#TEAM BE NOT AFRAID. IM ROOTING FOR U

[ungodly-amounts-of-godly-trauma]

major bracket round 4 group a

art of jonathan and martin by @snekberry!

[csainz5]

Mine || Charles Leclerc #16

pairing: charles leclerc x girlfriend!reader

summary: in which seeing people ship you with other drivers fuels the possessiveness in charles.

author notes: can u tell ive been obsessed with culpa mia. also this is my first charles fic (!!!) i made sm tweaks to the original req im so sorry 😭 deff been in a slump recently bc exams but 🙏 no beta read!! this one is still raw asf lol

req: yes/no.

wc: 1.2k words

————

the air as the weekend approached was filled with an adrenaline of its own. drivers loitering on the paddock, a camera shoved up each one of their faces. most of them were making videos for their teams social media, while others were giving interviews. silly banter & playful hazing surrounded the place as the free practices neared. as calm and laid back as the environment was, a new buzz had taken over the virtual world. it seemed like the redbull fans had taken on a new intrest in a the friendship you and max shared, suspecting it could be more than just friends. you’re shocked as you read through the articles, what could possibly make it seem like you were both in any sense more than just friends? max was like the brother you never had, and you, the sister he had always hoped of having. as much as the articles were delusional, you didnt really care that much about them, i mean why would you be afraid when there’s nothing youre scared of being open to the public? okay, maybe not everything. not the time when you were so drunk you demanded every guy on the paddock to quote “settle it with me on the ring”, not the time when you were the culprit behind the hilarious azerbaijan mix up where you stole the champagne on the podium and replaced it with an empty one, and definitely not the fact that you’re already taken, by a person known to all on the paddock.

—

The morning of the race was always an exhilarating one no matter which team youre driving for, or which team you’re rooting for. the passion, the dedication and the confidence in the each and every drivers persona was enough to fill you in the same mindset. though youve always been a redbull fan, which, i mean is definitely not even surprising considering you probably frequent their garage more than some of their own engineers, youve always held an admiration for all the drivers. even you knew how dominant the redbull cars were, so seeing the rest of the drivers still catch up with less resources filled your heart with pride. you look up at the fan’s waiting impatiently for the race to start with a smile on your face. this, will never get boring, you think.

Lord Percival 👑

can’t find you anywhere near here, don’t tell me you’re ditching me today yet again 😔

a chuckle escapes your lips.

You

i wouldve come over but you’re all the way across rn 😭 i’ll definitely be waiting for you after the race tho.

Lord Percival 👑

wow. way to betray me over text babe

You

okay drama queen 😒

Lord Percival 👑

guess you rubbed off on me then mon jolie

You

ill make it up to you, i always do.

just before you press send, you notice the drivers had already left for their respective interviews. whats the point in sending it now anyways, you decide.

—

the dark looms over the sky as celebrations near. the smell of alcohol, weed and god knows fucking what become all too familiar to you at this point. you reach the party alongside max, which considering he’s your best friend was not out of the ordinary for you, but little did you know, it didn’t help the ongoing rumours one bit. the familiar stench of reporters clogs your mind. what the hell were the doing here? and more importantly why were all of them suddenly taking an intrest in your friendship with max? question after question is thrown at you which makes you realise youve had enough of this. you reach for your phone.

You

screw this party

wanna meet up at our usual spot?

Lord Percival 👑

im always down 🙏

—

you could never get sick of this. the same ride, the same atmosphere, the exact same playlist playing over and over again, the curves of the road as you drive through. because you know, at the end of this journey would be the same thing you look forward to, every time. so you get into you car, and drive the same drive to the same spot, once again. at a pillar reading out “623” you stop by the ferrari you know all too well.

there he was. i could never get used to seeing him like this, you think, dressed up in formals but looking formal in no way whatsoever. shriveled hair, buttons unbuttoned, jewellery he knows how to style in just the right way. his crazed eyes of emerald, gazing into you with an intensity that makes your nerves shiver.

“took you long enough to come here” he says, holding you waist. “it was a longer drive than usual” “is that so?” he says, stepping aside you to rest against his ferrari, right beside you. folding his arms, he continues, pulling a cigarette out of his blazer, “want one?” “please, today was a bitch” “i could say the same for me, really” he reaches towards you, lighting your cigarette. “races in monaco are my favourite” he says, looking up at the sky. “yeah, id imagine so. nothing beats home” “yeah, it’s great to be home and all, but theres also something in monaco that beats the thrill any race could give me” he steps forwards, hands placed beside either sides of you.

he pulls the cigarette from your lips, taking in a puff himself. he brings his lips to your ear, “or rather, theres someone in monaco, who beats the thrill any race could give me” he whispers, blowing the smoke away. he flicks the cigarette aside and steps on it, as he lifts your face up, meeting your eyes with his own. “someone who sighs right when i kiss her here,” he goes on to place a chaste kiss on your mole, right on your neck by your jawline. and like a story repeated enough times, you sigh. “someone who arches her back when i pull her hair slightly like this,” he gently tugs your hair, making a makeshift ponytail and like a telltale, you arch your back, the satisfaction of being right sprawled across charles’s face.

“but of all, the one thing that makes me come back to this place again and again, is knowing that—“ he lifts your hips up, making you wrap your legs around him. “you’re mine.” the second he says that, its like all the dots connected in your head. you never thought charles would be jealous of the rumours, given how he was the one who didn’t want your relationship to be public. “charles, are you jealous?” you ask. “so what if i am?” “well, i for one wouldnt want my boyfriend to be feeling like that anymore” “what do you mean?” you pull out your phone from your clutch, “kiss me” “wait what are you doing?” “i said, kiss me” you say, pulling him in by his jaw. “im conf-“ you kiss him, shutting him up. as he closes his eyes he finds himself to not be able to help himself from drowning into you, well atleast until a flash brings him out of his trance. “im going to post it.” “you don’t have to, you know” “but i want to. i want everyone to know how much you mean to me charles. you’re my favourite person and i would hate to see you be jealous”

——

“i can’t believe you actually did it, jolie” “its the least i could do” you say, pecking his cheek. “but ive gotta say, i definitely wouldnt mind seeing this shade of you more often” “you haven’t seen the end of me yet, mon ange”

[wosobronze]

After Man U will you be supporting Chelsea for Lucy's sake?

nooo i genuinely just don’t like chelsea lol, i don’t have another team in the wsl that i like seeing win things other than united

i’ll be happy if they win stuff purely because it means more things to add to lucy’s ever growing collection but the happiness will only be due to lucy winning it, never chelsea and i won’t be rooting for them im afraid😭

[blorbocedes]

Hiii! Tumblr or my searching skills failed me so im coming to u bc u most likely know about this and i need to know too 😳 what's the deal with nico rosberg and michael schumacher? I think i've read sth about them that triggered all my alarmas. Is there some lore we should know? Thank you 🥺 ♥️

hahhaa you've come to the right place!

uhh quick background, nico was stuck in a shitty Williams for 4 years (George Russell coded ☹️) and got the merc offer -- where the implication was he was going to lead the team, and his teammate would be jenson button 😚

Instead it was 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher, who had just passed his fitness checks post Ferrari crash and signed a 3 year deal with Merc. Mercedes were still in their flop era and were trying to push the German car with German drivers angle. The news sent Nico spiralling cause like, what's he gonna do -- not accept a long term merc deal? But also how's he supposed to compete with the GOAT? He called him "godlike" and was afraid he'd manipulate the Merc team completely against him

Schumacher, according to Nico, played a lot of mind games. Michael is famous for terrorising all 10 of his teammates and now he had a petite German twink. list of crimes include making Nico pee outside in a bucket right before quails, and being... really hot? showing his six pack and for some reason that intimidated nico (alpha pheromones 🤨📸)

The comeuppance here is that all 3 years Nico beat Michael 😅 Mercedes actually even made an ad about it (to show they're cool with it)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2uE67arNYhM

Michael's German twink to mentor of choice was Seb who he adored (here's them pranking nico) -- there was always this underlying notion that Nico wasn't "German enough" (being half Finnish, and spending his whole life in monaco) Nico came into Merc bright eyed and hopeful, instead was met with a Michael who didnt particularly care for him, or thought much of him.

Nico also said he preferred Mika lolol to Michael, and considering he grew up around and was adored by Mika (finn4halffinn) it's not hard to see why

https://twitter.com/nicorosberg/status/723864441599614977?s=21&t=MshFwe5f1zRIbqcb7dPmww (here's Nico in 2016 posting the iconic Mika passing Schumi in spa)

Most interestingly (to me), is this excerpt:

Clarkson: Did Michael live up to expectations?

Rosberg: [inhaling] Well, no. He didn’t.

It's the disillusionment for me!!! To see a god shatter in your face!!!

We also can't talk about Michael and Nico without the iconic dankeshen ad, which includes a Mika cameo as well 😭 the crack 2010's ads were on..... we need it back

https://p1tstop.tumblr.com/post/679117011370049536/compliments-by-the-2011-mercedes-benz-f1-team

However their dynamic was, you cannot say they did not serve and slay. peak sugar baby/daddy looks

I will say when Nico talks about Michael for the vast majority it is very complimentary and respectful, and he kept track of Mick's karting/feeder series career and rooted him on (probably could relate to being the son of a wc with a famous name)

learnt many things from Michael, such as Monaco 2014 🫢

[lesbiannancytruther]

okay so @sorry-i-panicked accidentally reminded me wing aus exist so this one is inspired by them💪

anyways u know i have to make a ronance wing au like they’re practically made for it

switching things up by going with robin first! now: i know what you’re thinking. and NO. im not making her wings robin wings. i’m going with one of the smartest birds in the world- the kea parrot! :) they’re very curious and aren’t afraid of pissing people off lol. they’re also known for solving puzzles! their wings are so pretty and they’re known for their problem solving and though they can’t talk, they communicate effectively :)

LISTEN IK WHAT UR GONNA SAY

yeah yeah gay wings BUT im thinking robin has a pretty impressive wingspan! wider than usual and definitely long. she’s still clumsy in the air, but i like to think that sometimes, when she’s really in the groove, she looks pretty graceful. absolutely the type to wrap nancy up in her wings <3

they also move forward by hopping sideways?😭 insert robin having weird coordination joke here

okay onto nancy! a lot of this is biased by the fact that i want nancy to have pink in her wings so bad😩 so im going with the intelligent galah cockatoo! very intelligent and has a knack for picking up on speech and vocab, like a good journalist. while i don’t usually describe nancy as friendly she definitely CAN be and this is an au where people have wings so im not 1:1 comparison ok </3

also female galah’s have pink eyes u better BET ur ass im applying that to miss wheeler

look at this its so pretty😩

im thinking nancy’s wings are a bit big for her but nothing crazy! i like to think nancy is a talented flier bc she did it so much as a kid, really one of the only ways she felt free. galah’s are fast and known for acrobatics. she takes good care of her wings, making sure her feathers are neat and cared for

im thinking robin actually neglects to care for her own wings pretty often with her feathers always uncomfortably disorganized and messy, which gets her pretty frustrated with her wings. based on rebel robin her parents aren’t abusive they’re just really weird in a not so great way, so i can see her not really knowing how? nancy gets one look at them and is like “if you don’t sit down so i can FIX THESE”

nancy makes it a habit well into their friendship and eventual relationship, teaching robin how to herself but doing it often anyways because it’s relaxing and a bonding moment okay

the first time nancy see’s robin’s wings she’s awestruck bc they’re so pretty, especially when robin takes care of them, she always compliments them

robin also loves nancy’s wings, they’re so her and they’re very soft, especially near the inside by where they attach to her back, which nancy is super hesitant to let robin touch at first but eventually she’s welcome to, because she trusts her and especially because it feels good

firm believer in bird traits affecting them. nancy, following galah traits of nesting in tree hollows, always feels safe completely surrounded, always being fond of those kid princess tents because they surrounded her on all sides and were comfy! she also loves the smell of eucalyptus.

robin feels most comfortable in a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor, usually up against a wall, as following kea nesting habits of setting up nests in between tree roots!

the two of them team up and build the best blanket forts on the floor and they cuddle! it’s something special for the two of them and they try to do it often.

they both love fruit sm😩 for breakfast they eat fruit all the time. nancy cuts the fruit as the one of the two of them that is allowed to handle a knife (learned the hard way w an er trip) and robin arranges them into fun displays that make nancy laugh and kiss her on the cheek. nancy can’t handle meat well/just doesn’t like it as galahs are strictly herbivores so they like to try a ton of new stuff with vegetarian spins

feathers are often exchanged between the two, nancy wears a cluster of robin’s feathers on a necklace (made by robin) and robin keeps nancy’s softest feathers as a sensory thing, they’re really easy to run her her fingers over and keep her grounded, you can usually see pink feathers in her hand or in her pocket.

im thinking their first kiss happens mid air bc they’re going on a flying date that’s definitely not a date but is a date and robin sees nancy do this little spin and just laugh and robin just dives for her, cups her face and kisses her. nancy is only a little surprised before she eagerly returns it, going to wrap her arms around robin’s shoulders before quickly going to her waist to keep robin from falling and she has to remind robin through breathless giggles to “keep flapping birdie i can’t hold both of us” and robin quickly adjusts so that they can continue and

AGH

i love them so bad

[woolydemon]

what are your thoughts on blurr?

I HAVE... MANY OF THEM. This is gonna be a long one (also im assuming ur talking abt tfa blurr)

First impression

I was just scrolling though the TFA tags before finishing my first watch of the show (bc... I'm like that I guess. I am willing to spoil myself stuff just so I can see fanart of them before I finish the show </3) and OF COURSE I saw him.

I immediately was like "OH,, HIS DESIGN IS FUN,," and he was a lil hyped up for me based on how ppl are like "look at this lil cute boy <33!!!!!"

Impression now

He's... not a "lil cute boy <33". But thank goodness he isn't bc I love him for that.

hearing his voice for the first time caught me off guard since ppl were drawing him.. In a certain way that doesn't quite indicate how much of a cringe nerd he actually is. He's just such a weirdo!! And thank god for that!! I wouldn't want him any other way, also I related heavily to his talking habits that's where the roots of kinning happened </3

What's also cool is that he is still kinda badass while still definitely being such a dweeb, like he ran across the galaxy!!! How did he do that??? Fucked up. Also despite being somewhat eccentric, he is definitely one of the most level headed characters on the show and that's just a fun concept to me :]

Favorite moment

probably all 13 minutes he appears in the show?????? (listen. i like him a lot)

like idk even his appearances in Velocity are interesting bc like... What is he thinking while all of this is happening.

is frothing at the mouth with rage at being controlled like a remote control toy car?? Is he freaking out over the fact he almost killed bumblebee?? is he impressed by how bee was able to quickly access situations and respond accordingly to them?? The possibiwittys..

but aside from that i just love seeing blurr being blurr at any moment, I give him full permission to infodump at all times

(also i love seeing him banter with bumblebee, wish we got more of that dynamic but alas </3)

Idea for a story

ooogh... i got some ideas.

I love seeing stories abt him dealing with the cube trauma but sometimes I think about what if he just went over to shockwave in prison and lashes out at him but in the end it just. Doesn't make him feel better and he's like "WOW. THIS SUCKS I NEED THERAPY"

Then there's an AU I've been thinking of where Blurr joins the crew from the start bc Ultra Magnus wanted someone to keep direct tabs on Optimus for him (and also intel didn't want to deal with him anymore so they just willingly sent him away </3) then u explore how he fits into the crew now (bonus points if he actually joins illegal street racing on his own terms this time, and then bee finds out and is like "dude what the fuck". There's reasons for this of course- this didnt come outta nowhere)

Then there's all the blurrbee fics that are in my brain, but the one I find rlly fun and interesting is Blurr gets forced to have a partner bc the cube incident and of course he's like "no!! I want to avoid social interaction bc i have social anxiety problems" but he looks at the list of new elite guard members for him to mentor and he sees. Bumblebee on that list. Apparently Bee's got the chops to be a really good scout, plus his reputation as a member of Team Prime made them willing to accept him into the Elite Guard. So now Bee is mentored by Blurr and is also Blurr's emotional support bot, plus they go on fun adventures and fall in love <3 good for them

Unpopular opinion

as I've said.. blurrs not a "lil cute boy". He's not some pushover!!! he's immensely stubborn and does not let willingly let anything get in his way!! He is also super intolerant of bullshit so he's probably going to shut down any of that before it gets out of hand

also while i do rlly like the idea of longarm and Blurr being friends, I think it's rlly funny if they were bitter workplace rivals and constantly going back and forth being extremely passive aggressive while maintaining professionalism. Like how blurr was sent to earth by longarm before he was able to get his breakthrough on the Flipsides case!! I imagine that conversation being like

Longarm: hello agent Blurr, I know you have been dedicating a lot of time and energy in figuring out who amongst the entertainment guild could possibly be a sleeper agent but I'm afraid I will have to postpone that by sending you in earth to monitor Optimus prime and his crew uwu

blurr: oh. .. thats. Completely fine sir. *Cuts to him later banging his head against the wall*

Favorite relationship

hmm.. I wonder whats my favorite relationship with Blurr in it?????? wat a mystery.. /j

OK Yeah. Its Blurrbee. I'm just so in love with their dynamic in the show and also what ISNT in the show. There's actually this bit in the Allspark Almanac where Blurr talks about how he thinks of Bumblebee as slightly annoying but has his heart in the right place and??? That's so sweet?? Blurr genuinely has a good opinion of Bee from the start and respects him which is. Very different from how a lot of other bots see Bumblebee.

I'm just saying, blurrbee dynamics ARE THERE and they are INTERESTING!!! Please think abt them please think abt them plea

Favorite headcanon

I think Blurr is very defensive of any friends he manages to actually have. Like he cares abt ppl like Wheelie and Dug Base A LOT.

You can call him a weirdo all you want, he doesn't care. But you start making fun of how Wheelie or Dug Base talk?? Ur gonna face his righteous fury!!!!!! He will end ur life and I might not be joking about this

[ruby-whistler]

Yo it says i cant send links in ask but its a post under c!dream critcal by relaxxattack if u want to still see it. The most recent one i believe because they were looking for smart people to confirm or deny it- curious anon

found it, gonna reply to your next ask with my opinions on it when i have the time since i don't really feel like engaging with that part of the community directly :]

Who are you watching for mcc?? Im stuck between red rabbits and green guardians aaaaa

i'm watching green guardians but i'm also rooting for purple and pink!

My point was in 10/12 of the viloence happening, at least during the stream where tommy dies, dream hits first. Sprry for flaking- curious anon

/dsmp /rp

np, all good! i went ahead and counted it and 8/14 first punches were thrown by tommy. as for c!tommy's punches, in order, they go; once unwarranted (physically or verbally) to annoy dream, twice to punch him away from food, once unwarranted to vent his own frustration, repeatedly hitting dream after he said he would get out, then again after dream said to stop hitting him, then twice while insulting him, once again while telling him to shut up (he does that a lot).

as for c!dream's first punches, he only started hitting tommy during the final scene where c!tommy was constantly verbally attacking him, so 10/12 of the violence happening is a very inaccurate stat, moreso considering it was only c!tommy punching c!dream for the first 8 times they'd hit each other (of which 6 dream didn't hit back).

i'm sorry that i'm ranting about that scene now but c!tommy seems less distressed and more just bullying the hell out of dream, while dream never retaliates verbally until the last three or so minutes. yes i'm livetweeting at this point and i do apologize but i need to write this down for the future.

i've also noticed every time tommy asks something of dream ("step to the back of the cell" "read that" "give me potatoes") he obliges immediately. i don't know if this is because of sam's treatment or why this is happening but it's concerning me.

he's just trying to be positive and considering i know very well how life for him is in the torture box i'm. get him outttt

also yeah he is very distressed every time tommy punches the cat and is constantly trying to protect it it's. honestly hard to watch.

HE PUT HIMSELF,,, IN THE WAY,,,,,,, SO THAT TOMMY WOULD PUNCH HIM AND NOT THE CAT I'M. TEARS IN EYES-

"dream, do you love him?" "yes... i do" i forgot about this part D:

tommy just killed the cat and started talking about how lonely dream would be now that it's gone. i literally forgot all of this.

not that i don't see that c!tommy is uncomfortable with c!dream or that the whole murder thing was not good, but i like looking at things from the other perspective, and oh boy is the other perspective ugly. if i wasn't afraid of getting cancelled i'd write an essay on this, but yeah that - that's toxic behaviour 100%, like what the hell they're all so messed up please keep them away from each other ;-;

For mcc i think people are really sleeping on the green guardians. Tapl and puffy have won mcc before and skeppy and bbh won mc mondays twice. Although the sapnap and punz team is cracked

pretty sure you're thinking cyan on this one! but yeah, they have a very high chance of winning the event.

also i saw ur essay and i can give u my thoughts on it later if u want :0

sure thing!

[worstloki]

Part 3

Fury: I cannot believe the Avengers No. 1 unattainable criminal right now is a seventeen-year-old twink Clint: I can’t believe you’re calling Loki a twink Tony: I can’t believe he's been the legal godparent of kids his own age for months and I didn't realise Steve: You didn’t get him removed? I thought you made Rhodey their legal godparents instead?? Tony: nah I removed Thor Natasha: ?? why would anyone do that ?? Fury, having a breakdown: we nearly lost New York and the entire world to a 16-year-old twink with daddy issues Clint: yoU just did it aGAIN- Tony, the only actual Avenger who knows Loki isn’t actually evil™: heY! Daddy issues are a serious thing! Don’t make fun of the guy for having a crisis and finding out his life was a lie and he’d faced over a millennium of abusive environment for nothing!  Avengers: are you… defending Loki… the megalomaniac WAR CRIMINAL who turned every SHIELD facility into ice cream earlier today…? Tony, hands up in surrender: I’m saying maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge the guy. I wouldn't be able to guess what but maybe he had an ulterior reason for the New York fiasco? His normal stuff is usually harmless.  Avengers: ... Tony: What? It could’ve been much worse. Strange, rolling his eyes: Yes, at least it wasn’t Stark Raving Hazelnuts Loki, who has been standing at the back listening to the entire conversation: That flavour is way too chalky to suit SHIELD anyways [everyone turns to Loki with their weapons ready, except Tony of course] Loki, raising his hands in surrender: what? A Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge is way better, and its green, and for some reason they didn’t have a Loki flavour so that was the next best option-

---

Loki: hey Morgan what would you say if i offered you an officially evil part-time job with decent pay and extremely good evil workplace benefits? Morgan: do you offer evil dental? Loki: of course?? we also have A-Grade coffee 24/7 because top class extremely good evil deserves only the best Morgan: Excellent! I look forward to working with your evil team and being a part of your nefarious schemes and plots in future Loki: Thank you. Tomorrow we replace all Tony's vehicles with incredibly realistic wax models. Morgan: ...including the jets? Loki, scoffing: what kind of amateur villains would we be if we left his jets, boats, bikes and single vintage helicopter untouched Tony: its 4am can you maybe not have this conversation right next to me in my own workshop?!

---

Tony: I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WOULD REPLACE THEM WITH WAX MODELS Morgan: What kind of low-grade predictable villainous evil doers would we be if we did what we said we would Tony: oh $#!^ now you're speaking like him too Loki, cutting his shoulder to reveal cake: Just so you know, it wasn’t JUST the vehicles ;)

---

Peter: *following loki around with a notepad* Loki: Terribly sorry if you mind but he's MY intern now. Tony: You don’t think there’s anything wrong with what you’re doing, do you? Loki: I don’t think anything I’ve ever done is wrong Peter:  *avidly taking notes and nodding along*

---

T’challa: I cant believe you filed an application for ‘time off’ Shuri: I NEED at least 3 hours a week reserved specifically for training if I want to keep my part-time job T’challa: you don’t NEED a job! You make up 90% of Wakanda’s research and development departments! Your technology work IS a job! Shuri: yeah well my ACTUAL job is fun and has proper work benefits and I simply must empty the time blocks I specified for it! You wouldn’t stop me from meeting with Peter and Morgan would you? They ARE, legally and spiritually speaking, my siblings, brother :) T’challa: what job could you have that would need you reminding me that a mischief deity adopted you before telling me what the job actually is Shuri: The official position is called Secretary of Evil but that’s only for the probationary 2 week period and I’m allowed to request a name change if I think of anything better T’challa: T’challa: you are working as a SECRETARY?! Shuri: The job pays well, Brother, T'challa:  T'challa: mother will be so disappointed

---

Scott: I can’t believe you did that Maggie: I didn’t know he was a supervillain! OBVIOUSLY! Scott: how would you noT KNOW! He wears nothing buT LEATHER and BELTS and GREEN BOOTS AND- Maggie: I needed someone to watch her and she showed up in pink sweatpants and a black tank top and was charging a decent rate Scott: Scott: are you sure their name was loki

---

Clint: you told me it was a ‘family gathering’! Tony: yeah, it is, and the avengers are family Clint, pointing at Loki: so what’s the twink doing here and why are MY kids along with every other person here who is under drinking age clinging to him like a frickin’ koala bear Tony: morgan wanted to get her ‘the floor is lava’ badge and loki was the only one immune to the lava so they jumped him - and he enjoyed walking around covered in them way more than he should have -  and also loki is legally peter and morgan and harley and shuri’s godparent so he’s allowed to be here on more of a basis than anyone else here at this point Clint: There was LAVA near MY KIDS?! Tony: no of course not – it was FAKE lava that just looked and functioned like real lava Clint: im taking them all home Tony: good luck convincing them not to want another playdate Clint: this isn’t a joke Tony Tony: I’m serious. Good luck. The kids love him, and you’ll need all the luck you can get if you want them to ever root for the side of good instead of wherever-loki-is-at instead. 

---

Pepper: *watching the news* Pepper: oh hey the Avengers are on Peter, running into the room: woW NICE Pepper: wtf why is Hulk wearing giant boxing gloves Peter: Language! Pepper: is Steve's shield padded?! Peter: i don’t remember that being normal Pepper: did most of the Avengers just ditch Steve? Why’re they leaving Peter: I guess the danger must be over? Pepper: WHAT is going ON out there today Peter: I think Loki had planned an attack today so maybe he did it as a joke Pepper: oh they're facing Loki yeah okay that explains it Peter: Loki always does the funniest things of course he baby-proofed all the Avenger's gear! Classic Loki! :D

-meanwhile-

Captain America, tears streaming down his face: pl,,ease, loki,, stop,t his, I cant hit ,,a child Loki: Look at you, the American icon, unable to save all these innocent people from having their skin turn into primary colours, all because you are TOO AFRAID to fight me! Captain America: I’m a national icon, not a good soldier but a good man, I will do whatever it takes to keep innocents safe, but I can NOT beat up someone who isn’t even legal enough to vote Loki: I was around causing chaos before this ‘voting’ was even invented! And I’ll NEVER legally vote even if I could!! mwahahAHAHA- Falcon, to Bucky in the background: How did we not realise he was a teen, all his comebacks are ‘no u’ and ‘uno reverse card’ and ‘look over there!’ Bucky, to Falcon: I don’t know but I really really want to know where he gets his outfits from Falcon: if it means I’ll be seeing you geared up in leather again then I want to know where he gets his outfits from too ;‘) Thor: I think my brother makes his own outfits Loki, still tormenting Captain America: *SISTER Thor: ah, my bad Captain America, crying x2: wait does this mean I’ve been lobbing my shield at not just a child, but I’ve been misgendering them while doing it?! Loki: only occasionally and I don’t blame you that was on me for monologuing too long, really— Captain America, taking off the helmet: nope I’m done Loki: what are you doing Steve, handing Sam the shield: It’s yours. Enjoy. Sam: woah woah woah what’re you doing you cant retire just like that  Steve, unzipping his suit to reveal American flag boxers: watch me Bucky to Sam: hello new best friend Sam, realising that Cap and Bucky are a duo: oh no no no STEVE is your best friend Bucky: he hasn’t been my ‘best friend’ since I saw him with the American flag splayed over his butt Loki, holding his hand out for Sam to shake: Hello there new Captain America its nice to meet you formally, my name is Loki and yes I’m a child but I’m actually 1075 but that is irrelevant if I’m causing trouble and looking for a fight, I’m also genderfluid so yes sometimes my pronouns will be different but I’ll be sure to inform you if it happens Sam: what are you doing Loki: I’m… formally introducing myself Sam: Sam: why?? Loki, blinking to hide that he’s getting teary eyed: well, the last national icon I didn’t do this with ditched me because I didn’t Bucky, a trained assassin, who isn’t a fool: *hugs loki* that wasn’t your fault steve just likes to carry the stupid with him Loki: thanks Bucky: is this a bad time to ask where you get your clothes from…? Loki: I make them Bucky: oh. Well $#!^. Loki, sniffing: if you join the dark side I’ll make you some too Bucky, immediately: done. Sam: JAmES Bucky deadpan: Yes, Samuel, what is it that troubles you, my new arch nemesis? 

---

Sam: HE TOOK BUCKY Natasha: What do you mean ‘he took bucky’ he’s standing right next to you Sam: He’s “infiltrating the enemy” Natasha: *lifts an eyebrow and looks to Bucky* Bucky: It’s true. My loyalties lie elsewhere now. Natasha: ??? Bucky: note to self – unexpected outcomes confuse the black widow. Natasha: how did this happen?? Sam: he SOLD himself out to the ENEMY Natasha: well when you say it like THAT ;) — Bucky: I think friendship is a decent price to pay for decent clothing Natasha: ??? Sam: oh also I’m Captain America now because Steve broke down and quit Natasha: ?!?!?!

---

Peter, entering the room and high-fiving Loki: I heard you got Mr. Bucky to switch teams! Loki: well, my fashion skills ARE legendary Tony, under his breath: he’s not even trying and he’s gotten every kid and the freaking winter soldier on his side and I am so so grateful he isn’t actually TRYING to make everyone go bad

---

Bucky: we’ve been over this Steve, Loki is young but he’s also over a thousand years old Steve: I was beating up a KID, Bucky, a kid who was SMALLER and WEAKER than everyone else where he lived but wouldn’t EVER turn down a FIGHT for what he BELIEVES IN and he was probably BULLIED and I wanted the guy DEAD, Bucky– Bucky: don’t forget the genderfluidity thing Steve: he said it wasn’t my fault but I should’ve asked Thor after he referred to Loki as ‘she’ instead of thinking he’d made a mistake and I just can’t – he isn’t even old enough to DRIVE or VOTE or DRINK or BUY A KNIFE or -- Bucky, holding Steve and patting his back: hey now, there, there, it’ll be okay, Bucky: *gives Loki a thumbs up as he sits on the couch with popcorn and watches Steve be miserable*

---

Loki: We need to get through this locked door. Tony, quick, give me your card! Tony, handing the card over: Take it! Loki, pocketing it: Thanks! Morgan, fire at the door Morgan: *pulls out an iron man gauntlet painted green and gold* Tony: hOW COULD you deface YOUR BIRTHDAY PRESENT with GREEN Morgan: MINE is still being used as a paperweight. This is one of YOUR gauntlets.   Tony, under his breath: maybe it’s not too late to burn the physical evidence and hack Loki’s name off the digital copies of the adoption forms Loki, whispering back: oh its definitely too late. I’m already on your christmas card and everything.

[ddarker-dreams]

You said that SR can speak, yes? To me, she looks like the type that would normally prefer to be silent. So I bet it really shocked the gang when she spoke for the first time around them. Her first words must have been to SR reader tho. ( I'm talking like she's a baby 😅) I wonder, what does her voice sound like?

Yes, Scarlet Ribbons can speak!! Just like you said though, she prefers to observe rather than verbalize her thoughts. Reader speaks enough here SR doesn’t feel it’s necessary for her to chime in too. It becomes a bit of a rumor for a while, as Mista swore he heard SR speaking once. No one believes him. When he tries to ask you about it, you end up shrugging it off. I kinda imagine her as having a singsong voice to match her personality. Something like this, though a tad deeper. My former idol loving roots might be showing now ,, 

anon 2 said: My entire family speaks spanish,and Italian and spanish are actually very similar,so im afraid that my family wouldn't be too troubled by the language barrier.Those embarrassing stories are gonna get across RIP 😪😭😔. Tho,I bet narancia,(best boy) would be so surprised. ("You can speak 3 languages?!)

Ohh there would hardly be a language barrier in that case! Even more of a prime opportunity to learn more about Reader, since everyone can openly communicate with one another. Narancia is definitely going to be impressed... he thought speaking two languages is amazing, but you can speak three? Color him surprised ,, he’s gonna try and learn them too! 

anon 3 said: Reading that ask about the gang trying to impress SR readers grandparents--- I'm also from NY and we have some GREAT pizza. A few horrible ones, but I've tasted some good pizza. Narancia insulting NY pizza would get me so fired up lol. I would have a whole ass debate with that boy over which pizza is better.

Narancia wouldn’t know what he’s talking about tbh . He’s extremely biased towards his favorite pizza that he’s grown up with, and is gonna make it his personal mission to convince you. You’ll never see him so riled up over a trivial matter. He’d be making excel spreadsheets and charts if he was capable of it, doodling on a piece of paper will have to suffice for now. Narancia is determined once he gets something on his mind, so he’s not letting this go. At least he has an excuse to take you out on more pizza dates under the guise of wanting to prove his point . He’s a little genius.

anon 4 asked: Does SR reader ever like to sing some of her favorite songs out loud? Does she ever get caught reenacting some of her favorite singers' moves?

Okay so since we’ve already established this is a v self indulgent series YOU KNOW that Reader is gonna have a nice singing voice. My idea for this Reader is that she’s very artsy focused, you can kinda decide for yourself what areas you’d prefer, but I was thinking she’d enjoy singing, dance, and traditional art. For her singing I picture something like this, clear and sweet sounding. Fugo has caught her singing the most, but rarely brings it up, preferring to listen before leaving with a little smile on his face. Narancia also catches her humming!! 

anon 5 asked: With SR reader in the team would she be the one to start calling Giorno 'giogio'?

I could see that happening! Giorno makes it clear in Purple Haze Feedback that he doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes that Diavolo made. He wants to have closer connections to people, and eliminate some formalities. Reader already has a habit of giving her teammates nicknames (Abba, Nara, Panna...), so GioGio is up next. She has to stop herself from saying it in professional settings though.

anon 6 said: Your post about the Bucci gang in the states was WONDERFUL! I love the idea of Giorno just trying to escape on a one on one date with the reader but everyone else is making it impossible :((

THANK U !! I had so much fun with it. Giorno still intends on making the best of it in the end lmao. Any trips abroad like that would have to be on the basis of business, Reader’s presence just an additional bonus. So he’s already grateful that she’s here. He’s still one of the best at getting meaningful alone time with her once he moves to the courting process.

anon 7 said: Bruh, I would LOVE you to write the Chariot Requiem with SR reader and Giorno switching! And I ADORED what you said about the gang visiting the states I NEED MORE OF THAT (personally I’m from Arkansas and there’s literally NOTHING there, but I LOVE the east coast)

I want to write that scene still!! It feels somewhat difficult since I only have a few vague ideas of what I want, but I’ll keep thinking about it more... For the team visiting the states I swore I wasn’t going to go ham but I ended up going Ham... and it was really fun actually !! The east coast actually has a lot of fun things to do, and a lot of the members would want to explore around there.

anon 8 said: SR is an affectionate stand, right? Imagine waking up with a kiss from her! That would be soooooo cute. Anyone on the team would die happily from that.

She is a very affectionate Stand,, much to the minor misfortune of Reader. Fugo has woken up to SR just staring at him. Neither of you knows why she does it, but she seems to like observing your teammates. It’s gonna end up being Bruno that gets a little forehead kiss... since without him, you never would’ve awoken your Stand. Or it would’ve at least taken a lot longer. Bruno never mentions it to you, it’s a secret between them. 🥺

anon 9 said: I was thinking about the SR being part of La squadra proposed by the other anon and thought it would be really cool if SR ended up joining up with the Bucci gang after Risotto dies to get the info that the boss is two people to them. To get revenge for the rest of her teammates because although buccillati and his gang did the killing mostly, it was the boss who started it and was the one responsible, the bucci gang were just the tools used. Could be a good scenario for a darker/hardened SR readr

Ohh that’s an interesting AU type of idea!! Darker SR Reader... maybe her color palette changes to to match? I picked bright red as being a reoccurring theme since it’s often associated with passion and love, and that seemed to fit her. So maybe Scarlet Ribbons is monochrome instead here. And black iris’?? And black ribbons... now I kinda wanna doodle a dark Scarlet Ribbons for fun . She goes >:( instead of >:)

[heyitsyn]

Ahhh i love your seijoh series’ sooo muchhh🥺, buttt for one of the root ending i was wandering if u could do manager-chan being aromantic and asexual, andd how each player deals with like a heartbreak, kinda angsty and how they all grow as a team and friendsssds👉🏻👈🏻 i would love some aro and ace representation so u can do one or the other if thats easier💕🥺

awwww thank you!!!! i love the support that im given🥺 and as for the req, that is a really nice concept but im afraid im going to have to decline this one :( as you all know, im still a beginner in this field and i dont want to write about a sensitive topic like this one bc im scared i might do it wrong and i worry that if i do write it, it might sound offensive so im so sorry anon 😭 and i agree that there should be more representation so we can be a more inclusive community but im sorry i cant do that for you 😭 the most i can do is a male!reader but for now, ill have to decline this request😭 maybe in the future, once i have a honed my skills better, i can write this request but im so sorry anon i might not be able to do that for you🥺

[uswntpoet]

Love on the brain (Part 19)

Sooooo, it's been a while guys. I'm really sorry that the update took so long, but at the same time I can't ensure to be much faster for the next few months. However, the story isn't over, so don't worry and as a small compensation the chapter is a bit longer :) Also thanks for all your kind feedback and messages, it keeps me motivated to write. As always, let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

The song is 'Three Little Birds' by Bob Marley & The Wailers

The chapter is also up on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17576201/chapters/49460396

Kelley knows the stadium is packed. Their media team told them that the match was sold out within minutes after the tickets went on sale. Normally, it only gets her even more pumped when huge crowds are cheering for them. However, when she hears the deafening roars on her way to the player tunnel, she has to admit that her heartrate starts speeding up a bit. It’s not due to the fact that she doesn’t feel prepared, it’s more so that today something just feels different and Kelley is not so sure if she can remember the last time, she felt like this. She stops in the middle of the tunnel, turning around to look for her teammates. Instead, she sees the German team starting to line up next to her, no one with an US jersey in sight.

“Hab auf jeden Fall die Nummer fünf hier im Auge. Wenn die es einmal schafft dich zu überlaufen, kommt die Flanke definitiv in den Strafraum.“ the blonde player with the captain‘s armband says to another girl, who is nodding before eyeing Kelley closely.

Kelley doesn’t understand much German, however she is proud that she can at least count to ten and maybe say Hello and Thanks. Today she wishes she couldn’t, because it’s enough to realize that they are definitely talking about her. ‘Nummer fünf’ sounds an awful lot like ‘number five’. Kelley turns her head to look at the girls directly and gives them a death stare. They notice quickly and turn around again. Kelley does so as well, trying to get into her zone, but she frowns when she is too distracted to concentrate. That’s also when she realizes that she got even more nervous. She feels like the drums in the stands make the tunnel quake and she is not far from the point of losing her mind. Slowly but surely, she starts to understand why. It’s the first game since the Chapman incident. The last time she stepped on the pitch, she totally lost control over herself and somehow, she is afraid it might happen again if somebody comes on to Alex. It has been lingering in her mind for a few days now, distracting her, making her think that the fans are angry at her and even worse, making her think that she might disappoint Alex. For the next minute, she remains the only US player in the tunnel and all she can hear is loud German chatting. Now, she definitely doesn’t understand a word and being there all alone is starting to have an impact on her. She starts taking deep breaths while zoning out and cracking her neck nervously. After what seems like an eternity, blurry silhouettes of her teammates walk past her. Meanwhile, Kelley just remains rooted to the ground, occasionally feeling a motivational pat on her back or a slap.

“Go get ‘em, tiger.” Alex whispers in her ear while passing her and slapping her butt.

Alex lines up in the spot in front of her and turns around to look at Kelley when she is not responding. This pulls Kelley out of her trance and her head shoots up quickly. When she looks into Alex’s eyes, she realizes that it also slipped her mind to talk to somebody about her concerns. Kelley just pushed it to the back of her mind, because she thought she could handle it on her own. What she didn’t expect is that it would affect her this much when it’s actually time to play the game.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks concerned, eyeing Kelley warily.

“I-“ Kelley starts, the rest of her words stuck in the back of her throat.

Kelley clears her throat, shaking her head and Alex looks even more worried than before.

“I’m kinda nervous.” Kelley admits, looking at Alex wide eyed.

Alex opens her mouth and closes it again, looking at her perplexed, “Are you?”

Kelley nods her head and Alex grabs her hand as discreetly as possible, not wanting to attract any attention to them.

As long as she can remember, Alex has been nervous before games. It started when she was a little girl, playing with her sisters, trying to be as good as them, as fast as them, as strong as them. In high school, Alex always felt like she had to prove herself to someone, prove that she was good enough, prove that she got better, prove that she trained hard. When she finally got into college, she had somehow mastered to prove herself. Now nobody doubted her potential and just when she thought she had managed to overcome her nervousness because she didn’t have to prove herself to anyone anymore, the weight of living up to everybody’s expectations was put on her. ‘Alex will make us win the game’, ‘Alex will be a crowd pleaser’, ‘Alex will be the face of soccer’, ‘Alex will get us to the championship’, ‘Alex will become famous one day’ and Alex did all that, but never without a huge amount of nervousness, due to the pressure that has been put on her. When Alex got called up to the National Team her nervousness was at its peak. The U-20 team was the most competitive team she had ever been a part of and the pressure to stay on the team was brutal. However, Alex proved herself yet again and even after a disastrous ACL injury, she got called up again. In 2008, everything started to change. Alex was invited to yet another camp and that’s where she met a very pretty girl that couldn’t have cared less about being nervous. As long as she can remember, Kelley has never been nervous before games. Of course, there were the ones that seemed to be more exciting, where you could feel that they meant something, something more than just herself. Still, all in all, Kelley was always able to channel that kind of energy into something her teammates liked to call craziness or attitude. To Kelley it always was the desire to win, to be better than anyone else. Ever since she was young, standing on the pitch was freedom to Kelley. It was a place where she could let out all of her energy, where she could be creative, where the line between pressure and peace was so fine that it was almost indistinguishable. Something that felt like it was made for her. Kelley loved pressure, she loved showing what she was able to do, playing against the best, competing, but most of all she loved wining and that’s also why she always was such a great athlete. While the pressure of having to win made other’s crumble, it made Kelley calm and soon Alex learned that if Kelley was calm, she was going to be calm as well. Whenever she was in her proximity, Kelley somehow managed to make Alex feel serene. So one thing Alex knows for sure, if Kelley is nervous it means something else is off. Her mind drifts off to every time Kelley has made her feel at ease before a game and the pictures in her head put a soft smile on her face. She takes a step towards Kelley and pulls her in a tight embrace.

“I want you to only focus on me.” she whispers in her ear.

Kelley can feel Alex’s chest rise and fall against hers slowly.

“Breathe with me.”

Kelley takes a deep breath with her, holding it when Alex does so as well. Alex can feel Kelley’s heart pounding against her chest. That’s when she starts singing softly in her ear and it makes Kelley close her eyes and exhale deeply. It’s very faint, almost inaudible, but Kelley can hear it loud and clear.

"Don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

So baby, don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright”

Kelley smiles brightly at the gesture, her mind cleared from any thought that was roaming through it just moments ago.

FLASHBACK ON

October 6th, 2010

“Alex, you’re getting subbed in for A-Rod for the last 20 minutes of the second half.” Pia announces in the locker room, when discussing the substitutions.

Alex’s eyes go wide, a shudder running down her spine. ‘Please don’t get nervous again, you got this.’, she says to herself, trying to calm herself down. Externally, she tries to overplay it as her heartrate is starting to pick up unhealthily and apparently, it’s working since no one seems to notice. That’s until she notices Kelley’s eyes on her, observing her closely. She nervously runs her hand through her hair and Alex is glad when Abby starts talking to her.

“You okay there, baby horse?” Abby asks quietly.

Alex looks past Abby, making eye contact with Kelley, who is not averting her gaze.

“Besides the fact that I feel like throwing up, yes.” Alex attempts a joke to play it down, but it’s clear that Alex is anything but okay, at least to Kelley, who witnesses the conversation.

Abby laughs loudly at Alex’s joke.

“Been there, get it out of your system.” Abby says with a pat on her shoulder, before turning around to hype up the group.  

“Okay guys, listen up. I want to win this damn game, so I need everyone to focus from the first second of the warm up, to the last minute of the additional time, understood? Let’s do this!!” Abby yells a little bit too enthusiastic.

The team joins in on Abby’s enthusiasm and they all start making their way towards the pitch with loud cheers. Kelley starts following them, being the one who leaves the locker room last. After a few strides, her step falters and she comes to a halt. Kelley doesn’t know why, but it just feels like she forgot something. Thinking that it might jog her memory, she turns around and heads back to the empty locker room. She walks straight to her locker to go through it, but doesn’t find anything that could be missing. She turns around cluelessly, meaning to leave again when she sees Alex still sitting in front of her locker, her face buried in her hands. They’ve become good friends, knowing each other for quite some time, forming a bond over their time on the U-team and since they both are rookies on the full-on national team now, they are also rooming together. Kelley holds her breath, considering to let her have some space, but Alex looks miserable and Kelley thinks she might be crying, so she carefully walks up to her. However, Alex doesn’t move or look up. Kelley eyes her closely. Her back is moving frantically as if she was in a panic and Kelley realizes that she hasn’t even noticed that she is standing right in front of her. She squats down next to her and carefully places her hand on Alex’s back. This makes Alex jump and her head shoots up disoriented, her eyes wide in panic.

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay. It’s just me.” Kelley whispers softly.

Alex needs a moment to refocus her eyes and notice that Kelley is the person kneeling next to her, but when she does, she feels the need to explain herself.

“I-“ Alex starts, but that’s all she can utter before gasping for air. Kelley looks at her patiently, waiting for Alex to articulate what she’s trying to say.

“-nervous-“ Alex gets out before her lungs run out of oxygen again.

“Alex, look at me.” Kelley says worriedly, placing her hand on her knee, but she doesn’t make eye contact, instead her breathing is only getting faster and faster.

Kelley looks around for any sign of help, but realizes that she has to handle this on her own and she has to do it fast, because Alex looks like she is about to pass out. Kelley moves to kneel in between her legs. She grabs her face with both hands and forces her to look at her. Alex’s eyes lock with hers. She throws her a desperate look, her eyes boring into Kelley’s, as if she was trying to hold on to something, as if it’s giving her a sense of security. That’s when Kelley knows she got her attention.

“I want you to only focus on me, okay?” Kelley demands gently.

Alex nods her head frantically and Kelley makes her stop by tightening the grip on her face. When Alex stops, she gently strokes her cheekbones, looking into her eyes deeply.

“Breathe with me.” Kelley instructs, taking deep, visible breaths to demonstrate how Alex should breathe. Alex is trying her hardest to keep up, but it’s still nowhere near normal. Kelley starts to panic internally, but tries her hardest not to show it. Roaming her mind for a solution, she suddenly has an idea. She pulls Alex into a hug, pressing her chest against Alex’s tightly.

“Okay, let’s try that again. Breathe with me.” Kelley whispers in her ear, holding her close and taking long and slow breaths.

Alex’s trembling body starts to calm down slowly. She is still shaking, but Kelley can feel the change in her breathing against her chest. She places one hand on the back of Alex’s head and caresses it gently, trying to create a feeling of safety. She doesn’t know why, but she suddenly is overcome by the strong urge of comforting Alex even more.

“Rise up this morning

Smiled with the rising sun

Three little birds

Pitch by my doorstep

Singing sweet songs

Of melodies pure and true

Saying, ‘This is my message to you’

Don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

Don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright” Kelley whispers softly against Alex’s ear.

When she stops, Alex’s breathing is slow and tranquil. Her body has stopped shaking and her heartbeat, which Kelley previously felt hammering against her own chest, steadily pumps at a healthy rate. Still, Alex doesn’t let go of Kelley, now holding onto her tightly.

“You know what? Fuck everybody’s opinions. I know how you play. You’re brilliant and you’re always going to be. Don’t get in your head too much, just play. I know for sure that eventually everybody will remember how you showed them what you are able to do, but that doesn’t have to be today or anytime soon, okay?”

“Okay.” Alex says softly, breathing in Kelley’s scent that is oddly calming.

“I promise you, one day everybody will remember Alex Morgan as one of the best forwards in the world.” Kelley whispers, as if it was a secret and it makes Alex’s heart fill with an unfamiliar feeling of warmth.  

They stay in a tight embrace, the room filled with comfortable silence. That’s until they hear approaching footsteps. They break apart quickly and Kelley makes her way to her locker in sonic speed. She pulls her shin guards out of her socks while Alex is still sitting where they parted. The door bursts open and one of the staff members enters, looking quite aggravated.

“Where are-“ he starts, but gets interrupted by Kelley.

“Thanks for walking back with me, I’m so dumb.” Kelley exclaims loudly, looking at Alex, who looks at her questioningly. Before Alex can even process what Kelley is doing, she wiggles her shin guards at the guy.

“I forgot my shin guards. Alex was so nice to walk back with me.” Kelley clarifies.

“Rookies. It’s always the same. Come on now, you need to warm up.” he urges.

They both jump up and follow him. The guy and Kelley are walking so fast that Alex has to jog a little to catch up with Kelley. She reaches for her hand and pulls her back a bit, making Kelley look at her expectantly. Alex squeezes her hand tightly, making Kelley smile.

“Thank you, Kel.” Alex says with as much genuineness as possible.

“Always.” Kelley smiles as if it was nothing.        

They step out on the pitch where all the players have gathered to wait for some instructions.          

“Hey, Alex are you okay now? Or should we better place a bucket at the sidelines?” Abby laughs.

“Stage fright.” Abby clarifies jokingly, while turning around to the group and pointing at Alex, causing everyone to laugh.

Alex looks to the ground ashamed, avoiding the gazes.

“Shut the fuck up, Abby.” Kelley says firmly, taking a step towards Abby, looking like she’s ready to fight.

That’s when the whole group goes silent, looking at Kelley as if she was out of her mind. Alex looks at Kelley wide eyed, gasping along with a few other teammates, her mouth going dry. Abby looks at her surprised and Kelley knows what she just did is something like committing social suicide or could even lead to her having to pack her things and say goodbye to her dream of playing soccer forever. However, in this moment Kelley doesn’t care and it’s etched across her face. She throws Abby a disapproving, defiant look and the eyes of her teammates switch between her and Abby anxiously.

“What was that, O’Hara?” Abby asks taken aback.

Now everybody’s eyes are on Kelley again, waiting for her to back paddle.

“I said, shut the fuck up. I don’t like you making fun of her like that, you should really know better.” Kelley answers stoically, not retreating one bit.

Abby raises her eyebrows at her and everyone is preparing themselves for Kelley getting crushed. Instead, Abby looks past Kelley and directly at Alex. Alex looks at Abby anxiously, thinking that she is going to flip.

“Sorry Alex, that was totally stupid. We all are nervous from game to game and before my first few matches, I nearly wet myself.” Abby admits remorsefully.

If Alex’s mouth hadn’t already dropped from Kelley attacking Abby, now would have been the time for it. The same goes for all of her teammates.

“As for you,“ Abby says, returning her attention to Kelley, “no rookie has ever spoken to a veteran like this. I like you, O’Hara, that was fucking ballsy.” Abby compliments, patting Kelley on the shoulder with a huge smile.

“Look guys, that right here is the spirit we need in this team. Have no merci for the one’s attacking your teammates, even if it’s your own teammate.” Abby appeals, going into a full-on sermon.

Kelley turns around to Alex and is met with Alex gazing at her with something in her eyes, Kelley can’t read. She rolls her eyes at Abby still going on about team spirit behind them and starts jogging in the other direction, warming up for the game. Alex is left looking after her with a disbelieving shake of her head. Even though Alex tries hard, they don’t get the chance to talk for the rest of the game. However, as if by magic, Alex gets subbed in in the second half and scores her first goal ever, equalizing to a 1-1. After the initial shock and her celebration, she can hear Kelley screaming loudly from the sidelines.

“YEEES ALEX!! YOU SHOW EM’!”

So, before China kicks off again, she points at Kelley, as if she scored the goal for her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long day, Alex is pretty glad that they are rooming together, because she really feels the need to talk to Kelley. When the hotel door closes behind them, Alex can’t hold back any longer.  

“Oh my god, you didn’t really tell Abby fucking Wambach to shut the fuck up!” Alex exclaims.

“I guess I did.” Kelley chuckles.

“Kelley, are you insane?!” Alex gasps.

“She was being an asshole to you.” Kelley shrugs, letting herself flop on the bed.

“Yeah, but we’re rookies, we have to endure that. We can’t just walk around and tell people like Abby to shut the fuck up.” Alex rants, walking back and forth.

“Well, I don’t care. As long as I’m here she won’t treat you like that. She should have payed better attention to your conversation.”

Alex stops and looks at Kelley fascinated, “I just don’t get you sometimes.” she whispers softly.

“Why?” Kelley laughs.

“I don’t know, you sometimes do these things that just leave me speechless, I guess.” Alex says, letting herself fall onto her back next to Kelley.

“Like what?” Kelley asks, watching Alex closely.

“What do you mean like what?” Alex exclaims, turning on her side to face Kelley, “Like protecting me in front of everyone and risking to be thrown off the team or like-“ Alex rants again, but stops herself mid-sentence.

Alex bites her lip unknowingly and Kelley can tell that she’s a little embarrassed or nervous, so she reaches for her hand and gives her a reassuring look.

“-or like holding me through a panic attack and calming me down like it’s no big deal.” she whispers, her voice full of emotion.

Instead of answering, Kelley just stares at her. Alex doesn’t know why, but she somehow loses herself in her eyes. They look at each other a little bit too long and Alex quickly breaks out of her trance, clearing her throat.

“But why am I telling you this, you knew what I meant.”

“Yeah, I guess I just wanted to hear it out of your mouth again.” Kelley smirks.

“You suck.” Alex scoffs, giving her a light push.

“I think you told me otherwise just a few seconds ago.” Kelley grins, teasingly poking Alex in her ribs, who flinches in response.

“Oh my god, stop it!” Alex shrieks, causing Kelley to laugh.

“I’m never being nice to you again if you act like this.” Alex rolls her eyes.

“Impossible, I’m amazing.” Kelley smirks, poking her again.

With that statement Alex has enough, she pins Kelley’s hands to the mattress and climbs on top of her, straddling her waist.

“Stop being so full of yourself.” Alex groans.

“I’m not.” Kelley chuckles, “But do you know who should be?”

Alex shakes her head.

“You.” Kelley says genuinely.

Alex scoffs in response.

“No really, Alex. You scored your first goal today and man, what a stunner. You should be really proud.”

“That was just luck.” Alex refuses.

“Bullshit, Alex. I told you. You’re really really good and everybody is going to see it.”

Alex looks at Kelley rather skeptical, but Kelley shakes her head at that.

“I mean it.” she promises sincerely, patting her hand on her own heart after she freed it from Alex's grip.

“Thanks,” Alex whispers gently, her mouth curving into a soft smile, “for everything.”

Kelley smiles back at her, glad that Alex finally took the compliment.  

“Did you see Abby’s face though when you told her to shut up?” Alex bursts into loud laughter, causing Kelley to have a laughing fit as well.

They laugh for several minutes and at one point Alex can’t hold herself up anymore. Her head falls onto Kelley’s chest, which she can feel vibrating from laughter. At one point, they both calm down again, their breathing getting steady until there is full silence in the room. Alex can feel Kelley’s heart beating against her ear, which kind of sets her back to earlier in the day, calming her down again.

“Hey, Alex?” Kelley asks after a while.

Alex lifts her head to look at her, “Mhm?”

“You’re still on top of me.” Kelley grins.

“Oh my god, sorry.” Alex apologizes, turning bright red and quickly climbing off of Kelley.

“No, no feel free to stay there as long as you like. I don’t mind, but eventually we’ll have to switch, I’m more of a top.” Kelley smirks.

“Don’t make it awkward.” Alex warns.

“Who me? I would never.” Kelley chuckles, causing Alex to laugh as well.

FLASHBACK OFF

Ever since Kelley started it, she always sang this song to Alex when she was super nervous before a game. Over the years, it only happened every once in a while, but when it did it always had a magical effect.

“Kel, I know what this is about, but I promise you, you’ve got nothing to worry about, okay? Nobody is mad at you. The fans love you. It’s like you once told me:’ Don’t get in your head too much, just play.’”

“You’re a smart girl, Miss Morgan. Too smart for me.” Kelley winks cutely.

Alex knows that Kelley is not only referring to her reading her mind, but also to singing the song.

“I had a great teacher.” Alex bites her lip, grinning brightly, “Can I kiss you?” Alex whispers.

“What kind of question is that?”

Alex smiles, before turning around to look if the cameras are already in the tunnel, but they aren’t. The players are still forming into a line and the huge hustle in the tunnel is ensuring that everybody is concentrating on something else. When she turns around Kelley is grinning at her.

“What?” Alex chuckles.

“You’re cute.”

Kelley quickly puts her hands on both sides of Alex’s face to guard the kiss from being seen, before Alex leans in and kisses her lovingly.

“You got this, baby.”

“Score me a goal.”

“Always.” Alex smiles, turning around to move towards the end of the line that is forming, but she is stopped by Kelley still holding her hand, making her turn back around and pulling her in.

“You look perfect.” she smiles, pecking Alex’s lips quickly, but not pulling away fully.

Alex is absolutely surprised by the kiss, because Kelley doesn’t seem to care if anybody sees.

“Thank you.” Kelley continues, pressing another kiss to her lips.

Alex smiles back at her, before finally lining up behind the others.

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It’s a hard-fought game between both teams and you can tell that every single player leaves their all on the pitch. After her initial worries, Kelley finds into the match and soon is in total focus. They have more chances and keep the spaces tight in the back, but their attempts at scoring get blocked ardently by the German team, which on the other hand finds no way through their backline as well. It’s a fair, but very physical game and they know, they’re going to have to keep resilient for the whole 90 minutes. After 45 minutes, both teams make their way to the locker rooms frustratedly. The game is still goalless and both sides can use the break. Jill tries to boost their motivation in her half time speech, warning them to not cave in, followed by some tactical instructions. She tells Kelley and Crystal to move up higher and really pressure the German defense by getting into the final third with a higher number of players. On her way back to the pitch, Kelley exchanges some words with Tobin.

“The space is there. We’ll just have to be quicker. If we try you holding the ball, distracting the midfielder and the outside back, I might be able to overlap with a quick give and go. That should do the work. Their outside back is not going to be fast enough.” Kelley suggests.

“Okay, let’s try that.” Tobin nods.

5 minutes into the second half they lose possession in the final third. What follows is a counter attack by the German team and Kelley finds herself sprinting down the field to catch up with the ongoing attack. Däbritz plays a well-timed pass to Marozsán a few yards outside of the 18 and all Abby has to do, is step up to her to narrow the angle and stop her from shooting, but she doesn’t.

“HEY!! ABBY!!! PRESSURE!!” Kelley yells.

However, Abby doesn’t react and she knows that if she is not going to do it herself, they’re going to be down 0-1. She tries sprinting even faster running into Marozsán’s direction at an angle. The German midfielder takes her time to trick Abby by faking a shot to the right, before quickly changing directions, making Abby move the wrong way and breaking away past her towards goal. Marozsán finds herself in the perfect spot, she swings her leg towards the ball and strikes it firmly. The next thing that can be heard is a bang that is so loud that the whole stadium must have heard it. The ball gets blocked and is sent flying into the stands. Somehow, Kelley managed to throw herself into the shot at the very last second by jumping legs first. Loud cheers erupt in the stadium, still Kelley is anything but happy.

“Abby, you can’t do that!! When I say go for it, you have to step up!! For fuck’s sake!!” she yells aggravated, gesturing heatedly.

In their pre-game meeting, the coaches had explicitly instructed to not let Marozsán shoot anywhere near the box, which is why Abby nods at her apologetically.

“Sorry, Kel.” she mumbles.

“It’s okay, but you gotta stay focused and listen. Next time it’s a goal.” Kelley warns.

For the next minutes, they try to play their attack through the middle, however there is no getting through. At one point, Julie has to stop the attack because the space is just too tight. She plays the ball to Kelley, who starts moving up the flank, using the space that is now on the right side. When the midfielder comes up to her, she passes the ball to Tobin, who tugged in a little bit to give Kelley even more space. The trick works and both the defender and the midfielder try to stop Tobin from dribbling past them while Rose drops into Kelley’s position. When Tobin comes to a full halt, standing in front of the German players, Kelley uses the chance to start sprinting down the pitch, overlapping Tobin, who chips the ball over both players and right into Kelley’s path, causing the crowd to scream loudly. Kelley quickly moves towards the 18-yard box and tugs in a little, looking up to spot Christen or Alex. She is about to send in a cross, when Schweers comes too late into the challenge and tackles Kelley from behind, her timing completely off. From the moment the studs of the cleat hit her ankle, all she can feel is pain. She lets out a horrifying scream, the one that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Kelley rolls around on the field, holding her ankle, hitting her hand on the ground repeatedly to somehow make the pain stop, but it doesn’t help. Meanwhile, everyone is up from their seats, booing and whistling loudly. Schweers is the first to squat down next to Kelley. She is apologizing frantically and patting her back, looking quite shocked that she miscalculated the tackle that badly. Tobin is the next to arrive while Alex is running in her direction as well with nearly the whole team in tow.

“Fuck dude, are you okay???” Tobin asks concerned, but Kelley isn’t able to answer.

“Kel!” Alex gasps out of breath, immediately kneeling down next to Kelley, softly trying to hold her still.

Alex throws Tobin a horrified look that she returns. They both know that if Kelley stays down like that it must be something serious. Kelley hasn’t stopped screaming and Alex rolls her onto her back carefully. Kelley’s face is scrunched up in pain, looking like she’s getting tortured. Alex strokes her arm up and down and tries holding her waist still with her other hand. She looks around helplessly, but sees their medical staff coming towards them.

“Fuck!! Fuck, it hurts so much!!” Kelley wails.

“I know baby, I’m sorry. Steve is going to help you, okay?” Alex tries to calm her down, caressing her arm.

“Okay Kelley, right ankle again?” Steve, their head athletic trainer asks, as he is kneeling down next to her, making Tobin get out of the way and the team to give them some space.

Kelley nods shortly.

“Can you describe the pain? Was it a crushing pain?”

While the medical staff gets to work, the referee pulls a straight red and Schweers doesn’t complain one bit, leaving the pitch with a horrified look on her face, getting a few pats on her back.

“Did you have problems with your ankle the last few days?”

“She didn’t.” Alex answers quickly, while Kelley has her arm laying over her face, struggling to answer Steve’s questions due to her pain.

“I did.” Kelley answers pained.

Alex looks at her quizzical, her mouth agape. Kelley nervously makes eye contact with her, throwing her an apologetic look. She looks absolutely miserable, so Alex decides to have that conversation later, shaking her head disappointedly. Kelley tugs at her hand worriedly, looking at Alex with puppy eyes that are screaming, ‘Please don’t be mad at me’. Alex adverts her eyes quickly, knowing that if she looks at her long enough now, she is going to cry.

“What kind of problems did you have?” Steve asks carefully, having witnessed the silent conversation.

“Mostly exhaustion.” Kelley gets out through her teeth, closing her eyes and throwing her head back, the pain not getting any better.  

“Can you move your foot for me?” Steve asks, making Kelley shake her head violently.

“Alright, that’s okay, Kelley. No worries! Still, I’m going to have to move your foot just a little bit.” Steve announces.

He looks at Alex apologetically, “You might want to hold her hand for this.”

Alex nods at him uneasily and grabs Kelley’s hand with both of hers, leaning down further to whisper in her ear.

“Kel, it’s going to be okay. I’m here, I’m right here.” Alex comforts her with a soothing voice.

Kelley nods lightly, her face distorted with pain.

“Alright Kelley, on the count of three. One, two, three.” Steve says softly, before moving her foot to the right.

When he does, he is stopped by a roaring scream.

“Stop!!! Please, stop!!!!” Kelley begs, hitting her free hand on the ground violently.

Alex looks up at Steve horrified, seeing by the look on his face that this is bad.

“Tell them to get the stretcher.” he says to his assistant, who waves the medics over quickly.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to try one minor movement again.”

Kelley nods desperately, looking absolutely terrified with her eyes wide in panic and Alex’s heart breaks at the sight of it.

“Steve wait a second.” Alex intervenes.

“Hey babe, look at me, okay? Look me in the eyes.” Alex instructs.

Kelley does as she is told, looking at Alex helplessly, her forehead covered in sweat.

“Do you still remember the first time we met?” Alex whispers.

Kelley nods her head, her pained, panicked expression changing into a somewhat calmer version, her mouth forcing itself into something that at least resembles a smile.

“How could I forget?” Kelley gets out, her voice strained.

“Do you also remember when we talked about our first impressions of each other a few years later?”

Alex nods at Steve to start moving Kelley’s ankle.

Tears start streaming into Kelley’s eyes, rolling down the sides of her face. Her grip on Alex’s hand is almost crushing hers. Alex sees that Kelley is trying so hard to endure the pain just for her.  

“Fuck!” Kelley yells, closing her eyes, her forehead in ceases, Alex didn’t know it could form in.

“Baby, keep looking at me.” Alex begs.

Kelley reopens her eyes, her pupils dilated, looking into Alex’s as if begging her to make it stop. Alex gulps heavily, her throat going dry.

“Come on Kel, tell me the story.”

FLASHBACK ON

January 2008

Kelley walks out of the locker room, pulling her shirt over her head. The heavy fireproof door behind her falls into the lock with a loud bang. They finally have their first U-20 team training of the year. Kelley has been on the team since 2006. The first couple times, coming to camp in January was pretty exciting, nowadays she’s a veteran and the initial excitement turned into a serene calmness. She can’t wait to get the chance to train with the full-on National Team one day. She makes her way down the hallway, heading towards the pitch, when suddenly the door of the equipment room opens and a girl with brown hair and some blonde highlights exits from it, wearing the same jersey as her. Kelley can’t see her face and also doesn’t recognize her silhouette, which is why she guesses that she is one of the rookies. What she can tell from her silhouette though, is that she must be pretty, totally Kelley’s type. She watches the girl in front of her strut through the hallway with confidence, untypical for one of the newbies, who normally wander around the hallways shyly. Kelley is fascinated immediately, knowing that the girl has to be interesting. What captivates her even more is that she doesn’t seem to notice that someone is behind her and she still walks with determined steps, her hips swaying lightly. Kelley’s stride quickens, trying to catch up with her.

“Hey.” Kelley puts on her megawatt smile, lightly placing her hand on the girl’s back to make her presence known.

“You must be a roo-“

She turns around and Kelley’s smile falters, her voice failing her. Instead of saying something she just stares at her overwhelmed. The girl’s lips are curved into a soft smile, her blue eyes boring into Kelley’s in a way that makes her feel something, she can’t describe.

“I, uhh-“ Kelley gets out.

Just a millisecond later the girl’s expression changes into something different. This pulls Kelley out of her daze and she is met by a judging look. Kelley checks her out pretty blatantly. That’s also when she realizes who the girl must be and her face turns into a smirk again.

“You look good in that jersey.” Kelley grins.

Alex rolls her eyes at that.

“No for real. I swear it never looked better on anyone and I’ve seen countless girls in it.” Kelley says charmingly.

“Yeah, are you talking about your teammates or only girls who wore it the morning after?” the girl sasses.

“Wow. You’re not only pretty, but also feisty.” Kelley smiles at her impressed, “I’m Kelley O’Hara.” she says holding out her hand with a level of confidence that is hard to match.

The girl looks down on her hand and then up at Kelley again without extending her own.

“I know who you are.” she says with a tone that sounds pretty bitchy.

“Do you?” Kelley arches an eyebrow cockily.

“Yeah and they also told me a lot about you. So, don’t waste your time, I know how people like you are.”

Kelley laughs out loud, throwing her head back, “How are people like me?”

“Well, you’re a flirt. Attractive and you know it. Smart, but you radiate this annoying kind of smart that comes with arrogance. You sweet talk everybody, charming them into liking you, making them believe that they mean something to you and when it’s most convenient for you, you cut them off because you found the next great thing. Doesn’t work on me.”

“Okay Miss Morgan, so you think I’m attractive and smart?” Kelley wiggles her eyebrows.

“Oh my god, that’s so typical for someone like you. You only listen to-“ Alex starts aggravated, blushing a little bit.

“-wait. Why do you know my name?”

“Well, you’re not the only one who heard rumors.” Kelley grins.

“Well, rumors are dumb.” Alex sulks, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“That’s something I would agree with. Yet you still base all your information on the rumors you heard. How come?” Kelley chuckles.

“Well, I know they are true.”

Kelley laughs again, making Alex a kind of nervous, she never felt before and it’s making her really insecure.

“I like you Morgan, I’m glad that the rumors I heard are true as well, but I have to say that they are only true to an extent.” Kelley winks with a smirk and walks past her.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“That’s something I’ll keep to myself, blue eyes.” Kelley calls over her shoulder, leaving Alex standing in the hallway perplexed.

Alex stares after her with a dropped jaw. A loud bang can be heard in the hallway and Kelley rounds the corner, disappearing just as fast as she appeared.

“Judging by the look on your face you already met Kelley, huh?” Tobin chuckles, stopping next to her.

“Apparently.” Alex mumbles.

“You okay?” Tobin chuckles.

“Uh yeah, totally! I just don’t think I ever met anybody like her.” Alex shakes her head, only now looking at Tobin.

“You think she’s hot.” Tobin grins.

“What!?! No!!! I think she’s super annoying.” Alex exclaims.

“And you think she’s hot.” Tobin smirks knowingly.

“I don’t! She’s full of herself and besides that I have a boyfriend, you know that.” Alex defends herself.

“Well, she may come off like this the first time you meet her, but she’s actually really cool and super nice. I played with her for two years now and she’s a really intelligent player, totally somebody I could see you bounce off with on the pitch. I think you’ll like her.”

“We’ll see.” Alex says skeptical.

Tobin smiles at that and walks around her, but stops, laying her hand on Alex’s shoulder, “And Alex?”

“What?”

“Don’t worry, everybody thinks she’s hot.” Tobin winks, before ducking form Alex’s hand coming her way.

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January 29th 2012

Alex and Kelley are making their way to their hotel room. It’s 3 am and they both feel a little bit tipsy from the drinks they had. They did it. They just won the CONCACAF final and on top of that they qualified for the Olympics in London. For the past hours they found no words to describe how it feels to be part of something so big, but right now it doesn’t matter. They are just too happy and too tired.

“Thanks for leaving with me, I don’t think I would have lasted any longer.” Alex yawns, as they enter their room.

“Of course, I feel exhausted too.” Kelley smiles softly.

Alex walks straight into the bathroom, to remove her make-up and brush their teeth, while Kelley first changes into her oversized white shirt and some shorts, she is sleeping in. After that she walks into the bathroom, cleaning her face, while Alex just starts brushing her teeth.

“Quiet the day, huh?” Kelley grins.

Alex shakes her head, wide eyed, “I know, right?” she says with the toothbrush in her mouth.

“I feel like you singlehandedly demolished Canada.” Kelley chuckles.

“I feel like you will become one of the best defenders ever.” Alex smiles.

Kelley scoffs at that, “I don’t think so, Al.” she laughs.

“No really, you were great! You should be really proud of how you played.”

“I could have done better. Proud is a strong word.”

“I am.”

Kelley smiles at that, standing up to grab her toothbrush.

“Well, you should be, you played incredible.” she says, starting to brush her teeth as well.

Alex hits her in the ribs with her elbow lightly, “Nooo, I meant that I am proud of you, you idiot.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I don’t think anybody else could have done what you did, at least not that good.”

“Come on Al, that’s nonsense.” Kelley brushes off.

“Kel, you normally play as a forward and with Ali being out on such short notice, you really did fucking amazing. That was impressive.”

Kelley smiles at her, her expression still a little bit doubtful, “Thanks.”

Alex spits out the toothpaste and rinses.

“You’re too humble for the way you played.” she empathizes, her tone just as warm as the look she is giving Kelley before exiting the bathroom.

Kelley’s smile goes wider when she leaves the room. She looks into the mirror, catching the expression on her face as if she was watching somebody else. She pushes the thought that she only smiles like that when she is with Alex to the back of her mind quickly. Luckily, her thoughts are interrupted anyway.

“Damn it!” Alex groans.

“Keeel??” she calls, dragging out Kelley’s name.

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me?”

Kelley quickly finishes up and leaves the bathroom as well. When she enters the room, Alex is sitting on top of the bed in only her bra and her jeans, looking at her fed up.

“What’s wrong?” Kelley laughs cluelessly.

“My zipper is stuck.” she groans.

Kelley laughs even louder now.

“Shut up and help me!”, she throws a pillow at her.

Kelley dugs from the pillow and holds her hands up shieldingly, “Alright, calm down.”

She tries to refrain from laughing and makes her way the bed. Alex lets her upper body fall back onto the mattress with a sigh and Kelley starts trying to open her jeans.

“I never guessed the night would end with me trying to rip your clothes off.”

“Admit it, you always dreamed of that.” Alex jokes.

Kelley looks at the zipper closely, seeing that some of the fabric of Alex’s jeans got stuck in it.

“Yeah, but that’s not how I imagined taking your pants off.” she mumbles distractedly.

“Sounds like something you would have said to hit on me when we were younger.” Alex rolls her eyes, chuckling.

“I never hit on you.”

“Uhhh, yeah you did.” Alex exclaims disbelievingly.

“When?” Kelley says, looking up at Alex, who is now holding herself up on her elbows to look at Kelley.

“Excuuuse me? Are you serious right now? When did you not?” Alex gasps offended.

“Okay, okay, I did.”

“I was just going to say. Just remember the first time we met.” Alex lays down again.

“Yeah, well I hate to admit it, but I really tried to make an impression.”

“That you made.” Alex chuckles.

“Do you like those jeans?” Kelley asks, looking up at Alex concerned.

“I LOVE those jeans.” Alex empathizes, making intense eye contact.

“Got it.” Kelley nods, leaning down again.

There is a moment of silence, but Kelley speaks up again, “In the good kind of way?” Kelley asks.

“Huh?”

“Did I make an impression in the good kind of way?” Kelley smirks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Alex teases, her tone flirty.

Kelley smiles confused.

“I mean it must have worked, because right now my face is in your crotch.” Kelley jokes.

“You really are as blunt as they come.” Alex shakes her head with a grin.

“It’s a specialty.” Kelley mumbles distracted again, as she feels the zipper move slightly, “Okay, hold on.”

She firmly tugs at the fabric that is stuck in the zipper and it comes unstuck. Kelley pulls down Alex’s zipper easily.

“There you go.” she smiles.

“Oh my god, you did it, thanks!” Alex exclaims happily and Kelley lets herself fall onto the bed, while she gets up to kick off her pants and change into an oversized shirt as well.

Kelley silently watches her from where she is laying. Alex lays down next to Kelley again, turning towards her as she realizes that she is staring at her.

“What?”

“So, what was your first impression of me?” Kelley grins, turning towards Alex, popping her head up on her elbow.

“You mean, besides all the things the girls from my college told me?” Alex smirks.

“Ugh, annoying fans.” Kelley rolls her eyes jokingly, making Alex shake her head with a laugh.

“But yeah,” Kelley mumbles, suddenly looking at Alex pretty seriously, “what did you think?”

“Well, looks wise my first impression of you was that you were the most attractive person I had ever seen, which by the way was pretty intimidating, BUT you also were a little shit.”

This makes Kelley laugh out loud, making Alex join in.

“Sounds fair. So, the rumors were true, huh?”

“Oh no, not all of them, but some were spot on.” Alex smiles.

“Were they? What did your amazing teammates from college say?” Kelley says with an ironic tone, raising an eyebrow.

“As I said to you, I heard that you were a flirt, breaking hearts all around, which honestly I can still picture you doing back then. Allegedly, your whole college had a crush on you, or at least thought that you were attractive and judging by the talk on my team, you didn’t only charm Stanford students.” Alex chuckles, making Kelley laugh out loudly.

“Damn, I guess I really was the topic in your locker room.” Kelley lets out drily.

“Yeah girl, they also said that you could make people fall in love with you, just by looking at them and I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what you were trying to do that day, when you pulled that specific look, which by the way you totally still do quite often.”

“What look?” Kelley chuckles.

“That one!!! That’s the look right there!” Alex exclaims, pointing at Kelley’s face.

“I’m not doing anything.” she laughs.

“Yes, you so are! Your eyes look totally innocent, as if you don’t know that you are looking the way you do, but if I look closely, your eyes are staring right into my soul and you’re combining that with that light smile that is almost a smirk, but it is too friendly to be your full on asshole smirk.”

“Wow Alex, apparently you spend a lot of time analyzing my face.” Kelley grins.

“Just for your information, now you’re wearing the asshole smirk.” Alex rolls her eyes, “But anyway, that’s not my point. Funny enough, some people said you were cold-hearted and arrogant and I really have to say-“ Alex starts, but is interrupted by Kelley.

“Alright, alright enough of that. Yes, the rumors are true. That’s something I’ve heard a thousand times. Apparently, I am a giant asshole, Miss Morgan. Thanks for still rooming with me.” Kelley chuckles and Alex shakes her head.

“No…”Alex whisper, looking deep into her eyes.

“No, that’s the point. You’re not.” Alex says seriously.

The smile on Kelley’s face disappears and she just stares at Alex cluelessly.

“It’s just a mystery to me. Why do you always try to come off as this heartless person? You know, I always ask myself who made you believe that. Maybe it’s because all the rumors that I heard about you, are based off your physical appearance or your fitness. That has always been the thing when people, who didn’t know you, talked about you. These people are only judging you by the way you look and I don’t know why, but you listen to them. But Kel, did you ever think of listening to the people who know you? Who value you? You’re so much more than the way you look. You’re so intelligent and compassionate. I have never met anyone who is so protective of the things and people she values and loves. You always keep your word and you go all the way to make your family and friends proud and happy. And most of all, you have this huge, wonderful heart. Why do you always try to hide that beautiful heart of yours?” Alex asks disbelievingly.

Kelley looks at Alex speechlessly, her throat dry. Her mind is full of a thousand thoughts and things she wants to say, but she isn’t able to. Alex can see that Kelley is struggling to process what she just said, so she puts her out of her misery and asks her a question.

“So, what were the rumors you heard about me?” Alex smiles.

Kelley clears her throat, shaking out of her trance of looking in Alex’s eyes.

“Eh I, I heard that you were pretty and that you were an ‘A’ student, but to not get fooled by your looks because you were a mean player on the pitch.”

“Oh okay, but why did you say that the rumors were only true to an extent back then?” Alex mumbles quietly.

“Because first of all, by the way you spoke to me you were more than just an ‘A’ student. The moment you opened your mouth I knew you were amazing. You were really smart and you made me wonder what you were thinking of me. To be honest, something I never wondered about when talking to a girl. Normally, I could see right through, this time I couldn’t.” Kelley says deep in thought, as if she was reliving the moment.

Alex smiles softly at that statement.

“Are you telling me that you were nervous? If you’re telling me that you were nervous, you didn’t seem like it one bit.” Alex smiles brightly.

“Oh believe me, I was.” Kelley lets out a laugh, that sounds more like a nervous exhale.

Kelley plays with the watch that she is still wearing and her eyes are fixed on it.

“Mostly, because of all the rumors, one rumor wasn’t true at all.” Kelley says, now looking up into Alex’s eyes.

“Which one?” Alex whispers, hypnotized by the way Kelley is looking at her. That’s also the moment when she sees something flicker in Kelley’s eyes, but she doesn’t know what to make out of it.

“Alex, you weren’t pretty. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and it would have been the understatement of the century to just call you pretty. You were breathtakingly gorgeous.” Kelley says honestly, making Alex blush furiously.

She looks away nervously, since she isn’t able to maintain the intense eye contact. It almost feels like Kelley’s eyes are burning a hole into hers and just when Alex thinks Kelley won’t say anything more, she speaks up again.

“You still are.” Kelley whispers, making Alex look at her again.

“See. You have a heart.” Alex whispers softly, visibly moved by Kelley’s words.

“Yeah, maybe it’s because of you.” Kelley whispers back.

They gaze in each other’s eyes silently. Now Alex is the one who is left speechless. She doesn’t know how to react to that, but somehow, she can feel herself getting closer to Kelley. She gets drawn to her impulsively, like a magnet, totally powerless. They are getting closer and closer by the second, nobody in control of the situation. Just when their lips are about to touch there is a knock on the door. Alex leans forward quickly, pressing a kiss to Kelley’s cheek like she never had the intention to place it anywhere else and jumps up to answer the door.

“Coooming!” she calls, leaving Kelley staring at the ceiling, mouthing a frustrated ‘Fuck!’, before putting her hands on her face and letting out a deep breath.

Her head starts spinning.

“You’re so stupid Kelley, what are you doing?!” she whispers to herself angrily.

Meanwhile, Alex’s thoughts are running wild. ‘I didn’t just almost kiss my best friend, did I?’ she asks herself before opening the door.  

FLASHBACK OFF

“And then Tobin was standing at the door, because she lost her key and wanted to crash on the couch.” Kelley finishes pained, but still attempts a smile and a light chuckle.

Alex nods at her, smiling with tears in her eyes. Even though they talked about this story a hundred times, Alex’s desperate attempt of trying to distract Kelley worked. Steve gives Alex a soft smile and squeezes her shoulder as the medical team hoist Kelley on the stretcher. Alex looks at her worried and she can see the wheels in Kelley’s head turning, as she is examining her closely.

“Don’t forget to score me that goal.”

Alex knows exactly what she is doing. That’s the thing about being in a relationship with your teammate, you still have to do your job, even if things like this happen. This is Kelley’s way of telling her to concentrate on the game again and stop worrying. Alex squeezes Kelley’s hand one more time, nodding at her.

“I would never.”

The paramedics lift the stretcher up and start carrying her off the field. Steve hands Alex a water bottle.

“Good job, Alex. I’ll update you after the game.”

“Thanks.” Alex nods and turns around, only to be met with worried looks by her teammates.  

“You okay?” Tobin asks concerned, as everybody is getting to their positions for the freekick.

“Yeah.” Alex nods, stopping next to Tobin, who is taking the freekick.

“Good.” she counters a little bit relieved.

“Hey Tobin?”

“Yeah?”

“Kick it to the far post, I need to score a goal.” Alex says seriously and Tobin nods determined.  

[bewareofthorns]

jeepers! meet rowan ‘ro’ sharpe, tenant of room 3b, college student tentatively majoring in history and wholesome all-american boy learning to stand on his own.  this is legiterally the worst ™ intro, but it is also everything i applied with! 

·      ☆ ⤻ logan shroyer. meet ro sharpe. he is/are a 20 year old history student, who’s been residing in apartment #3b for a year. usually , you can catch him on the subway listening to a whiter shade of pale  by procol harum and their roommates insist that he reminds them of rumpled sheets, sunlight streaming through a half-opened window and tangled earbuds. the libra has been described as candid & guarded but since he’s known as the all-american, i guess we’ll just have to wait and see .

a brief intro

think basic white boy. now more basic. even more basic. if ur at fuccboi, ur going in the wrong direction. 

he is absolutely the kid in high school that you wanted to hate, but that you couldn’t. his parents raised him right and that frustrates others around him to no end.

he’s as american as apple pie and just as sweet. if you met him in his native environment, he’d probably be somewhere in between a state fair and a football game. picture like any movie where the underdog leads his team to state. that was him in senior year.

he had a mom and stepdad and two little siblings that he left behind in ohio. (and sometimes, though he hates to admit it because it sounds like something a coward would say, he wishes he had never really left them.)

the world is bigger than he thought it was. and there’s times when he’s in the apartment and people are walking by that he can’t help but be a little afraid.

on social media, if you scroll back in time, before the apartment, all his posts before got is pictures of these two little kids and like football cleats and like terrible shaky videos of performances he did with the awful band that he made with his friends. he never thought he was going to go to new york city for college. he never thought- that this would be his life.

the drama that goes on, the messiness of the rest of the people who live in the apartment—as much as he never expected it to be, this is a vibrance that sucks him in, that has a hold on him that he can’t really explain. there’s a joy to it, of course, an intenseness that he can’t deny. 

just a fish out of water here in the city. part of him wants to go back to when he just had one girlfriend for like four years and they were going to go to college together and get married and he was going to be an actuary or a tax auditor or something. part of him still believes that he will– 

but he also knows. he loves this life. he’ll never be able to go back. 

I”M LITERALLY CRYING I LVE HTIS BEAUTIFUL WHITE BOY. HE LIVES SUCH A GOOD & WHOLESOME LIFE. I BET HIS MOM WENT ON HIS FIRST DATE WITH HIM WHEN HE WAS 14 AND, WHEN HE WAS 7. HE WALKED AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND GAVE EVERYONE THEIR MAIL FROM THEIR MAILBOXES EVENTHO THAT’S A FELONY. HE JUST WAS A GOOD WHOLESOME KID.

.

More

1.       His mom and his bio dad never got married and, while his dad did his best to be around while he was really young, his job eventually took him away to nyc and both of them agreed it would be best if he didn’t look back.

2.       though he remembers missing his biological father terribly at first, he was young enough that it hardly mattered. within the next few years, his mother got married, ro was adopted by his stepfather, and he would get two new half-siblings. 

a.       by the end of the first year of the marriage, ro had already taken to calling his stepfather ‘dad’. after all, it was his stepfather who took him out to backyard and taught him to play catch. it was his stepfather who helped him with his math homework and bought him christmas gifts. it was his stepfather who was there. and to ro, that was all that mattered. 

3.       he never once thought his childhood was missing anything. he took bass guitar and swimming lessons; he played on the local baseball team and, then, after deciding it wasn’t for him, joined the football team. he had a good group of friends and even did fairly well in school.  

4.       it wasn’t until he got into high school that things started to fray at the edges. after pulling a prank at school and getting into trouble, his stepfather sat him down and asked if he were acting out bc he missed his real father. he hadn’t been– at least, he hadn’t thought he was, but, when the gate was opened, he admitted that he wanted to at least meet the man who he had so few memories of. 

5.       so he did. and it went okay. There were no hard feelings. They agreed to keep meeting up.

6.       ro was lucky, though. as he was forced to navigate through this complicated relationship with his father, he was able to escape the perils that usually plague teens in  high school. 

a.       he was smart enough to talk with the academically-inclined and creative enough to hang around the arts kids, but his true saving grace was his position on the football team. he was good at it— enough that by his junior year, he had gotten an offer to join the reserve team for his dream school. it was a good scholarship and it also allowed him to pursue the degree that he was interested in (econ and math). 

7.       but despite accepting the offer almost immediately— he never ended up actually enrolling. Because he had also secretly applied to a nyc college to spend more time with his bio dad who lived in the region. And when he got accepted, he just knew-

a.       i don’t think he understood what he was getting into. the college he is going to has technically a better reputation than the state school he had originally wanted, but he just wanted– to know his dad better. to have a real relationship with his dad before it was too late.

b.       it weighs heavy on his mind that he threw away the larger college scholarship, the chance to be with his friends, the football offer — all just to spend some time in nyc for the more frequent opportunity to he feels guilty, as if him just being here is some kind of betrayal to the family that raised him. 

8.       lastly, ro absolutely calls his mom and stepfather every week, but still finds himself struggling to hold a conversation with his father. They don’t meet up as often as he thought they would. School takes up too much time for him. And his father is always working. And though his father is the one paying for his rent and also a chunk of his tuition, he still longs for a better connection.

9.       he’s really just a small town boy from ohio and here, where it seems like everyone parties and engages in a rock star lifestyle, he’s incredibly out of his depth. he’s sweet and he’s young and he’s responsible. he’s not here to spiral out of control or be number one  he’s just here to learn what it means to be a student. And also… if he can, someone’s son. 

fun facts

       he skateboards. everywhere.

       he doesn’t drink coffee.

       he stopped drinking soda when he turned 17 for a dare and never picked it up again.

       he knows how to knit.

       he’s a hardcore romantic. his mom took two tries to get it right, but she got it right.

        Did he have a high school gf that lasted for almost the full four years? You betcha. Did they break up because he went to NYC? You got it. Is he heartbroken over it and trying to fill the void? Done and done.

       In the apartment, he’s definitely trying to be the voice of reason. That’s not to say he can’t get down with the best of them, but he’s also always trying to get things under control.

        Since he’s 20, that also means—he’s not very good at standing his ground.

WANTED CONNECTIONS are fckn everything. 

exes, crushes, fwb, mentors, enemies (petty or deep-rooted... but i dare u to hate him). my literal fave r weird shared communal space plots. 

someone who will buy him contraband since he’s underage !! he swears he’s responsible

someone who he gives life advice to (in all of his iDiot 20 yo boy brain glory)

someone who gives HIM life advice to counsel him through being an idiot 20 yo boy 

someone who he caught doing something outlawed in the building

smoking? parking your bike in behind the potted plants? look we all know ur growing something behind the succulents but i don’t want to know okay. 

I was sticking my head out the window and you were draining water onto the pavement. Dude I see you. My god. We all have sinks. 

our mail keeps getting switched up ?? look ??? idk ???

We do our laundry at the same time every week and there’s just NOT ENOUGH MACHINES and its super weird bc like. we  never talk elsewhere about it. but every week we show up with full baskets at the SAME TIME

I know you keep ur door unlocked and so like. we’re friends. you won’t mind if I just pop in to use ur dish soap. i like ran out. 

KEEP UR NOISE LEVEL DOWN U HEATHEN. IM STUDYING. are u singing? is that a cat’s yowl? are u… Look IF YOU DON’T i’ll put a hole thru ur door.

[treacherouslovee]

my review of the cast based on the videos:

WILLIAM- “the first thing i would do if i won the money is bring my little fella to a Thomas Rhett concert” ok me also love his use of the word “fella” and i dont think him being from newfoundland will make him a target and if so we got some petty messes this season i love it 

JOHNNY- “i’m good fucking tv yes i want to be fucking good tv. this is like, necessary.” YES love u fellow vancouverite i hope he is protected and pulls through with the drama

MERRON- put him in the house NEXT

ALEJANDRA- another vancouver yassss. i feel she will go far and gives me a vibe she may be someone to remember 

RYAN- he seems genuine but he also called himself a troll and supervillan so ok can’t wait to see how this unfolds

JESSE- ok i SWEAR his name looks so familiar i thought he worked for like mtv or muchmusic or something HAHA. i feel he could be an early boot idk or someone who teams up with the “big guys” and starting off with an alliance of 5 or 6 people... if he has seen the show... anyways

DEREK- vancouver!! he’s cute and seems kind lets hope for the best. im worried he may get in a showmance and ruin it all but its fine its fine 

MADELINE- “i will not fall in love with someone in the house because i fell in love with big brother first” YES GIRL i like her already. FAKE THAT SHOWMANCE OMG I LOVE THIS 

OLIVIA- she seems so nice and sweet i’m afraid people will use her as a pawn 

KIRSTEN- ok so people have already hyped her up so i am excited for this assuming she is going to for sure be the one in. this will either go really well or wrong but i have hope for her like i love that she is a superfan and i think she will slayyy 

HAMZA- his intro DSJNSCNAS. i think he will be petty and we can enjoy it 

ERICA- we stan!!!! 

PARAS- ANOTHER vancouver wowow. love her. she will win :) 

ANDREW- “big brother on big brother” omg he is so great and at least he admits he is a gossip HAHA 

ROZINA- i really hope she goes far like pls don’t be first boot. she seems like a refreshing person to have in there “i’m scared of the most the slop” same

VERONICA- love her hair. i mean just based on a video i feel she won’t bring anytihng we haven’t seen before to the game over someone like kirsten or merron?? honestly wouldn’t mind seeing her in there though 

KAELA- I THOUGHT THIS WAS PILI I’M SORRY. i relate to her when she says she's underestimated so i hope she makes it far and surprises us!! a summary: she is very small petite outgoing and bubbly and athletic (also anyone who says they want a showmance lowkey makes me worried) 

MIKEY- “i root for the bad guy every time” ok so he may promise us some drama but also could see him being an early boot unless his comp wins matches his personality so he can get away with being a strong personality (definitely going to align with the guys) 

[miriossunshine]

Hey I was hoping if I could have a matchup 🥺 I’m a straight 16 yr old latina with brown hair and hazel eyes 😳 Im generally friendly to anyone I meet, but I get really loud + sarcastic if I’m with close friends. I love going on adventures/travelling, listening to music (rap, bedroom pop and 80s) and messing around with my friends lol 🥺 I tend to be a major softie but I’m also not afraid to cut a bitch if needed to 😳😳😳 I speak 4 languages and have lived 4 different countries! thanks 🥺🥺❤️

yes yes ofc! 💘💘ty for requesting c:

continued: hope it’s okay if I could add on 🥺 I’m v observant + analytical but also v oblivious to others sometimes. I love speaking Spanish and French to my friends and tease them when they don’t understand lol (I can get kinda flirty at times with my love languages 😳) I’m an ambivert, virgo and an ENFJ ! love breaking the rules with friends and somehow always get away it lol. Lastly 🥺 I love film, soccer and collecting comics. Thanks for the matchup 🥺 bnha if possible ❤️❤️

i ship you with hanta sero!

you’re both friendly people and he loves how loud and carefree you act around ur friends!! ur a perfect fit for the bakusquad and their antics >:3

he practically dies laughing when you’re sarcastic with others and u guys tease ur friends all the time hehe

like i said u would be the perfect addition to the bakusquad and there’s never a dull moment with them c: ur always going on fun adventures and messing around with them! (and ofc ur bf sero hehe ><)

sero absolutely loves that you can stand your ground while being a soft cutie at the same time!! >:D he 100% hypes u up when u go off on someone too hdjflsjdksknfnd

hanta is so interested in hearing about your experiences living in 4 different countries and loves listening to your stories!! he’s also such a sucker for hearing you speak different languages bc he’s so impressed and they all sound so pretty \(//∇//)\

oMG constant flirting between you two AH. he’s good at flirting back but he meLts when you speak spanish or french in a flirtatious tone hsjsjsjdhd he’d get so bashful omg (о´∀`о) i think he’d research some flirty phrases to surprise u with when ur teasing him c:<

i can so see him being a comic nerd and he’d def think ur collection is cool as hell!!

you’d for sure get him into soccer and you guys watch your fav teams on tv and go to games and root for them together ! :D

u guys love watching movies together of all genres and have a weekly movie night! sero thinks it’s endearing how much you love what goes into films c,: he loves when you start talking about the technical aspects or deeper meanings behind films and he just watches you with the most loving gaze ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

[rnaryjune]

alright let’s get a little more in-depth here and sort out who to root for. working backwards this time.

Raven: likes frankie grande. PASS. like the idea that she’s not afraid to make big moves, but lbh that doesn’t mean squat unless and until she actually goes through with it. the all female ghost hunting team thing is cool though it better come up in the show i demand to know about this.

Ramses: superfan, loves dan (which...okay i never actually saw dan’s season i really only know him from the coaches twist and even then i didn’t really pay attention to him? but anyway i know from the fandom that this is a good sign), he wants to do that SUPER SMART DANIELLE THING of having a person on the other side of the house and keeping track of it that way. that being said, his strategy is a little...TOO thought-out. with a game like big brother you have to be ready to make adjustments and think on your feet, and i’m not sure he’ll be able to do that if necessary. HEY HE IS the obligatory gay man...and a gay man of color at that. which....okay let’s be honest, big brother does not have the best track record when it comes to games of gmoc (Marcellas, Lawon, JOZEA, among others). buuuuuuuut....i’m willing to stick my neck out once more. KEEP.

Megan: eugh she likes frank victor and paul which like...okay tbf i kinda understand from a game perspective because they did pull some interesting moves (and ngl paul’s gameplay was always a bit like how i imagine i would play). but i think she likes them as ppl too which...no. also she says she doesn’t wanna be like vanessa???? THE SIRENS GOING OFF AT THAT STATEMENT. she ain’t gonna last. PASS. oh my god and then later in her bio “ At the same time, there is always that whiny, crying girl that just can't handle the pressures of the house. I would make her my friend and my secret ally. This is the only person in the house I will be loyal to. I'll take her to Final 2 and, since she didn't do anything the whole time, I'll win.” like girl....that’s gonna be you lmao. also she wants to buddy up with a gym-partner guy? can we say obvious showmancer? look if she can back it up with some comp wins then maybe she could pull a rachel but i just don’t see that happening. she literally says she’s gonna play scared which like...yea you’re never for sure safe in the bb house but she is literally gonna go down the vanessa path.

Matthew: HE LIKES DONNY. HE IS IN MY GOOD GRACES. he wants to align with the women too??? tentative KEEP because the fact that he says donny is a good person makes me want to trust that he, too, is a good person. but i’ve been burned before, and besides, as great as it would be to see a mainly female alliance with one guy, so far the girls aren’t impressing me much, so i don’t have high hopes for that.

Mark: you know it makes sense he likes brendon. so yea, definite showmance material. possibly with megan too actually. honestly not impressed. PASS.

Kevin: he doesn’t even have a favorite player he just “met derrick once” lol man u are DEFINITELY not gonna win. unless he can adapt quickly which...is unlikely. “I was Mr. Massachusetts and also won a hunk contest” okay buddy. also he’s all like “being myself will probably work everytime” dude if u don’t win that first hoh u are easy target number one. PASS. probably nice but will not win. no chance in hell. unless something MAJOR happens.

Josh: like evel dick so....look, i’ll be honest, i was very young when season 8 was on so like...idr all the stuff that dick pulled, i mostly know from posts in the fandom. but at the time, i was a huge fan of him, and was thrilled he won. and i mean, he did at least have some gameplay, unlike other despicable ppl in later seasons (*cough* andy). so i mean from a gameplay standpoint, i can see why someone would want to emulate dick’s game. however, i think it would require stealthier manipulation than josh thinks. and the fact that he didn’t need to be on anybody’s good side? nice thought and all, but if he didn’t have danielle and her alliances, he would have never made it as far as he did. you HAVE to have someone in your corner, even just one person. josh underestimates the power of alliance and is probably gonna end up being like a paulie. eugh. PASS. sidenote: dude wants to bring his mom in the house not because he would miss her but so she would cook and clean for him???? LOL FUCK THIS GUY i hate him already. his fun facts aren’t even fun facts they’re just personality traits lmao

Jillian: worried about saying the wrong thing? could be a bad sign or just innocent. i am intrigued by her answers though, so a tentative KEEP.

Jessica: janelle/natalie hybrid? could be interesting and if she says she sees herself in janelle that’s VERY promising. less promising is that she wants to align with a guy. could very easily get sidetracked by showmance. hopeful though, so tentative KEEP.

Jason: oh god almost forgot anbout hfajlfhghfskh RODEO CLWON JfHASFJFlshAL. ahem. he likes James which...tbh i liked him too. look if he’s good enough for natalie then he’s decent enough for me. anyway, i fricking love jason’s answer about his strategy: “yes” that’s it that’s all he says I LOVE IT. also he has a bull??? WE BETTER SEE IT IN THE SHOW. i don’t expect him to win but he seems an interesting person so....KEEP. for now.

Elena: likes james and thinks the strategy is situational aKA THE TRUTH. seems like she might actually be able to play the game???? which seems unheard of nowadays. can’t get a real idea of her character but for gameplay i’ll go with a KEEP for now.

Dominique: “nor do i shy away from controversy” is again something that could go either way and instantly makes me cautious. but let’s look at gameplay. she says she’ll take mental notes of everyone and be observant, and she can read ppl really well, so i want to think she’ll do well. but her indecision over a fave past houseguest is something that makes me take pause as well. screw it, KEEP for now. i’m curious to see what she can do.

Cody: seems smart and obviously physically capable....BUT something in his answers rubs me the wrong way. his reasoning for picking evel dick is something i can agree with, but his strategy is, once again, too airtight. where is the wiggle room? look it’s true the basic building blocks of big brother are generally the same every season but you never know what could get changed. also he’s all like “i’ve never taken a selfie” you’ve never taken a picture of yourself? ever? that seems unlikely but it’s whatever aside from assumed pretentiousness. HOWEVER the real big flag is “i have never been offended not once” buddy that is a DAMNED lie and i caNNOT WAIT until he gets pissy about something in the house and the fandom calls him out on it lmao oh anyway PASS.

Christmas: oh  my god she chose HELEN. HELEN OF ALL PEOPLE. THIS IS A GOOD SIGN. idk man i’m very hopeful about this one the fave houseguest is a good sign and i want to like christmas for it....also because her picture is gorgeous but like. she chose HELEN. like im sorry but i feel like most ppl wouldn’t even think of helen. maybe christmas can align with that guy who likes donny??? YES I LIKE THIS. anyway KEEP.

Cameron: well of COURSE his fave is ian like how damn predictable can u be. also he just reminded me of ginamarie and the fact that she won an hoh at some point (how???). that being said, the fact that he’d just tell people that someone is going after them?? bad plan. unless there’s ANY truth to it, but if he pulls it out of his ass he’s going to end up imploding his own game. PASS, not just for meh gameplay but also because he bores me. (seriously i’m so tired of ian clones none of them have been anywhere near as good or interesting why are we still doing this)

Alex: “i can manipulate anyone, including boys” aka she will probably start a showmance. idk with who and tbh idc. her fun facts are actual, legitimate fun facts, and she seems nice, but i don’t get good gameplay vibes. PASS, but i hope she surprises me.

[tayegi]

Man I can't read jimin and the oc's moments together without having small panic attacks that jungkook might just pop in and get all mad. Jungkook is so scary. He's got some issues. The oc is getting so unhealthy... I really hope that she ends up leaving them both...

Anonymous said:The oc in equilibrium deserves so much better :( she doesn't need a man to be happy

Anonymous said:Honestly the oc should just end up with Namjoon in equilibrium

Anonymous said:Jsjskksks i am more anxious reading equilibrium than I am watching horror movies

Anonymous said:jeon jungkook that lil shit omg I can't even say anything else like fuck u jungkook (equilibrium is so good I can't handle it)

Anonymous said:After reading equilibrium chap 12, i facepalm so hard because "DUDE THE DOOR IS GOING TO RATTLE AND BREAK BECAUSE OF YOUR GOD DAMN STRENGTH" Btw, it was great and i love love how all the small hints are place there nicely yet not so vividly?? ((Idk how to express it but it was amazing which i love)) Ehe keep it up!!

Anonymous said:LUUUUUU I KNOW IM LATE BUT I WAS THREE CHAPTERS BEHIND ON EQUILIBRIUM AND I FINALLY CAUGHT UP AND!!!!!!!! IM SHAKING! first of all i want to voice my concern that yes, they're all acting really fucked up, but im worried about Y/N's anxiety ;; i feel like this might be leading up to a serious panic attack and idk im just worried for everyones' mental health tHANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS BRILLIANT FIC ILU

Anonymous said:First off, the update for equilibrium is A+👌🏽I feel like it's going to be a trainwreck in the best way possible. Secondly, the OC, Jimin, & Jungkook are all assholes. Seriously! Lastly, I love you and your writing 😘 and can't wait for future stuffs !! 😊❤️❤️❤️😊

Anonymous said:i just wanna say that i love equilibrium very much. it's not something that i'd read (bc of the polyamorous relationship and such) but it surprisingly got me hooked starting from the prologue. it's a bit of a darker, more mysterious fic (with jungkook acting that way and the oc being strangely "afraid" of him all the time even from the first chapters). but btw i just love every one of your writings so i do hope you keep it up! :))

Anonymous said:They're both so bad for her in equilibrium. Im kinda rooting for her by herself lmaoo. She's just better off without both of them in my mind.

Anonymous said:I'm scared because of JK

Anonymous said:Equilibrium stresses me completely. Like omg their relationship is such a toxic mess. As i was reading the latest chapter i literally had to stop reading when coconut went silent and was staring at the waste bin. I stopped reading and went to take the shower i was supposed to take before seeing your update because i was so scared of his possibly violent reaction? OC should just leave coconut and jimin and go date someone from the hyungline I'm telling you hahaha thank you for your stories ❤

Anonymous said:equilibrium...was so good! Thank you for the update! I'm so anxious for the oc, i just want to hold her and don't let her near those assholes! One of them clearly needs some therapy and the other one is just using her!

Anonymous said:Reading equilibrium after watching the newest gayo make me feel like dragging oc away from jimin and jungkook and get her to namjoon instead (he looks so fucking good with those glasses 😤) these days all 7 members of bangtan are wrecking my bias list smh

Anonymous said:Its kinda sad how the oc said jungkook leaving her is worse than him hitting her. omfg she needs to dump both their asses.

Anonymous said:chapter 12 of equilibrium scared the shit out of me. i'm not even in that situation and i was trembling in fear

marina-misfit said:Jimin and jungkook are both fuckers in Equilibrium. Jungkook is a possessive little shit and jimin just uses the OC for her body when jungkook is not around. I personally believe they both see the OC as a thing instead of the woman she is. Anyways thank you for the chapter Lu! Take your time updating and get lots of rest love 🤗

Anonymous said:oh HELL NO, equilibrium kookie got me fuuuuuucked up... LU PLEASE TELL ME SHE GETS OUT OF THE RELATIONSHIP ITS SO BAD. i'm so worried for oc ☹️ by the way, dude props to you, provoking such strong emotions from your readers including myself! you always amaze me with your writing. i look forward to your future works. 🖤

Anonymous said:GIRL RUUUUUN! LEAVE JIMIN AND JUNGKOOK BEHIND AND FIND YOURSELF A JIN OR HOSEOK! FIND PEOPLE THAT TREAT YOU WITH SOFT AND ENDLESS LOVE!! For real though, i was actually surprised with how jungkook reacted when he saw the condom. i expected him to blow a fuse and hit her or just explode in general (i'm happy the OC didn't get hit but now im worried about what Jungkook is going to do, see as he's extremely unstable emotionally). great update as always :)))

Anonymous said:When you posted that equilibrium update I haven't read it before but it was midnight and I couldn't sleep and was like fuck it so I read through the entire thing and MY GOD IS IT GOOD I love it but I'm also low key saddened by it because it seems like they all agreed to the relationship for the same reason, but each of them said yes for a different person and it's just this unrequited love triangle and it kinda sorta breaks my heart because I'm an idealist piece of trash who loves happy endings

Anonymous said:OK so I just now read chapter 12 and equilibrium and holy shit... Don't take this the wrong way, I LOVE your writing... But I don't like jimin or jk in this story. I think the only chance the protag has at a healthy relationship is away from both of them #team y/n

Anonymous said:the oc is so scared of jk imma need him 2 step back bOI

AHHHHH I FEEL REALLY BAD THAT I MAKE YOU GUYS SO UPSET AFTER AN UPDATE AKLDFSJKLSDF. but also this is what i expected in a healthy reaction from my audience, so im also lowkey relieved haha. 

i promise that in future parts, it will get better... or worse first? 

BUT ANYWAYS, THANK YOU FOR READING AND ENDURING MY SHIT D;