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mayajadewrites · 3 months

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I Wish I Hated You (Levi Ackerman x Reader)

summary: You don't do second chances. Especially after you gave your heart to Levi Ackerman, and he decided to throw it away so the next person has to repair the damage. Will Levi put his ego aside and finally admit his feelings for you are far deeper than you imagined? Or is a second chance out of the question?

warnings: eventual smut, this is a slow burn

ao3

C H A P T E R F O U R : B E N E F I T S

It's been over 2 months now since your breakup. 2 months of trying to heal, 2 months of trying to rebuild yourself and the idea that you don't need Levi to survive.

You've started to get dressed again - making sure you spend time on self care and actually caring about your appearance. Work has been the same, the coffee shop has become one of your safe havens honestly. It's like your worries fade away when you walk through the door and you can live a different life than the one outside.

You're about to clock out from your opening shift when Hange strolls in.

"Hi my love!" Hange leaned on the counter, tapping her fingers. "I have someone I want to set you up with."

"Hange..." You raised your eyebrow. "I don't need to be set up with anyone."

"You need to get laid." Hange doubled down. "If anything, you'll have a little fun. What's wrong with that!"

You stare at Hange for a moment. You haven't thought of laying in a bed with anyone else besides Levi. You can't imagine someone else touching your skin, caressing your curves, taking care of you in every way to make sure you reach that high.

It has to happen eventually.

"Fine. Who is it?"

"Great! It's this cute intern at my job. He seems fun and young."

"I'm 29 years old Hange, please tell me he's old enough to drink."

"Oh yes of course! He's 23."

You press your palm to your forehead. "I don't want anything serious. I would want just something casual."

"Well then hopefully he doesn't fall in love with you! Are you done with work?"

"I am." You slide your apron off, pressing buttons on the register to clock out. "Do you want something before I leave?"

"I'll never say no to coffee."

Hange has the intern text you, turns out his name is Jean. Hange sent a picture of him to you before he text you - he's not Levi, that's for sure. He's cute though. He has light brown hair with brown eyes to match. He's a lot taller than Levi, which means he's a lot taller than you.

Jean seems to be on the same type of time as you. He doesn't want anything serious, only fun. He's funny and sends you good morning and good night texts. Seemingly the perfect friend with benefits.

Jean invites you out to a club on Friday night with him and his friends, which includes Mikasa. This eases your anxiety since you'll know at least one person there.

Jean: It's all my work friends. I'm sure you know most of them.

You: It'll be nice to see them. Is Hange going?

Jean: I don't think Hange ever says no to drinks.

When Friday rolls around, you cause a tornado in your closet looking for an outfit. You pick out a lacy corset top with jeans that hug your curves, and a pair of square toe black heels. Your hair is styled half up, half down with some of your hair framing your face. You add glittery lipgloss as the cherry on top of the look, carefully tracing over your lips as you look in the mirror.

This is the first time you're actually hanging out with Jean. It's also the first time in a long time that you're going clubbing.

You take a picture in your full length mirror and send it to Hange for approval.

Hange: Holy SHIT!! You look hot! Jean won't be able to keep his hands off you. Be prepared to take him home ;)

You: That's why I took an everything shower. Lol.

You grab your purse and call your uber to head to the club. It's 10:30 PM - Jean said he was going to be there around 10 and you wanted to be late but not too late to where he thinks he's being stood up.

You walk into the club and immediately spot Hange at the bar dancing like no one is watching. You smile to yourself as you tap her on her shoulder.

"You made it!!" Hange practically jumped on you to hug you. "Jean is right there." She pointed.

You make your way to where Jean was standing, which was in a circle with Mikasa, Eren, and a few others.

"Hey!" Jean gave you a light hug, his eyes tracking your movements. "You look amazing."

"Thank you." You smile before looking at Mikasa. "Hi you!"

"You never come out!" Mikasa said. "I'm so happy Jean got you out. Eren's grabbing me a drink, he'll love to see you!"

Jean introduced you to the rest of the group: Armin, Connie, Sasha, Reiner and Annie.

Jean got you a drink and stood close to you as the music blared. The group talked about work projects coming up and how stressful they are. Jean's hand snaked around your waist, pulling you a bit closer to him. He smells good - he definitely bought a strong cologne for this occasion. You lean into him, letting your ass graze over his pelvis.

You both start to move to the beat, now Jean's face is in your neck. He kisses your skin gently as his hips move in time with yours. The liquor starts to course through your veins, giving you more courage. You spin yourself around to face Jean, planting a kiss on his lips. His right hand lays on your cheek as he continues kissing you, his pinky moving back and forth on your skin.

You let your body mend with Jean's, letting yourself have this moment. You haven't kissed anyone but Levi in years and this new pair of lips are taking care of you. Jean is fun. Jean is happy.

You pull away for a moment to take a sip of your drink, watching Jean's eyes trail over your curves. You smile at him until you hear a familiar voice.

"Where is she?" Guess who.

"You're such a cock block." Hange rolls her eyes. "She's having FUN. Leave her alone."

"This was your idea wasn't it four eyes." His voice is getting closer. "Ah, my lovely staff."

You turn to see Levi, dressed in a grey sweater, blank pants and a pair of brand new sneakers. Erwin isn't far behind him.

"Oh, boss!" Jean waves and then puts his hand back on your hip.

Oh shit. He doesn't know you dated Levi. Did no one warn him?

Levi's eyes went straight to Jean's hand. If looks could kill, Jean would be dead.

Mikasa and Eren looked at each other - the only two besides Erwin and Hange that know of yours and Levi's relationship.

Levi's eyes fall to you and you swear you can see fire in them. You lean your ass back into Jean, letting your head fall on his chest.

"Hi Levi."

#levi ackerman #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi x reader #levi ackerman smut #attack on titan #levi ackerman fanfic #aot #levi ackerman attack on titan

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foxes-that-run · 7 months

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Perfect

Zayn said he wouldn’t buy the record when he heard Perfect (so salty!). Harry's emotions varied performing it in its short 27 performance run from Oct-Dec when 1D ended. These 2 stand out:

November 20 2015, rather than sing the Bridge Harry said to the crowd "if you think it's so funny you can sing it".

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3 days later at the AMAs he rolls his eyes and looks ready to walk out, the camera cuts to a kid who seems to agree. (Bridge is 2:40).

It was only performed 6 more times, in Carpool Karaoke (10:30) Harry stops singing for parts and the song cuts before the bridge, at the Jingle ball he looks away and the last time was new years.

Or this concert he put the mike into the crowd, someone stole the microphone and licked it.

Safe to say he regretted that bridge, it's savage to them both.

Writers

Perfect ties with Fools Gold for the title of the Haylor song with the most writers, at 7. While Fools Gold has all 5 of the band, Bunetta and Ryan. Harry and Louis are the only band members who worked on Perfect with Bunetta, Ryan and 3 others:

Jesse Shatkin, (cowrote Sia's Chandelier)

Jacob Kasher (Maroon 5 collaborator), and

Mozella (cowrote Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball and Fools Gold.)

To me, Perfect has more media grabbing pop-song than Harry Styles. HS’s best 1D work was with teams of 3 or 4 writers. In fact, Bunetta said Olivia came out in 45 minutes while overworking another "less good" MITAM song.

Timeline

Bunetta also told Rolling Stone about Perfect:

"That one took a long time, just because it was written over a couple different continents. It started as one thing and ended up where it is."

MITAM was made in the summer of 2015. To have been written in a couple of continents and with USA based writers it was probably either side of the BBMAs. It could have been started 'as one thing' in April in South Africa before the BBMAs other songs that reference Style including Two Ghosts started early in the year. The "ended up where it is" with those writers would be after the BBMAs, when they got back to the USA from July. This would be at the end of the album and he was singing it daily within 3 months.

Similarity to Taylors songs

It has the same chord progressions as Style and is also very similar to out of the woods as this video on Twitter shows. He called it a love song in the made in the AM interview (6 mins) and that it wasn’t literal in another. I do love this James Cordon bit and I love his Taylor smile so much.

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Lyrics

[Verse 1: Louis] I might never be your knight in shinin' armour I might never be the one you take home to mother And I might never be the one who brings you flowers But I can be the one, be the one tonight

Grapejuice, has the perfect (get it) call back to this verse, along with 'Red' and 'Pay for it' and I love him for it:

"I was on my way to buy some flowers for you (ooh) / Thought that we could hide away in a corner of the heath / There's never been someone who's so perfect for me / But I got over it and I said / "Give me somethin' old and red" / I pay for it more than I did back then"

[Pre-Chorus: Liam] When I first saw you from across the room I could tell that you were curious, oh, yeah Girl, I hope you're sure what you're looking for 'Cause I'm not good at making promises

Promises come up again in Woman "Promises are broken like a stitches is", which is interesting if both Woman and part of Perfect are written after the 2015 BBMAs.

‘Know what you are looking for’ is interesting. In "Say don't go" and the 1989 TV Vaults in general Taylor did not get what she was looking for. At 23, dating a 19 year old Taylor told us she didn’t get wavy she needed. Her most recent ex, JG was 29. (yes - JG was the age Harry is now! Imagine if he did that) So I kind of stand by this line.

The start refers to the night they met. Which neither has ever confirmed, I think it was in 2011 (see timeline) Many look at the coat he tries on in the music video, which matches both his Up All Night Tour outfit (from December 2011) and the 2012 Kids Choice Awards. The awards are fun though. The Up All Night DVD also has it.

[Verse 2: Niall] I might never be the hands you put your heart in Or the arms that hold you any time you want them But that don't mean that we can't live here in the moment 'Cause I can be the one you love from time to time

Urgh I choose to attribute 'love from time to time' to one of the 6 other people writing this. To me this line always sounds like a boy-band heartthrob priority playing out in the writers room. No wonder it took time and HS1 to overcome this.

However, this does speak to a theme of them not being available to each other because of their careers and 1D punishing schedule. If I could fly's "I'm missing half of me when we're apart" and Half the World Aways " So you're not my girlfriend / Don't pretend that makes us nothing / Tell me you don't miss this feeling" speaks more honestly to the interplay of his band image, schedules and priorities which Taylor referred to Suburban Legends.

[Chorus: Harry, All] But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms And if you like having secret little rendezvous If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn't do Then, baby, I'm perfect Baby, I'm perfect for you And if you like midnight driving with the windows down And if you like goin' places we can't even pronounce If you like to do whatever you've been dreamin' about Then, baby, you're perfect Baby, you're perfect So let's start right now

Here are Haylor themes we know and love, Driving at midnight (Style, HYGTG, Wish You Would) generally going from a high schooler to superstar overnight (placed they can’t pronounce like Cannes), and hidden love/hiding (I Know Places, Slut!)

[Bridge: Harry] And if you like cameras flashin' every time we go out Oh, yeah And if you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about Then baby, I'm perfect And baby, we're perfect

The camera’s flashing is good imagery and his voice brings to life how personally challenging it was for them both in a way I Know Places didn't with very few words. Taylor also refers to this imagery in Is it over now?

But the break up songs is a low blow and I assume the part he regretted to the point of not wanting to sing it. In a later interview Harry said:

“The only time you really think, ’is this song too personal?’ is if you think about, ‘is this going to be really annoying for the other person?’ Because I do [care],” he finished.

Which I think the break up song line would have been very annoying.

If you made it through that reward yourself with Grapejuice at Wembley 🍇

#one direction #harry styles #haylor #Youtube #one direction haylor

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kyogre-blue · 7 months

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CF, let's go!

Immediately more amusing than SS by virtue of the fact that I care about the enemy units. Yes, Rhea looks so cool, Flayn is so cool, Catherine yeeeeeah. Very nice, I'm very happy.

Jokes aside, CF is looking very interesting from the perspective of speculating about 3H's production process.

From what I recall of the interviews, it seems they added CF comparatively late, due to simping reasons. That's interesting in itself, because Edelgard was given a lot of focus in development, given stuff like the early drafts of her also being able to Divine Pulse. But I guess it was only later in that they realized that, yeah, giving her a route would be cool and probably the most unique thing they could do.

Anyway, given its weird development, CF has a lot of strangeness about it. It's the shortest route by a good margin (VW and AM have 10 chapter each, SS has 9 due to Gronder being cut, but CF has only 6). There is only one actually unique map, I believe (Tailtean), but the chapters are reshuffled in completely different order from VW-SS-AM having basically the exact same progression. At the same time, is a very obvious lack of pre-rendered cutscenes and even in-engine scenes to some extent.

So the impression I get is that it was added late, so they couldn't produce certain assets like cutscenes or more than six chapters, but at the same time, they had a lot more passion for it, since they created a unique progression and honestly Edelgard has been emoting more in one scene than the entire Academy phase.

My dudes.... perhaps you should have started from the villain route and just gone full in, instead of the limp-wristed SS stuff, which supposedly was written first out of everything.

Live blogging notes:

I like how Edelgard is in her school uniform during the pre-battle scene in the Holy Tomb, but is then in the Flame Emperor outfit post-battle. Girl took the time to change, I see. It's not really a huge deal, but it's so lacking in attention to detail, sigh.

Man, furious antagonist Rhea is so cool. Very nice.

The Immaculate One is just a still here, where it was always a cinematic in the other routes.

"The monsters that have controlled Fodlan in secret for far too long" Edelgard again attributing things the Agarthans have done to the Nabateans.

We book it. Only respect for Rhea.

Hum... all the BE students escape with us to one of the Imperial army's provisional camps. Except Flayn, obviously. The students give a mix of reasons why they're siding with Edelgard, and they're fine. Kinda mild, but whatever. The music really gets me. Cute bubbly track while everyone is like "well, I wasn't thinking and just ran" or "I have political reasons" and then it switches to Edelgard's imperial march theme, and man. It's really something.

Yeah, Edelgard's anti-Church pitch is kinda... lol. Given that her own henchmen was like "steal all the bones! desecrate those graves! kill everyone!"

"[The Church's] control over the lords of the Kingdom and the Alliance is nearly absolute" L M A O

This is hilarious. Admittedly already more fun than SS.

Edelgard admits to being well aware of how much chaos and destruction she is bringing about based on just her own will. She knows she is the cause of countless deaths. But she still says she wants to bring down the church.

Except, of course, the Church hasn't done anything to her lol Edelgard's manifesto will expose "the foul practices of the nobles from the Kingdom and Alliance" like what tho

Byleth is going to lead a special "Black Eagle Strike Force"

oh ho.... we're exploring a non-monastery area! very nice

Quickly noting: We skip the entire last month of Academy Phase, going from 2/29 for the Holy Tomb directly to 3/30 for the pre-assault camp.

Edelgard B: takes place in her monastery bedroom, which is funny at this juncture. She talks about how she'd like a day to just idle away and eat sweets, and also how without Byleth she would have become a harsh leader with a heart of ice (ok, sure) and how everyone else always treated her as an untouchable princess or emperor, didn't look her in the eye, etc. Ferdinand does not exist, I guess. It's very staple as a concept, but the details aren't really in place for this. At best, you can say this hinges more on her own perceptions -- she never respected anyone else until Byleth enough to let them approach her as anything except pawns and vassals. Self-imposed trials and all that.

Roundup of the kids: Ingrid wants to try to persuade her father to join Edelgard but thinks he probably won't, Caspar's father is leading the "western units" and he'd have had to fight him if he stayed at the monastery, Linhardt calls out that the biggest nobles in the empire stripped Edie's dad of his powers but are now supporting her to smoothly take the throne (weird!), Ferdie acknowledges that his father is greedy and arrogant but feels that he did a lot of work for the empire only to now be disgraced (stripped of his rank and under house arrest), Bernie has less thoughts in her head than Caspar, Felix has like two lines lol, Leonie is just directly with Byleth and no one else, Ashe emphasizes that he can't trust the Church after Lonato and Christophe, Sylvain is kind of mess, thinking of his father, Dimitri, how he might die in the fighting, etc.

Hubert says it's not up to Edelgard to bring the students to our cause, which is... kinda wild. Why is it not up to her. Based on the rest of the dialogue, he means the recruited students from other houses, but uuuh given 3H quality, I expect he says this even if you haven't recruited, and also the phrasing is very vague to begin with.

Garreg Mach has never been attacked, so no one really knows how well it can stand against assault. Edelgard is confident in our power "from a mathematical standpoint."

Ladislava leads Edelgard's personal guard. There's also Randolph von Bergliez. His mother married into Caspar's family but this was after his birth. Unclear if this means he's from a previous relationship of hers, or if he wasn't legitimized despite being from a Bergliez fling. That explains one random battle line I got from him when attacking as Caspar on SS.

There's a couple stray comments from NPCs about Rhea turning into a beast (which happened down in the Holy Tomb where only a few people were, so... curious an NPC knows) and about not entirely believing Edelgard but supporting her for now.

Overall battle plan for the assault: Edelgard (+Byleth) leads an elite force that strikes as close to the monastery as possible, planning to draw attention of the elite Knights and Rhea's ire. Meanwhile, the main forces that marched in from the capital will surround and "annihilate" the remaining areas.

Another still of the Immaculate One after the battle, no CG. The entire scene is just one still, headshots of models talking and some filter to show that "the castle" is "crumbling." And that's it, wow.

Without Rhea fighting Thales and trying to save Byleth, she's well enough to flee to Faerghus. Nice!

Dimitri is King <3

Claude "strategically stirs up conflict between Leicester lords in an effort to maintain neutrality" lmao

Sothis is cool with you even after the Edelgard simping shenanigans, I guess.

The Imperial Army is holding the monastery, which is different from the other routes.

Edelgard emotes?? At the reunion with Byleth. WOW

Another still, no cutscene.

Edelgard's dialogue here... has almost the exact same beats as Claude's which is a bit funny.

Recap again that Dimitri is King and supporting the Church, Claude is being neutral, though Edelgard makes it clear this is a negative. His leadership "has thrown the Alliance into chaos."

OK, so Edelgard directly says we're going to eliminate the Church, the Kingdom and the Allaince. We're out to get them all, and the first target is Claude because Riegan has been standing against the Empire. To secure a route for imperial troops into the Alliance, we'll take out the big bridge first. At the same time, we'll take out Judith and since her territory is on the border with the Kingdom, getting her out of the way will be useful too.

#playing fire emblem

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nerdishfeels · 1 year

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I posted 391 times in 2022

50 posts created (13%)

341 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@horrorgirlreads

@logarithmicpanda

@books-and-cookies

@bookcub

@howlsmovinglibrary

I tagged 375 of my posts in 2022

Only 4% of my posts had no tags

#important - 56 posts

#true though - 39 posts

#lol - 29 posts

#bts - 28 posts

#writing - 24 posts

#awesome mutuals - 20 posts

#pretty books - 16 posts

#on my tbr - 15 posts

#booklr - 15 posts

#mr sunshine - 13 posts

Longest Tag: 109 characters

#i’m just grateful that i have this time to learn about myself and take care of myself for once in my life lol

My Top Posts in 2022:

Not book-related but praying that Extraordinary Attorney Woo ends well. That drama has my whole heart and soul and Young woo deserves the world 🥹

11 notes - Posted August 18, 2022

Summer Readathon Tbr!

Hey guys! For the last two months, I didn’t read much sadly coz I had a lot of other stuff going on. But this month, I want to up my reading game like I did in February, so of course, I joined @logarithmicpanda’s readathon!

It took me time to figure out what I wanted to read, as I didn’t want to be overly ambitious. I didn’t read a lot of Asian fiction last month, so I wanted to include some books that fit that genre. I recently finished Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi which I really liked (and unofficially included for this readathon), but after that deep book, I need some light-hearted reads to build up my spirits lol.

As pictured, the books I’ll be reading are:

Gilded by Marissa Meyer (fun fact: I had this on my other readathon tbr and still haven’t gotten to it, so that needs to change!)

Love boat Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

As always, I’m not going to pressure myself into reading everything on my TBR since my life is still hectic as usual, but it’s nice having a pretty stack to choose from 🥰

13 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

Summer readathon update!

Hey guys! In the nick of time, I finished Six Crimson Cranes! I really loved this book. I was looking for a light-hearted read (i.e. not based on heavy topics) and this was it! Here’s a mini review:

Six Crimson Cranes - 5⭐️

This fantasy book was not only inspired by Chinese and Japanese legends but different fairytales such as rumpelstiltskin, the wild swans (which I haven’t read) and cinderella, which I loved!

This gave me spirited away/studio ghibli vibes! We had a charismatic dragon and paper birds, one who is called Kiki and is close to the main character, Shiori!

This story was whimsical and had a lovely quest-like plot to it. I loved Shiori. Even though she was already strong-willed and bold in personality, I liked how her character developed throughout the book. You saw her grow stronger physically, overcoming obstacles that her curse caused her and dealing with the way others treated her.

Raikama was an interesting character. At first, you think she’s a typical, stern stepmother who dislikes Shiori and magic but you realise there’s more to her character and her motives. I would have liked to see more of her but I guess that’s how the story is.

I loved seeing the interactions between Shiori and her brothers. It reminded me a lot of how I am with my brothers, so those moments really touched my heart. Get yourself a book that showcases the love and loyalty of siblings 😭

I loved the magic system and how Shiori can conjure it by embodying a piece of her soul into whatever she touches or wills. It was also interesting to see how other forms of magic worked either from or against dragons.

I also loved that Shiori got to fall in love on her terms rather than through the arranged marriage. Even though it’s fate that brought them together, I loved that the romance was gradual and sweet and you saw that emotional connection build between Shiori and Takkan. Just the kind of romance I like 😉

I do find it funny how people try to protect you by not telling you the whole truth but if only they did, you wouldn’t be led on by others who don’t have your interests at heart. But I guess it all worked out in the end lol.

I liked the twist towards the end and the lead up to the sequel. There’s still much to learn about Shiori’s magic and the power of a dragon’s pearl, so I’m curious to see where the sequel takes us!

14 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

Just finished my first book of the romance readathon, The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow! I loved it so much! It was such a fantastic book.

I thought I'd do a mini review before I start on the next book:

The Once and Future Witches - 5*

This book basically had everything I love reading about: Sisterhood, magic, romance, women empowerment, fairy tales, the love for books and words, you name it.

I love the magic system in this and the way fairytales are incorporated as spells or as witch-tales. It was cleverly thought out!

I also love how this book avoided the narrative of "all men are bad", especially when it tackled the treatment of women as witches. There were male characters who wanted to help women in need and respected them.

I also love that this book didn't focus on the suffragists (who would advocate for some women, not all) but on colored women and those who were poor or hard workers that are usually forgotten. Every woman had a voice in this book, especially a trans woman too, which was refreshing.

I loved Quinn as a character. She is so vibrant and charming! I also loved the Eastwood sisters and how their bond grew stronger after being apart.

The romance was beautiful in this. While the book doesn't focus primarily on the romance, we got some sweet moments, especially with the interracial w/w relationship (can we appreciate the rep we got in this book??)

I also loved how the book developed, with every chapter getting more and more interesting and intense. For a book that is around 500 pages, there wasn't one part that was slow or boring.

This book also spilled tea about how women are portrayed by some men, which I really enjoyed.

Honestly, I could go on about this book, but I don't want to dive into any spoilers, so I'll leave it at that. If you love books that involve sisterhood, magic and the importance of fighting for your rights, I highly recommend this book! 😍

21 notes - Posted February 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

1kpages Readathon Tbr!

Hey guys! I will be participating in the lovely @books-and-cookies’ 1kpages readathon! This almost feels like a tradition for me lmao.

Here are the books I’m planning on reading:

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder - 97/404 pages - I’ve started reading this book recently but haven’t been able to get a break and enjoy it. I roughly have about 307 pages left to read. I’m really liking it so far! It’s giving me Uncharted Lost Legacy vibes with some magical elements!

Spy x Family Vol 1 by Tatsuya Endo - 220 pages - This manga has been pretty popular and from the sound of the premise, I’m not surprised! It sounds like a found family in the making, which I LOVE! I can’t wait to read this!

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater - 320 pages - So, my friend @logarithmicpanda really enjoyed this book and when they mentioned it being warm and fuzzy, I knew I needed to get this book! So, thanks Panda!

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro - 321 pages- I’ve been in a mystery kind of mood and I’ve had this on my tbr for a while, so I thought it’s about time I get to it lol.

Total pages I’m hoping to read: 1,168

Four seems like a satisfying number for me when it comes to creating a tbr lol. It would be great to finish all four books during the readathon but I won’t hold my breath.

My life is still as hectic as usual, so wish me luck that I get some sweet alone time! Good luck to everyone participating! ❤️

28 notes - Posted August 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #this was fun to do lol

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sakura-83 · 3 years

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Things from Anne with an e that I feel like writing down

Season 1 Episode 7: Wherever You Are Is My Home

⚠️WARNING!!!⚠️ this episode not only talks about suicidal thoughts but also a character trying to commit such acts, of you are sensitive to this I suggest you just skip this post or at least skip #75-77

1. Anne calling it comforting that no two snowflakes are alike, as well as calling snow a sign of gods forgiveness as he blankets the dead world in a beautiful frost

2. Josie gossiping about her while she’s RIGHT THERE

3. Her and moody just talking

4. “And I love Christmas, don’t you?” “I don’t know, but I plan to.” “Did you not have Christmas at the orphanage?” “There wasn’t much to it really. I’m not sure why Father Christmas wasn’t able to stop there, maybe the matron scared him off.”

5. “Do you at least know if they’re going to keep you?” “Keep me!?”

6. Anne trying to sing with the others but the other voices quickly fading out as she panics and rushes home

7. “They’re not going to send you back, you’re in the Bible and everything!”

8. Marilla has every right to be angry that Matthew rushed their home without even discussing it

9. “I knew you’d lose your head-“ “Oh, I oughta smack yours right off your shoulders!”

10. Matthew is prone to heart attacks, the very same thing causing his death in the books

11. “He’s had an episode of the heart” just a funny way to say heart attack, sort of long winded

12. Marilla not understanding the complex math because she had to leave school when she was young

13. Anne helping her with it because she’s top of her class

14. “Not keeping you? You’re a Cuthbert, for better or for worse! No getting out of it now.”

15. The awful bank not relenting on the payback schedule despite the fact that Matthew cannot work. Corporations are cruel and ungiving despite the human struggles and needs of its clients and it hurts. I know the bank invested that money and they need it back but Matthew was indisposed by a tragic event and to not only not extent but to SHORTEN the payback schedule is just unfeeling

16. Marilla putting out an ad to the mainland to take in borders

17. The terrifying idea that you must sell everything you have in order to survive

18. Marilla being desperate yet still too prideful to accept charity

19. The fact that it not only effects the family but also Jerry, as they can’t afford to pay him. It puts him out of a job and lowers his families income

20. A reoccurring theme I love in this show is the idea that the characters will give up their belongings, no matter how sentimental, in the name of family. Matthew selling his dead brothers watch, Marilla selling her grandmothers brooch, Anne selling the dress of her dreams, all because no matter how important these items are, they are just things. That family is more important, so even though it pains you to have to give those things up, you do it in the name of love for others

21. “Theyre just things.”

22. Anne feeling sorrow and yet being excited to stay at aunt Josephine’s

23. Despite being told she can keep the dress, Anne insists on selling it back because it’s a family effort

24. Anne being exited for a solo adventure and then getting stuck with jerry

25. Jerry has to be there to get money Anne his family is hungry :(

26. “I don’t actually need your help.” “When’s the last time you drove a sleigh? Auctioned a horse? Let’s go.”

27. Diana giving her things to sell as well

28. Jerry knows how to drive a sleigh?????

29. “It’s not so bad to ask for help sometimes, y’know?” “If I needed help I would say so.” “No you wouldn’t.” “Yes, I would.” “Wouldn’t.” “Would! Times infinity.” “What???”

30. Jerry singing in French

31. “No singing. I mean it. I’m serious, Jerry! This is an important journey! I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY BEAR HANDS!”

32. Jerry grinning as she gets madder

33. Anne bring mystified by the dress shop

34. “I’m here to return a dress.” Is something wrong with it?” “Not a thing.” “Do you not like it?” “It is my very favorite thing that I have ever possessed in life. But I need to return it to help my family.” “You’re Anne, Matthew’s Anne!” “I am! How nice it is to hear it said that way.”

35. Anne being upbeat until Jeannie asks what’s wrong and then ask just breaks down

36. Poor Jerry waiting outside in the snow for her

37. Either Matthew spent some much money on Anne’s dress or Jeannie gave her extra, or both

38. “Did Matthew really spend this much?..” “You’re worth a lot to him.”

39. “I hate to say goodbye…” “😏 I won’t be so long~” “To the HORSE, Jerry. Why are you so annoying.”

40. “You’re a good horse Birdie, try to remember that. Someone will be very lucky to have you.”

41. Birdie really is a beautiful horse though

42. Anne’s little “my parents are spies” act she uses on the pawn broker

43. The pawn broker is so understandable rude because of his profession, it makes him equally annoying and funny

44. “What a piece of work you are.”

45. Anne is so good at making up stories on the spot

46. “If you can’t afford it I completely understand.”

47. I love how snide remarks of “being a good Christian” are frequent and effective insults in the 1800’s

48. Poor Jerry doesn’t just get beaten up and robbed, he gets brutally beaten by two grown men and there’s nothing he can do despite that being… his last paycheck. That was the last income he was going to give his family and he’s so ashamed of himself that he keeps apologizing for it despite most of the money being his. He apologizes to Anne, to Matthew, it bothers him for months to come

49. Gilbert’s back!!

50. “Still seems unreal. Even though I just sold all our… everything.”

51. “He’s a good man.” “I love him with all my heart. I don’t know what if do if…”

52. Them arguing over not arguing

53. Anne apologizing

54. “Anyway…” “Anyway..”

55. I genuinely didn’t realize that the men who beat up Jerry are the same men that took in borders at green gables, I got the same face blindness as Jerry himself

56. “I’ve missed you.” “Yeah?” “At school, theres.. no one to compete with.” “”You want to spell out a few words for old times sake?” “How about… truce?”

57. Jerry thinking Gilbert was going to hurt Anne and take her money and immediately jumping in to stop him despite swaying on his feet

58. When Anne asks him if he’s okay he immediately starts apologizing about the money

59. “I don’t like the city.”

60. “Just take care of yourself, and come home someday.”

61. Anne and Gilbert staring at each other quietly

62. “This is a palace, not a house.”

63. Jerry assuming that they’ll make him sleep in the stable instead of inside the massive house

64. “I’ll look after belle.”

65. “This city is rife with ruffians!”

66. Aunt Josephine insisting on helping

67. Matthew lamenting his own life, talking of how his life insurance will give them a sizable sum and how he drags them down despite them needing him

68. “Anne loves you, you have to remember that.” “But her future…” “Which do you think she would choose, this house or you?”

69. Jerry bring terrified to stay in a room by himself because he’s always had his family around him

70. Anne making room for him only for him to sleep upside down

71. “Don’t worry, I don’t kick like my sisters.” “Yeah, you’d better not.”

72. “Everything will be alright. It’ll be alright..”

73. Aunt Josephine helping by paying for Jerry to work at Green Gables, as well as giving Anne books

74. “We’ve been together all these years, thick or thin, so don’t think I’ll put up with you slipping away now. Anne will be home today, and she’ll be very happy to see you.”

75. Matthew trying to kill himself because the life insurance would pay off the debt he caused

76. Jeannie happening to show up and find Matthew with the gun just in time as he tries to hide what he’s almost done from her, realizing what he’s done

77. The way they stress how his passing would effect Anne the most because of what they mean to each other, that she will suffer without him despite what he’s trying to do

78. “Don’t ever get old…” “Too late for that.”

79. “You would’ve left us that way!? Left me?..”

80. “Give it back. I won’t take charity.” “But.. love isn’t charity.” “I won’t take it.” “Nay I ask why not?” “We will not be pitied! I don’t want people thinking we can’t fend for ourselves.” “Well at the moment we can’t, and I’d sure give my last bit of strength or my last dollar to help a friend. Then I know that friend would feel grateful and loved above all else. And I do. I feel very grateful to have such a dear friend as Miss Barry. Sometimes you just have to let people love you Marilla.”

81. Anne selling her cleaning services to make steady income

82. “We’re rich, aren’t we Matthew?”

83. Jerry carving a star for the Christmas tree!!!!!!

84. Anne’s friends coming to sing carols at their house

85. Anne helping Matthew walk outside

86. Not Nate :(

87. Nathaniel, the bane of my existence

#renew awae #awae #anne shirly cuthbert #jerry baynard #mathew cuthbert #marilla cuthbert #josephine barry

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spine-buster · 4 years

Text

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 29

A/N: There’s somewhat of a double update this week 🙊You’ll understand why at the end of the chapter 🙊

May 26th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was frantic.

The NHL had announced their Return to Play plan. Toronto was the chosen hub city for the eastern conference, naturally. They were Toronto. She’d be back at work.

None of that mattered.

William was back in Toronto.

But he was in quarantine. The government had instituted the policy and he was going to stick to it, obviously. And so was she, especially since he traveled from Florida, even though it was going to be hard. It meant that he was in Toronto, and Aberdeen knew he was in Toronto, but she was unable to see him. They’d have to communicate the same way as they did when he was in Tampa Bay, still, even though he was only a ten-minute walk away from her.

It killed her. It hurt worse than when he was in Tampa.

“The plan is already set,” he explained to her on the phone. “After the fourteen days I get to go back onto the ice. I think a few of the guys who stayed in Toronto will be there too. No more than five, though.”

“Yeah. Those are the rules.”

“Will you be there with Brendan?”

Aberdeen hadn’t even thought about it. She and Brendan had obviously kept in touch throughout quarantine, but he hadn’t mentioned needing her at Scotiabank Arena should any of the guys go in for a skate. “I don’t know, actually,” she admitted. “I’d have to ask.”

“Please ask,” he said quickly, causing Aberdeen to laugh. “If you’re there that day, when I’m back on the ice, I…Aberdeen, please just ask.”

“I will.”

***

May 29th, 2020

“Do you need me in that day, by the way?” Aberdeen asked Brendan on the phone, super-casually but also super-connivingly near the end of their call.

“Which day?”

“Any of the days, really,” she said, trying to sound even more casual than before. They’d gone through all the players, their whereabouts, and all the dates they would be available to go skate at the arena. “The seventh, the ninth – any of them.”

“Well…it’ll be nice to see your smiling face,” he said, and she knew by his tone he was looking down at his calendar. “How about you come in on just one of the days. You choose which one.”

“I’ll come on the ninth, the Tuesday,” she chose quickly. “Sunday is a day of worship, Brendan. You should know better.”

Brendan laughed on the other end. “It’ll be good to see you again, Aberdeen. Bring some of that humour with you. We’re gonna need it.”

***

June 3rd, 2020

“Six more days, minskatt.”

“Not that we’re counting.”

“When I get my hands on you…”

“Not if I get my hands on you first.”

***

June 7th, 2020

“Forty-eight hours.”

“It’s been sixty-one days, you know.”

“Sixty-one days?! Fuuuuuuck, Aberdeen.”

“You haven’t been buried in my pussy for sixty-one days, Willy.”

“Aberdeen—”

“My pussy’s so wet for you Willy.”

“You’ve gotta stop teasing me.”

***

June 9th, 2020

“A blazer, Aberdeen?” Brendan asked as he watched her walk into the office, a giddy smile on his face – not that anyone saw. Everyone was wearing a mask, and he was no exception. He wore a Leafs branded one, naturally. He had a bunch to give to Aberdeen, too – one for every day of the week. She walked into the office wearing a plain black mask. Typical of her.

“I needed to feel professional,” she said. “I’ve been in my condo in sweaters and tights for three months. Give me this moment.”

“Fine. Have it,” he smiled. “Set your stuff down and come with me. We’re going down to the ice.”

Aberdeen felt shivers running up and down her spine, and it wasn’t because of the ice. They made their way down to the locker room first, actually, where they saw Kyle on the way. She and him caught up quickly, with her asking about Leo and with Kyle asking about her writing. But then, like pure magic, and completely unannounced, there he was, in his hockey pants and socks. She swore her heart stopped beating. Sixty-one days.

William stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. He was wearing a mask, so she could only see his eyes. “Aberdeen,” he said, nodding at her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said. “Long time no see. How was Tampa?” she asked.

Only she could see the indignant look he was giving her with his eyes. It was a look he only saved for her when she was being ridiculous – in any way she could be ridiculous – so Brendan and Kyle were none the wiser, though she was sure if they really looked, they’d probably see it too. “It was good. Nice spending time with the siblings, you know. Were you okay here?”

She nodded. “Yeah, everything was fine on my end. Just stayed holed up in the condo, really. Kasha was working a lot from home so it was mostly just me writing and keeping quiet so she could still earn a living.”

“Well that’s good that she didn’t get laid off or anything,” he commented. “And your family? They’re okay?”

“They’re fine. Siena’s back at my parents’ place and finished off the school year. Camden is too, though school in general is a bit of a shit show right now.”

“Is that Aberdeen?!” a voice suddenly called out from inside the locker room. Before their dumb conversation could continue with Brendan and Kyle watching, she saw a maskless Zach Hyman in his full gear barreling towards her. “Aberdeen!” he extended his arms for a hug.

“No no no!” Kyle and Brendan screamed at the same time, putting their arms up like a forcefield around Aberdeen. “No hugging! Social distancing!”

Zach’s brows were furrowed before he finally remembered, rolling his eyes at himself. “Sorry. I’m so dumb. I completely forgot. I’m just excited to see you!”

“Me too, Zach,” she smiled, wishing he could see it. She hoped he at least saw her eyes crinkle from it. “It’s nice to be back, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me,” he said. She didn’t even have to see his face to see he was smiling from ear to ear. He lived for hockey. “You coming out onto the ice with us?”

“If I’m allowed,” Aberdeen shrugged her shoulders, looking to Brendan and Kyle who were nodding their heads. “Might sit on the bench and pretend I’m Sheldon for a bit.”

***

did u tell kasha ur working late?

Yup

come over right when brendan lets u leave i can’t wait anymore

me neither

i got a boner just seeing u today in your work clothes

LOL WILL

minskatt im 100% serious this isnt funny

I’m actually dying Willy Thank god you were wearing your hockey pants We’ve waited over six weeks, you can’t wait longer?

NO I CAN’T MINSKATT

***

There were butterflies in Aberdeen’s stomach as she made her way into William’s condo building, into the elevator, and through the hallways. Still in her work clothes, she knocked frantically on his front door.

She didn’t have to wait long.

She didn’t even get the third knock in before he swung the door open, obviously waiting for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her in. She dropped her bag as he pulled her into him and immediately planted his lips on hers aggressively. Hands and lips and tongues happened all at once, and they were everywhere, and when the front door shut behind them William pushed Aberdeen up against it, lifting her up in his arms with her wrapping her legs around him. Aberdeen wrapped her arms around his shoulders and began running her fingers through his hair. It had gotten so long. So long. She’d seen the progression of the length on their FaceTime calls, but it was different seeing it in person. Sixty-one days. Sixty-one days since she’d seen him and she barely took in the sight of him when he opened the door.

“God I fucking missed you,” he mumbled quickly as his kisses moved from her lips to her neck.

“Let me see you,” she mumbled, stopping her hands from running through his hair to place them on either side of his face. She pulled his face away from her neck so she could look at him, really look at him. His eyes were as blue as ever, glossed over with love and lust and everything in between. His hair was as blonde as ever, long and luscious and every girl’s dream, really. A light stubble covered his face, and the stupidest mustache sat atop his lip, but because he was William, she couldn’t say a bad thing about it. It looked ridiculous, but she loved everything about it. His lips were pink and puffy and wet as she ran her thumb across them ever so gently. He was here. He was actually here. “Hi,” she said softly, their chests still heaving from the hot and heavy start.

“Hi minskatt,” he whispered back equally as softly, pursing his lips slightly as if to kiss her thumb.

“You’re here,” she smiled. “You’re finally here.”

“I never want to spend that much time apart again,” he said. “I can’t stand being away from you.”

“Me neither.”

“It was torture,” he continued. “All I thought about was you. How much I love you. How much I wanted to hold you in my arms like I’m doing now.”

Aberdeen smiled again, biting down on her bottom lip slightly. “Show me,” she said. “Show me how much you love me.”

He planted his lips on hers again, just as frantic and fiercely as the last time, continuing where he left off. Aberdeen began shimmying out of her blazer, letting it fall to the floor as he adjusted her in his arms and carried her through the apartment, setting her down finally on his couch. Hovering over her now, with her legs still wrapped around him, Aberdeen tugged at his hoodie. “Take this off,” she mumbled, pulling it over his shoulders and throwing it behind them.

Reluctantly, William’s lips left Aberdeen’s as he pulled back and started unzipping her pants. “Willy,” her chest heaved up and down. He was working quickly. He ignored his name as he pulled her pants off. When they were off, he hooked his fingers into her underwear and pulled them off too. “Willy—”

William was a man possessed. There was nothing Aberdeen could say – instead, she watched as he gave her one final look with his blue eyes before he dove into her pussy. She bucked her hips almost automatically but William brought his arm up to hold her down. “Ooooooh fuck, Willy,” she sighed out.

“I missed this,” he mumbled, humming against her lips as he lapped and sucked, making her squirm underneath his arm. “You taste so good for me.”

“I missed this too. I missed your mouth on my pussy,” she strained to get out, trying to savour the feeling as much as possible since she hadn’t felt it in sixty-one days. When he looked up at her from in between her legs, she smiled. “You look so good between my thighs, baby,” she cooed, running her fingers through his hair and gripping it slightly.

He hummed again, sending shivers down her spine. “When you touched yourself was it like this?” he asked.

“No,” she responded automatically, because nothing was the same as having William’s lips and tongued glued to her pussy. “Nothing is as good as this, Willy. Nothing.”

“Can I put my fingers in your pussy?”

She nodded furiously. “Please Willy.”

He pushed two fingers in slowly as he sucked on her clit, making her squirm even more so than before. “Oooooh, Willy,” she moaned. He curled his fingers inside of her like he always did and she gasped. “Willy—Willy—”

“Feel good?”

“Feels fucking amazing,” she said. “Willy, I—I—”

“What do you want, Aberdeen?”

“I want to suck your cock, Willy,” she admitted. “I want to suck your cock so bad.”

He chuckled, and she could feel it, and his eyes narrowed as he could practically feel the shivers run through her body. “Not yet. Not until you come on my face.”

Aberdeen gulped. “But Willy—”

“No. Not until you come on my face, baby.”

“Willyyyy—” she begged, until she felt his fingers curl inside of her again. “Oh fuck, Willy, fuck – please,” she huffed.

“Let me taste you, Aberdeen. I need to taste you.”

As he continued his lapping, Aberdeen moaned and cried out at every opportunity, and when she began tugging on his hair and pulling his face even further against her wet pussy, he knew she was close. With a few more curls of his fingers and sucking on her clit, she cried out his name over and over again as she became a screaming, writhing mess on his couch. He lapped up every single last drop of her as he watched her chest heave up and down from the pleasure, from the pleasure he caused. When he was finally finished, placing butterfly kisses against her pussy and thighs, he made his way back up and gave her a hot, slobbered kiss.

She could taste herself on his lips, and she loved it, but what she wanted more was to taste him. So when his lips left hers, she made sure to look him in the eye. “Sit,” she said, putting her hands on his chest.

“Minskatt—” he said, placing a hand on hers.

“Sit,” she ordered more sternly, pushing him back so he’d listen to her command. He sat on the couch with his legs spread apart and watched as she climbed on top of him but made her way between his legs. She took off her top, leaving her just in her lace bra that she wore especially for him. Her hands went to the waistband of his sweatpants and she pulled them down, along with his boxers, as eagerly as ever. When his cock bounced up, already hard, she smiled up at him. “Mmmmm,” she hummed, running her fingernails up and down his thick thighs. “I’ve been dreaming about your cock in my mouth, Willy.”

“I’ve been dreaming abo—oh fuuuuuck,” he groaned as Aberdeen wasted no time in licking the underside of his cock from the base to the tip before covering the tip with her lips. “Aberdeen—”

William couldn’t finish his sentence – or thought, really – because Aberdeen took his cock in her mouth, swirling her tongue around expertly. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The amount of times he thought about this very thing while in Tampa…and now it was happening. He shuddered thinking about it, feeling it happening right now. “Your mouth feels incredible on my cock,” he managed to get out, looking down at her with hooded eyes.

“Pull my hair, Willy,” she said quickly, putting a quick kiss on the tip of his cock.

It was his turn to gulp. He ran his fingers through her hair – the hair he loved so much – and tugged on it slightly, pushing her back down onto his cock. She moaned in response. “That okay?”

She nodded even though his cock was halfway down her throat. She looked up at him again once she came back up – once he allowed her to. “Harder, Willy. It’s okay. I want your cock down my throat.”

“Ab—”

“It’s okay, Willy,” she dug her nails into his thighs. “I want it.”

A deep growl rose in his chest as he tugged on her hair again, pushing her mouth down his cock slowly. As he watched his cock disappear into her mouth, his pupils dilated. When she looked up at him with her beady eyes, he almost lost it. She began bobbing her head up and down his cock with his direction, the tugging of her hair and the slight force he was using making her wet all over again. Much like William, Aberdeen derived pleasure from knowing she was giving William that same pleasure, so seeing his chest heave, seeing him lean his head back in pleasure – it was all she wanted, everything she dreamed of for the past sixty-one days away from him.

“D’you want to come down my throat?” she asked, his cock slick and wet from her spit.

“No,” he said sternly. “Get…get up here.”

“Willy—”

He tugged her by the arm, bringing her back up so he could kiss her and pick her back up again as they made their way to his bedroom. He plopped her down to the bed, opening his bedside table drawer to get a condom. She stole it from him, ripping it open with her teeth and rolling it on herself before laying back down on the bed, unclasping her bra herself and throwing it across the room.

William bent down and took one of her nipples into her mouth, sucking gently as he grabbed at her hands. He raised them above her head, holding them both there with only one of his own. He saw her smile. “You like that, don’t you?” he asked, his own grin showing how he felt about it.

She nodded her head. “I want your cock so bad Willy. “Give me your cock. I need your cock.”

He slipped into her easily, quickly, her wet pussy still slick with her juices. They both moaned in pleasure, and once he was fully in her, they both took a moment to savour the feeling of being together again – physically, mentally, emotionally, everything – and looked each other in the eye. “God you feel so good,” he whispered, giving the tip of her nose a light kiss. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” she said, her voice breathless, the feeling of him filling her up almost too much to bear after not having experienced it for so long. “I love you so much, Willy.”

“I promise you,” he said. “I promise you I’ll never leave you for that long again. We’ll never be separated like that.”

She nodded her head. She understood. “I never want to be. I always want to be with you, Willy. Wherever you are, I’ll be.”

He began moving in and out of her, slowly, trying to make the feeling last as long as possible. But eventually, when Aberdeen began rolling her hips along with his movements, even though her arms and hands were still pinned above her head, he couldn’t control himself, moving quicker and crashing harder against her body. He watched as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, the moans escaping them freely and loudly.

At some point, William forgot about holding her arms above her head. At some point, they escaped free, and she dug her nails into his shoulder blades and scratched them down his back. At some point, after hearing her moans and cries and screams of his name for what felt like hours, he lost himself, and he lost control, and she lost herself, and she lost control, and they came together, bodies close, arms around each other, his head buried in the crook of her neck, hearts beating together.

***

“Did you mean what you said?” William asked as they lay in bed together, still recovering. He knew there was going to be a round two. And a round three. And however many more they saw fit until they were satisfied, although deep down he knew neither of them would ever be satisfied. But before all that, he needed to clear something up. He needed to hear it from her. “Wherever you are, I’ll be?”

Aberdeen looked over at him. She knew what he was asking, because he was in hockey. He could be shipped off somewhere tomorrow. He could be shipped off in the off-season. As she learned in May, and saw for herself, virtually half the fanbase wanted him gone (the dumb fanbase at least, she thought). But much like when he asked her if she would really come to Sweden with him, she knew there was a deeper meaning to this. There always was with William with questions like this; he was still learning to talk to her – to express his feelings like he promised he would after that game against Carolina. “Are you listening?” she asked, what they would always ask each other when they were about to say something important.

“Yes, minskatt.”

She looked him in the eye and nodded her head. “Of course I did.”

He tried not to show it, but he took a sharp intake of breath. She could see his Adam’s apple bob. She knew he was trying not to get emotional. But when he moved to kiss her, she could feel a tear.

***

June 13th, 2020

“I saw on the news that William is back!” Camden exclaimed into the phone. Aberdeen had to go so far as to jerk the phone away from her ear. From the other side of the couch, William giggled silently. “Did you get to see him, Aberdeen?!”

“I did,” she laughed. “He says hello.”

“Did he have a good time in Tampa?”

“I think so. I mean he was with his siblings,” Aberdeen laughed. “Aren’t you happy with me and Siena are home?”

“Sometimes.”

She snorted. “Anyways, have you finished the last of your work for school?” she asked. “Siena told me you forgot about a math assignment.”

“Oh my God, I forget about one assignment and I never hear the end of it!” he complained. William threw his head back in silent laughter. “You guys never let me hear the end of it!”

“But it’s math, Camden! Math is your favourite subject!”

“Don’t you guys remember I’m working at like, two grades above my level in math anyway?” he reminded her. “I’m already, like, gifted in math. You weren’t gifted.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Is Auston back yet?” he asked.

“I don’t know buddy. He’s still in Arizona. But I assume he’ll be coming back soon. I’m sure there’s ice rinks there he’s practicing on.”

“Is he staying safe?”

“I’m sure he is Camden. I’m sure he is.”

***

June 19th, 2020

@simmonssteve: POSTMEDIA EXCLUSIVE: Auston Matthews has tested positive for COVID-19. My breaking story: torontosun.com

***

Aberdeen thought she’d seen Brendan Shanahan angry on her interview day when he was demanding to his former personal assistant that the article written about his daughter be pulled from the Toronto Sun. She thought she saw Brendan Shanahan at his angriest when she entered his house while he was having a fight with his daughter and the subsequent day when he sent her on a wild goose chase throughout the city to find Niklas Lidstrom’s Swedish jersey.

Those were a walk in the park compared to how she saw him now, dealing with the leaked information that Auston tested positive for COVID-19.

She was sure he was ready to burn down his office, the floor, the entire building, the entire Scotiabank Arena. She knew he wanted to revoke the media access and credentials of the reporter, Steve Simmons, because he had so many strikes against him over the years (Aberdeen would have to research this when she got home), but that he would look like a vindictive and spiteful president if he did so. She knew he had been on the phone with Auston and his agent and his parents and Kyle and Brad and just about everyone else important within the organization to deal with it.

And all she was doing was sitting in a chair in his office with a mask on.

She felt her phone buzz in her hand, and when she looked at the screen she saw “Head Empty” on the screen followed by a message.

hows it going over there?

She took a quick look at Brendan and he was still barking into a phone. She unlocked her screen and began to type.

It’s a shit show. Have you heard from Auston?

yea mild symptoms but hes angry doesnt know how it leaked

Who could it have been?

no clue, honestly not like any of us would say something

“Aberdeen, Kyle is coming in,” Brendan said quickly. His voice was stern but softer than how he was speaking to whoever was on the phone. He had his hand over the receiver. “Can you go get us some coffee, please.”

She nodded and got up, making her way out of his office and to the Starbucks where she always went to get their regular orders. As she took the staircase down to the main floor, her phone began to ring loudly, echoing in the empty space. She stopped and looked down at her phone. Auston Matthews.

“Hello?” she asked, truly confused as to why he would be calling her.

“Hey,” he said casually. “How are you?”

“I’m…fine,” she replied, still confused. “Is everything okay?”

“Depends,” he said. “Can you be honest with me?”

She stiffened slightly. “I’m always honest with you.”

“I know. But can you be honest with me right now?”

“Yes, of course.”

He paused. “Do you know who leaked it?”

She closed her eyes. She let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding in. “No, I don’t. But trust me when I say we’re doing everything to find out. Kyle’s heading over right now and I can only imagine what he and Brendan are going to do to…I don’t know, mitigate this disaster.”

She could hear him sigh on the other end. “I hope whoever it was gets fired, honest to God.”

“I hope so too. Pretty sure Brendan wants to get Steve Simmons fired, too, for what it’s worth,” she said. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before her mouth began speaking quicker than her brain told her not to say anything. “You don’t think it was me, do you?”

“No, not at all,” he said. “We all trust you with anything and everything. We know if something ever got out, it would never be you.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked, genuinely curious. It was a feat in and of itself to have the utmost trust of absolutely everybody in the locker room.

“Because we know and understand that we all have our secrets, Aberdeen.”

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swiftgronmasterpost · 4 years

Text

Late Stage Swiftgron Part 1

Update from November 2021 - I really don’t believe much of this is meaningful at all. I don’t think they’re sitting around referencing one another on social media or anything but some of Dianna’s interactions with Karlie are interesting Dianna shows up explicitly in Taylor’s life a couple more times so I’m leaving these sections here.;

From here on out everything but the 2014 AMAs and Dianna’s somewhat shocking appearance at Taylor’s 2019 SNL performance are just odd social media shenanigans (or subtweets) between the two, and Taylor appearing to release at least one more song about Dianna (Babe in 2018) (and let’s be honest you can make a strong argument for The 1 being about Dianna as well other post 1989 songs.)

Some of this might be complete crack or coincidence but as you all know I want this to be the most thorough Swiftgron document possible.

If anything it proves they both certainly still have similar interests and they really do seem to be in touch.

There are some interactions claimed by others to be Swiftgron related that I’m not going to include because they’re just a bit too reachy for me (though I completely support the theorizing!) but in general, if I personally can see the hint of a Swiftgron connection, I’m going to include it here. Draw your own conclusions and take everything, particularly the alleged subtweets/social media shenanigans, with a grain of salt.

And yes there’s tons of Kaylor and other Gaylor/Gaygron content that will be left out of this segment because this masterpost is focused on Swiftgron. Someday it would be cool to make a giant masterpost/timeline that documents all of it, but for now it’s just going to be Swiftgron stuff. August 26, 2014 - Dianna tweets, and then deletes “Withdrawals, clearly…we had fun.”

There’s no screen shot of this tweet but some retweets/responses of it remain:

If Dianna is indeed referencing the song Clean (in which their relationship is compared to an addiction hence, “withdrawals” from it) then Taylor would have had to give her advanced knowledge of the song since 1989 did not come out until October 2014.

Taylor did claim she ran 1989 by the muse that inspired it and they were both in LA in late August 2014. Maybe this is when.

November 1, 2014 - Taylor posts about Clean

November 19, 2014 - The 2014 AMAs Kaylorgron Explosion Extravaganza:

Taylor, Karlie, and Dianna are at the event. Taylor and Karlie are clearly on a date and Dianna is there to present Sam Smith’s performance of I’m not the only one. Dianna seems a bit out of her element/gloomy when interviewed on the red carpet and Taylor flexes Karlie hard, dancing with her throughout the night and even sitting on her lap during an interview.

Click here for photos, video, gifs, and a live L chat reaction to the night.

December 28, 2014 - The writer for the tv show The Originals, Carina Mackenzie, tweeted that 1989 was about Dianna:

It’s of course notable that someone in the industry is “confirming” Swiftgron on main (particularly before gaylor went mainstream with Kaylor being so obvious in 2015/2016) however what’s even more interesting and notable about this tweet is that an actor named Michael Trevino was on the show The Originals and he dated Jenna Ushkowitz from 2011-2014.

Not only that but Michael was at Dianna’s 26th birthday when Taylor was in attendance as well.

It’s possible that Michael witnessed Swiftgron in real life and spilled a bit to the writer of the TV show he was on.

January 5, 2015 - Taylor likes a Swiftgron related post on Tumblr of Dianna saying she’d go on the road with Taylor and carry her bags at the Giffoni Film Festival in 2012:

February 9, 2015 - Style is released as a single

February 13, 2015 - The Kaylor “Best Friends” on a road trip Vogue Spread comes out. You’re probably familiar with it but if you aren’t google it. It’s incredibly romantic and pda filled.

The Style music video is released on this day as well.

We don’t have to go through the whole video but one egg I just have to note is the cave pictured in the MV is in Morocco the same country Dianna seemed to flee to after Swiftgron was outed:

February 14, 2015 - Dianna tweets 143 remember those days (for some reason it has not been deleted) seemingly in response to the Kaylor vogue shoot:

143 is a code that means “I love you” that originated from Mister Rogers. Both Taylor and Dianna have publicly shown that they are fans of his. Taylor has even made certain songs 3 minutes and 41 seconds long seemingly referring to this number and wore a Mister Rogers pin on a jacket for a photoshoot once.

Here’s a bit more in depth analysis on the significance of the 143 post.

This tweet is how we know that it is 100% in Dianna’s character to occasionally subtweet Taylor and why a lot of this social media analysis has been done.

February 16, 2015 - Just two days later Dianna attends a fashion show in which Karlie walks and is noted to “have kept a smirk on her face” during. Dianna doesn’t clap at the end of the show and looks miserable in photos of the event:

February 17, 2015 - Taylor releases Wonderland

I’m going to pause here and discuss the song Wonderland for a brief moment because it is some of the most incredibly airtight evidence for Swiftgron available.

Dianna’s favorite book of all time is Alice in Wonderland. She brought it up in interviews all the time, tweeted about it, auctioned off a signed copy of it for charity, her private Tumblr and instagram account are called whosirmesir which is a reference to it, her private Tumblr is filled with reblogs about Alice, and her public Tumblr was called fell down the rabbit hole.

So the fact that Taylor writes an entire song describing a relationship through the lens of and packing full of references to Alice in Wonderland is incredibly interesting.

Let’s take a look at some of these lyrics:

Flashing lights and we, took a wrong turn and we Fell down the rabbit hole (literally Dianna’s tumblr name and url)

Didn't you flash your green eyes at me (Dianna is famous for her beautiful almost hypnotic green eyes and yes they are green)

Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds (queer coded)

Too in love to think straight (queer coded)

But there were strangers watching And whispers turned to talking And talking turned to screams (seems to reference when they were outed) You searched the world for something else (Dianna very publicly went travelling around the world right after April 2013 when they seem to break up)

Taylor literally put Dianna’s Tumblr URL in the song. Frankly I’m kind of shocked she released this song at all it is so obviously and clearly about Dianna. Truly a Swiftgron anthem!

Back to the timeline...

March 8, 2015 - Taylor posts Flamingos for her dad’s birthday:

The caption was “Happy Birthday, Dad. Thanks for all the unconditional love, sarcastic comments, and interesting Christmas presents.”

May 1, 2015 - Dianna posts a flamingo for her birthday (post is now deleted):

The caption was “This is 29. Spoiled rotten. Funny enough, at work they were painting the hallways white and the roses (hallway doors) red, then I actually went to Wonderland (@AliceUnderLdn) and came home to a surprise flamingo. Here we go. Another year around the sun…feeling lucky and loved and loved and lucky.”

Taylor also gave Emily, another rumored ex, a flamingo bandana for her birthday. i also think it’s odd that Dianna mentions Wonderland specifically in the post.

January 15, 2016 - Dianna’s engagement to Winston is announced and Kaylors notice Taylor is liking sad posts on Tumblr including several posts related to Clean:

November 7, 2016 - Lorde’s birthday party where Kaylor is together in public for the last time for 20 months.

January 5, 2017 - Claire (who is still very close with Taylor) comments on one of Dianna’s Instagram posts):

March 2, 2017 - Dianna posts her James Dean inStyle UK photo to Instagram:

This is actually the second time she has posted this as a throwback photo. She also posted it on February 4, 2016 with simply the caption “TBT” and did not include the “rebel without a clue” bit which is a reference to James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause). She’s never posted the same TBT photo twice before or after this (as of the writing of this post in October 2020).

It I may be permitted to go real far out on a limb here it’s almost as if she wanted people to connect that photo of her in the UK InStyle magazine to James Dean. James Dean is of course the way Taylor describes her lover in the song Style.

At any rate it’s very odd that it’s the only photo she’s posted twice whether it’s related to Taylor or not.

April 25, 2017 - Fans notice Dianna is having her script tattoo removed:

This is significant because a part of the tattoo was dedicated to Alice in Wonderland - it said “We’re all mad here”

Tattoo removal is a years long process:

So it’s possible she started getting it removed around the time that Wonderland came out.

It’s also possible part of the tattoo was dedicated to Lea (the part that said “here I am”) so this whole removal situation is very interesting.

In 2019 she was still getting it removed and commented this at a Cafe Carlyle session:

"i was like i don't know i wanna explain all my tattoos or the one that i'm getting removed on my side...you know you're like...WHATEVER we're stopping we're moving on"

February 13, 2018 - Dianna attends the Carolina Herrera fashion show, so does Karlie. Dianna is introduced to Karlie by Derek Blasberg and very audibly calls Karlie “gorgeoouusss” as they meet.

Kayda play “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift.

vimeo

Click here to keep reading!

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aquilacalvitium · 3 years

Text

I took a short bath and while I did I had nothing to do so I ended up thinking about animaniacs and examining why some of the side characters are less funny to me.

I ended up at Minerva Mink, and her first episode Moon Over Minerva (Episode 29). After some thought, I figured the reason her cartoons were less funny to me was the fact that she went just as crazy for an attractive character as all the nameless male characters did for her at the beginning of the episode, and that the only reason she agrees to go out with Wilfred Wolf is because she finds his werewolf form very attractive.

I began to think about how clearly she knows how to use her beauty to get what she wants, and she knows how men in the cartoons objectify her and her beauty, as seen in Meet Minerva (episode 54) when Newt the daschund is ordered to hunt her for her pelt but is continually sidetracked and made a fool of as he keeps getting distracted by her beauty. A fact that she uses to turn his own reverse-psychology against him, trick him into getting her a free meal and cause him to faint after "relocating" her home.

Then I accidentally started writing a fanfiction in my head, as I thought about the way Moon Over Minerva should have ended. Both Minerva and Wilfred in this cartoon are obsessed over each other for their looks alone, which is far from a healthy relationship. I believe that maybe, after a few months of only meeting during the full moon, Minerva starts to realise that she likes the way Wilfred stumbles over himself after losing his werewolf form, and maybe finds it kind of cute?

Eventually, she suggests a day time date, where she begins to find herself oddly intrigued by the random facts that Wilfred keeps spitting out, entirely unprompted. She starts to enjoy his goofy laugh and the way he stutters and fumbles over his words sometimes. And in return, Wilfred starts to see past her beauty as she begins to contribute to the conversations, asking him questions and adding her theories on things he's not sure about.

He loves the way her eyes light up when she has a question and she loves the utter joy on his face when he has the answer, which he'll go on to explain for a full hour. Minerva finds that she could sit and listen to him talk and gaze at the excitement in his eyes for hours, and Wilfred is overjoyed to have someone to share his knowledge with and who is genuinely interested in what he has to share.

Since Minerva has a lovely voice and Wilfred is rather skilled at multiple instruments, sometimes they decide to serenade each other. Maybe Wilfred can't quite get the hang of one or two instruments, but Minerva just giggles and puts her arms around his, guiding his hands and showing him how to play properly. He goes on to learn complex music and she sings along flawlessly.

Eventually, their relationship grows into a very happy and healthy one, with both having grown a lot as they've both learned to see past each other's looks and appreciate their minds instead. Minerva still occasionally finds herself getting excited around the full moon, until she looks around to see her boyfriend wondering loudly where he left his pen which is sticking up behind his ear. Then she laughs and remembers that that hot werewolf was no one compared to the sweet dork she was in love with.

#animaniacs #animaniacs 1993 #minerva mink #animaniacs minerva #aquila thinks #aquila infodumps

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timeaftertime-chriscornellfanfic · 4 years

Photo

Chapter 43 - Back In A New York - Er... Seattle Groove

New York City, New York June 29 2017

(Andi is 29, Chris is 52)

ANDI: The air was warm with the sun brightly shining, a perfect summer day for moving. Though this move is going to be a little bit longer than just your typical quick trip and done in a day. Chris is moving back to Seattle - with me of course - somewhere where he hasn't been in very long time. Obviously you all know that it's only been just over a month since I was there - if we are going by my time anyways - ugh, this thing that I have is never easy to explain.

Chris had put the house up for sale as soon as he signed the divorce papers from Vicky. Within a day, he had already received an offer and they were willing to give him a little more than he was asking in order to secure the sale. I mean I don't blame them one bit, it's a beautiful home. Chris accepted and so we pretty much began packing as soon as it was finalized, though there wasn't much in the home to pack. It was basically all of Vicky's left over stuff and a few things of Chris's. Obviously nothing of mine except for the 3 guitars that he had saved over the years.

I don't know what it is though, but I just have this really strange feeling that all of this shouldn't be happening so smoothly. As much as I know that he isn't with Vicky anymore - I mean I saw him sign the divorce papers right in front of me - I just can't shake this strange feeling that it's not supposed to be this easy.

"Ok I think... we've got everything. Here is the address and uh, we'll see you in a couple of days," Chris says as he hands the driver of the moving company some cash then they both sign the delivery and insurance papers.

"No problem, thank you," The driver says as they shake hands, then climbs up into the large moving truck. Chris turns and flips those gorgeous curls out of his face and walks back over to me.

"Ok babe, you ready?" Chris smiles at me, standing in his slim fitted ripped up jeans with the cuffs rolled up over his Doc's and a plain dark grey t-shirt.

"Yea I think so," I exhale, pushing my curls behind my ear, squinting my eyes from the sunlight as I look up at him.

"Alright, road trip time," He says and leans down placing a quick kiss on my lips, then heads over to his 1969 Jet black Dodge Challenger. I smile as I head over to the passenger side, opening the door and sliding into the black leather seat, feeling the heat on the back of my bare thighs. I smooth out my ripped jean cutoff shorts and buckle my seatbelt, adjusting my off-the-shoulder White Zombie - La Sexorcisto tour shirt from '94.

"So when's our flight again?' I ask flipping my dark curls out of my face, leaning back as I glance at him.

"What flight?" Chris asks as he starts the engine.

"Um... I thought we were moving to Seattle - back home to Seattle... right?" I chuckle.

"We are... I never said we had plane tickets though," He says as he pulls out of the driveway for the last time.

"Wait... you're gonna drive us all the way to Seattle?" I ask furrowing my brow for a moment as he drives us down the road towards down town.

"Yea baby, why not?" He smiles at me for a second then turns his attention back to the road.

"Chris, it's like a 2 and a half day drive,"

"Uh huh... and...?" He says as we pull up to a stop light. I glance out the windshield and then back at him, trying to see if he was serious or not, though my bets are pretty much on the former.

"Most of my clothes are pack in the U-Haul truck that already left though," I say.

"Nope, I grabbed the last couple of suitcases that had our clothes in them and packed them in the trunk," He says as the stop light turns green and start moving again.

"Oh... ok... " I trail off for a moment looking back out the windshield.

"What? You don't wanna spend 2 more days on the road with me? " He smirks at me raising his eyebrow.

"No, no it's not that... I just wasn't expecting you to drive us there," I giggle and he smiles at me.

"Well it's been a long time since we took a road trip - that wasn't touring around with the band and well because of what happened- so I thought maybe we could check out some places, do a little sight seeing, y'know... just me and you," He says sweetly.

"Ok sure, that's perfect actually," I smile at him and he reaches over and takes my hand in his, placing his lips to the back of my hand like he always does.

"Can I put on some tunes?" I ask after a few moments, pushing my curls behind my ear as Chris changes lanes.

"No," He says flatly then looks over at me with a smirk. I pat him lightly on his bicep and chuckle, then reach for my phone and connect to the Bluetooth stereo system that was upgraded in the dashboard. I scroll through the Spotify Music app, find some Aerosmith and play the Album 'Get A Grip'

'Wake up kid, it's half past your youth Ain't nothin' really changes but the date You a grand slammer, but you no Babe Ruth You gotta learn how to relate Or you'll be swingin' from the pearly gate Now you got all the answers, low and behold You got the right key baby but the wrong key hole, yo'

I sing - or sorry 'rap' - along with Steven Tyler, closing my eyes and getting right into it as Chris starts laughing.

"Babe you are so cute," He laughs.

"Nah, I just love that part" I giggle as I look down at my phone for a moment.

"I know, that's what makes you so cute," He says sweetly with his blue eyes glancing over at me, and I feel my cheeks flush. Funny how after all this time, he can still make me blush and feel those butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

" I remember when you met Steven for the first time with me at the... what was it... the '94 MTV awards or something - ?" He says thoughtfully.

"Oh my god Chris, no, I'd really rather not remember that," I laugh embarrassingly.

"What-Why? It was adorable, -" He laughs.

"No Chris, How was that adorable? I literally like... fell into him," I gesture with my hands remembering the after party when I apparently had a little too much to drink and lost my footing when I stepped forward to shake his hand and tripped. Chris caught me of course but I was mortified the entire night. I was able to make light of the situation after but honestly, it wasn't my finest moment. If I could've pick a moment to time travel, that would've been the perfect moment so that I could re-do it and not be so embarrassed.

"It was just a little stumble, it wasn't as bad as you think it was... I just remember the look on your face, you were so cute," He chuckles.

" I remember trying to basically hide behind you the whole night after. I'm such a klutz. It was Steven fucking Tyler... like my god," I shake my head at myself.

"You were always so hard on yourself...you still are. I think that's what made me fall in love with you though. You never give up even though you feel like it and just... how you cope with the fact that you can't control... y'know.... and how you are always the first person I could run to when I was - or am - finding it hard to go on, 'cause I'm so hard on myself too," He glances back at me, his blue eyes catching mine and I give him a small smile as I lean my head against the seat while his gorgeous dark curls rest at his shoulders, his beard now fuller than before as he decided to grow it a little.

Fuck, he's so sexy

"That, and you were so fucking gorgeous when you showed up in my bathroom that I didn't know what to do. You scared the shit outta me," He adds as he returns his focus to the road and changes lanes again.

"Scared the shit outta you? Fuck I mean, I knew someday I was gonna meet you when you were 15 but I didn't think it was gonna be like that," I giggle.

"You know I am still so sorry I came at you with a bat... even though that was what... 30-something years ago? " He says thoughtfully with a chuckle. "Fuck I'm old..."

"Chris, you're not old. I love you, and you are still the same to me," I say as I reach over and begin to play with his curls, running my fingers through, then gently play with his earlobe. He turns, placing a kiss on my palm then quickly focuses back on the road.

After about 45 minutes, we finally make our way to downtown New York in which the city was absolutely buzzingly busy. I still was not used to the crazy crowds of people but at least I can say that I lived in New York City even if it was only for a little while. Driving down on of the main streets, Chris decides to pull off into one of the public parking spots which left me a bit confused as to what we were doing.

"I just have to make a stop in Guitar Center, wanna come in with me?" He asks noticing my confused look as he unbuckles his seatbelt.

"Um... Hello, do you know who you're asking here?" I ask as I unbuckle my seat belt and he laughs as I step out of the car. It had been a while since I was in a Music store so of course I didn't mind going in and looking at all the new pretty things.

Chris makes his way around to my side of the car and with a sweet smile on his face, takes my hand in his. We then take a walk from the parking lot down the street to Guitar Center.

Stepping inside Guitar Center is like stepping into a world that is full of shiny beautiful things. Beautiful guitars line the illuminated walls around the store, amps and accessories staged in various places, I swear I'm like a kid in a candy store. I just want everything.

"Hey Chris, how are ya?" A guy with long black hair, straighter than anything, wearing a white dress shirt and tie with black jeans and Doc's calls out to him. He sort of looked a bit like David Wyndorf from Monster Magnet but not flashy like the 'Space Lord' video.

"Hi, good, I'm good, did my order for that effects pedal...." Chris smiles, his voice fading away as I slowly let go of his hand and walk over to the wall of guitars. I can't help it, they are all so beautiful. I continue on while I hear them talk glancing at each Fender Strat, Rickenbacker, Washburn, you name it. I wish I could describe the feeling of seeing them all hung up with their own spotlights waiting for the perfect person to discover what they can do.

Then I see it. The one that suddenly makes my heart all fluttery. An emerald green flame top Gibson Les Paul. It is absolutely gorgeous.

"...alright well good luck in Seattle and uh, if you need anything when you're in New York just give us a shout,"

"Thanks man, I will," Chris says as he walks over to me, placing his hand on the small of my back and following my gaze to the beautiful guitar on the wall. "See something you like?"

"Uh huh," I say, trying to not let my jaw drop to the floor.

"Hey, uh... can we see that, Gibson up there?" Chris turns and calls out to the store rep.

"No Chris, it's ok - " I start but I'm cut off by the David Wyndorf look alike.

"Sure, we actually just got that in yesterday," He says walking over with a reaching contraption to take it down off the hanger. I furrow my brow for a moment but I couldn't take my eyes off the emerald green coloring and how it meshed so well into the finish. He then hands it towards Chris but Chris refuses.

"No sorry, it's for my wife,"

The David Wyndorf look alike raises his eyebrow for a moment and looks at me and I couldn't tell if it was because it was Chris said I'm his wife or because I play. I smile shyly at him and push my curls behind my ear and he sweetly hands it over to me.I glance behind me and see a stool with a little amp that people use for testing. I then sit down and plug in the patch cord and adjust the volume and effects knobs on the amp, and rest the guitar across my lap.

As soon as I start to play, I am instantly in love. the way it feels in my hands, the neck doesn't feel too think, the frets are at the perfect width... the strings kinda suck but I can always change them.

Oh my god I love this thing.

I stop playing for a moment and look up to see Chris looking down at me with such a cute smile on his face. I clear my throat and try to seem like I'm not completely in love with this guitar, but I think Chris knows that I am. He's seen this look on my face before.

"We'll take it," Chris says to the guy.

"Chris no, it's ok," I say as I suddenly feel weird about him buying me guitar. I mean it isn't the first time he's bought one for me,but this is seriously expensive.

Ugh, but I do love it so much though.

"Babe are you kidding? The look on your face, I know you want it," Chris says to me as the David Wyndorf look alike walks away to the front desk to prepare the guitar, by grabbing the case that comes with it.

"Chris, it's a 4000 dollar guitar. I love it but, this is too much," I say quietly as I reach out for his hand and pull him closer to me. The last time he bought one for me it was maybe under 1000. I know it's 2017 now and I get the cost of inflation, but this seems a little too much to me.

"No baby it isn't too much... c'mon," Chris smiles sweetly at me and helps me up from the stool. With the beautiful guitar in my hand, I unplug it and walk with him over to the counter register while the loo alike rings up the guitar. Chris takes the guitar from me and hands it over to him gently while I glance over the accessory display and pick out some new strings. It's been so long since I've had a new guitar and though I still feel a little uneasy about him spending this much money on me, I really, really love that guitar.

Once everything was rung through - Chris with his new pedal and I with my new guitar - we head out of the store and back to the car. Once I place the guitar in the back seat, I slide into the passenger side as Chris starts up the car and we head back out on the road, making our way through the rest of downtown New York. Everyone and a while I glance back in the backseat admiring the leather guitar case, knowing that emerald green beauty is safe inside and try to resist the temptation to play it until we get to Seattle. Or at least a hotel along the way.

"Thank you," I say quietly still looking at the guitar case in the back seat as we finally make it onto the highway.

"For what?" Chris smiles at me glancing quickly at me then back to the road.

"For the guitar, and for... well... everything," I say still looking at the guitar as Chris glances at me again. I then look back at him and he reaches over to me cupping my cheek in his palm and I lean into his palm closing my eyes, catching the fresh scent of his cologne.

"You don't have to thank me babe. I love you," He says glancing back at the road and then back at me. "And I always loved that look on your face when you would get excited over a new guitar - I still do," He adds chuckling.

"I love you too," I say as he slides his palm from my cheek and I take his hand, placing a kiss on the back before he places it back on the steering wheel, then I glance back at the beauty in the backseat.

"Me? Or the Guitar?" He smirks and I laugh as we head down the highway.

#time travel #Time After Time #alternate universe #fantasy #soundgarden #chris cornell #chris cornell fanfiction #soundgarden fanfiction

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astralaffairs · 4 years

Note

can i get number 29 from valentine's day prompts with laurens?

prompt 29: Secret Admirer

it took hella mental effort not to make this ridiculously tacky, and i cannot explain how it became 3.5k words. but pls someone explain to me why RA john is such a cutie??

————-

It had to be a crime for anyone to be up that early on a Sunday morning.

You’d spent your Saturday night out with Hercules and his clan of fellow grad students; you were still an undergrad, but he and you had always been surprisingly close for siblings, so when you entered his university just two years behind him, he’d adopted you into his friend group, who accepted you with open arms.

This, however, was three years later. You were a junior, and you’d spent the fall thanking your lucky stars that your friends had decided to stick around for grad school there, as, not only would you have missed them dearly, but just by chance, a few of them had ended up as teacher’s assistants for your year’s courses.

Them staying around also meant they could drag you to law school parties off-campus, and it meant you had them to thank for your hangover. You were lucky John had been the designated driver; as the RA of your floor, you and he were headed to the same place at the end of the night, which meant you had him to force you to drink a bottle of water and actually go to sleep in a bed, as opposed to passing out sloppy and wasted on the floor.

Who you really owed your thanks to, though, was whatever genius decided it’d be a good idea to come knocking on your door at 6 AM.

You let out a long, dramatic groan as you pulled yourself up. This was one of few times you were relieved not to have a roommate.

Despite the shrunken proportions of your dorm room, walking those eight feet to the door felt like walking eight miles that morning. It didn’t help when you opened the door to an empty hallway, no one standing before you. You were about to slam the door in a fury, seething quietly at whoever thought it’d be a funny idea to ding-dong-ditch you at the crack of dawn – you’d have guessed it was Alex, but you’d also be shocked if he wasn’t still lying fully unconscious on the floor of Lafayette’s apartment. That was when you noticed a small box sitting at your feet.

You did a double take down the hall around you; it was still deserted. Hesitantly, you picked up the package, praying it wasn’t anthrax. (You didn’t have many enemies, but surely there was someone who wanted to murder you quietly.) You checked around you one last time before retreating into your room, throwing yourself back onto the bed. As much as you wanted to go immediately back to sleep, your curiosity had the better of you that Sunday.

You eyed the little, plain cardboard box that you’d deposited at the foot of your bed warily. Surely if it contained a bomb, there was nothing you could do about it now, anyway, so what was the harm?

You eased the flaps on the top apart, and the first thing you saw was a paper, folded up to the size of your thumb and, for whatever reason, taped onto a box even smaller than the original. You opened it and were surprised to see it’d been typed up.

Y/N–

Okay, so at least you knew you weren’t gonna find anyone fuming later on because they’d left their girlfriend’s Valentines gift by the wrong door.

I’ve never been good with words – though, I guess that’s why you’re the English major instead of me – so I’ll keep this short & sweet, much like you ;)

You rolled your eyes at that. You didn’t know who this letter-writer thought they were, but waking you up at six in the morning to call you short wasn’t what you’d call suave. (You weren’t short, anyway, and you’d stand by that until the day you died. Though, unfortunately, you may have had to stand slightly below that until the day you died – you weren’t sure you could reach.) You ignored how the last line made your pulse jump.

I think you’ll find the contents of the box fill the same role.

Yours.

That was it? Yours? Not, ‘yours, the cute stranger down the hall,’ not, ‘yours, the buff TA from Accounting Law,’ not even, ‘yours, the guy you pass in the elevator at the gym every Thursday who knows very well you’ve been eyeing him all semester.’

Just, yours.

You opened the box to find a slice of strawberry shortcake, and again, you rolled your eyes. How clever. You had to force yourself not to be endeared by who was apparently now ‘your’ mystery, but you couldn’t fight your smile at the sheer audacity.

——–———–

Predictably, you brought it up to everyone you knew within the next few days, and unfortunately, they seemed every bit as stumped as you were. At that point, you didn’t know what to do but ignore it.

So, you went on with your week, and the next Sunday, you were again awoken at first light.

Your groan this time wasn’t any less annoyed at the knock on the door; this time, the note made a jab at your dancing skills, said that ‘you still made being sloppy drunk look cute.’ You furrowed your brow. If this was someone’s way of trying to unlock your heart, this wasn’t exactly the key. However, if your being sloppy drunk was on their mind, it had to have been someone at the frat party you went to the night prior. Or, someone you passed in your building on the way back. Which narrowed it down to approximately half of campus.

Again, the letter was simply signed as 'yours.’ You didn’t know what to make of it all.

The contents of the box made you smile, though: a water bottle and a pack of Tylenol. It wasn’t exactly the height of romance, but something about the hangover care package made it feel more thoughtful yet.

You popped a Tylenol and went back to sleep. You’d be better at overanalyzing after you’d gotten at least six hours.

Those six hours turned out to be six more hours, though, and you emerged from your room just after noon. You stifled a yawn as you made your way out to the common area, still in your pajama shorts and the sweatshirt you’d pilfered from someone’s floor, to find Angelica on one of the couches eating boxed mac-and-cheese.

She was one of your oldest friends at your university; she’d been your roommate freshman and sophomore year before she ultimately elected to move in with her boyfriend. She raised an eyebrow as you entered, wearing a knowing smile that you couldn’t decipher the meaning behind.

“Hey, Ang,” you said wearily, making your way to the cupboard to pull out one of the instant ramen cups you’d kindly labeled 'Y/N ONLY.’

“Hey.” She eyed you, amusement dancing in her eyes, and when you continued to stare blankly at her, she spoke again. “Did you seriously manage to get another noise complaint today? That’s, like, the fifth this month. You’ve really been busy since I moved out, huh?”

While she looked smug, her words just had you confused. Unless it was from you snoring too loudly (which, in hindsight, was very plausible), there was no way you’d have ended up with a noise complaint that night. You furrowed your brow. “What?”

“What?” She shrugged as you put your noodles in the microwave. “Didn’t you? I mean, I saw Laurens walking away from your room this morning and just kind of assumed.”

You chuckled. “No, he was just my ride back from a party last night. Unfortunately, not one where I managed to get laid.”

“And you got back at 6 AM?” She looked surprised, and your confusion only mounted.

“No?” you said, your voice hesitant. “Wait, what are you talking about? 'Cause it’s obviously not the same thing I’m talking about.”

She shifted on the couch to face you where you stood near the microwave. “When I got back from my run this morning, I came back up to my and my John’s room–” John Church, her long-term boyfriend and inaugural junior-year roommate, “and I saw Laurens coming back from, like, right by your door. Not at three AM, or whenever it was that you got back from the frat house.”

It took you about that long to connect the dots. John at 6 AM, coming back from your room, the knock that’d woken you up bright and early – no way that could be a coincidence. Your eyes widened; you started down the hall toward the RA dorm without a second thought. “I’ll be right back,” you muttered. Angelica’s brows shot toward her hairline.

“Wait, Y/N, what about the microwave?” she called after you. You’d slipped too far into your tunnel vision to care. “Y/N, your noodles!”

You reached the end of the hallway and promptly banged on the door before you. John emerged in a matter of seconds, whether it was because he happened to be up or because of how aggressively you were trying to get in.

“Y/N?” He sounded surprised to see you. You didn’t humor him.

“Did you leave that box outside my door this morning?”

Slowly, his mask of confusion cracked, a grin adorning his lips as he leaned against the side of the doorway. “Busted.”

However, your brow knit at the immediate admission, trying to suppress a smile despite your shock. “Wait, so you left me those little… 'secret admirer’ notes?” You hesitated; he raised an eyebrow. “What… why did you–”

“Hold up, I don’t know anything about any notes,” he cut you off, holding up his hands as if to claim innocence. “Don’t shoot the messenger; I dropped those boxes off because someone asked for an assist.”

You paused, taken aback. You hoped he didn’t notice when your face visibly fell. “Wait, so if it wasn’t you…” you trailed off, pondering his words. You raised an expectant eyebrow. “Then you know who sent me those!”

His smile again graced his lips at that; he raked a hand through his hair as he chuckled. “Now you’ve really caught me,” he said, tone teasing. You could only roll your eyes.

“Who is it, then?”

“It wouldn’t be a secret admirer if I just told you!” He put a hand on his heart, his expression a caricature of scandalization, and when you glared, he chuckled. “I promise it’s not rocket science, Y/N; just figure it out.”

You scowled. “It’d be so much easier for everyone if you just told me,” you whined, and he gave you a mock pout.

“Oh, you poor thing,” he sighed, “Now that you put it like that, I guess I’ll have to tell you.”

Your eyes lit up. “Really?”

“No.”

You huffed, folding your arms and stomping your foot like a toddler, and he reached out to ruffle your hair with a laugh. You yelped as you ducked away from his hand, and his grin only grew. “You’re an absolute clown, you know that?”

He shrugged, looking as though he was entertaining the thought. “Maybe, but I’m your absolute clown.”

Something in the phrase struck you as being familiar.

——————-

Your noodles were ruined, and you spent the rest of the afternoon sulking about it. Perhaps Angelica was onto something when she said you needed to listen to her more often (though, you hadn’t quite heard the reasoning behind it). Moreover, you were growing increasingly frustrated with the secret admirer notes. After making yourself a fresh cup of noodles (and cleaning the microwave; your first cup had exploded), you spent your Sunday absentmindedly watching Netflix and overanalyzing everything you could take away from the secret admirer notes. You’d come to only a few conclusions.

1. If they were working through John, it had to be someone who lived on your floor, someone who knew you well, or someone who knew John well. That provided very little input.

2. If they’d managed to create and get the second box to you between 3 AM and 6 AM the previous night (morning, really), then it had to be someone who you went to the frat party with who also lived in your dorm – again, a fairly deep pool of prospects.

3. They felt comfortable enough with you to call you short, make fun of your dancing, and note that you couldn’t hold your alcohol. That was telling – it had to be someone you knew well who also lived in your dorm.

However, you didn’t get the chance to conduct a thorough examination of all your friends in the building; you still had three readings and a paper due the next day that you hadn’t done because you were, as your pursuer so elegantly put it, busy 'getting sloppy drunk.’ So you went through the motions – you did your work, you went to your classes the next day, and you arrived back at your dorm to the unexpected: another box.

There was a week between the first and second of them; a third already being on your figurative doorstep was unprecedented. You didn’t hesitate to open this one, and its contents immediately had you grinning: four cups of instant ramen and a note. This one wasn’t typed.

Heard I ruined your noods, so it seemed only fair to send you some of my own. I showed you mine, now you show me yours?

Yours ;)

The handwriting was immediately recognizable, and you couldn’t help but think that was the idea. You marched down to John’s room with the letter and knocked every bit as aggressively as you had before. Again, he opened it immediately.

“Y/N?” He raised an eyebrow. “Finally figure out who’s been sending you those notes?”

You stuck the letter in his face. “This is your handwriting,” you accused him. He took it from you, looked at it mildly for only a moment, and shrugged.

“Sure seems to be.”

“So you wrote this!”

“Looks like it.” His nonchalant expression had your head spinning.

“Can you stop with the vague answers for one minute?” you huffed, and he raised his eyebrows, pushing himself off of the doorframe. It appeared he could tell that this was genuinely beginning to trouble you. “I cannot deal with whatever it is you’re playing at with these.” You snatched the note back, waved it at him. “Just explain.”

A small smile was beginning to form on his lips by that point. “Well,” he began, voice soft, “Seems pretty clear to me. Both the conclusions you came breaking down my door with were apt.”

“So you wrote these, then?” He nodded, and you pursed your lips. “Which means what, exactly? What am I supposed to take from that? That you’re an incredible accomplice for whoever dreamed this up?” His smile began to grow as you began to rant, seemingly becoming more amused with each word. “That it was you leaving the packages? Because, John, I need answers, and this is really just starting to mess with my head.”

When your voice softened, your shell of anger cracking around the edges to reveal the slightest bit of vulnerability, John was hit with a pang of guilt. He hadn’t meant to mess with you. “Y'know, I thought I was being painfully obvious from the first one.”

“You… ?”

“I figured you’d open it, bring it to me, and we’d have a good laugh. Just that.” He shrugged, eyeing your stunned expression before continuing, “Maybe I just didn’t realize quite how drunk you were.”

“What d'you mean?”

“The morning I left the first note, you’d spent thirty minutes on the ride home telling me how you’d absolutely die for strawberry shortcake right then, and then you tried to shove me outta my own car when I called you a shortcake in response.” He grinned, and you just looked dumbstruck. “The second one didn’t even require any knowledge of the night before. Gotta say, I’m a little disappointed.” He sighed, falsely wistful, but cut himself off when he caught wind of your wide eyes. You were still struggling to believe his words.

John, who had spent the past three years making fun of your eating habits, chewing you out for showing up late because you went to three different drugstores to find the right bottle of $6 wine; John, who groaned every time Hercules dragged you to him, letting him know you’d been throwing up in the bathroom, but who drove you home without a second thought, always came to check on you in the morning. John was your secret admirer? The whole thing felt backwards.

“When you came to confront me yesterday, I knew I had to fess up sometime soon.” He rolled his eyes, as though exasperated with your incompetence. You were still shocked beyond a shadow of a doubt.

John was a generally caring person. It was why they gave him RA status, it was why he brought bakery to the commons area every Thursday afternoon, knowing that the professors there were notorious for Friday morning tests, it was why he kept a first aid kit stocked with everything imaginable outside his door – bandaids, Tylenol, pads, tampons, even chocolate.

He’d always been caring. His behavior toward you just felt like part of the pattern.

“Why?” you breathed, unsure of yourself. “Why’d you start leaving them?”

He considered himself, tongue in cheek. “Well, the first wasn’t meant to be quite so elusive. I spent half an hour refusing to pull over at the nearest bakery; I thought it’d be nice to bring you what you asked for when you weren’t dangerously tipsy. Honestly, didn’t even mean for it to be such a puzzle. Just a little gift.”

“But apparently, someone can’t take a hint.” You scowled as he ruffled your hair, and he just chuckled. His gaze was soft, his smile wide. “When you showed up here with the second note, I didn’t mean to deny it. But then, you sounded mildly ticked.”

“I wasn’t annoyed,” you protested mildly, cheeks burning when he raised an eyebrow.

“Anyway, here I was thinking I had more game than that, so I lied. Just a little.” He shrugged. “But then you looked so disappointed, so maybe I did have game afterall, hm?”

“Why wouldn’t you just come talk to me about it?” you asked softly, and the amusement in his gaze didn’t subside as he raised an eyebrow. Part of you struggled to believe he’d missed the way you spent the past three years looking at him. That he’d missed how, no, you weren’t an affectionate drunk – he was just the one driving you home.

Finally, he spoke. “Now, why would I do that, when I could bring you here to come talk to me about it?”

You frowned, though there was no malice behind it. “Coward,” you accused playfully, jabbing at his chest.

“Maybe.” Again he shrugged, before a wide grin split his mask of nonchalance. “But your coward.”

You huffed out a laugh, surprised by the teasing words. “My oblivious coward, apparently.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“Half the campus has a thing for you, John,” you scoffed. His smile was soft, then.

“Maybe, but I don’t care about half of campus.” Tentatively, he took a step closer to you, tucked a lock of hair behind your ear. “I care about you.”

You bit your lip, staring back up at him hesitantly. Your heart seemed to have stopped. John’s hand fell to your cheek, cradling your face. “John?” You finally said.

“Hm?”

“Can I kiss you?” The words were hardly a whisper, and before you could do anything else, he was reacting, taking a final step forward to snake his arm around your waist, pull you to him as he finally pressed his lips against yours. Your hands found their way to the back of his neck. Though the kiss was chaste, no more than lips against lips, it left you breathless, chest heaving against his when you finally pulled away.

You looked surprised, and he gave you a wry smile. “That’s a yes, for the record.”

You couldn’t help your grin. “Hey, so about that note…” He raised an eyebrow, and you reached up to tug at the collar of his shirt. “What was that, about, 'I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’?” Mischief seeped into your tone, and he looked stunned, his smile one of entertained disbelief.

He didn’t even bother to respond, moving quickly backward into his dorm room, tugging you with him, and you jerked forward with a squeak. He gave you a sly grin. “Lock the door.”

#John Laurens #john laurens x reader #laurens #laurens oneshot #john laurens oneshot #john laurens one shot #laurens x reader one shot #laurens x reader #john x reader #john laurens x reader oneshot #laurens x reader oneshot

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suchdan-veryphil · 4 years

Text

Goodnight, Solos - A Dad!Ben Solo Imagine

Request: Can we get an imagine where Ben has trouble with his and the reader’s toddler and the bedtime routine? Maybe it’s the first time he does it bc the reader is pregnant with their second child and is on bedrest? Their toddler gives him a hard time and just doesn’t wanna go to bed?

Fluff!!!

Word Count: 1,928

Trigger Warning: Swearing maybe?

A/N: I am absolute Adam Driver Trash. Ben Solo deserved better.

---------

“Ben, are you sure that you’ve got her?” As you sat up against the backboard of the bed, your 7-month-pregnant belly protruded from the covers. The doctor had put you on bed rest, insisting that since your toddler had been born 7 weeks early, that you were at high risk for early labor with your ever-growing baby.

Your husband put his dirty clothes in the hamper before he nodded his head and looked at you. “Not to be an ass, but I literally single-handedly took down a handful of Palpatine’s assholes. I think I can give our two-year-old a bath and read her a story before bed.”

A deep breath ran through your body as you tried not to take offense to what he was saying. “Yea, well if you end up needing help, call me over.”

“I will not.”

“Need help or call me over?”

“Both.” Ben turned around and kissed you on your forehead before he turned on his heels and walked out the door and down the hall towards your toddler’s room.

“Reina, it’s time to take your bath. It’s almost bedtime.”

Looking back at the 6′3″ man was a pair of (y/e/c) that reflected yours, and a head full of messy, curly, midnight hair that was definitely her father’s. “Daddy, not yet.”

“Yes, yet. C’mon, wookie.” Ben had a way of making things sound stern, but not rude or mean. His voice was deep and sultry, but his tone was gentle and empathetic.

“Can I do the bubbles?” her voice was the stereotypical voice of a toddler who knew how to make her father give her what she wants, accompanied by the slightest tilt of the head. She smiled at him, making her chubby cheeks turn light pink.

In that moment, Ben knew that everything he had faced leading up to this point in his life was so that he could be the best father possible for this child and the one on the way.

“Yes, you can do the bubbles. Let’s go.” Ben held his arms out, and they were soon holding your two-year-old tightly, carrying her into the bathroom. He ran the water and plugged the tub. “Reina, come do the bubbles!”

Reina ran to the cabinet by the sink and pulled out the container of the bubble bath and used all of her 29-month-old strength to pop the top off and run towards the bathtub. With no thought, she turned the container on a 180-degree angle, dumping a good majority of the bottle into the tub. Ben quickly grabbed it, struggling to grip it well enough to turn it back over before he plopped it into the sink.

“Bubbles, Daddy!” Reina giggled and put her hands in the running water as the bubbles began to form in the water.

“Yes, lots of bubbles, wookie. Now you gotta take off your clothes?” Ben was grateful that you weren’t able to hear him questioning your two-year-old daughter on how to take a bath.

“Yes and then I jump in the bubbles!” Reina squealed as she undressed and then ran out of the bathroom.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“On a mission!”

“Reina, you’re not wearing clothes, come here!” Ben stood and used the length of his legs to stride quickly towards the naked child that was running through the house.

“Catch me, Daddy!”

Reina ran past Ben and into her bedroom. “Daddy, my wanna put my Rey doll to the bath!” Ben stood there for a moment, confused as to what she was trying to say. “Rey doll in my bath!”

Ben shook his head as he realized what she was saying. “Yea, sure. Let’s just get in the tub, Reina.” He leaned over and scooped her up before he walked her back into the bathroom and put her in the tub before he turned the water off.

Reina looked up at her father and smiled as she grabbed fists full of bubbles, and squeezing as they floated into the air, made their way back down and landed on various surfaces. “Daddy, can you use the force to blow the bubbles around?”

As the Solo boy took a washcloth and made it soapy, he smirked a little and shook his head. “I cannot. But watch this,” and with that, he took a deep breath in and blew into a large hill of bubbles, causing them to fly everywhere and causing the toddler to go into a fit of giggles and laughter. Ben couldn’t help but also chuckle as he continued to bathe the child that taught him a kind of love that he never thought he would know.

The rest of bathtime was pretty smooth if a mess of bubbles on the floor, counter, sink, and Ben was still considered smooth. Ben sat with Reina on her bedroom floor, wrapped in a towel that was made to look like a uniform from the Rebellion. Y/N bought it as a joke, and Ben didn’t find it very funny at first. Only when Reina decided she loved it did he come around.

As soon as he ran the brush through her hair, she whined. “Ow! Daddy that hurted!”

“It hurt?”

“Yea, I want momma to brush it. Can you go get her?”

Ben frowned and gave her a small squeeze. “Momma can’t leave the bed, remember? She has to stay in bed so that she can keep your baby sibling safe and sound.”

“Then we don’t have to brush my hair.” Reina pouted and gave him a teary-eyed expression that pulled at his heartstrings in a way that only her mother had been able to do before.

“Yes, we do, wookie. I’ll try to be more gentle. I promise.” And he was. He had combed through her hair in small sections and in small strokes. This caused the chore to take about four times as long as it should have, but the job was done and there were no more tears, which is what he cared about.

“All done, kid. Where are your pajamas?”

“Top.”

Ben collected any random pair of bottoms and a top before he turned around to find his daughter opening the drawers on her crafting desk with her towel still wrapped around her.

“What’re you doin’? It’s bedtime. Come get dressed.”

“Not yet! I wanna color you a pitcher!”

Ben took a deep breath, not because he was frustrated but because he didn’t know how to get through to the toddler. He finally understood when y/n said: “she’s just like you, stuck in her ways.”

“Tomorrow morning, the first thing we can do is make a picture but now you need put your clothes on so we can lay down and go to bed.”

“Daddy, a story first. Momma always reads me a story.”

“Yes, we’ll read a story but not until you’re dressed.”

Ben had come a long way. If you had come from another galaxy and had heard of the late Kylo Ren, and then met your Ben, you never would have put two and two together. Ben was kind, and he was learning patience. It wasn’t easy for him. There were many days when you two had started dating where you could see his temper come out, but he truly was working on it.

Then the day you told him you were pregnant with your lovely Reina, he really began to hold himself accountable for his actions. He wanted to be the dad he never imagined himself being and giving your daughter a life full of love, trust, and lack of fear and anger.

He held the pajamas up in his hands as he waited for Reina to close her drawers and make her way over to where he stood.

“I can do it.” Her arms reached up and stretched as if she would ever be able to reach any object held over her father’s head. Ben chuckled at the sight, and just to tease her a little, he reached them up higher.

“Are you sure?” Another chuckle escaped his lips as she started to jump up in an attempt to get taller.

“I’m gonna tell momma! My want my pajamas!” The small girl had a stern voice that she had undeniably learned from her father. Ben knelt down and helped her step into her underwear, pants, and lastly her shirt.

“Don’t tell the big boss on me, you know that look she’ll give me. Ben then made a serious face, imitating the one you give when you have to discipline Reina.

With a giggle, Reina lifted her tiny finger to her lips in a shushing motion. “Okay, daddy. Let’s play a game!”

“No no no, let’s read a book and go to bed!” Ben said trying to match the toddler’s enthusiasm as he lifted her up and brought her over to the shelves of books by the window.

The shelves were packed with all kinds of books. Comics, coloring books, books on animals, books on the universe, but Reina’s favorite was “Goodnight Moon”, so it was no surprise when her hand went straight to it. She slid it off of the shelf and held it tightly in her hands.

“This one, Daddy.”

“You got it Wookie.” Ben kissed the side of her head and smiled as he lowered her into her bed shaped like an X-wing.

“Daddy, lay with me?”

“I don’t think I’ll fit in the bed with you, kid.”

“Make you fit! Come here!” Reina moved over all the way to the wall and patted the bed beside her.

Ben watched and tried to analyze whether or not he would fit on the bed. With a light, sigh, he decided that it didn’t matter. As he flicked the lights off, Reina’s star projector night light lit up and covered the ceiling with stars. As he laid down, he pulled the blankets over the two of them and took the book gently from her hands.

“Ok, get comfy.” Ben cleared his throat and opened the book. Reina cuddled into her father with her head on his chest and her arm over his abdomen. Ben smiled lightly to himself as he began to read.

“In the great green room, there was a telephone...” Ben rested his head on Reina’s and continued to read in a slow, soothing voice.

It was only when Ben was half-way through the book that their baby girl had fallen asleep, but he continued to read aloud as if she were still listening.

You had already been waiting for almost two and a half hours waiting for Ben to come back to bed. You knew Reina could be tough to get to sleep, but she had never taken this long before. Getting out of bed, you slid into your slippers and waddled your way down the hall to Reina’s room.

You were met with a dark room covered in stars and the sight of your Ben and Reina Solo cuddled up together, Ben’s stomach holding “Goodnight Moon”.

His cheek was rested on her head and her arms were wrapped around his body. You could feel your heart swell with love as you took the sight in. Ben Solo had come a long way since his battle with Palpatine, and even if he still felt a struggle, you knew that he had changed forever, for the absolute best.

You took one last glance and smiled as you slowly backed out of the bedroom and closed the door, leaving it open a crack. Before walking away, you glanced in and bit your lip. “Goodnight, Solos.”

#ben solo #ben solo x reader #kylo ren imagines #star wars fic #star wars imagine #star wars #ben solo deserved better #ben solo imagine #adam driver imagine #adam driver fic #adam driver

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theartsynoodle · 4 years

Text

More funny things about the Owl House because I made the last one late at night and forgot things.

1: As @someonerandom15 mentioned in a repost on the last one, not only did Hooty beat up Lilith and her coven guard (the highly elite and trained police force btw) Amity has beaten the shit out of Hooty which implies that Amity could probably kick Lilith’s ass as well.

2: This being said Amity’s leg really got broken because the creators knew she would’ve wreaked havoc

3: As @boredoom mentioned in their repost, Lilith is this highly respected and powerful witch that is the head of the most elite coven, but it takes 5 seconds of her sister rhyming to set her off

4: Lilith went from 0 to 100, like she could’ve done something else to prevent Eda from winning their duel but she went just went straight to cursing her, like girl 💀💀

5: Eda and Stan Pines having been a scam artist power couple is pretty much just canon

6: This being said Eda has canonically robbed Stan Pines and she’s a wanted criminal on Earth (She stole his car and “loot”)

7: Alex Hirsch was just on Twitter like “Disney was too COWARDLY to let me have gay characters on my show so I’m glad to work on this show and do that” and just

8: How everyone started a Lilith Hate bandwagon and there were anti-Lilith icons within 2 hours of Agony of a Witch airing

9: The sibling accuracy in the show

10: Amity really just fell in love with the worlds dorkiest girl in the span of one month of knowing her

11: Luz pretty much just being like “It’s on SIGHT” whenever someone she cares about is in danger

12: Once again, a 14 year old just infiltrated a highly guarded castle and took out a ton of guards

13: The show is called The Owl House and the actual owl house is just Hooty and everyone hates Hooty and that’s so fucking funny to me

14: When Eda was eating snow in front of the Blights and Luz was so tired

15: Those old drawings of Amity that were drawn by the crew before her feelings for Luz started growing always crack me up because it’s just like “mhm sure” and I bet the crew were laughing to themselves as they were drawing it

16: Detention is just a death sentence

17: The crew was not ready for everyone to love the kids from the first day and they didn’t have much intention of giving them a lot of screen time, but that may change because of the fandom

18: Everyone just doesn’t question it when addressing Amity’s mom as Karen

19: There is probably a whole multitude of Boiling Isles jokes that Luz just does not get

20: I said it in the last one but seriously it’s so funny the emperor of the island got his ass kicked by a 14 year old

21: The fact that Eda is stated to be the most powerful witch in the Boiling Ilses and during most of the show all she’s wanted for is petty theft

22: The fact that not only is Gus’ last name is Porter and his dad is a reporter, but his dads full name is Perry Porter.

23: The fact that Willow is one of the most powerful kids and is fed and having none of this shit while being the sweetest looking girl ever

24: The fact that Willow probably could’ve killed Boscha no sweat

25: How Dana just casually gave Willow two dads which then causes the fandom to spiral into a frenzy as Amity and Luz could actually happen

27: The fact that people were still skeptical about Luz and Amity actually getting confirmed after Understanding Willow aired, then Enchating Grom Fright happened

28: Everyone really thought Amity was going to be the calm one and Luz would be the nervous one. Like Amity can tell off her best friend and embarrass her in front of a bunch of people, but she can’t even look at Luz without tripping over her own feet

29: Wing it Like Witches title being based on the title of the film Bend it Like Beckham, a romantic sports comedy and we still didn’t see the gayness coming

30: The fact that people thought Amity would hate the dorky shit Luz is into compare to now which we all know that she has definitely watched Azura AMVs and draws anime which is she tries to deny but the whole group and her siblings know

#the owl house #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #edalyn clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #.txt #toh hooty #emperor belos #q #willow park #gus porter #toh boscha

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halinski · 4 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV) Characters: Evan "Buck" Buckley, Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Karen Wilson, Nia Wilson Additional Tags: Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, Demisexuality, Sexuality, Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Worried Eddie Diaz, Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Sexuality Crisis, Implied/Referenced Sex, Sex Repulsion, sex repulsed buck, Internalized Acephobia, coming to terms with asexuality, Coming Out Summary:

Sex was always just a thing Buck did. It was a part of life. But once he gets together with Eddie, he's asked what he really wants, and if he even likes sex in itself apart from the intimacy and pleasing his partner.

Buck dives into Asexuality

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big thanks to @aloha-wolves who made this possible with the support!!

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11 year old Buck wasn't stupid. He may have been impatient and distracted and unfocused but he wasn't a complete moron. He knew how to follow social cues.

See, when you were Different™ from the start studying human behavior and social cues was a survival strategy. He'd figured it out by then. Fairytales read by Maddie from the earliest age, and all the countless books after clearly stated some of the rules. Romance was a must. It a bond between a woman and a man that every human strived for, and when Buck saw the kids in his class at school start to focus heavily on the subject of sexuality, he knew he had to step up.his game.

Personally he wasn't intrigued by all. Not by girls or the thoughts of kisses or naked bodies. The word sex just left a bitter taste in his mouth. Like licorice. But any additional personality trait that wasn't 'normal' was a risk. Buck didn't want to be forgotten, kicked to the curb and judged. He already knew he wasn't like everyone else. He had to make sure he fit in.

Luckily, he had an older sister. So he asked Maddie, what the heck he was supposed to do about girls. She had laughed, teased him a little, but eventually saw his frustration and sat him down.

"Be bold." That's what she had said, and Buck was nothing if not adventurous and daring, seeking the thrill- anything that kept his mind from wandering and running itself into a rut. Buck knew how to open his mouth when he needed to.

Half a year later; he had his first kiss. It was uncomfortable, as most social interactions were. One could never really know what was going on inside another person's head. But Buck was determined and learned studiously (when it wasn't for school), and if he had to trade some of his time spent alone with his books or exploring the forest to be normal, so be it.

He never quite understood the desires behind it all, but he knew the steps to the dance, and he played his cards well. Maybe he was a late bloomer, but he wouldn't let anyone notice if that proved to be true.

As the years went on... Buck just figured, maybe the feelings were too subtle for him to pinpoint. Maybe he hadn't met the right person. After all, he was a free spirit. No one quite understood him. But none of that mattered.

He knew how to tell what objectively 'hot' and 'sexy' was. He learned how to read the looks women threw him well. Then he'd discovered a whole other spectrum to sexuality and the first time he kissed a boy, his heart had fluttered in a way like never before. It hadn't turned out to be the breakthrough he'd hoped for, but Buck knew how to please. He'd studied the ways of body and mind and he knew how to make others feel good.

Buck was young. The rest would come. He was supposed to be finding himself and sleeping around, exploring and putting his looks to good use. Maybe he'd find what sex and love meant along the way.

It was just life.

(Nevermind that he always had the urge to flee after getting into a girl's pants, or that he'd used weed as an escape so much that he'd have to be high to do it for a few years.

Nevermind that he'd have to steel himself and liked to retreat to some foggy place in his mind, where nothing mattered, nothing but physical sensations, which weren't that bad.

Nevermind that he found himself needing more and more, needing the high of peaking pleasure between him and someone else, just to mask the terrible gut feeling that built up after.

Nevermind that he started losing himself in it, losing sight of any personal goals, especially when he'd had to give up weed because of his new job.

He found some peace eventually. Between the thrill of risking his life to save others, finding family in the crew, and deciding to stay far from other people's beds.)

29 year old Buck was quite mature, if he could say so himself. He had finally, finally, fallen head over heels in love. So much so, that he had been afraid to act on it. He hadn't been that afraid of just a kiss since… ever. Not even his first kiss had caused him so many heart attacks and sleepless nights.

Suddenly, he was made to question everything he thought he had learned. That's how he knew it was real. He had fallen in love.

With Eddie Diaz.

He’d endured over 6 months of what he had perceived as unrequited love with his best friend - he hadn't even had a best friend for over a decade - only to find out that Eddie had actually been so painfully obvious with his own crush on Buck that the whole station knew before Buck did. See, Eddie didn’t make the ridiculous bedroom eyes while dressed in tight clothes in dim nightclub lighting. Nor did he ever invite Buck for coffee as a date. That was simply because Eddie didn’t do nightclubs and well, Buck and him had coffee and beer and dinner and lunch and breakfast and everything in between all the time together already as friends. They talked on the phone and covered each other’s meals and even bought each other groceries sometimes. (Although that last one was usually Buck on his way to Eddie's house.)

But he realized eventually that all those things he had done with Abby while dating her. The phone calls and the spending time together and doing stuff for each other. Just without the ridiculous sweet talk and the kissing and the sex.

It was funny in retrospect.

(After Eddie had grabbed Buck’s face when he had been mumbling about all the bullshit reasons he hadn’t voiced his feelings; after he had said, “I can’t believe you’re making me make the first move"; after he had kissed Buck senseless; after they had talked about what it meant.)

Now Buck got to do everything he did before, and he got to kiss Eddie whenever he felt like it, even sneaky kisses when no one was looking at the station, and he got to hold his hand and touch, and he got to call Eddie ‘my sunshine’.

(The face Eddie made when Buck said that was priceless.)

He also got to rile Eddie up, whisper those things that made him blush cherry red, tease him with vivid images of things he’d done in South America where he’d explored the world and himself with abandon and lots of glitter. He got to make Eddie moan and shudder beneath his hands, got to watch him fall apart. He liked that.

What he didn’t like was the look Eddie sometimes gave him before Buck distracted him with his mouth. (Eddie always loved that last part.)

They were making out on the couch one late night long after a joint dinner and a movie with Chris and it was nice. It was always a good time with Eddie. Make outs most often lead to sex though and Buck didn’t hesitate to take the lead, slipping a hand beneath Eddie’s shirt to meet his abs.

Only for Eddie to grab his wrist.

Buck looked up quizzically.

"What's up?” He asked, pulling his hand back and lifting himself higher from above his boyfriend. “Not in the mood?”

Eddie blinked at him and shook his head a little.

“No, that’s not it…. I promise,” he reassured as Buck narrowed his eyes. "We can definitely postpone that for later but first we have to-"

"Don't say talk," Buck pleaded. To no avail.

"Yes, talk."

"What is there to talk about? Everything is going great."

"Usually, I have to beg for you to shut up for once," Eddie said with a huff.

Buck easily took the bait, grinning. He leaned closer. "I love hearing you beg."

Eddie's eyebrows did a little dance and Buck knew he'd gotten his attention but unfortunately that didn't deter his boyfriend from his ultimate goal, face settling into determination again.

"But what if I were to make you beg?" Eddie asked simply.

Buck frowned.

"See, that! That's what we have to talk about."

Buck withdrew completely this time, not really sure why his anxiety was suddenly ramping up but feeling like he'd been caught cheating on a test.

"What, just because I…" He found himself unsure of what to say. He felt the couch shift as Eddie rearranged himself but Buck stubbornly stared at the carpet.

"Buck," Eddie's voice was soft and yet firm, and somehow that made it worse. He swallowed heavily.

"Do you even like this? Being physically intimate with me, I mean. The sex...and all that?" Eddie asked.

Buck scoffed, shoulders squaring up.

"Of course I do. You know I love you." It was a truth that rang bitter after the launched accusation. His fists curled and uncurled on his thighs, unable to contain his agitation.

"Yes, I know. I know," Eddie quickly said, reaching over to take those hands and smooth them out. "Hey, look at me… I know that and I love you, too. Okay?"

Buck eventually met his insistent stare and found himself breathing lighter again, when he observed his sincerity. He breathed out.

"Okay," Buck breathed and leaned in slightly in search of physical reassurance. Which Eddie gave, as always. There to ground him. He pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and ghosted a thumb over his chin when he pulled back.

"But," Eddie started up again, holding firm to Buck's hands when he tried to pull away again. "We have to talk."

Closing his eyes, Buck heaved a sigh.

"How about you just listen to me, for a sec, hm? We can start there. I'll tell you what I think is the problem and why it's important to me, my experiences and all I ask is for you to think about it. Can we do that?"

It didn't sound like a fun time. Buck knew the rules, he knew the procedures, he didn't mind those. But he didn't want to think about the feelings he was supposed to have, or about the feelings he was trying not to have. He had hoped he had done right. But obviously he hadn't. He'd messed up somewhere.

Buck swallowed hard.

What was he supposed to do though? Make a scene? That would reveal his weakness further. This was Eddie. It would kill him to mess this up.

"Buck," Eddie whispered and Buck steeled himself, padding his disposition with dry amusement. Of course he couldn't hide from Eddie. This man could see through him like glass and yet he did it in a way that didn't make him shatter. He was safe.

Buck nodded quickly, before his vulnerability could render him to tears before this conversation even started. Breathing in deep through his nose, he cleared his throat.

"I'll listen," he said as loud as he dared, but kept his skittering gaze away from Eddie's eyes, afraid he'd falter.

"Thank you." Eddie lifted his hands to his mouth to kiss his knuckles. There was something so tender about the way Eddie held and handled him that almost made Buck believe that he deserved it. Sometimes that warmth in his chest felt way too grand to wrap his head around but one thing was for sure: Buck was always ready to give every fiber of his being for Eddie and Chris. He was here to grow and learn and reach his best potential.

Buck leaned back against the couch and settled in, trying to relax his body as far as he could. Eddie had definitely become far more open and vulnerable with his emotions than he always claimed he’d been raised to be. And Buck definitely knew how to appreciate that. Now, it was his turn to try- or at the very least, hear Eddie out.

“You know well enough by now, that Shannon was my only relationship, ever. That it started as a clumsy teenage attempt at dating and we just clung to each other for safety. It was all a little awkward but whose first relationship isn’t? Then again, even back then I kept feeling like I was a little different from other guys, other people. When it came to love and relationships and all that. I could never understand flings and spontaneous hookups, one night stands… I would get whiplash hearing about other people’s experiences.” Eddie spoke with a calm voice. It came across resolved, as if he had found peace with his past.

Buck on the other hand, felt like his insides were twisting themselves into a million knots as he was reminded of his similar teenage years and the conflict and frustration they had caused. There was though, also a stubborn streak of hope that shot through him like an arrow, causing Buck to glance up to Eddie from his hanging posture. The yearning for the answer to these problems was strong. Maybe Eddie could teach him about that link he was missing.

“It didn’t seem to matter that much back then. My parents were, as with everything else, traditional and conservative about relationships and sex. We didn’t talk about those things. They didn’t even show much affection to each other in front of anyone. And then, I had Shannon and things worked with her. Expectations were met and I enjoyed being with her. After highschool though… things started getting more complicated.”

Eddie’s thoughtful gaze rises to meet Buck’s eyes. Eyes that were a whirlwind of feelings Buck had never dared to fully entertain. His heart was beating so high up his throat every breath felt a little weary but Buck nodded silently for Eddie to continue.

“With the distance during college and my tours, we just grew apart. That only led to more fights and less of a bond, and I started to realize that the further away I felt emotionally, the harder it was for me to engage in intimacy. I watched the other guys react differently to their partners, or talk about attraction to strangers, and it was all just not making sense. I didn’t have the capacity at that point in time to figure things out, so I just chalked it up to the outer circumstances; trust issues from my childhood and the rigid parenting, and the… experiences while I was deployed.”

Eddie sighed, looking down at his lap for a moment before he lifted his chin again with new energy.

“It was only in the years when Shannon had left that I eventually put two and two together. At first I was convinced I just wasn’t looking for anything because all I wanted was to be there for Chris but I mean, I was still kind of lonely. I hate that word but it is what it is,” Eddie said with a rueful smile, shrugging one shoulder. “I eventually started going online, contemplating online dating or whatever, but I somehow ended up reading up on other people’s experiences on forums and after multiple hours of rabbit holes, I came across these descriptions and solid definitions of exactly the kind of thing I felt.”

“It turns out,” Eddie emphasized, taking Buck’s hand in his again at this, “that not everyone is as obsessed with sex as society might like to make you think. There are different kinds of attraction and people experience varying levels of them. It’s all as normal as the rest, if one is more or less romantically or sexually attracted to others. I, personally, am demisexual, which means I don’t experience sexual attraction to others until I have an emotional bond with them- like with you.”

At this point, Buck was feeling ready to shatter. Every next breath threatened to break the fragile thread holding him together. There were already two tears or so that have escaped him, and Buck wasn’t usually ashamed to cry but the panic in him was too great, almost as high as the flooding relief. He didn’t know what he was supposed to believe or trust in.

Eddie squeezed his hand.

“Is this- does it make any sense? I’ve never really talked to anyone about this before, but I just wanted you to know that it’s okay. I mean, maybe I’m wrong and it’s not this at all, but I hate-” Eddie took a deep breath, “I really hate the thought of you forcing yourself to do things you don’t want to. For me. Not that I want to assume anything, because everyone implies that you would have a lot of hookups before and all that, so maybe you actually do enjoy it, and maybe we have to figure out how to make it right between us but… I do feel like there’s an imbalance, like I get more out of this. And like you sometimes kind of shut down after we do something, almost as if it… hurts you.”

Buck definitely couldn’t bring himself to look at Eddie anymore at this point, the guilt tying him heavily down to the couch. He didn’t even feel able to really respond to the light grip on his hand. It was rare to hear Eddie ramble like that, and Buck hated being the one to make him feel that way, like Eddie was doing something wrong. Like Eddie was the problem. When it was just Buck himself all along. Unable to do sex right, unable to hide the bad feelings from Eddie, unable to be open with him and forcing Eddie through this situation.

“Buck I-”

He could feel Eddie’s gaze on him, sense his sadness acutely. Buck wiped his sleeve over his face in an attempt to dry the waterfall, but his sniffles thundered in his ears regardless.

“You don’t need to say anything or do anything right now. I just want for you to be able to be more comfortable with all this one day. So, just- keep this in mind. I love you. With all my heart and soul. That’s a fact regardless of sex. We don’t need sex to lead our best lives together. I don’t want this to keep hurting you.”

A silence settled over them like weighted slime. Or maybe it was just Buck. He didn’t know how to react. It felt like it had been an hour since Buck had last said anything and he didn’t want to be a passive spectator in such an important discussion about them. After all, didn’t most people say sex was necessary for a successful, happy relationship? What if they gave it up and Eddie was wrong and they fell apart? It would be all Buck’s fault. He would never want to risk that.

“I don’t-” Buck started, but paused when he realized he had no idea what he even wanted to tell Eddie. Apparently a part of him was really considering what it would be like to give up sex. It wasn’t like he knew much about a life without it. Sure, there had been that time with Abby, where they dated without sex, and the close friendship with Eddie before they had taken the extra step toward a relationship… But sex was always the step that drew full circle.

“There are resources out there. You can read up on it and give yourself time to figure it out. But we’ll find a way together, alright? Trust me. We’ll figure this out,” Eddie assured, and proceeded to draw Buck into a hug.

Buck went along willingly, sinking against Eddie’s shoulder, hiding in his chest. He was exhausted. Just letting things rest for a while sounded good. Eddie’s hand brushed his cheek dry and then there was a soft press of lips on his temple.

"It'll be okay. I promise."

Buck spent the next few days keeping his distance. He needed to wrap his head around this first before he could focus on giving Christopher his all and Eddie- well, he was a little unsure about how he was supposed to act around him when the two of them were on their own. Not knowing if he might be rejected again when he started another physical advance, he was cautious about engaging anything at all.

He also spent his time alone by letting his thoughts spiral, because he couldn't get a grasp on them, and feeling horrible. Consciously thinking about sexual topics just did that, and focusing on it for days… it made him pretty miserable. He wished he could hide from himself in Eddie's arms. That usually worked. But Eddie had asked this of him and Buck couldn't just ignore that. He had to try.

Or run away again. Maybe Seattle this time. That would be different enough to distract him from missing Eddie and Christopher, and his team, Maddie…

The thought alone made him nauseous. Running away was bad. He'd done it a few times and gained from it, but he was in a much better place now. He didn't want to run away for once.

He had to confront it head on, which meant going to the person who knew best: Karen. Approaching anyone at the station was too nerve-racking after all, with all they always said about his early days at the station. So he ended up keeping it a secret, arranging a date and time with Karen while Hen was at work and he was off.

Buck had no idea how much Karen knew about his sexual exploits but he assumed Hen had shared her view of things with her. So that didn't take much of his anxiety away, but he definitely didn't want to talk to a stranger so here he was, sitting next to Karen in their living room, drinking tea. Nia was playing on the rug to their side and Buck was itching to join her instead.

"I would say speak when you're ready but you've been sitting there silently for 5 minutes already. It's the longest I've seen you quiet and it's starting to worry me," Karen said and Buck knew she was teasing. The light pressure to speak up did its job, though, giving him the freedom to spill his thoughts.

He sighed, staring into the mug between his hands.

"Eddie and I," he started. "Eddie said something recently… and I'm not sure what to think about it. A part of me… thinks he's probably right but then it's also… it also just feels impossible."

Karen's forehead creased as she gazed at him. "Are you two okay?"

Buck was quick to open his mouth to defend but then reconsidered. He shook his head.

"I mean… I hope so? I thought we were but…"

"But?"

"Eddie told me he's demisexual," Buck said, peering up at Hen. His own potential label still refused to come out.

Karen hummed.

"And you're not sure how to feel about that?" She guessed.

"No, I didn't have any problem with it. I'm glad he could tell me because I had no idea. Like, I know he was reserved about his dating and especially sex life but now I can understand why. It's more that…"

Buck lifted a hand helplessly as the words left him again. This time Karen waited patiently, gaze soft and open as he knew it to be. It was insistent though, urging him to voice what he came here for.

"He brought all that up because he thinks… he thinks I might be ace." Buck's hands tightened around his mug, though not even the warmth was much of a comfort. He felt overexposed and small, as if his body was too big for him and he didn't have all the controls.

"That hit a nerve, did it?" Karen asked softly. All Buck could manage was a tense nod.

"You know you don't have to figure it all out at once, right?" Karen's hand settled over Buck's right one and he looked up to find her soothing smile.

"You've done this before, just in a different way. It takes time to find out every little piece of yourself. Figuring out if you're on the asexual spectrum and what it means for you and your relationship will take a while. It's something you have to work on, make yourself comfortable with before you know for sure. Maybe you'll never want to use a distinct label. That's okay, too."

Once she started addressing it specifically, Buck found he couldn't look away, eagerly drinking up everything she had to say like a desert desperate for rainfall.

"You have to allow yourself to fill this space, too. Give yourself room to breathe and be who you are. There are so many ways to be asexual and all of them are just as valid as being allosexual," she continued.

Buck breathed. "That actually is really good to hear," he said quietly, voice trembling.

"You'll be okay. You're finding to yourself. This is good," she assured him, settling back. "And you're with someone who understands, who sees you for who you are. You have support all around you."

"And Eddie and I- we can still work, right? I mean I know I read about relationships that… That- but I just…"

"Of course. Your relationship can be whatever you want it to be. You two decide that. There are no official requirements you have to meet. You make the rules," Karen interrupted.

"Okay." Buck nodded, finally relaxing enough to settle back in his chair. "I think… I needed to hear that."

"Anytime, Buck," Karen replied and he knew she meant it. His attention was already starting to wander though as relief lifted the weight off his shoulders, towards the adorable little toddler to his right.

"Now for some fun times!" He declared as he sunk down to join the girl in her game of building blocks. "Hey, Nia. Can I play too?"

Nia let out bubbling approval as she held up a yellow block at Buck. He grinned and accepted the gift.

"Aw, thanks! I love yellow!"

Nia clapped and then pointed at her construction, clearly instructing Buck on where to put his block. He obliged and she nodded eagerly, clapping for him.

"Yes! Beautiful. I can already see it. This will be the new Eiffel tower. Bigger, better," Buck marveled, letting the giddy happiness of being in such young life's presence take over him. Nia responded in turn with her own sunshine smile, holding up the next block. A purple.

"Hey, while you're at it, do you mind if you watch her for a few minutes while I go have a nice warm bath?" Karen asked, ready to seize the opportunity.

Buck turned to her with a laugh. "It would be my pleasure. I owe you one after all."

He was quick to turn back to Nia, and only peripherally noticed Karen leaving the room.

That night was as good a night as any, Buck figured. If it would take him a longer time to figure it out, he might as well settle into the discomfort and make a place there. He would embrace it. It was a part of him. There was no need to make things more difficult and terrifying than they needed to be.

After a thorough workout and shower, he drove home - Eddie's house, his home - and let himself in. That was how sturdy they already were. They made living together work as if they had been doing it forever. It just felt right. That confidence was what Buck needed to take to deal with this new path.

He found Eddie in the living room, folding laundry and instead of just returning the greeting thrown at him, he immediately went in for a hug, wrapping his arms around Eddie from behind.

"Thank you," he breathed against the back of his neck, a kiss and confession all at once.

Eddie's hands settled over his and he first only turned his head toward him.

"What's this for?" He asked, just as quietly; mellow, safe, home, love.

Buck buried his face in his nape. He didn't know how he could even put it into words. He had spent the last few hours trying to figure it out.

"For giving me the opportunity to be fully me… with the parts of me that I had forgotten- hadn't even realized they were there," he then settled on, tongue feeling especially clumsy and heart beating in his throat. He hoped his tone could convey his meaning instead. He wasn't sure how else to explain if Eddie didn't get it.

Luckily, this was Eddie they were talking about.

The man turned around in Buck's arms, forcing them to loosen for a second. Buck's eyes remained closed, even as Eddie cradled his cheeks in his palms and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"I see you, Evan Buckley," he told him. Buck had to swallow hard before he dared open his eyes but he knew he had too, because his heart was too full to contain all emotion. "And I love all of you."

And Buck soared.

#ace!buck #i wrote this #buddie #911onfox #asexuality #asexual!buck #asexual evan buckley #evan buck buckley #eddie diaz #demi!diaz #sex repulsion #sex repulsed ace #asexual

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tameila · 4 years

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The Sun Always Rises ‘verse, a timeline

Today, February 28th, as of about 2 am, it will have been three years since I first posted The Sun Always Rises. I am immensely proud of what this story became over the years and the universe it created. One thing I always loved while writing TSAR and still love today and, let’s be real, always will love is seeing readers engage with the ‘verse in their own ways. Fics, playlists, fanart! I am continuously overwhelmed by your engagement.

listen, the most tender of my years as a writer were spent as a roleplayer, collaborative writing/world-building is everything to me. so, what better way to nurture that collaborative spirit than to release an extensive timeline of what I have in my mind thus far! I would love to see you guys add your own spin or fill in your own blanks to it. Let’s talk headcanons! Let’s make those headcanons straight-up TSAR canon!!

I’m hoping to keep adding important dates as I continue this ‘verse, because - Yes! I do have sequels planned, and yes, they will come out someday! & I would also love to hear any feedback on dates/timeline particulars that you guys would like to see. This timeline only covers the timeline of Scanlan and Pike’s story, but perhaps I should go further into the past and talk about things like...When exactly did Grog join the Trickfoot family? What’s the timeline on the twins arriving in Westruun again? Wait, how old are Kima and Allura compared to Pike and Keyleth? Anything! You let me know!

Let’s keep the collaboration going! ☀️

to start, some basic information:

Pike’s birthday: May 1990

Scanlan’s birthday: August 1986

Grog’s birthday: October 1986 (held back a year in school due to the trial and transition of him moving from his uncle’s custody to Wilhand’s_

and now let’s begin!

Scanlan and Pike first meet at Grog and Scanlan’s orientation week for college in August 2005

Scanlan just turned 19

Grog will be turning 19 in October

Pike is 15, going into her sophomore year of high school

During his freshman year, Scanlan records a couple demos and tries to peddle copies to as many people on his campus as possible. While visiting one weekend, he gave Pike a signed copy, which she thought was funny (but she still has it) and she took a handful back to distribute around school because Scanlan bought her froyo and she promised she would

Scanlan (20) is found by a talent scout during the Winter of 2006/7 while playing small taverns during winter break and is rush-signed to the Golden Grin. He resolves to stay in school, however, for the sake of his mother. However, juggling recording and song-writing with school work proves too difficult and, in Spring 2007, as his second year of college nears an end, he drops out

Grog (20) drops out with him, throwing himself full force into the fighting career he’d been low-key building up amongst amateur circles

Pike (16) is in her junior year of high school.

Scanlan (20) releases his first single in July 2007 to lukewarm acclaim, and his label immediately thrusts him out into the touring junket to try and get him seen.

Scanlan (21) releases his second single in December 2007, after months of grueling touring, and it’s a big hit. He’s an overnight success, played across stations nationwide. As he’s fielding congratulations from left and right, he receives the news that his mother was murdered in a break-in gone wrong.

He’s allowed (barely) a month to grieve before he’s thrown back into the limelight. Press. More shows. Finalizing his freshman album.

Scanlan (21) releases his first album, Royal, in June 2008. There was one more single released beforehand. He’s touring off-and-on the entire time, mostly as an opening act with a few small venue headliners.

Pike (18) graduates from high school in June 2008. A week later, she sets off on her world travels with Scanlan’s album as her backdrop.

Scanlan begins touring for Royal in July 2008.

Pike (18, almost 19) returns from her world travels in March 2009.

Near the end of his headline tour and after her return from her world travels, Scanlan (22) and Pike (19) see each other for the “second first time” in July 2009 at Grog’s (22) first headliner fight against his long-estranged cousin, Zanror.

it’s the night that their relationship dynamic changes from “kid sister/big brother’s friend” to flirty asides and shy glances.

While still touring and adjusting to his new celebrity status, Scanlan begins work on his new album. After touring ends in late July 2009, he throws himself into collaborations with other artists within the industry.

During Spring Break 2010, Pike (20) visits Scanlan’s (23) new mansion along with her brother, Grog (23). [please refer to this work of art by the legend, jabletown]

In between Royal and Aubergine, Scanlan releases the Wine – EP in July 2010. It showcases songs that will eventually show up on his sophomore album and includes another chart-topping single that sustains his place in the zeitgeist until his next album.

Scanlan (24) releases his second album, Aubergine, in February 2011.

Scanlan tours Aubergine (March 2011-Feb 2012). At some point during the tour, Pike attends a show. Scanlan and her have some flirtations, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Mostly because Scanlan gets overwhelmed by the fact that, “Holy shit. She’s actually flirting back with, like, equal intensity and intent” and he freaks out, and Pike finds him later making out with someone else. Nice one, Scanman.

Half-way through the tour dates (Feb 2012), at the after-party of some award show, Scanlan coked out of his mind causes a big media scene. When he goes unresponsive during the car ride back to his hotel, he’s rushed to the hospital. He goes into rehab the first time (Feb 2011-May 2011). Dranzel takes over his management.

Despite Dranzel’s encouragement for him to take a break, Scanlan resumes touring in July 2011. He finishes touring in December 2011.

Scanlan relapses again in September 2012. Pike sends him her letter. Scanlan is 26. Pike is 22. He attends rehab from September 2012-January 2013.

Pike (23) graduates from college in June 2013. She worked at the temple throughout her studies but, with the addition of her degree, Wilhand increases her responsibilities.

After exiting rehab, Scanlan jumps right back into working. He releases a couple of stand-alone singles, as well as a couple of collaborations with other artists. He makes his rounds around the music world, as if showing off that – Look! He’s clean and back again! Probably stars in a movie while, in the background, he writes for other artists.

In his personal life, he’s thrown himself full force into the recovery program. And everything’s great! He’s so busy that he has no time to think about drugs!

During this time, there is more back-and-forths between Scanlan and Pike. Nothing substantial but little somethings, nonetheless. This is when Scanlan makes a lot of promises to Grog about visiting, but he never falls through, always too afraid that he’s not ready to face Pike yet. Not yet.

In June 2014, he tweets ‘#E6E6FA’, the color code for Lavender. He follows the tweet up with more cryptic social media posts that hint of his presence back in the studio.

Scanlan releases the first single to his upcoming album in late September 2014. It is included on an EP in February 2015, the EP includes previously unreleased B-sides from Aubergine. Scanlan releases it with an apology for the long wait.

Wilhand suffers an accident in early November 2015. Grog leaves competitive fighting to be close to home. Pike takes over as Head Cleric at the temple. Pike is 25. Scanlan is 29.

November 15, on the night before her first sermon, Scanlan and Pike have late night Skype call. This is when Scanlan writes ‘Late Night Angel’, a last minute addition to his album tracklist.

Scanlan releases his third album, Lavender, in May 2016. The touring is far less intense than for Aubergine. He plays primarily within the US with a few big shows in big-ticket international cities. The Lavender tour runs from late May 2016-December 2016.

Afterwards, Scanlan goes radio silent. He’s beginning to run out of steam. Recovery feels repetitive and pointless. Pike never made it to any of his Lavender shows. His grand plans to woo her were never seen to fruition. Though they communicate regularly, he feels more alone than ever. With no drugs or parties or touring to distract him, Scanlan begins to spiral again.

The Sun Always Rises starts in March 2018.

Chapter 17 takes place in March 2019.

Scanlan does a small, “farewell” tour from April 2019-September 2019.

#Pikelan #The Sun Always Rises #im still working on that chapter 10 Scanlan POV fic #hopefully it'll be finished sometime this weekend! 🤞#and yes i know - in true TSAR fashion - i'm posting this at dead hours

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ayma-nidiot · 3 years

Text

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 11

This chapter on AO3 can be found here.

Chapter 11 - Strengthening My Deck

~29 July 2005~

“Phew…” Rex could finally walk on his own again after nearly two months of hospitalization. While holding Weevil’s hand, he now walked out of the hospital, greeted by the sunlight. “It feels nice to have not thrown up once this week.”

“I can’t even imagine.” Weevil frowned.

Rex caressed his now-very-obvious baby bump. “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble, you know that? When you grow up, you better be grateful.” Despite what he said, the presence of this new occupant in his body calmed him, and he spoke with a smile.

“So, Rex… How are you feeling?” Weevil placed a hand on Rex’s forehead; he felt a little hot, but not as much as he did a couple of months back.

“Great! Except…” Rex had felt a slow ache in his chest on his entire walk out of the hospital; he now had man boobs, and hadn’t noticed them until just now. “This whole pregnancy thing is still so surreal. It’s hard to imagine that five months from now, I’ll be breastfeeding our child.”

Weevil enjoyed the time they had together, smiling at Rex’s baby bump while the bug duelist stroked it. Then he broke the silence with, “Now that you’re out, what do you want to do?”

“Duel, what else?”

“No. Absolutely not.” Weevil held up a hand to slap Rex, and barely held it back. “You’re going to study for your college entrance exams so we can go to the same college together. And I don’t want you to risk a miscarriage.”

“But Weeves, I studied like the trooper I am, even while I was in the hospital!” Rex flexed his arms. “You did see, didn’t you?”

“But… Considering how you barely graduated-”

“Weeves.” Rex placed both hands on his boyfriend’s shoulders. “I am going to die of boredom if I don’t duel every now and then.”

“Well, good luck trying to find someone who wants to duel you, because it certainly won’t be me.” Weevil put his foot down.

“Humph. Some fun you are, bug boy.”

“Did someone say ‘duel?’” spoke a man’s voice from the hospital entrance.

“Waaaah!” Rex nearly doubled over. “Don’t scare me like that, you turd- Wait, I remember you. You’re that creep that was spying on me from my hospital room two months ago.”

The mystery man completely ignored Rex and revealed his Duel Disk. “If you’re looking for a challenger, you’ve got one.”

Then, just like that, Rex had put aside how this man weirded him out, and readied his own Duel Disk. “It’s a good thing that Weeves and I were strengthening our decks when I was hospitalized, or else I probably wouldn’t have this on me.”

“Are you out of your damned mind, Rex?” Weevil tried to stop his boyfriend, and might have been able to, had Amber not appeared out of the blue.

“No, I think he’ll be fine,” Amber spoke with her own Duel Disk at the ready. “While the pain inflicted by direct attacks feels real and immense, keep in mind that it’s all illusion. It shouldn’t pose a threat to him.”

“Who asked you? ” Weevil snarled. “And anyway, where the hell were you these past two months?”

“...Strengthening my deck,” Amber replied tersely.

“Aaaargh!” Weevil angrily activated his Duel Disk. “You know what, dino brain, go ahead. Duel if you want. But I’m tag teaming with you to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

“So, I guess that means I’m tag teaming with this pretty lady here?” asked the mystery man.

“Can it, you toad.” Amber then looked to her opponents. “Duel standby!”

“Ladies first,” Weevil said to Amber.

“Don’t underestimate me, bug boy. I set a monster and another card, then end my turn.”

Weevil drew his first card. “I summon Armored Bee in attack mode, and set a card!”

“What, that’s it?” asked the mystery man. “Too bad, because I set this pretty cool trap. Then I summon two Gilasaurus and a Jurrac Velo in attack mode.”

“Whoa!” Rex exclaimed. “Another dino duelist! Well, I’ll show you that I’m the best dino duelist in this city!”

“So draw your card then, dino brain.” Weevil rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever. I summon Giant Rex in attack mode, play the spell Jurassic World, then set a card. Go ahead, hot stuff.”

“Oh, I’ll show you who’s hot stuff…” Amber grumbled. “I activate my spell card Eradicating Aerosol! That gets rid of all insects on the field, which includes my set monster, Pinch Hopper!”

“I’m still better at using insects than you, punk,” Weevil snarled as he was now open to a direct attack.

“Really? Then how do you plan to stop this? Thanks to Pinch Hopper’s effect, I can Special Summon any insect from my hand… Say hello to the gorgeous, magnificent Insect Princess!”

“‘Insect Princess?’” Weevil had never heard of this card before, but it certainly looked familiar. “Huh. Well, I’ve got the Queen, and once I can summon her, your Princess will be done for!”

“Is that what you think? Insect Princess! Prove this worm boy wrong!”

“Hehehe, she’s going to have to wait! I activate Enemy Controller to force your Insect Princess into defense mode!”

“Heh, nothing I can’t handle. I set a card, then end my turn.”

Okay! Weevil smirked when he drew his Metamorphosed Insect Queen. The only other two cards in his hand, however, were Naturia Butterfly and another Armored Bee. All I need is Pinch Hopper, and I can summon my Queen! I should probably do something about those monsters the weird man has… “I activate Armored Bee’s special ability to cut the attack of one of the Gilasaurus in half! Now, Armored Bee, give that Gilasaurus a good sting!”

“Oof…” The mystery man took 900 points of damage. “Not bad, not bad… But my other Gilasaurus is still fine! I use it to attack your Armored Bee!”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Rex cut in and revealed his face-down card. “My trap Dimensional Prison… well, traps your Gilasaurus in a dimensional prison!”

“Hahahaha…”

“What, was my joke actually that funny?”

“Yeah. Believe that if you want to. Jurrac Velo, stomp that Bee!”

Crap… Weevil gulped. I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting Rex, and yet I’m open to attack. Again.

Rex drew Polymerization; he now only needed a Gilasaurus to summon Horned Saurus. That Jurrac Velo is going to be a problem… But my Giant Rex has the same attack. I think I should kamikaze it. “I summon another Giant Rex, and use one of them to destroy your Jurrac Velo!”

“Not the sharpest tool in the shed, are we?” the mystery man snickered. “When my Jurrac Velo is destroyed, I can Special Summon a Jurrac monster from my deck! And I chose Jurrac Gallim!”

“I’m sharper than you think! I have that card, and I know what it does!”

“Yup, you’re so sharp that you told your opponent what cards you have in your deck,” Weevil sighed.

“Shut up, bug boy! At least I have monsters to protect me!” Rex shot back.

“Uh… Do you guys always bicker like this?” Amber looked at her opponents cock-eyed.

“No!” Both young men replied simultaneously.

“This is going to break up the tea party… Insect Princess, attack Weevil directly!”

“Owwwww!” Weevil fell to his knees. ‘An illusion,’ my ass! ...Okay, I didn’t draw a Pinch Hopper, but at least I can stall for time with my Naturia Butterfly. “I summon Naturia Butterfly in defense-”

“Ohoho, I don’t think so,” Amber interrupted. “Thanks to Insect Princess’ special ability, your insect monster is forced into attack mode!”

“I… end my turn…”

“Yup, you’re boned.” Rex bit his lip. “A monster with 500 ATK isn’t going to help.”

“Shaddup! I can still activate my Butterfly’s special ability!”

“There they go again,” the mystery man laughed. “I play Double Summon so that I can summon another Gilasaurus! Then I tribute it and my Jurrac Gallim to summon the king of my dinosaur deck… Jurrac Tyrannus!”

“Wow!!” Despite the tight spot both he and Weevil were in, Rex admired this enormous monster. “Where did you get it? I want it bad!”

“Maybe I’ll let you have it if you beat me. Emphasis on ‘maybe.’ Why don’t I show you just what it can do? Once per turn, I can tribute a dinosaur to my Tyrannus so he gains 500 attack points! And I tribute my last Gilasaurus! Prepare to say goodbye, Weevil!”

“S-So? I can still negate your attack with Naturia Butterfly!”

“But wait! There’s more! I activate my trap Survival Instinct! This allows me to banish any number of dinos from my Graveyard and gain 400 Life Points for each! Since I have five, that’s 2000 Life Points I gain! But my dinos won’t be banished for long. I shuffle them all back into my deck so I can summon the second strongest monster in my deck… Come on out, Overtex Qoatlus!”

“Oh no…” Even with Naturia Butterfly’s effect, Weevil knew that he was done for.

“Go, my dinos! Stomp that puny butterfly and wipe out the rest of Weevil’s Life Points!”

“Hah…” Weevil looked up at Rex from a kneeling position. “Sorry, hun, they got me.”

Amber cut in, “You know, Rex, there’s nothing in your deck that can stand up to a Jurrac Tyrannus. I’ll be a sweetheart and let you yield now, if you want.”

“Never! The runner-up at regionals doesn’t yield!” Rex would soon regret this decision, however, as during his next turn, he didn’t summon anything meaningful, and the mystery man’s mighty monsters stomped him flat. “Well, that… um… was quite the challenge.”

As soon as the duel ended, Weevil ran up to Rex, and touched his baby bump. “Rex! Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Rex stretched a bit before fully standing up and approaching the mystery man. “I really would love to learn more about your playing style! Especially since I have never met another dinosaur duelist before! Dude, what’s your name?”

“The name’s Dr. Saurus. I’m actually a professor at Domino City University.”

“Hey, did you hear that, Weeves?” Rex turned to his boyfriend. “If I make it into your college, then I might have this guy as my teacher!”

“So now do you have incentive to study, dino brain?”

“You bet! But I also have to ask… Is there a special reason that the two of you wanted to duel us? And a tag duel, no less?”

“...” Amber stayed silent for a bit before she replied, “Dr. Saurus and I have always been big fans of yours ever since your glory days from regionals.”

“What? I didn’t know we still had fans!” Weevil exclaimed.

“That explains why you wanted to follow me around when we were still in high school.”

“Yup! Though I think Weevil is way smarter than you, which is why I chose to use an insect deck. I think it’s a sophisticated type that only the best of the best can appreciate.”

“Hahaha!” Weevil stuck his tongue out at Rex, who pouted in response.

“So now that we have a common bond through dueling, why don’t we go for a stroll?” Dr. Saurus proposed.

“Yes, please,” Rex answered as the four began their walk. “Dr. Saurus, please teach me all of your-”

The dino duelist stopped in his tracks when he noticed a whiff of what he thought was a Red-Eyes Black Dragon fly past.

“Rex? Is something the matter, hun?”

“No, I… Either my pregnancy is causing me to hallucinate, or someone’s Duel Disk visuals are malfunctioning.”

“I highly doubt it’s the latter.” Weevil took Rex’s hand into his own. “Come, let’s go.”

#yugioh #ygo #shrimpshipping #ryuhaga #mpreg

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