#it's a lil in the future (just a few years down the line) but i cradle it..

[meistoshi]

while satoshi never retires in the traditional sense, he does gradually move away from the competitive battling scene, at least as his prime focus. he still participates in the odd tournament because he's a battle-junkie, & he defends whatever title he has & fights to keep whatever he earns, but he's no longer chasing regional champion titles ( though he might be convinced to take up a kanjoh elite four role ) . while his focus becomes primarily split between travel & being alola's champion for as long as he can maintain he title, to satisfy both the itch for something new & for unexpected battles he eventually finally takes up enishida's still standing offer of being a kanto frontier brain.

satoshi's frontier facility is called the battle stadium, his trainer class being stadium champ.     the stadium is the conference-standard size of most league affiliated stadiums because he expects to face every kind of trainer & wants the environment to accommodate for the more extreme power cases.

there was a spot not too far from masara town that was spacious but barely surviving, so satoshi settled on it for his location   —   close to home & thus close to every importance he had.     you have to pass through masara town to get to satoshi's battle stadium, so you'll often get townsfolk with free time tagging along to watch "their satoshi" battle.

because you have to go through masara town to get to the battle stadium, satoshi's not always there.     often he comes back into town to either help hanako with the restaurant or help ookido at the institute with whatever he might need   ( usually it's another set of hands to take care of the pokémon ) .

if he's neither at the stadium nor in town, it's either because he's been called over to another town or region ( most likely alola ) , or because he's been struck by another restless case of wanderlust & needed to roam for a few months. satoshi leaves a message with ookido & hanako to send trainers on their way if they come for the frontier but get their number so he can give a heads up when he's on his way back.     if the town's close by or the matter in another region is resolved & he's about to be on his way back anyway, he has hanako set them up at the house inn until he gets there, since the nearest pokémon center would be a hassle to go to. he sometimes tweaks the rules, though, & if he runs into someone trying to clear the frontier anywhere else in kanto, & they feel up to facing off against satoshi already, he pulls a few strings to reserve the biggest stadium available within a day's travel ; nobody ever said the battle needs to take place in the frontier facility, after all.

when satoshi is at the stadium but not battling, he's doing maintenance, both on the stadium & the surroundings  ;     the stadium is huge & he's often the only one there, & the land used to be barely holding on, it's why he picked the spot, but after assistance & advice from his mama & other local greenthumbs the place is green & lush with plenty of wild pokémon around.     hanako sometimes comes by when she has the time & the two of them tend to the plant life that hasn't yet gotten to the point of self-sufficiency.

he gets pokémon to help with technical maintenance sometimes   ( in particular his grass / flying / psychic / ghost / electric types )   but for the most part it's solo grunt work.     he finds a pleasant meniality in repairing the field after battles, & checking up on the facility's functions in the off time keeps him busy.     he gets back in touch with citron & citron does the bulk of mentoring satoshi in facility maintenance, with advice pulled from datsura & jindai.     satoshi & citron sometimes facetime while they're both working maintenance on their respective places, citron with his gym & satoshi with his stadium.     for years, satoshi remains ambivalent about visiting kalos without something to do there because of lingering crisis memories, so usually citron visits him & they catch up while working together.     sometimes they   ( read: satoshi )   get distracted & have a battle in the middle of maintenance & end up making work for themselves.

as frontier brain, just as in any other position, satoshi battles fully all out, pulling no punches, right from the start.     he never goes easy on anyone.     he chooses whichever pokémon want to battle the most that day regardless of typing, always 3v3 battles for the first attempt & 6v6 for all following. while not actively in the competitive battle scene anymore, he's still satoshi & his pokémon are still his pokémon & very few people ever make it past him within the battle stadium, & only one or two people make it past him on the first challenge within the first decade or so.

the symbol he hands out is called the aura symbol, nodding to lucario having become his secondary go-to battle partner & their strengthened bond, & it has a pikachu-tail-shaped lightning bolt on it.

[ghost-recs]

can we get some bakugou recs 😊😊 (written and smaus pleaseee)

hello hellooo! oh man do i ever have some! you have no idea the can of worms you are opening my friend.

but first i am so sorry for how late this rec is! i wanted to get this done days ago, but the semester has been crazy packed. i'm going to get through all my asks one by one. thank you for your patience! anyways let's get into this !!

Bakugou Recs

Garden of Lungs (Hanahaki) by oweCrew [ao3]

synopsis: you have your whole life ahead of you, a promising future and jobs lined up after UA...but these stupid flowers are going to be the death of you, literally.

i flew through this fic so fast. it was the first time i had every heard of hanahaki disease and oof to my heart. i loved it!

Late Night Calls by fictionpls [ao3]

synopsis: much to bakugou's disdain, you skipped your meals again. tch, he's basically taking care of you at this point.

cute lil fluff oneshot with bakugou as your best friend...maybe more.

Nothing More, Nothing Less by @dekustowel

synopsis: bakugou made a big whoopsies. the only way to get out of it? fake date you, the internet's sweatheart, duh!

this smau idea has a hold on me. i'm a sucker for the fake dating trope. and i mean seriously, it's bakugou! [ongoing...]

Nerd (Affectionately) by @oniku-niku

synopsis: you're in love with bakugou, have been since you were kids. there was no use in hiding the truth. but did he have to be so rude about it??

most of this smau is a big ouch to the heart. but the drama gets heavier as the story goes on and i'm here for it! happy soft ending! :)

Speak by Kikyo851 [ao3]

synopsis: you could not believe that your soulmate was such a crude and violent person...just to spite the universe and him you decide not to say a word to your "soulmate."

soulmate au in which the first words that your soulmate says to you is written on your wrist. this fulfilled my needs of a bakugou soulmate au! so cute and it is complete!

Of Snowscapes & Explosions by sugarbun [ao3]

synopsis: you've been categorized as second to shoto todoroki ever since grade school. after a frustrated vent to bakugou and a few of his cracks revealing some of his own frustrations you realize that maybe you and him aren't so different after all.

guys....when i tell you this fic is the slowest slow burn. i feel like it's so accurate to how bakugou would actually fall for someone. sadly, this fic is unfished tho and hasn't been updated in a couple years😭 but you should read it anyways.

cover shot (through the heart) by @andypantsx3

cross posted on ao3 here! cover shot (through the heart) by andypantsx3

synopsis: you're the only one who can deal with bakugou's attitude in the industry. he hasn't found something that bothers you...until he starts flirting with you, hello??

model/celebrity au. super cute fic. i'm warning you this is much spicier than some of my other recs. mdni. (also check out this author's other works. they have a lot of top tier content!!)

Motherly Love by @kweenkatsuki-fics

synopsis: bakugou gives his mom a late night call to thank her. the reason why softens her heart greatly.

super soft lil drabble that just about brings me to tears everytime i read it. in love with bakugou fr.

déjà vu by @cashmoneyyysstuff

synopsis: bakugou thinks back to some oddly familiar memories with you. and one thing always stays the same, you both are together.

oneshot the made my jaw drop. hit me hard in the feels.

untitled oneshot by @honeypirate

synopsis: being paired with your number 1 enemy for a group project proved that the universe hated you. well might as well have some fun with this and make bakugou's life just as miserable.

college au oneshot. i am always down for a good enemies to lovers trope!

risky by @kusaka6e

synopsis: moving from another country to work as a pro hero in japan was not the easiest. and a certain hot headed hero only adds to your frustrations.

oneshot about the obvious grown tension between you and pro hero dynamite.

i hope you find something you like! sorry for the late rec, have a lovely day/night!

[xxbimbobunnyxx]

just read your new rafe x weird!reader and oml im obsessed with them 🫠

can we maybe see rafe finally proposing to her ?!

Thank you sm!! Ofc!! Sorry this took me so long, I’ve been plotting this moment for a minute… Mostly fluff 18+MNDI

“Rafeee” You whine, shuffling in the passenger seat of your boyfriend’s truck, the blindfold on your eyes obstructing your view entirely. You had no idea where he was taking you, he just told you ‘to put on something pretty and get your little ass in the car’. “Seriously, where are we going?”

“Hush. I told you to stop askin’, didn’t I?” Rafe’s large hand reaches out to grab your thigh, squeezing it. “Just be patient, aight? It’ll be worth the wait, promise.”

You throw your head back with a groan and it makes Rafe chuckle. His ever impatient girl. But he can’t be giving away in secrets no matter how cute you are when you pout. Not tonight. Tonight had to be perfect. He drove out here to this spot you’ve been begging him to take you before picking you up to set everything up and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit nervous. Which was out of character for him. Rafe Cameron doesn’t get nervous. But with you? It’s different. He pulls onto a dirt road before putting the car in park and when you reach for your blindfold he bats your hand away.

“I said no peaking, brat. Keep it on till I say.” Rafe cuts the engine and exits the car so he can come around to let you out. He offers you a hand down and guides you into his arms before leaning down and placing a kiss to your temple. “Can’t have you spoiling the surprise. C’mon.”

He drags you along and you can tell you’re walking through grass and dirt but other than that you’re clueless as to where you are. You keep stumbling every few steps and you hear Rafe playfully scoff before he’s lifting you in his arms and carrying you bridal style. He carries you to what you assume is his desired destination before setting you down gently on your feet again.

“Stay here. And keep that shit on, I mean it.” Rafe’s large finger taps the blindfold on your eyes before you hear some shuffling around. He approaches you again, this time standing behind you with his arms looped around your waist. “Okay, you can take it off now.”

When you pull the cloth from your eyes you can’t help but gasp. You’re standing in what looks like an abandoned mausoleum, surrounded by candles. There’s a blanket spread out with a bottle of wine and the vintage picnic basket you found at the thrift store last year. He even brought the Jack O’ Lanterns you carved together a few days ago and lit them up. Tears well in your eyes as you take in the scene before you.

“Wow - Rafe, I - you did all this?” Your voice cracks and your lip wobbles. When you and Rafe met he wasn’t really a romantic guy at all and over time you’ve softened him up but he’s never done anything like this. “For me?”

“Yeah, baby, f’course. Who else?” He whispers in your ear and kisses down your throat and god you want to blow him right this instant. You grind your ass down against him and he laughs into your neck, his breath fanning against your skin only spurring you on. “Always so horny. C’mon, let’s eat first, lil succubus.”

You and Rafe are sitting on the blanket, enjoying the meal he definitely had the cook put together because there’s no way in hell he could ever cook something like this. You’ve been joking and laughing, sharing sweet kisses and dreams about the future. You look around you, smiling. This really is the best date you’ve ever been on. It’s so thoughtful and so you. Rafe has always taken the time to see you for who you are and that’s one of the things that made you fall in love with him. Tonight is no exception.

“Hey, that guy isn’t lit!” You point at the pumpkin directly in front of you and gasp dramatically. “How could you leave him in the dust like this!? You’re evilllll.”

Rafe smiles at you knowingly. You fell for his trap, hook, line, and sinker.

“Why don’t you light it then, baby?” He takes a lighter out of his pocket and hands it to you. You take it gleefully and crawl over to the pumpkin. Giving Rafe a delicious view of those red lace panties under those little tights you have on. He can’t wait to fucking rip them in half and shove his cock balls deep inside you.

He watches as you take the top off the pumpkin and look inside expecting to find a candle. But instead, there’s a little red velvet box sitting at the bottom of it. You turn back towards your boyfriend with a raised eyebrow and he tilts his head, encouraging you to go on. You reach inside and pull out the box, your hands shaking. Is this really what you think it is? Rafe gets you jewelry all the time, but he never makes such a show of it.

“Go on, princess, open it.” When you flip the lid of the box, your hand flies to your mouth and your eyes well up with tears.

“Rafe, I - what is this?“ you turn toward him and almost jump out of your skin because he’s directly behind you, still towering over you on one knee as you crouch on the ground holding the box with the most beautiful ring you’ve ever seen in your life inside.

“Bats. I think you know what it is…” Rafe laughs and the sound is like music to your ears, you love his laugh. “I’ve loved you since… well, since you yelled at me in that cemetery and told me off, if I’m being honest. I’ve never met anyone like you, baby girl. And I’m not - you know I’m not the best with words but I wanna spend the rest of my life with your weird little ass. Marry me?”

“Are you serious!? Of fucking course I’ll marry you, idiot!!” You squeal and jump into him, throwing your arms around his neck as the tears in your eyes start to flow down your cheeks. You lean back and place a sweet, messy kiss on his lips as you practically crawl into his lap.

“Yeah? I’m really fuckin’ glad because if you said no I was going to have to lock you in the basement until you changed your mind…” Rafe smirks at you and you burst out laughing. He plucks the box from your hand so he can pull the beautiful, skull, pearl ring from it and slide it onto your dainty freshly manicured finger. He made sure you got a fresh set before this. He knows how you are.

“That’s fucking hot. Maybe we could do that sometime, just for fun?” You wiggle your eyebrows at him and Rafe groans at the thought of you all helpless and tied up for him.

“Fuck. I might have to take you up on that, princess.” Rafe takes your face in his hands and looks down at you sweetly, making your insides melt. “But right now? I need you to bend the fuck over so I can show my future wife how much I fuckin’ love her…”

Taglist: @starkeysprincess @babygorewhore @strawberrydolly333 @sturnioloshacker @rafesthroatbaby @loserboysandlithium @gri959 @rafeinterlude @nemesyaaa

All things Rafe & his weird!girl here

Divider is @strangergraphics

[yeostars]

𓆩♡𓆪 ateez as girl dads / boy dads / or both ;) imo !! {Maknae line ver.}

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Mingi- boy dad .ᐟ

Mingi having a son just fits so perfectly to me. He's going to be the most random and funniest dad to a son istg. I really need a babycloud ep of mingi playing with jaeyul (PLEASE)

Mingi would love to spoil his son fr. Like imagine mingi and his s/o going shopping with their baby son and whatever the little boy points at or whatever his eyes gleams at, mingi is going to buy that for him in a SECOND. This just popped off to me. He wouldn't spoil him too much but he would love to buy him a few things every now and then because he would do anything to see him be happy.

A huge satisfied smile spreads over his face as he lifts his son (a baby of MONTHS) and spins him around and up and down, and notices his son's small eyes and lips curved into a cheeky grin as he enjoys getting lifted up by his dad. Mingi would quite literally lift him up even when his son grows up just to tease him. Well, he'd obviously stop doing that once he becomes too heavy to be lifted. (find him crying in a corner when he realizes that his son has grown tall enough to be too heavy to be lifted by him, he wonders, WHEN AND HOW DID MY SON GROW UP SO FAST :((( )

Loves to ruffle his son's hair all the time. He lovesss to buy him fashionable clothes and turns his son into a mini fashionista just like him (just like hongjoong too) he is all proud and happy when his son is dressed in a smart & sleek fit.

San- both .ᐟ

Thinking about San being both a girl and boy dad is making me sob. Like, imagine him having a older daughter and a younger son (just like him and his noona) HE WOULD BE A PERFECT DAD TO BOTH HIS KIDDOS :(((

Imagine if he had his older daughter first, (without knowing that he would have a son later!) he'd treat his daughter as an actual princess (just how his noona was treated as one😭) would be so gentle and loving to his daughter fr. Would love to buy her new toys and is fascinated every time he sees her playing with them, and he keeps wondering how quiet and cute she is while she has her play time (like all she needs is toys to he happy? I'd give her a million toys if she's happy by them) His daughter turns out to be shy and quiet, just like his s/o . San adores his daughter so much

Imagine, when his second kid aka his younger son is born, his parenting journey goes quite easily and smoothly because he already has experience when his daughter was born first. Lets take San's daughter to be around 4 years old when her younger brother is born. San is the happiest when he sees his daughter taking care of her younger brother. Most of the time when his son was a toddler, he would be so grateful when his daughter would be ready to babysit him without San and his s/o having to request her for doing so.

San would be soo playful with his son. He'd teach him taekwondo and other sports since an early age. He doesn't even realize that time is passing by as he stares at his two children bonding and playing with each other... he'd never fail to shower both of them with love.

Wooyoung- girl dad .ᐟ

Honestly, not only me but wooyoung HIMSELF said that "daughters are the best" (in that babycloud ep while playing with ayun and arin) implying that he would love to be a girl dad in the future 😭

He would literally be sooo clingy and attached to his baby girl, like he would never leave her side ever since she was born😭 He would love to talk to her and tell her stories about him and his s/o 's childhood and stuff (even tho the poor lil girl can't understand anything cuz she's a mere BABY) well he would tell all that to her again once she's all grown up.

He LOVES to talk to his daughter in baby language, like he always copies every little sound and word thay comes out of her mouth? And his s/o would notice all that & be like " i sure am taking care of not one, but TWO babies🧍‍♀️"

Would definitely turn his daughter into a naughty lil devil just like him. Would judge and tease his s/o together with his daughter all the time, teaches her all the sassy expressions to use against her mum whenever she's scolding her. (all jokes tho, he'd def turn serious and teaches her from right to wrong if she has done a mistake)

Legit treats his daughter like a fragile flower. Spoils her with everything she wants cuz that's his one and only precious child. Kisses her on the cheek all the time, every second and every minute he's endeared by her.

Jongho- both .ᐟ

Took me a long time wondering which category to put Jongho in, but then i thought "he actually seems like he'd be the dad of both a boy and girl, no kidding"

Lets take Jongho being the dad of both a boy and a girl. After both his kids were born, the way he effortlessly takes care of both of them, makes both of them laugh with his silly dad jokes, makes his s/o wonder how being a dad comes so naturally to him.

I feel like he would be such a fun dad. He would play with them all the time and would even do little skits with them, entertains his son and daughter with plenty of horror and ghost stories and funny stories about him and his s/o 's childhood and stuff. He laughs the hardest when his kids are all scared because of the horror stories and his s/o punches him on the arm to make him stop. His family would be such a lively and happy one.

His kids always look forward to Jongho's singing. Jongho always sings plenty of songs and lullabies for both of his kids ever since they were babies. Lets imagine his daughter liking soft ballad songs, he'd be happy to sing all the ballad songs he knows for her. And if his son likes rock based songs, he'd sing such songs for him too. His kids are proud to have a dad who sings so well. Its like whenever he sings at home, he has his kids as a live audience at a karaoke who cherish his singing skills a lot.

Would secretly fuel in the fights of his daughter and son, and would find it so funny that both of them are fighting. His s/o would beg him to stop both of them from fighting but Jongho enjoys the chaos for a while & then stops both of them from ripping each other's hair off 😭

[sugarjar]

Arine was beyond an all American girl, picture perfect in the most chaotic way she loved every bit of life she could suck into her veins. All she ever wanted was to be better than her mom, for her mom get the good grades she’d been on the honor role since her 10th grade year. Her future was planned to the very tee.

It was dark and loud outside the cicadas or the crickets, maybe even both we just as loud as any spring. The stars bulging their sparkles through the Louisiana sky.

Walking home, to her off campus apartment eyes glued to her phone taking deep breaths in as she laughed and scrolled on TikTok. Before she heard a call.

“Aye, Pretty girl.” The based voice spoke out into the night.

“Pretty girl in the White sweater.” Pausing looking at her clothing before she sucked in a sigh and reached into her purse holding on to her best friend during times like this.

“Yeah?” She responded trying to remain calm and keep the clearly larger man happy. Like she’d learned to do just give them what they want replace later, because the one thing she couldn’t replace was her life.

“Woah there pretty girl I was just trying to give these back to you.” The chocolate man said with his shinning white teeth showing in the night as well as his sliver nose studs that rested in his nose.

Looking down at his big nicely maintained hands holding her AirPod case. Cursing under her breath frantically patting her pockets to find them missing.

“Thank you so much, I lose them all the time.” He smiled at her being so flustered. Licking his lips trying to hide his pearly white smile, he just stared at her pretty plump lips, as she rambled on. Not even listening just paying attention to her features.

He noticed her button nose and her dark brown eyes, and her slight southern accent. She smelled like baby powder and vanilla, her sweet scent made him feel good. He was pulled from her presence when she started walking away.

Thinking fast, body on autopilot he went after her shooting his shot, knowing he’d regret it if he let her walk into the night.

“Yo, excuse me this may be a lil forward but I was wondering if I could take you out?” He asked right hand on the back of his neck, nervous.

“Like a date? Or you just want lil sex? She said with her glossy lips, she knew she was very attractive and so was he but she wasn’t going to ignore the possibility.

She’d gotten her hopes up about dates far too many times just to be met with “Netflix and chill” or being asked what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to be a “guys only want one thing.” Type of girl but this was. Collage, where hook up culture is at its peak.

Much like high school it’s rare to meet a guy as a pretty girl that didn’t wasn’t to smash.

“Who said anything about that, look pretty thow about we go to the fair? No sex required I promise.” He said flashing her a contagious smile that left she dazed for a few seconds.

“Pinky?” She said sticking out her pinky causing him to laugh. Before he returned it.

“Okay my number is 225******* text me so I can save it.”

929********

Ony, this you pretty?

225********

This is Arin, I like your name Ony

“I’ll see you Ony” Arin said bidding him goodbye giving a hug and a little wave before they both went on their way. Again checking for her AirPods deciding to hold them as she went home.

-

“Not to be a negative Nancy but you don’t know this man, Arin he would be a criminal or something.” Arins roommate Alana said.

“Don’t say that you’ll sike me out and then I won’t want to go.” Arin said as she stood over the pot of stew chicken pouring it over rice with a ladle. Before passing it to the next person in the line at the soup kitchen.

“I’m sorry but he could be, but let’s say he’s not do you think you’ll get into a relationship with him?” Alana said handing out big scoops of rice on people’s bowls.

“I don’t know I haven’t really thought about that, right now we’re still strangers so we’ll just have to see.” She said before her phone buzzed.

Ony🫠

Wyd

Pretty🫧

I’m busy at the soup kitchen helping serve can I call you later?

Ony🫠

Of course you can pretty just call

Pretty🫧 loved of course you can pretty just call

“I’m so sorry about that” she said grabbing the ladle going to scoop some of the stew on the women’s plate, whom gives a thank you as the line continues into the day until everyone’s served.

-

Playing summer walkers “girls need love ft drake”

Sitting in your pretty pink bed in your lavishly decorated bedroom, in your off-campus apartment. Big beautiful light pink drapes layered at the base of your sheer white curtains that allowed sunlight in to pass throw the crystal beaded wind chims.

The sun setting as you lie on your bed doing a makeshift spa day, rollers in your hair, bath towel hugging your body, adding the top coat in your freshly polished toes as your phone rang.

Incoming FaceTime call from Ony 🫠

Jumping up to answer the phone frantically looking for your phone in the blankets, clearing your voice trying to calm yourself before you answered the phone.

“Hey pretty” blushing, your belly filling with warmth at his deep voice taking in his appearance. He had one a white wife beater hugging his muscles, and some gray sweatpants that had you salivating.

“Hey Ony, how are you” Your smooth voice birthing that light southern tongue that did nothing to stop the proper-ness in your voice earning a pretty smile from him.

Getting through the nitty gritty of each other’s day, talking about the smaller things.

“Hollon let me try again please how do I say it again?” You said as Ony laughed at you being unable to pronounce his name.

“On-yan-kopon” he said slowly and then you tired to repeat failing miserably making Ony burst out laughing.

“S’not funny Ony!” You said trying to keep the smile off of your face before joining his laughter. Letting the conversation drift off not paying attention to what he was saying just focusing on his face.

“Whatchu’ looking at pretty?” He said staring back into his eyes. Dazed she gave a Kurt smile before saying.

“You”

“Yea? You looking at me?” He repeated and she nodded “you can look at me all you want Friday at the fair?” He told her making her eyebrow raise.

“Excuse me sir, did you just ask me on a date?” She stated having him nod slightly confused. “No you didn’t ask me anything your going to have to make it a complete sentence” she demanded pulling another laugh from him.

“Will you go on a date to the fair with me Friday at 6pm Arin?” He finished, a smile slowly found its way to her face as she tapped her chin feigning thought.

“Of course” she said happily both smiling and cheering they talked for the rest of the night.

Not really proofread also sorry for the POV jumping I wrote it as I thought about it so apologies for that.

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[alltheirdamn]

Chapter 1: Opening Day

Series summary: You've seen it all as the team's lead photographer. You're in the tunnel before the games, on the sidelines for each inning, and always around the players. When Frankie Morales is called up for the new season, you find yourself drawn to him in ways you can't quite explain. Chapter summary: It's opening day at Petco Park, and you finally meet the team's new star catcher. Rating: 18+ (Eventual smut) Word Count: 5k Tags: Triple Frontier AU, OFC! character described as having red hair and freckles, meet-cute, two big dummies bound to catch feelings, mutual pining, slow burn, future smut, duel pov, baseball terminology, etc. A/N: Hi!!! Well, welcome to the series! I'm really excited to share this lil story with you all. I've never really written an OC! before, so hopefully I don't totally butcher it. Anyway, I'm a bit nervous but please enjoy!

Masterlist | Baseball 101

Point. Click. 

Point. Click. 

The camera shutter echoes through the stadium tunnel as you settle into your usual game-day routine. It’s your third year on the media team for the Padres, and you’re beyond eager for the new season to begin. Nothing beats the thrill of baseball season, and it definitely doesn’t suck when an endless array of beautiful men in tight polyester uniforms surrounds you.

Perched on the ground, you angle your camera down the tunnel to capture the boys as they arrive. Benny Miller, the team’s starting shortstop, waltzes through the hall after a few managers get their head start. He’s got on his usual athleisure wear, a workout bag slung over his back, and his blonde hair tousled in a way that’s both messy and intentional.

Point. Click. 

“Welcome back, Benny,” you say, your camera angled a bit higher to adjust to his height.

“Hey to you too, Red,” he grins. 

America’s heartthrob, you think.

Not far behind him is his brother, Will—or Ironhead, as they all call him. He’s been a vet on the team for nearly five years and is one of the top left-handed pitchers in the league. No doubt, with last season's standings, he’ll take them far this year. He’s got the best ERA out of any team in the National League, and his brotherly dynamic with Benny is unmatched. The only difference between Will and Benny, though, is their personalities. Where Benny is outgoing—and a bit flirtatious—Will is reserved and collected. He’s the voice of reason and the glue that holds the entire time together. 

“Hey, Will!” 

You snap a quick photo, all too aware of how much he hates the attention. He gives you a subtle nod and continues down the tunnel behind Benny. 

Santiago Garcia is the next to make his entrance, his infectious smile perfect for a candid moment. Santi was the rookie outfielder last year, securing himself a spot in the All-Star Game with his defensive playing in center field against the stronger teams. You’ve never seen such an arm on someone, and the way he commands the field is wildly impressive. His gigantic ego and self-assurance are also quite impressive and sometimes a bit aggravating. But, you let it slide. He’s a sweet man through and through and has, thankfully, never hit on you. 

Unlike the majority of the sports world. 

Especially when it comes to women working in the media industry. 

You’re convinced Santi has some sort of sixth sense for the camera because the moment you line up for the shot, he’s already sporting a wide grin directed straight at you. 

“Hola, Red,” he says, waving in your direction.

“You know I have a real name, right?” You toss back.

“Whatever you say, Red.”

You roll your eyes as he walks past you, chuckling to yourself as you scroll through the photos logged into your camera. Making a mental note of which to select for the social media posts, you realign the camera back to eye level and squint through the lens. 

The team's newest addition walks straight down the tunnel, with his head low and eyes covered by the visor of his ballcap. Francisco Morales had been called up from triple just a week before opening day. You hadn’t read up much on him or his stats, but you know he’s done quite the work as the catcher for the El Paso Chihuahuas. There had been talks of who they’d have replacing Tom Davis after his season-ending injury last year, and Francisco was their best prospect. 

“Welcome to the team, Francisco!” You holler before snapping a photo.

He barely glances up, but you catch a rosy tint coloring the tanned skin of his face and a slight twitch in the corner of his lips. He’s dressed far differently than the other boys: loose khaki pants, a basic cotton shirt, and a suede bomber jacket. He doesn’t even carry a bag with him, just a plastic bottle of water gripped tightly in one very large hand. 

You’ve been with the team long enough to know his personality is far more reserved than the rest, a bit sheepish and uncomfortable, even. Maybe that’s just the game-day jitters getting to him. 

“Can I get one of you looking at the camera?” You ask before adding a polite please at the end.

He hesitates but ultimately obliges. Through the camera lens, you meet his eyes—the soft, warm brown of his irises boring into you so intensely it causes you to falter over the shutter button. Like any baseball player, he’s got that signature scruffy face, with a distinct mustache over his plush lips and a patchy beard covering his jaw. Despite his introverted demeanor, Francisco steals the air from your lungs just from a simple glance. It’s as if he’s giving you this one moment to capture who he is, and you take it without hesitation.

Point. Click.

“Thank you, Francisco. Good luck today!”

You’re acutely aware of how shaky your voice is, which is unusual given that he hasn’t even spoken to you. 

“Frankie,” he offers as he walks past.

The raspy low pitch of his voice reverbs inside your head, and you only manage to nod in agreement to his wishes. 

Frankie. You can do that. 

**

“So, what are your predictions for game one?” Ryan asks, nudging you slightly.

You’re both crouched behind home plate shooting pre-game warmup photos, the volume in the stadium growing as more fans trickle in. You switch out your sim card and set up your camera for action shots, too focused on getting the right angle of the outfielders to respond. 

Ryan has been your partner in crime on the media team since the start, and both of you got hired right out of college. While you focus more on the game-day action, Ryan usually tends to the off-day social media posts and team engagement with fans. It’s a fair trade-off, plus you’re far more invested in the sport than Ryan is ever willing to admit.

“Hellllooo?” He waves a hand in front of your camera lens.

“I don’t like giving predictions, Ryan. You know that,” you grumble.

“You and your weird superstitions, Red.”

“It’s not weird,” you counter. “Don’t you ever pay attention to the broadcasting curse? If I say something aloud, it’s bound to go the other way, and my hopes will be crushed.”

Ryan adjusts the focus on his lens, shrugging absently at your argument. 

“It’s the first game. Even if they lose today, there’s still six months left in the season.”

“No one wants to lose their first game.”

“You care too much,” he says, but there’s a lightness in his tone.

He knows you care more than you let on. Baseball has been something ingrained in you since you were just a kid. Your dad spent the greater half of his life as the pitching coach for UCLA, dragging you to nearly every game of the season since before you could even walk. You were raised sitting in the dugout with a handful of sunflower seeds in your hand and a baseball cap covering your red hair. Being a part of a baseball team in some capacity had always been in your future, but after your dad passed away when you were just starting college, you centered your entire life around it. You threw yourself into photography, taking every chance at capturing moments that could give you just a second of nostalgia. The photos weren’t just for school, a baseball team, or a social media page… they were for you. It was your way of coping. The longer you could stay on the field, the longer you could live in that bubble of the past. 

Your dad was gone, but you still had baseball. And you’d never give it up. 

“Think Morales is gonna make his mark on the team?” Ryan asks, steering the subject in a different direction.

You tense up, locked on the memory of Frankie’s big brown eyes. There’s something about him that skyrockets your heart rate, and you aren’t sure if it’s in a good way. You search the field for those dark curls, looking at everybody on the field,  trying to spot him during the warmup. Crestfallen, you give up your search and resume snapping photos.

“I think he’ll do just fine,” you say dismissively.

“His batting average in the minors was insane,” Ryan rambles. “Just hopes it sticks here in the big leagues. You know how it is sometimes.”

You did know. Too often, have you seen star minor league players appear on the big stage and choke. Something about Frankie Morales makes you believe he won’t end up like that. There was something in his eyes that told you otherwise, a seriousness that showed this game meant something to him. 

You liked that. 

“Where’s your station for the game?” Ryan asks.

“First base. I might have to step into the bullpen for some shots if they let me.”

“I’m sure the boys will love that,” he teases.

“Oh, fuck off. They’re harmless.”

“I don’t know, Red. I see the way they look at you.”

You deadpan, giving him an icy stare. None of the boys thought of you that way, and you didn’t think of them differently. This was a job. They played the game; you took the photos. 

That was the end of it. 

“I think you’re seeing things,” you argue.

“I mean, Benny is giving you fuck me eyes from across the field right now,” Ryan shrugs.

You steal a glance out to the in-field to find Ryan is, in fact, correct. With his free hand, Benny tosses you a flirtatious wave before throwing the ball back to Santi across the field. 

“He flirts with everyone,” you say pointedly. “Did you see how many girls he brought back to his hotel rooms last season?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind adding one more.”

You punch Ryan in the arm, clearly annoyed with his pushy behavior toward the subject. Grabbing your equipment bag from the ground, you toss him a quick finger and haul your stuff down to the media room under the stadium. 

**

Frankie isn’t in the right mindset when the National Anthem concludes before the game. He’s not one to get nervous before playing, but something about seeing Petco Park sold out for opening day has him fidgeting. The only saving grace is having Santi playing alongside him. 

He and Santi met back in college, playing together from Sophomore year until Senior year when they got drafted to different teams. Santi was selected in the third round by the Houston Astros and was traded a year later to the Padres. Frankie got drafted by the Padres right away in the fifth round. He spent the last four years in the minors, just waiting to get called up.

Now, the moment is here, and he’s terrified.

Frankie doesn’t like to admit it often, but he holds himself to a higher standard. He’s fucked up in life a few times, and it’s cost him his happiness. He doesn’t want to fuck up now. Not when the entire world is watching. 

“Estás bien?” Santi asks Frankie as they head into the dugout. 

“I’m fine,” Frankie says, but his tone says otherwise. 

There’s a haze over his mind, a fog he can’t shake. Santi claps him on the back, giving him a comforting smile.

“It’s just first-game nerves, Catfish. It’ll pass after the first at-bat.”

Frankie doesn’t respond. He’s got a lump in his throat, and he can’t quite swallow it. The last thing he wants to do is disappoint his closest friend—or the team. He can’t be a disappointment. He has to be good. He has to be the best. 

He has to prove himself.

Frankie runs out onto the field, securing his catcher's mask over his face. The weight of his gear feels like a comforting anchor, leveraging him to keep his mind focused. There’s a roar from the crowd as he takes his place behind home base, and the applause and cheers only make things worse. He’s under the lights, he’s got thousands watching, and this is his one shot. 

The first pitch comes fast, a sinker that falls perfectly into his glove. Strike one. Will is on the mound, his face stoic and focused on the batter standing to the right of Frankie. There’s still some trust to gain between them both, and Frankie hopes he proves himself today. Will throws a slider next, down low and right past the bat. 

Strike two. 

Like a well-rehearsed dance, Frankie and Will waltz between batters. An easy one, two, three, and they’re out of the top of the first. Frankie runs alongside Will as they head toward the dugout, the tension in his shoulders relaxing.

“Great job out there, Morales,” Will says. “Welcome to the show.”

“Thanks, Miller. You’re solid on the mound. Those sliders are insane,” Frankie commends. 

“Gotta keep them on their toes. Now, get ready for the bottom of the inning. Show them what you can do out there.”

As Frankie steps into the dugout, he nearly collides with a body nestled into the corner of the steps. Her red hair is tousled into a ponytail, the bill of her Padres ball cap shielding her eyes from the setting sun.

“Shit, sorry,” she mumbles, stepping out of the way.

He recognizes her from earlier, the media girl in the tunnel. Frankie was so wrapped up in his thoughts earlier he hadn’t noticed how beautiful she was: bright eyes, a gentle smile, and a face covered in freckles. 

“All good,” he huffs, too flustered to choke out any more words.

“You look good out there,” she smiles. 

Frankie runs a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, no doubt looking a mess. He needs to focus—needs to move—but he can’t seem to make his way past her. 

“Be careful with Akin’s pitches,” she adds. “He tends to throw his fastballs up in the corner of the zone.”

“Thanks,” Frankie nods. He’s surprised at how much she pays attention.

“Yo! Catfish!” Santi calls from down in the dugout. “Get your ass over here now.”

“I’m assuming you’re Catfish?” She asks.

“Unfortunately,” Frankie grumbles. “Sorry, I’m just gonna go see what he wants.”

“It’s all good. I’m moving down to first base, so I’ll be out of the way.” 

She rises to her feet and gives Frankie one final smile before stepping onto the dirt. Frankie watches as she walks away, her ponytail swinging behind her with every step. 

Focus. 

**

Halfway through the batting order, you’re already onto your next sim card. You usually space out the amount of footage you take, but the game is electric. The Padres are up three to zero, thanks to a home run from Benny—obviously—and a few quick plays made by Santi and Chris Holmes. 

With two outs in the sixth, Frankie is up to bat. His first plate appearance was abysmal, with a groundout to third base. You saw his shoulders slumped as he walked off the field; he didn’t take it lightly. It’s just the first game, you tell yourself. He’ll do just fine. 

Akin throws the first pitch, a fastball, just as you expect. Frankie takes the strike and readjusts himself for the next pitch. It’s outside the zone, and he tracks it carefully. You hold your breath as he hits a full count, three balls, two strikes… and wait. Akin places a screwball down low, but Frankie manages to get a piece of it and sends it sailing into center field for a double. You startle yourself with how loud you cheer, watching his muscled body run past first and onto second base. You’re so caught up in watching him you forget to snap a photo.  

You scold yourself for missing the opportunity to capture his first hit for the team. Why are you so fixated on him? None of the other guys have ever caused you to miss a shot; no one has ever tripped you up this badly. But Frankie… there’s just something about him. He’s not self-assured like the rest. He’s not cocky in the slightest. Honestly, he looked terrified when you ran into him after the top of the first inning. Before your mind starts wandering off, you check the settings on your camera and return to shooting footage. 

The team wins five to zero. Fireworks sparkle through the night sky as the stadium begins to clear out, and you start to return to the dugout. Benny and Will are in a tight embrace as you step under the awning, your camera gear slung over your back. 

“Great win, boys,” you say, giving them each a high five. 

“Did you ever doubt us?” Benny teases, giving you a smug grin. 

“Not for a minute.”

The Miller brothers make their way down into the clubhouse, leaving you standing alone in the dugout. You peel off your ballcap and remove your ponytail, letting your hair fall down your shoulders. 

“Thanks for the advice on Akin.”

The voice startles you, and you search through the shadows to find Frankie sitting alone at the end of the bench. He’s got his glove resting beside him and his bat propped between his feet. He should be celebrating with the team down in the clubhouse, yet he’s here by himself under the stadium lights and swirling shadows. 

“I’ve got plenty more if you ever need it,” you tell him. 

Frankie doesn’t respond, but his eyes stay locked on yours. The stadium lights illuminate the rich chocolate inside his irises, making it nearly impossible to look anywhere else. 

“Shouldn’t you be with the team?” You wonder. “I’m sure they’re all celebrating the first win of the season.”

“Just wanted some time alone, I guess. Soak it all in, you know?”

You walk toward him, cautious on whether or not to get any closer. You aren’t sure if he even wants company, but you can’t seem to steer yourself away. 

“Was it everything you hoped for?” You ask. 

“It could’ve been better.”

Frankie moves his glove into his lap, offering you a space beside him on the bench. Though you feel reluctant, something inside you forces your legs to move. You want to be nearer to him, to get close enough to see past this wall he’s built up. You’re used to some players being quiet and shy, like Will. At least with Will, though, he’s fun when there’s no stress on his shoulders. He relaxes a bit from time to time and lets his guard down. Something you’ve yet to see with Frankie. 

Sliding onto the bench beside him, you adjust your camera into your lap and lay your ballcap over your knee. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Frankie’s head tilt slightly, his eyes trained on your legs. There’s still a healthy gap between you both, yet the warmth of his body swarms around you. 

“Are you with the team full-time?” He asks. 

You glance at him, studying the way his hair curls around his ears and at the base of his neck. There’s a tension in his jaw that flexes under his beard, a simple twitch that happens after every time he speaks. Despite the timid exterior, you can’t help but to notice the softness in his eyes when he looks at you. 

“Mostly just for home games,” you explain. “I only really travel with the team if they invite me on the road. They like having extra media presence for the bigger series, and whatnot. If I could be at every game, I absolutely would. Sitting on the sidelines beats having to watch it on the TV or listening to the radio.”

Frankie nods along as you talk, his lips pursed as if he’s thinking of what to say. Avoiding any more awkward silence, you flick on your camera and scroll through the photos, presenting him with a few you’d taken during his first appearance at the plate. His arm brushes yours slightly as he leans in closer, staring at the photo far longer than you expect. 

“I kind of fucked up and forgot to take a photo of you after that double in sixth,” you admit. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” he shakes his head. “I like this one.”

It’s a photo of him swinging at a curveball, his bat posed perfectly in the center of the box, and his muscular thighs flexed under his pinstripe uniform. You have to admit, it is a good shot—and he looks amazing mid-swing. Your eyes flick up to his, realizing he’s already looking at you. Thank God for the shadows inside the dugout, or else Frankie would see the way your face warms at his words. You don’t ever share your footage with the guys until it’s posted on the social media pages, but it feels different with Frankie. It strangely feels nice. 

“I feel like an asshole, I don’t think I’ve even asked for your name,” he says. 

“The guy’s normally just call me Red,” you shrug. 

“But that’s not your name.”

You tell him your name, and listen to his gentle voice echo it back. It’s rare you hear your name nowadays. Everyone just refers to you as ‘Red’, like it’s who you are. It doesn’t bother you, necessarily, but finally hearing someone acknowledge you makes your stomach flip. Frankie’s eyes never leave yours, and you realize how close you both have gotten. His leg is pressed against yours, and you can still faintly smell the turf on his uniform. He must notice it, too, because he clears his throat and shifts his legs inward. Shutting your camera off, you let it rest in your lap between your hands. There’s a quiet buzz between your bodies, a comfortable cocoon of shared silence that seems to swell with each passing second. 

“I, um, I should probably head down there with the guys,” Frankie says after a while. 

“Yeah, of course. I’m sorry if I kept you too long.”

Frankie rises from the bench, his thick fingers wrapping around the neck of his bat. He offers you a hand, and you shrink under his height as you move to stand. 

“I didn’t mind the company.”

There’s a hint of a smile on his face, just an easy curve of his lips as he stares at you a moment longer. You should move. You should definitely move. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Frankie,” you say. “Great job out there tonight.”

“Thank you.” He says your name, again, emphasizing it as if to prove a point. A gentle reminder that you’re more than just a nickname. 

**

“What took you so long, Catfish?” Santi yells from across the clubhouse. 

He’s already showered and got on his casual clothes for the drive home, something Frankie should have been doing. Instead, he had been helplessly wasting time sitting next to the photographer he had seen around all day. 

Frankie tears his baseball cap off his head, tossing it into his locker as he unbuttons his uniform. He’s still mentally picking apart the day—what he did wrong, what he could improve on—but in each thought, her shiny red hair and doe eyes make a reappearance. Shaking his head, he strips off his undershirt and searches through his stall for a fresh one. 

“Got to chatting with the team photographer,” he says, shrugging the shirt over his chest.

Santi leans against the locker stall, his mouth quirked up in a teasing grin. Frankie already knows what he’s going to say, and he regrets ever mentioning it. 

“Distracted by Red, huh?” Santi teases. “She’s got that affect.”

“She’s not distracting,” Frankie defends. “She just came down to show me some of the pictures she took, and we talked a bit. That’s all.” 

He hopes his clipped words are enough to steer Santi away from the conversation, but Santi can see right through him. 

“Red never shows anyone her photos. None of us ever see what she’s got on that camera until they’re online.”

For some reason, Frankie loves knowing he’s the exception. He saw the way she lit up as she scrolled through the footage, clearly proud of her work. Hell, he doesn’t even care she missed his big play. She spent that time in the dugout with him while his mind was a mess, and gave him a reprieve from the clouded thoughts that the game left him with. Was it awful that he was only looking forward to tomorrow’s game so he could see her again? 

“Maybe she feels bad for me, I don’t know,” Frankie huffs.

He slips on his jacket and runs a hand through his hair before putting on his hat. Santi watches him suspiciously, tracking the tense movements Frankie makes as he gathers his stuff to leave. 

“She’s a nice girl, you know, and she knows her shit, too. Hell, half the guys have tried to grab her attention the last few years, and she’s never been interested.”

“What makes you think she’s interested in me?” 

“I don’t know,” Santi drawls out the words. “Guess we’ll just have to see what she posts tonight.”

Frankie rolls his eyes, shoving past Santi and out of the clubhouse. He steers clear of the other guys as they walk together out to their cars. No one has said much to him yet, and he’s okay with it. Frankie knows he’s the new guy and it’ll take some time for everyone to warm up to him. The only person that seems to be welcoming so far, was Red. Maybe that’s just who she was, but Frankie found himself working Santi’s words over and over inside his head. Red never shows anyone her photos. What made Frankie so special, then? Was he right to think she felt bad for him? If she hadn’t been interested in anyone else, then why did she spend that time with him? 

The apartment is pitch black when Frankie opens the door. Flicking on the lights, he takes in the empty space. Moving boxes scatter the hallway, leading into the renovated kitchen. Frankie barely got the keys to his new place in San Diego two days ago, leaving him little time to settle in before opening day. After this series he’ll be on the road for a week, without any time to get acclimated. Traveling never bothered him, but he wished he could just stop and breathe for one minute. You wanted this, he reminds himself. He’s worked too hard the last several years to let this opportunity pass. The boxes can wait, at least for now.

Tossing his jacket onto the back of the sofa, Frankie slumps against the cushions, scrubbing a hand over his face. He’s been itching to look at his phone since he left the stadium, but he held off. Guess we’ll just have to see what she posts tonight. Digging out his phone from his pocket, Frankie opens Instagram and refreshes the page. Sure enough, the media team already made a post-game slideshow…with Frankie’s at-bat being the first photo. 

The same one he told her he liked the most. 

His thumb hovers over the post as he debates whether or not to look at the rest. He’s already got his one photo, there wouldn’t be any need to give fans more. Yet, as he slides his thumb left over the screen, there’s another photo of himself—from the pre-game walk through the tunnel. Even though his eyes are staring directly into the camera, he knows that wasn’t what he was looking at. His entire focus had been on the girl behind the camera. 

Frankie opens the team’s Instagram page and scrolls through the ‘following’ tab, searching for her name. It’s just innocent curiosity, that’s all it is, but as he finds her name down the list, he’s tempted to press the button. The blue Follow button taunts him, begging him to make the move. Her profile picture is a simple mirror shot, half her face covered by her camera. He wants to see more, like this odd desperation to know her past the lens she hides behind. Before he talks his way out of it, Frankie taps Follow, and sends his phone sailing across the room. It hits the carpet with a soft thud, and sits there silent on the ground. He tips his head back against the couch, pitching the bridge of his nose. God, he feels stupid. 

A soft buzz resounds through the room. Frankie slides his eyes toward his phone, seeing the carpet illuminated by the screen. Just a coincidence, he thinks. Despite the denial he spews inside his mind, he moves from the couch to retrieve his phone. 

Red has accepted your follow request. 

Red started following you. 

Frankie stares at the screen with a stupid grin on his face. He scrolls through her page, finding a surplus of photographs of the stadium, the beach, and a few cityscape shots from various cities. There isn’t a single photo of her, though. He studies each photo, wondering what she saw through the lens of the camera, wishing he could see just one of her face. As he makes his way down her page, a message notification pops onto the screen. 

Red: I hope it’s okay I posted that photo of you. 

Frankie: Absolutely. 

Red: Ok, good. I liked it, too. 

Frankie: Santi told me you don’t show anyone your photos. 

Red: Of course he did. LOL. I’m just protective over my work. I like to keep things private.

Frankie: Why’d you show them to me? 

Frankie watches as text bubbles appear and disappear over and over for at least a minute. He half considers turning his phone off for the night to avoid her response. He shouldn’t care why she showed him, but the thought of it would keep him up all night, wondering why he was deserving of it and not anyone else. His phone buzzes in his hands, and Frankie quickly opens the message. 

Red: I don’t know. You’re the only person I really felt like sharing it with. 

Frankie: I feel honored. Any time you want to share them, I’m always around. 

Red: I’m holding you to that. 

Frankie thinks of a million things to reply with, but his fingers don’t move; all he can think about is seeing her again tomorrow.

[babybluebex]

no because let's talk about the breeding kink 🤨

sigh, i SHOULD be doing anything other than this... getting ready to move tomorrow... getting ready to start my job tomorrow... my daily cardio... but whatever let's do it

so BIG warning below the cut for explicit smut, if you aren't into that, maybe sit this one out :) cw for obviously breeding kink, a brief diatribe ab safe sex practices, edging/overstim, use of "mommy/daddy" but not sexually (you'll see), a surprise munch!dom shows up at the end

but yeah. he has a thing about breeding you. he doesn't think he does, bc like?? doesn't everyone like that?? he has experience before you, sure, but he's not exactly up to date on what fetishes are normal and what fetishes appear in porn a lot (he is, after all, a 21 year old guy, we can't give him too much credit)

but you don't find out about this kink of his for a little while, you guys have slept together a handful of times but your relationship is starting to get a lot more serious than before, and even though it seems a little quick, it feels right to already be thinking about getting married to him

but you're talking about everything one night, just trying to have healthy communication with a glass of wine yknow, and you ask him like "how do you feel about kids?" and he seems a little nervy?? and he's like "idk... i never really thought about a future of mine that didn't have kids in it" "but do you want them?" "of course. it's just, like, i want them, but i've also never thought about not having them. it's just always something i've wanted" and you're like cool, cool... "i think i wanna have kids with you" and he gets a little pink in the face "aw... thanks... that's sweet"

and you move on from that part of the conversation, and you think it's been forgotten, until a few days later

your man has been fuckin stressed out, luckily he's filming in jersey so he gets to stay relatively close to you, and you manage to rent a little airbnb in the town he's filming in so that he can come home to you, but he's about to tear his hair out, he's trying to film this but then also learn lines for his next project, and he's still slinging out audition tapes for every door his agent can manage to get his foot in, and you hate to see him like this, so he gets home from set one night to the smell of his favorite dinner cooking, and he sets down his stuff and is like "baby?"

comes into the kitchen and yes you're cooking, but you've got your hair done up all pretty with those sparkly pins you wore to the baftas, and you're wearing that lipstick that drives him crazy, and... are you?? you can't be?? wearing one of his shirts and his favorite panties of yours that show off all your assets?? his favorite outfit on you!! and all he can manage is a dry-mouthed lil "wuh?"

and you smile at him "just in time, sweetheart, that oven's about to go off, and then we'll be ready to eat" and you go to him and kiss him gently, and he's still like ‼️ and you go "everything ok? you're quiet"

"what is this...?" and he grabs your hips and does the thing that vision did to wanda in ep1 of wandavision "what are you wearing??"

"well you've been so stressed out..." you start "i wanted to do something nice for you"

"oh baby this is very nice" he says and he can't get his eyes off of you "i might have to marry you if you keep this up"

"is that a promise?"

anyway yeah, he's worked up now and marriage is on his mind (therefore kids are too) and you have dinner, but he eventually gets you in his lap and is rubbing your thighs and kissing your neck and you're trying to talk to him like "should we put on a movie? or i can beam my spotify to the TV and we can listen to some music?" but he's got tunnel vision on your soft skin

so you give it up and start to get into it, kissing him back and tugging off his shirt, and he does the same to you so that you're skin to skin, and like of course you know what a loverboy dom can be, but this is something completely different, this is devotion and admiration and complete sickening love, and you just can't help yourself from whispering "want you to put a baby in me, dommy" and he doesn't skip a beat, almost like he was hoping you'd say something like that "yeah? you wanna have my baby? aren't you on the pill?" "yeah, but i can—" and you pause to bite him bottom lip gently as his hands slink down to your panties "i can get off it" "fuck, baby" he whispers, tilting his head to press a kiss under your ear "don't tease me like that" "not teasing you" you tell him

and he checks with you a couple of times as he gets you in bed and gets you naked, kissing down your body and dragging his tongue around your soft flesh, really making sure you're truly down for all of this, but even through his gentle care, you can see the brick in his jeans and like fuuuuck he wants this so badly too

finally getting him out of his clothes and closing your legs around his waist, and he kisses you deeply as he starts to lean off to the side to the nightstand, and he sorta chuckles "guess we, umm... don't need that... right?"

and you smile and shake your head, and dom gives you a soft melty look "if you change your mind, please let me know" he says gently, taking up his rock-hard dick into his hand and stroking himself a few times "i don't wanna, like, knock you up and it turns out you wanted me to put on a condom halfway thru, like just let me know—" "dominic, i know you're trying to be nice" you start "and i really appreciate that and love you for it, but i already told you: i'm all in. i want this"

and like you have never in your life had unprotected sex before, like the pill was really more for hormone management than actual birth control, and with past partners you've always been cautious and made them wear condoms "just in case" (which like irl is a good practice, it's never a bad idea to be cautious ab sex bc like sti's and various things can be spread without a condom, so like whatever, off my apple box, basically wrap it before you tap it pls) but with dom, you don't have any reason to worry bc you know he's clean and like the desired outcome would only happen without a condom

but maybe it's that safety and security that makes his raw cock inside you feel so much better than usual, and you whimper as he laughs a little "s'okay, baby" he tells you "i've got you, daddy's got you" and you smile and laugh, and you're like "is this me discovering you have a daddy kink?" "no" he scoffs "but it is daddy taking care of mommy. right?"

and he's got those big eyes at you, gnawing on his bottom lip, and you gently use your thumb to pull his lips from between his teeth and you kiss him, and he gets down to business

he's being a little more feral than typical, just holding onto you harder and fucking into you with a quick pace, and he can't keep his mouth off of you, he's either kissing your lips or kissing your neck, and towards the end he presses his lips to your neck and just sorta pathetically moans as he nears his finish

and every sensation inside you is making fireworks pop, all you can do is moan and whimper and claw down his back as hot pleasure spreads throughout your whole body, and your breath catches in your throat when he reaches down and starts playing with your clit, your hips bucking at the sudden onslaught and near overstimulation, but he's being VERY attentive and he notices your breathing change and he goes "you ok?"

you nod quickly, biting your lip harshly "m'close!" you squeak, and he smiles, reaching out above your head and grabbing the headboard to keep himself up, and you really understand what it means to be animalistic, bc he raises his arm and you smell the sweat and pheromones seeping out of his pores and you go a lil crazy for a moment "dom! dom, baby, please, please..." "oh yeah?" he asks and he smiles when you sob out "is it good, baby?" "yes!" you hiccup and you reach up and wrap your fingers around his wrist and just fuckin hang on for dear life and then he suddenly stiffens and freezes and you gasp, worried something's wrong, but his smile is too coy, his eyes glittering too much "tell me how much you want it" he tells you, his fingers hovering so close to your throbbing clit that you swear you can still feel them and you can only manage to mumble a confused "wha...?" "tell me" he says "how much. you want it. tell me how badly you want me to cum inside you and get you pregnant" "you're fucking evil" you gasp and shift your hips to try to get contact with his hand, but he shifts further away, denying it to you "i never claimed to be anything else" he laughs "you want me to knock you up so badly, you gotta tell me" "dommy" you whine "please! you're close too, i can feel you throbbing" and like yeah he's so close to his finish that you don't know how he hasn't busted inside you in the last 30 seconds "well then you better hurry up and talk to me" dom says and you swallow with a dry throat and squeeze his wrist, and you watch his bicep flex and your mouth waters "want it bad, baby" you tell him "want you to fill me up, want it to leak outta me when we're done" "mhm" dom nods, and he leans down and gently kisses your lips "you're gonna get all pregnant, all big with my fuckin baby... walking around like that with my ring on your hand, and everyone'll know what a slut you are, what you let me do to you... s'that it, baby? you wanna be my little slut?" you nod quickly, trying to chase him back into a kiss, but his hand moves from the headboard down to grab your neck and force you back down, and he's not even remotely squeezing or doing anything, he's not even putting force into the push, his hand is just There, and you gasp "yeah!" you whimper, and you throb, flexing around him, and he hisses through his teeth "w-wanna be yours, baby, wanna be only yours"

and with his hand on your throat, he starts fucking into you again, his smooth stomach flexing with each thrust, his tattoo shifting with his skin, and he presses his forehead against yours and kisses you, and he mumbles "gonna..." and you just nod and curl your fingers in his messy hair (that's getting increasingly frizzy and crazy with the sweat and heat), and his eyebrows knit together as his reddened mouth opens against yours, and he chokes out a groan, and then you feel him spilling inside you as his thrusts slow down, filling you and making the whole thing like 1000 times louder with the wet sound of him still fucking you through it

and he keeps going even when he's panting and wincing, and you're like "baby, stop, it's ok" and he cuts you off "gotta make sure it takes..." and goes for a little longer before he slowly pulls out and sighs as he watches his cum seep out of your poor little cunt, and he chuckles lightly "cool"

and you smile and start to reach out to hug him, but he sours pretty quickly "did you cum?" "umm... no" you tell him and he rolls his eyes "fuck, momma, you didn't think to tell me that before i came?" and you laugh but try to hide just how much you love him calling you that "just didn't think about it" and he shakes his head and licks his lips "nah, that's not gonna fuckin work" he says, and he shoves his sweaty curls off of his forehead as he slinks down your body, laying open-mouth kisses on your skin as he goes, and he finally reaches his destination, looking up at you thru his pretty eyelashes before he dives in

and yay munch dom makes an appearance!! bc he's having the time of his life down there, holding your hips in his hands and smoothing his thumbs across your skin, and you're jostling around with every kitten lick he gives you, and he's getting messy and loud, and you just tug on his hair and squeak "dom!" and then the wave of warmth and energy washes over you, and you're just laying there, twitching and sobbing as he continues to eat you through it, and you hear him whisper "good, good, just like that, momma, so good for me"

once you settle down and dom wipes your tears off your face, he gets up and pulls on a pair of sweatpants and they hang all low on his hips as he bustles around, reaching into the bathroom and starting up the shower, find your panties that he had tossed across the room and now hung from the plant in the corner

and he notices u all quiet on the bed and he's like "you ok, sweetheart?"

and you know it's cheesy but you tell him "yeah. we're fine"

"you think it worked?" and he sits next to you and rubs your thigh soothingly

and you nod, and he smiles and kisses you "well, i can't wait to meet them"

[logan-lieutenant]

Goodbye to a World

reading between the lines of the various goodbyes and dismissals to logan sargeant

Pt. 1: Williams App

i don’t have to say a whole lot about the end of july. the wait is over! our second seat for 2025! carlos’s video which was professional and respectful and obligatory. williams garage’s video, which was appalling and shameful and disgraceful. we remember, we were there. something to recall, though– you guys remember how there was NO logan announcement? like NONE? we scoured social media like we were stalking our ex and there was nothing?

so we though– or at least, so i thought. i didn’t find the official logan departure announcement until weeks later, and i’m going to have to do this off the top of my head since in the past few days it’s been taken down, but i finally fucking found it– it’s in the williams app. hard to find because you have to scroll through five or six videos first, all under the category:

every time i genuinely think okay, this time it really can’t get worse, we smash through rock bottom like it’s a chassis in australia and hit another. even looking at this old screenshot makes my blood boil. i’m not going to be very coherent so let’s just break this down and phrase all the fuck-ups in a list:

- the only way to find the message is if you have the app. if you PARTICIPATE IN MORE TEAM MARKETING/PROMOTION PLATFORMS. you have to have an account, too. sainz gets eight posts on every single social the team can admin at once, including links, but logan’s post is essentially an easter egg.

- logan’s goodbye post isn’t its own post, it’s included in the sainz category. he doesn’t even get to be an individual figure leaving the team; he’s an event, he’s a side effect, just a domino tipped by another much more important decision. the end of his entire future is a footnote. it’s causation. it’s collateral.

- his cute lil article? it’s titled Thank you, Logan: His Williams Journey. it’s not even titled about logan. it’s williams saying “hey! look at us lovely guardian angels 😌 see how we took this poor little bird under our wings 😊 we’re so philanthropic and generous 😊 read along and find out all the amazing things we did for our little buddy!” it’s promo. it’s propaganda. in the midst of their announcement that he’s being kicked to the curb they take the opportunity to pat themselves on the back for everything they’ve done for him. it’s not enough to bury him alive, they had to dance on his grave too.

- i think there’s a good chance a robot wrote this. either that or they picked the most unoriginal journalist they could find.

that’s just humiliating. a thirteen year old on wattpad describing someone’s eyes as cerulean orbs makes a more captivating point than this.

- james consonants has one quote in the article. he’s the only one who’s quoted. the rest of it is about logan’s carer in junior series with williams driver academy. the last sentence is:

this is going to be more relevant in the posts ahead, when jv pops off once again. but can i also say how revolting it is that the message comes from james? when logan gets dropped early the wording gets a little different, but in the initial announcement (if you can even call it that) it’s all about james. what james has to say to logan specifically. williams’ whole thing is that they’re a family team, birds of a feather that stick together, they have each other’s backs and love and friendship and lalala all that bullshit. one would THINK it would be in their best interest to remember who they are. but nope. instead we get james making a point to single himself out so that he alone gets to show off how kind and forgiving and gracious he is to logan and the lack of a team statement gives the implication that the rest of the team didn’t even care. didn’t even notice. of course that isn’t what’s directly communicated but how sloppy and careless can you get with the wording that that message can even be interpreted IN THE FIRST PLACE?

all in all, williams is telling the world:

logan is not even worth effort. it’s not enough that they’re going to abandon his strategy, give him the shittier car, ice him out in his own team, not give his car any upgrades until over halfway through the season… they’re going to make sure we know that he isn’t even worth good writing. the lack of respect and decency and acknowledging someone as a human being with a sentient presence in the world is so severe that even on the fucking internet, where all they literally have to do so much pr and image management, they don’t have the words.

williams is making sure we all know: logan is so worthless he’s not worth taking the time to say that he’s worthless. they talk about underperformance, and this is the way they treat their team members. their fucking drivers. the faces of the brand.

it’s almost comical. it’s unbelievable. if someone was writing this in a story and i was proofreading, i’d tell them to tone it down, because at this point the antagonist is becoming too villainous to be believable; they’re a caricature, a parody.

but no. this is actually happening.

(to be continued)

[rebo-chan]

KHR Mandela Effects

ALRIGHT YALL IMMA LAY DOWN WHATS UP HERE. WE'RE ALL BEING PRANKED.

THERE ARE SOME KHR MANDELA EFFECTS OUT THERE THAT HAVE BEEN RUINING MY LIFE BECAUSE WHERE ARE THEY. WHY DO THEY NO LONGER EXIST. AT WHAT POINT DID I ENTER ONE OF BYAKURANS PARALLEL WORLDS AND WHY IS HE FUCKING WITH ME.

THE FUCKING FON HARU HARU INTERVIEW. YES ITS IN THE MANGA, BUT ALSO I REMEMBER IT BEING ANIMATED. I REMEMBER SEEING HIS LIL COLORED RED SLEEVES AND HEARING HIS VOICE AND LAUGH. IT WAS THERE!!!!!!! BUT LO AND BEHOLD, WHEN I GO TO LOOK TO SHOW A FRIEND I CANNOT FIND IT. YALL THIS HAUNTED ME SINCE THE CONVO CAME UP IN MY DISCORD SERVER. WHERE IS IT??

Okay, this one, I'll admit I'm probably delusional for. Only because, unlike the fon interview, I'm the only one who remembers it. There **WAS** a frame in the manga during Shimon arc where Mukurowl tells Chrome that they should abandon Tsuna bc there's no way they're gonna win against Daemon. Chrome refuses and IN RETALATION FOR HER AUDACITY, he PECKS HER. I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER THIS. and I know theres a few frames where he like digs his claws into her, but thats not it I REMEMBER IT BEING A LIL PECK. AND HER CUTE LIL 'ow!' I hunted.. for this scene tirelessly. Now, you may think of that moment where he like claws at her during shimon when Daemon possesses his body but thats NOT IT!! IT WAS CLEARLY A PECK. nobody else believes me yall im suffering. The worst part? There's proof of me liveblogging this to one of my friends and going "EHJNHH MUKURO JUST PECKED CHROME" it was about 2 years ago. Where did it go. I need answers. Its such a clear frame in my memory yall IM LOSING IT.

So, this is one I'M NOT insane about because there are other people who remember this. There was a scene where Checkerface claimed that he doesn't care what happens to the Vongola rings or the mare rings, because they are 'weaker' parts of Trinisette than the Arcobaleno pacifiers are. You see, we were discussing how that makes no sense because there'll all the same set of 7 rocks that were broken into twenty-one pieces how could they be WEAKER? yall, you need to understand I have had BEEF with checkerface for saying that for YEARS. BECAUSE IT SOUNDED STUPID. HOW IS THE ASPECT OF TRINISETTE THAT WE'VE BEEN FOLLOWING FOR 400 CHAPTERS THE WEAKER HALF?? Well, lucky me BECAUSE IT DIDNT HAPPEN. We went to go read Checkerface's appearance in Rainbow arc and he says NOTHING even remotely close to that. WHERE DID THIS BELIEF COME FROM? You see, though, unlike the Mukuro peck and the Fon interview, I am NOT upset that byakuran is fucking with me here. Frankly, I am pleased. Thank you for fixing what was ALWAYS MEANT TO BE, Byakuran.

The 'virgin' line. (Said like a horror clips youtuber). This one is for me and my friend ketchup because we are the ones that remember this distinctly. There is a scene where Reborn calls Yam and Tsuna a virgin for getting embarrassed about thinking about girls in the bath. NOW I KNOW YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THAT ONE SCENE IN FUTURE WHERE THIS EXACT THING HAPPENS, BUT NO IN THAT SCENE DEPENDING ON THE TRANSLATION HE EITHER CALLS THEM IMMATURE OR CHILDISH. OR SAYS THEY'RE ACTING LIKE KIDS. See, heres the thing its easy to chalk this up to a translation thing. The problem is, both me and ketchup saw this same translation, and NEITHER OF US ARE ABLE TO LOCATE THAT TRANSLATION. WE'VE CHECKED ALL THE DIFFERENT MANGA SITES WE CAN THINK OF, WE'VE USED VIZ'S TRANSLATION OF THE MANGA, WE LOOKED AT THE ANIME SUBTITLES. I WENT ALL THE WAY BACK TO AN OLD ANCIENT ASS ANIME SITE THAT STILL HAS THE OLD FAN TRANSLATIONS (So Viz's translation calls them 'deathperation' but most fan translations will call them dying will flames. thats how you know the dangerous) THAT IS OLD AND GRAINY AND LOOKS LIKE I'M WATCHING A HORROR MOVIE AND THE SCREEN IS GONNA CHANGE ANY MOMENT TO BE A PICTURE OF THE GIRL FROM THE RING. N O T H I N G. Where IS IT. I'M GONNA CRY.

Alright yall that's all the ones that have been on my mind, but please if you have any mandela effects on this series in your own memory please share. SOMETHING HAPPENED, AND I WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT. WHEN DID BYAKURAN SWITCH US UP.

[albed-hoe]

RAHHH i’m back 👹👹👹

today i made the subconcious decision to pull for c1 hutao with my 30 saved wishes for furina and genuinely cannot tell if i’m upset abt it or not (i have so many unbuilt 5 stars it’s TERRIBLE i cannot afford to add her to my collection 😭.)

BUT IM NOT HERE TO RANT YOUR EAR OFF!

i’m here to deliver that lynette version you oh so requested 😘

NOTE: IK YOU LEGIT JUST GOT BACK INTO WRITING SO DONT FEEL THE NEED TO WRITE THIS ASAP JUST LET IT SIT UNTIL YOU FEEL UR CREATIVE MIND JUICES FLOWING AND TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF 👹👹👹👹

but yes, i thought while it’s fresh in my mind i’ll submit this entry to you for when you feel like writing this specific prompt 😁

SO without further adieu,

FOUND FAMILY /w COMFORT PT 2: so this is following a similar path to my freminet one. basically m!reader decided to take a peaceful walk around the court of fontaine with freminet (it can be a continuation of the first part or a completely seperate writing piece, up to you!) and on the way they run into lynette. ofc they invite her along and ask why she isn’t with her brother, and she explains how he’s off with the traveller on some errands.

they all decide to sit down to have some tea & sweets and m!reader offers to order (bc freminet is a lil shy and lynette jus isn’t a people gal), so freminet goes to sit at a table & lynette stands in line to wait for the order after m!reader has finished paying (once again, lyney scored bae material 😍).

after m!reader sits down with freminet and starts a lil conversation abt what he found diving a few days ago, he notices lynette getting hit on by some random dude. she’s visibly uncomfortable and attempting to move away from this man but he is PERSISTENT (not physically touching her but he’s pretty pushy)

ofc, m!reader isn’t gonna tolerate this vile behaviour towards his future sister-in-law, so he goes up to the man and creates distance between the two and (not so kindly) tells the dude to fuck off. creepo notices the vision on our person (idm what element 🫶🏻) and quickly scurries off.

m!reader verbally assures lynette (he’s wary of making her uncomfortable by hugging her bc ifykyk) that he won’t let anything happen to her whilst he’s around and lynette gives a lil smile (FJAKFKWKFKQ I LOVE THE TRIO SM 😭)

eventually the tea & cakes come and freminet runs up to lynette worried abt her, but she jus reassures him that she’s okay and they enjoy a peaceful afternoon snack together <33

later on m!reader gets a knock on his door, only to open it and find a teary eyed lyney with a massive fuckin bouquet. ofc we’re in shock, but before we question everything he chucks them on the floor of our house and gives us a massive hug, thanking us once again for looking out so much for his family (with lynette’s heartbreaking backstory i just know something like this would freak lyney tf out). we just hug him back and say how his family is our family and how he loves lyney’s siblings like his own (fixing my family issues w this request for real 😔) and i’m lyney is 100% planning their marriage once more in his head 😭.



Found Family (Lynette ver.)

Characters: Freminet, Lynette & Lyney x GN!Reader (no mention of gender, but reader is putting ring on Lyney's finger in daydream at the end)

Summary: Lynette is attacked by a creep, but Lyney's future husband/partner comes to the rescue!

Warnings: Creep attacking Lynette, fluff, silly little Lyney at the end

Word count: 674

A/n: Okayyy I have an ask from over a year ago about reader’s first time with Kazuha and I wanna write that so bad?? Do you guys want that too?👀 (This is not a continuation of the Freminet ver.)

The streets of the Court of Fontaine were busy as a usual weekend afternoon would make them. You were walking around, observing the different food stalls and stores with Freminet trailing you. The boy was looking around at different things that interested him, tugging on your sleeve to show you items from time to time. (HELP HE’S SO ADORABLE) Suddenly, you spotted a familiar whisp of hair in the distance. You take Freminet’s hand and pull him to catch up with the other person.

“Lynette!” You call out to the boy’s sister, catching her attention. She turns around and gives you a nod in greeting. “Hello, [Y/N].” She ruffles her brother’s hair to greet him, as she usually would.

Lynette had a good feeling about you as soon as Lyney had introduced you to her. She had a knack for being able to ‘detect’ someone’s intentions and from day one, she was sure you were a good person. Normally she would keep her guard up and try to protect her brothers from people who would try to take advantage of them, but… You were different. She approved of you.

You invite them both for some tea and sweets at a smaller café, bringing them over to find a table. You ask them what they both want and head over to place the order at the counter. As you finish telling the server the orders and paying, you return to the table and sit with Freminet, striking up light conversation. When you turn to the lineup to see where Lynette is, you find a man getting quite close to her. You knew she was not a fan of social interactions, so it was a little odd to see someone acting so familiar with the girl while she was looking nervous. Something about his mannerisms was getting to you, but you could not quite figure out what it was until he touched her upper arm. The sudden disrespect towards your (future) sister-in-law prompts you to walk up to the two, and you grab the man’s arm holding on hard enough to make him let go.

“Kindly leave, before I make you.” You say, with a sarcastic smile on your face. Lynette is standing behind a hand resting on the area the man had been grabbing. He laughs in disbelief and scoffs.

“Or what? She obviously wants me.” Lynette turns away in disgust to wait at the counter for the order. Your vision glows and your grip strengthens.

“Or you’ll regret it.” An expression of fear settles on his face as he sees the anger in your eyes. You let his arm go and he turns around and leaves without saying another word. You turn back to Lynette, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

“You okay?” You ask her. She nods and you both take the order and join Freminet at the table.

The tea and sweets get gobbled up and the three of you make your way back to the siblings’ home after finishing up. You say your goodbyes and you part ways with them, heading back to your small apartment.

A few hours later, a knock is heard at the door. You open it to see Lyney holding a massive bouquet with tears in his eyes. Before you can question him, he drops the bouquet on the ground and throws himself in your arms.

“Thank you so much for taking care of my siblings!!” He says into your neck, your arms coming to wrap around his back after you recover from your shock.

After a few moments, you pull him away from you and set your hands on both his shoulders.

“Your family is mine, Lyney. You entrusted your siblings with me, so I cared for them.” His eyes water up again and he hugs you even harder than the first time. As he cries into your shoulder, his mind keeps replaying a scene of you slipping a ring over his finger to tie the knot between you both forever.

Not 100% proud of this one but eh :/

[enthusiasticharry]

𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 | 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 10.0k

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: second chapter! i know a lot of you have been waiting for this one and i have too. this chapter is honestly so cute, if i do say so myself, but also has some very important plot points so do watch out! please let me know what you think, what you think of the development, and what you want to see next! i'm all ears! (also sorry this took a little longer than expected, been a lil busy with work)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: explicit language, drug and alcohol use (abuse?), harry being a very sexy 70s rockstar pt.2.

𝐩𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 HERE

Los Angeles, Summer 1971

YN’s life had changed in so many ways that it was difficult to keep up with it.

One of the things that she had decided after she had left home that day, over a year ago now, was that she wasn’t going to allow her life to be governed by her past, instead, she was going to focus on the present and set her mind to the future.

That present at the moment, however, was definitely not one of her best moments. Doing a line of coke in her manager’s bathroom just before an important meeting wasn’t something that she was proud of when she looked back at that time in her life, but that was just her new normal. YN wouldn’t say that she became dependent on drugs after leaving her parents then, but now that was certainly the case. But then again, no one really admits when they have a problem – then or now.

YN knew that she was late for the meeting that she had been told about yesterday, but she didn’t care about that. The boardroom that YN walked towards was already full, and she could see Leroy’s face set the second that he spotted her walking towards them. Throwing the door to the room open, YN tried not to focus on the fact that all eyes were on her. There was a seat free directly across from Leroy, so she sat down there. YN pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and offered him one of her biggest smiles.

“You’re twenty minutes late, YN,” Leroy looked at his watch just to check that he had gotten the timings right, or maybe just to annoy her and make his point.

YN shrugged, “I was actually only ten minutes late but then I needed to use the bathroom.”

Leroy looked at her, and she knew what look he was giving her, but she just pushed that to the back of her head. At the end of the day, he was her manager – he didn’t control her.

YN had met Leroy a year ago, a few months after she had left her parents. She had been singing in a few bars here and there, and people were starting to recognise who she was. It had been a random day; YN couldn’t exactly remember the date when she had been approached by Leroy in a bar that she had just performed in. At first, she was a little creeped out by him, especially when he started the conversation by saying that he had been following her for a while and was impressed by what she had been doing. YN was off her head the entire night, and if it wasn’t for him giving her his business card, she probably wouldn’t have remembered the conversation the next day.

“It took you ten minutes to use the bathroom?” He asked, a confused look on his face.

“Leroy,” YN warned with a shake of her head, “You should never ask a lady what she does in the bathroom.”

He scoffed at her slightly and shook his head, “I’ll remember that.”

“Well, now is probably the time you should tell me why you got me out of bed before midday on a Sunday,” She smiled, obviously not being very sincere with it.

In all honesty, YN normally wouldn’t have been awake until the mid-afternoon, but the phone in her and Vivienne’s flat had woken her up from her slumber and it was Leroy’s assistant on the line, telling her that she needed to be in for a meeting at eleven. She had set off from her apartment already late, so by the time she made it she didn’t care and was just focused on getting there when she felt like it.

Leroy sighed, as though he was about to say something big and profound, “We’ve had a proposition.”

YN furrows her brows at him, unsure as to why he was making such a big deal out of this and still hadn’t told her, “Yes, okay, and what is this proposition?”

“We’ve had contact made by another artist's manager in regard to the two of you recording a duet,” YN was confused as to why Leroy was making such a big deal about this. He was obviously hiding something from her, and he needed to tell her what it was right now, or she was going to lose interest very quickly.

“What is it?” She sighed, leaning back in her chair, and crossing her arms across her chest. She was getting fed up, now, “You’re obviously keeping something from me, Leroy.”

“It’s only that, the artist’s manager contacted us…” He paused for a second, looking at the other men that sat around the table, “That artist… it’s Harry Styles.” 

YN immediately shook her head, “No, Leroy.”

Leroy had known about the night with Harry over a year prior when they met. That was one of the first things they spoke about, as well as YN’s family. That night had changed YN’s life forever, for the better and for the worst. She truly tried to focus on the positive parts, but it was a little difficult when the negative overweighed that. One of the first things that Leroy proposed when he became her manager was to get in contact with Harry and do another show, but YN had been firmly against that idea.

“Don’t shut it down straight away, YN,” Leroy sighed, closing his eyes, and shaking his head, “Please listen to me.”

“I told you when I signed with you that I wasn’t going to sing with him again, Leroy,” YN was starting to get annoyed because he wasn’t listening to her.

YN understood that he wanted what was best for her, her career, and for their company. It was a shame that it sometimes meant them going against what YN said and wanted. She truly did try to stand her ground and make it so that they listened to her but there were times when she couldn’t do anything. The one thing that YN hated was when Leroy pulled the contract card. She knew that she couldn’t do anything because she was so high when she signed her contract that she didn’t read it properly. It was her own fault, but it was times like these that she could truly kick herself for it.

“I just want you to think about your career for a moment, YN, and what you want from it,” Leroy sighed, tapping his hands on the table as he did so, “I understand that you have personal feelings mixed up in this, but think about what this song will do. They may ask you to tour with them. You may be able to finally get that record deal signed the way you want it.”

YN knew he was right, and it killed her. It wasn’t even that she had personal feelings with Harry, because she couldn’t care less about what that man had said to her, it was just that night in general. There were so many things that she could have done differently, but it was too late to be thinking about that now.

After dwelling on it for a few minutes, she said to him, “If I say yes, what would I have to do?”

Leroy seemed to let out a sigh of relief, almost as though he hadn’t expected her to even contemplate saying yes to him in any capacity. In her head, she wasn’t thinking about the publicity she would get from it she was rather thinking of the experience that she may be able to have. She may get to go on tour, and the record label that Leroy had been trying to get her on might actually think about taking her and letting her have a shot at her own album.

It was difficult for a woman in this business, and YN realised that very quickly. Whilst people did care about her voice, they were more enthralled with her. It was the way she moved, and the way she dressed. People couldn’t take their eyes off of her because of who she was, and that was the thing that YN enjoyed for a while, but she wanted those people to enjoy her and her music now.

“They want you in the studio, tomorrow,” Leroy sighed, and YN had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, “Late afternoon, just for a sing-through before they make the decision about recording. But if it all goes well, which it will YN, you could have your first recorded song by the end of the day tomorrow.”

YN slumped back in her chair and brought her hand up to her face. She couldn’t believe it. She could actually have her first recorded song by the end of the day tomorrow, and all she had to do was impress Harry and his band, and probably his team. It couldn’t be that difficult, seeing as though she had done it a year prior without any problems.

“Tell them I’ll be there,” She nodded, pulling her sunglasses back down to her nose and standing up.

“YN, wait!” Leroy called as she started to walk towards the door, “You don’t even know where there is!”

She turned to him with a little lift on the corners of her cheeks, “Malibu, right?”

“Yes, but –”

“Just tell them I’ll be there, Leroy,” And with that, she let the door slam behind her as she strutted off down the hallway.

YN had no idea what to do with herself. If there was one thing she knew she had to do, it was celebrating, but she couldn’t get too fucked up – she had to be on her best behaviour for tomorrow. The second she had found Vivienne and told her the news; they were immediately making their way out of the house to meet up with a few of Vivienne’s friends for a celebration.

YN was supposed to be on her best behaviour, and she knew that, but there was also the nagging voice in the back of her head that said that she would have all of tomorrow morning and early afternoon to recover, so there was a slight margin for error.

That slight margin would need to succeed because YN took it way too far in celebrations that day – as she always did. 

By the time YN woke up the next day, she was already late.

There was a pounding within her head that caused YN to want nothing more than to turn over and go back to sleep, but then again that wasn’t anything that throwing back a few pills and washing them down with the half-drunk bottle of champagne on her bedside table wouldn’t fix. She sat up and placed her feet against the plush rug under her bed, bracing her hands on her knees before she actually attempted to stand up.

YN was just about to stand up when her movements were stopped by an unfamiliar sound in her room. She turned around to see a half-naked man asleep in her bed and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. This certainly wasn’t how she wanted to start today.

Standing up, she immediately grabbed a pair of shorts from the floor as well as a shirt. It wasn’t a familiar shirt, but she needed something – anything – to wear. She walked out of her room, pulled her hair up into a half-arsed bun on the top of her head and made her way into the bathroom. It didn’t take her long to change, wash her face and brush her teeth before she was grabbing her bag and Vivienne’s keys.

“Hey,” Vivienne called from the kitchen, frying pan in hand, “What are you doing with my keys?”

“Late for the studio, promise I’ll bring the car back in one piece!” YN pressed a kiss to her friend’s cheek as she passed her. She opened the front door and just as she stepped out, she turned back to Vivienne, “There’s also a slight problem in my bedroom which I don’t have time to fix.”

Vivienne shook her head, “Go! You don’t need to be later than you are, but you owe me!”

“Thank you!” YN blew another kiss in her direction, “Love you!”

YN heard Vivienne call something back, but it was no use, she was already halfway down the steps and rushing towards Vivienne’s car. She pulled her sunglasses on, opened the door, and slipped in. The leather was hot on her skin, and she pulled the window’s all the way down before she even set off. The drive to Malibu wasn’t that long from where she lived, and with the window’s down and the stereo up, she made it in no time.

If this was YN a year ago, she would’ve been so nervous for this that she probably wouldn’t have shown up and if she did go, she would’ve shown up a few hours early. She didn’t actually know what the time was, but she could’ve guessed that she was a few hours late. Today, she didn’t care. She didn’t care how late she was when she parked in front of the studio, or how late she was when she burst through the doors with her sunglasses still on her face.

There was a girl sitting at the front desk, and her mouth slightly dropped open at the sight of YN walking in. YN had no idea if it was because she knew who she was or because of the state she was in – probably if YN had to guess, it was both.

“YN YLN,” She leant against the desk and tapped her nail on the wood, “Supposed to have a meeting with Harry Styles, which studio is he in?”

“Um,” The girl swallowed, as though she was nervous, “The second one, down the hall to the right.”

“Thanks, doll,” YN flashed the girl a quick smile and started her way down the corridor. Her cowboy boots tapped on the carpet with every step, and she clamped down on her bottom lip to stop the excitement from showing too much on her face.

The door was closed, and she didn’t even bother knocking before she pushed it open. Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to the girl, some of them with shock on their faces and others (mainly Harry) with a look of annoyance on their face. Harry was standing directly in front of her, behind glass may she add, but she was looking at him directly in the face. He had obviously been recording before she stepped in due to the track playing in the background, but the man behind the desk pressed a button and that stopped it.

Harry pursed his features as he looked at her, his eyebrows furrowing, “You’re late.”

YN pulled her sunglasses off her face and pretended to look at a watch on her wrist, “Well, to me it looks like I’m perfectly on time.”

“You were supposed to be here two hours ago,” He continued, pointing to the clock on the wall.

“Well, I’m here now,” She shrugged, pulling her bag off her shoulder, and dropping down on the sofa next to her, “Are we going to record or not?”

“We’re not recording,” He snapped, a little too quickly for YN’s liking, “We’re just going to sing a song, and then you’re going to go home.”

YN shrugged, “Fine then, what are we singing?”

Without even missing a beat, someone passed her a sheet of paper which seemed to have the lyrics to a song called Cherry on it. They weren’t bad, they were actually quite good, but she just wanted to know why she had been asked to come in and sing on it. She made her way into the booth, happily accepting a pair of headphones from one of the technicians and before she knew it, she stood in front of Harry Styles for the first time in over a year.

He was still just how she remembered him from a year ago, but maybe just a little more tired. His hair was a little longer, and his features were a little more defined but the bags under his eyes are the thing that had grown the most. She didn’t know what had happened to him in the year it had been since they first met, and she didn’t really care, but it seemed to have taken a toll on him.

“I’m hoping that you’re going to sing it first,” YN spoke, stating the obvious as she looked at him over the paper, “Just so I know what I’m actually singing, and not making it up.”

He looked at her, and then at the man at the right of her and shook his head. YN knew that she was stating the obvious, but it was better to say it than to hide in fear and make a fool out of herself.

Harry moved towards the microphone, pulling his headphones on as he did. YN pulled her own on but stayed away from her microphone. The song itself was beautiful, and she was starting to understand especially why a female vocalist was wanted but all she could think was these were his words, from his perspective – why would she be singing them?

He still sounded amazing. Even though his appearance had changed slightly, his voice was still as entrancing as that first night they had met – maybe even more. Whilst he was singing, she couldn’t help but think of how she could merge and change the lyrics to make more sense. Make it so the song wasn’t just from his perspective, but also from hers.

The ideas were spiralling around in her head, and even though there was so much that she wanted to do she obviously knew the biggest thing was getting Harry on her side in this. That was going to be the biggest challenge. She could face it lightly, just dropping the idea in or she could be firm. YN didn’t have much patience, and she was already tearing her headphones off the second he stopped singing.

“It’s good,” She nodded, “But I can’t sing it like that.”

He looked shocked by her words, and furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean? What do you mean you can’t ‘sing it like that’?”

“You wrote the song, from your perspective,” YN stated the obvious to him, his arms crossing over his chest as he listened to her – at least he was listening, “You want a female vocalist on the track, and therefore you should have the other perspective, her perspective.”

“First of all, I don’t want a female vocalist on the track,” He shook his head, “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Well, then, whoever’s idea it was wanted a female vocalist.”

“Second of all,” He stopped her from saying anything else, “You can’t just waltz in here and start changing my song – that isn’t how this works.”

“Harry,” The man that was standing next to YN moved so that he was in between them, “Nothing is set in stone right now, why don’t we just listen to her version?”

“Jeff, this isn’t what we said,” Harry dropped his voice so that it was more hushed, but she could still hear every word, “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“But there isn’t any harm in trying,” Jeff tried to reason, and it seemed to work because Harry then turned to her.

“One time,” He lifted his finger from emphasis, “We’ll listen to your version once.”

“Perfect,” She smiled, moving so that she was standing behind her microphone now, “Shall we actually sing now?”

YN watched as he rolled his eyes at her, and she actually smiled. The room cleared so that it was just the two of them and everyone else went into the recording booth out of the way. The two of them put their headphones on and listened to the technician.

“Can I just get a test from the both of you?”

Harry sang a line, and then YN did. Once YN had, she turned her volume down a little bit because she seemed a little loud even to herself.

“Ready?” YN couldn’t even say anything, so she just nodded, gazing at Harry, who did the same.

Once the track started playing YN couldn’t actually believe that she was there. She was standing in a studio singing, maybe even recording a song if it went well. She truly did have one chance at this, and she wasn’t going to fuck this up. She couldn’t fuck this up for herself.

The track started, YN took a deep breath and knew that she was going to give her all. This was her opportunity for the taking – and she was going to take it.

“Don’t you call him baby/ we’re not talking lately/ don’t you call him what you used to call me,” Harry looked at YN, and she nodded as if he was allowed to continue, “I, I confess I can tell that you are your best/ I’m selfish so I’m hating it,”

YN moved so that she was closer to the microphone to indicate that it was her turn, “I’ve noticed that there’s a piece of me in how you dress/ I take it as a compliment,” YN continued, “Don’t you call me baby/ We’re not talking lately/ He doesn’t call me what you used to call me.”

When she had finished singing, and the track continued, her eyes bounced towards Harry who was staring at her. YN couldn’t tell what look he had on his face, but he didn’t stop, and she guessed that was a good thing. It must have been doing okay because everybody in the booth seemed to be listening to every word as well. It was surprising to YN because she wasn’t doing much but changing some of the lyrics on the spot.

“I, I just miss/ I just miss your accent and your friends/ Do you know I still talk to them?” It was at this point that a gravitational pull had made it so the two of them were facing directly at each other, singing whilst looking directly into each other’s eyes. It didn’t matter to either of them that people were watching, they were just in their own little worlds.

“You know he takes me walking round his parents’ gallery,” The look on his face as she sang those words, as though they were hitting something deep inside of him that YN had no idea about.

“Don’t you call him [me] baby/ We’re not talking lately,” When the two of them started singing together, it was truly as though nothing else could have touched them. It was just the two of them, singing about heartbreak whilst staring at each other. YN stopped singing to let Harry sing his version, “Don’t you call him what you used to call me,” Then, the next time that line came up, Harry stopped so YN could sing hers, “He doesn’t call me what you used to call me.”

Once not only the song had finished, but the track as well, there was silence in the room. It was as though nobody in the booth dared to speak and YN and Harry were still staring at each other.

Harry was the first to look away. He looked behind the glass at Jeff, and wiped his hand over his face before turning back to YN, “Do you want to record it?”

“Really?” YN couldn’t help but be surprised. There were a few times at that point in her life when YN was speechless, but this was one of them.

“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it,” He shrugged, “Should only take a few takes and then you can go.”

YN pretended to contemplate it for a second, but she already knew her answer, “Yeah, sure.”

The entire time that they were recording, YN felt as though she was in a fever dream. It didn’t seem real. All of the hard work that she had put in over the last year. All of the sleepless nights, the working late and the dreaming were all working up to this point. At this point in her life where she could say that she was actually recording a song. That people were going to listen to her voice and hopefully enjoy it.

They recorded the song full three or four times, two of those were on separate microphones and the last two were on the same. She was standing so close to Harry that she could smell his cologne, the wood mixed with that little bit of tobacco. Even though he had been an arsehole to her the first time that they had met, YN couldn’t deny that there was just something about him that drew her in. She wanted to know more, and she wanted to know everything. A man like him has some stories under his sleeve, and she wanted to know them all.

Whilst they were singing, there was a part of YN that believed that he might want the same. That all changed the second they stopped singing and he turned away from her and gave her such a cold shoulder that she almost did feel a chill. The second the last take was finished, Harry stormed out of the room without even saying a word to her.

Jeff was the one that came up to her, offering her a small smile as he did, “Once we’ve cut this, we’ll send a copy to Leroy so he can show you just so your happy before it's released.”

“Thank you,” She smiled, walking over to her bag, and pulling it over her shoulder, “It was amazing.”

He opened his mouth to say something else and then sighed, “I’m sorry about Harry. It was he who suggested having you come in actually, but you never know exactly what he is thinking.”

“Oh,” YN’s mouth was slightly parted with shock at that. Harry had given no inclination at all that he was the one who suggested she came and sang with him, not even the slightest one.

“He’ll come around to it, eventually,” He smiled, “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

YN quickly turned on her heel and walked out of the room. The second she was storming down the corridor and towards the door, she was rattling through her purse for the pills that she knew she kept in there. As she pushed the front door open, she found them and immediately popped the lid. She already had two in her hand by the time she looked up, and immediately made eye contact with Harry who was standing having a cigarette a few feet away from her.

That didn’t stop her from dropping both of the pills into her mouth and swallowing. She turned away, breaking eye contact with him but she knew that with every step she took towards Vivienne’s car, Harry was watching her.

She wanted him to.

There were very few times in YN's life that she could say that she did something for herself. Her entire life before a year ago wasn’t her own – it was her parents. Even once she had left them, there was still that nagging feeling in the back of her mind that her parents might be watching, or they would be waiting for some sort of opportunity to pull her back to their way of life.

That was a difficult mindset for YN to get out of. The entire first three months after leaving home she didn’t leave Vivienne’s couch. Vivienne had tried and tried to get the girl to leave and do something, to come out with her on a night, but YN couldn’t bring herself to. Of course, she wanted to, that life was her dream – it was the life that made her burn – but she also knew that her parents could have had people watching her, waiting to bring her back and send her away and get her life straight again.

After those three months, she decided that she wasn’t going to live under her parents' watchful eye anymore. She wasn’t living with them, legally she was an adult who could do what she wanted and that was exactly what she was going to do. Every trip to a different club, every asshole that she had talked to from the music industry, and in most cases slept with, in the idea that it would get her somewhere, but it didn’t – they were all working up to this day.

The day when people, all over the world could listen to an album and hear her voice on it.

It baffled YN’s little brain, especially when she woke up the day of the release and played the vinyl of the record and there was her voice on the fifth track. Vivienne had surprised her with a bottle of champagne, and the two of them stood in the tiny living area of the flat listening to the entire album and basically screaming the entire time that YN was singing.

Even if YN wasn’t on the record, she still loved the entire thing. It was one of the most heartbreaking, rock n' roll records that she had ever heard, and over the past year, she had heard as many as she could.  To say that she was a part of that, was one of YN’s biggest achievements so far in her life.

The only problem was – she now wanted more.

The Troubadour was a venue that YN had been to many times over the past year. She had heard some of the best musicians whilst standing in that room, and here she was walking into the building to perform with Harry and his band at their record release night. They were performing later that night, but YN had been asked to come a few hours earlier to rehearse and unlike last time – she was on time today.

YN walked into the dark bar, sunglasses still on her head, heeled cowboy boots tapping on the floor. She had a bag over her shoulder with the dress that she had specifically picked out for the performance but decided upon a comfortable pair of high-waisted flared jeans and a crotched white top to rehearse in. There were a few people behind the bar, but after giving them a small smile she made her way towards the stage, where Harry and his band were already rehearsing. They hadn’t noticed that she was there, so she pulled her sunglasses off her eyes and placed them on her head and listened.

Even in a rehearsal, where Harry himself had sunglasses over his eyes and he was just in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, which wasn’t his normal performance attire, he was mesmerising. YN struggled to look away from him on a good day, but today it was actually impossible. Once they had finished the song, Golden, which was one of YN’s favourites of the album actually, she joined in the other people clapping. When she had, Jeff who was standing by the side of the stage turned and started to walk over to her.

“YN!” He had a beaming smile on his face, and YN had a few ideas as to why that could be. He greeted her with a hug which shocked her a little bit, but she accepted and offered him a small smile, “It’s good to see you.”

“You too Jeff,” She smiled, pulling her bag more securely on her shoulder before it fell off.

“Well, the band’s got one more song to do before Cherry, you could stay, or I could show you backstage where you can drop your bag off?”

“Please,” YN nodded, lifting her hand up to her head to wipe the sweat off her brow, “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” He motioned for her to follow him, walking past the stage as he did. YN looked up at Harry, who was looking right at her and offered a small smile. He didn’t smile back, he just continued to look at her and drink from his water bottle. YN didn’t mind. He could do or say anything to her that day and absolutely nothing was going to ruin her mood.

“There’s a green room at the bottom of the hall,” Jeff explains as they walked. He stopped off at one of the doors on the right of the corridor, “This is yours, Harry’s across the hall and there are always people milling around if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” She smiled, passing him, and walking into the room.

“They should be ready for you in around ten minutes,” He gave her another smile and shut the door behind him. The second that he did, she turned and dropped her back against the door and had to bite her lip from screaming.

She was in her own dressing room, backstage at the Troubadour, waiting to rehearse her song so that she could perform it later that night. It didn’t make any sense to her. It was crazy. The room was small, but it had a dressing table and a sofa and a little cart that seemed to have a few snacks as well as water and whisky. She walked over and picked up the bottle. She had no idea what good whisky was, and what wasn’t but she remembered seeing something similar on her father’s bar cart that must have meant it was good.

Turning towards the dressing table she sat down, and it was only then that she noticed the bouquet of flowers next to the mirror. They were beautiful, all bright colours that reminded her of summer and the light in the world. There was a small card placed in the middle that she picked up, and in an unfamiliar scrawl were words that she never could have expected.

I was wrong. I’m sorry.

YN stared at the card, letting the words sink in. Her stomach was knotting and twisting just at the simple idea that Harry had thought to not only get her flowers but also apologise. It was certainly true that nobody knew what that man’s next move was. Not even five minutes ago he was staring at her in a way that made her think he hated her, but he didn’t. He had actually apologised to her. Was he apologising for the way that he acted towards her in the studio, or for the words that he said to her over a year ago? Maybe it was both?

YN placed the card back on the flowers and started to unpack her bag. She pulled her dress out and hung it out on the rail so that hopefully any creases in the material would drop. Next, she pulled out her makeup, just a bit that she had brought to touch up her face later, as well as some hair products just to make sure that her hair didn’t look like a rat's nest when she was up on stage. When she reached the bottom of her bag, she pulled out her pill container.

YN stared at the bottle for a second. In her head, she knew that she had taken two just before she had left the house and walked to the Troubadour. But then again, she needed something to calm her nerves before she went on stage. Walking over to the bar cart, she turned one of the glasses over and opened the bottle of whiskey. She poured enough so that just the bottom of the glass was covered and then a bit more. With that glass, she washed down two more pills and dropped the rest of the container back into her bag.

YN wiped the sweat off her brow and upper lip and then made her way towards the door. She didn’t know if ten minutes had passed, but she could still stand and listen to them even if they hadn't. Walking back towards the stage, Harry and Jeff stood talking about something and it looked like the rest of the band was waiting for her. YN gave Sarah a smile, which she returned with a small wave. She stopped just in front of them and beamed them a smile.

“We ready to do this, then?”

“Just need to set up your mic and then we’re good to go,” YN nodded and watched as people who obviously worked at the venue set her mic up. She thanked them and once it was ready, she stood behind it.

The music started from behind her, and even though there wasn’t a single person in the audience apart from the staff, YN couldn’t contain her excitement. The second that Harry started singing, she had to control herself. They weren’t putting on any sort of performance right now, they were just rehearsing and making sure that everything was okay for tonight, but then again, it didn’t matter the circumstance whenever YN sang, on her own or with Harry, she was performing every word. Her vocals weren’t the best, but once the first nerves had rattled out of her body and the pills had finally started to relax her, nothing could stop her.

Her eyes flickered to Harry a few times during the performance, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was playing and singing so effortlessly and for the first time during this thing, YN stood there and questioned what the hell she was doing there. Her life was shitty rich parties and playing up to the public about her perfect family – she wasn’t made for this.

Then he looked at her. The second that he turned his eyes towards her all of those thoughts left her head, and she knew that this was where she needed to be, and where she deserved to be. Music. Singing. Performing. These were the things that sparked the fire within her, and even if this wasn’t the life that was made for her, it was the life that she was going to make for herself. One day, she was going to be up on this stage on her own, singing her own record that people wanted to hear, and nothing was going to stop her.

The song finished, but Harry and YN were still looking at each other. The band were talking to some technicians about balance and some shit that YN didn’t understand, but that didn’t matter.

Without breaking eye contact, she mouthed, “Thank you.”

He just smiled.

YN had just finished smoking a blunt with two people she didn’t recognise or know the name of in the green room when the door swung open and in walked Vivienne. YN squealed and stood up, a little wobbly on her feet but that wasn’t going to stop her from wrapping her arms around her friend in a bone-crushing hug – her family.

Vivienne pulled away and placed her hand on YN’s cheeks, “Looks like you’ve already got the party started.”

“When haven’t I?” YN scrambled and grabbed Vivienne’s hand, pulling her out of the greenroom and down the corridor.

“Am I not allowed to say hello to anyone?” Vivienne laughed, pulling her bag tighter on her shoulder so that it didn’t fall off from her friend’s antics.

“Sorry,” YN laughed, stopping in front of her dressing room door, and pushing it open, “But I have to show you this.”

YN walked into the room with a squeal and dropped back on the sofa, propping her feet on the small coffee table in front of her. Vivienne stood at the door and looked around the room. There was a hint of a confused look on her face, but YN was too out of it to notice, and she was also too excited.

“What is it?” Vivienne asked, letting the door slam behind her, and walking further into the room.

“It’s my dressing room, Viv,” She laughed, “It’s all mine.”

“Wow, YN,” Vivienne turned and saw the flowers on the dressing table and made a beeline for them.

At this point, YN had dropped her feet from the table and had pulled a small glass pot filled with a white powder out of her pocket. It was a gift from one of those idiots she had smoked with earlier, but she wasn’t going to let good drugs go to waste. She tapped it out on the table, moved it into a perfect line and dropped her nose down to snort it.

Vivienne turned around, completely speechless at her friend. She made a mental note that she would speak to YN tomorrow, she wasn’t going to dampen the day for her. With the small note from the flowers in her hand, she held it up to YN who smiled.

“Who’s this from?” Vivienne tapped the paper against her finger, “And why are they saying sorry?”

Sheepishly YN shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“You obviously do,” Vivienne asked, dropping down on the sofa next to YN, “Or you wouldn’t be making that face.”

YN dropped her head back and dropped her face so that a false frown sat there, “I don’t know what you mean, I’m not making a face.”

Vivienne tapped the girl on her shoulder using the card and YN grabbed it, standing up and placing it back on the flowers where it belonged. She then crossed her arms and leaned against her dressing table.

“It’s from Harry,” She admitted.

“What did he get wrong?” Vivienne asked, furrowing her eyebrows, “What is he saying sorry for?”

YN shrugged, “Could be nothing, could be everything.”

“YN –”

YN pushed the hair that had fallen out of her face and stood up straight, “That doesn’t matter, anyway, because I need to get ready for the show and I need you to do my hair for me.”

Vivienne sat on the sofa and watched as her friend pull her jeans and top off and pulled on a white lace dress that stopped at her mid-knee and nearly cried. With her thigh-high cowboy boots that she never saw YN without and that crazy smile on her face – she looked like a rockstar. That was her best friend, and she was a rock star.

“Are you gonna help me?” YN laughed after she sat down and saw that Vivienne hadn’t moved, “Or you just gonna sit there?”

“I’m sorry, yeah,” YN touched up her face as Vivienne brushed her hair and made sure that it didn’t look like its usual rat's nest. Once her hair was better, Vivienne placed her hand on her friends' shoulders and squeezed.

“What?” YN smacked her lips together, after just applying a layer of gloss to her lips.

“Nothing,” Vivienne shrugged, “I’m just so proud of you.”

YN laughed and placed her own hand over Vivienne’s, “Couldn’t have done it without you.”

The two girls beamed at each other through the mirror, but their little moment was interrupted by a banging on the door. YN jumped up and bounced to the door and flew it open. Her excitement dropped a little when she saw who it was, and her stomach twisted.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” He ran a hand through his hair, “Sorry for interrupting, but we’re about to go on.”

“Oh,” YN laughed, “I didn’t know it was that time already.”

“Yeah,” Harry pointed towards the green room, “We’re all in there if you wanna come.”

“We’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay,” He nodded his head at her, his gaze stopping for just a second before he turned and walked away.

YN rushed back into the room and moved towards the table, grabbing her little glass pot, and dropping it in her pocket. Vivienne watched as the girl fluttered around the room, checking her make-up in the mirror first before turning to the bar cart and downing a glass of whisky like it was nothing. Definitely not the same girl she had given her first proper shot to over a year prior.

“You ready?” YN asked, slipping her arm through her friends.

“I should be asking you that,” Vivienne laughed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as ready for something in my life.”

The entire band sat around on the sofas; Harry stood in the middle of them. They were obviously waiting for her because all of their heads picked up when she walked in. She smiled and dropped herself on the arm of the sofa near Sarah.

“We made it, okay,” Harry started, and once he did even the people that weren’t in the band that was in the room started to listen, “Our album release show is at the fucking Troubadour.” There were cheers and claps around the room, “There are so many people that I need to thank, but we’re already late and Jeff may kill me if I carry on talking any longer, so, are we ready?”

Another chorus of cheers around the room, and the band was standing up and making their way towards the corridor that led to the stage. Harry was following behind them, and just as YN stood up, she caught his arm. He looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows.

“When are you wanting me?”

“Uh,” He lifted his hand up to his head, rubbing the crease that formed there slightly, “I think we’re playing it fifth, I’ll introduce you. You can watch from the side.”

“Okay,” YN nodded her head, watching as he turned to walk away, “I’ll be ready.”

YN and Vivienne locked arms and walked a few steps behind the band and Harry and took their place in the wings whilst they were performing. The second that he walked onto the stage; the crowd erupted into the loudest cheers that YN had ever heard in her life. They only seemed to get louder to the point that they were almost deafening when the music started, and Golden was being played for the first time.

“Golden, Golden, Golden/ As I open my eyes/ Hold it, focus, hoping/ Take me back to the light.”

The record hadn’t even been out for a day yet, but YN swore that she could hear people singing along, even herself at some points. It was mesmerizing, even watching it from the side like she was.

The next song was Watermelon Sugar, and if she didn’t know what the song was about before, she certainly knew after watching him perform. It was electric, and sexual and made every single hair on her body stand up. He knew what he was doing and knew exactly how to push the buttons of everyone in the audience.

“I want your belly/ And that summer feelin’/ Getting washed away in you.”

By the time Adore You started, YN was pacing up and down in the wings. It wasn’t that she was nervous because, in all honesty, she wanted to just be out there. She was getting more and more impatient, and the more she did, the antsier she got.

Without even thinking, she pulled her little glass pot out and tapped some on the back of her hand.

“Honey (ah)/ I’d walk through fire for you/ Just let me adore you.”

Wiping her nose, she tried to turn her attention back to the show, but she couldn’t. There was one song now between her and getting out there, and she had no idea how she was supposed to wait that long. She wanted to sing for that crowd, she wanted to hear them shouting her name and this wait was way too long for her liking.

“Lights up and they know who you are/ Know who you are/ Do you know who you are?”

This was it. The fourth song had finished, and the crowd were going wild. There was a pause whilst Harry was given his guitar and then he walked over to the microphone. YN shook out her arms, moved her neck from side to side and let out a deep breath.

“Now, as you know this next song features a very special guest on it,” To YN, the more he spoke the more it felt as though he was delaying her coming on stage, “This is Cherry and please welcome YN YLN to the stage!”

With one last smile and encouraging thumbs up from Vivienne, YN walked out onto the stage with a beaming smile on her face.

This is what she had been dreaming of. The second that she walked onto the stage; the crowd erupted. It was unlike anything that she had ever heard in her life, and it was better than any drug that she could take. Hearing each one of those people scream her name and be excited for her to sing was it for YN. This is what she had been waiting for her entire life.

YN looked at Harry and beamed a smile at him, and then the music started. She stood in front of the microphone that was there waiting for her and closed her eyes. She wasn’t just listening for the music, but she was listening to the crowd – and then she was listening to Harry.

“Don’t you call him baby/ we’re not talking lately/ don’t you call him what you used to call me,” YN turned to look at Harry, but he was looking straight forward at the crowd, strumming his guitar with such ease, “I, I confess I can tell that you are your best/ I’m selfish so I’m hating it.”

Harry took a step away from the microphone and YN moved closer to hers, “I’ve noticed that there’s a piece of me in how you dress/ I take it as a compliment/ Don’t you call me baby/ We’re not talking lately/ He doesn’t call me what you used to call me.”

“I, I just miss/ I just miss your accent and your friends/ Do you know I still talk to them?” Just as they had done in the studio when they were recording, the gravitational pull forced them to look directly at each other. Their little world was back, and they were both sharing the stage doing something that they loved once again.

“You know he takes me walking round his parents’ gallery,” Harry closed his eyes as she sang that line. YN didn’t know whom Harry was singing about, but it was obviously still very raw.

“Don’t you call him [me] baby/ We’re not talking lately,” The two of them started to sing together, and without even thinking, when it was Harry’s turn to sing his version, “Don’t you call him what you used to call me,” YN moved so that they were sharing a mic. They didn’t look away from each other, not even when YN had finished her line and the song had drawn to a close, “He doesn’t call me what you used to call me.”

The sound in the room was electric and YN brought her hands up to her face in shock and dropped her head on Harry’s shoulder, to which he laughed.  

“YN YLN, everyone!” He called into the microphone, to which she smiled at him and bounced off the stage – much to her own disappointment.

The second she was off the stage, and the show continued, she was immediately hugged by Vivienne. The two friends jumped around for a minute before they turned back to the show. Every so often she could hear someone shout her name, mainly when Harry was talking as though they wanted her to come back onto the stage. It took every ounce of self-control that YN had to not turn and walk back onto that stage.

If one thing was for certain, it was time for her to record her own album.

The entire place felt as though it was one fire when the show finished, and they went back to the green room. The band were still high off the adrenaline (and other things), Vivienne and YN were having the time of their lives, and Harry was sitting talking to Jeff, almost normally and as though he hadn’t just performed in the greatest show of his life.

YN stood up, plucking a cigarette out of the carton that was on the side and picked up a lighter. She had no idea whose they were, but YN didn’t care.

“Where are you going?” Vivienne asked, lifting her head up from the man’s shoulder that it had been leant on.

“Just out for air,” YN laughed, popping the cigarette in her mouth, and lighting it, “I’ll be back before you know it, don’t miss me too much.”

“You know I will, babe.”

The girls shared a laugh and then YN made a beeline for the exit, swiping an unopened bottle of champagne from the side as she did. Even though it was the height of summer, it was still way too hot outside, and even the slight breeze didn’t do much.

YN dropped down so she sat on the steps, not caring if any dirt got onto her white dress because nothing was going to ruin her night. She definitely spoke too soon when she sat there for a good few minutes, cigarette dangling from her lips trying to open the damn champagne bottle that she had picked up.

The door opened behind her, and before she had even checked to see who it was, she was thrusting the bottle up in the air towards them, “Can you open this for me?”

“Sure,” YN almost dropped the bottle when she heard his British accent.

“You know,” YN started as he took the bottle from her and sat down, “We really have to stop meeting like this, Mr Styles.”

He laughed, and just as he did the bottle popped open and YN winced waiting for the liquid to spurt over but it didn’t. She accepted it with thanks from him and immediately brought the bottle up to her lips. Once she had done it, she passed it back to him and he did the same thing.

“If I remember correctly, it was you that followed me the last time.”

YN furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember, “That may be true, but you were the one following me this time.”

He nodded and passed the bottle back to her, “And what is it that you’re doing out here? I thought you’d be in there, celebrating with everyone.”

“Just needed some air,” YN shrugged, “I don’t mind celebrating on my own for a while, either.”

Harry pulled a carton of cigarettes out of his pocket, offering YN one to which she shook her head and held up the one in her hand. He nodded and placed one between his lips.

“What about you?” YN asked as she watched him light it, “I thought you’d be in there celebrating with one of the twenty girls in there that all want to fuck you.”

“Wow,” He laughed, “You definitely aren’t that shy girl I met a year ago.”

“Yeah, well, I grew up,” YN sighed, opening her arms in a shrug, “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“I did all that last time around,” He shrugged, “I guess I grew up too.”

“C’mon,” YN laughs and bumps his shoulder with hers, “Nobody grows out of sex.”

Harry grimaces and shakes his head, “You do when it’s like that. Coked out of your head, not remembering where you are, who they are or even who you are at times.”

YN doesn’t respond. YN was shocked that he was even admitting that to her. YN didn’t have enough fingers to count all of the times that had happened to her, and for Harry to just openly admit that was shocking to her. It made her think that the two of them may be similar in more ways than just one.

“But anyway, you don’t need to know about that,” Harry shrugged, “What’s next for you then?”

“Well,” She sighs, taking another swig of the champagne in her hand, “I’m going to record an album.”

“You got a deal?” Harry sort of seems shocked by her words, “Congrats.”

“Well, I don’t yet,” He furrows his eyebrows at her, “But I will do, and if Leroy knows what’s good for him probably by the end of the month.”

Harry’s features furrow, “I’m not sure that it works like that.”

“It will do,” YN shrugs, “You heard what I did out there, you saw what I saw out there. They loved me.”

Harry nodded, running the side of his finger across his lip, “You got songs?”

“I do,” She laughs, “I’m not that delusional, I’m not just going to pull this album out of nowhere.”

“Well, at least you know,” He laughs, accepting the champagne from her again, “And anyway, I’m excited to hear it, whenever it comes out.”

“Thank you,” She smiles, resting her head on her knees, “What’s next for you then, rockstar?”

“Uh,” He tilts his head slightly, “Going home for a while, and then we go on tour in three months, maybe?”

“You truly are a rockstar,” She laughs, “Well any shows here, you know I’m just a phone call away. I’m sure the audience would love for you to bring me out.”

He laughs, “I’ll keep that in mind,” He taps his cigarette out on the concrete next to him, “You know, I’m glad that this is how it ended.”

“Yeah,” YN kept her smile painted on her face, “Me too.”

“See you inside?” He asks, standing up and making his way towards the door.

“See you.”

For him, this was the end. She had sung on his album and sang in his show and now it was time for them to part ways. YN didn’t know what she expected, or what she wanted him to say but it still felt very bittersweet, especially from her perspective.

Taking two pills out of her small container, she washed them down with the champagne and walked back inside the green room. Vivienne was still where YN had left her, and she dropped down on the sofa next to her, head falling in Vivienne’s lap.

“Nice chat, babe?”

“Yeah, nice chat,” YN sighed, allowing her body to be relaxed from the drugs and alcohol in her system.

YN was lulling her head side to side to the beat of whatever song was playing in the room when the door swung open. At first, YN didn’t think anything of it but when a gorgeous girl with blonde hair rushed past her and towards the corner of the room that she knew Harry and Jeff were in, she couldn’t help but have her interest pique.

She turned her head so that she was facing Harry and the mystery girl, and her mouth dropped open when the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and immediately kissed him. His hand rested on her waist, just above the hem of the tiniest shorts YN had ever seen.

With her lips parted in shock, YN turned her head up towards Vivienne who had seen the entire thing just like her and had a similar look on her face. They definitely seemed familiar with each other, as though this wasn’t the first time that the two of them had kissed, or even been together in public. Another thing that made YN think that was that nobody else in the room, maybe apart from the groupies that were there, even batted an eyelid at the actions.

It became even more obvious to YN when the girl dropped herself onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck as though it was nothing. It really seemed like nothing when she joined the conversation with Jeff, he was laughing and so was Harry. Now that YN thought about it, that man said nothing about having a partner earlier when she asked about sleeping with the groupies, but I suppose he did keep his cards close to his chest.

“Sarah,” YN called, catching the drummer's attention from the chair that she was sitting on, “Who was that?”

“Who was who?” She asked, leaning back into the seat more.

“The girl who walked over to Harry?”

“Oh,” Sarah laughed, “That’s Molly.”

“Molly?”

“Yeah, his girlfriend,” She said as if it was nothing, “Didn’t you know? They’ve been together for a while now.”

“No,” YN shakes her head, not moving her eyes away from the couple, “I didn’t know that.”

[mariatesstruther]

okay WAIT an eloise at christmastime x tlou au in which tommy and joel miller work at the plaza hotel to support their niece sarah, who gets to live at the plaza in exchange. ellie lives there too, for the same reasons—anna is working there as a line cook, and the plaza’s owner has allowed both of them to stay for as long as they need. tess is their general manager, and maria is the owner’s daughter, a law student at columbia who stays at the plaza to help out her father when she has the time

the plaza is owned by hank moreau, a hotel mogul who made a legacy being the first black man to own and manage the plaza through his longstanding hospitality company. he employed anna, joel, tommy, and tess at the plaza when he took-over, both as a thanks and as recognition for their hard work at his other hotels for years

okay so the actual plot: maria is coming back in town because she’s engaged and set to be married at the plaza, but her fiancé is actually a douchebag and tricking her into thinking he loves her so that he can steal her and hank’s money. sarah and ellie find this out somehow, probably hear him bragging about his plan to his buddies over poker as they sneak around in the adults-only area if the hotel. and theyre like!!!!!!! absolutely!!!!! fucking!!!!! not!!!!!!! we NEED to stop this guy!!!!!

exposition and maria/tommy first meeting under the cut 🫶🏾

sarah and ellie have known maria for years, since they were both little girls that had just moved into the plaza and maria had invited them both up to her penthouse suite for snacks and movies. she told them all the best places to hide, the best days to get free food from the banquet and the days to avoid, as well as who to go if they ever need help—including her, tess, and her father. point is, the girls love maria. they’ve always loved maria. so theyr’e Not Fucking with this Fiancée Asshole or this farce of a wedding

they also know that tommy is in love with maria, has been basically since the moment the two met, which was just a few weeks before that first sleepover. sarah and ellie were there to witness it all: they’d been messing around with tommy’s tool cart as he went through rooms and lame parts of the hotel to fix shit. sarah had sent ellie flying down the hall with it right as maria had been walking around the corner—ellie crashed into maria so hard, she’d been knocked into the wall behind her, the folder full of papers she’d been holding flying all over the place

tommy, sarah, and ellie had all winced at the crash. at that point, they were all new and nervous to be there, and they knew who maria was by name but had yet to meet her. still, without knowing who she was, all of them knew fucking around in front of the guests was the number one way to get kicked out of the plaza.

“jesus, girls. mira por donde vas!” tommy had immediately gone over to where she was on the floor, offering her his hand, expecting her to be pissed and for his and joel’s chance to give sarah a better future to go straight down the drain he’d just fixed.

but then he’d heard her start to laugh. and it was the most glorious giggle he’d ever heard. maria smiled up at tommy from the ground, papers fallen around her like snowfall and bringing out the sparkling white of her teeth—he’d fallen head-over-heels in love with her right then and there.

“ma’am, are you alright?” he asked, reverently taking the small, perfectly-manicured hand she’d slipped into his and pulling her up gently. “i am so, so fuckin’ sorry for that—i mean, uh—i apologize for them. think the girls got a lil’ too carried away.” the last part had been expressed pointedly over his shoulder at ellie and sarah, who were standing shyly by his cart with childlike embarrassment on both their faces.

“no, it’s fine, i’m just fine. no need to be sorry,” maria’s still laughing by the time she gets up, smiling right up into tommy’s face and—wow, is she beautiful. he doesn’t remember ever being stunned by anyone this much in his whole life. she’s got long, beautiful locs with loosely-curled hair at the ends, falling long down past her waist like rapunzel. wearing a short pink blazer dress and matching heeled loafers, she’s a confusing yet dazzling combination of intimidating and adorable. tommy feels the heat of her hand in his even after she lets go. “i may have needed the laugh, honestly. thanks, girls.” she directs the words to ellie and sarah kindly and genuinely, and tommy feels himself immediately warm to her as he watches the anxiety on their faces ease from over his shoulder.

“sorry for knocking the shit out of you, lady,” ellie says, and he cringes.

luckily, it only serves to make maria laugh once more, and the woman lifts a hand to wave away the apology. “i wasn’t watching where i was walking, anyway. my fault,” she insists kindly, then turns her attention back to tommy. he finds he likes being under the weight of her sharp, pretty brown eyes. “the real problem here is that i don’t recognize you guys, and i recognize everyone. are you new? i’m maria. maria moreau.”

“oh, shit,” tommy can’t stop himself from saying. he feels sarah and ellie both turn their eyes to him, instantly picking up on his nerves. he can see the amusement on maria’s face at his clear and shocked recognition. he immediately goes down to start picking up her fallen papers, hands fumbling as fast as his words. “we really are so, so sorry, ma’am, and didn’t mean to disturb your day. we don’t do this often at all, i promise ya. i just needed to watch them the girls while i took care of an emergency repair, so—,”

“jesus, cowboy, calm down,” maria cut him off immediately, voice amused and her smirk melting into a pleased, charmed smile. to tommy’s surprise, she drops right down to the floor next to him and starts collecting her papers beside him, uttering a small thank-you as he passes her the ones he’d already picked up. “i told you already, i needed a laugh. don’t worry about it.”

“so i won’t have to worry about your father comin’ to my door and firing me for nearly knockin’ the head off his daughter?” tommy’s tone is joking and light, but there is clear underlying anxiety in his voice as he asks. the quip is said low enough that neither sarah and ellie hear, the girls talking behind them as they pick up the few tools knocked from tommy’s cart in it’s collision.

“not if i have anything to say about it,” maria says, her tone light but serious. she gives him a long, pointed once-over that he can’t help but interpret as flirting, a blush heating up his face before he can control himself. “i really don’t recognize you at all, cowboy. i was right about you being new, wasn’t i?”

“yes, ma’am.”

“what’s your name?”

“tommy,” he responds as they both get up. at first, they end up just a tad too close, so he takes a polite step back as he hands her the last of her papers.

“tommy,” maria repeats back to him, and he feels a rush of something shoot up his spine, forcing him to stand up straighter and taller, at the sound of his name from her lips. she must notice, because she smirks at him knowingly as she holds her messy folder to his chest. “you don’t have to worry about a thing. i think i’d like to keep you around.”

and she had—well, her father had, technically. but maria had remained close friends with the millers and the williams for years, always treating sarah and ellie with gifts, stopping by the halls to talk with joel while he fixed pipes or by the kitchen to hang with anna while she did her prep—and always speaking, joking, and flirting with tommy every chance she got. they never became anything official; mostly because, according to joel and anna, tommy was always too chickenshit to ask her out. by the time maria finished her ADA training and moved out of state, tommy was surely in love with her but equally determined not to hold her back. he always wanted the best for her and believed she deserved far better than the maintenance man at her father’s hotel, so he held his tongue. she left. then she comes back with a complete douchebag of a fucking fiancée, set to be married at the plaza on christmas

and it’s up to sarah and ellie to stop the motherfucking wedding

for my mariatommy lovers, specifically @ameerawrites @bumblepony @clickergossip and @liveandletcry23

[bxngthedoldrums]

a petekey reading of so much (for) stardust

aka you knew i'd do this aka i didnt take four literature classes in college for nothing aka make sure your tinfoil hat is SECURED to your noggin aka dear lord forgive me for committing sins of petekey in the year of 2023

look. i have to do this or i don't deserve this blog. amen

~ love from the other side

okay. yea, immediately the "you were the sunshine of my lifetime" thing is sort of sus, because we all know pete wentz and anytime sun or summer is involved it's Something. this is solidified in "summer falling through our fingers again" in verse 2, but it's interesting that he uses "ours" in this lyric bc i feel like recently most of pete's summer lyrics have been pretty self-inflicted. it's impossible to not note the whole "inscribed like stone and faded by the rain" in the bridge v. "the tombstones were waiting" line in bang the doldrums. i shant even elaborate u can pick up what i'm laying down!

~ heartbreak feels so good

i think this song is pretty light on petekey imagery but "light from a screen of messages unsent" kinda reminds me of "some nights it gets so bad i almost pick up the phone" in ginasfs but i could be reaching for Sure. let's be real that's all i do

~ hold me like a grudge

honestly i think this is one of the worst petekey offenders on the album. this one had me gawking at my screen as i read the lyrics. "thaw out my freezer burn feelings for twenty summers" ??? be SERIOUS pete... "part-time soulmate, full-time problem" yeah I GET IT I GET IT !!! the whole thing reeks of 2005 summertime fling

~ fake out

"do you laugh about me whenever i leave?" bonkers ass line,,this reminds me of pete's lj writing in those years after 2005,,,"my mood board is just pictures of you, but i'm not sad anymore" YEAH. this is SO pete holy fuck. that classic wentz obsession,,"we did for futures that never came and for pasts that we're never gonna change" this line's got me on the fuckin FLOOR. also classic pete!!! his perchance for nostalgia is just insane and he really feels it huh

~ heaven, iowa

i dont even know how to get into this one. "kiss my cheek, baby, please/would you read my eulogy?" SICK and TWISTED evil!!! evil!!! "i will never ask you for anything except to dream sweet of me" jesus h christ the melancholy is off the charts but holy fuck this song is so,,,tender? i dont know wht to say but i know this was written w summer of love intention. i know this in my heart. "scar-crossed lovers, forever" OKAY I KNOW !!! this song is DEVASTATING verse 2 is fucked UP and the bridge is too!!! "closed my eyes inside your darkness and found your glow"???? i cantr og on

~ so good right now

i can't really discern any particularly petekey lyrics in this one right away but the whole "i cut myself down to be whatever you need me to be" is pretty fucking wild

~ i am my own muse

there's some really sad lyrics in this one ab the whole future-not-going-as-planned thing that comes up so frequently in pete's writing but honestly the whole "let's twist the knife again, twist the knife again like we did last summer" thing made my head explode. every lover's got a lil dagger in their hands!!!

~ flu game

im not gonna sit here and type out ths whole fucking song but oh my GOD bro. this song to me is a really nice callback to pete's older style of lyricism but that comes with the self-deprecation and all the other really sad shit. it's beautiful! it's horrible! i love it!!! its about mikey i cant even pul out a few lyrics just LISTEN

~ baby annihilation

another fucked up one that literally anyone else in fob should have vetoed but OKAY?? "time is luck and i wish ours overlapped more or for longer" MAN SHUT UP. "self sabotage at best, under your spell/but you know what they say, if you want a job done right, you gotta do it yourself" ..........dude. if you're like me and you've poured over pete's oooold lj posts from the mid 2000s you already get it, but if you havent,,,go do it and get back to me bc this is TOO MUHC im unwell. "what is there between us if not a little annihilation?" i think i hauve covid

~ the kintsugi kid (ten years)

this song is really fucking sad actually. there's so much fear of being forgotten on this album and it's showcased really beautifully in this song,,,mayhaps not the most obviously petekey song but god damn

~ what a time to be alive

this song's about covid and quarantine n it's pretty easy on the whole suffering from a fling in 2005 thing! good job pete and fob

~ so much (for) stardust

this song is kinda suspicious but there's very few lines that really solidify it as a petekey song,,, altho "i think i've been going through it, and ive been putting your name through it" is a really interesting lyric. and OF COURSE, "in another life, you were my babe/in another life, you were the sunshine of my lifetime" happy xmas war is over

[thestudentfarmer]

Hello and good day!

Just wanted to share a few Planting notes and whats been going on round my garden and kitchen~

Today I planted some

They look very lovely in the pictures, plus the Tubers that grow under them are said to be edible and similar to potatoes. I think their pretty and would like to try them once. I figure if no one in the household likes them I have tried them, and have a neat thing to share with friends at least + can share with the seed library or at a plant swamp :)

Also direct seeded some

Dill and cilantro seed. I've never been real great at making herbs grow well but this year I'm hoping is the year to change that :) with luck in a short time there'll be plenty for us as well as gifting, maybe trading and sharing (which is part of my ultimate grow goals :) ) but I'll be satisfied with enough to use here and self seed for future harvests.

Direct seeded some sugar baby watermelons to replace the bed the chickens dug up. (I'll need to make a new fence for this part of the garden, the old one was just simple wire fence. I'd like to put in a nice wire and wood one with a latch gate)

Tossed out a few handfuls of black oil sunflowers among the unclaimed parts of the back garden. With luck they'll grow pretty quickly to proffer some shade and a snack spot for the parrots again.

And of interest, the regrow from the store green onions is blooming some flowers! They are definatly determined lil plants!

I don't have pictures currently for the rest but I also got a bit of stuff done for both gardening and things to try out

🔨I made 2 olla's to try out in an attempt to reduce watering around the garden as well as to conserve water in the soil a bit more. Their just 2 unglazed Terra cotta pots, silicone sealed together and a cork put in one end. The water coaster I'm using to cover the top in between watering. I've never used them, or seen them used before so at this time its to test out for a future project. Plus i just wanted to see them in function :)

🔨 fully made a 5×2 raised bed for the front garden. A second is about 1/2 made. I need to get more wood to finish. At current fenced in spacing I could fit 2 more beds this size.

⛰️ got that bed lined out with cardboard, paper and filled with compost to settle (currently 6 cubic feet of composted manure) 🪶I still need to lay out water lines for both future rows, but want to get one more of the 3 beds built before I start laying that line down.

I won't be doing ground beds in this section due to the knowledge there are utility lines pretty close to the surface. ⭐️ALWAYS call or find out where your yards service lines are befor digging!! It will save you a lot of stress and financial strain⭐️

Plus I can make the raised beds deeper/taller for root crops like carrots or sweet potatoes without having to dig too deep 😉

Laid out some tarp to die off a section of yard to start an amaranth grow spot (end goal, 2 spaces for this. human food, natural dye work material and chicken feed)

That's it for todays lil blurbs :)

🌱🌻Happy Homesteading and Urban Gardening 🌻🌱

4 19 2024

[ravenmold]

your gentle winding mind for the wip ask game

Hi Mia 🦋

Thank you for your ask! I'll split my answer into three parts to ramble a bit, since I'm afforded the opportunity. ☺️

Part 1: Background info

your gentle winding mind is a lil idea that takes inspiration from and is named for the Purity Ring song Begin Again. To me their album Another Eternity is kinda.....dreamlike fantasy sci fi, and I tried to use the imagery that the song evokes to guide me with this idea. This song's lyrics just dance so nicely around themes of codependency, destiny, inevitability, repetition......and space. It's in the pairing Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski and it was last edited in Feb of 2020. So it's basically from a previous world 😂 it only has 543 words and is just one scene. But reading it now, I definitely can see that I was being experimental with my writing here and having fun letting go of ... Trying to tell a clearly structured story. How? Well, let me introduce you to the idea.

Part 2: So, what's the idea?

So my idea with this fic was that there's a powerful oracle who resides on a very small planet and who is visited by thousands upon thousands to foresee their future. Basically the whole planet is a grassy field and has two suns. It's all transcendental in a way because does this oracle need food? Shelter? Unclear. It just sits in this field all day. I was thinking of The Little Prince a bit, and imagining it as kinda having Studio Ghibli vibes 😂 if that helps at all.

Our protagonist Derek, a werewolf, visits this oracle in the hopes of having light shed on his uncertain future and the disastrous prophetic dream he has about it. But he's very surprised to find out that the oracle is a human named Stiles. Who's been cursed to live this life. Unbeknownst to Derek and Stiles, their lives are intermingled and he's the one Stiles has been waiting for in a sort of life-stasis. The moment Derek turns to leave, Stiles' stomach growls and he feels like his curse is broken, that he's free to leave this tiny planet. He asks to go with Derek. And thus these two idiots fall right into my plan: they are destined for each other, very powerful and will impact the universe etc etc and the prophetic dream has something to do with it. The details are fuzzy here because that's as far as I ever got in imagining it 😂

Part 3: Judge my writing on it

So I honestly like a few of these lines. I'll share the majority of the fic and you can judge for yourself:

Derek did not expect the renowned oracle that effortlessly foresees the wax and wane of empires and planets to be a simple human.

He says as much upon reaching the human – the boy – on the grassy hill where he abides, legs crossed and face open. The sky is shattered into cerulean shards above him.

The boy simply laughs at this. “Yes, I’m human. The only one for a million miles, for a thousand light years. And you’re not.”

“I … no.” Derek chances a seat in the soft grass in front of the oracle. “I just, didn’t know humans could be oracles.”

The boy’s amber eyes shift fluid as liquid over the landscape that surrounds them. There is nothing but green hills for miles, a veritable maze all on its own for a lonely oracle to hide in. “I was gifted precognition as a child. Or rather, it was meant as a curse, but I figured it could be used for good, in the meantime. A little word of advice, don’t go looking for the bodies of witches in their woods.”

The twin suns beat down on his shoulders, and yet Derek shivers. “Noted,” he answers. “You said, in the meantime?”

“I’m simply passing the time, waiting for someone. I try to be patient.” The oracle’s eyes draw to his, and Derek shifts his pose. He feels uneasy, but does not sense danger. He supposes it must be the immeasurable power that surrounds the boy in a haze; that radiates off him like surface heat.

Derek wonders who he could possibly be waiting for. He hopes it’s family, at least.

“You have a misgiving.”

Straight to business it is, then. He did travel all this way.

“I’m to join the Fleet in a month’s time. This was decided for me long before I had the presence of mind to worry about futures, and I’ve had time to make peace with it, but …”

A small smile tucks at the corners of the boy’s mouth. “A life among the stars. How apt.”

“Technically we are all living among the stars,” Derek quips, not able to help himself. The reaction is unexpected: the boy leans forward, eyes focused so intensely on his.

“Like planets. We are floating in the great unknown,” he whispers.

Derek doesn’t immediately know how to react to this. He’s frozen, permitted to move again only when the boy’s eyes leave his. Derek feels like he’s stepped into a dream, and has a moment of panic as he realises there’s no way to test it. How do you know a dream is a dream?

Lmao raven tryna be whimsical and ethereal, that's the name of the game. Another fun fact: it was written in Comic Sans. Heh.

[ofmermaidstories]

Merms! Hope you’re feeling better! I adored your surrender au mashup drabble, which my brain randomly got me thinking, in the original surrender universe what the relationship between bakugo’s parents and weeds is like, I wonder if it would be important to bakugo for them to meet? How they would? Imagine the lil flower arrangement weeds would make if it was an organised meet up 🥺

i haven’t posted it yet, but there’s a throwaway line about weeds meeting the bakugous in the birthday!drabble im doing for the one-shot collection. they have their own little dinner with katsuki and weeds, for his birthday! 🥺 he hates every moment lmao, and keeps trying to shut down his mum’s questions. 💀 his dad is much sweeter though—he and weeds meet before this, accidentally, when he stops by katsuki’s apartment and runs into her! it’s what inspires the birthday dinner. 🥹

tbh i see katsuki’s parents as being fairly hands-off that first year weeds and katsuki are together—you know! relationships are funny! you have to let them settle! plus katsuki would be like a rabid chihuahua any time his mother or his dad like, ask about weeds or whatever. mitsuki would be sooo nosy tho—how on earth does anyone tolerate her son for so long???—and masaru would just be so pleased for his little boy. 🥹 like, that first time weeds and the family meet, weeds comes armed with this beautiful, big bouquet of flowers for mitsuki and then afterwards, when katsuki’s shepherd weeds out of the house (all the while evil eying his mother) mitsuki will flick one of the big, fat peonies and be like, “the kid seems sweet. how long do you think it’ll last?”

and masaru will just scratch the side of his nose under his glasses and think about a younger mitsuki, who literally would not take no for an answer from him—and a younger katsuki, who had the same laser-focus when it came to the things he wanted in his life. “i’m not sure,” he’ll say, placidly. “we’ll have to wait and see.”

as an answer it pleases mitsuki—i like to think she’s stubborn about acknowledging the similarities between her and her son. she’d want him to settle down and be normal (and safe) and give her grandbabies—but after nearly losing him so many times as a teenager, a child still, i think she’d just count herself lucky he has a future to live at all—no matter what it looks like, or who it’s with.

(“i can’t believe he’s even interested in human contact,” she complains to masaru the day after the birthday dinner. he’s ironing, nodding as he listens and she sets the wash basket down. “i was beginning to think our real baby got replaced by some kind of—piggybacking little demon, only we were stupid enough to dress it and raise it and set it loose in the real world—”

“piggybacking little demon or not,” masaru interrupts, fondly, “he’s still our boy. i’m glad he’s found someone—especially someone so nice.”

that makes his wife snort; almost exactly like their son used to, as an impatient teenager. “i hope those nice genes are strong enough to beat out his demon ones, then.”

masaru thinks ruefully of his own dark hair—and the way katsuki was almost an exact clone of his mother, down to their scowls. “we’ll have to see about that,” he says, wry.)

eventually tho, mitsuki figures out the name of the florist shop that weeds runs and oh, would you look at that—masaru just happens to be in town! in the same area! what a coincidence!! didn’t expect to run into katsuki’s girlfrend, here of all places, oh well better take some flowers back home for mitsuki haha! weeds would be delighted—masaru is a very gentle man, and when neither of them have their respective blondes there, needling the other, it’s easier to hold proper conversation. it wouldn’t be crazy often—once every few months, maybe, when masaru “accidentally” wanders into town—but i reckon eventually he and weeds would have a standing lunch date. 🥺 just a little check-in. weeds can get the family happenings/gossip from him, and he can get a true assessment of what’s going on his boy’s world. 🥺 they’d either eat together in the store or go to little cafés, bistros—talk over sandwiches or traditional bowls served by some tiny, tiny old grandmother with a shop cat that sits on the counter and a pile of magazines on the chair next to weeds. it’d be fun! weeds would really enjoy the time with another civilian who knows what it’s like to love a pro-hero, and worry for them. 🥺

(it’s all fun and games until katsuki figures it out. he sees it, actually, while on patrol; the pair of them walking back from lunch like old friends. he’s so mad LMAO. he told his stupid parents to butt out of things!!! masaru’s laughing at weeds impersonating a grumpy katsuki when there’s a growl from behind them—he’s lethally silent when he wants to be—and someone says, “something real funny, eh?”

weeds and masaru are fairly similar in temper, i think—so they’d be identically shame-faced, as katsuki bawls them out, right there on the street LMAO. told off by a pro hero. 😔 how embarrassing.)