#technically but i think teams in general are stupid

[top-vi]

saying “we do things the right way” when team black is going to murder a six year old in a sophie’s choice assassination is crazy. be proud of your war crimes smh

[ribbononline]

Still trying to finish other things but in the meantime- updated design for my older May! She's an Ace Trainer

[bunny-jpeg]

viva las vegas

max verstappen - team principal au

tags: smut/pwp, team principal au, tp!max, driver!reader, age gap (20s/40s), massages, vaginal fingering, intimacy & affection, doggy style

a/n: happy las vegas gp weekend!

max remembered vegas not-so kindly. or rather he remembered the hangovers of las vegas not-so kindly. it was where things heated up depending on a driver's standing. for many years max simply smiled and waved through another race, he always kept a heavy margin between him and other drivers in the points department.

plus he had to give it to the americans, they really knew how to make their races quite the spectacle. and las vegas was no different than miami at the start of the season and austin only a little while earlier. even now as a team principal, he enjoyed the occasional cigarette on a balcony of a hotel room. except this year his head was flooded with less technical information and more the sight of his beloved star driver.

you.

you huffed with your arms crossed after media day. you wore a pout so prettily, it was real princess behavior. and where you were standing right now, you were on your rightful throne at the top of the leader board.

"i don't get why we have to do these last three races. i have this in the bag, i am over a hundred points ahead of the next driver." you pointed in a general direction as you complained to your boss, "this is stupid, give me the wdc and we can all go home."

you were tired. of course you were, he was tired too. the entire team was tired. hell, everyone from top to bottom was tired.

max put his hands on his hips. he tilted his head to the side and exhaled, "treasure." he was a little sympathetic. he remembered being ragged by mid-october, the fact you were only falling apart at the last few races was impressive, "i know, it feels like the victory is being dragged on. that we are just wasting time." he reached out for you and cupped your face with such affection, "but, think about how much you could make that margin grow.' he had both hands on your face. you were in private so he could be a little closer.

you looked up at him with such sad eyes, "it feels anti-climatic."

max smiled, "that's the price you pay you when you're just leagues ahead of them. if you don't race for the points this weekend. then race for home, race for your family... and race for me." his smile grew, "i want to watch the shock on mclaren's face when they see what they missed out on." he chuckled lightly, "the offers you would get from everyone."

you said, "don't think i'm trying to leave verstappen racing." you pouted a little more.

max felt something tug in his chest but he kept his smile, it was endearing to hear those words. that you weren't going to up and leave him. even if your contract was three years, teams had lawyers to the teeth that could easily wrangle you into their grasp. but you had no interest in that. he kissed your forehead, "how about you come to my hotel room tonight, i'll help you relax. make the weekend a little more fun."

it wasn't burdensome to go to max's room. it was often right beside yours. even if the rest of the team were on the other side of the floor. you nodded and let max kiss you in the privacy of the little corner you found yourself in.

max watched you walk through his hotel room, in nothing but an over-sized garishly pink dolly parton shirt. you were bent over at the bar fridge to take a healthy shot of gin and let the shiver run through you. he chuckled into his drink and said, "let's get you a glass for that, treasure." before he got up from the couch, "oh better yet, let's take it easy on the alcohol. you're driving tomorrow." then crossed the room to take the bottle from your hand. he dipped his nose into the back of your neck and said, "how about we find other ways to relax tonight. something that won't kill you come morning"

you looked over at him and frowned, "i could not race tomorrow and i'd still win it all" and leaned into max's touch as he took you by the chin. you turned to look at him fully and crossed your arms.

"i know, being on top does get boring. but why don't i help. after all, that is my job." he held you in his arms and admired you the way someone would admire a beautiful piece of art. you were inclined to melt into his touch. uncrossed your arms and hugged him when your head against his chest.

"i wish there was more a chase for this victory." you huffed. the perfect driver, the perfect car, the perfect team and the perfect boss. it was all to easy.

he chuckled and kissed you, "please, don't get hung up on that. think about what it would mean to have a woman have such a clear victory." he held you, "no splitting hairs with your victory. think about what you could do." he smiled at you.

you held onto the front of his t-shirt and sighed, "i know, i know. first woman and all, but... i wish there was more of a fight."

max smiled, he knew the feeling well as he tenderly held you. he kissed your forehead lovingly before he said, "why don't we forget about that. and no more alcohol." then led you to the grand bedroom of the room. he sat on the bed and admired you.

in the over sized shirt and cotton panties. nothing special, but max ate up every last bit of it. the idea that he got the see you like this. he knew that men thirsted over you. fans that couldn't get it through their head that you'd never be with them.

you were just voted the more eligible bachelor(ette) of formula one. max got a kick out of seeing that when he read in on the way to the track. single, huh? that was news to him. not while you were tangled up in max's love like a spiderweb.

"do you want it off, sir?" you asked as you played with the hem. he had to admit, but up close, he sort of liked the t-shirt. the pink looked good on you. but he liked what was under it even more. men could thirst all they want, but none of them could have you.

not while max was still breathing. he pressed his face up against your middle, he sighed, "yeah, take it off. i want to see everything." everything that belongs to me. the unspoken words. he helped you get the shirt off.

he admired your body, dressed in cotton panties and a sports bra with thick straps. he licked his lips as he went back to kissing your stomach before you ended up on the bed next to him. you helped him out of his clothes just as he did for you. his lips found your heated skin and you arched your back a little at the feeling. it excited you.

"please, sir." you said as his large hands roamed your body, it left you feeling excited all over and touched you. you felt like heaven under his palms you moaned into another heated kiss and let him touch you as he so desired.

"you're perfect for me." he said as he kissed your neck, "perfect in ways i can't even put words to. you remind me of such beauty that it would be a crime for me to deny myself your warmth." he looked at you with those blue eyes, they read so much as he held you tightly, "that's why i want you to win, win, win. when they doubted you, i never did. and i'll continue to never doubt you. i want them to wipe those grins off their faces and see what you are a threat on the track."

you felt your heart flutter as you said, "oh max." before you pulled him into another hot kiss. when he pulled away, he got you onto your back and admired the strength in your back. he licked his lips and you could feel his hot gaze.

"quite the beauty." he said softly before he started to put those strong hands to work. you moaned into the covers and arched your back when he rubbed the skin. he groaned a little bit, his cock twitched at full attention as he massaged your body, "but you need to relax. i know, i want you at your best. but you can't be so wound up. it'll only make you a worse driver." he leaned into your and whispered in your ears, "i know you want to defeat them, make them whimper." his voice hot against your ear.

you whined, "please, max. sir!" you arched your back a little bit, or at least tried to. but he kept you pinned to the bed and continued to rub at your skin.

"i'd do anything to make you win." he said quietly, "i know you're my champion." he moved down your back and you whimpered when he hit spots that made your eyes roll back a little. you looked cute squirming like that. under him beautifully.'

you gasped when he eventually slipped two fingers inside of your soaked pussy and thrusted them slowly as he held you by the small of your back onto the bed. you gasped and arched your back with sexual want as he fingered you. you buried your face into the covers and whined, "max!"

it was music to his ears, he loved it. he loved you. you didn't know how many rules max had to bend for you. he was painfully committed to you, he adored you in ways that he could never say with words. you whined a little bit as he fingered you and he felt the heat in his belly as he played with your pussy.

"there we go. nice and relaxed, perfect for the upcoming race. i know you'll be a good girl for me. right? you'll race perfectly and then we'll come back to this hotel room with more points under your belt and i'll fuck you right up against the window. let all of las vegas see their weekend's star." his voice was filthy, tinged with a heated want. his cock was painfully hard.

he fingered you for a little while long before he pulled out the digits and licked the wetness off of them. but you weren't going to go without for long, not on max's watch. soon he was behind you, with your hips raised as he sank his cock into you.

the future champion felt good around his cock, beautiful in a way that he could taste it on the tip of his tongue. you felt like heaven as he started to rock his hips against you.

he knew you were the best, you were always the best. almost a perfect season, except for a few hiccups here and there. but, those were all ironed out. now he had big hopes for your future racing. racing with his team. he wanted to see you in the lion logo for years to come. and when your eventual retirement came, you'd be working alongside him as his wife. even carrying his last name couldn't keep you away from the track and max would be a fool to force you away from it (except for maybe nine months). he continued to move against you, he watched your ass bounce from his movements as he fucked you.

"shit, max." you whined. you wanted to win so badly, you wanted to be the world champion. you wanted to stick it in the faces of those who doubted you. other drivers, other teams, even your own father. who would have preferred you married a driver rather than be on. but max saw the future in your eyes, you'd be the world champion. and you believed in max. even when he was fucking you with a feverish pace that left you seeing stars and panting into the covers.

max kissed your back as he moved against you. he felt the heat through his body as he worked his cock inside of you. he felt the swell of affection towards you, he felt the heat course through his body. he needed you deeply, he needed you in ways that he never needed another.

"you're insatiable." you sighed as you felt yourself get fucked further into the bed. you gasped a little deeper into the covers as the two of you moved together. you felt the hammering in your chest.

"you feel amazing. i can't help myself." max groaned as he battered your sweet pussy with an insatiable want. he couldn't help himself, that was the god's honest truth. he yearned for you in deeper ways, he wanted to be connected to you in every way he could.

"please, max. i can't get enough of this. you feel so good, you know how to make me good." you groaned through the heat through your body. you pleasure coursed through your body, this was amazing. it was always amazing to be with him. especially when max combed his fingers through your hair and he continued to move against you with a heated want.

"you feel amazing in return, beautiful. my treasure. something i got out of the rough, shined you to your full potential." he hissed through a tense jaw as he continued to fuck you. you moved against him quickly and it made him gasp for more.

max licked his dry lips. the pleasure coursed through his body, it was a throb in his head as he thrusted up against you. he tensed up for a moment when he felt the heat only grow in his core. he really couldn't help himself. he knew that this wasn't exactly the sanest thing to do, fuck a his driver. but when a figure like yours and a winning streak that left him hot and bothered. it would a crime not to claim you as his. you wore his hickies under your collar and his logo over your heart. you were undeniable. you made racing fun for him.

he kissed you back once more, his pace started to stagger. the heat continued to fuel his body. he could hear your heated pants as you felt close to your orgasm. he held onto you tightly and fucked you through a powerful climax.

"i don't want anyone else." you panted in the heat of pleasure. you tensed up for a moment before you relaxed, your hands curled in the sheets as you muttered curses under your breath in your mother tongue.

max continued his heavy thrusts and came inside of you. he slowed his pace to a stop and kissed your back. he whispered sweet nothings against you before he pulled out slowly. you both laid out beside one another and he pulled you into his grasp.

he kissed your heated cheeks and sighed contently against your skin, "there, ready for the weekend?" he asked.

you pulled away to look at his flushed expression. blissed out from sexual heat, you gave him a small smile as you said, "well, if you keep the orgasms coming. i'll be more than happy to widen the points gap." then yelped when he got you onto your back. his heavy kisses soon trailed down heated skin.

you decided right then and there that you got very lucky in vegas.

-

a few weeks later in abu dhabi, you hoisted your final trophy of the season over your head. you were damn near tears as you claimed another victory. like you did in las vegas, then qatar and finally abu dhabi. max felt tears in his eyes as if he was winning the victory too.

you became the best, just like max promised. his driver, his star, his champion.... his future wife. <3

[castillon02]

Tim reviews Jason's operations management and makes a suggestion.

"Your first move: hire a head of sanitation," Tim said.

"You think a janitor's gonna solve my suddenly-successful-startup problems? What, by sweeping them away?" Jason rolled his eyes.

Tim steepled his fingers. “The good news,” he said, “is that your drug distribution and community norms enforcement hierarchy is very clear. You also have people doing marketing, program management, HR, facilities, and admin. Your system of rotating duties when people get injured isn’t bad—people generally benefit from cross-training—but you should formalize the top positions and compensate your new leadership team. Including sanitation.” 

“Sure, sure, I'll just tell one of my guys their job is to be head shit-scrubber instead of a badass neighborhood protector!" Jason threw up his hands.

Tim raised his eyebrows.

“It’s bad enough getting them to clean up a crime scene when they’re on my literal shit list! A couple of them thought that lighting the building on fire was an easier way to get it to stop smelling bad and having DNA. Guess who had to add five new slides to his powerpoint about evidence disposal?" Jason glared.

Tim grimaced. "I had an intern in the office who thought that he could just throw trash off his desk for the cleaning staff to pick up."

He and Jason shared a commiserating look that silently said, We were both stupid enough to work with the League of Assassins, and even we wouldn't do that.

“Anyway," Tim continued, "since you're dealing with...that...you can just hire an outside party. Lots of people in Gotham know how to clean up dead bodies and keep their mouths shut. I can advertise the position and send you the likeliest candidates for an interview. I’ll have to incorporate you, of course, but I’ve had the paperwork ready since I got back from the Middle East.” 

“Incorporate me?” 

“Red Hood LLC, technically."

Jason's breathing became calculatedly even.

"Once you’re legit in the eyes of the law, we can work on squaring away everyone’s taxes and keep you from getting Capone’d.” 

“I’m as legit as one of Two-Face’s two-dollar bills!” 

“Yeah, but when you’re an LLC, all your crimes are white-collar crimes, and no one cares about those.” Tim shrugged.

“...Pretty sure that’s not how that works, bud.” 

“It’s how the court of public opinion works. And if anyone tries to say that Red Hood, CEO of Red Hood LLC, and Red Hood, notorious vigilante, are the same person? Tell them to prove it. So what if you have the same outfit? It’s a free country and people can wear what they want. And if they ever get your DNA results, Oracle says no they didn't.”

Jason tilted his head and started smiling. "You want Red Hood to be the Scarlet Pimpernel and Percy Blakeney. At the same time."

"The more blatant you are about it, the better. Rub elbows with Gotham's elite and tell them that you can't imagine why someone would let a Crime Alley vigilante ruin their ability to wear a red hood as a fashion statement, but in your company, people have spines. Especially when they're job creators. If you play your cards right, red headgear will be back in fashion."

"And then?"

"And then," Tim's eyes gleamed, "you start selling merch."

"Oh, shit." Jason's smile turned into a full-on smirk.

"On a sliding scale, of course."

"Those nepo babies are gonna pay me so much money to look cool."

Tim smiled. "And that's how hiring a head shit-scrubber is going to mitigate your high growth and cash flow problems."

[seijorhi]

haikyuu ice hockey just ignited something in me (probably bc ice hockey is the only sport i actually understand)

but it offers so much room for yandere v yandere drama. like, you're actually allowed to FIGHT in hockey (well, not allowed, but it's generally considered to be part of the sport.)

idk, it amuses me to think of a yandere player(cough oikawa cough) who's so insanely devoted to his sport, almost ruin his career by cracking the jaw of a player from another team who his darling started fucking/dating.

like she very unexpectedly dumped him right before the season started (when he didn't have the time or focus to spare to get her back) bc he was being weird and posessive, and it just gets harder and harder to watch the gossip tabloids and sports magazines spread rumors about his ex girlfriend finding new love. of course he was gonna crack.

(bonus points if he knows this other player (maybe they were on the same team growing up) and the other player is half getting with yn to piss the yandere off)

sorry for the ramble! i love your work!

ooh see i can definitely roll with ice hockey captain oikawa's girlfriend getting so sick of his jealous, possessive bullshit that she dumps him.

there's no denying he's irritated as fuck that you chose to wait until the new season starts, but he's not going into panic mode or anything. it's fine.

you can go a few dates, have your fun. oikawa's pretty sure those assholes won't be sticking around long after he brings some of his teammates along to have a nice, friendly chat with them–

(they don't have to know that he won't actually follow through on those threats to beat their faces in. probably)

–just give him a few weeks to settle into the season.

—

this wasn't technically a part of the plan.

there wasn't even a plan, until the guy you'd spend a good two drinks flirting with suddenly realised why you looked familiar, and all but high-tailed it out of there like the devil himself was at his heels.

it hasn't helped matters that your annoyingly persistent ex keeps sending you flowers – at work, at home, day after day, just so everyone in your life knows that broken up or not, oikawa still considers you his.

bullshit. it's such bullshit.

you suppose you can't blame some random guy for not wanting to get on the bad side of an ice hockey champ.

it's then, somewhere around the bottom of your third drink of the night, that the solution to your problems occurs to you.

sure, a normal, average guy might be intimidated by your ex, but you know plenty of players who'd jump at the chance. not necessarily to fuck you (you're not looking for an honest to god relationship here), but to fuck with oikawa? an opportnity to put a crack into that asshole's attitude? oh yeah.

there's a few players oikawa hates more than the shirtless blond currently draped over your shoulder, snapping what is very clearly a post-fuck selfie of the two of you to upload to his millions of followers. admittedly, kageyama probably would've worked better, if the thought of using him like that – even with his knowledge and explicit agreement – didn't leave you feeling strangely dirty, and ushijima... just no. god, you're not sure you'd even be able to get the words out, much less hold your nerve to wait for an answer.

but miya atsumu? the cocksure, arrogant as fuck (hot as hell), loudmouth winger who's got a special talent for pissing off his opponents? he'll do nicely.

—

he's gonna kill him.

oikawa's gonna fucking kill him. he'll take the penalty, take the loss, the suspension, whatever.

the moment that puck hits the ice, miya atsumu's fair game, and oikawa's going to beat his stupid, smug fucking face in.

[13uswntimagines]

Spiral (Alessia Russo X MMA!R)

Request: Could you maybe do something where less isn’t around to help r through something and r is spiraling more and more while needing someone to bring her back. One of Alessia's teammates has to kind of shout at r and tell her to kneel or something for her to be grounded featuring Mary (and Lucy slightly)

Part of The come Down universe

Warming: D/s elements. Blood and violence (mentioned but nothing graphic- R punches a wall several times).

It was easy for people to believe that you had an easy life, filled with nothing more than champagne problems and affluenza. 

All they saw were the press conferences and interviews after fights where you were riding high on your success. They didn’t see the weeks where you trained upwards of 18 hours a day and ate so strictly that even your water content was measured. 

They didn’t see how difficult it was to balance your career and Alessia’s, and the weeks you sometimes went apart. 

They didn’t see the nagging injuries that followed you like old ghosts. 

And they thought the 1% of your life they saw was enough context for them to make assumptions about the rest of your life, including your relationship with your girlfriend. 

You had never been big on social media, but that didn’t mean you were entirely shielded from it. 

Especially not when the date for your title fight against Justin Gathje was announced. 

Dana wanted you to hype the fight, to make a comment about how wild Justin was in the cage, and how your far more technical style would be a good match. 

And you thought the spare moments you had sitting in Alessia’s national team cubby while she did her final lap around Wembley for the fans was the perfect moment. 

But as you flicked through your Twitter app, you, realized very quickly that it was a terrible idea. 

Justin had already commented on the fight and accompanied his post with pictures of you in the stands a Wembley dressed in your girlfriend's jersey and one of him sweating in the gym. 

I think a championship contender should at least be putting in the work instead of fucking off with a bitch who deserves better. #gonnasilencethegolddigger

You knew that it was a stupid post. It made no sense because the fight was 20 weeks away, and starting training camp now, three days post-fight, would only lead to burnout and injuries. 

You knew that it was completely untrue considering you had met Alessia at UNC where you had a nice wrestling scholarship and she had a soccer one. There had been no gold to dig. 

But that didn’t stop the general public from hopping on the hate train. 

There were thousands of replies, and mentions and posts clogging your feed about how undeserving you were. 

About how awful of a fighter you were. 

About how Alessia deserved someone who could support her. 

But it wasn’t the comments from the general public that bothered you. 

It was the ones from her former teammates that dug into your brain and stuck. 

Her own family didn’t want her so much they shipped her off to America, so it’s sad she’s dragged a stand-up baller like Lessie into her mess. She didn’t deserve her state championship either. #alwaysridingcoattails.

Her own family didn’t want her

Dragged Lessie into her mess

The words burned into your mind, so you saw them every time you closed your eyes, getting more and more bold each time the number of interactions went up. 

1000

15,000

300,000

2,000,000

You launched your phone across the room, uncaring how it smashed into a million pieces on the stone like it would smash the image on the screen. 

Like it would shatter the tweet and the shots coming from people who had never met you. 

Like it would change how right they were. 

You breathed in deeply, trying to quell the growing ache in your chest and soothe the feelings bubbling in your stomach. 

Alessia’s scent surrounded you, filling your lungs and coating all of your senses. It was normally like a balm on an open wound or ice for a burn, the remedy to your anxiety and a promise that she was there for you. 

That she would always be there. 

That promise was part of the reason your relationship took the dynamic it did. 

Except this time, her scent didn’t loosen the knot in your chest. 

It just reminded you how much you took from her. How much better off she would have been if you had never run into her at UNC. 

You shoved yourself out of Alessia’s locker, you didn’t deserve to sit in it and paced the small room. 

The walls felt like they were getting closer together, and the air felt too heavy. 

You couldn’t breathe.

You needed release. 

You paused at the far end of the room, staring at the white concrete. 

Your fist hit the cold concrete before you even thought about it, and you relished in the pressure of the hard surface on your exposed knuckles. It was more than when you hit pads, more than when you hit someone else. 

It was perfect. 

You did it again. 

You weren’t enough. You hadn’t been for your parents. You wouldn’t be enough for Alessia either. 

Your fist hit the wall again. 

That’s what everyone had been saying for months. That’s what your father told you when you tried to make amends. 

You could see how right they were. 

Stupid worthless 

You hit the wall again. 

How much better off they would be without you. 

“Y/n?”

You didn’t even blink at Ella’s voice. 

You weren’t good enough. How could you ever be?

You had been birthed by two drug addicts more interested in their own highs than in raising a child. Your neighborhood MMA gym was the only place you had ever found food and safety. How could you ever be enough for Alessia who had been raised by loving parents? Who didn’t have to scrape and claw for food scraps? 

Who didn’t crave the freedom you found in total violence. In the destruction of a human. 

In the destruction of herself. 

“Y/n stop,” 

Hands gripped your shoulder, trying to prevent your arm from moving as you launched it again at the slightly pink wall. 

It didn’t work. 

Your hand slammed into the wall again. 

It wasn’t enough. It didn’t hurt enough to ease the volcano in your chest. 

You needed more. 

“Y/n please,” 

Ella’s voice sounded very close to your ear and stinger arms wrapped around your stomach, trying to force you away.

A guttural sound left your lips as the arms were finally able to pull you away, and Lucy stepped between you and your only solace. 

You needed it. 

“Calm down,” Mary hissed, her arms tugging you again. 

You were too out of it to wonder when she had gotten there. 

“Go get Alessia,” Lucy said, looking over your shoulder towards who you assumed was Ella. “Now,” 

You fought against the arms restraining you. 

Keeping you from the only thing that would make the ripping feeling in your brain go quiet. 

The door slammed shut and you were forced back another step by strong arms. 

“Y/n you need to relax, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Lucy held her hands up as she took a step towards you like you were a wild animal. 

And you supposed you were. 

Wild and out of control. Spiraling into oblivion. 

Lucy Met Mary’s eyes when you fought harder in the keeper's hold, your eyes wildly flickering as your limbs flailed. 

This was well out of their ability to fix. 

“We have to do it,” Lucy said, and Mary instantly knew what she meant. 

Mary nodded once. 

She knew you better than Lucy did, so she knew it had to be her if they wanted it to work. 

It was the only thing she could think of to help you. 

The thing that Alessia would do for you 

They had only seen it happen once. 

It was the only time the keeper had seen your dynamic's heavier side. The only time Alessia looked truly dominant, and you looked submissive. 

Mary squared her shoulders, drawing up to her full height, picturing in her mind the way Alessia had touched you and the tone that she had used. Soft, but dripping in authority that had shocked Mary. 

She tried to remember the words your girlfriend had used, the way her fingers pressed perfectly into your skin to make you melt. 

She pulled away from you slightly, drawing her hand from your stomach to land heavily on the space where your shoulder met your neck. 

“Y/n,” She said mimicking the sheer dominance that Alessia’s voice held that night. “I think that’s enough darling. Kneel for me,” 

You froze. 

A shiver ran the full length of your spine at the familiar words, and your shoulders rolled like a physical weight had been added to them. 

You blinked as the order filtered through the fog in your brain, registering that though it was familiar, the voice that had given it was not. 

Her arm loosened around your middle as all of the fight left you, but she kept the grounding hand on your neck. 

You leaned into it, breathing in through your nose and very slowly releasing it through your clenched teeth. 

You sagged with each exhale, sinking very slowly until you were kneeling at Mary’s feet. 

Your head bowed, and you rested your hands palm up on your knees as another rattling breath left you, pressing back into the hand still on your neck like it was the only thing keeping you from floating away into oblivion.

Mary stood frozen, staring at you as you fixed your posture (Alessia hated it when you slouched) and all of the tension, her eyes darting up to meet Lucy’s. 

She hadn’t been sure that it would work. That you would listen to it because she wasn’t Alessia. But now that it had, she wasn’t sure what to do. 

She didn’t know what came next, or how to navigate it without crossing your boundaries. 

“Good job Y/n,” Lucy said, keeping her voice as soft as Mary’s. “We’re just going to stay here and calm down, alright?”

You let out another shuddering breath, more ripples quaking down your spine, and Mary very gently ran her thumb in circles at the back of your neck, hoping it would help to keep you settled. 

She knew it was the touch Alessia always took when you were anxious or nervous, but she was also very much aware that she was not Alessia. 

“And then we’ll get one of the trainers to look at your hand after Lessie gets here,” The defender continued, her eyes trained on where your jeans were slowly turning red with the blood from your hand. 

“But for now, we’re going to just stay right here,” Mary repeated, letting her thumb graze the nape of your neck. 

*******

“Less,” Ella’s voice cut through the sounds of the fans calling for Alessia’s attention, the panic in it drawing the strikers eyes before the midfielder skidded to a stop beside her. 

“What’s happened?” Alessia asked, passing the shirt she was signing back to the young girl who had handed it to her. 

“Y/n,” Ella panted, her eyes wide, afraid despite the cameras pointed their way. “I’ve never seen her like that,” 

Alessia frowned, turning away from the fans and wrapping an arm around Ella’s shoulder to give them some semblance of privacy. 

“Seen her like what?” She asked, her tone low with something… darker lingering under the surface. 

Ella shook her head, unable to describe it with words. “I need you to come, quickly,” 

“Ok,” Alessia agreed, following after the midfielder with little question. 

She knew that whatever had happened had to be bad to cause that look. To have Ella say it in front of the fans. 

Ella sprinted back towards the tunnel with Alessia on her heels, weaving between equipment people, and players until they reached the locker room. 

Leah stood outside the door, directing players to the other showers. 

Alessia’s frown deepened. “What’s going on?”

“We thought a smaller audience would be better,” Leah murmured, stepping aside for them. “Looks pretty brutal mate,” 

Ella patted her back and she stepped towards the door, steeling herself for whatever was inside as she pressed it open. 

Her breath caught in her chest as she took in the scene in front of her. 

It looked like something out of a slasher film. 

Red covered one of the white stone walls, dripping onto the gray floor in dime-sized circles to where you were sitting. No kneeling between Mary and Lucy, a dark patch forming from where it had soaked into your jeans. 

Her jaw clenched at your position. 

It was hard for people to understand but kneeling was something… intimate between the two of you. It was a show of the trust that you had for her to take care of you. A way to reinforce the power dynamic in your relationship. 

It had taken you a long time to feel comfortable enough to let yourself be vulnerable enough to kneel for her, and she treasured how willing you were now. How you seemed to… crave the position. 

For someone else to put you there didn’t sit well with her. 

Neither did the way Mary’s hand was holding the back of your neck. 

“What happened?” She grit out, her eyes flitting between your form and the two women on your either side. 

“we’re not entirely sure. We just caught the tail end,” Mary murmured, her thumb rubbing soothing circles onto your skin. 

Your eyes were closed, but Alessia could see the tension in your posture. She could see how on edge you were. 

How close you were to subspace. 

She snooker her head. “And you thought that this was the solution?”

She wanted to scream at her friends. To give them a lecture about consent and safety and trust (even though you wouldn’t be kneeling for them if you didn’t trust them). 

They didn’t know your boundaries. This hadn’t been discussed. What if it went wrong and they didn’t recognize the signs of you passing the point of consent? 

She knew you often leaned into the dynamic you shared to calm down. To let go, but she knew your limits. She knew your safe word. 

She knew all of the signs to look for, because you craved pain when you felt unstable (a habit that had lingered from your childhood), and you wouldn’t always vocalize your limits. 

She worried how far backward you would slip after this. 

“It was the only way I could think of to get her to calm down. She wasn’t responding to anything else Less,” Mary explained, her voice very soft and gentle. “I tried to do exactly what you do,” 

“We also stayed away from honorifics,” Lucy added. “We knew we were overstepping a bit as it was and didn’t want to push further than we had to,” 

Alessia wanted to snort that overstepping was an understatement, but she didn’t. 

That wouldn’t help you. 

Avoiding honorifics had been a very thoughtful touch. 

That would have sent you careening into sub-space, and she doubted either of them could have handled that. 

“Alright,” She said, taking a deep breath. 

She would need to talk to them later, but right now, her priority was you. 

And getting to the bottom of what happened. 

Of what changed in the 10 minutes you had been left alone. 

She settled herself on the bench, placing her sweatshirt on the ground near her feet to act as a cushion for you, and taking a deep calming breath before she let her eyes fall on you. 

“Babygirl,” Her voice came out stern, but not angry, and for the first time, you raised your gaze from the floor to meet hers. “Come here,” 

She gestured towards the spot at her feet, and without hesitating, you carefully pulled out of Mary’s grasp and crawled to her. 

Her fingers weaved through your hair, and she guided you to rest your cheek on her thigh once you settled on the sweatshirt. “What’s going on sweet one? Talk to me,”

You nuzzled into the soft skin of her leg as her nails dragged against your scalp, trying to remember how to speak. 

How to form words that would accurately describe the tearing feeling in your chest. 

“Not enough,”

The words were horse as they left your lips, heavy and wet like they had been pulled from the depths of your soul. 

Alessia hummed, her nails digging more deeply into your hair. “What’s not enough?”

Your breath rattled in your chest, shaking through you to your core. 

At the depths of it, you were not enough. 

You would never be enough. 

“I’ll go get a doc,” Lucy murmured before you heard the sound of the door. 

“What is not enough,” Alessia asked again, more insistent. 

“I’m not enough, Miss,” You said, your voice barely above a whisper. 

Alessia tutted. “We both know that’s not true,” 

You groaned. 

It was true. The whole internet believed it. 

“It is,” You insisted, pulling away from her warm hold to meet her eyes. “Everyone believes it,” 

“Who is everyone?” Alessia pressed, staying calm and even. Being your stability. 

“I think this has something to do with it,” Mary said, and your eyes snapped to her, where she was holding your demolished phone, the tweets still lighting up the screen. 

You had forgotten she was still here. 

“What is it?” 

Alessia held her free hand out for it, using the other to settle you back against her thigh. 

“Bullshit,” Mary answered, passing the phone to your dominant, moving slowly around you, like she was afraid to spook you. 

Alessia hummed, flicking through the images on your cracked screen. 

The room was silent as she read the words that had set you off, and you let your eyes slide closed, enjoying her closeness. 

Enjoying the ability to let go, and trust that she would take care of it. 

You ignored the sound of the door opening again, and feet approaching you and Alessia. You didn’t care if people saw you. You knew that she would defend you if you needed it. 

“Sweet girl,” Alessia said, fingers tightening in your hair, and you opened your eyes to meet hers over the phone. “Let them look at your hands,” 

Your eyes flickered towards the medics, kneeling in front of you, Lucy standing protectively behind them with Mary. 

You hummed, slowly lifting your dominant hand and holding it out towards the medic. 

He took it gently between his own and began to examine it with a frown. 

“I think she needs x-rays,” He said, looking over you towards Alessia who was still scrolling through your feed. “And I can wrap it after that,” 

“Alright,” She said, putting your phone down. “We’ll meet you in the training room in just a moment. Can you three give us a second?”

The medic nodded, retreating with Mary and Lucy.

“Take your time,” Mary paused in the doorway. “Me and Luce will get cleaned up and meet you,” 

Alessia let out a sound of agreement. 

She waited for the door to close before she very gently pulled you up from your knees and into her lap. 

You rested your cheek on her chest, tucking your nose into her still-sweaty jersey. 

This time her scent didn’t set you on edge. It joined the feeling of her warm arms wrapped around you and her chin on your head, making you feel safe and warm and cared for, even when you didn’t think you deserved it. 

“You know all of those tweets are bullshit right?” She asked after your breathing had evened out. “They’re just trying to get under your skin,”

You made a low noise, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. 

“You are deserving because you are amazing. You are an incredible fighter, and a good human despite the shit hand you were dealt,” She continued. “I love you, and I will always be here for you. Whether you are the world champion, or we’re eating spam and crackers on my bedroom floor,” 

Your eyes slid closed and you buried your face in her chest, your lips lifting just a bit at the mention of your favorite snack from college. 

From when you were too broke to afford dinner on the weekends. 

It didn’t entirely fix the crumbling feeling that accompanied each beat of your heart, but her words were like a tether holding you to reality. 

She had loved you before you were a UFC star and she was England's Star Girl, and she would love you after. 

That was all that mattered. 

She squeezed you tightly and kissed your head. “Let’s go get your hands fixed and then we can go back to the hotel and watch Love Island before bed, alright?”

You hummed again. 

You knew a talk about your coping mechanism, about the wall you had destroyed, would also be included after you had come down. 

But you didn’t mind. 

You and Alessia would get through it. Together. 

[sergeifyodorov]

Hi!

This is maybe a bit left of field, but I love your blog and you seem very knowledgeable so maybe you (or one of your followers?) have an idea.

Can you recommend some reading material on sports in general? It can absolutely be hockey related but I’m talking sort of bigger scope. More specifically, how (team) sports relate to society as a whole, what role it plays for humanity, maybe it’s history? What about the fan culture?

For context, I come from a pretty academic family where growing up there was this all encompassing prejudice of “it’s for stupid people” (which is clearly stupid in itself). I guess I’m trying to break the mold, but all of it is culturally very new to me.

It can be books, articles, essays, anything.

I realise I sound like a nerd, but. Maybe?

I love this q!!! I'm going to list some of my favourites, but I also haven't read everything (or even most things) so I'll leave it open to the floor to add to. If you have recs for this anon, please reblog with additions!

Moneyball by Michael Lewis and its semi-not-really sequel Big Data Baseball by Travis Sawchik are about the analytics revolutions in baseball - Moneyball about the original one that sparked from amateur mathematician Bill James' writings, and Big Data about the inception of the Statcast era about fifteen years later.

The Game by Ken Dryden is a biography by one of the greatest goalies and minds ever to play the sport. I would recommend almost anything written by Dryden, but this is really his masterwork.

17776 is a work of fiction written by Jon Bois, but I feel like it fits within the scope of your question anyway - thematically it seeks to ask and answer why we play sports and what they mean to us. It's also written and presented online for free and you can just google it, so you don't have to hunt through your libraries or buy a copy!

The Game of Our Lives by Peter Gzowski is a rarer one, especially if you're not Canadian, but I have a personal connection so I'll always recommend it anyway. It's written about Wayne Gretzky during his initial NHL season, and examines the way we think of greatness, what makes hockey players great (on a technical as well as social level), and the ideal of a Great Hockey Player as it relates to Canadian national identity.

Along that thread, I'll finally recommend the works of sociologist Kristi Allain, who's written multiple papers on the construction of Canadian identity both within hockey and within media discussing it, and the socialization and experiences of Canadian and non-Canadian hockey players.

[mushimatsu]

choromatsu handwriting post

compiled all of choromatsus handwriting that i could find bc i love him

i realize these were all made by different teams and have different sources (anime/games/webkuji/etc) but there are some similarities between them all and i think its cute. i'll try to make it easier for ppl that cannot read japanese too

(note: some of these may or may not be valid criticisms, im not a native japanese speaker but i got my bachelors in japanese. idk if this means anything to anyone im just pointing out things that im noticing and maybe it will be interesting to you. if you notice anything else interesting feel free to add)

commonalities i noticed:

sometimes will combine multiple character strokes into one (normal thing to do, i've seen some native speakers do this)

with a few exceptions (mt takao for some reason), generally neat handwriting. proper and easy to read. not too big, not too small, not over stylized, but not messy either. very choromatsu

letter in s1e24

very nice handwriting, legible and neat. this is closest to how i think i would picture his handwriting. i know that the staff across different ososan things probably don't care too deeply about keeping minute handwriting details consistent and that's why they're all gonna look different but i like this one best for him.

new years cards in s2e13

very cute, love the stupid drawing of himself. everything very nice and tidy. to me these characters look a much curlier and rounder than the ones in the letter.

for both the letter and the new years cards it looks like he was careful to properly write out all the strokes of the kanji, even for more complicated ones like 緊張 and 就職. we see in mt takao that his handwriting gets a LOT messier. i know the real reason is because it was probably different animators that did his handwriting, but i'm choosing to believe that in canon it's because both of these are more fancy/formal letters addressed to people, whereas the trip guide is just for him and his brothers and doesn't necessarily need to look nice.

also i adore his tendency to add little drawings to things, like this and the mt takao guide he's everything

trip guide from mt. takao s3e8. his handwriting here, for some reason, is exceptionally bad especially compared to everything else. he writes like a little kid and i love his shitty little drawings. he's so cute.

my teachers would always correct my kanji down to the tiniest strokes, if i wrote like this is class i would get scolded so bad. you can see him combining his strokes together for 記念撮影, this will continue for the other pictures too. cute detail imo

the 昼 in 昼食 is definitely written wrong, but the second kanji 食 might be a little nitpicky. technically that bottom part is three different strokes, not two crossed over each other

more of him combining the strokes together. i wouldn't necessarily say that's wrong, since i've seen people do that before; it's probably just a habit that happens over time. i do it in english too

HOWEVER, he did write the 日 radical in 撮影 wrong here. previously, i thought he was just combining strokes again so that it looked like three lines instead of two (note 3 and 4 are two parallel lines, he just didn't lift his pen up)

but when you look at this it's clear that he very much did write three lines this time. that's the wrong radical

anyway

another example of him writing a two stroke character with just one. again, this is fine, ive seen people write their characters like this. however it looks bad when he does it here

i love how he wrote "campfire" i love how for some reason he didn't keep the letter sizing consistent or straight. also his little campfire drawing

１９時

キャンプ

ファイヤー

also there's two ways to write そ, its just a matter of choice its not important but he writes it the second way. and he messed up a kanji again

these next ones are maybe less canon cause they're not from the show itself

Airport Matsu

very tidy, combines a couple strokes together. both 松 (matsu) characters look like he combines the last two strokes together instead of writing them as two separate ones

and he does a similar thing with the right half of 野 in Matsuno

nostalgic moments webkuji

this one he writes every stroke and doesn't combine them and that's probably because different people worked on these and the tiny details like this don't matter to anyone but me. or you could say that he wrote a little neater in high school and started simplifying things as he got older.

Rock School

he drew himself again lol

i think his handwriting looks very good here actually. idk how to describe it but i like when handwriting looks like this specific way in japanese. i've seen other people that have handwriting like this and it just looks so nice. like the characters seem to vary in size, but somehow it makes it a little easier to read imo?

like in the first bullet point (underlined in yellow), the す in 多すぎる is a little big, but like it looks nice. in the second bullet point (blue), the の in 世の中 is slightly smaller but it emphasizes the kanji on either side of it. the stroke on the side of the か characters are written a little longer than usual (red). like it just looks nice, everything is shaped really nice and whenever i see people that have this handwriting i always try to emulate it lol

Neetpro

this one is a bit messier than the others. the way he wrote チョロ just doesn't look as nice as the way he wrote it in airport matsu and nostalgic moments. the way the て is written is more curved compared to the others. also the 界 kanji (blue) is written in a way that looks weird to me, and kara from this same set also writes the kanji that way so i think the same person might have written all of them lol

also interesting is that he writes き differently in this one

i was told by one of my professors that you're supposed to write さ and き with the upper and lower parts disconnected when writing by hand. it's only in text that they're connected. but i've still seen some people write them in the connected way

in all the other examples, choromatsu doesn't write them connected like that, just this one.

sukiya app

my lovely boy and his nonsense words and lies. the handwriting here comes off as very cutesy to me, at least compared to the others. some of the ways he writes, especially any box-like shape, seems round in a way. he also connects the right half of 野 again.

overall writes very neatly, altho a lot of the kanji here seems like its very big on the top and smaller on the bottom, and a lot of the letters seem more rounded. all the other examples just feel like the writing is a bit more angular, with the exception of the new years cards.

extra: coloring book

the way he wrote his name here is messier than the other examples. i like that he added little commentary on his own coloring though ("looks good!" "the tail was black too i believe") maybe he colored this with a paintbrush????? the strokes look as if he was trying to write quickly with a brush as if it was a pen. so maybe that's why its a little messier

anyway thanks for reading. i love choromatsu

[obsessivestar]

'What If It's All A RomCom?' - a Ted Nivison x Reader

{{-Fun fact about this chapter: I had to rewatch the beginning of Ted's Rainforest video because I wanted my description of the L.A. Rainforest Cafe to be accurate lmao you're welcome-}}

//General Warnings: 18+ Fix (MINORS DNI), Reader is implied to be afab and under 5'5

//Chapter Warnings: Suggestive conversation in the truck? I guess?

Word Count: 4.6k (I need to slow the fuck down lmao)

☆▪︎▪︎▪︎Taglist!▪︎▪︎▪︎☆

@k-k0129 , @callsign-scully & @limecorpse

☆Love Ya To Death!☆

Chapter 17: The Rainforest Cafe

Another 2 days pass and before I know it, we're halfway through the 2nd week. Everyone's been talking about how fast these weeks have been flying by and I mean, we only have about one and a half yet, but I don't know. These weeks have felt a lot longer to me, in a good way! I've enjoyed my time with everyone. Joe, Tanner, Dan, Ted and I have all developed a closeness I wasn't anticipating when I agreed to help with this project. I guess I was already pretty close with Joe and Tanner before this, but we all lived pretty far from each other. It's nice to be able to see them everyday again, like old times. Dan absolutely fits right in, too. I feel like I've known him for a lot longer than just 2 and a half weeks. Turns out, we're into almost the exact same things and he's super chill. He still occasionally apologizes to Ted and I for nearly throwing a football at my head, but it's honestly just funny to think about it now. It's become an inside joke in the friend group.

And then there's Ted. Wonderful, beautiful, fantastic Ted. We're only getting closer and closer as this project goes on. Our chemistry on camera is about as genuine and magnetic as it is off camera, you can see how it grows when we look back on footage from last week, especially comparing the recent kiss scene from yesterday to the first one Ted and I did. That's certainly going to be strange to think about, knowing our very first kiss was filmed. That, and it's going to be on the big screen of a theater, for potentially hundreds of students to view...

And it's probably going to be graded.

Oh christ, our first kiss is going to be graded.

Tanner better get a perfect mark...

Everything's just been...really good these last couple days. Every morning I'd wake up with Ted, it was practically a crime if I were to try and sleep in my own room now. If I stayed in my room for too long the night before, he'd begin knocking on my wall again, just like the first night we stayed at this place. He wouldn't call me, he wouldn't text, he wouldn't come and knock on the door, no. He'd stay in his room and knock on the wall until I caved. He didn't knock anything in Morse code this time, I checked. Guess he only knows how to spell 'cunt'. Jackass.

We'd usually head downstairs for breakfast together and begin filming as soon as we're ready. We filmed 3 more kiss scenes, practically all done on the first take. I had overheard one member of the wardrobe team make a comment about how Ted an I were 'naturals' at this, but it didn't bother me. Didn't seem to bother Ted, either.

At this rate, it's only our fan's and the general public that don't know about our relationship and Ted wants to keep it that way for the rest of the month. I was initially fine with that, but as the days have gone on, it's been a little challenging. I want to post all of the pictures I've taken of us and the group, I wanna put his stupid smile on my Instagram story, I want to show everyone that I bagged Ted fucking Nivison, but I understand where he's coming from, I guess. Despite how far we've gone and how close we are, we've technically only been together for a few days, a week at most. Hard launching this relationship now could take away from the work we're supposed to be doing. I know for a fact I'd get caught up on what our fans think of this, I'm already expecting some sort of backlash simply for being around him. Maybe he's expecting it too, that could be why he's so antsy about it. Either way, he'll have to get over it a little faster than he probably expected to.

As we help clean up downstairs, Tanner makes an interesting suggestion related to the game nights we've been having with Joe and Dan. He wants to play Jackbox again, but he wants to stream it. Tanner started streaming around the time he started college as a fun little side hustle. He's got a comfortably sized fan base of his own, he thought it'd be fun to get the 5 of us on one stream, while we're all still together. He had already talked to Joe and Dan about it and I loved the idea, but Ted wasn't too sure. The three of us started talking about it as I got my makeup done for the day.

"I mean, we don't have to use a facecam if that's what you're worried about.." Tanner spoke, standing at one side of me while Ted stood at the other, making sure not to get in the makeup artists way.

"No, that's not...they'd probably recognize my voice anyways." Ted sounded quite unsure. It was a tone I wasn't really familiar with him having, he's always been rather confident since we've been here. I suppose it was about time I started to see new sides of him. I don't mind it.

"Are you worried I'm using you for views? I promise I'm not. That's just a convenience." Tanner frowned a little, adjusting his glasses.

"No, Tanner--God, you sound like Tucker.." A slight chuckle bubbled out of Ted, bringing his finger and his thumb up to adjust his glasses. "I..."

"It's about me." I decide to speak up, making sure to stay still for the makeup artist. I can tell by the exhale that left Ted that he felt a little bad, but there's no sense in hiding it, I'm part of this conversation too. "He doesn't want his fans to know about me until the end of the project."

"Okay, well, there's a better way to phrase it.." Ted let's out a huff, running his fingers through his tall hair.

"They don't know?" Tanner almost sounded amused by this, a little smirk curling up his mouth.

"Tanner, it's been only 2 weeks, dude." Ted begins to smirk a bit as well, but based on the way his hand is pressing down on the makeup counter, I can tell this conversation is making him anxious. "I'm just--"

"Yeah, but it's also been, like, 2 years." Tanner cut Ted off with a slight scoff, leaning against the counter a bit as well. "You've talked about wanting to meet her for 2 years.."

"Not to my fans."

"Since when do you worry about your fans?"

"I don't--I'm not, I'm just saying--"

"You guys basically have the same fan's anyways.."

"I know, it's not like I don't want to show her off--"

"You wouldn't need to 'show her off', it's just us playing a game, as friends."

"I'm not saying I'd have a problem with that, Tanner, she's--"

"Okay, can we stop talking about me like I'm not here?" I once again cut in on the conversation, sort of raising my hands up to diffuse the tension. If I don't stop them now, they'll keep going. Ted's gonna wanna keep defending himself and Tanner's gonna keep asking questions. It's not that he's trying to pressure Ted, I know that, he just gets antsy when he doesn't understand something. He's also probably worried about my feelings. They're both making some good points, but I would ultimately like Ted to join us for this stream.

"Tanner, I'm alright with this, I promise." I can't turn my head to look at Tanner, but I give a little gesture with my hand so he knows I'm addressing him. "It wouldn't make sense to drop our relationship now, I don't want to take away from this film. We're here for you, not for each other." I can sort of see out of the corner of my eye that Tanner has relaxed a bit, so I lower my one hand and raise the other to now address Ted.

"At the same time, I'd really like you there." I speak to Ted, giving him a little point. "I think it'd be a good thing. I mean, wouldn't it make sense for us to be seen hanging out as friends before we reveal anything? At least that way it's not very sudden." I glance down at the counter to see Ted's grip relax a bit, a quiet sigh leaving him.

"...You're really not worried at all, huh?" Ted spoke up after a small bit of silence, taking his hand off the makeup counter to cross his arms in front of his chest.

"No, I have nothing to worry about, I don't really care." I admit with a slight chuckle and shrug. "The only opinions I care about are the opinions of the people that sleep here every night. You, Tanner, Joe and Dan."

"Y'know we're not gonna be able to flirt? Like at all?" Ted smirks at me.

"That's fine."

"No kissing? No nicknames?"

"I'm perfectly fine not doing that in front of the camera, Ted."

"We can't even cuddle. No cuddling. You cool with that?"

"We didn't even cuddle last time we played Jackbox."

"We kinda did. A little."

"Barely."

"We almost kissed."

"Key word there is 'almost', just don't."

"Yeah, but I'll want to kiss you. It's gonna suck." Ted let's out a playful whine.

"Don't.." I chuckle, shaking my head a little. "We won't be 'together' when we play Jackbox on stream."

"We weren't together last time we played Jackbox."

"Exactly, we'll just act the same way."

I hear another exhale leave Ted, a heavier one this time. I get a brief moment where I can turn to look at him. The moment our eyes meet, he relaxes and gives me a warm smile.

"Alright...I'm in.." He finally concedes and I hear an excited little 'Yes!' from Tanner, who quickly scurries away to go tell Joe and Dan the good news. I can't help but laugh, but quickly go still again when the makeup artist needs me to remain still for lipstick. As I'm looking at myself in the mirror, I feel Ted come around to stand behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders before kneeling down a little to speak into my ear.

"No idea how you do that, but it's pretty hot.." He purrs quietly, that stupid grin spread along his lips.

"Do what? Not give a shit?" I can't help but chuckle as I whisper back, being careful not to move my lips too much. I can't imagine what the makeup artist is thinking, nor do I care.

"Mhmm, it's enticing.." He purrs again, glancing at the makeup artist as she grabs a different tool for my eye makeup.

"Enticing? That's the word you're going with today?" I ask, keeping my eyes on him through the mirror.

"Well, I could just say it's sexy, but...feels too basic for you.."

"...are you really trying to seduce me right now?"

"Yeah.."

"While I'm getting my makeup done? Really?"

"Always.."

"Can I get Ted Nivison to set, please?" I hear a member of the film crew call for him, a little laugh leaving me at the disappointed expression that spreads onto Ted's handsome face.

"Yeah, Ted Nivison to set, please.." I whisper back with a grin. A scoff leaves Ted as he stands up straight.

"If you weren't in this chair, I'd spank you."

"Promises, Promises.."

"Yeah yeah, you'd like that."

"You'd like that."

"Cunt."

"Prick."

Ted snickers to himself as he moves away to head into the other room. I get a look from the makeup artist, which honestly just makes me laugh. Our dynamic must be so strange to these people.

Once she's done my makeup, I'm finally able to stand up and join Ted over by the camera's. We'd be filming the last of the kissing scenes today so we could spend the rest of the week on the ballroom dream sequence. Getting to kiss Ted all day? The perfect day, absolutely the perfect day.

Or...it would've been, anyways.

We get maybe a few takes in before the power suddenly goes out. Not just in the living room, but throughout the entire building. It caught all of us off guard, it wasn't storming or anything outside, it was a clear day, but it was like something just shot within the breaker. Without power, we don't have proper lighting, some of the cameras won't work and we can't even cook. We spend the next few hours of the day trying to contact the owners of the airbnb and the power companies in the area. We get nothing back until it's later in the afternoon, where we find out the power likely won't be on until the day is over. Thank god Tanner overbooked this airbnb, we can afford to lose one day of filming.

The film crew heads home early for the day, leaving the 5 of us here to figure out what we're gonna do for dinner, especially since everything in the kitchen is off, the fridge included. We can't even do the livestream now, the power won't be on until around 8pm, at least that's what we were told. We all sat in the living room on the couch, all of us using data on our phones to find what we were going to order. It was going to be pricey, even if we all pitched in for one thing.

"Anyone feeling like Chinese food?.." Tanner speaks up, looking up from his phone to address everyone.

"I had Chinese yesterday, so probably not.." Dan speaks up, shaking his head a little. "We could do fish, maybe?"

"The closest fish place is like a half an hour away, it'll take forever." Joe frowns, fluffing up the back of his mullet. "I'm not waiting that long for overpriced fish, sorry."

"Do we all have to order from the same place?..." Tanner frowns slightly, sitting up more in his seat.

"It'd be cheaper that way." Joe admits with a little shrug. Ted and I have been relatively quiet during the conversation. We're both leaning back a bit into the corner of the couch, with Ted's arm around my shoulder. We're mostly quiet because we were honestly fine with anything. It's usually Joe and Tanner that are a bit pickier. This time around though, it doesn't seem like anyone can come to an agreement, and none of us feel like dropping over 30 dollars to order separately...

"Why don't we just go out to eat?" Ted speaks up after a few more minutes of everyone bickering, sitting up a bit more on the couch. "I know a place. It'd be cheaper than ordering."

I already know what he wants to suggest, letting out a gentle laugh. This again?

"Oh yeah? What spot?" Tanner curiously perks up, pushing up his glasses.

"You're gonna suggest the fucking Rainforest Cafe, aren't you?" Joe gives Ted a knowing grin, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'm absolutely suggesting the Rainforest Cafe." Ted adds with a confident smile, giving a little point with the hand around my shoulder.

"Oh sweet, I've never been there before!" Dan's immediately enthusiastic about the idea, bouncing a little on the couch with a big grin. "We should go!"

"I can't believe you still like going there." Joe chuckles, resting his elbow on his knee. "How many did you goto last time? Like 30?"

"18. There's only 18 in North America." Ted spoke, circling a little with his hand.

"Oh yeah, you went to the one in Canada too, right?" Tanner asks, giving a slight head tilt.

"Yeah, Niagara Falls." Ted simply nods. "The one here is relatively close, it's just right in the city."

"Honestly, it's not a bad idea.." I finally speak up with a little shrug, a small smile on my face. "By the time we come back, the power would be back on..." I can't believe I'm agreeing to this, but honestly, I'll eat anything at this point, and it'd be nice to get out for a bit, I suppose.

"Alright, I'm down." Tanner gently slaps his lap as he stands up off the couch, giving Ted little finger guns.

"Yeah, alright." Joe shrugs, slipping his phone into his pocket.

With all of us in agreement, we briefly split off to grab our wallets and to change into anything different if we desire. Ted had packed the Hawaiian shirt he had bought with Eddy during their trip, because of course he did, he probably figured he'd be able to convince us all to go eventually. Dan has a bigger vehicle, so he decides to drive Tanner and Joe while Ted and I go in his Tacoma. Once we're all ready, we head out to our respective rides and pull out of the large driveway. Dan follows behind us as we drive through the suburban area to get to the city.

"Have you ever been?" Ted asks, glancing at me briefly. "To the Rainforest, I mean."

"I think I have? I don't remember." I admit with a small shrug. I couldn't recall if there was one near me growing up. Either way, I was kind of excited. Only kind of. I think I was honestly just excited to be out with Ted again. This probably wasn't a date, but it felt a bit like one, in a weird way. It's the first time we've been out since we got together. I can certainly tell he's excited to bring me, he hasn't stopped grinning since we got in the truck.

"I'll admit, I'm...kinda freakin' out a little.." Ted admits with a soft chuckle, tapping his hands on the wheel as we stop at a red light. "I've been wanting to take you here all week.."

"Really?" I felt my cheeks heat up a little at his admission, turning to look at him fully. "I honestly thought your love for the Rainforest Cafe was a bit.."

"Well, like, half of it is, kinda." Ted admits, turning his head as well to grin at me. "I just like doing things with you, especially outside of work. Like..." Ted pauses for a moment, like he's hesitating to start his next sentence. It's intriguing. "I have this thing where I like to go out and do things with my partner. That's my love language, I've learned. So...when we went out to the mall to replace your wardrobe that one day, and we went to dinner, that was the day I realized I needed to make a move. A real one."

I look a little surprised, but it makes sense. That explains why he came into my room that night. I still wonder if Tanner had actually fallen asleep in his bed that night, or if it was some whack-ass lie that he used to get into my bed. I don't really care either way, if that's the lie he needed to tell to get with me, that's fine.

"That's...really sweet, actually.." I speak up with a warm smile spread along my blushing face. "I'd be happy to have more adventures with you..."

Ted has to look back at the road when the light turns green, making the truck move down the road again. I can see the sparkles in his eyes from my words, a soft, almost suggestive grin curling the corners of his lips up. He puts one hand on the wheel so he can place his free hand on my leg, giving my thigh a little squeeze.

"You're infuriating." Ted shakes his head with a deep chuckle, gliding his tongue along the edges of his top teeth. "You gotta stop doing that, y'know.." I can immediately tell what he's thinking, and it makes me laugh.

"Seriously?" I shake my head and furrow my brows at him, a big smile of disbelief on my face. "Saying I want to have more adventures turns you on?"

"Yes, so don't do that."

"I'm trying to be sweet!"

"I know. Don't. Stop that."

"I think your libido is broken, dude."

"My libido?"

"You know what I'm saying! Your sex drive! Y--whatever! It's broken."

"It's not broken."

"It's definitely broken."

"It's just you, (Y/N), that's the problem."

"I'm the problem?"

"Yeah."

"I think you're the problem."

"Oh am I?"

"100%"

"You bein' a little brat right now? While I'm drivin' ya to the greatest restaurant of all time?"

"Yeah, okay Teddy, stay broken."

"Do I need to turn this truck around and find a spot?"

I had been looking out the window as we bickered back and forth, but that suggestive little question makes me flick my head back to him, a surprised expression on my face.

"...What's that supposed to mean?" I ask with a knowing smile, narrowing my eyes a little.

"You know what it's supposed to mean." Ted replies without missing a beat, glancing at me occasionally while keeping his eyes on the road. No way is he suggesting what I think he's suggesting...

"You don't know any spots.." I challenge him a little, tilting my head at him.

"I know a few.." Ted smirks, squeezing my thigh again while keeping his eyes on the road. "I've lived around here for a few years, (Y/N)..."

"And you've?..."

"Yeah."

"In here?"

"Back seat."

"...You're fucking with me."

"You wanna find out?..."

Oh god, I hate that. I hate that because it's actually...incredibly tempting...

"Aren't we almost there though?" I ask, referring to the Cafe. I had my phone on with my Map app open, we were basically around the corner from it by now. I get silence from Ted for a moment, watching as he taps on the wheel again at yet another red light.

"...On the way back?" He finally asks me, turning his gaze to me with a raised brow. I can see by the dark look in his eyes that he's serious. I have no idea how we'd even get away with that, Dan and the others are coming with us.

"...You're insane." I let out a breathy chuckle, turning to look out the window again. Looking into his eyes makes me nervous sometimes.

"That's not a no..." Ted purrs lowly at me and I feel his hand move slightly up my thigh, his fingers tucking in between my inner thighs. I hold in a shaky breath. God, he can read me all too well...

"There's no way you could pull that off without the others catching on." I turn to look at him again, trying to ignore how warm his hand on my thigh is making me feel.

"I could say we got lost." Ted shrugs a little, his eyes clearly flicking down to my lips. Not now, Teddy...

"You just said you've lived around here for years.." I let out a scoff, shaking my head a little.

"Dan doesn't know that." Ted adds, giving me a confident smirk. "And Tanner would believe me.."

"Joe wouldn't."

"Who cares? You've been reporting to him anyways. You wanna give him another good story?"

He's terribly convincing, and he's got that look in his eye. Like he's hungry...God fucking dammit, Teddy.

Ted has to bring his attention back to the road once more, taking his hand off of my thigh to put both hands on the wheel. "Just let me know.." He shrugs a little again, keeping that confident smirk on his face as he makes a left turn. I see the Rainforest Cafe sign come into view, I had honestly almost forgotten that's where we were headed. One of these days, I swear, we're gonna get in trouble. I don't know with who, but we will. Until then...

Ted manages to find a good parking spot close to the building, with Dan pulling up sort of across from us. We all meet up at the front of the building and I have to try and act like Ted didn't just suggest fucking in his Toyota Tacoma on the way back. Wonderful.

We all get inside and wait at the front. The place isn't terribly packed since it's a weekday, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by the atmosphere. I spotted a few animatronics as we were escorted to our table. The ceiling was covered in different foliage and pretty lights to add a sort of sparkling effect to the whole place, there was an elegant little waterfall on one side where a majority of the jungle animatronics were, but we were seated over by the aquarium, illuminating the area in a pretty blue hue. The lighting looked nice on Ted, though based on the way he was looking at me as we sat down, he's probably thinking the same about me.

We're all sat in a sort of circular booth with some chairs in front. Tanner and Dan decide to sit at the chairs so Ted, Joe and I get the comfortable leather booth seats. I'm surprised at first that Ted wants to sit next to me and not across from me, but I quickly find out why. After we tell our waiter what drinks we want, the Rainforest Cafe began to make a bunch of different noises. I hear the sounds of the elephants chirping, looking up as the lights above us begin to flash to mimic the effect of lightning, a rumbling bass surrounding the entire restaurant. We're all looking up as the faux thunderstorm flickers on, all except for Ted, whose eyes are on me and my sparkling gaze of curiosity. The fake thunderstorm is a lot louder than I thought it was going to be, the only other sounds being the low bustling of the other customers, and the slightly nervous laughter coming from Dan and Tanner.

"That's so loud!" Dan laughs a little, looking back down to us to see our own reactions. "Is it always that loud?"

"Oh yeah, we'll probably hear that like 3 more times, depending on how long we're here.." Ted had a big, excited grin on his face. I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying this already, and we hadn't even gotten our drinks. I'll admit it, I'm already kind of having a good time. I've really come to admire everyone in this group, even Dan, despite not knowing him as long. This dinner with everyone felt like a sort of mini celebration for being over half-way done with the project. I can't imagine the next time we'll all be able to get together and go out like this, probably when the film premieres, if everyone can make it down again. And Ted? Man, he looks like he's having the time of his life. I don't know if it's him or if it's the ambiance of the aquarium behind us, but his eyes are literally sparkling with wonder, especially when he turns to look at me. The last time he looked this happy was when he caught me looking at his lips in my room, he had that same proud smile, like all of his dreams were coming true. Man, he must really like me. It really makes me wish that we had met at Joe's wedding. I can't believe I've gone all this time without knowing Ted.

My dreamy thoughts are broken by a sharp gasp from Tanner, making me quickly turn a worried look to him.

"They have grilled cheese here!?" Tanner exclaims excitingly as he looks down at the menu. I let out a sigh of relief, hearing Joe, Ted and Dan start to laugh.

Man, this group is the best. I love it here.

__________________________________

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 (smut) || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10 (smut) || Chapter 11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 (smut) || Chapter 15 || Chapter 16 || Chapter 18 (smut) || Chapter 19 ||

[security-chief-odo]

To Love and be Loved in Return

Roy Kent x Reader

Description: Both you and Roy Kent are in love, but of course neither of you knows your feelings are requited. Who will be the first to spill the beans?

Chapter 1 - World’s Greatest Boss

Word Count: 1k

• • •

You have been working as a coaching assistant for AFC Richmond for the past six months. Though your job technically speaking is to assist the entire coaching staff, in reality, you were hired to manage Roy Kent.

Though he is an excellent coach, he is god awful at things like maintaining a schedule, filing any paperwork in a reasonable time frame, and generally dealing with the public. This is where you come in and make his life (and Rebecca’s) easier.

Your life on the other hand has gotten much harder as a result of this job. You have had a school girl crush on Roy since he was still playing for Chelsea. A crush you had assumed was just superficial and would fade as you got to know him as a coworker and a friend. If only life was ever that easy.

If anything, your crush has just gotten stronger because not only is Roy insanely hot, but he is kind, smart, and surprisingly funny. Perhaps more importantly though, he is sitting in front of your desk, not noticing as you stare at him.

“What do I have to get done this weekend?”

“Well, it’ll be a busy one for you. You need to go pick up your suit from the tailor tomorrow for the gala next weekend.”

He groaned, “I still don’t see why I have to go to that stupid thing.”

“It is quite literally in your job description Roy.” He rolls his eyes at that but lets you continue. “You have a game Tuesday, press conference after that. Do you have your shoes for the gala?”

“I’m not getting new shoes for that shit, I have a pair that’ll do. Do you have my talking points prepped for the press conference?” You hand over a bullet pointed page. “And if we lose?”

“You won’t, but that’s on the printer.” You turn in your chair to grab it but he's up and behind your desk already, skimming over the page.

“What would I do without you?”

“Crash and burn, probably”

He chuckled at that, “Yeah, probably. So I, uh, wanted to ask before, but are you going to the gala?”

“I’m office staff, I’m not sure I’m invited”

“Of course you’re fucking invited.”

“I’ll ask Rebecca about it.”

“No need, you can be my plus one.” You stop dead in your tracks at his words. Of course you want to go to the gala with Roy but there’s no way he means it like that and sitting by his side all night just might be the death of you.

“Oh um, I don’t know”

“Come on, y/n”

“I don’t have anything to wear. My wardrobe isn’t exactly fitting for a gala”

“Then I’ll buy you a dress.”

“You don’t need to do that. I’m sure you had some model you were going to bring anyways.”

“I’m not that guy anymore, y/n. And anyways, you deserve to go, you’re part of the team” Right, part of the team. He’s being a good boss. That’s all he was ever doing.

“I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll give Keeley my credit card and have her pick you up Saturday”

Returning to your emails, you began typing as you continued the conversation. “Anyone ever told you that you’re kind of an amazing boss?”

Right, you only see him as your boss. Nothing more. Probably never will be anything more. He just needed to accept that.“I don’t know that that’s the word the boys would use.”

“Well, maybe you should try buying all of them fancy dresses?”

“You know, that just might do the trick,” a smile threatens to cross his face, “but I don't think they’d look nearly as good.”

“Careful sir, don’t let Isaac hear you say that one.”

That one actually got a laugh out of him. “You’re right. Then I might have to bring him as my date instead–” His eyes widen as soon as the word ‘date’ leaves his mouth and he stumbles out, “not that I’m asking you as my date. I’m not. I just–”

Despite the sinking feeling in your gut, you let him off the hook. “Of course not Roy. I didn’t assume you were.”

“Right. Well. I’ll just leave you to uh, you know, I’ve got a meeting.” He rushed out, nearly slamming your door behind him. As soon as he was out of earshot, he groaned “Fuck.” Roy should have known better than to say anything. You are sweet and beautiful and fucking brilliant and he might have just ruined everything.

You are sitting in your office, having completed Roy’s schedule, you move on to Beard and Nate. There’s no way those meetings will be nearly as painful as your last one. You never thought Roy would return your feelings, but you figured you would at least have to ask before he could reject you.

Roy and you are clearly avoiding each other all day Thursday. He takes his lunch in his car. You don’t even leave your office. You wait until the end of the day to go meet with the assistant coaches about their calendars, hoping that Roy may have left early.

You aren’t quite so lucky and bump into him as you enter the locker room. Of course this knocks your papers out of your hands. You squat down to pick them up.

“Fuck,” he growls, “sorry.”

“It’s ok. I wasn’t exactly looking where I was going either.”

He extends a hand to help you up. Your hand feels nice in his and you both are holding hands for a moment longer than necessary before pulling away.

With nothing left to say, you find yourself looking into his kind eyes before you are interrupted by Nate.

“Oh y/n, I was just about to come grab you for our meeting.”

“Right.” you turn to Roy, “See you tomorrow!”

He waves as he walks away, not for a second noticing where your eyes were as you watched him leave. You follow Nate back into the office for your meetings with the assistant coaches, your thoughts however stay on the head coach.

• • •

Click here for chapter 2!

Let me know if you’re interested in joining my taglist, either for this series or my general taglist. Otherwise, just let me know what you think!

[majaloveschris]

However, I don't know if leaking the contract would be bad for both of them. I think most people would be happier if this turned out to be PR rather than him being married to someone like her. And I mean her and her friends' personalities. You know the racist, pedo, and Nazi stuff. Maybe some people would be angry because he's lied, but I think most of us probably would be relieved he wasn't actually in love with someone like Alba. //

Logic anon coming in, people have to understand the fandom although it feels big is very small especially compared to the rest of the world. The general public doesn’t care about these two and many think she looks like she’s his daughter. Now, If this fandom were like the fandoms with “names” ie the Swifties, Belibers, etc This shitshow would have exploded publicly to the point the truth would have came out and there’d be no debate. The world would be aware of her and her friends and many would probably defend her, it would be team pr vs real on a bigger level. But technically something similar yet small did happen��.. remember the “crazy” fan article in the beginning because the fandom was calling out the bs.

This stunt wasn’t for the fans, but I assume they thought this fandom would jump whenever Chris said to….wrong. The fandom went into detective mode so much to the point they kept having to keep up with the lies that so many called out. Remember all the holes in the cheese they tried to fill. If it were real, why the need to do that.

But yeah the point for whatever reason was to make this appear legit to the world, not this fandom. The fandom got involved because of how stupid things got. Had Chris and team learned that he had a MO that ONLY his fandom was aware of and had her and her little racist friends not trolled, things might be different.

Too much has happened for me to assume any of this is legit unless Chris has sincerely lost his mind, is going through a midlife crises or willingly thought being married might help his career/image? Idk 🤷‍♀️

In terms of said contract being leaked, that would be awesome for the fandom and possibly those who think he’s a red pill fool, but for the overall public…. I don’t think so. He’d be a liar and how could anyone trust someone who lied about being married, but again it’s Hollywood and business so who knows, it could be a shock factor, people discuss and then move on and he’s able to reinvent himself or something or people would crack jokes and never let him live it down, etc.

If a contract got leaked and had specific details it could help him and people would go omg look what Hollywood forced Chris Evans to do and I knew he’d never marry anyone that young, etc. ya know the “poor Chris”, coddling scenario he’s use to. 🙄

At most, a divorce could be announced and TMZ can state they were never legally married and leave people to question whatever. Chris moves on, focuses on his career and learns to keep his private life private and no more PR shit.

I think they thought Alba would get much more recognition and fans because of Chris. That the fandom will like her, that they will start following her and start her career. The why is beyond me, though. I wouldn't say even his real girlfriends were that liked by the public, so why would a fake one with whom they look so distant and who is a worse person than the others be? I don't think they thought this through.

I wouldn't say this wasn't for us; most of the time, a PR relationship is. A random person who's watched a few projects of yours won't start following or supporting someone's partner. A fan would. Like how many people have started following Travis since they went public with Taylor? A lot. I assume they wanted something similar to happen to Alba, but they didn't succeed. As you said, the general public cares more about the age gap and the appearance. They don't have to sell them anything because they don't care. They have to make it look legit for the fans, because they are the ones following all of their steps. They will be the ones who start following the partner or check out their works. When it comes to a PR relationship, the fans need to like the partner or accept them in the close circle. The general public just doesn't care enough to make someone's partner more famous; fans could do that. Chris's fans could've started liking Alba and watching her projects, making her more wanted in projects. That's why they wanted to sell the happy relationship; that's why they filled the holes. They need fans to do their parts, not the general public.

I still think leaking something would be the best. He's lost a lot of fans, and I'm not saying that would get him everything and everyone back, but this PR wouldn't still be better than him actually being in love with her. I think it would be. Obviously, that doesn't take away the stupidity of this whole thing and that he got involved in this. It wouldn't make everything okay, but it would make it better. General public doesn't care enough about this. They would forget about him being in a PR marriage after like a day, especially right now, when a lot of much worse things are going on. This wouldn't be the worst thing a celebrity did. Right now, they should care about fans, not about the general public. Those people who've left are the important ones. They're going to go and watch all of his movies, not the general public.

I just hope that if this is truly PR, they all learned from this and have already realized that this whole thing was a mistake and will never try something like this.

[evi-anxiety]

Hey Callum again!! Since you mostly like answering headcannons, I'd like to ask, any klance headcannons? Like general ones about their relationship ^^

PLATONICALLY I AM GOING TO SMOOCH YOU I LOVE KLANCE ARGHHHHHH

Whurmp:

One of my FAVORITE headcanons is that Lance always says shit to Keith in Spanish so Keith doesn't understand it

Lance: *in Spanish* "I don't know how it's possible for someone to be so violent and so pretty at the same time, but here you are."

Keith: "What the fuck did you just say to me."

Keith realizes his feelings first, but Lance is the one to confess. He'd do it in some stupidly cheesy way too and stutter his ass all over the place

At first they try to hide their relationship from the others, as per Keith's request. Lance thinks it's bc Keith isn't super open abt his life, but Keith just thinks it's funny

Keith has a great sense of humor and it baffles Lance when he finds out

Lance likes to play "What Can My Galra Boyfriend Do?", in which he tests out different things to see how much Galraness Keith inherited. It never ends well

*Before meeting Krolia*

Keith: "You're so stupid, Lance."

Lance: "You know what else is stupid? Your mom!"

Keith: "I don't have a mom."

Lance: "Oh my god I am so sorry."

They have a chart in their shared room of all the drama that goes down on the team *technically it's just Lance's but Keith is nosy, so of course he's getting in on it*

Lance: "Your eyes are so gorgeous, you know? And you're one of the most badass people I know, I'm so glad the universe has allowed me to meet someone as amazing as you."

Keith: "You're neat too."

Lance will constantly be doing stuff to try and impress Keith and then just fail miserably every time

Hrggnnnhhh I have a lot more but I think this is enough. I love them so much they're my sillies

[hard-core-super-star]

Tmz vacation pictures. My bad.

the sweetest torture one could bear [H.Steinfeld]

full request: Hi, I have part of a request. Aha, I didn't know what else to put with it, so do with that what you will. Instead of JA being in the videos and photos with Hailee, it's Reader.

pairing: hailee steinfeld x reader

summary: when you and hailee are flown out on vacation to promote your growing 'relationship', you find out there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the actress...and your feelings for her.

warnings: enemies-to-lovers type vibe with a semi-happy ending; PR relationship + stunts; like two JA mentions; R being a jerk to hailee and vice versa; so many petty arguments and hidden feelings; R is technically also famous but it never gets expanded upon whoops; 110% got carried away because of lacy by olivia rodrigo

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: i know you said you didn't have anything in mind, lovely anon, but i think i took your idea and RAN with it. i just needed someplace to put all the emotions hailee's been bringing out of me lately with the stupid JA situation so i can continue to write fics for her. that's why the NY stunt is still a thing that happens in this fic. hope you enjoy despite how scathing some of my comments can be in this <3

* * * * * * *

Dating a famous celebrity is supposed to be fun. At least that’s what you imagine things would be like if you were dating anyone but Hailee freaking Steinfeld.

Although, to be fair, the word dating technically doesn’t apply to your situation.

Even calling it a PR relationship is incredibly generous. You’re pretty much just damage control after whatever mess happened in New York with her and that quarterback.

Of course, it was a mess she created and once it blew up in her face she was forced to retreat and avoid looking like a bigger asshole…which is where you come in. You don’t know how or why but somehow you got roped into things and now you’re being forced to help the brunette clean up her image.

Maybe forced is being dramatic but your team didn’t even let you attempt to talk them out of the idea and instead shoved you onto a private plane headed to Mexico City for a Fourth of July mini-vacation with the one and only Hailee Steinfeld.

Also known as the one person you’d never willingly go out with. Much less on a mini-vacation that only has one goal: get as many paparazzi as possible to take pictures of the two of you so speculation will run wild and distract Hailee’s fans from the New York stunt.

You have no doubt the plan will work which just pisses you off even more.

You’re not new to this life of hiding or the lies it comes with but there’s something about the way the brunette handles things that just rubs you the wrong way. She straddles the border between genuine and fake so often that you’re sure she doesn’t even know who she is most days.

Hence her constant disappearances from the public eye nowadays. Disappearances that just make her stunts with the quarterback even more confusing.

You’re not here to figure the actress out though, you just have to fake a few smiles, hold her hand, and pretend you actually like each other. The media and her fans will do the rest.

Whether the result of your stunt ends with people speculating you're in a relationship or just a public denunciation of her connection to said quarterback is ultimately up to her team so all you two really have to do is pretend.

Something that would be easy…if your distaste for each other wasn’t so obvious.

“Did your lovely team forget the part where we’re not actually a couple?” You question the second you arrive at your hotel room, only to find a single king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

“Why do you assume it was my team that messed up?” She fires back, eyebrow raised in defiance.

You roll your eyes as you finish wheeling your suitcase inside. You don’t even bother to argue about who gets the bed and instead put your things down on the couch set up in the corner of the room. After all, you’re still a gentleman. “Because this whole thing was their idea.”

“They actually know how to do their job, unlike some people.” Her verbal jab isn’t lost on you and it quickly silences the small voice in your head that was urging you to try and get along with her.

“And what’s my job? Pretending you’re the center of the universe?”

“It’d be a nice start.”

“Too bad I’m not the academy-award nominated actress here.” Out of anyone else’s mouth, it would be a compliment but you both know that’s not the way you meant those words.

Hailee doesn’t say anything in response. She just glares at you as if that’ll make you disappear.

Unfortunately, it doesn't, which means you’re still stuck in this same situation with the same pair of eyes that wish they could send you six feet underground…or, at the very least, six rooms away from her.

That glare is more than enough to draw the conversation to a close for the moment. The awkward silence that sticks around instead is just as bad though and you’re actually glad when Hailee’s phone goes off.

You watch, with a slightly amused smile, as the actress argues with one of the many poor souls from her PR team.

She’s clearly not as amused as you are considering the string of curse words that reverberate around the small room. You pick up enough information to know there’s already a plan and a schedule for the pap shots so the two of you have to be on top of your game sooner rather than later.

There’s a split second during the phone call where your eyes meet hers and everything else seems to fade away for those few moments. 

There’s no badly suppressed annoyance in her eyes, no vacant look that represents the hundreds of walls she’s put up to keep you locked out of her mind and heart. For the briefest of seconds, she seems…real. It’s as if the mask she so easily wears to hide who she is slips and leaves behind the uncertainty she seems to detest so much.

Ironically, that uncertainty would make her a lot more bearable in your opinion.

The moment ends as quickly as it started and in no time at all, you’re back to being passive-aggressive while pretending to like each other.

“So, what’s the plan here?” You hate how much you care about not further ruining her life by messing up the pap shots. “Last time I checked, you weren’t out of your glass closet yet.”

“Are you saying you check up on me often?” She replies as she gets into the private pool next to you.

For some reason, her team had decided the two of you should kick things off with some pool pictures before going out to dinner tomorrow night. It’s a pretty ridiculous idea but nothing screams summer romance like paparazzi pictures at the pool and/or the beach. 

“Yeah, it’s like watching a trainwreck. I can’t look away no matter how hard I try.”

“Funny.” 

She sits across from you and you do all you can to stop your eyes from wandering across her face. It’s impossible to deny how attractive she is, no matter how long her list of contradicting personality traits is.

You assume she’s forgotten about your question until she speaks up a few moments later. “There’s no real plan. We don’t have to actually kiss for people to think there’s something going on.”

“What a relief.” 

The brunette rolls her eyes at you but no snarky comeback escapes her lips. It might be too insignificant to call it progress but at least you’re having a conversation that doesn’t turn into an argument.

Nothing significant happens after that besides Hailee spotting the paparazzi and both of you pulling the most authentic smiles you can muster onto your faces. Turns out, the fake smiling is the easy part, finding something to talk about is the hard part.

You let her talk up and down about Hawkeye and Across the Spiderverse until you’re finally able to go back to hiding inside the hotel room.

It pains you to admit it but she’s not half bad when she’s talking about her projects. Being alone certainly helps ease some of her anxieties and you’re sure her people-pleasing tendencies have disappeared around you. (You’re not sure if that’s a compliment or not...not that you care either way.)

You push away your slightly conflicting, and borderline confusing, feelings as you make your way back into your room. 

And maybe your eyes wander down to her abs a few times and maybe you catch her looking your way once or twice but that doesn’t matter. Sharing one moment with her where she feels like an actual person instead of a walking brand deal isn’t going to change your mind about her.

You make it back into the room and a few peaceful minutes go by until Hailee’s phone goes off once again, her face twisting from annoyance to shock to genuine dread in the span of five seconds. You can’t explain why but something inside you urges you to step out onto the balcony and leave her alone. 

So you do just that.

Contrary to the way you act when you’re around her, you do sort of care for her in ways you’d rather not think about. It’s just hard to show that side of yourself when she does everything in her power to get under your skin. It might not be on purpose but that doesn’t make it any less grating. 

You rise to your feet and grab the towels you had left hanging on the back of a chair. You don’t say a word as you slide the balcony door open but you swear you hear her mumble out a thank you before you slip outside.

Maybe things between you two aren’t so hopeless after all.

It might be wishful thinking but things are surprisingly calm for the next few hours. It's not until you’re getting ready to fall asleep and forget everything that’s happened today that she speaks to you again.

“You don’t have to sleep on the couch, y’know? The bed is big enough for both of us.”

You turn to look at her, doing a terrible job of hiding the surprised look on your face. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine, y/n.” She shrugs as if sharing a bed with her isn’t a big deal. “Just don’t snore or I’ll kick you to the ground.”

“Yes, ma’am,” you reply sarcastically.

A tense silence fills the room after that and neither of you makes any attempts to break it. Hailee busies herself with double-checking that everything is locked while you climb into bed, turning onto your side and attempting to put as much space as possible between the two sides of the bed.

She turns the lights off, leaving you in the darkness with a rapidly beating heart. You’re not sure why you’re nervous but you have a feeling falling asleep is going to be almost impossible tonight.

You lay there for what feels like hours, doing your best not to think about how close your bodies are right now. You saw her in a bikini earlier today, why are you freaking out over sharing the same bed?

You’re in the middle of mentally arguing with yourself when you hear Hailee let out a series of deep breaths. Anxiety isn’t a stranger to you and you suddenly worry something might have triggered a panic attack.

“You okay?” You speak up despite yourself. “Did you finally realize you fucked over your queer fans with the QB stuff?”

You can’t help but poke the bear even when you’re supposed to be checking up on her. 

She doesn’t respond and a few seconds later, you hear her sniffle, the guilt immediately hitting you like a runaway train. “Hailee? I’m sorry, I shouldn't have said that.”

“Republic dropped me.” Her voice is barely audible but there’s no denying the pain it carries.

The urge to turn around and look at her is far too strong for you to ignore so you take a deep breath before giving in. You turn onto your other side so you’re facing her, not wanting to ruin her moment of vulnerability by appearing uninterested. 

Her eyes are trained on the ceiling above her but you can make out the glimmer of unshed tears in the warm pool of her eyes. She doesn’t give you a chance to speak up, she just continues as if you’re not looking at her with real empathy in your gaze for the first time since you met.

“I should’ve seen it coming, you know? With all the hesitation and the drawn-out meetings. Coast was supposed to be my chance to prove myself and it did nothing. I hoped rushing SunKissing would fix things but it just made everything worse.”

“And then New York happened,” you mumble.

“Yeah-” Her voice breaks and you hate the way your heart aches for her. “I should’ve just owned up to it but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to admit I was grasping at straws so when my team told me to bring you into this mess…I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Saying no would have been a good start.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles as she turns her head to the side, allowing your eyes to meet in the darkness. “You don’t deserve any of this.”

The sincerity in her words strikes you “Oh, come on, I’m no saint. I’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass since we got here.”

“You're right. You're awful.”

“Shut up, Steinfeld.”

She laughs. 

An actual laugh that makes the corners of her glossy eyes crinkle up in a way that makes your heart skip a couple of beats. You’re sure you’ve never made her laugh like that in the time you’ve known each other. 

And you hate the way you’re already obsessed with the sound.

“We don’t have to keep doing this,” she says suddenly before fully turning her body toward you. “It was a stupid idea anyway, it’s not going to change people’s minds.”

“Maybe you’re the one who has to change her mind.” You offer the only advice you can think of. “Pretending like everything’s okay isn’t doing you any favors, Lee.”

The nickname slips out of your mouth without a second thought. You don’t even realize you said it out loud until Hailee questions you about it. “Lee? Five hours ago you wanted me out of your life and now you’re giving me a nickname?”

“Five hours ago I wasn’t sure you even had feelings.”

Your comment would have surely earned you a glare earlier but now you get a smile instead. “Point taken.”

“I mean it, though. Stop doing what you think everyone else wants you to do and do what you want. You owe yourself that much.”

“The things I want will just make things worse,” she says, the smallest of frowns tugging at her lips.

“Maybe it’s worth it.”

You have no idea what her words truly mean until you catch her eyes drifting down to your lips.

Everything inside of you tells you to make a joke, or piss her off, or at the very least, turn around and pretend to go to sleep. Anything to stop both of you from making a huge mistake.

But then her hand reaches out to touch your waist and you find yourself leaning toward her without a second thought.

It’s stupid and reckless and the last thing you should add to this already messy situation and yet it’s the only thing you want to do. You don’t want to argue with her anymore, you just want her. Even if it’s only for the night.

“What are we doing?” You whisper, your lips barely inches away from hers.

“I don’t know…do you want me to stop?”

You meet her eyes and reach your decision. “No.”

It’s all the encouragement she needs to close the gap between you, her lips claiming yours in a surprisingly soft kiss. You tangle your hand in her hair to pull her closer as a thought suddenly dawns on you.

There’s no way to deny how attracted you are to her. No way to deny how drawn you are to her despite all the things that get under your skin about her. 

No way to deny that you’re actually falling for Hailee Steinfeld.

Shit.

[they-hermes]

Curious to see more if your combiner teams/combiner headcanons? Especially for the first five (Constructicons, Stunticons, Aerialbots, Combaticons, & Protectobots).

What kind of dynamics do you see between teams (both Con to Con combiner teams, and Con to Autobot combiner teams) and within teams? Who gets along better with others and how do the combiners feel about their components? (Only thinking platonically here)

I love combiners (especially the Stunticons and Protectobots) to death and there aren't enough combiner fans who truly care about the combiner and the components. Just interested in seeing sole of your headcanons for any/all of those five, if you want to share any!

ahhh combiner fans lets all come together!! this is a loaded question and im happy to answer bc i love combiners and their components! im gonna put em in a little g1 general continuity soup

In general for me i dont really like the idea of combiners being born together as a team i think idws approach where everyone had their own lives until they (by choice or force) became a combiner and learned to work together. also i dont like treating them as children/recently born bots even though thats literally what happened to the aerialbots/ stunticons/technobots. basically an outside force made them combiners instead of being directly built as one

the aerialbots are the only team where i see them referring to eachother as "brothers". i think they're close enough to consider themselves family. the others have more complicated feelings that range from "coworkers" to "tight knitted friendgroup" to "those people who i combine with"

between the teams the autobot gestalts are much more friendlier, Hot Spot and Silverbolt definitely get along, until hot spots energy tires silverbolt out. individually the protectobots are older than the aerialbots, but the aerialbots were a combiner group first so superion is older than defensor. the two teams work together a lot and have common goals. they'll even hang out together either separately or all together, like air raid and blades will spar a lot (and end up in first aids care)

(for idw i imagine rook and alpha bravo get along, for obv reasons)

the decepticon gestalts hateee eachother lmaoo. its a constant battle of 'wow these other freaks are so incompetent and stupid. good thing im the only normal one here' except they're all stupid. onslaught technically has the youngest combiner as bruticus was formed after menasor and devastator but he himself is only a couple of centuries younger than scrapper. motormaster is the youngest yet refuses constructive criticism even tho his combiner is clearly the most unstable and has subpar leadership skills that take a toll on his teams output. actually the rest of the teams dont hate eachother as much as their commanders do, blast off and dead end exchange maintenance tips, and vortex likes hanging around the structies for mindless conversations while they work

and for bot vs cons, they cannot stand eachother. the protectobots are the only ones trying to be nice; the aerialbots are assholes and the cons are worse. dont bring up hot spot or silverbolt around onslaught and motormaster respectively, or they'll both blow a gasket. the combaticons, built head to toe for war destruction and everything worse, cant stand seeing the protectobots act all peaceful and helpfull and shit, its disgusting.

as for the combiners... well they dont think much. see for the average combiner, it's hard to think that your arms and legs are separate people when you're trying not to get your face beaten into. they have some awareness, but very little, and dont know their components names. they can access shared memories and information, but thats about it. defensor hears about his components from the humans and thinks they're nice, superion thinks the war would be over by now if he didn't have to decombine and combine over and over again

[paleopinesofficial]

In the event you make an underwater update, i think itd be funny if there were sharks, rays, sea turtles, horseshoe crabs, coelacanths, and lungfish to befriend. Since they've existed since before/during the dinosaurs and technically aquatic reptiles aren't even classified as dinos so even something like a mosasaur wouldn't technically be one. There are varieties of shark that are interesting and no longer exist today, like the one whose mouth is a friggin spiral, you could use one of those if you want to make it clear that this is something that's extinct. Itd be funny to be able to grampy (a lungfish) as a friend in the dino game. Also for creatures that no longer exist today, dunkleosteus, trilobites, and ammonites. Some of these creatures, and stuff like jellyfish, could just be background elements, like there's just a handful of ammonites swimming around in the water that you can't befriend, as a bit of decoration to make the world seem a bit more alive perhaps. Sorry for the long ask, I just like prehistory and all my dumb little sea creatures :] (if you only add one of these suggestions I'd like the lungfish the most, they're one of my favorite creatures in general, and id probably name it something stupid like peepaw :D)

LOVE the idea of just A Shark being there hahaha. I've passed all these recs over to our team!

[cearthduo]

tbh I have never seen any cdream apologists call csapnap evil, rather I often see them calling him a stubborn dumbass🤷🏻

I've seen all of the above and not only on dreblr. However, even the take that Sapnap is stubborn or stupid in some way for wanting Dream locked up, or for any other reason is simply incorrect.

A lot of you fail to understand that Sapnap has every reason to dislike Dream and want him out of the way. Dream has personally hurt Sapnap. And people comparing his takes on Dream's imprisonment to those who have NEVER been effected by or even seen the effects of Dream's behavior is unfair.

And of course, as I'm saying this, know I'm not talking about every dream apologist. There are definitely outliers and exceptions to every rule. If this doesn't apply to you or the things you've personally seen that's fine! But there are people who think this way and this post is mostly directed towards them.

Now, from what I've seen, a lot of people don't understand Sapnap's relationship with Dream towards the end of the smp, so let me explain. Sapnap and Dream have never seen eye to eye on really... anything. George has always been a follower, but Sapnap does his own thing. There are times where Sapnap is on Dream's side just out of obligation the L'manberg war is a good example because Sapnap had no issues with L'manberg's creation until Dream did. There's also doomsday, since Sapnap felt wrong going against Dream and his allyship had to be bought by Tommy using Mars. Sapnap goes against Dream directly during the disc war because he technically caused it and therefore felt obligated to help Tommy, since they're also friends.

A lot of people don't know that Tommy and Sapnap have been pretty close friends since the beginning. Out of the Dream Team, Sapnap is actually the only one to not have a hatred for Tommy or his behavior. There was a time or two when he parroted George or Dream's opinions but it's obvious from the beginning that Sapnap feels differently than them about Tommy, L'manberg, and nations in general.

Saying all that to make the point that: Sapnap's disagreement with and fallout with Dream didn't come out of nowhere. Him going to Tommy to ask if he thought Dream actually cared about him wasn't random. He didn't just go up to an enemy and ask their opinion, Tommy is a friend. A friend who also knows Dream well. So when Tommy tells Sapnap that Dream doesn't care about him after the whole Spirit speech, he's obligated to believe him.

And now you're probably saying "Well Sapnap should've just talked to Dream about it." And he does. During the dethronement fallout. During this, Sapnap brings it up in front of Dream and George and Dream is simply dismissive. And he uses all his effort to convince George that he cares all while demonizing Sapnap and claiming he's trying to "split them apart" just for asking George for her feelings and opinions. Sapnap obviously doesn't like the way George or himself is being treated in that moment and it shows. As they're going back to El Rapids, Sapnap even says that he feels left behind by Dream. He feels that Dream is taking power and cutting both him and George out of it. And he absolutely is. When George is crowned king, Dream explicitly says that if anything were to happen to George then Sapnap is next in line for the throne. Yet Sapnap doesn't get the throne.

And now you may claim that "Dream wouldn't make Sapnap king because he doesn't want Sapnap to be targeted like George was." or "Sapnap has a nation, he can't get the kingship" and to that I say, Sapnap can protect himself, unlike George and Dream knows that. George was also king and sitting VP of Manberg at the same time, so Sapnap being part of El Rapids wouldn't have meant he couldn't be crowned. Sapnap wasn't crowned because Dream didn't want him to be. That's all.

Now moving past the dethronement, we can also talk about how Dream killed Quackity, hunted down and tried to kill George, and threatened to kill all of El Rapids (including Sapnap) into the mix. Then you can factor in how after all that, Sapnap still found it weird to go against Dream during doomsday (even despite his fiancés being on L'manbergs side) or lets not speak on the fact dream gave mars to tommy during the pet war.

Then you get to the stage conflict, and really this was the nail in the coffin. Had this only been a rescue mission for clingyduo maybe, just maybe, Sapnap wouldn't have been ok with keeping Dream in the prison. But that isn't the case. Because Dream had to (in Sapnap's eyes, he doesn't know things were staged) once again put power above Sapnap and most importantly George. People like to pretend that they were unaffected, especially saying that Dream had nothing of George's, but that isn't true. In that possession vault, Dream had Beckerson and a place for Mars.

You guys don't seem to understand how devastating this is for Sapnap. Those fish were a symbol of not only the earliest days of the smp, but also symbols of Dream Team's friendship. Beckerson was Dream and George's fish. Beckerson was George's fish. And if there's one thing Sapnap cares about protecting it's George. It's the reason Sapnap doesn't tell George about the things Dream does, and why he seemingly doesn't tell George that the prison allows visitors after Dream specifically requests to see her. Sapnap cares about George above anything and everything on that server. And he was fooled to believe that Dream, his best friend Dream, would've used their fish to try and control her. That's a problem. That's a problem that needs to be detained.

And yes Sapnap believes things aren't going well in the prison for Dream. He thinks he's getting worse, but the only proof of that he's seen is that he wouldn't talk. Dream going mute is in no means worse than Dream getting out and hurting everyone and everything Sapnap cares about. Dream is Sapnap's friend but he does not hold that friendship above everything else he has. Especially since, in Sapnap's eyes, that friendship has been onesided for a long long time.

And this doesn't even mention that after all this, Sapnap still hears Dream out after his escape. He could've easily killed Dream in Snowchester, but instead he lets him talk. He stalls. He tries to agitate Dream so that he makes the first move. Because Sapnap doesn't have the heart to actually lay him down. And while Sapnap immediately tries to kill Dream with the deathbook, Dream dying somewhere random where Sapnap doesn't have to see is much much easier than killing him himself. Something he feels obligated to do just for aiding Dream in getting as bad as he was. After he learns he can't kill Dream he starts daydreaming about how much of a power duo they'd be as a team. Because deep down he still sees them as a team.

And they would be if they communicated better. They would be if Dream saw them as equals. They would be if Dream hadn't put those damn fish in his vault. The burden of fixing what remains of their friendship is on Dream because at the end of the day, Sapnap's only fault was reacting to the things Dream did.

So when I see Dream apologists calling Sapnap stubborn, or stupid, or a bad friend, or a sociopath. I consider that a horrid take, because all Sapnap has done ever is care for his friends. And I won't see Sapnap made out to be the bad guy in Dreamnap's relationship because no matter how you bend it, he isn't. And the fact that a good few of you villainize him and George when it comes to Dream team's relationship ending shows that you ignore the povs of other characters just as much as Tommy apologists ignore the pov of Dream. If you want to blame everyone involved, then do that, but make sure the weight is on Dream. And that's just how I feel about this subject.

Sorry about the rant anon but I do not play about c!Dteams relationship and this has been boiling in my brain for a while. amen.