill, you have to go home. You sighed and let go of the clothes and walked towards her, she tapped the seat in front of the mirror.

“You know, you should always look tough in front of the people you have to protect. That’s what my parents told me before. The people that saved them from the Death Eaters, they were tough, I told you about that right?” she started brushing your hair, you examined your reflection, your eyebags were visible, you were also definitely thinner than usual, you felt drained.

“Before my ma died, she told me information about those who saved them. My ma and pa owe their life to them.” even if you didn’t look at her face, you know she was smiling. “She told me that when they were being saved, the woman was pregnant” you can feel the gentleness from her touch.

“And?” you asked, she was now tying your hair, “and she told me to protect that child, a token of gratitude for giving my ma and pa another tomorrow” she placed the flower accessories in your hair.

“Did you protect the child?” you turned to her and saw her eyes twinkled, “I still am doll” she replied to you before she handed your bag. Alice used magic to help you pack, you laughed and hugged her, “Thank you” your mouth curved into a smile. “Aww it’s nothing” she waves her hand and rolls her eyes, acting shy. “Shut up” you chuckle before you turn your back and step outside.

“You impulsive lady, how about that child you should protect. How can you protect them if you’re dead” You were still crying, thinking about all the memories you had with her, and how you would tell Phoebe, she would be heartbroken.

Was it really necessary? Are sacrifices really necessary? You just wanted to stop a war, a cycle, you wanted to follow the path your parents took, are deaths really necessary? In exchange for peace, a life should be taken. A meaningful life, someone's daughter, friend, and stranger.

[present]

“Y/N!” a woman’s voice called you, you turned your head and saw a woman, her hair was now just above her shoulder, brown curls jumping as she walked the hill. “Phoebe” you greeted and opened your arms, she sprinted and hugged you.

“Oop, be careful with the tummy” you grinned and touched your tummy, there was already a big bump, you were pregnant. “Hello there little one” she lowered herself and talked to your bump.

“It’s her death anniversary isn’t it” she straightened herself and was now staring at the headstone.

Alice Constance O’Brien

March 12, 1978 - June 24, 1995

“Hmm” you answered, peace and silence enveloped the both of you. “It was Alice all along.” sadness took over your face as you remembered what Alice has done for you.

Loving daughter and friend

A hero

“Ced that night when you saw me following the man. Why were you still roaming?” you asked Cedric as he sat at the library.

“I haven’t told you yet? It was the Head Boy, well technically it was Alice actually, she told me that the head boy couldn’t find me so he asked her to tell me. My schedule changed that time” he muttered as he chewed a pumpkin pasty. Your eyebrows shot up and just shrugged. You owe Alice an acid pop at Hogsmeade.

“She was the one who told me about your situation. She must have known about the dark mark but never told us. She wanted to help you, but in the shadows.” Remus admitted as you talked to him about Alice’s death. He was shocked, the whole society members actually. They are now taking care of his subjects that were lurking around.

“Hello ladies!” George and Fred suddenly appeared, both of them wrapped their arms around each of your shoulders. “Fred. I prefer women, thank you” Phoebe removed Fred’s arm and even tried to dust it off, “Rude” Fred squinted his eyes at her while she just smirked and flipped her hair.

“Where’s your husband and brother?” George asked and also placed flowers at the ground. Now there were a lot of flowers for Alice. “You’re liking that aren’t you?” you talked to the headstone, you were all just silent. Even the loud twins fell in silence, they liked Alice, not romantically, they admired her, how she was unique, always had a voice, and how she stood up for herself.

“I love it doll” you heard a whisper as the breeze came by, you knew it was her, it had always been her. She was still there, watching.

“Oh Alice” Phoebe started crying, the twins tried to offer her a hug but she went to you instead, you sniggered as you saw their offended face.

They all felt her.

“Hey!” two voices called all of your attention and there it was, Cedric your husband, and your eight year old brother. Theodore hurried to the twins that immediately picked him up, he liked them. “We bought snacks.” Cedric raised a basket and spreaded out a cloth to the grass.

“Are you crying?” Cedric inspected Phoebe who still has her nose red from crying. “Yes. What about it” she rolled her eyes and got bread from the basket while Cedric was still arranging the cloth. “I’m just asking.” Cedric chuckled and shook his head.

You observed each and one of them, they all changed, with their own careers and life, of course they will change. Cedric was now working at the ministry, he did once think about being a professional quidditch player, but he felt like a work at the ministry would be better, and he liked it. The twins and their joke shop was still going, stronger as it was before, they’ve built quite the reputation, and Phoebe, she was now a Herbologist, she always had an interest in plants.

And you, you also built your career, with your dream job.

Are you seeing this Alice? I made it. We made it.

You carefully sat at the cloth and they all asked you what you would name the child inside of you. Your eyes gleamed, you always knew that if you had a chance to name your child it would be…

“Alice”

#cedric diggory x reader #cedric diggory #cedric diggory imagines #cedric diggory smut #cedric fic #cedric diggory series #harry potter boys #hogwarts boys #weasley twins #triwizard tournament #triwizard champions #troubled #series

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mrs-cavill-wife · 3 years

Text

Forbidden Witch (2/?)

Pairing: Charles Brandon X Female Reader

Warning: Fantasy. Language. Forbidden Love. Tell me if I miss something.

Author's Note: This one is REALLY long chapter but here comes Charles Brandon, calm your tits! Hope you guys like it, if you do, please reblog it! I'm all ears to feedback and suggestions, thank you! DM or comment if you want to be on tag lists of Forbidden Witch!

Tag List: @lexyvaldez26 @thereisa8ella @natura1phenomenon @mrsavery @number1chonie @themanfromu @littlefreya @legendarywizarddetective @lovingbearherringhairdo @zealoushound @deangal-101 @everydaymultifandom @summersong69 @jgtfvhsg @tellingyouastory @sillyrabbit81 @nuggsmum @pussyverson @oh-for-fic-sake @foodieforthoughts @fanficlover91 @r-t-doll @its--fandom--darling @poledancingdinos @hlkwrites @rmtndew

Riding for a few minutes, the boy was fun, he had many stories but I was grateful when he stopped chattering. I think this adventure exhausted him.

We arrived in Aluma and it was not difficult to find the castle, in a short time, we were well in freight for the construction. Aretuza was a beautiful place, but I had never seen such a magnificent castle, it was big, people were probably lost there. I approached the entrance and came across three soldiers, who immediately aimed the spears at me.

"Stop! Who's coming over there?"

I looked at them alerting them to stay quiet and I got off the horse slowly, the little prince was already asleep and I didn't want to find him. I think almost turning into monster food was a great experience, he needed to rest.

"Tsc-tsc. I don't think that's how you supposed to treat a lady. Especially when she saved and is in charge of the safety of her future king."

One of them approached to look closely and then looked at the others.

"Go, fast! Let your majesties know, Prince Eric has been found."

One of them ran inside the door, faster than a fox and I, even with the little boy, still had to wait outside. I looked at the blondie, and he slept soundly, hugging my Atlas, as if je were the most comfortable of the mattresses. Which is probably something he must have. Based on the aesthetics of the Castle, they must have everything from the good and the best, and even more.

"Eric! My little warrior!"

A voice, clearly desperate, screamed and, faster than her guard, the queen approached. A beautiful lady, blonde, thin but with curves, a beautiful green dress with gold details that matched with her hazel eyes and, of course, a simple but remarkable crown with rubies on the top of her head.

She approached me and the little boy, affectionately touching her face and then brushing her hair with her fingers. Her features were clear, pure happiness, relief and tears that I think, have been there since the little boy ran away. Eric woke up quickly with his mother touch and smiled softly, still tired.

She grabbed the boy, without caring about his soaked clothes, giving him a giant bear hug while sobbing.

"Oh my little prince, why? You know how worried your Mom is when you run away like that."

She said now looking at him with teary red eyes. I have to admit I felt bad for her.

"I think I'll have to put soldiers in to watch you again"

Again? Yeah, he didn't lie, and by the nickname "little warrior", I think he was really a little adventurer and a big runaway kid.

"Mom, I'm sorry and I'm fine. The witch saved me. Without her, I would be monster dinner right now."

Said the little troublemaker and after the brief moment of mother and son, the queen noticed me, gave a big smile and I bowed in respect, but she soon shook her head and held my hand.

"You, my young lady, no need to bow. You saved my son, my greatest treasure, you don't know how grateful I am. What's your name?"

I didn't knew exactly what to say. I looked at Eric and he just smiled comforting me.

"Oh.. your majesty.. I'm Cassandra, Cassandra of Boudicca.. and I just.. I just did what any sensible person would do."

"One way or another, me and your majesty, the king, we are very grateful, and by the way the king would love to meet you."

Meet me? Oh Lord, I can't say no to a queen, right? She's being so sweet with me but I'm even dressed properly to meet a king?

"My queen.. I.. well.."

"No no, I'll be offended if you refuse"

I sighed and nodded. The soldiers led the way and the queen took me into the huge castle, holding my right hand and with her son by the side, but within minutes he ran into a room with large wooden doors, apparently the throne room.

I thought we would get in there but the queen is still walking and I had no choice but to follow. We arrived at a door, it was opened and it was a beautiful room, with a huge bed that would probably fit three people, a nice balcony, a dressing table, a shelf with some books. The queen took me to the room on, had a huge mirror, a beautiful bathtub, prepared with some foam and next to it, a black girl with a simple dress, braided hair and a beautiful smile.

"This is Juliette, one of my chaperones, she's a wonderful lady, she will help you bathe and get ready."

The lady Juliette bowed at me and I looked surprised at the queen.

"Your majesty, that's not necessary, I.."

She cutted me before I could say something more.

"Darling, you can call me Madeline and maybe it's not necessary but I asked my man to treat your beautiful horse and I think you need too, besides.."

She grabbed a little cloth and gently rubbed under my nose wiping it. Something a mother would do. And I saw a little of blood when she pull away the cloth. Fire spells always consume a lot of my strength, occasionally, my nose would start bleeding and on the worst situation, I would pass out.

"..You look very exhausted, please, let my lady help you.."

Alright, maybe I need it and won't hurt, right?

I nodded causing the Queen and her lady to smile widely at me.

"Huh.. At least, lady Juliette, can she let me take care of my bath? By myself, please? I don't want to be disrespectful to your kindly, but I'm not used to undressing in front of anyone."

The queen smiled softly and nodded at Juliette and soon, she were our of bathroom.

"Darlin, one question. What's your favorite color?"

"Black!?"

I answered a little confused and she left me alone in the bathroom. I undressed and went into the warm water.

I would not feel comfortable naked in someone's presence, at all, even if I were a man.. I imagine that some people think I can be experient, I admit that I have a beautiful body, at least I think that I'm beautiful, attracts many masculine looks, I have been courted but always by men who saw me with a piece of meat or out of curiosity to know what spell a witch knows how to do between four walls. Pathetic.

The truth is that I have never been with a man, I have never fallen in love. When I was younger, I used to imagine what my future husband would be like. I imagined your details, I remember everything I liked.. He would be a tall man, defined body, fair, strong, sweet, romantic, noble, fair skin, blue eyes like the sky in a spring morning, dark hair like the night, short or maybe curly, lips chubby that would always leave me wanting more, hands that when..

Oh my God, stop Cassandra, you're not a teen anymore.. and it's not going to happen.

I blew away those stupid thoughts and got up from bathtub, grabbed a towel and wrapped around my body. When i arrived on room, I meet Lady Juliette, holding a box and next to her, on the bed, a simple, but for my eyes, a really gorgeous black dress.

"Oh my God, that's..?"

Lady Juliette laughed softly and opened the box, revealing a necklace.

"The queen want you to wear this for tonight. She thought you would like the style and it's also a gift for saving her son"

I don't wanted to sounds dramatic but it's beautiful, the dress, the necklace. I grabbed the dress and ran back to bathroom to get dressed. I admired myself on the mirror for a second and quickly, Juliette was behind me, helping me with the necklace.

"By your smile, I see you approved. The queen will love to know. Your majesties await for you on the throne room, I'll lead the way."

I nodded and followed Juliette to the throne room

Charles Brandon POV

Another beautiful morning. I woke up and rubbed my eyes, yawned getting up and wearing a shirt. I went to the window, opened the curtains and let the sunlight in. Oh, fresh air. Honestly, I could not have chosen a better place to be my home, in freight to a beautiful and immense river, around the splendid nature, far from the city, that noise makes me crazy, horses running, people screaming, songs out of tune, poor people begging for help and old "relationships" knocking on my door. That's peace right here.

I looked to the side. Seeing my wife, Phoebe and my little princess, my daughter Mackenzie. Christ, she is growing up so fast, she is only six years old now but she is a very smart little girl, loves to read, write and draw. She is the most special thing in the world for me.

I remember when Phoebe told me she was pregnant, four weeks after our wedding. I have always been a man who lives in the present, the now. But at that moment, I cared about the future, about me, about being a better man, something I never was and my wife suffered a lot from it, she would pretend to don't mind sleeping all alone almost every night, pretended not see me arriving late, often drunk, lipstick and sweat on my skin. Today I don't like to talk but, loyalty was never on my list of tasks, not before Phoebe give me someone so innocent, so sweet and pure, someone who depended on me. There's a Charles Brandon before Mackenzie, and another Charles Brandon after Mackenzie, and long before that, long before I met Phoebe, I was just a farmer's son.

How do I become Duke? Well, I was always in love with horses and swords, my father died when I was little and my mother was a queen's lady. I practically lived in the castle because of my mother's work, and this work, gave me a chance to see the soldiers training, fighting, riding, I just loved it and the captain ended up realizing my admiration, despite my young age, I became a helper, simply started carrying things, gave a little help with the horses. My dedication took me far, in a short time I cleaned the armor and then I was sharpening and testing the swords and when I really became a man, after my mother died of natural causes, with the blessing of King Edward, I became knights, soldier, one of the best.

Going to war was incredible for me, it seems sick but I liked to cut off heads, tear apart, see blood and defend the kingdom that treated me like a son. King Edward had a best friend, a king from a distant continent. King Alexander. On one of his visits, there was a feast, and that's when we met. That same night, there was an ambush in the castle and unfortunately, the king in which I served since I was a child, was murdered, as well as several soldiers, I remained standing, even injured and saved King Alexander.

After all that, King Edward gave me a lot of support. He knew it was a big loss for me, I lost a lot of friends and he knew that King Alexander was almost like a father to me. He knew of my dedication and love for the royal guard, for being a soldier and he invited me to be part of his soldiers. I was reluctant but after thinking a lot, I really had nothing else, nothing to lose so, the next day, I am already on my way to Aluma, his kingdom. There I met his wife, he told me they were trying to have a baby, they hoped it was a boy, an heir, I honestly, I always thought it was bullshit but I wouldn't say that, I was treated like a son.

For a few years, I exercised my place in the royal guard, I became a captain, and of course, the title attracted several lovers. Redheads, brunettes, blondes, fair skin, black skin, a whole meal full of colors and tastes.. each dawn I got up from a different bed, and "finally", I met Phoebe, a young lady, from a noble family. At first, it was just a carnal thing but it ended up becoming a passion, and soon, we were married. Being a captain, having a wife and being a party boy. My favorite things in life, but they were colliding. Phoebe suffered from wondering if I would return alive from a battle and the other night, she slept alone while I had fun with some harlot. It got to the point where I realized that it couldn't be like that anymore, I had affection for the woman who woke up more than I want in me, so I made the decision to relinquish my post as captain of the royal guard. King Alexander tried to insist that I stay, it's true that we ended up becoming great friends but he ended up understanding my decision.

As a thank you for years of loyalty to him and his best friend, he gave me a title and his best builders would build my home, wherever I wanted. I chose, Sullfolk, a beautiful continent, full of nature. I became Charles Brandon, the Duke of Sullfolk.

"Daddy?"

I leave my daydreams of the past, hearing that sweet voice of my dear Mackenzie. I looked at the bed and saw her with a sleepy face and a smile in my direction. I walked over, sitting next to her on the bed and placing a kiss on her messy hair.

"Good morning, sunshine. how did my little princess sleep?"

"Good daddy, are we traveling today, right?"

I laughed softly nodding at her. Since King Alexander sent a letter, inviting me and my family to Aluma, my little Mackenzie is not holding on to happiness, she would ask me every night, "When are we going? It's closer daddy?".

It would be her first trip, she would know the place of my stories that she loved to hear. It would be a visit, it had been a few years since Alexandre and I had seen each other and he said he would prepare a banquet, talk about the old days, it would be fun for my family, a chance for Mackenzie to know a new place and Phoebe would review the place where he was born. In fact, we were all in stasis.

"I'll get ready and tell our servants to put our breakfast. Wake up your mother and meet me in the dining room. After we eat, we go to the road."

She smiled widely causing me the same action of affection and I left the room.

#henrycavill rp #henry cavill x female reader #charles brandon x you #charles brandon x reader #charles brandon #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill x reader

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preciouspeterbparker · 3 years

Text

the warmest bed i’ve ever known

finally got this bitch finished!

based on “tis the damn season” by taylor swift. i was also listening to the phoebe bridgers cover of “christmas song”, “last christmas” cover by pale waves (recorded @ spotify), and “home alone, too” by the staves

also this is only my 2nd time writing starker so lmk what you think plz?

happy holidays! - bloo

word count: 6.07k. this was intended to basically be a porny blurb...instead there’s so much fucking plot it’s probably overwhelming and minimal porn. i’m sorry

warnings: angst, depression & anxiety, drug use (that good kush ft some hotboxing & shotgunning), smut, character death (not tony or peter), tony’s kind of country lmao. despite all the aforementioned things, there is in fact a happy ending!

summary: peter makes the trip back home for christmas and once again finds himself caught up in deep brown eyes and a charming smile. tis the damn season.

Peter had forgotten how cold New York winters were. He’d grown used to the year-long warmth of Los Angeles. He supposed the cold was appropriate- it was as if the weather was in cahoots with the solid, frigid thing that was sitting in the pit of his stomach. The last time he’d spent Christmas in Aurora, the last time he’d seen him… Tony.

Just thinking the other man’s name made Peter flex his hands anxiously as he slid out of the driver’s seat of his black Mercedes AMG GT into the amber glow of the streetlight, gently shutting the door closed behind him, still in the overly cautious period of owning the new car. He wondered what Tony would think of it. Last time Peter had come home, he was still driving May’s old Subaru. It’d been almost 2 years to the day, now, which felt like both a century and no time at all. He wished it wasn’t so hard. He wished they hadn’t been caught in this song & dance for so long. It seemed like no matter how good Peter’s intentions, it always came down to one thing: he was so damn scared. He always ran away, no matter how badly he wanted to stay.

Scuffing a boot through the slush in the street, the brunette straightened his shoulders and made his way toward the brick building, a quick smile quirking half his mouth up as he read the neon red sign above the closed garage door. Stark’s. Memories came flooding back, the countless nights he spent cooped up in the little shop during high school, sketching elaborate ensembles and daydreaming about having his very first collection while surrounded by the smell of motor oil and the sounds of tinkering. The bell above the door jingled merrily as Peter stepped through and wiped his feet on the mat. The pleasant sound of Frank Sinatra crooning the words of “The Christmas Waltz” met his ears. Another small smile flitted over Peter’s face. That was something that tended to happen when he was around Tony.

“Just a second,” came the slightly muffled voice, a little strained. The man in question was bent over, headfirst in the engine of his old 1979 Chevy C10, the one he’d gotten senior year of highschool. The collar of a heather grey henley peeked out from under a deep red and green plaid flannel stretched over his shoulders as he leaned a little further under the hood, using a wrench to tighten what looked to be a lugnut to Peter from his spot by the door, too nervous to go further inside.

“I can wait,” Peter replied softly, trying not to stare at Tony’s jean-clad ass and anxious of the older boy man’s reaction. (It looked like Tony had done a lot of growing up over the past two years, no longer the boy he remembered. Peter supposed the same could be said about himself in a way, though he wasn’t sure if it was for better or worse.)

And apparently he was right to be cautious.

Tony promptly smacked his head on the underside of the hood as he jerked upright at the sound of Peter’s voice. “Fuck.” Moving more carefully, Tony stood upright and turned around, his dark eyes wide. “Peter,” he said, visibly and audibly surprised. To be honest, it hurt Peter a little bit, how surprised he sounded. Maybe coming here was a mistake. Did they not do this nearly every year over the past seven? Had- Oh god, had something changed? Fuck, did Tony finally get tired of- Had he found-

Peter resolutely cut that train of thought off before he could panic. “Hi, Tony.” He swallowed drily, making eye contact for a moment, before casting his eyes away only for them to make their way back to the open face in front of him. “Think you have time for a quick bite to eat?” He slipped his left hand into the pocket of the new, warm wool coat he bought expressly for this trip. “It’s almost dinner time. And I have a treat,” he intoned, tapping his right pointer and middle fingers against his lips.

Tony beamed and immediately reached for a shop rag to wipe his hands, the black grease and oil smearing on the probably-used-to-be-white-at-some-point fabric. One of those hands came up to scratch at his facial hair, a new addition that made something simmer deep in Peter’s gut. The older man's brown eyes twinkled as he paused to glance at Peter. “You had me at ‘hi, Tony.’” He then proceeded to move about the shop, swiping his phone from atop a chest of metal drawers, Sinatra’s voice coming to an abrupt stop. He pulled on his old lined jean jacket (the one Peter was constantly mending in high school; now it just had small tears in some places, and what appeared to be Tony’s d-i-y patchwork in others). The sign on the front door was flipped to ‘closed’ and Tony pulled a keyring from his belt loop, locking it and flicking off the lights. The streetlights outside the building and the colorful holiday lights strung along the edge of the roof provided just enough light for them to be able to clearly see each other, the sun having set early, around four o’clock. Peter had forgotten about that as well.

He moved to grab his car keys from a pocket but Tony spoke up, patting the dark green paint of his truck’s hood and walking over to the garage door. His hand hovered over the button that would open it. “Actually, I just finished giving Delilah a tuneup, mind if we take ‘er for a spin?”

“Sure,” Peter agreed without hesitation, still feeling relieved (and grateful) that his invitation was accepted.

Tony pushed his palm against the button and paused to do a double-take after the metal door lifted completely. His eyebrows rose at the sight of Peter’s car parked in the small lot beside the shop. “Damn, L.A.. Not worried about your fancy new car?” His tone was slightly teasing, but there was a bit of shock mixed with something else as well, and it caused Peter to go hot, feeling insecure. (What if Tony didn’t like who Peter was, now? Peter didn’t exactly like who he was now.) Tony must’ve noticed his discomfort, because he cracked a grin and bumped his shoulder against Peter’s as he made his way to the driver’s side, yanking the door open. “C’mon, Parker, ‘m just fuckin’ with you. Hop in - how’da some burgers from Delmar’s an’ a trip out to the field sound?”

***

They grabbed food from the hole-in-the-wall diner down the road (the one where sixteen year-old Peter burned the shit out of his hand on his first day and promptly quit) and once they were bundled back in the truck with their burgers, fries and one banana milkshake (“yeah, but these are your favorite,” Tony had said in response to Peter’s exclamation that it was too cold out), Tony drove them out to the field behind the old high school. He parked the car under the lamppost, leaving it running in order to keep the heat on. His thick mechanic’s fingers began to fiddle with the temperature controls. Nat King Cole was playing quietly on the radio.

Peter shifted the paper bag of food in his lap, searching for words but not knowing what to say, and plucked the joint and lighter from his coat. The paper-covered filter found its way between his lips and he inhaled softly as he lit the tip. Satisfied with the light, he french inhaled, closing his eyes for a moment. The first hit was always the best. Peter loved the way he could feel it all the way in his bones. He didn’t know how to describe it other than deep. When he opened them, he made eye contact with Tony in the dim light, and immediately cut his gaze away as he felt the heat rush to his face. He could feel when Tony looked away a moment later.

The lull continued and Peter gingerly held the joint between his fingertips as he exhaled, hand outstretched.

Worn fingers plucked it away, and Peter’s eyes were immediately drawn to the slightly chapped lips that wrapped themselves around the filter. “You stayin’ at um, at May's...old place?” Tony faltered as he inhaled, as if he wasn't sure what the most sensitive way to talk about it was.

“Yeah," Peter said softly as he looked down at his lap. Spending his first night in the house alone last night had made him feel the loneliest he'd ever been in his life, and that was saying something because he’d been feeling pretty miserable lately. Peter saw May everywhere he looked, waiting to hear her call for him to come taste some new-fangled recipe from the kitchen, or to please, for the hundredth time, rinse the dishes before he put them in the sink. He missed her more than he thought possible, her death earth-shattering after having already lost Ben when he was 17, back when this mess all started. When he left for the first time. When he started running away. “It’s- It’s weird but I’m...adjusting. It’s honestly not that different to when she was alive, though. Y’know- recently.” He cut himself off, not sure if he wanted Tony to know the full reality of his existence, now.

Because it was true. It killed Peter to admit it, but his relationship with Aunt May started going downhill around the time of Ben’s death, too. By the time she had her heart attack a little more than two years ago, he hadn’t seen her in over a year, or talked to her in nearly as long. It was the biggest regret of his life, pushing May away; the second was the way he essentially did the same thing to Tony, however drawn-out it had been.

Peter reached out for the joint and his fingers brushed against Tony’s, sending a jolt up his spine. “How,” Peter started, swallowing as he twiddled the lighter between his fingers not holding the joint. “How’ve you been, Tony?” He was scared to ask what he really wanted to know. Have you finally had enough? Did you stop waiting on me? Am I too late? To distract himself a bit, he cracked the window so he could ash the joint before taking another drag.

"Same ol’, same ol’,” came Tony’s reply, his voice weary. “I mean, you already know this, but nothin’ really changes here." The quiet way he said it was slightly self-deprecating and the younger man hated it, hated that he had something to do with it. (Peter remembered the way he spat the words at Tony in the wee hours of the morning oh so long ago. "I've gotta get out of this fucking town- I can’t stay here, Tony! You might be okay dying here, a nobody with nothing, but I'm not!")

That’s why I had to leave, he thought, chest tightening. I was trapped in this town. It was never you, Tony. You were perfect. You’re perfect.

"..Yeah," is what came out instead. Peter took another hit before he handed the joint back to Tony and began rifling through the grease-splotched bag, passing the older man his burger before unwrapping his own. He took the top bun off in order to lay down a handful of fries from the bag, smooshing the top back on afterwards. A moan left Peter’s mouth at the first bite, and he heard a chuckle bubble up from Tony’s chest. (He would never admit it, especially not to anyone back in L.A., anyone who didn’t know him before, but this was his favorite meal in the world.)

“Funny that you still do that. So, um,” Tony began again, stuffing a few fries in his mouth and chewing as he spoke out the side of his mouth. “I saw your new collection. It looked nice.” He licked a bit of salt off his thumb.

Peter’s ears burned as he swallowed his bite and raised an eyebrow at the man across from him. “You pay attention to fashion, now?” He fought off a smile at the thought of Tony delicately flipping through the pages of a high-fashion magazine.

“Not like- I’ve tried to keep up with your work,” Tony mumbled, swallowing, his own face taking on a bit of a rosy-hue. “Like to know what you're up to all the way out there.” The joint touched his lips for a few seconds before it made its way back to Peter’s fingers. “I do know how Google works.”

Peter shivered as he felt something flutter in the pit of his stomach at the salt grains that touched his tongue when he took his next pull. “Tastes like salt,” he breathed on the exhale, locking eyes with Tony through the smoke that had accumulated in the car.

Something flashed in the older man’s eyes as he stole the weed back and took a large hit, crooking his salt-sprinkled fingers to beckon Peter closer.

Peter’s own reddened eyes widened when he caught on to what Tony wanted, his heart picking up speed. They hadn’t done that in years. Still clutching his burger in his left hand, he used the right to support himself as he leaned over the console to press his mouth against Tony’s. He closed his eyes as he inhaled, fighting the urge to slip his tongue somewhere it didn’t belong. One of Tony’s hands came up to pull his head closer for a moment, his tongue having the same idea as Peter’s, causing him to whine into Tony’s mouth. His pants were getting tight as he licked right back in response, feeling a slight burn from exhaling through his nose. He missed this. Nobody kissed him like Tony did-

“Shit!” Tony pulled away sharply, and Peter’s heart stopped for a second. But when he realized what was happening, he couldn’t contain the surprised cackle that erupted as he saw the joint land in the other man’s lap. “Quit it,” was Tony’s reply, though he was grinning as he said it. He grabbed what was left of the joint off his jeans and stubbed it out the rest of the way on the dashboard. “It burned my fuckin’ finger.”

“Oh poor baby,” Peter shot back, shifting in his seat and taking another bite of his burger. He willed the slight chub to go away, but knew it was a lost cause. He pretty much signed up for it; he was always turned on when he was high around Tony (and most of the time when he was sober, too). Some kind of conditioning or something, he thought deliriously.

“Ya better hush up, Parker,” Tony snarked and dipped some fries into Peter’s banana shake. He rolled his neck a bit, reaching for his burger. “So, kid. Tell me ‘bout L.A..”

***

Peter was basking peacefully in his high, humming along to whatever was playing through the speakers. He and Tony had both finished their food, chatting about this and that, but nothing of real substance, their earlier stilted conversation far from their minds. Shooting the shit, as Tony called it, over some weed and a meal was their normal routine when they were younger, and it came as naturally as breathing. Peter had never met anyone else he could simply coexist with on this level, simply enjoying the other’s presence for what it was. I love you, he thought as he looked at Tony, who was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed and nodding his head along with the beat. I’m so in love with you and it scares the shit out of me.

The younger man’s eyes roved over Tony’s face as his mind raced. What was he doing? Would something be different this time? He wasn’t that angry seventeen year old anymore- now he was twenty-four, clinically depressed, and living someone else’s life. Would it be so bad to finally leave that all behind, to finally let himself have what he’s denied himself for so long? Didn’t he deserve to be happy, after all this pain? And even if it wasn’t in the cards for them, if Peter was destined to be alone, wouldn’t even the most miniscule amount of time with Tony be worth it?

Tony’s gravelly voice startled him back to the present. “I should probably be gettin’ you home, huh, Peter?” The bearded man opened his eyes and began sitting up, turning to look at him. The expression on his face was unreadable, and Peter didn’t know if he should agree or protest, so he merely lifted a shoulder in faux indifference, shooting Tony a half-smile.

Please, call me Pete… Just Pete, Peter begged in his head. Tony calling him by his full name made the ugly thing in his chest wriggle uncomfortably. Last time he was home, before he said those awful things, Tony hadn’t called him Peter in years. Yet another beautiful thing that he’d taken for granted and ruined for himself.

“Could also drive around for a bit if you wanted, see some lights.” Damn Tony and his ability to read Peter so well. The suggestion was soft, and he looked down as he said it, almost as if he was feeling shy.

Peter shook his head minutely and shifted a little in his seat, gently biting his lip. “I’m getting a little tired, haven’t smoked in a while,” he lied through his teeth, but the smile on his face was real this time.

Tony grinned right back at him.

(“What would we even do on a date? There’s nothing to do here, Tony,” Peter said with a laugh. “I dunno,” Tony replied, snuggling the lighter-haired teenager closer into his chest as they snuggled on the couch. “We could go look at the Christmas lights, get some hot chocolate… I could tie some mistletoe to the mirror in the truck. There’d be sum kissin’ involved….” He trailed off as Peter’s lips found his own. “Or we could do the kissin’ right here,” he murmured, sinking into the kiss.)

***

The drive back to May’s house was spent with Tony catching Peter up on everyone in town as they passed various houses. (“Remember Happy Hogan, the butcher?? Him an’ that pretty florist, Ms. Potts, got married last year. Think they’re havin’ a baby,last I heard.” “Rhodey’s mama died this spring, she got cancer, but he an’ Mr. Rhodes still live out here now that Rhodey’s moved home. Honorable discharge last fall. Done got himself a new girlfriend now too, Carol; he met ‘er in the Air Force. She’s a sweet one, I think you’d like ‘er.”)

When they pulled into the driveway, Tony cut the engine and hopped out. Peter did the same, grabbing the bag with their trash and patting his pocket, double-checking for his keys and lighter. He stepped around Tony, who had stopped at the bottom of the front steps, and walked up to the door, fumbling for a minute with his keys under the porch light to find the right one (it had robin’s egg blue polka-dots of May’s favorite nail polish). Tony’s footsteps followed him up the stairs.

Peter stuck the key in the lock and opened the door a crack before turning to face the taller man. “So.”

Tony’s eyes searched his own as they gazed at one another. “So,” he parroted back. His index finger went up to rub at his nose as he took a hard sniff in. There was a beat of silence. “Thanks for the joint, and uh, the company. It was good seein’ you,” he said at last, a hint of his signature lopsided grin curving his lips.

Peter felt the goodbye that was coming before it even left Tony’s mouth, and something in him broke. “Don’t leave me here alone.” The words came out of Peter’s mouth in a mumble, and suddenly he couldn’t make eye contact with Tony, losing focus and staring at his own feet instead. He felt the harsh burning of tears as it hit him again just how alone he was about to be when he walked inside, how alone he already was. He was always so fucking alone.

Even in L.A., so much bigger than fucking Aurora, New York, surrounded by thousands of people, Peter still felt invisible, insignificant. He had no friends. Sure, he had a publicist, and connections, and celebrity acquaintances & clientele. But without his money and his clothes, what would he have? What did he have when he was just Peter Parker, rather than Peter Benjamin, semi-famous designer? Nothing. (When he got the call about May, and he’d broken down in the bathroom during a business meeting with representatives for Tom Ford, he realized he had no one to call. No one to comfort him or tell him it would be okay. He’d sobbed into his pillow that night, screaming his throat raw with Tony’s number punched into his phone, ready to be dialed. He never called.) He had nothing and no one, and it was all his fault because he was so stupid, and maybe this is just what he deserved. If he hadn’t pushed everyone-

“Hey- Hey, Peter, no. Never,” Tony was saying gently, cautiously pulling Peter into his strong arms and out of his anxiety attack. “‘m not goin’ anywhere if y’don’t want me to, baby.” He tucked Peter’s head under his chin, a chill running down his spine due to the chilly evening air. “S’okay, everythin’s okay.”

Peter sucked in a deep breath through his mouth, trying to calm himself. His forehead dug into Tony’s shoulder painfully but it helped to ground him. The soothing sensation of Tony’s fingers tracing circles on his back helped, too. Peter’s breath was still hitching every so often, so he shut his eyes and tried to synch his breathing with Tony’s. It felt so nice to just be this close to someone- Peter couldn’t remember the last time he’d been held. Tony had probably been the last one to do it, though. (He’d had sex in L.A. of course, but it was all superficial. Nothing real. Nothing like what he had with Tony- not even close.) Shifting slightly, he buried his nose in the crook of Tony’s neck, searching unconsciously for the smell he loved so much; a mix of gasoline, teakwood, and something smoky. The scent sent a shiver down Peter’s spine, and that hot feeling simmered in his stomach again. He’d always joked that he would bottle Tony’s smell if he could. Tony would just laugh and jokingly tease Peter for always having his nose in his neck or armpit.

Now Tony just hummed lightly in response, tightening his hold for a moment before relaxing. “‘Yer’okay,” he whispered, once he could feel that Peter’s breathing had evened out for the most part.

Peter pulled back a bit and stared at a spot in the middle of Tony’s chest, thinking. He decided to go for it. Worst that could happen was Tony saying no, and leaving Peter here alone, but he knew he’d end up alone eventually. But he’d delay the inevitable as long as he could. “Kiss me, T,” he said quietly, leaning in before he could change his mind. His lips brushed Tony’s and he pulled back, trying not to go cross eyed looking into the other’s eyes. “I don’t wanna be alone anymore.”

Tony stared at him for a moment before their mouths met again, and Peter nipped gently at his lip before clumsily walking backwards through the cracked front door, pulling Tony with him with their mouths still connected. Tony’s foot kicked it closed behind them, bathing them in darkness, and he tripped a bit when Peter clutched at the lapels of his jacket a little too hard. Cursing under his breath, he leaned back against the door and tugged Peter along, using the support behind him to balance as he toed his boots off. They disconnected momentarily as the shorter man did the same, hands still gripping the denim.

Peter licked his lip as they stood in the dark entryway. Looking up at Tony, he shrugged his coat off, letting it fall to the hardwood floor beneath them. He reached out and gently pushed the denim jacket off the taller man’s shoulders too before leaning in, stopping just before their lips made contact. “Come upstairs with me,” he whispered.

Tony’s mocha eyes flitted around for a minute, searching his face for something. Peter couldn’t tell if he liked what he saw, but Tony kissed him again before taking his hand. “Your room,” he questioned, taking hold of the banister and leading Peter up the stairs.

***

“Fuck, Tony. Right there, right there, ohhhhh.” Peter was on his back with one leg thrown over Tony’s shoulder and the other bent off to the side, the ball of his foot pushing into the mattress. The mechanic’s uncut cock was stretching his lubed hole. Tony was leaning over him and one of his hands was clutching at Peter’s hip, the other at the leg up by his face. His facial hair scratched deliciously against the pale skin on the inside of Peter’s knee as he pressed a kiss there.

(Tony had kissed and licked and sucked praises into the skin of his neck, chest, stomach and thighs as he’d fingered him open at a torturously slow pace. “So good fer me, Pete. Look at you. You’re so goddamn beautiful.” Peter had whimpered and whined the whole time as he tried to fuck himself on the thick digits whose pads were caressing his prostate.)

A moan left the older man’s lips as he looked into Peter’s eyes. “You feel so good, baby. Always feel so- fuckin’- good,” he grunted, thrusting further in the tight, wet heat. “Love fuckin’ your ass.” He dug his fingers tighter into Peter’s skin, sure to leave bruises.

Gasping, Peter arched his hips up, toes curling, cock bobbing against his stomach with every thrust. He could feel Tony deep inside him, in that place that only he had ever been able to reach. Fuck, why had he ever let this go? Never letting you go again, Tony. You can’t leave me alone. I need you. I love you. He whined, baring his neck in a silent plea and bringing his leg down so that both were wrapped around the man’s thick waist. Tony reacted accordingly; his hands moved up to clutch at Peter’s near the headboard and his mouth latched onto the column of Peter’s neck, sucking. A wounded noise escaped Peter, his hole clenching, and Tony bit down harshly at the sensation. Peter keened again, going limp on the mattress as his legs fell open to the side. “Shit, Tony, god!”

Hot, wet breath tickled Peter’s neck with every ragged exhale that left Tony’s mouth, causing the smaller to whine lewdly, squirming. “Yeah? Are you- mine? Y’gon be mine- huh, Pete?” Peter heard the unspoken question, the twinge of desperation in Tony’s voice. Will you finally be mine? He sounded tired, that deep-in-your-bones type weariness, Peter noticed as he felt his own chest start to get tight. He’d really done a number on the person who deserved it the least. And for what? To come crawling back years later, expecting to be forgiven?

Yes, he thought in response to Tony’s question, hating himself for it. One of his hands tangled itself in the crown of Tony’s head, fingers pulling the strands at the root possessively as teeth sunk into his neck again. Yours. Always yours. He let out another moan, rolling his hips in an attempt to get some friction on his neglected cock that was weeping precum as Tony continued to thrust in and out of him. “Please, please- Tony, please.” If Peter had any shame left, he’d probably be blushing at how needy and wrecked he sounded. Instead it just turned him on, knowing just how gone he was for the other man.

With a grunt, Tony redistributed his weight and brought two fingers to Peter’s lips. “Open up fer a minute, baby,” he requested softly, slipping the digits inside. Peter laved them with his tongue, coating them with thick saliva and Tony groaned at the feeling, dick twitching in Peter’s ass. Once they were sufficiently wet, he pulled his fingers away, a thin string of drool stretching to connect them to Peter’s slick lips. “Fuckin’ gorgeous, Pete, Christ.” His calloused hand wrapped loosely around the hot, rosy cock between them. “Fuck my hand, baby.”

Peter complied without hesitation, rocking his hips and pressing his shaft in and out of the slick tunnel that was Tony’s hand. He cried out when Tony’s thumb caressed the underside of the head as the cock inside of him nailed directly into his prostate. The pressure had already been a lot, but the pleasure was suddenly overwhelming in a new way. He was so close and Tony hadn’t even been touching him for thirty seconds. “F-fuck, Tony, I’m gonna- Ahhhhh-”

“Yeah, cum for me, Pete,” Tony’s warm breath heaved into his ear, tongue sneaking out to lick the outer shell and dip inside briefly at the same time he tightened his grip on Peter’s sensitive member. “Fuck, cum for me, baby, cum on my- Cum on my cock- God-.”

And with a cry, Peter did just that, biting into Tony’s shoulder as the tension in his gut snapped, hole twitch relentlessly around the hard cock inside him as his own shot spurt after spurt of hot cum on his chest; some reached the hollow of his throat and his chin. “God, Tony, shit, shit, shit.”

“Yesssss, Pete, holy fuck.” Tony buried himself inside one last time, his mouth latching onto the column of Peter’s neck as he reached his orgasm, shoving himself inside as deep as possible. His dick twitched, painting Peter’s insides with his spend and making him groan.

They stayed that way for a moment before Tony pulled back to look into Peter’s eyes. “Lemme clean’ya up,” he offered gently as he carefully pulled his softening cock out of the heat of the younger man’s ass. There was a slight burbling sound, and he brushed his lips against Peter’s when he saw the embarrassment flash across his face. “Hol’ on.” Climbing out of the bed, he made his way to the bathroom that was adjoined to Peter’s room.

Peter’s heart was beating uncomfortably in his chest as he lay among the sheets, bringing his hands up to his chest to fiddle with each other anxiously. It couldn’t be over. He wasn’t ready for it to be over. He wasn’t ready to be alone again.

When Tony walked back in, he got back on the bed, gently wiping the cum off Peter’s chest with a warm rag, smirking at the full-body shivers that ran through the young man in response to the cloth being swiped lightly over his nipples. Once his chest was clean, Tony moved down to run the fabric between Peter’s ass cheeks, collecting the milky-white substance that was leaking out of the hole.

“Stay,” Peter whispered, once Tony had thrown the washcloth in the hamper and climbed back into bed at Peter’s invitation of patting the spot beside himself in bed. He wiggled so that his back was pressed up against Tony’s front. His fingers tangled themselves with those on a slightly larger hand and as he let his eyes slip shut, he felt Tony’s lips press a kiss into the sweaty curls at the back of his head.

***

When Peter woke up, it was well past noon. The bed was so warm that the heat from his and Tony’s bodies trapped up under the fluffy comforter would be sweltering if he didn’t crave it so much.

Peter swallowed drily as he looked at Tony’s face in the afternoon light, peaceful in sleep. At some point during their sleep, they had shifted to where they were facing each other. He wanted to trace his fingers along the strong facial features in front of him, but he refrained, not wanting to wake the older man. He knew he needed to talk to Tony. He knew that Tony deserved better. But maybe Peter could be selfish just this once... It was Christmas after all. Tis the damn season and all that.

Leaning forward, with a hand pressed gently against Tony’s chest, Peter pecked his lips against the sleeping man’s in a kiss. He got no response, so he did it again, adding a little more pressure. Tony began to stir; his arm wrapped lazily around Peter’s naked waist, pulling their bottom halves together.

“G’mornin’,” Tony mumbled sleepily as he blinked a few times before his gaze focused on Peter. His voice was scratchy and rough, and Peter’s hips jerked slightly in response as he whispered back his own greeting, partially because Tony had begun to get hard. The mechanic brought up a hand and took hold of Peter’s chin, pulling their mouths together as he ground their burgeoning erections together.

Peter wrapped a leg around Tony’s waist as they lay there on their sides and began to gently rock his hips. “Tony,” he mewled, eyes screwed shut. The words were bubbling up inside him, just like the arousal was blooming in his gut. One of his arms wrapped around Tony’s neck, pulling their bodies together as close as they could get.

“Yeah,” came Tony’s breathy reply. His eyes were roving over Peter’s flushed face as he undulated his own hips, thumb coming up to press against the younger’s spit-slick bottom lip. “Whadisit?”

Peter took the digit into his mouth for a moment and they made eye contact as he swirled his tongue around the tip, fellating it. He released it from his mouth with a pop, biting his own lip. “Am I too late,” he asked quietly, burying his face in the muscled chest before him, pecking tender kisses on the heated flesh. “Do you still love me?” His voice shook as he continued, breath faltering as well as the sensations built up. He squeezed his eyes shut even though Tony couldn’t see the tears building in his eyes as he chased his pleasure, preparing for the inevitable pain that was sure to follow.

“Pete.” The way Tony said his name was reverent, like he didn’t see Peter for the walking mistake that he was. He was breathing heavier now, too, with the exertion of frotting their hard cocks together. “How could I ever stop, baby?” He craned his neck in order to meet Peter’s eyes. “Was just waitin’ on ya t’come home.” He pressed their lips together as Peter’s leg tightened around his waist. “Was always just waitin’ on ya t’come home,” he repeated. A particularly hard thrust had them both groaning, clutching desperately at each other as they chased that euphoric feeling. “’Course I love you, Peter. Now cum for me.”

Peter couldn’t help but obey as a sob burst from his lips, Tony following him over the edge. “I love you,” he cried, as their bodies shook together. “I’m s-sorry Tony, I love you- Don’t go, don’t ever leave me. I won’t- I promise I won’t go again. I can’t go again, I can’t leave you again. I won’t.” Tony’s thumbs came up to wipe the tears from under his eyes, and a kiss was pressed to his temple as he felt himself be pulled into those strong arms.

“I’d never leave you, Pete.”

***

The bed was cold when Peter woke again. He lay there, watching the sunset through his bedroom window. Gentle creaks could be heard as the house groaned under pressure from the falling snow. He rolled over, grimacing at the pain in his lower half and pulling a pillow to his chest. It still smelled of teakwood, smoke, and gasoline. He smiled, burying his face further into the intoxicating scent. “I love you,” he whispered to the empty house, feeling lighter than he had in years.

(Yes, the bed was cold, now. But Tony would be back to warm it up. And he’d have burgers, fries, and a banana milkshake when he returned. Maybe even a joint. Peter was glad he didn’t have to wait long. They’d had just about enough of that over the past seven years.)

#starker #hey it might be a week later than i intended to finish but at least it's out by christmas #bloo writes bad things (tm)#enjoy!

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impala666 · 3 years

Text

The One With The Monkey Part Two: Lovers Quarrel

Joey and the reader have their first argument, sort of.

Friends rewrite (masterlist) Last Part (Part One)

“Come sit here, Marcel.” Ross said as he helped Rachel put hooks on ornaments. But as soon as Marcel got one of his little hands on Ross’s lap he just immediately jumped off and ran in the other direction toward the kitchen.

“Pheebs, I can’t believe he hasn’t kissed you yet.” Rachel mentioned after Phoebe told you guys about the multiple time the two of them had gone out, but was still waiting for David to kiss her. “I mean, God, by my sixth date with Paolo he’d already named both of my breasts.” She chuckled at the memory as she handed you the now hooked ornament so that you could hang the ornament on the tree. All of us stopped and just stared at her from the unwanted information that she let slip out.

“I agree with Rach, Pheebs. The first time Joey kissed me it was practically the morning after I moved in.” You yourself couldn’t help smile while looking back on the memory.

“It was that fast?” Chandler asked you, as he looked with astonishment on his face. He clearly was not happy at the fact that you, his sister, and his best friend had moved on to something that quickly.

“Well, yeah,” you shrugged. “I mean I know that it started fast, and we’re still kind of going fast. But what can I say, he’s the best I’ve ever had.” Chandler’s face turned even more stonish and unhappy while everyone else again stopped what they were doing to now look at you with the same upset faces that they had given Rachel. “Woah, did I just share too much?” You asked, noticing how uncomfortable they were by how this conversation was going.

“Just a smidge.” Ross shrugged sarcastically as he got up from his seat on the coffee table.

“David’s like, you know, a scientist guy. He’s very methodical.” Phoebe explained her guy the best that she could to the both of you, so that you understood what she was dealing with. Because everyone knew that both Paolo and Joey, especially, were the most sex crazy that any of you had ever met.

“I think it’s romantic.” Monica smiled over at Phoebe.

“Me too,” Phoebe gushed, taking a seat on the couch. “Did you ever see An Officer and A Gentlemen?” Phoebe asked which all of you nodded. “Well, he’s kind of like the guy I went to see that with, except he’s smarter and gentler and sweeter. I just, I just want to be with him all the time.” You smiled so much at how happy Phoebe was, it seemed that she really liked David and she really deserved that. “You know, day and night, and night and day, and special occasions.” Phoebe hinted at that she wanted to invite David to what was supposed the singles only New Years Eve party.

“Wait a minute, I see where this is going. You’re going to invite him to New Years, aren’t you? You’re going to break the pact. She’s going to break the pact!” Chandler caught on. But you thought that this New Years pact was ridiculous anyway because you and Joey were going to be there and obviously neither of you were single. But everyone seemed to be on Chandler’s side here.

“No, no, no,” she tried to reassure everyone, but she couldn’t hide it anymore. “Yeah, could I just?” Phoebe asked as she moved up to sit on her knees.

“Yeah, ‘cause I already asked Janice.” Chandler announced.

“Ha, I knew you would break.” You pointed at him, you knew it would be a matter of time until he decided to find a date.

“Come on. This was a pact. This was your pact.” Ross pointed out the obvious to Chandler.

“I snapped okay? I couldn’t handle the pressure and I snapped.” He tried to explain himself in the best way possible.

“But Janice? That was, like, the worst breakup in history.” Clearly none of you were going to let it go that Chandler, the one who made this very important pact, was in fact the one breaking it. What made it worse was that he was bringing someone that he despised.

“I’m not saying it was a good idea. I’m saying I snapped.” Which was clearly all he was going to say about it because he walked away with his hands on his hips.

“Hi, sorry I’m late.” Joey announced running into the room with the sound of bells following him. But once he took off his coat, it was like you couldn’t stop staring. He was dressed head to toe in an elf costume, he even had the curled toed shoes to match it.

“Oh, my God.” You chuckled out of your mouth as you brought your hands to cover your mouth still too surprised and shocked to look anywhere else. But you weren’t alone in the laughing at his clothes part.

“Too many jokes.” Chandler looked like he was about explode from all of the comments that were coming to him at rapid fire. He put his fingers to his temples trying to stop his head from hurting. “Must mock Joey.” After Joey gestured to his outfit waiting for everyone to make fun of him, he couldn’t help but notice the look that changed on your face.

“ Nice shoes, huh?” He was landing a helping hand to Chandler as he wiggled the elf shoes.

“Ah! You’re killing me!” Chandler ran away not being able to take it anymore.

“What?” Joey asked when all you were doing was staring at him, and his smile grew because he could easily read your face. He just wanted to hear you say it.

“I don’t know why this is working for me.” You said and clearly everyone could hear you when they groaned in disgust. “But it is.” Joey smiled walking over to you, and you flicked one of the bells that was his costume while he leaned down to give you a very heated and much needed kiss. A few clangs from the kitchen made you both look over to see Marcel messing with Monica’s kitchen tools.

“Ross, he’s playing with my spatulas again!” Monica cried. “Do you always have to bring him here?” Monica asked him as he followed his angry sister into the kitchen so that he could defend his monkey.

“Look, I didn’t want to leave him alone, all right? We had our first fight this morning.” Ross tried to explain, but the situation just sounded weird. “I think it has to do with me working late. I said some things that I didn’t mean and he threw some feces.” Ross flinched from remembering it.

“You know, if you’re working late. I can look in on him for you.” Chandler offered him the helping hand.

“Oh, that’d be great! Okay, but if you do, make sure it seems like you’re there to see him, okay? And you’re not, like, doing it as a favor to me.” Why was Ross treating this like Marcel was a small child?

“Okay, but if he asks, I’m not going to lie.” Chandler mocked.

“So am I wearing the elf tonight?” Joey whispered into your ear. You knew him, if Chandler was going to be out during the night he would use that opportunity to get you alone, not like it really ever stopped him before though.

“Oh, you are definitely wearing the elf tonight.” You bit your bottom lip, but trying to be discreet so you didn’t gross anybody out.

***********

You had decided to call off of work because you had some shopping at the mall, and if you had to be honest you wanted to see Joey in his elf costume at work. So even though you felt a little weird waiting in a line with children that were eagerly waiting to see Santa, you just wanted to surprise your boyfriend. When the moms in front of you and behind you gave you weird looks, you just felt the need to explain yourself. “I’m just visiting my boyfriend, he’s an elf here, okay? Geez,” why did people always find it necessary to poke their noses into other peoples business? Finally the people in front of you were escorted to Santa, which would make it your turn to be escorted by your happy helper. “Can I escort your child to Santa?” Joey came up and asked, but he immediately smiled when he looked up and saw it was you.

“Oof, I hope not. Otherwise that would make this visit super awkward.” You smiled at him, taking a once over of his costume again. Joey smiled at your joke before leaning forward to peck your lips to which many kids behind you “ewed” at, but you didn’t care.

“What’re you doing here? I thought you had to work?” Joey and you moved out of the way so that another of Santa’s helpers could take the kids to Santa’s lap and keep the line going.

“I did, but I decided to call off. I had some last minute Christmas shopping I had to do, I toured a school that I really liked, but it was for an esthetician program which is still cool. Plus I needed to find a new outfit for Monica and Rachel’s New Years party.

“Oh yeah? Anything I’d like? I mean I had the elf costume for you, I think it's your turn,” Joey smiled.

“Hmm, I think that’s for me to know and for you to find out.” You joked back at him. “When do you get off?”

“About five minutes, wanna wait for me and we’ll go home together?” He asked.

“Sure, I’ll get some coffee and wait in the cafeteria for you. Get back to work you little helper!” You yelled to him as you walked towards a coffee stand.

You had been sitting at a table with a paper coffee cup and getting lost in your thoughts and you couldn’t help but think about your relationship with Joey. It was great and all and you loved him a lot, but there was just something that you couldn't shake off that Chandler said to you earlier. He mentioned how fast you and Joey seemed to be taking things and you couldn’t help but notice that he was kind of right. “Y/N/N?” Joey said your name for what felt to be the tenth time. After he had gotten off of work, Joey had gone back to get his coat and stuff and when he went to find you he caught you staring off into space with your thinking face on.

“Oh, hey. Sorry,” you smiled shyly up at him. “Are you ready to go?” You were about to get up from your seat, but Joey touched your shoulder so that you’d look him in the eye. You were worrying him and he just wanted to see if you’re okay.

“Are you okay?” Joey asked as he bent down to pick up your shopping bags which you smiled at him in thanks for.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You smiled as you stood up and both of you made your way home.

********

“Okay, you aren’t okay. You were quiet the whole way home, which is not you.” Joey announced suddenly as you both walked into your apartment to see Chandler sitting on one of the bar stools, eating a box of cereal and reading the back of the box.

“I told you I was just thinking.” Was all you said.

“What’s going on here? First lovers quarrel?” Chandler smirked trying to be funny.

“Noo.” You told him with a straight face. He held his hands up in surrender clearly not believing you.

“Then tell me what’s going on.” Joey said with a little bit of frustration in his voice.

“Okay, I’m just gonna take this.” Chandler said, smiling at the both of you as he grabbed his bowl of cereal and walked quickly to the door so he could escape the weird tension that was going on between the two of you and just decided to go across the hall.

“So?” Joey asked.

“I’m just scared that we’re moving too fast.” You crossed your arms over your chest, not really being one for confrontation. “Do you think we’re moving too fast?”

“What makes you ask that?” Joey looked confused as well as scared that you were going to break up with him.

“Don’t worry I’m not breaking up with you, you can’t get rid of me that easy.” You smirked when he let out a sigh of relief. “It’s just that when Chandler found out about our first kiss, he seemed weirded out at how fast it started.”

“So you're worried about what he said?” Joey pointed his thumb in the direction your brother went.

“No, I just mean that I was fine with how fast we went because I love you and I wanted it too. But then I thought about it and we started dating literally the next day after moving here and moving in with you guys, and then I sleep in your room pretty much all the time now.”

“Why are you freaking out? You wanted to not sleep on the couch.” Joey pointed out, making it harder to get your point across.

“It’s just we’ve only been on a couple dates and it’s like we already live together. That’s not, like weird or freaky to you?” You looked up at him with scared puppy dog eyes, and Joey couldn’t help but smile a little when he realized what was going on. “What?” You asked when he smiled and just wrapped his arms around you and brought you into his chest for a bear hug.

“You two are so related. Who knew that these kinds of issues was a family thing.” He chuckled even harder when you looked up at him in the hug with a glare on your face. “I get that it’s a little fast, but yeah we do live together because you're living with your brother and we happened to start this whole thing and you just moved to the city a few months ago. So we’ll go a little slower, as slow as you need. I’ll even let you sleep on the couch.” He wrapped his arms tighter around you and kissed your temple. “But I swear, it’s all gonna be fine.”

“I love you,” you voiced while you were muffled by his shirt.

“I love you, too.” Joey smiled warmly as he just rubbed your back.

#friends #friends rewrite #Joey Tribbiani #joey tribbiani x reader #bing!reader #sister!bing #monica geller #rachel green #phoebe buffay #chandler bing #ross geller

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monkberries · 2 years

Note

If your mind, body, and soul can handle it (I am being serious, that podcast can be a lot) can you elaborate on the a*** pod episode?

i need to take notes on it to organize my thoughts into something more cohesive, but so far a few things that have bothered me:

the chat they have at the beginning where they seem to put things that happened during the breakup into a political idiom; i.e., they say that sometimes it's not worth looking at both sides of an argument because one side of the argument is not rational. unclear how this has anything to do with get back, since they didn't break up in january.

one of them (i think phebe) says that she thinks it was actually courageous (!) of paul to bring up hey jude during the argument, because they needed to be able to talk about their problems and figure out what the issue was.... except that's quite clearly (to me) not what he was doing, he was using it as an example to say that he was right.

they talk an awful lot more about john and paul than i thought they would in an episode about george and paul lol

they try to dispute that paul was ever critical of george's playing; when the norman smith quote is brought up, phoebe dismisses it out of hand. it takes one of them reading the full quote to her before she's begrudgingly like, yeah, that doesn't sound very nice. there's more to this part of the discussion but i'm forgetting it atm. interestingly, they don't mention or try to dig into the quote from george that paul ruined him as a guitarist (i don't think i'd want them to anyway), nor do they seem to remember that ringo left the group because paul kept criticizing his playing.

just an overall general feeling of them doing elaborate backbends to interpret things in a way where paul didn't actually do anything wrong or hurtful. which of course is not surprising, they're paul fans, it's natural. i wish they'd actually tried to understand things from george's perspective, though. i thought that's what this episode would be, an examination of both perspectives, but it wasn't. disappointing.

#with the caveat that i still have 35 minutes to go in the episode and everything is paraphrased and also i am extremely tired and havent #spoken to another human irl for going on three days #but yeah these are my impressions #anonymous #podcast blues #don't reblog etc

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izzielizzie · 3 years

Text

Now I’ve Seen You I’ve Seen It All Chapter One

okay so this ask inspired me so am i writing a ten chapter nateywn parent trap au? yes. Is the first chapter under the cut? also yes

“Okay honey,” Bronwyn Rojas says as she puts her hands on her daughter Ellen’s shoulders. “You’ve got everything you need right?”

Ellen nods.

“Toothbrush?”

Ellen nods again.

“All your clothes? Shampoo? Hair brush? Retainers?”

Ellen nods again, four times, and wiggles a little in her mother’s grip. Twelve year old Ellen Rojas has never spent more than a week out of her mother’s sights, and this two month camp is testing both of them.

Bronwyn looks like she’s about to cry. “Are you sure you don’t want me to look over your things one more time?”

Ellen sighs and considers the best way to tell her mother it is time for her to leave. Thankfully she doesn’t have to. A slender woman with dark hair and expressive amber eyes practically materializes in front of Ellen and Bronwyn. Maeve Santos.

Maeve, with her messy bun, face full of freckles, tattered Hodges Camp t-shirt, and denim shorts, looks absolutely nothing like her older sister Bronwyn. Until further examination. They carry themselves the same way, like they belong anywhere they happen to be, and their smiles are the same. It’s hard to tell since Bronwyn’s face is all lines and hardness, and Maeve’s is soft and open. But the smiles, well, they’re identical.

“Hey Bron,” Maeve says. She pulls her sister into a hug, taking care not to wrinkle Bronwyn’s suit. Bronwyn pats her sister’s back, her way of saying “okay enough hugging”. Maeve pulls away with a grin, and swings Ellen up into her arms. Maeve - and her husband Luis - don’t have any kids, so all their attention is directed to Ellen and their nephews on Luis’s side. But mostly Ellen. Ellen hugs her back with all her might.

“Hi Aunt Maeve,” Ellen says.

“Hey Ellen, ready for some fun!”

Ellen giggles and looks around the camp over her aunt’s shoulder. It’s a large camp, with seven cabins for campers: three for girls on one side of the path and three for boys on the other. The seventh can be seen peeking over the trees where the forest meets the large lake (Lake Hodges, where Aunt Maeve got the name for the camp). There’s a large center cabin, fittingly named the Big Cabin meals are served, the counselors congregate during off times, and one room is used as a games room, where Ellen knows air hockey tables and pool tables and foosball tables have been set up. Farther along the path is the arts and crafts cabin, then the nurse’s cabin. The grand finale before the dock and boat house is a large amphitheatre, where plays and concerts are held.

Ellen’s never really seen the camp, not really, but she’s heard enough about it from her Aunt Maeve - the founder/head - to feel as if she’s greeting an old friend, the musky smells and bird chirps as familiar to Ellen as the brick buildings and sound of honking cars in New Haven is.

“More than ready,” Ellen assures her aunt. Maeve grins at her.

“That’s my girl - whoa be careful!”

The last warning isn’t for Ellen, but for the person who swings Ellen high up into the air out of her aunt’s arms. She doesn’t even have to look to know it’s Uncle Luis. Ellen turns the moment she’s on solid ground to give her uncle a hug. Bronwyn often compares Luis to a puppy: energetic, over joyous, and incredibly good at snuggling. She’s not wrong.

“Hey Bronwyn,” Luis says, hugging his sister in law. He doesn’t mind her suit. Bronwyn hugs him back for a moment before readjusting her jacket and looking around helplessly.

“Are we sure this is a good idea? Maybe Ellen’s too young.”

“Mom, you said I could come when I turned twelve,” Ellen protests, trying very hard not to stomp her foot. It wouldn’t be proving her point.

“I know but-” Bronwyn waves her arms around.

“We’re here, don't forget,” Maeve says.

“No offence Maeve but you left Ellen in a parking lot.”

Maeve’s smile becomes a little strained. “That was ten years ago.”

“Still!”

Maeve sighs. “Cooper and Kris are here. Who’s more responsible than Cooper and Kris?”

This seems to calm Ellen’s mom. “Okay, okay, you’re right. That’s true. Alright then, Ellen darling, I think it’s time for me to go.”

If Maeve is hurt that Bronwyn trusts Cooper and Kris Becker-Clay more than her own sister, she doesn’t show it. She looks over Bronwyn’s shoulder as if looking for something. “Okay Bron you’ve got a plane to catch right?”

“Right, right okay.” Bronwyn reaches forward and pulls Ellen out of Luis’s arms, squeezing her tight. “Be good okay, sweetheart?”

“Okay. I will.” Ellen hugs her mother back until Maeve gently disentangles them. With a last kiss on Maeve’s cheek and on Ellen’s forehead, Bronwyn heads back over to her car, pulling away with a wave for the family she knows is watching.

“Well Ellen darling, excited for camp?” Maeve asks as she takes Ellen’s hand, picking up her oversized duffle with the other hand, which she expertly tosses to her husband. He catches it. Ellen loves watching her aunt and uncle work together, since it’s always been her and her mother. Ellen’s never seen two adults who just fit.

The trio don’t get far before a motorcycle comes roaring up the drive. They all turn to see what’s happening as a girl expertly jumps off the back of the motorcycle. She’s wearing white shorts and a black leather motorcycle jacket that matches the jacket of the man on the motorcycle. The girl pulls off her helmet to reveal long black hair.

Maeve grins. “You two stay here, I’ll be right back.” Maeve scurries away to the biker before Luis and Ellen can follow.

“What’s happening Uncle Luis?” Ellen asks, sliding her hand into her uncle’s hand.

“No clue kiddo,” Luis answers, but based on the look on his face, he does indeed know.

They watch as Maeve talks to the man on the motorcycle. Ellen’s too far away to see who he is, and before she can get a closer look he’s waving at the girl and backing down the path to the main road. Maeve and the girl are standing together. They watch the motorcycle until it’s out of sight. Maeve takes the girl’s hand, and the way she’s looking at her sends a flash of white hot jealousy through Ellen. That’s the way Maeve looks at her.

Maeve smiles when they approach Luis and Ellen. “Ali, this is my husband Luis.”

“Hey Ali,” Luis says.

“And this is my niece Ellen Rojas. Ellen, this is Ali Macauley.”

What a stupid name Ellen almost says. Instead she just grunts. She’s not quite sure why, but she doesn’t like this girl in her Guinness band t-shirt and tattered shorts and red flip flops that - ugh - look a lot like Ellen’s. Ali’s glaring right back at Ellen. Clearly, she doesn’t like her either.

“Wow, you guys look nearly identical,” Luis says as he looks between his niece and the newcomer with her oversized backpack.

“No we don’t,” Ali says dryly.

“Oh I agree,” Ellen says. “I would never wear a shirt advertising that tacky band.”

“Ellen,” Maeve says in her warning voice.

“At least I don’t dress like the next queen of England.”

Ellen huffs and looks down at her pressed skirt and matching jacket. Her mother picked it for her.

“Oh you wish you were the queen of En-”

“Okay how about cabin assignments!” Maeve says brightly. Ali looks up at Maeve like she’s the queen, and Ellen’s ready to sock her in the nose.

Maeve looks down at her clipboard as if she can sense Ellen’s thoughts. “You’re both in cabin one. Fun!”

“No it’s not,” Ali mumbles.

Maeve ignores her and takes her hand instead. “Okay, let’s get you to your cabin.” Maeve takes Ellen’s hand after tucking her clipboard under her arm, and kisses her husband’s cheek before setting off, chatting about the camp as she goes.

“You’ve met Luis of course, he’s a chef in New York and he’s in charge of cooking and also outdoor activities like hikes and stuff like that. And our head of arts and crafts is Addy Prentiss, she’s a teacher and she and her wife Keely live in London, where Keely is a fashion designer or something like that I never understand. Cooper Becker-Clay - you probably know him from the Padres - he’s in charge of sports. His husband Kris is our onsite medic.” Maeve pauses to push open the cabin door. “And Knox Myers does all the theatre and music stuff - he’s a Broadway director. Phoebe Myers, his wife, is our counselor. Need anything, go to her.”

Ellen knows all of this, since the people Aunt Maeve is talking about have been in Ellen’s life since she was a baby, so this is clearly for Ali. This annoys Ellen more, since she wanted to tell Aunt Maeve about the boy she thought she was in love with who turned out to not be in love with her. Aunt Maeve is the kind of aunt who understands about confusing things like the heart.

“Okay girls. Looks like you’re the first in here. Pick a bunk.”

“Top,” Ali says right as Ellen says the same thing. Both girls look at each other in surprise and scramble for the ladder.

“Whoa, whoa, girls slow down!” Maeve calls as both girls try to climb up the ladder at the same time. Ali beats Ellen, who’s slowed by the skirt. Ali’s long hair gets in her way, so Ellen uses that chance to climb up the side of the ladder like she does on the fire escape of her building. She’s nearly at the top when she feels hands clamp around her waist and pull her off.

“Aunt Maeve!” Ellen protests as she’s placed on solid ground. She watches as Maeve pulls Ali off the ladder too.

“Don’t ‘Aunt Maeve’ me. Honestly what’s gotten into you two?”

“It’s her fault,” Ali says stubbornly, pointing at Ellen.

“She’s the one who cheated!”

“How did I cheat Ellen?”

“You’re not wearing a skirt.”

Ali scoffs.

“Both of you two stop it right now. Ali, you take that bunk -”

“Hey!” Ellen protests as Ali does a little happy hop.

“And Ellen, you take the one on the other wall.”

Ellen is in shock. Aunt Maeve has never ever chosen someone over her. Not even the time her cousin Matias wanted the last ice cream at his own birthday party and Maeve talked circles around him until he was so confused he forgot about the dessert.

“Fine,” Ellen sighs as she crosses the wooden cabin to the bunk identical to the one Ali is triumphantly perched on.

“Good. Now let’s hope you two get along better in the morning.”

Unfortunately, that does not happen.

The next morning, Ellen enters the Big Cabin with Aunt Maeve and Uncle Luis’s latest foster child, named Nick. Ellen and Nick get along fabulously, something that pleases her aunt and uncle to no end. Ali stalks in after her. Ellen noticed last night that Ali prefers to be alone. She refused to join in on the game of go fish their cabin mates were playing, and she ignored all talk about the cute boys at the camp and past crushes.

“I’m telling you Nick, she’s so stuck up. Like she’s too good for us or something,” Ellen says, continuing her conversation even though Ali is right behind her.

“Maybe she’s just shy,” Nick says. Even though he has no blood relation to any of Ellen’s family members he still looks vaguely like Luis with his good looks and deep brown eyes.

Ellen scoffs. “She wasn’t shy when she stole my aunt.”

“Maeve isn’t stolen.”

“Right,” Ellen says skeptically as she hands Nick a tray. They’re entering the food line, and she graciously lets Nick before her. She ends up next to Ali, who’s glaring at Ellen. “Good morning sunshine,'' Ellen says pleasantly.

Ali glares harder as she takes a tray from the pile.

“Not a morning person huh?” Ellen asks.

“Say another word and I’ll knock your teeth out,” Ali threatens.

“Scary,” Ellen says dryly as they head down the line. She hesitates in front of the last pancake, weighing the pros and cons of grabbing it when Ali speaks up.

“Are you gonna stand there or are you gonna grab that?” She’s already reaching for the pancake in question.

“I was going to grab it,” Ellen lies, stabbing it with a fork as Ali does the same thing. They engage in a sort of food based tug-of-war. “Let go!”

“You let go!”

“I saw it first!”

“You were just mouth breathing on it!”

They both tug hard, and the pancakes crumble into two pieces. The momentum sends them flying. Ali crashes to the floor and Ellen stumbles back into Nick, who steadies her.

“What kind of loser can’t keep their balance?” Ellen asks.

“Ellen, stop,” Luis says emerging from the kitchen. He’s looking half amused and half annoyed. “Ali, you okay?”

“Fine,” Ali snaps. “But your niece is annoying.”

Luis ignores her, and Nick gently tugs Ellen away.

Ellen sulks all the way to the crafts barn, where Addy Prentiss in all her pink haired glory is perched on a table in a pair of faded denim overalls. She hops off the table when the group arrives.

“Alright guys, I thought we could start with bracelets today,” Addy says with her slight British accent, winking at Ellen, who glows. “So, find a table y’all, and let’s see what bracelets you come up with!”

Addy circles the room, and Ellen chooses a table with Cosette Myers, Nick, and - ugh - Ali. Ali pointedly ignores her, and Ellen choses to do the same, chatting with Cosette about the last musical her father Knox took her to. Ellen reaches for a bead at the same time as Ali, and their hands collide.

“Can you move?” Ali asks.

“You move!” Ellen protests.

“I just want a bead.”

“Then wait.”

“Why don’t you wait, princess?”

“Because I was first.”

Both girls glare at each other for a moment before reaching for the beads again, knocking into the container and sending the beads flying over the table and floor. Cosette and Nick jump back. Addy choses this moment to approach this table.

“Are you two kidding me?” she asks, irritated.

“It's Ellen's fault!”

“It was not Aunt Addy, it was Ali!”

Addy looks between the identical looking girls and huffs. “Pick them up.”

“What?” Ellen asks.

“El, you heard me.”

Ellen glares halfheartedly at Ali as she sinks to the floor to pick up the scattered pea sized beads.

Cosette and Nick slide to the floor to help as Ali starts on her side of the table.

“She’s a monster,” Ellen hisses. Cosette and Nick exchange glances.

Twenty minutes later, the girls find themselves near the lake, lined up next to Cooper Becker-Clay, who’s teaching the finer details of the ever important sport of wiffle ball.

“Okay guys,” he says, pulling off his baseball hat and running his hand through his sandy hair. “I need some volunteers please.” His blue eyes roves the crowd of excitable preteens and lands on Ellen and Ali, who are both glaring at each other while pretending the other person doesn’t exist.

“Ellen. Ali. What about you two?”

Ellen shrugs, and Ali scoffs. “You’re choosing the person who wears skirts?”

“But she’s… not wearing a skirt,” Cooper says, looking a little confused. It’s true, Ellen is wearing a camp shirt tucked into a pair of shorts.

“Ignore her, she’s being weird,” Ellen says, stepping forward. Ali glares. Cooper shakes his head as if straightening out his thoughts.

“Okay. Ali, take the bat and stand on the base. Just like that, yeah. And Ellen, come here. Okay guys pay attention. Ellen’s going to put her left foot forward since that’s her non-dominant side, and she’ll pull her right arm back and yeah - no Ellen wait!”

Ellen, after being raised with both Uncle Luis and Uncle Cooper, knows exactly how to aim a perfect fastball. And, being her mother’s daughter, she’s able to figure out how to compensate for the lighter ball - flicking her wrist just so - until her pitch is perfectly aimed straight for Ali’s nose. Ali, who isn’t expecting this, doesn’t swing and instead stands still as the ball comes flying towards her nose with a sickening crack.

And, being Addy’s goddaughter, Ellen knows how to act too. “Oh my gosh Ali I’m so sorry,” she cries, sounding incredibly believable as she sprints after Cooper towards Ali, who’s got her hand pressed against her nose. “Uncle Cooper, really, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to.”

Cooper looks between Ali, Ellen, and the other campers who look gleeful - they were expecting to make friendship bracelets and sing weird songs at camp, not see the greatest feud of their adolescent lives.

“It’s fine El. Take Ali to Uncle Kris okay?”

“Okay, oh my gosh I feel so bad.”

Cooper, of course, being both not an idiot and the father of triplet girls, knows Ellen isn’t sorry in the slightest, but he lets her lead Ali to Kris’s med cabin.

Once at the cabin, Ellen considers leaving Ali when Kris calls her in.

“Hey Uncle Kris,” Ellen says as Kris lifts Ali onto a bed in the cabin lined with beds. Kris raises one perfectly arched eyebrow, his green eyes roving over Ellen’s face.

“Hello Ellen. How are we today, girls?”

Kris takes one look between the girl he’s known since she was born and the identical looking girl on the bed and knows exactly what happened.

“Fine,” Ellen says.

Ali mumbles something, and Kris pulls her hand from her nose. He touches it gently.

“Well Miss Macauley, it’s not broken, just sore.” Kris looks over Ali’s face and notices a small cut, which he instantly starts cleaning.

“You know one of the wonderful things about camp is the ability to make new friends, right girls?” Kris asks, looking pointedly at Ellen.

“Yes sir,” Ellen says. Ali mumbles again.

“You know some friendships last a lifetime.”

“Yes sir.”

“It’s important to be open to new friendships too.”

“Yes sir.”

Kris laughs as he lifts Ali off the bed, her cut freshly bandaged and a wax wrapped caramel slipped into her hand. “Yes sir, yes sir. You’re not listening to a word I’m saying are you?”

“Yes sir,” Ellen repeats with a grin. Kris grins right back and hands her a caramel too.

“Okay, be good you two.”

“Yes sir!” Ali calls as she skips out of the cab. Kris shakes his head as he watches the girls go. He knows that’s not going to happen.

And it doesn’t. Their next class is theatre with Knox, where they’re putting on a production of the Wizard of Oz.

“Alright guys, I have the cast list for you.” Knox rattles off names and assignments: Cosette is the Wicked Witch of the East, and Nick is the Cowardly Lion. “Ellen Rojas and Ali Macauley, you guys are Munchkins.”

“How come I’m a Munchkin when I’m taller than Ellen?” Ali asks, her voice a little warped because of her swollen nose.

“Am not!” Ellen protests.

“Are too!”

Cosette and Nick roll their eyes at each other and Knox sighs.

“Girls, girls, you two are identical if you haven’t realized.”

Both girls stop their squabbling to stare at Knox. They look at each other, studying one another.

“No way,” Ali says.

“Agreed,” Ellen says.

“I’m way better looking than Ellen.”

“Excuse you! You look like you’re gonna sell drugs on the street in high school.”

Ali opens her mouth in shock as Knox startles and begins to reprimand Ellen. “Ellen Maeve Rojas you can not say things like tha-”

“TAKE THAT BACK!” Ali interrupts with a shout, lunging at Ellen. Ellen maintains her ground, and pushes back, aiming a punch at Ali’s already injured nose. Ali, being an inch taller in her Docs, gains the upper hand as she rolls on top of Ellen and is about to punch her nose when another person arrives in the amphitheater.

“Hey Knox I’ve got that box of props you wanted and Ali what in the world are you doing?”

Everyone turns to Maeve Santos carrying an old cardboard box under one arm. She’s in mom jeans and a Bayview High t-shirt today, a bandana covering her hair, and right now, she’s fuming.

“She called me a future drug dealer!” Ali points at Ellen. “I was defending myself!”

“She started it!” Ellen protests, pushing Ali off her and sitting up.

“No I didn’t, you started it!”

Maeve watches with pursed lips. Knox, having known Maeve for years, steps back. He knows an angry Maeve when he sees one.

“Both of you, come one, you’re moving to cabin seven.”

“Cabin seven?” Ellen repeats incredulously. “There are spiders and bugs and pests and stuff there!”

“And? You’re being a pest. Both of you. I’m disappointed in you. So you’re living together until you learn to get along.”

Her voice is calm, conversational almost, but her amber eyes are flashing dangerously. This is a Maeve you don’t cross.

Sadly, Ellen doesn’t always have common sense.

“My mom won’t like that,” she says.

“Your mother is a…” Maeve stops, taking a deep breath to compose herself, and for a moment, both Ellen and Ali are actually scared. Ellen’s heard about the Aunt Maeve of yesteryears, the one who pushed people away and lashed out when hurting or scared because she never knew how to accept love. Bronwyn says Maeve used to be different, and Ellen can see what she meant.

Ali and Ellen glance at each other, and they come to an understanding: they don’t need to talk to one another, or even acknowledge each other’s presence in Cabin Seven. But Maeve Santos should not be angered.

“We’ll get our stuff,” Ali mumbles for the both of them.

“Good,” Maeve says.

“Off to the isolation cabin?” Knox teases. Maeve turns her glare to him, and he steps back.

“Forget I said anything.”

#bronwyn rojas #nate macauley #maeve rojas #luis santos #cooper clay #kris (oou)#addy prentiss #keely (oou)#phoebe lawton #knox myers #oc kids #izzielizzie's fics

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missmaxime · 3 years

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Thoughts on the Death flashbacks: Having rewatched the episode again I really do feel like these flashbacks are a lead-in to the end of Beth and Dean’s relationship. I think it’s important to note when the three flashbacks are placed in the episode: right before and or after we focus solely on Beth, like she is reminiscing these three moments in time with him. Times she has fond memories of for good reasons, but at the same time show us the cracks in their relationship that we still see now. What are these pivotal moments? - Beth meets Dean for the first time - Dean asks Beth to prom - Dean meets Beth in the hospital on Prom Night #1 Lead-in to this flashback is the moment just seconds before Beth meets Dean while he’s in jail. Everything between them is at an absolute low, there’s even physically a wall between them. I’m not surprised they counter their burned out relationship by the exact moment it once ignited. Beth tries to remind herself in this episode about the good moments, but I think it’s also very telling those are moment from the first months of when they met – and not, say, when they got their first apartment, or had their first baby, or got married. In the flashback Dean strikes up conversation with Beth while his buddies start a food fight at the diner (Dairy Queen) she works at – perhaps even with an ulterior motive of distracting her while they wreak havoc. He does so by asking for a refill for something ridiculous, because if you’re not Ikea who gives refills for ice cream? But he’s got her attention. And if that attention was genuinely geared towards wooing her he could even have gone the corny way of complimenting her eyes, or her bright smile – but he chooses to focus on the fact that she’s a cheerleader.

This gets interrupted by his friends getting into the food fight, and Beth calls out for him to say something to his friends. In answer he joins into the fight and runs off with said friends, leaving Beth to clean the mess. A little later he returns (and with this, he also doesn’t lose face with his friends) to charm her with an apology and helping her out to clean the mess him and his friends made. Which, as we know, has been a recurring theme between them way into the future. (Not to fangirl out to much about this, but I’m living for the fact that Dean calls her Elizabeth at first, but when she correct him to Beth he goes with that. While Rio called her Elizabeth from the start, and she never corrected him on that.) It’s not hard to see why Beth falls for Dean here, even if we can see the patterns because we know the Beth and Dean from decades later. He’s handsome, witty, popular, the quarterback – and he’s interested in her. Sees her. While he’s the one who made the mess, he cleans it up, telling her that ‘he’s got it’. Something he can do now with spilled food, but we know he can’t when messes become grown-up messes. After the flashback we’re back in the jail, looking at Beth’s reflection in the glass as she stares at herself before Dean takes place in front of her. He’s understandably hurt and upset her actions got him there (and even more because she admits Rio was a part of the scheme all along). Even her voicing a desperate ‘I love you’ doesn’t make him stay, he’s done with her. She says she’ll ‘Fix it’ like Dean promised her in the flashback, but he’s not having it. In the final shot we zoom out, framing Beth with darkness – counter to the flashback where we zoom in on her smiling face. #2 Leading up to the second flashback Phoebe questions Dean, and tries to bribe him with some packs of ramen to tempt him into selling out Beth. She talks about the cheerleader she used to be friends with in high school, and how she got tossed aside when the girl didn’t have any use for her anymore when her Fake ID got taken away. Phoebe talks about how the girl is like Beth, using people and tossing them aside when they’re tired of them – Dean knows very well that’s not Beth at all, not in the context of him at least. In the flashback Dean comes to Beth’s house, where we learn he’s been leaving her a lot of messages. This is 1991 so we’re on analog phone time, not giving Beth an opportunity to see some caller ID, so if she doesn’t want to talk to Dean I don’t feel like it’s weird that Annie answered the phone to hear who’s calling. Annie’s obviously not a fan of him, but we don’t know whether that is because they’ve had some sort of fight or whether she doesn’t like the idea of Beth having a boyfriend altogether. I think this flashback really shows how both Dean and Beth are people who are very image-focused people, albeit for different reasons. Dean arrives in a flashy red sportscar to enhance his popular quarterback persona, Beth chooses to have the conversation outside to shield the outside world from the dire situation on the inside. Again Dean focuses on how Beth is not there for him. He called her five times, but doesn’t ask if she has something going on, or if she’s studying hard for a test, or if any of her friends are in trouble. He states that ‘she hasn’t been to any of the games’ – HIS games, not even shifting it to ‘I didn’t see you with your squad’. It’s all about him. His ‘I thought we were cool?’ entices her to come up with an excuse, doubling down with a ‘I don’t want to be a dick’, even if he clearly already is. Annie steps out of the house, visibly sporting yet another injury (she had her arm in a cast in the 2x08 flashback) and asks Beth about their mom’s meds. Two things Dean could just ask about, even if it’s just a flippant ‘oh, is your mom sick?’ or ‘did that monster hurt herself?’ because both could be explanations on why Beth hasn’t called him back. Yet he ignores all this and goes back to making her feel bad by putting the blame on him, casually working in the ‘oh I was going to ask you to prom?’ in a way like don’t bother if you’re not interested. It’s so unromantic the way he drops this, yet Beth latches on immediately because it’s a chance to do some normal teen stuff for a change and who can blame her if her days are spend taking care of her mom, raising her sister, going to school in the day and working a job in the evening. It’s a tactic Dean keeps using on her as an adult. Scene that comes to mind is that Dean already packed his bag, admits that he cheated on Beth with Gayle, and she’s like - fine, maybe don’t leave. Back in the jail Beth waits for him, but Dean has left a clear message that he doesn’t want to see her. #3 First we watch the girls wait for Eric to get arrested, but we all know how disastrous that ends. Her plan to frame Dean’s friend for her wrongdoings falls through, she failed him. Which piles onto the guilt that Dean’s in jail in the first place. It’s then she searches her brain for a moment when he was there for her, when she truly started feeling that he was going to be her rock. Beth’s waiting in the hospital, she’s not panicked or worried, rather annoyed and tired like this is yet the millionth time she’s here because her mother needed her stomach pumped. We still don’t know for sure what’s going on with the mom, but from 2x08 we know she spends lots of time laying in bed and needs meds, the stomach pumping indicates overuse of a drug (most common alcohol) – I’m leaning to depression combined with substance abuse – but we don’t know for sure. We also learn that the dad is not in the picture, or no one to rely on in the very least. It’s just Beth and Annie. Dean bribed Annie to tell him where Beth is – it’s prom night and he came to pick her up to go to the dance. Now there’s more than one way to read this scene. The first way is that Dean is genuinely concerned about this whole ordeal and he wants to be there for Beth, which is definitely the way young Beth must read into this. Another part of me thinks there’s some self-interest from Dean mixed in as well. If he didn’t go to Beth, he’d go to the prom, dateless – embarrassing for our quarterback star. But helping out your girlfriend with her sick mom is a great excuse to avoid that situation. We know how upset Dean got about being wifeless at the Spa Competition, Beth’s an asset to his image, her not being there breaks his image down. And I’m not saying he’s not interested in her, but from all the conversations we’ve seen them have in the flashbacks none of it really revolves around how Beth is doing. From the start their relationship has been around transactions. Image, deeds, quid pro quo. Even if you can read the ‘do you want anything from the vending machine?’ and the ‘your sister took all my money’ as something fun, it’s yet another reminder that he paid for her time. That she owes him, even if she really appreciates him being there for her. Back to Beth in the car with Eric and the girls, where our girl looks more than unhappy. Like Dean paid Annie to see her, she’s paying Eric to see Dean. Granted the stakes are immensely higher, but the juvenile situation carries on into the presence. While Eric comes up with even more terrible plans Beth’s getting increasingly emotional – which still could be interpreted many ways but I think she realizes that the normal from back then, the happiness Dean provided to her, it’s never coming back – plans executed correctly or not. Dean might still be that guy, but she’s not that girl anymore. Eric talks about how he’s invisible, and how that changed when Dean became his colleague. How beforehand no one saw him as him, but Dean made him feel like he was part of the work crew, called him by his name – it made him feel seen, made him feel like a real person. And that’s of course exactly what young Beth was feeling – she didn’t feel like a real person because no one saw her as Beth the teenage girl. She’s a caretaker for her mom, a mother figure to Annie – a cheerleader to Dean. But in the memory she can recognize that he made her feel like a real person. Eric proposes that ‘They don’t make ‘em like Dean Boland anymore’. And they don’t for him. But Beth also knows that the feeling wears off, that at some point Dean Boland won’t like you anymore when you don’t play the part he signed on for. Eric’s giving up everything to be a loyal friend, like Beth has for over two decades to be his loyal wife. And while she’s technically still his wife, she’s not loyal like she used to be – not financially, physically or emotionally. She doesn’t need Dean anymore to make her feel like a real person. She’s her own real person. --- Beth comes home to Fitzpatrick lounging in her kitchen like he belongs there, helping himself to a cup of tea. Our girl is already on edge what with the father of her kids possibly spending years behind bars, her plans miserably failing, and now this douche want even more of her time. She’s done playing a part to get what she needs, so she goes right to the point. Fitz touches on that she wants more out of her life, which is true. Unfortunately for him Beth has come to the point that no man – not like Dean did in the flashbacks – will do that for her anymore. She’s the one steering the ship, not some guy anymore. But while all these flashbacks Beth is experiencing might put some things in a different light to her, it doesn’t scrub away what Dean made her feel. Because he is the father of her kids, they are what will forever link them together, the connection they both care about deeply regardless of whatever troubled feelings they have towards each other. She might not be a true wife to him anymore, but they are parents to the same children. Her dad wasn’t there for her, but there’s no reason why Dean can’t be there for his kids. ---- So all in all I actually really liked seeing the flashbacks, especially because we experience them through Beth, and how they parallel with the now. In the final scene we see Phoebe looking at the perfect Boland family picture, the perfect image that they both crafted together. But hidden on the backside are the lies and the deceit, yet also Beth telling Dean how to take care of said family. Because she knows she can’t trust him to take care of it, unlike when they were teens and when she’d like to believe he could. Their real personas are on the table, and they don’t like each other anymore, can’t trust each other anymore. To me the final scenes read like the only thing they can still be: parents. I have no doubt they both love their kids, and those four humans will always bind them together, regardless of their relationship status. Beth is giving Dean the only genuine thing she can: her trust as a mutual parent, and the opportunity to enjoy the love of their kids. But it’s laced with melancholy, this is what’s left in the ruins, these four good things. Everything else is gone, and I think they both realize this.

#gg spoilers #4x03 #nbc good girls #meta #analysis #am i avoiding work #maybe?#beth x dean #also please end this torture #they both deserve better #or different in the very least #the fire has burned out

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