#so he could actually learn a lot from her

[wren--bee]

Wynne is so interesting when you see the “wise old mentor” thing as a facade. Which it is because… she’s not even 50. (The doylist response is to discuss the writing of older people but that’s far less interesting imo.)

She can’t seem to connect to any of the group as an equal, she has to find a way to be detached, and it’s extremely interesting with Zevran. Possibly the first banter you get with them (and it’s most interesting when it IS the first) is her immediately berating Zevran for murder. This is someone who was purchased as a slave, unable to leave without being hunted down and killed, and doesn’t receive much of the money at all from his work. He’s… you know. A slave. And Wynne can know this! The fact that he was purchased and says he wasn’t paid at all for the job for the Wardens comes up before he’s even a party member- which Wynne can very easily be present for, especially since the game gently pushes you to do Redcliff first, which then gently pushes you to the Circle, and if you follow that series of events you have just recruited her when you meet Zevran. So… she knows and goes straight in with the moralising, because what wisdom could she actually offer him? There isn’t any. He doesn’t need wisdom, advice, or guidance- he needs kindness and acceptance.

The irony is that Wynne’s personal quest is about how she failed to offer those things to her first apprentice, and as a result she pushed him away. And she does the exact same thing with Zevran, who needed that kindness- and was ready to accept it, for all that he brushes it off when he receives it from the Warden he also gains approval. So what does he do when he’s moralised at? He pushes her away. Except he’s not an apprentice she has power over, he’s a grown man who is able to do what he can to piss her off.

I think a lot of people take Zevran’s behaviour at face value, and I think that’s a mistake. He’s learned to use flattery, charm and distraction to achieve his ends- and he’s using it during the game too. He’s not trying to seduce Wynne- he’s trying to annoy her enough to get her to leave him alone and stop preaching at him without actually paying actual consideration to his experiences, imo. And we see such an interesting side of them both on display when they’re together.

DAO companions are all about nature vs nurture. And Wynne is trying to be the wise mentor she wants to have learned to be- but she’s trying to fit into the box she’s built for herself every bit as much as Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana and Zevran. And that’s way more interesting to me than a companion who really is just a wise mentor!

“Fenris is so mean to the companions” this “Morrigan is a bully” that. You are all sleeping on the real savage in this series.

[redflagshipwriter]

Snatching Snitches 5

masterpost

Raven contemplated the hole she was digging and decided that the only way out was further down. Things had escalated rapidly. Helping Robin get his ugly cat back had seemed like a nice deed, and then when she learned it was actually a ghost, it had seemed funny to register it as Dick’s cat. It was a harmless prank to saddle him with the cat he didn’t seem to like much.

And then it turned out to be the ghost of a human child who, so far as she could tell online, appeared to actually still be going to school. What the fuck was going on with that? Was the carboy dead or not?

‘I’m a terrible person for thinking that’s even funnier. This is literally a Schrödinger bit’

Raven smirked to herself as she waited for Robin to get back with the super-secret adoption paperwork that Bruce kept in his study to cry over whenever he and Dick had a fight. He was definitely going to notice that it was missing, but she was willing to bet that Bruce would think that Dick had done it himself. Those idiots couldn’t communicate about feelings if their lives depended on it. She was going to get away with this, no sweat. She just had to keep going until the end. Sure, the consequences would get worse the more she did, but that wouldn’t matter if she pulled it off.

“I might be going down, but Dick is going to be planted,” she muttered to herself, stretching out her hands and then rotating her wrists. She cracked her neck. That had been a lot of paperwork. 

The air buzzed to let her know that Robin wanted to come back. Raven opened up a portal and he slipped through, much like a cat himself. Granted, it would be hard to convince a cat into one of those preppy blazers. It was a real flashback to Dick’s mathlete days. Raven choked down a laugh as Robin lifted his face to confront her directly with a crisp envelope in hand.

“Here.” He looked like a combat accountant and he only came up to her collarbone. God, she loved working with the trainees. It was a perpetual joke that no one else was in on.

Raven took the envelope with a smirk and a flick of the wrist. “Thank you.” She hadn’t been willing to steal from Batman personally. “I’ll take this to get filed.” She held the paper up a little higher and marveled at how light it was. This little paper was going to be so goddamn funny.

The little boy looked like a half-scale doll of a businessman with his hair slicked back. It was difficult not to laugh when Robin nodded gravely. “You are an admirable colleague.” Beneath the tightly-leashed exterior, Robin was awash with sincere gratitude and warmth, with a hint of admiration. It was a significant improvement on the resigned scorn he had for the other kids in the tower.

‘His diction is just like Dick’s. I’m gonna have a war flashback to infiltrating that museum internship program to find magical forgeries.’ 

His crisp little businessman tone aside, that was… sort of touching feedback. She nodded back at him. “Your professionalism is also appreciated. I’ll file a personnel request in a few minutes..” Raven had been thinking it over while she waited. “We need to move quickly. I’m going to have a field trip to train one or two of the new kids. You’ll be my assistant.”

Robin’s nose flared, but he otherwise did not react to the, as he would see it, unfortunate need to have tagalongs. “That will suffice,” he agreed, the pompous little pussycat. The air around him soured with regret.

She sent him back in another portal and then sat at her laptop to file a request for him on a mission. Someone in the Batcave approved and filed the request within minutes. Pretty typical for them. The next request was for Suzie, and then the last member of the group… Robin’s little Superboy friend, actually. If there were a lot of ghost fights, it would be a good chance for him to see more aerial combat. Supers were a little overly confident if you didn’t deliberately let them get their asses handed to them by someone else who could fly. 

When she was done with administration work Raven spun around on her chair and stretched out her shoulders before she got up to do a little magical research into Amity Park. The human world wasn’t generally very safe for non-life, so there might be some relevant background information. She wanted to know the magical landscape before she brought Secret there. Sure, she was already dead, but she was still basically an elementary schooler. She was learning a lot and maturing, but she would never actually hit 10 years old. Raven had a significant duty of care.

Unfortunately, she hit a dead end with that line way too early and had to look into the online resources. It looked like nothing of note had really happened in Amity Park history, so it had to be a modern era problem.

“Who the…” Raven furrowed her brows and scowled at the screen. “Who are these losers?” She sneered at the government website. They had an inventory of their weaponry on their private server that seemed ridiculous and unnecessary.  “Good thing I asked for a Super, we might need a shield,” she muttered to herself. “I don’t know if this would harm Suzie if it hit her…”

The tiny girl herself drifted through the wall not an hour later, blonde hair floating in an invisible breeze. “Hi, Raven.” Her blue eyes were bright with interest. “You have a mission for me?”

Raven tried not to sneeze on the smoke. “Secret,” she said evenly. It always sort of fucked her up to see dead kids, even if they were still wandering around and having a better afterlife than their life had been. “Yes, I do. We are looking into a custody situation for another ghost. There’s something really strange in this place– it is full of ghosts. There’s nothing in the history to justify this level of spiritual saturation.”

It was really bothering her, actually. This type of thing usually took a long time to accumulate.

Suzie’s mouth dropped open for a moment. “So you need me to act as a warder?” She beamed. “Guide someone to the afterlife?” Her smoky sleeves floated around her body in a mock embrace and then billowed out like wings. She was adorable.

…She should probably not suggest that around Robin. He might make her cry and undo all of Raven’s work to engender confidence.

Raven kept her tone even. “I don’t think that’s what we want to do, but it would be foolish not to bring you along to get your expert opinion.”

As expected, the child puffed up with pleasure at being trusted. Nurturing that confidence had been a trial, and Raven wasn’t going to let a chance pass by. 

“This is Danny,” she said, and beckoned Suzie over to look at her screen. “He died a few months ago, but on the official record? He’s alive and well and attending school, although his grades have dropped.” 

Damian was going to have to dig into his allowance to get tutoring for his new kid.

Suzie hummed, fascinated. “He’s a big kid,” she said, cocking her head. “Like fourteen?”

Raven hid a wince. “That’s right, he died at 14,” she agreed. “He was caught up in a summoning and taken to Gotham two months ago in a secondary form.” She kept a subtle eye on Suzie, watching her emotional state. This was probably a sensitive topic. “If possible, we are going to transfer custody to one of the Gotham vigilantes. I’ve already contacted an afterlife young ghost protective center.”

‘Had no idea that existed until this morning, but whatever.’

The little ghost went silent for a long moment and considered that, bobbing faintly in the air. “I suppose if they think the placement is fine,” Suzie said slowly. “I would feel better seeing the ghost. Danny. What was the secondary form?”

She didn’t smile, because she was a hardass bitch. “A housecat.”

Suzie giggled. “That’s cute,” she said, and then hummed as she tipped her face up to think. “It sounds like he was vulnerable. Becoming something cute and small is a way to be safe. I’m glad that we are looking into it.”

“Yes,” Raven said, and switched her tabs. “There are two factions of ghost hunters in this city, one of which is actually Danny’s parents. So I will be doing a home check with Robin while you and Superboy do recon of the general area. Depending on how good they are, you may or may not catch their attention.”

Suzie stared. “His parents.”

“His parents.”

Suzie’s eyes darkened. “I wonder how he died.”

Given that she had been murdered by her adoptive brother, the odds were good she was thinking the same thing that Raven was.

It was an effort to keep her voice neutral. “That’s my first question,” Raven agreed. “I don’t like it. It’s very convenient that these ghost hunters suddenly have ghosts in their vicinity after years of failure.” She pulled up their neon website. “They have to be complicit in hiding the death, at the very least.”

“Or seriously negligent.” Suzie crossed her legs in the air and hugged her ankles, bent over into a tiny shape to peer at the screen.

Raven inclined her head, but she couldn’t quite buy that anyone would fail to notice their child had died in the house a few months back. “I want you to look at these images of suspected ghosts off the GIW servers and tell me if you know anything about any of them.”

“Right!” Suzie nodded in determination. Her emotions spilled out in the air, wholesome and sincere. “I’ll do what I can.”

Raven’s answering smile was real. “I know you will.” She hit print. 

Not an hour later, Raven gave up on her books for the day and rolled her neck out. “I’m going to run an errand,” she announced. “What do you want to do?”

Suzie looked up from the folder she had made to mark up entity photos with her questions and comments. “I’m fine here, I’ll leave when I‘m done,” she said vaguely, and then immediately went back to what she was doing.

Raven nodded and went to her closet to pull out a suit. She styled herself to be as boring as possible and then took herself to Gotham city hall. 

The receptionist looked up at the clack of Raven’s heels approaching. “Good evening,” she greeted, radiating the overwhelming impression of normality and reasonability. “I need to file a certificate of adoption on behalf of a client.”

“I can take that.” The clerk indicated the sign in sheet. “Would you put your name and time of visitation down?”

“It’s better if I don’t.” Raven leaned her elbow on the counter and flourished the envelope, smiling faintly. “Here you go.”

The clerk paused, but Raven’s general aura was too powerful for her to protest that it was irregular. “Thank you.” She opened it and pulled out the paperwork. Her eyes widened and brows went up when she read the names. “That’s…”

“Overdue?” Raven asked dryly.

“All in order,” came the correction. A stamp came out and was pressed firmly on the bottom of the paper. “I’ll have this filed before the end of the day. Will there be an announcement in the newspaper?”

“No, it’s better not to,” Raven said, really coaxing.

The clerk took a deep breath. The exhalation where she would have told anyone else “It is a requirement” came out silent. “I can see why,” she said instead. “Thank you. Will that be all?”

It really felt like there should be more fanfare. But Raven shook her head. “No, that’s all– Actually, can I get more of those papers, blank forms?” 

Maybe she wouldn’t need them! But something was very odd with little Danny Fenton. If he was somehow passing for living… She might have to have him adopted via the human court system as well to avoid compromising his education.

…How the fuck was she going to pull that off?

Raven worried over the problem on her way back to the tower, scowling up a storm cloud of negativity that sparked rain. She slammed her way back into her room and was faintly grateful that Suzie had already cleared out. Raven pulled up her stub of a file on Danny Fenton and started adding more biographical information. She’d seen there was a sister in the same school, but Raven found the first photo.

“...Hm.” She added the photo and went looking for photos of the parents. Danny had blue eyes and black hair, which really wasn’t a common combination. It was weird that his sister had red hair. She didn’t get it from their dad, it turned out, who was a black-haired brickhouse of a man. Raven’s heart rate picked up with excitement as she searched up images of Madeline Fenton. Her university affiliation photo showed a beaming middle aged woman with subtle white in her red hair who apparently lectured on occasion. Bit premature, those white hairs, since she was only 39. Not much older than Raven’s Teen Titan’s cohort, as a matter of fact. Oh, fuck. A delicious timeline came together.

“And 14 years ago…” Raven mumbled to herself, feeling a wicked idea come together. Oh, fuck yes. She full-on villain cackled at the throwback photo of Madeline Fenton at age 25, when Dick had been 22 and in love with any redhead with a pulse. “She’s hot,” Raven said with relish, and slapped her hands on the desk in delight. It was the first full body photo she had found online, and Madeline Fenton was a goddamn fox. “Oh, Dick would have. He would have.” She cracked her knuckles and set in to do something truly heinous as a backup plan. “Now I just need someone to help me falsify DNA results.”

It was a late night, but it was going to be so worth it.

The adoption hit squad landed in Amity Park at 9 am local time on Sunday, ready to investigate Danny Fenton's unliving situation. 

[mythals-whore]

Here is why i find it strange that there are some people who seem to think Minrathous specifically is too sanitized:

*a specific gripe that doesn’t have that much to do with the overall post but frustrated me all the same

To be so clear with anyone reading this, i am telling you why I personally do not take issue with there not being *sigh* more slavery in this game.

You don’t see more slaves (other than the ones you explicitly free) because you’re in the poorest part of Minrathous and the slaves, presumably owned by all the altus families, would be living in slave quarters with the altus families in the nicer parts. (Read up on the depiction of slavery debt vs. chattel HERE if you care)

Now that’s the easiest answer. But for anyone making this complaint, that isn’t good enough because we want to see the horror or it Doesn’t Exist. So allow me to continue.

What we learn form Dorian in DAI is that he doesn’t think slavery is wrong because his family ‘always treated their slaves well’. To treat slaves poorly in Minrathous is seen as Bad. It’s a moral responsibility to treat slaves well. Obviously, not everyone abides by this (I’m looking at you, corpses outside if Zara’s bloodbath chamber) but it’s the party line, if you will.

So, no. There aren’t slaves being whipped in the streets. Or…whatever else you might want to see. Because everything that happens in Tevinter, happens behind closed doors. Even blood magic is ‘officially’ frowned upon. Tevinter prides itself on a public stance that often isn’t reflected in actual moral practice. And I could tell you that it feels more indicative of politics as they are in real world now to have the outward stance be very different than the actual beliefs and values/morals held. But this post is about the apparent lack of slavery/racism in Veilguard, so I digress.

I have seen a lot of people bring up up alienages, or the lack-there-of in Minrathous. Which is, in the south, an area where the elves live similiar to ghettos/slums. Alienages were set up by Divine Renata I after the Exalted March against the Dales. They are a direct result of elves being forced into one walled-off part of town and creating a subculture based in-part on Dalish influence/heritage (the tree of the people being an example).

Stay with me.

Tevinter doesn’t have alienages. But Minrathous has Dock Town, which we are told explicitly is the poorest part of Minrathous. And we see that it is the poorest part because there are beggars everywhere and literally shanty towns along the streets where people are living. We are told explicitly by Neve that no one cares about Docktown except her (and the Shadow Dragons). There are demons running rampant, murders, thievery and no one cares because it’s Dock Town. Presumably because the Templars/any other sort of police they may have are a) corrupt and b) who cares about the poors??? They don’t contribute anything to society anyway and we don’t care about them.

In Dock Town most of what we’re seeing are not slaves, you’re right. They’re likely Liberati, freed slave class. Who are graciously allowed to begin a trade or join a Circle. They are not, however, allowed to serve in the military, the government, hold any rank in the imperial chantry. Also in Dock Town: the poorest of the Soperati, who can own property and serve in the military but otherwise have no representation in government or any real rank in the imperial chantry, or in general the ability do any social climbing. So they can never move up, they always stay stagnant, always poor and weak and never ever able to do anything about it.

This is your alienage equivalent, if it’s not clear. You’re in it. No, it isn’t walled off. But it doesn’t need to be walled off or called an alienage to be that part of town.

And before you ask about the tree of life, Tevinter slaves (and therefore the liberati class) are not just elves. They’re humans, dwarves and Qunari also (this is from World of Thedas Vol. I). All of which have different backgrounds, traditions and would not come together to form such a cohesive culture based on their Dalish heritage for reasons i’m sure i don’t have to spell out.

On a final and a bit of a personal note: i live in the southeast US. Bible belt. I grew up in a majority white suburb, and yes, I’m white. So as I said, if you have a different take, you’re entitled to it and maybe my opinion means nothing. But I grew up constantly hearing about the part of town that we don’t go to. Don’t go to that shopping center, its too close to [part of town where the minorities live]. And i tell you this to say that i never heard any of the adults in my life use a slur, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t being racist. And in fact, a lot of then pride themselves on not being racist and fail to see their implicit biases and the systemic racism.

So yeah, i guess to me, the minorities and the poor people being relegated to the part of town no one cares about, where crime and corruption are rampant is racism/classism as i have witnessed it most commonly in real life. It seems odd to me that people missed it or that it seems to not be ‘enough’ for people when it’s the kind of racism that is the most rampant in the present times (at least where i am) even if it’s not as explicit.

Again, i could get into the 40 acres and a mule, post-civil war reconstruction failures that kept black people down (share cropping) and is still keeping them down now and all the ways that minorities having the ‘same rights’ somehow tricks some people into thinking that racism and bigotry doesn’t exist anymore (just because Dock Town isn’t walled off doesn’t mean the people who live there are reasonably free to live elsewhere). But maybe that’s for another post where we talk about how freeing slaves is good, but not nearly enough to actually help marginalized people. (Government reform, which you know…you get to choose the new archon but that is irrelevant and doesn’t mean anything)

*I’d also like to say that i saw a post which referenced Chantry teachings that say kissing elves is like kissing a dog. I don’t know about this. What I do know is that in The Masked Empire There is a scholar out of the university in Orlais who comes out (on the authority and encouragement of Gaspard) and says that to lie with an elf is to lie with an animal because they’re more like rabbits and follow their baser instincts. I can only assume this is to what that post is referring. You may correct me if i am wrong.

So #1 it didn’t come from the chantry, as i remember. And #2 the schism between the Northern and Southern chantries is widely known, so what applies to one may not apply to the other. Very big rift. So it’s not surprising to me that this doesn’t come up, is all I’m saying.

[missmaymay13]

Close To You - William Eklund

12k

w.eklund x OC | w.smith & m.celebrini x OC (platonic / sibling relationship)

Summary: the sharks have a new social media intern and immediately the two young rookies stake their claim on her as their "adopted older sister". the three were always attached at the hip. when william eklund meets the new girl, hes immediately smitten by her. the only issue? he's too shy to do anything about it.

Warnings: none! only that its my first story ive ever released and im still trying to find my writing style lol. theres lots of cute sibling banter with OC & will and macklin! and ofc lots of eky being shy... hehe

note: i did go a little crazy when i wrote this a few weeks ago and thanks to a looong manic episode lol so i do have a bunch of little one shots about this story just ready to be edited and uploaded. please lmk if anyone is interested in me releasing them (they are all mainly about will, macklin and OC)

ekys first sleep over

If June Johnson had any illusions about starting a calm, professional internship with the San Jose Sharks, they were completely shattered the moment she stepped into the dressing room. She wasn't new to social media—she had spent years running accounts for small businesses, university sports teams, and even a short stint with a junior hockey club. But this? This was different.

This was the NHL.

And the NHL, apparently, came with an unspoken initiation involving two overly energetic rookies and a locker room full of chaos. She had barely set foot inside before she was noticed.

"Wait, you're new." Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks' golden boy, stood in front of her with a curious expression, his practice jersey half on, his skates still untied. Before she could respond, another voice piped up.

"Yeah, dude, she literally just walked in," said Will Smith, his grin wide, blonde hair slightly damp from morning skate. June barely had time to introduce herself before Will and Macklin had already formed a huddle, whispering loudly enough for the entire room to hear.

"Alright, what's the bet?" Will muttered dramatically. "How long do we think before she quits?"

"Oh my god." June rolled her eyes. "I'm literally standing right here." Macklin hummed, rubbing his chin as if he were deep in thought. "I give her three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Will scoffed. "Nah, she looks tough. I say she lasts a month." June crossed her arms. "You guys do realize I control the social media accounts, right? I can absolutely mute you both from existence."

Macklin's eyes widened. "You wouldn't." Will gasped. "That's... I didn't think of that." June smirked. "Try me."

For a moment, there was silence. Then, as if she had passed some unspoken test, Macklin and Will immediately abandoned their "bet" and turned their attention to grilling her instead. "Alright, but for real," Macklin leaned against his stall, arms crossed. "You actually want to work here?"

June shot him a look. "Yes? Why, should I be concerned?" Will grinned. "Let's just say... we're a little much." June snorted. "Oh, I've noticed." That was when Mario Ferraro, one of the veteran defensemen, wandered over with a laugh. "You'll get used to them."

"Will I?" Mario patted her shoulder. "Probably not."

Despite Macklin and Will's warnings, June quickly settled into her role. Her first few days were a whirlwind of learning the ropes, familiarizing herself with the Sharks' social media strategy, and—most importantly—figuring out how to handle the absolute disaster that was the team's young core. It didn't take long for Macklin and Will to adopt her as one of their own. At some point, she had unknowingly become their unofficial babysitter. They followed her around like lost puppies, insisted on helping her gather content, and were constantly dragging her into their antics. By day three, she had already been roped into filming a TikTok where the two of them attempted a viral dance trend.

Spoiler: it did not go well.

"I swear, we had it perfect before you hit record," Will complained, shaking out his hands as Macklin groaned beside him. June snorted. "Sure you did." Macklin narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you going to be this sassy all season?"

"Oh, absolutely." Will grinned. "I like her."

But June quickly realized that handling these two was only part of the challenge—because the rest of the team wasn't any better. She had planned to ease into things, maybe take a few weeks before jumping headfirst into recording the "random question of the day" segment.

Yeah. That plan lasted all of five minutes.

The second Logan Couture spotted her with the team's media camera, he nudged Tomas Hertl. "Bet she asks something ridiculous." Tomas, grinning, turned to her. "First question, let's go."

June hesitated, flipping through her mental list of backup prompts before blurting out, "Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses?" The room erupted.

"Oh, that's a good one."

"Wait, do we get weapons?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Absolutely taking the duck-sized horses."

"Are you crazy? The horse-sized duck would kill you."

June blinked as chaos ensued. "...So I take it this is a success?" Mario nodded solemnly. "You're going to fit in just fine."

By the end of her first week, June had established herself as more than just the new intern—she was officially part of the team's day-to-day chaos. She had already lost count of how many times Macklin and Will had dragged her into some ridiculous argument (the most recent one being about whether or not cereal counted as soup). She had also learned that Henry Thrun would agree to any TikTok challenge if you dared him, and that Noah Gregor was terrifyingly good at coming up with completely random, borderline unhinged facts about obscure animals.

Most importantly, she learned that despite their antics, these guys weren't just a team—they were a family. And as much as she had expected to feel like an outsider, June realized something as she sat in the locker room, laughing at yet another one of Will's dumb ideas: She was already part of it.

⸻By the time June's second week rolled around, she had fully accepted her fate. She wasn't just the Sharks' new social media intern. She was now the official (unofficial) babysitter of two NHL rookies who had way too much energy and way too little supervision. Her schedule? Completely dictated by Macklin and Will. Her daily tasks? Constantly interrupted by their antics. Her peace and sanity? Gone.

And the worst part? She didn't even mind.

June had just walked into the practice facility when she heard it. "Junie! HELP!"

She barely had time to process before Macklin came barreling toward her. She dodged out of the way just in time to see Will chasing after him, waving what looked like—was that a half-eaten protein bar?

"You're a menace to society!" Will shouted. "How do you not like peanut butter?!"

"It's disgusting!" Macklin yelled back, jumping behind June for cover. June, half-awake, pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's literally eight in the morning."

"He called peanut butter MID!" Will exclaimed, shoving the evidence (a protein bar wrapper) in her face. "This is a CRIME, June. A CRIME." Macklin peeked out from behind her. "Are you seriously telling me peanut butter is top-tier? Grow up."

"GROW UP?!" And just like that, they were arguing again. June sighed, stepping around them to grab her morning coffee from the media lounge. "I'm too tired for this." She had barely taken her first sip when Logan Couture walked by, shaking his head. "Still want the job?"

June took a long, dramatic sip of her coffee before deadpanning, "I've made my peace with it." Logan smirked. "Good answer."

The thing about Macklin and Will was that they had absolutely no chill. If June thought they had been bad the first week, she completely underestimated just how much worse it could get. They followed her everywhere. They never let her work in peace. They somehow managed to turn every single day into some kind of ridiculous event.

Exhibit A: June had been setting up a behind-the-scenes TikTok, casually filming players walking into practice, when Macklin and Will sprinted into the frame—dramatically sliding in on their socks like they were action movie stars. She barely had time to react before they started posing. "Mack, hit 'em with the Zoolander." Macklin turned to the camera and gave his best Blue Steel impression.

"Oh my god," June muttered. "We're naturals," Will declared, tossing an arm over Macklin's shoulder. "Should we be influencers?" June deadpanned. "Absolutely not."

"Okay, rude."

Exhibit B: June was setting up a mic for a player interview when she felt something land on her head. She immediately knew who was responsible. "Will," she said slowly, reaching up to remove the hockey tape ball that had just been thrown at her. Will, sitting across the room, looked way too innocent. "What?" he said, blinking at her. "That could've been anyone."

June narrowed her eyes. "Really?"

"Really." From beside him, Macklin was struggling not to laugh. "You're lucky I like my job," June muttered, tossing the paper back at him. Will caught it easily, grinning. "You love us." June rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. "Debatable."

It took approximately zero days for the rest of the team to notice just how much time Macklin and Will spent following June around. "They have imprinted on her," Henry Thrun declared during a team meeting. Mario Ferraro nodded solemnly. "She's like their pack leader now."

"I give it a week before she starts bringing them snacks like a hockey mom," Tyler Toffoli joked. The worst part was that June heard all of this.

"You guys are talking like I'm not right here," she pointed out, arms crossed. "Oh, we know," Logan said, smirking. "We just think it's funny." June rolled her eyes. "They're not that bad." That was when Macklin and Will—who had been wrestling over a Gatorade bottle like literal children—accidentally knocked over an entire stack of towels. Everyone turned to her.

June sighed. "Okay, fine, they're a little bad."

By the time practice ended, June was exhausted. Not from the work—no, she could handle that. She was exhausted from babysitting two grown hockey players. As she sat in the lounge, sipping on what had to be her third coffee of the day, she suddenly felt two shadows looming over her.

"Junie." She sighed. "What do you want now?"

Macklin plopped down beside her, grinning. "Just saying hi." Will flopped into the chair on her other side. "We missed you." June gave them a look. "I literally saw you guys an hour ago." Will shrugged. "Yeah, but still." June groaned, dramatically dropping her head onto the table. "I give up." Macklin patted her shoulder. "It's okay. We love you too."

And that's when it hit her. Somehow, without even trying, she had become one of them.

⸻June Johnson was used to chaos by now. She had accepted that working for the San Jose Sharks meant zero peace and infinite amounts of babysitting two overgrown children (Macklin and Will) on a daily basis. But what she hadn't accounted for?

William Eklund.

She had heard his name before—obviously. He was one of the team's top young players, constantly hyped up by the media, and apparently the "responsible" one out of all the rookies. That was a lie. Because when she finally met him? He was the opposite of put-together. In fact, he completely malfunctioned.

June was minding her own business, setting up a camera for a post-practice TikTok, when she felt it. The weirdest, most intense stare from across the room. At first, she ignored it, assuming it was just one of the guys zoning out. But then she heard a very distinct choking noise. She turned—only to find William Eklund standing a few feet away, frozen, wide-eyed, and looking like he had just forgotten how to breathe.

"...Uh," June blinked. "Are you okay?"

William made a sound that was definitely not human. Then, instead of speaking like a normal person, he just kept staring. Like, full-on deer-in-the-headlights staring. It was so bad that even Macklin noticed.

"Yo, Eky," Macklin called, waving a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Eky?"

William didn't respond. He just continued looking at June like she was a mythical creature. Macklin and Will exchanged glances. Then Will, ever the troublemaker, grinned.

"Oh my god," he whispered. "He's starstruck." Macklin's eyes widened. "No way."

June, completely lost, looked between them. "What?" Will beamed. "Oh, this is amazing." At that moment, William finally snapped out of his trance—only to immediately panic.

"Vad i helvete," he blurted out. June frowned. "What?" William visibly cringed. Then, because his brain was apparently not functioning, he started nervously rambling.

"Uh—I—hi," he stuttered. "You're—you're—um."

"Oh my god," Will whispered. "He's broken." Macklin gasped. "Did we just witness love at first sight?"

William immediately turned bright red. "Nej! Sluta!" June tilted her head. "I don't speak Swedish, but that sounded defensive." That only made him more flustered.

Macklin doubled over laughing. "He's panicking! He's literally panicking!" William looked so done. June, still completely out of the loop, crossed her arms. "Okay, can someone explain what's happening?" Will grinned. "Oh, nothing."

"Except that Eky," Macklin added, "is down bad." June raised an eyebrow. "Down bad?"

William groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Jag hatar det här." The second William left the room, Macklin and Will lost their minds.

"This is the best day of my life," Will announced. "I have never seen Eky lose his cool like that."

June, still confused, took a sip of her coffee. "So what you're telling me is..." She pointed toward the door William had just fled through. "That guy just had a meltdown because of me?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"A hundred percent."

June frowned. "But why?" Will grinned. "Because he's so in love with you." June choked on her coffee. "EXCUSE ME?"

Macklin nodded seriously. "It's true." Will gestured toward the hallway. "I mean, did you see that? You literally broke him Junie."

"That was not normal behavior," Macklin agreed. "Oh," Macklin said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "This is gonna be fun."

⸻William was dying.

He had locked himself in the players' lounge, pacing back and forth like a man on the verge of a crisis. Which, to be fair, he was. He had completely embarrassed himself. He had made a fool of himself in front of June. He was never going to live this down. And the worst part? He still hadn't said an actual sentence to her. Instead, he had just... malfunctioned. Because apparently, his brain stopped working whenever June was around. This was a disaster. A complete, total disaster. And William had no idea how he was going to survive the rest of the season.

⸻June Johnson wasn't the type to take things personally. She had thick skin, a sharp sense of humour, and enough patience to deal with Macklin and Will on a daily basis. But even she had her limits. And right now? She was absolutely convinced that William Eklund hated her. It started immediately after their first meeting. At first, she chalked it up to coincidence. Maybe he was just busy. Maybe he had a lot on his mind.

But by the third day? She noticed. Because every time she set up her camera for a TikTok, William suddenly disappeared. And it wasn't subtle. It was full-on, "I see June and immediately turn and walk in the opposite direction" avoidance.

Like today. She had just finished setting up her phone for a new round of "Question of the Day" when she spotted William across the room. She raised a hand to wave. His eyes went wide. And then? He turned and booked it. Like, actual Olympic-level sprinting.

June blinked. "...Did he just run away from me?" Will, standing beside her, cackled. "Oh yeah," he said, grinning. "He totally did." June frowned. "Okay, what is his deal?" Macklin, sitting nearby, hummed in amusement. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," June gestured vaguely toward the door William had just escaped through, "he keeps avoiding me." Will snorted. "Yeah. And?"

"And—!" June huffed. "What did I do?" Macklin and Will exchanged glances. Then they grinned. "Oh," Macklin said innocently. "I'm sure it's nothing."

It wasn't just the dodging. No, because apparently whenever William couldn't escape in time, he had another reaction. He turned bright red. It happened constantly.

The first time, June had genuinely thought he was overheating. She had run into him near the locker room, and the second they made eye contact, his entire face flushed. She had even been concerned for a second.

"Are you okay?" she had asked.

William, visibly struggling, had muttered something under his breath and immediately turned on his heel and left. At first, June didn't think much of it. But then it happened again.

And again.

And AGAIN.

Any time their eyes met? Boom. Red. And yet, somehow, she was the only one confused about it. Macklin and Will? They were having the time of their lives.

"Oh my god, this is so funny," Will had whispered after William once again fled the scene. Macklin nodded. "He's actually suffering."

June, arms crossed, frowned. "Do you guys know something I don't?" Will just smirked. "Maybe." June narrowed her eyes. "I don't trust you." Will patted her shoulder. "That's fair."

By the time a full week had passed, June was convinced she had done something wrong. Because who avoids someone this hard if they don't hate them? She finally snapped during morning skate. She had been setting up her camera when William walked into the room—only to immediately turn around and leave.

June had had enough.

"Okay," she said, turning to Macklin and Will. "Be honest. Does he hate me?" Macklin choked on his water. "What?" Will, looking way too entertained, laughed. "Oh, June." June crossed her arms. "No, seriously. Did I do something?"

Macklin wiped his mouth, still grinning. "You really think Eky hates you?"

"Yes?" June threw up her hands. "He literally refuses to be in the same room as me!" Will, barely containing his laughter, shook his head. "Oh, Junie. You're so, so wrong." June frowned. "Then what is it?" Macklin grinned. "Oh, he doesn't hate you," he said. "Not at all." Will smirked. "If anything, it's the opposite." June blinked. "What?"

Macklin leaned back in his seat, looking way too smug. "June," he said slowly, like he was explaining something obvious. "The guy has a huge crush on you."

June froze.

She stared at them. "What? Absolutely not. You're lying." Will nodded. "Oh yeah." Macklin shrugged. "It's actually kind of pathetic."

"...Wait." She shook her head. "You're telling me that he's been avoiding me because he likes me?" Will beamed. "Exactly." June frowned. "That makes no sense." Macklin snorted. "No, it makes perfect sense."

Will nudged her. "Think about it. He literally panicked when he first met you." Macklin nodded. "And he turns bright red whenever you look at him." Will wiggled his eyebrows. "He's smitten."

June, suddenly replaying every single interaction she had with William, felt her stomach drop. No. That can't be it. This is just Mack and Will pulling on her leg. Shoving Macklin and Will away, she walked away, mumbling about how they're a bunch of idiots that don't know what they're talking about. ⸻William Eklund had one goal today. Survive.

Media day was supposed to be easy. It was literally just a few hours of posing for headshots, recording promo videos, and answering basic questions for the Sharks' social team. Simple. Routine. No stress. Except for one problem.

June was there. And not just there. She was practically running the entire thing. Which meant William was now trapped in a room with her for hours, forced to interact, unable to escape like he usually did. He was so screwed.

The media room was buzzing with activity. Bright studio lights were set up along the far wall, cameras positioned at different angles, with a backdrop featuring the Sharks logo. A handful of team staff were already filtering through, prepping the players for their photos and coordinating the shoot schedule.

And in the center of it all?

June.

She was checking over the camera setup, giving quick instructions to the photographer, her clipboard tucked under one arm. Completely in her element. William watched from a safe distance, praying she wouldn't notice him. He had almost convinced himself that he could get through this without incident—until he made the mistake of glancing toward the schedule board.

PLAYER ORDER:     1.    Logan Couture     2.    Henry Thrun     3.    Mario Ferraro     4.    William Eklund

William Eklund.

FOURTH? NO TIME TO PREPARE. His stomach dropped. "William!"

His head snapped up just in time to see June waving him over. Oh.

Oh no.

She was smiling at him. Why was she smiling at him? Why did she have to be so effortlessly cool and put-together and—

"Come on," June said, gesturing toward the backdrop. "You're up next."

William's feet refused to move. He was frozen—fully paralyzed—as his brain scrambled for an escape plan that didn't exist. June tilted her head, confused. "You good?" He nodded way too fast.

"Y-yeah! Yes! Of course! I am—good. Very good." Oh my god. What was that? What kind of response was that? He sounded like a robot. June blinked, her brow furrowing slightly. "Okay... cool. Just step into the frame, and we'll get started."

William swallowed hard. This was a nightmare. He forced himself forward, his legs moving stiffly as he positioned himself in front of the camera. "Alright," June said, adjusting the lighting. "Just look straight ahead."

William tried. He really did. But the problem? June was standing right next to the camera. Which meant that every time he looked forward, he was also looking directly at her. And holy shit. That was not helping.

He could feel it happening. The dreaded blush. It started creeping up his neck, warming his face, and no matter how hard he tried to fight it, it just kept getting worse.

He was going to die.

Meanwhile, June—completely unaware of his suffering—was focused on her job. "Alright, now turn a little to your left," she instructed. William nodded too fast again. "Okay. Yes. Left. I can do that."

Stop talking. Stop talking. Stop talking.

He adjusted his pose, feeling like an actual idiot. "Perfect," June said, tapping something on the screen. "Now just relax your shoulders a bit."

Relax? Relax?!

How was he supposed to relax when she was literally standing right there, looking at him, analyzing him, judging his every movement— "Eklund," June interrupted, giving him a look. "Breathe."

Oh.

Right.

Breathing.

That was a thing he should probably do.

He forced himself to inhale, feeling like a malfunctioning robot. After what felt like years, the photographer finally finished. William was seconds away from sprinting out of the room when June held up a hand. "Wait," she said. "One more thing."

He froze. "What?" She handed him a mic. "You need to record a quick intro for the season promo."

...Oh no.

Oh no.

Talking? In front of June?! This was worse. This was so much worse. But he had no choice. So he took the mic, cleared his throat, and—

"Hi. I mean—hello. I'm William Eklund. And you're watching—" He stuttered. "No. Wait. That's Disney Channel. That's not right."

OH MY GOD.

A beat of silence.

Then—

June snorted. Like, actually snorted.

"Dude," she said, trying (and failing) to hold back laughter. "Are you okay?"

William felt himself combusting. "I—uh—I don't know?"

And then, because his embarrassment reached an all-time high, he did the worst thing possible. He cursed in Swedish.

Loudly.

June immediately caught it. "That was Swedish," she said, grinning. "What did you just say?"

William's soul left his body. "Nothing!" he blurted. "It was nothing! I—uh—I should go." And before she could stop him, he turned and speed-walked out of the room. The second he escaped, he slumped against the nearest wall, running a hand through his hair.

That was a disaster.

An absolute disaster.

He could not handle this girl.

Not her smile. Not her teasing. Not the way she effortlessly made him look like an idiot. He was so doomed.

And the worst part? He still had to see her every single day. There was no way he was making it through the season in one piece.

⸻ June Johnson had watched NHL games before. She had grown up watching them on TV, sometimes in the stands, cheering alongside packed crowds. But standing on the ice, just feet away from the players, camera in hand, feeling the energy of the arena before puck drop?

This was different.

This was insane.

And, for the first time since starting this job, she fully grasped the magnitude of what she had walked into.

The arena was electric. The SAP was packed, fans decked out in teal and black, waving rally towels as the pre-game light show illuminated the ice. The music boomed through the speakers, matching the pulse of the anticipation hanging in the air. From ice level, it felt ten times louder.

June had her phone in one hand, her camera in the other, capturing clips for TikTok and Instagram. Players skated by, locked in, the sound of their blades carving through the ice mixing with the deep bass of the arena soundtrack. She turned, scanning the crowd through her lens, before shifting her focus back to the bench.

And that's when she saw them. Macklin and Will.

They were standing by the boards, both trying (and failing) to act like they weren't completely freaking out.

It was their first NHL game.

The real deal.

And June, despite all her focus on capturing the perfect shot, could see the nerves written all over them. She lowered her camera and walked over, nudging Will's shoulder. "You good?"

Will grinned way too fast. "Yeah! Totally! Super fine! Not nervous at all!" Macklin, standing beside him, snorted. "He's lying." Will shot him a look. "Dude, you're literally shaking."

"I am not."

"You so are."

June rolled her eyes. "Okay, both of you need to chill." Macklin exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "I mean... it's a lot, right? The lights, the crowd, the pressure." Will nodded. "Kinda feels like I might throw up." Macklin grimaced. "Yeah, please don't do that."

June, watching them closely, softened. She had been so focused on the media side of things, she had almost forgotten that this was just as much a huge moment for them as it was for the fans.

Their first NHL game. Their first time skating out to their names being announced in front of thousands. Their first real taste of the league they had dreamed of playing in since they were kids.

And the fact that they got to do it together? That made it even more special.

June shifted, nudging Macklin first, then Will. "You guys know you belong here, right?"

Will blinked. "Huh?"

"I mean it," she said, looking between them. "You guys worked your asses off to get here. And yeah, it's scary, but you're not alone. You've got each other. And," she added with a smirk, "you've got me."

Macklin snorted. "Oh, lucky us." Will grinned. "Yeah, what would we do without you?" June crossed her arms. "Exactly. Now stop freaking out and just play. You'll be fine."

They didn't say anything for a moment, just exchanged a glance—one of those silent, best friend conversations where nothing needed to be said.

Then Macklin smirked. "Alright. Let's do this."

Will nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

Before heading toward the ice, they both turned back at the same time and, without warning, pulled June into a quick hug. It was so fast she barely had time to react before they let go and skated off, leaving her standing there, completely caught off guard.

She blinked, watching them go. Then, with a small smile, she raised her camera and hit record.

This?

This was going to be a hell of a season.

⸻ June Johnson was not prepared for how emotional this game was going to make her. She had spent the past few weeks fully settling into her role with the Sharks, getting used to the chaos, the media responsibilities, and—most of all—her new dynamic with Macklin and Will. She knew how much this night meant to them. But standing here, watching it all unfold in real time, she realized she had drastically underestimated just how much it meant to her too.

The hug wasn't planned. It had been impulsive, a quick, wordless exchange that lasted no more than a few seconds before Macklin and Will skated off, leaving June stunned on the bench.

But apparently? Everyone noticed. Not even five minutes later, her phone buzzed with a notification.

@/SharksMedia: A special moment between our three "rookies" before puck drop. 🦈💙

She clicked the video, watching the moment play back in real-time. The clip wasn't even high quality—just a quick, shaky recording taken by a the other social media crew. But that almost made it better. The three of them huddled together, Will grinning, Macklin looking focused but excited, June laughing as she nudged them before they pulled her in for a fast, almost instinctive hug.

It was so small, so simple—but it had everyone melting. The replies were already flooded with comments.

@/freshprinceofchestnuthill02: STOP THIS IS TOO CUTE 😭 @/miami101: not the sharks making me emotional before the game even starts @/willmack7102: the way they just pulled her in like it was nothing 🥺

June groaned. "Oh my god." Then, it was time. The lights dimmed. The music swelled. The energy in the arena built to a fever pitch.

And then—

"Starting at center, making his NHL debut... MACKLIN CELEBRINI!" The crowd exploded.

June felt her chest tighten with pride as Macklin took the ice, his first NHL solo lap, carving through the rink with ease, the lights reflecting off his jersey.

Then came—

"Starting at forward, making his NHL debut... WILL SMITH!"

Another huge roar from the crowd. Will skated out, grinning ear to ear, pumping his fist as he took his lap. And June? She was so damn proud.

Her boys. Her stupid, chaotic, lovable little brothers were in the NHL.

She held up her phone, capturing every second. She wanted to remember this. She wanted them to remember this. The game itself was a blur of fast-paced action, adrenaline, and a ridiculous amount of yelling from the bench. But the moment that would live in her brain forever?

Macklin's first goal.

She had barely processed what happened.

One second, the puck was dropped. The next? Macklin had it. And before anyone could react—

HE SCORED.

On his first shot. The puck hit the back of the net, and the entire arena erupted. The goal horn blared. The bench exploded. Macklin threw his arms up in disbelief, eyes wide before he was immediately swarmed by his teammates.

June? June was losing her entire mind. She practically shoved her phone into the air, recording as she jumped up and down, screaming.

"Oh my god! OH MY GOD! MACKLIN!" She didn't even care if it was professional or not—she was screaming her lungs out. The guys on the bench were laughing at her, but she didn't care.

She could feel her eyes watering, could barely hold the camera steady, but she kept recording, capturing the pure, unfiltered joy on Macklin's face as he skated past the bench. When he spotted her?

He pointed.

Directly at her.

Like he knew she was freaking out. Like he knew this meant just as much to her as it did to him. She covered her mouth, grinning like an idiot, heart bursting with pride.

June barely remembered the final buzzer, too wrapped up in the chaos of celebration, but the moment the game ended, she was already on the move. She didn't care about decorum, didn't care about looking professional—she just sprinted down the tunnel, camera forgotten, shoving past staff and players until she finally found them.

"MACKLIN!"

Macklin barely had time to turn before June crashed into him, throwing her arms around him in the biggest hug imaginable. Will, laughing, barely had time to react before she grabbed him too.She held onto both of them way too tight, face buried in Macklin's shoulder, because she was so proud she didn't even have words.

"You guys," she choked out, voice muffled. "You guys are—ugh! I'm so proud of you!" Macklin laughed, squeezing her back. "June, you're literally crying." She pulled back just enough to wipe at her eyes, sniffling. "Shut up, I'm not."

Will smirked. "Oh, she totally is." Macklin nodded. "Big time." June groaned. "I hate you both." Will grinned. "Love you too."

Macklin slung an arm around her shoulder, still smiling. "Thanks for being here, Junie." June sniffed, rolling her eyes. "Where else would I be?"

Because honestly?

There was nowhere else she'd rather be.

⸻ William Eklund was already down bad. But after tonight?

It was getting worse.

William was still coming down from the high of their first win when he took a moment to breathe, slumping back against the bench as the final cheers from the crowd echoed through the arena. That's when he saw her. June.

She was still in the tunnel, grinning like an idiot, her arms wrapped around Macklin and Will like they had just won the Stanley Cup. The way she smothered them, pulling them in, eyes bright with pride—it was so genuine, so soft, so full of love that it actually made his chest ache.

And the worst part? The look on their faces.

Macklin and Will—who normally acted like two little menaces—completely melted.

Macklin let himself be squeezed half to death, grinning through it. Will actually laughed into her shoulder, nudging her playfully but not pulling away.

They just... let her love them.

And William? William realized he wanted that too.

He wanted her looking at him like that. He wanted her throwing her arms around him, laughing, telling him she was proud.

God, he was so screwed.

Later, in the locker room, Macklin leaned against his stall, arms crossed. "Okay," he said, tilting his head toward William. "We need to do something." Will, peeling off his tape, raised an eyebrow. "About what?" Macklin scoffed. "Are you serious?"

Will followed his gaze toward where William was sitting, fully staring at June from across the room, looking like a lovesick puppy. Will smirked. "Oh. That."

Macklin rolled his eyes. "Dude, it's getting embarrassing." William was barely trying to be subtle. June was just talking to Ferraro, completely oblivious, but William was staring at her, practically drooling.

"I mean, come on," Macklin continued, nudging Will. "Look at him. He's helpless." Will snorted. "I bet if she even looked in his direction right now, he'd combust."

Macklin smirked. "Wanna test that theory?" Will grinned. "Oh, absolutely."

"Okay, hear me out," Will said, leaning in. "We make him jealous." Macklin raised an eyebrow. "You think that'll work?" Will nodded. "Dude. He's already in the deep end. We just gotta make him feel like he's actually losing her."

Macklin hummed, considering. "And how do we do that?" Will grinned. "I'll flirt with her."

Macklin immediately started laughing. "Oh, that's evil."

Will shrugged. "Gotta do what we gotta do." Macklin smirked. "Alright, let's see if this works." _

The next morning, June was walking through the facility, minding her business, when Will suddenly appeared beside her.

"Good morning, gorgeous," he said smoothly.

June almost tripped. "...What." Will grinned. "Just appreciating beauty when I see it."

June narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," Will said way too innocently. "Can't a guy just compliment his favorite person?"

Okay.

Weird.

But this was Will. So instead of overthinking it, June just rolled her eyes. "Right. Sure."

Will patted her shoulder. "Looking forward to spending the day with you, sweetheart."

And then he just... walked off.

June blinked.

What.

The.

Hell.

William witnessed the entire thing. And immediately malfunctioned. Will had barely touched her, had just thrown a few dumb compliments, and yet William felt actual, physical heat crawling up his neck.

Why was Will talking to her like that? Why was June smiling at him like it was normal? WHAT WAS HAPPENING?

He was so busy panicking that he didn't even realize Macklin had been watching him the whole time.

Macklin smirked. "Something wrong, Eky?" William blinked, still staring after June and Will. "Huh?"

Macklin grinned. "You look... distracted." William scowled. "Shut up."

Macklin snorted. Oh yeah. This was gonna be fun. If William Eklund thought things couldn't get worse, he was very, very wrong. Because Will Smith was escalating.

And William? William was losing his mind.

It started the second June walked into the practice facility. She had barely taken two steps before Will was right there, flashing his biggest, most ridiculous grin.

"Junie," he greeted smoothly. "You're glowing today."

June, already skeptical, blinked. "I... what?"

Will placed a hand over his heart. "It's true. You brighten this entire place."

Okay. What the hell was going on? June narrowed her eyes. "Alright. What do you want?" Will gasped, offended. "I'm just being nice!"

"You're being weird."

"I'm being appreciative." June sighed. "Of what?" Will smirked. "Of you, obviously." June stared at him for a solid five seconds.

Then?

She just shook her head and walked away.

Weird. But again—this was Will. So she didn't think much of it.

William, however? William was dying. He had been right there, watching the whole thing, and holy shit. Will was so obvious.

The way he tilted his head just right, the stupid smooth tone of his voice, the way he just kept smiling at her like she was the best thing in the world— William was going to explode.

And the worst part? June didn't even seem fazed. She just rolled her eyes and kept moving, like Will flirting with her was normal. Like she was used to it.

William hated that. Macklin, standing beside him, smirked. "You good, bud?" William gritted his teeth. "I'm fine."

Macklin snorted. "Right. Totally believe that." Macklin just patted his shoulder. "Whenever you're ready to, you know, actually do something about this, let us know."

William groaned, running a hand through his hair. Yeah. That wasn't happening anytime soon. If William thought Will was done for the day, he was so wrong. Because later, when they were in the gym, stretching before practice, Will decided to take things a step further.

June was standing by the benches, scrolling through her phone, completely minding her own business.

And Will? Will casually walked over, plucked her phone out of her hand, and sat beside her. "Hey," he said, grinning. "You look a little tense." June frowned. "What—"

And then? Will reached out and started massaging her shoulders.

William almost had a stroke. June froze. Then, slowly, painfully, turned her head to look at him.

"...What are you doing." Will, completely unbothered, kept massaging. "Just helping you relax."

June stared at him. "Dude."

"What?"

"This is weird."

Will sighed dramatically. "See? You never let yourself be taken care of." June pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh my god."

But she didn't immediately push him away, just let out a long, exhausted sigh before finally grabbing his wrists and prying his hands off.

"Okay. Enough." Will smirked. "You love me."

"I tolerate you." Will winked. "Close enough."

William Eklund needed help. William had been watching all of this from across the room, barely holding it together. He felt like his brain was on fire.

What was Will doing?! Why was June letting him?! WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING IN FRONT OF HIM?!

His jaw was so tight he thought his teeth might crack. He didn't even realize how tense he looked until Ferraro passed by and gave him a knowing look.

"Something wrong, Eky?" he asked, amused.

William, glaring at Will, muttered, "Jag ska döda honom." Ferraro snorted. "Don't need to speak Swedish to know what that means."

William groaned, dropping his head back against the bench. He was never going to survive this.

⸻June Johnson had way too much in her hands.

She had one camera bag slung over her shoulder, a stack of memory cards tucked in her arm, and an iced coffee balancing precariously in her grasp.

She was one wrong move away from disaster. And, of course, that's exactly what happened.

She had been power-walking down the hallway toward the media room, fully convinced she could make it without incident. And then?

She bumped into someone. Her elbow knocked against them just hard enough, and—

One of the memory cards slipped from her grip, tumbling toward the floor. She cursed under her breath and immediately went to grab it. What she didn't realize was that the person she had bumped into—William Eklund—had done the exact same thing.

And just like that—

Their hands collided.

It was barely anything.

Just a quick brush of fingertips, warm skin against warm skin, but it lingered for just a fraction of a second longer than necessary. June barely had time to process it before William yanked his hand back like he'd been electrocuted.

Her brow furrowed. "Woah." William, visibly flustered, refused to look at her. "Sorry."

June grabbed the memory card and straightened, eyeing him. "It's fine. You okay?"

William cleared his throat, still avoiding eye contact. "Yes. Fine. Totally fine."

June narrowed her eyes.

Weird.

So weird.

But before she could push it further, William mumbled another quick apology and walked away. She watched him go, shifting the equipment in her arms.

"...Alright."

She had no idea what just happened. But one thing was becoming very clear.

William Eklund was acting really, really weird around her. And for the first time, she actually wanted to figure out why.

⸻ William Eklund had a problem.

And that problem?

June Johnson.

Because somehow, without realizing it, he had spent the entire night keeping an eye on her. The night had started like any other team outing. The Sharks were in Canada, celebrating a win in one of the liveliest bars in the city. The place was packed, the music loud, drinks flowing, and the energy electric.

June had arrived with Macklin and Will, just like always, falling into her usual spot between them like they were an inseparable trio. And William? William shouldn't have cared. He should have been focused on his own night, drinking, laughing with the guys, letting loose after a good game.

Instead?

His gaze kept drifting. Not intentionally—at least, not at first. But every time she laughed at something, every time she leaned against Macklin's shoulder, every time she flashed that stupid, perfect smile, his brain short-circuited. And then, when Macklin and Will got distracted, when she was off talking to someone else, he found himself checking on her.

Was she okay? Was she having fun?

Who was she talking to?

He had no reason to be watching her this much. No reason at all. And yet, there he was.

Sitting at the table, barely hearing what Ferraro was saying, because he was too busy making sure June was good.

And that? That's how he noticed.

He had been watching her—not intentionally, just subconsciously, scanning the bar like always—when he saw it.

A guy.

Too close.

June tense.

William sat up, spine snapping straight. At first, it was just mild concern.

Maybe she knew him. Maybe she was fine.

Then—

The guy reached for her.

Something in William's chest snapped. Before he even thought about it—before he even processed what he was doing—he was moving. It was pure instinct.

One second, he was at the table. The next?

He was right there.

His hand landed on June's wrist, and in a flash, he pulled her behind him. The second he did it—the second he put himself between her and the guy—his brain switched off.

No nerves. No hesitation. No overthinking.

Just pure, protective instinct. And for the first time ever, he wasn't flustered around her.

Because right now? She needed him. And that? That was the only thing that mattered.

"Back off." His voice was low, sharp, and dangerously calm.

The guy, clearly drunk, scoffed. "Relax, man. We're just talking."

William didn't move.

Didn't blink.

Didn't budge an inch.

"She's not interested," he said coolly. "Walk away."

The guy rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath, but after a moment, he made the right choice and left.

It wasn't until the guy was gone that William's brain started functioning again. And that's when he realized—

He still had his hand on June.

Oh.

Oh no.

The protective instinct that had taken over? Gone.

Now?

All that was left was panic.

He turned to check on her, his heartbeat still racing, and the moment their eyes met, it hit him all at once.

How close they were. How his hand was still gripping her wrist. How she was looking up at him with wide, unreadable eyes.

His brain completely melted.

Before he could let go, apologize, or run away forever, June suddenly smiled.

Soft.

Grateful.

And then?

She kissed his cheek.

William stopped breathing.

It was so fast—barely a second, just a light press of her lips to his skin—but it destroyed him.

The warmth. The softness. The casual, effortless way she did it—

William was dead.

Actually, physically deceased. And then? She just patted his chest, smiled like nothing happened, and said—

"Thanks, Eky." Then she walked back to the table like it was nothing. He stood there, completely frozen, hand still hovering in midair like an idiot.

His face was on fire. His brain was empty.

And then—

"Ohhh my god."

A voice.

A voice that sent pure fear down his spine.

William turned, and—

Macklin and Will. Watching the whole thing. And losing their minds.

Will was gasping for air. Macklin was halfway to the floor, wheezing. "Oh my god," Will repeated. "DID SHE JUST—"

"Oh, he's so gone," Macklin choked out. "Look at him. LOOK AT HIM."

William's ears were ringing.

He needed to leave.

Right now.

Immediately.

But he couldn't.

Because he was still standing there, still feeling the ghost of her lips on his cheek, still trying to process that June Johnson had just kissed him.

And worst of all?

He had no idea what it meant.

⸻ June Johnson had made one mistake tonight. And that mistake? Thinking she could get through the rest of the night without being interrogated.

By now, it was common knowledge around the team that Will, Macklin, and June always shared a hotel room.

It was ridiculous—they were literal NHL rookies, not kids at summer camp. But somehow, every single road trip, they managed to convince the team staff to let them bunk together.

Why? Because they couldn't function without each other. (Also because Will and Macklin were man-children who needed supervision, but June wouldn't admit that out loud.)

So when they got back to the hotel after the bar, she should have known what was coming.

The moment June walked in, Will threw himself onto the bed, dramatically sprawling out like he had just run a marathon. Macklin, meanwhile, plopped onto the couch, cracking open a water bottle.

And then—at the exact same time—they both turned to her. And grinned.

June froze. "What." Will wiggled his eyebrows. "Sooo..." Macklin smirked. "How's Eky?"

June's stomach dropped.

Oh, god.

They knew.

She forced herself to act casual, dropping her bag by the dresser. "Uh... fine?"

Will snorted. "That's all you're gonna say?"

June narrowed her eyes. "What are you two getting at?"

Macklin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Oh, I don't know," he said casually. "Maybe the fact that you kissed him."

June instantly turned red. "It wasn't a kiss."

Will gasped, clutching his chest. "IT WAS A KISS."

June groaned. "It was barely anything. It was on the cheek."

Macklin smirked. "Did your lips touch his skin?"

June hesitated. "...Yes?"

Will sat up straight. "DID HE TURN BRIGHT RED AFTER?"

She huffed. "Obviously."

Macklin grinned. "Then it counts."

June covered her face. "Oh my god, you guys are so annoying." Will kicked his feet like an excited child. "So, tell us everything. How was it? How did it feel? Was it soft? Did he smell good? Did he—"

"STOP," June groaned. "It wasn't a big deal."

Macklin scoffed. "Oh, it was a huge deal."

Will nodded aggressively. "Eky's probably still in shock. You fried his entire brain."

June sighed, throwing herself onto the bed. "You guys are making this so much bigger than it was."

Macklin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you just go around kissing people on the cheek all the time?"

June glared. "I WAS THANKING HIM."

Will grinned. "Sure. Sure."

Macklin smirked. "You know he's in love with you, right?"

June froze. Her stomach did something weird. She sat up quickly. "He is not."

Macklin and Will exchanged a look. "Oh, she's in denial," Will whispered.

Macklin nodded. "Big time."

June crossed her arms. "He doesn't like me like that. He's just... shy."

Will snorted. "Junie. He literally worships the ground you walk on."

June's face heated up.

Macklin shrugged. "Honestly, I'm kinda impressed with you." She frowned. "What?"

Macklin smirked. "You broke him. I've never seen Eky that flustered before. He might actually be in a coma right now."

June groaned. "You guys are the worst."

Will flopped back onto the pillows, grinning. "Face it, Junie," he said. "You're in trouble."

And, for the first time, June was starting to think he might be right.

⸻ Tyler Toffoli had played in the NHL for a long time. He had seen a lot. He had been on championship teams, endured chaotic locker rooms, and witnessed some of the most ridiculous bets ever made between teammates.

But somehow?

Somehow, this might be the dumbest one yet.

They were on the road, heading into Buffalo for the next game on their trip. The usual post-practice bus chatter filled the air—guys talking about dinner plans, chirping each other about bad drills, and overall just keeping the mood light. Tyler was sitting near the middle, scrolling through his phone, when a voice from behind him made him pause.

"Alright," Will Smith said, loud enough for half the bus to hear. "Let's make things interesting."

Tyler sighed. It was never good when Will started sentences like that. Henry Thrun, sitting near the front, barely turned around. "This ought to be good."

Will grinned. "If Mack, Toff, and I all score against Buffalo, then Toff has to—" He turned dramatically. "Join our legendary sleepover."

Tyler blinked. "...Your what?"

Macklin Celebrini smirked. "Oh, he doesn't know." Mario Ferraro snorted. "Dude, they have a whole routine."

Tyler, confused, looked between them. "You guys still do sleepovers?"

Will grinned proudly. "Hell yeah, we do."

"I—" Tyler shook his head. "Why?"

June, sitting two rows ahead, barely glanced up from her phone. "They're codependent." Will ignored her. "It's tradition. And you can't really talk, you're a part of it."

Tyler rubbed his temples. "Okay, but why me?"

Macklin smirked. "Because we need to test your loyalty." Tyler scoffed. "And what are the chances all three of us actually score?"

Will shrugged. "Low."

Macklin nodded. "But if it happens, you're in."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Not gonna happen anyway."

It did, in fact, happen. Will scored in the first period, skating past the bench with a cocky grin, pointing at Tyler. Then Macklin tipped one in on the power play. And then, because the universe hated him, Tyler sniped one in the third.

The bench erupted.

But instead of normal goal celebrations, Tyler was met with immediate chirping. "Ohhh, Toff," Thrun teased. "You're in trouble now."

Will and Macklin bounced on the bench screaming "Sleepover! Sleepover!!" Tyler groaned. "Oh my god."

By the time they got back to the hotel, Tyler was praying everyone had forgotten.

They did not. Because the coaching staff got involved.

David Quinn, standing in the hallway post-game, grinned when he saw Tyler. "So, Toffoli," he smirked. "You ready for your sleepover?"

Tyler stared. "Coach, please." Mario Ferraro walked by, dying of laughter. "Gotta follow through, bud."

And just like that?

Tyler had no way out.

When Tyler finally showed up to their hotel room, dragging a stupid rollaway cot behind him, he had one thought.

What the hell did I just get myself into?

Because what he expected was a normal setup.

What he got was a full-fledged system.     •    Will and June were in one bed.     •    Macklin was in the other.     •    There was a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk on the bedside table.     •    And a stupid spot was set up at the foot of both beds for his cot.

Tyler blinked. "You guys are unreal."

Will beamed. "Welcome to the fam, Toff."

Macklin smirked. "Did you actually think we were joking?"

Tyler exhaled. "I was hoping."

June, casually scrolling on her phone, snorted. "Well, you're here now."

"Okay," Will said, pulling out his phone. "Photo time."

Tyler groaned. "Is this really necessary?"

Macklin grinned. "Oh, 100%."

They took the stupidest, most ridiculous photo possible—Tyler lying stiff on his cot, looking miserable, June and Will grinning like gremlins, and Macklin flashing a peace sign from his bed.

June shook her head. "This is absurd."

Will grinned. "It's tradition."

At first, Tyler thought, Okay. Fine. We'll go to sleep now. It was 3am, what else were you supposed to do.

Wrong.

Because Macklin and Will would. Not. Shut. Up.

They talked about everything. The game. The best goal celebrations. Some random inside joke that made zero sense.

June?

She just sat there on her phone, occasionally chiming in like this was completely normal. Tyler turned to her. "How are you just... ignoring this?"

June shrugged. "You get used to it."

Tyler sighed. "I don't think I will."

And then—

Mid-sentence, Will just stopped talking. Tyler frowned. "What the—"

He looked up—Will was just... asleep. Out. Like a light.

Macklin didn't even react.

June, without missing a beat, just sat up, pulled the covers over Will, then rolled over and fell asleep too.

Tyler stared. "What," he whispered. "The hell just happened?"

Macklin yawned. "It's just how it is."

Tyler frowned. "What do you mean?"

Macklin shrugged. "Will has a hard time sleeping alone. He started bunking with June because it helped. And somewhere along the way, I joined too."

Tyler stared.

Slowly, it started to make sense. It wasn't just some dumb rookie sleepover.

It was... routine. A weird, chaotic, ridiculously wholesome routine. And June? She wasn't just their friend. She was their person. Their family. Their everything.

The one who made everything easier, lighter, better.

Tyler shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips.

This was insane.

But also?

Kind of perfect.

Before turning over to sleep, Tyler pulled out his phone. He stared at the stupid photo they had taken earlier. Then, before he could overthink it, he posted it to his Instagram.

Caption: "Reporting for duty 🫡"

He tossed his phone on the nightstand and settled in.

Yeah.

This team?

This team was something special.

⸻ William Eklund had survived a lot in his career.

Gruelling practices. Hard-fought games. The relentless chirping of his teammates.

But this? This was worse than all of that combined. Because June Johnson was flirting with him.

And she was doing it on purpose.

William had been suffering in silence for months, convinced that June saw him as nothing more than a teammate, a coworker, a friend of a friend.

He had resigned himself to his quiet, torturous little crush. And then, out of nowhere, everything changed. It was like a switch flipped. Because suddenly, overnight, June started acting... different.

Not in a way anyone else would notice.

But he noticed.

At first, he thought he was imagining it. The way she started standing closer to him in conversations. The way her fingers would brush his wrist when she handed him something. The way she'd lean in, just slightly, when they were talking, like she was completely comfortable in his space.

And then came the comments. The too-casual, too-smooth compliments that made his entire brain malfunction.

"Looking good today, Eky," she had tossed out casually, winking as she walked past.

Or worse—after practice, when she'd toss him a water bottle and say, "Stay hydrated, pretty boy."

PRETTY BOY.

William had fully choked on his own spit.

Ferraro had had to thump him on the back to save him.

June?

She had just grinned and walked away. She was doing this on purpose. He was sure of it now. And it was killing him.

Unfortunately, William was not subtle.

The team picked up on it immediately. They watched as June slowly turned up the heat, adding more teasing, more touches, more deliberate moments that left William looking completely fried.

And the guys?

They were thriving off his suffering.

"Eky, man," Hertl grinned one day. "You look stressed."

"Yeah," Ferraro added. "Everything okay? You seem a little... distracted."

William, completely red, grumbled, "I'm fine."

The worst part?

June had heard the whole thing. And instead of saving him, she had just smirked. Like she knew exactly what she was doing.

It finally reached critical levels one afternoon after practice. William had spent the entire day dodging her, avoiding eye contact, trying to survive.

And then—

She cornered him.

It was just the two of them in the media room, the door clicking shut behind them.

William's heart was already racing, just from being alone with her.

And then—

She leaned against the table, crossed her arms, and smirked.

"So," she said casually. "When are you going to ask me out on a date?"

He stopped breathing.

His brain shut down.

She just— She actually—

WHAT.

She was looking at him, waiting for an answer, and oh my god.

She knew.

She had known this whole time.

And now?

Now she was messing with him.

William opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

His face was so red, he could actually feel the heat in his skin.

June tilted her head, amused. "Eky?" she teased. "You good?"

No.

No, he was absolutely not good.

He was broken.

And June was loving it.

⸻ William Eklund had been barely holding himself together for weeks.

But this?

This was a new level of suffering. And it all started with a movie night ambush.

William had no idea what he was walking into. Will and Macklin had texted him earlier:

Will: Movie night at ours. Get here ASAP. Macklin: We got snacks.

William, thinking it was just the three of them, didn't hesitate. But when he walked in, he realized immediately—

He had been set up.

Because sitting on the couch, curled up in the coziest, most unfairly cute outfit imaginable, was June.

William was done for.

She wasn't in her usual media attire. She wasn't wearing her Sharks press pass, or running around with cameras, or giving him heart attacks by casually calling him "pretty boy."

No.

She was wearing sweats, an oversized Sharks hoodie (probably Will or Macklin's), huge glasses, and a messy bun.

And William?

William short-circuited on the spot.

She looked so soft. So effortless. So perfect. She looked so different from the sharp, witty, always-in-control June he was used to. And somehow, that made it so much worse.

She looked like she belonged here.

William could not stop staring.

"Eky," June greeted, smiling up at him. "Didn't know you were coming." William forgot how to speak.

Because her voice was so soft. And she was hugging a pillow to her chest. And she was wearing glasses.

And oh god.

He was in so much trouble. Will and Macklin, of course, noticed immediately. Will barely suppressed a grin. "Yeah, we... forgot to mention June was here."

Macklin smirked. "Hope that's cool."

William, still completely malfunctioning, just nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, totally. Cool. Fine."

Will snorted. "You sure, bud?"

William forced himself to sit down, taking the safest possible spot—the chair across from the couch, as far from June as possible.

Macklin and Will exchanged a look.

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

The next night, the team had a bonding event planned. Bowling. Which should have been normal, fun, low-stress. But of course, that was before June decided to completely ruin William's life.

"Alright," Couture called out. "Pair up, let's get the teams set."

Before William could even think about what was happening, June appeared right next to him. She looped her arm through his, looked up at him with a sweet, innocent smile, and said,

"Me and Eky are a team." William's brain immediately malfunctioned. The guys immediately noticed.

"Ohhh," Toff grinned. "Interesting choice."

Will, barely containing his excitement, leaned over to Macklin. "This is gonna be so good."

Macklin nodded. "Eky's gonna combust."

And honestly?

They weren't wrong.

It started small.

She made little touches—brushing her fingers against his when she grabbed the bowling ball, nudging him when she laughed.

Then, it got worse.

She fixed the collar of his hoodie, totally casual, completely unaware of how William's soul left his body.

And then, when he went up to take his turn—

She stood way too close behind him. She leaned in and whispered, "No pressure, but I expect a strike."

And William?

William bowled the worst shot of his life.

The ball went straight into the gutter.

And the team?

Lost their minds.

"Oh my god," Will howled, actually falling onto the seats.

"Eky," Mario teased. "What the hell was that?"

William had no words. He just turned, fully red, looking at June. She was smirking. Like she knew exactly what she was doing.

And then, like she hadn't just completely ruined his night—

She patted his back and said, "You'll get 'em next time, pretty boy."

William wanted to scream.

At this point, William was barely hanging on. And Macklin and Will? Decided to help. Which, of course, made it so much worse.

They started pushing William toward June at random moments. They wingmanned him so hard it was embarrassing.

"Oh, you guys look good together," Macklin said loudly.

"Right?" Will grinned. "Power couple."

William wanted to die.

June?

June just laughed and played along.

"Oh, totally," she smirked. "We make a great team." William was one second away from actually combusting.

⸻William Eklund had reached his breaking point. For weeks, he had been tortured. June had been flirting relentlessly, finding every possible excuse to touch him, tease him, ruin his entire existence.

And worst of all? She knew exactly what she was doing.

Then, the other night, she had straight-up asked him when he was going to ask her out.

And William?

William had said nothing. He had just stood there buffering like a broken computer.

Pathetic.

Which is why, today, he was done. "What if I mess up?" William asked, pacing back and forth in the locker room.

Zetterlund leaned against his stall, arms crossed. "Eky, buddy, you've already messed up."

William groaned. "Okay, but—"

"No. No more 'but,'" Zetterlund cut in. "You're asking her out today."

William ran a hand through his hair. "I had a plan." Zetterlund raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" William nodded. "I was going to wait for the perfect moment."

Zetterlund sighed. "Dude, you had the perfect moment. She literally asked you when you were going to do it."

William groaned again, covering his face. "I KNOW."

Zetterlund clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, okay? Just keep it simple. 'June, go out with me.' That's it."

William took a deep breath. He could do that.

Right?

The plan was simple. June did her "Question of the Day" segments every morning. All he had to do was wait until she finished, walk up, and ask her out.

He had it all rehearsed—every word planned out perfectly in his head.

But then...

He saw her.

She was standing in the hallway, smiling, laughing, looking unfairly beautiful, and—

His brain turned to static.

Before he even knew what was happening, he was walking toward her.

And then—

Words started falling out of his mouth.

"H—hey, um, I was wondering if, uh—well, you see—what I meant was—um—if you, like—wanted, um—go, uh, eat—dinner? With—me? Or something? At some point. Maybe. I don't know. No—I mean, I do know. I mean—I want to. Do you want to?"

Silence.

Absolute.

Painful.

Silence.

June just stared at him.

William wanted to jump into the nearest trash can.

Then—

She smiled.

And oh god.

She was blushing.

"Are you asking me out, Eky?" she asked, tilting her head. William, fully malfunctioning, just nodded.

June's smile grew.

"Then yes," she said softly.

William stopped breathing.

Then, as if she hadn't just completely ruined his life, she leaned in—

And pressed a kiss to his cheek.

But not just anywhere. Dangerously close to his lips.

William was dead.

June pulled away, grinning at his stunned expression. "Pick me up at seven?" she asked.

William, still not functioning as a human being, just nodded wordlessly. June gave him one last teasing look before walking away. Leaving William standing there, completely frozen.

That's when he felt two hands clap onto his shoulders. "Ohhh buddy," Macklin wheezed.

Will, barely holding it together, patted his back. "You okay, champ?"

William said nothing. He just stared into the void.

Macklin and Will looked at each other. Then—they burst out laughing. "Oh, this is too good," Will gasped.

Macklin shook his head. "She broke him."

William, still completely stunned, just whispered "What just happened?"

Will grinned. "You got a date, Eky." Macklin smirked. "And a near-kiss." Will waggled his eyebrows. "She's bold, huh?"

William was still buffering. Macklin clapped him on the back. "You're so screwed, dude."

And honestly?

He was.

⸻ William Eklund had never been this nervous in his entire life.

Not for his NHL debut. Not for a shootout attempt. Not even for post-game interviews where he had to answer questions in English instead of Swedish.

This?

This was worse than all of that combined.

Because tonight? He was taking June Johnson on a date.

When William pulled up to June's place, he felt like he was going to be sick. His hands were clammy, his heart was pounding, and he could already feel the team's chirps echoing in his brain.

But then—

She stepped outside.

And William?

William almost forgot how to breathe.

She looked stunning. Her hair was in natural curls, bouncing with every step she took. Her eyes were bright, glowing, filled with excitement. And her smile?

Her smile was going to kill him.

She was wearing something simple—jeans, sneakers, a cozy sweater—but she had never looked prettier.

William actually felt his jaw drop.

"Oh," he blurted before he could stop himself.

June raised an eyebrow, amused. "Oh?"

William, still short-circuiting, cleared his throat aggressively. "You look—uh—really, really, really—"

Stop saying 'really'—

"—really pretty."

June laughed, eyes crinkling. "Thanks, William."

Then—as if she hadn't just melted his entire brain—she stepped forward and hugged him.

And to make things so much worse for him?

She kissed his cheek.

Again.

William fully blacked out.

June pulled away, grinning. "Are we ready?" William, still struggling to recover, just nodded. "Yeah. Uh. Yep."

He quickly thrust the bouquet of daisies toward her. "These are for you."

June's face softened immediately. "Daisies?" she murmured. William rubbed the back of his neck. "They're your favorite, right?"

June blinked.

Then—to his complete horror—her eyes started glistening.

"I can't believe you remembered that," she whispered. William panicked. "Did I do something wrong?" June laughed, blinking away tears. "No, you idiot. You just did something really sweet."

William, already red, opened the car door for her. "You deserve sweet things."

June stared at him. William immediately felt like he said too much. But before he could freak out completely, June smiled, slipping into the car. Then—just as he was about to close the door—she reached out and grabbed his hand.

"William..." He froze.

June squeezed his fingers gently. "You don't have to be so nervous," she said softly. "I like you, okay? A lot. And I'm glad we're going on a date. Let's just focus on that."

William's chest tightened.

How was she so effortless?

How was she so easy to be around?

He swallowed, nodding. "Okay."

She smiled. "Good."

And just like that, he felt himself relax.

⸻ By the time they got to the arcade, William felt significantly less like he was about to throw up. And after about ten minutes, he was actually having fun.

Because June? June was competitive.

"I hope you're ready to lose, Eky," she said, cracking her knuckles as they approached the basketball hoops. William smirked. "I play hockey, not basketball. You should win this one." June grinned. "We'll see."

The timer started.

Balls flew.

And to William's surprise—

June was actually good.

Like, weirdly good.

"Okay, what the hell," he muttered, watching as she sunk shot after shot with perfect form. June laughed. "You didn't know I played in high school?"

"No!" William gawked. "You were actually an athlete?" June smirked. "What, did you just think I was some media nerd?"

William grinned. "Yes." June gasped, feigning offense. "You take that back."

William laughed.

And for the first time all night, he felt like himself.

⸻ The rest of the night was filled with games, teasing, and ridiculous bets. William beat her at air hockey. June destroyed him at Dance Dance Revolution. He got way too competitive during Mario Kart. She giggled every time he muttered Swedish curses under his breath when he lost.

And somewhere along the way?

June realized something.

She was so, so smitten.

Because William Eklund?

Was the absolute sweetest.

He was a gentleman—opening doors, making sure she was warm, letting her pick the games. He was hilarious—constantly chirping her, making her laugh until her stomach hurt. And most of all?

He was so, so easy to be around.

This wasn't just a date. This was fun. June didn't want it to end.

As they left the arcade, June nudged him. "So," she teased. "Was this so bad?"

William grinned. "No." She smiled. "Good."

They reached the car. And then—

Before William could open the door for her, June turned and tugged on his hoodie.

William froze.

"William?" she murmured.

His pulse skyrocketed. "Yeah?"

She looked up at him, eyes soft. "I had fun tonight," she said.

William swallowed. "Me too." June bit her lip. "We should do it again."

William's stomach flipped. "Yeah?" he asked. June smiled. "Yeah."

Then—because she clearly wasn't done torturing him—

She leaned in. And kissed his cheek.

Again.

But this time? It lasted just a second longer. And it was way too close to his lips.

William actually forgot how to breathe. By the time he snapped out of it, June was already grinning at him.

Oh, yeah.

He was so in trouble.

⸻William Eklund had never felt this happy in his entire life.

As he drove home from June's house, his fingers tapped against the steering wheel, his heart still racing, his mind replaying every second of the night.

The laughs. The way she looked at him. The way she kissed his cheek—so close, so soft, like she was waiting for him to do something.

And suddenly—

He couldn't take it anymore. His pulse skyrocketed as a wave of pure confidence rushed through him. Without even thinking, he slammed the brakes, threw the car into reverse, and sped back toward her place.

June had barely made it inside when the doorbell rang. She frowned.

Who the hell—

When she opened the door, she was met with William. Breathless. Wild-eyed. Looking at her like she was the only thing in the entire world.

"William?" she blinked, confused.

He didn't answer.

Didn't hesitate.

Didn't think.

He just moved.

One second, she was standing there, trying to process what was happening.

The next?

His hands were cupping her face, his body was stepping forward, and his lips were crashing into hers.

June was frozen for a second.

But then—

She melted.

The kiss.

It was desperate. All of tension unraveling in a single moment.

His hands were firm, holding her like he was afraid she'd disappear. His lips were soft, warm, urgent against hers. And his body—

God.

His body was pressed so close, she could feel his heartbeat racing as fast as hers. She barely had time to react before she was gripping his hoodie, pulling him closer, kissing him back with everything she had.

Because this?

This was what she had been waiting for. And the way William was kissing her? Like he had been dying to do this. Like he had been waiting just as long. It sent shivers down her spine.

When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathless. June, still gripping his hoodie, stared up at him. William, face flushed, chest heaving, stared back.

Neither of them spoke. Neither of them needed to. Because in that moment? Everything was finally clear.

William exhaled a laugh, still looking at her like she was unreal. "I, uh..." He swallowed. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."

June's lips curled into a soft, dazed smile.

"Good," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. "Because I couldn't stop thinking about you either."

William closed his eyes, breathing her in.

Relief.

That's what this was. This was finally happening.

And neither of them were running from it anymore.

ekys first sleepover

[22ayla21]

When Discipline Meets Chaos

The arrival of a new teacher at Night Raven College brought a lot of chaos among the students who already adored their new teacher, but Divus was not particularly happy about it.

Rumors of a new teacher at Night Raven College spread like wildfire. Not that Divus Crewel cared about gossip, but when even his class, known for respecting (or at least fearing) him, was talking excitedly about some “cool and fun” teacher, he couldn’t ignore it.

She had appeared unexpectedly, bursting into the teaching staff as easily as she had entered a classroom, bringing with her an atmosphere of freedom and ease. Crewel immediately realized: she was the type of teacher he couldn’t stand.

In her classes, no one sat at attention, afraid to breathe once more. The students laughed, felt comfortable, but, most outrageously, they actually studied.

- So, hacks, are you ready for the test?

- Yes...

- But to be honest?

- Not quite...

- Another thing.

Divus literally felt his authority cracking at the seams. His methods were iron discipline, strict control and unquestioning respect. And here - the complete opposite.

One day, walking down the corridor, Crewel heard a conversation and immediately tensed up.

- Are you finishing your Potions assignment right in class? - the new teacher's voice was light, but there was a subtle condemnation in it.

- And if Professor Crewel finds out? - his friend asked him warily.

- He won't find out.

- I see, we'll write it down as suicide.

Anger flared up instantly.

- Amazing, - Divus' cold voice cut through the air. - Now the students are discussing how to hide their laziness from me?

The students immediately fell silent, but his colleague only raised an eyebrow, not even trying to look embarrassed.

- Just a statement of fact, Professor Crewel, - she replied with an innocent smile. Her tone, her manner, her look - all of it irritated him. But what irritated him even more was that he liked it.

From that moment on, a silent rivalry began between them.

Crewel could not pass by if he heard his class discussing her "unconventional methods."

- Yesterday she made us argue about magical theories! - one of the students said admiringly. - And, you know, I actually remembered the material!

- Professor, why are our lessons so... strict? - one of his students once dared to ask.

- Because discipline is the basis of success, - he snapped, but irritation was already boiling inside.

Every conversation with the new teacher was a fight.

- Students learn because they are interested, not because they are intimidated, - she once said, folding her arms across her chest.

- They learn because they know the value of discipline, - he retorted.

- Really? Don't you think that fear and respect are different things?

- Don't you think that excessive freedom leads to negligence?

- No, I don’t think students are machines that have to work on someone’s orders.

It was at moments like these that he realized that she was the only person in this college who didn’t bow to his authority.

And it angered him. And he liked it.

And then everything changed one evening when, out of habit, he lingered in his office and heard a familiar voice behind the door.

She was talking to one of the students, and there was no trace of severity in her voice, only softness and lightness, but at the same time unshakable confidence.

- You think you can’t cope? Nonsense. Everyone learns at their own pace. If knowledge came easily, it wouldn’t be so valuable.

Silence.

- I didn’t learn everything at once either. Once…

Divus didn’t hear the rest. He just stood in the darkness of the corridor, realizing that his irritation had never been real irritation.

It was affection. He had fallen in love. But he'll never admit it.

Unless one day, when she challenges him again, he smiles a little softer than usual. And that will be the start of something new.

[parcai]

I'm sure this isn't even a new discussion point, but it's bugging me more the more I think about it. ACOMAF's infamous Chapter 54/55 – Rhysand's infodump – is the go-to justification for his stans. That's where he gets a lot of his appeal, by explaining his past actions and motivations before their little paint session. ACOMAF, though, is so different from ACOTAR and its first book appeal, it lacks the whimsical magic, whirlwind romance that the other books just don't have. It feels like SJM put more thought into the plot and writing, which is why the later problems are so frustrating. Because not only is ACOMAF generally lower quality than ACOTAR, it's those less quality sections that people use to justify Tamlin hate to make Rhysand look better, which is ridiculous because if SJM has to take so many roundabout paths with poor plotting/writing to justify Rhysand, then how 'good' can he really be?

The way ACOMAF undoes what ACOTAR was about... ugh. It's such a blatant rewrite, and a poor one at that, as we all know and have discussed endlessly. But it's more than that! It's a rewrite and it's explicit about being a rewrite, but people can't even see that/don't care! Rhysand wouldn't be nearly as popular if he didn't have to explain all the supposedly good things he's done for Feyre! Tamlin saves her family and doesn't go around boasting about it; he protects her, even if it risks his court. He tries to shield her from Prythian's problems. They had their issues, sure, but it all felt more natural. If Tamlin had a whole lengthy chapter sitting there talking about all his choices, maybe people would love him too, but that doesn't happen in ACOTAR, because that's just such lazy writing!

Forget who you like more, or whether you buy Feyre's POV – the fact that Rhysand needs that infodump and that justification for his actions, whereas Tamlin's actions often speak for themselves! The writing feels like it's working overtime to elevate Rhysand at Tamlin's expense. And this circular logic is just so incredibly frustrating.

I wish SJM had kept Rhysand as he was in book one. I actually deeply enjoyed him there. Or, if she was going to do all this, had actually properly foreshadowed it. All this overcompensating just to make him look good... so annoying. I miss Rhysand where the narrative held him accountable, allowed him to be truly morally grey and just an entertaining guy doing the most insane things. I miss the first book. I miss the hinted-at insane lore between Rhysand and Tamlin, their fathers, their families, their powers. The picture of them being friends, to standing across from each other in a hallway, each other's families' blood on their hands, glowing in the light of new High Lordship. Their history, their contrast, the fact that neither of them were fully good people but the narrative could respect that and still love them both anyway. I miss everything about it, really, before it all turned juvenile and unrealistic and childish.

I don't think people have enough critical thinking to understand that it was already easy to love Rhysand and appreciate him for what he was in the first book, that perfection/goodness doesn't equate to likeability, and it was his flaws, fully acknowledged, that made him so interesting/fun to learn about. That this was the beauty of the first book in the first place. Brb mourning what could have been…mourning the fact that it never had to be Rhysand vs Tamlin in the first place.

Rhysand and Tamlin and Feyre and how they all work together to show different sides of what it means to grow up and work through the horrors of your past and become who you were always meant to be (aka the point of writing about 500 yos like this in the first place). A story of a mortal girl with fire in her veins, who shot a wolf, and threw a shoe, and was both saved by and ended up saving the Beast. Was reckless and stupid and with a big enough heart to venture down into the depths of Amarantha's lair, not some overly forgiving, amnesiac doormat, who changed them both in very different ways, and who changed her. Head in hands btw. It's not just that Tamlin deserves justice, it's that all three of them do. None of this is as it should be, and the blindness to the injustice of Tamlin's character is only the tip of the iceberg. 😞

[potterhead0taku]

Okey this is fun so I thought maybe I could share some of my experiences???

SO. I’m technically certified to teach but mostly do it casually like in tutoring and stuff, and in my scout group we all sort of teach each other whenever we don’t know something. This is specially true for me since I’m one of the “seniors” and the leaders so whenever news ones get started I have to show them what we do, why, etc. It’s quite fun.

Okey so from what you said you actually have down what my favorite teachers throughout my schooling history have done soooo. I would probably love your class completely. From what you said it looks like you’re teaching subjects a bit more related to maybe theology or history or your culture as a whole, that sounds really fun!!

• Okey so, something that has helped me a lot when teaching is that if I absolutely need to go through some theory, and it’s not something easy to converse about (like formulas for math or science) then the answer is ✨COLORS✨. I actually took that from one of my math teachers, he’s the best. So basically, if it’s just boring language that no one understands, leave it in the most generic color you can find, something not that shiny or eye-catching. But the little bits you consider most important write them out with colors (red, blue, green, whatever you can get your hands on). It helps a lot if you give this continuity; the important bits are something closely related than give them the same colors, if they’re not that connected but still important then do a different color. Throughout classes stick to those colors as much as you can, some students will inevitably start to find the connections, when they actually point them out is amazing because not only does it mean they were paying attention, but it gives you the opportunity to naturally start a conversation on how some of the themes in your classes are linked to one another. My math teacher would use this a lot with formulas and the different variables involved (I find that it also works wonders when teaching stuff like history).

• @a-resplendent-mushroom already mentioned this, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning again. When explaining theories or historic events or concepts, stick to their own language as much as you can. You’re close in age to your students so this is perfect. Let them try and process this kinds of things in their own words even (specially) if this means they’re using slangs, because they tend to remember it better this way. Let’s be honest here, as long as it’s not used at the expense of other students or just to attack a person, then slangs don’t hurt anybody and letting students express themselves how they want to can go a long way.

• @quotidian-oblivion I love that you already seem to be doing this because you are absolutely right. Students love stories and field trips. I had this physics teacher that whenever he explained a new subject matter he would accompany it with the wildest stories of when he was our age (15-20), or stuff he learned when he was working in an electrical company. You know he was a favorite when even the students that would miss classes like it was sport always came back into the classroom on time for physics.

• whenever I have to teach someone in scouts about our history or our patron saints, I like to relate it as much as possible to the lifestyle we know or use references to tv shows or movies because, c’me on this is teenagers we’re talking about. So if I’m talking about Saint Theresa to one of my girls, instead of going first for the spiritual aspect that a lot of them find tedious if not approached correctly, first I’ll talk about how she was a feminist. Because that’s what she at core, she was this prominent religious writer that specifically wrote about and for women in the XVI century, and who traversed her whole country to spread the word of her belief, she was badass. That’s more likely to get teenagers involved rather than dates and names y’know. Show them someone they can relate to or a translate a situation to terms they understand. One of my favorites is when I compare the relationship between the USA and Russia in the past century to a toxic relationship after breakup. Or how I say that Mexico is the Capibara of the world because we have treaties with SO MANY countries and basically make friends everywhere and can make light of almost any situation. It’s part of our culture and they know it’s true, mexicans WILL make jokes about whatever subject we’re talking about if we’re in a comfortable setting… even when we really REALLY shouldn’t (corruption jokes, jokes about natural disasters or political wars, you name it). So yeah, to circle back to topic, use situations they understand and link it back to the subject you’re discussing. It’s always fun giving them the chance to come up with new examples of their own.

• I feel like this was implied everywhere in the original post and the following reblogs, but it doesn’t hurt to say it outright. ENGAGE WITH THE CLASS. Teachers who just lecture without paying attention to their students and only occasionally asking questions will not be able to maintain their interest for long. Check for the students who seem distracted or not actively participating because they’re shy to raise their hands and ask them questions. I’ve always been in public schools, and a lot of students who for whatever reason don’t care about classes would often ask for permission to go out (to the bathroom, to refill a water bottle) and don’t come back until after the class had ended. So one of my teachers started asking them questions about whatever we were studying at the moment in order for the student to go out. It’s a small thing, but does help to at least make sure they learn something even if they don’t particularly care about the class.

• about interactive activities, one of my favorites by far is when our history teacher made a version of jeopardy with questions about all the things we saw in class and let us make teams, and the same person wasn’t allowed to answer two times in a row. We had a lot of fun in those classes. With all the questions and the differences in points between each-one and the competitive spirit it got really heated really quickly. It definitely helped that she said the two teams with the highest scores would get 7 and 5 extra points in the exam.

I'M A TEACHER AND I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

This sounds like a gofundme.

It's not a gofundme.

Basically, I'm a teacher who teaches 12-15 year olds during the weekends. It's not a paid job, it's more of a paid-volunteering gig, but I really really enjoy teaching so I've been doing it for a couple of years. However, this year, I got a promotion of sorts and bumped upto teaching from 6-8 yos to 12-15 yos.

sO.

I've had previous bad teacher experiences in the past (read: My School's Local Mafia Boss), and though I can smoothly engage little children during lessons, teenagers are a different story. ...Cuz I'm a teenager myself. Like, I'm 2-4 years older than the oldest ones in class max.

I really, really want to be a good teacher. And I'm tryingggg, but making lesson plans for older students is harder than younger students. I WAS WONDERING, do any of you have any interactive and interesting ideas for engaging classrooms??? I genuinely want to be a good teacher and nothing like the shit ones I've had in the past. I care about my students and I really want them to have fun in my classes while also genuinely learning content.

So if you have any ideas, please share them. Heck, just share something which you wish your teachers/tutors did, or something which some of your better teachers did do that worked, or even just something bad that your teachers did that I know to avoid and use an alternative.

[pollux-starsz]

as i was working on a beach day writing for @wyervan 's dca slasher au (check them out btw!!!! :D) i had the impulse to draw out the outfit Kalamela is wear throughout the entire thing (because im awesome and i did NOT make Smoon flustered over her for no reason in this writing, which is yet to be finished , I'm procrastinating..)

I absolutely adore how I did the coloring for this one! Also I'm getting better at shoes XD

Rambles below the cut!!

- So, I had this little thought about Kalamela's cooking. I kept thinking, she doesn't have as big as a sweet tooth as people would think. But she LOVES savory and spicy food, so I think she'd like to try different spices with Moonie. There hasn't been a time yet where it's too much but who's to say she won't burn her tastebuds one day.

- Since she's living with them, (save her) I can't help but think she would be very upset with the Slasher boys if her pets announce the slightest amount of annoyance towards them. She WILL make them get treats for her babies.

- She paints her nails a lot, so I think she'd paint Sun's as well!! Not that he has a choice, she needs to know how the colors look.

- Her and Moon playing DDR except it ends in a brawl because Moon lost (not surprising but Sun did make them both clean the arcade afterwards).

- I keep picturing Moon having an odd interest in gum. He just likes the different types of flavours, textures or just how they look.

- Sun's over working ass getting sick and being taken care of by Kalamela but cue Moon making fun of him for being coddled.... He also got sick two days later from Sun so now BOTH of them are being coddled. Kalamela doesn't like it, she thinks they should both do their shit themselves but thanks to her heart of gold and 3 containers of ice cream waiting for her in the fridge, she pushes on.

- Do not let Kalamela dress them in her choice of clothing style(s). It happened as an attempt many times, but when she finally got them to actually wear the outfits (out in public as well), she was ignored for about a week. Mostly by Moon, Sun actually took a liking to it all.

- She made them wear one of her dresses and try on a few skirts. Moon and Sun bickered over who could rock it more. The answer is both of them, by the way.

- Kalamela got sick for a full two months during winter and the boys schedule consisted of "Wake Kalamela", " Feed Kalamela (and fail)", "Wake Kalamela", "Get Kalamela out of the bedroom (50/50 attempt)", "Give up (She wouldn't budge)", "Continue with our day (They also gave up with her bullshit)".

- Kalamela speaks entire conversations with them in Czech and they can't do anything but smile and nod. Moon can pick up a few words and Sun.. can really only make out what sounds like a curse word.

- Mango learned to say Sun and Moon's names and never shuts up. Moon likes it until he's sleeping and gets woken up, Sun got fed up within the first hour.

- Moon, when he was drunk, also got Kalamela drunk. Which then led to them running out into those large, open grass areas off the side of highways. Yes, Sun had to supervise them.

- Kalamela doesn't understand U.S. currency sometimes, despite now living in the U.S. for years now. Sun and Moon both help to convert the currency difference for her, she always feels bad that they need too. Doesn't stop her from complaining about the prices, of course!

- Moon is so smitten for her, he bought her too many flower bouquets for her birthday. She kept them all and also planted a few of them outside her house! Sun still thinks he needs to chill, if you ignore his list of 500 Valentine's Day gifts to get her. Obviously, Moon is the more crazy one! Totally not Sun! How could he ever!

- They all sit on the couch eating pizza and fries on Sunday's. They watch random TV channels until they all fall asleep or end up complaining about their day.

- Sun and Moon visit Crystal Cove so often that they both have their own little discount and have keys to the building. They get to thank Kalamela for that one.

Bonus doodles of her because I was practicing poses and perspective (kill me now)

[lilly-of-the-vale]

Just binged your Suguru and I’m clawing at the walls!! Where have you been all my life??? He’s so…. I will be devoting all my night time imagining to your Suguru.

So… speaking as a type A, “i can do it myself”, type of person, would you be able to expand a little on doting Suguru? Like, how does he react to a reader that can care for others but believes in “walking it off”— someone who is all smiles and “don’t worry about me”s and tells little lies so that the people around her don’t worry.

If you’d like to🫣🤗

Hello darling!!!! Im so so so so so sooooo happy that reading from my blog made this happy. Truly i can't explain how much love i have for you for giving me a chance 🥹🥹

I wish you only the sweetest of dreams after you doze off from your nightly sugu day dream session my dear 🩷🩷

Im so so so so so happy you said this omg you should've seen the evil ass grin on my face when i finished reading 😭😭 bcuz this is actually me in a nutshell and my obsession with the the doting suguru agenda stems from exactly that.

Let me start of by saying that suguru understands your need to care for others, and he LOVES this quality about you. He admires you to no end, he's so so so so so so so fond of sweet helpful people, and honestly i believe he would find it much easier to trust and open up to someone like this bcuz he can relate to them a lot better.

That being said, suguru will absolutely not be falling for any of that bullshit 💀 you're little attempts to brush your discomfort under the rug will not go unnoticed by him, he knows you like the back of his hand, one look at your face is enough to see that you are indeed not ok.

As previously mentioned he loves you for who you are but he will definitely be trying to change it 😭😭 he will absolutely NOT stand for his baby hurting themselves for the sake of others (especially if it's cult!suguru oh my god that man has no regard for anything that isn't you) so you WILL be having that uncomfortable conversation he knows you are trying to avoid (maybe I'm projecting here), he can be very direct when he recognizes that you need something, he knows how hard it is to change the way you perceive others and how you act around them, but he knows you need this so he'll do it for you, anything suguru does is for your own good don't forget that!!!! And ok, fine, call him selfish, but what if he thinks the time you spend taking care of others is better spent being taken care of by him?? You're not helping by refusing to let him help you either. He will actually lose his mind if you continue to torture him like this 😭😭 of course he would be a lot more insistent when you both begin to officially date. Pre-relationship suguru knows he can only intervene so much. His ass is chewing the bars of his cage like a feral dog 💀

Anyway!! If speaking to you doesn't work, he's going to resort to inserting himself in literally everything you do until you eventually learn to just expect him to be there. He's cooking for you, hand feeding you, tieing your show laces, doing your skin care bathing you, brushing your hair, making your coffee in the morning, doing your laundry, before you can do any of it, you could be in the middle of something and he just...STOPS YOU AND TAKES OVER!!! the whole mother package pretty much, he basically drops you head first into domesticity (borderline codependency 😭😭 ) and you have no say in the matter.

The transition might be weird and awkward, and you might try to fight him but all you'll be getting back is a sickening sweet coo, "awh baby....just let me take care of you" while enveloping your entire body with his arms in one of his suffocating bear hugs then leaves you with a kiss on the top of your head to go back to cooking <- evil man with terrible intentions of making you depend on him forever.

[astrylx]

Supernatural Liveblog - S.5 Ep. 13 - The Song Remains The Same

Yea yea, we’re back, whatever.

I have a feeling I won’t let this episode because as I’ve stated in previous liveblogs, I don’t like time travel. I find it paradoxically interesting, sure, but that is never efficiently covered in media which makes me hate it (with some exceptions).

Also, the angels resorting to killing Sam before he can be conceived is quite interesting. Is he not the true vessel of Lucifer? Don’t they want the apocalypse to play out? Or is it because if he doesn’t exist, Tully would still live, and he would be the vessel? Not sure.

Not quite sure why the episode is opening like this. Don’t like it.

Hi, Anna. I guess Anna is going to be the one to try to kill Sam, which would make sense…

I absolutely do not trust Anna.

CASTIEL! Way to make an entrance! Castiel being smart, I love that. He’s blaming Heaven for letting Anna out, trying to make her do their work. Also Castiel seems to have fully turned his back on Heaven now.

Yep. I said Anna wanted to kill Sam. I was right.

Cas doesn’t want to kill Sam…

BECAUSE SAM IS MY FRIEND AHHHH I feel giddy I feel happy

There’s so much I could say about that too

I could go on a whole ramble right now but I want to finish the episode

Genuine question, at this point is Anna able to take a vessel?

Sam willing to die if it means stopping Satan ONCE AGAIN SO MUCH I CAN SAY. There is so much symbolism in his character.

“I don’t understand that reference” me when my friends quote tiktoks.

Poor Cas… he keeps hurting himself emotionally and physically for the Winchesters but they don’t seem to realize or acknowledge how deep his sacrifices are.

This will be Sam truly meeting his mother for the first time (that he will be able to remember), right? That’s a lot on his shoulders.

Sam’s face, he seems to be near the verge of tears. HE IS. For both John and Mary. He can’t look away from Mary. From the mother he never got to meet.

It’s so weird seeing John before his trauma.

Anna is going to lure him out and kill him.

Is Anna weak too or? I can’t tell.

Go Mary, go!

And here John learns the truth.

Holy oil is supposed to be rare, how do they ALWAYS have it.

John wanting to be useful… as much as I hate time travel, this episodes do really make me appreciate John more. I find him such an interesting character.

This conversation with John and Sam SHIT FUCK IDK WHAT TO SAY I COULD SAY SO MUCH IF ONLY I HAD THE WORDS

And Sam defending John, FUCK

Sam getting all the words off his chest he never got to tell his dad…

New Uriel vessel woah. I hate him though.

Wasn’t expecting Dean to come clean, but…

Sam and Dean seem to be almost changing their positions on their fathers.

Dean trying to warn Mary, keep her alive…

SAM AND DEAN WILLING TO NOT EXIST TO PROTECT THEIR PARENTS AND THE WORLD-

I miss psychic Sam and Sam with powers…

Sam death… he can’t die permanently, I know the series, but can Lucifer revive him here,

MICHAEL! MICHAEL IN JOHN! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, OUR FIRST MICHAEL SIGHTING!

I’m hoping this means Michael Adam is possible, please I want it so much.

Michael able to kill Anna like she’s a demon, INSANE ACTUALLY

How strong a vessel is John that nothing seems to be happening.

Op- the Dean and and Michael convo…

Interesting, a blood line from Cain and Abel, THE brother story. So therefore the men in the bloodline are vessels of Michael and likely Lucifer. Which is why Sam was so ideal for Azazel. I know we will get more of Cain and Abel soon.

“Lucifer defied our father and he betrayed me but still…” Sam defied John and betrayed Dean by leaving the family. “I don’t want this anymore than you want to have to kill Sam.” They both still love their brothers. “You know, my brother, I practically raised him” the parallels right here…

Dean looking from Michael to Sam dead on the floor, shit.

Once again, ideas of free will. I would love to analyze that in this show and in a religious context. Ideas of destiny… a divine plan.

Dean still wants to save Mary, even if he knows he can’t stop it…

Wait they can’t leave Castiel-

They’re just going to leave Castiel? What the fuck!?

CAS!

Cas wasn’t expecting to make it? We got over that much to soon let’s not just pause on that, Cas wasn’t expecting to get back.

Team Free Will, I get why yall say that now.

Dean asking the hard hitting questions… would Sam say yes to save Dean? I think he would.

This episode was interesting. I could say a lot about it. But my hatred of time travel makes it hard to truly enjoy it. I want more Michael. More. More! MORE! Michael please bring back Adam pleasepleaseplease:

[persony-person873]

Aaaannd done! (I actually finished it last night but got sleepy)

Recreation of the floorplan of @mer-acle 's Silent Wars Au

Close ups and explanations/changes under the cut (it does delve into slight headcanon-y areas so I hope you dont mind Tasha.) (the photos are all horrible because I am on console so they are all of my tv, taken on my phone)

Entry:

There's not much to say here, but I did interpret the larger grey blocks as bookshelves so there will be quite a few of them. The larger empty frame to the right would probably be family photos - I see this Ares as a fairly sentimental guy so there is a lot of them dotted around.

Bathroom:

Its a bathroom. Thats it.

Living/Dining Space:

(the counters and cabinets are the same colour, but lighting was being wierd)

I went for more of an 'Ares' colour scheme; I figured that Athena would insist that it was his apartment and that he could chose what they had.

There's a small 'shared' basket of spare blankets and pillows that is 100% Athena's - she feels guilty taking them all for herself. Ares would definitely fill it for her and there would probably be a weighted blanket in there.

I wanted Athena to feel kinda arty but didn't want an easel as its so big, so went instead for cross-stitch

There are a lot of bookshelves - which I imagine are Ikea-ish - which are mostly for Athena, I'd assume.

Ares's Room:

I decided to spin the layout of this room and shrink it slightly since I felt like it didnt translated well into the sims.

I gave him a little bit of gym/sports equipment and a guitar - I wasnt sure if he was the type of guy who could play one, pretended he could but actually couldn't, or just wanted to learn so...

I added a fan to the room just to give Athena another reason to let him have the better room

Athena's Room:

While It may look like Athena has a lot more stuff her room is a lot smaller (by about 5.5 tiles (a double bed is about 6 tiles)) and has less storage.

I went for a much lighter colours because it just felt like the vibe.

The three picture besides the pride flags would probably be those of her Mother and the little family of owls statue could be a gift from Ares.

Changes:

I decide to shrink the bathroom and both bedrooms since they all felt huge and changed the two-person table to a four to fill in more space.

I actually really enjoyed doing this!

[spooky-kakashi]

if they commit to the Damian becoming some type of doctor storyline, it would be the perfect reason for Damian to become closer to Harley, a psychiatrist, and study under her. i think this would be soo beneficial for him because so far iirc he’s been with the league and his dad, which have opposing ideologies, but having him hang around and learn from someone who doesnt operate in a black and white mode but instead in a million shades of gray is gonna do awesome things for his character

[sylphwing]

hm. i do not like chilshi 🤔

[docholligay]

I hate when I read something about a book's premise that seems delicious and then I'm that fucking Good Place meme going, "Do you have the complex character moralities?" and I know that Janet is just gonna give Not!YA genre fiction, so, alas, I scroll on.

[eggcats]

I spent like a half hour arguing with a coworker that Azula deserved a redemption like Zuko and that she's just as much a victim of abuse as her brother AND that Ursa wasn't that great of a mom to either but ESPECIALLY to Azula AND that Azula wasn't given the same opportunities or teaching Zuko was while they were growing up!!!! She literally couldn't have turned out any other way!!!

The convo half went:

"she's evil and crazy"

"she's 14"

-

"she made her own mother scared of her and want nothing to do with her, what's that say about her"

"she's a shitty mom"

-

"she's crazy!!! she's just as bad as their father!"

"the literal only positive attention she was ever given was from ozai, while ursa ignored her or yelled at her for doing bad but never explaining why or teaching compassion like she did with zuko."

[nexus-nebulae]

another childhood bucket list item obtained: i finally have a snuggie