#he's also the guy who wrote 'when I was young I didn't know the taste of sorrow / I loved to climb high towers'

[garden-ghoul]

Happy Gushiwensday Monday!! Today we have an artful and twisty poem by Xin Qiji called “Boshan Temple Composition.”

I don't follow the road up to chang'an. I'm always at the mountain temple, where they've gotten sick of my chattering. I seek to live cheerfully between perfume and porridge, oh yes--- in this life I walk between material and immaterial. I work at my own pace; why do I need to be an official? I've walked all over the world, but in the end I returned to my plow. the only true friends are pine and bamboo, oh yes! the only comrades I need are mountain birds and flowers.

notes and original text below the cut. this is a really good one.

鹧鸪天·博山寺作

不向长安路上行。却教山寺厌逢迎。味无味处求吾乐，材不材间过此生。 宁作我，岂其卿。人间走遍却归耕。一松一竹真朋友，山鸟山花好弟兄。

The thing you need to understand is that Xin Qiji is being so funny. It’s not just in my translation, although that is the reason I chose to translate it like this. He’s just written a very funny poem, albeit one that deeply puzzled us when we were writing our first drafts.

the road up to chang’an --- obviously he’s saying he has no interest in going to the capital and its imperial court. I want to highlight here that you could read 路上 together as “up the road,” but 上行 is also a binome indicating the passage of something upward in a hierarchy. It can apply to things like submitting paperwork to an authority, but also you use it specifically for journeying (by train!) in the direction of the capital. I think it’s so neat that this idiom exists, and stands in vague conceptual opposition to the English “downtown.”

between perfume and porridge --- the first of a collection of great structural parallels. It reads 味无味 “flavorful flavorless,” which I interpret as being about either excitement or epicureanism. In lieu of a decent parallel phrase that also makes the meaning clear, I’ve used alliteration.

material and immaterial --- he’s being funny again. One way to translate 材不材 is as I have it here, which sounds rather lofty. Maybe he heard it at Boshan Temple. Another way to translate it, incorporating the binome 不材, is “talented and talentless.” I desperately wanted to think of a pun that would convey both meanings, but the connection between physical substance and ability doesn’t exist in English. Tragic.

oh yes --- it ended up in the same place in both verses, but neither of them is in the original poem. I added them to convey a lighthearted tone, a verbal wink to the reader: “We both know I’m being silly. You love it.”

[milaisreading]

hHello how have you been? I hope it's ok

mI really like your writing, can you see how Blue Lock reacts to a transvesti Y/n who seems to be dating someone, but it turns out that he is just her best friend?Preferably, each team reacts separately, with their respective coaches

YI hope you can do it, if not, nothing happens

🌱🩷: Sure! I am guessing u mean like trans!Reader here (M to F), since we use a similar word in Bosnian to the one u wrote me. Hope u like it!

Warnings: In this case reader uses she/her, since it is a M to F version. Requests are open.

⚽️Blue lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura ⚽️

BM:

Kaiser: Who was that guy? Hmm hmm?

Ness: I want his address, full name, and phone number, now.

Yn, blinks in confusion at the omniscient aura around Kaiser and Ness: What guy? And what do you need that all for, Ness?

Isagi: The dude you were at the mall with! Kurona and I saw you!

Kurona aggressively nodded his head as Kunigami cracked his knuckles. He looked more solemnly than usual.

Yukimiya, smiling menacingly: Just tell us who it is.

Hiori: We just want to talk to him :3

Gagamaru: The world is a dangerous place, and we just want to make sure you are safe.

The girl blinked a few times when it finally hit her who they were talking about.

Yn: That is my-

Noa, trying to be calm: Listen, child, I know you are young and probably want a boyfriend, which is fine-

The rest: No, it's not!

Noa, ignores them: But, it's also very dangerous for you, so we need to make sure you are safe-

Yn: That wasn't my boyfriend. That was my best friend you saw me with, he always helped me pick out dresses and skirts that suit me.

Ness: Best friend or not, we still-

Yn: And he has a boyfriend.

The team grew silent for a moment, then their faces flustered from the embarrassment.

Kaiser: We knew that.

Isagi: Yeah, we were just joking.

Kurona: Thank God, I still have a chance

Yukimiya as he nudges Kurona: You mean I do.

Hiori:Dream of it, I am the perfect candidate

Kunigami: I can protect her better, though

Ness and Gagamaru: We can do the same!

Noa, starts shielding the concerned Yn from them: Stay back. All of you.

PXG:

Yn: Why do Shidou, Rin, and Charles look like they want to murder someone?

Loki, not even paying attention to the trio: Yn, I need his name and phone number. We need to make sure that we do a good background check on him.

Yn in major confusion: On who?

Karasu: Listen up, we saw you two, there is no need to pretend he doesn't exist. We just wan to... talk

Yn: Who?!

Tokimitsu: That boyfriend of yours. We saw you 2 shopping the other day

After a minute of thinking, it finally clicks in her head.

Yn: You mean my best friend?! We were shopping for his boyfriend's birthday present!

After a good 2-3 minutes of silence Loki spoke up, clearly embarrassed by this misunderstanding

Loki: Oh... that's good then

Charles: Still, stay away from guys who aren't from this facility

Shidou, puts an arm around her shoulder: Preferably stay around just me

Rin: You stay away from her!!

Karasu: Get off, Shidou

Tokimitsu: Don't scare her!

Manshine City:

Chris: Yn, you are like daughter to me, ok?

Yn, unsure where this is going: Ok?

Chris:That's why it's my job to intimidate every guy who approaches you wrong

Yn: Aha...

Chigiri: I just have one question. Why him? What does he have that I don't?

Yn: That's 2 questions. And who are you talking about?

Reo: We know about your boyfriend! Do you know how heartbroken I feel right now?

Yn: Boyfriend?

Nagi: I saw you with him at the convenience store the other day. You should be prof that I didn't punch his teeth out then and there.

Yn:???

Chris: Just tell us who he us, we won't do anything

The trio: Yes we will!

Yn: That... that was my best friend... he already has a boyfriend...

Chris: Oh...

Chigiri, falls to his knees: Thank God!

Reo, embarrassed by this: We knew that! Hahaha this was just a prank!

Nagi: Thank God you didn't lose your taste in men yet

Yn: -_-'

Ubers:

Yn: Can Sendo and Aiku stop blocking the exit? And why are you two so mad? *looks over at a glaring Barou and Lorenzo*

Yn: Never mind, why is Lorenzo mad? Barou is usually like this.

Barou: Don't change the subject!

Snuffy: Barou is right. Aryu told us he saw you with a guy the other day. What's that about?

Lorenzo: Whoever he is, he is a no good. I can already tell

Yn:??? What guy?

Aryu, looking offended: The guy who picked your hair care and skin care products. Why pick him when you have me?

Niko: That's not the point now. Just tell us his name.

Yn is silent for a moment.

Yn: That was my best friend you saw. We were buying a care set for his boyfriend.

Aiku:... Oh, thank you God it was nothing serious then.

Sendou: Should have told us so earlier. I was about to punch someone

Snuffy, pats her head: Well, that's a relief little lady. Stay away from the guys we don't know

Lorenzo nods in agreement, relieved by the information

Barou: You worried me sick, you idiot!

Yn: How is it my fault you all jumped to conclusions

Niko: You are looking too much into it now

Aryu, flips his hair dramatically: I was about to make a presentation why I would be a better shopping buddy... and boyfriend

The rest: Absolutely not!

Yn: Calm down....

Barcha:

Yn, flinching as Bachira's hug grew tighter: I... what is going on?

Bachira: I just missed ya!

Otoya, trying to pull him off: Don't change the subject now. Tell us who he is.

Lavinho, looking serious for once: Otoya is right, little lady. We won't hurt anyone, we just want to talk to him

Bachira: Speak for yourself!

Yn: Who?

Oroya: The guy I saw you with the other day. You two looked really close.

Yn: That... that is my best friend, Otoya. And he has a boyfriend...

Lavinho: ... Well then, good to hear that. So I don't have to scare anyone?

Yn: What?

Otoya: And I don't have to stalk anyone down?

Yn: What?!

Bachira: So, I also don't have to let my monster know about this? He can be quite bloodthirsty

Yn: WHAT?!

[alexlikesairconditioninh]

Geo x MC who is kinda sadistic.

If someone smacks her with a tray, she'll bash their head in with that tray. If someone slaps her, she'll sucker punch them. With no expression at all. Maybe even a teensy bit sociopathic.

Love your work btw and expect more Geode reqs teehee. <3

Also don't feel pressured to do them quickly at all; remember to drink water, eat and sleep well.

Can be platonic or romantic: sorry for how ooc this is💔💔💔💔

NOT PROOF READ I WROTE THIS IN ONE SITTING!!! 1!1!1!

At first, he found you... Weird? But, he respected you nonetheless. Afterall its clear you're able to defend yourself and, you don't hesitate. Thats something alot of people struggle to do. So even though he doesn't know you, he respects you.

But, when you do get to know eachother hes protective. Automatically, even if he knows you can defend yourself, theres always this tinge of worry bubbling at the back of his mind- a mantra of what if 's?

Deryl, Brit, you, you guys aren't helpless nor defenseless and he knows that, but he can't help but join in on your violence when you give somome a taste of their own medicine.

You and some dude from your class were arguing, its clear you guys didn't agree on the topic. If he was mature he would've continued talking calmly about your disagreement, however younge college students aren't notorious for their maturity.

Geo was coming to pick you up from class. Your classmates used to look at him, surpised to see him of all people. At this point, the people in your class were aware of your familiarity with the tall man. Him coming from the class next door to pick you up was routine, normal. They no longer batted an eye; his presence no longer attracted all eyes.

That's when the guy slapped you across the face. Geo swore time slowed. Everyone went silent.

He slapped you?

Oh

He slapped you.

Oh hell no, hes not gonna let that slid-

Before he could move, before he could reach out to you and ensure your safety, a loud slam was heard. You wind your arm back before sucker punching the guy, so hard he fell backwards. Not a hint of anger, remorse, disrespect- emotion was on your face.

The guy sat there silent, so did you, so did Geo.

It felt like forever before your classmate broke the silence.

" M/C! Are you okay?" she said completely ignoring the state of the guy you just punched. Geo followed, looking at you. unlike you, with emotion- concern and worry.

You assured him you were fine, nonchalantly. He grew calmer, and he rushed you out of that classroom to find the rest of the group. He was tense at first. But, damn, the way you sucker punched him with no expression was insane. He turned his head your way,

"Your insane".

[fanficfanatic000]

(Handmade for me) E.M.5

Eddie Munson x best friend plus sized

reader 18+ don't read if a minor

Trigger warning ( read if you dare )

Summary(Reader is a plus sized young adult female Who lived in Hawkins her whole life was a outcast in school only has three friends Robin. Steve and eddie. But your best friend is eddie munson. Just your friend right???...You work at a bar as a bartender usually serving drinks from rugged bikers to just turned twenty one first drinkers... until that night.... when it all when wrong......)

He held the doors for you And you were inside he sat you in the front row and he went to the back preparing for the show and you saw her walk in wearing a tiny black skirt with a pink top damn you forgot all about that.... your gut wrenched and heavy it feels like you're burning alive5 minutes have gone by and they finally are called to the stage ",now ladies and gentlemen welcome the corroded coffen!!!!" Your stomach in knots Then they walked out the spot lights making Eddie's hair shine and his veins popping from holding the guitar he grabs the microphone with his left hand they played two songs one about how band life is the other about living life but there's one left eddie looks around in the crowd and says "this one goes out for a very special lady of mine"....They started to play but all you could focus on was Eddie's vocals "I wanna be your vacuum cleaner breath in your dust.

He was talking about her that's why he told her about tonight.. the air sucked from your lungs. Tears began to fall so you ran the fuck out that door. You sat on the sidewalk trying to stop but it just wouldn't..You lean against the brick wall it was cold really cold and you were wearing a tank topA breeze blew through your hair and you stopped crying and you were ready to go back inside you walk in and you see him talking to her close to the stage but his eyes fell on you from across the room the girl facing him then he started walking towards you hastily.. the girl left there.. "Soo Uh what did ya think??" He said his eyes on the floor. His hands playing with his rings.. "you guys rocked like always!."You say enthusiastically like you werent just crying.. he looks up and tilted his headHe smirked awkwardly "no i mean..... what did you think about the.... song??" You searched him for what he meant. Reading his body language nervous. His face Slightly red. His pupils blown out "oh the song... it was great.... she probably loved it..." his eyes go wide and his blushing replaced with confusion "wait what are you talking about... she probably loved it?? " you're so much more confused now.. you gesture your hand to her "eddie im not stupid.. you invited her.. and i heard her talking about you at my work.... its great for you edds.. shes pretty and im happy for you." You fake a smile at him. But his face didn't reply.. it looked kinda upset but also embarrassed.. he put his hand on your hand. His hand warm and she feeling "that wasnt meant for her..."He gulps "it was meant for you..." his eyes dropped to the floor and his face fell even more.. he wrote that for you not her....."I know we are friends but i just wanted to tell you for so long even when you dont feel the same...." You Not Feel The Same?Yeah right... "Eddie i-i do feel that way.. you've been driving me fucking craz–"He grabbed you by the hips and pulled you against him facing you. His eyes on your lips "can i kiss you?" You crashed your lips to his. His taste intoxicating and sweet You pull back realizing he smells like weed "whats wrong y/n?" He looks for an answer "eddie are you high?" His blown pupils looking at you "No‐" he says no but all signs pointing to yes makes you think otherwise "i should get home..." You run from his grasp but he followed you and wouldn't leave.. "i-mm not high princess!" He pleaded you stop and give him the all knowing look "really you eddie not high at all.." "no not a bit not at all"You still can't believe him not when he has a girl like her to like him..

Part 6 out now or soon

[creepypastasomethingsomething]

No Escape

I was pretty bored, so I wrote this little one-shot for you all. If anyone has a request, you can just send them in. Also, 123 followers?! What the fudge?! Thanks to everyone who enjoys the stuff I make, I really appreciate it a lot :3 I'm actually thinking of making a second part of this.

TW: Swearing, Blood, Violence, Death, Decapitation

Ticci Toby X NB! Reader

*1,964 words*

The October night was cold and busy, trick or treaters scattered around the neighborhood wearing various kinds of costumes. Most of them were children with their family, some were teenagers, and others were adults going to parties. Police were in some places, watching and making sure everything was alright and no one was in trouble. The night was fun and happy, as usual. Nothing really bad happened in this neighborhood, it seemed. There hasn't been a murder, or attempted murder, in over fifty years, which was good.

The edge of the forest was full of life as a party was taking place. It was rather large as a family was hosting it; they invited friends and some brought their family and pets. There were many different games and the family that was hosting the party made sure that it was child friendly, as many children were there. At a table, a group of young adults from college were sitting and eating and drinking as they chatted. They were all in costumes and looked as happy as can be, a few on their phones.

"Hey guys." a tall girl their age wearing a pirate costume with a few objects in her hands walked to the table, a concerned expression on her face.

"Oh, hey Leana. You and (Y/N) enjoying the party?" A guy with freckles asked as he tapped his Ghost face mask on the table.

"Yeah, that's the thing, Jarred. I haven't been able to find them. Have, uh, have any of you seen them?"

"No." Jarred replied as he frowned.

"Do you know where they might have been?" Another guy with a Scream costume asked. Him and the other one were probably going as Billy and Stu from the famous slasher movie.

"They said they were going to go get their cousin Annie who wandered into the forest. Annie came back, but (Y/N) didn't."

"Maybe they're just lost or taking pictures of the forest?" A girl dressed as a cat hypothesizes as she fixed her cat ears.

"I-I don't know." Leana sounded worried and showed something that was in her hand. "The thing is... I found their phone and it now has a crack in it."

"What in the?" Another girl who was dressed as a clown looked at the phone. "I- Did you look for them?"

"Yes, yes I did but couldn't find anything else but their cane, lantern and mask. But I left those where I found them."

"Did you tell their parents about this?" Jarred looked at your cracked phone, and took his mask, and clutched in tightly.

"No. But I was hoping you all could go get the police while I tell their parents."

"Of course we will!" the cat girl shot up, "Right guys?" she looked towards everyone else at the table who nodded.

"Yeah, (Y/N) might be in some trouble." the second guy with the Ghost face mask shot up as well. "And I'll come with you to tell their parents."

"Thanks Xander." Leana started to look even more worried and concerned for you.

"Me, Brittney, and Saffron will go get the cops, while you and Xander will go tell (Y/N)'s parents about their disappearance.

Everyone nodded and left to go do what they were told.

---

You ran as fast as you could through the forest, careful not to trip over your dress. This Halloween, you custom made your own plague doctor costume with your close friend Leana. You had a full on mask, hat, and clothing, along with a lantern and cane, but you lost those with your phone. Your four year old cousin Annie wandered into the forest and you went to fetch her and bring her back. When she was safe you went to retrieve your cane and lantern (and mask), which you dropped when you noticed Annie was gone.

But, before you could get those, a gloved hand, cold and tasted like dirtied leather, was put roughly against your mouth. You screamed and scratched at the arm that pulled you away from the scene, but it was no use. No amount of screaming or moving around would let your capture let go of you, even if you did hit him, it had no effect. Finally, when the two of you were deep enough in the forest, your capture roughly tossed you on the grassed ground.

The fear when you looked up at the man who was now chasing you was nearly indescribable. The man had to be at least six foot and four inches, his dark hair disheveled with pale skin, and clean looking orange goggles over his eyes. He had on a dark colored coat with dark pants and a pair of sneakers; a belt was around his hips with two hatchets attached, the metal part gleaming in the moonlight. That was scary, the hatchets, but possibly the most terrifying thing about him was probably his face. On his left cheek, there seemed to be a large open gap; it showed his pink flesh and gums and his teeth.

You've seen photos and heard about a guy who had some sort of piercing in his face, showing off his teeth. You thought that was cool, a little strange, but cool. But this man, this man was not doing that. The open wound did look healed, but it was obviously a wound that was left by some sort of accident, or the man did that to himself. He quietly looked down at you, shivering and crying, and you just looked at him, too scared to get up and run.

"Not runnin', huh?" He asked you.

Hearing his deep voice made you gulp, and you swore he had some sort of accent. German, maybe. After a few seconds he reached down to a hatchet and you gasped. You got up hastily and started to run. You knew that this wasn't the way back to the party, but you ran anyways, not wanting to risk running around him. You looked behind you and saw that he was chasing after you, making you run even faster.

.

.

.

Toby chuckled and gripped his hatchet harshly in his hand. He thought it was funny that you thought you were getting out of this forest and live your life. Of course, he had strict instructions from his Master to kill you. You were doing a report of people who went missing in this forest around fifty years ago for school, and the survivors talked about a Slender Man who nearly killed them. You were getting close to knowing the truth, weird as the news reports were all destroyed. How did you get access to them? To Toby, The Slender Man was known as The Operator, his boss and the eldritch-like creature who would torture him if he didn't kill you.

Toby raised his hatchet, getting ready to toss it at you. He looked around at your body for a perfect place to strike you with it.... a couple seconds passed.... and a few more... and then he tossed it! The hatchet flew over to you and hit you in the back. You screamed in pain and fell over, tears falling down your face as you sobbed. You couldn't get up and the hatchet was lodged in your back, up a bit, and it definitely cut through your clothing. Warm blood seeped out from the wound and began to stain your clothing. You shook and Toby walked over to you; he took the old hatchet's handle and put a foot on your back, and then pulled the hatchet out, blood pouring out of the wound like a waterfall.

You screamed louder at the pain, and gripped the grass in your gloved hands. You bit your lip as you tasted your salty tears and tried to fight the pain. Maybe you would get out alive somehow? No. You were going to die. You were going to die alone in this forest by the hands of a fucking maniac and your body was most likely never going to be found. Your friends would be devastated at your loss and the town would most likely go into a panic as a crime like this wasn't committed since the early seventies.

Toby leaned down and took your shoulder in his iron grip and turned you over. You held in a scream from this; your back was bleeding, your spine most likely severely damaged, and it was touching the gross ground of the forest. Toby stomped a foot on your chest and you closed your eyes, whimpered, and gripped the grass so hard that under your gloves, your hands were probably going white.

This is it, you thought, shaking and biting your lip so hard that it started to bleed, I'm going to die in the hand of this asshole. Fuck.

Toby smiled down at you, your eyes closed and blood running down your mouth to your chin and to your neck. He raised his hatchet, and like an executioner, swung it, almost decapitating you. Your head was still on your shoulders, but it was almost off. You were still aware of what was happening. Crying harder, you tried to take a breath, but started to choke at the blood. Toby groaned and raised the hatchet and cut your head off completely.

He watched as the blood pooled around you and squirted out from your neck. You opened your eyes and looked around. What the hell. Weren't you just decapitated? Wait.... You have heard of people's heads, like Ann Boleyn, being conscious for about 4-30 seconds after being separated from the body. Your head, still half conscious, looked up at the sky and the man who did this to you loomed down, a devilish smile on his face. You frowned and tried to speak, but your eyes lidded and you started to black out.

You were dead.

Toby was told by the Operator to leave your body where it was after killing you, so he didn't do anything. He put his hatchet back where it was and looked at your body. It was too bad you died. You were young and quite the attractive person in his eyes. But oh well, he had orders to do.

Toby cracked his neck and walked away, leaving his work to rot.

The next day, a whole entire search party went out looking for you. Your friends were part of it and everyone was quite shaken up when they didn't find you. The search lasted a few months until you were found by a police officer, who almost threw up at the sight of you. You were in the same position, but bugs flew around your decomposing corpse and you had worms and maggots in your neck. When the town found out you were dead, your prediction was right. Everyone panicked.

Your family and friends held a funeral for you and had you cremated. Your body was far too decomposed to be in a casket or coffin. People thought that you being dead was connected to the mysterious murders and missing people fifty years earlier while other thought that your murder was just some sick bastard. The whole town mourned you, as you were quite popular, and they all said "They're in Heaven, flying with angels."

Little did they know that you weren't in Heaven, nor were you in Hell. You became a ghost. A headless ghost. You wander the forest, lost and scared, your head under your arm as you walk. You never saw anyone else besides the cop who found your body at your death place, so you became lonely. You were dead, angry, scared, and lost.

You knew you couldn't escape this monster named Toby the moment you laid eyes on him.

[hogarthwrites]

home run

pairing: samuel drake/femme!reader (m/f)

genre: smut, alternate universe - baseball

words: 2,778

summary:

Alternate universe where Sam is a professional baseball player and the reader is a well known celebrity in a secret love affair. Mostly self indulgent smut.

note:

I didn't specify what team Sam is on, so I'll leave it up to you the reader to decide what team you'd want him to be on. When I wrote this, I had the Red Sox in mind and the stadium is at Fenway Park. Also, baseball AU because have you seen how baseball players? Knew I had to mix Sam into the fantasy.

You walked out onto the baseball field, crowds cheering as you waved. They knew you not as a player, but as a popular celebrity guest who was there to throw the first pitch.

As you reached the front of the mound, you watched as a player who was all too familiar to you walked to the batter’s box.

Samuel Drake took position in front of you, grinning like the devil under his cap as you gave him a cheeky smirk. No one else in the stadium knew.

-

It was a few days ago when you landed in the city and the first thing you wanted to do was see Sam. Of course, it was a secret, though; you were both too high profile to be caught together. 

“Why would a young actress be with an older man like Sam Drake?” Was what they’d say. Not that you personally cared, but Sam didn't want people to think of your relationship that way. 

And so you waited until it was late at night to walk to the hotel Sam was staying at, not realising it would suddenly rain that much. 

You were soaking wet when you got to Sam’s door and you knew he would still be up because of his insomnia. 

“Hi,” you said as he opened the door, surprised to see you.

“Hi,” he gave you a lopsided grin as he looked at you. He was just in his boxers.

Sam quickly pulled you in, kissing you hard as he closed the door and pushed you against it.

“What are you doing here?” He asked breathlessly between kisses.

“I missed you,” you wrapped your arms around his neck. “I needed to see you.”

Sam’s lips moved down to your neck, leaving soft kisses on that part he knew you loved. A soft moan left your lips and he pulled away.

“You're all wet,” he said, looking at your soaked clothes.

“Oh, yeah, I am,” you pulled him in to kiss him again.

“Babe,” he pulled away. “You should get dried up and warm. You'll catch a cold like that.”

“I know how you can warm me up,” you bit your lip.

Sam gave you a soft kiss. “Oh, I know, gorgeous. But I really don't want you getting sick.”

You pouted as he pulled away and handed you a bathrobe.

“You can hang your wet clothes in the bathroom. I'll wait for you here.”

Sam winked as you took the bathrobe and stuck your tongue out at him.

“You better not sleep.”

“You better hurry up, then.”

You made your way to the bathroom and peeled off your wet clothes, hanging them on the shower rod and drying yourself off with the hotel towel. As you put the bathrobe on, you noticed Sam’s jersey neatly hanging on the door.

You put the top on, smiling as you turned around in front of the mirror and saw “DRAKE” and “71” in large numbers on the back. At that moment, you really felt like you were his and only his.

Sam was standing by the window with a glass of whiskey in his hand when you came out of the bathroom. At first he was surprised to see you wearing his uniform, but he smiled at how baggy it looked on you.

“I just got that ironed, you know.”

You played with the buttons on the front as you walked to him, putting on his cap that was on his bed.

“You can get it ironed again,” you kissed him, tasting the whiskey on his lips. “Are you supposed to be drinking before the game in a few days?”

Sam shrugged as he placed the glass on the table, his hands resting on your hips.

“I shouldn't be having sex with well-known actresses that’s for sure. What's a pretty lady like you doing with a guy like me?”

“Well,” you kissed his neck as you slowly began to unbutton the shirt. “Firstly, you're the sweetest guy I've ever met.”

“Hmm,” Sam’s hands moved down to your ass, squeezing it. “You're lying.”

“Second,” you began pushing him to the bed and he sat on it, watching you. “No other man can make me feel as good as you do.”

You had fully unbuttoned the shirt as you stood in front of him. There was a wild look in Sam’s eyes as he pulled you in, his lips on your nipple.

You gave a satisfied hum as you felt him flick his tongue over the sensitive nub. His hands were at your ass again, squeezing and pulling you in as close as he can, taking in your scent and burying his face between your breasts.

“Is there a third reason?” He mumbled.

You giggled as you ran your hand through his hair. He looked up at you and you kissed him.

“Well,” you got down on your knees and stroked his muscular legs, feeling them get tense as you slid your hands up closer to his crotch. “You're a sexy baseball player. Is that reason enough?”

Sam chuckled, leaning down to kiss you as you pulled his underwear off.

You took his cock in your hand, running your thumb over the head to see how Sam would react. His bottom lip was pinned between his teeth and that satisfied you. He took the cap off you and put it on his own head as he waited for more.

You licked his cock from the base all the way to the tip, slowly and deliberately as you looked up at Sam. You did it again, enjoying as his cheeks turned red and he leaned his head back as he groaned a little.

“You like that?” You asked as you kissed the tip of his cock.

“Do you even need to ask?”

You smiled before taking him in your mouth, slowly bobbing your head up and down as Sam’s hand grabbed at your hair. You loved how he tasted and how it felt to have him in your mouth.

Sam’s hips bucked and he groaned as you took him in further, grabbing onto his leg as he began thrusting into your mouth. One hand held your hair up, while the other one intertwined with your free hand. You looked up at him through teary eyes, enjoying how Sam’s mouth hung open in mindless pleasure.

He gave one last, deep thrust, making you gag a little before he gently pulled you up to kiss you. He didn’t mind tasting himself on your lips and your tongue as you straddled his lap.

“I missed you,” he sighed between kisses. “When was the last time we had sex?”

“Hmm,” you thought as you knocked the hat off his head and pushed him down on the bed. “A month? Before you came back here, that is.”

“It’s been way too long,” he muttered as he pulled you up so you were hovering above his face. 

He gave a knowing hum as you lowered yourself down on his lips.

“Oh, Sam,” you softly moaned as he gently began licking your clit. The familiar tingle that you’ve missed for a month soon came back and you felt like you were going to melt as Sam expertly manoeuvred his tongue and his lips on your pussy.

With your fingers intertwined with his again, you began craving for more, and you felt Sam chuckle before you started grinding against his mouth. He groaned against your pussy, letting go of your hand so he could jerk himself off as you rode him. You moaned his name again as you grabbed onto his hair, moving your hips faster against his tongue. 

It felt good to have Sam under you like that again. You had spent so many nights dreaming about his lips, his fingers, his cock, and the thought of what else he was going to do to you that night made you cum. Your toes had curled as you doubled over, pushing against the mattress so you wouldn’t fall on Sam and hurt him. He didn’t mind, though.

He had a smile on his face as you climbed off, wearily laying down on the bed. 

“Had enough, beautiful?” Sam gave you a soft kiss as he rolled on top of you. 

“No,” you wrapped your arms around his neck. “Never enough.”

You felt his cock against your clit as the kiss got deeper.

“Please, Sam.”

“Please, what?” He pulled away a little, giving you a cocky grin. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to fuck me.”

“How?” His lips were on your neck now, leaving soft kisses that drove you insane. “How do you want me to fuck you?”

Your mind raced, thinking of the hottest sex you’ve had with him. There were plenty.

“Like…” You gasped as Sam’s fingers began massaging your clit slowly and gently. “Oh, god. Like that time on that empty beach…”

“That one?” He smiled up at you before kissing your neck again. “Tell me about it again.”

“When you had me on all fours with my face against that bouquet of flowers you gave me. You were so deep inside me, going so slow and softly at first, then so, so rough. I loved it.”

Sam laughed. “Oh, I remember that night.”

“The smell of sweet peas still turn me on, if you must know.”

“Just made a mental note to give you sweet peas every time now,” he kissed you again. “Now, why don’t you show me how I fucked you?”

You gave him a cheeky smile as you got on all fours, wriggling your ass at him. Sam loved the view of his jersey on you like this and he gave your ass a smack.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Please,” you almost begged, grabbing onto the pillows in front of you.

Sam was slow and gentle as he entered you, making sure you got used to him again. “Is this okay?”

“Mmhmm,” was all you could reply as you were lost in the sensation of Sam being inside you again.

He began thrusting in you, his hands grabbing at your ass. His thrusts were mostly shallow, making enough friction to give you that warm feeling inside. 

“More,” you mumbled. “Deeper.”

Sam smiled, smacking your ass as he gave more forceful thrusts. As he got deeper, you collapsed on the pillow in front of you, moaning out his name as he fucked you.

You were so sure other people, other players on the floor could hear you, but you didn't care. Everytime Sam hit that sweet spot, you moaned louder and he’d groan in return. 

“Come here, baby,” Sam said as he pulled you up against his chest, one hand around your waist to hold you up, while the other one pinned your arms behind your back. He kissed your neck, hips slowing down.

“Sam,” was all you could muster before he began moving his hips faster. 

His mouth was against your ear and he gave out the most delicious grunts and moans. He held you tight as he fucked you almost desperately, like he was making up for the past few weeks. 

Sam moaned loudly, trying not to finish just yet. He wanted to pleasure you as long as he could.

You whimpered when Sam suddenly pulled out, but he kissed you hard before you could say anything else. He had you on your back now, making sure you were supported by pillows.

He didn't say anything as he continued to kiss you, his hands roaming your body under his. His lips made their way down your neck and your chest, leaving soft kisses and licks on your nipple, making you sigh as he moved further down.

Sam gave you a lopsided grin as he hoisted your legs up over his shoulders. You smiled back at him, admiring how cute he looked amidst the intimacy. 

“I wanna make up for the month,” he said.

“I can tell… oh!” You grabbed his hair as he licked your clit, slowly and deliberately.

He ate you out the way he knew you liked, making gentle strokes, alternating between his tongue and his lips. It was enough to make you a writhing mess, squeezing his head between your legs as you rode out your orgasm.

Sam was on top of you again, kissing you hard and pinning your arms up above your head. 

“I'm gonna make you feel so good, baby,” he said between passionate kisses. “I'm not gonna stop until you're screaming my name.”

“Yes, please,” you moaned as he slid inside you again.

This time, Sam kept a steady, shallow pace. He kept eye contact with you, watching how you reacted to his every move. Whenever he pushed in deeper, hitting that spot, your eyes rolled back and you moaned louder.

“Faster, baby,” you commanded.

“Okay,” Sam breathed as he held onto your hips and began pounding into you.

Your moans got louder as his fingers dug into your soft skin. The sound alone was enough to make him want to cum, but he held it in, kissing you instead.

“So good, baby,” you whispered. “Pound me, Sam. Please.”

He nodded, head rolling back as his thrusts got deeper, more forceful. He knew he was going to bust any minute, but he wanted you to finish first.

“Keep going, keep going,” you breathed. 

“I…” Sam whispered, feeling like he was going to burst. “Baby, I can't.”

“Please.”

He looked down at you, your face flushed and your eyes screwed shut while you softly said his name over and over. 

“Look at me,” he said, cupping your cheek. 

You met Sam’s gorgeous hazel eyes, the euphoric pressure at the pit of your stomach rising.

“I love you,” he said, his eyebrows knitting together as he thrust into you deep.

It was enough to make you cum, your world narrowing to just Sam and the feelings he gave you. At that moment, it was a mixture of lust, passion, and most importantly, love. He loved you.

Sam let out a deep, guttural growl as he came, leaving finger marks on your hips. He didn't expect to tell you he loved you then, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way about anyone.

He collapsed on the bed next to you, and you turned to give him tired kisses.

“I love you,” you said breathlessly as Sam wrapped his arms around your waist. “I do.”

“Come here,” Sam kissed you softly.

“Does this mean we're official?”

“What are you talking about? We've always been official. There's nobody else but you, baby.”

“Yeah, but can't we tell other people now?” You pouted as he intertwined his fingers with yours.

“I don't think it's the best time.”

“I just don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you.”

Sam looked at you, a little confused. “You'll be keeping me no matter what, baby. Let's just give it time. I promise one day we can let the world know.”

“You promise?” You touched the hair on his chest with the tip of your finger, tracing the tattoo he had.

“I promise.”

-

The crowds cheered on, waiting on you to throw the ball.

You looked at Sam, patiently waiting to catch the ball, and your heart melted at the sight of him. 

“You got this, baby,” he mouthed.

You nodded and took a deep breath, bringing the ball back to wind up, remembering what Sam had told you. You threw the ball at him with a lot more force than you expected, but he had caught it in his glove with a surprised look on his face.

“And that's a strike out!” You heard the announcer say. “And there’s the first pitch!”

The crowds drowned out your thoughts as you walked to Sam, expecting him to give you a high five. Instead, he pulled you in for a kiss. It was something he's done a thousand times before, so you automatically kissed him back. It was only after he'd pulled away that you realised he kissed you in front of hundreds, maybe thousands of people.

Sam didn't know what had gotten into him. Maybe it was the thrill of the start of the games, or seeing you in a replica of his jersey on the field of the sport that he loved most, but as you walked to him, he couldn't help but kiss you. 

“Sam…” You gasped. “Are you sure?”

“I made a promise, didn't I?” He smiled.

“You sure did.”

Sam leaned in to kiss you again. Damn what people were going to say. All he knew was that you made him happy.

[bunnymermaidsblog]

Hi @writerfae ! If you accidentally saw this for 0.1 seconds because tumblr was mean to me, no you didn't! Remember when we talked about Aiden babysitting Ákos and him going blank? Remember how I said how much I loved it? Guess what I wrote!

Aiden, Henry, Kara, Talon, Hela, Maya and Callan (hope that's all of them) belong to @writerfae . If you want me to take this down for any reason, just tell me, and I will, since they are your characters.

Ákos, Adél and Endre belong to me.

Sulking after babysitting

Summary: After his day with Ákos didn't go quite well, Aiden is sulking in the garden. Why does Henry always feel the need to get involved when he's upset?

Shaded blue clouds slithered across the orange sky like little snails. There was no wind, just a breeze. It bearly made the grass move while Aiden lie in it, Kara hopping in circles next to him.

"Can I join you?"

Aiden sighed as his brother sat, even before getting the question out.

Henry blinked, trying to catch the kid's eye. He instead caught sight of the sharp jawline of a young man as Aiden turned his head away. That was fine. He'd always be a kid to Henry.

"Ákos is okay. You know that, right?"

"I do" he answered nonchalantly.

"Then why are you sulking out here?"

"I am not-!" Aiden began, but stopped himself mid-shout.

His brother smiled a little. He just confirmed his suspicion.

Aiden flipped onto his stomach, burying his face in the grass. The ground smelled fresh and earthy, ants and worms working tirelessly underneath.

Henry hummed trying to decide what to say next. Kara flew over and booped him on the forehead, glad that someone was finally talking to her hatchling, and got she a head scratch as a symbol of gratitude.

"What... happened exactly?"

"He told you guys, actually" Aiden said to the dirt, voice muffled.

The tips of the grass were tinted orange in this light.

Henry shook his head:

"All he said, all any of you said is that he forgot he wasn't in the Black swamp, and he froze. I get that Adél and Endre knew what that meant, but I can only speculate"

He put a hand on Aiden's back, right under his shoulder blade, the lulling sensation of the tuch spreading warm, slow and sweet as honey. His little brother finally turned his head to look at him. He looked horrible, like he hadn't slept in days, which Henry knew wasn't true.

"Nothing happened really...he just... We were out, playing in the woods, seeing who could find the longest stick"

Ákos kept jumping arund, picking up all sorts of branches, pointing at all the trees asking what kind they were. Aiden happily hopped alog, finding sticks of his own, while answering: that's an oak tree, that's walnut, that's another oak... that is also an oak. They were both having fun! Then...

"Ákos found a stick. A long one! Like, twice his height!" Aiden said, strething his arm forward to showcase the size, smilig, as if he was the kid they were talking about.

Henry leaned back on his hands, sighing contently at the image, even when he knew what was coming.

"He must have been excited"

"He was!" Aiden beamed... then the smile went away again "But when he was waving it around he must have dislodged a branch that was caught up in the leaves and it slapped him on the chest. Not even that hard! It didn't leave a mark, or anything! I checked!"

Under any other curcumstance Aiden would have snorted below the leaves that let through the light of the morning sun, thinking nothing of the little brach smacking the kid. He would have waved at Ákos to folow him and continued walking. Except, he inexplicably felt his throat tighten just a little, the bitter taste of an unripe apple appearing in his mouth.

He was struck with the urge to take a better look at the child, so he did, his cape twisting around his body at his quick turn-around, panick building up in his stomach. Right then Ákos sat down on the ground like the lid of a chest falling closed.

The little boy's big, brown eyes, shiny acorns drilled into a skull that normally wouldn't stop moving around lest they miss something interesting were familiarly unseeing.

Aiden felt like his heart was being cut through with string.

"He wouldn't answer to anything I said or did" he told Henry.

Ákos looked so much like Aiden's father in that moment. Aiden called out his name again and again at different volumes. Slowly, like the air was made of mud he put his hand on the small, rund face, all the while narrating exactly what he was doing.

"So, I took him back home"

Ákos was limp when Aiden picked him up, like he was no more than the fabric of his clothes. He didn't tighten his hold on his neck the slightest, when Aden helped his arms over his own shoulders, even though that would have been the natural reaction. To hold onto something when your legs are hanging off the ground like swings. It was almost like Ákos' soul left his body.

Aiden still kept talking to him.

He was quick to realize the why of the reaction. Even if every single one of them was too occupied with the exciting discovery of the existence of other worlds (for example one where they worshiped doves) they still got the basics of echothers' stories. Their new friends knew how Aiden and the others beat the Knights of the Alder, like Aiden and his friends knew how their old friend betrayed them, and almost killed Ákos by pushing him down into what was the most horrific place on the other world.

"I...I couldn't come up with anything better, so I just took him home, and set him on your old bed and held his hand and talked and waited!"

The boy's skin was soft like newly grown leaves. Aiden ran his thumb over his knuckles in a cirkle again and again, to let him know that he was there.

Even getting no answers he still kept talking. About anything. He told Ákos about the neighbour's cat and her kitten from his childhood, about how he got his eyebrow scar and Henry still laughs about it, so to retaliate Aiden mocks his cooking in return.

He talked about his mom and her apple tree.

He told the kid that he could stay wherever he was in the forest of his thoughts as long as he needed to, but to know that when he wanted to come out he'd be safe to do so.

That he was literally a world away from that horrible place and that horrible girl... and even if he wasn't Aiden wouldn't let anything happen to him.

He kept talking and holding his hand. Ákos remained still throughout it all, blinks way too slow.

They sat like that for hours.

Henry smoothed down the grass under his palm.

"But he came out eventually, no?"

Aiden tiltied his head on the green pillow of nature, signaling "yes."

It was afternoon by the time that happened. Aiden had moved onto reading stories from Henry's old book, because he ran out of things to talk about, and he was halfway through the thing.

He was starting to get worried, because it was one thing (still a horrible, gut-wrenching thing) for his father, a grown man to not eat for a whole day, but Aiden had not the slightest idea what that might do to a child's health.

Then Ákos started tilting his head around.

Aiden froze. Once again moving both slowly and quietly as a falling feather he placed the book down and grasped the tiny hands with his own.

The boy's eyes were moving too, just bearly, but Aiden saw, and he was getting so hopeful, so happy. Still, he knew from experience to stay calm. That Ákos wasn't fully in control yet. The kid blinked, going cross-eyed for a moment then blinked again, trying to focus on Aiden, who kept talking.

"That's it! Just look at me! I'm right here! You're doing great! Good job!" He applauded when the kid finally managed to look at him, still tired, still as if a strong gust of wind could blow him back to where he came from. It took him a minute to become fully alert.

Aiden snorted, nearly inhaling the grass in front of his nose.

"The first thing he asked me was "I am not in the Black swamp anymore, right?" Can you believe that? What was that place like, for him to still have to be reassured that he's not there? He's 10!"

Henry drew his knees up to his chest and hugged them like a stuffed toy. 'Poor kid.'

"Then what did you do?" He asked, keeping his voice calm, soft like a spiders do with their beautiful webs.

Aiden thought about it.

"Talked more"

First, he asked Ákos if this has happened before. He did not expect to be drowned in apologies and reassurances that "It's fine! It just happenes sometimes! I am really sorry I scared you and ruined our day!" Aiden had to stop him by the end, because:

1. He was getting worked up, and Aiden didn't want Ákos to cry.

And:

2. As Aiden told him "Don't apologize! It's okay, even if I was scared for a while. But it's normal! And in no way your fault"

After that he could see that Ákos was uncomfortable. But it was still so sweet! Tha kid was constantly trying to make Aiden feel better! To be happy for him. He would have even gone on another walk in the woods if his favorite babysitter asked, but to Aiden it was pretty clear that he didn't really want to do that just yet.

Being the great caretaker he was, he also knew very well that (ordinarily) if Ákos gets left without entertainment for long things just weren't going to work out.

Conclusion?

Do things in the house!

What did they do?

Aiden honestly wasn't sure this was going to work. Still he came up with a game where Ákos had to tell him, if he was a seer what would his visions be?

Ákos was all over this.

He touched a chair and said he saw the family of the tree it was carved from being burned down.

Aiden didn't know that Ákos could have a morbid imagination when he wanted to but he honestly didn't mind.

The child patted Kara's small, feathery skull. When Aiden asked if he got any interesting visons from that the answer was:

"No. She's just a sweet bird mom!"

Aiden had blinked for a moment before remembering that they were just playing and Kara wasn't going to actually lay eggs.

"Then by the time that evening came he calmed down, so we went to meet up with you guys. That was it"

Aiden sighed, finishing the tale.

A leaf got blown off a tree and glided towards them, doing cartwheels as it did so before landing on the younger's brow, concealing his vision like an amature eyelid.

"Well, then!" Henry clapped, palms scratching against each other "Ákos is okay, and it sounds like your day at least didn't end terribly, and I just saw him inside, deafening Talon with his unending questions! Bless that child! So, the only question remaining is" He leaned above Aiden, spying the curly locks of brown hair intently, before removing the leaf from his eyes, throwing it elsewhere"Why are you sad?"

"I am not sad"

"Aiden!" Henry said, voice hard like the strongest wood.

"Okay, fine! The moment after I saw him fall onto his butt...Just for a second, then I realized how dumb I was being, and I actually started helping the kid! But maybe for just a second I thought..."

A bug merrily climed from the grass onto Aiden's finger.

He bit his lip, hard, not wanting to let out the words from their teethy prison.

"First dad, now Ákos, who next? When will you all start dropping like fruit-flies?"

His breath came out harsh at that moment, like an oncoming storm. It scared the little bug so bad, it scurried back to where he came from.

Henry almost started ripping out the grass himself, their mother's words to be kind to nature being the only thing stopping him, until his little brother took a deep, long breath.

Aiden propped himself up with one arm, getting into a sitting position, blades of grass falling off of him like rain.

"But it was just for a second, and I know how silly that is. That would never happen, so there's no need for you to look at me with the "worried big brother" face!"

Henry quickly changed his teary-eyed expression as Aiden dropped back onto his stomach.

The grass underneath them was soft, but spiky in certain arias. The younger one hoped they weren't sitting on an anthill.

Henry looked forward for a minute, away from Aiden. The trees in the distance looked black, painted with ink, scratching the watercolors of the sky.

"Ákos isn't going to get swallowed by his pain as father did. None of us are going to let that happen, least of all him" Henry said finally. Then, he smirked "I mean, who do you think asked me "Could you make sure that Aiden isn't too sad? I know he said he wasn't... but maybe he is, and I don't want him to be"?" Henry asked mimicking the ten year old's way of speaking, strething the words as long as he could, like he was still processing something compelling while he talked.

His brother lifted his head for one second. Looked at him. Turned it back toward the grass, then banged it against the ground wishing it weren't that soft:

"I told him not to worry!" He cried.

"Congratulations! You have younger siblings!" Henry sang.

Aiden groaned, but it wasn't funny this time, because bearly noticeably at the end the sound spilled into a sad, hurt wine.

Henry played with the martial of his brown pants, scratching at the texture, pulling at it for a minute. After tapping it a final time he reached for the other boy.

"Come here" he said, pulling his little brother from the ground, then sitting him into his lap as much as he could fit. Kara started flying above them in circles, her road different each time.

Aiden gave a single shuddering breath, pressing his eyes against the older's shoulder. They were just a tiny bit wet, like morning dew.

"We won't all suddenly get permenantly locked into our minds and leave you alone to pick up the pices"

To Aiden Henry's shirt seemed to smell of leaves and Callan's honey soap.

"You. Don't. Know. That" he forced out the admission, like he was trying to hack up a boulder.

Alongside each word he pulled on Henry's shirt then hit him on shoulder. The older gladly took it. It bearly even hurt.

He glanced back at the castle, where inside their friends were probably wondering where they had gone off to. He gripped Aiden tighter.

"Just... think about it" he smiled for him, just like when they were kids "Just... look, when we were children it was just us two. Sure there was Hazel and her mom and I'm grateful for them, but aside from that it was just us"

The wind finally picked up petting their hair lightly. Henry followed it's example with Aiden. His brother hummed.

"But now you have so many more people you can rely on! Hela most certainly isn't depressed!" Aiden snorted in his arms "Callan is doing great, and he loves you! Not to mention Maya and Talon! And, of course, we mustn't forget our inter-dimensional friends and honorary family!" Henry glaced at the last gold line on the sky, and he swallowed, making sure his voice wouldn't break on the next person "And... I am not going away again either"

Aiden let go of his shirt and let his hands down, his arms limp like leaves of willow. Finally, the only color that was left for the sky from the sun was a pink bouquet of roses.

"I wonder..." Henry perked up when he noticed that his brother's voice was back to being cheerful "How hard was it for you to include Talon in that lineup?"

Henry pushed him back onto the grass.

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

I really enjoyed writing this, and for that I have your wonderful story to thank, as well as our conversations about our ocs that are very dear to me.

I hope everyone is in character. I wasn't sure whether Aiden would be this openly upset, but he had a stressful day, so who knows? Also, i think when he's talking about how Ákos is far away from the swamp and that he wouldn't let anything happen to him, Aiden actually just told me to write that.

Please tell me what you think!

[touchoflaughter]

Ok guys I need help- I fucked up completely and I need some really good advice 🥴

So most of you know my classmates by now (I wrote plenty irl stories about them ⟪ part 1, part 2, part 3 ⟫). Summarily: I'm the only girl in this man domain (learning a craft) but I'm getting along really well with the boys. We mess around all the time and have lots of play fights where I manage to whoop most of the guys asses due to my long-lasting experience in martial arts. But lately they discovered a fatal weakness of mine- and they overuse it completely!

GANG TICKLING is the worst

So after New Year's Eve Phil promised me his New Year resolution is to not tease me anymore and I actually believed him (don't ask me how I could be this naive)- so... it didn't even take him 10 minutes to start his poking attacks again, followed by countless more.

That was two days ago. In the meantime he somehow managed to win all the other guys over! His efforts seem to pay off finally...

Let me tell you about only one situations from today: (There are too many actually but this is the worst one so far)

I not only get attacked continual (mostly sneaky and from behind... these cowards) but also had one of our classmates coming up to me, when I tried to fill in an important document. Let's call him Aiden.

His Hands formed claws and an evil smirk appeared on his face. I sighed and shook my head in a defensive way: "Don't! I've had enough." (You gotta now it was 4 pm and I got tickle attacked all damn day. There was no embarrassment left. I lost. I didn't care about my tough facade anymore.) Before he could even answer me, Phil stood up from his desk and was right on the spot (surprise 🙄).

"Oh yeah! You gotta tickle her like this!", Phil showed him a pinching movement with is fingers and grinned. "Wait, let me show you!"

"NO!", I protested insistent.

"Yeah I think you'll have to show me in order for me to get it right.", Aiden played along and smirked at least as much as Phil who came closer quickly.

"Godammit! Don't!", I didn't want to but I had to stand up from my desk to make a few quick steps backwards.

"What's the matter shorty- can't take it?", Phil mocked while Aiden laughed at his teasing. Then he made some quick steps forward so I turned around and ran. Yes, I ran for my dear life. I couldn't take another attack with others watching and enjoying the show!

But I straight bumped into Joey who was working next to me. I tried to at least hide behind him, hoping he'd defend me maybe. We usually get each other in deep shit but if it really matters, we're there for one another.

Not this time obviously- ugh 😩

He turned around and smiled down at me, shaking his head like a disappointed parent whose daughter got in trouble again. Aiden and Phil caught up to us and immediately pounced on me.

"Johehey! Heheeelp!", I screamed helpless and in panic but Joey didn't even took this into consideration.

While Phil went for my ribs at once, Aiden did his best to capture my arms and stop me from breaking free. Joey came to ACTUALLY HELP him so both got a free hand to tickle me. (I'll get him good for this betrayal!!)

IT WAS THE WORST you guys. I couldn't help but laugh and scream and try to shake them off without success. The whole class was literally forced to follow the action. I noticed a few comments but I was too deflected to actually get what they were saying.

But just wait! The most embarrassing part is yet to come: They didn't stop until our teacher entered the room to check on us... only to find us like that:

Three grown men, kneeling on the floor, tickling a young woman to insanity with a bunch of guys standing around them, watching and commenting the scene.

Our teacher seemed to be overburdened by the situation but managed to instruct them to get off of me. He knew we're friends so at least we didn't have to explain it was not a sexual assault but oh god that was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life...

Even after that they did not stop! It seemed they developed a taste for it... to see the good: I got two more days left. Only two more days. Can't get any worse than that, right? Right? 😰

[misireads]

Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men who hate women") by Stieg Larsson

[ audiobook, listened in finnish ]

an investigative journalist and the head of a magazine named millennium is convicted of publishing a fradulent article defaming some billionaire guy and decides to step down from his position. he's then hired by an elderly former CEO of a powerful family enterprise to travel to some tiny ass town in the middle of nowhere to investigate what happened to this old man's great niece who disappeared 40 years ago. mikael the journalist accepts the assignment, not expecting to find anything new at this point, but is drawn in deep into the vanger family's troubling history and broken relationships with each other. his research is eventually joined by a very weird young woman named lisbeth who turns out to be one hell of a hacker, and together they not only solve the lost niece's case but also reveal how that billionaire that mikael originally wrote about is even shadier than expected.

➕ this is really three stories in one: the story of mikael and millennium and the wennerström guy he wrote the article about; the story of the vanger family and the mystery of harriet's disappearance; and the story of lisbeth, her past and present, a total deep dive into what made her the kind of person she now is and how she operates. and i looove that, i really enjoy layered storytelling. when you go in, you don't know what to expect and there's the intrigue about mikael's sentencing, then you're thrown a curveball about this really complicated family, all while lisbeth's story kinda plays in the background seemingly unrelated. this captured my attention wholly and completely.

➕ i adore lisbeth's character. she's implied to be neurodivergent, a total bad bitch who doesn't take shit from anyone, defies all expectations, is independent and resourceful despite nobody having any faith in her. she gets back at her tormentors in the most satisfying way.

➕ the vanger family deserves its own plus point because i just love stories about weird families with internal conflict and tons of skeletons in the closet and the protag has to kind of dig it all out because nobody is willing to speak but it's obvious there's something very wrong about these people. though the truth about them turned out to be so gross instead of just weird, it's really off-putting but

➕ i liked that this was a mystery solved by a journalist and a… well whatever lisbeth is, because i'm not really a fan of police or detective novels. i mean i've read some good ones but i dunno, i always prefer stories about laypeople solving mysteries and crime.

➕ this is soooo swedish.

➖ could have been a bit shorter, some parts kinda dragged on. although i liked the ending, there were like 3 hours left of the audiobook by the time the harriet mystery had been solved which made me kinda… okay time to speed the audio up to 1.25x because this is gonna drag the fuck oooon.

➖ content-wise this gets really really gruesome. it was almost a bit much even for me.

➖ not a minus about the book itself but i find it in such poor taste that the english translation is titled "the girl with the dragon tattoo" which is a reference to a very minor detail about lisbeth and it just does nothing for this novel or anything in general. i can understand maybe they didn't want to call this "men who hate women" (which is the literal translation they kept for the finnish title) for international marketing purposes because it would deter so much of the male target audience lmao (i don't think it does in sweden and finland??? just saying). but the original title packs way more of a punch because that's exactly what this book is about, it's about misogynism. and that title is so self aware. but no, instead you make it "the girl with the dragon tattoo" and lisbeth isn't even the main character. she's a secondary one, a sidekick to mikael. this book isn't about her per se and most definitely not about her tattoos. what a stupid choice. i don't want to watch the film versions because i worry they made this way more about her than it should be.

⭐ score: 4- -- one of the better mysteries i've read in a long time for sure. i don't think i'll go for the sequels though, i had my share of mikael and lisbeth already. the audiobook was like 18 hours long.

[obsessive-bear-walking]

This is probably a weird thing to say, but like. I was thinking about it today for some reason.

I was pro-life in middle school. Like genuinely could not fathom why the baby couldn't be carried to term and put up for adoption. My views shifted in later middle school/high school as I became more educated.

Then it was "abortion is fine, but people who use it as their main form of birth control suck." Which was an opinion born of me being really fucking tired of my friends (yes multiple of them) not caring about sexual health because "abortion is legal" and getting annoyed when I explained condoms prevented more than pregnancy. I was parentified in a lot of ways, including by my older friends. One of my boyfriends in high school was three years older than me, and I had to teach him to use condoms. I had friends who honestly thought you pissed from your cervix, I had friends who believed tasting your own jizz made you sterial, that pulling out worked, or that you can get pregnant toilet seats, or that didn't know sperm could live in your vagina for a while. I often had to educate people several years my senior on how their bodies worked when I was as young as eleven and it's something I still often have to do because sex Ed in America is so fucked. But I also had to walk them through their life choices on other matters, only for them to blame me when they went AGAINST my advice and things went wrong. Some of them even insisted I was lying for no reason, and some of them even got pregnant, and they still insisted I was wrong. So my "people who use abortion as their only form of birth control annoy me" was a personal problem born of my parentification and being fucking tired of being a 15 year old telling 21 year olds to make good choices and being laughed at/talked down to.

By the time I was like, even just 20 or so I had a much better understanding of what it meant to be pro-choice and have been ever since and my view became "It's none of my buisness."

This post wasn't going anywhere. I just randomly remembered I was prolife in middle school because I wrote a paper on it because I had been introduced to "partial-birth abortion" via a pro-life fear mongering article because no one taught me how to check source validity and then literally everyone in my life from age 11-21 sucked ass. Like, who goes to a 13 year old for advice when you're 20+? I wish you all a very "hope you peaked in high school."

Except for that one gay guy on MSN messenger who let me use his gay song in a cringe progay video. He was perfect.

[themightyhumanbroom]

This was originally posted on the discord of the Pokemon Showdown League I'm a part of but I'm weirdly proud of what I wrote so I'm posting it here

ITS YA BOI BENRY THE SKELETON!!!!!!!!! 

Sorry I couldn’t make it to Finals night, but I was BONE tired from working overtime. Coach is super busy in the Summer and I had to pick up the slack. I just wanna give a shout out to everyone on our team for a great season! 

Mega-Mawile AKA Large Marge: This bruiser was brought on after hearing glowing reviews of its performance in Season 2. She was brought on to hit really hard and holy shit she did that well. She also told great stories, like how she miraculously survived a truck accident and met a nice young man in a bowtie. Weirdly enough she told me to say this just before she left HQ; 

Large Marge sent me! 

Staraptor AKA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: What else can be said about this guy that hasn't been said? The strategy with this one was as subtle as a flashbang during Easter Mass. Point at a target, say you no longer wanted to see it, and they got rid of it. High chance we will see them again next season. 

Slither Wing AKA Ripped Mothra: I once told them, “gal, if you were just a little faster, you would be 20 points if not completely banned.” They then punched me apart. Spent the rest of the day putting myself back together. I deserved it though seeing how I misgendered them. They were a crucial part of the team. Could give big hits and take them as well. They are one to watch I tell you. 

Tangrowth AKA Scott Smith: This guys great. Hell of a tank and he always smelled like freshly baked bread. An amazing ventriloquist as well. Before they were brought on we heard some unsavory rumors about him. That he murdered a bunch of tourists in the jungles of Mexico, on a pyramid of all things. The coach and I ignored this because we’ve been wanting him on our team for a few seasons. Hmmmm……we never did see Iron Thorns and Incineroar leave the building though….. 

Slowking-Galar AKA Cool Hat: When I heard that Slowking had a bizarro version of himself, I jumped at the chance to get him on our team. Great move pool, tanky, Regenerator, could hit real hard, and had great synergy with Cetitan. Guy had a really fucked sense of humor though. How bad you say? We didn't have an HR department before he came on. Now we do. 

Cetitan AKA Da Boi: Cetitan didn’t get to do much this season admittedly. Great synergy with Cool Hat, Belly Drum, and Ice Spinner are great but too much set up was needed for it to work. They were an absolute joy to be around though. Also he sounds like a groaning abandoned derelict ship trapped in the ice, Which according to the Coach, is “rad as shit”.  

Starmie AKA R’yleh: They are undoubtedly a forward scout that transmits indecipherable radio messages for some unfathomable alien horror that seeks to wither all life and love. But we needed a fast special sweeper and they had Rapid Spin so we brought them on.

Cobalion AKA (Insert the last thing Coach ate): After the first week we discovered we were in dire need of someone who could set up stealth rocks and Cobalion was brought on to fix that. An amazing utility pokemon that went above and beyond what we expected from them. Unfortunately they won’t return our calls due to us calling him Soup one too many times. 

Rotom-H AKA Meatball Maker: Coach met this guy at an Italian deli that sells imported stuff from Italy. Boss has been trying to get better at cooking and Rotom-H offered to come over and teach him some cooking tricks. Next thing you know they’re on the team as an all star pivot and an amazing cook! Never been more upset that I don't have taste buds or a stomach. 

THIS HAS BEEN YA BOI BENRY THE SKELETON!!!!!!!! SEE YA NEXT SEASON!!!!!!!!!!

[loveforpreserumsteve]

All Grown Up: "ALN" Story (Pre-Serum Omega!Steve and Alpha!Bucky Modern Domestic AU [[REUPLOAD]])

Fifteen:

"So –" Steve finished chewing "– what do you think?"

"Well," Oliver paused, looking over the mini, single-person cakes that they had tried. Admittedly, they had tried quite a few. "I really liked the red velvet cheesecake..."

"But," Steve prompted.

"But," Ollie humored him, "I'm not sure I want to move that far from tradition, ya know?"

Steve nodded, understanding.

Still trying to make up his mind, Oliver asked, "What about you? Which one do you like?"

Thinking about it himself, Steve looked over the individual cakes he had tasted. The cookies 'n cream was good, but he didn't think that'd be a good wedding cake choice. Carrot cake was always a favorite of his, and had even been one of the flavors offered at his own wedding.. But Steve settled on, "The blueberry and lemon cake was good."

Nodding, Oliver's brows remained furrowed as he concentrated on the flavor. Steve understood the tough decision. He had been there himself two decades prior. It had been a stressful choice to make. Not knowing if the guests would like the flavors. Not knowing if he would like the flavors. Especially when his pregnancies always seemed to change his tastebuds.

Idly, Steve wondered if his son would be in the same predicament when his big day rolled around. Steve could hardly stand the pure, unadulterated joy that those images conjured. Reaching over, Steve marked Ollie's broad shoulders. Trying to comfort his first baby. No matter how old he got, Ollie would always be his little guy.

"Pops," Oliver playfully rolled his eyes. Always convinced that he was too old to be marked like a young pup.

"Oh, stop," Steve waved the sentiment away before his son even needed to say anything.

Playfully rolling his eyes, Ollie returned his attention to the cake. Worrying his lower lip as he quickly jotted down some thoughts about each of the flavors that they had tested. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect than intended. The more he wrote, the more divided he appeared to be.

"How did you and dad decide?"

Steve finished chewing another bite of the blueberry and lemon cake – wondering if he should order one to take home today – and explained, "We tried to pair the flavors with the meal options. We also tried to be mindful of the kosher relatives."

Listening, thinking, Oliver nodded. Still trying to decide, but looking like he might be closer to figuring it out. Steve asked, "What is your menu looking like?"

"Still undecided," Oliver admitted. Shaking his head at his own timeline, he added, "And we're getting married in six months." Sarcastically, he mocked himself, "I'm so glad we're so prepared!"

"If you need help, you can always turn to your dad and me," Steve reminded, reaching over to give his hand a soothing squeeze.

"I know," Ollie assured. He ran his hand through his tousled brown hair. "I guess I kinda know what I want. Guess I kinda know what Rhodey would want. I'm just not sure how well everything on the menu will go together."

Steve understood that struggle. He had spent so much time planning things to please everyone else that it felt like it wasn't even his own wedding. Of course, then Bucky came along and reminded him that the only ones who mattered that day were them and Oliver.

Maybe that was what Rhodey needed to do with Ollie.

Maybe he needed to remind his son that.

"Hey," Steve rubbed at Oliver's broad shoulder, "Who cares if the menu doesn't go together? As long as you and Rhodey like it, that's all that matters. It's your day."

"Ya know, dad's right," Ollie smiled.

Brow quirking, "What do you mean?"

"You're the smartest."

Steve tossed his head back as he laughed. A blush on his face as he returned his gaze to his son. All of the kids' lives they had been told by their alpha father that Steve was the smartest of the two of them. Even telling them that one day, they'd be as smart as him. And while Steve knew that his intelligence was average, it had been a long-standing joke in their family.

"Just don't tell dad," Steve teased.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Oliver playfully confirmed. "Man's got a big enough head as it is. Don't need to add to that."

Of course, all Steve could do was laugh at that too. That time, Oliver joined in. More relaxed than he had been all morning, Ollie grinned from ear-to-ear. And when the baker returned to see how things were going, Oliver placed his order.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Also considering how Alina seems being this saviour of Ravka as a burden(though that doesn’t equate hating being Grisha or her powers because that’s not the case!)you would think she would listen more to Aleksander’s POV and decide that keeping the Fold isn’t a bad solution. She can still destroy the Volcra but the Fold as whole could serve as a threat to other countries and could actually leads to the end of the war. At the end she did much worse to Ravka than Aleksander yet he’s the one getting vilified while she gets to reap the benefits of the system that’s abusing her people. What a nice message there,B*rdugo and how convenient that she ends the series(for now)with Zoya being a queen even though she has neither the training nor ability to be a good leader and we have no idea what type of queen she would be.

(Book Spoilers particularly from ROW)

This may be a controversial statement I don't know, and to be completely transparent I am saying this having not read the duology but I honestly think LB made a mistake in going back to the original trilogy characters in the duology. I feel like she should have just left it alone. I mean she had a good thing going with the six of crows characters, from what I can tell people really liked those books and those characters. I can get what she was trying to do, she was a young writer when she wrote the original trilogy and she made some mistakes and wanted to fix them. However from what I've seen of people's reactions to the duology it seems like her trying to fix the mistakes just made those mistakes more obvious and caused alot of contradictions. People expressed their anger at how Alina was stripped of her powers and that this didn't exactly scream female empowerment and so she tried to fix it by making Zoya overpowered but this just highlighted how tragic Alina's fate was. People were upset that there wasn't a grisha on the throne and that it was a Lantsov who even though he was a nice guy was still part of the royal family that had kept the grisha in subjugation, who got the throne. She tried to fix this by putting Zoya on the throne but this didn't make sense because just like how Alina didn't have the training or experience to be general of the second army in S&S Zoya doesn't have the training or experience to be queen. Also I think alot of people felt like it should have been the conclusion of Alina's story, that she should have been that grisha queen and so seeing it go to Zoya, a character that had been mean and unpleasant towards Alina, left a bitter taste in alot of fans mouths. Again it also highlighted just how bad Alina's ending was. The other thing alot of people had an issue with was the darkling's death. So she brings him back and tries to give him a redemption arc. I also find it funny when antis argue that the darkling shouldn't get a redemption arc in the show because he's evil and not every villain should get a redemption. I also find it funny that LB said in an interview that she thinks the darkling is beyond redemption because she literally gave him a redemption arc in ROW! Like correct me if I am wrong because this is based off what others have told me but he sacrifices himself to save everyone else. He went from being someone who the narrative tells us is selfish and power hungry, to someone who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to spare others lives and save the world, what is that if not a redemption? The definition of a redemption arc is when a antagonist does something to make up for their past sins and mistakes. I feel like suffering through eternal torture to save the world covers that personally. However again this is a fix that doesn't completely satisfy because whilst yes the darkling becomes the self sacrificing hero it is written in a way that, one still serves as more of a punishment and two is begrudgingly given, I mean there's a scene where the 'heroes' debate whether or not they should let him play the part of the hero. To be honest when I read that extract I actually found it really uncomfortable and well icky. I mean it was these same people that had caused the problem in the first place by not listening to the darkling when he said they should destroy the fold they should use it as a tool and weapon against their enemies, now they are mocking the darkling's solution because heaven forbid they let him be seen as a hero for making a sacrifice that will cause him an eternity of endless suffering. I mean when you think about what the darkling was going to have to go through in order to save them all its really appalling to see these supposed heroes talking so callously and with so little empathy about it. It was actually that extract that made me finally decide that I definitely wasn't going to waste my time reading the whole duology. But I really do think it would have been better if she had just left those characters as they were and either focussed on the six of crows or

created a whole new world with new characters. But as always that's just my opinion.

[aestheticallyholland]

NEVER NOT | JUST PRETENDING . . .

❃ PAIRING tom holland x fem!reader

❃ DISCLAIMER i do not own the artists (and the reader) that are going to portray the characters, but i do own some of the their names. the plot of the story is inspired to the book and movie 'to all the boys i've loved before' but with changes. the gifs and photos used in this series are edited by me but i get credits to the originals. also, this series is first posted in wattpad by me. PLEASE DO NOT REPOST IT SOMEWHERE ELSE !

❃ WORD COUNT 1.5k words

WANNA BE ON THE TAGLIST? feel free to comment on this post if you wanna be added to this series' taglist to get notified for updates !

NEVER NOT MASTERLIST | LEI'S LIBRARY

"It's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party." — Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

THE NEXT DAY, Y/N COULD STILL NOT BELIEVE that they were doing this.

Everything felt like slow motion the moment she and Tom went inside the cafeteria of the school. His hand was in her back pocket and both of them walked together.

Just like in the Sixteen Candles. Y/N thought.

People were looking at them with trays on their hands and all you had to do was smile. It was definitely working. As they got into the middle of the cafeteria, he spun her around while his hand was still in her pocket until her body faced his.

Y/N giggled at his action and Tom looked down at her, their foreheads almost touching and their body close to each other.

"What are you doing?" Y/N asked while giggling.

Tom reached out to his pocket and got the small note he wrote for Y/N and gave it to her.

"This one is for you," Tom said and Y/N could just smile and received the handwritten note. Even though they were just pretending, she could feel her stomach flutter as she received the note.

"Thank you."

Tom smiled at Y/N but he could see a glimpse of his ex-girlfriend, Camille across where they are and he saw her face stern the moment he gave the note to Y/N.

It's working.

Tom tucked a strand of hair to Y/N 's ear and whispered to it. "Good job."

Y/N looked up to him with a smile on her face.

"I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Tom said.

"Okay," Y/N answer and pecked on his cheek before walking away from the center of the cafeteria. She could see the look on people's faces but she couldn't care less about their reaction.

After all, this is all just pretend.

"Hey, Y/N!" An arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulders and Y/N jumped a little.

"Erika!"

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Holland are a thing now? How long have you been keeping this from me?" Erika asked as they went out of the cafeteria.

"You should've seen the look on my cousin's face. I could just imagine it all day and make fun of it." Erika said and Y/N slapped her arm playfully. "Hey! What's that for?"

"Still can't believe you say such things to your cousin like that," Y/N said and chuckled.

"Couldn't care more," Erika said. "So tell me. How did things between you and Holland go? How? When? Why? Where—"

"Okay, you gotta stop asking a lot of questions. I am going to answer them." Y/N said.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"So you guys are not official yet?" Erika asked as she munched onto her burger.

"Nope. Hopefully, we will be." Y/N answered.

"Weird enough that he could move on from Camille because they have been together for a long time now," Erika said.

"I know. He even promised me that he will give me small notes every day and he never did that to her." Y/N said.

Keep acting. You can do this.

"Is this like a competition now?" Erika chuckled.

"I mean, she's the one who broke up with him," Y/N said.

"What about Aiden?" Erika suddenly asked and that made Y/N almost stop moving.

"W-what about him?" Y/N tried her best to not crack her voice. She could still feel her heart beating fast.

"Weren't you all over him days ago?" Erika asked.

Y/N sighed and placed down her soda on the table before speaking. "I just realized that he was just that typical crush that we all have."

Lies.

Erika just raised one of her brows before she replied. That judgmental look she gives you.

"Well, you seemed happy with Holland. Just hoping that he won't break your heart or else." She stopped to drink her soda. "Or else he'll have a taste of my fist." Erika formed a fist with her free hand and Y/N just laughed.

"He won't. He promised." Y/N said, trying not to cringe at what she said.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Y/N was, as usual, walking towards her locker and placed her things inside. It was a Friday and thank God she could have rest.

As soon as she closed her locker and turned away from it, Aiden suddenly walked towards her. She could feel her heart beating fast as he was approaching her.

No. No. No.

"Hey Y/N," Aiden said.

"Hey, Aiden," Y/N replied with a small smile on her lips.

"So, you and Tom? You finally had the courage to confess to him ever since you had a crush on him during middle school." Aiden said.

"I-it stopped for a while but then it came back after a while. We aren't officially together—" Y/N was interrupted by a familiar British voice. An arm was wrapped around her shoulders that made her startle.

"Yet," Tom said. He turned to her and gave kissed her head. She giggled and playfully slapped Tom on his chest. She wrapped a hand to his and looked at him. "I'll walk you home?" He asked.

Y/N nodded and looked at Aiden again. "I'm going to walk with Tom now. I'm sorry, Aiden."

"Oh, I-I don't mind, Y/N. I have song practice anyway." Aiden said and scratched the back of his neck. "Take care." He said.

Y/N gave a smile. "You too." Tom and she walked away towards the crowd. A lot of people were still staring at them and she could hear people murmuring but she didn't mind that.

Several minutes later, both she and Tom walked together on the sidewalk. His hands were on the pocket of his jacket and his eyes just looking everywhere. They were already in Y/N's neighborhood and he wanted to be familiar with the place. If he would always walk her home then might as well be familiar with the place.

"Your place is peaceful." Tom suddenly spoke up and broke the silence.

"One of the reasons why I love to live here," Y/N answered.

"At least it's close to school. I don't have to drive you anymore." Tom said.

"You're lucky it's just near. I know you're not that walking-your-girlfriend-home type of a guy." Y/N said and she could just hear him chuckle.

They finally reached her house and they stopped at the doorstep.

"Thank you for walking with me," Y/N said.

"Great job today," Tom said and Y/N could just roll her eyes.

"I tried not to cringe for the whole time. It worked though." Y/N said.

"How about a kiss?" Tom joked and she punched his arm. "Ow!"

"No kissing, you dork," Y/N said. "We're alone now, we don't have to pretend."

The door suddenly opened revealing Y/N's dad with an apron around his waist.

"Thought I heard talking." He said. "Your home, sweetheart." Her dad gave Y/N a peck on her head and turned his head to Tom. "Who is this young man?"

"He's Tom. Tom Holland, dad. My-"

"Her boyfriend, Sir." Tom blurted out and shook hands with her dad. Y/N glared at Tom for what he said.

"How come you never told me about him, Y/N? I could've made more pasta." Her dad said.

"No. It's okay, Sir. I'm just here to drop Y/N. Didn't want her to be alone." Tom said with a smile.

"He's a good kid" Her dad whispered to Y/N and she just looked at him. "Dad." She heard Tom chuckle at her dad's actions.

"I'll get going now, Sir," Tom said.

"I'll leave you two love birds alone for a while." Her dad said. "It's nice to see you, Tom. Don't go breaking my girl's heart, okay?" Her dad said.

"I won't, Sir," Tom assured with a smile and that made her dad finally go back to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about my dad. He's just like that." Y/N said.

"He seemed chill," Tom said.

"He is. Very." Y/N answered. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course. I don't wanna miss my girlfriend at school." Tom said before walking away to go home.

"Take care, Holland," Y/N said and Tom looked back at her with a smile and his hands on his pockets again and walked away.

Y/N leaned against the wall and watch him walk away until he couldn't be seen anymore. She remembered the note that Tom gave her in the morning and got it out of her pocket. She opened it and read it:

thank you for accepting this, y/n. can't wait to be your boyfriend. - T.H

A smile formed on her lips as she read the note and at the thought of Tom and the pretend they just did.

That wasn't so bad after all.

❃ TAGLIST @allthisfortommy @kait4073 @lovebittenbyevans @l0ve-0f-my-life @spiitfiires

[joezworld]

Toby - Rap God

Guys I was making myself laugh when I wrote this - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Based entirely on one line from this.

2019

There are many engines on the Island of Sodor, and like many people, music is often part of their lives.

Some engines, like Percy and Duck, have no interest in the subject, having never been exposed to it in a real manner.

Others, like Gordon and Henry, have extremely well-defined music tastes. (Unfortunately for those around them, they do not like the same music, and arguments often ensue.)

James, being extremely vain, enjoys the songs written about him for the children's television show based on the writings of The Thin Clergyman.

And then there’s Toby...

-----------

Toby is a small brown steam tram. He has spent almost all of his life on Sodor on Thomas' branch line, where he and his coach Henrietta trundle up and down the valley at the top of the line - providing a valuable commuter service from the branch line terminus to the stone mines at Anopha.

Toby likes music, as does Henrietta; they like it so much that in 1989 the workmen installed a radio in Henrietta so that the two could listen to music on it as they worked.

This was very thoughtful gift, but there was a small problem:

The hills outside of the quarry meant that many radio stations couldn't reach the small antenna on Henrietta's roof.

Fortunately, a few did, mostly overpowered stations on the Isle of Man. These stations were designed to reach boats far out at sea, and mainly played uninteresting things like the Shipping Forecast.

There was, however, one station that did come come through loud and clear no matter where you were...

---

You're listening to ManxPirate - the Barely-Seaworthy voice of the Sudrian Sea. I’m your sea-going Deejay - or Sea-Jay - Musik Mike! Up next is our most popular block of the day - that’s right, the JAMS are LOUD and we're all gonna get DEF!

"Oh Henrietta! It's starting!"

"Just be ready on the choruses Toby"

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

The sounds of music echoed off of the Els river valley as Toby and Henrietta trundled towards Elsbridge.

Aside from their Quarry duties, Toby and Henrietta also worked 'the school bus', a daily train that carried schoolchildren from the remote farmhouses between Elsbridge and Hackenbeck to the Saint Pedroc's school in Elsbridge.

Toby loved this route - many of the children had been taking 'the bus' since Grade 1, and he felt privileged to have seen them grow up into fine young adults.

-

As he pulled into the platform at Elsbridge station, he saw those young adults crowded around each other.

'"Peep Peep! Let's go, everyone!" he called to the teens.

"Just a minute Tobes!" Called back Sera, one of the teenagers, before she turned back to her friends, who were filming her with their 'smart-phones'.

"Whatever could they be doing?" He asked Henrietta as Sera and her friend Phoebe bounced up and down in unison while waving their arms around.

"Undoubtedly something for the internet," the coach mused. "But I have no idea what - trends change so fast now".

"Internet?" Toby was puzzled. "Don't they need a computer for that?"

"Toby. Smartphones have been around for over ten years. How do you not know about this?"

"I'm sorry that I'm not as technologically advanced as you - but at least I know what steam is!"

"Oh my goodness, it's also a video game company now. You've heard those jokes before!"

Toby and Henrietta likely would have gone on like that until the guard blew his whistle, but Phoebe broke away from the group of teens, her phone in her hand.

"Toby?" She asked, clearly trying not laugh. "Do you know what Vossi Bop is?"

Toby was taken aback. "Of course I do. Vossi Bop isn't my favourite, but that's just because I don't like Stormzy that much - I'm not one for Grime."

Phoebe blinked like she'd been poleaxed. "What?"

"It's a Stormzy song, isn't it?"

"Toby," Henrietta sighed. "She was asking because she thought you didn't know. Was this going to be some kind of thing where you show rap music to the elderly and laugh at them being shocked?" She asked Phoebe, who nodded slowly.

"Well, you're going to have to better than that young lady," The coach smirked. "We've been listening to ManxPirate since before you were born!"

"Really?" The blonde asked slowly.

"Oh yes!" Henrietta boasted. "Eazy-E was still alive when we first tuned in!"

"Oh, em, gee!" The girl said, before turning and shouting down the platform. "Guys! They do know!"

-

The excited teenagers crowded around Toby and Henrietta as they quizzed the tram on rap music. Any thought of leaving on time was totally forgotten about as Toby's extensive knowledge of gangsta rap was laid out for them.

"Mate, mate," said John, one of the boys. "You gotta do The Challenge if you know all this!"

"What challenge?" Toby asked.

The teens clamored over each other, before they all stopped to let someone speak intelligibly.

Rachel Kyndley eventually spoke up: "It's a thing that ManxPirate is doing on TikTok. You sing along to a rap song and whoever does it the best gets to record a charity single with Stormzy!"

The teens again spoke over each other, all claiming that Toby and Henrietta should sing for the challenge.

Toby had to blow his whistle to calm them down. "I suppose there's nothing to lose by it," He said after a moment. "But I should say that my flow isn’t that good."

"Mate, I am amazed that you know what that means,” Said John. “But you just need to sing along to somethin’ that’s already out there.” 

“Oh.” Toby looked back at Henrietta. “Well that shouldn’t be too hard. Do you have any N.W.A we could sing along to?”

As he had the only ‘eye-phone pro’, Simon the student newspaper editor was volunteered as cameraperson, while Rachel set a small ‘blue tooth speaker’ on Toby’s bufferbeam so that he could hear the music.  

The remaining teenagers pulled out their phones as well - whatever happened next was going to be un-fucking-believable. 

-

The music began with record scratching. The kids looked at each other in shock. There was no way that Rachel had picked this.

"Right about now NWA court is in full effect” Henrietta sang.

Rachel had. The teens could barely contain themselves. 

“Judge Dre presiding in the case of NWA versus the police department.

Prosecuting attourneys are MC Ren, Ice Cube and Eazy motherfuckin' E”

Hearing Henrietta say ‘fuck’, was an astonishing experience for the unprepared teenagers.

“Order, order, order, Ice Cube take the motherfuckin' stand

Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth

And nothin' but the truth so help your black ass?”

“You goddamn right” Toby responded. Rachel Kyndley barely could hold back a shout of astonishment. I hope there’s no book written about this! She thought.

“Well, won't you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say?"

Then there was a record scratching sound. 

The teens knew what came next. They hoped that they were prepared to hear this song come out of Toby.

"Fuck the police comin' straight from the underground!" 

Toby and Henrietta not only sang this lyric, they sang it in harmony. 

The teenagers thought that they had been prepared. 

They were not prepared. 

Most of the next few verses were lost underneath the clamor of twelve teenagers losing their goddamn minds.

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

A few days later

Toby was resting in his shed when a little car came tearing into the station parking lot. More girls than should have been possible to fit in it came tumbling out and made a beeline for his shed, Rachel Kyndley in the lead. 

“Toby! Toby! Toby! You won! You won!” She shouted as she skidded over the gravel. 

“Won what?”

“The Contest!” She shrieked. “Your video went viral and you won The Contest! Stormzy said on Instagram that he was excited to meet you!” 

She and her friends dissolved into happy squealing, preventing any further speech. 

“What’s Instagram?” Toby asked Henrietta. 

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

The Next Week

Stephen Hatt was enjoying his tea and tolerating his toast and marmalade, when his son Richard burst into his office, waving his phone around like a sword. 

“Were you just not going to tell me that you let Stormzy visit the engines? Or was I just supposed to figure this out when Kieran and Micah tore my ear off for not letting them meet him?!”

“I have a phone, you know. And a receptionist.” Stephen said as he cleaned tea off of his desk. Fortunately, most of it had gone onto the marmalade covered toast, which he unceremoniously dumped into the trash. “And who have I let meet the engines?”

“Stormzy? The rapper? He headlined at Glastonbury last bloody month?”

“I don’t follow.”

“He’s a musician, and you let him record an album with Toby!”

“He recorded music? With Toby? Our Toby?”

“Yes! It was supposed to be a single, but now it’s an album! It hit number one! And it’s been out for three hours!”

“You’re saying this as if I have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

“Just read the article!” Richard shoved the phone into his hand. The website for  BBC Sodor and Man was open. 

-

STORMZY DROPS SURPRISE ALBUM WITH SURPRISE COSTARS

ELSBRIDGE - Music fans across the world were surprised this morning when Stormzy unexpectedly announced via Instagram the release of his newest album, Back in Their Day - featuring two of the realest OGs I’ve ever seen.

Residents of Sodor were especially surprised to discover who those “two real OGs” were: Toby and Henrietta, an engine and coach on the Ffarquhar Branch Line. 

This unexpected collaboration began several weeks ago when a viral video on TikTok featuring the pair attracted the attention of the rapper...

-

Stephen skimmed the rest of the article, not quite believing what he was reading. “I didn’t authorize any of this.” He said at last. 

“Really?” Richard said, not quite believing him. “Because that’s what the staff on the Branch told me too.”

“I swear to you I didn’t do anything.”

“Then what, did the biggest star in the country just go to Ffarquhar and record an album with Toby? With nobody’s permission?”

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

[TWO YEARS LATER]

--CHANNEL 4 INTERNAL TRANSCRIPT: THE LAST LEG 2021 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL--

ADAM HILLS - So we’ve had a lot of questions, about, the last album you dropped-

[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]

AH - The one with the train engine -  I think his name is Toby?

STORMZY - And Henrietta. Can’t forget her. 

AH - Of course not.

S - What do you wanna know?

[MORE LAUGHTER]

AH - Well, I don’t have any questions - and when I say we, I don’t mean Alex or our viewers - 

[PROLONGED LAUGHTER]

AH - I mean Josh.

JOSH WIDDICOMBE - [TO ADAM] You’re an Arse. [To STORMZY] - Um, I just wanted to know how you did it really. Is it, is it true that you snuck in and did it all in one night?

S - Oh yeah! Absolutely. ‘Cause, I thought that it was gonna be a one and done, like just a single y’know? So I just went there and was gonna do it and go. But as we kept talkin’ I realized that, that, I just had to make more, and then it became the album and we shot a music video for ‘scrapp’ on the same night and then I did some sound work  and then it went up. 

AH - Just like that?

S - Just like that.

[daydreamrry]

Okay, mini story from me to you! To laugh and make the evening better. 🖤

About being a fan of H and the guys back when they were 1D. I've never been a fan of One Direction. But it's not that I didn't like them, I just didn't listen to them. My vibe has always been more like the 80s and 90s music. I'm a bit of an oldie soul, but still a young age! (27). And when I go back in time, I can honestly say that when I was looking at boys, I was Zayn's girl. ✌️

I even remember that about two years ago I even laughed at my friend who was stressed about buying a ticket to H concert, while I was buying a ticket for Lenny Kravitz show. I was like "Harry Styles? Seriously? You don't want to come to Kravitz with us instead?" 🙄

SO. One day LAST YEAR, I had a dream with Harry. I have no fucking idea where it came from. When I woke up I wrote to my bestfriend, "Woman, I dreamed of Harry Styles. We were friends, but we were also both in love. Neither of us wanted to admit it and we lived in a firendzone." She was like: "What the heck? Styles? Do you even like him? Where did it come from 😂?!"

I still don't know okay? I guess that's how he gets fans. I must admit that it was only after this dream that I decided to see what was going on with him and what he was doing now. I was deeply behind - it is really possible. I didn't even hear the HS1 back then. ✌️

And now I'm here with you. I love reading this blog because I like fresh gossip and I love interacting with you. 🖤

It's not that I'm a huge fan of H, but I respect his work, although it's not exactly my taste in music. I still don't have a ticket to any of his concerts because I was busy buying Kravitz seats. 🤷

I hope I didn't bore you, I wanted to distract you a bit from the subject of Olva. It was my short story about how I got to know H's work, talent and how I found he was pretty hot too. 🙄 Bye.

LOVE YOU!!! 💋

- 🍷

AHHHH I LOVE THIS STORY, IT'S SO CUTE 😭 glad to hear that you were a zayn girl, all zayn girls are hot! i love and appreciate you so much, you are so lovely 💕 this story actually reminds me of one time when i was a sophomore in high school, i had a dream about one of my guy friends and the next day, i realized that i liked him! he was my high school crush up until i graduated. dreams really do be making us catch feelings 🙄