#I really loved her braid in the last episode! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bywons · 25 days

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𖧷 HEARTSHAKER — LHS

⌕ lee heeseung doesn't know what he wants from his rival, better marks or a kiss

pairing. student!lee heeseung x student!fem! reader wc. 1.4k tw/cw. jealousy, kissing genre. academic rivals to lovers, fluff, highschool au sru's note. requested for my nini love ♡ shitty title ik but i hope ya'll like cuz i dont T0T ( CATALOGUE?! )

¤ feedbacks and reblogs are always appreciated! PLS REBLOG ♡

96 out of 100.

thanks to the almighty above that lee heeseung is tired, the basketball jersey stuck to his back, sweat covering his face and colouring the red fabric darker as he pants for his breath, or else the test paper in his hands would have been crumpled and ripped to shreds.

not because of his number obviously.

“99, i knew i rocked this paper!”, a dulcet, familiar voice floats up to heeseung's ear from behind him, followed by a mean eye roll from him and his stance still. heeseung doesn't bother to turn around, not when he recognizes the infuriating feminine voice and already visualises the usual dark brown braids hanging by the either sides of her face, school tie too tight and almost reaching the last button of the shirt.

“why the long face?”, jake's interruption breaks heeseung out of his trance, as he takes the much unwanted seat beside him, “96 not enough for ‘ya?”

“oh shut up”, heeseung returns jake’s scoff slamming down his physics answer sheet against the wooden table. both heeseung and jake know it's not enough, whether it's a 96 or a 99 ’cause,

“it's never enough unless i cross y/n’s marks”, heeseung sighs, the answer sheet dampening under the pressure of his sweaty hands, as his forehead became the victim of the other.

everyone in the class is aware of the cutthroat competition and abhorrence between the two brunettes, already expecting the usual bickering episode between the two whenever it was time for exam results, and even if by chance someone got the same results as any one of them, they'd do their best and not bother the two.

but today is different, today heeseung doesn't find his usual energy to bicker with the braided girl sitting at the back of the class, not when she managed to beat him thrice in a row at his own game!

“last time it was a marks’ difference and now three? how is this even possible?”, heeseung groans while flipping the sheets over and over as if something magical would happen and increase his numbers.

“i heard park sunghoon's been studying chemistry with her,” jake sighs, pushing his fingers through his dark hair as he turns his head to the side, but his eyes steal a glance at heeseung, and he smirks, “‘ya know, the chemistry toppe—”

“yeah yeah i got you jake, i know who he is”, heeseung presses the bridge of his nose a bit too hard, the familiar face of the boy floating up to his vision, though he can't remember where his loved moles are on him. oh how all the girls are head over heels for park sunghoon.

is y/n one of them too? he could swear they're hanging out too much.

stupid thought, stupid stupid thought. heeseung winces at his sudden curiosity, why is giving this matter so much thought? he doesn't like y/n anyway, he doesn't like her bickering, he doesn't like her annoying attitude, he doesn't like her hair, he doesn't like her scent and he definitely doesn't like her smile. so lee heeseung shouldn't really get his head messed up in this.

the school bell rings, bringing out new tedious groans and sighs from the students as they dawdle to their next classes.

“i think she's coming here—”

“don't you have a physics class to be at, jake?”

“yeah yeah shoo me away all you want to”, jake scoffs, a smirk playing at his lips when he slings a bag on his shoulder before leaving the class, “bet you can't shoo away her.”

and before heeseung even knew it the class was empty, except him and as empty, dispersed out in the crowded hallways to their next classes. that is unless the previous dulcet but annoying voice came closer to heeseung.

“heeseung!”, you chirp, approaching him from behind, “how was your paper?”

“ugh what do you—”, heeseung's anger dies down when he turns around to face you, your hair's not done into braids today, instead it's let open with your tie loose this time, a few drops of sweat sticking to your forehead, dance practice maybe? “—w-want?”

“your marks of course,” you giggle at his stutter, taking a seat beside him, “wanna make sure if i beat you or nah.”

“yeah you did, but not on your own huh?”, heeseung scoffs, looking down at you. he realises his heart skips a beat when you tilt your head to the side, holding eye contact.

not good.

“huh? what do you mean heeseung?”, you pout, acting ever so confused by his accusation, “not on my own?”

“oh come on, the whole class knows it now”, heeseung rolls his eyes, “park sunghoon, rings any bell?”

“oh hoon?”, you grin, covering your mouth and suppressing a small giggle, “he did help me a lot with chemistry, he's so sweet!”

heeseung doesn't realise his face is getting hotter and redder by the minute, both by your presence and the pronunciation of somebody else's name. he has a nickname already? hoon? no way, you have only ever interacted with him, whether it was bickering or asking for notes or silently sitting beside each other. so how did this other guy pop up?

“hoon,” heeseung mumbles his nickname, his eyes searching for something in yours and he doesn't even notice he's sounding jealous, “how are you guys so close already…”

“well he's been tutoring me chemistry for a month now—”

“a month?!”, heeseung's brows lift up and his jaw hangs open.

heeseung doesn't know if he likes your new look, the way the curls of your hair rests on your shoulders, the way your tie is loose from your neck and the way your head tilts to look at his, heeseung's heart skips a beat and it knows something is wrong.

“why? is something—” your lips fall apart, a soft blush takes place on your cheeks and you giggle again, in a teasing tone you nudge heeseung's arm, “aww are you jealous?”

“what? don't be ridiculous now.”

“heeseung is jealous, you are jealous, you are jealous j-e-a-l-o-u-s”, you continue this song, nudging heeseung and teasing him more and more, causing his cheeks to heat up, eyes turning back to the open window and then back to yours.

“shut up y/n, you're not funny”, he scowls, the soft breeze enters the empty classrooms and hits the both of you like a refreshing wave.

and in that moment, through your teasing manner, the empty classroom, the echoes of your laughter and the soft breeze caressing your hair, your long dark hair that matched his and the way his heart skipped a beat, the way his heart always skipped a beat while you were around, he realises it's something good.

“if you shut up now i swear y/n”, heeseung tried and kept his best ‘angry at you’ acting.

“oh really? then why don't you make me?”, a soft chuckle leaves your lips and you squint your eyes.

it happens all so fast, heeseungs soft lips on yours, falling right into place. it tickles you a bit like feathers and pulls you in, until you realise that's his hand snaking around your waist. the kiss was delicate, caring and brought so much warmth from a person you only argued with.

you gasp for air, first one to pull back.

you meet his eyes, scurrying through yours and cheeks all red, probably embarrassed of what he did. the kiss quickly coloured your cheeks, a shy smile playing around your lips and a small glint in your eyes.

“i-i don't know what i did—”

“its okay heeseung”, you shush a nervous heeseung, the proximity increasing the pace of your hearts, “do you like me?”

“i love you”, heeseung answers almost instantly, “i love everything about you.”

“me too”, heeseung is the most relieved as he hears this, that hoon guy got nothing on him now. he's the winner.

“so, are we gonna date then?”, he chuckles.

you nod, “let's surprise the class together!”

lee heeseung doesn't know what he wanted when he got his answer sheets. better marks than y/n, a bickering episode with her, or maybe her to fall in love with her? he doesn't know.

a smirk falls upon his lips and he pulls you closer by your waist. he looked ever so magical and beautiful up close, that you wish the bickering had died down earlier.

“whatever you say, pretty girl”, he leans in for a second kiss, indulging himself more into you, he swears his heart will beat out of the chest as soon as his free hand makes contact with your dark strands of hair.

outside the class stands a grinning jake with a bored sunghoon, and a quite high five is shared between the two, carefully peeking inside.

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lecsainz · 3 months

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OMGGGG!!!! 🩷🩵 Love your work! Can you do a Percy X (halfblood of your choice) reader and maybe affection headcannons? Like how he stares at you 24/7 and maybe him falling asleep on our shoulder and all that!!!!

BEAUTIFUL GIRL

parings: percy jackson x fem!reader

an: two weeks without a new episode, I can't take it anymore 😭😭😭

summary: the one where you and percy met at yancy academy, and what your relationship would be like.

( my last work for riodanverse || go to my main masterlist )

You met Percy at Yancy Academy, and well, you quickly became friends – best friends, to be precise, since your room was conveniently next to his.

When Grover arrived at the school, he became more than worried about finding two demigod kids together.

As you excelled in your studies – you LOVED studying – you decided to help Percy out. However, Percy always seemed too distracted, often catching him staring at you.

Percy looks at the notebook where you were scribbling math problems and realizes he hasn't paid attention to anything you were explaining for the past twenty minutes.

"So, um, how do you solve this math problem again?" He asks.

You point the pen at him with a stern expression. "Percy, we've been through this like ten times!"

Percy gazes at you with a mischievous smile on his lips because, by the gods, he finds you incredibly beautiful with the braid you decided to wear today.

"Sorry, got distracted. You look really nice today." Percy says, shrugging.

"Focus, Percy! We need to get through this." You roll your eyes, but your cheeks are flushed, and Percy still finds it adorable.

You throw the pen cap at Percy, lightly hitting him on the head when you realize he wasn't paying attention again.

"Ow! What was that for?" He puts his hand where the cap hit him and pretends to be in pain.

"For not paying attention! Now, let's get back to work." You stick out your tongue.

Laughing, Percy tries to throw the pen cap back at you, but you quickly dodge, and poor Grover ends up being the target.

You two became an inseparable duo, like shadows to each other, and constantly causing Grover massive headaches.

Percy would talk about you to his mom.

Percy hesitated for a moment before dialing the number. As his mother picked up on the other end, he launched into a torrent of words about you.

"Hey, Mom, you won't believe what happened today. So, there's this new girl, Y/N, and she's amazing. Seriously, she's the smartest person I know, and she's always helping me out with my studies. And she's got this incredible sense of humor. We're like a team, Mom, inseparable. I don't know how I'd get through the day without her."

Sally listened with a gentle smile on her face, recognizing the familiar signs of her son being captivated. She knew Percy well enough to notice the subtle shifts in his tone and enthusiasm.

"Percy, it sounds like you really enjoy spending time with this Y/N," Sally said, her voice warm and knowing.

"Yeah, Mom, it's like... I don't know. She's just different, you know? Everything feels better when she's around. I can't explain it."

Sally chuckled softly, recognizing the telltale signs of young love. "Percy, sweetheart, sounds like you might be developing feelings for this girl."

Percy stammered for a moment, realizing that his mother had caught on. "I, uh, Mom, we're just friends. Really good friends."

Sally's laughter echoed through the phone. "Alright, Percy. But remember, love has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.”

When you first heard about blue food, you didn't believe Percy's words, leading to a heated argument. It all ended when Percy pulled out a pack of blue cookies from his backpack. To your surprise, they turned out to be the best cookies you'd ever tasted.

During one of your study sessions, Percy calling you a beautiful girl, and the nickname sticking because you blushed every time he called you that.

Percy only realized he liked you when they arrived at the camp and you wanted to help Percy defeat the Minotaur, but he wouldn't allow it because he had already lost his mother and couldn't bear to lose his girl.

He told Grover not to let you follow him and instructed him to take you safely to camp.

The air in the forest was thick with tension as Percy and you faced off against the looming figure of the Minotaur. Determination burned in your veins as you gripped your weapon tightly, ready to fight alongside Percy.

But before you could make a move, Percy's voice cut through the silence, firm and commanding. "Grover, take Y/N back to camp. Keep her safe," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Your heart sank as you realized what he was saying. "Percy, I can help. We can fight this thing together," you protested, your voice trembling with emotion.

"I need you to stay safe, Y/N," Percy said, his tone unusually severe. "Grover will take you to camp. I can't lose you."

Tears welled up in your eyes, the raw emotion of the situation hitting you like a tidal wave. "I can't just stand by and do nothing while you face that monster alone."

Percy shook his head, a mixture of frustration and fear in his gaze. "Y/N. I can't risk losing you. Not after what happened to my mom."

A heavy silence settled between you two, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Percy cupped your face gently, his eyes searching yours. "I need you to trust me, okay? Grover will take care of you."

Tears welled up in your eyes, and you nodded reluctantly. "Just promise me you'll be safe, Percy."

He gave you a solemn look before pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. "I promise. Now go with Grover. I'll find you after this is over."

Grover approached, his expression mirroring the somber mood. "We should go, Y/N."

After that, you swore to yourself that the next time you saw Percy, you would tell him you liked him. That seemed like the smartest thing to do.

As Percy stirred awake, his eyes met yours, and a small smile played on his lips. "Hey, beautiful girl," he greeted, a newfound warmth in his tone.

You blushed at the endearing nickname he had given you, but concern soon took over. "I thought I was going to lose you," you admitted, holding a small cup of ambrosia-infused nectar.

His expression softened, his hand reaching for yours. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Relief washed over you, and you laughed, playfully nudging his shoulder. "Good. Because there's something I need to tell you."

Percy raised an eyebrow, curious. "What's that?"

He looked at you with curiosity, encouraging you to continue. With a deep breath, you confessed, "I... I really like you."

Percy's eyes lit up, a genuine smile spreading across his face. "You do?" he asked, as if surprised by the revelation.

You nodded, a shy smile gracing your lips. "Yeah, Percy, I really do."

"Well, beautiful girl, I think you're stuck with me now," he declared, a playful glint in his eyes. As you leaned in closer, he gently pulled you to lie beside him on the bed. When you rested your head against his chest, Percy winced in pain.

"Careful," he joked, "I just survived a Minotaur. Your head might be more dangerous than that."

You chuckled softly, and Percy couldn't help but smile despite the discomfort. "You know," he mused, "your laughter is my favorite sound in the whole world."

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ramblingthoughtsofayoungadult · 4 months

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Unpredictable, Part 6-Limoreau x black!fem!reader fic

A/N: Sorry it's a little late but it took me forever to get the pace right and I didn't re-watch the episode so it's all from memory. Thanks for all the love!

Warnings: Hints to sensuality, swearing, body image issues, self-esteem issues, allusions to homophobia.

Words: 7.8k

Taglist: @badbishsblog , @kasslucilfer, @gardenof-venus, @morelovemorepeacemoretattoo-blog

Series Masterlist

The only sounds that filled the room were the rustling of clothes as we all got dressed in our respective areas. While I was slipping on my gold hoops, I could not shake the feeling that something was off, kind of like in a horror movie where the main family is weird, but they haven’t done anything to justify suspicion. Every time I tried to remember something, it made my temples throb.

My stomach churned at the fact that I couldn’t remember anything, and my thoughts were all jumbled up. Did Marie or Jordan remember anything? The thought of asking them made me gulp and I fingered the dark-wash jeans in my lap.

They’ll think I can’t handle my liquor or that I always black out, I mused bitterly.

“I think this is yours.” Jordan’s voice nearly made me jump but I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized she was talking to Marie.

Marie glanced over at her and muttered her thanks once Jordan tossed her a bra. I faced the front again, unfolded my jeans, and gasped.

“What is it?” Marie asked.

I gulped. “Um, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” Jordan commented.

How did she sound so casual?

No, I couldn’t say it, it was way too embarrassing. These jeans were no ordinary dark wash mid-rise pair; they fit my hips like a glove, made my legs ten percent longer, and my butt twenty percent perkier. When I found them on a shopping trip with Coco, we dubbed them the Look At Me jeans and they never failed to garner attention. So, I could only wear them when I really wanted to feel good about myself and I wondered what possessed me to wear them last night.

“Seriously, it’s fine,” I tried to assure them as I started pulling the fitted denim over my legs.

The process was going well until I reached my upper thighs and they refused to go higher. I huffed, flopping back onto the bed, sucking my stomach as far as possible, and tugging on the belt loops.

After some strategic shimmying, they finally slid up just below my belly button and I zipped them up triumphantly. Every time I wore them, I forgot how hard it was to get in and out of them.

How had I gotten out of them last night?

The thought made my face burn, and I snatched my royal purple halter top from the floor. As I slipped it over my head, I could not stop my thoughts from wandering as to how we even ended up here. For one thing, Marie and Jordan couldn’t stand each other and I was always trying to play the mediator between them. Again, how did that turn into…this? When did they stop hating each other?

This whole situation felt the same as when I was trying to think of a word, and it was on the tip of my tongue. But no matter how much I thought, the word never came to me. I had a feeling they somehow made up and the thought of them making up made me hopeful and something else I couldn’t put my finger on. Even if they did makeup, why was I involved?

I tugged the top down and the buttery soft material stopped at the middle of my ribs. Then, I swept my braids to one shoulder and grabbed the thick straps to tie it. Despite the numerous times I wore this top, my fingers kept fumbling with the material. I huffed as I willed my fingers to cooperate and hoped that no one noticed my struggling.

After a few seconds of trying, a soft, warm pair of fingers brushed up against mine.

“Here, let me help you,” Marie offered.

All I could do was nod and my hands fell into my lap. Every time Marie’s hands grazed the back of my neck, tingles ran up and down my spine.

Stop it, Y/N, my mind hissed at me.

Hopefully, she thought I was shivering.

“Done,” she softly announced.

“Thanks,” I replied, fastening my strappy black Gianvito Rossi pumps.

Once she got back to her side of the bed, she commented, “I didn’t know you had a tattoo there.”

I slapped one of my hands on the back of my neck and stood. “Huh?”

Jordan whistled. “Freshie has ink? Let me see.”

She crossed over to the front of the bed and started pulling at my hand as I tried to back away.

“Jordan, stop, it’s not even that impressive,” I whined.

“Just one little peek, I won’t untie it,” they promised. “Besides, it’s unfair if only Marie got to see.”

Jordan made a good point and I reluctantly turned around and twisted my braids up on top of my head. I shivered when Jordan gently lifted the straps and almost collapsed when their warm breath brushed my skin.

“It looks…nice,” Jordan admitted. “When did you get it?”

“Over the summer, when my dad went to Thailand for a business trip, I went with him and found this cool tattoo parlor near where he was shooting. One night, I stopped by and told the artist I wanted something pretty but hard to find,” I explained.

When Jordan let go of the top, I faced her for the first time. She kind of looked like a puppy, very innocent and hopeful. I never saw that expression on their face before and wondered what it meant.

“Um, this might sound kind of bad but, I don’t remember anything from last night,” Marie admitted.

I whirled around to her. “Me either!” “I didn’t want to say anything but, yeah,” Jordan agreed.

“So, we all blacked out?” Marie asked.

“Maybe; I wonder if anyone else remembers anything,” I mentioned. “By the way, where’s my phone?”

“Oh.” Marie grabbed something from the floor and handed it to me. “Here.”

I tried to turn it on, but the screen was black. “It’s dead, my phone’s never dead.”

“Really?” Marie asked.

I nodded and shoved my phone into my back pocket. “I like to be able to leave when I want or reach anyone I lose while I’m out.”

“Or post about it anywhere,” Jordan added.

“Hey, you’re the one who’s always saying how important it is to maintain a following,” I defended, but my tone was not as light as I meant.

“I’m just saying that this whole thing is weird. I never blackout no matter what,” Jordan insisted.

“Did we all get drugged or something?” Marie pondered.

“Why would someone drug all three of us just for us to…” I glanced at the bed.

“So, we did…” Marie trailed off and I glanced up at her, noting her soft smile at Jordan.

I didn’t need to look at Jordan to know she had a similar expression on her face, but it didn’t help the sinking feeling in my stomach. No, I needed that feeling because whatever happened last night was a mistake. They obviously had something going on and I didn’t need to be in the middle. But why did the way they looked at each other make me feel light and miserable?

The tension in the air was thick and I needed to breathe.

Then, a dull ache panged behind my eyes, and I winced as I cupped my forehead with my hand. “I need coffee, water, a shower, and eggs; not necessarily in that order.”

A few moments later, I was sandwiched between Marie and Jordan, in their masculine form, on a couch in Dusty’s backyard. The Vought Water that ran down my throat was so refreshing that I almost cried. It was cool outside even though the sun was high in the sky. I should have felt cold, but Jordan and Marie were both radiators.

Cate and Andre sat on a couch across from us, both looking a mix of concerned and awkward.

“So, do you guys remember anything from last night?” Jordan asked.

Andre shook his head. “I don’t even know how we got to Dusty’s.”

“It looked like a great party, though,” Cate commented, glancing around at all the discarded beer and liquor bottles scattered through the yard and all the vandalism around Dusty’s house.

“Has anyone checked socials?” I asked.

“You haven’t?” Andre asked, eyebrows raised.

I shook my head. “My phone’s dead.”

Cate handed me hers and I immediately went onto TikTok. Her For You page was flooded with videos from last night. Apparently, Emma had been in her giant form, chugging beers at the pool for a while. Then, there was one of Coco and me doing our “Sweetest Pie” dance in the middle of a dance circle. The next one was Cate cheering Andre on as he did a keg stand.

Then, there was one of Cate, Andre, Jordan, Marie, Coco, and me playing an intense game of flip cup, featuring Coco roasting Andre. Finally, there was one of me and Jordan making out in the middle of the dancefloor. My face burned as I watched myself grab at them desperately and their hands roamed all over me. My finger slipped to the next video where I was now between Jordan and Marie, grinding on the former while the latter stuck her tongue down my throat. Towards the end of the video, Jordan pushed some of my braids to the side and started nibbling on my neck.

My hand subconsciously wandered to the bite marks on my neck.

“Whoa,” Marie whispered.

Jordan drank some more water, and I returned the phone to Cate.

“You three make a great throuple,” Andre encouraged.

“Shut up,” Jordan admonished.

I flinched at his tone and turned away.

“Okay, so, a lot happened last night and none of us remember,” Marie began, “what’s the last thing anyone remembers?”

Everyone paused for a moment.

“I remember walking out on the Tek Knight interview because I was upset with my dad but…I don’t know why,” Andre said.

“I remember the Tek Knight interview too and…it feels like something else happened but, I can’t remember,” Jordan agreed.

Cate nodded and I admitted that I could hardly think and couldn’t remember anything.

“It’s like someone put us through a time loop or something,” Marie commented.

Jordan perked up at that. “Do any of you know what day it is?”

“Friday,” Cate said with a shrug.

“Thursday?” Andre guessed.

“It’s Saturday; we’ve lost two days!” Jordan exclaimed.

I sipped some more water and nodded. “It’s like the Lotus Casino from Percy Jackson.”

At that, all their eyes were on me, and I shrank back a little.

“What? They’re good books.”

“It’s a little random, Y/N,” Andre pointed out.

“Well, it’s an accurate observation. In the book, people are trapped in the casino because it’s so great, but they don’t realize how much time has passed. Some people were there for years.”

“Anyway, do you think you can see what might have happened?” Marie asked.

I shook my head. “No matter how I think about it, I can’t look into the past.”

Cate suddenly looked somber as she glanced at her phone. “Well, I think I might have an idea who might’ve done this. Look who was at the party last night.”

She held her phone out for all of us to see. On it was a video of some Phi Epsilon guys playing beer pong. One of those Phi Epsilon brothers was Rufus. My stomach sunk at his smug image.

“Shit,” Andre muttered.

“But why would he do anything to us after Marie---” Jordan cut himself off and glanced at her.

“After Marie what?” Cate asked.

Once Marie explained what happened, Cate and Andre seemed stunned, but Andre immediately smiled.

“Now, that’s badass,” he complimented.

Marie smiled. “Thanks.”

“And it could be a reason for him to get revenge,” Cate observed.

“But why would he go after all of us if that’s the case?” I wondered.

Cate pursed her lips. “Well, drugging someone wouldn’t be something out of character for him.”

That’s when Cate shared everything that happened between her and Rufus last year. By the end, Andre and Jordan looked prepared to beat Rufus’ face in while Marie and I comforted Cate.

“I’m so sorry that happened,” I expressed.

“Did you ever report it?” Marie asked.

Cate shook her head. “Like anyone would’ve believed me. Besides, I felt so ashamed that I wanted to pretend it never happened.”

“We can’t let him get away with this,” Jordan argued.

“And what should we do besides beat what’s left of his ass?” Andre questioned.

“We can get him to admit what he did to Cate and us,” Marie offered.

“How?” I asked.

Jordan smirked. “I can come up with a few ways.”

Despite the new resolve in the group, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Besides all the warring feelings inside and the swarm of thoughts in my head, I had this gnawing feeling that we were missing something.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Marie asked, slowly setting a hand on my knee.

Immediately, I jumped. “Um, nothing, it’s just…I feel like we were doing something important.”

“We’re about to nail a psycho, that’s pretty important,” Andre said.

I shook my head. “No, something else…something before all this.”

Jordan nodded. “Yeah, I get what you mean.”

Something was off in their tone that time but I couldn’t take too long to think about it. Seconds later, Coco marched up to us in a pair of white pumps. Her curls were piled on top of her head and her silver House of CB corset top and jeans highlighted her deep skin.

“There you are! I’ve been texting you for the last five minutes!” she huffed.

“Sorry, Coco, my phone’s dead,” I apologized.

Her eyes widened and then she blinked. “What? Never mind, we have to go, the initiate brunch is today.”

“Oh, right, I totally forgot.”

I slipped from under Marie’s hand and sauntered over to Coco. Even though she looked a little panicked and prepared to chew my ear off, she couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jordan stood. “Y/N, what about Rufus?”

He frowned at me, and I had to force myself not to react to his use of my real name.

“I’m sorry, I have to go to the initiate brunch but text me if you need anything,” I rushed.

“And shouldn’t we talk?” Marie added.

Coco’s slim but firm hand wrapped around my wrist, and she started tugging me away.

“We’ll talk later!” I called over my shoulder.

After a few minutes of walking, Coco turned to me and let go of my wrist.

“So, the Look At Me jeans worked,” she commented.

My eyes widened and I faced her. “You talked me into them?”

She frowned. “I don’t know if I would say that but, I helped you make the decision. Did you do too much last night?”

“No…maybe, I don’t know,” I admitted.

“Well, from what I remember, you did let loose, which you deserved, but I wasn’t with you the whole time…obviously.” Coco smiled as we continued walking. “Like I said, based on all those bite marks, they worked like a charm.”

I covered my neck and huffed. “Yeah, they did.”

“Okay, what’s up? You should be annoyingly happy but you look just like you did right before you gave a thirty-minute presentation in Brink’s class.”

The words were right on my tongue, but I couldn’t let them roll off. Coco and I were friends but, we weren’t as close as I was with Emma or Cate. I couldn’t tell her why I reacted every time Jordan or Marie grazed me or why I could barely look at either of them. No, it was way too much for our friendship.

“I just…I feel weird not remembering anything,” I explained. “Why were we at Dusty’s anyway?”

Coco raised an eyebrow. “You really don’t remember? We were all out celebrating our new initiates. We went to Alpha Tau first, then Whiskey Around because Lydia wanted their paloma, and then we ended up at Dusty’s.”

“Did the initiates come with us?” I asked.

“A few did but most of them were done by the time we went to Whiskey Around and Lydia got them rides back to their dorms.” Coco linked our arms together. “Come on, maybe some coffee and food will kickstart your brain.”

Neither ended up helping and for the first time, I wasn’t interested in what anyone was saying in the well-lit dining room table. As was customary, everyone wore breezy pastel or white dresses as servers occasionally refilled glassware and replaced empty dishes on the table. All I could think of was that video and how I was positive everyone at the table had seen it. That video had thousands of views and it was impossible that none of them had seen it.

Behind all their wide smiles and compliments on my blush pink knit Prada skirt set were fangs and vile words ready to be spewed. Sure, they were gushing with some initiates and sharing fun stories from years past, but it was only time before anyone confronted me on it.

“Y/N?”

I blinked and turned to see a pretty girl with chestnut skin and auburn Marley twists tied into a bun looking at me expectantly. “Oh, sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was saying that your dancing is amazing. I mean, I knew it was when you and Coco taught Tiana, Erica, and me the ‘Fly Girl’ dance but you were something else at that party.” Her voice had a hint of a southern twang and her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Thanks,” I said, sipping some more coffee.

She was one of the three black girls who was accepted into Si Chi. Once my phone charged, I immediately went on #RushTok and saw that the girls Coco and I pushed for were accepted. The one sitting next to me was Naomi Banks, a crim major from New Orleans. Erica Tyler and Tiana Wilkes, a Hero Management and Counting major respectively, were seated across from us near Coco. Out of all our pledges, they had some of the most impressive applications and I had a feeling that I had to stop Coco from skewering Sasha with her arguments.

Plus, I found a video one of Justine’s friends made that featured her gobsmacked expression at her rejection letter on Bid Day. The face nearly made me tremble with glee.

At least a couple of good things happened during the haze.

Naomi tapped my shoulder. “It’s no wonder those two were all over you.”

I almost coughed on the coffee and covered my mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized.

I shook my head and set the porcelain cup down. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. In the future, be careful about mentioning anything from a night out with any of your new sisters.”

Naomi nodded and took a bite out of a piece of bacon. “Thanks, Y/N.”

“No problem. Did you enjoy last night?”

“Yes! I got to get to know so many of the girls here and everyone seems really nice.” Naomi leaned closer to me. “Liliana over there said that Vince from Sigma Kappa asked her for my Snap. He’s pretty cute for a white boy.”

“Sigma Kappa is a top house and Vince is one of the more eligible ones.”

“That’s good. Obviously, I won’t go after him if you or anyone else is interested.”

I smiled at her. “I appreciate it, Naomi, but I think you’re good.”

“Oh, and were you serious when you said you’d help me with my Intro to Forensics class?”

“Of course, a Si Chi girl always helps a sister in need.”

Naomi sighed. “That’s great; the TA’s a real dick, no offense.”

“None taken.”

I covered my laugh by shoving another forkful of French toast in my mouth. The sugary morsel was almost enough to lift my spirits. In Naomi’s defense, Jordan was the toughest out of all the crim TAs to the point they were borderline sadistic.

“Jordan’s tough but, they’re insanely passionate and dedicated to their work. So, they expect everyone to be at their standard,” I explained.

“So, they were like that even when you had them?” Naomi asked.

I nodded. “They terrified me in both forms but, they were okay once I got to know them.”

“I don’t know if I want to get to know them; I just want to pass.”

“It’s okay, I’ll help you.”

Then, I started wondering how the Rufus investigation was going. Since I left Dusty’s, Cate was the only one to reach out, asking to check in. It was a little weird how I got antsy that it wasn’t Jordan or Marie especially when I had no idea what to say to them.

Sydney tapped a fork against a champagne flute, jerking me from my thoughts. She stood at the head of the table, wearing a lavender mini Chanel tweed set. Her hair was in a half updo and she stood with perfect posture.

“First, I would like to welcome all of our new initiates to Si Chi,” she chimed.

She allowed for about ten seconds of applause.

“It is an honor to have found such great women to continue the legacy of this house. When I first came here, I was petrified of not being able to meet any of the house standards. Then, I met my mentor, Isabel Perkins, and she helped me see that we don’t meet these standards on our own----we meet them with our sisters.”

That time, she allowed for fifteen seconds of applause.

“That’s why I hope that you will connect with all of your big sisters since all of them are still here because they continue to maintain the good name of our house, which brings me to the second thing I wanted to discuss.” Sydney paused. “Obviously, we are all glad that we found a match in our new sisters but know that your place here is not permanent. We Si Chi girls hold ourselves to high standards academically and socially and if there is a concern that one of our sisters, new or returning, does not meet those standards, we cannot guarantee her place in our house.”

I swallowed thickly at her words and wondered if she was piercing me with her gaze.

“That being said, this is a place of sisterhood and a safe place for all women and myself and the rest of leadership work diligently to keep it that way,” She continued. “Will the leadership team stand?”

With that, Lydia, Sasha, Alina, and I stood from our seats. For the first time, I felt like I was under a microscope in the Si Chi house and wished everyone stopped looking at me.

“These girls, no, these women are the ones I have entrusted to help continue this house and select our new sisters. Please feel free to say hi to them whenever you see them or let them know if you have any concerns,” she announced.

During that round of applause, my phone started buzzing on my chair. I tried to discreetly grab it but hesitated when I saw Jordan’s name on the caller ID. I quickly silenced it and smiled at the crowd of girls looking at me.

Then, the phone started buzzing again and I rejected it again.

“Looks important, Y/N,” Sasha mouthed.

I hoped I hid my glare with my grin well enough and when I sat down, the phone went off again. I huffed, snatched it, and hurried into the nearest hallway, muttering my apologies as I went. Of course, it was a video call and when I answered, Jordan’s face filled the screen.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Where the hell have you been?” Jordan demanded.

I glanced around for onlookers and continued further away from the dining room. “Could you keep it down? I’m still at brunch.”

“Still?” Marie asked in the background.

“Yes.”

“And you couldn’t answer my texts?” Jordan griped.

“I didn’t get anything,” I insisted.

Based on how hard their jaw clenched, I decided not to mention that my phone was on Do Not Disturb. I tried not to think too hard about how they got past it.

“Did you find anything on Rufus?” I asked.

“No, Rufus may have gotten us all to Dusty’s, but he didn’t do anything to our heads,” Jordan admitted.

“And, they’re going to stay away from everyone since Cate still doesn’t want to make the report,” Marie added.

I nodded and started pacing in the hall. Something was off about all this and I still couldn’t tell what it was.

“I know that face, you’re not saying something, freshie,” Jordan called.

Sometimes, I hated how observant they were.

“It’s just…something has felt off about this whole thing. I mean, yes, Rufus is the creep of all creeps but he’s also a moron. He wants things that are quick and easy and getting into all our heads without being noticed takes a lot of planning,” I reasoned.

“You’re right. So, whoever messed with us is smart and didn’t have to make contact with any of us to make us lose our memories,” Marie continued.

“Or if they did have to make contact, it’s someone we’re comfortable with,” Jordan remarked.

At his words, the greatest epiphany hit me. There was only one person in this entire school with that kind of capability and the thought that they did this made the French toast start to rise in my throat. I hoped that I was wrong, and I knew I couldn’t tell my theory to Jordan or Marie; not yet.

“Okay, did you find out anything else?” I asked.

Then, Marie explained the trackers that were implanted in all of us and I frowned.

“Don’t our phones already do that?” I argued.

“You can leave your phone anywhere,” Marie countered.

“Touché. So, how do I get it out of me without causing further damage?”

“Um, you can come by my dorm, or I can come by the house and get rid of it for you.”

“I can stop by yours. I want to catch up with Emma anyway, give me, like, an hour or two.”

“Sure.”

I was about to hang up when Jordan stopped me and seemed to step away from Marie for a second.

“Look, I know this morning was weird and you probably still feel really uncomfortable but, I just wanted to tell you that we’re okay,” he said.

I hesitated. “‘Okay’?”

“Yeah, like, last night doesn’t have to mean anything so, don’t worry about it.”

“Uh huh.”

“Y/N, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, you’re fine, it’s all fine. I have to go.”

When I hung up, everything was blurry, and I leaned against the wall behind me. The tears were warm against my cheeks, and I did nothing to stop them. Last night meant nothing to Jordan and why would it? They’d had plenty of one-night stands and hookups, why would last night be any different? Why would I be any different? Marie probably felt the same and it was stupid to even think that there was some small glimmer of something.

Nothing was better, nothing would help me get back on track.

“Y/N?”

I straightened up at the sound of Sasha’s voice and swiped at my face. “Oh, hi.”

“That didn’t sound too good,” she expressed as she strutted closer to me.

With each step she took, her faux pitiful expression got more and more gleeful. I forced myself to stand as erect as I could.

“I appreciate the concern, Sasha, but it’s none of your business,” I defended.

My voice did not have nearly the bite it needed at the moment but all I wanted to do was get away from her. Even though she was shorter than me, it was like her presence took up the entirety of the hallway.

“Oh, but it is, you actually made it everyone’s business with those videos.”

The last word rolled off her tongue like dice and I thought her tongue poked out a little.

“I didn’t take or post them,” I hissed.

“But you know in this day and age you have to always be on the lookout; every Si Chi girl knows that, Y/N.”

I tried to push past her but she blocked me. “We should be getting back.”

“Oh, but we’re just getting started,” Sasha insisted. “You know, Sydney’s speech about sisters helping each other meet house standards really stuck with me. I’ve always seen you as a little sister, Y/N, one who thinks she knows everything and can’t stop messing up.”

“That’s funny, Sasha, because I thought you were my big sister who always needed my notes to pass any of her classes,” I rushed.

Sasha narrowed her eyes at me. “I think you need help meeting our social standards and I’m more than happy to assist. I know you thought that you were hot shit once you got in with the Top Five but, it sounds like you’re on your way out. Last night, Jordan and that new girl used you and spat you out.”

“Stop it, Sasha,” I whispered.

“I’m telling you the truth. If you’re not careful, there may not be a place for you in Si Chi anymore. I mean, everyone’s seen the videos and I would hate for anyone to feel uncomfortable here.”

She grinned wider than the Cheshire cat and I didn’t know whether I wanted to wipe the grin off her or disappear into a puddle of my tears. I didn’t get to decide as Sydney appeared from the other end of the hallway and made her way over to us.

“What’s going on here?” Sydney asked.

Sasha beamed at Sydney. “I was just telling Y/N how inspired I was about your speech and how I want to continue helping her meet our house standards.”

Sydney glanced at me. “Well, I appreciate your dedication to mentoring a younger sister, but Y/N is one of the brightest women to enter this house. I wish I could stick around and see what she’ll do next year.”

I tried not to gape at her. “Thanks, Sydney.”

“Of course.” Sydney turned to Sasha. “And I know that you understood that I meant what I said about this being a safe space for all women. While we do hold ourselves to a high caliber, we do not shove a sister who struggles. If we did, I can’t imagine what Amber or Hailey would have done if they knew half the things we did freshman year.”

“Y-yes, right,” Sasha sputtered.

“Anyway, we should get back and review the events for next week with the girls,” Sydney instructed.

Sasha nearly sped down the hallway while Sydney and I strolled after her. We didn’t say anything, but I could have burst from the gratitude I had for her.

A couple of hours later, Marie let me into her dorm, and I sulked at the fact that Emma wasn’t there.

“Where’d she go?” I asked.

“She found some clue about some weird dude we ran into after you left with Coco,” Marie commented. “I guess she decided to go after him.”

I nodded, partly infuriated since that sounded like something Emma would do. She could have at least texted me. I was hoping for some sort of buffer between Marie and me.

So, I sat down on Emma’s bed and played with a fluffy yellow pillow. Marie sat down across from me and looked down at her hands.

“Will it hurt?” I asked.

Marie looked up at me. “A little but I’ll try to make it stop as soon as I can.”

I nodded and dryly laughed. “Last night was really wild, huh?”

“Yeah…should we…talk about it?” she asked.

I shrugged and kept picking at the material on the pillow. “Only if you want to.”

“I know this is so weird but, you and Jordan have also been acting weird. They told me that last night was ‘okay’ and that we didn’t have to make it weird but it’s already weird!” she exclaimed.

“They told me the same thing,” I admitted.

“Do you agree with them?”

“Do you?”

“I asked you first.” She barely made eye contact with me and I started playing with the pillow.

“I don’t know…I don’t know how I feel about any of this,” I confessed.

“Do you regret it?” Marie asked.

“I can’t regret something I don’t remember.”

The words landed like a bomb and I wanted to take it all back. Marie flinched at my words and I wanted to make it better.

“I mean I…I think I’d have a better idea if I remembered. But I also think that you and Jordan should talk again,” I tried slowly.

She frowned. “Why?”

“I mean you two are close now and I know something happened earlier but I don’t know what but I feel as though I’m the biggest third wheel in the history of third wheels around you two.”

It was quiet for a few seconds, and I wanted to use my ability to figure out what would be the quickest way out of there.

“You’re not a third wheel,” Marie maintained. “I like it when you’re around and I like it when you’re with me and Jordan.”

“I like being around you too, but we’re friends and it’s only natural.”

Marie paused. “Oh. I mean, I like being friends but, yeah, never mind.”

“What is it?”

Marie shook her head. “Nothing. Let me get that tracker out of you.”

I nodded but I was dying to know what she was going to say. Did I totally mess up? Did I misstep again?

She knelt in front of me and touched my left shoulder. Marie’s brown eyes met mine in a silent question and I nodded. As soon as I did, she slipped my cardigan to the side and brushed her hand up and down my neck and shoulder until she sensed something.

“Found it,” she breathed.

I nodded.

“Just stay still, okay?”

“Okay.”

My knee started bouncing and before I could stop it, Marie placed her free hand on it but stayed focused on my shoulder. She traced her hand across my shoulder, dragging something in her path. Eventually, when she got a few inches away from my neck, something slipped out and I yelped at the sting.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” she questioned.

“No, it just stung,” I insisted as I covered the wound.

Marie held her palm towards me, and I narrowed my eyes at the tiny, bloodied tracker in her grasp. “Now you’re safer.”

“Thanks.”

She slipped a band-aid onto the wound and pulled my cardigan back in place. “How was brunch?”

“Good. We have three new black girls.” “That’s awesome!”

“Yeah. They all better survive Hell Week.”

Marie groaned. “Does that mean you’ll have more to do?”

“Kind of but it’s way easier than Rush Week.”

“Does that mean we’ll be able to hang out more? Class doesn’t count.”

“I hope so, I mean, if you want to.”

“I just told you I like being around you, of course I want to.”

Her smile somehow made me feel better, actually, her smile always did that. When I thought about it, I rarely saw Marie upset or frowning. She was always so bright and shiny, almost like Luke. All I knew was that I didn’t want to take her shine away.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied.

Then, I saw a brief premonition of my prime suspect. They smiled so sadly at me.

“I wish you hadn’t seen that,” they whispered.

When I blinked, Marie’s smile wavered a little.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No, I just have to check on something,” I insisted.

“Oh, do you need any help?”

“No, I’ll text you if something comes up. Thanks for getting rid of the tracker!”

Cate’s dorm had the calmest energy out of all my friends. It might have had something to do with all the green accents, from the wallpaper to the various green pillows on her bed. Last year, she got really into color psychology, and I hoped that it worked as I sat across from her on her comfy rug.

“I saw that you got three new black sisters. Congratulations!” she cheered.

“Thanks. They’re all really cool, and I need them to make it through Hell Week,” I joked as well as I could.

She nodded and grabbed her bong from her coffee table. “With you as their big sister, they have hope.” She took a hit and extended it to me.

“No, thanks.”

She frowned. “You’re always open to smoking.”

“I had a couple of Bloody Marys at brunch, and I don’t want to risk crossfading.”

It wasn’t a total lie, but I needed to be as clear-headed as possible for this conversation. Cate’s big blue eyes eyed me for what felt like an eternity, but she shrugged and set the bong in front of her.

“Fair enough,” she conceded. “So, you, Marie, and Jordan, huh?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…”

Cate’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you don’t know? I saw the three of you together. Even though you were acting awkward as hell around them.”

“Well, I’m still processing everything that happened and the fact that I don’t know what happened.”

“It’s pretty obvious what happened, Y/N.”

Even though her voice had a teasing lilt, it felt like she was spitting in my face.

“I mean, I know what happened, but I hate how I don’t remember any of it. It’s been driving me nuts all day and I could barely focus on the Si Chi brunch.”

Cate straightened up. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to invalidate your experience.”

“And it sucks that this is my experience, you know. I mean, I don’t know how I feel about either of them and then I go and have sex with both of them? What kind of freak am I?”

“You’re not a freak, Y/N, and, you’re going to hate this, but it’s pretty obvious how you feel about both of them.”

I cut my eyes to Cate. “It doesn’t feel obvious. I’m so confused, and I don’t know how to act around either of them anymore. It used to be easy to mess with Jordan but now I freeze up whenever their name pops up on my phone. And Marie is so nice an-and pretty and funny. Her powers are insane, and it makes sense that Vought scooped her up now.”

“You don’t sound confused to me, Y/N.”

“Really, because I feel confused all over!”

Cate held her hands up and pushed her bong aside. “Okay, that’s fair. You know, we’re doing a project in my advanced psych class about denial, and I’ve found that a lot of people in denial just go around in circles, driving themselves nuts because they won’t admit something.”

But there was nothing for me to admit. I was clear that Jordan and Marie had something going on and I didn’t want to be an interloper. Even though Marie said she liked having me around, I was positive it was just as a friend and to quell any fights between her and Jordan. But, their fighting wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

When I told Cate as much, she huffed. “How are you this smart but this dense?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve been flirting with both for the past few weeks. All of you can’t seem to stop talking about the others and they’re both willing to kill for you. You obviously can’t stop thinking about them and I’m sure they’re the same.”

She looked at me as though I should know what she was saying but I felt lost. Then, I started thinking about how Marie’s smile made me feel like melting inside and how I instantly wanted to help her when her schedule got messed up or how I felt warm and fuzzy when Jordan got between me and Chad, and Thad.

“It’s impossible,” I whispered.

“What’s impossible?” Cate asked.

“I…I can’t like two people at the same time. I’m not in middle school anymore!”

“What’s so bad about liking multiple people?”

“Because you’re just supposed to pick one, Cate, everyone else has managed to do that. There’s something wrong with me.” “Hey,” Cate softly grabbed my hands, “there’s nothing wrong with you. If anything, it shows how much love you have to give.”

“That’s so cheesy.”

“But it’s true.” She smiled. “Why are you so afraid to say it?”

I hesitated. “Because then it would be real and if it’s real, that means that I could get hurt, twice.”

Then, Cate pulled me into her arms and slowly rocked. “Everyone’s afraid of being hurt but, it’s a part of life. It may not feel like it but if it does happen, you’ll get over it.”

“I know but, at the same time, I’m so scared. I mean, I didn’t see any of this coming and I see most things coming.”

Cate hummed in reply. The mix of vanilla and weed wafting off of her was enough to make me sleepy.

“Plus, I imagined my first time to be a little more romantic than a drunken night at Dusty’s.”

Cate paused and pushed me so that we were eye to eye. “What?”

I shrunk a little and looked down at my hands. “Please don’t give me that look.”

“I’m not giving you any look.”

“Yes, you are, all pitiful and shocked. Excuse me for having a Cher Horowitz approach to sex.”

Cate relaxed. “I’m sorry, I’m not judging, and I shouldn’t be surprised since you have all those standards.”

“Cate, have you seen how picky I am about shoes?”

“Yes but, I’m shocked it hasn’t come up before.”

I shrugged and picked at my deep purple lounge pants. Cate was not the first person to express that before, but it wasn’t my fault that I was raised to have standards and all the guys I’d been around were uninteresting at best and disgusting at worst.

“I didn’t always look like this,” I muttered. “Emma would probably lie and say that I was always a bombshell or something but it’s not true. I was fine in elementary but middle school was hell; I struggled with my weight, and I was taller than everyone else, and don’t get me started on being the only black girl in class.”

Cate didn’t say anything, and I continued.

“There was this one black boy, Matthew, who made making me miserable his mission. When I would run on the playground, he screamed ‘Earthquake, everyone run!’. Every day, he made sure I knew how ugly and fat I was, and I didn’t need it because my parents, mainly my mom, told me it too. The summer before high school, I was sick of it and started learning all the tricks on how to glow up; skin, hair, makeup, everything.” I sighed. “I did a little better in high school, but no one asked me out and I ended up going to prom with a group of friends, which was fun but I wished that I was one of the girls who received one of those grand promposals. When I got a vision of how great my future was going to be, it gave me hope that Matthew and everyone else was wrong.”

“They are wrong, and Matthew can go suck a dick,” Cate affirmed.

I chuckled. “Anyway, I still get nervous around guys, and the whole being attractive thing is new to me.”

“But you’re comfortable around Jordan and Marie.”

I nodded. “I am but I don’t understand it. I’ve never liked anyone who wasn’t a straight guy before, and I don’t know what any of it means.”

“It means that sexuality is a spectrum, and you lean towards the not straight side. You don’t have to know everything right now, Y/N, and I know it’s easier said than done with you but, life has surprises, and it wouldn’t be fun without them,” Cate encouraged.

“I hate surprises.”

“Well, get used to them.” I smiled but paused. “What if they don’t like me back?”

“I highly doubt that since I’ve seen how they both look at you. Honestly, being around you three can get a little uncomfortable,” she teased. “But, in a world where they reject you, you will always have me, and I will make their lives worse in ways that Matthew wouldn’t even dream of.”

Cate’s tone and smile were earnest, and it made me feel better about ranting. I was stunned that I told her my secret, but I guess she had one of those high trust faces that made anyone want to spill everything. For the first time in a long time, I felt relaxed, like I’d just finished the most intense shiatsu session ever. It was crazy but I felt like I was breathing better than before.

It was crazy what secrets could do to a person.

The thought made me gulp but I grinned at Cate and hugged her again.

“Thanks for listening,” I muttered.

“Of course. Thanks for finally being honest,” she returned.

I tried not to bristle in her grip as I pulled away. We both stood and slowly made our way towards the door.

“So, are you going to go with a grand gesture to tell Jordan and Marie how you feel or are you going to play it cool?” Cate teased.

“I’m not sure,” I started. “I still can’t get over what you said about how they’d kill for me. How could you tell?”

Cate paused. “I mean, they glare at anyone who looks your way in a flirty sense.”

“But that doesn’t mean they’d kill for me.”

“I think you’re overthinking things, Y/N.”

“Maybe.” I stopped in front of her door and faced her. “You know, it’s funny how you said that life’s full of surprises and that I should get used to them. Remember how you thought Rufus messed with our heads?”

“Yeah, because he did,” Cate said slowly.

“Actually, Jordan and Marie already interrogated him, and he probably got us all to Dusty’s but there’s no way he could have wiped all our memories without touching us,” I informed.

“Wow, that’s crazy.”

“Yeah, and Jordan brought up a good point. They said if someone had to touch us to wipe our memories, it would have to be someone we knew and were comfortable with. They’re right but I also know someone who could do it without touching anyone if her gloves are off.”

Cate paled as she listened, and I felt my anger rising from deep within my stomach. “Y/N, I can explain.”

“You can explain how you violated all of us?” I hissed.

“It wasn’t like that, please!”

She reached out to grab my arm and as she grasped it, I realized that she wasn’t wearing her leather gloves. My mouth opened but everything faded to black.

#black!reader #gen v x reader #jordan li x reader #marie moreau x reader #limoreau x reader

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whenmemorydies · 19 days

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Preliminary thoughts on The Bear, race, power and privilege

I’m a non-Black woman of colour who has spent all of my life in the west…so I’ve consumed a lot of television media that is produced by and for the white gaze. The most obvious way that gaze plays out is when people of colour are non-existent in a cast, or when they are included, are tokenistic, bit players.

A more insidious manifestation is where POC are cast to play parts that could just as easily be played by white folks: characters that have no interiority or external relationships related to their cultural identities, wider communities or individual or collective histories (for example, Mindy in The Mindy Project for most of its run, or the characters of colour in Season 1 of Bridgerton).

I've had some thoughts about how The Bear (thankfully) avoids tokenistic and "colour-blind" representation. I also have some thoughts about how the show models meaningful allyship. I'm so keen to discuss this with folks and hear what others think about it too.

Unambiguous and unapologetic

The Bear is confined in its universe, particularly in season 1 where it’s focus is tightly bound to the physical location of The Beef as the setting for almost every scene. Episodes of The Bear are generally not very long, so time is precious (every second really does count). These factors necessarily limit how deep we can get into each character. But the show is so good at drawing on different means of communication: images, lighting, score, soundtrack, phrasing, callbacks to previous episodes, other cultural references etc, that each episode is like a jewellery box with gems waiting to be unpacked and pored over. I've said that I have started reading this show like a tarot deck because of how rich the symbolism in each episode is.

So despite the constraints of time and setting, characters of colour in this show are also so very rich in their realisation and portrayal. These characters are unambiguously and - this is important - unapologetically racialised: through language (see: Tina’s use - and occasional weaponisation lmao - of Spanish), physical appearance (see: Sydney’s two-tone braids and her stunning, prolific collection of headscarves throughout the show), culturally distinct names (see: Sydney Adamu, Ebraheim, Tina Marrero, etc), food (see: Carmy’s peace offering to Syd in ep 1x03 of Ebra’s family chicken suqaar - a popular dish in the latter character’s birth country of Somalia), etc.

GIF by @chefkids

These may seem like small and inconsequential details to some. In fact I’ve been seeing a lot of commentary from folks online saying that what they like about The Bear is that race isn’t mentioned at all on the show. But make no mistake: race is all over this thing. The examples I've given are only some of the many references to racialised histories and cultures that build out the broader fabric of multicultural Chicago here.

What is not present in The Bear is a script that is wasting time explaining the characters of colour and their rich inner and outer lives to white folks. Those things are just a given and we are invited to witness them being brought to vivid life by this cast and crew. And I am fucking here for it.

Respect and allyship

Another thing I LOVE about this show is the respect given to, and the recognition of, the experience, talent, drive and ambition of its characters of colour.

This is most obvious in the relationship between Syd and Carmy who are signalled as complementary equals in many ways. Others have written on the importance of the representation embodied by Sydney’s character and you should search out that analyses, especially when its authored by Black women. The only other thing I’d say about it is that I love Sydney’s character and I also love endgame Sydcarmy (even if it’s only hinted at in the last second of the last frame of the last ever episode lmao…I will take whatever I can get of these two 😭).

I also see the show’s respect and recognition manifest in The Bear's investment in its staff, particularly in season 2. Everyone who worked at The Beef has a role at The Bear and Carmy, Syd and Nat fund the ongoing training and upskilling of their largely racialised staff to make sure this happens. Ebra and Tina are paid to attend culinary school (Carmy also gives Tina his prized knife for her studies and beyond). Marcus is sent to stage in Copenhagen to develop his skills as a patissier. And then we have The Bear itself - what started as Carmy and Michael’s vision, is now the whole team’s baby, with Sydney literally being made the captain of the ship by Carmy at the end of ep 2x09.

GIF by @savagegood

Part of what was so tragic about Carmy's fridge spiral at the end of season 2 was that he didn't get to see how beautifully the team came through in a crisis. Instead we had him internalising, regressing and lamenting how he had let everyone down. This language centred Carmy as the be all and end all of The Bear (saviour vibes) when this couldn't have been further from the truth (particularly in a season where the man spent so much of his time not in the restaurant but chasing manic pixie no-last-name-having Claire....but I digress).

Carmy is his best when he checks his ego, takes a step back and realises that he is not alone. He is part of a whole chosen family supporting one another at The Bear. And I get the sense that the folks creating this show know that we need more white folks using their power and privilege to step back and facilitate access, and less gatekeeping white saviours taking credit where its not due.

After all, and paraphrasing Viola Davis, the only thing that separates people of colour from anyone else, is opportunity.

12/04/24 Note: I’ve amended this post because I forgot to mention the most pivotal example of Sydney along with her relationship with Carmy. Also made some slight stylistic changes to phrasing cos i fixate on errors lol

#the bear #the bear hulu #the bear fx #white gaze #critical race theory #carmen berzatto #sydney adamu #tina marrero #ebraheim #marcus brooks #allyship #white privilege #power #chris storer #joanna calo #sydney x carmen #sydcarmy #carmy x sydney

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targaryenluvs · 5 months

Note

Hii! I saw that you like au's so i ask if you can make a time travel au?

Where the modern reader goes to their time and meets simon, he falls in love and asks her to marry him but she gets weirded out bcs she is still so young and doesnt plan on having children.

Dark-ish plsss? 🥺

Totaly get it if you dont want to write it, up to you 🌹

Thank you

(this was pretty short but here!)

warnings: darkish simon? young reader (16ish since she’s young but nothing happens!! pushy and possessive simon, implied fem!reader and poc!reader MADE UP ROYAL NAMES IDK HOW IT WORKS

notes: (my writing usually tends to lean towards an indian reader i’m sorry i don’t even realise when i do it 😭) i’m going to make a part two and post it tomorrow since i actual love this idea!!! you’ll meet simon!

Infatuation

summary: the one where you somehow travelled into your favourite tv show along with your family. and as you debut in society, you catch the eye of a certain duke.

part ii

shonda rimes was nothing short of a goddess in your eyes for her casting abilities.

you’d been obsessed with the books ever since they came out and the second you’d heard of it being picked up by netflix you screamed so loud your family thought you’d died.

it was the release day of the first season and you had to meditate before watching since your heart was absolutely running hundreds of miles inside.

you’d settled into bed, had your favourite snacks to your side and your emotional support water bottle clutched in your arms as you pressed play.

you’d overestimated the power of meditation to calm you down, and underestimated the power of warm cocoa.

you’d dosed off after the second episode, and you were aware of it as it happened. the sounds of your favourite show lulled you to sleep and you’d never felt happier.

but after a while, you’d realised the sounds never really faded away, they became, stronger?

the sounds of the bickering bridgertons echoed through your head, preventing further sleep.

what the fuck?

as you opened your eyes, you felt, energised.

and as you rolled over you couldn’t believe your eyes.

daphne bridgerton by your side?

“y/n, are you alright?” she questioned as she closed her book, giving her undivided attention towards you.

you reeled your shock back in as you cleared your throat, “uhm, yes, i’m alright. where are we?” daphne smiled at the question, “we’re at my home.”

you nodded as you took it in, you fell asleep last night in your own bed and woke up in your favourite book, great!

this was quite literally the epitome of all of your daydreams and you couldn’t believe it was happening. you took into account that if you were with daphne you were most likely good friends with the bridgertons, you looked down and saw your nightgown, definitely not the same pjs you wore to bed, your hair was in a braid, and-

“since you’re finally awake, let’s get ready. i’ll send the maids in! i’m so excited and nervous for today y/n/n. this is our day!” she gushed as she allowed the maids in.

our day? this most likely meant that this was starting of like the first episode. oh god, you were going to meet everyone. anthony, benedict, violet- oh god you loved violet.

the next hour was a blur, maids everywhere, millions of dresses, hair pieces, jewellery sets and so on. you’d settled on a (obviously) white dress, with a diamond like waist details, puffy sleeves, gold details/flecks around the sleeves, a tiara, bracelets and a sweet yet simple necklace. daphne had on a similar dress, but the details were different and she wore a feather in her hair.

gods, she looked amazing. the two of you stood in the middle of the mirror, clutching eachothers arms as maids touched up your hair. “you look phenomenal sister.” daphne spoke to you admirably. over the hour you realised many things, the two of you had been friends since kids despite your age gap, your mothers being the best of friends and the same for your fathers, and since hers passed the two of your families had only grown closer.

your own family were very well-known amongst the ton. your father, being marquess of anderton, lord y/f/n l/n and your mother, lady y/m/n l/n, and your brothers, eldest son, earl of anderton lord b/n, and lord b/n. then you, the youngest, lady y/n l/n.

your brothers were also best friends with the bridgerton brothers, your eldest and daphnes, your second with benedict and colin due to their shared/similar responsibilities as second/third sons. but they all got along, nothing happened in the bridgerton family without you knowing and nothing happened on yours vice versa.

you all usually visited eachother whenever, living not too far from eachother. your town home being larger than theirs, and anderton being an three hour ride from london, your country estate being much larger. you were wealthy as hell and you loved it. not that you weren’t back home, but obviously nothing like this.

you still couldn’t tell if this was a dream. usually in your dreams nothing seemed as realistic as this, and you had free reign of your body, you controlled your body, nothing odd had happened, no floating unicorns, no random nightmares, nothing. all realistic. and despite your age gap of of roughly four years, yourself and daphne got along well, she at first saw you as a younger sister and soon enough, her best friend.

even if it was a dream you’d take as long as you could here.

as the doors opened yourself and daphne stood proud and happy. the nerves dying down after you reassured one another.

your mother and lady bridgerton stood infront, teary eyed. “our girls! you look-” “breathtaking.” anthony cut his mother off as your families stood, shocked.

daphne squeezed your arm as you walked forwards, you were so relieved to see your family looking all the same, just a change in clothes, and it was odd. everyone looked so- regal! somehow your brothers had cleaned up.

“enough fussing! let’s get going now.” daphne spoke as you all made your way down. “are you going to marry a princes sisters?” hyacinth squealed as you and daphne laughed, “i wish! we do not know who we are marrying yet sweet hyacinth, that’s what the social season is for, to meet people, make friends and to meet the person you’ll marry. soon enough you’ll be in our position and you will have a line of suitors waiting for you.” you answered sweetly as she grinned from ear to ear before it was struck down by george.

“don’t lie to her! the men won’t be lining up to get to her they’ll be running to get away!” he joked as hyacinth gasped, “how dare you?!” she shouted as she chased him down the steps. for some reason this all felt, right. you felt like you belonged here. once you’d gotten past the initial shock everything just came to you so easily. the manner of speech, how to act, what to say etc.

maybe it was due to your constant daydreaming of being here but it was so easy.

“kids slow down please! you will hurt yourselves!” your mothers shouted at the same time. you were all one big family and you loved it. it was like double the love, and whilst the bridgertons may not have had their own father with them any longer, your father did his best. he spent time with the brothers and sisters, giving the support they needed, doing what he can for the children of his best friend, his family.

you had really underestimated the chaos of the bridgerton family.

you were surprised your own mother wasn’t greying in the hair at the constant bickering and fighting. but at the end of the day you knew everyone loved eachother. but right now you wanted to lunge across the carriage to strangle your eldest brother.

“it’s no big deal.”

“you’ll be fine stop fussing.”

“what’re you worrying for.”

as if this wasn’t one of the biggest days of your entire life. you had to make a good impression upon the queen, god knows the gossip in this town else wise would drive you into a hole.

“i am sorry sister, i should do well to remember the seriousness of today, i apologise.” he responded, reaching across to grab your glove-clad hand, squeezing in support.

“we should all remember the seriousness of today. but do not worry, our dear y/n will do well, i believe it wholeheartedly. you are sweet, confident, intelligent, understanding and so much more my daughter. you will find a good husband, someone whom you love preferably. but otherwise a good man, someone deserving of such an amazing woman as you and it doesn’t matter if you do not marry this season either. there is always the next. if you are not ready you should say so now.”

you’d never seen your father so absolutely understanding. you would’ve thought. especially in this day and age that he’d press you to marry but no.

“eloise has postponed her debut has she not? would it be alright for me to do the same? at ten and eight she will debut and so will i. i fear i am still to young, a lot of the others are older and know more than i.”

“no one knows more than you dear sister.” your other brother spoke up with a smile, “besides eloise of course.” he said as you all laughed, “very well then. we do not have to explain ourselves to anyone and i will send forth someone to relay the message to the queens servants and withdraw your announcement card. and i am not against the idea of keeping you caged up with us for another year. the dread!” your father joked as you all laughed.

the debut had gone better than you could’ve wished for. besides a fainting or two, and you having to endure prudences whining and complaining. the queen seemed to favour daphne and you could not have been more thrilled for her. the two of you chatted everyone’s ears of at dinner to the point where you were separated from sitting together, which did nothing as you both spoke from across the table!

at home you were restless.

your room was much larger than your own.

but you loved it nonetheless.

you couldn’t help but continue to think, you hadn’t woken up yet, you’d literally spent an entire day here, and you hadn’t awoken. you’d pinched and slapped yourself which earned you a few strange looks from the maid that you’d forgotten was in the room and nothing. you hadn’t woken up, annoyed at leaving the bridgerton world.

what you were most excited for was to meet more people if you woke up tomorrow. penelope slipped through your fingers due to lady featherington fussing over her, lady danbury hadn’t been seen, you hadn’t been able to visit madame delocroix nor anthony’s opera singer and perhaps the most disappointing of all,

simon.

you had the fattest crush on him, especially after seeing him in the show. if you woke up tomorrow, you were going to make sure to see everyone you’d missed.

and at the top of your list.

a certain duke.

and if you’d known what would happen once you met him you would’ve steered clear of him.

#bridgerton x reader #simon basset x reader #anthony bridgerton x reader #duke of hastings

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olivia091108 · 1 month

Text

Farmers daughter

Summary:Johnny goes home and meets his new neighbours daughter

Pairing:Johnny Knoxville x reader

Word count:2.4k

I had just finished filming the last episode of jackass and I’m heading down to see my folks in Tennessee for a few weeks.

My dad pick me up from the airport and drives us home it’s not too long of a drive but I know I’m almost there when the houses are all miles away from eatch other. We pull up and i get out and grab my bag and walk in with dad to see everyone.

I walk into the house and as I set my bags down ma is already pulling me into a hug telling me she hasn’t seen me in so long and telling me that I’ve missed a lot of things.

Johnny I’m so glad your home I hope you don’t mind but we have a visitor here right now but I want you to meet him. She pulls me into the living room and sitting there is a middle aged couple

“Johnny this is Albert and carol they’re our neighbours” she tells me and I shake their hands “this is my son Johnny the one who went to Hollywood”

“That’s exciting what are you doing all the way down there trying to become a movie star”carol asks me excitedly

“Yeah well I’ve actually just finished my show on mtv you might’ve seen it.”

“We don’t have a tv it shows very graphic things we just keep up with the paper” I nod finding it odd they don’t have a tv but carry on talking to them

“So Johnny how old are you?

“Im 27 sir”

“Oh your only a year older than our daughter” she turns to ma and says “she’s sorry she couldn’t make it she’s very busy at the moment”

“Oh it’s alright I’ll see her soon Johnny can you help me in the kitchen for a second”

I follow mum into the kitchen and she talks quietly “Johnny do you think you can go round and help Albert with sone jobs he isn’t strong enough for them and I promise by the time you come back I’ll have your’e favourite dinner all dishes out”

Yeah ok ma she kissed my cheek and I ask Albert if he needs any help and he brings me up on my offer and I follow them on the walk to their house.

As we approach their house it’s not as big as ours but it looks cosy and as Albert leads me round the back of the house towards the barn he begins to mutter.

“Y/n you need to quicken your’e pace and stop daydreaming or you won’t be able to finish your chores in time”

I wonder who he’s taking to as all I see is clothes and a white bedsheet hanging on the line drying. A hand quickly moves the sheet to the side and reveals a gorgeous young lady this must be there daughter.

She’s absolutely breathtaking she has lovely tanned skin wearing a white float top and denim shorts and long hair cascading down her back with small braids dotted around.

Sorry dad I was away with the fairies I’m almost finished then I’ll head to the bar- I so sorry I don’t know where my manners went I’m y/n nice to meet you she shakes my hand and I realise I’ve just been gawking at her and quickly tell her my name with a smile.

“He’s just here to help with a few things he’s Margaret’s son.”

“Of course she has not kept quiet about you saying your’e some big movie star.”

“Y/n finish this and meet us at the barn”

I nod and get back to hanging the washing and as Albert ushers me to follow him I can just about drag my eyes away from her.

Once Albert has explained everything he wants me to do he leaves the barn but I hear him begin talking to y/n who ahs just arrived

“Y/n i dont want any funny business with you and that boy alright young lady”

“Of course not dad”

“Good make sure you finish all your chores or you won’t have any supper”

As y/n walks in I quickly look back at my task and pretend I hadn’t heard their whole conversation. I work on fixing the stable door while y/n does her chores and silence fills the barn other than the occasional noise form the animals.

“Your’e show is really funny” her voice sounds like honey dripping with sweetness

“I thought you didn’t have a tv”

Well we don’t but when I go round and have supper with Margret it’s always on she’s really proud of you yknow.

I smile at her and let the words echo through my head.

Sorry if my mas a little bossy I’m sure you have better things to do tan have dinner with her every week.

“No no that’s not what I mean I love going round your folks are so kind to me”

We keep on chatting with y/n following me round while I do my jobs completely abandoning her own until I have finished and are ready to head home just intime for dinner.

She takes my wrist and looks at my watch seeing it reading 5:40. Oh Christ I’ve gotten so distracted she quickly rushes round the barn trying to complete her chores and I watch her as I’m about to leave I feel guilty especially after what her father said if she doesn’t finish. I dismiss my hunger and offer y/n help

No you should get going I don’t want to keep you you’ve only just gotten back. She says while carrying a bucket of water in one hand and some hay tucked under her arm to the animal penns.

“It’s probably something like meatloaf anyway” I begin to take water and give it to each animal and in 20 minuets we had finished them all and began to walk back to ge house

As we arrive just outside her back door she climbs on her tiptoes and wraps her arms round my neck and thanks me telling me how much trouble she would’ve gotten in if it weren’t for me and she planted a kiss on my cheek and pulled back with a smile before entering the house waving me a goodbye

I smile to myself and walk back home the only thing being on my mind was her.

The next day it’s the hottest It’s been for a while and after hanging round the house I soon become bored when there isn’t anything good on tv there’s only about 20 channels on our tv and half of them are the news. Mum asks me if I can go into town to get a few bits for her.

Ma I’m going to go round to Albert and carols to see if they need anything I’ll be back in and hour I shout upstairs to her and leave the house. While I’m waking all I’m thinking about is y/n she’s honestly like a ray or sunshine everything about her seems to take my breath away.

When I reach their house I knock on the door and carol answers and I ask her if she needs anything from town

That’s very kind I’ll write you a list would you mind taking y/n with you she doesn’t get to go into town much.

Of course ma’m that wouldn’t be a problem I tell her feeling my heart speed up a notch.

She should be down by the lake it’s behind the barn she points out to me and I walk down there and see no sign of her until she rises up to the surface from under the water.

I walk closer and stand on the bank of the lane admiring her even if I can only see the back of her head.

“hey y/n” I call over to her and she turns around and holds up her hand to block the sun not seeing who I am then a smile breaks onto her face

“Hi Johnny what you doing here is my dad trying to get you to do more jobs for him?” she asks me swimming over and it only occurs to me now that she’s not wearing any kind of clothes and I suddenly feel very shy

I turn round giving her some privacy and say. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you were naked I came over to see if you wanted to come into town with me I’d be bored going alone” I say loudly so she can hear me.

“It’s alright I don’t mind it’s natural” she says and I slowly turn my head to see what she’s doing and she’s climbed out the water now and slipped on some knickers and a bra wich immediately gets wet as she hadn’t even dried herself and grabs a small checkered red top and some denim shorts.

“Let me get some money from the house cmon” she says and grabs a hold of my hand and quickly pull me towards the house. She runs upstairs quickly to grab her money and I collect the list from carol only having a few things on it.

“Has a handsome young man like you have a girlfriend yet Johnny?”

“No not yet ma’m”

“You know my y/n is single she hasn’t had a boyfriend in a long time” carol tells me

“Mum stop” she groans as she runs sos. The stairs jumping down the last two and saying a quick goodbye to her mum before we both walk out heading to town.

“Do you like being home or are you missing the movie star life she asks me”

“Nah I like being home seeing my folks and being in my own bed I like that I’ve met you as well” I say staring down at her

“I’m glad I’ve met you too I don’t have many friends we live so far from everyone I’m just stuck on the farm all day but I can complain I love hanging around the animals.” She beams

“Do you think you will ever leave”I ask her knowing I would be crazy if I was living in the middle of nowhere away from everybody

“I want to go travelling one day but I don’t think I’ll be able to”she says kicking stones along as we walk

“Whys that?”

Well dads getting old and he won’t be able to manage the farm for much longer and we really don’t have the money for it anyways.

We carry on talking all the way until we reach the town and I can see how excited she is and she’s wanting to go into every shop and I simply follow after her like some lost dog.

We walk into a candy shop and she buys a pick and mix bags with a few lollipops and we sit on a walk and share them and I notice the cinema. Opposite playing dazed and confused

“I love that film have you seen it” is at pointing to the title that’s in bold letter above the entrance. She shakes her head no way she has some kind of sweet in her mouth and quickly finishes it.

“I haven’t seen many films only when I go round your’e house I catch a few minutes of one. Can we go and watch it?”

“Yeah let’s go”we get off the walk and buy a ticket and I buy us a bucket of popcorn and we find our seats.

She seems to be enjoying the film and as much as I like the film my eyes aren’t in the screen they’re too focused on her. I lol down at her hand resting on the armrest and think about holding her hand but think she will find it weird I brush that idea off and tell myself to go for it and wait for the right moment.

While trying to watch the film I feel her smaller soft hand slide into mine softly squeezing it and my cheeks blush as red as our seats and look over at her to see what she’s doing but she’s too engrossed in the film to think anything of it she catches me staring at her and offers me the popcorn and I grab some and settle back in my seat and squeeze her hand a bit and savour this moment

Once the film has finished we levee the cinema and see that the sun is setting and we should get going home the whole way home she still hangs let go of my hand as we continue to talk and every word she says and everyone she smiles or laughs it just makes me like her even more

As we’re about to reach her house she says to me “Johnny I’m really glad that your here I was starting to go mad on that farm” she laughs at the last bit

“I’m glad too and maybe soon you can come visit me in LA I think you would really like it there”

“Yeah that seems nice”she says as we reach her house and she says goodbye and goes up her porch stairs now she’s just below my height before turning round and grabbing my face and pulling me in for a kiss.

I immediately kiss back and I can taste the sweetness of her lollipop on her lips and my hands wrap around her waist desperately trying to pull her even closer. As we both pull away I see her lips are pink and a bit swollen and she has a small blush coating her cheeks probably matching mine.

We hear her father shout out for her and we both chuckle a bit before she gives me one last kiss and going inside not before she gives me a small wave.

I don’t know how I’m gonna leave now that I’ve met her I think to myself

Hey guys I litch have been thinking about this since @kunntzsstuff @princessthatcantfuckingsleep and @pjknoxx posted their moodboards

Iike always feel free to request

-Liv

#liv’s writing #jackass x reader #johnny knoxville #jackass imagine #johnny knoxville x reader

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oneatlatime · 5 months

Text

The Tales of Ba Sing Se PART 1

Once upon a time in Ba Sing Se, the Gaang got Appa back. The end. Please?

This title sounds rather expositiony, but last episode was already a plot/exposition dump, and a rather dark one at that. So who knows? Not me.

Sokka hun I think you're supposed to shave with a blade slightly less substantial than that.

I am fascinated by the hair loopies. I always thought that they were braided in, but they clip in. Does she have a magnet in her braid that they clip in to? A lego type system?

CAT

Toph's morning routine is uncomfortably close to mine.

I know Toph likes being slobby to stick it to the man, but wouldn't it also help with her spatial awareness if she's always sporting a healthy coating of earth? Maybe she can sense where her limbs are better or something?

"Spa day!" "Do I have to?" UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE GUYS.

That has got to be torture. How would you like a pumice stone to the eyeballs?

Now THAT'S a healthy coating of earth.

You're not usually into that stuff? You got dolled up last episode.

Are there voice acting awards? Because whoever voiced these guys needs one. I have never in my life heard such perfectly distilled middle school clique bitch impression.

That's cathartic.

Katara's smothering/mothering tendencies usually annoy me, but it's a good thing those means girls happened when Katara was around, because this calls for serious hugs. I almost want to say that it's out of character to see Toph not be 100% sure of herself, but I think it adds character instead.

Do you think anyone's ever told Toph before that she's really pretty? Ever?

That's a good hug.

Is this short stories? Like an anthology? TALES of Ba Sing Se. Like day in the life? Ok. I'm going to break this up for ease of reading/writing.

The Tale of Iroh

If Iroh hadn't distinguished himself by making the best tea in the city, he would have come to everyone's attention anyway by single handedly fixing everyone's personal problems.

Bending soccer. Why didn't I think of that?

His voice is funny in this scene. Also isn't honour a fire nation thing?

One of my absolute favourite things about Iroh is that his philosophical side is always balanced out by a practical side. He's always philosophising but he's also always grounded. Sometimes hightailing it is what needs doing. Sometimes your sister is crazy and needs to go down.

You know you're bad at crime when your poor stance actually offends the guy you're mugging.

I also like how Iroh really doesn't moralise. He'll teach this guy what conditions the moonflower likes; he'll teach this guy how to mug better. Knowledge is for sharing, no judgment attached!

Random mugger speedruns Zuko's arc.

So pretty. It's been a while since there's been good pretty.

oh shit

Now I have questions!

The Tale of Aang

Writers take note: You see this sad face? You see what you've done to my boy? You can reverse it with one simple trick! GIVE HIM APPA BACK.

I love this. Can't help Appa, so Aang helps every other animal in Ba Sing Se instead.

I want to know what this is. Monkey panther?

I didn't realise until now how tall platypus bears were.

CABBAGE GUY! HI!

Actual dragonflies. Punny.

I love these. My nomination for cutest atla animal.

I hope that wasn't required agricultural land. Should have put the zoo near the drill instead. That land already looked close to salted.

This was some Toph level bending. Love to see Aang's skills progress.

Turtle seal's got competition for cutest animal.

Just call this portion the petting zoo and it's a win.

The Tale of Sokka

Something I don't talk about enough is Sokka's supernatural skill with that boomerang. The realistic explanation is that he's spent every spare minute since receiving it honing his skills by chucking it at random piles of snow, but I like to think he's a boomerang bender. Actually wouldn't boomerang bending be a manifestation of latent airbending tendencies?

I make this face at lasagne.

I may have to make another Sokka's Stupid Faces post.

There is nothing oaflike about falling out of a window and into a Haiku. He was even polite about it!

Somebody introduce Sokka to flyting.

Forget about being a warrior, Aang needs to end this war yesterday so that Sokka can go be a poet. Warrior poet. He's way too creative to waste on cannon fodder.

Poetry bouncer. The longer I think about that the funnier it gets.

Betrayed by hubris.

A Poetry bouncer. Who comes up with this stuff? How do you come up with that? I keep thinking about a poetry bouncer and I keep giggling.

I'm breaking this post here as I'm reaching the image limit. Part 2 coming immediately!

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se #airbender Sokka fanfic when?

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gingerylangylang1979 · 10 months

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Sydney, Love, Beauty

I don’t know if many others noticed but Syd seems to have glammed up a little in the later episodes of S2. It’s very slight, you would almost miss it but it’s there. She has on shiny sheer lip color (yes, her lips always looked so dry last season, thank you), a sliver of eyeliner, and a touch of mascara. I also noticed her lighting is much improved showing off her perfect skin.

Syd has always been attractive but it just really stuck out to me that after the arrival of Claire she’s looking just a tad more dolled up. Is it connected? Did the makeup artist just decide to experiment more? Will we see more changes in the future?

As a black woman I’m obviously going to analyze this more. Black women are always going to notice how we are portrayed onscreen aesthetically. I remember being so pissed, along with much of the black TWD fandom, about how wamp, wamp Michonne’s wigs were. Were we being reasonable? Would any of us have amazingly groomed dreads during a zombie apocalypse? It wasn’t like the white women had fresh blowouts. Was it on purpose or an oversight?

Back to Syd. They could keep Syd looking the same. They could change her to look more glam. Either choice has implications.

A lot of people read Sydney’s style as signaling that she’s a lesbian. That could make sense. Plenty of lesbians style themselves like Syd. But it could also mean nothing. I have two black women friends that dress very tomboyish and both are very straight. They are like sisters to me. I could testify in court they love dick. But especially for black women any sign of non feminine coded style signals gay. I think this feeds into people having a hard time seeing Syd as interested in men or having the show’s sex symbol attracted to her. She could turn out to be gay but I doubt it given the slow burn with Carmy. She could be bisexual which leaves possibilities open. But I think it’s very interesting that the production choices didn’t decide to make Syd a girlie girl when the writing is making her an object of men’s affections. Part of me is really into that.

On the other hand part of me would love to see her have a glam moment. But this could be potentially problematic. Syd has style but also seems to dress for practicality. So if she is consciously making an effort to look more feminine where is it coming from? Is she just growing into a new look? Is she trying to catch Carmy’s eye? Are the producers consciously trying to make her more appealing to the general audience as a romantic lead?

Personally, I would love to see Syd switch it up a little but not go too far. I would love her to have a more modern hairstyle. Box braids are classic but I want to see a more sophisticated, trendy style. Someone posted about her getting knotless boho braids or passion twists. I’m into it. I just feel like Syd is up on design and I want to see her step her game up as her career rises. I don’t mind the little bit of makeup we saw and would love to see a slightly bolder look if she has someplace to go that’s not a restaurant. On that note, can we please see her somewhere that’s not food related? I also wouldn’t mind seeing her in some lighter colors in her street wear. Her wardrobe was so dark this season.

What I don’t want to see is her doing like a full extreme makeover and that’s the thing that seems to be the catalyst for Carmy to realize he loves her. I feel like that’s fine in some white girl Cinderella story but leaves me cold in a black woman’s love story. And if they do a silk press and that’s her glow up I would be super pissed. I’m not anti her ever having straight hair but if it’s like oh, now the white boy falls for her I will ride at dawn to FX.

I wonder what Sydney’s perceptions of her looks are. She seems confident in so many ways. But, yeah, why did she decide to randomly have a glossy lip? Does she view herself as pretty? Has she dated? Has she been told she’s beautiful?

I’m rambling but my point is she can glow up a bit but I never want the messaging to be she had to “get pretty” to get the guy. If she makes changes I want it to be because she’s evolving, maybe a little flirty, but not thinking she has to be a different person to get who she wants.

#the bear fx #sydney adamu #ayo edebiri #carmy berzatto #carmy x sydney #black women on tv #black women in cinema #black beauty

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butterflydm · 6 months

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some thoughts on Rand's romance journeys in s1 & 2

So I was rewatching 2x4 before doing some editing on the next chapter of "past is prologue" and it really made me think about how completely different Rand and Egwene's journeys about romance have been in the show so far.

Because one of the last things that Rand ever tells Selene, before he learns the truth about her, is that she's the only woman who has ever seen him as a man.

And it really made me think about how Egwene's first big act as a official grown-up woman (with a braid and all) was to break up with Rand. So of course he doesn't think of her as a woman who loved him as a man -- she was a girl who loved him as a boy and then ended things when she 'grew up'.

Basically everything that Rand experienced after that event reinforced that point to him too, I think. He's dealing with this incredibly traumatic realization (mostly by trying to ignore it) of finding out that he was a foundling on a battlefield and the people that he thought were his birth parents aren't. And he never shares that with Egwene because he considers that door of emotional closeness between them to be shut because of the 1x1 breakup.

The one time that Rand does initiate emotional closeness between them (in 1x7), he's experiencing his final act of denial about the truth of who he is. It is not genuine emotional closeness -- instead of telling Egwene about what Tam said, he shares that moment of vulnerability with Min instead when he goes to ask her if he's the Dragon. With Egwene, he instead plays into the fantasy that he could run off to the White Tower and be her Warder.

Which is basically the exact same thing that Egwene does in 1x1 before she breaks up with him -- she indulges in one last time of having sex with him before she breaks things off. The main difference being that Egwene does talk to Rand instead of, you know, running off into the night and letting him believe that she's dead (which is a pretty huge difference! Not meaning to downplay that!).

But, yeah, that line really struck me again when I was rewatching the episode.

#wot 2x4 spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #wot meta #my wot meta #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #rand al'thor

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rushtoprove · 1 year

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as long as we're together

aemond targaryen x reader /// the last of us au

summary: with a virus quickly spreading and violence taking over, aemond tries to move your little family to a safer place. he didn't expect to lose you all so quickly.

word count: 4349

part one : and then there was nothing

it was meant to be your daughter's first day of school, not the start of the apocalypse.

warnings: : horror themes and course language.

i had so many half written stories but the moment i finished that damn the last of us episode my laptop was open and i was off. this is very loosely based off the show, and could probably be more just apocalyptic au.

“…major reports of violent attacks across the city. The continued disturbance has many leaders growing uneasy, and they are requesting citizens to remain away from the area until the violence subsides. Mayor Borros Baratheon promises swift action on the matter. The cause of these outbursts is unknown to those outside the city. Our reporter…”

“Aemond, I love you but if Elia sneaks into our bed from nightmares again, I will blame you.” You rushed past your partner, who was scooping cereal into his mouth on the couch, and hurriedly began pulling the array of pencils scattered on the table into their correct case. Aemond simply shrugged as your daughter braided his hair behind him. You could not understand how they were so calm when you were going to be late for Elia’s first day of school.

“She doesn’t understand she’s only six. Did you see this? We were only just in Storm’s End! Aegon thinks it’s a terrorist attack.” He frowned, without taking his eyes away from the television screen. He had been following the story all week, not that there was much known about it. They simply kept repeating that the population was experiencing violent outbursts and it was becoming hard to control. You hadn’t paid much attention but something about it had struck Aemond.

“It just sounds like they are rioting against the government. Your brother thinks everything is some big conspiracy and darling, our trip to Storm’s End was two years ago. I know you’re interested but we really have to get moving. Also! Six years old is enough to remember something scary on the television. Remember when you watched that zombie show while she was in the room? She had to sleep with us for two weeks!” Reaching forward for the remote, you quickly turned it off before moving to zip up Ellia’s school bag, while ignoring the noise of protest Aemond huffed through his mouth full of cereal.

“I don’t have nightmares! I’m a big girl now!” Straightening her back with a huff, Elia stood tall behind her father, and you were once again stuck by their resemblance. You were jealous of their silver hair and bright blue eyes, but it was also their headstrong personality and dominating presence that reflected one another. Your heart swelled as you looked at them.

“Come. We don’t want you to be late for your first day. I’m glad you are fixing your father’s hair because I want some photo’s of my big girl before we go.” You placed a kiss upon your daughter’s head, and quickly moved to do the same to Aemond, but he quickly tilted his head back and caught your lips with his own.

“I’m not having plats in for the photos.” He whispered against your lips, and you couldn’t help the giggle that escaped you, and in turn your daughter too.

“You look ravishing my love.” You pressed one more kiss upon him, before straightening up and handing your daughter her bag.

“Come on big girl. It’s time we get you to class.” She gripped the handle tightly, trying to figure out what she wanted to say, but the words seemingly escaped her, so she dug herself into your torso and buried her head into you.

“What if everyone hates me?” Her little voice was muffled, but you and Aemond both heard her words clearly, sharing the same look of concern.

“There is no chance my baby! Everyone will love you. You are kind and smart and I’m sure everyone will see that, and you will have no problems making friends! Also, Jaehaerys is going to be in your class, so you won’t be alone.” You bent down to pull her away, while brushing the hair from her face. Aemond placed a comforting hand upon her head and smiled lovingly at his only daughter.

“Yes, you shall have your cousin and you will make many friends. And if those little kids are mean to you, they shall have to deal with me. I can promise you that.” Your daughter giggled at her father’s threat, before twisting her little arms around his neck. He instantly reacted by pulling her up into the air and allowing her to wrap her legs around his hip. Elia reached for you, and you found yourself being tugged tightly into your husband’s side, and you all sighed at the feeling of being close to one another.

“I love you both.” She whispered, leaning her cheek into Aemond’s face.

“I am the luckiest man alive. How did I end up with such a perfect little family?” You let your eyes shut as you let yourself be overwhelmed with the comfort of having the two most important people in your life safety tucked into your arms.

“My loves.” You whispered as they both moved to pat down your hair. You could have stayed in that moment forever.

How were you to know that soon you would spend your nights cursing yourself for being the one who moved away first?

“Come on you two. Photo time.” Clapping your hands together, the two groaned in protest at your sudden change.

“OH! I can use the camera Aunt Helaena bought me!” Elia squealed in realisation before running off down the house you shared with your husband. Aemond began pulling the braids away so that his shoulder length hair could flow freely. You let your hands wrap around his waist and he quickly lent down to kiss the tip of your nose.

“You’re holding it together really well.” He whispered making you let out a tiny laugh.

“I couldn’t stop crying in the shower. It feels like yesterday we were looking over her cot in the hospital ward. She’s growing too fast.” Aemond hummed in agreement at your confession and let himself rest his head upon yours.

“Much too fast. Usually, I spend my days off playing dragons and princesses with her but now I don’t know how I shall spend my time.”

“I’m sure we will find something to do.” You giggled and he instantly grabbed your hips, pulling you tightly into him.

“Oh, I have my plans.”

“FOUND IT!” Elia’s scream ruined the moment and her heavy footfalls echoed through your small house as she neared. Swinging around the corner happily carrying the polaroid camera her aunt gifted her, Elia’s face instantly dropped in realisation.

“Dad… your braids!?” The hurt was evident, and you could not stifle the laughter that erupted upon seeing your husband’s devastated face.

“I had to. They were giving me a terrible headache. But I promise I will wear them tonight.” Your daughter let her bottom lip tremble, before quickly shaking it off and seemingly forgetting what had upset her in the first place.

“We need three so everyone has one! Mum, you have to take it because you’re the best at photos. When dad was setting it up, he took a photo of up his nose.” Reaching up, she let herself be lifted back into her father’s arms and handed you the camera.

“You swore you would never tell anyone.” Aemond faked a gasp of shock, and you quickly turned your widened eyes to your daughter.

“Do you still have the photo?” You grinned devilishly towards Elia, who returned the smile with the same energy.

“It’s gone. I burned it.” Aemond protested the two girls, but his daughter betrayed him as she giggled and shook her head.

“It’s in my diary.” The sound of her father spluttering out traitor made her scream in delight, and you found yourself laughing along with her. Aemond tried his hardest to keep a straight face, but he could not stop the corners of his mouth turning up. The noise seemed to catch the attention of someone else, and the sound of heavy footsteps and quick breaths quickly soured your mood.

“Vaghar no!” But it was too late, as your large dog raced around the corner and jumped up on you. Many said she was the largest dog they had ever seen, and every time she jumped up to reach on to your shoulders, you swore it to be true.

“Remember when they said this beast would only grow into a medium sized dog." You grunted out as you pushed her off you, trying hard not to buckle under the weight, while ignoring the laughter of your very amused family. Shuffling in, you held up the camera for your daughter, and took three photos. Elia made sure to judge who got each one. You had the one that showed Elia pressing her cheek to Aemond’s as you all grinned widely at the camera, whereas Elia got the photo of both her parent’s placing a kiss her cheeks. Aemond was quick to snatch the last photo, where your daughter and you were smiling with one another as Aemond gazed upon you both. Half his face was cut from the photo.

“I don’t want my nose taking up the photo. I just wanna see my girls.” He tucked the photo inside his pocket, while you placed yours in your wallet and Elia placed it in the small pocket of her bag.

“Oh god we’re late!” You gasped as you noticed the time before gripping your daughter and ushering her forward. Aemond quickly grabbed the keys for the car and began locking up your tiny cottage-esk house as you strapped your daughter in.

“Can Vaghar come? Please?” She whined as Vaghar tried her hardest to jump through the door you were blocking while you buckled up Elia’s seat belt.

“No Vaghar cannot come. She will scare the children and I don’t think your father will be able to bare being separated from you AND Vaghar at the same time.” You closed the door on her protests before hurriedly guiding Vaghar to the back gate and locking her in the yard.

“We will be back soon.” You promised, giving her a quick pat, then turning and running back to the passenger seat of the car.

“Vaghar is my best-friend!” You reached in only to hear the two arguing over the giant dog, which you chose to ignore and settled into the car seat. Aemond began backing out of the driveway but stopped when a distant vibrating noise started to grow closer.

“What is that?” Elia craned her neck to see, while you and Aemond tried to find the source of the noise through the windshield of the car. Soon the noise grew so loud it was deafening, making Elia scream and cover her ears. You reached your arm back towards her in fright as Aemond jumped out to get a better look.

“WHAT IS IT?” You cried out but there was no way he would have heard you. Soon you got your answer as three fighter jets raced lowly over your house, so low you thought they might hit the trees that covered your property. You and your daughter both screamed and ducked as the trees blew over so hard you swore, they would snap and fall on both the house and the car, but the moment was over, and the noise seemed to fade off into the distance.

“Why were they so low?” You gasped at your husband as he climbed back into the car. You reached a comforting hand to Elia’s knee and gave it a squeeze as Aemond began cursing under his breath.

“To be that close! I will be sending in a complaint! If I find out it’s a fucking training exercise for the army!” You could hear Vaghar’s roar-like barking, and the sound of your daughter’s panicked breath led you to calm yourself, and smile at everyone.

“It’s okay. It’s all over now. C’mon, let’s get to school. Everything is fine.” Aemond was still swearing under his breath as he began reversing again. Just as he began to let the car back on to the road, two police cars came racing past at unimaginable speed, making him smash his foot on the break and the whole car lurched forward. You cried out in shock, grasping on to his biceps as you both watched the red and blue flashing lights disappear just as quick as they came. Aemond stilled, before quickly swinging around to face you in incredulity.

“What the fuck is going on with the world today!?” He asked in disbelief. You shushed his language but could not still your beating heart.

“Are you alright Elia?” You both turned back to face your daughter who had paled dramatically. She simply nodded and looked out the window. She never liked to admit when she was scared, but the silence from her usual talk was enough for you to know she was shaken by the events of this morning.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you to school my little princess. I’ll just have to be extra weary because apparently everyone is a moron today.” You hit Aemond lightly as he once again swore in front of your daughter, then braced yourself as the car edged back on to the street. Aemond kept one hand on the wheel, but reached his other hand to your knee and gave it a squeeze.

“Are you alright?” He mumbled. You turned the radio up to mask the voice of your husband and you talking from your daughter.

“A bit shaken. Do you think something’s happened?” You murmured. He inhaled, deep in thought, and you could tell he too was on edge. Another cop car weaved around yours, and you all turned to gaze after it.

“I’ll check the news.” You quickly grabbed your phone, and a part of you was scared you would have a bunch of missed calls from people trying to reach you. Instead, it was just a couple of work emails and a text from Adidas telling you it had a 20% off sale this weekend. You chuckled at yourself, and at the way you always imagining the worst possible situation.

“Nothing’s coming up.” You mumbled as you tried different news outlets and google searches. Aemond hummed, but you could tell the uneasiness was yet to fade. Grasping his hand tightly, you pulled it to your lips, and watched as he relaxed into your touch. His soft demeanour did not last long before you felt him clench beneath your fingertips. The quick spike of tension made you look up to see the road ahead had been barricaded off by police and cars were being turned around.

“Maybe there was a crash?” You whispered as Aemond edged the vehicle closer. You watched in suspense as the cop stopped talking to the car in front and began walking towards yours. Aemond allowed the window to wind down and you leaned across the divider to get a better listen.

“Sorry guys but you won’t be able to get into the city today. We’ve had to block it off.” The cop yawned making you screw your eyebrows together. How could he corner of an entire city and not be concerned?

“Has something happened?” Aemond questioned, frustrated that there was to be no explanation on why he couldn’t get in.

“All I know is something has happened, and we need to block of all incoming traffic.” The cop shrugged and gave no time for any reply before he turned and walked towards the car behind yours. Yourself and Aemond both let out a growl of disbelief.

“What about school?” Elia cried out, clutching her backpack tightly. Aemond began turning the car around while you spun in your seat to face her.

“No school today I guess sweetie. Maybe tomorrow they will let us drive in?” She let out a long whine, but it was obvious she was not truly upset.

“Fine. I GUESS we will have to play princesses and dragons then dad.” She sighed out in fake exasperation, and you let out a small laugh at your daughter’s antics. Aemond, however, clenched the wheel tightly and did not break his gaze from the road ahead. It was then you realised you were turning into the almost empty parking lot of your local grocery store.

“Oh, darling I went shopping two days ago. We have enough for a week.” He did not listen as he parked the car, before turning and pulling your hands towards his lips. He did not break eye contact as he stared at you, and a sense of uneasiness grew.

“Something is happening my love.” He whispered. You stared at him a moment longer, before shaking your head.

“Aemond I…”

“Please. Just humour me on this. Worst comes to worse I will refund all the cans of soup next week. I promise.” He began unbuckling his seat belt while you tried to comprehend his words. Elia eagerly followed her father, while you struggled to follow.

“What cans of soup?” You ran up to Elia and swept her up in your arms, while Aemond pulled out a trolley and rushed inside the store. He moved straight past the fresh produce and meat aisles, and instead pulled up infront of all the non-perishable foods and began sweeping them off the shelf and into the cart like a mad man.

“Dad what are you doing?” Elia giggled, while you pulled her closer into your body.

“Aemond I think you are being a bit ridiculous. It’s because Aegon is always telling you all those stupid stories he reads on the internet. I’m sure there was just an accident, and they are trying to clean it up, so they must rope it off.” His phone began ringing halfway through your speal and he quickly brought it to his ear with an apologetic look.

“Grandfather.” He greeted Otto cooly, as he does most of his family. He began moving forward, grabbing more tins as he walked, while Elia and you listened to him explain everything that happened this morning.

“Is something bad going to happen?” She whispered, moving your hair so she could get a look at your nervous face. You tried to tell yourself it was fine, but you did not lie to her.

“I’m not sure sweetie. But as long as we are all together, we will be okay.”

“We are at the store now. Yes, I’m filling up the cart. What is everyone else doing?” You were only catching phrases of what was being said in Aemond’s conversation, but you could tell Otto was nervous too. If Otto Hightower was feeling scared, you knew whatever was about to happen would be frightening. Within minutes Aemond had already filled the cart and moved so you could push it, leaving him free to grab another.

“Jesus Aemond.” You muttered, but turning around you noticed the almost empty store was filling up with people… quickly. You nudged Aemond for his attention and watched him breathe deep as he too noticed the way everyone was speed walking around the store. He quickly threw three first-aid kits into the trolley before you all moved to the counter’s conveyer belt. The teenager behind it couldn’t help but groan at the two trolleys full of groceries.

“I’m sorry. I’ll pack it just pass it down.” You apologised before putting Elia down and moving to the end of the desk with her quickly following.

“I’ll help Mumma.” She murmured, making you cup her head and kiss it. Aemond was quick as he unpacked the trollies so they could be scanned, while skilfully letting the phone sit between his ear and his shoulder.

“It will take us two weeks. I have some gas stored at home and it might be enough to get us there. Of course I know the way! I spent my childhood there. Just promise you will keep mother and Helaena safe. Yes, yes, Aegon too obviously. Are you sure you need to pick him up, I’m sure he can drive himself?”

“That will be $748.60.” The cashier’s voice tore you away and you couldn’t help the curses that fell from your mouth.

“Oh fuck! Aemond I don’t think we need…” It was too late as Aemond slid his credit card into the machine and began punching in his pin.

“When the fuck did he lose his license!? God do we even need to bring him, he will only slow us down? No, jesus Otto do not pick up his new girlfriend too!” He growled down the phone before quickly moving to help you fit the bags into the trolley. He pressed a quick kiss a top your forehead and moved to guide you out by the placing a hand on the small of your back.

“IT’S MINE YOU BASTARD!” You jumped in fright as a voiced bellowed from across the store. You turned to see two men hoisting each other around by their shirts until one gained enough power to throw the other into one of the shelves, leaving everyone to cry out and move from the falling debris.

“Come on.” Aemond whispered in your ear as he pulled Elia up and pushed you forward. You heard more shouting begin but Aemond was too quick for you to see what happened next. Elia turned her wide eyes towards you, and you tried to smile and calm her, but your eyes were full of fear.

“Alright. We will try and keep in contact. Two weeks hopefully. You keep them all safe so help me God. Yes, I will do the same with my lot. We will take the backroads. Yes. Yes. Alright. Alright I will see you all in two weeks. Where the fuck do I find a gun? What do you mean in my shed!?” You spun in shock, but Aemond just moved his hands around to convey that he didn’t know. He said goodbye once more, before throwing his phone into the cup holder and speeding out of the car park without delay.

“There better not be a gun in your fucking shed Aemond.” You growled. Aemond heaved out a sigh and began shaking his head nervously.

“Apparently he left it there because he feels unsafe when he visits.” You cried out in frustration and began nervously running your hand through your hair.

“What if Elia had of found it!? God he is a crazy old man! Why are you listening to him Aemond!?”

“I wouldn’t go in the shed it has spiders.” Elia quipped up from the back, trying to stop her parents from fighting too much.

“I don’t know! But the government has been told it’s some kind of virus. They haven’t been told much but apparently; it’s spreading fast.” You felt the car pick up speed as Aemond talked and you felt yourself clutch on to the door handle.

“Dad!” Elia squeaked, but Aemond was committed to getting home. The twenty-minute journey only took ten minutes.

“What is wrong with you!?” You cried out as he finally parked in front of your home. He rushed to Elia’s door and bundled her up in his arms, before opening your door and pulling you with him. He rushed you all inside, before quickly opening the gate and allowing Vaghar to follow you all in.

“Elia take Vaghar and go and play with her. I’m sure she has missed you.” You could not look at her as you began nervously running your fingers through your hair, while Aemond began making sure everything was locked with in the house. He quickly moved to the TV and you both stood as the breaking news played out.

“Authorities have declared a national emergency and have ordered all civilians to stay indoors. They say the sickness is fast spreading and that violent attacks have begun within the city. The army has moved in to attend but authorities repeat that it is crucial everyone stays indoors.” You felt your body still as the news reported whatever this was. Your vision blurred as you tried to centre yourself, but the horror you were hearing was frightening you more than you ever thought possible.

“They are saying it’s lethal. That the moment you get it you’re dead. We will go to my family's cabin in Harrenhal. Otto is hoping the fresh air and isolation will help us stay safe. He’s already picked up my mother and they are going to pick up Helaena and her children then they will get Aegon. We will meet them there. Pack some bags and we will leave at dawn.” The entire morning seemed to hit you suddenly, and the overwhelming fear made you buckle over and clutch the couch for support. Instantly Aemond was by your side. The sound of your daughter’s laughter, and Vaghar’s barking, quickly brought on the tears and you felt yourself being pulled into Aemond’s tight embrace as you crumbled under the pressure of it all.

“Elia. We have to make sure she’s okay. We have to look after her. She's so young Aemond. What are we going to do?” You wept. You felt him dig his nose into your hair and you felt his grip tighten even more as he began kissing you wherever he could reach.

“Always. We will always keep her safe. And I will keep you safe. I promise you that I will keep you both safe. As long as we are together, that is all that matters.” He murmured.

The sound of a piercing scream from outside silenced you both.

“Get the curtains closed.” Aemond whispered cautiously.

Another scream tore through the neighbourhood.

“We have an urgent update from the authorities. Stay away from the infected. The violent attacks are not looters, it is those who have the sickness. The virus seems to be taking control of the host’s bodies and controlling them to act out horrific acts of savagery. Even if it is your loved ones. You must stay away.” The news reporter could not finish before he began horrifically coughing.

“Michael?” Someone behind the camera whispered. You watched in horror as his body began twitching on the screen, and then the sound of the news staff rushing around before the camera fell to the floor.

There was a piercing scream.

And then there was nothing.

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen fic #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen #ewan mitchell #hotd imagine #hotd fanfic #house of the dragon

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callsign-dexter · 7 months

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Surgical Serenade

Request: idk if u still write for him but can you do a Connor Rhodes imagine set in s3 (during the episode at the fundraiser thing) where the reader is like a surgical resident (like in greys anatomy) and her father is a famous general surgeon, so she gets invited and comes in a beautiful dress and he’s whipped, include Ava Bekkers jealousy pls coz I don’t like her 😄🤫

Thx,

Pairings: Connor Rhodes x Surgical Resident!Reader

Warnings: Fluff

A/N: Thank you so much @selswift23 for requesting this!

You never liked coming to these things but considering your dad was a big time famous general surgeon, you had also been invited, every single time. You yourself were a surgical resident at your father’s hospital, Chicago Med. You really liked it there and you really liked the people especially Connor Rhodes but you never were able to spend time with him since you were always busy and hardly ever on the same shift as him.

You thought Connor was hot but he was always with Ava when you did get to see him and you were absolutely crushed but you took those emotions and put them into work. By doing this you quickly became a top resident. You loved what you did and hoped to be good as your father one day, if not even better. You had talked with Godwin and she had said some promising things but you knew to take them with a grain of salt and just continued to work.

As you were getting read in your apartment you had to talk yourself up into putting on makeup and doing your hair. You sighed and looked in your mirror while you were putting on your earrings and your necklace that your father had given you for a gift on your last birthday. You wished your mother was here to help you get ready for this event but sadly she was not and that crushed you. When you were done putting on your makeup and jewelry when your phone rang. You picked it up and saw that your father was calling so you answered it.

“Hello, Dad.” You said with a smile and put him on speaker as you continued to get ready.

“Hi, Baby Girl. Are you almost ready to go?” He asked you and you smiled.

“Yes, putting the last touches on and then going to put the dress on.” You said and you could hear him nod.

“Do you want me to pick you up?” He asked and you shook your head.

“No. I’m good with driving myself.” You said with a smile on your face. Ever since your mother had died, he had really stepped up and gave you his undivided attention when he wasn’t working and you were glad about that.

“Ok ok. Just let me know if you change your mind.” He said and again you smiled.

“Will do, Daddy. Will do. I love you.” You said

“I love you too, Baby Girl.” He said and then you both hung up.

You looked at the time and then stood up and looked at the time. You stripped off your clothing and put on your navy blue dress. It was form fitting but flowing at the bottom. It was backless and the straps were thick but spaghetti strap style. You absolutely loved this dress. You had paired it off with the diamond earrings and necklace that your father had given you on your last birthday. Your hair was done up in a half up and half down style with it slight curl to it but it was French braided on the side and then loose going down your back. Your shoes were navy blue high heels but not too high where you weren’t able to walk.

When you got up from your bed after strapping on your shoes you looked at yourself in your full-length mirror and smoothed it down and smiled. You turned and grabbed your phone and then walked into the living room. You walked to where your handbag was and grabbed it along with your keys and you were heading to the fundraiser.

——————————————————————

When Connor arrived at the fundraiser with Ava he was ready to get the day over with and out of there. They walked in a greeted everyone that they needed to and then they went a mingled about. He was listening to something Ava was saying but was only half listening to her. He fully lost attention when you walked in looking stunning as ever.

Connor had seen you around the hospital and wanted to talk to you but each time you or he got whisked away. When he was going to ask you something, when you were on the same shift, but Ava always butted in and when he was able to break free you were gone. In all honesty he had fallen in love with you at first sight and he didn’t even know your name. He watched you walk in and greet everyone and then went over to an older man and kissed him on the cheek but for some reason he wasn’t jealous. He watched you shake hands with the other gentlemen around you and other man. He had to know your name.

“Connor, are you even listening to me?” Ava said and but wasn’t paying attention to her.

“Who is that?” He asked Ava and she turned to look at who he was looking at.

“That is Y/N Scott, surgical resident at med. Her father is Jason Scott.” She said and he just looked at you in awe. He watched you excuse yourself from your father and walked over to the bar. This was his chance. He walked over to that same bar and stood beside you completely abandoning Ava where she stood.

He turned to look at you. “Hi, I’m Connor.” He said and you turned to look over at him and smiled and he could’ve sworn he melted right then and there.

“Hi, I’m YN Scott.” You said and outstretched your hand for him to shake and he did and he loved how soft your skin felt. You only let go when the bartender came back with your drink and you turned and thanked him then turned back to Connor.

“So, Y/N what brings you here on this fine evening?” He asked and you smiled.

“Well since my father is a famous surgeon, I get invited to these things to.” You said and he nodded smiling.

“Your father is Jason Scott, right?” He asked and you nodded “He’s a nice guy. It’s always a pleasure working with him.” He said and you smiled you always thought highly of your father.

“He’s a great man. He really stepped up when my mother passed. I mean he was there before but after she passed, he became the mother and father to me.” You said smiling and occasionally sipping your drink.

While you had been talking Ava had been watching you both and was seething. She was jealous. To her Connor was her man and only her man. Connor would say differently. You never really did like Ava she was always acting better than you and you didn’t like that so you steered clear. She watched you both laugh with each other and the little touches you shared. She then watched you both walk out of the room and to somewhere else.

——————————————————————

It was getting crowded in the room and hard to hear and he seemed to pick up on this too. “Hey, do you want to take this to somewhere quieter?” Connor asked you and you nodded as you set your now finished drink down. He took your hand and led you out of the room. You walked past your father and he just smiled at you when you looked at him. What you didn’t know was that he had always wanted you two to get together and fully supported you. Connor led you outside and for once it was a warm enough night that you didn’t need anything to over up. It was a comfortable silence. “Have you always wanted to be surgeon?” He asked you and you looked at him and smiled.

“Yes, my father had help in me choosing that career. Pretty much my entire family was in the medical field. My mother worked in pediatrics before she passed away due to a car accident.” You said and looked down when you mentioned your mother.

“I’m sorry about your mother. She would be proud of you.” He said and you looked up smiling at him. You had heard the rumors about this man but speaking to him now made all those thoughts invalid. You both continued to talk and then you decided now was the time.

“Connor, I’ve always liked you. I have since I started working at med for my surgical residency. I never got to speak to you because we were being pulled different ways or Ava would come and whisk you away. I think I always steered clear was because you two seemed like you were a couple and I didn’t want to ruin that. Point is, I like you Connor Rhodes and I hope I didn’t fuck this up.” You said and he was silent. You really thought you had fucked this up and was about to turn away and leave when he spoke up.

“No, you didn’t fuck it up. Truth is that I’ve felt the same way. Ava and I are not together, far from it. You’re absolutely beautiful everyday but especially tonight. I wish we had more shifts together but I know how it works. You’re an amazing woman and the work I’ve seen you do is amazing.” He said and you looked down and he gently raised your head up with his pointer finger so you were looking at him. “Can I kiss you?” He asked and you nodded.

“Yes.” You said and he pressed his lips to yours and he could’ve melted at our soft your lips were. Fireworks exploded and this is what you imagined kissing him. He may have rumors going around about him but you decided to take the chance and this was the chance and so you kissed him back. You only pulled away when air was needed and you looked at each other smiling.

“Do you want to go and get another drink?” He asked and you nodded again not trusting your voice. He led you back into the room and to the bar. “Tequila Sunrise?” He asked and you nodded. He turned to the bartender and ordered both of your drinks. When the drinks were put in front of you, you both grabbed them and headed to another part of the room to find other colleagues.

He still had your hand in his and you knew people would be staring and you were right. Your dad was looking at you smiling and Ava was looking at you glaring but you didn’t care. You had Connor and he had you. Nothing could make you both happier at this moment. You both looked at each other occasionally smiled at each other and right then and there you knew this was the best chance you had taken and you weren’t going back.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@grandstrangerphantom

#connor rhodes x reader fandom #connor rhodes x reader fanfiction #connor rhodes x reader imagine #connor rhodes x reader fic #connor rhodes x reader imagines #connor rhodes x reader #connor rhodes fic #connor rhodes fanfiction #connor rhodes imagine #connor rhodes fanfic #chicago med imagine #chicago med fic #chicago med fanfiction #chicago med x reader #one chicago fanfic #one chicago imagines #one chicago x reader #one chicago fanfiction #one chicago imagine

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idontplaytrack · 1 month

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Safe & sound

AJ Campos x fem!reader (established r/s) + Gabi Campos x Chantal (established, mentioned)

Warnings: fluff, maybe some cursing? mentions of sickness, implied vomiting

In which, reader is sick and aj comes over after school to take care of her.

AJ sat in her last class of the day, watching the time on the clock impatiently as she completed the given worksheet on her desk. She was waiting for the bell to ring so she could go over to your place and see you. You were absent today on account of you being sick— which you did tell AJ about, and she was being worried about you as usual. Which was cute, and sweet of her but you were okay. Well- you would be. Just maybe not right now. Anyway, AJ makes it through the last class, finishing the assignment with a bit of time to spare. Once the bell rang, she turned the assignment in and she was off. Dumping the books she didn’t need into her locker, she hears Gabi call her name. “Oh. Hey, what’s up?”

“You said y/n was sick? You’re definitely going to see her, aren’t you? Do you want a ride to her place? I can drop you off.”

“Sure, if you don’t mind.” AJ zips up her bag and shut her locker, slinging the backpack strap over her shoulder.

“No problem, Chantal has a club thing so I don’t have any plans.” Gabi shrugs, walking beside her sister. AJ got into the front passenger seat of Gabi’s car, hearing that Gabi’s unlocked it.

“Are you planning on staying over?”

“I might. It’s Friday. Plus, Dad’s out of town and Mom’s working late.” AJ shrugs, a small sigh falls from her lips.

“Beats being home alone and not having a clue what to do.” Gabi laughs.

AJ chuckles, “I’m willing to bet that there’s a party you can go to tonight. You just gotta find one.”

“That’s true.”

It was a thirty minute drive to yours, but they were in comfortable silence, so the drive to your place felt pretty quick. “Okay, you two have fun. Tell y/n I said hi and I hope she feels better soon.”

“Thanks, Gabi. I’ll see you tomorrow. Or maybe tonight- it depends.”

“Alright.” Gabi chuckles, “Bye, AJ.”

She walks up to your house and up onto the porch then rang the doorbell. You heard it, but it takes you awhile to get off the couch and to the door to open it. “Who is it?” You asked.

“It’s me.” Your ears perked up at AJ’s voice. Quickly, you opened the door. “Hi.” She smiles the moment her gaze lands on you, causing you to mirror her smile. “Come in.” You said.

“Feeling any better?” She asked quietly, noting that the curtains were drawn.

“Not too bad. It’s just a cold, but I also have a migraine that led up to this so that’s the real kicker.” You laughed wryly, plopping down onto the couch once again. She follows suit.

“Are you home alone?”

“Of course. My Mom definitely wasn’t going to stay home to look after her 17-year old who only has a cold.” You grumbled jokingly. She snorted, “Good to hear ya joke.”

“Eh, kinda wish she cared a little more sometimes but that’s another thing for another day.” You slowly laid back down.

“Do you want to go lay down in your room instead? Wouldn’t that be more comfortable?” She asks, concerned.

“I’m way closer to the kitchen this way if I want water, or juice or whatever.” You disagreed, “Plus, I get the TV.”

“That’s a good point.” She runs a hand through your slightly tangled hair, “Want me to do your hair?” She knew you liked it when she does, and she loved trying out different hairstyles on you from time to time- though she never really admitted to it.

“Sounds nice.” You agreed and she got up to go find a hairbrush and a couple of hair ties. And so, while you asked her about her day, she got to tying your hair into two french braids.

————

“What’d you do today?”

“Uh, well- I read a little bit. Then the migraine nearly had me spew my breakfast everywhere- Mom wasn’t very thrilled about the close call.” You began, “Speaking of, I’m on day two of this episode. And I’m hoping it goes away tomorrow because this cold is giving me enough aches and pains as it is.”

“Pobrecita.” She sulks, cupping your cheek and caressing it with her thumb, “But it is the weekend so you don’t have to worry about classes and stuff.”

A slight smile tugs at the corner of your lips, “Yeah…oh, right- was there any homework today?”

“Just one worksheet for biology. Worry about that later.” She raised a brow, “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better, baby?”

“You being here and keeping me company is enough” You told her, “And you already did my hair for me.”

“You look cute.” She grins.

“I look like crap.” You nudged her playfully, sniffling because of your runny nose.

“You still look cute.” She disagrees, “I would totally kiss you, but then you’d have to deal with me having the cold next. And believe me, given how much Chantal is over at our house doing God-knows-what? Gabi will kill me for being sick.”

“But- oh. Okay.”

“Yeah.”

“I meeeean. It’s not like we’re any better.” You stifle a laugh.

“They don’t need to know that.” She laughs, a hand falling onto your thigh.

“Don’t tempt me.” You joked.

“Definitely not right now.” She looks at you, “Uh-uh. You’re sick.”

“That I am.”

“Did you eat anything for lunch?” AJ asks.

“Uh…I had a cup of soup and some crackers?”

“And…you think that’s enough? Are you still hungry? Did you drink any water?” She asks, a look of concern on her face.

“I have a tumbler I just filled up right there.” You pointed to it on the coffee table.

“Good.”

“I just- don’t have much of an appetite right now, especially with the migraine making me feel extra gross and on the edge about maybe needing to y’know-”

“I know, baby. I know.”

She guided you to lie down and your head ends up on her lap. You unintentionally groaned, having to shift your body around. AJ knew exactly what to do- she places her palm onto your stomach, the warmth bringing you some comfort. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologising?” She asks, her hand rubbing small circles on your abdomen under your shirt. “I’m more than happy to take care of you. All that matters right now is that you’re safe and sound.” Her eyes met yours briefly before focusing on the TV again. You do the same, diverting your attention from the ache in your stomach— and pretty much your whole body, to Fran shoving C.C. into a coat closet to hide from an investor for her boss’ play.

“This show is comedy gold.” AJ chuckles.

“Whatever happened to multi-cam shows anyway? They were so good.” You mumbled, admittedly coaxed to sleep by the comforting warmth of her hand.

“Oh, I know, right?” She says, looking down at you for a moment, “Are you comfortable?”

“Mhm, very.” You smiled.

She mirrors you smile, “Tell me if you need anything later.”

“Thanks for being here with me.”

“Of course, baby.”

Every time you were with AJ, you just knew you’d be safe and sound. You two had silly arguments sometimes, but always worked it out. She was your safe space, your person. Just like you were hers.

“I love you.” You said.

“Aw, I love you too.”

#auli’i cravalho #aj campos #hulu crush #wlw #x reader #reader insert #female reader #lgbtqia #sickfic #fluff

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u-look-beautiful-today · 1 year

Text

So I don't know if this has been discovered and I'm late to the party but, I was on IMBD and I saw THIS

ENID’S PARENTS WILL BE IN AN EPISODE

Of course, y'all know my delusions went RABID. THE ANGST. I would hate for Enid to have a bad home life, but for storytelling purposes? IT WOULD MAKE SENSE

They have put an emphasis that Wednesday and Enid are total opposites, what if it goes the same for their homes too. We have the loving and accepting Addams. And then we have the cold hearted, hateful Sinclairs. Enid is afraid she'll be kicked out if she can't transform. Her parents must have instilled that fear into her. I'm also a sucker for the 'sunshine, happy girl has a shitty home life' trope. (I love angst, okay?) Imagine a scene with me, please:

The episode is obviously the Family Day ep. I feel like this ep is a bit further in the season (5, 6, or 7) by then HOPEFULLY Wenclair are friends. There was also a snippet of an article with Emma on Enid and she says:

It leads me to believe that Enid has basically let her parents talk to her however they want. A lot of demeaning remarks, maybe some emotional/verbal abuse, always putting a pressure on her, etc. I feel like they also verbally judge others, like they will tell you to your face you are ugly, dumb, a disgrace. From the start of the ep, we see Enid in pure panic mode and the kind that has her shut down and she's avoiding EVERYONE. Wednesday finds this silly because HELLO, they are in the middle of a murder investigation. Anyway, we also see that Wends isn't too keen on being with her own parents and instead we get the Addams' mostly wandering around the grounds and reminiscing memories. So she seeks out her friend cause (she will never admit it) she's worried about Enid. She's been stressed and Wends has heard enough about her parents to know she might not be doing too well. And I will accept if either of these two scenes play out.

1. Wends can see how horrible the Sinclair's are to Enid. And she's a bit irked at Enid because dammit! Wends literally taught her to not take anyone's shit. So, Wednesday stays back because she wants Enid to stand up for herself. Maybe Wends pulls her side and is like

"Your parents are vile people and I mean that in a demeaning way"

"They aren't THAT bad..."

"This is pathetic and I won't just stand around and hear them talk to you like that. Pull it together, Sinclair"

And what finally gets Enid to stand up is the Sinclair's making a remark about Wednesday

"Ugh, did you see that girl? What awful looking braids"

"She has an ugly face too, I mean the scowl? How dreadful"

Enid, in a burning rage: "DONT SPEAK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT. I DONT GIVE A FUCK IF YOU CALL ME WORTHLESS NAMES BUT NEVER TALK ABOUT MY FRIEND AGAIN"

Them, shocked: "How dare you raise your voice to us? We are your FAMILY"

Enid, done with everything: "And Wednesday has been more accepting of me than you two have ever been. Sure she's gloomy, but she's smart and funny and actually really fucking kind, under it all! She's my friend-my BEST friend. And she's right, I don't need you two verbally assaulting me anymore"

Wednesday, proud af hiding in the crowd that formed

2. Wends sees the Sinclair's being horrible. And she also sees Enid just smiling (a fake one) and letting them say these things about her. By now, Wends knows Enid, despite herself, and she can see how her eyes are filled with tears and that she's close to a breakdown. So she marches over and stands literally in front of Enid. Obviously the Sinclair's are fake af and start smiling and trying to introduce themselves

"Oh! Hello, uh, dearie, who-"

Wends: "You two are the most disgusting humans who I have ever had the displeasure of meeting"

Them shocked: "How dare-"

Wends: "How does it feel to be at your prehistoric age and feel the need to bully your own child?"

Them clearing fumming: "WHY-"

Wends: "You want to know what I did to the last set of bullies? I made sure they could never reproduce again. Alas, it was only...attempted murder but with all your wrinkles and balding, I'm sure I could easily get the job done"

Enid, beyond shicked because NO ONE has ever stood up to her parents before

Them: "You do realize were werewolves?! Despite our disappointment unable to transform-"

Wends: "Never. Talk. About. Enid. Again. She's intelligent, witty, courageous, and the most loyal person I have ever met. She's far from a disappointment and she deserves better than you two"

Wednesday, grabs Enid’s arm and pulls them away

Enid, in awe, shocked, and a bit scared of what just happened

Wednesday, also shocked but wouldn't take it back

Anyway, that's all I have (cause now I wanna write a fic). I just wanted my thoughts out here before it airs and I will probably be proven to be horribly wrong!

#wenclair #enid x wednesday #wednesday x enid #wednesday addams #netflix wednesday #enid sinclair

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dimepdf · 2 years

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𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄. + 𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐇 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍

masterlist. / taglist. / any request? synopsis. Y/n and Joseph becoming more up close in personal with the media, the actress even caught in London spending time with each other.

pairing. joseph quinn x reader

word count. 1.3k

genre and warnings. actor!reader, black coded, pure fluff, established relationship, paparazzi, social media au, pet names (lovely, honey), hawaiian pizza. | — I forgot to write the comments for this one. series masterlist.

Y/n cozies up to boyfriend Joseph Quinn while visiting him in London.

The Stranger Things costars are still going strong as Y/n was spotted visiting London to spend some quality time with her boo thang.

The pictures spread all over social media after they were spotted out and about in London, always managing to keep their fans fluttering with their stunning (and overall just freaking adorable) matching sets, interview moments, and even paparazzi pictures.

Fans were left drooling as Y/n styled her signature auburn brown hair in a low ponytail to the back, letting a few strands fall close to her face.

The actress showed off her style while wearing a neon green and black graphic crop top with the iconic singer Aaliyah printed on the front and black leather low rise pants.

For jewelry, the actress accessorized with a layered golden chain made up of several golden rings.

A pair of green and black Nikes with mismatched shoelaces completed her outfit.

Her even more iconic makeup was familiar as she opted for her usual two-toned lined lip look paired with a shimmering gloss, sharp dark eyeliner, brushed natural looking eyebrows, and just the right amount of highlighter.

In an interview with Vogue, Quinn previously spoke about his relationship with Y/n and his strong desire to keep their personal life away from the media during an interview: "As much as we really love our fans and the support that they show us, sometimes the attention can get a bit unhealthy. The last thing anyone would want would be their relationship involving just them being constantly broadcast to the world."

The Stranger Things actor continued. “This isn't my story. It's our story. And we'll talk about what it is when we're ready to talk about it together.”

JOSEPH QUINN AND Y/N L/N FEATURE ON AGREE TO DISAGREE

Ahead of the highly anticipated season four for Netflix’s Grammy nominated: Stranger Things release, LADbible pitted Joseph Quinn and Y/n L/n against each other for a special episode of its original format ‘Agree to Disagree’.

In the episode, the duo argue over some of the internet’s biggest debates, discussing how Joseph is the fans favorite new character. Produced by LADstudios, the episode has been a huge hit on LADbible channels, totalling over 7.3 million views across its YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, and still climbing. The episode has also been picked up by multiple global news outlets including GRM, Metro, The Independent and many more.

The episode can be watched in full on LADbible TV’s award-winning YouTube channel, recently named Best Original Web Channel at The Broadcast Digital Awards.

Take a watch here.

The title intro of the show plays out with Y/n and Joseph captured in a freeze frame as the couple both give off different vibes.

The white man was dressed in his usual business casual fit, but this time in a printed button down with the same pattern as Y/n's top and dark trousers paired with a golden belt buckle.

Like always, Y/n’s outfit was the first thing that drew in the viewer's attention. This time her hair was styled in auburn brown box braids pulled into two buns, one on each side of her head as some braids left out in the back swung over her shoulder.

She wore an Ashley Banks-inspired outfit that accentuated all of her curves.

The low-cut long-sleeve top showed just a modest amount of cleavage, enough for the draping layer of golden necklaces to slot themselves between the curves of her breasts.

Tucked above her shirt were the printed bell bottom pants paired with thick black platform heels.

The set was in a lounge room of some fancy hotel. A single table sat in front of the camera’s setup, "knowing you, you're probably gonna agree with everything I do." Y/n chortled from her spot, sitting with her back against the chair legs spread wide, man spreading comfortably.

Joseph scratched his face in protest. "Well... okay, hun, I'd like to think that's a good thing though, is it not?" He could not help but to smile, giving into defeat that he was in fact very smitten with the woman across from him.

Pineapple on pizza is delicious.

The couple moved practically in sync, moving their glass cup full of water across the table to the strongly agreed side, Y/n smiling at Joseph at the agreement.

"On our first date, she made me try Hawaiian pizza for the first time, so I think my answer is very biased." Joseph chided, sitting up against the chair, "Just get a pretty lady to feed you any type of pizza and I promise you’ll like it."

"Well hold on, I didn't force you to eat it, you just ordered the same thing as me." She recalled pointing her finger in his general direction.

"Yeah, but that was because I wanted to, like, have the same things in common as you." Joseph curled his shoulders up as he chuckled, almost blushing from the memory of when he had developed his crush on you.

American football is better than soccer.

Y/n’s eyes scanned that table, but she tapped the back of her hand against the glass to the disagree side, Joseph making a show of him setting down the cup to strongly disagree with some water spilling from the rim.

"I don’t really care for either, but watching soccer is just so much more fun than watching football for me." She explained to the camera. Joseph was patient in letting her speak with a contented smile placed on his lips (he could already see the simp memes on twitter now).

"I like both. I just don't get why it's called football. You’re not even allowed to use your feet." Joseph explained with his hands like it was the most serious question ever.

"Wait, but don’t they use their feet for the…kicky thing?" Her tone softened as Y/n squinted, genuineness riddling her features before Joseph could bow his head and snicker at her choice of wording.

"Do you mean the kickoff, lovely?" he inquired, exhaling.

"Alright, you knew what the hell I meant." Y/n waved off as even the crew laughed at the exchange.

American food is better than British food.

Joseph grimaced, not even waiting for the countdown before sliding his cup over to strongly disagree. Y/n hummed loudly before sliding her cup to agree.

"I don’t because y’all could have really good food, but name it the most rancid thing ever to make me think that it's bad." She continued to explain as Joseph belted out a laugh, his head tipping back. "Like who the hell wakes up one day and goes, you know what, I want some of that spotted dick?"

"Yeah, I suppose that could be the turning point for a lot of people."

London is the best city in the world.

It was like a stare down between the couple, with Joseph not holding back his teasing smirk as he held eye contact while placing the cup to strongly agree.

"London is very beautiful, don’t get me wrong," Y/n started, enticing a playful gasp from Joseph. "But it’s definitely not at the top for me."

"You’d think since I'd paid for her plane ticket here so many times, she’d love it a bit more."

Eddie Munson is the best new character in season four.

"Well, that would be a bit mean if I answered—oh okay," Joseph pitched as Y/n was quick to slide her cup over to disagree, the couple doubling down in laughter at both of their sudden reactions.

"Look, I love you, but since day one I've been a die-hard Argyle fan." It was true, the actress was the first one to welcome Eduardo from the main cast with open arms.

The duo and their characters became iconic even from the two scenes they were in together towards the end of the season. Y/n and Eduardo just hit it off as friends before anyone else from the newer cast.

"Eduardo fan girl over here." Joseph pointed out

🔖 @prettyeyedmaureen @hornyavengers @blkroyalty1 @1shyshy1sana @harrycanyonmoonn @freyawhitexxx1 @bucky-daddy-barnes @eldriidd @ycarlii @guitarromantic @lafresamilk @haechaniebom @biggestslutever-1stnamegrea-blog @eddiesbitchx @stitched-mouth @misaamaneswifey @kiszkathecook @imahoforthings @kyyellaxi @hotgirlsshareaccounts @thegirlbeyondtheuniverse @cybergnf @notbeforelong @snailchess @joletown @killjoys-n-whovians @livvie-jpg @mocswift @marvelmadness22 @coldspoons @ragingginger24 @milkiane @ordelixx @alexloveskili @inglourious-imagines @gamegirl1996 @angelsarecallin @cellywatt @delishtequila @shawtywithcash @yazmunson @actual-mom-steve-harrington @tsukishimawhore @corey-is-a-huge-simp @jaydesworld96 @foffaaa @jackierose902109 @disaster-rose @migirl323

tap here to be added to taglist.

#[ ⇢ ˗ˏˋ ★ — t.wrks. ]#joesph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #black reader #stranger things x reader #actor!au #actor au

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skoulsons · 7 months

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im choosing ignorance for right now but will cover it at the end of this (this being a whole essay 💀)

So, it looks like Baylan has a green kyber crystal in his belt. This post and others have pointed it out

Obviously, this begs the question of whom did it belong to? Immediately the thought would be Baylan’s. He was a padawan of the Jedi Order, trained into knighthood, and eventually a general during the Clone Wars. He created his own lightsaber hilt and (maybe, idrk exactly how it works forgive me) chose his own crystal. And, even if he didn’t, it was still a part of who he was for that portion of his early life.

We learned last episode he misses the idea of the Order. With Baylan, there’s a heavy amount of sentimentality associated with the Jedi, especially if we believe (which I do wholeheartedly) that he lost a padawan.

But that’s what begs the other question—is the crystal from his padawan? Did he take it from his padawans lightsaber and keep it for himself to carry on the memory of that kid (who i like to think was a female but that’s the girldad lover in me speaking)? Was it motivated by grief? Has he allowed himself to grieve at all, and if not, was taking the crystal his way of avoiding that emotion?

Or was it motivated by grief? There is no emotion, only peace. Is that when he ditched the code? How could he have any sort of peace after losing his padawan? Or, did he find that peace in keeping the crystal?

But then there’s my other question—what’s the significance of it? Dave Filoni, from what I’ve seen, is intentional. I don’t think adding what looks like a green kyber crystal in Baylan’s belt is just some sort of happenstance that didn’t have any thought behind it.

And, with Baylan’s character, it’s way too significant. When it comes to how he feels about the Jedi, how he seems to actually feel a little bad about having to kill Ahsoka in episode 2. His relationship with Shin. The padawan braid. It all screams significance to me.

So, when it comes to significance, what role is it going to play by the end of the show? I really cannot see it being included and making Baylan’s character so nuanced and intriguing and then not doing anything with it.

Mundi and I were talking about this earlier today. I mentioned these main two points, but also this-

And then Mundi had to drive the stake further through my heart and twist it around by basically saying what if Baylan’s dying act was giving Shin his crystal (still thinking about this mundi THANKS)

I said a stretch at first, but it doesn’t seem too far-fetched anymore (except for her becoming fully good). Now, I don’t want Baylan to die. He’s the last character I want to die and I love him, BUT…

How he dies? I have no idea. Thrawn, Morgan, Enoch? Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra? Betrayed by Shin? (very doubtful i feel) I think there’s a lot of options of how it could happen, if the cards are played right.

So if we think that’s the case, Shin is around when he dies or mortally wounded. Maybe she sees it happen to him like how he saw it happen to his last padawan. Shin is distraught, the most emotion we see from her because, well, it’s Baylan who’s trained her and borderline raised her, and they have a moment together before he passes. Baylan makes her take the crystal (which would hit a lot harder if it is his original one and did not belong to his padawan) and they have some sappy goodbye that’ll have me crying for six weeks.

We’ve also all talked about how Shin and subtext from some of her lines that indicates some sort of… longing or curiosity regarding the Jedi. If, within the last two episodes, those are confirmed or it’s revealed that Baylan could sense that feeling in Shin, i think (assuming he does die in this way) giving her his crystal makes sense.

Maybe she keeps it as sentimental in her own belt as I don’t see her turning fully to the Light in the show. But, if there’s another season, who knows.

Going back four paragraphs, I believe if it were Thrawn or Morgan who killed him or orchestrated his death, Shin would not follow them back. She’d go with Ahsoka and the Gang TM home in the purrgil mouths. She clearly hates Peridea and, if Ahsoka and the crew are there to witness Baylan’s death (for whatever reason), they could have sympathy on Shin maybe and help her home.

OK. I hope that covered those thoughts in a somewhat coherent fashion. Here’s where that chosen ignorance comes in.

Shin’s braid. An anon actually sent a link to a tweet with both this AND the Baylan one in one post, so thank you nonnie for that!

Anyway. Shin’s braid. Three (four?) green kyber crystals.

Why.

Did they, for some reason, come from Baylan? Did he just have a cluster of them and he gave her a few to include in her braid?

If the braid was her idea, did she want them included in it? Did they still come from Baylan if that’s true? Did she want to feel that connected to the Jedi from the start of her apprenticeship with Baylan to include them in her braid?

If the braid was Baylan’s idea, did he include them? Weave them through the strands? Did he talk to her about including them? Including crystals in a padawan braid wasnt traditional, to my knowledge (not that they are traditional jedi). Was it some sort of selfish choice? Was the ghost of his padawan still lingering in the middle of these two that he felt he had to?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN. WHY ARE THEY THERE. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE.

I NEED THEIR WHOLE STORY RIGHT NOW

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oneatlatime · 8 months

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The Cave of Two Lovers

I always wanted to be a frog on a leaf.

Does Aang have chaps?

Instructed to hold his arms closer together, Aang immediately spreads them as far apart as physically possible.

Hippies!

Chong's wife is not called Cheech. That's a travesty.

Between the 90s boy band hair and the quadrupedal underwear, Sokka is not looking his best this episode!

Uncle, were you watching? Did you see? Lookit Uncle I even threw in some fist shaking at god and a dramatic tumble. Did you watch? Lookitmeeeeeeee.

Seems like it's Zuko's turn with the brain cell. Iroh plays the dumbass a lot but he can't seriously be contemplating risking poisoning himself while he has zero resources.

Appa getting a turn as the couch rather than the whip. Sweet braids.

"Oh it's a real legend" is a remarkably accurate statement when speaking of oral folklore. Real v. Fake legends are an actual thing!

Did anyone watch Arthur growing up? Anyone remember the Crazy Bus song? I feel like this Tunnel song is what Crazy Bus was trying to be.

I like her skirt. Actually all of their clothes are pretty neat.

Why does Appa hate going underground?

That's got to be watercolour.

The stick is a better catch than the fish. It's a damn good stick.

Zuko actually managing to admit that he needs help! Or rather, that they need help. That's growth! Maybe that's why Iroh poisoned himself? Or maybe he's just having a dumb moment? Two consecutive dumb moments?

Do you think being unwanted in literally every country on earth including his own is going to be enough to convince Zuko that maybe his nation isn't so great?

Her earrings are bells. She probably deafens herself when she walks.

Why is the science guy freaking out about curses?

Chong's necklace flowers keep drastically changing size depending on how close up the shot is.

Average fire nation soldier is superstitious. I bet they can use that. And this guy's hands are huge. Also those flying grappling hook chain things are, in my opinion, the fire nation's greatest combat advantage. Who needs bending when you have those?

The math-defying torches apparently work like strike anywhere matches.

Definitely watching this one on a CRT when I have the chance. Too dark otherwise.

Can you do that? Turn a map of the paths you've taken into a solvable maze? Don't you need to see all possible paths to solve a maze?

Three things: a) I like Song's voice actress. Very pretty voice, matches the face well. b) Zuko being terminally awkward when needing to lie is something that's been consistent since the third episode. He really needs to work on that. c) There's a whole world of visual storytelling in the fact that, when hastily required to look natural, Zuko defaults to parade rest.

The latest fashion in men's neckwear.

I mean technically yeah, Zuko's dad is fighting in the war, but Good Lord are he and Song bonding over traumas from the 100% opposite directions.

They snuck in a Bob Dylan joke!?!?!

Poor Appa is having a time of it this episode.

Sokka would rather die in a self-inflicted rock slide than hang with the hippies. That's a very Sokka thing.

The lighting here is beautiful. All warm and glowy.

Poor Song. It's borderline embarrassing to watch how wrong she is. But at the same time, she's completely right. The Fire Nation did hurt Zuko. But the Fire Nation is Zuko. But Zuko was hurt by the Fire Nation. Zuko's brain must be inside out right now.

No touchy.

Why is Zuko surprised by her burns? Did he think his nation took over most of the world by asking nicely? Seriously, did he?

It's good to finally see more burns. Well, not good, but logical. I think I ranted last episode about why I was so surprised by the lack of burns.

I'm with Sokka on this one. There is a (very limited) time and a (very tiny) place for singalongs, and this isn't it. Also I keep thinking that Momo is wearing an Adidas tracksuit.

The last thing cave walls see before death.

What do you know, it is a real legend.

Pretty. This whole sequence is inky.

I love how this show does badass bitches.

How on brand is it that the city founded by think-outside-the-box badgermole wrassling innovators is now ruled by Bumi? Original thought, badass earthbender, giant murderous rabbit; he fits right in.

No kissing until you're 35. What a face though.

Aang STOP TALKING YOU CANNOT WIN!!!

What's wrong with you is that you're 12. No one is smooth at 12.

According to the episode The Storm, the avatar does in fact represent hope to Zuko, but Song just can't stop putting her foot in it. Literally any other earth kingdom refugee would come away from an evening with Song feeling renewed hope, but she's unintentionally and unknowingly hit pretty much every one of Zuko's sore spots. This must have been a very frustrating evening for him.

In case we forgot that Zuko was the villain, he steals a horse bird. Iroh why are you ok with this?

Ouch.

Where is your chin

Chong was right. All they did need to do was play music. These guys would probably kill me if I tried, but gosh they're so cute I want 5.

How many string instruments does Chong have stashed in his robe? His improv skills are top notch though.

You want me to believe that a couple of millennia of badgermoles rearranging things as they see fit has not altered the path of the crystals?

I feel ya buddy.

Sokka assuming his rightful throne. King of the Badgermoles.

Badgermoles have elf ears.

"Really? We let huge ferocious beasts lead our way." I love this line.

Appa's such a good friend. Settling in for a long listening session.

"So are you guys going to come to Omashu with us?" "Nope." "Ok." *fucks off into the sunset* Now that's how you write out a character.

NOOO BUMI!!!

Do you think the hippies knew? Is that why they didn't want to go to Omashu? It would be totally on brand for them to know the whole time and not tell.

Final Thoughts

Well that was a hell of a bait and switch ending. Supreme goof A-plot, Zuko having his dearly held beliefs dragged through the mud B-plot, and then suddenly *BOOM* overarching plot.

So is this season going to be the 'step on Zuko until he's decent' season? Because he's got a long way to go.

Why was Iroh being so stupid in the beginning? Does he have a blind spot where tea is concerned? He made Zuko look like the reasonable one. That's quite a feat.

At first glance, Sokka got to shine in this episode, but actually it was Chong who was right all along. There was a real legend about a secret tunnel, the solution was to trust in love, both as Aang & Katara did and as Chong's group tried (love songs). And that kid WAS the avatar! Three for Three!

I'm still not a fan of Aang & Katara being involved romantically (mostly because they're BABY), but I love the way they related to each other this episode. Their interactions felt 100% natural. What tween hasn't put their foot in their mouth around their crush?

Someone give Appa a hug. You know what? Give Momo a hug too. He worked hard as a wolfbat early alert system.

Speaking of Appa, are his underside sections furry? Covered in short grey fur? Or are they hard grey armoured plates? Are they shell or skin?

I've noticed that animal noises come in three flavours in this show: Appa grumbles, Momo trills, or wolfbat hisses. Most animals make variations of these three.

Are we sure Song hasn't been hitting the White Jade herself? Those are pretty similar.

Poor Song is really crapped on this episode. All she did was be compassionate and she gets her horse thing stolen. It makes sense that she wouldn't try to retrieve her horse thing, both because she's too kind, and because it's just her and her mom against two fairly rough guys. If this is the season of Zuko improvement, how many more innocents like Song will be crapped on in the name of improving Zuko?

Chong's robe's sleeve kind of hangs off his waist, since he's rocking the one shoulder look. I thought Bato was rocking that same look in his episode, and spent the whole episode looking for where he stashed his sleeve, but I couldn't find it. But now I see Chong with the same look and he definitely has extra sleeve trailing. So did Bato cut off his sleeve? Is he wearing the robe he was wearing when he got injured and his sleeve burned off? Is there a known way to tuck robe sleeves in inconspicuously and the fact that we can see Chong's is a bit of visual storytelling pointing to the hippies' general scatterbrained nature? Am I overthinking this?

I liked this episode! Definitely going on my rewatch list! The hippies are just the right amount of stupid, Zuko gets a break from being a shouty jerk, and Aang and Katara get to be just awkward kids (albeit while trapped in a life or death situation - priorities guys). Poor Sokka, Appa, and Song have a pretty bad time. But Sokka being terrorised by stupidity makes for funny tv.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #the cave of two lovers #avatar the last airbender

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