#all Atlantic Champion

[sheinthatfandom]

Look at my babies having fun and looking fine

[the-kipsabian]

[totally-toxxic]

BTE Ep. 326

[orange-punch]

i want chuck taylor to win every belt in kentucky next week

[wrestlingmgc]

AEW All-Atlantic Champion Pac

[elitewrestlinghoe]

HE DID IT!!

[rhaenella]

idk if ur reqs are open but im obsessed with ur account. i was wondering if u could do a smau of any driver (other than danny ric) x pbr!reader. like shes the only woman to ever compete at NFR in bull riding. shes also 19 and doesnt ride with a helmet (just a cowboy hat) shes also like yhe biggest rodeo barbie you could imagine.

Firstly, I’m sorry it took me so long to get to work on your request, end of the year stuff and other wips got in the way 🫠 Anyways, I decided on Max for this because I almost immediately thought of him and his little Texas outfit 🥰 Also, I have to admit that my (non-American) knowledge of professional bull riding consisted primarily of The Longest Ride so excuse any inaccuracies, but I tried my best to read up on it! That being said, I hope it’s to your liking :) 

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

MV1 | Season of Champions

pairing: max verstappen x pbr!reader

genre: social media au

summary: you and max are each other's biggest supporters as max tries to secure his 3rd world championship title, whilst you're fighting for your 1st in a previously all male dominated sport

masterlist

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

Liked by wagsf1, user3 and 135,092 others

mv.y/nupdates: Tomorrow our girl can secure one of the few select spots in the NFR finals!!! Unfortunately Max can’t be there due to his own race in Qatar, but we’ll be sure to cheer them both on ❤️

View all 712 comments

user1: they’re gonna kill it on both sides of the atlantic

user2: POWER COUPLE

user3: omg i hope y/n wins 🙏 she deserves this so much

user4: my alarm is set for 4 am to support y/n 🫡

user5: are you taking a nap between their races??

user4: lol obviously

user5: same 😂 it’s a tough life stanning max & y/n

7 October

Liked by y/n, mv.y/nupdates and 112,363 others

pbr: y/n y/l/n becomes the first woman in history to qualify for the NFR finals in Las Vegas in December! Congrats on this incredible achievement, y/n. See you in Sin City⚡️

View all 674 comments

user6: OMG SHE DID IT ❤️❤️❤️

user7: i’m so proud of her, i’ve literally been here since day 1

user8: remember when she used to do rodeo and everyone told her she could never go into pbr… look at her NOW 🔥

user9: she gave her hat to the little girl in the front row 😭❤️

user10: yep i cried

user11: y/n is not only the best, she is the SWEETEST

8 October

Liked by maxverstappen1, carlossainz55 and 805,298 others

y/n: There aren’t words to describe how it feels to finally have my childhood dream come true. I’m not gonna lie, it was a tough road, especially as a female in this industry. Working my way up through rodeo to where I am today: a NFR finalist!! It’s a real pinch me moment… Little me would be ecstatic (just like present me 🙈) To all the other little girls that share the same passion & dream, it’s possible! Never stop believing in yourself ❤️ Now, let’s get that trophy!!!

View all 3,238 comments

maxverstappen1: My girl 😍 You’ve 100% got this 💪

y/n: Thank you baby 🥰 But first, Texas!

landonorris: GET INNN

Liked by y/n

lewishamilton: Legend in the making 🤍

Liked by y/n

user12: you’re gonna inspire so many girls to follow their dreams 🧡

user13: ✨role model✨

user14: soooo… idk if anyone’s seen the other finalists but she’s going to absolutely annihilate the competition just saying

user15: fr, they ain’t ready

8 October

Liked by user16, user17 and 658,512 others

f1: Howdy, y’all, it’s race week 🤠 Austin, here we come! 🇺🇸

View all 520 comments

y/n: Looking sharp sheriffs!

carlossainz55: Muchas gracias

charles_leclerc: Have to look our best this weekend, don’t we?

y/n: I wonder who for 🤔

charles_leclerc: 😉

user16: UHM FLIRTY MUCH??

user17: easy there sharl, she’s taken 💀

user18: cota the soap opera, i’m here for it

16 October

Liked by maxverstappen1, redbullracing and 778,543 others

y/n: Switching my bull gear for that other bull gear 💙 COTA LET’S GOOO

View all 2,160 comments

maxverstappen1: Blue looks good on you

Liked by y/n

danielricciardo: Yeeeeehaaawwww

redbullracing: Team Bull. Always.

y/n: Hell yeah!!

user19: you can pull off literally anything 😍

user20: y/n is at cota this weekend!!!!!

user21: omfg finally some y/n & max content

user22: we’ve been STARVED

user21: exactly 🥲

user23: GIRL WAIT YOU SWITCHED TO THE CAP??

y/n: Don’t worry!! It was only for the pic 😊

user23: oh thank god

18 October

y/n's story

Seen by landonorris, alex_albon and 2,436,712 others

19 October

Liked by y/n, victoriaverstappen and 728,451 others

maxverstappen1: Austin ready 🇺🇸💪

View all 1,934 comments

y/n: There were so many cool hats to choose from but he insisted on wearing mine…😈

landonorris: Initiating the cowboy hat rule just in time before the race… Clever girl

alex_albon: Oooohh everybody watch out

schecoperez: 😂😂😂

y/n: You know it ;)

maxverstappen1: Wait what?

landonorris: Nothing, mate 🤠 You’ll find out soon enough

user24: BYEEEE AHAHAHA

user25: y/n and the whole grid ganging up on max 😭

user26: he’s so oblivious i love it

19 October

Liked by sophiekumpen, redbullracing and 654,281 others

f1: VERSTAPPEN WINS AT COTA! 🏆

View all 2,017 comments

user27: 🔥🔥🔥

user28: the goat does it again

user29: little sad that max didn’t wear the cowboy hat on the podium tho

user30: lmao y/n is probably as well

22 October

Liked by maxverstappen1, alex_albon and 768,311 others

y/n: WHAT. A. WEEKEND. 15th win of the season & 50th altogether!!!🥇Proud of you Maxie 😘😘

View all 2,108 comments

maxverstappen1: Love you 😘

user31: MAXIE??? i’m sobbing

user32: i need to know all her nicknames for him NOW

user33: and i need her to be at every one of his races

user34: same she fitted right in with the crew in the pitbox, joking around and everything :’)

user33: truly one of the few wags who are actually into the sport…

22 October

Liked by y/n, danielricciardo and 734,161 others

maxverstappen1: It’s incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here today. I feel very proud to achieve this! Amazing job by everyone in the team 👏 And special thank you to y/n, the hat indeed brought us luck!

View all 1,998 comments

y/n: Always trust the hat, you should wear it more often

maxverstappen1: Unfortunately we cannot all break the helmet rules

y/n: 🙄

user35: lmao y/n is like you either die trying or you don’t try at all

user36: she has an aesthetic to look after 💅🏼

y/n: 🤣 You got it!

user36: OMG OMG

user37: BROOO

user38: well at least we’ve got that confirmed now

22 October

y/n's story

Seen by charles_leclerc, fernandoalo_oficial and 2,766,192 others

23 October

y/n's story

Seen by lewishamilton, charles_leclerc and 2,541,384 others

23 October

Liked by user39, user40 and 31,476 others

mv1jet: Verstappen’s jet just touched ground! 🛬 Nevada, United States of America 🇺🇸

View all 508 comments

user39: oh god everyone get ready

user40: this can only mean 1 thing

user41: MAX EMILIAN VERSTAPPEN, 3-TIME F1 WORLD CHAMPION, COMING TO SUPPORT HIS GIRL AT THE BIGGEST PBR EVENT OF THE YEAR HELLO YES I AM SAT

28 November

Liked by mv.y/nupdates, pbr and 275,021 others

wranglernfr: Today marks the start of the 65th NFR Finals! Newcomer and fan favorite y/n y/l/n has a good shot at winning the championship this week. However, will she decide to adhere to the mandatory helmet regulations or will she risk disqualification and still wear her self-proclaimed good luck hat? We’ll find out soon, folks. Stay tuned!

View all 1,454 comments

user42: i bet she keeps to her aesthetic

user43: oh def, she basically said it herself already

user44: but but but would they really disqualify her when she wins…??

user45: technically it is against the rules to ride without a helmet during the nfr’s so… yeah they might

user44: 😥😥

user46: please y/n don’t jeopardize it all 😩

2 December

maxverstappen1's story

Seen by landonorris, schecoperez and 3,014,839 others

11 December

Liked by maxverstappen1, mv.y/nupdates and 301,294 others

wranglernfr: NFR 2023 Champion y/n y/l/n⚡️Despite sticking to her famous but controversial cowboy hat, y/n becomes the 65th winner in Las Vegas at just nineteen, beating the runnerup and last year’s champion Billy Youngster!

View all 1,778 comments

user47: SHE DID IT!!!! 💪🔥

user48: i’m bursting with pride i’m so happy for her 🥰🥰🥰

mv.y/nupdates: two world champions this is almost too good to be true 😭❤️

user49: their christmas is gonna be one helluva party

user50: well deserved, that billy kid had it coming

user51: he only won last year because of dumb luck!

user52: FACTS

user53: this year we have a winner who’s worthy of the title ❤️

user54: can’t get over how y/n was so far up ahead they literally couldn’t disqualify her for the hat thing lol

user55: imagine if they had, people would have rioted

user54: omg they would have, with max at the front hoisting his pitchfork in the air, leading the pack

user55: 😂😂

11 December

Liked by maxverstappen1, fernandoalo_oficial and 1,219,748 others

y/n: Cowboy hat + racing gloves = champions of the world 🏆

View all 4,193 comments

maxverstappen1: ❤️

sophiekumpen: So proud of both of you 🥰

victoriaverstappen: Coolest auntie (en oom natuurlijk🙊)!!!

Liked by y/n

landonorris: Congrats on making champion, champ!!! And wow… Max has got his own hat 👀

y/n: Yup! He deserved it after his triple US win 😍

charles_leclerc: Does this mean that your hat claim has lifted…?

maxverstappen1: Unless you want another inchident, back off

y/n: Uhm... He knows what it means now…

charles_leclerc: 😳

alex_albon: RIP Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc 🪦

Liked by maxverstappen1 and y/n

12 December

Liked by y/n, landonorris and 1,182,853 others

maxverstappen1: Wear the hat…

Comments have been disabled

12 December

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

a/n: translation of “en oom natuurlijk” > “and uncle ofcourse”

Happy holidays! x

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

[dragonbma]

🐟 Mercraft: Fish Mode! A (mostly) complete guide ^^

New Order of the Stone: (all are species found in Minecraft)

Jesse- cod

Lukas- dolphin

Petra- sockeye salmon

Axel- sea turtle

Olivia- squid

Reuben- sea pigckle /j clownfish

Dewey- pufferfish

Blaze Rods:

Aiden- jaguar cichlid

Gill- he’s the only human /j snakehead probably

Maya- rainbow smelt

Old Order of the Stone:

Gabriel- North Atlantic swordfish

Ellegaard- Argentine shortfin squid

Magnus- dwarf sawfish

Soren- common cuttlefish

Ivor- blue-ringed octopus

Witherstorm- giant squid or kraken “Ichorstorm”

Portal Arc:

Isa- rainbow darter

Milo- banana eel

Reginald- fantail darter

Benedict- oyster “Eversoyster”

Harper- East Pacific red octopus

PAMA- arapaima “AraPAMA”

Hadrian- shovelnose sturgeon

Otto- brook trout

Mevia- vampire squid

Cassie- brindled madtom

Nell- mahi-mahi

Em- bull shark

“Tim”- great white

Champion City:

Radar- logperch

Stella- emperor angelfish

Lluna- narwhal

Sea Temple:

Jack- lemon shark

Vos- oarfish

Sammy- flying fish

Nurm- mirror carp

Prismarine Colossus- coelacanth

Elder Guardians- sacabambapsis

Sunshine Institute + Underneath:

Warden- lamprey

Oxblood- goliath tigerfish

Carmine- goblin shark

Binta- whale shark

Admins:

Romeo- lionfish (+crab armor)

Fred- blue jellyfish (+clam armor)

Xara- pelagic stingray (+starfish armor)

“Vos”- anglerfish

Snowmeo- crocodile icefish

I know there are characters I missed; if you want to ask about someone, please do! I’d be happy to assign them a fish! Also if you want to know the reasoning behind any of these choices, I’m happy to answer! I will discuss fish choices ALL DAY. (Ex. Most engineers or scientists were assigned species of octopus/squid because having more arms is useful.) :]

The Mercraft: Fish Mode tag just started out as the MC:SM equivalent of Mermay for me but y’all are free to use it even if you have differing fish ideas for the characters! Bonus: Aiden and Radar’s concepts can be found here!

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Away From Her Goalie - Clàudia Pina x Reader

A/n: next part in the Score A Goalie universe... enjoy! next one will take a while, it requires research:)

///

The UWCL final in Eindhoven was here. Barcelona versus Wolfsburg. Clàudia on the pitch, you watching from the stands. You hadn’t felt so anxious about a match since the Copa De La Reina final, Atleti against Real Madrid, a match that went from 2-0 up to Real Madrid to Atleti bringing it to 2-2, through extra time and into penalties. Atleti came out on top and you were unashamed to admit that you had shed tears of joy over Atleti’s victory.

You had spent your time after the league finished organising the stuff you had brought to Barcelona back in January, trying to fit what you needed for your plans after the final.

Both sets of plans, as Clàudia planned to help you with your move, before the two of you went on a small holiday to serve as a break for you before you were thrown into training for the NWSL with NJ/NY Gotham FC, a club in need of a strong goalie to maintain their position at number 1 in the table.

It was hard, but you no longer had your apartment in Madrid, moving your things into storage that you did want to keep, but selling a lot. Clàudia was keeping some of your stuff for your return to Barcelona, the plans being after the NWSL season was done in November, you would be able to visit whilst Atleti and Gotham sorted out the post-NWSL training you could do before the winter transfer window in January.

But your career wasn’t the focus right now, as you sat in the stands of the Philips Stadium, in Eindhoven, waiting. Pina was on the bench but the stadium energy was electric.

Wolfsburg may have scored two goals first, but you couldn’t help but think about the Copa De La Reina final, Atleti were two goals down before bringing it up to 2-2, taking it to penalties after extra time where Atleti won.

You did not want it to go to penalties.

The second half was different and you could feel it, Patri sending the ball into the net to take it to 2-1, then two minutes later, Patri sent the ball in again, the score going to 2-2. Rolfö eventually making it 3-2 but later shots were going wide.

Pina was finally subbed on for Mariona in the 79th minute, while Ana was subbed on for Caro at the same time.

You grimaced as Wilms fouled Pina, but it wasn’t long after that Wilms was subbed off. A clash between Bronze and Popp had all the attention on the sidelines however, as Ingrid and Alexia prepared to be subbed onto the pitch at the 89th minute. 7 minutes of stoppage time were added, your stomach twisting as you leaned forwards in your seat, watching carefully.

Popp and Paredes ended up with yellow cards after a collision almost looked like it would turn into a fight on the pitch, Alexia and Ingrid having been subbed on minutes before the seven minutes of stoppage time arrived. Tackles flew in with players dropping like flies and you couldn’t stop grimacing.

Eventually the minutes ran out, Barcelona being crowned champions of Europe as Queen’s We Are The Champions played across the stadium, the team swaying and Pina rocking the trophy like it was a baby.

She spotted you in the stands, grinning and waving as you waved back, jumping up and down in celebration.

///

The UWCL final was a flashbulb memory in your mind, and your fiancee’s as you sorted out your suitcases, the flight across the Atlantic amounting to more than 8 hours in the air, with Patri driving you two to the Barcelona airport.

“I will miss you, but I will miss your pancakes more.” Patri declared as she watched you travel with double the amount of suitcases as Pina, but the reasoning made sense.

You were moving countries for your career, your fiancee was helping you settle in first, but you were allowed a break before going head on into the NWSL.

A break that you were spending with Pina, visiting someone you hadn’t seen in almost a year. Jenni Hermoso, who currently resides in Mexico to play for Pachuca in the Liga MX Femenil.

Arriving at JFK airport, Pina pulled up her hood, whilst you dug through your backpack, eventually finding a pair of sunglasses and putting them on to obscure your face.

“Where do we go?”

“I was emailed instructions… we need to get the subway to…” you paused, looking between your suitcases, to your large backpack balanced on one of them, to Pina’s luggage, “we’re taking suitcases on the subway… great start.”

“So we go from central station and get a connecting train to New Jersey…” You went over the instructions, passing Pina your sunglasses as you found your hat, almost amused at the Atleti logo on it but you were pretty sure someone had recognised you both whilst on the subway already.

///

“This should be it. The club arranged something close to the subway so I could get around without a car.” You explained, putting the key in the lock and almost celebrating when it turned and opened the door.

Wheeling all the suitcases inside, you headed over to the windows as you heard your fiancee speak, “es pequeño,” as she locked the door behind you both.

“Un poco,” agreeing with her, but it was a studio apartment with a tiny kitchen and windows that let in a lot of natural light, the view of the city presenting the hustle and bustle of New Jersey as you gazed out at the busy road full of cars.

“It feels very… New York, New Jersey… I don’t see a bat signal though.” You joked, peeking through the blinds like you were looking for a way to summon Batman.

“Gotham.” Pina rolled her eyes playfully as she snickered at your joke, walking over to the window to have a look.

“Suppose I should unpack something. Can’t leave it all until I’m back from Mexico and you’re on a flight… back to Barcelona.” Meeting your fiancee’s sad gaze, you held back your emotions as she reached for your hand.

“What am I doing? Moving nearly forty thousand miles away from you for a few months in the hopes my goalkeeper career isn’t just sitting on a bench until I retire then get stuck trying to become a goalkeeper coach? I’m sorry, you deserve better.”

“No. I deserve you. We deserve each other, and we both deserve play time, but I want you too.” Pina declared, her hand cupping your cheek as your face softened from where it was scrunched up in sadness, trying to hold the tears back.

“I want you too, and I want to play minutes. You are the only person who has put me first in a long time. You’re it for me, mi vida, our souls are together, even when our bodies are so far apart. I want to come back to you, marry you, and never leave you again, unless you don’t want that-”

“I choose you, remember? And our bodies are not apart yet.” Pina smirked, leaning in to press her lips against yours, before pulling away as you smiled.

“You’re right. In fact, I think our bodies could be a little closer.”

///

It took a little while to get your stuff unpacked, the two of you heading back out to travel from Hoboken and ending up in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan.

“I’m sorry you’re missing Ibiza this year.” You apologised over dinner/lunch (the timezone difference threw you two off), but your fiancee shook her head, pointing out that she was getting to spend time with her fiancee, in a new city before heading to another new city for a few days and seeing Jenni again after so long.

“I missed you in New York last winter.” Pina rationalised, smiling at you, before avoiding eye contact with whoever was behind you as the two of you were recognised.

“When do Atleti and Gotham announce your loan? People are recognising us from Barcelona.”

///

The flight to Mexico was nowhere near as long as the Transatlantic flight from Barcelona, the two of you bringing a lot less luggage too as you both looked to find Jenni and whoever she had brought with her to pick you both up from arrivals.

“¡Hola mis bebés!” Jenni cheered, pulling you both into a hug when she spotted the two of you approaching.

///

Your time in Mexico came and went, revealing the engagement to Jenni and how you were going to be on loan to NJ/NY Gotham until the end of the 2023 NWSL season. Jenni’s reaction included how you did not ask for her blessing, before she was congratulating you both and hugging you for taking a big step in your goalkeeping career.

Now you were staring out of your tiny studio apartment’s windows, watching the sun rise and trying to hype yourself up on your first day with Gotham.

///

Atleti and Gotham posted their posts first. Atleti revealed you had been sent on loan to NJ/NY Gotham for the rest of the 2023 NWSL season with good luck.

Gotham was a little more excited for you, using a photo array of shadows to tease your arrival, the shadows even resembled Batman before the final reveal of you in the Gotham goalie kit, the shadows made to look like the Bat Signal through the use of the spotlights during the photography session.

You were the next one to post, announcing your loan with a repost of the photo of you in the Gotham kit, with Bat Signal shining onto the dark background behind you, followed by photos of New York and New Jersey you had saved from when you and Pina were exploring around the two states.

Your previous posts consisted of photos of you and Pina hanging out with Jenni in Mexico, throwing people off online who thought everyone would be going to Ibiza, whilst leaving fans speculating as your engagement rings were spotted in one of the photos.

‘Sorry I’m not Batman, but I’m here to protect Gotham.’ Your caption was cheesy, especially with the bat emojis that Pina copied into her comment, along with a heart and flame emoji reminding you of the early days in your relationship.

///

[st0rmyskies]

dude you’re literally the only person who I can ramble to about this so please hear me out.

So i’m a (super senior) marine biology major and i’m at a field station for class/research. During my free time i’ve been going out fishing with my two friends on the daily. It’s worth noting too that we all are very, very outwardly queer in a seaside town that is filled to the brim with trump flags on boats. We also barely know how to fish, as in we know how to cast it. But also we couldn’t even get the one pole to cast yesterday so that statement is even on thin ice. But in our fishing endeavors, there have been a handful of time where straight up dads have watched us get our asses handed to us and they will offer their advice/help. And when I say ‘dad’ I deadass mean 9/10 there son is awkwardly standing behind him and begging them to stop talking to us after it’s been 15 minutes. Once again, we’re queer and we have daddy issues, so we absolutely are eating up these conversations. It’s honestly the most heartwarming, fucking funniest interactions to me. Especially when you get the visual imagery of us getting tangled in fishing line because we can’t get the one reel to cooperate; one of us has a youtube video pulled up while the other is reading the manual. BOOM- a dad appears.

With that, I cannot stop thinking about Time approaching the most queer ass group of college students (who are visibly struggling to even cast out the fucking line) to offer the most dad advice on fishing. Bonus if one of the boys are there begging for him to leave them alone. Extra bonus if it’s Twilight or Wind. Or even Time taking the boys fishing and all of them, but Twilight, is going through it. Someone’s managed to wrap the line around their neck, another got too excited and yanked their hook out of the water and now it’s free flying (with no fish), Four is attaching weed whacker motor onto the pole because “it’ll reel the fish in quicker”, someone wasn’t paying attention and almost stepped backwards off the dock, and another boy discovered that the spiny rays are sharp motherfuckers. If this continues to live in my head rent free, I even might write this.

That it. Just Time being a dad in public is absolutely sending me.

Also we only caught an atlantic croaker after being at the dock for 5 hours.

Time isn't the most social of butterflies, but he's also ABSOLUTELY the guy who can't ignore fellow fishermen having A Struggle. Especially when said struggle is so... blatant. If strangers, yes Twi would give it 15-20 minutes before he's awkwardly trying the polite interventions of "Okay, well, you guys have a great day.... Okay, well, we should get on our way..." and either just gives up or goes back to doing his own thing until Time is finished. If Wind, the interventions are likely more physical, moving their belongings farther and farther away until Time has no choice but to retreat if he wants more bait.

If Time ever deigned to take the boys on a fishing trip, he'd regret it within 30 minutes.

Most likely to get stabbed by a fish and need more than a few bandaids: Sky.

Most likely to get tangled up and string together a novel expletive phrase that enters the household vernacular permanently: Legend.

Most likely to take a tumble off the dock: Hyrule.

Most likely to injure an innocent bystander with that weed whacker motor: Four.

Most likely to get a fish hook in his arm while he's sitting on the shore sunning himself because he will not partake in this barbaric pastime: Warriors.

Most likely to be pretty successful at fishing but still drops his phone off the dock: Wind.

Most likely to resort to throwing These Hands at the fish instead of using the ancient technology of fishing poles: Champion.

Most likely to space out talking the entire time and be the one to actually hook The Big One but fail to reel it in: Wild.

Most likely to not catch a damn thing because he's busy running interference: Twilight.

Maybe next time, Time will just take them to the pet store to buy goldfish.

I am endlessly amused by the fact that as a marine bio majors you have such a time fishing. I'm sure you've made at least one surrogate dad proud. Also, for the uninitiated:

Anon's Moby Dick.

[the-kipsabian]

so im gonna go insane for a minute about kip (yet again) excuse me cause he posted something last night and i havent stopped thinking about that ever since

so heres the tweet in question (tumblr is being a bitch about previews so sorry links only jnsdkjasd), which made me finally look that quote up. its a riddle, and the answer very fittingly is “redemption”

which then led me to relisten the other promo from last week

“slayer of regrets, old and new, sought by many, found by few

clementine, zest friends - misunderstood

we’ve done this dance for far too long”

what i think he means by the ‘misunderstood’ line here is that kip is basically either accusing them of faking the zest or the best friendship. both valid options, possibly meaning both at the same time. it feels like a throwaway line, but idk i can make it fit lmao (in this context i doubt hes talking about himself, although in general that is fitting for his character too lol)

“we’ve done this dance for far too long” - ive touched on this before, but like. arcade anarchy was almost two years ago. im fairly sure kip was already injured at that point and on his way out, then that loss happened and then the betrayal with miro - so its been two years of basically the best friends living rent free in his head with the thought of redemption always being there. what we’ve seen has been barely a month and a half of program, but heres the deal - in reality its been nearly two years. pac was just a detour (or mayhaps a catalyst in the sense that him having the all-atlantic title before woke up kips real hunger), everything between that and what culminates this friday has just been a mere delaying of the inevitable

also sure in the past weeks we’ve seen effectively one avoiding the other in the case of the title shots and matches - the times they have faces have been fairly brief, tho eventful, but it has never truly been a wrestling match one on one. the most intimate dance if you will

im sure i had another thought about this but yeah. i’ll se you on friday when i lose my mind for real <3

[totally-toxxic]

when i say i melted going into that commercial break…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

"Marilyn Monroe was baptized by Aimée Semple McPherson, analyzed by Anna Freud, befriended by Carl Sandburg and Edith Sitwell, romanced (if you can call it that) by Jack and Bobby Kennedy, painted by Willem de Kooning, taught acting by Michael Chekhov and Lee Strasberg, photographed by Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. 

She managed—on the strength of limited dramatic talent and within a studio system that paid no attention to individual ambition—to work with some of the greatest directors in movie history: twice with John Huston, Billy Wilder, and Howard Hawks, and once each with George Cukor, Joseph Mankiewicz, and Laurence Olivier. 

She was the first Playboy centerfold and one of the first women to own her own production company; she was a nudist and a champion of free love long before these concepts emerged into the national consciousness. 

She maintained a deep association with the American military that, all on its own, lent her a mythic stature. When the Second World War broke out, she became both a teenage war bride and an actual Rosie the Riveter (long days spent working in the fuselage-varnishing room of the Radioplane plant in Burbank); her first cheesecake photographs were taken in the spirit of “morale boosters” for the boys overseas; her famous appearance in Korea—wriggling onstage in her purple sequined dress, popping her glorious platinum head out of the hatch of the camouflaged touring tank rolling her to the next appearance—remains the standard against which any American sex symbol sent to entertain the troops is measured. 

She was the first celebrity to talk openly about her childhood sexual abuse, a kind of admission that has become so common today that we hardly take notice of it. But to tell reporters in the 1950s that you had been raped as an 8-year-old—and to do so without shame, but rather with a justifiable sense of fury and vengeance—was a breathtaking act of self-assurance." 

From "Inventing Marilyn Monroe," by Caitlin Flanagan, in "The Atlantic," March 2013. (Photograph by Ed Feingersh.) 

[Follies Of God]

[droptoeholdyourhorses]

The Best Friends Deserve Bester

Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta have been teaming together as The Best Friends since August 2013. In January 2014, they won PWG's Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, becoming number one contenders to the PWG World Tag Team Championship. They lost their subsequent challenge against The Young Bucks at Mystery Vortex II. The only other time Chuck and Trent have competed for those titles was at 2019's Hand of Doom where they lost to The Rascalz. What that means is that out of seven teams who won the PWG DDT4 between 2007 and 2015, The Best Friends are the only ones to have never held the PWG World Tag Team Championship.

Alright, well maybe they had better luck in NJPW. Trent's a four-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with Rocky Romero. If Roppongi Vice can succeed, then I'm sure The Best Friends can... come fourth in the B Block in the 2017 World Tag League and finish eighth overall in the 2018 League.

No, that make sense. Best Friends as a team have always been predominantly American based. What about their ROH run in 2017? I know they had a few title matches there.

Loss vs. The Young Bucks in ROH World Tag Team Championship tornado three way match at Best in the World 2017 (also featured War Machine)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks in ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship match at Global Wars 2017 Day 3 (teamed with Flip Gordon)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks in ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship match on ROH Wrestling Episode #326 (teamed with Rocky Romero)

Loss vs. Motor City Machine Guns in ROH World Tag Team Championship match at Final Battle 2017

Ok, enough messing around. Let's get into the AEW run. Orange Cassidy has done a great job as International Champion. Kris Statlander is enjoying a good reign as TBS Champion. How have Chuck and Trent done?

Win vs. SCU and Private Party at Fyter Fest 2019 to advance to All Out for an opportunity at a first round bye in the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament (good start)

Loss vs. Dark Order at All Out 2019 (who needs a first round bye anyway?)

Loss vs. SCU in first round of AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament (ah, that bye would have been handy)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Page in a Number One Contender's Fatal Four Way (also featured The Young Bucks and Proud & Powerful) (got four-and-a-half stars from Dave Meltzer)

Loss to The Young Bucks in a Number One Contender's Battle Royal (not gonna list all the other teams)

Win vs. Private Party in a Number One Contender's match at Double Or Nothing 2020 (that's more like it)

Win vs. Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara to remain number one contenders (yes, go on lads!)

Loss vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Page in AEW World Tag Team Championship match on Dynamite: Fyter Fest 2020 Day 1 (ah, damn it)

Loss to FTR in Number One Contender's Gauntlet match (again, not gonna list all the other teams)

Win vs. Proud & Powerful in a Parking Lot Fight (FIVE STARS BAYBEE!)

Loss to reDRagon in a Number One Contender's Battle Royal (AEW love them some battle royals)

Loss to The Young Bucks in a Number One Contender's Casino Tag Team Royale (this was literally the week after the previous battle royal)

Win w/Orange Cassidy vs. The Trustbusters in first round of AEW Trios Championship tournament (ooo, promising)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. Adam Page & Dark Order in semi-final of AEW Trios Championship tournament (never mind, I guess)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. Death Triangle for vacant AEW Trios Championship (can't tell me they shouldn't have won this one given PAC was already All-Atlantic Champion at the time)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. Death Triangle in AEW Trios Championship match (one day lads, one day)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy to AR Fox & Top Flight in $300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Battle Royal (we're really taking the piss now with these battle royals)

Loss to Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett in Revolution Tag Team Battle Royal (they were literally the runners up in this one, come on)

Loss w/Orange Cassidy vs. House of Black in AEW Trios Championship match (stop teasing me)

Loss vs. Aussie Open in IWGP Tag Team Championship match (they could have had a Japan run after all)

Loss w/Bandido vs. House of Black in AEW Trios Championship match (Bandido's cool but surely it's gotta be Orange for the eventual trios run)

Loss vs. Aussie Open in ROH World Tag Team Championship Fatal Four Way at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023 (also featured Lucha Bros and The Kingdom) (another big win coming any day now)

Loss vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli in Parking Lot Brawl (four-and-a-half stars for the Parking Lot sequel)

Win w/Orange Cassidy, Eddie Kingston & Penta vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Proud & Powerful in Stadium Stampede at All In 2023 (the biggest of big wins, another four-and-a-half stars)

Loss to Dark Order in ROH Number One Contender's Battle Royal (great way to follow up that momentum after All In)

Loss to The Righteous in ROH Number One Contender's Fatal Four Way (also featured The Hardys and The Kingdom) (again, great follow up)

Obviously there's been more matches in between the ones I highlighted. The Best Friends have had some good moments here and there but overall, it feels like there's been missed opportunities. No follow up after the initial Parking Lot Brawl. No Trios Championship run. Lost in the shuffle again following All In.

The Best Friends deserve bester.

[thesanityclause]

Life is hard but at least I got famed AEW wrestler and All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy boosting my spirits. Highly recommend keeping a tiny wrestling action figure on your desk to keep your fighting spirits up!!

[ladamedusoif]

Visiting - Chapter 10: Something About You

(Moodboard by @cutesyscreenname)

Pairing: Professor!Ben (College AU) x OFC Lydia/fem!Reader (reader POV/2nd POV)

Summary: Seeking a change of scenery after her life falls apart, Lydia crosses the Atlantic and arrives in a small New England town, to spend a year expanding her intellectual horizons as a visiting professor of art history at a small liberal arts college. Her growing friendship with Ben Morales, professor of Hispanic literature, forces Lydia to confront the fallout from her past - and raises unexpected questions about the future.

Chapter summary: Reunited and resolved on what they both want, Ben and Lydia finally get to spend some quality time together. Of course, their friends (and siblings) will want to know what, exactly, happened on the night of Jen's party.

Word Count: 7.7k

Rating: Explicit (MDNI; 18+)

Content (series and chapter specific): Professor Ben College AU; Ben and Lydia are firmly contemporaries; canon is not a thing here; slow burn; idiots-to-lovers; lots of smut; fingering; oral sex (F and M receiving); safe PiV sex; this pair are consent champions; praise kink; strong language; weight and body insecurity; self-esteem issues; fluff; the love was requited, they're just idiots; and yes - SMUT.

A/N: If you've wanted Ben and Lydia to finally spend some, er, quality time together - you're in luck, as that's the main focus of this chapter.

The title of this chapter comes from Kate Bush's song 'Snowed In At Wheeler Street', which came to mind when I was thinking about Ben and Lydia getting caught in the snow on their way to her flat in Chapter 9. The song is also fitting for these two, as it evokes a sort of soulmate relationship through time.

They have established they love each other, but there's still some way to go for Ben and Lydia to get what they want and deserve, and to find a way to make things work when Lydia has to go 'home'.

Thank you to everyone who's shown so much love for this pair so far - every comment, reblog, like, interaction, ask is just a joy to me.

See the Series Masterlist for an outline of Lydia's story and background.

Cross-posting to AO3 (and if you're reading on there, too, and yelling along in the comments - I love you, thank you!)

Chapter 9 - Chapter 11

@lunapascal and @julesonrecord - as ever, thank you for loving these dorksicles like your own.

Taglist: @lunapascal, @julesonrecord, @cutesyscreenname, @tessa-quayle, @vermillionwinter, @iamskyereads, @tieronecrush, @perennialdoll247, @love-the-abyss, @imaswellkid, @intheorangebedroom, @javierisms, @fuckyeahdindjarin, @littlemisspascal, @khindahra, @pedrostories, @readingiskeepingmegoing, @ruebyretro, @rhoorl, @red-red-rogue, @princessanglophile, @katareyoudrilling, @survivingandenduring, @trulybetty, @fictionismyreality, @sunnywithachanceofjavi, @joeldjarin

She’s refilling the industrial-sized filter coffee machine when they walk back into the Brunswick Café. Even in the bustle of the Saturday lunchtime rush, she recognises them: the sweet, clever man who had been a regular visitor for coffee and pie over the last eight years, and with him the same woman as last time. 

On Thanksgiving, she’d commented (innocently, she’d insist) on the obvious affection between the pair, sparking flustered gestures and insistent explanations that they were not, in fact, a couple.

“I never said you were a couple, Benjamin. I said it was nice to see people in love.”

They were a couple now, though. She’d bet her life on it. It would be imperceptible to the less astute observer, but decades of diner work equips you with the sort of wide-angle vision and ability to pick up on the things experienced investigative officers could only dream of spotting. 

It’s all in the gestures: their hands separating reluctantly as they enter the Café, his big hand tracing ever so slightly over her lower back as he guides her towards a booth in the window; the way she’s looking at him, as if she can’t quite believe he exists; the telltale touches of knees and thighs under the table. 

Most of all, though, what signalled a change in the dynamic between the two was an intangible glow: one that had nothing to do with the brisk January air outside. It was like they existed only in their own, self-contained bubble, lit from within by their smiles and bright expressions.

She snaps the lid back onto the huge tub of coffee and stashes it in its usual cupboard, smiling with satisfaction. Of course she was right. She was just glad they’d worked it out for themselves. 

She decides not to let on, at least for a bit. She has to acknowledge them while she takes the order, of course. But she does her usual friendly shtick with Ben and pretends she can’t quite remember the woman’s name (“Olivia, is that it? Oh, Lydia! See? Close enough”). No questions about their status as she serves up their orders (they were starving. Must have worked up an appetite, she notes with a cheeky smile) and refills their coffee.

Instead, she quietly observes them at intervals while she works. She notes the little brushes from his hand to hers, and vice versa; the way her hand reaches to stroke crumbs of toast from his beard with such care and affection; the kisses they steal over plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, and home fries. Their whispered confidences and peals of laughter speak of easy intimacy and warmth. 

She takes satisfaction in knowing she was right. But she also feels a quasi-maternal surge of happiness for the man she always thought of as ‘a sweet boy’, who had been a pleasant presence on his regular visits to the diner since he first arrived at Barrow. At last, it looked like he’d found his person.

When they’ve cleared their plates, she crosses to the booth, coffee pot in hand. The dishes and cutlery are quickly cleared and held in the crook of one arm while she tops up their mugs, offering a benevolent smile to each of them in turn. 

“Can I get you two some dessert?”

They exchange glances for a moment, until Olivia - no, wait, it’s Lydia - declines the offer. As she returns to the counter, she can hear them speaking in hushed voices.

“I have, uh, dessert at home. You know. Dessert.”

This elicits a bashful giggle from him. 

She rolls her eyes as she adds another couple of old checks to the spike at the register. It’s not long before the broad figure of Ben Morales is standing in front of her in his dark winter coat and soft knitted watchcap, wallet at the ready, to settle the bill. 

“I’m glad you finally paid attention to what I was saying, Benjamin.”

He furrows and then raises his eyebrows quizzically. “What you were…saying?”

She hands him his receipt. “I told you two idiots you were in love at Thanksgiving. Just glad the two of you finally caught up to it.”

He grins as he shoves the receipt in his coat pocket, but his smile falters when he notes the stony expression on her face.

“That girl really likes you. Don’t fuck with her, or you’ll never get a slice of pie in this establishment again.”

He nods seriously. “Don’t worry, Emma.” He turns and looks over at the woman pulling her knitted hat and scarf on before edging her way carefully out of the booth, and a huge smile appears on his face. “I really, really like her, too.”

Ben twines his glove-clad fingers through yours as you walk down Main Street and turn in the direction of his house. You’d asked him over breakfast if he would like to spend the weekend with you; he wants to pick up some fresh clothes and his laptop from home. 

You squeeze his hand and smile up at him. It feels vaguely surreal, walking hand in hand with him along the streets of your little town, knowing he loves you and that he knows you love him. 

“Is there anything we need to do, in terms of work?”

He looks a little confused. “Work?”

“Yeah, like - do we need to notify anyone that we’re together, or…?”

He thinks for a moment. “I think that only applies if it’s a relationship with your boss or a direct superior or someone you are in charge of - you know, that sort of thing. I can check with Jen if there’s a formal parchment declaration of romance that needs to be completed and affixed with a wax seal.” He chuckles warmly as you roll your eyes affectionately.  “Though I’m sure she’d have told me about that already if there was.”

“Jen knows?”

He smiles. “I think she knew I liked you before even I did. She’s a big fan of yours.” You smile softly. “She literally kicked me out of her house last night to go find you.”

“Literally?!” 

“Literally. Ani was no holds barred, and then Jen poked me in the ass with the toe of her boot and told me if I didn’t go find you, she’d never speak to me again.”

Your smile turns somewhat satisfied. “I like her a lot.”

“Anyway, I’ll find out. But I think we’re good, baby.”

The endearment makes you lean against his shoulder, feeling the brush of his woollen coat against your cheek and the solidness of the man underneath. He gives your hand a little squeeze and turns to plant a little kiss to the crown of your head, cosy under your warm, knitted cap.

Ben offers to drive the two of you back to your place after he’s grabbed what he needs to and changed his clothes. As you settle into the passenger seat, watching his hands on the wheel, you are reminded of the very first day you met him, of sitting in this car, chatting and listening to music as he drove to Lino’s for dinner. You smile at the memory, at how it felt like both yesterday and forever ago. 

You close your front door and he places his tote bag on the couch before taking off his coat and hanging it up alongside yours. He’s changed into a beautiful flannel button-up in shades of green, sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms slightly. He turns to face you, smiling shyly. 

For an instant you forget that you can touch him - and then you remember, delighted, and trace your fingers across his chest before tugging playfully on the waistband of his jeans and bringing his body flush to yours. You look up at him, a smile dancing around your lips as he puts his arms around your waist. 

“Bed?” He almost whispers the word.

“Bed.”

In contrast to the desperate need of the night before, the pace this time is much slower. You lie together on your bed, still clothed, and gently undress each other, planting kisses on each new area of skin revealed. It’s difficult to resist the urge to go straight back to fucking: you can feel your wetness already soaking your panties as your clit throbs with need, while his cock is straining at his boxers. 

But you keep on taking your time. Ben trails a line of kisses along the line of your bra, the contrast between his soft lips and the bristle of his moustache making your skin tingle. “So fucking pretty,” he murmurs, as you wind your fingers through his hair. 

“The bra, or the tits?” 

He laughs, the vibration resonating through your chest. “Both. But this is a pretty thing.” The bra is almost exactly the same colour as your skin, the cups made of a mesh fabric decorated with bright, embroidered flowers. “Almost looks like there’s nothing here but these flowers.” He puts his mouth over your nipple and sucks it through the fabric, pulling a moan from you. 

“Pretty though it is -“ he reaches behind you and unhooks the bra - “nothing’s as pretty as you.” He sighs with delight at the sight of your soft tits, sucking each nipple in turn, while you gently pull down his boxers and lightly stroke at his hard length. 

You trace a line up the side of his neck, interspersing kisses with little bites and nibbles that have him moaning with pleasure as you work your way up to kiss every inch of the scruff along his jaw. 

“You’re very fucking pretty too, you know.”

He opens his eyes and looks into yours, dark and soft. He’s blushing. 

“Pretty? Can a man this old with wrinkles and grey hair and back trouble really be pretty?”

“You aren’t fucking old, Ben. But I’m 42 and have wrinkles and grey hair and stretch marks and sag everywhere and you think I’m pretty.”

You caress the side of his face, planting a kiss to the furrows between his brows that always remind you, stupidly, of quotation marks. “Pretty.”

Another kiss, to the laugh lines beside his eyes. “So pretty.”

One for the grey patch at the hinge of his jaw. “The prettiest.”

And one more, long and lingering, to his mouth. “My beautiful, pretty, love.”

Ben’s eyes are simultaneously soft in adoration and dark with lust. He runs a thumb along your cheek.

“I’d like to take care of you for a while, my love. Is that okay?”

You nod, tilting your chin upwards so you can kiss his forehead, and he carefully encourages you to lie back as he works his way across and down your body. 

He starts with a deep kiss, his tongue meeting yours deliciously before he starts to suck lightly at your neck and across your collarbones. Ben is nothing if not meticulous. Every inch of your body is kissed, licked, or ever so gently nibbled or bitten as he descends ever closer to the heat of your core. 

At times you feel like this worship of your body might be enough to get you off, even without the slightest contact with your pussy. The sensation is electric, pleasure coursing through every fibre of your being as Ben’s mouth moves over your skin. Your hips buck upwards as you moan his name, and you feel his large palm lightly holding you down as he slowly drags himself down the bed, ready to move back upwards, inch by inch. 

He nibbles and kisses the insides of your legs, humming happily to himself as he palms the soft flesh of your thighs and sucks at your skin. You notice that he has taken his hard cock in his hand, stroking it intermittently as his mouth gets ever closer to your wet pussy. 

You feel like you will go insane if he does not eat you out immediately. He’s so close now that you can feel the bristle of his moustache against the curls that cover your mound, the scratch of his beard against the inside of your upper thighs. 

“Please, Ben, please. Please. I need you. Need to feel you.”

For a moment you open your eyes and look down, and the sight of that man - that gorgeous, wonderful, sexy man - with his head between your legs is enough to make you moan unexpectedly loudly. He looks up and meets your eyes, a divinely wicked look in his. 

“I haven’t even started yet, Lyddie.” A grin, and then - oh. There he is. 

He is so deliberate, so slow, so caring, so loving with the way he’s exploring you with his mouth, seeing what you respond to and trying out different approaches. He’s in no rush, and he intends to enjoy making you feel good. Hell, if the intermittent moaning is anything to go by, he’s making himself feel good too. 

You aren’t going to last very long, you fear, as his nose traces a line up your soaking folds before his tongue dips into your cunt. You come for the first time as Ben is sucking your clit, occasionally flicking the tip of his tongue over the sensitive, swollen bud until eventually you cry out and find release, gasping his name. 

“That’s it, darling,” he murmurs, marvelling at the way your body reacts when you come. “That’s it. Come for me. I love taking care of you, I love it, I - I love you.”

Once you’ve ridden out your first orgasm he looks into your eyes before returning to the task at hand, this time carefully inserting first one, then two fingers into your cunt. He starts to work your clit again with his tongue. You grip the sheets, mewling with pleasure at the sensation of having him inside you again.

It has never, ever been this good with anyone else.

“You’re so fucking good at this, baby. So good at eating my pussy, making me come -” you pause, moaning as he starts to hook the fingers buried inside you in order to hit the spot even more powerfully and pull another orgasm out of you. You can feel him responding to your praise, humming against your warm core and slowly increasing the pace as he feels you tightening around his fingers. 

You’re so close now, again. “Gonna come again, baby,” you pant, the words becoming harder to find as you near the edge, “never - never come like this before…fuck…you’re so good to me, making me come like thi-“

The silken thread that has been twisting up in your core snaps once more and you come so hard you feel like you might actually tear the sheets, so tight is your grip on the sage green fabric. 

As you’re coming down, breath slowing, you open your eyes and look down between your legs. 

It’s a glorious sight: Ben, his mouth, beard and moustache glistening with your slick, lightly pressing his lips to the soft flesh of your inner thighs. He looks up and meets your gaze, his eyes sparkling as he catches his breath, and he grins. “You look fucking beautiful, Lyd.”

“C’mere,” you murmur, still hazy in the afterglow. You widen your legs, hitching up your knees. “Need you inside me, now.”

He’s on top of you in what feels like the blink of an eye, propping himself on one forearm while he runs his other hand over his hard cock, tip already glistening. 

“Lyddie, I don’t think I’m going to last very long this time -“

You still him with a giggle and a finger on his lips. “I’ve just had two of the best orgasms of my life. You did that. Do whatever you want to me.”

His eyes close, accompanied by a needy groan, and he kisses you deeply as he slowly enters you. You can taste yourself on his lips and tongue, and the sensation makes you feel like you might come again. 

He keeps a close eye on you, making sure you are okay, but has taken your words to heart. He started off fucking you slowly, but your wetness is begging for something harder and he picks up the pace seamlessly as he tries to find his own high.

He’s driving harder and faster into you, feeling your wet pussy already starting to tighten again around him. He grips the back of your knee and pushes your leg up so he can fuck you even deeper. 

Time to use your words.

You mouth his name as he continues to fuck you, and shower him with praise. “You feel so good inside me,” you hiss, “gonna come for you again if you keep fucking me like this.”

He opens his eyes and looks into yours, his dark, chocolatey irises somehow both blissed out and determined. “Jesus, darling, you’re so tight and wet for me,” he pants, sweat glistening on his brow. “T-take it so well in your p-perfect…pussy.” 

As you cry out he slips a hand between your bodies and finds your swollen clit, rubbing a finger over it while he continues to fuck you. 

“C-come on, baby. Come on now. One more?”

And there it is again, your entire body tingling and shuddering with pleasure under his as you come apart. Once you’ve worked through your orgasm, you pepper his chest with soft kisses, trailing the tip of your tongue lightly across his damp skin. 

He sighs with pleasure in response, bringing his head down slightly to your tits to suck intently on each of your pebbled nipples in turn. He leaves gleaming wet traces on your skin as he pulls his mouth away and looks up at you through his dark lashes. 

“Can I turn you over, my love?” 

You nod enthusiastically and shift yourself onto your front, Ben helping you turn over and get into position. He massages the ample flesh of your ass for a moment, almost growling as he does so. 

“You like it, huh?” you ask, turning your head slightly. 

“It’s fucking beautiful, baby. I’m going to fuck you now, okay?”

“Please, love.”

He slips back inside you quickly, the new angle making the two of you groan with pleasure. He was right; he doesn’t last much longer. He moans your name as he comes, bringing his head round to kiss you. 

“I love you, Lyddie.”

The taste of his mouth, the feeling of his broad, beautiful body, of the soft, warm skin of his chest and tummy on your back, of him, still buried deep inside you. The sensations are both devastatingly erotic and incredibly comforting. 

You are safe. You are loved. You are home.

You cuddle together on your couch later that evening, watching Seinfeld reruns after sharing some Chinese takeout. Save for your excursion to the café, and getting up for dinner, you’ve been in bed together all day: kissing and touching and fucking and talking and laughing. 

Ben is resting his head in your lap. Both of you are far more interested in each other than what’s on the TV: you playing with his curls and occasionally lightly stroking at his beard, he reaching a hand up to caress your cheek or press his fingers to your mouth. 

You bend your head forward and kiss the top of his head. “You are so lovely-looking, Benjamin Morales.”

He flushes, ears pinking up a little. “Thanks, darling.”

He pauses a moment, then brings himself back up to a sitting position. “Can I - can I ask you something, Lyddie?”

“Of course, love. Is…is everything okay?”

He smiles softly. “It’s wonderful, Lyd, but I was just wondering. When did you know?”

“When did I know?”

He looks a little embarrassed. “When did you know that, uh, you liked me? More than just as a friend, I mean.”

“Ohhhhh. Well, I was wondering the same.”

“I did ask first…” His gaze is flirtatious and cheeky, and you melt a little inside. 

“Well, I guess - no, I know exactly when. The day of my birthday. You’d come with the coffee, you laughed so hard at one of my stupid stories that your glasses shot off your face, then you said you’d made Aeropress coffee for my birthday.” You smile at the memory. “And then I watched you walk back down the corridor and - yeah. I knew.”

He raises his eyebrows and gives you a little smile. “That coffee really did it for you, huh.”

“Yeah, it was definitely the coffee.” You look away. “There were little things that had been happening in the weeks before that made me feel - well, different. But I…I guess that was the first time I admitted it to myself. If that makes sense?”

He nods, gently, reaching for your hand. 

“Your turn.”

He gives that low, sweet laugh you adore. “Funny thing is, it was kind of around the same time. And yeah, I think I hadn’t wanted to admit it either.” He moves close to you and kisses you on the forehead. “But then I was buying your birthday gifts and your card and - well. Sorta knew I was ‘down bad’, as I once heard one of my nephews saying.”

You giggle. “Never thought I’d hear the phrase ‘down bad’ from your gorgeous lips, Benjamin.”

He grins. “I mean, I thought you were great from day one.”

You nod in agreement. “Same. I felt like I’d known you for years. Fuck. I wish I had met you years ago.”

He wraps an arm around you, bringing you in for a cuddle. “I know, baby. I feel the same, but - maybe this is the exact right time? For the two of us?”

You sigh. “Except I’m not here forever.”

He squeezes you a little tighter. “Cross that bridge when we come to it, Lyd.”

“I love you so much, Ben.” You lift your head and kiss him, hands roaming over his body and pulling him closer still. He reciprocates, tongue swiping at your lips before gaining entrance to your mouth, a hand groping at your breast through your soft, old Sorbonne sweatshirt. 

You make out like teenagers, hands slipping under clothes to feel the bare skin underneath and Ben breaking away from the kiss to start working his mouth down your neck. It’s always been a sensitive spot for you, and once he realised this he took every opportunity to go to town on it. 

You ease him back and move yourself over to straddle him. You quickly slip off your leggings and panties before climbing onto his lap, your inner thighs clenched around his upper legs as you begin to ride the erection that’s clearly visible through his sweats. 

He looks you up and down, a huge smile on his face. “Jesus, fuck, Lyd. Look at you.”

You laugh, and bring your fingers to his waistband. “Can I take these off, baby?”

He nods in agreement, lifting himself up and helping you quickly get his pants off. He strokes his hard length as you move your hips into position above him, ready to take him inside you. You sink onto his cock, moaning with pleasure at the stretch and feeling of fullness. Ben nibbles and bites at your neck as you roll your hips and try to find just the right angle, hands moving to lift off your shirt. 

He hums happily as you pull the sweatshirt over your head and fling it behind you. 

You lean in to whisper in his ear. “I want to make you come like this, love.”

He gasps and cries out your name as you begin to fuck him harder, bringing his mouth to suck on your nipples. 

“You like that?”

“Yeah I fucking do, baby, you’re so good to me. So good.”

He trails a line with his tongue across the soft skin of one of your breasts as you throw your head back and moan with pleasure. 

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Lyddie. So beautiful. The most beautiful.”

You slow it down a little, though it’s no less intense, and keep that pace until you’ve both come, looking into each other’s eyes as you reach your highs, murmuring words of love and affection into each other’s ears. 

Sunday morning is strangely silent, save for the gentle, reassuring sound of Ben breathing beside you. You carefully get out of bed and peek out the window. 

It has snowed heavily overnight, and it’s still falling, the fat flakes dropping noiselessly onto the existing deep blanket below. You love the quiet of the early morning on snow days, as the snowfall provides a kind of soundproofing for an otherwise raucous world.

Behind you, you hear the sheets and comforter rustling as Ben stirs. “Lyd?” His voice is thick and sleepy.

You turn and cross back to bed, climbing back in and nuzzling against his warm body. He wraps an arm around you and caresses your back. 

“We’re not going anywhere today. Snow day.” 

Ben hums contentedly. “Very important we stay in bed then, to keep warm.”

You nod, kissing his chest softly through the fabric of the old T-shirt he’d worn to sleep. “Extremely important. And will have to do things to keep warm in bed.”

He opens one eye and arches an eyebrow. “Oh? Any suggestions?”

You grin mischievously, slipping your hands under his shirt and lifting it up. “Well…there’s something I’ve wanted to do to you all weekend…”

You start to work your way across his chest with your mouth, echoing the way he had kissed your entire body the day before. When you start to move down, bringing your lips and tongue to his belly, he realises what you have in mind.

“Is this okay, Ben?” You look up at him through your lashes. He nods quickly. 

“K-keep going, Lyd, I want it. Want your pretty mouth, so much.”

You push down the comforter so he can see you, and return to your ministrations, experimentally trailing your teeth lightly across his tummy and humming with satisfaction as you realise he likes it when you do that. 

File that one away for future reference. 

You’ve slipped your hand into the loose boxers he wears to bed and are palming his cock, already getting hard under your touch and at the promise of your mouth.

He slips the boxers off and you trace a line with your tongue from his hip to the trail of dark hair leading from his navel. 

“Fuck, please, Lyd, need you -“

You survey him for a moment, sucking in your breath as you admire the length and thickness of his erection. You swipe your tongue over your lips, drawing a low moan from Ben in response.

With one hand lightly holding his balls, you wrap a hand around the base of his cock and guide it between your wet lips and into your mouth. The sensation makes him groan with pleasure, and he puts a hand on the back of your head as you begin to take him as deep as possible into the warmth of your mouth and throat. 

“Touch yourself, baby, please?” he hisses, and you follow the instruction gladly, groaning on his cock as you play with your pussy.

You intersperse deep throating with almost completely pulling him out, with only the head still in your mouth. The air hits his shaft and he gasps as you suddenly take him back into the heat of your mouth, moaning your name and pushing his hips up to make you take even more of him. You hollow your cheeks and trail your tongue around the head of his cock, before moving a hand from his balls to begin stroking the sensitive patch just behind. 

“Fuck, baby! You’re so - so good at this - so fucking good taking me like this.” 

The tip of your tongue traces along the underside of his cock and flicks lightly over the tip. Ben positively whines at the sensation, hips bucking slightly. He opens his eyes to watch the sight of his length, coated in your saliva, disappearing in and out of your mouth. You increase the pace a little and feel his balls start to tighten. 

You ease him out of your mouth and pause to catch your breath, taking in the gorgeous, sexy sight above. His jaw is a little slack, his eyes half open, his chest and tummy rising and falling as he pants with need and arousal.

You continue to stroke him with one hand. “What do you want, my love?” 

He’s almost sobbing as he struggles to string his words together. “You, baby, want…fuck, I’m really close, think I’m gonna -”

The feeling of your warm, wet mouth taking him again tips Ben over the edge and he comes hard, emitting a deep cry as he fills your mouth and throat, his hand still resting on the back of your head. 

You crawl back up the bed and nestle into his arms as he pulls you in for a soft kiss. “Was it okay, then?”

He closes his eyes tightly and groans. “It was fucking incredible. You’re really…good at…that. You’re so…fuck. You’re just so good. In every way.” He cuddles you against his chest. “I love you so much.”

You chuckle and kiss his forehead as you pull away. “I love you too, darling. I like it, y’know - making you feel good like that.” You bring yourself to the edge of the bed and put on your slippers. “Just going to get a drink of water, darling.”

When you come back to bed, carrying two glasses of water, Ben is already fast asleep. He’s got a soft smile on his lips and a look of pure contentment on his face. You slip back in beside him and watch him for a couple of minutes: the little twitches in his eyebrows, the way his mouth is slightly open, revealing a glimpse of his teeth below that soft lower lip, the way his dark lashes rest on his cheeks when his eyes are closed. Slowly, surely, you drift off again.

The buzzing of your phone wakes you for the second time. Half asleep, and cuddled into Ben, you fumble for the phone and look at the screen through bleary eyes. 

Kate

You swipe to answer the call and prop the phone up on your pillow so you can talk to your sister without getting up properly. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Lyd! Why the fuck are you whispering? Where are you? All I can see is a bed, some of your hair…OH MY GOD?!”

“What?! And what do you mean, you can see a bed?”

“Lyd, are you in bed with some - oh. Ohhhh. I see. Hey, Lyd?”

“Mmmmmfff, what?”

“You’re on a video call. Now - is that him?”

Ben is rudely awoken by the sound of you yelling and swearing as you scramble to sit up in bed. He lifts his head from the pillow, hair sticking up and eyes full of sleep. 

“Lyddie? Wha’ happened? Everything okay?”

Kate raises her voice so he can hear her. “Well, hello there!”

“Oh, fuck off, Obi-Wan,” you mutter, panicking at the decidedly unplanned introduction.

 Kate rolls her eyes and huffs. “Ben, right? I’m Kate. I’m Lyd’s sister. Lyd, turn me around - if he’s decent, that is.”

You groan and bury yourself in the pillow as you tilt your phone so Kate can see Ben, and vice versa. “That’s my little sister. That’s Kate, with her impeccable fucking timing and inability to warn me she’s doing a video call.”

Ben sits up and reaches for his glasses so he can see properly. “Mmmmm. Hello, Kate. It’s nice to, uh, meet you. And who’s that there with you?”

“HI AUNTIE LYD! LOOK, NEW BOOK!”

Could this get any more awkward? At least you’re both wearing something. 

You put on a brave face and smile.

“Hi, Cora! That’s such a cool book. Can you show me the cover?”

Your niece, book completely forgotten, peers closely at the screen, tiny face looming on camera. “Who’s that man in bed?”

You can hear Kate laughing like a drain. “That’s Auntie Lyd’s…special friend, Ben. Ben, this is my eldest, Cora.”

Ben, a little sheepish, waves at the camera and smiles. “Hi, Cora. I’m so happy to meet you!”

You try not to think too much about how adorable he is with kids. 

Cora stares at Ben, nonplussed. “What’s your whole big name?”

“She means your full name,” Kate explains. “She’s obsessed. They started learning about them in nursery.”

Ben chuckles lightly. “Well, my whole big name would be Benjamin Ernesto Morales.” He enunciates his name carefully and clearly for the little girl. “Or just Benjamin Morales. But please, you can call me Ben.”

Cora appraises him and tries to repeat Ben’s name. “Benjaman? Benjamoraless?” She nods to herself, satisfied she got it right. “I like your smile, Benjamoraless.”

Ben beams. “Thank you, Cora. I like your smile, too.”

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt your little sleepover any longer,” Kate says, a smug smile on her face. “Lyd, I’ll talk to you later, if you aren’t too busy.” She collapses in giggles. “Ben, seriously - I’m really happy to meet you, even if it’s via a screen. That one is crazy about you.”

You moan in embarrassment and pull the comforter over your face. 

“Nice to meet you too, Kate, and Cora, of course. And I’m crazy about this one, too.”

You peek from under the comforter and catch his eye. He winks and smiles softly.

“BYE AUNTIE LYD BYE BYE BEN” - Cora pauses, trying to replicate Ben’s whole big name as she says goodbye - “BENJA- BENJAMOO!”

The call ends and you emerge from under the comforter and bury your face in your hands. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

Ben wraps his arms around you and kisses the top of your head. “What are you apologising for? You should see what TJ sent me - message after message asking if I’d talked to you, and then, when I said I was staying with you this weekend, well…”

Ben reaches for his phone and finds the message. It’s a video of a sweet-faced, dark haired man you recognise from photos in Ben’s house, dancing and whooping in delight with a smiling woman with a head of purple curls and bright, striking eyes.

“Eyyyyyyyyyyy! Get it, hermano! We told you! We love you!!”

“And that is TJ and his wife, Lucy.”

You giggle. “They’re happy for you. For us, I guess? They look really sweet.”

“They are, truly. And you know, I was glad to meet your sister and your niece. You talk about them all the time, I know you miss them.”

“I know, but - it’s not the classiest way to meet your, uh…I mean, my family.”

He pulls back slightly and looks at you, quirking his mouth. “Your what?”

“Well…what am I? Please don’t say special friend.”

He smiles, though still looks a little confused. “Girlfriend, surely? Unless you have another preferred term. Partner? Lover? Lady friend?” He lowers his voice and wiggles his eyebrows. “Paramour?”

You laugh out loud. “Are we in a mad medieval fantasy novel? I’m very, very happy to be your girlfriend.” A broad smile creeps across your face. “As long as you’re happy to be my boyfriend, of course.”

He looks in your eyes, expression soft and intent. “It’s a fucking honour.”

Ani Sen likes to get in early on a Monday morning, especially near the start of the semester when things are particularly busy. The buildings are usually quiet, and they can have free rein over the copier and the coffee machine in the staff lounge. There’s an added incentive this week, though - Cass is staying with Ani for a few days this week, and they’re keen to free up their evenings as much as possible so they can enjoy the time together. 

Ani has their suspicions about what transpired on Friday night after Ben went after you. They wanted to give you some space, though, simply sending a quick text on Saturday morning:

ANI: You good?

LYDIA: All good 😍

ANI: Fuckin’ finally 😏

They’re enjoying the silence of the staff lounge and the rare pleasure of a fresh cup of coffee from the machine, leafing through their weekly planner and making a mental note to pop in to your office later, when the calm is interrupted by the sound of a man humming what sounds like ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’. The humming gets louder until, finally, Ani looks up and sees Ben literally dancing into the staff lounge. 

He seems completely oblivious to their presence as he reaches into the cupboard, retrieves two mugs, and pours the coffee while bobbing his head, still humming happily. 

“And a very good morning to you, Benjamin.”

Ben turns, slightly startled. “ANI!” He grins. “It is a good morning. Did you have a nice weekend?”

Ani rolls their eyes. “I did, but more importantly - did you?” They lower their glasses and look at Ben, accusingly arching an eyebrow.

He blushes a little, pursing his lips before giving in and smiling broadly. “Uh…”

Ani can’t help but smile in turn, shaking their head exasperatedly. “I’ll take that as a yes.” They gesture as if shooing him out of the room. “I guess the two of you might need some extra caffeine today, huh? Go on, get!”

You grin at the sight of the familiar silhouette at your door. Everything is different - and yet, just as it was. 

“Hi. Got you some coffee, Lyddie.”

Ben places the two mugs on your desk before walking around to your side and kissing you quickly, but tenderly. You let out a little sigh of pure joy and squeeze his hand before he heads back towards the door.

“Thank you, love. You’ve got a 9am, don’t you?”

He nods, sipping his coffee. “Yup. The least popular teaching slot in human history: Mondays at 9.” 

“Pffft. Your students love you, you’ll probably have a full house. Hey - lunch later?”

He smiles. “Let’s grab some of the nice sandwiches from the place on Main Street. What time suits - 12.30?”

“Sounds perfect.”

He stops and takes you in for a moment, before closing the door and walking back down the corridor to his office.

At mid-morning, you’re cracking through your to-do list with unusual speed, headphones on and your favourite playlist turned up loud to keep out any distractions. 

You’re entering student marks from the end-of-semester assignments when the bassy, bluesy riff of Heart’s ‘Magic Man’ kicks in. Lost in your own happy little world, you start to dance in your desk chair, hips moving and head bobbing in time to the rhythm as you sing along enthusiastically.

I could not run away, it seemed

We’d seen each other in a dream

Seemed like he knew me

He looked right through me, yeah

By the first chorus, the marks entry is forgotten as you give the performance your all, for your audience of books and paperwork.

Eyes closed, you can’t help but giggle knowingly to yourself as you sing:

Ooooooh

You’ve got the magic hands

“Yeah, you do, baby,” you murmur to yourself as the guitar solo kicks in and you spin in your chair.

“Enjoying yourself, Professor?”

“FUCK, Ani!” You grip the arms of your chair to steady yourself as Ani stands, perfectly poised, in the doorframe. 

“How…how fucking long have you been there?”

“Since you were singing about trying to get your mama to understand he’s a magic man. Good weekend, then?” They sidle into your office and sit in the armchair in the corner. “Not that I needed to know about his ‘magic hands’.” 

You slump forward. “Oh, god.”

Ani laughs, and you detect the kindness in their voice. “Fuck, Lyd, I’m sorry. Don’t be embarrassed. You’re just…well. You’re happy. Right?”

You lift your head tentatively. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. We are.”

Ani smiles and nods. “We? It’s a we, is it?”

You sit back up as a smile spreads across your face. “Yeah, I guess it is. Hey - thanks for Friday night.”

“Should be Benjamin you’re thanking, no?”

“Wouldn’t have anything to thank him for if you and Jen hadn’t been complete and utter legends and read him the riot act.” They shrug and make a satisfied little pout. “Just doing my job, ma’am. Right, I’m gonna get back to prepping for the afternoon seminars.” They stand up and adjust their perfectly-mismatched statement jewellery. “I’m fucking thrilled for you guys, Lyd. Even if you are two of the biggest idiots in love I’ve ever seen in my fuckin’ life.”

Evan Rhys doesn’t teach on a Monday this semester, so he usually works from home. But he goes a bit stir crazy if he doesn’t leave the house at least once, so he usually walks into the centre of town to grab a coffee after eating lunch. 

He’s standing in the queue of the Barrow branch of the big-name coffee chain, oversized long-line cardigan and padded jacket wrapped around himself, foot tapping, keys jangling, and lanyard (with his staff ID and coffee shop loyalty card) dangling from his hand. Evan is sailing into the new semester with a shock of scarlet hair, inspired by him and David bingeing on Good Omens over the holidays. (Evan considers himself very much a Crowley.)

“Can I take your order and a name, sir?”

He spits it out like machine-gun fire, with practiced ease. “Yeah that’s a venti five shot half-caf iced espresso with hazelnut syrup and a DROP - a DROP - of heavy cream for Evan to go please thanks”

The staff member nods and prints out the coffee order label, affixing it to Evan’s rainbow glitter reusable tumbler, purchased during the chain’s most recent Pride campaign. 

Evan moves down the counter to wait for his order, gazing aimlessly out the window of the store at the passing traffic on Main Street. A couple, wrapped up warm in winter coats and soft, knitted hats, emerges hand in hand from the good sandwich place just across the street, looking completely besotted with each other.

“Awwww,” Evan says to himself. He’s a sucker for that kind of Hallmark Channel holiday small-town romance movie shit. And then something gives him pause, and he reaches into the pocket of his coat and retrieves his oversized, clear-framed glasses.

“WHAT in the FUCK?!” He turns to the barista. “Is that gonna be much longer?”

They shrug. “You want half-caf, it takes longer, sir.”

Evan grits his teeth. “FINE. I will be back. I need to speak to those people urgently.”

You lean in for another kiss, arms wrapped snugly around Ben’s waist as he holds you close. “I probably taste all garlicky after the sandwich, love.”

He laughs and shrugs. “Meh, so do I. Better kiss you again just to see, though. Just to be sure.”

You kiss again with a smile on both your faces, oblivious to the world around you - until a voice jolts you back to reality.

“EX-FUCKING-CUSE ME?”

Evan’s gaze flits from you to Ben and back again, his mouth hanging open in astonishment. 

“Aw, hi Evan! I didn’t see you in work today, I -“

“I work from HOME on a MONDAY this SEMESTER, LYDIA now WHAT THE FUCK? Are you - is this…?” He scrabbles for his phone, hastily swiping at the screen.

Ben looks at you, a little concerned. “Evan, what are you doing?”

“Hold it, Benjamin.” You hear David’s voice as he picks up the call. “Hiiiiii baby how are you miss you! LOOK AT THIS! LOOK at this sneaky, sneaky pair!” He turns the phone round so you and Ben are visible to David, who smiles and waves. 

“Hey, Ben, Lydia! I’m guessing you let the light in, huh.”

You blush and lean into Ben’s chest. “Yeah. Thank you, David.”

“You KNEW??” Evan turns the phone back round, staring indignantly at his boyfriend. 

“Not that they had actually got together, but…”

David is interrupted by the barista emerging from the coffee shop with Evan’s iced coffee. Evan thanks them profusely before turning his attention back to you, Ben, and - via FaceTime - David. 

“Well, I cannot believe this is how I find out. I mean we all knew you were madly in dork love or whatever but I thought I would have been informed of this.” 

“Ani didn’t really know exactly what had happened until this morning, Ev. I’m really sorry, you were away for the weekend and we…” You look up at Ben, who’s clearly chewing on the inside of his cheek in order to stop himself laughing. “We were pretty busy, um, catching up.”

Evan sighs, takes a deep sip of his coffee, and closes his eyes. “Fine. Fine. But I expect to be kept abreast of any further developments.” He looks at his phone and ends the call. “Babe, I’ll call you later.”

You nod and reach out to give him a hug. 

“It’s just…” Evan’s expression changes, softening as he looks at the two of you. “It’s just that I fucking care about the two of you. And I’m so fucking happy that you worked your stupid nerd shit out and realised you were crazy about each other. Truly.” He embraces the two of you, before standing back as if he’s waving you off on a long journey. “I love you guys. Now go forth and be dorks together forever, or whatever.”

You and Ben turn in the direction of campus, hand in hand, leaving Evan and his mind-bogglingly complex coffee watching after you like a proud mother. 

Evan reaches into his pocket and digs out his phone again, tapping out a message at high speed. 

EVAN: The love was requited…

ANI: …They were just fucking idiots.

“Were we meant to tell everyone?” Ben asks as you near the college. 

You laugh. “No, I think they were just really invested. Hence Evan and his ‘go forth and be dorks’ thing.”

Ben smiles. “‘Be dorks together forever’, you mean.”

You smile and nod, squeezing his hand to try to dispel the worry that creeps into your brain when you think about the future and about what happens when you have to return to your ‘real’ job, to your ‘real’ home. Even if, in this moment, the thing that feels most real and true to you is the handsome, kind, loving man holding your hand in the crisp January cold.

(bookshelf divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more; other dividers by @cafekitsune)

Further A/N: It's such a bop and felt like the perfect song for Lyd to be singing along to 'alone'. Thanks, @julesonrecord, for pointing out the line about his 'magic hands'. 😉