#and he said he's training quad loop??

[resssistance]

Oda Nobunari / FS 'Princess Mononoke' / 2022 Osaka Prefectural National Selection

photo by Ueyama Junichi and Kaizuka Taichi

[pretending-ican-write]

Cowboy Up - Pt.11

A/N: Hey guys just letting you know what the situation in terms of updates going forwards. I am making no guarantees as to updates from now until June because I am at the end of my final year of uni and gonna be v busy with assignments. This won't be going anywhere though and I will have plenty time in the summer to work on it.

As always feel free to send in any requests for this pairing, I likely won't get round to them for a few months but know that I see them and I love you all for engaging with this story which is now nearly 15,000 words! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list.

Pairing: Ryan (Yellowstone) x Dutton!reader

Previous part - Next part

---

Once all the morning jobs had been seen to, everyone had congregated in the corral for some fun roping the dummy on the back of the quad.  They’d invited hands from a neighbouring ranch for a bit of friendly competition, although it stopped being friendly the moment bets had started flying.  Most of the hands were betting on themselves, obviously confident in their own abilities, but a few from the Yellowstone had put money on y/n who had partnered with the other ranch’s female hand, despite the shouts of ‘traitor’ coming from her co-workers.  The only response she’d dignified them with was a middle finger and a guarantee to wipe the floor with them all.  Ryan and Lloyd had just had their turn when she lined up to take their shot.

Y/n exchanged a look with the other hand, getting a determined nod in return before she looked at Ethan on the quad and gave him the signal.  The quad didn’t go as fast as a steer so the horses could comfortably lope after it as opposed to going flat out like they normally would.  Their horses followed it easily and she held steady as the other hand swung her rope over the horns quickly off the mark.  Once the horns were done, y/n took her turn swinging the loose rope over head before aiming it at the back legs and hitting her mark.  As soon as the loop had tightened, she shifted her weight in the saddle back to which Comanche responded instantly by sliding to a halt in the sand.

Cheers came up from the onlookers at their speed, Rip turning to rib those who’d just gone, “y’all just got beat by some women.”

Lloyd turned to Ryan, “you rope like shit.”

“You’re the one that missed!” He defended

Rip rode up to them, “y’all rope like shit.  I’m gonna take those women with me today and y’all can just go fucking pack it in.”

Y/n loped down the arena to stop in front of them, “you should really learn to never bet against me.  Jake and Colby made smart choices, I expect my share of your winnings boys!”

“Ladies think you can go two for two?” Rip asked to which they both nodded, “get your ass in there let’s go.”

They watched as the girls reset and ran behind the quad to catch the plastic steer again with practised ease.  Lloyd rolled his eyes at the ever present fond look Ryan had in his eyes whenever he watched his girlfriend.  At this point everyone in the bunkhouse had figured out they were together, it was just a matter of time until Rip worked it out and he did not envy Ryan when that happened.  The foreman’s approval likely meant more to her than any of her family’s did (except maybe what Lee had given her with his gentle teasing in the trailer).  Next to him said foreman was looking at the girl with a similarly affectionate smile.

“You’re a soft touch when it comes to her aren’t you,” Lloyd said to him.

He kept his eyes trained ahead, “I don’t know what you’re suggestin’ Lloyd.”

“Bulllshit.  I know you put this together today so her mind wasn’t stuck on her mom all day,” he pointed out.

Rip chuckled, “don’t act like you ain’t the softest on her.”

-/-/-

For the first time in a while, y/n had denied joining the hands in the bunkhouse and instead chose to have dinner in the main house.  Part of her had hoped that her family might be able to have one normal dinner on the anniversary of their mother’s death but she should have remembered that the Dutton’s were never capable of normal, especially when it came to the dinner table.  When she’d reached the house, the living room was full of men in suits surrounding Beth and her father, clearly some political play that she’d made clear not to involve her in.  Jamie was sulking on the porch listening to the chatter so she decided to ignore him, in no mood to deal with her older brother acting like a child.

Instead she sought out Gator for dinner, which he was happy to accommodate considering she’d brushed off pancakes that morning, before having a shower and settling on the opposite side of the porch to Jamie where the talking didn’t reach her ears.  As she listened to the noises of the mountains surrounding her and the comforting whickers from the horses, she indulged in the only alcohol she ever did.  One beer, on the evening of the anniversary of her mother’s death.  Evelyn’s favourite beer.  It wasn’t even something she particularly liked the taste of but it made her feel a little bit connected to her mom as she imagined all the gossip they might have been exchanging if the horse never crushed her.  Y/n refused to believe John would have done what he did to Kayce if their mom had been around to talk sense into him.

“I thought you didn’t drink sweetheart,” a familiar voice came out of the darkness to interrupt her ‘what ifs’.

Y/n opened her eyes to see her boyfriend in front of her, “just the one for mom each year.  Ain’t even that good but it's hers.”

She watched as he came across the grass in front of the porch to lean on the railing in front of her.  Ryan tipped his hat at her teasingly which made y/n giggle.

“What’s got you so close to the house cowboy?  Aren’t they missing you in poker,” she joked.

He stuck his tongue out at her, “you ain’t much better at it than me sweetheart.  Something told me I shouldn’t let you be alone tonight.”

“The house is full of fools tryna get into bed with my father and Jamie’s out here somewhere sulking like a child!” Y/n said the last bit louder in hopes that her brother would get the message and go inside.

Ryan laughed at her lack of subtlety, “Jamie can stay out here for all I care.  If everyone in the house is busy suckin’ dick I doubt they’ll notice us sneaking up to your room.”

“Ry are you suggesting I sneak my boyfriend up to my bedroom like a teenager,” she giggled.

He smirked, “well you did say you never got to sneak around when you were a teenager it seemed only fair that I give you the chance to do it now.  We’ll both be at the barn in the morning before anyone here is even considering waking up.  You know you want to say yes sweetheart.”

“You make a convincing argument.  Come on then cowboy.”

Ryan climbed over the porch railing to take the hand y/n was offering before letting her lead him into the house.  He made a joke about it being the first time he’d be going through the front door which prompted his girlfriend to elbow him in the ribs.  When they entered, she closed the door as quietly as the wood would allow before gesturing for Ryan to take his boots off.  Jamie must have heard his sister because he’d moved his sulking to the kitchen where he was sat at the counter burning a hole into his laptop screen.  Y/n turned, putting her finger to her lips, before darting past the kitchen entryway and to the stairs.  Both of them made it up to her bedroom, making sure the door was shut before bursting into laughter.  Y/n felt lighter than she had all day, the weight of the day finally off her shoulders.

She swiped the hat off of his head, putting it on her damp hair with a smirk.  Ryan watched her carefully as she moved around the room to put her boots away.  When she turned back around he was still by the door, leant against the wall with his arms crossed, eyes trained on his hat still on her head.

“You know what you’re doing there sweetheart?” He asked.

Y/n shrugged, “you askin’ if I know the cowboy hat rule, Ry?”

“Do you?” He pushed off the wall to stand in front of her and placed his hands on her hips gently.

She slid her hands up to rest on his shoulders, “I been around buckle bunnies since I was 15 Ry, course I know the cowboy hat rule.”

-/-/-

The next morning, y/n was awoken to the loud noise of her alarm blaring from her bedside table.  When she tried to turn it off she found herself too far away to reach her phone.  Pulling herself further into consciousness, y/n became aware of an arm around her waist and the feeling of Ryan’s lips against her shoulder.

“That’s so fuckin’ loud,” he complained.

She laughed as he let her go to turn the alarm off, “how else do you expect me to wake up before the sun rises?”

“Can’t remember the last time I used an alarm, normally just get woken up by the others getting up,” he explained.

They stayed wrapped up in the warmth of the bed for a few minutes before forcing themselves out of the comfort to get ready for work.  Ryan watched as his girlfriend got dressed before putting her hat on his head, not his this time, and followed her down the stairs.  Y/n slipped into the kitchen to get two apples, brushing off Gator’s questioning as to why she was taking more than one.  After grabbing her jacket from the peg, they walked down the drive to the barn in comfortable silence.

Y/n stopped part way there when she saw the cattle trucks and her dad stood outside, “shit he should still be asleep.”

“Don’t stress I’ll go round the corral and go in the back to the bunkhouse,” Ryan reassured her, dropping a kiss to her cheek, “in a bit sweetheart.”

She watched him go with a smile before taking a breath and steeling herself to speak to John without caffeine.

“Fell asleep in a stall?” She greeted him outside the barn, noting the shavings stuck to the back of his jacket.

John looked over at his daughter, “what you doing down here so early?  The hands won’t be out for a bit.”

“I’ll go get Comanche and ride up to meet these at the pasture,” Lucy tactfully ignored her dad’s question, “tell Rip to bring me coffee when they come up.”

Taglist: @child-of-of-the-sunshine @kendallroydefender @qardasngan @thecobraghost @little-diable

[davenporttf]

Emascatine

Yo, what's up? My names Phil and I'm the quarterback for Boston College. Go Eagles! I love the sport and I'm stoked I get to play QB.

I gotta be honest with you though, I've been having a slump lately out on the field. I haven't been at the top of my game. I've been working out every day but no matter how much training I put in, I'm getting sacked left and right.

I stopped by a local vitamin shop to switch up my preworkout. I don't think this whey stuff is really giving me the boost I need, ya know? The guy at the shop seemed like he was into me. I caught him multiple times checking me out as I was walking up and down the aisles. Not that I care really, a compliment is a compliment but dude could be less obvious about it. He eventually took a break from creepin to ask me what I was looking for in particular.

I explained how I wanted to switch up my preworkout, and he said he had just the thing. It was this black generic bottle with the brand name "Hit Fit." The slogan underneath it said "It'll hit you the first time guaranteed!" I didn't recognize the brand so I looked at the active ingredient, Emascatine. I've never heard of it either but the guy at the shop said it was a new type of drug only sold through his shop.

I was weary of trying the brand but the prospect of fast results was exactly what I needed right now. I caved and decided if I didn't see any results, I'd return it later.

I stopped home and whipped up the preworkout shake and threw it in my bag along with the bottle in case one of the teammates needed some. I made it to the locker room just in time, and setup in front my locker. I took out my preworkout and took my first sip. It tasted like fruit loops which was a nice changeup from my last powder that tasted like crap. I took more sips and really liked the taste so I started to down it.

"So tasty!" my voice cracked as I said it. "You good Phil?" asked my teammate, Drew.

"I'm good, sweetie!" The words just left my mouth without a thought. My voice had raised several octaves and my face was as red as ever realizing what I said. Drew looked at me in amusement. "haha okay, babe" thinking it was a joke.

I refocus on getting dressed, and pulled on my compression pants over my jock. My skin felt so sensitive in the moment. The tightness of the pants felt so good on my legs. I rubbed my legs up and down feeling the spandex material stretch. I was getting aroused by watching my quads flex in them. My eyes were closed sitting on the bench while I rubbed my inner thighs. An inaudible moan came from my mouth as I felt my dick hardened.

What was happening to me?! I look over the Hit Fit bottle and notice a tiny disclaimer at the bottom. "Emascatine may cause side effects of heightened sensitivity, mood changes, sexual stimulation, and emasculation."

I snapped out of it long enough to feel my ass stretch the tights even further. My center of gravity shifted as my ass grew into a firm bubble butt. I tried to walk around but felt an itch coming from deep inside my ass. I braced myself with hands on the wall squirming to hopefully scratch the itch. I don't know why it felt so right in the moment but I started to shake my ass faster and faster side to side as if it were on display for my teammates.

Drew had taken notice, yelling over "Yo, Phil. What has gotten into you?!" They watched as I continued moving my ass in their direction. My teammates' demeanor changed the longer they watched. I could see their faces going from confusion to slight interest to lustful. My ass was hypnotizing and they could have stood there all day staring into it's fluid motion.

I loved the look on their faces and called over to them "Hey boysss! You like what you see?"

Drew smiled, "Damn, Phil. Why don't you come over here and we can do some team bonding?"

I thought he'd never ask. I let them line up as I got in position.

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

Epilogue:

Coach says I need to take a step back from QB. Something about my performance not being up to snuff. I've been told I'd make a better water boy. I've really enjoyed it so far. I keep my boys hydrated as they take turns slamming my P-spot. Team morale has never been higher.

[glassofspoiledmilk]

Going Gold | Yuri P.

Chapter 2 - queasy | TW language

I awoke to my alarm clock ringing. I tiredly turned it off and stood up.

I remembered I had training early in the morning, so I quickly put on my black athletic leggings and a black zip up jacket. I walked into the bathroom I shared with Yuri and quickly brushed my teeth. Afterwards I pulled my hair back and threw on some sneakers. I walked down the stairs to see Yuri in the kitchen on his phone. He was eating pancakes and looked extremely unhappy. He had his hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and had on his tiger t shirt with black leggings.

"So you finally decided to get up, jeez no wonder your always late to practice" he teased.

I fought the urge to snap back at him and grabbed a plate and put pancakes on it instead. They were surprisingly good. Yuri and I sat in silence on our phones until Lilia burst into the kitchen. "Why are neither of you done eating I said specifically to be in the ballet studio by 7:00 Am sharp and neither of you did so" she said angrily.

"What are you waiting for let's go" she added.

Yuri and I awkwardly stood up and followed her into the ballet studio. Neither of us dared to say a word in fear that Lilia might scream at us.

Once we got to the studio she had us do a pretty basic warm up. Afterwards it was like hell, if we so much as breathed the wrong way she'll yell at us and have us redo our dance. After that we had a break for a few hours until we had our skating session. I was laying down on my bed until I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in" i yelled.

to my surprise, Yuri opened the door.

"Hey I wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping with me after skating, I need new clothes and I don't know what matches" Yuri said sounding very annoyed.

"Why do I have to do it" i asked.

"Because I asked Lilia if I could go and buy new clothes and she said I had bad taste and to come ask you to go with me" he said getting even more annoyed.

"Ok fine I'll come with you" i replied, laughing a little.

"K thanks" he said, shutting the door.

Later I was called downstairs for the on ice training session. I grabbed my skates and headed for the the living room. I flew down the stairs and saw Yuri,Yakov, and Lilia standing at the door.

"Ready to leave?" Lilia asked me.

"Yup" I replied

"Let's go then" she added, opening the door.

We walked out of the house and into Lilia's very fancy car. I opened the side door and got into the back, Yuri sitting next to me. I put on my seatbelt and Lilia started driving. The ride was silent, as expected.

About 15 minutes later we arrived at the rink. I exited the car and walked through the glass doors of the ice rink. Yuri and I walked over to the benches and quickly laced up our skates. I walked over to the ice and put my guards on the ground next to the door. I skated out onto the ice where Yakov stood, and Yuri followed shortly after.

"I want both of you to run through the jumps in your program and once your warmed up we'll start running through the full thing" yakov said dismissing us to practice.

I went on the side opposing Yuri and immediately started practicing. The jumps in my program were a quad toe loop, triple toe loop, quad lutz, triple axel and a triple flip. I wish I could put more quads in but yakov said only two for right now. I started off with the quad toe loop and triple toe loop combination to get it out of the way. I fell a few times, but I soon started consistently landing it. Then I went onto the quad lutz, then the triple flip, and lastly I did my triple axel. After a good twenty minutes of jump practice yakov called us back to the center.

"It's time for you to perform your programs, and because your Grand Prix assignments will be announced soon I will be giving much harsher criticism" he said.

I wasn't really worried because I didn't think yakov could give any harsher criticism than he already does.

"Yuri your up first" yakov said.

"WHY DO I HAVE TO GO FIRST" he complained.

"BECAUSE I SAID SO NOW GO" yakov screamed.

I turned around and quickly skated off the ice hoping yakov wouldn't catch me as I tried to hold in my laughter. I took a deep breath and turned back towards the ice. Yakov was standing against the sides of the rink and Yuri was in his starting position. Yakov turned on the music, and I couldn't help but watch. He started skating, it was a lot different from the hot springs on ice event. I could tell he had been working on it a lot more. The way he moved to the music was so mesmerizing and graceful.

I looked away and my stomach started feeling weird so I sat down decided to tie my skates tighter. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself down but that wasn't working.

Not much later Yuri finished his program and yakov was talking to him about something. After his talk with yakov Yuri came off the ice and walked over to me. "Why is your face so red, are you ok?" Yuri asked with a confused look on his face.

My stomach starting feeling even more weird so I just said "yeah I'm fine..I just need to use the bathroom."

“I bet your just jealous because you know im better than you” he says.

I scowled at got up from my seat and ran into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and saw my face, bright red. I ran my face under cold water and finally calmed myself down. I walked out and told yakov I was ready. I skated out onto the ice and got into position.

I was about to kick Yuris ass.

[sushigal007]

Whoops, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I blame the covid. Totally wiped me out. It’s also been a busy few weeks at work, plus my kid got themselves a theme park pass, and half my free time is now spent driving to Thorpe Park. And, my sister has been to Greece about four times this year already ‘cause our mum’s been unwell, and that’s me on airport driving duty. Basically, too much real life, not enough simulated life. But! I’m ill again, which means I’ve finally managed to claw a few hours spare to post the Ramirez household. Say hi to Checo, everyone!

Right, time to drug your army of children.

Checo and Lisa: Actually, we would like to bang.

And I would like you to train your quads. Lisa: Isn’t that what the nanny’s for?

Huh, apparently so!

But we can also add in a little parentification now that Tessa’s ageing up.

Tessa: These hands were made for jazz.

Yep, Tessa’s LTW is to become Lord of the Dance. We’ll see how that goes.

Max also grew up! Nobody noticed.

So yeah, this is Tessa’s life now. Tessa: It’s not quite the dance party I was expecting.

Still, there are sweet moments along the way. Erica: Huggles? Alyson: Huggles!

Terence: Huggles? Jacob: DOG FOOD ATTACK RARRRRGH.

Terence: D:

Tessa: Lock my door.

Lisa: I AM NOT- Having a good time? Lisa: GET SOME NEW MATERIAL. Lisa: AND USE IT TO ENTERTAIN ME.

All right, here’s something funny. Lisa: The... nanny? Keep watching.

Nanny: I was so busy potty training the children, I forgot to potty train myself! Lisa: It’s mean, but OK, it’s a little funny. (That’s not all nanny piss btw, I’m just very bad at catching Max in the act.)

Speaking of piss.

Jacob: There there, good potty.

Checo: He can pee in a pot, he’s my favourite now.

Jacob: High chair. Checo: You’re so right!

Lisa, alas, is not enjoying toddlers quite as much. Lisa: I’m too pretty for this.

Erica: RELEASEEEEEE MEEEEEEE!

Terence: Laid a fresh one for you, mom.

Lisa: This is fine.

Tessa: OK, you put your left leg in, your left leg out. In, out, in, out, and shake it all about.

Terence: Sis, hey, sis, hey. Erica: Hush please, I am concentrating.

Terence: That’s right, hand it over. Erica: Oh. I see how it is.

Bath time for stinky boys.

A problem for future Sushi.

At last, the toddler stage is over! Tessa: Do you wanna go first or...? Checo: Oh yeah, sure, no problem.

Checo: But first, let me ogle my wife. Tessa: Soon I will be at university and all of this will be behind me...

First up, Erica! Erica: Yay!

Then Alyson! Checo: Hooray for me! Alyson: Hooray for cake.

Tessa ad Sharla: Happy birthday to the wall!

Next up is Jacob, assuming I haven’t got the names mixed up.

Kennedy: Toot toot.

Jacob: Limbo!

Lisa: Whew, right in the nick of time. Lisa: So long as we ignore the bit where time kept going looping for three hours so I could finish this.

But yes, finally it’s Terence’s turn to grow up.

Benjamin: I’m gonna punch him. Please don’t. Benjamin: Gonna punch him so hard.

Celebrate good times, come on!

Erica: Wait a minute...

Erica: I hate that stupid bear outfit. Alyson: I think he’s hibernating!

Jacob: Does he have to do it at the bottom of the stairs though?

Erica lives at the piano now. Her OTH is Sports.

Tessa: Something about emergencies, I guess.

Lisa: Finally, I can start working on the damn car.

Good Lord.

Let’s have a little playtime interlude.

Mailman: Bills. Erica: Do you accept lemonade? Mailman: Not in exchange for bills. Erica: How about in exchange for money? Mailman: Technically, that is also bills.

Fuck that librarian.

Lisa: Whatever. I’m taking a nap.

Um.

Checo: Hot wife! Freezing cold wife, actually. Wanna do something about that? Checo: Nope!

Why? He hasn’t done anything. Alyson: Yet.

Tessa: Ahhh, dance time!

Chess party.

Gaming party.

Just lots of cute family bonding moments.

Checo: I’m too sexy for my shirt.

Bath time for stinky boys. Which I know I said last time too, but I just really like this pet bath.

Werewolf: Is she OK? No.

Lisa: Zzzz... piss... Checo: On it.

Yeah she might actually die.

Gilbert: Yeah good luck with that.

Lisa: Ugh, what happened? You lost your job and passed out in the absolute worst place possible.

Lisa: I’m freezing! Don’t worry, you’re about to warm yourself up.

Lisa: Eek nooo!

Wanda: HAHAHAHAHA! Lisa: This is because I laughed at the nanny, isn’t it? Yeah, that probably didn’t help.

Anyway, over to Tessa. Tessa: Look, somebody else is pissing themselves! Buck:

Tessa: BAM! In the face!

Decided to check out the furniture store and once again, it is borked. Cashier: It’s Kevin’s fault. Other cashier: Yeah, definitely Kevin.

But you know what? I don’t know how to stop it from happening again, nobody’s got a business LTW anyway, so bye bye business!

Checo: And now to spend the profits.

Lisa: Mmm, that piss puddle really sets the mood. ...There is way too much piss in this update.

If you two make more quads, I will genuinely kill you.

Newspaper kid: Shake? Tessa: Salute.

Tessa: Love love peace peace?

Cute little family dance party. Terence: Except me. Except you.

Jacob: I wanna join in! Go right ahead, sweetie.

Alyson: Are you OK? Terence: Clearly not.

Erica: You might be watching me, but who do you think is watching you? Please don’t, I’m too ill for dep thinking.

Cute!

Please don’t die. Lisa: Frostbite couldn’t do it, and electrocution ain’t gonna do it either.

Weekend! I sent Tessa out to do some singing...

...And then decided to start working on those dance contests for her LTW.

Alas, her first attempt was a failure.

Still, at least she doesn’t take it as badly as this poor townie. Townie: I JUST WANNA DANCE LIKE NO-ONE’S WATCHING! Everyone’s watching. Everyone.

Erica: I’m dying. Alyson: You’re wearing a vest and shorts outside in winter, of course you’re dying.

Alyson: But now, a message about recycling.

Ah how sweet, doomed townie love.

Tessa: Hey, don’t mind me, just gonna practise my moves.

Wait a minute, that looks familiar...

I mean, without the shotgun, but yeah!

And the week ends with Alyson doing a little stargazing. Next up is a single sim household, so hopefully it won’t take me three months to write up. Hopefully!

Uberhood Index

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #121

Figure Skating Life vol. 9, The choreographer Miyamoto Kenji's commentary on all programs in Yuri!!! on ICE

Otabek Altin (18) Kazakhstan

Kazakh Hero with a lonely soul

A skater from Kazakhstan, who got 3rd place at World Championships last season and in one leap secured himself a place among the top skaters. He has trained under many different coaches in different countries, developing his unique, rugged but at the same time elegant, style of skating. He has two quads, toe loop and salchow, and his vigorous performances have the power to leave the audience speechless. He has the lone wolf personality and isn't very friendly with other skaters, but it looks like he has a sense of affinity toward Yurio, with whom he met at a training camps when they both were still in juniors.

SP: Samarkand Overture

The image for this program was a "technique that can be matched by no-one". Like raging billows… I said that about Yuri [Plisetsky]'s program too, but this program is like an avalanche [of different elements]. The next step comes immediately after the previous, and then the next, so quickly it almost leaves no time for the audience to react to each of them.

FS: Beethoven：Symphony No. 9, 2. Movement "Advent" -Genesis edition-

Before I started working on this choreography, I was told "Make it about a birth of a nation, please", and I thought: "A birth of a nation…?" (laugh), but it was very stimulating to start working on this program from these words which you don't normally hear in figure skating world. I imagined a person, who with a lot of confidence is leading people forward. A sort of "come, follow me now!" vibe. (When we told Miyamoto-sensei that members of anime production staff said the program was very cool) Oh, I'm really glad to hear that!

[Notes: This was the last comment in this series~~✨]

[justfor2am]

📓?

huzzah, behold:

hermitcraft (boatem) ice skating au!!!

notes: show skaters don't abide by standard international figure skating rules, are permitted certain moves otherwise regarded as illegal (i.e. backflips) and are permitted costume changes on ice. generally more dangerous but also more fun

competitive skaters are basically what you see at the olympics. still fun! just less risky as far as certain moves go, and stricter point grading

"signature move" here just means that if you were to google their name, a clip of them doing said move in a routine would be one of the most popular search results. either it's a move they do often and well (mumbo's double axel) or a move done only once or twice by the skater, but was so incredibly executed that it's accidentally become their staple move (scar's quad salchow)

the skaters!

Scar (19) USA: Competitive Skater -Signature Move: Quad Salchow -Most Popular Song Routine: There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought of It Yet by Panic! At The Disco Cheerful, dramatic skater, emphasizes good times and storytelling in his performance over technical perfection. his senior debut stood out when he attempted 3 quads in the first half of his performance. it wasn't flawless (flat out fell on the 3rd quad), but it was reckless enough for general america to root for the newcomer crazy enough to dare trying.

joined the USA olympic team at age 17 shortly after the winter events ended, has been training for the newest event and planning out the perfect routine ever since. 19 was supposed to be his olympic debut, but he suffers from a bad landing that dislocated his foot, putting him out for the season. he's still invited to come along with the USA team.

Grian (18) UK: Competitive Skater -Signature Move: Triple Lutz -Most Popular Song Routine: We Won't Be Alone by Feint feat. Laura Brehm technicality-focused skater, wants each move to be landed perfectly, weaker with step sequences. has competed in many minor competitions, racking up a wide array of awards. known for consistency and often bringing out the most interesting move combos, he's struggled with putting together a program that both meets his expectations on a technical standpoint, but is also interesting and engaging to watch.

is friends with scar from a handful of international events the two had competed in, and frequents the States in favor of their ice rinks. after hearing about scar's injury, scar insists that grian take the routines he poured his entire self into creating over the last two years. grian is initially hesitant but eventually agrees, with scar sidelining the UK team to bench-coach grian through the trickier parts

Mumbo (21) UK: Competitive Skater -Signature Move: Double Axel -Most Popular Song Routine: World's Smallest Violin known for combos and dizzying footwork, mumbo focuses on making the best of trips and slips by attempting to make them look intentional, and he pulls it off most of the time. this is his first olympics, mumbo's been competing alongside grian since they were juniors, neither seeing the other as a rival but instead someone to learn new tricks from.

plans on retiring from competitive skating after the next full season, though is still largely undecided if he wants to leave skating completely.

Pearl (23) AUS: Show Skater, Former Competitive Skater, Coach -Signature Move: Double Lutz + Quad Toe Loop -Most Popular Song Routine: Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! by ABBA opting for flashy dance sections and has a love for outfit changes mid-routine, pearl skated competitively in her junior years before deciding not to continue with standardized competitions in her senior debut, opting to become a show skater instead.

this is her first time coaching however, and though she isn't legally affiliated with the UK olympic team, she does do individual sessions with grian on the side, mostly to test the waters on her teaching abilities.

Impulse (25) USA: Show Skater -Signature Move: Back Flip -Most Popular Song Routine: Fear & Delight by The Correspondents known in his heyday for elaborate, if occasionally dangerous moves, impulse has always been a show skater. while the idea of competing was fun, the endless amount of rules and regulations to enter always deterred him, and he's had much more success in show skating instead.

he's slowed down shows over the last few years, not wanting to wreck his body completely the way the younger skaters he knows seemed to do. was invited as scar's plus one to the olympics, scar wanting to introduce impulse to the UK team.

[sugar-petals]

Hi Caro!! How are you doing? Hope everything is okay :)) So I’m starting to get into figure skating and was wondering if you could recommend some performances, like you favourite ones etc... also could you name some skaters if it’s not too much to ask (i know you talk a lot about Yuzuru), i truly wanted to know more about it. thanks in advance✨

i’ll serve you a whole buffet, get ready. joining at the right time! we’re off-season and the olympics are way to go so you can catch up without missing out on any events, and there’s a lot you can indulge with.

get into FIGURE SKATING: the in-depth guide

wanna know who’s who?

key skater introductions, the masterpost (bonus: meme threads)

6 breakthrough moments of famous male competitors on video

top 10 most successful female skaters

retired legends! their last big performance 2010-2020

so who’s up there in the points, who to watch for, who’s active, who are the best of the best? 

official, current world standings LADIES | GENTS | PAIRS

how to prepare for the winter season?

skating competitions calendar 2021 (more bite-sized than usual, a lot is cancelled)

want to tell apart the 6 essential jumps?

lutz VS loop VS axel VS toe loop VS flip VS salchow

more jump explanations, beginner’s guide

how yuzuru jumps more than just textbook quads: all 6 analysed 

who landed the quadruple jump first? ladies/gents compilation

nathan chen, god of all quads 

why achieving the quad axel is shaking the community since years

first ever quad axel attempt in competition: artur dmitriev

are quintuple jumps possible?

quads are killing artistry debate — too much technique, while creativity and feeling aren’t scored enough

rare and unusual jumps: complete insanity combos

history-making jumps

the key jump: triple axels in ladies’ skating

quads in ladies’ skating

what about other elements? learning movements by video and by skater without just reading about them:

fantastic moves that skaters are know for

more elements that skaters perfected and made their own

more famous signature moves/the ’personal touch’ (crack editing)

elements named after a person

physics behind spins

highest scored ladies’ spins

pair skating elements

ice dance lifts

banned elements

scoring explained! the base value and GOE (grade of execution) mark

what went down in prior olympics in singles and pairs? 

sochi 2014 best of videos

pyeongchang 2018 best of 

the king: all world class olympic yuzu routines 

the queen: yuna kim’s olympic programme stunners

who are the game changers?

highest olympic scores ever moments

surya bonaly’s groundbreaking backflip!

all yuzuru world records compilation (time to cry)

completely bonkers gala performances aka non-competitive skating where most rules don’t apply lmao, props and all!

must-know medallists

fantastic moments in ladies’ skating

yuzuru dedicates first olympic gold to his tsunami-struck hometown and country

top 10 black figure skaters — historic and recent

yuzu’s legendary costume reel

heart-wrenching moments 😪

more emotional stuff that went down

and now, what programmes are the talk of the town?

nathan wins the 2021 world championship with a firework of clean jumps

“the performance of his life from the best skater of all history”: yuzuru dishes on let me entertain you donning all black and landing a murderous triple axel on the beat

alina zagitova wins ladies’ gold dressed in my fave red costume ever, amazing storytelling, not a single fall, at only 15 years of age

my recent favorite: impossibly beautiful ballet on ice — mikhail kolyada’s art and precision are indescribable

“the king of silver” — shoma uno beautifully wins 2nd place at the olympics!

the tears. pair olympic gold, savchenko and massot, my fellow germans. obv has to be on here.

every yuzu performance is the talk of the town. 80-video playlist with gems to pick from 2008-2021

and now... the retired GOAT among the ladies! yuna kim’s charismatic send in the clowns. she is art.

what are the dominant teams?

team usa introduce themselves

different camps of team russia

bonus: watch team japan gala skate

things to warn you about — what controversies, tws, and shadow sides to brace for. you don’t have to read in depth if not comfortable, just know what goes on and what you might have to stay clear from:

the 2018 murder of kazakh skater denis ten

the 2019 case of john coughlin: sexual abuse in pair skating

gay figure skaters facing homophobia: the adam rippon VS mike pence incident (which becomes further complicated by adam rippon’s racist and misogynist comments on other occasions)

yuzuru talking about suriving the japan 2011 earthquake

yuzuru’s graphic 2014 crash with han yan, slow medical teams on the ice, nasty injuries, almost-concussion

yuzuru on his asthma attacks 😔

the lutz jump causing issues (underrotations, flutzing, mis-judgings)

the endless story of judges underscoring yuzuru

creating enemies/rivalries between friends

international skating union’s bs, politics, yuna kim’s robbed of olympic gold scandal

risk rewarded over art

harrowing accidents, the sport is extremely dangerous esp in pairs (tw)

extra toxic mess that needs to be addressed: russian coach eteri’s cruel methods (youth cult, instrumentalizing underage skaters, abuse, nationalism)

why are there so few black skaters?

skaters pressured to come out 

likely known to you, the kerrigan VS harding attack

yuzuru’s fans bordering obsession, death threats

sportsmanship DOs and DONTs that occurred

more essentials about yuzu’s team?

check out yuzuru’s coach: olympic silver medalist, brian orser!

tour of his training grounds: toronto cricket club

yuzu’s rituals and winnie pooh 

wanna have a laugh? 

hilarious crack of famous skaters, turn down volume (medals that look like paper, wrong anthems played, spanish skater javier fernandez skates as superman)

funny moments on the podium/award ceremony

skaters multilingual moments! one big international family. ❤️

hockey players try to keep up with skaters

yuzuru is a flippin ice diva

stages of yuzu costume reveals

yuzu said let me entertain you and so he did!

skaters fooling around

skating artist pranks rink in an old man costume doing a wild backflip

[awanderingdeal]

An unfair race

I finally finished this! This fic is kind of a follow on to Endless Nights. Note: That fic is rated M and contains some sexual content, but you do not need to read it for this to make sense. I wanted to combine Finn talking with Heather, and an aspect of the discussion after that fic, where we talked about athletes in particular using exercise as a coping mechanism, and how this can sometimes turn unhealthy.

Some content warnings for this one: over exercise (if you'd like to skip the explicit description of this, skip to after the first stars, although there are a couple of mentions throughout), food mentions, self-depreciation and mentions of coming out/being outed.

Rating: T

If you feel I missed any content warnings or need to change the rating, please drop me a message!

The characters in this fic are from the sweater weather universe and belong to @lumosinlove

Finn’s entire body ached as his feet pounded against the path once more. His form was sloppy now, shoulders too hunched over and his strides falling without any real control. He forced himself onwards, breaths coming in fast pants, the straining muscles of his quads screaming desperately for more oxygen. And yet, his brain still whirred, obnoxiously loud thoughts pushing their way back to the forefront each time Finn managed to grasp a few blissful quiet seconds. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d passed the statue of the girl and her ducks, the smile on her face that he normally found so comforting becoming more and more irritating with each meeting. As he came to the gates of the park, Finn contemplated going home, but even just the reduced speed had brought the taunting thoughts back with a vengeance. One more go.

***

"H, has her jacket on. Has everybody got their game faces ready, boys?" It had been at least 30 minutes since James had made the joke as they all tumbled from the locker room, yet the sound of bright laughter still rang in Finn's ears.

He watched as Heather tugged her suit jacket more tightly around her, their eyes meeting for the third time in short succession. Fuck. Finn pushed his tongue against his mouthguard, sinking his teeth into the hard plastic. Later, self-inflicted as the need would be, he would complain about the new one he’d have moulded, each guard always feeling slightly different. For now, the rhythmic clench of his jaw was soothing.

Finn forced a breath through his nose, trying not to react too visibly as Heather dipped her head once more to add another scribbled note to the small, black book she carried everywhere. He forced himself to look away, knowing his constant glances were giving away his unease. Whilst Heather didn’t come to every training session, not even most, it wasn’t that uncommon to see her hovering around the edges of the ice, and ordinarily, only the very newest of the team paid any attention to her beyond an initial greeting.

“Earth to O’Hara!”

Finn held up his hand in apology, shaking himself back to the training session. Kasey’s eyes bored into him. It wasn't his usual intense stare, but something more concerned and Finn waited for the inevitable question. After a long few seconds, Kasey's eyes dropped to the puck, passing it back to Finn to take another shot.

The numbers on the clock inched forwards, slow and heavy like the sweet sticky molasses Leo was so fond of. Still, when Coach finally dismissed them for the day, Finn found himself wanting to take another lap. If he could get his thighs to burn enough then his head would race a little less, and it wouldn’t be too suspicious; Finn’s record of being last on the ice was surpassed only by Sirius. Before Finn could really consider it, Leo was next to him, knocking their shoulders together.

“Hey,” Leo cocked his head slightly, hair ruffled from the mask he’d recently pulled off and his pale skin glistening with sweat. He looked as beautiful as ever. Illogical as it was, it somehow made the dull ache in Finn's chest worse. "Everything good?"

"Yeah," Finn tried for a smile. "Busy brain today, that's all." There was no point brushing the question off completely; Leo was scarily observant. He and Logan often joked that he had eyes in the back of his head. Finn had no doubt he had caught the many pucks he had missed over the last hour.

"That sucks," Leo said, scepticism leaking into his voice. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Finn followed his glance behind them to where Logan was tussling with Jackson, loud rumblings of French intertwined with their laughter. "Or Lo, perhaps?"

"I like it when he looks like that,” Finn sighed.

"Mmm, me too” Leo hummed, his features softening. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that change of subject though, Sir. You don’t have to talk to me about it, but please don’t bottle it all."

Finn slumped into his stall, smiling as Leo lifted his hand to press a kiss to the knuckles. “I’m dealing with it.”

“Baby,” Leo started, his next word morphing into a stunted exhalation of air. His eyes closed briefly, his shoulders squaring before he relaxed them. He opened his mouth again, the sentence uttered clearly not what he’d originally planned on saying. "I'm going to take my padding off and head to see Lars. I think Loops is sticking around so I can get a ride with him if you two want to go home?"

Finn thought back to the quiet look of concern on Logan's face after he'd got home from his run the previous evening, and to the creased lines of worry at the corners of Leo's eyes earlier. "I think I might go and see Heather," he shrugged.

"Thank God," Logan appeared, wrapping his arms around Finn's waist. "Your runs were getting ridiculous."

"You didn't say anything?" Finn turned in Logan's arms, to rest his chin on top of his head.

"We were going to give you one more day. Leo wanted to speak to you this evening, only I had faith.”

"Oh, fuck off," Leo laughed. "You were just avoiding the conversation."

“I’m offended that you would even suggest that,” Logan burrowed into Finn’s chest. The sweat soaked gear they wore didn’t smell great, but neither of them seemed to care.

Moody huffed as he veered around them, his arms filled with tape. “No canoodling in the locker room.”

***

“As lovely as this chat has been Finn, if you really did just come in to catch up then I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I’ve got a couple of sessions this afternoon, and a mound of paperwork to complete,” Heather shifted in the forest green bucket chair. They were new since Finn had last been in here, replacing an ugly leather thing that Heather had always complained was too stereotypical. She’d removed her jacket now that she was back in her heated office, the item hung on the back of the door where it rightfully belonged.

Finn, freshly showered and changed, sat cross legged in the chair opposite. He reached forward to grab more pretzel sticks from the bowl on the table between them, puckering his lips as his tongue protested another injection of salt. “You know there is something I could do with your opinion on.”

Despite the reaction being minute, Finn saw the tiny upwards quirk of Heather’s lips. “Go on,” she encouraged.

“It’s dumb,” Finn muttered, drumming his fingers against the arm of the chair.

“Thoughts don’t have moral value Finn, it’s what we do with that’s important.” Heather pulled a handful of tissues from a box on the table, holding them out. “Tap away, but please spare the upholstery.”

“Sorry,” Finn grimaced, cleaning his hands of the salty residue.

“No need to apologise, I’m just still a bit precious about the new furniture.” Heather smiled. “Why do you think your issue is dumb?”

“It’s -” Finn tugged at his sleeve. “I can just never be happy with what I’ve got can I? I spent 8 years saying that if Logan could just love me back then I’d never complain again. And now I’ve got Logan and Leo and I’m still not happy.”

“What’s making you unhappy?

Finn breathed in deeply, scrunching his eyes shut. He’d spent weeks stuffing the pain into the tiniest box he could in his brain, and now here Heather was asking him to just - talk about it?

“Finn, look at me?” Finn did as he was asked, lifting his head to find Heather’s kind eyes. “I’m going to reiterate something I’ve said before. You can say anything you want here. It doesn’t matter if it’s selfish or unkind or if you think it’s stupid. Unless I think you’re a danger to yourself or anybody else, then nobody is going to hear about it.”

Finn bit his lip, wiggling his toes beneath his legs. “I get jealous,” he rushed out. “I get jealous of Cap and Loops and Potts and Lily and all those other couples who just get to hug and kiss and tell the cameras how stupidly in love they are.” He paused, the panic of having told somebody matching the relief, but now the words had started tumbling out he couldn’t stop. “I get so angry about it. Sometimes, for the tiniest second, I hate them. All of them.” he whispered, barely able to admit it. “And then I just feel worse. Because I love them too and it’s not their fault. Cap and Loops didn’t even get a choice in the matter. How messed up is it to be jealous of somebody that got outed?”

“Emotions are complex. It is possible for you to have sympathy for Sirius and Remus, whilst still feeling jealous that they now can be more open about their relationship.”

'I don't like it," Finn huffed. The sentence had come out mimicking a toddler having a tantrum. Finn wanted to act like one too, to throw himself on the floor and scream.

“Have you spoken to Leo or Logan about it?”

“No,” Finn frowned. “It would just make them sad and I don’t want them to pressure them. I don’t want them to know I think such horrible things.”

“Okay,” Heather nodded. “Imagine one of them came to you and told you everything you’d just told me. What would you say to them?”

“Wait.” A distressed noise fell from Finn’s lips. “Do they talk to you about this too? Both of them make a comment here or there, but we talked about it not long ago and we agreed that we weren’t ready.”

“Finn, you know I can’t tell you about what I discuss with Leo or Logan.”

“It was worth a shot,” Finn shrugged.

“So, what would you say?”

“I’d say they are entitled to be jealous. I'd say it’s not fair we don’t get to do everything the others do just because the world is homophobic and close minded and can’t imagine the three of us could love each other exactly the same as every other more traditional couple. I’d say that I know they don’t hate Cap or Loops or Potts or Lily, they hate the situation and that’s completely understandable. It fucking sucks and they can be angry about it." Finn drew in a hulking breath, Heather's outline a little blurred through his wet eyes. Each word had sent an aching pain through his body, similar to when he ran, only now he felt like was chasing something cathartic rather than running away.

"Earlier you said what you had to tell me was dumb," Heather said. "Can you explain why you think that it's dumb for you to feel that way, horrible even, but if it were Leo or Logan their feelings are valid."

"Maybe it's not dumb," Finn looked down at his hands, tracing over the freckles there. "But that doesn't change the fact I don't like having those thoughts. Especially when I don't want to act on them. I’m okay with waiting to tell people about us, if we ever do. They're not ready. I'm not ready."

"That’s something we can work on. Helping you to reframe those thoughts, I mean.” Heather slipped her notebook from where it had been tucked beside her and made a note. Finn leaned his elbow on his leg, tucking his chin onto his fist, trying to make his attempts to see the page surreptitious. Capping her pen, she gave a small chuckle, “I’m just leaving myself a reminder of what we’ve discussed. You can always ask what I’m writing, I’m not trying to keep secrets from you.”

Finn sat back, the book no longer quite so interesting now that it wasn’t forbidden. “So? That’s it?”

Heather hummed. “For today. I think you’ve got a lot to think about already. I’ll schedule some more sessions with you over the next few days, okay? It’ll give me a chance to get some new pretzels.”

"Thanks," Finn laughed, then gestured at the empty bowl. "For the pretzels. And the talk."

“That’s what I’m here for,” Heather said. “I’m just going to ask one thing of you before I see you next. Please try to keep your evening runs to a reason-”

“Who snitched?”

“There was no snitching, as you call it. We’ve just known each other for a while now, Finn. And as an employee of the Lions whose job it is to make sure you’re at top playing ability, I don’t want you to injure yourself. As your psychologist, I want you to have healthy coping mechanisms and exercising to that extent is not healthy.”

“I know,” Finn unfolded his legs, stretching them out. They’d gone stiff after being sat on for so long, the sensation coming back with an uncomfortable tingle. “I’ll try to keep the runs in check, promise.” His gaze fell on the closed door, steeling himself to leave. He stood, sending Heather one last smile. It was safe in here, but his boys were out there.

“See you soon, Finn.”

Stepping out of the office, Finn closed his eyes, giving himself a second to compose himself. A rustle of movement to his left caught his attention, startling a little at the sight of Leo and Logan. They sat on the floor, Leo’s hand resting on Logan’s knee where they were hunched to his chest.

“Sorry,” Leo scrambled to his feet, his arm outstretched to let Logan pull himself upright too. “We didn’t want to wait too far away. In case, well, I don’t know, you needed us.”

Finn joined them, immediately finding Logan attached to his side, his familiar warmth exactly what he wanted right now. “I’m okay,” he assured. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it with you guys just yet. I need a bit of time to process, but just you being here makes things better. I’m going to see Heather a bit more too.”

“Proud of you.” Leo flanked him on the other side, taking his hand. Finn didn’t get to be in the middle often, Logan usually claiming the spot, and he felt like he had a kind of shield. “We just want you to be happy. And safe.”

“Can we go home, please?”

“Ouais, home,” Logan agreed.

[kittyprincessofcats]

Worlds 2022 - Women’s SP

I’m late to everything again, but idc. Thoughts:

- My girl Mana did so well! I’m so glad her Olympic experience didn’t completely get her down. And it was probably the right choice to play it safe here and just go for a 2A. Congrats on a really nice SP!

- Tzu-Han Ting was really great and I really enjoyed her skate. And yeah, it definitely felt like they robbed her.

- I loved Olga Mikutina’s SP! The music, the choreography, the new costume, and just the vibes of the program were so cool! I’ve said before that I have a thing for goth programs, so yeah - this was right up my alley, loved it.

Also, skating aside for a second: Olga was born in Kharkiv in Ukraine and I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been to focus on training while her hometown is currently being bombed. She’s also been vocally protesting against the Russian invasion since it started (she and Severin Kiefer made the hearts with the Urkainian flag that somes skaters were wearing in solidarity).

- A few years later, the male announcer still hasn’t learned not to mispronounce “Nicole Schott” as “Nicole Schrott” and I wonder when someone is going to tell him that “Schrott” means garbage/junk in German and that he’s been announcing her as “Nicole Garbage” this entire time.

- Mariah getting a small medal is cursed, I hate it. They overscored her so badly here. I really don’t get what was supposed to be so great about that skate. (And seeing people say that they’re just overscoring other white skaters more when the Russians aren’t here... yeah, I can’t help but agree.)

- Haein was really lovely and her score seemed harsh.

- I still dig Karen’s SP (like I said - goth programs ftw). Glad she performed it better here, but what a shame about the popped Loop.

- Wakaba’s scores will never stop making me angry, huh? It’s awful how it’s always the same people who get robbed. I do agree with the negative GOE on the 2A (and with calling it as a 2A) and with the F(e) (I’d have maybe gone for F(!), but yeah) - but the score still seems way too harsh. The PCS in particular is an absolute joke. And it’s telling how the judges don’t always give proper edge calls to other people, but here they suddenly can.

- Kaori’s skate was great! I’ve got to say this Gladiator SP really grew on me - I wasn’t a fan at first, but now I really like it! I’m super happy for her and she really deserves the title after getting robbed of it last year and getting robbed of silver in 2019. Her reaction to the score in the Kiss and Cry was absolutely precious. That said... and I hate to say it, but I do think she was overscored. Not in comparison to how the Russians are scored these days of course, but in comparison to how other Japanese skaters - in this case Wakaba - are getting scored, it’s noticable that Kaori is the one who has the Fed’s support. I just wish JSF had the energy to politic for all their skaters like this.

- Alysa’s skate, to my own surprise, might have been my favourite of the bunch this time. That was just a really enjoyable performance to watch on a purely subjective “do I enjoy watching this” scale. I love the music and outfit and she really seemed to have fun with it. I wanted to hug them when they started crying afterwards. She’s really been through a lot this season. Also they should have definitely placed ahead of Mariah here and I don’t get how they didn’t. (Oh right... racism. Yikes.)

((Also, Alysa is just a really sweet and likable skater that I want to root for, you know? It’s pratially just their adorable and infectiously happy personality, partially that I just really respect seeing someone actually go from a quad jumping kid to a more mature skater who doesn’t just focus on jumps, and partially also that she’s been a sentimental favourite of mine ever since I witnessed a whole bunch of Russian fans vocally root against her at the Junior GPF 2019 in Turin - just because Alysa was Kamila’s biggest competition at the time and maybe because of some Cold War BS as well. If you’d sat in that audience and heard the way a bunch of adults started to loudly roar and cheer when a 13-year-old didn’t win, you’d have started to root for that 13-year-old skater out of principle, too.))

- Young’s skate was another candidate for my favourite program of the event - amazing! Idk why, but this was the most I’ve ever enjoyed watching her skate this SP. So far, I’ve preferred her FS this season while just feeling “meh” about the SP, but this time I loved it! And I’m not entirely sure if that’s because she skated it better than before, or just because I’m not as tense watching this as I was during the Olympics - probably both. But yeah, great skate - should have also definitely placed ahead of Mariah.

- Loena was great and it’s nice to see a small fed skater do so well here! And she’s definitely a fighter to do so well with an injury. And again - a precious reaction in the Kiss and Cry. That said, she was also scored too generously here. The most obvious example is the opening 3Lz3T-Combo: The landing was pretty shaky, but only J9 have this combo negative GOE (-1). Most even gave it +2. And while I admit I don’t always get edge calls right, the Lz in the combo looked like a pretty clear Flutz to me? Am I wrong there?

Conclusion: I will say that while I still have issues with the scoring (the racism was very obvious this time), this was still the most enjoyable women’s SP I’ve seen in a long time. You take out the Russians and suddenly you’ve got an interesting competition again - even so, the ISU still needs a reform because in the long run, no sport can exist without fairness.

[jaskierswolf]

Born to Make History Pt. 1/3

Summary: Jaskier is preparing for his first Grand Prix Final. He's skating to On Love: Eros and his routine tells the story of the seductress that woos a certain silver haired hockey player. The only problem is Jaskier can barely stay on his feet whenever Geralt is in the room.

An Ice Skating AU (With Yuri on Ice references but you don’t need to have seen it)

Geraskier - AO3 __________

Jaskier cursed as he felt the edge of his skate catch the ice. He landed ceremoniously on his arse. The take off into the quad salchow had been perfect. He’d gotten enough speed and height as he hugged his arms to his chest as he span in the air. He’d spread his arms wide for the landing but his fucking skate had hit the ice wrong.

“Shit!” He groaned as he went flying across the ice on his butt. “Fucking, cock, balls!”

The grand prix final was flying towards them at breakneck speed and he was beginning to flail. No one had expected him to qualify this year. It was his fifth year in the senior division and whilst he’d done well in regionals and nationals, he was still trying to break into the international league, and this was apparently his year.

“Julian!” Yennefer snapped as she skated over to him. “What the fuck was that? You can land a Salchow in your sleep!”

Yennefer Vengerberg. The bane of his life, otherwise known as his coach and choreographer. She’d also hooked him up with a ballet teacher, Triss Merigold, and he had never been so elegant on the ice. She was still the bane of his life. She was an incredible teacher and was in her prime the best female skater in the world. She’d retired from competing three years ago following an accident on the ice that had injured her spine. She was no longer allowed to make the jumps but her skating and step sequences were still to die for.

She was also insanely strict and honestly scared the shit out of him.

“I fucked up the landing.” He moaned.

“Yes.” She said with a quirk of her eyebrow. “I can see that. Do it again.”

Jaskier scrambled to his feet and skated a loop around the rink to find his feet again.  He would have some lovely bruises but everything seemed to be in order. His ankles weren’t damaged which was the main thing. He sighed as he closed his eyes, picturing the music in his mind as he ran through the routine just before the quad salchow. He licked his lips as he took a deep breath before pushing up off the ice.

He soared through the air as the music sang in his head and then landed perfectly. He grinned and moved through onto the next part of the routine.

“Not terrible!” Yennefer called which was Yennefer speak for actually pretty damned good.

By the time he’d finished the routine he was panting slightly and there was a dull burning in his thighs. His butt was sore but that was probably more to do with his crash than the routine. He skated over to the edge of the rink and rest his arms on the side. “Better?” He asked Yennefer with a wink.

“Your triple axel combination needs work. Your arms were all over the place and would you please stop sticking your tongue out during the step sequences? You look like Roach.” Yennefer rattled off, counting each mistake on her perfectly manicured fingers.

Roach. That was her ex’s cat. He’d seen photographs whenever Ciri, her daughter, joined them at the rink. Ciri was an adorable young girl who was eager to join in once they’d finished up their practice. Jaskier would always guide Ciri around the rink by her tiny gloved hands and help lift her as she jumped from one foot to another. She had ice-skating in her blood. Her father, Geralt Rivia, was a professional hockey player and owner of Jaskier’s heart. Every time Geralt came by to pick up or drop off Ciri, Jaskier stumbled on the ice. He was just so gorgeous that Jaskier apparently lost control of his limbs and turned into a puddle of Jaskier goo on the ice.

He sighed wistfully as he pictured Geralt’s lovely amber eyes and shining silver hair. Of course he was an ice-skater. He even looked like he’d been blessed by some ice spirit or something. Jaskier had had many a dream about pair skating with Geralt, the feel of his strong arms lifting Jaskier high up into the air.

“Jaskier! Are you even listening to me?” Yennefer prodded him in the arm. She sounded completely exasperated, which Jaskier supposed wasn’t entirely uncalled for. He hadn’t been listening and he had no idea how long he’d been daydreaming for.

“Umm.”

“Give me strength.” She groaned and skated away from him with a roll of her eyes. “Can we go through it again with music? Lower the jump difficulty if you’re tired but I want to see your performance.”

He sighed and pushed off from the barrier, tossing his fringe from his eyes. “I. You… My, My performance is excellent!” He muttered.

“Your performance is shit.” Yennefer countered. “Remember your tongue is supposed to stay inside your mouth. Otherwise you’ll bite through it and I’m not taking you to hospital.”

“Urgh.” Jaskier groaned but moved into his starting position. “Just press play already.”

“Oh and Jaskier?”

“What?”

“Geralt is coming in with Ciri. Please do try and stay on your feet.” She smirked and clicked play. The strumming of a guitar filled the room as On Love: Eros began to play.

Jaskier stumbled over his first few moves. Stupid Yennefer and Geralt. He yelled with frustration as he settled into the routine. He knew this. He was good at this. The costume always helped his performance but he was Eros. He was great at seduction. He could charm just about anyone… who wasn’t Geralt. He moved with grace and elegance as he glided around the ice like the seductress that he was. In his mind Geralt was the playboy lover that had come to town and Jaskier was Yennefer. He would seduce the man who had stolen his heart. He had been doing it all season, not that Geralt had ever seen any of his performances but that didn’t matter.

He lowered all his quads to triples. They’d been training for hours and doing quads at this point was too dangerous. His muscles were tired and this run through was about the performance.

Seduction.

Lust.

Love?

The music stopped and the only noise that was left in the rink was the sound of his panting.

He’d done it.

“Yay! Jaskier!” Ciri yelled and clapped. He spun round to see her and Geralt watching from the edge of the rink.

“Oh fudge!” He muttered as he caught Geralt’s eyes. Oh good lord he was so handsome. At least Jaskier was already red in the face from his performance. He could pretend the way his heart was racing was solely to do with exertion.

“Jaskier that was amazing!” She shrieked and grabbed at the rails.

“Ciri, your skates aren’t tied up.” Geralt reminded her as he scooped her up into one arm.

Jaskier laughed and skated over to them. “Thank you, Ciri.” He smiled at the young girl. “Umm. Hi.” He muttered at Geralt a little awkwardly.

“Heard you got to the finals. Congratulations.” Geralt nodded.

“Ah yeah.” Jaskier ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Thanks. What did you think?” He asked. “Three words or less?”

“Not bad.”

Jaskier pouted. Great. His first review from the unrequited love of his life and it was ‘not bad.’

“Right. Well.” He muttered. “Thanks for that.” He went to pushed off from the barrier but Geralt grabbed his arm. Jaskier’s eyes snapped up to meet Geralt’s. The blush on his cheeks only intensifying at the contact.

“It was good.” Geralt said in his gravelly voice that made Jaskier’s heart go wild.

God he should have chosen Agape to skate to. Never mind trying to seduce Geralt, he was completely gone on the man. “Oh.”

“I like the music.” Geralt continued with a slight frown.

Jaskier chuckled. “Three words or less, that’s four.”

“You skate beautifully.” Geralt smirked and Jaskier’s skate slipped underneath him.

“Oh sugar!” He groaned as he fell back but Geralt was still gripping onto his arm and he managed not to fall on his arse. “Shhh… Sherbet. Thank you, thanks.” He muttered. “I’m just… gonna.” He pointed to the other side of the rink where there was a gap in the barriers. “I think I’ve skated enough today.”

“But Jaskier!” Ciri whined. “You were going to help me with my toe jump.” She pouted at him with wide emerald eyes.

“Oh alright then. Get your skates on.” Jaskier bopped her on the nose.

“You don’t have to.” Geralt growled. “You must be tired.”

Jaskier waved his hands and scoffed. “Nonsense. I made a promise, Geralt.”

“Hmm. Can I join you?”

Jaskier’s heart stopped in his chest. He resisted the urge to pinch himself. Did he hit his head when he fell earlier? Was this all some dream? Oh god, he was definitely dreaming. “Oh, umm yeah. Yeah. Sure.”

“Might need someone to catch you again.” Geralt chuckled and Jaskier gaped at him.

“Geralt!” He whined. “I am a top figure skater!”

Geralt shrugged.

“Take that back!” Jaskier pointed at him. “Take that back or I’m not letting you on the ice.”

“Hmm.” Geralt shrugged again.

Jaskier huffed and finally skated away from him. His heart still pounding in his chest. When he turned around he saw Yennefer watching them with a smirk from the other end of the rink.

“Are you done? I have notes.” She asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

He groaned but reluctantly skated over to his coach. Ciri still needed to finish tying up her skates and Geralt could keep her entertained whilst he finished up with training. He tried not to zone out whilst she pointed out all his mistakes but it was hard with Geralt being so close, and now they were going to skate together. It was a dream come true. It was only Yennefer’s piercing violet gaze that kept him from drifting off into a daydream. Honestly he was thankful that she was so terrifying. He wasn’t sure any other coach would be able to keep him in line. His first coach, when he was still in Oxenfurt, had been too relaxed and Jaskier had often just fucked about.

It wasn’t his fault he was so easily distracted.

The scraping of blades on the ice pulled his attention away. Yennefer sighed and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Jaskier grinned and spun round to skate towards Ciri and Geralt. Ciri tried to skate away from Geralt towards him but stumbled as she reached him. Jaskier reached out to catch her with a laugh.

“There we go!” He said as he steadied her. “You’ll be a top skater in no time.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m going to play hockey!” Ciri grinned.

Jaskier pouted dramatically. “You won’t need me to teach you the toe loop then.” Ciri’s eyes went wide and she looked like she was about to cry. “But, seeing as you’re wearing figure skates instead of hockey ones.” He winked at Geralt. “I guess I will.”

Ciri grinned. “Thank you, Jaskier!”

They weren’t on the ice long. Jaskier was exhausted from training and Ciri was only young so she got bored quickly. Geralt mostly stayed out of their way, running laps around the rink whilst Jaskier and Ciri practiced her jump in the middle. After about twenty minutes Geralt joined them in the middle and caught Ciri in his arms.

“Enough now, cub.” He murmured. “Jaskier has a big competition coming up. Let him rest now.”

Ciri pouted. “Can we go and see him again?”

Jaskier froze.

Again?

What the fuck did that mean?

He stared at Geralt with wide eyes. Geralt was… blushing? Nah. It was probably just the cold air from the rink.

“Ciri likes to watch you skate.” Geralt grumbled.

Jaskier smirked. “Ciri didn’t call my skating beautiful.” He glided forward slightly putting himself Geralt’s space.

God if Ciri wasn’t here right now….

He bit his lip as he tried to push those thoughts out of his head. Geralt wasn’t interested in him that way. He’d thought that Geralt barely knew he existed before today, but apparently that wasn’t entirely true. Geralt had sneakily been watching his performances.

“That was a joke.”

Jaskier laughed and skated a circle around Geralt. “I don’t think so!” He sang and then before his confidence could leave him. “It’s getting pretty cold in here. Did you wanna grab a hot drink or something?”

“Hot chocolate!” Ciri squealed and wiggled in Geralt’s arms.

“Or coffee?” Jaskier suggested with a tilt of his head. “I was up before the sun today. Yennefer doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of beauty sleep, or course looking like she does, I don’t blame her!”

“Coffee sounds good.” Geralt nodded and skated over to the exit with an excitable five year old in his arms.

Jaskier watched the pair of them, his gaze dropping down to Geralt’s sinfully round arse before grinning to himself and following them out of the rink. 

____

Next

[yuriplisetsky-rp]

Otabek Altin Triumphs with Gold at NHK Trophy

Third Gold of the Season for Altin

Saturday, November 13, 2021

TOKYO, JAPAN – Otabek Altin of Kazakhstan won his third gold of the season, winning the NHK Trophy. The reigning Olympic bronze medalist skated a clean free program, scoring 209.41 for an overall score of 314.25. His scores here have been the second-highest of the season so far, behind only that of his husband, Yuri Altin. “I’m happy to have been skating so well,” said the 23-year-old to reporters. “I need to keep going and improving. I’ve got a long way to go before the Olympics, but I feel very good about where I’m at right now. Three gold in three competition is a great start and I look forward to the Final.” This will be Altin’s fourth Grand Prix Final.

Winning the silver was Seung-gil Lee of South Korea. His only mistake was under-rotating and stepping out of his opening Quad Loop. He scored 203.03 for his free program for an overall score of 304.89. “I could have skated better, but another silver is still good,” said the 24-year-old. “I will go home and work harder for the Final so I skate my programs the way I train them.” This will be Lee third’s appearance at the Final, and Lee cannot be mathematically eliminated.

Coming up from sixth to win the bronze was three-time European bronze medalist Michele Crispino of Italy. He skated a clean free program to score 196.35 for an overall score of 292.19. “It was a very good free program,” said the 27-year-old. “I can skate better in my short, but overall, I’m happy with how I skated this weekend. I just want to go home and prepare for Rostelecom so I can qualify for the Final.” Crispino will be up against both Yuri Altin and Jean-Jacques Leroy of Canada, and will need to be at least second in order to secure qualification.

[geckomoon]

Yuri!!! on ice as irl skaters (part 1???)

Its 2020 and I miss yoi so here are my personal headcanons about which irl skater the you cast skate &/or act like because why the hell not.

(photos at the bottom of the post because I couldn't get the format to work the way I wanted it to)

Yuri Katsuki ➡️ Boyang Jin (China)/Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)

Yes, 2 people because PARALLELS.

So my reason for saying Yuri is like Boyang is because, his step sequences are always gorgeous and his jumping power, oofttttt, and that one scene where Yuri tries a jump and lands in the wall, you know the one. Boyang Jin is known for jumping super close to the boards and scaring the hell out of us all, seriously, just watch one of his skates, it's amazing and terrifying. Also Boyang is a bit of a nerd and Yuri is canonicaly pretty into video games, nuff said.

Boyang is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a five-time (2014–2017, 2019) Chinese national champion.

Evgenia however, this is more of a parallel in how her 2018/19 season went and how Yuri kinda flopped. Zhenya had a crappy start to the 18/19 season, she'd just switched coaches and mover halfway across the world, for the 1st time in her senior career she didn't make the gpf. However by the end of the season she had bounced back and won bronze at worlds and my god what a skate that fp was. Remind you of anyone huh???

Evgenia has a lot of medals (and actually made a cameo in the end credits of episode 10) She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Also, she is a huge Anime fan and has a sailor moon exhibition program and its adorable.

Victor Nikiforov ➡️ Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

I know a lot of people compare Yuri to Yuzu but I think Victor is a better fit.

Yuzuru has a legion of super duper dedicated fans, they are pretty scary at times. If you watch the 2018 Olympics, the ice literally was covered in Pooh bears after his skate. People love this man, and rightly so. Clearly Yuri isn't the only one who loves Victor, he's very popular in the yoi skating world and almost everyone loves and looks up to him.

His skates are almost immaculate every time. Not only is his technique amazing but his artistry is what really sets him apart from other skaters who may have higher bv on jumps etc. Not that he dosent have high bv, seriously he tries combos that are super wierd just for the bv (see the wierd 4t-3a combo thing he does idk). Plus he's dead set on doing a quad axel. See Victor's super high bv with all the quads and also the fact everyone goes nuts over how his skating is 'like no other'.

Also his medal collection is absolutely mad, he is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), two-time World champion (2014, 2017), four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), Four Continents champion (2020) and three times silver medalist (2011, 2013, 2017). Just like how Victor is canonicaly an Olympic champion and 5x world champion and probably many time euros champ.

Also, he's a sweetheart, he literally crawled behind Shoma Uno because he didn't want the attention taken away from Shoma. I love him.

Victor Nikiforov gives big Yuzuru Hanyu energy.

Yuri Plisetsky ➡️ Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)/Alexandra Trusova (Russia)

Again, 2 people.

It's canon that Yuri P was modeled after Yulia for the flexibility and artistic portion of his skates so I feel like I don't need to elaborate much in it however his determination and his wanting to back load with quads reminds me a lot of Sasha Trusova.

Sasha only started juniors the year after yoi came out (she had a Makkachin tissue box which was given to her by Evgenia M which is adorable) so she was not really that popular when the show was being made but she really made a statement when she became the 1st woman to land 2 quads in 1 program (4 salchow and 4 toeloop) at the age of 13 at 2018 junior worlds.

She has just started senior and this season she had 5 quads in one program and I think I cried. She now has a quad sal, toe, flip and lutz and is apparently working on a loop. On top of that she can land a 3 axel but has yet to do so in competition. Did I mention SHE'S 15 AND I'M TERRIFIED.

She currently holds the world record for the free skate (166.62 points). She is the 2020 European Bronze Medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela champion, the 2019 Russian national silver medalist, and the 2020 Russian national bronze medalist.

Her determination to win and high TES reminds me of Yurio a lot.

Phichit Chulanont ➡️ Nam Nguyen (Canada)

This one is fun.

I love Nam with all my heart, he's actually my favourite male skater and not just because of his skating. However his skating is great. He is the 2014 World Junior champion, 2019 Skate Canada silver medalist, and two-time Canadian national champion (2015, 2019). He has placed as high as fifth at the World Championships, in 2015. He's not the best skater ever, kinda like Phichit but his personality shines through so much when he skates and I love it.

My main comparison to Phichit is the fact that Nam Nguyen is a huge meme. His Instagram is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen (@ namnamnoodle). I can't explain it with words seriously just go look at it, he makes memes using professionnally taken skating photos of himself and honestly it's just a giggle. He's almost always posting on his story and half the videos he takes end up on fan twitter and everyone freaks out.

Also he's good friends with Evgenia, thought I'd mention that seeing as who I compared her to :)).

Yeah, Phichit and Nam are memes and I adore them both.

Jean-Jacques Leroy ➡️ Nathan Chen (USA)

Jj is definitely more of a technical focused skater. He tends to put all his eggs in the '800000 quads' bucket and isn't as artistic, in my humble opinion.

Just like Nathan surprisingly, though Nate isn't as egotistical (not a dig, just an observation).

Nathan is compared to Yuzu a lot, and had actually scored higher than him a few times in competition. He is an amazing jumper and is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. Currently he is two-time World champion (2018, 2019), a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), and four-time U.S. national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

So yeah, he's good.

However at the 2018 Olympics (he was only 18 at the time) he bombed under pressure in the team event and in the sp, only to come back with a WR free skate, but didn't medal because of his sp score,kinda like how Jj bombed at the GPF. (Ngl, I cried in school when I saw Nate bomb at the Olympics, I was so upset).

Also, Nathan is super smart and is training to be a doctor. Not related to Jj but I thought I would point it out.

Christophe Giacometti➡️ Adam Rippon (USA)/Javier Fernández (Spain)

Chris is a hard one to pin to an irl skater because he's just so... Chris.

The closest comparison I can get is Adam Rippon but dialed up to 11 because Adam is quite a bit more tame than Chris is. However he did have a point in his sp where he literally beckons the judges to him in a way that can only be described as vaguely sexual. Seeing that at the Olympics was an event I'll tell you that.

Adam was the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games. (team bronze).

Plus, I'm pretty sure he owned a Chris plushie at one point or another.

However other than the obvious Chrissness, his technique and medal winning achievements most closely match up with Javier Fernández (who may I add is pretty much Yuzuru Hanyu's best friend). He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), a three-time Rostelecom Cup champion (2014–2016), a two-time Grand Prix in France champion (2016–2017) and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018). Javi is an amazing skater but usually ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Yuzuru on the world stage, but with euros, he literally won 7 times consecutively. Anndddd, he was the flag bearer for Spain at the 2014 Olympics and I still cry about it.

Otabek Altin➡️ Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)/ Matteo Rizzo

So it's canon that Otabek was based on Denis (rip Denis) so like Yuri and Yulia I do not feel like I need to elaborate much as you can read it on the wikia page. But Otabek also reminds me of a less talkative version of Matteo Rizzo. Matteo is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion.

The reason he reminds me of Otabek is that they just joth exude the same level of cool and I can't explain it any further than that. That's it. Just watch him skate and you'll see.

So that's all I have for now because this post got pretty long so if this gets enough attention I'll do a part 2 :)).

[the-ipre]

So I know I should pick one from all the lists but I'm a rebel and would like to ask for Lup Lives au with the prompts "Are you sure this is legal?" Or "I don't even think I want to know" if that's not too much trouble

In her year or so living on the Bureau of Balance moonbase, Lup had gotten a pretty good handle on where all the best places to hide were. 

The voidfish’s chambers were a nice place to go when she wanted to be alone without all of the weight that entailed, allowed to exist at ease with only Johann and a giant galactic jellyfish there to share in the experience. When she went to the training room that Carey and Killian frequented, it was nice to know that she wouldn’t be questioned about what had driven her there. One of the trees on the quad was tall enough to brush the top of the atmospheric dome, and when surrounded by the leaves and branches, she was able to see without being seen.

She didn’t think that she used to spend this much time trying to hide, trying to be alone-but-not-completely. 

Making up for lost time, she guessed.

One of the few places that she hadn’t ticked off her list, though, was the roof of the dome that held the Fantasy Costco. Not for a lack of ability to get up there, because she was Lup Loop, and nothing could stop her from going where she wanted to, but simply because she hadn’t felt the urge. 

When she spotted a newsboy cap peeking up over the edge of it, she figured that then was as good a time as any to give it a look.

With a quick levitate, Lup floated up to where one Angus McDonald was sitting, knees pulled up to his chest. He startled when she touched down next to him, hands tight in the fabric of his pants and looking ready to scatter. Lup glanced at him, and then let her eyes slide away when he seemed to try and shrink into himself further.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, awkward at first and then settling into peace. Angus’ fingers unknotted from his pants and a small smile quirked Lup’s lips as she looked out over the quad. 

That smile grew as she saw Leon tottering past below, an idea beginning to form. 

Wordlessly, Lup dug into one of her pockets, scrounging up a few pebbles that she had stored in there just in case. She held one out to Angus, who simply looked at it, confused, before taking it with hands that didn’t seem to know what to do with the stone.

Lup winked, and then tossed one of her own pebbles at Leon, hitting him in the shoulder. 

He let out a startled squawk, and Lup turned to bury her laugh in the collar of her jacket because it wouldn’t do to give away their position just yet. Glancing over, she saw the look of shock on Angus’ face melting into a small smile.

He still turned the stone over between his fingers, though Lup would be lying if she said she didn’t recognize the appraising gleam in his eyes as Leon’s confused bluster began to die down below them. “Are you sure this is legal, ma’am?”

Lup leaned in, lifting up a shroud of secrecy for Angus to join her under. “Sometimes, things that are legal? Are worse.”

Angus’ smile morphed into a laugh morphed into a grin, and he looked more alive than he had since she had floated up onto the roof. Sticking his tongue out between his lips as he focused on aiming, he threw the rock, clipping Leon on one leg and making him spin in confusion. 

Lup continued to pull bits and bobs from her pockets, chunks of amber and coppers and assorted spell components that were much better used for the cheering up of Angus than any odd fireball.

As their game continued, picking new targets without causing any grievous injury, Lup could recognize the comfort that began to settle over Angus. His legs extended until his heels could knock against the side of the dome, and even though he wasn’t talking much, his shoulders were at ease and he didn’t look like he was preparing to bolt. 

Lup understood the feeling. When the shapes of your life took the forms of problems more than answers, it was nice to sometimes avoid looking too closely at them.

Just as Lup was lining up a piece of hard candy with Magnus’ head down below, there was the sound of a footfall settling on the roof behind them, precise and sharp and intentional.

Angus looked up behind them, eyes going wide and smile starting to falter as Taako moved to sit down on his other side. Excuses looked like they were lining up on Angus’ tongue, fingers beginning to twist into the stale piece of bread he held, but Taako waved a hand to hold them back.

“I don’t even think I want to know.” His chin was held high, his legs were crossed at a distinct and pristine angle, and Lup could read the need to not be asked why he was there as clearly as though he had been screaming it. “Lulu, have any extra ammunition for your dearest b- coworker?”

“Oh, is Carey up here?” Lup asked with a grin, ignoring the way he had stumbled over a word that should have slotted so neatly into the sentence. Taako stuck his tongue out at her, breaking the neat lines that he had built up, just that little bit, and Lup passed a few pebbles over Angus’ head as she laughed.

Taako took them, gave Lup a one-sided smile in return, and on either side of Angus, they settled back against the roof, projectiles at the ready and whatever problems that had brought them up there firmly set aside.

[nrsranger]

1.4

Ord Mantell Star System

Firebird X-Wing Squadron

300 meters to the rear of the Ranger

1747 hrs

Massive yellow bolts streaked accrossed the stars as the Crusiers begian to trade fire at almost point blanke range but three to one odds were hard to beat even if the one was a ‘Grand Cruiser’

“Firebirds were going escort those Y-Wings to engage that Carrier” Mauz said then contiued on a shared channel “Ok, we started down two X-wings so, one X-wing to two Y-Wings I’ll escort Vine, and Cheese, Joker you got X and Climate, Tripper cover Eel and Clown Squid you got Hotshot and Cha Cha, Brawl escort Bith and Imp, Sabbac, you got Hyper and Double O , Drip, Mob, Root, Gungan, you will range 100 meters infront of our escort you will be our first line of defence.”

“CAG, this is Noodles, our A-Wings have semi-cleared a path, I am sending you the vector” The comm unit on Mauz X-Wing chirped. “Please hurry, were taking heavy casulties Our A-wings are outnumbed two to one”

“Receiving data now, R6 sent this to the Firebirds and Night Owls, Thanks Noodles were on our way eta, 2 minutes” Mauz said.

Alek never believed that the Y-Wing Bombers needed escorts, he was of the opinion shared by most of the Star Fighter Command, that the Y-wing could shoot their way in and shoot their way out of any situation. These were not the same Y-wing that were used during the Rebellion these models more closely resembled the Clone Wars varrent with one pilot and one top ball gunner, however some of the innovations thought of during the Rebellion were kept for example the astromech unit was able to make, hyperspace calculations, another addition kept from the rebelion variant, turning the Y-wing not only into a bomber but a long range reconissance ship; however, Star Fighter Command never had much of a say when it came to the fleet standard operating procedures, most of the S.O.Ps were written by the politicians in the New Republic Senate, a big mistake that has been and will be exploited by any factions that had or will trade laser fire with the New Republic Fleet.

“Now's not the time to criticize fleet doctrine” Mauz thought as they entered the recently cleared path to the Carrier.

“Watch you 10 o’clock we got a group of fighters trying to flank us” The Togruta Claienes Benes callsign “Bear” the Gunner to Ricici Whelmed or Cha Cha said

“Noodles can you intercept?” Mauz said after no reply Mauz inquired “Noodles?”

“Noodles is down this is the Flight L.T I wish I could help but I got my own-----”

Mauz recognized the voice of Lightweight, the Flight Officer or third in command of the Blue Birds, assuming she just got shot down that left command to, Mauz took a second to remember, Maasisi Joka or Mint the Senior Pilot Officer, if he was still alive.

“Here they come'' Drip said. “Were moving to intercept, Mob, Root Gungan let's protect our Owls''

“Were with you Drip,” Root said in response.

Drip took the lead with his wing mate Mob taking up the position to Drips left of rear to their right and in a similar formation Root and Gungan formed up. The X-Wings opened up with an opening salvo knocking out 3 sim fighters

“Let them pass between us” Root said “Wing men, break!”

As Mash Ric or Root said that Gungan and Mob pulled a 180 and picked their targets then lined up on their tail letting loose with the quad laser cannons. Three seconds later enemy fighter craft returned the favor and lined up on their tail, That's when Root and Drip who also pulled a 180 a few seconds later but left a decent amount of room for enemy fighters to draw a line of Gungan and Mob.

“Break!” Root said simultas as he pressed down the fire button on his stick

Gungan and Mob both pulled a hard 90 degree turn Gungan went left and Mob went right as the laser fire from Root and Drips X-Wing half found and half past the enemy fights taking both down. Root went left following Gungan, his wing man, as Drip turned right following his wing man he did not notice the three other fighter craft on his three o’clock as they opened up with a devastating salvo. Drip’s X-wing console went all black and the residue energy fizzled around the hull of his disabled X-wing, only basic life support and the green “left” and orange “right” light were the only thing functioning. Drip took a deep breath and settled in his seat. This might be a long wait.

“Drips down, repeat, Drip is down” Rash Tacknor called sign Mob reported into his comm with a great sense of urgency as his wingmates X-wing went dark except for the two lights on his wing. Before he could process the wing man's fate orange lase fire flashed by his cockpit. Rash began evasive maneuvers jinking to the right then to the left the taking his fighter into a deep dive he yelled into his comm

“How many of these things are there!?”

“I count six” Root said “You have three on your tail we have three on ours

Coming out of his steep dive as a orange laser fire appeared where his X-wing was going to be in the next 2 seconds red warning lights flashed warring his inertial dampers were almost fried, then the lucky shot hit him, a single orange bolt hit the upper left X foil knocking out his stabilizer making him go out of control as a fury of other Orange bolts scored hits on his X-wing turning it dark and only remaining the two wing lights.

“Where did Mob go?” Root said as he juked out the fighters on his tail.

“Messa no see” Gungan said then Gungan went dark.

Root turned toward his X-Wing toward the remaining Firebirds and Night Owls

“I'm going to need some cover fire” Root said, pulling power from his laser cannons and rerouting it to the engines.

“You got it “ Rush “Bell” Gavin, the Senior Gunnery officer of the Night Owls said, turning his Ball gun toward the incoming fighters. In perfect order each ball turret turned toward the enemy fighters. As Root zoomed past only a few feet from Climate’s and Eel’s Y-Wings each bomber ball turret lit up the starry scape. Three of the six fighters succumbed to the Night Owls laser burst but the remaining three fighters stratified Eel’s Y-wings”

“Shields are overloaded, we’ve been hit, minimal damage, we can shake this--” Eel said right before her and Threes Y-wing went dark.

“Tripper, Brawl, get those Fighters off Roots tail” Alek said

Tripper and Brawl tracked the the enemy fighters and chased after the enemy fighters, turning the dog fight into a three way chase with Root in the lead be pursued about three enemy fighters with them being chased by two more X-Wing,

“Execute Firebird DF 1,4 Root your going to loop around Brawl will meet you at the high point of your loop” Tripper said

Brawl climbed high matching the Y axis of Root’s loop when Root reached the climax of his loop he made half corkscrew twist, then rolled 90 degrees as Brawl flattened his climb and rolled 90 degrees as he pressed the button controlling the laser cannon. The enemy Fighter Craft did not know what hit them as two of them disappeared leaving one, and it only took one to hit Roots engine thrusters, and Root went dark just then Tripper who had slowly been gaining on the fighter zoomed past Brawl’s X-Wing blowing the last remaining fighter.

Falling back into position they noticed that the few remaining Fighter Crafts were retreating back toward the mock Carrier.

“The Ranger destroyed the Grand Cruiser and looks like there bugging out” Joker exclaimed with joy “That makes it Ranger 4 Training scenario 0”

“Ranger 3 Training Scenario 1, try to remember you blew up the search and rescue objective” Tripper said into the comm correcting Joker.

“We searched, I found, they opened fire, I returned fire, simple as that” Joker said in a sing-song voice. Multiple voices crackled over the comm doubting Jokers side of the story from, who found the escape pod to wither the escape pod fired a laser canon, or a flaire to disagree whether the pod even had weapons.

“You got trigger happy Joker, plain and simple as that.” Tripper mock

“Well that’d be fine…... if I was Brawl” Joker said with what can only be described as a verbal wink.

“Alright, Let's clear the area, the reset ships are on their way to rescue our boys' ' Mauz said, cutting off the laughter.

“Well land and meet at the same place?” Sabbacc said

“You know it!” Joker said

“Yall got an invitation for 24 Y-Wing pilots and gunners?” Natalia Gee the Y-Wing Squad leader asked

“The more the merrier” Joker said

“As the only remaining member of the Blue Birds A-Wing Aces can we tag along?” Virbo asked

“I leave that up to the group, Can our party withstand a dozen arrogant A-Wingers?” Joker said with a rye smile. As dozens of voices booed, threw semi-friendly insults and jabs toward the so called A-wingers

“I guessed it's settled, you're invited…...if you can pay the tab!” Joker said.

[oneofthemillionarmy]

The Impossible Order | Ch. 3

Summary line: Mr. Min is a stoic boss who will never outwardly show appreciation for you. Not until you’re gone does he recognize how much you do. And what you do matters to him.

ceo!Yoongi | best.friend!Hoseok | romance, fluff, angst, and stuff

Loosely inspired by Secretary Kim and this third bullet point of the prompt list

Start from the beginning | Last chapter

~•~

Yoongi never got a reply from you last night, but he did receive the reports at 4 in the morning. He walks in the office by 6:30 but your desk obviously has not been touched since yesterday afternoon. He tilts his head and walks into his office. Nope, you’re not there either. But his cup of coffee is.

He sits down to look at the coffee and look around. No one is here. No one is out there. He takes the cup of coffee and takes a sip. Yup, that’s the one. Quad venti vanilla latte. Two espresso shots in the bottom, two espresso shots on the top. Soy milk. Sugar-free vanilla syrup. No foam. Chocolate drizzle with latte art of a star. But it’s warm; and not quite right.

Yoongi hears a knock on the door and he sets down his coffee cup, “Come in.”

“Hey, Yoongs.” Seokjin greets him, awfully and scarily cheerful for a truly early morning.

“What’s up with your attitude? And why are you here?” Seokjin doesn’t need to come in until 8:30.

“Well. Considering that I got absolutely no sleep last night, gathering the reports and data for your board meeting today, I’d say I’m positively chipper. And don’t you dare call it an attitude, or else I’m gone for the rest of the day too. I’ll show you attitude.”

“What are you talking about? Where’s Y/N? You didn’t send me the reports. She did. You brought the coffee? What do you mean ‘gone too’? What’s going on?” Yoongi gets more and more heated per question. And, where is she?

“Woah. Slow down, man. Relax. Take a sip of the coffee.”

“No thanks. Something’s wrong with it.” Yoongi sits back and laces his fingers together, staring at the cup as if it were a disease.

“Oh. Well I reheated one of them that was still in the fridge. Maybe it’s not the same overnight.” Seokjin taps his chin, turning his head to look over to the fridge, “Probably should toss the rest of them then.”

“Where’s Y/N?”

“She emailed me last night. She told human resources that she’s taking a month off, for now. She doesn’t know if she’ll extend that to an entire sabbatical. I’m taking over for her for the rest of the week. Next week, she will have her intern replace her for the time being. Lucky for me, it’s already Thursday.” Seokjin turns on his tablet and opens his mouth, ready to jump into the reports with Yoongi, but Yoongi cuts him off before he even starts.

“What happened? Why is she taking a month off? Who’s her intern? Why didn’t she contact me?”

“Didn’t she? Check your emails. Maybe you missed it? Her intern’s name is Jeon Jungkook. He’s pretty green, but he’s been trained by her, so he’ll be fine.” But Yoongi already wasn’t listening about the intern. He looks through his emails, everything has already been read. Nothing from you. Nothing for him. And sure enough, the reports were sent by Seokjin.

He leans back roughly and takes a deep breath. Seokjin raises his eyes at Yoongi’s furrowed ones.

“Wait. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Because if she’s not here, it’s bad.”

~•~

You’re back at the hospital after going home to change and take a shower. You notified the school of Hoseok’s accident and his dance team as well. His director contacted you and told you that they decided to go with the track that you let Hoseok present to him yesterday. But his director asked for a few adjustments.

While you sit by Hoseok’s hospital bed, you bring your music equipment with you to work on the track for his showcase. Every once in a while, you get up to check in on Hoseok.

While you work on the track, you hear the door open. You turn around and see a gang of students peering in.

“We want to see Mr. Jung. We’re his dance class.” One of the girls says quietly. You nod and take your laptop up and bring your equipment by the window as his students walk in one by one. Looks like the nurse is only allowing a few at a time because the rest are still standing outside.

“What happened to him?” One of his female student’s sniffs.

“Car accident. He was heading home from the vet.” Your words trail off quieter every word. Reminding yourself that he’s here because of you.

“Vet? Was he taking Yeontan?” She asks.

“Yeah. How do you know Yeontan?”

“He shows us so many videos of you and your dog.” One of the students pipe up. Oh, Hoseok.

There’s a knock on the door and one of the students outside pops his head in, “Is it our turn now?”

“Yeah.” The students in the room shuffle on out.

“Who’s she?” One of the students ask the girl who was leaving.

“Mr. Jung’s girlfriend.” Wait, what?

“Oh!” As the next line of students file in, you see everyone intently stare at you as they come in and gather around Hoseok to see him. One of the girls sets down flowers by his bedside table.

“Um. Excuse me.” You whisper for their attention, “Where did you get the impression that I’m his girlfriend?” The students look at each other

“He shows us a lot of pictures and videos of you and your dog. And he always talks about you. We just figured.” The girl shrugs. The rest of the students raises eyebrows at her, and she just shrugs back at them.

“Oh. Okay.” You let it go after that. Verbally, at least. Your head was spinning. He apparently talks about you and Yeontan too much if he’s leaving that kind of impression.

~•~

After visiting hours were over, you headed over to pick up Yeontan.

When you get home, you have him cradled into your lap, humming soft and gentle tunes.

You open your laptop to continue working on the track. But you eye the number of emails popping up on the email icon. You sigh and click it open. 14 emails from Seokjin, 10 emails from multiple departments, 2 from human resources, and 26 from Mr. Min, 3 from Jungkook. You raise your eyebrows at the number of emails from your boss. You read your boss’ emails first. All titled “Your absence”; a constant thread. You decided to just read his last one and just go up the chain.

-          Why are you taking off a month?

-          Are you out of the country or just off?

-          Seokjin is an idiot. What exactly did you tell him do while you’re gone? He’s not doing it right.

-          The coffee in the fridge is bad now. Tell Seokjin to get the right one.

-          Please tell Seokjin where you get the coffee.

-          He doesn’t know where you get the coffee

-          I swear to God, if he doesn’t get the coffee, I’m firing him.

-          He’s got me drinking black coffee for now. It still tastes funny. Is this our office coffee?

-          Why are you taking a month off?

-          Why are you blocking my texts and calls?

You can’t help but feel amused at these emails. It’s been a long time since he’s spoken to you like this. You blocked his calls and texts since last night out of impulse, to be honest. Knowing him, he’ll still contact you on your time off. It’s understandable, considering the situation and environment that you were in at the time, but you should really unblock him; it’s kind of unprofessional. Even if he is. As you continue his emails, notifications pop up every time you open another one, showing your boss your read receipts. Wow.

-          Japan will be flying in tomorrow as we go through the jewelry fundraising dinner for the Children’s Home Project.

-          Will you be here for the fundraising?

-          Does this mean you won’t be attending the Queen’s Jubilee either? Or the Taehyung unveiling?

-          Do you really have to take a month off? Can you be back this week?

-          I’m getting pissed at your “I’m currently out of the office” replies.

You shake your head as his emails get more and more intrusive. Asking about the days taken off, telling you that it’s very unprofessional to not reply and block him even if you are currently off. Well it’s unprofessional and intrusive to harass your employee who’s currently on PTO; and one with long overdue vacation time, at that.

You don’t reply to his email just yet. You check in on other emails. The multiple departments apparently were directed by Mr. Min to provide you an update after every meeting or conversation made so you stay in the loop. Human resources checked in on your PTO requests, your intern’s temporary role, and apparently Mr. Min requested that they contacted you about your reasons for leave of absence. Seokjin also provided you an hourly update, at your request though, but every email ended with something regarding the coffee. His latest one seemed desperate.

-          He said he’d fire me, Y/N. Please.

You snort. Like Mr. Min would ever fire Seokjin. You can recall at least 15 times where Mr. Min threatened to fire Seokjin.

Your third email last night was to Jungkook, notifying him to take up the job while you’re gone. You sent him damn near everything that happened in the past month. He just needs to go down the list of documents you mapped out in terms of routine, importance, current projects, and the like. His latest however was inquired by Seokjin to see if he knew where you get Mr. Min’s coffee.

You straighten up your back, pop your elbows and knuckles, and cracked your neck. You look down at Yeontan, curled up and resting in your lap.

“Yeontan. Help.” His steady breaths just remind you that he’s in need of rest more than you. And with Hoseok in the hospital, you’re the last one who needs a break right now.

“Right.” You exhale a breath of resolve and start typing away.

~•~

Seokjin breathes through his last meeting with Yoongi for the day. He finally leans back on his chair and exhales loudly.

“What?” Yoongi snaps. Black coffee is not enough for him, that’s for sure.

“Being your assistant is not easy, man.”

“Having you as my assistant is no picnic either. Can’t even make a decent cup of coffee.”

“She said she’ll give Jungkook the coffee secret. You’ll have it next week.” Yoongi loosens his tie and glares at his emails. For the past two days, you don’t reply to him. He sees your read receipts and he’s only received one reply to you on his latest email on his thread. I’m currently out of the office right now. Ask Seokjin. In terms of the more personal ones, like why you’re gone, you just leave a vague, I need to take care of some personal things.

“Y/N has never been so irresponsible before. It’s throwing me off.” Yoongi expresses out loud. Seokjin’s head was rolled back over the chair but he lifts it up to stare at him, “She’s doing a pretty badass job if you’re asking me. Everything is nearly taken care of before the next morning. All we have to do is show up and report to you everything. You don’t see our emails, but she leaves a very detailed response.”

“So why doesn’t she respond to me?!” Seokjin raises his eyebrows at Yoongi’s raised voice, as well as the newly provided information.

“She doesn’t reply to you? I got a response in every one of my emails.”

“Let me see.” Yoongi stands up from his chair to walk around to Seokjin as he takes out his phone to show him one of your latest emails. As Seokjin is your witness, your emails are nearly step by step. You’ve looped Seokjin into all the emails you’ve received from the other departments, replying to Seokjin and the departments at the same time on next steps.

“If she’s replying to all of us in the same detailed manner, there’s probably no need to respond to yours because we’re the ones who will directly notify you. She’s currently off right now, man. Right now, it’s not her job to answer you, it’s ours. You probably ask the same things we are. Plus, after all of this, I’m sure she needs a break.”

Well. Seokjin’s reports and questions are actually pretty valid. Most of Yoongi’s are simply, why are you gone, and, when are you coming back? So far, the work-related questions can be answered through Seokjin. But that might be because you’re coaching their words.

Yoongi scratches his head as he walks around his office.

Seokjin looks at him before standing up, “Come on. You need to eat.”

~•~

You enter Hoseok’s home with his spare key he provided you. While he’s in the hospital, you figure you can help him house sit. You drag all of Yeontan’s things into the house. You exhale out of exhaustion and collapse on the floor after you’ve taken your shoes off. After taking a minute to breathe and rest, you pick yourself off from the floor and ready to bring Yeontan and your items with you.

What surprises you is the number of dog-related items he has. He has the same dog bowl dispenser as you, a doggy bed. Chew toys and dog bones stray around the living room floor. How many times has he dog sat for you?

“Well, I guess I won’t be needing these, huh, Yeontan?” Yeontan yips and trots over to his bed and lays in it. He’s more familiar with the lay of the land than you are. You’re slightly annoyed that you brought all of this over without knowing you didn’t even have to in the first place. But you halt your annoyance when something dawns on you. I never really noticed how much Hoseok does for me…do I?

You drag yourself over to sit on his couch, watching Yeontan drag the stuffed chew toy over to his bed and wrestles with it. Yeontan is so at home here. And you’re still sitting up straight on his couch. Whereas if he were over at your place right now, his feet are already up on the couch. You feel so foreign here.

You get up from the couch and decide to explore everything. Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom.

His kitchen sink is clear, but he piles every dish he ever owns up in the drying rack, rather than drying them and putting them back up in the drawers. His fridge is adequately stocked but it looks like some stuff was recently bought. Some raw meat is in the fridge is starting to brown. I’ll have to make a note to help him clean his fridge out.

He has a modest little dining table which one side is pushed against the wall across from the kitchen. Three chairs take up each side, with two chairs pushed out, obviously frequently used. One of them is obviously Hoseok’s, but the other has a very tall and fluffy sitting cushion. Wonder whose that for. Lined and stacked against the wall are the pile of snacks you remember that he and you practically survived on during college. Heh, he still eats those?

You pull out his chair further to sit down. You hear Yeontan scamper over and hop up on the chair with the fluffy cushion, conditioned to expect a piece of meat from whatever dinner Hoseok cooked up.

“You’re a spoiled, little rascal, aren’t ya?” You ruffle Yeontan’s fur before playfully tapping his nose. You grab a bag of chips and open it up as you keep moving.

His bathroom is pretty well kept. A lavender-scented bathroom. Now that you think about it, lavender scented home. His personal hygiene items are hidden behind the mirror storage cabinet, but on the sink platform, he has a doggy toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as dog soap and hair brush.

“You really have everything, don’t you, Hoseok?” You mumble to yourself. You smile at the how caring your best friend is. You don’t deserve him, really.

He’s only one guy, so he only has one room. You don’t think he’ll mind you using his room for the time being. You open the door to see the heart of Hoseok. His furniture is light and made of bamboo. It’s very reflective of his clean, gentle, and peaceful nature. If you had to compare Hoseok to anything, it would be bamboo. Light, strong, and giving. He brings a sense of calmness to you.

Your hands glide over the smooth wardrobe over to his bookshelf, but he seems to collect more trinkets than books. You note his stuffed animals, empty cologne bottle, three different books that you’ve recommended to him, his first pair of dance shoes when he got his first real dance gig…you’ve given him all these things.

As a pattern starts to form, you look around the room. Pictures of you two together. In the drama team in college where you two met, his first dance performance, your first mixer, etc. Important memories.

You look back at his trinkets. You gave him that cologne bottle after college. It’s empty now, but he hasn’t thrown it away. You won that stuffed animal at the fair when he failed the fair game. You gave that to him.

“Hoseok…” Your heart clenched as you read the implications of this room and the rest of his house.

He loves you. And you’ve been far too stupid.

~•~

You dart out of his house for a moment and take a second to compose yourself. Yeontan is left behind the door, yipping for his owner to return into this sanctuary which the homeowner will envelop his owner with love.

Your poor, dear friend. How long? For why?

You love your friend immensely, but how could you possibly be so blind to how he felt about you? You love your friend, and yet you find the largest gap between how he treats you and you treat him. You should be ashamed and guilty. But should you? He is free to love you as much as you are free to not reciprocate. But that doesn’t mean lead him on; or take advantage of him. But that would require your acknowledgement of his feelings for you, which you never have until now. Did you even? You can’t come up with a single moment in time where you believe you may have led him on. Have you taken advantage of him? Sure. Loads of times, but it was never based on his love. It was a best friend who knew exactly what you need, when you need it, and prepared to provide. You never thought of it beyond such.

I can’t be guilty if I never knew. You tell yourself. But really? Are you sure you never had a clue?

**

“Hoseok! Help meeeee!” You groan as you hit your head down to the book opened up on the table.

Hoseok comes flying in with a plastic bag and a carton tray with boba, “I’ve brought refreshments!”

As soon as the bag drops in front of you, you face lights up and you cry in relief.

“Wait,” he pulls the food away from you as you whine, “You’re not to be distracted. This is your last final, and I’ll be damned if you fail general. This is your last hurdle before your dad finally agrees to you becoming a music producer.”

“I can’t focus, man! And yeah, it’s easy. It really is. But I’m ready to be done. To be out there!” you gesture dramatically outside to the window, “I want to be part of that world!”

“And you will. After tomorrow. You’re telling me, you really can’t buckle down one more night. You’re at the last leg of the finish line.” Hoseok pokes the boba lid for you and hands it over.

“It’s that thing where you’re just ready to be done. It makes me restless.” You whine, but your whine turns into sounds of content as you sip through the straw.

“Y/N. I’ve got you. You’re gonna be fine. You’re gonna get through this. You’re gonna get an A…and if you can get through this last study session and ace the final, I’ll take you to Moonshine.” He bribes.

Your eyes widen before you squint in disbelief, “Moonshine? Michelin-star restaurant, Moonshine? You’re not serious.”

“Yes, I am. I’ll break all my piggy banks if it will get you to study properly.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, all 15. I’ve been saving them since I was 5.”

“That’s so cute!”

“Ok. Enough. Study.” You really thought he was joking, but you still buckled down, moved enough by his sincerity alone.

**

“Come on, Y/N. It’s ok.” Hoseok soothes your back as your hysterical sobs echo through the courtyard.

“Physics. General physics. I barely passed in high school and now I’ve even failed.” You wipe your tears and blow your nose, “My chance to even land a decent career is over. I’m gonna be working a fast food chain now.”

“Woah, Y/N, slow down. It’s not that serious. It’s one class. This is your sophomore year. You’re telling me that one general physics class, physics in which your career path is nowhere near close to requiring it, will need you to ace general physics? My dad says that all jobs need is a degree, not the classes you take.”

“Yeah, well my dad says no music. What future do I have now? I’m so stupid.” Hoseok stays quiet for a moment, knowing that a deal is a deal, and you take those pretty seriously.

“Y/N. Your future is not over. Your future is so bright, it’s surprisingly brighter the sun. You may not be able to do music as a career, but don’t you ever let that get in the way of the passion you actually have. That, your dad can never take away from you. And if you lose making music, that’s worse than never having a job to do so in the first place. Your passion is what keeps your days from being gray. So, you need to hold on to it. Like I will always hold on to you.” Hoseok wraps his arms around you and pulls you close as you sob into his neck.

“That’s it. There you go. All over the neck. That’s right. Mmm, just like that.” Hoseok teases. You start laughing and crying at the same time, “Stop it, it sounds so weird.”

“Can’t be weirder than the feeling of someone’s tears and snot on my neck.” Hoseok says when you pull away, wiping his neck. He stands up and brings you up too, brushing your hair to look less like the nest it is, “Come. Dress yourself to the nines, Y/N! I’m taking you to Moonshine.”

“We really don’t have to do that. Let’s wait until we get ourselves our first real jobs first. I’m good with going anywhere. Let’s just grab some chicken and beer.”

“Nah, nah, nah. My girl deserves the best. And I’m ready. My piggy banks are all broke now. We’re going.”

“Hey Hoseok,” your inquiry halts his attempts to skip across the courtyard with you, “You didn’t really break piggy banks that you’ve had since you were five, did you? I didn’t even get an A.”

“Yup. But I was going to take you no matter what grade you got anyway.” He said, enunciating the p. You pout and bury yourself in his chest. He instinctively wraps his arms around you and starts laughing when he hears you sniffling, “Don’t cry, Y/N. It’s just money. Money does not grow on trees, but it’s not gone forever too. It’s fine. And this is important. You’re sad and that’s not okay with me.” You wrap your arms around his waist and start bawling.

“Hoseok!” you literally cry out his name and he laughs as he pets your head, shushing you to calm down.

“You’re the most adorable human being on earth.” You hiccup, pulling away from his chest.

“I’d beg to differ. You’ve never met yourself, have you?” He tilts his head to look at you, “You’re worth it, love.” He kisses you on the forehead before pulling you for another tight hug.

**

You clutch your chest as pain flows from your heart to your eyes. You’re absolutely disgusted with yourself right now. To be so blind. Or, if not blind, ignorant. Probably willfully ignorant. It’s easier to be okay with the things he does for you if you don’t recognize the underlying reasons.

Did you ever like him? Of course.

Like that? Possibly.

Did you love him? Of course.

Like that?

   Probably not.

Next chapter