#challengers ruined me

[kendyzzlewp]

Long Ass Break

art donaldson drabble

pairing: art donaldson x fem!reader

tags: fluff, domestic, married life, husband!art donaldson, tennisplayer!reader, tournament, coach!patrick

word count: 629

__________________________________________

Art was worried.

He watched as you ran off the court, your hand over your mouth as you tried for the life of you not to puke all over the clay court. Your opponent stood there frustrated, arms crossed over her chest, a scowl evident on her face.

Minutes passed and the murmuring of the crownd began to get louder due to your absence. Art looked around, his left hand scratching his head, a gold wedding band reflecting in the sun. No sign of you yet.

He was worried. He warned you about this happening, the pros and cons about playing in the tournament. You were stubborn, determined to power through because you’ve encountered worse. This was a piece of cake. Being your husband, he supported you but mostly, he just wanted to avoid your bad side.

Art glanced at the door you disappeared behind, his leg shaking in anticipation. You still hadn’t returned. The umpire was about to call the game. You were going to lose by default after being close to winning the whole goddamned tournament.

Fuck it, he thought and stood up to go through that fucking door. His heart racing as he pushed people from your team, muttering excuse me and thank you or whatever the fuck they needed to hear.

He reached the closed bathroom door, leaning closer to hear your retching as your stomach rebelled against you. His knuckles knocked on the bathroom door, as a courtesy and then pushed the door open.

Inside the bathroom, you were hunched over the toilet, clearly in distress. Art's heart clenched at the sight. He quickly kneeled down beside you, placing a gentle hand on your back.

"Hey sweetheart," he said softly, trying to offer some comfort. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

You looked up, tears in your eyes, and managed to croak out, "You were right,” you admitted. “I need a break.”

Art's heart sank as he saw you so distressed and vulnerable. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his comforting embrace. You felt a little better, the nausea still lingered around your throat but the urge was gone.

“You need to rest,” he whispered into your hair, sound muffled. “It’s starting to take a toll on you.

You sighed, tired, sweaty and defeated. “I know. Just take me home.”

Patrick burst through the door, concern and disappointment etched all over his place. “What the fuck is going on? Why aren’t you playing?”

You rolled your eyes as Art helped you stand up on your shaky legs. “I need a break Pat,” you said, leaning on your husband for support. “I need a long ass break.”

“A break?” He asked, crossing his arms in disbelief. “When have you ever taken a break?”

“Fuck off, Patrick,” Art grumbled at his best friend, turned your coach. “She needs a fucking break.”

Patrick scoffed, the sound making Art’s grip tighten around you. “How long is this break supposed to be?”

“9 months.”

Patrick's eyes widened in shock as the weight of your words sank in. He looked from you to Art, realization dawned on him. You shifted uncomfortably, wanting to just go home and sleep for the rest of the year.

"You're pregnant?" he exclaimed, his voice filled with a mixture of surprise and understanding.

You nodded, leaning more heavily on Art for support. "Yes, I am."

Patrick's expression softened, his initial frustration melting away as he realized the gravity of the situation. "I... I had no idea.”

“Now you do,” Art rolled his eyes, his own concern for you evident but the annoyance toward Patrick even more prominent. "I just need to take her home before she throws up all over you.”

Patrick stepped aside, offering you a supportive smile. "Congratulations, you fuckers. Take all the time you need. We'll handle the tournament."

[inkskinned]

what is with men being mad any time a woman raises her voice where did that even come from. someone posted a video of a small electrical explosion, and the top comment was of course the woman screams. the second comment is women try not to scream challenge, level impossible. i had to go back and watch the video again. there is, somewhat fainty, a little gasp emitted off-camera, more of a yelp than a scream. it is mostly lost in the crack of the explosion. afterwards, you hear her voice, shaken, say, are you okay?

i am helping one of my friends train her voice pitch lower, because she wants to be taken seriously at work. she and i do each other's nails and talk about gender roles; and how - due to our appearance - neither of us have ever been able to be "hysterical" in public. we both appear young and sweet and feminine. she is cisgender, and cannot use her natural voice in her profession because people keep saying she appears to be "vapid". we both try to figure out if our purposeful voice lowering is technically sexist. is it promoting something when you are a victim to it?

a storm almost sends a pole through a car window. in the dashcam, you can hear the woman passenger say her partner's name twice, crying out in alarm. she sounds terrified. in the comments, she is lambasted for her lack of calm. how is that even fucking helping?

in high school, i taught myself to have a lower voice. i had been recorded when i was genuinely (and righteously) upset; and i hated how my voice sounded on the phone speakers when it was played back. i was defending my mom, and my voice cracked with emotion. it meant i was no longer winning the argument: i was just shrieking about it.

girls meet each other after a long summer and let out a little joyful scream. this usually stops around 12-14, because people will not tolerate this display of affection (as it has the effect of being passingly annoying). something about the fact that little girls can't ever even be annoying. we are trained to examine each part of our lives (even joy) for anything that could make us upsetting and disgusting. they act like teenage girls are breaking into houses and shrieking you awake at 3 in the morning. speaking as a public school educator: trust me, it's not that bad, you can just roll your eyes and move on. it does not compare to the ways boys end up being annoying: slurs in graffiti, purposefully mocking your body, following you after you said no. you know, just boy things.

there's another video of a man who is not allowed to yell in the house, so he snaps his fingers when he's excited about soccer. the comments are full of angry men, talking about how their brother is unfairly caged. let him express himself and this is terrible to do to someone. eventually the couple has to address it in a second video: they are married with a newborn baby. he was trying not to wake the infant up. there is no comment on the fact women are not allowed to yell indoors. or the fact that it could have been really alarming or triggering for his wife. sometimes i wonder if straight men even like women, if they even enjoy being in relationships with them.

for the longest time, i hated roller coasters because it always felt inappropriate and uncomfortable for me to scream. one of my friends called me on it, said it was unusual i'm so unwilling. i had to go to my therapist about it. i don't like to scream because i was not raised in a safe situation, and raising my voice would have brought unsafe attention towards me. even when i am supposed to scream, it feels shameful, guilty. i was not treated kindly, so i lack a basic form of self-protection. this is not a natural response. it is not good that in a situation of high adrenaline - i shut up about it.

something very bad is happening, i think. in between all the beauty standards and the stuff i've already discussed - this one feels new and cruel in a way i can't quite express. yes, it's scary and silencing. but there's something about how direct it is - that so many men agree with the sentiment that women should never yell, even in an emergency - it feels different.

is the word shriek gendered automatically? how about shrill or screech? in self defense class, one of the first things they tell you is to yell, as loud and as shrilly as you can. they say it will feel rude. most women will not do this. you need to practice overcoming the social pressure and just scream.

most women do not cry out, even when it's bad. we do not report it. we walk faster. we do not make a scene. what would be the point of doing anything else? no matter what we do, we don't get taken seriously. it is a joke to them. an instagram caption punchline. we have to present ourselves as silent, beautiful, captivating - "valuable."

a woman is outside watching her kids when someone throws a firecracker at them. she screams and runs towards her children. in the comments, grown men flock together in the thousands: god. women are so annoying.

[vcrnons]

S.COUPS Marie Claire Shoot Sketch

BONUS : a realtime transformation from cheollie<3 -> general leader s.coups

[fandom-trash-goblin]

MY BROTHER, MY WOUND

Violet Trefusis to Vita Sackville-West // Sharon Olds, “The Knowing” from Blood, Tin, Straw // Christopher Bursk, You Must Pay // rien ne va plus, margarita karapanau (trans. karen emmerich)// Forest Primeval, Vievee Francis // A Cruelty Special to Our Species, Emily Jungmin Yoon //Smoking the Bible, Chris Abani // Sharon Olds, from Stag’s Leap //Richard Siken, Wishbone/Sherman Alexie, “The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above // Monster Portraits, Sofia Samatar & Del Samatar // Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood // Louise Glück, Hesitate to Call

(part 1) (part 2)

for @jcs-singular-slut-strand

[starrystevie]

it's 2004 when steve finds himself back in hawkins for the first time since he moved away for good. he has a master's degree under his belt, a mortgage on a house outside of st. louis with a dog and picket fence, and a rockstar that wormed his way into his heart next to him in bed every night. he's closer to 50 than he is to 20 and life feels good, life feels settled, figured out in a way he never thought he'd get to see.

"you gonna tell me why you're shakin' like a leaf?"

but sitting across from wayne munson and his sharp gaze is enough to make him feel like a teenager again.

steve takes a sip from his glass of water before setting it down on the end table next to him and watches the way wayne's finger taps against the side of his coffee cup. it's like he's keeping rhythm with something that steve can't hear, like a drum beat in his head that proves that he's the reason eddie has musical talent.

"i'm fine," he responds back to wayne, a stilted smile crossing his face. wayne's gaze deepens like he he doesn't believe him. "i'm fine!"

there's a clock ticking somewhere in the living room and the faucet in the kitchen is dripping quietly and it makes the silence that falls between them even more deafening. steve takes in a deep breath and nods absently as he rubs his palms over his denim clad knees.

"is he in trouble?" wayne asks in a gruff voice, low and to the point. steve shakes his head immediately, stutters out something that sounds like no, and wayne looks at him with his eyebrows pinched together. "are you in trouble?"

"no, it's not-" steve stands up and paces out some of his nerves, hands shoved into his pockets so that he stops waving them around. he sighs and looks back at wayne. "it's nothing bad."

"if it ain't bad, then just say it."

steve groans and runs his hands through his hair. it's harder to do this than he thought it would be, quite possibly the hardest thing he's done in years and that's including having to admit to eddie that he does indeed like the stupid beard he grew as a dare from jeff. wayne is still staring at him with a determined look, like he won't let steve get away with any of his usual charming bullshit, and looks so much like eddie that it makes something in his heart explode.

"fine! i'm asking eddie to marry me and i need your permission or something. happy old man?" he finally says, or well, shouts. it's too loud in the quiet house and he can see wayne wince from the decibel he reaches but it's out. it's off his chest and he's finally said it.

and wayne is smiling.

seeing him smile is strange, not because he doesn't look good with a smile, but because it's not often that steve gets to bear witness to it. it starts off slow, clipped at the edges before it spreads to his cheeks and crinkles his eyes. steve's breathing hard when wayne stands up and wraps his hands around the tops of his shoulders. he can feel himself shaking under wayne's grip and from this close, he can see the tears that he knows wayne is fighting against.

"it's about damn time, boy. took you two long enough to pull your heads outta your backsides."

getting hugged by wayne is almost weirder than seeing him smile. it's short, to the point, with pats on backs and chuckles that break loose from steve's too tight chest. part of him wishes eddie were here to let him be a part of the moment, but it would ruin the surprise he's so carefully planned, so he revels in the rare time between just the two of them.

"had to wait for somewhere to allow it first, wayne," steve mutters as they pull apart and he feels hope unfurl somewhere within him when he says it.

"well, alright, i guess you're off that hook then. but y'know," wayne's sitting back down in his arm chair and steve does the same, matching grins plastered on their faces. "you don't need my permission. that boy is crazy over you and if you think you ain't a part of this family already, then you're crazier than he is."

steve looks around at the pictures on the shelf behind wayne's head. sees young eddie and wayne with arms around each other, sees a makeshift graduation picture, an out of focus one of the two of them outside their house in missouri, one of all three of them around the chritmas tree in '99 when they had wayne come down to see them, and he thinks, yeah. they're already a family. at least now it'll be paper official.

[crunchchute]

[bloodmaxxer]

nice

[emean-aep-sivney]

EIVOR VARINSDOTTIR

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Honor's Hubris "You meet the spirits this day, traitor."

[copypastus]

A bit of a rant under cut coz ACOFAS broke into my house, tore my heart from my chest and smashed my feelings with a sledgehammer.

Warning: Strong Feelings about a Fairy Book Xmas Special

Why is this book so fucking mean to Tamlin? Dude messed up at the beggining (with good intentions) but after a certain point he's doing everything right to make up. He drags Beron to help in battle. He save's Feyre from Hybern. He passes on the INCREDIBLE opportunity to be a petty bitch and revives Rhys with a 'Be happy Feyre' and then fucks off to be sad by himself. What more redemption do you want? What more can the dude possibly do?? Clearly nothing. As multiple characters just randomly think to themselves he's just the worst and no matter how much good he does it'll never make up for *checks notes* locking Feyre in a house that one time. Like I'm going crazy here. Dude's not doing anything anymore. Not like he's coming back with a vengance he's just highkey depressed in his sad house. And here's Morrigan thinking how much she'd like to kill him one day. Here's Rhys poping in to berrate him. God forbid he fixes things with Lucien. Stay miserable you sad fuck. Ok maybe he feels a little bad after but everyone assures him it's fine acctually. It's always moraly ok to bully Tamlin. You're the bigger male most times. ugh Then you think ok maybe he'll fix it, maybe there was a point to it all. Sure enough here comes Rhys again. His approach is a little better! 'Eat, Tamlin'. Wow did he get some godamn empathy for Solstice? But no he just can't help himself. 'You can waste and die when it's convenient for me. What you thought I'd actually had sympathy for you??'

I just??? it's so MEAN. so petty. If it was the villain Rhysand arc I'd be cheering. But I'm supposed to be rooting for this dude?? I thought it was a low stakes filler book where they exchange gifts and have a delightful little snowball fight. what is this???

[kendyzzlewp]

I didn’t know I was into pathetic man until I saw Challengers. Now it’s all I think about. Sad, pathetic, needy, blonde, fit men. Sigh.

[drawfee-quot3s]

i came as soon as i heard!! and then i. got he re .

- nathan

[fizzytoo]

despite knowing exactly what their agreement was, adrien couldn't help but want more

[daphnalia]

faerûns most sarcastic, grudgeful, no-nonsense girlboss

[maprron]

Redraw for @fairytail-redraw🩷💙

[amid-fandoms]

dan and phil are simultaneously the reason i'm in a reading slump and also a big motivator for me to pick up my books again especially dan mentioning camus in the last vid. just looking at my 10 shelves of classics makes me want to devour them but instead i just open dapg and rewatch things that have been engraved in my brain for ages

[ralvezfanatic]

love reading Spencer x Reader HCs that they're like "he loves the size difference between you !! its so cute how short you are >_<"

like did yk tall people exist ? like if ur talking abt women.. there are tall women as well

or like "he loves how easy you are to pick up and carry around :3 and how he can manhandle you with no issue teehee"

first of all, that man is a twig idk abt him picking up anyone with ease.. l

secondly, oooh bigger ppl exist !! who cannot always be easily carried or manhandled !! especially by Spencer. maybe another character, but Spencer ?? are we talking about the same Spencer ?? Spencer Reid ?? nuh-uh !!

That guy doesn't manhandle anyone !! he isnt rough with anybody bro. ur lucky if he soft doms you. (this one is js my person opinion)

i swear, some x reader fics are either some x oc or a x self insert

idk if its js cuz im a guy, but i cannot stand x reader stuff where they make Reader some short skinny girl ?? cuz what abt other Readers who are tall or chubby/plus sized.

its so annoying omg ??