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#also its nice to be an adult bc while i was in for a cleaning the assistant was like you should get a retainer to straighten your teeth

larnax · 6 months

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like ok lemme give you a fucking recap of my Dentistry Experience

>be me 9ish. go to dentist for first time since i was 3 bc my mom spent all our child support money on plane tickets. dentist says you have three cavities so big we need to pull your teeth

>they put me on anesthesia that i say doesnt work. it doesnt work so im in excruciating pain while they yank out the three teeth

>i get switched to second dentist and a few years later after x-ray am told my canines are growing into the roof of my mouth and i need surgery and braces to have them fixed. dentist then says i can keep on the braces after i get my canines fixed so my teeth will be straight. i tell him i don't care if my teeth are straight and i want them off as soon as my canines are in the right place

>get the surgery and start going to second dentist. he sometimes cuts pieces of my tongue off and after his visits im in so much pain i cant speak. when i ask when i'm getting my braces off he tells me to stop being impatient and refuses to give me an answer

>eventually he says that my canines should be fine and i say ok please take the braces off. he says no because my teeth aren't straight. my mom says no because my teeth aren't straight.

>dentist welds a metal bar to the top of my mouth. it's positioned so that it cuts into my tongue leaving me with a permanent bloody painful wound in my mouth for the several years it's in despite repeatedly telling him and mom what's happening and begging for them to take it out. they say no because my teeth aren't straight

>dentist welds a metal bar behind my bottom teeth with so much glue that after i finally got another dentist to remove it years later they weren't able to get all the glue off and it took several more appointments. also just to straighten my teeth

>YEARS LATER i get the dentist to remove the metal bar. it leaves a scar on my tongue that hasn't healed almost a decade later.

>YEARS LATER i get the dentist to remove the braces.

>after that they immediately give me a retainer they say i need to wear all day. i say for how long they say for the rest of my life. i say Why. they say because otherwise your teeth won't stay straight

>i do not wear the retainer because i already didn't care about my teeth being straight before all this happened and sure fucking didn't now. so my canines are still crooked so yeah all of that was for nothing

#c.paradisi #uh ask to tag #recently i found this article #about another dentist who gave his clients a bunch of unnecessary shit so he could upcharge them #and the article was like yeah the usa has. idr exactly but theyre not considered medical professionals #so they dont require the same training or oversight doctors do #so theres just a ton of malpractice and most of its never caught or punished #and i was like ohhhh. yeah i guess that happened to me huh #what makes me insane is how clear i was from the beginning that i wanted them off as soon as the medical issue was resolved #and NOBODY EVER LISTENED TO ME.#i got tortured for YEARS and permanently scarred my tongue bc my mom wanted me to have straight teeth and a dentist wanted money #awesome! very cool!#ANYWAY.#im going to a normal dentist now and yeah all that shit was Not normal.#also its nice to be an adult bc while i was in for a cleaning the assistant was like you should get a retainer to straighten your teeth #and i said No 👍 and that was the end of it

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rzyraffek · 1 year

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I have a little smut request, if you don't like or don't want to write I understand that's alright.

When slashers are take a shower then S/O suddenly get in

Bo please must have him, I love this man too much, and Vincent, Lester, Brahms, Thomas, or other slashers you want to write. (or you think I pick too much you can pick some, but please Bo must thank you so much❤️)

I just think this will be fun

Oh, btw, I very love your work so perfect so wonderful so amazing❤️❤️❤️

Yall really love Sinclair's😭😭 ALSO THANK YOU V MUCH IM GLAD YALL ENJOY MY BLOG!!!! Before you read that I need to remind yall that I DONT USUALLY WRITE NSFW STUFF SO DONT EXPECT ANYTHING GREAT HERE!! Request open

Nsfw, but nothing too detailed, they/them pronouns for s/o

Shower zegz with slashers

Bo Sinclair

Our guy will make sure that they will remember that shower for long time

Yknow when you just vibe in shower and you accidently touch cold wall with your back and get all cold and upset? Yeah if s/o has the same problem.. too bad he doenst care they are getting pinned to that wall in seconds anyways

He loves seeing their face, how they react to his actions and words, how their body moves because of him

Will comment A LOT, expect a lot of praising, some cruse words and alot of growls tbh

He marks them 100% one way or another. Bite marks, Hickeys ( alot of them), ect

Afterwards he gonna bring them a towel and make sure they can go to bedroom and rest there for a while. This guy isn't the best at aftercare but he isn't heartless!

Vincent

No bcs he will blush sososo hard😨😳

Like they have to make first move cuz this guy will just stand there awkwardly looking like he has stick up his ass

He gonna be so gentle with them💖 carefully grabbing their hips/hair and enjoying the view moment

Tbh he loves grabbing their hair and vice versa, if s/o is touchy he gonna be sosos blushy

Also afterward he gonna wash their hair probably🥰 making sure they at least get out of this shower clean lol

Brahms Heelshire

Nah bcs this guy will be the one to actually pull them into shower, like s/o was just vibing doing their skincare routine and this guy just grabbed them and yeeted them into shower

He gonna act like he just wants to spent time together🙄🙄 yeah totally

Pls make sure that s/o calls him good boi or he gonna bite them

Also ngl he probably looks sexy asf with wet hair

Incredibly affectionate, yall will be extremely close to each other for the whole thing. And expect him to wisper and growl into s/o year

Thomas Hewitt

This babi will be soso confused??? Like???? Oh you wanna shower together?? Yeah sure ig I don't mind???

Again s/o has to do first move cuz he won't even think about asking them about that type of stuff! Hes a gentleman he would neverr.. unless they ask him ofc

S/o gonna forgor how to walk for few hours at least

He just gonna pick them up and pin them to wall like s/o weights nothing (tbh it doesnt really matter how much they weight this guy picked up adult men and whooped other one at the same time without any struggle, really dont worry)

He cant really tell them how he feels so he just gonna gently pat them or nuzzle them.

He will feel bad afterwards when their legs shake or when they can't really walk 😓

Micheal Myers

Tbh the only reason he showed was bcs they promised him that he will get reward later. Fr this guy stinks

Sex with him is incredibly akward. He doenst make any noise nor shows any kind of affection? Maybe he gonna carry them to bed afterwards or bring them towel?? Like this guy never heard about aftercare, or care overall tbh

He will never show it but he loves when s/o gives him affection or tells him nice words, how good he is and how great his doing his job rn

Not my proudest one! I really suck at nsfw stuff sorry😓😓 also I had nightmare and there was Bo for some reason ?? But he had heavy cowboy-texas accent ??? Idk why. Anyways its 2am yall have great rest of day

This post was made by asexual gang, like and subscribe to join asexual gang

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dilucsfav · 2 years

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tighnari hcs and scenarios !!

help its been so long since i posted aHhhahshhs i’m sorry my dears :( please give me requests i need them for motivation idk what to write 😭 anyways here’s tighnari to somewhat make up for it :) bc i love the sumeru update too much to not write about my baby. we all need a little tighnari in our lives!

warning(s): fluff. lots…. and some nsfw too.

please he would be so gentle with you if/when you got sick. his tone would be softened and his fingertips would graze your skin with such loving care. would constantly check on you, give you plenty of medicine, and watch you like a hawk to make sure you’re resting enough

i can see him rolling his eyes to a lot of things you say. sometimes mean, but a lot of the times he would simply flick your forehead if you said something dumb to him. and then apologize for getting annoyed immediately afterwards because he loves you too much :(

often times when he’s working, he likes for you to sit near him in the room. whether that’d be on his lap, across from him, wherever. he just wants you close by!! he enjoys when you rub his ears to calm him down during his work !

he would go flower picking with you. enough said.

you want a flower crown made by yours truly? don’t worry, tighnari has you covered !!!

cuddling with this man during the cold? absolutely immaculate. he has those huge ears and that tail to wrap around you. along with his body heat and soft forehead kisses? all for his partner? yes, free therapy please

this man is so overly dramatic about everything. always whining and complaining about the silliest and dumbest of things. even as he lectures others about “acting like an adult,” he acts like a child sometimes when something doesn’t go his way

tighnari is very pro health. on days where you aren’t feeling the best mentally, he’ll try to cheer you up the best he can! he likes taking you near flower garden or waterfalls for the view— and ofc a little picnic for you two with all your favorite goodies and snacks!

omg the way his eyes light up when you allow him to speak about nature. this man would go on a full rant about all sorts of stuff. his anger and concern over withering zones, types of flowers, etc!

he would also be a really good listener. he doesn’t have a way with words but his presence and tender touch is enough to make you melt !

nsfw!!:

honestly i’m getting very vanilla sex vibes from tighnari… but when he’s in heat rip that pussy ayyyy

aftercare is nice with him, but a little strange. i feel like he’d talk about random shit with you while cleaning you off, such as work or something of that nature

he would kiss you sm during the deed omg. this meal of a man asks for CONSENT CONSTANTLY 😩

“does this hurt? i’m so sorry, please tell me if i need to stop, okay, (y/n)?” or “is this okay? does it feel okay?” AHHHHSHSHSHSH

this man would be so obsessed with giving oral. he would do it for hours if he could

if you’re needy and horny while he’s working, don’t worry darling, tighnari won’t make you wait for at least a little release. he would let you sit on his cock. as long as you’re quiet and don’t distract him too much, he’ll help you after he’s not as busy :(

THE LITERAL DEFINITION OF A SOFT DOM.

he could pick up on weak spots and sweet spots pretty easily. and he’d remember them, too

as i said, pretty vanilla, but if you want to try something new, he would love to! he’s all about trying new things and experimenting! we love a learner xoxo

we must protect tighnari forever. tighnari c6 come home.

#tighnari #sumeru #genshin fluff #genshin impact #genshin tighnari #genshin x reader #tighnari x y/n #tighnari x reader #dendro #fluff #genshin impact smut #headcanon

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octal-alchemist · 2 months

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i hate capitalism i hate shopping. i promote nothing. that said, there are a few things ive bought myself in the last few years that dramatically improved my quality of life.

bidet. so clean and nice and soothing. one lasted 4 years before breaking.

bathtub lid. traps the heat, and i can set stuff on top of it. so fucking nice.

rice cooker. never burns or dries out the rice ever and also does great w noodles.

electric kettle. so much easier than microwave or stove. had to find one that was fully steel inside though

nasal dilators. i have a collapsed nostril n these save my fucking ass. i can jog w my mouth closed now. i sleep so quietly and comfortably. i can breaaaathe

humidifier. oh my god i love my humidifier so much and it keeps my plants happy

air purifier. i worried i would regret this purchase but the difference is immediate n noticeable. when the light shines in my window, it used to light up floating hair and things in the air, and dust gathered quickly on my desk. now the sunrise n sunset shine straight in, no floaties visible. just the mistiness caused by humidifier. in the last month, no dust settling that i can see.

over-the-sink dish drying rack. since it drips into the sink there's no flooding it or having to clean the bottom. and it's never in my way. and its CUTE

laundry drying rack. i save money not using the dryer machines, protect my clothes, feel like a real (old-fashioned?) adult for hanging stuff up, and when there's no clothes on it i use it as a standing desk bc it's the perfect height. the space between bars keeps my laptop cool while gaming. beloved

#quality of life really needs money tbh.#or time #which i dont have :/#adulting

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beanghostprincess · 5 months

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Shuggy headcanons as per request Madame: Love me some „Shanks being in love with Buggy’s long hair“, but I raise you „Buggy absolutely adores Shanks hair and can’t keep his hands out of it“. Granted, Shanks doesn’t really take care of his hair. Shanks is a bit of a greaseball at times. Suits Buggy well actually. When they were teens that gave him a perfect reason to just be „Eugh! When was the last time you washed this?“ While grabbing a fist full „OW! My hairs fine! I washed it last week!“ „LAST WEEK? GOD YOURE GROSS!“ and nag him about it till he cleaned up. He could always pretend the detached hands that raked trough Shanks hair after this where just there to make sure his idiot best friend did a good enough job. Actually he needs to check up on this every so often because clearly Shanks can’t be trusted to look after his own head and Buggy would be DAMNED if this ginger brought lice into their bunk HOLD STILL. The rituals…Elaborate but stupid as hell.

Shanks doesn’t mind as much as he pretends, as long as Buggy isn’t pulling his head this way and that by its roots, and enjoys the little bit of extra attention when Buggys fingers scratch over his scalp. On quieter days when they are hanging out together Buggy will actually relax enough to play with his hair without the guise of checking for dandruff for once and just absentmindedly chop a hand of to run his fingers trough while he is reading or even just bitching about something unrelated. Shanks just turns to mush every time this happens. Complete zen mode achieved.

In a world where they get together as adults again those moments become a bit more regular, usually when they are in bed together and they are both still in the process of waking up. „Feels nice…You got a real thing for my hair huh?“ Buggy shoots him an unimpressed look and Shanks can’t help but roll his eyes fondly as he answers: „I’m just checking something. I think it’s thinning out. If you keep going at this rate you’re gonna go bald.“.

As I said, the rituals : intricate but stupid as FUCK

So cute and sweet and also a bit angsty because just add the PINING to it,,, They make me go wild. Like, it's noticeable how I've been talking more about Shuggy lately and things like this make me go fucking insane. They were so in love. Gonna jump off a bridge. Anyway!

This is so real. Because Buggy would always complain about Shanks not washing his hair properly (even if one day he does have an immaculate, perfect hair) only to have the excuse to touch it or just be closer to Shanks without actually looking like a needy, pining idiot (does he even realize he's in love with Shanks? He will never admit it). And, y'know, I think Shanks genuinely ends up trying to take care of his hair (more or less. He just doesn't care much and forgets about doing it. Like yeah! Gonna be clean from now on! And then a week passes and he hasn't showered because he's been too busy with adventure to worry about it, or something) because he kind of likes the praise that comes with it afterward. Buggy saying something nice to him doesn't happen often, and he cherishes it forever. But it doesn't happen a lot bc he always ends up forgetting to wash his hair.

I'm a sucker for Shuggy being each other's first kisses, and if it happens while Buggy is playing with Shanks hair,, I might die. They're just too much.

Also, when they're older Shanks still doesn't take care of his hair and Buggy literally drags him to the shower with him. Shanks won't stop making sexual jokes about showering together and Buggy literally and genuinely just wants to clean Shanks as if he were a damn stray dog he just found (kind of the same thing tbh). Then Buggy makes him go back to bed with him and cuddle because he just needs a moment of romantic bliss before fighting his husband again.

#god they're something else #no other ship makes me feel like this it's so akjsdbajksbda #i'm a child of divorce please #they're in love your honor #one piece #buggy the clown #red haired shanks #shuugy

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a-dauntless-daffodil · 10 months

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What's "Hunter's ed"? Is it literally just school classes dedicated to hunting?

Kinda yeah? Class instead of classes though. I took it through public school as a kid when i was uhh 8 or 9 i think, but most of it can be done online these days, except for the final field day bit.

Hunters Education (as i remember it) teaches stuff like:

firearms safety (never point it at a person, keep the chamber empty, triple check it's empty, make sure to carry it so it doesn't point at anything you don't want to shoot, TEST TO MAKE SURE ITS EMPTY by pointing it somewhere safe like a soft earth ground or thick wood and pulling the trigger before you leave the gun alone or store it or clean it, ect)

shooting safety (remember if you miss the bullet keeps going, check what's behind or around the thing you're aiming at, try to find a natural backstop like a hill or thick deep tree coverage or make sure you have a long clear line of sight, remember the bullet drops over long distance shots, remember to sight in your scopes before hunting if you use them)

navigation in the wilderness using map and compass (bane of my fucking existence)

how to gut and harvest the animal if you get one (blegh to be honest) (for the love of heck make SURE your knife is sharp and hopefully has a drop point and also a small finger guard things get slippery quick) (make a gut pile some ways away so other creatures can have it and not bother you) (mom also told me to put a sprig of a branch in the animal's mouth as a thanks and be nice to the body but that's not in hunter's ed i don't think)

awareness of land, conservation, and hunting laws (basically just hey remember you can't shoot whatever you want whenever you want and even if you could you shouldn't bc your hunting impacts the population numbers and heath so if you wanna get something next year to eat don't shoot the females with babies this year, also check your hunting area and get your hunting tags) (they don't talk about how most of the hunters we get out here aren't locals but drive in with huge trucks and multiple four-wheelers and camp out here looking for fun and a big rack, while my sister goes out on foot with her teen son hoping to get ANYTHING so we have meat in the winter) (they don't talk about how people want nice healthy animals and take those out of the population while wolves go for the sick, the unprotected young, the old, the injured, and take THOSE out of the population instead) (they don't talk about how many moose die from getting hit by fucking cars on the highways)

Aaaaaaand here is how to actually fire a gun (field day) (hateful and loud) (not actually a whole day) (spent mine with my hands over my ears bc i was used to just using a little .22 rifle for grouse and it's sooooo different when you know when the shot will come VS having it come cracking out of nowhere)

You need the hunters ed certificate before you can hunt in some units (areas) of Alaska (if your were born after a certain time) or if you're under 18 and hunting without adult supervision (reason why i took it) but i think the main point was to stop people accidentally shooting themselves or friends ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh hey they have a website for it actually. here is Hunter Education

#guns #hunting #gun safety

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galacticlamps · 1 year

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green emoji asks 🦖🌴🥝? c:

🦖 - what’s your favorite dinosaur?

as a kid I loved any of the ones with really long necks because I loved going to the natural history museum and being in one of the biggest rooms I'd ever seen and there being a GUY whose NECK took up practically the whole length of it all on its own

as an adult, I have a little dino carved from some kind of rock that I keep on my bookcase which I choose to believe is like a low-res stegosaurus even tho the ridges on its back are not individually marked & that specific (vaguely defined) dude is my favorite dinosaur

🌴 - what’s your dream vacation?

Hmm, I don't really feel like I have one? There are plenty of places I know I'd like to go if I ever get the chance but in my mind calling something a dream vacation implies a bit more of a plan than that. (I think that's bc I'm not very good at the whole relax & do nothing kind of vacation - if I'm going somewhere I really feel like I've gotta research all the details before to make sure I'm doing & seeing enough that it's not a waste of time or money. But that includes taking into account seasonal/temporary events/shows/exhibits, and I don't bother looking into those things unless I know I have an opportunity to follow through on them coming up soon, which hasn't been the case for a while now)

But if I stop being fussy about the fact that I'm not actually dreaming about a specific itinerary for five seconds, then the answer's definitely Scotland. Of all the places I want to see, it's got the worst ratio of minutes I've spent in the country (being zero) to number of things I want to see there, from whole cities and areas down to individual museums, historical sites, places relatives came from, national parks, and even distilleries. But it's also way too much to fit into one trip, so I think of wanting to go there as less of a specific vacation than other things I want to do less badly but can at least conceive of more clearly - like saying that in the fall, I hope to visit a relative's house in the mountains and spend a few days in a little town with a nice cider mill.

🥝 - what’s your music taste like?

A mess! Really, I'm so bad at putting music in categories. My main playlist is literally called What's a Genre - and it's 90% Irish & Scottish bands (though even saying that feels misleadingly homogeneous, since I can count everyone from the Dubliners to Hozier & the Tannahill Weavers to the Proclaimers that way) but there's also other things that kinda maybe fit there, like The Amazing Devil (and Robert Hallow & the Holy Men? does anyone know if they still exist?) and The Decemberists, and then ones that even I know don't belong there, like ELO and MCR. And that's just the one playlist. If I'm working from home, my go-to is Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald & co for some reason. When it comes to decades, I tend to favor 60s pop (or is it rock? I'm not sure I know the difference), and I'd take the Kinks over the Beatles - but I also keep them on a playlist with ABBA, David Bowie, Queen, and They Might Be Giants (which is mainly for both cleaning & hanging out with friends). I also still own & regularly listen to a lot of music from different genres whose only unifying factor is 'was actively on the radio when i was in middle school.' And I'd be lying to make myself sound cooler if I didn't also admit that I have a pretty sizable library of cast albums & show tunes, which I'll also shuffle through like any other playlist. The last album I bought was Skerryvore's Tempus that came out last week, the only concert I've been to as neither a friend nor a worker was Billy Joel. I think the Waterboys might be my most 'any context, any mood' safe to put on in the background to vibe with w/o getting distracted, especially Fisherman's Blues. When I'm not looking to listen to something very specific, the only deterrent from putting my entire library on shuffle is the fact that random Big Finish audio tracks will play if I do that.

So I think the friends who've called it 'eclectic' were being generous, but I also don't have any better descriptors to offer up.

#thanks for the ask!#sorry about the length as usual #i feel like i dont get enough flack for how poorly organized i keep my music so i wanted to be v honest #and while my main playlist does include a bunch of stuff not in english #it's just there bc i like it at this point #especially since the gaelic very much outnumbers the irish so i'd get very confused very quickly if i leaned on music to like #actively teach me anything #it's more that i'll be listening to a song i've known for ages #and just suddenly realize i recognize more of the grammar or vocab than i used to

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just-some-random-blogger · 1 year

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hello, catmmom! meowmeow! im a little late today but! its finally day! aww jinjin is so great! hell meet you like this soon! 'my teacher says its good to cry 2 a week' yeah you have! idk if i really actually cry that much but ive got some eye drops for the lenses. im SO sorry for the onion TT hope your eyes are cleaned now hgjfkd. i wasnt like DRINKING but i had a couple of drinks in the friends home and she lives pretty close. i wasnt drunk but i had a drunk friend whos going home w/me TT my ass was attacked... 'because being drunk is so fascinating' it never ends well... hope youll be careful with it and not die on the way home. 'cos filipino is neutral everything' yeah i love that in languages. its nice. but also for me as a person whose language has genders it not really convenient... 'i guess you like spoken poetry with background' this is literally the definition of the music i used to listen when i was 13... 'i love the kitties and the cutie bb girl <3' oh CUTE isnt it :з CANT WAIT TO BE AN ADULT *star eyes* im not mocking your guess, its just amusing in general... im sorry for your jaw. i really am. when i found this video i was pretty much like this. but this video is like 12 years old and i really dont know the real reason for it so.. ok let it be... 'experience affect us as a person' it wasnt that deep TT i just got some vibes of that album and liked to listen to it while reading the fics? the hotd (just medival royalty) fics and that album just match in me head. 'it bothered me so much' omg im sorry for your brain TT hope its ok now since that time. 'i just ignore everyone' YEAH while all my friends are worried and try to not enter(?) log in to the social media to seem like they havent seen a message, i dont even care, i just ignore everyone TT except you <з 'i never even learned about stevens mom' OOOH youre such a baby in this ghdjkfh. its ok if you dont want to watch it, the music is still fine af. 'thats why i like making my fem characters chew their male' yaas queen! make men miserable again! 'i think ur just judgy' no im not like plainly insult the people i dont like. im just irritated TT why im boo???? he literally put his fetish in his MOST famous novel that we study in the 9th grade?? i couldnt ignore like? half of the page? AHAJSJD i was confused when i started from the season 5 too GHDJFJJ one big brain cell. hope you liked the episode at least? KITTY FOR GOOD LUCK TT meowmeow TT this poor stray TT hope hes doing great... 'YUCK' we call it national humor. 'ill always be old to someone and young to others' so true so big brained. 'DID YOU EXPECT THAT ID DATE HIM' NO well.... but no. it was just a little amusing with its bluntness. AHFJJGG this game looks so cool. plutos doing its best TT 'who cares if theres smth like this you nor i have not written it' so true so big brained. hope to see it too ghjdjdd. sorry this time i have no fic idea bc i want to sleep. but i wish you good luck w/your fics. 'my deimos and phobos queen' HGJDKG ITS A HONOUR THANKS!! theyre actually translated as dread and fear... greek gods... 'IS THE SKY CLOSER WTF THERE' like ive said the atmosphere is thinner and basically?... its reallyreally a lot more abstract than in reality? but the constellations are definately closer. but also weve got a very dry air so people in the north tend to have problems with breathing. idk ive recalled it bc we say that theres not enough oxygen? but its not fully truth so yeah ok biology lesson is over. im gonna sleep and youre gonna have a nice evening! good luck with everything you need to do! take care<З

HELLO BABY!!

i actually read your letter yesterday right when you sent it but i was so focus on writing my fic and it look me like 99hours to finish so T_T

love letter time!!!

im a little late today but! its finally day!

thats fine T_T im also late. im glad you messaged me during the day

aww jinjin is so great! hell meet you like this soon!

im luv him T_T

'my teacher says its good to cry 2 a week' yeah you have! idk if i really actually cry that much but ive got some eye drops for the lenses.

😞im becoming like my mom. i keep repeating information AHHAAHHA. and omg you need lenses. dang you got bad eyesight T_T RIP at least you got eye drops

im SO sorry for the onion TT hope your eyes are cleaned now hgjfkd.

T_T I MEAN I GUESS BUT IT HURTS or i mean it hurt at the time. you dont have to apologize about the onion. are you an onion?

i wasnt like DRINKING but i had a couple of drinks in the friends home and she lives pretty close. i wasnt drunk but i had a drunk friend whos going home w/me TT my ass was attacked...

you were attacked??? by your drunk friend??? LOL HAHAHAHA. im glad you only drank some drinks with a friend that lives nearby. that's my ideal way to drink <3 LOL im saying this as though ive drank more than one occasion AHHHAHA. youre such a good girl for bringing your friend home [pets head]

'because being drunk is so fascinating' it never ends well... hope youll be careful with it and not die on the way home.

HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH i will be careful dont worry i love you thank you for caring

'cos filipino is neutral everything' yeah i love that in languages. its nice. but also for me as a person whose language has genders it not really convenient...

yeah its so much more convenient but also so much simpler. #russianmid HAHAHAH i wonder why languages thought it was a good idea to make words fem and masc ??? LOL HAHAHH

'i guess you like spoken poetry with background' this is literally the definition of the music i used to listen when i was 13...

HAHAHHHAHAH BIG BRAINED

'i love the kitties and the cutie bb girl <3' oh CUTE isnt it :з CANT WAIT TO BE AN ADULT *star eyes* im not mocking your guess, its just amusing in general...

ASFHKASHFA:SLHF:ASFHLAFL 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 IM GLAD ITS FUNNY TO YOU I THOUGHT IT WAS SUCH A GOOD GUESS BUT ITS NOT AND I WAS SO SHOCKED TO FIND OUT WHAT THE SONG MEANT 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

im sorry for your jaw. i really am. when i found this video i was pretty much like this. but this video is like 12 years old and i really dont know the real reason for it so.. ok let it be...

DAMN omg then theres a good chance that child is like.... our age? klsgahf;lhasflashf;lashfl;ashfsalh LOL my jaw is fine btw SAL:HDLAHDLA

'experience affect us as a person' it wasnt that deep TT

DAMN OK i mean i didnt know what to say about it and i didnt want to skip it 😞😩 but maybe i should have T_T i cant believe you ur so mean T_T HAHA jk lol AHHAHAHHA

i just got some vibes of that album and liked to listen to it while reading the fics? the hotd (just medival royalty) fics and that album just match in me head.

k HAHHAHHAAH

'it bothered me so much' omg im sorry for your brain TT hope its ok now since that time.

ASFHLASHFLASHFSAHFAF ive never recovered T_T i need brain intervention or smth T_T HAHHAH

'i just ignore everyone' YEAH while all my friends are worried and try to not enter(?) log in to the social media to seem like they havent seen a message, i dont even care, i just ignore everyone TT except you <з

i love that for me <3 im honored that you love me so much to respond to me every time T_T [CRYING]

ALSO YOUR FRIEND HAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAAHHAHA low key like me, except i try not to log in to purposefully ignore messages HAHAHHAHAAHHAAHAHHA T_T

'i never even learned about stevens mom' OOOH youre such a baby in this ghdjkfh.

?????????????????????????????????????? why am i a baby? im not offended im just confused ??????????

its ok if you dont want to watch it, the music is still fine af.

i mean i want to watch it but also im not going to search for it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i guess im not going to watch it

'thats why i like making my fem characters chew their male' yaas queen! make men miserable again!

😡🤬✊ i think deserve

'i think ur just judgy' no im not like plainly insult the people i dont like. im just irritated TT

T_T PLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THAT LIKE ALMOST THE SAME THING BECAUSE YOU DONT LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE T_T MY CHILD MY SWEET SUMMER CHILD

why im boo????

HELP YOURE NOT BOO I LOVE YOU T_T i said you too you boo to your mr worldwife dude AHAHHAH also i didnt mean like boo 👎👎👎 as in bad, i mean like boo which is a term of endearment T_T im so sorry. it was like an expression, it would be the same as you do you babe. T_T english is such a rat T_T im so sorry

he literally put his fetish in his MOST famous novel that we study in the 9th grade?? i couldnt ignore like? half of the page?

HE WHAT HAHAHAHHAHAHAH PLS HALF A PAGE>? LOL ughsssssssssss i wonder what ur teacher said to a bunch of 9th graders, 'a yes today we will be learning about kinks cos this moron likes feet and dedicated a whole section of that to his work T_T' LOL

AHAJSJD i was confused when i started from the season 5 too GHDJFJJ one big brain cell. hope you liked the episode at least?

I MEAN I LIKED THE EPISODE i watched the day of the doctor, the one with david tennant and matt smith and john hurt and all that and it was funny and cute but also ??? very confusion much idk ??? to some parts. it was plain to me that it was meant for people who have been watching doctor who up until that point so i couldnt appreciate it as much, and the idea overwhelmed me, like i would have to watch at least the entirety of david's dw to get it and i mean i wanted to start with him but whatever BYE

oMG i also watched this episode. and the van gogh ep with matt. thats it. never again T_T

KITTY FOR GOOD LUCK TT meowmeow TT this poor stray TT hope hes doing great...

me too. he's kind a mean tho. there is a cat in our street at... was maltreated by someone T_T oh no am i going to cry. the poor kitty is missing a paw and has cuts on their body FUCK ANYWAY that sweet cat that i pet was mean to that injured kitty T_T so.... i mean theyre just cats T_T but T_T i haven't seen the injuered cat in a while T_T i thought the kitty was getting better. but idk where the poor cat went.

'YUCK' we call it national humor.

AGFLAGHSFLHAFLHASF YUCK

'ill always be old to someone and young to others' so true so big brained.

lol cheers also tHES DOGGOS HAHHHAHAHAAAHHHAHA

'DID YOU EXPECT THAT ID DATE HIM' NO well.... but no. it was just a little amusing with its bluntness.

T_T please. i have been straightforward thus far so /: HAAHH of course id tell that story that way AHAHA

AHFJJGG this game looks so cool. plutos doing its best TT

IT IS T_T IM LUV PLUTO

'who cares if theres smth like this you nor i have not written it' so true so big brained. hope to see it too ghjdjdd.

<3 big brain everyday

sorry this time i have no fic idea bc i want to sleep.

??? THATS FINE???? you dont have to give me fic ideas everyday ??? GIRL

but i wish you good luck w/your fics.

thank you 😩✊ i finished one yesterday after not posting for 2 days T_T i usually post every other day so im happy to finish that fic <3 now i gotta finish editing that song cover i did so you can watch it AHAHAHAH

'my deimos and phobos queen' HGJDKG ITS A HONOUR THANKS!! theyre actually translated as dread and fear... greek gods...

OHEMGEE WOW i didnt realize <3 that's so good to know that you for telling me. also HAHHHAH i wonder why- OOP NEVER MIND oh wait nvm again i was gonna say its because hades and dread and fear live in the underworld ??? (at least based on the disney hercules HAHHAHAHAHAAH) but mars is ares so LOL HAHA it could be because dread and fear follow war T_T RIP THEY WERE TOO REAL FOR THAT

'IS THE SKY CLOSER WTF THERE' like ive said the atmosphere is thinner and basically?... its reallyreally a lot more abstract than in reality? but the constellations are definately closer. but also weve got a very dry air so people in the north tend to have problems with breathing. idk ive recalled it bc we say that theres not enough oxygen? but its not fully truth so yeah ok biology lesson is over.

T_T THE AIR IS DRIER THERE RIP YOUR LUNGS as someone who lives in a very humid place, i think T_T russia would come and bonk me in the head if i ever went there T_T 💀 on my grave. thank you for trying to explain it to me. its very interesting to know. i am both fascinated by the fact and feel bad kinda that your climates are so harsh T_T LASHFHASFHLAS but hey at least you can see the stars better !!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE THAT FOR YOU

im gonna sleep and youre gonna have a nice evening! good luck with everything you need to do! take care<З

i hope you had a nice sleep! im luv you! i hope you have a wonderful day my love <3

xxx

#anon ask #my beloved anons #modern!daemon anon #ask #modern!daemon nonnie

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ojibways · 2 years

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i woke up with a headache and there were so many dishes in the sink bc i worked all weekend and ive been so overwhelmed and falling behind and burnt out bc i have so much 2 do btwn work, volunteering, n school work has been INSANE and so much more than im used to doing that i sat on the floor in my kitchen just crying and crying while also eating 2 day old leftovers

but then i was like hey wait a minute im eating these cold leftovers bc i know i will feel Better if i eat the protein in this food and then i drank cold water and then i got up and washed the dishes (even though they were mostly my roommates like 5 day old chili) bc i know i will feel better if i have no stinky dishes in the sink instead of just sitting there resentful of her and then i compulsively cleaned the sinks n the toilet and now im rearranging the entirety of my day around de-cluttering and cleaning up the garbage arnd my apartment and my room that has built up and i'm administering stupid little self-care shit like washing my face carefully and moisturizing and doing my makeup nicely bc i KNOW that even though its ultimately shallow and pointless it WILL make ME and MY BODY feel better and i'm recognizing the steps i took in previous days in order to yes -- make this morning in particular terrible, but i am also recognizing the steps i took to take care of myself like putting a water bottle in the fridge for myself and doing my laundry yesterday so that i have nice clean clothes to wear and taking a shower so my hair feels light and comfortable and also smoked weed so now i'm going to have a good day girlies !!!!!!!

i already feel so much better and i'm just thinking about how simple and easy it will be to do these productive things that will improve my life and i've been so overwhelmed w school but i have done so well and i'm going to better organize my time and work more DILIGENTLY so i don't fall so behind !!! me of like 5 years ago could never, i love being medicated for adhd so that i am able to conceptualize and act on how to actively better my life instead of just sitting there in misery and i love being an adult who is learning how to exist and is doing my best i'm so much more comfortable being me and my skin is so soft rn

#i also called out of work yesterday so i could have time 4 this im sending a kiss to past me for calling out of work instead of just Going #this is a long post that is rambling but this is my diary so fuk u

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puppyeared · 2 years

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waddle dee and mk headcanons under the cut

even though waddle dees and waddle doos look really similar, and even refer to each other as cousins, waddle doos are actually closely related to Kracko. Waddle doos just happen to look similar and have the same features as waddle dees, but this is misleading. It's basically dreamland's version of carcinization

idk how sailor dee joined MK's crew (in canon or whatever idea is most agreed upon in the fanbase), but I'd like to think he snuck on the ship as a stowaway. he just wanted to see the inside of the ship, but got stuck on it when it actually took off. I guess MK made him do some chores as a small slap on the wrist (although dedede doesnt really count the waddle dees, so itd probably be a while before he notices one missing) but did some thinking and thought it would be good to have extra help on the ship, with ddd's permission of course and the kid's adorable come ON

also sailor dee is small, so they just cleaned up an old broom closet on the ship for him as his quarters; he has a hammock, and a small shelf for personal belongings, clothes, toys, etc. any drawings he makes in his free time get taped to the door by one of the Meta-Knights.

I also mentioned this in the kirby suburbs server god im so sorry for clogging up the channel, but i also have some headcanons for the waddle dees bc i love them

waddle dees use any pronouns (but i usually use he or they), they all wear the same smock. originally i wanted dedede to call each of them using different pronunciations of "waddle dee" like ice king to gunter, but i think the name tag thing is way funnier. its basically dedede wanting to be a little polite and call each of them by their name, so he made the name tag system so he could tell them apart. but the thing is that theyre ALL NAMED WADDLE DEE, so it backfired lmao

but the waddle dees are nice so they kept the name tag thing even after dedede figured out it wasnt gonna work and stopped putting name tags on them. instead, they all made their own name tags bc they like making them and they all wanna feel a little special (and they dont understand WHY they need nametags, for them its like idk why the king wanted us to do this but its ok :) this is fun :))

also it indirectly ended up working anyway because you can tell a little bit of what each waddle dee is like based on their name tag; like one might like baking so they made their name tag shaped like a biscuit, another might like knitting so they knitted a freaking name tag, maybe one really likes being a little fancy so they wrote their name in cursive, or one just wanted to feel included so they scribbled their name on a piece of paper and slapped it on their shirt.

also waddle dees can stick to each other like balloon friction. this can happen accidentally when they cuddle, or when dedede gets bored and wants to see how many waddle dees it takes to reach the ceiling. this is how you get the waddle dee balls in star allies

i cant imagine the waddle dees having a set age, so i threw that out the window, theyre all mcdonalds cup small size. they dont have an age, theres technically no biologically oldest or youngest waddle dee UNLESS you get assigned youngest, which is sailor dee, he is considered youngest waddle dee by popular opinion (dedede usually calls them kids bc theyre jUST LITTLE GUYS!! but this isnt to ship them with adult characters, i just cant think of an age that would best represent them as gijinkas)

when you pick up waddle dees you scoop them up like puppies :)

for my purposes, king dedede became the waddle dees ruler by accident and never bothered to correct them. he found one outside the castle and nursed it back to health, but his robe kind of resembles a kings robe, so it mistook him for a king. and waddle dees have some sort of hive mind, so waddle dees just kept showing up at dedede's castle (he found bandee passed out carrying another waddle dee as opposed to the lone waddle dee, so dedede took a liking to him all the way from the start)

on a related note, bandee is more active and energetic compared to the other waddle dees, which tend to loiter around the castle or outside. kirby likes playing with him because hes usually down to do whatever kirby wants to do, theyre best friends <3

idk how the GSA works in the anime, but im placing meta knight somewhere lower on the warrior hierarchy. not exactly legendary veteran among their ranks, but not unexperienced; they assigned him to popstar long before kirby arrived so he's kind of on standby and doesn't report to them unless they contact him first (and then the GSA disbanded or something and MK never found out and still thinks hes on standby, idk)

so MK is more awkward and by the book because he starts out doing everything the way he was trained, not with a certain experience you earn on the field. he does mellow out, so hes less stiff even though he still keeps to himself. hes not really jaded either, just not very social and not good at conversations (which ppl misinterpret as being cool and edgy? kind of true)

the scar on his face is from the first time he encountered kirby. dreamland is relatively peaceful so he hasnt had to face off against anyone in years, and this was before he and kirby were properly acquainted. thats also what motivatds him to train more of his own free will rather than whats been expected of him, both to be a good role model/mentor/dad to kirby, and to do things for himself.

bandee may be dedede's second in command/kid, but MK is dededes husbands no questions asked. if you ask them if theyre dating dedede will probably say something like "we're bfs," and he doesnt tell you if that means boyfriends or best friends, but its between them so thats that

#im gonna add more in a rb #my art #myart #kirby series #kirby gijinka #headcanon #txt #kirby headcanon #magolor #prince fluff #doodles #waddle dee #waddle doo #krtdl #kirbys epic yarn

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ppnuggie · 2 years

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TFP! SHOCKWAVE x reader — fluff

　『　shockwave ,, gender neutral human reader 』

-> shockwave as a househubby <33

— fluff ,, sfw ,, househubby shockwave

— its been on my mind for a while ,, tfp shockwave just gives me bottom vibes ,, hes a nice mech ,, takes place after the war ,, shockwave found himself content with this ,, bc he also still gets to do research and experiments

— still doing requests and they are open ,, i just wanted to make this of shockwave ,, bc besides skyfire ,, he’s my other favorite <33 maybe hes kinda ooc in this ,, my apologies

— its very long ,, very very long <//3 oopsies

• after the war ,, you had been previously held as hostage on the nemesis ,, usually placed under shockwave and soundwave’s control ,, since they were responsible enough to look after you ,, starscream having tried to murder you a few times and megatron feeling that you would be better with someone else

• long story short ,, you have yourself a big tiddy robot hubby ,, it happened and no one even knows why or how ,, nor do the two of you

• shockwave does a good job at being a househusband ,, he gets his independence to do what he pleases ,, and a lovely partner ,, who gives him affection in return for him staying at home and not being a terrorist

• he takes good care of the place ,, making sure its clean and nothing is out of place ,, he even cooks too ,, since he had taken an interest more into human cultures and what they do ,, function ,, eat and all

• he’s really good at making european dishes ,, mainly german dishes but hes also makes good thai dishes ,, though he will make sure you do get your nutrients and vitamins ,, acting more like a mother at that time

• “ shockwave ,, i’m alright , ” you’d say as he keeps trying you take the drink he prepared for you ,, “ but you need your vitamins b and d !! ” he’d argue

• he loves you ,, despite him saying he’s emotionless ,, but look where he ended up ,, anyways he loves you very much and cares for your health ,, and you probably don’t or do take good care of your health

• he made it clear that he will be taking care of your health ,, to which you grumbled about being able to do it yourself but he doesnt listen

• besides ,, if it means coming home to a damned good meal ,, who’s to complain ?

• since he is free to do his experimenting ,, he took the time to learn more about earth ,, since he never had the chance to during the war

• sometimes when you get home ,, he’ll tell you weird facts about the world that you probably or probably don’t already know

• “ did you know that the earth was once dry ? ” he’d ask ,, his antennas high up with interest and confidence ,, to which you’d nod to ,, and then they’d droop

• though when he’s not worrying over your health and wellbeing ,, which is often ,, or not experimenting around ,, there are these soft moments you spend with him

• like this one time you took him in his holoform to a zoo ,, which he was conflicted about and had mixed feelings ,, but he did enjoy looking at the creatures ,, especially the lemurs

• he liked the lemurs a lot ,, and he doesnt know why ,, going on about how its illogical but their little beady eyes stare at him and he melts

• or when he tried to convince you take home little ducklings ,, which you had to explain that they already had a mother

• “ you could be their adult figure ,, we can make a small pond for them and raise them , ” he says ,, trying to negotiate with you ,, holding their little fuzzy yellow bodies in his servo ,, but you forbid him from taking home any creature he finds

• but he didnt listen and brought home a raccoon ,, saying that the creature forced him to be taken to your house ,, which you were not amused about

• shockwave has changed for the better after the war ,, and its been proven with how he treats you and the environment around him

• no longer is he the decepticon’s lead scientist ,, but instead a free mech being himself with someone he has feelings for

• he does wish you a good morning when you leave for work ,, and has your lunch packed for the day ,, reminding you to eat it and not forget how important it is that your get your vitamins ,, to which you mindlessly nod to

• which usually leaves him wanting a goodbye kiss in the morning ,, arms crossed as he stares at you getting ready to leave ,, and he wont let you forget his kiss either

• though when he feels your lips against the side of his helm ,, his antennas droop and he gets all mushy ,, saying goodbye as you leave

• he really does love you ,, and wants to be the best for you ,, which is why he’s trying to help himself become a better mech

• to not revert to his old ways ,, because never has he ever felt like this before ,, not even before or during the war ,, and hes very grateful to you for still loving him ,, despite his past

#transformers x reader #x reader #🌌.tfp #tfp x reader #tfp #shockwave x reader #x gender neutral reader #shockwave #tfp shockwave #hes a househusband now #<33 #tfp shockwave x reader #🌌.shockwave

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sapphicellegreenaway · 2 years

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once more to see you

hockey player!aaron hotchner x figure skater!fem!reader

switching training facilities before your most important season should have been a complete disaster, but you manage to find love along the way

word count: 15.0k

warnings: cursing, alcohol consumption, moderate description of injury, needles

a/n: hi! this is the first and only time i'll publish anything in relation to the men of the bau because i wanted this story to live and exist in the world in an iteration that felt was authentic and how i originally pictured it. anyways enjoy nhl superstar aaron hotchner (yes he plays for philly bc they're my dumb little team)

⭒⭑⭒

Aaron swears he’s going to kill whoever’s in charge of renting out the practice facility. At the very least he’s going to give them a piece of his mind.

Realistically, he knows it’s impossible. The rink can be rented by anyone when the Flyers aren’t using it and he typically thinks it’s a great way to promote ice sports in the community. Aaron just wishes the facilities manager didn’t rent it out to figure skaters. They destroy the ice with their toe picks and leave it in terrible shape, which makes it hard to properly execute plays that could be the difference between a win or a loss in a game. It frustrates him because while community engagement is important, his career and the team take precedence on the rink owned by the organization that has him on payroll.

No one else seems to be bothered by the recent decline in ice conditions. Most of his teammates are used to poor ice, growing up playing pond hockey and at rinks that also housed figure skating clubs. While Aaron had those experiences as well, it’s clear he never developed the same nonchalance as everyone else. He complains in the dressing room after every practice until Derek finally says something.

“Christ Hotch, relax. It’s only for another month until renovations at the other rink finish.”

Others chime in, telling him to not take it so seriously, with a couple of them defending the right of the other athletes to use the ice as they please. The grief Aaron catches is enough to shut him up, but he still stews privately over the fact figure skaters are destroying his happy place.

⭑

You want nothing more than to return to your home rink. The Flyers Skate Zone has been nice, the staff incredibly accommodating, but something feels off. You’re having a harder time landing jumps and skating clean programs than you’ve had at another rink. The change in routine is enough to knock you off your game, which is something you absolutely can’t have. You’re coming off a breakthrough season, finishing on the podium at nationals and landing a spot on your first world championship roster. People are expecting you to replicate your success and you want to do that and more.

US Figure Skating has taken a chance placing you on the national team for the current season. Though it was expected, they could have easily chosen the fourth place skater instead. She’s much younger than you, barely fifteen, and is yet to have a serious injury. At twenty-one you’re barely an adult, but this could be the last time you get an opportunity like this. The sport keeps getting younger and you could get left behind if you don’t prove yourself. The grand prix circuit was kind to you throughout the summer and fall, allowing you to earn medals at some of the smaller competitions and hold your own against the big dogs in the majors like NHK Trophy. With its conclusion all your attention is on landing higher on the podium at nationals.

⭑

“Try the triple flip again,” Brenda, your coach, instructs. “You could be more solid on the landing.”

“It’s this fucking ice! I can do one at home that would get me a high GOE,” you complain.

She rolls her eyes and thinks about telling you off, but decides against it. No matter how many times she tells you it’s a mental block you need to get over, you find a way to blame the training facility. “Just give me five solid ones and we’ll call it quits.”

It’s your turn to show frustration, leaving the boards with an impression of your pick, but you peel away from them anyways. Some juniors are mingling in a corner and you warn them to watch out as you skate by, gaining speed in hopes of actually executing the element correctly. The first attempt feels natural, and though you could have been a little stronger on the exit it’s a significant improvement from what you were doing earlier in the session. Jumps two and three also go well, but things go wrong on the fourth try. You catch a bad edge just before takeoff and aren’t able to correct your centre of gravity while in the air. Two and a half rotations happen before you slam into the ground and the entire right side of your body feels like it’s been run over by a bus.

“Fuck!” you scream in frustration as you pick yourself up off the ice. Everything throbs, and it takes an inner strength you didn’t know you possessed to not take your skates off and throw them in a garbage can. You’re tired of the regression that’s plagued you since coming to train here. Circling back to examine just how bad the edge was you notice your pick created much too large a hole, something you’d get points deducted for in competition. Brenda signals you over to her, and your head hangs low as you skate over to the woman who looks just as defeated as you feel.

“You’re done,” she sighs. You can tell it pains her to see your progress plateau, but you’re doing everything you can to get out of this rut — nothing is working. Before you can protest, try to convince her to let you stay on, she’s speaking again. “Our ice time is just about up. Go cool down and meet me in the conference room when you’re done.”

There’s nothing for you to do but sulk off the ice. The other skaters clear out of your way, not wanting to be on the receiving end of your anger. You direct it at the dressing room door, kicking it open so harshly it flies back on the hinges. It makes you feel a bit better, but you’re still in a sour mood as you untie your skates. It’s frustrating not being able to perform at the level you know you can, even in practice. If you could just get out of this rink and back into the one you’re most comfortable at.

After a much longer stretching routine than normal, you pack up your bag and head upstairs for what will no doubt be one of those meetings where you sit silently and take the heat. You realize that your behaviour today was childish, but you couldn’t help but let your emotions overcome you. The next group is well into their ice time when you pass by, and you notice it’s the hockey team that the building is named after. Most of them don’t acknowledge you and keep running drills, but one who looks to be your age is sending you daggers. His anger confuses you, and somehow fuels your own because there’s no reason for him to look at you like that.

The meeting goes much better than you thought it would. Brenda takes your anger in stride and lets you apologize for your outburst before shifting the conversation to altering your training plan. She suggests you take a few days off from the rink, working strictly off-ice, and you begrudgingly agree. There isn’t anything you can do or say to change her mind so you take the updated workout plans with a fake smile. She also tells you that your appointment with your sports psychologist has been moved up a couple of days, which you’re grateful for. It will do you good to work through the things you’re feeling with someone who can actually provide strategies for coping. Things then move to talking strategy and watching tape of competitors to see what to expect at this year’s nationals. The event is in just over a month, and you have the goal of landing on the podium once again, hopefully with the gold medal dangling around your neck.

A couple of hours pass with the pair of you holed up in the conference room, and it’s dark when you gather your stuff and head for home. The complex is deserted and you assume no one but the staff are still here. It turns out someone else was there, and they follow you out, their own gear bag slung over their shoulder. You don’t really pay them any mind, holding the door open out of habit, and fail to recognize the person as the boy who glared while you walked by hours prior. He notices you, however, and makes a point to voice his distaste.

“Hey!” he calls out, “Next time you eat shit don’t put such a big hole in the ice. Other people need it to make money.”

“Get fucked,” you yell back. You really don’t have the time or energy to be accosted by a hockey player. He continues to talk, but you don’t hear it because you slam your car door shut and drive off into the darkness.

⭑

Aaron doesn’t feel like he was in the wrong about the situation until Gideon suggests he apologize a few days later. In his mind, he has every right to be upset about you damaging the ice because it directly affected him. The hole you caused couldn’t be fully repaired, and he tripped at a really key moment during the scrimmage. His bad day was your fault.

“You can’t blame a tough practice on her man,” the captain says as the two of them skate a few warm-up laps. Hopefully taking the moment to talk to the youngster will help him understand that other people are allowed to struggle. “She didn’t mean to fall. Hell, she didn’t want to do it.”

“I get it, or whatever, but it’s still her fault. We’re professional athletes, we need to be at the top of our games.”

He gives Aaron a pointed look and taps the raven-haired winger with the nearest stick “So is she! Did you know that she’s favoured to win both the national and world championships? That things look good for her to be on the Olympic team next year?”

Aaron didn’t know, and guilt twinges his stomach. The next time he runs into you he’s going to apologize.

⭑

You spend your time away from the rink conditioning and regaining focus. The first couple of days are tough, but then you settle into a routine you believe will ultimately make you a better athlete and competitor. Your cardio and weights are upped, and you’re anxious to see how the increase improves your endurance — too often have you been out of breath at the end of a performance. At the suggestion of your psychologist you take a few more days off than originally planned, but it’s the best thing you could have done. You return to the rink ready to nail the final few weeks of training before nationals.

Any other coach would have detested you for taking a week off this close to a major competition, but not Brenda. She understands that you needed the time to refocus and that you’ll work harder than anyone else in the time until you leave for Salt Lake City. Your first practice is fantastic — every element is clean when isolated and within your programs. The timing is off a bit during your free skate on the first run-through but your nerves settle quickly and the next one is spot on. It feels good to be back in control of things.

“I think you’re over that mental block kid,” Brenda laughs when you stop along the boards to get some water. “You’re skating better here than at home.”

You can’t help but agree, a small smile breaking out on your face. “You know, I hate it here slightly less than two weeks ago. Think we should move here permanently?” The comment earns you a slightly aggressive hair ruffling, but it’s worth it. You spend the last hour of ice time alone, running through both of your programs in a mock competition setting.

It’s nearly silent in the complex when Aaron sneaks through the doors. The only thing he can hear is the faint sounds of music he presumes belongs to you from inside the pad. He had begun to think you were never going to reappear at the rink, but learned you were just taking a break when he cornered your coach in the parking lot. The middle-aged lady had told him when you’d be returning and Aaron immediately put it in his calendar so he wouldn’t forget. Now, as he stands against the glass watching you, he’s slightly nervous. What if you don’t accept his apology? No one has ever rebuffed him in the manner you had, not even opponents on rival teams, and he hates the idea of someone smearing his name in the media.

Aaron knew you were good. Well, he was pretty sure you were. He spent the short three-day road trip to Florida watching as many videos of you competing on YouTube as he could find. Though he’s murky on the specifics of what makes a good figure skater, he knows you put heart and soul into every performance and that your elements are strong technically — your scores reflect those facts. Regardless, Aaron is surprised how much better you seem when he’s watching you from the corner of the rink.

You’re looser than in the videos he’s seen, probably because there isn’t any pressure, but you don’t give it any less than a hundred percent. The music drives you forward in a way he’s never seen before — you’re an extension of it, and it of you. As you round a corner to pick up speed Aaron finds himself holding his breath. From watching footage of this program on the plane home, he knows you’re about to attempt the hardest element in it. The quadruple salchow is one of the most difficult jumps female skaters are attempting at the moment, according to his research, and it’s been your most inconsistent element this season from comments online. You’re completing the jump before Aaron even realizes you’ve taken off the ground, but you don’t fall. He exhales and watches the rest of the program with a reserved awe and intrigue. Top-quality athletes recognize greatness, and he now understands everything the team has been trying to tell him for months — he just had to see it to believe it.

When the music stops and you float back to reality from wherever it is you go in the moment to take in your surroundings, you notice the applause. Thinking it’s just from Brenda, you shrug it off, but when you turn around she isn’t clapping. It’s coming from someone else — the boy who was a douchebag the last day before your break. The chances of him being here to make another snide comment are hight, but Brenda insists you should talk to him. You wave him over to a section near the benches that doesn't have glass so you can hear him over the sound of other people’s blades scraping the ice.

“What do you want?” you ask bluntly, taking a sip of water.

Aaron’s taken aback by your abrasiveness but does his best to recover quickly. After all, he’s more than deserving of it. “I wanted to apologize for what I said last week. That wasn’t very, uh, professional of me. I was having a bad day and took out on you, I’m sorry,” he rambles, reminding you he’s human and trying to figure out life the same way you are. “And you’re really talented.”

“It wasn’t fucking cool,” you agree, not quite ready to drop the frosty tone your voice holds, “But it’s fine. I had just been kicked off the ice for a week when you caught me, so I’m sorry too. For snapping.” There’s nothing more for either of you to say, and Brenda is calling your name, so you skate away from him. Over your shoulder you call out, “Thanks for the compliment unnamed Flyers player!”

“It’s Aaron!” he responds. “Aaron Hotchner.”

⭑

A sort of truce befalls the two of you. More of your ice time overlaps, but neither acknowledge each other more than the occasional nod in each other’s direction. It doesn’t bother you in the slightest because preparing for nationals is the only thing that matters currently, and trying to navigate a possible friendship would be too much of a distraction. Aaron is a little put off you don’t try to extend pleasantries, but when it’s explained to him that you’re entering a period that is similar to the lead-up to playoffs he understands. It’s becoming clear that the lives you lead are more similar than he ever could have imagined.

Despite there being no reason to do so, he finds himself making up excuses to stay at the rink to watch you practice. He blows off dinner with Reid and drinks with Morgan when you have the slot after their practice, and when you skate before him he’s at the rink hours early. His schoolboy crush becomes the topic of locker room gossip. Though Aaron swears up and down that he just likes to watch you skate, no one believes him. They don’t go as far as to embarrass him in your presence, but Derek certainly tries on numerous occasions. It’s Aaron’s steely resolve and deadpan expressions that normally save him from public ridicule, but when the guys aren’t looking he sneaks you a small smile to signal he isn’t upset with anything you’ve done. What he doesn’t know is that you’re developing the same sort of fascination with him. You find yourself turning on every Flyers game you can fit into your schedule, watching him intently, and keeping an eye on his stats. The official NHL app now sits on your homescreen, nestled between various social media platforms.

“That boy sure has a lot of interest in you,” Brenda muses one day while you’re talking strategy on how to increase the points total on your short program.

“It’s really nothing, Hotch is just curious about the sport and I’m the most available one for him to latch onto,” you sigh, hoping she doesn’t question you further. “So I was thinking, if I raise my arms during the triple lutz it should give me at least three more points.”

She looks at you like you’ve gained two extra heads. “Are you insane? You’ve never raised your arms during a triple.”

Your smile turns into a wicked smirk. “It can’t be that hard.”

It’s a lot harder than you thought it would be. Though you’ve added the extra step to jumps in the past, it’s been on singles and doubles to rack up points and GOE scores. Jumping has never been your strong suit, and trying to navigate the change in your centre of gravity is difficult. You spend the rest of your ice time popping, under-rotating, or slamming into the ground. A couple of juniors snicker at your failed attempts, but when you remind them they’re stuck on a double loop they stop laughing. It was a little mean, and you remember how hard it was to prove yourself when climbing up the ranks, but you can’t find it in you to care. There’s no need to laugh at someone trying to improve their performance. After a few more failed attempts you cut your losses and head off the ice, more than exhausted.

Bruises start to form on your sides from falling the exact same way so many times, and you trace them lightly through the thin material of your compression top. They’re going to look nasty in a few hours if you don’t ice them soon. A knock on the locker room door stops your actions, and you invite the person on the other side in. To your surprise it’s Aaron, and he’s holding an ice pack.

“I thought you might need one of these,” he says, extending it to you.

You thank him and hiss slightly when the cold hits your skin. There’s a beat of awkward silence before he speaks again. “Can I ask why you’re trying to change that jump?”

“You noticed that?” you know it isn’t a response to his question, but you’re shocked. “Didn’t realize a hot shot like you would actually pay attention to what I do.”

Aaron smirks and shrugs with a nonchalance that seems a little too forced. You explain how changing the position of your arms increases the difficulty of the jump and therefore raises the amount of points it can receive. “So you’re doing it to get more points?”

“Pretty much. It’s a gamble this close to competition, but I’m confident it’ll work out.”

“You’re afraid your program won’t gain enough points to put you in a good position for the free skate,” he notes, “Or you wouldn’t be doing this.”

Once again, you’re floored by his understanding of your sport. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” you say as confidently as you can. “But maybe I just want the challenge.” If Aaron notices the shake in your voice and the worried look in your eye he doesn’t say anything.

You go through your cool-down routine but are surprised Aaron doesn’t leave. In fact, he stays at the rink until you’re finished and follows you to the parking lot. His car is parked a few spots over from you, so you have to raise your voice a little to get him to hear you. “Hey Aaron,” you call, “Do you not have practice?”

“Day off,” he yells back. He’s grinning like an idiot, which prompts you to ask him why. “That’s the first time you’ve said my name.” The smile on his face doesn’t go away, and you try to settle the butterflies in your stomach as you drive home.

⭑

Something shifts between you after that day. It’s subtle, but you’re well on your way to becoming friends. Phone numbers are exchanged, with him insisting his contact name be ‘Hotch’ and nothing else, and the two of you chat regularly outside of the rink. He still watches as many training sessions as he can, and you start making appearances at his practices. It’s far more awkward for you but you push through it for no other reason than wanting to be a good sport. You’re sure there have been times where he wanted to go home but stayed seated on the cold concrete bleachers to offer his support on a hard day. Once Aaron’s teammates catch wind of your budding friendship, they’re pestering you to go to a game. You politely decline each time, explaining that your training schedule is rather rigid and you can’t change it so close to nationals. The competition is just over a week out, and you’re catching a flight to Utah in three days.

Aaron doesn’t let you know he’s a little upset you won’t shift your schedule for him. He understands, he really does, but sometimes he worries you don’t care enough about him to actually put work into the friendship. Instead, he brings you lunch on days where you’re at the rink for eight hours and does his individual workouts alongside yours. The two of you fall into the easy routine of enjoying each other’s company and everyone else is beginning to take notice.

“So,” you say with a mouth full of the pita Aaron brought you, “What are your plans for the All-Star break?”

He’s been toying with an idea for a few weeks now, but Aaron’s keeping it a secret. “I’m just gonna spend it at home with my family,” he shrugs.

“You’re fucking joking. Aaron, you could be somewhere warm and enjoying the beach!”

“I don’t want to go to the beach,” Aaron snorts.

You open your mouth to argue with him, because you’re of the opinion that everyone should love the beach, but you’re cut off by Brenda calling you to return to the ice. “This conversation isn’t over Hotchner,” you say sternly, poking him in the chest to prove your point. He rolls his eyes.

“I’ve gotta be at Wells Fargo in an hour for a team meeting, so I can’t watch this session,” he tells you. You’re a little deflated but understand he can’t play hookie from his job to watch you do your own. Brenda is banging a skate guard on the boards to get your attention, so you wave goodbye and jog over to her. “Y/N,” Aaron yells loud enough that you’ll hear him over the chatter on the ice, “Keep your core tight!”

Your coaching team is perplexed at the comment because it’s second nature to you at this point, but you think it’s sweet. Some of the other girls poke fun at your ‘boyfriend’ and it makes you irritable. Brenda tells them off and suggests they get back to work which makes you feel better. You keep Aaron’s advice in the back of your mind for the rest of your practice, and land every jump almost flawlessly.

The day before you board your flight you have a terrible practice. Brenda chalks it up to nerves, but you know that’s not it. You feel good about the competition and are confident it will go well. Something is off — you just can’t put a finger on it. Frustration eventually boils over and practice is called early. Everyone stays out of your way, letting you cool off, and you huff out a goodbye after promising to meet Brenda at the airport in the morning. Before you’re even out the door you’ve got your phone pressed to your ear, waiting for Aaron to pick up. The Flyers got to start their break a day early due to a scheduling conflict and you hope he doesn’t fly home tonight.

“What’s up?” Aaron’s tone is relaxed and casual, the complete opposite of how you currently feel. Judging by the background noise he’s playing video games, no doubt some dumb first-person shooter game he seems to play constantly. The sound of his voice is enough to send you into tears and make a reply impossible to choke out. His tone changes instantly when he realizes your distress and all activity on the other line halts — the game paused and forgotten about. “Hey,” he soothes, “What’s wrong?”

“Practice was bad,” you choke out, “Like really bad. I don’t think I can do this. Why did I ever think I could do this?” Now across the parking lot and faced with the task of driving home, you throw your bag in the trunk and crumble into the driver’s seat.

“Of course you can, you’re the only person I know that could do it,” he reassures, “I’ll meet you at your place,” The light jangle of keys lets you know Aaron isn’t going to take no for an answer. You don’t fight him, not having the energy to defend your normal pre-competition ritual of radio silence with the rest of the world, and hang up only after insisting you’re okay to drive the twenty minutes to your apartment.

Aaron must have drove well above the speed limit because he pulls into the parking lot at the same time as you. His engine is turned off jarringly fast, and he’s popping your trunk to grab your bag before your gears have settled in park. Though you put up some rather weak protests about carrying your own stuff, Aaron ignores them and hikes your bag higher on his shoulder. When you insist on holding something he tosses you the bag of food he brought with him. Opening it up, you realize he stopped at your favourite sushi restaurant even though he doesn’t like the food. A smile creeps onto your face, possibly the first one all day, and you lean into Aaron slightly when he wraps an arm around your shoulder.

After unlocking your door and settling, both of you flop onto the couch, chopsticks in hand. There’s a blanket of silence over the room as you eat, but it’s far from awkward. Countless hours have been spent just like this, both of you caught up in your own heads and thinking about your futures in sport for there to be discomfort at the lack of conversation. Aaron’s waiting for you to open up, knows you will eventually, and you’re trying to find the words. However, they’re yet to appear, so you let him pull you into his side and turn the television on to some basketball game.

“Thanks for coming over,” you say as the commercials switch on at the end of the first half.

Aaron sends a smile your way, which you do your best to reciprocate. “It’s what friends are for.”

Slowly you open up about practice, venting about how you skated sloppily and couldn’t nail any element no matter how simple it was. You tell him about how tense your muscles are and how scared you are that your fifteen minutes of fame are over, that you’ll never get another chance to represent America on the world stage. Aaron listens attentively, letting you speak for as long as you need. At some point you start crying again and he holds you tighter, making sure you’re comfortable and providing a space to let it all out . Your tears soak through his sweatshirt but he could care less. When you’ve laid all your emotions out on the table he speaks gently, dispelling your doubts and letting you know that you can do it and he believes in you. Aaron’s words make it easier to believe in yourself.

The two of you spend the night on the couch, end up falling asleep, and you’re disheartened when your alarm goes off in the morning. You can’t stay in the little bubble Aaron created for the two of you — the world and its responsibilities taking precedence over the fantasy you wish never had to dissipate. He drives you to the airport, rationalizing it by telling you it’ll be safer to keep your car at home. Realistically there isn’t a difference, but you thank him anyways. Parking was the least of your worries, but the gesture is sweet and you aren’t quite ready to say goodbye yet. When you reach the airport entrance, Aaron pulls into the idling lane and steps out of the car. You follow him, dragging your feet a bit because though you’re excited for nationals you don’t want to leave. This will be the longest time the two of you have been apart since the meteoric rise to friendship

“Make sure you don’t forget about me when you win and get all famous,” Aaron jokes, handing you your suitcase.

You swat his shoulder playfully. “Like you’d let that happen.”

“Of course I wouldn’t. Come here.”

He takes you in his arms. You’ve hugged Aaron a couple of times before, but they didn’t feel as serious as this. This time he’s holding you for a purpose and you’re gripping the back of his jacket tightly because you don’t want him to let go. It’s longer than people who are just friends are meant to hug for, so you begrudgingly pull away. Besides, Brenda and some of your teammates are waiting.

“Have a good time at home,” you mumble.

He wraps a single arm around you for one more squeeze. “You have a good time,” he says seriously, with only the gleam in his eyes letting you know you aren’t getting scolded. “Remember to enjoy the moment. I’ll be watching on T.V.”

With your goodbyes said you wander into the airport, suitcase trailing behind you. Aaron stays parked in his spot until he sees you embrace Brenda before driving off. The boarding process is painless, and once on the plane you take your seat beside a junior and put your headphones on. Downloaded to your Spotify is one of Aaron’s classic rock playlists, and though it’s the farthest thing from the music you enjoy you listen to it the whole way.

⭑

Utah’s nice, but you can’t help feeling like something’s missing — Aaron’s missing. You’ve become so accustomed to him watching you train, clapping like an idiot every time you land a jump, that the silence is unnerving. Everyone notices the shift in your performance, and eventually Brenda crumbles and uses your phone to facetime him while you practice. It’s a decent enough substitute — he watches your pixelated figure zip around the ice and though he doesn’t always make comments, just knowing Aaron’s with you in some capacity is enough to let your mind focus on the task at hand. You do the best you can at pushing away the butterflies that appear every time you think about how he’s giving up his freedom to make sure you succeed.

When you aren’t training or doing press you’re talking to Aaron. You call him constantly, narrating what you see on walks around town to settle your nerves and eating at the same time to make it feel like you’re together. The only person to support you in Salt Lake City is Brenda, so talking to him frequently makes you feel far less alone. You wish he could be here with you, but understand he needs time to recharge and can’t just follow you around the country no matter how much you’d like him to.

“What time do you skate tomorrow?” Aaron asks, mouth full of the pizza he’s enjoying. The features behind are different, so you assume he’s settled into his childhood home.

“Um, I think 11:35? I’m not entirely sure,” you respond. Due to the way the event is seeded you’re skating second last, which both settles your nerves and makes you more anxious. There isn’t the pressure of closing out the event, but there’s hope that you’ll score high enough to win the short program and skate last in the free skate.

Aaron hums pensively. “I’ll check the website.” He confirms you do in fact skate after 11:30, and conversation shifts away from skating, which you’re grateful for. It’s the last thing you currently want to think about. You listen with interest as Aaron recounts stories of the pond hockey matches he’s played since getting home. The two of you are on the phone until nearly ten, when you have to say goodnight and head to bed. Tomorrow marks the start of the biggest week of your year.

You follow your pre-competition routine to the letter. At other events this season you’ve been more relaxed, but your professional skating career depends on your performance at nationals so you aren’t taking chances. Five-thirty comes faster than you thought it would, but you’re out of bed and eating your first breakfast quickly. A quick two mile run follows, and then you’re having a shower and grabbing a second breakfast to eat at the rink. You meet Brenda in the hotel lobby before catching a taxi to the rink in an effort to not be late. A solid practice follows, and you manage to keep your imposter syndrome on a leash in the presence of the other skaters.

The time between practice and your warmup is spent pacing the halls of the dressing and equipment rooms, doing your best to keep your mind off the anxiety bubbling in your stomach. Some of the other girls send you odd looks as you pass, hair wild and running shoes untied, but you know you’re doing what you have to. After what feels like decades you finish getting ready and go to find Brenda and go over any last minute tweaks. You find her walking down the hall towards you, holding your phone that’s already lit up with an answered call.

“It’s Hotchner,” Brenda says as she tosses you the device.

“Hey,” you say, squeezing the device between your ear and shoulder. “I don’t have much time to talk. My warm up call is soon.”

Aaron laughs and you find yourself cracking a smile at the sound. “I know, I just wanted to check in and see how you’re feeling.”

“Honestly? I can’t remember the last time I was this nervous for a competition.”

His response is cut off by a loud noise. “Where are you?” you ask, slightly started.

“Just at home,” he says quickly. “My sister has some friends over and they’re being loud.”

The line is compelling enough that you don’t question how hastily it was delivered. Aaron stays on the phone until you have to go, keeping your mind off the jittery feeling that’s taken root in your bones. The television cameras catch you talking but you give them a cheery wave and continue telling Aaron about how good the soap at your hotel smells. You hang up when they call your flight to take to the ice for warmup and give your phone back to Brenda for safe keeping.

⭑

Aaron tries hard not to feel too out of place while he takes his seat. For someone who practically lives in arenas he feels like it’s his first time within fifty yards of one. Everyone around him is dressed nicely, and he’s acutely aware of the fact there is a neon orange pom-pom attached to the top of his hat.

As much as he feels like a baby deer trying to stand, Aaron is beyond excited to be in Salt Lake City. It’s been a while since he’s gone somewhere that wasn’t hockey related and getting to support you while he does it is the best scenario ever. There are some potential looks of recognition from those around him, but thankfully no one approaches.

Skaters begin to take the ice and he scans vigilantly for you. You’re doing the best you can to stay warm, jacket zipped all the way up and thick gloves on your hands. Aaron notices you seem to be the loosest of the girls below him but isn’t sure if that’s a good thing. You skate a few quick laps before warming up some jumps. Everything goes well, though he can tell you under-rotated a few of them and didn’t attempt the one quad in your program. The warm up is over as quickly as it began and you’re herded off the ice. Aaron sinks a little further in his seat as gets ready to watch your competitors, doing poorly to hide the nerves he has on your behalf.

⭑

There’s just over five minutes until you take to the ice. You keep your body moving, walking up and down the corridor, and blast your pre-competition playlist so loud you’ll probably have hearing damage when you’re older. No one is in the hall with you but it feels too small, as if the walls are in danger of closing in. Brenda comes to grab you and the pair of you walk to the side of the boards. You don’t watch who’s currently skating, choosing instead to focus on adjusting your feet slightly in your skates.

“Go out there and put on a show,” Brenda says, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “Fuck the judges.”

You laugh at her remark. “Okay Bren, when I lose points for flipping them off I’m blaming you.”

“Fine by me. I have a bone to pick with Mark Johnson anyways.”

The scores for the previous girl are being announced, so you peel your jacket from your frame and do a couple more laps. Right before your name is announced you press your forehead to Brenda’s. It’s a ritual you started back when you were barely as tall as the boards and you’ve done it every single competition since. You feel grounded looking in her eyes, and you break with a fist bump. It’s show time.

Every inch of your skin feels like it’s on fire. You didn’t come to play, and leave everything on the ice. The skate isn’t completely clean, you stumbled on the landing of a triple axel, but you’re happy with it. Despite your fears, both the triple lutz and quad salchow go smoothly. Audience engagement was at an all time high and you finished to deafening applause. Brenda wraps you in a tight hug when you step off the ice before leading you over to the kiss and cry. You chat idly with her and your choreographer, trying to catch your breath, while you wait for your score.

The announcer’s booming voice crackles over the PA as he reads the judges’ decision. “The scores for Y/N Y/L/N please.” You don’t pay attention to the individual numbers, which won’t do you any favours with analytics people, just the final total. “For a total score of 74.83.”

It’s lower than you had anticipated. Not by much, just two or three points, but it could mean all the difference in tomorrow’s skate. Brenda pats your leg sympathetically and whispers in your, “It’s alright. You skated well.” She means well, but you aren’t convinced.

You head back to the dressing room to watch the final skater on the small screen of your phone while you get undressed, too upset to continue being rinkside like some of the other competitors. She’s phenomenal, and you end the day falling to third place. The playlist Aaron made you blasts through your headphones as you do your cool down routine. The average tempo is upbeat and helps to take your mind off the fact you’re not where you want to be, and it’s working as a substitute for the fact he isn’t here with you. Just as you’re about to exit the room and find Brenda to talk strategy, there's a knock on the door.

“Yeah?” you say dejectedly, the word coming out as more of a sigh than you had intended.

The door cracks open slightly, and the head of your best friend peeks out from around it. “Fancy seeing you here,” Aaron says softly, stepping further into the room. Once you comprehend that he’s really here you’re sprinting in his direction, jumping into his open arms. Aaron’s laugh reverberates in his chest, and you feel it as you settle further into him.

“Why are you here?” you whisper. Though you’re elated to see him, you’re confused as to why he would want to spend his break in Utah and not with the family and friends he doesn’t get to see during the season.

He lets you down gently and shrugs. “I had to see if you’d land the quad.” There’s a gleam in his eye that hints at something more but you’re just so happy to see him you don’t care about his intentions. Aaron’s smile matches yours as you shake your head.

“You’re fucking insane,” you quip, but there’s no malice in your voice.

Before you can pester Aaron into answering all your questions about how he got here you’re whisked away to a press conference. Talking to the media is something you don’t particularly enjoy, and it’s even more difficult to stay present when you know you could be spending time with your best friend. Most of the questions are directed towards the girls who placed higher than you, which you’re thankful for. It’s easier for you to zone out, and you root through your mind of places around the city to take Aaron.

“Y/N, how tough will it be for you to better your scores in tomorrow’s free skate?”

The question is one that you expected, luckily, and you’re able to recite the response you worked out with Brenda without really engaging with the reporter. “I mean I obviously didn’t aim to be in third place heading into tomorrow,” you joke, “But I’m fairly happy with where I ended up. The other girls had fantastic skates and deserve to be above me. My plan for tomorrow is to leave everything on the ice, skate cleanly, and be proud of myself regardless of what happens.”

Pens scribble furiously by those that don’t have recording devices to get your words down on paper. There’s some chatter, questions for the other girls, before a young reporter fresh out of journalism school is allowed to speak. He identifies himself as Theo Rateliff before jumping in. “Y/N,” he says, “How excited are you to get back to training on home ice when you get back to Jersey?”

“Um, I didn’t know the renovations were finished,” you stammer. “As far as I know, I’ll be at Flyers SkateZone until the end of the season.”

Theo shakes his head. “My partner was informed this morning that the rink will be good to go by the time you get back.”

You turn to the side to look at Brenda, who just shrugs. “Well, to be quite honest I’ll miss being in Voorhees. I had fun skating there and feel like the rink prepared me well for this competition.”

“Obviously not well enough,” Theo retorts, not missing a beat. “Your odds of winning dropped by seventy-seven percent.”

“Thank you for the reminder Theo,” you snap. “Are we done here?”

The press-coordinator shakes their head in confirmation, and you rip the microphone off your jacket before stomping off. People clear a path for you, not wanting to get caught in your storm. You run right to Aaron, who lets you direct him out of the arena, leaving a gawking crowd behind, and into the cab he called while you were wrapping up.

It’s a silent ride, as Aaron knows you aren’t in the mood for light conversation. There’s no pressing you to talk during the elevator or as you struggle to unlock the door with the temperamental room key you were given. He lets you take a ridiculously long shower and orders take out that arrives just as you step out of the bathroom.

“Where are you staying?” you ask as you detangle your hair.

“Nowhere yet,” Aaron says, looking up from the article on his phone. “I got in early this morning and went straight to the rink.”

You think carefully about your next words before you speak. Your competition routines can be excessive and annoying, and you don’t want to inconvenience him. “You could just stay here. The room is massive and there’s more than enough space for both of us in the bed.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you say, voice taking a soft lilt. “I’d really like it if you stayed.”

Aaron smiles wider than you’ve ever seen him do before. The two of you sit comfortably in bed, eating the burritos he bought and going down a conspiracy theory wormhole on YouTube. He asks how you feel about him coming to watch your evening training session you have to leave for in twenty minutes. You earnestly tell him you’d be angry if he didn’t stand beside your coach and clap like an idiot every time you landed a jump.

It’s chilly but the sun is shining bright, so you decide to bundle up and walk to the rink. Aaron pokes fun at your beanie and thick scarf, and you swat him in the chest, shutting him up for the time being after his giggles subside. The view is gorgeous, mountains framing the setting sun. You squeeze Aaron’s bicep to get his attention and relish the feeling of his muscle in your grip.

“Look! An owl!”

Sure enough, a barn owl is flying over top of you, in the middle of downtown Salt Lake City. “That’s my good luck charm. Means I’ll skate well tomorrow.”

Aaron pokes your cheek lightly. “I thought I was your good luck charm,” he gasps in a playful manner that has a smile creep onto your face before you could help it.

You roll your eyes. “I guess you can be my secondary one.” Aaron doesn’t seem to mind the fact your arms are still wrapped around his, so you stay that way until for the rest of the journey.

⭑

The night goes according to plan. You skate well in practice and feel as comfortable as possible for tomorrow given the circumstances. Aaron executes his role perfectly, cheering when you do things well and squirting water at you to make you squeal in laughter when things get a little too serious. Once back at the hotel, you collapse into bed almost immediately. You’re so exhausted you can’t even be bothered to climb under the covers, and wait until Aaron pulls them back for himself to crawl in. There’s no awkwardness at sharing a bed, and you sigh contently as he pulls you into his side. Sleep comes easily for the both of you.

You wake before both your alarm and Aaron. It takes you a second to get your bearings and realize you’re pinned against his body, though it’s pleasant and you truly don’t mind. There’s worse places to be stuck. You lay curled into Aaron for as long as you can, but eventually you have to shake him awake.

“Hotch,” you whisper, ruffling his hair, “You’ve gotta let me out.”

He groans something unintelligible but instead of heeding your words pulls you closer. “Aaron, come on,” you try again, “I’ve really gotta get up. Need to shower before I get to the rink.”

He listens this time, but only lets you go after squeezing you tight for a second. You go about your routine with Aaron still passed out in bed and giggle at the way his hair curls around his ears when you pass by. As you’re leaving to get to your practice ice slot he wakes up, lumbering into the bathroom. He reappears a minute or two later to say goodbye.

“Will I see you after practice?” Aaron asks, voice still gruff with sleep.

“Probably not,” you reply, leaning down to tie your shoes. “I won’t be coming back here until after everything is done.”

Aaron nods and wraps you in a warm hug. “You’re going to do great,” he says as he pulls away. “I’ll be there, cheering so fucking loud.”

“I expect you to throw a teddy bear on the ice after I finish.”

The walk to the arena is lonely without Aaron to keep you company, but you do the best you can to push the thoughts of him out of your mind. You need to stay focused on putting on the skate of your life in a few hours and not on how lately you’ve been having more-than-friendly thoughts about your best friend. Brenda is there when you arrive, asking polite questions about what the two of you got up to last night before explaining how you’re going to run your practice.

Your hour of semi-private ice passes in the blink of an eye. The other girls in your flight are just as tense as you, popping jumps and doing a lot of skating to loosen up. A lot is riding on today’s event and you’d be lying if you weren’t feeling the pressure. When you get back to the dressing room and check your phone, you notice there’s a text from Aaron.

Don’t want to disrupt your incredibly rigid pre-comp routine (I’m mostly joking), but I thought I’d share a playlist. It’s songs that remind me of you.

Included is a link to a Spotify playlist entitled ‘my golden girl’. You open it with a smile, noticing that it starts with some of your favourite songs even though they aren’t the kind of thing he regularly listens to before turning into things you’ve never heard before.

Thanks <3, you respond, going to listen to it during my off-ice.

That’s exactly what you do. It filters through your headphones for hours as you stretch, do a quick interview for those watching on television, and get dressed. Though it’s a break from your typical routine, it’s welcome. Knowing Aaron thought about you enough to make you a playlist and send it to you helps calm your nerves.

“Hey kiddo,” Brenda says as she walks to where you’ve taken up root on the floor. Your left hamstring is tight, and you’re trying desperately to fix it before you have to go on the ice. “Go out there and absolutely kill it. This is your best program, and I haven’t seen anyone skate better than what you can do today.”

“Gee thanks for the confidence booster Bren,” you chuckle before hoisting yourself onto the bench to tie your skates.

She doesn’t laugh. “I mean it Y/N. You can still win this thing.”

You’re left alone to finish getting ready and then join the other girls in the tunnel. No one talks, which you’re grateful for. When you were younger and coming up through the ranks the other competitors liked to gossip while they waited, and it was your least favourite part of an entire competition. A camera man waits at the end of the walkway, filming your arrival to the ice pad, and you wave cheerily as you pass by. It can never hurt to endear yourself to those watching at home – maybe they’ll be nicer to you on the internet if things go poorly.

Aaron is standing at the edge of the boards open to spectators during your warmup, watching and cheering intently. In a moment of insane confidence you blow him a kiss as you skate past, and giggle hysterically when he catches it and holds it close to his chest. You’re called off the ice then and spend the time in between your skate really getting into the zone. So much hinges on the four minutes of ice time you have left.

It’s considered bad luck to watch the performances before your own, so you face the wall as you jog lightly in place to keep your body temperature up and the adrenaline flowing. Much sooner than you’d like it’s your turn to take your guards and jacket off. Brenda holds your shaking hands as she whispers last minute words of encouragement, and you stumble through the traditional handshake before presenting yourself to the crowd.

Once the music starts your brain checks out and instinct takes over. You learned when you were younger that your best skates happened when you just allowed yourself to feel every beat of the music, and you desperately need the skate of a lifetime. Going into the first jumping pass you can feel yourself tense up so you think about Aaron’s smile while you guys sat by the lake last night. It works to loosen you up, and you spend the rest of the program thinking of your favourite moments with him. The music fades from your consciousness slightly, but you’re still transporting the crowd to the fantasy world you created. As you strike your final pose the music fades out completely and the roars of applause cascade in. You know you had a flawless performance, beaming as you fist pump the air in the same dramatic manner you chirp Aaron for doing when he celebrates goals.

You bow to the crowd in all directions, waving and laughing as flowers and teddy bears fall onto the ice in front of you. An orange blob of fur catches your eye, and you skate to pick it up before one of the volunteers could put it in the bag that will join your gear in the dressing room. You know Aaron is the one who threw the Gritty toy — no one else really knows of your affiliations with the team outside of the training facility. As you sit in the kiss and cry awaiting your results, you examine the stuffed animal. Instead of the regular Gritty jersey, Aaron replaced it with his own, the number flashing vividly at you and pulling a smile from your nervous features.

Brenda keeps her hand clasped tightly in yours as the PA system crackles to life. “And the scores for Y/N Y/L/N are,” the announcer begins, and your knee begins bouncing rapidly, heartbeat so pronounced in your ears you have to strain to hear. “The free skate score is 155.79, for a total score of 230.62.”

You jump up in amazement. Despite your slow start to the competition you managed to get a season’s best. You’re also five points ahead of the second place skater, guaranteeing you a place on the podium and depending on the final results, a spot at worlds. A volunteer ushers you out of the kiss and cry and you skip all the way down the tunnel. To get out some of the adrenaline you jog the corridor a few times before returning to Brenda.

“Come on,” she laughs, “Aaron’s waiting at the edge of the public area. We can watch the final skate together.”

At the mention of his name you’re jogging again, wanting to see him as fast as possible. “Hotch!” you shriek as you approach, launching into the elaborate handshake the two of you have perfected at this point.

“Hey, golden girl,” he chuckles, returning your actions with just as much enthusiasm. “You looked great out there. I see you got my gift.”

The Gritty doll is still in your hands but there’s no shame. Instead, you tuck it under your arm and rest your head against Aaron’s shoulder to watch the final skater. The girl after you had fallen a number of times, dropping her total significantly and landing her in fifth place. Victory is so close you can almost taste it.

It’s the longest six minutes of your life. Watching the final skater increases your anxiety tenfold — she’s good, has almost as great a skate as you, but she under-rotated a jump and rushed through her program so there was extra music at the end. The clock above your head rings throughout the silent corridor as everyone awaits the scores with baited breath. In under a minute you’ll know whether you’re returning to New Jersey with a gold or silver medal in your suitcase.

You don’t hear anything as they announce her score – just see the numbers flash on the small screen and calculate that it’s not enough for her to beat you. After years of blood, sweat, and an immeasurable amount of tears you’ve crossed another goal off your list. Those around you are jumping and screaming, Brenda evenletting a few tears escape. All you can think about is Aaron, who’s celebrating like he just scored the game winning goal in the Stanley Cup finals, and how much you love him.

Without thinking, you smash your lips against Aaron’s. It’s adrenaline filled and mostly teeth until he wraps one hand around your waist and places the other along your jaw. Then it becomes purposeful, both of you moving in tandem and never wanting it to stop. When Aaron finally pulls away and rests his forehead against yours you can’t stop smiling. The kiss might have happened in the heat of the moment, but you know it’s the culmination of feelings building inside of you for months.

“You’re a national champion,” Aaron mumbles, pulling you flush against his chest in the biggest hug you’ve ever received.

“I’m your national champion,” you whisper back, so much love in your voice it’s threatening to spill over.

He pulls back and grins, kissing you again. “You’re my national champion. My golden girl.”

The rest of your stay in Salt Lake City is a blur. You’re swept up in the numerous press events, galas, and enjoying your blossoming relationship with Aaron. When you finally got back to the hotel after what seemed like hours of people complimenting your comeback, the two of you sat down and talked about the kiss and what you wanted to happen next. It was scary, being so vulnerable, but it needed to happen — you’re both adults and communication is important. So, you’re returning home with a gold medal and boyfriend, two things you’re ecstatic about.

⭑

“A, it’s not straight,” you giggle. Aaron’s trying, and failing miserably, to hang the shadow box with your nationals medal in it above your couch. It’s been almost a month since you returned home, but you’ve been so busy that decorating the apartment you barely spend time in has been at the bottom of your to-do list.

He grunts out a response. “Fuck. Do I have to go left or right?”

“Left.” The picture shifts in the opposite direction. “The other left, Aaron!”

A few minutes later the decoration is sitting perfectly in place. Your child of a boyfriend insists on getting rewarded for his achievement, so the two of you bundle up and get dinner. It’s nothing fancy — just sandwiches from the deli down the street from your apartment, but spending time with him is nice. Aaron’s been on a string of short road trips and you’ve been training anxiously, waiting for US Figure Skating to announce who they’re sending to the world championship.

“How’s practice been lately?” Aaron asks, mouth full with a bite of his BLT. “I miss being able to watch you skate whenever I want.”

After returning from Utah you were immediately shuttled into the freshly renovated rink of your skating club. It’s a little farther into Jersey and certainly not as convenient for him to get to, especially now that the NHL season is picking up and the Flyers are clinging desperately to the final playoff spot. “It’s been interesting,” you shrug, “I’m skating well, and physically I feel great. There’s a mental block or something though because everything feels a little bit off.”

The smile that graces Aaron’s face can only be described as shit-eating. “Duh, I’m not there.”

“Fuck off.” Though you try to make the words come out in a serious tone, there’s no malice in them.

Conversation flips to some ridiculous story Derek told at practice that morning, and you giggle as it gets recounted with flailing arms. You tell a few stories of your own, that leave him in stitches, and as you walk home hand in hand he asks you again to come to a game. With your schedule a little more flexible as you wait for a decision about the upcoming competition stint it will be much easier to see Aaron play. You say yes with a shy smile and don’t miss the way the boy beside you blushes under the streetlights.

Aaron stays over, and the next two nights after that. It’s nice, falling into a relationship with your best friend, because there’s no awkwardness. You know what kind of cereal to keep in your pantry and he knows you don’t eat meat on Mondays. Everything is easy. There are a few bumps in the road, as can be expected with any budding relationship, but for the most part your lives fit seamlessly together.

After some meticulous planning, you found a home game on the Flyers schedule that will coincide with yours. It’s a Friday night near the end of February, and it’s actually the last day US Figure Skating can announce their assignments for worlds. You figure watching your boyfriend is the perfect way to distract yourself from the decision, whatever it may be. Aaron’s ecstatic about your attendance, wanting you to be immersed in as many aspects of his life as possible. The entire day he’s bouncing around your apartment, beyond ready for puck drop.

“It’s literally three in the afternoon,” you grumble as Aaron corrals you into the hall to put your shoes on. “You never leave this early! Why do we have to do it today?” In an attempt to save gas and lower your carbon footprint you’re carpooling with him into downtown.

“Because being in this house is making you more anxious,” he points out. “I’ve caught you staring into the distance one too many times today. Besides, this way you can meet up with some of the other girls and relax before the game.”

Aaron’s right, as he so often is. Your agent hasn’t called to let you know if you made the team or not, nor have any announcements been made on social media. In response to the radio silence you’ve spent the entire day pacing back and forth around your living room and fretting that perhaps the best performance of your season wasn’t good enough. He twirls his car keys around his index finger in an attempt to speed you along and you roll your eyes at his impatience and necessity to be early to imaginary deadlines he set himself..

After ensuring your home is safely secured you hit the road. The drive into Philadelphia is easy, with little traffic, and you spend it laughing at Aaron’s ridiculous Axl Rose impression. It doesn’t surprise you that the staff lot at the Wells Fargo Centre is sparsely populated — most of the guys don’t show up until around five, Aaron included. However, a group of women are standing near the entrance. While this isn’t the first time you’ve met significant others of your boyfriend’s teammates, it’s the first time he won’t be around.

“It’ll be alright,” he whispers as the car settles into park. You offer a small smile that mustn't have been convincing because Aaron lifts the hand that’s intertwined with his to his lips, pressing a delicate kiss to the knuckles. The smile becomes genuine and you tease him the entire walk to the door about his proclivity for cheesy gestures.

Aaron greets the other girls before setting his bag down on the concrete and wrapping you in a hug. “Have fun,” you say softly against his lips, landing a short kiss. He winks and opens the door, disappearing inside and leaving you in a fit of giggles that the onlooking girls understand all too well.

There was no reason for you to be nervous — everyone is incredibly kind without their significant others around, just as Aaron promised. You seem to be the youngest in the group, but the other girls pay no mind and treat you as one of their own. There’s a small amount of confusion when your phone chimes with a notification, a few glances of possible distaste, but as soon as you explain you’re waiting on a very important call they understand. Dinner is wonderful, filled with sincere questions about your skating career and how you and Aaron got together. By the time you get back to the arena for the game it feels as though you’ve been a part of the group for years.

You spend the game in the family and friends box, sipping a glass of wine and training your eyes to follow Aaron around the ice. Practice is early in the morning and you want to be productive, so you’re relaxed in your alcohol consumption compared to some of the others. One of the older girls, though you can’t remember what player is her significant other, recently got engaged and is celebrating with as many drinks as those around her will allow. It’s fun to experience a hockey game in this way, but you’re a little on edge. You haven’t heard anything about assignments all day and the organization doesn’t typically leave the announcement until this late in the evening. There’s seven minutes left in the game when your phone rings. You quickly excuse yourself from the group and step into the hall.

“Hello?”

“Y/N,” the chipper voice of your agent Megan says, “How are you?”

A nervous laughter tumbles from your lips. “I think that depends on what you’re about to tell me.”

“I imagined you’d say something along those lines,” she responds. “You’ve always been quite witty.” Before you ask her to just get to the point of the phone call, Megan speaks. “I have some good news and some bad news for you. You’re going to the World Championships, but you aren’t leading the team like we hoped.”

It’s not as bad as she made it sound. A breath you didn’t know you were holding escapes, and you try your best to remain professional in the hallway of the arena. “Honestly,” you sigh, “I think that’s better. There’s going to be a lot less pressure for me to bring home three Olympic spots. Thanks for letting me know Meg.” She hangs up then, no doubt having to tell another girl she didn’t make the cut.

When you slip back through the door, you find all eyes on you. “What was that about?”

“I made the roster for worlds.”

Earth-shattering applause erupts from everyone in the room, and no one pays attention to what happens on the ice for the remainder of the game. The congratulations continue until you’re waiting outside the dressing room for Aaron to exit. He had a good game, featuring two assists and a blocked shot, and smiles lazily when he sees you leaning against the brick wall.

“This is something I could get used to,” he chuckles, pulling you into him by the belt loops of your jeans. The two of you kiss for a moment, keeping it relatively chaste in fear of getting chirped by his teammates.

“Well,” you sigh dramatically, drawing out the suspense of what you’re about to say, “You’re going to have to wait a bit longer for it to become a regular occurrence. My training schedule just increased exponentially.”

Aaron sits on your words for a moment before it registers. “No fucking way!” he shouts, picking you up by the waist as if the two of you are a pairs team. “You got the spot?”

Having Aaron be so excited about the accomplishment makes it seem that much more real. Tears well in your eyes and you shake your head up and down to signal he’s correct. Aaron presses his lips to yours once again, this time not caring about any insults his friends could throw at him. The kiss makes you feel loved, fully and completely, and you hope you’re conveying the same amount of emotion he is.

“That’s my girl.”

⭑

“Oh my fucking god,” you grumble, picking yourself off the ice for what feels like the hundredth time in the past five minutes. There’s two weeks until you leave for Milan and it looks like you’ve never skated before. Jumps are being under-rotated, spins aren’t being entered properly, and your footwork sequence is abysmal. Nothing about the way you’re performing would let a newcomer to the rink know you’re a world class athlete.

Brenda gives you a sympathetic smile. “Just try again, kiddo.”

You do try again — fifteen more times to be exact. Each attempt at a triple axel is getting farther and farther from what it should be. Before you get even more frustrated you abandon the element altogether, hoping to avoid a complete meltdown. No one questions it when you shift disciplines completely and move about the ice completing a simple foxtrot pattern. Ice dance has always been a great de-stresser for you, and after a few passes you feel your heart rate return to normal. At some point during your break Aaron had entered the rink and is now standing beside your coach, making pleasant conversation. You smile as you skate towards them, ecstatic that the two most important parts of your life blend seamlessly.

“Hotchner!” you shout when you get close enough for him to hear you. At the sound of your voice Aaron smiles, turning to pick up your water bottle and toss it in your general direction.

“I’m wounded, babe,” he feigns pain as you take a drink, “I really thought that we were on at least a first name basis.”

You roll your eyes at his dramatics and playfully squirt water at him. “I’ll call you whatever I want. What brings you this far into Jersey?”

“Thought I’d see if you wanted to grab lunch after you were done. We’ve got a late practice today,” he explains. “Whatever you want, eh? Does that mean I can call you whatever I want?” You don’t miss the suggestive tone to his voice, but choose to ignore it because investigating him never leads to anything good.

Aaron watches the rest of your practice from his spot at the boards and lays himself across the dressing room bench as you complete a quick cool down routine. You have a meeting with your massage therapist in the afternoon, so you follow Aaron to the restaurant he chose. It’s a small vegan place that you sometimes stop at on your way home from the rink. They have the best burrito bowls you’ve ever tasted, and since you’ve gotten together Aaron has become rather fond of them as well.

The two of you sit outside on the curb. New Jersey is uncharacteristically warm for March, and you want to enjoy the sunshine as much as possible. The rest of the day will be spent in dark rooms receiving physical therapy and trying to ease your tired muscles. There isn’t much conversation, but you’re more than content just to be with Aaron. Life moves incredibly fast and your schedules don’t always line up nicely. It’s difficult to spend time with him, especially when you’re weeks out from a major competition, but small moments like this keep you from missing your boyfriend too much.

“Have I asked you to take me to the airport yet? I can’t remember,” you admit as you finish the last bite of your meal.

Aaron laughs at your lapse in memory, knowing he gets the same way when high stakes games roll around. “No, but you would like me to?”

“Do you mind?” you ask, “That way I don’t have to leave my car at the airport for a week and a half. But if you can't, don't worry about it, I’ll grab an uber.”

“Babe, the uber will be like fifty bucks. I’ll take you. What time do you have to be there?”

You give him a much too detailed itinerary of your departure plans and listen to him talk about the drills they’re going to run at practice. Time passes much quicker than you would have liked, and soon you’re kissing him goodbye and watching him wave from your rearview mirror.

It’s almost a week later when you see him again, showing up at a Flyers practice for the first time since training moved back to your home rink. You’ve been instructed to have a rest day, the team not wanting to push you too hard before taking off for Europe. The arena attendants know you well at this point, and chat with you as you sit on a bench away from the media. You know better than you alert them of your presence — some of them no doubt want a comment from you about worlds and how you expect the competition to go. Aaron has no idea you’re even there until long after practice ends, when he sees you leaning casually against the driver’s side door of your car, conveniently parked next to his.

“Hey there, all-star,” you say as casually as possible, twirling your keys around your index finger.

He leans down to kiss you sweetly, and though you probably shouldn’t in a parking lot, you push your body closer to his in an attempt to deepen the kiss. Aaron obliges you, tongue gently slipping into your mouth, staying there until you both hear the shouts of his teammates.

“Fuck off,” he yells at Morgan and Reid, the two of them hollering so loud people can probably hear them all the way back in Philadelphia. “What are you doing here?”

“I have a day off,” you smile, “and I thought I’d come see if I could hitch a ride to your place.” You had originally planned to attend the game in person, but a rough day of training yesterday had you too sore to do much other than lay on the couch.

“The chariot awaits, m’lady,” he says in a terrible British accent, bowing for good measure as he opens the door. Your car will be fine in the parking lot overnight, so you slip in and enjoy the journey into the city.

Aaron’s pre-game routine changes only slightly with you in his apartment — instead of napping alone, you curl into his chest and snore softly, lulling him into one of the most peaceful sleeps he’s ever had. You tie his tie for him and riffle his hair before kissing him good luck. Being alone in Aaron’s apartment isn’t as strange as you thought it would be, and you familiarize yourself with his kitchen while you make dinner. The pre-game show plays quietly in the background, and when they mention how well Aaron is playing you can’t help but smile.

It’s much more comfortable to watch the game in your boyfriend’s hoodie and pyjama pants on the couch than it would be to sit in the stiff arena seats. Time passes at a pretty leisurely pace, with nothing too exciting going on within the game, and sometime in the third period you fall asleep. The rest of the game and all the media appearances pass you by. Aaron figures you must be sleeping when he doesn’t get a congratulatory text when he pulls off a buzzer beater to win. His suspensions are confirmed when he slips through his front door to see you drooling slightly on the throw pillow his mom bought him as a housewarming gift.

You don’t remember climbing into bed, but you wake up with Aaron’s socked feet pressed against your calves. He stirs behind you and mummers something unintelligible.

“What was that, sleepyhead?” you giggle, turning around to run a hand through his hair. It’s rather unruly at the moment and you find it adorable.

“Good morning,” he repeats.

“That’s what that was?”

“Leave me alone.”

The two of you lay in bed for a few more minutes before starting the day. You navigate around Aaron flawlessly — like you’re there every morning. Breakfast is quick and you’re out the door before you have a chance to cherish the domesticity of it all. You have a pretty intense day of training and Aaron has to be at the airport in two hours for a trip to Toronto. He drops you off in Voorhees, kissing you gently before making his way back into the city. You hate to see him go, wishing you could spend more time together before you head to worlds, but you know you’re both adults with real-world responsibilities.

For the first time in this final push you have a practice that is up to standard. Things click into place and you feel good. Really good. Each time you skate a program it’s clean, and the elements don’t feel weak when completed individually. Maybe you’ll actually be able to pull this off.

⭑

Italy is beautiful, but you don’t get much time to enjoy it. A scheduling mishap has team USA leaving two days later than you were supposed to and now you’re all scrambling to find a groove. Every moment is being spent preparing for the competition — off ice training, multiple practices a day, and press conferences. When you get a moment to spare you call Aaron, but oftentimes he’s at practice or fulfilling other obligations. The time difference is brutal and souring your mood. You feel alone, and just wish Aaron could be by your side like he was at nationals.

The morning air is brisk as you exit the rental car US Figure Skating provided and head for the arena doors. It’s quiet while you get ready for the first of the day’s three practice sessions, but as soon as you step on the ice something feels wrong. You run through a mental checklist and assure that nothing is — your skates feel the way they should and you didn’t forget any gear at the hotel. It has to be nerves. The competition officially starts tomorrow and you’re eager to cheer on the pairs teams America has brought. You do your best to skate it out, and by the time you’re allowed to have the ice to yourself you’ve almost convinced yourself everything will be fine.

The music starts and you snap into character. Your short program music is punchy and so are you — all sass and sharp angles as you navigate the opening step sequence. A lump forms in your throat as you set up the first first jumping pass, but you push it down. You’ve done a thousand triple lutz-triple toe-loop combinations and could execute it flawlessly in your sleep.

Everything happens so fast. One second you’re rotating through the air and the next you’re sprawled across the ice. Nothing feels off from a regular fall until you try to pick yourself up. When you can’t move your left leg you look to see what the issue is and find your kneecap where it most certainly should not be. It’s rotated nearly one hundred and eighty degrees, now residing in the back instead of the front.

“Help me!” you scream, mostly out of shock. There’s no pain, which surprises you, but you know it definitely should hurt. Everyone around the ice surface is frozen in place, not knowing what happened or what to do, and you continue to sob helplessly.

Someone sprints to get the onsite emergency responders and Brenda runs to you as fast as her dress shoes will allow. “Don’t look at it honey,” she soothes. “It’s just going to make things worse.”

“It should hurt,” you croak out through the tears, “Why doesn’t it hurt?”

“You’ve got so much adrenaline pumping through your veins you can’t feel anything,” the EMT explains in flawless English. “Can we take your skates off?”

You nod, and the right skate comes off breezily. Brenda unlaces your left skate and the medical team works to pry the boot from your foot. A sharp pain shoots up your leg and you wail in agony. “Shh, it’s okay,” your coach coos, “The skate is going to stay on until we get to the hospital.”

The ride to the hospital feels like time is moving through sludge. The paramedics keep an eye on your blood pressure and do their best to keep you calm. Brenda is typing furiously on her phone, and you ask what she’s doing as the vehicle pulls into the ambulance bay.

“The ISU rep told me to keep him updated,” she explains. “And I’m trying to vote on which alternate is going to take your place.”

You knew that was going to happen, you couldn’t possibly skate, but it makes you unbelievably sad. All your hard work is going to amount to nothing. No one cares about national champions who don’t place at worlds, and the injury is going to sideline you in next year’s olympic race. A string of tears fall from your eyes as the stretcher you occupy is wheeled into the building, mostly for lost opportunities but also because your nerve receptors are beginning to recognize pain again. The emergency room has a bed ready for you, and the doctor arrives as you’re being transferred into it.

“Miss Y/L/N, I’m Dr. Morelli. We’re going to put your patella back into place. It’s going to be incredibly painful, so we’re to sedate you. Is that okay?”

“Yes,” you say as strongly as you can, though it comes out feeble and hoarse. A nurse inserts an IV into your arm and smiles at you. They have you count backwards from ten, and by the time you get to eight you’re asleep.

There’s a brief moment of panic when you wake up as you forgot where you are. “You’re awake,” Brenda speaks softly from the bedside. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” you admit. “It hurts so fucking bad.”

She gives you a sympathetic smile. “I know. They’re going to come get you for x-rays in a few minutes and then we’ll go back to the hotel once you’ve been cleared.”

“Oh my god,” you gasp. “I’ve gotta call Aaron. Bren, give me your phone.”

Laughter comes from the device’s speakers, and you realize she’s one step ahead of you.

“There’s my girl,” Aaron whispers, eyes landing on yours as the phone lands in your hands. “Are you okay?”

The question makes you laugh. “You’re quite the comedian Mr. Hotchner. Of course I’m not okay. My leg is currently being held together by a brace and my dreams are ruined.” You soften when you realize how upset he looks. “I’ll be fine A, I promise.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

“There’s nothing you could have done, Aaron. It was a freak accident. You can pick me up from the airport.”

He agrees in a heartbeat and tells you about his day to distract you from the pain. You’ll have to ask the nurses for some medication before you leave. A nurse comes to take you to the radiology department, and you hang up after reassuring Aaron for the hundredth time that he doesn’t need to fly to Italy to bring you home himself.

Brenda holds you that night as the adrenaline wears off and your legs twitches rapidly as a trauma response. She helps you navigate around the small room and makes sure you’re able to use the bathroom. Luckily none of her other skaters are competing, and she’s able to travel back to Philadelphia with you once the doctor clears you. It’s a rough flight – there’s a fair amount of turbulence and each bump makes your leg throb. You don’t get a wink of sleep and are grumpy by the time you touch down in Philly. People steer clear of an angry-looking girl in a wheelchair, and the two of you get through customs incredibly fast. Aaron’s waiting at arrivals with a giant sign and a sweet smile. You wheel yourself over to him as quickly as possible, wanting nothing more than to collapse into his arms.

“Welcome home, baby,” he whispers, leaning down to catch your lips in an airport appropriate kiss. The reason you’re home so early isn’t brought up which you're incredibly grateful for. Your untimely withdrawal is still a very sore spot, and most likely will be for a while.

“I wasn’t gone long,” you laugh, trying to poke fun at the situation before reality gets you too down.

“Long enough for me to miss you a tremendous amount.”

The three of you exit the airport, and Aaron drops Brenda off at her house before taking you back to his place. Flyers management is allowing him to miss a few games until you become more mobile and can exist on your own for a few hours. Aaron’s bed is calling out to you, but he insists you’ll feel better after a shower, and you know he’s right. Showering isn’t something you can do yourself, so he keeps your leg straight and elevated as you sit on the stool he bought while waiting for you to return. The grime of travelling is washed away and you feel lighter when you swing into bed, stubbornly refusing Aaron’s help.

You convince him to let you watch the broadcast of the event you were supposed to be skating in. It’s probably not the best thing for your mental health, but you want to see how everyone does. Aaron sits besides you, arm wrapped around your shoulder, and listens to you explain the rationale behind every element’s score. When your replacement takes the ice you go silent. It’s too much to see her skating in your place so you bury your face into Aaron’s neck. There’s no jealousy like you thought there would be, just an infinite amount of sadness that you’re not able to be there.

“You’ll be able to get back there,” Aaron reassures you when he feels a tear soak through his sweater.

“That’s not guaranteed,” you sniffle. “I might not ever skate again, let alone compete at any level.”

He shakes his head in disagreement, leading you to quirk a brow. “I know you. You’re going to do it. It won’t be easy, but you’re the most determined person I’ve ever met. People bounce back after major injuries all the time. I’ll be by your side the entire time, helping you through.”

“I love you,” you blurt out. The gravity of your words sinks in and you gasp. You haven’t said those words to each other yet, but they feel right.

“I love you too,” Aaron smiles, kissing the tip of your nose. “Now pay attention, that girl you beat at Skate Canada is up next.”

⭑

Recovery hasn’t been easy. There have been so many days where all you want to do is throw in the towel and cry, but Aaron keeps you going. He insists you do your physical therapy exercises with him so you aren’t alone, and he comes to as many doctor’s appointments as he possibly can. After the Flyers get eliminated from the playoffs he doesn’t return home for the summer, choosing to stay in the Philly area with you. Having him there is a massive help, and you power through the pain.

The Flyers are hosting a family skate before training camp, and it will be your first time on skates in nearly six months. Your doctors have cleared it as long as you take it slow and basically let Aaron pull you around the rink but you don’t care. It gives you hope that one day you’ll be back to full strength.

“Ready to do this thing?” Aaron asks, grabbing your hand and intertwining your fingers.

You nod enthusiastically and let him lead you from the bench to the tunnel and down to the boards. Aaron steps on the ice first, keeping his hands up in case you need them for support. A few of the significant others notice what’s happening and they erupt in applause once both your feet are planted on the surface. Aaron joins them, his eyes watering when he sees how happy you are to be skating again.

“I do believe you promised me a few laps, lover boy,” you wink.

“Yes ma’am,” Aaron giggles as he mock salutes. He places his hands in yours and guides you gently, careful not to go too fast or get too close to other groups. The two of you giggle and stop to kiss frequently but no one says anything. You’ve worked incredibly hard to get here and they’re perfectly content letting you have your moment. Standing at centre ice you feel complete, and you know it’s all thanks to Aaron.

⭒⭑⭒

consider reblogging and giving feedback if you enjoyed! it helps a lot x

#aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner fic #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fic #this is: a fic #sapphicellegreenaway.writes

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slytherinsnekxvii · 3 years

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let's talk about lily evans and the marauders, aka moony, wormtail, padfoot and prongs. given that i didn't use their actual names, i think you can figure out where this is going. it's also long as hell, so. canon vs fanon, marauder edition, except snek is sleep deprived.

now, before we begin, i don't dislike the marauders. or lily, tbh. if I'm being perfectly, genuinely honest, i still go back and forth sometimes but they've been growing on me for a while now. the canon versions, at least. fanon does them real dirty, and that's part of why i'm writing this, because i'm genuinely tired of it. it's an injustice.

you can at least make excuses for james and lily, who were so undeveloped that jkr practically dropped a fill-in-the-blank sheet of character information in our laps, but sirius, remus and peter were around long enough for y'all to get real acquainted with them.

in canon, sirius black is an unhinged mf. genuinely. this isn't to say he's a bad guy, in fact, we see that he's still capable of doing good things, still capable of love, still capable of all the things that prove he's actually not bad at heart, just,,, severely traumatised and very steeped in negativity from his time with the dementors. what i'm saying is that this man is absolutely, no questions asked, no holds barred demented, and how could he not be? the guy sat wrongfully imprisoned in azkaban for twelve years, a good portion of which he spent as a dog in order to protect himself from the dementors. he certainly wasn't completely insane, but you cannot tell me that he was all there. he got out of azkaban fuelled almost solely by the intent to get revenge on pettigrew, tried to commit murder in front of three witnesses who were also children—one of whom was his godson—ate rats and was also malnourished, which i'm certain did not help the situation any. this man is off his goddamn rocker, and you know what? you love to see it. good for him.

oh, but, snek, that's what he's like as an adult. what about when they were at school? before azkaban? my guy, the reaction he has to grimmauld place is not the reaction of someone without trauma. i don't believe that walburga and orion were the type to physically abuse their children, but whatever happened in that house helped to fuck him up enough that he skipped the joke of part of practical joke, and pranked snape by telling him how to meet a werewolf that he knew would be fully transformed and dangerous to humans. more than that, the werewolf was remus, whom he's friends with, and who—best case scenario—would be facing a trial if james hadn't stepped in. you can say that maybe he didn't think about or understand the gravitas of his actions, but at the end of it, that's not how properly sane people react to people they dislike, and that's not how they treat their friends. if anything, it reads like he was in the middle of a breakdown and absolutely losing his shit and he wasn't thinking at all.

my guy went through some serious shit, and was in no way completely mentally stable. we can see pretty clearly that he's got a serious dark side to him that probably would have gone unbridled had he not disagreed with his family, and yet, fanon took one look at him and went, "teehee, uwu bad boi go vroom."

fanon said padfoot is a pretty boy with nice hair who is tastefully traumatised from his horribly abusive household. sirius rides his motorcycle and plays jokes and flirts with anything that moves, but he can do no real wrong and always comes back to his soft, bookish, chocolate-loving boyfriend remus, who will laugh about his lycanthropy and quietly disapprove but secretly laugh at his friends' antics while hiding his smile in his cardigan.

respectfully, what in the absolute fuck.

i'd put that meme in here if i could, the one that's like, "well done, you've broken _______ down to its bare essentials," but no. i can't bc it doesn't even apply. this isn't a meme, it's theseus' fucking ship.

fanon broke it down, and replaced the pieces one by one until we got to this point, where we need to sit down and ask ourselves, "is this even the same character?"

the answer is no, by the way. it isn't. when people talk about woobifying characters—you know, taking away every flaw they have, romanticising everything they do and making them only capable of doing good, wonderful, lovely things?—this is what we mean.

and it'd be one thing if it was just the one character, but, no. fanon went all in and made them all squeaky clean and boring, especially peter, who draws the shortest of the straws.

remus got fucked, too. not just because fanon insists on sticking him into a relationship with sirius. which, we'll tackle wolfstar in a bit, but that's not even the worst of it. here, we have yet another example of blatant, rampant woobifying. again, is he a bad person? no. we know he's a good guy, we know he's generally kind and well-mannered, we know that he wants to fo the right thing but hey, fun fact. did you know that you can be nice and a coward? did you know that you can be benevolent and good and kindly and have the greatest of intentions and still be shady as fuck? no? ask dumbledore. the man played people like chess pieces when he needed to, and he was a twinkly grandpa. these are things that can coexist.

teenage remus is a coward who, understandably, does not stand up to his friends, likely for fear of being ostracised, and doesn't uphold his prefect duties as he should and takes part in their bullying of snape as a result. he lets them romp with him in werewolf form while they are in their animagus forms and then, he lets them continue to do so even after they have multiple close calls, which, again, had anything happened, would have resulted in a trial in the best case scenario.

grownup remus is still a coward, he tells no one that sirius can move about the school in his animagus form despite wholeheartedly believing that he's a mass murderer, he tries to run out on his wife and unborn kid. he isn't deliberately making attempts to harm anyone, but he's content to sit back and let things happen to him and around him so he doesn't rock the boat, although he is capable of action, which we see when he is more than willing to help sirius merk pettigrew in the shack. he can be careless, he runs out to the shack knowing he hasn't taken his wolfsbane and ends up transforming in front of the students he, as a teacher, is meant to be protecting. of course, this doesn't negate his good qualities, it just bears repeating that his flaws do exist, and they're pretty serious.

fanon moony is always pleasant and kind and soft-spoken and bookish, and he always has to have his chocolate. he knows when to tell off his friends, and he'll do it, even if he's secretly amused by everything they do and laughs about it with his best friend, lily evans, who coincidentally spends all her time with them so he and sirius can go on double dates with james and lily and no one has to remember peter exists.

why. theseus' ship 2.0. does the actual character still exist or is this something entirely different thing bearing the same name?

as for peter, who needs peter pettigrew, the actual, legitimate, fourth marauder when you have lily evans? canon pettigrew is opportunistic as fuck. he's latching himself to the biggest bad on the block and he's going all in. for teenage peter, that was james and sirius, and for adult peter, that's voldemort. canon peter is good enough at transfiguration to master the animagus transformation, just like his friends, and he's good enough at potions to brew the potion that gives voldemort a body. and honestly, you can't say he wasn't brave. he could've run off somewhere and died, or changed his identity or something after he faked his death and framed sirius, but, no. he goes and resurrects voldemort. that's fucked up, yeah, but it happened and honestly, i respect that it. he stuck to his guns.

fanon wormtail is lucky if he exists beyond being a spineless sycophant for james and sirius, or an evil conniving little rat who's looking to toss his entire friend group to the wolves at eleven.

of course, this isn't meant to negate his bad qualities, he still murdered people and framed sirius and sold out the potters to die, but his good characteristics do exist, and james, sirius and remus genuinely were his friends.

and now, we get to lily and james.

we have hardly any information on either of them. they're a pair of cardboard cutouts that we can paint and stick flyers to and colour outside the lines however we want. we can do whatever the fuck, as long lily is brave and smart and somewhat kind and james is brave and willing to die for his family. we were essentially handed a pair of ocs.

and yet.

what little bits of canon we have are thrown out of the window regardless.

james is privileged and rich, and he throws hexes for fun. he's willing to hex lily when she disagrees with him, and then, he goes behind her back to continue hexing snape after she believes that he's stopped doing so. and that's all we know about him until he dies for his family at twenty-one years old. once again, say it with me: this does not negate his good qualities. he definitely had them, he took sirius in when sirius ran away from home, he became an animagus to keep remus company as a wolf, and he saved snape in the shack, thereby saving remus and sirius by extension. him having flaws does not make him a bad person.

fanon prongs is a feminist. he fights for equal rights for women everywhere, and he constantly treats his girlfriend, lily, like an absolute queen. he's the hottest boy in school and everyone claps when he walks through the halls. mcgonagall and dumbledore are always patting him on the back and making jokes with him. he has a built-in dark detector that helps him sense when someone is a evil and needs to he punished.

give me a break. the dude's cool and all, but was the gary stu treatment necessary?

...oh, he needed to match fanon lily? right, right.

canon lily is a contradiction unto herself. she's supposedly a great friend, but since we see her at a point where they were already drifting apart, we see her putting little effort into keeping their friendship afloat. she victim blames based on rumours, she doesn't seem to care over much about what snape has to say about the people who have been tormenting him since day one. and she's justified, of course, she doesn't have to stick around. canon lily is a bit of hypocrite, she says that snape calls everyone of her birth mudblood, but then that begs the question why she still hangs around with him if that's the case. he calls her mudblood, she retaliates by calling him snivellus, and finishes up with a dig about his underwear, which, sure, it's kicking a man with a rusty spoon and pouring salt in the wound, but she's, again, justified. i get where she was coming from. and then, of course, she dies for her kid after marrying the guy who relentlessly bullied her quote-unquote best friend for their entire school careers. but, like i said, canon lily is, in many ways, a contradiction.

lily is basically a plot device. she pushes everyone's narrative but her own, and does little else.

of course, this trend would continue in fanon. fanon lily exists to be the perfect girl who gets really angry over the slightest injustice, and of course, she gets to be one half of one of the oldest enemies-to-lovers "it was just sexual tension" cliche pairings in the book. she's just,,, a mary sue. in so many fics, so many headcanons, she's just pettigrew's stand-in, a girl to form a gang with marlene, mary and dorcas—who happen to be more undeveloped ocs who also get the woobify mary sue treatment—to parallel the marauders. there is nothing compelling about her character when she's presented as a saint, and even less when she's supposedly the other moral compass for the marauders that doesn't actually work because she thinks that james is cute.

and this brings me to the next topic. jily. what, why, how. this was supposed to be a healthy, happy relationship that would have lasted in the long run? absolutely not. even for its time, i can't say that i see it lasting.

first of all, jkr presents james' crush on lily as just that: a crush. a mildly obsessive one, but a crush nonetheless, which she tries to liken to the pulling of pigtails. and then, we see that james' way of getting her to go out with him consists of blackmail, and when that doesn't work, he resorts to threatening her. this could have been set aside if he had actually, genuinely changed when they started spending more time together, but as we're told by sirius and remus, he didn't. he just got better at hiding what he was up to. and it has to be that he hid it, because if she knew, this further damages the character that she's set up to have and paints her out to be either unable to stand up to him or an enabler.

regardless, they get married. and while i have trouble believing that it was out of genuine love, there are scenarios that could make some semblance of sense. it's wartime, after all, and maybe lily is worried about her stability in the wizarding world, so why not marry into an established family whose son is already showing interest? or perhaps, she falls into the trap of every bad boy cliche ever, and she thinks to herself, well, i got him to be better then, maybe i can get him to do even better in the future. or maybe, she doesn't get into a relationship with him immediately and sees him on and off, until eventually, she accidentally gets pregnant and they scramble to have a shotgun wedding so as not to leave lily alone at nineteen with a baby. or maybe they marry each other because they're there and sure, neither of then is ready and they don't know what love even is but what else is there to do when there's a dark lord about? anyways, the point is, they get married.

and then what? if we count pottermore into canon, he goes on to further damage her relationship with petunia and vernon, to the point where she ends up crying. if we don't, she fades into the background enough that nobody has anything to say about her. she's harry's mum, she's james' wife, lily potter, she was kind and smart and brave and that's it. her agency is gone, anything else we have of her personality is gone.

jily just,,, wasn't built to last. and, yeah, this,,, this is a hill i'll die on.

same with wolfstar, honestly. there are so many reasons why it wouldn't work, but fanon has made it so fucking prevalent that it's literally everywhere no matter where you look.

first of all, i've said it before and i'll say it again. sirius is more likely to get with james that he is to ever end up in a relationship with remus. their chemistry is just,,, underdeveloped. net zero for a relationship.

secondly, sirius instigated the werewolf prank, and lupin would have paid the price for it. this could have been overlooked, but he doesn't seem the slightest bit guilty about any of it when it's brought up in poa. he could have been responsible for lupin losing the security of his place at hogwarts in the best case scenario, and in the worst case, his life. and he seems to look forward to full moons, even though they clearly aren't pleasant for remus, which,,, yeah, you're going to have fun, but like, maybe be concerned about the fact that your friend undergoes excruciating pain and it isn't a pleasant time for him? read the room, my g.

thirdly, they don't trust each other as much as fanon seems to think they do. they were both willing to believe each other the traitor before ever suspecting pettigrew. sirius thought remus gave away the potters, hell, he thought remus was a spy for voldemort, and remus was convinced that sirius was a mass murderer. neither of them needed to be convinced.

fourthly, maybe i'm reading too much into it, but like. sirius had money. remus had no money, since, yk, he was a werewolf and struggling for cash and still, sirius,,, did not leave him any money. i feel like if you had money to spare, you would give to your friend who is literally poor. but, again, maybe i'm reading too much into it and this isn't as valid a point as i think it is.

and ehh, the fifth reason is that it's,,, actually very much not the representation for the ltgbt community that fanon says it is but y'all aren't ready for that conversation.

anyways, just,,, even when you set the couple shit aside, the power dynamics between everyone here is fucked. like, james and sirius are clearly at the top of food chain calling the shots and egging each other on. then there's lily, who isn't even a marauder, but is always ever-so-slightly above remus but still not on their level, because, well. neither of them actually listen to her. remus is the novelty friend, the friend who's,,, alright, i guess, but you keep them around specifically because they're funny or they can dance or they have something that you can either show off to other people or keep as your little inside joke, your little secret, yk? and peter is just sort of there. like, yeah, he can do what we can but does that make him as good as we are? no. does he have a funny little something about him that we can exploit? nah. therefore he sits at the bottom. and like, yeah, james and sirius are on the same level, but james is yanking sirius' chain, not the other way around. anyways, like i said. power dynamic's fucked and it bothers me that we were given all of this, and fanon decided to take it all and throw it away so they could give us flamboyant!badboi!sirius black x softboi!motherhen!remus lupin going on double dates with feminist!trustfundbaby!james potter and saint!lily evans while ignoring peter pettiwho?

theseus' fucking ship, indeed.

anyways, this needed to be said. it might not make as much sense as i want it to, considering it's 4:12 in the morning as i'm posting this, after taking a break from writing to do some research and coming across way too much content about fanon marauders, but it's here and it still makes enough sense that you can read it and understand what i mean. and like, at the end of the day, you can go ahead and headcanon whatever you please, you can write fic and make art and do whatever you like, just,,, remember that they're exactly that. headcanons. stop presenting fanon as canon. please. i'm literally begging. we actually have evidence against it. just,,, acknowledge that they're headcanons and stop putting them forward as though they're able to fit into canon. please.

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thatjadedhotmess · 2 years

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vampire hcs

pairings: short anemo boiz @ kazuha, xiao, venti x gn!reader

warnings⚠️: mentions of blood and venti being drunk but otherwise I don't think there's anything else

note: super impromptu but I hope you enjoy it !! TvT

kaedehara kazuha (楓原万葉)

☁︎︎ I feel like he's fangs would be on the shorter side. like if xiao/thoma/eula had long fangs. Kazuha’s would be half or 3/4 of theirs.

☁︎︎ ok but not to be mistaken, he's fangs are sharp as fuck and they get their job done a little too well sometimes

☁︎︎ nics the inside of his lips bc sometimes his fangs are too sharp

☁︎︎ he obv amazingly good at literature and poetry like its only obvious with him

☁︎︎ if he's really in need of blood, he knows he can rely on you since you know about his true identity

☁︎︎ little vampire kazuha has probably attempted to bite into a raw fish because he thought that they would bleed like other animals

☁︎︎ yeah no he just got food poisoning instead and ended vomiting for a few days but here he is TvT

☁︎︎ is pretty good at controlling his urges and satisfies craving with grilled fish 🐟

☁︎︎ you can find kazuha at quiet libraries where he spends time writing poetry or looking for new books to read

☁︎︎ tbh I feel like if he were asking for blood he would be very polite about it but at the same time also just super straightforward

"hey sorry y/n, would be ok if I had some blood please?"

☁︎︎ seriously tho who are you to deny precious him of blood when he doesn't ask you about it that often

++ he's also so nice and would literally cook for you after he's done >:3

☁︎︎ has sharp thin fangs, kinda similar to that of a snake (bc he's an adepti and stuff yk so;~;)

xiao (魈)

☁︎︎ messy eater ¬‿¬ but does clean bites which means easier and faster recovery periods

☁︎︎ but he does clean up after himself ok he's just a gentleman like that

☁︎︎ I can imagine him zooming around with his e and just yeahh;-;;

☁︎︎ knowing that he also suffers from karmic debt I feel like he would be in pain if he doesn't feed. like if a normal vampire just felt an itch behind their fangs and faced some urges, xiao would probably be on a whole different level. I'm talking body aches and heavy breathing because he's actually in pain (poor baby TT)

☁︎︎ HE WOULD STUTTER TO ASK IF YOU COULD GIVE HIM SOME OF UR BLOOD

"h-hey y/n, would you uhh you know uhhh- could I have some blood please?"

venti (溫迪)

☁︎︎ he has no self control. period.

☁︎︎ is constantly smiling at people and showing off his fangs

☁︎︎ please do the man a favour and put him out of his suffering we love him TvT

☁︎︎ he does have very cute fangs tho:0

☁︎︎ he's been arrested for harassment (xiao bailed him out)

☁︎︎ I'd imagine they be a little larger and wider than kazuha's but slightly smaller than xiao's

☁︎︎ if he's not out hunting for prey he's at the tavern drinking copious amounts of wine and drunk singing his heart out at the Dawn Winery

☁︎︎ messy eater 2.0 but his bites aren't as clean as xiao's so they'll probably take slightly longer to heal and stuff

☁︎︎ once during halloween, venti dressed up as dracula and went around mondstadt in a vampire costume and a really badly done vampire makeup look that he got you to help him do (you only did it bc he was looking cute. you also told him he couldn't look in the mirror until the end of the night >:D )

☁︎︎ seriously you can imagine the kids giggling at him as he walked down the streets of mondstadt and the adults at the tavern laughing at his face

☁︎︎ *cue drunk kaeya and rosaria smacking their hands and heads on the table while laughing their ass off because of his 'smoky eyes'

☁︎︎ safe to say that venti will find a way to get back at you sometime in the future

#kaedehara kazuha #kazuha #kazuha fluff #adeptus xiao #xiao #xiao fluff #venti #venti headcanons #venti fluff #genshin #genshin impact #genshin headcanons #genshin impact headcanons #sage🍂 scribbles

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officialsaturn · 3 years

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Valentines with...

i may have gone a tad overboard with a few of them cough fundy cough solely bc i’m a fat simp but also i started to lose ideas towards the end i’m so sorry,, also!! look forward to a tommy post soon :))

Wilbur

guys valentines with wilbur is so sweet

he gets up early to go out and buy you flowers

will wake you up either by serenading you on the guitar

or by pressing kisses to your nose, cheeks, chin, forehead, and one last peck to your lips

you guys go out for breakfast but otherwise spend the day inside

cuddled up drinking tea and watching movies

and for sure taking a nap together

you two go on a proper dinner date but its a picnic rather than a restaurant date

you bundle up and spend some time in a park, sitting close and sharing quiet words of admiration

Schlatt

its surprisingly low-key

you both take the day to sleep in late

and when you wake up y'all make breakfast together

it could be smth simple like just cereal

or it could be a hugeass stack of pancakes

regardless of what you make though you end up needing to clean the kitchen afterwards

you two spend the day by doing some dumb shit like going to the park and making fun of children

guessing which kids belongs to which adult

y'all take over the playset ngl

you two end the day by settling onto the couch and watching a movie, falling asleep tangled together on the couch

Techno

another pair to sleep in extra late

you two had stayed up awful late the night before playing bedwars

you had said you could obliterate him and so began a long competition where you ended up going to bed at 3 am

so you two wake up around 12 or 1

short day for y'all

you two get up to make food

god it turns into a playful fight throwing waffle mix and blueberries at each other in a full blown breakfast war

after waffles and a shower its about 2:30-3

so the two of you decide to start a minecraft survival world just for fun

you put your beds next to each other awwwww

he also keeps bringing you random bits like gold and flowers and the occasional diamond

all in all its a very calm day

you decide to go to sleep early

so y'all cuddle up in bed and talk quietly about all sorts of random things

and eventually the conversation drifts off into gentle silence as you both fall asleep

Fundy

fundy i feel would treat valentines very similar to wilbur in the way that he would get up before you to get surprise flowers

and so you wake up to him sliding back into bed after picking up flowers and breakfast from your guy’s favorite diner

his arms coming to rest back around you as he presses a kiss to your forehead as a sweet good morning

after cuddling for a while and breakfast the two of you bundle up in coats and scarfs and go to a botanical garden

you know how they usually do like winter lights and stuff? it’s like that but ✨valentines✨

the flowers are just starting to peek through the snow and show their colours and there’s fairy lights strung up in the trees that cast a pleasant glow all around

you two walk through the gardens holding hands and jumping from topic to topic

eventually the two of you leave and go home to spend time with boots

it’s still snowy around this time and there’s little flurries coming down outside

so the two of you make warm cups of cocoa (with a splash of milk if you get me ;) think his christmas stream) pile on the warm blankets and put on treasure planet in the background

by the time dinner rolls around you’re both comfortably warm and relaxed and slightly intoxicated (unless u don’t drink of course)

so making dinner is a trip

you guys make classic pasta :)

sharing a plate lady and the tramp style 🥺

and soon enough it’s late and you two are huddled close under the comforter of your bed sharing heartbreakingly sweet kisses and words as you slowly fall asleep

Tommy

now tommy’s not the best at romance

but! he does try for valentine’s day

the two of you had planned to spend the day outside and then go to a restaurant for dinner

but it was cold as hell and raining

so you both decided to stay in instead

the two of you play a series of games on minecraft servers

and make these odd food mixes out of valentines themed foods

he made this awful,,,,, t h i n g out of chocolate and licorice and strawberries

lord know how he made it taste so awful

the two of you also decide to binge watch the narnia series towards the afternoon

tommy’s parents had gone out on their own date night so you two had free reign over the kitchen

you guys attempted to make pasta but it ended up over cooked and the sauce tasted odd and it was generally not the best

so you guys decided macaroni and cheese was the next best option

so the two of you dressed up all nice like you were going to originally on your dinner date

and ate mac and cheese while sitting on the living room floor laughing your asses off over the stupidest things

in the middle of washing dishes he starts to hum a song under his breath

and you join him

and soon enough the two of you are dancing around the kitchen together

like those cheesy highschool dance scenes

the two of you change and cuddle in his room, eventually passing out all smushed together and perfectly content

Tubbo

PALENTINES!!!!!

as per your guy’s tradition

the day of valentines you guys go buy a metric buttload of discount candy as well as other snacks before retreating to one of your houses

you both watch tons of stupid hallmark movies before moving on to horror movies

the two of you adore a good scare so the lights are all off, shades closed and curtains drawn while movies like the conjuring series and saw play for hours

by the time dinner rolls around the both of you are thoroughly terrified with minor stomach aches from the candy

so dinner consists of plenty of water and some soup before you both retreat back to where you were watching movies to watch a number of superhero movies or the office or smth

you two always end up passed out sprawled over each others laps by 3 am and if you’re parents notice how tight you guys hold eachother after the terror filled movies you watched

well

they never say a thing :)

sorry for no ranboo guys :( i thought since i’ve done a few posts of him recently it would be ok just the once for me not to include him