#(i know you agree with a good deal of this i'm mostly talking to like)

[mintmatcha]

I am so soft for father figure Shinsou, thank you for giving me something I didn’t know I needed. Just doing everyday things with him and him being soft towards you child is giving me life.

Casual. That's the word you used to describe what the meeting should be. Casual.

"He's a good boy, for the most part." Your bag is already stuffed full of toys and towels and other miscellaneous things that Shinso can't imagine you'll need. "His dad spoils him, so he might be a little bratty at first- we're working on it. Well, I'm working on it. His dad is--"

You kneel down and start rummaging through your things.

"Uh, don't let him guilt you into buying him snacks, please. He's got a severe nut and seed allergy and it's just easier if I take care of it all. There's snacks in here, along with two epipens. There's two more in the red cabinet in the kitchen, just in case we ever need them. "

Somehow, you manage to wiggle out the sunscreen for your bag without collapsing the whole pile. You dollop a bit on your fingers.

"Once they get here, we'll go straight to the park and hang out there for just a little bit. The book says the first meeting should be short and we should give him other things to focus out so he doesn't stress out." Your shoulders are bunched by your ears. "It'll be super casual. Easy. No stress."

Shinso kneels down next to you and dips a finger in the sunscreen.

"No stress," Shinso repeats back, dotting the sunscreen on your nose. It's enough to urge a smile out of you.

"Sorry, I know I'm--" You toss your hands in the air, frazzled, but with a smile. "This is a big deal."

"I know it is."

"We've only been dating for eight months," you say/ "What if we're jumping the gun? I don't want to put him through this if-"

"I'm not planning on breaking up with you." Ever. Shinso wouldn't have agreed to this if he wasn't completely sure that you were the one for him. It's not that he doesn't like children, it's that he's never spent time with any. Only child, no cousins: he doesn't know anything about kids other than the fact he used to be one.

You reach other and dot Shinso's nose with sunscreen. Now, you're matching.

"You might break up with me after you see what I'm dealing with."

Shinso takes your hand. "I'm not going to leave because you have a kid."

"I was talking about his father," you heave out a sigh. "They'll probably be late, by the way."

-

They are late.

Significantly.

It's six hours past the allotted time, filled with weak excuses from you. The television has rolled into the second season of some trashy show, but neither of you are really watching.

"He always loses track of time," you repeat for the twentieth time, trying to hide the disappointment in your voice. Shinso is long past disappointed, well into the area of 'pissed'. Mostly at your ex, partially at you, for letting it happen.

"He's still not calling you back?"

"No," you say, just like you've said before. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him know about you, he's just-- I dunno. Playing games with me again."

It contextualizes a lot of your behaviors, actually. The anxiety about getting home, the days you go radio silent, the dates where you suddenly have to run off and collect your child: he imagines there's a lot of bullshit games that happen between you two.

"You let him treat you like this?"

"He's my baby's father. I can't just..."

[antimony-medusa]

Okay so, one of my problems with creator boundaries as an event runner is that it's impossible to keep up with them all, because they're being updated, and because so much of the time you learn them when they're reported to you, you weren't in stream yourself. So it's a game of telephone, and there's a constant issue that the message gets garbled in translation.

So the stance that I've taken as an event runner is that I will not be enforcing boundaries, and everyone can decide for themselves what relationships they're comfortable with. This seemed like the best stance for me to deal with the beeduo /p /r wars, and then I have continued to see many other smaller or larger instances where I've gone "yeah, enforcing creators boundaries as an event mod is a nonstarter, I'm sticking with that".

And I've been mostly concerned about issues like— I am not an avid watcher of Gem streams! I might miss things that happen in Gem streams, I don't know what the creator's exact boundaries are for what's okay to do in her vision. But meanwhile I've been over here in Phil streams, and I've assumed that I have known Phil's boundaries, because they get repeated SO MUCH. Everybody knows— no nsfw, and then we argue about if the only shipping allowed is with Mumza (the dsmp stance) or if his continued gay flirting with men on QSMP means he's okay with shipping with them (he kissed a man on camera on QSMP, for example). That is the received wisdom about Phil's boundaries, we all know where we stand and how we're interpreting things.

And I have been like okay, Phil doesn't want to see NSFW, I don't think he's reading my Ao3 history, maybe I will read the occasional pissa fic for fun. There are some good fics in the tag, you know. I will just keep it out of his sight, and the streamer doesn't have to know, right?

Cut to today, where I'm being kicked out of a discord server for bookmarking one (1) Phil NSFW fic. They sent me a clip to prove that NSFW was against the rules and why I was getting kicked. So I watched the clip in the interest of completeness.

And guys, when I tell you my jaw fucking dropped, because I do NOT agree that anyone should have asked the streamer this, but someone got him to talk about NSFW fan work, "weirdchamp shit", and he explicitly with his mouth says that he "could not give a shit" and "everybody lets out their creativity in different ways", and "ultimately it isn't hurting anybody", and as long as he doesn't see it, he's fine with it. As long as it's kept out of his stream he's fine.

So uh, guys? I know it's not like we haven't been cautiously creeping this way ourselves, just keeping it out of the streamer's sight, but explicitly, word of god from the streamer, I think Phil NSFW has been legal this whole time.

[oopsiedaisydeer]

ꜰɪʀᴇ ᴀʟᴀʀᴍ

…𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦-𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥

slow burn, mutual pining, office romance, romantic tension, miscommunication, jealousy, unresolved feelings, longing, subtle angst, yearning

introducing dotty, my nickname for officecrush!reader!!

word count - 1.1k

The phone rings around 10:47 a.m, just as she’s reaching for her mug of lukewarm coffee. She answers it out of habit, eyes still half on her inbox. The voice on the other end is sweet and chipper.

“Hey, Dotty! It’s Sophie. Can you patch me through to Matt?”

She pauses, fingers hovering over the phone system. Sophie. Of course.

The sales girl Matt drove home once. More than once.

She glances over at his office through the glass wall. He’s wearing that light blue button-up he looks good in, sleeves rolled up like usual, hair fluffed from running his hand through it a thousand times already. She wonders if Sophie notices things like that too. If she compliments him. A part of her hopes she does, another wants to puke at the thought.

“Sure thing!” she says quickly, throat a little dry. She transfers the call before Sophie can say anything else. She knows it’s not a big deal. They’re just grabbing lunch. Still, something about it itches under her skin.

Dotty tries not to look over again, but out of the corner of her eye, she catches the moment he answers. He leans back slightly, smiling at whatever Sophie is saying. It’s not like the smiles he gives her, or maybe it is. She can’t really tell right now.

She hadn’t even realised he was still seeing her. That thought sinks in slowly, heavier than she expected.

By noon, she’s knee-deep in spreadsheets and trying to forget the way Matt laughed on that call. She’s focused, mostly, until the fire alarm goes off. Sharp, sudden, and way too loud.

Everyone groans. Someone makes a joke about burned popcorn again. Dotty quietly grabs her phone and stands up with the rest of her colleagues as she files out into the stairwell.

Matt catches up with her halfway down the stairs.

“Another drill? Or is this the real thing this time?”

She shrugs. “Depends. Did you bring your lunch?”

He laughs softly. “Nah, I'm grabbing food with a friend.”

A friend? Oh. Right. Sophie.

Outside, the whole team is standing around in loose clusters in the parking lot. The sky is overcast, but the fresh air is nice. She’s standing a bit off to the side, talking quietly with one of the marketing girls, keeping mostly to herself. Matt drifts over and stands beside her. Not saying anything. Just there.

A few people start a game to pass the time. “Three movies you'd bring to a desert island?”

Someone says Pitch Perfect.

Matt snorts audibly. “Seriously? You want an a capella drama while you're dying of heatstroke?”

She laughs before she can stop herself. “Honestly, I kind of like that movie. I used to watch it with my mum all the time.”

Matt turns to her, mock betrayal in his eyes. “Dotty... you didn’t strike me as a Barden Bella.”

She smirks. “It's comforting. Sue me.”

“Comforting,” he echoes. “Right. Next you’re gonna say you like Twilight.”

She looks at him sideways. “As a comedy, or…?”

He blinks. “I don’t even know you.”

The group splits naturally into smaller clusters, accounting and sales huddled together by the curb, admin and HR under the tree near the backlot. Most of the guys from the office, including Matt, wander off a bit, leaning against the building’s brick wall, where someone pulls out a cigarette and starts the next game.

“Alright,” someone says. “Who would you do?”

Matt huffs out a laugh. “Really? We’re doing this now?”

“Come on, it's tradition.”

Names get tossed out fast. Amanda, someone says. Priya. Then…

“Dotty. Easy.”

Matt’s eyebrows lift slightly, but he stays quiet, listening.

More than one person agrees.

“She’s got that quiet thing going on, y’know? Shy.”

Matt’s jaw shifts subtly. His gaze drifts toward where Dotty stands, halfway across the lot. She’s got her arms crossed over her chest, hair pulled up in that half up half down style she always does when she’s trying not to overheat. She’s talking to another girl, nodding gently, smiling at something that was said.

Someone elbows him. “What about you, Matt?”

He takes a second to think, mouth suddenly dry. He manages a smirk, then says simplfy. “The corporate’s rep.”

A round of laughter follows, but he doesn't laugh. Not really.

He keeps looking over.

When it’s the girls' turn, the game naturally drifting over, everyone starts throwing out Matt’s name like it’s obvious. She instinctively shrinks back a little, hoping they skip over her.

“Matt. Definitely Matt.”

She keeps her eyes on the ground, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve, toeing at a crack in the pavement.

“Dotty, you gonna say Luke or what?” someone teases.

She looks up, startled. "Huh?"

The girls giggle. “Your fiancé, silly.”

“Right,” she says quickly, swallowing the heat in her cheeks.

But she wasn’t thinking about Luke. His name hadn’t even popped into her head.

Luke shows up right then, slipping through the crowd to her side. He leans in, pressing a brief kiss to her cheek. His hand rests a little too firmly on her lower back.

“You good? Didn’t think this thing would take so long.”

“Yeah,” she says, voice a little smaller than usual.

He scans the crowd, then mutters, “Figures they'd let everyone goof off instead of just sending us back in.”

She gives a small nod, but doesn’t say anything. His grip lingers before he walks off to join the guys. The girls fall quiet for a beat.

One of them finally says, “He’s cute. Kind of intense.”

Dotty doesn’t answer. She’s still watching where Luke walked off, then shifts her gaze, just slightly, to Matt.

That’s when Sophie shows up, a little breathless, clearly looking for Matt. He walks over to her easily, like they do this all the time. She slips into the circle with everyone else, looping her arm lightly through Matt’s.

“Did I miss something fun?”

“We’re talking desert island movies,” someone says.

Sophie grins. “Easy. Pitch Perfect.”

She glances at Matt. He’s laughing, but it sounds different now. Not performative. Just... soft.

Dotty turns away, swallowing around the lump in her throat. The sky’s starting to clear above them, a little sun breaking through. Someone says they’ll probably be allowed back in soon.

She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, gaze drifting over to the trees swaying gently in the breeze.

She looks back at Matt, whose eyes meet hers. For a second, she thinks he might say something.

And for a second, Matt forgets Sophie’s arm around his. He forgets the game, the parking lot, even his lunch plans. He just sees her. The way her eyes drop. The way she looks away, like she doesn’t want him to know she’d been looking.

By the time he shifts forward, she’s already turned away, facing her fiancé. And so he moves. Lets it be. 

Dotty blinks, and he’s already walking away. Sophie beside him, laughter trailing behind like a ribbon in the breeze.

Dotty doesn’t look away.

She just stays there, quietly watching, as Luke swings his arm around her shoulder.

@bernardsbendystraws for the dividers ꨄ

a/n: lacy oh lacyyyyyy

theoffice!au taglist: @mattsstarlet @throatgoat4u @sturnsrecord @applecidersturniolo @certainfestivalnerdshepherd @sosasturns @ifwdominicfike @sturns-mermaid @sturnberries @mattscherries @mattsturnsgirlie @snoopychris @hjvi @loverboysturn @backwardshatnick @priscillaog @ribbonlovergirl @irmantez @corspebridedelrey @pretty-random-writer @ilovebirds17 @snoopymatt @princesspeach0-0 @blahbel668 @marysongohmy @sturnl0ve @heavenlybunnies11 @chris-hallelujah @courta13 @sweetshuga @pair-of-pantaloons @st7rnioioss @mattswifeyy @bluestriips @marialovessturniolo @matts-girlfriend @wtvrnvrmnd @sturnslutz @chrislova @chrisslut04 @mi-co-uk @sturniolotoast @ed1tssturnn @stellasbookshelf comment to be added!

[emeraldserenade]

The Better Cousin ~ Joaquín Torres

synopsis: you agreed to be your friend's date to his cousin's birthday, it got complicated when he started flirting with a girl. You end up confiding in Joaquín when he approaches you.

tw: fem!reader, limited use of y/n, cabnw spoliers, barely edited.

fic, ficlet, drabble, request

This did not turn out the way I wanted it but it's whatever.

I'm just finishing up some things I have in my drafts so that way I will less guilty when I have to stop posting while I'm dealing with my family thing.

➽──────────────❥

It was as simple, accepting to be your friend's date. He was tired of his family asking when he was going to get a girlfriend. You loved him, sure, but you weren't in love with him. There was no feelings which is why you were so comfortable with it. Sure, you had to go on a roadtrip with your work friend all the way to Arizona.

It was going well, you met his family and had a good time. That's when him and some of his cousin's decided to go to a bar after the party. Which is where you found yourself, sitting alone and staring at him as he flirted and made out with a blonde.

"Hey, y/n, right?" Joaquín, one of the cousin's you had yet to talk to, asked when he sat down. "I'm Joaquín," he offered his hand and you shook it.

"Hi," you awkwardly told him, not knowing what else to say.

"Where's Richie?" Joaquín looked around and you saw the moment he spotted Richie. "Is he?"

"Making out with a blonde? Yeah," you shrugged, knowing that after this he would tell his family that you two broke up.

"You don't sound upset," Joaquín looked back at you.

"Richie and I aren't actually dating, we're friends. Coworkers mostly, he just didn't want to be hounded by your family about being single," you grabbed your drink, just a non-alcoholic Shirley Temple, the jingle of your bracelets causing Joaquín to look at them.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we had a plan. I was going to show up with him and then in like a week or so he was going to say we either broke up or come clean. Whichever he chose, I was willing to be the bad guy," you shrugged, not really caring.

"What's the plan now that he's making out with her?" Joaquín sounded genuinely curious.

"Here comes the rest of your family, so I guess I'm coming clean," you told Joaquín as his family came up with sympathy. There was a lot of comforting words from them, it made you smile knowing that even though they've only know you for a day they were willing to comfort you.

"I'll go fight his ass," Felix told you before moving to walk away.

"Wait," you called out, gently grasping his wrist. "It's ok, and I'm not just saying that. Richie and I are coworkers, friends. He just didn't want you guys to ask about a girlfriend so I said I would pretend. Truly, it's my fault, I suggested it. Well, not that I would be his fake girlfriend but that he could just lie about having one, he asked me if I would pretend. And I'm going to stop talking now," you realized you were rambling. Everyone around you just nodded and you realized how they weren't in the least bit shocked.

"Oh, thank goodness," one of the female cousins, Angeline, laughed. "No offense, but you could do so much better than Richie. Trust me," he smiled at you and you smiled back. Everyone dispersed from around you, minus Joaquín.

"They weren't shocked," you stated in slight disbelief.

"Every time he was asked something about you or talked about you, he sounded so disinterested. Everyone thought this was once sided and didn't want to hurt your feelings," Joaquín told you and you raised your eyebrows.

"Oh, I guess I never thought about how bad he was at acting," you mumbled.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You and Joaquín had been talking for hours, both of you hadn't been drinking. You were approached a few minutes ago by various cousins saying they were headed home. You two were only still there waiting on Richie to either go home with the blonde or come over staying he was ready to go.

"So you're the new Falcon?" You were leaning close to Joaquín, the music in the bar had been turned down a little but it was still relatively loud.

"I am, I just have to finish healing before Sam will let me do anything," Joaquín told you. He had told you about what happened at Celestial Island.

"That's cool," you're eyes tracked Richie as he walked over.

"Are you two ok with me going with Ginny?" He pointed his thumb over to the blonde he's been talking to all night.

"That's fine with me," you looked over at Joaquín who nodded.

"Well, see you two," Richie ran over to Ginny and you looked back at Joaquín.

"Ready to go home?" Joaquín stood and offered you his hand, which you accepted.

"I hope you mean back to your family home because I live all the way out in DC," you joked.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

Joaquín and you carefully walked back into the house, most of the lights were off which is why you both slightly jumped when you ran into his mother in the living room. You stepped closer to him while he wrapped his arm around your shoulders in fear.

"Oh, Quino, y/n, you two are home," she gave you a smile. "The others told the rest of us all about the plan you and Richie had, my dear," her smile shifted into a knowing one.

"I'm sorry about lying to all of you," you hung your head slightly.

"It's ok," you missed the way her eyes went between you and Joaquín. His arm still around your shoulders and you stepping even closer. "I understand wanting to help a friend, plus maybe there's come good in this after all. We did get to meet you," she smiled and you looked back up at her with one of your own. "Oh, I hope you don't mind but we moved some people into the room you were supposed to stay in. I hope you don't mind having to share a room with Quino."

"Oh," you are Joaquín shared a look. "I don't mind if you don't," you told Joaquín.

"I don't," he told you.

"Good, we moved you things in there. Now run along to bed you two," Joaquín's mom told you, both of you wishing her a good night before going upstairs to bed.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

"You two know," Richie started talking, it had been a few years since you first went with him to his cousin's birthday. You and Joaquín had been dating for 2 of those. "You two wouldn't be together if it weren't for me," Richie gloated, you were sitting on Joaquín's lap laughing. You felt his arms tighten around your waist.

"Hm, and you wouldn't be single if you just listened to me and asked Ginny out. Yet here you are, single and moping because you're a coward," you gave Richie a bitchy smile.

"You win, this time," he told you.

"I win every time, how else do you think I got the better cousin?" You leaned back into Joaquín as everyone laughed.

➽──────────────❥

Masterlist | Requests

[seraphinitegames]

Hi! Hope everything is well 😊

Just played the demo and it's sooo god! 😍 Replayed it several times already.

I've tried every type of playthrough for each wayhaven book. Like, literally every single one... for each stat, personality, type of relationship with each RO, who your BFF is....etc...

I'm just obsessed with how even small things changes the dialogue, I can't help it, it's like Pokemon, I gotta catch them all 🤣

And I already know i'll replay this one the most 😍 and it has absolutely nothing to do with the hot Villain, or the MC getting awesome super powers. Or the angst. Or the mental image of a MC going full on "Unlimited Power!" On the next Murphy, or Anwir, or Bobby, definitely not Bobby. Nope.

Not. At. All.

....

Anyways...

So I just have to ask (Even though i'm guessing we're going into spoiler territory) how is the Villain as a RO? Right now i'm getting the feeling that they (mostly) wants MC for this "power" they keep mentioning, but is there another reason?

Also just for fun, like in the other RO asks, where does the Villain land in the rankings? For most clingy, emotional, affectionate, etc. Then, of course the most important one, Jealousy. I know we can't really pursue the Villain if we're already romancing someone, but how do they feel about the "competition"? Are they not worried/bothered at all, or should we prepare to go full on supernatural prepper mode and look for underground bunkers for our RO? 😳

If it's the latter i'm guessing my MC is going to check if Sin is willing to side hustle as our RO's bodyguard...

Whether RO agrees to it or not.

(Yes Adam/Ava and Mason/Morgan i'm talking to you!) because I WILL protect you against your will. Deal with it or I swear i'll go full on lovey dovey mode on you, with daily, heart on your sleeve love confessions and love poems.

That I will read out in public.

Everywhere you go, you'll find roses waiting for you. There will be no escape from the sweet and sincere love MC holds for you.

Then I will force you to watch every single sappy romance movie on this planet!

EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

So shut it and get in the bunker with Sin!

NOW. 😡

Oh, interesting questions for Li-Sar, hehe! :D

As I've said multiple times—and will keep saying, lol!—the villain is very much a villain. They're not like Falk or Sin where things get a bit morally one way or other kind of thing.

Li-Sar is a power-hungry villain.

But, saying that, if you choose to do the romance route fully, then they will love the MC. They will fall as deep as the vampires do.

BUT this is still a villain romance. Li-Sar is not a good person, lol!

The way it will play is like the vampires in that it is a love that is a soul-mate kind of thing, your MC feels for Li-Sar and can't help it (though there will be lots and lots of times to be able to pull out before fully committing to the romance, but once you're in it, you're in it—and I will put a warning in game about when it will be locked in).

As a romance option Li-Sar is intense, tempting, and overwhelming, but also surprisingly gentle and…needful.

-

As for when you can't romance Li-Sar (if you're already on a vampire romance route), Li-Sar doesn't do well with competition, and will make that very plainly clear!

-

Thank you so much for the asks and the message! <3

[seat-safety-switch]

Do you have a zipper on your person right now? Take a look at that zipper. Chances are it's made by an enormous Japanese conglomerate called YKK. If not, it's probably some knockoff zipper that also says "YKK," because they know that's what folks expect to be there.

Does it bother you that nearly every zipper on planet Earth has passed through the hands of Tokyoite ultra-industrialists? It does to me, so I went ahead and visited one of their competitors, you know, the folks who make the sucky zippers nobody wants. The haters (and my parole officer, who too is complicit in this hating) think it's strange that I have this kind of travelling-the-world money to drop on a whim just for a journalistic project. I agree with them that it is strange, and offer no explanation.

Soon, I was walking the streets of Germany. Germany is one of those countries that is not Japan, which is to its detriment. They try, though. In fact, they try so hard that their zipper-makers have cut a deal with YKK to step aside and not compete. That made the government angry, mostly because it meant that all their clothes were stuck with inferior German zippers. Didn't last long until everyone involved was pulled into the principal's office and struck with an oversized bratwurst until they let YKK zippers come back. Only thing that beats a monopsony is a monopoly, that's what my old economics professor used to say. He didn't like zippers. More of a button man.

Anyway, I showed up at the crappy German zipper company, ready to look at some crappy zippers in their showroom. Maybe make an ass of myself in front of one of their PR talking-heads and get ejected. Be a good start to my documentary. There, I saw the horrible truth. An intern had left a door open, and I was able to peer into the factory floor. There, a line of YKK zippers were being spraypainted over, and then a row of little old ladies with magnifying visors hand-painted their logo onto the freshly-blacked-out zippers. Yet more fraud! I gasped, and turned to leave, but the guards were on me already.

What I'm trying to say is: just buy whatever zipper you want. They're all the same anyway, and any perceived difference in quality is surely based entirely on prejudice. Can I go now?

[daenysx]

I seriously love the vibes of all your sleepovers. Can I ask for modern!au where James Potter babies and comforts reader when she’s having a hard time? If not totally understand <3

James has big hands. Big, not so soft because the air is dry and he neglects applying hand cream, but always gentle. He's really good at putting on the right amount of pressure as he rubs wide circles on your back. You kind of want to melt here and never deal with anything else.

It's a bad day. More like a bad week. You can find reasons or maybe excuses if you try hard enough, but you don't want to. You feel beyond overwhelmed, so emotional but also so empty. Something disturbs your stomach, your legs get numb if you don't stretch them enough. Your body doesn't feel like it's yours and- that's too annoying to be true.

James is here. He always is. His fingers press on the tight spots on your back and you try to relax. It works, mostly. It works better when he kisses you.

"Can I get a kiss?" you ask him with a low voice. You know he tries to be cautious, not overbearing, just here for you. You don't mind asking for things.

"Of course," he says, cupping your cheek to get you closer. "You can have as many kisses as you want."

This is a good promise. You feel better, focusing on James' lips and controlling your breathing. His thumb gently circles on the skin of your neck, you sigh softly. He takes his time, cuddling up and holding you in his lap. A hand goes on your thigh to stroke the tight muscle.

"I feel better," you tell him. He never asks verbally, but you know he likes it when you let him know. Your fingers linger on his cheeks, he smiles broadly, the kind of sunshiny one you love seeing so much.

"Happy to hear that, angel girl," he kisses your neck sweetly. "Are you hungry? Maybe we can order something, Sirius was talking about a new place."

You shake your head. "Can we decide later?" Suddenly making the simplest decisions is hard.

"Sure," he agrees. "You know, actually I changed the coffee brand we always get. Do you wanna try it?"

"Hmm," it sounds good, you just don't think you can leave the bed.

"I can just make it really quick."

"I'm gonna come with you to kitchen," you tell him. "Just- 5 minutes later."

He laughs, and it's bright. He's so strong as he pulls you to his chest, hugging you so tight. "My sweetheart, did I tell you how much I love you today? You smell so good, I wish we could just stay like this forever."

"I love you." you say with your softest voice.

"I love you, I love you so much," he kisses his way on your neck, holding you in his lap so tight. "My sweetest angel, I love you so much."

You laugh, smiling so big as he kisses you again and again. He keeps holding you until you're ready to go to kitchen, you're on clouds, being in love with him feels so safe- you like being in his arms. You like being kissed so sweetly. You like how you can stop thinking, he's here and he thinks of everything when you can't.

starry girl sleepover ☆

[hockeygirl101]

Blank Space

Quinn Hughes x singer!reader

Warnings: none, slight alcohol consumption.

Enjoy guys 😊

The cold air of the arena nipped at my skin, making my arm hair raise and small shudder to wreck through my body. Here I was, again, sitting in this cold plastic seat, freezing my ass off. My best friend had been dragging me to Hockey games for the past few weeks, she had started dating one of the guys on the team. She wanted to go support him, but didn't want to be alone so I agreed to a game. One game turned into the next four weeks, every-time I was free and they were playing, me and her were there.

"Did you know Brock mentioned the other day that a couple guys on the team are single." My girlfriend says to me after the buzzer signals the end of the second period. I look over at her and roll my eyes. I had met a few guys on the team in passing, mostly the captain, Quinn Hughes. Exchanged all of maybe five words to each other but I thought he was cute.

"Oh really? Well please tell Brock, I'm not looking for anything right now." I pick up my drink taking a long sip. My friend shakes her head at me.

"You have to get back out there. It's been months since your last relationship." She says fishing her phone out of her pocket. She was right, it had been months. But I had been in a very public relationship, since I'm a signer, everyone I date is thrown into the spot light. Most guys can't handle that, shockingly enough.

"Yea I know, I just don't want to deal with the media twisting another guy I date. I mean, my ex is going around to every major gossip site saying I'm insane and only date pro athletes. They all do it, I just can't deal with that right now." I turn to her, she looks up from her phone with a sad smile on her face.

"I know, I'm sorry babe. But just please, think about it." I nod at her words, I stand up and tell her I'm heading to the bathroom. Once I get back to my seat, the third period had started. I sit down and start watching the game, growing up in Toronto Canada, I love hockey. All my brothers played growing up, I have so many memories of staying up late in the rink cause their games would go long. I snap back to the game infront of me, and I notice one player has the puck on a break away, 43 Hughes. He skates through everyone like it’s effortless, on the very edge of his skates. When he pulls back to shoot, the puck flys right past the goalies glove into the back of the net. The goal buzzer sounds and I jump up clapping, before noticing my friends smirk in her face.

“What?” I roll my eyes at her as I sit down. She shakes her head laughing as they get reset for another puck drop.

“Nothing, just Quinn, one of the single guys I was talking about earlier.” She states before picking up her phone, she quickly pulls up hit stats and hands her phone to me. she knows I actually care about that kind of stuff. I like to know how well the guys I date are at what they do.

The first thing I notice is his hair, he had great hair, always had. Even passing him in the hallways his hair looked good. His stats were impressive, especially because he’s a defensemen. As I scroll through his highlights I can’t help but look at his face, he was so handsome. When she arrives back with drinks in her hand she give me a look.

“Can you set us up? One date maybe?” I mumble to her as I hand the phone back, she miles and nods, already sending a text to Brock. The game continues on without anymore goals, but my eyes stay glued to Quinn. The way he passed the puck was magic to me.

After the game I head back to my apartment, having to get up early and head to LA for some work stuff. As I’m in my bathroom brushing my teeth my phone lights up with a text from a I know number.

Hey

I stare at it, not very many people have this number because it was my personal one. Only very close friends and family had this number.

Sorry it’s Quinn Hughes. Your friend gave me your number saying I should text you.

This makes my heart beat faster, in a different way. Quinn was texting me, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think she would do it this soon, I told her to wait till I got back from LA.

Hey yes, sorry just not many people have this number. I just wanted to say I think you’re a great player.

After I send the text I slap my hand onto my face, what the fuck was I doing. I knew this was a bad idea, I should have told her no. But when I look back down Quinn had already texted me back.

Thank you, that means a lot. I was listening to some of your music on the way home, you’re really great.

I feel the blush creep up my neck, I can’t stop smiling. Not only did he like my music, he had listened to it just to mention to me I was great. I made me warm on the inside.

Thank you Quinn, I really hate to cut this short but I have a flight in the morning to LA. When I’m back did you wanna grab a drink?

I’m sorry for keeping you, but a drink sounds great, just text me when you get back. Goodnight, sleep well.

Sounds good, goodnight Quinn.

A few weeks had gone by, I had been so busy I hadn’t had time to text Quinn back, and I felt like and asshole. I knew his seasons was over by this point. But what I didn’t know was that he was in the exact same bar as me.

“Hey, sorry to bother you…” Quinn trailed off as he tapped me on the shoulder. I whip my head around, I had been hoping no one knew who I was, wanting to get a drink and then go home. When I met his eyes, my heart dropped.

“Hi Quinn, it’s good to see you.” I say softly smiling up at him. I looked him up and down, he had on a suit, very new money. He looked good. His tie looked a little tight. I could tell he was a little nervous. He smiles back. “Nice to meet you, kind of. Didn’t know you’d still be here, figured you’d gone home.”

“Yea I got a week or two left here before Michigan.” He says as he sits down on the barstool beside me, waving down a bartender. “I’ll get another and then whatever she’s had for the night can go on my tab too.” He slides his card over to the guy and he nods before running off.

“Quinn you didn’t have to do that, I haven’t even texted you back. Which I’m very sorry for by the way. I meant to, I just got so busy I mean I have a new album I have to put out and-” I trail off as I realize I was mumbling. That one drink I was going to have had turned into three before Quinn had even come over. I look over at him and he smiles, I mean really smiles teeth and all.

“You talk a lot, I like it.” He grabs my stool and slides me closer to him. “You know, I’ve always thought you were pretty, even before Brock told me you were single. Your friend was saying you guys were looking for somewhere to take a weekend away. Come to Michigan with me and my brothers to out Lake house, you’ll love it.” He says so casually, I blink at him in disbelief.

“You’re serious? Oh my god.” I start laughing gently, a little tipsy, now finishing my fourth drink of the night. I never had a guy offer to let me use anything of theirs, much less a whole house.

“Yea I am.” He chuckles out, looking down at me. “But in all honesty you will love it, you can text me yea?” He says leaning closer, “if you still have my number I mean.” He pulls back and winks before standing up. “I gotta head back to some friends I’m with, you want to join?” He asks sticking his hand out, I notice his watch on his wrist, and the time. Shit, I was sooo screwed, I had agreed to meet one of my brothers back at my apartment an hour ago.

“Fuck I’m so sorry Quinn I actually have to run, oh he’s going to be so mad I’m drunk. Sorry I will text you. And I will come with to Michigan.” I say as I quickly out my jacket on, and chugging a glass of water the bartender gave me a while ago, hoping it will sober me up. I text my driver to tell him I’m leaving and to meet me out front. I look up and Quinn’s still standing there. I lean over and give his cheek a quick kiss. “Thank you for the drinks, I’ll text you.” I grab my bag and walk out of the bar into the spring Vancouver night.

A few days had passed since the bar, I had texted Quinn when I got home that night, after I felt with a very angry brother waiting in the lobby. He had texted me the address and plane tickets for Michigan, once again shocking me. They were for the long weekend coming up, he said his brothers would be joining, and to bring whom ever I wanted.

The plane ride into Michigan had been good, me and all my girlfriends had sat together and gone over everything we wanted to do this weekend. Once we get to the front of the airport a driver was waiting for us. He drove us the next three hours to the Hughes lake house, but once we arrived, we all knew it had been worth it. The view of the lake house was enough to make me smile. But when I saw Quinn waiting on the front porch I smiled even wider. The car pulled up and Quinn opened the door helping me out.

“So? What do you think? Good enough for your weekend away?” He asks as he gently places his hand on my back as I look at the lake house.

“Quinn it’s so beautiful here I can’t believe it, this is amazing thank you.” I squeal as I wrap my arms around him, he immediately pulls me in hugging me back.

“Yea of course.” He mumbles out once he lets go, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “So small little problem, none of my brothers are going to be here till tomorrow, so you girls will get the house to yourselves tonight.” He smiles down at me, I give him a puzzled look. “They’re all idiots and booked their flights for tomorrow morning not this morning.” Quinn leans down and whispers in my ear, I blush at the small gesture.

“That’s totally fine, most of us are tired anyways from the flight and drive, probably gonna go crash right now actually.” I say smiling up at Quinn, trying to reassure him about the small mix up. He nods has picks up my bags, walking to the house.

“Come one I’ll show you guys to your rooms.” He walks up the steps, carrying my bags as if it’s nothing. I follow him closely as he shows my two friends their rooms, finally showing me mine.

“Mines right across the hall, so if you need anything just let me know.” He says hand in the door handle.

“Wait Quinn, can I ask you something?” He turns and nods, quickly moving closer, so close I can smell the cologne he put on this morning. “Why are you doing all this? It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, I do but it seems like a lot. I mean you bought my plane tickets, that’s crazy. We haven’t even gonna out yet.” I say moving so we’re both sitting down on my bed. Quinn nods along to what I’m saying, letting me move him to my bed.

“I mean, come on, you’re one of the nicest most deserving people I know. Even before when all we would say is hi to each other in the halls, I knew you were a good person. Why wouldn’t I do all this? I know what your exes say about you, and how the media has spun you into some guy obsessed signer, but I know you’re not. I just wanted to show you that.” He says softly, not looking at me but rather out hand that are still connected. I smile at him, pulling my hands away from his, his eyes snap up to mine.

“That’s the nicest thing a guys ever said to me, most guys are good for a weekend. I just grab my passport and their hand, the weekend ending in flames. I don’t want that with you, I can tell you’re a good guy Quinn. I don’t have to pretend to be a different girl around you. I like that.” I look down at my hands now, picking at my nails. “You don’t care that my exes all call me insane, or that I’ve been called young and reckless. I’ve never had that before so thank you” I look up at him and he’s already smiling.

“How about this, you nap, and in about three hours you and I will go to dinner and we’ll get that first date. We’ll take this nice and slow, and no one has to know anything unless you want them too yea?” I nod as I lay down onto my bed, Quinn gently gets up and goes over to the door. “Can’t wait to finally take you on a date.” He confesses as he turns out the light, closing my door.

I’m my mind I make a mental note, I scratch off my exes name and write down Quinn’s. I mean love is a game, you gotta play.

[writingwithciara]

across the hall; part 6 -quinn hughes-

summary: y/n moves in across the hall from quinn and in an emergency, she leaves her five-year old daughter in his care

word count: 1k

pairing: quinn hughes x reader, toxic ex-boyfriend x reader

notes:

she didn't know how or why she did it but 2 days after quinn left, y/n agreed to an actual date with andy. and because quinn was out of town, y/n was dropping abby off with bella.

"are you and dad getting back together?"

"i don't know, sweetie. i don't think that would be good for anyone, honestly."

"good. i like quinn so much better anyway."

and with that, abby skipped through the door of bella's apartment. y/n looked up at bella, who was just as shocked as she was.

"so, you're going on a date with the ex? how are you feeling about that?"

"a little terrified, honestly. the last time i trusted andy, he ended up hurting me in so many ways. i don't know if i want to let down those walls again."

"i totally get that. but it's just one date. you don't have to promise him anything yet."

"yeah. i suppose you're right." y/n looked at her phone. "i gotta go. thank you for agreeing to watch abby."

"no problem. you know i love her and helping you is what friends are for."

"you're right. again." y/n smiled and hugged her before getting in her car and driving away. she was meeting andy at the restaurant he picked out and she was more than nervous.

when she pulled up, she waited in her car for 5 minutes. she also debated on texting quinn but she knew he would try to talk her out of it.

as if he knew she was thinking of him, his name popped up on her screen. he was calling. and as much as she wanted to talk to him, she knew she couldn't. so she hit the ignore button and walked into the restaurant. andy spotted her and waved her over, standing up as she approached him.

"hey. i'm glad you're here. i was starting to think you had second thoughts about this date."

"i did. but then i had third thoughts. and fourth thoughts. finally, i talked myself back into it."

"well i'm really happy you're starting to open up to me again." he pulled the chair out for her and pushed it in when she took a seat.

"i'm mostly doing this so abby will have a chance to get to know her dad better."

"if that was true, then she'd be here, wouldn't she?" andy raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"fine. fair point. maybe i really wanted to try this again. i don't really know, honestly. still a little guarded when it comes to relationships."

"what about you and quinn? you don't seem guarded with him."

"he's my best friend, andy. if i had even a tiny bit of feelings toward him, i would not be here with you."

"okay. fair point." he used her words against her, causing her to smile. "okay. let's order."

for the next 2 hours, things were good. conversation flowed smoothly and nothing went bad. it was as if their past had been erased and they were truly starting new.

when it came time to separate for the night, neither of them wanted it to end.

so they found themselves back at y/n's apartment. and even though she was with someone who meant a great deal to her at one point, her mind was drifting to thoughts of the man from across the hall.

"andy, can i ask you something?"

"of course."

"after i left you, how long did it take for you to start changing?"

"honestly, i was trying to change before you left. i could tell you were one foot out the door and i didn't want to lose you. but i was too late." he lowered his head. "i'm really sorry i couldn't fix myself in time."

"it's okay." y/n sighed. "sometimes, things just happen for a reason and people come in and out of your life."

"yeah, i suppose that's true." andy sipped on his drink while looking at y/n. "i missed you, you know?"

"so you keep saying." y/n smiled. "and if i'm being honest, i kinda missed you too. maybe not so much at first. but after a while, it hit me."

"i feel like i missed so much with you guys. and i will never not regret it."

"if it makes you feel better, there's plenty of things i regret. but i'm not gonna get into it."

"understood." andy nodded slowly then looked at the tv. "so, what do you guys do?"

"when i'm not at work, i'm usually just here watching tv with abby or we're at roger's arena watching quinn and his team play. i never realized hockey was so fun."

"i think hockey is a boring sport, honestly."

"i know." y/n smiled. "but that's okay. you're still pretty."

"you think i'm pretty?"

"no. i was only with you for the sex." y/n rolled her eyes playfully. "of course i think you're pretty. well as pretty as a guy can be."

"thanks. and for the record, i think you're very pretty too." andy touched her arm tentatively. and when she didn't pull back, he smiled. "more than pretty, actually. so beautiful." he reached up to move a piece of hair out of her face.

"andy, i-"

"i know what you're going to say. and i'm not sure if we should do this either." he looked at her and leaned in closer. "tell me to stop, and i will."

"i-i don't want you to."

and without hesitation, andy's lips found y/n's.they sat on the couch and made out for nearly 10 minutes before andy reluctantly pulled back.

"i'm gonna hate myself for this, but i think whatever we're doing, we should take it slow."

"i agree." y/n looked at andy and for the first time in a long time, her smile was genuine.

"do you think you, me and abby can be a family again someday?"

"maybe. why don't we see how this thing goes before we commit to anything?"

"right. that makes a lot of sense." he stood up. "i should probably get going then before i get even more tempted."

"alright." y/n walked him to the door. "thanks for tonight, andy. it's been a while since i've been on a date."

"anytime, y/n." he turned to face y/n. "good night."

"good night, andy." y/n shut the door and let out a breath. what was she getting herself into?

----------

tags: @alwaysclassyeagle @justagingerliving @marroonwitch @hwalllllllelujah

[sp-ud]

Every time I see a "Hazel doesn't really need fairy godparents, she has good parents and friends, so what if she's sad they moved and her brother is off at college? Thats nothing compared to what Timmy or Dev have going on." I want to cry.

Have you considered that maybe that's the point? I know here on tumblr it's mostly people who were fans of the original show and are now in their early adult lives and teens who probably heard of the original but haven't watched it but checked out ANW for one reason or another. But don't forget, this is still a show for younger kids.

Hazel reflects a lot of the realistic internal struggles younger kids deal with, especially when suddenly thrown into a completely new phase of their lives like moving to a new city, going to a new school, or an older sibling going to college.

And that's a good thing, it's good to show kids that even if their lives aren't Horrid they still can have issues. They're still allowed to struggle 'even though' they have good parents, 'even though' they aren't bullied, 'even though' most of their issues are internal.

And that is why it's good Hazel is the protagonist and not Dev. While yes from a fandom perspective I get why people are drawn to the character with the most blatant angst potential, that like. Would be a terrible show. Even if it was meant for a YA audience and not kids.

But back to Hazel, she's so brilliantly written with her struggles because it's like yeah. I can see any 10 year old being in her situation. Minus the whole fairy godparents. Lots of kids struggle with making new friends, or knowing how to deal with being somewhere completely new, and so many other things. Its nice to see, and once again I think this choice by the writers was very intentional.

Also maybe some of yall need to think about possible unconscious biases you have that could be causing you to focus on the sad white boy and not the black girl who has plenty of her own complexities and issues. And why when you do focus on Hazel why you only focus on how she can support Dev.

Hazel is an interesting and well written character and I'm sick of there being like no talk or anything in the fandom about her without it being attached to Dev. It's her show goddamn it. The writers made her the protagonist for a reason and wrote her the way they did for a reason so please don't just ignore her. Go rewatch the show and actually pay attention to her.

And a final semi-related note, some of yall need to stop forgetting Hazel's 10. The amount of criticism towards her that can instantly be countered with "She's 10" is insane. I know for some of us it's been a while since we were 10, but I think we can all agree we were all far from being perfectly logical and emotionally intelligent at age 10.

[sassysnowperson]

The world is exploding and you want me to take care of myself?

I live in the U.S.A. As you might have heard, things are PRETTY BAD right now. It's been bad before, sure. I mostly coped with 2016-2020 by ignoring the news and writing a TON of fanfiction.

But between then and now I went and got a job as a therapist, and it turns out I can't just stick my head when my whole job is to help other people with the stuff that's stressing THEM out. So I've had to find a better way to deal with it. I thought some of y'all might appreciate a distillation of the conversations I've been having, with myself, and with the people I'm working with, as we try to figure this out together.

Yeah, It's Bad.

So yeah, we know that depression and anxiety are lying liars that lie. But. Your anxiety or depression isn't lying to you about this one. Things are bad. That said, maybe it's helpful to check if they are lying to you about your ability to survive this, to handle this, to find spaces where you can act. We are not doomed to paralysis and misery.

The Paralysis is the Point.

The current administration is using a playbook that involves trying to make their opponents feel overwhelmed, helpless, miserable. Any action we take against that is action against tyranny.

Action is the Antidote.

We live in an age where we can take in endless misery, about things that are either so big or so distant or so both that we are not able, by ourselves, to fix them. And that sucks. We need to find a way to turn that fear energy into action.

More Things are Action than You Think.

Self-care is an act of resistance. Authoritarianism does not do well with a hopeful, resilient, connected populace. Taking care of yourself is action, taking care of those you love is action, building hope and resilience is action. Talking to your neighbors, taking care of them, paying attention to their needs and seeking local solutions to address them - all actions. Any step you take towards building resilience in yourself and your community fights the crap you see on the news.

Speaking of the News.

Lets talk about digital self-care. This is not an all-or-nothing situation. If you need to detach completely, go ahead. But your options are not only ignore or open yourself up to an endless stream of misery. This is going to look different for different people, but we have got to refine our information boundaries. That might be blocking or unfollowing people (even people we agree with, who are saying things in a way that triggers our own despair). It might be losing certain platforms, it might be seeking out news from specific trusted journalists or a weekly roundup. Pay attention to how you feel during and after your news and social media use. Is it helping you live the life you want to live? Is it meeting a need? Is there a better way to get that need met?

Some Things are Still Good.

Let's make a Still Good list. All the crap in the world, but you know what, my cats purr is still good. The smell of vanilla and old books is still good, the look of a new-green shoot sticking out of the dirt is still good. No, we're not doing this to ignore the bad and pretend life is wonderful. But our brains are designed to prioritize threats, and with so many threats, it will wear itself out trying to protect you. Find the things that are still good, focus on them. Let yourself rest in the good, at least for awhile.

You are not alone.

It's so easy to feel alone. Feel like we misjudged the world, what was important to people. How can people think so differently than ourselves? The world is so big, things are so bad, and it feels like we're fighting by ourselves, so why not give up?

You are not alone. There are people that believe in the same things you do. You are not the only one fighting. Anything that you find full of despair and hopelessness, I promise, there are smart people with good ideas working on it. Take comfort from their presence. If you have space to do more, try to find them for the thing that's close to your heart.

I want better for us. And I know I am not alone. Neither are you. I promise. Neither are you.

[d1xonss]

Hi!! Could I request a one shot where reader and Daryl are like complete opposites?? But he realizes eventually he’s grown to love her or something like that?? Thank you!

Enchanting

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 5/6

✧ Pronouns : she/her

✧ Genre : Fluff

✧ Word Count : 3.6k

AN ~ Thank you so much for this request! I’ve been writing some pretty sad stuff lately so I’m glad to have something on the lighter side lol. I tried my best with this considering I haven't been writing much outside of the series I've been updating. But I'm always up for the practice. Hope you enjoy!

He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. How someone so fragile, so delicate, so perfect, survived this long in a world as shitty as this. 

Alexandria as a whole felt like a dream within itself. Arriving with his family at the giant gates after living a life of hell on the road, it was something he would call a miracle. Though he hardly believed in such a thing, he thought this was as close as it was going to get. Houses lined up down the road, running water, electricity, it almost seemed too unreal to him to even want to stay in a place like this. 

It took him some time to get adjusted, some of his people having to drag him out of the house by his hair to actually give this place a chance. They wanted him to open up, socialize a bit more with some of the people in the community seeing as they were planning to stay in this dream-like place. 

Carol was the most persistent of them all. She poked and prodded at him for days to get out of the house and actually give this place a chance. He would argue and say that he had left the house since their arrival, but in her mind, going out for hours to hunt was hardly the socializing she had in mind. All she wanted was for Daryl to be able to thrive here as the rest of them were slowly doing, not wanting to see him completely shut himself out.

So, after a whole week of trying to coax him out of the secure home, he finally agreed to a party. 

Did he enjoy parties? No, absolutely not. He didn’t know what to do at those types of events, not knowing how to really talk with others freely as it wasn’t exactly his strong suit. He would most likely just awkwardly stand in the corner by himself until enough time passed for him to be able to leave. And at least then he could say he tried.

When the day finally came it was safe to say he was a little nervous. He hadn’t talked to really anyone outside of his close knit group in what felt like forever. He had no idea if he would even be good at the whole “small talk” thing as he never once was to begin with. But still, he promised he’d try.

So, after getting back from a hunt he went on earlier that day, he headed towards the lit up house as instructed. Though the closer he got, the more nervous he became. His palms began to sweat a little as he wiped them a few different times on his jeans, trying to swallow whatever anxiety was creeping back up to haunt him. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but it was. To him, it was.

He eventually forced himself to open up the front door with almost instant regret, seeing a few turning heads to notice his presence in the room. Though he tried to ignore it for the most part, only nodding to the familiar faces he saw in different areas of the mostly filled house. He already grew uncomfortable at the watchful eyes that managed to follow him, purposefully looking away as he kept his head down while he moved.

Alright, time to find a corner, he thought to himself as he subtly scoped the place out, preparing to be alone for most of the night.

“Daryl!”

Damnit.

He reluctantly turned his head to see Carol approaching him rather quickly with a wide smile on her face as she quickly brought him into a hug, “Oh, I’m so happy you made it.” 

“Mhm,” he hummed with a nod as he patted her back awkwardly before she finally pulled away, “Said I’d try…so m’ tryin.”

“And I’m very proud of you.” she said sincerely as she placed a hand on his cheek for a moment, before pulling back with an even larger smile, “You want something to drink?” 

He dipped his head in a nod of appreciation as she tapped his shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” she promised, before turning around to maneuver through the sea of people.

Daryl patted the sides of his legs nervously as he waited for her return, scanning over different things in the house that caught his attention. One was the slightly flickering light above his head, another was the music playing somewhat softly in the background of people’s loud conversations. And the third was a laugh. A quite delightful laugh that had his attention from the second it hit his ears.

Daryl’s head whipped in the direction of the sudden delicate noise, his eyes catching sight of a woman he had never seen around the community before. Over the past week he had managed to see a few other residents of Alexandria when he traveled outside, sending them a polite nod when he passed through. But he had never seen you before.

He watched intently as you interacted with someone else from right next to you, whispering something close to your ear as you let out another light and enchanting laugh. His eyes moved over the features of your face, seeing your eyes crinkling at the corners and dimples forming on your cheeks from how wide you smiled. His lips parted a little at the sight, his head even tilting a bit to the side as he continued to study your movements.

You occasionally tucked a piece of hair behind your ear everytime it got in the way of your eyes, your hand effortlessly falling back down to grasp the cup of the drink you held in your hands. Your nose occasionally scrunched up a bit as you spoke, clearly about something that brought you joy and it intrigued Daryl more than he was willing to admit. A part of him wanted to get closer to hear the delightful story you were surely telling. He could in fact almost make out the sound of your voice from where he stood-

“Here’s your drink.” Carol’s voice quickly cut into his thoughts.

He practically jumped out of his skin at her arrival, glancing down to see the beer bottle in her hands before swiping it in his own grasp with a quiet thanks. Her brows furrowed in slight confusion as now all Daryl could seem to focus on was the ground, but curiosity got the better of her as to why he was so jumpy. Her eyes glanced behind her shoulder and did a scan of the surroundings…before a smirk was brought to her face.

“She’s pretty.” she commented casually.

Daryl’s eyes flew up to meet her smug expression with a scoff, “Dunno what yer talkin bout.” he brushed off as he raised the bottle to meet his lips.

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “I’m not dense, Daryl, and neither are you…” she trailed off before glancing back once more to catch you laughing yet again, “I think you should go talk to her.”

A scoff was the only response he could come up with, a reddened pigment covering his cheeks at the suggestion. You were already having a good time, why the hell would you want to talk to someone like him instead.

“I’m serious.” Carol pushed, “I think it’s the right kind of socializing you need.” she finished with a wink.

He gave her a pointed look as he took another swig of the liquid, his eyes panning back over towards you as the person whom you were once talking with, suddenly walked away. So now you stood alone, swaying back and forth a little to the music in content as you occasionally took a sip from your own drink as well.

“Well, would you look at that…a spot seemed to open up.” Carol teased as she nudged his side a little to which he just brushed her away with an annoyed grunt.

Though he couldn’t argue as he continued to casually glance at you still standing alone, though it looked like you didn’t mind too much. You looked almost too peaceful in a cramped party filled to the brim with people. Maybe he should take a chance. Just this once in his life maybe the leap of faith would do him some good, giving him an opportunity to talk to you.

After having an eternal inner debate with himself and a loud sigh left his lips, he finally pushed himself to move forward. He tried to ignore Carol’s wide smile in encouragement as he passed by her completely, but it truly was hard to ignore. He huffed as he moved further, awkwardly squeezing by a few people lingering in the way before he could reach you.

Although it happened all too fast, now standing in front of you with somewhat of a blank expression as you now looked him in the eye. Daryl swallowed thickly as he stood frozen upon seeing your gaze match his, your eyes were beautiful as they seemed to hold something much more than he was expecting. Everything about you seemed to make time stop for him.

“Hi.” you greeted politely after a few seconds of silence, sending a smile his way that almost caused him to melt.

He cleared his throat, “Hey.” he responded dryly, now almost panicking as he didn’t think this through as much as he should’ve. He was suddenly rendered speechless, not knowing what to say next as you looked at him almost expectantly.

Though your eyes narrowed the smallest bit, the smile still remaining on your face, “I recognize you, you’re new.” you stated with a raised finger, “Apart of Rick’s group, right? Daryl?”

“Uh huh.” he mumbled as he continued to stare, almost in disbelief that you had recalled seeing him before, enough to recognize him and even know his name. He’d almost wished you would repeat his name again so he could hear you say it just once more.

Your smile widened even more if that were possible as you suddenly held out your hand for him to take, “I’m (Y/N).”

And just like that, after hearing your name for the very first time, he could never seem to get it out of his head. He didn't necessarily know it then, but you would soon become a person that Daryl cared very much for. Someone he would give up his life for. Someone he would grow to love.

He was infatuated with you, slowly finding the time to leave the house more and more so he could have a chance at catching you outside as well. Normally he would never be so bold as to plan something like this just to get a chance to talk to you, but he couldn’t help it. There was just something so special about you that he couldn’t ignore.

Months in the community went by just like that, getting countless chances and opportunities to spend more time with you on multiple occasions. You were honestly flattered that the stoic man wanted to seek you out whenever he got the chance, offering to help fix something in your house or inviting you out on one of his hunts, you were always excited upon his arrival.

In exchange you would always have something to give him in return for his countless acts of kindness. Whether it was giving him something you had baked or his worn jeans you offered to patch up and sew, you wanted to give him something. He always seemed to deny your persistence, wanting nothing in return as he thought you were the best gift he could ever receive. But still you pushed, batting your eyelashes at him until he finally agreed to take whatever you presented, leaving you smiling at his bashful state.

You knew of his growing feelings towards you, of course you did. You picked up on it after he stopped by your house about three different times to make sure the bathroom sink he had fixed was still working properly. Daryl however was still painfully oblivious as he failed to realize that after all this time, you too found yourself growing feelings for him.

“I think you should just bite the bullet and ask her.” Carol advised as she mauvered around the kitchen, cooking dinner for the two of them.

Daryl’s constant resort was to just scoff at her words as he held his head in one of his hands at the kitchen island, “Alright.” he mumbled sarcastically.

She whipped around with slightly widened eyes, “I’m being serious!” she said as she stirred something heated on the stove, “And you better do it fast before she gets swept up by someone else.”

His eyes quickly snapped up towards her at the possibility, “Ya think that’ll happen?” he asked, not even trying to hide his worry.

He cared for you deeply, unlike anything he had ever felt before, the last thing he wanted to see was you with someone else. But at the same time he was scared. Scared to ask you out for some kind of date if you didn’t see him the same way he saw you. He didn’t want to ruin what he already had with you, he didn’t want to scare you away. But the suggestion of you being with someone besides him now made him worry further.

“I think that it could happen.” Carol corrected, “She’s very kind and pretty, it’s hard for me to believe she hasn’t found someone yet.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing…” Daryl said as he trailed off, “Better then endin up with some asshole like me.”

The woman sighed heavily as she dropped the wooden spoon in her hands and turned around fully to face him, “Daryl, that girl absolutely adores you. You might not be able to see it, but I do. I think you should just…take a chance. Like you did with that party.” she spoke knowingly.

He sent her a glare through his lids, earning a small laugh from her as she turned back around. His mind seemed to wander for a long moment as Carol’s back was facing him now, thinking if now was really the time to make some type of move. He wanted nothing more than to just confess what he’s been feeling for so long, wanting to sweep you off your feet and never let you go. But it wasn’t that easy.

He had thought about this situation before in the past, a lot more than he was willing to admit, but everytime he seemed to always talk himself out of it. He didn’t know how you would react, if you would be offended or flattered. If you would turn him down easy for leave him brokenhearted. There were too many possibilities for him to ignore, too many scenarios to think through.

But in the end you were the kindest person he had ever met and he felt safe with you, safer than he had ever felt before. Perhaps that was the only reason he needed to finally take a chance.

Before he could even process what he was doing, he suddenly stood up from his seat and headed straight towards the front door, trying not to talk himself out of the sudden decision he just made. He was fast and light on his feet as he walked down the porch steps, nearly falling on his ass as he missed the last one in a hurry. But he hardly let it bother him, looking like a man on a mission to others he was passing by on the sidewalk.

The walk to your house felt fast and slow all at once, his heartbeat rapidly pounding in his chest with each step closer he got. He felt his hands begin to sweat a bit as he trudged up the steps to your pretty yellow house, noticing the arrangements of flowers you had on either side of the porch that matched your personality perfectly. He was inches away from the front door now as he stood back and hesitated to knock on the wooden frame to your home. His eyes glanced down for a moment to your welcome mat below his feet, scraping off his dirty boots as he would never wish to track mud into your house.

With his boots clean(ish) and a huff passing from his lips, he finally raised his fist up towards the door to give it a firm and heavy knock, waiting for you to answer. The seconds seemed to go impossibly slow as he waited, wondering to himself if you were even home. You loved to head to the gardens this time of day, picking your share of the fruits and vegetables being grown. Perhaps he had missed you completely, contemplating if he should just turn around and head back seeing as the seconds turned into minutes.

But then he heard it. The faintness of your voice calling through the house that you were coming, followed by the pitter patter of your light and delicate footsteps. He swallowed thickly before the door was suddenly swung open, revealing your smiling face that seemed to light up even more at just the sight of him.

“Hey!” you greeted cheerfully as you bounded forward to close the distance between you two, bringing him in for a tight embrace.

He grunted at the sudden impact, but smiled a bit to himself as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around you softly. He feared that he would break you if he squeezed a little too tight.

You pulled back with a smile just as wide as your eyes lingered a bit over his face, “What’s up? You need something?” you asked politely.

He couldn’t help but think that he needed you and only you, but it felt a little wrong to be that blunt right away so he settled with a shake of his head, “Nah, just…just wanted ta see ya.” he spoke honestly.

Your eyes twinkled at the sweetness of him as you laughed lightly, “I’ve been wanting to see you too.” you admitted, “It feels like it’s been too long since we’ve hung out.”

“Yeah,” he grunted as he cleared his throat a little, “Shit’s gettin busier round here.”

You nodded in agreement, a little sympathy on your features as you knew how much he did around here for the community, “But- uh…” he quickly corrected, “I’ll always make time for ya…no matter how busy it gets.” he admitted nervously.

Your heart warmed as you smiled at him sweetly, “You sure?” you asked a bit playfully, “You sure you’re not too busy?” you poked as you ventured out to take his hand softly in yours.

He smiled down at you as you intertwined your fingers with his, as you normally would do, “Never.” he promised.

His eyes then took the time to take in your appearance as he normally would do. Your hair was pulled back a bit as it was tied up with a light pink ribbon, framing your face angelically as a few strands fell from the front and landed just above your cheekbones. He then noticed the sundress that fit your figure beautifully, finding himself loving the many skirts and flowy dresses you constantly wore. And then the jewelry that hung around your neck, a tiny pink diamond that was shaped into a heart as it sat in the middle of your chest.

It was actually a gift he had given you weeks ago, something he had found on a run that just reminded him of you. It was so soft and delicate, and the heart seemed fitting to your style. 

“Did you…want to come in for a bit?” you asked as you noticed him grow a little quieter than usual.

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of your sweet voice, “Oh- uh- nah…I just came over here ta…ask ya somethin.”

“So ask.” you prodded gently with a soft squeeze to his hand that made his knees feel like jelly.

You knew that Daryl often had a hard time with things like this, seeing it made him uncomfortable to say or ask something out of his comfort zone. But you were always so patient with him it blew his mind, always willing to wait for him to just come out and say it.

“Alright, so uh…” he cleared his throat before swallowing thickly, “I was just um…just wonderin…if ya wanted to maybe…go on a ride with me sometime…?”

Your eyes brightened a little as you went to open your mouth to answer, but he quickly cut you off, “Nah, I mean- n-not like just a ride, but like…out together sometime…just the two of us...kinda like-”

His rambling went on for a few more seconds before you decided to cut him off instead. He suddenly clamped his mouth shut in a split second when he felt the softness of your lips brushing across his cheek, leaving a light peck before you pulled away with a smile.

“I’d love to.” you said.

The man was stunned to silence, feeling his face get hot and the burning of his cheek becoming more intense as he tired to process your actions. You couldn’t help but laugh a little to yourself as you gave his hand another comforting squeeze while gazing up at him through your long lashes.

“I’m free tomorrow at noon…if that works for you?”

He stood there in bewilderment for a moment or two before frantically nodding his head, not counting on his words in this moment in time. You nodded back before venturing your hand out of his hold and up towards his face to move some of the hair that had fallen over his eyes. He almost quivered at the feeling of your fingers gently touching his hair, silently wanting more though he would never ask.

“I can’t wait.” you admitted gently and quietly, lulling him back into the same enchanting trance he was hit with the moment he caught sight of you for the first time all those months ago.

~ Thanks for reading!

[alexanderwales]

A writing idea I've been mulling is that of internal contradictions vs external contradictions. It's very possible that this just boils down to "Man vs Nature" and "Man vs Self", but perhaps slightly more specific.

The idea is that we give a character everything they say they want, then they find that it's not all it's cracked up to be, and that there are two broad genres here. The classic example of this is the movie Big, where a kid wishes he was a grown up. He initially enjoys it, then had to deal with some adult bullshit, and goes back to being a kid. So the standard is:

I want [this] -> I get [this] -> it's initially good -> turns out it's not what I wanted (yet)

But in the case of Big, and a bunch of other movies like it, there's some hidden aspect of [this] that has revealed itself. The idea of [this] was a naïve one.

There's a different version, which is mostly the same, which goes like this:

I want [this] -> I get [this] -> wow did I not actually understand [this] -> turns out [this] is still good, but for different reasons than I thought

Or a slightly different version:

I want [this] -> I get [this] -> wow did I not understand [this] -> turns out that my very presence or effort was enough to make a new/better [this] that does get me what I initially wanted

So here are our three types, with some examples, to make sure that I understand what the hell I'm talking about. I am going to use "weeaboo goes to Japan" as my example, because I think it's funny, relatively inoffensive, and something I haven't seen done in a fiction context:

Return - A weeaboo goes to Japan, realizes that anime lied to him, has various adventures, and returns home, having changed and given up his weeaboo ways

Adaptation - A weeaboo goes to Japan, realizes that anime lied to him, has various adventures, and comes to appreciate Japan as it actually exists

Synthesis - A weeaboo goes to Japan, realizes that anime lied to him, had various adventures, and the people he's met enjoy and appreciate his infectious enthusiasm enough that he changes ... maybe just a small town, to be slightly more realistic

Internal Contradictions

A different approach, which I'm not sure I've ever seen, is one where we follow a path like this:

I want [this] -> I get [this] -> wait, it turns out that [this] is just fundamentally incoherent and in tension with itself, and in fact [this] does not and cannot exist

I hope you agree that this is different from any of the above. It's not a fiction that our protagonist gets disappointed about. It's that the protagonist gets everything he wanted, and finds out that's not actually what he wanted. So this is our new class:

4. Contradiction - A weeaboo goes to Japan, realizes the anime was real all along, meets some hot pink-haired girl who is very into him, is lauded by all the otaku that bow to his superior knowledge, finds that this is ultimately a shallow, hollow kind of life that he does not in reality enjoy.

If the central idea of external contradiction is "reality isn't like that", then the central idea of internal contradiction is "the idea falls apart under its own weight".

I think to do this, you have to really understand the idea and its own internal contradictions, and it needs to have internal contradictions. If someone gets the unrealistic thing that they always wanted, maybe they're just happy! Maybe the unrealistic thing could never exist in the real world, but can be found in a fantasy. No, for this idea to work, we need a fantasy that falls apart on its own, and not in a malevolent genie way where someone immediately says "well obviously I didn't mean it like that".

A guy who wants to be loved by everyone. He gets his wish, everyone loves him. Lots of options for what the internal contradiction is, and I think it depends on the nature of the fantasy, but "they love me but do not know me, so their love rings hollow" is a good example, and I'm not sure even a benevolent genie could fix that without creating more problems. "They love me and they know me perfectly" is, I think, also the kind of thing that people would freak out about, since they know all the bad stuff, the things that our protagonist wouldn't want people to know, that he glosses over about himself.

A guy wants his country to have perfect freedom of expression, but also wants dogmatic adherence to specific ideas. These cannot both exist, so the whole thing must tear itself apart and be rebuilt with compromise.

A guy wants a woman who is strong and independent and speaks her mind, and also a woman who goes along with whatever he wants. He wants her to be sexually adventurous and also virginal. This is a case of external contradiction, where such a woman does not exist in large quantities and is extremely unrealistic. But some formulations are also internal contradictions, depending on how the story is told.

There's something that these all have in common with each other, which is that there are at least two things which are in tension. Maybe you would even say that this tension makes them external to each other. But I think that this is something that's often true about human desire: we want things that are in tension with each other.

For this to work within a story, I think your protagonist has to be a bit of an absolutist, someone who isn't willing to compromise, because most of the examples I've been able to think of do have compromise solutions, where you give up a little of one thing and a little of the other and meet in the middle. Sometimes, this means acceptance.

I'm not entirely sold on this analysis. I think that it's hard to find examples I couldn't argue are some different kind of external contradiction, or a dumbass genie.

One of the examples I was thinking of was Click, where the protagonist wishes for (primarily) the ability to get through all the boring parts of life, and we see how this comes into conflict with his desire to be a father ... but isn't this an example of Return? He does, in fact, return to his life before he got the magical remote. So there's an obvious internal contradiction, but the film just says "actually, you would hate that, it wouldn't be like how you thought it was".

So I've felt like this post was half-baked, but it's been baking for what feels like months, sitting in drafts, and I cannot bake it anymore. Hopefully it does not fall apart under its own internal contradictions, because that would be quite the blunder.

[em-harlsnow]

the "hit my husband again i'll fucking kill you" and "mickey's family" scenes have me thinking that mickey and carl (or debbie) would prank ian with insulting mickey just to get his reaction

I'm back on these! I have dearly missed doing asks and TikTok trends.

Carl knows a few things about his brother and Mickey. The first is that Mickey's heavily protective over Ian. But the second is something that a lot of people overlook, and it's that Ian's the same way about Mickey. It's always been that way, ever since Carl can remember.

They'd all been fighting for days about what to do with the house, mainly Lip and Debbie, but clearly Mickey's gotten himself involved now. Carl didn't catch how the fight started, but he sees Mickey and Lip wrestling and then Ian rushing to separate them. Carl wished it would have lasted longer, because it's been a long time since he saw a proper scrappy fight. He misses the fight nights they used to do in summer.

He'd mostly been staying out of everyone's business to avoid getting stepped on. Debbie tried to get him involved, and he was lucky to sidestep it. Carl sneaks upstairs to see Mickey as annoyed with Ian as he is with Lip, which never happens. Mickey gets more annoyed with Lip than anyone else. He watches Mickey close their bedroom door in Ian's face and tell him to go fuck himself. He also hears Ian say 'come on, baby’ to the shut door, which is far too soft for Carl and he thinks he might throw up. Carl averts his eyes and slides into his own bedroom when Ian turns back around.

Ian goes outside after that, and like the nosy fucker he is, Carl listens to Lip and Ian's conversation at the window.

'Hit my husband again and I'll fucking kill you' he hears. It seemed like a shock to Lip, for Ian to be defending Mickey, on his side, but it isn't to Carl. It's always been like that, they're just more honest about it now.

Once the house problems have settled, and Carl has a place of his own, there are fewer arguments. Ian and Mickey seem to be in a much happier place than they were the night Ian said that to Lip. They're doing better than Lip and Tami, but then again, they don't deal with a screaming infant.

And it’s not like they don’t see each other. They all see each other all the time. Everyone has a key to Ian and Mickey’s place, much to Mickey’s chagrin. It was just in case. Just in case and only for emergencies.

Carl’s abusing that ‘just in case and only for emergencies’ rule right now, as he sits on their couch and steals their crisps. He was bored, and watching ian and mickey is like his own private personal comedy special. Until they start to get all soft and touchy and giving each other looks like they’d be totally fine with fucking in front of him if he doesn’t get the fuck out.

But it’s good to spend time with Ian, just them, when Mickey goes out to pick up some tacos from a place a few blocks down. It’s calm, sitting on their sofa and talking like they did when they were kids. Well, when Carl was a kid and Ian was a teenager. He missed his older brother.

What he missed even more than that, though, was pissing him off. Ian’s a stubborn fucker and he’s undeniably funny when he’s wound up. He sticks his chin out and gets extremely exasperated very quickly. Incredibly funny.

So when Carl’s pulled back to that night when Ian said he’d kill Lip if he hit Mickey again, he wonders if Ian would have the same reaction if it were him. Carl’s younger than Lip, has always been able to get away with more.

It seems only logical to try it out.

“Mickey’s always been kind of annoying, huh?” Carl drops in when their conversation dies down. He doesn’t agree the statement at all - he thinks Mickey’s pretty cool, actually. He did find their loud sex annoying, endlessly so, but he doesn’t deal with that anymore since he got his own place.

Ian looks confused, wrinkles forming in his forehead. “What? Why d’you say that?”

Carl shrugs, sort of lost for reason. “I dunno. He’s just an asshole, right?”

Ian narrows his eyes suddenly, and it’s startling to see the switch up happen so fast. “No. Don’t talk about him like that.”

“You call him an asshole all the time, Ian.” Carl points out, which is true but it’s not usually said with venom. Sure, when they’re arguing, but there are much worse things to call someone.

“Not the same thing. By any fucking means.” Ian mumbles, but he doesn’t seem too concerned with Carl’s opinion. He started off light, so fine, he can understand why Ian’s not flying off the handle. “Is this because he beat you at Mario Kart last week?”

Carl rolls his eyes. “No. I just think, y’know.” What does he think? He doesn’t know what he thinks. Definitely something. “You never thought you deserved better?”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” Ian’s snapping back.

“Because- I don’t know.” He doesn’t know, shit. Carl’s poor planning skills are really showing. “I was just curious.”

“You got girl trouble or something?” Ian checks, clearly more confused than annoyed.

“Nah. It must be hard to live with someone who flies off the handle all the time, is all I was saying.” Carl thinks it’s funny when mickey gets in a strop about something, but he also really wants to test how annoyed Ian can get. “And all the shit-talking. I mean, that’s all he does, right?”

Ian scowls. "No. He talks about plenty of shit. Right now I wish he talked more shit about you instead of Lip."

Carl's trying not to cross the line between a genuinely hurtful thing to say but something that will get Ian pissed. It comes to him like a message from the heavens.

So Carl shrugs, casually adding, "I dunno, man. I just think that if I were gay, I'd probably go for someone more attractive."

Carl is endlessly pleased by the reaction from Ian.

First, Ian's eyebrows raise in a move that is comically similar to how Mickey moves his eyebrows. Then, his face sort of crumples into a clash between disgust and horror. His mouth gapes for a few seconds, as if he really can't fathom how someone would think such a thing about Mickey. His chin starts to jut out.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Ian mutters, glaring and lowering his voice a few octaves. "Mickey's attractive, and if you had more than one fucking brain cell, you would know that."

Carl grins at him. "You're such a fucking sap, Ian."

Ian furrows his brows again, lost for words.

"I was only kidding. You get so mad when anyone says anything about Mick. S'funny."

Ian half-pushes and half-smacks the back of Carl's head in the way only a big brother can, in a way that's reminiscent of his childhood.

"You're an idiot."

--> I hope this was okay, im sorry it took me so long to get to it

-> also sorry if they're out of character, I was struggling not to make Carl be too harsh lol

-> send me asks for TikTok trends that they could do!

[pretending-ican-write]

Cowboy Up - Pt.6

A/n: It's here y'all! After this part we'll be getting into the show and I can't wait to start incorporating my own character into the episodes!

I need your input! I'm currently going through the show episode by episode to pull out what I want to use for this fic and I've reached ep5 when Travis first turns up and I am seriously undecided about his relationship with the reader. It is more than likely that they would have interacted on the circuit but I'm split between him having a flirty relationship or a older-brother-protective vibe. Let me know your thoughts!

Pairing: Ryan (Yellowstone) x Dutton!reader

WC: 1649

Previous part - Next part

---

That summer was one of the hottest y/n could ever recall having in Montana.  Unfortunately hot weather didn’t negate the fact that there was always work to do on the ranch.  Yesterday one of the freshly backed colts had thrown a fit in the corral resulting in kicking the fence hard enough to break it.  So the job for the day was to put a new log into the fence so they could use the corral again.

Y/n had abandoned jeans in favour of shorts out in the sun, a tank top and she had opted to swap her cowboy hat for the cap Kayce had given her for her birthday despite having claimed she’d never wear it around the wranglers.  Lloyd was holding the log up whilst she worked to secure it to the post.

Around the corral the other hands were doing their own work and a small group of them were hiding from the sun in the shade of the barn.  They were mostly busy watching y/n do her own work, more specifically how she looked in her shorts.

“God damn that girl has an ass,” one of them commented.

Another one agreed, “you just know that she’d give you a good time.”

Colby and Ryan were a little way off cleaning tack getting more annoyed at every comment the men were making.  Ryan was getting more frustrated by what they were saying and how oblivious she was to how they were treating her.  His friend was less concerned about that and more occupied trying to stop the hand from doing something he would regret.

Rip emerged from the barn to say something to them when Ryan snapped at them, “will you shut the fuck up?  It’s disgusting to hear you talk about her like that.  She’s your boss’ daughter for fuck sake have some damn respect.  Someone’ll rip your tongues out for saying that next time.” 

Y/n overheard his shouting from across the corral and couldn’t help but smile to herself at his defence of her.  Ever since Rip had threatened him (and the rest of the bunkhouse but they clearly hadn’t taken those threats to heart) after finding her asleep in Ryan’s bunk years ago, he’d been very careful with his interactions with the younger woman.  They’d remained close friends, and he’d been instrumental in her integration with the wranglers, but it had never gone further than that despite what both of them not-so-secretly wanted to happen.

Lloyd looked at the smile on her face and rolled his eyes, “y’all have been pining after each other for years.  When will it end?”

“If I had a say in it it would’ve been over before anyone noticed but if he has it his way it seems like never,” y/n sighed, “I think Rip’s threat from forever ago ruined it.”

He watched Ryan whose eyes were on her, “might go insane if I have to watch y’all making eyes at each other for much longer.  You and I can both handle Rip if needs be.”

She laughed at the idea of someone ‘handling’ Rip.  The only people she believed were able to handle the foreman were her father and Beth, no matter how poorly her sister treated the man.  In reality, Rip had a soft spot for the youngest Dutton and Lloyd was the only wrangler on the ranch that would stand a chance arguing against Rip.  He left her to go and deal with something else, leaving Colby to help with the other side of the fence.

“Swear he woulda murdered them if it had gone on much longer,” her friend joked, “practically fire in his eyes when he saw how they were looking at you.”

Y/n shook her head, “I’ve been trying to get him to make a move since I was 18, Colby.  I don’t think he’s gonna start now.”

“I love both of you but I will help Lloyd lock you in the tack room if this goes on any longer.  Feel sorry for the poor bastard watching this for years.  I’m done with it after a few months,” Colby laughed, “just make a move for everyone’s benefit.”

-/-/-

That evening the temperature had cooled down from the scorcher of the afternoon but it was still uncomfortable, hot enough that y/n was still wearing shorts.  Most of the hands were sitting around the table playing cards but she had chosen to sit the game out in favour of reading the book she’d been waiting weeks for.  Every once in a while some of the conversation would break through her reading bubble and y/n would laugh at the insults that got thrown around half-heartedly.

After a little while the focus of their conversation moved away from their game of poker to their romance lives, or more accurately their struggles with romance being wranglers.  They were complaining about how difficult it was with their work schedules to meet girls.  Y/n shook her head slightly at their trivial problems.

“Reckon we’d all be better off if Dutton over there gave a piece of ass up,” a hand commented nonchalantly.  

As soon as the words had come out of his mouth, Ryan was out of his chair as was Colby to stop his friend doing something.  Colby grabbed his shoulder and arm, keeping him firmly away from the other hand.

“Hit a nerve have I?  Thought she was supposed to be off limits to the bunkhouse?  Just you getting at or you sharing it with your friend?  Care to let us join in on-”

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Lloyd had punched him, “you don’t speak about her like that, ever.  Anyone thinks that’s okay and there’s more than just me to answer for.  Rip will know about this.”

The tension in the room was broken by the sound of the door slamming shut and they looked up to see that y/n was no longer sitting on the sofa.

Lloyd looked over at Ryan, “I think you best follow her.  Now or never, son.”

-/-/-

Ryan exited the bunkhouse and saw her sat on the corral fence in the fading light, cigarette smoke drifting into the sky.  He headed across the drive to join her and leant against the fence beside her, letting her finish the cigarette before starting the conversation.  When she was done, y/n threw the stub into the sand and watched silently as it smoked on the ground.  Her eyes remained fixed on the mountains as if she could pretend he wasn’t there if she didn’t look at him despite the fact his arm was practically touching her thigh.

“You gonna say anything?” She asked.

Ryan sighed, “was kinda waiting for you to start the conversation this time, sweetheart.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to say.  I really don’t need you jumping to protect me the moment one of them says something about me.  Can’t be a ranch hand and not expect someone to say something about it.  I’m a big girl.  Plus Rip has it handled, something you haven’t seemed to forget,” y/n added bitterly.

“You can’t seriously expect me to just sit there and let them say that shit about you y/n?  No one should say that,” he argued.

Y/n looked at him, “that’s exactly what I expect.  You got no right to be that overprotective with the people we fuckin’ work with when you’re just as bad as them sitting staring at me like that.”

“The fuck are you tryna say,” Ryan growled.

She sighed and turned around, getting off the fence to move away from him.  Y/n turned away to take another cigarette from her pocket to avoid answering his question.  He watched her for a moment as she took a long inhale before turning back to look at him.

“It’s all good and well you tryna fight anyone who has something to say about me but we both know you ain’t gonna do anything about it except just sit there and stare because you’re fuckin afraid!  I’m so over it Ryan either make the move I’ve been waiting for you to make for 10 years or stop acting like you get a say in my life,” she ranted at him.

Ryan took her in in front of him, cigarette between her lips and frustration in her eyes before making his decision.  Within one step he was in front of her, taking a moment to see if she would stop him before taking the cigarette out of her mouth and putting it out under his boot.  Y/n inhaled sharply when he placed his hands gently on her hips, using them to walk her backwards until her back hit the barn wall.  

Ryan kept one hand on her hip and moved the other to her cheek, “last chance to change your mind, sweetheart.”

“Been waiting for you since I was 18 don’t make me wait any longer,” she whispered into the space between them.

With no more hesitation he kissed her.  Y/n responded by fisting her hands in the front of his shirt.  After a moment, he pulled away and rested his forehead against her.  Y/n allowed her eyes to fall shut as she reveled in the moment she’d been imagining for so long.

Ryan kissed her again, “do I live up to expectations sweetheart?”

“Better than I could have hoped,” y/n smiled, “we’re gonna have to be careful though.  I reckon I can handle Rip if I need to but if dad finds out he won’t hesitate to fire you and I won’t let you leave here.”

He nodded, “I’ll follow your lead.  Colby won’t say anything and Lloyd’ll just be happy that he no longer has to deal with me staring at you longingly.”

“Gonna be fun sneaking round.  Never got to do it in high school,” she teased.

Ryan laughed, “you’ll be worth it sweetheart.”

[artuurle]

Hiding behind anon despite the fact ive been non-anon on here hi guys whatsup I have random mostly Grujaja centered things but theres others...............cause....yeah.... -Would be the best at hide and seek, he could just bury himself into the ground and turn the cone until you cant see the face. Would spend hours in one spot because nobody can locate this guy... -Would be that one guy at the party who stands awkwardly in the corner with a red cup. He didnt want to be there but someone else dragged him there and now he has to deal with it. -I feel like Grujaja would wear things like ear mufflers or sunglasses. He wears that cone all the time (as someone who wears headphones alot when you take them off its like getting hit by a truck sometimes.) Would probably also have a moment because the cone gets in the way of his breathing a little. -Hides small things in his cone, basically carrying small items on his head all the time. Things he can just drop whenever he wants them. -P would probably be concerningly good at combat games. P has got some inner demons or something. -Al constantly thinks he is that guy. He is infact not that guy. -Vib is an artist, P is also an artist. The two would probably do art together. -I feel like- whatever Bizzyboys are- they have really strong tails, some of them have tails that can support their bodies weight, kind of like a cool chair. I don't know if youve ever played monster hunter but if you look up the Great Maccao you'll see where im going with this. -They also have good hearing and eyesight too, but its...selective? Its very easy for them to just tune things out or loose focus if they want too. Their emotions/environment probably get in the way of this though. -The Bizzyboys have AT SOME POINT done a Team Rocket type skit.

Thank you for your wall. eats it. i drew stuffs for this and also talked about my own headcanons a little bit

the point about breathing being hard in the cone was an actual concern i had for him during the edge of milldread fight. its hot there he's gonna get heatstroke <:[ I also hc him bringing sensory headphones for when life gets too loud post game.

Patty gamer rage is so real and true in my heart. shes so sweety until you boot up mortal combat or guilty gear and then she immediately goes feral. fight those demons girl its scary in here.

Al is that guy to me even if he isn't that guy <3

I headcanon each of the bizzyboys we see as one form of artist or another! they all seem to have artistic tendencies! all were seen drawing in buzzhuzz, even Grujaja, he drew on his cone! Capo included as well. that mans art is cooking to me. Fun fact: on king posters posted to the limbolane account theres graffiti in red with a small Al drawn in the corner implying Al can draw <3

I dont think they can balance on their tails due to the thickness not being enough to support a whole body upright like a Great Maccao, but i do subscribe to their tails being strong enough to support their weight similar to how people portray possums hanging by their tails (though that isnt something possums can actually really do) It's common to pick up young drainfolk by their tail like this in my heart.... or adult ones if you're tall enough and have a death wish! Bonus: I also headcanon young drainfolk climbing onto adults when spooked or upset. (usually parents, though Grujaja Didn't have those anymore so...)

I agree on this one, though i'm biased because i'm the same way. I've had to be physically grabbed sometimes while reading books to get my attention and even still sometimes that didnt work.