#caitlin crews

[triviareads]

Can you recommend any books where they get right into the sex?

Either historical or contemporary

Sure! I'm all for an instant gratification moment (and for the purpose of this ask I stuck to early sex scenes between the main couple because there's a decent amount of het romances out there that begin with the hero and another woman..... though predictably not many with the heroine having good sex with another man :/).

Contemporary:

Minx by Sophie Lark: There's some fabulous, very hot sex (and pet play) a few chapters in, after Blake agrees to take on Ramses as a client. And once the ball gets rolling, it really doesn't stop.... and only gets better from there.

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez: Roxanne basically *mounts* Mateo (if there's one thing Angelina loves, it's a mounting moment) right after their agreement that she'll get her pregnant in exchange for money is finalized. It's very.... economical and Mateo hates it, but gets off on it. He's soooooo conflicted and I personally loved that.

After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez: The other mounting moment sex scene; Alex hops on Jeremiah literally two minutes after arriving in the dead of the night at her family's bar. It's honestly made hotter because Angelina writes a (kinda hilarious) premature ejaculation coupled with Alex getting off after. It works and I'm all for it.

Sherwood by Sierra Simone: Such an underrated book imo; the prologue has our "Robin Hood" (she's a woman here) about to be deployed, and "Maid Marian" tries to dissuade her by eating her out. Very emotional, very hot.

Asking for Trouble by Tessa Bailey: An early face-sitting scene after she's cuffed him in her foyer. Brent puts his "middle-class mouth" to gooood use.

Scorching to the Touch by Ofelia Martinez: There's hate sex about two chapters in; Erica makes Friedrich eat her out in the bathroom of an event and when he whips out his dick and is all "what am I supposed to do with this?", she points to a stall. Honestly, a winner.

The Risk by Caitlin Crews: She's a ballerina pretending to be a stripper-escort who gets her fantasy of being "bought" fulfilled and she and her billionaire have sex pretty much right after.

Crashed Out by Tessa Bailey: Like a couple chapters in, Jasmine sees Sarge's dick and books it to her car and tries to get off, but then Sarge catches her and lends a helping hand all while asserting he's a Grown Man now.

Desperate Measures by Katee Robert: Jafar kills Jasmine's mob boss father in the beginning and within the next chapter, there's a CNC scene where he chasing her down while she pretends she doesn't want it.

Give Me More by Sara Cate: Sara immediately sets up the throuple by having the married couple, Hunter and Isabel, have anniversary sex while listening to their friend Drake have sex with two other women, with Drake also getting off while listening to Hunter and Isabel.

Historical:

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe: A fabulous anonymous encounter with neither Preston nor Katherine realizing who the other person is (right after Preston rejected his arranged betrothal to Kat) and they're pretending to be Louis XV and Madame Pompadour while they get each other off at a French Ball.

Her Husband's Harlot by Grace Callaway: The book starts with Helena following her husband to a brothel disguised as a prostitute, and Nicholas fully doesn't recognize her when he (successfully) has sex with her for the first time.

Passion by Lisa Valdez: An erotic romance; the literal first lines describe Mark groping Passion during the Great Exhibition, and he has her "pinned to the wall like a butterfly" within the next few pages.

The Virgin and the Rogue by Sophie Jordan: Charlotte is (allegedly) under the influence of an aphrodisiac when she mounts Kingston (can you tell I have a thing for this) in the library in the middle of the night, dry humps him, and runs away. Unironically one of my favorite Sophie Jordan sex scenes.

The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan: The story begins with Mercy breaking into Silas's bedroom to retrieve the deed to her family home, and when Silas finds her, she seduces him and fucks him into such a deep sleep that when he awakes, all he's left with is an apology note and her *virgin blood* on the sheets.

[dargeereads]

The Christmas he claimed the Secretary by Caitlin Crews

 5 stars

This was a wonderfully emotional read.  A simple business arrangement turns into so much more, but our couple isn’t familiar with their feelings, so they miss it. That doesn’t matter though, because they continue to play their parts while falling deeper and deeper for each other. Loved this fish-out-of-water story, her for the lifestyle, him for the emotions. The characters were evenly matched in temperament and wit, making their interactions very interesting! A great read that hit all the right feels <3

[writing-for-life]

Death & Wanda—Caitlin Yarsky

[kylejsugarman]

brought maryellen home and added her to the stem crew…..she looks super cute in this nicki fleming outfit!! ill add a character for her later but for now she’s in the lineup with her friends

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

so theres a lot of posts going round about the titanic wreck and the missing submarines; all of them that ive seen have made very good points about how shoddy the submersible seemed to be and how the company decided to wait eight hours before reporting it, and how this is a play stupid games, win stupid prizes for the ultra-wealthy who paid like 250grand a ticket for this thing.

but what i havent seen any posts about is how the titanic wreck is a gravesite and this tourism is disturbing the graves of over 1500 people.

sometimes its kinda hard to remember that those on the titanic were real people; it was over a century ago, the story has been romanticised in so many ways (like the movie), theres conspiracies theories galore that cloud everything with misinformation, but at the end of the day, those who died were real people.

do you want their names? heres a list of them; its a long read. and for fun, heres another site where you can see photos of the children and babies who died aboard.

their bodies are long gone and their lives long forgotten. all we have to remember them and honour them is the wreck itself. its all we have of them and it is their gravesite. its their tombstone.

caitlin doughty/ask a morticians video on the great lakes discusses the topic well, and why we should leave these shipwrecks alone because again, they are the gravesites of all the souls who died aboard those ships. we rarely have bodies to recover so we really are left just with the wreck.

and what really upsets me about titanic tourism is how the majority of those who died that night were not the ultra-wealthy rich folks you might picture when you think of ocean liners.

61% of the first class passengers survived

42% of the second class passengers survived

24% of the third class passengers survived

24% of the crew survived **

the majority of those who died that night were regular folk; not to be cliche, but they were just like us. titanics wreck is not only a gravesite for over 1500 people, its also a majority working class gravesite.

and look at us now. look at what were doing. the ultra-wealthy can pay the equivalent of peanuts to them to disturb a mass gravesite of the exact kind of people they exploit today to hold onto all their wealth. 

its easy to point and laugh at these dumb idiots in their playstation controller submarine, seemingly held together with super glue and duct tape, but its also important to remember that what they were doing was simply disturbing a gravesite for fun. though the company does research, these guys werent down there to conduct research, they were there so they could brag about it to their friends. its like “climbing mount everest” while your sherpa does all the work.

if you cant tell, i have a lot of feelings about this. shipwrecks and ocean liners are one of my special interests and im currently building a (beginner’s) model of the titanic, for fucks sake. but i would never go down to see that wreck because its a fucking gravesite and we should not be disturbing their final resting place.

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for The Archive Undying—a debut science fantasy epic from Emma Mieko Candon, and book one in their Downworld Sequence, featuring commissioned fanart of Sunai, the book's main character. The artist is Caitlin Ono.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Plugged into his AI god when its corruption renders him unfortunately immortal, sad gay disaster Sunai takes a die-again-or-die-trying approach to his tragically unending life. Despotic police states want to leash him and giant robots want to eat him, but reuniting with the small handful of people he cares about is what’s actually horrifying.

Adrift in the wilds, Sunai makes several unwise decisions such as:

Scavenging old ruins haunted by hostile fragments of another shattered technological deity

Allowing his mind to become further compromised

Sleeping with his mysterious employer for information and fun

Joining a haphazard crew of pirates who all have different motives for hunting a feral remnant of the same god that cursed him, all those years ago

This brain-melting series-starter is like a Neon Genesis Evangelion AMV set to a bass-boosted cover of George Michael’s "Careless Whisper."

[mewhenimanangel]

reporting live, paige bueckers

— synopsis. you meet paige when you’re assigned to report on the uconn v. iowa game.

notes ౨ৎ: i’ve never wrote for a real person before it feels so strange…but there’s like no fics on here i had to take matters into my own hands.

also yes im rewriting history to make uconn win!

you checked yourself out in the mirror, fixing your outfit - low rise black work pants with a white button down that showed a small sliver of your stomach with black sling back heels.

you tossed your hair around to fix it making sure it was in perfect shape. after all, your job was pretty dependent on looks.

you worked as a reporter for the city's top news agency and tonight you would be attending the uconn versus iowa women's basketball game.

you were also pretty active on social media and managed to make some money that way, you were more than grateful for your lifestyle.

you called your friend, devon , to make sure she was on her way to get you knowing you absolutely could not be late tonight.

she answered the phone and you sighed a breath of relief when it sounded like she was in fact on her way.

"hey girll, are you excited for tonight? pretty big story" she said, bustling city noise behind her.

"yeah i'm excited to interview uconn after they beat iowa's ass" you smirked when you heard her gasp on the other side. "they so will not! my girlfriend caitlin's gonna pull through"

"nah, paige buckets got that easily" you scoffed as you packed your bag, ready to head downstairs out of your apartment.

your bosses had assigned you to tonight's game and hooked you up with two court-side tickets for you and a guest, along with the camera crew.

you of course had to invite your best friend to go with you.

you stepped outside the building and watched as her car pulled up outside.

"ugh i can't believe i get to see caitlin clark up close" devon squealed as you got yourself situated in the car. "ugh be calm, you literally have a boyfriend." you joked. "okay and?" she laughed as she drove off.

once you were at the stadium, you and devon met at with your crew as you found your seats inside.

the game wasn't due to start for another fourty or so minutes but it was already packed inside.

you were glad women's basketball was finally getting the recognition it deserved after you and your mom had been fans of it almost your whole life. you even played a little bit in high school.

you and devon got snacks before sitting down and getting yourselves comfortable.

it didn't feel long until the players came out and the game was started. aliyah and hailey jump started the game before kk threw the ball back at paige.

the game was a close one and you made sure to follow it closely. throughout the game you did side interviews with other players and people attending the game, which was all just leading up to the end of game interviews.

it was the final quarter and you made sure to pay close attention.

it all came down to the last few seconds when paige threw the ball off caitlin's back to catch it again and land the ball in the net, giving uconn the winning score!

you and your crew sat up as you turned your reporter accent on "there you have it folks, uconn has won this round and will advance to the final game against south carolina. what an amazing job tonight by these wonderful ladies on both teams. win or lose, it was a great watch and i'm cheering for everyone's next move."

once you were sure the cameras were off you turned around to devon and threw your hands in the air.

"bitch i told you! i tolddd you paige had this game" you squealed. "ughhh you're so annoying why are you always right" she groaned.

a few minutes later you popped some mouthwash melts and fixed your makeup before you were to interview paige.

your hands were sweating like crazy. you never wanted to come off as an insane fan girl but you were obsessed with paige.

your cameraman followed you as you walked over to paige and she turned around. "hi" she smiled and shook your hand. "hi, are you ready?" you asked her. "yeah" she smiled. you gave your cameraman a thumbs up as he turned the camera on.

you turned to paige, who was already staring at you and you took a deep breath. you're usually never nervous to interview people but god the way she was looking at you.

her eyes were trained on yours and she had a little smirk on her face, her face was glistening from the tiring game she just played and she licked her lips waiting for you to ask your first question.

you cleared your throat "i'm here with paige bueckers, who just made the winning move in the highly anticipated iowa versus uconn game! tell me paige, how did it feel to take the winning shot?" you turned the microphone to her.

she rubbed her chin "ah it was really nerve racking to be honest i mean. i could feel my team counting on me and i knew i really had to pull through and get us out on top" she answered, eyes focusing back on you.

"yeah but that was a tough shot wasn't it?" you watched her eyes drop down to scan you before meeting yours again. "yeah but i knew i could make it in for sure"

"right, bueckers get buckets i don't know what to tell y'all" you joked to the camera. paige laughed.

"yeah for sure but i really owe it all to my team" she continued before kk came up behind her. "yupppppp WE GOING TO THE TITLE GAME" she threw her arms around you and paige and the threw of you jumped in excitement before running to find her other teammates.

you laughed it off before continuing for the camera "well there you have it, paige it was lovely to talk to you. congratulations on the winning game! make sure those of you at home tune in to the final game taking place in just a few days." you signed off the camera before your crew stopped filming.

you turned to paige and dropped the reporter voice. "it was nice to meet you by the way" you smiled. "i could say the same" her eyes never left yours and you bit your cheek to hide a smile.

"well i should let you go celebrate, congratulations, have a good night!" you said, beginning to walk away.

"bye it was nice to meet you" she said before you fully walked away.

you walked over to devon who was waiting on the side. "i know damn well your heart is racing"

"shut up" you smirked.

[lessi-lover]

jealous darling? II l.williamson ~

06 ★ l. williamson

your heart swelled with pride whenever you watched your favourite blonde play, especially in those times when the defender had her best moments. there was a magnetic energy about her on the pitch, she was nothing short of extraordinary on the field, a force to be reckoned with in the world of football. her skills were unparalleled, and her determination was unmatched. with a ball at her feet, she gracefully glided across the grass, making every movement seem effortless, yet incredibly precise.

today, she played exceptionally well, making smart passes and moving up the pitch when needed, showcasing her ability in all areas of the sport. you had always enjoyed watching the game from afar, but seeing her play brought an entirely new level of joy towards the english sport. as the match ended with a 4-1 score, you joined the other family of the players on the pitch to celebrate the win. wearing her number and name proudly on your back, you couldn't help but beam as you spotted her jumping up and down with her teammates. her face lit up upon seeing you, and she climbed over the barrier with a large grin that showed her post-match high.

"you were outstanding, as always, williamson," you complimented her as she reached you. her smile widened at your words, but not before telling you off for the replacement of her favourite name, - babe. feeling like you were sorry enough, she leaned in and smashed her lips against yours for a special celebration kiss. "your into the semi's!" you exclaimed joyously, her excitement visible from head to toe. "and you're wearing my shirt," she responded, clearly delighted at your choice of clothing. you giggled at her energy, her gaze never wavered from you, admiration evident on her features.

she pulled you in close to her arms, voice carrying a sense of intimacy that made your stomach flip. "couldn’t have done it without you my girl," she murmured against your lips, her proud smile never doubtful. 

"it was all you, my love. I just showed up," you chuckled, reaching up to peck her still red and puffy cheeks. "you played so well." "thankyou," she blushed slightly at your praise, grin never fading as she tucked her head tightly into your shoulder. "did you enjoy the game?" she asked, her eyes searching for any sign that you hadn’t had fun. it was her caring nature that made you love her ten times more.

"always. i love watching you play, leah," you replied and her heart swelled at your confession. ”Cmon, let's get out here.” she whispered into your ear, quickly collecting your stuff and making your way out of the stands.

_____________

the celebrations continued for hours after the game, many of the arsenal crew - including you and leah, had organised to have a gathering in a quiet bar you were all familiar with. unfortunately, this resulted in a lot of alcohol being passed around, which meant the majority of the celebrants were teetering on the edge of full-blown drunkenness, something the blonde wasn’t too fond of participating in the middle of a season.

you found yourself heavily engaged in an intense debate on why spitting on the pitch is a complete ick, between the new ‘it couple’ of the arsenal squad - caitlin & katie. “it’s not on purpose, it just happens.” katie defended, her accent somehow even thicker at the unhealthy amount of alcohol she had consumed throughout the night. revelling in the playful banter you were able to create, you added that “it’s not impossible to not do it," and that you had successfully managed to get your stubborn girlfriend to quit it. amidst the laughter and lively conversation, you felt a pair of familiar hands wrap tightly around your hips. 

"leah!" katie greeted her. "have you come to save me from your dreadful girlfriend? I swear all she does is complain." katie joked, jabbing you lightly in the shoulder, which resulted in a glare from you. "she's gorgeous, so watch your mouth miss yellow card." leah retorted, referring to the yellow card the left-winger had received in the game against brighton.

"i'm afraid I have to end your little debate though, sorry girls." katie grabbed caitlin's hand leading them away, but not before brushing passed the blonde, whispering something in her ear. her grip became more and more possessive, as she pulled you even closer into her body. she led you away, pulling you into an empty room, seeking a little bit of quietness, all the loud bar sounds. making it hard for you to hear each other "what's wrong, my love?" you asked, trying to remember what happened during the night, if anything had upset your favourite girl. she held you firmly, arms tightly secured around your waist. "you're mine." she murmured against your neck, her tone possessive yet still loving. "i only want you to celebrate with me.” Her voice carried a subtle pout, eyes fixated on you as though you were her entire world - you were. 

"feeling possessive today, are we?" you teased, a mischievous smile playing on your lips. leah made a dismissive noise, clearly unfazed by your sudden brattiness, - she'd deal with that later. “stupid katie," she muttered, peppering soft kisses on your collarbones. "what did she say to you?" you questioned, intrigued at whatever the blonde would say next. "don’t worry about it, not important," she replied, obviously more engaged in making out with your neck, instead of answering you. snd there it was, clear as day, - jealousy. s newfound trait, which intrigued you to try and see how far the girl would go. "jealous, darling?" you teased, your eyes glinting playfully. “it’s baby to you.” she scolded. amused by her sudden possessiveness, you continued to tease her, your grin unwavering. "perhaps you're just jealous because you've never outplayed katie in the midfield," you said, the smile on your face matching your teasing tone. 

how much could you wind up the blonde you wondered."you're mine, don’t forget it." she responded simply, a hint of a smirk tugging at her lips.

[chirpsythismorning]

This is everything the Stranger Things writers have posted publicly about the WGA strike:

TIMELINE

May 3rd:

Stranger Things writer Caitlin Schneiderhan tweets picture from personal Twitter account of sign from the strike that reads 'Pay us or Steve Harrington is toast'

May 6th:

Official Stranger Writers Twitter account makes post on behalf of the Duffers Brothers. They have since pinned this tweet to their profile. "Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then -- over and out. #wgastrong

Bonus:

May 12th:

Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry posts picture from personal Tumblr account of sign that reads, 'Byler won’t write itself'

As far as I know, the two writers that posted on their personal socials are the only writers from ST that even have personal accounts that are public, whereas the rest of the writers do not.

What does make me take a pause though, is that, while yes they did post these pictures from their personal accounts, which is about as official as it gets, they also cryptically did not include themselves in said pictures...

This just got me thinking about how Stranger Things is quite literally Netflix and vise versa. They are practically one in the same, where one without the other just doesn't make sense.

While this conflict of interest might run deep for many writers out there fearing to speak out against their employer, for us, the consumers, the fans, we as a collective have so much more power than we realize.

In contrast to the writers, streamers can't just fire their consumer base sometime down the line, out of spite for speaking out. Without consumers, neither Stranger Things nor Netflix would be what it is today.

We have the affordance of being able to speak up the loudest of anyone. And so why wouldn't we take advantage of that?

There are so many people out there protesting: writers, actors, others in the industry and even outside of it who are also taking a stand, many who need support so that they can continue to fight in the upcoming days, weeks, months, without being deterred by corporations that are making them feel greedy for demanding a contract that at most, asks that they be paid fairly.

And so I want to encourage anyone that is reading this, but fellow fans of Stranger Things especially, who have so much power in this strike when it comes to getting Netflix's attention, to consider taking the time to do whatever you can individually + with the masses as a community in order to best support the strike.

Follow the Strike! If you're active on various social media already, please be sure to follow the official accounts advocating for the strike via Instagram (@writersguildwest/@wgaeast), via Twitter (@WGAWest/@WGAEast). Engage with posts from folks that are out there daily, many with whom you can find by following tags like #WGAStrong, #WGAStrike and #WritersStrike. Although most fans are not able to join in picketing themselves, we can at least recognize all of those out there's individual efforts and do our best to show that we're paying attention and listening!

Spread the word! Show support any way you can by sharing posts and articles about the strike, or even fun memes to inform others in a more engaging way. This is the official site for the WGA strike if you want to learn more about what’s going on before diving in! And make sure to stay up-to-date here as things continue to unfold!

Donate! The Entertainment Community Fund is endorsed by the WGA for anyone that wants to support those affected by the strike financially. And this thread on Twitter is an incredible resourse, as it provides an ‘easy, one-click, stress-free, accessible-to-all-budgets’ ways you can support folks on the front lines.

Also! Consider donating through this link for the Entertainment Community Fund, where the money donated still goes directly to that fund, this is just an organizing page for Stranger Things fans specifically! By allowing fans to see how much of an impact we make as a collective, in real time, this could encourage even more ST fans to want to contribute. In a best case scenario, if this GoFundMe were to reach impressive proportions of donations from fans, that could lead to news outlets reporting on it, which could allow an opportunity for even more eyes on the strike, while also even more importantly being able to provide financial support to those that need it.

Trend! On social media, use #StrangerFansforWGA to trend or even just to reach other fans also looking to come together to support the strike!

While I know this post probably wont reach anywhere outside of Tumblr, I want to make a point to encourage those of you that are on other platforms to inform fans in those spaces about the strike and what they can do to help!

We might not all agree on everything, but I think we can agree on at least one thing... @Netflix & all major streamers and networks out there, who are still refusing to make a fair deal: PAY YOUR WRITERS!

In the mean time, if you're interested in working on different ideas for initiates we can carry out as a fandom, please reach out to me! I might only one person and I might not have all the answers and solutions, but I do know that with more of us working together, our odds of making an impact are much greater!

Over and out!

[samkerrworshipper]

found family | arsenal women x reader

no warnings just sickness, comfort and a little bit of angst

blurb: when r decides it’s a good idea to go out in the snow for the first time after training they suffer the consequences, and then suffer the consequences of trying to conceal their sickness

sorry if this draws on, wanted to give y’all something so this is from the drafts lol and idk how i feel about it

Doing snow angels after training in nothing more than shirts and shorts was never going to be a good idea, but I’d done it anyway. Me, Katie, Caitlin, Alessia and Beth having snuck out without telling any of our other teammates to have a moment in the snow. It was some harmless fun that we were sure our coaches and captains wouldn’t approve of, so we’d snuck out of the recovery room without anybody taking notice and had some fun in the snow. We hadn’t been out in it for much longer than 20 minutes, just long enough to slip out and in. It was rare for there to be so much snow so early in the year, I had hardly been expecting it and it wasn’t the normal sludge that North London was renowned for, it was proper fluffy white snow, the stuff you see in hallmark movies. I was the only player on the team who had never seen real snow before, so when I’d pleaded with Katie to take me out in it, she could hardly say no to me.

Beth, Caitlin and Alessia had just been casualties. Katie had taken Lessi under her wing since her start at Arsenal, the two had very quickly become bonded and there wasn’t much you could do with Katie anymore without Alessia and Caitlin being her companions.

Beth and Viv had happened to overhear our conversation in recovery and Beth had pleaded with us to let her come, Viv just shook her head at us, clearly in disapproval of our decisions but also not bothering herself with trying to stop us, there wasn’t any point, she wouldn’t win.

So we’d somehow managed to sneak out of the recovery rooms and out onto the spare field, which was covered in a blanket of white snow. Almost immediately I’d thrown myself down into the powder, shivering slightly at the coldness but not really caring, it was an experience that felt so incredibly surreal that I was in complete ignorance over my senses.

The four other women just sat and watched as I rolled around in the snow, Katie and Beth shaking their heads at my antics. Alessia busied herself with getting in a snowball fight with Caitlin. It had stayed fairly tame until I’d thrown one at Katie’s head and then it had turned into a full on war, ending with Katie and I wrestling in the snow.

Our snow escapades had ended with Beth forcing me out of the snow and into a jacket, I was shivering all ready but I didn’t care, my heart felt mended in a way that was inexplicably perfect.

I’d been forced into a hot shower by Katie, her overbearing motherly tendencies also making Alessia and Caitlin join me. Beth had been the only one to not enter the snow so she’d slipped her way into the dinner room whilst us other girls had been busy warming our bodies back up. Caitlin and Alessia were fairly quick, but I took a little bit longer, my body still shivering even as I exited the shower to throw on some sweats.

Katie’s furrowed brow was enough to tell me that she was a little worried about the fact that I was still shivering and cold, but she didn’t vocalise her worries, instead opting to rush me and the other girls into the dinner room. Somehow our absence had gone unnoticed, something that I was shocked by because we were hardly the quiet crew of the group.

I’d slid into a seat across from Viv and beside Steph, my body still a quivering mess. Viv’s eyeroll was enough of an ‘I told you so’, the older dutch woman clearly disapproving of our decisions. I tucked into my dinner, pesto pasta with chicken and garlic bread. It didn’t take long for Steph, my fellow Matilda to notice my shivering body. My fingers struggling every once in a while to hold my fork still.

“Little bit cold, y/n/n?”

I smirked and chuckled at the light implication from Steph, trying my very hardest to not give away the intense chills that were wracking my body, I was sure they would fade eventually.

“Just not fully used to this London weather I suppose, had someone warned me it was going to be so cold I think I would have stayed in Perth.”

Steph nodded at me knowingly, before returning to her conversation she’d been having with Beth, leaving me face to face with Viv, who had worry weaved between her brows as she studied me. Beth and Viv had just been two of the people who had taken me under their wing since my arrival at the Arsenal. Viv especially, although she’d never admit it, had particularly gone out of her way to look after me. On top of the two captains, Leah and Kim who had practically adopted me as soon as I’d walked through the doors. Leah was harder on me then anyone else, considering she was also a mentor to me on the defensive side of the pitch, so when she’d taken me under her wing I’d been a little bit terrified. She was always on my ass, I was always the first person in trouble with her and the first person to be blamed for anything. I was also the youngest on the team, and my personality was loud and bubbly, something that didn’t assist in helping me keep my head down around the team.

It was one of the reasons Beth and I got on famously, the both of us always looking to cause a little bit of mayhem but most of all have fun, Katie normally getting caught up in our antics considering she was the team's designated prankster.

Right now though, I felt anything but bubbly, my head beginning to pound against my trembling form as I pushed the pasta around my bowl, no longer feeling the overwhelming hunger I’d left a few minutes ago.

It was the clambering of a teammate sitting down beside me that pulled me from my daze, dropping my fork on the bowl as I turned to see who was sitting next to me.

“Hey lover girl.”

Kyra’s hand found it’s way to my head, ruffling my hair, her hand retracting back quickly though as soon as she made contact with my scalp, her eyebrows furrowing into a similar expression to what Viv had given me a few minutes ago when I’d been caught out by her.

“Why’s your head so cold? Feels like you’ve just come out of the ice baths.”

Kyra’s voice was nothing but friendly, but with the mixture of my sudden headache and my annoyance over people telling me that I was cold I couldn’t help but give her a bitten back response.

“I’m fine, just leave me the fuck alone.”

Kyra visibly flinched back at my words and everyone around us went quiet fairly quickly, everyone sensing the sudden tension and confrontation occurring between me and my teammate. Kyra slid into the seat beside me, one of her hands falling to my thigh which I immediately flinched away from.

“Everything okay, sweetie?”

I moved myself away from Kyra, inching myself further towards Steph, my other national teammate who seemed as equally confused by my behaviour as Kyra was.

“Y/n, a word?”

It was the voice from the other end of the table that captured my attention, Leah standing from the table already, clearly having detected the awkwardness between Kyra and I.

I clambered my way from my seat, scuffing my feet against the carpeted floor of the dining room as I tagged along behind Leah, following her out of the room and out into the corridor. I flicked the hood of my jumper over my head, toying with the drawstring as Leah turned to face me as soon as we were out of earshot from the group.

“What was that about?”

Her facial expression was as stern as ever as she looked at me, I kept my eyes on my feet, my head fucking hurt and I was still shivering, it was less noticeable though as I stood, I kept my hands out of sight and tried my very hardest to keep my body still.

“She was pissing me off.”

I could hear Leah frowning from in front of me, I didn’t need to look at her face to sense it.

“Does her pissing you off make it okay to tell her to fuck off, because I would hardly say that she deserved that, what’s up? This whole attitude is hardly normal for you.”

I kept my eyes focused on my shoes, toying with a bit of fluff that was stuck on the carpet, edging it slowly across the material with my shoed foot.

“Nothing’s up, I’m fine.”

Leah’s arm grabbing for my sleeve covered hand hadn’t been what I was accepting, the action drawing my eyes up to meet her own.

“I won’t have this piss poor attitude, go home, get some sleep and be here with a fresh mind tomorrow morning, understood?”

I pulled my hand from Leah’s, not letting her hold on to mine long enough to feel the tremors coursing across my skin.

“Aye, Aye, captain.”

I rolled my eyes at Leah, fake saluting her as I walked back into the dining room, picking my keys and phone up from the table quickly before exiting the building, not leaving any room to ask any questions as I stormed out of the room.

I somehow made it back to my apartment without passing out at the wheel, a miracle if you asked me. I didn’t have the will to do anything besides fall straight into my bed, very quickly changing into a pair of flannel pyjamas and stacking a pile of blankets on top of my sheets before climbing into the bed and relaxing into the mix of blankets, the mixture of heat and darkness calming my symptoms just enough to lull me into a fever induced sleep.

I woke up multiple times during the night, vomiting, coughing, sweats, chills, it all. My sleep was restless and by the time my alarms were going off I felt worse than ever. I was supposed to be at training by 9, but I could hardly manage to get out of bed to get to the toilet, let alone even attempt to try and put my training gear on and run around on a football pitch for three hours. I let my phone snooze one last time before flicking a text to Jonas, telling him that I was feeling a little bit under the weather and was just going to take the day to recuperate, all though something in my gut told me that one day wouldn’t be enough, not with the croaky cough that was wracking my whole body and the fever that I knew I was running. It was winter in London, I’d probably just picked up a 48 hour bug.

Jonas replied fairly quickly, telling me that he hoped I felt better and that it was a good idea to take a rest day.

With that text I turned off all of my alarms and burrowed back into my blanket fort, the effort of even having to look at my phone and piece together a text being too much for my head. My whole body hurt, my chest and ribs hurting every single time I took a breath, let alone coughed. The chills from yesterday were yet to pass, my whole body feeling like I was still out lying in the snow, even though I knew in reality my whole body was overheating. That thought still didn’t stop me from piling more blankets on top of my body, settling back into my bed with a groan as a wave of nausea and pain washed over me.

I faded in and out of the day, similarly to as I had done at night, my fever induced state making even my conscious moments feel like a dream. I ignored the incessant sound of my phone buzzing on my bedside table, opting to ignore anybody or anything that was popping up on it, I had one job in North London, play football, and I’d alerted my coach so that was as far as my social correspondence needed to go, any teammates or friends who decided my life was their business didn’t matter to me right now, my body hurt to much to care.

Somewhere around 5 or 6 the incessant coughing came to be too much for my body and I found my body keeled over the toilet bowl, dry heaving as I coughed up the mucus and phlegm that was caught up in my lungs. It was a painful experience, my lungs burning with every single breath that left my body, the oxygen burning on its way in.

I dragged myself back to my bed once I was done, the sun just beginning to set and my body having the capacity to do nothing more than lie down in my bed and wait for darkness to come so I could go back to sleep, tomorrow was our day off, so at least I didn’t have to worry about explaining another absence to Jonas.

My sleep through the night was even worse than the previous day, probably credited to the lack of energy I had in my body. The pain in my chest worsening drastically and in the wee hours of the morning I dragged a blanket and pillow into my ensuite, coming to the realisation that I didn’t have the energy to walk back and forth from the bathroom every time I had to go to the bathroom, which was fairly frequent with the amount of shit I was coughing up. I contemplated calling a teammate or Sam, whose apartment was fairly close to mine and I trusted her enough to ask her to come over. I didn’t though, opting to fall asleep on my toilet seat instead of getting up to go fetch my phone.

I stayed like that for most of the night, I think, honestly somewhere along in the night it all blurred into one. Until I was awoken brutally at 8am by the sound of pounding on my apartment door. I ignored it, half not believing that the sound was real and that it was just the sound of my fucking skull pounding against my brain in my head, a reflection of how my head had felt for the past 24 hours.

The knocking only grew louder and more persistent though, until it finally ceased and not much longer than 30 seconds later I was face to face with my two arsenal captains, both of their faces pink and rosy from the London cold and slightly exasperated.

“Hey skippers.”

My voice was laced with delirium, the only thing keeping me conscious at that point.

“Hey Joey, how you feeling?”

Leah walked cautiously towards me, letting Kim do the talking whilst she approached me and pressed the back of her palm to my forehead, grimacing almost immediately as her hand made contact with my own skin. I leant into the contact, her hand a relief from the fluctuating temperature my body had been upholding.

“Fuck, she’s burning up.”

Leah’s accent was thicker than normal, her voice covered in a blanket of concern that I’d never heard before.

“I’ll get Katie and Viv to come up, they can help get her into the car, we’ll have to take her to A&E, it’s bloody impossible to get an appointment with a doctor at this time of year.”

I shook my head at Kim almost immediately, or shook it as much as I could with the headache I had.

“M’ fine, just a 48 hour bug.”

My voice made me sound so much smaller, like I was a six year old and it was doing absolutely nothing to get my point across, in contradiction probably making my argument far weaker.

“Viv told us about you playing in the snow. What were you thinking? Playing in the snow with no clothes on after training, different breed you aussies.”

Kim mused at me, smiling a little bit as she watched Leah hurry around my bathroom, searching around. I frowned guiltily, knowing that once I felt better, once this was all over I’d be on the receiving end of a rather lengthy lecture about not endangering myself, a lecture I was sure Beth and Katie would have already received, considering Viv had snitched on us.

“I’m fine, I feel fine.”

My words were followed up by a fit of coughs that had me leaning back over the bowl of the toilet coughing up more phlegm, hardly a convincing point. My cough was dry, from the lack of fluids I’d consumed and the lack of liquids that were left in my body from the vomiting. My throat completely raw from the continuous retching.

“Don’t sound fine, sweetheart.”

Kim’s words were paused by Leah exclaiming as she located my first aid kit, that the two of them had put in my apartment when I’d moved in, claiming I was far too clumsy to not have one. She pulled out a thermometer almost immediately.

“I’ll make you a deal sweetheart, if you are below 38 then we’ll stay here. Me and Leah will look after you, like we could have yesterday if you had called us, or anyone. If you are above 38 though then we have to go to the hospital, because we don’t want you getting seriously sick, I know it sucks but we have to keep you safe sweetie. Kerr would have my neck if I didn’t return her best defender back in perfect condition when the international break rolls around, understood?”

I frowned at Kim, her stern scottish accent leaving no room for argument. I opened my mouth up to Leah, letting her slip the piece of metal into my dry and inflamed mouth. Waiting patiently until it beeped and frowning almost as soon as she saw it.

“41.”

Fuck. That number even made me frown a little bit, because that was unsafely high and all of us knew it. It explained all of my symptoms, and the cloud that I’d been floating on for the last day, a fever induced high that was the cause of my incessant sweating and shakes.

Kim frowned down at me, I shrugged at her in defeat, both of us knowing what it meant.

“C’mon sweet, let's get you changed and in the car.”

I looked up at Leah, my body folding in defeat as she bent down to lift me from the floor. I immediately wrapped my arms around her, letting her carry me back into my bedroom. She made quick work of changing me out of my pyjamas into a plain grey pair of sweatpants and an arsenal hoodie, giving me a peck to the forehead once she was done getting me changed. Her lips, cold from the London air felt so good on my burning skin, relaxing the itching and searing sensation that had covered every surface of my skin.

“Kim?”

Kim had busied herself with collecting a bag of my belongings, chargers, electronics, a change of clothes, and my toiletries. I had pretty much gone limp in Leah’s arms, letting her brush through my hair and comb it into a plait at the back of my head. The vice captain whispering sweet nothings in my ear as I groaned and coughed, my body tired from the constant pain.

“Yes, Joey?”

She took a pause in her hunt for my things, turning to face me, one of her eyebrows quirked at me in questioning. .

“Do you think you could text Sammy for me, please, and maybe Macca, I don’t want them to worry about me.”

My voice was so quiet I wasn’t even sure she’d heard it. The worry was growing on me though, the realisation that I really wasn’t as well as I’d been telling myself and Sam would want to be the first person called. Kim gave me a little smile before nodding and getting back to her job, collecting the last of my things just as I heard my front door open again.

“Of course I can sweet, let’s just get you in the car and then we can text whoever you need, alright?”

I heard Katie and Viv making their way through my flat, eventually making it to the doorway of my room, poking their heads around the side of my bedroom door.

As soon as I caught sight of Viv I bursted into tears, no longer being able to hold in the emotions that I’d holed up for the better part of the past 24 hours.

She was quick to be at my side, not protesting whatsoever as I threw myself into her arms, soaking the shoulder of her jumper with my tears and snot immediately. I was a blubbering mess, murmuring a flurry of apologies and admissions into Viv’s collarbone, the guilt of my actions settling into my gut.

“Hey, liefje, it’s okay, take some deep breaths for us.”

I burrowed my head into Viv, the feeling of sickness washing back over my body and making me feel worse.

“We’ve got you kiddo, I know you feel icky, but we need to get you to the hospital, to get you some help, so you can feel a bit better.”

I groaned into Viv’s body, rolling my eyes as she snickered a little bit at my reaction.

“I know you don’t want to, but we’re all really worried about you and you need some help, you're burning up like crazy, so let us take you, please?”

Leah’s palms were rubbing circles into my back, relaxing the muscles that were so tense. Viv’s arm was wrapped tightly around my shoulder, like she was protecting me from the world.

“C’mon kid, Katie and I have the car downstairs, all warm for you.”

Viv’s offer was enough to have me sighing in defeat and pursing my lips. I nodded half heartedly, letting Leah pull me from Viv’s arms so she could stand up. Leah helped me to pull my ugg boots over my feet whilst Kim and Katie finished collecting my things. I tried valiantly to walk by myself, but only made it to my doorway before my legs were weakening below me and Leah had to catch me. She carried me bridal style to the car, squishing me into the backseat between her and Kim.

My head found its way into the nook of Kim’s neck, silent tears and snot making its way down my face as we drove slowly towards the hospital. Leah, with a tissue at hand, very discreetly wiped at my face when I needed it and kneaded my arm muscles with her hands, helping my trembling hands to relax just a little bit. Slowly as we continued to drive any energy that I had previously possessed started to fade.

Kim called Sam, at my insistence, Sam was worried as soon as she heard Kim’s voice and after the explanation practically begged Kim to let her speak to me, so I was put on the phone with Sam, even at my reluctance.

“Joey?”

“Yup.”

“Hey sweet, how you feeling?”

I gulped slightly, not wanting to make Sam worry but also not wanting to lie to my skipper.

“Shit, I’m fine though.”

I could hear Sam’s eye roll from the otherside of the phone.

“41 degree temperature doesn’t sound too fine to me, what were you thinking?”

“Just wanted to have some fun.”

Sam’s scoff from the other side of the phone was enough to tell me she was more than displeased with my actions, something that most of the people in the car seemed to share.

“Next time you want to have fun, can you do it with someone other than McCabe, I hardly think she’s a role model for you, considering both of your reckless personas.”

Somehow Katie managed to overhear Sam’s words, a look of complete offence washing over her face.

“I’ll have you know Kerr that she practically begged me.”

Leah shushed Katie with a glare, the guilty look on Katie’s face told me she’d already had to hear a mouthful from our captains, and she would be on the receiving end of another one if she didn’t shut her mouth.

“Mm, sounds like our girl, well I’m going to go collect Alanna, Macca and Caitie, who are all very concerned about your wellbeing and we’ll see you at the hospital, okay?”

“Mm kay, thank you Sammy.”

As soon as the phone call ended I passed my phone back to Kim, relaxing my body back against hers, the actions of the day taking a toll on my body and resulting in a dramatic drop in my energy levels.

When we did arrive at the hospital I was hardly coherent, back on a fever induced cloud that made me hardly conscious. Katie was tasked with carrying me into the ER, Leah not being able to carry me much further than a few feet with her recovering knee injury. When we made it into the ER I was immediately tended to and sent straight into a room. My body was immediately connected to a series of machines and wires.

I fought against the nurses, to the point where Leah had to actually climb into the bed with me to keep me calm, my delusional body unhappy with the cold hands and cords connecting with my body. The contact with Leah though had seemed to calm me enough though for the doctors to be able to do their jobs and connect me up to monitors and IV fluids that my body was in desperate need of. There was a lot of bustling happening around me, but I kept my eyes closed, feeling instantly better when some pain relief and medicine was administered to my body, making me sleepy enough to fade into a deep sleep.

When I woke up I was hit with a reminder of my throbbing headache, my whole body hurt. Chest, ribs, head, it all hurt. I struggled to open my eyes and when I did my headache was only worsened by the light flooding into my room through the gaps in my blinds. I was shocked by the sheer amount of people crowded in my room, a different room to the one I’d fallen asleep in. My eyes flashed across my body, taking in all of the wires that my body was connected to, wires, leads, IV cords, my body was covered in more wires than it was skin. I panicked almost immediately, reaching to pull at the cords but my hands were stopped almost immediately.

“Hey Joey.”

It was Kim’s eyes that caught my own, her deep Scottish accent getting my attention and taking it away from the crawling feeling across my skin that all of the wires were causing.

“W-What happened?”

My eyes were darting across the room, my brain trying to remember what course of events had lead to me being in this position. My eyes caught onto my teammates, who were piled on sofas and chairs in the room.

“You went out in the snow, do you remember that? Katie took you out and you got a chill from it, because your body was vulnerable with the cold you developed pneumonia, pretty serious, you had us all worried for a little bit. Leah and I came to your apartment, because you hadn’t shown up to training and we were all worried about you, and we found you and took you here.”

It was a lot of information to take in, I couldn’t do much more than nod my head at Kim, like a goldfish.

“M’ sorry for worrying you.”

Kim smiled at me, shaking her head.

“It’s okay Joey, all forgiven, we’ll talk about it another day, right now you need to focus on getting yourself better.”

I pursed my lips, eyeing Sam who was sitting at my bedside, looking me up and down. There was a lot of emotions on her face, her jaw was locked and I could see some disappointment and concern in her eyes, amongst other things.

“Sam-.”

“We’ll talk about it another day Joey, I’ve already laid into McCabe about not giving into you, I don’t think Williamson is going to be letting you out of her sight anytime soon. I just want to know why you didn’t call me, or anyone. Sweet, there are so many people around who care about you and you worried us all, had you called anyone when your symptoms had started to show, or even the previous morning this all could have been avoided.”

Sam’s voice was stern, the voice she used when she mad at one of her girls for getting in unnecessary trouble.

“Didn’t want to bother anybody.”

Sam stood up at my reply, taking two short steps to my bedside and looking at Kim.

“Nobody in this room would have felt bothered, you were sick y/n, seriously sick and had Kim or Leah not decided to come and check on you, you could be dead right now, or in the ICU. You are so lucky to have a group of people that genuinely care and love for you and it worries me that you aren’t utlising that, what did I promise your parents when you told them that you were going to be making the move to London?”

I bit down hard on my lip. Sam had always been like my second mom, or older sister, ever since I’d started playing with the Matildas, when I was 15. She’d been a major influence in my life, so when my parents had found out that I had plans to move to North London to play for Arsenal at 19 they were displeased to say the least, I was hardly 18 as well, still a baby. They’d made Sam promise a bunch of things to them, considering we were both in London together.

“That you wouldn’t let anything happen to me, and you’d keep me safe.”

Sam’s jaw locked even more than it previously had, her eyes were dark brown, stormy almost, I could feel the internal conflict she was going through just by looking at them.

“Exactly, so how do you think it makes me feel when you are endangering yourself? It makes me feel like I should be calling your parents and telling them that maybe this wasn’t the best decision, maybe you need another year or two at home before you can live by yourself out here.”

I shook my head at Sam, that was the last thing I wanted. After all, it had taken so much begging with my parents to get me out here in the first place, being sent back practically ensured they’d never let me come back out here.

“Sam, please, this is where I need to be.”

“I have no doubt in my mind that those words are true, on a playing level you should be here. But you continue to prove that you can’t be trusted to make decisions for yourself. Going out in the snow was crazy, not telling anyone you felt sick was crazy. You're not proving to me or your parents that this was a good idea.”

I could feel tears brimming up in the back of my eyes. It had taken a lot of effort to get my parents to let me be here, there was nothing they wanted less than to send their eighteen year old daughter to London, all by herself, playing in a senior women's team.

“Please, please let me stay. I can’t go home, if I go home then that’s the end for me, Perth won’t take me back after how I left. My parents have enough on their plate with six other kids, let alone having to deal with me, please, I need to stay. I’ll make better decisions, I promise, please just let me stay.”

I’d shot up in the bed, tugging the cords and blankets up with me. Sam sat herself down on the edge of my bed, looking at me eye to eye.

“I know you’re sorry, and I really want to believe that you can do this, there is nothing that I want more than for you to be here and proving how amazing you are, but your risking your own health Joey, and I toe the line there. What happens when you get injured and decide not to tell anybody, I know you and I know that you are never going to ask people for help and I can’t be around 24/7 here to look out for you, if I could I would. I can’t trust that you are going to look after yourself when I’m not here.”

I felt a series of big, fat, wet, warm tears drip down my cheek, I felt like shit and all of my dreams were being crushed.

“We’ll look after her, we’ll take her in if we have to. Nobody wants to see y/n/n going home because of this, we’ll look out for her, please don’t make her go home.”

It was Beth’s voice, from the other side of the room that caught my attention. There was a guilty expression across her face, Alessia, Katie, Caitlin and Beth all carrying the same similar guilty expression, my accomplices.

Sam turned to Beth, it was clear she was tossing up her options.

“Beth’s right, she should stay, she’s worked hard enough to stay and we can hardly afford losing any defenders right now. I’ll take her in, she can move into the spare room in my house, I run a tight ship, I’ll keep her under control.”

It was the voice of Leah that was both my saving grace and sent a chill of fear down my spine. Moving in with Leah didn’t exactly sound like my dream situation, I knew that Leah would hold me accountable for my shit, something I wasn’t necessarily ready to deal with. Sam had immense respect for the England captain though, often times she’d expressed to me how much she admired Leah for doing what she did at such a young age, she was stern though, she didn’t forget anything and nothing got past Leah.

“Okay, if she can move in with Williamson then she can stay, this is all stuff we can talk about when you are feeling better though, you need your rest joey, with all those meds running through your body god knows how tired you must be, hm?”

I squirmed a little bit under the covers, not wanting to give into Sam’s words but also not denying that she was right, I did feel tired. Sam’s hand found its way to my cheek, wiping away the tears I had shed and giving me a little smile, the smile she kept for these moments, the rough ones that warranted some kind of assurance that it was all going to be okay.

“Go to sleep Joey, we’ll figure it all out when you are feeling better, right now you need rest, so you can feel better.”

I relaxed back into the uncomfortable hospital pillows, that all of a sudden didn’t feel so uncomfortable to my body, which was slowly starting to fade into a deep cloud of sleep. Sam pressed a kiss to my hairline before sitting back down in her seat and watching me drift off to sleep. Maybe everything wasn’t perfect, maybe I still had things that I needed to learn but I did have one thing, and that was a family that I’d found in my teammates.

[triviareads]

Any good marriage for convenience romance books?

I actually had a hard time with this one because there are so many historicals where the marriage is convenient for one party, or like, convenient in that otherwise she'll be "ruined" or she's possibly pregnant. But here are some of the ones where both parties agree to marry without any (or much) external pressure:

Historical:

Convergence of Desire by Felicity Niven: Harry wants to devote her energies to proving Fermat's Theorem (which I now know way too much about) rather than being out in society, and Thomas needs a rich wife, so they decide to marry and Harry even says he can sleep with whoever after they marry..... unfortunately this man is only able to get it up for her soon enough.

Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl by Grace Callaway: Fiona wants to be free to continue her work as a member of an investigative agency, Lady Charlotte's Society of Angels, and Hawk wants to marry but without any emotional entanglements and to continue his spy work, so they agree to a marriage of convenience where neither party will hinder the other.

How the Wallflower was Won by Eva Leigh: After fucking up his sister and best friend's (DOM MFING KILBURN) marriage, Finn needs to marry or he'll be cut off, and Tabitha wants to join an influential intellectual society that only admits married women, and so marriage it is.

The Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan: Kind of a marriage of convenience? Except the terms aren't laid out super clearly beforehand and Clara's brother does have a hand in the marriage, but this one is too funny to not include. Clara lies about being pregnant to escape marriage to an asshole, but when she's sent to Scotland, she meets Hunt, a laird who has a generational curse on him which means he will die before his heir is born. So Hunt decides to marry her because she's pregnant with someone else's baby so obviously, he won't die!

Except, well, it's a lie, and he finishes inside her multiple times after they're married so........

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard: Astrid proposes marriage to Thane, a scarred misanthrope duke, so that her sister can escape marriage to the man who ruined Astrid's reputation. Thane eventually agrees because he's intensely attracted to her but has no intention of falling in love with her.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare: Another scarred duke, this time in want of a wife that won't faint when she sees him so he can begat heirs; Emma is the seamstress who made his former fiancée's wedding dress and shows up for payment, but Ashbury decides she'll do just fine as a wife.

Worth Any Price Lisa Kleypas: The only male virgin in Kleypas-verse (well at least in the beginning), Nick Gentry is tasked with finding Charlotte on behalf of her family and fiancé, but it turns out the fiancé is, among other things, deffo a groomer so he agrees to marry her to protect her.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas: You know the deal with this one; St. Vincent needs to marry a rich heiress since he's about to be cut off and his attempted kidnapping of Lillian failed miserably, and Evie needs to escape her abusive relatives, so off to Gretna Green it is.

Contemporary:

Lush Money by Angelina M Lopez: Prince Mateo agrees to marry billionaire Roxanne and have sex with her three nights a month so she can have a kid in exchange for money for his impoverished country. The resentment in this man is real, not that it stops him from calling her mi mujer and jumping her every 10 seconds. Basically, the only wife guy I condone.

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey: Natalie and August agree to marry so Natalie can access start-up capital and August can improve his shoddy vineyards. I really loved August's (objectively dumb) no-PiV-sex-until-she-won't-regret-it rule because it actually made the wedding night kinda great, and it also drew out tension until they had no choice but to admit their feelings for one another.

The Harlequin fave Jackie Ashenden very helpfully made a page on her website devoted to all her marriage of convenience books, and yes, I recommend all of them.

Crowning His Lost Princess by Caitlin Crews: Warlord touches down in a Kansas (?) field and announces that this farmer gal was switched at birth, is actually a princess, and that they must marry for political reasons.

Trust Fund Fiancé by Naima Simone: Reagan needs access to her inheritance and proposes a marriage of convenience to her friend Zeke in order to gain access. This one is also technically friends-to-lovers but a really well done one.

*tbh your best bet in terms of modern marriages of conveniences might be harlequins because the stakes feel somewhat high and the tension is real, unlike a lot of contemporary romances which have people marrying to like, inherit a family ski resort or something.

[yeeterthek33per]

Mic'd Up (Photo Day Edition) (Auswnt x Reader)

A/n requoosted

*The camera pans to you jogging around the producers, testing out the compact harness they had under your training jersey.

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

"Aw man, do I have to wear this? Do the others know? Oh, they don't. That's freaking amazing, I can be like, stealth ninja, catching all the secrets and the juicy deets."

"I feel like a super secret spy."

You jump up and down, clapping your knees in a mini back flip to get started. The staff chuckle as you do some dodging motions, making a dododo mission impossible sound.

"Okay, cool, we're done here? Alright, the girls should be out of the change rooms soon. Who's gonna be my first target. I feel like once they find out they're gonna start avoiding me. So, like, I have to be super stealthy."

Tony, walking onto the pitch behind the team, draws your attention as you pretend to be doing some precursory runs, while the rest of the camera crew pretends to be the photographers for photo day.

"Alright, you lot, let's start with our team photos, since it's photo day. Everyone on the stands, you know the drill."

"Tony! What do we do if we haven't brought our boots?"

You laugh as he rolls his eyes and swats at you lightly. You jog away from your coach and jump up on the stands, intentionally standing one spot to the left to annoy Charlie, who swats at you, shooing you back into place.

"Little turd, move it."

"She's so mean to me."

You wink at the videographers that are setting up.

"Hey guys, Tony says the beep test's optional today."

The girls around you chuckle, and you hear Tony behind you.

"Keep starting rumours, L/n, and you'll be doing it twice."

"No, please."

You turn and give him puppy dog eyes that just make raise a brow at you.

"Ugh, fiiine, I'll behave."

Your arm comes around to rest on Charlie and Alanna shoulders, though you do struggle a bit because Alanna is much taller than you.

"Jeez, Lans, can you like, not be a tree for a second?"

Her elbow digs into your side playfully.

"Can you like, not be a little turd for a second?"

A pout makes it's way onto your face.

*Cut to taking the photo, and everyone's arranged themselves correctly.

"Yo guys, I feel like I'm being bullied here."

-----------

There's the formal picture and the muck around one. Which you end up on Mini's shoulders for.

"Everybody say Mini!"

You throw your arms up in the air as the camera flashes, and Katrina laughs below you.

Tony claps his hands, and the team all move to start the basic dynamic warmups.

-----------

*The camera pans to some cones set out as each group takes their turns dodge and weaving.

"Oh my god, fast feet. Fast feet. Fast feet. Let's f****** go."

The girls in line chuckle behind you and you whoop as Vine follows through behind you.

"Ayyyy, nice one, Viney."

-----------

*Cut to another drill setup.

Your groan is audibly loud as you hear the traumatic sound of the beep test instructional introduction.

"Everybody start, three, two, one, go!"

"Ah f***."

You're panting by the fourteenth round.

"Oi, Tony, can we call it quits now?"

"Nope, keep going."

You pout for a second before jumping when the next beep goes for you to start.

You do halfway decently, making it to level 48 before it catches you off guard.

"You're out, Y/n!"

You grunt and collapse off to the side with the others with a huff, leaving just five of the others still in.

-----------

*Cut to passing drills.

"Ooh, ooh, Foordy, you're my buddy today."

The striker playfully groans, giving you a soft shove. Her arm wraps around your head to give you a noogie.

"Oi, get off!"

"Alrighty, let's go, you lot! That includes you, too, Y/n."

"I feel like I'm being targeted now."

*Cut to short tapping passes.

"Ayo, let's go. I've been practising my mini taps, hit me."

Short sequence of you and Caitlin playing taps with the ball, eventually getting faster to the point of it being a competition to keep it between you.

"Oh f***."

The ball nearly jumps past you for a second before you boot it back.

"Ah s***."

Just barely scrambling to keep it in, you send it back to the striker, but it pops past her to the right.

"YES! Suck on that fast feet!"

The forward clutches at her chest, dramatically falling over and playing dead.

"Nooooooo!"

"HA HA! Victory is miiiine!"

You do a little dance around Caitlin, eventually putting your foot up on the centre of her back in a power pose, grinning at the photographers who take several photos of the moment.

She eventually turns over, shoving your foot off her as you laugh. You pull her up.

-----------

*Another drill set up, shooting this time.

"Woot, yep, here!" "Caity! Here!"

You sprint around the cones as she sends a ball to your head, and you jump to make the header, the ball just barely grazing the post and into the net, falling onto your back with a dramatic scream.

"Oh my f****** god! That was amazing! Ha!"

You shoot up.

"Tony, did you see me? I got an eight footer!"

The camera switches to him, nodding with an amused applause. Off camera, Katrina yells out.

"Honestly, I'm impressed. She only makes up five feet of that!"

The rest of the team and staff crack up at that.

Cut to you, standing still, arms now by your side as your mouth drops open in a confounded expression.

"Did you hear that? Mocking me in my time of triumph. I'm still taller than you, Mini!"

You huff and jog back into line, giving the woman a swat as you pass her.

"Bloody brat, honestly."

You mutter into the mic. You turn to your captain, who's out of frame.

"Sammy! Mini's bullying me!"

"Tell someone who cares, nerd!"

It's faint but still audible, and as the camera pans to her, she takes off with a cheeky grin to make her shot. Which she does, rising to about the same height to make the header.

"Ohhhh! Gah damn! Check it, L/n!"

You just huff, taking a seat as Sam does a backflip.

"Brooo, I just dunked on by the Rabbitohs supporter."

Sam stops, a pout on her face.

"Why you gotta make it personal, bro?"

You poke your tongue out at her.

"Cause the bunnies suck and we all know it. Go the Broncos!"

"Ayyyy, there's my girl!"

You high five Mackenzie as you jog back to the line.

-----------

*Cut to the crew setting up for some scrimmages.

"You think they'll let me pick the teams this time?"

It's said into the mic, but Tony walking up beside you with a resounding, "Not happening." Startles you.

You get picked for Steph's team, opting for war against your skipper now that she's tripped you at least three times since the start of the session.

"I'm gonna get you, Kerr."

"You're not gonna get me."

"I will, fight me on it."

"Chew on my studs, pipsqueak."

"Alright, that's enough, you two. Save it for the scrimmage. Let's set up, you lot."

Steph has to pick you up and walk you away from Sam, a laser point glare from you over her shoulder at the skipper.

"Can you put me down now?"

"You gonna promise not to leave stud marks in Sam's shins?"

"I'll think about it."

"Oh, for the love of god, behave yourself."

It's a stern tone, and the others half to hold back laughs at your dejected expression.

"But she's so mean..."

A stern look from the older girl quietens you, and the camera zooms in on your expression. You give a small wink in its direction.

"What's that, Sammy?! Your mum loves me more than you?! Aw, how sweet is that? I always knew I was the favourite kid. It's okay. Tell Roxy I love her too!"

"Oi!"

You end up getting chased across the pitch to which you move to hide behind Alanna, poking your tongue out at Sam as she growls.

"Samantha Kerr! Back to your side of the pitch!"

It's Steph.

"But she started it!"

"Sam, I swear to god."

"Fiiiine."

You poke your tongue one last time and jog over to the defender, an innocent smile on your face.

"She's a bloody child, ay."

The glare you get from her makes you shrink a little, and Mackenzie just wacks you on the back of the head.

"Owww, Macca!"

You quieten up after that, though, and Steph starts putting everyone into positions and game plans.

-----------

*cut to about halfway through the game, Steph had initially positioned you away from the Skipper to avoid either of you fueling your apparent and sudden sibling rivalry but she ends up having to move you back anyway since you play best in the mirror position to your captain anyway.

"Steph! Hit me! Hitme! Here!"

Just like you'd been practising just minutes earlier, the ball gets sent in directly to your head and slips past Lydia when she goes down for it.

"OHHH, suck on that NeRD!"

You hop around Sam giggling when she tries to swat at you, before you all return to positions.

It's only when a camera cut to minutes later finds you and Sam battling it out in the centre.

The moment she goes for the ball, you slip past her, tapping the ball between her legs and crossing it to Alanna, who volleys it in.

The entire field just breaks into "Ohhhhh"s and whistles.

Sam does a dramatic fall to her knees and flops to the ground as you jump onto Alanna's back with a whoop.

"OH, she's spicy today, ladies and gents!"

Alanna shakes her head, dropping you from her grasp and you both return to your positions.

A couple more minutes go by.

"Oh lordy lord, she's got skill! Mini, watch right! Mini watchright! Ayy atta girl!"

And.

"Clare! I'm here! Toss me! Yepyepyep!"

"Lans! Im going! I'm runnin'!"

"Let's freaking goooo!"

-----------

*The cuts to right before the whistle blows, and Tony calls the end of training.

"Alright, well done, excellent work all of you. Rest up, recovery work, warm down. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

You jump in the centre of the huddle quickly.

"Before anyone leaves, I have an announcement... you're all on Mic'd Up with the Tillies! Photo Day edition!"

Some of the girls groan around you, Sam in particular. Some of them start laughing as you do the stealth stance.

"I was a fricken ninja, guys, I'll tell ya!"

"Yeah, Tony definitely already knew you were Mic'd up."

"Shush, you."

Tony just grins as the camera pans to him, and he winks at it.

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

[kylejsugarman]

this is the completed stem crew!! they are a group of seventh graders and best friends attending a stem academy in boston. from left to right:

melody young: melody is a sweet, shy, daydreamy chemistry and biology prodigy who loves gardening and sewing, particularly sewing her own clothes and restoring vintage clothes from her grandmother's closet. she was bullied for being so quiet and having unusual, "grandmotherly" hobbies, so she still hesitates to speak in most situations and prefers sharing a quiet space or being alone.

april lowell: april is bright and bubbly and in a huge hurry to grow up. she grew up with uncontrollable seizures that were eventually curbed with deep brain stimulation treatments and wants to be a doctor like the ones who treated her. in addition to medicine, she adores tennis and TV dramas. she is a year younger than her sister, skye, but skipped a grade. april and skye live with miko as her foster sisters.

skye lowell: skye is very nice, very smart, and very determined to keep things stable. having grown up in the foster system with a sick sister, skye hates instability and loves the familiarity of her favorite musicals, the logical proceedings of her engineering projects, and the soothing repetition of roller-skating. she is autistic and very attached to her sister april and eventually her entire foster family.

nanea iosua: nanea is an extremely serious, athletic, and hardworking girl. the daughter of decorated scholars, nanea feels pressured to excel, and dedicates most of her time to her swimming/diving and her mathematical studies. though she thinks little of herself, nanea is a great listener and a reliable friend who deeply cares for others. she can be drawn out of her shell by pro sports and fantasy novels.

miko schwartz-chen: miko is an outgoing, friendly, and energetic girl who wants to do it All. she is especially proficient in coding and computer science, and enjoys sharing her work on social media, along with her dance moves. she is a talented jazz dancer and likes to show off her flexibility and ability to perform complicated choreography. miko can be a little too Online, but she's a fun friend and a great sister to april and skye.

caitlin feldman: caitlin is a strong-willed, clever, and insecure girl trying to come off as confident. she is very hard of hearing, which prompted her parents to focus more on her older siblings' activities, so caitlin overcompensates by being bossy and defensive. she's the student council president and is great at planning and executing events. when allowed to lower her guard, she loves video games and anime.

[margareth-lv]

🎬 … while awaiting for Lights, Camera, Action! 🎬

Caitlin O'Ryan on Instagram on July 6, 2023:

Two platonic co-stars and the other members of a film crew are waiting for the beginning of a take. There's not really much to see back here. Absolutley nothing new is going on in this world of them. Still just as boring.

🤯

[June 6, 2023]

[bidisastersanji]

Arcane One Piece AU (Fem!ZoSan centric)

Ok so this all started because of this post and galaxy braining with the amazing @anniilaugh can’t you just IMAGINE dyke Zoro circling and Kabedon-ing (pin against the wall) Sanji like “You’re hot, cook- so what’ll it be? Man or woman?” As they go into the brothel looking for information? SHE DREW THE BEST ART OF VI!ZORO RIGHT HERE BTW

Sanji is good with her legs so she would impress Zoro with her parkour skills

Sanji has a Taz British accent (like Caitlin has a British accent) but with lots of cursing (Zeff’s influence) “bollocks!” And some French cursing as well since he learned it as a kid (putain! Merde! Fait chier!)

Zoro wears the same hot dyke clothes Vi does- arms fully out, and pulls her hood on when she’s serious (like the bandana). She also has cool tattoos and the hand wrap things

She fights with hextech swords that look just like hilts until they’re turned on and the blades appear - she carries them looped in carabiners around her waist (seriously look at the art)

World-building wise: Underworld Zaun Kingpin Doflamingo (Silco) with the drug “SMILE” who has Piltover higher ups and police in his pocket (he has leverage like in one piece)

SMILE gives people strange powers but temporarily, like temporary devil fruits that leave you broken and drained

Powder is Luffy, Zoro’s adoptive little brother, they were raised by Kuma (Vander) after his failed revolution where their parents die, growing up with a small crew of misfit friends (including Kuina, who dies)

The tragedy happens and Zoro gets put into prison (on Doffy’s orders) while Luffy thinks Zoro abandoned him and is taken in by Doffy, becoming “Nika” (his unhinged alter ego is gear 5 like Jinkx is to Powder) , now growing up along kids like Law, Baby 5 etc . His hair went white from the stress of that fateful night/or he bleaches it

Caitlin!Sanji grows up in Piltover as a noble with the abusive Vinsmokes but runs away and gets taken in by a chef called Zeff (who lost his leg in the failed revolution but managed to start anew, tries to help Zaun how he can, sending food etc)

Zeff gets put in prison by the Vinsmokes to control Sanji and she’s forced to become an enforcer (Fem!Sanji in that little uniform oh god. Smoking her cigarettes with a stupid little hat and the gun she does her best to avoid using)

She still works after her enforcer shifts at the Baratie since shes always itching to cook, feed the hungry and to support party and carne and keep her adoptive dad’s restaurant alive (she knows of how bad people have it in Zaun, and before Zeff found her she was hungry and homeless)

Her weapon of choice is actually something she has strapped to her legs from her thighs to her calves (Zoro will be very distracted) some hextech steampunk looking thing that powers up her kicks and she can send her kicks energy forward to do mid range attacks

She uses her enforcer job to snoop around and try and figure out how to get her father out

Her lead takes her to Stilwater prison where Zoro has been beat and abused for several years

Cue scene where Sanji walks in to Zoro’s cell and sees her boxing like crazy and fuck she’s so hot wtf but also she feels terrible for her and her blood boils as she learns of the abuse she went through

Telling herself she must be going absolutely insane (but is she? She feels like this is the right thing. It’s fate) she forges release documents to get Zoro out, sure that her knowledge of the under-city will help her understand where the corruption lies and get Zeff back

Zoro immediately does not follow what she’s saying and goes on her own thing (PARKOUR!) and she impresses her by being able to keep up

Zoro still gets lost and turned around

Are you sure you know the under-city, mosshead?

Zoro stops at a street food stall and Sanji is annoyed at first- as well as disgusted by how she shovels it in her mouth, but softens and silently rages when Zoro shares that she’s been starved a couple of times in Stillwater

Cue the brothel scene omg

Circling Sanji and pushing her up against a wall “You’re hot, cook. So what’ll it be, man or woman?”

Zoro walking by Sanji talking up another woman in the brothel after her talk with Nami (head of the brothel) and smiling to herself

Jayce is Franky who is experimenting with the crystals to create hextech, Viktor could be iceburg, Vivi is the hot politician lady (Mel)

Firelight is “Sogeking” - zoro and Luffy’s childhood friend Usopp (Ekko)

Also Taller than Zoro Sanji aaaaa

Zoro calling Sanji “officer” to annoy her - only switching to “cook” and “curly” as an alternative nickname

[overdecorated-furniture]

Fantasy Pic-crew - Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @simonnebethel, this tag game is amazing!

Rules: use this picrew to make yourself as a fantasy character, then make some of your OCs into fantasy characters or use ones from a fantasy story! Tag whoever you want to play next.

Here is myself:

Amser from Echoes:

And Briaca, who I haven’t formally introduced yet:

Gently tagging @caitlin-devlin, @cunlleaf, @tildeathiwillwrite, @annakayy, and @athenswrites. No pressure, only if you like!

Happy writing! 🌿