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sunhowler-art · 5 months

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was inspired by this post to design some hlvrai warrior cats!! i'm honestly shocked it took me 2 years to make a warriors au for it, i love making warriors aus...

some basic info below the cut!

sooo my general idea (it's pretty hazy right now. forgive me) for this au is that songfoot (benrey), nectarbrook (darnold), goldenberry (tommy), galeheart (coomer), scorchtail (bubby), and snakestar (gman) are all from the same clan... i'm between plain ol' thunderclan or a custom clan called mesaclan. i'm probably gonna go with thunderclan because i don't wanna bother with making other clans and lore and stuff LOL. there's some kind of threat outside of the clans that's affecting the environment a la the beavers in arc 4. it's something that starclan definitely caused, whether deliberately or accidentally, i dunno. main point is that snakestar sends songfoot, nectarbrook, goldenberry, galeheart, and scorchtail off on a journey to track down the problem and take care of it. while they're gone, the external threat kills snakestar and he spends all his time being a textbook unhelpful and cryptic starclan cat who just kind of makes things worse. as per a snakestar prophecy, the gang picks up gordon along the way, a kittypet whose owners abandoned her and she's been mostly unsuccessfully fending for herself since. oh and frostpaw (forzen) is part of bloodclan. bloodclan tries and fails to kill the gang, despite frostpaw's best efforts (he kidnapped goldenberry's bird friend, sunny).

some lil character facts and such:

gordon is an ex kittypet. she had a very very cozy and spoiled life up until her twolegs got evicted or something and tossed her out onto the streets. she wasn't out there long before the clan cats found her, and thank god for that, because she sucks at being a survivalist. she is fairly smart though, bringing a fresh perspective and problem solving skills to the group. she is consistently freaked the fuck out by clan cat culture, and the clan cats have fun gaslighting her about it. the only cat who doesn't play along with that is goldenberry, mostly because he doesn't really think its that funny. gordon picks up survival skills from the clan cats fairly quickly, but they still call her soft all the time. classic clan cat anti-kittypet prejudice.

songfoot is the warrior code's biggest fan. not because he really fully believes in its utility, mostly because he loves bossing people around. you can find him stalking around thunderclan camp looking out for anyone doing minor infractions. god forbid you take too much fresh kill from the pile, you'll never hear the end of it. he can't really do much about it though, because snakestar finds him vaguely offputting. his signature stare doesn't help much. his fellow warriors generally like him despite all his strange quirks. songfoot has some kind of starclan-given power a la The Three... my thought is that his vocalizations have supernatural mind-altering properties. it's kinda like sweet voice, but a hiss can make others mad, a purr can make others calm, a screech can stun them, etc. without fail. he's vaguely aware of this power, and he doesn't really use it for things starclan would like him to. he kinda does his own thing.

he's a fairly competent hunter and fighter, but he's generally physically non-confrontational. during battle, he prefers to slink along in the shadows and wait to strike.

during the journey, he loves following gordon along. initially it's because of his deeply embedded distrust of kittypets, but he realizes pretty quickly that he's interested in her in a different sense, one that really frustrates and confuses him... a warrior shouldn't wanna be mates with a kittypet. that's so beyond wrong. he's gotta do everything he can to annoy gordon into leaving the group so he doesn't have to confront his feelings about her (one of these tactics involves him insisting on calling her "gordie," saying it sounds much more suitable for a kittypet). unfortunately for the both of them, that doesn't work. what's worse-- his powers don't seem to work on her for whatever reason. they continue to butt heads for far too long before either of them opens up about how they actually feel. (it takes gordon far longer to admit to herself that she's feeling that way than it does for songfoot, but eventually it clicks for her.)

("song" comes from sweet voice, and "foot" comes from... y'know. but i imagine the in-universe explanation is that he spends a lot of time padding around and watching people. the name from the post that inspired this one-- sweetsong-- is perfect but i didn't wanna copy it. i really like the name songfoot though, i think it's really cute.)

nectarbrook is thunderclan's beloved medicine cat. sweet and silly, she has an affinity for collecting and mixing herbs to create new tinctures. they don't always work exactly how she wants them to, but they never have strictly negative effects, so... not too bad! she spends most of her time on the journey trying and failing to be a mediator, and cowering in fear while everyone else does the scary (and often stupid) work. she's got an intelligence to rival gordon's, and she's one of the only cats gordon fully gets along with.

("nectar" is about the closest warrior cats prefix to "soda," and "brook" just kinda sounds nice as a suffix to nectar. it's another liquid-related word too.)

frostpaw is a bloodclan apprentice. he's well beyond apprentice age, but he's pretty incompetent at warrior duties and such, so it's taking him a while. he just wants to graduate.

i imagine he used to be a cushy kittypet with dreams of being one of those cool cat gang members he sees outside every now and again. he's way in over his head.

("frost" comes from forzen. obviously. i initially envisioned him as a warrior named frostjaw. i don't know why i chose that suffix other than it sounding nice. but then i remembered the "i just wanna graduate" thing, and thought it would be funny to make him an apprentice.)

goldenberry is a highly skilled warrior and one of snakestar's kits. he has a very unassuming demeanor, often appearing clumsy or head-in-the-clouds, but he's one of thunderclan's most precise and deadly fighters. his long windclan-like limbs allow for quick movement. like his father, he strikes like a snake. despite his prowess, he doesn't like fighting at all, and he would much rather hang around camp with his friend songfoot and take care of menial tasks like an apprentice or test out new herb tinctures for nectarbrook. he's very helpful and kind, if not a bit blunt. before snakestar died, he had goldenberry in mind as the next deputy as soon as galeheart finally kicked the bucket. he only didn't make him the deputy in the first place because he was an apprentice at the time.

("golden" comes from tommy's signature yellow, as well as his father's perception of him as highly important. "berry" comes from his general sillyness and his affinity for nectarbrook's various little treats.)

galeheart is a gregarious senior warrior and thunderclan's beloved deputy. despite his small stature, he's incredibly strong and overzealous. he loves his clan to death and he loves fighting even more, often dragging everyone into unnecessary squabbles just for the thrill of it. his loud, booming voice commands everyone's attention. he's quite old and really should be in the elders' den at this point, but his love for the warrior life keeps him going despite it all, and he's still in great shape. snakestar isn't quite so satisfied with galeheart's behavior, but there's not much he can do about that, given everyone else loves galeheart to bits. snakestar partially send him on that journey in hopes he would die already, but he has an unwavering spirit and he can and will outlive snakestar.

galeheart and gordon get along for the most part, but gordon is a little scared of him.

("gale" comes from coomer's general energy. he is a strong gust of wind to me. it also brings to mind the color white, which... is what galeheart is! "heart" also comes from his Vibes, mostly his fighting spirit.)

scorchtail is yet another old coot who should be getting ticks picked off of him by apprentices, but his stubbornness keeps him in his warrior position. he's not even particularly good at being a warrior-- he's cowardly and his battle strategy can best be described as the real life version of button-mashing. still, he's far too prideful to retire to the elders' den. he tends to follow galeheart around, since they grew up together and share similar positions in the clan. he's very antagonistic towards gordon, even moreso than songfoot. he has a special hatred of kittypets, seeing their lifestyle as an embarrassment.

("scorch" comes from bubby's association with fire as well as his sassy disposition, and "tail" comes from the tip of his tail looking burnt.)

snakestar is a starclan cat who was previously thunderclan's leader. he's generally cold and and analytical, and not much of a fighter, preferring to make others do his bidding. this behavior carried over very well to starclan, where he spends all his time being appropriately cryptic and unhelpful. he holds a lot of love for his one son, goldenberry, who he's always watching over. he doesn't care much for his other previous clanmates. he visits gordon in her dreams often to tell her vague things about her "part to play" and how important she is and all that. he arbitrarily decided that she was the subject of a prophecy, for the most part. i like to think starclan just makes shit up for fun. i think maybe one of his ancestors visited gordon when she was a kitten and made some kind of deal with her. i dunno. i'm in the very early stages of this au.

("snake" comes from gman's general vibes, but it's also an allusion to snakes in mythology [particularly abrahamic myth] being sleazy dealmakers with ill intent. before he was a leader, his suffix was "sight," alluding to his tendency to sit back and watch rather than run into battle.)

thanks for reading my long-ass ramblings, if you did! :-P idk if i'll actually do anything with any of this, but it's fun to think about...

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epicbuddieficrecs · 2 months

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Weekly Recap | April 15th-21st 2024

Warning you now that there won't be a recap next week because I'm gonna be on a birthday trip! (hello don't mind me I'm turning 30 this week 🙈). ((now that I think about it I could always post the recap on saturday. oh well. we'll see 😆))

Enjoy!

Complete

i'll fit you inside my future by withmeornotatall/ @chronicowboy (S7E5, BuckTommy | <1K | General): "Why'd you choose that abomination of a coffee for me?" And Buck groans just to hear Tommy laugh. "Really? What even was that?" "Black coffee four sugars," Buck mumbles, kicking a stone across the sidewalk sheepishly. "Jesus, Evan." Tommy's laugh is something special, loud and unrestrained and the sound of sunshine maybe. "Why?"

wild again, beguiled again by Maira/ @mairaiscarrierofthepaperclips (Post-S7E4, BuckTommy | 1K | General): The kiss had taken him out at the knees, a rush of lips and heat and just the barest hint of teeth, the graze of stubble not his own thrilling him in a way like nothing had before. Which was ridiculous, because the kiss hadn’t even been that long. He’d had longer kisses, hotter kisses. Kisses where Buck had very nearly forgotten his own name by the time they’d ended. And yet, this one kiss still had him smiling like a fool. ... or, the one after the kiss.

I gotta get that feeling by elless (Post-S7E5 | 1K | General): Buck watches his mouth as he speaks and the way his adam’s apple bobs when he swallows, and reminds himself to pay attention, because all of this is important. He wants to know everything. OR: what happens at the cafe after Buck's an eager beaver and asks Tommy to be his date at the madney wedding.

The New Normal by Tizniz/ @tizniz (Buck/Tommy/Eddie | 1,7K | General): While he had had a few drinks at the bar, Eddie hadn’t even been tipsy when Buck had blurted out those words: I think I’ve been dating both of you. That statement had settled in the middle of Eddie’s chest and burrowed into its new home, feeling so incredibly right in a way he’d never experienced before. (Part 3 of Buck's Boyfriends)

a good ally by thewolvesof1998/ @thewolvesof1998 (BuckTommy, PWP | 2K | Explicit): Tommy figures out Buck's humiliation kink by accident during sex and they explore it a bit.

everything’s growing in our garden by fleetinghearts/ @shitouttabuck (Post-S7E5, Pre-Buddie | 2K | Teen): eddie’s growing a garden. buck might be the most firmly planted thing in it.

every part of you (simple as that) by withmeornotatall/ @chronicowboy (BuckTommy, Madney Wedding | 2,8K | General): OR: buck comes out to chris, talks to tommy about the future, has realisations about the past and finds a little peace at the wedding

Lactose Intolerance by Rianne/ @rianneeyre (Drunken Confessions | 4K | Teen): After last night's tequila shots at the karaoke bar, Buck had just gone home and rolled into his too-big, too-comfortable, too-empty bed in his too-quiet loft, and he’d— Texted Eddie. He thinks. The memory is kind of vague.

Tell Me Anything by AnnaNSmith/ @annansmith (Near Death Experience, Love Confession | 5K | Teen): Or, how Buck shattered Eddie's entire world one night by confessing his love to him.

we don't know where this is going now (don't be afraid of heights, let me open your heart wide) by wikiangela/ @wikiangela (Post-S7E5, Tommy POV | 5K | General): Tommy cuts their first date short, but to his surprise he gets a call from Evan just a few days later.

Despite it all, I'm Happy by InsaneJuliann/ @marvelingjules (Established Buddie, Post-S4, Secret Relationship | 6K | Teen): Something's up with Buck, but he's not telling. No one else even seems to notice all the faked smiles and laughter, not like Eddie does. But he's afraid of pushing too hard. He's happier, lately. Chris, his family, the team - and especially Buck - make him happier than he's been in a long time. Eddie doesn't want to put that all at risk. Not now, while it still feels so new. (Part 12 of The Evolution of Buddie)

Be Yours if You'd be Mine by InsaneJuliann/ @marvelingjules (Established Buddie, Post-S4 | 5K | Mature): Things with Buck are good. Sure, Eddie's pretty sure that some days Buck is still hiding something from him, and sure, their relationship is still a secret to their friends. But there are moments where Eddie can only feel how right it is, Buck in his life, with his family and with Chris. And Eddie may not be able to put a word to the feeling he's been having lately, but he knows that his relationship with Buck isn't going anywhere. At least, Eddie was sure of that until he potentially fucked things up. Now, he's not sure where they stand, precisely. He's not sure if he's what Buck really wants, or if Buck's second guessing. They need to talk. The thing is, talking and vulnerability has never been Eddie's strong suit. (Part 13 of The Evolution of Buddie)

somebody i can kiss by Rianne/ @rianneeyre (Christmas, Getting Together, Post-S5 | 7K | Explicit): Buck might be a little touch-starved. And he knew that, but he was not prepared to deal with how the knowledge would interact with his newfound awareness of his crush on—no, realistically, his undying love for Eddie. Because now, whenever he sees Eddie, Buck just wants to shuffle close, bury his face in Eddie’s neck, and hold him. Every second he spends with his best friend, he’s either picturing that, or he’s imagining Eddie’s mouth on his dick, Eddie’s hands on his skin, Eddie’s fingers in his mouth— Anyway. The point is, he should not spend Christmas on a fucking sleepover with Eddie. But he’s gonna.

A Brief Interruption by Leslie_Knope (S7E5 Spec, BuckTommy but Buddie Endgame | 8K | Teen): The restaurant door squeaks again, which Buck ignores, but it’s accompanied by a little noise, just a hitch paired with a small intake of breath, which would be completely unremarkable if not for the fact that Buck has heard that sound a thousand times and would recognize it anywhere. He turns his head, abruptly enough that Tommy’s mouth briefly mashes against his cheek. “Eddie,” Buck says, his voice squeaky and weird. His brain is just pure static, partly from the kiss and partly because Eddie is standing six feet away, eyes wide, staring like he’s never seen him before.

Take These Little Pebbles One by One by giselleslash/ @gigi-gigi (Post-S7E5, Endgame Buddie | 9K | Teen): Eddie tells Buck nothing will change between the two of them, except it does. He feels Buck quickly slipping away so he starts to steal pieces of him back. Literally. Or, the one where Eddie has a couple of come to Jesus moments courtesy of Christopher and Tommy, a bit of an emotional breakdown, and a lot of feelings about Evan Buckley’s dentist appointments and where his socks belong.

all I want (your eyes on mine) by bigfootsmom/ @bigfootsmom (Buck/Tommy/Eddie, PWP | 10K | Explicit): Buck is lying there, Eddie instantly recognizes the head of honey blond curls resting on the arm of the couch. But the head of short brown curls between Buck’s shaking thighs takes a second longer to place. But then they look up, blue eyes going comically wide as they lock onto Eddie. Tommy Kinard is on Buck’s couch. He’s on Buck’s couch between Buck’s thighs with his lips wrapped around Buck’s cock. The one where Eddie yearns, Buck pines, and Tommy just wants to have a good time.

🔥 give your heart and soul to charity by 42hrb/ @exhuastedpigeon (Post-S7E5, Sexuality Crisis | 12K | Teen): “It’s been a while since you asked for an emergency session,” Frank says, voice even as always. “Can I ask what brought this on?” “I think I just dumped god,” Eddie says and then he bursts out laughing. He can’t control it, he knows he sounds manic, like he’s somewhere between laughter and a breakdown, edging closer to the breakdown. “Holy shit I did dump god.” “I’m going to need just a little more than that,” Frank says and his face looks torn between concern and amusement. OR Eddie dumps God, gets some more therapy, accepts parts of himself he was taught to hate, loves his best friend, and loves himself.

Buck up, Buttercup by etlagiapet/ @etlagiapet (Canon Divergent, ~S5 | 14K | Mature): “God, you’d probably make a good writer for an advice column. You’re so earnest and optimistic, and you want to help people literally all the time.” Buck blinks at her, frozen with his beer halfway to his lips. His stomach does this thing, an excited little lurch that happens when he gets ahead of himself, but he can’t help it. He clears his throat and manages to ask, “Uh, really?”

Breaking news: LA firefighters in love by AnnaNSmith/ @annansmith (Taylor POV, ~S5, Getting Together | 19K | General): “In an incredible turn of events firefighter Buckley is alive and mostly unharmed. What could have ended in a devastating tragedy finds its happy ending after all. What an absolute relief that firefighter Buckley made it out alive and that we now see-” Taylor turns around, only to come to a stuttering stop at witnessing the spectacle in front of her “-my boyfriend kissing his best friend.” Or, Taylor gets a second shot at accompanying the 118 for another segment and notices that her boyfriend is a lot closer to his best friend than she remembers.

🔥 drink the river dry by Rianne/ @rianneeyre (Post Shooting, Getting Together | 32K | Explicit): It wasn’t until they were discussing his discharge paperwork and painkiller schedules that it really sunk in for Eddie that Buck would be staying with him and Christopher. That he would be around 24/7 except for his shifts at work. That he’ll sleep on the couch, where he’s been sleeping for days now to look after Christopher. The worst part is that it’s necessary—Eddie isn’t going to be able to do a damn thing for himself for the next couple of weeks. He’s lucky if he can put a shirt on by himself a month from now. Yeah, that’s going to be a problem. Or: Eddie gets shot, breaks up with his girlfriend, and pines like there’s no tomorrow.

🔥 The Heart Opening Sequence by Leslie_Knope (Post-S3, Getting Together | 34K | Mature): Eddie’s handsome, that’s obvious, Buck clocked that the second he met him. Part of him still can’t really believe that the guy he was so threatened by at first ended up as his closest friend, which is why these weird twinges are so unsettling. Buck isn’t sure if they’re real, for one, these odd flashes of what it would be like to lean over and kiss Eddie while they’re watching a movie or brush a hand over his back while they’re in the kitchen. And for two, it’s so far out of the realm of possibility that it’s barely worth thinking about.

🔥 everything (nothing) has changed by bizarrestars (Post-S4, Love Confessions | 48K | Explicit): After Eddie gets shot, Buck confesses his love. From there, things get a little out of hand.

🔥 let it pour out of your soul series by Rianne/ @rianneeyre (Magical Realism AU, Witch Eddie | 3 works | 71K | Complete):

collectively unconsciously composed (S4E6: Jinx | 46K | Explicit): Or: in which the author re-watched Buck Begins and Jinx and thought: what if this was gayer and had actual magic?

that systematic drug (PWP | 5K | Explicit): Eddie’s mouth goes dry when he opens the door and sees Buck. He’s clean-shaven and with his hair carefully styled back, smiling at Eddie sweetly and a little teasingly. Buck is wearing his dark jeans and his light blue v-neck polo shirt, the one that’s tight enough that it shows off the bulge of his biceps and the definition of his pecs and abs. Eddie knows this shirt. Buck's favourite, because he knows he looks good in it.

something binding us together (Established Buddie | 20K | Teen): Or: Eddie plans a long-avoided visit to his parents, discovers some things about his magic, and begins to build his family a home in LA's witching community.

Podfic

🔥 [podfic] tomorrow will always and forever now be today (tomorrow is our always and forever) by Matriaya // fic by @chronicowboy (Post-S6, Time Loop | 5-6h | Mature): "Think I can get a hug from my best man on my wedding day?" he asks, quietly hopeful in a way that makes Eddie want to tear off his skin. "Sure," Chris replies with a shrug, turning to throw Eddie a cheeky grin. "Dad, Buck needs a hug." (OR: eddie gets trapped in a time loop on the day buck marries natalia)

🔥 my certainty is wild, weaving [Podfic] by blackglass/ @blackestglitter for tuckergreeen/ @henwilsonmd (Post-S5A, Hurt Buck | 45-60min | Teen): “Eddie,” Carla says softly. “You could have called. We would’ve met you at the hospital.” He shakes his head. “No. I didn’t—uh. I didn’t go to the hospital.” He feels the way Carla’s hand goes still. “Eddie.” It’s not nearly as soft-spoken this time. “You didn’t go see him? Or Chim? Your team?” “They’re not my team,” Eddie says, almost without thinking. He winces as soon as the words are out. Or: Buck is hurt, Eddie is worried, and everything is broken.

[podfic] i was supposed to sweat you out (i think there's been a glitch) by half_bakedboy/@half-bakedboy // fic by @loserdiaz (Canon Divergent, Fire Academy | 45-60min | Explicit): "What's your problem, man?" "You. You're my fucking problem, Diaz." There were a lot of problems with Eddie Diaz, if you ask Buck. The guy is obnoxiously good at everything without even trying, he's too perfect, too confident. And the biggest problem of them all: Eddie's an attractive asshole that features more often than not in Buck's filthiest dreams. or; The Buck and Eddie meet at the fire academy, rivals to lovers fic.

🔥 Like Any Unloved Thing [Podfic] by ReformedTsunderePodfics/ @film-in-my-soul // fic by @hmslusitania (Urban Fantasy/Noir AU, PI Eddie, Ghost Buck | 1.5-2h | Mature): After the war, Eddie Diaz opened his own private investigation business here in LA and usually he does alright for himself. But this case, the one with the Buckley siblings, is going to crawl under his skin and stay there. It's going to change his life. He has no idea how.

[Podfic] If I Risk It All (Could You Break My Fall?) by liketherestofla, MistMarauder/@gracieryder for Princessfbi/ @princessfbi (James Bond AU | 4.5-5h | Explicit): “This is Buck,” Bobby said when Buck’s tongue refused to unstick from the top of his mouth. “Your new quartermaster.” Eddie’s eyes— brown with just a glint of green if you caught them in the right light— widened before he scanned Buck with another sweeping assessment. “You’re—” Buck had heard it all before. “Not all of us nerds are the skinny kids that used to get picked on in high school.”

🔥 Hot Ghost Problems by ebjameston [Podfic] by Rhea314 (Rhea)/ @rhea314 // fic by @ebjameston (Canon Divergent, S2, Ghost Buck, Witch Eddie | 5-6h | Teen): Eddie is the newest firefighter at the 118. Buck is the ghost haunting the 118. Unfortunately for both of them, Eddie's also a witch and needs to put Buck's spirit to rest, because that's what witches do. Turns out, Buck's spirit? Super not interested in being put to rest. Very interested, however, in flirting with Firefighter Diaz, who is just trying to survive his candidate year. (Also turns out, Buck? Super not dead.)

WIP

Kiss Me Once Cause You Know I Had A Long Night by I_still_dont_understand_13 / @dangerpronebuddie (Prompt collection | 30/? | 19K | Teen): 100 kiss prompts.

30. 70. what if i told you none of it was accidental: An accidental kiss that confuses you both, but only a moment passes before you crash your lips back against each other's

What’s Your Order? by JJK/ @trenchcoatsandtimetravel (Post-S7E5, BuckTommy | 3/6 | 6K | Teen): 5 Times Buck Guessed Tommy’s Coffee Order + 1 Time He Didn’t Have To

🔥 Cowboy With a One Track Mind by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon Divergence, Not A Firefighter Buck | 2/4 | 11K | Mature): Spin-off Sequel to Evan Buckley & the Coma-Verse of Madness - Chapter 7 (Land): Grieving and tortured, Evan Buckley has been living alone in Montana in a remote cabin for nearly a decade. After an incident that leaves him missing six months of his life, and suddenly in connection with a group of strangers from Los Angeles, Evan must decide whether to remain in his self-imposed exile, or take a chance at life again.

🔥 Any Other Way by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon Divergent, S2 | 9/18 | 49K | Mature): In a switcheroo alternate universe, Buck spends young adulthood in the military, while Eddie, who has no idea Christopher exists, spends his twenties messing around, finally enjoying freedom away from his family’s expectations. When they both end up in Los Angeles, at the 118, some things are different, and others will be the same in any universe.

#epic buddie fic rec #buddie fanfic #buddie fic rec #buddie fic #buddie fanfiction

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sixhours · 3 months

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One Day at a Time - Chapter 1 - Conception

Series Chapter Index | Read on AO3 | Complete

Rating: Explicit, 18+, here be smut Series tags: The Last of Us, The Last of Us (HBO), Joel Miller x f!OFC, Joel & Ellie, mostly follows canon, SMUT, gratuitous smut, dubious consent (drunk sex), unplanned pregnancy, fluff, references to past miscarriages, angst, hurt/comfort, romance, age gap (~21 years), childbirth, fluffy baby stuff, I've probably forgotten some so please let me know <3

~*~

It was probably the alcohol.

No, it was definitely the alcohol. That shit was lethal and he should have known better.

Charlie wasn’t even supposed to be on the patrol roster that day. Joel was usually paired with Tommy; the brothers had a good rhythm and years of partnership that made their runs almost effortless. But Tommy’s kid was sick, and Charlie had shown up for his shift.

Joel didn’t mind. She was serious, a good shot, and she didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. Even Tommy could get chatty when the mood struck, and Joel was infamously allergic to small talk. It was one overnight run–ride north, spend the night in Beaver Creek, keep an eye out for hordes, and salvage and scavenge what they could–and then they’d come home.

If only she hadn’t cut her damn leg.

“Hold still,” Joel grunted as Charlie’s calf twitched under his hand. The gash was deep enough to require stitches, but he wasn’t going to try that, not with his arthritic fingers, not in this damp spring chill. He poured a splash of alcohol over the wound and winced at her hissed out-breath.

“Motherfucker,” she growled, and Joel’s cock gave an involuntary twitch at the timbre of her voice, a hazy borderland between pleasure and pain.

Yeah, he’d noticed her. The way her ass looked in those jeans, the way her thighs gripped the saddle and held firm, the way her competent hands wielded a rifle. Her hair was a shock of silver-white that complemented strange light gray eyes and full pink lips.

He’d noticed all of it. He was old as dirt, but he wasn’t dead .

When a clean rag was wrapped and tied around the wound, he sat back, examining his work.

“How the hell’d you manage that?”

She gestured to the corner of the outpost where refuse had piled up. “Was looking for the log. There’s a broken window, didn’t see it.”

“Log’s on the other side,” he grouched.

“Yeah, I figured that out,” she muttered, wincing as she shifted her leg.

“S’it hurt?”

She shot him a look. Of course, it fucking hurts.

So he handed her the flask from which he’d poured the makeshift antibiotic.

“This’ll help.”

Charlie took the first swallow greedily, eyes watering, wheezing and coughing when the stuff hit the back of her throat. “Holy shit, what is this?”

He smirked, taking back the flask and helping himself, letting out an involuntary cough at the burn. “They don’t fuck around at the distillery.”

“You don’t say,” she said, gesturing to him with a flick of her fingers. Give it back. He obliged.

He forgot he hadn’t had a stiff drink in too many months. He forgot the stuff was so potent . He forgot the cold made it easier to get shit-faced.

The drink helped ease the tension and pass the time as they passed the flask back and forth. It loosened his tongue and made him soft, malleable, fuzzy around the edges.

He remembers her leaning into him, seeking warmth. He remembers putting an arm around her and thinking she smelled really good, then her face was really close to his and…then the flask was empty and Charlie was straddling his lap and her hot little tongue was licking his mouth and he had no concept of how she’d gotten there.

Worst of all, he didn’t really care.

The next time he came to, she was pinned underneath him, three of his thick fingers pressing into the hot slick of her mouth. He watched, mesmerized, as she sucked them in deeper, swirled her tongue between the sensitive V of his middle and index fingers…then fucking smiled around them.

The noise he made was something between a croak and a moan, cock buried in her to the hilt, hips rocking against hers involuntarily as she clenched, clenched, clenched . At some point, she’d taken off her jacket and he’d pushed up her shirt, pulled the cup of her bra down over one perfect full breast, and he had just enough wherewithal for his lips to find her nipple, sucking it hard between his teeth. He fumbled then, wanting the other breast, but his other hand was still in her fucking mouth, pressing against the soft warm pad of her tongue, and he couldn’t hold himself up. He growled in frustration, used his teeth against the lace cup of her bra, pulled hard, and freed his target.

Then he promptly forgot what he was trying to do.

The little sounds she made, cooed and purred directly into his good ear, were going to drive him fucking insane. It shouldn’t have been possible to get this hard , not at his age, and certainly not while on the verge of blackout drunk. He felt like he’d taken one of those little blue pills he used to trade. And she was so wet, so soft. She was burning around him and he wanted to die in her fire.

Then his groin pulled tight, a molten heat pooling low in his belly, and he couldn’t make himself stop thrusting, couldn’t make himself wait.

“You–you gonna–” he fumbled, trying to get the words to cooperate but his tongue was a useless piece of meat in his mouth and he was too fucking gone.

Charlie’s strong body arched under him, cutting him off, and all he could feel was her sweet, slick fluttering pulling him deeper as she came with a wail. A dim part of his mind thanked a god he didn’t believe in and followed suit, spilling into her with a final sloppy thrust that wrenched a harsh cry from his lips and his mind from his body.

He vaguely remembers her pushing him off, panting and muttering about not being able to breathe, and then it all went black.

~*~

He wakes with a groan that tastes like bile.

Oh, his aching head, his godforsaken head . He’s having a stroke. That’s gotta be it. Only explanation.

He rolls to his side in agony and dares a tiny peek through swollen, dry eyes. The light is a white-hot blade to his frontal lobe.

Nope, that’s not gonna work.

He hears retching outside. His hand touches something cold and metallic—the flask.

The empty flask.

Jesus. He risks another glance at the too-bright world and it hurts a tiny fraction less. Maybe not a stroke after all. His cock is still hanging out of his boxers, flaccid and freezing, and he has just enough capacity to tuck himself back in and sit up before Charlie comes limping into the cabin.

The sight of her calls up a hazy memory of heat and searing pleasure along with a wave of nausea. It must come back to her, too, because she’s looking at him warily.

“Did we…?” she says.

“We did,” Joel mutters, forcing himself to stay absolutely still. The slightest movement leaves him feeling like a rowboat tossed on the open sea.

“Thought so. Shit.”

After a few excruciating moments, Joel’s stomach settles and he attempts to get to his feet. His back has other plans, and when she offers him an arm for leverage, he takes it reluctantly, pulling away at the first possible opportunity when he’s sure he’s not going to keel over.

“Look–”

“Listen–”

Fuck.

“You go,” he says, closing his eyes. Oops, that was a mistake. The world spins behind his eyelids. He drags them open, stumbling toward the door, searching for something to hold onto.

“I think…we’re two people, who had a consensual–consensual-ish—”

Joel’s gut rolls, pitches, yaws. He flings open the door just in time, depositing the meager contents of his stomach into the mud.

Leaning on the door frame, her hand on his arm brings him back.

“This doesn’t need to be weird,” Charlie says. “Can we chalk it up to a couple of bad decisions and move on?”

“Yeah,” he grunts, swallowing another heave. “S’fine.”

He’s barely conscious for the trip back to Jackson. The glare of the early spring sun and the lope of the horse beneath him is nauseating. Charlie doesn’t seem to fare much better, but true to her nature, she doesn’t complain.

They ride through the gates and part ways with barely a nod and a wave between them. No one asks why their run proves fruitless, chalking it up to Charlie’s injury. She limps off to the clinic to get stitched up, and Joel staggers home, collapsing in bed to sleep off the worst hangover of his life.

#the last of us #fanfic #fanfiction #joel miller #pregnancy #babyfic

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thehardy-boys · 10 months

Text

The Platform (Tommy Shelby x Reader)

Hey! Its literally been like forever but I've had some time to myself and actually written something. This was not requested or anything but I just got inspired with all the new content recently. Anyways, pls enjoy. It's a series so there will be more parts to the story.

Warnings: Sadness, negative thoughts, flirting if you squint (In the future -- smut 😏)

Part 1

(y/n) hadn’t planned on ever coming back.

“I’ll put your tea here then mum. Alright?” (y/n) spoke fairly loudly so the elderly woman could hear. She was nearing eighty and she had lost most of her sight and hearing. She was a ghost nearing on a corpse. But there was no one else to look after her. As these kinds of responsibilities usually fall on the women, the daughters, they fell on (y/n) just the same.

“I’m heading to work. Mrs. Iona will check in on you from time to time, alright?” The bedroom door was almost closed when she heard the slight mumble coming from the shriveled woman.

“Not supposed to be here. Don’t want her here. Take her away.”

She paused only for a moment suddenly hit with a wave of the past. The tide so strong it almost pulled her into its murky depths. But with the door closed and the sight of her mother taken away (y/n) turned her back and softly made her way out of her mother’s house.

She waved to Mrs. Iona as she shut the front gate and walked back down the street towards the main road. Her shoes already collecting the terrible coal dust.

She hated it here. The heavy air that the sunlight could never quite penetrate which resulted in the town being in a constant gloom. It made her skin crawl. The unhappiness was crippling. The drunkards already stumbling around the street at eleven o’clock in the morning, the starving children running back and forth, the haggard mothers one step closer to the grave and the dark alleys that were haunted with glistening knives, illegal pistols, and razor-sharp caps.

Get me out of here. Get me out of here. (y/n) screamed internally but she only pushed open the heavy wooden door of the newspaper agency and kindly greeted Mrs. Kelley the receptionist before making her way to the back of the building and sitting down at her desk. Another day. More editing. That was her lot in life: never to be the one writing and creating but only a ghost in the machine, a minion behind the scenes.

By the end of every long day at the newspaper house the words would blur into one huge muddle. She’d pack up her small bag, wish a good night to her boss Mr. Beavers, and head home. Her eyes would be sore and her brain throbbing with a headache. But that was just Small Heath, barely living.

(y/n) felt that she had something missing. She knew she had it when she was younger because of all her memories. The vibrancy of the trees she climbed, the scent of baking in the kitchen, the damp fur of their pet dogs after a rain storm. Everything was so vivid back then and full. Her eyes open and wanting, now she was shuttered, fragile, and tired. Her knees often ached and her neck sore from hunching over papers all day. She was decaying, slowly.

“(y/n)!” Her head popped up from her desk at the sound of her name. Polly Gray was making her way towards her. She was as formidable as (y/n) remembered. She rose up to return Polly’s hug.

“Mrs. Gray, It’s so nice to see you!” Polly squeezed a bit tighter. The warmth of her body rubbing off onto (y/n). She welcomed it. It had been so long since she had received any kind of touch.

“When the hell did you get back?”

“About a year now.”

“A year!? A whole year and you didn’t bother to drop me a line?” Her outrage wore the mask of humor but (y/n) could tell there was genuine worry, genuine hurt lurking behind it.

(y/n) shook her head in apology, “I know. I know. I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting to come back here and then a lot happened and I’ve just been so busy Mrs. Gray. I’m really sorry.”

“No, I know (y/n). I heard what happened. Awful stuff. I had no idea you were here dealing with it all. You should have asked for help.”

(y/n) began to shake her head and ward off Polly’s offer when her boss’s door opened up behind her.

“Ah, Mrs. Gray and Mr. Shelby do come in.” He gestured warmly into his office.

Polly rubbed her arm before stepping inside.

A tall man had been standing behind Polly. (y/n) hadn’t noticed him in the frenzy of the greeting but she didn’t need an introduction. Nobody in Small Heath did. He was just as the ladies described him at the grocers she went to weekly: cold, inscrutable, foreboding, and dangerous.

(y/n) had lived in Small Heath only until she had turned thirteen and then her family had moved away. Her father had been close to Polly and consequently (y/n), over the years, had played with the young Shelby brothers. (y/n)’s older brother had gotten along well with Arthur and if she concentrated hard enough, she could remember playing hide and seek with Thomas and John Shelby. But it was all so long ago, and she realized she hadn’t seen any of them in over fifteen years. And yet she knew it was Thomas. She knew.

She wondered mildly if he remembered her, “(y/n) (l/n).” That was all he said with a quick nod he passed her by not glancing back and nor did she.

Polly left first and, on her way, reminded (y/n) to drop by. An hour or so later Thomas came out, as well. (y/n) was neck deep in the upcoming Sunday issue so she barely registered the figure standing next to her desk.

“Oh, Mr. Shelby! Did Mr. Beavers ask me to get you any forms?” She pushed away her paper hurriedly and stood up.

He shook his head slowly and continued to stare at her, hands deep in his pockets.

She tilted her head as a question, and he only shrugged slightly.

“I was trying to remember why you left, all those years ago.”

(y/n) sat back down. A flicker of fear coursed through her at the reminder of their family’s departure. A broken window, her father’s bruised face, and her mother’s hands constantly trembling.

“It wasn’t my decision; it was my parents.” She didn’t look up at him and instead pulled her papers back towards her. She didn’t want to sift through all those years. She could barely make it through the present.

He must have sensed the finality because he bid her good day and left but his stare stayed with her all day and even into the night. The frostiness of the blue. The condemnation they held for humanity.

Mr. Beavers explained the next morning that they were starting a partnership with Shelby Limited. They would be expanding their sports column to include more articles on the races. Mr. Beavers excitedly described the hope for a few informative articles on the intricacies of horse racing, training, and breeding. But it wasn’t just about horses Mr. Beavers went on, being attached to Shelby Limited allowed them an easy avenue for new stories and information. It was a ready-made news source.

“All this in exchange for what?” (y/n) asked.

“We give Mr. Shelby’s races publicity and well…occasionally we would publish or not publish certain articles for the company.”

(y/n) crossed her arms, “So they can censor us? What stops them from completely taking over the paper? What if next week they decide they don’t want the Theatre column? Evan and Nate would be out of the job.”

Mr. Beavers frantically shook his head, “It’s not like that, not like that at all. I know Mrs. Gray and I trust her. The company is not interested in that kind of control. I mean we’re only a small agency, (y/n).”

And thus, the partnership began and now not just (y/n) felt the steely stare of Mr. Shelby, but the entirety of the agency did.

It started slowly but Thomas began to come by once or twice a week. It was usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (y/n) learned from Mr. Beavers that they were working on a contract. She would here the tell-tale sound of expensive shoes on the marble floor and know even without looking up who it was. Thomas Shelby walked with such authority in his three piece suits all the young ladies at the agency were already gossiping about him during their lunch breaks. But (y/n) kept her distance.

She had always been an outsider in Small Heath. The community never welcomed her family, something to do with their Jewish ties. And now, after returning, people were even more wary. (y/n) could tell there were whispers behind her back. She ignored the fake apologies about the missing invitation when she caught her colleagues out for a bite to eat all together. It didn’t bother her, not really.

“Mr. Shelby, Mr. Beavers will be right out. His previous meeting’s running a bit late. Please sit down if you’d like.” She gestured to the few arm chairs by the window. He only nodded and sat. He lit his cigarette and did what he always seemed to do around her, stare. And she ignored him in favor of the monumental stack of paperwork in front of her.

“How much do they pay you here?” He asked out of the blue. His deep voice easily cutting through her concentration.

She looked over, “Minimum wage.”

“For all that?” He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

(y/n) shrugged.

“You edit, organize, design, and manage each issue and only get minimum wage?”

“I’m not in a position to be picky, Mr. Shelby.” She bristled a bit.

He took another drag and let the smoke column upwards. He did look beautiful with the sunlight streaming in behind him. It caught the contours of his angular face and she thought yeah, I think I get it now.

He cleared his throat and sat back satisfied her attention was now on him, “Don’t you remember me?”

“Yes. I mean we were just kids.” She shrugged lightly.

“We met on the platform.” He took another inhale of his smoke, “After the war.”

(y/n) blinked.

“Yes, we did.” Her throat had gone dry.

He opened his mouth to continue but “(y/n)! I need the consumer reports.” It was Evelyn from the market section. Her plump red lips perking up at the sight of Thomas. (y/n) had the feeling Evelyn already knew he would be here; the reports weren’t needed until the end of the day.

“Yes. Here they are.” (y/n) sifted through her desk and handed over the packet.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Evelyn asked. She played with a few loose strands of her hair.

“Oh. Uh-Mr. Shelby this is Ms. Lowe. Ms. Lowe, Mr. Shelby from Shelby Limited.”

“Ever so pleased to meet you, sir.” She placed a sneaky hand on her hip and shifted her weight a tad to conform her body into an elegant pose.

And she was attractive (y/n) had to admit. She was young and full of vigor. Her hair always done to perfection and makeup never smudged. She looked like a movie star. She looked like a woman all men would fall head over heels for. (y/n) inwardly cringed. She could only imagine what she must look like next to this creature of beauty.

But when (y/n) looked over to see Thomas’ reaction, he seemingly hadn’t stopped looking at her. Only when their eyes met did Thomas glance over at Evelyn and give a slight nod.

“Mr. Shelby! Please come in, come in! I do apologize about the delay!” Mr. Beavers rushed out and hurriedly greeted the businessman.

After the door closed Evelyn let out a huff. She handed back the packet to (y/n).

“I don’t even need these. I just wanted him to get a look if you know what I mean.”

(y/n) gave a small smile hoping to be rid of the superficial woman but she had one last request.

“Put in a few good words for me, will you? He always comes by your desk. Just drop in a few hints?”

(y/n) sighed and re-organized a few papers, “I’ll try my best Evelyn, but I can’t promise anything.”

A few hours later, Evelyn really did come and collect the consumer reports but lucky for her the office door opened and the two men appeared.

“And wonderful (y/n) here will get the correct form for you to sign Mr. Shelby. Let’s organize a convenient day for her to drop the upcoming issue down at your office weekly.”

Evelyn who was too quick easily swooped in without any hesitation, “I can help, Mr. Beavers. You know that I have a much more open schedule than (y/n). I’d be happy to deliver the issue.” She smiled blindingly.

(y/n) just sat there watching the whole thing unfold. In fact, she was actually grateful Evelyn was sticking her nose into it because she didn’t want to see more of Thomas than she already had these past few weeks.

“That is true, Mr. Beavers. Evelyn has a bit more time on her hands these days.”

The boss was beginning to make the face of agreement before, “I’d like Ms. (l/n) to be the one making the deliveries.”

And there was no room for argument with Mr. Shelby.

“Of course, whatever works best for Mr. Shelby. Let’s say every Thursday?” Mr. Beavers heartily clasped the man’s hand and then beckoned Evelyn into his office for a round up on the recent reports. (y/n) didn’t miss the venomous look the other woman shot her.

(y/n) opened her desk drawer and took out the mentioned form that needed the signature.

“Just here, Mr. Shelby.” She held out a pen for him without bothering to look up. This turned out to be a bad idea because she jumped in surprise as he partially leaned over her to sign the paper. He smelled of oak and whisky. He carried the scent of the past.

She remembered seeing his eyes in the sea of green uniforms on the platform. And she knew. She just knew. After all those years. She had walked towards him. He stood there waiting for her. His beautiful blue eyes. That beautiful face.

“(y/n) (l/n).” He had said her name then with such certainty like it was law. Like it had some kind of divine meaning and not just a jumble of letters.

“Is that all?” He asked setting the pen down.

She cleared her throat, “Yes.”

She expected him to be on his way, but she looked up when she never heard the retreating footsteps. He still stood next to her one hand on the back of her chair. Looking down at her.

“Did you not expect me to remember you?”

She clenched her jaw, “Why would I expect you to remember me?”

He furrowed his brow and walked away.

Part 2

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bubble-tea-blossom · 2 years

Text

Slip Up

Pairing: Joel x f!reader

Rating / Warnings: E for Explicit sex so 18+ Only. PIV. Oral sex. Slightly rough sex. Use of “good girl.” Violence at the beginning (killing Infected)

WC: 6k

Summary: Despite agreeing to keep your thing a secret, Joel can’t help but slip up when he almost looses you.

Part One

A/N: Cross posted to my AO3

“There he is, finally.” Tommy grumbles besides you, and you turn to see Joel walking towards the stables, “He hate’s being late, the hell was he doing?”

Me. You think. Instead you distract Tommy with a new subject.

“So where were you thinking on bringing the new recruits?” You ask, giving your horse a cheek scratch.

Tommy watches Joel disappear into the stables before turning to you.

“Was thinking since we’re a big group today, split into three groups, one senior member per newbie. Go as one group to the first check point then meet up at the last before heading home.”

You look over your horse’s neck to watch the slightly nervous new recruits wait on their horses.

“What do you think?” Tommy asks.

There’s 3 of them, Kiera, Tiff, and Jaime, and apparently they’ve all been good so far on the group patrols, so by splitting up Tommy is wanting to test them how they work in pairs. Smartly since they would partnered with someone Tommy trusts, which is himself, Joel and you.

You look over at them, quickly scanning them as you think about Tommy’s plan. The two women look quite comfortable and even a little bored as you all wait for Joel.

The young man seems a little unnerved being on the horse. He keeps tensing up like he’s trying not to shit himself when the horse swishes it’s mane or shifts it’s weight.

You make a mental note to check in with him and see to get him some riding lessons. ASAP too if just sitting on one is making him nervous.

The plan seems like a smart one, a general progression to see how they do in just pairs.

Since you can’t think of a good reason why not, you say, “Works for me.”

Joel’s finally walking through the doors, reins in hand as he leads his seal brown gelding, Old Beardy.

You notice the top of his cheeks just a little above his beard line, are a little red still.

“Good of you to join us.” Tommy says with that sarcastic tone of glee that only a younger sibling gets when picking on the faults of their elder.

“Sorry folks.” Joel says to the group as he swings Old Beardy’s reins over his head before mounting up.

Tommy takes the lead out the gates talking with the new recruits, Joel following quickly and you bringing up the rear on your mare.

As Tommy fills in the newbies on the plan, you catch up to walk side by side with Joel.

“So Joel, had something exciting going on at home or something?” You say with a casual tone, keeping any trace of a hidden meaning out of your voice.

Joel looks over with a squint only to receive your flash of a smile. His squint turns mischievous as he replies, “Yeah, I think some little beaver was having away with my wood.”

Your jaw drops a little at his blatantly ill-hidden innuendo spoken just a few feet behind everyone. You recover quickly and instead hum in understanding as if that sentence makes perfect sense.

Once the group reaches the first checkpoint, everyone was aware of the plan. But before you could reach the building the echos of infected can be heard from a grocery store a street down.

The horses are dismounted and weapons drawn as it is decided that you all go in as a group to deal with this first.

Good thing too because there’s at least 10 infected in there.

Tommy takes the lead, sending people in certain direction, everyone moving silently. It seems like they’re all Runners as well, to make things a little more complicated.

Things seem to be going smoothly as you and Kiera take down two runners stumbling in the same direction down the ice cream isle. You’re hunting knives slicing through the Runner’s throats before they can let out a scream.

You round the corner just in time to see Jaime step in front of a runner facing him. It lets out a scream as it makes towards him. This sends every single infected remaining into a frenzy, and gunshots ring freely in instant reply.

Kiera’s a quick shot and pings the Runner through the head before it can get too close to Jaime.

You shoot the next to Runner that run into view with your Winchester. You slam the lever back up to pop the next bullet into place, and take aim at the next Infected.

None to quickly and yet not quick enough, silence falls on the abandoned grocery store. You run up to the registers in a few long steps and jump up onto the conveyor belt.

With a quick scan you see most of the rest of the group. And no signs of any remaining Infected.

“All here?” you call out and everyone roll calls nice and quick.

You jump down next to Tommy as everyone makes their way to you at the front of the store.

“Jaime.” you hear Joel say intensely, and you snap your head over.

“Remember, if there’s no fungus on the head they can still see.” Joel says, his tone short.

Jaime looks as if he’s about to fall over, and he nods out a quick “Yes, sir.”

You don’t blame Joel, but you still felt a little bad for Jaime who looks deeply embarrassed.

“Everyone good?” Tommy asks, and a sigh of relief is felt pass around the room when everyone reports all safe and sound.

Tommy turns to with you with a look as you share an exhale, making your way to the exit back to the horses. Everyone mounts back up and Tommy leads the way to the doctor’s office, where the first checkpoint is.

It’s a short ride, only one street down, and Tommy and the new recruits jump down so he can show them where the log book is and the route map.

You stay outside, across from Joel, both seated on your respective horses.

Neither of you say anything, looking at each other with a soft smile on both of your faces. Sometimes one of you tips your face up toward the breaking sun. Feeling it bring warmth to the air as the sunrise fades in.

Once they’re done, Tommy and the other three join you and Joel back outside.

“I think Kiera should go with Joel,” you say quickly before Tommy can announce the partners. Kiera is a great shot and handled everything extremely well today, she’ll be the least likely to piss Joel off.

“And I’ll take Jaime. Tiff you can go with Tommy.” you finish, waiting for Tommy to say anything in disagreement.

Tommy shrugs his shoulders, “Seems good to me.” he announces and people part with their respect partners, quick words of good luck passing around.

“Lead the way Jaime.” you tell him encouragingly. He looks up at you with an embarrassed appreciation for your effort.

As he pulls ahead, you cast a quick glance behind you. There you see Joel doing the same, the both of you looking backwards on your horses so you can share a last secret goodbye.

With an effort, you pull your gaze back in front, focusing on Jaime.

You make your way down the trail with Jaime in relative silence. One check point is passed and no Infected in sight. The trail seems quiet so you strike up casual conversation.

The next checkpoint comes with two more Infected in a little trinket store. A Runner and a Clicker this time. You dispatch the Runner, and Jaime takes down the Clicker well on his own.

You give him a nod of acknowledgement as you remount your horses.

The third checkpoint comes half an hour later and is all quiet as well. You rendezvous at the last checkpoint and wait for the others to join up. They all come good and clean, with various excited reports between Kiera and Tiff.

“There’s a fuck ton of ‘em in the school, we’re gonna need to all go clear them out.” Tommy announces to the group and you all take a quick rest to water and check amo.

You set off all again, Tommy in the lead and you and Joel bringing up the rear.

“Pretty morning.” you say amicably. Joel gives you a knowing look.

You keep quiet the rest of the way there. You know how seriously Joel takes things like this. And you don’t blame him, and it actually makes you feel safer with him around.

But you also know how intimidating Joel can be to those who don’t know him. He’s big, and doesn’t hold himself to make himself smaller, he stands tall and faces you directly when he speaks to you with intense eyes that don’t miss anything, usually with a frown on his face.

And yet, your first interaction from way back, you remember doing a double take when you saw him, feeling drawn to him.

Your thoughts of Joel’s intimidation score are flicked out of your head when you hear the shrieks from outside the school. Tommy was right, there’s a fuck ton of them. And they all click.

You all dismount like cats jumping down from the counter. Quick and silently.

Tommy opens one of the four main doors. He flags everyone through, you first this time. Jaime hot on your heels to keep up with you still.

Tommy directs you down an aisle and you take it in confident silent steps. Your first target is shambling in somewhat erratic directions, making it quite risky for a stealth kill, but it’s necessary with so many Infected in this confined space.

This particular Clicker is agitated, it sways back and forth a lot more aggressively than most Clickers do while at ease.

You spend an extremely respectful amount of time waiting for your moment with how twitchy it already is. The problem is choosing a time to strike. Every time you brace to leap onto it’s back it moves again. You know you’re taking too long trying to find the right moment. Hopefully the others have taken down more than you have.

The slightest too heavy of a step sounds behind you and you whip your head around to see Jaime right behind you. You usher him back quickly as the Clicker starts it’s way toward you.

You luckily don’t have to make a run for it because it startles at something in the other direction. You stand still with Jaime, catching your breath, heart pounding a little faster than it already was.

You look around and see another Clicker a little bit away, standing still, hunched in on itself. The only movement it makes is the occasional twitch of it’s head accompanied by a croak.

An easy kill, and not too far away so you can help if you need to. You touch Jaime lightly on the shoulder and gesture for him to go take care of that one.

He looks frazzled, wide eyes and nervous as he nods. You give him a soft pat in encouragement as he steps around you. Maybe you shouldn’t send him out, just tell him to leave while you and the others deal with things. But then it’s too late and he’s already a step too far. Well, if he’s going to be on patrol he needs to be able to handle this.

You turn back to your own current target, refocusing on it. You take more slow steps, as it stumbles squarely in front of you, back turned to you.

Perfect.

You take a few quick light steps, just one more and you can finally tackled it safely from behind.

You’re halted in your steps when an ear-splitting bang cracks through the room from behind you. Close enough you know it’s Jaime shooting.

The Clicker one step away whirls around with a scream and stumbles right into you. You let you a scream accidentally as you brace your arms against the clawing Clicker. It slams it’s weight full force against your palms, sending you to the ground.

You fall on your back hard with the weight of the thrashing monster. Your elbows are locked as you yell with effort to keep the thing from tearing your throat out. It’s fingers come within a millimeter of your nose, it’s teeth snapping together with audible clicks. You don’t know how much longer you can restrain it.

A deafening bang rings close over head and the Clicker falls to dead weight, still being held upright by your straining arms for a split second. You quickly fling it aside, scrambling upright.

Joel is there with his smoking revolver, one hand lowering it while he bends to grab you around your waist to help you up.

You lean your weight into his hands in comfort for a split second before the two of you separate. There’s no time for greetings with the size of this group of Infected howling their way closer, so you leave each other to reach for your guns instead.

Everyone has opened fire and all hell has broken loose.

You stay by Joel’s side the entire time, the two of you moving around each other as smooth as water rolling over a stone.

Finally silence falls after what seems like at least 5 minutes of shooting.

You come to stand still, quickly counting people in your view.

“Everyone here?” Tommy calls out and everyone again shakily call back.

“Jaime!” Joel rounds on him, leaving your side to approach the young man. Jaime’s reaction airs similar to Simba seeing the stampede of water buffalo.

“What the hell was that? Why did you shoot? You almost got her killed along with everyone else.” Joel barks out, reprimanding him harshly. It’s a little much, and too soon. Jaime looks like he’s about to cry.

“It turned around,” Jaime starts to explain before Joel cuts him off,

“They were Clickers. Clickers can’t see-“ “Joel.” Your one word halts his verbal lashing in it’s tracks.

The room falls silent as you share a quick look with him. And even as you make heated eye contact, you notice in the back of your head how the warm sunrise makes his tan face glow.

Joel holds your gaze for a moment before looking away, walking back to the horses.

Tommy clears his throat and everyone shifts on their feet to relieve the tension.

“Alright everyone, let’s head back.”

—

Tommy quickly looks back and forth between you and Joel as everyone follows him outside.

There was something off about that millisecond interaction you had with Joel.

Joel was serious about this stuff, but he’s not usually so intense and harsh. He didn’t sound like he was just worried about another Jacksonite. He was terrified.

Tommy had heard Joel sounded like that about Ellie’s safety plenty, and even about his own safety. But Joel loved both Tommy and Ellie, and was therefore extremely protective over them both.

That’s when Tommy’s steps falter a little bit.

He snaps his eyes to you casting a slightly mournful look at Joel’s back and it all clicks.

Holy shit.

—

You aren’t being very careful when you go over to Joel’s midday.

The ride back was tense and quiet. Joel and you going separate ways home without many words in parting.

Yet at home you were too restless to rest. So, snatching your sweater off your chair, you leave your home. You can’t wait until the cover of night. You need to see him now.

You take the time to sneak to Joel’s back door. You can see your reflection in the glass as you wait for him after your knocks. Joel slides it open quickly, after seeing it’s you.

You step in without waiting for an invitation. Brushing past him into the warm glow of his house, stepping into his space. You notice his comforting smell, he must have showered when he got home. It’s a scent you’re becoming more and more acquainted with.

“Hey.” you greet, looking up at him. He’s frowning again. He used to do that so much when you first met him.

But when he meets eye contact, the frown melts off his face.

“C’mon, let’s go sit.” You speak up, taking him by the hand, leading him to the couch that’s facing the back door.

You sit him down and sit right next to him, taking both of his hands in yours. You bow your head and he mirrors you, resting forehead to forehead as you exhale.

You sit like that for a little bit, breathing with each other, hands clasped. You break the contact to look at him. You reach up and tilt his face down so you can press a kiss to his forehead.

You gently pepper kisses down his face. Over his eyelids, his cheekbones, the bridge of his nose. Before finding their way to his lips.

His lips part for you quickly, as he kisses you back.

It’s not a long kiss, short but sweet as you pull back a little bit.

Joel's terrified. You can see it in his eyes. He thought he lost you. He doesn't want to let you go.

You can tell from the way he runs his hands up and down your arms. The slightly frantic look in his eye. He wants to dig his hands in and not let go. Good thing you want that too.

This time when you lean forward he rushes to meet you. Almost smacking each other, you recover just in time and begin to kiss him passionately.

Never stopping your kisses, you swing a leg over his hip and climb onto his lap.

"I'm here." You tell him through breaks in your furious kisses.

"I'm here for you." You reiterate which makes him slow his kisses to a gradual stop.

You look him square in the eye as you take his hands from your face, and slide them down yourself, before setting them on your hips. Then you wrap one arm around his torso while the other arm goes to thread through his thick his hair. Interlocking lips again and you dig your nails in harder than you've ever before, then rolling your hips down hard, feeling the relief rush through you with the weight of his hardness press against you even through your clothes.

He responds a few kisses later, fingers digging into your hips bones as he drags you against himself this time. You answer with an excited moan.

He gets the message.

He literally flips you over to your back, Judo style, one hand grabbing your knee to bring up over his hip. It's gentle, he cushions your fall to the couch, eyes expectant over you as he reads your reaction. When a pretty smile splits your face, he continues with a press of his soft lips against yours, hands drifting lower to cup your sex directly.

You hum in your chest as your knees instinctively fall to the side, opening up t o him. He closes that space as he grinds his palm right on your clit. It sends a stake of electricity up your body.

You break apart with a "fuck" and grip his hair tighter. He's rubbing strongly with the perfect amount of pressure to be intense without crushing.

Over and over, he strokes you steadily as you dig your fingers into the muscles of his back. He’s pushing you closer and closer to the edge surprisingly fast. Maybe your blood is still hot from the fight. You drag your fingertips down his broad back, feeling the space between the two of you heat up.

Quicker than you expected, you feel your insides flutter, and you gasp out a surprised moan as you fall over the edge. Once you've finish switching, you blink your eyes open, a bit confused and a touch embarrassed by how fast he made you come.

Yet Joel looks nothing but pleased. Big, warm, eager hands going to your zipper, while you quickly half sit up so you can do the same to his.

He lets out a satisfied grunt when his fingers part your lips and feel how wet you are. Rucking your jeans and underwear down your legs to your knees, he slips two fingers deep inside. Finding your cunt warm and greedy, the narrow angle of your hips from your jeans half off making you tighter in this position.

You ruck his jeans and boxers down his hips, just enough to pull his dick free. You immediately grasp a hold and he grows harder quickly in your hand as you begin stroking him.

You were already wet before he started touching you and you’ve only gotten wetter post your orgasm so Joel is quickly coaxing a third finger past your entrance. It brings a slight burn from the cramped position, but any sting is rubbed away with Joel’s massaging finger tips, rubbing you everywhere you need. You hum through your chest your appreciation, your forehead resting against his as he braces himself over you with his other hand, pressing against the cushions by your head.

Joel's big, so you don't like to skip foreplay, but right now with him three fingers deep, your fist wrapped around his length only a few inches away from your plugged hole, your want for him to sink inside you becomes unbearable.

It's what you need after this afternoon, to press as close as possible, as you recover from the close call.

Joel seems to agree because close he's removing his fingers and instead pressing his hips to yours, guiding his tip to your hole. He rubs himself against you, dipping his cock in your wetness before running himself up, splitting your lips as he rubs at your clit.

You jolt and go to beg him to just fuck you already, but he's already sinking inside. His cock splits you open slowly, nestling deep inside as you feel your whole body spark with pleasure.

Your mouth falls open a little as he pushes in with your inhale, a rumble of pure pleasure sounding from his chest. The sound is deep and gravely, making your pleasure spark higher, hearing it.

It’s a good thing he’s been fucking you so often, your pussy’s grown accustomed to him spreading you apart, but you remember the first time he fucked you, this process had taken much longer.

Joel holds there, deep inside, your walls gripping him tightly but adjusting quickly. You tilt your chip up to look at his face. The expression on his face, his jaw loose, eyes glosses over with pleasure you feel mirrored on your own.

He’s still waiting for your go ahead, either as a self-assurance or a tease, he always waits for you. So you give it to him.

“C’mon Joel, fuck me.” you plead, your voice throaty as you grip his shoulder tighter.

You see something change in his eyes, something you haven’t seen before. He finally responds with a strong roll of his hips into yours, and your eyes roll back as he finally starts to give you what you want. You like keeping your hands on his back, moving a little lower to feel his muscles working to pump his hips against yours, fucking himself within you.

You can only imagine what it must look like from the outside, his broad form covering yours, your knees framing his hips with your jeans and underwear bunched up around them. The image of Joel fucking you into the couch makes muscle clench, shutting your eyes, pussy suctioning onto the thick cock inside it and your hands turning into claws dragging down his side.

Before you can feel bad for the scratches, Joel’s moaning against your cheek.

You feel gentle fingers tip your chin up in contrast with the relentless thrusts against your lower half.

“Sweetheart, look at me.” Joel whispers, somehow his voice is tender while he simultaneously pounds you so hard you slide up and down on the couch. You know your hair is going to be a fucking disaster after this. Gravity only pulls you further onto his cock when you come back down as he thrust up, making your eyes clench shut harder.

“I want to see your pretty eyes.” he asks, and you give him what he so beautifully asked for.

Blinking your eyes open, you meet his. His pupils are so dilated they look almost black, the green nearly swallowed up.

Joel rewards you with some more kisses, the touch of his tongue against your lips makes them tingle as if he shocked you somehow. But in a good way, a really good way.

One of the many nice side effects of Joel being a guitar player is he knows how to create a rhythm, combine that with accurate fingers as he reaches down to stroke your clit and thrust into you at the same time. You can sense his desperation for you, he needs you to come, now.

Well at this rate he’s going to get his wish pretty soon. He’s driving you relentlessly towards the edge.

You’re so close, you can almost taste it, your entire body seizing up as it prepares to fall over that cliff. You feel your heart jolt in absolute terror at the sound of heavy knocks on Joel’s front door.

Now your body has clenched up in a bad way, and you and Joel wait there, silent and still.

The couch you’re on is in the living room which is viewable from the front door if the person should walk in. There’s no way you and Joel could detached yourselves from each other and straighten out your pulled down clothing in time.

“Joel, I know you’re in there. You can’t just ignore me.” Tommy’s voices flows from the other side of the heavy wooden door followed by more rapid, agitated sounding knocks.

You feel shock and let out a quiet gasp before you can snap your mouth shut when Joel starts grinding against you again.

“It’s just my brother, he’ll go away.” he mouths, barely audible.

When Tommy knocks again, you know you should stop and get dressed, it’s too risky. But you’re so desperate for Joel, that even with him still fully seating inside you, his inaction is making you ache with the orgasm that had been within finger reach mere moments before.

You do your absolute best to breathe as silently as you can when you start grinding back down onto Joel, and you feel him pick his pace back up.

He was right, you hear Tommy groan out a curse and stomp down the steps not even a minute later.

By that time you’re near your peak again. Your body tensing all over so hard it’s starting to shake. Joel’s fingers rubbing you perfectly on the outside and his cock rubbing against you perfectly on the inside, driving you higher and higher.

“Are you gonna be a good girl and come around my cock?” Joel rasps near your ear. His lips going to lick and suck under your jaw. You thrust your chin up to give him more access, and gasp out a “Yes” as clearly as you can with your irregular breathing.

The sparks of pleasure from his mouth against the sensitive nerves along your your throat is enough to throw you off the edge.

“Oh, good fucking girl.” He moans, feeling your grip shudder around him. He slows the rolling movement of his hips down so he can focus on the sensation of you coming on his cock. But he never stops completely, purposefully rubbing at that one spot in particular to prolong your orgasm.

Finally, your body shudders one last time, and you realize your eyes are screwed shut. You blink them back open, your heart slowly coming down, before a gasp is being ripped out of your throat at the force of Joel’s sudden thrust.

“I’m not done with you.” Is all he says as he picks his pace back up, fucking you long and hard, his breathing hard in between growled groans.

If you thought you were wet before, after coming a second time, you’re like a slip-n-slide.

Your wetness spread around your inner thighs by his thrust and coating his length completely, so when he pulls out of you completely you see his cock shines with it.

“Turn around.” he growls. You do your best to follow his orders, but your heart is still beating so hard moving is difficult and your brain feels drunk with endorphins.

You must not be moving fast enough, because Joel takes hold of you under the shoulders to pull you upright and then flip you over in one move. He scoots you a little further so your face isn’t being crushed against the arm of the couch and so you’re instead resting over it.

With your front on the arm and your ass in the air, your wet, well-fucked, exposed pussy in the air on display.

You don’t have to wait long before Joel’s sliding within you again.

“Fuck yes.” you groan out, the ache he brings 100% welcome.

He hits much deeper in this position, and you feel the head of him nudge against the end of you. Pushing your limits to get as deep as he can, the sensation strange in a wonderful way. You’ve never felt this full, it feels like he’s at your bellybutton.

Your orgasm comes as a surprise to Joel but mostly to you. You had about a split second warning before you were coming again, gasps and grunts being ripped from your chest before you collapse back onto the couch arm.

As you lay there, huffing and puffing, Joel grabs a handful of your ass and bounces you up and down on his cock.

It feels good, but it’s also a little too much so soon after your second orgasm of the night. Your nerves feel plucked raw, exposed like a live wire.

Joel’s other hand takes a hold of your other cheek, fingertips massaging your muscle briefing before they’re spreading you apart, and you know he’s taking pleasure watching his cock sink inside you before slowly sliding back out. Over and over.

“Fuck, you’re so wet.” he groans. His movements speeding up again. When his hand reaches under you to rub at your clit you whimper.

“It’s too much, Joel.” you hate to say it, but you don’t think you can come again, you’re too sensitive.

“You can take it. I know you can.” he responds. He trusts you to tell him when he needs to stop, but he can feel your body preparing for another orgasm.

You never want to let him down, so you calm your breathing, and relax into the rocking of his hips. Not long after, his rubbing of your clit crosses the threshold from ‘too much’ to ‘not enough.’

Soon you’re whining, and throwing your hips back, spearing yourself harder onto his cock and his ministrations speed up.

In tandem with his movements, you hear him behind you grunt out curses and you can tell by the sound of his voice, he’s close as well.

Impossibly, he seems to grow harder inside you, and you come for a fourth time, the feeling of your walls throbbing while being spread so far apart is toe curling, and an embarrassingly guttural groan comes from you.

Good thing you’re too blissed out to care.

Besides you have Joel behind you cooing praise at you, “So pretty. Feels so good sweetheart.That’s a good girl. Fuck you’re so soft and wet.” His jumbled sentences another marker that he’s not going to last much longer.

“I’m gonna come.” he groans out and you slap your hand behind you against his arm and he gets the message and pulls out.

As quick as your shaking legs can, you jump off the couch and kneel in front of him while he follows your movements and sits back down on the couch.

You take him in one hand around the base of his cock and seal your lips over his head.  

Joel throws his head back with a groan, and you start licking his tip, rubbing with your tongue along the underside while sucking with your mouth and pumping his base rapidly.

Joel’s hand tangles in your hair, grunted out curses filling the air before he’s pulling you a little deeper. You let him and his hips arch off the couch to push further into your mouth as he finally comes.

You don’t stop licking or stroking, meaning some cum you don’t swallow in time smears across your lips.

At Joel’s gentle double tug at your scalp, you release him. With a feather light touch you lick off any mess on him you left behind, looking up at him to make sure he’s watching you clean his cock.

When you’re done, you sit back on your heels, doing your best to scrape off any cum from around your mouth and suck it clean. You’ll need to go wash your face, but this will do for now.

Joel helps scoop you back onto the couch and the both of you slowly shuffled clothes back into place.

Once you’re finished, you turn to look at him.

He looks calmer now, a pleasant look on his face, his eyes soft as he looks back at you, his hair a mess, cheeks red. He looks well fucked.

“Can I stay the night?” your voice is a little sticky.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

“Good, cause I don’t think I can walk.”

—

Tommy scales to steps to his brother’s house two at a time. His mind is racing, and he needs to talk with Joel.

Two years of Tommy trying to set him up with various people, and Joel always coming up with an excuse of why not.

At first Tommy had thought it was trauma. He knew things were hard after Sarah’s mom left, and then loosing Sarah like that, would make thinking of a family of any kind too terrifying.

But Tommy had made it clear it didn’t need to be family, Joel didn’t need to find someone to marry like Tommy had found Maria.

But Joel didn’t even seem interested in a casual fling, or even a one-night stand.

Because of you.

Tommy couldn’t help but chuckle, you were sweet, and kind, and protective, and good with a gun. Now that he’s thinking of it, he’s not that surprised Joel feel for your charms.

No, the question was how the hell did Joel manage to make you fall for his, seeing as in Tommy’s opinion, Joel had no game whatsoever.

He was an ornery, grumpy, old and closed-off bastard. Who never talked to anyone, and never seemed to show any interest in anyone.

Apparently not.

Now that Tommy is thinking of it, his pain-in-the-ass brother has been in an uncharacteristically good mood recently.

How long have you been a thing then?

Tommy needs answers. So he pounds on Joel’s door even when there’s no answer the first time.

“Joel, I know you’re in there. You can’t just ignore me.” Tommy calls through the door.

Joel never goes anywhere, he always just stays home, playing guitar or carving. Tommy is the one who has to drag him for any social interaction so Tommy knows 100% that Joel is in there and ignoring him.

Fine. If Joel’s going to be rude, Tommy’s not going to worry about being rude either. He jogs down the stairs again, and turns around the side of his house.

Tommy knows where Joel keeps the extra key to the back door, under the doormat (very secure) so he’ll just sneak in through the back and then Joel really can’t ignore him.

Only, when Tommy gets to the back porch, and rounds the corner and bends down to move the door mat, he sees something that takes his brain half a second to catch up before he can duck out of view again. There on the side of the sliding door, out of sight, Tommy stands squeezes his eyes shut as hard as he can as if that can seal out the memory burned into his eyelids of his brother obviously having sex with someone on the couch.

He couldn’t see who it was underneath his brother, but given one guess, Tommy has a pretty strong suspicion.

He feels a shudder go down his back at the familiar feeling he remembers feeling when he was 10, and Joel was 16.

Little Tommy had wanted to talk with his older brother as well, the Atari wasn’t working. And so naive Tommy had walked straight into Joel’s room while he had his girlfriend over “studying.”

Present-day Tommy rushes down the steps of the porch, blinking hard each time, hating feeling like a 10 year old again.

Tommy knows he can’t tell anyone, but right now he just needs the comfort of Maria to forget what just happened.

He’ll never sit on that couch again.

A/N: Sorry Tommy lmao, but I feel like as a younger sibling, it is your destiny to walk in on your older sibling at least once.

#joel miller smut #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n #my writing #tlou fanfiction

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darkeeveeanimatesus · 3 months

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OK- HEAR ME OUT-

I know I strongly headcannon Echo Zane ending up in Chima after the Merge, but he could very easily end up in the Land of Lost Things if anything ends up happening to Nya.

Let me explain.

How the land of lost things work, is that things end up there after no one alive remembers that they exist. Doctor Julian took Echo's existence to his grave, after skybound, everyone except for Jay and Nya got their memory wiped, (And when they did tell the others, they only told them the main gist of the situation, and left details like Echo out. Cause something tells me if Zane knew he had a brother he wouldn't just leave him there. Also, Tommy Andreasen said Echo being Mr. E made no sense for a big dramatic reveal because Zane wouldn't even know who he is. So no, they never told.)

The keepers of the knowledge of Echo Zane's existence are solely Jay and Nya. After she turned into the ocean, it was only Jay. But now after the merge, and Jay has no memory, it's only Nya. Though debatable how much Nya actually remembers of Skybound, seeing as she literally DIED at one point, so how that or the eventual Ocean incident messed with her, I don't know.

But the point stands- As Nya is the only one who even vigley remembers that he exists as of this moment, (assuming he's not hanging out with the beavers of Chima) there's only one person's memory keeping him from getting tossed into The Land of Lost Things...

#ninjago #ninjago au #echo zane #ninjago echo #echo zane ninjago #echo ninjago #echo julien #ninjago headcanons #ninjago dragons rising #ninjago theory

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animemusicbrackets · 1 year

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HERES THE BRACKET. FINALLY. GOD.

sorry for the wait u_u

(Text version, with dates under the cut below)

For franchises that had more than one submission, I grouped them together so that after round 2, there will only be one contestant per franchise. to try to be fair or whatever, so that a small number of franchises dont dominate the bracket

yes i know mdzs and tgcf arent anime but its my poll tourney and i do what i want godbless

this might be too much to ask but please watch the videos if you can and vote based on that! idc how much you like or dislike the anime, how much do you like the OPENING. obviously this is for fun so you can do whatever but if possible i dont rly want this to be a popularity poll :')

propaganda welcome :)

Tag List: round 1 round 2 round 3 quarterfinals semifinals finals third place round propaganda bracket updates matches (the actual polls, not including any reblogs)

ROUND 1

PART A (5/6 12:00pm ET)

Match 1: "Peace Sign" - Kenshi Yonezu (My Hero Academia) {VS} "Hitamuki" - SUPER BEAVER (My Hero Academia) Match 2: "THE DAY" - Porno Graffitti (My Hero Academia) {VS} "H. T. [Humanoid Typhoon]" - Tsuneo Imahori (Trigun 1998) Match 3: "Kaen" - QUEEN BEE (Dororo 2019) {VS} "Naru" - PON (Tsurune: Kazemai High School Kyudo Club) Match 4: "DANZEN! Futari wa Pretty Cure" - Gojo Mayumi (Futari wa Pretty Cure) {VS} "Bye Bye" - 7!! (Kimi To Boku) Match 5: "Hikariare" - BURNOUT SYNDROMES (Haikyuu!!) {VS} "FLY HIGH!!" - BURNOUT SYNDROMES (Haikyuu!!) Match 6: "Gun's & Roses" - Paradise Lunch (Baccano!) {VS} "Flyers" - BRADIO (Death Parade) Match 7: "MAN HUMAN" - Denki Groove (Devilman Crybaby) {VS} "Goya no Machiawase" - Hello Sleepwalkers (Noragami) Match 8: "Maji LOVE 1000%" - STARISH (Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love 1000%) {VS} "KICK BACK" - Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man)

PART B (5/8 12:00pm ET)

Match 9: "Papermoon" - Tommy heavenly6 (Soul Eater) {VS} "Resonance" - T.M. Revolution (Soul Eater) Match 10: "Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C" - Maeyamada Kenichi (Nichijou) {VS} "Parallel Hearts" - FictionJunction (Pandora Hearts) Match 11: "Easy Breezy" - chelmico (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!) {VS} "Bara wa Utsukushiku Chiru" - Koji Makaino (Rose of Versailles) Match 12: "Tank!" - The Seatbelts (Cowboy Bebop) {VS} "COLORS" - FLOW (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion) Match 13: "Melissa" - Porno Graffitti (Fullmetal Alchemist 2003) {VS} "Golden Time Lover" - Sukima Switch (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Match 14: "Rain" - SID (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) {VS} "Again" - YUI (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Match 15: "Monochrome Kiss" - SID (Black Butler) {VS} "Brand New World" - D-51 (One Piece) Match 16: "Smile Bomb" - Mawatari Matsuko (Yu Yu Hakusho) {VS} "Dream Island Obsessional Park" - Susumu Hirasawa (Paranoia Agent)

PART C (5/10 12:00pm ET)

Match 17: "R★O★C★K★S" - Hound Dog (Naruto) {VS} "Lovers" - 7!! (Naruto: Shippuden) Match 18: "Far Away" - Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Naruto) {VS} "Blue Bird" - Ikimonogakari (Naruto: Shippuden) Match 19: "Hero's Come Back" - Nobodyknows (Naruto: Shippuden) {VS} "BLOODY STREAM" - Coda (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) Match 20: "Aoi Hana" - Kikukodan (Sweet Blue Flowers) {VS} "Unravel" - TK (Tokyo Ghoul) Match 21: "Setsuna no Ai" - GRANRODEO (Bungo Stray Dogs) {VS} "Gurenge" - LiSA (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) Match 22: "Scar" - Tatsuya Kitani (Bleach) {VS} "Eternal Blaze" - Nana Mizuki (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's) Match 23: "Sono Saki e" - RIRIKO (Children of the Whales) {VS} "Rondo-Revolution" - Masami Okui (Revolutionary Girl Utena) Match 24: "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" - Aya Hirano, Emiri Katou, Kaori Fukuhara, and Aya Endo (Lucky☆Star) {VS} "Moonlight Densetsu" - Dali, Moon Lips (Sailor Moon)

PART D (5/12 12:00pm ET)

Match 25: "99.9" - MOB CHOIR feat. sajou no hana (Mob Psycho 100) {VS} "1" - MOB CHOIR (Mob Psycho 100) Match 26: "99" - MOB CHOIR (Mob Psycho 100) {VS} "Kibou no Uta" - Ultra Tower (Food Wars) Match 27: "Departure!" - Masatoshi Ono (Hunter x Hunter) {VS} "Sakura Kiss" - Chieko Kawabe (Ouran High School Host Club) Match 28: "History Maker" - Dean Fujioka (Yuri!!! On ICE) {VS} "Kaikai Kitan" - Eve (Jujutsu Kaisen) Match 29: "Drunken Dreams of the Past" - Lin Zhixuan (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) {VS} "Connect" - ClariS (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) Match 30: "No Parting" - Jeff Chang (Heaven Official's Blessing) {VS} "Delicate ni Suki Shite" - Ota Takako (Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami) Match 31: "Kiss Me" - Celeina Ann and Nai Br.XX (Carole & Tuesday) {VS} "Sudachi no Uta" - Anemoneria (Wonder Egg Priority) Match 32: "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" - Yoko Takahashi (Neon Genesis Evangelion) {VS} "Shinzou wo Sasageyo" - Linked Horizon (Attack on Titan)

#poll tournaments #poll tournament #anime music #tumblr polls #tumblr poll #anime #music #anime openings #anime op #anime op tournament #bracket updates #brackets

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the-babygirl-polls · 5 months

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Babygirl Polls Lineup: Week Four

Hey everyone, here is the lineup for Week Four of the Babygirl Polls! Thanks to everyone who submitted their characters!

Prompto Argentum (Final Fantasy XV)

Masa (Gokushufudou, The Way of the Househuband)

Michael Myers (Halloween)

Hellboy (Hellboy Comics)

Ghostface (Scream)

Sarah Sanderson (Hocus Pocus)

Dib Membrane (Invader Zim)

Michael Afton (Five Nights At Freddy's)

Headwitch Darius (The Owl House)

Wolfrun (Smile Precure)

Reigen Arataka (Mob Psycho 100)

Lev Myshkin (The Idiot)

Black (Not Me: The Series)

Erik/The Phantom (The Phantom of the Opera)

Jesus Christ (Jesus Christ Superstar)

Revenant (Apex Legends)

Louis de Pointe du Lac (The Vampire Chronicles)

Eddie Munson (Stranger Things)

Derek Hale (Teen Wolf)

Peter Hale (Teen Wolf)

Robert Chase (House MD)

Eridan Ampora (Homestuck)

Daggett Beaver (Angry Beavers)

Alex Park (The Good Doctor)

Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium)

Harold Finch (Person of Interest)

Igor Neuhaus (Blue Exorcist)

Sigma (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Hariwara Sakutarou (Bungo to Alchemist)

Hu-Geng (The Tale of Food)

Tommy Shelby (Peaky Blinders)

Evan "Buck" Buckley (9-1-1)

Solidarity Gaming (The Life Series)

Gregory (Gregory Horror Show)

Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)

Jax (The Amazing Digital Circus)

Tony DiNozzo (NCIS)

Party Poison (Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys)

Jesse Coste (Fence)

Villanelle (Killing Eve)

Noel Gruber (Ride the Cyclone)

Kelthur (AFK Arena)

The Warden (Superjail!)

Ike Eveland (NIJISANJI EN)

The Creature/Adam (Frankenstein/The Modern Prometheus)

Kevin Day (All for the Game)

Airy (HFJONE)

Charlie (HFJONE)

Shockwave (Transformers)

Ecco (Gotham)

#the babygirl polls #week four #poll lineup

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powderblueblood · 3 months

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Is there ever a time where Nicole, Cass, Heather,or even Carol start missing Lacy????

Like maybe they miss there old friend????

(and i’m gonna fold your other anon in here as well my love) but god have i been waiting to talk about this one.

because if we’re going to talk about girlhood, we’re going to talk about grief.

because for all the vaudeville of her high school persona, all that borrowed high wire performance where she pretended to be just the right girl with all the right moves, lacy was just that. lacy was a girl, and nicole was a girl, and cass, and heather, and tina, and god, carol. carol was a girl.

carol might miss lacy the worst of all.

grief finds carol at the perfume counter of the department store, pouring over crystalline glass and her red hair smelling of candied roses. she catches a whiff of a powdery vanilla with a spicy blowback and her heart pounds.

“you can’t wear an empire waist to junior prom, care. you know what the headline on that will be? shotgun wedding.”

“hm. maybe the sooner i lock it down with tommy, the better.”

carol had watched as lacy’s fist tightened around skirts of chiffon, eyes flashing.

“you’re not seriously threatening to beaver trap him?”

“no… but. you know. it has to happen. it’s what’s supposed to happen. right? mrs hagan, three kids, two dogs, white picket.”

carol swayed in her dress, a periwinkle blue that washed her out, as lacy hovered in the near background. an apparition in the mirror.

“it doesn’t have to be just that, you know. you don’t… have to want that.”

because lacy had been the one to hear carol cry when tommy cheated on her the first time, and the fourth and the fifth. lacy had been the first one to push back when she and tommy got back together, like two leeches latching onto one another, returning to parasitic bliss. told carol she was humiliating herself, the way she kept doing this.

“better to be humiliated with a boyfriend than single with a stick up my ass, lacy.”

“i’m gonna remember you said that the next time he comes crying to you all guilty and hungover and you come crying to me, telling me he did it again.”

she didn’t, though. for whatever reason, lacy never threw that back in her face until she absolutely had to.

of all the prize fighting bitches carol had managed to collect, lacy was her favourite. lacy could go toe to toe with anyone, even nicole on her good days. tina was nothing but drop dead jealous of her and cass regarded her with an admirable intimidation. heather was the one who started the rumor about her having a combination lock on her pussy, but carol just loved her. being with lacy felt like strutting on a knife’s edge; carol couldn’t explain it, but it felt like being somebody. lacy had that aura about her. you felt important just by being in her orbit.

she’d haul carol in when she was being too much of an unrepentant bitch and call it a lesson in class.

“never give them more than they deserve, care. don’t sully yourself by dignifying trash.”

lacy never sunk to anyone’s level—she never sunk, until carol’s fist collided with her face at harrington’s that night. watching her get hauled off by that munson freak, her limbs thrashing toward her, desperate to retaliate, carol’s stomach roiled with two distinct kinds of shame—one, at the humiliation lacy’s betrayal had put upon her, what with her running her mouth about tina and tommy and crabs and all. and two, carol’s betrayal of lacy.

because she never did sink, not with anything that was going on. and carol never thought to check on how hard she was working to keep water out of the boat. lacy would have done it for her. whether she wanted to or not. it’s just what you do.

she should have held lacy’s hand and cradled her head and let her crash at her place when her old man got scary. it’s just what you do.

carol would catch glimpses of lacy snaking throughout the hallways these days, in her darkened outfits and berried lips, sharing some blast of static with that piece of long-haired forest hills trailer trash. looking like someone had switched on a light inside her, despite it all. carol would angrily tut, the only thing filling the deadened air between her and tommy.

grief chokes carol up at the perfume counter of the department store and she realises that she misses having a girl who makes her feel like somebody tell her what not to wear.

#powder room talk #anonymous #hai brainrot

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taylor-on-your-dash · 1 year

Text

Writing Of Fearless Timeline

DISCLAIMER: None is this is my opinion unless stated otherwise. Some dates might be wrong, I was not in the fandom when Fearless was released, I joined shortly after Fearless Platinum dropped. If you saw the rollout of the release, I'd love to hear your story!

Please credit me if you use this timeline!

Early 2005: Taylor has a writing session with the Warren Brothers. They write That's When.

[BMI Article from May 2005] “She has written songs with a list of renowned writers including Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, and the Warren Brothers.”

[Alexa Skill for Taylor's Version] “That's When is a song that I wrote with the Warren Brothers and it was really fun writing with them because they're just hilarious people in general and I remember it was a classic Nashville songwriting session: you sit around a room, you go to a publishing office, you sit around in a room, everybody's got guitars and we just kind of came up with this song about space and independence and what happens when two people love each other but one of them just needs to take a breather and think about it and what would happen if rather than saying "No, if you're not sure, then leave and I don't want to talk to you ever again", what would happen if the partner was like "Do what you need to do, I'm here and I'm sure that I want to be with you, so if you need to take some space then do it", and we're just kind of playing around with that idea and we came up with this song.”

It's also possible that That's When was written later (but before September 2005) and they wrote Long Time Going and Welcome Distraction first.

February 12, 2005: Taylor writes with Scooter Carusoe for the first time, but it's unclear if they wrote You All Over Me, or Thirteen Blocks or Pretty Words. Either way, You All Over Me was written in early 2005. Scooter produced the demo, which leaked in 2017.

Scott's email to Taylor's manager, Dan Dymtrow (thanks @backup-baby-backup for sending this to me!):

[Alexa Skill for Taylor's Version] “The song You All Over Me is one that I wrote with a writer who goes by the name Scooter Carusoe, his name is Travis Hill. This was one of the songs that I remember us painstakingly going over the lyrics and trying to come up with all these different symbolic imagery references to how it could feel after you have your heart broken, just to feel like you've been ruined by the whole thing and I think that's one of the hardest things about heartbreak, this feeling like it's damaged you and now you carry that damage with you.”

Late 2005: Taylor writes Don't You with Tommy Lee James.

[Alexa Skill for Taylor's Version] “Don't You is a song that I wrote with Tommy Lee James, who's a fantastic writer. We wrote it about the idea of seeing someone that you used to have a thing for and seeing them out in public for the first time after you've heard that they've moved on and that you know your life is your life is kind of in shambles and they have moved on and they're really happy and it's almost like even them being nice to you hurts you because you're in such a state of pain and you haven't moved on yet, so that was a really fun song to write because that's just a well spring of emotion to draw from.”

[Tommy Lee James] “The crazy thing about this song is that I remember writing with Taylor that day, and I remember her just being really sharp and smart. I knew I was writing a good song. And then normally, back then I’d probably just do like a worktape or whatever, and I would throw it into my Garage Band on my computer just to save it and label it. But for some reason, I never labeled it correctly. And then, all of a sudden, Taylor comes out with ‘Tim McGraw’, and all of a sudden she’s a star. My publisher at the time, she’s going, ‘Where is that song you wrote with Taylor!?’ And I was like…'I cannot find it.'”

There are three demos of Don't You. Taylor only sings in a piano worktape, while other people sing on the other two. The IC owns these three demos since 2019. They bought them from Music Row. They described the worktape as: “A melancholic piano demo with haunting vocals, that have a sadness and longing to them, this was likely recorded in 2005, and was probably considered for the first album. Taylor runs into her ex and feels pain, because it brings back so many hard feelings and sad emotions, she feels that she still loves him and wonders why he doesn’t feel the same way, she will try her best to go along to go on with her life.”

Somewhere in 2005: Taylor releases a digital EP called “Majorly Indie Demos”. The tracklisting is unclear but the demos of Sweet Tea & God's Graces and We Were Happy were there.

There are two demos of We Were Happy, one acoustic worktape and one studio demo. Both of them have leaked.

One thing that I want to point out is that Majorly Indie was Arturo Buenahora's website. Buenahora is the executive who signed Taylor to music publisher Sony/ATV and introduced her to many songwriters, including Scooter Carusoe and Deric Ruttan. Buenahora left Sony/ATV and founded his own publishing house called Ole Majorly Indie, which then changed its name to Anthem Entertainment. This is Liz Rose's music publisher.

September 2006: Taylor writes Come In With The Rain.

Come In With the Rain (acoustic) (4 min 03 sec / Acoustic)- Simply Taylor and her acoustic guitar in this early demo recording. Passionate guitar playing during the breaks between vocal parts when Taylor stops singing.

She'll later release an early mix of the song on MySpace also in September. Posting the song on MySpace got her to surpass 1 million followers.

October 12, 2006: [From a Lover Journal] Taylor doodles Come In With The Rain on her diary.

December 1, 2006: [Interview with CMT] Taylor talks about the Debut rejects that will later become some of the Fearless Vault Songs in 2021.

“I've been very selfish about my songs. I had this dream of this project [Debut Album] coming out for so many years now that I just stockpiled. I'm so happy that I did because now we have a second album full of songs and a third album full of songs, and I don't have to lift a finger.”

December 2006: [From a Lover Journal] Taylor writes White Horse.

White Horse (3 min 36 sec / Studio) - A perfect acoustic studio version. Taylor sounds so young here, it makes us think this song was written prior to the first album. Lots of fake versions are in circulation.

December 28, 2006: Performance at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. Unknown setlist except for Nashville and Our Song. Sam Armstrong was there and will comment in 2018 that Taylor performed a song about him there. It's unclear whether it was White Horse or Nashville (which is not about him, by the way).

Early 2007: Taylor writes The Other Side Of The Door.

Description of The Other Side of the Door Studio Demo from the Inner Circle (in circulation but not leaked), which I think it's pretty accurate: “4 minutes and 01 seconds: Starts with a catchy drum loop similar to the studio version of "Permanent Marker" and has less instrumentation. Very country with electric guitars coming in sooner.” She sounds SO young in the demo, it's basically the same baby voice she has in the Christmas songs.

April 2007: Taylor writes You're Not Sorry, possibily about Sam Armstrong.

[Interview from October 2008] “I wrote it about maybe a year and half ago about this guy that kept apologizing and kept doing the same thing over and over again and after a while you just have stand up to that person and say, ‘You’re not sorry. At all... bye.’”

“I wrote a few more songs [other than Should've Said No] on this upcoming record about him just because, you know, I wasn’t done being mad about it. I know he's on the edge of his seat waiting.

“It is about this guy who turned out to not be who I thought I was. He came across as Prince Charming. Well, it turned out Prince Charming had a lot of secrets that he didn’t tell me about. And one by one, I would figure them out. I would find out who he really was. I wrote this when I was at the breaking point of, ‘You know what? Don’t even think that you can keep on hurting me.’ It was to a point where I had to walk away.”

Gossip Speculation: The other songs for Sam are: White Horse, You're Not Sorry, Come In With The Rain and The Other Side Of The Door.

May 15, 2007: Taylor talks about Fearless the song while getting ready for the ACMs Awards

I wrote this song that I'm really excited about called "Fearless." It's about the best first date that I haven't been on yet. I just try and put myself in the position of "this is really happening,' and what would happen on the coolest first date. So I haven't ever written a song about, you know, that feeling before. I've written songs, but I haven't recorded them or put them on an album, and so I think that would be a cool. It's about angry, not sad . The whole thing - I think it's really going to be cool for people to see that sort of song coming out of me. I would tell you about every single song on the album right now, I just can't wait for you to hear it.

May 30, 2007: First recorded performance of Sparks Fly in Oroville, CA.. Steve from the Inner Circle/Dark Blue Tennessee.com films it and posts it online.

July 10, 2007: [From MySpace] “So lately, I’ve been in the studio on my days off recording a CHRISTMAS album! Haha. Not kidding. It’s a Target exclusive thing, and I’m really excited about it! There are two songs on it that I wrote. More on it later!”

According to its copyright file, Christmases When You Were Mine was written in 2007, but it's totally possible that it was written around Christmas '06. In my opinion, since Nathan Chapman is credited as writer, it was likely written in the studio just for the EP.

Christmas Must Be Something More was written in 2003. The Acoustic Demo from 2003 has never leaked and its existence only surfaced in 2018 thanks to Bob Orrall.

July 19, 2007: Taylor and Brad Paisley stop at the Jamboree In The Hills in Morristown, Ohio, where she sings Permanent Marker, and Fearless, along other songs from Debut.

July 2007: Taylor has written more or less 75 songs, including Fearless.

[Unrated Magazine Interview] “I've got, like, 75 written, and we just have to whittle it down to whatever number of songs we want to put on the album, and start recording. I wrote this song that I'm really excited about called "Fearless." It's about the best first date that I haven't been on yet. I just try and put myself in the position of "this is really happening,' and what would happen on the coolest first date. So I haven't ever written a song about, you know, that feeling before. I've written songs, but I haven't recorded them or put them on an album, and so I think that would be a cool.”

“She conceived the song while touring as opening act to promote her eponymous debut album: "This is a song about the fearlessness of falling in love. No matter how many break up songs you write, no matter how many times you get hurt, you will always fall in love again. When I wrote “Fearless,” I wasn’t dating anyone. I wasn’t even in the beginning stages of dating anybody. I really was all by myself out on tour and I got this idea for a song about the best first date. I think sometimes when you’re writing love songs, you don’t write them about what you’re going through at the moment, you write about what you wish you had. So, this song is about the best first date I haven't had yet.”

[Hillary Lindsay to MusicRow.com] “I had a writing date with Taylor, and she came to my home. She came in like a fireball. She was young, but she knew exactly what she wanted. She had been working on the song with Liz, but wanted to finish it with me.”

August 2007: Taylor writes The Best Day while on tour with Brad Paisley.

“I wrote this song on the road and didn’t tell my mom about it. I decided that I was going to keep it a secret and give it to her as a surprise for Christmas. I wrote it in the summer and then recorded it secretly with the band in the studio. After it was done, I synched the song up to all these home videos of her, and my family. She didn’t even realize it was me singing until halfway through the song! She didn’t have any idea that I could possibly write and record a song without her knowing about it. When she finally got it, she just started bawling her eyes out.”

September 22, 2007: “I'm just counting down to December, when we start recording the next album. There's so much that I'm excited about”.

August/September 2007 (not confirmed): Tell Me Why and Acting Like A Boy, both co-written with Liz Rose, are registered together in her Music Publishing catalogue (Sony/ATV). Acting Like A Boy is the 66th song and Tell Me Why the 67th. Shortly after, a song called Too Beautiful, solo written, is copyrighted.

The singer told The Associated Press that this was inspired by her frustration at a boy that she liked acting up. She explained: "I walked into Liz's house, and I said, 'I can't believe what's going on right now, I've gotta tell you about this.' I told her all about it. She goes, 'If you could say everything you were thinking to him right now, what would you start with?'" Swift began venting: "I would say to him, 'I'm sick and tired of your attitude, I feel like I don't even know you' ... and I just started rambling, and she was writing down everything that I was saying, and so, we turned it into a song."

“I’d been talking to a guy I’ve never “officially” dated. Sometimes it’s the hardest thing when you have all these dreams of dating them, and you’re getting close, but it doesn’t work out. He would say things that would make me go, “Did you just say that?” It bothered me so much because he would say one thing and do another, do one thing and say another. Because he didn’t know what he wanted, he would just play all these mind games. So I went over to write with Liz and was just ranting and raving about how this guy is such a flake and such a jerk sometimes, and so cool other times. I was like, “Liz, I don’t know what’s up with this guy!” So I just started playing the beginning, “I took a chance, I took a shot. And you might think I’m bulletproof, but I’m not.””

Description of the Tell Me Why Acoustic Demo: 3 minutes and 7 seconds long. An extremely rare worktape demo from the Fearless album sessions. With studio production stripped away, we are left with Taylor singing along to an acoustic guitar using vocals that are softer and carry more emotional weight. The lyrics are different in some places, which makes for fascinating comparisons.

Description of Acting Like A Boy (worktape): Taylor starts this demo in a unique way by stating the song title. The boy Taylor has been dating has been sending her mixed signals. He has been playing a little game, acting like he doesn't care, and picking fights with her. Taylor is not going to put up with this forever. She is going to slip through his hands soon and he won't find her anymore. This song has a very pretty chorus melody.

October 10, 2007: [From the Inner Circle] “First performance of Fifteen at the All For the Hall New York. Quality unknown. We do not currently have a copy of this and are not sure if it was recorded. Tickets cost $1,000 each to attend and Taylor was a surprise guest.”

“I wrote this around the story line of my best friend from high school, Abigail. I started everything with the line “Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind” and wrote everything else from that point, almost backwards. I just decided I really wanted to tell that story about our first year of high school because I felt in my freshman year, I grew up more than any year in my life so far.”

October 14, 2007: Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection is released in a limited edition through Target. It will be later reissued in 2009 with a slightly different cover.

November 7, 2007: After months of putting it off, Taylor finishes Change after winning the CMA Horizon award. This will be the last time in which her fiddler Emily Poe would perfom with Taylor.

“That’s when I finished it, because I knew I couldn’t finish it until something like that happened. It was absolutely the most amazing night of my life, getting to see the emotion of all the people who worked so hard for me.”

“At one point, I began to understand that it would be harder for me on a smaller record label to get to the places and accomplish the things that artists were accomplishing on bigger record labels. I realized that I wouldn’t get favors pulled for me because there weren’t any other artists on the label to pull favors from. It was going to be an uphill climb and all that I had to encourage me was the hope that someday things would change. That things would be different. After so many times of just saying that to myself over and over, I finally wrote it down in a song.”

November 30, 2007: Taylor meets up with Colbie Caillat and they write Breathe, for her former fiddle player, Emily Poe.

“She was doing a show in Nashville and I just happened to be in town, so we got together and wrote a killer song. It’s really cool, and I can’t wait for you to hear it. She’s gonna record back up vocals on it for my new album. (They’ll be really loud back up vocals, because she has an incredibly awesome voice and I want it to be turned wayyyy up).”

[Alexa Skill for Taylor's Version] “Breathe is a song about having to let go of someone in your life who you care about and you don't want to hurt but you've outgrown the friendship or the relationship and I wrote this one I wrote the idea for it and Colbie Caillat was in town playing a show and I brought her this idea and she really liked it and we wrote it together, we sat there and wrote the song right before her show, I mean it was the afternoon she was about to play that night. She's singing backup vocals on it that are just so haunting and I'm so lucky because she agreed to do the same backup vocals on my version of Breathe, so it absolutely would not have been the same without her.”

“It’s a song about having to say goodbye to somebody, but it never blames anybody. Sometimes that’s the most difficult part. When it’s nobody’s fault. I was a huge fan of Colbie’s record. When it came out, I fell in love with the way that she makes music. I contacted her management right away and I asked if I could write with her and, sure enough, Colbie had a date coming up in Nashville where she was going to be playing a show and she had the day off. I think she sounds beautiful on it. I’m so excited to have her voice on my album.”

December 5, 2007: [From MySpace] “Speaking of my next album, today was my first day in the studio “pre-planning” for recording it!! My producer, Nathan, and I basically spent all day listening to songs and picking which ones to record first.”

“When Taylor sat down in December 2007 to start planning her sophomore album, she knew she had a tough act to follow — her self-titled debut had just been certified double platinum. “Pressure is one of my favorite things in the world,” Taylor told the Tennessean. “When I heard before my second album, ‘Is she going to experience a sophomore slump?’ it made me more motivated to make sure that didn’t happen. ‘Is she going to keep this fan base?’ ‘Is this thing going to run off the tracks?’ Those things motivate me. My gut instinct has worked so far, and I’m not going to mess with that.””

December 10, 2007: Taylor is in the studio to record Change and Breathe. Taylor Swift goes double platinum. Our Song reaches No. 1. It's her first song to do so.

December 13, 2007: Taylor turns 18. Footage from her birthday party will be later turned in the Beautiful Eyes music video.

[From MySpace] “I had an amazing time at my party. I wore a hot pink dress. Pictures soon! The party was a blast.. My favorite thing about it was this photo booth. All of us were taking pictures in there the whole night. We had tarot card readers and palm readers and all kinds of fun stuff to do. I’ve never really had a big birthday party before, so it was amazing to get that chance! My record label surprised me with this HUGE pink truck!! They’re so sweet to me, and I’ve always wanted a truck.”

Around this time, an alternate version of Christmases When You Were Mine is released thorough Entertainment Weekly.

December 23, 2007: [From MySpace] “We’ve got six songs recorded already, and they sound amazing. I’ve been in the studio with Nathan (my producer. Same guy who produced my first record! But this time we’re co-producing) all month and it’s been so much fun.”

December 27, 2007: The Mirror tracklisting is released:

Permanent Marker

Tell Me Why

I'd Lie

Fearless

Dark Blue Tennessee

Sparks Fly

The One Thing.

Lyrics to I'm Looking Out For You are also photographed. This song is speculated to be about Gracie Johnson, a friend of Taylor's who was battling cancer. Gracie can be heard at the beginning of the Beautiful Eyes Video and in the first picture of Love Story (Taylor's Version) Lyric Video.

“Bye Bye Baby [previously known as The One Thing] is a song that I wrote with Liz Rose and it was just one of those ones that it would always get stuck in my head, just the idea that you're facing disappointment when it comes to somebody that you really cared about, and kind of that grand letdown that happens when you're growing up and you're learning to trust people and trying to learn about love and everything and kind of realizing that you have to let go.”

Somewhere in 2007: Taylor writes The Way I Loved You with John Rich and SuperStar with Liz Rose.

[About The Way I Loved You] “I got this idea for a song about being in a relationship with a nice guy who is punctual and opens up the door for you and brings you flowers... but you feel nothing. The whole time you’re with him, you’re thinking about the guy who was complicated and messy and frustrating. So I brought that idea, the title and where I thought the song should go to John. He was able to relate to it because he is that complicated, frustrating messy guy in his relationships. We came at the song from different angles. It was just so cool to get in a room and write with him because he really is an incredible writer.”

John Rich is a Republican and spoke against Taylor in 2018 after Marsha Blackburn won, so this is probably all we'll ever know about their writing session.

There are two demos of Superstar, and on the worktape Taylor reveals that the superstar was born in Arkansas. Fans speculated that it's a reference to Joe Nichols, a famous country singer.

January 28, 2008: Matt Jenkins opens for Taylor at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. They write a song together called This One's Different. It was probably intended for Jenkins' debut album (which was never released) but I'll inlcude it anyway.

[Description of the song from the Inner Circle] The singer reflects back on how there can be really bad days and nights where it seems like everything goes wrong. But things can change for the better in a single moment when we meet the perfect person. The story in this song culminates in a romantic proposal and wedding. This song is unique because Taylor only sings background vocals and the story is told from the boy's perspective.

Video of Taylor and Matt explaining how she contacted him.

February 28, 2008: Love and Theft open Taylor's concert in Spartanburg, SC. This is likely the period when Taylor and Stephen Barker Liles met and Taylor wrote Hey Stephen.

“We were recording at John and Martina McBride’s studio [aka Blackbird Studios in Nashville] and he was like, ‘My kids are dying to meet you. Do you think that you could say hi to them?’ I said, ‘Sure, have them come and hang out while we’re recording.’ So his daughters and their friends from school – there were about ten of them there – they all came into the studio when we were recording “Hey Stephen” and they loved it. They were singing along with it by the end of it." The children ended up snapping their fingers on the song.”

March 2008: According to Nathan Chapman, Love Story was recorded in March.

[From Everyday is a Fairytale by Liv Spencer] “Taylor wrote this song lying on her bedroom floor in a mere 20 minutes and recorded a rough cut of the track in 15 minutes of studio time the next day.”

[Nathan Chapman to ProAudio] “The vocal was a tracking vocal — that's the vocal she cut live with the band," Chapman reveals. "The band was just acoustic guitar, bass and drums; everything else was overdubbed.”

Nathan is likely talking about these two demos: Love Story (4 min 8 sec / Acoustic in a Studio) Taylor went into the studio to record this demo shortly after writing it and you can hear Nathan (the producer) speaking during the recording; Love Story Justin Niebank Master Mix (3 min 58 sec / Studio) - As the music starts playing, Taylor clears her throat in preparation for singing. This album demo is more like a raw unmixed studio version. Sometimes Taylor's vocal is simply one take with no enhancements. At other times, harmonies are mixed in loudly or there are multiple Taylor vocals all singing together.

[Taylor on Rolling Stone, January 25, 2010] “Love Story wasn’t technically the last one, but it was very, very last minute.”

“This is a song I wrote when I was dating a guy who wasn't exactly the popular choice. His situation was a little complicated, but I didn't care. I started this song with the line "This love is difficult, but it's real." When I wrote the ending to this song, I felt like it was the ending every girl wants to go with her love story. It’s the ending that I want. You want a guy who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, what anyone says. He just says, “Marry me, Juliet, I love you, and that’s all I really know.” It’s sort of told in a character kind of thing, where it’s Romeo and Juliet, and it’s not me saying that I’m getting married or anything...but I think it’s fun to write about it.”

March 2008: Just days after writing Love Story, Taylor has a writing session with Craig Wiseman. She brings Love Story with her, asking if he wanted to finish it with her, but he refused. They end up writing another unknown song.

March 28, 2008: [Rollling Stone Interview] “I’ve recorded six songs, including one that I wrote with Colbie Caillat, that she’s going to throw some harmonies on, which I can’t even wait to hear. And I’m going in to record six more this week and then we have another session scheduled for summertime. We’re really trying to just cut a bunch of stuff and put whatever is best on the album.”

May 10, 2008: Banjo Ben Clark, the banjo player who has been touring with Taylor since 2006, reveals that he had recently played some banjo on new Taylor songs. Through an email exchange with him, I was able to confirm that he played on a Fearless song of which the production was changed and the banjo track discarded. Mr. Clark was not able to confirm which song this was.

Early June 2008: Taylor records Crazier and White Horse.

“I actually wasn’t going to put [White Horse] on the album. I was going to wait for the third album because I really felt like we had the “sadness” represented on this record. Then my agency out in LA set up a meeting with executive producers Betsy Beers and Shonda Rhimes at Grey’s Anatomy because that’s my favorite show. It would just be a dream come true to have a song on it. So, I played them “White Horse.” It was just me and my guitar and they freaked out. They loved it. They said, “We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” For a while, we didn’t know if we were going to put it on the record because if it wasn’t going to be on the show, then we weren’t going to put it on the album. Then they called and said they were very interested in the song. We recorded it right away, sent it off to them, and they put it in!”

“White Horse is about what, in my opinion, is the most heart-breaking part of a break-up – that moment when you realize that all the dreams you had, all those visions you had of being with this person, all that disappears. Everything after that moment is moving on.. But that initial moment of "Wow, it's over" is what I wrote White Horse about.”

(About Crazier) [Billboard Interview, March 2008] “There are songs that I wrote when I was 13 that I think are perfect to bring out now. I didn’t get a chance to put ’em on the record the first time around. There’s so much stuff that I’m gonna to pull from the back drawer and then there’s some stuff that I will write today and cut tomorrow.”

“I wrote the song ‘Crazier’ when I was thirteen, and so this song is really a reflection of what I thought love was supposed to be. And, you know, sometimes you write a love song about what you hope will find you, and what you hope you’ll find someday, not about what you’re actually going through. I wrote the song in hopes that possibly it would be in the movie, but I never thought that it would be such a big, prominent song. It’s absolutely one of the most exciting things. The song is playing when the main characters in the movie, Miley and Billy Ray, are both falling in love, with that song as a background. It’s really cool to have that kind of a part in the movie.”

[Co-writer Robert Ellis Orrall on Crazier] “Disney called her up and said, 'We need a fiddle waltz song for Hannah Montana the Movie, we would love for you to sing it. She had one, so she sent it to them.”

Speculation:

I'm pretty confident that the songs written at 13 which she considered to release were Crazier and R-E-V-E-N-G-E.

I'm not entirely sure it was June, but Crazier, White Horse and Beautiful Eyes were mastered together, so I'm gonna assume that they were done in the period between her cameo in Hannah Montana and the release of the Beautiful Eyes EP. Grey's Anatomy was in post-production in that period, so that checks out.

June 9, 2008: Taylor shoots her cameo in Hannah Montana.

July 15, 2008: Beautiful Eyes is released.

[From MySpace] “I’m only letting my record company make a small amount of these - the last thing I want any of you to think is that we are putting out too many releases. I’m not going to be doing a bunch of promotion for it, because I don’t want there to be confusion about whether it’s the second album or not.”

Beautiful Eyes was written by April 20, 2004 and recorded on August 9, 2004 and it was produced by Orrall. The song released is actually the exact same demo, not even remixed, just mastered. [Source: Bob Orrall's Instagram]

I Heart? was written in early 2004 and the demo recorded in June 2004. The released version, available for download if you bought her Debut album the first week at Best Buy, was recorded on November 3, 2005 (instrumentals) and on November 4, 2005 (vocals). Both versions are produced by Bob Orrall.

FAQ: What's the difference between mixing and mastering?

July 29, 2008: First live perfomance of Untouchable from the Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 is the album which was released without Taylor's approval in April 2020. Before the "official" Big Machine release, these songs were on the Target YouTube channel. YouTube channel EAS Music Official waited until Taylor regained possessions of Fearless before uploading a 4K remastered version of Love Story from this live. Both videos are ethical-sourced.

August 5 and 6, 2008: Shooting of the Love Story music video at the Cumberland University and Castle Gwynn in Arrington, Tennessee.

August 8, 2008: Change is released.

August 15, 2008: Week of the Jonas Brothers 3D Movie shooting where Taylor performs Should've Said No; Should've Said No reaches No. 1; Fearless is announced for November.

August 30, 2008: [From MySpace] “So now is the time for planning. In 73 days, November 11th will be here and so will the release date of my new album. And so right now I’m in the middle of writing my ‘thank you’ section and thinking about track listing order (wondering “What song should go first..? Or last? How do you get the perfect flow of an album? What IS the "flow” of an album? Hmmm..“). And I’m also thinking about the secret codes to put into the lyrics. [...] This next record is on my mind 24/7, all the time. It never stops. I’m always either listening to a new mix of a song or scanning through pictures to make sure we’ve chosen the right ones, or wondering which songs you guys are going to like the best. I’m just so obsessed with it right now, all the planning. And sometimes I just have to sit back and remind myself that 73 days is not going to be here any sooner if I obsess. It’s still going to be 73 days away.”

Somewhere between July and August 2008: Taylor writes Jump Then Fall and Today Was A Fairytale.

[About Jump The Fall] «It’s probably the happiest, bounciest, most fun song to drive down the street listening to. It's one of my favorites on the Platinum Edition. It's just really fun and happy and takes me back to a good place.»

July 31, 2008: Taylor shoots the Fearless photoshoot. (I got this date from an insider)

September 1, 2008: The Fearless tracklist is released. Originally, Change was the first song The Way I Loved You wasn't included. Forever & Always was also missing, as Taylor hadn't written it yet.

September 12, 2008: The lead single Love Story is released.

[From MySpace] “A lot of people have been asking me what inspired this song.. I think the line that sums up what that song is about is “This love is difficult, but it’s real.” It just means that sometimes you have to fight for love, but sometimes it’s worth fighting for. Like with Romeo and Juliet. Except without the death. :) To me, the song isn’t really about living in a castle and having met your true love at a royal ball. It’s simpler than that. It’s about love being worth it. The hard times, the things that keep you apart, the times when you question it.. I would really like to think that the right love is worth the energy we put into it. So that’s what this song is about. Love and Romeo, and how we fight for those things that we can’t be without. In 1789 or in 2008. Whether you’re 16 or 60.”

Taylor will call the guy who inspired Love Story “a creep” in a 2011 interview.

September 18, 2008: The Jonas Brothers are filming their music video Lovebug. Joe meets Camilla Belle there.

September 21, 2008: Taylor and Liz Rose write You Belong With Me.

“I came into the writing session with Liz Rose and said: “I’ve got this idea. I had overheard a friend of mine talking to his girlfriend and he was completely on the defensive saying, “No, baby...I had to get off the phone really quickly...I tried to call you right back...Of course I love you. More than anything! Baby, I’m so sorry.” She was just yelling at him! I felt so bad for him at that moment. So I came up with the first line “You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset, going off about something that you said,” and I ran that into the story line that I’m in love with him and he should be with me instead of her. It just became this whole picture. It was really fun for us to write the line, “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts.””

[Liz Rose Interview] “Taylor said, ‘I’m finishing the record on Monday. Let’s write an uptempo song.’ We wrote ‘You Belong With Me’ in one or two hours. It’s amazing to go back to the work tape and listen to it, because you wouldn’t believe the nuances that show up in the album version, too. When she’s writing something, she’s already producing in her head. She hears it all.”

Description of the worktape: You Belong With Me (3 min 7 sec / Acoustic)- Provides an incredible window into the songwriting process which went into this future hit song. Taylor clears her voice and then unleashes her acoustic guitar as she sings along with great feeling. There are some unique lyrics on this demo including an entirely different bridge. Simply stunning.

September 22, 2008: Taylor records You Belong With Me.

[Nathan Chapman Interview] We moved a little quick sometimes - most of You Belong With Me took two hours and a half. We started at 10AM and we were done by 12:30. I said, "Hey, let's go to lunch", but on the way back, one of the guys from the label said, "Hey, it's not cool to take that much time for one song". So we did four songs that afternoon. And then her management called and said, "You really wore her out today, can you go easier on her tomorrow?"

September 22 or 23, 2008: While in the studio, Taylor writes and records Forever & Always, a last-addiction to Fearless.

[From MySpace] [...] And I recorded a new song the other day for Fearless. I think it’s fun to put yourself under crazy pressure to finish a song by a certain deadline. That’s what I did with this last song. And that makes 13 songs on the new album. 13….. I think that’s a good number of songs to end up with….<3

“Forever & Always is about when I was in a relationship with someone and I was just watching him slowly slip away. I didn't know why, because I wasn't doing anything different. I didn't do anything wrong. He was just fading. It’s about the confusion and frustration of wondering why? What changed? When did it change? What did I do wrong? In this case, the guy I wrote it about ended up breaking up with me for another girl. Guess I know why he was fading.”

September 26, 2008: White Horse is premeried on Grey's Anatomy.

September 30, 2008: [From MySpace] “So this week, we’re in “final approval mode” for the album. You know, all the emails that say in the subject lines “Fearless album booklet: FINAL APPROVAL” or “CD design: FINAL APPROVAL”. So I’m doing a lot of approving. And then they send it to the magical CD maker people and they make all the CDs just in time for November 11. Actually, it’s called the distribution branch, but I prefer “the magical CD maker people”.”

Somewhere during the last two weeks of September: Drama Queen, co-written with Martin Johnson is written and recorded. It will be mastered along the rest of the Fearless songs and another re-recording of R-E-V-E-N-G-E (not the one leaked). Since the song was mastered, it's considered an outtake and not a demo.

Fun fact: Along with I'd Lie, Drama Queen and R-E-V-E-N-G-E are the only three unreleased songs to have been mastered.

IMPORTANT PERSONAL NOTE: I know that a lot of people think that Drama Queen is exclusively a Speak Now cut, but this is not my opinion, but what the master engineer (Hank Williams) and Big Machine officially declared. Feel free to not believe them though. It's totally possible it was considered for Fearless Platinum or for Speak Now (and I believe it was) but cut in favour of Better Than Revenge, but it doesn't change the fact that it's also a Fearless cut. If you really have proof that Big Machine falsified documents, call them out, don't waste time coming after me, I just copy-past stuff. They're already considered liars anyway.

October 14, 2008: Through Countdown to Fearless, an exclusive campaign by the iTunes Store, Fearless is released as a promotional single.

October 28, 2008: You're Not Sorry is released as a promotional single through ITunes. The physical copies are also completed.

[From MySpace] Just letting everyone know that my new song “You’re Not Sorry” comes out on iTunes tonight at midnight, so check it out! I stopped by the label today and held the actual CD in my hands… It’s finished. It’s ready to go. TWO WEEKS! Let me know what you think of the new song!

November 4, 2008: You Belong With Me is released as a promotional single through ITunes.

November 11, 2008: Fearless is finally released.

March 19, 2009 (not confirmed): [From MySpace] “I've been in the studio all day (I know, I know.. We JUST put out a new album. I think I have a problem, I cannot stop writing songs.)”. The song is possibly Mr. Perfectly Fine.

[Alexa Skill for Taylor's Version] “Mr Perfectly Fine was definitely an early indicator of me sort of creeping towards a pop sensibility. I've always listened to every type of music and even though Fearless is a country album, there were always these pop melodies creeping in. But I really love this song and, I love the bridge, I think the lyrics are just wonderfully scathing and full of the teen angst that you would hope to hear on an album that I wrote when I was 17 or 18 or you know on that cusp.”

April 23, 2009: The Fearless Tour starts in Evansville, Indiana.

October 26, 2009: Fearless Platinum Edition is released.

«The six new songs on the Fearless [Platinum Edition] are songs that I either recorded and wrote really recently, wrote maybe a year ago and almost put on Fearless but decided not to for one reason or another, or a songs that I wrote when I was 14/15 and re-recorded recently. It's a good mixture of songs from different time periods throughout my life. When I make an album, I always have a general theme for it. And when I hear songs, or go back and listen to old ones, there are some that I know fit in with the theme.»

Check out my Spreadsheet with all the writing and recording dates.

Follow my playlist 'Fearless in Chronological Order'.

Go to my Writing of Speak Now Timeline

Go to my Writing of Red Timeline

Go to my Writing of Red Timeline (VIDEO EDITION)

Other Sources used:

U.S. Copyright Office;

Mastering Archive Website;

Sony/ATV Catalogue;

Fearlyssa/Rare TS Songs Website;

Alexa Skills from Fearless TV (audio courtesy of u/emmafan3070, transcripts by me);

Big Machine Interviews Archive;

Taylor's Concert History (also Colbie Caillat's);

TS MySpace Archive on Tumblr

Taylor Swift Switzerland

Last but certainly not least, the king of Taylor's timeline: Robert Ellis Orrall.

#taylor swift #writing of fearless timeline #i just realized i hadn't posted this one here yet ops #i think i wrote this in december 2021 #but i only posted it on reddit #fearless era #fearless taylor's version #taylor swift unreleased songs #taylor swift timelines

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