#every time Matt says her name I have a whiplash
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Bulletpoint liveblog of C3E91 let's go!
Second half: Crown Keepers
Oh, is this where the Crownkeepers come in? I heard that. Haha I always wonder what it's like at the studio hiding the fact that, like, Robbie is there.
AABRIA! God, I want to know how her hair and makeup is done. It's so different and so cool nearly every time I see her. She's got such style.
Moment to appreciate the music they play during the art reel at the end of the break.
CROWNKEEPERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I actually never fully watched Kymal so the bunny woman was a surprise XD
The collaborativeness is nice, asking Anjali about her sister.
ahahaha god this platform. DON'T WHIPLASH MY EMOTIONS LIKE THIS! I'M CRYING OVER ORYM AND ALL!
….Me not having watched Kymal might confuse me for the next two hours.
Black lipstick will never not get me. Aimee.
Is Dorian going to reply to Orym's message??????
Good on Matt for starting off.
(Pleeeeease may they say this woman's name). Her character's Morrighan. Whoa, a champion of the Matron of Ravens.
The Crownkeepers have been having a real swell time.
(Fy'ra Rai has always been a great name to say). So, sent by the Wildmother to protect them.
Aww, Dorian feeling some consequences of his avoidance.
From an above-table perspective, I'm surprised they're all feeling so lost? I wonder if it was planned and if Aabria's going to suddenly give them a direction, or if they're reticent to set too much in stone?
OPAL'S BETRAYER GOD CHAMPION DESIGN IS SO SICK; I LOVE IT!
Sleep as an exhausting void… Creepy.
"Can I hear him?" "Make a wisdom save." Terrifying. "Shouting at you while running backwards." What a description.
I do love Opal, too. Such a situation but still trying to retain that image of her.
"We gotta get these chuckles out not." Whimper in terrified player.
I love Aabria's GM-ing in a lot of other things (ACOFAF is S-tier), but I think this highlights why I found EXU Prime harder to get into. The Crownkeepers tend to lack a motivating goal from the off-set, making it a bit hard for me to figure what they're trying to do and why.
Still, starting off with PVP might be the wakeup!
HA! Matt Mercer doing the ad read. Love it.
Spider Queen is intimidating and poor, poor Opal.
Holy shit, Opal's raising into the air and burning the forest. Hahaha make Aimee choose which friend to destroy. Awwww forcing her into PvP!
Goddddddd Aabria is the Betrayer God here.
Black eyessssssss. Magic second set of arms.
God, imagine being Aimee rn.
27 on initiative??????
THE DARIAX ROLLS RETURN!
At least Opal can communicate her panic.
HASTE ON OPAL???? HA! VENMO TO HASTE THE ENEMY!
The Dariax rolls balance Morrighan's.
Aw, sweet with Morrighan and Opal whispering telepathically.
Amazing image of stone cold Opal in contrast.
I like how Matt and Aabria pop in with lessons for the others. Nice to see players propping each other up.
CRYSTAL RAPIER? NICE!
"She's just a little guy."
Absolutely fair, seeing weird shit for your Betrayer God Champion friend and just wanting to knock her the fuck out.
Kind of Anjali to tally up the numbers as they roll.
Eeeeeek, ripping a rapier down her thigh.
OPAL DOESN'T TAKE THE DAMAGE????? IS THAT A REACTION OR????
TED!
Hahaha "if Opal did crossfit".
(I googled it. Morrighan is played Erica.)
Oh christ Ted's helping. I wonder how much Morrighan knows about Ted.
"NONONO STOP!" as verbal component for Shield is fantastic.
I don't trust that this is Ted?? Does Ted know Opal's fucked right now??
"Why's the first thing you do drawing blood?" Well, because it's D&D.
Haste lets you go get a hotdog from Arby's. Vax knew this well.
Aabria's English accent is so American-version-of-English but I like how it sounds anyway.
Let the ashhole return, cowards!
Yeah, Robbie, this is a weird situation. Dorian's just choking on his flute. Yeah, trying to restrain Opal is a good plan. NO! NAT 20 minus 1 + 4 plus 13. Aimee/Opal, go! Get! It!
Nice, Aabria, failing forward is a lesson we can all incorporate.
NAT ONE PLUS 13?? ROBBIE! Cannot catch a break.
T_T Fy'ra being betrayyyyyed again. Ooh, very very cool from Anjali calling for a flashback.
(We still never got the response to Orym. Has that happened yet or it that going to be the bookend? I'm curious what this is going to mean for the actual campaign. It's a really fun idea to bring in another GM for a section. Sure, more Actual PlayTM than homegame but Matt at least gets to play.)
Haha Anjali welcome to the DM club! I know about this from the Ginny Di video. Anjali DMed an official lego game.
Can they free Opal?
Ohhh. The Wildmother wants this? Am I misunderstanding? Shit.
They can't separate Opal from the crown.
Love how different people set their dice.
Never take advice from GM Aabria :P
Holy shit these guys roll high.
I hardly ever see people take the dodge action.
I do like Opal a lot.
So the Spider Queen is just trying to full take over Opal. I wonder if Teven or the other Betrayer God Champion had this sort of thing happen.
GO AWAY FOREVER??? THEIR MOTHER DID THIS TO OPAL AND TED?? Evalux? A splinter group? I'M SO CONFUSED AND INTRIGUED! THE BEACON'S INVOLVED??? How tf did they get it in Byroden? So there's a splinter of Luxon followers who split themselves in one life instead? God, I hope the main cast get to watch this.
…..And Opal has no memory of it. Will we ever get this information?
Erica continues to roll like a god.
The turns have felt both long and fast. I've still got, like, an hour and a half.
I love how Matt describes/contextualises things, even as a player.
HA! CYRUS IS HERE?!
ROLL PERFORMANCE FOR HANDJOB
A 7!!!!!
Bless is good. Dariax panicking is great.
XD God initiative takes a long time in a big group.
THE ROLLS! THE DARIAX ROLLS!
Ah! Dariax is a bard! Yeah! So cuuuute for the Double Ds. "THE PERFORMING ARTS IS WORTH IT!"
So. All of them are blind in the darkness. Awesome, awesome move, Aimee.
Hahhahahahaha right. Warlock. No spell slots.
XD It's such a long game. No loo breaks.
SQUIRREL SPIDER FTW
Gotta love Cyrus. "NO DON'T SHOOT!" The himbo persists.
….Matt, what did you get for the WIS save?
PALADIN COMES IN FOR THE SAVE!
Hahahaha "that could can see". Okay. Blind mistystep? …..I'm sure 8 will get it.
Aww, attacking your friend's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Lay on Hands is good.
I appreciate Aabria's helpfulness as a GM.
Fy'ra good teammate.
Opal, again, is amazing. I love how she tackles such complex things in her very Her way. Preserves drama and humour in her self-absorbtion.
I wonder how Opal washes her hair under that crown?
Well, some allowance for fighting when Opal attacked them? Obvs harder emotionally than logically.
Aww everyone got to see the memory of Opal and Morrighan bonding.
HA! LOVE FY'RA BEING COMMANDER!
Dorian is forever clanking with all the instruments he carries. T_T 9 to dispel fails. Good plan though. Until back into the darkness he goes.
I like the idea of going back to the Crownkeepers, especially as a perspective on Opal and Dorian, but I'm two hours into this section and still don't quite get the full significance of it. Which is a shame. I still have faith, but I think this encounter would be more enjoyable if I understood better why we were seeing it in the Bell's Hells campaign.
I've always respected Opal/Aimee going in on being the asshole sister. Getting to see that perspective.
The gem flashbacks are cool.
"We can both be coins." "And we're richer for it!" Amazing. Great pun. Love Fy'ra. Love Ted coaching Opal.
Max offering blind Dariax up on a plate. Respect.
I LOVE MATT AS DARIAX! SO FUNNY!
Con sorcerer is smart.
Aabria has no luck against Dariax.
I'm sure that 9 WIS will help perception.
BARDIC COMES IN CLUTCH!
DIMENSION DOOR IS A BONUS ACTION?!
I. Love. Opal. Aimee plays her and her struggles and her relationships with everyone so well and nuanced. Dariax is a well-done character too. Real even behind the humour.
I leapt too, Aimee. Holy shit what the fuck, Spider Queen?
(Fuck you, Twitch, for skipping, my god).
Oh god, Cyrus, don't die.
Nooooo, Dariax. Living nightmares. Him and Dorian seeing their nightmares.
Spider Queen Opal wtf.
Pick up next week? Huh. I… am confused by this. Interesting encounter. I liked the drama between the Crown Keepers. But, again, I don't understand the significance for the Bell's Hells? So I reckon next week will be first half Crown Keepers, second half Bell's Hells. Huh. Interesting episode. It was fun, though I really don't deny still being on the edge of my seat to find out what's happening with the BH.
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Okay i finished All for the game and i have many many thoughts since these books have taken over my brain unfortunately.
I want to preface everything by saying that the series is bad BUT i don't think that it's that relevant. Like from what i know these were self-published on a blog and i doubt that they ever saw a professional editor, no publishing house ever touched them, so judging them as one would judge a professionally edited book is not fair and to be completely honest there are books, even popular ones, that are worse than these on every level.
Now that this out of the way here's my thoughts on aftg in no particular order
I love the main trio sososo much. Probably the main reason why i enjoyed this as much as i did is them. All of their interactions are immaculate. I hoped for a three-way relationship till the end
Neil is such a good protagonist. He's insane but he's convinced that he's normal. The fact that he can't shut up sends me every time and even funnier is that even if everyone knows that he can't keep his mouth shut no one does anything to stop him ever, they just let him. And he is so ace you can't change my mind
I love Andrew he's so edgy. And even if he's so incredibly edgy his backstory still hits hard. Kinda disappointed that all of his obsession with Kevin basically disappeared in the last book (with a couple of exceptions) for no good reason, i wanted it to be more prominent in the resolution but it just fizzled out
Kevin. Kevin is my fave. I love him to bits. He is the dark haired deuteragonist of a sport anime. He is the Kageyama of this series. He has two mood 1 being obsessed with exy and 2 having a panic attack 10/10. And i don't care if he has a girlfriend, to me he is ace. The author can say what they want but i don't give a shit. Ace icon that only think about sport and have mental breakdowns
Speaking of Kevin's girlfriend Thea... she's the most weird character in the books. She's name dropped out of nowhere halfway through book 2, then she's never mentioned again till the second to last chapter where she appears for three pages, she does nothing relevant for the plot and she disappear again. She's one of the few characters who has a proper physical description so we know she's hot but her impact is zero. You can remove her and nothing will change. Kevin would have ended up there even without her so why even include her? Like girl you're hot but who are you and what are you doing here?
Talking about hot girls, Allison is my queen. She's iconic, she never said anything wrong ever in three books. She is the only one asking the real questions and she deserved more pages. She and Renee should have kissed at the end
The only thing that keeps the series from being set in generic contemporary times is the way Matt styles his hair. That is so mid y2k every time it's mentioned i got whiplash
Sad that the slurs disappeared after the first book i found them funny and a good way to convey the year the story is set in
The "your intricate and endless daddy issues" is one of the best line ever written it will never leave my vocabulary
Riko has the worst daddy issues imaginable which is 1 funny 2 makes him a good character and i almost feel for him... but then i remember he hurt Kevin sooooo
Jean is pathetic in a endearing way. But he's french and that makes hin lose a lot of points
I'm sad that the Trojans are there for only one chapter i wanted to see more of them
The way Neil talks about Kevin is hilarious. He can't stand him but he talks about him like the second coming of christ. Everything would have been solved if they just had a make out session in the locker room
Still not over the fact that while this books are very much about sport the yakuza is a prominent part of the story. Like that is an important part, half of the books are about it
The ravens are the least serious element in all of this. There's tension about Neil's lies being unveild and Kevin general well being and you are worried for them... and out of nowhere appears the villain team of a children's cartoon with all of them with the same clothes and walking in v formation how am i supposed not to laugh! And how is no one asking questions about them?? After 5 years of living in a cult they are released into the world and you are telling me that they are well adjusted enough to not rise any suspicion about what is going on in there?? No one is asking why there are living quarters in a bunker under a stadium?? If only one person says something after they graduate they will be fucked, there's no one with a family in that team? Why does the yakuza let this happen?!?!?!
The 16 hours long days during the holidays will plague me till the day i die it makes no sense and i find it hysterical. Why are they doing it? Don't know but they do
Riko has a spit kink i said what i said
#i have more thoughts but this is it for today#i still have all of the extra material to go through this mean i'm still not done with these characters yey#if it wasn't clear i loved the books they were a ride and an experience even with all of the bad#i also bought the physical copies and i expect some bad quality for them can't wait to have them in my book shelf#aftg#i'm not tagging all the characters#aftg spoilers
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‘Why’d you only call me when you’re high?’
Alex turner x reader
It was like clockwork. Bella knew she should expect it really. Every Saturday night without fail at around 2am her phone would start pinging with messages from him, not that they made much sense but messages nonetheless. She acknowledged a few, trying not to sleep knowing that around 3am he’d be knocking on her door, humming some sweet melody no one had heard yet. And god she couldn’t stand another complaint from her neighbours about how his singing was ill timed no matter how good it sounded.
3am Bella sat at her kitchen table with tea in hand with the other mug piping hot sat ready for him.
She knew she could turn off her phone, she knew she could tell him to go away and that it was too late to come in but she also knew she was embarrassingly in love with her best friend and would do just about anything for him.
The door knocked irregularly, placing her tea down and pushing back a yawn she opened it sighing when she saw his red eyes and messy hair.
“Alex” she sighed, helping him up off of the floor and into her home onto the sofa where he immediately nestled himself.
“Luv…luv…” he stumbled his words trying to get her attention as she messaged Jamie from her phone to say he’d gotten there safe.
“Arabellaaa” he sung softly and her eyes snapped to him.
“You know I hate being called arabella” she huffed in denial, she loved the name as long as he was the one saying it.
“One day Bella…I’ll make you see how gorgeous your name is…I’ll make you love it…write a song about it, about you” he smiled softly at her, eyes crinckled at the edges and glazed over.
“Ever the charmer aren’t you?” Bella tried to sound casual, she really did.
“For you Darlin? Always” he leant back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.
The warm feeling in her chest changed.
She grew frustrated, yes he was sweet to her sober and would probably say those things but not with that sappy look in his eyes or that soft smile. No. Those were only when he was drunk or high off god knows what.
“God” she groaned quietly but not quiet enough.
“What?” He asked, suddenly worried at her expression and the whiplash of her emotions changing. Brows furrowed, cheeks red but not blushing and the corners of her mouth turned down.
“You” she rubbed her eyes and sat opposite him.
“Me?” He leant forward and placed his head on his hand looking at her.
“You. The stuff you say to me and the way you look at me. You pull me deeper and deeper in and you never remember the next morning and yet I’m still here with these feelings for you that won’t seem to go away no matter who I fuck or who I try date-“ she ranted
“Who are you fucking?” He couldn’t help but ask, thinking of the very graphic visions he’d had walking to her place.
“Seriously Alex? That’s what you picked up from that?” She chuckled at the situation but it held no real laughter or happiness.
“It was just a question” he mumbled like a told off child.
“I have a question for you Alex. Why?” She stared straight into his eyes ignoring the warmth it brought her.
“Why what?” He asked, brows pulling together.
“Why’d you only call me when you're high at 3am Saturday night and act like this with me? Why can’t you say or act like this with me any other time than when you’re fucked up with god knows what instead of shagging god knows who”
“Because I’m not afraid when I’m high” he shrugged
“Afraid of what, Alex?!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.
“To show my feelings for you” one corner of his mouth turned up, not a smirk not a smile, somewhere in between.
“Oh” was all she could say
“Oh?” He asked
“Oh” she nodded
They sat in silence for a few minutes registering what just happened, Bella admitted her feelings for him and he admitted his back. We’re they dating now? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Or would he just forget?
Alex broke the silence standing up wobbling but only a little, having sobered up significantly in the last half an hour. He held his hand out to her.
“Let’s go to bed Darlin” hands tingling as they touched.
They walked in silence and got ready for bed finally, lying next to one another in the dark.
It was like he could hear her thoughts.
“I won’t forget,” he mumbled to her.
“How do you know alex?” She was scared, scared that in the morning she’d be the only one with memories of tonight.
“Because I never do, not once have I forgotten coming here and what we talk about or how we dance or act. I know I won’t forget” he told her, turning so he was facing her but still unable to see her face.
“What about the girl Matt tried to set you up with?” Jealousy creeped into her thoughts.
“To be quite honest Bella, I’m too busy being yours to fall for somebody knew”
She huffed a laugh of disbelief knowing that was a lyric she’d seen in his book weeks earlier it now hitting her it was about her.
“Tomorrow then?” She asked hopefully.
“Tomorrow” he promised, finding her hand in the dark and not letting it go.
#Alex turner x reader#Alex turner x y/n#Alex turner fic#Alex turner fluff#Alex turner x you#Alex turner imagine#alex turner fanfic#Alex turner
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Permanent Vacation
Summary: Calum falls for a musician.
A/N: I just really wanted an excuse to use Arrows in Action newest releases in a fic. (They’re bangers. You should go give ‘em a listen.)
Word Count: 2.8k
And away, and away we go!
__
The sun was hot as it beat down on my neck, the line for the beerstand long, and the noises of people chatting excitedly were loud in my ears. But I didn’t care in the slightest. After the isolating shitshow that was quarantine, I was more than happy to be out at a festival with, wait for it, live fuckin’ music. The only way I could be happier was if my band was in the lineup, but this was still a pretty close second. To be surrounded by musicians and people who loved music was a breath of fresh air after so long. A breath of very hot fresh air. But still.
Behind me I heard the girlish giggling and whispers of my name, which drew the attention of the group in front of me: three guys, and a girl around my own age, two of the guys a good shoulder and head taller than the other man and girl. The shortest of the guys whispered, “Could you imagine if we got noticed like that?”
The tall brunette’s eyes went wide as he pulled a face and shook his head. “No, thanks. I think I’d cry.”
The other tall one with purple hair laughed loudly, “Aw, c’mon, that would be rad! His band’s not even in the lineup and he still gets recognized. Could you imagine?”
“He has a name, and can hear you, J,” the girl hissed with a playful eye roll. Then, she flashed me a smile before calling out in a loud voice, “Hey, man! Good to see ya! How ya been?” to me, before taking a step forward and stretching up to wrap her arm around my shoulders like we were old friends. “Just go with it,” she added under her breath. “Nobody’ll bug you for pictures and autographs if you’re with a bigger group.”
“Thanks,” I laughed at her rescue attempt. “But it’s fine if they do. I don’t mind.”
“Yeah, but they can at least let you buy a fuckin’ beer first.”
“Well, thanks again,” I said, not sure of what else to say, or do so I let her pull me up with her friends who were all staring at her with I’m sure the same look of soft shock I had on my own face.
“I’m Y/N, by the way.” She let go of me as she started introducing her friends to me. “And this is Jesse.”
“Hello,” the tall one with purple hair smiled warmly.
“That’s Matt,” she nudged the other tall one.
“Hey.”
“And this is Vic,” she finished, looking at the shortest man who waved.
“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Calum,” I said, then realized how stupid that was. “But, you already knew that, huh?”
Y/N grinned, holding her thumb and index finger close together. “Just a smidge. But it’s cool. So, any bands you’re particularly excited to see?”
“The Maine and All Time Low mostly. I’m a huge fan of The Maine, and All Time Low are friends of mine.”
“Both are great bands. And the All Time Low guys are good friends to have, for sure.”
“Oh, you know them?”
“Yeah, we worked with them a few times.”
“Worked with? Fellow musicians, huh?”
She laughed. “We’re up and comers, yeah.”
“Your cool aunt’s favorite band,” Jesse grinned at me.
Y/N laughed more at the confused look that crossed my face. “That’s one of his favorite ways to refer to us. Like we’re the band you find out from word of mouth from the cool relative that’s always discovering new music.”
“Ah,” I said, nodding in understanding. “Been there. Are you guys in the lineup?”
“Yup!” she chirped happily as we got to the front of the line. “5 beers, please,” she told the person working the counter.
“Oh, you don’t have to,” I tried to decline, reaching quickly for my wallet.
“Relax, it’s just a beer,” she told me, passing me one of the cups being placed on the counter.
“Well, thanks,” I said, raising the cup and taking a sip. “I’ll getcha guys next time.”
“I’ll hold you to it,” she grinned around the rim of her own cup. “Enjoy your beer, Cal. See ya around.”
~~~
I took the last swallow from my beer, cursing myself for not having stopped her to get the name of her band, or at the very least her last name. But before I had a chance to get the words out, I’d been bombarded with requests from fans for pictures, engaging in small conversations with them, and by the time I was done, Y/N was long gone.
So I resigned myself to walking around the festival grounds, my head reeling. It wasn’t often a woman pretended to be my friend to rescue me from the onslaught of fans. In fact, I couldn’t recall one time that's ever happened. I also wasn’t used to being bought drinks, even if I was still fully intending to return the favor. Although that would require me to find her first. But something told me that wouldn’t be too difficult.
I was grateful I’d come on my own, and not with Ashton who would have no doubt teased me about how hooked I was on the girl. The cynic with a crush? Whatever were the odds? And was it even technically a crush when I’d only interacted with her for maybe five minutes? Okay, maybe Ashton being around wouldn’t be the worst thing if he could help me make sense of the jumble of thoughts in my head. The way that man could bounce from crush to crush almost seamlessly was enough to give me a case of whiplash.
I sighed as I tossed my cup in the trash. Whether or not it was a crush was still to be determined. All I knew was that I liked her energy, and wanted to see her again. And… that was a crush, wasn’t it? God. Fuckin’. Damn it.
A guitar chord rang out loudly, and there was a mad dash of people running towards the stage. Slowly I pushed my way through the crowd of people towards the front, grinning when I noticed it was her on stage, and grinning even more when I noticed the instrument in her hand. A bassist? Fuck, I was definitely in trouble now.
The shortest of the men, Vic, I recalled, started singing, with the other three providing backup harmony on the chorus. Until they got to the bridge that was all Y/N, her voice ringing out “Tomorrow’s a nightmare, I’m dreaming today. And my head is haunted, the past just can’t stay. The devil you know, yeah he comes and he goes. I’m selfish, and vapid, I hide in my prose!” before they launched into the final chorus.
“What up, Anaheim?!” Vic yelled into his mic to a scream of cheers and applause. “We’re Arrows in Action, and that was our newest single, Only Be Mine. I’m Vic. We got Matt over here on guitar. Jesse’s on the drums. And Y/N’s over there on bass. We got a few more songs for you all. And if you’re an awesome crowd, we might have a special treat for ya at the end of our set. Sound good?”
We answered him in whoops of cheers and loud applause, causing them all to grin as they launched into their next song.
They played seamlessly through about three more songs, enjoying the feeling of playing live in front of people again, before Y/N whooped into her own mic. “Whoo! It’s hot! Anyone else hot? Y’all staying hydrated out there?” she asked us, before flickering her gaze across the stage at Matt who was wiping his forehead. “You good, Matt?”
“Dude, it’s like a million degrees up here,” he commented, before taking a huge swig from a water bottle.
Y/N laughed. “Right. Y’all gotta understand. Matt’s from the cold states. Then there’s Vic and I who are California natives, technically, right Vic?”
“Yeah, I was born here. But I didn’t live here as long as you did.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. So Vic and I are used to the heat. Matt, not so much. And Jesse? How you doing back there, J?”
“Me?” the drummer pointed at himself in confusion “Oh, I’m great!”
“Great enough to give this crowd a real surprise?” she asked, her voice laced with playful trouble, as she looked at all her bandmates. “C’mon, boys what do ya say? Wanna give this crowd something special before we go?”
Again, we all cheered and applauded as encouragement for whatever surprise they had in mind. “Alright!” Vic laughed. “Alright, you wanna go ahead and introduce it then?”
She smiled wide as she turned towards us. “Alright, everybody! We’re Arrows in Action. We’ve had a great time with y’all! So, as a thank you, we’re gonna play a new song that we haven’t released yet. Is that cool with you?” She laughed as she awaited the response of screaming, whistles, and applause. “Alright. This is called Permanent Vacation, which will be available on all listening platforms this Friday. Let’s go!”
Matt started playing a series of chords that sounded incredibly familiar, while the other three clapped to the beat. But right before the lyrics were supposed to come in, Vic started talking into his mic. “Wait, wait, wait!” he laughed. “I don’t know the lyrics to this!”
“So it’s just like every other song,” Y/N teased him with her own laugh.
“Nah, I think it’s cuz that one’s not ours.”
“Be rad if it was though,” she said, and I swear she shot me a wink. “Alright, alright. So, that one’s not ours. But this one definitely is. And it’s definitely called Permanent Vacation. And it’s out Friday.”
A new guitar and drum beat started up and Vic immediately started singing, again with the rest of the band providing back up vocals until the bridge where it was all Y/N. A soft build before a wild yell that would have torn my own vocal chords to shreds.
“I’m locked and loaded, fire away! Permanent vacation from my brain. Extend my stay another day. Far from home, not alone,” they all finished with a flurry of chords. “Thank you!” Vic croaked into the mic. “Thank you guys so much! We’re Arrows in Action, enjoy the rest of your night!”
With tired but happy smiles, they all bowed before exiting the stage. I moved to follow, but thought better of it, going to hit the drink stand first where I bought 5 beers and 4 waters. A small challenge, made slightly easier by the person working the stand putting the water bottles in a grocery bag for me. With that hanging off my arm, I held 2 beers in each hand, and my own in my teeth.
“Cal!” she laughed, her face flushed when I found them lounging in the grass. “You didn’t have to do that,” she told me as she rose to her feet to help me distribute the beers.
“I said I’d get the next round,” I offered up simply, setting down the bag and taking a seat with them all. “I brought you guys water, too.”
“You really didn’t have to do that,” she laughed, tossing the bottles out anyway, and sitting back down, this time next to me.
“Shut up, Y/N, let the man do what he wants,” Jesse said, downing a water bottle in 2 gulps before turning his attention to his beer. “You’re rad. Thank you.”
“For real, man. This was really cool of you,” Vic said.
“Yeah, huge thanks,” Matt nodded.
“What they said, I guess,” Y/N laughed again, following Jesse’s lead of downing her water bottle before going for her beer. “Fuck,” she sighed. “That’s good. Thank you, really.”
“Happy to do it,” I answered. “That set was amazing, by the way. And that joke at the end was pretty clever. How long were you planning that?”
She giggled. “Uh, well Jesse and I are much more the 5sos fans than Matt and Vic are. But we’re all familiar with your music. And when we were writing the song, and settled on the title, I suggested that it would be funny to start playing your version if we ever got the chance to play it live. Which meant bugging Matt to learn the guitar parts.”
“So you’re the troublemaker of the band?” I guessed.
She shrugged, and hid behind the rim of her cup. “I mean… Depends on the day.”
We continued to lay in the grass, making small talk as we all finished our beers, before Jesse cleared his throat. “Uh… Matt, Vic. You guys wanna come with me to get a good spot for the rest of the acts?” he asked, the suggestion in his tone heavy.
Matt and Vic shared a look, before nodding. “Yeah, yeah of course,” they said, all three of them getting up.
“You assholes are just gonna leave me?” Y/N asked, looking up at them.
“Just come find us when you’re ready,” they winked. “Thanks again for the beers, Cal.”
“Assholes,” she muttered again as they all made themselves scarce. “Sorry about them.”
I laughed, waving it off. “Nah, it’s cool. And kinda nice, maybe?”
“Oh?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Uh…” her face flushed. “I mean…” she started to stammer. “Yeah. Yeah.”
I gave a half chuckle, scratching at the back of my neck. “Look, it’s fine if you’re not… I mean, I figure you probably are if they did that for you, cuz they have no reason to do it for my sake. I mean, they’re your friends and bandmates, not mine. But I know a wing man set up when I see it. But if it’s more of a meddling wing man set up, like that’s fine,” I spilled out, before realizing I was rambling.
“No!” she rushed. “Oh, no, that’s not what I meant at all!” She covered her face in her hands, groaning “Oh, this is so embarrassing…” Her hands moved to push through her hair as she took a long breath to steady herself. “Of course I like you, Cal. Like before I even met you. One of those embarrassing fangirl crush type of deals. And I mean, I’m a bassist in a punk band, so you’re also someone I idolize and take inspiration from.” Slowly her gaze lifted from her lap to lock onto mine. “And then I met you today. And you’re everything I thought you’d be. Thoughtful. Generous. A bit shy, and quiet at times. Nice. And it makes the crush that much stronger, and harder to deal with. Cuz now it’s real. And I feel like I know you. And it’s just… Ugh, it spirals from there, ya know?”
“A good spiral, or a bad spiral?”
“Bit of both? Like the insecurities in me say that you’re an A-list celebrity, while I’m more of like… not an A-lister. My band’s not on the same level yours is. I mean, we play bars and small day festivals. You sell out stadiums and have world tours. There’s a clear discrepancy. But then, another part of me doesn’t give a shit about that. It sees how we’re like-minded. It sees all the ways we click, and all the ways we could work. And that’s where the cocky part comes in, where it sees the like-mindedness and the reasons we could work, and calls you an idiot if you can’t see it too. That, uh, screwed up defense mechanism of it being your loss, ya know?”
“Mhm.”
She sighed. “Sorry. I said a lot. Point is, I do like you. And, that’s that.”
“So the ball’s in my court?”
“Only if you want it to be. And if you don’t, then no. There’s no ball. No court. Just two people who have a few things in common.”
“You wanna hear what I think?”
“Go for it.”
“I think your friends left us for 2 reasons. 1 being that they’re loyal to you, and know how you feel about me. 2 being that they’re also guys. Which gives them a pretty good insight for how I’m feeling too.”
“Uh-huh…” she nodded slowly. “And how you’re feeling is…?”
I could have said the words. But I settled for leaning in, brushing my lips softly against hers for the sweetest of moments, listening to the way her next breath got stuck in her throat. I pulled away, smiling softly at her and shrugging my shoulders.
She traced her lips with her thumb, bewilderment written on her face. “Okay, you really didn’t have to do that.”
“Relax,” I chuckled, stealing her words from earlier. “It’s just a kiss.”
“Well, thanks. I’ll, uh, getcha next time.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
__
Tag List
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Digging into the Teen Wolf credits
So I fell into a bit of a rabbit hole researching the shift in writing and directing credits in Teen Wolf, trying to find some explanations for the lack of continuity, whiplash change of directions on storylines, and the messiness of the later seasons. A lot of people (myself included) tend to focus on casting issues and Jeff Davis as the be-all-end-all of these issues, but here are a few interesting things I’ve put together:
1. Waning involvement from the original producers/directors -
Russell Mulcahy was a producer/exec on all 100 episodes and directed 39 episodes, including every season finale and all but one season premier (5a). He was a big-shot music video director in the ‘80s. According to his Wikipedia, “Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans.”
Tim Andrew came on as a supervising producer and progressed to executive producer, holding a producing credit for all 100 episodes. He directed 35 episodes, including some of fan-favorite suspense episodes like Night School, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and Riddled.
While their producer credits stayed steady, it’s the director credits that interest me. Between the two of them, they directed 75% of S1, 100% of S2, 83% and 75% of 3a and 3b. S4, it drops to 58%. Back up to 70% and 90% for 5a and 5b, then plummeting to 60% for all of S6. It’s worth noting that S4 is the first season where we start to notice that whiplash effect, not really sure what characters’ motivations are. In one episode, the focus seems to be family financial drama, and then we forget about that and focus on Lydia’s powers. Then the focus is assassins, then Kate Argent - and what the hell is up with Peter?
It’s hard to say for sure, but one could draw the conclusion that the decline in director credits from Andrew and Mulcahy also suggest a decline in interest from them in maintaining the show’s storylines.
In fact, in 5b and season 6, you see a third long-time producer, Joseph Genier, step in to direct a few episodes: the rather sloppy Maid of Gevaudan, Blitzkrieg, and Genotype. We can’t give him too hard a time over it, since his only other directing experience ever was a 2016 Netflix horror movie The Secrets of Emily Blair, shitty even by Netflix standards. He also has some late-season writing credits, but we’ll get to that later.
2. The curious case of Angela Harvey -
In order to understand the writing on TW, you need to know Angela Harvey. She climbed the ranks from personal assistant to writers’ assistant, then, starting in 3a, staff writer.
A staff writer is a salaried, stable figure in the writing department, who works with what is often a rotating door of producers and head writers. They’re usually not the “ideas” person and don’t get the final say, but they help the head writer work through the story and stay on track. Most larger shows have a whole team of staff writers. TW never had more than one at a time.
Shortly after her promotion to staff writer, Harvey got her first full writing credit for Frayed, which is a controversial episode! It’s both praised and detested for the non-linear storyline, the sometimes confusing flashbacks, and Allison’s emotional hallucination of her mother.
After that, she went back to staff writer and was a rock for the show for all of S3 and 4. In S4, she got full writing credit for I.E.D. and Time of Death. Both got mixed reviews on-par with the rest of the muddled mess of S4, but I will note one thing: the human factor. I.E.D., for me, was the first episode that really gave a more rounded picture of Liam, who until that time felt very much like a new puppy coming in to replace our favorite old dogs that went to live on the big farm in the sky.
S5, Harvey gets a promotion to ‘story editor,’ which is pretty much just a title and pay promotion. She wrote A Novel Approach and Strange Frequencies, two more mixed-bag sort of episodes with some golden moments and some crippling larger-story issues. Then she writes the slightly stronger The Sword and the Spirit and...
Gone. She vanishes from the credits for the rest of season 5. I haven’t been able to find any specific explanations, but I did find a rather telling quote from her in an article about how black writers get hired but not promoted in TV: “I repeated staff writer four times,” she said.
Harvey then returns for 6x2 with a shiny new title: executive story editor. I can only draw one conclusion from this sequence of events, which is a contract dispute. Harvey demanded a promotion (as she should have, given her longevity on the show!), was denied, and walked off. The show floundered in her absence and begged her back with the new title.
She got full writer credits for two more episodes for S6 but left the show for good after the second, After Images.
To me, it seems clear that they had a strong, stable voice in Angela, but her commitment to the project waned as she realized that the show had no commitment to her. She may not have been the strongest head writer, but she was an essential core, a beating heart of the show. Her contributions were undervalued and, ultimately, the show suffered because of it.
3. The rotating door of writers -
It’s not unusual for head writers to come and go on shows. Then again, most shows have a stable core in the writers’ room to host those head writers. TW had Jeff Davis, who has frequently been acknowledged to be overly hands-on with the writing (even in episodes he did not take writing credit for), and a single staff writer: Angela Harvey and, before her, Andy Cochran (who was staff writer for S2).
S1 did not have a staff writer, but that was because Jeff had a very firm grip on the story and also because there were only four writers other than Jeff Davis (and the original Teen Wolf movie writers). Interestingly, none of those 4 writers ever returned to the show after S1. This would become a theme for TW writers.
Jeff kept even tighter control on S2, writing 8 of 12 episodes with the help of Cochran. Other than them, there were four other writers, two of whom were a writing team.
Jeff wrote 15 of 24 S3 episodes and brought in 6 new writers and one S2 writer, Christian Taylor who also produced and directed. Of the new writers, only Ian Stokes, who wrote The Fox and the Wolf would become a regular writer afterward (though Alyssa Clark did write two more episodes in S4). Stokes wrote three S4 episodes and three for 5a.
Jeff wrote 6 of 12 episodes in S4, 5 of 10 in 5a, 4 of 10 in 5b, and then did not write again until the series finale.
Starting in Season 4, the writing credits are all over the place. Most writers come in for a single episode and never again. The few notable exceptions are:
Eric Wallace, a later seasons producer
Will Wallace (not sure if related) who was a writers’ assistant that seems to have been randomly granted writing credit for 5a’s Ouroboros, despite having no other writing credits to his name previously. He got writing credit for 4 other episodes in S5 and S6, plus a random staff writer credit for 6a’s Ghosted.
Lindsay Sturman, a lalter seasons producer who now writes and produces for Supergirl.
And producer Joseph Genier who, as he had been allowed to direct later seasons with no previous directing credits, was also allowed head writer credit with no previous writing credits.
What can we divine from this? Chaos, honestly. An inability to resist the uninformed and careless whims of the producers. The lack of lower-level writing staff, who are usually the ones there to give stability and cohesion to the story, meant that every new writer brought in new and contradictory ideas of what the story was about and where it should go. Looking at these credits, I can’t tell if the problem was that everyone wanted to write and writing spots were being given as thank-yous in exchange for producers laying down money or if they had such a difficult time finding quality writers willing to work in that environment that producers had no choice but to step in and write as well as they could given a lack of resources.
4. The vanishing first assistant director -
Compared to the other issues, this one seems minor. However, it seems like TW gave up on the position of ‘first assistant director’ at some point. This position is essentially the right hand of the director, making sure that set runs smoothly and the director has everything they need.
James J.D. Taylor held the position for 50 episodes, including all but 4 episodes in S1-3a. In the first 3, Jeffrey January filled in. For the fourth, Eric Sherman, who would come to be Taylor’s backup, it seems. For 3b and the first half of S4, Sherman and Taylor traded off every other episode. Taylor tried his hand at directing for S4′s Monstrous, at which point Sherman started trading off episodes with Matt Rawls.
Taylor went back to first assistant director for S5, but intermittently and with no backup for his position. 8 of 20 episodes in 5a had no first assistant director. Taylor directed 6x2 and was first assistant for 6x4 and 6x5, but 17 of 20 episodes of S6 had no first assistant.
Sure, there were second assistant and second second assistants, but it seems very odd to neglect such a pivotal position. What is especially baffling is that 6b had first-time directors Tyler Posey, Linden Ashby, and Joseph Genier all working without a first assistant director. To me, this speaks to staffing issues and difficulty organizing a show that was clearly on its last legs.
In summary -
Where the early seasons had focused attention and investment from the original core producers, directors, and the show runner, clearly their attention and care for the project waned over time. They failed to promote the show’s most valuable workers and failed to bring in lower-level staff to do the grunt work in the writers’ room. Instead, they pulled in more and more higher level executives, who tend to have lofty ideas about where a show goes but no willingness to dig into the nitty gritty details. Film schools could make a study of Teen Wolf: “How to run a show into the ground.”
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tell me you care
request: 60 62 and 74 with Joel edmundson or Matthew tkachuk
prompts: “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t care.” & “Hi.” - “Get away from me.” & “You’ve been crying, I can tell.” / numbers 60, 62, & 74 off of this list with Matthew Tkachuk.
summary: first impressions are important to you, but Matthew somehow finds a way to bounce back.
warnings: none
word count: 2.9k
You were, by all accounts, a likable, friendly person. You always wore a smile on your face and got along with just about every person you met. Of course, there’s always a few exceptions. Your grumpy old neighbor who had heard your music loud late at night once and decided to hold a grudge. A few of the girls at your old high school who resented you for not giving them the time of day. One of your professors, who seemed to have a personal vendetta after you forgot to turn in an assignment late.
And then there was Matthew.
Your relationship with the curly haired hockey player was something else entirely. He was cocky, which to be fair you could handle, because you were friends with other hockey players on the Flames, but it was borderline arrogance that made your skin crawl. He teased you relentlessly whenever you were in the same room, which, once again, wouldn't be a problem if he actually showed some kindness every once in a while.
Long story short, you and Matthew did not get along very well. Like, at all.
Which also seemed to be a source of amusement between his teammates, and it seemed to be their personal mission to get you and Matt in the same room as often as possible just to see how you’d react.
“Noah, I’m pretty sure whatever it is, you don't need my help. You’re pretty capable.” You joked, following your friend’s large frame into the kitchen. You were at a house party, thrown by Matthew himself, though Johnny had been the one to extend the invitation to you. You had considered not even going, but then Johnny had said something about how he wanted to make sure he spent as much time with him as he could before they got too busy with a push for the playoffs, and, really, how could you say no to that?
But you had seen Johnny twice in the entire night, and only spoken to him once. He had been with Matthew, and you weren’t in the mood to start a fight, so you kept your distance. You found residence at the pong table, making friends with the people there and hung out for a while until Noah approached, saying he needed help getting something in the kitchen.
“Yeah, but it’s more fun if you come.” He said with a grin, one that should have been your first warning to turn and run, but you were just tipsy enough to overlook it as you walked into what was essentially a trap. Standing in the kitchen awaiting your arrival was not only Johnny, but Matthew and the usual gaggle of women that trailed after him
You weren’t blind, you knew Matt was attractive. Curly hair, handsome grin, tall with broad shoulders—you definitely got the appeal. But then he did things like open his mouth, and you wondered just why those girls stuck to him like they did.
Matt didn’t even see you enter at first, too busy chatting with one of the girls to notice you. But then Johnny called your name with a cheer, raising his drink in your direction and opening his arm for you to tuck yourself into his side.
And Matt genuinely might have given himself whiplash with how fast his head snapped to face you.
“Where have you been?” Johnny teased, squeeing you obnoxiously tight before letting go.
“Playing pong.” You explained with a shrug.
“How bad did you lose?” Matt cut in, and for a moment you spotted the mischievous glint in Johnny’s eyes as you rolled yours, not even bothering to turn towards the boy who had spoken at first. When you finally turned, you were surprised to find that Matt had separated himself from the girls, but they were still nearby.
“What makes you think I lost?” You knew you shouldn't have said it, should have turned back to Johnny and asked him how much longer he planned on stay or told Noah off for tricking you into coming into the kitchen. But instead, you took Matt’s bait and met his smirk head on.
“Well, you’re in here instead of defending your title of champion.” His arms were folded across his chest and his attention was solely on you, and it was devastating that even though you could feel your annoyance at him growing, you couldn’t help but silently acknowledge how attractive he looked.
“I’m taking a break, my partner needed to use the bathroom and Noah said he needed help with something.” You found yourself explaining, though the petty part of you considered just ignoring him. Knowing Matt, though, he probably would take that as he had been right, and there was absolutely no way you were letting him think that.
“Who were you playing with?” He questioned, and he sounded like he was genuinely interested but you were certain he was working some kind of angle, trying his best to try and get under your skin. With your brows tugged together in confusion, you gestured across the open floor plan apartment to the guy you had been playing against.
The guy was already looking at you, and when you made eye contact, he sent a wink in your direction. You smiled back at him, before he was blocked from your line of sight by a broad chest. Over Noah and Johnny’s laughter, you realized that Matt had physically moved from one side of the kitchen to the other, just to stand between you and your decently handsome pong partner.
“What are you doing?” You crossed your arms over your chest and raised a brow, spotting out of the corner of your eye as the girls Matt had abandoned from his previous spot huffed in annoyance.
“I don't want you flirting at my party.” He explained, all traces of amusement void in his tone. You rolled your eyes, and the only thing that stopped you from gesturing to the women who were waiting for him to pay attention to them once more being the fact you didn't want them to think you were rude.
“Oh, you really don't get to decide that.” Your response, coupled with the way you were clearly waiting for him to try and argue his case, had him spluttering for a response.
“No—not like that, I just meant—” He started, but was mercilessly cut off by one of his teammates barging into the kitchen.
“Hey, Chucky!” Rasmus cheered, swinging an arm over his shoulders as Matt still floundered for a response.
“Saved by the bell.” You muttered, rolling your eyes at Matt and smiling at Rasmus as you passed.
An hour and a half had passed in peace. You had been hanging with Noah for the entire time, until about five minutes ago when a girl caught his attention and you shoved him in her direction with an encouraging smile. Surprisingly, despite it nearing one in the morning, there were still quite a lot of people in the apartment, and all at once it felt stuffy.
You slipped out onto the balcony and were alone for two minutes, tops, before the door opened behind you. You didn’t turn at first, too captivated by the nighttime view of Calgary. But you did feel the person lean against the railing next to you, and it was a voice you were certain you could recognize anywhere.
“Hi.”
“Get away from me.” You snapped, tired from a long day of classes and your buzz had long since worn off.
“You're so sweet, you know that?” Matt’s sarcastic tone was obvious, but when you turned to look at him he was grinning. It wasn't his typical devilish smirk, it seemed genuine. “What’re you doing out here by yourself?” If he was being civil, then you could too.
“I needed some air.” You shrugged, turning away from him and leaning backwards against the railing, craning your head sideways to look at him. “I think I’m going to head out, though?”
And it was like a switch had been flicked, all traces of his typical annoying personality vanished, and it was as if you guys didn’t usually bicker whenever you were in the same room.
“I’ll go with you.” He said easily, as if it wasn't the first time he had offered something like that. You scoffed, raising a brow in his direction.
“Not a chance, Tkachuk.”
“Not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter.” He clarified with a chuckle, only grinning wider when you rolled your eyes. “It's way too late, I’m not letting you get in an Uber alone.”
And, okay, so maybe he wasn't as big of an asshole he you had originally thought.
“You can’t just leave your own party.” There was a hint of amusement in your voice, and you couldn’t help but feel a bit of disappointment. It was strange, usually you couldn’t wait to get away from Matt, but the simple fact that he was thoughtful enough to not want you to get in an Uber alone had you starting to see him in a different light.
“Yeah, I can. Johnny was going to crash here tonight so he can watch the place. Nobody will even notice I’m gone.” You wanted to protest, to argue that his fan club of women that he had somehow managed to lose in the crowded party.
But then he grabbed your hand and tugged you inside, his free hand ordering the car to your apartment. His tall frame was able to spot Johnny through the crowd, and he made his way over to him. Johnny had been in the process of crossing the room, so Matt was able to catch him by himself.
“Hey, we’re heading out but I’ll be back soon.” Matt told Johnny, gesturing to the door over his shoulder. Johnny’s gaze casted over Matt, then to you, and down to where your hands were still connected.
“Stay safe, you two.” Johnny was clearly hiding a grin, and without your permission a blush bloomed on your cheeks. Matt didn’t notice, thankfully, and tugged you by your joined hands towards the exit.
It was silent between you and Matt the whole ride to your apartment. It was a little strange, how he didn't let go of your hand until he was opening the car door for you. What was even more strange was how you found yourself wanting to reach back out to him once he settled in the back beside you.
But, you stayed quiet, hands in your lap and stared out the window. Once the car turned onto the street your apartment was located on, you decided that you needed to say something.
“Uh, thanks, Matt.” You spoke quietly, turning to face him. He was already looking at you, a genuine smile on his face. The car pulled over, and Matt was climbing out and holding the door open for you before you could even think to reach for the handle on your side.
“Don’t worry about.” He was standing on the sidewalk, hands stuffed into his pockets as he shrugged. It was hard to believe that the man standing before you was the same that not only an hour before you couldn’t stand to be around. But he had shown you the side of him you had only heard about from Johnny and Noah, the sweet and caring side. You bit your lip, contemplating your next move, unable to get yourself to just turn around and go inside.
If anyone asked, you would tell them alcohol was the reason why you did what you did.
You pushed yourself onto your tip-toes, one hand placed on his chest to brace yourself and the other on his shoulder to keep him still as you pressed a kiss to his cheek. You smiled subconsciously at the way his scruff scratched your lips.
For seemingly the first time in his life and definitely since you had met him, Matt was at a loss for words. His jaw dropped a bit, a slight blush creeping up his neck.
He watched as you retreated into your building to make sure you got there safe, and only when you were half inside the door did you turn to face him once more.
“Get home safe, Tkachuk.”
After that night, things seemed to shift between you and Matthew. Time spent with him was filled with more laughter and less annoyed glares, though you were pretty certain that you still rolled your eyes at him just as often. He had shown you his softer side, and it was like you saw him in a different light. He was still a pest, but he was more endearing than obnoxious.
And then you and Matt started spending time one-on-one, and it was becoming increasingly clear that before when he would say the things he did, it was only because that was his personality. He acted like that with everyone, you had even showed up at his apartment while he was FaceTiming his parents and caught him chirping his dad.
He had introduced you to his parents that night, and that was when you started to feel the shift on your relationship with him. How things weren’t so platonic between you, the way your heart raced whenever he tugged your legs across his lap while hanging out on the couch or how you found yourself wanting to text him whenever something good happened.
But you shoved that part of you down, and tried to carry on as normal. Which is why you agreed to go on a date, and one date led to two, three, four, and that’s how you ended up crying on the couch by yourself one night. Your phone was still open, his ‘sorry, this isn't going to work’ text mocking you as the device sat on the cushion next to you.
You felt stupid for crying over this guy, it wasn't as if you felt any real feelings for him, heart already occupied by a mop of curls. But your day had been stressful, and even then it sucked being dumped by a guy you thought things might have worked out with.
Someone knocked on your front door, startling you enough to drag you out of your thoughts. As you stood, you wiped the tear tracks from your face to try and seem presentable, knowing your puffy face and bloodshot eyes would give you away immediately.
Though, you forgot all about how bad you must have looked when you spotted the person standing on the other side of the door. Matt barely had time to register your appearance before you flung yourself into his arms, a hug which he easily returned.
He didn’t say anything, just lifted you off the ground a bit to carry you inside the apartment and shut the door with his foot, keeping you out of sight of the prying eyes of your neighbors. Eventually you had to pull away, but he gently cupped your jaw, not letting you get far away. You felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, knowing that he was searching your face for any signs of what could have explained your behavior.
“You’ve been crying, I can tell.” He said so simply, and it clearly wasn't a question, but you found yourself nodding anyways. He moved you both so you were sitting on the couch, and pulled you into his chest. His hand was rubbing comfortingly up and down your back, effectively soothing you. “Why?”
And so you did, starting from your day sucked from the moment you woke up to the text you’d received ten minutes before his arrival. When you told Matt about the guy, he tensed up underneath you, and you felt his hand momentarily still on your back.
After a while, Matt had turned on some show and the two of you were silently watching without having separated. Your heart was pounding in your chest and you worried that maybe he could feel it from your position.
“I know we haven't always gotten along.” He started after a while without conversation. Your head tilted up to try and gauge where he was going with this, but his gaze was set in his lap, where he was toying with the hem of his shirt. “But you’ve gotta tell me you feel the same.”
“Matthew...” You trailed off, so caught off guard by his confession that you couldn’t even form a response. He must have taken your silence as a bad response, because suddenly he was shifting so that he met your gaze. The seriousness in his expression took the wind out of you, and you couldn’t find it in you to voice how you felt.
“Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t care.” He pleaded, continuing you before you could get a word in edgewise. “Tell me I'm not the only one that feels this.”
And still, you couldn't get any words out, too many thoughts running through your head to pick one and send out into the world. So instead, you cupped both of Matt’s cheeks and pressed a kiss to his lips before he could interpret your silence as notice for him to leave.
You didn’t want to pull away, but you did need to breath and the whole situation had taken the breathe out of your lungs even before the long awaited kiss. The two of you simply grinned at each other, though after a moment you couldn’t resist a chirp.
“You could’ve given me a minute to respond, drama queen.”
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Eternal Flame- Kol Mikaelson 4/?
Chapter 2- And Here I Thought We Were Getting Along.
Summary: 'You never know whats in a persons heart until you truly know them' - Belle French, Once Upon a Time
Singing. Thats all what Alexandra Gilbert has cared about since she was young and all she would care about until she met him.
With Alexandra fighting vampires, werewolves and all between she may do a thing she vowed never to do, fall in love.
And to think it all started with a walk in the woods...
WC: 2909
I came here for a good time not to get abused by a psychotic hybrid and watch one of my good friends get their necks snapped. Wasn't on my todays to do list, let me explain what happened next.
"Ah Dana, why don’t you relax? You and Chad sit tight." How gracious of you, you psycho I thought no way in hell am I being sarcastic to the scary hybrid maniac again, I quite like my head attached to my body. "I assume you’re the reason Elena's still walking around alive?" The psycho question Bonnie
"That’s right. If you want someone to blame, blame me" Bon I love you but let’s not commit suicide by placing blame on yourself.
"Oh, there's no need for blame, love. just you and your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects." He told her making me thank whatever god that he won't kill a friend of mine well so I thought. "And since you caused the problem, I’m going to have you find the fix." Wonderful, fan-fucking-tastic.
Before anyone was able to come back with a comment a blonde girl dressed in a pretty outfit came through the doors the opposite side of the hall with her dragging Tyler. Oh, this is getting better and better.
"Get off of me!" Ty yelled at the blonde but I have an inkling that just yelling that isn’t going to work.
"Hush now" the blonde said to Tyler hearing her speak with the same accent as the psycho essentially holding the rest of us captive, wonderful.
"I'd like you all to meet my sister. word of warning... she can be quite mean." He said teasing his sister clearly annoying the girl.
"Don't be an ass" before throwing Ty in to the hybrids arm. I like her all things considered.
"Leave him alone!" Elena yelled futile. I mean did she really think that was going to work.
"I'm going to make this very simple... every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire they die during transition. It’s quite horrible actually." The psycho hybrid informs us before biting into his wrist and making ty drink his blood which I can say from experience isn’t a great experience. "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids bonnie and for Tyler’s sake... you better hurry" before snapping his neck killing him.
"Jesus!" I yelled instinctively as Klaus smiles at us creepily. What is happening to this town, now not only is the sheriffs’ kid essentially dead but the mayors as well. Wonderful
Matt dropped down to the floor looking at Tyler almost in tears staring at his best friend before saying "He killed him".
"He's not dead, Klaus blood will turn him into a vampire" I informed Matt with a hand on his shoulder attempting to comfort the quarter back.
"And if Bonnie is successful, he will live through transition. Go on then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold onto Elena and Her" he said pointing at me "for safe keeping" fantastic I’m leverage now. I should have taken up Sam’s offer to give me a ride back home. Bonnie looks apprehensive to leave so I shout
"Bon just go we'll be fine? I assume so anyway." But she seemed more focused on Elena what a shocker and when got the okay from her left. Once it was just the six of us Rebekah came up to my sister looking her up and down.
"So, this is the latest doppelganger. The original one was much prettier" I’m not going to lie that moment seemed to be the only good thing that had been said since I left the boys.
"Enough Rebekah. Take the wolf boy and her somewhere, would you?" Her brother told her like she was the dog not him.
"And here was me thinking we were getting on" I said to the hybrid in an innocent tone. I saw the blonde give a small smirk in the corner of my eye before grabbing Tyler by the t-shirt he was wearing and me roughly by the arm.
"God what is it with this family and being rough. Keep it inside the bedroom will you."
Rebekah dragged me and a now dead Tyler away from the gym hall and to the chemistry class. Mr Jones.
"NO" I shouted the top of my lungs where the vampire stopped and looked at me funnily. "You walk through that door and you'll be washing confetti out your hair until next year. trust me I rigged it myself." She gave me a confused look "Senior prank night" where she gave a nod in realization before moving into the class next door which was prank free luckily.
I saw Caroline knocked out, Rebekah throwing Tyler down beside her. I didn't have to question what happened to Caroline the angle of her neck was enough besides its bad enough having an original watching you like a hawk but an angry one... don't even want to think what the blonde would be like when angry. She sat down on one side of the class me at the other with Caroline lying next to me, my phone starts made a noise to indicate a text my main bet it is Sam to see if I’m home safe.
"what is that?" the blonde asked confused by the contraption in my hands.
"It’s an iPhone?" I questioned back where has she been the past decade "Have you never seen one before?"
"Obviously I haven't, I wouldn’t have asked if I had" she snapped back
"Okay, relax. I'm just going to text my friend that I’m fine, okay?" Trying to calm her down a bit not wanting to cause an angry original. I contemplated sending an SOS then thought I would just be putting him in danger as well, dealing with this bull shit is enough I don’t want Sam dragged into it.
"What’s a text?" Jesus she really doesn't know anything about technology. Where has Klaus been keeping her?
"It’s like a letter only you can send it on this device. look I'll show you." I told her crawling over next to her "I'm texting my friend that I’m safe. so, I type it in to the bar here from the keyboard here" I was explaining it as best as possible for her whilst also replying to the text. Once I taught her that she must have heard vibrating because she heard Caroline’s phone. She picked it up and started to go through her phone, I'm still trying to teach her the basics of a phone. such as I just taught her how to take a selfie and it seems to keep her amused.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I never caught your name?" Rebekah asked kindly which is quite unusual for a borderline kidnapper.
"Uh, its Alexandra but call me Alex, Alexandra sounds so formal even from a millennial old vampire" giving a little laugh that she mirrored. "So, Klaus is your brother, must be ... eventful?"
She gave out a laugh "That's one word for it. Me and my brother have a complicated relationship." She told me smiling at me "I overheard your sisters with the doppelganger?" She questioned about Elena causing me to roll my eyes "Not a fan I take it."
"You could say that. Just like you and Klaus our relationship is complicated."
"If only families were easy"
I went to reply in agreement until I heard groaning coming from the direction Caroline was lying in making me snap my head quick enough to give me whiplash.
"Care" I rushed to her side "Are you okay? How's the neck?" I asked quickly making sure my friend was okay and in the right mind set for what she is about to see. From behind me I could hear the British voice I have grown used to in the past hour.
"We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a lot easier I suppose." Ending with taking a selfie which I smirked at. Caroline didn't have time to engage in conversation about her phone or wellbeing being more concerned about her boyfriend.
"Where's Tyler?" In a panic Rebekah answered her question calmly.
"He's dead. ish" Moving a bit to let Caroline have visual of her dead not so dead boyfriend.
"What did you do to him?" Caroline was starting to get a bit angry and I'm not sure if I want to see a fight between these two from such close proximity.
"Think of it as he's having a nap. When he wakes up, hell he a hybrid." Rebekah informed her
"Klaus turned him, Caroline. His hybrids are failing and we need Bonnie to find a spell to make sure Ty is a success and well lives." I told her giving her the run down of what is happening.
Nevertheless she races up and put her head to his chest to try and find a heart beat. While watching Caroline trying to wake Tyler hopelessly Rebekah was swiping through the photos she had taken with the help of yours truly before coming across a cute picture of Elena and Stefan
"Ugh. Vomit." She said disgusted by the picture before seeing something familiar in the picture and not just Stefan. She zoomed in to the neckless Elena wore since a few days in their relationships before getting up and turning to me shouting "Why is that doppelganger bitch wearing my necklace?!" making me jump a bit.
"Your necklace? That’s the necklace Stefan gave Elena at the beginning of their relationship. How is it your necklace?" I retorted confused on how Elena managed to get a necklace from a vampire whose been in a box for ninety years.
she stormed out of the class with me following slowly compared to her you know seeing as she’s a vampire and all. She marched into the gym hall towards my sister
"Where is it?!? Where is my necklace?" Shouting at Elena to give her necklace to the proper owner.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Rebekah’s big brother confused looking between me and his sister. Giving him the phone, she showed him the picture of the couple with Rebekah’s necklace.
"She has my necklace. Look."
"Well, well, more lies" he replies looking at Elena and Stefan.
"Where... is it?" Rebekah asks slowly and honestly her being somewhat calm is even more terrifying than her furious.
"I don't have it anymore" Elena tells the original which she finds unsatisfactory.
"Your lying!" she bellows before biting Elena’s neck which then Klaus pulls her off and takes her over to the side.
"Knock it off!" Klaus warns his little sister but she isn't backing down that easily, it was her necklace for nine centuries to be fair.
"Make her tell me where it is Nik!" she whines to her brother convincing the hybrid to talk to the doppelganger.
"Where's the necklace, sweet heart? Be honest" trying to convince her to tell them where the necklace is
"I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it." Elena defends herself, first time for everything I suppose.
"Of course it would be that bitch." I muttered the same time as Klaus yells out dramatically,
"If we had the necklace, it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" Declaring that he was putting a time on this, setting the dreadful noise of the gym clock buzzes and it’s set to twenty minutes stop clock. After this he begins to compel Stefan "Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to." Oh, fantastic my sister is going to be a drained blood bag if Bon doesn’t find the right spell out of thousand within 20 minutes. Wonderful.
"No, Klaus! don't do this to him!" My sister yells. When is she going to get it through her thick head that these are the Salvatore’s or Katherine these are thee vampires, they don’t take orders from a human even if they are a Petrova doppelganger.
"No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine".
"Oh how delightful" I muttered.
Rebekah grabs my arm albeit gentler this time taking me away with her and Klaus.
"No! Alex! Let her go please!" I hear Elena beg for my life, which although we are sisters is a nice feeling that she remembered about me.
"Oh love, don't worry your precious Alex will be quite alright with my dear sister." Klaus retorts before walking through the doors to go out to the corridor. "I'm sorry your brought into all this sweet heart." Klaus apologise not even sounding a tad sincere.
"Yeah, let’s just say next time I’m offered a ride I’ll be taking it. rather not get brought into my sisters mess again" this makes Rebekah smirk as we depart ways from her brother to head towards the class we left Caroline and Tyler in.
After a long seventeen awkward minutes with the two blondes sitting opposite sides of the rooms me in the middle being a barrier of sorts but as soon as it hit the three minute left mark Tyler woke up making me race towards the werewolf turned hybrid
"Where am I? What happened?" Tyler questioned the two of us, seeing Rebekah and looking extremely confused
"Tyler" Caroline began but Rebekah interrupted before she could say anymore
"Don't be shy about it."
"What’s going on?" Tyler still and rightly so confused I would be as well if I woke up in a class from a broken neck with three females two vampires.
"Klaus is turning you into a vampire. A hybrid. You’re in transition" Caroline starts off being kind and leaving the hard bits out.
"Don’t leave the hard bits out sweets. you-" but I cut her off
"You'll only live if Bonnie is successful but if she doesn't find a solution then... you'll die" I told him trying to block out any emotion that would rub off on to him and Caroline but not succeeding seeming stressed and upset.
"You’re going to be okay. Okay? It's going to be okay." Caroline says not only trying to convince Tyler but herself also.
"I wonder how she's doing." Showing us the time left on her clock only being two minutes "Tick Tok goes the gym clock."
I look upset and stressed I step outside in the hallway leaving the couple to have a moment but Rebekah follows "I'm sorry, Alex. I don't know what I'd do if someone tried to hurt my brothers the way you are. I'm so sorry" her apology seeming to be more sincere compared to her brothers earlier. I nodded in thanks not wanting to seem remotely weak. Tyler will live. He has to.
I breathe in and out steadying my heart rate before going back into the class where Caroline and Tyler are situated obviously upset, nervous and worried from the look on their face. But after a few minutes and most likely the death of my sister which brings tears to my eyes an unlikely hero comes to save the day and that person is Klaus Mikaelson.
"Well verdicts in. The original witch says the doppelganger should be dead." Making me deflate tears finally running down my cheeks at the thought of my sister dying. I may not have seen eye to eye with her but she was still my sister.
"Does that mean we get to kill her?" Seeming happy until she seems me and then tries to hide her excitement failing in doing so.
"No, I’m fairly certain it means the opposite." He tell his sister
"Wait Elena is alive?" I question the hybrid in which he ignores but putting two and two together I breathe in a sigh of relief that my twin sister is alive.
"What?!?" Rebekah exclaims also being partly ignored by her brother. She pulls Caroline and myself back so we don’t interrupt any process of what will happen such as Klaus feeding my friend my sisters’ blood out of a small test tube.
"Elena’s blood drink it"
"Tyler no!" Caroline yells in warning
"Caroline! He’s dead either way!" Giving her a pleading look if she can be quiet and let this psycho feed him Elena’s blood.
"At least we can agree on something sweet heart" He says talking to me making me glare at him.
After a struggle Tyler finally drinks the blood in the test tube.
"There we go good boy"
"He isn't a dog" I snarked towards the original which he returned with a glare with the same amount of malice I sent him.
"And here was me thinking we were getting along" mirrorring my words earlier.
Once Tyler had finished drinking her blood he coughs and falls to the floor from rolling about on the desk that he was lying on. He was screaming and groaning before he holds his head and screams so loud it hurts my normal human ears. his face finally changes: His eyes are golden and he has fangs along with veins under his eyes just like a vampire. I glanced at Caroline worriedly when Klaus said.
"Well, that's a good sign"
**************************************
A/N: long chapter for me anyway.
Again hope there's not too mistakes e.g. grammar, spelling, Americanisms.
if you have anything to say please don't hestitate to comment. I appreciate all positive and negative feedback
Next chapter is really a tad of her relationship with the boys and part of the next episode.
Thanks for reading Lovelies xxx
#kol mikaelson imagine#kol mikaelson x you#kol mikaelson x reader#kol mikaelson#kol mikaelson series#the vampire diaries imagine#the originals imagine
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Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.71
It should be illegal to be this tired. Lance felt as if he could sleep for a year, yet sleep had come easy the last two nights. They’d finally had their team briefing, now everyone in their group was on the same page. Everyone other than was smartly tucked up in bed... but Lance and Keith were still sitting in the conference room, staring at the boards that seemed to be mocking them all. Keith was agitated, convinced Krolia was going to shop up ahead of time. But with tonight being Wednesday night, Krolia only had Thursday to be ahead of schedule. Having taken Lance to see his Mami, Miriam’s advice to Keith on the matter of his mother was to talk to her. Which was perfectly reasonable advice, seeing he’d suggested the same thing. The problem now lay with Keith who working himself up so much that every waking moment was devoted to these murders like he had something to prove.
For the last hour they’d say in silence. Keith sitting with his head in his hands, Lance watching over him because Keith knew he was being snappy and was upset over snapping at him multiple times. Lance’s opinion had kind of shifted. He’d shifted from someone trying to make these crimes look amateurish to someone who didn’t care about the bodies being found and was probably a hunter, possibly trained by the Blades or an ex-Blade member. He had mentioned the idea of it being a hunter to Coran who’d conceded he’d thought much the same after finding trace elements in the victims blood, but it wasn’t one of the ones working for him, so he couldn’t pursue that line. That’s why Lance didn’t see it coming.
Hearing footsteps, he’d looked from Keith to the door
“Babe?”
Keith didn’t acknowledge the pet name, so deep in thought he nearly fell off the chair when a knock came at the door, shooting Lance a glare for not warning him. Opening the door, Coran smiled softly at the pair of them, before setting his face and showing a ridiculously tall man into the room. Keith gaped at the stranger, Lance caught up in being confused before a wave of scent hit. Vampire... but not... but not the same kind of scented ego that’d sent him into heat
“Keith, I believe you know Kolivan. Lance, this is Kolivan. Kolivan caught sight of our murder investigation and has come forward to admit that it was Blade related”
Now Lance was nearly falling off his chair. Keith pushing his chair back in clear anger, slamming his hands down on the desk with enough force that Lance whined involuntarily. Quick to cover his mouth, he felt like he had whiplash
“What the fuck?”
Lance agreed. What the fuck indeed? Kolivan cleared his throat, eyes on Keith like Lance didn’t exist
“Keith...”
“Why are you here? Where’s Krolia?!”
Okay... not the angry line of questioning Lance expected. Coming into the room, Coran closed the door behind Kolivan. Softly he spoke as he moved from behind Kolivan to stand beside him
“You’ll have to excuse us. We’re all shocked that the Blades neglected to inform us of this investigation”
“At the time it wasn’t pertinent...”
Excuse him?!
“... However the situation has moved beyond our control”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Perhaps we should sit? Discuss things like reasonable adults”
Coran was obviously pissed. He was always polite but this politeness carried an edge of barely curved anger.
Keith continued to stand as Kolivan and Coran sat. Lance went to reach for his boyfriend only to let his hand drop. Keith didn’t want to be touched. He could sense it. Almost as if telling Lance he wasn’t really welcome in the space anymore
“I can see from your... boards you made a few assumptions. Your assumptions over Honerva’s involvement are correct, however the murders were in fact performed by a Blade member, not by Lotor. We had an unfortunate incident, resulting in the death of one of our deep undercover agents in Platt”
Okay. Okay. Blade member death was not good. Shiro and Keith were Blade members... as was Krolia. Now was not the time to freak out over Keith’s safety. Nope. He wasn’t freaking out of it. Keith was right there... Nope... He wasn’t sitting there potentially pregnant with Keith’s kid freaking out, because he wasn’t pregnant. The condom just got stuck to his arse. Keith was fine. He was more than fine. He was damn fine. Oh fuck... He was internally panicking now.
“Perhaps you can tell us more about your investigation?”
Coran pried gently, Lance regretting not dragging Keith to bed earlier...
“Antok was acting under my orders. We believe Honerva has developed a blood powder that increases healing by overriding the bodies natural flow of quintessence. Normally not an issue. Unless you factor in that she has used fae blood. The side effects are unknown outside of a temporary lapse in sanity and a permanent darkening of ego. We believe Lotor knows of the distribution routes and came to redirect profit. Honerva has an interest in Platt given the harmony the city has seen between between your supernatural inhabitants and the people. My hand was forced today when I found two humans trailing both Keith and Lance’s movements. They were intercepted for interrogation. You’ll understand my shock at discovering they not only knew of werewolves, claiming to be the sister to a wolf, and friend to a vampire”
Oh, no.
“Um, Kolivan. What did you do with them?”
“They were clearly not hunters. After confiscating their devices and sedating them, they were brought here for Coran to deal with”
Coran fiddled with the end of his moustache. Lance felt his heart racing as fast as his thought. Pidge and Hunk were here. Pidge... Pidge who’s never be able to put her curiosity aside... was here. His Pidge. His Pidge that he’d missed like crazy. His hunk, who was still a golden ray of sunshine. Both of them here. Both of them here because they were snooping. Both of them were snooping because he’d scared Pidge. Here. They could be dead. How did they even know where they were? What we’re they doing following them? They hated him. He’d lied to their faces for years. Now they were here. Somewhere they didn’t know. Detained for simply being themselves. What did he say? How did he fit years of explanation into the 30 seconds of explanation time he’d get before Pidge demanded answers? They were so lucky they... what if Lotor knew about them now? Who had Pidge questioned? Had she used Keith’s name? Was Keith in trouble now because of him? He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t... catch his breath. A breathing vampire... he was ridiculous. He was barely a vampire outside of the teeth, and the blood, and he could turn into a bat, and feel death... and oh god, how did he apologise?
*
Keith was ready to kill Kolivan. It was always the same bullshit with the Blades. He was pissed. He was so fucking pissed. Kolivan walked in and pissed all over their hard work. He knew Antok. He’d run on missions with him back when he was a new Blade and Shiro had other messes to clean up. The fact that Shiro didn’t know about the mission showed someone out there no longer trusted him, or Keith, as agents. How the fuck... How the fuck did not cooperating with Coran help deal with this faster? This was bullshit. He’d worked himself to near death and they couldn’t fucking trust him with an important mission. Instead he’d been lied to. Told Lance was a threat and kicked to bumfuck nowhere on what was supposed to be his first leading kill.
Quietly shaking with apocalyptic rage, his eyes widened at Lance’s voice. So angry he didn’t think about who those humans would be, only cursing them for being stupid mentally. You didn’t tell people this shit. You didn’t trust them. Wrong the vampire or werewolf and you’d be dead. Fast or slow, that was personal preference, as long as the point was made. Pidge... they’d warned her. She must have started her own investigations. That was likely, but they’d slipped up. She had to have investigated Lance, but her thirst for understanding meant she would have started searching wider. Like in a Platt. Like in Platt where Antok was leaving a message to Honerva that her brand of crazy wasn’t welcome here.
Keith jumped as a thud came from beside him, Coran calling Lance’s name as he collapsed. Keith was ashamed it took a moment to move to his boyfriend’s side. Lance morphing from his human form to bat, yet completely limp as Keith lifted him from hunter his shirt and jacket. Normally Lance had a nice scent, like vanilla or whatever body wash he was using. It was weird to say, but what Keith thought he smelt was distress
“Let me see, Number two”
Having rushed around the table to Lance, Coran held his hands out, Keith forced to hand his boyfriend over to him. Closing his eyes for a moment, Coran let out a soft sign of relief
“He’s still dead”
What? Lance was going to magically wake up living? Of course Lance was still dead. It came from him being a vampire
“Is he okay?”
“I’d say he fainted over news of Miss Katie and Hunk. They’re perfectly okay. Mild sedative, and will be right as rain in a couple of hours”
Coran sounded too happy. Lance had agonised over his two best friends and Coran knew that
“You know what they mean to him. Pidge was fucking lucky Kolivan got her and not someone like Sendak”
“Ah. Yes. Well. Yes. Most lucky”
Coran valued lives but him being awkward about it wasn’t calming Keith down
“They’re our friends! They could have been killed!”
“I understand that. I ensure you that no harm will come to them. I’m actually relieved to finally have a chance to talk to both of them over that day. It has been weighing heavily on my mind”
Keith bit down snapping, instead his shock kind of slipped out
“It has?”
“It hurt both you and Lance. They are valuable friends and I was trying not to meddle in your affairs, but I know it hurt you both”
“It hurt him...”
It hurt Lance a thousand times more than it’s hurt Keith. And Matt...
“It hurt you too. Perhaps this is for the best, yes?”
“I don’t know. Lance fainted...”
“Might I interrupt? Who is this vampire?”
Coran passed Lance back to him. Keith cradling him up against his chest. Coran spoke proudly
“This is Lance. Model vampire citizen. Turned very young, has kept his mind remarkably well. Always cheerful and very helpful. Extremely trusting. Proof that vampires are able to lead a normal life with safe access to blood. Three identities and this is the first slip in 36 years. Very hard worker is our Lance”
“He’s... unusual. Is he the vampire you were sent to target?”
Kolivan was prying. Keith felt he had no right to pry. All the Blades could fuck themselves on their ways out
“All the best people are unusual, so I have found. Keith, perhaps you’d like to take Lance to my office to rest?”
“I’ve got him. He’ll be okay up here. And someone owes us some fucking answers. How could you not approach Coran? This is his city. He works his arse off here and I know we’re all about secrecy, but do you know how much time was wasted because you couldn’t approach us? We wasted hours. Hours that could have been spent tracing this tainted quintessence blood powder shit. Blocking us out this investigation isn’t okay!”
Coran stroked the top of Lance’s head gently
“Number two, I appreciate your candour. You warm this old fae’s heart. Now, I need to talk with Kolivan. For both your sakes, you should take a moment. Lance will be most upset over fainting”
Him being upset probably lead to him fainting
“He does cry a lot... He says feeling his emotions helps keep him human”
“A lesson we could learn from. Honesty is the best policy”
Keith could tell the second half of Coran’s words were directed at Kolivan. Now his anger was fading, he had to admit he was pretty tired. But he couldn’t rest with Pidge and Hunk being detained...
“Are you sure Pidge and Hunk will be okay? Should we get Matt to stay with them? Lance will want someone with them...”
“You seem to care about Lance. Is there something there that we should be made aware of? From what I understand he is still under a 4 month probationary period. Of course allowing humans to discover his identity may complicate things. I expected more”
Kolivan had no right trying to pry again
“The discovery was due to cleansing magic. Not intentional on his behalf and that you’re insinuating something else is completely unacceptable. You haven’t the right to be prying into the dating lives of my employees”
Keith’s stomach dropped like he’d missed the bottom step. Coran had dobbed them into Kolivan. Krolia was tight with Kolivan. They’re worked together for decades now... His mother had time for Kolivan, but not for him. Kolivan was a hard man to get a read on. He didn’t personally train recruits, instead leading his own small faction. Keith could count maybe 6 times he’d been in the same room as the man with less than a dozen people there also. He wasn’t quite the right fit for Kolivan’s group, not when he had issues and distrust anyone other than Shiro. Kolivan’s way of training was leave it all behind, including their lives if the hunt called for it. Shiro was worried Keith’s anger would lead to just that. He’d nearly got himself killed, and Shiro had flipped his lid over it.
“I see. Perhaps it is best Keith does leave us for now. The Blades will be handling matters related to Honerva and Zarkon”
“Frosting Coran out is like chopping off your own leg. Coran knows this city and not to use his knowledge is stupid. I’ll take my chances with him”
He’d never talked to Kolivan this way. Kolivan’s barely disguised chuckle made him feel like a dumb punk. Why was it no one took him seriously, apart from Lance and maybe Shiro when he wasn’t being overprotective. Storming out the conference room only solidified the feeling, but it wasn’t the first time he’d stormed off.
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you can’t help it if your mind has changed
when? january 21st, 2019
where? upper east side, NYC
She gnawed at her bottom lip, tapping the screen of her phone on every few minutes just so her hands would have something to do, just so they’d stop shaking. No calls, no texts, just the slow crawl of time—so why did it feel like she was running out if it?—and the tremor in her fingertips as they returned to the comforting shape of the diamond on her finger.
This wasn’t happening. There was a venue and a dress; the beginnings of her vows and a proposal she’d never forget. She’d done everything right this time, loved him with all she had, this was supposed to be it.
The click of the lock echoed in the quiet of the apartment, cut through with the screech of the chair as Lysa shot to her feet.
“Matthew?”
She could see, more than hear him sighing, his shoulders rising and falling heavily as he headed straight for the bedroom, walking away from her. “Ly, you weren’t supposed to be here.”
“Matt, we’ve got to talk about this. This— It doesn’t make sense! Is it cold feet? It’s not uncommon, you know? Nothing we can’t work out. I mean, It’s me. It’s us. It’s.. Ly and Matt!?”
She could hear the desperation in her own voice, the urgency bleeding through each word, not that she cared. No amount of pride would keep her life from slipping from between her fingers. Desperate was exactly how she felt, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder. “Would you please just look at me?”
He did, just for a moment, pushing past her to the wardrobe to drag out the leather suitcase she’d got him for his thirtieth birthday.
“I told you already.. It’s not cold feet, it’s not a spur of the moment decision. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while—you and I, we’re just not right for each other. It’d be a mistake to try to convince ourselves otherwise and get married.” He sighed, avoiding her gaze. “I know the timing’s not ideal, but we’ll be glad of it later. It’s much cleaner than an inevitable divorce.”
She inhaled sharply, the word ‘divorce’ hitting her like a smack across the face. Her eyes were welling up, confusion and hurt settling in a heavy knot just under her ribcage, making it hard to breathe, to speak or even to think. It didn’t make sense. Staring helplessly as he moved between the dresser and the suitcase, she couldn’t help her vision filling with the images of the same man down on one knee not even a year ago, promising her forever. The two pieces simply didn’t fit. It was like turning a page and finding herself in a completely different book with no torn edges or missing pages to explain the gap.
Pushing past a painful lump in her throat, she finally asked: “Do you have somebody else?”
Of all the possible reactions, laughing was what she’d expected the least, flinching at the rough sound tearing through his lips. “God, Lysa, when would I even have the time? We’re literally always together.”
She blinked, edging closer to the bed. “Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing?”
“Are you kid— For real? You don’t see a problem with it!?” He was looking at her now, really looking at her. “Lysa, we wake up together, we go to work together, we work in the same fucking building together, we grab lunch together, we come back home together and then we go to bed together? That doesn’t seem bit much to you?”
It didn’t, actually — she loved him, Matthew was her favorite person in the world and every moment spent together was a moment well spent for her. She’d thought he felt the same.. and the fact that he didn’t was another pin to the cushion that was her heart. But she didn’t say it out loud.
“We go out too!” she tried instead, stopping next to the bed so he’d have no choice but to look at her each time he came back with another pile of shirts.
“Yeah, together! Lysa, it’s not normal. We were building a life together not trying to morph into one person!? There’s an ‘us’, but there also need to be Matthew, full stop, and Lysa, full stop. I mean, maybe you don’t, but I need to be my own person too. And I just don’t think it’s possible with you by my side.”
She felt like choking now, like his words and accusations were physically pulling air from her lungs. “But we— I am my own person. I have.. a career and—”
“You’re not!” His words came like a whiplash, cutting her off. “Lysa, you hate your family, you—”
“I don’t hate my family!” It was her turn to cut him off now, raising her voice.
“Well, you’re certainly not spending too much time with them, are you? And you don’t have any friends—”
“I have friends! I have plenty of friends!”
He spread his hands as if asking to see them. “Like who?”
“Like Maya. And Jude. And I went to Penelope’s bachelorette party just last weekend?”
He snorted, shaking his head. “These are not your friends, Lysa. These are the people you work with and the people you small talk with at parties. You know them, but they’re not your friends. How many of them have you told about your mom’s pill addiction? Or that time you were eleven and overheard your dad jokingly call you ‘a fluke in the Taylor system’ to one of his friends?”
She flinched, shocked he’d pull up something like this. It was not just her hands that were shaking now, her whole body vibrating with something that was hard to give a name to. Everything hurt, physically, and her mouth kept opening and closing but nothing came out, making her wonder if she was having a stroke. She dropped to the edge of the bed, pretty sure she was crying now, but too overwhelmed by feeling literally everything to be sure.
“That’s right. Just me!” He went on, smacking a fist against his chest. “And Penelope’s what, your second cousin? I’m pretty sure your sister just forced her to invite you.”
She could barely even hear him now, the blood hammering in her ears as she gasped to breathe. This was it. This was really it. And there was nothing she could do.
Lysa didn’t know how long it was, could’ve been minutes or hours, before Matthew crouched down beside her, taking her hands in his. She blinked, trying to register his face through the blur of the tears, hoping against all hope that he’d changed his mind. She could change, she knew she could. It would just take some time. He wasn’t an impatient man. They could even postpone the wedding if he liked.
“Ly..” he began, his voice soft and regretful. “I’m sorry. I really am. It’s not that I don’t love you, I do. It’s just.. I don’t think we’re good together. I don’t think we’re that for each other.”
She looked at him, desperate to come up with anything that’d make him stay. He was in pain too, she could see that. So, why did he have to do this to them?
“You’re my home, Matt,” she whimpered, dropping to the floor next to him to wrap her arms around his waist and press her body to his.
He sighed, allowing the hug to last for a moment longer, before carefully unlatching her arms from his body. “That’s just it, Lysa,” he shook her head, standing up. “You can’t go on making homes out of people just because your own never felt like one.”
She sagged against the bed, staring at her hands that’d never hold his again, and the ring that now held no promises. The ring. “What about the—?”
“You can keep the ring. It was only ever meant for you anyway. I’ll get the rest of my stuff some other time and—” She looked up at him, standing in the doorway with the suitcase she’d lovingly pressed his initials in, looking fidgety and unsure. “And look— if it’s about the wedding, I can have my assistant take care of the cancellations and guest list and everything. You don’t have to do any of that.”
She nearly laughed at that, burying her face in her hands. That was the least of her problems. Those were just tasks.. things.. money. The fact that he’d put his assistant to it spoke for itself. What about her broken heart, the life that was supposed to be theirs? Another broken relationship; another happy ending torn from her hands.
“I can change,” she whispered, but the door had already closed behind him.
She wanted to scream, to curse, to take the first edition Winnie the Pooh he’d got her, making her think he must’ve really known her, must’ve been her soulmate, and throw it at his head. But he was already gone.
#self para.#// ok so it's kinda long and very emo but if anyone's interested in what's up with that broken engagement of hers HERE'S YOUR CHANCE#clearly ya girl had some problems; i wasn't kidding when i said she wasn't happy in nyc#she's learning though
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Zero Degrees 1 - The Hotoke Family
As promised! Here’s the first chapter of Zero Degrees. I’ll try to do a masterlist or something at some point, but for now, here’s the AO3 link if you prefer.
There was something strange about Frio. Incredibly beautiful, but even Erika had to admit, a little strange. His skin was always cold, for a start, which was great news in October, when the black clouds gathered oppressively hot behind the neon purple of the Jacaranda flowers. Unfortunately, today it was chilly, and she pulled her jumper sleeves down over her palms rather than move away from his side.
The bus bumped over a pothole and shifted forwards in the traffic across the Parklands junction. Some of the students opened the bus window and leaned out with coins to buy roasted maize from street vendors, and the driver gave a yell to warn everyone when the road cleared and he was able to move forwards. Erika stole another glance at Frio and wondered what she could say to start up a conversation with him.
He was looking up at the other students, passing their maize around and bickering, spreading chili lemon slices over the blackened kernels. He bit his lip slightly and looked away, and she wondered if he was hungry. She wondered if she could buy one and share it with him next time.
It's not like she never spoke to him. He was in her year at school, but not her form. They did physics and English together, but he did geography instead of history, and he was in middle set maths while she was in top set. They'd been talking at the start of the bus ride, something about their English essay, and God, wasn’t it telling that even she couldn't remember the exact content of the conversation. And she was an English nerd! He probably thought she was desperately boring, droning on about Mr Brocklehurst and his hypocrisy. Oh God, she hoped she hadn't started talking about Jane's resilience in the face of adversity, because she could talk about that for hours. Come on, Erika, don't be pathetic.
"Doing anything this weekend?" she blurted.
Idiot.
"Uhm, I don't know," he said, turning to face her. "It's only Tuesday."
"Yeah..."
"I think I've got to work."
"You've got a weekend job?"
His pale skin darkened a shade, the slightly grey colour disappearing behind a blush. "Yes, we- uh, I need the money."
"Where do you work?"
"Just at a plant nursery," he mumbled, fiddling with his frayed sleeves. His arms stuck out of the jumper, pale brown skin stretched over sharp bones. Everything about Frio was sharp. His cheekbones in particular, and his chin, but his eyes softened the overall effect of his face. They were huge, and a gorgeous sort of stormy blue-grey. Faith Nzioka in year eleven said he had to be wearing contacts, but Erika had seen them change colour slightly. She didn't admit to that. She didn't want people to know quite how carefully she'd been looking.
“That’s so cool, my parents won’t let me get a job. They want me to focus on my studies.” She rolled her eyes a bit and he smiled shyly, but didn’t say anything.
Dammit. Back to square one.
He fiddled with his hands, twisting them together in his lap. She frowned down at her own, trying out different sentences and questions in her mind and discarding each one until the bus pulled into the Westlands petrol station and squeaked to a halt. He glanced up at her and gave her another of those little smiles, just a little tilt of thin lips that made her stomach flutter and pulled an inane grin from her in response. God, what a dork. She stood, kissed Priyanka and Akeyo on the next seat goodbye, and shuffled down the aisle with the crowd. His arm bumped her shoulder a couple of times as people pushed and laughed behind them.
“Erika!”
She looked up and waved at her mum. Tuesdays meant coffee in Java, which was lovely, and she really enjoyed telling Mum everything, but she had to admit, there was a little corner of her mind that had hoped she’d be late. That she’d be able to stand next to Frio until his parents picked him up, and maybe talk to him a little bit more.
Mum kissed her on the cheek and pressed the key fob so she could jump in the front seat of the Range Rover, waving off the flower vendor who held wilting roses under her nose.
“Good day?”
“Mmhmm,” she nodded. “Got my French test results back, 84%.”
“Nice!”
"Priyanka got 92% again," she shrugged.
Frio was looking at the car as they pulled away from the petrol station, and as he caught her eye through the window he lifted one hand in a little wave. Her stomach dropped through the seat and she waved back, way too enthusiastically. Her face flushed with heat and she forced her hand back into her lap.
“Who’s that,” Mum asked, with that knowing lilt that parents and older family members use when they think they know so much.
“Frio Hotoke,” she said, proud of how casual she made it sound.
“Interesting name, where are his family from?”
“I don’t know, actually. He’s not Kenyan, I don’t think, his accent’s kind of... posh, I guess? Or like a cross between posh and American.”
Mum laughed. “I can’t imagine that. Maybe he’s a posh American?”
She scrunched her nose up. “Don’t posh Americans still sound really American? Like Obama?”
“Anyway, posh and American doesn’t mean anything. People all over the world learn English from movies. I once met a girl on that trip I went on to Japan, remember? She learned English by watching The OC, sounded like she’d been to college in California.”
“Like the news anchors on KTN,” Erika smirked.
Mum clicked her fingers and laughed again, her bangles chittering, until a motorbike weaved in front of her, barely missing the car bonnet and she leaned on her horn, yelling in Kikuyu out the window. Sarit Centre rose up on the left as they crawled around the Westlands roundabout, so close and yet so far, but at least it wasn't a hot day. Erika leaned her elbow on the window and watched a matatu mount the pavement to gain a few extra inches, squeezing past painfully close so it could pull off down Lower Kabete road ahead of just one more car. Mum gesticulated at the driver and sucked her teeth. "Idiots." She shook her head. "Everyone's so tired all the time these days, with that insomnia epidemic. Makes it even worse."
At last, safe in the VIP parking area, they walked into Sarit Centre and down to Java on the lower ground floor, settling into one of the atrium tables. Erika let her eyes wander around the wide tiled area as Mum ordered lattes, watching people bustle past with shopping bags and trying to imagine what they'd bought.
A man in a terrible yellow suit was leaning over the rail on the floor above, fiddling with his phone and watching people walk to and fro in the atrium. As Erika stared, he turned and seemed to catch her eye. She was sure he winked. She blushed, embarrassed, and turned back to face Mum.
Mum pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, beads in the little braids at the nape of her neck clicking with every movement. "Did you hear about the rains in the UK? They said they haven't had such a warm, wet winter in over a hundred years. Not looking forward to my business trip."
"They're always saying things like that, though," she said. "Weren't they saying there was going to be loads of snow this year?"
Mum shook her head. "That was last year. Looks like temperatures are going to stick in positive numbers for the whole season."
"Don't the British always complain about it being cold, though?"
"Britain is cold! Even when it's ten degrees it feels below freezing, I don't know how they manage it. It's not just the UK though, this year. The US is talking about record highs as well."
"That's global warming for you."
"You learning about that in school yet?"
She rolled her eyes. "We've been learning about global warming every year since I was ten, Mum."
Mum laughed and blew the steam off her latte. "Well, I don't know these things, do I? I'm old. Hey, isn't that that boy you were waving at?"
Erika turned so fast she thought she'd get whiplash, and then immediately realised how pathetic that must have looked. Luckily Frio didn't seem to have spotted her.
He was walking with a group of people that must have been his family, but what a mixed group! He held his little sister's hand - she must have been about four or five, a cute little thing with wild curls falling over her face. She had slightly paler skin than him, still with that same grey-blue tint. It should have been ugly, but it seemed to work on them. Frio most of all, of course.
The boy walking beside him was stick-thin and a warmer brown, with Frio’s pointed features and a twitchy sort of energy. He was talking to Frio, his hands fluttering in the air and emphasising every point, stabbing his finger into his palm almost viciously. Frio was nodding and trying to hide a smile, and Erika’s heart could have just melted with how nice he was. So thoughtful to his little brother!
“Njala, a bit quieter please,” said a man walking a step or two behind them, his voice deep and cutting through the chatter of the shopping centre.
If he hadn’t been walking with them Erika would never have pegged the man for being related to Frio. His skin was so dark it was almost blue. Erika and her dad were very dark skinned too, but Mr Hotoke was striking, a matte midnight that seemed to absorb the light around him. And just to make him stand out even more, his dreadlocks were pure white.
He was frowning as he walked, his teeth worrying at his lip. He was carrying two or three plastic bags in each hand, so full of groceries that they were stretching at the handles and cutting into his skin. Erika thought he looked a bit intimidating, until Frio turned and held out his free hand to take some of the bags. Then he looked up at his son and his face relaxed into the sweetest smile. And suddenly the family resemblance was clear.
They were almost level with Erika's table, and she'd just dredged up the courage to call out a greeting when the yellow-suited man on the floor above dropped the phone he'd been playing with. It fell and smashed on the floor right behind Mr Hotoke, a disproportionately loud crash echoing around the four-storey high atrium. Erika jumped, splashing coffee onto the saucer under her cup, but Frio's family fell apart.
Frio flinched, throwing both hands up over his head for just a second. The little girl, suddenly free, ran straight for the door and the road beyond. Frio reached out for her, but she was gone. Mum was on her feet in a moment, but Mr Hotoke was faster. He dropped everything and raced after her, followed by Njala.
Frio was frozen. Erika didn't register at first, but when the others were out of sight, she turned back to him and her eyes widened. He stood in the centre of the carnage, shopping bags scattered around him, his chest heaving, his eyes staring after his family. The hand his little sister had been holding was cupped to his chest, and for a moment she wondered if he had something in it, until she realised he was clutching at his shirt, struggling to breathe.
She ran across to him, Mum close behind, and grabbed both his biceps. "Frio, what's the matter? What is it?"
“Gone... they're..."
"It's OK, sweetie, your dad's gone after your little sister, he'll get her." Mum rubbed his back and took the shopping bags from his hand. "God, you're cold as ice, come, let's sit you down."
"No, I can’t... I have to… I have to stay here. I can't go… I have to..."
"OK, then you just sit down on the floor, that's it. Deep breaths, there you go. Try to match my breathing."
Other people were starting to gather around them. A couple of old white ladies picked up some of the scattered groceries, tutting over the broken eggs and torn packages. Erika sat on the floor next to Frio and held his hand as he gasped for air, the shallow breaths squeaking, almost whimpering as they came. His whole body was shaking, and she wanted to hug him so badly, but the way he was looking up at the crowd around them, eyes twitching from one to another, made her wonder if he'd be better off with a bit more room. People patted him and offered drinks, but he cringed away from them and his breath came faster.
Like he'd read Erika's mind, a guy from the craft shop started shooing people backwards. "Give the poor boy space, move up. Go on, it's not a show, OK? Here." He handed Frio a paper bag. "Breathe into that, concentrate on the noise of the bag crackling, you'll be fine."
The brown paper inflated and deflated, and Frio's eyes almost crossed trying to focus on it, but he seemed to be settling down already. Erika pulled one of his long braids away from his face, untangling it from where it had got caught up with the bag pressed against his cheeks.
In a clatter of trainers on the polished tiles, Njala raced back and fell to his knees beside his brother, putting his hand on his other shoulder. Erika looked up to see Mr Hotoke, his arms wrapped tightly around the little girl, following behind as well, his eyes just as wide and scared as Frio's.
"Father," Frio said, taking the bag away from his face. "I'm sorry… I panicked, I should have--"
"Shh, shh, Frio, it's fine." He bent down and moved the little girl to one side so he could hold her with one arm and pull Frio's face closer, pressing their foreheads together. Erika moved back slightly to give them room.
"I'm sorry, Father, I failed again," he whispered.
"Do not say that," he said sharply. "You did no such thing, you have never failed me in your whole existence, do you hear?"
Frio nodded, but Erika saw his lower lip wobbling the way hers did when she was holding back tears. She couldn't help putting her hand back between his shoulder blades and rubbing gently.
"Is your little girl OK?" Mum asked, crouching down to Mr Hotoke's eye level.
He nodded and kissed her curls. "Scared still, but thankfully she didn't get out to the road. Someone caught her before she could get out of the building but… she was fighting him and screaming. It took me a while to calm her down." He looked back at Frio. "I'm sorry I took so long."
"That's OK."
"Why don't we get off the floor and out of the way. Do you want a coffee?" Mum gestured to their table outside Java.
Mr Hotoke shook his head, though he did look longingly at the cafe. "I am expected back at home, but thank you so much. My eldest son needs to leave for work." He looked at the sorry pile of damaged groceries and sighed. "Come on, children. Thank you all for your help."
"We'll help you carry these to your car," Mum said, picking up a couple of bags.
“We... we do not have a car, we were going to walk home, but thank you."
Mum frowned down at Frio, whose limbs were still shaking as he picked up another shopping bag. "How far away do you live?"
"Only a little way along Parklands Road."
Mum shook her head. "You're exhausted, all of you. Come on, we'll give you a lift, we've got space, and we were pretty much done here."
"I cannot possibly impose so much."
She laughed. "It's nothing! Look, our kids are in the same class, we're practically family." She held out her hand. "I'm Gloria Muthemba."
Mr Hotoke gave a soft laugh and visibly gave up in the face of Mum's overwhelming Good Samaritanism. "Teli Hotoke. This is Frio, Njala and Bhaya." He turned to Erika, still hovering over Frio. "And you must be Erika, yes?"
Erika smiled and nodded, and shook his outstretched hand. It was almost as cold as Frio's, even after his dash across the shopping centre. "Nice to meet you, Mr Hotoke."
"Please, call me Teli. The pleasure is all mine. I have heard much about you."
Frio and Erika both blushed, and Erika thought the butterflies that seemed to live permanently in her stomach these days would burst out of her and soar around with delight. Frio had been talking about her!
Mum paid for their coffee and led everyone back up to the VIP parking area, chatting to Teli, her loud laugh echoing up the stairwell.
"Are you OK?" Erika asked Frio as they brought up the rear.
He nodded and ducked his head down, hiding his face behind the curtain of braids. She'd never known any boy to have a proper full head of braids. She usually chose the chunky ones herself, or kept her hair short and natural, but his suited him perfectly.
Although it was possible that Erika would have thought anything suited Frio.
"Thank you for helping me," he said.
"Any time," she said, and, feeling brave, she patted him on the back. "What happened back there, anyway?"
His shoulders curled slightly like he was ashamed, and Erika felt guilty for asking. "They're called panic attacks," he said. "I get them when there are loud noises sometimes."
"How come?"
"Come on, Erika, keep up," Mum yelled, and Frio immediately walked faster. She glanced at his closed off face and decided not to ask the question again.
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Hetalia The Canadian Demon Family 2
You know, when you hide something like this from other countries you try your best to keep it a secret, meaning that very little should know. Of course, his other North American brothers and sisters know, America especially knows, but, there’s someone who knows because of one situation, a mishap that happened yet the cold country was okay with him knowing. Sealand, a young micronation with a huge desire to be a country, it was an accident, but he couldn’t hide things from the little one, he finds the little boy to be a brother to him and vise verse to him.
-Flashback-
It was a slow but nice walk outside, the meeting had just ended, he was slowly making his way towards the woods as there was, a scary announcement. The little micronation known as Sealand has gone missing, Finland and the other Nordics are losing their minds, taking a glance at his brother the cold country started his walk to the woods, while walking he thought about the creatures, of course, they do go with the legends making them apart of the land, but they have to go. Many people die by these beasts that roam their land, hidden in the shadows and invisible to all, but those who're unfortunate to run into them. On his way Matthew had seen some missing children posters, though, it's very likely it is a person, you can't be too sure, and Matthew was dead set, it was something more.
Right now, if it is a native American creature, the best ones he can think of right now is an Ijiraq or Qalupalik, two different creatures, but they do the same thing. The Ijiraq is of the Inuit tribe, this monster goes around and takes children, abandoning them in the forest, letting them try and leave the forest themselves if they ask to leave, which could make the kids get even more lost than they already are. The Qalupalik is another thing of Inuit mythology, this one though kidnaps children who disobeyed their parents and keep them with her underwater forever, it is said that if you hear a distinctive humming sound, it means she's coming. The last one isn't of Inuit mythology or even in Canada, but of Shoshonean, this went with his brother, America, it’s called a Dzoavits. Why would Canada suspect this one as well when it's of the American tribe? Well, at times, his, America, and Mexico's tribe myths cross to each others countries, it doesn't happen a lot but the three can say that it can get annoying and hectic when they encounter a spirit that isn't even in their country, it can get hard like that.
It’s been a while know as he walks, as the time passes the Canadian slowly became more and more serious, as each empty cave he came across, getting to the point of getting in his “spirit animal” form or his “prince” form as Alfred calls it, making the male roll his eyes with a small smile. In this form he gains enhanced senses, he also has polar bear ears and tail, between the ears sat on his head is a crown, made of cool ice crystals, with his now animal instincts he can look for them quicker.
After a while he found it, it didn’t take him long as you would think, one of those kids could be his little brother and he could be in danger, Canada loves kids, at times you can find him babysitting them from time to time or just watch him with the Provinces and Territories when they have a family’s night/day its loads of fun. Going in carefully and straining his ears to hear he finally came across slight whimpering, going to the sound he found the missing kids along with Sealand, “Peter” the Canadian whispered speed walking to the kids and kneeled “Matt!” the child nation ran and hugged him as he hugged back, he then opens his arms, letting the other children run in giving them all a protective hug reassuring them that he will get them out. Making their way out the cave the violet-eyed male stopped abruptly looking in front of him, it was like what he thought, the thing that makes him and his brother and sister get annoyed at, the Dzoavits, and it wasn’t just one of those ugly things there were two, thinking fast the male knew he had to what he has to, he was already compromised with the tail and ears. He’ll just tell Sealand later and make the kids think that this was all a dream.
Changing, to that of a polar bear, but he is a bit bigger and taller than that of a regular polar bear, only having the distinct features of his curl and eyes, noticing the surprised looks of the children and Sealand, he kept them hidden under him, if any attacks came then he will take them instead of the kids, this will give him the disadvantage of restricted movement, but a little magic won’t fix.
"Get out of this land you disgusting demon" he growled at the two as they screech and run at him, letting out his claws he clawed and even bit them not letting the demons anywhere near the now scared children. Clawing, biting and using magic here and there the once nation now polar bear growled, the three of them were hurt but he can tell he put a number on those two, looking down at the kids and then back at the monsters he whispered for the kids to cover their eyes and, if they can cover their ears. Once the children did that, with a roar the Canadian charged and tackled one of the monsters catch it by surprise making it screech before getting mauled down, once dead, the white with red bear looks at the other and slowly walked towards it, he could tell it was now scared as it started to back up, getting on his hind legs letting out a great roar he pounced on the demon with the intent to kill.
Looking around the now peaceful forest with the filth gone, walking through the forest with the kids on his back, stuck in his thoughts till he was snapped out of it by Sealand calling his name. Seeing as how he changed into a polar bear and used magic, he'll need some type of explanation, and he'll give it to him, but not right now, as its very dark. Back home holding Sealand, getting the other kids to the hospital it was a long day, he thought. "Matt?" He looked at Sealand knowing he what he was asking for, "I'll tell you once you take a bath and get something to eat and I get my wounds cleaned okay?" With a nod from him, he set out to do everything that he said; after dinner, getting cleaned and putting bandages on any wounds, also not forgetting to brush his teeth because he can still taste blood. Sitting on the couch he turned his explanation into some type of story for Sealand, smiling as Sealand talked about how cool he was making the Canadian pat his head, "it's getting late lets get you to bed" he said getting up taking Sealand with him, walking to the guest room he laid him down in the bed, and tucked the kid nation in, "tomorrow we'll get you back to the Nordics" he had to bring Sealand back if any more days go by and they still wouldn't find Sealand, Matthew was sure that they would start to storm other countries houses, Finland was losing his everything, he was scared and just wanted to find his child.
Morning and the male is seen in the kitchen making his famous fluffy pancakes, as he finishes he quickly goes up a few steps yelling that breakfast is ready, though he only got a little out before feeling a huge gust of wind passing by him, laughing and walking in the kitchen to see Sealand sitting at the table. While Sealand gets ready to leave Matthew sits and goes into a focus, zoning in on and finding where the Nordics are, Sealand came downstairs ready. Teleporting to the Nordics but stayed hidden within the trees.
"Here we are"
"Thank you, Matt!"
"No problem you're like a brother to me."
"Me too! Can I call you big brother?"
"Of course you can Sealand, also can you please keep this a secret?"
"Why?"
"Its best not to let more know, I mean most have suspicions but I guess it's more of how the countries will react."
"Oh okay...will I see you again?"
"Of course, you sneak in the meeting almost every time we have one."
With a smile and a hug goodbye, Sealand ran to Finland yelling for him calling him "Mom" making the Finnish man turn around so fast you would think he had gotten whiplash, running to his child, picking him up, and hugging him tightly. Smiling the Matthew turned and left disappearing as a flurry of snowflakes, not knowing that a certain Norwegian and Dutchman noticing him.
-End-
Blinking the arctic nation took noticed that he was in a meeting, he smiles a bit and starts to watch, everything was the same, everyone arguing and yelling at each other, he was pulled out of his thoughts once he felt something, more like someone pull his pants leg, looking under the desk he saw Sealand, he smiled and decided to humor the boy giving him candy which made the child very happy, he talked to Sealand while everyone else was just off their rocker, although some are calm.
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Forgot to add Headcanons! Sorry!
Headcanon:As America, Canada, and Mexico are neighboring countries, it wouldn't be surprising to find at least a few of each other's mythical creatures in their land.
Headcanon:The monsters/creatures, I feel, would make wounds that would take longer to close and heal, not too long and not as bad as if another country did it.
Headcanon:Size changing polar bears!! Canada and Nanuq can change sizes, from a huge polar bear to a small cub!
Headcanon:Ice magic, this should be obvious
Headcanon:Matthew for babysitter!! He loves kids and children vice versa, Canada can give this...calm aura or something, its weird man.
Headcanon:Mexico! She's also in here don't worry, so yeah! I need to give her a spirit.
Headcanon:He's stronger than he looks, Matt can tank some hits and keep going, it hurts in the long run but this is for the kids and family then he'll gladly take a bullet...well, claws, for them.
#aph canada#aph sealand#kidnapped kids#prince canada#magic#polar bear shift#aph nordics#serious canada he take shiz from no one#big brother canada#little brother sealand#momma finland#sorry Finland for scaring you -Sealand#hetalia
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Pining For A Prince | Part 1
Pairing: Keith x Lance
Warnings: little bit of language
A/N: So I saw this adorable Disneyland AU by @caelestee a couple of weeks ago and was obsessed with the idea of this AU so I decided I needed to write it. It’s the first Klance thing I’ve ever written but it’s also one of my favourite things I’ve ever written so 🤷♀️ It’s primarily Klance but there’s some background Romellura, Hunay and Adashi too. I don’t know how long this is going to end up being and how long it’s going to take to update every time but it will be finished eventually so I hope you stick with it if you enjoy it!
Word Count: 2663
*
Keith wiped the excess sweat from his brow as the little girl and her family walked away. He was boiling alive in the early-afternoon Californian sun but seeing the smiles he put on the faces of the little kids who came up to him made it all worth it. Contrary to popular belief, Keith actually wasn't as shy or brooding as most people assumed, he just naturally gave off a loner vibe in everyday life. He was great with kids and he loved being able to make others smile, his job at disneyland was a dream.
A soft gasp met his ears and he turned towards the sound, finding a young girl with bright red hair tugging on her mother's arm not far away.
“Mummy! Mummy! It's Prince Eric, I have to meet him!”
“Okay darling, go ahead.” The girl squealed with delight and ran towards him as her mother followed at a more leisurely pace.
“Ariel! Could it be? I've been looking everywhere for you!” Keith expertly feigned his character's surprise and joy at seeing ‘his princess’, his reaction making her giggle, the sound purer than anything he'd ever heard.
“Noo-o-ooo-oo,” her laughter broke up the drawn-out sound into more syllables than it should have been as she shook her head, “I'm not Ariel, she's my favourite princess though!” Keith gave her a thoughtful look as he crouched down to her level.
“Are you sure? You look just like her!” The girl giggled and blushed some more. “If you're really not Ariel then what's your name little princess?”
“Esme, but I'm not a princess, Prince Eric.”
“Esme, huh? Well that's kind of a pretty name. Princess Esme, it's an honour to meet you.” He stood and gave her a little bow before crouching down to talk to her again. After a few minutes she was ready to move on.
“Can I get picture please?” She asked before leaving.
“Of course princess!”
The girl's mother took out her phone and Keith posed with the girl for a couple of photos before also signing her autograph book. He promised to tell Ariel all about her before she met her later and the girl walked away with a grin wide enough to split her own face in two.
“Well who knew Mr brooding could be so charming? I may just swoon.” The teasing voice of Matt, or as he was known to park guests - Peter Pan, came from right behind him and he almost jumped out of his skin. He looked around quickly, seeing that the immediate area was mostly clear.
“Jesus, Matt! Warn a guy next time.”
“I'd say sorry if I was.”
“I appreciate that. And obviously I can be charming, I had to be to get the job. It remains a mystery how a menace like you managed to get cast though.” He smirked at his friend who just shrugged and grinned back as they both headed towards a cast member-only area for a break.
“Why do you think I got Peter Pan?”
“How's it going with your sister as your new Tink?”
“She's doing good so far, definitely has the mischievous persona down, and she's warming up to all the meeting and greeting.”
“That's good to hear. Honestly I was surprised when she told us the news, I always thought she hated kids.”
“She doesn't really, she's not a fan of the idea of having them but she's pretty good with them when she tries.” Matt shrugged and grabbed a bottle of water, downing the whole thing before reaching for another as Keith did the same. He almost choked on it a second later as a voice he'd recognise anywhere reached him.
“Keith! Matt! What's up guys?” Lance. Neither he nor Matt could reply immediately, Keith too busy choking and Matt laughing at him. “You okay buddy?” Lance came over to him and clapped a hand between his shoulders in an attempt to help.
“Yeah...I'm good.” He managed to splutter out and Matt finally managed to stop laughing.
“Great. Well, I've gotta get back out there, Allura's waiting on me. I'll see you both before the parade!” Lance disappeared almost as quickly as he'd arrived and Keith was left staring at the space he'd occupied just moments ago. His brain struggled to catch up with the swiftness of the interaction as it continued to fixate on where Lance's hand had rested on his back.
“If you don't stop with the dewy-eyed schoolgirl look in the next five seconds I'm telling everyone about your crush on Lance.” Matt threatened after spending a good 30 seconds waiting for Keith to snap out of it. The threat had the desired effect and Keith whipped his head round with a glare so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash.
“I will kill you if you even think about it, Holt.”
“I'd like to see you try.” It was an empty challenge, they both knew Keith would easily beat Matt in a fight but they also knew Keith would never hurt a friend. “But seriously, you should ask him out anyway.”
“Not unless you stop making heart eyes at the girl from the gift shop and actually talk to her.”
“Hey! I'll make a move eventually.”
“We all know that's not true, Matt.” A new voice joined their conversation.
“Shut up Shiro, you don't get to judge when it took you 3 years to ask Adam on a date.”
“Touché. You're still hopeless though.” He grinned as Matt scowled and Keith gave him a high five, glad to have someone on his side.
“Not as hopeless as your brother - the Prince of pining.”
“True, it must run in the family.” Keith shot his brother a betrayed look.
“Et tu, Brute?”
“Keith, you've had this crush on Lance since your sophomore year and you barely ever even talk to the guy, you brought the teasing on yourself.”
“Don't you have work to be doing?” Keith's voice was almost a growl, siblings really were the worst sometimes.
“Nope, I'm on a break. I've got a full 20 minutes to irritate my little brother.” He grinned the kind of grin which strikes pure fear into the heart of a younger sibling for it promises the kind of mischief and evil only an older sibling has the power to rain down on them. Keith, all too aware of the depths to which he and Shiro would go, wisely decided to make a swift exit at the sight of it. Yeah, he still had about 10 minutes of his break left but he decided just to take some extra time before the parade. No way was he going to suffer through Shiro's teasing if there was another choice.
“Well in that case I'm going back out. See you later guys.”
“Later Keith!” Matt called after him as he practically jogged away.
“You can't escape this forever Keith! I'm going to tease the shit out of you back home!” Shiro's not-quite-farewell earned him the middle finger from Keith and his answering laugh seemed to follow Keith even after he was well out of earshot. Brothers really were hell.
*
An hour after his brief encounter with Keith, Lance's hand was still tingling as if some of Keith's very essence still clung to it and the constant reminder was only prolonging his internal freak out. He spun Allura with practiced grace as they performed together for a small crowd in New Orleans Square but even the feeling of her hand in his couldn't rid him of the memory of how it had felt to touch Keith.
Finally their dance came to an end and Lance spent a few minutes talking to the kids and taking photos alongside Allura before they headed off to get ready for the afternoon parade. He couldn't keep the grin off his face or the spring from his step as they walked over to where the rest of the cast members gathered, so excited to get to see Keith again. However briefly that may be. The boy was beautiful, Lance was unafraid the admit that, especially in his Prince get-up, and even just a glimpse of his smile could make Lance's heartbeat go wild.
It was difficult to pinpoint exactly when he'd started developing a crush, certainly it was back in high school sometime. Back when Keith had been little more than a brooding shadow at the back of his classes, an enigma that Lance had spent far too much time trying to figure out instead of focusing on his studies. Knowing it was hopeless though, he'd buried that crush deep down for a long time and moved on, that was, until they'd both gotten cast as princes at Disneyland and Lance had found himself falling all over again.
It had been a shock, if he was honest, that not only had Keith auditioned (Keith! brooding, slightly menacing Keith wanted a job at Disneyland!), but he'd actually got the job. Knowing what the job entailed meant re-evaluating everything he'd thought he knew about Keith and, with this new perspective on the guy, Lance knew he was screwed. And that was before he'd seen him in costume!
“Someone's excited to see his Prince Charming it seems.” Allura's smirk was clear in her voice and Lance didn't even bother to turn his head to see it.
“He's Prince Eric, not Prince Charming. Wrong movie Allura.” He replied without thinking and it took a few seconds for him to realise his mistake. “Shit.”
He could feel the triumph radiating from the girl beside him and wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up right there. Allura loved nothing more than to tease him and he'd just handed her all the ammunition she needed to make his life hell for at least a couple of months.
“Oh my god! You finally admitted it Lance! I finally got you!” She bounced along beside him and clapped gleefully. “Oh this is perfect!”
“Allura, I swear if you breathe a word to anyone else I will stop helping you with Romelle.” He didn't particularly like having to use that threat, he wanted Allura and Romelle to get together as much as anyone, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She pouted at that but agreed.
“Fine, I won't say anything but nothing you can do is going to stop the teasing. And I am sooo helping you get him, it's now my mission in life.”
“You're a nightmare.” He rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation but his voice was fond.
“Yep, but that's why you love me...almost as much as you love Keith.” She grinned and ran ahead to join the rest of their friends before Lance had a chance to retaliate and he sighed once again before walking over at a more leisurely pace.
“Lance!” Matt and Pidge yelled in sync, identical mischievous smiles on both their faces as they waved him over. He didn't trust those smiles one bit.
“Hey guys, how's it going?” He asked, somehow managing to keep his suspicion out of his voice and off his face.
“Oh same as ever, just now with the added entertainment from my darling sister.” Matt pulled said sister into a side hug which looked to be crushing the smaller girl.
“Fuck off Matt.”
“Language Pidgey! This is Disney, no swearing allowed!” Lance gave her the disappointed parent look and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“You can fuck off as well.” The two boys just sighed.
“You really are a delight to be around you know?”
“I try.” Her smile was falsely sweet as she batted her eyelashes before something behind Lance caught her eye. He watched with growing dread as that smile turned downright wicked and spun around to see what caused it. His stomach dropped as he saw Keith and Ezor a few feet away, deep in conversation, whatever Pidge had in mind was not going to end well for him.
“Keith! Dude come over here!” Keith looked over at the shout and Lance saw his face twisting with some sort of emotion he couldn't decipher as he saw the three of them. Ezor, however, looked knowingly between them and smirked before dragging over a reluctant Keith.
“Fancy seeing you here,” She said by way of greeting, still with that oddly knowing look.
“Considering it's their job as well as ours, that shouldn't be so surprising.” Keith helpfully pointed out.
“You're no fun.”
“Leave him alone, it's not his fault he's intrinsically grumpy.” Pidge finally managed to extract herself from Matt's hug in time to properly tease Keith.
“I hate all of you.”
“Liar.”
“Pidge, if you called me over just to be mean then I'm going. Maybe the princesses will be better company.” Lance felt himself wilt slightly at the prospect of Keith going, the break before the parade was one of the few times in the day he had a chance to have a proper conversation with him. Even when he could hardly manage to say a word, he could at least be in his presence and sometimes that was enough.
“Y'know, I expect they would be. YO ALLURA!” The heads of all the girls whipped around at the yell. “Bring your princess troupe over here, these guys are boring.”
“Coming!” She, Nadia, Romelle, Shay, and Nyma came to join them though the rest of the princesses elected not to, they'd never really gotten comfortable in this particular group of friends.
“What's up?” Nadia greeted them and Lance zoned out the conversation for a bit. Keith had shuffled closer to him to make room for the girls and he became uncomfortably aware of the heat radiating from him even through the heat of the day. He spent most of the next 10 minutes sneaking glances at Keith whenever there was no attention on him. He couldn't help it, whenever he was around him his gaze was drawn to the boy like a magnet and he was long passed trying to resist the pull.
“Alright, 5 minutes to show time, everyone in place!” Coran interrupted both Lance’s thoughts and the group’s conversation, all of them heading off to their respective floats. He chanced one last glance at Keith, only to find him already looking at him. Cheeks heating alarmingly, Lance whipped his head back round and boarded his float where Allura was waiting, a falsely innocent smile on her face as she pointedly didn’t look at him. It was a deliberate tactic to irritate him into talking to her and letting her tease him. He knew this but he still asked anyway.
“What’s that smile for.”
“Oh nothing, just planning you and Keith’s wedding, it’s going to be beautiful, a private beach ceremony at sunset, fireworks later, fairy lights everywhere, you two sneaking off to dance and kiss on the beach and under the stars during the reception. Shiro will be Keith’s best man, Hunk yours, your niece will be the cutest flower girl ever and Pidge, Romelle, Veronica and I can be your bridesmaids. You can do the bouquet throw and we'll all let Shay catch it and Hunk will be all flustered as it gives him the courage to finally propose to her. Everyone will be happy crying and we'll all eat too much and drink too much and we'll have the biggest party ever. No one will ever want it to end. It will be even better than Shiro and Adam’s.”
“Shiro hasn’t even proposed yet.”
“I know, but I have their wedding planned already as well. Yours will be better though.”
“I’m not marrying Keith, Allura, it’s just a crush. An unrequited one at that.”
“Sure it-” before she could finish their float started moving and they had to quickly get into character. It was hard for Lance to concentrate with Allura’s teases circling around his brain. He had to admit, she had planned his perfect wedding. Right down to his perfect groom.
#klance#keith x lance#keith#lance#keith kogane#lance mcclain#vld#voltron#klance fanfic#voltron fanfic#klance fanfiction#voltron fanfiction#vld fanfic#disneyland AU#I won't tag the other characters but pretty much everyone turns up at some point#klance fluff#Fic - Pining For A Prince
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for the lovely anon who requested ‘things you said with my lips on your neck’ and inspired by @hipsterfrankcastle‘s ‘frank rocking up at that church and straight up murdering bullseye in 0.2 seconds’ idea I totally STOLE AND MANGLED SORRY
maybe, before —
(her dad was the religious one. sun or snow or anything in between, her ass was in a pew, every weekend from when she was nine until the summer before she left home. she remembers those last few months, sunday mornings spent sobering up as the pastor led communion, sweating out all the things she’d strung into her body the previous night. she felt like she was going to die, sitting beneath that altar.
god, as it turns out, has a sick sense of humor.)
.
“nice to see you again, karen,” daredevil says — not matt. matt was never this methodical, every movement sharp and cold and calculated. the tilt of this man’s voice is all wrong. it makes her skin crawl.
not-daredevil turns his baton over in his hand, and smiles.
not in a fucking church, is karen’s last thought before frank castle breaks down the front door.
.
“hey, asshole,” frank says, and that’s the only reason not-daredevil doesn’t die immediately. those few seconds are just enough time for him to —
karen hears the bullets crack and her body hits the floor. there’s noise all around, screaming and the thud of feet against the marble and someone yelling her name —
frank. frank —
“karen.” a voice in her ear, and when she spins, her hands curl reflexively into fists, but it’s — matt, tugging at her arm, motioning for her to follow him on hands and knees through the pews.
“get her out!” frank’s shouting, and matt inclines his head as if he’s nodding, pulls on karen’s arm harder. she tries to glance back, but matt’s hand is like iron around her wrist, cinched so tight she’s sure she’ll have bruises.
they’ve almost reached the door when the window above their heads shatters and she hits the ground again. matt’s arms are braced around her shoulders and she hears frank again, bellowing from deep in his throat, and then matt’s pushing them both up, broken glass crunching beneath their feet.
karen’s gaze skitters frantically, searching for frank. the gun’s been knocked from his hands, slid halfway down the aisle. he’s swinging at not-daredevil with his fists — one lands square across the face, but the other swipes nothing but empty air. he’s knocked concave as the other man rears up and kicks him in the stomach, then throws another punch, and frank’s head whiplashes back, blood spraying from his nose and between his teeth.
bitter-bright fury surges up karen’s sternum and she slips out of matt’s grasp, dives for frank’s gun like it’s muscle memory. there’s a rushing sound in her ears like thunder, as she levels it.
“hey!” she shouts. not-daredevil snaps his face towards her.
“nice to see you, too,” karen says, and shoots him.
.
he gets away, because her hands weren’t as steady as she thought. the bullet meant for his heart takes him in the stomach, instead.
she’s not sure if she’s disappointed or relieved.
.
matt gets to him first. “shit, frank—” he grunts, rolling him into supine and karen sees the swollen red mess of his face, blood spattered around his head like a halo, and thinks —
— no, she thinks, for a single, nauseating nanosecond, no no no —
frank groans, blinks his swollen eyes open and the relief that floods her veins is better than any high she’s ever had.
“karen—” he croaks, but the sound cuts off as she folds over him, shoulders rocking against his as her entire body shakes with stuttered sob-laughs. his arm slides tight around her torso and he presses his lips to her temple and she can feel his breath against her ear, warm and a little jagged. he’s okay. he’s alive.
“dammit, frank,” she breathes, forehead dipped to the juncture of his neck and shoulder. “next time you want to see me, pick up the fucking phone.”
frank tries to laugh, only the sound comes out all mangled and fractured. his hand is in her hair, thumb tracing lazy half-circles against the back of her skull.
“yes, ma’am,” he says.
.
“that could’ve gone worse,” matt says, later, after the police and fbi have gone. they’re hunkered down in the church basement, frank propped up next to karen on the small cot, so close their shoulders keep knocking together. matt lingers near the stairs, pacing.
“always the optimist, yeah, murdock?” frank grates out.
“not always.” matt’s still wearing his covering, but karen can see his mouth turn down, just slightly. “you’ve missed a lot, frank.”
“yeah,” frank says. he’s looking at her, she can feel it, the gravity of his eyes on her skin. “yeah, i know i have.”
there’s a brief moment of charged silence, then a scuffle of feet against the stone floor, moving away. matt must have taken the hint, because when she glances up, he’s gone.
“ ‘m sorry, karen,” frank says, his voice a low scrape of wind against trachea that reminds her of the diner, and the night he slammed schoonover’s door in her face. she bites her lip, hard. doesn’t look at him, not yet.
“thought it’d be easier,” he says. “stayin’ away, yeah? let you have your life, and me mine. figured you’d be sick of my bullshit, anyways—”
“stop.” she blinks, once, then again, turns her head and meets his gaze. “just, please. stop.”
frank’s eyes twitch back and forth, rapid-fire across her face. searching, searching. karen sucks in a breath, and on the exhale she grazes her fingers over frank’s hand, the hard ridge of his knuckles.
“i don’t want an apology,” she says. “there’s just — there’s so many things the two of us have to be sorry for, frank, but i don’t want to do that. i don’t want to apologize. that’s all my life is, anymore, ‘i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry’, over and over again and i’m sick of it, frank, i’m so goddamn sick of it, i just —”
his eyes are wide and bright and that’s when she decides, that’s when she leans in and presses her lips to his throat, the soft spot of skin just above his pulse point. “you’re here,” she breathes. “you’re here. that’s enough for me.”
“jesus fucking christ,” frank rasps, and karen can’t help the laugh that bubbles out from between her teeth as she traces her way up, mouth ghosting over his collarbone and jawline, his sloped cheekbones and the curved hollows of his cheeks, up and up until her forehead is pressed to his.
“we’re in a church, you know,” she says.
“jesus fucking christ, amen,” frank growls, and kisses her.
#kastle#kastlenetwork#kastle ff#dds3#my fic#this is a fucking mess but i literally can't stare at it for one second longer or i'll lose my mind
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Chapter 87: Boy Toy
Oh boy, this one was a trip for me. I’ll start out by saying the main problems I have with this chapter are primarily with the start because that is so...ugh. We start off with Daisy caring about Paulo, and Abbey being a jealous little fuckboy. But that’s not what we’re here for is it? No. We’re here because of this
Oh boy. Yeah that is definitely gay behavior that would totally bring someone’s sexuality into question. I mean just look at this. Who the fuck does that? I mean someone’s up in your face, and acting all tough and stuff. So in order to show how much it doesn’t care and just to piss them off you kiss them? Jesus christ that would make anyone question their sexuality!
I mean god, just look at those fucking gays! My god.
Okay, but in all honesty this really is stupid, and when I heard and saw this shit it left such a sour taste in my mouth because it’s so ignorant to imply this is gay given the context of both of these characters and the situation. Because this to me doesn’t make me believe that Paulo is starting to act gay or in a way that would make him question his sexuality. It’s actually the opposite, because to me this is an act of defiance, it shows Paulo’s comfortable enough in his sexuality that he’d kiss a guy to piss him off and not even think twice about whether or not it’s gay.
Then we move on to the immediate next page where there’s another thing to bring up because
First of all, Mike where the fuck have you been? Look at this scene composition:
Who the fuck was talking to you Mike?!
No seriously, who was talking to you? This is the same scene, same place. I know it’s the next page, but seriously was there a time skip in-between pages? Was there cut dialogue? Why is he saying that? No one seemed to be talking to him before. This is weird composition, and it’s messing with my head a little. But that’s just probably a rewritten bit of dialogue from trying to write and rewrite this scene to make it more presentable and less clunky.
Unfortunately it didn’t work, because these bits of dialogue seem clunky as hell. First of all what is Mike even talking about with “I’m not against guys, uh...” I guess he means “against guys kissing” so it’s clear he’s insinuating Paulo has The Gay(tm). But this just seems like such an awkward thing to say, maybe “Hey, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with you...y’know...” or something like that. Why is he being broad about it “I’m not against guys...” and not “I’m not against you...” what do other guys have to do with it? It seems like even he doesn’t know what he’s trying to say. And I don’t get the point of “It doesn’t seem like something you’d normally do” like, I guess yeah but if Mike’s earnestly trying to be supportive here, wouldn’t he say something like “I mean if that’s what you wanna do, that’s what you wanna do...” or “Hey I’m not judging or anything, I mean you do you man.” Why would he say it like that? As if this would be something out of.. character...
OH HA HA HA VERY FUCKING FUNNY YOU SON OF A BITCH
Oh yeah, and Paulo’s reaction is just ridiculous. Guy goes from zero to one hundred, and jumps to the conclusion that he’s being called gay even though Mike’s language has been pretty vague and not really even saying “gay”. I guess maybe that’s what Taeshi was trying to accomplish here, but it just comes off as weird. And according to the author’s notes Paulo’s reaction was actually supposed to be even MORE overblown than this.
But moving on from this awkward exchange, we go to the next page where Paulo is now in a tissy, and
HOLY SHIT ffffff god I just got visual whiplash! Is that even a thing?! Like the whole big head style is whatever, but jesus christ Rachel, what are you? 3 feet tall? Reminder: Rachel is at least a year older than Paulo, and is also a chubby puppy. What the heck is this? Remember kids: If you base character size based on how short they are comparatively to the people around them and not based on how tall they are from the ground, you can find yourself falling into the trapping of making your characters dwarves. And if you have a style that gives them big anime eyes, and petite bodies, you might accidentally turn them into lolis. And if you’re not okay with that, then you must quickly reevaluate your stylistic choices.
But anyway, I know this is long but don’t worry kids I’m not gonna roast every single page. Just every page that I got problems with. And there’s nothing as bad with the next few pages. Matt invites Paulo to a party, and Paulo being an angsty confused little shit is rude to him at first. But luckily the best character in this entire comic is here to set him straight
Have I mentioned how much I love Rachel? Cause I do. A lot. And this is a big part of my reason why. She’s not one to put up with other people’s bullshit, even those that she loves.
She’s not gonna let that shit stew for months or shit, nah she’s gonna call you out the moment she sees it, and she’s gonna set you straight. She’s not gonna put up with anyone’s shit, and I fucking love her for that. You fucking go girl!
...
And don’t tell me about what’s coming up...I already know...
I got a bottle a jack ready for it, but I don’t know if I’m ready for it...
anyway I guess this isn’t so bad, I mean my only real problem with this chapter is how Paulo’s sexuality is being handled here. I feel like it could definitely have been handled better and more naturally, especially if it wasn’t spurred on by him fucking with Abbey, maybe if it was another character like...
Oh yeah! David! Hey, that’s a good point! David would’ve been perfect for a chapter like this. I mean, if I had to write Paulo questioning his sexuality his relationship with David would be an obvious go to. I mean they’re practically inseparable, and it’d be easy to use that to be how Paulo would start to question his sexuality! And while I hate to put myself in Taeshi’s shoes, because I would never want to be her; if I were writing a chapter where Paulo starts to realize he’s bi or starts to question his sexuality, I’d start with his relationship with David. I mean it’s pretty much all but confirmed that David is gay if not bi himself, and from an outsider’s point of view one would easily presume that they were gay together. So what if Paulo’s talking to Matt or something, like when he’s getting invited to Matt’s Aunt’s house. And Matt says Paulo can bring David as well. And Paulo would laugh about it and be like “Hey, I don’t have to bring David everywhere it’s not like we’re a couple or anything. I got Rachel!” And Matt would be like “ha, could’ve fooled me~” or something like that. Just off-handedly joking about it, but it plants the idea in Paulo’s head that maybe his relationship with David is kinda gay, and that’s what makes him start to overthink things. And he could start acting out against David, like trying to push him away which causes him to get upset and figure out what’s wrong eventually getting him to open up about it. Man David would be perfect for this chapter! Maybe he can help show Paulo how being gay isn’t bad, or show him that his behavior is nothing to be worried or upset over! Maybe by showing an actual platonic friendship with someone who is gay, Paulo can realize the nuance of being gay an-
Oh that’s all that we get out of David for this chapter huh? Okay, that’s cool....
Well after this nothing really happens in this chapter. Paulo sees Daisy again, and gets flustered/scared? And decides to go watch a movie because...he told Daisy he’d do that. It’s pretty contrived.
In fact the whole movie part of this chapter is contrived, and doesn’t serve any real purpose besides giving us 6 pages of Paulo just overthinking things, and being confused. There’s not much to comment on, besides this scene composition
First of all, indeed WHAT DO YOU MEAN NC-17?! Movies don’t get released into theaters with an NC-17 that shit’s straight to DVD. That’s the unrated cut, with titties and shit. What the heck kind of theater is showing that? What cinema is this?
AMAYA!
AMAYA, ARE YOU FUCKING SHOWING NC-17 MOVIES?! YA FREAK! WHAT KIND OF PORNO THEATER SHIT ARE YOU RUNNING HERE?!
Okay but all jokes aside, after this Paulo reassures his sexuality for a moment when he bumps into a girl and...
flirts? I dun get it. Is this all it takes to remind him that he is also into chicks? Well that was easy, and...
wait...DID YOU POP A BONER? I-is that what’s going on here? What’s going on here? This feels really contrived, like it needed to be expanded upon more to make it organic. Anyway speaking of contrivances
Hello Mike, I see now why all this is happening. You see, I have a theory about this chapter and its purpose with having Paulo be bi. Actually, I have a few theories on its purpose, but one of them is that, this...all of this...is wind in the sails. Because, it may be too early to say this but I’m like 99% that this whole Paulo questioning his sexuality thing, isn’t going to lead anywhere. And before you fucking @ me about Jordan, let me ask you...did that really need to happen? Did it really change his character? Does this change Paulo’s views on his relationships, or potential relationships? Do you think this is going to affect his personality or actions in a non-hamfisted way? Cause call me cynical but I don’t. I don’t think it will. What I think this is for, and especially why Mike is going to be the one explaining to Paulo why it’s okay to be gay is because...
Taeshi wants to blow wind in the sails of people who ship Paulo with Mike...
And somewhere, somehow, in some dark secluded corner of the earth...A man named Raxki Yamato just had the biggest, sloppiest, most intense orgasm of his entire life...only a select few of you will probably get that joke.
Anyway, Mike takes Paulo to his house to tutor and...
W-was Paulo checking out Haley? That’s...admittedly weird.
Anyway, the story rears it’s face in again and imma keep it real with you chiefs...
I actually like this page. This part with Mike talking to Paulo about Sandy is really nicely done. It brings up a dynamic I actually didn’t quite realize between Paulo and Mike in that they both have had relationships where their girlfriend is often too busy to make time for them. And I really like this. I like their dialogue, it feels very in character, especially Paulo’s snarky quip in the above picture. I just love it.
aaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back on that gay shit again! But don’t worry, because I actually like this part.
This back and forth between Mike and Paulo, is exactly what I was talking about with the beginning of this chapter. This whole exchange works, having them going back and forth between uncomfortable conversation to light hearted banter is precisely how this whole thing should’ve been handled. And I really like how it’s handled here.
But anyway we finally end the chapter with a follow up scene with Rachel and
For real look at her. If I showed you this picture out of context, what would you guess her age? 12? 10? 8? Like for real, this shit is ridiculous.
But anyway, Paulo apologizes to Rachel for being stupid and taking it out on Matt, coming to the understanding that he doesn’t understand and that’s okay. And Rachel reistablishes herself as the saving grace of this comic once again and all is well.
Overall I give this chapter a 3/10. After all the shit I’ve heard about this chapter, I kinda expected it to be completely bad, but Taeshi didn’t shit the bed completely and there was some actually good moments in this chapter. But I still give it a 3 because 70% of this chapter was still bad. The beginning of this was insultingly convoluted, the middle bit was dumb and kind of pointless, and if it weren’t for the end bit where the characters actually felt like their characters I’d rate this even worse. But all in all, not all bad at least it’s not too insulting. The worst part of it is just that it feels pointless if not redundant. Because another theory I’ve heard spread about this chapter is that it was done to explain away Paulo’s homophobic behavior in past volumes, which to me is what really ruins this for me. Because, it is such a trope to have the homophobic character be homophobic because he’s secretly gay/bi. It’s fucking stupid, especially since you could’ve easily had a natural way of showing Paulo break away from his homophobic tendencies through Matt! In fact, that’s what I presumed was happening.
Paulo would just naturally not want to piss off Matt cause Matt’s a pretty cool guy, and friends with Rachel, so he’d try to not say homophobic shit, or maybe Matt would call him out on that stuff and Paulo would realize the pain his words cause and would learn the error of his ways, and naturally try to stop saying those things. But alas, this is how it goes, and in the end it gets a 3/10 it’s not like December bad, but it sets a precedence for this character that I know isn’t going to matter. And I guess TL;DR the best I could say about this chapter is:
(I was also gonna do the interlude here, but this shit is fucking LOOONG so I’ll do it for the next post. See you guys then)
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I know this is a bit late, and I don’t usually make original posts, but I want to gather my thoughts on VLD s7, even though I literally never participate in fandom discourse lol. So I guess we’ll see how this goes.
There were great parts of this season. Let’s start with that.
First of all, Hunk was incredible and I’m so glad he finally got an arc where he could shine, even if I feel like it was long overdue. Seriously, I feel like Hunk was the best part of this season and I cannot state enough how much effect he had on my overall impression of the season. He basically carried the season singlehandedly and I don’t understand why searching through the tag rn I can hardly find any appreciation for him this season. (yeah jk I know why ha)
Everything they did with the Paladins’ families (from Hunk’s arc about rescuing his parents to Lance reuniting with his family and his relationship with Veronica to freaking Colleen!!!! just straight up stealing the show for two episodes!!! What an icon I love her so much!) was absolutely perfect. (I will say I’ve seen speculation that Hunk’s sister and her kids died since they weren’t there in his hospital room, which I desperately hope is not the case since that really should have been mentioned.)
I also loved seeing Shiro take charge and become Captain of the Atlas without even seeming to realize that he was the man for the job.
Sendak was a formidable and interesting villain who raised the stakes, which made it more satisfying when they defeated him.
I enjoyed getting to know Romelle more and see her in action.
Coran and the mice’s team up to break out the rest of the gang was very good and funny.
KOSMO!!!!!!! A GOOD PUPPY!!!!!! HE HAS A NAME!! I LOVE HIM SO!!!
I enjoyed seeing Lotor’s ex-generals again (because I love them), although I do have some issues which I’ll get to later.
The new characters they introduced, mainly Rizavi, Leifsdottir, Kinkade, Veronica, and Griffin were all great and I loved them! They did a great job of making me care about these new people. (And Kinkade is drawn so pretty what the heck y’all sleepin on this beautiful dude)
Seriously Colleen was so great I cannot stress this enough. I’ve been feeling for this poor woman who thought that she’d lost her whole family since season 1 so I’m so glad to finally see her in action, fighting for her family and her planet.
They did a good job of setting up Admiral Sanda’s inevitable betrayal, even if it was a really stupid thing for her to do.
Ep 5 was great; I was super excited to see what the Druids looked like under their masks, Macidus and Keith’s teleporting fight was awesome, and it’s always great to see Allura’s magic develop more, even when I wish it wasn’t so unclear how/what she’s doing.
Lots of the fights were so cool, from the Voltron team taking down the Galra drones in the cave system in Ep 2 to all the MFE fights to Shiro’s rematch against Sendak to even Voltron’s fight against the Robeast. These fights, I’ve noticed, are always especially cool when they unlock a new ability like Hunk’s turrets and Voltron’s double swords. Also I forgot how strong Alteans are until Romelle just straight up ripped apart a drone.
As much as I overall didn’t like The Feud as an episode, it did have some great moments with Pidge taking down Bob, Allura and Hunk being cute in the background, and the team being overall really supportive and loving of each other.
Shay came to visit Hunk!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, I also have a lot of problems with this season. Ones that, for me, are too serious to ignore. But let’s start with my more minor grievances, then work our way up to the big ones, shall we?
I don’t like Shiro’s new arm. It reminds me too much of Sendak’s and is too bulky/strange looking for for my taste. And for some reason my eyes have a hard time finding it? Like they’re drawn to the light emanating from his shoulder and not the forearm/hand. Idk, but I’m not a fan.
I wish Griffin had apologized to Keith for being such a jerk about his parents. I kept waiting for it since they had all these long glances with each other. I came to like him despite the bad initial impression only because he proved to be a good leader who valued every member of his team and knew when to step aside because someone else was better at a job. But I still kinda needed resolution for his rudeness, especially since he’s obviously grown since then and should want to make amends.
Admiral Sanda’s just so freaking stupid????? Like, how did she get that high in ranking when she consistently makes such bad decisions???? Clearly the dictator who’s controlling earth who comes from a war-mongering culture that enslaves and destroys planets isn’t just gonna let y’all go once he gets Voltron. He’s either gonna continue using you as slaves because nothing’s stopping him or destroy you because you’re no longer useful. Listen to people who know the Galra better than you!!
I saw somewhere that Matt has a girlfriend now???? When did this happen????
They somehow got the ENTIRE BALMERA to Earth?!!!????!!?!?!?!? How did they build a teleduv big enough to do that!?!
Also, where did they get a teleduv? Did the Atlas have one? Or was that something that they built during the epilogue montage??
How did Keith summon his bayard telepathically?? Was that a Galra thing or a new Paladin ability?
How did Shiro manage to survive falling from space to earth on the outside of a ship while fighting Sendak?? I mean I’m really glad he lived, but??? How??
I don’t think we needed so much time dedicated to Sam Holt updating the Garrison and then the rest of earth on what happened in space. I kinda appreciated it since it’s been a long time since I watched the early seasons, but at the same time he didn’t tell them anything that was new information to us as viewers. The only things we gained from those scenes were how others reacted to this info. (And we still didn’t get to see the reaction of the person I was most interested in, Adam, but I’ll get to that later.)
This is a problem I’ve been having with the show since like season 3 or so, but how much time has passed? They actually explicitly said it at a couple of points this season, what with 3 years having gone by for most people but only a few weeks for the Voltron team, but why did that time difference happen? Also, how much time passed between the team leaving Earth and them fighting Lotor in last season’s finale? Because I could believe any time frame between 6 months to a few years for that, which makes a big difference in how old the paladins are. According to the show, Sam landed on earth 4 years before the team gets back to the Milky Way, so I guess Sam left the team a year before they faught Lotor??
I didn’t get the thing with Allura’s crown gem? Since when is that a power source? And I was really struck by the imagery of her literally throwing her crown away to help her friend, but I feel like it would’ve been more powerful if we had been given some information about what exactly that gem is and what it means for her. Just make this more clear for me. Also, Shiro has already lashed out and hurt people against his will, so I really didn’t need that angsty moment for him.
The B-plot in Ep 1 was tonally dissonant from the A-plot of Shiro’s flashbacks, and it ended up being totally useless anyway. As much as I enjoyed Romelle and Hunk’s banter in those parts, they would’ve been better placed somewhere else. They should’ve just dedicated the whole episode to Shiro’s flashbacks and given us more information about him.
If they were going to mention that Shiro had a progressive disease in his flashbacks, then they need to explicitly mention in the show that he doesn’t have it anymore. As it is, people who don’t know about the SDCC announcements are just gonna assume he still has it. If it doesn’t happen in the show, it’s not canon. Also, if he’s had this disease the whole time, then why is s7 the first time it’s mentioned? The way he held his arm in the flashback reminded me of the way he held it when his Galra arm activated for the first time. Did the arm help fight the progression of the disease like that lil wristband did? If so, that should’ve been explained and made clear a long time ago. It just bothers me that this is the first time we’re hearing about this major part of Shiro’s life that he’s been fighting with, and that in show we’re given absolutely no resolution for it.
I guess the gem powering Shiro’s arm and the Castleship diamond powering the Atlas connected somehow?? Which is how Shiro turned it into a giant robot? ??????????????? I’m genuinely very confused on what was going on there. It needed to be made more clear. I was on board for whatever they were doing at first just because Shiro looked so pretty in that lighting, but they took it in the weirdest direction possible. Why would anyone care about Voltron anymore when you’ve got a bigger, stronger robot now? Voltron’s no longer the most powerful weapon in the universe - the Atlas is. And it only became such by coincidence. Which is just. Irritating.
The Feud episode. Oh boy. First of all, I got some serious emotional whiplash from the change to this episode. It just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the season at all. Second, they just really did not have to spend that much time making fun of Lance for being stupid. Especially when he’s not. Also, the first two of the people he had to identify had masks on, and Lance had only met them briefly. ALSO you’re telling me that Lance, the most social and outgoing of the Voltron team, is the one who’s bad with names/faces????? ALSO spending less time teasing Lance would’ve opened up more time for giving Hunk and Allura their own activities. ALSO everyone else on the team gets a little speech about how they’re valuable, but Lance just gets “I don’t want to be stuck with him forever”?????? That’s so freaking messed up. Third, the whole premise of the episode was strange to me. Like why would an all powerful being who tests heroes do it in this way? It seems to me that that premise fits Ep 6, where they were stranded in space, much better. They were genuinely tested then, and the forces that attacked them and propelled them through lightyears of space were never explained, so saying that Bob did it and propelled them towards their goal as a reward for passing the test could’ve been a satisfying answer to those questions. And fourth, can I also ask why Morvok was the fourth player?? Like he’s a nonentity in terms of villains. And they still didn’t have the same number of players as team Voltron. Haggar’s still alive, so they could’ve put Sendak on there too. And for the fifth player they could’ve put on a fan favorite villain character. One who showed up in more episodes than Morvok did. One who died a while back and who the fans have wanted to see again ever since. Like, I don’t know, NARTI!! Ugh.
The Robeast. I just. This season could’ve ended on a pretty high note if they had just cut that out and just went straight to the lil epilogue after defeating Sendak. As cool as that fight was at parts, it caused a pretty low finale, which is pretty disappointing after last season’s incredible finale. I get that they needed to foreshadow Haggar’s return to this fight or whatever they’re doing for next season and that she’s been working on the lost Alteans, apparently, but it was just a strange note to end on. Especially with the weird addition of Atlas to the Giant Robot Squad. And Allura’s line “Seriously? We just defeated Sendak and now we gotta deal with this?!?!” (I’m paraphrasing) was a MOOD.
Okay, so this post has gotten kinda out of control, so I’m gonna have to save the biggest issue I had (betcha can guess what it is) for another post. So. Look out for Part 2 of this nonsense. Feel free to reblog with your own ideas/input!
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So I actually liked vld season 7
Some of it anyway. I still have some beef with it. Normally I don’t really post my thoughts but I wanna get it out of my chest c: gonna stick just to the Good Things on this post since it got out of hand!
Warning: LONG POST and since I’m on mobile idk how to put it under a read more!
***
[Good Things]
So many good things honestly.
• FIRST OF ALL: THE MUSIC! THE ANIMATION! THE BACKGROUNDS! THE CHOREOGRAPHY!! More than any plot these workers deserve so much credit <333
• Everything about episode 1. From learning of the beginning of Keith’s and Shiro’s friendship to the shenanigans with the yelmore. As a med student though, I wish they would explain a bit more about this mysterious disease he had and why is it apparently “gone” now.
• Cosmo. Everything about this space pupper. I love that he’s being included far more than the other pets because it was always pretty clear to me he’s very protective of keith and doesn’t appear to like leaving his owner’s side. ALSO I LOVE HOW BIG HE IS. HE’S BIGGER THAN PIDGE IN SOME SHOTS.
• I’m digging the Generals’ new outfits. Noice.
• LANCE DEFENDING PIDGE. Yes yes yes. I love how much he cares for her. I really wish she had become his love interest instead of Allura. Still! They had quite a few sweet moments c:
• Space mice are back to helping the team too heck yes
• “The Feud” is both kinda endearing but also my least favorite episode of the series. Since this part is about the good things: Everything about Lotor. Zarkon calling Lotor names. It was so DOTU I loved it so much
• THE DRUID IS BACK!! I loved that the druid was back. I really really wish they had expanded on WHY the druids are like that and HOW do they get their powers. They appear Galra. Are they a breed Haggar experimented on? They seem to almost idolize her. Gimme more info on the quiznaking Druids season 8 plEASE
• KEITHS WEIRD QUINTESSENCE POWERS VOLTRON PLEASE -PLEASE- EXPLAIN
- as a side note I 110% believe the purple quintessence coming from Keith’s hands in when he unlocks Black’s wings in season 6 is that very power of his, not Shiro’s spirit or whatever
• Keith’s and Krolia’s goodbye. It was so emotional. I love that Keith has the maturity to understand that she has to leave- not because of a “mission” but because so many Blades she was shown to CARE FOR were gone. For all the “greater good” the Blades were about, they did seem to care. I love how gentle Krolia was with Kolivan too. I wonder if Kolivan is the Shiro to Krolia’s Keith.
• I originally had mixed feelings about the Floating In Space episode because both Keith and Allura felt OOC at first. But y'know what? I’ve come to like it. Keith had been acting like the Perfect Leader™ since he came back, as if his issues had all faded away when he and Black really became a team. But truth is, they weren’t. Keith was responsible for his team now, and they were floating in space, nearly dying, and the paladins were talking about QUITTING. Keith didn’t do his job well enough. Keith failed, failed them and FAILED as a leader, or so he felt: he let them down JUST LIKE IN SEASON 4 and now they’d all die. He was tired and not thinking properly so OF COURSE his basic instinct flared up: “leave them so they wont kick me out first”. As someone who likes the idea of keith and allura together, I really didn’t get Keith’s sudden outburst against Alfor, but… He might have done it to push Allura’s buttons. He KNOWS her, he KNOWS she’s the one who would argue the most (like in s4), so he instinctively tries to get her off him already- and because he knows her so well he goes for something that he knows is a low blow. Thing is, that made Allura’s own hurt feelings flare up (and the rest of the team’s). Allura might have understood where he was coming from in s4, but she was clearly sad that he still chose the Marmora over them. Even if she GETS it, it still HURTS. The whole team HURT. And now Keith was trying to push them away AGAIN. They were PISSED. They had trusted him 100% even though he abandoned them and now he was leaving again?!
BUT THEN!! DEVELOPMENT!! This time team Voltron WILL NOT let Keith go. Will NOT kick him out no matter how hard Keith tries to make them do it (thanks Hunk!!). And that helps Keith to FINALLY admit how much he cares and allows him to put them right up there with Shiro and Krolia when it comes to people HE wont give up on, people he now KNOWS wont give up on him. He may have called them “friends” but.. Keith isn’t that good with expressing how much he cares. He’s always a little hesitant when it comes to sharing his feelings (you’re LIKE a brother to me vs you’re MY BROTHER). He does mean family. He’s just being Keith :)
• I actually genuinely liked the Earth two-parter. I never thought Sam could carry an episode like that but damn. U go babe. I loved Colleen too. AND VERONICA YEA GIRL
• Kincaid and Griffin OWN MY HEART I SWEAR-
• Bless non-evil-Galra-Prince AJ LoCascio. Even though I got whiplash in some scenes like “wait he sounds like Lotor wtq” most of the times I didn’t even notice. So glad they decided to keep him around! He has a superb voice.
• Katie reuniting with her family!! LANCE reuniting with his family!! “uncle lance” yes pls ;w;
• Hunk’s flashbacks ;-; I feel so bad for the baby I’m so glad his family is safe now. I loved seeing how cooking isn’t really just for food when it comes to Hunk, I love that his mom and aunt (i’m assuming??) actually let us viewers understand that every time hunk cooks he’s more interested in sharing company and spending time together. Just. Yes <3
• Iverson apologizing to Keith + petting Cosmo heck yea. Griffin and Keith ignoring their differences, nice.
• KEITH COMFORTING HUNK. He might not be as comfortable saying emotional words like “love” or “family” to the team as he is around Shiro and Krolia (understandably), but you can see he cares just as much. Also YES let him be hugged more. He clearly loves it.
• All those conformations of paladins!! Keith/Pidge/Allura -> Pidge and Keith. Yes!! Keith and Hunk! Lance and Hunk!! A+ hell yea
• All the shoutouts to previous seasons!! The reflective shields from S6ep1. Keith understanding sign language this time!! Pidge distracting the guards by being silly (but in a very Pidge way) while Keith goes around like in season 1!!!
• Really nice touch of having Allura give up the crystal in her tiara to save Shiro. Their friendship is so precious <3 Also bonus points since this was likely what allowed Shiro to sense Atlas’ quintessence- the new arm still DOES have a connection to his brain so, like, so does the crystal :’D
• Speaking of Atlas, I’m neutral on it? So long as it doesn’t keep showing up as a robot I’m good. I just don’t get why it gets defense upgrade when it turns into a robot? Regardless though, it seems wayyy too big and clumsy. So hopefully it’ll remain just a ship in most eps.
• I did love the smaller earth fighters tho! Blonde + Freckles Whose Name I Can’t Spell Sorry grew on me. Also, ships’ designs are awesome. Honestly so long as Earth Team doesn’t end up in the LIONS I’d be happy. I feel like they might though. Oh well.
• LANCE. JUST HOW MUCH LANCE MATURED. THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT THIS SEASON. He barely joked around this time!! He really showed how he supports the team. I LOVE to see Keith depending on and trusting Lance to be his second in command. THAT’S what I always wanted for the two of them.
- Bonus: I loved how Keith fell back for a second on his old habits by going all “don’t miss the shot” or whatever cause really that’s exactly what their rivalry was about. Early Series Lance would get back at him without batting an eye. But he remained focused and alert! Lance’s development is more subtle but this is EXACTLY the same point Keith was when Kuron started calling him worthless. Keith had GROWN, and those things didn’t bother him anymore. Likewise, Lance has GROWN. He’s an adult who takes things seriously now and doesn’t waste time with silly bickering. Just. Yes. While lowkey, this is just as satisfying to me because unlike Keith we actually SAW all the stages of Lance’s growth. (We didn’t see all the conversations Keith and Krolia had on the space whale). Just. Lance. Bless him.
• I still prefer Sendak’s season 1 design. That said, he was a marvelous villain- more than any other he really represented all that was evil in the Galra Empire so I enjoyed him. Zarkon was into the lions for personal reasons, Haggar is more about the Altean thing, Lotor didn’t really care for Voltron since he built Sincline. So yea. I didn’t expect him to be the main villain but I don’t mind.
• Speaking of which, loved the Sendak/Shiro fight! It really felt like all that encompassed the Paladins vs all that encompassed the Galra. And even though I actually didn’t like that Keith was the one to deal the final blow, Keith IS a mix of Galra/Paladin who has good intentions. So… like Lance said early in the season. He’s the future.
• not so sure what to think of the final EP and that weird robot but eh. Assuming it’s from Honerva, I DID like how it showed that Honerva IS different than Haggar… And more dangerous. This was literally a Haggar Robeast but upgraded, because YEA Honerva is much better than her quintessence-cursed counterpart.
• THE FAMILIES!! Shay!! Y'know I’m not usually a multishipper - actually I’ve never done it before - but I love both hunay and hunelle. I’m totally ok with hunelle in an AU and hunay in voltron canon (Hunk clearly cares for her so much that even though I prefer Romelle I can’t go against that precious bean teary smile when Shay showed up.). Besides!! Platonic hunelle is really precious too. ALSO ALSO KOLIVAN AND KROLIA and Krolia is wearing a Leader's version of the BoM suit?? NICE
• Matt is back and looks more handsome than ever! I love the ponytail. I love his design. And his colors. And his new girlfriend?? If I remember correctly from the Naxzela episode the helmeted alien sounded like a girl. ALSO ARE THOSE PUPS BESIDES OLIA HER KIDS?? PRECIOUS PUPPERS
• ROMELLE. we need more of her gdi-
• IS THE ALTEAN MERLA OH GOD LET IT BE MERLA I’M BEGGING YOU-
• Lastly, another of my favorite bits: Piloting the Lions through their bond. It just goes so well with my headcanon that the quintessence of the pilot actually MERGES with the quintessence of the pilot, so much that when they’re connected like that even if the body dies the mind still goes on. The difference for me between this season and what Shiro went through is that the paladins still have their bodies to ground them and help them keep control, while Shiro was just… Lost in the astral plane, barely able to separate his consciousness from the Lion’s (so much that this only happened twice when the paladins were purposely trying to connect with his quintessence/spirit in the astral plane). It’s not as “romantic” as the whole ‘black SAVED SHIRO’ but I really think his time in the Black Lion was really unsettling: not being Shiro and not being Black, but some weird mix of the two (his sarcastic confusion towards lance early in the season also supports this: he wasn’t HIMSELF anymore. Thinking like a normal person and not like a robot is WEIRD for him). It’s a headcanon though but it’s mine and I will fight you on this (actually no pls don’t fight me).
***
Overall!! While not my favorite season (that’s 2 and 6), season 7 wasn’t BAD. Maybe I just had lower expectations since I spoiled myself out of anxiety. It wont be like s2 and s6 where I’ll binge watch the eps over and over again, but it’s pretty comfortable with s1 and s3 in “eh it was fine, ok, I like it”.
[That said, there WERE quite a few things that pissed me off about this season, but everyone is so negative rn and quite a few people already covered part of those reasons, so I wanted to post about good things!! I’ll probably do another post on the Bad Things of this season.]
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