#what if we got the 3 messiest men on this team. and made them all gang up on one man | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rynhaswritersblock · 4 years

Text

masterlist 🕊

hi!! welcome to my masterlist!

i try to make all of my imagines as inclusive as possible. PLEASE let me know if i discriminate against any group in any way; this is a safe space for everyone!

fluff 🧸 | angst 🕯| steamy ⚡️| personal favorite 🦦 | from an event ✨ ↬ i write predominantly fluff!

PETER PARKER imagines - anywhere from 1k to 10k words

desperate times and desperate measures 🧸 ↬ you're an avenger on a fake date with peter to get information from a group of villains, and peter has to think quick in order not to blow your cover... wink wink

far from home (part one, part two, part three, part four, part five) 🧸🕯 ↬ you and peter sit next to each other on the plane to europe and what begins as a friendship turns into so much more

can’t help it 🧸⚡️ ↬ you and peter have been dating for a few months now, and being the kind boy he is, he always asks for a kiss when he wants one. when kissing he always lets you set the pace because he's afraid to hurt you (because of his powers), but this time, his feelings are too much…

sista-sista 🧸🕯 ↬ you (peter's sister) were recruited by nick fury multiple years ago. ever since he discovered you, he took you in and trained you to work behind the scenes at S.H.I.E.L.D., and was the one to help you recover after being kidnapped by a terrorist group and experimented on (which resulted in you getting your powers). nick convinces you to work on a mission with peter, resulting in your coming clean to him about your past and the biological relationship between the two of you

study date 🧸 ↬ you and peter have been friends for most of your life but have slightly grown apart this last year due to peter's spider-man duties. finally, the two of you get together to work on a project and things... happen?

fancy-schmancy 🧸 ↬ you and peter sneak out of a fancy charity event because adults are boring and there’s better things to do

competitive 🧸 ↬ you and peter have had an interesting relationship due to the fact that you're both competing for being number one in your class. but, over time, a small, unexpected romance grows out of the rivalry

laser tag 🧸⚡️ ↬ tony organizes a game of avengers laser tag. you and peter are on opposite sides and have made it clear to each other that you will fight to the death- whatever it takes

NINE-NINE! 🧸 ↬ you and peter spend most nights watching brooklyn nine-nine together and have found just how similar the two of you were to the show's lead couple, jake and amy

how about a kiss, saumensch? (part one, part two) 🧸🕯 ↬ when peter sees you reading the book thief and talking about it afterwards, your love for it makes him want to read it. so, he does, and he decides to follow in the steps of rudy steiner, asking for a kiss at every chance he gets

take your things and go (part one, part two) 🧸🕯 ↬ you and peter have a love-hate relationship that makes some advances when the two of you land in a close situation

holy water! 🧸⚡️ ↬ after catching you and peter getting a little heated, natasha decides to take things into her own hands... in the messiest of ways

letters 🧸 ↬ after too long a wait for you and peter to just get together, the team decides to get you together their way

curiosity killed the cat 🧸🦦 ↬ peter parker is a photographer. the boy is absolutely obsessed with taking pictures of anything that attracts him, anything that catches his eye... anything, particularly you

under the mistletoe 🧸🕯 ↬ high school holiday parties can lead to unfortunate circumstances... especially when it involves your lifelong enemy and one godforsaken garnish

spider-man chapstick 🧸 ↬ nostalgic finds at new york bodegas can lead to flirtatious and awkward encounters with the boy you call your best friend

the benefits of fake dating 🧸 ↬ although incredibly annoying, flash thompson’s arrogance was just what you and peter needed

valentine’s and pickup lines 🧸🦦 ↬ sometimes, having to do mj's job for her can work out in the best ways. especially when it's valentine's day and a certain local hero has an errand to make

midtown morning announcements 🧸🕯 ↬ as a reporter for midtown tech's daily announcements, it's easy to get carried away with ideas. especially ones involving the newest superhero from queens

brace-face 🧸🦦 ↬ in which you get braces, peter is persistent, and mr. delmar gives you free slushees

take a bullet 🧸🕯 ↬ you and peter go on your first mission without the team, flirting can be a powerful tool, and cliches like "taking a bullet" for someone don't seem so unrealistic anymore

bad date 🧸 ↬ maybe trying to get over a crush on your best friend wasn't such a good idea after all

trust issues 🧸🕯 ↬ it wasn't peter's fault that he had trust issues after his mentor's death and his most recent superhero friend's manipulation, but it also wasn't your fault that you just wanted to be his friend

locked out 🧸 ↬ y/n can't remember to grab her keys, peter misses the old days with you, and may baked extra cookies

peter! from physics! 🧸 ↬ y/n can't be controlled by wallets, peter parker gets crushes too easily, and crime in new york is abnormally low

to the man who let her go 🧸🕯 ↬ fuck brad davis. yeah

odd one out 🧸🕯 ↬ thanos' plan was to wipe out half of the universe, but what happens when the universe isn't evenly numbered?

swing and a kiss 🧸 ↬ crushes from english class and a *touch* of ptsd turn into a new form of transportation, messy rooftop shenanigans, and a lecture from one (1) tony stark

i want it, i got it 🧸 ↬ newfound confidence during karaoke night certainly can end up in peter parker making bold moves

stolen kisses 🧸 ↬ secret dating always ends in getting caught, especially by a suspicious best friend and a group of superheroes that’s been rooting for you and peter for years.

wish i were heather 🕯 ↬ a relationship that never happened and the wrong one that did.

blurbs - under 1k words

party confessions 🧸⚡️ ↬ you and peter get paired up for seven minutes in heaven

go fix my car, assbag 🧸 ↬ you catch flash bullying peter in the hallway and you decide you've had enough of his crap (haven't we all?)

over-protective peter 🧸 ↬ when flash harasses you in the hallway, peter steps in and gets maybe a bit too angry…

movies and cuddles 🧸 ↬ the avengers have a movie night and you and peter end up in a slightly embarrassing situation

let me show you 🧸 ↬ peter helps you frost a cake in the avengers' kitchen at midnight and it turns into a food fight in which your father, tony stark, catches the two of you mid-fight

scaredy-cat 🧸 ↬ you and peter are dorm neighbors (at MIT, of course), and he helps you out of a sticky-spider-situation

condensation 🧸🦦 ↬ cute neighbors drawing on condensated windows sure have the key to your heart

may? 🧸 ↬ sometimes, peter parker is a bit too caught up in the moment to realize the words that come out of his mouth... but, all for the lolz, right?

care package 🧸🕯 ↬ life is tough, but when a boy donned in red and blue shows up to make you feel better, it isn't so bad

eau de cologne 🧸⚡️🦦 ↬ avengers galas normally annoy you, but the scent of a certain hero can most certainly distract you

massage for massage? 🕯 ↬ unrequited feelings hurt, especially when your hands are the one massaging away his pain

a drive to montauk 🧸 ↬ a peaceful roadtrip with peter

moonlight tears (part one, part two) 🕯 ↬ depression took you away from yourself, but peter didn't let it take you away from him

the penis game 🧸🦦 ↬ a group of boys at the library plays the penis game and none of them manage to get above a quiet yell, so you take matters into your own hands

peter parker for pepper spray! 🧸 ↬ y/n lost her pepper spray, old men in new york are creepy, and peter parker just walked out of delmar's with a sandwich in hand and a kind enough heart to help out an enemy

english lit meet-cute 🧸 ↬ all it takes is an awkward mishap and some confidence to finally get you and the boy you keep seeing around campus together.

overnight beach trip 🧸✨ ↬ in which you and peter take a trip to the beach for a night.

headcanons - stories in the form of chaotic bullet-points

internship 🧸 ↬ tony stark not only helped in bringing together a group of people to protect earth, but also in sparking young love

dirty talk (part one, part two) ⚡️🦦 ↬ to the public, peter parker is the epitome of innocent, but after a conversation at lunch, he is determined to prove the opposite

hallway bookworm 🧸 ↬ girls reading and crying while walking in the hallway sure do seem to have an effect on peter parker

tiktok famous (part one, part two, part three, part four) 🧸⚡️ ↬ the wonderful chaotic adventures of y/n and peter making tiktoks

midnight at delmar’s 🧸 ↬ working alone late at night can be dangerous. 'nuff said

i go hard like thanos 🧸 ↬ popping off to an absolute banger during an avengers meeting is the best way to set yourselves up for failure

quaranteens 🧸 ↬ how you and petey boi spend your quarantine <3

gross 🧸🦦 ↬ chaotic mess in which you pull a Dumb Bitch Move and write a song for peter while relying on the hope that he never sees it

new york boy 🧸 ↬ life is hard when you visit your uncle in new york and all of a sudden there's a cute boy named peter parker in your life

giant teddy bears 🧸 ↬ first dates are awkward, peter sucks at dance dance revolution, and the night ends with a giant teddy bear and something sweet

actual books!

flicks (currently on wattpad; i will not be uploading this to tumblr as of now) ↬ in which a girl named indigo and a boy named peter bond over the love of movies, the loss of parents, and the power of saving the world | bonus imagine!

lmk if any of the links are faulty or if there are any other problems with the imagines! i have been on this site working on transferring my work for hours i have the brain of a strapless croc rn pls forgive me!

#masterlist #imagines #blurbs #headcanons #book #series #peter parker

128 notes · View notes

lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on The Royal Heir (Finally!), Book 1 Chapter 12

• Sorry for the delay, guys! I had my first spoken word performance in years this week, and since I was pretty rusty from lack of practice I was spending most of my time preparing for that. Which kind of meant I couldn't concentrate much on getting this QT done the way I usually do.

(BUT IT WENT VERY WELL!! :D :D)

• If you don't want these posts clogging your dash, here are the tags to blacklist: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post.

• Honestly the highlight of this chapter for me is finding out that Kiara calls Madeleine an angry poodle behind her back. I bet it was supposed to mean something else and Penelope simply edited it out lol.

• And also Hana's look this chapter, coz Hana always looks so pretty XD

• Soooo like we have one more chapter in Texas left? That's...quite the gap away from the country - from Chapter 5 to Chapter 13, with us returning to Cordonia (by the looks of the summary) by Chapter 14. That's 8 chapters in the States + 1 in Auvernal (9 total): that's roughly 42-47% of our total book. That's how long the narrative took to wrap things up in Walker Ranch, a huge chunk of which added nothing much of value whatsoever to the story.

• In terms of timeline, we've spent over a week preparing for Bertrand and Savannah's wedding, following a possible month-long honeymoon plus barely two days in Valtoria. That's one looooong holiday. And...newsflash...it's not only "King Liam" who's being "irresponsible" (esp if you consider that in a playthrough where you're honeymooning with another LI, he isn't the one spending a whole month frolicking on the beach then running off to Texas shortly after), it's all your favourite LIs as well.

• Screenshots:

Hana: The Universal 77 YouTube channel

Maxwell: @itsbrindleybinch and rash.rec YouTube channel.

Drake: The HIMEME YouTube channel and BizzysChoices YouTube channel

• Sooo the chapter begins where we left off, with Savannah worried about where Bertrand has gone, and the group doing some sort of team huddle like they're discussing strategy for a football game or something.

• Maxwell for some reason thinks the chickens may have taken him hostage. This is not Angry Birds, Maxwell 🤭

Savannah mentions that his tux and wallet are still at home, and therein lies the clue that he isn't abandoning her. He's not taken any money with him.

• Leona gives in her crusty, unwanted input, which Bianca to her credit shuts down. I mean, if Bertrand really needed to turn tail and run, he would have done it ages ago. Like as soon as Drake the Freeloader insisted Bertrand cluck like a chicken last book, just to win the hand of his equally freeloading sister. He could have just muttered "this entire clan is bonkers, me outie" right then. And he'd be right.

• I need Bertrand to ask THE ENTIRE WALKER FAMILY to cluck like chickens or something similar in public once this whole ordeal is over coz istg they deserve just as much humiliation for what they've put them through. That includes Savannah and Drake. Bertrand would be appalled by the idea but yknow, a girl can dream.

• The MC offers to go to the store to find him, and sees Bertrand arguing with the clerk (and threatening curses on him and his progeny). She gets to sock him over the head if she wants...or just scare him. After a couple seconds of arguing coz Bertrand went on this impossible mission just before his wedding, he admits to wanting to get Savannah the Walker saddle.

• The owner of the store doesn't want to give the saddle away because he wants to use it to hold hats. If there is one thing Esther DuPont can appreciate, it's a man who values his hats.

• You have three options to convince Cassidy, the owner: you either plead with him and remind him of the power of friendship, or you tell him the truth about the saddle being Bertrand's fiancée's family heirloom (and because Cassidy is a big softie really, he is moved by both these options).

• The third option is the messiest and the best because you grab the saddle and run while poor Cassidy is just standing there like "what the fuck just happened here":

• Just before the MC and Bertrand got to their respective rooms to change, she gets to ask him why it was so important now for him to get the saddle - and his reasoning involves not only Savannah but Bianca, who Bertrand reveals "has never had a favourable opinion" of him. Which for me technically means buildup for a flashback scene for her before we leave, so the story can highlight why she secretly shares Leona's mistrust of the Crown. There have already been a couple instances where Bianca has hinted at her disappointment, and I'd be kiiinda surprised if it doesn't come up next chapter.

• Bertrand suddenly starts "realizing the importance of parents" with Bartie Sr's return? Really?? How and why? Wasn't he extremely conflicted about Bartie Sr earlier? You'd think they'd expand on that but no.

• Since the MC and Hana are from the bride's side (for no reason) they wear these lovely pink outfits (of course, if the MC decides against that, she can always choose Pepto Bismol!). The men wear blue and white with pink flowers at the lapel, and interestingly Maxwell wears a bowtie rather than the tie Liam and Drake wear (I'm guessing so he could match with Bertrand).

• As with most things on Hana's playthrough, Maxwell takes her place for scenes where an LI is to assist the MC (either in picking an outfit or in choosing for something like the nursery). Here, we meet Maxwell first, then see Hana's outfit afterwards.

• ...Madeleine believing she's "an actual professional", and in fact better than Jess, and Blake Yasuda.

If I had to make a list of how poor a professional you are, it would be - oh wait. I already have a comprehensive list of that. It's the entirety of Book 3.

• Madeleine is not our press secretary anymore (thank goodness) but she still hasn't lost her need to control and criticize and screech at people. Unfortunately, by virtue of being last in the room just when the MC is hit by a wave of nausea, Madeleine ends up sharing the secret of our possible pregnancy with us (eww).

• Because the MC is impatient as hell, Madeleine shoves the test into a desk drawer and waits for the timer to go off, after which we find...two tests (how did she not see this when she was opening the desk). Which one is ours? (the positive one, but for plot purposes the MC is kept not knowing about this).

• I'm not appreciating Madeleine carrying around pregnancy tests. That'll always be a weird thing to do.

• Why the heck was Savannah keeping her negative test in a desk in someone else's room? Why not just throw it away? Like I understand not wanting Bertrand to know but this is just next-level bizarre. What's it supposed to be: "a keepsake of that time when I was not pregnant"?

• So now the plan is to figure out who took the other test and confirm any results from them. The rest of the bridal party (Penelope, Olivia and Kiara) are downstairs making small talk and discussing wedding fashion/traditions. You get references to Lythikos weddings ("all knives and crossbows", which is actually Kiara's disbelieving statement that Olivia confirms).

• Time for the wedding! And the MC needs to ask a woman from the court about this test, and quick.

• You'd think she'd zero in first on a girl who was already in a relationship but nope. Kiara it is. Even after she's told us enough times that she isn't dating nor does she want to. Asking KIARA this question first is a clear sign of lack of common sense.

@ Option 2: The writers seem to forget that this was a woman who didn't mind juggling both work and finding a suitor. Like...sure, she has a position in the palace now and her priorities may have changed but let's not forget that it's just as easy to give a girl like Kiki a phenomenal love interest in the time they took to lovingly plan a "reward" for Penelope 🙄 Just say you're too lazy to even try giving Kiara nice things that she more than deserves and go, PB.

• Savannah finally enters the venue, riding her horse Thunder and wearing a version of the RoE MC's free wedding dress that has wider straps. Bianca notices the saddle, surprised, and Savannah (in the only sequence where she makes 1/4th of an effort to support her partner in front of her shitty family) informs her that it was Bertrand who got it from the store for her. Bianca's way of repaying him for doing this is tears in the eyes and a whispered "thank you".

• You know that isn't enough, Bianca. You and your daughter stood by while your sister treated this guy like shit. You allowed him to suffer when he was the bridegroom in this entire wedding shindig, and let's not forget his money was what was supporting her in Paris when she didn't even keep in touch with anyone - including you. Yet you and your sister let your bias - fueled by other assholes - make it okay to treat him like this?

• Also, Cassidy's shop seems to be nearby and I'm pretty sure Bianca and Leona know him at least a little better than Bertrand or the MC do, if they sold a precious family heirloom to him. Why weren't they going and asking him, even after realizing how important the saddle was to Savannah? Surely they'd understand that he was a softie at heart, or at least they could have made an effort. Sure, pride could be a factor but this was a matter of Bianca's daughter's happiness...I guess actually doing something about it other than mope and brood isn't much of a Walker trait.

• Bartie Sr is yapping loudly without caring how he's disrupting the ceremony by doing so, and the MC needs to make a decision to keep him quiet. She can choose between Madeleine and Penelope:

- Madeleine: is clearly the option PB wants you to pick because they wrote her bit with Bartie quite well. Bartie Sr recognizes Madeleine as "Godfrey's little girl" and it's nice to see her distance herself from her father and reaffirm her authority beyond him. She also shuts the man down so fast he must have gotten whiplash.

- Penelope: is there. And thinks we're playing dumb charades in the middle of a wedding. Her poodles are smarter and eventually get the job done, because if you want something done, Penelope is the last person you should be asking.

• I've also learned from this sequence (and chapter) that the Choices fandom only needs the slightest, flimsiest excuse to like Madeleine. Like that's it. Kiara will be hated by some until the end of all time and have to go through hell to get even a tiny smidgen of respect, even. Forget about getting memes about how great Kiara is and how narrow-minded the people who dislike her are. Nah only the white woman gets that.

• Anyway, Bartie Sr shuts up, and the wedding is underway. Except Chuck decides now is a good time to object.

• It's cliché, it's stupid, it's totally what you'd expect at Savannah's wedding, but at least you get the option to say "fight! fight! fight!" with Olivia gleefully joining you and Liam going all "ffs ladies I'm trying to officiate here" 😂 For that alone this sequence is worth it.

• The option for Bertrand to "rise above Chuck with your eloquence" is nice, because Bertrand then makes it clear that the decision to be with him or not rests with Savannah, and Chuck disrespecting Savannah's wishes and choices is the real issue here. You get a minimal version of the same message with the more aggressive option, but the message is essentially "what Savannah wants is more important". I only wish that message went both ways coz for the most part I just never see the same amount of effort or consideration from her side.

• 🤦🏽‍♀ Jesus Pop-Tarts Eating Christ, Bertrand. YOU'RE NOT PAYING ME WELL ENOUGH FOR ME TO BE YOUR HUMAN-SIZED BACKUP THESAURUS.

• You have one eloquent choice, one cute one. But my favourite one is the one that focuses on Esther rather than the actual couple 🤣

- I miss hearing my duchy by name, okay? It's been said a couple of times in this book but still.

- "Daniel Henney" 😁😁😁😁😁

- This is revenge for that time when Savannah and Bertrand would have taken over the hype of my reception party for themselves except that I didn't pay the diamonds.

- I still don't understand why Esther is the reason this pair works when she hasn't done shit but okay, we'll roll with that. As long as this is the last time I hear about this version of events from either of them.

- Also pls now that they're married, just...let them stew in their awkward silences together for the rest of their lives. I don't want to be involved anymore. It's exhausting.

• Savannah's vows are really more about how she felt Bertrand was out of her league and how he welcomed her anyway etc etc. Hana and Maxwell pass the rings for Savannah and Bertrand respectively. Cue cute Bro-mont moment between Bertrand and Maxwell.

• Marriage solemized (😬). Now it's time to - as Maxwell puts it - PARTAAAY.

• This is not the first time we're seeing someone use Penelope's nickname (in the "she's not my bestie" option in Portavira, Emmeline calls her "Pen"). But it is the first time someone has used it by default in the books. Guess it's kind of a mark of the progress of the relationship, that Zeke has already begun calling her that.

• It's time for the bouquet toss, and as per Madeleine's suggestions also time to find out if this test belongs to either Penelope or Olivia. You have four options altogether:

- Penelope: grabs the bouquet, is happy, everyone believes this means she's next in line, and Madeleine is not very subtle about hinting that she may be pregnant so Penelope laughs at her and says no wonder Kiara calls her "an angry poodle" (somehow I think "poodle" wasn't the term Kiara wanted to be using there 😅...)

- Olivia: Doesn't catch, doesn't care, calls "Maddy" out on being nosy.

- MC: Really likes flowers.

- If the timer runs out before you choose someone, Kiara catches it. She also really likes flowers.

• I'm pretty sure a lot of this sequence is geared towards highlighting where in her relationship with Zeke Penelope is right now, since she is the only one who actually doesn't mind these "you're next" hints all that much. Next wedding for Book 2 must be hers (😑)

• I'm meh about the possibility, but at least maybe (if they're hosting anything in Castelserraillian) I'll get to see more of Kiara's estate and Kiara's parents - with some actual attention given to Kiara this time.

• You get to take your spouse aside and briefly talk to them, either telling them that you've "got it covered", tell them a little of what you're doing without disclosing the possibility of your pregnancy, or tell them it's complicated and can't really be said that quickly. I think the last two options have variations but idk about the first one.

I missed Maxwell's screenshot of the response to "invasive personal questions" thing coz I'm finishing this QT in a rush and wound up not asking anyone (sorry!), but if any of my wonderful Maxwell stan readers are still reading this I'd love to know!!

• I like that the MC can point out how invasive she's being, going around and quizzing people about the status of their uterus after complaining about everyone else doing the same thing. It's nice that you can see her understand that, otherwise it's always been "one rule for me and another for the rest of the world".

• Bartie Sr makes a toast that's all about him and his house and how proud he is of his son, and hardly about the couple. Istg he's worse than the toddler named after him.

• Speaking of Bartie Jr, he gets so excited about the cake he drives straight in, like that dude from Cold November Rain:

(I'm calling it, this is what Bartie Jr might possibly do as an adult, in the series that revolves around our kids all grown up, if there is one. "Kayyyyke!" He is a Beaumont, after all)

• Poor Blake is panicking, Bertrand is sad coz he wanted the perfect wedding cake for Savannah, Savannah is happy coz the writers are desperate to show us she isn't as whiny a person as she actually is.

• LMAO @ the LIs' responses to the MC wanting to scrape cake off a toddler.

• So Madeleine pulls the MC aside to tell her she's not pregnant because she has overheard that Savannah was taking one this morning. How...did she make that leap in logic?

• Overhearing Savannah say she took a pregnancy test only proves that one of the tests belonged to her. NOT that it would be automatically the positive one. Madeleine may be an established courtier but she lacks decent deduction skills and basic common sense. I should have called Olivia for this job gah. It's already canon that her deduction skills are better than Bastien and Drake's combined!

• We go back to our LI, and Bertrand and Savannah check in on us. Jess and Blake step in to alert us to another problem: the DJ's speakers has gone bust, and that means a Beaumont Bash with no dancing.

• Okay so...who are the ones actually staying on this semi-broke ranch, have been around longer, and would know the local bands in the area? Leona and Bianca. Who is the one finally making the effort of calling them to the party? US.

Who was the person who was holding Bartie and didn't manage to distract him before he destroyed an entire wedding cake? Bianca. Sure one cannot always tell with a toddler, but the least you do when that happens is apologize since you were the one in charge, rather than simply standing there and saying "oh dear".

Who sold the saddle to Cassidy? Leona and Bianca. Who probably has had more experience talking to people in that shop? Leona and Bianca. Who made the effort to actually get back that saddle? Bertrand.

Even the wedding planners that they got were because Liam recommended them!

Like I see them putting such little genuine effort into all this, and the nobles they judged so much are ironically the ones who don't shirk away from helping them out even though they're not as well-equipped...yet Leona still thinks she has the right to whine about everything and Bianca is doing nothing much besides letting her sister treat everyone else like trash.

• Anyway, the MC makes the calls that Leona and Bianca should have been making if you choose the options, and you wind up with a band, some fun dancing from everyone else, and a private moment with your LI.

- Begins with everyone dancing and rejoicing, Bertrand and Savannah thanking the MC and if we choose Bertrand and Maxwell can carry us on their shoulders.

- The tune changes, everyone shows a signature step, and the MC can choose to make either Olivia, Bartie Jr, or the poodles dance:

* Poodles: Everyone is doubtful at first, but Penelope has given her poodles dance classes. Merlin and Morgana stand on their hind legs, bob to the music and then do flips in the air. More of Zeke and Pen acting like a couple who have taught these dogs together.

* Bartie Jr: is a Beaumont through and through, you can tell by the way he says "dance! dance! dance!" perfectly.

* Olivia: is skeptical about this and most of her dance moves are marital arts moves, so Hana steps in and dances with her so she can have fun with it. Meh. I know everyone else loved this scene (part of me thought it was cute too, no lie) but I'd rather not see Hana yet again be nice to someone who has held such shitty opinions of her (I'm sure people will jump in and say that Olivia was just "helping" to rile Lorelai up...but no. There were other ways she could have chosen to distract Lorelai, and she chose instead to talk of Hana with disrespect). Especially in Hana's case, Olivia isn't worth the effort.

- You get to choose the music (regal, fun, yeehaw) and get music from either TRR, TF or BSC. Hana also asks you to do a dance move (a high flip, a Dirty Dancing type lift with the LI, or good old faceplanting).

- "Now that's what I call a party!" Leona says. Yeah, Auntie Bitch, no thanks to you.

- Bianca and Drake speak about how much Jackson would have loved a party like this, which means IMO that he's definitely going to be a topic for discussion next chapter!

• Partners are coupling up, and it's time for a little dance with the LI:

- Liam: You start with a cute callback to Coronation Night ("I'm ready to do a lot more than dance"), whiiiich I think the writers show a little selective amnesia for, considering that after Liam says he remembers the last time she said that Esther replies that she wasn't able to act on it back then 😳 (PB I did buy that scene. She did act upon it. An hour after she said that. WTF are your writers smoking). They also joke lightly about how nice it is to see a wedding minus assassins.

- Hana: Very simple. Hana asks for a dance, you choose who leads, and you both dance gracefully as everyone watches appreciatively. The couple notice this, and the MC talks about how when Hana dances everyone talks notice, and Hana sweetly places her head against the MC's shoulder, telling her that the rest of the world falls away in front of her. I honestly wouldn't have minded even a vague reference to the Cordonian Waltz since if you chose that scene that would have been your first dancing experience with her. If you're giving Liam a dance reference, might as well give Hana one too, right.

- Drake: There's one bit I'll address here and another that I'll address a little later. Drake and the MC dance together and are the picture of elegance according to the narrative. This leads the MC to joke about the change in him, but Drake maintains he is still the same simple, rustic whiny asshole guy. The rest is about Bertrand and Savannah (mostly Savannah) which I will get to in a minute.

- Maxwell: The couple dance a little, Maxwell compliments her moves, after which he thanks her for saving this Beaumont party with the music. He then lightly kisses the MC because she makes him so happy. I'll talk about the Betrand Savannah part now.

- Drake and Maxwell: Okay, I'm clubbing these two together because in extension to talking about their relationship with the MC, they also get to talk about their siblings. Which is fair, because they're after all the brothers of the bride and groom:

(First five screenshots are from The HIMEME Channel Drake playthrough, and the next four are from the rash rec Maxwell playthrough)

I don't mind that they get to talk about the couple. They're the family of the couple. They're bound to be personally invested in a way Liam and Hana may not be.

But read these screenshots and tell me you don't see a huge difference in the way these two talk about their own siblings. Tell me you don't see more attention being given to one while the other one essentially gets barely two lines to talk about literally the same thing. Tell me how it makes sense for Drake's wife to make a reference to family, and not for Maxwell's wife who has also seen and learned similar lessons about family in a shorter span of time (esp with Bartie Sr's return).

Drake - for the umpteenth time - has dialogues that are more personal and specific to him, that emphasize more on the importance of family. He's the one who talks about Bertrand never allowing himself to love Savannah, he's the one who envisions (for some reason that I can't fathom because this doesn't sound like the Savannah I've seen in the books) Savannah as this self-sacrificing figure, and he's the one talking about how the couple would have been "heartbroken without music". Maxwell's is pretty much "oh look now they're happy" - when he could have easily gotten a couple of lines about Beaumont Bashes and how parties like these are the only times Bertrand allows himself to let loose for example (it's true).

Someone once asked me how I knew the attention given to Bertrand was really about enriching Drake's storyline...this, among other things, is proof. This family story could have involved Maxwell instead of pushing him so far out of the narrative. This ordeal involved his family too. PB seems to constantly - and conveniently - "forget" that.

• Once this sequence is over, Savannah comes over to thank the MC for the things she's been helping with behind the scenes, and the MC can either congratulate her, or straightout ask her if she's pregnant. Either way, Savannah lets the MC know that she isn't pregnant, and she didn't want to stress Bertrand out unnecessarily with the news.

• Which means only one thing. WE ARE FINALLY PREGNANT!!

• So the next chapter is going to be about disclosing the news to the LIs and the other guests, and possibly to have Bianca's remaining issues aired out in the open, which may possibly lead to another flashback? Whatever it is, it's clear now that we'll be spending our final chapter in Texas this week.

General Thoughts:

• Sigh they just HAD to make Madeleine and Savannah the first to know, right?

• I don't have a lot of thoughts really that I haven't already shared. The next chapter seems promising because it's the big one, and it should be customized so each LI has a different reaction and/or a different story to tell related to how they view babies/family.

• Hana doesn't get a lot of space in this one - besides alerting the MC to stuff that could disrupt the wedding or dancing with people who verbally shit on her or minimal LI stuff (which for once...is okay, like her family isn't here and nor is Liam's which is why their dance scenes don't mention family that much), so she'd better get next-level amazing writing next chapter! So should Maxwell after they've done him dirty especially in the last 2-3 chapters.

• I was very happy to see some of our MCs get their well-deserved revenge by upstaging Savannah's dress with their Ana de Luca special. You guys are heroes and I love you 💜

• Ngl this chapter is one of those that reads better with the messier and more chaotic LI xD

• Sure Leona and Bianca have their own axe to grind with the Cordonian monarchy - and are justified in feeling that - but staying in their house has been painful. Painful. Worse then pulling out teeth. It's like the moment they provided housing and board for the guests they washed their hands off them and hardly put much effort into much else - instead had us do a significant amount of work for them.

• And let's not forget, Bianca/Savannah especially stood by and did nothing (though Bianca would make a few weak counterpoints when Leona insulted him) as Bertrand was being regularly humiliated and reminded of his inadequacies. Whatever problems Bianca had with the Crown, allowing her now son-in-law to be treated that way in her own home - with the barest minimum support - is unforgivable. If she didn't like the idea of him as a son-in-law she should have just refused to entertain the idea of Savannah marrying him, or told the couple to host it elsewhere. Bertrand shouldn't have had to make all that effort to do what Bianca or her sister didn't bother to do for Savannah, just to gain her approval.

• Yet somehow the Walkers are supposed to highlight to us the importance of family. How? All I see are a bunch of people who don't make much effort to look out for each other, and who depend on other people to take any initiative for the same.

• Nonetheless, I hope to see a difference in tone once we return to Cordonia in Chapter 14. (that's 9 chapters, people. Nine). There's other stuff left. More mysteries to unravel, more messy history, understanding what Olivia is upto and perhaps a visit to Monterisso at some point. There's always at least two-three main people we're expected to impress in a certain book (remember how we got our report card of performance from Justin, Francesco and Adelaide in TRR Book 2?). We've already had a chance to do this with the Auvernese, so Monterisso should be up next at some point. There's also some nursery stuff to purchase which I'm guessing will be done either slowly or in one go.

• Because there's so little time left with this book, and we already spent a huge chunk of it on the BertVannah wedding, there are going to be time jumps. Imagine the kind of time we would have had to explore this pregnancy plot properly instead of rushing it, if the writers weren't so busy drooling over all things Walker.

• Well. I can't deny I'm sorta kinda looking forward to this chapter. And the reactions from the LIs and other characters. I'm low-key excited.

• Until next chapter, folks!

#long post #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #the royal heir #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #trr kiara #trr penelope #trr madeleine

79 notes · View notes

new-blog-new-things-blog · 6 years

Text

Are you kidding me?! Part 10

Bucky x Reader

Word count: 1611 Warnings: Swearing? Slow burn af

The next morning I wake with a new found determination, I will do better. I have too. After the quickest shower of my life I dress in my gym clothes, put my hair in the messiest ponytail and run to the kitchen. Surprisingly I’m in a pretty good mood despite yesterday’s altercation with Bucky. As his name rings through me I do my best at blocking out the thoughts that follow it, determined to prove him and the rest of the team that I belong here. I find the kitchen is already occupied by Bruce, Clint, Tony and Bucky. I steel myself and walk through the threshold. Tony looks up as I walk in, smiling he greets me.

“Hey Kid, you joining us for breakfast? Bruce made waffles!”

Tony waved his fork with a piece of waffle on it in my direction, without speaking I walk to the cupboard, grabbing one of the many protein bars that were stocked there.

“Kid?”

Confusion laced Tony’s question, so without looking at any of them I started making my way back to the door. At this point the room was now silent and all eyes were on me. Before I could make it through the door to safety Clint stepped into my path blocking my escape route, he gently touched my lower arm in a comforting manner, it took a lot of restraint not to pull it from his grasp.

“Y/N I’m so sorry about yesterday, I should have remembered everything that happened with you.”

Clint's words were quiet and seemed sincere, for a moment I almost believed him- wanted to believe him with everything I had in me but Bucky’s words still hung around like a weight pressing upon me, without thinking I glance at him over my shoulder. The scowl directed at me reaffirmed my thoughts, I could almost hear him telling me that nobody wants me here. He was probably right, everyone else were stuck with me so were just too nice to say anything. So I turn back to Clint trying to conceal all my feeling as look at him.

“Whatever, It doesn’t really matter does it? What’s done is done, so if you will excuse me I need to get going.”

I go to walk around the archer catching Bruce and Tony’s dumbfounded looks at each other, my momentary distraction costs me as Clint catches my arm and turns me to face him fully again. I am now facing the room, back to my exit.

“It does matter Y/N, what’s going on?”

Clint tries to catch my eyes as he speaks but I refuse to meet his stare. With a sigh I look at everyone but Bucky, they may not want me here but I definitely do want to be here and the best way to do that would be to keep the peace between us.

“Look it really is fine man. If anyone needs me I will be in the gym, not that anyone will.”

I turned away this time nobody tries to stop me.

For the rest of the day I train. I train to gain some muscle mass, to up my stamina, to just get better. I missed lunch, much to Steve and Tony’s dismay, both men interrupted my workout to try and feed me, both men left sorely disappointed as I waved them off claiming on not being hungry. The next time I look at my watch I have just over an hour before my training with Natasha, so I decide to return to my room to shower and change so I’m not all gross in front of the flawless assassin.

I wait for the lift to take me back to my floor, dreaming of that shower but luck just isn’t on my side today. As the doors open I come face to face with a very oily, dirty Bucky and Sam.

“Going up sweetheart?”

Sam smirks and hold out his hand to stop the door from closing in my face. I take in his hand, then him, then Bucky. He seemed pretty relaxed until just then, now his arms have crossed in front of his chest, eyes narrowed in my direction.

Yeah fuck that.

“Nope, bye.”

I spin on my heels and start running up the 13 flights of stairs to my floor. By the time I get there my legs are screaming at me, I should have just gotten in the lift. After the steamiest shower I could have, I put on my clean gym attire trying to mentally prepare myself for the next 3 hours of absolute fucking torture that is Natasha Romanoff.

Duck.

Side step.

Block.

Bam.

My legs are swept from under me and a fall to the ground again. I land on my ass with a thud, frustrated with myself I slammed my hands on the gym floor. I was barely lasting 2 minutes now, I was doing so well earlier on, holding my own against Nat.

“Calm down shifter, we have been at this for an hour, plus all the extra training you’ve been doing…”

Nat held my gaze, question in her eyes, waiting to see if I was going to explain my new found determination. When it became clear I was not going to talk about it she continued speaking.

“You are exhausted, I am cutting this session short. Go rest and I will see you tomorrow.”

Without waiting for me to reply she strode to the exit, the door slamming shut behind her. Sitting there in the middle of the room I have never felt more worthless. I couldn’t help the tears falling from my face. How could be an Avenger when I couldn’t even last one stupid fucking training session with Natasha?

Maybe I can’t do this. I wipe away the lingering tears and get up thoroughly done with today. I make way through the tower, the kitchen my destination. As I approach the living room I hear voices.

“What happened yesterday James? She was making progress and now it’s like she doesn’t believe she can do it anymore?”

I stop just before the threshold listening to Natasha’s voice, it took me a couple of seconds to realise Bucky was the said James she was talking to.

“Nothing, we just trained.”

Bucky’s answer was short and curt just like every time I am around or mentioned these days.

“James.”

Nat sounds pissed now, like she already knows what happened between us yesterday which to be honest wouldn’t surprise me.

“She gets under my skin Natalia, she puts me on edge and I can’t figure out why! It makes me uneasy around her, although I may have been a little hard on her…”

Bucky’s voice trailed off and to be honest I’ve heard enough, continuing my path straight to the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge I slide down the side so I am sitting on the floor, back against the wall. I keep repeating the words in my head.

I can do this.

I can do this…

Third Person POV.

After Y/N had made her appearance Natasha had gone on the offence.

“Go and apologise now. I mean it James.”

Natasha can’t help feeling a little protective of Y/N these days, she is trying very hard and is improving at a speedy rate, yet she never wanted this, it all got thrust upon her. Which made it even worse that James was being a dick with no motivation as far as Nat could tell.

“Fine.”

With a scowl that promised death Bucky stalked to the kitchen,

“Y/N I want to apologise for my behaviour, it was unnecessary and rude…”

His reply fell off his tongue as he beheld the girl asleep upright against the wall. Bucky surveyed Y/N as she slept. She looked younger, more innocent somehow. Some of her Y/H/C hair had fallen out of the scruffy ponytail holding it back, she looks peaceful.

“You know it’s rude to stare.”

Natasha broke him from his chain of thought.

“She’s a good kid James, I’m quite proud of her. She has also only been kind to everyone here so I don’t know what feeling’s you have about her but just give her a chance.”

Suddenly Bucky realised he might have actually been in the wrong, maybe she was genuinely curious and trying to get to know him yesterday, guilt stirred in his stomach.

Nodding to the redhead, Bucky moved forward and brushed a strand of hair edging closer to Y/N’s eye. Slowly Bucky placed one hand under her knee and one on her back, lifting Y/N carefully being sure not to wake her. Turning to see a knowing look on Natasha’s face he made his way to Y/N’s room.

During the trip Bucky tried to keep his thoughts to a minimum but as she nuzzled closer to him in her sleep he couldn’t help it. It was weird to get this kind of intimacy, he wasn’t used to it. Y/N didn’t seem to be scared of him yesterday which also confused him greatly. When he arrived at the girl’s quarters J.A.R.V.I.S had the door open ready for his arrival, placing her on the bed she instantly turned to face the wall.

Intending to leave straight away Bucky examined her room. Nearly bare apart from the essentials one photograph, a picture of an older lady and a young girl. Sadness hit Bucky at that point, where were all the pictures of her friends? Her family? Sighing Bucky left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Tomorrow, he would start again tomorrow.

Part 9 Part 11

Tags: @projectxhappiness @captain-chimichanga @fuckthatfeeling @thebandomwhore @laramitk

105 notes · View notes

thiswomanshouldbewriting · 7 years

Text

Not-So-Secret Affair

Do any of you remember this post? Well, I simply couldn’t help but make it into a Rumbelle fic (my dozens of unfinished projects are really unhappy about this).

I had an awful lot of fun writing this fic, but I would have never made it without @still-searching47, my amazing beta, who also gave me suggestions and indications on how an American high school actually works. Seriously, there are just so many differences, and that never ceases to amaze me.

Ao3 link.

“You must be the new English teacher, right?” Belle turned towards the voice, and was faced with a young woman who was smiling at her like they’d been friends for years. “Yes, I am, and you are?” she asked. “I’m Anna Joan. Joan is my surname, not my name. Oh, and I teach English too. It’s always so nice when new teachers arrive, I love meeting new people. I mean, of course, I’m sorry that Mr Booth, your predecessor, left our school, but it’s really nice to meet you!” Anna had said all of that practically without breathing, and when she shook Belle’s hand she did it with way more energy than necessary, but all things considered she looked like a nice person. Her smile was so contagious that Belle couldn’t help but smile back, despite her nervousness. It was her first day on the job and, despite her husband’s constant reassurances, she’d been growing increasingly nervous for the past week. “I’m Belle, by the way. Belle French.” “Well, Belle, welcome to our school! Have you already been introduced to the other teachers?” “Actually no. I mean, I already know a few of them, and I obviously know Principal Mills, but I don’t think I’ve met even half of the people who work here,” she admitted. “Would you like me to show you around a bit? I have to warn you, there’s a lot of people here, so I do hope you have good memory when it comes to faces and names. I’m terrible with that; for some reason, when I first got here I kept calling one of our Shop teachers James instead of David. It was kind of awkward.”

Anna was a whirlwind of positive energy, and she was being incredibly kind, but Belle really couldn’t chase her nervousness away, and she was even starting to feel a little nauseous. “I’m sorry, Anna, but I really don’t feel like meeting too many people right now. I’m a bit anxious about my first lesson,” she said, hoping that the other woman wouldn’t mind her rejection. “Oh, that’s fine, I totally get it. On my first day here I was so nervous that I almost tripped on my own chair. I believe that’s one of the reasons why it took my students some time to take me seriously. Oh, it didn’t last long, just until they saw me get really angry. I think I seriously scared some of them,” she said, giggling at the memory. Belle had a little trouble trying to imagine how such a lovely woman could scare anyone in any way, but she didn’t doubt her words for a moment; Anna didn’t look like the kind of woman who could lie. “What made you so angry that you managed to scare a bunch of distracted teens?” Belle asked, unable to contain her curiosity. “One of them was blatantly trying to make a fool out of me. He’d spun this heartbreaking family tale to explain why he had not been able to do the assigned homework; I believed him and granted him extra time, and when I found out the truth he didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. He treated me with an arrogance that would have been out of place while talking to one of his classmates, let alone talking to a teacher. I can accept bored students, demotivated students, lazy students, but I demand respect.” Belle nodded in understanding, then accepted Anna’s offer to show her around after her first lesson. With one last smile, the other woman left the room, and Belle spent another ten minutes alone, taking deep breaths and telling herself that everything would be fine. Despite all of her fears, her first lesson went as smoothly as it could be expected. Sure enough, her students looked rather pissed at the idea of being once again stuck in a classroom after the summer holidays, but she was pretty sure that, as a teacher, she’d made the best impression possible. She felt much lighter now, and she gladly followed Anna around as she introduced her to an endless number people. Some of them didn’t leave much of an impression on her, but she grew immediately fond of their grumpy janitor, Leroy. “Hey, Ariel, could you give us a minute?” Anna said, addressing a woman with an impressive mop of red hair. “Sure, what’s the matter?” she answered, without looking up from her handbag. She was struggling to close it and it was pretty obvious why. The impressive folder she had stuffed in it would never fit properly. “Ariel, this is Belle, our new English teacher. Belle, this is Ariel. She teaches biology and she’s the loveliest person on the face of the Earth, but be careful because she’s also the messiest. I think the exact contents of her handbag is listed amongst the greatest mysteries of all time.” Ariel smiled, rolling her eyes in fake offense. “Nice to meet you, Belle. What can I say? I’m a collector of the most disparate things, so I always end up with some piece or another in my bag. Oh, and Ariel isn’t my real name; everyone has been calling me that since I was a kid, but don’t be surprised if you hear Miss Mills calling me Angel,” she explained. “I’m guessing the nickname is because of your red hair?” Belle asked. “That and the fact that my mother is Danish. As I kid I was elated that I looked so much like a Disney princess, so I asked everyone to call me Ariel, and by the time I was no longer a Disney enthusiast I was so used to it that I almost forgot to answer when someone used my real name.” “She’s lying,” Anna said. “She’s still a Disney enthusiast.” “Well, I did go through a phase when I didn’t want to talk about Disney. You know, in my early teen years, at that age when you’re desperate to show that you’re a grown up.” “I went through that phase too,” Belle admitted. “And my princess nickname stuck just as well as yours, even though it’s rather easier to get Belle from Isabelle.” Ariel let out a little squeal of happiness. “Oh my God, you’re right, your name is Belle! Oh, if I had met you when I was seven I would have been over the moon!” “I would have probably invited you for a princess tea party everyday. Though I must warn you that my princess tea parties generally included some random monster threatening the kingdom, and the princesses having to team up to defeat it,” Belle said. “So, like Shrek 3?” Ariel replied. “Yes, pretty much. I’m still halfway convinced that they copied me.” Anna eventually interrupted their Disney ramblings. “Okay, I can see that there’s a lot of common ground here, and I’m starting to feel like a third wheel, but I’m afraid we need to go because there’s still a lot of people you haven’t met yet, and we don’t have much time left before your next lesson. Unless, of course, you’d rather keep talking to Ariel and end our little tour here,” she said to Belle. “Oh, I’m sorry, I hadn’t realized we were somehow leaving you out of the discussion. I’d really like to go on with your introductions, if Ariel doesn’t mind. We can still talk later, right?” she asked the redhead. “Sure. Now go with Anna and finish your exploration of the great wide somewhere,” Ariel said as a send-off. Belle giggled and followed the other teacher down another corridor, where two men were talking.

“The shorter one is Nicholas Gold,” Anna told Belle as she waited for an occasion to introduce her friend. “He teaches Chemistry. He joined the school last year and he’s a good teacher, but he’s really closed off and tends to scare off students and colleagues alike. David, the man he’s talking with, is one of the few people he has a civil relationship with.” “Oh, I know Nicholas Gold,” Belle said smiling. “You see, him and I…” Belle’s explanation was cut short by Anna’s hurried words. “Oh, good, you already know him, and David is coming our way. He’s married to Mary Margaret, do you remember her? The History teacher. David, this is Belle, the new English teacher.” “Oh, I see that you’ve already met my better half,” he said, having obviously heard Anna’s comment about his wife. “It’s always nice to be introduced as Mary Margaret’s husband.” It took Belle more or less three seconds to start liking David. He was kind, funny, and had one of the sweetest smiles she’d ever seen. Despite her belief that it took time to really know a person’s heart, she’d always trusted her instinct when it came to people, and right now her instinct was telling her that David would be a wonderful friend. “So, what is it like, to work with your wife?” she asked, unable to contain her curiosity. “It’s amazing,” he replied, his eyes sparkling with happiness. “We can spend our breaks together, we hardly have occasions to miss each other, and if there’s something we really need to tell each other we never need to say it on the phone. Some people would be afraid of having too little space for themselves, but for me and Mary Margaret it’s perfect. Not that we don’t take time for ourselves, but we can choose if and when to do that.” “It sounds lovely,” she replied, beaming up at him. They soon had to leave David, since their free time was running out, but somehow they managed to finish their little tour just in time for Belle’s next lesson. She faced it with a much lighter heart, and nothing managed to wipe her big smile away off her face. Despite all the doubts that had gnawed at her for the past few weeks, she was confident that her stay in this school was going to be wonderful. A couple of weeks later, Anna and Ariel were eating their lunch together, discussing the most recent and unexpected of developments to hit the school. In other words, they were gossiping. “I really didn’t think Belle would take a liking to Gold of all people,” Anna said honestly. “Yes, I have to admit that I didn’t see it coming. It also surprises me how quickly they got acquainted; I mean, he was almost an hermit for a year, then suddenly Belle arrives and he starts liking people?” Ariel said, still unable to believe what was happening. She’d even seen Gold smile. “He doesn’t like people. He likes her,” replied Anna, struggling to articulate words with her mouth full of food. Ariel gaped at her. “What? You can’t be suggesting…” Gold was married, Belle was married, and while Ariel didn’t know much about Gold's character, she really couldn’t picture Belle as a cheating spouse. “No, I wasn’t!” came Anna’s shocked reply. “But… are you suggesting it?” she asked. “I… don’t know.” Ariel could barely believe her own words; just a handful of minutes before, she would have punched in the face anyone who dared insinuate such mean things about her new friend. “Anna, Ariel, there you are! I was afraid I’d never find you!” Belle’s cheerful voice made them both jump in their seats. Their reaction obviously didn’t go unnoticed, and Belle frowned. “Is something wrong?” she asked. “No, I mean, we were just… we weren’t expecting you,” Ariel blurted out. “We thought you were going to spend the lunch break with Gold,” Anna said, somehow mustering a neutral tone. If looks could kill, Ariel’s glare would have burned a hole through Anna’s skull. Belle, however, didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by the observation. “Well, I do enjoy spending time with him, but you’re my friends, you won’t get rid of me so easily,” she said, her expression earnest and her smile sincere. They’re just good friends, Ariel and Anna thought, the shadow of doubt vanishing from their minds. They’re definitely just good friends. They’re definitely more than just friends, Mary Margaret thought a few weeks later. Both she and her husband had always thought that, despite the fact that they were married, it wouldn’t be proper for two teachers to be seen snogging like teenagers. That’s why, after many years of working together, they knew all the quiet places of the school, where the chances of being seen were close to zero. They knew every forgotten corridor, every abandoned classroom or hidden spot in the courtyard. That day, however, something had changed. When they’d gotten to the least frequented part of the courtyard, someone was already there. And not just anyone, but Belle and Gold. They were walking arm in arm, Belle leaning her head against his shoulder, and it was obvious that they were really close. Too close. “David, did you know anything about this?” Mary Margaret asked her husband, dragging him behind a corner so that the other couple wouldn’t notice them. David looked more confused than her. “I… no, I didn’t. I did notice that he seemed to get along unusually well with her, but I didn’t think too much of it. It’s not like he told me anything about this. If anything, he once told me about his wife, and he looked completely besotted. I couldn’t imagine he was the kind of man who would…” he trailed off, not sure how to complete the sentence. He looked at his wife, and he knew that they were both thinking the same thing. He’d once been in Nicholas’s position. When he’d met Mary Margaret, he was already married to another woman, and their affair had carried on for a while, in an endless cycle of breaking up and inevitably falling back into each other’s arms, until he’d finally had to admit to Kathryn that he didn’t love her anymore. He’d never been more disgusted with himself than in the night when he’d broken her heart. Luckily, he knew that she had since happily remarried, and that helped soothe his sense of guilt. However, at least Mary Margaret hadn’t been married back then, while Belle was. “So you agree with me; they’re not just friends, are they?” his wife asked him, seeking confirmation. “No, I don’t think they are. Belle might be a very tactile person, but Nicholas certainly is not. I can’t see how they could not be… something more.” “I think we should keep what we saw to ourselves. It’s not our business, after all,” she said. And we’re the last ones who could judge them, they both thought. David nodded, and they quietly waked away from the other couple, a tense silence hanging between them. Belle and Gold, however, didn’t seem to care about secrecy. They were seen in compromising situations time and time again, by different people, and by the beginning of November everyone in the school was talking about their affair. Zelena Green had tried to ignore the rumors, she really had. She knew Nicholas, and she knew that little slip of a girl was not good for him. He deserved more, he surely wanted more, but one should never underestimate the power of a beautiful face and a nice pair of legs. Zelena had to admit it, Belle knew how to play her cards; but a slut, clever or not, was still nothing more than a slut. The last straw had been the sight of Belle shamelessly getting in Nicholas’s car one afternoon, and leaving the school with him. She really had no concept of decency. Upon seeing that, Zelena had decided to take action; she wouldn’t let that wench drag Nicholas’s name in the mud. She had thought about finding out who Belle’s husband was, and to tell him what exactly his wife did at her workplace, but that was too much of a risk. Rather than putting an end to this nonsense, it could very likely lead to Belle getting divorced, thus freeing her ‘relationship’ with Nicholas from one of its major obstacles. No, her line of action had to be a more direct one. The next day, she waited until lunch break, then she asked Belle if they could talk in private for a moment. Belle followed her, looking sincerely confused as to why she wanted to talk to her. She either was a really great actress, or she was simply much dumber than Zelena had thought. “So, what do you want to tell me?” Belle asked, obviously impatient to go back to her friends. Or to run away from this confrontation, Zelena thought. “I’ve seen you with Nicholas, you know? Actually, I think the whole school has seen the two of you.” Belle crossed her arms, looking nonplussed. “So?” What an insolent harlot! “So, you need to know that you’re not the only one, nor the first one. Nicholas and I have been together since last year, long before you even came to this school.” That did seem to break her composure a bit. Zelena knew her blow had hit home; sluts like Belle French had no qualms on stealing married men from their wives, but no woman would ever want to be fooled like that, especially not one that was more used to being the one doing the fooling. “You’re lying,” Belle replied firmly, shaking her head. Zelena raised her hands, not caring about getting in a fight now that the seed of doubt had been planted. “Believe me or not, it doesn’t change the facts. Nicholas is lying to you, and when it comes down to making a choice, he’ll choose me.” Having delivered the last blow, Zelena turned around and left the room, leaving Belle alone. Belle had wanted to join her friends for lunch, but now she didn’t feel like eating anymore. Zelena was lying, she knew she was, but she still needed to hear it from Nicholas’s lips. She left the empty classroom Zelena had dragged her into and went in search of Gold. Luckily, her search didn’t take long, but when she told him they needed to talk alone she heard someone snickering behind her back. It was Killian Jones, a Gym teacher Belle had never been able to stand, not since her very first day. She had noticed that recently people had started acting weirdly in front of her and Nicholas, but she really couldn’t fathom why. Could it be because they knew she was being cheated on? No, it couldn’t be. She knew Nick, and he’d never do it. Once they were alone, Belle took a deep breath to steel herself for the discussion to come, while Nick watched her with ever-growing worry. “I talked to Zelena a few minutes ago,” she said as a starter, trying to scan his face for any sign of fear. She found none. “And?” he asked. “She told me something. Something that sounds incredibly foolish, but I need to hear your version of the facts.” There was a flash of understanding in his eyes, but he did nothing but nod, encouraging her to go on. “She told me you and her are… dating, I suppose,” she blurted out eventually. God, it hurt even just to think of it. His eyes widened in shock and rage. “What? I imagined it would be something like that, but this… she’s crossed the line. She really has,” he was so angry that he couldn’t even express himself properly. He was fuming. “I take it, it’s not true then?” Belle asked. It was obvious from his reaction, but she wanted to hear those words, she wanted him to look her in the eyes and tell her it was all a blatant lie. “Of course it’s not!” he exclaimed. He sighed heavily, massaging his own temples with his hands. “Zelena has been obsessed with me since I came into this school. Before becoming a drama teacher, she tried for a long time to become a professional actress. I think she never truly accepted the fact that she didn’t make it. Once she persuaded me into watching a recording of one of her plays. I told her that I thought she had talent, and she somehow took it as a proof of undying love. She has been pestering me ever since, but it’s usually bearable, albeit annoying. Spreading such lies about me is a different matter. It’s simply too much. I’ll have to talk to her.” “I knew she had to be lying,” Belle said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “But, well, I was afraid. I’m always afraid of losing you.” “Just as I’m always afraid of losing you, but you don’t have to worry: I’ll never have eyes for anyone else. I love you, and only you,” he said, gently hugging her as the hint of a blush colored his cheeks. He always blushed when he expressed his feelings for her. “And I love you too,” she replied, pressing herself against his chest. She was an English teacher, yet she would never find the right words to express the entirety of her feelings for him, to tell him just how much he meant to her. Belle felt much lighter when they eventually parted, and went cheerfully back to work. Nicholas, however, was bound to have two very unpleasant encounters: one planned, one unexpected. He was looking for Zelena, getting ready for a stressful discussion, when he stumbled upon Killian Jones, who once again snickered at him. “Is there something you wanted to say?” Gold barked at him. “Now, can’t a man be happy for one of his colleagues? I always thought you were a boring old man, but it turns out you definitely have the spirit of a man twenty years younger. Dealing with one woman and marrying her is stressful enough, but handling two of them? That requires some stamina.” Jones kept smiling like an idiot, and Gold had to fight really hard to maintain a bare minimum of composure in front of such accusations. Damn Zelena and her lies. “I’d like to inform you that I’ve always been strictly monogamous. I don’t like cheating and I don’t like cheaters, is that understood?” Killian Jones raised his arms in defeat, even though he definitely didn’t look like he’d understood. “Sure, mate. You are definitely not a cheater, and you definitely didn’t just spend some quality time with your girl. I lock myself in empty rooms to talk with pretty girls all the time.” “You… How dare you? Get out of my face. NOW!” Gold was almost screaming now, spasmodically clenching his fists as he tried to suppress the urge to punch the other man in the face. Jones scurried off, his insufferable smirk still in place, and Gold was left alone, wondering why everyone seemed so keen on putting him in difficult positions today. He needed to take a moment to calm down, or he was guaranteed to make a scene with Zelena. One week later, despite the fact that they’d resolved the Zelena problem, Belle knew that something was still wrong. She could no longer ignore the sneers and glares aimed at her and Nicholas. She honestly couldn’t understand why people looked at them that way, but what hurt her the most was that even Anna and Ariel seemed to be disapproving of her. She needed to confront them about whatever it was that was upsetting them, because she honestly couldn’t bear the situation anymore. Maybe, if she solved the problem with them, she’d somehow manage to solve the issue with the rest of the school too. When she asked them what was wrong, Anna choked on her drink, and Ariel stopped with her fork halfway towards her mouth. They both looked at her with a mixture of shock and terror. “What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong,” Ariel replied feebly, not sounding convincing at all. “Of course it is. Everyone in the school looks at me like I murdered their family, and even you two look embarrassed in my presence. I want to know why,” Belle replied, feeling more confused and angry with every passing moment. “Well, isn’t it obvious?” Anna replied. “It’s because of you and Gold. I mean, you can’t be so naive to think that everyone would be okay with that.” Belle gaped at her ‘friends’ in horror. She’d hoped until the very last moment that she was wrong, that her relationship with Nicholas had nothing to do with it, but apparently people were much more close minded than she had thought. “What’s the matter with me and him? We love each other, and it’s not like we’ve been anything less than appropriate.” “Yes, you haven’t been caught naked in a classroom, I’ll give you that, but that doesn’t change the fact that your romance has been pretty obvious for some time now,” Anna insisted. “And what’s the matter with it? How can you all be so close minded? Not one of you seemed to have a problem with David and Mary Margaret!” Belle basically screamed. “It’s not the same thing,” Ariel replied, briefly wondering how Belle had come to know about David’s past as a cheater; it wasn’t a story he spread around without a thought. She reasoned that Belle must have heard it from Mary Margaret: that woman had many qualities, but discretion certainly wasn’t one of them. “So ‘it’s not the same thing’, right? You’re all hypocrites, that’s what you are. At least admit that it’s the age difference that’s bothering you. I could have accepted this from anyone, but not from the two of you. I thought we were friends.” Unable to hold back the tears any longer, Belle turned around, walking away from Ariel and Anna. The two women called her, but she didn’t stop. She took her phone and sent a quick text to Nicholas. She needed to see him immediately. Emma Swan and Lily Star were the two most known troublemakers of the school. They’d decided that it would be a pity to waste one of the rare sunny days of November staying in class, so they were readying themselves to climb over the school’s fence when they heard voices coming from beyond a hedge. “I just don’t see how what we do is a problem. God, I wasn’t expecting that from them,” a female voice said. It was clear that the woman had been crying until a few seconds before. “I don’t know, sweetheart,” replied a male voice. “We always knew the age difference was going to be a problem, but I never expected this much hostility; it’s like everyone suddenly hates us. Earlier this morning Leroy threatened to drown me in one of the toilets if I keep ‘behaving like an irresponsible child and playing games with you’.” “God, not Leroy too!” whimpered the first voice. Ever a curious girl, Emma couldn't help but pry beyond the hedge, a big grin forming on her face as she saw who the voices belonged to. As she’d suspected, it was professors Gold and French. Lily was spying on them too, and the two girls looked at each other in glee; they’d stumbled upon one hell of a story. After today, the affair between Gold and French wouldn’t be just a rumor anymore. They now had proof. “I’m so sorry, Belle. I never wanted to put you in this position,” he said, gently caressing her back. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You were doing wonderfully here on your own, but I just had to take this job and ruin things. I’m sorry.” She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but he slightly pushed her back. She rolled her eyes in playful annoyance, but her tone was sweet when she spoke again. “Don’t worry, Nick. There’s no one out here. No one will see us.” You’re so wrong about this, Emma thought. As she started to back away from the hedge, she saw Lily pressing her phone against the leaves; she was talking a photo of them kissing! Finally satisfied with her work, her friend turned around, a devious grin on her face. “I think we might go back to class, after all,” Lily said, raising her phone allusively. “We have some gossip to spread.” Regina Mills had never had any patience for nonsense or gossip. She definitely didn’t have any patience with nonsensical gossip. She ran her school with discipline and logic, and she honestly wasn’t prone to giving second chances to anyone. That’s why she would only try to talk some sense into Gold once, before she took further action. She’d not paid any attention to the rumors for a long time, maybe too long, because she honestly couldn’t see how an unconfirmed fling could impact her school’s image. When she’d realized, however, that all of her students where talking about it, and that there was even some kind of photographical proof circulating amongst them, she’d realized that things had gone too far. That’s what happened when fools let their hearts (or their groins) make their decisions for them. Gold didn’t look pleased when he got to her office; he’d probably guessed the reason behind their meeting. “Did you want to see me?” he asked. “Indeed. Please, Gold, take a seat. There’s something we need to talk about.” He sat in front of her desk, trying to compose his face into a neutral expression. “Gold, I honestly think you’re a good teacher, and since you’ve started working here you’ve never given me any reason to complain, but I suppose you know why I called you today.” “I don’t like to make assumptions, Miss Mills,” he replied dryly. He knew how to play his cards, Regina could give him that. He wouldn’t give away anything unless she put him under real pressure, but she had no intention to do that. She didn’t need or want a confession, she only wanted him to come back to his senses. “Well, if you’re really in the dark about what has been going on in this school for several weeks, I’m afraid I’ll have to inform you that your unusual… attentions towards Miss French haven’t gone unnoticed.” As much as he was a good liar, Regina noticed that Gold couldn’t hide his lack of surprise. He huffed, barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes at her. “So what?” he replied, even though the rhetorical question sounded unconvincing to his own ears. He knew what she was going to tell him, he’d seen it coming, but that didn’t mean that he liked it. “While I honestly don’t care about what my teachers do with their private lives, this has to stop. Gold, I can’t have the whole school talking about the two of you; it’s not educational. You’ve been here longer than French, so you should have known better, but I’m willing to forgive your momentary lack of judgment as long as this story ends today. If it doesn’t, I’m afraid I’ll have to take action.” “Against me or her?” he asked, leaning towards the Principal in what he hoped was an imposing manner. Deep down, he was cursing himself for putting Belle’s teaching position at risk. “Against you both, if necessary. Once again, I don’t want to do this, but I’ll do it if you force my hand,” she replied, nonplussed. He had no other choice but to surrender. “Fine. I promise this will end today. You won’t see us together anymore,” Gold said reluctantly. The hardest part was going to be telling Belle. She would be furious, she would be devastated, but he wasn’t going to put her job in jeopardy. He would make her understand. “Then everything will be fine. I knew I could make you see reason,” Regina replied, smiling broadly at him. He’d never liked her smile; it was too cold, too calculating. He felt exhausted when he left her office; everything that he and Belle had hoped for had just been destroyed, and he hadn’t even tried to fight for it. In the following weeks, people kept whispering about Gold and French, but this time they were speculating on why and how they had broken up. It was pretty obvious that they had, since one day they’d started openly ignoring each other, barely even saying hello when they met in the corridors. Many were glad that they had finally come to their senses, but others were betting that French had simply found someone else to dedicate her attentions to, someone who was probably older and richer. If anyone had bothered to actually look at Belle French, however, they would have realized that this separation was clearly something she had not wanted. Belle knew what people whispered behind her back: slut, freak with daddy-issues, man stealer. She’d gotten used to those whispers since high school, when Anastasia had accused her of being the reason why she and Will had broken up. Being with Nicholas had only made things worse, but Belle really couldn't see why people were so angry with her. How could she steal men, if they wanted to be with her? She’d never felt so isolated; she’d lost any desire to hang out with the other teachers as soon as she had realized everyone was either judging her or ready to congratulate her for making the right choice, for stopping her ‘foolishness’ with Gold. She had even considered quitting her job, but she couldn’t do that, or Nicholas would blame himself for it. She was trapped, and she was only hoping the Christmas Holidays would come soon and give her some time to rest. Just a couple of days before the holidays, Regina Mills was walking back to her home, cursing her car that had suddenly decided to stop working. Had the climate been milder, she could have enjoyed her walk, but the wind was blowing harshly, and she couldn’t wait to get home and have a strong drink. A few blocks away from the school, however, she stopped dead in her tracks, hardly believing her own eyes. Belle French, whom she’d seen leaving the school on foot just a few minutes before, was getting into what Regina knew was Gold’s car. She could only see the silhouette of the driver, but she had no doubt that it was Gold. As soon as French got in the car, the two of them kissed, her hand gently finding its way into his hair. Regina went blind with rage. They’d lied to her. They’d simply put on a cold facade for their job’s sake, but they’d carried on with their foolishness. Regina was vaguely aware that she probably shouldn’t have cared, since it didn’t directly affect the school anymore, but she simply couldn’t accept it. She hated being made to look a fool, and what if the rumors spread again? Someone could see them out of school, after all. No to mention the fact that they were both bloody married. Gold drove away, and Regina strode towards her home, planning her next move. “French, may I know what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Regina asked Belle the following day, after calling her to her own office. “What are you talking about?” Belle replied, flabbergasted. She hardly spoke to Nick anymore, Regina couldn’t have any more complaints on the matter. “Don’t lie to me. I saw you yesterday, getting into Gold’s car.” Belle looked at her like she’d just grown a second head. “Excuse me? I don’t see how that has anything to do with you.” “For God’s sake, Belle, are you out of your damn mind? It doesn’t matter if you’re out of school, this is wrong! Don’t look at me like that, I understand you. Gold is a charming man, he’s clever, and he’s kind of a silver fox, I can see why you took a liking to him. Let’s be honest, probably half of the people who work here have daydreamed about him once or twice, including myself, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re both married!” Belle was now gaping at her, apparently too confused to form words. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” she whispered after a while. “Well, you can’t tell me that you haven’t noticed his wedding ring. Look, I don’t know who your husband is, but…” “What do you mean, you don’t know him?” Belle cut her off mid-sentence, her eyes wide in astonishment. “Well, I don’t think I do, and I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but I’m sure he doesn’t deserve to be cheated on.” Belle’s only answer to that was a powerful, albeit slightly hysterical, laugh. “Oh My God… my husband… Miss Mills, Nicholas Gold is my husband! We’re married to each other!” It was Regina’s turn to gape at the other woman. “You two… are married?” she repeated. “And you thought we were not? God, that’s why you were all so mean about it. I can’t believe that this is the reason why I hardly have friends here anymore. I basically stopped talking to my husband at work, we had to endure the school’s disapproval for months, and now you’re telling me that it was all a damn misunderstanding?” she asked breathlessly. “So it seems… but you can hardly blame us. I mean, you don’t look like a married couple. You don’t even have the same last name,” Regina remarked, still processing the fact that she’d just admitted to Belle French that she thought her husband was hot. “Well, excuse me for wanting to keep my own name,” Belle replied bitterly. “Then why did you make it seem like you were hiding? We might have got a clue if you’d just been a bit more… obvious.” “Not that it is any of your business, but Nicholas doesn’t like public displays of affection. I highly doubt that’s a crime,” Belle’s reply was still a bit bitter, but her anger was already fading away. What really mattered was that it was all over. The suffering, the unbearable distance between Nick and her, the others vicious whispers. It had all been a big misunderstanding. “If you’ll excuse me now, I need to go find my husband,” Belle said, a smile finally forming on her face. “Sure, go. For what it’s worth, Belle, I’m really sorry for what happened. However, I just want to warn you: it might be easy to explain the truth to the rest of the teachers, but quietening the students down might be harder. Should you need help with that, you know where to find me.” “We’ll think of something. Thank you,” Belle replied, leaving the room. She ran the distance between the Principal’s office and the Chemistry lab; luckily, she found Nicholas alone, waiting for his students to come in. She threw herself in his arms, giggling as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “It was all a misunderstanding, Nick,” she explained to her confused husband. “No one realized we were married. They all thought we were cheating on our spouses.” “Are you serious?” he asked her, a small smile starting to form on his lips. “I am. I just talked to Principal Mills. We can spend time together now.” Her eyes were shining with happiness, and Nicholas just couldn’t resist. He kissed her, gently and lovingly, for once uncaring of the fact that someone could walk in on them. Actually, someone did walk in on them. “Oops. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I just wanted to ask Nicholas about one thing, but I’ll leave you two to your fun,” came a male voice from the classroom’s door. Victor Whale was another Chemistry teacher, and he was one of those people who had always looked more amused than shocked by their ‘clandestine’ relationship. God, it all made much more sense now. Whale was about to leave the room when Nicholas stopped him. “Victor, wait. This has just been a big misunderstanding. We’re married to each other,” he explained. Whale whistled, apparently at a loss for words for a few seconds. “Well, congratulations. I guess I’ll leave the two of you anyway: you are having fun after all, and I would never want to cockblock you lovebirds.” Both Belle and Nicholas blushed at his words, but they knew that there was no malice in them; Victor just liked to tease people like that. Belle stopped Whale once again, assuring him that he wasn’t interrupting anything, and kissed her husband goodbye; they had plenty of time to be together after all, and there were many people she still needed to talk to. Anna and Ariel were the first on her list, and once Belle explained the situation to them Anna was so shocked that she seemed unable to form coherent sentences for almost a minute. Belle was starting to fear that her friend was going to faint, but then Anna erupted with a powerful, sincere, heart-warming laugh. That seemed to break the tension that had been a constant between them in the past weeks, and for the first time in too long Belle felt finally at ease with them, finally happy. Lots of apologies were made and received, and then the three of them hugged so tightly that Belle was afraid some ribs were going to end up cracked. She talked to Mary Margaret and David next, and they too were both elated to find out the truth and embarrassed for what they’d assumed. Slowly but surely, the fact that Belle French and Nicholas Gold were actually married spread amongst the teachers. As Regina had expected, however, spreading the news amongst the student was harder, especially since Belle and Nicholas still didn’t want to show off too much. They needed some gesture to make their marriage clear, something small but undeniable. They discussed a lot of possibilities, but eventually they found the perfect solution, the one that had been staring them in the face since the beginning. It was something they’d thought about doing anyway. A change of name was the most undeniable sign of marriage they could think of, and they’d just avoided it at the beginning of their marriage because it would require too much paperwork. Now, however, was the perfect time. Their plan was successful. When they came back from the Christmas holidays, no one doubted about their marriage anymore. Not when Nicholas started introducing himself as Nicholas French.

#Rumbelle #Ouat #Rumbelle fic #Rumplestiltskin #Belle French #Belle French-Gold #Belle Gold #Rumbelle AU #Sara talks #Sara writes

25 notes · View notes