#and that this training is the start of achieving that

[logos0]

From Ice to Fire

Leah Williamson x Reader Enemies to Lovers | Happy Ending

The wheels of the plane touched down at Heathrow, and the hum of the engines died as you peered out the window at the grey skies over London. It was a far cry from the snow-dusted landscapes of Scandinavia that you called home. But here you were, ready to embark on the next chapter of your footballing career. Arsenal FC had been a dream for years, and now you were one of their newest signings.

As you stepped out of the taxi at the training grounds, nerves prickled at your skin. You had achieved so much to get here, yet a voice at the back of your mind whispered that the hardest part was still to come. Meeting the team, proving your worth, adapting to the intensity of English football—all of it loomed large.

The team welcomes you warmly on your first day at Meadow Park. The first person to greet you was Beth Mead, her grin wide and her energy infectious. "Ah, the new signing! Heard you’ve got a killer left foot. Let’s hope it’s true." Vivianne Miedema followed with a calm nod, and Kim Little, the captain, offers a handshake that carries a quiet authority. But then there’s Leah Williamson.

The Lionesses’ captain greets you with a polite, almost perfunctory nod. Her reputation precedes her: confident, charismatic, a born leader. But something about her intensity feels off. The Lionesses’ captain carried herself with a quiet intensity. Her eyes assessed you from head to toe, and her polite nod felt more like a formality than genuine welcome.

For the rest of the day, her presence loomed. During the first drills, she was the one who barked out directions, corrected positioning, and, more than once, seemed to single you out for criticism.

"You need to stay tighter to your mark," she said sharply after a defensive drill.

You clenched your jaw. "Maybe I wouldn’t have to if you’d tracked your runner."

Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, the air between you crackled with tension.

It was going to be a long season.

Your integration into the squad is smooth… except when it comes to Leah. The rivalry between you two grew over the weeks. On the surface, everything seemed fine. You worked well enough together during games and even exchanged the occasional word of praise when necessary. But in training, it was a different story. She seemed to find faults in everything you do. A misplaced pass? She’s the first to point it out. A moment’s hesitation on the field? She’s already barking instructions.

"That’s not how we press here," Leah said during one particularly gruelling session, her tone clipped. "Maybe in Scandinavia, you can take your time," she snaps after one particularly tense drill, "but here, we move fast."

You wiped sweat from your brow, shooting her a glare. "I’ve been playing football since I could walk. I think I know how to press."

"Not in the WSL, you don’t," she snapped back. You glare at her, chest heaving from exertion. "Maybe if you passed the ball sooner, I wouldn’t have to clean up your mistakes."

The tension between you was palpable, and the team could feel it. Beth smirked knowingly, muttering, "Oh, this is gonna be fun to watch."

During the next weeks, your Scandinavian coolness continued to clash with her fiery intensity at every turn. The team, much to your dismay, seemed to find your friction entertaining. Beth Mead started taking bets on when the two of you would finally explode, and even the usually reserved Vivianne Miedema would smirk when you and Leah squared off during drills.

It wasn’t that you disliked her—at least, that’s what you told yourself. But her constant nitpicking, her relentless need to push, got under your skin like no one ever had before.

And yet, you couldn’t help but notice her. The way she commanded the field with such confidence, the way she celebrated every goal like it was her first, the way her laugh—rare as it was—lit up the room during team dinners.

But noticing wasn’t the same as liking.

One evening after training, you stayed late to practice free kicks. The floodlights cast long shadows across the empty pitch as you lined up ball after ball, aiming for the top corner.

"You don’t rest much, do you?"

The voice startled you, and you turned to see Leah leaning against the goalpost, arms crossed.

"And you don’t know when to leave people alone," you shot back, though your tone lacked its usual bite.

To your surprise, she didn’t respond with a snarky remark. Instead, she grabbed a ball and joined you. The two of you fell into a rhythm, each taking turns at the goal. There was an unspoken competition in the air, but it felt different this time—less antagonistic, more playful.

When you finally stopped, both of you breathless, Leah gave you a small, genuine smile. "You’re not bad," she said.

"Coming from you, that almost sounds like a compliment," you replied, earning a quiet laugh.

For the first time, the tension between you seemed to ease.

The match against Chelsea was a turning point. Arsenal was down 1-0, and the clock was running out. You intercepted a pass from Sam Kerr and drove forward, weaving through defenders before threading the ball to Leah, who was perfectly positioned. She scored with a thunderous strike, and the stadium erupted.

Before you knew it, Leah was running toward you, a wide grin on her face. She wrapped her arms around you, her excitement contagious. "That was all you," she said breathlessly, her forehead briefly touching yours.

For the first time, her words felt entirely sincere, and something shifted between you.

After the Chelsea game, the team celebrated with a night out. You found yourself seated next to Leah, and to your surprise, the conversation flowed easily. She asked about your life in Scandinavia, and you told her about the snowy winters, the northern lights, and the small village where you first fell in love with football.

"You’re full of surprises," she said softly, her eyes searching yours.

"So are you," you replied, feeling a warmth you hadn’t expected.

A few weeks later, after a late-night training session, you and Leah ended up alone on the balcony of the team’s hotel. The city lights glittered below as silence stretched between you.

"I was wrong about you," Leah said finally, her voice quiet.

You turned to her, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I thought you were just another hotshot here to make a name for yourself. But you’re more than that. You care about the team. You push me to be better." She hesitated, her usual confidence faltering. "And I… I think I like you."

Your breath caught, and for a moment, the world seemed to stop.

"I like you too," you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper.

She leaned closer, her hand brushing yours. When she kissed you, it was soft and tentative, as though testing the waters. But when you kissed her back, it was with all the passion and fire that had burned between you from the start.

The shift from enemies to lovers wasn’t seamless. You still bickered during training, but now it was laced with humour rather than hostility. The team noticed the change immediately.

"You two are ridiculous," Beth teased one day. "Just get a room already."

Leah rolled her eyes, but her hand found yours under the table.

On the field, your partnership flourished. Leah’s leadership and your creativity drove the team to new heights, and Arsenal climbed to the top of the league. Off the field, your bond deepened through late-night conversations, stolen moments, and an unspoken understanding that you had found something rare.

The season ended with Arsenal lifting the trophy. As confetti rained down, Leah pulled you into her arms, her smile brighter than ever.

"We make a good team," she said, her forehead resting against yours.

"We always did," you replied with a grin.

In that moment, surrounded by your teammates and the deafening cheers of the crowd, you knew this was just the beginning—for Arsenal, for your career, and for you and Leah.

From enemies to lovers, from ice to fire—you had found your home.

[askthefamous8]

Even if I haven't been very active lately, 9 years is still pretty significant- happy birthday to the blog!

So like Percy up there I'm gonna do so dome reflecting. This blog's where I've often done that for some reason, but here's the tl'dr for blog related stuff.

• I would like to keep drawing stuff but feeling generally unsure in myself, and I'm wondering if all the years of fandom harrassment have caught up with me • I have one big project in mind, I've been dipping my toe into what I'd need to do it. No spoilers but it was one of the first things I played around with this series, so do with that what you will • If I can keep myself drawing, I want to use more of the original source material since I'm struggling with original ideas. So stuff like redraws, hOpEfULlY even animatics, just like what originally got me so into trains yknow? Because that's fun and sparks joy. And that always goes down a treat with you guys so bonus • As always I appreciate you guys not coming after me for being so inconsistent

The rest of this is me doing what Percy's doing in the drawing and reflecting, as there is indeed much 2 think about. It's also a little sad and venty so, there's your warning there.

.

Ok so obviously a busy year, we moved into our new house that we actually own, I spent most of the year planning our wedding, and then got married. Big stuff. Also! I came off antidepressants in the summer. I've been on them for...basically as long as this blog, 6 months after I started it I think. Which also means I'd been on antidepressants my entire adult life. Feels like a big deal and I guess I'm still adjusting.

Another big thing, but sad, is that my dog died about two weeks ago. If you follow me on twitter you'll have seen her but she did make an appearance here a few Halloweens ago

I got her when she was 13 and had her 8 years after that. So that's been difficult. Unrelated to that (probably), but I just feel...really mediocre. And before you point out the obvious, this has been present even before I came off antidepressants. But yeah just... mediocrity. In myself as a person, how I look, what I draw, my whole life really (barring my marriage thankfully). What have I achieved? I'm 26, I'm not working, I don't feel well, my art isn't good (I don't think so anyway- like yeah it's technically fine I guess but it's not, and has never been, very stand-out or impressive). And lately art doesn't bring me the same joy it once did, and I'm wondering if all the years of harrassment from this fandom (mostly the twitter side, tumblr's been pretty good to me) has finally caught up with me and put me off the whole thing. Or worse, that I just don't have as much of an interest in it anymore. I don't think I'll ever be like "ok yep I'm officially done with this blog" because I'm so stubborn but idk. I want to make things and be creative, I want to make more train art, but it doesn't feel the same. I don't know what's wrong. What do you listen to? What you want vs what you feel? I still enjoy train stuff, I love going to Awdry Ex every year. It's been like this for awhile. It's not even like I have a strong feeling of what I'd rather be doing as far as careers go. And even if I did, oh yeah I'm sure my two degrees in animation will be very relevant in another field (sarcasm). I feel adrift. My sails are open but there is just no wind. Planning my wedding gave me something to do and work on and just, feel useful but now that that's over I feel lost again. Losing my dog, who had become the center of my life because of how vulnerable she had become, hasn't helped.

On the more creative side of things, I also don't really know what to do with this blog's story either. The show's ended as far as most people are concerned, and I kiiinda wrote myself into a corner because once Thomas turns 18 he's going to leave for university, and that sets off this whole arc with James but basically the problem is it involves characters leaving and for some reason that feels like a no-no here. Don't get me started on the timeline lol. But Thomas works on a railway on Sodor, that's how it has to be...right? I guess I'm sort of at a crossroads of, ok do I want this to be close to the source material, and thus easily digestible to newcombers? Or do I want to make it more and more my thing and distanced from the source material? I doubt there's many new people coming since the series ended. And even then, there's a lot more humanization artists around now than when I started, so it's not like I'm filling a niche anymore. Just to be clear it's fine and also good that there's more humanization artists, variety is good, I just don't feel as "needed" anymore (which is 100% in my head and not an actual role that belongs to me or something). I started this blog when I was 17, so my interests and what I relate to have changed obviously. The character designs certainly have. It's never followed a super rigid story plan, but the core of it has always been the central cast doing things on Sodor. I however have always had a scene/project/animatic/whatEver in mind for when this 'series' would '''officially''' ''''end''''. But then what comes after that? I've always tried to run this blog like they are Real People that You interact with. But in real life there is no ending to the story, there's always more stuff to come. You get married, and it's wonderful, and then life goes on. The credits never roll. So maybe that's what I'm having trouble coping with...the progression of time. Ah, my old nemesis. I've always had trouble with letting go of things. There's nothing to say that I couldn't still draw stuff after the series "ends". I guess any story after Thomas leaves could be like... a sequel series or a spin off or something. Spin-off of a spin-off. Famous 8 All Grown Up. Famous 8 Qurter Life Crisis. Who knows. I certainly don't.

I've also been really into an original project unrelated to this but those don't get as much attention and while I'd like to do something with it one day, I don't feel very confident in being able to make that happen right now. But you know... as far my as art not being super spectacular goes... I think my individual talent has always been is my ideas, like the writing side of things. And then brought to life with my art, which normally isn't anything to write home about but is good enough to convey the idea and be not-awful to look at, lifts both of them beyond what they were individually. Maybe that's what I should focus on. Maybe that's wishful thinking.

So....idk. Idk what I'm doing but I'm trying to be gentle on myself and just let myself continue to drift, to heal from this heavy loss, and then in the New Year I'll try and pick myself up. Then there will be no more big once-in-a-lifetime events coming up, no more just-moved-into-a-house-and-oh-no-there's-a-bunch-of-things-that-need-attention-NOW scenarios, and no more big holidays for awhile. I guess we'll see.

If you read all of this I am so sorry but also thank you for reading my ramblings. And thank you for being around, whether that's been for a few months or for several years, but especially if it's been several years

[maxrelaxer]

whats the best way to train myself to always be eating? :))

2 things that I think are good, straightforward places to start by manipulating how your brain interprets cues from your body:

1. Don't eat when you're hungry, eat until you're stuffed and uncomfortably full. Wait until the uncomfortableness passes and you get the slightest bit of room, then eat as much as possible again until you physically can't. Rinse and repeat. Over time you'll completely fuck up your body's hunger cues, and your appetite will increase pretty dramatically. And by then you'll also be used to grazing all through the day to keep yourself topped up.

2. Anytime you're horny or getting yourself off, make sure there's food involved. Always be eating when touching yourself, even if you've just eaten. By doing this you'll Pavlov yourself so that any time you're horny you also get hungry, and vice versa

Best of luck, and I hope you achieve the intended effect (morbid obesity) :)

[bean-chaointe]

I enrolled in INELDA's death doula training course today, and I'm glad I did so with a full 2.5 months before the live sessions of the training because that gives me more time to step very, very carefully through the absolute minefield that is my own grief as I process through the recorded 'pre-work' sessions.

Even just THINKING about the training has gotten me twitchy af.

I'm still extremely wary of the idea of offering death and funerary support as part of my scope of service, given the way my grief has calcified over the past 15 years into a hard shell that simultaneously flinches away from the slightest touch, but grief is a normal and natural emotion that commonly comes up in peer counseling even when the sessions is focused on another matter. Mostly I'm hoping that this will crack said shell in a way that therapy never managed, basically by coming at it sideways from the familiar perspective of being a service provider and therefore be less "threatening" to my hypervigilant brain, and that it will do so before I end up being the end-of-life caregiver for a parent for the second time.

GIMME THOSE COUNSELING TOOLS AND IDEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK BEFORE I HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN /GRABBY HANDS

[mymarifae]

WHY ARE THEY GROWING UP WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKKKKK

[stephaniedola]

kinda nervous to do leg day at the actual gym ngl, like doing upper body at the gym rather than at home for the other day for the first time (!!) was a little intimidating but overall fine... but lower body is just so much messier

[000png]

i'm starting to look into classes i might want to take next year and like. i feel like i should be chill but i also kinda want to go all in and take a not chill class

[metastablephysicist]

thinking about 2023.

i read 15 books this year. not a ton, but a good amount for how many things i have going on. a good chunk of it was lesbian pulp from the fifties (i don't get why people were frothing at the mouth for beebo brinker. between the domestic violence and dog murder. well. she sucks).

didn't get any papers published, although there's one in the works. i survived another two semesters of grad school. made friends with people in my field from other universities and labs. i still need to finish this one coding project i had.

didn't do as much with the union as i would have liked to. hoping i will have more free time next year.

in that same vein, i wish i had spent more time with my friends this year. so much of my time went to work and school. i fit in some camping/hiking/etc over school breaks but i wish there had been more of it.

i did do some things i'm proud of! i got married and had a nice little party. ran a marathon. pr in the half marathon. dog training has been slow but successful.

in 2024 i'm going to try to limit time online, cook more (& different foods), and get better at going to the dentist (something i am currently very good at avoiding. hate the dentist. not the actual person but like. the experience). feels like very easy and achievable goals. we'll see :)

[grasslandgirl]

OHHHHH KARNA LOVE CONFESSION LETTER IS SOSOSOOOOO GOOD. YEAH I CAN FUCK WITH THAT SO MUCH. KARNA ON HER DEATH BED MAKING SAVING THROWS GETTING CARRIED OUT OF THE MYCELLIUM AND THE CAVES FIRST BY DELI AND THEN WHEN HE STARTED STUMBLING, OVERTAKEN BY THE POISON, CARRIED BY COLIN; OUT INTO THE WSRM LIGHT OF THE BULB SHE DIDNT BELIEVE IN. KARNA WHO BARELY MANAGES TO GET STABILIZED BETWEEN THE WOUNDS AND THE POISON AND HER OWN ROT BUT SHES BREATHING. BARELY. LAYING ON THE GROUND BLEEDING AND PALE FROM THE POISON AND THE ROT AS THEY ALL TRY TO CATCH THEIR BREATH AND AMANGEAUX CASTS A LITTLE SOMETHING BUT IT DOESNT HELP MUCH BC KARNA IS SO POORLY OFF AND THEY FINALLY MANAGE TO GET HER BACK TO THE ENCAMPMENTS AND FIND A BULBIAN CLERIC OF SOME KIND (that deli threatens, voice shaking, hand empty without his long-abandoned spear, eyes red and bloodshot and colin hovering like a ghost at his shoulder, into silence and compliance despite karna's unnatural poisoning and the rot overtaking her body- clear evidence of the hungry one) THAT MANAGES TO HELP STABILIZE KARNA A LITTLE MORE BUT SHES STILL OUT. STILL UNCONSCIOUS. AND THEY ALL SIT AT HER BEDSIDE, LISTEN TO HER FAINT RATTLING BREATHS. AMANGEAUX NEVER LETS GO OF HER HAND AND DELI CAN'T BRING HIMSELF TO LOOK AWAY AND ALL THREE OF THEM REMEMBERING THE MISSING MEMBER OF THEIR GROUP WHOM THEY COULDN'T GET BACK OUT OF THE CAVES AND. AND EVENTUALLY COLIN TELLS DELI TO GO BACK TO HIS CAMP AND REFRESH HIMSELF AND CHANGE OUT OF THE DUSTY SPORES-COVERED ARMOR, STILL BLOODY FROM BATTLE, AND THATS WHEN DELI FINDS THE LETTER KARNA LEFT FOR HIM. AND. AND. AAUGHGGUGGG. DELI WHO WAS BETRAYED BY AND THEN IMMEDIATELY LOST ARIANA AND THEN ALMOST LOST KARNA AND COLIN WHO'S THERE BESIDE HIM BUT SO COLD AND SO LOST AND DELI IS. AUGHGRUG. THERES SOMETHING HERE AND MAYBE ITS JUST FOR ME BUT ITS HERE.

[whentherewerebicycles]

crashed around 10:30 last night / woke up at 5:30 still feeling pretty wrung out. but I honestly think it’s just the intense comedown from *gestures vaguely* everything—lots of emotional ups and downs this spring plus extensive travel and trying to engineer a baby or whatever. I think having the signed offer will make me feel a lot better, as I’ll be able to switch fully into excited looking-ahead mode. but oh man… I am so excited. I am sure that, like all jobs, this job has its own issues and frustrations that will reveal themselves in time, but mostly I just feel this immense, immense wave of relief about getting to do values-aligned work that uses my knowledge/creativity/skills. I’m also nervous but excited about moving into a real leadership position for the first time. my bleh current job felt like such a massive step back in terms of responsibilities and agency—largely because of my lead’s micromanagement and refusal to trust me with anything, but also just because I think the role was much more junior than I realized going into it. ahhhhhh I’m just SO EXCITED to get to work with smart people who care about learning on cool projects that help students. I’m even excited to figure out who the difficult eccentric academic personalities are ahaha. god and I hope I make friends!!!!! work friends!!!!! I got really good vibes from the two women I’ll be working with most closely and I am also excited to work with the two profs who were on the committee, who seem to have one of the most delightful odd couple friendships I’ve ever seen. just!!!! ahhh!!!!!!!!! and I’m gonna be people’s BOSS for the first time so that is going to be a whole new fascinating skillset to learn!!!!!! ok I’m rapidly talking myself out of my post-stress haze and into giddy excitement ahaha so I think maybe today I’ll spend some time journaling about the future to gently help ease myself out of the “work is pointless misery” mindset and into the kind of headspace I have been longing to get back to (work is a joy! work is hard but gives me purpose and meaning!!). whooHOOO let’s GO!!!!!!!!!!!

[samaeldire]

So I forgot to tell yall...

I'M FINALLY GONNA BE A TATTOO ARTIST!!!

[angelcloves]

i wanna start like. a studyblr but im literally a garbo college student surviving on monster energy and warm showers and also i do not take notes or study. study tips for mfs who dont give a shit

[yo9urt]

finally we are entering the Majima Zone (the post-dinner pre-bed hours that are exclusively designated as video game time)

[tardis--dreams]

Last week my most beloved colleague said to me "it continues to surprise me how much empathy for higher mammals you carry within you" and i still haven't recovered from that

[l0rd-0f-c0ws]

AWWW TY !!!! I AM SO HAPPY YOU LIED IT I CANT EVEN DESCRIBE HOW AWESOME THAT IS TO ME :DDD

ACHIEVEMENT GET: MUTUAL IS NOW READING/WATCHING THE THING I RECOMMENDED TO THEM

[khajiitclaws]

I’m on that ffxiv grind