#Hugh has been fighting for a lot of years so good for him for trying to make them accountable

[sunshineandlyrics]

Murdoch's money talks! The Sun gets away with it again.

17 April 2024

[starsandhughes]

Summer Lovin'— Quinn Hughes

request: "for Quinn's beautiful Monday Y/n has been best friends with Jack for years and was always invited to the boys' parties and summers at the lake house. She and Quinn were never close, he only saw her as his younger brother's best friend, but now, this summer at the lake house, Jack invites her over to catch up on their homesickness. Quinn hasn't seen Y/N in a couple of years (she's in college) and is amazed at how beautiful, mature, smart, and sarcastic she has become. I imagine them flirting as a joke, him trying to win her over AND Jack being jealous of his best friend"

warnings: none that i can think of!

word count: 2.3k

MASTERLIST

HAPPY QUINN HUGHES MONDAY <3

You hadn’t been to the Hughes family lake house in a while. This summer will be the first time in three years due to moving away for college in California. You’ve seen Jack a few times, obviously, since he’s your best friend. But the rest of the family? It’s been a while.

You arrived an hour early, so the boys and their friends are still out on the boat. You took the time to catch up with Jim and Ellen, telling them all about your life in college so far.

“I better see a graduation invitation in the mail!” Ellen said, pointing her finger at you.

“You will!” you laughed. “I can’t graduate without my second family there!”

The boys, them being Jack, Quinn, Luke, Trevor, and Dylan, got back to the house about an hour and a half after you arrived. Jack definitely spotted your car parked out front, because he bursted open the door.

“Y/N!” Jack yelled excitedly.

You turned around with a big smile on your face and ran straight to your best friend. You practically jumped into his arms and he spun you around in a giant hug, lifting your feet into the air.

“I’ve missed you so much!” you said when he put you down.

“My turn!” Trevor announced and pulled you in for a hug. “I’ve never missed someone so much!”

“I see you all the time,” you rolled your eyes jokingly. “I’ve enjoyed my space.”

“Rude!” Trevor gasped.

After you pulled away from Trevor’s hug, you spotted Quinn. He looked different than the last time you saw him. Really saw him, since you watched all of his games over the years. He looked good. Really, really good. You were never that good of friends, since you were mostly just with Jack. Quinn had gone to NTDP and college and then the NHL, so you didn’t really have many good opportunities to get close.

“You cut your hair,” you smiled at Quinn. “It looks good.”

Quinn blushed and pulled you into a hug. You suddenly noticed your heart beating a little faster at his touch. Which is weird because you’ve never experienced that before around him.

“I’ve cut my hair lots of times over the past three years,” Quinn laughed.

“Yeah, but it’s different than when I last saw you on my TV! Can’t even take a compliment,” you tutted.

“You… You watched my games?” Quinn asked, clearly flustered.

“Every one,” you told him with a softness in your tone. What was going on with you?

Quinn and you stared at each other a little too long, but Luke stepped in before it got too noticeable.

“Hey, I missed you, too, you know!”

“Moose!” you said with glee. “Look at you! Look at how much you’ve grown!”

You played catch up with everyone. From the NHL seasons, to college, to injuries. You caught up with every single little detail. The details you paid the most attention to? Quinn’s. You talked about how hard some of the trades this season were, and how much he does love his new teammates. Jack inched closer to you every time you said some harmless, yet very flirty, comment at Quinn.

“I was dying at your fight in one of your last games! You took him down real quick, it was pretty entertaining,” you told Quinn.

“Entertaining?” he asked, laughing.

“Oh yeah; I would’ve loved a front row seat to that. It was kinda hot,” you said, putting your elbow on the table and resting your head in your hand.

Jack shot a look at Trevor, silently begging for him to do something.

“What about my fights?” Trevor asked, copying your pose. “Were those hot?”

“No, because you whined like a baby to me after about a bruise! And I’m not sure that any of your game time extra curricular activities classify as a fight! You’re just a professional nuisance,” you laughed, shoving your hand in his face to make him lose his balance.

“You’re a professional nuisance,” Trevor grumbled.

You fake gasped and put your hand over your heart, “How dare you! I’m an angel. Right, Quintin?”

“You’re alright,” Quinn said, sending you a wink. You couldn’t help but smile at him. And Jack couldn’t help but be practically glued to your hip and sending Quinn a look.

“See? I’m alright,” you smirked.

Quinn couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. You’ve grown up. He never noticed how beautiful and mature you’d gotten, while still keeping true to your joking and sarcastic self. He told you you were alright, but to him, you’re much more than that. He thinks you’re amazing. He thinks you’re mesmerizing.

Jack wasn’t a fan of how cozy you and his brother were getting. You used to barely talk to him growing up, and suddenly you think his fighting is hot? And he’s winking at you? You’re his best friend. Not Quinn’s. He didn’t even mind how close you and Trevor have gotten due to you going to college near where he lives. You two have always been friends. That isn’t new. This is.

Trevor, however, was all for this new flirtationship. He was enjoying watching it, much to Jack’s displeasure. You all decided to play Sorry, and by that you mean that you begged to play it and everyone would be in pairs. Trevor immediately called Jack as his partner, so Quinn took his chance to ask if you wanted to pair up. That left Luke and Duker as partners, and Jim and Ellen would play as the fourth pair.

“I’m going to whoop your ass, Hughesy,” you said, talking to Jack.

“Who’s ass? My ass?” Quinn asked jokingly.

“Maybe later,” you said, now sending him a wink. “But I meant Jack! He’s partnered with Trevor, so I’m elated for their downfall.”

“We could’ve been the dream team!” Jack protested.

“Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” you teased. “This is much more fun.”

Luke and Dylan ended up winning first place, but you all continued to play for second, third, and fourth place. The parents got second, so that left you, Quinn, Jack, and Trevor playing for third.

You stood up and got behind Quinn when it was his turn to draw. You needed a two to win. You reached over and tapped twice on the deck and then put your hands on Quinn’s head. You leaned down and whispered into his ear, “You will draw a two! You hear me, Quintin? A two!”

You dramatically placed a quick and hard kiss on the top of his head and ruffled his hair for good measure for “the maximum good vibes.”

Quinn slowly picked up a card and hid it from everyone’s view, including your eyes. He sighed, acting like it wasn’t a good card.

“Sorry, bro,” Jack tutted. “We can’t all be winners.”

“That’s true,” Quinn agreed. He placed the card down, revealing it to be a two, “But not us.”

You threw your hands in the air and cheered, making a show to place your final piece in home. You hugged Quinn from behind and squeezed really tight making him laugh.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Suck it!”

“I think you’re too excited about third place,” Dylan laughed.

“I’m excited about Jacky and Z losing, Duker!”

After everyone called it a night, you followed Jack into his room instead of going straight to yours.

“Alright spill it,” you said as you sat down next to him on his bed. “You’ve been surgically attached to my hip and glaring at everybody since I got here. What is up with you?’

“Wouldn’t you rather be talking to Quinn?” Jack asked passive aggressively.

“Aww,” you cooed, wrapping your arms around him and resting your head on his shoulder. “Are you jealous, Jacky?”

“No! You’ve just been all over him today,” he grumbled, but accepted your hug.

“Don’t worry, Jacky, you’re still my number one guy. You’ll be my maid of honor at my future wedding!”

“It would be my honor,” Jack joked.

“That is in the title, so I sure hope so,” you said. “Why do you have a problem with me talking to Quinn?”

“You’re not just talking! You’re flirting and winking at each other and kissing him. It’s weird! You two have never been close.”

“It’s not like we’re making out! What’s wrong with being close to your family? It’s basically mine, too.”

“Do you like him?” he asked quietly.

“We’re adults, J,” you said low.

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

“I don’t know! Okay? This is new to me, too.”

Jack turned away from you and you sighed. You moved to be in his view again. You grabbed his face in your hands, “I don’t know if I like him or not. Everything just feels… different. And I know I like that.”

Jack said nothing. He looked deflated. He loved you, as his best friend, and he obviously loves his brother. But you two together? He didn’t love that at this moment.

You kissed his cheek after a long period of silence, giving up on him saying anything.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen this summer, but I hope I’m still your best friend at the end of it. Because you’ll always be mine.”

You got up and walked to his door to go to your room when the sound of his voice stopped you.

“You’ll still be my best friend. No matter what,” Jack told you. You turned back around and sent him a soft smile, “Goodnight, J.”

The next few weeks consisted of more flirting and teasing between you and Quinn, more bullying of Trevor, scolding the boys whenever they teased Luke and Dylan because they’re your “precious and innocent babies.”

The sexual tension between you and Quinn grew tremendously every day. You were now completely sure of your feelings and it was driving you crazy. Summer was almost over, and you decided to be a lot more bold with Quinn in hopes that he would catch your endless hints.

You were all around the bonfire that night and the spots were limited for some reason. Trevor rushed ahead of you and placed himself right next to Jack, the last actual seat, and tossed his legs over to lay in Jack’s lap. He motioned to you towards Quinn, and you knew what he was doing.

You walked over to Quinn, “Do you mind?”

Quinn heated up, “No! I mean… I don’t mind. You can sit.”

You breathed out a laugh and shook your head as you sat down in his lap. You grabbed his hands and put them around your waist and leaned back against him.

“You’re quite the comfortable seat, Quintin! Ten out of ten, would recommend to a friend,” you said.

“I try,” Quinn said back.

You looked over at Jack with an almost pleading look in your eyes. You would back off if he really wanted you to. Trevor smacked Jack’s shoulder to make him look at you. Jack sighed, but gave you a slight nod. What you didn’t catch was Jack giving the same nod to Quinn.

“Hey, do you two want to head inside and grab some beers?” Jack asked, directing his question to you and Quinn.

You hopped off Quinn’s lap and made your way inside with him to the kitchen.

“You didn’t have to come,” Quinn said. “I can handle the beers and I got you some Smirnoffs that I can–”

“Quinn!” you cut him off.

Quinn turned around and looked at you confused.

“You called me Quinn,” he said. “You haven’t called me Quinn all summer.”

You stepped closer to him, “Tell me you’ve caught on to what Jack and Trevor are doing.”

Quinn smiled and took a step closer to you, bringing you inches apart from each other.

“I like it when you call me Quintin,” he whispered.

“And I’d like it if you kissed me,” you said boldly. “Quintin.”

Quinn didn’t waste a second. He spun you around and pushed you up against the fridge. He had one hand pressed against it and his other on your waist, slamming his lips against yours. Your hands reached up and tangled themselves into his hair, opening your mouth to let him in. It wasn’t a typical soft and slow kiss. This was rough and raw. It was filled with everything that has built up between you over the last few weeks.

You two pulled apart, breathing heavily.

“What’s it gonna take to get you to come to Vancouver for some games?” he asked breathlessly, still inches away from your lips.

“Kiss me again and I’ll go anywhere for you,” you said.

He did. You didn’t think it was possible for the kiss to get even hotter, but you two needed each other. Bad.

“What’s it going to take to get you to go out on a date with me before you go back to Cali?”

“Kiss me again and I’m yours.”

You heard the door open and you two quickly pulled apart. It was Jack and Trevor.

“We were wondering why it was taking you two ten minutes to grab a few beers,” Trevor smirked. “Now I see why.”

Your and Quinn’s faces turned bright red. Quinn ran a hand through his hair and you tried to fix yours as well.

“We were just–”

“LA LA LA LA LA I don’t wanna hear it!” Jack cut you off. “Just don’t do it in front of me.”

You two moved out of the way and let him grab the drinks.

“Have fun you two!” Trevor called out as him and Jack made their way back outside.

“Not too much fun! I expect to see you both back out here tonight!” Jack shouted.

“Don’t listen to him! Have a lot of fun!”

You tilted your head down and stifled a laugh, “Who do you want to listen to?”

Quinn moved back in front of you and closed the space between you.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Trevor.”

“Yeah? You gonna kiss me like that again, Quintin?” you teased. “Or do you wanna go up stairs for some… extracurricular activities?”

“I vote the second one.”

“Good,” you said, biting your lip and running your fingers through his hair. “Lead the way.”

[toasttt11]

introducing august

August Catherine Crosby was born September 14, 1998 the youngest of her two siblings.

August always looked up to her older brother Sidney and he was the person who brought her onto the ice for the first time and she fell in love with the feeling of being on the ice, they both loved that they got to play together for a year in the NHL.

August and Taylor have always been close as sisters and always team up together to bully their older brother.

August growing up would spend a lot of time with her mother and grandmother in the kitchen watching them bake, August always enjoyed learning how to bake from the two and it’s something she still loves to do whenever she has the time.

August played in the OHL for the Eerie Otters and became very close with many on the team specifically Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, and Alex DeBrincat. She also played on the national team for Canada and became very close to Mitch Marner.

August and Alex were drafted the year after the the other three and while they all got spilt across the world, August was the glue to keeping them all close to each other and being a consistent part in each others life’s.

Mitch has always loved August claiming her his favorite and he made sure everyone knew that, he desperately wanted her to get drafted to the Leafs wanting to play on the same team again. Some of his most favorite games of the season is when he plays against August.

Connor took August under his wing when she joined the OHL team and even though she was only a year younger than him he still was very protective of her and had gotten into many fights for her over the two years of playing with each other.

Dylan came back to the OHL after his draft for another season and he got to play with August and Alex for another season and win a Championship with them.

It was no surprise when Dylan had his first daughter August was named the godmother, just like it wasn’t surprising that Alex named August godmother to his first son as well, and Dylan and Alex’s second children were both named August godchildren as well.

August had a very tough rookie year being the first woman in the NHL but also being the younger sister of Sidney Crosby and she drafted to his team it came with a lot of questions, so she always makes sure she looks out for the rookies in the league especially the first overall picks knowing the pressure that comes with it.

She had texted Jack Hughes when he was in rookie and Jack instantly felt comfortable with her and she was already someone he looked up to but even more so once she started becoming like a mentor to him, they have stayed close since then and Jack adores August.

Jack is always talking about August especially to his family and they all can see how much Jack looks up to her. Jack also knows how much August is busy during of summer as she is always trying to see all of her family and godchildren and he knows she rarely ever has any free time so he will usally go to her and spend at least a week with her wherever she is and they will at least get on the ice together to practice.

Jack literally begs August to bake him anything and if they are playing each other August always has some type of baked good for him and she will usally send him boxes of her baked goods.

August knew who Quinn Hughes is, especially being close to Jack but it seemed they never could ever meet each other, she only ever saw him when they were playing against each other but they finally got introduced to each other during the 2024 All Stars, when Jack picked first for his team and quickly picked August.

Quinn has heard so much about August from Jack and he honestly has always thought she was beautiful and when they finally get to truly meet he can tell why Jack loves her so much, she’s extremely easy to love and she just seems to lighten up everything. Quinn fell for August before she fell for him.

August loved trading to the Vegas Knights and loved that she joined the first year that they were ever a team and she is proud to carry the C on her chest for her team especially as she is the only ever Captain of the Knights ever.

August was one of the biggest supporters of Knights having a team pet and helped a lot of getting a future service dog for the team and chose the name Maverick for him.

August has always loved being a godmother and is always spending any free time with her godchildren and they all always visit her a lot, she’s always spoiling them and there is not a doubt that she is all four of her godchildren’s favorite person.

Sideny’s Agent since he was young was Pat Brisson and from a young age August was around the Brisson family and grew quite close to Jordan and Brendan. August was so exicted when Brendan was drafted to Vegas and immediately told him when he came to Vegas he was staying with her. Brendan joined the Vegas AHL team after his collegiate career and moved in with August.

August was the one that suggests Brendan to her coach when they were looking for a AHL player to call up and the coach agree especially seeing how Brendan had been playing. August also was the one who passed him the puck on his first NHL goal against her brother.

[epicspheal]

So I had this thought that I'd like to share. What if Red's trauma response is just diving into stuff. Mainly " hero" stuff like rushing into a team rocket base and defeating everyone in sight. I dunno how to describe it, but it comes from the idea that maybe an 11 year old facing off against a dangerous mafia group would leave some lasting effects. I wouldn't be surprised if Red's journey scarred him in a way to think that if there's a threat he has to take care of it immediately. Am I taking that one scene from pokemon masters and making it super angsty for no apparent reason? Yeah.

But really it's a genuine thought I had. Red is seen as the calmer one of the Kanto trio but he's very much ready to fight ( by himself I might add) at all times due to his experience with Team Rocket.

Hi there ihopethisendswell!  I've been sitting on this for a bit because I was trying to figure out how to best articulate my thoughts on game!Red and trauma. Because you're right given what he has gone through a lot and is certainly valid to believe that on some level at least a little traumatized.

You mention the Kanto Villain arc scenes in Pokemas (which I confirmed via DM) were Blue yelling at Red for going alone and Red deciding to G-max Snorlax in the base. These were two very telling scenes regarding with how Red deals with threats.

Personally, I disagree with the idea of Red diving into stuff being a trauma response. Across iterations of the male Kanto protagonist (Game!Red, Ash, and Manga!Red) being a little reckless and diving into battle is a universal trait.

Now this is not to say diving into things recklessly can't be a traumatic response, because it most certainly can be. I think though a better example of "diving into things recklessly as a traumatic response" in the Pokeverse would be Hugh, Gladion or Paulo given their backstories. And to be fair I can definitely see the argument that after the run-ins with Team Rocket on his original journey that it's made Red more ready to fight and I don't doubt that it has had some effect. I just don't think it's a purely traumatic response and rather it’s mostly that Red is just naturally reckless.

I think the reason why game!Red being reckless and diving head first is often seen by people as purely a trauma response is the fact that he’s quiet. In fact, he's the only version of the Kanto Male protagonist who is canonically quiet as a major part of his characterization, transcending him just being a silent avatar for the purposes of self-insertion. We tend to, especially in the west, equate reckless and take-charge behavior as something outgoing people tend to do. Someone like Ash or Manga!Red. Quiet characters are often automatically perceived as stoic, calm and collected, and risk averse, even if their actions truly say otherwise. Like you alluded to, game!Red is often seen as the calm one but if the Kanto villain arc is anything to go by, he really isn't. Sure, he may keep a good poker face in battle or in regular conversation, but deep down he's fiery which is shown not only in his choice of starter, but also how one of his theme skills is "Passionate Spirit". Even Blue remarks about this quiet passion when he compares the player to Red "You kinda remind me of him!"You're like a crimson flame quietly burning."

That passionate spirit would drive someone to take charge in a moment of crisis even if they are on the silent side.

Now let's dive deeper into those two scenes. Let's start with the G-max Snorlax scene. For me this is a case where I see Red's actions being less of a pure traumatic response and more of another just inborn trait of Red's. It's universal among the Kanto male protagonists is being reckless with their strategies in the hopes of a large payoff be it in regular battles or serious events. Ash is known for having reckless off the wall strategies as is Pokespe!Red. So game!Red being incredibly reckless with his strategies also checks out.

Now to be fair, Red knows what Giovanni is capable of, so the idea that from past run-ins with Giovanni he knew to shut it down quickly is extremely valid and I do think that played a part into him choosing to G-max in an enclosed area But then remember Blue's quotes during the event "Wait, I know that look in your eyes! Don’t tell me—" Clearly this is not the first time Blue has seen Red be reckless. But what about the part where he left on his own? And didn't tell anyone he was alright and just hiding...much like how he just went up to Mt Silver to train for years without telling anyone, not even his mom? This is where I personally see trauma informing his actions. Red shares the passionate spirit, recklessness and diving headfirst traits with his anime and manga counterparts showing that this is very much a Kanto male protagonist thing. But one thing that game!Red lacks compared to both Ash and Manga!Red is a solid support system when dealing with major threats at least initially. Now Red has friends...two best friends in Blue and Leaf. And he certainly has the respect of all the major trainers of Kanto. But when it came down to the Team Rocket crisis back during his journey, game!Red was very notably alone in dealing with the threat. While Ash didn't really have a proper face-off against Team Rocket in Kanto, he still had his friends Brock and Misty to ward off threats from TRio, and other companions when the other evil teams made their presence known. Manga!Red had Blue and Green as well as the gym leaders of justice in helping to defeat Team Rocket in the manga as well as the help of future dexholders and gym leaders when he got involved in other villainous arcs. But the game version of Red? None of the gym leaders helped. The elite four weren't evil but just holed up in the Indigo Plateau. Leaf was nowhere to be found even though we know she went on her own journey around the same time Red and Blue did. And Blue…chose to battle Red instead of help out. In fact a lot of his living legend status stems from the fact that he took down Team Rocket initially solo. Sure both Ash and manga!Red also would dive in solo at times but they almost always had backup.

Not having backup in those stressful dangerous times is certainly a traumatizing experience. When I think back to when Blue yelled at him for not taking him along all I could think was "Blue, you know your my favorite character, but...you do remember not helping him right? Not sure you should expect him to ask for your help" Granted we know at this point of time Blue and Red have made up and are back to being best friends. But while Red may have forgiven Blue but I can totally understand why he may not of reached out to him initially. Same thing with Leaf, the Kanto gym leaders and Elite four. It's reasonable to assume that in the moments when he realized Team Rocket was up to no good, Red thought "I've got do this alone, because no one else will help me". Which is rather sad when you think about it. We don't even see Red even begin to accept help until the Kanto Villain arc...after Blue yells at him. And for what it's worth I think it's not due to Blue yelling at him but Blue (and the others) showing that they can actually be reliable backup. This is lightly expanded upon in the Johto villain arc where Professor Bellis mentions she sent Blue and Red to help investigate the randomly Dynamaxing Pokemon. We could argue that the two split up during that request but given how for the remainder of the Kanto Villain arc Blue and Red worked together it's likely that finally Red knows fully he can trust someone to have his back in these situations. This also correlates well to his disappearance up to Mt. Silver. Sure, he did go up there to train, but the fact that he went up there for so long without telling anyone, not even his mom does ring alarm bells. I think given everything that happened not just the Team Rocket business but his loss of friendship with Blue there is a lot of reason for Red to be upset and want to isolate himself if only just to process everything and train in peace without threats from villains or being reminded of a broken friendship.

Compare this to his anime and manga counterparts who don't have extended periods of pure isolation. And at least with manga!Red when he goes missing for a month it's immediately shown as suspicious and when he goes off to train on Mt. Silver it's with Gold. Ash is hardly ever alone for extended periods time with the exception being some of the newer movies. The bonds of friendship in the midst of a crisis are a common theme among Pokemon and it's a major thread in the manga and anime with respect to both manga!Red and Ash. And this is something game!Red doesn't get a chance to experience (at least as far as we know of) until the Pokemas Villain arc. So, do I think that Red feels like he needs to take care of threats immediately is a response from trauma? No, not really. It's, in my opinion, mainly standard hero stuff that encapsulates the Kanto male protagonist in all forms. Perhaps some of it is a trauma response but not as much as many would assume. Do I think that Red feeling like he needs to take care of things alone is a trauma response? Absolutely.

I'm hoping we get to see more of this addressed in Pokemas to get more definitive answers. Which I think we might given that some of Blue's dialogue in the Paulo Interludes are...rather ominous...and we may be getting some backstory. Mainly about Blue but Red is going to be inexplicably tied to this given the line of "And it's possible to get back some of the things you've lost". I'm almost positive that's regarding his friendship with Red and I feel like it would be hard to tell this part of the story without addressing either the Silph Co incident or how Red finally decided to come back down from Mt. Silver.

[greencheekconure27]

Some Yeomen of the Guard headcanons:

The Lieutenant was looking to hire a jester because everyone kept telling him he's got no sense of humour, and he decided he needs to improve that.(Ironically he's one of the few people who would've found Wilfred's jokes funny)

Phoebe is very adventurous: she grew up hearing all kinds of tales of derring-do from her father and the other veterans (who all doted on her). She has dreamed in participating in one since she was a child, and not as a damsel in distress either. Which is another reason she immediately seizes the opportunity to rescue Fairfax

She talks Leonard into teaching her some fencing afterwards, and immediately uses her new knowledge to put the fear of god into Wilfred.

Jack can't swim. Elsie had to rescue him from drowning more than once. (It doesn't help that Jack's at his wittiest when insulting people; he gets thrown into rivers a lot because of this)

Leonard really didn't like how Fairfax treated Elsie at the wedding. He almost came rescue her when she called for "Leonard, my own" out of sheer habit. Phoebe had to hold him back.

Elsie is more in love with the idea of Fairfax than with the man himself. Coincidentally, said idea closely resembles the real Leonard.

Phoebe has a somewhat dark sense of humour, possibly as a result of all the executions she saw growing up.

Money notwithstanding, Jack Point wasn't happy about the whole "marrying off Elsie " deal at all. But old Bridget Maynard was really sick, and he was well aware they weren't making nearly enough to help her in time. So he put on a brave front for Elsie's sake and encouraged her to take up on the opportunity, accidentally alienating her in the process.

He's pretty much useless in a fight, but usually makes up for it by being extremely good at running away and dodging hits.

Fairfax and his cousin look very alike and have similar personalities, a fact that has contributed a lot to their rivalry.

Poltwhistle and Fairfax have been trying to kill each other for years, to the point that both of them see it almost as a sport.There may have been other, less lucky murder-y cousins in the past as well.

Jack stole the Hugh Ambrose book from the archbishop's library, originally in an attempt to find out what his employer finds funny, but after he got whipped and thrown out he decided not to return it. The jokes are all terrible. He used to entertain Elsie by reading them aloud and commenting on them.

Even the yeomen find Dame Carruthers' enthusiasm for all things Tower (especially the bloody parts) deeply unnerving. Wilfred and Kate are about the only people who don't try to quietly escape when she starts monologuing.

Kate thinks her aunt is very cool, actually.

[winderlylandchime]

Okay so i did explain to him that the uk version was the original and his comment to that was a very simple ‘not to be a bitch to the tea people but Brian is better’ and then I told him that Charlie Hunnam aka the hot guy from Sons of Anarchy was actually in it and i wish you could see his face! Literally jaw on the floor/wide eyed and he sat like that for a good minute. But that lead to him then going on a 5-10 minute rambling about how Charlie and Aiden worked together in the movie King Arthur so now Gale and Randy have to reunite as well. And i fully agree with him.

Listen, it’s been days since he found out about Gale being straight and he’s still shocked. We did watch the Prom episode and he literally paused on him and went ‘come on..he can’t…man’ he’s literally having a similar reaction as Mikey did to Hunter. It’s kinda funny ngl. As for his ‘i think’ moment, I honestly have no clue what Gale did to him. Our uncle did say to our mom that if this is how he comes to a certain type of realization that he will never let him live it down because my brother made fun of him for realizing he was gay due to young Hugh Grant. So i think out of everyone, my uncle is the only one who is actually hoping my brother had an awakening through Gale.

I have a love hate relationship with the proposal (my brother only has like 2% love for it, the rest is hate but whatever) but the ‘my prince’ thing started a fight in the house when we watched it. Cause to me it was a cute moment but for some reason is felt a little awkward to me. I think cause the whole thing felt out of character, idk how to explain it. But my brother while having an ‘awww’ type of reaction, swears that Brian would never and that the reason for Brian’s expression afterwards is because Gale was trying not to laugh. So his hatred for the proposal is insane.

As for the B99, both of us have seen in multiple times and he put it on last Saturday because he wanted to watch some comfort shows. And then on Wednesday we were watching the Halloween II episode and when the episode ended with Holt winning the heist that’s when my brother got a text from his friend about Andre. It was the worst timing ever. So for the past few days B99 is the only thing we’ve watched.

Btw our family has this tradition where for Christmas we give each other 3 presents. 2 that are good/useful and 1 that’s something random/weird/sometimes bad. And last year he gave me 2 different photos of himself as a present and the 3rd one was a box of condoms (that was his ‘bad gift cause lesbian ha ha and photos of him are always a good gift duuh’- this was his actual explanation). So I’m genuinely considering giving him your blog and the knowledge of the fandom/what i did :/ as the 3rd gift. I told my uncle and cousins and they all think this is a great idea, which leads me to believe its a bad idea BUT i guess we will find out. He does know fandom exists because he’s been watching edits but he doesn’t know about fics and tumblr. So I’m going to slowly let him him know this week. Wish me luck even though i think he’ll handle it okay…ish

UH YES GALE AND RANDY NEED TO REUNITE IN A FILM. Your brother is so wise about this.

I’m lmao literally about his reaction to Gale being straight is Mikey’s reaction to Hunter being straight. So he’s being half drag queen half Italian about the news.

Your uncle realized he was gay to a young Hugh Grant? I’m dyinggggg! My spouse came out to their parents in their bedroom which was papered floor to ceiling with magazine cutouts of Sandra Bullock. And I had Jennifer Anniston all over my room. I guess my point is, we all have the celebrity that makes us go Oh. Oh.

I do think Gale was trying not to laugh, I mean he really looks like he’s about to crack up. The for my prince line is the worst. And if I was Justin — well a lot of things if I was Justin, but I would say no on the basis of that line alone and make Brian go get assessed for a stroke or something.

I watched Halloween II the night I found out about Andre! I watch B99 every night as I’m falling asleep. ACAB and all that but it is my comfort show.

One year my in-laws did a white elephant gift exchange and my BIL thought we were all doing gag gifts so he got boxer briefs and socks printed with his face on them. My spouse “won” them and they’re now in our sock and underwear drawer. All this to say, I think your brother gets to learn about his tumblr fame for Christmas. This year is an in-laws year for Christmas (we alternate, my parents are still salty about 2020 being their year) so if you want to send me updates, I will welcome the distraction. I love my in-laws (and especially my niblings) but I am an only child and my parents are quiet and visiting my in-laws is 8 adults, 3 children, and one dog under one roof and no one is quiet and it is A LOT for me.

I think he’ll handle it okay. Just make sure he doesn’t let the fame go to his head.

Also, Brother Anon if you’re reading this because your sister revealed that she’s been sharing your reactions with the internet - HELLO! YOU ARE VERY POPULAR IN A TEENY TINY FANDOM ON TUMBLR WHICH IS A VERY PARTICULAR TYPE OF FAME.

[grumpy-potat]

Hugh Grant Rom Com Pick A Pile

I am very much a product of my time, when I feel sad, down, or overwhelmed by the world, I have two reliable sources for entertainment I turn to. Early Adult Swim cartoons and Rom Coms.

Adult swim cartoons will have to wait. Today I am focusing on Rom Coms. While we all know that Rom Coms had their heart throbs I am focusing specifically on one man Hugh Grant. A major player in the scene while I was growing up, the bumbling Brit was everywhere. Including in a mug shot for picking up a prostitute which to me makes him an incredibly interesting as an actor in these movies. Because that happened in 1995 while in a relationship with Elizabeth Hurley , and he still got leading man roles long after that. I just find it so weird that a man can't come out as gay or in the LGBTQ and still get these leading man roles because "women won't like him" but Hugh Grant can hire a prostitute while dating Elizabeth Hurley and all but one of these movies were after that incident and still see him as a dateable guy? Maybe someone can explain to me, as I thought all movies were meant to just be elements of fantasy, and you were supposed to see them as the character anyway, which is what I try to do when watching a movie.

Well with that weird little mini rant about actors, characters, and casting over lets pick the film that you feels speaks to you and look at your relationship with you and your lover. The Layout will be a three card spread. You, Your Lover, and Relationship Dynamic

Remember this is for fun, and entertainment. No harm is intended. Take what resonates and leave the rest.

Notting Hill(1999): The Story of a British bookseller and a famous American Actress who happens to walk into his shop in London's Notting Hill District

Ten of Wands rx, Four of Wands, Seven of Cups

You have been feeling lost in your burdens. That you are carrying so much and that it has been hard to ask for help and to trust someone to lighten your load. Your lover is there for you but one of you might always bee looking for the better thing. Your lover is a firm foundation, a home for you, and can help you with the burdens you carry if you let them. The key is you need to be willing to let go and ask for help. But that could mean letting go of the illusion of the perfect future that one or both of you might be dreaming of and settling on a less perfect reality that is within your grasp.

Bridget Jones's Diary(2001). A 32-year-old British single woman, who writes a diary which focus on things she wishes would happen in her life. However, her life changes when two men vie for her affection.

The Emperor, Five of Wands, Eight of Swords

You have a goal and you are going to stick to it. You are often your family and friends rock, and are probably the linchpin holding this relationship together. You respect yourself and your lover is in a conflict with this, or is in conflict in general. They are a fighter, a vicious one at that. Maybe they are fighting for your attention, fighting for your affection, or fighting for a place in this world. Whatever it is, both of you are just trapped in a mental torment of feeling helpless in this situation. The truth is if you want to save this relationship, this dynamic and stop this conflict you can but it will probably take a lot of work, as there seems to be a big battle of wills.

Two Weeks Notice(2002): A lawyer decides that she's used too much like a nanny by her boss so she walks out on him.

The Fool, Queen of Cups rx, Eight of Pentacles rx

You are starting on a new journey in love, whether this is a first relationship, or a relationship after a long gap this is an exciting new beginning. Your lover however has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster maybe swinging from aloof to needy if your attention starts to wain and the relationship dynamic has seemed a bit chaotic as well with no clear commitment or focus. It might be a good idea to try and get a clear picture from your lover what they desire from this relationship before you get in too deep. This is a new beginning and you can have some say in its direction.

Music and Lyrics(2007): A relationship that evolves between a former pop music idol and an aspiring writer as they struggle to compose a song for a reigning pop diva Knight of Cups, Four of Cups rx, Queen of Swords

You are a romantic, Someone who has a way with words and can sweep people off their feet. Charming, charismatic, and everything someone desires in a lover. However your lover has started to pull away, draw into themselves and they may have become detached from you. This is the time to rely on using clear communication and respect boundaries. No clever tricks to try to pull them out of their shell sooner. Just let them know that you will be there for them when they are ready.

Nine Months(1995): When he finds out his longtime girlfriend is pregnant, a commitment phobe realizes he might have to change for the better or much, much worse. Three of Cups, Three of Wands rx, Nine of Pentacles

You are in a community focused and friendly mood. You want to build and create with others, establish friendships and be social. Spend quality time with family and friends. Your lover on the other hand has experienced road block after road block in their life path and might be tempted to take that frustration out on you. It might be time to remind them that you are both working together to reach the same goals and that while you are two very independent people you share in each others successes and rewards. Maybe trying to incorporate them into your group will help with the overcoming of their road blocks?

[margridarnauds]

if you could make a movie based on the history of early modern ireland (not a documentary but a movie with characters that takes place during that time period) what would it be about/like/what specific time period or events would it be set in?

My first disclaimer is that "Early Modern" in the context of Irish Studies generally means a bit of a longer time frame than people usually think -- most people think about 16th-18th century or therabouts, from about the time of the European discovery of America to the time of the Enlightenment and the American and French Revolutions. Irish Studies looks at that timeline and laughs, since we date these things linguistically and we have traces of what would be known as Early Modern Irish as early as about the 13th century. The good news is that none of the examples I thought about, when I was thinking about what I know and what I would like to see, come that early on, but that's just a small disclaimer about what you get if you ask me about Early Modern Ireland, since I know that's not really common information outside the field.

But, I have been thinking about this (I've NOT been sitting idle for the last two months) and I have about....four suggestions:

Aodh O'Neill. Fascinating man, I wish I could have done more work on him over the years, but one of the key figures in the Nine Years War -- his departure, along with the departure of other major Gaelic chieftains in The Flight of the Earls, struck the mortal blow for Gaelic Ireland. A wily and pragmatic leader, going between both sides as needed to secure his power until finally throwing it all into the rebellion, as well as being a notorious thot, he died in Spain, possibly by poisoning. There actually has been one film made about this time period from an Irish perspective (generally, 16th century Irish chieftains only show up as dirty, unclean rebels in biopics on Elizabeth I....not that I'm bitter), Disney's The Fighting Prince of Donegal, but it is (1) wildly historically inaccurate (SHOCKING I know) and (2) Centers on his contemporary and ally, Aodh Ruadh O'Donnell (the legendary Red Hugh), though Aodh O'Neill does feature as the comic relief (they DID get his thottiness accurate.) I would really like to see a dramatic take on his life, that really delves into the moral ambiguity of the time period while also humanizing the Irish chieftains as a whole. I wouldn't mind it being a dual biopic, where he shares the spotlight with Aodh Ruadh, because the two of them really were politically linked from about 1593, when Aodh Ruadh helped Aodh O'Neill become the O'Neill, to their flight to Spain and deaths in exile. You can't really talk about one without the other, and they absolutely defined an era of Irish politics and represented that kind of last hurrah for the Gaelic world. So it'd be very interesting if someone could do something with that, show how they developed over the years, what that kind of non-stop pressure and non-stop politics would really do to you, especially since neither one of them, as was relatively typical in 16th century Ireland, had a smooth ascent to the throne, and I think it's safe to say that, over the course of their time...they did become monsters. Not as monstrous as the monsters they were fighting, in my opinion, but they both did terrible things, and, nationalistic idealism aside, I think it's safe to say that a lot of it was self-motivated.

Which leads me to choice #2: Iníon Dubh. Often dismissed as not being as cool as Girlboss Gránuaile, the mother of Aodh Ruadh was no slouch herself -- Her son was abducted when he was 14 years old, imprisoned in Dublin Castle, and, the entire time from that point until his escape four years later, she played what was functionally a game of whack a mole with the other potential claimants to the throne while also trying to secure Aodh Ruadh's release (including one failed attempt involving survivors of the Spanish Armada -- the English murdered the survivors and kept Aodh.) Praised in the Annals of the Four Masters (which, as everyone knows, are incredibly sexist for not bringing in Girlboss Gránuaile, because she was such a Girlboss that they clearly deliberately erased her) for her intelligence and courage, she was born in Scotland and sent to Ireland for a political marriage with Aodh Ruadh's father, Aodh. (Yes. Really. 16th century Irish nobleman were creative in many ways, but not with their names.) Ultimately, she got her wish -- Aodh Ruadh did become King of Tirconnell, with his father stepping down to give him the title, but she ultimately outlived all four of her sons. I really feel like we need more feminine perspectives of Irish history and, especially this time period that don't just involve "BADASS WITH A SWORD" -- I think that it's a shame that she's often just relegated to Aodh Ruadh's Mother, when she had a really interesting life on her own and she was clearly a really formidable woman.

Another option would be Dubhaltach mac Fhirbisigh -- Not an option most people would think of, because he didn't lead what a lot of people would consider a really action-packed life, but he survived over 80 years of very turbulent Irish history, with his murder really, for me, striking the final death blow to the Gaelic learned class. His dedication to learning, with him going all over looking for manuscripts, his dedication to his work, which survived him and has been reworked in an epic five volume tome on genealogy, two of which are indexes...he was an interesting fellow, that's all I'm saying. And, by pretty much all accounts...he was a genuinely good, compassionate man. A fear uasal, you could say. And, even though he had to keep his political opinions close to his chest, since we're looking at the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland at this point, he put subtle *clues* into his book. I'd really like to see at least an animated short on his life, something that showed how much we owe to this man, especially since he's pretty much unknown outside of relatively niche areas of Celtic Studies (a niche within a niche, essentially.) Like, I love how The Secret of Kells showed how the work of Brendan and the monks survived in the present artifact, I love how much *love* you can feel for the Book in it, and I would love for something similar to show how he really...tied his life into this thing. And it worked! We have it! It's still around!

The fourth, that I came up with in the shower, since I was just in Limerick this last week, would be the first siege of King John's Castle. The 17th century was a very busy period for the castle, but the first siege is probably the better suited for a cinematic adaptation because it really had everything: You had a betrayal by the Lord Mayor of Limerick, you had a tense race against the clock on both sides (with both sides BURROWING UNDER THE FORT in order to weaken one another), you had intense periods of fighting, with people reduced to repelling rebels with *glass bottles*, you had a slowly rising death toll, you had moral ambiguity (the rebels leading the siege are men who are fighting against the English. They're trying to preserve Catholicism in Ireland, they're trying to get Ireland free of England. But then you weigh that against 700 people, many of them women and children, crammed into a castle, food running low, disease rampant, knowing that, if they go outside, they will be executed. And up to 300 of them did die. How do you square that, morally?) I think you could really make an excellent film that preys on that sense of anticipation, on the dreadful psychology that must have been there, with no one sure whether the relief ships would get through (they didn't), who would win, how many would die, with fighting being kept to small bits here and there to make it effective when you do get a battle scene. (Also you could really do a lot with the darkness of the tunnels, since that's where most of the fighting of the siege took place.)

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Hm. Not sure how to feel about that episode. It’s a good opener for series 37 and I felt it was strong all around (as strong as an episode with a lot of Charlie focus can be), I’m just not quite sure what it was trying to achieve.

I’ll get this out of the way. I don’t like Charlie. He’s boring, adds very little to the show anymore that can’t be provided by other male leads like Dylan or Jacob, and I think it’s probably time he leaves. So I have a bit of a bias against any episode that focuses on Charlie, and I’m also gonna struggle to pay attention to his monologues. So that may be part of where my issues lie with this episode, as good as it was in itself.

The other thing is... I feel like they under-served the “NHS crisis” theme a bit? I get there’s only so much they can do (as much as I disliked the COVID episode, apparently they had to fight to make it as political as it was, and I’ll give them kudos for that). But it still felt weirdly handled. Like, Dylan’s whole “I can’t fix the NHS but I can fix this department” line, when the point was that Dylan was doing everything he could against the hospital’s serious lack of funding or resources? IDK, I just feel like they were trying to make a point but they never really arrived at said point. I don’t know if that makes sense. I can’t words tonight.

People are welcome to debate me on this. I’m interested in hearing other opinions. Plus, anyway, if nothing else, this episode was enough to get people on Twitter moaning “I miss Holby! It didn’t have all these politics in it like Casualty does!!”. Which is very, very telling if you ask me, telling of the kind of show Holby became in its final years (indeed, Hugh Quarshie left because he was disappointed at how the show had stopped being about the NHS). But this isn’t a Holby post, so I won’t go too in depth on that.

What they did do well was capture how busy the ED felt. Seriously, I don’t know who - the director, camera people, whoever - would be responsible for capturing that sort of vibe, but they definitely pulled it off.

And we had several patient storylines tonight, so I liked that. Also, the bloke who had to have his leg amputated because it was crushed by the ladder reminded me of when Henrik had his legs crushed by an air conditioner and got out of it with... a small cut and a couple of days in hospital. LMAO.

Faith is back on the “oh I’m so lovely and sweet” act. Is anyone buying it, because I know I’m not. Her literally pretending to care about David like she wasn’t just shouting at him and blaming him for Ollie’s actions recently??

I think I found David’s parts of the episode to be the best. I still hate the Ollie story. Nothing will make me stop hating the Ollie story. It’s a copy of the Fredrik one from Holby (and no one start using that for their “Holby is perfect and everything Casualty does is terrible” arguments, because Holby ripped off the Fredrik story from themselves first, especially with the Cameron one!). But it has been written for and acted really well. Jason Durr really does deserve a BAFTA.

Obviously, the Dylan and David scenes were great. They reminded me strongly of the Roxanna and Henrik scenes in Holby S20E20, when she said she’d report him as unfit for work if he didn’t get help. I also loved David talking to the patient to try and find answers about Ollie.

And those final scenes with David burning up Ollie’s things - those scenes were brilliant. That shot of the teddy bear burning. Wow.

Next week, well, you know how I said the Ollie storyline was a Fredrik ripoff? ...Yeah, they aren’t even trying to hide that, because next week’s episode is called “We Need To Talk About Ollie”. Compare to Holby S19E63, “We Need To Talk About Fredrik”. Sigh. At least Jason Durr will be good.

[sourwolf-sterek32]

Tragic Love

Summary: You were Alfie Solomons little sister and Tommy Shelby's ex girlfriend.

It had been three years since you last saw your ex. Until your brother sent you on a mission to kill Father Hughes and you came face to face with Thomas Shelby, causing old feelings to resurface again.

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings: Language, past child abuse, mentions of miscarriage 

Previous Chapter

Chapter 10-

*2 years later*

"This needs to be sweeter. If we're going to try and sell to the Americans, it needs to be sweet. The yanks love that kind of stuff." You instructed, putting the glass of rum down.

"Sweeter. Copy that, thanks boss." 

The head maker wrote it down on his notepad before he grabbed the bottle from the latest batch of white rum and walk back to his office.

"There you are. Been looking for ya for ages." Your brothers voice suddenly boomed across the warehouse.

You turned around to find him walking towards you, the sound of his cane hitting the concrete floor echoing through the building, announcing his presence to all the workers.

"You clearly weren't looking hard enough. I've been here for hours, what's up?"

"You'd never believe who just called me up asking for a favour." He said, a shit-eating grin appearing on his face.

"Winston Churchill?" You guessed, but he shook his head.

"Tommy Shelby."

That name made you freeze as you stared at your brother in shock.

It had been a long time since you last heard that name. After what went down with Father Hughes and Charlie, Tommy made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with you, so you complied.

You hadn't seen him for nearly two years. You hadn't heard from him or from any of the Shelby boys for that matter. Sure, you heard all the rumours going around about the Peaky Blinders and how they have gotten themselves into a big mess with the Italians.

It wasn't just any Italians, it was the Changretta family and you knew that was bad.

It was only a few months ago that a rumour of John Shelby's death got spread around London. After first you didn't believe it, you didn't want to believe it. Things might have ended badly with Tommy, but John had always been a good friend and had a heart of gold. He didn't deserve what happened to him and neither did his family.

"What did he want?" You finally asked, stopping your train of thought.

"A fighter."

You frowned in confusion, looking over at your brother who then further explained.

"Tommy has this mate who's son is trying to get into fighting. Wants to set up a match between him and Goliath. Winner takes all the money."

"Why would anyone want to fight Goliath? They'll lose." You responded, thinking back to the last fighting match you saw between him and another fighter who barely even lasted a minute in the ring.

"Damn right they'll lose. Then we get the money, right?" Your brother responded with a grin. "I'm meeting with him and his fighter tomorrow. You should come with us."

You shook your head, "no. Tommy wouldn't want me there."

"Fuck, Tommy. I want you there."

"After everything... I don't think I can see him. I can't." You responded and your brother sighed, but nodded in understanding.

-

Alfie and Goliath didn't return for a few days, spending the night in Birmingham. But, when they came home they happily said that the fight was on and that his opponent was some skinny kid who didn't stand a chance.

"Tommy's falcon's fighter doesn't stand a fucking chance." Your brother said later that night while you sat on the couch in his office while he sat at his desk, going over the books.

"Tommy's falcon?" You asked in confusion.

"Some guy named Aberama Gold that Tommy has working for him now to help fight against the wops."

"Why are they even hosting a fighting match while they're at war with the Italians?" You questioned, looking over at your brother who just shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Nothing ever makes sense with that lot." Your brother grunted, flipping through whatever paperwork he was looking at before he looked over at you across the room. "He asked about you though, Tommy did. Wanted to know how you've been."

In an instant you quickly sat up in panic. "You didn't tell him about the miscarriage?"

"No. That ain't none of my business to tell." Your brother reassured, looking over at you sadly. "You should've told him about it though. I told you to tell him way back when, but you never listen to me, do ya?"

"It doesn't matter. He wants nothing to do with me anyway, it wouldn't have made a difference." You responded, leaning back against the couch, trying very hard not to think about those days.

"You sure about that? Because Tommy wants you to come to the fighting match. He asked for you specifically, was really fucking persistent about it too."

You stared at your brother behind his desk, trying to figure out if he was joking or not before he threw an envelope at you. It landed on the floor a few metres away causing you to glare at Alfie who just rolled his eyes and motioned to it on the floor.

"Just fucking read it." He muttered, turning his attention back to the paperwork.

You sighed, getting up off the couch and picking up the envelope before you sat back down and opened it.

The second you took the folded up piece of paper out, you instantly recognized Tommy's handwriting. He wrote you a letter?

'Dear Y/N,

I don't know why I didn't write to you sooner. Maybe I was afraid that after what went down between us, you wouldn't want anything to do with me. That you would just burn the letter without even reading it. Hell, maybe that's exactly what you're doing now and me writing this is pointless.

But, on the off chance that you're actually reading this, I want to apologise.

I should have never accused you of the things that happened with Charlie and Father Hughes. Looking back on it now, I can't figure out why I would even accuse of you it in the first place. At the time, I think I knew deep down that you weren't at fault, but I was too angry, too upset to think clearly. I know that doesn't make up for it, but I wanted you to know that I'm sorry.

I should have never said the things I said to you. I should have never tried to put myself between you and your brother either. I was angry at you for being loyal to Alfie which was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. I guess losing a brother is what it took for me to truly understand it. I suppose you've probably heard about what happened, it was my fault. John should have never been in the firing line like that, but he was because of me.

Your loyalty to your brother is strong, I envy the relationship you have with him, only because I wish I could've had the same thing with John before he passed. I hope I can rebuild things between Arthur and Finn... it's a long story, but things between me and my family have been rough these past few years.

Anyway, the point of this letter isn't to tell you about my issues, God knows that you've dealt with enough of my crap over the years. I just wanted to have a chance to tell you how sorry I am. To tell you that letting you walk away that day is my biggest regret.

I miss you, Y/N.

I guess that's what I'm really trying to say. I miss you and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me one day, but if you can't, I'd understand.

The fighting match is being held in Birmingham in a weeks time. I hope you can come. I will tell your brother to extend the invitation, although I think he still hates me for hurting you, so I'm unsure if he will pass that message on. If he hasn't, then I want you to come. I want to see you, Y/N. At the very least, I just want a chance to see you again.

Love,

Thomas Shelby.'

You sat there staring at the piece of paper unable to properly process what you just read.

He was sorry... he misses you... he wanted to see you.

Fuck.

After all this time, why now? Its been nearly two years, you had been trying to forget about him, trying to move on with your life and now he sends you this and you had absolutely no idea what to do.

Just thinking about seeing him again had bought tears to your eyes as you wiped them away, hating yourself for being so weak.

"That bad, huh?" Alfie suddenly said, snapping you out of your thoughts to find him watching you carefully. "I warned him that if he hurts you again, I'll fucking kill him myself. Do I need to drive to Birmingham right now? Because I can, I'll drive up there right now, alright?"

"No, no. It's nothing like that." You quickly said, trying to calm your brother down as he gave you a disbelieving look. "He wants to see me. Said he was sorry for... well, for everything."

"But, do you want to see him?"

You honestly couldn't answer that question and your brother seemed to realise that as he sighed.

"Don't do anything that you don't wanna do. You got a week to decide, yeah? Ain't no rush."

-

A couple days later, you were walking downstairs into the distillery to taste test the latest batch of rum, but you froze in the doorway of the stairwell when you heard a voice that didn't belong.

It was definitely none of your brothers workers. It was an Italian accent and your brother would never hire an Italian.

What were Italians doing here?

"I hear there's gonna be a little fight. A boxing match between your boy and Tommy Shelby's boy. Right, Birmingham?" The voice continued to say.

Suddenly, it clicked.

This wasn't just any Italian. This was a Changretta.

Oh, shit.

Quickly, you reached for your handgun in your jacket, pulling it out and holding it by your side as you walked out the stairwell to find your brother standing alone in front of two Italians, but you were willing to bet that the man doing all the talking was Luca. 

"And the whole Shelby family is gonna be there. And you, Mr Solomons, you too will be there."

"That's it." Your brother groaned, turning away from the Italians and grabbing two bottles of rum. "I'll tell you what, alright? Here's a gift. It's free. A souvenir of your visit here. Goodbye. Trot on. Down there is Bonnie Street."

You hung back, watching cautiously as Luca's associate took the rum and they looked towards the exit that your brother pointed at, but didn't make any indication that they were going to listen to him.

"You heard him. Leave." You ordered, your voice stern as you walked towards them.

Luca quickly looked over at you, glancing down at the gun in your hand by your side before meeting your eyes with a sickening grin.

"Ah, you must be the famous Y/N, right? Mr Solomons sister? Heard a lot about you." Luca responded, still staring at you.

"That's great. Now fucking leave before I make you." You said bluntly, stepping forward until you were beside Alfie who had gone surprisingly quiet since your arrival. "Like my brother said, Bonnie Street is right down there."

Luca just shook his head, looking between the two of you before focusing on Alife.

"You know they say you're a smart guy. I mean, you already know what we want before we say it." Luca began to say as Alfie glanced over at you for a moment and you caught his eye before looking back at the Italians. "That's funny 'cause I now believe I know what you want even before you say it."

"You gonna taste it?" Your brother questioned, ignoring what Luca had just said as he nodded at the bottle of rum in the mans hand.

You watched as Luca stared at your brother for a minute, contemplating what to do before he eventually took a sip from the bottle and started speaking in Italian to his partner.

Little did he know, you and Alfie could understand Italian. Your brother knew a lot of different languages and had tried to teach you over the years, but you weren't as a good as him. 

"I think this clown wants us to run his rum into New York." Luca said in Italian to his partner.

"You're damn fucking straight, mate. Otherwise you wouldn't still be thieving oxygen, would ya?" Alfie responded causing Luca's head to snap in his direction.

His eyes widened a little in surprise, shocked that Alfie had understood what he had just said, but within a second, he masked his expression as he grinned before your brother continued talking.

"Because I have 200 barrels a month, yeah? Cleared by your people, distributed through your teams to this-"

"The thing is that people want gin these days." Luca said, cutting him off.

"Well, the exit is still out there, alright? On Bonnie Street." Your brother simply said, using his cane to point to the exit behind them.

Luca just shook his head, turning around to face his partner as they seemed to have a silent conversation while Alfie took a step back and sat down on one of the barrels behind him, resting his cane over his lap.

"We're not doing this." You whispered quietly enough for just your brother to hear.

He glanced up at you from where you were still standing beside him, your gun firmly gripped in your hand by your side. He nodded, silently telling you to trust him before Luca turned back towards the two of you.

"You're fucking crazy, you know that? 200 barrels, huh?"

"And also, I want some cash." Alfie added, looking over at them. "Don't worry, 'cause I've broken it down here. I've got a list of costs pertaining to the assassination of a dear friend."

You quickly looked back down at your brother, unsure what game he was trying to play. Was he seriously thinking about making a deal with Luca to take out Tommy? He knew how stupid that was, right?

"Now, your normal dispatch, well it's 500 pounds cost, but you're gonna have to add another 100 to that, because Tommy Shelby, like me, is from an oppressed people. Then I need you to put another ton on top of that, because his brother is a fucking animal and he will come after me." Alfie began to explain, looking down piece of paper in his hand that his list of costs before he continued talking.

"And then you will need to put another 100 on top of that, because, well, you are a fucking wop, mate. Hmm? And you." He said, looking at Luca's partner. "And then we have to deal with the ugly business which I've been incredibly clear of before. I'll need another 500 pound, because, like I stated, Tommy Shelby is a very, very good friend of mine."

You watched as your brother folded the paper in his hands before holding it towards Luca's partner. "Total is down there in black and white, alright? Crack on."

"Mr Solomons, I'm gonna be very fucking clear with you." Luca said, taking a step towards him before you took a step forward causing him to grin as he looked at you. "Easy, tiger. Now, I have people that I trust, okay? So you're gonna take my boys and you're gonna bring them to the ring as seconds."

No way would your brother agree to this.

This was crazy. Alfie and Tommy had a strange relationship, but he'd never agree to help get him killed.

"Well, in order to qualify as my seconds, right, they will first have to qualify as being Jewish, yeah? And in order to do that, they would have to replace their natural Italian fucking arrogance with a Jewish air of absolute certainty. See, my good friend Tommy Shelby, he will know the difference."

"These days, back in the old country, mmm, a lot of the, uh, you know, the Jewish people, they are having to pass themselves off as Italian." Luca chuckled causing his partner to start laughing too.

You took another step forward, your eyes narrowing in their direction before Alfie grabbed your arm, stopping you from doing something stupid as he pulled you back gently.

"Right, well, you will have to add another tonne onto your bill for being a cunt, mate." Your brother ordered.

Luca didn't say anything for a moment as he stared at your brother with an under readable expression before he pulled the match stick from his mouth and started talking.

"You will bring my men to Birmingham-"

"And you will circumcise them." Alfie said, cutting him off. "Yeah, you will have to circumcise them, because the Peakys will check, yeah?"

"Okay. Any other requests, huh? Two hundred fucking barrels. We have a deal."

Your brother just shook his head.

"What's the matter? Hmm. Well I said we have a deal." Luca repeated, looking at Alfie in confusion.

"And you just made a deal without a negotiation, didn't ya?"

Luca nodded, "yeah."

"Yeah, Tommy Shelby was right about you, wasn't he?" Alfie responded, looking over at them before shaking his head and speaking another language. "You plan to kill us all."

Luca didn't say anything, but by the look on his face he had understood your brother perfectly clear, but wasn't even going to try and deny it.

"I will be in touch with you soon Mr Solomons." Luca eventually said, nodding at your brother before he turned around and the two of them walked off, not waiting for brother to say anything else.

You watched as left the building and the second that they are out of earshot you turn to your brother and just by the look on your face he immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"It's business, ain't nothing personal. I thought you didn't fucking like him anymore anyway?" Alfie said, knowing exactly what you were going to say.

"That's not the fucking point, Alfie. You're betraying, Tommy, again. He's never betrayed you, ever! And you've now done it three fucking times. You know Luca is just going to betray you the second you sneak his mean into that fight, right? His men will kill the Shelby's and then they'll be coming for us, you do know that right? You aren't that fucking stupid."

"You're right. I ain't that fucking stupid." Alfie responded, catching you off guard for a moment. "I know the Changrettas will come after us, they'll want to take everything we have once they finish with the Peaky Blinders."

"Then why do it? Why agree to help them? What? Just so they can help send a few exports of rum to America before they fuck us?" You shouted and your brother nodded in agreement causing you to pause. "What?"

"That is exactly my plan."

Okay, now you were so fucking confused. That plan didn't even make sense.

"Jesus, what were you even thinking?!" You shouted, throwing your hands up in frustration.

"You wanna fucking know what I was thinking?!" He shouted back, standing up straight as he stared at you.

"Yes!"

"I was thinking I wanted to get more fucking money before I died!" 

"What?" You asked dumbly, unsure if you heard him correctly.

"I want to get more money before I die, so I can give it to you." He said, his voice no longer shouting as the fight drained out of him. "I figured this would be a bloody brilliant way to get money fast, right, because I wanted to make sure that you'll be okay after I die."

"Whoa, hang on. Why are you talking to me as if you're on your fucking death bed? You're only a few years older than me, you're not dying anytime soon, bro." You responded, looking at him in confusion, but he just shook his head.

"Actually, I am."

You paused for a moment, trying to figure out what the meant before you realised.

"Whoever you pissed off, I'll handle it. Just give me a sniper and a name, they'll be dead before they can try and kill you." You reassured, thinking that your brother must have messed with the wrong person which had happened a few times before.

"No, it's-"

"You know I can do it. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time I've killed someone who wanted to kill you. Plus, I'm a better shot than you." You said, cutting him off.

Your brother sighed, shaking his head, "you're a better shot than anyone I fucking know. But, that ain't the issue here, sis."

"Then what is?" You asked cautiously, not liking the change to his tone.

"Cancer." He answered, smiling sadly at you. "I have cancer, Y/N."

You opened your mouth to respond, but no words came out as your whole world started to come crashing down around you with just one single word.

No. That can't be right. He couldn't have cancer. This was Alfie Solomons, that can't be right. It can't.

"Sit down will ya. You look like you're about to fucking pass out." Your brother suddenly said, grabbing your arm and walking you over to the nearest chair. "Look at me. Y/N, look at me."

You lifted your head, but Alfies face was blurred from your unshed tears as you shook your head in denial.

"Hey." He said, leaning in front of you and grabbing your shoulders. "Ain't none of that. I ain't worth ya tears, kid. Not me."

You had so many questions, but you couldn't get yourself to speak as you stared at your brother.

How bad was it? How long had he known? What kind of cancer was it? Is there any treatments for it? You had a million questions, but you couldn't ask, afraid to death of the answers you might receive.

"Doctors said I might have picked it up in France. From the gas or something." He started to explain, his hands still on your shoulders. "The only reason I agreed with Luca's deal, right, was to get more money for you. I need to know that you'll be fine when I'm gone."

"I-I don't need money. I need you." You mumbled, the tears in your eyes now falling down your cheeks. "How bad is it?"

"Doc said 'I'm riddled with it'. It's not good, kid. I'm sorry." He answered honestly as you closed your eyes trying to force your tears to stop. "You gonna tell Tommy about my betrayal?"

"No." You said without hesitation, wiping the tears from your eyes. "No, but I'm coming with you to the boxing match."

"You gonna try and stop Luca's men from killing him?" He asked, but it sounded like he already knew the answer.

"You gonna try and stop me?"

Your brother just grinned, shaking his head. "We both know, I can't. Be careful though. Those Italians, they're the worst of the worst."

"So am I."

-

MASTERLIST    |    TIP JAR

Next Chapter

[oreosmilkshakes]

Hey girlie , this is mine request

The reader is the girlfriend of Sergio perez and Sergio is Just become world champion and ask the reader on the podium and Sergio ask the reader to marry him , and some months later is the wedding and its a lovely ceremony and reception

Title: Love and War Summary: Look into the life of Sergio and his lover as they battled the intense 2021 season. Pairing: Sergio Perez x Reader Word Count: 3.9k Warnings: None A/N: Again, this doesn’t follow the usual canon seasons. Although, please excuse the cheesy ending. And yes, I switched Max with Checo as well as Lewis with Esteban. Lots of ‘I love yous’ too. Hope you enjoy! Taglist: @adlerslut

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The familiar whine of the engine, the ground vibrating as cars drove across the scene at high speeds, the crowd cheering for their favourite drivers and teams. The entire year had been one of the most frustrating and most anticipating years of all time. There had been many ups and downs, some were traumatising and some worth celebrating. You dug your nails in your trousers, on the edge of your seat beside Christian Horner and Honda’s boss for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. Your eyes were trained to the various monitors before you as Hugh Bird, Sergio’s race engineer, gave him instructions over the radio. You could almost hear your heart pounding despite wearing the headphones over your head. It was lap 41 out of 57 and somehow, your mind drifted off to the past.

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Azerbaijan Grand Prix, June 6

There was something about street circuits that gave you anxiety. Perhaps it was because of the tight cornerings or the chances of mistakes were high especially with limited space on track. The big talk of the season was Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, your boyfriend of five years and Alpine driver, Esteban Ocon. Their rivalry since Racing Point was brought over to 2021 and both were up fighting for the championship. So far, the consistency Sergio had was incredible. The car was powerful and fast and it drove like an angel. Since round one in Bahrain, Sergio has been on the podium along with Esteban. News about them was like wildfire, sparking more and more excitement among the media crew and fans. It was not a lie when the media stated in the news, in big fonts, that their fight for the 2021 season brought back the rivalry everyone thought had ended in 2018.

Lap 48 out of 51. The race was going really well, Sergio maintained the lead position with Esteban chasing him.

“I think we’re going to have a proble-,”

“Oh! That’s a crash for leader Sergio Perez on the main straight!”

A loud pop and the car shook violently. Sergio did his best to try and straighten the car but it was beyond saving. Thankfully, he reacted quickly with braking before crashing into the barrier. The car slid a good metres before wedging against the protective barrier.

“Fuck! Puto neumático!” Sergio cursed over the radio, frustration clear in his voice. The garage groaned in defeat, the camera focused on Sergio as he stepped out of the car. Sergio took a good look at his car and groaned. The left tyre had sustained a puncture. Leaving the track, he slammed an angry fist on the concrete as race marshals raced to remove the car and bring both the driver and the car back to the paddock.

As soon as Sergio was back, you ran to him. “Sergio, baby,” Your arms wrapped around his neck. His hands found your waist and helmet-covered face dug into your neck. “It’s alright..It’s alright..,” You cooed softly, slowly pulling away. Your hand found the strap of his helmet and removed the protective gear off his head. Setting it on a nearby chair, your hands moved to remove the balaclava before cupping both cheeks.

“I had it, mi amor. I had it and I blew it,” Sergio clenched his jaw.

“Oh, baby, don’t say that. Come,” You took his hand and brought him to a private corner of the garage. You planted a soft kiss on his lips.

“It’s just not your race today. Don’t be too hard on yourself, alright?” “But Esteban will have the lead,” You kept silent for a bit before leaning in. “Well..there will be a restart, yeah? Anything can happen,” See, Esteban Ocon was your brother. Despite the whole drama with Sergio, this championship rivalry calls for some passive hostility between both drivers. It worries you a lot that both your lover and brother are fighting for the title of champion.

“Calm down, okay? I love you,” Sergio smiled. “Come, let’s get you out of this suit and watch the remainder of the race,”

Sergio joined you and the crew as the restart was kicked off. As soon as the lights were off for the second time. Esteban was in the lead, so very close to Max until..

“Oh! That’s a big lockup for Esteban Ocon!”

You gasped, turning to Sergio who had a big smile as Max was in the lead with Sebastian Vettel behind him.

When the race ended, the Red Bull crew cheered in happiness as Max managed to earn pole for the team. Sergio couldn’t be happier for Max. Celebration among the team was ensured.

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Great Britain Grand Prix, 18 July

The rivalry between Sergio and Esteban was tightening, with Sergio capping three consecutive wins from Esteban, pushing his points further away from the Frenchman. Sprint had been good for Sergio and qualifying had been better. Sergio could see that the Silverstone race was going to be a good one. Or so he thought.

Somehow, your gut was telling you that something big was going to happen. It was a dreadful feeling and what was worse was that your gut feelings were rarely wrong. You rubbed your chin in agitation, feeling your heart uneasy.

Five lights and away the drivers go!. You could hear the crowd growing wild as the cars pulled off from the starting grid. The first four turns were smooth with Esteban and Sergio almost going wheel-to-wheel with one another. The other four had been a close fight as well. Down to Copse Corner, turn nine, where things took a dramatic turn. Esteban had the inner advantage, closing the small gap between himself and Sergio. However, it took a bad turn within seconds. Esteban was going for the overtake and Sergio turned in closely to defend his position when the gap became non-existent. The front left wheel of the Alpine struck the lower right of the Red Bull, sending the Red Bull into a short spiral onto the gravel and crashing hard into the barrier. The wheel was off as Sergio crashed into the barrier. The intense impact knocked the Mexican unconscious.

Everyone in the Red Bull paddock exclaimed in shock and you swore you felt your heartbeat stopped as the car rested against the barrier.

“Sergio? Sergio? Are you okay?”

Silence.

Your worst nightmare was slowly coming to be. Something you hoped you never had to experience.

“Sergio? Are you alright?” You swallowed.

“I’m good,” He coughed over the radio. His entire body was stiff and hurting but nonetheless, he was alright.

You kept a hand cupped over your mouth as Christian came over to give you a hug.

“He’s alright, Y/N. He’s alright,” You hadn’t realised tears were falling until Christian tightened the hug. You thanked God for the miracle.

The on-site medics brought Sergio to the hospital for precautionary measures. An impact of 51g could have caused worse injuries to the Mexican. The injuries he sustained were horrible purple bruises to his ribs and side. The ward room door swung open, revealing Christian and yourself. The doctor had brought Christian out to speak with him about Sergio’s injuries, leaving you and Sergio alone. Tears stung your eyes once more.

“Mi amor..,” “No! No! You do not get to do this to me again! Remember Canada 2014? Or Hungary 2015? Don’t do this to me again!” Your arms wrapped around his neck, sobbing softly into the crook of his warm neck. Sergio buried his face in your shoulder in return. “I’m so sorry, mi amor..I really am. I didn’t mean to scare you at all,” You pulled away, planting a kiss on both his cheeks.

“You promised that you’re going to marry me one day, right? What happens if–if,” “Shh, mi reina. That promise stands. Remember our dinner before the season began? Mama wouldn’t stop asking when our marriage will be,” You let out a soft laugh, Sergio’s hand moved to cup your cheek. His thumb wiped a tear away, leaning in to steal a kiss from your red lips.

“I’m feeling very good, my love. I can return to the next race,”

A smile spread on your lips.

“I love you,” “I love you too,”

You hope this year will be good for your lover, your brother, Max, as well as for both teams and pray hard that there will be no more accidents that involve both of your lover and brother.

Besides, an accident like Silverstone was not going to stop your Mexican lover. Two weeks of recovery and the Hungary Grand Prix was up. Hungary ended on a horrible note with Max ending up with a DNF and Sergio finished P9 and Esteban catching up in points to Sergio. That alone was enough to set Sergio straight and extremely focused on the upcoming races. That hard-driven motivation gave Sergio more two wins, Spa as well as Zandvoort. Until, Monza.

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Italian Grand Prix, 12 September

Sergio’s entire focus was on winning in Monza. He didn’t care about anything else, just winning and fighting hard against the Alpine driver. Starting on lap 26, Esteban had just left the pit stop after putting on fresh new tyres. Sergio was coming in hot with Lando Norris in front of him. It was a tight squeeze in turn one and Esteban was really pushing Sergio off track. Of course, the Mexican did not want to lose out. He was not going to go down easily. That was a mistake. Sergio drove over the curb, resulting in Esteban unable to slow down. The lower left tyre struck Sergio’s lower right, the Red Bull drove atop the Alpine and into the gravel.

Christian exclaimed in anger, a fist brought down upon the table as you. What worried you more was Esteban being under Sergio’s car. Esteban Ocon was your brother and you were absolutely relieved that the halo was in place to protect him.

Sergio’s angry voice came on the radio.

“That’s what you get for not leaving a space, asshole!” He growled, slamming a hand on the steering wheel. He could not do anything but wait for the race marshals and the safety car to be initiated.

When both drivers were back in the paddock, Sergio watched as you ran past him. The Mexican watched as you made your way to the Alpine garage, searching for Esteban. You spotted Daniil.

“Daniil!” You called out. The Russian man jumped a little in shock, pushing his headphones off.

“Y/N-,” “Where is Esteban? Is he alright? Is he back?” “Woah, woah. Slow down. Esteban is resting in the lounge,”

You rushed towards the lounge, ignoring the eyes on you as you burst through the door.

“Este..,” You approached the Frenchman, his trainer was slowly massaging his sore neck. He gave the woman a small, crooked smile as his trainer left both siblings alone.

“Are you okay? God, I saw the incident,” You sighed, sitting beside your brother.

Esteban nodded slightly. “Yeah..I’m alright. The team isn’t happy with what happened, of course. I’m pissed, obviously, at Sergio,” Esteban sighed heavily. You rubbed your forehead.

“Listen, I get that I’m the girlfriend to your rival but I still care about you two. You’re my brother, Este. God forbid if anything happened to you during this season,” “Yeah, well, I think Sergio would be happy if something did happen,”

You slapped his arm. “Don’t say that, idiote. You are so annoying sometimes,” You wrapped your arms around your older brother, a soft hiss left his lips. “Sorry,” The warm hug lasted a few more seconds before you pulled away.

“Be careful for the next few races, alright? This rivalry is only on track and in races, understand? Outside of it, you are my brother and Sergio is my boyfriend. Someday, he will be your brother-in-law,” Esteban groaned.

“Don’t remind me of your sappy love with him,” You slapped the back of Esteban’s head. “Tais-toi, connard!” You hissed.

“Alright, alright. I’ll see you later, alright, sis? You stay safe,” You nodded with a big smile, making your way back to the Red Bull paddock.

Spotting Sergio among the pit crew, you approached him. “Mon cheri, are you alright?” Sergio wrapped an arm around your waist. “I’m alright. Where did you go?” “Checked in on Este,” Sergio hummed, nodding. “Who do you think is going to win this year?” You scratched your chin.

“You know I cannot answer that question, pas vrai? This entire season itself is giving me a big headache,” Rubbing your temples, Sergio placed a kiss on the other.

Yes, you were curious to see how this season would end but at the same time, you were dreading to see the outcome of the remaining races.

The points between both drivers were like an imbalance scale. Sometimes, Sergio was in the lead and others, Esteban was in the lead.

The next prominent race would be Mexico. It would be Sergio’s home race and it would also be the day that Sergio had a chat with Esteban. He confided in Max about this plan of his and Max was ecstatic with Sergio’s plan.

(“Look, mate. You can do this. Esteban is Y/N’s sister and you’ve seen how soft he is for her. There’s no way he wouldn’t agree to your plan,” Max said. Sergio had his thinking face on. “You’re right. Thank you, Max,” The Dutch nodded. “Now focus on winning this,”) And win he did.

While Max was distracting Y/N, Sergio ventured into the Alpine garage. “I need to speak to Esteban,” He told one of the crew members. Laurent Rossi approached Sergio. “A pleasure, Sergio,” He brought a hand out.

“Pleasure is all mine, Laurent. I need to speak with Esteban,” He shook Laurent’s hand. The team principal nodded. Before he could call Esteban over, the French made his way over to Sergio.

“What are you doing here?” “I need to speak with you. Privately,” Esteban squinted his eyes, observing the Mexican’s body language. Something about it was a little off but he agreed to it. Both men stepped into a private room within Alpine’s garage.

Sergio rubbed his hands. “I know this season hasn’t been a, uh, a kind one for us. But I want us to put aside this rivalry for something I’m planning,” Esteban raised an eyebrow.

“I have spoken to your father and he has, uh, given me my blessing. I want to marry Y/N Ocon,” Esteban swore he felt his jaw drop. He stood frozen, repeating Sergio’s words over and over again in his head.

“I’m very serious about Y/N and we have been together for almost 5 years. Esteban still kept silent, jaw clenched. “Esteban?” The younger man looked down at the Mexican. He nodded. “This is very unexpected but who am I to stop my father’s blessing? I want Y/N to be happy and I know you will give her that,” Sergio broke into a wide smile. Esteban grinned, pulling Sergio into a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you,” “Y/N’s right. This rivalry stays on track only. I am looking forward to calling you my brother-in-law,” “Me too,” Esteban inhaled deeply. “Well, any plans on how you’re going to propose to my sister?” Sergio nodded, a hand on his rough jaw. “I was thinking of proposing to her in Abu Dhabi after the race in front of everybody, the fans and press included. It’s an optimistic plan. So far, Max and Christian knows of this plan, you included now,”

Esteban nodded. He held a hand out. “I like the plan. May the best man win, Sergio,” Sergio took Esteban’s hand and shook it. “May the best man win,”

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Present

You snapped back into reality as Christian had a gentle hand on your shoulder. Your gaze turned to the screens, focused on it. “Oh, big crash for Nicholas Latifi,”  Hugh informed. “Sergio, safety car initiated. I repeat, safety car initiated. Red flag, please stand by,”

At this point of time, your heart was racing like crazy.

Word above came down to both Alpine and Red Bull teams that they would be given a free pit while the safety car led the grid.

“Okay, Sergio. Box this lap. Box for softs,” “Copy,”

You turned as Sergio pulled up into the pit. He had his eyes on you momentarily before driving out of the pit to join the grid along with Esteban. Both were ahead. This was it.

Lap 57, the last lap. Your hand gripped the table, a sheet of sweat coated your skin in nervous anticipation.

As soon as the safety car was off, Sergio was taunting Esteban and the French did the same. Red flag was lifted and this was it. Both drivers slammed down on the accelerator, chasing towards the finish line. Sergio had the lead on the straight but Esteban caught up easily, driving beside the Mexican. Sergio had managed to pull away before there could be any potential contact. Esteban kept a close distance with Sergio but the Red Bull proved advantageous in the last few turns. Sergio pushed real hard on the accelerator, racing towards the approaching finishing line.

“Alpine is not happy but Red Bull will be delighted! They have shared a brilliant championship battle but the championship can only be won by one and it’s going Mexican in 2021! Sergio Perez, for the first time ever, is champion of the world!”

You screamed in delight, tears spilling as you hugged Christian in happiness. The Red Bull paddock crew went wild, loud cheering and many hugs involved among the people in the team. Christian pulled away.

“He did it! Y/N, he did it!” You sobbed, nodding as you hugged the engineering crew for Sergio.

“Oh my lord, Checo! Oh my!” Hugh exclaimed into the radio.

“Yes!! Yes!! Oh my god!” Sergio yelled, his voice cracked as his eyes teared up from the overwhelming happiness. He stopped the car in Parc Ferme, getting out of his car. He felt tears running down his face, kneeling before the RB16B who had carried him extremely well. He bowed down to the car, unable to comprehend that he had won the title. Sergio stood, looking at the crowd of fans screaming at the win. He could see the mass of his own people waving the Mexican flag proudly for their winning driver.

Sergio had his helmet off, placed it on his car where it was parked below the podium stand. Esteban approached him, a smile on his face. “I never doubted you, you crazy Mexican,” Sergio pulled Esteban into a tight hug.

“Congratulations, Sergio. I’m happy for you, I really am. Man, it hurts to lose but this means a lot more to you. And to my sister,” Sergio nodded. “Thank you for everything, Esteban. I mean it,” Esteban laughed, patting Sergio’s shoulder. “I honestly should be thanking  you. Come on. Celebration time,”

Both men made their way to the podium, congratulating Carlos, who had finished an extremely impressive third finish. As the Mexican national anthem played and the trophies were handed out to each driver, Sergio spotted his family as well as Esteban’s family in the crowd. He could also see Y/N, who was dapping her eyes with a piece of handkerchief. Sergio turned to Christian, who was on stage with him and nodded. The Mexican jumped off the podium, leaving his champagne and trophy behind as he collected a mic from the presenter’s hand. Confusion filled everyone’s faces as the Mexican disappeared from the podium and reappeared approaching his car. “Hello, everyone. This has, uh, been an incredible season. I want to thank everyone for being here and to my team, who has been amazing throughout the year. I want to, uh, also thank the fans for their endless support for me and specifically, my girlfriend, Y/N Ocon, for staying with me and becoming my pillar of support for this season and the past,” Max tapped your shoulder. “Come,” He took your hand, leading towards the barrier where it was pushed aside to give space for you to walk. You furrowed your brows at the Dutch’s action, confused with what was going on. You swallowed, the clicking of cameras made you a little anxious as you approached Sergio. “I don’t want to wait anymore,” Sergio walked over to you, standing in front of you.

Your eyes trained on him. Was this..

Sergio kneeled down on one knee. Oh, it was. You gasped, hands covering your mouth as Sergio held a beautiful golden band with a fire opal stone in the middle.

“Y/N Ocon, you have stayed with me and loved me more than a man could ever ask for. I love you very much, mi amor and I really want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you, Y/N Ocon, marry me?”

You swore you felt your heart stopped at that moment. Those magical words you longed to hear for the past year. The clicking of cameras was faster now and the cheering of fans had died down to hear the answer.

You looked around, looking at Sergio’s parents, who were smiling widely. You then looked at your parents, your mother was crying into a tissue with your father consoling her gently. Finally, you looked at Esteban, who had the biggest smile on his stupidly adorable face.

Your wet eyes looked back down at Sergio, tears spilling as you nodded.

“Yes! God, Sergio, yes!” You yelled. The fans cheered loudly, the surrounding team joined in the celebratory yelling as Sergio pushed the ring through your finger. He stood, catching your waist and leaned down for a deep kiss. The kiss wouldn’t last long as Esteban, Carlos and Christian sprayed you and Sergio with champagne. The other drivers joined into the celebration, all too excited to see the ending of the season and for the winter break.

As champagne sprayed everywhere, you cupped Sergio’s cheek. “I love you so, so much,” “I love you too, so much,” Sergio leaned in for another kiss, both of you couldn’t give a single care to your surroundings.

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You honestly did not expect the wedding to be extravagant, like something out of a Disney movie. You always thought Sergio would want to have a simple wedding with his and your families. Then again, your soon-to-be-husband was always full of surprises.

The wedding was held in Guadalajara at least four months after the final race of the season (Sergio did not want to waste any more time) but the main celebration was in Évreux.

Your heart swelled with immense pride and happiness to be called the wife of Sergio Perez. You had your attention on the gorgeous wedding ring seated on your finger as both of Sergio’s brothers had his few words for the couple. Sergio took your hand in his, fingers laced together as the Mexican man gave his handsome smile to his wife. Your cheeks redden, leaning into his shoulder. The scent of his cologne mixed with his natural musk was calming.

As much as you fought the urge to cry, you wanted that day to be the most special in your life. You had your chance to dance with your husband first before moving on to the 2021 drivers who had attended the wedding. (“Aw, come on, Max! I want to have my go next,” Lando whined as Max readied himself to have his dance with the bride after Valterri. Max rolled his eyes. “You’re next,” He wasn’t.)

Sebastian released the bride to Sergio for the last dance, both had their foreheads pressed against one another.

“I love you so much, Mrs Perez,” You smiled widely, pressing a soft kiss to Sergio’s lips as a stray tear of happiness trickled down your powdered cheek.

“I love you too, Mr Perez,”

[hannigramficrecs]

there's a hannibal extended universe?! omg pls, it would be incredible if you could recommend any fics related to this. thank you so much!!

OMG yes. I’m actually thinking of starting a section of my index of just HEU fics! I currently have a Spacedogs tag— which is the ship of Hugh Dancy’s character from the movie Adam (2009) and Mads Mikkelsen’s character from Charlie Countryman (2013), but I was thinking of adding more from all the different universes I’ve read so far as well! Anyways, here are a couple of the more popular pairings to get you started!

Spacedogs:

Space Invader by Devereauxs_Disease [words: 28,512]

Nigel isn’t handling his divorce well. When a good Samaritan starts leaving him gifts on his balcony, Nigel gets suspicious. What could go wrong?

The Set Up by Devereauxs_Disease [words: 4,178]

Nigel decides if he can’t have Adam, someone great should. So he plays wingman for his friend/secret crush and sets Adam up on a date with a gorgeous woman. What could possibly go wrong? OR—The fic where Beverly Katz learns to see the fun in blind dates.

Beth Finds Out by victorine for Devereauxs_Disease [words: 3,160]

Beth doesn’t want to date Adam. She doesn’t really want to date Nigel either, but he’ll work as a temporary measure to discourage Adam. Of course, she’s not expecting the two of them to hit it off…

Marbles by Llewcie [words: 5,561]

Adam moves to a new neighborhood and promptly loses a prized possession to the neighborhood bully. But when the tables are turned, Adam extracts a promise from Nigel that will follow them through the years. The friendship that develops as a result will end up meaning more to them than they ever could have anticipated.

Pochemuchka by slashyrogue [words: 1,441]

Alpha Nigel gets roped into taking the empty bartender spot on Omega Speed Dating Night where he happens to meet a certain blue eyed omega.

I Was Still Blind, But Twinkling Stars Did Dance by DarkmoonSigel [words: 12,010]

Beth sets Adam up on a blind date. Sex happens.

King Arthur (2004) — which Mads and Hugh both starred in!

To the Place I Belong by halotolerant [words: 14,823]

“I am going to have to see you eventually, Galahad,” Tristan pointed out. “Or else undertake this mission blindfolded.” Abruptly, the door in front of him was flung open. He had to fight not to take a reflexive step backwards. “If you even begin to laugh…” Galahad threatened, hissing. Tristan surveyed the sight of him. No, he still didn’t feel like laughing at all.

Over the Mountains and Under the Stars by starkaryen [words: 19,397]

Galahad wasn’t a fool. He knew perfectly well that the feelings he had harbored for Tristan for some time now would never be requited. But Tristan had never joined the knights’ jokes about this particular matter, and he had always inwardly thanked him for that…

Not-So-Innocent by QueenofLit [words: 1,238]

Tristan had been warned off Gawain's little brother quite violently. In fact, he wasn't allowed to so much as see the younger man until Gawain was certain he wouldn't try to seduce him. As a brunette angel serves Tristan's coffee with promises of sweeter things to come, the universe proves how monumentally bad that decision was.

The Tale of Sir Galahad and the Ridiculous Chicken by Devereauxs_Disease [words: 4,928]

Tristan's hawk takes a sudden interest in Galahad, stealing his things whenever Galahad isn't looking. Tristan is unhelpful at solving this problem. Fluff and crack in the time of chain-mail.

Courtship by Chifuyu [words: 2,837]

Galahad can't stand Tristan. Tristan can't stand Galahad. Everybody else is pretty much done with their antics.

Alphabet by cognomen [words: 2,392]

"I don't know how to get through to him, Gawain," he laments. It is pointless to protest - they have been brothers in arms long enough to read each other this well at least. "Have you tried getting in his tent and arranging yourself naked on his bedroll?" Gawain suggests outlandishly, but Galahad is willing to consider even such a dramatic gesture.

Late Bloom by victorine [words: 4,318]

Galahad and Tristan are constantly arguing. The other knights are done. There's only one way to sort this... FIGHT!

Skirts by stratumgermanitivum, whiskeyandspite [words: 3,702]

Come nightfall, the boy’s stance had developed a bit of a falter, but he had no complaints. He sat by the fire, one knee drawn up, and Tristan knew that if he shifted just an inch, he’d flash the lot of them. Something had to be done. Otherwise, the skirt would be nothing more than a belt by morning.

Blood Red Apples by kipsi [words: 1,032]

He had always been secretly jealous of how Tristan handled his knife, his movements precise and steady.

A Bride's Price by Devereauxs_Disease [words: 5,930]

Galahad doesn't know how to woo Tristan, so he asks for advice from the knights. All of their advice is terrible. Please don't ever ask these idiots for advice.

Bondless by Llewcie [words: 9,305]

Galahad runs an Omega club with the best security on the eastern seaboard. Tuesday nights are Alpha Night, where alphas can pay dearly for the privilege of buying an omega a drink. Tristan is willing to pay just to look on Galahad from behind the glass security wall. Galahad is pretty sure he wants more.

Hugh’s character from Ella Enchanted (2004) and Mads’ character from Vallhalla Rising (2009)

 Found You by Kateera [words: 5,151]

Prince Charmont was born without a soul mark and hidden from his kingdom to keep the shame a secret. When his parents send him away on a diplomatic mission, he's forced to watch a man fight for his life and is inexplicably drawn to the silent warrior. He has to meet him.

Trope: From Sex To Love (Valhalla Enchanted) by TigerPrawn [words: 14,355]

In a land where alphas and omegas are rare, the omega prince Charmont is in need of an alpha to see him through heat until his betrothed arrives from a distant kingdom. The recently freed slave one-eyed mute is just hideous enough to be the perfect temporary alpha to service the prince. Falling in love is the last thing anyone wants.

Trope: College AU (Valhalla Enchanted - Modern AU) by TigerPrawn [words: 9,186]

When Char mistakes an alpha’s true appearance for a costume he means to apologize, but ends up doing much more than that!

Blood on Steel by MonstrousRegiment [words: 9,488]

Inside was—a man. Something like a man. There was a shackle around his neck, like a dog’s collar, and the heavy chain it was affixed to run through a thick ring hammered into the wall, and then to a strong-looking anchoring post several feet away, well out of reach of the cage.

Forgemaster by Llewcie [words: 11,946]

Charmont, the newest Dionysus, loses a bet to his roommate Aphrodite, and is required by her to go on three dates with a god of her choosing. Before he even gets out the door, he scathingly insults the gentle, mute Hephaestus, and then must scramble to make amends. Char is not prepared when it's the gentle, one-eyed Forgemaster that refuses to take HIM to bed.

Hel by Llewcie [words: 4,285]

On a road trip to find something he has been missing, Char's car breaks down and leaves him in a quiet suburb of Chicago, with only a seedy hostel and a strange little pub open late at night. Forgoing soiled mattresses for a late drink, he encounters a bartender who doesn't speak but pours a mean pint of mead. Its a better place to lay his head than he thought he would get.

[after-witch]

Yandere Ransom Imagine

“That's some heavy-duty conjecture.”

Word Count: 2700ish

notes: unhealthy relationships, emotional and physical abuse, financial abuse, yandere

Imagine being a struggling adult working a full time job plus freelancing gigs just to get by in your one-bedroom apartment where the ceiling always leaks when it rains and you have to perform a complicated maneuver to make sure the door doesn’t jam up on you and you’re constantly worried about your landlord raising the rent.

Maybe a well-meaning friend gets you a gift card to an upscale bookstore because they know you haven’t had a new book on your shelves in years, or maybe you find $20 on the street like a veritable Charlie Bucket but instead of buying a Wonka Bar you head into a this fantastic artisan coffee shop on the rich side of town, a place that everyone always raves about on Instagram, just so you can try an expensive latte with hand-ground beans and flavors you’ve never heard of before--because don’t you deserve a treat, for once?

Whatever it is, wherever it is, Hugh Ransom Drysdale is waiting inside and sees you there.

And oh my God is it obvious that you’re out of place right off the bat. I mean, what the hell is someone like you doing in this part of town?

With your worn out clothes that are worn from necessity and not from being fashionably thrifted and your ratty purse stuffed with papers and candy wrappers that spill out when you dig in for your card or cash and your winter boots that you’ve probably worn 5 years in a row, ripped in the hell and patched with black tape that you hope people don’t notice.

It becomes even more obvious that you’re out of your element when something goes wrong. The gift card isn’t activated. The $20? A fake, probably a movie prop that blew in the wind. Whatever goes wrong, it means that you’re suddenly at the register, impatient people with real money tapping their expensive shoes behind you, unable to pay. You’re left standing there like a deer in headlights, unsure of what to do or say.

Normally he might just roll his eyes and remind himself that people like you ought to stick to your own shops, your own place. But something about the way your eyes go all downcast and you seem to shrink down in embarrassment makes him take pity on you. Like a stray cat in the alley hoping someone will toss it some scraps.

So he strides up and flicks out a card and hands it to the cashier, dropping a friendly greeting to them because he spends like crazy and they probably know him by name at this place, and he’s the one who hands you your coffee or your bag and your hands touch ever so briefly during the exchange.

He leads you away from the register--don’t want to piss off the spoiled debutantes and assistants on lunchtime coffee runs--and you stammer out a thank-you-thank-you and you promise you’ll pay him back as soon as you can and Jesus Christ, isn’t that just adorable? Someone like you, some lost kicked puppy who can’t even afford new boots, promising to pay him back?

He doesn’t care if you pay him back, but he finds that he would like something out of this exchange, so he says that instead of paying him back you can do him the honor of going to lunch with him. His treat. 

He insists. And you can’t really say no, can you? You are hungry and he did just pay for your things and it’s the least you can do to oblige his request.

He’s not stupid. He doesn’t take you to some razzle dazzle fancy restaurant where you’ll feel embarrassed and out of place. Instead he takes you to a quiet diner, classy not greasy, where you can have an easy conversation and tell him all about yourself.

It’s funny. Normally he brings up his family name, his grandfather’s books, to women he picks up, to get them impressed and hooked and pliable. Something about you, though. Something about you is making him want to turn this into more than a lunch date and pressure for a quickie in the car to repay him. 

So he holds back to see what he can do with you on his own. No quickie in the car, but instead before he drops you off--at a bus station, you insisted--he brushes his hand over yours. Can he get your number? He swears he can feel the heat coming off your cheeks as you fumble for your phone and let him put his number in your contacts.

He waits a day, then asks you out again. Dinner, this time. He asks you if you know any good places and you recommend a dive bar that you can go to after work (because 1) schedule and 2) cheap) and shit, he’s all for it. There will be time in the future to impress you with restaurants that have dress codes instead of sticky floors. You sit close on the stools and you buy him a drink (real cute, real real cute) and just for you he keeps the baggie in his pocket there all night instead of heading to the bathroom to liven things up.

Your relationship develops with an almost shocking speed. He knows just how to reel you in. I mean--look at you. Working your ass off at some dead end job, living in an apartment so shitty it takes you almost a month before you reluctantly agree to let him see it.

He can understand, though. Because you’re not that stupid and you know he’s wealthy, even before he casually brings up his family in a “it’s no big deal but I don’t want to keep things from you because we’re getting serious” sort of way. 

You pretend to be casual about it all, but he can tell you’re suddenly wondering: why the hell would someone from this wealthy family want anything to do with me?

It’s a question Ransom asks himself a lot. He asks himself this when he’s snorting coke off another woman’s stomach (hey, you’re dating, but he’s got needs and they aren’t met with hand-holding) or when he’s eating another greasy burger at a shitty bar because you refuse to let him buy you a nice dress to wear so he can take you out somewhere fancy.

You’re not the type of person he normally goes for, not at all. He has strings of girlfriends and flings, but they all tend to fit that same cookie cutter mold: wealthy do-nothings with their parent’s credit card who want someone else to spoil them for a while, without caring who it is or what they’re like. They’re easy pickings that Ransom can burn through and then toss aside when he’s bored of them. Some of them cry but a few days later he’ll see them on someone else’s arm, it’s the circle of life.

With you, though, there’s more. You don’t expect him to pay for dates or anything at all (even when he wants to spoil you a bit) and you have actual conversations and you seem to actually give a shit about what he says and does. You argue with him, too, when he wants you to do something (just let him take you shopping, for Christ’s sake!) or he asks you to move in (again) and you say no (again). I mean, you really fight with him, spitting words and all.

And unlike his previous girlfriends, you don’t come crawling back a few hours later because you want to buy a new purse with his shiny credit card. Instead, you make him apologize first. Fuck, that’s hot. It’s also something he tucks away in the back of his mind to work on later--but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t admit that he sometimes has the overwhelming urge to push you against the wall and fuck you for the first time right after a good argument. 

But he knows that would destroy your image of him entirely, so he holds back. He’s good at crafting a version of himself that appeals to others when he has to, and you’re maybe the first person that’s been worth all the effort he’s put into you so far.

But you need a push, a push that makes it so you can’t go running back to your shithole apartment when you fight or when you question whether or no you two have a future. You do, you’re just too naive--too inexperienced with money, to say it charitably--to realize it.

So he tips off the fire marshal about your apartment building’s shoddy fire escapes and well, damn, in the process of the investigation all the little corners that your landlord has cut come crashing down. At least they were discovered before it was the building that came crashing down.

But the evacuation of the building leaves you--and countless others--high and dry. You don’t have any family in the area, and your only half ass-decent friend in the city lives in the same building but her parent’s aren’t going to let a stranger move in.

When you finally realize you have no options and call him, voice tentative and embarrassed, he knows just what to say to get you to pack your meager belongings and wait for him to pick you up. He’s no-nonsense about it. 

He knows how to avoid deflating your pride, how to keep you from deciding you’d rather stay in a shelter than take his charity. You’ll pay him back, he says, you’ll figure out a rental plan or whatever. He even teases--he’s not the best landlord, but he won’t take 2 weeks to change the toilet if you submit a maintenance request. It makes you crack a smile and bam, just like that, he knows he’s gotten in.

That night, after takeout and wine and a Netflix movie neither of you paid attention to, you fuck for the first time on his expensive sheets on his expensive bed and afterwards, when you’re both sweating and cuddling and reveling in the afterglow, he makes a note to buy you some new lingerie. 

It’s all very homey, for a while. He could do without you leaving for work and working your ass off, with your freelance shit, sometimes staying on the computer until two, three in the morning. But it’s nice to have you close all the time, available to him whenever (almost whenever) he wants. He brings home takeout and you snuggle on the couch and he finally even convinces you to go out with him to a nice restaurant wearing something he’s bought and hot damn, do you look good, head-to-toe in the clothing he’s chosen for you. Especially, later that night, in private, in the lingerie. 

Does he love you? The word hasn’t left his lips yet, hasn’t crossed yours either, but he can feel it underneath the surface. No. It’s more than love. He wants you. He wants to have you. And not just for the afternoon or the summer, but forever. 

He spins daydreams about how he’ll clean you up nice and introduce you to the family. Probably to Harlan, first, because everyone knows that’s whose opinion really matters. Harlan will like you--he would probably like you without any primping or fixing, actually, which is more than he could say for his parents or anyone else in the family. Then once you’re in, you’re in--you’ll come to family dinners and vacation retreats where people always end up in ridiculous arguments, and you two can exchange snarky comments about the family on the ride home.

And yeah, sure. You fight sometimes.

He throws out your old clothes and buys you a wardrobe befitting someone he wants to integrate into his family. You fight about that.

He makes comments about you how you should quit your job or at least try to get a degree--he’ll pay, as long as you agree to go to a university within driving distance--to work somewhere more respectable than a chain restaurant. You fight about that.

He gets pissed when you want to meet some “friends” at a bar without him, because why would you need to go anywhere without your loving boyfriend in tow, unless you were trying to flirt with someone else? You definitely fight about that.

And, okay. Maybe he’s hypocritical.

Maybe he goes out late at night when you’re stuck doing your “freelancing work” and he’s in a rotten mood about it, and he ends up on the floor of a swanky club with drugs in his system and lipstick on his neck. He doesn’t come home until the next morning and you’re pissed and red-eyed and arguing with him, accusing him even, but you have no shitty apartment to stomp back to anymore so you’re stuck. 

Until you’re not stuck. Until he casually snoops through your phone and sees that you’re looking up cheap-ass apartments and hey, you’ve already booked a few interviews already. The thought of you slipping through his fingers makes him more sober than he’s been in a while. He’s got to do something. Not to himself, of course. But to you. To keep you with him.

It’s easy enough to get you fired. He’s a ‘Thrombey’ after all, and some nice crisp bills anonymously sent to the right hands is all it takes for you to come home one night, cheap mascara (he notes: buy you some better quality makeup soon) running down your cheeks. Your freelancing isn’t nearly enough to get you into an apartment.

He assumes that you’ll give up on the idea after losing your job, but you’re nothing if not stubborn (one of the reasons why he likes you) so you start the job hunt the next morning, fresh mascara in place. 

Damn, do you keep him busy. Anonymous calls. Cash in nice white envelopes. Rejection after rejection. You get so sad, so depressed. You don’t even want to go out to restaurants, so he orders in and you snuggle in his lap while he feeds you bites of orange chicken and rubs your back. It almost brings you two closer again, starts to mend the rifts that began when you refused to get over his occasional late night out.

But then you break the uneasy mending by snooping and woah, you don’t like what you find on his phone. 

You fight. 

Damn, do you fight. This time there’s no pretense of potential forgiveness as you begin wildly throwing your clothes into your ratty duffel bag from the back of the closet, telling him to fuck off fuck off fuck off, telling him he’s crazy, telling him that what he’s doing is fucking illegal and--

It’s the shock that hurts you the most.

The shock you feel when he grips your wrist hard and pushes back on your shoulder when you try to yank away, pushing you against the wall with a hard thud. It’s like having a rug pulled out from underneath your feet when you feel a slight ache in your back, on your shoulders, when you tell him to Let go, goddamn it and he only pushes back harder to keep you in place. It’s Ransom. It’s Ransom who’s doing this.

His voice feels unrecognizably cold when he leans in and hisses in your ear.

“You think you can just leave me? After all I’ve done for you? Let me tell you something--you won’t get another job within one hundred miles of here, within one thousand miles of here, unless I say you can. So just put your clothes back in the closet, chill the fuck out, and stop being such an ungrateful bitch.”

It’s the shock that makes you numbly hang your clothes back up in the closet, fold them again with shaking hands, and sit on the bed until the dam breaks and you cry.

And oh fuck, he’s sorry. Really. He wraps his arm around your shoulders and then he’s the one who’s crying and confessing that he didn’t want you leave him because yeah, he knows he’s a fuck up, he knows he’s got a drug problem, but he loves you. 

It’s the first time he’s ever said it out loud. He loves you. “I love you,” he says, again and again, half-laughing.  And he tells you you’re the only person he’s ever dated that made him want to be a better person but he doesn’t know how.

You don’t know what to say because maybe you do love him--but he hurt you and got you fired, but the tears on his face seem so genuine and he tells you he’ll never, ever hurt you like that again and fuck, he says, if you want to go get a job he’ll drive you to the interview right now just-let-him-blow-his-nose-first-please.

You make him sit down and then you’re the one apologizing and the rest of the afternoon is a shaky truce between you two as you drink hot chocolate and order in takeout and watch a movie together.

It’s not until you’re both under the sheets, satisfied and then showered, that you think about what he did to you in a clearer light. The thoughts weigh heavy on your mind, pulling and tugging. You think you might love him. He hurt you. He took care of you when no one else would. He cheated on you. 

I love you, he tells you, when your mind is starting to tug itself into sleep.

He hit you. He said he was sorry.

He hit you.

[toasttt11]

introducing brinley

Brinley Amelia Matthews the third born of Brian and Ema Matthews born January 2, 1998.

Brinley went on the ice for the first time with her big brother when she was a toddler and fell in love with being on the ice, crying if she wasn’t on the ice.

Brinley always wanted to beat Auston when they were playing against each other amd while she started playing as a foward she tried playing as a defender and loved being in that position more.

Brinley has always adored letting her younger sister teach her golf, Breyana being a extremely good golf player and competitively plays loves being able to teach her older sister and in return Brinley will drag her sister into the ice.

Brinley joined the USNTDP in 2015 and met Quinn Hughes, Josh Norris and Brady Thchuck. Quinn and Brinley became Defensive partners and ended up being an insane duo.

She roomed with Quinn and Brady for the first year in the program and in the second year Quinn’s family had moved to Michigan as Quinn’s brother Jack was also joining the program and Brinley lived with the Hughes for a year.

Josh and Brady both are on the Ottawa Senators and is only two hours away from Brinley, they try to hang out whenever they can.

Quinn and Brinley live pretty far away from each other so they try to see each other the most they can when they play against each other and especially in the summer they always at least spend some time together.

Brinley was apart of Brady and Emma’s wedding and was the maid of honor for Emma, having know Emma almost as long as she has know Brady and has found a best friend in Emma.

Luke instantly adored Brinley and looked up to her since the moment he met her, Brinley became a really big mentor to him and helped him a lot in his skills in hockey especially as a Defender.

Brinley was at Luke’s NHL having flown in just for the game and leaving the next day, early in the morning.

Jack really was awestruck seeing Brinley and especially when he saw her play live for the first time and quickly grew to think of her as family. Brinley was the only one Jack went to with the pressure of going first overall and his rookie year.

Brinley loves being on the Montreal Canadiens and she’s loves living in Montreal, she has been through the up and downs with the team and was voted in as Captain in the 2021-2022 season.

She’s always been the player who would willingly pare up with the younger players and the younger players always seem to do great playing with Brinley on the ice.

Brinley doesn’t tend to get in a lot of fights but she is protective of her team especially the younger ones and she will willingly fight for her team.

When Brinley first met Cole he stared up at her with stars in his eyes and Brinley just assumed it was like Cole looking up to her, what she didn’t realize was Cole was completely enthralled with Brinley and thought she was stunning.

Brinley met Nick before her third season in the NHL, the two immediately clicked and were soon very close friends and Brinley offered to be his roommates on the road and his first year in the NHL, Nick stayed in Brinley’s house.

Shea Webber was the Captain of the Habs when Brinley joined the team and he took her under his wing and they played in the same defense line together for the three years together until Shea was getting traded and Shea only wanted Brinley to become Captain after him. Brinley grew close to Shea’s family and watched as his kids grew up.

Jurai is one of the younger rookies to join the Habs and Brinley took him under her wing and became quite protective of her rookie, Juari grew very close to her as he moved to a new country and city and Brinley helped him settle in and settle into the team quite well.

When Brinley was younger her grandmother taught her how to crochet and it’s something she has always enjoyed, she usually spends her time on the plane or bus crocheting something, she always makes something for her teammates and especially any new players she has something waiting for them in their stall.

[nhlandotherimagines]

I Wish- Quinn Hughes

@natbarzal @anastasiyaigorevnadobrodevskaya @jonnytoews19 

Well here is blurb number 6 of my Up All Night series! I absolutely adore Quinn Hughes so writing this broke my heart! This is just pure angst and heartbreak, oh and some curse words so consider yourself warned!

Please let me know what you think! Thank you all so much for your continued support you’re amazing! ❤️

He takes your hand, I die a little. I watch your eyes and I'm in riddles. Why can't you look at me like that?

“Y/n here yet?” Elias asks, bumping his shoulder playfully into Quinn. Quinn’s face reddens at the question, and Elias’ smirk grows. The whole team knows Quinn is hopelessly in love with you, and they chirp him endlessly for it.

“Piss off Petey,” Quinn grumbles, “She should be here soon.” The boys threw a little get together for Quinn’s birthday, so of course they invited you. You and Quinn have become really close over the last year, so when Brock put together the invite list you were at the top.

“You should tell her.” Petey states, slipping away from Quinn. Almost as if on cue, you walk through the door. Quinn immediately lights up seeing you, however it doesn’t last long. He is sure he’s going to throw up, maybe even die, when he sees the man walking next to you. It is a guy Quinn has never met before, but judging by where his fingers are interlocked with yours, you are quite familiar with him.

“There he is! Happy Birthday Quinny!” You beam, dropping the mystery man’s hand to wrap both your arms around Quinn.

“Thanks Y/n/n, I’m glad you could make it.” He smiles down at you as you pull away. Sure it was the truth, but Quinn can’t help but fight the frown threatening to settle itself on his face.

The man beside you clears his throat as you pull away from Quinn. “Oh right! Quinn this is my boyfriend Jake, Jake this is Quinn!” You smile brightly up at Jake, and he smiles back. The two of you are so caught up in each other you don’t see Quinn’s face fall as he watches you.

Quinn can feel his world crumbling around him. The way you’re looking at this guy, your boyfriend, Quinn wants you to look at him like that. Until this point he had thought it was an option, that maybe you felt the same. Apparently he was wrong. “Nice to meet you Jake.”

When you walk by, I try to say it, but then I freeze, and never do it. My tongue gets tied, the words get trapped. I hear the beat of my heart getting louder, whenever I'm near you

“What?!” Elias’ eyes are practically bugging out of his head now, as he stares at Quinn in disbelief.

“She brought her boyfriend Petey.” Quinn states again, annoyance clear in his voice. Elias opens his mouth to speak, but Quinn quickly shuts him down. “Just quit it okay? There was no hope anyway, it’s fine.” Before Elias can protest, Quinn is walking away. His shoulders slump in defeat as he attempts to mingle with the people that have shown up for his party.

Quinn is sure this is the worst birthday he’s ever had. Sure, it was nice to spend some time with his friends, but he’s never felt this terrible before.

When Quinn finally sees you alone, you’re walking back from the washroom. As you walk past him, his mouth opens to speak. He wants to tell you how he feels, ask what your deal with Jake is, and tell you how bad he wishes it were him. As you smile at him, his heart hammers aggressively in his chest. He cannot form any sentences as you walk right past him, finding your way back to Jake. He was tongue tied, and there was nothing he could do.

But I see you with him slow dancing, tearing me apart 'cause you don't see. Whenever you kiss him, I'm breaking, Oh how I wish that was me

Brock and Elias try their best to keep Quinn entertained for the rest of the evening. Keeping him out of his own head, and his attention off of you. Their efforts, although for his best interest, don’t stop Quinn from watching you whenever you were in view. Jake’s hands gripping your hips, as the two of you swayed back and forth. The two of you slow dance, despite the hip hop beats that someone had playing through Quinn’s speakers, as if you had your own music playing that no one could hear.

It is rough for Quinn to keep the smile on his face as the steady stream of well wishes continues throughout the night. He does a great job of it though, that is until he hits his breaking point. After towing the line all night, on the verge of a breakdown, or perhaps a temper tantrum, Quinn breaks. That line snaps the moment Quinn watches your lips press to Jake’s. The kiss is short and sweet, but to Quinn it feels like it goes on forever. To him, that kiss solidifies the fact he will never have you.

So he drinks. A lot.

He looks at you, the way that I would. Does all the things, I know that I could. If only time, could just turn back

“Quinn slow down!” Brock pleads, trying to pull Quinn from the kitchen where he has spent the last five minutes taking shots. Quinn just shrugs him off pouring more, trying to rid the whole night from his memory. Trying to rid you from his memory. Brock knows he can’t talk any sense into Quinn, so he does the only thing he knows to.

“Y/n!” Brock calls out your name, and when you turn around, you see him running towards you in a panic. You send him a confused look encouraging him to tell you what is going on. “It’s Quinn. I need your help he won’t listen to me.”

When you see him it scares you. You’ve never seen him like this. Hell, no one has. He’s not drinking for fun, and just trying to keep up with the big guys. You’ve seen those times. This time is different, he’s alone, mumbling to himself and knocking back shots as fast as he can pour them.

“Quinn?” Your voice shakes as you place on hand on his shoulder, and use the other to stop him from pouring another shot. His head shoots up at the sound of your voice, eyes meeting yours. The hurt in his eyes is enough for you to have to fight back tears of your own. “I think you should stop.”

“Why do you care? Go back to your boyfriend,” he spits. The anger in his tone drops though, when he sees your face twist. “I’m just having fun.”

“No you aren’t. Talk to me Quinn, I DO care about you.” You plead, but he just shakes his head and let’s out a sad laugh.

“If you care, why him?” Quinn’s eyes are boring into your own, “I could do what he does. I want to. I can look at you like that, I could’ve been that guy! And if I could go back and change things I would.” You can only stare back at him in astonishment, unable to form any words. His confession hits you hard, you didn’t know. How could you?

When you think about it though, it is pretty obvious. Quinn has always complimented you, been the first to offer you help even if you didn’t need it, and always requested you as his plus one. You feel stupid for not having clued in before, and you feel bad for being the reason for your friend’s broken heart.

'Cause I got three little words that I've always been dying to tell you...

“Quinn, I’m sorry I didn’t know you liked me-“ you start, stammering slightly. You’re trying to form an apology without making matters worse, but Quinn cuts you off.

“I don’t like you Y/n.” There it is again, that venom in his words. Quinn was never one to get mad like this, and you don’t like it. His words, although angry, still confuse you.

“B-but you just said?” You hardly register the three men standing behind you now. Brock and Elias both trying to figure out what is happening, and Jake watching you closely.

“I don’t like you. I love you. Always have. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a bottle to get back to and I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that you have a boyfriend to get back to.” Quinn pulls his hand free from your grip on his wrist. Instead of pouring another shot though he brings the bottle up to his lips and turns to walk away.

“Quinn wait!” You call out to him, but he doesn’t stop. He just continues walking towards his room down the hall. “I loved you too you know?” Tears begin to slip down your face, and you know you’ve drawn a crowd but at this point you don’t care. You watch as Quinn freezes, his entire body going rigid, but he doesn’t respond or turn around.

“But you are Quinn-fucking-Hughes, and I’m just me! I counted myself lucky to even be able to call you a friend, so I couldn’t tell you how I felt. You could have any girl Quinn.” You watch him closely, trying to steady your breathing as you do so.

Quinn turns around, the wild look on his face is certainly not what you were expecting. “Well guess what! I don’t want any girl, I want you. But I guess that ships sailed huh?” He glances over your shoulder for a moment, and speaks again. “Take care of her Jake, she’s a good one.”

Without another word from anyone, Quinn is gone. The slamming and locking of his door, so loud that it’s heard over the music. In your attempt to save your friendship with Quinn, you lost him altogether. Now you’re left to wish; wish that this never happened.

[borkthemork]

Okay so, I have a lot to say about the way Roy was handled in the last chapter of FMA. And I mean that in a good way, because after watching FMAB again and analyzing Roy’s progression in the manga, I absolutely love what Arakawa and the show writers did to him (and if there was ever a way to merge their two story decisions together, I would do it in a heartbeat).

In the ruins of Central HQ, we find Roy Mustang. He’s still in the relief tents, but this time, you could tell that he’s devastated with what just happened to him, and is trying to come to terms with the removal of his eyesight.

Now, before we get into this, we need to start talking about Roy’s character progression up until this point. He has been a character of facades, of categorization. He has goals to fulfill and he’s the kind to hone in on them, similar to a Mustang horse being equipped with blinders to keep them on the right track. We saw that with Hughes too, at how his own determination to find Hughes’s killer had deteriorated his health, had made him so focused on vengeance to the point of blind rage.

He focuses, he keeps going, he has ideas he wants to implement, even if those goals blindside him to the point of self-flagellation from forgetting his own basic needs. He uses deception, illusion, and even manipulation of information to get what he wants. Vision/perception is such a pivotal thing with his character. 

An amazing post remarked about this moment, and how this is the first time ever since Ishval where we get Roy traumatized, defeated even. He sought to his vision as the greatest tool in being able to get his goals, but now it’s been removed, showing us how he feels useless all by himself. However, what Truth did wasn’t just a cruelty, it was actually essential for him to realize how blind he had become despite his sight.

His main goal was to become Fuhrer, which was a very linear goal to him that he would sacrifice a lot just to get to the top. If that means his personal health, happiness, then so be it. He never sought different alternatives because he had always focused on that one major point.

So we’re given a moment where he could be discharged for his new disability. His main goal of being Fuhrer had been compromised, and even if he wanted to become Fuhrer he would have to fight the rules and doctrines of the system to get back on top.

However, that’s not what he did.

Roy Mustang realizes that being Fuhrer isn’t the only way to make a difference in the world, that there are many other pathways he could take (that he was previously blind to) that he could use to make the country a better place.

With his support system and his new opportunities, he has so much range in what he could do now. He doesn’t have to be Fuhrer to change policy, or to help people, or to create his own agency entirely that could benefit the people who had suffered from his war crimes and actions. Roy Mustang now realized his mistake: that even without his eyesight he could create great things, things that have the same effect as a Fuhrer’s actions could.

And despite the controversy over whether Roy should’ve kept his eyesight or not, the discussion Roy has with Marcoh goes to show how far his new insight had given him and how he has a second chance to utilize what he had learned for the better.

There are important things to do. There are ways for him to help in the position as Brigadier General. His goal of being Fuhrer won’t stop the fact that he could help before he ever achieves that goal. He has so many years ahead of him, decades that he could use to change things, to change policies, and to make the younger generation safer as a result. If he never becomes Fuhrer, then so be it. He’ll find another way, with his subordinates along to support him. If that meant going to Ishval and doing welfare and reconstruction, then he would. There is no limit now.

And when he considers this idea, Kimblee’s words are the linchpin, confirming his new path.

Now, before I end this analysis, I also have to say that if I had a chance to mesh FMAB and Arakawa’s interpretations of these scenes, I would. FMAB shows a determined Roy wanting change despite his blindness, and that shows off the same level of dedication that Roy would find himself in after he got out of his funk. He trusts his support system, that he will do whatever it takes despite the obstacles, and I find that an amazing beginning in Roy’s journey.

He has a long way to go, but he won’t underestimate what he can and cannot do anymore.