#they will both claim the other Started it

[velaris-fic-repository]

Mates of a Different Kind

@sjmxreaderweek May 6th Prompt: Fate/Choice

Azriel x Illyrian!Reader, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Wound Tending

Summary: You met your mate and agreed to a getting to know you style date. Things go poorly.

TW: Injury, Light Misogyny (but not from Azriel)

A/N: I’m so in love with this one y’all! Enjoy!!

Azriel could barely keep from grinding his teeth together as he watched you from across Rita’s crowded bar.

More accurately, he was glaring daggers at your date. At the casual drape of his arm over your shoulder, claiming, even on a first date. Arrogance radiated off the other male in waves and the look on your face suggested you knew that. You’d asked him to be here, one of your oldest friends, in case you needed him.

Azriel knew you were more than capable of handling yourself, one of the few Illyrian females that had made it out of their camp with your wings still intact - with help from Rhys’s mother but not without significant strength of your own. Those very wings were shifting uncomfortably around this High Fae male’s arm, the limb thoughtlessly tossed wherever he wanted it to be. Despite the lack of training, muscle and physiology, he was like certain Illyrian males in one aspect. Attitude.

But Azriel would wait. You’d asked him to wait until you signaled, if you even did. It was your first date with the male you’d discovered to be your mate, and Azriel didn’t want to ruin it. He’d suffer a thousand evils for you, if you wanted him or not.

The date was so far a disaster, but you were trying to remain optimistic. You’d agreed to this one date, so both of you could feel each other out. Your meeting was so sudden and unexpected, the bond snapping almost instantly. You wanted to see where this twist of fate would lead, just to explore the avenue. This was meant to be a casual get to know each other style meeting. You’d promised yourself and the Cauldron that you’d at least try. But, if you were being honest, when the bond snapped - an event you’d built up in your mind to be a romantic, sweeping-off-your-feet style encounter - you ended up disappointed. You hadn’t expected it to be someone you barely knew. You’d always thought… well, no sense in thinking that now. Those were the fanciful thoughts of a little girl. Fate did not always cater to your heart’s desire. The least you could do was hear it out.

Though, you were starting to think a mistake had been made. You’d barely gotten a word in edgewise the entire hour you’d been here. This male, Soril, had quite the fancy for himself. His stories were all mundane in nature, but he told them with a sense of bravado that you were clearly meant to swoon over. The way he was talking, you had a feeling he’d expected you to have melted into his side with doe eyes already. Something that, even if you wanted to - and you definitely did not - would have been impossible to do comfortably with the way he’d pinned one of your wings. A mistake, of course, there weren’t a lot of Illyrians in Velaris, he couldn’t have had any idea how to properly maneuver around the beautiful but cumbersome appendages. You were just thankful his fingers hadn’t accidentally touched them yet.

You shifted again and he finally, begrudgingly maybe - though the expression was gone before you could fully identify it - removed his arm from your shoulder.

“Sorry.”

You waved it off, “it’s okay, I wouldn’t expect you to understand the intricacies of these-“ you ruffled your wings a bit, happy to stretch them just a smidge- “upon first interacting with them.”

“You know, I thought Illyrian females didn’t have wings, or at least, didn’t use them,” he said, though not unkindly which was a relief.

You coughed a bit at the memories pulled to your mind of your fellow Illyrian sisters whose unfortunate fates you’d been unable to stop. A kind of survivor’s guilt you’d never escaped. “It’s not a… natural disuse.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” you said, for lack of other things to say, reaching for your water.

Shadows danced around the room, almost natural for the darkened atmosphere of the bar, but you knew better. He’d heard, and was agitated. You patted twice on the table, the signal that everything was fine. The shadows shifted, but remained in their places.

Soril twiddled his thumbs a bit, glancing at the small amounts of food on your table, “So, do you want to offer me what’s on your plate? Oh, no,“ he said, seemingly thinking better of it, “it’s probably best if you make me something at home, right?”

You blinked.

“I’m sorry?”

“You know, the food thing for the bond?”

You narrowed your eyes, saying through slightly gritted teeth, “I’m afraid I’m not following.”

“You know, the female offering the male food so the bond can be accepted.”

“Soril,” you laughed politely, he had to be joking, “we’ve only just met not two days ago.”

“I mean, yeah, but we’re mates,” he said, staring at you like you’d grown a second head, “what more is there?”

You were going to choke.

Attempting your politest smile, saying loud enough for the shadows close by to hear you, “I’m going to go get some more water.” As much as you wanted to, you certainly weren’t drinking alcohol this evening.

“Hurry back, love,” he said.

Your skin crawled all the way to the bar. You took back your previous statement, you were going to vomit instead.

You took the time between receiving your water, and the walk back to slowly recenter yourself. You both had just gotten off on the wrong foot. He was just eager, that’s all. You’d explain your terms and boundaries to him and start over. Everything would be fine.

You were almost back to the table when you noticed someone had stopped by. Soril was talking to a friend of his. You paused your approach, giving them space. You tried not to eavesdrop, glancing around the room of revelers and dancers for where Azriel might be, but the sounds of the bar around you just so happened to quiet enough that you could hear them.

“So what’s she like?”

“A little skittish it seems,” Soril answered.

You scrunched your nose up, the word ‘skittish’ had never been used to describe you, ever. You’d fought on countless battlefields, fought even for the right to be on them. He truly knew nothing about you or Illyrians if he didn’t see that word for the insult you felt it to be, but the conversation continued.

“I didn’t think it would be this hard, you know? But it’ll be worth it. Be charming enough, meet her standards and then we’ll have enough influence to get our trope off the ground.”

Soril had mentioned belonging to a group of performers, had described the near Herculean effort it was to try and make it in the entertainment business of this town. Was that seriously all he wanted?

Unfortunately for him, his mouth continued to move. “It’ll be nice to be part of that group, what is it? The Inner Sanctum? Circle? Whichever. I’m looking forward to having some say around here.”

He thought he could use you? As an in to your family? Oh, that was it. You weren’t going to choke. You weren’t going to vomit. You were going to use the siphons you had bled for to tear the male to shreds. Better yet, you’d do it with your bare hands.

You walked up behind him, staring down his friend, who had the common sense to look ready to wet himself at the sight of an angry Illyrian warrior.

Not female. Warrior.

“I think you should leave,” you said and you didn’t need to tell him twice. He tore off as soon as he could, disappearing into the cover of Rita’s other patrons, abandoning Soril to the fate that awaited him.

The male in question turned around, smile on his face. “There you are, love! I was wondering where you were? What’s the scowl for?”

You took your glass of water and dumped the freezing liquid on his head. As he cried out, your anger seized within you and before you knew it, shards sprayed out from your hand. The glass was no more.

“This date, and whatever we were beginning to be, are done.” You promptly turned and stalked away.

Soril, indignant, rose and followed you, ��Wait!” He reached for you.

You turned, grappling his wrist and twisting hard enough to hear it crunch.

“You want to be part of this family so badly?” You said, spitting venom loud enough for all of Rita’s to hear you, “try to touch me again and you will see exactly what the Court of Nightmares sees. You want to use people? That’s fine. Best of luck with that. You’d better pray that I never hear even a whisper of your name ever again. I am not a means to an end, bond or no bond. Have a nice life.”

You could have gone on, but to the people of Velaris you were a civil servant and a representative of your family.

You dropped his wrist and said, diplomatically, “apologies everyone, I sincerely hope this interruption hasn’t ruined your night. I’ll pay for the glass I broke, but I need to leave.”

“On the house, dear,” Rita said from the bar, glaring daggers of her own at the whimpering Soril.

“Thank you,” you said, suddenly feeling small as you pulled your wings around yourself like a blanket. You promptly left, replaying the previous events in your head once in Rhys’s direction with mental apologies for any damages to the family’s reputation.

Soril recovered, anger flashing over his features as he stalked towards the door, after you. He didn’t get far, colliding quickly with a strong Illyrian male chest.

“I don’t think,” Azriel said lowly as the festivities of Rita’s tentatively resumed around them, the patrons flicking their eyes in their direction every so often, “that your current course of action is very wise. You heard the lady. She wants nothing to do with you.”

Soril, about a foot shorter and far leaner, glared up at him despite the difference. “She’s my mate. You can’t block access to her. This is none of your business.”

“Considering what you planned to use her to do, and that she is family, it’s very much my business. It would be for any female unlucky enough to have the misfortune of your company.”

“Cauldron, you all are so up your own asses! Let me through!”

Azriel made a show of considering his request. What he really wanted to do was bring this fucker down to the dungeons and beat him until he was as black and blue as his leathers and siphons. But this revenge, should it need to be taken, was not his to have. Azriel knew if you wanted to, you could do that job better than he could ever dream of doing. Additionally, you’d very publicly dressed him down. The performance industry ran on reputation and word of mouth. It was unlikely that he, or anyone associated with him, would be finding a job any time soon.

“She’s my mate!” Soril shouted, attempting to push at the wall Azriel had become, “let me through!”

Azriel leaned forward, stilling Soril. “You aren’t mates until the bond is accepted, and unfortunately for you, the entire bar just saw it as good as fizzle out. You clearly don’t know much about our people, but understand this. You are everything she hates about home. You heard the lady. You’d better pray she never finds you.”

He felt a scratching on his shields and let his brother in. Az, he heard Rhys’s mildly panicked voice in his mind, get out of there, now. She needs you. She stopped talking to me.

Fuck.

He punched Soril in the stomach and left promptly after, not turning to see the quivering male whimpering on the ground.

It didn’t take him long to find you. Azriel knew where your favorite spot in Velaris was. The clocktower overlooking the harbor had the perfect slant to its roof that you didn’t have to perch, you could sit and watch the town bustle beneath you without worrying about sliding off. It was the place you always went when you wanted to be alone. It’s where he always found you because he knew, deep down that you didn’t.

He slowed to a stop, sitting beside you as you hugged your knees. In the time honored tradition of late night clocktower sessions, you instinctively leaned into his shoulder, vision never leaving the city below you. He leaned on you right back.

“I’m sorry,” he said eventually.

Your grateful silence answered him. And he knew you were, too, didn’t he? You two never needed words to communicate. You had always been in tune with each other that way, even when you were kids. It’s why he’d always thought…

The silence tonight though felt too heavy, felt like too much. So, if you would not provide the sound, he would.

“You didn’t deserve that, didn’t deserve what he wanted to do with you. I’m sorry.”

More silence until you said, “Az?” He’d never heard your voice so small. Not even in the aftermath of your sorry excuse for a father trying unsuccessfully to clip your wings.

“Yes?”

“Do you think the Cauldron makes mistakes?”

“Clearly it does if tonight is any indication.”

You laughed weakly, creating a dull ache in Azriel’s chest as his mouth twitched down. That’s not what your laugh sounded like and damn the male that caused the beautiful sound of your joy to diminish.

You clenched your fists, looking up in surprise when you felt a few stabs of pain in one of them. Sure enough, the fist you had used to shatter the glass at Rita’s was bleeding, pieces of glass protruding from a few shallow cuts.

“Oh fuck,” you said, reaching to pull the glass out.

“Wait! Stop!” Azriel said, “let me.”

You almost rolled your eyes, “I’m not fragile, Azriel. I can handle a little glass.”

“I know,” he said softly, “I want to help though.” He already had pieces of cloth ready, fetched for him by one of his shadows, the little thing rubbing soothingly against you after being relieved of its cargo.

He carefully removed the shards, cleaning your wounds as he went, apologizing when you hissed.

“This feels familiar,” you said, remembering fondly the gentle care you’d given his hands for so many years.

Azriel smiled softly at you, removing the last piece of glass and carefully wrapping them up for safe disposal. “My turn to return the favor, huh?”

“It was never a favor,” you said.

“I know,” he responded, carefully wrapping your hand. “How are you feeling? Emotionally, I mean.”

You sighed, “Angry. Violated. Sad.”

“Mhmm?” he said, your collective signal for more.

“I just,” you paused, unsure if your vulnerable thoughts were safe to voice. You surveyed the male ahead of you, listening but focused on wrapping your hand. Not looking at you in the event eye contact was too much.

This was Azriel.

“I just can’t stop thinking, that’s my mate? That’s my equal? That’s who I was made for?”

Azriel stopped his first aide for a moment, locking eyes with you with an intensity usually reserved for the battlefield.

“You were made for yourself. You were made to exist and live your life. You are not a feature of someone else’s.” He growled, “I should skin that male for putting that idea in your head.”

You tried to ignore the ratcheting up of your heart at his words as you responded, “I didn’t mean- Az, I know that. I misspoke. You get what I meant, right? I just can’t help but think that, if he’s so awful, what does that say about me?”

“Not a damn thing.”

He said it with such determination and certainty that you finally smiled.

“Mates are overrated anyway,” you joked as Azriel continued wrapping your hand, “who needs ‘em?”

“Not us,” Azriel said, just happy to see you smile again.

“I never thought it would be someone like him.”

Azriel’s heart stuttered as he asked, “Had someone in mind?”

“…yeah.”

He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to hear you talk about some other male you fancied, some other male you thought you were meant to be with. Not when he wished more than anything that you were his.

Okay, maybe his hatred of Soril came from two places.

But you were his friend, and you needed him, so, “Who was it?”

“I’m looking at him.”

Eyes blown wide, he glanced up at you, finding your eyes not watching one of the sailors below, or one of the males walking the streets that night.

Him. You were staring sheepishly at him.

“I-“

He didn’t know what to say. How was he supposed to wrap his head around this? The woman he’d loved for centuries, the one he thought he’d almost lost tonight, loved him back? Had wished, just like he had, that the two of you were mates?

Thankfully, you saved him. You raised your wrapped hand and tentatively touched his cheek. “I know,” was all you said. And you did know, didn’t you?

You inspected your wrapped hand, the dark fabric carefully protecting your self-inflicted injury.

“You know what this reminds me of?”

“What?” Azriel asked, hardly able to think straight.

“A mating ceremony ribbon.”

Azriel huffed a laugh as you two looked at each other.

“Can I? Can I kiss you? I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t,” he said finally.

“Well I can’t have the love of my life dying on me now, can I?”

He leaned in immediately, kissing you like he needed you to breathe. It was everything you had ever hoped it would be. You had been right before, mates were overrated. The one you chose was much better.

[carelesslycrafted]

domestic lover!ellie

cw: smut/fluff

The Jackson evening was still and warm, moonlight spilling through the open windows of your cabin. You’d both skipped dinner at the mess hall, claiming patrol fatigue—but really, neither of you had wanted to be around other people. Not tonight.

You were stretched across your bed, flipping lazily through an old guitar magazine Ellie had brought by earlier, wearing nothing but an oversized band tee and underwear. The smell of pine and smoke still lingered on your skin from the day’s ride, and the way Ellie was looking at you from across the room was doing things to you.

She was sitting on the edge of the chair, strumming her guitar aimlessly, watching you over the body of it. Her eyes flicked down your legs, slowly—lingering at the way the shirt rode up your thighs. You smirked.

“You gonna keep staring or play me something?”

Ellie set the guitar aside without a word.

“I’d rather do something else.”

Your pulse skipped. She crossed the room in three strides and hovered over you, her knee pressing into the mattress as her hand found your thigh.

You sat up a little, grinning. “What’s gotten into you?”

Her mouth brushed your jaw, then your neck, voice low and gravelly.

“You’ve been teasing me all week. Thought it was my turn.”

You shivered as her fingers toyed with the edge of your underwear. You could smell her—leather, sweat, the faint scent of her soap. Everything about her made your body ache.

“Ellie…”

You didn’t even finish saying her name before she kissed you—deep and slow and confident, her body pressing you back into the mattress. Her hands slid under your shirt, palms hot against your waist as her mouth moved to your throat.

Every touch was deliberate. A slow build. She knew exactly what she was doing.

You moaned softly as her hand dipped lower, slipping between your thighs. She smirked against your skin.

“You’re already wet?” she whispered. “Damn, baby.”

You gasped as her fingers found your sweet spot, her mouth moving down to your chest, teeth grazing over your nipple through the thin fabric of your shirt.

You reached down, fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her closer. “Ellie, please…”

That snapped something in her. The shirt came off. Hers too. You tangled together like you’d done a hundred times before, but it always felt new—hot and breathless and full of fire.

The cabin was filled with the sounds of skin against skin, your breathy moans, her rough whispers in your ear—how good you were, how beautiful you looked, how she loved the way you said her name when you came undone.

She didn’t stop until your thighs were trembling, until you were whining her name like a prayer.

When you finally collapsed against her chest, sticky and breathless, she kissed the top of your head and pulled the blanket over both of you.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she murmured. “Not tonight. Not ever.”

You smiled into her skin. “Good. ‘Cause I’m not done with you either.”

And the night wasn’t over.

You weren’t sure what woke you first—the warm sunlight pouring in through the curtains, or the steady, slow circles Ellie was tracing on your bare back with her fingertips.

She was lying on her side, tangled in the sheets with you, one leg draped over yours, her face buried partly in your hair. Her touch was lazy, absentminded, but grounding. You hummed, sleep-heavy and aching in the best way.

“Good morning,” you mumbled against her chest.

She chuckled softly, voice husky. “It is now.”

You tilted your head to look at her. Her hair was a mess, eyes still half-lidded, freckles standing out in the soft light. She looked beautiful—wild and spent and smug.

“Your hands are cold,” you murmured.

“Liar.” Her hand slid a little lower, dangerously close to starting something all over again. “You just want an excuse to press up against me.”

“Do I need one?” You shifted deliberately, straddling her thigh under the covers. Ellie groaned, head tipping back.

“Shit, babe. You’re gonna kill me.”

“You survived last night,” you whispered, lips brushing hers. “Barely.”

She kissed you again, slower this time—sleepy and warm and filled with that quiet thing that had bloomed between you over time. That thing you were both afraid to name.

Eventually, the hunger in your stomach was louder than the heat curling between your legs again, and you reluctantly rolled off her.

Ellie tugged you back playfully. “Where you goin’?”

“Shower. Then breakfast. We both smell like sex and sweat.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she said with a smirk, but she sat up anyway, rubbing the back of her neck. The morning sun spilled across her bare back, catching in her tattoo.

You watched her stretch, heart full. “You staying after breakfast?”

“I was thinking I’d cook it.” She stood, butt-naked and completely unbothered, sauntering to the kitchen to raid your pantry.

“You don’t even know where anything is!” you called.

“Then come show me,” she shouted back.

So you did—wrapped in just a towel, still dazed from the night before, watching her fumble through cabinets and pretend she had it under control.

Ellie in your kitchen was something different. She looked domestic, barefoot and still flushed from sleep, cooking eggs while humming under her breath. She wore one of your shirts, her own nowhere to be seen, and it swallowed her shoulders in a way that made your stomach twist.

You slid your arms around her from behind, resting your chin on her shoulder. “You’re kinda hot when you’re pretending to be useful.”

“Excuse you, I am incredibly useful,” she said, flipping a lopsided pancake like it was proof. “I made you come three times last night. That buys me at least a week of no chores.”

You laughed into her neck. “Okay, fair.”

She turned in your arms, hands on your hips, and kissed you again—soft, slow, and real. Her eyes searched yours for something unspoken.

“You know,” she murmured, “you could ask me to stay more often.”

You bit your lip, voice suddenly smaller. “Would you say yes?”

Ellie tucked your hair behind your ear. “Yeah. Every time.”

You kissed her, then again, and didn’t stop until the eggs were cold, and the pancakes were burnt, and it was well past noon.

[artist-issues]

Sure. @spidersteelandsmile

But I’d like to point something out to you, before I give you verses.

You’re asking for specific verses where Jesus says something specifically about homosexuality in that time and place where He’s incarnate and it’s an eyewitness testimony of His earthly ministry. But it’s kind of pointing out a flaw in your understanding of God’s Word to open your post with “give me verses” and then narrow it down to “but only the ones where Jesus is talking.”

The whole Bible is Jesus talking.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.“ John 1:1

⬆️ That verse (one of the Gospel accounts where you get Jesus’ direct quotes from) says “the Word was God.” So, the Word (the Bible) and God are the same.

And Jesus claimed to be God. Definitely, He did. There’s no denying that that’s what He claimed. (There’s also no denying that He’s right, and that’s who He is. God.) ⬇️

“I and the Father are one." John 10:30

The Jewish people go on to try and stone Him for claiming to be God in that same passage. That’s what they crucified Him for. Claiming to be God. Which He was, which He is.

So. The Word = God = Jesus. Or, as this verse says:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

And if you doubt that the Apostle Paul (who wrote the letters to Timothy) was writing God’s Word, you need to remember that the Apostle Peter, in his letter, said Paul’s words were Scripture (God’s Word/the Bible/coming directly from God.)

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.“ 2 Peter 3:15-16

…And if you doubt that the Apostle Peter had the authority to say what was and was not the Word of God, then you’re doubting that anything you know Jesus to have said was ever actually what He said, because a lot of the eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said come from the Apostle Peter. Do you see? Once you start doubting what Peter said, you have to also start doubting anything Jesus was claimed to say, because they become untrustworthy.

If you’re going to say Scripture is your authority, you have to answer the question “why.” The only reason to make Scripture the authority for your life and how you live it is if, indeed, it is the Word of God. And you have to believe all of it is the Word of God. All of it. Not just the parts and pieces you like, or the parts and pieces Jesus said during His on-Earth ministry, because He claimed to be God, and God said more than just what Jesus said during His on-Earth ministry. See?

So. Now that we’ve established that it’s all-or-nothing, you can’t just pick and choose which verses have authority and which don’t…here are the ones where homosexuality is prohibited.

“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”

⬆️ This is God (Who is one with Jesus, they do not disagree with each other about this) telling the Israelites in His Law that homosexuality is an abomination. And I understand that we’re “in the New Covenant,” but you have to remember what Paul said about the Law in Romans. It’s meant to reveal the standard that humanity falls short of, not condone falling short of that standard. God has not changed His mind about this. Jesus has not changed His mind about this. Homosexuality is an abomination. And ⬇️

“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Romans 1:26-27

⬆️ This was written in the New Covenant. God hasn’t changed His mind. What He says is natural is natural, because He invented nature. And He says it’s not natural to be “consumed with passion” for the same sex as yourself.

And further evidence that God has not changed His mind about this since He wrote Leviticus, and Jesus agrees with it, is how He appealed to the authority of Scripture when He quoted the Old Testament when the people questioned Him about marriage. Jesus talks about the correct view of marriage by quoting, here, what God originally intended: ⬇️

”He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” Matthew 19:4-5

I know you said you don’t understand how what Jesus does say condemns homosexuality. But that’s why I’m trying to explain it to you. Jesus was talking to people who were trying to trap Him by asking about the right way to handle divorce—a matter of marriage. And Jesus answered by explaining what the correct view of marriage is, by quoting what God intended. It was a very specific thing that God intended, like it always is. He doesn’t make mistakes.

But we do. We fall. We fall so hard that even what we desire is twisted and broken, and even our ability to know what brokenness is is mangled, until we can’t tell the difference between right and wrong anymore.

And that’s why it’s so good that you asked me to give you verses. Because when we can’t trust whether or not we know what’s good or bad, right or wrong, because the Bible tells us our feelings lie to us (Jeremiah 17:9 - “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”) we can trust something outside of ourselves. The Bible. God’s Word. God Himself. (Hebrews 4:12 - “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”) Who can understand the sick heart, and separate right desires from wrong desires, beyond question? The Word of God.

You can’t base what God wants for you, what’s right and wrong, on your feelings. You can’t base what His will is on your experiences. Life experience is meant to be informed by what God says in His Word—NOT the other way around. Because your analyzer, your mind, your heart, are broken, because of the Fall of Mankind, because of your flesh.

Nobody is telling you that you haven’t experienced what you’ve experienced with your partner.

What I am telling you is that your interpretation of that experience, that it’s somehow “from God,” that He set it up that way and that’s how you know He approves of your homosexuality—that is what’s incorrect. Your interpretation of what you’ve lived through as “from God” is incorrect, and it is very dangerous. There are plenty of verses about that.

Jeremiah 23:36 - “But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.” - This is against saying that “God placed a burden on me to do this or that” because you run the risk of perverting His words.

Jeremiah 23:25-27 - “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart,  who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?” - Again, this verse proves you can think you’re hearing from God, or something is coming from God, and be wrong.

That’s just to name 2. But you don’t have to read very far into the Bible to notice that God is a specific, existing Person with His own set of characteristics, wants, loves, and dislikes, and you can’t change them or decide what they really any more than I could change or decide what your characteristics, likes, and dislikes were. I can get you wrong. You can get God wrong. Because He exists. He IS, and you can either be right or wrong about Him.

And again. The only way to know is to line what you’re thinking about His will up next to Scripture. See if it matches. And if you’re living as if He does not think homosexuality is an abomination, as if He approves of what you’re doing, it doesn’t match. You’re deceived. Your heart deceived you, like He said it would.

One more verse, because it’s the one where Hope is found.

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

See? Do you see?

Don’t be deceived - you can be wrong about this. It is defined as normal by the Bible TO be deceived. Deceived about what? Well, what is Paul clearing up? You can be deceived—into believing that any of the sins he lists are somehow NOT sins. You can be deceived into believing homosexuality is not a sin. It’s in the verse. It’s plain. Nothing twisted or hard to see or understand about that.

Homosexuality - it’s just one in a list of sins. Sins that God disapproves of. Sin that put Christ on the cross, to pay the penalty for, because sin separates you from Him. Homosexuality is a sin. But it’s not a super-sin. It’s not special. It’s not different than the others. It separates you from God, just like the others. He hates the sin, but not more than other sins. And? It is defeated by the blood of Christ. Just like greed. 🤷‍♀️ Not special.

Such were some of you - Christians have been homosexuals. They experienced homosexual desire, participated in homosexual activity. Sinned in that way. Embraced that sin. But it’s past-tense. It was who they were. It is NOT anymore. A Christian DOES put that away, die to that, kill it, become someone else.

in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God - The name of Christ? “Christian.” An identifier that is incompatible with the name “homosexual.” You aren’t a homosexual. If you’ve been washed, sanctified, by the Spirit of God (Who can do what you can’t do on your own, you can’t change your desires or live in a different way on your own, but He can do that in you)—IF you have, THEN you are not homosexual, that’s not your name. You’re a Christian. That’s your name.

Please see.

Please don’t jump right into responding to this reblog by saying things to me like “I pray that one day God opens your eyes to a world of love, not hate,” as if anything I’ve said is hateful, or anything apart from what God says is love can be love. He is love. He decides what it is, and what He says it is is better than the lies the world has convinced you is “love.” Please don’t.

Read what God’s Word says. Read what is typed in this post and weigh it and consider it, as if it’s the first time you’ve heard it. And THEN make the decision: Are you going to follow whatever your feelings and your experiences are saying to you? Because God’s Word says you can get those all wrong. Or are you going to stop trusting your deceitful heart and what the whole world says, and trust in God alone? If you’re a Christian, you chose to die to your old self and be Christ’s. Be what He tells you to be. Agree that what He tells you to be will always be better, be what’s best for you, than what your corrupt feelings tell you you should be.

If you haven’t made that decision, repent. I’ve got two friends. One is a traveling nurse who was engaged to another woman, the other is a 15 year-old girl who was dating another girl. They gave their lives to Christ in this past year and are happy, even though it’s hard, following Him.

“Let God be true though every one were a liar…”

I will say it again:

The LGBTQ+ person who asks Christians to "welcome and accept them without telling them they should change" is openly demanding that the Christians change. From being Christians, to being non-Christians.

Because Christ died to save you from who you used to be. When you become a Christian, you're choosing to change from who you were to who He tells you to be. That is Christianity. To tell Christians to stop talking and behaving like that is what they believe is to not only reject Christianity yourself, but demand that they reject it, too.

Do not listen to any influencer, pop culture icon, or person who says to you that Christians do not love LGBTQ+ people, because they say LGBTQ+ people should change who they are.

Christians change who they are. More accurately, they let Christ change who they are. That’s how they became Christians. Truth goes hand in hand with love—it is not avoiding it. Because love is not anti-rejection. Love rejects plenty of things! Love rejects hatred, self-focus, and lies. So of course Christians who believe in a God that says, “let Me change you into who you’re meant to be” can tell you that you need to change—and that is loving. They love you, and they’re not okay with leaving you the way you are. Because Christ didn’t leave them, the Christians, the way they were.

Don't listen to anyone, "Christian" or otherwise, who tells you different.

[shymoob]

Currently Day Dreaming about Celebrating Halloween with Leon… (YES I KNOW ITS MAY BUT I NEED IT TO BE FALL ALREADY) WARNING! NSFW MENTIONED 18+

Tagging: @writingwisterias (hope your day is better today!)

- Leon is the type of guy who never thought twice about Halloween… until he met you.

- The way your eyes would light up when you talked about all the fall activities, dressing up, carving pumpkins, haunted houses, watching scary movies etc.

- He thought all of it was a little stupid and over rated, until you dragged him along to do all these things.

~ Pumpkin Patch/Apple Orchard ~

- It started off slow in the beginning of October, where you would take him to the pumpkin patch. Hand in hand, you’d stroll through the field of bright colored pumpkins. He’d laugh as he watched you pick out the most outrageously big pumpkin. Little did he know, you just wanted to see his muscles flex a little when he lifted and carried it around for you.

- He’d pick out a smaller pumpkin, one that is lopsided and has a few dents in it. He would say he picked that one because its shape made him laugh. In reality, he just got it because it was one of the first he’d seen.

- Before leaving, he’d pose with you for a few photos for the socials. He never got the whole appeal of social media, but he liked the photos, and would save the photo of you two as his contact photo.

- Like a gentleman, he would buy you an apple cider once you got to the other side of the establishment with the apple orchard. He would smile knowing you now had a way to keep your other hand warm from the chilly weather. Of course he’d sneak sips of the drink as well.

- He’d lift you up on his shoulders as you reached for apples to place in your basket. He knew you’d pick too many to make things with, and he’d end up eating an apple a day that you’d pack for him in his lunch. This didn’t bother him, because the smile of your face made it all worth it.

- He would subtlety reminded you of making an apple pie throughout the day, one of his favorites. The recipe you made was enough to bring him comfort for the rest of the day with just once slice. You’d sometimes serve it hot with vanilla ice cream, and that made his stomach growl from just thinking about it.

~ Horror Movie Night ~

- Horror movie night would also coincide with pumpkin carving night!

- You would catch him after work a few days after the pumpkin patch. He’d walk in the door to news papers scattered all over the floor with carving utensils. He would let out a little chuckle as he set his bag down.

- You would bring out two ice cold beers to enjoy while carving, sometime to entice him to actually do it with you. He would have done it anyway, but the beers couldn’t hurt.

- As you both sat on the floor in front of the tv, you’d put on a classic horror film to set the mood. Something like “Nightmare on Elm Street.” He’d chuckle and made a joke like “aren’t you gonna get to scared to watch this?”

- The movie would play subtly in the background as you both were elbows deep in pumpkin guts. It was evident this was Leon’s first time carving a pumpkin. He was making a mess, the insides of the pumpkin splattered across his face and hair. He was so engaged in the process, he didn’t even really look up at the movie.

- When the pumpkins were both cleaned out, you’d opt for a stencil that came with the kit. A cute little face, nothing spooky about it. Leon on the other hand would claim stencils are for wimps, mocking you in a loving way. He would free hand it, but would butcher the face making it unrecognizable. He was proud of it though.

- When you both were finished, he’d gently help you clean up the guts and papers that spewed across the floor. He’d then help you carry your heavy pumpkin to the front porch, where you’d both light the candles inside, watching them flicker intently. He’d wrap his arm around your waist, and smile gently at how giddy you had become. Maybe this holiday wasn’t so bad…

- When you got back inside, you’d both notice the movie was rolling the credits. Both of you barely paid attention, too focused on the pumpkins. After the great night you had planned for him, he kinda felt bad he missed this part. He’d grab you by the hand, pulling you into a soft embrace and would ask you if you’d like to go see a movie at the theater.

- You’d get excited by this idea. He couldn’t help but smile, grabbing both his and your coats, before walking to the near by cinema.

- He figured you two could catch a late night showing. When you would arrive, he’d be a gentleman and ask you what you’d like to see. You’d surprise him by suggesting a creepy looking horror movie. He’d ask you “are you sure?” Before watching you nod excitedly. He’d smile, and buy both of your tickets.

- Once inside the theater, he’d buy all your favorite snacks. Popcorn, iceys, even those little chocolates you love so much. Of course he’d carry all of them too, refusing to let you carry anything. He wanted to spoil you tonight.

- Once you find your seats, the movie would begin. It was creepy and scary sure, but between the two of you, Leon was more scared than you were. At the slightest jumpscare, he’d squeeze your hand a little tighter and spent most of the movie watching through peered fingers.

- After the movie, he’d walk home with you, hand in hand, a smile spread across his face. He was a little more mindful of people passing by after the movie, and locked his grip on your hand a little tighter than before.

~ Cold October Nights ~

- The rest of October flew by pretty quick. He’d grown to kind of enjoy the cheesy horror movies you’d throw on after he got home from work. His favorite part was after the movie, when you’d take him to bed, and snuggle in a little closer to him. Maybe it was the colder weather, but he thinks it was because those scary movies made you a little more scared than you’d claim.

- He would trace circles in your soft skin, his touch growing needier than ever. He’d get a hard on from just touching you. His cock would throb as you placed your hand on his bare chest, slowly lowering it under the elastic waistband of his boxers.

- He would let out an involuntary groan, which made you smile. You’d take his cock in your hand, gently using your thumb to create circular motions on his tip. His pre-cum would make it slicker and easier for you to do this.

- With his stray hands, he’d push himself to roll over on top of you. He’d grab a handful of your hair, and with his other hand slowly slide your cute spooky pajamas pants down. He would clash his mouth into yours, making quick work to slide his tongue against yours.

- It wouldn’t be long before he was slipping his fingers inside of you, his hard cock twitching against your bare stomach as he laid on top of you. Pre-cum would slather your belly, and every once in a while he’d grind hard into you.

- He would use his thumb to circle around your clit as he slipped both his pointer and middle fingers inside and out of you, curling them up as he re entered you. You’d moan into his mouth, the grip of his hand in your hair sliding down to where your neck met your collar bone. He would dig his fingertips into your skin, causing you to buck your hips and grind against him.

- Growing impatient, he’d let out a groan and slide his cock into you. The room was cold from the chilly fall air, so he’d take the comforter and wrap it around the two of you as he began to drive his cock deep within you.

- In response, you’d let out a moan, and use one hand to steady yourself against his shoulder, the other to push back his mop of dirty blonde hair so you could stare into his deep blue eyes.

- His gaze would be stern, but not in an angry way. He would be so focused on fucking you, making you feel good. His cock would ram deeper and deeper inside of you. With every moan you let out, he’d grunt under his breath “good girl” or “fuck.”

- After he got you to cum once, he wouldn’t be through. He’d let his hand travel down to your clit once more, rubbing his calloused thumb over your sensitive nerves. You’d let out a yelp, but he wouldn’t stop, increasing his rhythm as he still slide his cock in and out you.

- He would pick up the pace, drawing you closer to orgasm as he tried to resist exploding inside of you. He would huff down a grunt, that almost let out a hum deep within his throat. His grip on your collarbone would tighten, and with one final thrust, couldn’t hold back anymore.

- You would finish a moment after, as you felt his sticky substance fill inside of you. You would let out a few pants as his hair would fall back over his eyes once more. His body would go limp against you, letting his bare chest lay against yours. He would gently slip out of you, leaving behind a trail of his c cum mixed with yours spilling onto the bed sheets.

- His muscular arms would then wrap you around him in a stern hug. He would plant kisses on top of your soft hair, as he tightened the comforter around the two of you once again. Especially after sex, the chilly air was so evident. He would embraced you for your body heat, letting his also warm your soft skin. The moon would pour into through the window, illuminating the two of you as you lay naked tangled in between the sheets. Leon was really starting to enjoy fall now…

~ Halloween Night ~

- Throughout October, you had reminded Leon of how you needed to buy candy for the night of Halloween. Leon took it upon himself a week or so before the big night to buy loads of candy.

- When he brought home the countless bags of the assorted candy, he watched as you smiled ear to ear. He even bought a spooky plastic bowl to dump the candy in.

- You would wrap him in a big hug, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Flushing slightly, you would casually mentioning the idea of costumes. You weren’t sure how he would react, but to your surprise he had already thought of this.

- Leon would lead you upstairs, to the closest where he tucked away a singular yellow baggy from some cheap Halloween store. He would hand it to you, and inside was a singular costume. A little confused, it was just a classic robber costume. One with the white and black stripes. You also couldn’t help but notice it was a men’s costume…

- You would give him a confused look, but he would just smile and say “I thought we could do a couples costume.” This would confuse you more, as there was only one costume in the bag. He would raise his pointer finger, before going back into the closest to rummage around.

- He would come out with an old beaten clear baggy, which held some type of outfit inside. He would hand it to you, and smile. As you would unzip the bag, and pulled out the outfit, you would gasped. His old police uniform. “You’ll look good in it.” Leon would say. “It might be a little big, but it should fit good enough.”

- He encouraged you to try it on. He was right, it was a little baggy on you, but just enough so it was comfortable. You would admired the RPD logo on the badge and vest. He would smile brightly when you showed him, the first time that uniform has ever made him smile.

- When Halloween night rolled around, you both wore your matching outfits. Leon looked a little silly in his robber get up, but he couldn’t deny you looked perfect in his uniform. He would admire the ‘Kennedy’ stitched into it, making him smile that you were literally wearing his last name.

- A few of your mutual friends would join you this night, sharing a few beers while listening to spooky music and passing out candy. Leon would feel a sense of pride as he watched you so giddily hand out the treats to adoring children.

- When the night was over, and the children slowly started to retreat towards their homes, Leon would stand on the front porch admiring the fall colors, lit Jack-o-lanterns and chilly air. He had never thought much about Halloween or fall… until he met you. After this October, he’d look forward for every Halloween to come, as long as you were there to celebrate with him.

I am not a writer. I just think about Leon waaaaay too much. Please enjoy these little head cannons/small fic I suppose? I DO NOT OWN THE PICS I JUST FOUND THEM ON PINTEREST!

Thank you @lilith0fthevalley for the cute couple costume idea!

[bearyfast]

Rumours Put To Rest - MV1/33

Partnering: Max Verstappen x fem!Y/N (referred to as Yourname)

Type: Angst/Fluff

Established Relationship

Social Media AU

Summary: With Max announcing his fiancee's pregnancy, the allegations and rumours start spiralling again- clearing the air is necessary.

Warnings: Allegations/mentions of grooming, mentions of abuse, pregnancy, mentions of death threats, mentions of online harassment, age gap (if I've missed any, please let me know and I'll add them!)

(the face claim is Alexandra Trusova, and your story is inspired by hers (the Olympic figure skating and abuse mainly), but she is aged but slightly.)

Max Verstappen posted:

Max Verstappen: I feel so incredibly lucky to call this woman my soon to be wife and the soon to be mother of my child. This journey with you has been incredible, Yourname. Even though she does not have social media, we wanted to share our news with the world.

Comments:

User: Aww! So happy for you and Yourname, you’ll be great parents!!

User: are we all just ignoring the elephant in the room?

-User: Wait, what do you mean???

-User: he’s five years older than her (which is fine in any other context) but their first meeting was when she was TWELVE and he was SEVENTEEN, they started dating publicly when she was NINETEEN and he was TWENTY-FOUR. not to spread any rumours or anything since it’s a thing everyone knows but nobody actually says, but rumour is that he groomed her…

-User: WHAT

User: So you post pregnancy and engagement announcements but don’t address the grooming allegations?

User: I know people say that he groomed her and stuff, but she looks so happy for the first time in a while

-User: ikr! Like if they’re happy let them be, they were both abused as children and now they found peace

Redbullracing: So excited! We’ll be happy to get a Red Bull Racing onesie for the little one when they’re born! 💙

F1 Gossip posted:

F1 Gossip: Max Verstappen being interviewed after the race and being questioned about the long-standing allegations of grooming towards his girlfriend (whom he first met when she was twelve and he was seventeen), Yourname. What do we think about this?

Comments:

User: is he serious?

User: Max, you just thanked someone for bringing up a personal matter, then say ‘i’m here to race, not discuss personal matters’

User: as a Max fan, it’s time he just admitted that starting a relationship with someone as young as she was (and knowing her since she was 12 and he was 17) was wrong. he doesn’t even have to say anything about the grooming but at least say that.

User: at least they’re happy ig?

User: can we please move past this? It's been years and clearly they are happy together, and they were both abused and find comfort in each other

User: me when i groomed someone young and vulnerable, only started dating her once it was legal, am going to marry her in a few months and got her pregnant with my child, but then i realised it would look really bad for my image admitting to that: 

Max Verstappen posted a story:

Replies have been turned off on this story

Red Bull Racing posted:

Red Bull Racing: Our favourite WAG over the course of this F1 weekend! We can’t wait for Max and Yourname to welcome their bundle of joy to the world 💙

Comments:

User: y'all are still supporting their relationship after all the allegations?

User: we love a supportive admin ❤️

User: the way she looks so tired because of the baby but clearly she wanted to be there to support Max… true love

User: the way he still hasn’t addressed anything and tells people to mind their own business when they bring it up

User: I wonder how the other drivers on the grid feel about their relationship

-User: wasn’t there an interview where a few drivers congratulated them and said that their own WAG’s were friends with Yourname?

User: Can you guys read the room? This is a celebration post of a baby and soon to be mother, calm down for two seconds. Did you see what Max put on his story about people having death threats about his unborn child? Is that not disturbing to you?

Max Verstappen posted:

Max Verstappen: Welcome to the world, Babyname. This is a wonderful new chapter in my life and my fiancee's life- and we do not appreciate any harmful comments.

Comments:

Redbullracing: Such a gorgeous little baby!

Danielricciardo: congrats mate!

Landonorris: will they be at the paddock? (just saying they would look really good in papaya)

View more… (this comment section has been restricted to close friends only)

Yourname Fanpage posted:

Yourname Fanpage: From being an Olympic champion to having her own child before the next Winter Olympics even happens… Oh how time flies by! Drama and allegations aside, we wish Yourname and Max best of luck on this new journey with their child. ❤️

Comments:

User: honestly i wish people would let them live their lives, they’re both consenting adults.

User: she looks so happy in the second picture, who was she looking at?

-User: it was actually Max! this was when they first announced their relationship

User: how does she not realise that max groomed her? someone should report him for her

-User: she was a CONSENTING ADULT- if she wanted to report max she could have, but she didn’t, and we don’t get to make that decision for her.

liked by Yourname Fanpage

F1 Gossip posted:

F1 Gossip: The rumours have been cleared! Yourname during an interview with a Russian publication source revealed that she and Max did not speak when they first met at twelve and seventeen and only when they were both of age- which is confirmation that grooming did not occur.

Comments:

User: ngl i still don’t believe it

User: where is the original interview so I can watch the full thing?

-User: link it's there but it's all in Russian and only this bit is translated because they knew people would want to use it (& the subtitles SUCK)

User: I'm so glad one of them finally answered the questions about it!

-User: and also nice to know that no grooming happened between them, I feel so much better about their relationship now. -Yournamefanpage: She looks so tired of questions and I’m sure she feels better now that people know the truth!

[sonicspocketwrench1]

Heads up, this is no longer actually what the article/headline says!

I dont know if it's just the headline or if the original article text changed, but in the updated version I read just now, the main takeaway is "spy agencies do not believe that the administration of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, controls a criminal gang, Tren de Aragua."

It is implied throughout that Tren de Aragua *IS* operating in the US, but -- crucially -- not at the behest of the Venezuelan government as a whole (though some corrupt lower officials are likely benefitting/affiliated/could be directing activity.)

This is crucial because the Alien Enemies Act which Trump uses as justification only allows that "the government may summarily remove citizens of a country that is at war with the United States or otherwise engaged in an invasion of or predatory incursion into U.S. territory." If it's not the country of Venezuela directing the gang, then regardless of how broadly you define an invasion/incursion, you can't target someone simply for being a citizen of Venezuela.

(This is obviously putting aside all of the many many other reasons these disappearings are horrifying.)

Link here, copy-pasted article below the cut.

Spy Agencies Do Not Think Venezuela Directs Gang, Declassified Memo Shows

The release of the memo further undercuts the Trump administration’s rationale for using the Alien Enemies Act to deport scores of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador.

Listen to this article · 9:23 min Learn more

By Charlie Savage and Julian E. Barnes

Reporting from Washington

Published May 5, 2025

Updated May 6, 2025, 8:43 a.m. ET

Leer en español

A newly declassified memo released on Monday confirms that U.S. intelligence agencies rejected a key claim President Trump put forth to justify invoking a wartime statute to summarily deport Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador.

The memo, dovetailing with intelligence findings first reported by The New York Times in March, states that spy agencies do not believe that the administration of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, controls a criminal gang, Tren de Aragua. That determination contradicts what Mr. Trump asserted when he invoked the deportation law, the Alien Enemies Act.

“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the memo said.

INTELLIGENCE MEMO

Read the assessment by intelligence agencies concluding that Venezuela’s government does not control the gang Tren de Aragua.

The memo’s release further undercuts the Trump administration’s rationale for using the Alien Enemies Act and calls into question its forceful criticism of the ensuing coverage. After The Times published its article, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation and portrayed the reporting as misleading and harmful. The administration doubled down a month later after similar coverage in The Washington Post, citing the disclosures in both articles as a reason to relax limits on leak investigations.

The document, known as a “sense of the community” memo, was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The foundation provided a copy to The Times.

Lauren Harper, the Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy for the foundation, said the memo was at odds with the administration’s portrayal of its contents as a dire threat to public safety.

The government “almost immediately declassified the same information in response to a FOIA request,” she said.

Ms. Harper continued: “The declassification proves that the material should have been public from the start — not used as an excuse to suppress sharing information with the press.”

But administration officials continued to defend Mr. Trump’s policy.

“It is outrageous that as President Trump and his administration work hard every day to make America safe by deporting these violent criminals, some in the media remain intent on twisting and manipulating intelligence assessments to undermine the president’s agenda to keep the American people safe,” Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in a statement.

A Justice Department official said in a brief statement Tuesday morning that the gang had terrorized Americans. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Until Mr. Trump invoked it in mid-March, the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law, had been used only three times in American history, all during declared wars. It says the government may summarily remove citizens of a country that is at war with the United States or otherwise engaged in an invasion of or predatory incursion into U.S. territory.

Immediately afterward, the administration sent planeloads of Venezuelans to a notorious high-security prison in El Salvador with no due process. Courts have since blocked further transfers under the proclamation. Citing evidence that some of the men sent there were likely not gang members, the American Civil Liberties Union has asked a judge to order the Trump administration to bring back the Venezuelans for normal immigration hearings.

On its face, the Alien Enemies Act appears to require a link to a foreign government. Mr. Trump declared that Tren de Aragua had committed crimes to destabilize the United States “at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.”

But The Times reported days later that the intelligence community had circulated findings on Feb. 26 that reached the opposite conclusion. The shared assessment was that Venezuela’s government and the gang were adversaries, even though some corrupt Venezuelan officials had ties to some gang members. It also said the gang lacked centralized command-and-control and was too disorganized to carry out any instructions.

The Times also reported that only the F.B.I. partly dissented and thought there was some kind of link, but it was based on information the other agencies �� like the C.I.A. and the N.S.A. — thought was not credible.

The Trump administration asked the National Intelligence Council, made up of senior analysts and national security policy experts who report to Ms. Gabbard, to take another look at the available evidence.

On April 7, it produced the memo released on Monday. The Washington Post reported on the memo, which remained classified, later that month, further angering the administration.

Now in public view, the memo said the intelligence community based its conclusion on a series of factors. Venezuelan security forces have arrested Tren de Aragua members and have “periodically engaged in armed confrontations with TDA, resulting in the killing of some TDA members,” the memo said, showing that the government treats the gang as a threat.

While there is evidence that some “mid- to low-level Venezuelan officials probably profit from TDA’s illicit activities,” the memo said, the gang’s decentralized makeup would make it “logistically challenging” for the organization as a whole to act at the behest of the government.

The memo also shed additional light on the F.B.I.’s partial dissent.

It said that while F.B.I. analysts agreed with the other agencies’ overall assessment, they also thought that “some Venezuelan government officials facilitate TDA members’ migration from Venezuela to the United States and use members as proxies in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and the United States to advance what they see as the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety in these countries.”

The F.B.I. based its view on “people detained for involvement in criminal activity in the United States or for entering the country illegally.” But “most” of the intelligence community “judges that intelligence indicating that regime leaders are directing or enabling TDA migration to the United States is not credible,” the memo said.

In examining the available evidence, the National Intelligence Council evaluated whether detainees “could credibly have access to the information reported” and whether they had offered details that could be corroborated about support the Maduro government had purportedly provided the gang in exchange for following its directions.

While portions of this section were redacted, the memo signaled skepticism. The detainees’ legal troubles, it said, could “motivate them to make false allegations about their ties to the Venezuelan regime in an effort to deflect responsibility for their crimes and to lessen any punishment by providing exculpatory or otherwise ‘valuable’ information to U.S. prosecutors.”

In late March, the memo noted, Chilean officials told the International Criminal Court that they suspected that the murder of a Venezuelan man in Chile last year was carried out by “a cell or group linked to the Tren de Aragua that was politically motivated” and originated from an order by Venezuela’s government. The Maduro administration denied that accusation.

But the memo also said other parts of the intelligence community had not observed or collected evidence of communications or funding flows showing government officials providing directions to leaders of the gang, even though such a relationship would likely require “extensive” such interactions.

Judges so far have stayed away from second-guessing the truth of Mr. Trump’s factual claims in deploying the Alien Enemies Act.

The day after the initial Times article, Todd Blanche, a former defense lawyer for Mr. Trump who is now deputy attorney general, announced that the Justice Department had opened a criminal leak investigation.

In a statement, he criticized the article, saying the information in it was classified but also “inaccurate.” But the declassified memo supports The Times’s reporting.

In an interview on Megyn Kelly’s podcast last week, Ms. Gabbard said that the reporting on the intelligence community’s conclusions was “being investigated.” Leakers had “selectively and intentionally left out the most important thing,” she added, pointing to the F.B.I.’s belief that the Maduro government was supporting the gang’s activities in the United States.

But the articles in both The Times and The Post discussed the F.B.I.’s contrary view.

Last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a memo that she would roll back protections for press freedoms in leak investigations, citing the Times and Post articles as damaging examples of leaks of classified information.

In an Espionage Act case, prosecutors must prove that someone knowingly made an unauthorized disclosure of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary. The government’s declassification of the memo raises questions about any case that could be brought over the Times and Post articles.

Charlie Savage writes about national security and legal policy for The Times.

Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.

47 and his cabal of fascist criminals used fake narrative to target and kidnap Venezuelans.

[thirteenheavens]

okay but can we address jeonghan and a corruption kink? its been on my mind for days😦

Devilish grin||Yoon Jeonghan x Reader

Notes: guys today is my day for fics I love writing twists my lord

Jeonghan's eyes darken with lust as he looks at you, a devilish smirk playing on his lips. "You know exactly what you're doing to me, don't you?" He steps closer, his fingers trailing up your arm slowly. "Always so innocent and pure," he purrs, his breath hot against your ear. "But I can see the naughty glint in your eyes."

His hands grip your hips firmly, pulling you flush against his body. "I want to corrupt you," he whispers seductively. "Turn that innocent facade into pure sin." His touch becomes more possessive as he slides one hand under your shirt, caressing your bare skin. "Let me show you what true pleasure feels like," he promises, his voice low and sultry.

"I've always been curious," you admit softly, your heart racing at his touch. "But I've never... with anyone like you." Jeonghan chuckles darkly, his fingers tracing patterns on your skin. "I'll be gentle... at first," he teases, his other hand tangling in your hair. "But I won't hold back."

He pulls back slightly to look into your eyes, his gaze intense and hungry. "Are you ready to let go of your innocence, baby?" he asks huskily, his body pressing closer. You nod hesitantly, your cheeks flushed with both nervousness and excitement. Jeonghan's eyes gleam with satisfaction as he notices your reaction.

"Good girl," he praises, leading you to his bed. "Lie down for me." You obey, watching as he looms over you with a predatory smile. His hands slowly start undressing you, revealing more of your skin to his hungry gaze.

"So beautiful," he murmurs, trailing kisses down your body. "I can't wait to make you mine completely." Jeonghan's lips reach your thighs, leaving hot open-mouthed kisses on the sensitive skin. "I'm going to mark you everywhere," he promises, nipping gently. His fingers slip between your legs, finding you already wet and ready for him. "So responsive," he notes with a smirk. "You were made for this, weren't you?"

He pushes your legs further apart, exposing your core to his hungry gaze. "Let me taste you first," he says huskily, diving between your thighs without waiting for an answer. Jeonghan's tongue pauses against your core, and he looks up at you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You know Seungcheol is quite protective of you," he says between licks.

"Imagine his face if he saw you like this," he continues, pushing two fingers into you. "His sweet little sister, spread out on my bed, moaning for me." The thought makes your body shiver, and Jeonghan notices. "Would he get angry?" he asks teasingly, curling his fingers inside you.

Jeonghan grins against your thigh, his fingers working you faster."Your protective big brother would lose his mind seeing you spread out for me." He bites down on your inner thigh hard enough to leave a mark. "Maybe we should tell him," he suggests with a wicked laugh. "Tell him exactly how naughty you've become."

"You wouldn't," you gasp, though the thought sends a thrill through your body. Jeonghan notices your hesitation and chuckles darkly.

"Wouldn't I?" he challenges, adding a third finger to stretch you wider. "I want to see how far you'll go for me. How far we can push your innocent little limits." His thumb finds your clit, circling it slowly as he looks up at you with lust-filled eyes. "Just imagine his face," he says again Jeonghan's hard length springs free as he pushes his trousers down, the tip already leaking precum. He strokes himself slowly, his eyes never leaving your face.

"Look how hard you've made me," he groans, moving between your legs. "Can you feel how badly I want to ruin you?" He positions himself at your entrance, teasing your folds with his cockhead. "Tell me you want this," he demands, his voice husky with desire. "Tell me you want me to claim you completely."

"I want it," you moan breathlessly, arching your back. "Please, Jeonghan, take me." He growls possessively and thrusts into you in one smooth motion, burying himself deep. "Fuck, you're tight," he grunts, starting to move with deep, rough strokes.

His hands grip your hips tightly as he pounds into you, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room. "No one else can have you like this," he declares, claiming your lips in a bruising kiss. Jeonghan's hips snap against yours relentlessly, his thrusts growing faster and harder with each passing moment. His fingers dig into your flesh as he chases his pleasure.

"You're mine," he pants against your neck, his teeth marking your skin. "My perfect little toy to play with." The sound of his hips hitting your ass echoes through the room, mixing with the wet sounds of your bodies joining. "Tell me who you belong to," he demands again, driving himself deeper.

"I belong to you, Jeonghan," you cry out, clenching around him as your orgasm approaches. "Only you!" He smirks at your words, his movements becoming more erratic as he feels you tightening around him. "That's right," he growls, his thrusts becoming almost brutal.

"Cum for me again," he commands, one hand finding your clit to push you over the edge. "Let me feel you lose control completely." Jeonghan's fingers dig so hard into your hips that you're sure there will be bruises tomorrow. His grip is almost painful as he loses himself in his pleasure.

"Gonna fill you up," he grunts, his rhythm becoming erratic. "Breed you until you're dripping with my cum." He leans down to whisper in your ear, his hot breath sending shivers down your spine. "You'll never forget who owns this body," he promises darkly.

"Please," you beg, your voice barely a whisper. "Cum inside me, Jeonghan. Make me yours completely." Your words send him over the edge. With a deep, guttural moan, he buries himself to the hilt and releases inside you, his hot cum painting your walls.

"Fuck, take it all," he groans, holding you in place as he fills you up. His body trembles above yours as he empties himself completely. Jeonghan's thrusts become slower but more deliberate as he rides out his orgasm, wanting to milk every last drop into you.

"So full," he murmurs, watching as his cum leaks out around his cock. "Look at how much you're taking." He collapses on top of you, still buried inside, his breathing heavy against your neck. "You did so well, baby," he praises, pressing soft kisses to your skin.

Jeonghan slowly pulls out of you, watching as his cum drips down your thighs. "So messy," he comments with a satisfied smile. He rolls onto his side, pulling you against his chest. "But I love how marked you are now," he says possessively, tracing patterns in the mix of fluids on your skin.

His hand moves down to play with the mixture between your legs, pushing it back inside you. "Let's keep it there for a while," he suggests, nuzzling your neck. "You'll carry me with you all day." Jeonghan's smile widens as he hears the front door open, knowing it's Seungcheol returning home. "Perfect timing," he whispers in your ear.

"Let's go tell him we’re together now," Jeonghan says with a wicked grin.

[bbywriter]

one by one | c. sturniolo

masterlist

summary: a look into decorating your daughter’s room

pairing: christopher sturniolo x fem!reader

warnings: the use of mommy and daddy but like NOT in a kinky way<3 also idk how accurate this conversation is for a four year old but ik your baby w chris would be smart anyways

notes: one more blurb before i start school again tomorrow </3 this has been collecting dust in the drafts since this surprise came out.

word count: 1.3k

—

The ice dispenser was stubborn and got jammed a couple times, but finally, you managed and are now headed upstairs to your daughter’s room, hands full of bedroom makeover pick-me-ups. Three glasses of pepsi, two drinkable straight from the cup and the other topped with a pretty flower straw.

It’s the weekend and your day off from work, but you guys have been busy since the morning. Now that the pink paint on the walls has had the time to dry overnight, you and Chris have spent the past couple hours rearranging furniture and adding the final touches to your daughter’s room. Princess covers, a cozy mermaid lamp, and as per her request, sparkly star stickers.

When you make it back to the entrance of her room, you find the two of them exactly how you left them.

Chris is cross-legged in the middle of a fluffy heart shaped rug, leaning back on his hands as he watches your daughter who is sitting way too close to the wall. She presses a collage of pink stars to the surface in no particular order.

“Yesterday Ms. Claire gave me a gold star for my drawing,” your baby says mindlessly, tilting her head at the wall to figure out where to place the next sticker.

Chris gasps softly. “No she didn’t,” he replies. His tone is wondrous like he’s asking her to tell him more.

“Yeah. She said my drawing is perfect and she stuck it to my paper.” A boxy smile, the same as her dad’s, finds its way to her face. Her tiny voice is proud as can be.

“Perfect, huh? Bet you get a million of those stars a day then.”

A giggle almost escapes your lips when she nods smugly at Chris’s words. Like she knows, in fact, that she is perfect. You keep quiet, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

“Yeah. More than all of these,” she claims, poking at each star on the wall one by one with her glittery finger.

Chris hums thoughtfully. "So can Daddy get a star then?"

Her finger freezes in the middle of the biggest star, her whole body pausing at the question. "Uhh," she says, voice serious in that very specific way only a four year old can manage. "But you only get stars if you’re perfect."

This time you can’t hold back your laughter. The sound draws both of their heads toward you, and you laugh even harder when you see Chris’s expression. His mouth has fallen open, still upturned at the sides, but his brows have pinched together in slight betrayal at her words.

“Baby that was a little mean,” you tease her, moving to set down the drinks on her night stand and sit next to her on the bed.

It’s clear from your daughter’s expression that she was genuinely just stating a fact, which somehow makes it even funnier. And Chris, of course, isn’t actually offended. But you still take the moment to say something you want her to remember.

"Daddy might not be perfect, but you don’t always have to be to get a star," you tell her, smiling gently as you brush a piece of hair out of her face. "That would make life way too hard, baby. Lots of times, you’re gonna get them for just trying your best."

She listens intently, her hands frozen in midair.

"I think Mommy would have zero stars if I had to be perfect all the time," you add, smiling at her.

She frowns slightly in confusion, thinking you’re still talking about the actual stickers. "I never even gave you any," she says.

You chuckle and scoot closer to her.

"No you haven’t," you grin. "And that’s the thing. Your stars aren’t always gonna be stickers. Just like mine aren’t—I have your dad instead." Her beautiful blue eyes grow wide, taking in your words. "And you," you finish, before attacking her chubby cheeks with wet kisses, your fingers tickling her sides until she’s a giggling, squirming mess.

From where he’s sitting on the floor, Chris can’t help but smile so big as he watches the both of you. Your words melt his heart and the sound of her giggles makes his chest swell; his entire world so happy together in each other’s arms.

Your daughter puts up with the tickling a little longer, then pushes weakly at your shoulders, laughter still bubbling out between breaths.

"Mommy stop," she giggles, her whole face lighting up.

You pester her for a couple more seconds before finally letting up, smiling so fondly at your baby as you squish her cheeks in your hands. “I just love you so much,” you tell her, “you’re so cute, oh my god.”

She sticks her tongue out at you, very reminiscent of her dad’s mannerisms, then giggles and pulls herself out of your hold to get back to her stickers. You place one more kiss to the top of her head and finally look back at Chris.

He’s watching you with the biggest grin on his face. You can’t hear his thoughts, but they’re sweet and so filled with love. You’re such a good mom, and she’s such a good kid, and he doesn’t know how he ever got this lucky.

You make your way to stand next to him. At his side, his hand slides around your hips as he leans his head into your thigh. Instinctively, you place your hand on the side of his face, running your thumb along his temple.

The moment is quiet as you admire the work of the room. The three of you are stuck in your own little worlds until Chris squeezes playfully at your bum to get your attention. You tsk at him.

“Chris,” you scold.

He laughs as he looks up at you, neck strained to see you from under the rim of his cap. “Sit down, baby, we’ve been moving all day,” he says.

You roll your eyes but listen anyway, fitting yourself beside him on the plush rug. Before you can get fully comfortable, you crawl forward on all fours to reach for the drinks on the nightstand. In the position you are in, you feel Chris pat your ass again.

“Yo can you stop?" you laugh, grabbing the glasses and returning to his side. You hand him his drink, but he doesn’t respond right away. He just smiles at you, soft and a little mischievous, like he’s about to say something—definitely dumb or inappropriate—but he stops himself.

Instead, after a moment, he finally replies with, "I love you."

You chuckle and shake your head at the words, but you still feel your chest warm. You glance over at your daughter making sure she’s distracted, and then flip his cap backwards, before placing a hand onto his jaw. You angle him towards you and there’s a second where you smile at each other, before you kiss him softly, then a little deeper.

“I love you, too,” you tell him against his lips.

—

Later that evening, as you get ready for bed, you giggle when you pull off your sweats.

"I must’ve sat on one of her stickers," you say, peeling a pink star off the butt of your pants.

Across the room, Chris tugs off his shirt and looks over at you, already smirking.

"No, I put that there," he confesses the earlier thought he never said out loud.

Your hands fall limp at your sides, the sticker dangling between your fingers. You tilt your head at him, silently asking ‘are you serious?’

Chris laughs at your expression and steps toward you. Before you can say anything else, he pulls you in by the hips, wrapping his arms around your waist.

"Nothing more perfect than your ass," he says, grinning as he leans in close, "deserves a million stars in my eyes."

You laugh, half in disbelief, and toss the sweatpants straight at his face.

"You’re the weirdest person ever," you say, still grinning as he catches the pants one-handed and tugs you even closer.

—

a/n: i miss my future daughter</3 and i wanna be chris's wife</3

[natsheretic]

warnings: oral (nat receiving), slight jealousy, fingering (nat receiving), nat's a little shit, semi public sex, brief mentions of alcohol, reader is kind of pussy drunk? nottt proofread lol

"christ, slow the fuck dow– ah! shit, just like that."

natalie doesn't know how she ended up in this position so suddenly, hiding in a random person's bathroom, sitting on the edge of the counter, with the one girl she's been hating for so long on her knees for her.

it started with nat seeing you dance with some random girl, she swears she just pitied the girl, since she didn't know who she was getting involved with. but there was this sinking feeling in her stomach when she saw the grin on your face as you spoke to this girl, jealousy blooming in her chest.

the blonde walked right up to you, claiming she had something to tell you in the other room, just to get you away from anyone who wasn't her. she didn't even wait for a response before her hand was wrapped around your wrist, dragging you to a bathroom.

she definitely doesn't remember kissing you when you got annoyed at her for pulling you away, and she definitely doesn't remember your hands grabbing her hips and groping her thighs as her hand slipped under your shirt to play with your tits. your hands had found their way into her hair, yanking her head back to trail kisses down her neck, both of you frantically stripping your shirts and bottoms, with you somehow– she pushed you– ending up on your knees.

maybe it was the alcohol you'd consumed, maybe it was obsession that's been festering and building since you first met nat, but you never wanted to pull away from her. your mouth lapped at her like you were fucking starved, two of your fingers pushed in and out of her sopping wet cunt, reveling in the pants that spilled from her lips and her fingers pulling at your hair.

your other hand was clawing at her thigh, leaving red lines on her pale skin. all you could do was fuck her, and it's all you wanted to do, all while listening to the pretty chorus of muttered swears and praises

“fuck, babe, yesyes–”

“so, so good for me. god, your mouth is so perfect”

you moaned against her at the praise, the vibrations making her pussy squeeze around your fingers. nat gripped your hair tighter, bucking her hips against your mouth, riding your mouth when you pulled your fingers out to slide your tongue inside her. her hand held you in place, the pain from her nails digging into your scalp didn't even register until her pussy was clamping down around you and you tasted her cum on your tongue.

you worked her through it eagerly, only stopping when she pulled you away from her pussy. you whined when your mouth was no longer between her legs, pressing your face into the plush of her inner thigh to cope with the devastating loss of her pussy. nat just laughed breathlessly at the sight of you pouting, her fingers running through your hair in an attempt to fix it, “you good down there, babe?”

you hummed in content, nodding against her thigh but refusing to move away from it, “gonna need you to get up so i can put my clothes on.” she said, tugging your hair to get you back up to your feet.

a huff blew out from your lips, you reluctantly stood up and faced her, placing both hands on the counter behind her, “better?” you asked sarcastically.

natalie's lips tugged into a smile, it was quickly wiped away by something that looked similar to guilt, looking like she was about to say something, but didn't, “now move, princess.” she murmured, pushing you away from her so she could put her clothes back on.

you asked where she was going, which just earned you silence, so you gathered your clothes as well. you pulled your shirt on over your head and turned to look at her, but she had already made her way out of the door, saying something along the lines of “tell anyone about this, and i kick your ass”

you scoffed once you were alone in the bathroom, leaning back against the counter and tipping your head back. you couldn't even be surprised, she was natalie scatorccio, she never stays. it's the only thing you can count on her for. but hey, at least she's consistent.

i lovelovelove nat i'm currently rewatching yellowjackets cause i miss my baby

[my-quirk-is-fred]

My take on the male loneliness epidemic:

It’s real, but not only is it not what people believe it to be, but it’s also not actually treated accurately by those that claim they are affected by it.

The cause of the epidemic is not one thing, not one factor, but a multitude of reasons that even men refuse to acknowledge and consider.

Whenever I see a man (and in some cases women), usually right leaning or incel-like, go on a tangent about the epidemic, it usually comes down to how they cannot get female strangers specifically to validate them. Seriously. There are men who complain about how women don’t appreciate or trust them (ex: bear vs man hypothetical), how they can’t get anything out of them (ex: a relationship), etc, and it always seems to actually downplay the epidemic that they claim to be effected by.

If you are lonely because you want a woman to validate you, then that is a self inflicted expectation that was inflated by the real issue. Women are not the real reason you are lonely.

Gay men are also affected by the same epidemic as straight men. And it’s not women who make them lonely.

So what is the cause of male loneliness? What is the root issue? And what is it that contributes and continues the epidemic?

Let’s dive into this, shall we…?

1. The start.

The male loneliness epidemic actually starts when you are a child. As a young boy, you are expected to be tough, responsible, in control, etc all while the adults push the expectations of getting a wife or a girlfriend on you.

You are expected to wear and like ‘boy’ colors, you are expected to like rough sports that may not have been your choice to begin with, you are expected to have your personal boundaries broken if it doesn’t align with the adult’s wants (ex: they cut off your long hair because it’s “gay”)

If you cry, they mock you for being pathetic.

If you emotionally reach out to another boy, you are called gay by your equally affected peers and adults.

If you reach out to a girl, everyone assumes you are romantically interested in her, which leads to you or the girl distancing yourselves from each other.

You are not allowed to develop emotionally, you are not allowed to explore boundaries and relationships, and you are not allowed to be human.

That. That is the core. The beginning of the infection.

It’s not your fault. You don’t deserve to be beaten or mocked when you cry.

But unfortunately, that is going to be ingrained into you for the next several years…

2. Growing expectations.

As you get older, people expect you to take on bigger responsibilities and they expect you to like it. They want marriage and to grow up faster than is possible. They expect you to ‘man up’ while giving mixed signals about the opposite sex.

“You don’t need a woman but you need a woman to have your emotional, physical, and spiritual needs met.”

Women are treated as both the answer to your problems AND the cause of them. It confuses and hurts your mental health without you understanding and it leads to unrealistic expectations. And it doesn’t help that your deprivation of emotional connections to non-romantic relationships is screaming for something to relieve it.

You now expect to have a spouse or a woman to fill that gaping hole that the adults in your childhood had dug and infected with confusing and damaging ideas.

You expect to get a high labor job that could literally kill you to prove your worth to this nonexistent woman, your peers, your mentors… and yourself.

You are at a stage where you have mental blocks that are keeping you from reaching out to people, developing your emotional intelligence, and understanding the growing hurt you are feeling due to shame and fear.

You think it’s weak to cry, you think that either you or the women are the problems, and you view other men as threats with or without your knowledge.

You unknowingly seek out validation from abusive men, hoping they will tell you that the women are the problem, that you’re perfect but you need to get a better job, and that there’s nothing wrong with you.

3. The self infliction “stage”

You spiral, you miss what really causes this isolation, and you worsen the problem to the point where everyone steers clear of you.

You have now entered a stage that you don’t realize you are in. It makes you bitter, it makes you neglect your true needs, and you take it out on strangers and those close to you who have to walk on eggshells around you.

It’s not your fault that you were groomed into being lonely… but you are an adult now. And as an adult, you need to clean the mess. No one else will. Some may help, but it requires you to actually let them into your house to see all the ran down furniture and the mold that spread throughout your living space.

4. The solution.

There is no simple solution. It is not a physical wound, it’s wound that remains in the complex system that is your mind. No one is the same, and some people have different priorities and recovery stages.

The first thing you can do is recognize and understand. Other people who aren’t as affected as you have figured out the root issue and have addressed it without pushing their luggage on others. You do not need a ‘bad guy’ to blame. You need yourself.

Self love is much deeper than just wanting for yourself… self love is addressing your flaws and ridding yourself of bad habits without tearing yourself down. It’s like your pet dog, you cannot simply let your dog lash out at others, you cannot let it indulge in too much of something or too little. Your dog, as much as you love them, may have problems. If you love your dog, you will not let it eat chocolate or chase down a cat.

If you love yourself, you will not expect others to fix things for you and will find yourself with someone backing you up… yourself.

Yes, to ‘cure’ loneliness is a group effort. It requires you to reach out to others and vise versa, but in order to do that, you need to understand that everyone is an individual with limits and boundaries. You need to understand that they cannot control your identity and value. And you cannot control theirs. If they cannot be emotionally available, then you need to remind yourself of your worth and leave them be.

You won’t be cured of your childhood conditioning overnight. You will still suffer. The best you can do is work towards ending the cycle. Starting with letting that little boy be a kid and emotionally reach out to his peers, male and female.

5. Conclusion/tl;dr

You don’t need a wife. You don’t need a gender specific validation. You need friends. Real friends. Real family. Real community.

Romantic relationships and surface level validations like compliments and simple acknowledgment are temporary solutions. They are Bandaids that your peers and society has hyped up to unrealistic standards. They are not your solution.

If someone found a special someone who has helped them, then props to them, but do not expect that delicate bond to fix everything nor occur so soon in your lifetime. Bonds need you to be responsible in order for it to work.

You need to have platonic bonds with others, even if you don’t think it’ll help. You need to be able to work independently without demonizing your needs and dependency for emotional connection outside of a romantic relationship.

What strangers think of your vulnerability does not matter. Your ‘femininity’ and ‘gayness’ doesn’t make you less. Who cares. If you’re happy for once, then do not concern yourself with expectations you can live without.

Now go watch transformers, share your interests with fellow autistics, and make cool shit 🫵

[rabotimagines]

Do you have more Insecticons?

"Instinct" GN BOT Reader x The Insecticons

Summary: The Insecticons trying to seduce reader while reader doesn't know what the hell is happening.

G1 Characters: The Insecticons, Sideswipes here too (you flirt with each other a little too but casually.)

Genre/Theme: Insecticons failing to seduce Reader.

Pronouns: You, Your, Yours, Their, Them, They

Notes: Autobot Reader! Referencing G1 episodes at the start. Part 2 of this.

You really should've known better. Really, you should have.

After someone let it slip, you knew how to make those energon goodies. The Insecticons wound up kidnapping you. Which half of It you don't even remember because of the mind control shell and the orders they gave you. But it was a day and a half for your friends to get you back from them.

Then they kidnapped you a second time when they were hopped up on that stuff that made them grow a few size classes. Oh yeah, that one ended with Shrapnel exploding because, of course, it did.

So you really should know better.

But the invasive plant fiasco happened, and you got to watch the insecticons clone army get absolutely devoured by those plants. And you were the only one watching what was the original Insecticons freaking out and desperately trying to free Kickback from the clutches of one of said plants.

You should be relieved they were gonna get eaten. It would make your jobs guarding earth a lot easier.

But looking at them panic and Kickback begging, and frankly, it actually looked like he was a nanoklick from bursting into tears. Kinda just- eh, what was the human phrase Carly used to describe that guy she had that encounter with? A pathetic bastard? Yeah, that sounds right. They looked like such pathetic bastards that you couldn't help feeling sorry for them.

You cared way too much in general.

But that's primarily why you were an Autobot and not a Decepticon.

With a sigh, you ran over and promptly slammed your pede onto the vines latched around Kickbacks leg. The plant sensing you close latched another vine out and wrapped it around your arm. You only pressed down harder on the one you were stepping on. And Bombshell and Shrapnel managed to yank Kickback free of the plants' vice grip.

They barely looked your way before booking it away from the killer plants grasp and up into the sky.

Honestly, you really did care too much. You shot Blaster a message to come your way to free you when another vine shot out to wrap around your thigh. The two limbs slowly begun to drag you closer to the main bulb of the plant.

At least these things only ate Insecticons.

-

You were stuck on patrol with Sideswipe during a slow shift. The klicks crawling by agonizingly slow. After the sixth round of your patrol route with absolutely nothing of note happening, you'd opted to take a quick break.

You were both in your root modes, and Sideswipe had moved next to the tree you were already leaning against. You arched an optic ridge at him silently, wondering what he was doing at the tree you'd already claimed as your own.

He mimicked a yawn- like the humans would do, and stretched his arms high and- his arm went over your pauldron. Sideswipe then dragged you a bit closer to his frame, and you could only level him with a blank expression.

"What? It's not like we're doing nothin' could be doing... something." Sideswipe exaggeratedly waggled his optic ridge and made the most ridiculous expression, so you knew he wasn't being serious. "Something fun maybeeee?" He nearly leaned his entire frame weight onto you, and you would've fallen if you didn't make sure to hold him up. This slagger.

Though despite your mild annoyance, your derma quirked upwards. Because two could play this game after all.

Instead of pushing Sideswipe away or breaking away like you assume he was expecting, you only leaned further against him. Your servo moved to trace the dip of his Autobot symbol. You met his gaze and arched an optic brow. And you asked if Sideswipe really thought he could handle you.

Amusement curled in your frame when Sideswipe's optics brightened a touch.

And before you could shove him away and tell him to get real, a shout made you both jump away from each other.

"Autobot!" Bombshell appeared out of the shrubbery in his alt mode. You both automatically reached for your weapons, but Bombshell kept talking. "I challenge you to a duel! No blasters, only frames!" Bombshell announced while staring right at Sideswipe.

Sideswipe thought on it for only half a nano-klick before grinning. "You're on bug boy!" You could only sigh over the response. Of course, the fight junky would take it up with no questions asked.

Which is how you end up standing on the side, watching them both circle one another like a pair of territorial turbofoxes. You'd found a dirt patch in the trees, and it was where they'd started brawling. Sideswipe lundged first and after a big scuffle ended up on Bombshell's back. Bombshell rightfully started bucking and swinging to get Sideswipe off of him. You try to cheer Sideswipe on telling him not to make the Autobots look bad and to keep it together.

But eventually, Sideswipe loses his grip he had on Bombshell's back and gets bucked off. Then Bombshell rushed him, and you half assumed Sideswipe was about to get impaled right in front of you. Only Sideswipe dodged, making Bombshell's horn scrap underneath Sideswipe's frame instead of directly stabbing him.

Bombshell then launched Sideswipe off his horn with a vengeance.

You watched Sideswipe sail into a tree and land in the dirt with a loud crash of branches and metal.

"Yes! Victory is mine!" Bombshell announced aloud and actually started shuffling like he was celebrating his win.

You call out and ask Sideswipe if he's okay.

"Yeah! Kinda scuffed but I'm fine."

Another shout makes you jolt and you turn to see Shrapnel's alt mode jump out of the shrubbery this time into the dirt clearing. But he's got his gaze set right on Bombshell instead of you or Sideswipe.

Shrapnel advanced towards Bombshell "Mine! Mine-!" He repeated aloud.

"No! Not yours! Mine!" Bombshell snapped back, his plating ruffling and shaking in anger. And just like that, they started circling each other like Sideswipe and Bombshell had.

What the pit were they even fighting over? The win?

They charged each other, and after a quick scuffle, Shrapnel managed to grab Bombshell with his big mandibles. Shrapnel whipped around and threw Bombshell against a tree. The wood cracked, and the tree fell with a load crash. "I won! I won-!" Shrapnel quickly started celebrating.

But Bombshell didn't stay down, and he came back via rushing Shrapnel through the bushes. His horn slamming Shrapnel right in the side and sending his alt mode skidding against the ground. Shrapnel hissed, and Bombshell actually growled back at him. Seriously, what are they fighting over!? Shrapnel then let loose a discharge of his electricity, and just like that, you dived to join Sideswipe in the shrubbery.

You both decided to ditch the two of them to start making your way back to the patrol route, while you spit balled ideas on what all that was between each other. Only not too long after you started going, did you start hearing- something.

It almost sounded like- Powerglide trying to take off? Like metal spinning fast and precise. You stared at one another before electing to follow through with your patrol and investigate it.

You ended up tracking the noise together through the woods until you got closer and closer. And eventually you ended up close enough to see a frame in the woods clinging on a tree. You could see- purple and gray- oh Primus, it's Kickback.

And Kickback was? Was he making the sound? You focused your optics and could make out his alt mode legs drumming against his own wings. The reverberated noise you'd been hearing was the drumming sound of very quick metal on metal touches.

You stepped on a branch, and the sound immediately cut out. Kickback glanced your way, and you both tensed.

Only he started drumming the sound up on his wings once more while making optic contact with you in his alt mode. You cycled your optics and continued to stare astonished at the display.

A loud crash made you all snap your attention towards Shrapnel and Bombshell, who both tumbled into your area in a mess of angry bug limbs. Bombshell forced Shrapnel's helm to the side when he pushed him down, and Shrapnel let loose another discharge of his electricity. It engulfed the area making you jerk back. The burning prickles of it ghosted along your frame. Kickback yelling in pain told you he was not as fortunate as you two were.

As soon as the wave of electricity stopped, Bombshell dropped to his side and had to make an effort to get back up again. Shrapnel rose only for Kickback to descend on both of them with a vengeance. It turned into an all-out scrap between the three of them, climbing and swiping and kicking and- a shot of stray electricity nearly hit Sideswipe in the helm. You both looked at each other and turned on a pede and quickly made your way back towards your route and away from the Insecticons apparent madness.

You'd take your boring patrol shift over this any day of the week.

-

"Hold it!" Bombshell snapped, putting a leg each on Shrapnel and Kickbacks helms pushing their alt modes closer to the ground. "Where are they?" At the question, they both glanced left and right and realized like he did that you were gone.

They all broke away from one another to transform back into root mode and start cursing.

"Slagger! Slagger-! That Autobot took off with them- with them-!" Shrapnel angerly clenched his mandibles and stood up. Glancing around seeing if there was any sign for which direction you'd taken off in.

"You two ruined my show! They were interested even!" Kickback pushed Shrapnel and pointed at Bombshell. "They were focusing right on me, and you ruined it!" Kickback swung back and smashed a rock to bits with his pede, sending broken rock flying into the air. His antennas twitched, and his plating quivered in his own displeasure.

"Whatever! Whatever-! Like they'd actually go with you! You-!" Shrapnel glared at Kickback, and Kickback hissed back at him with a sneer.

"Be quiet, both of you!" Bombshell snapped and shoved them both away from one another. "Clearly, we need to re plan our seduction strategy." Kickback and Shrapnel huffed but didn't argue. "We needed that failure to remind us we aren't just trying to be their mate. We've got the entirety of the Autobots to compete with."

They couldn't argue with Bombshell on it because it was true. They were going to be fighting all the Autobots for your attention. While they were busy fighting each other, that red Autobot easily swiped you away from them.

"We'll need to work together to make them our mate." Bombshell turned and started making his way towards a clearing in the trees. "So no more fighting over them between us until we make them ours. Got it?"

"Sounds like a plan- plan-!" Shrapnel followed after Bombshell.

"Fine- the Autobots won't know what hit them when they choose us." Kickback trailed after the both of them smiling as he imagined the scene.

"We'll make them ours soon enough." With that, they all transformed back into alt mode and took to the skies. Keeping their optics open for a familiar sight of your color of paint.

[481mclarg]

can i request an angst where charles leclerc cheated on the reader then reader proceeds to get along w lewis or carlos? :3

✶ You hurt me.

┈─ I told u what hurts me the most & u did it perfectly.

★ (Ex Charles Leclerc/) GN Reader × Carlos Sainz Jr.

☆ WC: 905 / + SMAU

★ Face claim: none.

Warning: Cheating (on you). Not that much angst, but it's not a happy start.

« K » I didn't want to make one of my last reqs that much angst, so it's pretty light. The point is there anyway.

Hope yall enjoy :]

          You didn't know how to feel. A part of you wanted to scream, explode, and let everyone know the whole story. Why? You wanted empathy, maybe, but seeking it from an audience that knew you for him didn't make sense.

Coming off, as the crazy ex didn't make sense either, not when Charles was already dating that friend who "meant nothing" when you used to be a little jealous or you were starting to suspect something.

And to think that you felt guilty for thinking badly of him...

You began to rebuild your life.

It was strange. The city was small, so you had to get used to moving through those streets that had once been the staging for your romantic movie, keeping in mind that now they were just empty sets. Memories.

It was difficult, you knew it would be, but you didn't want to stop living your life because of that. Not because of him.

"Your coffee is going to get cold." You had lost yourself in the nostalgia of your memories when you heard someone talking to you.

“Carlos,” you smiled vaguely at the man standing next to you, holding a disposable cup in one hand and his bicycle helmet in the other.

“May I?” He gestured to the empty chair in front of you.

“Go ahead,” you nodded.

You had already had the chance to go to the Ferrari garage a few times, even before you started dating Charles, before Sainz goes to Williams, so you knew him. He was, after your ex, the one you had the best relationship with.

It had been a while since you had seen each other, so you used Carlos's break to talk a bit, leaving a meeting pending to finish catching up.

Something casual, a meeting on an autumn afternoon to sit down again over a coffee, but in no hurry.

youruser

♥️          Liked by best_friend, carlossainzjr, and others

                        View all comments

youruser: 🍂☕️

userone: You're backk🫂

usertwo: you deserve better

best_friend: I'm so glad to see you happy again. You deserve to be happy 🫂❤️‍🩹

↳ youruser: ❤️‍🩹🫂 love u

youruser

♥️        Liked by carlossainzjr, userthree, lando, and others

youruser: Piñooon❤️‍🩹

                        View all comments

userfour: It's so cute that you maintain your friendship with Carlos after all🥺

userfive: I love you both ❌️ you three

carlossainzjr: Piñon is already missing you

↳ youruser: AND I MISS HIM😭😭🥺

“Do you want to come to my house? I can cook something for dinner,” he suggested, and you didn't hesitate to accept.

The hours began to pass, and the streetlights came on as the sun began to set. You hadn't been silent for a single second, but both felt like there were a thousand more things to talk about.

Not that one, not the next, not the next one after… Meetings became a frequent activity. Most frequently that the races allowed Carlos. When that wasn't enough, he suggested you join him in the Williams garage for a race.

You hadn't set foot in the paddock for a long time; you had even though you would never return after cutting off all contact with Charles.

Carlos asked you to think about it without really putting pressure on you, understanding that it might be a place where you feel uncomfortable. It was a nice gesture.

He had always made nice gestures toward you, so you decided to accept.

You always felt comfortable with him. Even though you tried not to trust anyone so easily again, Carlos made it impossible to resist.

He was different from your ex, there was no doubt about that, but he had a special charm that caught you off guard, making you laugh like an idiot or blush as if you'd never been flirted with before.

Little details that melted your heart and made it impossible not to want to start a new chapter in your life with Carlos by your side.

The day of the question inevitably arrived.

Carlos wasn't subtle in his desire for you to be his partner either. Though you wouldn't say you felt pressured. You felt like everything was just happening, and the two of you were just following the rhythm of your hearts.

youruser

♥️          Liked by carlossainzjr, alex_albon, and others

youruser: 🇧🇷☀️🛥

                        View all comments

usersix: at this point, just confirm please🙏

userseven: wdym they aren't dating !?

best_friend: beautiful 🤍

                                  Liked by author

usereight: I'm not acting surprise when they confirm

carlossainzjr: 🤍💙

                              Liked by author

You had traveled together for a Grand Prix, and now you were having dinner after Sunday's race. Carlos had gotten a good result actually, but instead of going out to a bar or a party with his friends, he decided to stick to the previous plan of having dinner with you.

You thought it would be a quiet night to relax after all the excitement of the day.

Quite the opposite.

Carlos decided to be especially attentive, dropping several compliments even before you two even got to the food order. You weren't far behind either; that you were a fan of the contrast between his tanned skin and the white shirts he liked to wear wasn't a secret, nor a detail you failed to mention every time you went out.

His tanned skin, his strong arms, his hair, his accent; you too could find a thousand and one things to praise.

The night slipped by between flirting and chatting, and when it was time for dessert, he asked, "Would you do me the honor of coming back to the garage next race, as my partner?"

The moment was simply more than you could have ever imagined. Nothing mattered more to you in that moment than the two of you; nothing was more special than what you were experiencing together.

And what the future held for you, because without hesitation you said yes, sealing the promise to accompany the other in a kiss.

The paddock was no longer a place that made you feel uncomfortable or insecure, nor did people’s comments on social media. You were with someone who respected you, someone who loved you and who loved you back, and that was all that mattered to Carlos and you.

100 FOLLOWERS EVENT

481MCLARG | 06 . 05 . 2025 | CORREGIDO

[possesseddesiress]

Possession – Revenge: Part Two

CONTENT WARNING: This story includes themes of transformation and body control with a suggestive approach. If this type of narrative is not to your liking or you do not meet the recommended age, we suggest you do not continue. All images used (if any) belong to their respective owners. I claim no authorship over them and they are only used for illustrative purposes.

If you decide to go ahead, welcome to Possessed Desires, where mind and body are never completely under your control.

Possesion – Revenge: Part Two

part one: Revenge

- I'm home! - I heard Dustin's voice. I could only smile with an expression laden with mischief. Bingo.

- I'm in the bedroom, honey! - I lied with no chutzpah.

Almost immediately he was already in the doorframe, smiling as he looked at me. It took everything in me not to yell at him, at least lash out or curse at him, instead I just forced a smile.

- What are you doing? - he asked with a laugh.

- Nothing. Don't you like it?

- I love it... Although I'm confused as to why you're wearing your Halloween costume

- I remembered you like those things and wanted to surprise you - at least I had the advantage that I knew this jerk inside out.

- You're absolutely right...

We started kissing. I was nauseous, I wanted to make these two pay, how could I ruin Dustin and Alberto's lives? I wanted to come up with a plan but it was hard to think of anything with Dustin touching my buttocks insistently.

He placed his hand between my legs, to which I let out a slight gasp. I thought maybe I could get some use out of this.

I kissed him with some intensity, both of us using our tongues, a kiss as sloppy and intense as never before. Or at least... not with me.

I sighed lightly. I felt him press against me fully, saliva escaping between my corners. He spun me around until I was settled on his legs, both of us panting.

- Today you feel... Different.

He murmured, watching me from head to toe, a little suspiciously. He stared at me too long, to which I preferred to kiss him intensely to keep him from thinking.

- Why don't we... de-stress?

I moved against his body, letting my buttocks rub insistently against him. And suddenly neither of us had any pants on.

His thick tool ended up inside me, to which I gasped with desire. We had been intimate a thousand times in my original body, but there was something now that felt very different, as if Alberto's body had more nerve endings.

It was like seeing stars.

- Ah!" I half-opened my lips, confused by the new sensations that I myself was sticking to with more need, as if I wanted him to get to the bottom.

- Gosh honey, you're so excited today....

I didn't even pay attention to him.

My eyes curved with desire, I smiled foolishly and even felt a little saliva drop. It was as if my brain was melting just to feel that.

We ended up exhausted on the bed, him cuddled up to me, which made me uncomfortable, it must be said.

- Everything all right?

- Yes, yes - I looked away.

- Did I do something to upset you? Are you angry?

I denied.

- Not at all, honey - Rather, I was thoughtful. As much as I would love to occupy Dustin, I couldn't forget why I ended up here in the first place.

So I had to come up with a way to make them both pay. Leave Dustin so disappointed in Alberto that I wouldn't want to see him for years, and Dustin so ruined that there was no going back.

So it all started the next morning. I waited for Dustin to leave the house and immediately installed a "casual" dating app.

I filled in the necessary information, and to make things worse (or better?) I put Alberto's full name, and a picture where his face was perfectly visible.

If they liked to play "keep" with someone else's partner, then they wouldn't mind sharing.

Barely five minutes went by and the message inbox seemed to explode: men of all sizes, races and descriptions, discreet, twinks, everything.

But there was one message that interested me more than the others.

- Alberto, is it really you?

I opened the message, noticing the profile and the picture, I could only smile with mischief and total satisfaction: It was Roger.

Dustin's best friend.

- Hey, right. That's right

I typed.

It wasn't even five minutes before he answered back.

- What are you doing here? What's going on with Dustin?

- Well, can't I have a little fun?

- Not when you have a partner.

He had a point, I wish his best friend felt the same way.

- It's weird, though. Don't you think? You say I can't but...that hasn't stopped you from texting me, if you wanted to tell Dustin.... You would have done it by now.

It took several minutes for him to respond, so I sent another message.

- Or did you see something you liked? Do you want to play with your best friend's "prize"?

Six minutes passed, I thought he wouldn't answer until the phone buzzed.

- I'm on my way to your house.

I smiled arrogantly.

As soon as he arrived, I opened the door, he walked in, looking somewhat annoyed and even intimidating.

- Aren't you dating Dustin? - I rolled my eyes a little at his insistence and the same question.

- I thought we had already cleared that up.

- It's not fair what you're doing, Alberto.

He muttered crossing his arms, I did the same.

- And yet you're here.

The silence lasted a while, he looked at me with his eyes closed.

- It's Dustin's joke, isn't it? Where is he? Tell him to come out now.

- I can prove to you that it's really not a joke.

I smiled coquettishly, kneeling in front of him to stick out my tongue like a fool, I took his hand to make his fingers find their way into my mouth.

He looked at me with desire for a while, until finally he lifted me up and we started kissing so intensely that our lips were so hot, he grabbed my waist, dug his fingers into my skin and then spread kisses down my neck. He caressed my buttocks and his fingers found their way to my entrance.

- You don't know how much I wanted to do this - he murmured hoarsely. He placed me against the wall.

- And why hadn't you been up for it before? - I whispered in a seductive tone, before I felt him insert his tool all at once, my eyes widened with force and some pain, which was quickly replaced with pleasure, I gasped with a silly smile, feeling a slap to my buttocks.

- I thought you were faithful to Dustin.

- Well, the world changes so fast.

And again, another lunge.

We went crazy for hours, sweating and filling the room with that signature scent.

I expected Dustin to arrive at any moment, "finding" me red-handed. But he never came. So I had even more time and ideas to leave Alberto as a random.

My initial idea was more encounters until Dustin figured it out. But maybe that would be too boring.

I took my cell phone, starting to take pictures to upload to my stories, caressing my new chubby buttocks, or "promoting" my new gift boxers. The easier Alberto looked, the better.

- Today there will be a party with some friends, maybe we should go. Although I know you might not feel like going - he commented while we were eating.

- Actually I do want to go.

I smiled to myself.

- Do you really? You don't usually like parties.

- I know, but you're my boyfriend. And I have to support you, don't I?

He swallowed it all. The poor guy didn't even suspect anything, and how could he? Of course, he had no idea that his ex was inside the sensual body of his new boyfriend.

We got to the party, which was pretty... boring. Just drinks here and there, boring talk and nothing else.

So it was the perfect opportunity to make it interesting.

I excused myself to go to the bathroom. Once in front of the mirror, I smiled, flexing my arms and pulling my hair back.

- Ready for your big performance? - I asked as if Alberto could answer me.

I took everything off immediately, leaving me in just a tight boxer. I flexed my muscles a little more and opened the door.

I moved forward to where the "soul" of the party was, I felt the stares of all of Dustin's friends, some indignant, others... staring very intently.

I stood in the center, starting to flex my arms with a goofy grin. I didn't even know what to do but that was the least of it, right?

- Do they like what they see? - I asked aloud, also starting to sway my hips back and forth, feeling the relief in my underwear bounce with each sway. I lifted my armpit to sniff it, enjoying the stinking aroma.

Then I knelt on the floor, beginning to caress my buttocks.

Panting and sticking out my tongue almost like a dog, a little saliva escaped my lips in between panting and slapping my buttocks.

I could see perfectly well how some of his friends started rubbing their pants and looking at me with lust-laden eyes.

- Anyone care to join me?

I mumbled licking my lips, just at that moment I met Roger's gaze who looked quite “excited” with a marked relief in his tight jeans.

And next to him, Dustin.

First an expression of surprise bordering on disgust and disappointment, until it shifted to anger.

Bingo.

I leaned forward, starting to knead my muscles, slow from my calf all the way up to my hip, then back. I began to work my fingers into my entrance, gasping at the sensation, smiling and biting my lower lip.

Despite everything and the repulsion I naturally felt for this body, it was sensitive....

- What the fuck are you doing, Alberto?

He grabbed my arm to pull me up suddenly. I smiled like anything.

- Does it bother you?

- Of course it bothers me! What's wrong with you?!?

- Oh come on, don't make this scene in front of everyone.

I said looking around me.

- A scene?!? You're the one acting like an exhibitionist!

- And you don't like it? - I pressed myself against him, caressing his abs - We can give you all a.... show everyone. I think they'd love it.

- Fuck you.

He stormed out of the room, annoyed and angry. I just stayed in the room, surrounded by his friends who hadn't left upset or shocked by my behavior, on the contrary... they looked hungry, starving.

- Do you want to come and have a taste?

I flexed my arms again.

Going home was quite a challenge, Dustin and I screamed a lot, which was strangely... satisfying.

Considering that in my original body he only left me with a text message.

- I don't understand what's wrong with you Alberto! You've been acting weird for weeks! What the fuck is wrong with you?!?

A laugh escaped my lips, denying.

- You don't have the slightest idea, do you?

- What?

I laughed again.

- That I'm not Alberto, asshole.

I let out a thunderous laugh, drunk with revenge. I don't think I'll ever forget his confused look.

- You're crazy.

- Pretty crazy, "Dunnie" - I put my hand on his chest, smiling. That nickname only I could tell him, his look transformed into pure horror.

- But... Sebastien? Is that you?

- Till you figure it out, big guy.

I squeezed his breastplate hard.

- But how? What are you doing inside of him? Why are you doing this?

- Why? Are you seriously asking why? - I raised my eyebrow, crossing my arms - Don't you remember everything you did? You ruined my life, Dustin! I'm just returning the favor.

- No, you're doing it to Alberto and he had nothing to do with it-

- Of course he had something to do with it! I wasn't the one who chose to steal someone else's boyfriend.

I declared.

- And what do you want?

- To see you pay, of course.

- You've done your job, you've done it, leave us alone.

- Oh no, I made him pay. You...

I felt a strange sensation in my stomach, it was as if my body went on autopilot. I immediately threw myself against him to kiss him, grabbing him by the cheeks with force, he moved to pull back but I kept him where he was, I felt something rising from my stomach to end up in my mouth, the more I advanced, it was as if I lost control of Alberto's body.

And then I passed into Dustin's body.

I felt spasms and violent agitation, before falling to the ground with darkness enveloping me.

Once I awoke, I found Alberto's unconscious body next to me, I felt heavy, very heavy.

I smiled, stroking my fat pecs.

- I must admit, you're not bad at all... Dunnie.

I boasted, emphasizing the caresses to his chest in that sensitive spot, going crazy from the sensation.

- Gosh, you sure are sensitive!

I kneaded harder, flexing my arms to sniff my armpits.

- You do stink... But get used to it, from now on you'll be nothing but a muscle-bound fool addicted to their stench.

I sniffed, smiling.

From that day on, I stayed in Dustin's body. I thought about ruining his life like Alberto, humiliating him and leaving him almost ruined. But then I thought, where would I go?

I didn't know if I could go back to my body, and even if I could, I had no job, no money, not even a house anymore.

So I decided to stay as Dustin... for the rest of my life.

I had great muscles, charisma, a good job and a nice apartment, plus a rather interesting addition...

It turns out that when I possessed Alberto, my soul seemed to merge with his. Leaving a permanent residue of me in him, it was almost like a clone, my mind in his body.

It was quite a surprise to know that my consciousness was still inside that body. Although I certainly enjoyed staying inside Alberto as well.

It was a bit complicated to explain what happened that night at the party, but they quickly forgot about it (not that Alberto apparently had a magic mouth).

If you're wondering if we're still a couple, yes. Initially it was weird thanks to the hatred we had for each other, but, we also know exactly what we want, how we feel about things.

It's great, although sometimes if we do allow ourselves to be with other people for one-night stands.

And Dustin? Well, unlike Alberto, I did spend weeks listening to him whine, scream and beg me to leave his body, until one day he just shut up.

I guess my mind sucked him in or something, because his memories came with him. Anyway, everyone got what they deserved, and well, revenge is sweet.

----

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you liked it, don't forget to follow it and share it so more people can discover it.

I'm always open to suggestions and ideas, so if you have any fantasy or scenario in mind, let me know in the comments or in messages. See you in the next story... Who knows what body you will occupy this time?

---

[fordiaz]

No Ties (Evan Buckley, Eddie Diaz) ౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪🎻

“Christopher deserves to have you close. But the life I’ve built here… the people I love, the career I’ve made, my roots — they’re here. You knew I couldn’t follow.” ༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

Synopsis: When Eddie makes plans to leave for El Paso without telling you, it feels like a betrayal you can’t ignore — so you walk away. The one person who stays is Buck, your best friend and quiet constant. As you help Eddie pack and say your final goodbye, you realize the future you once imagined might not be the one meant for you — and maybe, just maybe, love was waiting right beside you all along.

Genre: Angst, Comfort, Slowburn

AU: None

Pairing: Ex!Eddie Diaz x Afab!Reader, Evan Buckley x Afab!Reader

Warnings: None

Note: Based on a dream I had after a billion attempts to try to sleep because I kept waking up for some reason in the middle of the night, I can’t believe I’m already caught up with most of 911 and I’m not ready to let go of Bobby just yet. 😭 (P.S: This is my first fic with an epilogue because I felt generous, love you guys!)

Eddie hadn’t meant for it to happen like this.

It started with a listing. Then two. Then three. And before he knew it, his browser history and his iPad were full of El Paso real estate and bookmarked school districts.

No words. No announcement. Just a secret contingency plan growing like ivy in the background of his life in Los Angeles.

At first, it was just a maybe.

But the truth was that Christopher had been distant ever since the Marisol fallout. The kid didn’t talk much about it—he didn’t need to.

The disappointment had been loud in other ways: the sudden move to his abuelos’ house, the lack of text replies, the cold stares when Eddie dropped off dinner on weekends.

Eddie had cheated. And no matter how you justified it, the damage was done. What was worse was that Christopher had probably seen him differently since. Less hero. More stranger.

So, when the thought of El Paso came up, it made sense. Be near his son. Rebuild what he broke.

But he hadn’t planned on Buck finding out that day at his house.

Buck had shown up unannounced at Eddie’s door, flour smudged on his hoodie and a box of still-warm scones and other baked pastries in hand. He looked like he hadn’t slept, eyes a little too bright for someone who claimed to be “fine.”

“I almost relapsed and called Tommy,” he said, not even waiting for Eddie to ask what was wrong. “So I baked every speck of flour in the house. Here, eat a scone,”

Eddie raised an eyebrow but took the scone with a nod of gratitude.

“You good?”

Buck walked into the kitchen like he belonged there—which, in many ways, he did.

“Not really. But I will be. Eventually.”

As Eddie sat beside him, taking a bite, Buck’s gaze flicked to the table.

“Why’d you flip the tablet like that?” he asked, smirking. “Kinda suspicious, man.”

Eddie stiffened, reaching for the device—too slowly.

Buck beat him to it, fingers curling around the tablet as he turned it back over and tapped the screen to wake it. His grin faded the second the listing loaded.

“Wait… you’re looking for houses?” Buck frowned. “With your budget?”

Eddie hesitated. “They’re not in L.A., they’re in El Paso”

Buck stopped short and looked at Eddie as if he had dropped a nuclear bomb on him, before he clears his throat.

“Jesus, Eddie,” Buck breathed, his voice caught somewhere between disbelief and hurt. “You were gonna move and not tell anyone?”

That same night, you came over for dinner. You always did when Eddie had a night off and you both needed a little breather from work.

The meal was warm, filled with laughter and touches—like most nights were with Eddie. You thought things were steady, maybe even building toward something more permanent.

He was warm with you. Attentive. Hands brushing over your back when you passed by, lips pressed to your temple. Nothing about him screamed ‘I’m planning to disappear’.

After dinner, you went to grab your phone from where it had slid into the couch cushions—and noticed the iPad sitting face-up on the coffee table.

You didn’t mean to snoop. But when the screen lit up, it was still open to a listing. And then another. All of them in El Paso.

Your heart sank.

Eddie walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of wine, but he stopped when he saw your expression.

You didn’t raise your voice. You didn’t accuse.

You just looked at him, tears in your eyes, and said, “Were you ever going to tell me?”

He paused, guilt spreading across his face. “I was going to. I just… didn’t know how.”

You stood up slowly. “You were going to move and never tell me?”

“It’s not like that—” he tried.

“It is like that,” you said, shaking your head.

“I get that Christopher is your priority as his father, and I respect that. I love that about you, Eddie. But you should’ve given me the decency of a heads-up, or I don’t know, you could’ve eased me into it by talking to me about moving.”

Eddie put the glasses down. His voice was low.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“And instead you disrespected me, when you know damn well I’d never hold you back and would support you every step of the way.”

The quiet that followed was louder than any yelling could’ve been. You looked at the man in front of you, the one who’d made you feel safe—wanted. And now you felt like a temporary chapter in a story that had already moved on.

You grabbed your bag from the counter and headed for the door.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for in El Paso,” you said, voice trembling. “But I won’t be the one left behind without a goodbye or be the person to fix you and meet you halfway.”

You didn’t look back and just decided to go home.

The knock on Buck’s door came just past 9PM.

He wasn’t surprised to see you standing there, hoodie sleeves pulled over your hands, eyes already glossed with unshed tears you hadn’t given yourself permission to cry yet.

You didn’t say anything—just walked in when he stepped aside, like you’d done it a hundred times before.

“Kitchen’s open,” he said softly.

You gave him a tired smile, slipping off your shoes by the door. The scent of cinnamon hit you first, then the sound of something bubbling in the oven. He was barefoot, hair messy, flour dusting his black shirt.

There was a gentle domesticity to the scene that made your throat tighten.

“I figured you might need sugar therapy,” Buck joked, grabbing a spare mixing bowl. “Or, you know, an excuse to destroy the kitchen.”

“I needed somewhere to go,” you admitted, barely above a whisper. “Somewhere that wasn’t my apartment, where everything still smells like him.”

Buck didn’t push. He just handed you a whisk.

The two of you moved around the kitchen in comfortable rhythm—like you’d practiced this a hundred times before, even if you hadn’t.

You poured ingredients. He told you about a weird call from last week. You added vanilla extract. He made a joke about Ravi nearly setting the firehouse toaster on fire again.

You laughed for the first time that day.

“I can’t believe he was just going to leave,” you finally said, voice cracking as you sifted flour over the mixing bowl. “Not just L.A.—us. Me. Like it wouldn’t matter.”

Buck paused, hands still in the dough. He looked at you, really looked, and saw everything Eddie had failed to.

“You’d never hold him back,” he said gently.

“I wouldn’t,” you said, tears threatening again. “He should’ve just talked to me. That’s what you do when you’re partners. You make decisions together, or at the very least—”

“You’re honest,” Buck finished for you.

You nodded.

The silence was soft. Safe. Just the sound of the oven humming and a spoon clinking against glass.

“I didn’t expect it to hurt this much,” you added. “It’s not just the leaving. It’s how he didn’t even think I deserved a heads-up.”

Buck reached for your hand, sticky with dough. “He messed up. Big time.”

You looked down at your intertwined fingers, a little surprised by the comfort it brought you.

“I think I knew this version of him wasn’t forever. But I didn’t think I’d lose him like this.”

“You didn’t lose him,” Buck said, voice firm but kind. “You found out who he really is when it counts. And that’s not on you.”

You looked up at him, eyes wide and vulnerable. “Why does it feel like I wasn’t worth the truth?”

Buck’s gaze softened. “Because you gave him your heart. But that doesn’t mean he knew how to hold it.”

The timer went off, but neither of you moved to check the oven.

For a while, you just stood there, wrapped in the quiet, breathing in the cinnamon and the safety of the one person who’d always shown up when it mattered.

It was a slow day at the station, unusually quiet for once.

Everyone had scattered into their corners of routine — Chim fiddled with inventory, Hen was writing up incident reports, and Buck… Buck was entertaining Blaze, tossing the tennis ball across the bay with a kind of frantic energy that hadn’t gone unnoticed.

You sat nearby, head down as you double-checked the trauma kit, hands moving but mind far, far away. You hadn’t spoken to Eddie since that night.

Not beyond clipped sentences at work. Not since you stood in Buck’s loft, clinging to the last of your composure, admitting out loud that the man you trusted most had made a decision about his future without even thinking you deserved to be part of the conversation.

The bounce of the tennis ball against concrete was steady—until it wasn’t.

“You’re not the only one who knows how to leave, you know,” Buck said suddenly, loud enough for the words to cut through the room like a blade. His voice was tight, rough around the edges, a boiling point barely kept in check.

Everyone stilled.

Eddie turned from the lockers, his face drawn in confusion.

“What?”

Buck’s hands tightened around Blaze’s ball.

“I said, you’re not the only one who knows how to walk out when things get hard. You want to talk about leaving? Let’s talk about how you were ready to disappear without telling anyone—again.”

The words weren’t just meant for Eddie. They were for everyone in the room. Hen looked up. Chim’s pen stilled mid-signature.

Your chest tightened, fingers curling against the strap of the kit you were repacking.

“Buck,” Eddie warned quietly, glancing at you, then back to him. “This isn’t the time.”

“No?” Buck raised his brows, feigning surprise. “I figured since you didn’t have time to tell her you were moving, maybe now’s the perfect time for some honesty.”

Your heart pounded in your ears.

Eddie’s jaw clenched. “That’s between me and her.”

“Was it?” Buck asked. “Because it sure felt like it involved all of us when you decided this whole place didn’t matter anymore.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Silence fell again—crackling and tense. The kind that fills the air just before lightning strikes. You stood then, voice calm but cold as you crossed the room with the med kit slung over your shoulder.

“Cold shoulder today?” Eddie asked softly, trying to sound casual, like it was just another awkward shift between calls. But you saw the tightness in his mouth, the way his eyes flicked toward you for something—anything.

You didn’t give it.

“We’re still colleagues, Diaz,” you replied, tone neutral but firm. “I can’t let this get in the way of work.”

You stepped past him, the click of your boots echoing louder than the breath he seemed to lose when you stopped just short of the bay doors.

“And like you said,” you added, glancing over your shoulder, “you had no ties in California.”

The words were a scalpel. Clean. Precise. Cutting straight to the core.

Eddie didn’t chase after you. He just stood there, regret painting his features, his silence saying everything his words had failed to.

Buck watched him. For a second, neither of them spoke. Then Buck dropped the tennis ball.

“You really hurt her, man.”

Eddie swallowed. “I know.”

But the truth was — he hadn’t known how much until now. Until he saw you walk away without looking back.

The days after Buck’s public callout at the station were quiet. Not logistically — calls kept coming, the city never slept — but emotionally.

For Eddie, everything had dulled into a strange limbo.

The bay echoed a little louder, your laughter never rang through the common room like it used to, and Buck had taken up more space, not intentionally, but just by being who he was to you.

It wasn’t hard to notice the change in you. Eddie had always been good at reading people, and with you, it was impossible to miss.

You were still professional. You still responded to him during emergencies. Still stood beside him when lifting stretchers, still called out vitals clearly during triage. But it was the in-between moments that hurt the most — when your eyes slid right past him, or when your smile found Buck first.

And God, that smile.

Eddie hadn’t realized how much it meant to him until it was no longer his to see.

You’d been more withdrawn lately — not cold, not cruel, just distant. Like someone had hit the dimmer switch on your light and left you floating somewhere he couldn’t reach. He’d catch you zoning out in the rig sometimes, eyes on the city streets but not really seeing them.

Once, he swung by the loft to drop off something and saw you leaning over Buck’s kitchen island, flour in your hair and that familiar, easy expression on your face — the one Eddie used to think was reserved for him.

That image stuck with him longer than it should have.

But maybe, deep down, he knew.

You weren’t just seeking refuge in Buck because you were hurt. You went to Buck because you trusted him. Because Buck never would’ve blindsided you like Eddie had.

He had opened his loft to you like it was second nature — no questions, no conditions, just the kind of unwavering support that Eddie hadn’t thought to offer when you needed it most.

Jealousy wasn’t something Eddie liked to admit to, but it crept in nonetheless. In the glances you shared with Buck across the station.

The way you brought him coffee before anyone else. The way Buck’s hand lingered at your back in the smallest ways, protective, unspoken. The way you laughed again — not often, not yet fully — but when you did, it was around him.

Eddie didn’t blame you. Not really.

Because the truth — the part he’d never said out loud — was that he never would’ve met you if it weren’t for Buck.

It had been Buck who introduced you both, back when Eddie had first started letting people in again after the darkest corners of grief and therapy.

You were one of Buck’s longtime friends from before the tsunami — someone who had stuck through the messy aftermath of his recovery, someone who hadn’t been scared off by his highs and lows. He’d mentioned you more than once, in the way Buck did when he was proud of someone he loved.

And then one night after shift, Buck invited Eddie to a small get-together at his place.

You had walked in carrying a pan of enchiladas and laughing about the parking in his building, and Eddie swore the room tilted just a little.

You were bright. Grounded. Warm in a way that was quiet but deeply rooted. Not showy like the people Eddie had tried to love before.

Just real.

The first conversation had been easy — talking about food, Christopher, shared books. Buck had hovered nearby, excited like he’d accidentally set two puzzle pieces next to each other and realized they fit.

“He’s been through a lot,” Buck had told you when Eddie was in the kitchen grabbing a beer. “But he’s solid. And you… I think you’d be good for each other.”

And you were. For a while.

Eddie remembered thinking how rare it was to feel seen again. How your love didn’t come in fireworks, but rather in gentle mornings and shared silence that didn’t need filling.

You never asked him to be someone else. You never treated him like a project.

But Eddie had done what he always did. Pulled away when things got too heavy. Made decisions in isolation. Assumed you’d stay, even without offering the full truth.

Now, he watched from the edges as you poured yourself into someone who never made you question your place.

And Buck, for all his flaws, had always been there.

So yeah, Eddie was jealous. But more than that… he was ashamed. Because he’d had something good. Something real. And he’d thrown it away not out of malice — but out of fear. Out of habit.

Out of that old instinct to protect himself before anyone else.

Maybe this was just the part where he had to live with that.

Still, he couldn’t stop his eyes from lingering too long when you brushed shoulders with Buck in the hallway. Or when Buck made you laugh, really laugh, and Eddie could hear it all the way from the kitchen.

And maybe, just maybe, that would be the thing he regretted most when he left California behind.

Because no matter how close he got to Christopher in El Paso…

He had already pushed the best thing he’d had here — away.

That evening, Eddie paced his living room, nerves eating at him as he fluffed the throw pillows on his couch for the third time.

He didn’t like the idea of renting his house out to a stranger, but the move to El Paso had to be real. Permanent.

It wasn’t just about logistics — it was about Christopher, about putting down roots again where he could be the kind of father his son deserved.

Still, the idea of someone else living here — in this house where memories with you lingered in every corner — left a strange taste in his mouth.

A knock came at the door.

Eddie checked the peephole and sighed. Buck. Of course.

He opened the door, already exasperated. “Buck, listen — I’ve got a guy coming to view the place. He’s supposed to be here any second—”

But Buck was already brushing past him into the living room, eyes darting around like he owned the place.

“God, Buck, you’re so selfish,” Eddie snapped, louder than he meant.

“What is it now? I know this is about you, and I can’t make this any easier for myself, but you can’t make me choose between you and my son. Because if that’s the case, you’d lose every time.”

Buck froze mid-step, a bit stunned.

“W–What? No, Eddie— I get it, okay? I completely understand why you’d want to be with Christopher. I’m not here to argue that. I’m not trying to make this about me.”

But just as he tried to explain, another knock interrupted them.

Eddie groaned. “Get out. I can’t have you sabotaging this one again.”

Buck lifted a hand, voice pleading. “I promise, I won’t. Scout’s honor.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes and opened the front door — only to find Chimney, Hen, Bobby, and you standing on the porch.

He blinked. “What are you guys doing here? I have a renter coming over any second now—”

Chimney chuckled as he stepped inside. “You still haven’t told him?”

“Told me what?” Eddie asked, now fully thrown off.

Buck cleared his throat, sheepish. “So… not to make this all about me—”

“Oh my God,” Eddie muttered.

“—but it’s me. I’m your renter. I replied to your listing using a fake name.”

“You’re… Freddy?” Eddie looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Yep,” Buck nodded, hands behind his back. “Freddy Fakeman.”

Hen burst out laughing and Chimney nearly wheezed. “Freddy Fakeman? How’d you let that one slip by you?”

“It’s more obvious when you say it out loud, okay?” Eddie muttered.

“But—what about your loft?” he asked, baffled.

“It’s not mine anymore. I gave notice this morning,” Buck said simply.

“Now you don’t have to worry. The house will still be taken care of… by someone who already knows every squeaky floorboard.”

Eddie was silent for a moment, unsure what to feel. Buck, as always, had this way of showing up — chaotic, emotional, but somehow right on time.

Soon, the laughter faded and the team scattered around the house.

Chim and Hen went to check out the kitchen again, Bobby stepped out to take a call. Buck lingered by the window, quietly inspecting the curtains like he was already picturing them in his routine.

You wandered through the living room slowly, fingers trailing the walls, each step heavy with something unsaid. Eddie watched you — the curve of your shoulders, the quietness in your breath.

When the others stepped outside to give Buck some privacy, Eddie took his chance.

You turned when you felt his gaze, standing by the couch. His couch. The one you used to curl up on during long shifts, those rare mornings after staying the night.

“Hey,” Eddie said softly.

You nodded.

“I just…” he started, swallowing. “I know things haven’t been easy. And I know I deserve the cold shoulder.”

There was a beat before you looked up at him. You met his eyes then, but it didn’t soften the sting in your voice.

“We’re still colleagues at the end of the day, Eddie, and it’s not like I’m gonna give you the cold shoulder forever. Like you said — no ties in California, so, no hard feelings.”

That line hit harder than you’d expected. You saw it in the slight hitch in his breath.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he whispered.

You exhaled, folding your arms tightly.

“I know. But it’s what you said. And you didn’t even give me a chance, Eddie. You decided for both of us, and just… expected me to be okay with it.”

He didn’t argue. He just looked down, ashamed.

“I never wanted to hold you back,” you continued, voice smaller now.

“I would’ve supported the move. I would’ve understood. You just… didn’t give me a chance to show up for you. And that’s what hurt the most.”

Eddie stepped forward a little, heart in his throat.

“You’re right. I shut you out. I thought I was doing the right thing by not asking you first, because I thought I’d be telling you to uproot your life… but I realize now that maybe I should’ve come clean to you as a partner.”

Silence fell between you both — heavy, thick with everything unsaid.

You broke it first. “I shouldn’t have shut you out either. That wasn’t fair. I was hurt, and I let it dictate how I treated you. But I don’t want to carry that into whatever this next chapter is.”

Eddie nodded, something bittersweet in his expression.

“So… friends?” you offered, lifting your hand just a bit.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Friends.”

But even as the word left his mouth, Eddie couldn’t help but glance toward the window, where Buck stood talking to Bobby outside — Buck, who made you laugh again, who brought you comfort, who offered you his home when Eddie didn’t offer you a future.

Eddie shook the thought away, but it lingered at the back of his mind, unspoken.

Because as much as he told himself he was doing the right thing by leaving —

He couldn’t shake the possibility that maybe, just maybe…

He was leaving you behind too.

And this time, Buck might be the one waiting for you when the dust settled.

Later in the week, after another dinner (courtesy of Buck), once the rest of the team had trickled out and the noise of laughter and farewell hugs had faded into quiet, Eddie stood in the hallway of what used to be his house — now Buck’s.

The ownership had technically changed hands, but the emotional weight of the place still lingered in his chest.

He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed as he watched you and Buck in the kitchen, moving around each other like clockwork — the way your elbow gently bumped his as you passed him a mug, the way he instinctively shifted to give you space before you even asked for it.

There was a rhythm there. A familiarity.

And it wasn’t the first time Eddie noticed it.

He’d seen the shift after Maddie had gone missing — after that terrifying, silent stretch of time where everything felt like it was unraveling. That was when you and Buck had grown closer.

At first, Eddie had told himself it was just the trauma of it all, the need for comfort in a world that had briefly fallen apart. You were his best friend, after all. Who else would you lean on?

But now, standing there in the shadows of what used to be his home, Eddie saw it for what it was — energy. Something unspoken that buzzed between you both like a quiet static.

It wasn’t loud or obvious. It wasn’t romantic in the traditional sense, not yet. But it was something.

And it made something twist in Eddie’s chest. Not jealousy — not in the bitter, possessive way. It was more complicated than that. More human.

Because he knew you. Knew the way you loved, the way you gave without restraint. And he knew Buck too — the way his heart wore thin but big, how he crashed into things with everything he had.

He couldn’t blame either of you. He probably wouldn’t have met you if it weren’t for Buck in the first place.

It was Buck who introduced you to the 118 when you first moved to LA. Buck who dragged you to Eddie’s welcome-back barbecue after his recovery. Buck who always seemed to be orbiting your world in some shape or form.

Eddie blinked, pulling himself out of the spiral as you laughed at something Buck said — a soft, genuine sound that made Eddie’s chest ache.

He’d made peace with leaving.

But watching the way you looked at Buck — and more painfully, the way Buck looked at you — Eddie realized that some pieces of him weren’t coming with him to El Paso.

They were staying here.

In this house.

With you.

The soft hum of the air conditioning was the only sound filling the loft.

Jeeyun had finally gone down for the night — after a bedtime story that turned into two, and Buck pretending to be a very sleepy giraffe just to get her to laugh.

You watched the whole thing from the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed, smiling faintly.

It was oddly grounding — watching Buck care for her like that. Like he was made for softness in a world that never gave him enough of it.

Now, in the kitchen, you were helping him tuck leftovers into mismatched containers and wipe down counters while a sleepy calm settled between the two of you.

“You didn’t have to stay this long,” Buck said softly, elbowing you gently as he dried a plate. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“I wanted to,” you replied, eyes still on your hands as you sealed another container shut. “Didn’t feel like going home yet.”

He nodded, understanding. You always understood each other quietly like this.

After a beat, Buck cleared his throat. “So… remember how Tommy dumped me.”

You looked up, surprised by the sudden admission. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he breathed out, laughing without humor.

“Said he didn’t see forever with me after I asked him to move in. Said he wasn’t feeling like I wasn’t all in and that it would end in heartbreak.” He leaned back against the sink, eyes on the floor. “I really thought he’d be the last one.”

You didn’t mean to — but you let out a soft, bitter laugh.

“Yeah,” you muttered, pushing your hair behind your ear. “Me too. About Eddie, I mean.”

Buck looked at you then. “I’m sorry.”

“I am too,” you whispered. “It just… hurts, you know? Because I thought he saw me. I thought he knew what we were building.”

Buck put the towel down and stepped closer, his voice gentler now.

“You did everything right,” he said. “You didn’t deserve that.”

You looked at him, truly looked at him. And it struck you then — how many nights like this you’d had. How many times he’d been the one showing up, even when he was unraveling himself. How many times you’d felt safe here — not because of the place, but because of him.

“I was thinking,” you said slowly, “you and I… we’ve been the only real constants in each other’s lives. For years. Through chaos, breakups, breakdowns…”

He raised an eyebrow, cautious but open. “Yeah?”

“So maybe,” you continued, “we just try. And if it works, it works. And if it doesn’t…” you trailed off, letting the thought hang.

Buck stepped even closer, his eyes searching yours now, not with pressure, but with something tender — reverent even.

“We don’t let it ruin us,” he said, finishing your thought.

“Because you’re already home.”

Your breath hitched.

“Yeah,” you whispered. “Because I already lost something I thought I’d have forever. I’m not losing my best friend too.”

And just like that, something shifted — not loud, not dramatic. Just quiet understanding. An old kind of love that had always been there, only now beginning to take shape.

Buck reached for your hand, his fingers warm over yours.

“We’ll take it slow,” he said. “No pressure. Just… honesty.”

“Okay,” you said, squeezing his hand. “Honesty.”

And in the soft light of the kitchen, surrounded by leftovers and a lullaby hum from the dishwasher, something new — and deeply familiar — quietly bloomed.

Eddie’s house was quieter than usual, stripped of almost everything that made it feel like him.

The walls were bare, the kitchen echoing, boxes stacked by the door.

You and Buck stood near the living room, watching as Eddie sealed the last box with a long strip of tape, his shoulders tensing slightly with the sound.

“Guess that’s it,” he said, trying not to meet your eyes.

You nodded, arms folded as Buck carried the last few bags outside to the truck. For a second, it was just the two of you again — the silence heavy with everything left unsaid.

“Thanks,” Eddie said, his voice low. “For coming. For helping.”

“You didn’t have to thank us,” you replied, your voice soft, but firm. “We were always going to help you. No matter how much it hurt.”

He finally looked at you then — like he was memorizing your face one last time. “I didn’t want it to end like this. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know,” you said. “But you did.”

He swallowed hard, and you stepped closer, not in anger, not even in pain — just in peace. Acceptance.

“I respect why you’re doing this,” you added, “Christopher deserves to have you close. But the life I’ve built here… the people I love, the career I’ve made, my roots — they’re here. You knew I couldn’t follow.”

Eddie nodded slowly, regret flickering in his eyes like a shadow.

“I thought I could let go of everything to start over. But watching you and Buck… I realized maybe I let go of the wrong thing too soon.”

You gave him a sad smile. “Maybe. Or maybe you just weren’t meant to hold on to us forever. Chris needs you, Eddie.”

Buck walked back in, wiping his hands on his jeans and sensing the finality in the air.

“You ready?” he asked Eddie.

Eddie gave one last glance around the home that no longer felt like his, then back at you — eyes lingering a moment too long.

“Yeah.”

You all walked out together, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the driveway. Buck loaded the last box into the truck, while you stood off to the side, the wind tugging gently at your jacket.

Eddie turned to face you one last time. “Be happy,” he said, voice cracking just slightly. “You deserve that.”

“I will,” you replied. “I hope you find peace in El Paso.”

He gave Buck a brief nod and a hug before climbing into the truck, and as the engine started, a weight settled over your chest — not grief, not longing… just closure.

Buck stepped beside you quietly, his hand brushing yours, and you leaned into him ever so slightly.

Eddie pulled away from the curb with a final wave, and just like that, he was gone.

But as Buck wrapped an arm gently around your shoulders and the cold wind from the rain lingered, you knew you were exactly where you needed to be.

Not chasing what was lost — but holding on to what stayed.

Epilogue:

Eddie Diaz wasn’t used to quiet.

El Paso was filled with it — the stillness of empty rooms, the hush of his broken air conditioning, the long silences between strained conversations.

There were moments the house didn’t feel like a home anymore, just a halfway point between what he wanted to fix and what he feared he’d already lost.

The move was supposed to be about healing. About Christopher. About starting over. But nothing had been as easy as he’d imagined.

He sat on the worn couch one late Friday night, still dressed in his usual hoodie and jeans, the soft hum of the TV in the background doing little to distract him. The iPad — the same one that once held his secret plans to leave L.A. — pinged with a FaceTime notification.

Buck (incoming call)

A small, tired smile crossed Eddie’s face as he accepted.

Buck’s grinning face appeared instantly. “Hey, man.”

“Hey,” Eddie replied, voice rough with fatigue. “Late night?”

“Jeeyun’s out like a light. Maddie and Chim left her with us again since the baby is coming soon,” Buck said, shifting the camera slightly. “But— someone wants to say hi.”

Eddie’s breath caught as you leaned into frame, cheeks flushed, hair slightly messy from what looked like a cozy night in.

You were wearing one of Buck’s oversized shirts — probably borrowed, maybe not. And then, with a bark and a blur of golden fur, a puppy popped into view, scrambling into your lap.

“Meet Rocket!” You laughed, trying to hold the squirming pup steady.

Buck chuckled offscreen. “She named him after Groot’s buddy.”

Eddie let out a short laugh, despite the weight in his chest. “Of course she did.”

You smiled warmly, not quite the same smile you used to give Eddie — this one was lighter, freer, filled with a kind of peace he hadn’t seen in you in weeks, maybe months.

“I keep meaning to send you a photo,” you said softly. “He’s got Buck wrapped around his little paw.”

Buck groaned. “I’m a softie, sue me.”

Eddie nodded, eyes fixed on the way your shoulder brushed Buck’s, how easily you fit together now, the domesticity of it all like a snapshot from the life he once thought he could have with you.

“He’s cute,” Eddie said, his voice quieter now. “You look happy.”

There was a beat of silence. You met his eyes through the screen.

“I am,” you said. “It took a while, but… yeah. We’re good now.”

Eddie swallowed hard. “That’s good. I’m—” He paused, unsure if he had the right to say it. “I’m glad you have him.”

Buck shifted the camera to focus more on the dog, giving you a moment. You stayed on screen, gaze soft but steady.

“I hope you’re okay, too,” you said gently.

Eddie let his head fall back against the couch.

“Some days are better than others. Chris… he’s still angry. Or maybe just hurt. And I get it, I do. I just wish I’d done it all differently.”

“You’re trying,” you said. “That counts for something.”

He didn’t answer right away. He just watched the way Buck laughed as Rocket barked at something in the kitchen, your hand resting comfortably on Buck’s knee, the kind of small affection that said everything words couldn’t.

You were his once. But the version of you on the screen now? That wasn’t the same person who had stood in his kitchen heartbroken weeks ago.

This was someone who had rebuilt. Reclaimed. Moved on.

“I keep wondering,” Eddie said finally, “if things would’ve been different. If I had just… stayed. Talked to you first. Let you in on the plan instead of shutting you out.”

You smiled, but it was tinged with something softer, sadder.

“Maybe,” you said. “But if you had… I might’ve never found this version of myself. And you? You might’ve never had the space to fix things with your son.”

Eddie nodded slowly, his throat thick. “I just… I miss you.”

“I know,” you whispered. “I miss you too, sometimes. But it’s not the same kind of missing anymore.”

He understood. It wasn’t a wound — it was a scar. Something healed, but not forgotten.

“I hope you find someone who makes you feel like you belong again,” you added, your voice kind.

And Eddie, ever the soldier, nodded once more. “I hope so too.”

As the screen dimmed after the call ended, Eddie sat in the silence again. But this time, it didn’t feel as hollow.

You were happy. Buck was there for you. And though the sting still lingered, he had peace knowing he hadn’t ruined you — only rerouted you to something real.

He glanced over at the half-packed box of Christopher’s old toys — things he was finally allowed to bring back into the main room again.

It wasn’t perfect. But maybe one day, it could be.

Meanwhile, the thing about losing people, Buck had learned, was that it didn’t always look like slammed doors or shouting matches.

Sometimes, it looked like letting go before you were ready — like watching someone drive away with the last piece of your heart and having to accept that they weren’t yours to keep.

That used to be the story of his life.

First his parents. Then Daniel. Then Abby. Then Tommy, and now, Eddie.

But not you.

You came into his life like you’d always been meant to be there — like you fit right between the cracks he thought no one could fill. It started quiet.

A knock on his door in the middle of the night. An “I can’t be alone right now” without needing to say it out loud. A slice of cake shared over talks about your messy shifts, the kind of silence that didn’t demand to be filled.

He didn’t mean to fall in love with you. He really didn’t.

But maybe it happened when you stole his favorite hoodie and never gave it back. Maybe it was the way you remembered his favorite cereal and kept buying it. Or maybe it was the way you said his name when the weight of the world was too much for him to carry alone.

The night you told him you’d ended things with Eddie, he didn’t expect you to look so… steady. Sad, yes. Hurt, yes. But grounded.

And it made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he could finally stop running from the idea that he didn’t deserve something lasting.

“I thought Tommy would be the one,” Buck had confessed that night, drying a plate while you put away leftovers. “He said I was too much. Didn’t know what I wanted. Said I might break his heart in the end.”

You leaned against the counter, turning to face him. “I thought Eddie was my last.”

“And now?”

You smiled softly. “Now I think… maybe it’s not about finding your last. Maybe it’s about choosing someone who never makes you feel like you’re too much.”

That sentence lodged in his chest like a cornerstone. You hadn’t just offered him a place in your life — you offered him the kind of love that stayed.

That’s when everything changed.

You stayed. Even when he had a bad day. Even when he overthought. Even when he accidentally set the toaster on fire (again). You stayed.

And when Eddie left for El Paso, you held Buck’s hand the whole time. Helped him tape up boxes. Laughed when Eddie grumbled about Buck’s ridiculous name on the rental application.

Buck never said it out loud — not to Eddie, not even to himself — but part of him felt guilty. Like he was standing in the space someone else had built. But then you kissed him for the first time, quietly, slowly, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And he knew then that this wasn’t stolen.

It was something new.

© fordiaz 25’ -. no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any manner without the permission from the publisher.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Blake Case Timeline: Unpacking the Taylor of it all

AKA Everything you never wanted to know about the media strategy of a celebrity scandal!

OK, I don’t actually know anything, but I am a girl with a keen interest in the media and how it’s used to cover a subject, and have a certain skill set that is appropriate for the task.

When I started drafting this post, I didn’t intend to do a deep dive at all. My interest was piqued over the link between the People article dropping about Blake Lively and Taylor’s mended friendship, Travis unfollowing Ryan Reynolds on Instagram, and the news of Taylor being subpoenaed in Blake and Justin Baldoni’s case. I was going to pick a few articles from the “trusted” outlets to show how each side covered the situation to show how easy it is to tell how stories are spun.

However, because I can’t be normal about anything, I ended up going down the rabbit hole of this case, and mainly about how Taylor has been used by both sides to tell it. Now, you get to go down the rabbit hole with me.

I'm putting the post under a cut because it's long as hell and I want to save your dashboards ✌️

First things first, this review is specifically about Taylor. I am not commenting on the actual case itself (although I do have thoughts, naturally, especially now). I’m not here to litigate Blake or Baldoni’s cases (mostly). I’m here to show how their respective PR teams use Taylor in their strategies, and how Taylor’s team itself responds to it. Consider this a crash course in media literacy or something, if you’ve never had the pleasure of doing your own kind of media review.

I’m mostly presenting the media itself here and keeping my commentary to a minimum, to keep the focus on similarities or differences between language and narratives used. I’ve obviously got my own thoughts about what is happening and each party’s strategies, especially after reading a large volume of articles not only about Taylor, but the case itself (as well as the non-case PR being used to promote the parties). But I don’t want to distract from this task at hand, and I don’t want to claim myself as an expert by any means.

That being said, while I don’t want to colour anyone’s perspective ahead of time, here are a couple of notes about the methodology as it were:

I focused mainly on the main outlets that are covering the case and evidently have ties to the actual parties: Entertainment Tonight (which is infamously and very clearly Taylor’s team’s go-to), PEOPLE (which is IMO very obviously Blake and Ryan's, after doing this analysis) and The Daily Mail (which is definitely Baldoni’s).

I’ve also included TMZ and Page Six, because— spoiler alert— they’re used by all three IMO. (Both also have known ties to Baldoni’s team… But Page Six in particular appears to be Blake-Ryan friendly now.)

THAT being said… ALL outlets are used by ALL parties in this, including by Taylor’s team. (Again, IMO, but it’s a very educated opinion.)

Now, a few disclaimers about these sources:

Many of these outlets these are tabloids. Ultimately, take everything with a grain of salt, for the most part. Some much larger than others.

Entertainment Tonight and People are, by and large, two of the most trusted outlets in entertainment journalism and have been for decades, because of their strong ties to celebrities’ own publicists. (In other words, most of the stories you’re going to read in these outlets writ large are directly sourced by the celebrities’ publicists. If either of them says “a source close to [the celebrity] tells us…” you can be pretty much guaranteed it came directly from their PR team.) And, as noted above, ET is currently Taylor’s team’s most trusted outlet (for Reasons).

I’d say the other outlets are far more in the “grain of salt” category. That being said, TMZ does have close ties to many celebrities and is used by their publicists (including Taylor), but because they are so salacious and at times even unethical, you have to keep your eyebrows raised. (And in this case, TMZ has an in with Baldoni’s team via their history with the Depp-Heard trial, and his lawyer speaking directly to TMZ.)

Normally, I’d personally filter source credibility by their title, e.g. “an exclusive source close to x/a close insider to x” is more reliable than “a source with knowledge of x” is more reliable than “this paper has learned” is more reliable than “a source tells us” is more reliable than “someone told us” is more reliable than no mention of sources at all.

However, given the nature of this lawsuits, and the nature of entertainment journalism as a whole, that is a lot muddier in this case.

For instance, Page Six and The Daily Mail run a lot of “exclusives,” but believe me, after reading many of those “exclusives,” they’re clearly full of shit. As an example, in an unrelated article in recent months, Page Six ran an “exclusive” with a source saying Taylor was making Nashville her home base now that tour was over so that she could be closer to Travis in Kansas City. Um, she is indeed closer to Travis, however it happens to be under the same roof in whatever city they happen to be living in this off-season if you catch my drift. If anyone has read the recent “exclusive” in The Daily Mail about, um, Taylor and Travis’ extracurricular activities, you can also glean that there’s no way they’d be privy to any of that information, especially not about an infamously private pop star. So “exclusive” does not necessarily mean “truthful.”

In other words, you still need to use your brain cells. However, when an “exclusive” contains or repeats language or information that tracks with what is said by other (reputable) sources, it gives it more legitimacy and points to it coming from the same provider. Because even professional publicists are not above using seedier tabloids in order to fight fire with fire. (Including Taylor’s.)

Finally, general disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor a publicist. I'm just a girl with a blog who likes words.

With all that out of the way, we're off to the races! This is long and dense and probably interesting to about three people, but here it is! (I've added more thoughts at the very end.)

***

Context: The Lawsuits

Initial New York Times publication of Blake's complaint - December 21, 2024

Original NYT link (view in your browser's Reader Mode to get past the paywall) or internet archive link.

Blake's initial suit filed in December 2024 addresses her allegations of sexual harassment and subsequent personal retaliation. The events detailed in her complaint mainly occurred during the actual production of the movie and the following publicity tour.

I highly encourage people to read the complaint. There's so much being spun about the case (from both sides tbh), but this spells out what the actual basis of it is. Yes, it's Blake's filing, so obviously it comes to her defence and is clearly her side of the story. But even at that, the collection of evidence is compelling in terms of her actual legal case regarding her sexual harassment and the resulting smear campaign in the media and online. Especially because, for these purposes, the collected communications outline the strategy Justin Baldoni's team designed in order to execute the campaign against Blake in retaliation for her actions, including the deliberate inclusion of Taylor in their tactics. The PR team claimed "we can bury anyone," and essentially have endless resources at their disposal to do so.

Of note, this is the first direct reference to Taylor in these communications in August 2024, calling back to her relationship with Blake and more importantly, the link between Taylor's fanbase and Blake's as a threat to JB's image:

So incredibly glad that the press went so well today and from what I know, Justin felt incredibly supported. He is lucky to have you all. We took the day today to do some research and get digital quotes in from the two teams we use that get the best results. As you are both aware, we are in a predicament that we just do not know the outcome of right now. Saying that, full transparency is key here, we have seen the most innocuous issues tum giant due to socials or the hugest crisis have no effects on social whatsoever- you just cannot tell at this stage. But, BL does have some of the TS fanbase so we will be taking it extremely seriously.

While the rest of this particular message doesn't reference Taylor directly, I'm including it as an example of how the team planned to use (and manipulate) social media influence to take down Blake, because it demonstrates how it's done for smear campaigns in general:

We also understand audience is not solely JB fanbase but, the studio so it is covering all bases time. Quote one: $175k - this will be for a 3-4 month period and includes: website (to discuss) full reddit, full social account take downs, full social crisis team on hand for anything - engage with audiences in the right way, start threads of theories (to discuss) this is the way to be fully 100%protected. Quote two $25k per month - min 3 months as it needs to seed same as above - this will be for creation of social fan engagement to go back and forth with any negative accounts, helping to change narrative and stay on track. All of this will be most importantly untraceable. There is a lot more to both of these quotes but, easier to discuss via phone in terms of capabilities and what I have personally experienced in and out of crisis scenarios. Either way, I do feel it is better to be safe but - I do realize costs are something I am sure you did not count on when you took on this project nor, this situation."

Taylor is also mentioned in one of the PR team's projected response scenarios following those conversations:

As part of this, our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people in BL's circle like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to "bully" into getting what they want.

(The PR team's texts and emails were obtained by a subpoena Blake filed in September in pre-discovery prior to filing her suit in December. The publicist's former employer also filed a suit of their own against them in December, for among other things, conspiring to steal clients to start their own agency. The publicist used her work devices to communicate about the case and draft the strategy, and the former employer had the devices forensically audited after she left, which is the content included in the subpoena. The majority stakeholder in the publicist's new PR agency representing JB, which was formed in summer 2024, is Scooter B.)

Justin Baldoni's countersuit - January 16, 2025

Link to complaint

This is his team's response to Blake's lawsuit. It contains his side of the story, namely the background info about the alleged evening he met Taylor in passing at Blake's home and which he claims was a pressure tactic by both Blake and Taylor so that he'd accept Blake's script changes. This includes the infamous text message exchange where Blake calls Taylor and Ryan her "dragons," which he takes to mean they'd fight him if needed.

According to the timestamps on these exchanges, this appears to have happened in or around April 2023, before shooting began on the movie. (Thus before the recorded instances of harassment happened on set referred to in Blake's lawsuit.)

According to JB's account, he let Blake take a pass at a scene in the script and was concerned over the changes she made that differed from the source material, so he "diplomatically" told her they'd see how it would be incorporated into the final scene. Also according to him, Blake was "seemingly stung" by his response, and did not speak to him for several days, until she responds to him in what would become the now-famous Khaleesi exchange. According to him:

Lively was referring to an earlier meeting where Lively summoned Baldoni to her New York penthouse where Baldoni was greeted by Ryan Reynolds, who launched into enthusiastic praise for Lively’s version of the scene. Hours later, as the meeting was ending, a famous, and famously close, friend of Reynolds and Lively, walked into the room and similarly began praising Lively’s script.

Presumably, the famous friend is Taylor. (It's unclear when the prior "meeting" took place, though it would have been before April 14, 2023, which is the night this text conversation took place according to the time stamps. There's no mention if the meeting was days or weeks or months before, although noting that it happened at Blake's home in NYC and that Taylor was training then rehearsing then on tour in 2023, presumably the public nature of her schedule narrows down the time frame.) JB alleges that that meeting combined with Taylor's praise and the text messages below amounted to a threat with which he needed to comply.

JB responds to Blake's text confirming that he's working on the scene they're discussing, allegedly coming to this decision after feeling pressured by Blake and Taylor:

Great! Also was working on rooftop scene today, I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor) You really are a talent across the board. Really excited nd [sic] grateful to do this together.

Excerpt of Blake's long text that presumably refers to Taylor:

[...] As for [redacted] and Ryan (and [redacted] for that matter). I'm the luckiest motherfucker on the planet to have them as my "Dance Moms" level stage moms. They are embarrassingly effusive. That said, they're also my most trusted partners and the people I go to first with anything creative I touch. And I'm the person they each go to first. That reciprocal creativity and support has been one of my life's greatest and most fulfilling gifts. When they loved and signed off on the pages, I felt good to send them to you. They asked what you thought specifically after. They checked in so many times. I told them that you laughed a bunch and said it's probably a blend but you appreciate my passion so much. Which of course didn't feel great for me. Or them. To have my passion praised instead of any specific contribution. Or even just that you didn't like the pages. Which was fine also. So I think they wanted you and me to see how they felt about the work because they've been by my side for far too many experiences where I've been overlooked. I spoke to you about this when we first met. They've watched me hand write scripts bc the director is too afraid to send the FDX file yet he scans and has someone hand type all 120 pages of my pencil rewrites. They've watched me be hired as a writer and paid a significant fee for it but on the condition that I never ask for credit, which I could give a shit about, it's more the principle of the dynamics at play. They've watched the other side of it too where I'm told at signing on that I'm wanted as a true collaborator, but once we get to work, I'm really just wanted as a 'yes man' audience and actor. Both Ryan and [redacted] have established themselves as absolute titans as writers and storytellers outside of their primary gig- just singing or just acting or [redacted] just directing. I'm so lucky to have them as creative barometers. But also to have them as the people who prop me up and make sure I'm seen for all I can, and do, offer. Because they know firsthand all I contribute. They also know I'm not always as good at making sure I'm seen and utilized for fear of threatening egos, or fear of affecting the ease of the process. They don't give a shit about that. And because of that, everyone listens to them with immense respect and enthusiasm. So I guess I have to stop worrying about people liking me. If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you'll appreciate that I'm Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or for worse, but usually for better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.

Later, in May 2024, nearer to the release of the movie, a conversation between studio executives mentions Taylor re: Blake asking her to use My Tears Ricochet in the trailer. (Justin alleges in his suit that Blake was withholding obtaining Taylor's approval of the song until her editor had time to cut her own version of the trailer. Notably, the studio seemed to easily agree to Blake's request.)

Blake is calling Taylor to approve the song. She of course just reached out saying she is asking for time with [redacted] her editor. We know it was conditional on signing contract – but asking if you will reconsider – so [redacted] can release this trailer and Blake does not change her [mind] re calling Taylor Swift.

ETA May 06 2025: Another passage about the tension between JB and Blake discusses herself and the cast unfollowing him on social media, accusing her of dropping “crumbs” to make the public think JB did something wrong, referring to how she learned this tactic from a “celebrity friend.” I imagine you can deduce which friend the complaint is inferring:

On information and belief, Lively induced the other cast members to shun Baldoni, in an early attempt to give fans the impression that Baldoni had committed an egregious sin, something so egregious that no one wanted to even take photos with him or have him around. Lively was leaving what she had earlier referred to as “crumbs,” a social media strategy she had learned from a close celebrity friend: to give fans just enough to allow them to come to their own conclusions, thereby launching an army of detectives that, on information and belief, Lively hoped would turn against Baldoni.

***

Fallout: Taylor in the Press

Daily Mail - January 17, 2025

link to article

WARNING: DM is generally less than trustworthy *in most cases* when it comes to Taylor (but does have relationships with other celebrities). This is not labelled an "exclusive" nor does it claim that "sources tell Daily Mail" or anything similar, so normally I would assume the chances are even lower that this is reputable. However, I am including it for now because it seems to be the first public discourse about Taylor's feelings on the matter -- whether or not it's true, it sets the scene for the rumours all parties are trying to address. It also shares language/context that gets repeated later, which does make me wonder if it doesn't actually have legitimacy after all. On the other hand, as will become clearer with other excerpts from DM, it's evident that DM has a source with JB's team. So, take it with a grain of salt, but it is the first "reaction" to JB's filing:

'Taylor is proud of the film because her music was featured in it, which gave her a sense of involvement, though she wasn’t fully aware of the extent of the project’s developments,' they said. 'She is confused by the claims in the suit, as her connection to Blake is purely a friendship, with no interest in influencing or controlling Blake’s projects.' The source insisted that Taylor did not purposely plan to be there during the meeting. Instead, they said she was simply coming over to hang out with her pal but arrived while the meeting - which was supposed to have been wrapped up - was still going. 'She finds Justin’s interpretation of the encounter perplexing, and those close to her suspect she’s being drawn into the situation as a means to target Blake,' the insider continued. 'This was the first time that Taylor ever met Justin. She had no idea who he was and Taylor was simply being polite. She was polite to him as she is to everyone she meets.'

Daily Mail - January 29, 2025

link to article

Usual disclaimer about DM. I am including it for now because it does label it as an "exclusive," although the sourcing is murky. So, take it with a grain of salt, but on the rumour that there is a rift brewing between the two friends:

Lively later appeared to threaten Baldoni by comparing herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi in a series of text messages in which she referred to Reynolds, 48, and her best friend as her 'dragons'. The ‘uncool and unnecessary’ description was reportedly the final straw for Swift who had never planned to be at the meeting, but arrived at Lively’s New York penthouse to find it was still ongoing. ‘For the time being she is taking a step back from Blake because she doesn’t want to get tangled in this more than she already has – which is far more than she ever needed to be,’ an insider told DailyMail.com. ‘Her friends also think that Blake’s "I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have dragons" text to Justin was uncool and unnecessary because she was essentially used as an intimidation tactic. She was referred to as some kind of pet or possession. ‘Taylor shouldn’t even be involved in this at all. She was only going over to visit Blake and Ryan with the understanding that the meeting would be over.' [...] A second source said: ‘Taylor has politely backed away from it all. She is conscious of her own image and hates that she was even mentioned.'

Page Six - January 29, 2025

link to article

This seems to be the first article with a "source" refuting the tension between Taylor and Blake:

Taylor Swift and Blake Lively remain good friends despite Justin Baldoni dragging the pop superstar into his ongoing legal drama with the actress, Page Six can confirm. A source tells us that reports that Swift, 35, is trying to distance herself from Lively, 37, given the public relations nightmare are “not true” and that the two women do not have a strained relationship. Swift has yet to speak out, however, on her close friend’s legal issues with Baldoni, 41. Page Six has reached out to her and Lively’s reps for comment.

(I'm using "source" because it's specifically highlighted in the article title so that's generally more "backed up." Also, it sounds very similar to the following statement in People...)

PEOPLE - January 30, 2025

Link to article

In contrast to the Daily Mail article a day prior claiming Taylor and Blake are cooling off, this sourced article in People alleges they are fine:

Taylor Swift and Blake Lively's friendship hasn't faltered amid Lively's legal drama with Justin Baldoni. There's been no rift between the singer and actress despite reports of a strained relationship between Swift, 35, and Lively, 37, sources confirm to PEOPLE.

(Reminder: "sources confirm to PEOPLE" = generally from the horse's mouth)

Entertainment Tonight - January 30, 2025

link the post

Consistent with the People article, ET's source claims there is no impact on their friendship:

It’s been a dramatic few months for Blake Lively, but she still has Taylor Swift by her side.⁠ ⁠ Amid the ongoing legal battle between Lively and her ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star-director, Justin Baldoni, ET has learned that the singer and actress remain close pals and nothing has changed in their friendship.⁠ Meanwhile, a source tells ET, "Taylor supports Blake as she does with all of her friends." ⁠ This comes after a report making the rounds claimed Swift was "taking a step back" from the friendship after the singer was seemingly referenced in Baldoni’s lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.⁠

I will note that it is curious to me that the direct quote states that Taylor supports Blake's case, but doesn't actually reference the rift allegations or her feelings. It makes me wonder if ET was extrapolating the friendship status from the "Taylor supports Blake" quote, or if they were given indication that that was the case and paraphrased it.

ET also published another post on the same day about Taylor supporting Travis at the Super Bowl. It doesn't reference the case at all, but IMO is consistent with many of the other statements her team made and would continue to make throughout the spring: that Taylor is focused on her personal life, and implicitly by focusing on that wants no association with a legal case that has nothing to do with her. (In other words, IMO they've tried to pivot the narrative away from the case repeatedly, until later in the spring when Taylor got dragged into it for real.)

TMZ - February 5, 2025

link to article

TMZ interviews JB's lawyer on his podcast, and this seems to be the first time the prospect of Taylor being subpoenaed and deposed comes up as a negotiation tactic for his case. (Again: given the obvious bias of the guest, take it all with a grain of salt.)

Harvey [Levin] hammers Bryan [Freedman] about potentially deposing Taylor … because she's central to the dispute by virtue of her involvement in an infamous meeting between Justin, Blake and Ryan. Taylor was there when Blake and Ryan met with Justin to discuss the rooftop scene in "It Ends With Us" ... it's the scene Blake rewrote and the meeting led to Justin's 2 AM voice note to Blake. Bryan is cagey about calling Taylor for a deposition, but watch the clip and read between the lines … a Taylor depo is on the table and Bryan can use it as a big bargaining chip to get a settlement. Yes, we're already talking settlement because as Harvey and Mark explain … there is no way this case is actually going to trial … for the very reason that none of these celebrities want to be subjected to depositions, courtroom testimony and especially cross-examinations. Taylor's the biggest star of them all though, and our read is that Blake and Ryan will do anything to keep their best friend from being grilled by Bryan … which could benefit Justin in the end.

In short: IMO JB's team seems to explicitly be using Taylor from the jump as a means to call Blake's bluff and get her to back down.

Entertainment Tonight - February 6, 2025

link to post

Given the reliability of the source (i.e. Tree's regular go-to), this feels like the "key message" Taylor's team is trying to issue about her stance on the case:

There’s no bad blood between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively – but a source tells ET that the singer is steering clear of the drama.⁠ ⁠ While Taylor’s name has come up amid Blake’s legal battle with her ‘It Ends With Us’ co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, the source says the singer “doesn’t want to be brought up at all or involved in any drama, especially since this isn’t related to her.”⁠ ⁠ The source adds of Taylor, “She wants to stay uninvolved."⁠ ⁠ That being said, the source notes, “Taylor is still close with Blake, but she is focused on her own life and everything she has going on. She is in a great place and wants to keep moving forward.”

(I bolded the "uninvolved" because this will come up again.)

US Weekly - February 6, 2025

link to article

US Weekly (as far as I know) does not typically have reliable/exclusive sourcing re: Taylor, so again: take this with a grain of salt. But it gets quoted in later Daily Mail articles and shares language with others, so it's here for recording purposes for its "exclusive":

Despite Taylor Swift’s name being mentioned in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s ongoing legal saga, multiple sources tell Us Weekly that the pop star was not involved in the production of It Ends With Us. “Taylor has always been Blake’s friend, but Taylor doesn’t have any involvement in the case. She wasn’t part of the movie,” the source says. “Taylor was not a producer on the film and had no creative involvement.” [...] While she and Blake are friends, this case is now a legal matter for the courts to resolve,” the insider adds. “Dragging Taylor into it is unnecessary and misrepresents what really happened.”

(Reminder: publicists aren't above using a wide range of outlets that reach different demographics to get a point across, sometimes even with different angles being addressed.)

TMZ - February 6, 2025

link to article

TMZ marks this as an exclusive. On a personal note, FULL DISCLOSURE: when this article first dropped at the time, I thought that this was shit-disturbing from JB's camp, given that it is well known TMZ has close ties to his PR team via the Heard-Depp trial. AND right in this article, they talk to JB's own lawyer in their podcast. So, I figured they were trying to drive a public wedge between Blake and Taylor. Given the context we have now, and the similarity in language to other articles about it, I think it isn't unlikely (and perhaps, pointedly, in fact very likely) that it could instead be from Taylor's team. So, choose your own adventure.

Taylor Swift feels she was used by Blake Lively in her war with Justin Baldoni, and she resents Blake calling her one of her "dragons" and leveraging her name. As we reported, there was a critical meeting at Blake and Ryan Reynolds' NYC penthouse with Justin to discuss a scene that Blake had rewritten for "It Ends with Us." Justin has said the meeting got super heated, and he felt ambushed because Ryan and Taylor showed up. But a well-connected source close to Taylor tells TMZ … Taylor came to Blake's apartment at the time Blake told her to, not knowing anyone else would be there. In other words, Taylor had no idea there was a meeting going on with Justin. The source goes on to say … Justin was about to leave after the 2-hour meeting as Taylor walked in, and she was introduced to him for the first and only time. We're told all Taylor said to Justin was how excited she was to see the movie because he was her friend's boss. Our source says Taylor believes Blake timed her meeting with Justin so Taylor would arrive before he left and is baffled by Blake later characterizing her as her "dragon." The source adds, "It's weird to say that about a friend." As Daily Mail reported, friends of Taylor's called the dragon remark, "Uncool and unnecessary." [...] And there's more … the source says Taylor is also learning Blake has been inappropriately leveraging her name for a long time, like telling a young actress that Taylor "cast her," which simply did not happen. [...] This is a huge falling out ... Taylor is godmother to one of Blake and Ryan's kids. But, one source close to Blake has a different take, telling TMZ ... Blake believes the relationship is "not strained" with the two still talking regularly. Another source close to the situation says Taylor was pissed about the extent to which she was involved, and specifically she was angry about the "dragons" remark … but Blake has since apologized, they had a good cry and hugged it out.

(The fact that there are three different sources cited, with differing narratives, is... interesting.)

Page Six - February 6, 2025

link to article

Another "exclusive" about Taylor's feelings about being involved in the case, sharing similar language about feeling "used" as TMZ:

Taylor Swift “can’t help but feel used” by her pal Blake Lively, a source exclusively tells Page Six. The insider says the pop superstar “doesn’t appreciate being referred to as one of Blake’s dragons” after Lively’s alleged texts were revealed in a countersuit filed by her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. The alleged texts don’t specify who the “Gossip Girl” alum’s “dragons” are, but it’s believed by many that the actress was referencing husband Ryan Reynolds — and the Grammy-winning singer. [...] According to the source, “Taylor really wishes Blake hadn’t dragged her into this whole situation.” Swift, 35, and Lively, 37, “have been friends for years and Taylor cherishes genuine friendships, but she can’t help but feel used at this point,” the source tells us. The “Fortnight” songstress “wants to keep out of this drama as much as possible,” the insider says. 

NOTE: given the consistency of how all of these Feb. 6 "exclusives" repeat the same key messages, namely wanting to be uninvolved in the "drama" and particularly Page Six and TMZ re: feeling used, this would lead me to believe they're likely coordinated and from the same source. (Source likely being: Taylor's team.)

Entertainment Tonight - February 7, 2025

link to post

This doesn't directly reference the case, but IMO is clearly a response to it, getting ahead of speculation as to why Blake is not attending the Super Bowl with Taylor after having been by her side at several games, including the big event, the previous year:

Blake Lively isn’t planning to join Taylor Swift at this year's Super Bowl. 🏈⁠ ⁠ Ahead of Super Bowl LIV, a source told ET that Blake had a blast with Taylor last year, but doesn't plan to join her in New Orleans as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles.⁠ ⁠ "Blake is not planning to join Taylor at the Super Bowl this year. They had a blast together last year, but this year Taylor is bringing others along," the source shared and did not specify what friends Taylor will be bringing.⁠

TMZ - February 7, 2025

link to article

This story is about Blake not appearing in Taylor's suite at the Super Bowl, although candidly, I don't think she was ever planning on being there given her retreat from the public eye even before the bombshells in JB's lawsuit. This mostly rehashes the previous article with a little different wording, following up on the assertion in the previous article that the friendship was fine:

We're told, despite what Blake thinks, their friendship is fractured after a text surfaced where Blake told Justin Baldoni she was Khaleesi (from 'GoT') and hubby Ryan Reynolds and Taylor were her "dragons." Taylor has not seen Blake in a while ... she's been spending lots of time with Travis and hasn't been in New York recently, but we're told the distance is more than geographic. TMZ broke the story ... Taylor was royally pissed off and, as a well-connected source close to Taylor told us, she was never her dragon. In fact, although Blake tried to make Justin believe Swift was siding with her over a script dispute, Taylor never had a dog in the fight. As we reported, Blake had invited Taylor over to her penthouse and Swift had no idea there was a meeting going on between Blake and Justin. Taylor walked in as Justin was leaving, and all she did was tell him she was excited to see his movie. To add insult to injury, we're told Taylor later learned Blake was name-dropping TS all over town. We also reported Blake believes her relationship with Taylor is not strained, although that's not what we're hearing from our sources regarding Taylor's feelings about the whole thing. Blake says they had a good cry and hugged it out. Even if that happened, there are unquestionably hard feelings on Taylor's side.

Entertainment Tonight - February 11, 2025

link to post

This doesn't reference Blake's case, but I'm including it here because... that's kind of the point. The message from Taylor's team is: Taylor and Travis want to be out of the headlines and take time off together to enjoy their private lives:

"Taylor and Travis are still going very strong," a source tells ET. "She has been supportive of him since his Super Bowl loss."⁠ ⁠ ⁠[...] So, what’s next? "They’re now focused on relaxing and taking time off," the source adds. And after an intense football season and Taylor wrapping up her record-breaking, two-year Eras Tour, that downtime is well deserved.

Page Six - February 18, 2025

link to article

This "exclusive" repeats a similar narrative found in the articles from earlier in the month.

Taylor Swift “needs space” from Blake Lively after her name was dragged into the ongoing lawsuits between the “Gossip Girl” alum and her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director Justin Baldoni. The pop superstar “is taking a break from their friendship right now,” a source exclusively tells Page Six. “Taylor is really hurt by this whole situation and feels like a pawn.” According to the insider, the Grammy winner, 35, “is keeping her distance” from Lively, 37, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, 48. “Taylor wants nothing to do with this whole ordeal,” our source tells Page Six. “She has always been a loyal friend to Blake and doesn’t appreciate being thrown into this at all.”

(Again: take with a grain of salt. They could have a source, or they could just be repeating what they've heard elsewhere.)

TMZ - February 20, 2025

link to article

A user on Twitter digs up clips from the press junket for It Ends With Us, in which JB claims that he showed an actress' audition tape to both Blake and Taylor who he says both loved her, and another clip in which Blake says Taylor supported her through every step of the film process. Presumably this is the same actress that an earlier article claims Blake told Taylor got her cast, and equally that Taylor was unaware of that statement, although admittedly that's not confirmed.

Daily Mail - March 1, 2025

link to article (will need reader mode to access)

WARNING: Usual warning about DM applies, heavily so here. However, I am including it for now because it does label it as an "exclusive," although the sourcing is murky, and I have added thoughts below. So, take it with a grain of salt, but it states:

Now, another source claims: 'Taylor appears to have distanced herself from her best friend, who has accused a man of sexual harassment, despite being the godmother of her [Blake's] children.' 'Taylor is a sexual assault victim and spent more than a year of her life fighting for a case that she knew she would win. She has donated money to sexual assault victims' funds,' the insider said, adding: 'If Taylor truly supported Blake, would she not want to publicly back her?' 'Some people feel [Taylor] should be offering comfort and using her platform to rally Swifties in support of what is right,' the source said. 'Instead, Taylor appears to have gone silent and is staying out of the public eye. This will likely play a role in Justin's defense.' But, our source now says, her apparent refusal to address any accusations levelled against her, and her failure to speak out in support of her long-time friend, could be a nail in the coffin for Lively. 'If Taylor does not believe Blake,' the insider claimed. 'She will be the smoking gun in this case.'

That last line leads me to believe it's not likely from someone in Blake or Taylor's camps. Blake's statements have all centred on the friendship being intact. Taylor's statements have reiterated that Taylor was not involved, therefore has nothing to contribute to the case, and wants to be removed from the narrative entirely, so it's unlikely she'd be considered a "smoking gun" imo. Also: JB's lawyer has already stated by this point that someone of Taylor's stature could be important to depose for the information they may hold, which will be repeated later on in other articles. Again, DM has sources in JB's camp, and from their very own strategy document one of their preferred tactics is to sow discord and use Blake's relationship with Taylor against them both, so make of that what you will.

Deadline - March 6, 2025

link to article

While this article doesn't have anything to do with Taylor directly, it's noteworthy to me because it addresses the conflict between Blake and JB's teams about what information should be protected in the case. According to the judge hearing it:

What’s going on between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni is “a feud between PR firms.” [...] Building off the judge’s starting comment and obviously trying to avoid getting into the minutiae like much of this case has for better or worse, Lively and Reynolds’ attorney Meryl Conant Governski cut to the bottom line. “The parties in this case, on both sides, include people whose entire living is made off providing information to the press and content creators,” the Willkie Farr & Gallagher lawyer said in the hearing. “There are 100 million reasons for these parties to leak information because the PR value is greater than complying with the court’s orders.” Lead Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freeman rejected that premise today, as he has many times in previous filings and media appearances. “No one has any intent of harming Ms. Lively in any way” as to her allegations, the often-pugilistic litigator told the court. “My clients have a right to defend themselves … that is in no way abusing the victim.” In that vein, off the top of the hearing that lasted about 70 minutes, Judge Liman made it clear he was aware of how the Vision PR-represented Lively and the TAG- and RWA-represented Baldoni’s clash was playing out in the media, and accusations that parties on both sides were leaking to the press.

It does raise my eyebrows that, presumably in the interest of "fairness," Blake's own lawyers are implying that both sides have reason to want to leak to the press to win the PR war, thus justifying seeking what is essentially a gag order in the best interests of both parties.

Eventually the judge does partially grant Blake's request for certain disclosures that could "cause significant injury":

On Thursday, March 13, Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled that while certain confidential materials will remain protected, an “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” designation can only be applied if their disclosure is "highly likely to cause a significant business, commercial, financial or privacy injury." The decision follows Lively’s request for stricter safeguards to prevent private details from leaking to the media or circulating within Hollywood. The judge acknowledged the risk of sensitive information spreading through industry gossip, writing in his ruling. "And where confidential information is not disclosed to the media, it may spread by gossip and innuendo to those in the tight artistic community in a position to do harm to one or the other of the parties but in a manner that might not be readily and immediately detected."

(Source: People, March 13)

Daily Mail - March 12, 2025

link to article

In an article about Hugh Jackman being subpoenaed in the case, Taylor is mentioned regarding how she promoted Deadpool on her Instagram account, as did Hugh. The cross-promotion is one of the things that is cited as being why he is being subpoenaed, alleging he had direct knowledge of what was happening (re: the "Nicepool" character):

The source also pointed out that Jackman 'helped promote It Ends with Us' and that Reynolds appeared to include 'several not-so-subtle disses about Baldoni' in Deadpool & Wolverine, adding: 'It's unlikely Hugh wasn't aware of this.' 'Not only this, but Hugh helped promote It Ends with Us in the same way that Taylor did when they did their group shot for the cross-promo with Deadpool,' they continued. 'The timing of the premieres is also no coincidence.'

Page Six - March 12, 2025

link to article

Again, a Page Six "exclusive" is reader beware. It shares the same sentiment as more legitimate sources, though:

Taylor Swift is “not afraid” after Justin Baldoni’s lawyer said there’s a chance the singer could be deposed in the actor’s ongoing legal battle with her friend Blake Lively. A source exclusively tells Page Six that the pop superstar “is a strong woman and she’s not hiding from anything.” “Taylor is simply enjoying some alone time with Travis [Kelce] and being under the radar for a little bit,” the insider says.

(I will note that in other articles about Blake specifically, unrelated to Taylor's involvement, the "strong woman"/not hiding language was used about her. Perhaps a coincidence. Or not.)

Page Six - April 7, 2025

link to article

This is the first time we hear about Blake's feelings about the alleged rift:

Blake Lively has apologized to Taylor Swift for dragging the pop star into her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, a source exclusively tells Page Six. “It was important to Blake to be on good terms again with Taylor. It was never her intention to hurt Taylor or cause any harm to their friendship,” an insider explains. “Blake missed their friendship and she hopes they can put this whole thing behind them.” The source says that Swift “appreciated” Lively’s apology and “felt it was genuine and heartfelt.” “[Taylor] has no hard feelings and is ready to move forward,” the insider adds.

Daily Mail - April 23, 2025

link to article (note you'll need to use reader mode or other means to get past the paywall)

The Daily Mail breaks the news that Taylor is also expected to be subpoenaed for the case:

Now, a source has told the Daily Mail that Jackman and Swift – who has not been seen with her best pal Lively since being hauled into the mess – will most ‘definitely be served this week.’ [...] A source has claimed Jackman and Swift will most ‘definitely be served this week.’ ‘It could happen at any time,’ they told the Daily Mail

(Again: DM has direct sources in JB's camp.)

Entertainment Tonight - April 23, 2025

link to post

Taylor Swift and Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds’ 'Deadpool & Wolverine' co-star, are both likely to be subpoenaed in the 'It Ends With Us' dispute.⁠ ⁠ While neither star has been served yet, a source tells ET that "Taylor does not want to be involved in Blake’s legal battle with Justin. She and Travis have been laying low, traveling, and enjoying some time off and quiet time together."⁠

PEOPLE - April 24, 2025

Two articles pertaining to the case were published on this day.

The first article of the day speculated that Taylor and Hugh Jackman may be subpoenaed for the case:

link to first article

"Anyone that had any knowledge of this situation will be subpoenaed, no matter of their celebrity status," the source says. However, another insider says Swift and Jackman are "not privy to anything going on," adding that claims they will be subpoenaed are "smoke and mirrors and trying to distract from the allegations against Baldoni."

The second article published later in the day on April 24 delved into the impact of the case on Blake and Taylor's relationship in (personal) detail.

It's notable that PEOPLE highlights in the title that this is an "exclusive source," indicating that this is almost certainly sourced from someone close to one of the parties involved. (And most likely from Blake's team given the context):

link to article

Swift “was really hurt,” a source tells PEOPLE, after being implicated in Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni over behind-the-scenes conflict on their movie It Ends with Us.  "Blake knew she and Taylor would come back from this at some point and that their friendship wasn’t done for good,” the insider says of the legal difficulties.  “Taylor was really hurt by this situation, so she’s relieved they were able to recover from this and put it all behind them because it wasn’t something she took lightly,” they add.

(It's also notable to me that an article the following day is also highlighted as "exclusive," featuring an "exclusive interview" with Ryan. I'm not saying that Ryan was the source of the previous article, to be clear, but rather that would lead me to believe, personally, that they're part of the same round of publicity strategy re: People given the timing. In other words, they're all from the same source in Blake's camp. Especially given the volume of "happy" fluffy PR stories -- without mention of the case -- that PEOPLE publishes at the same time about the couple and their projects.)

Page Six - April 28, 2025

link to article

After social media users figure out Travis unfollowed Ryan Reynolds on Instagram the previous weekend, Page Six gets this off-the-record exclusive:

Travis Kelce is intentionally trying to distance himself from Blake Lively’s ongoing drama with Justin Baldoni. Page Six has exclusively learned that the Kansas City Chiefs tight end unfollowed Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, on Instagram because of the “It Ends With Us” actress’s messy legal nightmare. [...] It is also unknown how Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, feels about the unfollowing. Her reps could not be immediately reached for comment. However, it has been widely reported that the pop superstar, 35, is not as close with Lively as she once was.

Daily Mail - May 3, 2025

link to article

This is almost assuredly sourced by JB's team, given the confirmation that Taylor was issued a subpoena in the case and will be interviewed by JB's lawyer. Ultimately, the article mainly rehashes the case, but it does also detail that Travis is expected to be subpoenaed as well, along with Hugh Jackman.

As the Mail can exclusively reveal, the actress's best friend Taylor Swift – almost certainly the most powerful woman in showbusiness – has been dropped, centre-stage, into the whole unsalutary mess, and served with a subpoena by Baldoni's lawyers. After weeks of rumours that it was coming, the subpoena has been issued compelling Swift to submit to an interview by Baldoni's 'streetfighter' lawyer Bryan Freedman under oath – never a pleasant experience for anyone. Freedman is one of the most powerful and feared litigators in the entertainment industry. He has represented actors and celebrities including Kevin Spacey, accused of assault; Kate Beckinsale; Julia Roberts and Bella Thorne. A source said: 'Taylor Swift has now been subpoenaed. Some subpoenas are being sent this week, some depositions are in the process now of being scheduled. People often push back and say that they can't for various reasons, but you really cannot get out of it.' And that's not all: I can further reveal that Swift's boyfriend, the American football star Travis Kelce, will soon receive a subpoena of his own, as will Lively and Reynolds' friend, Wolverine star Hugh Jackman. [...] A little over a week ago, US magazine People – apparently briefed by pro-Lively sources – published a piece saying that the two women's friendship was back on track, much to Lively's 'relief' after a difficult period. 'Blake knew she and Taylor would come back from this at some point and that their friendship wasn't done for good,' the insider said. 'Taylor was really hurt by this situation, so she's relieved they were able to recover from this and put it all behind them because it wasn't something she took lightly.' Yet, embarrassingly, days later there came another almighty bombshell when Kelce stopped following Reynolds on Instagram. In a world where a thumbs up or down on social media speaks more words than People magazine could fit in a whole article, everyone was left in no doubt as to the real state of Lively and Swift's friendship. Swift does not, herself, follow anyone on Instagram, but Kelce following Reynolds was one outward sign of the close relationship between the couples – and now that's gone. At around the same time, Swift was a guest at their mutual friend Gigi Hadid's 30th birthday party in New York – and Blake Lively was nowhere to be seen, adding to the impression that she is now being shunned by Swift and her friendship group. Gossip columnist Rob Shuter said that the model 'had to pick between Taylor and Blake... and, ultimately, she picked Taylor'.

***

The Rundown: A Tumblrina's Thoughts

I don't want to delve too deeply into it, because there are so many heightened emotions around this for a lot of reasons.

I've said this many times, but I think it bears repeating: the Taylor issue in the media is separate from Blake's very valid legal case. I see this as being three separate issues: Blake's case about sexual harassment, Baldoni's case about creative differences and extortion, and Taylor's reaction to being (unfairly) involved. They're all intertwined, of course, but the legal issues are very obviously separate from Taylor's.

What I'm trying to say is that you can have feelings about how Taylor is being used, while still having different feelings about the very real case at play. Unfortunately, going by public statements and actions, Taylor and Blake's friendship seems to be collateral in what is shaping up to be a nasty, messy legal fight.

(Call me a cupcake, but yes, I absolutely believe Taylor's version of events. One, because I'm her fan first and foremost, so I give her the benefit of the doubt. Two, because even though JB's team implied her presence pressured him, if he actually felt that she was involved, she would have been named in the lawsuit IMO. It's clear she's just a ploy to get at Blake. And three, not to fly too close to the sun, but if you look at the time frame of when the "meeting" happened... I think you can draw your own conclusions about what might have been going on. At the very least, Taylor had bigger fish to fry.)

My thoughts on it all aren't really important, but if I had to draw a conclusion around it, it's that Taylor is being used (perhaps both unintentionally and deliberately) by both Blake and JB's sides to defend themselves-- and that must feel really, really shitty for someone who doesn't have any involvement in the case. JB dragging her into the case is in zero way surprising as a media tactic, and is the best way he can keep his side of the story out there with assured headlines. (Again: it's from his publicist's own mouth via the planning document.) Blake's response seems innocuous at first glance, but when taking in the fulsome view of the media response, it does unfortunately feel like leaning on Taylor's image to defend her own. Everything is fine! Well, everything's not fine, but we worked it out. Well, we worked it out and Taylor is still sensitive about it. Actually, Taylor's still really upset.

The thing that is abundantly clear is that Taylor's team persistently tried to steer the narrative away from the case, underscoring her lack of involvement at all beyond being Blake's friend and pivoting repeatedly to what she wanted to convey: Taylor is on break, Taylor is leading a private life right now and focused on her family, Taylor doesn't want anyone using her, Taylor doesn't know anything. It was to be expected that JB's team would ignore that, but I presume it was particularly hurtful that Blake's team ignored it as well. That is just me speculating, but there are dots dotting throughout the evolution of the statements. Taylor's request for privacy seems to have fallen on deaf ears, particularly by people who should know better.

One thing that jumped out at me is that the narrative around Taylor's involvement mostly died out after the initial frenzy after JB's suit was filed in January, particularly after the February 6 blitz of, "Taylor feels used and she needs time to cool off, but they'll work it out." It seemed to have done the trick, beyond a few whispers here and there about subpoenas (again, mostly from Daily Mail, which comes from JB's camp). However, the stories appearing in April about the rift between Taylor and Blake over the case and how they mended their friendship and are fine now seem to have stirred the pot yet again, especially since, candidly, it seems like they came directly from Blake's team. (Not to be a conspiracy theorist... But that also coincided in an uptick in publicity for Blake's new movie, along with obviously JB's subpoenas.)

I'd imagine it must have been especially frustrating to have a friend bring it up again in the press, when you'd made it clear that your stance was to leave you out of it and worked so hard to stress that to the press and to mostly successful results. With that context, it's not surprising Taylor's team was quick to rebuke those statements, even through non-traditional methods.

This is me putting on yet another speculative hat, but having read press about the case in general throughout this period, and not just the Taylor articles, another thing that struck me is that once JB filed his suit and his lawyer started talking about deposing celebrities, and specifically Taylor, there wasn't a single statement that I can find by Blake's team denouncing that effort as a fishing expedition when the lawsuits were filed. To me, the most natural response to JB's claims by her PR and legal teams would have been, "This is a desperate attempt by Baldoni and his team to distract the public from the very serious allegations he is facing by Blake and the other women who worked with him on the movie, because he knows his own claims are baseless." Nothing of the sort came out until after the news of the subpoenas hit at the end of April.

It obviously wouldn't have stopped JB's team from doing whatever they wanted, but it would make Blake's team's position clear about where they stand regarding her friends and collaborators being dragged into the case, and shifted the narrative back to the alleged victims in the case. However, her team's silence on that front I think must feel especially worrisome to some of said friends and collaborators (like Taylor), who, I would wonder, might feel like they're being hung out to dry a little.

(Again, candidly: not to delve into the legal case, but having read both the filings and the press outside of the Taylor of it all, I suspect they didn't issue a blanket denouncement of the depositions because at the time, Blake's team was trying to subpoena Baldoni's phone records. Glass houses etc. I also have other Thoughts about the matter. But. Well. It diverges from the Taylor of it all and nobody here cares lol.)

This is a little outside of the Taylor of it all, but taking a macro look at everything between December and now, it seems like this is ultimately a battle of PR strategies. Which, duh. But what I mean by that is JB's team is waging modern social media warfare, using all means to muddy public opinion, and again, this is from his team's own words. Troll farms, fake or "influential" accounts to offer counter-narratives, podcasts, his team speaking directly to the press, etc. The goal is to blanket the field. On the other hand, Blake's team seems to be following a traditional PR effort, relying on reputable outlets like friendly magazines (PEOPLE) and talk shows, and putting out feel-good stories to counter the negative press. E.g., there are SO many follow-up stories to every It Ends With Us story about seeing Hugh's play (no mention of the case), cute stories she tells about her kids on talk shows, her and Ryan showing up at x event, press about their new movies, awards, etc. They're blanketing the field in another way.

Meanwhile, Taylor is caught in the middle, when all she wants to do is: be radio silent and live her life. So on the one hand, she's got the attack dogs on JB's side pulling her in to their narrative, and on the other she's got the positive PR blitz on Blake's low-key pulling her in too. And what's even worse, maybe even spreading an agenda that isn't truthful to her own experience, and banking on her silence as tacit support or approval.

From Taylor's PR standpoint, this is kind of a fascinating exercise to me too, because you can see the nuance in her own team's strategy. If I had to describe it, it's that it uses its most friendly outlet, ET, as the pulpit, and the others as the *whispers* to fill in the blanks. By that I mean, it uses their most trusted source (and again: we as fans all know why it is) to relay their high-level, top-line messages: Taylor does not want to be involved, Taylor is focused on her private life out of the spotlight, Taylor has no knowledge of the situation. Those are the key messages that get repeated nearly every time it makes a statement to ET. This is the party line, and what Taylor's unofficial official statement is.

But then, her team also fights fire with fire by dropping nuggets in all the other outlets, even the less-reputable ones, and IMO that is by design. Firstly, because it sends messages across different audiences (who aren't all consuming everything Taylor related like we are as fans), and secondly, and perhaps more pointedly, to address the other parties' publicists in their own preferred outlets. There's also perhaps an added layer of plausible deniability, because sources like TMZ or Daily Mail or Page Six aren't necessarily reliable when it comes to Taylor so you could in theory deny where the info is coming from, but all it takes is looking at the spirit and the wording of the statements to know where the likely origin is.

So while Taylor isn't going to give an exclusive to ET saying she felt manipulated by Blake and is taking a step back from her to process the hurt she feels, giving an even more off-the-record account to a place like TMZ, where there are already questions of bias and salaciousness, allows her to get her story out there and beat them at their own game. Sometimes you have to roll in the mud a little, which is why it seems like these seedier tabloids got some of the juiciest stuff to paint a broader picture of what was actually happening while Taylor was publicly silent. Maybe another analogy is, um, ET is Khaleesi and the other tabloids are the dragons?

And a note about Page Six: I know a lot of people may have found it strange that that tabloid, of all places, got the confirmation that Travis unfollowed Ryan on purpose, but in reading all this, it actually makes perfect sense. For one thing, confirming to a smaller outlet like this avoids the media storm it would have been if it had been an official statement or "sources tell" quote to ET or PEOPLE. But for another: Page Six is extremely Blake and Ryan-friendly these days. (Again, which surprises me, because of the outlet's connection to JB's publicist, but things may have changed idk.) Like, it seems like it's second only to PEOPLE in positive press for the couple. (Meaning: they are being fed stories by their PR team.) So, using B&R's own preferred source to confirm an action that indicates that their spin of the situation with Taylor is not accurate is kind of ballsy, and also very pointed. It's one step away from saying, "Actually, that's not true, Ellen Blake."

If I can make one more comment about it all, it's that I think Blake's team is worrying about and reacting to the short-term effects of JB's bad press (e.g. the depositions) instead of the long game of her and Ryan's broader reputations and the case itself. And if I could speculate, Taylor would be someone who knew better than anyone about the value of staying silent about a personal issue unless needed to play the long game of maintaining your reputation, and knowing what fights are worth fighting and what are just mud-slinging. (And perhaps that advice and experience might have fallen on deaf ears itself.) I have more thoughts about the Blake of it all and even the JB of it all, but it's a separate issue from this specific post about Taylor.

This was entirely too long, and there isn't much point to it, but like I said, I'm utterly fascinated by the ways in which PR is used in a professional capacity, and how many different factors are in play for a single issue, especially when it starts turning into crisis management. And to be clear, it isn't a crisis on Taylor's end, but Blake's crisis management is affecting Taylor's personal life, and it's a tangled web to weave.

And if you made it this far... Cheers, friend! 🥂

[peachigummi]

bite 𓆚 tom riddle. p2.

summary: [read part 1 here!] after you almost break up with tom, you decide to give him another chance (and thank god you did too). you force him into communication because that's how a healthy normal couple should come together, right? tom concedes, letting you take the lead, but only for a bit. old habits die hard. he also has a surprise in store, though it’s more for him, than you.

pairing: tom (if you squint, he's rather sensitive! and insecure!) x fem! slytherin! reader

warnings: 18+, more fluff rather than angst, soft-boiled sex? (LOL, like not too soft, not to hard),

BUT before I lose you freaks: eye contact!, sum praise, begging, mating press *blush* (piv, unprotected), creampie, reassurance!!, nipple play, biting, blood magic/play/consumption? (😵‍💫). saying ily for the first time, with some after care :)

note: uhhh enjoy?

word count: 10,527 (so excuse me why it took so long >.<)

(trust i will never perfectly proofread my work at this point)

reblog, like & comment if you'd like tom to claim you!

~ @amongstthehollows , @blxuqueenie , @queenanababy , @lovellies , @urmom101 , @lolalleins

There was a soft rapt on the door. You slowly pry your eyes open, they still felt so incredibly heavy. Swollen. Crusted over. You couldn’t remember falling asleep, you must have tired yourself out from crying. You felt drained.

“Y/N?”

You recognized the voice to be Astoria’s. There was another tap.

“I know you’re in there…” she said softly again. You got up off the bed, your body cracking in all sorts of places. You slowly pull the door open, Astoria peeked her head through. You saw how her eyes widened as she took in your red-rimmed eyes and your tear stained cheeks. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her. 

“We didn’t see you last night…or this morning…” she hesitated, “or lunch.” She gently sat down on the edge of your bed, her expression was one of concern as she turned to face you.

Your eyebrows furrowed, it didn’t feel that long. Though you couldn't decide if it was too long of a time passage, or too little since you fled from Tom. You walked to your window, peeling back the curtains, the sun was starting to make its descent.  

“We asked Tom where you were, but he couldn’t really speak. It was like he was recovering from something. Just kept whispering ‘room’.” Astoria explained. “It's strange behavior from both of you. I can tell something is off.”

You nodded. Of course he didn’t tell him that we had an argument, Tom would never admit that to others. 

“I also know that you don’t usually seek out people, but if you do need someone to talk to, you know I’m here.” She continued.

“I know you are.” You turned away from the window to smile at her. It was Tom that you needed to talk to, but you already reached out to him. You wanted him to come to you.

“It would mean a lot to us if you came down and ate.” She stood up, and reached out to touch your hand. You opened your mouth to protest, but she interrupted, “not in the dining hall. We all pitched in to have a house potluck. We got tired of the school’s food.” She laughed lightly.

“Okay fine, you’ve got me interested.” Your stomach growled at the thought of food.

Astoria grinned when she saw you soften, she gave your hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go. She opened the door, the warm, inviting smell of food drifting into the room. Your stomach let out another grumble.

You took a step back, “I should freshen up first.” You quickly began to run your fingers through your hair.

“You look fine, really. No one is dressed up.” She did reach out to hover her hands above your eyes, she whispered something and you immediately felt a cool relief in the area. She pulled back.

“What was that?” You ask, blinking. Refreshed.

“I’ve been working on cosmetic magic.” She smiled, “I usually do that to help with swelling.”

You felt yourself blush, “thank you.” Your eyes must have been really affecting your overall appearance. You found yourself glad that Astoria didn’t try prying into why you had been crying.

Astoria gently pushed you toward the door, leading you down the hallway and down the stairs. As you got closer to the common room, the sound of chatter and laughter grew louder. The smell of food became even more irresistible. 

A few people noticed as you came down with Astoria, you waved at them. Leading you to a long table with a variety of foods, Astoria grabbed a plate for you. You glanced back briefly, your housemates were sitting around in a circle playing some game. You felt a heavy stare, your head ached. You flinched away from the feeling, shaking your head as if it would help. Tom. You told him time and time again to not attempt to get in your head. It was an invasion. He had eventually respected it, but apparently not now.

“You need to try these sliders…” Astoria grabbed your attention again, “and these fruits here are so ripe.”

Tom sat across the room, a ways outside of the immediate circle of students, his eyes locked on you. He had been watching you since you turned the corner down to the common room. Seeing you interact so warmly with another person made his heart clench, a mixture of pain and jealousy. Astoria was just taking care of you, so why was he so irritated by it?

“Astoria..I know I missed a couple of meals but-” Now you began to protest, flinching again when you felt another sharp pain of Tom trying to use Legilimency. 

“Oh stop it, we have to nourish your body. Don’t ever skip out like that again. It’s bad for you.” She kept filling the plate.

“Okay Tori, it’s really enough…really. I can always refill if need be.” You say holding her wrist back as she tried to grab another item. 

She looked at you trying to gauge your honesty. Then conceded, “okay fine..at least try those puff pastries at the end over there, they’re to die for.” 

You nod as she gracefully hopped around people until she reached the spot next to Draco. Draco shifted as Astoria took the seat. He put his arm around her, and kissed her temple, all while looking at you. His eyes shifted to Tom, then back to Astoria.

Taking a seat on a couch near the back of the group, you look over at the center of the room. Blaise and Theodore were at the center, wearing blindfolds. Giggling like idiots as they tried to guess what they were feeling inside a box. You look down at your plate of food. You could also feel as Tom tried to read your expression, again. It was starting to irritate you. You continued to try and push him out.  

You took a deep breath, taking a stab at a potato, putting it in your mouth. It was delicious and soft. You dared to look at Tom, blankly. Almost daring him to do something else but stare.

Tom smirked as you looked up at him, defiance written all over your face. He was taken back for a sheer moment, not expecting you to want to look at him, especially so directly. His jaw clenched, mind racing with the things he wanted to do, needed to do. Things that he should say. He thought about it all night and all day after your last meeting. Tom was also keenly aware that anyone could see him if he decided to act out on it. He couldn’t risk revealing his dark, possessive side of himself. He needed to wait and pull you aside in order to gather his thoughts and tell them to you. 

You rolled your eyes, subtly shifting over on the couch. You rest your hand on the seat directly next to you, tapping on it with a single finger. You lift your hand back up to stab through a piece of meat, putting it in your mouth, looking away. 

Tom recognized the invitation in your gesture, his heart began to pound in his chest. He was torn between his need to protect his reputation and the temptation of being next to you. Being able to touch you was too strong to ignore. He got up from his spot, slowly making his way towards the couch you sat on.

You watch as Tom got up, disappearing into your blind spot. Then a few seconds later you felt his presence directly behind you. You carefully chew, placing the fork in front of your mouth as if you were getting ready for another bite. “Kind of rude for you to just stand there when I invited you to sit.” You say, now taking the bite off your fork.

Tom’s lips twitched again as he heard your words. You were always so demanding at times, so forward. It both annoyed and intrigued him. He leaned over the couch, his breath warm against the nape of your neck as he whispered in a low voice. “I was just observing. Taking time to enjoy the view from back here.”

His warm breath, the smell of his cologne. It almost made you twist with delight, but you held your own. “The back of my head?” You look down at your plate deciding what to eat next. Astoria had a good selection. Everything was delicious. 

Your comment only made him lean forward some more, his chest brushing against your back. “I was looking at your neck, the way your hair falls over your shoulders.” He could barely resist the urge to reach out and touch you, wrap his arm around your neck and pull you against his chest. “It’s quite beautiful.”

“You flirt.” You almost sigh at his subtle touch, “nice to know you have your voice back from that creation we made.” You point out. There was an eruption in the center of the room as Theo began cursing in Italian about who put a damn spider in the box to guess.

Tom chuckled softly, his breath sending goosebumps down your spine. “Yes, I do have my voice back, and I plan to use it to my advantage.” He slowly rested a hand behind your shoulder, gripping the back of the couch. His knuckles are just barely touching you. He was even so bold to reach out and rest a single finger on said shoulder. How scandalous!

“And I doubt you’ll actually talk face to face with me in public.” You try to take the irritation out of your voice. Thinking about how he couldn’t even touch you even when you were near damn ready to break things off with him the other evening.

His frown returned upon hearing the edge in your voice. You were right, he couldn’t fight that. Hiding his feelings from everyone came as easy as breathing to him. But he had to change that if he were to keep you. “I have my reasons.” He ventured out to actually put his whole hand on your shoulder, tightening it, as if to keep you in place. He was afraid you would walk off again. “But this is between us two. No one else. So no sense in talking about it in public. Want me to make a speech out of it and include everyone?” It was his nature to come off snarky. He shook his head regretting having said it like that.

You shrugged his hand off your shoulder, despite how much you needed his touch. “Sit, Riddle.” You watch as the next pair of housemates were being blindfolded to guess, it was Pansy and Enzo. 

Tom…was beginning to like how assertive you were being. He hesitated, but ultimately obeyed. Taking the seat next to you, your weight shifted toward him causing your legs to touch. You didn’t dare move it, you wondered if he would. You slightly turn your head to look at him, casually. Tom looked down at you, his eyes dark, mixed with a desire and uncertainty.

“Did I give you enough time to think and brew up any excuses?” You say sarcastically. You actually couldn’t believe you nearly slept through a whole day after your last interaction. 

He sighed, he actually sighed! Tom ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “You have.”

“Really? Spill.” You stab another piece of meat, offering it to him. Seeing if he would have the courage to bite into it, to try and let you feed him with his peers around. You could see Tom’s eyes flicker down to your fork before looking back into your eyes. He saw through your challenge to push him to show some form of affection in public. 

With another sigh and hesitation, even with his pride flaring up, trying desperately to hold his ground. He ends up leaning forward slightly, opening his mouth to take the bite you offered to him. His desire to be close to you ultimately won. Tom chews very slowly, his eyes flicking around the room. He just had to quickly reassure himself that no one cared to notice what was going on between you two. 

You fought back a smile. “Waaaow.” You remark in surprise, watching him lean away from you to swallow. “You must have really been thinking about stuff.” You knew if Tom hadn’t been trying to improve himself, he would have probably smacked the fork away from your grasp.

Tom licked the bottom of his lip, instinctively his thumb went to wipe the corner of his mouth as if he had some sort of crumb. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” His cheeks were actually showing a bit of pink. He couldn’t control how his body reacted from something so mundane as letting someone else feed him, especially in a room full of people. To a regular person, Tom still had a poker face. But to a trained eye like you, you noticed it right away. 

You nod, “maybe a little too much.” It was the most you’ve gotten him to do in the months you’ve been together. “So…do share. What has been going on in that mind of yours?” You nudge him with your elbow. Bringing him back to the issue at hand.

He rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t deny that your persistence was starting to wear him down. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Tom looked at you, his gaze softening slightly. 

“I did all the talking when you were mute. It took a toll on me. So I'm going to really need you to spill your own heart out.” You explain as you shake your head.

 “Fine. But this really is not a conversation I’d like to have here.” His chin rose up pointing to the group.

You look down at your near empty plate, “help me with this and you can take me elsewhere then.”

Tom, did feel the now familiar pang of guilt at the mention of your exhaustion. The weight of your words. So he didn’t fight that request. He took the plate from you, “Fine. Once I finish this, I get to choose the place.” 

“All yours Riddle.” You nod. There was another explosion of laughter from the room, but he had all your attention. Waiting for him to finish the food. It made you feel better that he was being fed too. Even if it was basically forced.

When he finally got around to it, Tom set the plate on the small table near the couch. He stood up, offering you his hand. “Come on.”

You had to bite back your smile when you saw his hand out. No way in hell were you going to pass up this opportunity. You took it, his touch cold as ever, despite how warm the room was from the everlasting fire. Why he always ran cold was beyond you. It was actually quite concerning sometimes. 

With your hand clutched tightly between Tom’s, he led you out of the common room, past the group of rowdy students, and into a quieter hall then down another. He came to a stop at an empty window nook, tugging you into the secluded area. The refracted moonlight streamed through the window, casting a soft blue-green glow on both your faces as he turned his body toward you. His face glazed with something unreadable.

“Is this where you usually come to think?” You ask looking out of the window at the dark shadows. Since the Slytherin dormitory was halfway into the Black Lake, this part was truly submerged in the water. 

Tom nodded in response, he followed your gaze. The underwater plants gently swayed with the current of the water. Creating an oddly soothing atmosphere, as if it was just for you two. He shifted closer to you, his body almost touching yours once more. His voice was low and quiet as he began to speak, “Yes. It’s peaceful down here.” 

“I like it.” You try to study him. “I can really picture you here.”

“Can you?” He liked the idea of you imagining him when you were alone. Tom hoped that version of himself that you conjured up in your mind, was much kinder to you than he actually was. 

You try to refrain from sighing, “Don’t try to change the subject, we came here to talk.” You remind him.

“So we’ll talk.” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to already keep his frustration at bay or from even daring to come out. “But I would hate to say something you wouldn’t like to hear.” 

You just stare at him. It couldn’t be as bad as you breaking up with him…unless he came to the decision that agreed with that notion. But Tom’s sudden flirting and closeness indicated otherwise. 

With a deep breath, he took a moment to steel himself for the conversation. For the talk about…these so-called stupid feelings he had to address. He knew he had to be honest with you, even if it meant putting a larger gap in this newly fragile relationship you shared. “Alright. Firstly, I owe you an apology.” He looks at you with regret. 

“About?” You prod.

He hesitates, his eyes flickering back to the shadows in the window. “About…pushing you away. About not allowing myself to be close to you in public. About hiding my feelings and pretending that I don’t care.”

You reach out and put a finger under Tom’s chin so he could turn back to look at you. “Tommy…I don’t want you to think it’s bad to be private. I admire that…I do. But I just…it wouldn’t hurt to know…that you aren’t ashamed of me in public. Or to know that you really do like me.”

Tom’s eyes widened at your touch, god he so desperately wanted to defend his actions, to explain why he preferred to keep private. The look in your eyes made him think twice, he took another deep breath. His voice was low and sincere, “I do like you…so much more than it seems. More than anything. And I don't want to hide it..but..” He trailed off, unable to find the right words to explain his conflicted feelings.

“But?” You ask, letting go of his chin. You let your hands fall onto his lap, fiddling with the end of this sweater. It was oddly comforting to Tom. “Let’s meet in the middle…tell me.”

Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to find some words to explain. He couldn’t keep hiding behind excuses and half-truths. “It’s complicated.” He finally lets out, voice strained. Uncertain.

“I’ve got time.” You look between his dark eyes. You’ve never seen him so conflicted. Tom was always so sure of what he did and wanted to do. You could tell he was actually trying to see how you might react and feel. To be conscious of your needs.

“I’ve never done this before.” He cleared his throat. “Openly liking someone, having feelings…being…vulnerable. I’ve always been closed off, keeping everyone more than arm’s length away. It’s easier that way.”

“Tom…You’re like one of the greatest wizards out there and you’re so young too. So much more to learn and do which is insane to think about.” You pause, “liking someone won't and doesn’t make you weak. Being alone and stony only makes things hard.”

Tom listened to the truth in your words. You were right, he was being stubborn and foolish, but he couldn’t help the fear that gripped him at the thought of opening up fully. “I know. I just…don't want to lose control. I don’t want to depend on anyone. I don’t want to let my emotions rule me.”

“Balance. It’s about balance. Too much of something is never good.” You shift to grip onto one of his hands that was actually beginning to grow so pale with his death clench he had. You make his fingers sprawl out, releasing the tension. “You can still be in control and have balance.

His heart raced as you touched him. The feeling of your hand on his, sent a shiver down his spine. “Balance, huh?” A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lip. “You make it sound so easy.” Tom let out a tsk.

“It’s not, god I wish it was. It’s a lot of work to find balance. But I want us to try that. Baby steps.” You bring his hand up to your face, leaning into his palm. “Tommy…I want to try with you, please try with me.”

His breathing stalled at the action. At your plea. He felt some defense of his crumbling, his guarded demeanor almost at once deteriorating. Just for you. The tenderness in your eyes, your own vulnerability showing to him. “I’ll try.” He rubbed his thumb over your soft, plump cheek. “For you.”

“Please.” You felt your sight begin to blur. You drop hold of his hand so you could lean in and cup his face with both your hands. Without hesitation you press your lips against his, slowly kissing him. Tom’s own eyes fell shut, the feeling of your hands on him sent a rare wave of warmth through him. He brought his own hands up to your hips, holding you tightly as he returned the kiss. Pouring all of his pent-up emotions into it. 

Tom was the one to deepen the kiss, his tongue brushing against yours as he tried to convey all the things he still couldn’t say. Things he was too afraid of coming to terms with. He nearly felt like praying to some almighty being that this would be enough, even just for now, to keep you. 

He pulled you closer to him, his hands sliding up your back. Leaning you onto him. He savored the taste and feel of you in his arms. You’ve kissed before, but this was different. Much different. It was driving him to the brink of insanity. Tom wanted more, needed more. It took all of his self-control to keep from taking it further in that moment. He couldn’t stop thinking about how your body fit against his.

There was a thud of a door down the corridor. Almost like you both were electrocuted, you parted away from each other. Settling in the opposite ends of the window nook. No part of either of you touching. You both were even looking in different directions. You looked out of the window, while Tom looked at the person who began to walk down the corridor to the other end of the hall.

Tom took a deep slow inhalation, trying to steady his racing heart and calm his jagged breathing. He could feel the heat lingering on his lips, your taste still fresh. He shifted in his seat, too easily he appeared nonchalant and unaffected by the moment that had just passed. He even gave a brief nod to the student that passed. 

There was another slam of a door, the footsteps subsided. You looked at Tom and smiled, holding back a laugh. You bit on your thumbnail. Once again, since you were familiar with his mannerisms, he still looked quite flustered. Tom shot you a sideways glance, noticing the amused look on your face. 

He cleared his throat. “What’s so funny?” He asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of the reason for your amusement. 

“Can you tell me one thing, Riddle?” You ask, smiling at him. You turn your body back towards him.

With a raised eyebrow, and a smirk forming despite his efforts to keep a straight face. “One thing?” He repeated, folding his arms across his chest. “Depends on what you’re asking, sweetheart.”

Your heart fluttered at the pet name, he hardly ever used any. It was always just your name. “Can you wish me a belated happy birthday…?” You ask oh-so sweetly, batting your lashes at him, crossing your own arms. The reason why this whole thing happened.

Tom rolled his eyes, but rather playfully, at your request. Pretending to be annoyed by your sweet demeanour. “You’re still hung up on that? It’s just a birthday. Not the end of the world or anything.”

“But it means the world to me…coming from you.”

He looked at you, your expression held. He softened again, “fine, fine. Happy birthday, darling.”

You smile, “thank you, Tommy. I’ll take it.” You stand up out of the nook, offering your hand to him this time.

Tom lets you pull him up. He dusted off his sweater, a small smile playing on his lips. “You’re insanely stubborn, you know that right?” But he didn’t really have any bite to his words. He rather admired how determined you were to hear that from him. He stepped closer to you, his hand still holding yours.

“I like getting my way.” You give him a playful scowl, squeezing his hand. “But I also don’t like liars. And you lied about having a surprise for me.”

Rolling his eyes, “It wasn’t a lie, per se. Just…a delay in the plan.” He couldn’t keep the hint of defensiveness out of his voice. He knew he had screwed up, but it was hard to admit it outright. “I had something planned, I just…” He trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed. 

“Yaddayadda…” I start tugging him down the hall, “just don’t make an empty promise again. Especially not with me.” 

“I know..I know..” He huffed, following your lead. He would admit he kind of liked the way you were taking control. He couldn’t help but look down at your perky ass as you led him. Tom couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at him.

You pushed open the door out of the hallway, there were still a good amount of people in the common room. You felt Tom’s hand twitch in yours. You couldn’t blame him for still feeling uncomfortable with showing public affection, it was much too soon to be expecting that. So you let go of his hand.

With that, Tom couldn’t help but feel immediate relief, but maybe also a mix of disappointment. He quickly shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to appear as if he had just taken a leisurely stroll with you. Tom scanned the room, his expression betrayed nothing.

You both climbed up the stairs, at the top you ask, “let’s call it a night…mine or yours?” You run your fingers on the railing waiting for his response.

“Mm..” he mused, leaning against the railing. “Mine.” 

With a quick nod, you already start walking toward his side of the dormitory. Once you passed a corner out of view from those below in the common room. You turned around and grabbed Tom’s hand again, “C’mon you’re so slow..” You whine and tug on him.

Tom chuckled at your impatience, allowing himself to be pulled along. He laced his fingers through yours as you took hold of his hand, savoring the feel of your touch. He quickened his pace to walk beside you, “Eager?”

“I’m not that clingy, but two and a half days without you sucks!” You say waiting outside of his door, waiting for him to unlock it with his touch.

“Is that right? You missed me?” Tom once again felt a warmth spread through his body at the thought. It was still a foreign feeling, but not an unwelcome one. He took a step closer to you, his body just millimeters away, he raised his hand towards the door handle. Hearing it click unlocked, he gently pushed the door open.

“Nagini!! I’m heeerrree!” You playfully sing out, giving Tom a teasing look, as if you had been talking about her and not him. He rolled his eyes, knowing you were messing with him. 

“Yeah sure, of course you miss the snake more than me. Why am I not surprised?” 

You go up to Nagini’s tank, she already began to go up, pushing against the lid wanting to come out.

“Has our Tommy been feeding you and letting you bask in the natural sunlight?” You coo. You take the lid off, offering your hand for her to climb onto. Tom leaned against the wall, watching you with amusement and affection. There was something oddly domestic about the sight of you loving on his snake. He raised an eyebrow as you asked about Nagini’s well being. 

“Of course I’ve been feeding her and letting her out. What do you think I am? A bad owner?”

“I wasn’t asking you.” You say to Tom, shooting him a look that still feigned on playfulness. You look back at the little snake, “has he?” She slithered further up your arm. You look at the small swell of her belly.

He ignores your comment. “She seems pretty content and healthy to me.” He responds either way, his voice tinged with pride. “I think that’s all the answer you need.” Tom pushed himself off the wall, stepping toward you and Nagini. 

Nagini looked back and forth between you and Tom, nodding. She continued to slither up all the way to your shoulder. You couldn’t help but laugh at the feeling. It tickled. You even felt her slim tongue flick at your cheek. “Nagini!” You laugh much louder.

Tom couldn’t help but let out a low laugh at the sight. “Careful now. She has a mind of her own, and won't hesitate to bite without warning.” He said this despite the surprising amount of affection she was showing you. 

“Yes I know. She didn’t like it when I didn’t bring her home quickly enough to her tank. She bit my finger because it was too cold for her.” You patted the top of her head with a single finger. “Can’t blame her. She knows what she likes. I respect that. I’m the same.” You smile at her, then at Tom.

“You’re quite the snake charmer.” He brushes a strand of hair away from your face.

“Only because you taught me. Otherwise snakes are kind of scary. Plus it helps that she’s so cool.” Nagini took the opportunity of Tom’s outstretched hand to start coiling onto his wrist. 

“Yes. She is. Sassy too.” He smiled at her as she settled with him, he went to stroke down her scales. The small snake closed her eyes, she looked content indeed. Almost like she was smiling back. The little tongue came out and flicked occasionally.

You take a step toward Tom, closing the distance. “She’s like our baby, huh?” 

Tom rolled his eyes at the comment, he never really saw Nagini as a baby in that way. Now that you mention it, he couldn’t help but see her in a different light. He only grunted in agreement, a small smile formed on his lips.

Leaning over, you plant a kiss on top of the snake’s head. Her tongue hitting your chin as if kissing you back. You giggled at the feeling once more. You looked up and kissed Tom on the cheek too. It was a small gesture, but it held a surprising amount of significance to him.

With his freehand, he lifted it to cup your face, “You’re spoiling her.” He teased, his voice low and soft. His gaze relaxed as he locked on yours. 

“I think she deserves it.” You challenge back. You lean in again, but this time you kiss him on the lips. 

He leaned into it, his hand coming to curl around the back of your neck. He broke away reluctantly after a few seconds. His eyes darkened as he looked down at you. “You’re spoiling me, too.”

“I think you deserve it.” You don’t let him answer because you plant another kiss, giving a small nibble on his bottom lip. You felt Tom’s breath pause. 

Tom felt his control slip the longer your lips locked. His hand tightened around your neck. “Careful, love. You might be getting yourself into trouble.” He said against you.

“What? I’m not asking for trouble.” You half wine. You feel him pull back. Watching him walk over to Nagini’s enclosure, he allows her to slither back in at her own pace. He puts the lid back on, before placing a small blanket on the top to cover it. “Oh?”

A sly smile formed on Tom’s face, it made you excited but also had your heart dropping. He comes close to you, coming close in order to whisper in your ear. “It won't end well, now that you’re all mine. Just us two.”

“All yours? Show me.” You close your eyes at the feel of his lips near your ear. The excitement growing.

“You’ve been quite pushy as of late.” He murmured, nipping lightly at your earlobe. Teeth grazing your skin. It sent a sharp chill down your body. Tom brought a hand around your waist, pulling you against him. “You’re getting close to crossing a line.” 

You let out a small yelp when he pulled on you. You could feel his heart beating in rhythm with yours. It was fast. “I wasn’t aware there was a line. A limit.” You respond, sighing when he licks the edge of your ear slowly. You shivered again, holding onto his sleeve.

Tom smirked at your physical response, it made him feel powerful. He pinched at your waist, “oh you have limits. Trust me.” He murmured against your skin, lowering his head. His breath was hot against your neck as his mouth moved along your jaw. He left a trail of soft kisses. He nuzzled the edge of your neck, feeling your pulse against his nose. It only fueled his desire.

“Enlighten me on what the limit is.” You manage to say between shallow breaths. You tilt your head further to the side to allow him better access. Absolutely relishing his attention. It only made you keenly aware of how your core began to stick to your panties.

Tom took advantage of your exposed neck, giving a sigh of approval of your action. His mouth moved along your skin with growing urgency. He couldn’t get enough of you, the way your hair smelled, the slight sweet salty taste of your skin, to the sound escaping your lips. “Your limit is when I say it is.” He murmured against your skin. His teeth grazing against your collarbone. 

You shake your head, “Please don’t…” You whine, yet you push him toward his bed until he falls slowly backwards onto it. He didn’t resist the action. You follow him, not daring to create distance. You kick your shoes off, making your way to straddle him. Your thighs on either side of his lap. 

He watched you with hooded eyes, feeling the weight of yourself on him. His hands came to rest on your hips. His touch was almost reverent as he stared up at you. “I want to do whatever I want.” You explain. It was your turn to savor him. With one hand you gently grasp onto his jaw, and begin to pepper kisses down his neck. You offered small licks and nibbles on his cool skin. His cologne was intoxicating, you wanted to smother it.

Tom involuntarily tilted his head away when your lips found his neck. He wanted more of this attention, and he found that he wanted to give it to you. “You want free rein, hm?” He thought about it for a moment, barely opening his eyes to look at you. “Do as you will then.” He relinquished his power to you. Tom gripped your hips tighter, his fingers digging into you.

“Let me take care of you..” You whisper against his skin. You find his lips and kiss him harshly. With this new distraction, you allow your hands to explore him. You feel his slender yet toned body. You carefully, almost cautiously, move your hand under yourself. Just between your legs, feeling him through his pants. “Please let me take care of you.” You repeat, begging.

His body tensed immediately to your touch, he hadn’t expected it to go in this way? Did he? His muscles froze with anticipation as your hands felt him. It has actually been a long time since he was touched in this manner. He couldn’t even remember the last time he relieved himself. 

Tom let out a low hiss as you pressed against him, his arousal growing with every passing moment. He just stiffly nods, “okay..” The single word came out much more strained due to his inner conflicts of relinquishing what he always held. Power. Independence. But god damn, did he need you to keep doing that with your hand. He lifted his hips, grinding against your grip. This new need is becoming evident to both of you now. 

Your foreheads touch as you kiss him once more. You feel his arms wrap lightly around your waist, the pressure and security felt amazing. Yet you wanted more, and you knew he did too. You could feel him through your own jeans. With one hand you were able to fluidly work through the button of his pants, before slowly dragging the zipper down. 

Tom’s grip tightened, almost pinching you. “I need you, don’t tease me now.”

You shook your head, “I’m not trying to.” You laugh, but he bucks himself up again, pushing you away for a moment. You catch yourself on his chest. 

“Take them off.” He commands. You were going to roll your eyes, you were already going to remove them before the command. You rebalance yourself in order to pull his pants down. Tom’s gaze never left yours, he groaned when the pressure released and his cock sprung forward. 

Shit. You thought, feeling it was one thing, but seeing it was another. His dick was big and you could never wrap around that truth. 

“What?” Tom said, propping himself up on his forearms, bringing your attention back to his eyes. That smirking bastard. “It’s all yours.” He flashes you a wicked smile. It made your cheeks begin to burn. You liked that reminder.

“I’m yours too.” You look away from him as you roll over onto your back and swiftly pull and tug at your own jeans. You arch yourself and look to him for help. 

He understands and immediately stands up and loops his fingers through the belt loops. As he starts to pull them over your thighs, his knuckles grace your skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps. “All mine. Forever.” He leans over and pulls your shirt up, just enough to expose your stomach. He begins to kiss the skin there, his tongue barely touching you, yet making patterns along the curves of your body. “For all of time. I won’t let you walk out on me again.” You barely understand him. His mouth was pressed so closely to you. 

You were too focused on his mouth to realize that he had also pulled your panties off. You blush at the exposure, almost embarrassed. Your eyes meet, he looks down and he too realizes what he’s done. His pupils dilated at the sight below him. There was that light shade of pink on his cheeks again. Tom pulled himself up so he could attack your neck with the new powerful possessive wave that shot through him. “You’re beautiful..so fucking beautiful. Made just for me.” Voice thick with what seemed like an insatiable need. He roughly pushed your legs apart and eased himself between the empty space.

“Tommy…” You softly moan out, biting against your finger. You felt a hand come around under your thigh, just below your ass. His nails scratched into your skin and he groped. “Ah..” You shut your eyes, it was borderline painful. But in a good way, it was almost confusing. You wrap a hand around his wrist to try and make him release his grip, even slightly. At the same time you also attempted to move your hips against his, thus rubbing your slickness on his dick. You could feel the veins that ran over his length.

Tom whispered next to your ear, “Fuck. That’s it…move for me, darling.” His grip only tightened, it would definitely leave a tender bruise. He didn’t want to hold back any longer, he needed you. Now. Yet he was willing to wait, just to hear you beg for it. He planted wet hot kisses down your neck. He loved how you began to shake beneath him, breaths shallow. 

He removed his hands for a split second to pull your shirt further up to your chin, exposing your tits to him. “Mmm…so pretty.” He smiled at the sight. “No bra?” He clicked his tongue while pinching at your nipples, making them harden. You let out a long moan as his fingers rolled the swells back and forth. Tom grinded his hips slowly, enjoying how his dick was in between your folds. You were so warm and soft. “So damn wet..” He said aloud. He leaned down, cupping and squeezing your breasts together, his tongue licking around the skin of your nipples. Giving each proper attention, before circling to the hardened tips. Taking them between his teeth and giving them a nice slow tug before letting them fall out of his mouth. He continued this pattern, you watched as there was a line of spit forming when he switched breasts. The sight alone made you want to faint. Or even just cum with that mere stimulation. 

“Tom!” You cried out, “I want..” You put your hands on his shoulders. You tried to push him back and give you a quick break so you could gather yourself. Your body betrayed you because it was an incredibly weak push. “More…more.” Your voice faltered as if you were about to cry. His dick kept rubbing against your clit.

“You’ll have it. I can give you it all. As long as you’re mine. All you have to do is ask.” Tom murmured against the skin of your tits, still holding them close. Sucking on them whilst looking up at you. 

You had a feeling he meant a variety of things. Maybe he meant his pulsating cock. Maybe he meant the world. Maybe he meant his heart. 

“Say it. I want to hear you say it.” Tom shifted, holding himself with one arm up, so he could hold his dick with the other, he aligned it at your entrance holding it there for a moment. It indeed did earn him a whimper and a thrust by your hips again, making him almost slip in for a moment but he pulled back quickly. It almost killed him to do so. “You’re mine…say it. Say it now.”

“Please Tommy give me all of you. I’m yours. I’m yours. I belong to you.” You kept nodding, looking into his eyes. You broke it momentarily to look down between you, you let out a sigh at the sight. His dick pressed so closely to your pussy, you could even see the bead of precum leaking from his tip. You wanted to reach down, run it against your finger so you could taste it.

You felt Tom’s cool finger pull up against your chin, lifting your gaze to him again. Looking quite expectant, as if he wasn’t satisfied with your words. He felt that you were saying it just for the moment. 

“Tom, you can do whatever you want with me. I’m yours.” You try to pour your feelings into it, you didn’t know how else you could convince Tom. You thought he’d be more trusting with you by now. 

Your words did not go unheard after all, you see the corner of Tom’s mouth slightly twist. He shifted his grip to pinch your cheeks together with his hand, forcing your lips to come together in a pucker. He leaned down to kiss you that way. You stop breathing momentarily, your eyes widening as you feel him slowly sink himself further into your wet hole. Tom was watching your every reaction, but still holding your face in his hand. “Ah shit..Tommy..” Your words come out semi-muffled.

Tom’s lips gave in and erupted in a devilish smile. He relished the feeling of your submission, the knowledge that you belonged to him and him alone. He breathed slowly, feeling your body twitch and seemingly hesitate to take him. Your grip on his biceps told him a different story. Your nails were making crescents into his pale skin. He had to show some careful restraint to your pussy, he needed to slowly ease himself inside. Tom didn’t want to hurt you. Not physically and surely not emotionally again. “Shhh…just breathe, darling. Breathe for me…I’ll take care of you..” He murmured. 

Tom watches as you breathe in, providing him temporary relief that you weren’t going to pass out. At least not until he was finished with you. He tried to pull out of you, give you a chance to relax and regroup, but he smirked at the feeling. Your pussy was needier than he imagined, it was gripping onto him with such force. Almost making it hard for him to pull out.

You shake your head, “I want this.” You reassure him, “It-” you swallow as Tominches back into you, his eyebrows furrowed together as he studied you. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“Liar.” Tom flatly said. 

“It’s..It’s just a lot of you…” You let out a strained laugh. You weren’t one to back down from a challenge, especially if it came to getting your guts rearranged. “Use me..” You whisper, your gaze never leaving his eyes this time. They falter in relief when you finally feel his hips collide with yours, him being thoroughly buried deep. You felt his dick twitch inside of you, brushing against your cervix, causing you to twitch too. You laugh, but the movement only made you both moan in unison. “Tommy...”

“Merlin, so help me if you keep calling me by that name.” Tom finally says something about it. He rested his head in the crook of your neck, his hand letting go of your face. Only for his fingers to slither into your mouth. Your tongue immediately starts to glide across them, sucking on the tips of his fingers. You reach to his wrist, pushing his fingers further into your mouth. It made Tom laugh. It was as if the heavens above parted to witness the sound, despite the lewd cause. “You’re starting to get greedy. It’s such a pretty sight.” He says, starting to pull back from your hips, only to roughly smack himself back into you. 

With Tom’s fingers properly lubricated with your saliva, he pulls his fingers away from your mouth. You whimpered, especially when you felt where they went. They went right between your legs, rubbing your swollen clit in lazy circles, then around your pussy’s lips. “Use you..yes..I think I will. Do with you as I please.” He would do anything to keep you his. “Say it for me again.” Tom growled, his body starting to tremble with the effort to hold back his pace to just pound your weeping little cunt. He wanted to hear you give him the permission he craved. 

“Fuck Tommy, please! I’m yours in this life, the next one, and the one after that..and-” You began to mindlessly say, especially as he began to move once you adjusted to him. His pace was consistent, the weight of his body was holding you in place. You felt him move his hand, so that it was just the pad of his thumb pressing against your clit while the other four fingers moved to press down into your lower tummy. Adding more pressure. You felt so full, you let your eyes go cross. 

“That’s right.” He smiled, watching your face. “Take me like a good girl.” Tom’s thrusts began to become ruthlessly hard. He knew he should be gentler with you, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed you too badly, and the thought of you belonging solely to him had him seeing red. “Say you want me…tell me you need me.. Tell me how much you need me..”

You peaked at him through your lashes, his eyes were dark. A possessive desire was emanating from his being. You felt a ball of pressure tighten within you. You felt so incredible. “I want you bad, I need you….mmm oh god!” You mutter when you feel Tom’s dick hit that spot inside you repeatedly. You bring your hand to your mouth, biting on a finger to keep yourself from screaming in pleasure. “I need this, I need this so bad! I d-don’t want anything else but t-this. You’re all I need.” You began to babble the same thing over and over.

Tom nodded, “That’s it, pretty girl. I’m your god. You’re taking my dick so well. Your pussy feels s-so good.” His voice came out a ragged husk, his breathing sharp. It was all too much for him to handle. He just wanted to make you feel good. Tom wanted to fill you up with his cum, watch it spill out of you, only to fill you up again. He groaned at the thought. “You’re mine..my prize. My princess. My trophy. I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll give you everything. You won’t ever have to ask or need anything else. I’ll take care of you. Let me spoil you. You don't have to worry about anything. Please let me do this for you. Make you feel good.”

“Anything! Yes. Yes!” You agree, head bobbing backwards into the cushioned bed. You feel him slow down. 

You were going to whine, when he began to suck at your neck again. You heard him mumble again, “Buy you whatever you want. Do whatever you want. Anything to make you happy. I’ll get it for you. I’ll do it for you.” His voice was soft yet thick with desire. You hadn’t heard him talk so much. You weren't that materialistic, honestly. But goddamn was he making you want to ask him of the universe just to watch him do it. Knowing him, he would probably give you that and the next universe closest too. 

You were pulled back from that train of thought when you felt him quicken again. You were so close to releasing the tension, you wanted to cum all over his dick. You flattened your hand over your mouth to stifle your sounds. You might have been muffling your moans and cries, but the sounds your pussy was making could not be muted, not by a fraction. 

You opened your eyes, you saw a familiar flash of irritation in Tom’s eyes. He shook his head. “Don’t do that. I want to hear how good I make you feel.” He pulled your hand away from your mouth. You made the motion to use your other hand, but he caught that one as well. He brought both hands up above your head, holding them there, at his mercy.. Tom was too strong to pull them away. The action made you clench around him. Tom groaned and cursed under his breath. He was getting lost in you, completely taken over by his desires to own you. “I need to hear you fall apart. I want to hear your sweet sounds. Don’t ever try to hide your pleasure from me.”

You moan at his words, for someone who so protectively fought for his privacy, he really was not caring who heard this affair going on. It only made your face heat up in a fierce blush. 

You watched as Tom’s eyes flashed, not from irritation this time. It was the same look he had when he had a breakthrough of a new method of altering magic to his needs. In this context a wave of panic shot through you. Though it was hard to center on that concern when Tom was making you feel this good.

Tom’s eyes were focused, taking every little detail of you. He could see the panic in your own eyes, so he dipped down to kiss you. A form to comfort you. He broke from it, “Don’t be afraid,” his voice was low and dangerous. “I’ll take care of you.” He let go of your hands that were still above your head. You knew better than to try and cover your mouth again. His pace slowed, you mentally cursed. He wasn’t exactly trying to edge you, but damn! Why did he rob you of an orgasm again? You watched him carefully, for a nanosecond sadness registered in his dark eyes.

“You mean it right? If we weren’t doing what we were doing right now…you’d mean it?” He suddenly asked. His dick stalled inside you.

“Of course! I-I lov-” You began to confess, tring to sit up on your elbows. Tom pushed you back down, maybe a bit too harshly.

“Don’t say it unless you mean it.” he said sternly, his eyes watching your lips. 

“Tom. You’re going to scare me..” You started, but he suddenly thrust once into you. You yelped and reached out to pull on his neck, bringing him in to kiss you. “I love you!” You said against his lips. You did mean it. It was the first time you said it without him interrupting you. He never allowed you to say it. It was probably because he was afraid it would be a cruel lie. Tom truly believed he was incapable of love. Incapable of finding and receiving true, honest, unrelenting love.

He couldn’t stop the way his breath hitched at your words. Hearing you say them with such conviction, such sincerity. It was a moment he’d been both waiting and dreading for. Afraid of the power the words held and relinquished. Despite this dark pit inside him, he trusted you. He believed that you meant it. 

“Say it again,” He whispered, his voice thick with emotion as he held you tightly in place. “Please.” Tom was desperate to hear you speak those words, to believe he was worthy of you.

“I love you, Tom.” You hold his face, you feel him twitch inside you as you repeat: “I. Love. You.” You say slowly, emphasizing each word. You watch as he closes his eyes, pulling himself in and out painstakingly slow. Your pussy ached, already feeling sore from the size of his dick. Your walls strained to keep him buried inside.

“Say it again.” He repeated, barely wavering. New emotions threaten to overtake him. “I need this.” Listening to you declare yourself was shattering every doubt he’d ever had about this world he existed in.

“I love you. I’m yours.” 

Tom turned his face in your hands, he began to slowly plant kisses into your palms. You felt his lips moving like he was muttering something. You couldn’t hear what he was saying. 

“Again.” He said louder, opening his eyes and locking them onto yours. This was a different Tom. Your heart began to match the quickened pace Tom was taking up once more.

“I love you.” You moan out, not breaking the eye contact he was holding with you as continued to mouth something quickly against your palm as you continued to cup his face.

“Say my name.” He commanded.

“Tom.” Your fingers jerked against his smooth skin.

“My. Full. Name.” He said slower. You felt his nails dig into your back from where he held you at the waist, the hold was harsh. Painful. 

“I love you Tom Marvolo Riddle.” You almost lazily let out between breaths. He stopped mouthing, and peeled one hand off your waist bringing it to your hold your wrist. The knot was getting tighter and tighter, making it harder to concentrate on what exactly he was doing. “I’m y-yours.”

When Tom heard you say his full name, saying that you loved him, that you were his. Something snapped, the wave of possessiveness washed over him. It reassured him, what he was about to do was the right thing. To keep you from leaving. To keep you together forever. Just like you said. Just like you kept repeating what you wanted. And Tom wanted nothing more but to get reassurance and security, in the only way he knew how. Magic.

Bringing your wrist next to his lips, he felt its warm, vibrating pulse. “Do you feel that?” Tom asked, his voice gruff as he watched you intently.

You just nod, unsure what he really meant because you were just about to come around his thick cock. You were so fucking close. Your eyes were rolling back. Your head threatened to just bob to the side but Tom quickly held the back of your neck. Still not letting go of your wrist with the other. He wanted you to watch him.

“Tommy…I’m..I’m gonna..!” You cry out, due to the pleasure that was releasing through your body. Your eyes were starting to turn into slits with how heavy they were getting. Tom grunted one last thing before you saw him part his lips. His teeth…! You could have sworn you saw snake like fa-

“FUCK!” You cry out in a mix of pain and pleasure, your back arching into Tom. Your attention was split, shaking uncontrollably underneath him. You watched in a semi-horrified, semi-fucked out trance as Tom sunk his teeth into your wrist. There was a warm feeling starting to run from where he bit. It was your blood, dark and thick. As it slid your skin, it felt like it was burning, like it was different somehow. As if he had injected something into you. 

Tom’s eyes languidly open to meet yours, they were clouded in his own pleasure. “I’m never letting you go.” He moaned against your skin, “No one else can have you. No one else can touch you. My property. Mine.” He pulled back from your wrist, lifting your now limp arm up. Tom barely held his tongue out of his mouth, licking up the line of blood that had stopped just before your elbow. His breath was hot as he removed evidence of having momentarily hurt you. His tongue ran all the way up to the holes that began to shrink and disappear. His lips were red, slightly swollen as he sucked on the area before pulling back with a pop. 

You whimpered. The corner of his lips turned upwards, just enough you knew he was satisfied with what he had done to you. Whatever he had done, you’re not quite sure of. All you did know was that your orgasm was different. It felt like it was dragged out of you, lengthened for too long, though you weren’t complaining about that. Your whole body felt numb with some tingling starting at the tips of your fingers and toes. “Tom..” You tried to say, but it came out as a whisper. You weren’t sure if you even moved your lips. It felt like you were looking at yourself from a third person perspective, you didn’t exactly feel inside your own body. 

“Shhh.” Tom cooed, brushing your hair out of your face. “It’s okay, stay still.” He chuckled to himself. You felt Tom pull slowly out of you, he let out a small curse along with another chuckle. “I really made a mess out of you, darling.” 

“Hmm?” You wanted to cry, you felt empty without him inside. Watching him step away from you was almost unbearable. Tom went over to his dresser, then his desk, opening a drawer and pulling out his wand. You wondered why for a moment, before you heard a squelching sound come from your pussy. You couldn’t lift your head all the way up to look at yourself. From your current state, the warmness of Tom’s cum that was making its way out of you was a stark contrast. You were so distracted from your own high and him fucking biting you to notice how he finished. 

You tried to sit up and cup yourself, embarrassed at the thought of potentially causing a stain on his bedding. Tom’s voice stopped you, “Don’t move.” You obeyed. He took a step towards you and barely flicked his wand. You felt what seemed like a cool breeze wash over your body. You shivered, feeling the tingling over your body intensify before subsiding. You then noticed how he had sweats on, making you feel insanely exposed. “I could stare at you like this forever.” Tom broke the silence. 

“Don’t-!” You squeaked out, moving to cover yourself however possible. 

Tom shook his head with a smile, he had moved closer to loom over you. He grabbed your arm away and you were about to protest when you felt him pull down your shirt, bringing it over your chest. Your nipples felt sensitive against the fabric. “Tom, what did you do to me..?” You finally questioned. 

“We’re connected, on a molecular level now.” He answered plainly, too casually. He reached down on the floor, keeping a hand on your thigh to steady himself. He picked up your panties, another flick of the wand, cleaning them too, and slid them halfway up your legs.

“I..I can do it.” You quickly stood up to pull your panties all the way on. The rush of standing up made you feel dizzy. Tom had held onto your sides, bringing you back onto the bed. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain it in the morning.” Tom smiled down at you. He pushed you further into the bed, propping your head with one of his pillows. 

“But-!” You held up your wrist, in the area where he had bitten down on, there were two dark moles in its place. Ones you never had before.

“You should rest up.” He interrupted again, sliding next to you. He held his head up against his arm, staring at you. Compared to moments before, his eyes softened. Tom reached with his other hand to bring up the blanket, covering your bare legs. His hand rested beside your hip, patting it every so often. “Maybe it’s time for you to keep some of your things in my room.” He phrased it as something to-do, rather than a suggestion. 

“I thought you liked having our things separated?” You look between his eyes, to his lips. 

Tom shook his head, “it was a way to distance myself from you.” He confessed. You smiled, it seemed like there was a change in his attitude. Him being honest and open with himself, and you. “What?” He questioned your look towards him.

“I’ll explain it in the morning.” You broke out in a toothy grin, using his words on him. His smile copied yours, but it was paired with a pinch on your hip. 

“Brat.” Tom pulled you against his bare chest. His heartbeat was slow and steady. You felt him plant a kiss on top of your head.

As you laid next to him, you couldn’t help but notice the heat radiating from your wrist. What had he done to you?

“Before you say anything about it…” Tom began, distracting you once more from examining the two moles. “I love you too.”