#and Rue 100% deserved her happy end

[bigbrainbiology]

28) Princess Kraehe <3

[yeollie-plz]

The Other Woman

Synopsis: After breaking up with her shit boyfriend, Y/N seeks refuge in a new sport and a new man.

Genre: smau

Faceclaim: Allissa Shin @allissashin on ig

All other pics from Pinterest or driver’s personal igs

yourusername

Liked by charles_leclerc and 47,479 others

yourusername lately ive been dressing for revenge

user 🔥🔥🔥

y/nswife what did he do….this time

pleasantlyy/n I want to be in the same room as you just so I can breathe the same air

f1fan did no one else see the Charles like?

- user I was curious too

- iheartf1 mans is thirsting on main

- landox2 you don’t think?

yourbsf ladies always rise above

- yourusername ladies know what people want

- hearteyesy/n we love our swifties

yourusername posted a story

Liked by 787

y/nswife since when did she like f1???

dramapage

Liked by 1,340 people

dramapage Looks like model Y/N and producer boyfriend are broken up once again. What is your opinion on their on-and-off relationship? Let us know!

y/nfan my thoughts are you should leave her alone :))

y/nswife I just wish she would break up with him already she deserves better

f1girlie I bet Charles is just waiting for her to be single

- user he’s drafting his dm as we speak

hater she’s always the other woman

wishingiwasher I just want her to be happy again

yourusername posted a story

Liked by 1,267

y/nismine unbothered queen

user whelp there’s our confirmation

f1forever charles about to shoot his shot

yourbsf I’m so sorry babes!

- yourbsf but also get his ass!!!

yourusername

Liked by yourbsf and 43,917 others

yourusername dont give men second chances

Tagged yourbsf

y/nstan girl you have him like 50 chances…

- user you called her out 🫢

y/nswife finally we can be together!

charles_leclerc what about a first chance?

Liked by yourusername and others

- user Charles?

- user does he know this is his main account

- yourusername maybeee…

- user Y/N NO! HE GOES IN CIRCLES FOR A LIVING

- user uh oh this is not going to end well

Zendaya Gorgeous!

yourbsf you only need the girls!

Liked by yourusername

yourusername

Liked by charles_leclerc and 79,377 others

yourusername race weekend 🏎️ 🤫

user oh so she’s rooting for Ferrari then

user don’t tell me Charles is behind this

y/nswife you better not leave me again! I thought we had something

- user for a man that goes vroom vroom too

charles_leclerc can’t wait to see you, you’ll be my good luck charm

Liked by yourusername and others

- user oh ok he’s whipped whipped then

- user damn

- user Charles has rizz?

charles_leclerc

Liked by yourusername and 997,416 others

charles_leclerc Podium this weekend 👊 We were lucky 🍀

user ok we all know he is talking about Y/N right

- f1girls yep

- carlosstan yes

- charlesitaly 100%

- landoismylover no question

yourusername 🤩 great race Charlie!

- y/nslove the nickname??????

yourusername

Liked by zendaya and 229,347 others

yourusername show me off

Tagged charles_leclerc

y/nslove rue when was this?

user the way my jaw dropped

charlesloveclerc 🫡 weve lost him to the simp side

yourbsf I love when my baby is happy

- yourusername love you!!

- charles_leclerc am I the other woman?

- yourbsf yes

- yourusername yes

bewitchedy/n I’m not crying you’re crying

A/N: ok ok!! My first attempt at a social media au!!!! I personally love these and so I wanted to mix my page up and write one of my own! I also recently got into f1 and thought I’d take a stab into that universe as well! New things all around! Give me suggestions for more 👀❤️

[slut4sugu]

— 𝐒𝐎𝐒. 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 !

─── . ༶ ⋆˙⊹❀ ♡ SOME WORDS FROM KAM: I just want to thank all of your for 100+ followers! It has been so much fun writing for you all and I greatly appreciate the support! So now I hope you all enjoy this milestone event!!

─── . ༶ ⋆˙⊹❀ ♡ SOME WARNINGS: some of these works will have mature content so minors Dni! I will label the ones that are sfw and nsfw, happy reading and thank you all so much again!

Here is SZA’s full SOS album in case you wanna listen to it however you want </3

NO.1 - SOS.

MDNI !

I CAN DO YOU BETTER [feat!] hobie brown

Lyrics : bestfriend!hobie x black fem reader, readers ex on the phone, fingering, hobie being evil </3, use of names like: doll, pretty thing, princess, cunnilingus, cursing, mentions of weed and alcohol use, bit of a slow burn

Summary: Your bestfriend hobie comforts you after getting broken up over the phone with your ex, and gives you the treatment you’ve always deserved.

NO. 2 - KILL BILL.

MDNI !

Come Back Darlin feat! [feat!] rue Bennett

Lyrics : ex!rue x fem!black reader, mentions smoking, makeout session, rue being slightly sappy, thigh riding, being almost caught by Gia, fluff at the end </3, cursing

Summary: you broke up with rue because her addiction was too concerning and you felt as though she would never change no matter what you said to her. After an argument you broke up, though as weeks then months passed rue started to realized your her drug. The strongest there fuckin is.

NO. 3 - SEEK & DESTROY.

BULLSEYE [feat!] assassin Toji x fem!black reader

Lyrics: Toji being hot as usual, reader having to treat his scars, suggestiveness, fluff, use of the name: doll, pretty, baby, princess, ma, toji being a sweetheart, use of guns, cursing.

Summary: you didn’t know what toji specifically did for work until you started to put pieces together, the excessive guns, weaponry, especially the scars. Then one night your boyfriend of 2 years sat you down an told you everything.

NO. 4 - LOW.

SHOW OFF [ feat!] 42!miles x fem!blackreader

Lyrics: miles being protective of you as per usual, jealousy themes, cursing, rio being suspicious, slight angst then fluff, reader being worried for miles, miles spoiling reader, slight suggestiveness

Summary: you found out that miles was the prowler, and assured him you would still want to be with him despite what he does as a ‘job’. But because you know he makes your relationship a secret, so that not even uncle Aron would know.

NO. 5 - SMOKING ON MY EX PACK.

MDNI !

F*CK OFF [ feat!] suna x fem!black reader

Lyrics: atsumu being a dick, angst to fluff, smoking, stoner suna, skipping school, alottt of cursing, fighting between atsumu n suna, suna being a sweetheart to reader, cheating themes, mentions of a abusive relationship between atsumu and reader

Summary: After a long awaited break up with a toxic atsumu, you struggle to love yourself again. So your old friend comes to ease your mental pain, and real ease some tension.

NO. 6 GOOD DAYS.

MDNI !

MY HEART [ feat!] ? x fem!black reader (it’s a surprise <33)

Lyrics: ? being an absolute sweetheart, use of vibrator, slight age gap, reader is in her late 20’s and ? is in her early 30’s, cunnilingus, edging, aftercare, use of names: Honey, princess, sweetheart, baby

Summary: ? met you one day at a concert and couldn’t take her eyes off your cute outfit for the whole show, after getting your insta, meet ups begin to happen in discreet locations and reserved buildings before turning into stays in her penthouse.

[galesautismdiagnosis]

I think Claudia Bailing Forever would work narratively mostly for her own character (and not Louis feewings)

She comes back bc she realizes that she’s important to Louis and plays a vital role in his life

So with her finding out that staying in Paris is 100 percent going to end with her dying, and realizing that, while Louis loves her, she will always be secondary to whoever he’s with at that moment. She gets to make the choice that she cannot hang around for Louis’ sake. She has to live her life on her terms, in ways that fulfill her!

When she tries to leave the second time, this time with Louis, he tells her that he will only hold her back. And he does! Lestat follows her and drags her back to Rue Royale “to make Louis happy.”

Sure, it’d be tragic that her decision to stay with Louis ends with her demise. I just think that Claudia deserves a better ending and not to get fridged lmao

[princessofshazabah]

Um um um sge characters as girl in red's new album "if i could make it go quiet" songs/lyrics

**doesn't include hornylovesickmess because i could not match that up no matter how hard i tried**

Serotonin

Hmm definitely gives Tedros or Dot vibes, both very surface level happy but the actual lyrics are dark like their back stories

Did You Come?

ignoring the actual, extremely nsfw meaning of this song, it's giving book 1 agatha vibes when she realizes how bad sophie has been to her + and how she deserves someone better.

Body And Mind

when i first listened to it it was SOOO painfully sophie book 2-3, however i think it could be agatha book 2 (or maybe,,, never!agatha??) as well. there's no lyric video for this one so i have to listen really hard lmao but this is my fav out of the album

midnight love

the actual vibe reminds me of anadil or reena but again there is no lyric video and my attention span is so short i cannot focus on the lyrics-- so i have to Google them..

"able to look you right in the eyes, say im not your consolation prize"

"I can't be your second best, close but not your favorite, i keep going back for more, when there's nothing from before"

...yep definitely anadil

You Stupid Bitch

THE VIBE IS SO HESTER ITS ALMOST SICKENING!!! ngl when i first listened to this i immediately thought of agaster

"You don't know what you deserve, and that's why you end up hurt, but you never listen, take my advice as criticism, then make the worst decisions"

MY INTUITION WAS RIGHT, THIS IS AN AGASTER SONG 100%

Rue

The lyrics feel like Sophie book 2 when she's trying to prove to Agatha that she's her friend but it backfires

"Yeah i tried to get it off my mind, to leave it all behind, don't wanna make it worse, I'm gonna make it work"

Apartment 402

Without even listening to the song/analysing the lyrics it felt like a Nicola song. Let's see if my intuition is right 3 times in a row

...this is an extremely dark song now that im paying attention to the lyrics. the only lyrics that really relate to nicola are "the place i call my home, yeah i could die here and nobody would know" i'm assuming this song is about depression but i can't think of a time when a character is extremely depressed? correct me if im wrong

.

yes the songs name is just "." i found a lyric video guys!!it seems like an angsty tedros song tbh-- and i was correct again. this is 100% awwp tedros

"it's been so hard, ever since you broke my heart, but ill never tell, honey im not doing so well"

"when i see you with her, it only gets worse, and oh how it hurts, i can't say"

I'll Call You Mine

FUN FACT WHEN I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF DOING THIS ONE I SEARCHED UP THE WRONG SONG-- WHOOPS

anyways the lyrics are just fun couple stuff and Nobody in this series actually does that-- maybe hicola but that would be a stretch. sorry to end this post on a disappointing note!

[zutaralesbian]

Thoughts on... the hunger games ending. I read the books back in middle school but even now I still have mixed feelings abt the ending since I think prim and Finnik did not need to die and the “married with kids” ending is surprisingly detested lmao.

'Mixed feelings' is pretty much a perfect summation of my feelings about the ending of The Hunger Games as well lmao. Even as a young teen reading Mockingjay for the first time I didn't feel 100% right about it. And as I got older I realized why.

First off I don't really like the way Mockingjay demonized the rebellion with the character of President Coin. I THINK what Suzanne Collins was going for was showing that war on all sides is awful and that nothing is purely black and white. But it came off as spreading the message that people who fight against their oppressors can be 'just as bad as the oppresors' and that's obviously...yikes. 😬 I've said before that the ending of Game of Thrones was very similiar to the ending of the Hunger Games and there's a reason why the ending of GoT is so wildly hated. It demonized Dany, a character who was ultimately trying to fight for a better world in a very similiar way to how THG demonized the rebellion against the Capitol. Obviously between the two of them GoT was much worse because THG was overall the better written story. But they had similiar messages.

I also still to this day take issue with the death of Prim because of how unnecessarily cruel it was to Katniss. Like, I understand that THG wasn't by any means a happy series but killing Prim was too much imo. Katniss goes through all that hell and in the end doesn't even get to keep her little sister, the person who was the only person Katniss could positively say she loved at the beginning of the series and the reason Katniss went into the Games in the first place. And to top it all off, Gale was linked to Prim's death. I wasn't a HUGE fan of Gale but I think Katniss deserved to be able to keep him in her life in some way after all they've been through together. Idk. I just don't understand why an author would want to torture their main character that much? Katniss deserved more wins. (I also loved Finnick and wish he hadn't died. But I take less issue with his death than I do Prim's from a narrative perspective.)

Those are my biggest issues with it. (Well all of that and hijacked! Peeta. Honestly I'm not really a fan of Mockingjay in general. The first two books are superior.)

I actually didn't mind that Peeta and Katniss ended up with kids. I understand why people hate the trope but in this case, I actually think it worked. I know it's a popular opinion that Katniss never wanted kids and yes she did say that in the first book. But I think a lot of people ignore the context of WHY she said it. Katniss said she didn't want to bring kids into the world of the Games, not that she disliked the general concept of having kids. As bleak as Mockingjay is, one thing that did happen was the Games being abolished. Katniss no longer has to worry about any kids of hers being reaped into the Games so that fear would no longer be there. And I see Katniss as someone who does really love kids and has the nurturing and protective instinct to be a good mother. Just look at her relationships with Prim and Rue. So yeah...it's an unpopular opinion but I don't think Katniss having kids in the end was a bad thing. I actually think it could be healing for her in a way.

[pantherlover]

Rosemary and Rue Re-Read: Part 8

Here’s part 8!  As always: possible spoilers up to Night and Silence!

Chapter 15

“Toby, don’t be dead, don’t be dead.”  It sounded almost like Tybalt’s voice, too distorted and far away to really tell.

Here’s the first time that Tybalt saves Toby’s life!  Welcome to the rest of your life, Tybalt; no one can ever say that you weren’t given adequate warning.

LIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh, I miss her so much.  I will hold on to the likely delusional hope that she’ll come back until the series is over.  (SHE WASN’T EATEN BY THE NIGHT HAUNTS, OKAY?!  THERE’S STILL A CHANCE!!!!!)

I wonder how well Lily and Amandine knew each other.  There had to be a reason that Lily was the only person from Faerie that Amandine introduced Toby to.

I kind of want to see the AU where Toby worked for Lily and not Devin.  I doubt she would’ve been injured less, but she might’ve been better at putting herself back together again.  Plus, you know, she wouldn’t have worked with Devin.

What was the reason behind cursing Lily too?  I know that if she’d been free she would’ve been able to send for help, but if Simon ‘put up walls’ around her fiefdom, shouldn’t everyone in the fiefdom have been affected?  Why was Lily the only one forgotten?

Also, it’s super heartbreaking to think that Lily’s people forgot her for 14 years, and then only got her back for like, 2 years before she died.

“Really, October, there wouldn’t be any need for this sort of thing if you would just stop jumping in front of bullets.”

This could be Lily joking about Toby being shot at the moment, but it kind of felt to me like Toby had actually been shot before?  Which makes me so curious about cases she’d had before she was turned into a fish.  Were they fae cases?  Were they human cases?  How many times has Lily needed to patch Toby up because she thinks ‘self preservation’ is what you use to make food last longer?

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh of all of Toby’s allies that she had before the pond, Lily’s the only one that she’s completely honest with.  I!  Love!  Them!  So!  Much!!!!

Chapter 16

It’s really nice to see someone fussing over Toby, and to see Toby letting them; she’ll let Tybalt/May/Quentin force her to eat occasionally, but I don’t think she sits quietly and obediently follows orders from anyone other than Lily.

“People have been trying to kill you for as long as I’ve known you; it seems to be a normal part of your existence, and I’ve grown resigned to that fact.”

What did Toby DO before she was put in the pond?!

Also, given that Lily’s known her since before Toby even joined Faerie, does that mean that Evening has been sending people to try to kill Toby for that long?  Or does Amandine possibly have other enemies we don’t know about yet?

“Your mother will not forgive me for your death... I think you might be surprised by what she would do.”

What does Lily know about Amandine that she’s so sure about that?

“I pushed myself to my feet and followed her, pausing to take my bloody clothes from a Puca with dragonfly wings and white-blind eyes.  She looked familiar, like someone I’d known once, but I didn’t ask.”

Possible character that will become relevant later?

I keep forgetting that the book’s supposed to be set around Christmas; I live in Alberta, and apparently a setting doesn’t register as ‘winter’ to me unless someone’s dealing with a surprise snowfall at inconvenient times.

Oh, man, Julie.  Re-reading this introduction is so sad now, because Toby’s so happy to see her!  And it’s going to go so badly so fast.

Julie also has the lovely distinction of being the reason Tybalt dislikes me so much.  We had quite a few hostile encounters during my time in the Summerlands, most of which ended with him reminding me that he’d be happy to gut me if it weren’t for my mother.  When we grew up, Julie followed me out of her uncle’s Court and all the way Home - the first Cait Sidhe to pull that kind of stunt.  Lucky me, he decided to blame me instead of her, because I was the “smart one”.

So this paragraph brings up a lot of questions for me: when/where did Toby and Tybalt ‘encounter’ each other in the Summerlands?  Did Tybalt have a lot of contact with Amandine, even if he didn’t with the Torquills?  I kind of doubt tha Julie would’ve been the first Cait Sidhe to ever temporarily abandon Court to go try out other things; did Toby mean that Julie was the first time someone in Tybalt’s court had done that?  Also, Tybalt calling Toby the ‘smart one’ - that says a lot about Julie’s decision making skills, and none of them are very flattering.

Thin blood is a social stigma in Faerie.  It’s isn’t enough to ban you completely.  Some of Faerie’s greatest scholars and magical theoreticians were thin-blooded: it gave them the ability to see us for what we were, but at a distance, and that made them stronger than most people can understand.

I wonder if this is going to come up as a plot in the main series?  There’s a short story about the Luidaeg helping the merlins in a war against Faerie so that Oberon would step in and create the hope chests, plus Marcia talked about being thin-blooded in Night and Silence; with mortals possibly becoming a bigger part of the plot in future books, I think a merlin is going to show up at some point.

The Cait Sidhe don’t fall in love often; mostly, they get involved in short, torrid affairs that don’t mean anything to either side, and they never fall in love with changelings if they can help it.

Admittedly, we don’t see Toby have a ton of interaction with the Cait Sidhe?  But what we DO see makes me think that this is, uh... not strictly true.  Not just from Tybalt!  Tybalt’s friend in Portland who’s name I can’t remember is so in love with his wife, that he plans to step down and let his daughter take over being Monarch of their Court when his wife is old enough to need to be taken care of.  Which makes me wonder if the above quote is what Amandine thinks; we know she thinks of shapeshifter fae, considering her comments about Tybalt in The Brightest Fell.

The Roane are gentler cousins to the Selkies.  They aren’t as inclined to vengeance, and their magic is innate - they’re shapeshifters, like the Cait Sidhe, not skinshifters like the Selkies.  They’re also practically extinct.

Okay, so first off: Roooooossss I’m so sorry honey, you deserve so much better.  Second: that quote sure is a watered down version of the history between the Selkies/Roane, isn’t it!  That’s an interesting note about the Selkies being the more prone to vengeance than the Roane; given their history, you’d think it was the other way around.  Unless the vengeance thing was something that changed about the Selkies in later books? We’ve met a few Selkies now; I don’t think I’d say any of them are prone to vengeance.  (Now, if Toby had said the Merrow are prone to vengeance, I would believe it 100%)

And Tybalt’s second time saving Toby’s life!  He’s catching on quick; I’m impressed.

Tybalt killing the Redcap leaves me with a lot of questions - that seems like a very clear violation of Oberon’s law, but no one mentions that?  I know that Oberon declared that the Cait Sidhe ruled over themselves, with no interference from the Divided Courts, so Cait Sidhe killing each other for succession reasons is okay, but surely killing a member of the Divided Courts is a huge no-no?  Unless Redcaps aren’t part of the Divided Courts?  Or the Redcap being an assassin meant that he’d violated Oberon’s law, so whoever killed him would’ve been justified and it wouldn’t be considered a violation?

Tybalt and Toby’s conversation after the Redcap is very... tender, almost?  He’s being very gentle with her - and Tybalt admitting that he’d been waiting for her to leave because he wanted to make sure Toby was okay, and Toby thinking ‘oh, it’s just because of our agreement’ is probably the first time I went ‘really, Toby?  Really?’

So, Toby mentioned Tybalt and Evening’s relationship to each other earlier in the book, but I’m actually more interested in Tybalt and Lily’s relationship - how did they even meet?  Was it just because of Julie, or have they known each other for longer?  They seem to hold a lot of respect for each other, which is a little surprising considering they’re a cat and a water spirit.  Tybalt knows how to enter into Lily’s domain; has he visited before?

I turned back to glare at him.  “Don’t you care?”  I demanded, gesturing toward them.  “I care more than you’ll give me credit for.”

saldfjsdlkjfsdfj  there’s something about that line that just hits me, but I can’t figure out a way to really articulate it.

That’s it for this recap!  As always, feel free to come talk to me about things!

[nickireadstfc]

The Raven King, Chapter 4 – Andrew Does Shit No One Expects Him To, Pt. 2

In which Orange Sportsball finally starts to form into something resembling teamwork, the Foxes drag Neil for “I’m fine”, I suggest a quality mascot design, and Neil pulls some sweet stunts, only to be dramatically and jaw-droppingly out-stunted by Andrew ‘Extra’ Minyard.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Raven King.

GUESS WHO’S FCKNG BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have risen from the ashes of my shattered laptop, finally ready to once again bring you the foxy shitpost content you love and deserve. I’m writing this from a Dell brick that probably came out while I was still in elementary school and weighs as much as a small child, but I don’t care. It has a keyboard and a screen and Microsoft Word, and that’s all that matters.

Back not with a fizzle, but with a bang: I bring you an event filled with drama, shade and Extra, brimming with excitement and recklessness –

The first actually epic Exy game of this series: Palmetto State vs Belmonte University.

(This is a tad longer to make up for lost time, so strap yourselves in.)

           They were driving back after the game instead of checking into a hotel for the night. (…) They could have just hired a driver like most schools did, but Wymack was almost as leery of dealing with outsiders as his Foxes were. It was apparently better to be uncomfortable but safe than to trust a stranger with his fractured team.

This is ya friendly reminder that Wymack is a badass protective mother hen and deserves everything good in this world. My dude :’)))))))))) #dicksoutforwymack

           They stopped for gas and a bathroom break, stopped again for a quick dinner, and crossed a time zone on their way to Nashville.

And this is ya friendly reminder that American is large as hell. DIFFERENT TIMEZONES. IN THE SAME COUNTRY. How is this a real place.

They arrive at the stadium and Neil is once again faced with his worst enemy (besides new clothes):

Communal showers.

           The only reason the Foxes had private stalls on the men’s room was because Wymack specifically commissioned them. Neil forcibly focused back on the task at hand. First he had to survive the game, then he could worry about the showers.

I initially wanted to make fun of the fact that this is a real sentence, but actually I kind of understand what it’s like to not want to show parts of your body to everyone, so. He gets a pass.

Also, the idea of trans!Neil just does not leave my head. I want a billion pieces of fanart/fanfic now.

It’s almost game time!

           Neil didn’t see the Vixens, the Foxes’ all-girls cheerleading squad, or their mascot Rocky Foxy.

The have a fucking mascot??? Oh my actual God. What is it, an oversized Fox? Complete with a jersey, a black eye and a big FUCK YOU spelled on its forehead to match the team?

Why have we never heard of this before, this is the best thing ever.

           [Belmonte’s Terrapin mascot] stopped a safe distance back from their benches to make a couple crude thrusts at them. Nicky was happy to return it until Wymack swatted him upside his head.

Oh Nicky, never change. <3

           Kevin pulled one of his racquets free, fingered the strings like they might have come loose on the drive, and went over to the court walls. He didn’t spare the crowd a single look; all he cared about was right in front of him.

And if you look to your left, you’ll see Kevin being his usual Exy-obsessed, stoic and mighty self.

Also ahehehehe… Fingered. Hi, I’m 12.

As they are getting ready, Neil gets some sweet advice from Kevin – basically, only do boring ass gameplay until the second half and then go so hard you and I both bust a nut, also Andrew should realistically collapse field from withdrawal but he’ll probably hold up through sheer ego alone.

Sounds legit and like there could be nothing going wrong with it, at all.

We also briefly meet Katelyn, Aaron’s crush and – as I’m guessing – probably his date for the banquet thingy they’ve got coming up soon.

(You think I forgot about that, didn’t you. I never forget about opportunities for Fox banter, dress-up and hilarious social situations.)

However it’s not entirely a fun encounter as it’s time for another episode of our popular show What The Actual Fuck, Andrew?:

           “Oh.” Andrew slapped his fist into his palm as if the answer had just occurred to him. He flashed Matt a wicked grin but answered in German. “Maybe he’s afraid she’ll die on him like the last woman he really loved.”

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, ANDREW. Also, what the actual fuck, backstory. I need it now.

No time to ponder on it, it’s game time, fuckers!

We’re kicking things off a bit unusual – literally:

           Neil listened for a serve that didn’t come. For a second he was afraid Allison would lock up and refuse to move. He was halfway to Herrera before he heard the distinctive thump of a ball against Andrew’s oversized racquet. Allison had served it back to him, and Andrew smashed it up the court toward the strikers.

Have I mentioned how much I love functioning teamwork amongst my children? Because fuck, yeah.

Have I mentioned what I also love? Some good ass Kevin/Neil Exy action.

           The only bright point was realizing his lessons with Kevin were paying off. (…) Passing wasn’t what Neil wanted to do in this game, but he could already see how he was improving. His shots were harder and more accurate, and it took him less time to figure out where to throw.

My beb :) improving :) being taught by Kevin because Kevin sees the heaps of potential in this boy and wants to make him the best he can :) I’m fine :)

           Wymack (…) send out his substitutes. Neil wasn’t between Kevin and the door, but Kevin detoured past him anyway on his way out.

           “Destroy him”, he said.

           Neil felt like he’d been waiting for this all his life. “Yeah.”

Fuck yEAH :’)))))))))))

(Again, reminding you all that I am passionate multishipper who gets into p much any ship if dynamics present themselves unto her, unless they are super problematic. If I make any comments about ships you don’t like – cool, we all have our own tastes but please don’t send me rude comments about it.)

From that point on, my friends, the game finally catches me and holds my attention way more than the first game did. It’s on, you guys. Passes are flying left and right and our faves are working together, I really cannot stress enough how much I love functioning teamwork.

And then, of course, Neil pulls This Shit™:

           He knew Herrera was right behind him for a body check. If he got crushed between the wall and Herrera, he’d lose the ball in the fight. Neil caught the ball right off the wall but didn’t try to protect it. Instead, he gave the butt of his racquet a hard pop with one fist. It sent the ball flying straight up out of the net. He dropped to his knees in the same breath.

           He almost wasn’t fast enough. Herrera crashed into him at full speed a half-second later, but Neil wasn’t where Herrera was expecting him to be. He tripped over Neil’s body and (…) crashed into the wall head-first. (…)

           Neil scooped the ball up and took off for goal. (…) He looked only at the goalkeeper and knew he was going to score. He put all of his first-half frustration behind his swing. The goalkeeper swatted at it and missed. The wall lit up red to confirm the point.

FFFUCKKK YEAHHH. This is the most badass shit he’s done since The Talk Show Incident™ (although nothing tops that ofc) and I am way proud of my son.

Also, Neil dealt with that backliner how I deal with my responsibilities: Letting them come at me full-speed and then swiftly ducking out of their reach.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not before long, the first half is over and they’re at an even score! Amazing, wonderful, 100/10 proud mama right here.

           Neil couldn’t feel his feet, but he assumed they were down there somewhere. The shoulder he’d hurt in the first half was still throbbing thanks to the well-aimed blows of his new backliner mark.

What a fucking asshole move. Oh, you’re already injured there? Let me hit you a couple extra times, just for good measure, just to really fuck you up.

Remember that thing about Andrew staying off his meds, and how it’s going totally well? Yeah.

           Andrew stood a silent stone in their midst, looking a thousand miles away from all of this. He was a vacuum his teammates rowdy cheer couldn’t touch.

           “Stop it.” (…)

           Andrew slid a bored look Neil’s way. “I’m not doing anything.”

           “Exactly,” Neil wanted to say, but he knew it was a senseless argument. He didn’t have the right words for that gnawing feeling in his stomach.

Ah yes :)))

Wymack shows up and scolds them for not pushing harder earlier, yadda yadda, team talk. And then, I present to you the genuinely funniest thing to happen this chapter:

           Abby came to Neil last and stayed with him, feeling the line of his shoulder armour through his jersey. “How are you doing?” (…)

           “I’m fine.”

           Nicky fist-pumped in triumph. “Thank you for being so predictable, Neil. You just scored me ten bucks with two words.”

           Matt look up. “Are you serious? Who the hell bet against you?”

           Nicky jerked a thumb at Kevin. “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

I am hOWLING. I cannot believe they bet on his “I’m fine” oh my god this is the bEST.

DRAG. HIM.

The running gag of Neil “I’m fine” Josten will never not make my day. Neither will the Foxes’ obsession with betting on everything. I LOVE IT.

Kevin, never able to be anything but serious, drags him even more, but not in a fun way:

           “You’re an idiot. Do you see this?” he brandished his left hand at Neil. (…) “Injuries are not a joke. They are not something to gloss over. (…) If you ever say ‘I’m fine’ about your health again, I will make you rue the day you were born.”

Yikes.

           Abby eyed Neil. “I’ll ask again, then. Are you okay?”

           “I’m –“ It was too automatic a response. (…) “It’s just sore. So long as I can keep my mark off my right side I’ll be – okay.”

           Matt laughed at the near-miss. “I don’t see this experiment ending well, Neil.”

           “Some people are just hardwired to be stupid,” Wymack said.

I’m literally loving every single thing about this.

Fun times over, they go back on the field for second half, where Neil sits out on the sidelines at first and uses this opportunity to talk about his favourite subject: Andrew.

           “Why does Andrew do this?” Neil asked, unable to stay quiet any longer. “If he doesn’t care about Exy, what’s the point of going through this every Friday?”

           “Would you want to be crazy high every day of your life?” Matt asked.

No, but in my opinion, that still doesn’t add up. He could have probably picked any day to go meds-free, Wymack would have taken him anyways – I don’t know, pick every Sunday or every Monday or every Wednesday after lunch, it doesn’t matter. Why Exy?

The only logical reason to pick Exy days over other days is the possibility that – shocking! – Andrew does care about this dumb sport after all.

Excited for the final explanation of this. I have a hunch there’s still more to it.

In other news – my feelings:

           The Foxes were notorious for their shoddy teamwork, so most people forgot they were a Class I school. (…) If the Foxes could get over their differences and learn to compromise every once in a while, they’d be a formidable force. (…)

           Neil wanted to be part of this evolution. He wanted to feel the team click into perfect synchrony, even if it lasted only a moment.

Give me all that good teamwork, and give it to me now.

           The Terrapins came as hard as they could, but the Foxes shoved back with a ferocity the home team wasn’t expecting. They were exhausted, but Matt rallied the defense around him and Neil had permission to run himself ragged on the offense. (…) Every minute on the court brought him one minute closer to saying goodbye to Exy forever. He didn’t want to miss a single second.

As always, angst is the best motivator.

They’re all getting fired up and playing their hearts out when we near the most dramatic part of the game – the Foxes in the lead by one point, sixty seconds left on the clock. And then –

           Eight seconds from the end a terrapin striker got the ball. Aaron ran after him, but he was too exhausted to close the gap. The striker’s ten steps took him all the way to the foul line for his shot.

Oh shit.

           The goal was too wide and Andrew too small; there was no way Andrew could stop a shot this close-range. (…) Even if Andrew could get there fast enough, the ball was too low to the ground for him to swing his massive racquet.

Oh. Shit.

           Except Andrew was moving before the striker finished taking his shot, as if he already knew where the striker was going to aim, and he didn’t even try to swing. He threw himself at the ground as far over as he could and slammed his racquet down between the ball and the goals so hard Neil heard wood crack all the way across the court. He was just fast enough; the ball hit the taut strings of his racquet and bounced off.

OH SHITTTTTTTTT!!!!! BOI!!!!!! THE FUCK!!!!!! IM YELLING!!!!

This is exactly the sort of Extra and Dramatic Shit™ I was missing.

HOLY SHIT, WHAT A SAVE.

And with that, the game is over, FUCK YEAH.

Andrew, of course, is now completely done.

           Kevin didn’t have to ask what was going on. He’d lied to cameras for years and knew how to buy Andrew time. (…)

           Andrew let go with one hand and gestured. Kevin gestured back as if having an actual conversation. The only sound either of them made was the desperate gasp of air through clenched teeth as Andrew tried not to get sick in front of the crowd.

Cool move, actually. They seem to have done this before? I continue being beyond intrigued by their dynamic.

           The rest of the team fell in around them, bringing the celebration to their strikers and forming an impromptu barricade around their fallen goalkeeper.

Team <333

Protect that smol sick bastard, he just saved all your asses.

They get Andrew off the court safely, and with that, it’s good things all around.

           Neil had never seen Wymack smile like this. It was small but fierce, as angry as it was proud. “That’s more like it. Draw sticks and figure out who’s helping me fend off the press. The rest of you get your sticky, stinky asses to the showers.”

What a DAD. Love him.

           “Renee and I will handle it,” Dan said as they headed to the locker room. “Neil, you can use the girls’ showers while we’re busy.”

           Neil stared at her. “What?”

           Dan frowned at him, so Matt explained. “There aren’t stalls here.”

LET ME FUCKING LOVE YOU. I cannot get over this move, what the hell, that is so sweet.

Foxes being there for each other :’) I’m fine :’)))))))))))))

           Neil had noticed, but he hadn’t thought his teammates would. That they had, and that they were doing something about it, knocked the wind out of him. He tried to answer, but he didn’t know what to say. The best he managed was, “Is that really okay?”

           “Kid, you’re killing me,” Nicky said. “Why do you always get that deer-in-the-headlights look when someone does something nice for you?”

Yet another installment in our popular series Neil Doesn’t Realize People Actually Care About Him, episode 4 of a billion!

Before we finally leave this long-ass trip of a chapter, Andrew briefly joins Wymack, Andrew, and Andrew’s new best friend Johnnie Walker Blue for a chat:

           “Why did you pay for stalls, Coach?”

           Wymack lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe I knew you’d need them one day.”

           Andrew smiled around the mouth of his bottle. “Neil is a walking tragedy.”

           “You’re a pretty pathetic sob story yourself,” Wymack said.

Smol beans :’) bonding over how fucked up they are :’) love em.

Also #dicksoutforwymack, all day, every day. Maybe I knew you’d need them one day, holy shit, please have my platonic babies.

           Andrew headed for the door, but Neil put a hand in his path. “How did you do it? How did you know where to go?”

           “Coach said Watts always takes his penalty shots to the bottom corner. With the game riding on him he was bound to do the same.”

           Neil stared at him, startled and disbelieving. (…) It’d been an off-the-cuff remark amidst a lot of other information. Neil hadn’t thought Andrew was even paying attention to Wymack’s spiel.

Well, my dude, seems like someone gives more fucks than we all were starting to think. OF FUCKING COURSE. I’m still grinning my face off writing this.

And with that, they’re off, back on the bus home, and we’re letting this chapter ring out but some good ol’ Neil “Oh shit, what’s this, good feelings, get them away from me” Josten.

           As he listened to them, Neil realized he was happy. It was such an unexpected and unfamiliar feeling that he lost track of the conversation for a minute. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this included or safe. It was nice but dangerous.

           Someone with a past like his, whose very survival depended on secrecy and lies, couldn’t afford to let his guard down. But as Nicky laughed and leaned closer to talk about one of Neil’s goals, Neil thought maybe he’d be okay for just one night.

:’))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Nicki out.

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