#let alone actually move on like she repeatedly says she has | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

goldenwilliamson · 5 months

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Could you do one with leah x reader where reader is a new signing and she catches Leah's attention and Leah, all cocky, asks her out repeatedly, but the reader was warned about Leah's fuckgirl fame and always turns her down, but obviously ends up falling for Leah in the end, pure fluff please ;)

Pd: you write soo goooodd

bad idea right? | leah williamson

pairing: leah williamson x reader

a/n: thanks for the ask!! i had fun with this one. reader is australian obviously inspired by kyra's signing after the world cup, but with a very different vibe to KCC's annoying little sister energy hahaha. also this is an ideal world where ACL's don't exist and leah was in training at the start of this season.

summary: reader signs at arsenal and leah has her sights set on her, but reader tries her best not to let herself fall for leah.

word count: 2.9k (got a little carried away with this, but i loved it)

When you got your call up for the World Cup, you had expected that some clubs might take an interest in you, along with all the other younger Australian players who hadn’t yet gotten the chance to play in such a large tournament. What you didn’t expect however was that the club you grew up supporting would be making a deadline day signing for you. When you heard that Arsenal were interested after the World Cup, it was just the cherry on top of what was the most surreal experience of your footballing career so far. Obviously with Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord already being at the club, you had felt entirely comfortable about making the transfer. You had already been playing in the WSL for a few years, but you’d always told yourself that if Arsenal ever came knocking, you would go there without a doubt.

Being such a fan of the club and playing against Arsenal in the past, you already had preconceptions about many of the girls. Before you had your first training, Steph and Caitlin had come over to your new flat to help you settle in and put together some furniture, and you took it as an opportunity to get all your final questions out of the way. You had already spoken to them endlessly about the culture of the club for the players, but you hadn’t spoken too much about the other girls. All that they had told you was that you would fit in well with the team, and that was good enough for you at the time.

But now that your time for actually joining the team was getting very close, you decided you wanted to learn more about some of the girls you would be spending the majority of your time with for the foreseeable future.

‘What’s Kim like as a captain?’ You asked first, and both Steph and Caitlin sung her praises while explaining that underneath her hard front is a big softie who wants the best for everyone.

‘I’m not going to lie, I’m nervous about not clicking with anyone,’ you said next.

‘I can’t imagine you ever not getting along with anyone,’ Steph said, ‘You hit it off with everyone you’ve ever met.’

‘True, I reckon you and Leah will get along well but,’ Caitlin adds.

‘Really?’ Your voice is higher when you say this, a little surprised.

‘Oh yeah, she’s going to love you. She’s already spoken to me about how she’s excited you’ve signed,’ Steph says and you feel very flattered. Leah is a player you’ve admired for years, and a defender you’ve dreaded coming up against in games. Even though you’ve played against her, you wouldn’t expect her to have noticed you, let alone be excited about you joining the team which she cares so much about.

‘What’s she like?’ You ask, genuinely curious.

‘She’s somehow managed the perfect balance of being super fun and lighthearted, but also stern and serious,’ Steph says.

‘Is she single?’ You find your mouth moving before your brain has the chance to tell you not to say that. Both Steph and Caitlin laugh at your forwardness, but they don’t seem all that surprised.

‘Leah is undateable, she meets a lot of girls, but they never stick around for long,’ Caitlin says truthfully, and for a moment you feel a bit of disappointment.

‘Because she’s not a good person?’ You ask, unsure about why no girls would want anything with her. In your eyes she’s a catch.

‘No,’ Steph says quickly, ‘She’s an amazing person, she just doesn’t want them to stick around for long, it’s always more of a one night thing for her.’

This surprises you, and it does make you see her a little differently. In the media she seems very mature, being the England captain and all. You can’t really imagine her going out, meeting girls, and having one night stands, but then you remember you really don’t know the girl at all.

A few days later you arrive in London Colney for your first training session of pre-season, carpooling with Caitlin and Katie. You’d already met Katie a few times now, which made your arrival feel a bit smoother. You don’t take it for granted having Steph and Caitlin around to welcome you and make sure you’re connecting with the other girls.

Before you go into the first meeting of the season with Jonas, you get to meet all the other girls. While someone might find this overwhelming, you are unbelievably excited to finally be introducing yourself and meeting all these players you respected so much.

Everyone greets you warmly with a hug and kind welcoming words. When you approach Leah she flashes you her fantastic smile and you can’t help but mirror her expression. You keep in mind but that she is used to being able to charm girls, and you try not to fall victim to it.

‘Hello, mate. I’m Leah,’ she says in her relaxed voice, giving you a hug hello.

‘Hey, good to meet you,’ you say.

‘Likewise. I’m so glad you’ve signed, you’re going to be a great addition to the team,’ she says and you thank her graciously, feeling good knowing you have a little bit of support behind you, from Leah Williamson of all people.

From your first meeting, you can see what everyone else sees in her. She’s a beautiful girl, there’s absolutely no denying that, and she carries a confidence that radiates off of her. It’s both incredibly attractive and intimidating at the same time. You know immediately you can’t let yourself go down the rabbit hole of developing a crush on her, because you know all too well that it would consume you completely. So for the first few weeks at the club you don’t spend too much time with Leah. You don’t avoid her, because you don’t want to be rude, but you don’t let yourself go as deep as you normally would want to. Usually when you find yourself around someone attractive you’re asking questions, trying to get to know them. You decided the less you knew about Leah the better.

You didn’t realise that Leah had noticed the way you hadn’t been giving her as much time and attention as you’d given some of the other girls, and the way that you had bruised her ego. One day Leah and Jen were peddling on the exercise bikes in the gym next to each other while you ran on the treadmill on the other side of the room. Leah watched you like a hawk as you took your long, easy strides.

‘She’s great isn’t she?’ Jen said, following Leah’s line of vision.

‘Oh god yeah, she’s gonna be our secret weapon going into this season,’ Leah says without a beat. She’s been watching you every day, witnessing how well you’ve managed to establish yourself within the team already, earning respect from all the players. She would be very surprised if Jonas didn’t start you in the upcoming games, because you're the perfect number 9 that the club has been needing.

‘Lovely girl too,’ Jen observes and Leah nods.

‘I haven’t gotten to know her that well, I don’t think she’s too interested in me,’ Leah says, and even though she tries to hide her contempt, Jen reads her like a book.

‘Finally someone who’s not interested in you, whatever will you do?’ The naturally sarcastic Scot makes fun of Leah’s obvious dissatisfaction with her ability to have you in the palm of her hand.

‘Shut up,’ Leah pushes her shoulder.

‘You’re seriously crushing on her aren’t you?’ Jen says.

‘I wouldn’t call it a crush,’ Leah scoffs. She would never admit to having a crush on someone, it’s not in her nature at all. When it comes to dating she has always preferred to be detached and aloof.

‘What would you say then?’ Jen asks.

‘I guess you could say I’m intrigued by her,’ Leah says, immediately cringing at the way it sounds coming out of her mouth.

‘Alright stalker, don’t go following her home now or anything,’ Jen says, unable to contain her laughter seeing Leah in this new position. As Jen makes this comment you step of the treadmill and pull off your headphones and Leah quickly shushes Jen.

‘How was the run, Y/N?’ Jen calls out to you from across the room, and you smile, striding in the direction of her and Leah as they continue to peddle.

‘Yeah not too bad,’ you nod, ‘How are the bikes treating you guys?’

‘I think I zoned out watching you running over there,’ Leah says, and you don’t know whether or not to interpret it as a flirty or not.

You laugh lightly and shake your head, ‘Glad I could be of service.’

‘You do look proper graceful for someone doing sprints,’ Jen says.

‘Well now I know who to come to when I need a pick me up, thanks girls,’ you look at them both, your ego boosted. You had no clue how you looked running on the treadmill, but you couldn’t have imagine it was anything impressive, or graceful. You tell the girls you’ll leave them to it as you turn to walk out of the gym, thinking over Leah’s little comment for quite some time.

A few days later you’re invited round to Beth and Viv’s place for a little dinner. It’s not a huge group there, just yourself, Steph, Caitlin, Leah, Jen, and Kim Little. Despite being one of the younger girls in the squad at 24, you’ve found yourself feeling most comfortable around the girls a little older than you like Jen and Beth. Even Viv who was notoriously introverted had made an effort to get to know you.

The night is lovelier than you could have expected, chatting with all the girls with ease, like you’ve known them all as long as you’ve known Steph and Caitlin. At one point you decide to go into the kitchen to refill the water jug, and when you’re standing over the sink, Leah slips into the space with you.

‘What are you after?’ You ask casually.

‘You,’ Leah says and you turn around to look at her with a confused look on your face.

She’s leaning against the kitchen bench, eyeing you confidently, but you’re determined not to let her work her ways on you.

‘Whatever for?’ You ask innocently, turning back to watch as the water fills the bottle in your hand.

‘Why’ve you been avoiding me?’ Leah says as you flick the tap off. To buy some time you rest the bottle on the bench and grab a tea towel, wiping off the water that spill down the sides of the bottle.

‘I didn’t realise I had been,’ you shake your head, not looking at her as you lie through your teeth.

‘Maybe it’s in my head then,’ Leah shrugs.

‘Maybe, but I’m sorry if I haven’t been giving you enough attention,’ you say sarcastically, knowing that your words would cut deep for a girl who usually has her ways with girls.

‘That’s alright, why don’t I just take you out for dinner, that way I’ll have you all to myself,’ Leah suggests and you scoff.

‘Sorry, as fun as this is, it’s not really me Leah. I’m not interested in being another notch on your bed post,’ you say, and while you might feel rude saying this to anyone else, you feel like you could chip away at Leah’s ego all night and she would remain confident as ever.

Leah sighs with a smile on her face, ‘Worth a try,’ she says and you two walk back to the table, acting like nothing ever happened. Jen Beattie is the only one who catches the smirk on your face and the ever so slightly defeated look on Leah’s.

She tries again a couple of days later after training, asking what your plans were for the night.

‘Going home,’ you say, stating the very obvious fact after a long and tiring training session.

‘Want some company?’ Leah asks. While you would’ve said yes to company, feeling like anyone being around was what you needed to settle into your new home, you knew you couldn’t say yes to Leah.

‘Uh, not tonight, I’m going to go home and fall into bed,’ you say.

‘Tomorrow then?’ Leah offers and you shake your head at her persistence.

‘You’re relentless,’ you say, smiling at the cocky look on Leah’s face. Slowly it’s getting the better of you.

‘I prefer the term driven,’ she says and you laugh.

‘Don’t let me stop you, it’s doing wonders for my confidence,’ you say.

‘Oh don’t worry, I won’t,’ Leah assures you as you part ways walking towards your cars. You ignore her once again, but of course she occupies your thoughts the whole drive home, and the rest of the night.

There is even a moment after you eat your dinner that you consider asking her to come over, knowing exactly what would happen if she did. You groan out loud, realising that she had already won this battle. That’s why the next time she tries her luck, you fold.

It was the perfect setting, all the Arsenal girls and the Matildas that lived around London were out at a bar celebrating Caitlin’s birthday. Leah was of course locked in on your every move, and you knew it. Every time you glanced in her direction, she was already looking at you. It was driving you crazy, making you feel all hot and bothered. As if dancing was the cure for your overwhelming feelings, you remained among the girls throwing their hair and arms around to the music.

A classic ABBA song comes on and Leah makes her way into the people moving on the dance floor, subtly making her way towards you. It’s unsurprising when you feel her hands on your hips, you’d been waiting for it at this point. The music is loud in your ears, drowning out any remaining inhibitions. You turned to face Leah with a look of defeat, as if you were forfeiting to her. You let your arms fall around her neck as she stabilises herself with her hands on your hips. She leans in close to speak directly into your ear and you can feel her breath on the top of your neck, sending a small shiver up your spine.

‘You’ve been driving me nuts,’ she says, giggling slightly with her admission.

You lean into her now, planting a tantalising, gentle kiss on her neck before murmuring, 'I still don’t want to be just another notch on your bed post.’

Leah pulls back and looks at you with a face that tells you that you can believe her when she shakes her head, ‘This isn’t about that, I just want to know you.’

‘Do you say that to all the girls?’ You ask, still harbouring some slight concerns about Leah’s notoriety when it comes to her sexual partners.

‘I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a long time,’ she says. Even though you really don’t know her all too well, you know her words are genuine, and you know that you feel the exact same way. There was no denying the chemistry between you both, and the similarity in your personalities. You remember the way Caitlin and Steph had predicted you two would get along, and you know it’s true now.

‘Me neither,’ you tell her honestly, and you can see from the grin on her face that it was exactly what she wanted to hear.

‘How about we get out of here and go find some food,’ Leah suggests and you nod eagerly, dying to step out into the fresh air with her to speak freely without trying to talk over the music.

‘Great idea,’ you say. With that you and Leah say your goodbyes, not feeling too guilty about leaving as it was nearing midnight already at this stage. When you step out into the night it feels like you’re back in the real world, and your feelings about Leah were still very much there.

She takes your hand in hers and leads you up the street and the two of you walk until you find some fried food to sink your teeth into. You talk the night away and get to know Leah behind the persona she has created. This Leah is endlessly caring, a listener, a deep thinker, incredibly witty, and much more vulnerable.

That night you two end up back at your North London flat to save her the trip out to her house in St Albans. To your surprise, you don’t sleep together, but you’re pleased with that. Part of you was still waiting to see what Leah’s intentions were, and she proved that she really did just want to spend some time with you. You were happy to give her your attention now.

’You’re nothing like how I expected,’ you admit to her as you lay face to face in your bed, your legs stacked on top of each other.

‘Better or worse?’ Leah asks, smirking at you in the darkness of your room.

‘Better,’ you say with a smile, leaning in to finally kiss her properly. It’s gentle, but there is clear passion behind it. You hum, satisfied as you pull away, ‘Definitely better’.

#leah williamson #awfc #leah williamson x reader #lionesses x reader #woso x reader #woso community #arsenal women #woso

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lockandkeycake · 8 months

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Ignore this post, my HoTD moots, this is going to be a long post you don't care about.

it's PJO/HoO rant time.

What can I say, Tumblr brings me back to the simpler times of 2016.

Y'all baby Frank too much. Like. Way too much.

Leo was a dick at times, no doubt. But I think y'all forget Frank was absolutely being antagonistic because he was paranoid over Leo looking like Hazel's ex. You can argue it's because Leo fired on New Rome, but Frank himself counters that claim and Leo is initially grateful Frank didn't blame him.

Frank was also the first one to bring up Sammy, not Hazel, just before that. Later, all before Leo says anything against Frank, Piper thinks Frank's behavior is because it seems like Leo and Hazel had a history. This is a longer bit of a book scene, but I feel like it gets ignored.

This is still before Leo says anything against Frank. I will be saying that a number of more times. Leo just complimented his ability and Frank responds with a pretty catty comment about Leo's physical abilities. You can see the difference in how he reacts even more clearly in a scene before, when Hazel is commenting on Frank turning into a dragon

Frank doesn't counter the idea to become a dragon, he just has an issue with leaving Hazel with Leo. Leo again, so far, isn't upset with Frank. He wants to prove he's trustworthy.

When Piper does her fun little exorcism on the lads, this happens. I have to say yet again. Leo has not insulted Frank at this point. Not a huge issue, Frank was a bit shaken up, but it was still kind of a dick move to just. Let him hit the dirt. I'll excuse it because it is very funny.

Later when they find out about Nico, this scene below happens. Leo has still not said anything against Frank at this point - Jason even agrees repeatedly with Leo, but Frank only glares at Leo.

After this, when Hazel is upset and leaves, Leo starts to likely say he should go apologize, but Frank cuts him off saying, "you've done enough."

We're a few hundred pages through the book now at this point. Frank has insulted Leo, he doesn't trust him, doesn't want Hazel around him, singles him out, and literally let him fall to the ground. Leo has not said anything against him yet.

Even Percy notes that Frank's mood is tied to his relationship with Hazel, and Leo seemingly threatening that.

(and for those who are curious - baleful means threateningly, or to wish harm)

This is when, after a good chunk into the novel, we reach Leo's first dig at Frank.

Then ~the iguana incident~ comes not long after, but if you're going to call this Leo bullying him, you'd have to include... Everyone. Since they literally all laughed at Frank turning into a lizard to get out of the finger trap. Hazel, Percy, Annabeth, everyone. Not a fun moment for Frank, I sympathize with him there, but I wouldn't personally call this pointed bullying. You may disagree but I do not think at the very least that Riordan intended it to be seen as bullying. This is followed by Leo sending Frank's dirty laundry out on Buford for awhile (though he does claim that it would be cleaned and returned to him, eventually we do learn the laundry is lost. This was not a planned thing by Leo, and I don't understand why this is characterized by some people as him purposely throwing away Frank's clothes.)

All this eventually leads to this exchange.

Gee, I don't know, Frank. Maybe because you keep glaring at him anytime you're around him to the point even Percy was like oh boy I got to get him off the ship before he folds Leo like a pretzel.

Later, Frank actually helps save Leo in eagle form, but ends up injured in the process - and drops Leo. I really don't think Frank meant to drop him, but Leo thinks Frank dropped him on purpose. That's kind of a big thing, even though it's a minor line.

Then, Frank is back to being untrusting of Leo. He's glowering, glaring, and again - doesn't want to leave Leo with Hazel.

When Hazel is alone with Leo, she finally takes the time to defend Frank.

So, clearly, Frank scares Leo.

Leo scares Frank.

It's a fun horrible little wicked web! It's almost like the author intended them to buttheads! Shocking!

I've run out of pictures to add!

I could and probably will continue this nonsense, but the general point of this rant is Frank is not just some totally sweet big guy who has never done anything wrong in his entire life, and characterizing him as such just makes him boring. He's self conscious, insecure, and lashes out at- boy, doesn't that sound familiar. Anyway.

He was kind of a dick to Leo, and Leo was kind of a dick to him in turn.

I'm pretty sure I had a better ending for this originally, that summed everything up, but now I'm distracted and just bitter they didn't kiss.

I didn't even have time to reach their interactions underwater.

#leo valdez #frank zhang #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #if i tag this #valzhang #how angry would y'all be #what about #frazeleo

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tomssexdoll · 14 days

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Tom being reader’s neighbor smut like he goes through her window into her room while she is listening to music and he scares her a little cause she didn’t paid attention (don’t ask me why i just find it funny) and she gets a little mad and starts yapping about what would happen if her parents found out cause they are strict and don’t really like him and he shuts her up with kiss and stuff and it ends with smut tyyyy if you will do it you’re my favourite writer i love your fics🫶🏻❤️

awww tysm for saying that ur actually so sweet ilysm <3

Shut up and kiss me

PAIRINGS: Tom 2007 x Female reader CONTENT: FLUFF + SMUT SYPNOSIS: Y/N and Tom are neighbours, he has had a crush on her for years and finally decides to talk to her, but in a strange way. He climbs into her window and surprises her, startling her a little. A/N: hi WARNINGS: teasing and clothing action, kissing, dom!tom, sub!reader, p in v (missionary)

I was listening to my music, organising my room a little bit. It had been messy for weeks due to me being super lazy and studying a bunch.

I turned around and screamed, my neighbour suddenly standing right behind me, I ripped my headphones off "what the fuck? Tom what are you doing here?" I grunted.

He smirked, "I was bored so I just wanted to come say hi", "you couldn't even ask?" I rubbed my temples in frustration. "Nope! What are you doing?" he chuckled, roaming around my room.

"I was just organizing my room, until you came in" I rolled my eyes, sitting on my bed. "Do you not know how much trouble I could get in? My parents already don't like you" his eyes widened, "don't like me? WHY?" he whined, sitting next to me.

"Because you drink and smoke, they see you do it all the time" he scoffed "whatever.." "anyways..I could literally be grounded for a month with them seeing you in here! My parents are so strict, my dad would kill you with his bare hands if he saw a guy, let alone YOU were in my bedroom" I yelled, "you're so lucky they aren't home!" I kept on ranting on about it, noticing how Tom just stared at me and smirked.

I felt his hands wrap around my neck and him smashing his lips into mine, my eyes widened, trying to process what just happened. He pulled away and chuckled, "oops, might have broken you" once I was out of my state of shock my eyes softened, pulling him in for another kiss, deepening it.

His hand snaked down to my waist, pulling me closer and caressing me softly. "So beautiful, yet so stubborn.." he smirked, whispering on my lips.

I reached my hand down, palming his cock softly. He let out a low groan, "fuck..don't tease baby.." he gripped my waist tighter, grinding himself onto my hand and slipping his tongue into my mouth.

I smirked and climbed on his lap, continuing to kiss him, our tongues fighting for dominance. His hands slowly moved down to my ass, cupping the cheeks tightly, grinding me softly on his cock.

"Cmon..let me fuck you pretty girl.." he whispered in my ear, pushing me back onto the bed. I bit my lip, he slowly climbed in bedween my legs, his erection pressing against my leg as he pressed his lips against my neck, sucking softly.

I grabbed his belt, pulling it off and dragging his pants down, his light grey boxers stained with pre cum. I smirked and pulled his cock out, taking my pyjama pants and panties off in one go.

"Holy fuck.." he groaned, pulling my hips closer, his tip resting against my entrance. "You sure you're ok with this baby? I nodded, smiling.

He smirked and slowly pushed his length into me, "fuckkk.." he groaned, throwing his head back. He stretched me out, his cock fitting my pussy perfectly.

He started to create a pace, softly slamming his hips into mine, cock dissapearing in me repeatedly. I moaned softly as his tip hit my g spot, "oh tom!" I groaned, holding onto his dreads and tugging them softly.

The pleasure came in fierce waves, crashing into me at ungodly speeds. The way he held me, the way he looked at me, the way he fucked me made me so much more attracted to him. I'd always liked Tom, he was tall, rebelious, had dreadlocks and his style was amazing.

I'd always catch him staring at me as I walked by his house, even if it was through the window.

He continued to pound his cock into me, ramming into me so hard tears started to stream down my cheeks, whimpers blurting out every time he hit my sweet spot.

"Cum for me schatz.." he mumbled, leaning down and kissing my lips, his sweet tongue forcing itself in my mouth, slobbering all over each other.

I felt tension build up in my tummy, nothing I've ever felt before. I whined and held onto him, the tension building up quickly and my heat burning.

"Mmmpfuck!" I cried out, my legs twitching as my orgasmed crashed down, cumming all over his length. "Ohh shit!" he also cried out, shooting his load in me, still thrusting as his cum was fucked deep into me.

"Oh fuck..that was amazing.." he sighed, collapsing on me and panting, both of us trying to catch our breaths. After relaxing for a bit he pulled out, our juices spilling out of my cunt.

He smirked and got a tissue, cleaning me up and kissing my forehead, laying back with me.

"I've liked you for years, ever since you moved in and I first saw you I was literally starstruck, you are so kind and beautiful, please consider being my girlfriend anytime" he chuckled, I smiled "of course" as I got up to get dressed I heard a car pull up in the driveway.

My eyes widened, "fuck my parents are home!" Tom shot up and put his clothes on, "quick give me your number!" he chucked his phone at me, my shaky fingers typed at the keyboard, saving his number.

He winked at me one last time and jumped out of the window, running back to his house, his pants nearly falling down. I laughed and snapped a picture, sending it to him.

tags: @itsmealaiah @tomkaulitzloverr @tomscumdump @tomscumdoll @estxkios @ge-billsgf @charliesgoodboy @syylss @ballhair

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drewsbuzzcut · 7 months

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You Did A Number On Me

nick moldenhauer x dallas blankenburg

a so it goes fic

warnings: none that i can think of except for some minor angst

The whole week Dallas is running frantic. All her friends, and her siblings, are secretly worried about her, but they don’t bring it to her attention.

Since the night Nick dropped her off at her dorm room and promised to see her that next Friday, she hasn’t thought about anything else. It’s been fleeting thoughts of classes and schoolwork, and lingering thoughts of her upcoming date. She thought about outfit choices repeatedly, each day getting more and more frustrated when she didn’t come out with an outfit. To be fair, she didn’t even know what Nick was planning for Friday, although they’ve been texting nonstop. Honestly, that’s what’s been keeping her half sane, texting day in and day out, except when he has hockey practice.

Now, it’s Friday and Dallas still has no idea what to wear. She’s been trying to text Nick to see if he’ll give her any hints, but her texts remain unanswered.

“Sienna!!! I have no idea what to wear and I have no idea what our date even consists of,” the girl stresses to her roommate.

“Babe, I love you, but you have to take a deep breath. Just wear something casual and maybe try to refrain from something warm so he can give you his sweater,” Sienna advises.

“He hasn’t answered my texts and he’s supposed to pick me up in 20 minutes,” Dallas mutters.

“He’ll be here.”

20 minutes pass and Nick is a no show. Dallas almost wants to laugh, but she chooses to be stoic.

“Hey, Sienna, I think I’m gonna go to the studio for a while,” Dallas says, tying her hair and picking up her bag that holds her ballet things. Ballet has been a very resourceful outlet for Dallas.

“Want me to go with you?”

“No, I want to be alone,” Dallas says, not wanting her roommate to pity her.

Tears want to fall down her cheeks, but she doesn’t let herself, too embarrassed about the way she’s feeling on the inside. She hates that she thought she could actually date an athlete.

As Dallas is passing by the library, she stops in her tracks, almost shocked to death at the sight in front of her. Coming out of the library’s entrance is Nick and another girl, laughing as if they’re the funniest people in the world. She’s not sure if she should catch up to them, or scream, or turn around and act like everything is perfectly fine.

She waits until they part ways, scaring Nick when she walks up to him.

“Am I that forgettable?” She opens with her first thought. Nick jumps, not realizing anyone was next to him.

“You can’t just sneak up on me!” He says with a small chuckle, his wide smile falling when he sees Dallas’ angry face.

“I should’ve known you weren’t serious,” the girl mutters, flipping back her bangs that are getting in her face. She definitely should’ve pinned them back when she was tying her hair.

“What’re you talking about?” He asks, becoming more confused when she doesn’t answer and just keeps walking.

“June!?” He calls out against her silence.

“Do not call me that,” she blurts out, turning around to face his bewildered expression.

During the week while they were texting, Dallas had told him about her real first name. Nick was quick to compliment the name, stating that he loved it and wanted to be the only one to call her that, and well, she caved.

“What’s wrong?” He stops his walking, trying to reach out for Dallas, but she moves away from him.

“What’s wrong? Well let’s see, we had a date planned for today at 5. You weren’t answering your texts, so I was bothered. Then, I was worried about why you weren’t showing up. However, I realized that you just decided to stand me up. As I’m headed somewhere, I see you walk out the library with some girl. You should’ve just told me that you weren’t serious about me. God! I’m so stupid for trusting someone like you,” she rants, eyes wide and lips trembling.

“Shit. Shit, I’m so sorry. My phone died after morning practice, and I fell asleep when I got back and then I remembered I had a tutoring session. Time just slipped, I swear,” he tries to explain.

“A tutoring session? This early in the year? Ever heard of a phone charger?” She yells.

“I sometimes have trouble in English, so I wanted a tutor to make sure I stay on top of things especially when we start to travel for games. I’m sorry I didn’t text you and I’m sorry I stood you up,” he finishes, looking crestfallen, not that Dallas notices.

“Whatever. It’s not like I didn’t know what I was getting into,” she says, turning around to walk away.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that my brother is a hockey player. It means that I’ve been around hockey and hockey players almost all of my life. I know how you work; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’m not worth remembering and you don’t care about me,” Dallas whispers, quickly whipping away a tear before walking away.

She hears his footsteps haul after her, she just about cries out in frustration when she feels his hands grab onto her in one last attempt.

“That’s not true. Yes, I did forget when I shouldn’t have. You have to understand that I’ve come so close to losing hockey so many times, I can’t risk anything that’ll take it away from me. That means a shit ton of tutoring sessions, but I do care about you. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here right now, dead tired, trying to get you to see that.” Nick exasperates.

“But you see, that’s a lie! You wouldn’t have even thought of me, or thought to tell me if I hadn’t even approached you tonight. You wouldn’t have remembered until you charged your phone, if it even was dead,” Dallas exasperates, quite literally on the verge of screaming.

Nick stays quiet. His eyes are wide and they’re trying to plead with the girl, but it’s to no avail.

“Just focus on hockey and let’s forget about whatever we were about to start.” Dallas walks away, ignoring Nick repeatedly calling out for her.

“Would you please just give me the benefit of the doubt?” Nick asks, not giving up.

“Would you just leave me alone!?” She spits back.

“No! Not until you give me another chance. Be mad at me, just let me make it up to you,” he tries to reason with the stubborn girl.

“So you can forget again and we’ll just keep going in circles until we’re both tired?”

“How can you be so mad over me attending tutorials?” Nick asks, face turning red and his veins starting to pop out.

“How dare you think that’s why I’m bothered. It has nothing to do with you being tutored. I’m glad you’re being responsible. This is about the lack of decency you had in regard to me. No text or thought of me! If your phone was dead and you didn’t get a chance to charge it, why not come to me and tell me in person? You’re just making excuses to cover the fact that you forgot. Well guess what Nick, I know you forgot and as much as it sucks, I should’ve known better,” Dallas corrects him, spewing out the reason she is so bothered.

“Dallas, please. Please just give me another shot. You’re right! I’m an asshole for forgetting about our plans. I’m sorry and I can tell you that a million times, but it still won’t be much. Please let me take you on a makeup date.”

“I don’t want to go on a date with you,” she finishes, chest heaving and eyes glazed over with disappointment, and finally getting to walk away without Nick running after her.

The days pass and Dallas has not allowed herself time to mope around. Everything has been go, go, go, which is why she didn’t even realize Sienna’s plan. Dallas is so focused on school and her social life that when she’s standing in front of Yost arena, everything comes crashing down. She’s stumbling over her words, trying to free her wrist from Sienna’s grip, and on the verge of screaming. She’s been wanting to scream a lot lately.

“Sienna, what the hell are we doing here?”

“I think you’re doing more harm to yourself than actually protecting, by avoiding Nick. I think you should give him another chance. Just accept the fact that your ego was bruised by him. He made a mistake just like the one you’re making right now. We’re watching the game and you’re going to talk to him afterwards,” Sienna explains, knowing damn well that Dallas is stubborn.

“No! I’m not going in there. I’m not talking to him and you’re not forcing me to stay!” Dallas complains, almost stomping her foot like a child.

Sienna gives Dallas a devilish smirk and 10 minutes later they’re both sitting in the cold of the arena.

“I think one day, maybe on your wedding day, you’ll thank me for forcing you to stay,” Sienna speaks out, disturbing Dallas’ angry silence.

“My ego is not bruised,” Dallas says, but even she knows that it’s a lie.

“Stop lying to yourself. It’s okay that your ego was bruised, but just stop lying to yourself.”

With every minute that passes, Dallas finds herself getting more and more into the game, subconsciously gazing around to find #9 on the ice. She even cheers when Nick scores, even if it’s an exhibition game, she thinks it’s fine to be happy for him.

Dallas finds that hockey is actually pretty interesting, and worth watching later down the line. She hopes that things with Nick will work out, but she hates to admit it to herself. She hates that her ego was bruised. She hates how Nick has such an intense affect on her without even knowing each other for too long.

“I’m going to wait outside, but you can head back. I don’t know how long this will take,” the girl tells Sienna, feeling and looking nervous.

“Are you sure?”

Dallas just nods her head, saving her will to speak for when she sees Nick.

“Okay. If you need me, just call. Good luck, babe. Everything will be just fine,” with that, Sienna leaves the girl to stand outside the arena.

The girl fidgets and paces around, quietly going over the possible things she can say. Dallas actually almost misses the moment Nick exits the doors as she was facing away from the direction he was going.

She sees him walking in sweatpants and a hoodie, not usual attire for a party that she knows is going down due to their win.

“Not going to the party?” She calls out, watching Nick quickly turn around.

He watched her, almost stunned that she’s there. His mouth opens and closes, he didn’t know if he should grovel or just be casual.

“I’m not in a party mood,” he decides to say.

“I saw your goal,” the girl whispers, walking up to him.

“Oh,” Nick mutters, still not knowing what to say. The last time he saw the girl, she was really upset with him.

“You played well. You deserve to go to a party,” she says.

“Thanks, but like I said, I don’t feel like going to a party. I’m tired, so see you around,” this time he’s the one to walk away.

“That’s all?” She half yells, arms raising and falling at her sides.

“What do you want me to say, Dallas? The last time we talked, you told me to leave you alone. Now, you’re here talking to me, and I don't know if you'll be mad if I actually respond to you,” he explains, watching the girl cringe when he calls her “Dallas.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry for wasting your time. I’ll just go,” she says dejectedly.

“Why are you here?” He asks.

“It’s not important.”

“It obviously is, or you wouldn’t be here if you were really ignoring me,” Nick responds.

“I’m mad at you,” she points out the obvious.

“I know. Is that all?”

“Yup.” She watches him, daring him to say something that can get her to crack.

He just nods his head and continues his walk away from Yost arena.

Dallas fights with herself, knowing she should be honest with the way she feels, but hating that she’s the one who’s vulnerable. Before she can chicken out, she quickly walks to Nick, tugging on his arm to get him to turn around. He’s about to speak when Dallas wraps a hand around the back of his neck, pulling his face down to hers and connecting their lips. His body almost falls back at the impact of her body slamming into him, but he quickly balances himself by grabbing onto her hips.

The kiss is cautious at the start, but when Nick pulls her body closer to his, her hands card through his hair, pulling on the strands, and the kiss hardens. Her action makes Nick pull away, not because he didn’t like it, but because he likes it a little too much. She rests her forehead on his chest, her breathing heavy and her hands gripping onto his hoodie.

“I’m mad at you. I’m mad that you hurt my ego by forgetting about our date. I also don’t want you to leave me alone,” she says truthfully, staring into his eyes and caressing his cheek.

“Will you please let me reschedule our date?”

Dallas immediately nods her head.

“Good. Can I call you June again?”

“You better. Also, I can tutor you,” Dallas answers, kissing his lips again before it’s interrupted by Nick’s cute giggle. He playfully salutes at the girl, knowing he’ll do anything she asks.

a/n: Second part!!! Hope y’all enjoy!

#nick moldenhauer #nick moldenhauer x reader #nick moldenhauer x oc #nick x dallas #umich imagine #umich hockey #so it goes au

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thebisexualdogdad · 10 months

Note

A Lucy Chen and party boy reader! Lucy and Aaron get called to Y/Ns house one night for a noise complaint and he flirts with Lucy, but then a few days later he get attacked by someone (maybe an ex) and Lucy is one of the officers that answers the call

Lucy Chen x Male!reader

"7 Adam 15 we've got a 415 reported near your location at 1923 Oak drive," a dispatcher says through the shop radio.

"Dispatch show 7 Adam 15 responding," Lucy replies through the walkie.

"Looks like we are about 5 minutes away," Aaron says from behind the wheel, looking at the address that popped up on their GPS, "that address sounds so familiar."

"Well it is right in the heart of Beverly hills, maybe you partied there once," Lucy jokes.

"You know what now that you mention it, I think that is Y/N Y/L/N's place, he was two grades ahead of me in school but he and I ran in the same social circles," Aaron explains.

"Of course a party boy would get a noise complaint called on him," Lucy laughs.

"To be fair Y/N isn't as much of an entitled douche as the people he hangs around, he just has a lot of money and parents who were always traveling for work leaving him alone in a big empty house perfect for partying in," he goes on.

"Hopefully since you know each other he makes this easy on us, it's not even midnight yet and night shifts can be miserable when all you deal with are obnoxious drunks," Lucy tells him.

They arrive at your house which has loud music blasting and lights flashing from inside.

It takes a couple knocks for you to actually hear them but you were all smiles when you answered the door.

"Welcome to the party-" you start when you recognize a familiar face, "no way, Aaron Thorsen is that you? I heard you were a cop now, good for you man."

"Y/N, good to see you again but unfortunately we got a noise complaint for your party," Aaron informs you.

"Damn, it was Dave again wasn't it, he's been on my ass since I was a kid and he was pissed when my parents moved back east and left me the house," you huff.

"Uh is that a pig?" Lucy questions as a pig casually walks by behind you.

"Oh yeah that's Bubba, he's my buddy Josh's," you reply, "and what's your name gorgeous."

"You can call me officer Chen," she responds, trying not to let it show that she's attracted to you.

"Well officer Chen, you want to come inside and join the party so we can get to know each other a little better… maybe you can even tell me your first name," you tease.

"Just turn the music down okay," she says rolling her eyes, "if we get another call we will have to arrest you but something tells me you would like being handcuffed."

"If you're the one putting me in handcuffs then you are absolutely right about that," you smirk.

Lucy chuckles and turns around to walk back to the car.

"Dude Aaron you think you can get me her number?" You ask when she's out of earshot.

"Goodnight Y/N," he laughs following behind Lucy.

–

"Anything exciting happen on your shift?" John asks when Lucy and Aaron enter the bullpen in the morning to switch shifts.

"Lucy was getting flirty with a guy I used to party with," Aaron teases.

"I was not," Lucy scoffs.

"Was he cute?" Celina asks, both Aaron and John looking at Lucy waiting for an answer.

"Alright sure he was cute," Lucy admits, "but it's not going to happen, there's nearly four million people in Los Angeles what are the chances we even see each other again."

The chances were a lot higher than she thought because two weeks later her and Aaron are partnered on another shift responding to a bar fight which you just so happened to be a part of.

They enter the bar and see a guy punching you repeatedly in the face.

"Woah hey, that's enough," Lucy says, pulling the guy off of you.

"Officer Chen, we've got to stop meeting like this," you say smiling up at Lucy, slightly dazed with blood running down your face.

She helps you get off the floor while Aaron tries to calm down the guy you were fighting.

"Y/N, what a surprise, are you going to tell me how many drinks you had tonight or am I going to have to get the breathalyzer," she asks.

"I haven't had anything to drink I just got here! That asshole threw the first punch," you explain.

"Because he slept with my girlfriend!" The other guy yells as Aaron is putting him in handcuffs

"She told me she was single, I swear," you state.

"Okay let's get you cleaned up," Lucy says grabbing some napkins that were sitting on the bar to wipe away the blood dripping off your chin before turning to the bartender, "you got a towel or something?"

He looks behind the bar and finds a rag, handing it to Lucy who drops the bloody napkins and switches to the rag.

"Ouch," you wince when she wipes blood off your upper lip.

"I think your nose is broken, we should take you to the hospital," Lucy tells you as another pair of cops walk into the bar after hearing of the commotion over the radio, "Aaron have them take the other guy to the station, and grab some ice to help the swelling on the way to the hospital."

Aaron nods and hands off the guy who punched you to the other pair of cops and asks the bartender for a bag of ice as Lucy guides you out to their cop car.

Aaron comes out a minute later handing you the bag of ice in the backseat before shutting the door, him and Lucy getting in the front to take you across town to the hospital.

"So did you really not know she had a boyfriend?" Aaron asks during the quiet drive.

"Hey I have some standards you know, I don't hook up with girls in relationships," you state, wincing again when he hits a pot hole and the bag of ice hits against your broken nose.

"How noble of you," Lucy laughs.

"Do you have a boyfriend officer Chen?" You ask.

"No I don't," she responds.

"So that means you and I can go on a date," you say.

"You think you're charming don't you," she chuckles, looking back at you.

"I've been told I'm very charming… and you didn't answer the question," you grin.

Lucy doesn't know what to say but she's saved by Aaron pulling into the hospital parking lot.

An hour later you've got your nose put back into its proper place and a discharge order from the doctor.

"Are you going to be pressing charges?" Lucy questions.

"No it's okay, I can't blame him for punching me," you reply.

"I'll call the precinct and tell them they can let him go," Aaron says, taking his phone out and walking away from your bed in the emergency care area leaving you and Lucy alone.

"So about that date," you say raising an eyebrow.

"If I say yes to a date will you stop getting the cops called on you?" She jokes.

"I make no promises," you laugh, "but does this mean you will finally tell me your first name?"

"Lucy, my name is Lucy," she smiles.

"I like that name, I look forward to our date Lucy."

#the rookie imagine #lucy chen imagine #lucy chen x reader #x male reader #fic

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tobbotobbs · 1 year

Note

Hope you are having a good day/night

I was wondering if I could request the BAU Team x Male reader, the team know nothing of reader childhood. One day while the team are on a case the meet reader's father, who reader thought was in jail. His father has come by asking for help because he's gotten in trouble.

If you want you can also make him the unsub

(Side note reader and his father travled around alot and reader was homeschooled because his father was always in trouble with the law)

Thanks for the request! I like this! Well, let's see how this goes, I hope it meets your expectations and that you like it! Enjoy (:

"Ain't Nobody Love You Like I Do"

The Silence haunted their hotel rooms. The whole BAU Team had headed straight to Texas after receiving the call from Strauss. An Unsub who kills teenagers of any age, sex, looks and home situations. And that repeatedly in just 4 days. This unsub was growing confident, too confident. They had to act fast and this is how they all got their ready to go bags and flew to texas. Penelope, of course, stayed behind in her bat cave because she firstly didn't want to see all the gross, creepy and gruesume shut going on over there and she wouldn't be much help anyway. This lead them to now. All sitting in their own hotel room shared with a second person.

The whole situation made M/n uncomfortable. Not only were they in the last country he saw his father, but also they were close to one of his old hometowns. The traveling part of his childhood only made him glad that he now had no fear of flying or new places. But he, by any means, didn't miss any of the places, hometowns, let alone his past life. He gladly moved on from it, or at least tried with his therapist. Her name was Ginerva and she was an elderly woman, who had an obscene love for knitted sweaters and strawberry cheesecake. She truly was a sweet being. And helping him she did. A lot so. But still, the nightmares and the memories clawing on the back of his mind are not fully fanished yet. They probably never will. At least that's what Ginerva tells M/n all the time when he gets frustrated with his progress or more the lack of it. The truth is, he knew he wouldn't get rid of it. And he would be damned for all eternity.

Getting roughly pulled out if his thoughts, M/n looked confused at the big calloused hand that was suddenly in front of his eyes. Y/f/s was in it's palm and waited to be taken by him. ,,You looked like you needed a snack there...so I looked if the vending machine had any of your favorites. They did actually, and I got myself something too!", chirped Spencer's enthusiastic voice as he looked at M/n. Thanking him, the h/c took the snack and started slowly nibbling and chewing on it. That cought Spencer's eyes and he, unconsciously, started thinking about M/n and how he often seemed to be in thoughts, but since this case he seemed to be doing that quite more often. Why is that, though? That is a really good question. It's not like the Team never questioned the behaviour of anyone on their own Team, but even then it's only because someone had a stressful day or because a case got to theor head a little too much. With M/n it was different. They never heard him say anything about his past.

It's not uncommon to keep a few things private and to yourself. But even then the Team knew more about eachother than they knew about M/n. They just knew his age, where he grew up, how good his scores for the FBI were and that he has a small apartment with literally nothing but the necessary stuff in it. And that he was not a morning person. He told noone anything. No past school life, no past accidents, no family, nothing. It made them all eager to find out, what their colleague and good friend had to hide from them. More than one bet about M/n's past life had been put upon between the work family but neither one nor lost because there simply was no answer to what they put their bets on. It's like he was some protagonist in a book, that had the worst tragic backstory and did anything to keep it hidden from their friends.

Actually....that wasn't that far off, now that Spencer thought about it. Surely it wasn't that bad though, right?

Little Timeskip to next day

Hotch had called them all. After a sleepless night he head out first in the early morning to the police station. He went over all the facts they had, the interviews they did and the stocked files on the tables. But he seemed to be finding nothing. They didn't even had a clue what gender the unsub might be. Which could help a lot already but here they were, all summoned by their boss and now together sitting or standing in the makeshift conference room for the profilers the department provided for them. ,,The unsub killed again. This morning. Two deputies are at the crime scene and already investigating the place and body. Let’s move and see if we can figure something out, now that we have another body“, scowled Hotch before they all went to the cars to drive to their destination.

M/n sat in the driver's seat and tapped nervously against the wheel while waiting for the lights to turn green. Next to him sat JJ, who was talking to Morgan in the back seat. They were fussing about ideas and theories about their unkown suspect meanwhile M/n tried not to groan in annoyance. ,,What if there are actually two suspects? And we saw this whole thing wrong? It could be a team...maybe two teenager who got bullied and decided to stop it?", ,,Sounds possible but...for that the killings looked way to planned. And the bodies we found till now were all nearly perfectly cut open. This person must be older and already have had a lot of time to practice their cuts", M/n cut in. Morgan shook his head yes, he knew his theory wasn't that good but now after hearing what M/n had to say, it seemed as if his theory was very dumb.

,,So...we are looking for an adult? Perhaps a parent? Or a local teacher?", questioned JJ curious. The other two hummed acknowledging, but soon M/n was again deep in thoughts about his time when he was a child. He never had a teacher. Or even a school to go to. He was teacher at home by his father. Wasn't really that interesting but at least he learned a lot of things without getting disturbed by any classmates or unnecessary things like breaks. No he learned a lot and only the important stuff. No breaks between learning hours, only when his father wasn't home to do his "job" or when they were on their way to a new country, town, whatever to start a new life again.

Hotch was already standing over a piece of white cloth on the floor, most likely the dead body, at least that's what the three thought as they exit the car and walk over to the others. That's when they notice the other 7 white cloth, far away from the one Hotch and Prentiss were standing next to. ,,Shit...are those the-", ,,Other parts of this kids body? Yes. And all cut off clean like the Bastard knew exactly what he or she was doing", one of the police officers said while looking disgusted at the ground. Derek nodded and wolked over to Reid, who was looking at one of the body pieces more far away from the body than the others. M/n took a look at the body part Hotch and Prentiss were hovering over. Trying to look for some clues or something that could get them somewhere.

Carefully he pulled up the white cloth when the first thing he saw was a torso. But it wasn't the torso that caught him off guard and distraught him. It was the sigil carved into the the hip on the right side. A big triangle but with no connecting ends and in the middle were two dots and a line. Kinda looked like a smiley somehow but it wasn't exactly that. To be honest, M/n never really knew what it meant. His father never taught or told him anything about his sigils and symbols. He never talked about his job either. Only on the day cops stood infront of their house and M/n got taken into foster home care. Wandering from one family to the next till he was off age. He was a criminal, a Bastard who beat his son and never let him live a happy childhood like live. He was taught how to hide bodies and get rid of evidence without him knowing at that young age. And when he was old enough his father started doing things to him he thought would only happen in books or tv shows.

At the sight of the sigil the right sight above his hip bone started to hurt. He knew it wasn't real, wasn't fresh. It's only a faded scar now, but it still felt like it was carved into his skin just moments ago. He hadn't even noticed his trembling hands until someone took him by them and pulled him up on his feet. ,,M/n? Are you with me? Hey what's wrong? M/n?", breathed his boss cautiously. A short quick nod did the job to calm the older male for now, but he was still going to question the agent later. That is, if another person didn't beat him to it. Everyine seemed to be worried since a few days now. About M/n and his behaviour. Since they got here he just seemed to not be with them anymore. Mentally that is.

A few hours went by, they were sitting in the hotel lobby together, not going to sleep yet. They finally had some kind of profile for the unsub. They were all sure that this person was between his 45 and 50 and at least someone with a travel job. Or something like that. While they discussed all this M/n didn't mention his knowledge about the sigil once. He just sat there thinking, again, about his younger years and his father. Specifically about the day he had marked M/n with a fucking hunting knife. His side hurt again and he made a little hissing sound which caught everyone's attention. ,,You okay there kiddo?", Rossi asked concerned and put a hand on M/n's shoulder. ,,Uh yeah yeah just tired of the day. I'll head to bed now I guess...see you guys in the morning!", he blabbered in a fake happy but tired voice and stood up, on his way to the hotel room he shared with Reid.

He was walking around the house, bored out of his mind because he had no friends to see and play with and they certainly did not have enough money to get him a console to play some video games. They needed it to be able to travel fast and far if something happened again because his father was shit at keeping the cops away. His steps led him onto their little porch right before their small garden. At the end of the small grass field there was a little cabin for stuff like bikes and screws and gardening stuff. But as M/n looked closer through the yellowish old dusty windows, he saw something walking around in the cabin. Curious he walked over to the tiny house. As he got closer, the sound of hushed voices inside could be heard getting clearer and clearer. One was very deep and raspy, as if the person had smoked their whole life and the other...wasn't really what he had expected. It was his voice. Crying and yelling. Confused and slightly scared M/n took a look through the window.

Then he saw it. His father standing over him. He was cuffed to a table, his shirt gone while the older man searched for something. He quickly found it. His hunting knife. It wasn't big, but very handy. And very clean. As if M/n's father would put extra work into cleaning it just so the blade would shine and reflect his gruesome grinning face in it. ,,D-Dad just please stop please!!!", screamed the younger version of the now 25 year old man. He cried and tried to get out of the cuffs but he only hurt himself while trying to do so. M/n felt how the cuffs felt around his wrists, even though he was standing out here at the window and wasn't laying on the table right now. As if on clue, he felt the sharp tip of a blade being pressed into his flesh. Screaming he held his side and saw blood seeping through the light shirt he was wearing. He looked forward to the window again and saw how the young boy screamed and went unconscious after a while, too much pain he had to fight that he just blacket out.

With a slight jolt he woke up. Groaning he turned to the side and looked at the clock standing there on the bedside table. The first thing he noticed was the time. 05:45 in the morning. If he would fall back asleep he surely would miss the breakfast and would get late to work. So M/n decided to get up and take a walk. His thoughts didn't leave him alone. Not even as he showered and got ready, or when he saw the texts he got from Penelope. No, not even as he walked through the town and sat in a Café getting hus breakfast and waiting till it was time to go to the station. When he finally got there Hotch and the others had looked weirdly at him. First he didn't understand why. Then he saw it. The old greying man in the police station. His father. He was smirking and waving. But before he could do anything that Bastard already started talking.

,,My boy, I really hope I'm not disturbing you right now, but your old man needs a little help with his job", he taunts him with that mischievous smirk. He knew exactly that he had no job but that he killed teenagers just for the fun of it. And M/n knew it too. And it scared him, that he knew his own father could do that, did that and will keep doing it. ,,I thought you were....how the fuck did you get out of there?!", ,,Now now, no need to get so angry with me M/n. Don't scream at your father. Or do I have to remind you that nobody loves you like I do?", mocking him with the same sentence he said back when he carved that stupid sigil in his own childs body. Ain't nobody love you like I do. This is so fucked up. Hus hands started to tremble, his thoughts getting the hand of him and suddenly he couldn't speak no more. He suddenly was the little 10 year old back in the cabin again.

Hitch and the others had profiled F/n long ago. They knew he fitted perfectly into their profile and now, that they saw how M/n reacted to his own father, the words they both used. It seemed as if Spencer's theory of the protagonist with the traumatic backstory wasn't that far off at all. No it actually hit it right on the spot. M/n was a traumatized child. His childhood held anything but happy memories and that's why he never talked about it.

,,Now look at that. You can't even talk back to me now even though you play the big bad FBI agent that you surely are son right? Never told them a single thing about you huh? No wonder they seem shocked now. Wouldn't have thought you'd be such a fucking baby and crying just because of a few stupid word!", he spit those sentences with so much disgust and rage into his sons face, the younger one actually got scared and took a step back. ,,Alright that's it. F/n you come with me and we will talk about what exactly you need help with", Hotch pushed the old man away and into an interrogation room to make him confess. He was 100% sure that this was their unsub. And it only got more and more clearer when F/n started to do the exact same things their profile had told them.

After a few minutes M/n was with them again, but he was still shaking and his side hurt. It hurt with every thought of his father. Derek noticed hus wincing and whining and how he held his side so he got worried. ,,M/n did he do something? Why does your side hurt? Let me take a-", ,,No! No no it's fine don't worry it's- fuck!", M/n didn't even know why it hurt. Yeah he knew about phantom pain, but surely it wouldn't come at the exact same time his father was here, or? Well it didn't matter because in just a few seconds Morgan took a step forward and pulled his shirt uo to inspect. What he saw was sad and gruesome. Rossi and Prentiss both sucked in some air while JJ and Spencer tried to stifle their sad noises. On M/n's right side just above the hip bone you could see a big slightly dark red scar in the shape of the same sigil the last bodie had. It was M/n's father who killed those children. It was F/n who started doing the same torture on his own son when he was just a little child. It made M/n tear up again but this time, there were people who hugged him and showed him that it was okay to cry.

Oh Ginerva had to take a few free days so M/n could talk to her about a lot of things. And a lot of things he would tell her surely, but not only her. He decided it was time for his team to finally get to know him better, meanwhile his father could rot in hell.

I Hope it was to your liking and I hopefully didn't got too lost somewhere in the middle of writing! See you guys in the next post (:

#male reader #criminal minds x reader #bau x male reader #aaron hotchner #spencer reid #emily prentiss #derek morgan #child abuse #abuse cw #tw death #tobbotobbs is writing

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diazsdimples · 6 months

Text

Inspiration Saturday!!

I did a bad thing and started a new fic, which will be known as the Musician AU. Basically, Eddie, Hen & Chim are all players in the L.A Philharmonic, Bobby is the conductor, and Buck joins them for one concert as a new hot shot cello soloist. Eddie immediately falls head over heels for the man and him and Buck fuck nasty in many many backstage rooms. This is gonna be a long snippet sorry, I'm scared it's too niche lmao

Tagged by @callmenewbie @wildlife4life @loserdiaz @thewolvesof1998, thank you guys!

Eddie gets to his chair and takes a moment to fully appreciate that it’s his. He’s not played first horn for a while, let alone while being the principal, and he’s pretty hyped. He takes a moment to unpack his horn, slotting the slides carefully into place and pressing the valves up and down to make sure they don’t need any grease. He’s so focused on it that he doesn’t hear Hen sneaking up to his side, clarinet in hand, and almost jumps out of his skin when she speaks.

“So, have you seen our new soloist yet?” she asks, leaning casually against his music stand and Eddie lets out a startled yelp.

“Not yet” he responds once his heart rate has gone back to normal.

Hen picks at something in her teeth. “Apparently, he’s very good, Tracy and Jeff can’t stop talking about him. It’s getting on my nerves”.

“Makes sense that he’s good, you don’t solo with the L.A Phil if you’re shit” Eddie jokes and Hen sends him a flat look.

“You know what I mean” she responds dryly. “Was the youngest in his class at Juilliard and did a stint playing in New Zealand with the NZSO before moving back to New York and playing with the New York Phil”.

Eddie can’t help but be impressed; the New York Philharmonic isn’t easy to get into and from what he’s heard, the NZSO are no slouches either. “He must be alright then”.

“You talking about Wonder-Boy Buckley? More than alright from what I hear”. Chimney is slouching towards them, weaving his way through the chairs and music stands from where he usually sits as principal trumpet. “Cathy says he’s hot. You’d better not let him distract you, Eddie”.

Eddie rolls his eyes playfully at Chimney as he sets his music out on the stand. “I have excellent impulse control, thank you. Haven’t had a random hookup in almost a year, even though Joel’s been repeatedly trying to jump my bones”.

“He does that with everyone, don’t feel special” Chimney replies, and he pats Eddie on the back.

“Why do they call him Wonder-Boy Buckley by the way?” Eddie asks. “Buckley’s a weird name, isn’t it?”

“Buckley is his surname; his first name is Evan” Hen explains while Chimney blows into his trumpet to warm it up. “And he’s Wonder-Boy because he’s so young and hot”

Eddie scoffs at this. Wonder-Boy Buckley sounds like a bit of a prick, honestly.

“Ready for your big moment? First movement of the concerto has a pretty big horn solo, and Bobby is expecting big things from you”. Chimney is looking at him with big eyes and if Eddie didn’t know him better, he’d think the guy was actually concerned.

Eddie won’t lie, he is pretty nervous about it. The cello solo and the horn have a few moments in the piece where it’s just them playing and it’s damn high and fucking difficult. Eddie’s done it in concert before, but that was with a much more minor orchestra and not in front of an audience of 2000+ people. However, Chimney and Hen under no circumstances are allowed to know he’s nervous so he shrugs nonchalantly and says, “yeah, I’ve been practicing it loads and think I’ve got it all sorted. Unless the soloist is truly as hot as you say, I’m pretty sure nothing will throw me”.

It seems the gods are listening to Eddie and laughing at him, because at that very moment, an extremely attractive young man walks into the auditorium with a cello strapped to his back and all Eddie can think is fuck, he’s really fucking hot.

“Oh look, there he is” Chimney says, perking up and Hen’s eyes flit across the auditorium, coming to rest on the man and her jaw drops.

“Holy shit, he’s hot. And I like girls”

“How’s our resident dick-expert doing” Chimney nudges Eddie teasingly and Eddie’s currently making a conscious effort not to drool.

“Yeah he’s – uh – he’s not bad”.

Not bad? Eddie is convinced this is the hottest man he’s ever seen in his life. His muscles bulge as he swings the cello case off his back and sets it on the ground and he flicks his head up to talk to Bobby, his blond curls flouncing delightfully as he does so. Even from here, Eddie can see how his eyes are a piercing blue and he can’t help but notice the way they crinkle as he smiles at Bobby, flashing a set of perfect, white teeth. He’s got some sort of mark around his eyebrow, maybe a piercing? Eddie can’t quite tell from this distance but man, it’s got him feeling things he hasn’t felt in a long time.

Hen and Chimney are sharing a knowing look and Eddie firmly ignores them, instead picking up his horn and beginning to blow some warm air into it. Terry, Amy, Sophie and Grant, his fellow horn players, have all turned up and are setting up, striking up idle conversation with one another as they wait for Bobby to give the order to tune up and start practicing. Hen pats Eddie on the back before returning to her chair and Chimney wiggles his eyebrows as he retreats, flicking his tongue around his mouthpiece suggestively.

(No pressure) tagging @theotherbuckley @eddiebabygirldiaz @wikiangela @fionaswhvre @smilingbuckley @fortheloveofbuddie @fruitandbubbles @watchyourbuck @incorrect9-1-1 @knightlywonders @housewifebuck @monsterrae1 @evanbegins @cal-daisies-and-briars @thosetwofirefighters @disasterbuckdiaz @spagheddiediaz @malewifediaz @shitouttabuck @jeeyuns

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onlyhereforthestories · 2 years

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Distance Makes The Heart Hurt (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

You were spiraling. You could feel it. No matter how much you tried to snap out of it or tell yourself you needed to think differently, it didn’t work. Alexia was away doing some media duties and as much as you knew she would be busy you still hoped for a message or two every so often.

Life for the two of you got tricky when your contract wasn’t renewed at Barca, you had an offer from Real Madrid but you were a culer through and through so your only other option was to join Ona and Lucia at Manchester United.

It had turned out to be the best move for your career, you were finally enjoying your football again. As for your relationship, it had been hard. Way harder than you thought. Living your life through a phone was testing, a lot of days all you wanted was a hug from the woman you loved but you couldn’t have that.

Alexia was in rehab and had so much personal stuff going on that the time you had together even on the phone was short. Most days you were perfectly okay with that and completely happy with any time you got but today, today your insecurities were rearing their ugly head.

You texted Alexia when you woke up and waited. That waiting turned into sadness very quickly, a sadness that then turned to anger at yourself. Alexia is perfect, she has always been so wonderful to you and it wasn’t fair for you to feel this way.

When that sadness and anger got too much you texted again. And again. And again. Then you pulled away by texting the woman you were upset and needed sometime. She replied when she could and tried to get it out of you. You just felt so stupid for feeling the way you did, how was it fair to feel like that.

So you told her. You told her that the lack of texts in the morning hurt, you told her you understood but were really struggling with it. And you told her you were an idiot.

Then you threw your phone, right across the room. You made such a commotion that Ona stepped out her room with the most confused look ever.

“What the hell is going on? Are you okay?” Ona was looking back and forth from you to the phone face down on the floor repeatedly. You stood still trying to stop the tears threatening to fall, until you couldn’t.

It was like a damn bursting just like they always tell you, everything builds up so much that it just all floods over. As soon as the first tear fell so did you, you crumbled to the floor and let the sobs shake your body. Ona was with you in a second, kneeling in front of you to hold you close.

“It’s okay y/n, I’ve got you. Let it out.” You don’t know how long you both sat like that but it was long enough for Ona to really worry. She didn’t know her next question was going to break you that little bit more. “Let me go get my phone and we can call Alexia, she always helps.”

“No please no. She’s busy I don’t want to disturb her anymore.” To say this shocked Ona was a long way off from the actual feeling it brought about. She knew you had some issues with insecurity and abandonment issues that were bigger than you let on but this was the worst she’d ever seen it.

“Is this what’s got you like this? Have you been struggling with something to do with you and Alexia?” You didn’t have the words to say anything right now so you just nodded against the woman’s neck. Ona didn’t know what else to say right now so she opted to hold you closer and run her fingers through your hair.

After about half an hour on the floor, Ona felt your body relax and get heavy in her hold. She did know how to help you more than this so she picked you up and brought you to her room. Space be damned, she was not leaving you alone in this situation. Once she knew you were not going to wake up from the transfer of position, she sent a message off to Alexia to say you were okay but you had had a bad evening.

After a few texts back and forth in which Ona told Alexia it wasn’t her place to say what went on and that she would get you to text Alexia when you woke up, Ona settled in next to you in the hopes of getting some sleep.

You woke up to a couple of messages from Alexia, your phone screen was cracked but usable, it felt like it was reflecting you quite well right now.

Deciding that you couldn’t deal with the doubt you had right now you left the messages for a moment and jumped into a hot shower. You let the tears fall as soon as the water fell over your face, you hated yourself.

The insecurities and doubt that plagued your mind always caused you issues, even in the best situation of your life so far. Alexia was perfect for you, she was kind and thoughtful 98% of the time. Yet the 2% is what plagued you, it’s what caused the tears to flow at night and the anxiety to get the best of you.

You felt helpless. You felt useless. Most of all you felt sad. Sad at the world for putting the person you love so far out of physical reach. Sad for the way your brain made you feel. Sad for the life you were currently struggling through.

What normally cleared up in a few days lasted longer this time. Alexia’s reassurance texts and calls were helping but your brain was just going back to the few hours where she’d disappear. You hated the insecurities of the past and the people that gave you them. You hated the fact that you couldn’t just leave it be.

Alexia had texted this morning about having a quiet day so she was looking forward to having the full day with you. She was talking about her morning and the fact that her knee had been getting better when again the texts stopped.

An hour passed and still nothing and you felt that ugly monster inside of you surface again. Was spending the day texting you that bad that she needed a break? Did she forget about you? Did she find something better to do? Did you do something wrong?

Those thoughts swirled round and round your mind and they would have continued to if not for your phone ringing. The picture of Alexia beaming at the camera was what you faced and so you took a deep breath and answered.

For about 10 minutes you exchanged the normal talk and talked about what you had been doing but then Alexia said she had to go. That she had somewhere to be and she couldn’t talk anymore. Any other day that wouldn’t have bothered you, you would have playfully moaned and begged her to at least talk while she drove until she convinced you she had to go or gave in to your request.

But today wasn’t normal. Today you were upset and confused and annoyed at your situation and yourself. That all came out and on Alexia which you knew you’d later regret.

“What’s the point of saying you are here when you aren’t. Like I can’t do false words. I said to go and get yourself better and you said no you wanted to be here so why aren’t you?” You voice was strained and the effort that it was taking for you to not cry was causing a headache to form.

On the other end of the phone Alexia didn’t know what to say, she knew she you struggled with things like this but she never knew you got this bad. She never knew how much her lack of presence or intermittent replies did to you when you were apart.

“I can’t do this like this Ale, I can’t be apart from you in person and over the only thing we have right now. I know you don’t have much time but how much does it take to send a text every so often or reply when you say you are here? Am I really not worth it?”

You waited for her to say something, anything but no reply came. All you could hear were her laboured breaths across the call, this was all the answer you needed.

“Okay I get it. Thank you for letting me know now before I feel completely and utterly in love with you. I’ll come collect the bits I have at yours when I’m back for international duty.” The sarcasm about love dropped and the calling your shared home hers didn’t get missed either.

With that you hung up and finally broke down. 5 years you had been with the woman, 5 years you had loved her with everything you had and it was all over because you couldn’t deal with the demons in your head. Well done y/n.

#alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas imagine #woso x reader #woso imagine #woso imagines #espwnt x reader

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sirenjose · 7 months

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Golden Rose Theater Analysis

Here’s a short summary of the events:

In the pre-event, we learn Scrooge was the founder of the Golden Rose Theater and created the play “The Coin of Lachesis”. Lachesis was the lead actress. The theater started to go bankrupt when people lost interest, and Lachesis supposedly died in a fall during the final performance of the play. Ronald’s father was blamed for her death due to being the mechanic in charge of the lift at the time. As a result, he was imprisoned and died of a severe cold 1 year later. Scrooge chooses Bella rather than Kroto to replace Lachesis.

The Detective is called to investigate by his client DM, who had been corresponding via letter with Bella and wanted to know why she’d stopped communicating with him. Jingle Bells prevents the Detective from seeing Bella, but Ronald helps the Detective get into the theater. At this point, he meets all of the members of the theater and gathers information about everything that’s happened. He eventually learns that Kroto had been the one pretending to be Bella to send letters to DM.

When Bella is reported to have died in a fall accident, Sheriff Jose calls the Detective for help in investigating. It’s during this investigation that the Detective learns about Quivering Flower, a drug Bella had been using. He also learns that the large sum Scrooge had received to rebuild the theater had come from Lachesis’ compensation after she “fell” to her death. Eventually, the truth comes out. Bella had actually died due to poisoning from Quivering Flower use. When Scrooge discovered this, he had Kroto help him pretend Bella had instead died from a fall, in the hope he’d earn compensation from her death like after Lachesis’. In the epilogue of the event, we learn that Kroto left the theater to join a different theater group and has a script called “Kroto’s Chain”. From Scrooge, we learn he had been a beneficiary on Lachesis’ insurance policy, along with Kroto and Lachesis herself. Finally we learn Ronald became the new owner of the Golden Rose Theater, with DM recommending a person for the role of leading actress.

To start things off, let’s look at Bella, who we never get to speak to. She was a foreigner from France, beautiful, talented, and liked meeting powerful people, but she was regarded as arrogant and having odd habits. We learn later that she was mildly addicted to Quivering Flower, which was the reason Bella repeatedly missed rehearsals, as she tended to get sick from the drug’s side effects. This was also why she could occasionally be found practicing alone at midnight, due to her use of Quivering Flower, which she was trying to hide. For Bella, she apparently thought it better to die before the curtain rises if she couldn’t put on a perfect show. This is exactly what happens, as she dies from Quivering Flower poisoning. Scrooge attempts to take advantage of this by trying to make it look like she instead fell to her death. Interestingly, even after the Detective reveals the truth, the newspapers still reported Bella as having fallen to her death.

Many of the other members of the theater didn’t look well on her. Ronald thinks Kroto would be able to put on a better show than Bella, as Bella’s performances had been fluctuating lately. Commander calls her personality not likeable, and says she isn’t close to the other members. She is adored by the gentlemen in town though, who gifts her things like she was a queen. Commander also calls her a lunatic after she says she’d rather die than not deliver a flawless performance. Encore describes Kroto as having to clean up Bella’s messes whenever Bella misses rehearsals.

She does have a number of supporters. Sparrow is the most vocal who gets incredibly emotional whenever someone disrespects her. Jingle Bells is also really affected by Bella’s death, as is Phonograph, who got upset when Scrooge asks Kroto to move into the Bella’s suite immediately after Bella’s death.

Bella wasn’t someone who really blended in with everyone else. She stood out in many ways, due to her reputation, being a foreigner and the new lead actress, and her personality. Mary was a (French) queen in a foreign land that wasn’t her home country (Austria), which were contributing factors to the ill feelings about her as well as her eventual execution. Bella, like Mary, appears to have been somewhat isolated in the theater company.

Moreover, in a secret letter after her execution, it was said people would forget about her death and even her existence as a queen, instead they would take pleasure in trampling on the royal family and appointing a new king. Similarly, Bella was hailed as a popular actress by aristocrats, but ended up buried in the daily news and forgotten after being reported as a fatal accident in the newspaper, with people like DM moving on and seeking other “beautiful things”.

Finally, there’s how Mary says the Queen is the easiest piece to take. With Bella, you can replace “Queen” with “leading actress”. The Leading Actress is the easiest to lose, and thus ends up being the most replaced. She’s someone who’s celebrated when she’s on a glamourous stage but is cut down when she’s not performing well.

For Bella, the ideal she was likely aiming for was Lachesis, and she was intentionally trying to mimic her. There are several hints to this. From Bella’s accessory Perfect Marionette, the description is: “Become ‘her’, or destroy her.” The first “her” is Lachesis, while the second is Bella. Then there’s how in Act 2 Kroto mentions hearing Bella say “Lachesis, are you calling me?”. These were likely hallucinations from using Quivering Flower. There’s also how in the official “Bella Donna! Bella Donna!” video, Bella appears to express how she struggled to be the “ideal Bella” but was unsuccessful and ended up mentally trapped. All of this was in part due to how often Bella was compared to Lachesis, which obviously stressed her out.

The introduction for the story mentions “Atropos using the death of her sister, Lachesis, to assume her identity”. If Atropos is assuming Lachesis’ identity, there’s a good chance Bella was trying (and failing) to do the same. If she’d been unable to deliver this “flawless” performance (as Lachesis), that would tie in with how Bella dies before the performance begins. Exactly what Bella says (“If I can’t deliver a flawless performance, I’d rather die before the curtains are drawn”) comes true.

Speaking of the videos, the 1st trailer for the Golden Theater event (Atropos Ropes) appears to be “Bella as seen from the outside”, while the later one (where she sings “Bella Donna! Bella Donna”) is the inner Bella. Bella was the kind of person who’d do anything for a play. She was trying to make up for her inner fear that she’d fail to become her ideal, as she’d feel worthless due to all the pressure she was receiving. She’s afraid of not meeting the expectations of those around her. The pressure she felt continued to increase, leading to her addiction to Quivering Flower to worsen and thus eventually causing her death.

Regarding a possible model for Bella, she might come from La Traviata, an opera based on La Dame aux Camélias, a novel (which also became a play) by Alexandre Dumas. La Traviata means “the fallen woman” or “the one who goes astray” and refers to the main character Violetta, a courtesan.

In the novel, Dumas tells the tragic love story of a courtesan, Marguerite Gautier, who sacrificed herself for her lover, Armand Duval, a young bourgeois. In the story, when Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Marguerite discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her. By the end, she keeps hiding that she’s not well, and dies without letting anyone but her trusted friends know of her physical ailment. She eventually dies of tuberculosis. Marguerite is nicknamed la dame aux camélias or “the lady of the camellias”, because she wears a white camellia when she’s available to her lovers, and a red camellia when she is unavailable.

The detail about the red and white camellias parallels the red and white scarves used in the Golden Theater event. Since DM received a red scarf from “Bella” (who was actually Kroto), that would explain why DM stopped receiving communication from her after.

Specifically, Bella may be based on the actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was a big hit as Marguerite in La Traviata. IBella’s hairstyle is likely modeled after Sarah Bernhardt’s.

Sarah was so great she was referred to as the “golden voice”, “the most famous actress the world has ever known”, “the divine Sarah”, and “the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture” by artists of the time. Her life was also shrouded in numerous rumors. These kind of details were likely inspirations for Bella (who was also seen as being great by her admirers, but also was seen as having odd habits and likely had rumors spread about her by those who didn’t like her).

Let’s move on to Kroto. She was first shown alongside Scrooge in a newspaper reporting Lachesis’ death. She gradually became popular after Lachesis was gone. It was her dream to become a famous actress like Lachesis, but that didn’t come true as Bella became the new leading actress instead. She does replace Bella whenever she gets sick from Quivering flower, allowing Kroto to improve her acting ability. At some point, Kroto replies to one of DM’s letters intended for Bella after falsely claiming to be Bella. During this correspondence, DM gives her Quivering Flower, which she never uses. She stops responding soon after she gives DM a red scarf, which results in DM hiring Inference to investigate.

Eventually, the Detective exposes Kroto’s lie to DM via the scarf. To pacify him, Kroto got Bella to help in exchange for giving Bella more Quivering Flower. Bella uses it due to how the performances coming up and dies as a result. When Scrooge discovers Bella’s death, he has Kroto help him make it look like Bella instead died from a fall to get compensation money. When the Detective starts to figure out the truth, Scrooge tries to pin the blame on Kroto, and thus she loses trust in him. After the case has been completed, we learn Kroto left Golden Rose Theater to join with a theater. During this time, she meets up with Inference again and reveals how everything she’s done has been to present “an opening act worthy of attention and a finale worthy of praise”.

This was why, after failing to become leading actress, she sought out patronage (a stepping stone for her career) in the form of DM. That’s also why she imitated Bella and sought the things that Bella didn’t want. One of those items was the red scarf she gave to DM. If Kroto hadn’t done any of these things, the Detective wouldn’t have been asked to come and investigate. If he hadn’t come to investigate and unraveled the lies around the theater, Kroto’s lie to DM wouldn’t have been discovered. It was because her lie was revealed to DM that she gave Bella the Quivering Flower, which caused Bella’s death, which led to Scrooge having Kroto help fake Bella’s death. Inference discovers this as well, resulting in Kroto being abandoned by Scrooge when he tried to save his own hide, and thus is a contributing factor for why she leaves the theater in the end.

All these things, this “chain” of events parallels how Kroto is Clotho, the youngest of the 3 Greek Fates. She was the goddess in charge of spinning the threads that determined a person’s fate, the one who decided when a person would be born and die. The other 2 were Lachesis and Atropos. Lachesis was in charge of measuring the thread of life spun by Clotho. She decided how much life each person had. Atropos was in charge of cutting the thread, the one who decided how each person would die, and ended their lives after cutting their thread. Lachesis means “to obtain by lot, by fate, or by the will of the gods”, while Atropos translates to “inevitable” and was known as “the inflexible one”.

The leading actress who performed in “The Coin of Lachesis” was Lachesis, and she played the role of Lachesis too. Unfortunately, the shaper and allotter of the thread dies before the event begins. In this case, this could mean chaos is created due to the loss of the one responsible for correctly drawing the thread. Bella on the other hand is Atropos, even though she’s never referred to as Atropos. This could mean, in the end, Bella was unable to play the role of the one who “cuts the thread Clotho spun”. This relates to Scrooge’s skin description: “When the ropes of destiny intertwine, who would become our Atropos?”. This shows how they needed an “Atropos”, as it seems like the threads were starting to tangle now with Lachesis gone. But Bella was unable to fill that role, and she dies later. With both of them gone, the threads tangle even further.

This could be why a “tangled thread” remains at the end of the Golden Rose Theater event. Based on the newspaper at the end, we see how it doesn’t really seem to matter to the public how Bella actually died, or how Scrooge made use of Lachesis’ compensation in the past, or how they didn’t seem interested in knowing why Bella took Quivering Flower despite the risks. Put another way, this is why there are “loose ends” (aka, questions without answers), since “Atropos” wasn’t there to “cut” them.

Kroto and this tangled thread is likely what Ronald is referring to in his skin description: “It's you, the strings that weave our destiny - let it become the web that entangles us all”. The threads did indeed tangle everyone in them.

Going back to the script title “Kroto’s Chains”, chains can refer to a series of connected elements. As I mentioned earlier, Kroto caused a series of events due to her actions. Chains can also be defined as something that confines, binds, or retrains. This can also refer to bearing a burden, bondage, or lack of freedom. People in chains may feel repressed, closed off, or limited, as if there isn’t much they can do about their current situation. This mirrors Kroto. There’s Lachesis, who she wanted to be like and tried to imitate. There’s Bella, who she even pretended to be in the communications with DM, during rehearsals Bella missed, and after Bella died when she pretended to be her before making it look like Bella died in a fall. Kroto’s “chains” can refer to how Kroto aka Clotho, now that Lachesis and Atropos are gone, is left with having to do everything herself (as well as how Clotho is spinning the thread, but now everything is wrong without someone to draw and cut the thread).

Then there’s also Scrooge, who she continued to work hard for, but who never treated her well. He never let her be the lead, made her help him fake Bella’s death, and then betrays by blame her for everything. When she leaves for a different theater, this mirrors Margaretha’s fate in her deductions. After Sergei’s death and after the circus burns down, she had to make a living for herself without anyone else’s help. By the end of her story, Margaretha understands that there’s another side to freedom. This kind of ending is just like Kroto’s after she leaves the Golden Rose Theater and after she loses all the other people she’d been relying on. Now, Koroto in a way put the “chains” on herself, having to live without anyone else’s help, without imitating anyone, and bearing the burden of her past actions.

For Kroto’s model, she’s based in part on Swan Lake, especially from looking at Kroto’s music box.

This is a tragic love story of a girl named Odette and a prince (usually named Siegfried). Odette’s been turned into a swan by an evil wizard named Rothbart. The prince goes on a hunt one day and finds the swan, who becomes human and explains her predicament to him. He professes his love for her, promising to break the curse and marry her. This angers Rothbart, who devises a plan to kill Odette. This plan includes having the prince proclaim his love for Rothbart’s daughter, Odile. At a ball, Rothbart presents his daughter, who’s disguised as Odette, to the prince. Overjoyed, the prince quickly proposes to the woman. Rothbart reveals this was a trap, before taunting the prince about how he’s killed Odette. The prince runs off to find Odette and explain his actions. He finds her by the lake, broken hearted, and retells her what happened. She forgives him, but Rothbart appears and informs the prince he must marry Odile or else he and Odette will die. After fighting, the prince decides he’d rather die than marry a woman he doesn’t love, so he takes Odette’s hand and they jump into the lake (though this ending varies) breaking the spell, setting those wronged by Rothbart free. Rothbart and Odile are driven into the water, where they also drown.

Kroto, like Odile for Odette, imitates Bella and pretends to be her several times. Her pretending to be Bella when corresponding with DM, who actually had been sending letters intended for Bella, paralells how the prince actually loves Odette and promises to marry her but is tricked to instead propose to Odile. DM, like the prince, was clueless about the truth until it was revealed to him by someone else. The prince being fooled by Odile and Rothbart’s trick is like how DM and the other members of the theater all believed that Kroto was Bella (DM via letters, and the theater when Kroto pretended to be Bella under Scrooge’s direction after Bella died of poisoning). Finally, Kroto’s black costume gives off a similar feeling to Odile’s from Swan Lake, who also usually wears jet black.

To finish off the 3 characters based on the 3 Fates, let’s turn towards Lachesis. Commander calls her a mix between Kroto and Bella, and is also arrogant. She described Lachesis as not the type to fall off a stage during a performance, never missed a rehearsal, and never made a mistake. “A genius who’s deadly serious to the point of pathological”. Like Bella, Lachesis was from France, as before the last performance of “The Coin of Lachesis” she was rumored to be returning there. This never happens, as she is reported to have fallen to her death in an accident during the final performance. It is from her death that Scrooge receives compensation money that he uses to rebuild the theater, which had been on the verge of bankruptcy.

Based on various factors, there’s a good chance that Lachesis, like Bella, also died due to Quivering Flower poison.

Back then, when Lachesis was still alive, Quivering Flower wasn’t banned. From what we see of her personality, she seems to have been the kind of person who’d do anything to get on the stage, meaning meaning she’d be willing to use Quivering Flower. From the mention of her arrogance, her pride also probably led her to hiding her addiction, just like it did with Bella. Though the one person she wouldn’t have been able to hide it from would have been Fragrance Queen, who we know had to have been around back then. This might explain why she becomes wary of Inference when she smells the same scent on him, and why she gets sad when she learns Bella used it to, so much so she stops trusting Scrooge. Either because they didn’t realize how dangerous the drug was back then, or because Fragrance Queen was unable to stop her.

It’s possible Scrooge knew about Lachesis’ use of Quivering Flower as well, but didn’t stop her due to his love of Lachesis’ talent. This could explain the “twisted love” Rusty mentions, which would refer to Scrooge’s obsession with Lachesis, which was so strong he decided to hire Bella instead of Kroto as lead actress because Bella was like Lachesis more than Kroto was (Kroto was compassionate while Bella had a similar arrogance like Lachesis did, not to mention Bella was also from France like Lachesis was, as well as a few other similarities especially personality wise).

Lachesis, as well as several other elements of the Golden Rose Theater including the theater itself, was likely based on the film Moulin Rogue.

The film’s heroine is Satine, a star dancer and courtesan with a deadly secret: she’s dying from tuberculosis. Christian, the would-be writer who loves her, is unaware of this secret. He collaborates with another to write a show to spotlight Satine’s brilliance as well as “truth, beauty, freedom, and love”. To do this, they need financial support, which is where the Duke comes in. He’ll pay for the show, but only if he can court Satine. Christian and Satine fall in love, to the point they can no longer ignore it, but the Duke won’t let anyone get in his way. Eventually it gets to where, to save Christian’s life, Satine must reject him, though the truth does come out. Unfortunately, it’s right before Satine succumbs to her illness. After she dies, Christian completes his work, which is the story of his love for Satine.

If it’s not obvious yet, the Moulin Rouge was significantly influenced by La Traviata, and by extension La Dame aux Camélias, and thus follows the same basic plot. Bella’s and Kroto’s costumes also seem to be based on Moulin Rouge, what with Bella’s long dress-like outfit with pink fur, and Kroto’s outfit with silver sequins that exposes her legs. There’s also the similar colors everyone’s costumes has (compared to Moulin Rouge), the pink feather skirts, head ornaments, all the gold and silver decorations everywhere, the event being all about performances and theater, etc…

Regarding Satine, she isn’t an exact match with Lachesis (ex: Satine wasn’t an arrogant character), but there are enough parallels to make the connection anyways. There’s how Satine dies to an illness on stage after completing a production, similar to how Lachesis dies (likely of Quivering Flower poisoning) at the final performance of “The Coin of Lachesis”. Also, like Satine in her last performance, Lachesis was said to have “delivered a flawless performance” even though she died.

The Duke seems somewhat similar to DM, what with both having financial power and chasing after a girl that ends up dying. Eric Satie, a musician who works alongside Christian, seems to be the model for Rusty Penpoint’s costume, what with the signature glasses, shirt style, and colorful scarf. Eric Satie also recognizes Christian’s talent for writing just like Rusty recognizes Scrooge’s. Satine’s love for the scriptwriter Christian seems to parallel Lachesis and the possible feelings Scrooge had for her (not romantic). Like with the DeRoss family and the manor, Scrooge became attached to Lachesis and the Golden Rose Theater. This is the “twisted love” Rusty mentions. It’s referring to the obsession Scrooge has with Lachesis, which again was why he made Bella lead actress rather than Kroto, as Bella shared more similarities to Lachesis than Kroto did. Like Burke in his deductions after losing the DeRoss family to a mob, he also couldn’t get over losing Lachesis. That’s why, after seeing Bella lying dead on the stage, he described remembering Lachesis’ death as a “nightmare” and how he had “suffered” over her.

Now that we’ve finished Bella, Kroto, and Lachesis, we can move on to the other characters.

The first we’ll discuss is the Client, DM.

He is a person interested in beauty and in the “hunt” or “realistic survival games”. To the females he fell for, he was known to give them Quivering Flower (the ban the government put on the drug apparently didn’t stop him from acquiring and sending it as gifts to the women). At the beginning of the event, we learn he was currently captivated with Bella and had been sending her letters, eventually receiving a red scarf at some point before communication was cut with him. It was here he asked Inference for help, who apparently knew him as they were former comrades in arms. We learn during the event that Bella was another recipient of Quivering Flower, though she got more from Kroto, who gave it to her after the Detective reveals Kroto had pretended to be Bella when corresponding with DM in Bella’s place. Kroto had sought to pacify DM (who learned the news after the Detective revealed the truth) with Bella’s help in exchange for giving Bella the Quivering Flower DM had given Kroto.

After Bella dies, we later learn he had been attending a council meeting at the time of Bella’s (actual) death. Apparently, upon learning of her death, he had rushed to the theater and refused to allow an autopsy of Bella because he wanted her to remain “flawless” even after her death. Once the truth comes out, we find out DM had already begun looking for another “beautiful thing”, instead of being attached to Bella. DM is also the one who introduced the new candidate for lead actress at the Golden Rose Theater after Ronald takes over and Kroto leaves.

It’s obvious enough that the Client is in a position of considerable power, based on the police’s inability to go against him (when he refuses to let an autopsy be performed). That plus how he’s so high he’s not referred to by name, his uninhibited pursuit of female relationships, and love of theater could imply the Client DM may be modeled after Prince Edward VII of England, who was also the “illustrious Client” from the Sherlock Holmes series, with the Detective obviously based on Sherlock. Prince Edward VII, like DM, was a known opera buff, served in the military, and flirted with many actresses.

Regarding the Client’s obsession with perfection, this is similar to Joseph’s obsession with camera obscura and his desire to preserve things forever (including memories and people). This desire for perfection is likely why the Client gave the females he liked Quivering Flower, as it was said to make you look dignified, shimmer, appear unordinary, alluring, and invigorate women’s energy.

The Client’s skin description, “Question 1 - the joy of a hunter, does it stem from the chase or the prey?” relates to him chasing various females and his interest in the “hunt”. This “hunt” or “survival game” can be the reason he gives Quivering Flower to the females he chases, like Bella and what happens to her. DM seemed to see Bella like a piece of art he wanted to preserve rather than as an individual. It’s also possible this description can tie to Joseph’s obsession with photography and desire to preserve things.

Then there’s Scrooge, but I feel like I’ve already discussed him pretty well already, so I’m going to move on to Fragrance Queen.

Fragrance Queen was one of the older members of the group who’s known Scrooge since before even Lachesis. She was introduced alongside Golden Scissors, meaning she was a well-known make-up artist. Ronald describes her as the “true queen of the theater” and is shown commanding the other members. Despite their long history, Scrooge lost her trust after he rebuilt the theater with the compensation from Lachesis’ death. She also becomes wary of Inference after noticing he had the same scent as DM’s letters, the smell of Quivering Flower, and is saddened Quivering Flower is how Bella died.

As discussed earlier, the reason Fragrance Queen was sad after learning Bella used Quivering Flower was likely because Fragrance Queen had experienced Lachesis dying for probably that very same reason (especially if she tried and failed to stop Lachesis from using it). This could reflect Chloe and Vera in Perfumer’s background. Chloe, once she realized what Vera’s true intentions had been some time after Chloe had already killed her, also became distraught over what she had done. It’s possible Fragrance Queen could have been similarly upset at Lachesis and her lies (about using Quivering Flower), but was gripped with regret and grief after she died.

Next is Phonograph. It’s unknown whether she was in the Golden Rose Theater company before Bella or if she joined with her. We do know she was one of Bella’s supporters and was looked down on by many of the other members for worshipping her so much. At the theater, she drove out enthusiastic fans that tried to sneak into Bella’s waiting room. At the time of Bella’s death, she was instructed by Bella to go out and buy something, so she was furious when she came back and found Scrooge already trying to have Kroto move into Bella’s suite. During the investigation, we discover that she was aware of Bella’s use of Quivering Flower, as well as how Kroto had given Bella some in return for pacifying DM, though when Inference tried to take one of the empty bottles, she became distraught and tried to hide it.

When Fragrance Queen asked if Bella used Quivering Flower, Phonograph responded that she hadn’t since it was banned. Along with this, we know from her reaction to Inference taking one of the empty bottles (as well as when she took the empty bottle from Jingle Bells) that she knew Bella had received some more from Kroto. It’s possible she may not have been initially aware how dangerous it was. Phonograph in regards to Quivering Flower may also reflect how Demi herself has drug resistance and how her brother’s “miracle drink” brought the two of them success. To Phonograph (and Demi), she might see something like Quivering Flower as a positive thing because, based on Demi, “achieving success through the use of miraculous effects” is a good thing to her. Whether or not there are side effects, she might believe that if it makes her loved ones successful and protects their pride, then it’s ok. This reflects how Phonograph worshipped Bella for her success, even with Quivering Flower, though it caused Bella to die in the end. This is similar to how Dovlin made her brother successful and proud, but it was also because of Dovlin that he left and never returned.

Regarding Phonograph’s relationship to Bella, Phonograph to Bella was like how Princess Lamballe was to Mary. Princess Lamballe was Mary’s best friend and remained so no matter what, all the way to Mary’s execution. Like Lamballe, Phonograph never stops supporting Bella, and even gets mad at Scrooge for making light of Bella’s death. It’s also like Lamballe for Phonograph to be criticized by the other members of the troupe, as this also happened to Lamballe due to her support of Mary.

Other than Phonograph, Sparrow is another supporter for Bella. He may have even potentially joined up (from another theater company) around the same time as her based on one of the rumors from the start of the event. As we can see during the event, Sparrow gets easily emotional when it comes to Bella, at which point Smarty usually has to step in to get him to calm down. For things other than Bella, he seems normal, and despite being told by Scrooge to keep quiet, he still helps with the Detective’s investigation of the stage equipment at Smarty’s intercession.

Sparrow’s blindness and lack of composure towards Bella reflect Mike’s feelings for Bernard, the head of the circus. Mike loves and believes in Bernard, despite Bernard being the same person who’s abusive to Murro. Bernard seems to have different attitudes towards the other circus members compared to the ones he liked. Mike didn’t seem to notice this other side of Bernard, or if he did, he didn’t comment on it. Bernard to Mike was Bella to Sparrow. So, Sparrow getting especially upset after Bella’s death is like the feelings he had after everyone at the circus (except Margaretha) died. Sparrow helping the Detective with his investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bella’s death is similar to how Mike himself is investigating who killed everyone at the circus.

Speaking of Smarty Pants, she unlike many of the others never talks about the actors’ performances. She never says anything for or against Bella, and doesn’t compare her to Kroto and Lachesis, which is likely why she is said to be Sparrow’s friend and why Sparrow can get along with her easily. She doesn’t seem to care if Kroto or Bella is better, and the only time she ever says anything is when Sparrow has an emotional outburst. We don’t even really get to see what her feelings are about Lachesis’ and Bella’s death. What we do know is she’s interested in stage control and preventing a repeat of the tragedy with Ronald’s father, which her feelings about are made very clear, especially with how her skin description is referring to it: “If time could be reversed like cogwheels, could the dead come back to life?”.

Smarty, along with Jingle, are described as the most responsible backstage workers. We know that she didn’t believe Ronald’s father was responsible for Lachesis’ death. After thoroughly reviewing the circumstances of Lachesis’ “fall”, she was able to exonerate Ronald’s father 10 years after the “accident”. Unfortunately, Ronald’s father had already died in prison. Her work to prove his innocence gained Ronald’s trust, as he calls her one of the only 2 “good” people, with the other being Inference.

Based on Smarty’s feeling about Ronald’s father and all her work to prove his father innocent, not to mention how an ex-worker of the Golden Rose Theater talks about Smarty, I think we can imply that Ronald’s father was likely Smarty’s senior in terms of stage control. Meaning Smarty was possibly there 10 years ago when Lachesis died and Ronald’s father was imprisoned.

One question that gives us is why it took 10 years for Smarty to prove Ronald’s father innocent?

Besides saying it’s because it took time, it could have to do with Ronald joining the theater. That could have brought her back to reality and got her to realize that the machine operator was someone’s father. Ronald doesn’t seem to hide the fact that he’s the son of the machine operator that was accused. To parallel this, Tracy has her Cowardly trait in game: “Years of indoor work have exacerbated the Mechanic's timidity. The mechanic becomes scared when a teammate is wounded or placed on a rocket chair”. It’s only when one of her teammates gets hurt that she seems to be affected. This could imply that Smarty also wasn’t affected and didn’t realize the full reality of things until she met Ronald, the son of the mechanic who was falsely accused of Lachesis’ death. Her trying to prove Ronald’s father innocent mirrors how she tried to prove how her own father didn’t merely die in an “accident”.

Another question about Smarty is how, despite how both her and Jingle are described as responsible, Smarty is the only one Ronald refers to as a “good” person. Not Jingle Bells. Why?

At the very beginning, Jingle nearly turned Inference away until Ronald intercedes and allows him to enter the theater. Jingle thought that Inference was just another fan at first, but even when Inference tries to present the red scarf, Jingle still refuses and says it’s not actually special. During performances, he oversaw the entrance leading to the 2nd floor where officials and nobility reside. On the day of Bella’s fall, he kept track of people going to and from the 1st and 2nd floor, and found an empty bottle of Quivering Flower at the scene of her fall (though he didn’t seem to know what it was). It was the same kind of bottle DM had given Bella several times before, with Jingle apparently delivering it to her each time. He had also seen Kroto go upstairs, but never come down. Jingle shows himself to be sincere about his work, and he still appears shocked and saddened after Bella’s death.

The issue with Jingle is that he knows important information but doesn’t tell anyone. He knows things that could’ve helped stop the incident or solve it faster, yet Jingle doesn’t say any more than what he’s asked. For example, when Inference shows him the red scarf to try to meet with Bella, Jingle’s reaction to it as well as his comment about it hints that Jingle in fact knew that Bella gave away the scarf. He may have even known it had been given to Kroto by Golden Scissors. Yet, all he says is how it’s not as special as Inference thinks. Then there’s how he knew Kroto hadn’t come down from the 2nd floor. If Smarty had known this, she might have been able to figure out who had touched the elevator. There’s also how he delivered the bottles from DM to Bella. If Fragrance Queen had been aware of this, or even about the empty bottle he had found, she could have realized Bella’s was using Quivering Flower, or if she knew about the deliveries before then, maybe she could’ve stopped Bella before she got herself killed.

This relates to Victor’s deductions. Victor isn’t good at communicating with people and he is also very tight-lipped. It’s also because of this tight-lipped nature that he’s entrusted with delivery work between the “Old Man” and the other party (gangs) that can’t be made public. Jingle, like Victor, is tight-lipped and doesn’t talk about things not related to his job. Even though he has quite a bit of information based on everything he said during the event, he won’t tell it to anyone because it’s not part of his job and because no one asks him about it) The only reason he spoke as much as he did in Act 3 is likely due to Sheriff Jose’s letter. That day, it was his job to cooperate with the detective’s investigation.

This “I know but won’t tell you because it’s not relevant to my work” is likely why Ronald decided Jingle wasn’t a good person. Ronald, as well as Norton, are both smart and good at noticing. He also understands this possibly because he, like Jingle/Victor, is the same kind of person.

Since I mentioned Golden Scissors, I’ll move to talk about him next. As I mentioned earlier, he was introduced in a newspaper along with Fragrance Queen, implying he was a well-known stylist. Currently, he works exclusively as Bella’s stylist, but any work Bella didn’t like he diverted to Kroto for a fee. “If the trade is fair, I don’t mind feeding her vanity a little bit”. He also has a habit of reading newspapers in the afternoon to help inspire his work. It was 1 of these newspapers that gave Inference a hint about the similarity between Bella’s case and Lachesis’ death.

Jack, like Golden Scissors, is someone who takes pride in his work. Jack is an artist, while Golden Scissors is a stylist. However, he doesn’t mention any feelings of regret or disappointment when talking about Bella discarding the red scarf. He remains surprisingly calm. The Ripper is said to have his “own unique set of standards for his ‘guest’”. This likely relates to his actions with Kroto. Another connection between Jack and Golden Scissors’ is his mask. It’s half black, half white, with 1 half smiling and the other sad, and has a crack running through the white side. This is ties to how Jack himself is split between Jack and the Ripper, and Jack, who isn’t happy about the Ripper and what he does, is the one who seems to be fading away, which explains the crack in the white half of the mask. Jack immersing himself in his work as the only way to calm the Ripper ties to Golden Scissors’ focus on his job.

There’s also how in Act 3 he shows Inference a newspaper that leads him to suspect Scrooge, as well as causes Sparrow to explode into the conversation, which leads to a lot of information and a sudden revelation of the truth. This action doesn’t seem to personally benefit Golden Scissors. All he did was step in when Encore was at a loss for words, hand the Detective the newspaper, and watch the resulting show. He doesn’t defend anyone like Sparrow or try to see what was bothering people like Fragrance Queen. This kind of role possibly reflects the Ripper. He doesn’t seem too particularly interested in what happens to the Golden Rose Theater or what it’s future is. The action of showing the newspaper may have been an intentional one to sow the seeds of confusion, as well as allow him to watch the results of his action for the benefit of his own amusement. Him finding the confusion in Act 3 interesting to watch may have been the only thing he cared about.

From Golden Scissors we go to Encore. She, like Sparrow, came from another theater company, with her current job being as “Stand-in”, as well as her custom of telling fortunes before performances. Unlike Sparrow though, she is a friend of Kroto’s and doesn’t think much of Bella and her worshippers. She is also superstitious and believes Lachesis holds a grudge against the theater. As a result of Bella’s accidental death, memories of Lachesis and her death resurface for people and result in them calling the theater cursed, making Encore even more nervous.

The reason Encore is friends with Kroto reflects Fiona in her own deductions in regards to her mother. Fiona was desperate to meet her mother’s excessive, strict expectations, but was never able to do so, with her mom’s disappointed comment of “Why couldn’t you have been more like me” to top it all off. Kroto, like Fiona, struggled in her own way amid her unfortunate circumstances. Her efforts were also easy to understand by those around her, as theatergoers could see her hard work and effort as well as her unhappiness, such as when Kroto gradually became more popular and yet wasn’t chosen as lead actress, or when Kroto was forced to substitute for Bella whenever Bella missed rehearsals.

Encore’s skin description also reflects these same sentiments: “Whenever the chants ‘Encore! Encore!’ roar throughout the theatre, I only wish they were meant for me.”. This is likely exactly what Fiona felt with her mother, always just wishing to meet her expectations and earn that praise, but like the cheers of the theater, Fiona herself never earned that praise. Encore’s job at the theater is also similar. She, as the “stand-in” oversees the interval show, which is performed to keep the audience occupied between acts while preparations are being made for the next act. It’s an important job but isn’t always seen as such despite all the work it takes. She wants to be recognized by the audience the same way she wants her mother to see all her effort trying to meet her expectations.

As a result, it’s no wonder Encore likely felt camaraderie with Kroto. Kroto worked hard as an actress but wasn’t rewarded for all her efforts. We also see how she, like Fiona, in the end left to go somewhere else. All this would explain why Encore isn’t supportive to Bella. From Encore’s point of view, Bella came off as a selfish person who relied on her natural talents and neglected rehearsals. She was gifted and wasn’t trying, yet had so many adoring fans.

Another person who didn’t seem to have much love for Bella was Commander, the theater’s logistics manager who, along with Phonograph, kicked out enthusiastic fans that tried to sneak backstage to see Bella. Rusty comments that she knows everything. Commander acknowledges Bella’s talent for acting but says Bella’s performance had been fluctuating lately, and comments she doesn’t like her attitude. She calls Bella’s personality not likeable and seems bugged about how she wasn’t close with any of the other theater members, not to mention calls her a lunatic for saying if she couldn’t deliver a flawless performance she’d rather die. In regards to Lachesis, she refers to her as a mix between Kroto and Bella, calls her arrogant, but never slacked off, didn’t ever miss a rehearsal, never made a mistake, and states she’s a “genius who’s deadly serious to the point of pathological”.

According to the Detective, she didn’t have any interest in Lachesis (at least in Act 1), compared to all she had to say about Bella. The only hints we get is Commander seemed to become “lost in some bad memories” regarding Lachesis’ death. This may hint Commander knew the truth about Lachesis’ death and Scrooge using her compensation to rebuild the theater, and so may be suspicious of him trying to do the same with Bella. It could also explain why she made a comment about how maybe Bella could’ve fallen in an accident, what with all the slacking of she’d done, but Lachesis, who never screwed up and was always flawless, would never have fallen in some accident during a performance.

The reason Commander didn’t seem to like Bella relates to Emma’s background. Emma had to go through her family falling apart. Her mother left, and later her father turning to drinking before later burning himself up in the factory, leaving Emma all alone, without a home or family. To Commander, the theater is like her home, and the theater group is her family, so she likely doesn’t want to see it falling apart (or be left alone). One of her goals is to protect it, which is why she kicks out the enthusiastic fans trying to sneak backstage, why she tries to figure things out and thus knows so much, and why she doesn’t like Bella’s behavior and how she didn’t get along with the other members of the theater.

This could also be why she wouldn’t like Scrooge and the tactics he was using to keep the theater afloat via insurance fraud. This could parallel Emma’s background, as Leo, her home, and life, was destroyed due to financial reasons. 1 thought why Commander didn’t accuse Scrooge 10 years ago if she knew the truth may be because she didn’t want to do something that would destroy the theater.

Now let’s discuss Rusty, the assistant screenwriter. Rusty is an interesting character, as he only ever shows up in Act 1. He doesn’t even show up in Act 2 to defend himself when everyone is proving their alibis (regarding Bella’s death). Ronald ends up being the one to provide it. The first time Rusty is mentioned is in a rumor that said Ronald and Rusty were the theater’s “silver tongues”. We first see him right after the Detective gets into the theater with Ronald’s help. He’s the one that made the comment about money and twisted love corrupting Scrooge’s talent. He also opens up more when he learns the Detective was a friend of DM, which includes informing us about Lachesis’ fall at the final performance, Scrooge obtaining money of unknown origin after Lachesis’ death, and that the sequel to “The Coin of Lachesis” is being rehearsed right then. He closes up when Inference asks for more information, telling him to instead talk to Commander.

From all this, Rusty is definitely suspicious, especially due to his lack of appearances, and even more especially from not showing up to give his alibi. He, like Jingle, seems to know more than he lets on. Rusty’s skin description seems to hint towards this: “If the duty of a detective is to seek out the truth behind every mystery, no matter how ugly it is, then the duty of a playwright is to provide an ending to every story, no matter how far it deviates from the truth”. This relates to Freddy’s thinking the law isn’t a permit for “what you may do” but a provision for “what you must not do”. His desire to “provide an ending” ties in with Rusty’s feelings towards Scrooge. Originally, he had joined the theater because he wanted to learn from the director who “used to be a talented writer”. As we know from his money and twisted love comment, he seems to have lost the respect he once had for him. Rusty feels that Scrooge lost his talent because of his obsession with Lachesis (and using her death for money).

Based on this and his goal to “provide an ending”, he may be working to undermine Scrooge. With him out of the way, Rusty would be able to give the ending to the story that Scrooge has proven himself unable to write (at least not adequately enough anymore).

The reason Rusty may have clammed up and told the Detective to talk to Commander instead was possibly to prevent himself from giving too much information and becoming a suspect later on. Freddy is clever, so his plans are bound to be well-thought out. That’s why Rusty knew to not give too much away, especially to a Detective.

I think wasn’t working alone. I think he had the support of both DM and Ronald. Regarding DM, the reason Rusty opened up when he heard Inference was friends with him might’ve been because he was allied with DM. With Ronald, this comes from the number of times we see the 2 together in some way. At the beginning, Ronald drops Inference off with Rusty before going to rehearsal. There’s even before then with the rumor how Ronald and Rusty are the “silver tongues” at the theater. Later, we see it’s Ronald who provides Rusty with his alibi. Further more, there’s how Ronald somehow seemed to know the Detective was coming to the theater to investigate, despite the fact only DM should’ve known that. On top of this, Ronald apparently was coming to greet the Detective right before rehearsal. Finally, there’s how DM is the one to suggest a lead actress to Ronald when he becomes the new owner, as well as how Rusty is likely the playwright at the Golden Rose Theater under Ronald.

So, why would these 3 work together? I think it’s because of their mutual interest and shared benefit. Not to mention, this fits Freddy’s deductions and how it says it’s good to have “more than one good partner” (and Norton has a similar deduction about needing helpers). We’ve already discussed Rusty, who wants to provide an end to the story, and how he wants Scrooge out of the way to do that. DM is likely cooperating due to his interest in the “hunt” (not to mention his interest in Bella, even after she dies). Finally, we have Ronald, who wants to become owner of the Golden Rose Theater and wants revenge on Scrooge for his father’s death.

Rusty and Ronald are potentially the source of the rumors we hear about, like the rumor about Rusty and Ronald being the “silver tongues” of the theater. This was listed as “gossip” and of “unknown source”. Gossip is exactly what Rusty was doing after hearing Inference knew DM. The reason for the rumor was likely to help them gather information. The other information we learn before the event begins is the “unreliable information” from the “butler” of the theater. Both this and the previous one are deliberately worded as to make us unsure if the information is reliable. It’s possible this 2nd bit of information also came from Rusty. This would be the kind of information we could describe as a “leak”. In that case, it could imply that another “leak” we saw later during the event also came from the same source. The information I’m referring to is the newspaper Golden Scissors had that discussed the compensation Scrooge received from Lachesis’s death, which helped him escape financial difficulties. This could’ve also been leaked by Rusty and Ronald to deliberately hurt Scrooge’s reputation.

If Rusty was working behind the scenes (against Scrooge), especially to help gather information (and also leak it to people), that could explain why Rusty was missing for so long, including in Act 3. Another of Freddy’s deductions parallel this: “This is an era of change, and you need to be privy to exclusive news to be successful!”. Finally, in the end when they are successful in getting Scrooge removed, this mirrors how Freddy was successful in getting Martha from Leo and getting Leo to fall into his trap (to buy the debt ridden factory and getting Leo to “disappear”).

As a final continuation of this, the fact the newspaper continues to describe Bella as having died via a fall, and Inference mentions “that gentleman must have something to do with it”, “that gentleman” is DM. I think this could be how Rusty and Ronald can leak information. With someone as high up as DM, he could help get the information they want to hurt Scrooge into a newspaper with his influence. Though I think the reason the newspaper didn’t report the truth about Bella more has to do with what DM wants than Rusty and Ronald. I think the reason DM kept the newspapers at the end of the event that way is because he didn’t want the truth about Bella dying via Quivering Flower to become public, as otherwise it might’ve made it difficult to hand out them out as gifts to the females he chases after, or made his “hunts” harder to do.

To finish our analysis of the event, we have Ronald. To a number of people, he may not have seemed very important in this story, but that’s probably the way he wanted it to be. Like Rusty, he was being sneaky and hiding his true intentions really well, which was why they were working behind the scenes regarding most of what they really did (and wanted). Ronald is the lead actor for a reason, even though some people may have forgotten that as the event went on. He was made the lead for a reason. It shows that he is a good actor, which is something reflected in Norton’s background, especially in Norton’s letter where Benny comments on Norton having a “polarized façade”. It’s also implied due to Ronald being called a “silver tongue”, which means “persuasive” or “eloquent”. Ronald, as well as Norton, are good at talking to people, convincing them of the things they want to convince them of, as well as are good at hiding their true intentions and feelings.

As an add on, he is also described as having “acumen”, which means “keen insight” or “shrewdness” (aka, he’s sharp). This helps prove the idea of him being able to notice the truth behind Jingle and how much he really knew but didn’t say, as well as how he like Rusty is able to gather information for their mutual goal. The “greed” he’s also referred to as having here can help prove the idea that he was working with Rusty to help get rid of Scrooge, for Ronald’s personal goal of revenge and so he could become owner of the theater.

The first time we hear about Ronald is after his father dies, when he’s forced to return from his studies in France to arrange his funeral. Interestingly, after the funeral it says “But no one heard from him since”. This implies Ronald disappeared after the funeral, only reappearing 10 years later when he joins Golden Rose Theater as the “new leading actor”.

When the Detective arrives at the Theater at the beginning of the event, we learn that him and Ronald know each other from serving in the military together. Ronald helps the Detective get into the theater, as well as continues to remain cooperative through the Detective’s investigation, before and after Bella’s death. Another detail we learn is that, despite how he has a certain amount of say in the theater, he doesn’t seem to be well respected by the other members of the group. Later on, he provided alibis for himself and Rusty during Act 2, showing neither of them could’ve killed Bella. By the end, we see that Ronald became the new owner of the theater.

Ronald studying in France, as well as his passion for performing, reflects Norton himself, as in his deductions we see hints about Norton’s eagerness to learn. This comes from the letters of recommendation we see in his deductions, which mentioned he didn’t stay with any one employer for too long, showing how he was going around learning what he could, getting different experiences, and likely developing and improving his techniques (the same way Ronald would be). Which would explain why all his past employers were saddened at not being able to keep him for longer.

Ronald studying from France also connects him to Bella and Lachesis, who are both from France. The fact he was studying could mean he was trying to be like Lachesis, as Bella wasn’t lead actress at the time. And him wanting to be as good as Lachesis might possibly stem from how Lachesis was mentioned to be “flawless”, never made a mistake, and did anything for the performance.

Ronald’s intellect also goes along with how Ronald constantly helps the Detective throughout his investigations. He’s the one to help him get into the theater. He’s the one introducing the Detective to most of the theater members, and he usually includes important snippets and details about each one (the fact he knows information about each person like this could be further proof to the idea mentioned earlier, with how him and Rusty are gathering information for the end goal of getting rid of Scrooge). Ronald also helps the Detective talk to people when the Detective needs to (or when it’s hard for the Detective to talk to the person himself).

Back with Ronald’s passion for performing, this shows that his main interest is in ensuring the performance is perfect. It doesn’t matter who the leading actress is to him as long as they perform their part well. That would explain his dislike for Bella. Unlike the reasons of most others, Ronald’s only reason for disliking Bella is because of her acting. She’s been missing rehearsals, and when she does perform in front of the other cast, it hasn’t been great (it apparently had been “fluctuating” recently, nowhere near flawless). That means if Bella had been able to do her job right, Ronald wouldn’t have cared that Bella was the lead actress instead of Kroto. Ronald is just serious about his role and the performance. This is just like Norton, who is a hard worker to the point of overworking from how he was always the “first to enter the mine, and the last to leave it”. Norton’s Season 12 Essence 2 skin, Wild Pitch, also is a hint to this aspect of Norton, about how he’s a hard worker who overworks to the point of seriously hurting himself and to the point of total exhaustion. He takes mining (and his interest in ore) seriously, and he puts all his effort into it to make sure it’s done as well as it can be done. So it would make sense he’d expect at least an adequate performance from his coworkers.

Also, with how smart Ronald is implied to be, it could make sense that he may have taken notice of Scrooge’s talent and that he wasn’t writing as well as he used to (due to his obsessions and everything from Lachesis’ death). That could be part of the reason why Ronald wants to be owner instead of Scrooge, the same way he thinks it might be better for Kroto to be lead actress instead of Bella. All because Bella and Scrooge aren’t doing good enough and he wants the performances to be as great as they can be.

Alongside his goal of becoming the owner of the Golden Rose Theater, the other reason Ronald is working against Scrooge is because he wants revenge for his father’s death. It’s because of Scrooge faking Lachesis’ death as an accident via fall that his dad was falsely accused of getting Lachesis killed, due to his father being in charge of the lift, and being imprisoned led to his death via a severe cold.

I think one of the official tweets on Ronald might hint at the importance of his father’s death to him and hint at him wanting revenge for it: https://twitter.com/IdentityVJP/status/1286919130658926594. Specifically, I’m referring to how it says “in the darkness of tragedy” and “only the rose on his chest continues to shine”. “Tragedy”. The one tragedy that happened to Ronald was his dad’s death. “Darkness” refers to how Ronald felt after his father’s death, which impacted him so greatly that “only the rose on his chest continues to shine”. This last bit might mean Ronald wasn’t happy after that day, that there wasn’t really any light in his life or in him afterwards (because all his light got taken away with his father’s death). If this impacted him so greatly, this helps prove Ronald had a strong desire to get revenge on the man responsible (Scrooge). Thus, the last bit of the tweet, which asks what Ronald wanted, might be hinting at Ronald wanting revenge and his desire to take Scrooge’s position as director and owner of the theater from him.

From the picture of this incident where we see Ronald crying over his father’s body, from Ronald’s disappearance after his dad’s funeral instead of returning to France to continue his studies, and only reappearing 10 years later when he joined the Golden Rose Theater, helps prove that Ronald did indeed care about his father. Enough to want revenge for his death.

This is why Ronald explores a lot of things personally and gathers information himself. Anything that might inconvenience Scrooge he likely spreads as rumors or via newspapers (with DM’s help). It’s also likely why he works so much with the Detective. Because he wants help getting the truth to come out.

The main reason Ronald likely joined the theater was probably to look into it and get his revenge (or find the information and whatever else he needed to achieve his revenge on Scrooge), as that theater was where Scrooge was.

Another reason I think Ronald wanted to be owner of the theater had to do with Norton’s background again. It’s the part about how despite having some say in even though he was the lead actor and the amount of talent he had to have had to get that position. It parallels what we learn about Norton from his profile in the Famitsu article, which hints at how he wasn’t treated well by the people around him. Before Norton went to the 13 mines, it mentions how others were intimidated by how hard he worked. After the accident, while Norton was recovering in the hospital, it mentions how no one really comforted him and instead avoided him. Finally, Ronald wanting to become owner of the theater can mirror Norton’s desire to change his status/fate (how he wants to move up) by acquiring wealth or finding gold. Ronald wants to be owner relates to part of the reason why Norton wants to change his fate. He wants to prove himself.

Ronald, like Norton, was a hard worker and exceptional at his job, but didn’t receive the respect and treatment he deserved (despite his position and talent). This was in part because of who his parents were (his dad was a lowly miner) and also because of Norton’s parents dying early and leaving Norton all alone. As a result of this, Ronald and Norton want to “prove” themselves and show them how good he really is. For Ronald, this means becoming owner of the Golden Rose Theater (and getting rid of Scrooge). For Norton, this was changing his status and earning the wealth he needed to do so (and showing those around him that he was capable of being more than what he was currently).

Ronald being willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goal is also similar to how Norton was so desperate to change his fate. Norton was tired of just being a miner, tired of not being treated well by the other miners and his employers, and he was depressed over how, now matter how hard he worked, he was still just as poor and likely to end up like the other homeless miners in hospice. But since effort alone wasn’t enough, he decided to try something else, which came in the form of his search through 13 mines in the hope of striking gold in a get rich quick scheme. Ronald and Norton being positive no matter how bad things look and remaining hopeful mirrors one of Norton’s deductions as well as the message a number of Norton’s skins seem to provide, which was how he had to keep being positive, and he couldn’t be affected by what others around him said or did.

Basically, one of Ronald’s hopes is that, if he can become owner, that will show everyone that he’s worthy of respect.

As a bit of further proof for this that Ronald wants revenge for his father, we can look at Act 2 which was when we learn Bella died. When it’s said that Bella “died on the spot”, we get a curious response: “I wasn’t sure what came to Ronald’s mind as he sighed and said ‘At least it didn’t look like she suffered much before she died.’”. Ronald commenting about Bella not having to suffer much is an interesting parallel when you think of how Ronald’s father died. He was sent to prison and suffered from a severe illness before dying. He didn’t die instantly. He suffered greatly. He was even in prison and didn’t have any family when he died, which likely made his suffering and death all the worse for Ronald’s father. The fact Ronald sighs before saying it, not to mention him making this kind of comment at all, I think is all a way of hinting at Ronald’s feelings regarding his father and the grudge he holds against Scrooge.

Actually, when I put it that way, that reminds me of Encore mentioning Lachesis still haunting the theater because she died with a grudge. What if it’s not Lachesis’ ghost haunting the theater holding a grudge? What if the grudge is actually Ronald’s? Encore is mentioned to be superstitious, and does things like fortune telling, while Fiona herself is also spiritual, interested in the occult, and possibly could have something like a 6th sense. Based on this, I think it’s possible Encore could tell something was there and someone had a grudge (especially considering how Encore does fortune telling), but may have guessed wrong about who that grudge belonged to. She’s said to be anxious over people calling the theater cursed with memories of Lachesis’ death being brought back due to Bella’s death, so it’d make sense she’d assume that the grudge belonged to her. But the fact that, when Encore is talking about grudges, the Detective is with Ronald at this time, I think could be a hint to the truth.

Also, when Ronald makes the comment about the only good people are Smarty and the Detective, this apparently comes after the cast of the performance was finalized, with Bella being the chosen as lead actress. Yet Bella refused to rehearse, and Scrooge refused to cancel the rehearsal or change the cast. I think this might be another hint at Ronald’s annoyance with Scrooge (and his desire to get rid of him), as Scrooge refusing to change the case or cancel the rehearsal even though Bella refused to rehearse likely upsets Ronald, who wants the performance be perfect and go as well as it can which won’t if Scrooge keeps making bad decisions. It is later confirmed that this (Scrooge’s actions about the rehearsal and cast) did in fact annoy him (it said he was “ticked off”), he’s mentioned to not be surprised (which could hint at him at this point already having an opinion on Scrooge and/or knows how he is by now). It’s also said that “By that time, Kroto could take on Bella’s role convincingly, so he didn’t really care whom he was going to perform with”. This goes back to what I said about Ronald doesn’t really hate Bella personally, he just wants someone who can perform well during the performance. So even if he didn’t care too much about Scrooge’s actions, as Kroto could still replace Bella if need be, it’s still a hint towards Ronald’s actual feelings.

There’s also Ronald’s comment about Smarty and the Detective being the only good people, which can be used as further proof. Smarty is “good” because she was the only member of the group to work to prove his father’s innocence, while the Detective is a friend from the military that Ronald says he really trusts.

I also think that Scrooge could be a parallel to Benny (just like the theory how Marshall from the Western themed story of Season 10 essence 1 may also represent Benny for Norton). Scrooge had an obsession with money, which is just like Benny (and Marshall) who also has an obsession with money and finding gold. Benny’s obsession with money could also be described as a “twisted love”. Marshall never finding real gold could parallel Benny’s failure to ever find real gold himself. There’s also how Scrooge is related to Ronald’s father death.

Once Ronald actually becomes owner of the theater, it’s mentioned he acquired a vast fortune from somewhere and used it to purchase the deed to the theater. This money was likely the compensation from Bella’s death.

The reason why Scrooge made it look like Bella (and Lachesis) died in accidents is because he wanted the money from their insurance policies. Therefore, Sheriff Jose likely arrested Scrooge and thus he was removed as owner of Golden Rose Theater due to insurance fraud. As a result, I think Scrooge wouldn’t have gotten any of the compensation money. Considering Kroto is said to be listed on those insurance policies too, I think the money would’ve gone to her.

1 option is Ronald got the money from Kroto. She didn’t even want to use Bella’s suite due to thinking Lachesis cursed it. So maybe after everything that happened at the theater and everything Kroto did, she just wanted to get away from the theater and everything. That could include the compensation she received from Bella’s death. So maybe she gave it to the 1 person she knew wanted Golden Rose Theater. Kroto does say all she wants is to show she’s worthy of being the spotlight or something. It’s also possible she gave it because she liked Ronald. This comes from the comment that Kroto likes “red and covets things that don’t belong to her”. Ronald wears mostly red. There’s also how during the Golden Rose Theater trailer, Kroto has hearts in her eyes while seeming to be looking at Ronald. Ronald could be something she can’t have based on his personality, his focus on revenge for his father and replacing Scrooge, and how he mainly only cares about the performance (plus especially if Ronald stays at the theater while Kroto wants to get away from the place).

Either way, I don’t think Ronald did anything dirty or underhanded to get the money. We’ve already gone over how smart Ronald actually is. If he was willing to invite the Detective over to the theater after Ronald became the owner, especially with how well Ronald knows the Detective and he fully well knows just how smart the Detective is, especially right after the Detective’s investigations, I doubt he would’ve done something bad. Not to mention, I doubt he would’ve done something like or as bad as insurance fraud right after Scrooge was (likely) just caught and charged for that very thing. It’d be like a criminal calling the police right after he robbed a store. It doesn’t make a lot of sense (at least for a normal person, as we aren’t going to talk about some of the weird stories where this sort of thing likely happens). Not to mention, Ronald is mentioned to “really trust” the Detective. From what we’ve seen and heard from the Detective as well as Ronald, I honestly think the 2 of them are friends (the very beginning of the event has the Detective mentioning him and Ronald are friends), that they (at least somewhat on the Detective’s side) trust each other, and so wouldn’t do anything to get themselves in trouble with each other.

If anything, the 2nd option as to where Ronald got the money is maybe he got it from DM. Considering his interest in beautiful things, in the “hunt”, and how he quickly moves on after Bella’s death, he probably wants the theater to go on so he will continue to have sources of entertainment (and people to “hunt”). Also, I have discussed how Ronald and DM were working together. So it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if DM was willing to fund Ronald to become the owner.

Nearing the end now. I know some people might make some comparisons between Ronald and the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera, but when I checked I didn’t see enough connections between them. Yes, Ronald has a mask covering part of his face, but the Phantom wears his mask to hide/cover his disfigurement, while Ronald’s mask doesn’t (it actually covers everything but the burn scar on his face). Then there’s how the Phantom is obsessed with Christine, but this love element is absent in regards to Ronald, who wants revenge on Scrooge. There’s also how the Phantom threatens the opera house to do what he says or else he’ll do something bad. Ronald never threatens anyone, and even if he might be working against Scrooge, he’s doing it secretly. Most of what he does is help the Detective with his investigations and maybe leak information to newspapers, but that isn’t the same as what the Phantom does. The Phantom in the story already seems to be in control of the theater, while Ronald in the Golden Rose Theater event is trying to work his way up to be owner of the theater.

The second to last thing is Ronald’s description and how it relates to Norton. This has been hard for me to figure out. “It's you, the strings that weave our destiny - let it become the web that entangles us all.” The first half should refer to Kroto. This is because Kroto is based on Clotho, who in Greek myth was the one to spin the thread of a person’s “destiny”. As to the 2nd half may refer to how Kroto was essentially the one to start the whole chain of events that occurred during the Golden Rose Theater event. Her being jealous of Bella, leading to her pretending to be her and talk to DM, which makes DM call Inference to go to the theater, which causes Kroto to have to give more Quivering Flower to Bella and thus lead to her death. With Bella dead, Scrooge tries to take advantage of it to acquire more money from her insurance policy, and Inference stays longer to solve that case, leading to the truth about Scrooge faking Bella’s (and Lachesis’) deaths and thus gets him arrested, which allows Ronald to finally get his revenge and replace Scrooge as owner. All in all, this would explain why Ronald would hope that the ”web” Kroto “weaves” would “entangle” everyone. This allowed him the opportunity to reach his goal and get what he wanted.

It's harder for me to determine how his description relates to Norton himself though. Maybe for his backstory, in place of Kroto it’s supposed to be Benny and the old miners. Benny was the reason Norton received an opportunity to find gold when Norton was failing to change his fate from simple hard work. Though he never got the gold in the end, he did get the meteorite magnets and was able to change his profession so he’d no longer have to be a miner (geological prospecting is actually the very sort of thing Norton would likely enjoy considering his canon interests and talents). There’s also how I still think Benny was involved in the death of Norton’s father, so by going after the gold alone and not helping Benny could be like a form of revenge for Norton’s father.

The very last thing I have is about Ronald’s name.

To set this up, the Detective mentions when he first meets Ronald that “we called him ‘Ronald of Nice’”. This is said immediately after the Detective comments how Ronald is an old friend from the army, and right before he says “we hadn’t seen each other for years”. This means it was him and his other pals from the army that called him “Ronald of Nice” and not the other members of the Golden Rose Theater.

Ronald is a name from Old Norse that is composed of “advice, counsel, decision” and “power, ruler”. “Advice” or “counsel” could relate to how Ronald was helping the Detective all throughout his investigation, introducing him to the different members and briefly explaining who they were, as well as talking to people when the Detective couldn’t, how Ronald helps the Detective figure things out, and various other ways. Regarding the “power” or “ruler” part, this could relate to how Ronald is the lead actor of the Golden Rose Theater, as well as could refer to Ronald’s desire to become owner of the Golden Rose Theater.

Regarding the last part of his name, “Nice” is a city in France. Sometimes called “Nice the Beautiful”, the city was founded by the Greeks and named after Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The connection to the Greeks fits with how much they’re connected to the main lore of the game, while Nike and “victory” may connect to Norton’s Highway Cavalier skin, as he achieves “victory” in COA 4. Inference says that Ronald’s name reflects his personality. Therefore, maybe what he’s saying is that Ronald is someone who wants to win and works hard to achieve “victory” or success.

That’s everything I have. Hope this was a fun journey for everyone. I’m not the most knowledgeable on some of the topics I mentioned in here, so don’t be too harsh with me. I don’t mind constructive criticism though.

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byjwn · 2 years

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박성훈 envy of you

sunghoon x fem! reader .. fluff, popular boy and unknown girl au. minimal cursing. she envied the life that he lived and wanted everything that he had, without knowing that he felt the same way.

you hated park sunghoon. you hated almost everything about him. but you only hated him because of how much you admired him and the life lived. you watched him and his best friend, nishimura riki, laugh and tease each other as they sat at the front of the class. you always wondered what it was like to have a super close friend like that. the last friend you could recall was in kindergarten, but she moved away to the states not too long after you had befriended her. ever since then, you have been alone. nobody ever really noticed you. you were practically non-existent to everyone at school, or so you thought.

sunghoon on the other hand was the most known guy in school. everyone loved him and would throw themselves at him just to get a single “hello.” you’d be lying if you said you couldn’t understand why people liked him so much, but you did understand. just looking at him was an honor because of how beautiful he was. he was also one of the nicest guys you have ever come across. you haven’t spoken a single word to him and he hasn’t spoken one to you either, but overhearing all the conversations he has with other students, you can tell how genuine he was. park sunghoon was the closest to the definition of perfect you can get.

you averted your gaze from the duo to look at the blank piece of paper on your desk that was supposed to be filled with notes. you frowned, tapping your pen repeatedly on your desk. as you continued to stare at your paper, you had an odd feeling that someone was staring at you, so you looked up. your eyes examined every student in your class, but they were all too busy to pay attention to you in the slightest.

the school day had finally reached its end and you were making your way to the bus stop. you were typically the only one who rode the bus to school and back home since everyone else got a ride from their parents or friends. you finally decided to look up from your feet when you noticed a muscular body standing at the bus stop. the closer you walked, the more you recognized this figure. park sunghoon. ‘what is he doing here? he never takes the bus.’ you thought to yourself, reaching the bus stop but keeping a decent distance between you and him. you stared back at your feet to avoid him looking at you, not that he would even think to anyway.

“do you usually take the bus?” you heard his kind voice ask you. your breath hitched as you struggled to spit out words in response. you took a quick glance at him, and he gave you an inviting smile, before nodding yes. he shook his head in agreement, “that’s cool. this is my first time taking it actually.” you stayed silent, hoping that he wouldn’t make any more small talk so you could escape this confusing dream.

the bus finally showed up and you quickly made your way into the bus, sitting all the way in the back. little did you expect that park sunghoon would sit one seat away from you. he turned to look at you, again with that beautiful smile of his, “you’re y/n, right?” “how do you know my name?” you questioned him back. he let out a soft chuckle, “i know not many people talk to you or anything, but don’t think anyone doesn’t know you exist.”

"well i wouldn’t really expect someone as popular as you to know i exist," you responded with a frown, twiddling your thumbs in your lap. "it’s really not all that great being popular, you know. your friends aren’t really your friends. they just want that status too." you furrowed your eyebrows, "what do you mean?" "i mean, they just want to be popular and have this big group of friends. it almost makes them feel cool. in all honesty, i’d rather be like you. quiet and reserved with nobody to bug me." you were shocked, to say the least. park sunghoon said he wanted to be like you rather than experience the life he has right now. "you really don’t, sunghoon. i want friends like you do. nobody even pays attention to me but everyone loves you."

“you don’t.”

you haven’t spoken to sunghoon since that day you rode the bus together. you’ve seen him multiple times in school, but he hasn’t even attempted to spare a single glance at you. you couldn’t help but feel sad at how she could say such a thing and then never even look at you again.

you sat at an empty lunch table, picking at your food with your fork but not having a big enough appetite to eat it. all you could think about was park sunghoon and that conversation you two shared. “is this seat taken?”, you heard the familiar voice say from above you before being accompanied by another body sitting next to you. speak of the devil, park sunghoon. “why are you sitting here?” you asked him, going back to picking at your food. “well it doesn’t look like anyone else was sitting here, so why not?” he said before digging into his average lunch meal. you looked behind you to spot sunghoon’s usual lunch table where he eats and hangs out with his other friends. all their eyes were on you with a glaring look.

“your friends don’t look too happy that you’re sitting with me.” “fuck them. i want to feel normal for once” he said with his mouthful of rice before chugging down half the bottle of his water. you chuckled at the cute bunny looking boy and began chowing down on your own food.

ever since then, you and sunghoon became closer and closer every day. you could tell that you were starting to fall for him and you liked to think that he felt the same way. “what are you gonna do now? since your friends don’t like you anymore.” sunghoon raised his eyebrows at your sudden question, “hang with you, of course. i prefer it this way anyway.” sunghoon smirked as he saw the blush start to creep on your cheeks as you tried to hide your smile. he began to speak again, “i think this is what i needed. i needed you. i feel so more alive when i’m with you and i never want that to change”

you looked up at sunghoon before nodding your head, agreeing that you felt the exact same way. sunghoon grabbed the side of your face and caressed your cheek as he observed how beautiful you were, “and what if i told you i wanted to be something more?”

authors note ; i cant really tell if i like this or not lol but let me know what you guys think. i’m gonna try and be more active just because i really want to write more as it’s a fun hobby of mine. requests are open btw so feel free to send some or even just can’t with me through my ask box !

#enhypen #enhypen fanfiction #enhypen fic #enhypen angst #enhypen imagines #enhypen fluff #enhypen reactions #enhypen texts #enhypen writers #kpop imagines #kpop fanfic #kpop fluff #sunghoon #enhypen sunghoon #sunghoon imagines #sunghoon fanfic #sunghoon fluff

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lover-of-mine · 30 days

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i saw someone suggest this, so i was wondering what you think...what if eddie does break up with marisol in this week's episode, but she makes a reappearance in 7x07, which is literally titled a ghost of a second chance and eddie has to reconsider whether he wants to get back with her or not? obviously he doesn't in the end, but it would force him to think about some things. i just don't think him doubling down with marisol makes sense, even if it's supposed to be a parallel with BT, because eddie is not actually buck. he doesn't double down out of panic or fear of being abandoned...he only doubles down out of a misplaced sense of duty or obligation. he let shannon back into their lives for chris' sake...he wanted to rekindle things after he found out she might be pregnant...he wanted to stick it out with ana because he thought it was what's best for chris. unless he's learnt absolutely nothing from dating ana (and chris is a teenager now anyway) i highly doubt he feels obligated to stay with marisol for chris' sake so...

Anon, baby, I need to tell you that this ask settled so much in my soul, I actually managed to calm down last night because of it, so I can't thank you enough. Okay, I did type out this before I saw this, about the patterns with their love lives and the way Eddie doesn't have a Taylor. I do agree that Eddie wouldn't double down on Marisol out of fear of being left, or for Chris, but Eddie did have that whole "we have time"/"we're all gonna die alone" arc last season that went nowhere, and I kinda do see Eddie doing the stupid thing from a place of hurt? Because for a really long time, Buck was his main support system, I don't wanna say asking her to move in is something that actually makes sense for Eddie to do, because in the end it doesn't, so far we only saw her as a babysitter, but Eddie tends to have extreme reactions, and this fits the category. That being said, the thought that they will break up now and have a chance to get back together that Eddie doesn't take can work really well. Because if you have Eddie "questioning his place in the world" to make the wedding episode something where Eddie lets loose while single, just to get a chance to get back to the "comfortable" relationship he had with Marisol is interesting. You can even add the "Taylor" aspect of it by having her break up with him and then come back. But since Eddie wouldn't go back to something he's not sure of it just to have someone. I mean, even proposing to Shannon again was more about Chris and theoretical child #2, not trying to hold on to her specifically, and like you said, he doesn't have to double down for Marisol. So to put him in a situation where he could reconsider getting back into that relationship, would be interesting. Even more, if you consider the way all his relationships involve someone coming back to his life in a sense. And if you put him in that situation and have him be like "no, this is not what I want" would be nice, even more so considering he literally asked out the first girl who gave him an opening after repeatedly saying he didn't wanna date, see him find that balance that he doesn't have to be in a relationship for the sake of being in a relationship is a nice thought.

#things to consider #but thank you for the thought 💜#911 #911 spoilers #911 speculation #i really need a tag for asks #anon 😌

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widowshill · 4 months

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scientific ranking of all of vicki's boyfriends and girlfriends

1. roger collins canon status: 6/10 they are the moment. collinsport's own jane eyre reenactment in a 1960's feudal sardine empire, complete with lovely arsonist wife. they're soulmates. he might be her uncle (?). it's true love. it's workplace harassment. they're fated to be together. they're doomed. they're entwined but never joined. they're marrying other people. they're mimicking each other's dialogue. they went on two dates and they both sucked. she's the adoptive mother to his (?) child. he tried to fire her 2 million times. they never even kissed once. they got stuck in a cabin together in the middle of a storm. he gives her away at her wedding. he can't stand to see her married. she is one of the few people in this world that he finds worth caring about.

2. burke devlin (mitch ryan) canon status: 10/10 he's dangerous he's mysterious he's tall dark and handsome and he did not hit that guy with his car. he's an oil baron. he's an ex convict. he's a millionaire. he's roger collins' ex-boyfriend. he's going to set out to destroy everything but oh god not her he would never let anyone touch her. one of the few people who actually takes her bodily safety seriously and moves heaven and earth to rescue her (repeatedly). two poor kids from the wrong side of the tracks arrive in the same train car from new york to collinsport. one of them already knows the underside of the collins' heel and the other one is about to and he can't convince her to get out. he wants to wreck the collins name she wants it as her own but they're both too-well wrapped up in the myth to leave it.

3. carolyn stoddard canon status: 2/10 girlfriends. that's all i can say. i just think they are very much adorable and they do score points on the canon scale, remotely, for such subtle lines from Carolyn as: "Just what the doctor ordered to keep the wind from ruffling your dark and gorgeous hair," and "Here, alone with you, I can't pretend." never mind their sleepovers in vic's bed hanging out in their nightdresses. carolyn would sooner own up to having a crush on her uncle than having a crush on a woman because this is upper crust maine in the 1960's but listen ... for a character who enjoys flirting for fun but gets extremely anxious about settling down and marrying a man, who prefers the most distant, unobtainable men that she has no reasonable chance of actually ending up with (roger case in point), who gets jealous every time vicki is with someone no matter who it is ... maybe she does like men too, but let's investigate mama let's research. with the governess, preferably. (who could maybe be her half sister? see no. 1)

4. maggie evans (blonde wig) canon status: 0/10 i'll be honest with you all this one is purely vibes but the other boyfriends suck so she still gets to place ahead of them. don't tell me maggie's not looking at her in exactly the same way she looks at joe when she's eyeing him up as her next man. she got straighter when we lost the blonde wig but this entire counter scene in e1 is one long flirtation session and for however many episodes she keeps the wig i believe very strongly there's a devastatingly homoerotic female friendship developing. i'm not immune to the short hair blonde long hair brunette wlw aesthetic i'll admit. as i said vibes only but just trust me. y'all fw cartinelli? ok. well.

5. frank garner canon status: 10/10 i'm glad you were very helpful during the laura arc frank but i'll be honest you bore me to tears why are you even here. he's got the personality of wonder bread and he's in the wrong genre he should be arguing cases on bachelor father or solving hardy boys mysteries or something i truly do not know. these two together just means bouncing all our lawful good off each other and it self perpetuates into nothing interesting at all. they're not even maybe related! maybe if we continued further with the betty hanscombe story and he found some damning revelation about vicki's parentage he'd have something fun to contribute to the plot but as things stand he's just a duller ivy league version of joe and if we're gonna have an all-american boyfriend i'd rather she just date mr haskell.

6. burke devlin (anthony george) canon status: 10/10 you may think that he cannot have possibly fallen from 2nd to 6th with a recast ... surely not ... but you would be wrong. i give vic props for domesticating him but he's lost all his panache in his full-time role as romantic interest, and now he doesn't even look like handsome squidward anymore :( like frank, this version of burke is much too obviously a safe choice, where the original allure of burke is the fact that she wants him despite the enmity between him and the collins family, his destructive tendencies, his jawline ... I do give him props for going to extreme lengths to make her happy, not only in their personal relationship, but her overall circumstances, and the other things that matter to her. you're not last but i wasn't sad when the plane crashed either :/

7. barnabas collins canon status: 8.5/10 is this a real relationship ... i don't really know. i'm not sure the participants know. barnabas thinks it is and i guess they were technically engaged to be married at some point but that's only towards the goal of using her to vividly hallucinate his dead girlfriend so does that count. I will say in their favor it was extremely funny that she had to drive the getaway car for her own kidnapping/elopement/vamp enthrallment because he can't drive. honestly that was the only part of this whole situation i enjoyed. also when she married jeff and he sighed and put his head in his hands he was real for that. they're actually pretty compatible and would be amazing friends ... or like, they could host a podcast together, or something. not this.

8. jeffpeter clarkbradford canon status: 10/10 such a shitty boyfriend that roger collins opened his third eye to warn her that marrying him is the greatest mistake of her life. his only job in the entire world is to make sure that vicki does not hang for witchcraft and he fails multiple times. possibly the most annoying man on the planet. what if we gave a ken doll the personality of a republican congressional aide and he's played by an actor that is reviled by his castmates. comes to the future on the power of wanting to fuck vicki i guess and to spite me, specifically, who's very tired of seeing him, and makes her have a car accident where she could have died. kisses reincarnated french serial killers in the yard days before their big wedding. leaves her at the altar to go play in the dirt in the graveyard. later marries her in a shotgun ceremony at 3 in the morning and then vanishes back into The Past. after literally driving her to suicide, takes her to be with him in The Past where she hangs, again, and then dies off the cliff. TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO.

#it's done. as you can see i take my work here very seriously.#➤ victoria winters. ┊ because she’s lost and lonely. because she looks in shadows.#i'm also having. formatting issues with this editor again girl idk. i've tried to fix it ten times 😭

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ruinaimagines · 1 year

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Hello, hello! Quite happy to see you back, was getting a bit worried seeing you be inactive for so long! That aside I was curious what your thoughts would be on how the Sephirah would react to an employee teaching nothing there to shitpost!

These poor poor sephirah… And thank you for the concern! I assure you that even if I depart I am likely a-okay. This was a fun one, hope you enjoy

Sephirah Reacting to an Employee teaching Nothing There to Shitpost Headcanons:

Malkuth would be absolutely baffled upon hearing whatever ungodly things you taught this aleph to mutter. It’s enough to make even a workaholic like her freeze in her tracks with sheer confusion. Why.. Did you teach it to say that?? She imagined that an employee capable of repeatedly working with such dangerous abnormalities would be a bit more mature.. Her assumption was wrong. She might scold you a bit but I think she’s too fascinated with it to actually care too much. Usually she always has something to say.. But this? No words. Kind of thinks some of the bizarre things you taught it to say are funny but would never admit that because she does not want to tarnish her attempts at being the prime sephirah.

Lord, I think you would send Yesod into cardiac arrest. Probably calls for a meeting to figure out who’s responsible for this and chastises their immature behavior being unbefitting of a corporate employee. It depends on how good you are at keeping a poker face because his pure seriousness about this is absolutely priceless. You’d think he was yelling at you for kicking his dog or something. Sighs with a really stressed tone and probably utters something under his breath as the meeting ends. If you are found out you’re likely going to get a huge scolding and have to work overtime. It’s worth it though.

Hod is sort of nervous first and foremost because she is concerned about the safety and potential repercussions you can experience for training an abnormality in such a way. After seeing how much fun it is for you though she’d support it considering the place is usually so dark and dreary.. It’s a nice contrast to see some people enjoying themselves. Doesn’t understand half of the things the meat dog is saying, but over time you may find she is gradually developing a quiet sense of humor towards the stupid things you do.

Netzach helps you. He does not care at all for this place, let alone formality, so you can guarantee he’s probably making his own suggestions. Also finds it funny to see Yesod so distressed over this. He doesn’t really interact with the abnormality itself but he will cover for you if you need it, implying it's someone else or even taking the blame altogether just so you can get away with it. You two are a devious duo and there is an impending sense of dread whenever you are in the vicinity. This is pretty much the only time he puts effort into planning things out and it’s all for some dumb humor. Definitely have inside jokes.

Tiphereth is like Yesod but worse. Huffs about how she’s the child yet you keep acting like one, doesn’t get half of the things Nothing There says but immediately knows it’s something bad, and can always tell when you are plotting something. If you work in her department with the abnormality, she has on multiple times threatened to move you out, and has even gone through with it once. It somehow does not stop you. Stares at you with the intensity of 50 suns the moment you have the audacity to step in the slightest direction of Nothing There. She has scrounged every single part of the corporation’s terms and conditions to find some rule you’re violated, and made multiple reports on why you can not keep getting away with this. Only Yesod really agrees.

Chesed is thoroughly entertained by this. He may not outright participate like Netzach, but he silently encourages it by urging you to continue telling your stories. Most of the time he’s just sitting around doing work in his office so he’s not going to say no to something new. Doesn’t really take part in your scheming but always knows when something is done because of Tiphereth, it’s his alarm that you’re up to trouble. Has hosted you in his department to hide away from the others like a fugitive before.

Gebura hates abnormalities. She does not understand why you are doing this, especially when it poses an unnecessary threat to your own safety. Overall views abnos like Nothing There as detestable creatures incapable of domestic feats like training. That said, hearing it cuss out and insult employees –even sephirah– at times is pretty funny. It says things that no man working there would ever have the courage to, and that bluntness is laughable at times. She believes that if you are going to mess around with it somehow then this is one of the least awful ways.

Hokma is too tired for this man. He’s old and too caught up in philosophical ramblings. Doesn’t necessarily tell you to stop, but if you bring it up he will turn it into what feels like a 4 hour session dissecting the implications that’s vaguely reminiscent of when grandparents go ‘back in my day’ and proceed to verbally produce an essay. You’ll be asleep by the time he’s finished and remind yourself to never directly approach him about it again. I think he would let you off easy because he totally would have thought about doing this when he was younger.

Binah’s reaction is completely incomprehensible. You’d think by the way she was staring you down with an ominous aura that she was unimpressed by your childish attempts at playing around. You couldn’t be more wrong. She is going to cease an opportunity to mess with people at any point, and will directly help you with getting Nothing There to shitpost. You think Netzach would plan things out? She has a full schedule that she presents to you to optimize the teaching process, carefully plotted out with graphs and condensed sheets of paper. You will figure out how to make it speak full sentences bordering on some revolutionary discovery all because it’s humorous. No one knows she is helping you because she is so good at keeping it hidden behind a neutral look on her face. No one would dare question Binah after all, not with her intimidating composure, which makes it so easy for her to take part (not even you initially thought she would go along with this). It’s a secret alliance between you two.

#lobotomy corporation #lobotomy corp #lobcorp #malkuth #yesod #hod #netzach #tiphereth #chesed #gebura #hokma #binah #lobotomy corporation headcanons #lobotomy corp headcanons #lobcorp headcanons #headcanons #hcs #x reader #platonic

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enchantinglyjade · 2 years

Text

Milk & Honey - Ch. 17

Austin!Elvis x Black!OC

Masterlist

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Summary: Honey tries to learn how to carry on without her love

Warning: BIG SAD, Depression, character death, loss of parents, car accident

Song: Maybe - The Chantels

Note: Y’all gone hate me for this one

Playlist

Maybe, if I pray every night

You'll come back to me

It had been a lonely number of weeks, my family and job continuing on like nothing had changed. I felt like a broken record, stuck doing the same routine every single day. My goal to save money dwindled. Save money for what? Move out to be even more alone? So I could cry ANYWHERE in my house in peace while I longed for him? I stopped singing, all passion I once had had been torn from me. I barely talked, I never smiled. I was a shell of myself.

I sit on the couch, dull, empty, staring at the TV with Pearl who has been obnoxiously quiet the past few weeks.

I had been avoiding exposing myself to any media, the news, the radio, music, the newspaper, everything. I could barely get groceries without seeing his face somewhere. Everything was a constant reminder. I’ve been trying to challenge myself recently, looking at a picture of him and telling myself to feel nothing. I had to strengthen myself back up. I don’t know how many more breakdowns in aisle 6 I could take anymore, or that the grocery store would allow. On the bright side, Elvis and I were long forgotten news and I could actually make it to the grocery store again without someone following me for a picture of me and my juvenile delinquent activities. I was back to being a nobody.

So here I am, back at home watching the news.

So far it was fine, no mention of him, just regular weather and advertisement. But right as I started getting comfortable, BOOM, there he was. Cut hair, green Army suit, and the last thing I ever prepared myself to see, a woman hanging on him. She was younger, white, rich. She had long, luscious dark hair, a smooth, innocent face, with glistening eyes. Nothing but eye candy under his arm.

I felt like I was going to throw up. Not from jealousy. No, that was too simple of an emotion. In my heart surges grief, longing, betrayal. I felt like a bug that just got stomped on repeatedly. Days of trying to build up immunity absolutely demolished from one short clip of him on TV.

My heart quickens in panic and my eyes fill with tears. I feel like I can’t move. God, I feel sick. Just then I race to the bathroom.

Okay, maybe I’m actually gonna be sick.

I clean my mouth, hanging over the sink to clear my head and compose myself before I go back out into the living room.

“Honey…are you alright?” My mother asks standing in the doorway.

I take a quick glance at her before looking back down into the sink saying nothing. I haven’t spoken to her in days.

She takes a deep breath. “Baby, I’m sorry. I just- I didn’t expect your daddy to come into the picture either and it’s been a lot for me too. Raising you on my own all these years, then having him come back in with another kid. I knew you were stressed about it too, so when you was goin to see Elvis I knew you just needed support. I tried to just let you be happy, but it’s hard havin to let my baby go and be an adult now. Especially when it means watching you get involved with the law.” She sniffles, wiping a fallen tear from her face. “I was so scared and tryin so hard to figure out what to do about you, your daddy, and Pearl that I exhausted myself, but I still shouldn’t have been ignorin y’all, and I’m so sorry bout the hurt I put you through.”

I lift my head up from the sink, tears brimming my eyes. “Mama, I missed you.” I say, before meeting her halfway for a hug.

She rubs my back, laying kisses down in my hair. “I’m sorry about Elvis. I know how much you love him and I see everyday how much it hurts you. I’m here for you, baby.”

Now I’m just a crying mess. I sob into her shoulder. “Thank you.” Only once I get a hold of myself do I break away from her. She gives me a weak smile, while I close my eyes, rubbing away tears. When I open them again I see Pearl standing behind Ma. She looks at me, guilty, playing with her hands. Ma notices a change in my face and turns around.

“I, um.” Pearl starts, swallowing. “I’m also…sorry…about Elvis.” She clears her throat.

I scoff, walking past Ma to her. “He was sent to the other side of the world because of what you did. Don’t talk to me.” I warn.

And Maybe, if I cry every day

You'll come back to stay

Oh, maybe

Another restless night.

I creep out of my bedroom, careful not to wake Pearl. I tiptoe tiredly down the stairs to switch the TV on, turning the dial down to its lowest volume, then sitting on the couch.

“Can’t sleep?” A voice calls from the kitchen. Dad steps around the corner, coke in hand and a sentimental look on his face.

I shake my head, turning back to the TV. He quietly walks across the wooden floor, sitting down next to me with a groan. The light from the TV flashes on our faces in the otherwise dark room. He takes a sip from the cola, sitting in silence while I hug one of the couch pillows.

“Can I ask you something?” I ask, chin still resting on the pillow. No point in staying angry with him. He sits up. “What was life like in Alabama?”

“What? You want me to tell you my life’s story or somethin?” He asks with a smile.

I hug the pillow insecurely. “Yeah…Ma never told me anything.”

His smile turns soft. “You wanna know everything?”

I nod, smiling like a little kid while I turn sideways on the couch to face him.

He chuckles, running his hand through his blonde hair, same color as mine. “Well, grew up on Maw and Pa’s plantation. Was always a real rebellious kid. You must get that from me.”

My smile turns into a toothy grin.

“When I was a teen, my folks hired a maid, your Mama. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and woowee did she have a voice. I’d sneak out with some of the sharecroppers, listen to ‘er sing. I was in love. I used to purposely break things just to get her alone in a room, sneak her little kisses. One day, we got caught. Pa put me in jail, thought som’ was wrong with me. I was in there for 2 years, Pa passed halfway through my sentence. When I got out, Maw told me your Mama ran away. I could never stop thinkin bout Loretta, but I tried to do what I could to make Maw happy, she was all alone then. Even tried marrying another woman. Betty. She was a lovely woman. Gave Maw the white grandbaby she always wanted, thought I was ‘cured’ or som’. When Pearl was ‘bout 7 years old, Betty passed. It was just me, Pearl, and Maw up until a few months ago. Maw passed over the summer, Pearl was gonna be turning into an adult soon, so I finally took it upon myself to sell the plantation and start lookin for your Mama again. Then I found out I have you.”

I sit, processing all the information. I always wondered where Pearl’s mother was. I figured divorce or something, I had no idea she passed away.

He sighs. “I’m sorry bout the way I been actin, ‘specially with…Elvis. It’s just- I thought I lost ya.” He takes a deep breath. “I lost nearly everyone I love and the thought of finally findin you just to have you taken from me scared the shit out of me.” He shakes his head, hiding his tears with a smile. “Pardon my language, but it really did. Them cops they- They won’t hesitate to hurtcha, or worse…” A desensitized face stares back at me, knowing and full of stories and experience.

I smile weakly. “I never meant to scare the both of you so much, I just- I loved him so much, Dad. I known him my whole life. He was my best friend and now he’s gone. I miss him so bad.” I cover my face, tears threatening to spill.

He leans over, bringing me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Honey. I never should have made you feel so bad about it. I just didn’t want you to go through what your Mama and I did or worse with all his fans and reporters. I just want you safe. The world can be real cruel when it sees things it don’t like.”

I pull away with a deep breath, before shooting him an understanding smile. Of course it wasn’t that easy to forgive everything he said just like that, but I’m too low on energy and love to care enough to keep this grudge up any longer.

“Can I ask you somethin now?” He raises an eyebrow at me, waiting for my answer with a smirk.

I giggle. “What?”

“I don’t know what went on between you two, but can you and Pearl TRY to get along? It breaks my heart seein you go at it all the time. I know it sounds hard to believe but she does really look up to you, but she thinks that coming here means I’m gonna forget all about our family and her mama and that none of it meant anything. She feels…abandoned. I tried talkin to her some, but from the sounds of it, you two have some talkin that needs to be done too. I just want my two little girls to be sisters.”

Ugh. That’s the last thing I wanna hear right now. But, I admit, knowing a little bit more about her does help me understand her better, so for his sake-

I sigh. “I’ll try.”

Maybe, if I hold your hand

You will understand

And maybe, if I kissed your lips

I'll be at your command

A few days later I find that when Ma said she was stressed about Dad coming back in, she really meant she was scared about the love coming back.

From my bedroom window, I watch. In the Green Chevy parked out front, sits my parents. I was wondering what the hell they could be talking about that they didn’t want Pearl and I to accidentally hear. They sit in there for a good while, just talking, and right as I get bored and start pulling away, they kiss.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I knew they had something going on. I’ve always known Ma missed him, which is why it was so hard for her to talk about it, but I didn’t think they’d actually go for it again, especially with Pearl in the way.

Ma pulls away, eyes closed for a moment, still dazed from the kiss. Had I not known better, I’d think it was her first kiss. Her lids flutter open, love sparkling in her eyes and a big grin plastered on her face. They hug, holding each other tightly, finally getting the peace to love like they always wanted.

My heart stands exactly 3 more seconds of this scene before it causes me to burst out into absolute tears.

At least one of us got our happy ending.

I've cried and prayed to the Lord

To send you back my love

But instead you came to me

Only in my dreams

“Ooo, where you goin?” I ask Ma with a smile, looking at her getup. First time I had ever seen her so dressed up.

Dad comes rushing downstairs, taking her arm into his. “We’re goin dancing.”

I smile, fighting through the sting in my eyes. Come on, Honey. You can’t let everything remind you of him. “I hope you have fun.” But I can never hide anything from Ma.

She walks over to me, holding my face in her palms to examine me. “You okay, baby?”

I nod. “Yeah, just stressed still. I’m fine.”

“You sure? You look pale?” She looks over my cheeks, rubbing them with her thumb. “Is this about Elvis?”

I sigh. When isn’t it? “Yeah.” I answer in a whisper.

Her smile turns to a frown, bringing me into a hug. “Oh, baby. I’m sorry you’re having to go through this, but maybe it’ll be for the best. Maybe someone even better than you could’ve imagined will find you.” She pulls away, holding my face once more. “You’re a strong woman, Honey. You’ll get through this.”

“Your mama’s right. You’re a real strong girl, Honey, but maybe you should try gettin out sometime too. Get your mind off things for a second.”

I smile into Ma’s palm, looking between the both of them, before pulling away. “Yeah, maybe I’ll have to try that sometime.” I chuckle lightly.

He smiles, taking Ma’s arm once again. “Alright, we’ll be back later. Two of you be safe now.” Dad says waving to Pearl and I as they step out the door.

I spent most of the night in my room deciding to try singing again. My voice had gotten rusty from barely being in use for nearly 5 months now. It’s everything but motivating, but I know past me wouldn’t want me to give up, no matter how hard it may be to keep pushing on right now.

Eventually I tire of singing tand lay down on my bed. I stare at the wall, tracing the patterns with a sigh. Things will get easier. They have to.

The next morning I wake up with that usual stomach ache. Damn stress has been getting to me so bad that I make myself sick most days.

I go downstairs with the intention of grabbing a coke, hoping it will settle my stomach. Pearl’ sat on the couch with a bowl of cereal and the TV playing its usual news in front of her. I scan the living room and kitchen finding no sign of Mom and Dad. “Are they home?” I ask Pearl from the kitchen, peeking around the corner.

“No.” She says, not looking up from her bowl.

Okay..? “Where’d they go?”

She shrugs, “Never came back.”

And she’s not worried by this? Weird they never said anything… “Did they call?”

She shrugs again with an annoyed sneer.

I roll my eyes, going back over to the fridge. Maybe they called when we were asleep, decided to stay out late and got a Motel or something. I try shrugging it off. Just glad they're both happy again. I bring a coke over to the counter, grabbing a bottle opener, the TV filling the silence between us.

‘An unfortunate accident just on the outskirts of Memphis-.’

“So, I saw you watching American Bandstand the other day, do you like to dance?” I ask, attempting to make small talk with her like Dad’s wishes.

She doesn’t answer.

I roll my eyes again, popping the lid of the drink and watching it fly across the counter. It ain’t any easier for me to pretend to like her, but the least she can do is play along for Dad’s sake. “Pearl?”

She doesn’t answer again.

I put down the bottle opener in frustration, marching into the living room. Between my stomach ache, and now headache from her, I had about enough. “Look, Pearl, I know that-”

I pause. She stares at the TV in horror. Her shaking hand loses grip of her bowl, letting the glass slip from her fingers and shatter across the wooden floor. My heart drops at the scene alone, my whole soul dies when I glance over to the TV.

The man’s voice completely tunes out of my head. The only thing I see is the sight of a familiar green Chevy smashed into little pieces.

Maybe if I pray every night

You'll come back to me

And maybe if I cry every day

You'll come back to stay

If I thought life was tough before, I had lost every sense of myself now. I felt like I finally lost that last bit of childhood happiness I tried clinging onto while the world crumbled around me. This is what being an adult is like; Loss, sacrifice, disappointment, working so hard for such little results.

I just started getting things right with Ma and Dad. I never even got to tell Dad I loved him. And now I lost them. It’s just me now. It’s a new beginning I have no choice but to accept.

I locked myself in Ma’s room, letting Pearl have mine. I went through all of her things, hugging her clothes, putting on her old jewelry, until finding myself hunched over, crying into a box tucked in the back of her closet. In the box I find some of my old clothes and baby dolls. I take out a cloth article, a pull toy falls out from underneath it, rolling across the floor. I unwrap the fabric, discovering it’s an old baby dress Ma sewed for me. I hold it up, eyeing its every detail before a rot takes over my gut.

My hands shake and I breathe in a panic as I realize. The stomach aches. The night he left. No, no, no. That can’t be right. I can’t- This can’t happen to me right now.

The dress falls from my hands, as I prop myself up on a wall. I hold my belly as I try to keep my stomach in from the pure fear I felt.

I’ve been so stressed I didn’t even notice.

I hadn’t bled in three months.

Oh, maybe

Maybe (Maybe, maybe, maybe)

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