#nate’s lying about his job and lying about his brother. what else is he lying about then? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sincerelylivvv · 2 years

Text

pairing: nate jacobs x fem!reader

summary: the one where reader doesn't realize how toxic the relationship is until nate fucks up and puts everything into perspective. based off the song 'blue' by madison beer.

warnings: toxic relationship, nate accidently hits reader, nate fights another guy

word count: 5,871

I was always blue behind the red-blood stain on my lips

You were always green with envy, saw right through the tenderness

We were like a California sunset, fated to die any minute

Gettin' rid of you might be the best thing I ever did

Nathaniel Jacobs was most definitely one of a kind. He was your standard golden boy; good looking, athletic, had a successful family, and was well known amongst the community. But as much of a golden boy as he was, he certainly came with his flaws. He was hot-headed, possessive, crude, reckless.

Even with his flaws, you still became enraptured with him. He gave you attention, the kind that made every girl swoon, her heart beat a little faster, and gave those infamous butterflies.

Nathaniel Jacobs swore that you were one in a billion. Looked at you dead in the eyes when he told you for the first time. The smile that came from you couldn't help but make his mind race at the thought of the endless possibilities. A family, a nice house that would be picked by you of course, and a great job that only millions could dream of ever having. He wouldn't want you to work though. Not that he felt you should stay home to be the classic stay-at-home mom, but he wanted you to live a life of relaxation, peace, not having anything in the fucking world to worry about. He was a man who wanted, craved even, to provide for the ones he loved; his someday family. He loved you to the moon and back and would do anything to keep you with him. You had him wrapped around your constantly manicured finger, and strangely enough, he was okay with that.

Nathaniel Jacobs promised he would never hurt you. You weren't someone he could find somewhere else, there was nobody on earth that would, or could, replace you.

But people change when they're shitfaced. They get more truthful, more real, not as covered up as they usually were, you know, realistically and metaphorically.

Shit comes out, shit blows up, and that's what happened at the college party the two of you went to.

You and Nate were still high schoolers, but he had extensive connections, and as a person who parties a lot, those connections become pretty vast. He asked you to come with him, picked out an outfit and everything, ogled as you did your makeup, and fucked you moments after you had it done, but again, shit happens.

The party was more than you thought it would be. There were sweaty bodies everywhere you turned, no air, drugs, alcohol, but God, would you be lying if you said you didn't have a damn good time.

Nate wouldn't leave your side, not even for a second. Wherever you went, he was sure to follow. But when you're at a college party, surrounded by so many college guys that would probably be worth more of your time and would snatch you up the moment he left, it's hard to find the okay to dip, even if he would be back pretty soon after that.

Nate ran into a close friend of his, if that's what you want to call it. He didn't consider a lot of people, if not the majority of them, friends. They were more of assholes he just kind of used for whatever reason whenever the time. They got to talking, and you got bored. You told him you'd be right back, just going to get you two a few drinks, and left a swift kiss on his cheek. Somewhere along the way, you ran into a friend of your brothers. He grew with him, so he was around a lot. And before you knew it, the two of you got to talking. Making light-hearted jokes and easy conversation. He asked basic questions, how've you been, how's your brother doing, even asked about your parents. You answered in short sentences, not wanting to keep Nate waiting too long, but it was almost as if Nate could smell another guy talking to you, because there was no way on earth he could hear you two talking over the loud music. He came up out of nowhere, and wrapped a protective arm around your waist, sliding his hand into the band of your underwear, the ones he told you to go without, and pulled you closer to him.

You smiled up at him, the same bright one you had every time you saw him, and your eyes glistened with joy. "Nate, this is a friend of brother's. He grew up with us," Your eyes darted between the two of them rapidly, anxiety creeping in once you saw the dark look on Nate's face.

"Hey man, I'm Dalton," He was kind enough to stretch out a hand, despite being slightly nervous at the newfound man across from him. Nate grasped his hand in his own, slowly, gripping with the same unwavering stare that he had plastered on, and shook it. Dalton's hands were clammy, he noticed. Due to the hot air that bounced around or the nervousness or both, he didn't know or cared to think too much about.

"Nate Jacobs," the man to your left introduced. Nate oozed possessiveness and dislike.

"Right, heard a lot of great things about you. Y/N talks very highly of you." Nate hated him saying your name. He hated that he was so close to you and wasn't there earlier to guide you away. He hated Dalton most of all.

Dalton wasn't by any means a small or insecure person. He was built, being a football player and doing shotput when he did track and field in high school, and had plenty of confidence to go along with his build, and he didn't know much of Nathaniel Jacobs besides the fact he too, was a football player, and a good one. No matter how built or confident he was, he wasn't looking for a messy altercation with a man he just met, especially when he was dating the sister of a former best friend whom he hadn't talked to in who knows how long. He was just there for a good time, and wasn't looking to overstay his welcome.

You were shifting uneasily, your stomach turning from the anxiousness and the music was suddenly becoming way too loud. The alcohol in your hand didn't calm your nerves no matter how much you took, and Nate had yet to let up his hard stare. "We were just catching up, he asked how Trent was-"

"I don't care. We're leaving," He gripped you a little too hard, and it made you flinch in surprise. Nate wasn't one to be so rough with you, and Dalton noticed the way you blinked up at him with pain tinging at your eyes.

"Woah, hey man, no need to get upset. I was just asking her-"

Nate didn't know what caused him to lash out, but before he knew it, he was throwing a punch at the guy you had been having a calm conversation with moments before. Your drink had been knocked out of your hand somewhere along the way, or maybe you had dropped it from shock. You tried to regain your composure as quick as you could and stumbled over to the two as they grappled at one another.

"Nate, stop," Your eyes were beginning to well up with tears and you tried hard not to blink, not to release those droplets of water and salt. But you were done for as soon as Nate's fist swung back and hit you straight on the nose. The hit was sickeningly loud, and you swore something may have even crunched, but the tears were soon falling as well as thick loads of blood. You yelped in pain, your feet stumbling back from the force of the hit and you fell into the body of another onlooker.

Nate froze as soon as he realized what he did, the man under him being forgotten about, and his head whipped around to look at you.

You couldn't decipher the look in his eyes, maybe because of your now blurry vision or the alcohol that was coursing through your queezy system. You grasped your nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding and try not to show too much of your hurt expression, but it didn't do much. Everyone saw what had happened, and now word will quickly spread that Nate Jacobs provoked an unneeded fight and hit his girlfriend in the process. Your parents would flip. They were already upset with the two of you after the pregnancy scare that had happened and him showing up to your doorstep completely and utterly plastered. Everyone at school would be talking about it, and you were sure a video had already been posted to someones social media showing what had happened.

There would be no getting out of it, and that terrified you.

Nate got off of Dalton somewhat slowly, terrified to approach you. To let the realization of what happened sink in. His father would be pissed, your parents would try to keep you from him. His future would be put in jeopardy. Would he still have his place on the football team? He didn't know for sure and he hated that he had to now worry about that as well as the oncoming rocky relationship that would be coming his way. Would you ever forgive him? Would he ever forgive himself? He would never intentionally hurt you like that.

You got up as quickly as you could, and walked out, pushing through the bodies that circled the three of you. The door could not have been any farther. It seemed that no matter how many steps you took, as quick as you moved, it moved away faster. Your hand reached the doorknob after what seemed like years. Time slowed down so much more, and you twisted the silver sphere with as much force as you could manage and pulled it open.

Nate was in a daze until he realized how far away you were now, and sprinted after you. He found you getting into the truck he brought you in. He grasped your wrist, the one that had been brought back down to your side after you opened the door. Your head darted back to him faster than you would have cared for, your mind now spinning and your eyes not being able to focus on your boyfriend. You tried to pull your wrist away, but his grip got stronger.

"Get off of me!" You tried to sound like you weren't hurting, like you were nasally from the hit to your nose, like your heart wasn't breaking into pieces.

No matter how pathetic you thought you sounded, he dropped your wrist. Your tears fell faster, your shoulders shaking in sadness and fear. He wanted to reach out, to hug you, to tell you he was sorry, but he couldn't move. Couldn't take his eyes off of the sight in front of him. He hated himself at that moment, you both knew. And as much as you wanted his comfort, his apologies, you wanted to get home even more. To curl up in your bed, shut your phone off for a week at the very least to avoid the messages and calls. You wouldn't be able to show your face at school, and you doubted that your parents would even let you go after the events of tonight. You could already feel the area around your nose starting to swell, your eyes beginning to get puffy from the crying.

"Y/N, I-" You shook your head at him, not wanting to hear him. Not wanting to talk.

"Just take me home," Your voice was so quiet. If he hadn't been so focused on you, he probably wouldn't have been able to hear you. He was gonna help you into the vehicle, thinking that was the least he could do in that moment, but you were already in the truck by the time he worked himself to move towards you. He closed the door for you, your right hand still being held over your gushing nose.

You had your eyes closed, and tried to think about anything other than what was actually happening. You were forced out of your thoughts once you heard the door slam and felt the truck shake a little from Nate getting in. It was quiet for a few moments, which you were thankful for. The only noise being Nate's heavy breathing.

Nate started the truck, the engine rumbling to life. Cool air was blasting on your face from the air conditioning and Nate slowly moved from his parking spot, careful not to cause any more hurt to you. The exhaustion weighed heavy, your eyes became more relaxed and you somehow fell asleep. The drive was only about 45 minutes, but Nate knew you could use the sleep. He parked beside your house and was tempted to wake you up. Your nose was no longer bleeding, your eyes stopped dropping the tears he hated so much. He let out a heavy and much-needed breath. His head dropped back against the headrest and he closed his eyes. It was only for a few moments, the front porch light being flicked on and it woke the two of you out of the rest you were taking. Your eyes blinked a few times in an attempt to adjust to the dim light outside of the truck. Nate wasn't looking at you, didn't notice that your eyes were now open. He didn't move until he heard the click of the door to his right. You didn't say anything before you got out, you were still tired and upset, and you had every right to be. He wouldn't rush you to talk to him, he doesn't even know what he'd say if you did.

You closed the car door behind you and stalked to your front door. Your eyes were squinted just a little and you opened the front door as quickly as you could. You didn't turn around once, didn't spare him a glance as you went inside. He didn't follow you, he knew you needed space. He'd give it to you of course.

It took days for you to start coming out of your shell. Your sister asked plenty of questions about what happened, none of which you bothered to answer. She was a freshman so you knew she had already seen the video, and that proved that there actually had been a video that made its way around school. It was like a disease, or a cancer. It was on the internet for anybody to see. And of course, the disease took a hold of you. You didn't talk to anyone for a while. Your friends were worried, as were your parents. You made your sister promise she wouldn't show the video to them. Nate was already under enough heat, the last thing he needed right now were charges from your vengeful mother and father.

No one was home today. Your sister was at school and your parents at work. You were downstairs, grabbing ice for your still swelled nose when you heard a knock against your door. You stilled, your shoulders tensed, and the ice was now long forgotten. Your sock-covered feet shuffled towards the front door. You peeked through the windows that lined the door, trying to see who it was. You identified the person as the mailman that wandered through the neighborhood when he needed to. It was cloudy and a little dark that day, it seemed to be every day that you didn't see Nate. It was like a complete reflection of how you felt. You were blue and sad. You opened the door hesitantly, and the mailman smiled politely once he saw you. The smile dropped a little when he noticed the condition you were in. It was hard not to notice the puffy and bruised areas on either side of your nose.

He cleared his throat and glanced down at his feet before looking back up at you. "I uh, have a package here for you. Just needs to be signed off on." He held the notepad out to you and gave you a pen to write with. You signed it with curiosity and handed both objects back to you, after which he gave you the small box. You closed the door, not bothering to give him a goodbye, and went to your room. The TV in front of your bed was still playing the show you put on, and you grabbed a pair of scissors to open the box with. Inside it held a gray bag of plastic, which was opened and thrown onto the floor. There was another box. It was black and a soft velvet. You lifted the lid and found a necklace inside. It was silver and small and it held the finest cut diamonds. You sighed, knowing who sent it to you, and sat on your bed. The box that was previously sitting on your bed fell, and when you peaked over, to pick it up, there had been a note. It was sitting face up and with an arched eyebrow, you picked it up with a clammy hand. It was a simple 'I'm sorry, and I love you'. It didn't have a name, but again, you didn't need one. Tears pricked at your eyes in response. You hated what he did to you, but you loved him. No matter what, you always would. And you despised that. You were half tempted to take the necklace and send it back or throw it away. But it was a gift and it was beautiful. And you thought maybe this was a start to things going back to normal. If things could ever go back to normal, you thought bitterly.

Nate wasn't the same either. Some days he'd be quiet and still, his mind not saying or thinking much. Other days, he'd be easily angered and quick to resort to violence. But he wasn't the same Nate. He hadn't heard from you in about two weeks. You didn't show up to school, didn't talk to anybody, and he honestly never saw you outside your house. He would go by every so often and see if you were doing anything.

He didn't mean to get jealous, envious of the guy you were talking to. It was just a fucking party and he shouldn't have overreacted the way he did. But he was drunk and stupid. So stupid, he thought. He heard conversations about you that night. How hot you looked in your outfit, how good you'd be in bed, how funny it would be to free the angel from the beast. Nate got angry. It didn't matter who it was, you wouldn't have let anything happen. As soon as you felt uncomfortable, you'd find him and you'd tell him all about it like you always do. You two would laugh at your story, sometimes he would get angry, not at you, but the guys who would talk about you like that. And it would more often than not lead to sex. But never would you cheat on him. You hated how he got so jealous and angry so easily, but you would never resort to leaving him and moving on to someone else.

But you'd be lying if you said that it wasn't a little nice to be without him. You didn't have to deal with the anger and the resentment he constantly felt towards everyone. It was a little refreshing. It was like you could finally breathe. In a metaphorical sense, considering your nose and everything.

You had returned to school the next day, the swelling had gone down over the almost two weeks, and the bruising had faded enough to cover it with makeup. You parked your car in a different spot than you usually did. You always parked your car next to Nate's, when you drove. Sometimes he picked you up. You drove an Audi e-Tron GT. Electric, expensive. Your dad owned a car dealership, an expensive one, so it wasn't too much of an issue. Your mom was a plastic surgeon, and a pretty good one.

People talked, they gossiped. Some saw that you didn't have any marks on your face and that you were making up that Nate hit you and it was all just a rumor. Like you were out to destroy his life. Others say that you just didn't want to show up to school because you and Nate broke up after you had supposedly cheated on him. The rest called Nate a woman beater, and to you, those were the worst. He hadn't meant to hit you, to cause you pain and anguish. No matter how hard it was, you ignored the rumors and avoided the questions. The video had been taken down, due to Nate and his buddies you figured. You were kind of thankful for it, even if it gave those rumors life and sparked more drama.

You and Nate had a few classes together. Those were gonna be difficult to get through, you concluded. It was gonna be almost impossible to avoid him. But maybe the confrontation was needed.

He saw you during first period. It was an English class. And while the two of you always sat together in the back of the class, you opted for the front this time. You were beside another girl, a quiet one who didn't talk shit or ask prying questions like everyone else had been that day. And you were thankful for it. But of course, you and Nate not sitting together had people talking even more. Were the rumors true? Had you and Nate broken up? Most people thought so at this point.

Nate didn't take his eyes off of you, not once. He couldn't tell you what the teacher was droning on about for the life of him. His sole focus was you. He wanted to talk to you, to hear you say something to him. Anything, at all. He'd rather be told that you hated him, despised him, and hoped he'd burn in a ditch than for you to not say anything at all. No matter how hard he stared and wished for you to turn around and so much as even glance at him, you didn't. Not once. You focused on the lesson, filling in the notes handout that the teacher had given you all. It took your mind off of everything. You silenced the thoughts and muted the whispers.

And I was seein' us in a silent movie

Takin' off our gloves like a violent crime scene

Diamonds in the cut always know how to fool me

Oh, honey

You had managed to avoid him. He didn't push, left you to your own devices. You made it to 8th period before you were done for the day and went home. Skipping the rest of your classes wasn't the best idea, but it beat staying in the constant loop of ignoring your friends, your boyfriend, and all the gossip that was still spreading. You got home quickly, speeding just a little bit, and it didn't take long for you to change out of your clothes. Your bed was a relief. The soft padding and warm sheets a comfort. Your fairy lights twinkled around you and a soft hum of music came from your Bluetooth speaker. The events of the last two weeks were like a movie or a reality TV show. And as much as you hated it, you were the main character. It wasn't anything new, though. Dating the high school's golden boy and being well known within your community didn't make hiding in the shadows possible at all. You decided you would take a nap, that it was needed and well deserved.

The slam of a car door woke you hours later. You knew it would be Nate. He was bound to show up at some point. Your sister was already home, in her room more likely than not. Nate didn't bother to knock on the front door. He was determined this time. He told himself he wouldn't force you to talk to him, but he expected you to talk to him at some point that day. And because you didn't, he decided to start the confrontation. It was no surprise to you. Nate did knock on your bedroom door, however, and heard you mumble a small 'come in'. Your back was facing him, hair spread around you. You were gazing out your window and didn't look at him right away. He sat down beside you on the other side of your mattress. His back too faced away from you. You didn't say anything and waited for him to speak up first. He was the one to come to you.

"I'm so sorry." That was all he said. He didn't mention the necklace or the note or you not speaking to him for so long.

You didn't reply right away. But he could feel the bed shift and turned his body to look at you.

You didn't look at him when you sat up. "For what?" You whispered back. You hated when he did this, when anyone did this. When someone would apologize but not own up to what they were sorry for.

"You know what for." He mumbled.

"It's been a while, remind me," You were testing him, he knew that. And while he loved you, he also hated apologizing.

He didn't say anything after that and you scoffed. "If you're gonna be a dick, you can leave." You were already fed up with the conversation, and you could tell he was too. He was getting irritated, he wanted a calm conversation but the way you were handling this pissed him off.

"I came here to try and make things right and you're acting like a bitch." Anger rolled off of him in vicious waves. You tensed and narrowed your eyes.

"You can't even form a sound apology, and I'm the bitch?"

"I spend thousands on a fucking necklace for you and I don't even get so much as a thank you. Then I come over to apologize because, for some reason unknown to me, you can't come up to me and say even a fucking word. Like I'm not good enough to lick the dirt off your shoe." You were both standing up at this point, eyes glaring holes into each other.

"A fucking necklace doesn't really make up for hitting your girlfriend, Jacobs. If I wanted, I could have you on your knees begging me to forgive you. You'd be in jail right now if it wasn't for me."

But I know when to run, run, run

I know when to run, run, run

When my makeup does, when my makeup does

"Please. You're just like any other bitch. Easy and replaceable. Get off you're high horse for once and realize you're not that fucking important. I could have another one of you by tomorrow. Another girl to hang off my arm and suck me off-" You had heard enough. The slap was loud and seemed to boom throughout your otherwise quiet house. There was a clear handprint on his right cheek.

"Get out." Your voice wasn't as loud as it was before, it was cool and collected. It held a newfound malice, and unbeknownst to you, your sister was leaning against your door frame watching the altercation.

"Excuse me?" He looked at you closely, took a few steps forward, his body towering over your much smaller one.

"You heard her, you piece of shit." Your sister made herself known and had her phone in her hand. "I push a button and the police come. Your ass becomes grass."

Nate whipped around to look at her, disbelief clear on his face, and he scoffs. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh Y/N?" He shakes his head and walks out. His head is still held high and his back straight.

It was the slam of the front door that completely broke you. The dams broke and your knees gave way under you. Your sister was beside you in an instant.

You clung to her like a life source, like she was the only person on earth. No words were said, and you appreciated that. You didn't want to hear anything, you just wanted to cry. Screams tore from your throat until no more noise was able to be made. Your sister almost started crying with you. She had never seen you in such a state. You always held your composure and had never broken down like this before. She also never saw Nate treat you like that before, either. He handled you with such care and gentleness and had not once disrespected you so much. He loved you. Whenever he had questions about you, what you liked, what your dream date was, your favorite color, he would always go to her for answers. He would text her asking what to do now that he fucked up so much, she was sure of it.

The makeup you had on from earlier that day was running now. Tears mixed with mascara and snot took off any concealer you had on.

You two fell asleep together, curled up in a ball with a light blanket the younger girl pulled off your bed draped over your bodies. She still had you in her arms and your head resting in the crevice of her neck.

You woke with a slight jolt, hearing your door open. Your sister was still asleep you saw and looked over to see who it was that woke you from your slumber.

Your mother stood in the doorway with a slight frown on her face, she was confused, you noticed, but if you walked in and saw yourself in such a condition, you would be too.

"Dinner's ready, hun." She didn't say anything else and you wondered if you wanted to go downstairs and have to face your parents. Their questions would be one after another, but you figured if you were crying so much and looked as devastated as you were, they probably already knew it was Nate that did that to you.

You could feel the body underneath you shift and you knew that she was awake. Her hand ran through your hair once before she yawned and sat up straighter.

"Shit, my back hurts." You moved off of her to give her the chance to stretch and you did the same. You didn't notice how stiff your shoulders were until then, as well as your neck, and you felt bad for the girl that was comforting you moments before.

"Sorry," you mumbled. Your throat was dry and sore, and you knew there would be no way you were going to school the next day. It would be a Friday, so you could have the weekend to recollect and move on. Or try to, at least.

"Don't be. You don't have to apologize for shit. That dickbag does, though." Your sister shook her head, remembering what had happened and what he said to you. She should have called the cops before speaking up, but she didn't want to put you through what would be even more of a mess.

"I have a feeling after today that won't be happening." You didn't know how at that moment, but you knew he'd pop back up sooner or later. He always does. He'll victimize himself and force you to say something first. Make you make the first move. You'd refuse. If you had to run away, you would. Anything to get away from him. As soon as the makeup runs, so do you.

I was always blue behind the black mascara that I cry

You could be as sweet as honey, but I knew the darkness in your mind

We were like a gorgeous bed of roses, ready to die any minute

Gettin' rid of you might be the best thing I ever did

Getting rid of Nate was almost too easy. He made no attempt to talk to you or reconcile even in the slightest. It almost made you think he was truly over you and the words he spoke that afternoon were true. There was no way he wouldn't retaliate, though. He was too petty and prideful not to. He was conjuring something up. You didn't know what and you didn't know when it'd happen, but it was inevitable.

Not being with him anymore cleared your mind. It made you realize a lot of things. You ranted to your sister about all the shit he did in the past, and she pointed out how toxic and unhealthy it was. It put everything into perspective. How he'd make you feel like shit one moment and then make you feel like you were queen of the world the next. And that wasn't okay. No one said relationships were supposed to be easy, but they also shouldn't have been that bad. You realized that the day you got his necklace that you had been blue many times before. No matter how much concealer, eyeshadow, and mascara you put on, you were still always sad. And you realized that all the tears you cried that day he came over and everything went to hell was more than what happened. It was all those frustrations and all that sadness built up. You can't hold back the flood once the dam breaks, and that's exactly what happened then.

You always knew there was something more to him, but your enamored heart ignored it and shut down the logic in your brain.

The conclusions you made the day before about him retaliating, quickly came to life. He found someone else, you thought bitterly. "I cannot fucking believe him," Maddy shook you out of your trance. She scoffed at the new girl he had, their hands intertwined. You didn't know much about the girl, she was in drama club but wasn't into parties. She was susceptible and naive. Nate would dig his claws into her at some point, and she'd be the next victim. You and Maddy knew better than anyone else how the story went. He'd woo her, make her feel special, and then crush her from the inside out. If she was smart, she'd get out as soon as she had the chance. Not give him any hint of her leaving and watch him eat shit.

You shrug, "Doesn't concern me. He's someone else's problem now. The heat from what happened between the two of us will be drawn off and we can go about our merry lives." Maddy's eyes flickered over your face. She didn't understand how you could be so okay after everything that's happened.

She knew you would move on, too. Find someone else and live happily with them. She just hoped Nathaniel Jacobs would mind his fucking business when you did so.

a/n: first imagine, please like and repost if you enjoyed it. imma try to knock some more out sometime soon. if you have any requests, feel free to send them in. lemme know what you thought. thank you for reading my lovelies <3

#nate jacobs x reader #nate jacobs imagine #nate jacobs #maddy perez #euphoria #euphoria imagine #euphoria x reader #jacob elordi #jacob elordi imagine #jacob elordi x reader

2K notes · View notes

rebelwrites · 3 years

Text

Chapter One: The Aftermath

Summary // Chapter List/Masterlist

A/N: so here it is, the first chapter of can love save a life. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. And I hope you fall in love with Brooke and Xavier. I would really appreciate your feedback on this as I know it’s not fanfiction.

Enjoy 💜

Join The TagList Here 💜

Laying in the middle of the double bed, Brooke rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. It was far too early in the morning to be awake yet here she was. Rudely awoken by her brother screaming her name from downstairs.

"God dammit" she groaned, fumbling around on the nightstand to find her glasses before shouting back at her older brother “gimme a minute bro”

"Hurry up we are waiting for you" he replied before letting out a loud sigh letting her know that he was pissed off.

Rolling out of bed her feet landed on the floor with a thud, wiggling her toes in the fluffy rug, she reached for the oversized hoodie that was hanging off the foot of her bed. Shrugging the garment over her shoulders she grabbed her phone checking the time.

7.06am.

“There better be a fire” she muttered to herself as she pushed herself off the bed trying to work out what had her family dragging her out of bed before the sun had even risen.

As Brooke got closer to the kitchen she could hear the hush voices of her parents, she couldn’t hear the full conversation but heard the words bike and confiscate , just from them two words she knew that somehow they had found out about the late night adventure from last night an judging by their tone she knew how this was going to go.

Pulling her blonde hair over her shoulder, she pushed the door open to the kitchen, instantly meeting the scowls off her parents. Unhappy wouldn’t even cover the atmosphere in the room. The tension made Brooke feel uncomfortable, as she poured herself a much needed mug of coffee before she faced the impending doom.

"Why do you do it to yourself B" her dad sighed, receiving a shrug off his daughter.

“Look just let me at least get a sip of coffee before you start screaming” Brooke huffed, bringing the mug to her lips. Letting the nectar from the gods touch her soul.

“Brooke” her mother scolded, making Brooke roll her eyes as she sat down at the kitchen table.

“Look I’m young, I want to go out and have fun and thought that hitting the track would be fun” she shrugged taking another sip of coffee “but obviously not, I mean how did you find out what I did last night anyway”

Silence was what she was met with as her father slammed down the newspaper for the day on the table in front of her.

“Delinquent trouble makers break into race track causing chaos”

“You know you get followed by the press with Marvin’s status in the business world” her said sighed “and you think it’s smart to break into the race track, I’m honestly surprised the owner doesn’t want to press charges”

And there it was, the one line she was waiting for. The line that got said every time she did something they didn’t approve of.

Brooke loved her brother and was proud of his achievements but there was a constant feeling of suffocation with the press always trailing her alongside people expecting so much from her.

“Sorry I’m a disappointment” Brooke shrugged, not making eye contact with the people that she called family. “I guess that’s what you get when you get a kid from the pound”

“Bee please don’t say that” Marvin said, placing his hand on her arm as she fumbled with the sleeves of her hoodie.

“We all know it’s true” Brooke snapped “we all know that I will never achieve greatness, I will forever be known as the troublemaker. I mean I’m not even a true Crawford let’s face it. Sometimes I don’t even know who I am anymore”

“Brooke,” her dad said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Look I had fun last night, I was doing what I love and the only thing that makes me happy. Now if you don’t mind I will take this paper because I want to frame it” she smirked, taking the paper off the table, before pulling her cigarettes out of her pocket. In desperate need of some nicotine.

"Young lady this isn't funny I have the right mind to take your keys of you and sell that stupid bike" her mum shouted. “Ever since you brought that thing it has brought nothing but trouble”

It looks could kill, then the person Brooke called her mother would be dead. Holding eye contact she slid the chair back causing the metal legs to make an ear piercing noise as it scraped along the marble tiles.

“Do you know what, I don’t have to sit here and take this” Brooke snapped “I’m going to go for a smoke and you know work on my stupid bike seen as I have my first race coming up”

Walking into the garage, which was attached to the side of the house. Brooke rolled the door up before lighting her cigarette, a smile creeped onto her face as her gaze landed on her white Kawasaki Ninja sitting proud on the bike stand.

Checking the date on her phone, letting a sigh escape her lips. It was a month until her debut race, the thought sickened her from the nerves, it would be make or break for her. Glancing over to the whiteboard with the list of things she needed to do to the bike. She thought time was on her side but in reality she only had a few weeks to complete the tasks.

As she finished her smoke, her mind was racing. She knew that she would never achieve as much as her brother. She didn’t have the best upbringing, no recollection of her childhood before she was eight years old. Squeezing her eyes closed, she pushed the memories down she couldn’t relive the years of torture it, was bad enough she was still having nightmares but never told her parents because they would never believe her.

Pressing her phone against her ear, the dull dialling tone rang until the groan of her best friend Luna greeted her.

“Please tell me you can tell the time” Luna grumbled.

“Stop groaning” Brooke laughed “look I need yours and Nate’s help with the ninja”

“Girl stop lying, you just want to see my brother bent over your bike” she laughed.

“I’m not afraid to stab you,” Brooke smirked.

“I know” Luna sighed dramatically “be there in ten, good job I love you bitch”

Hours had passed, things were getting completed and the bonus was Nate was working topless. Brooke couldn’t help but smirk as they kept making eye contact, causing her to feel like a giddy teenager.

Hearing the sound of her mother shouting her name, Brooke sighed as you dropped the spanner back into the tool box.

“Ready for round two I guess, I will see you both tomorrow” Brooke huffed “well that’s if I don’t get killed tonight”

“Keep your chin up Princess” Nate said pulling Brooke into a hug, placing a kiss on the top of her head. She swore her heart had skipped a beat.

Trudging back into the house, Brooke went back into the kitchen to find her family still sat around the table.

“You wanted me?” She said grabbing a drink from the fridge.

"B we want you to go live with a friend of a friend for a bit" her father said with no emotion in his voice.

Anger ran through her veins as she kicked the chair across the room, watching it crash into the sliding glass door, causing the glass to shatter.

“You have got to be shitting me” she snapped “just because I don’t act like you want me to. You are shipping me off just like everyone else did”

"We have booked your tickets, you fly tomorrow" her mum said in a whisper.

“Fuck you all” Brooke spat before running through the frame of the glass door.

Everything she loved, she was being ripped away from. Without even a thought for her. She should have been used to the pain of abandonment by now but this one stung worse than the rest. These were the people who became her family, for the last seven years they were the ones she thought were in her corner and had her back. Turns out this wasn’t the case.

Slumping against the large oak tree, Brooke pulled at her hair before screaming into the air. Leaning her head against the rough bark as she sparked a cigarette letting her mind wander to what was the last night of freedom.

Leaning against her bike, Brooke watched as her best friend ran full speed towards her.

“Bitch look out" Luna screamed as she jumped over the wall coming within millimetres away from crashing into Brooke’s bike.

“Girl what have I told you about the bike" Brooke scolded Luna as a smirk played on her lips.

"You and this bloody bike B" Luna laughed as she snatched the helmet out of Brooke’s hand securing it on her head “Where to then?”

"Well my friend we are gonna take little ninja here to the track and see what she can do" Brooke smirked as she flicked the visor on her helmet down.

Looking ahead as Luna wrapped her arms around Brooke’s waist, under the helmet Brooke was grinning like a teenager as she saw Nate’s car, followed by the flash of the headlights.

“Hold on bitch” Brooke shouted back to Luna as she squeezed the throttle, speeding past Nate’s car.

Soon enough they pulled up at the gates of the track, her foot felt for the kickstand. Flicking the visor on her helmet up she pulled the paper clip out of her leather jacket. One of Brooke’s many skills was lock picking. However her breath got caught in her throat as she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist.

"Hey trouble ready to have some fun" Nate breathed down her ear.

“Stop distracting me” Brooke giggled as she continued to work the lock.

“But it’s fun” Nate whispered, his lips grazing Brooke’s ear as he spoke, his thumbs running over the waistband of her shorts.

"Let's do this" Brooke grinned as she finally cracked the lock.

#rebel writes original #can love save a life?#writer #writing community #romance #love #motorcycle club romance #mc romance #slow burn ish #I don’t know what to bloody tag this as help me

31 notes · View notes

fookinfandoms · 4 years

Text

When in Rome | Samuel Drake

Part One! Next chapters will most likely have smut.

Posted on Ao3! Find me on there!

Warnings: Language, mentions of violence.

Taglist: @courtenbae <3

____________________________________

You weren’t sure why Nate had asked for you to fly to Italy of all places.

But you weren’t exactly complaining. Italy had always been on your bucket list, but you wouldn’t be lying if you thought you’d be here under different terms. The hotels were booked under your name, and Sully had organised the limo.

It had been some time since you had done any jobs for your friend, and the idea of dressing up always excited you. You were an I.T specialist, and Nate specifically favoured your hacking skills.

Having hacked the auction system, you had successfully gotten not only your name, but Sully’s on the guest list. Nate insisted he had his own way in, and you didn’t question him.

You had been friends with the Drake since you were both teenagers, having met him when he was running around with his older brother Sam. Speaking of the older Drake, reading over text that Sam was alive and well wasn’t exactly something you were expecting, but it made you happy nonetheless. You hadn’t seen him since before his departure to Panama, and that was well over fifteen years ago.

Fifteen years.

You were 34 now, and at 19 years old you were always the butt of every joke with Samuel. He would tease you constantly about preferring the technical side of life, or how your glasses were to big for your head, or how you dressed like a grandma.

That part of you was gone. Doing the hard labour as well as the hacking was apart of your resume, Nate even using you as a distraction a handle of times during his work. You just prayed that the night didn’t end bad, not exactly liking the idea of having to climb or shoot your way out in such a tight outfit.

Dressed in a floor length red dress, your back exposed and the neckline a little too deep for your liking, you make your way across the floor with Sully at your side. He was to open a window and let the brothers in and so you excused yourself, making your way to the bar. Your heels clicked against the ground, and you ignored the eyes on you as you stand by a stool.

Ordering yourself a scotch on the rocks, the bartender makes some comment about ordering such a strong drink, and you laugh him off. It was a ‘look the part - play the part situation’ and he winks at you as you say thank you in Italian. Taking the drink and waiting near the bar, the doors in the back open, and you spot Nathan before you spot Sully and Sam.

Sam.

He looked good. Unfortunately for you, there was that small part of you that had crushed on the older man. He wasn’t older than you by a lot, but when you were 19, the idea of liking your friends older brother never felt right. Age had been kind to him, and It didn’t help that the added years of muscle and tattoos made your eyes wide.

Stop it.

You’re not some horny teenager.

Ordering another drink for Sully, you continuing eyeing your friends before making your way over. Nate spotted you first, offering you a friendly smile as Sully copies him. Sam’s back was facing you, and as you’re about to stand between him and his brother, he turns around. His eyes roam every inch of your body, focusing a little more on the areas that would have earned him a slap had you been somebody else.

“Well hello gorgeous,” His accent was thicker than you remember, and you thought he was kidding until you saw Nate cringe from beside him. “Can I help you?”

Even Sully frowns at the Drake, and you raise your eyebrow at the man, realising he was in fact, not kidding. “Sam? It’s me… (Y/N)?”

His eyes widen, giving you a once over once more. He shakes his head at you, looking back at your companions as if waiting for one of them to say you were lying. “No fuckin’ way.”

“Yeah, guess getting old is fun huh?” You hand Sully his drink while Sam still looks at you in shock.

“I asked (Y/N) to give us a hand in all of this, she’s been quite the help over the years.” Nate speaks up, and you smile at him.

“Hang on a minute here, I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that this,” He waves his hand in your direction. “Is (Y/N), our little nerd (Y/N) with the big ass glasses.” He then shapes the glasses with his hands, and you can’t help but roll your eyes.

Still the same Sam.

“Yeah, it’s called contacts, they work wonders.” You chime in, and Sam just sighs, his hand sliding over his chin as he looks at you.

“Well you look stunning (Y/N), the years have definitely been good to you.” He, once again, glances at your body, eyebrow raising as you huff at him.

“You’re saying I was an ugly kid?”

“Not ugly at all, more that y-“ Nate interrupts his older brother, stopping him from embarrassing himself any further. You hate to admit it, but you definitely missed Sam and his stupid way of talking. He had always been the cocky bastard, and you were pleased that prison hadn’t killed that part of him.

“We gotta figure out how we’re getting in that door.” Sully points towards the door behind them, and you eye it, noticing its electronic.

“Give me a bit and I could get it open.” You offer, and Nate nods.

“That could work, you have your phone on you?” Nodding at him, you pat your small purse, but you quickly pretend to converse with Sam as the exact door you were talking about opens, a waiter leaving. He eyes your little group before making his way to the crowd.

He places his keycard in his back pocket, and you tilt your head towards it. “Or we could just take the card, that’ll save time.”

“(Y/N) thieving? You have changed.” Sam pipes up, and you wink at him.

“This isn’t my first rodeo.” It was true, you had a number of successful jobs up your sleeve.

“Do tell.” His voice get’s a little lower, and Nate clears his throat.

“We gotta get our hands on that keycard.” He points to the waiter, ignoring whatever conversation he just had to hear.

“Then what?” You ask, eyeing the waiter in the crowd.

“Sam’s going to play dress ups and Nate’s going to cut the power.” Sully answers, and you give him a slow nod.

Sounded like an easy plan. Both brothers go to move to pickpocket the waiter, Sam letting Nathan take the first attempt. Everybody watches as he sneaks up behind the man, but evidently fails as he walks off.

“Oh, real smooth.” Sam quips, and Nathan replies something about ‘not even trying yet.’

He tries again, and fails once more. The drake at your side chuckles at his brothers failure, looking down at you as he winks. “Wanna see something impressive? Keep watching sweetheart.”

Sam takes over, stalking the waiter as Nathan rolls his eyes. You cross your arms over, watching as the older brother attempts to pick pocket. Just like his brother, he fails and you chuckle, giving him a thumbs up as he frowns. He tries again, and the waiter turns around, looking at Sam in confusion. He says something to him, and the waiter points to the staircase.

The Drake excuses himself, making his way back to your group. “That was impressive Sam, I haven’t seen you eat absolute shit in fifteen years.”

He scoffs as the other men chuckle, and you sigh, handing your purse to the older man. Sully takes it, eyeing you as you fix your hair and perk your breasts up in your dress. Both Nate and Sully look away as they awkwardly cough, but Sam watches intently as you roll your eyes at him yet again.

“You’re gonna do a lift sweetheart?” He asks, and you ignore him, making your way over to the where the waiter was last standing.

He had walked further into the crowd, and you grabbed a glass of champagne from another passing waiter as you spot him.

“Does she know what she’s doing?” Sam asks his brother, and Nathan nods before shushing him, focusing on the lift.

You make a beeline for the man, and before you know it you’ve stumbled into him, right hand grabbing the keycard from his back pocket as your left hand raises the glass higher. He turns around instantly, and you’ve already shoved the keycard up your sleeve when your right hand grabs onto his shoulder in a fake attempt to steady yourself.

"Mi dispiace!” You purposely make the pronunciation sound loose, and immediately his attention is on you. Eyes wandering over you as you give him your best smile. Drama was never your specialty, but men were stupid when it came to a pretty face.

Your boys watch as the waiter attempts to make sure you’re okay, staring up at you in your high heels. You’re touching his shoulder still, apologising profusely for running into him, blaming it on somebody who pushed you.

“Oh she’s good,” Sam remarks, and Sully nods at him, all still watching you. “Now why can’t you do that Nathan?”

“Because I don’t have boo-You know what? Shut up.” Nathan scoffs at his older brother, and before he knows it, you’re already on your way back the them.

Pulling out the keycard from your sleeve, you hand it to Sully, an amused expression on your face. “Never send a Drake to do a woman’s job.”

“Your words hurt me.” Sam holds his hand over his heart, and you scoff at him, nudging him with your elbow.

“Nice work,” Nathan nods at you. “We ready?”

You all nod at him and as Sully goes to open the door, you stop him, pulling out a bunch of earpieces from your purse. “We’ll still need these.”

Nate mutters a ‘great’ as they all take one, placing in their ear. You do the same, hiding the piece with your hair. The brothers leave through the door, leaving you with Sully.

“Testing that you boys can hear me.” You speak casually, your older companion nodding at you as you hear Nate through your earpiece.

“Loud and clear (Y/N).” His voice comes out clear, and you smile to yourself.

Sam however doesn’t say anything, and apart of you was worried you had gotten a faulty piece. “Samuel?”

“Yes princess?” He chuckle comes through, and you sigh. Pet names? Gone were the days he called you four eyes.

“Asshole, answer me when I talk.” You order, not liking the idea of being left in the dark.

“Demanding, I like it,” He replies, and you’re about to say something when you hear a thump, and Sam grunts. “O-Ow, what was that for?”

Both you and Sully roll your eyes, knowing Nathan must’ve smacked upside the head.

“Thank you Nate.” You reach for another champagne, Sully sticking close to you.

“Again, your words hurt me.” Sam mumbles, and you go to speak again when an unfamiliar woman comes up behind Sully.

“Hands in the air,” You tense as Sully turns around. “Hi Victor.”

“Hello Nadine, pleasure to see you again.” He greets her, and you relax a little realising he knows her.

She says some more, as does he and you step closer to your friend. The woman, Nadine, eyes you warily, and Sully clears his throat.

“Nadine, this is my goddaughter, (Y/N),” He then points back at the woman. “This is an old associate of mine, Nadine.”

“Goddaughter?” She asks, and you nod at her, smiling up at Sully.

“That would be me, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Her accent was thick, and she turns her attention back to the older gentleman, talking more about the event and being dressed up. She offers to buy him a drink and he accepts, and she surprises you as she offers you one, but you politely decline.

She walks off, and Sully immediately warns the boys about her and her organisation ‘Shoreline’. It was an army for hire, but Nadine herself looked like she can handle a fight if need be.

“Come back to us in one piece boys.” You mumble, taking another sip of your champagne.

“Have some faith princess, we’re pros.” Sam answers, and you bite your tongue to refrain from bringing up the whole ‘incarcerated for fifteen years’.

______________________

All within an hour, you and Sully had a run in with a Rafe Adler, and at first he seemed alright until he threw Sully’s drink from his hand. He was a rich little daddies boy who had a hard on for Avery’s treasure, and the idea of competition didn’t excite him.

He even went as far as to try and converse with you, asking why such a pretty thing was hanging around Victor. Rafe didn’t buy the goddaughter story, but he continued talking to you. If it weren’t for Samuel yelling in your ear telling you to walk away, you would’ve stuck your heel in his foot instantly.

Rafe excused himself when the auctioneer announced they were starting, threatening Sully once more before walking off.

“Asshole.” You muttered, sending daggers in his direction.

“You alright (Y/N)?” Sam asks, and you notice his voice sounds a lot clearer.

You look around spotting him in a waiters uniform, you nod at him with a small smile. “I’m okay, nice outfit.”

He rolls his eyes as he lifts a tray in his hand. “Might keep it, you into role-play?”

Sully clears his throat, and you both chuckle at the man.

Some time passed, both Rafe and Sully bidding against each other for the cross. You made your way towards the backdoor, waiting for Nathan to cut the power. As if on cue, the power goes out and you open the door, Sam and Sully behind you in what seemed like seconds.

The lift went smoothly. The power turned back on, and you hear Rafe shouting from the other side. As the three of you begin to walk fast, you take off your heels, holding them in your hand as you follow after the men.

A fight in heels didn’t sound particularly fun, and you stop when you reach a corridor. “Sully,” You nod towards the door. “We’ll get Nathan, think you can get a car ready?”

“I can do that.” You hand him your heels, and he shakes his head at you, taking them carefully. He runs into the direction of the door, and you bend over, ripping the side of your dress so you could run.

“Wow-wow, not that I’m complaining but what’re you doing?” Sam watches as you tear the other side, and you kick your legs out, making sure you have room.

“I get those pants are tight, but you try running around in this thing.”

He thinks over your answer, and you both begin running again.

After some climbing, window breaking and a gunfight, the four of you make your getaway in a limo, cross in hand.

#Samuel Drake x reader #sam drake x reader #sam drake smut #reader insert #uncharted x reader #fookinfandoms

145 notes · View notes

ms-rampage · 3 years

Text

Eden’s Gate: Aftermath Chapter 1 - After It All

Warnings: Light swearing, Paige has Dean Winchester energy in this one

Word count: 1.9k

This is a short follow up series to Kidnapped leading up to the nuclear holcaust, and the beginning of New Dawn.

Summary: After killing Jacob and John Seed, Paige and Kate Winchester still have Joseph left to get rid of, to save Hope County, and as well as Faith (Rachel) if she can keep her loyalty to the family, and not get on Paige’s bad side. Kate struggles to tell her family about her unsure pregnancy with John’s kid.

Guest OCs: Nate Massie (FC: Nick Jackson), Mark Massie (FC: Matt Jackson), Martin Quinn (FC: Marty Scurll), Cody Reynolds (FC: Cody Rhodes), Kenneth Smith (FC: Kenny Omega), Adrian Wray (FC: Hangman Adam Page)

Guest Characters: Mary May, Nick Rye, Pastor Jerome, Wheaty, Faith Seed, Joseph Seed (mentioned).

***********************************************

Paige, Kate, Mandy, their friends, and family are having some beers at the Spread Eagle bar celebrating the death of John Seed, and their freedom from his “marking”.

Pastor Jerome, Nick Rye, Grace Armstrong, Mary May and all of the residents in Holland Valley celebrating their freedom.

The Whitetails were setting off fireworks as a sign of freedom from Jacob.

“You did it!!” Mary May says to Paige.

Taking a sip from her beer, Paige shakes her head, “No. No that wasn’t me” she says.

“It was her” she says, padding Kate on the back.

Mary turns to Kate, “You killed John?”.

Kate nods her head “Yep, I had to, it was part of the job”, she chuckles.

“You Winchesters saved Holland Valley from John Seed, and his followers. We thank you for that” Pastor Jerome says to the family. Lifting his beer up as a cheer.

“So what are y’all gon’ do now?!” Nick Rye asks.

“Well first, I need to get my car fixed, blaming John for that, 2nd we’re gonna deal with Joseph. But until then we’re probably gonna take a breather before we wipe out the other 2 Seeds” Paige says.

“But Faith has a change of heart” Mandy says to Paige.

“Yeah, but I still don’t trust her” Paige says, taking another sip of her beer.

“We’re gonna have to eventually” she says.

“Paige, we could really use her” Kate says, trying to convince her.

She finishes off her beer, and asks for another. “Look, even if Rachel does have a change of heart, and has finally seen Joseph’s monstrous ways. Who says she isn’t lying. I mean this chick is a known liar and manipulator”.

Paige takes another sip of her beer.

“Aren’t you pregnant?!” Kate says watching her older sister's excessive drinking.

“I’m at the early stages. I’ll stop at 5 weeks” she says.

Kenny takes the bottle from her hand, and gives her water as a replacement.

“You need to slow down” he tells her, walking off with her beer.

Rolling her eyes, “So anyway back to Rachel” she says, drinking her water.

“She’s staying with us” Mandy says, drinking her beer.

“Well I have no say so in that” she says.

“Paige. Faith can be helpful with us. If we ask her nicely” Kate says.

Paige intervenes “Okay. Her name is Rachel. She wasn’t the first “Faith” there were 3-4 of them before her”.

Kate rolls her eyes, "Fai-Rachel can be resourceful for us. She can help us track Joseph, and put an end to the Project”.

“Well, I'm gonna go check on my car” Paige says, getting up from her seat at the bar, “It’s at the auto shop next door, and I want to check on her. See how she’s doing”.

She puts some money on the counter to pay for her drinks.

“You coming?!” she asks, turning to Kate.

“Can’t. I have a date with Wheaty” she says.

“Alright. Don’t get pregnant” she jokes, then she leaves the bar to go next door to the auto shop.

“Yeah, I’ll try not to” she says, softly.

No one, except her and Wheaty know of her pregnancy, and it’s John’s kid.

She doesn’t know how she’s gonna tell the others. How is Paige gonna take it when her little sister is carrying the spawn of John fucking Seed.

Lost in her thoughts, Wheaty gently pats her shoulder. Her head shoots up instantly.

“Hey, you ready?” he asks, a smile on his face.

“Yeah” she says “I’m ready”, getting up from her seat.

“I’ll be back later” she says to her mother.

“Have fun. Don’t get pregnant” she jokes.

Kate stammers over her words “I wo- I won’t”.

They walk towards Kate’s car. Paige sees them, and yells out as a joke. “Have fun you two!!!. Don’t get pregnant Kate!!”

Kate looks back, and flips her sister the middle finger before getting into the car.

“So much longer is it gonna?” she asks the mechanic.

“Most likely until tomorrow between 11am, and 3pm.” he tells her, "It's not too bad, for the nasty crush it was in".

“Alright that sounds good” she says.

***************************************

Now at their date location, Kate and Wheaty are making out in a secluded part of the Whitetails not far from the Wolf Den.

Her back against a tree, his hands on either side of her waist. Her arms around his neck.

He breaks the kiss, resting his head against hers, holding her close.

“It’s so much more peaceful without Jacob” he says.

She nods her head, “Yeah, it's so much more quieter without John” she says, looking off in the distance.

He slowly moves his hands up, resting on the sides of her stomach.

He looks down at her stomach, “When are you gonna tell the others?” he asks.

She looks down, and sighs, “I don’t know. I know they’re gonna find out eventually, when my stomach gets bigger. Abortion is out of the picture. Because I’m Catholic” she rolls her eyes.

He pulls her into an embrace, one hand on the back of her head, and the other on her waist.

“I still need to take a test just to be sure” she says, her hands around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“If it comes back, and you’re pregnant. Just know that I wouldn’t mind being a stepdad” he says, stroking her hair.

She pulls away and looks up at him. Her eyes widened, and in disbelief.

“Are you sure?!” she asks.

“I’m sure. I want to be there for the both of you” he says, with his hands on her stomach where the baby bump would be.

She smiles at him then looks down at her stomach.

“I would like that” she says, and kisses him on the lips.

Just thinking a day ago, her and John Seed had sex for the last time, and the fucker cummed inside her. Getting her pregnant, knocking her up, she might be carrying the Seed gene. The next generation of the Seed family. Abortion is on her mind, but she doesn’t want to kill the barely in development embryo. She wants to give it life, and maybe along the way, her and Wheaty can have kids of their own.

After their date, she drops off Wheaty at the Wolf Den, and drives back to Holland Valley

********************************************************

Pulling into the driveway of the Winchester-Smith compound.

Kate gets out of her car, and goes inside greeted by the brothers Mark, and Nate.

“So how was your date?” Mark asks, having a big brother tone in his voice.

“It went good. Thank you for asking” she says, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Where did you and Wheaty go?” Adrian asks, stepping out of the kitchen with a beer in hand.

“We just went to the Whitetails, and made out” she answers.

“That’s it?!” Nate asks, “No sex?. No drinking?. No smoking? No other childish shenanigans?!”.

She rolls her eyes, walking past them into the living room, “No we didn’t do any of that” she says, dropping herself onto the couch, and turning on the tv. “Who else is here?!” she asks.

“Just us, Faith is in her room. Mandy gave her one when we came back here after we left St. Francis” Mark tells her.

“Has she been in there all night?!” she asks.

“Yeah just about” Adrian says, sitting down next to Kate.

“Where’s Kenny, Paige and my mom?!” she asks.

“They went to raid John’s house” Martin says, stepping into the living room.

“For?” she questions.

“To steal his clothes probably. I told them to steal some of his shoes, shirts and watches for me. We’re about the same size in clothes” Martin says.

They laugh at Martin’s answer, “Of course you did” Nate says.

“Cody went with them as well. I didn’t know him, and John knew each other” Adrian says.

Kate’s jaw drops, “I didn’t know that either!!”.

“Yeah apparently they went to school together, and then John was homeschooled, and they met again in Law school in Georgia” Nate says.

Confused, “I thought Cody was a doctor?!?”.

“This was before he became a doctor. He wanted to be a lawyer but he changed his mind about his major”. Mark adds.

Kate raises her arms up, “Welp you learn something new everyday!!!!”.

She stands up, “I’m gonna go check on Faith” she says, and goes upstairs.

“3rd door to the left on the 3rd floor” Nate yells out.

She makes it to the 3rd floor, and goes to Faith’s room.

She knocks at the door, -knock knock knock-.

“Hey Faith?. It’s me Kate. How are you doing?”.

The door opens slowly, and Kate is greeted by the friendly face of Rachel Jessop.

“I’m doing okay” she replies, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“That’s good, I just wanted to check on you. See how you’re doing” she says.

Faith nods, she gives her a soft smile.

“If you’re hungry I can make you something” she says.

She shakes her, “I’m fine”.

Kate nods, “Okay, well my room is on the 2nd floor, 2nd door on the left. If you need anything”.

She nods, and gives her a soft “Okay”, and closes the door.

Kate goes back downstairs to the living room where Kenny, Paige, Mandy and Cody had entered the house.

“Hey!” she says to them.

“How Faith?” Nate asks.

“She’s doing good. Probably a little shaken up, but I'm sure she’ll come around” she says.

“Has she eaten?” Mandy asks.

“I asked if she was hungry. She said she’s fine, I told if she needed anything that my room is on the 2nd floor” Kate adds.

“You think she can be of some help with tracking Joseph?” Cody asks.

“I’m pretty sure. She spent half of her life living under his wing, I’m sure she’ll help out” she says.

“So how was your date with Wheaty?!” Paige asks, changing the subject.

Kate glares at her elder sister, and says “It went great thanks. Anyway back to Faith”

“Rachel!!” Paige interrupts.

“Back to her. She is of some help. I know she can help us track Joseph, we just need to let her adjust first” Kate says.

“Well we can’t wait on her forever” Paige says.

“We have to Paige!!’ Kate argues.

“Why!?. Joseph is still out there, wandering about and we have no way of finding him. Rachel is our only way, and we can put an end to this whole ordeal!”

Everyone exchanges looks, giving thought to the situation.

“We should let Rachel adjust first” Kenny says.

Paige gives him a look of disbelief, “Kenneth are fucking serious?!?”

“Yes, Paige I’m serious. We have to let her get used to her surroundings. All this is new to her” he adds.

“I agree we have to let her get used to this life” Mark says, Nate, Cody, Adrian and Martin agree with the decision.

“Whatever I’m gonna check on Cristina” Paige says, rolling her eyes and going upstairs to her room.

The others say downstairs, and figure out ways to have Rachel open up to them.

13 notes · View notes

uc-fakeadoption-au · 2 years

Text

herói do futuro: chapter 3 is out!!

read on ao3:

chapter count: 3/?

rating: teen and up audiences

category: gen

warnings: no (archive) warnings apply

relationships: Nathan Drake & Victor Sullivan, Nathan Drake & Samuel Drake, Samuel Drake & Victor Sullivan

additional tags: fake adoption au, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, also titled just a dad and his two sons, Young Nate, Young Sam, aka hes not balding yet lmaoo, “young” sully, Team as Family, Fluff and Angst, pretty good amounts of fluff tbh, Family Bonding, accidental family acquisition, There will be headcanons, content warning for sully bc he’s young and hot, dare i say…dilf sully?, yes beta we DON’T die (like sam!!!), place-filler ocs (they don’t mean shit to the story I just needed someone for certain roles)

summary for the chapter: sully accidentally kinda adopts two kids yet still refuses to have any responsibilities about them (whether it's emotional or straight up keeping them from being caught and shit)

also the plan + some action?? not the fighting kind though, just stuff happens; also I finally explain what's up with the hollow saint

alternative to ao3 under the cut:

The next time he saw Samuel, he wasn't even in the orphanage. The little shit was just sitting there in his rented room, looking pleased with himself.

"So, it really was all a con, huh? Not gonna lie, kinda hate the "Sully" thing, gonna stick with Victor. It was the only thing you didn't lie about, I guess".

"Sure kid, suit yourself. I assume your brother let you in on the 'secret'?"

"No, actually I'm here just to shame your life choices. What else would I do?"

Victor didn't bother dignifying that with a response. Samuel just seemed to… deflate.

"Listen, can you actually do that? The thing?"

"You're gonna have to be more specific, kid".

"Ugh, the thing. The last one you told Nathan about? The most important part of the deal??"

"Oh, that. Yeah, 'course".

"Are you sure you're not lying about that too? You don't have the greatest track record, old man". Well sure, but you're in no position to argue about that, kid.

"Well, if I don't do it, you can always notify the orphanage staff about what I did. It would really set the whole thing back. That good enough insurance for you?", he extended his hand.

"I guess it'll have to do".

"I see great things in you kids' future", they shook hands, sealing the deal. "Great things".

The plan was pretty simple.

As he had checked beforehand, it was impossible to get to the chapel from the outside. It was joined to the main building, and the few windows with outside access were either just made of stained glass or way too small to be of any use.

That's where the kids came in. With free reign of the orphanage, they had the opportunity to find out the best time for them to enter, and the best way to go around it the stealthiest and quietest as possible.

In return, he would help them run away from the orphanage. They'd be together long enough to bail the kids out and get them on their way — Victor would drop them off somewhere 'safe' and would give 'em a portion of the job's pay — and after that, they wouldn't be affiliated in any way. It was the best outcome, as in everyone would get what they wanted individually. Though, throwing a couple of small children out in the world all by themselves probably wasn't a great idea, but oh well. Wasn't his problem.

After a few days of 'meticulous research' — those were Nathan's words, not his — the kids had come up with a decent strategy, as it follows:

They'd be separated into two 'teams'. One was just Nate, by himself, who'd be inside standing guard by the chapel's door, though he could totally do exactly the same thing as the other two would. He'd also be in charge of if everything was good to go when they got there, and, as a last resort, providing a distraction. He had a certain cute-lost-puppy quality about him, which made a way better distraction than whatever his brother could come with.

The other 'team' was Samuel and Victor, who would sneak in through the rooftops, the kid serving as the guide. They'd decided the best time to do it was at the early hours of the morning, as it was the time with the least staff running around. Thanks to that, after they snuck in, they could just waltz in right through the main chapel door, unobstructed.

Everything was good to go, if not for the kids asking questions.

"Why do you even want to get in there, anyway?", challenged the eldest Morgan.

"You didn't really come here just for architecture, right Sully?"

"Nah, kid. Just gotta…' borrow' something from the basement there"

Samuel scoffed, "What could you possibly want from there? There's nothing valuable in there, we checked it out when the floor collapsed".

"Yeah, there's only stuff like Christmas decorations, a bunch of boxes with old documents".

"And some messed up wood saints".

"I'm actually after one of those".

"All of this just for those ugly things?? There's a reason they are hidden away like that, and it's not because it's precious in any way "

"You might be wrong about that one, kid"

"How come?", asked a fidgety Nathan, resting his head in his arms.

"Yeah, do share your infinite wisdom with us uneducated orphans".

"C’moon Sam", whined the younger Morgan, elbowing his brother. Yeah, they were definitely brothers.

Victor leaned back in his seat, lighting up a cigar — at which Nate made a face at, probably didn't like the smell. "Those wooden saints are hollow inside, right? You could safely store stuff inside them, valuables included. In fact, there was this story I heard when I was about your age…"

"Oh, hell no", Samuel almost tumbled right out of his seat in his haste to get away. "Keep your secrets, old man. There's no way I'm sitting through a whole stupid story".

"Anyway, as I was saying before your brother so rudely interrupted me...", he leaned in Nate's direction, "So, it's said that during the Brazilian gold rush, the miners used to hide gold in these hollow saints to avoid paying taxes. It was a pretty religious country at the time, so those easily flew under the authorities radar".

"So you're saying one of them, the ones in the basement, could be full of gold??"

"Sure they could”.

"Whoa".

"Yeah whoa. You reckon that's a good enough reason for going after 'em?"

The kid just smiled brightly.

Victor left, as usual, no unnecessary reminders to the kids or anything that might be suspicious to someone watching. Unlike usual, he didn't even make his way to the rental room, opting to make himself as comfortable as possible on a nearby rooftop.

That night, they'd put their plan into motion.

He was starting to regret that decision after sitting on the goddamn rooftop for a few too many hours, completely freezing his ass off. The kid better be here at the right time, exactly to the right minute, or he would kill somebody.

Thankfully, Samuel didn't disappoint. A few minutes before the time they agreed on starting, he could already see a small figure sneaking through a window and jumping between rooftops. Right, time to go.

He expected the kid to come near and at the very least say hello, but Samuel was waving him over instead.

"Should have expected that you wouldn't even bother with a greeting, huh?"

The kid waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, not like we're having a nice hang-out session or anything, why waste the energy? We've got better things to do".

"Would it kill you to be nice… no scratch that", he followed the kid over a gap. Would it kill you to be at the very least polite for once?"

Samuel was ahead, scrabbling up a vine-covered brick wall.

"Yes, it actually would", he deadpanned, dangling precariously on a brick that jutted out from the rest of the wall.

He wouldn't dignify that with a reaction at all. At least he got to see the 'impressed but mad about it' face Samuel pulled when he got to the top before him. Perks of not being thirteen, or tiny, for that matter.

After a few more stupid jumps and an impressive amount of climbing using suspiciously well-placed, yet crumbly footholds later, they got to a large gap. It seemed that some kind of makeshift bridge had been placed there before — though now, it was lying at the bottom of the shaft, strewn in pieces. Kid really looks edgy, most likely he placed that beforehand.

While he could probably make the jump, the kid would end up like the bridge if he attempted anything like it.

"You got a hook? Rope? Anything?"

"Not really".

"What?? Aren't you supposed to be the experienced one here? How come you don't even got basic equipment?"

"Well, it was you who said this was an easy, straightforward path. If anything, you brought this on yourself". The kid looked like he was just about to explode. "I do have an idea to get you across, though".

"Yeah?"

"Watch and learn, kid".

He grabbed the kids from under his armpits, took a running start, and with the kid's strangled whisper shout of 'Oh fuuuuuu',

threw him across the gap.

The kid got to the other side unscathed, without even making any major noise, not even a single tile got out of place. All in all, a perfect landing, ten out of ten. Except for the fact that it took a while for the kid to stop whisper-yelling curses and threats at him, despite it all going well. What a hassle. They did get across, didn't they?

"You realize each moment you waste throwing that tantrum of yours is one we could be using to get to the chapel, right? And one less moment exposing your brother to any risk, even if it is just standing guard".

At that, the kid finally shut up.

"Great. Will you resume your guide duties now, Morgan?"

If looks could kill, Samuel would just have committed a brutal murder. He gestured for Victor to follow him, fuming.

They proceeded amidst a heavy silence. It was only when they got to the orphanage's roof that the kid spoke again. Maybe he shouldn't have been so callous. Too late now.

"We're coming up to a window in a bit. We'll get in using it".

"Lead the way, kid".

They went in through a second-story window that opened into some kind of sickbay (which was pretty much almost always empty, thankfully), connected to the main hallway. It was a decent entry point, pretty discrete. Before they could step out, the kid elbowed him to get his attention.

"We'll have to sneak past the administration office. You have been here before, you know where it is, right? So, it shouldn't be a problem, since everyone is most likely already out. But," he raised a finger, "sometimes Father Duffy falls asleep at his desk when trying to solve all the messes that keep piling up. So, we have to watch out in case he's there this time".

"Okay kid, let's go".

Despite the fact they were on the floor where all the children slept, it was pretty quiet. Not a soul on the hallway, not even staff. Only one light was still on at the administration's office, a single beam that was only visible because the furthest door in the room was accidentally left ajar, providing a way to peek inside. True to Samuel's word, the orphanage's priest had fallen asleep at his desk, hunched over an enormous pile of paperwork. " Sneaking" past that was nowhere close to challenging. Not that he was complaining.

Getting to the main stairway, they quickly descended to the first floor. There, they didn't need to be as cautious — hell, they could just casually walk there if they wanted to — though they still kept their eyes peeled for anything unusual.

Making their way to the chapel, both paused at the sound of two very distinct voices. A boy's and a woman's one. Both scrambled for cover, hiding on the sides of a large doorway. The boy's voice was definitely Nathan's, probably deploying some kind of distraction. Sully couldn't exactly pinpoint the second one, but he had heard it before.

"That's Sister Catherine", Samuel mumbled. "Of course, of all the people it had to be her".

Oh, that was it then. It was only the woman who was notoriously suspicious of the Morgans. The one that (correctly) accused them of every single instance of mischief detected within the orphanage's walls. Well, shit . Nathan better have this figured out, or they were fucked.

"Can't have nice things, kid. Should have figured that out by now".

He cursed under his breath. "Okay, okay. If anyone can pull this off and get that witch out of our way, it's Nathan".

"So now what? We wait?"

'We wait".

#uncharted au #uncharted fake adoption au #uncharted #uncharted fanfiction #Nathan Drake #victor sullivan #sam drake #almost forgot it was time to post a new chap dhjsdh #im busy doing a halloween special for this lol!! get ready #its pretty silly but im having fun writing it!#so if you like this story maybe keep an eye out for that 👀#chrono

1 note · View note

msclaritea · 3 years

Text

"An insurrection of upper-middle class white people | Will Bunch Newsletter

They flew from their affluent suburbs to the U.S. Capitol, ready to die for the cause of white privilege

The stunning pro-President-Trump insurrection that occurred at the U.S. Capitol less than a week ago must have been a carnival for one’s olfactory bulb, as the stinging aroma of tear gas blended with the pungent odors of the occasional joint, or maybe the piles of dung that some of the cruder mob members left in the hallways once graced by icons like Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and LBJ. The only thing that wasn’t in the air on Wednesday was the smell of what so many have falsely tied to Trump’s authoritarian movement — any whiff of “economic anxiety.”

When fascism finally came to America in the form of an attempted coup to halt our presidential election, it came from lush-green suburbs all across this land, flying business class on Delta or United and staying in four-star hotels with three-martini lobby bars — the better to keep warm after a long day of taking selfies with friendly cops or pummeling the unfriendly ones, chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” and generally standing athwart democracy yelling “Halt!”

Long ridiculed as deplorables rising up from the muck of Rust Belt trailer parks, the Donald Trump counter-revolution has finally revealed itself as an upper-middle-class affair.

What else can one think after seeing the photo of Jenna Ryan, real-estate broker from the upscale Dallas exurb of Frisco (also a “conservative” radio talker) posing in front of the private jet that whisked her to the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally and subsequent storming of the Capitol, where she smiled in front of a window broken by other rioters and tweeted that “if the news doesn’t stop lying about us we’re going to come after their studios next”?

Maybe Ryan is an extreme example, but her compatriots in rushing Capitol Hill on Wednesday included a father of three from another upscale Dallas suburb named Larry Rendall Brock Jr., whose 1989 degree in international relations from the Air Force Academy apparently never taught him that it’s a bad idea to be photographed leaving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in a combat helmet, tactical gear, and holding zip-tie handcuffs.

One might also expect a criminal defense lawyer like McCall Calhoun of Americus, Ga., to know that it’s surely illegal to surge past a line of cops into the U.S. Capitol, even if, as you later told a newspaper, you believed your fellow rioters wer people who “don’t want to lose their democratic republic.” Or that it’s bad form to do this after tweeting about a looming civil war or the potential hanging of President-elect Joe Biden.

Political junkies like us remember 2000′s “Brooks Brothers riot” of well-heeled GOP activists and lobbyists that successfully halted Florida vote recounting in populous Dade County. Apparently what we witnessed Wednesday was the “Pottery Barn insurrection.” As key figures who invaded the Capitol have been steadily identified over the last five or six days, it’s remarkable how many alleged lawbreakers emerged from upscale zip codes.

The stay-at-home dad husband of a physician. The son of an elected judge in Brooklyn. The owners of numerous small businesses, as well as assorted state legislators. The New York Times spent four years looking for Trump voters in Ohio diners, but apparently that’s not where they would have found failed actor Jacob Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, the infamous shirtless rioter with the painted face and horns, who reportedly hasn’t eaten since his arrest because there’s no organic food in jail.

Yes, many of the 74 million citizens who voted for the guy who then incited an attempted coup do fit the stereotype of struggling or laid-off blue-collar worker in a rusted-out rural community. But those folks aren’t the ones who can take a Wednesday off and fly hundreds of miles, let alone plunk down hundreds of dollars, to get to the nation’s hub. While the Capitol mob was bulked up with other Trumpists — including an alarming number of off-duty police officers, as well as some neo-Nazi or KKK types who’ve been around forever — it was the 401(k) crowd that formed the front line of America’s first real putsch.

If that surprises you, then you weren’t really paying attention. For the last four years, political scientists have been trying to wrap their brains around Trump’s shocking 2016 victory in the Electoral College while trying to tell us that the 45th president’s true base is a lot of things — but it’s not poor. In fact, polling guru Nate Silver noted during 2016′s primaries that the average Trump voter had a median household income of $72,000, which was both higher than the national average and also higher than the numbers that year for supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Interestingly, Silver and other analysts have found that Trump performs particularly well with voters with high incomes yet often without college diplomas (although he also does better with degree holders than he gets credit for). A researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, the political scientist Diana Mutz, found that Trump voters generally weren’t struggling economically yet did feel great anxiety about their status — whether the threat was the rise of a foreign power like China or the idea that America, and its government, was becoming increasingly nonwhite.

That explains a lot. It explains why the Republican Party, arguably in a long downward moral spiral, lost its mind when America elected its first Black president in Barack Obama. It explains why so many people with the luxuries of a laptop and free time (things that actual poor folks have in short supply) look for conspiracies like QAnon to explain a society that no longer makes sense for them, or why so much of the hatred on the right is expended not at the CEOs who outsourced American jobs but at the cap-and-gown-wearing eggheads like journalists or scientists they find intellectually arrogant.

The main reason that so many reasonably well-off folks tried to shut down American democracy wasn’t because they feared losing their paycheck, but because they feared losing their white privilege. Donald Trump had promised that “I alone can fix it” — that he’d protect them from a society where Black and brown essential workers could expect help from their government during a pandemic or ask the police to stop killing them, a world that where just being white no longer guaranteed the status they were promised as kids. They truly believed that Biden, Kamala Harris, and the 82 million were going to end their white power, and they saw Jan. 6 as their last chance to save it. The Capitol still stands, but the rest of us are going to be spending decades cleaning up their mess.

History lesson

Philadelphia Police carry a protester away from a July 4, 1966 anti-Vietnam War protest held at Independence Hall. A new study proves police are twice as likely to break up a left-wing demonstration than a right-wing one, like Wednesday's storming of the U.S. Capitol.

In the end, as the FBI and other agencies step up their investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection, there will likely be hundreds of arrests. But the now-under-fire Capitol Police arrested only 13 rioters while the attack was underway, and only a few dozen more were busted by cops for violating the 6 p.m. curfew. No one must have been more shocked by this than the survivors of the May 1971 anti-Vietnam War protests in Washington, one of the largest demonstrations in American history. In marked contrast to last week’s light police presence, the heavy-handed tactics from the administration of Richard Nixon included secretly canceling a national-park permit for the protests and then sending in a whopping 12,000 military troops to augment an already sizable police and National Guard presence. Over three days, an astonishing 12,614 people — many who were protesting peacefully and not violating any laws — were rounded up in the largest mass arrest in U.S. history. Authorities detained thousands at RFK Stadium because there was nowhere else to put them.

The shameful 1971 incident proved a point that seemed clear last Wednesday and has now been established with research: Police who are aggressive with leftist social-justice protesters treat right-wing disturbances with kid gloves. Last year’s Black Lives Matter protests as well as anti-lockdown rallies on the far right inspired the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project to dig deeper. It found police were twice as likely to break up the left-wing protests, and when they did disperse a gathering, cops used force against leftists more often (51% of the time) than against right-wingers (34%.) This unequal treatment under the law is one more way that American policing is broken."

#Failed Capitol Coup #Pottery Barn Insurrection #Spoiled Ass Fuckers

7 notes · View notes

aliverse · 4 years

Note

Hey, do you mind talking more about Nathaniel? You got me curious lol

tw: rape, kidnapping, murder

Nathaniel is my love... my life... my Criminal Minds oc. Absolute baby boy, can do no wrong, president of the himbos.

Okay no, but actually Nate is my Criminal Minds OC & he’s played by Dylan O’Brien. His love interest is our boi Spencer Reid, and he’s definitely closest with JJ besides Spencer. He’s also Jason Gideon’s son but like... it’s complicated.

I’ll try to explain it: Jason was married to a senator. They had a baby. Baby was kidnapped straight from hospital. They couldn’t find baby. Baby was raised by kidnapper & her husband. Baby grew up to be Nate and wanted to join the FBI. DNA for some reason, reveals he’s missing baby. Kidnapper’s husband had no idea, so he’s good, but kidnapper and her brother go to jail. Jason proceeds to practice nepotism. (I’ve put it as simple terms as possible, which now I see it may be less complicated than I thought)

Some backstory: His first love, a girl named Maia Harmon, was raped and killed by her ex-boyfriend. His second love, a man named Jack Stewart, was a bodyguard hired to protect him after news aired about everything, and was killed on the job (or was he?? Idk, I haven’t decided). He rarely calls Jason dad, that’s still reserved for the man he thought was his dad. Said guy is named Gabriel Drew (Linden Ashby, and he’s a sheriff), his best childhood friend is Scott Gomez (Tyler Posey) who’s married to Allison Gomez (Crystal Reed) ((aren’t I creative??))

Other facts: He’s borders on functional & disaster Pan. Is immediately smitten with JJ & Spencer. Flirts with JJ for a while, the first time it’s serious but all other times it’s just like teasing and joking around, and then stops when he falls for Spencer. They’re so cute but they have a LOT of ups and downs. Considering him & Hotch having a hot thang when Maeve dies and Beth leaves. Real kinky, considering often times Hotch is more like his exasperated dad (or this will probably remain a crack ship I keep in my head).

Kids love him, Nate & kids are my aesthetic. Old ladies also love him. Everyone in between is at least a little charmed by him. Basically, if you say you aren’t a little bit in love with Nate, you’re lying. He chugs his Respect Women juice daily, and he’s seen some shit. Although he’s panromantic (I know what his pride gifset says but I’m lazy), he’s bisexual and lowkey is always thinking about sex.

His bro for life is Will, who he meets at the same time as everyone else does. You know that bro meme that was going around? “Here’s some broses” and things like that? That’s totally them.

Your girlfriend/boyfriend will constantly say “why can’t you be more like him?”. Seriously never settle for anything less than this guy.

Usually I take a while to answer these asks but I’m in a real Nate mood. I went off a little. Point is that he is precious.

#oc: nathaniel drew #type: answered #Nathaniel asks

14 notes · View notes

pheedraws · 4 years

Text

oc mannerisms

Tagged by the lovely @spicevalleys! <3

Tagging @valkblue @lobanhart @starsandskies @gracethornwood and anyone else who’d like to do it!

How they smile:

Nate’s smile is, to quote Nora, “adorably crooked”, usually accompanied by a bashful head tilt or the faintest blush if caught off guard.

When he’s laughing, completely lost in a moment of pure, carefree happiness? That man damn near lights up the room with his grin.

He’s always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve; if he’s smiling, you know it’s genuine.

What their “tell” is for lying:

Nate is under no illusion; he’s a terrible liar, and after growing up with three siblings who would mock him relentlessly because of it, he is well aware of that fact.

Try as he might to keep his tells under-wraps, they always win out in the end.

The man is abysmal at poker because of it.

If the lie is serious one, he’ll find himself clenching and unclenching his fists, clenching his jaw, generally showing signs of discomfort, as much as he tries not to.

If it’s a good lie, though; a surprise of some sorts? His eyes positively sparkle until he’s able to reveal it. Nora can spot when he’s up to something from a mile off. It’s like the man can’t keep a lid on his glee; he’s more energised than usual, as though the surprise is as much for himself as it is for the receiver.

The only time he’s ever been able to pull the wool over Nora’s eyes is when he proposes, though that’s mostly down to the fact that he felt too damn sick with nervousness to even think about the usual excitement of keeping a surprise…

Posture:

Nate enlisted in the military almost as soon as he turned eighteen, determined to carry on the tradition of service held by his father, grandfather, and beyond.

As a result, the man has had good posture drilled into him almost all of his adult life; his stance is nearly always ramrod straight, and you’d have a hard time ever finding him slouching.

That being said, the shoulder injury he landed in Anchorage sometimes leads to him subtly favouring his left side, though you’d have to know about it to notice.

Volume of speech, if they’re verbal:

Nate’s volume of speech ultimately depends on the situation.

Though he can joke around and be rowdy with his unit and bark orders on the battlefield, Nate is, at his core, a reserved guy.

Before the bombs fell, he’d often find himself whispering to Nora regardless of where they were or what time it was, having gotten used to trying his upmost to not disturb Shaun.

After leaving the vault and winding up in Nuka World, however, Nate finds himself upping the bravado when dealing with the raiders; he’ll raise his voice more, be sterner, speak out on things, anything to show he’s not going to roll over for anyone.

Nervous tics:

When Nate gets nervous, he gets restless.

He plays with his hands a lot; clenching his fists, running his thumb along his index finger, sometimes even cracking his knuckles.

He’s used to constantly remaining vigilant thanks to the war, never letting his guard down, so he’ll often pace around, perform perimeter checks, check the settlement’s defenses; anything to channel that nervous energy into something productive.

How much eye contact do they make:

For the most part, Nate is good at keeping eye contact.

He sees it both as a sign of respect to superiors, and an intimidation tactic to… less desirable sorts.

There is, of course, one exception to this rule.

The day he first meets Nora in that diner in Boston? Oh boy, the man can hardly look her in the eye without stumbling over his words, something his friends find downright hilarious. Sure, the bashfulness only lasts a couple of dates, but she finds it endearing regardless.

In a group conversation, how close do they stand to others? Are they off to the side just listening and occasionally speaking, or are they right next to people?

Not being one for idle chitchat, Nate will often position himself off to the side when in a group, only really speaking if he needs to.

The nukes did absolutely nothing for his charisma, and during his time in Nuka World when he thinks he’s lost everything he once held dear, he sees no point in making friends; he’s there to do a job, so almost all conversations are strictly business and strategy.

Once he’s reunited with Nora in Sanctuary he does warm up a little bit though, no longer feeling the need to keep so many walls up around other settlers.

When standing, what do they do with their hands? Talk with their hands, cross their arms, put hands in pockets, prop up against wall, etc:

Post-war, the times when Nate doesn’t have a weapon in his hands are few and far between, so more often than not his hands are occupied when speaking to someone.

If they’re not? He’ll either cross his arms or stand with his hands on his belt, used to using posture to ward off the usual bullshit the Nuka World raiders would try to pull.

The sound of their footsteps:

While Nate isn’t one for drawing undue attention to himself, he isn’t particularly quiet either.

He understands the importance of stealth during missions, of course, but sees no point in tip-toeing around the rest of the time.

He’s sure-footed and confident, and with those boots he almost always wears, you’ll be sure to hear him coming… when he wants you to.

Nonverbal greetings: do they wave, nod, hug, glare, punch, high five, something else?

This mostly depends on the relationship he has with the person.

When passing other settlers, or raiders during his time in Nuka World, he’ll nod as he walks by, not really one for small talk.

Nate isn’t afraid of showing affection though, provided he’s comfortable with the person in question; he’d hug his siblings before the war, playfully punch his brother on the arm, give his unit a good-natured slap on the back after a successful mission, etc.

With Nora? She’s the one who gets to see the softest side of him. If she’s distracted or lost in with Minutemen work, he’ll come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist, planting kisses on her neck or the top of her head.

Even if they’re both busy, the slightest touch of his hand against hers as they pass is enough to remind them both that they’re here and safe and alive.

How do they get others’ attention? Raise hand, clear throat, etc:

More often than not, Nate will simply walk up to someone and greet them should he need to talk to them.

If said person is being obnoxious, however? He’ll clear his throat, often crossing his arms too. The man is 6’1” and can cut an intimidating figure when he wants to; that’s usually enough to get the person’s attention.

#I was going to do Nora too but I'm absolutely drained from travelling and my singular brain cell was maxed out with this #I need sleep and nice food #oc: nathaniel 'nate' wells #Fallout #Fallout 4 #oc stuff

10 notes · View notes

bi-bard · 4 years

Text

New York, 1943 - Jesse Custer Imagine (Preacher/ Legends of Tomorrow Crossover) + a little surprise

Title: New York, 1943

Pairing: Jesse Custer X Reader

Requested: Nope but please send in requests!

Word Count: 1,899 words

Warning(s): Nothing really... flirting?

Summary: Deciding to step away from the Legends was one of the hardest decisions that (Y/n) had ever made. Now that (Y/n) has adjusted to life in Annville, Texas, John Constantine- (Y/n)’s brother- had called for help. Leaving a new home for the old one can come with a few twists.

Author’s Note: I would like to thank DC for this being possible (Preacher is part of the Vertigo line of DC comics, which also includes John Constantine, making this imagine completely logical... and also a little weird... what else is my account at this point). Also, this is a way for me to show that I’m Dominic Cooper trash.

-------------------------------------------------

“I don’t see why you have to go,” I looked away from my duffel bag. Jesse was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. “You said it yourself, your brother taught you everything you know. He should be able to handle this.”

“Not everything is that simple,” I shrugged, walking over and cupping the side of his face. He let out a sigh and looked down. “I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Yeah, yeah, time machine, I get it,” Jesse grumbles. I step forward and kiss him softly. He finally gives me a reluctant grin. “Just... don’t go fallin’ in love while you’re gone.”

“That’s your biggest fear,” I asked, chuckling at him. Jesse rolled his eyes but kissed me again. I pulled away and leaned my forehead on his, my eyes closed. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” he mumbled.

I reluctantly stepped back and zipped up my duffel bag. After slinging the bag over my shoulder, I reached a hand out so that Jesse would grab it. He grabbed my hand and started walking outside.

It was apparently perfect timing. Once we had gotten outside, the Waverider landed in front of us. The door opened and I bit my lip, looking down sadly.

“I’ll be back soon,” I promised again, kissing his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he let go of my hand with a forced smile.

I walked onto the ship and looked back down at him from right inside. I waved at him from my spot. He waved back as the door started closing. I let out a deep sigh when the door closed before walking into the main room.

“(Y/n),” John said, giving me a quick hug. “How’s Texas?”

“Good, good,” I nodded.

The rest of the team walked over, quickly hugging and greeting me. Sara clapped her hands and told all of us to get into our spots.

“When and where are we going, anyway,” I asked.

“1943,” Sara says with a proud smile.

“1943?! As in the middle of World War II,” I shouted.

“Whoa, breathe,” John touched my arm. I closed my eyes and let my head drop. “We’ll be in New York City anyways. It’ll be fine.”

**Time Skip**

I looked around, trying to find a sign of the demon we were looking for. We had all kind of split up around a huge convention about future technology. I was assigned to cover the backstage area of the main stage. The demon should’ve been obvious but it was doing a very good job at hiding.

I was about to give up and report back to Sara when I had walked straight into someone else. I stepped back, mumbling that I was sorry while dusting off my clothes.

“You’re alright,” I looked up to see Jesse... wait, no... a man who looked just like Jesse standing in front of me. The man smiled when he got a proper view of me. He held a hand out for me to shake. “Howard Stark.”

“(Y/n),” I shook his hand with a small nod. “I’m sorry, I have work to get to.”

“Well, I’m one of the presenters here, maybe I could help,” Howard offered.

“It’s not that kind of work,” I chuckled. “Thank you for the offer.”

“Are you going to the after-party,” he asked. I furrowed my eyebrows. “I was going to ask you to save a dance for me.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be sticking around that long,” I replied. “It was nice meeting you but I need to go.”

“Okay,” he said, about to continue speaking when I ran off running.

**Time Skip**

We all climbed back on the Waverider, angry and annoyed and just disappointed.

“This was supposed to be a fast job,” I grumbled.

“Sorry that I didn’t anticipate that the demon would hide in a huge convention,” John glared at me.

“There’s an after-party,” Sara snapped her fingers. “It’s only for those who presented inventions or those with a special pass.”

“So...” I asked.

“What do you think we gave you earlier,” Sara pointed at the badge I had clipped to my neckline.

“Shit,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

**Time Skip**

I took a deep breath before walking through the doors. It was already too elegant for my taste. I was used to the dingy bar in Annville, not a room made for geniuses.

“You said you weren’t going to make it,” I turned around to see Howard Stark standing there with a small smirk on his face.

“Well, things changed,” I replied.

“Then I believe that you owe me a dance,” he held a hand out.

“Go with it, (Y/n),” I heard in my earpiece. I forced a smile before grabbing his hand.

“Okay,” I nodded.

He walked us to the middle of the room and put his other hand on my waist. I was still in a bit of a tailspin because he looked just like Jesse. Howard stepped a little closer as we moved. I was completely distracted the entire time.

“So, how long has someone as pretty as you been in this business,” he asked quietly. I was trying to focus on the job, looking around for a sign of something different. Something out of the ordinary.

“As long as I can remember,” I replied. “My brother is the one that got me interested in it.”

“I see,” Howard twirled me around and pulled me back into his chest. “And how did you end up the at this convention instead of him.”

“Guess I’m just that much better,” I shrugged, hearing John snap a quick “watch it” through the earpiece.

“I’m sure,” Howard’s smirk grew.

I glanced over his shoulder and saw a man standing on his own. His eyes caught mine and I saw them turn black. He sent a smile before turning around and going to walk out.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled to Howard. “I... I need to go.”

“Wait, why?”

“I need to go,” I pulled away from him quickly, taking off after the demon, giving directions to the team.

I pushed through the crowd, trying to go as fast as possible. I couldn’t see the rest of the team but I could hear them giving updates on where they were.

“(Y/n),” I cursed under my breath.

“Howard Stark is still on my tail,” I explained. “Have that trap ready when I get out there.”

I finally got through the crowd and went slamming through the back door. I slid to a halt when I saw John across from me. The trap was finished and the demon was stuck inside. I barely noticed the door open and close again behind me.

“(Y/n), go,” John shouted.

I quickly started mumbling out one of the many spells (for lack of a better term) that John had taught me when I was younger. John started copying me and the demon let out a roar as it was forced to exit the man and go back to hell. The man fell, unconscious.

“What the hell was that,” we both finally looked over at Howard, who was staring in shock. “What are you two?”

“Well,” I looked at John, seeing if he would give an excuse for us. He looked down, avoiding all eye contact. Asshole. “It’s a new piece of technology.”

“What?”

“Yes, it’s a kind of entertainment technology,” I continued. “My brother and I have been working on it for a while and you were the first to see it in action.”

“You’re lying,” he replied. “That wasn’t technology. That man is passed out. That was not some kind of entertainment.”

“Alright, alright,” John held up a hand. “I’ll explain. (Y/n), help the guy.”

“Okay,” I nodded, walking to the man the was now starting to wake up. He jumped when he saw me but I held my hands up. “Hi, hi. You’re alright. Do you know where you are?”

He looked around before nodding.

“Do you know how to get home from here,” I asked.

He nodded again.

“Can you stand up?”

He nodded one final time, moving to stand up.

“Alright, go home,” I instructed. “Have some water, have a snack, and have a nap. You should be alright.”

“T-thank you,” he said shakily. I nodded, sending him on his way.

“Let’s go,” John said. “Waverider is pretty close by.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“That’s it then,” Howard stepped in. We both turned around to face him. “You just show up and get rid of demons and walk away.”

“Yeah,” John answered. Howard looked so disappointed.

“And what about you,” he asked. “You were going to just carry on with me until you found this thing?”

“You weren’t part of the plan, if that’s what your asking,” I raised my eyebrows. “I wouldn’t do that to someone.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. With a small sigh, I stepped forward and hugged Howard.

“Good luck,” I whispered. “I hope you make good progress going forward.”

“Thank you,” he replied as I stepped back. “Good luck to you both.”

John nodded as a silent thank you. With a wave, Howard turned around and walked back into the party. I turned around and started following John to the Waverider, more than excited to go home.

**Time Skip**

I was the first person to get out of my seat when we landed. I quickly grabbed my duffel bag and went running towards the door. I had asked before we had left New York if the team wanted to meet Jesse so I knew they were following me out.

We had landed right outside of the church. I cheered and went running towards the door, only to have Jesse ran out and ran over to meet me halfway. I hugged him tightly, my bag dropping next to me.

“Hi,” I mumbled before pulling back. “How long was I gone?”

“A week,” he replied.

“See, not nearly as long as you thought,” I said, hugging him again.

“Yeah, yeah,” he chuckled. “Who are they?”

I stepped back and looked at the team.

“These are the Legends,” I introduced. “That’s Sara, out captain. Then there’s John, my brother. Then there’s Ray, Nate, Charlie, Zari, and Ava. Legends, this is Jesse Custer.”

“You’re dating a preacher,” John asked.

“John,” I snapped.

“Alright, alright,” John held a hand out. “Nice to meet you, Jesse.”

“You too,” Jesse nodded, shaking John’s hand. “It’s nice to meet the rest of you too.”

Sara smiled and walked over, acting very calm and understanding. She suddenly twisted Jesse’s arm around.

“Sara,” I shouted.

“If you hurt (Y/n), I will end you,” she warned. “Do you understand?”

Jesse nodded, groaning when Sara go of his arm. I smiled at him. He grinned back at me.

I spent time saying goodbye with the rest of the team, who then went over to meet and say goodbye to Jesse. They all loaded onto the Waverider, sending one last wave at us.

I turned around and kissed Jesse softly.

“A whole week,” I mumbled. He nodded. “How did you ever survive?”

“Shut up,” he mumbled, kissing me again. “Come on, I can get us something to eat.”

“You cooking? That may be dangerous.”

“Come on,” he grabbed my hand, dragging me inside. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I looked down at our hands with a content smile. “So much.”

-------------------------------------------------

Masterlist

What I Write For

Request Guidelines

Musical Prompts

Small Moments With...

When Worlds Collide (Doctor Who Crossover Series) Masterlist

#jesse custer imagine #jesse custer fanfiction #preacher imagine #preacher fanfiction #imagine #fanfiction #dc imagine #dc fanfiction

11 notes · View notes

dearjohnnyflynn · 4 years

Text

https://thelast-magazine.com/tlm13-johnny-flynn/

JANUARY 22, 2015 ACTORCULTUREFILMMUSIC

TLM13: JOHNNY FLYNN

A resonator is a type of guitar built for a sound many generations old. It hums and shines, as if an acoustic guitar was broadcast through a tinny phone line. Rather than a wood sounding board, the heart of the guitar is a metal cone, ornately decorated, that brittles the sound and projects it even without electronic amplification. Resonators are rarer now; they’re hard to come by. But they carry a unique magic in their sound, their history, and their owners.

It was one of the first things he purchased with his record-deal money, and it has followed Flynn’s eclectic artistic path as band leader of the Sussex Wit and now as an actor, where he strums and plucks it through Song One, a film about a folk musician searching for inspiration and finding it in a woman and the New York music scene she traverses.

“I’ve learned that when a creative path dies out, another door opens, and you have to stay loose enough, present enough, and absorbent enough to figure out what path you have to walk down,” Flynn says in his soft English accent. “That sounds like a terrible cliché, but being in creative industries, for me, is a spiritual path.”

Flynn has been carving that path, guitar in tow, with a balance of wide-eyed enthusiasm and artistic curiosity. He has sought out company that emphasizes shared forms of creativity, whether onstage, on camera, or in the pubs and music nights of London’s early-Aughts folk scene.

Flynn is in London now helping produce English singer-songwriter Nick Mulvey’s album. We speak after a studio session with Flynn in a cab back to his London flat just after sunset, a small break from a schedule that has permitted him more time to his songwriting and the musical community that gave him so much of his identity. Flynn never left music, but he felt the need to slow down to give acting his full focus. “I hate having to rush a job because you need the space to say what you have to say with your fullest voice and as much confidence as possible,” Flynn says.

“Not being honest in those circumstances is my version of being sacrilegious or blasphemous. There’re lots of ways of doing something, but if you find a way that’s true, then you’re happy.

Several years ago, Flynn stopped touring in order to pursue a series of increasingly meaty acting roles, including a run at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in the acclaimed, all-male Shakespearean troupe Propeller. Now Flynn’s about to have even less time, thanks to a breakout role in Song One, opposite Anne Hathaway, and the upcoming Olivier Assayas film, Clouds of Sils Maria, opposite Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

In some ways, it has improved his songwriting. “I’m never going to abandon music,” Flynn says. “I was dragged back out to play shows here, and it was a good thing to be reminded that this is something I love doing.” Flynn’s friends did everything they could to “drag” him out for some gigs. It helps when your friends happen to be Mumford & Sons, who actually played one of their first performances opening for Flynn. “So many bands only get to write songs about the view from their hotel window, but I get to work with language and be inspired by that,” Flynn continues. “That seems invaluable as a song- writer. I am very grateful for that.”

To hear Flynn sing is not to see him. His solid build, tousled hair, and craggy features absolutely do not set you up for the lilting way his lyrics seem to fall and float out of him. His voice can crackle or rise sweetly into a falsetto, all while singing stories of small towns, large hopes, and even larger characters.

There seems to be a minor groundswell of British folk musicians waiting for Flynn to finish with all this acting business and get back to music full-time. But Flynn embodies a new creative state of mind, one that is not bordered by form— musician, actor, painter, poet—but one that applies considerable talents to tell better stories.

The story of Song One hews close to Flynn’s own. James Forester is a folk guitarist, resonator in hand, searching for inspiration. Forester, like Flynn, is exceedingly polite, a dewy-eyed talent capable of heart-grabbing honesty both onstage and off. “In terms of lifestyle and where his head is at, a lot of that stuff came from conversations with Kate [Barker-Froyland], the director, of what it was like to be a musician out on the road,” Flynn says. “I think he’s a character that is quite close to me, so I have to find a fine line. In real life, I’ve got a wife and a kid.”

Song One’s music went through a similar process; written for—but not by—Flynn, he used the songs as a way to find his character. “That’s what being an actor is about,” Flynn says. “You’re doing a good job if you’re serving the piece. It was quite a relief in a way to not have to worry about every aspect of the music. I think I enjoy giving up that leadership role for those situations.” The collaboration between Flynn and songwriters Jenny Flynn, Johnathan Rice, and Nate Walcott resulted in an album, which they recorded on weekends between shoots. Even though the songs are not Flynn’s, it’s hard to imagine anyone taking them from him. There is a stamp Flynn places on his projects, a vibration that is all his own.

In a way, Song One best captures the hell and catharsis of creativity. “You sometimes lose your way or you end up turning out the same stuff for a while, and before you know it you end up losing your inspiration, what put you there in the first place,” Flynn says. “And then you find it.”

What put Flynn there in the first place was an old book of hand-written folk songs and The Freewheeling Bob Dylan. Born in Johannesburg, Flynn moved with his family to Hampshire, England, when he was three. He earned a music scholarship, picking up violin and trumpet, but classes felt forced and dull.

“I learned to play the guitar using an old songbook of my mum’s that she’d handwritten, and it was full of traditional folk songs, songs that she loved,” Flynn recalls. “I got really obsessed with the Bob Dylan songs because they were really exciting to me. I was studying music as a music scholar, but I was listening to all of that stuff.”

Folk music has a tendency to take care of its own, and Flynn found himself mingling with the artists who would come to define the modern folk sound in its early London years. He and some friends established a music night, called Apocalypso, with fellow folk musicians Emmy the Great and Tom Hatred. “We played with people like Laura Marling when she was starting out, and Florence from Florence and the Machine when she was around,” Flynn says. “It was an early scene to be a part of in London at that time when I was forming my musical identity. When I was growing up, we didn’t have much money, but it was about finding something to do together.”

If Flynn found a musical family in Apocalypso, it was a mirror of his own upbringing. “My dad was writing songs in the Sixties and Seventies, and my mum sang songs and had been a folk singer in the Seventies,” Flynn says. “My older brothers are actors and keen on music. Yes, I guess, I loved hanging around backstage when my dad was doing shows. That atmosphere was what really infected me and made me want to become an actor. It seemed like this magical world of storytelling that my family was privileged to be involved in. Because I went away to boarding school, and I was studying classical music, my way of rebelling was to write my own music. I just fell in with a group of friends who liked to make music and were obsessed with studying the history as well, both American and British. Those are our heroes. It kind of took me over.

It was Emmy who initially introduced Flynn to resonator guitars. She had an old metal resonator lying around and Flynn took to it. “At one point I was crashing on her sofa and I was using her guitar a lot,” Flynn says. “I used it for a lot of bedroom recordings and things, and I fell in love with it.”

That guitar, with its odd metal heart, helped Flynn find his voice, a voice he is now rediscovering in film. “I think playing characters onstage and things like that has told me that you can take on various entities and channel your own voice through the habits of a certain character, the rhythm of someone else’s voice or using someone else’s language,” Flynn says. “But you still have to have your own heart in the middle of it.”

Song One is out January 23. Clouds of Sils Maria is out April 10.

Zachary Sniderman is the associate editor of The Last Magazine.

Styling by Celestine Cooney. Hair by Lee Machin at Caren. Grooming by Jenny Coombs at Streeters. Photographer’s assistants: Iain Anderson and Alec McLeish. Stylist’s assistant: Poppie Clinch. Digital technician: Mike Harris. Production by Lucie Mamont.

Zachary Sniderman

Photography by

Ben Weller

#johnnyflynn #johnny flynn

2 notes · View notes

xsecretblastsx · 4 years

Text

1x15 - Desperately Seeking Serena

Here we are with a new recap this week. Believe it or not I’m still aiming to do at least two of these per week. So far I’m not there yet, but oh I wish, I’m going way too slow. Anyway here we go, as usual recap’s under the cut.

Thoughts I had while watching the episode:

A rare ocassion when we see these kids actually worried about school.

I love that Blair’s revising with Dorota.

Chuck being Chuck so he will outsource, I’m pretty sure if he actually tried he wouldn’t be half bad with these kind of stuff, but why would he bother.

Aww Dan cried whenever his dad didn’t walked him too school. He had a nice a dad, and yet...

These one of those times I wish I was american just to get the real scope of the SATS, also was that little thing Blair’s using?

Honestly it never made sense to me why there was only once spot in Yale for Constance, like isn’t this suposed to be the kind of school that like to promote that their students are really likely to get entrance to an Ivy?

Blair is right somehow one must always say her name in full: Nelly Yuki

Perfomance anxiety? You ain’t wrong, and sadly that’s something you’ll get to know eventually about Dan Humphrey

I normally like when Chuck and Blair’s outfits matched but the colours of these coats are really obnoxious.

Those glares, there’s a short road from hate to love, just saying. Also if only Serena knew that figuring their issues out is going to take quite some time. About 5 years.

We hava name: Georgina Sparks.

I wonder which part? No Serena, i don’t want any visual, not even momentary in my head of Chuck and Georgina. UGH.

Sorry Jenny, but Blair’s SAT session do sounds so much better.

Hello Georgina.

What is the one thing no one in our group has? Compassion? that was funny.

Funny that Elise points out to Jenny about Queen Elizabeth didn’t had a King, and a year later Blair’s going to tell her the same. Nice bit.

Vanessa, always hating the rich kids as if it was a full time job, even when Nate’s being nice.

Sorry Blair, but I hate your outfit, too many dots.

Of course Nelly Yuki has to be asian.

So this was the way Serena was pre boarding school, as much as Georgina is obviously a bad infuence I’m glad we god a snipet of it.

I wonder if Chuck was always Serena’s choice when she needed help with Georgina, because it seems in some ways like this isn’t the first time, and he gets it.

This is the part of S1 when Dan really starts to get on my nerves, because sure Serena is lying to him but he has a way of questioning her that sounds a tad desperate in not a good way. And it’s all so centered around him, he leaves her there like... I can’t deal with this right now?

Getting dumped at a Flor Rida concert, I guess I would have reacted the same as Nelly Yuki.

Not gonna lie, I’m not a fan of this plot that has Jenny wanting to date a dude just for his money, she’s like 15 and it’s just sad.

Nate and Vanessa, a couple I actually didn’t mind, and I always felt Vanessa was at her less judgmental self when she dated Nate.

Not the right choice Serena. And yet in a weird way it’s make sense. It ain’t easy to let the past go.

The sound of your own voice distracting you? thanks Jenny for pointing it out, I swear that Dan’s in love with the sound of his own voice.

“Like I want to believe in myself” having Serena say this about the way Dan’s look at her, says a lot about their relationship.

So Serena thinks Georgina knew the old her better than anyone.. mmm interesting.

As much as I like Rufus and think he really tried his best, and overall was a good Dad, he never had any idea of how to handle Jenny. Half the time he only makes it worst.

How nice it was for Nate to convince Vanessa to take the SAT.

Those batteries are not from that calculater, I think I actually had that calculator at one point in my life.

Even though i feel her relationship with Nate was doomed, is never easy to see your ex-moving on.

What’s going on with Chuck’s outfit? Yellow pants, purple sweater, multicolor shirt, it’s so bad and yet I don’t hate it.

For some reason, there’s something about the way Dan’s holding Serena’s face and the way he talks to her, that creeps me out for no good reason.

So Georgina has something on Serena, and even Chuck’s curious. The good old days when everything was a mistery.

This is the point were Dan’s double identy gets really disturbing. Hi Sarah, meet Dan, we don’t know it yet but he’s as messed up as you.

So this episode, is not a fave in the general sense, because it’s basically just the introduction to Georgina’s character but on that front these is just setting up the stage for the big climax, and all the other subplots here are pretty meh, with Blair’s and Jenny’s battle from the throne in a very dull point. The real interesting part in this episode is that we get more insight into Serena.

it’s been established since the pilot that Serena has a wild passed, an so far her story centers about being this bad girl turned good girl. She has this change of heart because when she ran away after a particularly bad night, her absence is one of the reasons her little brother ends up atempting suicide, she’s also really guilty that her drunken antincs led her to betray her best friend and she doesn’t want to be that way, as much as the show likes to make it seem Serena changed her wild ways when she started dating Dan, that’s not the case. I think the biggest wake up call for her was what happened with Eric.

Dan is a positive influence, and he gives her the respect and positive attention that sadly was lacking in pretty much every interaction she had withe the opposite sex, as I mentioned in a previous recap Serena believes that thinks of her as real human being, he likes her for real reasons, not only because she’s hot or an “It girl”; she believes this because he meets her when she comes back and was not the same girl as before, so in a way he fell for the “good Serena” and so it’s one of the reasons she keeps up trying her best.

As we see this episode Dan falling in love with this version of Serena is a double edged sword, because it leaves little room for her to be anything else; he’s make it no secret that he detests her world, and he walked away in anger on their second date when he discovered something of her past he didn’t like, he’s constantly judging her almost all the time, sometimes in a lowkey way, but other’s he’s very straight forward about it. By this point in the series Serena feels really in love with him, and as she says to Georgina the way he feels about her makes her want to believe in herself, so she can’t lose Dan’s love, and she knows how’s he’s going to react if she tells him about her past with Georgina, and therefore she must lie to him.

This makes me feel really bad for Serena for so many reasons, because how shitty things must have been in the past for her to believe this is the kind of love she deserves, sure it’s her first love and she’s sixteen and sees him in rose tinted glassses, but when one stops to think about is a relationship where she can’t be honest, like if lying is your best option to keep your relationship on good terms that’s a sign that’s something no good, and it’s not like the true would be something like “Hey Dan guess what, I’ve been doing this “bad” thing behind your back all the time we’ve been dating”, no she’s afraid of letting him know her past, something that’s not her anymore... imagine if people couldn’t change, or have a past that they wished were different. It’s just wrong, but she can’t see it because his love is something she never had and it’s precious and she hasn’t experienced anything better.

There’s also a very interesting line in the middle of the episode related to this, she tells Georgina that no one knew her old self as Georgina did, and this interesting because Serena’s not only trying to hide Georgina from Dan, she’s also hiding her from Lily and Blair, because to Serena Georgina represents the worst side of her, and that’s something she can’t let them see, because I guess she’s really afraid they may changed her mind about her, or even worse love her. This is why I also feel she turns to Chuck in this episode, in part because I feel in her wild days they somewhat tend to hang out with the same type of crowd, I image they often found themselves in the same parties doing drugs and wild stuff,so he already knows more about her worst side, but mostly I feel she calls him because she doesn’t care about what Chuck thinks of her, she knows he cares somewhat, but she’s not as important to him, not in the way Serena and Blair care about each other, and so Serena deep inside of her fears that if they knew, really knew they would love her less. This is somewhat a paralell to the way Chuck’s sees himself, so having him helping her with this, only reinforces this for me.

Georgina’s presence this episode beside the fact that’s she’s a really messed up person (like honestly how awful it is she evens drugs Serena this episode) and letting us know that she has something on Serena, what I really find interesting is that she brings to light that there’s a part of Serena that’s missing. She’s been stiffling some part of her personality, their first outing sure they’re drunk but for the most part is harmless, they’re just joking around and fooling clueless idiots dudes, Serena only gets mad when drugs are involved. Serena likes to party, to be a bit wild, to be free, and it’s something that’s been lacking, and instead of learning healthier ways to let this part of her shine, to figure out that one can party and be free as long as it doesn’t get’s out of control, she totally shuts down that part of her, and that’s why it takes Georgina so little effort to convince of spending some time together. Even if she doesn’t want to realize it, she misses it.

Finally, I would like to say hi one more time to Nelly Yuki

#gossip girl #gossip girl recap #gossip girl rewatch #1x15 #desperately seeking serena

3 notes · View notes

ionlyeatcomfortfood · 5 years

Text

How Apathy Became Nate

A/N: Part 2 of Writing Marathon! Next, Soulmates Part 3! This is based off @fanartfunart‘s Apathy (Nate). Hope you like it, Firefly! It’s not my best, but I like it. (Also the title is crap forgive me.)

Word Count: 1493

Pairings: None

Warnings: Nothing too major this time, except for Deceit giving us some good ol’ exposition, and Remus is mentioned a couple times.

-----------

Thomas was having a crisis.

Now, this was usual, or he would not have any videos. Having a crisis made up about 50% of his content. But normally, the crisis was something of the past, or made up entirely. This crisis, however, was something of reality.

He was hopelessly in love.

And of course, everyone was arguing.

“We have to make a move! Who knows what’ll happen if we let this prince leave without even trying!” Roman shrieked.

“We can’t afford to approach him! Who knows what’ll happen if we do try to talk to him!” Virgil shouted back.

“Now guys, let’s try listening to what everyone is saying! Both Roman and Virgil have good points,” Patton tried to pacify the situation, but it really didn’t help.

“I still believe that you are all making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. Why don’t you just ask him out?” Logan asks.

Virgil screams “NO!” just as Roman is screaming “YES!”

“Ooh boy I did not miss that,” Thomas said, covering his ears. He really didn’t know how all of them got so loud.

“Well isn’t this just pleasant,” A calm voice said, knocking Virgil and Roman from their arguing frenzy.

“Deceit. Seriously, why are you here? I’m not lying, or feeling morally ambiguous, so what your deal, you slimy boi?” Thomas asked.

“While I would totally not appreciate you calling me a ‘slimy boi’, I’m here for other reasons.”

“And what could those possibly be?” Virgil growled.

“Why, to give voices to the previously unheard, of course.”

“Certainly you don’t speak of my brother, do you Deceit?” Roman inquired.

“Of course not, Prince Charming. I mean a voice Thomas has yet to hear.” Deceit grinned.

Virgil groaned. “No. They cannot come. Please.”

“Oh, well, why ever not?”

“Wait, who are you talking about?” Thomas asked.

“Well, you’ll see!” And with a flick of his wrist, Deceit disappeared, an a new side sat on the couch.

--------

When Deceit mentioned that there was another ‘dark’ side, Thomas was expecting something dark and sinister. You know, the general Disney villain aesthetic that the other dark sides went for. Maybe Narcissism, maybe Insanity, maybe just Evil.

What Thomas was not expecting was the side that was currently sitting behind him on the couch.

He had his shirts on inside out and backwards. He had a jacket tied around his waist, glasses hanging on his collar, and were those pajama pants?

Geez. This dude was a hot mess.

“Who are you?” Thomas asked, thinking this was a reasonable question to ask.

The side just shrugged and went back to lounging on the couch.

“Could you please answer me?” Thomas asked again, still trying to be polite.

“I could, but that might take too much effort,” the side mumbled.

“Okay, can someone else tell me who this is?” He was getting a little frustrated now. This side was being a pain and they really didn’t have time to deal with this crap.

“Can’t you tell? The indolent outfit? The misuse of glasses-” Roman began, being cut of by Logan saying “Seriously. If you have glasses, that means you need them. So wear them.”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by Doctor Boo, it’s really quite obvious. It’s Apathy!” He finished with his normal Roman dramatic flair.

“Apathy?”

“Yep. The one and only. And Roman, we get that you’re extra. Do you really need to be so extra all the time?” Apathy mumbled.

“Yes, well maybe-No! I will not fall for your silly mind games, you skanky sloth!”

“Mind games? What are you guys talking about? Logan, can you fill me in here?”

“Certainly. Apathy, the bane of my existence, is your lack of interest. He-”

“It’s ‘they’, Logan. Seriously, after dealing with me for this long, you would think you would get it by now.” Apathy mumbled. Did they ever speak up? Thomas thought.

“Apologies, they finds all thinks mundane or useless, so they doesn’t do anything. Their power, if could even call it that, is to convince somebody to slowly stop doing whatever it is they enjoy. So, for Roman, it’s being all dramatic and over the top.”

“So essentially, kiddo, Apathy makes you unproductive,” Patton said.

“Yeah. And we don’t really get along,” Virgil growled.

“Virg? Why not?” Thomas asked.

“Anxiety and Apathy? You’d never get anything done! You’d either be anxious about whatever it is you’re doing, or you’d never have enough motivation to actually do it!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Virgil had said something about motivation. Does that mean... “Are you the one that’s been behind all my lack of motivation problems?”

“Yep. Who else would it be, Logan?”

“Of course not,” Logan retorted. “I am completely for Thomas working on improving his-”

“It was sarcasm, dude. Get a hint.” Apathy rolled his eyes in Logan’s general direction.

“Anyway, what am I going to do with him? I can’t have him constantly draining my motivation, I have to get things done-”

“Can you please chill out? V doesn’t need anything else to worry about,” Apathy said, actually speaking at a normal volume for once.

“I told you not to call me V,” Virgil frowned.

“I’ll stop calling you V when you stop acting like it’s the early 2000′s.”

Virgil did not have a response to that.

“To touch on why Deceit even summoned me here, I think romance is a waste of time. Too much work and commitment. But if you really like this dude, maybe just go for it. And hey, if it doesn’t work out, then you’ll get over it. You did last time.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about the motivation thing. I won’t be in your way. The only times I really do my job are on weekends and times when you work yourself too hard.”

“Wow. That’s... surprisingly good advice, Apathy. And you really won’t bother me?”

“Yes Thomas. I’m less of a dark side, more a ‘morally ambiguous’ side.”

“Huh.”

“As Deceit has shown,” Logan said “Appearances can be deceiving.”

“Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Have to keep Remus from making you too crazy.”

“Wait what?”

But Apathy was already gone.

“We’ve gotta head out too, kiddo. Movie night.” Patton said.

“But we haven’t solved what I’m gonna do about this guy!” Thomas said.

“Look, if there is one thing you can learn from Apathy, it’s you need to chill a bit,” Virgil said.

“That’s smart coming from you, Virgil,” Roman scoffed.

“But it’s true. I, well, I keep you on your toes, especially when it comes to relationships. But Apathy is right. Sometimes, we just gotta chill. I’ll... I’ll let up if you actually try to build your relationship with him.”

“Alright, Virgil. I’ll try.”

And with Thomas’ closing statement finished, the sides all gathered for movie night.

--------

Over the next couple weeks, Apathy became less of nuisance and more of a friend. Sure, there were still bumps, especially when Apathy and Logan couldn’t figure out a work schedule that worked for both of them. But they managed.

One night, during a (much later) movie night, they couldn’t decide on what to watch.

“How about Cinderella? It’s a classic,” Roman suggested.

“Dude. We have watched Disney for the past month. Let’s do something else,” Virgil groaned.

“What’s wrong with Disney?”

“Nothing. It’s just that we watch it way too much.”

“Ugh. Fine. Apathy, since you haven’t picked a movie, what would you like to watch?” Roman turned to where the side was lying on the floor, finally wearing his jacket and glasses, scrolling through some weird website that nobody wanted to ask about.

“Hmm?”

“Roman asked what movie you wanted to watch, Apathy,” Logan repeated, letting Patton curl into him a little bit more.

“Oh. Ummm... I don’t really care? But how about Love, Simon, since everyone likes that one.”

“Sweet.” Roman was about to play the movie when Apathy had one more statement to add.

“And it’s Nate.”

Everyone was quiet for a second, then Patton asked “What was that, kiddo?”

“Nate. My name?”

Everyone paused again.

“Nate. Huh. Wasn’t what I was expecting, but I like it.” Roman said cheerfully.

“Thanks for telling us, Nate. You’ve gotta be really brave to share your name with us.” Patton grinned, which made Nate flush a little bit.

“Yeah, well, it was getting annoying to have to listen to you call me Apathy when I knew I had a name, so it was an easy choice.”

Nate played it off like it was nothing, but Virgil knew how hard it was for a ‘dark’ side to share their name (except for Remus. But he generally was the black and green sheep of the family). So he shared a small smile with Nate, not saying anything. He knew that look was enough for them.

Because Nate was just family now. Not a ‘dark’ side, not a ‘light’ side, just family.

--------

Taglist (Let me know if you want to be added)

@redistooviolent

@jellopuffs

@loginceismyjam

@a-trans-ghost

@hekking-happy-nonsense

@chaotic-sinnabun

@steampunkicarus

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #roman sanders #thomas sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #oc #not mine tho #fanartfunart #love you firefly #sander sides fic #writing marathon

76 notes · View notes

allisondraste · 4 years

Text

Temperance 32/42

Pairing: Nathaniel Howe/ Female, Non-HoF Cousland

Story Summary: Nathaniel and Elissa were childhood friends, but time and distance tore them apart. In the aftermath of the Fifth Blight, and Ferelden’s Civil War, both Elissa and Nathaniel must attempt reconstruct their tattered lives. As a series of events lead them to be reunited, both are reminded of so many years ago when things were much simpler.

Chapter Summary: Liss makes an important decision.

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

[AO3 LINK]

Highever, 9:27 Dragon

Dear Nate,

Every year I tell myself that this will be the last year I write to you, but here I am writing another hopeless letter, wondering if you’ll even read it, wondering if you even care. I’ve started to question whether you ever cared. This is not how friends treat one another... unless they’re imaginary, of course.

Andraste’s arse. Nate, are you imaginary? No, no. My imaginary friends still write to me.

Kidding.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ll be utterly shocked to know that I miss you. I thought I would stop eventually, but no such luck. The pain dulls each year, but I don’t think it will ever go away completely. I pray that you are well, and far happier than I am, out on your glorious adventure. I’m envious of you, and I’m envious of those who get to be near you.

I know I shouldn’t feel that way, that I should be angry and resentful that you’re ignoring me, but that’s not me. The day I stop caring about you is the day I die. I just wish that weren’t such a lonely thing to feel.

Have a good year, Nate.

Love,

Liss

Liss dropped her quill, and lifted the parchment from her desk, biting her bottom lip as she reread the letter. More and more tears welled in her eyes with each word, grasp on the page tightening, fingers crumpling the edges. She debated wadding in up entirely and tossing it into the fireplace. Why not? It would save Nate the trouble of doing it himself. Then again, she was stubbornly devoted to not giving up on him.

Taking a deep breath, she sat the parchment down and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and scrubbing the tears from her cheeks. Suddenly a chill rushed up her spine as a presence appeared behind her, hot breath on her neck, hands on her arms, a trail of soft kisses from her shoulder to her ear.

“It’s too early,” whispered a low voice, “Come back to bed.”

She couldn’t remember his name, some second son of some minor lord from some small town in the bannorn, but he nipped at her ear again, and she bit back the urge to slap him. She’d been a little drunk—and more than a little sad— the night before, and he happened to be visiting Highever, willing and eager to distract and entertain the daughter of one of the most powerful men in Ferelden. Liss had learned that most people were, a fact of which she had taken complete, unapologetic advantage.

“Give me a moment,” she said, painting on a smile and turning around to look at the frustratingly nameless man. Why couldn’t she have had the decency to remember it? Even without the lens of intoxication that so often made people attractive, he was beautiful. So much so, that he should have been carved in marble and used as decoration in the home of some posh Orlesian widow. He was tall and fair, with dusty brown curls and green eyes that were perfectly symmetrical, and should definitely be painted on the cover of some risqué book like those Mother kept hidden around the castle, pretending she was discreet. Liss should have been thrilled at his tender attention, and yet in the dim rays of sunlight peeking through the curtains, he wasn’t who she wanted him to be.

The marble statue man lingered behind her, very obviously attempting to read what she was writing. “A letter?”

“No,” Liss teased, “It’s a shopping list.”

“A shopping list that says ‘Dear Nate’ at the top?” He tilted his head and smiled at her good-naturedly. Thank the Maker this one actually seemed nice.

Pulling the parchment in toward her chest to protect it from the nosey man Liss asked, “Do you make a habit of reading people’s postage?”

“Just when it is keeping a beautiful woman from lying beside me.” He ran his hand along the side of her face, wiping away a stray tear she’d been unable to dry herself. “And causing her to cry so early in the morning.”

“You noticed.”

“I am an observant man, my lady.”

Relaxing, Liss eased the letter down from her chest and sat it on the desk. “Don’t ever fall in love, uh—“

“Dareios.”

“How could I forget a name like that?”

“We didn’t exactly talk about it.” Dareios smirked.

“Right,” Liss said, clearing her throat as the heat rushed to her face. She shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“You’re not the first person I’ve slept with to make myself feel better,” she explained, rising from her chair and turning to face him, “But you’re the first person who’s been kind enough that I feel guilty about it. So, I apologize. If you wish to leave, and spread horrible rumors about me, I wouldn’t blame you.

“Did it work,” Dareios asked, reaching forward and taking her hands in his.

“What?” She eyed him with confusion and he only smiled, revealing the dimples in his cheeks.

“Did it make you feel better, my lady?”

Liss met his eyes and returned his smile. “Not really.”

“Then it seems I have not done a proper job.” He brought her hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to each of them. “I still have a few hours until I leave, if you’ll have me.”

She knew she should decline, send him on his way, but loneliness echoed in her chest, one name, one person over and over again. Her heart would hear nothing else. Still, perhaps a kind stranger with a warm embrace and gentle touch could drown it all out for a few more hours, just long enough so that she might feel like herself again. She nodded and closed her eyes, allowing him to move in more closely and kiss her and lead her back to bed.

Then, there was a knock at the door, several haphazard raps followed by a, “Sis?”

Liss shot up, eyes widening and turned to Dareios. “You have to hide,” she whispered and began to look around the room.

“Why?”

“My family will not be pleased that I slept with another of our guests.” She stood up and pointed at the floor beneath the bed. “Here, you should be able to crawl under here.”

“Are you serio—“

Liss shushed him and pressed a finger to his lips. “Please?”

He laughed and crawled out of bed, and she realized he was wearing nothing but his smalls—even more incriminating were Fergus to find him. He got down on the floor and slid under the bed. It was a tight squeeze, but it would only be a moment. At least, she hoped.

“Liss, I know you’re in there,” Fergus called through the door, “Open up.”

“Coming,” she shouted as she grabbed a robe, tied it around her, and rushed to answer the door. She swung it open forcefully and glared at her brother, unable to hide her annoyance. “Can’t a girl take a bath in peace?”

Fergus grinned and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Oh, is that what we’re calling it these days?”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” she huffed indignantly.

“The visiting Bann is looking for his son,” he said, words pointed directly at her.

“Are you suggesting that I would know where he is?” It was a flimsy defense, and she knew it.

“ Liss. ”

“ Fergus.”

“I am only suggesting that if you happen to see him— oh, I don’t know— when he crawls out from under your bed, it might be a good idea to tell him to find his father before his father finds him,” Fergus raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice, “And before our parents find him.”

Liss nodded slowly, looking her brother directly in the eyes, and he offered her a reassuring smile as a promise her secrets were safe with him. They always had been. “If I see him, I will certainly let him know.”

“I will do my best to make sure your future baths are not interrupted.”

“Thank you, brother.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With that, Fergus turned and walked back down the corridor leaving Liss to close the door. Behind her she could hear Dareios crawling from under the bed and shuffling about, most likely in search of his clothes.

“I suppose you heard that,” Liss asked giggling as she turned to face the now half-dressed man.

“I did,” he replied with a sheepish smile, as he laced up his breeches, “My father seems to have forgotten that I am no longer a little boy.”

Liss sighed. “I know how that feels more than you know.”

Dareios pulled on his shirt and sat down on the edge of the bed to pull on his stockings and boots. “Your brother seems to be a good man.”

“He’s always had my back, even when I’m completely wrong, totally reckless, and having my back is the worst idea,” she admitted, “He’s the best. But don’t tell him I said so.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said earnestly as he finished lacing up his last boot. He stood and walked over to Liss, placing his hands first on her shoulders before bringing them up to cradle her face. “You are a beautiful person, Lady Elissa, inside and out. The only thing I regret about our night together is that there won’t be another.”

Liss’ breath hitched in her throat, and she fought back the tears that welled in her eyes. He was perfect, in every single way. She should have been begging him to stay, she should have promised him another night, many other nights. Yet, she couldn’t. She was neither worthy nor wanting of perfect. Instead, she smiled and brought one of her hands up to cover his. “Thank you for spending time with me Lord Dareios.”

“It was my pleasure,” he said, kissing her forehead before taking his hands from her face and moving to exit the room. He stopped in the doorway and turned back to face her. “I hope that ‘Nate’ of yours wakes up and realizes what a treasure he has.”

“I am no treasure, but I appreciate your words all the same,” Liss said weakly, “Thank you.”

She waved as he left, and closed the door quietly behind him, pressing her back to it and sliding down until she sat on the ground. She let her face fall to her hands, tears dripping from her eyes. It would be so much easier for her if she could just love someone else, but she did not know where to start, or how. Her first and only experience with love had happened so organically and subtly, it had woven itself into every part of her life that it was impossible to tell where it began or when it ended. She could not even be bothered to consider another person, even a person as wonderful as Dareios was.

This was Nate’s fault, she thought, looking up and catching a glimpse of the bow her family had crafted for him propped up in the corner of the room. If he could just write her back, and tell her once and for all that he didn’t love her. If he could just confirm that he found her letters annoying and unwelcome. If he could just be blunt and honest for once in his life, then maybe, just maybe she could let him go. As it was, she knew him too well to be so certain that his silence meant rejection. She’d seen his face light up too many times when she’d forced herself into his presence after he’d told her to go away to think that the same couldn't happen still. Sacrifice of her dignity though it may be, she knew she wouldn’t let go or move on truly until he released her. Thus, her current agony was his doing alone, and the realization allowed for anger where before there’d been only sadness. Damn him.

Liss stood abruptly and rushed to the desk, pulled out a fresh piece of parchment, and penned an entirely new letter to Nate.

Dear Nate,

Every year I tell myself that it will be the last year I write a hopeless letter to you as if you will read it. Every year, I tell myself that even if I don’t hear from you, it still matters. It’s something I should do as your friend, and as someone who cares about you. I am writing to you this time, to tell you that I won’t be doing that anymore. I am tired of writing letters into the void and wondering if you still care about me like I still care about you.

This is not how friends treat one another, Nate. You know that. I can’t even begin to understand how someone I grew up with, someone who I’ve known my whole life could ignore me. Unless it was all a lie. Unless you were just some figment of my imagination. Andraste’s arse. Are you imaginary?

Kidding.

If you ever decide that you care about me after all, you know how to reach me.

I wish you all the best.

Love,

Liss

With one quick read of the letter, feeling confident in her words, Liss folded it and placed it in an envelope for Papa to send out later. She threw on a shirt and breeches that hung so loosely she knew they must have been old clothes that Fergus had grown out of. Good enough, since she was in no mood to be uncomfortable in some dress. Then, she trudged over to the corner of the room, picked up his bow, and headed out into the corridor.

It took no time for her to reach Nate’s room, or at least the one that used to be his. For so long, it had been a place of refuge and comfort for her, yet it had been so long since she’d even visited it. She couldn’t bring herself to go inside and only see ghosts of him, shadows of his smell, the dusty untouched books, the chest that still had a few of his things in it. She’d feared it would overwhelm her if she opened the door, as if a wave of sadness would burst forth from behind the wood and drown her. She would not be scared anymore. She’d leave his bow there, with all the other disparate pieces of him and close it away, out of sight unless she wanted to see it again.

Gripping the bow so tightly her knuckles turned white, Liss entered the room. It looked exactly as it had the last time she’d been in it. Tidy. Empty. Cobwebs collected in corners and the sconces were all flameless. She sat the bow down on the bed and grabbed a torch from the hall to light those in the room. She walked about the space, taking everything in, remembering the times she’d spent sitting on the floor with him, talking, laughing, crying. She remembered the night they first met. She remembered all the times she’d come there to hide from the world, to just be herself.

Plopping down on the edge of the bed, she took the bow in her hands once more, running her fingers along the engravings in the wood, the letter “N.” Anger swelled in her chest and she tightened her grasp around the bow. She’d done nothing but care for him, and she knew it wasn’t his choice to leave, but he couldn’t even have the decency to write her back. He left her hanging out on a limb for him and her arms were getting so tired. She still loved him and yet she was so angry with him and it felt so much better than empty. She held the bow up and out in front of her before slamming it down against her knee. It snapped in half, and she tossed it across the floor.

Almost immediately, she regretted it, as she stared at the jagged pieces of wood, once whole, now connected only by the string attached to each piece. It could be repaired, of course. All of the parts were still there, but it was no longer what it was, and it would never be the same again. It was oddly poetic.

This was the kind of situation where Liss would have typically cried, dropping her head and letting the sobs shake her body, but she couldn’t. She felt numb, as if by breaking that bow, she had broken herself completely. She sat staring blankly at the stone of the floor for sometime, until there was a polite knock at the door before it swung open. It was Fergus, again, Oren in his arms and Bear at his side.

Bear immediately pushed past the door and sat near the bed, tilting his head and looking up at Liss. Oren shouted “Auntie,” and Fergus let him down so that he could run to her. Smiling vacantly, she picked him up and sat him on her lap.

“I think Bear saw you come in here. Wouldn’t let me have any peace ‘til I let him in. Oren wanted to tag along,” Fergus said with a laugh, and then he noticed the broken bow on the ground, eyes widening before he looked back up at her. “You okay, Liss?”

“No,” she answered flatly, wrapping one arm around Oren tightly, cuddling him up close to her until he giggled. With her free hand she reached down to pet Bear. “But I will be.”

It was not only an acknowledgement of the one-way trajectory that led from rock bottom, but also a promise to herself, to her family, that the past would be exactly what it was meant to be: the past.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dragon age awakening #nathaniel howe #nathaniel howe x cousland #cousland #temperance #update #my writing #ONLY TEN CHAPTERS LEFT AHHH

20 notes · View notes

fallingin-like · 4 years

Text

november 19

tenuous by undertow

see which other fics i’m reviewing this month! / my review request post!

this is one of my favourite fics in the fandom. it has DID!neil and features a really great relationship between him and aaron, and him and andrew. i love their style of writing. please read this fic

I want to start and just say that this is one of my favourite fics, and by far one of my most-reread fics. i love so many parts of it, but most of all i love the tone of this fic. it shapes all the sentences and gives it something that makes it so special. it makes me feel something and i love this glimpse of a softer neil who really is trying his best.

parts that stood out to me:

”he considers this. this week has been full of nightmares… and it’s making the lines blur, part of him terrified and the other parts struggling to control it. ‘neil,’ he decides. he’s too anxious to be anyone else.” i really like this because it does a great job of introducing the idea of neil’s different identities, but, more importantly i think, how similar they are. because really, they all originated from the same person and likely share traits and emotions. the idea of the transition between identities being blurry and motivated by his fear and trying to protect himself is well explained. you also are able to establish some of the main characteristics of neil.

”he keeps waiting for her to sound like she doesn’t believe him, for her to tell him that he’s lying for attention, but she hasn’t yet” i think this is really interesting because we really don’t see much interaction between betsy and neil in the series. i like that, even though you imply they have an ongoing relationship (aka that this isn’t one of the first few meetings) you still communicate neil’s underlying wariness of her, of his tendency to always expect the worst of people

”last time she saw him was two weeks ago; last week it had been nate sitting in the chair, sullen and mostly silent” this does a good job in showing that while these are both still ‘neil’ (as in, his body), they are still considered to be two different people. it’s always interesting for me to see how DID is portrayed in different stories, and i like that neil has an understanding of what happened while nate was ‘in charge’ (for lack of a better word)

”she has a cup of hot chocolate in front of her, probably from her previous session” anDREW??

”his skin crawls at the admission. he’s trying to get better at telling the trust, but it makes him feel-exposed, like he’s offering his head on the chopping block.” i love the way that you describe this. it gives me a great look into neil’s perspective and also i am immediately so interesting in learning about what his childhood was like, how similar it was to canon, how ingrained lying is in compared to in the books.

”that’s why his uncle is forcing him to go to therapy, he guesses” woohoo! for some reason i really enjoy fics where stuart takes care of neil

”’he lives with his brother,’ he says, slowly, trying to pick out how he feels. ‘i haven’t-i haven’t interacted with him much. so i’m nervous about that.” okay so i don’t know why, but i like this sentence. something about the wording that you use feels so right, i can so clearly hear the way that neil is saying this. i like the way that you break up what he says. that, and the short sentences changes how i read this dialogue in a good way

neil recognizing right away that andrew is not aaron? amazing! what were andrew’s thoughts when this happened? it seems that he is at least interested enough to not immediately scare neil away (although i’m not sure if neil can be scared away)

”he shrugs, a bare twitch of his shoulders. he doesn’t know when he stopped tapping his thigh, but he starts up again, still looking at the figurines. ‘i just. don’t know what to expect.’” and also the bit on neil’s reaction to betsy suggesting that he ask aaron what to expect. i really like these lines because they feel so real. the dialogue feels so natural

”betsy’s voice remains gentle as she persists; she has learned that although he appreciates firmness in his friends, his therapist is an entirely different matter” ooh this is great. i like that neil has so much self-awareness in this fic

”the bee on the shelf is nearly translucent; he can see through it into the dark stain of the wood. he splays his hands across his thighs, hard, the curves of his fingers lifting off his jeans. ‘yeah,’ he whispers. he becomes aware of a creeping heat around his jaw and ears, a weakness around his upper arms.” okay so this is one of the paragraphs that is really memorable to me. i think it’s because i really understand how neil is feeling. the focus on the bee, the awareness of heat and what his hands are doing, the fact that he whispers in response.

”he likes that she knows when to stop pushing. he likes that she remains patient with him, although he rarely stays stays for the entire session and talks tiltedly about his past. he sinks into his chair and nods.” i think this is probably the reason that he has been able to continue going to therapy (other than stuart forcing him) because on some level, he knows that betsy will be respectful of him and that he can trust her.

”he lets out a breath and glances away; he had been hoping that he would be able to leave without speaking up agian. ‘uh,’ he says, and stops. it takes him a moment to remember what she had been talking about.” oh. this is something that happens to me so often

”[andrew] flicks his fingers at neil as he passes by, carefully skirting around him. it might be a shoo. it might be a hello.” ahh!! this is really cute. although neil might not realise it, i think it’s telling that andrew even acknowledges neil outside of their usual cafeteria interaction

”he represses the urge with a shudder, unsure of the reason for the impulse” woah i really like this.

okay i don’t want to copy down all of it, but this interaction between andrew and neil in the cafeteria is so amazing. it’s in all the little things, neil grabbing a fork instead of a spoon, andrew cutting his pizza, “‘granola bars,’ andrew repeats flatly”, neil’s memory of the tacos. but most of all i love the part about the brownies, and how the intentionality of them changes everything, how it feels like a shift in their relationship. these boys are so interesting because they’re so intentional with everything that they do, to other people this gift would not be quite as significant. i love the way that you write andrew and his mannerisms. “that makes andrew pause; the scraping of his knife stops, then begins again”, “andrew says slowly, each word deliberate”,

”he chews another strawberry and licks at the bit of yogurt that had smeared across his lip, kisses it off his thumb” ahh this little detail is one of many that really adds to the fic. it’s not necessary, not really, but it changes something. makes it better. i am able to picture the scene so much more clearly when i see these little things that are happening during this conversation.

”he’s good at picking up languages, finds school-taught spanish to be challenging but not impossible, not after learning two languages through immersion and terror” ah i love this, i think a lot of fics write neil as just having a natural affinity for languages, and while that may be true, i think that a lot of it is due to the immense amount of pressure he must have been under to become fluent.

this scene is great because it’s our first real glance into seeing neil and aaron together (and katelyn and marissa). you do an amazing job at establishing the easy relationship that they have, complaining about homework together, and helping each other out. the familiarity of them is shown through the coffee orders, the way that they all just invite themselves over to neil’s place and he lets them

”’andrew drinks whiskey?’ neil asks. it’s the only thing that catches his attention. whiskey, from what he remembers, smells like rubbing alcohol and burns like ice on its way down” okay first, so so cute to hear about neil’s interest in andrew and how he associates him with smoke and chocolate. second, neil, you walking tragedy, i bet you only have had whiskey as a way to dull pain and clean wounds

”aaron flicks his gaze toward him, a little surprised by the interest” i like that you used flicks! no idea why, but i like it!

LOL AARON TALKING TO NEIL IN BAD SPANISH BECAUSE HE WANTS TO TALK WITHOUT ANDREW LISTENING IN. i love that we really get to see Neil Oblivious Josten at full force here. ahh i like so many sentences in this scene, i just can’t explain why. your writing is just so easy and wonderful to read.

boo! so precious, i love her so much.

andrew! picking up food for neil! ahhh it’s so cute and it’s really in tune with the way that andrew shows his care

”’yeah,’ he echoes, swallowing the taste. ‘no syrup’” woah this is so lovely

”(he still glances up when andrew crosses into the living room again, and if his gaze lingers because andrew is eating one of the marbled brownies-well. neither of the twins are looking at him, anyway.)” i really really appreciate the use of parentheses here and the tone that it helps create

”neil doesn’t feel up to shrugging, yet, so he looks at andrew for a moment longer before closing his eyes and tilting his head against the back of the couch.” ahh okay this, and the parts before just on neil’s kind of dissociation is really familiar to me. you do a great job of describing it, putting words to something i have only ever felt before

”the sink turns on; water smacks against the bottom of its metallic basin. it feels-well. it just feels” OKAY THIS IS MY FAVOURITE PART OF THE WHOLE FIC. which. i know is kind of weird, but i think of these sentences so so often. the last two sentences resonates with me so much, the description of the water is so vivid, i can hear it so clearly in my mind.

”aaron curls two fingers around the back of neil’s shin and pulls it forward, and neil follows the movement, stretching his legs into aaron’s lap. aaron keeps his hand on neil’s ankle, below the rolled-up hem of his sweatpants” ahh it’s so nice to see these casual displays of affection between aaron and neil, it really shows how close they are, especially given both their childhoods

“the bed-sharing is something that makes neil feel safe because it reminds him of his mother, who had spent sixteen years trying to keep him alive, and nate is-well, he is not entirely his father’s son, but he is very much not his mother’s” you do a really good job of explaining the differences between neil and nate and why they exist and i’m curious as to what nathaniel is like. ruthless, i would guess, and cruel.

”andrew huffs in what could be a laugh or what could be derision. ‘and you calling aaron the street is meant to be you asking nicely?’ ‘yes,’ neil says, unperturbed. ‘it’s all in the tone.’” the dynamic that you have between andrew and neil is so well established

ANDREW AND NEIL AND THE CIGARETTE honestly it kills me each time i read this part, everything that andrew does is so deliberate and well thought out, at least on the outside. i’d love to see what he’s thinking

”he is no longer thinking about his mother. he is thinking about andrew” AHHHH

”another two cars pass through the street in the time that it takes for the cigarette to burn down to his fingertips. one of the cars is from this house” there’s this sense of detachment that fits the tone of the writing and the way you write the characters so well. it matches the kind of

”what’s up with you and my brother? aaron had asked two days ago in his kitchen, and neil realizes, with a kind of dizzy swoop in his stomach, that if aaron asks him again, he might have a different answer” oh my goodness what a wonderful way to end this fic.

i love the idea of aaron and neil having a friendship like this, the easy relationship that they have. i wonder, how much does neil know about tilda and how much does aaron know about mary? they’re so similar in certain ways and i love that you explore how this brings them together, instead of breaking them apart. and andrew in the middle of this all. it’s always interesting when aaron does the protecting. we know he’s capable of it in canon, with drake and everything, but this feels different. softer.

i’m always interested in neil with DID, it seems like exactly the kind of coping mechanism that he could have fallen upon, because we all know that Neil I’m Fine Josten is really the expert in repression. i’d love to see more of this, especially a scene where andrew has a chance to meet nate. i’d be curious what his reaction to that would be, without thinking too much, i would say he would be suspicious or feel threatened?, but when i think about it more, i’m unsure. they’ve shared so many lunches together, andrew knows that neil would never hurt aaron. but i guess, nate is not neil.

oh and i love your aro/ace neil. this representation is so important, and it always makes me feel good when it’s included.

the way that you write is so immersive, i feel like i’m actually there with the characters, and everything else kind of fades away. your characterization is wonderful and i love the way you describe everything. i would love to see another part to this series, if you are still working on it. i keep coming back to this fic and each time i do, i fall in love with it, over and over and over. thank you so much for writing this!!

#tenuous #aftg fic review #raelle writes

16 notes · View notes