#None of it had to be this way you literally chose every single beat of this story and it makes me fucking sick!

[thornsent]

oh well apparently they have me blocked so I guess they'll be fine if they go on my blog and make the decision to look and see this lol <3

I lost my best fucking friend this year like a week before my birthday because they decided to cheat on their fiancee who they had been with for 12 years with at least 3 of their coworkers at the job their fiancee got them. their fiancee was at this job for a loooong time and considered their coworkers like family. not only that but my former best friend lied to everyone and manipulated the fuck out of the situation. at first when people confronted them they seemed to relent and just accept they fucked up, but when I confronted them and really went in on just how fucked up this is to me specifically (I had an ex that did this to me LMAO and they know about how bad it fucked me up) they then promptly began to gaslight me, say that I knew I was cheating on their fiancee and ENABLED it, etc.

it was unimaginably cruel and completely unlike them and I am quite literally traumatized and only just coming out of shock from it because that person is not my best friend and I genuinely do not understand what happened to them. I told them over n over when they vented about the issues they were having to just talk about it like adults but they never did, they just ghosted their FIANCEE and tried to avoid them and literally told me they "hoped they'd just get the hint" (again. 12 years total they were together. they were engaged. I was so stoked for them and so excited to go to the wedding. their ex had been saving for a house and everything and it was just so reminiscent of what my last ex did to me that it makes everything a thousand times worse)

Our last conversation I barely remember bc I was shaking and crying so hard I could not see the screen (they broke up w their partner over text too. so like. yeah.) but I basically was just like I don't understand why you did this when you know how bad it hurt me why would you do it to someone you loved for 12 years, why would you lie to me, why would you lie to everyone else, I love you but this is so cruel and horrible it changes how I view you forever and I can't move past that, etc (in addition to screaming at them for cheating on their partner with a wook with heinous vibes and the wit of a styrofoam block) and eventually their responses got so fucking horrendously manipulative I muted them with the intent to come back to the conversation, but then other shit kept piling onto me and quite literally this shit was so bad whenever I would begin to try and unpack it I would have a mental breakdown

anyway I've been having a rough fucking october because in addition to it being the 10 year anniversary of my worst abuser's death (mom, died on halloween when I was 16) normally this time of year I'd be spending a ton of time with the now-ex best friend because we tried to throw halloween parties every year and we always made a big production of it. this year, because I'm so far away I don't get to see any of my friends or do anything. We don't have the money for gas. I haven't made friends here because when I haven't been busy I've been too exhausted to even take care of myself, and I can't find any sort of event for adults for halloween locally. I can watch spooky movies with my girlfriend but fuck dude. It's about the tradition.

moreover it's about the sense of family. That's going to fuck me up this entire holiday season and I won't forgive them for it--- My ex bestie's family was so inclusive of me, I'd get invited over for thanksgiving and christmas and it made me look forward to those holidays because I wouldn't be rotting alone in my room, I'd be with friends. With family. I've never fucking had that and then I finally did and then they fucking took it from me and I don't think I will ever forgive them for it. I didn't block them here or anywhere else because I really truly in my stupid fucking heart thought they'd realize how bad they fucked up, but also realize they didn't have to lose me too. but they fucking chose to, at the end of the day. it felt like they wanted to get rid of everyone from their boring old life and go fuck this stupid fucking russian boy.

I'd been trying not to post about this because I know for a fact some of you guys know who I am talking about and are also mutuals with them and idk I guess I wanted to preserve some sense of their dignity? but something about this, about realizing they fucking blocked me, just gets to me. I left the light on for them and they just smashed it. There's literally no sense or purpose to their actions aside from selfishness. they ruined their own life and I think ultimately they only cried so much because they were found out, not because they actually felt guilt or remorse for what they did. and if that's the case then I guess I just never knew this person at all and it is heartbreaking and so isolating.

if they ever read this I do genuinely hope it haunts you, I hope the consequences follow you until you learn your fucking lesson, I have shed far too many tears over this and I know my Mother is watching you. I hope you are publicly strangled by your own shame until you fix whatever it is in yourself that makes you do these things to other people and their feelings and lives because it isn't cute, it isn't funny, it is a disease that spreads to everything you love until you find the source and stop it. and if you don't then brother I just hope you die before you do it to someone else. You don't get to shimmy out of this.

[lemmetreatya]

enemies to lovers but it's southern reiner and you're both prize winning cow farmers competing at the state fair ((u make out on the ferris wheel and bicker in front of the official 4-H judges))

oh this request is so mf goaatteeddd!! i just know you care me. you love me sooooo much. this is lifes greatest gift and you have literally bestowed it upon me. i kiss you witj open mouth!

It’s Everyone’s Game — Southern!Reiner x fem!Reader

word count: 3.2k+

content: enemies to lovers, happy ending, slight yan!reiner, reader is quite confrontational

Every single year, he did this — Without fail.

It’s been impossible to attend a peaceful Marley’s Grand State Fair without the most irksome competition known to man attending too.

He wasn’t fearless, or a nasty cheater, or even someone who paid behind door bribes. It was simply because he was just as competitive as you. And annoyingly, he chose your beloved niche to be competitive about.

“Betty’s definitely gonna beat yer Tyler II again this year. Your old boy ain’t got shit on us.”

With a roll of your eyes, you turned around in a huff as you were met with none other than the notorious Four time MGSF winner — Reiner Braun.

“Quit ya talking, Braun. We don’t know jack for certain so we’ll let the judges be judge of that.”

A smirk that was as sweet as summertime honey graced Reiner’s face. He quickly spat the toothpick that was in his mouth and squeezed the crown of his hat before sizing you up. You definitely noticed how his frame was so immensely empowering over yours.

“Oh, don’t worry. I plan to let them judge because then it means I’m winning again.” He teased.

You opened your mouth to rebuttal but before you could, the man walked off.

With an annoyed clench of your hands you made a short and quiet scream.

It just wasn’t fair. For five years in a row, you had won the state fair’s competition for healthiest cow. Tyler the First used to be your breadwinner, until his son Tyler II surpassed him, but you didn’t mind because the competition was between you and yourself.

That was until, Reiner Braun came onto the scene with his Beloved Betty and started dominating each time after that.

If he won again this year then his title wins would be tied with yours — but you couldn’t have that, nor anymore losses or second places. This was the last year of Tyler II’s prime meaning it was probably also your last chance to become a six time champion — and youngest contestant in the history of Marley’s Grand State Fair to do so.

None of your other cattle were matching to Tyler II’s standard so it was all or nothing.

If only Reiner Braun and Betty weren’t in the goddamn way!

“I-it’s a tie.”

“What?!”

Both you and Reiner rose from your seats.

The judges looked towards the both of you with solemn faces. Each and every one of them have been judging long enough to know the feud the two of you had and that this decision was trouble.

“It’s a tie.” Another judge spoke up with a cleared throat. “Based on all the criteria, both Betty and Tyler II’s match neck and neck. There’s nothing else we can do.”

“That’s not fair!” You instantly object back.

There was a moment of silence as most of the people present were too stunned to speak but with a sigh, Reiner spoke up next.

“I hate to say this but I agree.” Everyone looked to the man in shock. Even you made a surprised face at him as you watched him fold his arms over his chest and shake his head.

“This ain’t no fair. There’s got to be an anomaly somewhere. There has to be a set winner.”

You were so close to agreeing with his statement but there was something in you that just wouldn’t let yourself be in harmony with him.

“Wait, what d’you mean ‘you hate to agree’ with me? What, you think I’m wrong all the time?!”

Turning in your direction with a nonchalant attitude, Reiner shrugged.

“Matter of fact, I do, yes.”

Squinting your eyes at him, your jaw dropped as you stepped into his personal space.

“Why, I oughta—”

“Either way!” The judge loudly spoke over you both as they stepped in again. “We’re not going back on our decision. We’ve decided to crown you both first place and that's final.”

“What happens to the prize then?” You ask.

“Well, we’ll split the money between you each and then you’d both have to share a free ride ticket at the state fair.”

"Share a ticket?" You question.

"As in, take a ride together?" Reiner finishes.

The judge nods accordingly, the resolute decision shown clearly on their face.

"Yes, exactly that."

Both you and Reiner look at each other in mild shock at the judgement. Could this really get any worse?

You really jinxed yourself with that one. This got so much worse.

It never occurred to you how little rides were available for two people who didn’t require to be sardined right against each other.

Upsettingly, the ferris wheel was one of the only rides which could accompany a shared yet distanced pair. It definitely wasn’t your first or favourite choice but at least it meant you got your ticket’s worth.

Right?

“God, can this ride go any slower?”

You moan out loud as your head hits the side of the ferris wheel frame. You can’t help but slouch in your position as your hand slides down the window.

Reiner on the other hand sat quietly on the opposite bench. He hadn’t said much the whole ride, only pensively have his macho arms folded over his burly chest. You would have found something to complain about, like how he was assertively manspreading or tapping his going-out timberlands against the metal floor board, but you weren’t in any better form yourself so you didn’t mention it.

“Maybe the slowness can get you to reflect on your behaviour.” He hummed.

With a surprised expression, more at the prospects those were his first words the whole ride, you quickly sat up in offence.

“I—What behaviour?! I’m pretty well behaved thank you very much.”

Reiner looked at you with a face of perplexity. Usually he’d bite back or say something to provoke you more, but for the first time, he didn’t.

A small sigh left the blonde’s mouth as he looked out the ferris wheel’s view. His hand came up to slightly pinch his hat by the front and tip it further of his eyes.

“Look, after today’s competition, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t we just call a truce? There’s no point fighting over this petty shit, it’s tiring.” He said in a low voice.

His words made you frown.

You know you weren’t the most receptive individual when it came to being the ‘bigger person’, but even this seemed bizarre for Reiner to address.

From the moment you met him, he was against you. There’s never been a good day of friendly fire between you — it’s always been fire and opposition. Like yes, he was a good looking guy, and you’re sure he was nice to everyone else — but that's just not the relationship you two had.

If this was a joke, it was a very distasteful one.

Sitting further back onto your side of the bench, you mirror his stature by folding your arms over your own chest. Only difference is that you folded your legs instead.

“I’m not in a laughing mood, Braun. This isn’t time for any’a these games of yours.”

Reiner shook his head as he shrugged.

“Okay, but I’m not pulling your leg, I’m being serious. We’re big enough adults, aren’t we? — I think we’re capable of calling a truce for the sake of peace.”

“Peace?” Your voice went an octave higher. “Between me and you?”

Reiner looked at you expectantly, his face unwavering. With how solid his resolve was, you knew he wasn’t joking and in all honesty, that truly and utterly confused you.

If you were in a any goofier mood, you would have laughed.

“Braun, last time I checked, you hated me — and quite vehemently, may I add. So tell me, why on God’s green earth would I suddenly call a truce?”

With a face of confusion and hands cupping his knees, Reiner bends forwards in his seat.

“Wait, you think I hate you?!”

That caught you off guard. So much so that your throat made a short circuiting noise.

You sure as hell hope this man wasn’t trying to gaslight you right now because now he’s even gotten you questioning every interaction you’ve had with him the whole five years you’ve known his sorry ass.

Holding your hands up in front of you, momentarily squeezed your eyes shut.

“I—Is that a trick question? Of course you hate me, Braun. You always have...”

A louder sigh than before left Reiner’s mouth. Leaning back, the man slowly removed his hat from his head, the other hand ruffling his blonde hairs.

All you could do was watch in shock as Reiner looked at you with eyes you've never seen him look at you with before. The man placed his hat down on the bench next to him before standing up with an exasperated expression. With his hands on his hips, he stood within the middle of the carriage and pensively looked out of the ferris wheel view.

Several seconds passed but they all felt like excruciating minutes. Something about this conversation, Reiner’s attitude, just all felt so off.

Looking up at his towering figure, you couldn’t help but let your expression sour. With his short sleeved muscle t-shirt and Levi jeans, the man looked healthy, but you couldn’t help but think he was sick in the head for pulling such a joke.

“Reiner, I asked you a question.” You tried to assert.

With a pained squint of his face, the blonde turned his face to the side.

“I know!” He almost whined. “Just… give me a second, alright? I’m tryna formulate what I wanna say.”

Your body language slumped against the bench but it was a mask for the suffocating feeling of your heart drumming hard against your chest — more than it has for any contest.

All of this felt so surreal right now. The outcome of the competition, the fact that you were in this stupid ferris wheel, whatever it was that was going on with Reiner — it just seemed like such an out of body experience but you knew you were present.

Pressing his hand up against the roof of the ferris wheel, Reiner sighed before looking down at you.

“Woman, I have never hated your guts for the life of me. If anything I envied you. You seem to do everything so flawlessly and effortlessly and I’m jealous of that. I gotta work real hard to get Betty to beat your boys, you know that? When I win, it feels good. Why? Because it means I’ve worked hard, not because it means I get to see you lookin’ all despondent.”

You thickly gulped as you looked up at the man and in return meet his eyes. There was so much more he wanted to say, you could just see it in the way his mouth twitched every time he looked to you.

But after hearing those words, the situation was becoming more clear. You didn’t care that Reiner thought you did things with no effort. Your whole life had been people thinking the exact same thing, so to you the presumption was uninflecting. But right now, you’re sworn enemy, was telling you how they never hated you or liked seeing you sad.

That he was jealous of you? Envious of you? Inspired to do better by you?

All of this could easily be used to power on rivalry but that’s not what Reiner was saying. Right now, this man was admitting to hating how winning made you sad — and how that, made him sadder.

“So…you saying you never had anything against me?”

You ask unsurely.

The blonde man made a hazy face as he twisted his hand to show contemplation.

“Aside from a lil friendly competition fire, I’ve never had anything against you. Well, at least nothing negative.”

He mumbled the last part but it didn’t go unheard by you. For such a life changing subject, you couldn’t afford to miss out on any information that could help you understand what this was about.

“That last bit, whaddyou mean by ‘at least nothing negative’?” You pointed at him.

Reiner looked as if he’d been caught off guard. He grumbles beneath his breath as he turns his head away from you again, but all it revealed to you was the tale-telling signs as the tips of his ears blushed rosy red.

“It’s nothing important.” He retorts.

“Doesn’t matter; repeat it. You’ve decided to lay everything out into the open so you might as well say what you mean.”

With a lethargic groan, Reiner wiped his hand over his face. You could tell whatever he was going to say was going to be deep considering the uncertain glance gave you.

However, when he let out a dry laugh and placed his hands onto his hips, you knew that was his ‘fuck it’ moment.

“Okay, fine. I didn’t have anything negative against you but I guess the only reason why I was so determined to win each year was because it’d at least mean you’d notice me and I wanted you to notice me because I had a silly crush on you. There. I said it. Happy now?”

His voice was so calm but you could tell he was nervous as hell due to how he spoke in one breath. The way his fingers flexed and his footing constantly swapped, he was anything but confident revealing what he just did. But you don’t blame him, confessing your feelings to someone would always feel daunting, regardless of age. You even felt nervous for him.

But alas, Reiner had taken courage to say what he’d been hiding for all this time. You guess the least you could do was take his ignited fire and turn it into a flame.

Clearing your throat, you patted the seat next to you as you scooched up closer towards the wall. Reiner instantly got the message and sat himself besides you.

The tall man downsized himself to be seated next to you. However, as soon as he sat down, your thighs were warmly touching. You tried to shuffle over but it was to no avail, you were already stuck to the wall. What was even worse was that Reiner’s arms had nowhere to rest. The both of you tried to squeeze each way to make more room but nothing worked.

“Damn, these things real tight.” He lowly joked and you couldn't help but laugh along.

Inevitably, the both of you tried to stick round it but it ended up with one of Reiner’s arms draped around your shoulders and one of your arms leaning on his thigh.

When you initially invited him down, you didn’t think the fitting would be that tight but you guess for a large man, most things weren’t tailored to his size. Imagine how bad it would have been if you chose a rollacoaster ride?!

“How long?”

After a minute or so of silence sat in that position, you spoke.

Reiner looked down at you once he heard you speak. He had his own head being tomb raided with so many thoughts already so he was glad you said something to finally break the cycle.

“How long for what?”

“That you’ve had a crush on me.” You reiterated.

“Since the day I first laid eyes on you.” Reiner instantaneously replied.

With an upset face you looked up at the man. You couldn’t help but notice how that phrase seem like he’d finally released a long breath he’d been holding. He must have felt that way for a long time.

Poking Reiner’s chest you jutted your lip out.

“All that time? How did you expect me to know you liked me? Especially with all that competition shit we had going on, it’d be impossible.”

Scratching the back of his neck, Reiner looked away from you. Although that wasn’t for long because instantly he was back looking straight down at you with a face of admiration — blushes and all.

“Yeah, well I guess it’s my fault in a way. Makes sense you wouldn��t have known concerning how we always seemed at each other’s throats.”

“Yeah. Guess so.” You mumbled.

Although the air was thick with a new fodder of feelings, neither you nor Reiner were able to keep your eyes off of each other. If anything you’re not surprised; Even within these conditions, you were still going head to head to see who’d look away first.

“I know this’ll sound sudden but is it okay if I kiss you? It’s fine if you say no.”

Reiner eventually mumbles.

You knew it was coming because the way his thumb was soothing over your shoulder could only illicit to such things, but nevertheless, it still caught you off guard.

Blinking rapidly, you quickly glance out at the view behind him. You hadn’t noticed but the both of you were nearing the end of your ride.

“And what if I did say no?” You tease as your eyes glance back to him.

With a shrug, Reiner replied.

“Then I’d back up.”

“Without a fight?” You ask.

“Without question.”

You were glad Reiner had concern for how you felt. For now, it had only been him to confess his feelings so it was encouraging that he was still aware that you didn’t owe him anything.

But even whilst being slightly skeptical of these new revelations, you still wanted to indulge just this once.

With your hand on his thigh slowly inching towards the inner part of his leg, you looked up at Reiner from beneath your lashes.

“Don’t back up.” You whisper, your words feather light.

And that was all the access Reiner needed.

With a delicate swoop, the blonde bent down to softly press his lips against yours. His hand that wasn’t already behind your back came up to lightly press against your cheek, the kiss all consuming as the man practically sucked you up.

If you hadn’t believed Reiner had liked you for ages before, then you did now. The amount of desperate panting yet wholesome restraint in not to devour you then and there was so evident in how he kissed you.

Its not like you haven’t been kissed before, but the experience felt so new and fresh to you that it couldn’t help but feel like it was your first.

Your own hand tentatively came up to wrap around the nape of his neck and you couldn’t deny how hot the growl he made in you doing that, was.

No one could say for sure how long you two stayed like that. Especially not when the both of you were practically gasping for air when you pulled back.

With his lips blood and flushed pink — slick with a mix of both your spits — you couldn’t help but occasionally glance down at them as you spoke to Reiner with blown eyes.

“I’m starting to feel like you called a truce just so you could kiss me.”

A low chuckle left the man’s lips. He couldn’t help but to lean forwards and land another kiss to your lips before quickly pulling back.

“Oh, I’m planning to do much more than just that.”

He said whilst pulling you closer to tug you onto his lap.

Maybe, just maybe, coming joint first place wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

[transamus]

Also here's my thoughts on the various aspects of Mario Eclipse, major spoilers though- I recommend going in blind if you plan on playing it at all.

Il Piantissimo feels phenomenal to play as. Not having FLUDD is compensated with a double jump, and the increased speed & jump height is insane. Luckily, you cannot choose to play as him in any episode where you would not be able to accomplish your goal. Additionally, the presence of water bombs for all characters when not using FLUDD works really well to make him still viable.

Luigi feels like the perfect middle-ground between Il Piantissimo's faster movement / higher jumps and still being able to use FLUDD. I choose to play as Luigi more often than not.

Warship Isle was full of tedium, my least favourite new level: however, where all the new levels do have some tedium, the tedium itself fit perfectly into the game. Nothing was more tedious than what Nintendo themselves asked of the player, and so it kinda ended up balancing out pretty nicely.

Lighthouse Isle had some camera issues, but overall starting the level stormy was a great choice, the custom boss battle was really well-done, and I enjoyed it a lot. My only other criticism is that the soundtrack was more "Grant Kirkhope" than "Koji Kondo", but none of the other levels' soundtracks had this issue.

Erto Rock was a beautiful level and a great way to interpret the concept from the cut content. I'm not a huge fan of how often, though, in new levels, you start with a mission that has a timer; I'd prefer personally to be able to take my time exploring the new levels first rather than kinda have to take it all in as quickly as possible. It's also nice having a more vertical level that feels simultaneously like it takes advantage of the Rocket Nozzle where the base game did not, as well as not making it entirely mandatory either.

Hotel Lacrima is a hilarious way to interpret the cut content; they chose to make it mafia based, because... hotel la-crime-a. That's really funny. The organized crime didn't feel out of place for a Nintendo game of this era, either, weirdly enough. The level itself is designed in such a way that the camera feels accommodated for really nicely, despite the inherent issues with the game's camera.

All of the new transition levels / areas feel really cute, and the vibes are immaculate.

Needing to beat shadow Mario in all of the new levels as well was unexpected, but I felt like it fit really nicely. This is usually one of the biggest criticisms of Mario Sunshine itself, but I think the amount of post-game content makes up for this.

Starting the game at Peach's Castle was also a really great choice; in the base game, you have all of 3 seconds to familiarize yourself with Mario's moveset before you obtain FLUDD. Having even this small change I think fixed that issue really well.

The ability to enter Corona Mountain pre-flood was a really nice touch; I do wish that it had been expanded into a full level, though. The attention to the cut detail of it being a Shrine was very appreciated.

I'm only just moving into the post-game content, but having it based around Daisy's Cruiser is a really adorable touch. The post-game content genuinely feels like Official DLC for the game, expanding the map outwards off of Isle Delfino rather than continuing to pile onto the island.

As a Blue Coins enjoyer, I'm really glad that they didn't remove the Blue Coins from the game, and in fact added some to every single new level. I've always stood by the fact that I'd rather have Blue Coins as a "portion of a major collectable" than distort the value of major collectables by throwing them literally everywhere (looking at you, Mario Odyssey).

While the original plan for Eclipse was to restore the beta Delfino Plaza, the beta plaza is nowhere to be found. On one hand, I wish they would have, and put it maybe on the north side of the island or something? but on the other hand, not restoring it does feel like it honors the choices the developers made more, making the mod feel, again, like an Official Product. I think the beta plaza would have stood out design-wise, and- like in the base game- was probably not included for good reason.

As someone who is super autistic about Super Mario Sunshine, this really feels like it hit every single thing I would've wanted in a theoretical remake- it feels like this is the game Nintendo's team would have made if they had been given unlimited time and budget to do so.

[raayllum]

The Queen’s Mercy Breakdown Analysis / Predictions

Bloodline that Binds card from out-of-context S5 spoilers is definitely about Karim and Janai being the two heirs that can presumably free Kim’Dael from her chain(s). I think that Karim will barter / hire Kim’Dael to assassinate his sister (or, if she cannot harm descendants of Aditi at all, Amaya) under the deal of freeing her afterwards. Therefore, I have a feeling that this screencap

is Amaya, Callum, and most importantly, Rayla, encountering Kim’Dael in her initial attack

(Also, given that we’ve had a short story entitled “The Queen’s Soul” for Khessa and “The Queen’s Mercy” for Aditi, it seems likely Janai will get a tale named after her at one point as well, as she’s currently the only Sunfire queen without.)

This also brings our “characters in S5 who are seeking Freedom” tally up to like, five, now that it’s Callum (from Aaravos), Rayla (for Callum & the coins), Viren (from Aaravos’ machinations, most likely), Aaravos (from prison), and finally Kim’Dael from Aditi’s golden blood oath chain. How’s that for layering

Specifically Kim’Dael and Aaravos both being imprisoned with, well, very different kinds of keys tethered to each of them

The sharp circlet of gold had sealed itself around her neck without an edge, without a latch, without a lock. 

(Flashbacks to Amaya’s “I don’t believe in locks” lmao). 

We also see the return of deceptive gift giving and promises under the guise of protection or unclear terms. Aaravos was a betrayer who was then betrayed; Rayla was a liar who then revealed one (Claudia); Kim’Dael is a deceiver who’s then deceived, etc etc.

Also in addition to the storm symbolism / pattern the marketing and S5 has been pushing, the Heart Motif (specifically a heart as vulnerability or truth) continues to be more and more consistent, featuring now in every short story’s release and making me believe more and more in my “the Key of Aaravos is Aaravos’ heart/chest piece” theory

Fools. They might as well have held their own hearts, beating and bloody, in the palms of their hands. Kim’dael knew that if she showed them her heart—or something convincingly like it—the Sunfire elves would do exactly what she wanted them to do.

Zubeia flew through its torrents until her wings ached, but she could not find the tempest’s edge nor the quiet heart at its center. [...] The hurt in her chest deepened. “But I am so tired. I’ve walked so far alone.” “You are stronger than this. All storms end!” Rex rumbled a snort through flared nostrils. “What lies at its heart?” 

Lissa had left her years ago, but the space she had owned in Claudia’s heart remained. It was a dark place now, hard and hateful, its edges raw as a wound that had forgotten to heal.

While one may say it ends with a sunrise, another will insist it ends at nightfall. Yet at the heart of the story is a single, simple truth…A star fell from the sky.

I remember how I felt when my parents left me to join the Dragonguard, like PART OF MY HEART WAS MISSING and I would never feel right again. [...] But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me!

Also more Kim’Dael parallels to Rayla and Aaravos not only in aforementioned heart symbolism (“My heart for Xadia”) but also in being likewise the last of their kind(s) / specific groups, and exiled/hunted for it as well. There’s also the way Rayla’s mercy doomed her team and “ Mercy would be the queen’s death someday, she thought—but that, of course, was none of her concern” even if it of course doesn’t come to fruition quite the way she expects

We have Harrow’s “we will pay the blood price eventually” coming true quite literally, as well as questions of why Aditi chose to keep Kim’Dael as a personal murder pet over just killing her (which she clearly could’ve done) when Aditi’s chain clearly isn’t enough to stop Kim’Dael from committing crimes in the future, either.

Last but not least we have Callum and Kim’Dael parallels in terms of literal (or metaphorical) chains around the neck, an inability to breathe, being brought to their knees, etc. 

[asherlockstudy]

How to do perfect staging: a lesson from Italy

I mentioned at some point I might actually make a post drooling over Italy's Måneskin performance and staging. I was kinda bored to be honest and decided against it but then all those trashy rumours that try to bring the winners down seemed so disgraceful and embarrassing to me that I decided again to do it. Now, the truth is that their performance was a little better in the semi-final introduction act. Perhaps this was due to the anxiety of the Grand Final. This is why I am going to use photos and gifs from that act and perhaps this will show to some that the perfect package might need a little bit of everything, and not just slap your language on the audience's ears with the expectation that this alone is always enough. *Did I make this too personal?*

Anyway, I digress. And I don’t mean that the Grand Final performance wasn’t still the best of the night, I just mean it wasn’t at the same God Tier level as the semifinal one.

Here's why the Italians took advantage of the Dutch stage until its very last millimeter and way more cleverly than any other country.

This is the only act that starts from the back of the stage, where the singer Damiano David waits for us alone.

Even with the rest of the 25 competing countries, this intro makes you forget that you are watching a contest with 26 countries as guests. Unlike anyone else, Italy looks like the host, like this place belongs to them and the frontman waits for you to show you around and possibly drag you to the world of Måneskin. In fact, you almost forget it’s Eurovision - this now looks like a Måneskin concert or, even better, a more private space of theirs with an ominous industrial feel. One of the most impactful things now is the lighting. Take a look at it. Almost all contestants throw all the lights on themselves or on some important prop they have prepared. The Italians are the only ones who chose to just light the stage itself. The simple white lights on the black stage give the impression of depth and it is the only act which shows emphatically the size of the stage. Why this? Well, we already established that in the first seconds the viewers feel they are in a new space belonging exclusively to Måneskin - the lights make us feel that their area is vast and dark and we are about to be drawn to its depths.

Damiano indeed guides us to the front as he sings, where the rest of the band are on the top of a platform. The other members won’t come down and join Damiano until he sings the appropriate verse “Buona sera, signore e signori” (=Good evening, ladies and gentlemen) and accompany it with a theatrical flamboyant bow (that feels very Italian). That’s when, technically introduced to the audience after the official greeting, bassist Victoria de Angelis and guitarist Thomas Raggi come off the platform and join Damiano.

There’s nothing excessive about the visual effects. Only the use of white lights that give the perception of depth and in the background the big shadows of the group’s silhouettes. They are in the front and they cast their shadows in the back; they create to you a feeling of being trapped by them but do you really want to escape?

When the second verse starts, Victoria and Thomas take the paths left and right of the stage and leave Damiano alone. They take even more advantage of the stage and in a typical classic rock band way. These two play with the side cameras but the focus is more on Damiano, whose verse sounds more like a tongue-twister. Since the cameras are rightfully on Damiano, I must now address the elephant in the room. Damiano is particularly attractive. In fact, the whole band is almost mind-bogglingly attractive and they clearly take a lot of care about how exactly they are going to look but Damiano, as the frontman, does especially so. So let’s talk about the outfit. They all have essentially the same outfit, however it is cut differently for each based on the person’s looks and personality. Isn’t it fantastic?

Damiano, who oozes confidence and sex appeal, has accordingly the most “provocative” outfit of the four. His chest and arms are bare so that his many tattoos can be seen. I’ll talk about the other outfits later as they all have their place in the... uh... white lights.

During the second chorus Victoria and Thomas return at the center and after the chorus it is time for the first solo; Victoria’s. The cameras are now on her but the lighting remains modest to accentuate the dark beat of her bass.

Victoria is the only girl of the group and the most dressed of them all - how refreshing! Her outfit is more similar to Thomas but she is buttoned up in the front. How does she wish to underscore her uniqueness as the woman of the band? But of course, with long flamboyant girly sleeves that come to delicious contrast with her aggressive stomping and her wide strides. Both her hairstyle and her outfit is inspired or basically just outright 70′s classic rock look.

It’s time for the bridge of the song right after her solo and Damiano has his attention on her and also draws the viewer’s attention to her some more. This part of the song is lower and softer - in relative terms - that’s why Damiano “chooses” her to sing it to. The lights now turn red, the intensity rises but there’s light flirtatiousness between them, with many smiles to each other and the camera that turns around them as they launch at each other playfully.

Then the song gets darker, more intense, the guitar stronger than the bass and Damiano’s voice turns to a scream. For this part, he turns to his bro, guitarist Thomas and he now draws the attention to him.

He grabs Thomas by the neck in an intense, intimate way (that doesn’t mean sexual, just intimate. His interaction with Victoria wasn’t sexual either). It is clear that through different ways Måneskin want to stress how good and close their relations are and that their singer, who is apparently a show stealer by birth, wants to ensure that they all get equal amount of attention from their audience. I love this.

True enough, nobody is left behind! The last chorus starts with a drums solo and Damiano goes up to the platform to now meet and introduce to us Ethan Torchio. Ethan stands up and his giant shadow is on the now blue background: this is the moment for the - so I hear - somewhat shy drummer to shine in his own aesthetic. The Italians leave none of their assets to fall down and Ethan’s impressive hair rightfully steals the show.

Just like Victoria and Thomas look alike, so do Ethan and Damiano, that’s why their costumes are the most similar. Ethan has a vest that covers him more than Damiano but leaves his arms bare. Because whose else the arms do you need to see if not the drummer’s?

This song has something peculiar because it was not a song originally written for Eurovision; it slows down in the end and  does not end on some impressive note from the singer as usual but with the last solo we expect, that of the guitarist, because everything is fair in Måneskin! The focus has to leave Damiano, so now it’s the time for the visual effects to finally catch fire, literally,  because nobody is allowed to take their eyes off them! Måneskin use a huge amount of pyro that however feels appropriate for the intense chorus and the ending guitar solo.

Thomas steps up for his solo and I forget we are in 2021. This is the most 70s thing I would ever hope to see.

In a hell of pyro, Thomas looks like he was tranferred right from a 70s rock ‘n roll concert. His outfit would be gladly taken by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. The unbuttoned jacket with this boho tie, such a classic 70s fashion touch. His haircut and even his FACE are the epitome of the 70s - what an ending sequence!

But hey we reached the end and this is Eurovision, the song slows down dangerously. Like I said, the Italians forbid us to get distracted. The attention must return to Damiano ASAP. Damiano says one last line and takes the audience with him to the very end with a death drop.

There you have it. Måneskin had me holding my breath for the full three minutes and I did not want to take my eyes off my TV. There are countless shows that are awesome - in this very Eurovision as well - but I was impressed by how they seemed to have found the perfect balance for everything in every single moment. They found the perfect stage concept for the song, they relied on visual effects only when they needed them and they stressed every twist and turn of their sound with a perfectly fitting move or interaction. They also all effortlessly could hold your attention and they made sure that they all would, with members often helping bring out other members. This performance was beautiful and, above all, clever which is why it was undoubtedly the worthiest of the win.  

[evilvvithin]

I really like your all writing. König characterization is perfect from you.

I'm feeling upset today due to an uncooperative project partner, i felt myself being bullied. I wonder if I could request the reader went home, feeling extremely depressed and literally at the brink of collapse, and finally all the emotional thoughts burst into tears. Seeking comfort from König. (Like knowing his little gf has been bullied)

Thanks a lot! Love you and your writing as always.

tysm for all the kind words i'm so frigging happy you like my könig characterization <;3

this is short cute drabble containing TW for stuff mentioned in the request.

Your steps were quick and heavy as you rushed towards home. You wanted to take a walk to clear your mind but at the same time you just wished to be home with your boyfriend, forgetting the outside world and troubles exist. Your partner you worked on a project with… you just had enough of him. He kept constantly teasing you for the past couple of days, since the project started, and you broke inside today. Wanting to yell, wanting to cry, wanting to just stare blankly at the sky somewhere isolated, wanting to beat someone up, hurt yourself… You wanted none of that, you only wanted your boyfriend.

“Welcome home, Schatz?” You were met with those words as soon as you opened the front doors. “Hey babe,” you replied emotionless and immediately went to the bedroom to unpack your bag and change clothes. 

You tried to not let him know you didn’t feel well, but you knew you couldn’t fool him. König always noticed every single detail about you. Facial expressions, tone of your voice, the words you chose to tell him. 

“What's wrong?” He asked softly and followed right behind you. “I see it on you.”

You sighed angrily. “It’s about the project.” 

“What’s with it?” He raised his eyebrows at you. “You mentioned before it’s quite challenging.”

“My partner, project partner I got assigned. He just refuses to cooperate with me,” you replied and felt König’s arms already wrapping around your shoulders from behind, “I feel like he’s purposely doing things wrong or the opposite way I tell him just to wind me up. It's an important project too, I just…” You couldn’t hold it anymore and just bursted into tears, swallowing all your words.

He pressed a soft kiss into your hair. “No project is worth your mental health, vergiss es.” 

You knew he’s right, you knew you should’ve just ignored your project partner but sometimes these things got to you. ‘He’s a bully’, you thought and imagined the cocky face of your partner when you told him he did something wrong yet again.

“That bully is not worth your attention. ”König said as if he was reading your thoughts. Pulling your back closer into his chest, he chuckled: “If he does it again, I’ll make sure it’s the last time he did it.”

You had to smile at his words. When it came to König, you weren’t sure if he was going to kill him or just scare him by talking to him. You turned to face him and kissed him. ‘How I missed those…’

“Can we just get comfy?” You asked, not wanting to talk more about your project or partner. 

“More comfy than this?” He grinned. 

Pulling you up by your waist, he carried you over to the couch with ease. “Tonight, I’m here for you, Schatz.” He brushed your hair. 

“You’re here for me everyday, silly!”

“Tonight is your night. Choose some movie and I prepare something to snack on meanwhile, alright?” He threw his king sized pillow at you and disappeared in the next room. 

‘Typical König… Ray of sunshine and gallon of support. Soft, loving, caring… able to snap my project partner's neck in a second.’ Diving into the big, comfy blanket, you hugged the giant pillow and turned on the movie. You couldn’t focus on it as you kept hearing noise coming from the kitchen and just wondered what the hell he was doing there. It didn’t take long for your question to get answered. 

König entered the room with a plate filled with pancakes. “It is not dinner food, but I know you love them.” 

This man… he made you unbelievably happy. You already forgot everything project related, even the feeling of being bullied by your partner. You just enjoyed the moment, every second of it. He cuddled right next to you under the blanket and you leaned against him, resting your head on his chest. 

“How about I come with you tomorrow?” He smirked and laughed evilly, putting a pancake under your nose. “To see the… project, you know.”

[itsallyscorner]

For Tom x

Pairing: Tom Holland x singer!reader

Summary: You have a surprise for Tom:)

Warnings: none, just pure teeth rotting Fluff:)

A/n: Hello my loves! This is literally a rewrite because I accidentally deleted the original version of this story on Tumblr RIGHT before I was gonna post it😭 Anyway here it is, I hope you all like it! Ally x

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

look at my sunshine🥺

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

Your giggles filled the hallway as you lead Tom into your makeshift studio. Since you were quarantining with him and his mates in their shared home in London, you were miles away from your crew and studio. Which, yes, made it difficult to record an entire album on your own—but it did give you the creative freedom to do whatever you pleased for the album.

The boys had their own creative outlets; for example putting together a puzzle or having a movie marathon. While you found those activities enjoyable, the inner singer in you couldn’t stop thinking of beats or coming up with lyrics in your head. You needed the studio—you needed to bring those beats and lyrics to life before you could forget them. So with the help of the houses’ tech lord himself, Harry made it possible for you to have your own little studio in the spare guest room of the house. There, you spent endless days writing and recording things like harmonies and building melodies. Little did you know that this would lead to the creation of your sixth album. Now a couple months later, your latest album is currently in its final stages and would soon be released to the world.

Tom adoringly watched your figure, which was drowned in one of his oversized jumpers, excitedly skip towards the guest room. As soon as you were both inside, you rushed to close the door and eagerly pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed.

“What have you been up to, lovey?” He teasingly asks you. He knew you were up to something, he just didn’t know if it were bad or good.

Your figure was bent over the desk where your laptop was located. Turning over your shoulder you tell him, “It’s nothing bad, I promise!” You’re met with an amused grin on his blush pink lips.

Gathering your laptop into your arms, you move to sit beside Tom on the bed. He curiously leans forward, trying to get a glance at what’s on your screen.

“Nuh uh, it’s a surprise, Thomas.” You playfully scold him and gently push his face away from your laptop. He responds with a pout against your palm before pressing a kiss onto your skin. You continue to click around on your laptop, looking through your documents for the specific file.

Meanwhile, Tom shuffles further up the bed, getting comfortable. He notices the new distance between you and him and decides that he’s unsatisfied with the additional inches. He choses to snake his arms around your waist and lifts you up, happily placing you on the empty and lonely space on his lap. Laying down on his back, he takes a moment to admire the way you look in his jumper. It was a few sizes bigger than you and stopped right above your knees. The jumper may have looked good on him, but it looked absolutely perfect on you.

“You look so cute in my jumper.” He hums, hands lazily rubbing up and down your thighs. Your nose scrunches up as you lightly slap his chest; your silent way of saying “shut up” whenever Tom would say something that made you blush.

You finally find the file you were looking for and place your laptop on your lap. You nervously glance at your screen, biting down on your lip out of habit.

“Ok, so I did something.” You started. Tom squints his eyes at you, “That sounds like the beginning of a really bad something.”

You huff, “I just told you it wasn’t anything bad! Do you want your surprise or not?”

Tom chuckles and grasps onto your thighs, “Yes—yes, sorry, keep going.”

“So you know how I’ve already finished my album?” You question him. Tom nods, staring up at you while you sit on his thighs.

“Well, I wrote a few more songs that were supposed to be on the album. But I don’t know, I felt a bit greedy and decided to keep them for myself.” You explain. Tom raises a brow at you, “Baby, you don’t have to feel guilty about keeping songs to yourself. If you don’t want to share them, you don’t have to.”

“No, it’s just that, they’re about you.” You pause, staring down at your fingers that fiddled together. “Like I wrote them specifically for you to listen to. I wanted to include them on the album, but it just didn’t feel right to share something that was meant only for you.”

You place your laptop on the bed and turn it so the screen is facing Tom.

“So...as a solution, I made you your own album.” You were too busy avoiding his stare, that you missed the twinkle in Tom’s coffee colored orbs. He carefully sits up, his arms around you getting tighter, as he pulls you closer into his chest. Tom ducks his head down to yours, nudging your nose with his to get you to look at him. When your eyes finally meet, the lopsided grin on his features grows wider.

“You made me my own album?”

“Yeah.” You shyly answer. Tom softly coos at you, cupping your face and pressing a chaste kiss onto both of your cheeks.

“You are the most precious thing in the world, sunshine, I swear.” He squishes your cheeks together and began to cover your face with butterfly like kisses. Sweet laughs erupt from you, the sounds making Tom’s heart swell.

You stuff your face in the space between his neck and shoulder, using it as a place to hide from his lips. Instead, Tom opts to lay his kisses along the side of your face, your neck, and your shoulder.

“Lemme kiss you!” He whines. You chuckle at him, finally moving away from his neck. His attention darts towards your lips more than once, prompting you to lean forward and connect them with his. Tom’s lips were soft against yours, like clouds or cushiony pillows. The kiss was short and sweet; though it didn’t prevent you from feeling the adoration and passion he felt for you in that moment. In fact, he felt it all the time, but right now, his love for you was coursing through his veins.

He finally pulls away, leaving the taste of him linger in your mouth. “Can I have a listen?” He motions his head towards your laptop beside him.

“Go ahead.” Tom’s arms unravel from your waist, the area they once occupied left cold and yearning for his warmth. He uses one of his elbows to hold himself up and the other to control the touchpad. His eyes scan the file.

For Tom x

someone like u

test drive

worst behavior

main thing

He glances at you, “I start with ‘someone like u’, right?” You reply with a quiet “mhm”.

Tom clicks on the link. The opening notes of ‘someone like u’ begin to play followed by your angelic voice. You hear him release a content sigh, making a small smile to form on your lips. His arms make their way around you again, this time holding you closer against him. He rests his head on your chest and sneakily presses a kiss onto your neck. You fondly run a hand through his curly hair and rest your chin on the top of his head, listening to the songs you’ve made for him.

The two of you listen through the album in one go with no stops. You found joy in Tom’s reactions towards every song. Sometimes he would make little comments or sounds of shock whenever he heard you hit a certain note. He nodded along to the beats of ‘test drive’ and ‘worst behavior’, dancing around in his seat and making you join him. This time, you didn’t miss the twinkle in his eyes when he listened closely to the lyrics. ‘Main thing’ got him the most, leaving him with a goofy-lovesick grin plastered onto his face.

When ‘main thing’ came to a close, the room became silent, leaving Tom enough time to process the four songs you wrote about him and the meanings behind them.

You were the first to speak, “So did you like it?” You scan his face looking for any signs of dislike.

Tom’s eyes widen, “Are you kidding me? That was bloody fantastic—that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard! I’m obsessed with it, oh my god!” He expressed, arms moving around as he spoke.

His face was radiating with happiness, “You are the most talented and loving woman in the world. And I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve you or your love—but I just love you so fucking much.”

“I love you so fucking much too, you dork.” You laugh, pecking his lips.

“No, but seriously, thank you so much. I know you’re used to writing songs, but the fact that you actually took the time to write songs about me means a lot. They’re just a bunch of songs, but they mean the world to me and I cherish each and every one of them.” He admits, taking one of your hands and placing it onto his heart. Your palm feels the faint rhythm of his heart beating against his chest.

You tilt your head at him, mirroring the smile on his face, “I’ll always write songs about you. You somehow manage to inspire them anyway.”

Tom smirks, “Well I am Tom Holland.” You snort and roll your eyes at his humble brag.

“You’re still a dork, Tommy.” You comment.

Tom shrugs, “I’m a special dork because I’m your dork. Therefore making me superior to the other existing dorks—there’s a difference, darling.”

“And where did you come up with this hypothesis, Mr. Holland?” You question him, playing along with his antics.

“It’s Tom’s Theory.” He answers with feign seriousness. You burst out laughing, “Oh is it?”

Tom leans down to your laptop and restarts his album. “Yes, and now Tom’s Theory, believes that we should listen to the album again until I learn all the lyrics to every single song.” He proclaims.

“Babe, you don’t have to—” Tom stops you, “I’m dead serious.”

It was going to be a long night.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

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[thisnoodlewritesao3]

Train Ride | Aone Takanobu/Reader

Characters: Aone Takanobu, Reader, Moniwa Kaname, Futakuchi Kenji

Pairings: Aone Takanobu/Reader

Word Count: 2623

Warnings: Um, I don't think there are any, but do lmk if there are any

Summary: Aone had never been more thankful of the people who avoided him on the trains, especially when they gave him something as amazing as you.

A/N: This was literally meant to be a small idea I had and at some point I just said yeet and, well, here we are. Living our best lives I guess. I don't know, I just love Aone so much, he's such a cutie. I want to hold his hand and sit by him on the train, is that too much to ask??? As always, thank you to @pies-writes-and-more for assuring me I am good at writing. God knows where I'd be without you my love

----

Aone was used to people ignoring- no, avoiding him on the train. It didn’t matter what he did, where he looked, or how soft he tried to seem - it was always the same. He told himself that it was fine, even though it really wasn’t.

It had even gotten to the point that people would purposefully avoid sitting down in the seat where he’d sit; women and men alike would choose to stand even when there were two available seats next to him. Very few people knew about these worries of his, and those that did know would make sure to seat themselves next to him.

He’d expected today to be the same. Sit down on the train, try to come off as non threatening, then go to school. The universe had some other plans for him.

He stepped onto the train, immediately turning towards his seat and taking a long step before he froze. Normally, it would be empty (since everyone knew he sat there by now), but today, in his place sat you. Your head resting back against the window with your lips parted. A book loosely held in your hand, teetering on the edge of falling. The light through the window seemed like a halo around you - for a second, he was inclined to think you were an angel. Your eyes were closed, light snores, a sign you’d fallen asleep.

You truly looked at peace.

Aone didn’t move any closer to you, worried you wouldn’t want him sitting next to you. So he chose to stand, sighing internally as people moved out of his way, leaving a large circle around him.

You were wearing the Date Tech uniform, but he’d never seen you before, maybe you were just new? Or maybe you were a first year? He didn’t know - but he wanted to know.

For a second, he thought that you’d gotten on the train too early, that you wouldn’t show up again tomorrow. The thought was almost upsetting and he couldn’t figure out why.

To his surprise, you showed up the next day, and the day after that, and every day for two weeks. Every single time, you were asleep, or too engrossed in your book to notice him. When the third week came, you were sitting with the book in your lap, staring absentmindedly at the floor. The space to your right was open.

He tried not to pay any attention to it, acting as if you being fully conscious on the train ride was completely normal. Acting like you weren't staring at him (because why would you be?). Try his best to not meet your eyes every few seconds (because he definitely wasn't doing that).

Your lips were pressed into a thin line, and your eyes followed him wherever he went. It was almost unnerving- no, it was definitely unnerving. What did you want from him?

Well, that question was answered faster than he thought.

On the Monday of the fourth week, he stepped onto the train to find you standing in front of him. A soft glare on your face.

He glanced at the seat, and it was open, so why were you standing in front of him? And why were you glaring at him? And why weren't you moving? And- OH GOD! Why are you grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the seat? Why are you standing in front of him and pushing him down? And why-

You sit down next to him, the glare on your face practically gone as you smile and nod your head happily from one side to another. He just knows his cheeks are so red from you holding his hand but he can't glance down at you.

But then you're tapping his shoulder, so he has to look because, God, he doesn't want you to think he's rude.

In your hand is a melon pan (well, two, but the second one you are already happily munching on), you lift it up to him, gesturing for him to take it. And so he does. You seem satisfied for a second, before you pull out a carton of milk from your bag (once again, two), and pass him one.

He doesn't know how to react.

You seemed to have that effect on him; the mystical ability to leave him completely speechless more so than usual.

You take extra care in stabbing the straw through the film on top and sipping violently before you glanced up at him. "What?" You asked, acting far too innocent and none-the-wiser that he wanted to scream.

He shrugs.

You sigh, "L/N Y/N," you introduce yourself and his heart skips a beat because now he has a name to the face. “Don’t worry,” you say in between bites of your melon pan, “I already know your name.” That should worry him more than it does, but he was on the volleyball team. So he guessed it was okay.

Once again, you had that halo around you. So ethereal. God, just looking at you made him blush. Especially when you looked up at him with a slightly confused look in your eyes, tilting your head and raising a brow.

Of course, he looked away quickly - not that he wanted to.

It didn’t stop that day. You stood in front of the train doors every single day for three weeks (until you were sure he wouldn’t run off), and then you waited. Some days you were wide awake with food ready for him. Other days you were on the verge of falling asleep and had barely managed to pass him the food and drink before promptly falling asleep. The rest you were fast asleep, the bag of melon pan on your lap, his name written on the brown bag with a smiley face at the end.

When you were awake, you talked and talked like there was no stopping you. He found out so much. Like the fact you came to school early just because you could (though he didn’t understand that). You were in class 2C; you didn’t have a club, but you always wanted to join one (he almost suggested you become the volleyball club manager, but the words refused to leave his mouth); you loved melon pan, like, it was your own personal obsession; you learned how to bake just so you could make more melon pan. So much more. His knowledge on you was more than his own teammates. You’d walk him to class. He swore, if you had a tail, it would be wagging constantly.

Things only got worse for him the moment Futakuchi saw you walking together. Aone half-expected you to know he was, but then you looked up at him with expectant eyes and it brought him back to the moment of how you’d known his name before. So, if you didn’t know Futakuchi’s name, why did you know his?

He certainly didn’t feel like there was anything about him worth knowing, or worth remembering. But, for whatever reason, you knew things. You remembered them. Why?

After months of this routine, he decided to be confident and ask you.

“Do you want to study together after school?” You asked him before he could get any words out.

“Yes.” He said, not taking a second to question anything. He knew he had practice today, that didn't matter. You could just give him your address and then-

“Great!” You chirped. “I’ll wait for you.”

How could you be so effortlessly cheerful? He almost hated it.

He gave you a questioning look and you hummed, “well, partly because that way I can show you shortcuts google maps won’t show you, partly because I want to see you practice, and mostly because I want to spend more time with you.” There was the confidence that would be the death of him.

Seriously, he wished he could do that.

Instead, he nodded slowly, pretending like it wasn’t killing him that he couldn’t just hold you - because that would be weird.

When you showed up at practice, smiling up at him like he was your world, his teammates were quick to bombard him with questions. Not that he answered them. So they moved to you; once again, if you had a tail, it would have been wagging. You answered all of their questions with gleams in your eyes. You were so endearing this way, but he couldn’t help the spark of jealousy that danced in his stomach. Before you knew it, he was standing in front of you, stopping the rain of questions and to give you a second to breathe. You seemed thankful, especially when you smiled up at him softly before moving towards a wall to rest and watch the practice.

Well, watch was a strong word for what you did.

You watched him play for - maybe - five minutes before you fell asleep. The moment your light snores floated into the air, everyone halted playing to look over at you. There you were in your normal position, hands folded in your lap, lips parted and head rested back against the wall. The only thing that was different was Aone’s jacket that you had draped over yourself.

God, you really were trying to kill him.

Somehow they all silently agreed to practice so much quieter than normal, and every time you stirred, they froze; God forbid you wake up.

Moniwa was amazed you could fall asleep so easily, but he wasn’t going to stop you. Things only got worse when your face scrunched up from whatever dream you were having and everyone had to take a second to recover from how adorable it was - one glare from Aone managed to stop them, for now.

Your obvious discomfort made Aone’s heart ache, but he had to practice, so he just silently watched you from across the court. He tried his best to land softer than normal. If he could make the entire world quiet for you in this moment, he would. He glared at Futakuchi when he spiked a ball and it landed slightly too loud.

After practice finishes, you barely stir awake, smiling up at him lazily. “God, that went by quick.” You say, stretching and yawning. Aone can’t help but smile - just a little - especially when you push yourself to stand up, almost fall over, and grab onto his arm for support.

He would have been perfectly fine with it had you let go of him afterwards. But you didn’t. In fact, you slipped your hand into his. All blood rushed to his face no matter how hard he tried to hide it; Futakuchi noticed it far too quickly, but he didn’t say anything through his little smirk, just turned away from the pair and whistled innocently to himself. Aone knew this wouldn’t be the last he heard of this - not that he minded.

The journey back to your home was relatively quiet - the most prominent noise was his own heartbeat in his ears. So loud and thundering that he was worried you could hear it. Maybe you could, especially when you decided to rest your head on his shoulder, nuzzling your cheek against him like a kitten.

Really, you were still a wonder to him. Your body seemed to work like an alarm clock. You could fall asleep just about anywhere, at any time, and still wake up exactly when you need to.

Right now was a good example of that. Just as his anxiety settled in that you were going to miss your stop, your eyes fluttered open and you stood up groggily.

He’d need to ask you one day how you managed to do that.

At this point, your word might as well have been gospel to him; he wasn’t stupid, he knew he probably had feelings for you, and that they were more than just how friends act around one another. He wanted to protect you, keep you safe, to hold you close and never let you go. God knows you’d probably let him. But there were the parts that were worried about how you felt. Because he’d never seen how reacted with anyone other than him, he didn’t know how you were with your friends. At least he’d get to see a little more into your life when he gets to meet your family.

When you lead him up the steps to your home, he isn’t expecting the one bedroom apartment that you lead him into, but it isn’t a bad thing. “My parents are out of the country.” You say, and for the first time, you don’t elaborate. He isn’t going to push you to either. He’s happy with anything you have to say.

You lead him into the living room, asking him if he wants anything to eat or drink; clearing off the coffee table so they’d have somewhere to work. The silence that settled was comfortable - which surprised him, because he’d never had silence with you when you were awake. You filled his life up with so much noise that he loved it - maybe he’d go as far as to say he loved you.

Studying with you is nice, he can definitely see why you’re in a higher class. You help him with any questions he has, even if he can barely ask them to you.

He’s there watching you, wishing he had the words to explain to you how much more full you’d made his life. How much you’d changed everything around him.

Every night, he was silently thanking you for just existing near him; for sitting down in his seat; for noticing him, and bringing him to you; for pushing him just out of his shell enough to be able to call each other friends (even when his heart begged for more). He hoped for so many more moments like these, where he could bask in your glory, in everything to do with you. Even when he could never be yours, he still hope-

“I like you.” You cut off his train of thought so abruptly that he physically jumped. You stood in front of him, in front of his house (because you’d insisted on taking him home). Something flickered in your eyes and you looked away from him - for the first time in all of him knowing you, you were shy. Anxious. Worried. It was so obvious. “I know you probably don’t like me. And I know this is out of nowhere, but I have liked you since the first time I saw you.”

And with that, it was like two worlds collided. His heart was exploding with such overwhelming joy that he didn’t know how to react. So, he let his body react for him.

He wrapped you in a hug and pressed his head into the crook of your neck, ignoring the ache in his neck from leaning down. “I like you too…” his voice was barely above a whisper, yet it was so clear in your ears.

Somehow, you made his days even better than before. Whether you were standing waiting at the train doors with such bright smiles and love filled eyes, or when you leaned up and kissed his cheek in front of his teammates (he’d deal with the teasing from Futakuchi because nothing else mattered when you loved him).

Aone was used to people avoiding him on the train. He wasn’t used to the love you provided. But he’d never been more thankful for people avoiding him on the train, because maybe - just maybe - if they hadn't avoided him, you never would have pushed your way into his life. He’ll always be thankful for that train ride on that Monday morning, and every morning after then.

----

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[shelby-love]

TOMMY SHELBY

Marrying Off for Love

Requested: yes (by anonymous)

Prompts: none

Warning(s): language

Word Count: 1.8K

Author's note: I made this as realistic as possible! It ends neutrally I think; not happily but not you know... It's an ending fit for the Peaky Blinders!

This is a Reader x OC / Tommy Shelby x daughter!reader one shot

~

Being free of the name was always a distant thought in your mind. You would weigh the good and the bad of having a last name with significant influence. The good somehow always overthrown the bad, leaving you with everything other than a clear, calm mind.

Sure, the luxury that came with being a Shelby was worth the sacrifice. So was your twisted family, you guessed.

At least until you met him.

A fine man with a heart of gold. Quite literally the only man in Britain worth your while.

He was perfect in every way with his looks and his manners… save for the name, of course.

Alessi Villin.

That was just your luck. Getting attention of your father's rivaling gangsters and falling head over heels in love with the man in charge.

So what does a girl do in that situation?

She chooses love of course.

***

"What the bloody hell is wrong with Y/N?" Asked Arthur after barging into the Garrison that was empty just several moments later. No man stayed upon hearing that the Shelby's were gathering for a meeting. The oldest of the brothers, and coincidentally your favorite one, leaned over the empty bar having decided to fix himself s strong drink.

"How's Linda?" Asked Polly instead, pressing her cigarette against the ash tray. She had left a few cigarettes burn themselves out until the smell started to dominate. Satisfied, she leaned back, never looking more imposing as she did right then.

"She's alright," he mumbled, swinging the glass so the drink practically flew into his throat like a rapid.

"Right," started Ava, discarding her coat on a lone chair before settling in the middle of the huddled Shelby family. "Family meeting."

"We can't start," Arthur announced suddenly, crashing onto a chair with a bottle of scotch in hand. "Y/N's not 'ere."

"Then where in the bloody hell is she?" Ada asked with a tired frown, knowing you were never late for the meetings. You showed your distaste toward them yes, but never in your life have you avoided or been purposely late to one.

It intrigued Tommy to know too. His daughter was his whole world. You were the piece of his past life that not even war could take away. Even though he didn't show it.

But the man shook his head, knowing one thing – his daughter wasn't a stupid girl. Like her aunts, she was every bit as cunning and smart. A true Shelby lady.

But still.

Where were you?

Only Polly Gray knew, but she wasn't going to say a word until it was deemed necessary.

***

The top of the grass hill has overlooked the forests for many years. The soft array of green grass and variously colored wildflowers goes on for miles all around. The air is cool against your skin, with a touch of humidity from the last night's rain.

Your legs stretch out in front of you like you've ran for miles. The blissful feeling from the position you're in eases your tense muscles. It's beautiful really, despite the slightly damp ground. Your back falls against the grass and hair spreads at the ground. The sky is clear, the perfect shade of light blue. It almost looks too good to be true. It makes you smile in delight, as you didn't really remember the last time you truly drew in a fresh breath of air.

The man who had brought you out too see this was even more beautiful. Alessi's carefree smile pursued by eyes the same shade as grass around you put your mind at ease. Helped you think clearly. Something you hadn't done in a long time.

You looked at him and saw what you wanted to be – someone free of chains that hold one's mind back from thinking out of the box. Someone loyal to a fault and loving.

 "Oi! Come here," you bellowed, sitting up and waving your hands in the air to get him away from the red wildflowers and into your arms.

Alessi didn't waste a beat and marched back toward you.

Wrapped in each other's embrace, and you never felt more at home.

That thought scared you. It scared you to know that now, there was another place you called home. In the arms of your father's rival none the less.

But that's what he gets for leaving you to your thoughts all your life. He let you be swallowed by the doubts and insecurities until he couldn't do anything about the said fact.

You had always told yourself; It's the war. The war had done that to him.

But shouldn't a father love his daughter more than anything in the world? Tommy is a complicated man that chose to move his family up in the world as a way to cope with the lingering nightmares of the war.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Alessi had asked, immediately pulling you out of the train of thoughts in your mind.

"That raspy voice of yours is the sweetest of songs to my ears," you mused with a smile, head against his chest that rose and fell with rhythmic ease.

His laugh broke out, disrupting the peaceful atmosphere.

You sat up and reached for his pocket, pulling out his favorite pocket watch to check the time. He had it custom made - the watch – wanting to have both of your initials on the front.

You melted every time you saw it.

"I missed the family meeting," you said suddenly, realization sinking in. Alessi met your eyes after you had finished quietly cursing the planet.

"I mean," you started, "It's not like I wanted to go. That's more of a formality I guess… Showing up and all."

He nodded in understanding but a question stood in front of the understanding, "Then why'd you fall in love with me? My family meeting was 2 days ago."

You bit your lip, not quite knowing how to answer.

Alessi didn't look any different than before asking the question as he stood up off the damp grass, fetching his waistcoat to put on. "What are you doing?"

"Preparing," he simply said, the thick Scouse accent breaking out with the word.

"Preparing for what?" You asked him, scurrying over to stand up.

"To ask you to marry me."

He appeared in front of you, and like a gentleman went down on one knee. There wasn't a gangster in him at that moment, the façade for the public disappeared to show something he showed only you.

Love.

Something you hadn't experienced in a long time.

"I don't care about your family, Y/N." Alessi said, "The only one I care about is you. I don't want to start a war with them because I don't want to see you get hurt. That's how much I care for you. That is just how much I love you."

Whatever happened in the next moments were true.

You had chosen to be someone's bride.

You had chosen a side you would stand by for the rest of your life.

***

The Shelby meeting could be thrown straight in the mud. Every family member went after their thing and the only thing that did seem to flow in peace was the alcohol.

"No, I really think someone kidnapped her." Arthur repeated for the 5th time, truly believing that someone had forcefully taken you as a leverage against them.

"She's not missing."

Polly saw no point in keeping your secret at that moment and so for the first time, you had given her the honors of revealing something instead of you.

"Then where the fuck is she, eh?" Arthur voiced.

Aunt Pol smiled down at Tommy who was holding the wooden chair in a vise grip, not saying a word for a few moments. Her lust for the dramatics only brought new tension into the room. "With the man she loves."

Polly's words shocked everyone present. Arthur choked on his alcohol; Ada's eyes went wide; Lizzie froze in her seat, her cigarette left and forgotten in her hand.

And as your father.

He wore a blank expression on his face even when he asked, "Who?"

Polly chuckled, "Alessi Villin, of course."

"Hold the fuck up!" Arthur butted in. "That bastard Villin we've been having trouble with?! What the hell happened with 'Don't fuck with the Peaky Blinders'? What the hell is wrong with 'er?"

"Y/N was never a Peaky," Polly told him, glancing at Tommy just as those words left her mouth. "But you knew that already, didn't you Tommy?"

"I suspected," Your dad admitted. "Just not with-"

"Your fucking competition…" Ada finished for him, clicking her tongue in pure disbelief, "I say good for her. She'll be the one that managed to get away from this twisted family!"

"Yea and then go to another one that's just like fucking us! Maybe even fucking worse!"

Both Ada and Arthur were shouting at each other now. The two were accompanied by Lizzie who had her own comments to add too.

Polly and Tommy stared each other down, "That boy loves her Tommy," Pol said. "She's his whole world. I saw it with my own eyes. And she loves him too."

Thomas said nothing as his aunt left the stunned family alone in the Garrison pub, ending the Shelby meeting with a single sentence.

***

You stood in front of your father's office door after being summoned the moment you were spotted back in Birmingham. With calm hands you twiddled the ring on your finger as a soon-to-be married woman.

You had a fiancé.

And you had to tell your dad about it.

But given that you missed the meeting, and Polly – the only person that knew – was there to fill in for your absence, you were sure the word has spread. Especially when you spotted Finn acting out the moment he saw you get out of the car. That boy can't keep a secret to save his life.

"You wanted to see me, Dad?" You asked once he called you in.

"Yes," he said, gaze locked on the papers. "Sit down."

You rolled your eyes at the tone and took a seat, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

"An expensive ring you have there," Your father pointed to your left hand with his pen. "Is that what you spend your money on?"

"Was there a reason you wanted to see me?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I've decided that your engagement to Alessi Villin is a good thing."

Hope sparked at that moment, making you ignore the fact that he knew of the engagement before you even told him. "Really?"

"You have my blessing but should your engagement fail, there is going to be a war. But if you go through with this and marry him, our family and the Villin family will be united forever and this war will be over."

You hardly believed your ears. "Y-you…"

Your father said nothing. "I'm not marrying so you could do business in Liverpool!"

"The Mersey river is Alessi's territory," he tried to reason. "If you marry him than we can-"

"There is no 'we' anymore Dad!" You bellowed through sudden tears, surprising both Tommy and yourself with your voice's strength. "I'm getting bloody married! To the man that I love at last, and you're acting like we're signing a bloody contract!"

The river of words flew out your mouth, "Don't treat me like you treated John! My marriage isn't like his!"

"Now, if that's all," You stood up and fixed your skirt. "I'd like to leave. I have a wedding to plan."

You pressed your cigarette into his ash tray before turning on your heel and leaving your father for the first time in your life, to his own thoughts.

~

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MASTERLIST

[lis-likes-fics]

The Cullen Games

Pairing: Carlisle Cullen x Reader (but it has a lot of Cullen Family x Cullen!Reader) Word Count: 3189 words, I know Warnings: None. :P Author’s Note: I literally just thought about how fun it would be to have a piggy back ride with Emmett and then proceeded to concoct this beauty. Enjoy, pfft-

The moment the sun was high enough to make the light reflect beautifully off of the water in the streams, Y/N had a wicked grin on her face. It was officially the first day of spring and it was time for the seasonal Cullen Games.

She burst into the living room where a few of the family members had settled, Carlisle came in the door behind her with a silent smile on his face as she announced, "Cullens, it's that time of year. You love it, you live it. It's the Cullen Games!"

"The Cullen Games?" Bella asked, looking up from her book where Renesmee was sitting with her on the couch. "What's that?"

Carlisle wrapped his arm around his wife's waist as he smiled, "We usually have it four times a year, the first day of each season. It's our little taste of the mundane."

Alice clapped, "We have the most fun with it. We just haven't been able to do it in the past couple of years for...reasons."

Bella knew those reasons, they were quite obvious. They hadn't been able to do it in the past couple of years because she was there with a new problem every few months. But that wasn't the point. The point was, it was time for the Cullen Games.

Esme smiled, "Alice and Y/N have an intense rivalry every time. They're always trying to figure out whose team will win. I think they're at a tie this time."

"Yep," Carlisle sighed, "Which means this time around will be extra competitive."

Y/N nodded, "And we have a few new members to help up with the games this time."

Rosalie looked up with narrow eyes, "Who?"

She smiled wickedly, "Jacob, Seth, and Leah. They're part of the obstacle course. We're spicing things up this time. Plus, Seth really wanted to join."

Esme flipped through her book as she asked, "Have you chosen your teams yet?"

Y/N shrugged, "We don't pick until the day of, so no. But I know my team."

"Ah-ah-ah!" Alice exclaimed, "Not yet! We have to set up the course."

"Yes, I know, I know," Y/N sighed, "We're getting there."

Emmett cracked his knuckles, "This is gonna be great."

Y/N smiled wickedly once again, she did it a lot this time of year. She loved the Cullen Games, she was part of the reason they existed. It would start with the explaining of the courses, the choosing of the teams, and then the setting up of the courses. Once the teams were chosen, they would chose their roles and the game would start. Whoever's team won the games would chose a team member to kick off the first hunt of the season. No one really cared about the hunting part really, it was just a fun prize.

Y/N and Alice, however, did care a lot about who won. They've been doing this for forever, trying to beat one another in the games. After winning and losing and winning and losing, they were finally at a tie. There was no special prize in it, they just really wanted to see who won.

Everyone loved their competition, it was one of their favorite things about being a Cullen - getting to watch Alice and Y/N battle to find out who could do the games better.

Y/N grabbed the whiteboard she and Alice had been writing on for the past week to figure out what the games would consist of. She wheeled it into the room with a red marker and started explaining.

"The Station One is 'Tree Climb'. The team leaders -- spring season is me and Alice -- start the races this way. We will climb up the starting trees, travel on tree top, and then drop down when we see our next team members."

Alice explained the next bit, "Then there's Station Two, 'Piggy Back'. After getting down, you climb on your partner's back and they carry you to the halfway point. Once you reach the halfway, you switch to your next partner's back and they carry you to the endpoint."

Y/N nodded, "Right. Station Three is 'Hole In Three'. There will be three hoops. Once you get off your partner's back after reaching the endpoint line, you tag your next member. The other two members will get to their next positions during this station. The team member will pick up one ball and have to score it in each hoop in only one throw. You will only be able to see two hoops, you will have no clue where the third hoop is. If you miss a hoop, your team loses points. The wolves will howl for how many you got. After the throw, that member will tag the rider back in and they go to Station Four."

Alice rubbed her hands together as she started explaining the next station, Smacking her ruler on the board to the purposefully terrible drawing of a wolf. "Station Four is 'Wolf Chase'. After tagging your member back in, you'll both go to the next checkpoint where Jacob, Leah, and Seth will be waiting as wolves. They'll be chasing after you, you have to avoid them. If they get you, you lose points. Once out of bounds, you will grab your team flag."

"And there, you'll start Station Five," Y/N took over, "Station Five is a three-legged race. You'll grab the partner that took the second piggy back in the second station and tie your legs together. The flag must be wedged in between your legs and secure. If the flag falls, you lose points."

Alice nodded, "Once your couple reaches the checkpoint to start Station Six, 'Finish Line', you hand your flag to the member who started the piggy back and they will take it to the finish line where Renesmee will take the winning flag and wave the victory."

They took it all in as they thought over the games. Just then, the three wolves walked up the stairs and stared at the board in confusion and slight concern. "What'd we miss?" Jacob asked.

"You'll get a brief summary later," Alice explained, "Right now we pick teams! Since Y/N got the most points last games, she gets to pick her first member." Alice sighed at the last bit, mumbling to herself about how she won last games so she didn't even care.

Y/N smiled triumphantly and looked over the room. She looked at Carlisle, "I love you, but I'm choosing Emmett first. Come on, himbo bro."

Emmett stood, cracking his knuckles again as he laughed, "Nice." He high fived her and Alice looked over the room. "Edward," she smiled.

"But you get him every time!" Y/N whined.

"No, I don't! You had him last games and the games before that," Alice complained. Y/N mumbled under her breath before breathing out a laugh. She looked at them again and immediately picked Carlisle. "I love you," she mouthed to him. He smiled and chuckled silently, kissing her forehead and standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Jasper," Alice said.

"Bella."

"Rosalie."

"Seth, Jacob, and Leah are their own team," Y/N explained. She turned to Bella and smiled, "Welcome to the winning team." Bella chuckled, "Happy to be here." Alice scoffed and glanced at her team.

"Loser- I mean, Alice, what's your team name?" Y/N asked her with a smile.

Alice rolled her eyes, "Gone with the Win."

Y/N stuck her tongue out and put a thumbs down, "That's lame, terrible name."

"That's a great name, Y/N, I don't know what you're talking about," Rosalie commented with a laugh.

Y/N stood next to Emmett as she smiled, "Well, we're Blood Bath and Beyond." She high-fived Emmett proudly and Carlisle commented, "I don't know how to feel about that name."

She turned to her husband, "Well, you can join the loser's side. No one will judge you."

Emmett whispered, "Everyone will judge him."

Carlisle rolled his eyes with a smile and a laugh, "I'm okay, thank you." Y/N clapped her hands together with a proud smile, "Top that name, Alice. Bet you can't."

Alice rolled her eyes, "Whatever, discuss your team roles."

Y/N chuckled and they left the room to go to the next one and discuss - even if that didn't stop the others from listening in. The only reason they didn't was because it was cheating, they would be disqualified if they eavesdropped. Esme usually narrated the games or posed as a referee, so they would be in line. She had a little helper this season.

Y/N looked over her team as she assessed them, "Alright, maggots - just kidding, I love you - this season is going to be tough. It's the tiebreaker between me and Alice. We gotta show what real winners look like. Emmett, you'll start off the Station Two with the Piggy Back and you'll switch with Carlisle. You'll carry me to Station Three, where I'll tag Bella. I hope you have a good arm, because Esme will not be kind when she sets those hoops up. Once you hear the howls, you tag me back in and we'll head into the trees. When we get there, Carlisle and I will do the race. You'll stick the flag, securely, into the tie. When he get to the end of the race, I'll hand the flag to Emmett, who will carry us to victory, both literally and figuratively. Good?"

They all somehow understood her game plan and went with it. They gave her a single nod and she answered any questions they had. Once they finished, they picked their team colors. Naturally, red for Blood Bath and Beyond. Gone with the Win chose the color blue. They got their flags set at the checkpoints, then they set the lines down. After another hour, the hoops were set up, as well as the ties for the race, and Renesmee's podium at the finish line.

They went over the stations one more time, even if it was only slightly unnecessary, and everyone got in their positions. They gave their signal and Y/N turned to Alice, "Remember, you can't use your powers."

"I know, I know," she rolled her eyes. She smiled, "I'm still gonna make you take that 'L'."

"In your dreams, buttercup," Y/N scoffed.

"I don't dream," Alice said as they got to the two trees they would start the games at. Esme stood with Renesmee at her side. They started counting. "Three." "Two." "One." "Go!"

Alice and Y/N took off up the trees like bullets, moving in a blur to human eyes as they reached the top of their two trees in no time. When they reached the top, they carefully searched for their partners, locking with their targets and racing on treetop.

When she reached the last tree, Y/N completely skipped climbing down and just dropped down to the ground. Emmett knelt and she climbed on his back, her legs over his shoulders. He took off, racing through the trees and avoiding any that would knock them down. She looked behind her and saw Alice and Jasper gaining up on them on their side of the course.

Y/N silently cursed and patted Emmett, "Don't go around this one."

"But-"

"Trust me," she told him. They headed straight for a tree, the branch extended out and threatening to knock her off his shoulders. She steadied herself to her feet, still on his shoulders, and jumped over the branch. He had his hands held out for her. She did a flip before extending her body, he grabbed her in the air, placing her back on his shoulders. "You're crazy," he commented.

"Crazy wins the race," she commented with a smile.

When they finally reached the halfway point, instead of climbing off of Emmett's shoulders, she placed her hands on Carlisle's and jumped over Emmett's head and onto Carlisle. She glanced over and saw that Edward was waiting for Alice and Jasper impatiently.

Smart. Edward was the fastest.

Carlisle rushed to the next endpoint. Whatever had affected Jasper before, definitely wasn't affecting Edward as he darted through the woods. "Step on it, Carlisle!" Y/N exclaimed.

He told her, "Edward's faster."

She shrugged, "But can he throw better than you?"

"What?"

"When we get close to the line, throw me," Y/N instructed him. Carlisle sighed heavily, a smile playing on his lips at the ridiculousness of her plan, but nodded.

As expected, Edward passed them at some point as the finish line got closer. Carlisle took a hold of Y/N's waist as he reached up for her, gripping them in his hands before chucking her over the line from who knows how far. She shot like a bullet over the line, immediately tagging Bella.

"And Y/N comes flying to the third station, tagging Bella into the game!" Esme exclaimed as Bella picked up her red ball and aimed carefully. Carlisle went to his next station to wait. Alice finally got off of Edward's back, tagging Rosalie. "Here comes Alice in second, tagging Rose in for a chance at redemption," Esme continued to announce, as if they had an actual audience. Bella threw her ball and, after a moment, the sound of three wolves howling broke the silence of the distant air.

"Yes!" Bella exclaimed, tagging Y/N back in. Rosalie threw her ball and only received two howls. "Dammit!" Rosalie muttered, tagging Alice back in.

They darted to the boundary that the wolves were waiting in, treading carefully and silently through the trees. It was so silent, a snapping twig would disturb everything there. When Y/N heard a soft growl from where Bella was headed, she crouched and lunged forward, shoving her out of the way as Leah leapt from the trees, Jacob and Seth coming out as well as they lunged for the vampires. Leah knocked Y/N off her feet as Bella turned around momentarily. Y/N scrambled to her feet and dodged Seth and Jacob, dodging Leah's second attack.

Rosalie and Alice whizzed by her and Y/N motioned for Bella to keep going. They both darted out of the trees, seeing Alice and Edward putting their legs together as Rosalie began to tie them. Y/N cursed silently, rushing to Carlisle and getting herself ready.

Bella quickly tied their inside legs together and intertwined the flag in their ties. Y/N and Carlisle nodded, intertwining their inside hands before carefully rushing to the endpoint where Emmett was waiting to take the flag from them.

Y/N smiled when Alice and Edward's flag fell over and they had to call for Rosalie to fix it. Y/N and Carlisle reached their endpoint and tagged Emmett, who grabbed their flag and darted for the finish line.

When Jasper finally got their flag, it seemed as though he was going to win. But when they reached Renesmee with their arms extended and their flags waving in the air, everything seemed to stop as they tried to look as see whose flag was going to wave first, both flags were in her hands. It happened so quickly that no one but Renesmee would tell who won.

Esme looked to the girl as she asked, "Who's the winner?"

Renesmee smiled and raised an arm, waving the red flag in the air excitedly. Y/N and her team smiled and cheered as Esme announced, "And the winner of this season's Cullen Games is Blood Bath and Beyond!"

Emmett and Bella high fived and he brought her into a bear hug as they celebrated. Y/N looked to Carlisle with a large smile, hugging him tightly before finally kissing him. When they pulled back, she exclaimed, "We did it!"

"We did!" Carlisle replied, "But, next time, I pick the name."

"Oh, alright," she smirked, "You're a summer leader anyway." She turned to Bella, "Oh, that reminds me. Bella, you're joining Emmett as a Fall Leader. You'll have your own team for Fall Games."

She cheered to herself and then turned to Edward to rub her victory in his face. Y/N walked over to Alice, taking Carlisle with her since they were still tied together. Alice also had to haul Edward with her, they were also still tied together.

Y/N held out her hand and Alice shook it as they congratulated each other for a good game. Esme then talked with Renesmee as they rounded up the results. "Okay, we have the points added up. Gone with the Win had six points total. You received two points for making only two hoops, and you won three for successfully avoiding the wolves. You won one more point for getting to the Three-Legged race first, but you lost that point when you dropped your flag. You won an additional point when you managed to get your flag to Renesmee so quickly," Esme explained.

Renesmee spoke in her small voice, "Blood Bath and Beyond won seven points total, so Gramps will be choosing the first member for summer's games."

Alice's team cheered again and Esme smiled, "You won two points for finishing station one first and starting station two first. You got three points for making all three hoops - good job, Bella. You lost three points when you were attacked by the wolves and lost another point for starting second for the race. You got one more point back when you managed to keep your flag straight, and you won five additional points for winning."

"Who's starting the Spring Hunt?" Jasper asked Y/N since she was the leader of her team. She smiled at Carlisle, "Why don't we have our leader kick it off this season?" Carlisle bent down and kissed her gently and everyone agreed.

~

Later that evening, they sat around the fire they made outside with the addition of Seth and Jacob - Leah didn't really want to join. They laughed and talked for a while as the sun officially set and it got dark. After another short while, Seth went back to his home and left the Cullens to themselves. Jacob went into the house with Renesmee so she could sleep.

Right before they got ready for the hunt, Carlisle stood and look around at the faces of each member of his family. He smiled, "This season's games were fun. It was nice to be able to have those again after a handful of seasons away from them. Let's welcome our newest members of the games, Bella and Renesmee."

The family clapped for them before turning back to Carlisle. Y/N smiled up at him warmly as he continued, "May this spring be as good as any other as we welcome it this year."

There was a light whoop around the fire and he looked down at Y/N, her eyes sparkling as she gazed up at him. He smiled softly to her and then turned to the rest of the family. "Good hunting, everyone."

"Good hunting" was scattered around the fire and they took it as their rightful cues to begin. They left into the wood and Y/N stood with Carlisle, a hand in his as she smiled at him. "I love you," she muttered happily.

Carlisle kissed her gently, "I love you."

~~~~~

Dr. Cullen taglist: @libellule2001​

[hphm-stuff]

Hi.. I saw your post about hphm writing ask. Would you like to write some fluff about Talbott and my MC Viviana (Viv) please. Even Any fluff about Talbott alone too would be more than enough for me 🙂. Looking forward to it . Thanks and have a great time 🌸

I love Talbott and was really excited to get this request! As a general rule, I just right x reader fics so that everyone can enjoy them. I’m more than happy to write the fluff, and I really hope you enjoy it! I took this and ran with it, so hopefully it’s to your liking!

Pairing: Talbott Winger x Reader

Warnings: None, pure fluff.

Word count: 1.9k

Summary: Lil’ eagle boy overworks himself often, and you have to step in to remind him to take a break, take a breath, and enjoy the little things. Like flower crowns.

Note: I can’t draw for the life of me, but I would literally pay for a picture of Talbott with a flower crown. Please message me if you would let me commission that or something.

Flower Crowns

It was a Saturday, and you couldn’t find Talbott anywhere. You knew, knowing him, that he would be studying somewhere. The library? Too loud. His common room? Also too loud. His dorm? Not enough room for all his books at once. Your feet took you toward the abandoned Transfiguration classroom before you even realized where you were going. It was quiet, out of the way, and empty until Monday. That was the perfect place for him to go to focus. You stopped in front of the classroom and pushed the door open. It creaked gently, and you winced as you stepped in. You knew your boyfriend, and knew that he hated to be interrupted while studying. His head whipped around. The look on his face was a mixture of stress and annoyance, but once he registered it was you, it was replaced with a gentle smile. “Hey.”

“Hey. I was just looking for you.”

His smile grew ever so slightly and his voice took on a playful tone. “Miss me that much? We just saw each other last night.”

With a roll of your eyes and a light smile, you moved to occupy the vacant seat beside him. You turned to him, noting the literal mountain of books beside him. They had to be stacked at least a foot tall. A sigh escaped your lips as you looked over them. “It’s Saturday, T. Saturday afternoon. It’s a beautiful day outside. Why are you in here?”

He was scribbling something down on his parchment and answered absentmindedly. “There’s a Potions test on Monday, love. Don’t tell me you forgot.”

“Of course I didn’t forget. Do you do anything other than study?”

He looked at you like that was the dumbest question he’d ever heard. “You know I do other things. We went to Hogsmeade last weekend.”

“After I practically begged for you to go. I’d asked you every week, and you finally relented.”

He shrugged, almost brushing you off. “I want to do well in classes.”

“Talbott, you already do well in classes. I can guarantee you that you’ll walk into that Potions test and ace it, without even trying.”

He sighed. “I just want to make sure I do that.”

“You need to stop working so hard sometimes. You’re so smart, T. So smart. You need to take a day to yourself sometimes.”

He was staring at his books, but you knew he was hearing your words. You watched him from your spot beside him, waiting for any sort of response. When he was quiet for a bit, you prodded more. “You need to think about yourself, T. You’re going to overwork yourself and burn out.”

“I’m fine. Really.”

“When’s the last time you went a day without cracking open a book when you didn’t absolutely have to?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Please, take a break today. Let’s go do something. I don’t want you burning out.”

“Let me just go over a few more things and then I’ll put the book away, alright?” he sighed.

You relented and kept him quiet company as he worked. It took hours of you trying to entertain yourself and pestering him for him to finally pack up his books. It was getting into the early evening when he finally packed up.

“Can we finally do something?” you asked.

There were only so many things you could do to keep yourself occupied in an empty classroom. You’d already roamed the class, looking at all the books that line McGonagall’s shelves. You’d looked through the books Talbott brought that he wasn’t using. You’d even stared out the window for longer than you even knew.

Talbott looked at you with a gentle grin and nodded his head. “We can do something.”

You grinned in response. “Meet me by the forest in ten minutes. If you’re not there, I’m coming to find you.”

“I’ll be there. I’m just going to put my books away,” he responded after a light chuckle.

You took his word for it and made your way back to your dorm, grabbing a bag and shoving a comfortable blanket in there. You also grabbed yourself a sweater, tossing it in the bag as well, just in case it got chilly later. Once you’d grabbed everything you needed, you set off toward the forest. Talbott had beat you there, and he greeted you with a playful grin. “For a second I thought I’d have to come find you.”

You rolled your eyes, grinning as you made your way toward him. You took his hand and led him toward the outskirts of the forest, far enough away to be safe. The area you chose was riddled with little flowers of all colours. You then set down the bag you brought with you, pulling out the blanket and laying it on the grass. You heard Talbott speak from behind you, the smile evident in his voice. “What do you have planned?”

You let out a soft giggle and moved to sit on the spread out blanket, patting the spot beside you. He sank down onto it, turning to you with a smile. You returned it. “I just wanted to spend some time with you. I feel like we haven’t had a full conversation in forever.”

Talbott was leaning back a little, his hands on the blanket behind him to support him. He scooted closer to you, his tone light. “Or, maybe, you’re too high maintenance.”

He was grinning, his tone light and playful. You gasped, feigning offence. “Excuse me?”

He laughed gently. “Clingy might be the better word? Attached? Maybe obsess-”

You cut him off with a kiss. He smiled gently against your lips as he returned it. When you pulled back, he was grinning. “What was that for?”

“Your Ravenclaw was showing. I needed it to stop.”

He laughed gently, leaning in to press a light kiss to your cheek. “You usually love it.”

“Not when you’re making fun of me.”

He grinned, moving to place an arm around your waist. You looked at him, taking in that beautiful moment with that beautiful boy. It struck you, just then, how far you two had come. Talbott, usually reserved, quiet and lonesome was different with you. He was almost carefree. It was a wonderful feeling, realizing that you brought this out of him, even if it was only with you. He pulled you out of your thoughts with a soft clearing of his throat. You felt a blush rise to your cheeks before looking away. “Sorry.”

He tugged you closer by the arm that was draped around you. At this point, your thighs were pressed against each other. You picked your head up to look at him, and found that he was already looking at you. “What were you thinking about, (Y/N)?”

You shook your head. “Nothing.”

“I don’t buy that,” he mused.

You gave him a timid smile. “Just thinking about you.”

“About me?”

“Yeah.”

“What about me? Good things?”

You giggled. “Always good things, T. Just shocked at how different you are with me than you are with other people.”

A grin took over his face. “What can I say? You bring out the best in me, darling.”

His cheesiness made you roll your eyes, but the smile on your face was sure to let him know that you appreciated the comment.

The two of you spent some time chatting out in the open field, enjoying each others’ company. You, at some point, absentmindedly started to play with the flowers around you. You picked one, and with a grin, stuck it in Talbott’s hair while he was mid-sentence. He turned to you, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”

You beamed at the sight in front of you. Talbott was a slightly intimidating looking guy, and the flower in his hair was in total contrast to that. “You look so cute.”

He dropped his gaze to the blanket in front of him. You caught the smile and the light blush that dusted his cheeks. You giggled softly, moving to lean into his side. He wrapped an arm around you. “Well, if it looks that good, I see no need to take it out.”

You continued to pluck some flowers, suddenly getting an idea. You started tying them together with the stems, starting to make them into a haphazard circle.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a flower crown,” you replied as if it was obvious.

“A what?”

“Usually you need a wire to put the flowers on, but we don’t have that right now. You just tie the flowers together and make them into a circle that will fit your head.”

You glanced over at him and caught him starting to gather up his own flowers. A light smile found its way onto your face as you turned back to the crown you were working on. When you were finished, you proudly presented it to him. It was a floppy mess of stems and blossoms, but he looked at it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“For you, my love,” you giggled as you set it on his head.

He grinned at you, halfway through his own. You took in the sight of him with the crown on his head, looking even more beautiful than he had with just the single flower in his hair.

The sun was setting, and the golden glow on him in that moment made your heart skip a beat. He looked so soft. So sweet. He didn’t even notice your staring as he was so focused on his own crown. He got it done a few minutes later and grinned as he held it up for you to see. It looked a lot worse than yours, but you loved it because he made it. He moved to set it on your head. “You, my darling, look radiant as ever.”

You giggled, and for what felt like the millionth time that night, blushed. The two of you sat together under the setting sun, chatting and cuddling up for warmth, or so he said. The night air was not, by any means, chilly, but you suspected that he wanted to be close to you without admitting it.

After sitting out there well past curfew, the two of you decided to pack it in for the night. Hand in hand, you walked toward the castle, still wearing your flower crowns. He walked you back to your common room and the two of you stood there for a moment. He finally spoke. “Thank you for convincing me to do something other than study. I needed that.”

You giggled. “I’m always happy to distract you. Those books get more attention than I do.”

“That’ll change, I promise.”

“It better,” you replied playfully.

He grinned at you, leaning in to place a delicate kiss to your lips. You placed a hand on your cheek as you returned it. When he broke away from it, he gave you a light smile. “Maybe we can do something else tomorrow?”

You grinned. “Of course. Any suggestions?”

“Doesn’t matter to me, as long as I get to spend time with you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After one more gentle kiss, he was off to his common room. You watched him go, only turning to head inside when he was out of sight.

[all-my-love-for-harry]

Not yours.

summary: someone tries to force their way back to y/n's life and harry isn't having any of it.

word count: ----

based on these requests:

“also!! what about something angsty? maybe artemis gets hurt or something and harry is just in full on dad mode”

and 

“What about caleb seeing the trio on tabloids, so he gets slightly jealous and “want’s” back into Artemis’ life unexpectedly.”

and

“ could you write something for my shy little boy about Artemis real father finding out that harry adopted him and showing up at their house claiming that Artemis is his son and basically trying to claim his rights as a father, and harry gets REALLY protective, plsss i would love that concept”

and

“Can you do one in the shy little boy universe where Artemis's dad tries to come back in his life or something. Like he sees them and he's life 'give me a second chance' . I love your writing. Thanks”

you can find more of my shy little boy here

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･:

November, 2019.

Park days were the best days for the Styles family. They didn’t get to have them as much as they’d like as they were always so busy, but today was an off day and Artemis was responsible for choosing what they were going to do. And of course he chose the park.

Y/N packed some snacks in a picnic basket while Harry took the job of dressing Artemis up. Obviously Artemis ended up way too dress up for just going to the park but it wasn’t a secret Harry was crazy about them wearing the same color or matching outfits to go out.

Harry had picked a pair of white shorts and paired it with a pastel yellow polo shirt he tucked into the shorts. Artemis looked adorable although Harry knew his son most likely get the clothes dirty as soon as they arrive to the park.

“Daddy, my nose itches.” Artemis tried to take off his glasses but Harry stopped him.

Last month they had an appointment with the ophthalmologist and Artemis had to change his glasses at his doctor's request. But Artemis wasn't happy with his new ones, he was always looking for an excuse to take them off or hiding them from his parents.

"Better?" Harry asked, using his fingers to scratch softly where Artemis pointed it itched. The much smaller boy nodded. "You need the glasses, sweetheart. Don't take them off."

"I like my old ones better, why can't i have those?"

"Those doesn't work for you anymore, monkey." He explained. "C'mon, let's put your shoes on." Harry knelt in front of him to watch how Artemis ties his sneakers up, he smiled when his son made it without a problem.

"I just put the things in the car, are you ready?" Y/N said when she saw them coming down the stairs.

"Yes! Let's go, let's go!" Artemis almost jumped from the lasts steps.

Artemis rambled the entire ride about all the fun things they’d do together once they got there, constantly asking if they were at the park already. When they arrived, Harry was surprised it wasn’t so full of people, considering it was the weekend. Y/N unfolded the blanket on the grass, laying the stuff they brought.

“Daddy, let’s play.” Artemis pulled from Harry’s arm, making the latest chuckle.

“Just be careful, please. We don’t want you to fall.” Y/N remained her son, who was too busy running around with his dad.

It was a beautiful day outside, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, and the weather was perfect despite being in the middle of November. Harry had packed a Frisbee Artemis liked to use in their backyard and that’s what they were using to play.

Harry made sure to throw it softly at his son, not wanting the toy to hit him in the face. Artemis threw his hands in the air every time his daddy caught it.

Everything happened too fast, none of his parents could catch Artemis before he was face down on the grass. He had tried to throw the Frisbee higher but didn’t control his strength and he ended up on the floor.

Harry’s eyes grew wide as he ran towards the small child, his heart breaking as he heard his loud sobs. He picked him up from the grass and scooped him in his arms.

"Are you hurt? Where does it hurt, baby? Is it your arm?" He said, panic visible in his tone.

"He scraped his knees." Y/N said before cooing at Artemis, trying to calm him down. "Got some band aids for your knees, my love. It's okay." She took him in her arms and handed the band aids to Harry so he could put them on his boy's knees after cleaning the little blood that was there.

Caressing his hair softly, Y/N sat back down on the blanket, putting Artemis on her lap to wipe his tears off. "All better?" He nodded with a pout on his face.

Harry copied his son's pout, sitting next to them on the blanket. He didn't like seeing his love being upset, and he'd lie if he said he didn't feel a little guilty for him getting hurt.

"It's okay, accidents happen and sometimes we get hurt." Y/N said as if she could read Harry's thoughts. "What if we eat and then we can go for ice cream."

The smile reappeared on Artemis' face as he stood up from his mum's lap and cheered excitedly. Artemis ate whatever Y/N had packed for them, hurrying his parents so they could go get dessert.

"Are you okay?" Y/N asked Harry at the end of the day when Artemis was falling asleep on his daddy's shoulder as he carried him back to the car. "You've been quiet since he fell."

"Just worried. Should we take him to ER?"

"For scraped knees? Don't think so. Harry, it's fine, really. He doesn't even remember he has them." She assured. "Tomorrow it will be all better."

"But he cried so loud." He furrowed as they reached the car and Y/N opened the door of the backseat so Harry could put him on his carseat. "I was worried he hurt his elbow or something."

"I guess it was more out of surprise. He wasn't expecting to fall facedown on the floor." Once everything and everyone were in the car, Harry started to drive back home. "Please don't beat yourself up for this. It was literally an accident."

"But i was playing with him."

"Yes, but you couldn't have prevented it from happen."

She put a hand on his thigh, not wanting him to feel any worse from something so small. Artemis doesn't have a lot of accidents as he is a calm boy who doesn't play sports or anything that requires running or jumping, but when they happen, he gets scared and that's normal. No kid likes to see blood coming out of them, even if it's only a little.

"As a parent the best you can do is stay calm during these situations. If you don't panic, then he doesn't either." She smiled at him.

Y/N loved how protective Harry was, his skills as a parent never failed to show in any situation. But he was still very new at it, and he couldn't help but want to put his boy in a little bubble so nothing bad would happen to him.

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･:

A week later, Y/N was cooking dinner while Artemis was upstairs in the movie room watching a cooking show on Netflix. Lately he's been obsessed with those and could watch entire seasons if his parents let him.

Harry was out having a meeting with his team but promised to be back for dinner, so it was just the two of them in the house.

The buzzer sounded, alerting someone was at the other side of the gates. Y/N put down the knife she was holding and walked towards the little screen that allowed her to see who was there.

Her breathe hitched when she saw Caleb standing there. He was looking the other way but Y/N could recognize him anywhere. A frown appeared on her face as he hit the buzzer again. She stayed in her place, starting at the screen and hoping he'd turn around and leave.

But he didn't.

She was ready to go outside and tell him to leave but she heard the gates open before she could do so. The gates opening meant Harry was home.

And home he was. But he furrowed as soon as he saw a body standing there. He didn't recognize the man but he was pretty sure he's seem his face before.

He parked inside but didn't close again the gates as he returned outside. "Can i help you?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Is Y/N home?" The stranger asked, putting his hands inside of his pockets. "I need to speak to her."

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Doesn't matter, i need to see Y/N."

"Uh, it does matter, actually. Why is it so important to speak to my girlfriend?" Harry questioned again in a protective tone.

Before he could answer Harry's question, Y/N came out of the house, closing the door behind her before rushing towards the two man. She stood beside Harry, taking his hand in hers.

"What are you doing here, Caleb?" She asked and Harry's brain finally clicked. He looked so different from the only picture he's seen of him. "What do you want?"

"I need to see him, Y/N." Caleb said, almost in a demanding tone. Y/N looked up at Harry, who already had a deep, angry frown on his face. "I-I saw that video of you three at the park and... Y/N, i'm ready to meet my-"

"He's not your son." Harry barked angrily.

"Harry's right, Caleb. He's not yours in any way." She said sternly. "Besides, i bet it isn't the first video or picture you've seen of us, what could possibly make this one different?"

"I saw him getting hurt." He said defensively. "It.. awoke something in me. I want to be a father, Y/N."

"Then go ahead and get a family of your own because neither Artemis nor I have anything to do with you. Do i have to remind you, you signed the paper giving up your paternal rights?" Y/N started to get angry and Harry squeezed her hand.

"I was twenty-one, Y/N."

"So was I!" She now exclaimed.

"I think it's best if you leave." Harry spoke again, trying to control his anger before he punched that man straight on the face.

"And you are?" Caleb asked "Oh, right. You're the guy she replaced me with. Does my son calls you daddy too?"

"She didn't replace you, she just moved on with someone way better." He smirked. "And yes, my son calls me daddy, must hurt, right? Now get the fuck out of my property before i call the bloody cops."

Harry let go of Y/N's hand just to push Caleb out, not being able to hold his anger anymore. "If i ever see you close to my family, i'll fucking ruin you."

When Caleb was back on his car, Harry finally closed the gates and turned to see Y/N. "I'm sorry you had to see him, my love."

Y/N sighed. "I'm okay. I just... I hadn't seen him since he..." Her lip started trembling but she swallowed the tears. "Seeing his face brought back a lot of emotions."

"Couldn't imagine." Harry took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. "But you won't see him anymore, over my dead body."

"Thank you."

Harry smiled softly at her, supping her face with his hands and pecking her lips. "Thank you for letting me be the one by your side."

"I wouldn't dream of having anyone else."

☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁

taglist!!

@myfavfanficsever @odetostep @la-cey @cock-a-doodely-doo @awkwardbullfrog @mellamolayla @moorgannn @bagtan-serendipity @awesomebooklover17 @finelineribs @sunnybusiness @beanholland @sweetenerstyle @cronias13 @vhsharry @maisley @seasidecrowbar @stylesfics-xx @autumnpauley20 @fineline-hs1 @stephaniemalvie @immajustreadwritereblog @jadert15 @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @abundanceofsoph @harrysthicccthighs

[angsty-omi]

the friend zone.

levi ackerman x reader

no proofread— i wrote this at 4am

tw: mentions of blood, cursing, and levi being a fucking dick.

out of all the comrades in the survey corps, levi only fancied a few amount. hange, erwin, and you. you couldn’t understand why, it wasn’t like you were any special. honestly if you didn’t dye your hair pink using a mixture of berries and flour, he wouldn’t have even noticed.

it all started when everyone was in an ordered formation, while levi eyed down every single newbie. not necessarily saying anything, just staring into their soul. until, you caught his eye, and immediately he skipped over everyone else to face you. the people before you in line sighed with relief. maybe he was here to compliment my hair or critique my stance. it was none of that. in fact, he blew your knees so you’d fall forward. under your ragged pants, you could feel the skin on your knee starting to bleed. you looked up at him with shock, and he grabbed the back of your hair putting you much closer to his face. you couldn’t help but admire his tired eyes, or his wrinkles from furrowing his eyebrows. aside from that, he’s actually quite handsome. his voice interrupts your thoughts.

“scrub this shit off or else i will feed you to them” levi scolded and shoved your head onto the ground.

them as in the titans? you feared. as you looked over the other commanders, they inadvertently looked away from the two of you. you politely complied, and hoped he and the others ignored the tears running down your face. once you got to your quarters, you went straight to the shower. the color was slowly but surely getting off, showing your brown hair underneath. it’s been a while since you’ve seen your normal hair color. back in your village, you were known as the one with the artsy look, which was basically a polite way of saying the weird one. the shower head was also burning your fresh wounds from that morning and then some. you couldn’t help but think about your experience with levi and how he a complete dick he was. you swore to never get close to him nor acknowledge his presence unless required.

so how did you get here? leaning back on his chair with your feet on the table, waiting for him to come back from training the new fleet. shortly after, your not-so-fun first encounter, levi warmed up to you through back and forth banter and snarky comebacks. you’ve learned his lingo, when he says “i hate you,” it means the opposite— to the extent of “you’re okay.” if he says, “brat,” then he actually likes you. it’s the people he doesn’t remember the names of that should be scared of him. you read him like a book and vice versa.

he knew you, a bit too well. over the past few months, he could tell that you’ve started to like him afar from just friends. while he loved you as a comrade, his heart did not have the capacity to have an actual lover. so, he’s been hinting for you to not confess. scared is a term he never uses, but this was one of the few that did. levi was never scared of titans, literal human-eating monsters, rather, he was scared of you confessing your feelings for him. as the meticulous man that he his, he anticipated that today was the day that you’d express your feelings. how? over the past week, you’ve been trying to pry any sort of response for your unrequited feelings. while you thought you were slick, levi knew. that’s why he stalled the new members by running strenuous amounts of laps, because once he came back, you’d do it.

levi couldn’t hide from you any longer. with his hand on the knob, it slowly turned. there you were, with a bright smile on your face greeting him. it warmed his heart, platonically. your heart, however, was beating a million times faster once you saw him. you understood rejection was a high possibility, but you were at your limit.

“levi?” you fretted.

he nodded in response.

“you should sit down,”

levi took in a deep breath, knowing that this was the talk.

“i think i’m in love with you,” your eyes glossed. talking about your feelings always made you cry.

silence was your answer. even though, you knew this was a high chance, damnit did it hurt. you’ve been wounded by titans, and yet, this hurt the most. seeing levi’s face conflicted, trying to find the words to say to kindly reject you.

“y/n, listen you’re great. i love how you make me smile, your dumb jokes, snarky comments, and shitty roasts. but, i’m not in love with you, nor do i think i will ever.” he expressed, not looking at you in the eye. thinking, you were about to breakdown and cry, he was surprised to you see a stoic face.

“good, because i have other news.” you sighed, with a stressed out hand rubbing your temple.

news, what other news? what has she been keeping from me? levi wondered.

“my parents have found me a husband. at first, i completely shut it down. but then, starting to think of it, it would be nice to just leave and live a normal life. i was truly, truly, considering it but my love for you had to be addressed.”

“and i guess, since we’ve cleared that road... i’m leaving levi,” tears started dripping down your cheeks. looking up at levi, he had the same monotonous face. you couldn’t read what he was thinking.

“say something please” you begged.

“get out.”

“what?”

“i said get out.”

“what? why? you don’t even want to talk about this?”

“what is there to talk about? you’re leaving for some comfy lifestyle and ignoring reality. y/n we are literally dying every day. no one has the opportunity of being able to just leave. and yet, here you are leaving. you’re such a fucking pussy, i can’t believe i ever let you get this close. i was right when i first met you, you’re just some privileged girl who wanted to see a change of scenery.”

the love of your life just ended your whole career. but what was more upsetting? was that he was right. you were afraid. seeing all your friends dying was detrimental to your mental health and you saw this as a way to escape.

“you’re right, i am scared. of everything. but levi think to yourself why have i stuck out this long? why have i allowed myself to continue to serve after seeing all my comrades being ate up like chicken wings? because of you. i’m so fucking in love with you that i could handle all that. but if i don’t even have you what do i have left?” you sobbed.

“you still have me! just not that way and why does it have to be?”

“because seeing you so touchy with petra hurts. it fucking hurts seeing the man you love fall in with others!”

“seriously levi, tell me to my face that you don’t like her.”

again with the silence. something so loud, but so quiet.

you angrily slammed the door closed. your five year friendship, gone just like that. you leaned your back against the wooden door, slowly sliding down not feeling your legs. your sobs were loud, apparent that levi could hear it from the other side. if he could, he would. as soon as you felt your legs, you left.

once you got to your quarters, you grabbed your suitcase trying to pack as many things blindly. only ten minutes in, and you heard a knock at your door.

“leave me alone, i understood your message completely and now am leaving.” you screamed, knowing exactly who it was. the door slammed open with heavy pressure.

“what do you want levi,” you cried.

you felt arms wrap around your back with a head nestled into your neck.

“i think i’m in love with you too.” he whispered so quiet, that if you weren’t listening you’d miss it.

“you’re just saying that,”

“no i mean it. selfish enough, the thought of you being happy with someone other than me physically hurts my heart.”

now you’re silent.

“from the day i first landed my eyes on your ugly pink hair, to now you always had my attention one way or another. but it’s like, if i’ve accepted these feelings it’ll hurt even more if you die. i buried it down. down so far that on the surface it felt platonic. but your dumbass dug it back up.”

you swiftly turned around and pressed your lips against his. his eyes shocked at first, but then slowly melting into your lips. both desperate to show the other how much they mean to one another.

as you slowly pulled away, he instinctively moved forward which made you laugh.

“does this mean we’re something?” you gleamed.

“y/n” he said heavily.

your face dropped once again.

“you’re fucking ridiculous. are you serious levi?! i’m not going to wait for you forever. god knows how long i’ll live, and i won’t be dragged around like a little puppy.” you scolded, furious at yourself for thinking he changed.

you continued to rummage through your clothes and decided that it was enough.

“goodbye levi, i hope when you figure all your shit out you’ll finally be happy. whether it’s with yourself or with petra, but it sure as hell ain’t me.” you tipped your head at him, tears still blinding your eyesight.

if you had looked behind you, you would’ve saw levi crying. it wasn’t dramatic— no, more like tears were slipping that he himself didn’t even notice. this was the life he chose, and he knew he couldn’t get close with anyone. his young self never thought he would’ve found someone to truly care about. and if it meant letting his soulmate go, then so be it.

[iloveitwhen]

What Team?

OK! SO I thought I knew where this was going then it started becoming a Lila redemption arc but that was about to be like probably 5 long chapters then i changed it and started writing in Lila’s view but for some reason I couldn’t write it in anyone else’s so this is in Lila’s POV and Imma do a part 2 with other pov’s and extend the story a bit

this is for @miracleofadisaster ​ cause they asked for it and based off of this post by @unmaskedagain ​ 

there’s a cuss word in here somewhere if ya’ll care. also i hope i did it justice!��️❤️💜

Part 2

Things were… not going as planned. Which was basically impossible since everything goes Lila’s way but this class, oh boy this class was stubborn. Instead of choosing between Marinette or Lila the class collectively agreed to ignore and not believe Lila when she spoke of Marinette nor Marinette when she spoke of Lila. It was a little awkward at first but as time went on it got easier and easier for the class to ignore the two girls when they spoke of the other. And Lila was NOT happy about it. She had promised that brat that she would take every single one of her friends away until she was alone and ostracized. And she was not one to go back on promises. Marinette had dropped the situation but Lila was determined, she would not lose so she was forced to come up with alternate ways to take the other girl’s friends away. Lila originally planned to take Alya away first but the girl was too bullheaded and refused to believe that her “bestie” would ever hurt another soul, she had told Lila “I know you don’t trust Marinette but you tripped and I know Marinette well enough to know she wouldn’t do that! And besides, we all know Chloe framed Marinette and put your necklace in her locker. Simple!” 

Lila groaned in annoyance. Just what would she have to resort to to get these fools on her side? Sure Lila was a little heartless, ok very heartless, but she didn’t want to physically beat up Marinette, well it didn’t really have anything to do with having a heart or not, Lila was just too lazy to exert physical energy like that. She was staring out of the window of her mother’s car when a familiar flash of black hair and pale skin passed her peripherals and she whipped her head to find Marinette blushing profusely while talking to some boy in the park by school. She watched them become smaller as she got further away for a moment before a smile crept onto Lila’s face and she relaxed back into her seat. The Destruction of Marinette was finally coming. 

---

Lila sauntered in the classroom the next day, it was before class started so of course Marinette was not there but Alya was speaking animatedly with Rose and Juleka in the back of the classroom. 

“Hey guys! Guess what I saw yesterday?” she spoke in an excited tone that always got those oafs enraptured in her stories. 

“Oooo, girl tell me,” Alya held a glint in her eye and while Rose practically vibrated through her chair, Juleka just sat there not being one to show emotion. 

“So you know how Marinette has a crush on Adrien?” Immediately Alya and the other two girls looked between each other growing uncomfortable. Ok, fair enough, not the best course of action. “No no no! I’m sorry, not like that! I just saw her yesterday at the park with some tall, dark haired boy and it looked like she was like, into him, you know? She was blushing pretty hard. He was pretty cute and I just thought that they looked so cute together! I just think she might be over Adrien now!” Maybe if these girls believed that Marinette wasn’t into Adrien they'd help her get with him, Alya has told plenty of stories of them joining forces to get Marinette to ask out Adrien, all she had to do was convince the lot to switch out Marinette for her. Simple enough. Except now Alya was laughing, why was she laughing?

“I’m sorry it’s just-” Alya burst out into laughter again before straightening up and grabbing Lila’s shoulders and looking into her eyes, “trust me, Marinette does not have another crush, besides whoever that guy was there's no way he’s better than Adrien.” Ok. Rude. 

“But he actually seemed pretty nice….” 

Juleka spoke up which startled Lila so much she flinched back, “What did he look like?” 

“Well he was pretty tall and he had black hair with blue tips, he was handsome too.” Lila prayed Marinette had good taste in men because if she just called some random, ugly dude “handsome” she’d be mortified. Lila’s thoughts were washed away when Rose gasped and Juleka gave Lila a rare smile. 

“Aww,” Rose squeaked, turning to her friend, “Juleka that is so cu-”

“Wait, she was blushing because of LUKA? Seriously? That knockoff Jagged Stone? Please, Marinette actually has class. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an air headed buffoon. I mean c'mon.” Lila’s jaw dropped, she couldn’t help it! That was just so, so rude! Even Lila didn’t insult people straight up like that, not only did she insult that boy, who honestly Lila didn’t really care about, but she insulted her! Lila was many things and being insulted and basically called stupid was not something she liked to be. 

Juleka slammed her hands on the table making everyone in the classroom jump and look over at the four and stood up glaring at Alya. 

“ExcUSE ME?” Lila’s brows shot up at the quiet girl’s outburst, so many things were happening today. 

“Sorry, girl, I didn’t mean it like tha-”

“My brother is amAZing. He and Marinette would be perfect together. He’s respectful, kind, and actually cares for Marinette!” Juleka was fuming which shocked everyone speechless, but headstrong Alya got over it quickly and retorted, 

“No way, Adrien is way better for her, he’s also respectful and kind AND his father is Gabrial Agrest.” 

“Please, the brat doesn’t even like Marinette,” Rose gasped at ‘brat’ but Juleka ignored her and attempted to mimic Adrien’s voice saying, “she’s just a friend!” Alya gasped in offense. 

“You take that back!”

“Why? There’s literally no reason to because it’s true.” The two were completely oblivious to the stares they were getting from everyone who had trickled into the classroom. The only ones not present were the ones being talked about and Ms. Bustier. No one dared to interrupt or make a sound, not even Lila since they were all so shocked that Juleka was actually arguing with someone, and so passionately. None of them had ever even heard her speak so loudly before. 

Alya was about to retort when Alix hissed, “they’re coming!” and in walked Marinette with a slight blush talking with Adrien who was rubbing the back of his neck with a shy smile. Alya shot Juleka a smug smile before turning and jogging to her spot. 

Nobody paid any mind to Lila who stayed rooted in her spot with blood slowly draining from her face. 

What just happened?

Not only did they defend Marinette but they argued about who was better for her. And Alya just so blatantly insulted her. Like she was nothing. Alya will suffer for that. 

Lila turned and slowly walked to her seat and plopped onto it, ignoring Nathaniel's side glance. After a moment she smiled to herself, all she had to do was convince everyone else that this "Luka" was better for Marinette so she could have Adrien all to herself. 

Lila really didn't know what she was getting into. 

---

For the rest of the day Lila joined forces with Juleka and Rose to spread the news of the newly coined "Lukanette" pairing. Alya was not having an easy time hiding how offended she was that people so easily turned their backs on Adrien, the girl really needed to learn to let go. Lila was going to tear “Adrienette” away from her if it was the last thing she did. 

Meanwhile, Juleka and Rose worked overtime, with a few smartly placed words and here and there the two were determined to turn the rest of the class on their side. They, plus Lila, had become the forefront runners for the Lukanette campaign, and as shameful as she felt campaigning for Maribrat she convinced herself that it was for the better. One step back two steps forward, once the class was "Lukanette" believers she'd have Adrien to herself and it would be one more step to take the throne and continue The Destruction of Marinette. She’d feel the disgust churning in her stomach but she'd still do it. It was for the greater good. 

Nathaniel refused to partake, Ivan was firmly Team Luka while Mylene chose Team Adrien since she didn’t know Luka that well and Adrien was always nice to her, Alix laughed at everyone and didn’t pick a side but was slightly stingy when Kim and Max pledged Team Adrien, and of course Nino decked himself out in Team Adrien gear, seriously the boy came into school with something new everyday. However, Adrien became Team Luka to support the nice dark haired boy even though he had no idea why his classmates were creating “Teams” between himself and Luka, but he “just wanted it to be fair!” The surprise came from Sabrina when she herself pledged Team Luka while Chloe was Team Adrien. It was a week after the Teams began and at first it was all fun and games but that moment when Sabrina switched sides it became war and there was an immediate shift in the air. During school Team Luka did not speak with Team Adrien at all and vice versa, after school the teams were forgotten, except of course when Alix, who was always one to sow discord, would mention it during a class hangout and chaos would ensue. Then shirts were made, inspired by one of Nino’s bracelets that he determined marked him officially as “Team Adrien,” and the civil war within the classroom became official. Marinette of course was completely oblivious and refused to ask why everyone was wearing shirts and refused to get dragged in, not realizing she was the center of this little war. 

At first it was only Juleka and Rose who wore the teal tie dyed Team Luka shirts but when Alya and Chloe walked in wearing their own Team Adrien gear Lila’s fury raged. That day after class Lila snatched a Team Luka shirt that Juleka and Rose made with Marinette to wear the next day. When she walked in the next morning she felt Alya and Chloe’s eyes burn into her soul but she refused to back down, she felt shame rise in her but held her head up high but not missing Marinette’s dropped jaw at the sight of her. 

Two steps forward one step back, she kept telling herself. No one insults her and gets away with it. Alya will go down with Marinette and Lila’s dignity.

It became an even bigger deal when Alix tweeted the situation of her class and Chloe retweeted it with evidence that Adrien was better which in turn dragged Jagged Stone in and people were warring over who was better looking, nicer, more talented, etc. It definitely could have ruined some careers in the process but Juleka happily relayed to Lila that Luka was just happy that 3 million people were “Team Luka” with 2.8 million “Team Adrien” and many of them were begging to hear his music. 

Unfortunately this news reached the Waynes. How the ever loving shit did Marinette even KNOW the Waynes was completely beyond Lila. The girl was a freaking nobody, if Lila didn’t break her quickly she might surpass Lila and that just wouldn’t do. The reason Lila knew the Waynes had found out was because Alix, that hotheaded brat who refused to pick a side, showed up in a black shirt with bold green letters that spelled out ‘TEAM DAMIAN’ and on the back it said ‘FIND YOUR OWN GIRL’. Lila asked who Damian was and the whole class heard her when she said, “Damian Wayne, obviously.” Lila screamed into her pillow until she couldn’t breath when she got home that day. There HAD to be a solution to all of this, she wanted to desperately stop faking that she cared who Marinette ended up with, just as long as it wasn’t Adrien. Or Damian freaking Wayne.

Team Luka:

Lila, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, Sabrina, Adrien

Team Adrien:

Alya, Chloe, Nino, Kim, Max, Mylene

Team Damian:

Alix 

More shall arrive for Team Damian 

Part 2 Teaser heehee

“Hey Marinette?" The girl called looked up from her sketchbook to see Juleka nervously tapping on her desk with her nails and Rose standing behind her with a look that could only be described as sparkly. Marinette raised an eyebrow but smiled kindly at them. 

"Yes?" 

"So umm *ahem* can you help me and Rose make shirts that say "Team Luka" on them?" 

"Team lu- uhmm sure?" 

Juleka have her a rare smile and a soft "thanks" before returning to her seat with Rosa who squeaked "you're the best Marinette!" Marinette gave the girl a weak smile and a small nod of appreciation and just stared in confusion at the spot where the two girls stood previously. 

What?

Part 2

[bibbawrites]

Beach Baby - Single Dad!Charlie x Owen

THIS IS PART 4 OF THE SINGLE DAD!CHARLIE SERIES YOU CAN READ PART 1 HERE , THE PREQUEL (PART 2) HERE AND PART 3 HERE 

Request: none

Word Count: 3907 words 😳

Summary: Part 4 of Single Dad!Charlie, Margaux and Charlie reunite with Owen in Hawaii after months apart due to lockdown, just in time for Margaux’s fourth birthday 

Warnings: technically underage drinking, i guess technically i have to warn that this is implied mutual crushing between owen and charlie, if you dont feel comfortable with romantic chowen do not read 

A/N: i couldn’t get this out of my head so i had to write it, and boy did i write it this is the longest non-chaptered fic ive ever written and honestly i could have made it longer but i didnt want it to drag on any more that it already did this is literally more than double the length of my normal fics, i got very carried away

also just a note that i’m not trying to be rude about the fans who met the boys at the airport and i’m sure in real life the boys were happy to stop and chat, but from a parents perspective charlie’s first instinct would be to protect his daughter so i just thought i’d add that. please don’t get upset for that part!

sorry for any mistakes, its 4am and im half asleep trying to read through this to post lol anyways, hope you enjoy! 

Tag List: @happinessinthedarkesttimes​ @littlemissaddict​ @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic​ @headheartbellarke​ @lovesanimals​ @bartok-the-magnificent​ @juliefromaustralia @multi-universe21 @rangerelik @kaitieskidmore1 @katrina765​ @fandomxreaders​​ @ifilwtmfc

“Papa!” Margaux screamed, racing across the airport to Owen, the blond boy scooping up the nearly four year old and spinning her around when she reached him. 

“Maggie! I’ve missed you so much.” Owen exclaimed, pulling his mask down to pepper her cheeks with kisses, causing Margaux to giggle loudly. “Where’s your Daddy?” 

“Right behind you.” Owen spun around to find Charlie standing there, clearly smiling at him despite the bandana that covered his mouth, and Owen’s heart skipped a beat at how good Charlie looked in the early morning sun streaming through the airport windows. 

Meanwhile Charlie was thinking the exact same thing, admiring how attractive Owen was, especially when he was in his dad mode. He really understood why girls had such a weakness for cute boys with cute kids when he saw Owen with Margaux. 

Charlie stepped forward, pulling Owen into a tight hug and Margaux whined in complaint at being squished between her dad and her self declared papa. They pulled away from each other, both boys fighting to hide their slightly flushed cheeks. 

“I’m hungry.” Margaux whined, and Charlie was snapped out of his heart eyes daze, his whole focus back on his daughter. 

“Let’s get some food into you before our plane leaves then eh.” He replied, and Margaux nodded happily. 

Feeling bold Owen grabbed onto Charlie’s hand, lacing their fingers together. It wasn’t unusual for them to do this but it was the first time doing it when they were well known enough that someone might recognise them. But neither of them really cared. They were just happy to be back together again. 

- 

The minute they arrived in Hawaii they were met with fans. As much as he loved meeting the fans Charlie couldn’t help but sigh slightly as he tried to protect Margaux as much as he could.

It wasn’t that the fans didn’t know about Margaux, because it was a well known fact that he was a single dad, it was more that he wanted to keep her away from the spotlight. She hadn’t asked for her dad to become a well known actor, and she didn’t deserve to have her life changed because of it. He was determined to give her the most normal life possible. 

Eventually they made it to the villa house that they were staying in while in Hawaii, and after throwing their bags into their rooms it was time to have a bit of fun. 

“Swim time swim time!” Margaux sung, running laps around the living room. Kenny chuckled at the small girl, looking up at Charlie who was following closely behind her. 

“It seems like only yesterday she was a tiny two year old who cried every time you left her side.” He said, and Charlie smiled fondly, sitting down on the chair next to Kenny. 

“She’s growing up too fast.” He agreed. “I can’t believe in less than 24 hours time I’ll be a dad to a four year old.” 

Margaux tripped on the tiles, landing with a clatter, her bottom lip jutting out. Charlie jumped up, but before he could even think about moving across the room Owen was by Margaux’s side, helping her up and pulling her into a tight hug. He whispered something in her ear and Margaux giggled loudly, her fall already forgotten.

Charlie smiled softly at the scene, his heart filled with love for both the blond boy and his little princess. 

“Daddy.” Margaux called, snapping Charlie out of his daze. 

“Yeah baby?” He answered, finally making his way across the room. 

“Can we swim now?” She asked, grabbing onto his leg. Charlie subconsciously ran his hand through her soft curls.  

“Of course we can.” He replied. Margaux glanced up at Owen. 

“Papa too?” She questioned. 

“Papa too.” Charlie agreed. Margaux peered past him, her gaze landing on Kenny.

“Coming Uncle Kenny?” She asked, and Kenny laughed, standing up. 

“Coming Little Gillespie.” He replied. 

Margaux smiled contently, taking both Charlie and Owen’s hands to pull them outside towards the pool. 

She really did have every single one of them wrapped around her little finger. 

- 

Dinner that night was special, as it was supposed to be Carolynn’s last day on the island. They decided on a joint party for her last night, as well as celebrating Margaux’s birthday a day early. 

They had headed to a tiny restaurant near their villa, and Charlie had allowed Margaux to pick whatever she wanted from the menu, not that it mattered because she chose chicken nuggets and chips anyways.

The meal was nice, and before they knew it they were arriving back at the villa. Jeremy, Carolynn and Kenny all excused themselves for bed, and Tori settled into the couch, flicking the TV on. 

“Bath and bed time baby.” Charlie told Margaux, and she pouted but obeyed, following him into the hallway. 

“Hey Char, can I ask you something?” Owen asked, trailing behind the father daughter duo, and Charlie stopped, letting Margaux run ahead to their room. 

“Anything.” He smiled. 

“Do you mind if I share your room? I know the other bed was meant to be for Margaux but-” Owen started, playing with his fingers slightly. 

“She can share with me.” Charlie cut him off. “Bed’s all yours.” Owen looked up, his eyes widening. 

“Really?” He checked. 

“Of course.” Charlie smiled. Owen grinned, throwing his arms around Charlie’s neck. 

“Thanks Char. I just didn’t really want to sleep alone.” He admitted, and Charlie squeezed him tight. 

“Any time.” He told Owen, and the blond boy pulled away with a smile, before heading off to the room he was originally going to stay in to collect his bags. 

Charlie entered the room that he and Margaux, and now Owen, were sharing, finding his daughter already snuggled into one of the beds, still wearing her dinner clothes. Charlie sighed, moving to pull her out of the bed. Owen entered the room, bags in tow, and Margaux looked up at him excitedly. 

“Papa! Are you sleeping here?” She questioned. Owen placed his bags in the corner before answering. 

“I am Miss Maggie.” He said, and Margaux cheered. 

“You don’t mind sleeping with Daddy?” Charlie checked, and Margaux shook her head, jumping up to throw her arms around Charlie’s neck. 

“Nope! More cuddles!” She stated. Charlie laughed, picking her up. 

“Exactly right. Now, it’s bath time.” He said, grabbing Margaux’s pyjamas as she clung to him. 

“Bye Papa!” Margaux called as Charlie moved to leave the room. Owen waved. 

“Bye Maggie!” He replied, matching her enthusiasm. Charlie couldn’t help but smile. 

Margaux was so lucky to have someone like Owen in her life. They both were. 

- 

“Daddy! Wake up!” Margaux screamed, jumping on top of Charlie. He groaned, squinting as he looked up at his daughter. 

“What time is it?” He mumbled. Owen sat up in his own bed, grabbing his phone to check the time. 

“4:47am.” He informed Charlie, his voice thick with sleep. Charlie tried to ignore how sexy Owen’s morning voice was, instead focusing on his daughter. 

“Mags it’s too early to be awake.” He told her. Margaux pouted, flopping down on top of him. 

“Daddy, it’s my birthday!” She exclaimed. Charlie smiled, kissing her cheek. 

“I know baby, happy birthday. Now can we sleep for a little bit?” He tried. Margaux thought for a moment. 

“Only if Papa comes here too.” She decided. 

Charlie’s eyes widened slightly, eyes fixed on Owen as the younger boy sleepily slid out of his bed with no hesitation, and into Charlie’s, snuggling into Charlie’s side the minute he laid down. Margaux squirmed her way under the covers, squishing herself in between the two of them. 

Charlie shut his eyes in an attempt to get back to sleep, but it was no use. He opened his eyes again, staring up at the ceiling, as Margaux slept soundly next to him.

His mind was racing, noticing every single little place where Owen’s warm skin was in contact with his. It felt like he was on fire.

“Stop thinking.” Owen mumbled, and Charlie turned his head to see Owen staring at him, his eyes half shut with sleep.

“How did you know?” He questioned. Owen gave him a small smile. 

“I always know. Whatever it is, just ignore it for now. Get some sleep, it’s gonna be a big day.” Owen whispered. Charlie paused for a moment, just staring at Owen in the dim light from Margaux’s nightlight. Even half asleep in the almost complete darkness of the room Owen still looked gorgeous. Charlie swallowed. 

“You’re right. Thanks O.” He replied. 

“Love you.” Owen yawned in response, his eyes shutting again. Charlie smiled softly, moving his hand to brush a bit of Owen’s hair off his face.

“I love you too Owen.” He replied, despite the fact that the younger boy was already asleep. He pressed a soft kiss to Owen’s head, and lowered his voice to no more than a whisper.

“More than I probably should.”

- 

After what felt like no time at all Charlie was being shaken awake again. 

“Daddy is it time to get up now?” Margaux questioned, sitting on his chest. Charlie yawned. 

He reached over and checked his phone. It was just after 6:30am. 

“Okay we can get up. But we’re gonna leave Papa to sleep a little bit more, okay?” Charlie compromised. Margaux thought for a moment before agreeing. Charlie grinned, sliding the both of them out of the bed careful not to wake Owen. Once they were out of the bed Charlie lifted Margaux up, placing her on his hip. He pressed a soft kiss to her temple.  

“Now. Let’s go make some birthday pancakes.” 

- 

“Happy birthday Little Gillespie.” Jeremy sung, entering the kitchen with Carolynn close behind him.

Margaux grinned, her mouth full of pancake. 

“Thank you!” She exclaimed, her words muffled by her food. Carolynn stepped past Jeremy, moving to place a gentle kiss on Margaux’s head and whisper to her. Margaux grinned before looking up at her father.

“Hey Daddy?” She spoke. Charlie made a noise in response.

“Yeah?” He said, flipping pancakes onto a plate for both Jeremy and Carolynn.

“Do you think the birthday fairy could found me here?” Margaux questioned, her eyes full of hope. Charlie couldn’t help but smile, not even bothering to correct her words, as he placed the pan down.

“Should we go find out?” He asked. Margaux’s eyes widened in excitement.

“Yeah! But first we have to get Papa.” She decided. Charlie nodded.

“You wanna go wake him up? Tell him we made him some pancakes?” He asked, and Margaux grinned, already sliding out of her chair.

“Okay Daddy!” She replied, before rushing out of the room. The room fell silent for a few moments before Carolynn cleared her throat.

“So Charlie...” She raised an eyebrow. “How long have you been in love with Owen?” 

Charlie choked on his coffee. 

“I’m sorry, what?” He spluttered. Carolynn grinned. 

“You heard me.” She said. Charlie hesitated. 

“I’m not-” He stopped. “I-” 

He groaned. There was no use denying it if clearly he was obvious enough that his friends had figured him out.

“Since filming.” He admitted. Carolynn cheered. 

“You owe me $20.” She told her husband, who glared at Charlie. 

“You just had to admit it, huh?” Jeremy shook his head, and Charlie shrugged, a small smile on his face.

“Admit what?” Owen’s voice came from behind them, deep from sleep, and Charlie took a sip of his coffee to try to distract himself. Owen always looked good but in the early morning light, his hair still a mess from sleeping, he looked ethereal. Charlie bit his lip to stop himself from staring.

“Nothing important.” Carolynn replied, and Charlie shot her a thankful look. 

“Can we see if the birthday fairy visited now?” Margaux sighed, clearly impatient. They all laughed. 

“Of course baby.” Charlie told her, standing up. He grabbed the plate of pancakes he had made for Owen, handing them to the younger boy as he passed him. 

Margaux lead the way to the living area where Kenny and Tori were already sat waiting, squealing with excitement when she saw the small pile of presents on the table.

“They came!” She exclaimed, and Charlie couldn’t help but smile, ruffling her hair affectionately.

Margaux settled down on the couch as everyone spread out around the room, and one by one she opened the presents, eyes widening with excitement at every single one. 

Charlie had gotten her a few dolls that he knew she had been wanting, plus some new clothes, books and other toys. 

Jeremy and Carolynn had gotten her a small paint set with a Frozen paint by numbers. 

Kenny had gotten her a tiny version of the Sunset Curve shirt that the cast had all received. 

Tori had gotten her a little lilac tutu. 

Madi, Jadah and Savannah had sent their presents, some handmade earrings, little stud versions of the ghost drawings that Carolynn had created from Madi, a small pair of overalls from Savannah, and a colouring book from Jadah.

But her absolute favourite gift had come from Owen, a tan coloured bear from Build-A-Bear that he had dressed like Luke, and the clothes to change the bear into Reggie, Alex and Julie if she wanted to. 

After hugs all round the group decided to go their own ways, with Kenny heading off to spend the day relaxing, and Tori, Jeremy and Carolynn going to the beach to sunbathe since Carolynn’s flight had been delayed. 

“Where do you want to go today birthday girl?” Charlie asked, as he and Owen collected the pile of gifts to move them back to their room.

Margaux frowned in thought, the bear still grasped in her arms.

“Hiking.” She decided, and Charlie laughed. She was definitely his daughter.

“You sure? We can do whatever you want to do.” He checked. Margaux nodded, her attention focused on her new clothes that Charlie had placed on the bed to fold later. 

“I’m sure.” She said, reaching for the Sunset Curve shirt and overalls. “Can I wear this?”

“Of course you can.” Charlie agreed. 

“I’m gonna have a quick shower.” Owen said, grabbing some clothes out of his bag. Charlie nodded, focused on helping Margaux change out of her pyjamas into her new clothes.

“Do you think we can have some time tonight just you and me?” Charlie asked once Margaux was dressed, moving to grab her hairbrush and some hair ties.

“Yes please Daddy.” Margaux agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed as Charlie sat behind her.

“We could go get dinner just the two of us, and then come back here for birthday cake.” He suggested. Margaux frowned, clearly thinking. 

“Is it chocolate cake?” She asked after a moment, and Charlie paused from brushing her hair to kiss the top of her head. 

“You’ll have to wait and see.” He teased. Charlie finished tying her hair up into two little space buns, not quite proper buns but as close as he could get with her shortish hair.

“I hope it’s chocolate cake. I love chocolate cake.” She giggled, standing up on the bed and turning around to hug her father. Charlie wrapped his arms around her, a gesture that was so safe and familiar. 

“Me too baby, me too.” He agreed. Margaux snuggled her head into his shoulder. 

“Is Papa coming hiking?” She questioned. Charlie grinned to himself. 

“Do you want him to come?” He asked. Margaux didn’t even hesitate. 

“Yes.”

“Then I’m sure he’d love to come.” Charlie assured her. She pulled away. looking him in the eyes. Charlie had always loved that she had gotten his eyes. 

“Do I ask him?” She said, eyes wide. Charlie struggled to contain a laugh at how serious she looked. 

“When he comes back, yeah.” He nodded. 

“When who comes back?” Owen asked, re-entering the room. Margaux jumped up, throwing herself at the 20 year old. He lifted her up with no hesitation. 

“Are you gonna come hiking?” Margaux asked, her bottom lip jutting out in a pleading way. 

“Of course I am. Wouldn’t want to miss spending time with my two favourite people.” Owen grinned, kissing her nose causing her to giggle. Charlie’s heart skipped a beat at the declaration that he was one of Owen’s favourite people. 

“Yay! Can we go now?” Margaux turned in Owen’s arms to face her father. He nodded, standing up from the bed. 

“Shoes, and then we can go.” He said, and Margaux squirmed her way out of Owen’s arms to go find her running shoes. 

Charlie exchanged a look with Owen, the both of them thinking the same thing. 

It was going to be a long day. 

- 

Hiking with a just turned four year old was exhausting, even despite them choosing the easiest possible trail so that she wouldn’t have any issues.

It was fine at first, Margaux excitedly looking at the plants and trying to spot any animals in the trees, but after about twenty minutes she got bored and tired, and Charlie and Owen spent the rest of the hike passing her back and forth between the two of them.

Finally they made it back to the villa, and after a quick stop for lunch Margaux was recharged and ready for the rest of the day.

“Can we swim?” She asked. Charlie nodded.

“We’ll go and get changed, and then we can go in the pool for a while until we have to get ready for dinner, okay?” He suggested. 

“Okay Daddy.” Margaux smiled sweetly. 

-

After quickly changing into their swimmers, Charlie, Margaux and Owen ended up in the pool, Jeremy and Carolynn lounging nearby. 

They swam for a few hours until Margaux got thirsty, and with a promise of apple juice she and Charlie climbed out of the pool leaving Owen to go sit with the Shada’s. 

Charlie walked inside the villa, finding Kenny sat at the kitchen bench reading while Tori lounged on one of the couches, staring at her phone. 

“Why don’t we do cake now, so that you don’t have to worry about rushing home?” Kenny spoke up, as Charlie manoeuvred through the kitchen to get the apple juice out, Margaux clinging to his chest like a baby koala. 

“That’s a good idea. Do you want to do your birthday cake now Mags?” Charlie asked his daughter, pouring her some apple juice. She sipped on the juice, looking up at him with wide eyes. 

“Yeah!” She exclaimed. Charlie smiled. 

“Okay, can you go get Papa, Aunty Care and Uncle Jer for me?” He asked, placing her down. She nodded eagerly, handing her cup of juice to him before rushing outside to where Owen, Jeremy and Carolynn were still sat.

Charlie grabbed the cake out of the fridge and placed it on the bench, before putting the four candles in, and grabbing a lighter.

“Have you seen my camera Kenny?” He asked, and Kenny just pointed to the end of the bench where the camera was sitting. Charlie smiled gratefully, grabbing the camera.

“Want me to take photos?” Tori offered, and Charlie nodded, handing her the camera. 

Margaux re-entered the room, Owen and the Shada’s following close behind her, and when she reached her father he lifted her up. Kenny took the lighter, lighting the candles on the cake and together they sung Happy Birthday to Margaux, Tori snapping photos as the four year old blew out her candles. 

Charlie held Margaux close to him as Kenny divided the cake up, thankful that he had such an amazing family to spend his little girl’s birthday with. 

-

When Charlie and Margaux made it back to the villa after their dinner that night, the newly four year old was ready to fall asleep. Charlie carried her to bed, silently thanking his past self for deciding to give her a bath and do her birthday cake before they went to dinner because now all he had to do was change her into her pyjamas. 

He changed her quickly seeing that she was almost asleep, and tucked her into the bed. 

“Did you have a good birthday baby?” Charlie asked softly, settling down next to his daughter.

Margaux just nodded in response. 

“That’s good.” Charlie ran a hand through her curls. “Goodnight baby girl.” 

“Big girl.” Margaux mumbled sleepily. Charlie smiled, leaning down and kissing her head. 

“You might be a big girl now but you’ll always be my baby girl.” He whispered. “I love you.” 

“I love you too Daddy.” Margaux replied, her eyes already shut and her arms wrapped tightly around her new bear. Charlie stood up slowly and headed to the door, leaving it open a crack for a little bit of light to shine in. 

He paused for a moment, just taking in the reality that Margaux was already four years old, and that she was growing up too fast. With one last look at the door he made his way down the hallway and outside to where he knew Owen was waiting. 

“She’s asleep.” He announced, flopping down on the outdoor sofa next to Owen. 

“I’m not shocked, she’s had a big day.” Owen replied, handing Charlie a cold beer that he had clearly gotten for him. Charlie took it thankfully, taking a large swig. 

“Can you believe that she’s four already? It feels like she was only just born and I was waking up to find out that her mother was gone and that it was only me and her. It was terrifying at the time, but looking back I wouldn’t change it for the world.” He rambled. Owen rested his head on Charlie’s shoulder and Charlie wrapped his arm around the younger boy, pulling him closer.

“You should be proud of yourself Char. You’ve done an amazing job.” Owen complimented, snuggling closer to Charlie as he took a mouthful of his beer.

“You think so?” Charlie questioned. Owen nodded against his shoulder.

“I know so.” He sat up. “Margaux is the most well behaved kid I’ve ever met, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her misbehave once in all the time I’ve known her. She’s an amazing kid and it’s all because she has the most amazing father.”

“Thank you.” Charlie whispered, suddenly realising how close Owen was to him. He could feel Owen’s warm breath on his lips, and he found himself leaning in, the urge to kiss Owen overtaking his entire being. His lips brushed against Owen’s ever so slightly, but before they could properly commit to the kiss they were interrupted. 

“Hey, we’re gonna play...” Tori’s voice came and they jumped apart quickly. She trailed off, eyeing them carefully. “Were you two about to kiss?”

Charlie cleared his throat. Owen’s eyes widened.

“Uh... no?” Owen lied. Tori shot them a suspicious look but clearly decided against pushing.

“Right... well we’re gonna play Cards Against Humanity if you want to join us.” She told them, before turning and heading back inside. Neither Charlie nor Owen moved, the silence was deafening. Finally Owen spoke.

“Sorry.” He muttered quickly, before standing up and rushing inside. Charlie groaned, watching him leave, the feeling of Owen’s lips still lingering on his own.

“Fuck.” He sighed, downing the last of his beer before standing up to join the rest of the group inside.

He would have to deal with the Owen situation later.

[noona-clock]

The Dog Walker

Genre: Dog Walker!AU

Pairing: Hanbin x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Words: 2,022

You gasped softly when you glanced at your watch and saw what time it was.

If you had waited even a few seconds longer, you would have missed it.

But, as it was, you still had some time. So, you leaped out of your chair and dashed to the window in the front room of your townhouse, using two fingers to widen the slot between the blinds as inconspicuously as you could.

Your gaze shifted as far down the sidewalk as your window would allow, and when you saw the small, brown dog rounding the corner, your stomach flipped over itself.

Because the small, brown dog meant that he would follow.

And, sure enough, barely a second after you saw the dog -- whom you had named Teddy in your mind since he looked like a little teddy bear -- there he was.

You had no idea who he was. You didn’t know a name, an age, a location, a personality -- nothing. The only things you knew about this guy were that he was a dog walker, he took the same route every day, and he was somehow incredibly cute and incredibly handsome at the same time.

His dark hair that fell over his forehead just right. His slightly rounded cheeks that were just so pinchable. His square jawline and chin that added the perfect touch of sexiness to his face. His full lips that screamed to be kissed (not that you would kiss him because you didn’t know him, but boy did you imagine it). His straight nose that fit perfectly amongst his features.

And his eyes.

Oh my lord, those eyes.

They were never focused directly on you, of course, but you had caught enough glimpses of them to know that if they ever were... you would most likely faint on the spot.

But it wasn’t just his face that made him so captivating and alluring. The way he dressed was so effortless but so cool. And the way he walked kind of made it seem like he was a bumbling idiot but also like he knew exactly what he was doing.

Plus, as he’d passed your window one day, you’d heard him talking to the dog he was walking and it had almost made your heart beat right out of your chest.

It had sounded like he’d been having a full-on conversation with Teddy, and his tone of voice had been just about the cutest thing you’d ever heard.

If you ever did meet this guy in real life, you weren’t sure you would survive. And if you did, you certainly would never see or talk to him again because you would undoubtedly act like such a fool that he would stay as far away from you as he possibly could.

So... best to never even meet him. Or go outside to get your mail as he walked past.

You pressed your lips together, holding your breath as the guy and Teddy approached your window. Some days, it seemed like they were both walking in slow motion and you had all the time in the world to admire your dream man. Other days, it seemed like someone had pushed the fast forward button and the whole thing was over in the blink of an eye.

Today, blessedly, was a slow motion day.

Your forehead wrinkled as he loped down the sidewalk, his stride casual but purposeful. You bit back a squeal when you saw his mouth moving, murmuring some unknown words to Teddy (or whatever the dog’s actual name was).

And your eyes followed him like your life depended on it. As if you would actually cease to exist if you stopped watching him for even a millisecond.

And then, a few moments later, just the same as every other day... he was gone. He turned the corner at the other end of your block and vanished.

It was the highlight of your day, and yes, this was all incredibly concerning and upsetting. You were fawning over a guy you had literally never met. Literally never spoken one single word to. Literally did not even know you existed! And yet your heart began to hammer when you knew he was coming, and it sank when he was no longer visible from your window.

It was kind of like he was a celebrity you fangirled over... except he was just a normal guy. A dog walker. One who presumably lived in the same town. 

But he was definitely as handsome as a celebrity!

...Still, though. You knew if you ever told anyone about this daily routine of yours -- about your secret crush on a guy whose name you didn’t even know -- they would judge you. Harshly. And for a long time. Probably until you stopped spying on him as he went about his work.

So... you never told anyone. You didn’t even talk about it out loud to yourself. You didn’t write anything in your journal, either! This whole situation was something you would take to your grave.

With a soft sigh of disappointment, you let go of your blinds, turned on your heel, and shuffled back to your computer. It was right smack-dab in the middle of your work day, after all, and now that you’d had your daily fix of Cute Dog Walker Guy... it was time to come back to reality.

You know how some people get into a very specific routine but they can’t even remember how that routine came about? Like, it just sort of happened one day and then it stuck and now it seems like it’s just always been a part of their life.

That’s not how it was with your routine.

You remembered exactly how it had first happened -- every little detail. Partly because you had the memory of an elephant and were extremely observant, but also because... I mean, how could you forget the first time you saw...

Was it too dramatic to say ‘the man of your dreams’?

Maybe?

Okay, fine, I’ll just say this: How could you forget the first time you saw Cute Dog Walker Guy?

Close enough.

It had all gone down about two months ago, on a Wednesday. You had just finished a particularly long, particularly stressful project at work, and you had stepped away from your home desk for a limb stretch and a brain break. And probably a snack. 

The sun had been streaming in through the blinds, and you’d had a thought to go and open them, wanting to soak up a bit of vitamin D after being cooped up inside the entire morning.

And then you’d heard the barking.

If anything could put a smile on your otherwise grouchy face, it was a cute dog. And since you were the type of person to think just about any dog was cute, you scurried over to your window and, rather than pulling on the cord to lift the blinds up, you simply peeked through two of them to see if you could spot this yippy friend.

And, sure enough, you caught him trotting around the corner just in time.

You’d thought seeing this adorably fluffy brown dog would be the highlight of your day... but then the person walking him had come into view.

Basically, you’d known instantly that you were a goner.

The day after, you’d kept an ear and an eye out for both the dog and the dog walker, and much to your surprise and gratitude, you’d been rewarded. 

And again the next day, and the day after, and the day after.

At first, you’d thought the fluffy brown dog belonged to him, but there were some days when he was joined by a scruffy tan dog and other days when he was joined by a smooth gray dog -- both of them so cute you thought your heart might burst. So, you had eventually come to the conclusion that he was a dog walker.

Many times, you had been tempted to try and look him up by searching for dog walking services in your area. But, somehow, you’d resisted.

First of all, you kind of enjoyed the mystery. Second of all, you didn’t have a dog, so there was really nothing you could do with any information you found on him besides stalk him on social media.

You already spied on the guy every single day. Wasn’t that enough?

Your plan was really just to continue waiting and watching as he walked by your townhouse for as long as he chose to walk by your townhouse. If he ever decided to take a different route, then... you would just move on, I guess? Maybe try to actually meet someone you might be interested in dating?

That sounded like a pretty solid plan.

But, as we all know, life very rarely ever goes according to plan. I mean, the instant any one of us thinks we’ve come up with a pretty solid plan, The Universe simply shakes its head and laughs.

Instead of watching Cute Dog Walker Guy go past your window every day, admiring him from afar and daydreaming about your life together, wondering how much time you had left to watch and admire and daydream...

Well, I might as well just stop trying to explain and actually tell you what happened.

It was Monday. You were slightly depressed because the weekend had been far too short, and honestly, who decided that a workweek should be five days long, anyway? You’d barely caught up on your sleep over the past two days, and now you were expected to work again? For five days straight? It wasn’t at all fair, and along with being slightly depressed, you were incredibly distracted.

Really, you were sitting at your desk waiting for Cute Dog Walker Guy time rather than actually even trying to work.

But such is life!

And when the time finally arrived, you were ready. You pushed your chair away from your desk, stood up, and tiptoed over to your window with a hopeful smile tugging at your lips.

Almost immediately after you peeked through your blinds, though, you knew something was different.

Instead of hearing the jingling tags of Teddy’s collar, you heard... yelling?

“No, no, no, stop!”

...That didn’t sound good.

Your eyes darted around, trying to see what could be causing Cute Dog Walker Guy (at least, you assumed it was him) to call out like this. And when your gaze finally landed on a squirrel scampering around on the sidewalk and climbing up up a stop sign, you couldn’t help but let out an amused giggle.

Finally, Teddy turned the corner, and he was joined by a brand new dog you’d never seen before -- a dark brown brindle dog who was tugging at his leash and hunting the squirrel as if his life depended on it.

Cute Dog Walker Guy stumbled behind, his brow furrowed deeply as he continued to call out after the dog, desperately attempting to get things under control.

Attempting... and failing.

The squirrel hunter had, apparently, tuned out everything in the world around him so he could focus on his prey and was now jumping up the stop sign pole and barking.

“No, please, be quiet!” Cute Dog Walker Guy pleaded.

The squirrel then jumped from the stop sign onto the trash can at the corner, and Squirrel Hunter leaped after him.

Cute Dog Walker Guy yelped as the dog yanked him forward, both leashes getting tangled up in the stop sign and the trash can.

And then Cute Dog Walker Guy fell to the ground.

Your eyes widened and your mouth fell open slightly, a soft but strangled yelp of concern emerging from your lips.

Oh, god.

What should you do?

I mean, obviously, your instinct was to run outside and help him! He was now sprawled on the ground, trying to keep hold of the two leashes while one dog was still wildly jumping and whining toward the squirrel.

But... wouldn’t that be weird?! If you just immediately showed up to help him?! He would know you’d been watching!

Although, maybe he wouldn’t care? I mean, it really looked like he needed help.

But what if --

“Owwww -- stop! Stop it!”

At hearing Cute Dog Walker Guy’s moan of pain, you fled from your window and skidded to the front door.

Part 2