#why scoring someone today is a bad idea

[review-anon]

It appears that you are truly destined for loneliness Iroha.

*Sniff* *Sniff* W-why? W-why cannot I find anyone today?

A-also you are forgetting with ASOOT Yuki, he hasn't been told about the future proper so he hasn't gone full rejection mode. Plus it didn't and isn't going to happen.

Nijiue over there! She not happy/

Huh? *Iroha looks up and sees that Gonta and Kirumi are coming over to her*

Oh as if my day can't get any worse. Have you two come to mock for my failure of getting a date.

No, but we did come over to deliver important news regarding that.

That's right. Gonta was meant to come to help Nijiue with courting. As Nijiue needs skills.

Seriously? You were gonna help me with getting someone?

Thank Utsuro for that since I have been having Divine Misfortune with getting a date today. Everyone is turning me down.

At first I thought the blame could be on my other variants but what if they aren't the problem? Maybe its me who's not approaching people right, or doing the right steps in asking someone out.

....Gonta WAS gonna help. But Gonta found out truth and cannot do it.

Truth? What do you mean by that?

Nijiue...do you recall making a bet with Gran-Yomiuri regarding your ability to find someone today?

Yeah I did. Nikei claims I'm never gonna find someone and so I decided that if I get someone, he cannot eat salty food for a month and has to watch romance anime with me. But if I don't find someone I have to eat carrots and no ice cream for a month.

Also I don't know why you are so ashamed Nikei is your grandfather in ASOOT. You seem to ignore he is.

That is irrevelant to the discussion.

But regardless yes that was the terms of the bet. But I'm afraid a third party has come in and altered the conditions that should you find a date...terrible consequences would occur to Gran-Yomiuri.

Third party who do you-

It's Mikado isn't it? He did something with the bet, didn't he?

I KNEW something was up about the fact he was so supportive of me getting a date, I thought he was being nice for once. As normally he just insults me and calls me a failure!

That being so...truth is worse then you expect.

Okay tell me. Tell me what that stupid wizard did to me and Nikei's bet which was so bad you two, who were gonna help me win the bet originally, have decided to stop me getting someone.

...You do it Kirumi. Gonta...Gonta not like to speak about it.

Neither of us would, but I would be more tactiful.

Nijiue, had you won the bet you made with Gran-Yomiuri and found someone to be with today, then Sannoji would have forced Gran-Yomiuri on a date with him...whenever he likes it or not and is implied he would want to get...intimite with him.

....

Are you...are you serious? Mikado was gonna do...THAT to Nikei?

[giuseppe-yuki]

secret admirer

1st grade teacher!max verstappen x 1st grade teacher! reader

w.c.: 1.9k

warnings: none :)

summary: a rose appears on your desk every day. who is it from??

a/n: i know it's edited but glasses max has me in a CHOKEHOLD!!!! anyways, mini fic while ya'll wait for the promised spiderman!au fic (i'm still working on it...)

mini accompaniment: good idea..?

picture credits from pinterest :)

there’s a single rose on your desk - a pretty swirl of soft pink petals that still has that faint sweet smell. 

it sits neatly on your stack of graded addition-papers, right atop aurelia's perfect-score paper. 

at first, you had thought that it was from one of you adventurous first-graders, jack or tina, who had climbed up onto the rose-bush hills and plucked a single flower to put on your desk. it wasn’t rare, of course, for your students to give you gifts. (you still had that rock that your student from a few years ago, logan, had given to you on your desk)

you had even asked your class, standing in front of all of them with the roses in hand, asking who had picked them.

they had all shared that devious look only first-graders could make, covering their giggly mouths with a hand, and refused to elaborate. 

only gabriel, or bubbles, as many called him, had raised his hand and said, ”it wasn’t us because i saw someone down the hall come in with a flower for you,” before isack, who sat next to him on the colored square carpet, slapped his glue covered hand in front of gabriel’s mouth and announced, “no, we didn’t see anything, missus teacher.”

weird. 

a white rose sits on your desk today, its pure petals almost glowing from the sunlight filtering through your window. 

you poke at it, as if it could just magically reveal who had placed it there. you even consider sniffing it really hard in a moment of desperation, as if the scent of the giver would somehow be there. 

however, the pitter-patter of sparkly flats and light-up shoes squeak through the hallway, accompanied by the loud chatter of your first grade students stop you from performing such a stupid-sounding act. 

they’re obviously not supposed to be inside where you are, sorting their coloring worksheets, but rather supposed to be outside on the play-yard with the rest of the first graders. of course, when have 1st graders ever listen to adults, anyways?

the scuffling of several pairs of shoes stop in front of your closed door. 

ollie’s voice drift through the cracks of the door first.

“you open the door,” he says in a whisper-that’s-not-so-quiet.

a second accented voice echoes through. “no you open the door, ollie, you’re the one who wanted to come here first!”

right away, you clock it as ollie’s inseparable best friend, kimi.

a third voice resonates through the classroom through the crack under the door. 

“don’t be a idiot, kimi, you both wanted to come back to the classroom.” 

doriane.

“hey! don’t be meanie, doriane, that is a bad word!”

”well, you and kimi both have cooties, anyways.”

the sound of someone bursting into tears. 

at that point, you shoot out of your chair, leaving the rose atop a quite frankly, badly colored picture of a dinosaur. 

slowly, you open your classroom door to find doriane and maya standing with their arms crossed, facing an angry-looking kimi who was holding up a bawling ollie.

”what’s going on here, guys?” you ask, crouching down to look them in the eyes. “why did you guys come back into the classroom when you guys should be out in the play-yard with your friends?”

ollie wipes the tears from his big brown eyes with the back of his hand before shooting forward, out of kimi’s grip. 

“i just wanted to tell you, that me, and maya, and kimi, and doriane were playing tag- and guess what!” 

“what,” you respond, just to appease him. 

“we heard- “ he looks around nervously- “that the teacher from room 33 down the hall called you gor- gor-“

”gor-jus!” maya interjects helpfully. 

kimi and doriane nod aggressively. 

“did he?” you respond slowly. “that’s very interesting, guys, thanks for telling me that. now go run along back to the playground, because you guys still have five minutes of recess left, okay?”

they beam, and echo you’re welcomes before scurrying back down the hall.

hmm.

a yellow rose sits on your desk this time, thornless, but with a single spiky leaf on its stem. it fits in the pot real nicely with the other two roses, even though they are different colors. 

you almost zone out looking at the flowers, before you feel a little hand grasping your shirt and pulling. 

jack stands next to you with a piece of paper and a shy smile. 

quickly snapping out of your trance, you scoot closer towards him on your wheely chair and lean forwards him. 

“hiya jack,” you say, encouraging him to speak up. “did you want to show me something?”

”yeah,” he says simply, before turning his paper around. 

it’s…something. 

“wow, that’s very nice, jack,” you respond, trying to decipher and piece together exactly what the five big pink and blue squares, two circles, and random black scribble on the side were supposed to mean. 

“it’s a car,” he states matter-of-factly. “it’s ‘cause i want to be a race-car driver when i gr-“

before he can finish his sentence, bianca runs up behind him like a secret-agent before shoving him out of the way. 

“hey, i want to show missus teacher my paper,” she snaps.

almost immediately, you leap up to catch jack before he stumbles and falls head-first into the trash can placed  next to your desk. 

“bianca,” you chastise. “we do not push, we wait our turn, okay?” 

she frowns, whispering a quick ‘sorry’ to jack. 

“that’s o-k,” jack says, smiling kindly, before walking away to show somebody his abstract shapes/car drawing. 

bianca shoves her picture in your lap the moment you sit back down.

it’s beautifully drawn, and you would definitely paste it on your “artist superstar” board in the corner of your classroom, except for the fact that there was two figures, one clearly with a rose in its hand, embracing another figure with a blue shirt and yellow-crayon colored hair. 

“that’s you,” she explains, pointing to the figure with the red rose. “and that,” she says, pointing to the mysterious other figure, “is your secret friend that likes you.” 

“oh!” you respond. 

right, okay. 

a velvet red rose shows up on your desk half-way through the next day. it’s in perfect bloom, petals opening to a perfect rounded shape. 

as pretty as it is, you almost forget about it, only because of the fact that your class was being well-behaved, unlike normal.

they actually listen as they sit quietly on their own little carpet squares, whiteboards in hand, as you begin your lesson on the three properties of matter at the front of the classroom.

it doesn’t last very long, however. you’re halfway through explaining how ice cubes can go from the solid form to the liquid form, when you start hearing whispering from the back row. 

liam, with, like, twenty goofy little lightening mcqueen stickers stuck all over his shirt, squeals in laughter as he scribbles something on his white-board, causing the kids around him to laugh. 

you sigh, setting down your own marker, before turning back around. time to confiscate whiteboards. 

“liam, please give me your white-board,” you declare as kindly as you can. 

“no!” he screeches stubbornly as he ferociously scribbles something on the board again.

you have to almost snatch the board away from his surprisingly strong grip with excess force.

on it, instead of the water droplet diagram like everyone else, he has drawn a big heart, complete with your initials, a plus sign, and a big fat MV next to it. 

what. 

gathering all the clues together from your students like you were some type of detective, you are certain you know who has been giving you the roses. there was only one person down the hall, in room 33, who always wore a blue shirt with blond-ish hair that had the initials mv. 

you stroll down the hall during recess the next day, when ollie and kimi and jack and all the little troublemakers are outside jumping rope and playing tag.

when you peer into the window of the 1st grade classroom located at the end of the hall, you spot a familiar man sitting in a swirly chair in the corner of the room. aside from you, he was one of the only other 1st grade teachers at the school. you hadn’t really talked to him much- just limited conversations in the teacher break room or quick greetings the hallways.

he’s scrunched over his desk, lamp setting his blonde hair alight into golden strands. the glasses that sit atop his nose slide down his sloped nose, which he quickly corrects by lifting his hand and pushing it back up to its correct position. 

huh. you suppose he was kind of cute. 

max, or mr. v, like all the students call him, jerks rather violently when you stick your head into the doorway his race-car themed classroom and wave a hello. the glasses he wears skew crooked, and the half-open can of redbull that he has on the corner of his desk almost goes flying onto the checkered rug that he has placed on the floor.

“oh, i’m so sorry, max, didn’t mean to scare you there!” you apologize, watching as he snatches the silver and blue can with lightning fast reflexes before shoving it haphazardly behind a stack of ungraded papers. 

“no, no, you’re okay,” he says much too quickly, fixing his glasses. “i was, just, you know, sitting around, um, here.” 

there’s a slight lisp to his voice that you hadn’t noticed before. it curls around you in a surprising yet comforting way. you kinda liked it. 

”right,” you affirm. “well, i hope you don’t mind me interrupting your, er, sitting around time, but i’ve been receiving this kind gift from a certain someone and i was wondering if you could help me find them.”

you reveal the small bouquet of multicolored flowers from behind you, tied neatly with a piece of ribbon from your supply bin. 

max’s eyes widen just a fraction behind his square-framed glasses. his cheeks flush a pretty pink. 

“oh!” he stutters out. “i-i-wouldn’t really know anything about that, um i don’t think.” 

max scratches at his neck awkwardly. 

you laugh. 

”max, i know it’s you. somehow, my 1st graders picked up on it before me, which is kind of crazy, but they kind of snitched on you.”

he turns even redder. 

“i’m sorry,” he blurts out. “i hope it’s not weird- it’s just that i think i really like you, and that my friend charles suggested i give you a gift sometime, but i keep getting caught up in the classroom but also get too scared to give you the flowers and i thought-“

“-max,” you say, cutting him off. “it’s okay, i don’t mind at all- i thought it was really sweet. i haven’t had a chance to know you very well, but i’d love to know you better. we can do my house, this weekend? i’d really like some tips on how to deal with rowdy 1st graders!”

you add in a reassuring smile.

”yes!” he snaps as soon you finish talking. “wait, sorry, i meant um, i would love to,” he quickly adds.

”great!” you beam. ”it’s a date then!”

he smiles shyly at you. 

“it’s a da-“

a sudden screech cuts off max halfway, leading the both of you to turn towards the doorway. 

somehow, ollie, kimi, doriane, and maya have snuck inside again. they stand there, wide-eyed, at the scene.

doriane points an accusing finger at you.  “ewww!!!!” she yells at the top of her lungs. “that’s disgusting! you’re going on a date with a boy! he’s gonna give you cooties!”

[shuichi-sama]

scoring a date

volleyball captain! sunghoon! x manager! reader!

description: if someone had told you that after becoming your high school's volleyball team manager, you would capture the attention of it’s captain, park sunghoon, you wouldn’t have believe them. but as he charm’s his way to your heart, you just might.

or in which, sunghoon attempts to woo-you, seem to be working in his favor.

warnings: fluff! overuse of the word cute! (i swear i wrote it like 6 times)

note: inspired after watching en o’clock episode 87! i couldn’t help but picture all of them as a volleyball team!!!! LOWER CASE INTENDED!!!

___________

honestly? if someone had told you, that you would have volleyball captain, park sunghoon wrapped around your finger you would laugh at their face and certainly not the cute and giggly kind.

but as you watch him come up to you for like the nth time today, similar to every other day, you would be the fool not to believe them at that point.

“hi, y/n.” he says a smile gracing his face.

“sunghoon, you do know this like the fifth time you’ve come up to me during practice just to say hi right? and that’s not counting the four other hand waves you’ve given me.”

sunghoon, cheeks burns pink, it was a force of habit at this point. no matter how much he tried to avoid you, not like he wanted to anyways, if it wasn’t his eyes, the boy would physically gravitate towards you every single time without even noticing.

“well, i have an excuse this time. i actually came up here to ask you something.” If the blushing of his cheeks weren’t a quick give away of his nervousness, the cute tremor in his voice surely was.

“oh, what is it then?” without looking up from your clipboard, sunghoon take it as an opportunity to ask you what’s he’s been dying to ask you for a couple of weeks now, if you looked him in the eye at that moment he wasn’t so sure he would be able to go through with it, no matter how confident he was.

“go on a date with me.”

what? you were not death so you were sure you heard him correctly, but still.

“uh, you want me to go on a date with you? but why?”

confusion and hurt etches on his face at your question, as you prance on realizing just how bad your words had sounded. “i mean, why me?” the tilt of his head encourages you to elaborate.

“i’m socially awkward, i don’t really get along well with people outside of my friend group, i have a bad attitude, and there is a line of pretty girls who would kill to go on a date with you.”

sunghoon finds your rambling rather cute, it’s not like he didn’t know any of this information already. the both of you coming from very different social status at school, while sunghoon was very social, popular and very much liked at school, girls lining up just to get a glimpse of him throughout the halls, you were quite opposite of him.

you were a loner aside from your two reoccurring friends he would see you at lunch with. you weren’t not like at school but nobody really knew who you were, always keeping to yourself. as for your bad monotonous attitude? he thought it was cute, knowing full well it was only because you weren’t the best at expressing yourself, always giving everybody the wrong impression or idea, which may have lead to some very offended students.

sunghoon likes you just the way you are, so it irks him just a bit to listen to you list all these, qualities you deem flaws, but he wouldn’t tell you that at least not yet, he rather tease you first. “well, i think you would be the prettiest girl in that line.”

even if it wasn’t the first time for sunghoon to call you “pretty,” or even “cute,” you could just never get used to it, he simply has a way of making you dig the sole of your right shoe into the glossy wooden floor of the gymnasium bashfully.

“i-i never said i was in that line.” sunghoon eyebrows quirk at that.

“i would like you to be though.” even as his confidence seems to deter, he presses on, wanting a proper answer from you, hopeful it was one that invoked a late night date, that ends with a stroll at the nearest park while eating ice cream, possibly holding your hand if you allow him to.

“is that a no to the date?” his question, has your down cast eyes shoot up suddenly just for them to look away just as quickly. sunghoon can’t seem to take his eyes off of you making you want to turn into a putty right in front of him.

“o-oh, i never said that either.” every time sunghoon ever held a conversation with you, it always seemed like a push and pull feeling. it left him confused many times but a part of him knew that’s just how you are, and honestly? he found it cute, you were cute, so he would willingly pull you as much as he could and would take as many pushes as you want to give.

“so, is that a yes then?” he grins at your lack of eye contact, cute.

“uh-maybe.” he chuckles at your response, it being so you. as much as he wants to press on for a definite answer, he doesn’t know the full extent of your limit. no matter just how much he would love to tease you to find out he doesn’t, as you pull a strand behind your hair, the red tips of your ear giving away your embarrassment.

he chuckles, reaching for the top of your head, before he could ruffle it into a mess, you flinch not used to the physical contact of a guy.

“oh, i’m sorry. i got a head of myself, i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” sunghoon retracts his hand to his side. distress with the idea of making you uncomfortable unintentionally, he only wishes he could kick himself for his bad habit of not keeping his cool whenever you were around.

raising your clipboard to cover your tainted cheek, you shake your head, to make him understand he misunderstood your actions. the frown forming on his face, has you clearing your throat, and pulling down the clipboard to speak much more clearer than you have been doing this whole time.

“no, it’s not that-i guess you you can say-that perhaps you just make me just a bit nervous in a good way is all.”

sunghoon’s frown ebbs away, only to switch to a look of widen eyes, and disbelieve at your clear confession. “oh.”

“why are you smiling at me like that?” you ask his looked of disbelieve turns to another of happiness, as if he had hit the jackpot, and in his world he did.

“cause you just told me i make you nervous.” well not that he didn’t know, if he wasn’t so sure he would have thought you were either nervous all the time, or simply emotionless, but you confirming that his presence made you nervous in a “good way” as you said, he was first pumping the air in his head.

“is it that shocking?” you asked out loud, more to yourself really.

he didn’t respond to your question either way. opting out to make a deal with you instead, evident that this conversation would see no end. no matter that he just wants to talk to you for the remainder of the hour, he couldn’t. if coach catches him slacking, sunghoon would be running endless lap around the the school til he saw fit, especially as team captain.

“how about we make a deal? if my team wins the mock game by 5 points difference, you’ll let me take you on a date.”

you didn’t have to consider much, but you firmly believe in his capability to score more as team manager. “if you score a difference of 10 i’ll go on a date with you.”

“you must really not want to go on a date with me, uh?” he jokingly asks.

“no, i just have faith in your abilities to beat them with a 10 point difference.”

“okay, a 10 point difference, and i also get to hold your hand after practice, it’s only fair if we both add something, no?”

sure it was fair, but now you were blushing again. “okay, deal.”

“perfect,” just before he could turns to go back to his team, he speaks again, “just so you know, i’m not going easy on them.”

“well, as team manager i would be upset if you did.”

with a beaming smile he directs at you, he reaches over your head once again unconsciously, still out of bad habit thought this time you don’t flinch away as he ruffles your hair.

you were unsure who was more nervous leaving the gymnasium, but as you walk hand in hand with sunghoon, he blames practice for his sweaty palms even after he had taken his shower. Though truthfully, he thinks it might just be too early to tell you just how nervous you make him feel, he still has to take you on a date first!

SCOREBOARD: 30/15

[hellfirenacht]

Saving Throws

Fic Summary: Hellfire is your favorite place to be, but why is it so hard to show up when the sun sets at 4 pm?

Tags: Eddie Munson x Reader, Seasonal Depression, Hurt/Comfort, suicidal ideation if you squint but Reader does NOT want to die and is not actively suicidal, drug use, smoking, no use of y/n, reader is not described, assumed fem!reader, happy ending, SFW

No Beta, we live and we laugh and we love.

Word Count: 4.8k

Master List

It wasn’t even 5 pm, and it was already dark outside. You hated it. Stuck all day in school, too cold to be outside during lunch, and by the time you made it home any daylight had already faded over the horizon. On the weekends you could at least enjoy sitting by the window, taking in as much daylight as you could, and when school let out during the week, there was at least that precious 2 hours before the darkness came. 

Fridays were the hardest, even though they shouldn’t be. Fridays used to be the day you looked forward to most because that was Hellfire. It was the one day you were guaranteed to see Eddie and the rest of your friends. You hated that you were moved to a different lunch period. 

It was grey and gloomy out, the leaves on the trees that had brought you joy just a few short weeks before were now empty and dead. It was cold. There was no sunlight this Friday. 

You still sat outside, hoping that a shock of cold for a few minutes would snap you out of the fog that had been creeping in the back of your mind for the last few weeks. You knew it was coming, inevitable, but it never got easier. You wished there was something more you could do to slow it. 

October was a pleasant distraction, and usually you could combat the worst of it until January. Holidays and Hellfire were the best things to hold onto until March. 

Today wasn’t one of those days. You didn’t want to go to Hellfire, you didn’t think you’d be able to add any modifiers to your ability score. You didn’t think you could find your character voice or pick a fight with Gareth or team up with Jeff. 

In your state, you felt like you might just let the party down. Let Eddie down. 

That was the worst part. You could handle the rest of your friends being disappointed in you, but Eddie was different. If you missed Hellfire, there wasn’t any guarantee that you’d come back and have your character still be alive. Most days you loved that he was a bit ruthless and sadistic as a DM. Most days, you cackled as he threatened to off someone’s character for being late or dipping out early or missing Hellfire completely. Most days you loved him- his DM style, that is. 

Most days. 

Today wasn’t most days. 

It was now two minutes to 3:00 pm. If you hurried now, you could make it without a lecture. If you were five minutes late, you could blame it on going to the bathroom and Eddie would give you a look but wouldn’t hound you too bad. Later than that...

You had never been later than that. You had only ever been late once, and Eddie had forgiven you by giving you disadvantage on a roll that caused your character damage but ultimately didn’t kill them. 

It took you five minutes to force your body to move back inside, your whole body covered in goosebumps from the cold. You pulled your jacket back on as you trudged towards the storage room where Hellfire met every week. You walked down the stairs where Eddie was just now starting in on his opening monologue. Ever the professional, he shot you a look, but didn’t stop. 

You hated that look, you hated the idea of letting Eddie down, ever. 

The game passed by in a haze. Even Eddie’s antics and loud voice couldn’t fully keep your attention today. You felt like you spent most of the time telling yourself to focus rather than actually focusing. It was fine, Doug and Mike took charge of the dungeon and you were happy to let them have the spotlight. You hoped you looked more like you were focusing hard on the battles and strategies over spacing out. 

The relief of the meeting being over was washed away by the dark parking lot, the sun long gone despite the early hours. Everyone else was chatting excitedly about the dungeon and you trailed behind, readying yourself to say goodbye before heading to your car. 

Everyone was loitering around Eddie’s van while he pretended to be annoyed as he smoked a cigarette. You liked these moments, where everyone was together and you didn’t feel as though the pressure was weighing down on you. Outside of Hellfire, even if it was dark outside you were starting to feel a little lighter, the fog in your mind clearing just slightly. 

You took a hit off of Eddie’s cigarette. You didn’t normally smoke but the burn in your lungs at least helped you focus. You didn’t even mind it when you were teased for coughing so much. 

One by one everyone else was picked up or drifted to their own cars, leaving you and Eddie. You were about to say goodbye, when he spoke up. 

“So, where were you?” Eddie asked, dropping the cigarette and crushing it out with his boot. In the silence of the night, you could hear the slight hiss of the embers dying under his old Reeboks. 

“Huh?” you asked, head snapping up to meet his eyes. Eddie crossed his arms and leaned against the van. 

“You were late today, and I was benevolent enough to let it slide.” he said. “So, where were you?” 

You wanted to tell him that you were only a little late, but you didn’t have the energy to challenge him. Normally you enjoyed the occasional argument or play fight with Eddie but today you didn’t have the energy. That spark was as cold as the smushed cigarette. 

“I was in the bathroom. Made the mistake of eating the surprise casserole during lunch.” you shrugged. You didn’t want to lie to him. You hated lying to him. But there was no good way to explain that the reason you were late was because you had to convince yourself to go. There was no way Eddie could understand, and you didn’t have the words to make him understand. 

How the hell could you explain that the place you wanted to be most was also the place that something deep inside you couldn’t bare to face. You hadn’t done anything wrong. Your friends hadn’t done anything wrong. Eddie hadn’t done anything wrong. So why did everything have to feel so wrong? 

Eddie seemed to accept your excuse for now. He clapped you on the back, which cleared the haze in your mind for just long enough to make your heart beat faster and for a moment you could think again. 

“Don’t be late again.” he said sternly, an evil glint in his eyes that usually made you melt. “Or else.” 

“I won’t.” you said, wishing you knew if you were lying or not. 

You kept your promise through November. Sacrificing those few moments of Friday sunlight to go directly to the club room after the bell rang. You were still dragging your feet, convincing yourself that you wanted to be with your friends as your shoes squeaked on the linoleum tile.

That was the worst part, being at Hellfire did make you feel better once you were there. But getting there was harder than actually coming to school. You still weren’t fully alert during club, but at least you were there. As long as you were there then you wouldn’t be in trouble and your friends would still like you and Eddie would still want you around-

Why was he giving you that look? Eddie walked into the club and had a disapproving look on his face. Anxiety flooded your system, washing away the haze as alarm bells rang in your head. You were here, right? It was Hellfire and you were on time, early even! You were here before Eddie. You had your character sheet, you had your figurine, you weren’t sitting in his chair-

“Where’s your shirt?” Eddie asked, and you felt your face flush of all blood. Your shirt...?

To your horror, you looked down at your shirt. It was an old faded t-shirt with the logo long since gone. It was soft, and usually worn for bed- 

You hadn’t fully gotten dressed this morning. You slept in this shirt and had just thrown on a hoodie over it, not even thinking about the fact that Hellfire was today. You were out of uniform. 

Fuck. 

When you forgot your homework during class, you didn’t care if teachers gave you that disapproving look. You could block out your peers jeering at you for what you wore, they didn’t matter.

None of them mattered, but Eddie did. 

“....Fuck.” you said, mostly to yourself, staring at the offending and comfortable material. 

You expected him to lecture you, like everyone else. You braced yourself for him to tell you to leave and come back when you knew how to dress yourself again. A small part of your brain almost hoped that he would. 

Instead he just gave you that manic, evil grin that you usually loved. You knew what was going to happen for the rest of the day. 

“I hope you’re feeling lucky today, because I’m not going easy on you.” Eddie said. “In fact, I think today I might play favorites.” 

Being Eddie’s favorite in Hellfire could be a death sentence if you weren’t careful. Being his favorite meant that he was going to pay special attention to you. Eddie didn’t often play favorites, but the last time he did it ended in Doug starting a new character sheet while rolling his saving throws. He was saved by a lucky 13 roll. 

“Fuuuuuuuuck.” you said, louder to show your disdain for this turn of events. Eddie only winked at you and started setting up the table and his area. 

One by one, everyone showed up while you looked over your character sheet as if you were cramming for a test. Normally you loved any attention that Eddie gave you, but right now it felt like too much as you scrambled to try and remember what the hell was even going on in the campaign. 

You pretended to have fun, swallowing down any panic you were feeling during the game. Even though all you wanted to do was go home and sleep and cry and disappear until Spring. How were you supposed to finish the campaign like this?

Eddie was picking on you the whole game, and you wanted to be mad at him. You wanted to tell him to fuck off and leave you alone and wasn’t it good enough that you were even there? But you couldn’t, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it because he wasn’t actually mad at you. You could see it in his eyes that there was nothing malicious behind that grin. This was a punishment, yes, but he wasn’t doing this to hurt you.

A few weeks ago you would have loved this, loved being picked on by him and having his attention and investment in your character. You would have been locked in, challenging him and pushing him as much as he was pushing you, cracking jokes and batting your eyelashes at him for fun. 

You miss who you were a few weeks ago. 

You had been fighting on equal footing, but now you felt backed into a corner. With a final push, and with an assist from Jeff, you managed to get your final attack in before the battle ended. You would be worse for wear next session, but alive. 

By the time you all walked out of the school that evening, you felt extra drained. You had fun, you think. You should have had fun. Hellfire was always fun. 

Something heavy fell on your shoulders and you made a noise and swatted in front of your face as Eddie snapped his fingers and smacked your face around a little. You felt the snout of that damned pig ring poke into your cheek. 

“Hello? Anyone in there?” He asked, his arm swung around your shoulders as if it were the most casual thing in the world. The weight of his arm dragged you out of the clouds and back down to earth. 

“No one’s home.” you deadpanned, but you couldn’t stop the corners of your mouth from pulling up slightly. This was Eddie now, not the Freak, not the Dungeon Master, not the guitar lead of Corroded Coffin. No pressure. 

“Should I tape a note to your face if I want to leave a message?” he asked.

“No, I’ve seen your sticky notes, they don’t stick.” 

“That’s what happens when you drop them in slush.” Eddie shrugged. “Now, what the hell is wrong with you?”

That was a loaded question. “Alphabetically or chronologically? Actually scratch that, we don’t have time to get into that.” You laughed, hoping he’d drop it. 

You felt Eddie’s hand move around your back from one shoulder to the other. He moved in front of you to make you face him completely. His free hand rested on your other shoulder, his head tilted down slightly. His head always tilted down like that when he was being serious. Shit, he wasn’t going to drop it. 

“Is something going on?” he asked. “You were at the table but...” Eddie seemed to struggle with how to phrase it. “You’re phoning it in.” he finally settled on. 

You hated disappointing Eddie. He was one of your best friends, and you admired him so much. How were you supposed to answer him without feeling like a massive failure? 

Eddie had seen right through you, had noticed that your head and heart wasn’t in the game. Despite his looks, Eddie was always so intuitive about how people were feeling. He noticed when things were off. 

This isn’t how you wanted him to notice you. It was ironic really, ever since you joined Hellfire all you wanted was Eddie’s attention, to catch his eye. Now that you had it, you wish he’d look anywhere else. This wasn’t the you that you wanted him to see. 

“Finals.” you said, giving the canned answer that you had given to the guidance counselor early in the week. “Classes are kicking my ass and I’ve just been a bit off.” The counselor had bought it, and if Eddie didn’t you could blame stomach issues or- 

“You sure?” Eddie asked, frowning. He was still holding your shoulders. “It’s just- it’s been weeks, man. You’re barely there.” 

“There’s nothing wrong.” you tried to assure him. It was true, and that was the worst part. There was no reason why you should feel this way. Things weren’t bad at home, things were fine at school. The worst thing that’s happened in the past few weeks was today's encounter with an owlbear. “I’m just really tired lately. Stress. Can’t sleep.” 

Eddie looked at you hard for a few seconds before nodding, finding the answer satisfactory. He let go of your shoulders and you immediately missed the pressure. He opened the back of his van and dug through a small mountain of clutter and pulled out his lunchbox. 

“No, Eddie, it’s fine. I don’t have any money right now.” you said as he pulled out a small baggie. He tossed it to you anyway. 

“Pay me back later.” he said. “Ten.” 

It was a discount, he must be actually worried about you. The fog in your mind told you to take the weed and go home. To smoke and sleep and lay around for the next few days and wallow in whatever feeling this was. 

It took you longer than it should to force your lips to say “I suck at rolling.”

And that’s how the two of you ended up at the far end of Forrest Hills trailer park, away from a majority of the trailers and RVs as Eddie carefully rolled the joint. This wasn’t something that happened often, the two of you hanging out alone. The last time it happened was the start of the school year when Eddie had given you a ride home when your car had a flat. The two of you ended up spending an hour in your driveway just talking. That had cemented the crush you had been suppressing for the past eternity. You had thought that maybe he had felt that same spark you did that night, but the two of you hadn’t been alone like that since. 

Eddie took the first hit and handed the joint over to you. You held it for a moment, unsure if weed was a good idea with your already cloudy mind but you took a deep hit anyway. 

“Woah, easy.” Eddie said, taking the joint back as you coughed from the smoke. He smacked you on the back a few times before offering you a swig from a water bottle. You chugged the rest of it before your coughs subsided. “It’s just me. You don’t need to smoke like you have something to prove.”

You winced at the call out. You absolutely did take that hit to try and impress Eddie and he saw right through you. Of course he did. 

“Sorry.” you coraked out. 

Eddie just shrugged and took another hit, leaning back against the driver side seat. The mixtape he put in was louder than you would have liked, but it kept you alert. You felt at ease for the first time in a while, excited even, and that made you feel guilty. You didn’t want your brain to be dependent solely on Eddie to function. That wasn’t fair to him.

You considered asking him to take you home when he started talking again. He turned up the music just slightly, his voice a little louder as he launched into a ramble about the guitar solo. 

“Are metal songs usually this long?” you asked, leaning against the passenger side door to face him more. 

“If they’re any good, yes.” Eddie laughed, shredding on his precious imaginary air guitar. 

“It’s nice of Metallica to slow down in the middle of a song. Gives the pit a break, you know? Like, ‘Hey good work everyone! Grab some water and meet back in the pit in three minutes for the big finale!’” You laughed, taking a smaller hit from the joint. 

“If you leave the pit, it doesn’t count. I don’t care how much they slow down.” Eddie said firmly. 

“You have too many rules.” you shook your head. “Not everyone has the never ending stamina that you have.” 

“That’s why we need to work on yours.” Eddie stretched out dramatically and dropped his feet in your lap, the heels of his Reeboks digging not unpleasantly into your thighs. “You’re damn near falling asleep on me at Hellfire, how am I gonna get you in the pit at our first big gig?” 

Your stomach turned with guilt but you pushed through it. “Just toss me in from the stage and if I thrash enough I’m sure it’ll count.” 

“Come on, you know it won’t count unless you start the pit willingly. If I can’t make you feel like you want to fight with our songs then I’ve failed.” Eddie pouted. 

“You make me want to fight without your singing.” you teased, untying his shoe laces. 

“Then why didn’t you?” 

You froze, holding the broken aglet between your fingers. “Dunno what you mean.” you lied. 

“These past few weeks you’ve been hanging back during battles and have barely talked during the campaign.” Eddie said. “Do you...”

“Do I what?” You asked, rolling the aglet. 

“Do you enjoy Hellfire anymore?” he asked, his voice quiet and unsure. You felt your heart break at the question, you hated that your damn brain made him feel like this. You were fine suffering in silence, but the last thing you wanted was to drag Eddie down with you. 

“No- I mean- yes.” you stuttered out. “I do like Hellfire. I promise.” It sounded childish, and you couldn’t force your voice to sound as sincere as you wanted it. Eddie would see through the bullshit in a heartbeat. “I.. I don’t know what’s wrong.” You conceded finally. 

Eddie nudged you with his foot. “Talk to me. Normally you won’t stop talking during the campaign. Don’t clam up on me now.” 

“It just... I get like this every year around this time. The sun disappears right after class and suddenly I feel like a damn zombie. I can’t think, or do anything. I feel like I’m fighting fog. You can’t punch fog.” 

Eddie crossed his arms and nodded sagely. “That’s how fog works.” 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” you couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You’re oh so helpful.”

“Normally the way to get rid of fog is an assload of light. That’s your problem, huh? No light means more fog.” 

“That seems to be the case.” you agreed and turned down another hit of weed. It wasn’t helping right now anyway. 

“Should I shine one of the spotlights on you next time?” He suggested. 

“You already did that this afternoon.” you deadpanned. 

“Nah, I just made you participate. I’ll rig one of the drama spotlights to shine directly on you-”

“Giving me disadvantage on every roll because I’ll be blind.” you countered. 

“You will be, but I might have mercy on your character. No, but I was thinking more of a Care Bear stare. Blast you with light to make you give a shit again.” He crushed out the joint. 

“A Care Bear stare? Who even are you right now?” you stretched your own legs out to rest on his lap, your legs tangled together now. “You can’t even name three Care Bears!” 

“I can so! There’s Grumpy Bear and uh... Happy Bear and Brave Heart.” Eddie said smugly. 

“Wh- That last one isn’t even a bear, it’s a lion!”

Eddie threw his arms up dramatically. “Does it matter?”

“Yes! You’re a fake Care Bears fan. How are you supposed to blast me with a Care Bear stare if you can’t even name the characters? I’m embarrassed to even be here right now, Eddie.” you sighed, disappointed in him. “Poser.” 

“Poser?!” Eddie looked offended. “I can handle being called a freak, or a satanist, but poser? That’s a low blow. I’m wounded.”

“Crit hit on psychic damage.” You cackled. 

“You sound better.” Eddie said as your laughter subsided. 

“I.. feel better. Thank you.” despite the weed and the only light in the van coming from the overhead light, you did feel better. There was still a bit of fog, but the exhaustion wasn’t as bad as it had been over the last few days. 

“Are you gonna be okay for the rest of the campaign?” Eddie asked. “I’d hate to lose a party member to a monster we couldn’t see”

“You aren’t gonna lose me.” you promised. “I’ll be there and I’ll try and be perkier.”

“I don’t care about perky, I just want you to have fun.” Eddie said firmly. “If you aren’t having fun then that means I’m not doing a good job as a dungeon master. Come one, tell me what I gotta do to make it fun for you again.” 

“Kill off Blorbo.” you said. 

“Anything but that, he’s an essential NPC.” Eddie smirked. 

“He’s really not.”

“Blorbo bring joy and wonder everywhere he goes-”

“Can he go to Hell? I think they need more joy and wonder there.” That damned goblin had started as a joke and quickly turned into the most obnoxious character that would show up to cause problems when things were going too well. 

“I’ll tone him down.” Eddie promised. “The voice is straining anyway.” 

You took a deep breath and fiddled with his aglet again. “I just.. Don’t want to let you down when I can’t give my all.” You admitted, laying out your vulnerability. “I don’t care if anyone else is disappointed in me, but you and the rest of the party are different. I want to be there for you all. I want to fight the fog and show up and be a part of this adventure. I... I don’t want you to- if you give me the same look that the rest of the school gives us then that’s it. I won’t be able to face you, Eddie.”

Eddie was silent for a while as you stared at his shoes. “Look, I know I can be harsh when it comes to Hellfire.” he admitted. “I can be an asshole because it means so much to me. I know that. If my threats are making it harder for you to show up then I’m sorry. I don’t want to be so much of a dick that you run away because I’m threatening to kill off characters because of my precious dungeon master ego.”

You felt your chest tighten and you swallowed a lump in your throat. 

“I want you at Hellfire.” Eddie continued. “I love playing with you. When you and Jeff team up, I know I’m in trouble. The two of you come up with plans that, frankly, no sane dungeon master would let you roll for. But I do, because you make it fun.”

“And because you’re insane.” you laugh as you blink back a tear. 

Eddie grabbed your ankle and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll be nice to you at Hellfire. I’ll be patient. I just want you to show up and enjoy the game. Just don’t tell the others I’m giving you special treatment.”

“Not being a dick is giving me special treatment?” You gave him a small smile, a real one. “I’m honored.” 

“Yeah, well, if word gets out they'll start demanding that I be nice to them too, and I can’t have that. Not during the game anyway.” 

You felt lighter than you had in weeks. You really did feel better. It wasn’t going to be a permanent feeling, you knew that there were going to be more foggy days. Feelings like this don’t really go away until Spring, but you would prevail. You wouldn’t let Eddie down, or the rest of your party. You wouldn’t let yourself down and fall victim to an endly haze. 

“Can... we hang out like this more?” you asked. “Outside of school, I mean.” 

Because this is what you needed. It wasn’t gonna be easy, but having this time with a friend is what would get you to the end of winter. Eddie, Jeff, Doug, even Gareth and the freshmen. You had put so much pressure on Hellfire that you had forgotten that your party members were also your friends and allies. 

This didn’t have to be a solo quest. 

“Yes!” Eddie said, so quickly and forcefully it actually made you jump. “Yeah, absolutely, You should really come to the Hideout more and watch us play and after we could go get uh... questionable snacks from the gas station. Or I could sneak behind the bar and get us some beers.” 

With how enthusiastic he was, you wondered if he had also felt that spark that night at the beginning of the school year. 

It was almost 2 am when Eddie dropped you off at your place, stepping out of the car to give you a real goodbye. The rest of the night had been a whirlwind of a million topics at once, music, life, plans to hang out in the future. You felt happy. Really, genuinely happy. 

You hugged Eddie, which he seemed surprised at but he hugged you back tightly. You were squished against him, enjoying the texture of his leather jacket under your fingers. It was cold out, and you could see your breath now, but you felt a warmth in you. 

You didn’t need Eddie to be the light that kept you going, but he could help your own light stay lit. Him and the rest of your friends. Though you knew that a part of you would always burn more brightly for him, specifically. 

Eddie pulled back and dramatically bowed to you, taking your hand and kissing the back of it. It was so over the top and so Eddie. 

“Come by Gareth’s place on Sunday. We’re having rehearsals while the neighborhood is at church.” He instructed. 

“I thought Corroded Coffin had closed rehearsals?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. They were always serious about their band, they didn’t let people come and distract them. 

“Think of it as a special open casket.” Eddie said. “You don’t have to talk, we can focus on our music, and you get to spend time with us during the day.” 

It was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever offered you. You nodded, knowing that it might be hard to get your ass out of bed but you would. For him. 

And for you.

With a final hug, Eddie saw you inside before peeling out of your driveway. You made your way to your room and looked at the photo on your nightstand of you with the Hellfire club. What you were feeling might be a solo quest, but you weren’t alone. 

For the first time in weeks, you were able to fall asleep without the weight of the fog. 

A/N: This fic was originally hurt/no comfort out of my own seasonal depression and insecurities. But what stopped it from being that was that none of you deserve to feel abandoned or like you're fighting alone. None of of who love Eddie so much deserve to be kicked out of Hellfire without a fighting chance.

Get yourself some vitamin D gummies and a SAD lamp. We're gonna get through this, guys.

Also I really need a regular Tag List so comment if you wanna be added.

[alltimecharlo]

maybe some angst where will thinks hes not good enough for mack? hehe ty

i’ve gotchu!!! the angst is there but so is the hurt/comfort bc i am a sucker for it 🥹🩵

Will lies flat on his back in the dark, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling of his hotel room. The thin sheets are twisted around his ankles, kicked off in frustration half an hour ago. The hum of the air conditioning fills the silence, and somewhere in the hallway, someone’s laughing way too loud for midnight.

He should be sleeping. They have a game tomorrow. But his mind won’t stop chewing on the same thought over and over again like a dog with a bone: Mack deserves better.

He rolls over and picks up his phone from the bedside table. No notifications. Not even from Mack.

It’s not like he expects a play-by-play of Team Canada’s locker room, but… still.

Mack scored a ridiculous goal today against Sweden. An insane breakaway off a backhand pass from fucking Sidney Crosby, so clean it made the highlight reel within minutes. Twitter’s losing its mind. Every NHL account’s posting about it. Crosby himself said in an interview that Mack’s one of the smartest young players he’s ever played with.

Will’s on the fourth line now.

He curls into himself on the too-firm mattress, pressing his cheek against the cool pillowcase. It doesn’t help.

The worst part is that he’s not even mad about the demotion. Not really. He gets it. It’s strategy. Matchups. Warsofsky’s trying to find the right mix and Will’s caught in the shuffle. Again.

But then he thinks about Mack—who doesn’t have to fight for ice time, whose face is lighting up the Jumbotron, who probably got swarmed by reporters after the game and handled it all like a pro—and he feels small. Smaller than he has in a long time.

It wasn’t always like this. Back in San Jose, they were equals. Rookies together. Same line. Same weird rookie rituals and late-night Uber Eats orders. Will had Mack’s number memorized before he had the team systems down. They made each other better on the ice, fed off each other like magnets.

But now? Worlds is different.

Different teams. Different countries. Different rooms.

Will misses the little things the most. Mack flopping onto his hotel bed. Mack dragging him to the gym way too early and rewarding him with coffee after. Their little milk-and-cookies-before-bed tradition that Mack made fun of until he got used to it—and then needed it.

And God, Mack.

Mack with his hair still damp from the shower, tugging Will’s hoodie over his head like it’s his. Mack whispering some ridiculous idea at midnight like sneaking into the hotel kitchen. Mack’s stupid white noise app playing ocean sounds while he falls asleep curled around Will, breath warm against the back of his neck.

It’s easy to believe Mack wants him when they’re together. Mack’s never been subtle about it. He touches Will constantly, talks to him like he’s the most interesting person in any room, laughs at all his jokes even when they’re bad.

But now, with miles between them and Will stuck on the fourth line while Mack headlines the highlight reels, it’s harder to remember what any of that means.

Why would Mack want someone like him?

His phone buzzes.

Will startles, heart flipping as the screen lights up with a FaceTime request. Macklin Celebrini.

He answers in under a second.

Mack’s grinning, face slightly flushed, hair damp and curling around his ears. “Hi.”

Will swallows. His voice comes out hoarse. “Hey.”

“You look like shit,” Mack says cheerfully.

Will laughs, the sound shaky. “Thanks.”

“You sleeping?”

“Was trying.”

Mack leans in closer to the camera. “Thinking too much?”

Will shrugs. “Something like that.”

Mack’s eyes soften. “Miss me that bad?”

Will tries to play it cool, but he knows Mack sees through him. “You’re annoying when you’re not around to distract me.”

Mack grins. “You’re annoying when I am around.”

Will smiles, just a little. “Yeah, well. Guess I miss that too.”

There’s a pause. Mack doesn’t say anything for a beat, just looks at him like he can see through every cracked piece of Will’s confidence. Then he says, quieter, “I miss you too.”

Will’s chest goes warm and tight at the same time.

“Was thinking,” Mack says, “after this whole international bullshit’s done, I’m gonna steal you for like a week. No hockey. No cameras. Just us.”

Will’s throat is suddenly too tight to answer, so he nods.

Mack sees it. Smiles, gentle now. “Good. Also, Mo’s asleep already, so I can stay on for a bit. You want the ocean sounds?”

Will closes his eyes. The ache eases a little. “Yeah. That’d be good.”

Mack flips the camera around, aims it at the nightstand where his phone speaker starts playing a familiar soft tide. Then he sets it down, turns back, and stretches out.

“Go to sleep, Will,” he says, voice low and steady. “I’ll be here.”

And Will, for the first time all night, thinks he actually might.

♡

[disneyprincemuke]

mrs all american * archived.

who is that guy in the andretti racing garage?

pairings: bother figures x fem!driver, 4lyfers x fem!driver

notes: lOLSIE OXOXOXOOXOOXOXO tell me if u want their smau too?? hehehehe

(series masterlist) | (📂 the sophomore year)

alex tilts his head, approaching his friends gathered right behind a crowd that’s formed in front of one of the racing hospitalities in the paddocks. “what are we doing here?”

“same sentiments,” george mutters, craning his neck to try and look over heads to see what’s all the commotion about. him and lando had been having a chat while walking in from lunch when they were greeted by a large crowd gathered and chatter filling up the air. “we’re just as curious as you.”

“but you lot were here first?” alex asks, scrunching his nose again, looking between his friends. “did andretti manage to score some big name or something for the weekend?”

“brad pitt, you reckon?” lando asks, raising his eyebrows. “nah, i don’t think so. has to be someone else.”

“maybe it’s just rocky causing terror to everyone again.”

george and lando exchange a stare and ultimately shrug with a nod. it’s not entirely impossible that it’s not the brand’s own driver who’s gathered a big crowd to watch her do something stupid.

“hey, why are there so many damn people? i just wanna take a nap before the parade.” the 3 turn around, shocked at the presence that’s announced itself behind them. the andretti racing driver stands in front of them, hands on the straps of her backpack as she looks at them curiously. they furrow their eyebrows. “what?”

“you’re not the one that’s causing all the commotion?” george tilts his head, pointing at the crowd of cameras and paparazzi behind them.

she shrugs. “i guess not. what’s going on?”

alex sighs, widening his eyes. “we have got no idea. we’re just nosey,” he takes a sip from his drink, “will you tell us when you find out later?”

she shrugs nonchalantly with a small smile. “sure. i’ll see you lads later for the parade.”

“are you hiding someone from me?” the girl, who’s just walked into the pitlane to head to the grid for the driver’s parade takes a step back with a clueless blink. “max keeps pestering me about the guest for tonight.”

she shrugs, eyebrows furrowed. “why do you just assume i always know more than you?”

liam shrugs as well, frowning. “i don’t know. there’s just so much commotion on our side of the paddocks today and i’ve got no clue as to why,” liam says with a frown.

realistically, she feels bad lying straight through her teeth to everyone. but she doesn’t need anyone messing with her when the truth happens to come out before the race starts. it’s just not something she thinks she needs.

besides, everybody will find out after the race. she will just explain herself then.

“i’ve got no idea what’s going on with our garage today,” she takes a sip from her pepsi, blinking at liam innocently. “guess we’ll find out later?”

“find what out?” oscar tilts his head as they come to a stop right by him and lando, waiting for the truck to start their lap around the track.

“why we’ve been so crowded with paps today,” liam frowns. “i’m not the centre of attention and it’s simply absurd.”

lando sighs, shaking his head. “i know. i’ve barely seen a camera pointed my way today and it’s our grand prix race. something is not right.”

she shrugs with a small grin. “someone kinda famous, i guess.”

“it’s not jacob elordi again, is it?” carlos pokes his head between lando’s and hers, furrowing his eyebrows. he turns to her, met with an unamused stare and head tilt. he shrugs. “just curious. who knows if you’re seeing him again?”

she looks around their huddle, suddenly greeted by curious stares and raised eyebrows. she throws her arms in the air and shakes her head. “i’m not seeing jacob again! i haven’t seen him since the miami race last year! please let it go!”

alex narrows his eyes down with a small smirk. “you sound like you know something about andretti’s special guest.”

“you liar!” liam screams.

“i don’t!” she turns to liam with her arms in the air. she turns to alex and scowls. “why are you stirring drama? i don’t know anything about who andretti’s decided to give their stupid pass to this weekend, okay?”

alex hums, pressing his lips together. “that’s not what logan told me.”

“why would logan know anything about andretti’s guest this weekend? i’ve barely seen him.”

he shrugs, “i really thought that would break you.”

“nice try,” oscar sighs, shaking his head. “you really don’t know anything?”

she shakes her head. “i really don’t. now can we please talk about something else?”

“i’ll see you later after the race?” a soft, familiar, higher-pitched voice says. “don’t forget to watch me, okay? remember: i’m in the andretti car. don’t watch the red bulls or the ferraris, just me. you’re here for me.”

liam presses his ear against the door as if he could somehow make out who’s speaking to whom inside the room.

you can only imagine his shock when he hears a man’s voice from the other side of the door. “suddenly i’m an andretti supporter. i don’t even like ferrari.”

he hears her laugh, followed by footsteps approaching the door. “i’ll see you later, my. love you.”

the door clicks, prompting liam to hurl himself towards the stairs leading downstairs, stumbling and sliding down a couple of steps. liam pulls himself up with the railing, trying to ignore the way he can hear the confusion as the door closes.

“what are you doing?”

liam hops up to his feet, one of his foot sliding off at the edge of the steps. he coughs to cover it up and shakes his head. “i’m just super excited to be racing in vegas.”

she tilts her head and furrows her eyebrows. “are you sure? is something wrong?”

he shakes his head. “nope. nothing.”

perhaps she will break the news to him after the race? he doesn’t think he’s ever heard her say that phrase to anyone, much less know anyone called ‘my’.

“you don’t have anything to ask me?” she bites down on her lip, trying to keep the laugh in.

truthfully, she had heard the door rattle a couple of times and assumed that liam was being nosey outside her driver’s room. she’s more surprised that her teammate is not probing her for a more defined answer other than a shrug.

“i guess,” liam shrugs dejectedly.

he just wants her to tell him instead of having to ask her outright.

“alright, mate,” she laughs, furrowing her eyebrows. “by the way, you’re coming for ice cream tonight, right? i’ve got someone i want you to meet.”

another podium finish. it’s absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she’s got a special guest in her garage watching, the car was just good.

she knows that because liam’s finished directly behind her. she would have given him the podium if sebastian hadn’t insisted that there’s jo driver swap necessary and that it would only be riskier to do so.

she climbs out of the car, eyes crinkled towards the team gathered behind the barriers for her. she tears all of her headgear off and immediately runs forward to where her team is gathered.

“amazing!” sebastian screams, arms wide open as she approaches them. “good job, kid!”

she screeches, hopping over to where they are with her fists in the air. “i know! i literally love vegas! year after year, all vegas gives me is bangers!”

she jumps into sebastian’s arms, cheering along with her team of mechanics with their arms wrapped around her as well. “yay! another podium for me! suck it, oscar!”

“oscar catching strays,” liam mutters, tapping her on the shoulder and holding his arms out to her. throwing his arms around her, he sighs exasperatedly while a smile. “i know you had someone in your room earlier.”

“i know. you rattled the door with all your moving,” she whispers back before pulling away. she drops her head slightly as a blush slowly creeps up her cheeks. “i’m seeing somebody.”

“i also know that,” liam grins, a hand still on the small of her back. “do i get to meet him?”

“obviously. do you know how difficult it’s been to keep him out of your sight all day?” she snorts, rolling her eyes. “i promise you’ll get to meet him.”

“if i didn’t know you were a good driver, i’d have thought you made it to the podium just to impress me.”

“it’s just luck, i guess.” she grins giddily leaning in as he holds both hands up, grabbing her cheeks. “thanks for coming to watch my race.”

“absolutely. thank you so much for inviting me over.”

she scrunches her nose, hands lifted slightly behind her as she leans in with puckered lips. she’s turning 22 in a couple of weeks and the fact that this is her first public relationship ever is still new to her.

truthfully, she wasn’t even planning on dating any time soon. she’s gone 5 years — almost her entire life — not finding herself with a boyfriend, what harm would it do if she went on longer without one?

but she coincidentally found herself laughing a little too hard at his jokes and now here she is, lip locked in her garage with some guy she swore annoyed her.

“ew!”

“fuck off!” she says immediately, pulling away and whirling around with red cheeks. her hair is dishevelled, stray hairs on her face and cheeks getting redder by the second. “what are you, 12?”

max raises his eyebrows with an amused smile stretching his lips. he tilts his head to the side and ignores the driver in front of him. “who’s this? i’m max,” he holds his arm out, “i can fight.”

“max!” she shrieks, pushing max’s arm away before it can be grabbed cordially. “what is wrong with you? that’s not how you introduce yourself!”

but as she’s preoccupied with max, to her horror, she’s turned back around and the other 3 have already surrounded the poor boy with furrowed eyebrows and questions spilling on their lips.

who are you, where do you live, what’s your intentions with rocky, how long have you known her? and this is exactly why she hesitated even bringing him to the race to watch her.

“hey, what are you doing? stop doing that!” she cries, running back around to try and shoo off alex, george and lando who have well invaded her boyfriend’s personal space. before she can take 3 steps away, max grabs her shoulder and yanks her back toward him to hold her in place. “you guys are embarrassing me! you’re worse than my siblings!”

“oh, you’ve met her siblings!” alex cheers for a moment before wiping the smile from his face. “so? what are they gonna do to protect you? they’re so much younger.”

“hey! those are my sisters and brother you’re talking about!”

“ah, you get what i mean,” alex waves her off, snorting softly. he returns his attention to the boy with a small amused grin. “so? you plan on answering our questions, mate? we’ll be here all night if you don’t.”

the brunette grins. “i’m milo manheim, i’m an actor. i’m,” a blush creeps up his cheek as he bites back a smile and points over at the girl still in her race suit, “she’s my girlfriend.”

“girlfriend?” lando screams incredulously, throwing his head back in disbelief. he turns to the girl and points at milo. “you found yourself a boyfriend? did you use our advice?”

she stares at them, blinking with a toothy and fearful grin. “why… would i use your shit advice?”

“hey, what are you– oh, hey! you look–” oscar cuts himself off with a loud laugh before turning to his best friend, “oh, you little sneaky shit! no wonder you’ve been keeping your mouth shut the entire evening! it’s the guy you h–“

“guys!” she throws her arms in the air. “give me a break, please! at least let me sp–”

“how long have you guys been dating?”

“dating?” oscar asks loudly, blinking rapidly. all this is new to him. she’s always been pretty secretive and private about her dating life, so it’s not a shock that everything is only unveiling now for her.

“have you made her cry yet? every tear is one punch i get to throw without you running off to the media crying about it, kid,” max says firmly, shoving her aside so that he could take a step forward towards milo.

“max! he has not–”

the younger boy grins and puffs his chest proudly. “of course not! we’ve been going out for a couple of months, around 5 or 6?”

“wow!” george cheers, turning to her in amusement. “that’s long! you kept a secret that long?”

she shrugs. “lily knew.”

“lily knew?” oscar screams, arm darting out to punch her shoulder. “why didn’t you tell me?”

“because then you’d tell logan and lando, and then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore,” she explains, throwing her arms in the air with a knowing stare. “i don’t see the problem, really. mick knew too.”

“mick found out before me?” george shouts. “unfair!”

she shrugs again. “he saw us at the hotel lobby last night.”

“why are there so many people in my garage?” sebastian walks in, tapping his phone against his palm. “hi, milo.” he looks at the crowd of excess drivers in his garage and lifts his hands in the air to continue his interrogation. “anyone plan on answering me?”

“we’re having a meeting,” lando answers, not even sparing the older man a glance. he keeps his stare on milo. “so how did you meet?”

“we met at the eras tour in the private tent!” oscar cuts in with an amused stare. he blinks. “i gotta find logan and tell him.”

“tell me what?”

she throws her arms in the air. “did you guys agree to come to my garage after my podium just to piss me off or something?” she shouts, hands balled into fists and she stomps a foot into the ground. “what is everyone doing here? why are we having a gathering?”

“i was gonna congratulate you on the podium,” logan mutters. he trails off as he meets the familiar pair of brown eyes, the only person in their makeshift circle not in a race suit, and tilts his head. “what are you doing here? don’t i know you from somewhere?”

a silence falls in the garage, the chatter from outside the only thing that anyone can hear. max and alex share a look, then glances over at george who lifts his eyebrows with a shrug.

milo blinks. “i’m–“

“rocky’s boyfriend!” lando cheers, holding milo’s shoulder and pointing excitedly at the young boy next to him. “you didn’t know?”

“nobody knew,” she grins, explaining through gritted teeth. “except seb. cause he’s the one that let this happen.”

“rat!” max screams, whirling around to sebastian. “you said you knew nothing about who andretti’s guest is!”

“i was sworn to secrecy if not i might wake up bald tomorrow!” sebastian suddenly screams in defensive. “i don’t wanna be bald! don’t you think i haven’t thought of telling anyone?”

logan grins, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “i didn’t know you guys were talking.”

logan scratches his elbow as he turns to oscar, tilting his head and pointing between her and milo as if to ask if he’d known about it. in return, oscar shrugs.

“wait,” max shakes his head. “this is actually a thing? you guys are actually boyfriend and girlfriend? like it’s official?”

her and milo share a look. she turns to max and nods. “yeah?”

“you hesitated,” george points out. “why did you hesitate?”

heads turn to one of the men in papaya, a giggle bubbling from his stomach as he points between them. “i see what’s going on — you haven’t talked about it, have you?”

“what?” she sputters, rolling her eyes. “that is absolutely none of your business.”

oscar giggles. “but we’re right, aren’t we?”

george throws his hands in the air. “guys, leave them alone. this is seriously none of our business.”

“but i wanna know!” max whines, stomping towards milo. “how did you guys meet?”

“eras tour,” milo grins widely. “then she went home and stalked me — liked my picture from like 2021.”

“no, i didn’t!” she shrieks, hands coming up to shield her flushed cheeks away from everyone in the room. she runs over to milo and starts to push him towards the doors that lead to the paddocks. “don’t tell people i did that!”

“oh, that’s so embarrassing!” oscar tugs at his hair then hunches over as he no longer can contain his laughter. “rocky, no!”

she scratches her head and darts back towards oscar. “oscar!”

“she didn’t like me very much at first,” milo points out, grinning at her.

“oh, we know,” logan grins, folding his arms over his chest. he glances at the girl cowered next to sebastian, forehead resting on her race engineer’s arm with her hands still cupped over her cheeks then looks at everybody else. “she told us how annoying you were for like 20 minutes after the concert.”

she sighs and just drops herself into squat. “yeah, whatever.”

“mate!” liam grins, pushing the door open of their hospitality home. “i’m liam! it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

he says that as if he hadn’t just found out of his existence literally 2 hours ago.

“aw, absolutely, man,” milo grins, taking the hand that offered to him. “she talks about you all the time.”

“yeah, how fucking irritating he is,” she scoffs, throwing her head back. she steps forward and breaks their hands apart from one another, quickly wrapping her hand around milo’s arm. “let’s go for drinks!”

“really? drinking in vegas?” liam snorts, raising his eyebrow at her. “shouldn’t you have learned your lesson by now?”

“what lesson?” mick hums, appearing behind them. “drinks, right? celebrate rocky’s podium or something?”

“your lesson? what did you do in vegas that’s naughty?” milo teases, furrowing his eyebrows and looking down at her. “you did something stupid, didn’t you?”

she blinks. “yeah, i almost got married in vegas this time last year.”

“married?” milo repeats with a laugh. “to whom? and what do you mean almost? it didn’t happen?”

mick sighs. “we were bested by sebastian — a lesson about drinking too much or something like that. we still engage in black out drinking though.”

the girl cheers with a soft laugh, holding a hand up and immediately receives a high-5 from the older driver.

milo laughs, wrapping an arm around her. “that’s actually kinda funny.” he looks at mick, already well acquainted from their impromptu supper in their hotel room the night before. “she is my girlfriend now though, so…”

liam scowls, looking between the 3 of them. “you guys just made it super weird.”

— bonus

“you seriously didn’t know?” oscar blinks, starting to walk away from the williams racing home alongside his friend and girlfriend, towards the exit of the paddocks to meet their friends. “you guys have been acting so weird lately.”

logan shrugs. “i bet ylona knew. they’ve been hanging out a lot lately.”

lily grins, peeking from oscar’s side to look at logan. “she does. rocky told us she was seeing somebody after they first kissed that one time in new york 2 months ago.”

“2 months ago,” logan puffs his cheeks out and shakes his head, “wow. good for her, honestly.”

“yeah,” oscar hums, “you’d think that she’d actually end up that crazy cat lady if she never finds a decent man.”

lily laughs, squeezing oscar’s arm. “we’ve hung out with him a cou–“

“you what?” oscar scowls, taking a step away from her. “what’s with all the secrecy? are you even my girlfriend anymore?”

“you say ‘we’,” logan huffs. “you’re telling me you guys reeled ylona in without either of us knowing?” lily nods. “assholes!”

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @vellicora @leilanixx @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @33-81 @darleneslane @nikfigueiredo @happy-nico @namgification @localwhoore @notawc @sadg3 @kazuha-pista-badam @mellowarcadefun @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @a-disturbing-self-reflection @inejismywife @love4lando @louvrepool

[car-o-line]

could you do hcs for tpn trio x fem! reader who's like Muichiro Tokito from Demon Slayer?

No I can’t😔 Anyway guys I have a really good idea-

Tpn Trio with a fem!reader who acts Muichiro from Demon Slayer

Orange head:

Again, sunshine and moon friendship.

She uses you as an excuse to make herself seem smarter(she literally doesn’t mean to istg)

Like Ray would make fun of her for not knowing something and she’d say,

“Well- Y/n didn’t know it either so it’s okay!”

She clings to you like a leech sometimes, when you tell her to go away she pouts and just hugs you tighter.

It’s apparently because you let her hug you for a while without pushing her away.

Reality is it’s because you don’t care that much TO push her off.

She thinks your issue with remembering things is just the cutest!

Like oh you forgot what day it was today, and yesterday, and the day before, she’ll help you, she’ll always help you!

When the orphanages secret came out to her, you, and Norman, you didn’t even cry. She wondered if you didn’t understand what was happening or you were just indifferent about it all.

But she remembers that when it was nighttime and Norman left the girls bedroom and went to the boys room, your face immediately had a hint of dread even if you were trying to hide it.

She remembers you both slept in her bed that night.

Glass of white milk:

He adores you dearly, he really does.

But every time you forget something so simple such as the alphabet he internally sighs.

He tries his best to tutor you, even though he knows you don’t really need it, he’d like to help you with your memory.

One time when everyone was playing tag he found you sitting on a rock and just staring at the sky(he still got you out)

“Got you.”

“Hm..”

“What were you doing, Y/n?”

“The clouds are purple.”

“Okay Y/n.”

Another time you got lost during tag and forgot what you were doing, so Norman had to go look for you himself which made him a bit worried with your lack of direction.

It makes him feel bad but he wonders how you manage to get a 300 on every test.

When he, you, and Emma, found out about the secret he literally had to remind you what it was like four times-

He knows you were disturbed and scared, he held your hand tightly on the way back to the house. Even if Emma didn’t, he knows just by that hand hold how scared you were.

So after that he’d be extra gentle with you. Giving you head pats when you did smart and when you didn’t he’d firmly tell you to not do that again.

When he was chosen to be adopted he was scared himself, but when he saw just how distraught you were he thought that you would actually cry right then and there.

Even if he had to leave you three for a while, he knows each one of you have their own talent and that would be excellent for the escape.

I won’t even make an emo joke:

Someone give this boy alcohol, he deserves it after dealing with you.

Sometimes he wonders how the hell do you manage to get perfect scores on the tests when you literally forget how to spell “scene.”

Scoffs loudly every time he sees you tilt your head at something you don’t get. Or for no reason.

He knows you don’t talk all that much, and when you do it can come off as uncaring, so he likes talking to you in the way you talk to him.

Oh you have a slight attitude today? He suddenly decides Emma’s being REALLY annoying and that’s why he’s mad too.

Sometimes he grabs your hand and refuses to let go so that you don’t wander off and get lost again.

When everyone else plays tag you just sit beside him and stare at the clouds, he doesn’t get why but doesn’t care as long as you don’t do something stupid.

“What’s so special about clouds?”

“Is that a frog..or a butterfly..?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Again, wonders how tf you’re a fuller scorer.

He knows you have a softer side, and he knows you truly do care for he, Emma, and Norman. But, he’ll be dramatic when you’re not giving him what he wants.

“Okay fine I guess Y/n just wants me to die. She just wants me to die, all alone”

“That’s fine.”

“Y/N-”

When you, Emma, and Norman found out about the secret you literally forgot about it the next day and asked Emma why she was so tense(Ray almost broke character to hit you)

Even though he finds you insufferable, annoying, dull, and annoying again, he’s your friend and would MAYBE share a snack with you.

[seriousbrat]

What your opinion on all this talk of leaving the hp/marauder fandom because it directly/indirectly supports JKR? Do you have any desire to leave?

Well my opinion is that I can understand it completely if people choose to do so, but personally I have no desire to leave nor intention of leaving. I understand that it might bother individual people but I'm not asking anyone to look at this blog; in fact the reason I started to use this sideblog is so I could keep everything HP-related away from people who choose not to see it. While I think HP's cultural relevance today is such that it's impossible to avoid entirely, I do empathise with people who'd rather not see it. If someone wished to block me for continuing to blog about HP, I think that might be the healthiest option for everyone involved.

Anyway, I understand why this is happening and I think it's important to discuss. But that's the point. It's important to discuss, not stick our fingers in our ears.

I think this is a great post about it! Here are my own (long-winded) thoughts:

Personally I fundamentally disagree with the idea that we should stop reading and discussing works written by bad people. I don't believe that's a constructive or healthy way to engage with literature. If nobody's left to discuss something as culturally relevant as HP (or LotR, or whatever) critically, then what is the point of literature in the first place? Is it pure entertainment and therefore easily discarded? Ftr I'm also firmly against banning (even socially 'banning') literature of ANY sort, for ANY reason. "You shouldn't read X because it's morally wrong" is to me ultimately a conservative belief.

Anyway: I find it pretty obvious that JKR said 'if you like my books you agree with me' PURPOSEFULLY to cause this kind of a reaction, because she knew it would cause her detractors to become hyperfocused on pointing fingers at each other and thought policing each other over a kids book rather than focusing on what's actually going on. I don't think we should be playing into it, and I don't think even JKR believes it herself-- I think it was deliberate. And tbh from what I can see it has had the exact effect she intended.

The other thing I'll say is that (and tbf I can't say for sure) but I suspect that the online HP fandom might be exaggerating its own importance a little bit. Tbh I think that even if the online (and more liberal) fandom disappeared overnight there would still be tens of thousands of kids (the target audience, after all) discovering and reading Harry Potter for themselves across the globe. Scores of parents and aunts and grandparents who know nothing about JKR buying those books for the kids in their family. And that's not counting the people who actually do agree with JKR. Yes fandom disappearing might have some small impact, but tbh I think it would be all but insignificant. It would be much more, like infinitely more, materially significant for people in fandom to donate time and/or money to trans organisations in their own countries. ((I also think what would be somewhat helpful is for fandom to take responsibility in encouraging people not to watch the HBO series. The success of the series is imo more contingent on online opinion than the books.))

There are also millions of people still using twitter, instagram, and amazon, despite the very real material damage caused by Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos, and that's a MUCH more direct cause-and-effect than simply talking about Harry Potter because using those platforms LITERALLY lines the pockets of those individuals. I will say that if you're on twitter telling people they should stop talking about Harry Potter I simply will not take you seriously loll 😂

I guess there is probably some amount of people who discovered HP through, idk, Marauders tiktok and decided to read the series, but how significant is this number? It's incredibly difficult to grow up in most countries around the world and not come across Harry Potter in some way. For good or ill I do think HP is en route to becoming a children's classic. If tumblr goes down and my blog and all the blogs I interact with on here disappear, I don't think this would change.

On the other hand, simply for posterity I do think there's some value in continuing to discuss it-- all of it, including the reality of who the author is, the cultural relevance of HP, the text itself and what this all means given its significance in our culture. And it's important to discuss it critically, honestly, and constructively. It's remarkably easy with HP to avoid giving money to the author, which is something I believe to be worthwhile, so tbh I can't bring myself to agree with 'it would be better if we stopped talking about it' in a general sense. Personally I don't think the only people left discussing it should be right wing maniacs lol-- again, for posterity if nothing else.

Also I think there's a slightly worrying tendency on the liberal 'left' (which is typically the majority in most fandom spaces) to shut down conversation and discussion in general, particularly if those conversations are uncomfortable. You see thought-terminating clichés frequently deployed in such spaces and I think it's just not helpful. Seeing posts from supposed leftists trying to convince people that it's morally wrong to even THINK about Harry Potter is pretty wild to me, tbh. I think that for a while now there's been much more of a focus among the left on idealism over materialism, to the point where material reality is totally ignored in favour of, essentially, trying to get everyone to think the correct thoughts. To me this just isn't a productive or intellectually responsible approach.

What is the material benefit of all of us simply shutting up about Harry Potter forever? How does this actually help anyone beyond yourself and your own conscience? To me it seems like ultimately a performative and virtue signalling action that is pretty meaningless when you're not doing anything else, and is particularly meaningless when you're not applying this to literally anything else in your life. Fandom isn't activism, but by extension NOT-fandom also isn't activism haha. Personally I dislike Marvel films and think they're barely-disguised propaganda for the American military-industrial complex, but I don't think it's evil for people to write their Bucky/Steve fanfiction or whatever lmao. And I certainly don't think it's wrong to discuss Marvel films, the opposite in fact, I think they should be critically discussed.

So, basically, I think it's perfectly understandable that people would want to leave the fandom. But ultimately I think that's an action you're taking for yourself, and I don't think there's much to be gained from refusing to discuss things deemed 'morally wrong.' I think to a certain extent it's natural and probably healthy to feel some guilt about it all, but also perhaps it's worth questioning why we feel such extreme guilt about this, which is really just people talking to each other about books, and not about the 486948736 other much more unambiguously destructive things we do with our time and money on a daily basis.

As long as we're willing to discuss this topic honestly and constructively, to be conscious and empathetic towards others, and to refrain from spending any money on HP-related products, I don't think it's wrong to remain in the fandom tbh. To deny HP's impact on today's literary landscape would be, imo, dishonest, so therefore somebody has to discuss it. And I'd much rather there be a variety of opinions within that discussion.

[kooahae]

After Last Night: Work Visit

Read the previous drabble here.

Read the next drabble here.

Summary : something seems up with Jungkook so you go to his job to cheer him up.

Pairing: best friends to lovers, Jungkook X female reader 

Warnings: Fluff, Smut, Big d!ck koo, oral (m.receiving) use of good girl bc well that’s what he called her the first time, office Jk is hot to me- he’s still a simp, cursing, swallowing, deep throating, they're down bad for each other as always <3

Word count:  2.5K

A/N: Before we get a little angst we have this and one more fluff drabble coming out hopefully this week- if not I’ll do my best to lyk when. School is kicking my ass but yeah me and my angsty babies will have our moment. I promise. As always thanks for reading 🩵

Minors DNI

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Today has been so long! Jungkook is beyond exhausted. He didn’t really want to be in the office at all today on top of it. He’s gotten used to working only 2 days in the office, and three at home due to his routine. The thought alone of his routine being disturbed pissed him off. Plus, He has been in serious work mode all week. He hasn’t even been able to just cuddle on the couch. You’ve been asleep the last 2 nights when he got home as well. You cuddle up to him like usual when he climbs into bed but damn, he’d do anything to just have a lazy day and not be in a rush to get up. 

Apparently, his employees can’t follow simple directions. He’s been stuck reprogramming a new app for what seems like forever. He swears if it didn’t pay the bills, and If he wasn’t so good at it- He’d find something else to occupy his time. He wishes he got paid for all the times you cross his mind, that would be a lot better than being here -and he’d be filthy rich! 

As Jungkook reaches into his pocket for his phone to call you, someone else rips his chance from him. 

You have got to be fucking kidding. 

“Oh, um..Mr. Jeon I just wanted to ask is it okay if I leave early today?” His assistant asks him. 

Jungkook has never been someone who was extremely strict. He knows he’s younger than most of the people working for him and he’s been cool about a lot of things because of that. However, that does not mean they can walk all over him. They take time away from you when they don’t do their job and also add more problems than solutions lately. He’s simply fed up. 

“Go into the meeting room and call everyone there please Duri.” He asks nicely, even though he doesn’t know why he keeps being so kind about it. 

“Oh…okay sir. Will do. But i-“

Jungkook really doesn’t care. He’s not trying to be mean but today has been a shit show. Things could be going better than this. That’s all he’s hoping for. 

“Duri…tell them they have thirty minutes. That means you too.” He points to the door, sitting his feet up on his desk. 

His assistant stares blankly, so Jungkook squints, points again and tilts his head. 

“By the time you’re done looking at me…There will be zero minutes.” He exhales placing his hands behind his head, as he watches Duri run out.

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Today you’ve decided to bring Jungkook lunch, he seemed so sluggish this morning. He gave you your good morning kisses but you can tell something is up. He didn’t even remember his banana milk. You’ve seen him do a lot of unusual things, but this weirdly enough takes the cake. The last time you even remember him acting like this, was when he swore he bombed an exam -He got the top score in his class, but that’s not the point. Jungkook genuinely only acts like this when there’s more work than he wants to do, or he feels burnt out. You know him the same way you know yourself, if not better. You have been thinking about him heavily today as well. You both could use a day off after this week, but life isn’t always that kind, you’ll just have to make do with your idea today. 

You get dressed in a shirt of his since he likes you in them so much, a cute skirt and some shoes.  Food and banana milk in tow, making sure you feed Bam on the way out. 

Once you arrive you can hear him giving what may be a motivational speech in the conference room. Jungkook is so cool in your eyes. He has his own business at 23, which he started two years ago. His gym side-venture is thriving. You’re almost there with him but not quite yet, starting your own media company is in the works though, and it’s nice to have his support. It still amazes you how Jungkook can make his mind so quickly with business decisions. He’s really intelligent- that’s exactly what you love about him. 

You realize you’ve been just standing in the entryway like a creep daydreaming about your boyfriend so you continue to walk forward and get closer to the door. 

“Can someone explain to me why everyone thinks they can just leave early while I reprogram everything? “

Oh. That’s why he’s so tired. 

You take note that no one responded, so there’s no reason he should have been left to do everything. He’s absolutely right. Your poor baby. you know how much of a perfectionist he is as well. He deserves some rest too though.  You decide to keep listening. 

“We’re supposed to be a team so I treat you fairly but this isn’t fair…I have someone waiting at home for me too.” He says. 

That person is you- and that makes your heart do backflips, the butterflies in your tummy rise, and a smile creep upon your face. You now know why he’s been so out of it lately. He’s doing a lot of hard work, barely gets as much time home as his employees and he just misses spending time with you. You’ll definitely visit work more when he can’t be at home with you if it makes him feel better.  You miss him too whenever you’re separated. It’s really refreshing to know he feels the same. 

As for Jungkook. His heart is kind of heavy. He knows it hasn’t been that long but he’s really been stressed out lately, the past two weeks at work have been hell and he feels like he can’t catch a break. He just needs to be with you, somewhere he can relax. With someone who is his comfort place. 

“Starting today we all do our delegated parts. I do mine. You do yours. We talk to each other about things beforehand that could affect other people’s schedules. Understood?” He asks. You can tell he doesn’t want to be that guy, but he also knows he’s been too nice until now. 

“If you do your part I don’t care what you do afterward if you wanna go home so be it. But finish your task.” 

He looks so withdrawn and tired. Watching everyone give him a head nod, you decide to just go sit in his office while he dismisses everyone. 

He walks in completely irritated and immediately starts patting for his phone but then looks up to see you. Sitting on the loveseat in his office. Smiling and waving hello to him. The sun from the window lightly shines on you. You look like what you are- his angel. 

“Hi, handsome!” You stand up and walk towards him. 

“You’re really here? Like I’m not going crazy because I missed you?” He says waving his hand in his own face. 

He’s always so silly. You hug his waist. Your face in his chest. He immediately hugs back. He doesn’t know how you knew he needed you, but he doesn’t care. He just appreciates the fact that you always show up for him. You always have. 

“No, but you’re checking your hand silly to make sure you’re real. Instead, you should be kissing me to make sure I’m real…” you say peaking your head up and poking your lips out. 

“You’re so cute. “ He says leaning down to kiss you. Cupping your face in his hand. Lips smacking gently against yours. His kisses are so soft and feel divine. 

“I’m. sorry. I’m. not. home. “ he says a kiss between every word. 

You pull away and look up at him he’s still holding your face so you place a hand on his forearm.

“Don’t apologize for working. I’m glad you stood up for yourself and I’m even happier to be here with you.” You say and lean back in for another kiss. 

“How am I so lucky?” He says as you both finally pull away. 

“Makes two of us! I brought you lunch and even brought my laptop too.…”

Jungkook sits in his office chair and you climb on his lap. Straddling him. 

He immediately reaches for the remote that closes the blinds. Not that anyone can see his office from where they sit but just in case they thought of approaching him. 

You wrap your arms around his neck. 

“If you’re gonna be bored and have to be here, let’s be bored and overworked, responsible people together…” You say leaving a kiss on his neck. 

“…I can rub your shoulders while you code. You can fill me in on everything I missed this week.” 

He hisses at the sensation of your neck kisses. Hands running up and down your sides. 

“I really missed you.” He says and puts a finger on your chin to tilt your head to his. Kissing you yet again. 

Then he continues. “Don’t want to work, just want to be with you” He’s always pouting, so you do what anyone would do in your situation-Pull his bottom lip in, and suck on it gently then let it go with a pop. 

That’s when an idea pops into your head. 

Jungkook’s office is spacious, and you can tell he needs to decompress, so maybe you’ll …

“Don’t work then, let me do it.” You say and push the chair back a little bit so you can stand up. 

Jungkook raises an eyebrow, “ Aren’t you supposed to do your work?”

“I will.” You say and he looks up at you. Standing in front of him with your head tilted- fucking cute, he also takes note of how you made sure to wear his shirt. 

“Baby you don’t really like coding… I tried teaching you before unless it’s a blog or something-“ you interrupt him. 

You place your hands on his thighs, hovering, still standing, and kissing him. 

“If I do a good job on it, we go home.” You state matter of factly. Almost like you’re making a deal, that you know you’ve won. 

He chuckles “Who’s work mine or yours?”

“Mmm it’s my task but…” Jungkook watches as your fingers dance closer to his crotch.  

“You’re the work.” You finish your statement dropping to your knees. 

You love the way he looks at you from above. Biting his lip and tilting his head slightly. 

Jungkook raises his hips so you can unfasten the button on his trousers.

“Gotta be quiet princess-oh shitt.” 

Jungkook’s head falls back as your hand strokes up and down his length. He knew he was the task- but if you’re about to suck him off here, his work day has had the best turn of events possible. 

“I’m gonna make you feel good, okay?” he nods breathlessly, It’s interesting how you both have the same effect on each other. 

“Don’t you always.” He says rolling his head forward to watch you. His mouth is drawn out into an ‘O’ shape, You know how much eye contact turns him on and you haven’t broken it yet. He looks fucked out and you’ve barely done anything. 

You spit on his dick and move your hands up, your pumps are perfect and have him bring his lip more and more at the sensation. 

“Babygirl, I think that’s enough teasing.”

You shake your head no and look up at him through your lashes. 

“How can you look at me like that knowing I’ll rip your clothes to shreds if -Fuck.”  You don’t mean to interrupt him. You promise. You just really notice all the precum oozing from his tip and can’t help but put your mouth on it. Sucking on the head of his dick like the good girl you’ve shown him you can be. He deserves it though

If you kept teasing him, you knew he would edge you non-stop later as well - and you’re already soaking through your panties. 

As you look up at Jungkook once more, you slide his entire length in your mouth at once, His shoulders relax and his hand comes to your hair and moves it out of your face. 

He has a thing for visuals, you happen to be his favorite.  

You rest at the base and keep your eyes on him as you bob up and down. Jungkook is massive, He’s really impressed that you can take him the way you do, and suck him so effortlessly. All of it makes him hard whenever he thinks about it. This is going to be engraved in his brain forever. 

You finally lift up and Jungkook watches the drool from your lips that’s attached to his cock as well. 

You moan at the sight of how red, swollen, and slobbery you have his dick, before going back in for more. 

Jungkook’s moans have been turning you on, he sounds so good and it’s making you never want to stop as you suck the soul out of him. 

You start to moan too, rubbing your thighs together for friction.  He just looks so fucking good!  You could cum from the visual in front of you as well

“Look at you sucking my dick like a good girl, so fucking pretty!” He says gripping your hair up more so he can enjoy his view. 

You go all the way down once more, then tighten your lips as you come back to the head of his dick, moaning so he feels the vibrations go down his shaft. 

“Just like that baby.” He says encouraging you. 

You continue deep throating him, watching his knees get weaker even though he’s in the chair, he looks like he’s barely holding on. Fully concentrating on the way he looks at you with lusty eyes but can’t contain his moans. 

Your hand starts palming his balls as you feel him deep in your throat. 

“Fuck baby girl, I’m gonna cum soon- oh my fucking god!” He’s trying his best to be quiet. You really hope his coworkers can’t hear him, but a part of you doesn’t care as long as he feels better. 

Jungkook is close and you nonverbally ask him with the look you give him for confirmation, just to double-check. He’s panting and can barely answer you. 

“Y-ye-yes baby.” He finally manages to muster out. 

You swirl your tongue up and down as you continue deep-throating him. It’s all so sloppy and messy. Your eyes are a little watery too, but you won’t stop until you swallow every last drop. 

“Fuck fuck fuck.” His chants and breathing are erratic which means…

Jungkook pushes your head all the way down and bites his lip, looking at you as he cums all down your throat. It’s so warm and thick. You moan and feel his hand slip from your hair to your neck as he pushes himself further one more time.

He pulls all the way out and you gasp but stick your tongue out to show him you’ve swallowed every last drop. 

You rise to your feet and sit on his desk, but he stands all the way up and towers over you. Lips brush across yours before he leans into your neck and leaves a kiss right below your ear lobe. 

“I’d love to bend you over here but let’s go home. I want to hear you scream.”

 You don’t have to be told twice! 

So back home you go- the both of you. 

Taglist : @joyfulwobblerhoagieegg @diorh0seokie @jennafromhome @taesungx @kimber-kook @whoa-jo @kaiparkerwifes @yoonglesbby07 @bangtansoneyondanfan

[maryfett99]

Saitama as your neighbor

I decided to turn my previous idea into a full scenario where Saitama is your neighbor. I hadn’t really thought of something like this before but I think it could be fun, that image of Saitama seriously inspired me lol. I have so much fun reading (and now writing) silly fanfics 💕 I also kept it gender neutral.

Sorry if there are any mistakes, English is not my first language. Enjoy!

– Saitama x Reader

Oh just imagine our favorite egghead as your next-door neighbor.

At first when you run into each other in the hallway, he doesn’t pay you any attention. He doesn’t even bother to wonder who you are or what you’re doing there, he just keeps walking and goes into his apartment.

But the next time he sees you again, this time struggling with several boxes outside your apartment door.

That’s when it clicks in his mind: he overheard a conversation at the building entrance a couple of days ago about someone new moving in.

You’re carrying a really heavy one, and just before it slips from your hands, he reacts and grabs it for you.

“Careful. Where do I put this?”.

“Thanks, over here” you say, a bit embarrassed. You just moved in and already feel like you've made a terrible first impression (he couldn’t care less, honestly).

After that he heads back to his place, now aware of the new neighbor.

Not even a full day passes, just a few hours later, and you bump into each other again on the stairs. You exchange a quick “hey” since you're both in a rush.

Okay what the hell is going on? You're like four blocks away from the building now, and somehow walking in the same direction. This is getting awkward.

“Hey, why are you following me!?” he says.

He’s the one acting all offended lol.

“I am not!! You’re the one following me.”

Lil bro thinks he’s important.

(He is)

“What are you even talk—… Oh! I see it” he says before reacting again. He notices the flyer in your hand. You're both headed to the same grocery store for the sales! (It’s actually the last day of the weekly deals)

You're no longer on the defensive, you form a temporary alliance to score those sweet discounts.

On the way back home you're both a little more cheerful, chatting about the stuff you bought.

"30% off fruits and vegetables, can you believe it!!"

“Probably because they’re about to go bad and that's why they want to get rid of them quickly” you reply with a little laugh, glancing at his face — oh no. He’s not laughing. Did you just mess it up?

“Well, guess we better eat them fast then. Dinner at your place tonight!” he replies with a small smile as he keeps walking.

This man really just invited himself over to your house without waiting for a single word from you.

From that moment on, this guy is glued to your place, and you’re not getting rid of him anytime soon.

The next few times you meet in the hallway, you greet each other more enthusiastically. One day you invite him over to make dinner together and he shows up early knocking at your door. He also invites you to his place for hot drinks and watch TV.

Before you realize it, you're seeing him almost every day, he’s getting way too comfortable around your home.

A little over a week later, you come home from work, open the door… and there he is, sitting on your couch, drinking a big cup of tea.

(You haven’t even given him your keys)

“Hey hi! What are we having for dinner today?”

“I don’t know, are you giving me half the rent today?”

[lightsoutmatthews]

Top Line - Steven Lorentz

summary: Your boyfriend gets promoted to be the left winger on the Leafs top line. Unfortunately, the experiment doesn´t end well which leads to you having to catch him before he falls.

pairing: Steven Lorentz x female!reader

word count: 1.6k

warnings:

authors note:

I know it´s been forever since this happened but I still wanted to publish it

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

Steven <3: Did you, by any chance, look at a post from todays line rushes at practice?

Your boyfriends text confused you as you checked your phone during your lunch break. You knew he had been at practice today, but you had no idea why you were supposed to check the line up chart.

I No?

His answer was coming through immediately. A screenshot of a tweet by Leafs beat reporter David Alter confirming line rushes. Lorentz – Matthews – Marner, Knies – Tavares – Nylander. You blinked twice as your brain was processing what you just read.

Lorentz – Matthews – Marner.

“Oh my god.” You said out loud. “What´s up?” You co-worker asked trying to sneak a peek at your phones screen. “They promoted Steven to the top line with Matthews and Marner.”

She wrapped her arms around you. “That’s great news. Will you be at the game? I can cover for you so you can leave early.” You looked up at her with big eyes. “Would you actually? I would really love to go.” “Absolutely, you go see your man.”

Steven <3: You still there?

Steven <3: Babe?

I Sorry, I was processing. I´m so proud of you, you deserve that.

You knew how much playing for the Leafs meant to him. Yes, winning the cup with the Panthers last season was great and the celebrations will forever be one of your most cherished memories but you would never forget the face he came home with on the day he told you that the Leafs offered him a contract after signing him to a tryout agreement. The first home game he put the jersey on was probably his favorite hockey memory.

He worked hard. You knew he wanted to earn a contract extension with the team as soon as he was allowed to sign one. His agent and Brad Treliving heavily indicated that that would be happening, but he still wanted to show that he could be the reliable fourth- or third-line guy they needed.

The promotion showed you that they trusted and valued him, and you couldn’t be prouder of your boyfriend if you tried.

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

The next evening the game rolled around. It was going well at the beginning of the first period. Only a few minutes in the line of Lorentz – Matthews – Marner scored the opening goal for the Leafs. The goal was only credited to Auston and Mitch, but you still sensed good things for the rest of the evening.

Unfortunately, you were proven wrong when the game took a turn for the worse after the first intermission. Dallas took the lead through the second but that was not what you were worried about. Since around the middle of the frame you hadn’t seen Steven on the ice at all.

You had a good view of the bench and saw that he was just sitting there, head hung low.

Your heart broke into a million tiny pieces when you saw how slumped he sat there while watching his teammates take their shifts one after the other. Matthews and Marner being sent out with others while he was not being sent out at all.

You weren’t exactly sure why he was benched. Berube put Nylander and then Knies back on the top line shortly into the second to create more offense but that wasn’t a reason to bench someone completely.

You knew you weren’t an expert at hockey, even though you had been to countless games being with Steven, but you had enough understanding to not see anything bad of his doing that would justify a benching.

Anger overtook the sadness in your chest. You couldn’t even imagine how he must feel.

It didn’t get better in the third, Dallas added two more goals, and your boyfriend didn’t see the ice again until there were less than 5 minutes to play.

The Leafs loss was brutal. The team being booed off the ice, the losing streak extending to three games.

The mood was sour in the family room. Wives, girlfriends and family members wondering what was going on with the team while trying to figure out how they would cheer their frustrated men up when they got home.

Quiet words were exchanged with the other women, plans for brunch the next morning were abolished as everyone knew they would rather be at home. Gab McCabe and Sanna Jarnkrok giving you comforting squeezes on the shoulder before you left.

You knew Steven would take a while to get home today. You had seen him after games like this before and knew he would either spent an extra-long time in recovery or drive around town for a while to clear his head.

Calling an Uber to drop you off at home you spent the entire drive worrying. You knew this would be hard on him and at the same time you didn´t know how to make it better. You wanted to make it better. Take all the pain from him and lift it on your shoulders.

Setting on the couch with a cup of tea, waiting for him to show up, your dog cuddled next to you, enjoying getting some attention from his mom. “I don’t know what dad did to deserve this but maybe he needs some extra love when he comes home,” you said to the lab who barked in agreement before turning in some TV show you were not actually paying attention to.

Steven´s usually positive and happy attitude was not something that was broken easily but when he took longer than usually to get home that night you knew it hit him hard.

The minutes ticked by unbelievably slow. Your tea had gotten cold on the living room table and the TV had become background noise as you kept checking your phone for any sorts of communication from him.

When is absence hit the two hour mark you were full of worry and close to texting some of his teammates to see if they knew where he was.

You had started pacing the living room. Your hair tussled from the number of times you had brushed your hands through them. Checking and scrolling through your phone so much the battery was almost gone.

When the front door finally opened it was past midnight. He didn’t let you know where he was, and you didn’t ask but you knew that when he was home, he was ready to talk about it.

“Hey,” you greeted him when he entered the living room. “Hey, sweets,” he said softly. A small smile plastered on his lips as he took in the domestic scene in front of him.

You got up and wrapped your arms around him as soon as you were close enough. He basically collapsed into your arms, the stress and frustration from the day crashing down on him.

“I´m proud of you. You did a great job,” you whispered into his hair. “If I had done a great job I wouldn’t have been benched for over 20 minutes of the game,” He shot back the anger clearly still simmering in his words.

“Steven,” you whispered helplessly, placing a soft kiss to his head but before you could say anything else, he kept on rambling.

“I just don’t get it. I don’t even know what I did wrong. Berube just said something about the experiment not working out but that’s hardly an explanation.” He smacked his hand on the table which made you flinch and almost jump away from him.

This was a version of your boyfriend you didn’t see very often. He always tried to see the positive in things, an angry outburst not something you were used to.

He rubbed his hand over his face, eyes closing for a few seconds before he opened them again and looked at you. His expression softening in an instant. “I´m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you,” he whispered his voice so quiet you almost didn’t hear it.

“It´s okay, honey. You can let it out, I´m here for you.” He brushed a stand of your hair that had fallen over your eyes back and looked at you with the smile you loved so much.

His arms wrapped around your waist as he pulled you against his strong chest and buried his face in your neck.

You leaned your head against his. His skin warm, comfortable. His soft, rhythmic breathing bringing you a sense of calm you missed since returning home.

Quiet overtook the living room, both of you taking in the other ones presence. Him seeking the comfort he desperately needed after the day, you for once being the strong one in the relationship.

“Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate that I can come home to you every day.” You leaned back, moving your arms to wrap them around his neck, softly playing with the hair at the back of it.

“I love you, Steven. No matter if you play on the first line or on the fourth or if you´re benched or even scratched, not to speak that into existence.” He chuckled before you continued.

“Hockey is hockey, and we both know hockey won´t last forever. It will not be there at one point, but I will still love you because it doesn’t matter to me what you do. All that matters is that I get to have you in my life.”

He leaned down and placed a soft kiss to your lips before pulling both of you down on the couch. Your head rested on his chest while he was drawing unrecognizable patterns on your back. Neither of you spoke, each other´s presence all that was needed after what you had just said.

“Feeling better?” you asked after you cuddled in silence for a while. It was past 1 am at that point. He was still in his gameday suit, but it didn’t matter. All he wanted in that moment was to be close to you. “Yeah. It is what it is, I guess. I need to do better next game.”

“At least losing is not on you; you weren’t even on the ice,” you joked which earned you a grim look from your boyfriend. “Too soon?” you asked laughing at his sour expression. “You´re lucky I love you.” He grumbled before placing a kiss to the tip of your nose.

“I love you too."

[fleet-off]

The Magazine Quiz Conundrum (part 3)

Continuation from a conversation with @lu-sn lu and @supernovasimplicity boots. part 1 | part 2

“So,” Vegas says, carefully casual, “what did the quizzes say today?”

Pete, mouth full of delicious hand-pulled noodles, slides over his phone and the pictures he not-so-subtly snapped

Vegas scrutinizes the screen for a few moments. Finally says—“What a bullshit answer. Why would I steal your toothbrush?” He zooms in on Tankhun’s handwritten addition. “Haven’t taken any of your teeth, either.”

“Yeah, but it worked out okay,” Pete replies, muffled through the noodles. “I just picked my answer based on if you had.”

Vegas frowns. “It’s not your answer, then.”

“Does it matter? Like you said, it’s bullshit anyway.”

“…What would you have answered?”

“Probably depends on which tooth.” Pete swallows and goes for his next bite. “We can just take a quiz, if you want.”

Vegas mocks the idea but then gets weirdly intense when he’s the one taking the compatibility quiz (this quiz that will externally validate or repudiate his relationship with Pete)

He tries to answer based on how he thinks Pete will answer

He fails to realize that Pete is already doing the same for him

“Huh,” Pete says after he tallies their score. “Hold on, that doesn’t seem…huh.”

“What.”

…They scored a 7%

That evening, Macau walks in on the biggest sulkfest-pretending-it’s-not-a-sulkfest-because-these-quizzes-are-bullshit-anyway he’s ever seen

Macau takes the same quiz with Pete, just to prove it’s bullshit

They score an 89

“See?” Pete says after. “Now we know it’s nonsense.”

Macau snickers. “I dunno, I’m starting to come around on it.”

A moment later, seeing how tightly his hia’s fists have clenched, he relents—“I mean, obviously it’s bullshit, just look at this question. ‘What do you do when someone flirts with your lover in front of you’—‘shoot them on sight’ isn’t even given as an option.”

“That’s a bad one,” Pete agrees. “I figured the closest choice for Vegas would be the—” He flushes and shoots a glance at Macau— “seduction answer, so I picked that too.”

Vegas, who picked “stay calm and trust my lover to respond” because he (wrongly) figured that was the Pete answer, falls into a prickly silence

They discover the extent of the confusion a couple minutes later. Pete laughs—of course they failed when they were both trying to compensate for each other’s natural responses

Vegas does not laugh. He does not like the dots he's connecting

If this is the real explanation for Pete’s high scores with Tankhun, where else is Pete compensating for Vegas’s inadequacies?

[idontmindifuforgetme]

u don’t have to answer this if u don’t want to or u feel u don’t have anything to say on it (obvi) but how do u deal with jealousy and comparison?

i genuinely just like my shit. i love how i look like, i love my stuff, i love where i come from, i love my family and friends, and i appreciate all the circumstances (good and bad) that have led me to be the person i am today. i've done a lot of esteemable things that have bolstered my confidence growing up, like getting an extremely hard degree and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone more than ever before. i treat other people w kindness and respect. i make sure to be a source of support rather than needless negativity. what people think of me (or have) doesn't get under my skin anymore, bc i've already proven my worth to myself. the fact of the matter is, i'll always hold my own opinion of myself higher than i do other people's opinions of me. i'm at a place where i just don't care that much. i've lost the need to correct people on their takes of me a long time ago.

my own happiness is king--everything else is secondary. if i like it, that's enough for me.

i find it pointless to compare myself to somebody else, simply because no two people have been dealt the exact same cards. i wouldn't compare a rose to a lily, so why should i be comparing myself to people who're--no matter who they are, no matter where they're from--never gonna be me? i'm me. the only person i should be comparing myself to is my past self. i am only in competition w myself. that is all.

as for jealousy, viewing people who have things i want as proof of concept has really helped. if another person gets a higher score on a test, i don't get jealous that they outdid me. i just view them as proof that i can get that score if i studied more efficiently. someone else's success isn't a lack of your own--it's just proof you can reach that success, even if the route doesn't look exactly the same, even if it might take longer.

contentment is entirely subjective. i've known wealthy people who're incredibly miserable. i've known people who struggle financially but could not be happier. other people's advantages don't rattle me, bc i don't care about them, bc i'm so eternally grateful for what i already have. i've also never really been that materialistic to begin with, so i've always understood that a person's worth lies in who they are rather than what they own (whether it be things, money, opportunities...). i can say w my whole chest that i wouldn't swap places w the most famous, most rich celebrity there is. i legitimately don't want to. i know that even if i have to work harder for things, i'll have more to say by the end of it all, and that in and of itself is so profound. not to mention the satisfaction from having challenged myself to get there--and i love a good challenge.

i've unleared the idea that i should view other women as competition. life is hard, we all struggle, we'll be living in a man's world for a long time, and it's just not worth the energy. yeah i'm ambitious, but not at the expense of other people. there's enough room for everyone. another woman's achievement doesn't mean less space for mine. we'll all be fine.

w all that said!! there are bad days. no human is just confident all the time, doesn't feel jealous all the time, doesn't compare themself all the time, doesn't let people's opinions get under their skin all the time. don't feel bad for doing it every now and then. it's natural and normal and just part of the human experience. nobody is perfect. just focus on you, view other people as inspiration rather than competition, and compare your progress to nobody else's but your own. it's been a game changer for me :)

[barcalover86]

Cruel, but sweet (1)

Short Pablo Gavi book

For this sweet person: @soso5479

"Could you do a gavi book where the reader plays for Real Madrid and they have a match against each other"

We decided together that this is going to be the main topic:

Y/n being at the real madrid academy and she has a match with Barca (girls' team), and Pablo is watching her.

I really hope you will like this, I tried my best to make it as good as possible, if you don't enjoy something, don't hesitate to text me and we'll talk about it. Also, if you have an idea that you would like to happen here, comment or send me a message or request. Love you all!⚡️

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

You were already at Camp Nou, the place where you had an important match with your rivals, Fc Barcelona. You were playing for Real Madrid, the team of your dreams since you were just a child.

Your family is a football lover, that being the main reason why they joined you in this academy. You were really good, people saying that you have a unique talent. Everyone loved you since the beginning, and you absolutely adored your teammates.

This game was important. Who wins, wins the ligue. You promised yourself to give your best and to not disappoint anyone.

Your family and friends were there, supporting you as always and you were waving at them, happily.

You were so nervous right now, seeing so many people watching you warm up. Especially since you found out that the players from Barcelona were going to be there.

You weren't the toxic type of fan. You respected both teams. Of course, you would answer if someone asked you that Real Madrid is your favourite, but you never said something bad towards their big rivals.

Yes, they won laliga, but now it's time for Real Madrid too.

-----------

"I really have better things to do other than go to this game" said Gavi while standing on his chair, watching the players warming up. He was in no mood for football, all he wanted to do was to relax. He just won laliga and he had to go soon to the national team. Bad luck for him that Xavi made them all go to support the academy girls on this big day.

He wasn't a bad guy, he really wanted the girls to win because they totally deserved it, but right now he was too tired and wanted to do something that wasn't related to football. He wanted to relax this few days until he had to go to Madrid for training.

"It will be over soon, hermano" Pedri tried to console his friend.

"Who do you think will win?" asked Ansu.

"Ah, I really hope that our girls" replied Pedri.

"I hope that too, but the Real players from the academy are really good. It will be for sure an exited match. You won't get bored, Gavi" laughed Balde.

The boy only rolled his eyes and laughed. It will be for sure an interesting match.

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

"We trained hard and we deserve this win! Let's make our supporters proud of us. Give your best and fight for every ball. I wanna see goals, not excuses. Vamos chicas, vamos!"

You were in the changing room listening to your couch. You were all determined to win this game and make everyone proud of you.

"Vamos!!!!" everyone started to cheer. Today was your day.

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

"I can't do this anymore! How unlucky can we be!!!!"

Pedri was really grumpy that they had so many occasions of goal, but the goalkeeper managed to save them all. Besides that, Real Madrid was yet winning, being 2-0 for them.

It was now minute 44' and Barcelona scored. People were cheering for the team, but not too much, still being behind their rivals.

"This is for sure not our day, hermanos"

"Ansu, have a little bit of faith!" laughed Balde.

"He might be right. Today, real looks better than us" admitted Gavi sad. He really had hope for the girls to win and he still does, but deep down he knew that they were going to lose.

The boys talked about everything, until it was time for the other half to begin.

"Visca Barca!!" shouted Ansu and they all laughed at his silliness.

"Yes, visca Barca!"

The game began really well. It was already 2- 2 in minuted 48' and the boys were really happy and cheering. Eventually, they scored again, making Ansu dancing.

"What is that, hermano!?" laughed Pedri hard.

"It's called the dance of happiness, Pedrito" made the boy fun of his friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he replied in surrender.

"And after a very short period of time, I will do the dance of winning!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure!"

-----------

Barcelona was winning, and you were really panicking now. You were running faster and more than ever. You trained too hard, and you couldn't lose today. You had to make your family and team proud of you.

You ran and ran for every ball, and when it was 5 minutes left, you scored. 3-3

You were so happy that you started to jump on all your teammates. People on Camp Nou started to cheer your name.

"Vamosss, hermanitaa"

"Let's go, amigas. We still have a match to win" you said and you went back, fighting for another goal.

-----------

"Look, Gavi! That girl is exactly like you."

"What?" he asked confused.

"She is jumping on all her friends after a goal. Don't you know someone that does the same thing??? Hm!?" Pedri teased him.

"Oh, let it like that" he laughed.

"Can't lie, she did a pretty goal"

"She really did" answered Gavi to Balde. "She worked really hard today, she kinda deserved to do at least one goal".

They were talking and not even realising that you did another goal, until Pedri started to swear.

"Calm down, Pedri. It's just a game. It's not ever ours"

Jordi tried to make his friend calm down, but he was really grumpy now.

"I can't believe it! We were winning and that girl had to do 2 goals in 5 minutes! Unbelievable!"

"It happens in football, hermano. Next game, we will win"

"She did a good game, don't you think?" whispered Lewandowski on Gavi's ear, seeing him looking constantly at her.

"I really wanted us to win, Lewa, but the way she played.. somehow I'm happy that they won"

Lewandowski smiled, seeing his little teammate blushing a little. Maybe coming to this game was a great decision, after all.

---------

You were in the changing room celebrating after the win. Everyone was shouting your name and you couldn't be more happy. Tears started to form in your eyes. You really made it.

"Thank you, y/n! Thank you, you saved us" said Ade, one of your best friends.

After a lot of photos with the trophy, it was time to go to the after party with the Barca girls. You decided to invite them to celebrate the last game together. All you wanted to do was be friends with everyone. You were rivals, but not enemies after all. You were still humans.

----------

Gavi found out you were the person that invited Barca to the party and he finds that so mature and beautiful. He only knew your name and when he looked at the photos and saw who you actually were, he couldn't believe how pretty you are.

You were all sweaty and tired, with a red face, but still.. so beautiful. He found your Instagram and looked at some photos of you. Most of them were with you playing, but the ones from holidays were his favourite. You, dressing elegantly, with a natural makeup look...

He didn't follow you, but he was still looking at your stories whenever you would post them.

When you saw that Pablo Gabi saw your stories, you thought that he only wanted to see who won today, but when he constantly saw the ones from the party, you started to be really nervous. He was a player from Barcelona and you couldn't be interested in someone from that club. People would say that you would betray your team and you were so loyal to them. You tried to forget about it and to enjoy your night, but it was really hard.

When you got home late and were so tired, you still made time to look at his ig account, too. The boy was really breathtaking. When you went to see some reals and tik toks of him, you found out that he was also a sweetheart. You knew about him, everyone in Spain knew, but not so much details.

The videos of him and kids made you blush and smile like an idiot. And when you saw the one with the fan asking him for a huh after signing her something (gif) made you want to cry of how beautiful his smile is.

The thought that he saw you playing tonight made it hard to fall asleep. You knew that you won't get to meet him. You, leaving in Madrid and him in Barcelona, made it really hard.

You were an optimistic type of person, but this time you knew it was impossible, until you met again. Where? At the spain national team..

Please, tell me your opinion on this!!! Was it good, bad? I can change something if you don't like it!!

Love to all of you, take care people!!

Masterlist

Requests open this days

[puckpocketed]

squeezing out the second part of the d-men podcast transcripts I started a while back. the fear of losing media compels me <3 here's part 1 if you missed it, but it's not essential to understanding what's being said here. (all episodes are available if anyone just wants to listen to them) transcript + edits done by me, all mistakes are mine.

Topics of discussion:

shorting the zone and the evolution of the game

point shots and why they suck

the carolina hurricanes being a wacky exception

Lane Hutson, Zach Werenski, a few others, and how modern defensemen create and score.

Published 13th November 2024, Hockey IQ Podcast: Modern Defensemen (with Will Scouch) Ep #2 - by Hockey's Arsenal, hosted by Greg Revak (apple / spotify / youtube)

[START Transcript]

Greg Revak: Alright, welcome back to episode two here. We've got Will Scouch and myself, Greg Revak, here on the Hockey IQ Podcast. Now we're going to be talking about point play.

So last week, we talked about modern day defending; what does that kind of look like? We looked into Lane Hutson, some Rasmus Ristolainen, some other players, talking about controlling speed, getting good gap control, position before possession, et cetera.

A lot of powerful stuff there, but today we want to talk about point play. We ended last time talking about shorting the zone. So: getting down off the blue line, especially if the puck is in a corner, getting down into the zone. Instead of standing at the blue line, maybe we're at the top of the circles. [There’s] a lot of reasons we talked about why that's good for defense, gap control, et cetera. but let's start with thinking about point play.

The space from the top of the circles to the blue line up top in the zone, that, generally, is what we're going to call the ‘point’. When we're talking about defensemen or talking about point play, that's the area we're living in. With shorting the zone, we're already starting on top of the circles — [the] blue line is behind us. I love it, [shorting the zone, just from a tactical standpoint] you have so much space to go into, you can make someone chase you and you can do some shimmies.

Lane Hutson is a great example. You start low, bring the puck up, throw one fake one way, go the other. Or a little double move where now the opponent's feet are just completely messed up.

So just from an idea of saving space; I am in this space so I can go to that space, rather than starting at the blue line and now I don't have any space to go backwards — the only options I do have are laterally, left or right. And if I'm on the wall, I only really have one option, which turns into two: either I chuck a terrible point shot — and we know point shots suck — or l've got to move to the middle. You're really limiting yourself. Shorting the zone gives you a lot more space up top.

Will Scouch: Yeah, I agree. I mean, we kind of talked a little bit last episode about offense and defensemen, and I said something along the lines of, “I don't really think about point production a tremendous amount,” but it is interesting when you watch a lot of defensemen who do score a lot and how many, especially outside the NHL, [are] literally peppering the net with point shots.

And at the junior level, when you're facing goaltenders who can often have save percentages down in the .870s, .880s, some of these shots are going to go in, right? Some of them are going to be rebounds in front. That's just so much rarer in the NHL in this day and age. Rebound control is better, defensive zone control is better, positioning is better, they're stronger. It's just tougher to do that.

And so point shots — I mean, it's good to have as a weapon. If you have a defenseman who can really shoot the puck and hammer one on net from 60 feet out, cool. It's not a bad thing, but it's not a great thing to rely on. Goaltenders are getting better and better and better at seeing the puck, tracking the puck, making sure that they can stay on top of these kinds of plays. 

To me, it's more about having a defenseman who can juggle multiple options; a guy who may have a point shot to play around with, but [also] the skill and the creativity and the vision to see what's going on and make a play, rather than just going, “Alright, my job is to put it on the net from here, that's what I do.” Because you also run the risk of someone blocking that shot, it goes out into the neutral zone, maybe you're caught a little bit up the ice and you just wasted an offensive zone possession and you're chasing the puck coming your way.

There's a lot of risk that comes from that in a potentially dangerous area of the ice. I'll cherry pick a really bad example of this, but I remember at the World Juniors when Connor Bedard was there. I think it was a semifinal game or a quarterfinal game, but Connor Bedard was just carrying and carrying and carrying the puck, flying around the perimeter of the ice, and just turned and lobbed one on net from the middle of the ice right from the blue line.

[A] guy, I think it was the Czech Republic, blocked it, Bedard fell down or something, was just caught at that blue line, and they went the other way and scored a goal. And so that kind of thing is something where I always note it down and go, “Yeah, that's just not an option,” that's just not going to work in the NHL. Guys are going to know, guys are going to be able to figure it out.

So yeah, [a point shot is] something that I think is important to know that you have with your defensemen, but [it’s also] important that your defensemen know when to and when not to deploy it, if that makes sense.

GR: I also laugh because anytime you see a team practice and we work on offensive specific stuff and defensive specific stuff, it always seems like somehow the defense ends up working on point shots. It's kind of getting archaic at this point, maybe we should work on other things? That’s kind of, like, the last option.

You know, there are times [they’re appropriate] but a lot of it is at the higher levels [where] maybe we have the strength for those point shots. At the lower level half the time those pucks are barely getting to the net. There's a lot of issues there, but to your point: point shots suck, and I will continue to say that until everyone understands it.

There's increasing goal scoring in the NHL. There is a decreasing save percentage in the NHL. And all the studies I'm continuously reading and finding, the work that's being done out there, seems to point to the same thing: people are no longer settling for crappy shots. 

You may see them every once in a while, but it's more of a change of pace to the usual, to mix it up, more than, “This is our go-to strategy,” like you saw in the dead puck era or the mid 2000s.

WS: Yeah. I think the only real exception I can think of off the top of my head sitting here is the Carolina Hurricanes sometimes seem to really deploy a point shot, a more [chaotic] style of offense. But it kind of works for them in a way because they have the skill and the intensity level from their forwards to gain possession back, or cause tips or crazy plays in front, chase play into the corner.

That's just their style of play. It just seems to be the system that they're deploying, and it does lead to good results, but just saying, “Oh yeah, our defensemen will put it on net and we'll tip it, or we'll catch a rebound or something,” it doesn't generally work out in that way.

You and I, we talk a lot about Lane Hutson, and I think Lane Hutson is probably the most extreme example of the opposite. Where, yeah, once in a while, you'll see him shooting the puck from the point, but the big thing with him — and everybody, it's a meme now, people are pointing it out as a meme of, like, that shimmy shake he's got at the offensive blue line, that ability to bait and switch guys from one way to the next.

I know some people are already pointing at that and going, “What a silly thing that he's doing out there, he's looking like PK Subban!” But number one, PK Subban won a Norris Trophy. And number two, it works. Lane Hutson is a guy who can create, that's how you create space for yourself nowadays, right? You use your feet and your hands and your body in conjunction to create room, to drag pressure around.

Half the name of the game with the puck on your stick is dragging pressure around, right? Manipulating your opponent, making them put themselves in positions that they don't want to be in, and gaining pockets of space and exploiting it.

That's really the name of the game, and point shots can kind of eliminate those opportunities, so I love seeing players who think outside the box, and work off the offensive blue line, and can get a little bit creative, and have systems and support from their forwards that can step up and help them out, help them engage in the offensive zone. It just is the way the game is going, whether you like it or not.

GR: Yeah. Well, first, we'll start with the Carolina Hurricanes example. They also have a puck recovery strategy that they play with, their weak side defenseman is shorting the zone and already heading to the corner as a puck is being shot from the point. They know they're not getting the pass, so they're already playing for the rebound. Which, there's an opportunity there for the other team; if they get the blocked shot that weak side winger is going to [be a step ahead of] the weak side defenseman.

But the Canes get so many pucks back just by activating that weak side defenseman, because most of the time you're not really creating a rebound, you're creating a loose puck. So now you've got to be thinking about loose puck recoveries rather than rebounds. And [shots] from the point, it’s 22 to 24 percent of the time [they] actually create a rebound. Rebounds actually come from shots from the inner slot.

Editor’s note: he said “rebounds” here twice, which makes ZERO sense in context. I have changed it to “shots”. There are a few wonky sentences through this where I’ve reworked the syntax or added a word where they clearly misspoke within the context of the sentence, just trying to make this readable </3

WS: Oh, yeah. Scoring areas, right?

GR: Yeah. From actual scoring areas, so why are we taking so many? So get rid of [point shots] and then we’ve got to find ways to create offense from outside of there.

I did a study with Zach Werenski, he led the league, I want to say it was the 2019-2020 or 2018-2019 season. And he was the number one scoring defenseman, he had the most goals. 20 goals, two were empty netters. so he had 18 actual goals. How did he go about scoring those? If you had to guess, how many do you think were point shots?

WS: All of them. Hard flat bombs from the blue line, 120 miles an hour, easy. No. I honestly have no idea. I'd love for you to enlighten me, because I'm fascinated.

GR: So he scored [on] one point shot, which was basically he got handcuffed with a bad puck, and he was like, “Well, don't really want to turn this one over. So let's just get it in deep.” In which case this one was ‘in deep’ towards the net. Wasn't even a purposeful, “I'm just going to hammer this [one-timer] from the point.” It was literally, his defense partner went d-to-d, basically handcuffed him, and he just tossed it at the net.

WS: Nice.

GR: That was his best option at the point because he just got a suicide pass, defense-style. The other 17 were from within the house. Like, he's getting off the blue line, he's activating into the zone. He's not just standing out there.

Editor’s note: ‘the house’ is slang for the prime scoring area in front of the net, in the middle of the zone. Defenders are often taught to “protect the house”

So you've got [18] different goals which, the fascinating part is, you would think a lot of that might come from the rush before the defense gets set up, but only one of the goals came from the rush. The other 17 were in-zone. CBJ got into the offensive zone, worked it around. He was able to activate, find better spaces to get into the house and then shot and scored.

We have 11 one-time shots, six wrist shots and one backhand, those were [the] distribution. You would think it might just be like, oh, a quick point shot, like a boom one-timer, but there's a lot of wrist shots. There's even a backhand in there. He’s finding ways and finding good pre-shot movement to get himself into a better spot to score. [It was more so about] “How does he find ways to get into scoring places?” rather than having the world's best point shot.

WS: Yeah. And I think that that's — when you look at some of the best offensive-defensemen in the league nowadays — that's what that's like. I'm looking at Evolving Hockey right now, so shout out to the Evolving Hockey boys, but the leaders and individual expected goals by defensemen over the last two seasons… Werenski is number four on that list, which makes a lot of sense, but the only guys ahead of him? Rasmus Dahlin, Cale Makar and Roman Josi.

And those are all similar, all of those guys are pretty similar, to me, especially Josi and Makar. Behind them, you've got guys like John Carlson, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Evan Bouchard. I would be very curious about individual expected goals per shot on net, but regardless we don't need to get that much into detail. It also involves math that I don't want to do right now.

But a lot of those really good premier offensive defensemen are the ones who are generating those kinds of results; the guys that are getting into the offensive zone, getting their hands a little dirty and jumping in and playing like a forward.

I remember we did work a while ago. I sent you information on some of the trends that have changed in terms of scoring and why the NHL is scoring so much [more] now than it did when I was younger or when both of us were younger. And the main — the only real difference — it's not that forwards were shooting more, it's not that goaltenders were just worse, it was that defensemen were getting more involved offensively. 

Out of everything out there, the only real significant change was that there were more defensemen in the NHL who can score, right? Before, there were way more defensemen [whose] job was just not to play offense. They're just not allowed. Just cross the red line, dump it in, go for a shift; cross the red line, dump it in, go for a shift.

And now it's very different. To me it goes back to this discussion I have all the time with people where I'm just sort of going, “I want every single player on my team to be,” to use an oversimplified word, but, “good!” right? I want every single player on the ice, regardless of position, to be able to play in the offensive zone and create and be creative, and put pucks on net and generate scoring chances, and have forwards who can cover for defensemen who want to do that.

I think there's been more and more of that in the NHL just because it's good hockey. Now you're seeing a lot more defensemen who are generating a lot more of these individual chances, and Werenski is definitely a good one.

GR: It leads to winning. You definitely can't win a war by sitting in a foxhole, and you can't win a hockey game without scoring goals. If you can find ways to increase that offense, to your point, that's where all the offensive improvements that we've seen in the last decade plus have come from, is just defensemen being more than defense. They're hockey players, they're not just defense.

It's been good to see, there's been a ton of improvement. There's still a lot of detail, I think, that we can flush out within this. I was talking with Seamus Casey (NJD prospect) and I ended up writing about what we were talking about, which is some of the finer details up top.

One of the big ones is just catching within movement. Don't get the puck, then move; be having an idea of movement where you're constantly shifting. Again, offense is about movement: you're constantly shifting the angles and the positioning that the defense has to cover and respect. That's a common mistake I see, a common issue I see at the lower levels.

I was working with a junior-age player, now he's got a freshman year in college this year, [and this is] the number one thing I told him: “Every time you get a puck, you're standing flat. There's no movement. So now you're just putting yourself in a terrible spot where you're easily closed down. The same thing as a moving target versus a stationary target, which one's harder to hit? That's the idea here. So making sure we're catching within movement, even if it's just a step or two, that's a step in the right direction of where you want to go.” Just, have a little bit of movement.

It's one of the reasons I'm a big believer in Ryan Healey out of Harvard.

WS: Oh yeah.

GR: Quite the defensive depth chart to climb in the Minnesota Wild organisation, but I have good feelings about that kid.

WS: Yeah, I remember Ryan Healey. He had some fun moments. And yeah, that's definitely a good example of a player who brings that brand. It’s something that I am always looking for, It's something that you're always trying to get.

At the youth level, it can be hit or miss. I think that there's a lot of — and again, I'm in Canada — and I still think there's a lot of differences between programs in the CHL. How they kind of coached defensemen to be this way, or how they try to bring them along in order to play this brand of play that I think is more and more important into the future.

I mean, there are definitely Canadians who are among some of the most creative and intelligent and skilled offensive defensemen in the world. Cale Makar is a great example of that. But it is, I think, still something that is being explored and figured out and I think there is a perfectly legitimate discussion to be had about the balancing act of all of these things and how you coach your players to recognise opportunities and how to exploit those opportunities.

Like we've said many times in this series, it's a rabbit hole. You can go down deep and these kinds of things can be a long-term process. You take time, work through the good and the bad with the players.’

I don't know, at the end of the day I just love when hockey is creative, skilled, exciting. To me, in the offensive zone especially, I think there's a lot of room for defensemen to be that way. It's changing for the better, in my opinion.

I was just looking in terms of the number of expected goals out of defensemen. I believe there were 10 — ten years ago, there were 10 defensemen with 10 expected goals or more. Last season there were 30, and that's at 5-on-5. There's just a lot more of this going on, and I think we're all better for it. Everybody loves goals, right?

Yeah, everybody loves fights, but fans also get out of their seats when there are goals, and it's always exciting. I love a game where, when you're down 3-1 you have a better chance of coming back because you're really good at scoring goals. That's just what I love.

GR: Yeah, so the other detail I'm thinking about as we're going through this is just positioning, right? We've talked about positioning and just [like] anything in life, positioning makes your life easier. If you position yourself — anything, X, Y, and Z — better, you're playing life, or the game, on a much easier mode. 

For point play here, we want to have some movement, but whether that be into the puck or away from the puck, I'm always talking about positioning and where we are relative to the blue line and relative to the boards. If we can get inside the zone — so getting some depth, like shorting the zone — great.

The other piece is just; from East and West across the rink, making sure that we're getting pucks within the dots. We can take the puck outside if we want to, but we don't want to start there, particularly from the weak side defensemen.

So, one, you can skate towards your partner, catch the puck as it's coming to you and be inside the dots, which is fantastic. Or, if that's maybe not a good option, that space is closed off, making sure that you're giving yourself to the outside. Take a step into the dots or even further in, not just on the dots, but slightly in so now you catch that puck and you can actually fan out

A lot of weak side wingers struggle to get in that shot lane, so even if you want a point shot or you see a passing lane, it's going to open that space towards the net in general. So, just making sure that you're giving yourself good positioning to start your puck touch, you can decide, “Do I want to go inside, do I want to go outside?” and having those options available.

The most common mistake I see is players start in wide open spaces, and they feel so comfortable, “Oh, I've got all this time and space because I'm in space!” Rather than what's better, which is actually putting yourself closer to your opponents where you have, quote unquote, less time and space — but really, you have now opened up space that you can potentially use.

It's not comfortable maybe immediately, but it will become comfortable as the puck touch evolves, rather than the opposite, which I see a ton, which is players start in open space, they feel comfortable like, “Oh, I've got more time and space because I'm physically further apart,” but then their options are so limited.

WS: Right. It's a game. Hockey a lot of the time is a game of creating space. It's a game of finding ways to get out of situations like that. I think that if you are in motion, quick little chips, quick little puck touches can do that for you. Obviously, you want to make yourself a pass target, but little tricks on pass receptions are probably just as important as what goes into that in the first place.

It's something that I still feel like I might be a little bit behind on in that world, listening to you talk about it. It's something that I haven't fully considered exactly, but I totally see where you're coming from, because, yeah, it is a thing where, just because you have space and you're waiting for a puck in that area, doesn't always mean you're going to have it when that puck hits your stick. It doesn't always mean you're going to have it the whole time when you want to have it.

Being able to problem solve and figure out how to create opportunity for yourself whether or not you’re under pressure, it's such a great thing to build on. And again, it goes back to what we talked about last week a lot of the time, with that footwork, the ability to pivot, make quick changes in where you're oriented and where you're headed on the ice. So even those defensive skills that are out there, it also is quite important in the offensive zone as well.

GR: All right. I think, point play, we've opened up a Pandora's box for people to explore, so we should probably end here and we'll head back next week talking about defending the rush.

[END Transcript]

[max-levchin]

To build a meritocracy

About a year ago, we at Affirm decided to add an OKR to our annual planning titled “High-Performance Culture”, to help shore up the necessary means (for the necessary means) of improving our collective productivity. (Yes yes, big company stuff, whatever – we grew revenue 46% last fiscal year on essentially flat headcount, that’s pretty addictive, and it doesn’t hurt the stock price.)

We measure this OKR by asking every Affirmer a handful of questions about their experience getting work done, eg “do you feel like it’s pretty collaborative here”, etc, scoring it on a 10pt scale, and trying to improve our score quarter to quarter. Generally, our score’s pretty high, and trending gently higher, so all good then?

Maybe, but how do you do better? High-performance culture is pretty easy to define: a culture of individuals doing productive work for the company in the most efficient way possible and helping others do the same, while generally having a good time. But what do you actually do [sir] to have such a culture? And what do you not do? 

So I jotted down a few incomplete one-liners of what that means to me as Affirm’s founder and CEO. This list is neither exhaustive (I reserve the right to add and remove things here) nor is it even especially well-organized, but culture is like obscenity in Jacobellis v Ohio: you know it when you see it. 

So here’s what I see at Affirm. 

mission

morality is a key ingredient in everything we do (and don’t do)

integrity is what got us where we are today, never compromise it

consumers, merchants, and capital partners are who we serve

stay humble and be curious about the needs of each of our constituents

take pride in providing safe access to fair credit; don’t judge what consumers use it for

bleed the colors, the values, the mission

merit

Affirm is a meritocracy: your talent, skill, and willingness to put it all to work define you here

we solve multivariate optimization problems – a certain minimum intellectual capacity is required

demand excellence from yourself and from your teammates, don’t settle

work-life balance tends to take care of itself if you love your work

…remember that this is a marathon – take care of yourself and those you love

if you can’t keep up, we’ll try our best to help, but eventually you may have to leave

if you see that someone can’t keep up, you should step in to help them

leadership

we are a culture of individuals working together as teams  

once someone is a part of the team, fully accept them as one of our own

whom you hire, and how you help them be productive is your top responsibility 

be an owner, not merely an employee

do not allow “us and them” dynamics to foment anywhere at Affirm

run towards a problem; don’t assume someone else will take care of it

be a stress absorber for your team, not a stress amplifier

an occasional heroic act that helps Affirm win is a good thing, not a sign of poor planning

constant heroic acts required for Affirm to survive is a sign of poor planning

lead by example

how we work

we take calculated risks – do the calculating!

make reversible decisions fast

bring the bad news to the team early – we’ll rally to help

use our product and understand its value to our customers

care about how we make things — mind the quality of the invisible parts

…do not let perfect be the enemy of shipping and iterating

time is the scarcest resource we have, be mindful of how you use yours, and your team’s

we are a writing culture, favor short, pithy n-pagers to novels or live rants

post-mortem everything: the successes, the failures, and the near-misses – and learn

we take our work extremely seriously — but not so much ourselves 

how we disagree

if you disagree, you must speak up, even escalate – especially before a decision is made

fear of being wrong is not an acceptable reason for not speaking up

never accept an unexplained “no” for an answer – ask why

challenge ideas! good ones can handle the scrutiny, bad ones need to die on the vine

even the harshest critique of your idea is not an attack on you, don’t take it as such

no matter how brilliant you are, being a jerk is a ticket out of Affirm

know our business well, and know your area of the business cold

argue using facts whenever possible, but give your gut a voice too

once the decision is reached, commit 

sometimes, Monday starts on Saturday