#giving love a shot part 60

[petpenname]

❤️‍🔥Red Wine Supernova❤️‍🔥

pairing: dealer!ellie williams x introverterd(f)reader c.w. smoking, drinking summary: modern college au, dealer!ellie x introverted!(f)reader, slow burn with some sad elements, inspired by Red Wine Supernova by Chapel Roan Parts: 1. I Just Want To Get To Know You 2. Mini Skirt and My Go-Go Boots 3. I Don't Care That You're a Stoner + Epilogue: Falling Into Me a/n: this ones long buckle up

Part Two

Mini Skirt and My Go-Go Boots

Music filled House 03 in each room as the girls got ready for that night's party. Olivia and Ivy share a room, blasting 2000’s pop throwbacks and club hits as they adorned themselves with low rise jeans and sparkles. Phoebe was playing 70s hits from the living room. Her and Daniel in matching bellbottoms, lounging on the couch pregaming already. Sage was in your room, as you struggled to form an outfit. Sitting pretty in her 90’s basement grunge attire, she questioned you about the night before.

Sage: “So she actually came over?! And you smoked with her! Look at you!”

“No, don't look at me! I don't know what to wear!” You say, holding up articles of clothing. “But yeah, she texted me while I was in the bath!”

“Oh, sensual,” Sage said with a wink. Seeing your distressed look she dropped the teasing and turned her attention to your wardrobe which was strewn across your room. 

“What about those white boots! You could go as a go-go dancer!” Sage pointed at a pair of knee high white platform boots. You had only worn them out once but they were practically perfect for a 60’s themed look. 

You picked them up, “okay yeah, but what do I wear them with?” “I dunno, a mini skirt?” Sage said laughing, she left the room to start pregaming and give you space to get ready.

You end up putting on a pink and orange plaid mini dress that fits your curves so perfectly. You opt to have your hair down and natural, pinning back one side behind your ear. A simple eye look to complete the look with a signature 60s line above your eye, in pink of course.  

You stand in front of your full-body mirror inspecting yourself. You are usually confident in your looks but tonight you feel an extra form of confidence. Something about the spontaneity of last night after a grueling finals week. 

“Hey y/n, you're almost ready?!” You hear Ivy shout from down the hall.

“Yeah! Coming!” You grab a cute white shoulder bag and put your go-go boots on. Grabbing your phone, extra lip gloss and taking one more look in the mirror before heading downstairs. 

Your roommates are pregaming in the kitchen when you come down too hoots and hollers about how great you look. You return the girls compliments taking in everyone's looks. Phoebe hands you a shot and a lime and you all take one for the road. The walk to House 09 takes less than 10 minutes. You and Sage take up the rear of the group adventure.

“So are you going to see Ellie tonight?” Sage nudges you in the side playfully 

“I don't know, probably, she said she would be here?” You are looking down to hide your obvious blushing. You had confided in Sage the most about your sexuality. Having come out as bisexual last year you've only had two girlfriends, which didn't end the best. You had a tendency to shut yourself away and you guess that didn't sit right with partners. But you also felt like they never respected your space. You decided to focus on yourself but sometimes, stoned, late at night Sage would get you to confess how lonely you were. You yearned for someone to love you, and for you to love them back.

“Wait, Sage, did you set this up or something like some blind date?” You remembered how Sage introduced Phoebe to Daniel and their relationship was solid. 

“No dude!” Sage chuckled. “I promise, Ellie asked for your number, practically begged for it! And plus she's been dropping off to the house for months now, don't you think I would have set you up sooner if i thought about it?”

Ellie begged for it? Intrusive thoughts of Ellie on her knees looking up at you with those emerald eyes flash through your mind, making your heart skip a beat. You sigh, pushing the perverted thought away. “okay yeah i guess not, I don't know she seems cool, i hardly know her though.” 

“Well get to know her!” Sage jumps ahead of you and turns down the path to H09, music already blaring into the street . You take a breath of air before following your roommates into the loud college party. 

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The next few hours are a blur of colored lights, dance music, and drinking. You don’t drink alot but you are also more familiar with the taste of liquor than smoke. So in the company of your roommates you take another shot and accept a mixed drink from Daniel, the designated bartender for the house. 

“Do you guys want to go dance?” Ivy shouts over the music

You all exchange nods, leaving Phoebe with her boyfriend at the makeshift bar and head to the living room to dance.

Whatever was in your cup tonight let you let loose a little more than usual. You worked up a sweat dancing to hits from the 50s to the 2000’s. Before you know it the room was getting a little too hot and you were a little too out of breath. You gestured to Sage to get her attention,

“I'm going to step out back for some air!” you say fanning yourself, still stepping to the beat

“Okay girl! Do you want company?” Sage responds over the music

“No no keep dancing! I'll find you guys!”

“Dont Irish Goodbye on us again y/n!” Ivy points and dances in your direction. “I'll come find you if you're not back in twenty minutes!” she blows you a kiss.

You laugh, “I won't leave! Promise!” Dancing your way out of the mass of moving bodies you head through the house and out into the back yard. The cool air instantly gives you a sense of relief as the commotion from inside gets muffled by the closing door. You choose to sit on the porch steps, staring up at the sky and you start to look for stars.

 Due to the light pollution you are only able to see a handful of stars at the moment. While you are looking you hear the back door open and close. Glancing over your shoulder you see none other than Ellie step outside, face flushed and hair slightly damp clinging to her neck. She wore a white tank top, blue flannel and blue jeans, the same dirty converse from last night. 

“Oh hey whats up cutie! You made it!” Ellie says when she catches your eye. She fumbles over to you and sits down next to you, letting out a sigh. “Oh my god it's hot in there, yeah?” “Hey, yeah it is” you try to ignore the butterflies in your stomach. She called you that name again. You both avert your gaze from each other, a beat of awkward silence before Ellie says, “you want to smoke with me?” and pulls out another immaculately rolled joint. 

“Only if you tell me what decade you're supposed to be dressed up as?” you joke, looking her over. Most of the guests had gone all out with their fits. 

Ellie chuckles “Whichever decade that supplies this party with weed.” 

“Sooo 90s?” You say as you watch her face light up as she sparks the joint. 

“Sure let's go with that” she exhales, turning her body towards you, with one leg bent on the deck and the other stretched out down the steps. She leans towards you slightly as she hands you the joint.

“And you are…. No don't tell me…. 70’s?” Ellie guesses as you take a drag from the joint.

You let the smoke out as you giggle, “no! 60’s! I'm wearing go-go boots”  You stick a leg up and gesture to your boots

Before you could think Ellie reaches out and touches your boot, sliding her long fingertips, from the ankle up to the top. “Oh wow, yeah now i see them” flicking her eyes from your leg to make eye contact with you. 

Your ears become hot at the sudden contact and you put your leg back down, take another puff before handing it back. There are those flutterings, they are much lower tonight.

“Wow and you're smoking more tonight! You're like a totally different person than who I met yesterday.” Ellie jokes as she takes the joint and leans back on her other hand. “Miss never goes to parties”, she teases.

Still feeling her gaze on you, you can't bring yourself to look at her so you look back at the night sky, leaning back on your hands. “Don’t get used to it, this is my one outing of the semester.” 

“Yeah me too, honestly.” Ellies tone turns a little serious as she too looks up at the night sky, taking another drag of the joint and using it to point.

“The Big Dipper should be right there, you can see the start of it, but there's too much light to see the rest.”

“Mhmm” you hum, “I wish i could see them all, I could in my hometown.” 

“Yeah me too” Ellie says, “Do you want another hit off this?” 

You look back down and the simple motion of your head moving in space brings your awareness to just how fucked up you are. You know alcohol takes a bit to have an effect but you have also never drank and smoked together. 

“No, thanks, ugh I'm feeling a bit light headed.” you say.

“Oh shit” Ellie puts out the joint and flicks it away, “Do you need some water?” 

“Yeah that would be cool, I just need to catch my breath” You say as cooly as possible.

“Okay stay right here!” Ellie gets up and is gone in a flash,

Your head is spinning and you grab onto the railing for some stability, willing yourself not to throw up in this back yard. Deep breaths in and out help you regain a bit of your strength and feeling. You hear the backdoor open and shut as a few pairs of feet hit the deck. 

“Hey, hey girl you okay?” Sage is next to you with a glass of water, you take and sip it slowly.

“Hey dude yeah, i'm good, I don't know if i'll go back inside though.” 

“Yeah that's understandable, did you smoke too?”

You nod, and take another sip of water. Sage gives you a sympathetic look through her own blood shot eyes.

“I'll walk her home” you hear Ellie say, who you realize had been standing behind you the whole time.  

Sage looks up, “oh yeah, I mean if you don't mind? You cool with that y/n?  

You finish the water and hand your cup back to Sage, “Yeah, you stay Sage, tell Ivy I'm sorry for leaving again”

“Sure babes, and hey it's not an irish goodbye if you say goodbye!” She helps you up and says bye to Ellie and you before going inside. 

“Are you sure you're feeling okay?” Ellie turns to you, a look of worry on her face.

“Yeah I'm feeling better now, I just have never smoked and drank together before.” 

Ellie laughs, “damn what are you a virgin too?” 

Such a direct joke caught you off guard, “uh no, i'm not.” you say defensively, turning away feeling your cheeks flush.

“I'm kidding, I promise! Sorry, come on let's get you home hun”

You curse yourself for being so quick to defend yourself, you were actually quite experienced, at least with your own body. You just didn't know exactly how to express that to your partners. 

Ellie led you out the back garden gate holding it open for you, you felt her hand cup the small of your back as she guided you to the sidewalk. You let her hand rest on your waist as her warmth warms you up in the cool night air. 

“Are you going to go back to the party?” You ask, breaking the silence.

“Nah probably not, i dont really hang out with a lot of people. I just go to sell.” Ellie responds matter of factly. 

“What about your roommate?”

“Oh Dina? She’s with Jessie, I love hanging out with them but I have the dorm all to myself tonight!” She gives you that stupid sideways grin again

You smile back at her before looking forward, feeling a bit nervous realizing how close you two were walking. Her hand still on the small of your back, and her index finger tracing small circles, like she was nervous too. 

You walk the rest of the block in silence and she walks up to your front door, stepping away from you before saying, “You sure you're okay to be left alone? I feel like I need to see you drink another glass of water.” 

Maybe it was the joint, maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the feeling deep inside of you wishing for someone to be close to you again. You missed her warmth. Either way you find yourself answering before thinking

“You could just come in? I'll drink a glass of water to prove I'm good!” You hold a hand to your chest like making a royal promise. 

Ellie chuckles, scratching the back of her neck and looking down, “Oh shit, yeah sure, I’ll come in” Did you just make her nervous?

“Cool” You say, fishing your keys out of your purse. You enter the house, flipping on a few lights and tossing your bag on the table. 

“I have to get out of my shoes first!” you exclaim, taking a seat, suddenly out of breath again.

“Here allow me!” Ellie says, skipping to your side and kneeling down, before you could protest she has your right leg in her hands, inspecting for a zipper. “It's on the inside” you laugh at her willingness for chivalry, pointing at the zipper on the inside of your ankle.

“Inside huh?” Ellie said in a tone that made your stomach flip. She finds the zipper, pulls down and slides the boot off your leg. Revealing fuzzy pink socks adorned with a Kirby embroidered at the top. Holy shit you forgot you had those socks on?!

“Oh my god Kirby!” Ellie laughs, “I didn't know what socks to expect but i dont think these were it.”

“What's wrong with kirby?” You counter teasingly, the alcohol giving you some courage post sock reveal.

“Nothing! I just feel like i'm finding out little crumbs of information about you”, Ellie laughs again, “You're like a puzzle, or a riddle? I just want to get to know you.” she looks you in the eyes when she says that. 

That last sentence felt so personal. You sat back in silence as Ellie removed your other shoe, revealing a second, pink kirby sock. She looks up at you and you realize she's on her knees, in front of you. Did you dream this into reality? How did such a pretty girl just fall into your life like this? You almost lose yourself in her eyes before she speaks again.

“You still gotta drink water for me, pretty girl.” 

You nod, as she rises from the floor and looks around for the kitchen. Rising too and guiding her in the dim lit kitchen you grab a glass of water and return to stand in front of her to drink it. Finishing strong with a sigh and a smile, you set the glass down on the counter and turn to her.

“All done” you say

“Good girl” Ellie says with a smirk, staring into your eyes. Your stomach does a flip again, she is way too comfortable calling you pet names. 

Like magnets the two of you slide closer until you are inches away from each other in the dim kitchen light. Both of your breaths hitch as you watch Ellie's eyes dart from your eyes, to your lips, and back up. You swear you could stare at her like this for hours, but you wanted nothing more than to closet the space between you two.

*DING DING*

The ring of Ellies phone sounds off in her pockets, startling both of you away from the tension boiling between you. 

“Ah fuck what now” Ellie says under her breath. She quickly checks her phone and lets out a frustrated sigh. “Fuckers need more weed at the party. I should probably let you get your beauty sleep huh?” She says, shoving her phone back in her pocket.

You involuntarily let out a yawn as she makes the suggestion and you hide your face from her gaze. Partially from the yawn, mostly to hide your disappointment “yeah, I should probably sleep this buzz off, I'll walk you out?” 

“Sure thing” she says.

You both head for the door, Ellie lingers a bit, swaying side to side before saying bye and dipping fast down the steps. You say bye and close the door behind her. Stealing yourself upstairs to take off your makeup and outfit. A quick self care routine later and you are passed out in bed.

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Ellie lights a joint in frustration as she walks out of H09. She really didn't want to go back there but ended up staying another hour because Jessie and Dina guilted her into drinking more. Thoughts of you swirl in the girl's head as she makes the walk to her dorm. Your eyes, your legs, your lips, your kirby socks. Ellie laughs to herself, and pulls out her phone. 

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You wake up the next morning with a headache. Checking the time on your phone you're shocked to see you slept in until 11!

You have a few unread messages:

Ellie: want to meet for coffee? Ivy: I made pancakes! Sage: how can you have so much energy all the time? Be right ther Olivia: shhh sleeping

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“Meet for coffee??” Sage said, mouth full of pancake. You and your roommates are sitting around the kitchen eating room-temperature pancakes and discussing the night before. 

“That's what she said?!” you say, pouring some syrup over your breakfast.

“Well are you gonna go?” Ivy asks from the pantry

“I mean, yeah? I should, right?” “Only if you want to girl” Olivia say beside you

“Oh she wants to” Sage says with wink in your direction

“I do!” You say blushing, “I'm just nervous! The last times we interacted were so spontaneous. And this is like, she's asking me out!” 

“It's just coffee babes you'll be okay! Its casual” Olivia says with a reassuring rub on your back

You smile at your roomates as you pick your phone up, responding to Ellie

y/n: “Okay :) when?”

30 seconds later you receive a text;

Ellie: “Sweet :), 1pm at the cafe?”

y/n: “I'll see you there!” 

You smile at your phone for sec before your roomates all join in on a group “oooooooooo” 

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1pm comes fast. After breakfast you help clean then retire to your room to shower and get ready. It's a little chilly out this morning so you opt for a chunky sweater, comfortable wide leg pants, and sneakers. After checking yourself in your mirror and in Sage’s mirror, with her approval and luck, you head out the door. 

The walk to the cafe felt like it took forever. You become hyper aware of yourself, your outfit, anxieties bubbling up in your mind as you try to stay calm. You round a corner and can see the cafe now, and something in you stops you in your tracks. 

Memories of your past relationships flash in your mind. How hurt you were, how misunderstood you felt. Being lonely was familiar but it always stung when someone left your life. You will yourself to take a chance, your roommate’s comment in your mind for comfort. You’re just meeting for coffee, it's casual. With a deep breath, trying to gain some confidence you continue forward. You open the door to the cafe stepping in, warm cinnamon and coffee bean scents fill the air while a lofi beats track plays over the speakers. You look around and it takes you just a moment to find Ellie sitting at a table in the corner. She has a baseball cap on, looking down so she didn't see you come in. 

You take in her appearance while walking over. She's manspreading comfortably in dark green cargos, a gray t-shirt, a black zip up hoodie and black converse. You knock lightly on the table to get her attention, startling Ellie who shoots up, almost knocking her chair over behind her. 

“Hi there” you say sweetly

“Oh y/n! Morning! Er afternoon, hey” She composes her surprise and smiles at you to sit down. “I got you a coffee!” 

You realize there are two coffee cups in front of you on the table. Ellie slides one over and you see your order written on the side in black ink. Medium mocha, with half chocolate. She remembered? 

“Oh wow thank you! Do I owe you anything?” you ask, accepting the drink.

“Of course not,” Ellie says leaning back, “I just made it before I finished my shift.” 

You take a sip of your coffee, and set it down, taking in the girl sitting before you. You realize that Ellie looks exceptionally tired, she has bags under her eyes and her lips are slightly crusty. She seemed to have energy, although that must be from the caffeine she's been having throughout her shift. 

“Did you have a good night?” Ellie asks, breaking your fantasy

“Oh! Yeah, i just passed out after you left and slept so long” You laugh, trying to hold eye contact. 

“Good you got your sleep, I wish I did, i forgot I worked this morning and got woken up by my boss calling me” Ellie sighs and sips her coffee

“Oh shit, we don't have to hang out if you're tired?” You say, secretly wanting to invite her back to yours to cuddle up and watch movies. But your body does not allow the thought to come out.

“No! I want to hang out! I actually wanted to show you something, if you're down?” Ellie asks

So many thoughts fill your mind with what this thing could be. Your curiosity is endless and quickly leads to images of Ellie pulling toys out of her backpack. 

“Yeah sure, I'm not doing anything today” You say, leaning forward on your hand with your elbow on the table. Searching Ellies expression for any sign of what her intentions were. 

Ellie just gives you a big grin and leans forward too, flashing her eyes from yours, to your lips, and back up. Instantly you're reminded of last night, you hadn't even thought about your almost kiss in the shadows of your kitchen. You feel your ears going hot and instinctually pull back to drink your coffee, hoping your eyes didn't display any of your shock from the memory. 

“Sounds good, if you're ready we can head out” Ellie suggests, keeping her eyes on you.

You nod and swallow, “sure, ya” you say, your voice a little quieter. 

Ellie rises from her seat, grabbing her coffee, waits for you to rise and follows you out of the cafe. “Here follow me!” she says when you two are outside, pointing behind her. You skip up to her side and follow her through campus. Making small talk, asking each other about your coffees & the weather. You realize that Ellie is leading you into the College neighborhood, the street that you live on. 

“You want to show me the street I live on?” You ask, laughing because as far as you know, this street is a Dead End. And you have been to that dead end. Maybe she was bringing you to a house? 

“I mean yes? And no, we are going to the end, there's a spot over there.” Ellie says, taking another sip of her coffee

You were pretty sure the dead end was fenced off with a thick forest behind it. Not being very adventurous you had never thought to explore past it. You and Ellie walk the length of the block, passing other college students. You approach the end of the street, the sidewalk seemingly ends and you wait to see what Ellie will do. 

She turns around to face you, “Do you trust me?” 

“I have no reason not to you” you giggle, “you're not going to murder me are you?”

“No! Oh my god, come on, this way” Ellie smirks and nods her head to the side of the street. 

House 10 was the last house on the street, and there was a thick hedge that ran the length of the house and the fence. Ellie walks you over and the perspective change reveals about two feet between the hedge and the fence. Ellie slips into the gap and takes a few steps before making sure you are following. You're right behind her, and comment “there are no spiders right?”

Ellie laughs, “dont worry ill scare them off. It's not too far.”

You walk maybe 10 feet between the hedge and fence before Ellie stops and crouches down. Ducking through a large hole in the chainlink fence and popping up on the other side to face you. “Here hand me your coffee!” she says, sticking a hand through the hole. 

You hand her your coffee and crouch down to do the same, almost slipping on a few leaves on the ground. 

“You good? Here you go” Ellie hands your coffee back and says “i promise its not far now, just through there.'' She walks into the forest. There's a makeshift trail probably formed by other students exploring back here, and you follow her for a few minutes. Listening to the sounds of birds and wind through the trees, you start to hear the sound of running water. The trail winds around, sunlight flashing through the leaves onto Ellies auburn hair. You can't help but get lost in her figure. Your mind trailing off to things too embarrassing to say, you have no idea how long you've been walking. Ellie turns around flashing you a smile, breaking you away from your bedroom thoughts.

“Its just up here! Come on!” She picks up a bit of pace, excitement getting the best of her. 

You follow her around another corner and see a pretty amazing sight. Large concrete structures from half of a building, overgrown with vines and graffiti painting the crumbling walls. There are steps leading up to a large concrete platform with two walls in the back. You take a sec to take it all in, Ellie bounds up the steps, turns to you and puts her arms out framing the scene.

“Ta-daaaaa! What do you think?”

“This place is so cool!” You say, following her up the steps and looking more closely at the graffiti. You read “smoke em if you got em”, & “JC’11” probably from a Jackson College graduate. One catches your eye, it's smaller and closer to the ground. A black heart with red lettering that says “girls kissing girls”. 

“Ya, right.” Ellie looks around with you at “her” spot -atleast she likes to think she's claimed it. “I found it a few months ago, I come here pretty often but don't really bring anyone. I don't want everyone to know about it.”

“Yea i can understand, its peaceful out here” you respond, focusing your attention back on her

“And you haven't seen the best part!” Ellie walks across the platform to the other side, where the other wall is missing. You follow her and realize that the water you heard had gotten a bit louder since you tuned into it. As you approach the opening in the wall you are perplexed with the beauty you see. A small waterfall cascades over moss covered rocks, flowing into a stream only a few feet wide and away into the forest. All the stars aligned for the sun to shine the most on this spot in the forest. The foliage was lush, moss covered all surfaces, and tiny flowers and mushrooms dotted the scene. 

“Yeah, it's pretty great, my own secret hiding spot.” Ellie beams, stretching her arms behind her head, trying to be as casual as possible. 

You looked in awe at the scene and Ellie looks in awe at you. Taking in your features, your soft lips, your beautiful skin. She wished she could capture this image of you forever in her mind. Never had she taken someone here before, but as soon as she met you, she wanted you here, with her. And there wasn't anything she wanted to do more than to kiss you.

“This is so beautiful” you say, “want to sit down?” You say turning to her, blushing at the strong eye contact youre met with.

Instinctually Ellie takes off her hoodie, stepping back and setting it down on the ground for you and her to sit on. You are able to see a large tattoo on her forearm, looks like a fern? You both position yourselves on the makeshift blanket, with your legs hanging over the side of the ledge. 

“Do you want to smoke? I haven't since before my shift.” Ellie says after a moment of silence. 

“Oh yeah, sure! But if you keep smoking me out and buying me coffee i'm going to have to make it up to you!” You say with a smirk, playfully nudging her with your elbow.

“I'll take whatever you give me,” Ellie says as she takes out a joint box from her pocket. Butterflies flutter in your stomach at the possibilities of what your ‘repayment’ could be. 

You take the lit joint from Ellie and you two make small talk about the graffiti and nature surrounding you. Conversations turn more personal when you ask Ellie about her family. You learn of Joel, and the farm back home where Ellie spent most of her time shying away with her journal and guitar. Ellie spoke about coming out to Joel in highschool and how he was one of the only people who supported her through it. Her hometown wasn't the most accepting so she did not have many friends let alone relationships. You share your life too, realizing that you and Ellie have more things in common than you thought. Your family came around after a year or so of coming out but you only ‘came out’ to friends and the public when you moved to college. You had a boyfriend in highschool that ended badly and 1.5 relationships with girls since coming out. You say 1.5 because the first one was really a situationship that ended with the girl deciding she was straight. 

At this point the joint was dead and tossed in the brush. The sun was drifting behind the trees, casting a cool hue across the forest. 

Ellie and you listen to the stream in comfortable silence for a second. The joint is settling in nicely and bringing all your hidden thoughts to the surface. You wanted to kiss her, touch her. Your fingers are a mere centimeters from each other and you could feel the electricity through your whole body. 

Suddenly Ellie takes a breath, like she had been holding hers for a second. “CanIaskyousomething?” she says, in almost all one word. 

You turn your body to her, leaning forward slightly on your arm. “Anything” you say.

“I know… i know we just met, but, you’re really pretty and I was just wondering… canikissyou?

She rushes the last part but you hear clearly and your heart skips a beat. Ellie turns to look at you, searching your face for anything you're feeling. 

You're lost in her eyes again, your mind screaming yes but all you can do is nod at her, doe eyed and longing to feel her warmth.

Ellie breathes in looking at your lips before she leans forward, cradling your face in her hands and setting her lips on yours. The kiss is hot, passionate, slow but needy as your combined lust mixes together right there in the forest.  You feel like hours have gone by before you separate, looking into eachothers eyes, a line of spit connecting both your lips. Ellie looks like she's even higher than the joint made her and you can't help but giggle a little before going in for a second kiss. This time your hands go for her, brushing through her hair and grabbing at the nape of her neck. 

Separating for the second time ellie breathes, “wow, that was… wow”

You hum in approval, untangling your hand from her hair and resting it on your leg. You're both breathing a little heavy, lips tingling and palms sweaty. 

Ellie feels a buzz on her thigh and pulls out her phone to a string of texts, all from buyers hoping to make their Saturdays better.

“Ah fuck, im sorry, i wish we could stay here longer but, work calls…” She says with a sigh. She wishes she could stay here all day with you but Ellie was a business woman, plus she had been saving up for a few things and was so close to meeting her goal. 

You laugh, wanting to stay with her too, but you are getting hungry, probably from the joint. “That's okay, will you walk me back to the house?”

“Of course doll” Ellie says with a smile, making your already hot face burn with desire. You both stand and after grabbing her hoodie and coffee, without asking Ellie grabs your hand and begins to lead you back out of the forest. 

You walk hand in hand down the street in comfortable silence. The touch shared between you said more than you two could manage at the moment. You are submerged in your feelings and barely notice you getting to the walkway in front of your house. 

Ellie stops and turns to face you. Giving you a kiss on the back of the hand she says, “have a great day beautiful, i'll be thinking of you.”

You linger your hand in hers for a moment, blushing, mind blank but you know you need to respond. “Thanks for today Ellie, i'll talk to you soon.”

You start backing up the walkway, both of you not wanting to separate from each other's gaze. You both give one last little wave and you turn to walk into the house. 

Sage greets you from the couch, seeing the look on your face she jumps up and runs to hug you in excitement. Bringing you over to sit with her as you tell her about your time with Ellie. You feel this could be the beginning of something beautiful. Although hesitant to get close to someone again, you feel right with Ellie. You can’t help but imagine what life would be like with her. 

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a/n: AHHHHHHHHH thank u sm for the love :3 I'm actually so excited for part 3... might even open submissions for other fandoms? idk I'm just having fun! Tag List: @vqxen @bready101 @sourgummywormsss @a-little-bit-of-everybody

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

Have you seen Dungeon Meshi? Laos is such a monsterfucker I can’t get over it. He asks one of his companions if it felt good to be caught by the tentacle-vine plant monster. He waxed poetic about how cool animal-hybrid monsters are. (I’m sorry if you don’t like a show or this feels irrelevant to your blog, but also I can’t tell my friends ‘hey I like this character because I also think it would feel good to be caught by the tentacle monster’)

Anyway he’s how I imagine this blog’s audience would approach an IRL dungeon expedition

Sorry to take this way too seriously, I mean no ill will. But I've been a MASSIVE fan of dungeon meshi for... oof, almost 7 years apparently, It's a perfect storm of everything I love with fantastic writing and characterization, and I don't think I could disagree with that more. I think you missed a primary running gag of the series. He keeps saying lines that, if anyone else said them would be sexual, but the people around him know he's just a super obsessed wildlife researcher. He does not want to fuck monsters, that's kinda the entire point. Like you need to understand that some biologists will happily and unnecessarily lick poison, get bitten, and pick up dangerous things without hesitation. It's not that they get off to poison play, it's that they love the topic so much that it's their life and they want to know every aspect. When he's zealously asking what it's like for the vine monster to grapple and stab you with seeds, he's saying that because he's just that into learning and wants the firsthand experience! He's here because he doesn't want to just read about his special interest, he wants to live it, be PART of the ecosystem!

...actually, incredibly relevant spoilers below for a monster later on (chapter 58-60, so likely end of this season or start of the next)

They later find straight-up succubi. Chilchuck talking about how they turn into your perfect match, you ALWAYS have to fight them as a pair or you're just screwed because of irresistible magic charming powers. One finds Laios alone...and he's completely unaffected, immediately chokes it and goes to kill it without any issue. The only hesitation is a bit of embarrassment that "Oh no, it misinterpreted my feelings as attraction, if the party finds this it'll lead to a HUGE misunderstanding. This could ruin my friendships, I need to immediately kill it and hide the body." That gives it enough time to convince him "hey, it's impossible to resist a succubus, so obviously I'm not a succubus right?" And it works because he knows that yes, nobody can resist a succubus charm. Except apparently him. Even trying again by combining his thoughts with his all time favorite monster didn't daze him like it did the others. It had to convince him that it could turn him INTO a monster, and that everyone else was ok with it too, to get him to hesitantly submit to being drained. They didn't have to reason with marcielle or chilchuck, but lust just didn't work with Laios, not as a person or as a monster. It's like how nobody gets panty shots except Senshi. it's a subversion joke. There are quite a few in this series, especially ones centered on Laios.

[vinelark]

With the exciting news of Kon being in MAWS season 3 (!!!!!), do you have an specific recs for him when it comes to comics? (I know Young Justice is good for him, but not much outside of that)

hello! exciting news indeed!!! and hell yeah, here are some kon-centric comics outside of yj that i���ve enjoyed reading:

Reign of the Supermen arc (1993)

this arc has kon’s intro, well before he even had the name kon, and it’s worth a read if you haven’t already because of the way he shows up and is peak annoying immediately (said with love). especially Adventures of Superman #501! (the storyline spans a number of titles, reading order here)

(and for a related rec, the reign of the superman (2019) animated movie blends aspects of the original comic arc with the “kon is made with lex luthor’s dna” reveal/retcon; it’s a fun watch! left me with Much To Think About pang-wise, too.)

Superboy (1994)

the most concentrated amount of og jacket and glasses superboy you’ll find in one series; there’s a lot going on here, most of it so very 90s (both in the plot/world and on a more meta level) and also so many adorable kons. special shoutout to my favorite side character, krypto in his “tiny white terrier with a giant attitude” form. (and for a more specific rec i’ll point to issues #60 - 61, in which kon is hopping through multiple realities and we see, among others, robin!kon and “supergrrrl” kon.)

Batgirl (200) #41

this is the issue where cass goes “hmm, i should try to do A Romance” and shows up outside kon’s window to see what all the fuss is about, and they proceed to have the most lavender date of all lavender dates. i adore kon’s inability to shut up here, and also for obvious reasons need to give it a special shoutout for kon taking a “bat-babe” on a date in the clouds.

Adventure Comics (Vol 2) #1 - 6 (2009)

this arc serves to re-settle kon into the world (and smallville) after the whole [waves hand] dying and coming back to life thing. (technically it’s 12 issues, but you’re asking for specific recs so my specific recs are the first six!) this is about kon starting life in smallville and having a prolonged identity crisis re: the superman + lex luthor of it all. cassie, bart, and tim all show up as significant guest stars (one of my fav tim & kon issues of all time is in here) but it’s very kon-centric! i also really enjoy the art, especially when it does wide/landscape shots.

Superboy (2010)

this is a pretty direct continuation from the adventure comics arc, once again feat. kon’s 21st century black t-shirt (sigh) and also kon wearing the tiniest, goofiest pair of Disguise Glasses. that said, it’s a fun, classic “teen superhero juggles school and crushes and a statistically high number of supervillains for a small town (seriously, what the hell was poison ivy even doing in kansas?)” series. also if there were any justice in the world simon valentine would’ve been one of those crushes, but alas.

Convergence: Superboy (2015) #1 - 2

i’ll be honest, i’m not super familiar with the overarching convergence storyline, but i really enjoyed this two-shot featuring a kon who has been stuck in metropolis without his powers, only to suddenly gain them back and immediately start brawling with alternate versions of heroes he knows. i also like the art in this one, and the character designs overall—leather jacket kon my beloved!

Action Comics (2016) #1020 - 1028 (“House of Kent” arc)

this sequence brings kon back into the kent family fold after the timeline fuckery (and i think follows from the young justice (2019) gemworld arc where they re-find kon?)—so basically it’s kon’s re-introduction to clark, and to lois and jon (who’s visiting from his own future adventure) and kara and martha and jonathan. despite spelling conner’s name two different ways in the span of a few issues, it’s a neat speedrun of different kon+superfam interactions, and also a fun time for anyone who’s a fan of kon being solidly part of the kent family. also: jacket kon is back 🙏

this is not at all an exhaustive list, just some of my favs--happy reading!

[jokeroutsubs]

🎈🍰Nace Birthday Special🍰🎈

Nace Jordan's interview for Suzy magazine, published 14.06.2024. English translation by drumbeat and @beeoftheanxieties, proof read by TWT klamstrakur.

📝ENG Translation: Joker Out's Nace Jordan: 60 Kilograms to Happiness

Twenty-nine-year-old Nace Jordan is considered one of the most emotional, thoughtful, and responsible Slovenian musicians.

CAPTION: He’s spreading tolerance and respect to everyone.

He was the last one to join the group of four highly admired young men, but that doesn't mean he's the fifth or the spare wheel. His inspiring story makes him a great role model for teenagers, showing that working on yourself is worthwhile, because you never know when an extraordinary opportunity will come your way. After making a major change in his lifestyle, he got rid of past burdens to focus on a bright, melodic future. With the loving support of his girlfriend, the first signs of a family are already visible. They've been joined by Pino, an adorable dachshund, who brought new responsibilities and lots of joy.

CAPTION: Joker Out gained a first-class member with Nace.

INTERVIEWER: How quickly did you feel accepted as fully fledged member, considering you were not a co-founder of Joker Out?

Nace: Initially it might have appeared as if I instantly took on the role of bass guitarist with confidence, although deep down I was quite confused. The guys already had their banter, even a kind of a jargon I didn't feel familiar with. They are after all five years younger than me, almost a different generation. But they have welcomed me in a very embracing way, we have started to develop a communal story and we have become a unit. Even after we had recorded 'Carpe Diem' and I was offered a permanent place in the band, I was still haunted by the feeling that I might not be perceived easily as a part of the band by the most devoted fans.

Was Eurovision your ultimate test?

Sort of. I was told I aced it, and as a fill-in member, it made me happy when the decision to welcome me into the family was final. The whole idea was to first try and see how compatible we were, without any pressure or expectations. On stage, it was obvious that we were a perfect match. But I tended to hold back when it came to the bigger decisions. Bojan is, after all, the frontman, the dominant one, so I didn't want to interfere with the pre-established dynamics. It was only after the Eurovision euphoria was over that a new era began and with it the most precious gift - the appreciation of the entire group. They are exceptional young individuals, extremely talented, and they wanted someone who could feel their vibe and bring them together, not tear them apart.

This opportunity has come as a reward for your challenging personal journey, a tremendous transformation of body and spirit. How has this affected your self-image?

I am still trying to work on myself. I have lost 60 kilos and broken free from the shackles of a troubled adolescence, when the slightest deviation from the average is frowned upon. It is unimaginable that you can lose so many kilograms, one whole person. It was gradual. After the first ten, you are overcome with excitement. Your reflection in the mirror gets nicer by the week, you gain confidence in yourself and see that it is not difficult to follow your goal. I gained an unstoppable will to keep going, and the most extraordinary things started to happen. I got to play in the backing band of the popular show ' V petek zvečer' ('Friday Night'), and then realised a childhood dream when I managed to join a band as skillful as the Jokers. A time came when I walked around with a huge smile on my face and I hoped that it would not fade from my face for a long time to come. At the same time, I was driven to give it my best shot, because I simply couldn't let this opportunity slip away.

You have used the dark times of COVID for something bright, inspirational. When did you decide you were tired of living in a bigger body?

The stomach pains were the first indicator that I had to roll up my sleeves and work on myself. I had always been chubbier, but I got saved by my height because the kilograms were evenly spread. I was able to exercise, go hiking, [and] be active in water sports, particularly wakeboarding. I wasn't immune to the looks of naysayers, that someone with so much weight could move so capably. I had reached a point where I no longer felt comfortable. I didn't like myself, the walks were getting more and more exhausting, I didn't have a girlfriend for a while, which was a big motivation to change my lifestyle. At the beginning, I was embarrassed to work out in front of others. Would they be thinking, 'What is this fatso doing here now'? So at home I would climb up and down the stairs from the basement to the attic. For half a year, every evening. First for 15 minutes, then I progressed to 45. It seemed like a waste to ruin this effort with unhealthy food, so I changed my diet. I eliminated all the guilty pleasures and after the first 20 lost, I decided I was ready to train outdoors. By running. It might not have been the smartest idea because of my knees, but it all worked out well in the end. Something that I resented for a long time became my norm. To this day, I still enjoy putting on my running shoes to clear my mind. Whenever my mind is in a frenzy, running saves me.

Humans are really odd, shallow creatures. We can't see what's underneath the excess weight. It was only after you have transformed that the requests for more collaborations started coming in. How did you manage to heal these emotional scars from the entertainment business, where the physical appearance still takes precedence over the heart?

That's the hardest part, not to lose faith in yourself. You question your self worth because of the labels the public has stuck on you. Of course, the medical aspect of excess weight is the first signal for a radical change. The results would be significantly better, if people around us were more sparse with negative comments and dismissive attitudes towards anything that is not to their liking. I must confess that I have never felt better than I did after saying goodbye to cigarettes, alcohol, and, for a period, even meat. Imagine you are carrying a 60 kilogram backpack. And then you put it down. A different world opens up.

In all this, music has been your most faithful companion and supporter. Would it have been possible to go through all this without it?

The power of art is amazing. The bass guitar is my lifelong love. Even if I was a butcher or a carpenter, I would play and create for myself. We are used to these kind of stories in the movies, where after a difficult ordeal you find yourself in the midst of your teenage dreams. After the third concert with the Jokers, a girl came up to me and confided that she was contemplating suicide, but our songs had saved her. She thanked us for taking the time for our fans and talking to them. Their honesty is a sign that you are part of something great. The power of music goes beyond the limits of our imagination. There are countless similar confessions. This realisation is also therapeutic for us. You receive confirmation that you are doing something right.

Have you ever wondered why you play music at all?

Many times. The doubts of who will listen to my work, or now our work, are a constant in the career of a professional musician. But if you put your heart first, you quickly get the confirmation that we are not just pretty boys on stage, but individuals with depth and a message.

As a teenager, what motivated you to follow your aspirations?

I wanted to be like my cousin. He is five years older than me and he had his own band. He introduced me to foreign bands, like Led Zeppelin. It sounded rather innocent, but it was the start of a profound passion. Recently, Jan, the guitarist, and I were talking about the role models who have defined us. I told him that there must be an aspiring young teenager in Slovenia who looks up to him and has begun strumming the strings because of him. I am convinced that we have brought a breath of fresh air to the local scene and given a boost to young bands who are not yet established. It is very healthy to encourage others, to be each other's support and competition. I didn't feel that before.

When did you first feel that the stage was your everything?

We had a kind of talent show at the school camp. I wanted to sing the ballad 'Behind Blue Eyes' by The Who, but the teacher wouldn't let me because it wasn't an appropriate song. I cried with sadness, so she mellowed down. I took advantage of her faith, put on my sunglasses and a headscarf. That's when something stirred inside of me. Finally, now that we are touring Europe and are excited to discover how the power of music brings people together, I am calmed. Even as a kid I stood my ground and I am grateful to my stubbornness for getting me this far.

You have a strong bond with your mother. How does she keep track of your exceptional progress?

She is proud to say that she is my biggest 'fan'. She was happiest at Eurovision, which she has always followed. It was the first time she was able to experience it live, she and Bojan's mum cheered loudly and I have to admit that it's the greatest thing to be able to make the most important woman in your life happy. It has only strengthened our bond. We have a trusting, friend-like relationship, but first and foremost she is my mum, with all the worries and all the loving helpfulness. I was not a typical child and she had to endure all my whims. She was constantly encouraging me to take up a sport, but I preferred to stay at home and draw. She tolerated my struggles at school because she knew I wasn't like the others and allowed me to develop to my full potential. My younger sister is also responsible for making me who I am. Her kind words are a balm for a wounded soul.

Have you always wanted to be a musician?

As a child, I had two things in mind - to be a zoo manager, because I love animals, and to be a singer, even though I later swapped the microphone for a guitar. Sculpting fascinated me. In short, expression through art.

Your love for animals has lasted. You have a three-month-old dachshund named Pino in your lap.

Finally! I've been longing for a puppy for so many years, and dachshunds are one of my favourite breeds. If music hadn't drawn me in, I would certainly be a vet. One summer break I was helping out at a wildlife sanctuary instead of playing with my friends. It was a wonderful experience.

You are away from home a lot. How do you maintain your long-distance relationship with your girlfriend?

Some people reassure us that technology helps because we can see each other through the camera. But it is not the same. It's important that all my loved ones and dear ones, meaning my girlfriend, my mum, my family, and my friends, believe in our work and are willing to sacrifice time with me so that I can follow my dreams. But we are in constant contact with each other and we let each other know how much we love each other all the time.

~ -~ - ~ - PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, AND IF YOU QUOTE, PLEASE LINK BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POST!

[levi-venn]

Accolades - Part One

Timeline: Pre-Order 66 Era Bad Batch

Summary: Hunter turns official accolades into something more meaningful for his brothers.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three Available on AO3

Clone Force 99 never accepted accolades. It wasn't their thing. After all, they were created specifically for the missions no one else could do. Being rewarded for it seemed pointless.

And Hunter didn’t disagree…

…but when accolades were assigned, he always ended up sneaking out after his brothers had settled in for the night to speak to Commander Cody. 

The conversation was always the same.

“I’m sorry your brothers couldn’t make it…again,” Cody would say, handing the medals over.

“Yeah, well, they’re tired from the mission.” One of many excuses he had given Cody during this war.

“Tell them that, on behalf of myself and the generals, 'Keep up the great work, soldiers.'"

“Will do, Commander.” Hunter always said this with a smile. 

Cody returned that smile. They both knew Hunter wouldn’t relay the message. They both knew these medals weren't for his brothers, they were for Hunter.

Hunter had a painted box full of medals and ribbons for each of his brothers.

There was a digital skull skewered by a lightning bolt on Tech's box.

A bomb with a happy face for Wrecker.

And a skull with a crosshair vector over one eye for his youngest brother.

Recently, he added a box for Echo too. He went with a blue handprint for his newest brother, to honor Echo's old armor before the Separatists took nearly everything from him. 

With the exception of Echo’s box, Hunter had been filling these boxes since they were cadets. Their earliest medals had simple accolades from simpler times:

“Fastest Swimmer” - Tech. 

“Most Bullseyes in 60 Seconds” - Crosshair. 

“Feats of Strength” - Wrecker. 

“Leadership and Valor” - Hunter

The accolades shifted after graduation. They came from dangerous missions that ended in violence. Assigned to a bad batch of clones who were somehow expendable, yet the only ones who could survive these impossible situations.

This last mission had taken their toll on the whole squad. Too many clankers, not enough intel, they won the day, but throwing medals at them felt like an insult, even if Cody's appreciation was genuine.

Hunter wanted to turn those medals into something meaningful.

And so, Hunter sat on his bunk, a small laser tool in his bandaged hand, etching over each medal with his own accolades for his brothers.

Tech was awarded “Shooting the most clankers while slicing an AAT-1 and throwing barbed insults at Echo”.

For Crosshair: “The most WIZARD precision shot through a tank’s barrel while spitting a toothpick in a clanker’s eye”.

Wrecker received: “The loudest laugh while mowing down four dozen clankers and eating a hamburger simultaneously”. Hunter still didn’t know where he got that burger.

And finally for Echo, “The most somersaults during a stealth mission while throwing barbed insults back at Tech”

Hunter hesitated over his own medal, as he always did.

Giving himself accolades never sat right.  He could never think of anything, anyway.

So he wrote what he always wrote: “This medal is awarded to Hunter for being the proudest oldest brother in this Badass Batch. I love you guys.”

He tucked the medal away in his own box, a skull with cross-vibroblades beneath it, and tucked it under his mattress with the other boxes.

One day, this war was going to be over.

And on that day, Hunter planned to give these boxes to his brothers.

He couldn’t wait to see their faces.

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello!!!

Welcome back! =D

Part 2

Warning: long, long post (also a part 2 but I think y'all are used to it by now-) 😊😅

MattMick!! Also, Beer looking between them like that and Q and Toey peeking from behind cracked me up hehe

Also, does that mean Beer is single? Wait, maybe he's aroace. That'd be really cool.

I did see some hints of a throuple of him and MattMick, but I'm happy with either option.

SO CUTE 🥺🫶🏼

Poor QToey 😭

Their romantic moment got rained on so hard-

Exhibit: Here you can see three males from the species Homo sexuals. Two of them are already mated, and the third is in the courting process. We think the other male is interested too.

Oh- But I thought- oh, this makes sense actually. So the others know. I mean not really surprising when you think about it, to be honest.

With his unprecedented levels of obliviousness? Yeah, no, I get where you're coming from, Chain.

That's your biggest concern about getting a penguin?? 😭😭

Why does Peem look like the exasperated mom friend of the group 😭

After all the tiny crumbs of the past *checks notes* 8262 eps, this is a lot of progress.

HANDS. (I will never stop screaming about hands.)

Cuteee

Peem, babe, he hardly ever goes to class anyways. He's too busy following you around like a puppy.

Me, who holds handholding above everything else (yes, even sex): *DEEP BREATHS THROUGH THE NOSE* I'm fine. *SMOKE COMING OUT OF EARS* Totally fine.

Nothing to say, just a really good shot. (Also, Phuwin's exasperated smile seemed too real and then I learned Pond improvised that scene and yeah, that explains it)

ChainPun: only two people with matching pillow cases

QToey: missing (me?) [Sorry I couldn't resist 😭]

TanFang: peacefully asleep

PhumPeem: chronic insomnia, aggravated by Tan's snores

Matt: cuddling Mick

Beer: dreaming of him and his friends and their boyfriends all graduating with good grades

ChainPun. <33

Let me wrap this moment in my memory forever. (I tried to adjust the lighting a bit but it didn't really work out 😭)

AJSSHUJKJ!!!!! THEY GIVE ME TWO MAKE OUT SESSIONS WITHIN THE SPAN OF LIKE 4 MINUTES AND EXPECT ME TO BE SANE ABOUT IT???

No.

Look, we all expected this. I even said on record I wouldn't survive. And all that mental Muay Thai still didn't prepare me for this.

Till now, I have watched 60 BLs, give or take, so I've seen a lot of NC scenes. Compared to some of them, this is very PG-13, but this one really got me, like very few sex scenes have managed to. The intimacy, the palpable love, want. It all came together so beautifully in this scene.

Them saying 'I love you' during sex is canon! Yay! I knew it in my guts (wrote a fic about it) but feels so good to be right in canon hehe.

"I love you too, now kiss me again."

HANDS!!!! (It's canon now, they hold hands during sex, and so I can freely write a fic about it. Not that something not being canon ever stopped me but yeah.)

Fang: my brother is in safe hands. 😌

Also, love how Peem didn't hesitate to at the chance to kick both brothers and make it a streak 😭👍🏼

Honestly though, this scene shows that Peem is going to go to very long lengths to make sure Phum is okay, even kicking his own brother (which assures me that Peem maybe wouldn't hesitate that much to sucker punch their dad either, which is important information to have for possible future fics.)

How can one man be so goddamn cute??

The whimpering puppy noises- 😭

Cakes are so hard to bake, for real. This one is so cute though 😭😭🫶🏼

Puppy Phum- honestly is anyone surprised? No? Thought so.

This smile-

It holds so much happiness and the brunt of so many years of trauma. It's so beautiful. I'm probably gonna rewatch the heck out of this scene.

I end Part 1 here, Part 2 will be out (hopefully) soon!

If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊 (All mistakes are mine, but in my defense, I literally fell asleep while writing this.)

Here, have a pie (of your favourite flavour) 🥧

[eldritchmochi]

i have somehow managed to put together the *horniest* christmas gift i possibly could. the horny is truly exponential. there is no end to the horny because of who i am as a person

clearly, i bought my bf a pair of boots

(hes been wearing the same beat to shit pleather pair his sil got him from like, Nordstroms in college. theyre gross and peeling, and he walked in the other week and gleefully showed me how the sole is separating from the upper so one boot has gone full muppet because hes a shit)

the original plan was to grab a pair of docs during their usual 40-60% off quarterly sale, but i had a specific style i wanted. that style was not part of the sale alas. i figured if i was gonna buy a pair full price, I should give solovairs a shot because theres a marked quality difference (this is so fucking correct holy shit)

they had the style i wanted: a soft, matte, black leather with a slim, tapered toe box that could be incorporated into business casual wear to an office but wouldn't look out of place with just jeans and a hoodie either; their classic astronaut boot in greasy leather. the thought and intent in the choice alone is super horny given my whole Thing with clothing and leather but

we wear the same shoe size

and if there is one kink i love more than anything, its bootblacking

so clearly im going black them and break them in for him

i have leather friends who assure me this is the hottest thing ever

but

solovairs black friday promo, instead of % off, was free swag

which means i have a key tag version of the woven tag in my boys new boots, specifically chosen, bought, and lovingly blacked for him

and lads, i keep thinking of ways that keytag could be used, and they are *so so horny*

[humbledragon669]

S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P1 - Land of Uz (2500 BC) and London (Present Day) up to the credits

Ooh it’s been a while since got to use an in-screen caption as one of the headers and I am delighted to be able to do it again! I may well just use the same two headers as we switch between the two time periods in this episode, just for simplicity. Sue me.

There’s a tiny detail that’s been applied to this opening shot that I absolutely love – the video here has had an of effect applied to it to give it a vintage film feel. Sorry, that’s as close as I come to describing it with any sort of eloquence – I’m referring to the “fake” black marks and scratches that appear on the image briefly (you can see a couple on the header above). It doesn’t last long (only until Crawley finishes his first line), but I think this subtle little effect sets us very firmly in a cinematic (cinematographic?) context. I also feel like the colouring of the image has been altered for the same purpose – it puts me in mind of one of those historical films from the 50s and 60s, like Ben Hur and Spartacus (which I suspect is probably the whole point).

There’s something else interesting about Crawley’s appearance in this scene – his sunglasses. Cast your mind back to episode 3 in the first season (Hard Times), in which we saw him appearing without sunglasses all the way up to (and including) 33AD. I did comment on the appearance of the sunglasses in the 42AD scene in the write up for it:

I’m not sure I actually find this sudden appearance of sunglasses some 2500 years earlier all that interesting. There’s a part of me that feels that they have probably been included here because we, as an audience, have come to expect Crawley/Crowley’s costume to include a pair of stylised sunglasses by this point. I’d actually be strangely satisfied with that if it was the case – I feel like the reason behind his choosing to wear them could be so much more interesting if this was simply a “continuity error”.

Just wanted to include this because I am thrilled Aziraphale finally gets a really bad-ass entrance. How many times have we seen Crowley sauntering his way into a scene, looking like the coolest thing on Earth (and knowing it)? So glad the angel gets a turn at that here. That said. Why exactly is it that Aziraphale has happened to show up at this place and time? As we will come to find out shortly, Crawley is actually acting with Heaven’s authority so I don’t think the angel would have been sent there. It would present an interesting parallel to Crowley’s supposed knack of knowing when the angel is in trouble, but also resurfaces the suggestion about them being aware of the other’s whereabouts more often than not. I have to say, based on the conversation between them here, that seems unlikely – this exchange feels nothing but businesslike to me, cold even. Aziraphale even goes so far as to apologise (unapologetically) for having to do his job. We do learn that it has been about 500 years since they’ve seen each other, which is a nice little piece of backstory to have. I also consider it interesting to see Crowley providing a prompt to Aziraphale on how to complete his task, which provides a loose mirror parallel to what we saw Before the Beginning, that time with Aziraphale prompting his newfound friend that the incantations (for want of a better word) were not complete.

Side note: don’t you just love those little goats for staying exactly where they’ve been put? Pretty sure most animals would have scarpered extremely quickly when a huge flaming ball appeared above them, never mind having another being literally appearing from thin air in a really spiky portal of light. They must be some very calm goats.

Given the light show that Aziraphale has brought with him to make an imposing entrance on a demon, I’m pretty impressed with the restraint Crawley shows when he responds here – I mean he’s not exactly known for his patience is he? I also wonder if Aziraphale’s comment about jokes is meant to be a throwback to Hastur’s vehemence that he doesn’t like them, but the line is so throw-away that I can’t see what relevance it would add at this point. What I do find interesting is that, now we’re no longer in the “present day” of this season, we see Aziraphale struggling with his preconceived notions of right/good and wrong/evil. It’s something we saw quite a lot of in the first season, in both historical and “present” timelines. In the second season though, what with Aziraphale no longer working for Heaven, we tend to see it a lot less. We saw it in the first episode in the Before the Beginning segment, and we’ll see it again in the coming episodes, but predominantly in the historical scenes. There’s something about the fact that Aziraphale appears less conflicted about morality once he has been removed from the morality-defining authority, become more connected to humanity, and is found to be exercising his free will that I find deeply profound. No wonder the poor guy took 6000 years to realise that being Good isn’t just about following orders, especially when you consider that instruction is tied to his very existence. That whole thing is a big concept, and I struggled to put it into any words that made sense, so I hope I’ve at least been kind of clear. Basically, what I wanted to say was that I love that the historical scenes are being used as a way to remind us of the character development that Aziraphale has gone through over the millennia – they show us where he came from. And it’s not just the angel that gets this treatment:

We haven’t seen this version of Crawley/Crowley for quite a while, have we? The one that takes such delight in his mischief. And in case you missed it, we really should have known what he was up to – you can see two birds taking flight in the background behind his head, with an accompanying “caw” to draw attention to their presence.

I’m including that gif for no other reason that I find it Muriel’s impersonation of a goose adorable. I do wonder what exactly would have been deemed important though, if Job’s farm, camels, goat, oxen, children, and geese are all disposable. I’m not going to go into the underlying subtext of the bet that has been made between God and Satan here – the story itself is little changed from its original biblical source so I feel like it’s a bit out of scope for an episode write up. What is interesting to see is that the item on the list that Aziraphale balks at is the same as the one that Crowley has previously demonstrated (on more than one occasion) is his “line in the sand” for unacceptable acts – killing children. This will also be the first time, chronologically, that we see Aziraphale take his doubts to other angelic beings (some of whom are his superiors). I’m assuming his way of doing things is a little more diplomatic than Crowley’s was when he was in his angelic state, even if it is just as (un)fruitful.

This attitude towards Sitis and Job keeping their existing children rather than having them replaced with new ones says a lot about the Heavenly standard when it comes to understanding humanity and its eccentricities; his reasoning here being that it shouldn’t matter if Job’s existing children are murdered senselessly, as long as they’re replaced with an equal (or greater) number of different children. There is no appreciation of the complexities behind human relationships, desires, or emotions. I feel like it makes the fact that both Gabriel and Michael claim to understand the difference between the subtle technical differences between “killing someone” and “not stopping someone from killing someone” pretty ironic, particularly when they are taking advantage of this technicality to maintain their stance of being the good guys. And all said in such a convincing (and convinced) tone. Gabriel’s stance really only makes sense when you take it out of humanity’s context, which I think is why it’s just not something Aziraphale would ever be comfortable with.

Alright, we’ve jumped back into the present day to find Aziraphale apparently deep in thought about something. My take on it, and I think it’s a fairly common one, is that the whole Job sequence up to this point is a flashback as seen through Aziraphale’s eyes. (Side note: a cash register ringing noise is an interesting sound effect to employ to highlight the placards here, seeing as we all know the angel never willingly sells a book) There are a couple of things I picked up on during this delightful little scene, the first of which is this line:

AZIRAPHALE: I just didn’t see you coming.

I don’t think it would be a huge leap of faith to say that this line is probably not meant to be limited to this scene, but to Gabriel’s appearance on the whole. I don’t think it’s a huge revelation, I just love that it’s dropped in there so casually. And just as a quick note, I had previously wondered where Gabriel had been that he was able to sneak up on Aziraphale so easily, but it turns out that he would have been in plain sight as he approached the desk:

I love the way Aziraphale is bothered that somebody is bringing order to his chaos. It’s my belief that those books are likely arranged in such a way that only he knows how to find anything. After all, customers can’t buy books if they can’t find them, can they? The idea that somebody might actually be bringing some order to that must be distressing. It’s alright though, seeing as nobody will ever find anything they’re looking for using Gabriel’s sorting system anyway.

We also have the first reference to the Buddy Holly song “Everyday” in this scene. I’m really pleased that it was included in the second season – apparently it was something Terry was really keen to use as a device in the first season. The script book even includes stage directions that the soundtrack for most of the end credits should be stylised versions of the song. The story goes that when David Arnold presented his version of the theme tune for the first season, it was deemed to be so appropriate that the “Everyday” theme was dropped. I do absolutely love the theme tune we got. I also love that “Everyday” was brought back in for the second season. Both things can be true 😊

Last point of interest for this scene. The book that Jim reads from is “A Tale of Two Cities”. I will confess I haven’t read it, and used Wikipedia to summarise the plot, which as I understand it revolves around a central character who is compelled to disassociate himself from the wrongdoings of his family. There’s a drunken man that testifies on behalf of the main character and helps to get him acquitted of a crime. There’s a trip to Paris in 1792 that sees the main character imprisoned in the Bastille and the same man that helped acquit the main character travels to Paris in 1793 in an attempt to rescue him. There’s also a character called Gabelle, whose request for assistance in a prison escape leads to the capture of the main character.

It’s vague I’ll grant you, and I am sure I have missed a lot of the finer plot points. With that said, I don’t think I’d be alone in feeling like there are more than a few similarities to the 1793 Paris scene from Hard Times. Paris, the year, a prison rescue, and that name that’s awfully similar to Gabriel… It makes me wonder if this might be a Clue as to Aziraphale’s true purpose in Paris, and I suspect there might be a nice little project here to look at parallels between the novel and the 1793 storyline, but that would probably involve reading the original novel. In case you had missed it, time is not something I have a lot of right now, and classics bore the living shit out of me so it’s not something I can commit to so if anybody wants to take up that mantel, please feel free.

Don’t you just love that this is the first time we actually see Crowley sleeping in the show at all? There was a scene that didn’t make it to the final cut in the first season that saw him sleeping (in a bed/against a wall/on the ceiling), and one from just after he got out of bed. There is also explicit mention of his love of sleep in the book and we as a fandom have taken that cannon well and truly to heart. Yet this is the first confirmation we have in the show that he does in fact sleep. It’s a nice little touch for us to have – there really is no denying that this demon sleeps from this point on.

I made a note of Michael referring to Aziraphale as a “former angel” at the end of the first episode, and commented on how this feels like an inaccuracy. Interestingly Crowley makes an identical inaccuracy here in referring to himself as a “former demon”. To recap:

I feel the same way about Crowley and his status. I also note that Shax doesn’t correct his use of the past tense, but perhaps that’s because she’s confused at his use of sarcasm. What’s also of note is that she appears not to have any knowledge that Beelzebub and Crowley have already discussed the matter of Gabriel, likely because the former is trying to keep that under wraps. It makes me wonder if Crowley might have noticed that discrepancy had the discussion not turned to talk about the miracle that was performed in the bookshop the night before. And now we can briefly turn to the controversy that I raised from the last episode about whether Crowley actually had anything to do with said miracle:

SHAX: A miracle of enormous power happened last night. The kind of miracle only the mightiest of archangels could have performed.

So from her perspective, it looks like she believes Gabriel (as Supreme Archangel) performed the miracle himself. My theory about Crowley not playing his part in it gets pretty shaky at this point, because Aziraphale supposedly wouldn’t have been able to perform a miracle of that strength on his own. There is a “but” here. Or rather, an “unless”. What if Gabriel contributed to the miracle that was performed, but unknowingly? Possibly even unwillingly? His power, either alone or being added to that of another, might explain the colouration of the plume we see originating from the bookshop on the globe at the end of the episode. Yeah, that’s right, I’m not dropping this theory yet! It’s such a shame we don’t see any other example of plumes, because that would really either lend weight to it or completely discredit it. Shax clearly doesn’t think much of Crowley’s claim to the miracle regardless – she doesn’t even respond to him when he offers the possibility that it was him that did it.

It's also notable that Crowley makes no protestations about Shax’s label of “friend” when referring to Aziraphale. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see his face when she says it, but we do see that it’s unchanged when the close up returns to him. I’m not saying this is a denial of his true feelings, merely pointing out that this would have been hotly refuted prior to the body switch incident. Whether Crowley doesn’t care that Hell knows about his “friendship” or just can’t be bothered to argue isn’t clear at this point. What is clear, is that Shax’s threats are convincing enough that the plants are frightened – you can see (and hear) them shaking in the background:

I’m sure Crowley probably starts the car in a pass-agg response to his being threatened, but there’s a big part of me that believes he really does it because Shax has had the audacity to frighten his beloved plants. I don’t have any evidence to suggest that’s the case, but I won’t be swayed on that regardless. As a final point of note: this will be the second time Crowley has been offered the “opportunity” to help Hell and refused. He clearly has no interest in helping them – his bridges are well and truly burned as far as he’s concerned.

And with that, we’ve arrived at the credits, which feels like an excellent place to wrap this part up. I don’t think this instalment has been quite as controversial as the last one but as ever: questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one! 😊

[trekmupf]

The Gang fights cold war paranoia

Pro

A great short and to the point cold open that immediately flings the viewer into this new time travel setting

Bringing the 60's military and Roddenberry's vision of the future military face to face in this episode is interesting: some things are futuristic and some, by now, have happened (women in the military), some are the same (Kirk's &Christopher's sense of duty)

The balance of silly moments and humour works well with the more serious parts of the episode (Christopher and the crew possibly being stuck, the danger of temporal meddling)

I love that Star Trek roughly correctly predicted two real life Space achievements: the first moon shot being in the 60's on a Wednesday no less, and Christopher's son being part of the first Saturn probe, which in real life launched in 2004 – so roughly around the time his possible son could've been working for NASA

Everyone looks really beautiful in their close ups, once again

I like the change from “actually you contributed nothing” to “shit this guy needs to go back, his son is super important” because even though you yourself might not change the world, a person you influenced (or created) could, and therefore every person is relevant in their own way

The Paranoia and cold war mood is captured really well for a modern audience

The fact that the 60's, highly modern at the time, now feels like a museum to today's viewers just like it does for the crew; At the same time the Enterprise and it's Science Fiction is also old school to us; Old science fiction is always a great window into history also

The original special effects are once again great, the original enterprise is so adorable and beautiful (Video Link)

Kirk flirting with Christopher is its own comedy

Kirk's whole facial journey when Christopher appears

Instead of containment or anything Kirk immediatly shows of his ship and tells him literally everything while still flirting in the lift

That flight suit must be so uncomfortable Captain Christopher, you should totally change into something more comfortable :)

The fact that Christopher is such a straight guy from his time who doesn't clock this at all makes it even funnier, two opposite sites of the sexual tension scale

then Spock swooping in destroying Kirks happy threesome dreams with reality

I mean how else can I interpret Spock's look at Christopher than that of a jealous boyfriend

Spock then sticking around and not leaving Jim and Christopher alone AND casually delivering the sickest “your life was sort of useless” burn

Christopher finding out about his son, the way the others are just as delighted about it as he is and the way he smiles every time it's mentioned is not only sweet but also shows certain things about humanity won't change – the love for our children is something they can bond over despite being centuries apart

Sulu and Kirk solo adventure! Also them working well together! Also just the fact that they casually beam in the middle of a military base and aren't even that sneaky about it

Sulu's large bag is keeping all his secrets

Bones and Spock, flirting their way through Kirk's absence

The entire scene were Kirk and Sulu get discovered is comedy gold: them pretending not to hear the obvious beeping, Spock eyeing the frozen military man up and down, Kirk's absolutely done with this plot reaction, Bones taking the gun and communicator off him in slow motion, it's all so well paced and acted

Us? We are so so innocent and don't know anything :)

The fight scene is so very Trek, but a) just very believable as it's just chaos and limbs b) Kirk reacted so quickly and well to the situation as it was never about winning but about giving Sulu time to escape and c) Sulu reading the situation correctly and doing the right thing

Kirks giving the policemen nothing but cunt and he's such a pretty boy doing it, giving severe I'm beautiful & I don't deserve this vibes

I literally made so many screenshots of kirk being done with what's going on that I made a seperate post

“Oh this little thing? Just something I slipped on” Kirk STOP flirting with the military guys!!!

Con

the entire "Kirks pc is a sexy lady" is just weird, serves no purpose and feels very out of place

The way the situation is solved in the end feels very sudden and fast compared to the rest of the episodes pacing

Counter: Nothing

Quote I made an error in my computations (Spock) Oh? This could be an historic occasion. (Bones)

Moment: It's hard to choose, but the fight itself is so great and classic TOS including Kirk yeeting himself at all three of them

Summary: The classic Sci-Fi time travelling trope done Trek style, with some team shennanigans, including a very "I'm done with life" Kirk trying to flirt with a time traveller, a "I have done nothing wrong in my life, ever" Sulu and some classic TOS fighting. The episode also offers some deep thoughts on the importance of a single person in our society and the dangers of temporal meddling, setting a precedent that will shape future directives for Starfleet and time travel. Previous Episode - Next Episode - All TOS reviews

[delicate44]

PIARLES FIC RECS - 2024!

If you know me even a little bit - you should know how much I love to read fics! The last two years I've read a lot of fics with Piarles as the main pairing. I've read amazing stories and got a chance to speak to the authors themselves to say how much I've loved em all! This is another way of showing appreciation to all the beautiful people who write and share their art with us. Even if Piarles is not your pairing - do give these fics a chance, leave kudos and comments so that they know how much their efforts are applauded. (I also mean no disrespect to any fics I did not mention here - I've tried to keep it to a 50 (60!)) - PART 2 HERE

Here we go! (Marked * are my favs) (strictly published in 2024)

1. breathe me in (exhale slow) * by duquesademiel, tiredtiredsharl (SMUT, multi chapter, wonderful play on senses)

2. don't say yes (run away now) by strongestavenger (One shot - wedding / speak now vibes)

3. we can get it so right * by tiredtiredsharl (SMUT, Multi chapter, JUST READ IT)

4. maybe you’re hoping (for a fairytale too) by duquesademiel (Multi chapter - beloved tattoo verse! Read the rest of the fics in this series)

5. coup de foudre by mercutiovibes (oneshot - a bit sad but beautiful)

6. cause I can't see nothin' in this half moon by tiredtiredsharl (oneshot / Magic! )

7. Trials and Tribulations by EspiTheWarlock (multi chapter / Fantasy AU / you should read all of em in the series)

8. you filling my cup (the sun coming up)* by ohmygasly (singsweetmelodies) (Oneshot / ABO / Sweet and hot)

9. season's greetings (Oneshot / HOT HOT HOT/ go pester the author to write part 2)

10. you and me were raised in the same part of town* by tiredtiredsharl (Multi chapter / Friends to lovers / ITS BRILLIANT)

11. model behaviour by your_littlesecret (oneshot / Model + Driver AU)

12. change my mind* by strongestavenger (ONESHOT / College AU / I love the setting and story!)

13. let's be what we are by quietrumblings (whisperedwords) (SMUT /oneshot / ANGST CITY!)

14. Le Cheval Cabré* by m00nlightE (BEAR AU / great build up)

15. take my hand (put yours over my heart) by duquesademiel (Multi chapter / Enemies to lovers / great pacing)

16. I have more than enough* by fractionsofinfinity (dbacksavs) (Multi chapter / ABO / Getting back together)

17. You showed me colours I can't see with anyone else by blackest_eyes (Oneshot / SMUT / Friends to lovers done very well)

18. show me who made you walk all the way here by yukierres (multi chapter / Royalty AU! / WE need the epilogue!)

19. anything, everything by arachnidisa (Oneshot / SMUT / Friends to lovers)

20. Point Non Plus* by boxboxbrioche (ONESHOT / SMUT / Regency era friends to lovers and marriage of convenience!!!)

21. like a heart made of dynamite by vicsy (oneshot / ANGST!)

22. my love is mine, all mine* - (ONESHOT / SMUT / Friends to lovers)

23. taking your time - (Oneshot / SMUT / Sweet! )

24. I could be lucky again* by tiredtiredsharl (Multichapter / Strangers to Lovers / THIS FIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

25. can't stop feeling the rain before the thunder* by tiredtiredsharl(Multi chapter / ABO / yk this fic was gifted to me?!?!?!)

26. one of your girls by mercutiovibes (multi chapter / Friends to lovers and there's a wedding! )

27. Taste Damnation on Your Lips* by IICarpeDiemII (multi chapter / SMUT / Angels and Demons!)

28. put your lips on mine (and shut me up) by strongestavenger, your_littlesecret (Oneshot / SMUT / The banter is absolutely brilliant in this!)

29. don't hold your love over my head* by tiredtiredsharl (oneshot / SMUT / Infidelity but it works out)

30. shining bright by ginnydear (oneshot / SMUT / friends to lovers)

31. sudden changes* by ginnydear (oneshot / SMUT / ABO / Friends to lovers - too good! )

31. it otter be you by your_littlesecret (oneshot / Strangers to lovers - too bloody cute)

32. see you again by strongestavenger (Oneshot / Bodyguard AU)

33. ricordi in divenire by golden_fairylights* (multichapter / SMUT / Friends to Lovers)

34. ... and all i got was this lousy t-shirt* by duquesademiel (Multi Chapter / Idiots to lovers!)

35. And today is our turn by golden_fairylights, yukierres (Oneshot / Meet-cute)

36. if you were mine* by quietrumblings (whisperedwords), tiredtiredsharl (Multichapter / SMUT / Friends to lovers) (Oh this fic)

37. Take A Chance On My Love* by EspiTheWarlock (Prequel / Multi chapter/ SMUT / ABO) ( read the series!) & Take Me So Breathless* by EspiTheWarlock (addition to the fic! and was gifted to me :))

38. little things* by yukierres (oneshot / Babies! / Friends to lovers)

39. strawberries & cigarettes (always taste like you)* by duquesademiel (Multi chapter / WAG AU)

40. I Still Got It Bad by EspiTheWarlock (oneshot / SMUT / Exes to lovers)

41. wonderstruck by golden_fairylights (oneshot / Royalty and meet cute!)

42. ma moitié* by ginnydear (Oneshot / SMUT / Friends to lovers - very sweet ABO)

43. I want you all to myself (but you know me too well)* by EspiTheWarlock (multichapter / ABO / paced very well! )

44. built for it by quietrumblings (whisperedwords) (Oneshot / Olympics AU / Very obvious SMUT if you know that one incident)

[meekmedea]

for the holidays, and because of majority vote - a Hector and Max 'happy' AU.

Shoutout to Lily @persephoneprice, as I hadn't tried to give them a happy AU until you brought it up

~~~~~

Really sorry to does who love Cleopatra, but in this AU she's dead. So it's just Hector and Endymion (who's like 3-4). Hector does cut down on his trips to 11, because of the risks. He's still funding things in the background. As much as he'd like to treat people there, he doesn't want to run the risk of his son catching anything. And while there's nannies that he could hire, he isn't keen on this idea.

For the first few years, nobody suggests the topic of remarriage to him. Ludius is a scary guy, even if he's 60+. Plus it's obvious Hector is grieving. It's only after his father dies that it starts getting brought up. Hector's still fairly young, and - oh, it'd be terrible for Endymion to lose out on having a second parent around.

Hector is pretty annoyed at this. Like his father had been in a similar situation, he did fine! So why can't I?

There's still some Dovecotes hanging around (cadet branches), and like in our usual universes, they get a bit bold with only Endymion and Hector being left from the main line.

Some possible attempts on Endymion's life might be made.

But one things leads to another, and Hector considers a political marriage. Only to keep his son safe. He vows to not have any more kids though, so to not risk the other child usurping Endymion's position as heir.

`

Except Hector's plan isn't really to get married, it's just to keep people at bay. In a way, it mimics Penelope's challenge to her suitors in the Odyssey.

The challenge: He'll consider marrying whoever can outshoot his father's record, using his father's firearm.

This was definitely said on the impulse.

Slight thing - Ludius' gun was custom, and the bullets are as well. And Hector never said anything about providing the bullets.

Also, they've only got 1 shot at this. No retries.

Hector 'Trust me, it'll work' Dovecote and Maximinius 'This is an awful idea' Ravinstill

Max is 100% paying off people who can shoot fairly well to NOT participate. Or like sabotaging them in the background. Also most people tend to be a little unnerved when the President stares daggers into you. (What can he say, he's just a supportive bestie, making sure nobody is cheating.)

I like to think someone complains that this is a farce and it's impossible. Max jumps to Hector's defence: Don't be ridiculous, you're just peeved that you're unable to accomplish this. See?

He then proceeds to take the shot, it lands. (Don't ask why he had a custom bullet ready for this. Just don't.)

`

They both proceed to have a mini crisis in private.

Hector: You weren't supposed to take the shot!!!

Max: Well they were accusing you of being a liar!!!

Neither man is very composed. And against all odds, it ends with Hector agreeing to marry him. If you thought Max was all suave and sly proposing marriage, you are absolutely wrong. This man was panicking. (ie. errr... tax benefits? please help get my mother off my back about marrying someone?) Hector being "Ok. If I had to be in a marriage of convenience, at least it's with my best friend."

A conversation that probably happened afterwards:

Volumnia: I've never seen someone fail so badly, yet somehow succeed.

Max: The important thing here is that he said 'yes'.

~~~~

The Ravinstill's reactions:

Max's mother, Asteria, has surprisingly less complaints about this than Max initially imagined. Then again this could be due to her odd friendship with Ludius (Hector's father).

Max's brother, Caesar to Hector - "Wow, you're like the brother I never had." / Max: ...

Max's nieces/nephews: they now have to differentiate between Hector and Max. Drusilla says it's 'Uncle President' and 'Uncle Hector'. As the eldest of Max's nieces/nephews, her word becomes law.

Now whenever they see Max, it's: Uncle President!!

this is getting long, probably a part 2 to follow...

[thgfanfictionlibrary]

Mature Rated Fics Masterlist (61)

Part 1 - Part 58 / Part 59 / Part 60 / 

Created: May 14th, 2024

Last Checked:------

Reflection-juststella (ao3) Summary: Katniss, for some reason, using a car’s window as a mirror not knowing there was someone inside the car because of the window being so heavily tinted. Until Peeta, the owner of the car, rolls down the window. Seasons-jeeno2 (ao3) Summary: "It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree." A post-Mockingjay one-shot. She Wore Primroses In Her Hair-juststella (ao3) Summary: Peeta is a player, a very wealthy player. He learned at a young age to never give his heart to love. The women he dated were always the same. Blonde, beautiful and pretentious. Parties, booze and sex was just an outlet. They meant nothing to him. The empire his grandfather built would be his when he turned 30. There was just one stipulation. He needed a wife. Small World-IzzySamson (ao3) Summary: AU Set in the modern day, fictional, small world of Panem County, Ohio. In the tiny farming town of Seamburg, Katniss and Peeta have not crossed paths since they were children until one night an act of fate brings them back together. All of your favorite characters are here including redneck Uncle Haymitch. Spiked-JHsgf82 (ao3) Summary: Modern AU. Coworkers/roommates/best friends-to-lovers. Haymitch catches sight of Peeta bringing Katniss home drunk from a holiday party. Sunscreen-JHsgf82 (ao3) Summary: Peeta Mellark knew the moment he saw the love of his life. Problem was, he was a boy, and she was a woman. A six-year age gap was a lot when you're twelve, but really, what did age matter when it came to love? Despite his brother and friends' discouragement, Peeta sets out to get Katniss Everdeen, the lifeguard, to notice him. "Wait for me, Katniss. Wait for me..." Sweet Tooth-JHsgf82 (ao3) Summary: AU. When Katniss has a small emergency, she must venture to the place she dreads the most: the dentist’s office. A suggestion from Madge leads her to Mellair Dentistry where Katniss discovers, not one, but two extremely attractive dentists. One of them lights the long-dormant fire inside of her, but does he see her as more than just a patient? And will the age difference between them be a problem? Take a Shot at Love-JennaGill (ao3) Summary: Katniss is new in town and Peeta is her range guide. Tell Me-JennaGill (ao3) Summary: Katniss is greedy. Peeta is envious. Everlark lust. The Baker's Noble Son-IzzySamson (ao3) Summary: A story not based on any particular tale but includes elements from several of Grimm’s fairytales: mistaken identities, a good fairy, a wicked gnome, a proud and stubborn princess, and unexpected wedding night confessions. Peeta is a humble baker’s son who falls in love with a mysterious huntress in the woods as a child. Years later, after he is tossed from his home he sets off to the King’s castle in hopes of finding employment and his love. Yet an entirely different fate awaits him; a throne and a princess. Although he may still get the girl of his dreams, because there was more to the huntress than Peeta ever knew.

[specialinterestshows]

This post will be updated with every new section of fic that I write in this series. Warnings are at the beginning of each section:

Absolute Smokeshow (Rhea Ripley x lady!reader)

Summary: You meet the famous Rhea Ripley over a joint and she confides in you about her relationship issues. What starts as one night getting baked together turns into a series of stoner adventures as the two of you grow closer.

Part 1: “I Wanna Take You To A Gay Bar”

Part 2: “I Call Shotgun”

Part 3: “When The Bong Breaks”

Part 4: “The Judgement Gay”

Part 5: “Stoner? I Hardly Know ‘er!”

Part 6: “EXpectations”

Part 7: “Getting Two Birds Stoned At Once”

Part 8: “This Is My Bisexuality”

Part 9: “Gone With The Riptide”

Part 10: “Eat, Sleep, Breathe”

Part 11: “Carry On”

Part 12: “Eradic-Ate-Her”

Part 13: “Seeing Green”

Part 14: “Take Charge”

Part 15: “Toy With Me”

Part 16: “You Shouldn’t Have Come”

Part 17: “The Rhea Ripley Effect”

Part 18: “(Smoke) You Out?”

Part 19: “Feeling of (Be)longing”

Part 20: “Get Your Motor Running”

Part 21: “Food For Thought”

Part 22: “Lesson In Restraints”

Part 23: “Give Me The Strap (And Let Me Get Off, Please, Mami?)”

Part 24: “Come (But Don’t Go)”

Part 25: “Smoke And Mirrors”

Part 26: “Kiss The Cook”

Part 27: “Shower Head”

Part 28: “Siren Song (Caught In A Riptide)”

Part 29: “Good Bi (For Now)”

Part 30: “Remote Control”

Part 31: “Meet And Greet”

Part 32: “Backstage Rage”

Part 33: “Riddle Me This”

Part 34: “Worry Less, Liv Mor(gan)”

Part 35: “This Is My Rheality”

Part 36: “Fight Or Flight Club”

Part 37: “Let Me Talk To You? (Yeah!)”

Part 38: “Dynamic Shift”

Part 39: “You, Rhe, And Liv Makes Three”

Part 40: “One-Fo(u)r-Three”

Part 41: “Say It With Your Mouth”

Part 42: “Living The Dream”

Part 43: “R(h)emind Me Who I Belong To”

Part 44: “Definitely A (Fucking) Mark”

Part 45: “Five Is Company”

Part 46: “TJD (Telenovela Judgment Day)”

Part 47: “A Dish Best Served Rolled”

Part 48: “In The Hotbox”

Part 49: “Once You Reach”

Part 50: “The Other Side”

Part 51: “A Prince And His Archer”

Part 52: “Vibe Together”

Part 53: “Shot, Lime, Salt?”

Part 54: “Mari (Wanna?)”

Part 55: “Good Things Come…”

Part 56: “…To Those Who Wait”

Part 57: “Watch Yourself”

Part 58: “Lay Per View”

Part 59: “Pillow-Talk Lullaby”

Part 60: “Working Out Your Kinks”

Part 61: “Sending A Message”

Part 62: “Heart And Sol”

Part 63: “The Best Planned Lays”

Part 64: “Love, Sex, & WWE”

Part 65: “Dear In Headlights”

Part 66: “Lightweight, Heavyweight, Women’s Champion”

Part 67: “Flirty Dom”

Part 68: “Face Promo”

Part 69: “R+D+Me”

Part 70: “Demons In Her Dreams”

Part 71: “News To Me”

Part 72: “Another Bump In The Road”

Part 73: “From One Show To The NXT”

Part 74: “Locker Room Talk”

Part 75: “Fast Feud”

Part 76: “Dom Dom”

Part 77: “Un Poco De Azúcar”

Part 78: “And They Were Roommates”

Part 79: “Monday Night Mami”

Part 80: “Last Call”

Part 81: “Polyagony”

Part 82: “Fights, Camera, Getting Some Action”

Part 83: “Like A Jobber Without A Work”

Part 84: Coming soon!

[kay101kim]

dating neil perry <3 (latine version)

warning(s): none:)

pair: neil perry x gn!reader

one shot or hc: hc

note: i got the idea from this post, so thank you so much!! im mexican so it might seem like i mention mexican culture more like music and food (its what i know!), but i do try my best to be inclusive since latin america has such rich history. this is me trying to write within the time period of the 50s/60s <3. let me know if you wish a more modern version, enjoy!

-neil is a love at first sight kind of guy, he literally saw you laughing all giggly and couldn't stop smiling himself

-your friends teased you by singing piel canela by los panchos, "me importas tú, y tú, y tú, y solamente tú~"

-and as you kept laughing, all red, neil finally got the courage from his friends even though his heart was all smushed by your angelic smile

-when he was finally determined to ask you on a date, that man was calm, cool, and collected which made you even more nervous as he approached your friends and you

-he'd give you those puppy dog eyes and you'd immediately melt before a word is even said

-once neil asks you out, it seems a crowd cheers somewhere beyond and neil can only chuckle sheepishly at his friends' reactions

-you guys begin dating and neil finds your culture fascinating! (in a good way lol)

-he'd want to know all the holidays, celebrate with you, to hell with his dad and his rules (he loves you too much <3)

-when he experienced latin music for the first time he would never go back

-he'd buy so many vinyls from different genres and constantly ask you to slow dance in the living room like the love birds you two are

-neil is the type to slowly get into the groove of things to dance cumbia, bachata, salsa

-oh but he will learn and surprise your whole family! it makes you kinda jealous when your primos are there watching him

-but he reminds them of you by giving you a kiss

-you'd hum some songs and be very surprised when he comes along singing the lyrics (maybe not perfect, but it’s so cute)

-it made you realize just how much he is trying to understand you who are, your language, which is so important to you

-you call him 'mi amor' (my love) and he would always ask what that means but you didn't want to say

-it basically means you love him and that was scary

-but imagine him singing cien años by pedro infante? it'd be the first time you'd say 'i love you'

-he alternatively says i love you and te amo because he loves you sooooo! much

-you'd giggle and say "yo tambien te amo, mi amor"

-he would always have cute nicknames like 'my darling' or 'my angel' but then he started using 'cariño'

-only when you two were alone because he was afraid his pronunciation wasn't too well

-you have no idea who he learned it from, but it made you tear up the first time you heard it from him

-his favorite part about being with you is the food, like at one point he'd just be like 'fuck it!' and make tamales with all the women

-his favorite desert is arroz con leche because i said so!

-he can’t handle spicy food, im sorry yall but i have to be accurate, the white genes </3

-curse words/phrases in spanish? he would know them all because your primos would tell him to say [x] and he'd do it without question lmaoo

-obviously you would not stop it because its kinda hilarious, but you would eventually inform him on what the words/phrases mean

-overall he'd get along with your family like they might call him 'guerrito' but he wouldn't mind

-neil would be surprised by the amount of spanish covers from english songs and vice versa, but it really opened his eyes to a new world

-he loves you, your culture, language, food, music, and everything else that comes with it

-sure, sometimes he doesn't understand what you're saying but he makes sure to study real hard and eventually become fluent in spanish

-his favorite part is when you sing to him (or listening to a song), something soft like cielito lindo :( and you watch him fall asleep as you stroke his hair

-neil perry is the best boyfriend fr <3

[lowcosmic]

—— stay with me . ; shuichi saihara

“ shuichi gently opened your dorm door, his breath catching in his throat. ”

— 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: shuichi loves you tons. so of course, he’d never want you to be hurt. but when he sees those scars on your arm, other people hurting you may be the least of his worries.

— 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : angst, fluff.

— 𝐜𝐰 : uncensored trigger words, suicidal thoughts, self - harm mentions, blood, fluff at the end. suicidal gender neutral reader.

— 𝐚/𝐧 : i just need some comfort rn ; the ending is so butt what happened there. THIS IS SO BAD I’M SORRY

“ it’s really hot out here … are you sure you want to keep that on? ” shuichi gently asked. “ it’s been a minimum of around 60 degrees everyday this week, and you’ve been wearing a sweater? … ”

“ it’s just … comfortable. ” you replied.

shuichi caressed your hand, feeling the sweat accumulating on your fingers. “ you seem uncomfortable, though … ”

you disagreed. what a lie.

shuichi continued to drink from his water bottle, tired from the outdoor gym activities. you didn’t bring water, having overslept and unable to bring some to school. your throat was parched, a drought beginning to spread throughout your body.

but most of all, your arms ached. the marks could open up any moment, and shuichi would see. you shifted around at the thought. you didn’t want to worry him anymore about you, he didn’t deserve to be with someone like you. he deserved better, as you were always so used to thinking.

you must’ve had that usual faraway look in your eyes, because shuichi put a hand on your arm to ask again if you were okay.

you simply nodded as you felt shuichi's eyes gaze at your face. you were absolutely gorgeous to him … it never occurred to him that you may not see the same views as him on your appearance.

“ i love you, ” shuichi murmured, planting a kiss on your temple even if it was pretty damp. he then blushed, apologizing repeatedly for not asking first.

you wished that this fuzzy warm feeling could stay forever, but as you knew very well … good things always must come to an end.

< warning . next part contains mild descriptions of self harm . if you wish to skip it , go on till you see these brackets : < _ > . viewer discretion is advised. >

you pulled out a razor, skidding it across your skin. your bloody skin, your scars re - opening and screaming in agony.

you redid the action on a different spot, blood appearing there too. your hand shook. you pressed the razor blades harder into your flesh. blood ran down your arm, the blades sinking further into you.

your mind was fuzzed. your left arm was bleeding uncontrollably. you had to continue. you moved to your right arm, digging the sharp metal beneath your tender wounds.

how would everyone react if they saw you do this?

how far could you push it in till it’d really, really be un - healable?

you felt tears prick at your eyes. until …

&lt; end >

you heard a knock at the door. then the sound of someone … picking the lock?

“ i feel bad for intruding like this … ” you heard someone mutter.

… shuichi?

“ i'm leaving after this, i don’t feel like watching you two make out, so just give me my payment tomorrow. ”

… kokichi.

you heard a click! and your door opened slightly.

“ taaa - daaaa! okay cya now. good luck!~ ” faint, rapid footsteps could be heard fading away ; kokichi leaving, you presumed.

shuichi gently opened your dorm door, his breath catching in his throat.

his breathing became shaky, his voice like a whisper. “ (y … y/n)… ? ”

you could see tears form quickly in his eyes. he tried to form sentences, but all that came out were quiet sobs. you instinctively dropped the razor. he rushed to you and hugged you without touching your arms.

crying, he shot a bunch of questions at you. you didn’t reply to any of them, your own tears finally falling down your face. he continued uncontrollably sobbing.

he needed to help you. he slowly got himself together ( while still crying ) and went to find the dorm’s complementary first aid kits, with you still in his line of vision.

and as he was cleaning and disinfecting your arms, you finally spoke out a hoarse version of his name. his eyes shot up to your face, despite his usual shyness of eye contact.

you apologized as he got out the bandages.

“ why … a - are you a - apologizing? ” he stuttered, his tears being choked back the best they could.

“ for … making you worry like this. ” you sniffed, your own face tired and hazy.

“ i … i'd do this for you no matter what! i - i did worry … but it’s b - because i care for you …! ” he stumbled over his words, unsure on what he should say.

“ you deserve better, ”

“ you’re … you’re the best for me, though ... ”

he finished up bandaging your arms, his hands moving down to yours. he kissed the both of them lightly. you felt two small tingles run up your spine.

“ i need a tissue. ” you mumbled quietly to yourself.

“ me too. ” he said, equally quiet.

in the next few days, shuichi had permission to move into your dorm, danger - proof the vicinity, and he paid for therapy sessions to help you. and as your scars started to heal, you thanked whoever was watching you for blessing you with him.

in the lunchroom the day after that, you lightly kissed shuichi on the cheek as you watched his face turn pink. you watched kaito and maki compliment your relationship. you watched kokichi and miu make lewd observations ( claiming you two had done the do, e.t.c. ). and you watched your boyfriend smile at you playfully.

maybe life wasn’t all that bad.

please don’t repost , translate , or claim my works as your own.

[puckpocketed]

squeezing out the second part of the d-men podcast transcripts I started a while back. the fear of losing media compels me <3 here's part 1 if you missed it, but it's not essential to understanding what's being said here. (all episodes are available if anyone just wants to listen to them) transcript + edits done by me, all mistakes are mine.

Topics of discussion:

shorting the zone and the evolution of the game

point shots and why they suck

the carolina hurricanes being a wacky exception

Lane Hutson, Zach Werenski, a few others, and how modern defensemen create and score.

Published 13th November 2024, Hockey IQ Podcast: Modern Defensemen (with Will Scouch) Ep #2 - by Hockey's Arsenal, hosted by Greg Revak (apple / spotify / youtube)

[START Transcript]

Greg Revak: Alright, welcome back to episode two here. We've got Will Scouch and myself, Greg Revak, here on the Hockey IQ Podcast. Now we're going to be talking about point play.

So last week, we talked about modern day defending; what does that kind of look like? We looked into Lane Hutson, some Rasmus Ristolainen, some other players, talking about controlling speed, getting good gap control, position before possession, et cetera.

A lot of powerful stuff there, but today we want to talk about point play. We ended last time talking about shorting the zone. So: getting down off the blue line, especially if the puck is in a corner, getting down into the zone. Instead of standing at the blue line, maybe we're at the top of the circles. [There’s] a lot of reasons we talked about why that's good for defense, gap control, et cetera. but let's start with thinking about point play.

The space from the top of the circles to the blue line up top in the zone, that, generally, is what we're going to call the ‘point’. When we're talking about defensemen or talking about point play, that's the area we're living in. With shorting the zone, we're already starting on top of the circles — [the] blue line is behind us. I love it, [shorting the zone, just from a tactical standpoint] you have so much space to go into, you can make someone chase you and you can do some shimmies.

Lane Hutson is a great example. You start low, bring the puck up, throw one fake one way, go the other. Or a little double move where now the opponent's feet are just completely messed up.

So just from an idea of saving space; I am in this space so I can go to that space, rather than starting at the blue line and now I don't have any space to go backwards — the only options I do have are laterally, left or right. And if I'm on the wall, I only really have one option, which turns into two: either I chuck a terrible point shot — and we know point shots suck — or l've got to move to the middle. You're really limiting yourself. Shorting the zone gives you a lot more space up top.

Will Scouch: Yeah, I agree. I mean, we kind of talked a little bit last episode about offense and defensemen, and I said something along the lines of, “I don't really think about point production a tremendous amount,” but it is interesting when you watch a lot of defensemen who do score a lot and how many, especially outside the NHL, [are] literally peppering the net with point shots.

And at the junior level, when you're facing goaltenders who can often have save percentages down in the .870s, .880s, some of these shots are going to go in, right? Some of them are going to be rebounds in front. That's just so much rarer in the NHL in this day and age. Rebound control is better, defensive zone control is better, positioning is better, they're stronger. It's just tougher to do that.

And so point shots — I mean, it's good to have as a weapon. If you have a defenseman who can really shoot the puck and hammer one on net from 60 feet out, cool. It's not a bad thing, but it's not a great thing to rely on. Goaltenders are getting better and better and better at seeing the puck, tracking the puck, making sure that they can stay on top of these kinds of plays. 

To me, it's more about having a defenseman who can juggle multiple options; a guy who may have a point shot to play around with, but [also] the skill and the creativity and the vision to see what's going on and make a play, rather than just going, “Alright, my job is to put it on the net from here, that's what I do.” Because you also run the risk of someone blocking that shot, it goes out into the neutral zone, maybe you're caught a little bit up the ice and you just wasted an offensive zone possession and you're chasing the puck coming your way.

There's a lot of risk that comes from that in a potentially dangerous area of the ice. I'll cherry pick a really bad example of this, but I remember at the World Juniors when Connor Bedard was there. I think it was a semifinal game or a quarterfinal game, but Connor Bedard was just carrying and carrying and carrying the puck, flying around the perimeter of the ice, and just turned and lobbed one on net from the middle of the ice right from the blue line.

[A] guy, I think it was the Czech Republic, blocked it, Bedard fell down or something, was just caught at that blue line, and they went the other way and scored a goal. And so that kind of thing is something where I always note it down and go, “Yeah, that's just not an option,” that's just not going to work in the NHL. Guys are going to know, guys are going to be able to figure it out.

So yeah, [a point shot is] something that I think is important to know that you have with your defensemen, but [it’s also] important that your defensemen know when to and when not to deploy it, if that makes sense.

GR: I also laugh because anytime you see a team practice and we work on offensive specific stuff and defensive specific stuff, it always seems like somehow the defense ends up working on point shots. It's kind of getting archaic at this point, maybe we should work on other things? That’s kind of, like, the last option.

You know, there are times [they’re appropriate] but a lot of it is at the higher levels [where] maybe we have the strength for those point shots. At the lower level half the time those pucks are barely getting to the net. There's a lot of issues there, but to your point: point shots suck, and I will continue to say that until everyone understands it.

There's increasing goal scoring in the NHL. There is a decreasing save percentage in the NHL. And all the studies I'm continuously reading and finding, the work that's being done out there, seems to point to the same thing: people are no longer settling for crappy shots. 

You may see them every once in a while, but it's more of a change of pace to the usual, to mix it up, more than, “This is our go-to strategy,” like you saw in the dead puck era or the mid 2000s.

WS: Yeah. I think the only real exception I can think of off the top of my head sitting here is the Carolina Hurricanes sometimes seem to really deploy a point shot, a more [chaotic] style of offense. But it kind of works for them in a way because they have the skill and the intensity level from their forwards to gain possession back, or cause tips or crazy plays in front, chase play into the corner.

That's just their style of play. It just seems to be the system that they're deploying, and it does lead to good results, but just saying, “Oh yeah, our defensemen will put it on net and we'll tip it, or we'll catch a rebound or something,” it doesn't generally work out in that way.

You and I, we talk a lot about Lane Hutson, and I think Lane Hutson is probably the most extreme example of the opposite. Where, yeah, once in a while, you'll see him shooting the puck from the point, but the big thing with him — and everybody, it's a meme now, people are pointing it out as a meme of, like, that shimmy shake he's got at the offensive blue line, that ability to bait and switch guys from one way to the next.

I know some people are already pointing at that and going, “What a silly thing that he's doing out there, he's looking like PK Subban!” But number one, PK Subban won a Norris Trophy. And number two, it works. Lane Hutson is a guy who can create, that's how you create space for yourself nowadays, right? You use your feet and your hands and your body in conjunction to create room, to drag pressure around.

Half the name of the game with the puck on your stick is dragging pressure around, right? Manipulating your opponent, making them put themselves in positions that they don't want to be in, and gaining pockets of space and exploiting it.

That's really the name of the game, and point shots can kind of eliminate those opportunities, so I love seeing players who think outside the box, and work off the offensive blue line, and can get a little bit creative, and have systems and support from their forwards that can step up and help them out, help them engage in the offensive zone. It just is the way the game is going, whether you like it or not.

GR: Yeah. Well, first, we'll start with the Carolina Hurricanes example. They also have a puck recovery strategy that they play with, their weak side defenseman is shorting the zone and already heading to the corner as a puck is being shot from the point. They know they're not getting the pass, so they're already playing for the rebound. Which, there's an opportunity there for the other team; if they get the blocked shot that weak side winger is going to [be a step ahead of] the weak side defenseman.

But the Canes get so many pucks back just by activating that weak side defenseman, because most of the time you're not really creating a rebound, you're creating a loose puck. So now you've got to be thinking about loose puck recoveries rather than rebounds. And [shots] from the point, it’s 22 to 24 percent of the time [they] actually create a rebound. Rebounds actually come from shots from the inner slot.

Editor’s note: he said “rebounds” here twice, which makes ZERO sense in context. I have changed it to “shots”. There are a few wonky sentences through this where I’ve reworked the syntax or added a word where they clearly misspoke within the context of the sentence, just trying to make this readable </3

WS: Oh, yeah. Scoring areas, right?

GR: Yeah. From actual scoring areas, so why are we taking so many? So get rid of [point shots] and then we’ve got to find ways to create offense from outside of there.

I did a study with Zach Werenski, he led the league, I want to say it was the 2019-2020 or 2018-2019 season. And he was the number one scoring defenseman, he had the most goals. 20 goals, two were empty netters. so he had 18 actual goals. How did he go about scoring those? If you had to guess, how many do you think were point shots?

WS: All of them. Hard flat bombs from the blue line, 120 miles an hour, easy. No. I honestly have no idea. I'd love for you to enlighten me, because I'm fascinated.

GR: So he scored [on] one point shot, which was basically he got handcuffed with a bad puck, and he was like, “Well, don't really want to turn this one over. So let's just get it in deep.” In which case this one was ‘in deep’ towards the net. Wasn't even a purposeful, “I'm just going to hammer this [one-timer] from the point.” It was literally, his defense partner went d-to-d, basically handcuffed him, and he just tossed it at the net.

WS: Nice.

GR: That was his best option at the point because he just got a suicide pass, defense-style. The other 17 were from within the house. Like, he's getting off the blue line, he's activating into the zone. He's not just standing out there.

Editor’s note: ‘the house’ is slang for the prime scoring area in front of the net, in the middle of the zone. Defenders are often taught to “protect the house”

So you've got [18] different goals which, the fascinating part is, you would think a lot of that might come from the rush before the defense gets set up, but only one of the goals came from the rush. The other 17 were in-zone. CBJ got into the offensive zone, worked it around. He was able to activate, find better spaces to get into the house and then shot and scored.

We have 11 one-time shots, six wrist shots and one backhand, those were [the] distribution. You would think it might just be like, oh, a quick point shot, like a boom one-timer, but there's a lot of wrist shots. There's even a backhand in there. He’s finding ways and finding good pre-shot movement to get himself into a better spot to score. [It was more so about] “How does he find ways to get into scoring places?” rather than having the world's best point shot.

WS: Yeah. And I think that that's — when you look at some of the best offensive-defensemen in the league nowadays — that's what that's like. I'm looking at Evolving Hockey right now, so shout out to the Evolving Hockey boys, but the leaders and individual expected goals by defensemen over the last two seasons… Werenski is number four on that list, which makes a lot of sense, but the only guys ahead of him? Rasmus Dahlin, Cale Makar and Roman Josi.

And those are all similar, all of those guys are pretty similar, to me, especially Josi and Makar. Behind them, you've got guys like John Carlson, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Evan Bouchard. I would be very curious about individual expected goals per shot on net, but regardless we don't need to get that much into detail. It also involves math that I don't want to do right now.

But a lot of those really good premier offensive defensemen are the ones who are generating those kinds of results; the guys that are getting into the offensive zone, getting their hands a little dirty and jumping in and playing like a forward.

I remember we did work a while ago. I sent you information on some of the trends that have changed in terms of scoring and why the NHL is scoring so much [more] now than it did when I was younger or when both of us were younger. And the main — the only real difference — it's not that forwards were shooting more, it's not that goaltenders were just worse, it was that defensemen were getting more involved offensively. 

Out of everything out there, the only real significant change was that there were more defensemen in the NHL who can score, right? Before, there were way more defensemen [whose] job was just not to play offense. They're just not allowed. Just cross the red line, dump it in, go for a shift; cross the red line, dump it in, go for a shift.

And now it's very different. To me it goes back to this discussion I have all the time with people where I'm just sort of going, “I want every single player on my team to be,” to use an oversimplified word, but, “good!” right? I want every single player on the ice, regardless of position, to be able to play in the offensive zone and create and be creative, and put pucks on net and generate scoring chances, and have forwards who can cover for defensemen who want to do that.

I think there's been more and more of that in the NHL just because it's good hockey. Now you're seeing a lot more defensemen who are generating a lot more of these individual chances, and Werenski is definitely a good one.

GR: It leads to winning. You definitely can't win a war by sitting in a foxhole, and you can't win a hockey game without scoring goals. If you can find ways to increase that offense, to your point, that's where all the offensive improvements that we've seen in the last decade plus have come from, is just defensemen being more than defense. They're hockey players, they're not just defense.

It's been good to see, there's been a ton of improvement. There's still a lot of detail, I think, that we can flush out within this. I was talking with Seamus Casey (NJD prospect) and I ended up writing about what we were talking about, which is some of the finer details up top.

One of the big ones is just catching within movement. Don't get the puck, then move; be having an idea of movement where you're constantly shifting. Again, offense is about movement: you're constantly shifting the angles and the positioning that the defense has to cover and respect. That's a common mistake I see, a common issue I see at the lower levels.

I was working with a junior-age player, now he's got a freshman year in college this year, [and this is] the number one thing I told him: “Every time you get a puck, you're standing flat. There's no movement. So now you're just putting yourself in a terrible spot where you're easily closed down. The same thing as a moving target versus a stationary target, which one's harder to hit? That's the idea here. So making sure we're catching within movement, even if it's just a step or two, that's a step in the right direction of where you want to go.” Just, have a little bit of movement.

It's one of the reasons I'm a big believer in Ryan Healey out of Harvard.

WS: Oh yeah.

GR: Quite the defensive depth chart to climb in the Minnesota Wild organisation, but I have good feelings about that kid.

WS: Yeah, I remember Ryan Healey. He had some fun moments. And yeah, that's definitely a good example of a player who brings that brand. It’s something that I am always looking for, It's something that you're always trying to get.

At the youth level, it can be hit or miss. I think that there's a lot of — and again, I'm in Canada — and I still think there's a lot of differences between programs in the CHL. How they kind of coached defensemen to be this way, or how they try to bring them along in order to play this brand of play that I think is more and more important into the future.

I mean, there are definitely Canadians who are among some of the most creative and intelligent and skilled offensive defensemen in the world. Cale Makar is a great example of that. But it is, I think, still something that is being explored and figured out and I think there is a perfectly legitimate discussion to be had about the balancing act of all of these things and how you coach your players to recognise opportunities and how to exploit those opportunities.

Like we've said many times in this series, it's a rabbit hole. You can go down deep and these kinds of things can be a long-term process. You take time, work through the good and the bad with the players.’

I don't know, at the end of the day I just love when hockey is creative, skilled, exciting. To me, in the offensive zone especially, I think there's a lot of room for defensemen to be that way. It's changing for the better, in my opinion.

I was just looking in terms of the number of expected goals out of defensemen. I believe there were 10 — ten years ago, there were 10 defensemen with 10 expected goals or more. Last season there were 30, and that's at 5-on-5. There's just a lot more of this going on, and I think we're all better for it. Everybody loves goals, right?

Yeah, everybody loves fights, but fans also get out of their seats when there are goals, and it's always exciting. I love a game where, when you're down 3-1 you have a better chance of coming back because you're really good at scoring goals. That's just what I love.

GR: Yeah, so the other detail I'm thinking about as we're going through this is just positioning, right? We've talked about positioning and just [like] anything in life, positioning makes your life easier. If you position yourself — anything, X, Y, and Z — better, you're playing life, or the game, on a much easier mode. 

For point play here, we want to have some movement, but whether that be into the puck or away from the puck, I'm always talking about positioning and where we are relative to the blue line and relative to the boards. If we can get inside the zone — so getting some depth, like shorting the zone — great.

The other piece is just; from East and West across the rink, making sure that we're getting pucks within the dots. We can take the puck outside if we want to, but we don't want to start there, particularly from the weak side defensemen.

So, one, you can skate towards your partner, catch the puck as it's coming to you and be inside the dots, which is fantastic. Or, if that's maybe not a good option, that space is closed off, making sure that you're giving yourself to the outside. Take a step into the dots or even further in, not just on the dots, but slightly in so now you catch that puck and you can actually fan out

A lot of weak side wingers struggle to get in that shot lane, so even if you want a point shot or you see a passing lane, it's going to open that space towards the net in general. So, just making sure that you're giving yourself good positioning to start your puck touch, you can decide, “Do I want to go inside, do I want to go outside?” and having those options available.

The most common mistake I see is players start in wide open spaces, and they feel so comfortable, “Oh, I've got all this time and space because I'm in space!” Rather than what's better, which is actually putting yourself closer to your opponents where you have, quote unquote, less time and space — but really, you have now opened up space that you can potentially use.

It's not comfortable maybe immediately, but it will become comfortable as the puck touch evolves, rather than the opposite, which I see a ton, which is players start in open space, they feel comfortable like, “Oh, I've got more time and space because I'm physically further apart,” but then their options are so limited.

WS: Right. It's a game. Hockey a lot of the time is a game of creating space. It's a game of finding ways to get out of situations like that. I think that if you are in motion, quick little chips, quick little puck touches can do that for you. Obviously, you want to make yourself a pass target, but little tricks on pass receptions are probably just as important as what goes into that in the first place.

It's something that I still feel like I might be a little bit behind on in that world, listening to you talk about it. It's something that I haven't fully considered exactly, but I totally see where you're coming from, because, yeah, it is a thing where, just because you have space and you're waiting for a puck in that area, doesn't always mean you're going to have it when that puck hits your stick. It doesn't always mean you're going to have it the whole time when you want to have it.

Being able to problem solve and figure out how to create opportunity for yourself whether or not you’re under pressure, it's such a great thing to build on. And again, it goes back to what we talked about last week a lot of the time, with that footwork, the ability to pivot, make quick changes in where you're oriented and where you're headed on the ice. So even those defensive skills that are out there, it also is quite important in the offensive zone as well.

GR: All right. I think, point play, we've opened up a Pandora's box for people to explore, so we should probably end here and we'll head back next week talking about defending the rush.

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