#and dec had been quite private about it too

[avenirdelight]

“what do you mean you’ve got a little one?” “ten months, bro.” “no way.” “yeah!” “congrats, mate. what is it?” “a boy!” “happy father’s day!!” “HAHAHAHAHA”

(i’m not that good at listening so please correct me if i’m wrong but did tyrone really not know that dec’s a father??)

[bobparkhurst]

festive ficlets: dec 18

prompts from @almost-a-class-act

pairing: don malarkey x dick winters [modern au]

prompt:  Character A is going home for the holidays but their family are insufferable so they ask Character B to pretend to be their fake romantic partner. (It's fake dating: seasonal edition!)

Winters - Dick - is leaning his hip against the wooden doorframe, one hand resting lightly on the small dog-gate, the other gesturing languidly with a small glass full of something spiced, as Don’s mother giggles and blushes like a schoolgirl through the door to the kitchen. He has already offered to help with the food twice and this is as close as she will allow him to get. His job, it seems, is only to carry food to the table and to be interrogated as to exactly why their Donnie has only just now brought such a delightful young man home.

“Well, ma’am,” Dick is saying, “I guess you can just blame me,” he glances over at Don and smiles warmly. “I’ve been told I can be a little private.”

“Good luck with that.” The words are accompanied by a loud snort, as Don’s sister suddenly appears through another doorway. She swaps Dick’s glass with one filled with something that looks distressingly bright blue. “Try this. It’s virgin, I swear.”

Don watches as his friend dutifully takes a sip and is pretty sure that his sister hasn’t noticed the slight wrinkle at the top of his nose. She waits, hand on hip, for the verdict.

“It’s very sweet,” Dick says. It is, Don reckons, as close as he’s going to come to telling her it’s gross and he hates it.

“Bit too much, right?” She trades the glasses again. “Stay there, I’m gonna figure it out.” She disappears back through the door she had come in from and the sound of glass clinking and clattering against metal rises behind her. There’s a slight wince in Dick’s shoulders at the noise and Don gives him a shrug, pointing to a dark stain in the corner of the carpet. “Last year,” he mouths. “Don’t worry.”

“You tell that girl to leave you be,” Don’s mother calls out. “Donnie, tell your sister to leave your young man alone.”

Your young man. The words trip so easily off her tongue that Don almost spits his beer back into the glass. He schools his features back into calm as quickly as he can, but there’s no hiding from Dick’s sharp eye. For the first time since they got here, a few hours ago, a frown pulls tight across his features. It’s enough to make Don’s heart pang remorse in his chest and he turns away as if he hasn’t noticed, making a show of examining the cards strung up over the unlit fireplace. He’d figured this might be awkward, as schemes launched in the casual company of old friends can sometimes be in full daylight scrutiny, as the guilt, the guilt he hadn’t expected. 

“Why the hell did he agree?” he mutters to a robin in a top hat. His finger flicks out and he pushes the card flat against the wall, before letting it spring back open. “Yeah,” he says to it, “you don’t know either, you stupid bird.”

It was Tab who had planted the idea. They’d been crowded around a table not quite large enough for the number of people who had shown up for this last-minute reunion, arms pressed against each other and empty glasses from plentiful drinks beginning to form a small mountain in the centre. This late in winter, they’d been lucky to find a table at all, but George had known a guy, who’d known a guy, and so here they were, and here Don was, head in hands, grimacing at the idea of going to see his parents for Christmas and suffering through another conversation about how lonely and single they seemed to think his life was.

“Just make it all up,” Tab was saying with a grin “Last year I just told them my girlfriend had to work. She’s a flight attendant.” He pointed at Don with his beer. “And fictional.”

“I thought you were seeing that girl Cait?” 

Tab shook his head. “I was. And Ruby. And Oliver.” He paused, pinching the bottom of his lip in thought. “Maybe Lexie at the time. None of them ‘take exactly home to the parents’ material, which as far as Mom’s concerned, means I’m not seeing anyone at all. Look, I’ve even got a picture.”

He tapped his phone and an image filled the screen.

“Tab.”

“Mm?”

“Is that a picture of me run through a female face filter?”

“Yes it is, Chuck. Yes it is.”

Don had slipped from the table before the ensuing argument could begin. 

When he’d returned from the washroom, he’d found Winters in his coat by the bar, ordering another round.

“Leaving?”

Winters had nodded. “Early start tomorrow.” He glanced back at the table. “And I think it’s going to get a little messy over there.”

“With any luck,” Don told him. He sighed a little. Drink had always made his tongue just that little bit too loose, and even in these early stages, he could feel closed gates falling open. “I’m glad to have one Christmas party where I don’t feel like I’m being measured up for something I can’t reach, you know?”

Even through the steaming heat of too many bodies in a small bar, Winters’ hand on his arm had been warm where it squeezed gentle comfort.

“You’re a good man, Don,” he said. “There’s nothing else to judge yourself against. I’m sure they know that.”

“Thanks, man.” 

The bartender had returned then, with two trays full of drinks that in no way was one man going to be able to carry on his own. The hand dropped from his arm as Winters picked one up.

“You ever get into it with your parents?” Don asked, taking the other. Winters shook his head.

“Wish I could help. My parents, they just don’t ask.”

If Don had been a little more sober, he would think later, he might have picked up on the spike of something hidden just behind the other man’s words, would have perhaps put his own self-pity to one side and dug just a little deeper. 

“If you really wanted to help,” he had joked instead, “you’d come home with me and pretend to be my boyfriend.”

“Okay.”

There had been no trace of insincerity on Winters’ face, though his lip half-curled into a smile. Don barked a laugh.

“Why not?” Winters added. “It’s not like I have anything to do except work. My folks aren’t expecting me home till New Year.”

“Okay.” There hadn’t been anything else Don’s brain had offered up for him to say.

“Okay.”

“You good?”

Don starts as Dick walks up behind him. He’s not quite sure how long he’s been standing here, pretending to read the insides of cards, but there’s another concoction in Dick’s hand, something bright green and very noticeably undrunk.

“Yeah,” Don says. He gestures back towards the kitchen. “You?”

“Well, I think your sister might be trying to kill me,” Dick says. “But your folks seem nice.”

“They like you,” Don says. The furrow between Dick’s brows is back, and his face has taken on that calm, assessing expression that had become so familiar once upon another lifetime ago. The flash of guilt is back, fluttering somewhere around Don’s ribcage.

“This was a mistake,” he blurts out. 

It is only when Dick takes a step back that he realises how close he had been standing, how low his voice had been, and how very little Don had matched that courtesy. They still for a moment, listening out, but there are still various clatterings coming from various rooms in the Malarkey household that suggest nobody has heard them.

“If you’re uncomfortable, I can leave,” Dick offers. There’s nothing Don wants to hear less. It’s been nice, he realises, having Dick around. It has been a long time since he’s seen him relax so openly, years, perhaps. Not since the before. For all the shame that is prickling through him right now, he doesn’t regret for a moment the man standing in his parents’ living room.

“It’s not that. You’re having fun,” he says; it takes a moment before he realises that he is patiently waiting for him to continue. “I’m having fun, they’re definitely having fun.”

The furrow deepens. “Then what’s the problem?”

The top-hatted robin is looking at him again. Dick’s eyes track his movements as Don turns the card face down. 

“You know, it looks easier in the movies,” Don says. “Lying.” His fingers tap against the upturned card. “Not lying. Forgetting that people get hurt when they find out you’ve lied to them. I didn’t think about that part before. Is that stupid?”

“You want to ‘fess up?”

Though Don looks, he can’t find any hint of condemnation in the question. The assessing expression is replaced on Dick’s features with something warmer, more affectionate, and Don can feel something of a weight beginning to lift off his shoulders.

“Come on,” Dick says. “Let’s see if your mother still likes me after this.”

His hand nestles in the crook of Don’s arm as he leads him towards the kitchen.

[waglifeornolife]

https://www.tumblr.com/waglifeornolife/735949019656978432/ugh-im-so-fucking-pissed-rn-highschool

Sorry that it is long <33

Okay so I thought I’d further justify my reasoning for trying to like get her back even further because I’ve done all my school work and I’m bored now. A bit of backstory(her and her boo are childhood friends and like they first went out for like a day in year seven and she has used this as the reason for most of the things she did with him and for him?

Okay let’s start off with the first crack in the glass all the way back in 2020.

I told her I had a crush on one of our guy friends and we would always discuss that and stuff. Long story short they went out until like nov/dec 2021. But I let it slide because I kinda just wanted to get through life at that point in time and also both him and her were my good friends back then.

Okay then let’s fast forward to like September 2021(IK timeline is a bit weird but they broke up quite a bit) and people were coming up to her asking if she liked this other boy who was like one of the “popular girls” boyfriend and she went no. SHE COULD HAVE LEFT IT AT “NO” but noooo she had to say liked someone else🙄🙄 who was also a “popular person” like wow well done. Also she’s like always been an attention whore. For example during all of this, she would always lock herself in the school toilet and fake cry and say she was cutting herself(the reason why I knew she was faking everything is because we all shared a pe changing room and like I’d like look over the bathroom stall to make sure she was okay and she would be fake sniffling). Like shes such an attention seeker ugh.

Anyways so let’s talk a bit about her boo.

They’ve known each other forever but like everyone and their mother would tell you that he is the worst creature to ever successfully sneak their way onto planet earth. And he is/was/is an awful person like he always slut shames people (including her) and like he’s been a bully like he bullied me but like I have too much on him now so he has to keep his mouth shut. And he made like a snap private story where he would always put a story after he’d masturbated and the private story only had girls on it. Um Yh hes like an awful person to other people as well but I could be here all day discussing him.

So back to her.

Let’s fast forward to middle/end of of 2022 she gets a crush on this girl in our school and they start chatting as friends. Turns out every secret she told that girl, she would tell the guy(okay I’m gonna give people code names now,the girl that I want to exposes code name is Benny,the girl she had a crush on is snake and lets call Benny’s boo boat) So Benny would tex snake but boat was tryna go out with snake and Benny at the same time so sane would tell boat what Benny said but boat and Benny were kinda texting flirting anyway.

So we all found out about what boat was doing so him and Benny didn’t text for a bit until like January this year (omg this is where it just started getting worse I still don’t know why she got with him or why so much fucking happened). So they started texting a lot more and we were all advising against it but she would always say “don’t you want me to be happy🥺” 🙄. So we just let it be(because they were a situationship and to be fair I kind of didn’t want to be friends with her at this point either because she’d already done soooooooo much in the past 3years I just couldn’t handle anymore). So in like July they met up at the park a few times and she gave him a handjob once or whatever and um idk what happened after that but her whole persona changed (you see ONE sock and you think you’re the fucking shit🙄) and she started acting exactly like him. She was taking cheap shots at everyone and she would tell us not to judge her for doing things and saying things but she would judge me and the rest of our friend group forgetting excited over things we were happy about (like Taylor swift or like getting grades or going out in a friend group) (OMG I FORGOT TO MENTION ON VALENTINES DAY WE WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO GO OUT TO DINNER TOGETHER AND WE BOOKED IT MONTHS IN ADVANCE AT THIS FANCY ASS PLACE AND SHE CANCELLED TO GO OUT WITH BOAT TO THE PAR FOR THIRTY MINUTES LIKE WHAT??). Anyways, like I was saying she completely changed and she didn’t really care about school and stuff anymore. And like her and boat when to the park again and she sucked him off this time (thing is she has this like whole thing where she makes it a big deal where she doesn’t want to do anything before marriage and she basically slutshamed people for doing things like that until she started doing them) but like after she sucked him off he was acting really weird like he was either acting super desperate over text or like constantly reminding her they weren’t actually together(he even said if she went to speak with him in school he’d laugh in her face) so I told her to stop seeing(for the billionth time) and to just swear off boys until exams are over but she just super angry at me and started yelling at me saying how I would never understand what they have and how it’s like (like I can’t understand a toxic situationship). And like she did end up “breaking up with him” but I new she was lying and she was because she told me they’d been texting that whole day and that she can’t let him go and that she loves him (I seriously wanted to laugh). But like I was vomiting and stuff one day so I couldn’t come in and I see a text in the gc telling Benny to “be safe later” and I was asking why she had to “be safe” and she said she was meeting boat at the park. And I had had enough at that point so I didn’t say anything until her boo was like sending rude things in the gc directed towards me and was saying Offenes or shit. So I confronted her about and she said “he didn’t know it would hurt you” and bullshit like that. She even confessed to writing some of the things. So I stopped being friends with her at that point but still had to hang out with her because my friends are(were now) her friends(they opened their eyes).

So she broke up with him (fr this time but I still call him her boo because she was just soo persistent on keeping him). But I found out like a few weeks ago that boat was actually texting another girl at the time that Benny and him were together but when I told her she already and was telling POPULAR GIRLS IN OUR YEAR EVERYTHING SHE WENT THROUGH BUT WITH LEAVING OUT DETAILS ABOUT HOW MUCJ HER EX FRIENDS WARNED HER TO NOT GO. Omg she had the never to come up to me to tell me that they told her the exact same things I told her and she listened to them. So like my friends (the ones that were neutral through this whole thing) were like discussing it too and we’re also like “Yh this is a bit rude” because they warned her too and she’s acting like they didn’t.

Extra reasons:

1)she’s a privileged little bitch who is super rude to her mother

2)she talks shit about everyone and has parasocial relationships with them and acts like she knows them

3) she literally said billions of times that she’s not straight but now she all of a sudden she is (because boys don’t really find it desirable if a girl is anymore) she also says that the girl she like is an exception and she only has wet dreams and fantasies about her and other girls but god forbid she ever got near one

3) whenever I’d try and bring up a serious matter that’s like happening in the world she would tell me that not everything is about race/politics

4)she gets “boycott fatigue” (I think that explains itself)

5)she always gossips like there will be no consequences

6)she’s a manipulative bitch

7)she’s super condescending

8)when she first gave head,she tried to pressure everyone else in our group to but nine of did. She knew I had this crush in some guy so when she got the chance she got someone to start spreading rumours around about that

9)she hates when people have friends that are outside the friend group that she doesn’t know

10) she’s made me lose loads of friends by playing victim in every scenario

11) she printed out a fake marriage certificate and tried to get our friend who’s a boy to sign it and she got pissed when he didn’t

12) she hyper sexualises boys in our year group and says all crazy things

13) she rats out people’s secrets for a little bit of popularity and attention

14)she openly makes fun of people for what they eat and wear

15)she’s just not the type of person people should have to deal with

babe, she sounds to toxic!! the ex too, i kinda feel bad for her when it comes to that but my god, i’m so glad you aren’t friends with her any more! it sounds to me that whatever you say to people, she’s gonna twist it and play the victim, so maybe confront her about everything you’ve told me first, make sure your friends are aware of what you’re doing and make sure they’re there, so that they can back you up, but make sure that the girl is on her own when you talk to her so that she doesn’t have an alibi to back up whatever she’d twist it into.

the girl sounds like a right bully, i had a girl similar at my school growing up, she was so nasty to everyone until a few of us eventually stuck up for ourselves and she realised that the person she’s trying to be isn’t a person that people like. bitchiness like that has no age limit so stamping it out now will be the best thing you can do 🫶🏼

[dalleyan]

Elfwine Chronicles (new LoTR stories, The Chair posted, 9-24-22)

Eomer rearranges the furniture.  (Fluff)

 The Chair  -  (Dec, 3020 III)

It started when I was carrying our first child and was about five months along. 

There was a large, overstuffed chair that had sat in Theoden’s study for a very long time, but was rarely used, except perhaps in private.  One day, I found my husband and Gamling toting it down the hallway in the direction of our chambers.  When I asked what they were doing, Eomer merely grinned and bade me follow them to see.

Dutifully, I trailed behind them and then my husband called for me to open the door to the nursery. I did so, and they maneuvered their way in, where they set the thing down.  Surveying the room with an appraising eye, Eomer finally pointed to a spot that got plenty of light but was not directly in the sunlight, and the two men shoved aside the table sitting there and replaced it with the chair.

Eomer turned to me beaming with pride, and moved to pull me close as Gamling slipped from the room and tugged the door shut behind him.  “For you to sit in when nursing or cuddling or telling stories,” he murmured. “There is plenty of room to snuggle up with a child, even if he is snuggling with his father.”

I smiled tenderly at him, touched by his thoughtfulness.

In the months that followed, I periodically tried out the chair and found it was very comfortable. I even got Eomer to test it with me, though I could not sit him on my lap since it was rapidly disappearing under my swollen belly.  It was indeed an excellent chair for snuggling, and I think once Eomer discovered that, he may have regretted turning it over to the nursery and not making it a part of our chambers.

When at last April arrived and I was delivered of child, a son we named Elfwine, I found a myriad of reasons to sit there.  The brisk early spring winds and chilling rain could not penetrate the warmth of our little cocoon in that chair.

As Elfwine grew, the need for the chair changed.  Sometimes, we sat there while I told him stories, though as much as he liked my tales, he was ecstatic whenever his father was available to do the honors. Many times I was too busy to stay and listen in, though I did discover the sort of tales being told when our son awoke us early one morning. 

He had been begging for Eomer to tell him a story all the previous day, and now continued his request with fresh fervor.  Sleepily, my husband pulled him into bed and asked which story he would like to hear. I do not think he expected to be caught out, for our son promptly requested a story about Eomer rescuing me from fifty orcs!  I have not yet let him live that one down, since the tale was almost totally a prevarication, but nothing was quite so sweet as seeing my son wrapped in my husband’s arms and the two of them sharing a warm, private moment together.

As our family grew, each child enjoyed the ‘seat of honor’, as it seemed to unofficially be known. The children were so fond of the chair that they sometimes squabbled about who got to sit in it.  But for a long time, we could all squash in together amid much giggling and teasing.

I was sorry when they each got too old for stories and snuggling and, at length, even my youngest no longer sought it out much.  Then I realized the days that had passed and how my family had grown.

One day, as I went by the nursery and glanced in, out of force of habit, I noticed the chair was gone. Startled, I dashed into the room, wondering who had dared to move it.  Hearing a sound from our bedchamber in the next room, I opened the connecting door and found Eomer shoving it into a similar spot there.

As he heard me enter, he looked up and grinned at my questioning look.  Reaching out a hand for me to take, he settled himself in the chair and pulled me into his lap.  “The children no longer seek this chair, but I am not yet willing to give it up!” he whispered.  As we kissed, I was delighted to discover that my snuggling days were not yet over.

THE END

 also on AO3:

              https://archiveofourown.org/works/41467341/chapters/105189024

[landoncrris]

liar - mason mount x reader

REQUESTS ARE OPEN // MASTERLIST

summary: based on this

warnings: english is not my first language; 18+ minors dni. cocky!mason, dom!mason, sub!reader, dirty talk, oral (m receiving), praise kink, unprotected sex, choking

word count: 2.7k

gif by @masnmount

“Oh my God,” you gasped and turned to your best friend, drowning out the sounds of a movie playing in the background. The scene that was currently playing reminding you of something you two had experienced a few years ago.

“What?”,Mason eyed you curiously, afraid you’d come up with another one of your stupid ideas — taking some of the dog food Mason’s sister had left at his, for example, and making a stupid bet with him where the loser had to eat it. “Remember the first time Dec got drunk and fell into a pond?”

“And was covered in duck shit afterwards?”

“Yes, exactly!” you exclaimed joyfully as he too recalled the memory, making you both laugh, “I think I even still have the pictures of what he looked like afterwards.”

“No way!” you gasped, excited at the thought of seeing the pictures of the young Dec, completely pissed and with white and grey stains on his clothes, “Where’s your phone?” you asked, looking around.

“Over there,” he said, making you follow his finger pointing before you jumped up from the couch to grab his phone from the kitchen counter, running back excitedly like a child and dropping back onto his couch. “Have fun searching for it, I’ll make dinner in the meantime.”

“Giving me full access to your gallery? Bold.” you answered, unlocking his phone as he got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to search the fridge and cupboards for something to cook from.

“I have nothing to hide, love. Oh, and my mom sent me the photo a few weeks ago, so you don’t have to scroll so far.”

“Alright.” you mumbled, considering just going to his mum’s chat, but that somehow felt even more private than looking at every photo on his phone, so you decided against it. You currently scrolled back about two weeks until your thumb stopped you, scrolling back to make sure you just saw that correctly.

“Um, I don’t think I was supposed to see that,” you laughed oddly as you came across one of his nudes. Curious what you were talking about, Mason walked around the kitchen island back to the couch, stood behind you and bent down to see what picture you had come across. “ Oh well, you’ve seen me naked several times anyway.”

“Are you kidding me?” you asked dumbfounded, making him stop his movements of going back to the kitchen, a line forming between his eyebrows as he didn’t understand where you were going with this, “Mase, why the fuck would you photoshop your dick?”

“What?”

“Honestly, what poor girl did you send this to?”, now he was the one looking dumbfounded at your accusation, “It’s not photoshopped, Y/N.” he laughed and hopped back onto the couch next to you as his food was just becoming uninteresting.

“Sure. Go on and feed your ego with lies.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Mason. Like you just said, I saw your dick and it definitely wasn’t that big,” you said, referring to the many times you changed in front of each other or you happened to go into the bathroom a few times while he was showering. He just smirked at your comment at first, because you just revealed that you were staring at it, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to see it’s size properly. But Mason would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy seeing you naked too, because no one in their right mind wouldn’t enjoy the way your body looks — not even as your best friend.

“You do know that it can grow when it gets hard tho, right?”

“Obviously, I’m not stupid. But never that much.” his smirk widened even more at your words, which gave him a perfect opportunity, even if it was quite dangerous to say such a thing, but he was willing to take the risk.

“How about I prove it to you?” he murmured, taking the phone from your hand and placing it on the coffee table before turning back to you, this time with his head dangerously close to yours, causing you to feel his breath fan your cheeks.

“Are you asking me to have sex with you?” you gulped, feeling dizzy because he was so close to you, and you never thought you’d ever get into a situation like this with your best friend. But you really couldn’t complain, as you couldn’t help but find him attractive, from his looks to his character, just everything about him was capable of making anyone’s knees weak.

“Well that’s up to you, I just need to get hard to show you, but I don’t think you’ll want to stop once we get there.” he said with an extreme cockiness in his voice, and your own cocky remark left your mind as he got even closer, but never close enough for your lips to touch.

“Then prove it” at this, Mason was immediately pressing his lips to yours. Your hands settled on his neck as he repositioned you, so you were now straddling him. You let out a whimper as his tongue poked against your lip and eventually slid over yours, whereupon you let him completely dominate the kiss. Mason’s hands wandered down your hips until they settled on your ass, squeezing the flesh beneath his fingers as he guided your hips down so that you could grind against his clothed dick.

“Now, you want to stop here?” he asked against your lips as he pressed you further against him, and you felt him getting harder against your core by the second, the sensation setting your skin on fire. “No.” you breathed heavily, and the grin on his face only widened as he hummed in satisfaction.

“That’s what i thought.” he replied, pulling back when you tried to kiss him again, attacking your neck instead with kisses and bites that made you whimper into the air. His hands, however, stopped directing your movements and instead settled on your hips, the hard grip on them wouldn’t let you move. Not when you tried to grind your hips against his crotch again, nor when you tried to squirm free to get up from his lap.

“Mason,” you whined, but he didn’t say anything at first, instead taking your shirt in his hand, looking you in the eye and silently asking you for permission to take it off, which you gave him with a nod. Once your shirt was gone, he didn’t waste another second to take your nipples into his mouth — since you weren’t wearing a bra — swirling his tongue around them as his teeth lightly grazed the skin. But the fact of him not letting you move made you whine loudly again, which finally got his attention.

“What do you want, Y/N?” he asked, but got no answer from you except the whimpering you gave, which only fueled his ego. “You have to tell me what you want or you won’t get it,” you groaned, as his ego was big enough already, you didn’t need to add to it. But the way his mouth moved on your tits and his thumbs moved under your panties to caress the skin of your abdomen was enough to make you fold.

“I want your dick in my mouth, Mason.” the words left you quickly, his lips leaving your skin as he looked at you with eyes completely darkened and still a smirk plastered on his face.

“Why don’t just say that right away, love.” he replied, hands leaving your body as he stretched them out on the back of the couch instead and gave you a look that said, “Go on,” at which you got up from his lap. But before you got down on your knees, you took off your leggings, his eyes scanning your body clad only in your panties, and the intensity of his gaze made you almost fall to your knees in one swift movement.

When you got down, your fingers hooked under the waistband of his sweatpants and you considered for a moment leaving him in his boxers to tease him a little, but you were too eager to waste any more time, so you took them both off at once. You gulped as his dick sprang up, your gaze shifting back and forth between it and his face, your mouth watering at the sight of Mason taking himself in his hand, which made him look even bigger.

“Not so much to say now about me being a liar, huh?”

“Shut up,” you muttered, pulling his sweatpants and boxers completely off before approaching his crotch, where his hand left himself, leaving some leaked pre-cum at its tip that screamed for you to lick it up. But instead you smeared it down with your thumb as you wrapped your hand around him, making him groan as your thumb ran along his slit. You spat on the tip to use it as lube so you could jerk him off more gently, making him moan softly and his hand move to the back of your head, playing with strands of your hair. But you wanted to make him wait a little longer, so while your hand jerked him off, you kissed his inner thigh, but always stopped before you got too far up, which he didn’t like at all.

“Stop teasing me, Y/N.” he said through clenched teeth as he pulled you back slightly with his grip on your hair, causing you to whimper, “or we won’t go any further. And I’m sure you’d like my cock to stretch you out, wouldn’t you?” he asked as his hand left your hair and moved to your chin instead, where he made you fix your gaze on him. Your nod made him let out a breathy laugh and his hand moved to the back of your head again, pulling you closer to him until his tip touched your lips, making him hum.



“Now be a good girl for me, Y/N.” Your tongue came out to lick teasingly over his tip once before you spat on it again to create more lube for your hand as you took the tip into your mouth, your tongue circling it before you sucked on it and pulled off again. Your gaze met his as you licked a line from the base to the tip, smirking at the shaky breath he expelled. Then you finally took him into your mouth, slowly taking him in further, but stopping halfway through and jerking off what wasn’t in your mouth. But when his tip lightly grazed the back of your throat, he couldn’t help pushing his hips up and pushing your head all the way down, making you gag.

“Fuck— There we go.” he moaned, holding your head down like that for a few seconds before letting you pull off again, catching your breath as you continued to jerk him off. His eyes never left yours, enjoying the sight of you on your knees for him wearing only your knickers. You let your hand go of him as you put your lips back around him and started bobbing your head, taking him further down your throat with each bob until your nose finally touched his pubic bone, making him moan repeatedly as he felt your throat contract around him. Your tongue stroked the underside of his cock as you moved, your fingers digging into the skin of his thigh each time you took him all the way in. And as you began to hollow your cheeks and suck, he moaned your name loudly and used his grip on your hair to pull you away as he felt himself already approaching his climax.

He didn’t give you a second to catch your breath before he lifted you up and pinned you down onto the couch as he hovered over you, his hand moving to your throat where he applied pressure with his fingers, making you whimper as your hips wriggled beneath him. He took his hand away for a moment to get rid of his shirt, which covered his perfectly toned abs, but his hand was back around your neck in a matter of seconds.

“Want me to fuck you, love?” he asked, and his cockiness usually got on your nerves, but today you couldn’t help but be aroused by it. You croaked out a desperate “Yes” as he pushed your underwear aside and his tip made contact with your wet pussy.

“I know you do.” he groaned, and the sight of him letting spit drip down his lips onto his tip made you whimper, which quickly turned into a moan as he pushed into you to the brim, giving you no time to adjust to his size. “Fuck, Mason, you’re so big.” you moaned, your head rolling back and your back arching at the feel of him thrusting into you.

“Am i now?” His thrusts started to become faster, making you already seeing stars, as your hands were scratching over his back, which was sure to leave marks. His hand left your throat, making the moans come out more frequent and louder, and it instead moved down to your tits and massaged the skin, making you clench around his length.

“God, squeezing me so tight, Y/N.” he groaned, lowering his head against your shoulder as he watched himself thrust in and out of you, his cock glistening in your wetness and making him moan. His hand moved further down, pressing on your lower belly to make you feel even tighter around him.

“Oh my— Fuck,” Mason moaned loudly as he felt himself moving inside you, his thrusts slowing down getting harder, which made you whimper, “Can feel myself all the way inside of you, baby. Filling you so good, don’t I?”

“So good Mase.” you agreed, running your hand through his hair and pulling at the strands, hissing as he bit into your shoulder lightly. He lifted his head again, the hand that was on your stomach came to your mouth, thumb parting your lips, at which you wrapped your lips around it, coating it with your spit just like he wanted, “Good girl.”

His hand went back to pressing on your stomach as his thumb made its way under your underwear and he began to circle your clit as his thrusts quickened again, bringing you both closer to your climax. “I want you to cum inside me, Mase.” the words made him thrust extra hard, a whimper leaving his lips.

“You sure?” he asked, to which you nodded, clawing harder into his hair as you felt the familiar knot in your stomach, crying out profanities and Mason’s name repeatedly as the movements of his thumb and hips made your head spin. “Please, ‘m so close.”

“Me too, baby,” he moaned, searching your eyes, but they were squeezed shut in pleasure and he could feel you clenching around him again and again, making it hard for him to hold back any longer. The movements of his thumb became faster as he tried to bring you to your high, while only your moans as well as the sound of skin slapping could be heard in the room.

“Mase, ‘m gonna—” words were punctuated by a loud moan as you felt the knot threaten to burst, and a particularly good thrust of his hips finally sent you over the edge, tears spilling from your eyes at the intensity of your orgasm. Mason fucked you through your high before he too came inside you, coating your walls with his cum as he moaned your name.

“Guess that poor girl I sent it to was lucky after all, huh?” he said after a few moments, referring to what you had said earlier, which elicited a breathy laugh from you, whereupon you lightly punched him in the shoulder while muttering a “fuck off.”

“Well but now that we’ve done that once, we definitely have to do it again.” you said, making him lift his head from where it was laying on your shoulder again and he sent you another cocky smile,

“Agreed.”

[mountswhore]

𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 — mason mount

summary: after your breakup, mason realises just how much you need him. and how much he needs you too.

warnings: mentions of drinking, slight mentions of drugs, swearing, angst

requests are open!

It had been a month since your breakup, and you were at an all time low. But you couldn’t let Mason or anyone else know that. Luckily, you lived alone. So you had your own flat to mope about in, before painting on your fake smile and leaving for whatever errands you had that day. Your breakup was… unfair. Mason treated you like a toy, thinking he could just drop you and then pick you up just as quick. But you weren’t having it anymore.

“I can’t fucking believe you,” you laughed in disbelief at the words your boyfriend was spewing, “you’re really doing this to me, again?” Mason just stood with a stone cold face in front of you, in the comfort of his own living room.

“Y/N, believe me when I say I didn’t want to do this.” Mason consoled, taking a step forward. “You’re a distraction to my career, I barely see you. What would be the point of this anymore?” His words were like bullets, your chest full of holes and you were bleeding on the floor. But Mason was just staring back at you.

“I’m a distraction to your career. Lovely.” You mentioned, pushing past him and grabbing your bag from the stairs. Mason tried to stop you, he wanted to talk this out. “For the love of God, stop trying to hold me back. What is there to say? Or do you just want to ease your conscience? If you’re going to break up with me, be a man and own it. Leave me alone.”

With that you left, and you hadn’t spoken since.

You were going to meet a good friend for lunch, a WAG, but your breakup with Mason didn’t affect your friendship. She was adamant on it, saying, “just because Mason dumped your fine ass, doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with you. He’ll just have to deal with it.” You’d gone to your usual place, waiting in the foyer for her before booking a table together.

“How’ve you been, doll?” Abigail asked, putting her bag down beside her. “You know, considering.” You nodded, putting your fake smile to good use.

You let out a small giggle. “Good, yeah. I’ve been focusing on my work, which I should’ve been doing from the jump. I think I’m really making progress.” Abigail just nodded and smiled.

She didn’t seem the least bit frightened to say what she said, as she’d heard how you felt. “Good, because you’re coming to a party this weekend.”

“What?”

“A party.”

“Yeah I heard you,” you groaned, “are we sixteen- years old? Or am I just growing quicker than the rest of you?”

“Oh shh,” Abigail sighed, digging into her food that had now arrived with yours. Every time you came here, she got the carbonara. “Look, you said you’re making progress, and I want to have fun with my best friend again. And if I’m honest, all the other girls just aren’t as good of a laugh as you.”

“Thanks for the ego boost.” You added, smiling a genuine smile at her. You were still thinking heavily about this party, where was it? When was it? Who was going?

“Clear your weekend. It’s this Saturday, at some private lounge in London.” Abigail stated, twirling her fork once again. “It’s the England squad celebrating something or another, I don’t know. Dec told me about it.” The reason the pair of you were so close, was mainly because of your boyfriends being so close. Declan knew that his girlfriend was still friends with you and planned on keeping that, he’d always ask about you.

“Right. I’ll see if I can work overtime on Thursday to make up for my weekend off.” You mentioned.

So it was settled. You’d be going to a party with Abigail and the England squad. You weren’t the least bit excited, the only fraction you were was purely because you’d be seeing Abigail. You had your dress, you’d worked your overtime, and you were on your way to this private lounge in London. No matter how nice looking this lounge was, you’d always feel out of place. You were wearing your nicest dress, tallest heels, and Abigail had even done your hair and makeup.

“How are you, Y/N? You doing okay?” Declan asked, in the seat beside Abigail. You were sharing a taxi, Abi in the middle. Both you and Dec on either end. It was quite awkward, to see Declan. To know that he still speaks to Mason.

“Yeah, I’m doing good. How’s football going for you?” You asked. You despised small talk, it make you want to throw up. But it was only being polite to Dec. Declan mumbled a similar answer and paid attention to his phone. A text from Abigail appeared.

I don’t think she’s okay.

Declan wrote back to his girlfriend: I was thinking the same thing.

The three had gotten to the private lounge, Abi promising to not leave your side. You spent the first hour with her, constantly drinking to increase your confidence. Abi had finally left you, like you knew she would, but you weren’t mad. She’s here for her boyfriend, it’s only right she spends it with him. So now you were the loner at the bar, downing shot after shot.

Mason was sulking around like a shadow, holding tightly onto his mixer and speaking to some of his teammates. He’s not even sure why he came, all he knew was Declan forced him. And yet Declan had barely spoke to to him all evening. His mixer was empty, so he made his third beeline for the bar this evening. And saw you.

His heart had began beating irregularly, clammy hands almost dropping the cup he had. Why was he so nervous to see the ex he dumped? Luckily, you were occupied with talking to Jesse, so he could quickly grab his drink and leave. He found himself staring at you during his wait, how you laughed so genuinely with Jesse. You always did. He was one of your closest friends and now talking to him felt awkward because of your breakup. You looked at Jesse so happily, he wished it was him. It was a stupid thing to wish, considering he dumped you.

What had dumping you even done for him?

“Mount. Whatever the hell has happened to you outside of training, undo it. You’re off today.”

“Mase, why haven’t you been as on par as you usually are?”

“You keep playing like this and you’re being benched next game.”

Nothing. The answer was nothing. He was told he wasn’t playing well, saw you as an issue and dumped you. And now he plays worse. He’d been benched on his second game, overlooked by his manager due to his lack of focus in training. It was horrible. But you told him to leave you alone, he could never forget the look on your face. The look of exhaustion, of being dumped and picked back up again.

Mason had zoned back in, seeing you looking at him rather lazily. You looked drunk, high, or both. Jesse had gone, and you were throwing the shots back. You made it a game. Every time you had a good Mason thought, you’d have a shot. If it was bad, or any thought at all, you’d be having your stomach pumped by the end of the night.

Mason watched the bartender pour straight vodka into your cup, and then watched you stagger away to the stairs. The stairs led up to toilets, and were empty and quiet. Perfect. You collapsed onto the stairs, still sipping on your vodka before laying your head onto a step. You didn’t know Mason had followed you until you felt his hands on your arms.

“Come on, we’re going home.” He declared, holding you around your waist. You frowned at him, trying your best to use your half-working limbs to push him away from you.

“We’re? No, you are going home. I’m staying here.” You slurred, downing the rest of your drink and throwing the cup at his head. You laughed at the face he made, finally freeing you and you returned to your seat on the stairs. “You aren’t my dad, or my boss, or my friend. So leave me alone.”

“You’re off your face. So you’re going home.” He reaffirmed with you, folding his arms. You just shook your head again, looking up at him. You were having good Mason thoughts again, seeing just his face stare down at you. It made you want to cry and throw up.

“Get me a drink.” Mason left after your instructions, returning with a cup. You had downed it, waiting for the warm throat and slight burn. But nothing. “Not water, you asshole.” Mason kept a stone cold face with you, resting against the wall beside the door. Nobody had come into the toilet and you wished they had now. You needed someone to save you from happy Mason thoughts.

“So how is football? You must be scoring goals left and right.” You jested, tipping your head back and laughing. “Right?” Mason sat down beside you in defeat, knowing this wouldn’t be an easy conversation with you. It would end in you crying, or leaving, or both.

“No, actually.” Mason admitted. “I’m doing rubbish. My friends know I’m off my game, the gaffer knows I’m off my game. It’s atrocious.” You stared at him, kind of feeling bad but then remembering what he did to you. All those times he’d break up with you, just to say he missed you a few days later. If you were being honest with yourself, you thought it would happen again. But a month had passed, and nothing.

“Oh.” It was all you could say. Knowing what he did was for no reason, it had no benefits whatsoever. Your life had been completely thrown out of balance for nothing. It made you mad all over again. “So you’re telling me you broke up with me, and nothing good came of it?”

Mason hated to admit it. “Yes.” He spoke quietly, ashamed of the answer he was putting out there. “I was actually told to fix whatever happened outside of training, in an effort to make me better again.” You should be laughing in his face, glad he’s been royally fucked over after he royally fucked you over. But instead, you held your hands to your face to hide your tears.

“Hey,” Mason hushed, pulling you into his side. He knew you’d had a lot to drink, so maybe your emotions were all over the place, “don’t cry about it, you don’t need to be upset.” Why was he being like this? He broke up with you, why did he care how you were now?

“What’s happened to us?” You cried, pulling away from him. Just because you were at a low, doesn’t mean he can swoop in. “Ever since we broke up, it seems our lives have been shit.”

Mason laughed through the pain, resting his elbows on the step behind him. He’d tried to avoid his feelings instead of confront them, but it proved difficult when you had showed up. “I might be benched for the next game, or better yet, be taken from the squad.”

You shook your head. No matter how much you hated him at this very point, you couldn’t deny the man’s talent. “You deserve that spot on the team. There’s a reason you start for England every time. Don’t doubt yourself because something bad happened to you.”

Mason took your words and remembered them, keeping them in his head for the rest of the night. “Come here.” He put an arm around you and held you tight, sighing as your heads rested together. “I’m sorry I did this to you. I shouldn’t have left you, I had issues with myself and saw you as the problem instead. I’m really sorry.”

“I just don’t think I can take it again.” You confessed, laying your head in his lap and keeping your eyes closed. “I can’t take being broken up with again, only for you to end up in my bed a few days later. It hurts me everytime, Mase.” Mason was rubbing your back, hating himself for the way he made you feel before. And he hadn’t seen an issue with it, he treated you like it was okay to use you as an emotional rag doll.

“You don’t have to jump straight into it,” he whispered, hands now smoothing your hair out of your face, “you can take as long as you need to trust me again. But I’m telling you it’ll never happen again, I’ll never throw you about like I did before. It was reckless of me and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, Mase.” You sighed, the weight finally freeing your chest. You could finally move forward with your life, and choose whether or not to take Mason with you. It wasn’t an answer you needed to know now, it could take it’s time. And Mason was willing to wait.

[writer-akihiko]

Hello!

Can i request again?

So... Fluff really fluffy. Old Mc with Old warlords.

Please don't kill them. 😭

IkeSen Boys + Growing Old With MC

Note: The children of the warlords are taken from historical record, but please know that not all scenarios are accurate as I had named some children to fill in the children who were unnamed.

To be honest with you this is probably the longest ask I've ever done, over a period of 4 days of editing and characters so I hope you enjoy the fluffy family content! It's cut for length. Also... I couldn't add so many tags so please share it if you can!

Nobunaga Oda

You were excited for this particular day, since your oldest son, Nobutada was finally coming home from a skirmish he had settled. The Owari province was long handed over to your sons, as you and Nobunaga lived peacefully in the edges of Azuchi, away from the city.

You had waited a long time to see your children once again, although not all were in Azuchi. With 21 children in total, both adopted and from birth, most were of similar age. The only few that lived with you were your youngest daughters, Oushin and Ofuri who were adopted at the same time. Youngest was a stretch, considering they were both 19.

Your other warlord friends were due to visit soon, including Hideyoshi. Throughout your years, you never comprehended why no one interested Hideyoshi as a romantic partner. Although, your heart eased, remembering how Hideyoshi would care for your sons as if he were their own.

Your thoughts were interrupted by your husband, as he plopped next to you, taking in the serene view of the empty field. In his hand were a bag of konpeito. Hideyoshi would be angry, but you weren't so as you managed to control his candy-loving instincts. You took a few to nibble on yourself, as you leaned against your husband.

"What were you thinking of, my fireball?"

You hummed, wondering how to respond. "About the future perhaps?"

"Good," he said. "I've been thinking... I wouldn't change a thing. But..."

You leaned into him, tickling the hairs of his neck. He flinched away, peppering you in kisses in retaliation as he continued his thought. "I want to travel once again, with you."

"I won't say no... But why not travel for longer?"

The moment your friends gathered, you and your husband announced your decision. Your children were surprised but the older warlords weren't. Masamune also teased Nobunaga, saying how he grew tired of a tranquil life. It wasn't long before you contacted Motonari, and the Oda couple were due to sail to Portugal.

"My years with you gave me the greatest life, YN."

Hideyoshi Toyotomi

It was not long before the day of your 20th marriage anniversary with Hideyoshi, but you woke up to a missing husband. Hideyoshi, being the way that he is, never stopped working for Nobunaga. Years went by, and you and Hideyoshi had a family of two sons, Hideyori and Tsurumatsu.

Your oldest son, Tsurumatsu, welcomed you instead in the morning. Your oldest was the spitting image of Hideyoshi, except that he took your eyes. It was as if you were looking at a younger Hideyoshi, and you commented on it, "With a sword like that, you remind me of your father..."

Your son's attitude however, resembled Ieyasu more than anything. Well... Ieyasu was his favourite warlord uncle when growing up. Tsurumatsu denied any of the sort, and insisted he accompanied you around Azuchi. You were internally grateful that your sons took after your husband's gentleman-like attitude, although at times when living in an estate with all three, it could get overbearing...

As you looked over the local fabrics, your hands traced over a fabric that you thought would suit all three of your boys.

"Princess YN?"

"Lord Mitsuhide!" Your son quickly bowed to the other warlord, but Mitsuhide gave him the respect to get up. The sudden appearance of the two bachelors, one older than the other, caused an uproar of the unmarried women of the market. It got you to think why Mitsuhide never settled down...

Your trip with your son ended in the front gates, where your younger son Hideyori and your husband Hideyoshi stood. Hideyoshi welcomed you wholeheartedly.

Hideyoshi escorted you around town, and you held onto his arm as you did before, and you two reminisced about the memories you had in the town together.

"20 years married..." You muttered. "Time flies huh? The boys have the townswomen swooning over them just like you did back then..."

"I only had eyes for you, YN..." He said. You huffed, teasing him about how he was in denial about his feelings the entire time. Hideyoshi grew red at your teasing, with you pulling him down to your level, kissing him on the cheek.

"For these 20 years with me YN... Thank you for telling me to live and staying with me."

Mitsunari Ishida

Your life never slowed down despite Mitsunari's calm approach to life. It was a joyous occasion for the Ishida clan throughout the years as you and Mitsunari had a wonderfully, large family of you both and 6 children.

Mitsunari still worked under Hideyoshi, with your third son Sakichi following in his footsteps. The week was busy, with you preparing for two weddings for your second and third daughter.

All your 6 children followed in the steps of Mitsunari in terms of worshipping Ieyasu. It was so much so, that one of your son-in-laws was Senchiyo Tokugawa. The warlords were long gone with their aggressions, so you were surprised when Mitsunari and Ieyasu arranged Kennyo to officiate the marriage.

Kennyo had been a neutral force after the birth of your first son Shigenari, as he even offered to bless your child. Kennyo himself never settled down, but he focused on rebuilding the temples instead. Mitsunari was quite the supporter, but Hideyoshi let an insight that it meant a lot to him since before Mitsunari studied in a temple.

You and Mitsunari returned home after a long shopping trip with the two oldest sons, Shigenari and Shigeie. Mitsunari nowadays forgot his things more and more, but his hatred for carrots continued. Your sons disappeared somewhere else to eat their carrot snacks, as you sat with Mitsunari in his study.

"You've never changed, Mitsunari..." You said, preparing some tea for him.

He reached out to your own hand, helping you pour. "I'm sure I'm improving on my tea manners!"

The silence never settled between you two, as no matter how much time had passed, you two never ran out of topics to run out of. You comforted Mitsunari as he confessed how sullen he felt about your daughters leaving.

"If anything... YN, in my time with you... Thank you for marrying me."

Mitsuhide Akechi

You moved to Tanba permanently, and you gave up your rank as Princess. With Mitsuhide gone for his missions, you'd answer to the other warlords. Somehow, it lead you to the title of 'Lady Akechi'.

It wasn't long before your first daughter, Tama, was to come of age. Mitsuhide was a private man, so it was only to be held with the other warlords and your entire family. You and Mitsuhide had a small family, but they were equally cherished by the others.

Yoshimoto arrived at Tanba earlier than expected. You had become fast friends with him, despite Mitsuhide's dislike. You had reassured him multiple times that Yoshimoto had no interest in you, but at times you had questioned why Yoshimoto never married...

"Tama! Yoshimoto is here!" You called out for your daughter. She was most likely with your youngest daughter... Yoshimoto had agreed to come and help Tama put together her hair, with the accessories he had collected.

It was not long before your daughter was finished, and by that time Mitsuhide with your eldest son, Mitsuyoshi, returned. No matter how many people were in the estate, your husband kissed you on the cheek, as it was customary to do.

Mitsuyoshi made faces, but was silenced by his much more mature, younger sister. Yoshimoto was quick to escort the three siblings outside, where Kyubei was waiting to bring his Lord's family to Nobunaga's Castle.

"Mou... Mitsuhide, the children are waiting... It's Tama's day today..." You muttered, as he continued to kiss you.

"Our children are adults, YN..." He said, holding you close. "Let your husband indulge in you for one more kiss... For now, and all our coming years..."

Ieyasu Tokugawa

In celebration, you decided to throw a banquet for Ieyasu as he announced he was stepping down from work. It was lively at home, with 16 children and a small army of rescued deer over the year helping you to decorate the house. You and Ieyasu, besides the deer, adopted children over your 20 years of marriage who soon became close with your 6 biological children.

You hurried to prepare the grand hall, but before you could fully lift the box full of tapestries, it was quickly carried away.

"Mama... You're not allowed to carry heavy things anymore," A blond man told you off, as two other men carried the vases away.

"Nobuyasu... Ogimaru... Hidetada..." You smiled at your three eldest sons. Ah, your heart warmed at how considerate they've become. It made you feel like a proud mother... "You three returned from Kenshin's lessons?"

The gap between the Oda and Uesugi-Takeda forces closed, and Kenshin grew close to your family. He never had children of his own, so you were enthusiastic when Kenshin treated your eleven sons as his own, even taking some to learn the sword by him.

"Mama! Don't be distracted! Let us fix you up!"

From behind you, your five daughters swarmed you, wrapping you up in a cloth you sure you bought this week... and it was untrimmed...

"Tokuhime! I haven't trimmed that cloth!" You turned to your other daughters, who were also holding makeup paints and hairpins. "Kamehime! Ichihime! You don't have to throw your jewellery to get my attention!"

"Mou... Mama, Father will be so happy to see you dressed up~" Your third daughter, Furihime chimed.

Matsuhime, the fourth daughter, joined in. "Without our help, your kimono might be too old fashioned Mama..."

Oh... Things were lively with all your children back at home... Your sons finished decorating the hall, and as a token you decided to do your daughters' hair to match them to your hairstyle.

You were last to enter the hall, as the boys wanted to greet their father first. Your daughters entered next, and all Ieyasu saw through them was you, and the way you raised them made them blossom into the people they were today. When you entered... he swore he stopped breathing.

"YN... My wife..." Not much was said after, but the blush on his face was enough to show how much he loved it, as well as his hand gripping onto yours tracing every finger of it.

Masamune Date

You would like to think that your life grew much more peaceful, but with a chaotic husband like Masamune, and four equally chaotic children like him. The Date forces as a whole were also chaotic. It was safe to say that Lady Date was one who took care of them all, no matter how big or small.

It gave your husband the great idea of planning a surprise birthday party for you with his children. As a warlord, he was not Ishida Mitsunari but he could still plan a well thought-out strategy...

"Irohahime, Muuhime, you are to distract your mother at the market. Kojuro will give the signal when we're ready."

They nodded. "Yes Dad."

"Hidemune, Tadamune. You know when to start the fight," He reiterated.

"Yes Da-"

Ieyasu, who came earlier as a guest, spoke up. "Why am I a part of this?"

"YN will only break a fight if it involves people outside our family," Masamune explained, flexing his arm. "She knows we're tough as nails..."

Ieyasu Tokugawa remained a bachelor, although he never explained why he didn't. Masamune had a little bit of a hunch, but he isn't one to pry. Ieyasu was an undeniable favourite of his daughter Muuhime, who gained an affinity for medicine.

"Tough as nails?"

Your family was dumbfounded that you stepped in the decorated hall, with your husband and children, with Ieyasu in the corner with a bowl of spicy soup. Kojuro had kindly lead Lady Date into the hall, despite of the plan as no one in the Date palace dared to defy YN LN.

For a room full of adults, your family at the moment were not acting like one. It was typical, but you had to wonder what the fuss was all about. Tadamune, the closest to you, was someone who couldn't lie to you, and told you the truth. It ended quite simply, as you insisted to help prepare.

In the kitchen with Masamune brought back memories. The whole time you and your husband were cooking, you played around with the ingredients as you did back then.

"My wife... you have a little flour on your face. Should I wipe it with my fingers or..." He wrapped his arms your waist, brushing his lips on your ear. "Kiss it away myself?"

Ranmaru Mori

You and Ranmaru decided to leave the Oda forces once you both got married. Ranmaru was mainly the reason, as he wanted to keep a neutral stance for your safety.

Ranmaru grew much taller over the years, but he wasn't as towering as the other warlords. You didn't mind as much except for the period of measuring out new kimonos for him. You both lead a quaint life, with Ranmaru working as your courier for your sewing work.

You and Ranmaru never had any children of your own, instead opting to become foster parents to other children whose parents were in war efforts or children that were orphaned from incidents.

Many children came and went, some of them leaving and never returning but there were the few that stayed. Ranmaru was still actively talking to the other warlords through letters, so you weren't surprised when he said that he intended to take you back to Azuchi for peach season.

It was no surprise that Hideyoshi gathered the entire town of Azuchi to welcome you both. It was nice to meet friends you had missed, as well as the daughters of the warlords you worked for. They awed at you, but to you it was as if you had adopted many, many girls resembling your friends.

"YN-hime! Etto... Do we call you YN-hime?" Tatsuhime, the oldest daughter of Mitsunari, asked.

"Of course! Even if she's not in Azuchi Castle, all our uncles say that she's the best princess!" Tokuhime, Nobunaga's oldest daughter, chimed in. "I may be Azuchi's princess but I can't fathom comparing myself to YN-hime!"

You shushed the girls, getting overwhelmed easily by the compliments and praises showered on you. You gave a peak to Ranmaru as a plea for help, but he added the cherry on top to the compliments instead.

"YN, YN... You know you're the best princess in my eyes!" He said, kissing your hand.

You were sure Ieyasu's daughters poked at their father with teasing of following Ranmaru's example. Others, like Mitsuhide's and Masamune's daughters, began to swoon that Ranmaru was more romantic than their fathers.

"I think that's enough Ranmaru... Let's save the romantic lines for our walk in the garden..."

Keiji Maeda

Oh what memories you had with Keiji over the years... For one, you were glad that the allegiance between the Oda and Uesugi-Takeda worked out, as you and Keiji decided to live together during that time.

You were shortly married after, with Keiji inviting Naoe as well, which lead to Kenshin being invited... plus Sasuke and Yukimura... not to mention Shingen as well... In the end it resulted in another gathering between the Oda and Uesugi-Takeda which you were glad didn't turn out violent.

Keiji was quite the family man himself, for after 20 years of marriage you had raised 10 children together, with 4 biological children and 6 adopted children. They had all grown up, married off to someone they love, leaving the once rowdy house now empty and quiet.

Keiji never stopped supporting Nobunaga, working almost as much as Hideyoshi on some days. You lived quietly, occasionally accompanying the wives of the other warlords as you never gave up your title as Azuchi's Princess, but it was obvious that you missed your entire family.

Keiji was always good with knowing your mood. Much to your surprise, you came back to an empty estate... but there were voices? One roaring voice sent you running to the main hall, where you opened the doors and there were your children, sitting around their father as he told more of his old war stories.

Overwhelmed with emotion, you shed a few tears as each of your children went up and hugged you.

"It's been so long my children..." You said as you hugged your two daughters.

"Mom, don't cry! If you cry... I'm gonna cry too!" Your first son, Keita wailed. He was taller than his father but it was quick to see that Keita, and much of the large boys of the family treasured you as their mother.

"Hoi hoi you rascals!" Keiji called out, getting up to walk to you. "Your monstrous heights would crush your mother!"

You moved into a hug with your husband, feeling Keiji lift you up. "My dear... they wouldn't," You grinned, finally laughing. "Keiji... Thank you for bringing our family together."

Kenshin Uesugi

Being crowned Lady Uesugi, you and Kenshin got busier and busier every year. It was an occurrence for the scribes of Kasugayama Castle to trail your relationship with Kenshin, as by the end of the day, it was a habit of his to take you on a stroll with your many, many bunnies.

There was not a soul in Echigo that did not hear of your marriage, Many were welcomed, but at the time no one thought that there would be a larger party than this. That was... until it was announced that you were pregnant.

It was an uproar, especially with Kenshin going around to everyone, saying how you were with child. To your surprise, your family of supposed three become a family of four as you were blessed with twins.

Kasugayama Castle was the home of your twins, Kagetora and Kagekatsu. Kenshin was proud of them, and they grew up to follow in their father's footsteps to take over the Uesugi clan... or that's what you thought until you realised how stubborn your husband was. He was making them work hard for it in their teen years when they expressed their interest in it.

Ah, but of course... Your three boys would always recharge with you, talking about their day. If one thing, they never learnt to share...

"What? You're drinking tea with Mama? But I wanted to show her the fabrics the merchants showed me!" Kagetora yelled at his older twin. Besides sword fighting, he grew up with an interest towards strategy, which was under Mitsunari's influence. He visited as often as he could, but you wonder if someone would ever catch Mitsunari's eye...

"An oaf like you wouldn't know how to brew tea like this for Mama..." Kagekatsu retorted, setting the pot down. He gained an interest for elegant arts similar to his father, and of course his favourite uncle is Yoshimoto.

Both glared at each other, but it was not long before the God of War entered the garden, with his many bunnies. "And why are you bothering my wife?"

"Father! Don't talk as if we're strangers! We're your sons and we wanna spend time with Mama too!" Kagetora retorted.

Kenshin drew his blade, challenging his sons that the winner gets to spend the afternoon with you.

"Ehem!" You coughed out, folding your kimono under you. "Boys, what's my number one rule in the garden?"

"No fighting and no swords..." Kagekatsu muttered.

"That's right," You said, taking a cup for yourself. "Now, why don't we all just sit down and have some tea?"

Sasuke Sarutobi

You and Sasuke didn't rush your lives in the Sengoku, since coming from the future meant a busy livelihood. You both agreed that when you both grew older, you would relax a little and not worry about the larger things in life.

Sasuke kept you in Echigo, as you stayed close to him and his other friends. You both had no intention of moving, but you did have an idea to own an estate to yourselves. There was no intention of children from both of you, so you decided to become foster parents to children with majority of their families at war.

You had only fostered about 3 children, but similarly, they too had extended families that they stayed with instead. The both of you learnt how to let go, ever since staying here, but that was something you both grew from. Finding out you both let go of the children you cared for, Yukimura had asked if you were interested in taking in his nephews and niece.

Yukimura himself never married, and you never asked, but he was a dear friend that you and Sasuke would sacrifice a lot for. Yukimura's orphaned nephews and niece were quickly known as your children, and Sasuke would always read them Physics Theorems as a bed time story...

It was a joyous occasion whenever those three would come back, and sooner by that time you realised you had gotten older. There was a small room where you and Sasuke kept your modern items, coincidentally was the room you would often have tea in.

You sighed, taking another bite of your bun. "Sasuke... I know we've lived quietly, but I've wanted to know if you ever wanted to return?"

"There's nothing I would've changed, YN... Not a single thing." He smiled, brushing his hand over yours. "Maybe... maybe there's another timeline, but you're in this one so it's where I am."

Kanetsugu Naoe

He continued to serve his years under Kenshin's reign, but then it was a moment of realisation of how time passed when you told him you were pregnant. It was a moment of stress for him, as he wasn't knowledgeable on the process.

It was recorded by the scribes of Kasugayama Castle that when Azuchi's Princess gave birth, Kanetsugu shed tears as if it were raining. That is to say, he cried a lot. You had a son, Kanetsuna. Much like his father, your son grew up to admire the line of Kenshin Uesugi, becoming close friends with Kagekatsu and Kagetora Uesugi.

Those three went off adventuring so much, it often worried you. Kanetsugu, with his curt self, would reassure you in his own way. It wouldn't help you much, since Kanetsugu would also talk about how helpful Kanetsuna was being towards the Uesugi family line.

You always busied yourself with your sewing, so you often used your son as a model to model your kimonos after. Kanetsuna never had an interest in fashion, but he would always walk up to women in the streets to go and buy your kimonos whenever you would open the shop.

Needless to say, most thought you were available for a marriage interview instead. Kanetsugu was surprised to see you carry home so many letters addressed to your son. Somehow, he was proud but wary.

"How did our son even resemble Shingen's charm? I'm aware he has my looks, but this is a bit much..." He adjusted the glasses he wore, taking more letters off your arms.

"Our son is of age, Kanetsugu and don't flatter yourself too much," You said, setting the letters aside. "You weren't a charmer but you steered clear of women..."

He turned red when you brought up his past self. His blush went away the moment you kissed him cheek, wrapping your arms around your husband. "It's alright, my husband... I certainly fell hard for you."

Shingen Takeda

How you lived in bliss with Shingen... It was not long before Kai was returned to Shingen, and he worked hard to build it up from the state that it was left in. Shingen created a loving community in Kai, and it was no question a homely place for you and him. Nobunaga claimed that the crops he gifted on your wedding were a gift, and you thanked him for that. Despite the time that passed, Nobunaga never took a spouse, so you wondered when he would marry too.

The whole community was in joy when you were with child, which prompted Shingen to throw an entire festival to bless your first born. Years went by, and you bore four sons for Shingen. Kai was now famous for its festivals, since Shingen insisted on one for every child you both had.

Kai, in turn, had a festival for every season and every son, with each having their birthdays in a particular season. Katsuyori was in the summer, Harukiyo was in the spring, Nobuchika was in Autumn and Yoshinobu was in Winter. The particular festival this time around was for Nobuchika, your second son and his 20th birthday.

You sighed, remembering the times the boys were younger. How they would run around, and how Shingen would swing them around hanging off his biceps. It was about 20 years of marriage, so you could still attest that he had the biceps, but your sons were far too tall to swing off their father's arm.

"Remember how they would swing on my arm?" Shingen said to you, taking a bite of a sweet bun.

"Mhm... Katsuyori would always fall off..." You replied, sipping your tea. The both of you watched as the new generation of the Kai people set up the tents, and raked the leaves off the walkways for the guests. "But Nobuchika was very stubborn..."

"It was always adorable how you'd panic, my Goddess..." He teased, pulling you close. "Not like I minded... Ah, and how Yoshinobu would sleep on Koro's back..."

The teasing was uncalled for, but Shingen couldn't stop swaddling you in his arms, relishing you in his kisses. You laughed, and your gleeful smile is one he'd always want to see on you.

Harukiyo, the youngest, nudge his other brothers. "Hey... Do they know that we're still here?"

The other three shook their heads.

Yukimura Sanada

Throughout the years, you and Yuki had 11 children together, with a mix of adopted and biological children. You were surprised that Yuki even had the confidence to take care of so many children with you, since Yuki wasn't exactly a paternal type either...

Another thing was, out of 11 children, you only had four sons... with very similar names that you can't help but give nicknames to them!

"Yuki! Dai! Help your sisters carry this heavy pot!" You yelled. In a rush, four young adults plus your husband came from their training, spears in hand, at your call to the garden.

You always wondered why Yuki insisted on naming two sons Yukichika and Yukinobu and the other two Daihachi and Daisuke. It always confused the others, especially Shingen when he couldn't tell them apart.

Besides that, all of your children had gained a love for some kind of weaponry. The only exception was your oldest, Kiku, who decided to become a healer instead. You fully supported their interests, but you still had to lay down some ground rules about weapons...

It wasn't long before three of your girls came back with Sasuke. Sasuke continued to be a favourite of the Sanada family, especially with the triplets, Okane, Oshobu and Oume, who had an affinity for throwing stars and knives. The last three girls, Ichi, Naho and Akuri were fans of archery instead, which their father taught them as well.

Speaking of Sasuke, you were glad that he treated the children as his own. You never asked why he never did adopt a few, or get married, but you were sure it wasn't right to pry.

It was always a big dinner with the Sanada family, but after dinner Yukimura would always take you somewhere else, be it the study or the garden, for his alone time with you.

"Time passes by huh..." You muttered, reaching in the tiny jar of fish snacks.

Yuki hummed, stroking Muramasa's coat as he listened to how your day went. No longer did he insult you as often as he did, but that boyish attitude of his never changed.

"Oh by the way... I arranged a marriage interview with Kiku and Katsuyori!"

Yuki spat out his drink. "T-Takeda Katsuyori?"

You hummed. "Kiku really likes him, and the feelings are mutual so-"

Not a word was to be said about what Yukimura screamed. Except for the fact that you replied with, "Kiku is 23 years old."

Yoshimoto Imagawa

Yoshimoto wasn't someone you'd imagine wanting a family, but then you realised that Yoshimoto really wanted to pamper any children you had. It was a slow process, but over the years, you both had 5 children, with 4 daughters and a son.

Your four daughters were well-known for their beauty, especially with mentions of their lineage as the phrase of 'Elegance of Imagawa and Beauty of Azuchi's Princess' was repeated several times over. Yoshimoto would not stop gushing over his own children, no matter how old they were.

Your only son, Ujizane was much more interested in becoming someone like Yukimura but he was also famous for his calligraphy works. It was an understatement how many pieces were commissioned by Kenshin and Masamune.

Yoshimoto however, has no concept of approaching romance when it came to his own child. He so happened to eavesdrop your conversation with your second daughter, Reishou.

"Ah! I can't look at him Mother! He's... He's very charming!" The usual stoic Reishou hid her face in her hands, her body swaying back and forth.

"Now... did you send him that letter I told you to do?" You said, patting her on the back. "Yoshinobu was it? He's a nice man..."

"But... But... the messenger accidentally sent it to Harukiyo Takeda! He mixed up the wrong brother..." Reishou told you, tears coming from her eyes. You wiped them away, hugging her close, and telling her it was going to be alright.

"Father? What are you doing in front Reishou's room?" His first daughter, Chotoku, asked, a hand to her hip in wonder. She wasn't as quiet as her father, her mannerisms and voice loud and clear. The 'eep' from the room was enough for him to bow down in shame as he saw you exit Reishou's room.

You ushered Chotoku to comfort her younger sister, as you dragged your husband somewhere else.

"Now Yoshimoto... you should apologise to your daughter," You said, finishing your lecture about why he shouldn't listen in. He pressed his head to floor as he listened, bowing to you as you went on about how he should be supportive.

"I... I understand my wife. Thank you..." He said.

"With that said... The five of you can come in now. I'm done with the scolding..."

Oh, the embarrassment he felt...

Kennyo

He was embarrassed to tell you that he had planned out his future with you when you found him pacing around about names for your future children. You and Kennyo lived in the reconstructed Honno-ji Temple as a wedding gift from the Oda forces.

There was no further issues between Kennyo and the others. After all, they were getting older and no one would want to make you upset. You were still friends with many of them, especially with Ranmaru. He was someone who would deliver the gifts from the warlords to you, especially when you were with child.

Kennyo was ecstatic when you were pregnant, but he was scared. Looking back then, Kennyo would get shy whenever you'd bring it up. You however, would tell him not to worry as he was a great father to your three sons.

Kyounyo, Junnyo and Kenson followed in their father's footsteps, specialising in several different aspects of the religion. Kenson, the youngest of all three however, was the most interested in travelling, most likely from the stories he'd hear from Ranmaru and Motonari.

Your three children easily mingled with Motonari's, but you always wondered why Ranmaru never settled down. He was still doing his own work, which worried you enough as he was almost a workaholic like Hideyoshi.

Kennyo's birthday rolled around, so you decided to make a special party for your husband. As you focused on the food, you tasked your three sons with work to distract their father as Kennyo's other subordinates helped with the preparation.

"Father! I wanted to ask you about this text!" Kenson carried papers about a sermon to his father, as he saw his father exit the main temple with a package in hand.

He held out his hand to his son's head, ruffling his hair. "I'm afraid not today, my son. I have to see your mother."

"Wait, but father-!"

One by one, they all failed and the surprise was ruined, but Kennyo wasn't aware of what he had done. He was so focused on giving you the said package. He only notice what he did when he saw the disappointed face of his wife, a face he was indeed weak to.

"YN-! Apologies my wife... I'll pretend as if nothing happened..."

"Father... Father has a one track mind huh..." The sons whispered amongst themselves.

Kichou

You never imagined finding a place where you and Kichou belonged. After all, your relationship in itself was out of place from your other friends. That was, until Motonari asked if you both wanted to travel around the world. You were on board, and after much prying, you and Kichou were travelling around Asia.

Most of your post-wedding years was spent with Kichou travelling to many places, although you would say that you both found a place in what you know today in modern Japan as Shikoku. The Island was not far off Motonari's reach, so you had some familiarity with it.

There was no rush to start a family straight away, especially considering that you moved away from the friends you were accustomed to. Kichou's work wasn't interrupted at all, but he did ask Motonari to help you out with finding what suited you. Somehow, someway, the assistance popularised your kimono work not to mention your fans from Azuchi and Echigo travelling to commission your work.

It was smooth sailing financially, and sooner down the line, Kichou asked if it were alright to adopt children. You agreed, and you found yourself raising a pair of twins with Kichou. They were fraternal twins, but they were quick to adapt to you and Kichou's home.

Kichou enjoyed the family life much more than he thought he would, and he realised it the moment you said your son expressed an interest in marriage to one of the village girls.

Your son, Yoshitatsu, bowed to his father as Kichou listened to his appeal. Kichou was loving but at the same time, he was strict with the twins.

"Father! Please let me marry this girl!" He bowed deeper, pressing his palms to the floor.

Your daughter, Myoinni wasn't around since she decided to be a part of the Uesugi army. Your son instead focused on business, which you assumed was where he met this girl.

Kichou was silent, but a soft nod was enough for your son to jump with glee. You rubbed your hand over his, giving him a kiss on the jaw. You felt him lean into you, so of course you praised your husband. "Kichou... You did well."

Motonari Mori

He was someone who you thought wouldn't be one to settle down, but Motonari was much more attentive than you thought. He knew that one day, he'd have to stop but he'd want to make sure that you were alright with whatever landing spot you chose to stay at.

After much deciding, you and him reached an end point of perhaps moving to the Aki province, his hometown. At first, he was uptight about it since he didn't want his family to meddle with you. He wanted to keep you away but the way you loved his hometown... He couldn't help it.

He had to gain control of his clan before he brought you in... Although it was a faster process than expected since you were pregnant... Which was not planned...

It took about a year for Motonari to accomplish it, but by his will he was going to make life comfortable for you and your first son, Takamoto. It was great for you and Motonari then on, and most in the Aki Province knew you as Lady Mori. You and Motonari may have also adopted a few children, totalling your children over the years to 12.

There wasn't much to complain about... except for the fact that Motonari had a naming gig... Which made things difficult...

"Moto! Help me with this-"

6 boys... and your husband... came running... Then you had to choose which one to help you and it wasn't even all of the children. "No no... I only wanted Motoaki to help me..." You said.

The other boys and your husband made protests about it, asking why you wanted that specific brother.

"What? Is it because Motoaki's good at arithmetic?" Motoharu asked.

"Like you could ever do arithmetic..."

"Shut up Motoyasu!"

"Oh yeah? Fight me Motomasa!"

"How undignified..."

"Don't try to be the proper one here Motokiyo!"

Motonari was the one who could break up the fight, but he didn't want to. You sighed, going back inside where your three daughters were as your nine sons and Motonari battled it out...

"Girls, let's go out to eat..."

[obbsesedwithfootballersx]

a story in which Declan rice’s sister played by Lucinda Strafford wins love island (instead of millie and Liam) but a terrible turn of events leave her single coming out of the villa and falls for her brothers best friend and form a relationship in-which obviously has to be kept a secret but a lot of things get in between. Does the pairs love go stronger or does it fall apart ????

“And the winners of love island 2021 isssss….” Laura Whitmore says dragging on her words. Elle was sat next to her boyfriend brad and across the table from her bests friends in the villa Liam and Millie who were also a couple.

“Elle Rice and Brad McClelland” she announced happily hugging the pair and dragging the over to sit down. Elle’s stomach dropped she was so happy she had been waiting for this moment her hole life always being out shined by her brother Declan Rice because of his football career. She was very happy for her brother obviously but never got the attention she deserved.

“how do you guys feel, cause i know that i’d be very happy now your 20 and 26 and youse have just won love island 2021 and i know for you Elle it has been a life long dream, anyway you guys have had your ups and downs, good and bad days, sleepless nights doing who knows what, cute date nights and night in the private sweet”. she says with a giggle passing you the microphone.

“yes i am so happy that at quite a young age i have got to do this unreal experience which has made me grow as a person and i don’t know how i am going to explain to my mother and father about the sex, how embarrassing my brother isn’t going to be very happy with it” Elle half laughs and passes the microphone to brad.

Brad laughs and takes the microphone and holds Elle tight “hopefully me and her brother will get along even though i support tottenham”. Elle giggled and folds her head into his shoulder.

Mason walks into his shared room with jack at St. George’s Park and jack shouts him to come into the area with a tv

“aye bro look it is decs sister she has just won love island” he shouts, his thick brummy accent echoing through the room.

“why would i watch that shit of hoes trying to get there 5 minutes of fame plus i’ve never spoke or even seen decs sister” mason says as he walks into the kitchen opening the fridge to get a bottle of water.

“come here bro and you will see deffo get a stiffy over her u would” jack says half laughing.

“we’ll see won’t we”

mason walks into the living room sits down across from jack and watches the tv which is showing all of brad and Elle’s memories throughout there stay.

“what do ya think aye” jacks asks.

“she would get it she would” mason says smiling and laughing along to jack.

“thought you would say something like that you knob eddd” jack still laughing.

“but look at her the little slut getting fucked and that on national tv by some tramp on half of our wage if even that” mason mentioned in a cocky voice.

“come bro it is decs sista after all you can’t say all that about her” jack replied.

“what do you mean all that” mase asked.

“since we’ve been in this room you’ve called her a hoe, a slut and said that she’s just looking for her five minutes of fame” jack defended Elle.

“trust me bro you’d love her she’s sweet” jack states making mason blush abit.

“Now guys one of you will have an envelope with 50k in it and the other will have one with 0 in it and the person who has 50k will either choose love and to share it or money and keep the whole 50k” Laura hands both of them an envelope with a red heart on it and tell them to open it one at a time. Elle opens her first and sees a 0 on a piece of paper and then brad opens his and sees the 50,000 and his heart flutters.

“Now brad since you opened the one with the money in it you will now have to choose to either share and keep the money” she announces.

Elle is a nervous wreck her heart is in his hands, if he chooses love they go home together, but if he chooses to keep it we will go home single.

“Erm i’m going too….”

“what do u reckon he’s gonna say?” mason asks jack full of curiosity.

“fuck knows he looks like a dickhead but i hope he doesn’t fuck her over he better fucking not” jack said angrily.

“Keep it all” brad says obnoxiously.

Elle couldn’t keep it together tears flooding out of her eyes slowly her mind went straight to why would he do that to her he used to tell her he loved her every night was she not good enough was all that she could think about.

“that little prick” mason announced.

“aye bro you might be able to get a chance now at-least” jack laughed.

“do you reckon deccers would allow me a ‘known hoe’ near his little sister ha never” mason adds.

“maybe” jacks says his goodbyes and goes to bed.

flash forward to a week later

@Ellemaericex

back home🏡💕✨

liked by declanrice , sasharebecca and 3,5963 others

comments

sasharebecca ur stunning girl

user71736366363 love island winner💕

laurenfryer_ beautiful

islander2892929 ur beautiful

ellericehater she’s actually really ugly

declanrice so happy for you sis ❤️

- declanrice thanku dec

Masonmount followed you on instagram

Masonmount liked your picture

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🔵sexy

thanku💕💕💕💕💕

🔵what are you doing

in my bed what about you

🔵just got back from training at england

oh okay well i’m going to bed night x

[sgt-paul]

Paul McCartney Is Still Trying to Figure Out Love – The New York Times Magazine

By David Marchese, Nov. 29, 2020

Paul McCartney, like the rest of us, this year found himself with an unexpected amount of time stuck indoors. Unlike the rest of us — or most of us, anyway — he used that time to record a new album. The pandemic-induced circumstances of its creation may mark “McCartney III” as an outlier in the former Beatle’s catalog, but as its title suggests, it does have precedents: Like “McCartney” (1970) and “McCartney II” (1980), the album, out Dec. 18, was primarily recorded by McCartney alone, with him playing nearly all the instruments and handling all the production. “At no point,” McCartney said, “did I think: I’m making an album. I’d better be serious. This was more like: You’re locked down. You can do whatever the hell you want.” Which was a gas, as always. “What I’m amazed with,” McCartney explained, “is that I’m not fed up with music. Because, strictly speaking, I should have gotten bored years ago.”

It seems to me that working on music by yourself, as you did on the new album, might allow for some insights about what you do and how you do it. So are there aspects of “McCartney III” that represent creative growth to you? 

The idea of growing and adding more arrows to your bow is nice, but I’m not sure if I’m interested in it. The thing is, when I look back to “Yesterday,” which was written when I was 21 or something, there’s me talking like a 90-year-old: “Suddenly I’m not half the man I used to be.” Things like that and “Eleanor Rigby” have a kind of wisdom. You would naturally think, OK, as I get older I’m going to get deeper, but I’m not sure that’s true. I think it’s a fact of life that personalities don’t change much. Throughout your life, there you are.

Is there anything different about the nature of your musical gift today at 78 than in 1980 or 1970 or when you first started writing songs? 

It’s the story that you’re telling. That changes. When I first said to John, “I’ve written a few songs,” they were simple. My first song was called “I Lost My Little Girl” — four chords. Then we went into the next phase of songwriting, which was talking to our fans. Those were songs like “Thank You Girl,” “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me.” Then came a rich vein as we got more mature, with things like “Let It Be,” “The Long and Winding Road.” But basically I think it’s all the same, and you get lucky sometimes. Like, “Let It Be” came from a dream where my mother had said that phrase. “Yesterday” came from a dream of a melody. I’m a great believer in dreams. I’m a great rememberer of dreams.

What’s the last interesting dream you had? 

Last night’s was pretty good.

What was it? 

It was of a sexual nature, so I’m not sure it’s good for the Kids section. Pretty cool, though. Very interesting, dreams of a sexual nature when you’re married. Because your married head is in the dream saying: “Don’t do this. Don’t go here.” And just to let you know, I didn’t. It was still a good dream.

You know, I was conscious of not mentioning the Beatles early in this interview, and you’ve already mentioned them a few times. So let me ask you: The band broke up 50 years ago. You were in it for roughly 10 years. When you’re not doing interviews or playing concerts, how central to your own story of your life are those 10 years from half a century ago? 

Very. It was a great group. That’s commonly acknowledged.

Generally speaking. 

[Laughs.] It’s like your high school memories — those are my Beatles memories. This is the danger: At a dinner party, I am liable to tell stories about my life, and people already know them. I can see everyone stifling a yawn. But the Beatles are inescapable. My daughter Mary will send me a photo or a text a few times a week: “There you were on an advert” or “I heard you on the radio.” The thing that amazes me now, because of my venerable age, is that I will be with, like, one of New York’s finest dermatologists, and he will be a rabid Beatles fan. All of that amazes me. We were trying to get known, we were trying to do good work and we did it. So to me, it’s all happy memories.

“McCartney III” will come out very close to the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. Has your processing of what happened to him changed over the years? 

It’s difficult for me to think about. I rerun the scenario in my head. Very emotional. So much so that I can’t really think about it. It kind of implodes. What can you think about that besides anger, sorrow? Like any bereavement, the only way out is to remember how good it was with John. Because I can’t get over the senseless act. I can’t think about it. I’m sure it’s some form of denial. But denial is the only way that I can deal with it. Having said that, of course I do think about it, and it’s horrible. You do things to help yourself out of it. I did an interview with Sean, his son. That was nice — to talk about how cool John was and fill in little gaps in his knowledge. So it’s little things that I am able to do, but I know that none of them can get over the hill and make it OK. But you know, after he was killed, he was taken to Frank Campbell’s funeral parlor in New York. I’m often passing that. I never pass it without saying: “All right, John. Hi, John.”

And how about your perspective on the work you did together? Has that changed? 

I always thought it was good. I still think it’s good. Sometimes I had to reassure him that it was good. I remember one time he said to me: “What are they going to think of me when I’m dead? Am I going to be remembered?” I felt like the older brother, even though he was older than me. I said: “John, listen to me. You are going to be so remembered. You are so [expletive] great that there’s no way that this disappears.” I guess that was a moment of insecurity on his part. He straightened me up on other occasions. It was a great collaboration. I can’t think of any better collaboration, and there have been millions. I feel very lucky. We happened upon each other in Liverpool through a friend of mine, Ivan Vaughan. Ivan said, “I think you’d like this mate of mine.” Everyone’s lives have magic, but that guy putting me and John together and then George getting on a bus — an awful lot of coincidences had to happen to make the Beatles.

People always ask you about John. I’ve noticed they rarely ask about George, who of course also died relatively young. 

John is probably the one in the group you would remember, but the circumstances of his death were particularly harrowing. When you die horrifically, you’re remembered more. But I like your point, which is: What about George? I often think of George because he was my little buddy. I was thinking the other day of my hitchhiking bursts. This was before the Beatles. I suddenly was keen on hitchhiking, so I sold this idea to George and then John.

I know this memory. You and George hitchhiked to Paignton.

Yeah, Exeter and Paignton. We did that, and then I also hitchhiked with John. He and I got as far as Paris. What I was thinking about was — it’s interesting how I was the instigator. Neither of them came to me and said, “Should we go hitchhiking?” It was me, like, “I’ve got this great idea.”

Why is that interesting? 

My theory is that attitude followed us into our recording career. Everyone was hanging out in the sticks, and I used to ring them up and say, “Guys, it’s time for an album.” Then we’d all come in, and they’d all be grumbling. “He’s making us work.” We used to laugh about it. So the same way I instigated the hitchhiking holidays, I would put forward ideas like, “It’s time to make an album.” I don’t remember Ringo, George or John ever ringing me up and saying that.

How strange is it to share an idle recollection from your youth, as you just did with that hitchhiking story, and then have the person to whom you’re sharing it — in this case, me — know the memory? It seems as though it would be weird. 

It’s quite annoying, David. It’s like people at dinner yawning when I’m telling stories. This keeps happening to me.

I even know the details. You and George slept on the beach. 

That’s right.

Some Salvation Army girls kept you warm. 

Yes.

Then at some point you sat on a car battery and zapped your ass? 

That was George who did that! I have a very clear recollection. He showed me the scar. Let’s set the record straight: It was George’s ass, and it was a burn the exact shape of a zip from his jeans.

Do you remember the last thing George said to you? 

We said silly things. We were in New York before he went to Los Angeles to die, and they were silly but important to me. And, I think, important to him. We were sitting there, and I was holding his hand, and it occurred to me — I’ve never told this — I don’t want to hold George’s hand. You don’t hold your mate’s hands. I mean, we didn’t anyway. And I remember he was getting a bit annoyed at having to travel all the time — chasing a cure. He’d gone to Geneva to see what they could do. Then he came to a special clinic in New York to see what they could do. Then the thought was to go to L.A. and see what they could do. He was sort of getting a bit, “Can’t we just stay in one place?” And I said: “Yes, Speke Hall. Let’s go to Speke Hall.” That was one of the last things we said to each other, knowing that he would be the only person in the room who would know what Speke Hall was. You probably know what the hell it is.

Yep.

I can’t amaze you with anything! Anyway, the nice thing for me when I was holding George’s hands, he looked at me, and there was a smile.

How many good Beatles stories are there left to tell that haven’t been told? 

There are millions. Sometimes the reason is that they’re too private, and I don’t want to go gossiping. But the main stories do get told and told again.

Can you think of one now that you haven’t told before? 

Hmm. I will rake through the embers. Oh, I’ll tell you one! I thought of one this morning. It’s pretty good. I don’t think I’ve told it. You’re going to have to say in the article, “I forced this out of him,” because it’s a bit telling-out-of-school.

I am hereby twisting your arm. 

So when we did the album “Abbey Road,” the photographer was set up and taking the pictures that ended up as the album cover. Linda was also there taking incidental pictures. She has some that are of us — I think it was all four of us — sitting on the steps of Abbey Road studios, taking a break from the session, and I’m in quite earnest conversation with John. This morning I thought, I remember why. John’s accountants had rung my accountants and said: “Someone’s got to tell John he’s got to fill in his tax returns. He’s not doing it.” So I was trying to say to him, “Listen, man, you’ve got to do this.” I was trying to give him the sensible advice on not getting busted for not doing your taxes. That’s why I looked so earnest. I don’t think I’ve told that story before.

Tax filings — that’s some deep arcana. 

I have dredged the barrel.

I know that your goal with making music is to do something that pleases yourself. What’s most pleasing to you on the new album? 

I’m very happy with “Women and Wives.” I’ve been reading a book about Lead Belly. I was looking at his life and thinking about the blues scene of that day. I love that tone of voice and energy and style. So I was sitting at my piano, and I’m thinking about Huddie Ledbetter, and I started noodling around in the key of D minor, and this thing came to me. “Hear me women and wives” — in a vocal tone like what I imagine a blues singer might make. I was taking clues from Lead Belly, from the universe, from blues. And why I’m pleased with it is because the lyrics are pretty good advice. It’s advice I wouldn’t mind getting myself.

There’s a song on “McCartney III,” “Pretty Boys,” that is kind of unusual for you in how the music is sort of unassuming but the lyrics have an almost sinister edge. What inspired that one? 

I’ll tell you exactly. I’ve been photographed by many photographers through the years. And when you get down to London, doing sessions with people like David Bailey, they can get pretty energetic in the studio. It’s like “Blow-Up,” [the director Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film thriller about a fashion photographer, thought to be loosely based on David Bailey] you know? “Give it to me! [Expletive] the lens!” And it’s like: “What? No, I’m not going to.” But I understand why they’re doing that. They’re that kind of artist. So you allow it. Certain photographers — they tend to be very good photographers, by the way — can be totally out of line in the studio. So “Pretty Boys” is about male models. And going around New York or London, you see the lines of bicycles for hire. It struck me that they’re like models, there to be used. It’s most unfortunate.

“Lavatory Lil” is another song I was curious about. That’s quite a title. 

“Lavatory Lil” is a parody of someone I didn’t like. Someone I was working with who turned out to be a bit of a baddie. I thought things were great; it turned nasty. So I made up the character Lavatory Lil and remembered some of the things that had gone on and put them in the song. I don’t need to be more specific than that. I will never divulge who it was.

I have another bigger-picture question. In your experience, how is the love in a marriage different at different stages of your life and in different marriages?

I don’t think it’s different. It’s always a splendid puzzle. Even though I write love songs, I don’t think I know what’s going on. It would be great if it was smooth and wonderful all the time, but you get pockets of that, and sometimes it’s — you could be annoying. To Nancy I’m pretty complex, with everything I’ve been through.

In what ways? 

I’m some poor working-class kid from Liverpool. I’ve done music all my life. I’ve had huge success, and people often try to do what I want, so you get a false feeling of omnipotence. All that together makes a complex person. We’re all complex. Well, maybe I’m more complex than other people because of coming from poverty.

And how do you think about money these days? 

It has obviously changed. What has stayed the same is the central core. When I was in Liverpool as a kid, I used to listen to people’s conversations. I remember a couple of women going on about money: “Ah, me and my husband, we’re always arguing about money.” And I remember thinking very consciously, “OK, I’ll solve that; I will try to get money.” That set me off on the “Let’s not have too many problems with money” trail. What happened also was, not having much money, when anything came into the house, it was important. It was important when my weekly comic was delivered. Or my penpal — I had a penpal in Spain, Rodrigo — when his letter came through, that was a big event. When they had giveaways in comics with little trinkets, I kept them all. Some people would say that’s a hoarding instinct, but not having anything when I was a kid has stuck with me as far as money. You know, I’m kind of crazy. My wife is not. She knows you can get rid of things you don’t need.

You’re a hoarder? 

I’m a keeper. If I go somewhere and I get whatever I bought in a nice bag, I will want to keep the bag. My rationale is that I might want to put my sandwiches in it tomorrow. Whereas Nancy says, “We’ll get another bag.” In that way, my attitude toward money hasn’t changed that much. It’s the same instinct to preserve. One of the great things now about money is what you can do with it. Family and friends, if they have any medical problem, I can just say, “I’ll help.” The nicest thing about having money is you can help people with it.

Something that has been a constant for you musically is your ability to keep coming up with melodies. It’s there on the new album — the melodies all flow. Is your facility for writing a catchy melody ever an obstacle to getting the songs to be more than just catchy? Because a good tune by itself is not always enough to make a good song. “Bip Bop” would be an example of that. Do you know what I’m saying? 

No, I know. “Bip Bop” is not lyrically stunning. I was always embarrassed about that song. Literally, it goes, “Bip Bop / take your bottom dollar.” It’s inconsequential. But I mentioned that to a friend, a producer, a few years ago, and he said, “That’s my favorite song of yours.” So you don’t know what people like. It’s enough if I like it and enjoyed putting it on record and don’t particularly want to think of any more lyrics. I don’t want to sweat it. Sometimes maybe it would be better if I sweated it. Once or twice I tried to sweat it, and I hated it. It’s like, What are you doing this for?

Sixty-something years into writing songs, do you feel any closer to knowing where melodies come from? 

No. There is something with my ability to write music that I don’t think I’m necessarily responsible for. It just seems to come easier to me — touch wood — than it does to some people. That’s it. I’m a fortunate man.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello Steph! First, thank you for everything you do for this fandom!! I don’t know what we would do without you!! ♥️ I am looking to start my first novel length Johnlock fic. I found your list, and was wondering if you had a specific one to recommend to start off with? I’m looking for something that won’t make me too sad (the world does that on its own), and of course, lots of Johnlock!! Any recommendations would be appreciated, thank you!! Sending love!! *hugs*

HI NONNY!

Hmm, this is tough, because Novel Length is anything over 50K words, but some people don’t want to read “novels that short”. So I get a lot of requests for Epic novels over 100K, so like WOOO HOO LOL.

Hmm. How about I give you a few recs varying lengths, based on your requirements, and you can decide how long you want to go, since I list all my word counts on my recs?

First off, for when you become obsessed with the lengthy fics like I am now LOL:

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K (Nov. 2018)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K Pt 2 (May 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. (May 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 2 (Aug 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 3 [MFL’s] (Dec 2020)

Next, here’s something for each range between 50 and 100K+ <3

BUT BEFORE I BEGIN: honourable mention because it IS my fave fic ever, and it fits your criteria minus the length so SORRY but please check it out:

A Promise Made to Be Broken by PlantsAreNeat (E, 37,018 w., 7 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Pining, Slow Burn, RST, Eventual Relationship, POV Sherlock) – A young John makes an ‘if we’re still single at 40, we’ll get together’ pledge to a woman who ends up all wrong for him. She keeps reminding him of the promise, and won’t let go of it. John asks Sherlock to pose as his boyfriend at a family wedding, so as to dash her hopes permanently. Sherlock, who has at last acknowledged his feelings for John, reluctantly agrees despite knowing how painful it will be to ‘have’ John, but not keep him.

--------

Okay, now the main event, of more-fluff-than-angst:

NOVEL LENGTH NOT-SO-ANGSTY FICS FOR NEWBIES

Spare Change by Ermerness (E, 51,966 w., 14 Ch. || Rich Holmeses AU || First Kiss / Time, Holmes Family, Virgin Sherlock, Anal, First Meetings, Bossy Bottomlock) – The Holmes family is one of the richest and most powerful in England. Sherlock spends his time flying around the world on the family's private jet drinking a lot and shopping at expensive boutiques as a way of trying to alleviate his endless boredom. His mother decides it's time he settles down with someone powerful, wealthy and well connected. John Watson happens to be none of those things.

Guilty Secrets by Ellipsical (E, 55,086 w., 16 Ch. || Post-TRF, Drumsticks, First Kiss/Time, Love Confession, Self-Sexual-Discovery, Anal, Rimming, Orgasm Denial, Butt Plugs, Cooking, Furniture Sex, Bath Sex, Rimming, Double Penetration, Prostate Massage, Anal Beads, Dancing, Romance, Tantric Edging, Internalized Homophobia, Case as Foreplay, Anal Beads, Tickling, Dancing, Dry Coming, Romance) – John has a prostate exam and discovers something surprising about himself. Experimentation follows. Sherlock wants to help. They're in love. You know the drill.

Bridging the Ravine by SilentAuror (E, 58,887 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Couple For a Case, Bed-Sharing, First Times, Confessions, Awkwardness, Sex Trafficking, Massages, Wet T-Shirt Contest, Group Therapy, Past Loss of Child) – Sherlock and John go undercover at Ravine Valley, a therapy centre for same-sex male couples in an investigation into a possible human trafficking ring. As they pose as a couple and fake their way through the therapy sessions for the sake of the case, it quickly becomes difficult to avoid discussing their very real issues. Set roughly six nine months after series 4.

Perdition's Flames by i_ship_an_armada (E, 63,435 w., 21 Ch. || Treklock AU, Est. Rel, Genetic Engineering, Angst & Fluff, BAMF!John) – Sherlock would do anything to save him. Risk anything. Give anything. His money, his life. His soul. What he does, though, is change both of their destinies forever. Genetic re-engineering is the only option left. It turns out researchers underestimated the life expectancy and potential abilities of genetically re-engineered subjects. The British government and what would eventually become the United Federation of Planets, however, had not. Part 1 of PF Universe

A Cure For Boredom by emmagrant01 (E, 81,665 w., 8 Ch. || Dirty Talk, Threesomes, Light Dom/Sub, Sex Club, Experiments, Anal, Mildly Dubious Consent, Rimming, Cheeking, Double Penetration, Mild Kink, Porn Watching, Voyeurism, Masturbation) – They’d never talked about sex in the year they’d known each other. Well, that wasn’t quite correct: Sherlock had never said a word about sex; John had bemoaned his personal dearth of it on many occasions.

Uphill by scullyseviltwin (E, 84,945 w., 18 Ch. || Olympics AU || Sherlock POV, Skier!Sherlock / Medic!John, Rivalry, 2014 Olympics, Happy Ending) – Sherlock Holmes is striving for gold in this, his fourth and final Olympics as a downhill Alpine racer.

A Study in Winning by Jupiter_Ash (E, 106,658 w., 11 Ch. || Tennis AU || John POV, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Sherlock Speaks French, Switchlock, Wimbledon) – John and Sherlock are professional tennis players and it’s Wimbledon. One is a broken almost was at the end of his career, the other an arrogant rising star tipped for greatness. It should have been a straightforward tournament. It really should have been. How were they to know that a chance encounter would change everything? Part 1 of Tennis

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Facial Shaving, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

The Horse and his Doctor by khorazir (T, 129,003 w., 13 Ch. || Horse / Vet AU || Magical Realism, Horses, Vet John, Horse Sherlock, Implied Alcoholism) – Invalided after a run in with a poacher in Siberia, veterinary surgeon John Watson finds it difficult to acclimatise to the mundanity of London life. Things change when a friend invites him along to a local animal shelter and he meets their latest acquisition, a trouble-making Frisian with the strangest eyes and even stranger quirks John has ever encountered in a horse.

The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w., 37 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it's a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball

Midnight Blue Serenity by BeautifulFiction (E, 151,907 w., 19 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Gay Bar / For a Case, Drugs, Pining, Case Fic, UST) – When Sherlock infiltrates a club in order to track down a serial killer, his altered appearance is enough to make John question his assumption that Sherlock is beyond his reach. However, is he the only one who appreciates his flatmate's charms, or is Sherlock at risk of becoming the next victim?

Gimme Shelter by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 159,368 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || 70′s Surfer AU || Period Typical Homophobia, Hawaii, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Professional Surfers, Gay John / Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John was a Sailor, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining) – All John Watson wants is the feeling of a freshly waxed surfboard under his feet and the hot California sun baking down onto his back. To finally go pro in the newly formed world of professional surfing and leave the dark memories of his past behind him as he rips across the face of a towering blue barrel. To lounge beside the beach bonfire every evening with an ice cold beer tucked into the cool sand beside him and listen to Pink Floyd and the Doors while the saltwater dries in his sun bleached hair. That's all he wants, that is, until the hot young phenom taking Oahu and the Hawaiian shores by storm steps up next to him in the sand in the second round of the 1976 International Surf Competition. (PUBLISHED AS ‘The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone’)

Mise en Place by azriona (M, 161,004 w., 28 Ch. || Restaurant (Kitchen Nightmares) AU || Sherlock is Gordon Ramsay / Celebrity Sherlock, Restauranteur John, Harry Plays Prominent Role, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, Cranky Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Slow Burn) – John Watson had no intentions of taking over the family business, but when he returns from Afghanistan, battered and bruised, and discovers that his sister Harry has run their restaurant into the ground, he doesn't have much choice. There's only one thing that can save the Empire from closing for good – the celebrity star of the BBC series Restaurant Reconstructed, Chef Sherlock Holmes. Part 1 of Mise en Place

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Hope you enjoy those!!! <3 PLEASE read them all, though, and THEN READ ALL THE ONES ON THOSE LISTS. Because once you start long fics, you get REALLY INTO THEM. Hah hah <3

[coochiequeens]

Fuck Apple products and people who get rid of perfectly good phones just because a newer one was released.

SRIPERUMBUDUR, India, Dec 30 (Reuters) - For women who assembled iPhones at a Foxconn plant in southern India, crowded dorms without flush toilets and food sometimes crawling with worms were problems to be endured for the paycheck.

But when tainted food sickened over 250 of the workers their anger boiled over, culminating in a rare protest that shut down a plant where 17,000 had been working.

A close look by Reuters at the events before and after the Dec. 17 protest casts a stark light on living and working conditions at Foxconn (2317.TW), a firm central to Apple's (AAPL.O) supply chain.

The tumult comes at a time when Apple is ramping up production of its iPhone 13 and shareholders are pushing the company to provide greater transparency about labour conditions at suppliers.

Reuters spoke to six women who worked at the Foxconn plant near Chennai. All of them requested they not to be named because of fear of retaliation on the job or from police.

Workers slept on the floor in rooms, which housed between six to 30 women, five of these workers said. Two workers said the hostel they lived in had toilets without running water.

”People living in the hostels always had some illness or the other -- skin allergies, chest pain, food poisoning," another worker, a 21-year-old woman who quit the plant after the protest, told Reuters. Earlier food poisoning cases had involved one or two workers, she said.

"We didn't make a big deal out of it because we thought it will be fixed. But now, it affected a lot of people," she said.

FOXCONN PLANT ON PROBATION

Apple and Foxconn said on Wednesday they found that some dormitories and dining rooms used for employees at the factory did not meet required standards.

The facility has been placed "on probation" and Apple will ensure its strict standards are met before the plant reopens, an Apple spokesperson said.

"We found that some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms being used for employees do not meet our requirements and we are working with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are rapidly implemented."

The spokesperson did not elaborate on the improvements that would be made for workers at the plant or the standards that would be applied.

Laws governing housing for women workers in Tamil Nadu mandate each person be allocated at least 120 square feet of living space and require housing to adhere to hygiene and fire safety standards as laid out by local authorities.

Foxconn said it was restructuring its local management team and taking immediate steps to improve facilities. All employees would continue to be paid while it makes necessary improvements to restart operations, the company said.

Venpa Staffing Services, a Foxconn contractor that runs the dorm where workers were sickened by food poisoning, declined to comment.

The food poisoning and subsequent protests have also led to investigations, some of which are ongoing, by at least four Tamil Nadu state agencies. Officials have also privately told Foxconn to ensure better conditions, senior state government officials said.

"It is Foxconn's responsibility," Thangam Thennarasu, the industries minister of Tamil Nadu state told Reuters.

The Tamil Nadu state government said in a statement last week that the state had asked Foxconn to ensure that working and living conditions were improved, including the quality of housing and drinking water.

Foxconn has agreed to ensure that worker living conditions follow government recommendations and meet legal requirements, the statement said.

Apple and Foxconn did not indicate when the plant would reopen.

Foxconn had told state officials that it had "ramped up production too quickly," though production was curtailed during April and May when the Delta variant of COVID-19 was raging in India, a senior government official from the state's industries department told Reuters.

Taiwan-based Foxconn opened the plant in 2019 with the promise of creating up to 25,000 jobs, a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" campaign to create manufacturing jobs.

Sriperumbudur, a town outside Chennai where the factory is situated, is a busy industrial area with factories that make Samsung (005930.KS) and Daimler (DAIGn.DE) products nearby.

The factory is central to Apple's efforts to shift production away from China due to tensions between Beijing and Washington. Reuters reported last year that Foxconn planned to invest up to $1 billion in the plant over three years.

Foxconn contracts out the staffing of the factory to labour brokers, who are also responsible for housing the workers – mostly women – employed there.

RATS AND POOR DRAINAGE

Following the protests, food safety inspectors visited the hostel where the bout of food poisoning occurred and closed the dorm's kitchen after finding rats and poor drainage, Jegadish Chandra Bose, a senior food safety officer in the Thiruvallur district where the hostel is located, told Reuters.

"The samples analysed did not meet the required safety standards," he said.

The women who work at the Foxconn plant make the equivalent of about $140 (10,500 Indian rupees) in a month and pay Foxconn's contractor for housing and food while they work at the plant.

Most workers are between 18 and 22 and come from rural areas of Tamil Nadu, the head of a women workers' union said. The monthly pay at the plant is more than a third higher than the minimum wage for such jobs, according to state government guidelines.

The 21-year-old worker who quit following the protest, told Reuters that her parents are farmers growing rice and sugarcane. She said she looked for a city job like many others in her village and considered the Foxconn wages good.

Several activists and academics said women recruited from farming villages to work in Sriperumbudur's factories are seen by employers as less likely to unionise or demonstrate, a factor that made the protests at the Foxconn factory - which isn't unionised - even more notable.

V. Gajendran, assistant professor at Madras School of Social Work in Chennai, said women recruited to work in nearby factories "typically come from larger, poor, rural families, which exposes them to exploitation and reduces their ability to unionise and fight for their rights."

'WE WERE ALARMED'

Fuck the Thiruvallur district administration said last week.

A rumour - later proved to be false - circulated that some of the women who had fallen sick had died. When some sick workers failed to show up for work at the factory two days later, others staged a protest when shifts were changing.

"We were alarmed and we talked among each other in the hostel and decided to protest. There was no one leader," one of the workers told Reuters.

On December 17, about 2,000 women from the nearby Foxconn hostels took to the streets, blocking a key highway near the factory, the district administration said.

Male workers, including some from a nearby auto factory, joined a renewed protest the next day, the Foxconn workers Reuters spoke to said.

Police responded to the larger, second protest by striking the male workers and then chasing and striking some of the women involved, two workers and Sujata Mody, a local union leader who had interviewed workers told Reuters.

Police detained 67 women workers and a local journalist, confiscated their phones, and called their parents with a warning to get their daughters in line, three of those detained, local union leaders, and a lawyer who was trying to help those detained told Reuters.

Reuters could not independently confirm the descriptions of the police response.

M Sudhakar, the top police official in Kancheepuram district, denied that protesters were beaten, phones were confiscated, or that workers were intimidated by police.

"We strictly adhered to guidelines and respected the rights of those who were detained. All rules were followed," he told Reuters.

K. Mohan, a village-level administrator who went to the hostel where the food poisoning incident occurred to investigate living conditions on Dec 16, found no safeguards to prevent COVID-19 infections, he told police in testimony reviewed by Reuters.

"I went to that place to investigate since there is a chance that this place could become a COVID cluster," Mohan told police. "The women were made to stay in the hostel where no coronavirus guidelines were being followed."

The unrest at Foxconn was the second involving an Apple supplier in India in a year. In December 2020, thousands of contract workers at a factory owned by Wistron Corp (3231.TW)destroyed equipment and vehicles over the alleged non-payment of wages, causing estimated damage of $60 million.

Apple had then said it placed Wistron on probation and that it would not award the Taiwanese contract manufacturer new business until it addressed the way workers were treated at the plant.

At the time, Wistron said it had worked to raise standards and fix issues at the factory, including the payroll systems. Wistron restarted operations at the plant earlier this year. Apple had no immediate comment on Wistron's status when asked by Reuters. ($1=74.53 rupees)

[yuzusorbet]

Kikuchi-san’s book, partial translations

Akira Kikuchi is the trainer who accompanied Yuzu to many competitions in the past.  Since elementary school days, Yuzu has gone to his clinic in Sendai for therapy sessions after skate practice.  Last year (2019), Kikuchi-san published a book titled 'Strongly, beautifully, 30 Methods to train' (my translation from the Japanese title).   I read a Chinese translation of some parts.  Very interesting to see things from his perspective, and quite touching too, so I decided to translate them to share.  Not ideal to translate from another translation but I don't have the book, and usually Chinese fans' translations are pretty reliable. 

  *paraphrased means I summarised a few lines there.   *more info means I added notes for myself, and it's not from the book.

Chapter 1, part 5.  The muscles that were forged after the earthquake.

He became the World Junior champion, and also started school at Tohoku High School,  and at the age of 15, Yuzuru made his debut in senior level competition.  His 1st competition was Season 2010-11 NHK Trophy in Oct where he landed his 1st quad jump in competition and was in 4th place.   2010 Nov was Cup of Russia in Moscow, where he placed 7th. (more info: Japan nationals in Dec, he placed 4th.  Then 4CC in Feb 2011, he placed 2nd.)

At the end of his first senior season, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.  (March 2011)

When the earthquake occurred, I was working, seeing 4 patients.  My home and clinic felt the shaking but were not damaged due to being on higher ground.  But very quickly, the electricity, water and gas were cut off.

[paraphrased:  Everyone was worried but preferred to stay on.]   I continued treating the 4 patients.  When they left, I closed the clinic temporarily.

Soon, people whose homes were washed away in the tsunami or destroyed by the quake took refuge in nearby sports halls.  When I heard about this, I brought a simple bed into the sports halls and did massages for the  people there.  That was how I spent each day.

The reason I did this was because I thought of my father that night after the earthquake.  He was a policeman and was very strict with himself.   He was upright and always thinking of the safety of others.  He lived his life for others and he is the man that I most respect.  If father was here, he would definitely go to the evacuation centres to do his best to help......

Giving a massage to people at the centre, I was just doing the only thing I could do.

Yuzuru also went through some hard days.

On the day of the earthquake, he went to his usual training rink 'Ice Rink Sendai' after school.   It was at the rink that he experienced the "shindo 6"  earthquake.  (More info: shindo 7 is the highest.  See this: robintlewis/what-is-the-japanese-seismic-intensity-shindo-scale.   On the Richter scale, this is a magnitude 9 earthquake.)

That child felt the strong shaking and I heard that he rushed out of the building wearing his skate boots.  Next to life itself, the most precious thing is his skates.  Figure skaters always put skate guards on the blades when they leave the ice, they would never let the blades be exposed.  Rushing out without his skate guards, he must have been very scared.

Staying 4 days in the gym of a school which served as an evacuation centre, he seriously thought about whether he should give up figure skating.

It was also figure skating that made him pull himself together.

His home rink was damaged in the quake and he lost his usual training place. His coach during elementary school days, Tsuzuki Shoichiro, inquired about him.  Tsuzuki-sensei is the one who gave Yuzuru his foundation in figure skating.  Before the quake, he was coaching at a rink in Yokohama.

Subsequently, Yuzuru went to Tsuzuki-sensei's rink to train.

About half a year after the quake, around October, Yuzuru who had returned to Sendai came to my clinic.  He told me about what he had been doing.

During that period, he was participating in commercial ice shows and earthquake charity ice shows all over Japan;  I knew about this.  "For the people affected by the disaster, I want to give them some encouragement," I had read his interviews in the newspapers.  In the 5 months after the earthquake, he skated in 60 ice shows throughout the  country.  "I hope that my activities can become strength for the victims"-- to have this thought, he must have pulled himself together.

"When I participated in ice shows, I could do some training if I arrived early at the venue, and the intervals between shows also became my own training time," said Yuzuru, looking straight into my eyes.  (more info: usually there are a few shows at one venue, eg. 3 shows spread over the weekend)

After such an unprecedented earthquake disaster, what had Yuzuru learned, mentally how had he changed, all these I was not sure.  But the moment I touched his leg muscles, I immediately felt his efforts and I almost cried.

Since elementary school, I had been seeing him almost everyday.  Even a small change in his body I would know.

The muscles forged after the earthquake told of days filled with harsh figure skate training, day after day.

Skating in ice shows "for the disaster areas", and practising fervently in between shows.  During the performances, he must have also put in all his efforts so as to "convey something to the people".

Moreover, the muscles developed after the quake were not only those used for jumping, they were also those for bearing the impact of landing.

Landing on the ice after a jump, the impact on the body can be a few hundred times the skater's weight.  To withstand such an impact, the muscles around the knees, the gastrocnemius muscles in the calf and the tibialis anterior muscles must be sufficiently trained.  If these parts are not strengthened, injury will happen easily.

In a short period of half a year, those muscles grew to such an extent.   How much jump practice did he do after the earthquake.  Falling down countless times and getting up again.  How on earth did he train to develop muscles like that.

Yuzuru's leg muscles are different from other athletes that come to my clinic. His muscles were not developed by specialised muscle training but were formed naturally though figure skating practice.  In other words, they are muscles that grew only for figure skating.

Until now, that child still mentions that he "does not know how to ride a bicycle".  In my opinion, I think it is because he does not want to develop muscles except those needed for figure skating.

The muscles used for cycling are the same as those for speed skating.  Speed skaters have cycling in summer training;  bulging leg muscles are necessary for them.For figure skaters, if muscles become big and bulging, the weight can be a hindrance to jumping.  But still, strong muscles are needed to do quad jumps and to bear the impact of landing. [paraphrased]

Yuzuru overcame the earthquake disaster and developed muscles for jumping quads and for bearing the landing impact in a good balance.

Those well-trained leg muscles are the external manifestation of his experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake and his determination to fight as a top skater.

- translated by me from this Chinese translation: weibo

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

Chapter 1, part 6. Overcoming pain in the hip joint

The first time I went along with Yuzuru in the team for a competition was in his 2nd year of senior level, the November 2011 Rostelecom Cup (Russia) in the Grand Prix series.  Traveling with a team to an international competition as a trainer, it was the first time for me.  Not only that, it was also my first time watching a figure skating competition up close.  What a disgraceful old man. Almost everyday I listened to Yuzuru talk about all things related to figure skating but I had never watched his competitions live at the venue.

I saw Yuzuru only at my clinic, diagnosing leg problems, applying tape to stabilise ankles, this kind of interactions, the relationship of a therapist and a patient, I felt this was enough.

I had the role of a 'sports trainer' before, but not for professional  athletes. Supporting local high school and junior high students, I was already very content.  I had served as 'team trainer' for the swimming, baseball, and track and field teams of Tohoku High and Junior High Schools where sports is very popular, and went with the athletes for competitions.

Once these children graduated, the relationship between trainer and athlete would end.  Those who wanted to continue their sports career, some would leave Sendai, some would get a professional trainer to guide them.

"Rostelecom Cup is going to start, Sensei, can you go together with me as my trainer?" Yuzuru asked me.  I answered in a relaxed manner, "Oh, alright."​

As an athlete, Yuzuru was steadily rising.

"Whether it's an international competition or the Olympics, let me be your trainer and take me along!"  This was what I said to him jokingly when he was in elementary school grade 4;  I don't know if he still remembers it.  But this kind of joke has really come true now, so I was actually feeling rather emotional.

This was also like a commendation from Yuzuru for the treatment he had received so far.  "Well, it's just doing the physiotherapy in Russia instead of the usual place in my clinic," this was how I thought at that time.

However, at that Rostelecom Cup, at the official practice, Yuzuru injured his hip joint (the joint between hip bone and thigh bone).

The injury was treated by a trainer sent specially by Japan Skate Federation.   I was just Yuzuru's private trainer.

I understood the situation fully when we were back in his hotel room.  The treatment for the injury had ended but the pain was still there.  I was very sure that it was not suitable for him to do more skating.  Even walking would be painful.

"In this situation, it's better to withdraw (from competition), isn't it?"   When he heard this, he said with absolute certainty, "Whatever happens, I will compete in Rostelecom Cup."  Actually for this competition, Yuzuru must win first place in order to qualify for the Grand Prix Final which is for only the top 6 skaters of the GP series.  He wanted to compete, no matter what.

From that moment, I felt for the first time that I have "joined forces with an extraordinary world".  Yuzuru was so focused on the competition, "want to compete", "want to win", these desires were way above any pain.  As a therapist, of course my advice was to withdraw.  But as a trainer, I had to respond to such intense wishes of the athlete.

All I could do was to take care of his hip joint.  I also taped his ankle, and then sent him off to compete.  I knew the pain of the injury was still there.

But, Yuzuru, he did it....... short programme and free skating both were ranked 2nd, but his total score of 241.66 was higher than other strong rivals like Javier Fernandez and Jeremy Abbott, and he achieved his first victory in the GP series.

At that moment, witnessing it with my own eyes, I was crying.  Even though he received treatment, his hip joint injury was quite serious.  Any jump would be very painful, especially when landing, he would feel severe  pain.  In spite of this, for the free skate, he made a mistake only for the quad jump, the other 7 jumps were all successful.

For the first time, I realised it was such a cruel world that Yuzuru was fighting in.​

In the spectator stands were many Japanese ladies and they were looking at me with a surprised expression "why is this old grandpa crying so much??"  But it did not matter anymore, I did not care how others were looking at me, I was crying my heart out.  I was so happy..... really so happy.

That Rostelecom Cup was my first experience as a trainer stepping into the figure skating world.

After this, I did not accompany Yuzuru to any more competitions.  I stayed in my clinic treating patients, and sometimes I would treat Yuzuru who came back from travels.

​After Rostelecom Cup, Yuzuru rose rapidly at an astonishing speed.

For the GP Final, he was 4th, then at 2011-12 World Championships, it was his first time at Worlds and he achieved 3rd place.  At the age of 17 years and 3 months, he broke the record for the youngest World Championship medalist in Japanese figure skating men's history and ascended to the podium.

Then, from April 2012, Yuzuru moved his training base from Sendai to Toronto, Canada.​

Before he had overseas competitions, I saw him almost everyday at my clinic.​ We had been together for the past 10 years.  So I would miss him quite a lot.

But it's for becoming stronger that he went to Canada.  For greater improvement in figure skating, he made the decision to move to Toronto.  He has already "graduated" from my place here.

"Sensei, I'm going off!"​

And just like each overseas trip, Yuzuru set off from Sendai, and started on another journey.

- translated by me from this Chinese translation: weibo

This is the book on Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/

(I will share parts from Chapter 2 soon.)

[taekooktimeline]

December 31st, 2019 / January 1st, 2020

Following New Year’s Countdown, members take turns to talk about their resolutions. Tae says he wants to occupy himself with activities that heal his mind, although we understand it’s simply to maintain or - if possible - increase the level of happiness he experienced during 2019 as he said it was a happy year.

Jungkook interjects, interested in knowing whom he would do such activities with. If we go over prior events we can see that Tae had been going on trips with his family and various friends, including him & the wooga squad on a yacht, while Jk saw his own friends and relatives, complaining about Jhope and Jimin being the only members he had seen during their 1 month-long vacation on mid 2019, which could or could not be true, but if Taekook briefly saw each other they wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere outside an apartment. Jungkook could be bothered by this lack of private adventures and shared experiences (disregarding their variety shows). Wooga squad had also met up during Christmas Eve. Again, we don’t know if Tk spent some little time together or not.

Tae responds by saying there are many things that he can do alone. That answer doesn’t quite satisfy Jungkook who asks “not with us?”. It seems like Jungkook thought that they could be hanging out more than what they were and that Taehyung was going overboard with the closeting to the point of slightly distancing himself (although not reaching awkwardness like they later tried to sell).

Jungkook actually wrote a song that could give insight into this situation since it could have been written around this time. The Japanese demo was finished before March 2020 since it was first mentioned then, probably written only a few months before. Jk drew a big, artistic eye on a whiteboard on Dec 4th, which suggests he was already working on the songs’ adaptation to the Japanese film which gave it its name. This means he wrote the Korean version before December of 2019 and it had nothing to do with the pandemic. “Your Eyes Tell” talks about Jk being fearful of someone leaving him, even crying over it. He wants this person to believe him when he says that he wants a future with them no matter the hardships, even if he can’t say it out loud yet (meaning not ready to come out yet?) and his past demons haunt him sometimes (his lowest being late 2017/ early 2018). To believe him when he says that he finds this “darkness” to be beautiful if they are together. He says the world would be dull without the other and that he won’t take his eyes off of this person making sure that they don’t leave his side. If we assume this person to be Tae then, for whatever reason, Jk sensed that Tae was doubting Jk’s determination to keep going with their relationship, maybe due to the added difficulties that came with living in different apartments since around July 2019 and the weight of the prolonged closeting strategies. Jk may have interpreted the beginning of what seemed like a distancing as some sort of test where Tae gave him an easy way out or feared that if the situation progressed in this direction Tae would end up falling into thoughts that went something like “I should be the one to put an end to this for Jungkook’s sake” so he instead reassured him about his love through a ballad. It’s unclear whether Jk had real reasons to worry or he was just insecure about the changes in their relationship (living situation + heavier closeting = less private time together) and linking them to Tae’s past tendencies where he thought Jk would be better off without him.

Continuing with the topic, the night prior to this vlive Tae announced that he had recently written the first version of a song. It was written somewhere between the 14th & the 31st of December of 2019 and it seems like he was talking about “Sweet Night”, a song that was said to be completed by the start of March 2020 for the drama “Itaewon Class”. While we think that this song is based on Tae’s past experiences (finding common ground with the drama) from when he first realized he was deeply in love, unsure if the other still felt the same way, it was necessary for him to be able to relive the emotions he once felt, as he explained about his general creation process. The song tells that they had already crossed the line or grazed it at some points, but the sentence “are you my best friend?” & the part where he regrets realizing he’s in love only after the opportunity had passed are much more fitting to earlier in their relationship when things had never been labeled as romantic nor gotten serious, prior to an actual relationship ever ensuing which only happens at the end of the drama (not compatible with their mutual, unwavering gestures of love & compromise done throughout the previous years in addition to them “hiding” things like them sharing hotel room = having a serious relationship). The adaptation of Tae’s beloved webtoon inspired him to rediscover these emotions as it was also an opportunity to be part of an OST for a drama that his friend had a role in, but it also makes you wonder if he was truly in danger of going through the regression that Jk feared, Tae’s mind going back to the time they missed out on love. The song includes phrases such as “now my forever is falling down wondering if you’d want me now”, “I wonder if you are too good to be true” & “guess we were ships in the night” (meeting for a brief moment, or coming close to doing so, but then losing sight of each other due to the darkness). This last sentence is perhaps the most worrisome because it feels timeless, easily applicable to his musings at the time of writing, knowing they have to hold on tight to not part ways again because, as Jk reassuringly says in YET: “even this darkness we see is beautiful”.

”Sweet Night” opens with the lyrics “on my pillow/can’t get me tired/sharing my fragile truth”. On the 14th of December of 2019 Tae said he couldn't sleep well those days and that it could be due to it being the end of the year. It’s something he recouringly has trouble with so it can remind him of other occasions in which he had that problem. He usually writes down his emotions in his diary and revisits them. He also mentioned Itaewon Class.

On the 31st of December he then said he wrote a song.

The 6th of March of 2020 he talks about “Sweet Night”. He was saying it was hard to convey how he wanted the instrumental to sound to the staff (“express what’s in his mind”), but it was completed briefly before this vlive.

Regardless, “Your Eyes Tell” tries to retain someone BEFORE the end approaches, acting as a reassurance in case the other doubts (similar to “My Time”, released in February of 2020, where he promises they’ll overcome the restrictions), and we don’t think they broke up in 2019 due to many reasons, among them Tae saying in his final comments that it was a happy year with no particularly sad moments. January 25th was then the start of Tae being quite loud on Weverse throughout 2020 by mentioning Jungkook the most out of the members on free will (disregarding their iconic public exchange initiated by Jk on the 15th) and giving special attention to Jk-related questions as well as Taekook-related usernames. An indication of Jk’s efforts having an effect and Tae feeling encouraged to add subtle ways in which he could play with or challenge the exaggerated closeting limitations? An interesting set of rings also appeared within the month of January and it must’ve been Tae who gave Jk two rings out of the set of five that he initially wore himself. Jk held dearly onto them.

[deepperplexity]

Prompt: 3. Smiles

A/N: Here we go, day 3 of SNAPEMAS and today we get Smiles as a prompt! :D I decided to play with one of my favourite Snape love tropes in this one; age difference. So while you are young - a mere 21 of age, Severus is 43 (so, 22 years age difference - same as my grandparents btw xD)

Also, please know that I use the term 'Christmas morning' since some celebrate on the 24:th (Christmas Eve) and some celebrate on the 25:th (Christmas Day). I don't want to limit it by writing Christmas Day Morning or Christmas Eve Morning ^^ Same goes for when I write Christmas - rather than Christmas Day or Christmas Eve :P

Setting: Diagon Alley, Sugarplum's Sweets Shop

Pairing: Snape x Reader

Word count: 1467

Warnings: Fluff, Age Difference

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // SNAPEMAS POST

Diagon Alley was brimming with activity, teeming with merriness and joy as people rushed here and there. But you, however, did not rush. You simple walked slowly through the crowd with your boyfriend next to you. Your arm wrapped around his. Your heavy coats kept you nice and toasty as tiny flakes of snow sifted through the cold air.

You could not have been happier. This would be your first Christmas with the love of your life. Your first Christmas by his side. The first time you exchanged presents and the first time you'd wake up on Christmas morning and be able to cuddle in his arms. Oh, how you longed for Christmas to actually come around so you could make many new memories with your beloved.

It would be different this year of course. Your family had shunned you after you got together with Severus; he was more than twice your age and your family did not approve. He was almost as old as your own father - but what did it matter? You loved him, he loved you and you never felt as cherished as you did under his loving gaze. He was all you could ever have hoped for. And you chose him, you would always do so.

"Do you want to go in?" Severus asked as you had stopped in front of a second-hand bookstore. You shook your head, today was not for books. You both usually got stuck and the whole day would be lost. No today you wanted to be with him, in every way. "Let's go there," you said and pointed towards a very pink store called Sugarplum's Sweets Shop. Severus's lips tugged in a half-smile as he nodded. "As you wish, love," he said and your heart pounded at his voice and the utterance of the word 'love'.

The store was quite full of people but they seemed to clear a path as Severus strode in with his commanding presence. He always did that, it was just who he was and you loved it. His command, his aura, his posture and the respect he seemed to demand just by breathing. You relished in his strength and felt as soft as cotton in comparison. As brittle as glass. Yet he was like a barrier between you and all things that could break you. You were safe with him. Strong with him. Happy and carefree with him.

You looked around, there were sweets of all kinds; and pastries. The air was thick with a sugary scent and it was too hot with the heavy cloak you wore. But it didn't matter. You took his hand and dragged him over to the liquorice corner. So many goodies, you thought as you let go of Severus and looked at all the sweets. You smiled so broadly, had you not had ears it might have gone all the way around your head.

"What should we get?" you asked and turned towards Severus. He smiled at you, one of those smiles he never gave to any other person, as his arms laid crossed over his chest. "Whatever you wish, love," he said in that rumbling voice of his that made your heart pound a little harder as your knees grew a little weaker. You gave him a joyful expression before you turned back to the liquorice. you grabbed a bag and started to fill it with four pieces of each candy you wished to eat and share with him.

You walked around the store, filled your bag with care and grabbed a few pastries as well. You wanted to share them with him, with your beloved Severus and see his smile as you both shared such a sweet little moment in private. You were well aware that he had a different persona in front of others. That he had to, it was like a protective wall of his own. Like he was to you. But you didn't mind. You knew his true nature and the love he held for you. Just thinking about it made you all giddy.

He came up behind you as you were pondering whether to take the pumpkin pastries or the cinnamon rolls. He gave the top of your head a kiss and whispered in your ear, "Take both, darling. You know you will regret it later otherwise." You giggled as he gave your warm ear a little nibble before he kissed your jaw tenderly. You grabbed both the pastries and the rolls before he led you to the register.

Your goodies were packed, Severus paid and out the door you went. Your arm yet again wrapped around his as he carried the bag with all the goodies in his free hand. You talked animatedly about how you wanted to decorate his house, buy a tree, make a Christmas dinner among many other Christmas related activities. He barely said a word but every time you glanced up at him he wore the brightest of smiles. Despite being in public. Despite the looks everyone gave you. Despite the whispers and the people who swirled to avoid walking in his path. He smiled so brightly. You could not help but smile just as brightly as you walked down Diagon Alley.

When you arrived at Severus's house at Spinner's End you hung up your coat, kicked off your snowy boots and slipped your feet in the fluffy slippers he had bought you a few weeks ago. You had only complained once, once, that the floors were a little cold and just an hour later he presented you with the cutest little bunny slippers that were so soft and warm it felt as though you walked on sun-heated clouds.

You had grabbed the bag from him before you headed to the kitchen. You unpacked the goodies and placed them in different boxes to keep them fresh in the hopes you would be able to enjoy it all for a few days at least. Severus came in on muffled steps. His arms wrapped around you as he kissed the top of your head again. You leaned back into him and that smile was back yet again.

"If you don't stop my cheeks are going to hurt," you chided softly as your hands landed on his forearms that were wrapped right over your chest. "Stop what?" he murmured softly and the words vibrated through your entire body as his voice seemed to reach every inch of you. "Making me smile like this," you hummed and closed your eyes, completely content.

Severus chuckled and kissed your temple. "Never. It is my mission in life to keep you smiling," he said and you giggled. "Sev, you're so sweet." "Hm, perhaps for you. For you," he murmured and kissed your temple again, "I will be as sweet as I can." His words made you tremble and you felt so adored it nearly burst out of you in pure energy.

"This Christmas will be the greatest one ever," you sighed happily as your thumb stroked his arm. "I am sorry your family has not-" "Oh hush, they can rot in their mansion without the joy of watching the golden star on top of the tree." Severus leaned back a little and you looked up at his pondering face. You smiled wickedly on a soft shrug of your shoulder. "It's mine, the golden star was a gift from my great grandfather and it always sits at the top of the tree, every Christmas. Well, except, this year it will sit at the top of our tree," you said with that wicked smile and he let you go on a soft hum.

You spun around and embraced him as you tilted your head back to look him in the eye. "It is mine and it will be where I will be. And I, I will always be with you, from now and until the end of time." Severus's arms encased you in warmth as he gave your smiling lips a soft kiss. "You are a wicked delight, my love," he chuckled, "and I am the happiest man in the universe to be with you." You reached up and kissed him to convey all the feelings you had for him. He returned the favour.

You kissed while you smiled and everything seemed right in the world. Warmth, light and heavenly love filled you up as he refused to let you go until you wined about eating the goodies you had purchased earlier. And even then he only let go a little bit, so you could reach the goodies before he walked you to the living room with his hand at your lower back. His face in such a bright smile it made you feel as if the brightest of Christmas lights had nothing on his shine.

Day three of SNAPEMAS and this was just a pure joy to write - I so rarely stick to just fluffy love stuff ( I don't feel I'm really good at it so xD ) but this was so rewarding to write. I feel as though our lovely Snape deserves to have some pure love and joy in his life. Especially around Christmas!  

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and please join me for SNAPEMAS - it is not too late! :D 

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // SNAPEMAS POST 

Tags: @lizlil​  Want to be tagged? Please tell me! :D

[Dec:2020]

[9worldstales]

INTERESTING POINTS TO PONDER FROM INTERVIEWS 1

Interviews might not remain forever available or not be easy to find so I’ve decided to link them and transcribe the points I find of some interest so as to preserve them should the interview had to end up removed.

It’s not complete transcriptions, just the bits I think can be relevant but I wholeheartedly recommend reading the whole thing.

And of course I also comment all this because God forbid I’ll keep silent... :P

Title: Tom Hiddleston On Set Interview THOR; Talks About Playing Loki, How He Got Cast, and a Lot More

Author: Steve Weintraub

Published: Dec 10, 2010

BEST BITS FROM THE INTERVIEW

ON LOKI

So could you talk about in the film how it’s being played?

Hiddleston: Yeah. Well we’re starting at the beginning; I think it’s safe to say. I start in the film as Thor’s younger brother and I think in the manner of all younger brothers I have a greater sense of freedom. I’m not the oldest therefore the parental expectations aren’t as heavy, so it’s like a lot of younger children in sibling groups; I think Loki has a bit more freedom. He’s not going to be King. He knows that. And so he’s freer to…he has less responsibility on his shoulders so he’s freer to have a bit more fun. And I think like everybody at Marvel has been very clear and brilliant about coming into this that Loki just has…they’re both enormously gifted. Thor and Loki are a 2-man team and they’re both going to run Asgard when Oden steps down, and Thor has an ability and a physicality and a presence—a physical presence that is…he’s the type of man you follow. You just do. In the same way they used to talk about all the leaders and the captains and the generals that came out of both World Wars that those captains and generals weren’t necessarily elected just in battles. There were certain men who were followed. You know, leaders were born and Thor is that guy. And Loki’s gifts are different in that he is sharper, he’s cleverer, he’s more interested in tactics and strategy. He’s capable of thinking ahead and he enjoys chaos. So he enjoys reacting to chaos and that affects how given that he’s the God of mischief. Mischief is essentially chaos. He likes stoking the fire of chaos and seeing what happens as a result. And so I think that’s where we start in that he’s just physically not as strong, but he has…he’s quicker and sharper and I guess that’s fair to say…

PUBLICIST I’m listening, don’t worry.

Hiddleston: Yeah, quicker, sharper, more playful and then I think over the course of the story and I can’t say the full story, but there is a kind of….a couple of major shocks about Loki and his history and who he is and why he is come to him. He’s made aware of for the very first time in the films. There are certain things that fans of the comics will already know, but hopefully you see Loki learn certain things about himself for the first time. So it’s a journey of self-awareness. He doesn’t, at the beginning of the film, know his own power and I think through the course of the film he comes to learn his true nature and the extent of his power. But with a propensity for mischief I think as soon as he knows how powerful it is that’s when it becomes dangerous.

We got to play with some of those fantastic weapons, how have you learned to wield them?

Hiddleston: It’s been fascinating actually. And one of the first things I did when I came on board was that we started with stunt training.  And we thought like what is…it’ll be boring if Thor was a tank. It’d be boring if Loki was another tank and they were just running into each other. So we thought if Thor is thunder and power and muscle and brawn and he’s got his hammer, Loki should be like…he should be so quick he’s like the wind. So if Thor is heavy, Loki is light. We thought what would be the weapon that Loki would be fighting with? So we thought throwing knives….because I think Loki doesn’t like to get his hands dirty in a fight. He likes to be quick, efficient and lethal. It’s like one blow—slam. So we thought it would be throwing knives. And I thought if there was a way…if Loki could fight in a way that was as impressive as Thor’s, but was completely different so in a way Loki is too quick and Thor can’t catch him, you know? I kind of conceived of Loki as a kind martial artist with these throwing knives. Someone who’s like a dancer. He dances his way out of combat and these knives are his way of keeping his foes at arm's length but it’s lethal. When you get one of those knives in, you’re gone. I had a great time actually, we were shooting on another set shooting a bit battle sequence. And the set was made of this stuff. It looked hard but it was soft. It was foam. And my stunt knives were rubber so they didn’t like take out the grip or the camera operator. But we found like…I’d always throw them and Russell Bobbit, the props master, would always go and retrieve them for me for the next take. And he couldn’t find one of the daggers and we were like looking all over the set for this dagger. And I’m like where the hell did it go? And like about half an hour later we’d thought we lost it somewhere in the green screen. And he said, Tom, and he pointed up and this rubber knife was stuck clean into the set, so I knew I was throwing them with some kind of velocity.

Does it affect your thoughts at all that maybe you could do this performance a 2nd, 3rd, 4th time? Did you bring any bread crumbs or anything like that?

Hiddleston: Yeah, I feel that way certainly. I haven’t started…I can tell you this for free. I don’t start the film with him like immediately gone to the dark side. I think it’s good to see that Loki is genuinely Thor’s brother and there is a complicated relationship there. So that it isn’t just like…he isn’t just an out and out villain. He isn’t all black. He isn’t someone who the audience can immediately say “he’s the bad guy” because I think it’s more interesting if… because no character in real life or in comic books or any play or film or anything, nobody thinks they’re a villain.  You always think there’s a complete logic to what you’re doing and you know what’s best and you know what’s right. And I think it’s really interesting to see Loki’s actions from his perspective and he’s just someone who becomes more and more damaged by, I think, a sense of isolation from his family and a sense of…it’s kind of a deep loneliness. I think when the world makes you feel rejected, you bite back. And I think over the course of the film that’s what you see in Loki. He feels continually cast out by different sets of people and his brother particularly and at a certain point he’s pushed too far and he comes back with a vengeance.

A lot of the actors have been talking about working with Ken, Shakespeare is definitely a touch stone, is that something that’s come up working with Ken? Of any characters you’re sort of…

Hiddleston: I’ve talked to him very much about subtlety because I don’t want to do any eyebrow twitching or moustache twiddling. I don’t want to do sort of like a caricatured villain. I’ve tried very much to make Loki psychologically plausible. Someone who’s damaged and very, very intelligent and is able to sow the seeds of deceit. Like he’s the Oscar winning liar, you know? He’d stand up there and you buy it. You’d buy anything from him. He’s the perfect salesman. Because my background is Shakespeare as well, I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare in London and Iago is kind of a touch stone for me. Edmund in King Lear, if you know that story. But I draw my inspiration from all over the place. I’ve been listening to lots of the Prodigy. Like there was an album they released in the ‘90’s called Music for the Jilted Generation, which has a real rage in it. It has a real kind of like don’t piss me off because I’ll bark at you. And I find myself listening to that sometimes. And there are some great performances. Ken talked a lot about some of Peter O’Toole’s greatest performances and how in “Lawrence of Arabia” or “The Lion in Winter” he is on the edge of darkness. He’s on the edge of sanity. You can see it in his eyes that he’s been pushed to the brink and you’re not sure if you can trust him because there’s a madness in there, you know? A greatness, too and a charisma and a power that you want to get close to and you want to see inside, but it’s a little bit dangerous. And so I’ve been trying to kind of… I drive to work every morning and I try and light some kind of bonfire under myself which is adrenalized and hot and alone. It’s a strange feeling when you’re playing a character that feels so alone.

Are there certain like iconic gestures or poses from the comic book that you’re trying to use, because when I think of Loki I always think of him kind of slouched in the throne and kind of brooding.

Hiddleston: Yeah, that’s definitely like…I recall that Ken talks about the racing mind. He said I want to see…he said every time I put the camera on your face, I want to see your brain going at the speed of light. But I don’t want anyone else in the scene to see it. So this is a very private thing of like someone who’s just thinking 10 steps ahead of the game every time, but not making it so obvious that it’d be like guys, somebody look at Loki because he’s cooking up something. Bad ass, you know? But I do feel like he’s a sort of person who never sleeps. His brain never stops working. And he’s always cooking up something. You’re never quite sure if you can trust him and….what was the question again?

Well, like were there certain…

Hiddleston: Yeah, facial expressions. Certainly there’s this fantastic shot of me on the throne where it’s like straight out of that sort of iconic image where he’s got the staff and he’s slouching in it. He’s like, got a problem with that? You know? But yeah, I guess as an actor I start from the inside out. Like the costume is enormously helpful but I always think like what makes him tick? What is human about this character? I don’t want to play a cipher. I look at someone who is damaged, broken, alone, isolated from his family, doesn’t feel like he belongs, someone who’s been lost, abandoned. And there are physiological tropes for those things, you know? And you see the lost and damaged and abandoned children of our world. It’s no accident that they grow up to be… to fill our prisons, you know? And that’s kind of who Loki is. He’s just really clever, you know? So he’s good at hiding his own intents I think. So I think the process of living through those emotions or feeling so angry with people because they don’t trust him. And feeling angry with Thor because he gets everything. He’s the favourite son. I think just the process of living inside that anger, that rage, that hurt every day creates an intensity on my face which I’m not aware of. So it’s not like I’m creating expressions but absolutely there’s a kind of a raw intensity that Ken said from the word go he said I want to see you every day with a layer of skin peeled away. I want to see that ticker tape machine inside your head like working at 1,000 miles per minute. Yeah, it’s great man!

MY TWO CENTS

I love to read Tom Hiddleston’s interviews because they’re always filled with extra information, which are often based on bits that didn’t make into the final cut but are still part of the canon or give an insight on the characters’ minds.

Like how he says ‘Thor and Loki are a 2-man team and they’re both going to run Asgard when Odin steps down’ because in the old script it was implied that, although Thor would be king, Loki would be his right hand man, giving him consueling.

On the differences between Thor and Loki’s fighting styles and how Loki is still dangerous. People might not get it from the movie, assuming Thor is the one with the fighting ability but here it turns out Loki too has his strenght, although it lays in different things, like speed.

Or how he remarks about Loki’s loneliness and sense of isolation, who feels rejected and that’s why he bites back, someone who’s really smart.

It’s all things that I love to hear about a character and that show a good care in creating him.

Of course through the interview he also say things that are more technical, related to how he got hired or how he found difficult to wear Loki's horns and so on and this too is very intriguing but what always win me are informations about the characters, their mind, their world. And he always share some of them in all his interviews.

[yaz-the-spaz]

But I want to know your theory. :(

ok ok i guess i’ll spill…i was kinda hesitant to share just cause i’m still not all that solid in my belief in it myself but basically it seems like maybe ziam has made it a tradition to have some kind of couples trip most years (if not every year) in february ever since 2014…

(btw for future reference this ask is a continuation of this ask re ziam both being publicly in vegas earlier this year)

ugh sorry guys! hit enter by accident and posted this wayyyy before i was anywhere near finished lol…this will be updated within the hour (if it doesn’t take me too long to get my thoughts out)

narrator: she did not finish it within the hour.

…

ok so part of the reason i’ve been hesitant to share this is because a good portion of it is VERY speculative and just based on a lot of guesswork and assumptions, but also there’s the fact that it feels like this is something major that more people in the fandom (or at least someone, other than little ass me lol) would have noticed before now and it kind of freaks me out that maybe no one else has?? (unless ofc i just haven’t happened to see any other posts there are about it idk)… 

also fyi a lot of what i propose throughout this is heavily based on info from this post just to make sure i remember to site my sources before we get into it lol

alright now onto the actual theory…

SO. all this started with me scrolling through old posts from late 2013/early 2014 and being reminded of the fuckery that was zayn’s bday that year (with the douche canoe crew and everyone pretending like liam was barely there as seemingly some sort of weird over-the-top cover-up)…the same party that seemed kinda like liam’s possible “introduction” to the malik family as more than just zayn’s friend/as his possible significant other. which was also only a month after that suspicious engagement-looking ring first showed up on zayn’s ring finger in december 2013 from bts midnight memories mv footage (and which stayed around as a necklace throughout january 2014 and early febuary 2014 right before the first appearance/debut of the mandala tat in mid feb). 

bts midnight memories mv with the ring in view - dec 2013:

(suspicious?) malik family outing/celebration with the ring in view - dec (or possibly late nov?) 2013:

[putting the rest under the cut cause as per usual with me this got insanely long]

liam and aunt zileh at zayn’s bday party - jan 2014:

liam and one of the little cousins at zayn’s bday party - jan 2014:

then sometime in between late jan and early feb 2014 liam went on a trip to barbados with his whole family (and supposedly also sophia lol more on that later*) while zayn was SUPPOSEDLY still home and steadily “posting” pics of himself at home with various members of his family (with the ring on a necklace clearly visible in the pics lol), anddd as some have also pointed out his hair was suspiciously unchanged in these pics despite his claim of getting a haircut BEFORE most of the pics were posted lol

zayn in family pics with the ring on a necklace - late jan/early feb 2014 (sorry i’m not the one who cropped his fam out lol):

but yet we’re supposed to believe zayn - who had just gotten awarded the asian ambassadorship for the VERY FIRST time - mysteriously (and willingly) MISSED the ceremony on feb. 5th with absolutely no explanation. which…we all know how big a deal that was to him from the way he talked about it and how honored he was when he went in 2015…which begs the question if he was really just home not doing much of anything at the time in 2014 why in the world would he just pass/bail on that HUGE HONOR with no explanation??? mayhaps because he was actually already an ocean away with liam and fam in barbados celebrating his engagement (and getting his own “introduction” to the payne family) and literally COULD NOT ATTEND?

anyway so then, we have him getting the mandala tat around feb 18th 2014 - or at least this is the day he debuted it on his old ig, so the date may be a few days off from when he actually got it - but this still would’ve been shortly after they got back from the barbados trip when he debuted this particular tat (aka another solidification of the engagement??) 

THEN we get the very first ig ziam likes from the famous and beloved aunt zileh (!!!) in this same month (still feb for reference, but she continues steadily and heavily liking stuff all the way through april when she seems to cool down again). fast forward to the 2014 brits at the end of february where we have the infamous moment with 1) ziam giddy as fucking ever, 2) zayn whispering into and practically mawling liam’s neck in public, 3) liam talking about how it was great to “fill each other in” on what they were up to during their break while zayn’s just steady standing there smiling like a loon and then 4) liam still later being like ‘you don’t wanna know’ when asked what he got up to (and zayn still grinning like a fool)

ziam being gross at brits 2014:

so to sum up so far: 1) one of them possibly proposed around nov/dec 2013 (or that’s my best guess anyway based on the evidence lol), 2) then zayn shows up with a suspiciously-engagement-looking ring in dec 2013, 3) then all the weirdness with liam’s attendance at zayn’s bday party a month later (possibly also liam’s formal intro to the malik family), 4) then liam takes his barbados trip with his fam (and supposedly sophia lol*) just a couple weeks later while “zayn” stays home and posts family pics (but is very likely secretly on the trip with liam lol which is also possibly zayn’s formal intro the payne family and a belated celebration of their engagement), 5) and then we get the beginning of aunt zileh’s likes, 6) the debut of zayn’s mandala tat, 7) and the 2014 brits wildness…all in the space of like 3 months. and most of it happening in FEBRUARY. what a wild fucking journey right?

*side note/fun fact: liam and his fam were posting stuff regularly throughout the duration of the barbados vacay but there were literally zero pics of sophia posted from this trip until like dec 2014 or sometime around then when like ONE random pic suddenly surfaced/was posted and lots of ppl had already speculated that sophia was never there in the first place so once this one pic came up that idea got upgraded to people theorizing that they maybe had some of the fam go back a second time later in the year just to stage take photos to retroactively prove/authenticate the narrative that sophia was there lol

but anyway so back to the actual matter at hand - most of that shit happened in february right? specifically the barbados trip (aka the possible engagement celebration trip)…and when i was talking about all this to a friend we realized ZIAMI WAS ALSO IN FEBRUARY. AND SO WAS THIS YEAR’S VEGAS SHIT. AND THEN. AND THEN. My friend did some research and there was apparently this little known/barely talked about article (or at least barely talked about that i’m aware of) about liam taking a TRIP TO THE MALDIVES IN FEBRUARY 2016… which coincidentally (or not lol considering these shady ass hoes) is also around the same time he got his 4 tattoo (I believe this was the first article, or at least one of the first articles, that mentioned the tat’s debut) 

BUT WAIT. 

THE INSANE SHIT DOES NOT END THERE FOLKS.

GUESS WHICH MONTH THE CARTIER BRACELET FIRST DEBUTED?

FUCKING FEBRUARY 2016.

specifically on liam’s wrist in preparation for the 2016 brits (photo posted to his brits stylist’s ig on feb 23rd). and he didn’t take it off till like june.

so. quick timeline:

february 2016 - maldives trip and debut of liam’s 4 tattoo (around feb 21st); debut of cartier bracelet via liam (feb 23rd); (there was also that valentine’s day roses pic liam posted feb 14th of this year which was quite interesting considering he and c hadn’t even been officially announced as a “thing” yet…ofc we know it still got retroactively attributed to her anyway but whatever, we all know who it was really for lol 😏)

february 2017 - i don’t have anything on this year, partly cause i stopped paying as close attention due to heavy ramping up of stunts, although if anyone has more concrete info on this period that hints at anything please do hit me up and i will add it in, but anyway just based on a little light research there does appear to be a good period of inactivity from both of them during this time (as in both of them had quite a bit of time in february where they were pretty inactive on sm, not being papped, and essentially mia and would have potentially had time to go on a private trip) - UPDATE: HOLY SHIT I CANNOT BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THIS BUT THIS IS THE YEAR LIAM SHOWED UP AT THE BRITS WITH THE MOTHERFUCKING 25 ON HIS JACKET AND FUCKED SIMON ALL THE WAY UP BY SWERVING ON HIS UGLY BITCH ASS SPEECH IN FRONT OF GOD AND ENTIRE WORLD (and i think also thanked zayn in his speech if i’m not mixing that up with another year??) - all on feb 23rd to be specific.

february 2018 - ZIAMI OBVIOUSLY (which specifically started feb 22nd, or at least that’s the day i’m counting it as ‘started’ cause it’s the day liam joined zayn in miami, can’t recall the exact day zayn arrived but pretty sure it was only a couple days before that)

february 2019 - zayn starts wearing this distinctive fishhook earring in all his ig pics, which on the surface seems like a pretty small thing, but quite possibly commemorates their famous august 2014 fishing trip (directly after which he also started wearing a fish hook pendant on a necklace back in 2014); this was also another period they were pretty quiet/mia as far as i can recall, although again if anybody has more concrete info from this time that could point to something please let me know, but anyway point being they again would have had a good chunk of time to possibly go on a private trip together

february 2020 - VEGAS BABY

ofc i’m sure you all will notice one year was left out - february 2015 they were on tour with no breaks coming anytime soon so they obviously weren’t able to go on a trip that year. BUT. february 14th 2015 (aka valentine’s day lol) is also the day liam was famously papped with some small shopping bags that looked suspiciously but precisely like the type that usually come from a jewelry store, and then later that same night they had a performance (for otra tour) where we have zayn pictured wearing a new gold bracelet (as in he hadn’t been seen wearing it ever before on tour or anywhere else) - btw the op of this linked post actually marks this day as the debut of the cartier bracelet but there’s a lot of counter speculation that it’s not and given that it doesn’t quite look like the cartier bracelet looked in later pics (it’s more round and more gold than the cartier bracelet which imo looks more angular and more kind of a two-tone/silvery-gold than this vday bracelet) i’m inclined to lean more towards it just being a regular but still very sweet vday-gifted bracelet. but anyway back to more important stuff. now considering this was literally just a little over a month before zayn left - and one of my theories for zayn leaving was that it was possible he felt it was the only way to save his relationship with liam…i mean if they were still giving each other vday presents they were clearly still VERY in love at this point. like that’s not the kind of thing you’d expect from a couple that was on the rocks and on the verge of breaking up and i know a lot of ppl (myself included for a brief minute) speculated that zayn leaving the band meant he maybe left liam too/or things weren’t working out b/t them or whatever, but given this context of the vday gifts just a few weeks before him leaving that doesn’t really line up…what does line up though is him being so in love and so sick of the bs that he might be driven to just be done with it all (as far as the stress of the band and mgmt bs is concerned at least). and ofc liam did say that zayn is the most emotionally impulsive/emotionally driven out of all them so when you think about it it really shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise…

anyway, in conclusion: 

it appears quite possible ziam has made it a couples tradition (ever since that first honeymoonish vacay in 2014) to go on some sort of trip/getaway together around the end of every february (or at least do something special together/for each other when they can’t) and in further conclusion I AM NOT OKAY AND WILL NEVER BE OVER THIS REALIZATION OKAY THANKS BYE 😭😭😭😭😭🌈🌈🌈