#but also it's been two weeks since the interview and that does not seem to bode a ''yes''

[the-everqueen]

i'm so anxious i can't fall asleep and i feel like i'm going to s c r e a m at any given moment but i don't know whether it's worse to get a definitive "no" or stay in this state of limbo for another week

[victusinveritas]

Story below the cut to avoid a paywall.

There was no explanation, no warning. One minute, I was in an immigration office talking to an officer about my work visa, which had been approved months before and allowed me, a Canadian, to work in the US. The next, I was told to put my hands against the wall, and patted down like a criminal before being sent to an Ice detention center without the chance to talk to a lawyer.

I grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, a small town in the northernmost part of Canada. I always knew I wanted to do something bigger with my life. I left home early and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where I built a career spanning multiple industries – acting in film and television, owning bars and restaurants, flipping condos and managing Airbnbs.

In my 30s, I found my true passion working in the health and wellness industry. I was given the opportunity to help launch an American brand of health tonics called Holy! Water – a job that would involve moving to the US.

I was granted my trade Nafta work visa, which allows Canadian and Mexican citizens to work in the US in specific professional occupations, on my second attempt. It goes without saying, then, that I have no criminal record. I also love the US and consider myself to be a kind, hard-working person.

I started working in California and travelled back and forth between Canada and the US multiple times without any complications – until one day, upon returning to the US, a border officer questioned me about my initial visa denial and subsequent visa approval. He asked why I had gone to the San Diego border the second time to apply. I explained that that was where my lawyer’s offices were, and that he had wanted to accompany me to ensure there were no issues.

After a long interrogation, the officer told me it seemed “shady” and that my visa hadn’t been properly processed. He claimed I also couldn’t work for a company in the US that made use of hemp – one of the beverage ingredients. He revoked my visa, and told me I could still work for the company from Canada, but if I wanted to return to the US, I would need to reapply.

I was devastated; I had just started building a life in California. I stayed in Canada for the next few months, and was eventually offered a similar position with a different health and wellness brand.

I restarted the visa process and returned to the same immigration office at the San Diego border, since they had processed my visa before and I was familiar with it. Hours passed, with many confused opinions about my case. The officer I spoke to was kind but told me that, due to my previous issues, I needed to apply for my visa through the consulate. I told her I hadn’t been aware I needed to apply that way, but had no problem doing it.

Then she said something strange: “You didn’t do anything wrong. You are not in trouble, you are not a criminal.”

I remember thinking: Why would she say that? Of course I’m not a criminal!

She then told me they had to send me back to Canada. That didn’t concern me; I assumed I would simply book a flight home. But as I sat searching for flights, a man approached me.

“Come with me,” he said.

There was no explanation, no warning. He led me to a room, took my belongings from my hands and ordered me to put my hands against the wall. A woman immediately began patting me down. The commands came rapid-fire, one after another, too fast to process.

They took my shoes and pulled out my shoelaces.

“What are you doing? What is happening?” I asked.

“You are being detained.”

“I don’t understand. What does that mean? For how long?”

“I don’t know.”

That would be the response to nearly every question I would ask over the next two weeks: “I don’t know.”

They brought me downstairs for a series of interviews and medical questions, searched my bags and told me I had to get rid of half my belongings because I couldn’t take everything with me.

“Take everything with me where?” I asked.

A woman asked me for the name of someone they could contact on my behalf. In moments like this, you realize you don’t actually know anyone’s phone number anymore. By some miracle, I had recently memorized my best friend Britt’s number because I had been putting my grocery points on her account.

I gave them her phone number.

They handed me a mat and a folded-up sheet of aluminum foil.

“What is this?”

“Your blanket.”

“I don’t understand.”

I was taken to a tiny, freezing cement cell with bright fluorescent lights and a toilet. There were five other women lying on their mats with the aluminum sheets wrapped over them, looking like dead bodies. The guard locked the door behind me.

For two days, we remained in that cell, only leaving briefly for food. The lights never turned off, we never knew what time it was and no one answered our questions. No one in the cell spoke English, so I either tried to sleep or meditate to keep from having a breakdown. I didn’t trust the food, so I fasted, assuming I wouldn’t be there long.

On the third day, I was finally allowed to make a phone call. I called Britt and told her that I didn’t understand what was happening, that no one would tell me when I was going home, and that she was my only contact.

They gave me a stack of paperwork to sign and told me I was being given a five-year ban unless I applied for re-entry through the consulate. The officer also said it didn’t matter whether I signed the papers or not; it was happening regardless.

I was so delirious that I just signed. I told them I would pay for my flight home and asked when I could leave.

No answer.

Then they moved me to another cell – this time with no mat or blanket. I sat on the freezing cement floor for hours. That’s when I realized they were processing me into real jail: the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

I was told to shower, given a jail uniform, fingerprinted and interviewed. I begged for information.

“How long will I be here?”

“I don’t know your case,” the man said. “Could be days. Could be weeks. But I’m telling you right now – you need to mentally prepare yourself for months.”

Months.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

I was taken to the nurse’s office for a medical check. She asked what had happened to me. She had never seen a Canadian there before. When I told her my story, she grabbed my hand and said: “Do you believe in God?”

I told her I had only recently found God, but that I now believed in God more than anything.

“I believe God brought you here for a reason,” she said. “I know it feels like your life is in a million pieces, but you will be OK. Through this, I think you are going to find a way to help others.”

At the time, I didn’t know what that meant. She asked if she could pray for me. I held her hands and wept.

I felt like I had been sent an angel.

I was then placed in a real jail unit: two levels of cells surrounding a common area, just like in the movies. I was put in a tiny cell alone with a bunk bed and a toilet.

The best part: there were blankets. After three days without one, I wrapped myself in mine and finally felt some comfort.

For the first day, I didn’t leave my cell. I continued fasting, terrified that the food might make me sick. The only available water came from the tap attached to the toilet in our cells or a sink in the common area, neither of which felt safe to drink.

Eventually, I forced myself to step out, meet the guards and learn the rules. One of them told me: “No fighting.”

“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” I joked. He laughed.

I asked if there had ever been a fight here.

“In this unit? No,” he said. “No one in this unit has a criminal record.”

That’s when I started meeting the other women.

That’s when I started hearing their stories.

And that’s when I made a decision: I would never allow myself to feel sorry for my situation again. No matter how hard this was, I had to be grateful. Because every woman I met was in an even more difficult position than mine.

There were around 140 of us in our unit. Many women had lived and worked in the US legally for years but had overstayed their visas – often after reapplying and being denied. They had all been detained without warning.

If someone is a criminal, I agree they should be taken off the streets. But not one of these women had a criminal record. These women acknowledged that they shouldn’t have overstayed and took responsibility for their actions. But their frustration wasn’t about being held accountable; it was about the endless, bureaucratic limbo they had been trapped in.

The real issue was how long it took to get out of the system, with no clear answers, no timeline and no way to move forward. Once deported, many have no choice but to abandon everything they own because the cost of shipping their belongings back is too high.

I met a woman who had been on a road trip with her husband. She said they had 10-year work visas. While driving near the San Diego border, they mistakenly got into a lane leading to Mexico. They stopped and told the agent they didn’t have their passports on them, expecting to be redirected. Instead, they were detained. They are both pastors.

I met a family of three who had been living in the US for 11 years with work authorizations. They paid taxes and were waiting for their green cards. Every year, the mother had to undergo a background check, but this time, she was told to bring her whole family. When they arrived, they were taken into custody and told their status would now be processed from within the detention center.

Another woman from Canada had been living in the US with her husband who was detained after a traffic stop. She admitted she had overstayed her visa and accepted that she would be deported. But she had been stuck in the system for almost six weeks because she hadn’t had her passport. Who runs casual errands with their passport?

One woman had a 10-year visa. When it expired, she moved back to her home country, Venezuela. She admitted she had overstayed by one month before leaving. Later, she returned for a vacation and entered the US without issue. But when she took a domestic flight from Miami to Los Angeles, she was picked up by Ice and detained. She couldn’t be deported because Venezuela wasn’t accepting deportees. She didn’t know when she was getting out.

There was a girl from India who had overstayed her student visa for three days before heading back home. She then came back to the US on a new, valid visa to finish her master’s degree and was handed over to Ice due to the three days she had overstayed on her previous visa.

There were women who had been picked up off the street, from outside their workplaces, from their homes. All of these women told me that they had been detained for time spans ranging from a few weeks to 10 months. One woman’s daughter was outside the detention center protesting for her release.

That night, the pastor invited me to a service she was holding. A girl who spoke English translated for me as the women took turns sharing their prayers – prayers for their sick parents, for the children they hadn’t seen in weeks, for the loved ones they had been torn away from.

Then, unexpectedly, they asked if they could pray for me. I was new here, and they wanted to welcome me. They formed a circle around me, took my hands and prayed. I had never felt so much love, energy and compassion from a group of strangers in my life. Everyone was crying.

At 3am the next day, I was woken up in my cell.

“Pack your bag. You’re leaving.”

I jolted upright. “I get to go home?”

The officer shrugged. “I don’t know where you’re going.”

Of course. No one ever knew anything.

I grabbed my things and went downstairs, where 10 other women stood in silence, tears streaming down their faces. But these weren’t happy tears. That was the moment I learned the term “transferred”.

For many of these women, detention centers had become a twisted version of home. They had formed bonds, established routines and found slivers of comfort in the friendships they had built. Now, without warning, they were being torn apart and sent somewhere new. Watching them say goodbye, clinging to each other, was gut-wrenching.

I had no idea what was waiting for me next. In hindsight, that was probably for the best.

Our next stop was Arizona, the San Luis Regional Detention Center. The transfer process lasted 24 hours, a sleepless, grueling ordeal. This time, men were transported with us. Roughly 50 of us were crammed into a prison bus for the next five hours, packed together – women in the front, men in the back. We were bound in chains that wrapped tightly around our waists, with our cuffed hands secured to our bodies and shackles restraining our feet, forcing every movement into a slow, clinking struggle.

When we arrived at our next destination, we were forced to go through the entire intake process all over again, with medical exams, fingerprinting – and pregnancy tests; they lined us up in a filthy cell, squatting over a communal toilet, holding Dixie cups of urine while the nurse dropped pregnancy tests in each of our cups. It was disgusting.

We sat in freezing-cold jail cells for hours, waiting for everyone to be processed. Across the room, one of the women suddenly spotted her husband. They had both been detained and were now seeing each other for the first time in weeks.

The look on her face – pure love, relief and longing – was something I’ll never forget.

We were beyond exhausted. I felt like I was hallucinating.

The guard tossed us each a blanket: “Find a bed.”

There were no pillows. The room was ice cold, and one blanket wasn’t enough. Around me, women lay curled into themselves, heads covered, looking like a room full of corpses. This place made the last jail feel like the Four Seasons.

I kept telling myself: Do not let this break you.

Thirty of us shared one room. We were given one Styrofoam cup for water and one plastic spoon that we had to reuse for every meal. I eventually had to start trying to eat and, sure enough, I got sick. None of the uniforms fit, and everyone had men’s shoes on. The towels they gave us to shower were hand towels. They wouldn’t give us more blankets. The fluorescent lights shined on us 24/7.

Everything felt like it was meant to break you. Nothing was explained to us. I wasn’t given a phone call. We were locked in a room, no daylight, with no idea when we would get out.

I tried to stay calm as every fiber of my being raged towards panic mode. I didn’t know how I would tell Britt where I was. Then, as if sent from God, one of the women showed me a tablet attached to the wall where I could send emails. I only remembered my CEO’s email from memory. I typed out a message, praying he would see it.

He responded.

Through him, I was able to connect with Britt. She told me that they were working around the clock trying to get me out. But no one had any answers; the system made it next to impossible. I told her about the conditions in this new place, and that was when we decided to go to the media.

She started working with a reporter and asked whether I would be able to call her so she could loop him in. The international phone account that Britt had previously tried to set up for me wasn’t working, so one of the other women offered to let me use her phone account to make the call.

We were all in this together.

With nothing to do in my cell but talk, I made new friends – women who had risked everything for the chance at a better life for themselves and their families.

Through them, I learned the harsh reality of seeking asylum. Showing me their physical scars, they explained how they had paid smugglers anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000 to reach the US border, enduring brutal jungles and horrendous conditions.

One woman had been offered asylum in Mexico within two weeks but had been encouraged to keep going to the US. Now, she was stuck, living in a nightmare, separated from her young children for months. She sobbed, telling me how she felt like the worst mother in the world.

Many of these women were highly educated and spoke multiple languages. Yet, they had been advised to pretend they didn’t speak English because it would supposedly increase their chances of asylum.

Some believed they were being used as examples, as warnings to others not to try to come.

Women were starting to panic in this new facility, and knowing I was most likely the first person to get out, they wrote letters and messages for me to send to their families.

It felt like we had all been kidnapped, thrown into some sort of sick psychological experiment meant to strip us of every ounce of strength and dignity.

We were from different countries, spoke different languages and practiced different religions. Yet, in this place, none of that mattered. Everyone took care of each other. Everyone shared food. Everyone held each other when someone broke down. Everyone fought to keep each other’s hope alive.

I got a message from Britt. My story had started to blow up in the media.

Almost immediately after, I was told I was being released.

My Ice agent, who had never spoken to me, told my lawyer I could have left sooner if I had signed a withdrawal form, and that they hadn’t known I would pay for my own flight home.

From the moment I arrived, I begged every officer I saw to let me pay for my own ticket home. Not a single one of them ever spoke to me about my case.

To put things into perspective: I had a Canadian passport, lawyers, resources, media attention, friends, family and even politicians advocating for me. Yet, I was still detained for nearly two weeks.

Imagine what this system is like for every other person in there.

A small group of us were transferred back to San Diego at 2am – one last road trip, once again shackled in chains. I was then taken to the airport, where two officers were waiting for me. The media was there, so the officers snuck me in through a side door, trying to avoid anyone seeing me in restraints. I was beyond grateful that, at the very least, I didn’t have to walk through the airport in chains.

To my surprise, the officers escorting me were incredibly kind, and even funny. It was the first time I had laughed in weeks.

I asked if I could put my shoelaces back on.

“Yes,” one of them said with a grin. “But you better not run.”

“Yeah,” the other added. “Or we’ll have to tackle you in the airport. That’ll really make the headlines.”

I laughed, then told them I had spent a lot of time observing the guards during my detention and I couldn’t believe how often I saw humans treating other humans with such disregard. “But don’t worry,” I joked. “You two get five stars.”

When I finally landed in Canada, my mom and two best friends were waiting for me. So was the media. I spoke to them briefly, numb and delusional from exhaustion.

It was surreal listening to my friends recount everything they had done to get me out: working with lawyers, reaching out to the media, making endless calls to detention centers, desperately trying to get through to Ice or anyone who could help. They said the entire system felt rigged, designed to make it nearly impossible for anyone to get out.

The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.

Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.

The more detainees, the more money they make. It stands to reason that these companies have no incentive to release people quickly. What I had experienced was finally starting to make sense.

[kianamaiart]

🌟KIANAMAIART FAQ🌟

FAQ wahoooo!!

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Who are you?

I'm Kiana, I'm a queer, Japanese Jamaican woman, and a Director/Storyboard artist who works in animation. I'm currently at Disney Television Animation.

What are your pronouns?

I usually go by she/her but I don't really mind any pronouns~

Where did you go to school?

California College of the Arts (but I dropped out when I was hired at Disney)

How did you get hired at Disney?

My bosses found me on twitter. They liked my drawing style and asked if I wanted to take a storyboard test. I did, I passed, I got interviewed and moved to LA two weeks later to start storyboarding.

Your work seems familiar. What do I know you from?

I've been on the internet for a long time! It could be a number of things. As maimai97 on dA I had a comic about next gen Pokemon characters called Pokemon 25 Years Later. As kilala97 I had some popular next gen ponies and also had a Steven Universe gemsona named Larimar. I'm also @yamujiburo, known most for drawing Jessie x Delia (hanamusa) a lot. I also work professionally! I've worked as a storyboard artist and director on Disney Channel's Big City Greens, I was a storyboard artist on one of the Steven Universe anti-racism shorts and I was a storyboard artist on Pokemon: Path to the Peak. Most recently I've been on season 6 of Dropout's Game Changer!

What program and brush do you use to draw?

Default brush in Storyboard pro. Photoshop sometimes just for compositing or specific effects.

PPPIDWTBAMG QUESTIONS

What is this project?

This is a project that started off as a silly idea that has since grown into me creating a 10 minute pilot animatic.

What does "pilot animatic" entail?

It means that it's effectively a pilot/episode 1 of a (potential) larger series. It's fully voice acted but is not fully animated. It's an animatic, meaning it will be comprised of storyboards in video form.

When and where can I watch the pilot!?

Now and right here!

What would this series be rated?

Ideally like PG13/TV14! Or whatever they call it. Definitely more geared to a YA audience. Not completely kiddy but also not what most people would consider adult animation to be

What are you planning to do with the project now that the pilot has released?

Don't know yet! There has been a lot of studio interest and even offers, so I'm in the process of talking with them and seeing if I can find this show a home or if I want to try doing it on my own or if I want to even continue with it at all. I know you guys are curious, but even if I wanted to tell you I couldn't. Just trust that I will make announcements as they come~

You said Aika had teammates, will we see them?

Because of the studio interest and potential for more of this show, there's some stuff I'm still holding close to my chest. This is one of them.

Do the characters have parents??

Zira does! As for Aika and Eclipse, this is something I'm still developing and don't really know myself haha

What are the characters' sexualities?

Don't know right now. Headcanon away!

Is "Star Guardian: Guardian of the Stars" a reference to that vine?

Nope! It's more so a parody for just really long and redundant titles which I love. Similar to the title of this project, which is called "Pretty Pretty Please I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl"

[beenreidingaboutyou]

When I'm Down on My Knees, You're How I Pray

who? Spencer x afab! reader

content warnings: NSFW, MDNI, 18+ content, unholy use of bible verses, inaccurate use of religious themes, oral (m), fingering (f), reader has hair that can be pulled, mention of religious trauma, Jesus Reid, please let me know if I've missed anything else!

a/n: Believe it or not, I actually toned down the blasphemy in this fic. Huge thank you to @minswriting for answering my 20 million questions about this because I've never written smut before and that's the majority of what she does. (Also she came up with the title, it's a Lana lyric)

thank you to @cafekitsune for the MDNI divider and @saradika-graphics for the stained glass divider

word count: 1.3k

You’ve spent your adult life avoiding anything related to church and religion. Growing up in an overly religious household and being forced to attend church services twice a week, in addition to the Bible study and choir practice, meant that anything related to religion left a bad taste in your mouth. While you’ve never outright mentioned this to Hotch, he seemed to pick up on it and respected your wishes, never sending you to interview priests or visit cathedrals that had been the scene of a crime. At least, until he had respected your wishes until this case. He paired you with Spencer and sent you both to investigate an older crime scene at a nearby church. Despite your best efforts, you were unable to weasel out of your assignment, so here you were, stuck thinking about the fact that you were going to church with the one person you’d always been attracted to since joining the BAU.

You were oddly quiet as the two of you walked through the building

“So, what are your thoughts?” Spencer asks, breaking the silence.

“Being here brings back all of the religious trauma I endured as a kid and you looking like Jesus is certainly not helping.”

You see Spencer furrow his brows in confusion, his gaze shifting from the church to you, “I-I’m sorry, did you just say I look like Jesus?” 

“Yeah, I did. Except you’d be the one I’d get on my knees for,” you say teasingly, shooting a wink in his direction.

He chokes on air, “e-excuse me?”

“Anyways, let’s go check out the confessional,” you reply, wanting to get out of the church as soon as possible.

As you step into the cramped confessional, you can feel Reid close behind you. You can feel the effect your teasing remark had on him as his bulge presses against your back, though you’re sure the action is unintentional on his part. 

You turn to face him and glance down at the tent his pants, “do you want some help with that?”

His face flushes, “w-what?”

“Shhh, let me take care of you,” you mumble as you get down on your knees in front of him. 

You hear his breath hitch in his throat as you undo his belt. You quickly unbutton and unzip his pants, pulling them down and leaving him in his boxers. You palm his bulge and glance up at him, “Looks like you enjoyed the idea of me worshipping your cock.”

He whimpers and nods. You slowly pull his boxers down, freeing his length. He whimpers as you run your thumb over his tip, collecting the leaking precum. “You like that, baby?” you ask, looking up at him. 

He nods his head pathetically in response. You bite your lip and wrap your hand around his length, giving a few experimental tugs. The sound of his whimpers went straight to your cunt, leaving you desperate to hear more.

“My heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, Psalm 16:9” you recited before you slowly lick the underside of his cock, going from the base to the tip. You can’t help but smirk slightly at the moan that escapes his mouth. You wrap your lips around him, only taking a little more than the tip into your mouth. You look up at him as you swirl your tongue around his length, loving the way he’s reacting to your teasing. His eyes are dark with lust as he looks down at you, enjoying the view, but clearly wanting more. You slowly take more of him into your mouth and you feel him tangle his fingers in your hair as he lets out a loud moan. You keep going until he hits the back of your throat, causing you to gag slightly. Spencer gently caressed your hair, a subtle way of telling you to be careful.

You start to bob your head, going at a teasingly slow pace, savoring the moans and whimpers that he lets out. You hollow out your cheeks around him and he groans in response, bucking his hips slightly. You pick up your pace as he grips your hair, gathering your hair in a makeshift ponytail. He groans and uses your hair to guide you, forcing you to go faster. You moan around his length and something in him snaps. He holds your head still and starts bucking his hips, thrusting into your mouth, causing you to gag each time he hits the back of your throat. You look up at him with tears in your eyes, loving the sight of him with his head thrown back and mouth open. He moaned your name so prettily, the sound echoing around the church.

You feel his cock twitch and he starts to pull out, but you grab his hips and hold him in place. He cums with a loud groan, shooting his seed down your throat. You eagerly swallow his load before leaning back, a trail of spit and cum. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand as you stand up. You can’t resist the urge to wink and say, “Amen” 

He takes your face in his hands and pulls you in for a rough, needy kiss. His tongue slips past your lips and he groans at the taste of himself on your tongue. His hands move down to your thighs and he picks you up, placing you on the prayer ledge without breaking the kiss. 

“From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things and the work of their hands brings them reward, Proverbs 12:14,” Spencer whispers in your ear as his hands slowly trail under your skirt, his fingers tracing your thighs as they get closer to your core. You moan softly as his fingers brush against your panties and he starts pressing open mouth kisses to the side of your neck. You let your head fall back, giving him more room to kiss and suck on your neck and collarbones. He smirks and gently sucks a mark on your pulse point as he pushes your panties to the side.

“You’re so wet, angel,” Spencer murmured against your skin. “Did you get all worked up using your mouth on me?” 

You whimper quietly as he uses one of his fingers to spread your wetness around. He doesn’t tease you for long, within moments you feel the tip of his finger brushing against your clit. You moan in response, his touch sending sparks all over your body. He begins to gently rub your clit in a circular motion, working you slowly.

You gasp loudly when he slips one of his fingers inside you, his long, slender finger reaching far deeper than yours ever could. He slowly pumps his finger in and out, letting you get used to the sensation before adding a second finger. His pace increases and he curls his fingers, brushing against your g-spot. You moan his name, causing him to pick up speed. 

“Does that feel good, angel?” Spence asked lowly, watching the way you fell apart under his touch.

 “Uh-huh, so good, Spence”

He smirks as you clench around his fingers. His thumb moves to rub your clit as he continues thrusting his fingers. 

“You gonna cum for me?” 

“Yes, yes, ohhh god.” You moan loudly, shaking as you let go, your thighs squeezing around him. 

“I wanna be inside you, angel,” Spencer mumbled, pushing your skirt up. 

You nod and lift your hips to make it easier for him. You can hear a low moan slip from his mouth when he exposes the lacy panties you’re wearing that day. He hooks his fingers in the waistband to pull them down, but gets interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

He reluctantly answers the call, “Reid.” 

You listen quietly as he speaks, trying to get your breathing back to normal. He hangs up the phone and pouts, “Hotch wants us back at the station.”

“I gathered,” you mumble as he steps back, giving you room to stand up and fix your skirt.

“If you want, you can come by my hotel room later? Finish what we started?” He offers as he pulls up his pants.

“I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

[akawifeyy]

so american | smau (OP81)

description: you might not be australian, but oscar piastri loves you just the same.

tropes: yapper x listener, he falls first and harder, celebrity actress!fem!reader (you’re the daughter of matt damon, please tell me you all know who he is)

face claim: addison rae

trigger warnings: suggestive content, swearing

| note: sorry for the long wait between posts, i'm not feeling the best right now and i've also had a jam-packed schedule. but anyways! here you go! this is based on ♪ so american / olivia rodrigo, which is one of my fave songs of all time :)

@ f1gossip: The daughter of Matt Damon, Y/N, is reportedly dating McLaren's F1 driver, Oscar Piastri. Thoughts?

tagged: @ f1, @ f1yaps, @ f1talk

comments (5862):

@ user1: she's so pretty omg 😭

-> @ user2: First thought was, "She's everything, and he's just Ken." Y/N is absolutely gorgeous.

@ user3: even though i've been an oscar girlie since day 1, i support this. if this is real, i wish them the best of luck <3

@ f1yaps: Has a hot new WAG entered the paddock? Only time will tell

@ yourusername: howdy, cota 🤠 had a great time

tagged: @ f1, @ mattdamon, @ yourbffusername

@ user4: prettiest cowgirl there is 🤎

@ oscarpiastri: It was nice meeting you!

-> @ yourusername: ditto! hoping to buy tickets for las vegas :)

@ user5: Why is Oscar lowkey lurking in the comments... 🤨

-> @ user6: read @ f1gossip's most recent post

@ yn.updates: during an interview for her upcoming movie, "riptide", y/n was asked about the gossip concerning her and mclaren f1 driver oscar piastri. with a big smile, she replied, "he seems like a great guy, but let's be for real. i've met him one time. let's not get too far ahead, please!"

tagged: @ yourusername, @ oscarpiastri, @ f1, & 2 more

comments (1257):

@ user7: That dress is stunning 😩

@ user8: they'd be cute together as a couple ngl. i'd love to see more of them

-> @ user8: but, they deserve their privacy

@ user9: ynoscar is adorable ❤️❤️

Text messages between Oscar and Y/N (2025):

@ yourusername: las vegas was a hit! congrats to the papaya boys, p2 and p3

tagged: @ f1, @ mclaren, @ oscarpiastri, @ landonorris

comments (9374):

@ yourbffusername: super cool! miss you xoxo

-> @ yourusername: miss you too, i'll be back home soon 💗

@ user10: Twinklaren tagged!!

@ oscarpiastri: Thanks for coming!

-> @ yourusername: of course, i wouldn't miss it for the world 😁

comments (539):

@ user5: Have any of you seen Oscar's most recent Insta story?

-> @ user11: the way i ran to check and SCREAMED 😳

-> @ user5: IK, they are so evil for soft-launching, they're torturing us. *Sobs*

Oscar's Instagram Story:

comments (7521):

@ yourusername: might not be good at legos but it was still fun being with you!

@ user12: ADORABLE 🥰

@ user8: how does it feel to live my dream 😞

Press Conference Interview Excerpt with Oscar (2025):

Interviewer: Congratulations on your podium in Qatar, Oscar! We noticed a special someone was missing, would you like to tell us more about them?

Oscar (smiling): If the special someone is Y/N Damon, you wouldn't be wrong. She means a lot to me, and I'm very lucky to be with her. Anyways, she sadly wasn't able to make it because she is back in America for the time being. She's about to have her red carpet debut for her movie, "Riptide"! I saw a few clips from it and she does a flawless job.

Interviewer: Is this an acknowledgement of the relationship between the two of you?

Oscar: Yeah.

Interviewer: How long have the two of you been together?

Oscar: A few weeks after COTA.

Interviewer: Well, best of luck to the new couple!

Text messages between Oscar and Y/N (2025):

@ oscarpiastri: What a way to end 2025! See you all next year

tagged: @ landonorris, @ f1, @ mclaren, @ yourusername

comments (4898):

@ user13: ahhh omg y/n mention!! 🥹

-> @ user14: They're so cute

-> @ user9: best couple in a long time

@ landonorris: Always glad to be with you, mate

-> @ oscarpiastri: 2026 three-peat is on its way!

@ yourusername: so so proud of you 🥳

-> @ oscarpiastri: Thank you, I'm proud of you too. Can't wait to be with you again 😘

─── ୨୧ ─── THE END ─── ୨୧ ───

[thereoncewasagirlnamedjane]

SOME TYPE OF SKIN (1).

PAIRING — billy russo x reporter f!reader

CONTENTS — ficlet; fluff; tiny bit of angst if you squint really, really hard; a dash of pining; references to some canon-typical violence; some very mild innuendo.

SUMMARY — after a harrowing experience, billy surprisingly takes the matter of your personal safety into his very own hands.

WORD COUNT — 1.6k

NOTES — so I decided to write something short and fun for @elixirfromthestars’s cinema writing challenge and honestly, i’m not 100% satisfied with this (when am i ever tho?) but also trying not to overthink this too much. please excuse me while I continue to scream into the void about this stupidly beautiful man. I apologize in advance for the person I have been and am going to be for the next few weeks; ben barnes has such a firm grip on my fucking throat lmao 🤭

✩ masterlist ✩ library blog

When he asked you to meet him here at Anvil headquarters so you could finally interview him for that story in the Bulletin, this isn’t exactly what you were expecting. 

Instead of being seated in his second floor office overlooking the main part of the warehouse, you’re standing in the basement dressed in your crisp white blouse, hastily pressed pencil skirt, and low heels. You toy with the press pass hanging around your neck, unsure what to do with your hands. 

Your interview subject, however, seems quite relaxed save for the slight wrinkle between his dark brows as he very deliberately lays out several objects on a table in the middle of the room. He’s switched out his usual sharp business attire for a green pullover that looks soft to the touch, dark cargo pants, and a pair of combat boots. 

It takes you a few seconds to find your voice, because does he have to recline against the damn thing like that? He looks tall and lean, but damn it when he’s like this, showing off the corded muscles in his arms and shoulders, you cannot doubt that he’s an ex-Marine. 

“Russo?” 

“Hm?” He hums distractedly. 

“Are those knives?” 

Well, that gets his attention. He lifts his head and finally makes direct eye contact, and a shiver shoots down your spine. 

“Yeah, they are,” he confirms casually, as if you’ve just asked him if the sky is blue. He leans his hands on the table, shamelessly giving you a slow and careful once over before he frowns a little. “You’re gonna have to change.” 

“I feel compelled to tell you Karen knows I’m here,” you say quickly, raising an inquisitive eyebrow when he just chuckles like you’ve said something adorably funny. “Also, I thought we were doing an interview?” 

Billy Russo stares expectantly at you for a few seconds, lips slowly turning upward into a mysterious smile that you know has captured hearts all over the city. 

But you won’t fall for that, will you? 

Nope. Not in the slightest. 

“Nah, not yet anyway. Sorry, darlin’.” 

Ignore that! You scream mentally, but your brain does not cooperate. “Then what am I doing here, Lieutenant?” 

Whoops. His head snaps up again, his already sunless eyes getting darker by the second. Without breaking the intense eye contact, he just gestures around the room as though it’s oh so obvious. 

“Self-defence training.” 

“And why would I need—ugh, I don’t have time for this, Billy.” You heave a sigh, dropping all pretenses now, pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration. 

You’ve always known that Billy marches to the beat of his own drum, ever since the two of you met when Karen introduced you a few months ago while you were researching for a story about army veterans—a friend of a friend’s, she’d said, but never elaborated—but this seems excessive. 

“You wouldn’t have come if I were honest,” he says, his smile falling away in an instant, the glint of amusement in his eyes disappearing like smoke in the wind. “I don’t need to remind you of the… unpleasantness that happened last week.” 

“And yet here we are,” you scoff, crossing your arms over your chest. “I’m fine.” 

“You were attacked,” Billy corrects, walking around the table to perch himself on the edge closest to you. You roll your eyes; as if you’ve forgotten. Getting ambushed in front of your apartment by two masked assailants isn’t exactly an easy thing to forget. 

“Everything worked out, didn’t it?” You uncross your arms and saunter over to the table, ignoring the heavy weight of his gaze on you. And it really had! 

Just as one of your would-be kidnappers, whatever it was they wanted, hit you in the face in retaliation for you kicking him in the shins and biting the other on the arm, your neighbour had come out of the apartment building just in time and began screaming bloody murder. They had no choice but to drop you and run, leaving you dishevelled and bruised, but otherwise fine, on the sidewalk. 

“They could come back,” Billy points out, since they obviously didn’t get what they’d come for, the same thing the police had said when they arrived just minutes later. You didn’t think much of it, though. Karen had had her fair share of run-ins with such undesirables, and she assured that this just meant you were pushing precisely the right buttons as a reporter. 

Even so, she still urged you to call Billy for protection.

You wonder if he gets all of his clients to undergo this self-defence training, or if he always personally offers to instruct them.

“Can’t guarantee it won’t happen again,” Billy doesn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. The two of you stare for a moment, engaging in a silent battle of wits that you, of course, end up losing when you’re the first to look away. He nods at the various knives and daggers strewn across the table. “C’mon, pick one and we’ll start small.” 

“Small?” You squeak as you eye the particularly ornate handle on one of the knives that honestly looks more like a short sword. 

“Aw, don’t be scared,” Billy chuckles and pats you on the shoulder, watching with those hawkish eyes of his as you consider your options. “This is a safe space.” 

Is it though? You wonder as you pick up a small dagger closest to you. “Wouldn’t guns make more sense since I’m not exactly trained in hand to hand combat?” 

“I am training you. And you’re not ready for guns yet,” Billy grins when you unsheathe the dagger, eyes widening just a fraction at the way the blade glints in the light. “‘Sides, picturin’ you with a knife is way hotter. You gonna wear a thigh holster?” 

You flick the tip of the blade in his direction, “Watch it, Russo. I’m armed.” 

But he just laughs, a sound that comes with a dangerous surge of pride in your chest, “That’s not how you hold a dagger.” 

“Oh, shut up,” you bristle, cheeks warming and trying not to watch, enraptured, as he stands up to his full height, his boots thumping heavily on the concrete. 

“Careful,” he warns, but he sounds more amused than offended as he closes the distance between you in just a few small strides. “You’d better play nice if you still want that interview.” 

But there’s nothing professional about the way he steps behind you, the way his arms pull you back against his chest, or the way his hand lands on yours to adjust your grip on the dagger’s handle. 

“Not all of us can be badass ex-Marines, can we?” It takes everything you have not to stammer, not to gulp nervously when you feel the calloused ridge of his trigger finger caressing the same spot on your own hand. 

“Yeah, well, I believe in you,” you can hear the smirk in his voice as his free hand comes down to rest on your hip, warm and heavy as it guides you slowly into a proper stance. “Bend your knees a little.” 

“Pretty sure I hired you so I wouldn’t have to take matters into my own hands like this,” you huff in annoyance, grumbling but following his instructions anyway, feeling a bit silly doing this in your work clothes. He never did give you a chance to change. 

“Please, you couldn’t afford me,” Billy murmurs so low against your ear that it sends a shiver down the side of your neck, all the way to a certain part of your anatomy you refuse to acknowledge at the moment, his beard slightly rough against your cheek. Is he doing this on purpose? “Also, did you technically hire me if I’m doing this pro bono?”

“Yeah, and on that note,” you grow bold when he squeezes your hip in encouragement, leaning back against him with your arm extended, your hands joined together, the tip of the dagger’s blade angled upward at an imaginary assailant. “Why are you? The Billy Russo I know never works for free.” 

You see, you know precisely the kind of man Billy is. He would never invest this kind of time and energy into something like this, not unless he had something to gain from it—

Even without looking back, you feel his dark obsidian gaze on the still healing bruise that’s formed on the side of your face. His fingers tighten around yours, there’s a slight hitch in his breath you can feel with his chest pressed to your back, and the hand on your hip slides forward and around to your other side in an almost embrace. Protective, possessive, and maybe even a little petrified.

—or unless he had some type of skin in the game. 

And suddenly, despite the way you’re dressed and your hilarious lack of experience, you start to feel pretty invincible. You allow yourself a proud grin, squaring your shoulders so you stand a little taller in his arms.

They fall instantly, however, when Billy steps away and moves to stand directly in front of you. You feel immensely colder at the loss of proximity. 

“Alright, let’s see what you got,” he’s smirking again, all that vulnerability and whatever warmth you sensed in his body language once again hidden away behind a layer of arrogance and swagger. He beckons you with a come here gesture of his hand. 

“What?” You blink. 

“I’ve just broken into your apartment,” he states matter-of factly, “what do you do?” He coaxes you again with another wave.

“But wait!” You almost shriek, your bout of confidence once again faltering. “You didn’t even teach me anything yet!” 

“I need to see where you’re at first before I can teach you, darlin’,” he’s still smirking, half condescending and half amused, and your hands twitch to fling the knife at his stupid head.

“I’m at nowhere! I’ve got nothing! And you don’t even have a weapon, I could slice your damn face off!” Or worse, scar it. 

Billy laughs again, his eyes crinkling warmly at the corners. “Oh, sweetheart, you can certainly try.” 

to be continued…

PART 2 »

© 2025 by thereoncewasagirlnamedjane. do not repost, translate, or copy to third party sites. no part of this work may be fed into any AI software or websites. minors are asked not to interact with my blog; you are responsible for your own media consumption. followers with zero engagement, serial likers and blank/ageless blogs will be blocked.

[coupsctrl]

Ok, so honestly, I sent this ask to someone before and idt they're doing it ALSO I read ur hansol fics and they're SO good

New bf Vern × reader where he's leaving the house and forgets his wallet so you say "aren't you forgetting something" and he thinks you're talking abt him not kissing u b4 leaving & he's confused cuz he never kisses u b4 leaving but does it anyways and gets all shy and flushed when u say u were talking abt his wallet

(Shy vern is my roman empire)

It's fine if u don't wanna do it tho

this is the cutest request i've had omgg, i tried to respond as fast as possible. it's a little on the shorter side, but I hope u enjoy & that it's up to your standards :) <3 enjoyy

Kiss & Miss

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

GENRE:

sooo fluffy

WARNING(S):

none!

It's a dreadful Monday morning, the sun shining through the window as it casts on your bed. Well not your bed, its your boyfriends, Vernon. Or as you like to call him, Hansollie. You've been sleeping at his place almost every night, but he doesn't seem to mind, in fact he likes it more than living with himself. Your boyfriend is getting out of the bed, getting ready for work. Since he's an idol, it's hard to spend alone time together a lot. But he always makes time for you, always.

After getting ready, he makes his way to the kitchen, sets his wallet on the island counter & turns on the coffee machine. He normally doesn't drink coffee, but today was gonna be a long day. With dance practices, the dances becoming exceptionally harder since the group is prepping for a festival that is happening in a week. Then an interview with a few other members, which already exhausts him since his band member, Dokyeom, will be there. Let's just say he's not ready for Dokyeom's high energy, so he needs coffee to get through the day.

Just as he's about to leave, you walk out of the bedroom, noticing his wallet on the counter. "Hansollie." you groggily say, still tired.

He turns his body, looking at you with a confused but soft expression. "Yes?"

"You forgot something." you say, walking closer.

He tilts his head in confusion, he forgot something? What could he forget? As he's thinking hard, he finally realizes. Oh. A kiss. He's heard of other couples doing this, but never expected it from you. Since he can barely see you nowadays, you two go weeks without kissing & seeing each other. Why would you want one now? I mean, not that he's complaining, he's just confused. A soft smile appears on his face as he walks towards you. Once he reaches you, he looks down at you with the same soft smile. Then he finally does it. He leans down, capturing your mouth in a soft embrace. Every time he kisses you, it's never too much. It's like he just knows the type of kiss you need, and right now, he thought you needed one to also get through the day.

You pull away after a while, smiling and giggling. "Vernon."

He tilts his head, a bright smile on his face with flushed cheeks. "What?" he asks.

"Your wallet." you say in between laughing, pointing to his wallet on the island counter.

He turns his head, following your finger. Oh. Obviously. You meant his wallet. He shakes his head smiling, his cheeks turning even more pink as he speaks. "Right. My wallet."

You giggle. "Did you think I meant you forgot a kiss?" you ask, teasing him a little.

"No...." he starts, feeling extremely shy now, "just.....just thought you needed one."

That makes you laugh even more, looking up at him as he's avoiding eye contact with you. "You're so cute, Hansollie."

He just smiles at you, finally looking you in your eyes. He's too embarrassed to find words right now, just wanting to crawl in a ball & forget about this.

"Now get your wallet and go to work baby. Even though I appreciate the kiss." you tease, nudging him to the counter.

He chuckles deeply, nodding and letting out a sigh as he swipes the wallet off the counter & putting it in his back pocket. "Right.."

"Have a good day, Hansollie. I love you"

He smiles, feeling the embarrassment slowly creeping away. He grabs the door knob & opens the door, before turning back and saying softly. "I love you too."

[burrowdarling]

Celebrating You

Summary: The Bengals had beaten the Cowboys on the eve of Joe's birthday, so what better way to welcome him home than a birthday surprise.

Pairings: Joe Burrow x gf!reader

Warnings: Mentions of sex, MDNI

Note: Hi! Happy Belated Birthday, Joe!! I hope you all enjoy, and love that we get to appreciate this man and everything he does!

Word count: 1.9k

Check out my Masterlist here!

Taglist: @burrowbarbie @definitelynotdomanique @one-sweet-gubler @plushkhiii @enchantedinfinity @iosivb9

Feel free to comment or message me if you'd like to be added to the list!

It had been weeks since this feeling, but they did it. The Bengals had beat the Cowboys and even though the win wasn’t pretty, a win is still a win. To finally see a smile plastered all over Joe’s face at the end of a game, the feeling you felt was indescribable. Joe had been beating himself up so much over the past few weeks, it was refreshing to see him celebrate with Ja’marr and the rest of the team. The two of them smashing donuts on each other's faces was priceless. Those would be the kinds of pictures and videos you’d look back on and smile. 

You could tell by the post game antics that Joe seemed to be in a good mood, a weight seeming to be off his chest during the post-game interview. It also meant that he would have a good travel day home, feeling yourself getting excited to see him at the thought. You wished you could've been there to celebrate with him properly on the eve of his birthday with this win, but you weren’t able to attend due to work. Joe understood entirely, though he wished the same.

This also gave you an idea on how you could spend your time before welcoming him home, wanting to go all out in every way possible to show your man you loved him. You wanted to take the opportunity to do something nice for him as both a post game win and something for his birthday. Having the day off for his birthday, you locked in for the rest of the night after the game on how exactly you wanted to celebrate your favorite person. You texted him a sweet birthday message at midnight Cincinnati time, knowing he would be fairly busy after the game. You were surprised when you heard your phone chime so quickly after, knowing it was Joe by your special text tone.

Thank you baby, I wish I could be there to spend the night with you. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough xx love and miss you loads

You smiled to yourself as you typed out a reply, setting your phone back aside for the night. You had a lot of work to do if you were going to do this right. 

You woke up bright and early the next morning, despite your late night of planning, to get a head start on the decorations you came up with. You wanted him to be surprised when he walked through the door. You loved birthdays as a way to celebrate your favorite people, giving them extra attention on their special day. Your love language was definitely gift giving and quality time, your cup being filled by showing others how much you loved them.

The first thing he would notice would be the ‘happy birthday Joey’ banner on the wall, having taken the time to make your own letters and string them up. You blew up some balloons and scattered them around the table downstairs along with some streamers. You went for the cheesy, massive ‘28’ balloons too for the fun of it. When you felt satisfied with how things were looking, you started to put together the gifts you had gotten him. You saw something about a gift for each of the five senses and figured that would be a great idea to really show him how much you care. For the man who could have anything he wanted, he wasn’t always the easiest to shop for.

For taste, you wanted to go the simple route and make something from scratch. You decided you’d make him his favorite dish so that way he could come home to a nice homemade meal, finishing with his favorite dessert. You’d already had this plan and had gone to the store over the weekend so you got to work on everything early. Luckily, you’d be able to let it cook while getting everything else ready.

For touch, you went with a couple different things having a hard time deciding on just one. You went for a sweater he’d been eyeing, excited to see him in it. You also went for a Lego set he’d been raving about. You always found it absolutely adorable when he’d get so excited over the nerdiest little things. It was something you absolutely loved about him. It brought out the energy in him that you didn’t see a lot during the season, knowing he had to be locked in each week with his rigorous schedule. 

Hearing was a tricky one as you weren’t really sure where to go with it. It was one you had to put some thought into and would maybe go with an experience instead of a thing. You had a couple different ideas for events in mind, figuring you could present him with some options based on his schedule and let him choose. Going out together wasn’t something you guys were able to do often due to the lack of privacy, but it was something you cherished when you could. 

For smell, you got him a refill on his favorite cologne. As weird as it sounds, his smell was something that you’d always found insanely attractive. It was a comfort thing for you too when you’d come home from a long day at work and just envelop yourself in his warmth, getting lost in the smell of him. 

For sight, you decided to be a little self-centered and make yourself a gift to him. It may be unoriginal, but you knew he wouldn’t mind. You went out shopping that morning to go and find the perfect set for him, something new and something he wouldn’t be able to resist you in. After the stress of the past few days, you knew he would need a stress reliever and you had just the thing in mind.

You’d also totally set the mood by lighting candles throughout the downstairs as well as scattering rose petals that led to the bedroom. On the table, you placed all of his gifts as the last touch, finally having them all set and labeled accordingly. All you had to do now was wait for him to arrive, having gotten a text from him saying that he landed and would be home soon.

When you heard the garage door open and shut, you got yourself into position. You sat up on the counter, the light low with the candles giving off a soft glow to the room. He walked in through the door, kicking off his shoes and calling out for you when he stopped short. His voice cut off at the sight of you, done up in your lace slip.

“Happy birthday Joey” you spoke, your voice low.

Without a word, he walked over to where you were sitting on the counter, moving your legs so he could slot himself between them to bring you into a bear hug. You giggled as he held you tight, almost as if he was scared you were going to disappear out of thin air.

“Thank you, baby. You didn’t have to do all of this for me” he said, almost in disbelief as he took in your decorations scattered around his place. The thought that you would go through all of this for him, knowing he hasn’t been as pleasant or as positive as he could be with you.

“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. What better way to celebrate my favorite person than to show him how much he means to me” you replied, voice laced with nothing but love and adoration for the man in front of you.

He brought you into a deep kiss, feeling the words he couldn’t quite get past his lips in the way yours moved together in sync.

“I know I haven’t been the best to you the past few weeks and that’s all on me. Everything has just been so heavy, this is the lightest I’ve felt in weeks. Thank you for making me feel so special” Joe professed, a slight blush becoming evident on his cheeks as he spoke. He tucked his head into your neck as a means of solace from his confession.

“I know you’re doing all that you can, it’s what I signed up for when I chose to be with you. I know things have been tough recently, but I am so damn proud of you and your perseverance with the team to not stop fighting. Your ability to get back up when things get hard is something I truly admire about you, Joey. You’re one of my inspirations to always go after what I want to achieve and not let what other people say about me define my feelings. So with all of that said, Happy fucking Birthday and congratulations on your win Joey” you said, hoping he was taking in every word and its full meaning.

Joe didn’t reply, just rested his forehead against yours and took a minute to be there with you, letting everything settle in his chest. The knowledge that you would be there for him through everything and anything, you were it for each other and it was extremely rare that he found someone as grounding as you to be his girl. When he pulled back, he took in your attire, or how little of it there was.

“All new just for me?” Joe questioned sweetly, fingers softly gliding over the material and settling his hands on your hips. His shift in the conversation to something he knows he can convey to you without needing the words to do so.

“Mhm, this is only one of many gifts. C’mon I have them all plan out for you, one for each of the senses.” You spoke excitedly.

You moved to hop off of the counter, but Joe blocked your exit. Confused, you looked at him with as innocent a look in your eyes as you could muster. When they met, you could see him darken at the sight, wondering what thoughts could be floating around in his head.

“Do we think those can wait? I haven’t seen my girl in days and there’s only one thing on my mind right about now” Joe said with a noticeable drop in his voice, as one of his hands slid to the back of your neck to bring you in for a kiss.

“But the food will be cold” you pleaded with minimal effort, knowing your excuse was useless against the lustful look in his eyes. It had heat rushing to your core and your mind racing at a million miles an hour.

“I bet it’ll taste delicious, but there’s something I want to taste more. You can’t just be sitting up here looking as sexy as you do and expect me not to take you first. You’re all I've thought about the entire trip home and the only thing I want to do right now is get you out of this and under me” Joe groaned, hands moving under you to lift you off the counter. You laughed, holding on from the sudden shift in position. 

He followed the petals to the bedroom where he took his time showing you how much he cared, both of you receiving gifts for all five senses.

[purelyfiction]

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NFL QB Jake 'Hangman' Seresin AU x Popstar F!Reader

Summary: NFL Quarterback Jacob Seresin is in hot water from a streak of bad decisions, just as you go through the worst public breakup of your life. With people slandering both of your reputations, your publicists hatch a plan to bring both of you back into favor and keep the heat off until spring - that is if you can keep up the facade.

Word Count: 5,334 words

Author Note: I know I have two other outstanding Top Gun fics and I swear I'm trying to get those going but I am writing what sparks joy and well.... this certainly does. || Also!! Reader's stage name is 'Celeste' with 'Este' as the nickname. So no one gets confuseddddd

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You'd never anticipated to start the biggest year of your life absolutely gutted, yet here you are. Your boyfriend – well, ex-boyfriend, severed what you had thought to be a loving, trusting and safe relationship, rather unexpectedly on New Year's Eve. Then he'd gone to the press to relay that you were a horrible person, a terrible girlfriend, too involved in your work to even bother paying attention to anyone else. The timing couldn't be worse, since you were about to start your first ever stadium tour in the spring. 

The result had been you hiding away in your little oasis that was your condo in California’s southern escape of San Diego. You’d stayed off the internet, binging TV shows that you’d been too busy to pay attention to and immersing yourself in anything you could, to erase the four year relationship you’d been splintered from. The garbage people probably wondered why there were a near dozen empty quarter pints of ice cream in your recycling bin, but that wasn’t for them to care about. At least you’d recycled them. 

Now, three weeks into the new year, with your favorite Chinese on the way, you sit on your couch going over tour visuals. Your lighting engineer is rambling on the line as you hear the gate buzzer go off. You’re quick to collect your dinner as one of the others on the line gasp and quickly mute their mic. “What?” You quip, walking to your expansive kitchen and dropping the large paper bag down. You’re half paying attention when the employee brushes you off, as your hand pulls container after container of food from the magical Mary Poppins-style bag. Getting to the bottom, you grasp for a pair of chopsticks, only to find several sets of them, along with a dozen fortune cookies. You take a moment to look over your four entrees and styrofoam container of sushi. The audacity of them to think you would be sharing any of this. 

Finally, you address the matter of your dramatic tech director. “What’s the deal over there Hollywood?” You chide, before your phone is ringing, leaving you to hang up the video call to answer the phone. It’s your publicist and you know better than to let her calls go unanswered.

“Check your inbox.” Her voice is frigid instead of it’s usually cheery demeanor.   

“Hello to you too?” Begrudgingly, you do as she commands, finding the email she sent to you. 

Jonah Carter agreed to sit down for an interview with UsWeekly, post-breakup to clear the air and to make sure no one else would fall for his ex-girlfriend's (Celeste) playful, girl-next-door-ish facade.

"At first, it felt like a dream come true," Carter, an up-and-coming actor within his own right, said almost sheepishly. "I thought she was talented and kind, but I should've known it was too good to be true."

But there's more to this pop-star than Jonah says meets the eye. In addition to the vanity and self-importance that seems to plague this generation's starlets, Este was a vindictive slob who routinely talked behind the back of even her closest friends. "It makes me wonder what she's saying about me, now, after everything I've heard her say about those who think are closest to her." The concern for others is written very clearly on the actor’s face as he speaks. When I question the songstress’ messages about authenticity, the man adjusts in his seat as he holds back a laugh. 

"She'd like you to believe she writes all her own music, but I'm not sure she could write a full sentence without the help of her team," Jonah chuckled nervously into his coffee. "Sorry, that was rude. I don't want to stoop to her level." Cowed brown eyes made me wonder what else he had endured behind closed doors. It struck a chord within me. 

“Why did you stay as long as you had if this was what you were facing?” I ask him. The expression of his kind features morphs into despair. 

“When we first met, Celeste was someone I admired. Her compassion, her drive and her dedication to the things she valued spoke so deeply to what I did, what I still do-” he fumbles as he attempts to source the proper words, “They just… weren’t her beliefs. They were her team’s.” Jonah lets out a pained sound, “I think when we got toward the end of it, I realized that she has this way of manipulating what she says, how she acts, to make herself look good. She puts on a show, on and off the stage and you pay for it one way or another. So, I knew what she was capable of. I knew she could be that person if she really wanted to and I wanted so badly to help her see that. I eventually learned that people see what they want to see.”

God, what a load of hot garbage this was. It was a particularly rare batch, clearly it had been baking in a dumpster in the scorching sun with the lid closed. All damp, with a horrendous mix of something rotting and old crusty seaweed. 

The tour was supposed to be announced on the first of the month and here your ex was selling stories (horribly narrated and mangled stories) to the press. You might as well have been kicking puppies at this point. 

“Isn’t he just swell? Nothing but peak wisdom from good ol’ Jonah.” Your eyes could’ve strained themselves with how far back they rolled. Probably the only time he’d ever made them do that too.

“I’ve already called a team together to brainstorm. I don't want you to respond. Stay offline, away from all of it and don't entertain any of the discourse. Not until I have something to work with.” 

“None of it is true we both know that-” You begin to laugh but she cuts you off.

“As much as I want to be on your side here, we are working to put out a fire. Your silence the last three weeks has put you at a massive disadvantage and frankly? The public eye doesn’t see you in the greatest space right now.” You know she’s right. She always is, and right now ‘Celeste’ was synonymous with ‘cynical, fake and fraudulent’. You wouldn’t be shocked if the uproar demanded you be canceled based off of this testimony. 

It wasn’t all but two days later that you were called in by your PR team. Into the office in New York for the first time since before Thanksgiving. It had been a busy end of the year and now that the new one was coming in so ferociously you weren’t looking toward any of the things you once had been. This was the first time back into the light and so you had made sure that the inevitable cameras had something to look at. You’d dressed yourself in your favorites, in an effort to boost your confidence as best as you could. Putting on a show, just like you had been when things had been on the rocks with Jonah. 

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Getting to the office, you’re nearly trampled with the amount of people that swarm you. It’s not normally this bad - hell it’s never this bad. It isn’t until you catch sight of a football jersey and an ESPN logo that your brow furrows. Odd. 

Stepping into the building, you’re pushing your sunglasses up onto your head, looking down at your ringing phone and trying to slide your coat off simultaneously. Instead, you crash right into what you think is a wall, but is instead a broad man, looking rather lost. 

“Easy there, Twinkle Toes.” You guffaw and look up at the blonde man before returning your eyes toward your feet. Of course, the bedazzled statement boots on your feet call attention to themselves before the rest of the outfit can balance itself out. 

“Alright, Prince Charming, you first.” You snicker before stepping out of his way and start to the elevator. Unfortunately for you, he’s apparently heading your way as well, needing access to the lift to the next floor. 

“Prince Charming, huh? I mean I’ve been called worse.” His shoulders roll backwards as the elevator dings to one of the other floors. You keep your head trained forward, suddenly remembering the rule you’d been given. Stay quiet, don’t engage. And here you were giving sass to a stranger and showing up in bedazzled booties. You were really digging this grave deeper than necessary. So, instead of giving him another sassy response, you keep your eyes locked to the neon numbers as the elevator passes each floor. “Oh so, now I’m getting a cold shoulder? Darn, I was really ready to ask you all about the boots on your feet, too.” You can’t help but let your eyes move back over to the broad male, just out of the corner of your eye. His face is completely locked on you, shamelessly at that. “They expensive? They got that waxy red paint on the bottoms of ‘em?” Silently, you turn one of your feet up to give him a glimpse at the blue bottom of the shoe. “Huh, blue. That’s fun. That more expensive than the LouButton or whatever they are?” Finally the elevator reaches your floor, hopefully shutting this chatterbox up for the time being. Yet the questions continue like an immature toddler as you rise up the floors - going to the same floor nonetheless. “Hey, you’re that Celeste chick aren’t ya?” 

“Yes.” You finally answer one of his questions, his face lighting up.

“Oh look at that, she cracks.” Another eye roll times well with the sound of the elevator reaching the desired floor. Instead of responding, you quickly find your way through the glass hallways and to the desired room. You are so glad to be in the presence of the familiar group, the stranger in the elevator having rattled your composure somewhat. Your manager comes in with a cup of coffee and a smile, which immediately puts one on yours. 

“You didn’t have to do that!” You cheer, reaching out for it as she sits beside you. 

“When you see what Rachel has come up with, you’re going to need it.” Oh. Reassuring. 

You see her point when Prince Charming steps into the board room, followed by a host of men in dress clothes and suits, all matching the blue soles of your boots. Charming sits directly across from you, a hand wiggling his fingers as he waves at you. Oh good. 

“Thank you everyone for coming. I know this is a very polarizing group, so before we get ahead of ourselves, I want to introduce Celeste, or Este as we all have come to call her over the years.” Awkwardly, you wave at the foreign men. They grunt and nod. You were already having doubts and not a word had been spoken on their end. “I also want to introduce Beau Simpson, public relations coordinator for the San Diego Sea Lions, Coach Natasha Trace, and Sea Lions owner, Tom Kazansky.”

Sea Lions? As in the NFL team that had been built not even three years ago but had made it to all three playoffs in their short time? The one that Jonah had ridiculed immensely when it joined the league because ‘California doesn’t need another group of inflated egos in the league’? 

“I’m really feeling the love here, Rach.” Charming speaks up and the raven haired woman on the other side of the table sighs. 

“This is Jacob Seresin, starting quarterback for the Sea Lions.” The coach speaks, the blonde man brushing off her introduction. 

“No need for full names, Trace. Clearly we only do the stage name around here.” That was a clear jab to you if you’d ever heard it. “Hangman’s what they call me.” His hand juts across the glass, toward you. Your hands stay tucked under your biceps. 

“Pleasure to meet you.” It’s passive, turning to your team leader. “Rachel. I’m not seeing a connection here.” 

“Jacob is in the same pot of hot water you’re in.” Your attention moves to the similarly broad man who stands up, towering over Rachel. “We feel as though we can spin this to both of your advantages. Jake needs to stop sleeping around–”

“Easy now, Simpson.” The eldest in the room stands up and he gives you a kind smile. It’s not a farce though. You’re not entirely sure what makes it so genuine, but you smile in return of seeing him stand, despite it taking a slight bit of effort to do so. “What he means is, Jake’s professional status has changed due to the words of someone else and we’re determined to alter that. Rachel identified this and made quite the proposal.” The young woman seems all too cheery to cut off the old man. 

“You’re both having relationship woes–” The raven haired woman on Jacob’s team speaks under her breath. 

“Wouldn’t call them relationships.”

“And by putting you two together, we feel as though we can put you into a positive light. Let’s face it, putting two very successful, and attractive people who are already in the spotlight allows people to follow the developing love story. Este attends games, plays the WAG card, has an opportunity to be seen in the public eye more frequently and dispels the ill-spoken words that were published about her this week. Jake gets the proof that he isn’t just a love-em-and-leave-em type.” Your eyes spell out the doubt you’re feeling, looking at your team who is just as skeptical. “That’s just the beginning! Celeste is going on tour this year. Stadiums all across the country have her booked and ready for the summer. We have a captive audience already following these games to see Este and Jake together, and we get brand recognition. The conversations that will come as she gets to witness her betrothed play in a stadium she would be performing in that very summer.”

Now you see where the benefit actually is. Clearing your name while simultaneously promoting your tour in the process. Seeing stadiums you’ve booked and would hopefully sell out. 

“So how are you proposing this works? We’ll need a start, an end - a story on how we met–”

“Well,” Beau settles in his seat, twisting in the desk chair as he draws in the attention of the group, “we have the major details hypothesized. Rachel and I will work with one another to get the rest of it together. For now, you two met at a New Years Eve party.” 

Oh joy. Now you get to remember that bitter break-up that led you here, every time you speak about him. 

The man looks like he walked out of a surfing magazine, as it were. Now, the scowl on his features paints him as a devil. Long hair, muscular arms on display as he leans into the table in front of him. 

“If we don’t do this?” Jake leans back in his chair, a hand coming to fiddle with the lingering 5 o’clock shadow that he has omitted in his morning routine. 

“We don’t do this and there will be a lack of support for the Sea Lions. You’ll have painted the entire team as jackasses who can’t focus to save their life, especially if you continue to party and hook up with whomever your dick has the hots for that night-” Beau has gone off the handle and Tom speaks up again. 

“The point is, public favor will stay low and it will not bode well for the team. With a lack of support, we have empty seats. Empty seats translates to less viewers, then to less money and you know the song and dance. Not to mention morale for the upcoming playoffs. We need to keep the team happy, Hangman. It’s time to do something to benefit everyone.” 

Jake’s expression deepens, as though he was a young child just scolded by his father for his poor behavior. Green eyes shift and face you, his hand jutting out toward you. 

“I’m in.” His hand hovers. Waiting for you to join him in this grand scheme. Glancing at your own team, they look rather haunted. At this point, it was this or to hope that a long string of possible good stories and fan interactions can redeem you. 

You want this to pass. And if this would make it go faster… you grab Jake’s hand firmly.

“What’s there to lose?”

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You went back onto social media. Posted some photos you’d taken with friends back at the beginning of the month, from the worst party of your life. The photos at least were cute and you loved the dress you’d gotten to wear. Luckily these photos were all taken prior to midnight. So there were no red eyes. No ruined mascara and glitter across your cheeks. No freezing car rides home and empty beds. 

Mindlessly, you scroll through the comments. 

Flameth: can still make the whole place shimmer ✨

RunTao: phony photos

Romanacent: so glad to see you’re not letting him get to you!

H_ngm_n: you’re still gonna let me borrow those boots right

It’s the last one you’d been keeping an eye out for. Boots? Looking back at the photo, you scroll through the carousel until you spot them. 

The same shiny sparkly rhinestone boots you’d worn to your meeting. 

Celeste: @h_ngm_n I’m a woman of my word, of course 🤗

Not even a week goes by before you’re ‘spontaneously’ at a bar in LA. Jake has been there for the last two hours, as he insisted you both show up alone and then end up leaving together. You eventually found him in the VIP section, drinking with his buddies. 

You made sure to keep your distance for a few minutes - after all, his friends had no idea this was going down. The only people who knew about this little arrangement were your respective PR teams. That was it. No one else from your teams, your friends and family, absolutely no one knew what your little plan was. Maybe you should just leave. It was a verbal contract, you didn’t sign anything, you were just trying to make this work for the two of you-

The bartender pulls you from your deliberations. There is now a drink that you certainly didn’t order sitting in front of you. Well there was no going back now. Jake had likely made a show of sending over the drink and now you had to go through with this. Glancing over your shoulder, you see the jock, legs spread, arms resting on the back of the booth chair. Green eyes lock in your direction and send a cocky wink as a garnish to your drink. 

You are about to win your first Oscar with this performance. Throwing on a grin, you pick up the drink and easily sashay your way over to him and his football buddies. Some flash titanium wedding bands, some platinum. Some aren’t wearing them at all, like your date, mister 83 who leans forward upon your approach. “Well, well, well, long time no see hot shot.”

“Speak for yourself, pop star.” Jake stands to greet you, his arms coming around you, carefully as to not spill either of your drinks. You catch a whiff of his cologne when he does so. It’s rich, familiar in the way it reminds you of summers camping. Bonfire smoke and smores. Yet clean, like when you came home to a clean house, citrus floor cleaner lingering in the halls. Pulling back, you almost move forward again to sit in it. Easy does it. 

“Oh come on, three weeks isn’t that long.” You chide. While most of his body has pulled away from the hug, his free hand still sits on your waist, warm against the AC of the exclusive bar. 

“Technically it was a year ago.” Jake smirks before taking a sip of his drink and you want to groan. So you do. But spin it into something more playful. 

“Observant, are we?” You nearly snarl as you take a sip of your drink, Jake’s colleagues standing up. The one who’d sat right next to him grins and extends a hand. He’s tall, lean but has a stunning smile as he steps your way.

“Not sure we’ve met. Javy Machado, running back, San Diego Sea Lions-” the blonde looks at his friend with an amused scoff. 

“I think she knows who the Sea Lions are, Jav.” The look on the captain’s face is one of skepticism and amusement. You were here to dispel rumors. So, as much as you’d like to smack Jake for being a dick to his friend, you shake his teammate’s hand instead 

“In passing. I don’t follow football closely, but I get by. Celeste.” The smile on your face is genuine as the next player stands. Kind eyes, a domestic bar of hair on his upper lip and the build of a pickup truck, he goes for a quick one armed hug. When he lets go, you have to wipe the temptation of any swooning you were compelled to do. Especially since a gold band glistens on his left hand. 

You’re here for Jake anyways. 

“Name’s Bradley Bradshaw. They call me Rooster.” Your eyebrow furrows as your head twists. Before you can ask, another man on the other side of the room laughs. 

“You should hear him on the field when he’s sacking someone.” This one, curls and meticulously groomed facial hair to boot, leans forward and shakes your hand kindly. “I’m Mickey. That back there is Bob.”  

True to his word, at the end of the bench is a long haired man, tucked into his phone and fiddling with a ring. He doesn’t seem to match the energy of the rest of the group. Curious. “Bob!” He glances up at the sound of his name, blue eyes flitting from face to face before spotting you. When he does he breaks out into a smile. 

“Celeste! Gosh, wow it’s so cool to meet you! My girls adore your music.” This catches Jake’s attention, a brow popping up. 

“Aren’t both of ‘em less than five?” He asks and Bob looks between the two of you. 

“Yeah? It’s never too early to introduce them to great music and influential women.” There’s no faking the smile on your face as you reach over and shake his hand. When you do, you look at Jake with a ‘would you look at that’ coded grin. 

“That’s amazing to hear! I’m glad they have fun with it! That’s why I do it.” You glance back at Jake as he comes behind you, hand shifting to the small of your back. 

“Pay’s in the bathroom, I’m sure you’ll meet him sometime later tonight.” The quarterback gives a nod to his group, before guiding the two of you to a high top table not too far from them. When you sit down he looks at you with a laugh. “Flirt much?” 

“Excuse me?” Jumping to the defense, you watch Jake roll his eyes and then look back at Bradley, before facing you. 

“You were practically eye-fucking him.” 

“Was not.” 

“He’s happily married, leave him be.” The blonde sips at his drink and you can’t help but laugh when you realize he’s giving you a hard time. 

“Right, right, guess I’ll bother you instead.” The tease is off your lips in two seconds. Maybe he was right, you were coming off strong. You huff and sink into yourself briefly. “I don’t know if you realized this, but I haven’t had ‘flirt’,” your fingers mark the quotation marks in the air, “with anyone in a while. Let alone fake it.” 

Jake leans back in his chair, downing the rest of his beverage a smirk making way when he sets the glass down. 

“Don’t worry, you won’t be faking it for long.” 

The two of you sat at that table for probably an hour, bickering over which of the Pirates of The Caribbean movies were the best, and why glitter was a detriment to society. Another round of drinks and the football star return to the table as he laughs when he spills a little of your overflowing drink. 

“No, no I assure you. Glitter originated in some high tech nuclear weapons factory to make the enemy go insane upon introducing it to an environment.” He pushes your drink toward you as you pull your hair back. Not only were you not anticipating for him to be this passionate about it, but you weren’t planning on the night going like this. 

You were enjoying yourself. Jake had told you about his time at UT, six years spent studying communications no less. 

It made sense when you really dissected it. Jake had the ease to hold someone’s attention: he’d held yours this long after all, and he was well spoken. Both were things that were shocking to you. He soon enough revealed the plan had always been football. Communications was for post-retirement, when he got tired out and wanted to be back in the stadiums. 

Stories of his dad commentating his high school games came fondly before he asked about your background. You were a bit hesitant to divulge too much, but what you had was pretty bare-bones. 

Music had always been a hobby but never a career choice. You’d planned to go into school for a degree in education, a masters in English. Go and teach for a bit before getting your PhD in some niche of the world of writing and then become a professor at your alma mater. 

With the rise of social media and the multitudinous connections of the internet, a little original song of yours got popular. Local radio picked it up and then your label signed you. 

“It all was pretty spontaneous, really,” you answer. “My career was in no way by design, but… I wouldn’t change it.” The smile on your face is small, but genuine as your hair falls back around your face. Tracing the rim of your glass, you keep your eyes down before a hand pushes your hair out of your face. Coming eye to eye with him, he grins. 

“Guess it was written in the stars then.” His response catches you. Jake’s eyes are much softer than when you’d approached him earlier. They were dark, focused and possibly a little mischievous. Now? They were gentle. Every shade reassured you that the boisterous man you’d seen in the office and the press was nothing like the man under the helmet. 

It made far more sense to you now. How he’d gotten women hooked on him. The abrasiveness and bold exterior was the casing to the real character. 

How many women had actually made it past the outside?

The rustling of a fabric on leather comes from in front of you, watching as the blonde pulls out a wad of cash from his pocket. 

“Please tell me this isn’t you trying to buy my affection there, Seresin.” As he stands up, pushing his wallet back, the grin carved on his face doesn’t leave when he shakes his head. 

“No, no, princess. This is for the bartender. Turns out you’re not a cheap date.” His knuckles wrap onto the table briefly before he disappears. You blame the blush on your face on the humidity inside the building. 

The two of you bid your goodbyes, before starting to the front of the bar to exit. Reaching the street, it’s expectantly empty. He takes the side closest to the street as the two of you head down the way, toward the row of restaurants and shops that were quiet for the night. 

“Are you hungry?” Jake’s voice breaks through the cold of late January air, looking at him quizzically. 

“If you’re hungry we could go back-” His hand comes to your back again as he shakes his head. 

“Oh-ho, no ma’am I promise, I’ve got something way better.” 

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Unfortunately, he was right. The two of you stand in the glow of food truck lighting, beyond messy tacos in hand. He’s watching you with a smirk on his face, obnoxiously chewing the fish taco in his hand. 

“Is that not the best taco you’ve ever had?” Again, his voice is filled with ardor as he watches you attempt to maneuver the soft corn tortilla that seems to be spilling into your napkin. 

“It’s… a taco.” You shrug, looking down at the brown beef meal in your hands. Jake shakes his head, still chewing. 

“No, no, I will not have you slander Ganso’s Tacos. Absolutely not.” He sets his red basket down on a table, hand in a vice grip around his taco. “Here, open,” he maneuvers closer and you shake your head, backing up. 

“I am not eating your taco!”

“Eat it!!” The two of you laugh. Finally, you concede and take a bite of the hand fed taco. When he finally takes it back to his plate, his expression eagerly waits for your reaction.  One hand covers your mouth as you chew, nodding as Jake looks like he just stole the Mona Lisa without getting caught. 

“You’re right.” One singular fist to the air and he’s back to scarfing down his tacos. 

“I told you. Way better than bar food. This is by far the best taqueria in all of California. And I stand by that.” 

With full stomachs and messy hands, the two of you start back toward the bar, where Jake’s parked. When you do, you finally notice a car has been tailing the two of you since you ordered your meal. 

The crowd in front of the bar proves that your teams were certainly on to something. Flashes of light start in an onslaught, your hand coming to block your eyes. Still, you keep walking toward them, only for Jake to grab your hand and guide you toward his car. 

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Voices shout, questions sail through the air, your name, his name, Jonah’s, more questions about football- it all gets crammed into the cacophony before the passenger door opens under Jake’s hand, guiding you to your escape pod. 

The driver side door causes the car to shake with an unceremonious thud. In seconds, the engine to the sports car is ignited and the two of you are underway. 

It isn’t until you get about two miles out that one of you finally speaks. 

“How long do you think it’s going to take for those to show up online?” White lines on the road disappear as you head further and further from the bars and closer to the hotel you were staying at for the weekend. 

“I give it maybe six hours. Four if we’re lucky.” He laughs, but it doesn’t match the hearty ones he shared with you earlier.

A sports broadcast plays lowly on the radio, both of you overwhelmed by the cameras that stimulating conversation was far from what either of you were concerned with. It isn’t long until you spot your hotel. Jake navigates into the lane closest to the front of the building, pressing down on the brakes. You’re just about to unbuckle when he pulls back out into the other lane, lurching forward and away from your accommodation. 

“Um. Hello?” You question. The car whips around a turn, green eyes fixated to the rear view. Shifting in your seat, you glance behind you. 

“We’re being followed.” Jake just barely makes the light before it turns red, leaving the tailing SUV behind. 

“It’s probably just paparazzi, no big deal.” It’s easy to shrug off for you, but Jake huffs. 

“Yeah. And I’m not dropping you off at a hotel alone with vultures circling.” Navigating the CarPlay in the vehicle, he quickly moves to messages and asks his phone to send someone to your hotel to gather your things. 

“Jake, I’m-”

“You’re staying with me.”

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[cannibalfogdreams]

So mini-biggish? rant about Remmick, Sammie, White Culture and just media literacy. Because, no, Remmick cannot be just popped out of his heritage and the historical context of greater Irish relations with indigenous and black communities. I have thoughts that are all over the place and TBH this shit is gonna be all over the place, sorry.

Also-- I'm very fucking disappointed in the people calling Remmick and his actor ugly. Like, I'm sorry, if you don't like a character? That is not an excuse to target a real persons characteristics.

So proud to be one of the people shipping Remmick and Sammie. Like people are fr MAD MAD and saying etc etc about it being white fujos meanwhile I'm blocking all these miserable as people.

Literallly hanging out with all the black folks in the tag thirsting over Remmick and also shipping like, uh-oh? Do I smell a party pooper? BloCK! Anyways, Remmick would be so pro-swallowing---

He is an antagonist but sorry I don't think he's the VILLAIN of the story and YES I have read Coogler's interview where he basically says the same shit. Also, people keep reducing Remmick's desires when he said very explicitly that it was to be a two way street. You can HEAR in the soundtrack ( which I've been listening to multiple times ) the intermingling of beats in Remmick's jig.

He wants what Sammie has and he is trying and he MAY have been able to form that kinda community that Sammie was capable of in life, but he's just not that guy. If he could do it on his own he would have and the music playing for him does imply a mixing does occur.

ALSO?! Since when was it said that he was trying to use Sammie's music for evil or to make other fucking vampires? XD He's trying to bring back the spirits of his ancestors and community experience - not turn more people into vamps with Sammie's abilities. As Coogler said, the intention of love and freedom is 100% true and not a disguise for anything. The issue is, is that Remmick only sees himself as the savior. He is an antagonist that thinks he's the protagonist.

You can have an antagonist that does evil things. He can be the villain of someone's story, and through his actions, his forceful nature, he is villainous. But the goal isn't straight assimilation 'I don't see color and we're all gonna be Irish now' because he looks at black culture and loves and it wants to see it mix.

"I want your stories. I want your songs. And you're gonna have mine."

Additionally, I love when Remmick gives his 'mock' baptism. Like, he said he'd gone through all that stuff and been taught it but uhhhhh he seemed to be VERY angry at it even being mentioned and attempted. Sympathetic. But so pissed. Cuz remember, the vampires of this movie are people who are stuck in their bodies and downright fueled by their anger and lust for satisfaction.

And I'll be honest! Remmie acts like a normal ass vampire? He's very Dracula coded. ( keep in mind Dracula was written by an Irish author and so was Carmilla )

Two of the most aggressively sexual and hungry ass vampires we continue to obsess with. The nature of a vampire is sexual, obsessive and, literally, hungry for life. Remmick saw a community that was alive and keeping on no matter what they were going through. They were still being themselves and I wonder if there's a chance that Remmick may feel a particular kind of way about how other Irish are this time assimilated into a 'white culture'. We have this conversation every other week that 'white culture' is a force that seeks to erase people's backgrounds to reinforce white supremacy.

At least in America, perhaps to Remmick, his community is dead. They have assimilated and erased their heritage to fit into this larger pool of racism.

[eyeheartboobiez]

-> 𝗃𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝖽 𝗑 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋!𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

-> 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅 𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖺 𝖺𝗎!

-> 𝖺/𝗇: 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 5 𝗂𝗌 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾!! 𝗂 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗈𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝗆𝗈𝗇𝗍𝗁 𝗈𝖿 𝗌𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗈𝗅 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗆 𝖺𝗅𝗌𝗈 𝗍𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗆𝗒 𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝖻𝗋𝗎𝖼𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝖼. 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗎 𝖾𝗇𝗃𝗈𝗒🫶🏿

liked by cass.cain, rred_hood, and 4,105,018 others

@y/nforeal: GUESS WHO JUST WON A GRAMMY!!! fr tho i couldn't be more thankful for how far i've come as not only an artist, but an individual. now that award szn is over, imma take some time off from making music, because these next few months are gonna be busyyy.

again, thank you to all my friends and everyone who's stuck by my side through everything. i love yall🥹🫶 #grammys2023

View all 15,675 comments

user1: WE LOVE U TOO QUEEN

user2: what does she mean by busy tho??

⤷ user3: fr like is there a baby on the way or sumn💀

cass.cain: SO HAPPY FOR U BABES !!

⤷ y/nforeal: THX GIRLIE😘

⤷ user4: idc how delusional i look i still ship it🤷‍♀️

user5: been a fan since day one, couldn't be more proud🥹

user6: not jason liking her post...

⤷ y/nforeal: right like im confused too

⤷ user7: LMAOO she so real😭

Grammy winner Y/N Y/LN going to court?! From ruined careers to ruined relationships, here's the rundown that led to all this. (1/10/2023 11:54 AM PT)

Since August of last year, fans have been talking nonstop about the leaked track that's been trending all over the internet. With its romantic lyrics and suggestive imagery, the song — Fantasize — made its debut surprising not only the listeners, but the artist as well.

Renowned singer Y/N Y/LN was more shocked than anyone to find that one of her unreleased songs had been spread around online. Even moreso, when the culprit behind the act was none other than rival singer, Artemis Grace.

Which begs the question: Why would Artemis care to leak Y/N'S music?

Well last summer, her ex boyfriend Jason Todd was alleged to have been in an intimate relationship with the grammy winner. Ever since paparazzi caught the two kissing outside of Y/N's Malibu home, they’ve been rumored to have been seeing each other in private.

Supporters of the singer were more than ecstatic to see the two together, and were happy to see that both stars were getting their well deserved happy ending.

Especially Jason, who had spoken up in past interviews about his ex’s abusive behavior. Stating that the redhead was “more than controlling” throughout their relationship.

Unfortunately the so-called Fantasy was short lived, when the gothamite was seen outside of a nightclub with the toxic ex. Once the news broke headlines, while fans were more than devastated, they were just as quick to come to Y/N's defence.

Regardless of the heartache, many speculate that Y/N may have used Cassandra, Jason's sister, as a bit of a rebound! In fact, the tension between the two was more than noticeable in the interview they did together with Glamour.

As usual, fans jumped to the conclusion that their collaboration is what drove Jason to like Y/N's most recent post on instagram (an action that even she was skeptical about).

Back to the present, it seems that the redhead was also caught red handed. After TMZ investigators revealed Artemis as the culprit of the crime, Y/N made the smart decision to press charges.

On account of copyright infringement, as well as causing emotional distress, the offender had been served an official notice of the legal proceedings being taken against her.

However, because she failed to appear before the judge last week, Artemis was forcibly taken in by the authorities just this morning. The embarrassing encounter with law enforcement was seen by many in the area, and spectators did not hesitate to record the interaction and post it online.

Despite all the drama, fans are overjoyed to see the ex finally being held accountable for her behavior. And who knows, maybe the tragic story between star crossed lovers will get its happy ending after all!

end notes: so what do we think, yay or nay?

taglist: @din0o0o @cipheress-to-k-pop @bonnie-tz @phatnyash420

[araybiaa]

many people are noticing the treatment of heather collins / tracy ifeachor from hbo max’s new show ‘the pitt’

1. let me preface by saying although there’s no official confirmation its unfortunately looking more likely that her character has been written off of the show and here’s why: noah revealed that this week’s previous episode (11) was tracy’s last day of filming — which is strange because there’s 4 more episodes of the season left. you can say “oh she’s not there because she’s at home resting!” but from some of bts pictures that the cast posted patrick’s character landgon comes back to help. (he’s in pictures with characters we haven’t seen yet so this confirms it.) so you’re telling me they can call him back to help knowing that they’re understaffed but not collins?

2. she’s not in any promo. after every episode the cast does interviews, specifically whenever a character has a pivotal moment. isa (santos) gave a several interviews throughout the season, but most importantly about her character’s beef with langdon. patrick (langdon) gave a few interviews about the robby/langdon scene and his character, supriya gave an interview about the mass shooting that’s coming up, katherine (dana) talked about her character’s assault and taylor (king) gave an interview about episode 11’s delivery scene. if you recall, episode 7 was a huge moment for collins when she had the miscarriage in the bathroom and episode 11 also gave us backstory about her and robby’s relationship but also about her recent troubles with having a baby. tracy did not have one single interview about these pivotal moments for her character. noah (although yes he’s the executive producer) gave interviews about these moments for her but it’s still strange because the other actors were given solo moments to talk about it themselves. why would they give taylor an interview about a backstory episode for collins? there’s a lot of depth to collins — probably more than anyone else on the show aside from robby and we don’t have one interview hearing tracy’s thoughts about anything.

she’s the female lead of the show but isa has done more interviews than tracy. (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

3.

there’s been speculation about her being written since the beginning, but an extra on set said this on reddit — saying that it wasn’t about tracy being a diva / being difficult like some people believed. (even if that were the case she should still be allowed to give interviews because her character had several important moments throughout the season but they’re not being talked about by her.)

4. other people have noticed this too. (here’s a thread about it) someone saw a post earlier that said tracy was “unavailable” to do interviews. but as we know they released half of the season to the press early. so she wasn’t available? they couldn’t have done an onset interview? zoom? there’s ways to make it work but they purposely chose not to interview her. you’re telling me second lead of the show is unavailable to do interviews?

5. the producers /writers gave a little insight about season 2 and gave us information about langdon but not collins. they were both sent home. why was he the only one mentioned?

6. collins’ storyline seems like a wrap up to her character. although she said she wouldn’t try for another baby, with them sending her home they could easily have her renege on the decision and try for another kid and make up some excuse as to why she wouldn’t be at the hospital anymore.

let me finish by saying i love(d) the show. this was the fastest i’ve ever connected to a show. i tuned in every thurs and live tweeted so much. (if you’ve seen my blog you know how much i’ve obsessed with the show.) but i can’t ignore how she’s being treated / ignored. if tracy willingly chose to leave the show then that’s another story. but even then why is she being excluded from the promo? she should’ve been able to give at least two interviews seeing as though her character had to big moments over these past 11 episodes. hopefully, they tell us officially by the end of the season what’s happening with her character. i genuinely hope that i’m wrong, but it’s hard to ignore this pattern of why she’s being excluded like this. again nothing has been confirmed; this is just a post acknowledging the exclusion of tracy’s character and me voicing my concerns!

[agatharkn3ss]

Spoilers!

Theory on Agatha/Rio past

.

.

We know Rio joins the coven next week, climbing out of (what looks like) Sharon's grave and will be part of the next trial.

We also get a sneak peak on how the trial starts - but in the extended version, after the coven disperses to find the clue, we see Rio standing behind Agatha and saying "boo". Agatha seems stirred but eventually she replies a very decisive "No".

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAEWgBZIVeT/?igsh=MW5wcHJtbjJ1N3I3NA==

Now - I, for one, would love this brief moment to be about the sexual tension and how they can't keep away from each other. However, I think Rio's unspoken suggestion is actually about killing the rest of the coven. Especially that in another promo we hear Agatha telling Rio that "she needs these witches to get her what she wants".

So I think their past might be something like they were always just the two of them together against the world, and that they used to find witches for Agatha to syphon power from, and Rio would help her. This would sit well with Rio's chaotic energy and the theory that she's Lady Death.

I also think that despite all her bravado, Agatha actually longs to be a part of a coven. After her own mother's coven turner against her, she would've tried to form her own sisterhood. We see in a promo that she's sucking energy from a group of women around her, so probably another coven turning against her for whatever transgression this time.

It's probably caused by something Agatha did (although in my eyes she can do no wrong!), but I wonder if at some point Rio doesn't start meddling here.

Maybe Rio meets Agatha and becomes fascinated by this loud and unapologetic witch, so she wants her all for herself. She starts meddling so that Agatha is more and more isolated and betrayed by other witches and begins to think that maybe a coven is not something she wants any more and that she can only rely on herself and Rio. Eventually she gives in and the two of them enjoy their lives together, causing chaos and tricking other witches for a few centuries - something akin to Louis and Lestat in the Interview with the Vampire (maybe they even split up because of a child, like the vampires?)

We don't know how long it's been since they've been apart, but we know it's since Agatha acquired the Darkhold, so probably a fair chunk. But now Rio found her again and she misses Agatha and wants back the chaos life they led. She was never intent on killing Agatha, I don't think, but she wanted to see her hurt. But when she finds out Agatha doesn't have her powers, she realises it will be tricky to go back to where they were until Agatha has magic again. She starts scheming again, maybe she even hopes that Agatha will be able to syphon the Salem Seven? Or that Rio can play the hero, save Agatha and show her how much Agatha needs her?

But instead of fighting or running, Agatha assembles a coven. And she actually seems to enjoy it - I mean, look at them singing the ballad. Even though Agatha is impatient to open the gate or get some magic blasts flowing, she does take a pause at the end of the song, clearly enjoying it.

In episode 3 she has her soft moments too. She clearly doesn't feel like part of the sisterhood yet, because she's wary of her past experiences - she tries to protect herself by offsetting any moments of kindness with some jerk behaviour (I think that's the only reason she kicked everyone after sliding out or the first trial) and show them she doesn't need them. But you can tell she fits into her role as a leader so well and maybe even is surprised by it. And just look how she enjoys herself in episode 4 band!

I think Rio is opportunistic, so after Sharon's send off, she sees her way in, but what are her intentions for joining?

She might just enjoy the chaos and hope for fun "like the old times", maybe expecting Agatha to intend to kill the witches like before. Or she might want to keep meddling so that Agatha doesn't abandon her for a coven. Or there is something else and she actually wants something from the Road? Or all of the above?

[joeybrr9]

Part 3 - Vogue

Summary: Aurora's dreams come true at vogue but she also get's a surprise visitor

Warnings: None

a/n: Do we like Ja'Marr and Aurora's friendship?

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

Aurora spent the last couple days in the studio. She was trying to finish up one last song before the album would be ready to release. The record label wanted to release Espresso next week and Aurora had mixed feelings. She was ready to hop back into the music world but Aurora also felt the pressure to live up to what Midnights was. The label also had plans to release a second single. Aurora couldn’t decide if she wanted to release her song “Please Please Please” or “Don’t Smile.” She had to admit, “Don’t Smile” was her favorite out of the two. Aurora really took her time while writing that song and it felt so personal. “Please Please Please” was such a fun song about begging a man not to break her heart. Something Aurora was used to doing. She was lost in thought in her studio when Mark came in.

“Okay Rory, you have your fitting in 3 hours for Vogue. I’m not sure what they are gonna put you in yet so let's not wear a lot of makeup.”

“I still can’t believe they want ME to be in one of their fashion shows!” Aurora squealed. So many things had gone wrong for her in the last year but also she had been so blessed.

“You do realize how popular you are right? You aren’t just some singer. You’re right behind Taylor this year for streams on Spotify and Apple Music. You’re fucking killing the game.” 

“I’m gonna blush Marky. Stop it.” Aurora giggled while taking off her headset and grabbing her phone. After her two disastrous interviews last week her phone has been on constant DND. The first person to call her was Sydney, asking when the fuck she started getting dicked down by Burrow. Taylor also called to reassure her that it would blow over and the worst fans could do is ship the quarterback and singer together. This didn’t seem to calm Aurora much because she had chewed off her acrylic nails and had to get them replaced. 

She did notice that the infamous quarterback had taken time out of his day to follow her on Instagram, meaning he definitely saw that interview. Embarrassing. Maybe Ja’Marr just told Joe what happened, that’s what Aurora liked to tell herself. 

Ja’Marr and Aurora had become close ever since her break up with Paul. She knew Ja’Marr from when she attended a Bengals game his rookie year in 2021. They exchanged numbers to stay in touch and eventually a friendship developed. A couple times Aurora wondered if something more would come out of it but they always stayed friends. Ja’Marr is one the sweetest people Aurora has ever met in her life, it was probably for the best that they stayed friends. She wouldn’t want to ruin something good like that. 

“Alright, we should probably get going. It’s about a two hour drive and there might be traffic.” Mark started packing up Aurora’s bag. He was always so good about remembering everything she would need. 

“I think I’m ready….okay let’s go.” Aurora opened up the door to feel the sun on her skin. When she moved to a different city she would miss the constant sun. Although, she does miss all four seasons. Aurora grew up in Ankeny, Iowa so she experienced every single season. Winter was her favorite time of the year. The way the wind was always blowing, the beautiful snowflakes, and the winter time outfits. Everything was perfect. Aurora needed some winter living her in life. Aurora took a step up into the car Mark had waiting for them; the anticipation in her was building up.

“What if they think I look bad in their outfits? I mean they could just say they don’t need me. That would be so embarrassing. Oh my gosh, you can’t let that happen Mark. I will cry. What if I-”

“Oh my god, will you stop. They personally called and asked for you. It’s gonna be fine.”

“But what if-”

“Nope I don’t want to hear any of it. They want you here. You have to stop acting like you’re a burden.” After giving Aurora a deep glare, Mark reached into his bag to dig out his AirPod Maxes. She turned to look out the window; this was gonna be a long car ride 

~ ~ ~

“Hello beautiful lady, my name is Jules and this is Danny. We will be helping you out today. Follow us right this way.” Ever since Aurora arrived at her fitting she’s been in awe. The building was beautiful and everyone working for Vogue was stunning. “Alright, here is where we will be doing your fitting.” The room was an oval shape filled with mirrors. Everywhere Aurora looked she could see herself. 

“This place is beautiful; none of this feels real.” She let out a little laugh. 

“Just to let you know we do have two guys coming in later to get fitted also. They will probably show up while we are working on you. Is that alright?” Jules didn’t seem to think it was a big deal, continuing to rummage through the rack of dresses.

“Yeah, no, that’s no problem. I’m totally flexible. Whatever you guys need.”

“Way to not lay it on thick.” Mark whispered in her ear. Aurora smacked his stomach but all he did was laugh.

“Aurora, follow me this way. We are going to put you in this dress first. Come on out when you put it on.”

This is the first dress https://www.pinterest.com/pin/638385315960478493/ 

Aurora turned around in the dressing room to see herself. This dress flattered her in multiple ways. This was a surreal moment. 

“You look beautiful in that. Okay Danny take the waist in a little and see if it looks a little better.” Jules ordered about 5 or 6 different people around while Aurora just watched. Eventually Aurora saw Jules standing behind her just observing the dress.

“The dress is beautiful and so are you, but I think we need to find something else. This one isn’t it.” Jules started to undo the dress and hand Aurora the next one. It was a stunning gold color. The bottom didn’t have a lot of material to it and she wondered if she could pull off a look like this. While Aurora was slipping her dress on she heard some commotion and more voices. I wonder if it’s a model or someone famous. Maybe it can be Michael B Jordan. 

“Hey Jules, can you zip my dress up. I can’t reach this one. When Aurora peaked her head out she saw a tall white man talking with Mark. His back was facing her so she wasn’t sure who it was, she did know one thing for sure, it wasn’t Michael B Jordan.

“Alright girl, you’re all good to go. This dress is stunning on you, might even impress Mr.Burrow out there. Aurora felt all the color drain from her face. Mr.Burrow, as in Joe Burrow. No, no, no, no. I can’t go out there. Whats the chance I’m walking in the same show as Joe Burrow. Jules didn’t seem to understand that Joe being here wasn’t a good thing because she walked back out to the main room to resume their conversation.

Okay, I have to go out there at some point. Maybe he won’t even see me. Okay, deep breaths. I got this. Aurora decided it was now or never. He might not have even seen that stupid interview. 

This is the second dress https://www.pinterest.com/pin/397583473371425396/ 

Aurora cautiously stepped out of her dressing room, trying not to draw all the attention to herself. Unfortunately, her wish wouldn’t come true.

“Rory, oh my god, I didn’t know you would be here. I missed you so much. You don’t call enough anymore.” In mere seconds she was being engulfed in a tight hug. She pulled back to get a look at the mystery man's face. It was none other than Ja’Marr Chase.

“Marr. I missed you so much! It’s been almost 6 months since I’ve seen you. How have you been?” Truthfully, Ja’Marr was one of Aurora’s favorite people on the planet. He was there for her after Paul broke her heart into a million pieces. He even opened his home up to her for a month when she needed to escape the flashing lights of LA.

“You know, I’ve been balling out. We have a little bit before the season starts though, Rory. If you ever want to come visit me. My home is open.” Ja’Marr had let Aurora out of her hug and she had made her way over to get fitted into her gold stunning dress. 

“What are we thinking about this one Aurora? I love the bottom and how it shows you off more than the pink one.” Jules studied her body for a while. Aurora caught Ja’Marr’s eyes in the mirror and smiled. It was nice to see him again; she didn’t realize how much she missed his presence. “I have another one I want you to try on. I wouldn’t let just anyone try the next one on, but you’ll love stunning it.” Jules started to undo the shining gold dress when Aurora caught her first glance of Joe Burrow. He was getting fitted into a black suit with Danny. She saw Joe turn around to grab something out of his dressing room when the breath in her throat got caught. It’s backless.

“Here you go. Try this one.” Jules dropped a dark gold dress into her hands. This seems a little…skimpy.

“You need help in there, Rory?” Ja’Marr let out a laugh. She figured he was kidding but deep down she didn’t know. Ja’Marr was known for being a flirt with her but nothing had actually happened between them. Except for that one night while she was living with him, but that's besides the point. 

“Don’t be a perv Marr. I’ll manage.” It took Aurora a couple minutes to figure out how to put this dress on. Once on, she saw how it complimented every part of her. Her boobs looked amazing and it made her hair glow. There was no way Jules didn’t think this was the dress. It did show a lot of skin; not much of her chest was covered. Is it too much? 

This is dress three https://www.pinterest.com/pin/684828687122375381/

Aurora pulled the curtain of her dressing room back to see Joe standing next to Ja’Marr, deep in conversation.

“This is it. I can already tell. Danny, can you grab my tape measure?” Jules led Aurora up to the mirrors so she was on display for everyone to see. “I think all we need to do is shorten it but other than that, Aurora, it’s all good. This was made for you.” Jules displayed a huge grin.

“I second that. Rory, you are beautiful.” A slight blush graced her cheeks from Ja’Marr’s comments. He then reached forward to pick her up and spin her around in a circle. Aurora let out a mix between a squeal and a laugh. 

“Marr put me down. I’m gonna have a wardrobe malfunction.” Ja’Marr gently set Aurora down when she locked eyes with Joe. 

“Hey, I’m Joe Burrow.” He reached out to shake her hand; she was too busy staring into his baby blue eyes when Ja’Marr nudged her shoulder. 

“Aurora Prince. Nice to meet you Joe. I’ve been to a couple Bengals games and I hope to be back again this year. If Marr will get me some tickets.” Aurora looked over at Ja’marr making a begging symbol with her hand. He laughed and lightly pushed her away. 

“Don’t worry about it Aurora. Whenever you want to come just tell me, you’re always welcome to use my suite. More the better.” Aurora couldn’t tell if Joe was trying to flirt with her if he just was being a gentleman.

“Honestly, I might have to take you up on that offer. I love watching you guys play, I’m a huge fan.” Joe flashed a big grin at her; she couldn’t help but notice how perfect he was. 

“Joe and Aurora, we would like to invite both of you to our fashion show in France in June. We would also like both of you to walk in it, together. Aurora you will wear the gold dress we picked out today and Joe you will wear the black backless suit. What do you say?” Jules handed Joe and Aurora a contract to sign after.

“Yes, 100 times, I will be there. Thank you guys so much.” Aurora didn’t have to think about her answer. This had been her dream forever, she would do anything for it.

“I’ll also be there. Thank you guys.” Joe then turned his attention towards Aurora. “So me and you, we are kinda teammates now.” He let out a little laugh and awkwardly grabbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, that was cringy. I’m glad we are walking together. I agree with Ja’Marr, you are beautiful.” 

“Thank you Joe.” A deep blush was present on Aurora's face. Not only had she met her celebrity crush, he was now complimenting her. 

“Well, I’m gonna get changed, but I hope to see you around Aurora.” Joe smiled and started to walk to his dressing room when Ja’Marr grabbed Aurora’s arm.

“Hey, we don’t fly out to Cincinnati for a couple of days, are you gonna free at all.”

“For you, I’m not sure.” Aurora smiled and leaned into Ja’Marr’s touch. He embraced her in a side hug.

“I missed you, homegirl. You still home shopping?” Aurora just nodded her head yes. “Well I hope you deeply consider cincinnati. I would love to have you close and you know, Joe only lives about 10 houses down from me.” Aurora laughed; so they had seen her interview.

“I’m thinking about it, Marr. I just need to get these singles out, maybe even the album, and then I can focus on moving.” Aurora knew she needed to get out of LA, it wasn’t bringing her happiness anymore; only a reminder of bad memories. “I should probably get changed, but I want to see you before you leave for Cincinnati. Is it just you and Joe?”

“Yeah, we fly out Sunday morning at 8am. So we will be here for another five days. Why?” Ja’Marr had let go of Aurora as she was heading into her dressing room.

“You’re more than welcome to come stay at my house. No point in paying for a hotel room when I have six empty rooms at my house.” Aurora had started to change out of her scandalous dress and back into her grey sweats and Nike hoodie. Once changed, Aurora came back out only to be met with Joe and Ja’Marr. “Seriously, cancel your hotel and come over to my place tonight. It will be nice to have people over.” She flashed a big grin at Joe. Honestly, she just wanted him to stay at her place forever, he was easy on the eyes. “What do you guys say?”

Ja’Marr and Joe shared a quick look and Ja’Marr shrugged, “You’re on.”

“Great! I have to get back in the studio for a while but feel free to make yourselves at home. I should be back around four or five. We can order takeout. See you guys later.” With that Aurora excused herself and walked back out to her car. Once out of Joe’s presence she was able to let a breath go that she didn’t realize she was holding in.  

“I did something stupid Mike.” Aurora sighed and glanced over at Mike who still had his air pods on.

“Do I even want to know?”

[xo-adeline]

Hello!! How are you? I hope youre doing well!! :D

Could i request reo, nagi and rin having a crush on professional volleyball player!fem reader that is quiet and a bit intimidating?

Have a nice day!! (⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠)

Hii! I'm doing good! So excited for the last week of school but I'm swamped with end of year tests 😭 And I hope you have a great day/night as well!! So sorry it took me a while to get around to writing your request, and I hope you enjoy!!<3

Reo Mikage -> Is most likely a little intimidated when he first met you but when he realized that you were actually sweet and just a little quiet he wasn't as nervous -> Kinda excited that your also an athlete, since you know about the harsh trainings and when he went through the Nagi thing about teammates and things like that -> Will buy you things that you need, even if you make your own money, since ya know being all professional and stuff, but still does try to swipe that card when you're not looking -> Will come to your tournaments, and will invite you to all his games, unless you two have something else going on were you can't make it but he really does try -> Being in the news, both as professional athletes you most likely are in the news together, but it's fine, everybody thinks y'all are cute together, even if they only see the RBF face that you normally have -> When you're done with your games and stuff has actually had to convince a couple of your fans that you're not as mean as you may look -> Overall, y'all are really cute and even cuter behind closed doors after a practice, for either one of you and are just laying together, maybe in silence, maybe the background noise of a TV show playing Nagi Seishiro -> Probably just gave you a weird look when he first met you, I mean you did look a little scary to him, maybe it's just an athlete thing.. -> He kinda related you and Barou in his mind and at first, even if you looked nothing alike besides the fact you had a little bit of an intimidating expression -> A little more intrigued when he realized that you were also an Athlete, I mean somebody else to understand his pain of always being sore and not wanting to go to practice, right?? -> When he finally met you though and realized that you weren't as intimidating as you seemed and were actually quite quiet he was a little off put but soon learned that you weren't anything like Barou -> Has possibly tried to convince to skip practice and stay home, but if you say no, he'll actually get up and try to work on something with you, but if you say yes then he'll cuddle up to you and just sit there in silence -> Both you and Nagi have faces that kinda seem to have faces that don't really tell you what you're thinking on the inside, so you're def a hard to read couple, and most people don't even know your dating -> But once when an interviewer mentioned his need to be somewhat close to you at events he just outright said that you two were actually dating Rin Itoshi -> Also looks pretty intimidating, so y'all work well together -> The media's favorite RBF athlete duo -> Anywho, kinda loves the fact that you are also an athlete, I mean (again) you understand the amounts of training that he has to undergo, and with like ball control and stuff -> Loves when you two talk about what you've been working on, and even when he doesn't fully understand what you mean by "setting to outside hitter" or "Jump serves" he does still try his best to start understanding -> Likes going to your games, and trying to understand what the hell you were talking about -> Also likes when you show up to his games, even if he never actually shows it -> Loves learning about your sport even if you don't always talk about it, and even if he never actually shows it, also tries to include some of the things that you tell him about your sport into his, kinda like a little memento towards you

[ateez-himari]

FASHION WEEK; HIGHLIGHTS

"I can be all the things you told me not to be"

MILAN; VERSACE

• The vocalist recognized the journalist that had made tasteless and uncomfortable comments suggesting she was only in ATEEZ because of her appearance in 2021, continuing to throw sly comments into articles since then. When their manager began motioning him over for the common short interviews, she reminded him that he had been blacklisted from events for years - he was also the only one who she did not bow her head to as a greeting.

• When both ambassadors stepped out of the car together, the large crowd that had been gathered for hours flickered with bright flashes almost instantly whilst he extended a hand in order to help stabilize her.

• During the showcase of 'Ephemeral' the vocalist sat down on a white cushion to play the Koto - the national instrument of Japan - in order to accompany the music composed with different Korean instruments, representing her identity perfectly.

• To close off this impressive debut the runway welcomed the artist dressed in flowing light pink fabric adorned with golden details, displaying the very last design of her collection while she thanked the audience. Himari then bowed before the house's artistic director who in response mouthed the word 'Bellissima' and cued for attendees to toss red peonies towards her ambassador, a flower representing prosperity and good fortune in Korean culture.

• San attempted to hide that he was wiping away tears at the sight of their maknae accomplishing one of her dreams right in front of their eyes yet could not conceal his emotions when engulfing her in a tight hug.

• Once the show had concluded, Himari left her bandmates' sides to search the room for someone and hurried over to embrace the house's artistic director, who returned the hug warmly before placing a specially prepared tiara on her ambassador's head. Fans have compared their interaction to an aunt with her favorite niece due to the way Donatella seemed so attentive to her at all times, meanwhile the idol would hold her hand while being introduced to guests and the two were even seen gossiping at some point before the show began.

Afterparty;

• YouTuber Isaac M.I.K taught her how to do the South African dance move 'Tshwala Bam' over which they bonded very quickly before the vocalist in turns taught him the 'Work' challenge which was later released on the ATEEZ TikTok account. He now follows her personal Instagram account.

• In footage posted by guests, she could be seen visibly tipsy while whispering something into Mingi's ear, before pulling away biting her lip with flushed cheeks making shiny doe eyes even more noticeable as she gazed up at him. Whatever was exchanged between them made the rapper tighten his hold on her waist as he left a kiss on her neck. This clip rapidly made the rounds through social media with the unreleased song 'Come Through' by The Weeknd used as the background.

• Throughout the night, Gigi Hadid was seen dancing with her and later on posted several stories containing endless pictures of the two clearly forming some kind of friendship. The poses were different from what is usually seen from female idols but this allowed netizens a look into her more relaxed personality, dimming the cuteness shown during fan interactions to make way for natural charm.

• Madonna asked San for her Instagram handle during the Dolce & Gabbana afterparty the following day, and posted about the Ephemeral Collection with the caption; "What can't this girl do ?"

PARIS; BALMAIN

• The vocalist seemed overwhelmed with the loud sounds created by the crowd as both artists signed autographs, so Hongjoong discreetly reached over before lowering the volume on her hearing aid.

• Upon meeting his ambassador's youngest member for the first time, Olivier Rousteing let out an audible squeal and noted that both seemed to fit the other perfectly in terms of visuals. Some journalists present during the interaction even managed to catch him joking about wanting to steal Versace's Princess for his own fashion house.

• Dove Cameron cheerfully greeted the idol with a warm embrace along with seemingly endless compliments about her beauty when the show was being prepared. An entire camera roll long photoshoot ensued which was then posted on both of their social media accounts with captions conveying affection for the other, and both were seen giggling whilst sitting next to one another.

• Throughout the event the maknae seemed much calmer in the presence of their group's captain and sparked conversations with numerous high profile attendees, although this happened only when he stood at her side. Much like during their debut years, there were several pictures of her holding on to Hongjoong's sleeve while walking around.

• When came time to leave, Mingi stepped out of the car waiting for the bandmates in order to help his girlfriend inside with one hand under her own while the other guided her by the waist. Their manager could be seen standing aside smiling to himself, though trying to hide it, much like their captain.

Extra;

• While the members currently present in the city were taking a stroll, they ran into the vocalist's friend of three years, SEVENTEEN leader S.Coups, who immediately chastised her for having time to travel throughout countries yet none to stop by their studio despite having a keycard to the HYBE building.

• The Paris Saint-Germain Football Club invited their player's younger sister to the game against Rennes and despite having been apart only since Chuseok, the siblings ran up to one another as if it had been years once it was over. Since most players present had never before met her, Hanzo excitedly rambled on about nearly every accomplishment while the embarrassment flushed her cheeks with every passing moment.