#my heart was GOING during that event jesus christ

[becauseplot]

god that event was so cool, and us philza viewers got FED. phil spending the time beforehand building his arsenal. phil staying away from the crowds and checking in with fit and etoiles throughout the dinner. immediately clocking the fact that "chayanne" and "tallulah" weren't actually his kids. phil lurking in the back of the room, watching everyone get on stage for the photo, talking to forever about how skeptical he is, and just barely seeing his "kids" go code before being knocked out by the crash.

coming back to chaos. the goddamn stream music as he went toe to toe with the imposter code monsters. chat going fucking ballistic with "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD." cellbit telling everyone else to back off so phil can one-v-one the monster impersonating his son and take revenge. forgetting all of his preparations and just going full-on, old-school pvp sweat mode while being assisted by etoiles, the only guy on the server who wants the code dead just as much as he does. getting in the final hit and getting to see Chayanne was slain by [CODE BREAKER] in chat.

the real tallulah and chayanne showing up. his kids hugging him and hugging each other and asking him if he's alright and him admitting that he's a "little shaken up" but he's just glad they're okay. taking them home, putting them into bed, and collapsing back into his chair like everything that's happened has just come rushing back, a tidal wave of exhaustion as the adrenaline crash and relief come down on him.

like. holy fuck.

[bellewintersroe]

Carlos Sainz x CelebEx! Reader 18+.

Carlos’ ex, world famous model, actress and, much loved F1 presenter, Lila Maynard bumps into him during the Italian GP and she confronts him about his hypocrisy 🙄🙄 (arguments and ensue and we see how Carlos most definitely makes it up to Lila).

what do you all think of Isa’s tik toks? I’m living for her liking all the shady comments, she’s a queen.

“Tanti auguri a te, tanti auguri a te!” I winced in confusion, recognising the tune of ‘Happy birthday’ being chimed out in Italian. September 1st, there was only one person I knew celebrated on that day and that was my ex boyfriend of six months, Carlos Sainz. Fuck. “Tanti auguri a Carlos, tanti auguri a te!”

“Hip, hip hooray.” I sarcastically muttered to myself, keeping my head down and walking out of the hotel, a wall separating the Carlos frenzy crowd and I. Thank god, my stomach churned just at the thought of catching sight of my ex boyfriend. We had been separated for almost six months, and not spoken in five. Despite working on the grid, interviewing drivers I was strictly able to avoid the Ferrari garages, occasionally I’d go speak with Charles, but it was difficult seeing as Carlos was always nearby, watching me with these puppy eyes that made me want to gauge my eyes out. You see, Carlos seemed to move on pretty quickly with a beautiful model, our two year relationship clearly meaning nothing more than one month to him. Four weeks. That’s all it took, it sickened me to the core. I still had an internalised anger directed towards him, but it was squashed when I stepped out from behind the wall and was suddenly face to face with an innocent looking Carlos.

Hooray…

My breath hitched and out of pure panic, I began with a breathless; “happy-” but I was cut off when a beautiful, tall brunette appeared by Carlos’ side. Carlos looked stunned, mouth open as his eyes were wide staring at me. The girl looked me up and down before staring right back to the Spanish man. She hooked her arm around his protectively. My jaw fell slightly agape and I nudged my chin up in acknowledgement. “-Birthday.” The words fell flat, as did the harsh pounding of my heart. It dropped all the way to the bottom of my stomach as I turned away in a revolted shock.

I strode straight past him, plastering the most fake smile over my face as I waved to people yelling out my name. As soon as I climbed in the back of the car I was a trembling mess. Jesus fucking Christ, that couldn’t have been more awkward. I felt the tears well up as I stared directly down to my cream pants, the camera flashes from out the window capturing me in the most vulnerable moment as I attempted to shield my face, swiping at the tears. Hours later, the images were sprawled all across social media. Images of my head down, tears stained down my cheeks, images of me directly across from Carlos, stood face to face with him and the girl pinned as his new ‘lover’. It wasn’t the same girl as I’d seen all over tik tok, Instagram and Twitter all those months ago. Still, it bothered me. Really bad. It seemed social media was having a frenzy over the cringe worthy interaction, people were trolling Carlos saying it was his ‘birthday canon event’ to bump into me. I truly had no desire to head out that evening, but I knew wallowing in a hotel room on a Friday night would do me no good, so I was two glasses of wine down with three of my friends when I heard a very familiar tune. “Tanti auguri a te…” I groaned, dropping my head onto my arm, rested on the table below. “End my fucking life. Now.” I muttered.

“Oh, Lila.” Taylor sighed, twisting a strand of my hair. Listening to what seemed to be the whole bar singing happy birthday to my ex boyfriend was the final straw for me, I took off early. But not before I took one final trip to the toilet.

On my way out, I audibly sighed at the heavy feeling lingering over my chest. When would this ever end? I pushed my lipgloss and phone back into my bag as I stepped out from around the corner. I wasn’t looking where I was going and bumped directly into another body.

“Oh, fuck!” I blinked a few times, stepping back. “I’m so sorry-” my apology fell flat when I looked up and caught sight of the stranger- stranger.

“I- wanted to talk to you…” two pairs of familiar hands were on my shoulders, easing me as my stomach filled with nerves instantaneously. It was Carlos. He must’ve heard the way my breath hitched, his hands slowly dropping as we just stared back to one another.

“Talk to me?” I swallowed, “in the girls bathroom?”

“Actually… here is fine, Lila.” My eyes fluttered shut as I pitched the bridge of my nose momentarily. “I- look, happy birthday and well done in practice and all, but- I-I really don’t want to do this Carlos.” I admitted as he swallowed harshly. The first thing that gave away he was nervous.

“I just wanted to say sorry from earlier.” The Spanish man muttered. I avoided looking at him, if I stared for too long I’d fall in love or a deep hatred all over again for him. Maybe both. I didn’t want to know how his hair was longer, or his smile didn’t blossom so big anymore- the small details like scars, freckles, things that would all come back to me if I looked at him a little too long.

“Why? What-what about earlier?” I stammered.

“I saw you upset. I don’t want to make you upset.” My jaw tensed as I stared down to the floor below. “I- can you look at me?” He attempted to reach forwards, but I took a whole step back.

“No.”

“No?”

“No, Carlos. I can’t.” I responded firmly. “You can’t look at me?” He sounded hurt now, exactly how I’d been feeling all day. For the past six months in fact. Maybe I was being irrational, but it didn’t bother me to care, I felt so humiliated and betrayed by this man, worst of all I still loved him. If I looked back at him I know I’d break down.

“Please.” He lowered his voice, stepping ever so slightly forwards as I felt my eyes prick, my teeth grinding down on a certain point of my cheek to prevent any from falling. “Let me explain, Lila, everything.” His voice was on edge, cracking with each word. There went the tears. I blinked up, rolling my eyes at my pathetic ability to hold any tears away. I wiped at the one that fell quickly. He looked taken back, saddened, just as he was about to reach forwards to console me, I thought, fuck it, what’s the point in holding back now? “Explain what? How you moved on after four fucking weeks Carlos? Or-or why you’re talking to me when your fucking girlfriend is sat in there.” My hand gestured as I spoke harshly. I stared directly back to him, he was shaking his head in rejection of my words and it fired me up almost instantly. “No-”

“Oh, don’t even try to deny it. I saw everything, all the models, all the yachts, were you spiteful of me?? For making the decision to end something that wasn’t fucking leading anywhere?” Maybe that wasn’t so correct, but in my blinded rage I didn’t care, I wanted my words to be as harsh as possible. I wanted to cause maximum disruption the way he’d caused me. Maybe that was the wine talking… or maybe it wasn’t… “No, no.” He shook his head, the frustration growing on his face. “We are not doing this here, bebé.” The accidental pet name flew a dagger directly into my chest, twisting and snagging on my heart the longer I stared back to him.

“I’m not your-” I cut myself off seeing another, oddly familiar face walking around the corner. I was sure she was extremely familiar to Carlos too.

“Carlos… what’s going on?” The English girl questioned, she eyed back to me and in that moment I felt uncomfortably sorrowful for her. She hadn’t exactly done anything wrong.

“I’m just… sorting some things out, I’m sorry, you should go.” He muttered as I cringed for the girl, my stomach churning at the rejection. Although it was deep down what I wanted, that was an extremely spiteful thought of me.

“Okay.” She awkwardly spoke, eyeing me up once more. “I am sorry.” Carlos muttered. “Um… it’s fine.” The poor girl paused for a couple more seconds, obviously contemplating what the hell had just happened. I could only stare at the wall in complete awkwardness, questioning how this could possibly get any worse? Part of me just wanted to walk away, the other part of me physically and emotionally couldn’t. Carlos let out a deep sigh once she’s headed around the corner, away from the two of us. “I had only met her twice.” He spoke, much calmer now. “That was mean.” “I know..” he quietly spoke as a silence took over us when a few more people walked past to go into the toilets.

“Was that who I thought it was?” One girl muttered to her friend, her voice echoing down the hallway. “Should we ask for a picture?”

“Lila, please. Can we go somewhere quieter.” Carlos asked at the perfect time. Hearing the girls turning around I or back up to him, desperate to avoid the eyes of onlooker that could spread dreaded tales around social media. Carlos took me to an empty room upstairs, nobody was there, no staff, nothing. He locked the huge wooden door behind us both as I awkwardly lingered by a table. It must’ve been some kind of function room, a small one that wasn’t in use. I was positive we weren’t allowed up here, but from the looks of things, nobody noticed, and the cameras were all pulled from their hinges, hanging off wires sadly. “I had only met her twice.” Carlos repeated his words from downstairs. I leant back on a table as he stood in front of me, pacing slightly. “And your girlfriend on the yacht?” I stared to the ground below. You could feel the vibrations from the music, and as the clock was striking 9 I slowly lost any desire to be in here.

“Not my girlfriend.” He shook his head. “I needed a- distraction.” He fumbled over his English slightly as my heart swelled. I dragged my nails slightly over the skin in a bid to rid the warm feeling.

“Estaba enojado.” (I was angry). His voice sounded more deflated as he stood still, picking the wood of the table below. “Why?” My voice borderline whispered. “Because…” he began in English again but his voice came to an abrupt stop. “Porque pensé que ya no me amabas.” (Because I thought you did not love me anymore).

It took me a couple seconds to piece the Spanish together. “What does that-” I froze, head tilting up to him. “You didn’t think I loved you anymore?”

Carlos shook his head, tensing his jaw as he stared down to the table below. “So-so you wanted to back at me?” My voice lowered, the anger sizzling out of my body. The thought of him believing I didn’t love him hurt. It made me feel sorrowful, remorseful, and for the first time, understanding of why he did what he did.

Carlos now nodded with a yes and I pushed myself to stand up straighter, so we were a little closer. “I always loved you. I still do.” I watched his movements stop at my admission.

“That’s why it just hurt so bad to- to see them in my place after four weeks.”

“It was 3.” He then commented as I froze again. “3 weeks. If we are being honest.”

A dizziness ran through me, a sickness like no other as I stared back to him now, bottom lip trembling.

“Me convierte en una mala persona.” “Stop with the Spanish, I don’t understand.” My voice trembled as his head snapped up. He always spoke Spanish as a safety barrier, so I couldn’t exactly always tell what he was opening up about, especially when he was nervous. “It makes me a bad person, Lila.” He reached out, smoothing a hand over my cheek. I shook my head as a ‘no’ but he had already began nodding. “Yes.”

I nudged his hand away, my head dropping as I let out as light sob. “No, no, no.” He panicked, “ven aquí.” (Come here). Carlos pulled me into his chest as I attempted to hold back the cries I wanted so desperately to let out.

“No, no, no.” He muttered again, rubbing up and down my bare arm as I took a deep breath, wiping under my eyes carefully. “They didn’t come close.” Carlos then spoke. “They didn’t come close to you. I love you, and always you.” His words festered something deep inside of me, a feeling that I couldn’t control. It was the exact same warmth and comfort I felt around him, the way our soul’s felt connected- it was an irreplaceable feeling to say the least.

“Carlos.” I whispered, turning up as he began using his thumbs to swipe away my tears. “I hate you.” I whispered, the words lacking any sense or meaning as he sadly smiled, running a hand down my hair. “I know.”

“I really hate you.” I pathetically spoke, both his hands holding either side of my face. He looked mesmerised, strands of hair was brushed over my face, his mouth was agape as we both stepped closer.

“I know.” Carlos muttered even quieter, his head dropping as my eyes fell onto his lips. On my toes, I met him half way. I love you… I didn’t know what was happening in that moment, but it was like we automatically met half way, our lips landing on one another’s in a hungry kiss. Our teeth clashed dramatically, body’s bouncing against the tables and chairs behind us, all without breaking apart the kiss.

My hands pulled him closer, desperate to feel him, all of him. One of his hands firmly held the back of my head, the other pulled my waist into his, forcing our bodies tightly together. A desperation inside me mixed with how heated the kiss was had my hands flying towards his belt. “Please. Carlos, please.” I whispered, giving into all attempts of putting a barrier up. I needed him, and he needed me. He let out a slight moan of agreement, refusing to the break the kiss.

I began undoing his belt swiftly, feeling his hands tug up on the short dress I wore as he fell to his knees. My hands disconnected from his belt and held onto the table behind me for stability. My breathing was heavy and laboured, and I couldn’t even think straight as he yanked my underwear down, not even getting them fully off my legs before his mouth attached to my pussy.

“Oh- fuck.” I gasped, eyes rolling back at the pleasurable sensation. His tongue was warm and wet against my core, his fingers tightened around my hips, yanking them up onto the table once he’d freed me from my underwear. I didn’t bother being quiet, the music downstairs would drown out my moans, and I was pretty sure nobody would venture up here anyway.

“Carlos.” I gasped, my fingers tugging on the ends of his long hair, the familiarity driving me insane as I dropped my head back, riding his mouth as he slurped and licked, groaning against my pussy as he pushed his mouth deeper, sucking and nipping.

I let out a cry of pleasure, tugging harshly at his locks until he let out a moan at the pain, breaking apart. He stared at me for a second, a look of complete shock in his eyes. There was a second just of our heavy breathing before he moved back in, pushing my thighs further apart, biting at my flesh, kissing and licking.

“Please.” I begged for nothing in particular. “Please, please.” My head fell up to the wooden roof, my voice barely above a whisper. I felt him move up, the sound of his belt fully unbuckling stirred me again, Carlos tucked his hand, engulfing the back of my head and pushing his forehead against my own.

“Nadie comparado contigo.” (Nobody compared to you). I moaned at the familiarity of his words, feeling the tip of his cock push against my entrance.

“Te amo. te amo.” (I love you. I love you). Carlos filled me up, wiping at the tear stains on my cheeks, lips pressed against to my forehead as his hot breath fanned against my skin. I shuddered at the fullness he made me feel, fingers snatching at the smooth of his shirt, bunching it up as it untucked from his pants below. I kissed him tenderly, feeling the thrusts of his hips begin. Carlos moved closer, nudging his face up against the side of mine, lips brushing against the shell of my ear. With each moan and breath he took, it heightened my own pleasure.

Our breaths and pants mixed together, the table squeaked and scraped on the floor below, Carlos slammed a hand down, groaning as he bit into my shoulder, pushing down the spaghetti straps as I freed my breasts, allowing him to grab a handful. His eyes roamed over my face, my eyes, lips, breasts, where he fucked into me, he was beginning to sweat, moving constantly between kissing me and pulling back to thrust into me faster, harder. I was in intense bliss, my pussy tightened and clenched constantly, with each tension Carlos would groan, gripping onto my arm tighter as he fucked harder into me.

“Fuck me, Carlos- oh my- god!” I whined, hearing him moan properly, his legs hitting against the table causing it to screech harder against the floor. We were loud, animalistic, soon enough, Carlos had spun me around and fucked into me from behind as I grasped onto the table for support.

The press of his cock constantly slamming against my g spot made me yell out in pleasure, breathing harshly. “Quiero que te corras para mi.” He dirty talked, arching over my body to press against my own. His fingers slotted under me, rubbing over my aching clit as I bucked my hips wildly back into his.

“Please, please, Lila.” He begged as I choked out a moan, my eyes screwing tightly shut. He was fucking harshly into me, skin slapping against my own as one of his hand trembled against my shoulder, gripping my harshly. Something about his begs and groans had the knot in my stomach tightening harsher than ever. His fingers worked against my clit, faster and faster as I gasped out loud.

“Oh fuck- Carlos-” I borderline slurred, crying out as I dropped a hand over his fingers, feeling one of his curling over mine. My legs were shaking and I felt paralysed with tension as it took one more thrust before I was tipping over the edge, crying and moaning out, gasping and pleading his name as I came undone, my orgasm paralysing my whole body. My pussy throbbed, his thrusts continuing as Carlos’ groaned became louder. “Cum inside me, I want you inside of me.” I choked out, coming down from my overwhelming orgasm. Carlos’ hand slapped against my ass, gripping me closer as he slammed his hips into mine before letting out a loud growl and unloading his seed inside of me. High on his orgasm, Carlos fell on top of me, panting and moaning as he slowly bucked his hips through the pleasure. I was a gasping, sweating mess, my eyes closed as I rested on my hand which was flat to the table, letting out one last coo of a moan feeling Carlos’ lips press to my upper back.

We remained in that position for a few more moments before my legs began to tremble with the ache of half kneeling on the table, the other supporting me with the tip of my toe touching the floor. My heel had falling off during the love making, so when I stepped down I fell straight onto the cold of my feet. Carlos shifted, lifting his body off me as I turned around, standing up as I brushed my hair down. I couldn’t believe what had just happened, there was an element of shock to the whole situation, it all happened so fast. I bit down on my lip, watching him tug his boxers back over himself and his jeans back up, zipping and doing the button. He paused before he did his belt, glancing back up to me. Carlos reached out, smoothing my hair down on one side with a soft smile. I offered one back, pulling my dress straps back over my shoulders.

Carlos’s eyes dropped to my ribcage before I covered myself with my dress. “New tattoo?” He poked at the skin, “Mmmh. A couple months ago.” I shyly spoke, giggling when he eyed up my breasts slightly.

“Don’t.” I quietly spoke, but it didn’t have much authority behind it. “I have seen it all before.” He turned his head away when I asked him to, fastening his belt.

“Still.” My lips were crooked as I awkwardly searched for my underwear, feeling his seed spill out of me as I grimaced. “Here.” Carlos smiled, handed me the black fabric over, holding it out on his palm when he retrieved it from the floor. Embarrassed, I swiped it from his hold, pulling them on quickly as they caught the liquid that was beginning to seep out of me. I cringed, uncomfortable with the sensation as Carlos let out a small laugh, tucking his shirt back into his pants.

I glanced up, smiling shyly before looking around the room a little awkwardly. “¿Estás bien?” (Are you okay?). “Sí.” I giggled as he let out a closed mouth exhale of laughter, buttoning up his shirt which had popped open previously.

“Are you?”

“Sí.” He nodded, sighing and glancing back to me. “I don’t really hate you.” I muttered after glancing over his face. Carlos hummed in laughter in response, reaching out and swiping his thumbs under my eye. The gentle movement made my heart flutter as I couldn’t help but properly gaze over his face, disbelief setting in as I watched back to my ex boyfriend.

“I don’t.” I shrugged, feeling swipe what must’ve been fallen mascara. His hand rested on my cheek, moving in to kiss me softly as I felt myself swooning even harder. “Will you come with me tomorrow- ah with me to qualifying?” The Spanish man asked.

I felt my chest tighten, I reached out to soften the crease in his white shirt. “You want me to?”

“I want you to.” Carlos seriously nodded as I nodded. “Okay.” I whispered. He smiled again, taking me by the hand and easing me forwards, unlocking the door we locked. We didn’t really acknowledge the fact we’d just fucked like rabbits in such a public area, the two of us escaped the bar, giggling and ignoring the paparazzi. “You come out here with one girl and leave with another.” I kicked his foot, resting my hand over his thigh.

“Don’t say that.” He very quickly spoke, clearly looking a little awkward as we shared a laugh. I leant forwards, kissing his cheek. “Happy birthday, Carlos….”

The whole ‘ex boyfriend’ didn’t last too much longer after that, it was clear to say hooking up in a run down, attic bar magically solved something between Carlos and I…

[couldawouldashoulda50]

From Completely Different Worlds

A/N - Introducing a fic idea I had after the Maple Leaf's annual Easter Seals Skate event. I decided to try and write a something I know a little bit about, having worked as a PSW several years ago. I reached out to @misshoneyimhome about the idea and she graciously agreed to collaborate with me on this fic. Together we have spun ideas and I cannot thank her enough for reading through my long ramblings and giving feedback and encouragement, all the while she's got her own life to tend to. Brief Synopsis - this is a strangers to lovers trope with William Nylander and OC Loren Girard. William and Loren meet at the Easter Seals skate and sparks fly. Loren is cautious and shy as she still suffers from the memories from her ex-boyfriend after years of exploiting her every vulnerability. William of course is the polar opposite and they each feel a strong and instant connection with their first meeting. The two are truly from completely different worlds but a deep admiration grows between them....and this is their journey. Warnings - profanity, seizure disorder Word count - 5.3k

Chapter One - The Easter Seals Skate

“Jesus Christ Loren…you’re gonna end up killing me,” Gary said, his low and gruff voice travelling up to her ears from the back of the van.  Gary’s specific speech pattern always elongated words, like an unintentional drawl, and Loren could only groan and roll her eyes as a response.

“Hey - enough out of you.  It’s either you or me, pal…. I’d like to see you try driving in this traffic.  It’s insane…” Loren retorted, nodding towards the heavily congested westbound 401 highway in Toronto.

“A three-year-old could drive better than you” Gary quipped followed by his slow but voracious laughter.

“Jeeesus Gary - cool it, I gotta listen for the directions or else I’m going to end up getting lost.  Then you can forget about getting to the arena before our session starts,” Loren warned as her brows furrowed, trying to navigate the hydraulic mobility van towards the required exit off the highway.

Gary got the message and didn’t make another peep.

Loren manoeuvred the van from Kipling Avenue through the parking lot entrance of the Ford Performance Centre where the annual Skate for Easter Seals Kids with the Maple Leafs was to take place.

Loren breathed a long sigh of relief when she saw accessible parking spots available near the entrance for the skate participants. She carefully pulled into a spot, ensuring there was enough room for the wheelchair ramp to extend from the passenger side.

Loren sat still for a moment to try and settle her nerves.  Not only did the drive from Aurora to their current location in Toronto feel like she was driving in a Formula One race at certain points, but she was also about to take one of her most treasured people to meet members of the Maple Leafs.  She was beyond excited for him to finally have his dream come true and the anticipation made her heart race and stomach flip all at once.

It was during a long double shift at the group home, where Loren worked as a support worker, when she found the fundraiser for Easter Seals.  The fundraiser would allow participants a chance to skate with members of the Maple Leaf organization, players both active and alums.

Armed with a rush of adrenaline, she sifted through the information packets on the Easter Seals website, and mentally formulated a plan to make this happen for Gary.

With permission, Loren posted excerpts of Gary’s history, including his exceedingly difficult beginnings, where several of Gary’s medical issues went undiagnosed for far too long before coming into the folds of the subsidized organization he now was with.  Loren posted pictures of Gary’s ultimate Maple Leaf fandom; his signature blue bedroom, Maple Leaf throw blanket and matching pillows, banners, pictures, hockey cards and the unlicensed and unnamed Maple Leaf Jersey he bought for himself years ago from a large discount chain store.

With the added help of Loren’s parents, the registration fee was generously covered and overall, Gary’s campaign was extremely successful with raising just over $7,500.00 for Easter Seals.  Eventually, Gary and Loren received the big news that they were selected to attend the skate with the Leafs event.

Because of the work she put in to make this happen, naturally Loren was chosen from the staff to go with Gary to the Leaf’s practice facility.  Aside from being the obvious choice, Loren could skate which made this even more exciting in Gary’s mind.

Gary could not imagine a more perfect day; his favourite worker, speeding him around on the ice and being introduced to as many Leafs players as possible.

As March inched along, Gary had Loren make a giant red ‘X” on each day that had passed off his Maple Leaf calendar which Loren bought him for Christmas.   Although Loren’s financial situation was not terribly flexible, she wanted to ensure Gary had at least a few presents to open, having no family of his own.  Loren’s family has unofficially adopted Gary and always helped Loren with gifts to give Gary for Christmas’ and birthdays.

A few days before the event, Gary was constantly asking Loren questions about the details of the day.  Every day, he asked the same questions:

Does she know how to get there?

Are her skates sharp?

How long is the drive?

What time do we leave?

Will the whole team be there?

What is she wearing?

And every day she answered him, jokingly telling him if he asks her this stuff again, she’ll have to get the duct tape out.

When March 15th finally arrived, Gary had awakened excessively early; he had been bathed, shaved and was dressed in all of his Leaf gear hours before Loren’s arrival.  He wheeled himself back and forth from one room to another all throughout the morning, trying to pass the time before Loren walked through the door.

Loren arrived well before her shift began at 10:30. The very moment she stepped through the door, Gary’s already at her to get ready to leave.

“Thought you’d never get here” Gary said in his typical teasing manner, as Loren removed her boots at the door.

Loren glanced over at Kathy, her co-worker, and shook her head, as she smirked to herself.

Kathy stepped back and crossed her arms, looking at Loren “And look at you there, Miss I’m-gonna-get-me-a-hot-hockey husband today…you with your Matthews jersey on.  Isn’t he single?  If he is, one look at you in his jersey, he may not be for long,” Kathy said with an over-pronounced wink.

“Aren’t you the one looking for a hot husband?  ‘Cause it sure ain’t me…” Loren teased back.  “I wouldn't mind meeting Nylander though - I like his game.  Oh, no, maybe not…I’d get all tongue-tied and not be able to speak - I bet he’s way too like ‘I’m the guy’”, Loren said, mimicking a snob.

“Oh - if only Shanahan was single, I’d climb him in a heartbeat.   Just to be a hot 25-year-old again…” Kathy sighed with a smile, acting overly dramatic.

“Are you talking about me?  I’m 29 and broke…that pretty much sums me up” Loren muttered, followed by a chuckle.  “And you already have a husband, anyway”.

Kathy laughed “Ahhh yes, that old lump on the couch this morning…my husband. He said he hopes you see Jake McCabe - maybe get a picture of him and send it along if you can?  Mmmmm - he’s another one I’d love to have some alone time with”, Kathy said, not quite under her breath.

“Jesus, Kathy…. go and cool off outside” Loren quipped.  “But yeah, for sure, I’ll try…all I know is that there’s two rinks and the players are split between the two, so there’s no guarantee which player will be at which rink”.

“Will you two just stop your yapping - let’s gooooo…” Gary said impatiently as he backed his wheelchair away from the kitchen table and headed toward the front door.

Kathy and Loren stand there watching Gary with their arms crossed.

“Gary, I know you can tell time.  I’m actually early…I’m not even supposed to be here right now” Loren reminded Gary, knowing he is anxious to get on the road.  “Look, I know this is important but hey - I’m the whole reason you’re getting to do this so cut me some slack, ok?  We’ll be on our way soon, I promise,” Loren said gently.

“Gary was up at 6am apparently, so Julie got him bathed at least before her shift ended,” Kathy added.  “Hopefully you’re not going to be too tired to even have any fun there, Gary”.

“Alright, listen Gary, we’ll have to take the 401 there since we can’t use the toll route - sorry buddy.  I just can’t afford the fees to take the 407 even though it would get us there faster.  We need to be there an hour before your session starts, ok?  So, I’ll get that neck pillow for you…so you can snooze on the ride down?  It might do you some good if you do,” Loren said, patting Gary’s shoulder.

Loren busied herself gathering all the supplies and wheelchair accessories that Gary would need for the afternoon.  Loren silently reminded herself repeatedly to get the anti-tip bars for his manual wheelchair that were removed previously for some unknown reason.

It’s not long before Loren has accounted for all of his medical and personal supplies packed in a backpack and hung it on the back of Gary’s chair.

As Loren washed her hands in the washroom, she took a long look in the mirror and recounted the light-hearted exchange with Kathy.

29 and broke Loren thought to herself.

29, broke, and single came the next thought.

Loren paused at the sink; her head dropped as she inhaled deeply.

29 and healthy.

Broke but a homeowner.

Single and free.

These thoughts entered her mind and quickly superseded the negativity.  This is what she chose to remind herself of when she got down on herself.

Not wanting to tempt fate - or maybe it’s just logical given Toronto traffic - Loren decided to leave 45 minutes early just to ensure they were guaranteed extra time.  After all, loading and unloading Gary from the van was nothing like the average person getting in and out of a vehicle.  Ramps had to be lowered, hydraulics had to be in working order, vehicle safety checks, and harnesses had to be fastened to multiple spots on his wheelchair and tightened to ensure his wheelchair would not shift during the ride.

It wasn't long after Loren pulled the van onto the highway to head down to Toronto, she looked in the rearview mirror to see Gary’s head leaning on his neck pillow, fast asleep.

Now that Loren had reached the arena, even though she was a bit frazzled, she shook off her anxiety. She hopped down from the driver’s seat and opened the van's side door. One by one, Loren released Gary’s wheelchair from the multiple harnesses. As she wheeled him onto the hydraulic ramp, a group of kids walking by watched as Loren lowered the ramp using the control panel.

One of the kids passing by called out how cool Gary’s van was which made him laugh, and he followed up with a wave.  Loren was relieved as in her experience, kids on the occasion had not always been kind to Gary, or others she had supported who were disadvantaged.

Loren grabbed her freshly sharpened skates, locked the van and navigated herself and Gary to the entrance, where they would be signed in for their session.

There were throngs of people everywhere, but thanks to the friendliness of the multiple coordinators and volunteers, Loren was directed to the proper stations, and eventually, the pair were cleared to enter the doors for Rink #1.  Not long after, Loren was able to find a suitable spot to change into her skates.

Gary quietly sat in his chair, taking it all in.  Loren watched his expression from time to time wondering if, given his past, how he must be truly feeling to be inside this rink, on the cusp of meeting his beloved team.  The team that was likely the only constant thing he ever had in his life.

Once Loren was ready to go, another volunteer ushered them toward the gate that would be the easiest to head out on the ice with a wheelchair.  By some small miracle, Loren and Gary were amongst the first in line, and eventually, the gate was opened, and they headed out onto the ice.

As if he was meant to do a rookie lap, Loren skated around the perimeter with Gary first, and then toward the middle of the ice as more people began to arrive.

Loren could hear Gary chuckling and a quiet “wooooo” would escape from his mouth every so often.

It was when Gary first spotted Ryan Reaves come out onto the ice that he really let his excitement show.  Ryan was followed by Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe and John Tavares.  There were people milling about everywhere looking to get as close as possible to each of the players making an entrance.

“Holy shit, Gary - do you see them? I cannot believe you’re going to get a chance to meet them!” Loren said, leaning over his shoulder.  “Who do you want to try meet first?”

“Yeah - let’s do Reavo…” Gary said, loud enough for his voice to carry.

As Loren looked to her right, she could see Auston Matthews signing autographs from the bench along the boards.  Gary hollered “Auston Matthews” loud enough for Auston to look over and wave.

Loren found herself even more star-struck than Gary. Her cheeks, which had started as a nice rosé, now felt like they were blazing just from seeing the players she had only ever seen on TV.

Ryan looked over his shoulder as Loren and Gary approached the line to meet him.  Loren certainly stood out to Ryan as she effortlessly and gracefully skated with a wheelchair through the obstacle of people whether they were in wheelchairs, sledges, on foot, or on skates.

Ryan finished up with a small group of kids that had surrounded him and eventually made his way over to greet the pair.

“Hey - how’s it goin?  I’m Ryan,” he said, extending his large first for a bump with Gary’s.

“I’m Gary….and this is the old ball and chain,” Gary said dryly as he pointed over his shoulder.

Ryan’s laughter reverberated off the boards and the glass.

“Really Gary? Jeeeezus,” Loren laughed, extending her hand to the handsome and towering forward.  “I’m Loren, Gary’s support person”.

In mere seconds, Gary had launched into a one-man comedy routine, and teasing Loren became the main act.  Gary had always had an extremely dry sense of humour and Ryan’s boisterous laugh only further encouraged Gary’s comedic attacks on Loren.

It wasn’t long before Ryan had motioned for a few of his teammates to come over and hear his new buddy, Gary, incessantly rib his beautiful support worker, who (thankfully) seemed to be able to laugh along with Gary’s sarcastic repartee.

“Hey - Willy!” Ryan hollered, followed by a very pronounced wave for him to come over.

As Loren glanced to her left, she was not at all prepared for the immediate and intense feeling of raging butterflies in her stomach as William Nylander skated towards the group, smiling wide as he scanned the faces standing there.

“Willy, you gotta meet Gary here,” Ryan motions to Gary, and Gary extends his fist towards William for a quick touch of their fists.

“Hey Gary - nice to meet you, man”, William grinned.  He looked to Loren and introduced himself.

“Hi there, I’m Willy,” he said, flashing his usual debonaire smile.

Loren could feel the sudden pressure of blood rushing to her face.  Her brain was telling her to keep calm, which she came to realise that she was failing miserably at.

“Um, hi - yeah, I know…I’m…uh…” Loren trailed off, visibly flustered as her mind went completely blank.

5-alarm heat had risen into Loren’s neck and face, enough to elicit a layer of perspiration under her collar.

Gary batted Loren’s arm, shaking his head and scoffing at her as she tried to collect herself enough to even utter her name.

“Sorry…. Will - um, yeah…. I’m Loren, Gary’s support person” she managed to finally say, shaking William’s hand.

Fuck Loren…. good work, nice job she chastised herself in her mind.

As though Gary could read Loren’s thoughts, he muttered as he says “Good job” over shoulder to Loren, scoffing once again and chuckles as the rest of the group does the same.

“She can’t even remember her name and she gets paid to look after me”, Gary said as he continued his teasing remarks toward Loren.  “Christ, she almost killed me on the way here with her driving,” he said, a little too matter-of-factly.

The group of players erupted with laughter.

“Gary - ” Loren began to warn.

“You know what she does?  She jabs me with my insulin needle” Gary chuckles.

“Gary - I do not jab - “ Loren’s mouth dropped, and she glanced apologetically around at the group, shaking her head as she started to laugh.

Gary kept going with his chirps. “I don’t know if she’ll even be able to get me home…. she’ll get lost.  Christ, she gets lost in a parking lot”.

That did it.  Loren hung her head in defeat as Gary slapped the arm of his wheelchair laughing loudly.

More laughter from the players filled the air, along with William’s iconic giggle, as Loren smiled and nodded her head saying “Hey Gary - remember our conversation before about the duct tape?  I brought some, just in case…wanna keep testing me?”

Hearing her innocent threat and the overly dramatic eye roll from Gary made William laugh even louder.  Loren may have lost most of the verbal battles versus Gary but with that one come-back, it seemed to have the desired effect.

William found himself instantly drawn to Loren. Her classic beauty was evident, but it was her sweet and funny disposition that fascinated him. He could see she was different from most of the girls who constantly vied for his attention and affection. William admired how she interacted with Gary, noticing her kindness and genuine care. The way she handled his teasing showed how close they really were. At the very least, she seemed to have a good sense of humor.

“Hey Gary, you want me to take you for a skate?” William asked, bending down slightly to keep in Gary’s line of sight.  Turning to Loren, William asked if she would like to join them for a few laps around the ice.

Before Loren could respond, Gary interjected with “Yeah, she’d like that.  She thinks you’re cute…”.

Loren drops her face into her hands from sheer embarrassment, while William laughed and said, “I think she might jab you again with your needle if you don’t stop teasing her there, Gary”.

A low laugh was Gary’s response.

William pushed Gary’s chair towards center ice while Loren skated beside them.  It’s not long before the trio were laughing with some light-hearted banter, thanks to Gary’s mildly sardonic commentary.

After a couple of laps around the rink, Loren realized there were so many others waiting to meet William so she offered to step in and start pushing Gary herself.

“Thank you so much for taking Gary for a little spin - we don’t want to keep you from seeing everyone else that came today, right Gary?”

As Loren leaned over Gary’s shoulder to have a glimpse at his face and make sure he heard her, Loren’s heart sank.   Gary was slightly slumped over to one side of his wheelchair and his mouth showed a very pronounced droop.

Immediately recognizing the change in Gary's behaviour, she turned to William and spoke quietly.  “I’m sorry William, I have to try and get Gary off the ice; I think he’s about to have a seizure”.

Before William had a chance to respond, Loren pushed Gary to the closest exit, by the entrance for the zamboni.

Just as Gary’s chair reached the pavement, his body began to seize.  Gary’s seizures were not new to Loren, and her experience quickly showed as she engaged his wheelchair brakes and stood in her usual position behind Gary, monitoring the time from the start of the seizure.

Ryan, Max and William stepped off the ice toward the spot where Loren was with Gary.  The men stood close by and watched as Loren spoke soothingly in Gary’s ear, softly telling him he’s ok - that he will be ok - and that she’s there with him all the way.

Concerned about their new buddy, William and Ryan stepped forward alongside Gary’s chair trying to provide some additional support.

Loren looked at the men apologetically.  “Thanks so much but it’s best if you guys stand back.  Gary could grab a hold of one of you, your hand - anything - and unknowingly hurt you…his hands are like vice-grips right now, so it’s better to stay clear.  But I really appreciate you both trying to talk to him.”

A couple volunteers at the event had been made aware of Gary’s episode, and helped the Paramedics find Loren.   The organisers swiftly offered a spot in the therapy room for Gary to recover and be examined once his seizure ended.

William watched as Loren and the Paramedics continued to monitor Gary.  He watched Loren calmly watch the clock, provide information to the Paramedics and talk to Gary without missing a beat.  As he skated off to continue signing autographs for the remainder of the session, William’s heart broke a little for Gary, having only spent 10 minutes out of the hour-long event, meeting the players in attendance.

Before long, William watched as Loren disappeared with Gary towards the locker room.  He fought the sudden and profound urge to slip his skates off and run after her.  It was an unexpected sensation for William to want to console a total stranger; yet Loren’s magnetism had already pulled him in, and all he wanted now was to be next to her.

The remainder of the session passed quickly and one by one, the players made their way into the locker room.

Loren remained by Gary’s side as he recovered after the seizure.  He was exhausted and slightly confused and found it difficult to verbally engage with anyone.  Loren had her hand on his back as lay on one of the beds where the players would often receive their various treatments after practice.

Ryan and John Tavares had already made their way into the room and showed obvious worry as they spoke with Loren.

William made his way over to Loren and when she spotted him, she smiled at him warmly.

“How’s he doin’?” William asked, shooting a concerned look toward Gary.

“I think he’ll be ok now - it just takes a lot out of him so we’re letting him rest a bit more before I take him home.”

William paused, unsure if any of his questions would be considered off limits or impolite.

“Can I ask something?  How did you know - like, how could you see that it was going to happen?”

“Sometimes I just manage to catch a change in Gary’s behaviour.  I’m not always right - but given the circumstances, with where we are, meeting you guys, all the people and activity, even the lights…he went from his little comedy routine to not being able to speak or move.  It’s called an aura - a change in behaviour before the seizure takes hold,” Loren explained.

William had a million questions and was eager to ask them all, just to be with Loren as long as he possibly could.  But he second guessed whether he should, knowing that Loren had begun to look weary from the after-effects of Gary’s episode.

“Are you doing ok?” a gentle smile spanned his face.

“Me?  I am - thank you again for trying to help earlier too.  I hope I wasn’t too harsh…I just didn’t want to see you, Gary or anyone else get hurt.” Loren said apologetically.

Before William could respond, two members of the event committee for both MLSE and Easter Seals approached Loren and William and apologised for interrupting.

“Hi, I’m Thom Comrie and this is Natalie Singh - we helped organise the event.” Thom said as he shook Loren’s and William’s hand.  “Gary brought in one of the highest totals for this fundraiser, and we were so sorry to hear he missed most of the skate.  We were hoping to get some more information about Gary before you leave?”

Loren glanced at William and thanked him for coming to check on Gary.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on you before you go,” William said and reluctantly walked towards his stall in the adjoining locker room.

“Willy - Willy-um - Villi-um….how’s it goin’...I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since we’ve been here.” Mitch said as he changed his t-shirt.

“Hey Mitchy - buddy…it’s good, I think…goin good,” William chuckled.

“So what was going on there - you took that guy out for a skate and then next thing I know, he’s gone.  And….who’s the girl with him?” Mitch said under his breath, looking to see if there was anyone else around.

“The guy’s name’s Gary and right after I took him around the ice a couple of times, Loren - the girl…his support girl - you know - saw that something wasn’t right, and he ended up having a seizure.” William explained quietly.

“Shit, really? Awh…that’s too bad…I heard some of the guys saying he was cracking everyone up by chirping…what’s her name again?” Mitch said.

“Looor-eeennn - Jesus Mitch, you have the worst memory sometimes,” William teased.

“Fuck you dude - look who’s talking…saying I have a terrible memory when you’re the one that leaves shit behind everywhere we go,” Mitch laughed. “You’re forever on fucking - what - TikTok using the Find my Phone feature because you lost your fucking phone…again…” Mitch continued ribbing William.

“Ah yeah, ok - whatever buddy,” William smiled as he messed with Mitch’s hair.

Max and Auston walk from the kitchen area to the locker room, arguing about some nonsense.

“So, what’s the verdict fellas - you wanna meet at Mitchy’s restaurant for 8:00?  Give Willy some extra naptime?” Max laughs, giving William a wink and a nudge.

“Yeah, he might need it if one of those waitresses from last time wears him down to take them home.  Actually both girls were making a play for him so yeah…tag team situation for sure”, Auston smiles at his long-time friend and teammate.

William just laughed along with the rest of the boys, but truth be told, he hoped neither were working.  Both waitresses were blatantly fawning all over William the last time he was at Mitch’s newly opened restaurant, so much so that once the bill was settled, he swiftly disappeared through a back exit.

After Auston and Mitch departed, Max stayed behind with William.

“Hey, uh…what happened to Gary?  Fuck he was funny cracking off on his caregiver.  Imagine her looking after you every day - she’s fucking stunning”, Max said, smiling and wide-eyed as he looked at William.

“They’re still here - in the therapy room.  I was just about to go back there to say goodbye,” William nodded his head towards the doorway.  “You coming in?”.

Max motioned for William to lead the way.  As they entered the adjacent room, they watched Loren slowly and carefully transition Gary from the bed to his wheelchair.  Gary’s body was extremely stiff and weak, and Loren ensured she was fully stabilised as she had to bear most of his body weight.

Loren quietly talked to Gary as she fastened him into his chair and reassured him that they would be home soon, and he could rest some more before dinner.

“How ya’ doin’ Gary?” Max said, trying to sound upbeat.

Gary could only muster a quiet “okay”.

Loren smiled at the players and thanked them again for their concern.  She was pleasantly surprised that either of the men thought to drop by before they left.

Despite feeling like she made an ass of herself in front of William during her introduction, she had long filed that moment in the back of her head. In its place, she had felt a certain kind of comfort in his company during the short skate they had together.  He was just easy.  Easy to talk with.  Most certainly easy to look at.

Max kneeled beside Gary’s chair. “I’ve gotta take off.  Gary, buddy…feel better, ok?  It was great meeting you and I hope to see you sometime soon, ok?  Maybe get the old ball and chain to bring you back down to see us again?”  Max turned toward Loren and grinned, giving her a hug.  “So sorry you guys missed out on today. Maybe the organisation will do something for you guys.”.

Loren was totally overwhelmed with appreciation.  “I think they’re working on something – but you all have been incredible; I am just blown away by all of the care and concern you guys showed.”

“Well, I’m glad they’re looking into it. I better be off – Loren, take care…hope to see you again.  Willy - see you later, pal,” Max said as he patted William on his shoulder.

Loren turned to William.  “I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate everything you did for him today.  It really means the world to Gary; you made his whole decade by taking him out for that skate.”

William smiled and looked toward the ground as he blushed.

“It was no problem, honestly.  You two are pretty funny when Gary gets going with his jokes,” William chuckled.

“Like an old married couple, eh Gare?” Loren said as she placed her hands on Gary’s shoulders.

William paused as he glanced at Loren and then Gary.

“Hey, well…listen, I would love to know that you got home ok…here, I’ll give you my number,” William said, and he stepped forward to show Loren his phone screen.

Loren’s stomach flipped.

His number??  Loren screamed inside her mind.

Once again, she felt she failed miserably at keeping her composure, and her hand shook a little as she typed in the digits into her phone.

Loren could feel the heat rising in her face, but nevertheless she managed to speak.  “For sure, I’ll let you know that we got home ok.  Thanks again, William.  It was so nice meeting you.”

William opened his arms for a hug and as Loren hugged him back, she couldn’t help making mental notes so she could always return to that moment in her memory.  She tried to memorize everything. Where his hands were placed on her body as he briefly held her. His scent which was so dizzying and delicious that it made her feel weak in the knees.  The few seconds Loren spent in William’s arms, triggered something inside of her that she could not quite place.  She spent the entire drive home racking her brain trying to figure it out.  With the Friday afternoon commute fully underway, Loren was grateful for the distraction trying to pinpoint that sensation she felt when William hugged her.

Eventually, Loren’s mind drifted to the other interactions with the players and personnel throughout the afternoon and she felt a mix of being drained and exhilarated at the same time. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it was definitely an unusual afternoon.

She could hardly wait to pull into her own driveway at her own house, draw a hot bath, change into her comfortable clothes and sit back with a glass of wine. Until then, she allowed her mind to rewind and replay every moment she spent in the Swedish superstar’s presence before she snapped back to reality knowing that she’s never going to see him again.

[ravennaortiz]

Avenging Angel

Summary: Follow OC Cori as she works out how to handle her fathers death two years later. To kill or not to kill is not the only question she has to wrestle with. This is the follow up to Revenge but can be read by itself. As always 18+.

Word Count: 2.9k+

Cori sat sipping her water and pretending to be indulged in her book as she the hot Santo Padre sun bore down. The plant filled balcony of her villa giving her the perfect view of the whole street while also blocking her from the eyes of the people who came and went.  The roar of motorcycles had her eyes sliding from the shop front of Carniceria Reyes to down the street. Her eyes landing on the approaching bikes and men upon them. Her hands moving to her pen and notebook.

-The younger brother rides what appears to be a custom Softail. Older brother has a deluxe Softail. -

Eyes flicking back up to the two men who she had an arsenal of information about thanks to her Old Man and her own observations over the last couple of weeks. She was nothing if not her fathers daughter. She watched them until they disappeared into the shop front. From her research she knew it was owned by their father Felipe. The building was one story with a front and back door. It consisted of a big room once you walked in with a counter top that ran along one wall. It also had a decent sized walk in freezer and a small office area. It was decorated in the traditional Spanish imagery and décor. A small bookshelf was next to the door when you walked in.

This she had learned from her couple of visits. Felipe by all appearances seemed like a sweet old man who only wanted the best for his sons and missed his beloved wife dearly. Like her own father who had kept her in the dark about a lot of his doings and only wanted he best for his best friend’s kid. He had raised her even though she wasn’t his.  But Cori could tell there was a past he held close to his heart like her father had rest his soul.

 The similarities between her father and Felipe is what had kept his blood from being spilt during their first encounter when she had first stepped through that door. That and her having never hurt anyone let alone killed someone. What had stopped her the second time was finding out it was the anniversary of Marisols death. How could she kill a man as he remembered his wife she had told herself. That day they had chatted for hours as he talked about his wife who had been killed in the shop. His sons bearing witness and giving chase to the killer before he slipped away. That night is the night his family broke he said. He lost not only his wife but both sons. One to jail and the other to the local Mayans charter.

Cori had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t heard the footsteps behind her until the pressure of a hand on her shoulder had her spinning. The blade of her knife touching a black shirt right as a hand and voice stopped her.

“Jesus Christ Cori” exclaimed Juice as he latched onto her wrist and jumping back slightly.

“Shit. I’m sorry baby” apologized Cori as she let he knife fall as she stared into the terrified brown eyes of her Old Man. “I didn’t hear you. Startled me…. I …I…so sorry” she continued to ramble shaken from what would have been a horrific event. Not only would she have hurt the one person she loved the most but she would have exposed them both in the center of Mayans territory.

Juice swallowed hard as he let go of her wrist. Nodding his head he closed his eyes and worked on breathing to lower his heart rate. Sliding into the chair next to her before saying anything. This right here is why he wanted to pack it up and leave. The need to be vigilant and act first was at the forefront of their minds.

“It’s okay babygirl” soothed Juice as he reached for her hand and squeezed. “Almost being eviscerated just now really sums up why I should have stayed home. Should have listened to my Old Lady when she told me it was dangerous and I would stand out” he teased making Cori sigh and give him a small chuckle.

“I stand by the danger part.” Huffed Cori as she chuckled. Her own heartrate slowing down. As much as she hadn’t wanted Juice to come with her for fear of him being hurt or killed for simply being a SON, she was glad he had disregarded her reasoning.  “What do you think my dad would say?” she whispered as she pushed her sunglasses onto her head, her blue eyes searching his.

Juice rubbed his thumb in a circle on her hand. It was a good question and similar to one he had been asking himself lately. “He would tell you that he is proud of you but then in the same breath tell you not to be risking yourself. That he was already dead, you dying trying to avenge him will not bring him back. Killing won’t bring him back. Then he would turn on me about being a dumbass for letting his daughter put herself here. Let you put yourself not only in the middle of Mayan territory but also sit back and watch as you chatted and exchanged numbers with a couple. Letting you contemplate actually going to the clubhouse for a party. Pretty confident he would have a stern face as he chewed on his tooth pick while chewing us out” he added with a small laugh as he gave her hand another squeeze before pulling it to his face and kissing it.

Cori nodded as she processed his words. He was right, deep down, she know exactly what her dad would say about this. Risk management was something he had drilled into her. Never explained why it was so important but now that she knew about the dark side, the Tacoma Killer side of her dad she got it. He had hid a part of himself to keep her as safe as possible.  The risk management he had done is what had not only surprised his killers that dreadful Sunday night almost two years ago but was what had kept her alive. That and the mercy of one of his killers. Coris mind briefly went back to that night and the last words that either Mayan had said to her before her life change forever

"I know this is hard to believe but I truly am sorry about this. You have my word your dads death will be quick and he will be buried properly. You also have my word you will be safe. If you ever need anything and cant get a hold of a SON you can call me and I'll make it happen" stated Angel as he handed her a folded piece of paper before patting her knee and heading out of the house.

“You are right” stated Cori as she tapped her fingers for a moment on the table. Her eyes flickering to the door of the shop as it opened. Quickly she grabbed her phone and opened her contacts scrolling to a number she saved but never thought she would use. Meeting Juices eyes she dialed as he nodded, during his digging he had found out some interesting thigs about the younger Reyes. She was so thankful for him and his willingness to let her do what she needed for her closure within reason.

Angels POV

“Hello” greeted Angel brow furrowed as he hadn’t recognized the number. Waving bye at his pops as he walked to his bike with EZ.

“No reactions. Lets keep boy scout in the dark a bit” stated a female voice that he couldn’t place. Angel stepped away a bit from EZ who was already seated on his bike and watching his curiously.

“How do you know that” inquired Angel the hairs on the back of his neck lifting. He felt like he was being watched.

“I heard it during my recon. Same way I know your father is closing early today to go to a chess tournament. Do you own anything other than flannel?” inquired the woman as Angels eyes darted around. He knew he was being watched. The woman didn’t sound malicious but she could be reading off a script.

“What do you want?” demanded Angel as he began searching the faces off the crowded street.

“Originally your dads death but I think I’ll take your pledge of my protection tonight at the scarpyard. Coco and Gilly both said it will be a hell of a party when they invited me.” Replied the woman. Angel scrunched his face. This conversation was getting weirder by the moment. Was he being pranked he wondered.

“Why?” asked Angel not knowing exactly what he was wanting an answer too.

“Because I can’t get a hold of a SON. Don’t forget to put your helmet on” replied the woman before the call ended. Angels heart practically dropped as he started spinning in tight circles as he searched for the caller. He knew she had to be close. Ignoring EZ who was asking what was wrong he burst back into the shop.

“Pop. Has there been anyone coming in or out who seemed outta place?” demanded Angel as he looked around the shop with his gun out.  “No, just the usuals and some tourists” replied his father as he continued to clean the counter top and close up shop.  “Why?” he asked as he glanced up frowning at the gun in Angels hands. “Are you sure? No women who don’t seem…..native?” inquired Angel trying to decide how to describe the woman without giving his dad hints.

“I mean there is a white, young lady who just moved here a few weeks ago. I assume that’s what you mean by not native. She’s been very sweet and friendly when she’s been in. We have had lunch a few times” started Felipe as he went back to cleaning as he talked.

Angel felt like he was about to explode. His dads words a few weeks going through his head on repeat. How could neither him or EZ have realized they were being watched. Maybe it wasn’t her though he thought. “Describe her pops” demanded Angel as he stalked over and yanked the rag from his dads hands.

“White, blonde, blue eyes. Wedding ring so I assumed married though I never saw her husband. She has a bird tattoo on her left inner forearm…..” started Felipe as he took the rag back.

“A crow?” inquired Angel as he interrupted his dad who just gave him a look.

“I’m not an expert on birds Angel. I don’t have time for this I need to close up.” Stated Felipe as he glanced at the clock on his wall as he began to push his son to the door.

“You good?” inquired EZ as Angel was shoved out of the shop.

“Yeah” replied Angel as he took one more look around before getting on his bike.His mind was plagued with thoughts and questions as they made there way to the clubhouse. Maybe she just needs help he tried to reason with himself. Maybe something happened. If her intent had been to hurt someone she would have…..right? His dad had said he never saw her husband and if memory served him right she was married to the mohawked guy. No way would he have let her come here alone. Unless she didn’t…..but surely they would have noticed a SON in Santo Padre. How the hell had she linked up with Coco and Gilly? Well enough to get invited to the clubhouse. Surely they would have noticed the tattoo….unless she hid it.

Mayans Clubhouse

Cori’s POV

Cori was thankful that Coco was pulling into the lot finally. Not that she didn’t like to be on a bike but to be on the back of another mans was foreign to her. Besides her dads bike growing up she had only ever been on Juices. Speaking of Juice she really wished he was here to calm her down. She took a deep breath as Coco parked the bike before helping her off. “if your cover is blown, you give me up no ands, ifs or buts Cor. Give up anything you know” Juice had said before she walked out the door.  

Angels POV

Angel smiled as he stood and greeted Cori as Coco introduced her to the table. He couldn’t help the chuckle as he recognized the name from the new strip club that had opened up a few months ago. Coco had been raving about the new girl Jewel for a few weeks and how cool she was. He had been clear they were just friends whenever anyone teased him. It was making a lot of sense how Cori had gone undetected for so long.

Angels eyes flickered to his little brother as Coco introduced him and saw no recognition cross his face as he stood and shook her hand. How the hell could he not recognize someone he had been adamant they shoot and kill just because she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

“I’m going to go talk to Bishop and grab some beers. You keep an eye on her Angel” stated Coco before he disappeared into the crowd.  Cori smiled as she sat down across from them. Angel couldn’t help but acknowledge the bravery of having her back to the rest of the clubhouse. He observed her as EZ and her made small talk. His eyes landing on her crow tattoo and the ring she sported on her left arm. He frowned slightly at the silliness to have the tattoo on display.

“That is a nice tattoo, any meaning” he heard EZ ask pulling him from his thoughts.

“Its silly” laughed Cori as she met his eyes. “I just really love crows. They are just so handsome and I love the fact that a group of them is called a murder” she added. “Just a nerd about birds. What about you two?” she inquired as she tilted her head.

Cori’s POV

As each hour passed Cori felt more comfortable. This wasn’t unlike the SAMCRO parties and she felt weirdly at home. The only thing bugging her was the fact EZ had no idea who she was. At first she thought it was just him having a really good poker face. As the night had passed on and she had dropped hints he was still just as naïve as ever. Maybe he had too much on his mind with being an informant to be worried about the daughter of a man he killed sitting in front of him.

Cori had been playing pool with Angel when she felt the atmosphere change. Looking towards the clubhouse door her eyes locked with Marcus Alvarez before slipping to the man behind him. Chibs, she thought as he met her gaze briefly before looking away and following Marcus to the Templo door. The Mayans would not be the only ones being shaken up after the events of tonight.

Angels POV

Angel couldn’t breathe, he felt like the room was spinning as he looked from Gilly to Cori to Coco to Cori and back again. The look of concern on Coris face had him laughing. This had to be a joke a sick twisted joke. No, this couldn’t be true his own brother? No his own brother wouldn’t be a rat. Wouldn’t be planning on tossing the blame on him right?

Angel paced the storage room for a couple minutes. Trying to process everything that had happened and been said in the last twenty minutes.

“Why?” demanded Angel as he spun around pushing Cori into the wall before Gilly or Coco could stop him. Her blue eyes locked on his as she peered up at him towering above her.

“Because you spared me” replied Cori meeting his dark gaze. He hadn’t had to say the whole question for her to know what he was asking. “I could have let him throw you under the bus tonight like he planned to do and then killed him. Both my dad’s killers taken care of but that would be cowardly. If I ever decide to kill you Angel I’m going to look you in the eyes while the life drains out of them” continued Cori calmly as Angel loosened his grip and stepped back.

EZ’S POV

EZ could only cough and sputter as he lay bleeding out on his couch. What had started off as a hookup had led to a betrayal he hadn’t expected “Bet you recognize me now. Too bad you won’t be able to tell Angel you were right” stated Cori as she slipped her top and jeans back on. Careful to not step in the  pooling blood. “Where should I put that smiley face tattoo?” she laughed as she watched blood seep from his mouth as she sat on his counter top.

EZ struggled to keep focus but his mind slipped to that night two years ago

"We should have just killed them. You really think she won’t talk, won’t get the SONS to track us down?" whispered EZ angrily as he shoved Angel.

EZ couldn’t help but think how they both had been right

She knows how the MC works and honestly I think if she decided she wanted revenge for what is to come tonight she will do it on her own." Angel had stated.

-The End

[hylaarborealove]

Whatever you do, do it with Christ!

Whatever you do, do it with Christ. This thought occured to me during Sunday service today. No matter what you do, do it with Jesus on your side. I still struggle with this sometimes. My mind likes to disconnect from the real world, from my life, my surroundings, and basically everything to go down a loopewhole of the internet somewhere. It might be a Pinterest, Instagram or even Tumblr (maybe mostly tumblr) loop. It's endless scrolling, listening, reading, watching and after only a few hours do I realise, half my day is gone. That picture comes to mind, where Jesus is sitting at a nice dinner table all prepared to meet and talk to us, and the other seat is empty. It makes my heart ache. These events of course result in me feeling like I'm not enough, I wasted my time and so on so forth. This self blaming do not lead anywhere. Lies from the enemy can fill our minds. Time is precious, I myself need to relearn and practice that, and I encourage you to do the same. And this time, do it with God. We cannot afford to loose time. Not with Him. Not Him. Include God in everything you do, and listen to Him. He loves you and wants the best for you!

love xx,

hyla

[meet-me-backstage]

🜸

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎸 Virgin!Eddie Munson x Fem!reader

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 🎸 You play at the Hideout with your band, Stake For My Valentine, every night, you're considered the metal queen of the bar and your band are the rulers of the roost, famously loved by the Hideout's local drunks. However, when a band named Corroded Coffin land their first gig there, the sparse crowd warm quickly to the unique and awkward charm of the leading metal head, Eddie Munson.

However, you don't warm to him so easily - in fact, you don't warm to him at all. Eddie, on the other hand, worships the ground you walk on and doesn't hesitate to make it known, leading to a cold rejection from you.

Band rivalry occurs - you vs. Eddie, Stake For My Valentine vs Corroded Coffin.

You hate each other... but one night everything changes when a plan is created and executed by yours and Eddie's bandmates with the intention of bringing you two together and harmony between the bands.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊-𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕, 𝒔𝒎𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈!

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 🎸 bad language, angst, mention and consumption of drugs, mention and consumption of alcohol, sexual innuendos, mention of blood, Eddie wearing eyeliner bcuz damn😍, some typical bar fight drunkard violence and SMUT so you must be 18+ to read‼️

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨 🎸 7.3K

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨 🎸 bad language, mention of and consumption of alcohol and reader being kinda mean to Eddie for no reason oop.

𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚 - 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝟐𝟎𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚 (𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 - 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂)!

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠!

𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢-𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! <𝟑

⇜ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 ⎈ 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 ⎈ 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓

Eddie had his head tucked into the shitty school magazine he'd been handed on his way into the Hawkins High cafeteria.

He didn't usually read it, but today he felt he needed a distraction - tomorrow was going to be Corroded Coffin's first ever gig... well, aside from the middle school talent show and Battle of the Bands' competitions - but they were different, events full of acts and terrible sound quality. The last time Corroded Coffin played at a Battle of the Bands the amp blew during Eddie's guitar solo, putting the entire event to an abrupt end.

There was something else though, something other than the usual nerves of a first gig - engraved and irritating his mind like a new tattoo to the skin... it was you.

He hadn’t been able to get you out of his head from the moment you gave him the eye from the stage on Friday. It had been playing on his mind with every hour that passed, he couldn’t believe that you gave him the eye - the coolest and most metal badass in Hawkins.

He’d never received attention like that and he’d come to the point of accepting that he wasn’t going to from anyone, let alone from the girl he’d been obsessing over for years.

A tray slammed on the table, making Eddie jump in his seat and causing him a mini heart attack, he dropped the magazine he was ‘reading’ onto the table, “Jesus Christ!” He squeals, looking up, only to see an aggravated Gareth standing over him, “What the hell, dude?”

Gareth grimaces, “Seriously?!” Jeff and Travis are stood behind him with their arms crossed, “We don’t see you at band practice and all you’ve got to say to us is ‘what the hell, dude’?!”

Eddie’s eyes were wide and his chest heaved, he slowed his heavy breathing and placed his hand over his heart, “You scared the hell outta me, what else was I gonna say?!”

“Gee… I don’t know, maybe an apology - an explanation?” Gareth asks sarcastically, scratching at his chin before dropping himself onto the seat with a thud diagonally from Eddie. He leans towards Eddie, giving him intense eye contact that made Eddie’s pulse pick up again, his cheeks turning pink from embarrassment.

The other boys sat themselves down, Jeff next to Gareth and opposite him - they began to stare too, making Eddie writhe even more and bite at his trembling lips to try and stop himself from breaking.

Eddie felt sweat beginning to bead at his forehead from the tension of his friend’s glares, he felt like his entire head was about to explode, or his mouth out least and he couldn’t hold his words any longer.

A strained noise escaped his lips and moments later he let his hand fall and slam down into the table , “I’m sorry, m’kay,” he drawls with a small frown, his lips still twitching as they continue to stare at him, unsatisfied. Eddie rolls his eyes, “Fine - if you buttheads really have to know - I was at… the Hideout,” he exhales as he utters the last two words, his chest deflating and he stares down at his ring-clad fingers tapping a fast beat on the table.

The three boys around Eddie squint their eyes all at the same time.

“The - Hideout?” Gareth blinks with blank features.

Eddie gulps, nodding. His brown eyes were wide and he continued to keep his head down, afraid of them spotting the obvious blush on his cheeks. He felt so hot, he could only imagine how pink his entire face looked.

Jeff and Travis snorted with laughter, holding their hands over their mouths to try and cover it up and it only made Eddie more self-conscious and jittery so he dives a hand into the pack of pretzels that his Uncle Wayne had left out for him in the morning and chucks one of them in his friend’s direction, “Shut up!”

Eddie knew that he was going to have to tell them about his whereabouts last weekend, he just hadn’t exactly planned how he was going to explain. The decision to visit the dingy bar was on a complete whim on his part, it was like he’d been lovestruck and suddenly couldn’t keep himself away from the place.

“Hey - defensive much?” Jeff picks up the rogue pretzel and chucks it back at Eddie, who narrowly dodges it.

“I am not being defensive.”

“You so are.”

Gareth laughs, his eyes flickering between the two bickerers before setting his hands down with a thump onto the table, gaining him the attention of all three boys sat around him, “Defensive? More like delusional,” he flashes Eddie a knowing smirk.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eddie furrows his brows, tilting his head to the side and burrowing his hand back into his packet of pretzels, ready to fireball some more of his lunch if need be.

Gareth rolls his eyes, “This is about your little lovesick puppy moment last week.”

Eddie blows a raspberry, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, “I don’t know what you’re talking about - I - went there to get more familiar with the place so my nerves won’t be so bad at our gig on Tuesday and I just - forgot… about band practice.”

“You expect us to believe that bullshit?” Gareth asks sarcastically while the other boys blink blankly and nod in agreement with Gareth. Gareth suddenly leans forward and points at Eddie, his finger brushing the ‘W.A.S.P.’ badge on the pocket of his denim vest, “You went there because of Vampire - whatever the name is now - Vamp!”

“No I did not!” Eddie squeaks.

“Oh come on - we all know you’re obsessed, you’ve been obsessed since 6th grade.”

Eddie forced a nervous laugh, memories flooding back suddenly of the moment he first saw you in middle school.

He was in the midst of stuffing his grade six history notes messily into his locker, his door was wide open and all he could see of the person beside him were their shoes, small worn black boots that thudded loudly on the floor, the sound being what caught his attention in the first place. His lips trembled, being new and already unpopular, he knew nobody other than Gareth at that point.

He not so sneakily peeked past the locker door… it was you. You were taller than him at the time and chucking some of your own notes into your locker - he spied on the decorated interior of it and one particular thing caught his eye, Black Sabbath’s logo that you’d clearly torn from a magazine.

⎈ 🎸⎈

“What are you looking at?” You ask with a harsh stare, looking down at the small boy after taking out your diary of ‘77 that had little butterfly stickers on it.

You could only see half of his face, the other half was hidden by his locker door and when he’d realised that you’d caught him his eyes, widened, massive compared to his small head and the rest of the features on it - you raise your brows at him, crossing your arms and tapping your foot. He slowly unhides himself, shutting his locker’s door carefully, “I - er - l-like Black Sabbath - too.”

You just stare for a few seconds, then roll your eyes at him and slam your locker door, muttering with a shrug of your shoulders, “Whatever.”

You leave him stood there with a rapid heartbeat that felt as if his heart was going to pound out of his chest.

⎈ 🎸⎈

Eddie remembered running to the cafeteria excitedly and jumping onto the stool opposite Gareth, immediately uttering the words ‘I spoke to a girl!’

You were always pretty distant from everybody else - it was something you did on purpose with the intention of not being noticed by anybody… or so your thirteen year old self thought… but twelve year old, buzz-cut Eddie did notice you. After the short encounter you had he noticed you on the sidelines whenever you excused yourself from any kind of drama, game, school event or club. Whenever you sneaked yourself past the likes of Derek Hagan and his basketball friends, including his younger brother, Tommy and his friends in the year below. They would all snigger at you whenever they had the chance through middle and high school - it never stopped until you took matters into your own hands and dropped out, never looking back at the school again.

Eddie was the first to notice yours and your friend’s disappearance in your senior and his junior year - he figured it was because of the bullying and felt bad about it because he was sure that if he’d approached you more then you would’ve been sat with him - friends.

But eventually you had found your own friends and he had found his. The thought of approaching you felt stupid when he figured you would probably send him away anyway, but it didn’t stop him from thinking that you were the coolest in both Hawkins middle and high combined. He decided that he’d love your antics and be your number one fan from afar.

Seeing you again at the Hideout was a chance that Eddie thought he’d never get since it seemed like you’d just vanished.

Two years later - a second chance. Take it, don’t waste it - was all that had been running round and round Eddie’s head since that night.

“Helloooooo-,” Gareth waves his hand directly in front of Eddie’s deadpan face. Eddie eventually blinks himself back to reality and pushes Gareth’s hand away, “Where were you?”

“With Vamp by any chance?” Jeff asks with a little grin.

Travis then pouts his lips, making smooching sounds, the others hysterically laugh for minutes.

“Are you guys done?” Eddie asks, his cheeks pink from embarrassment and suddenly feeling extremely conscious of his surroundings, everyone else in the cafeteria - which was unlike him, he didn’t usually care for the glares that others gave him from other tables.

Though their laughter had died down, they were still watching Eddie with amusement.

“What?”

“Did anything happen?” Jeff pipes up, usually the most quiet of the four.

Eddie looked down for a moment, fighting a small smile from making its way onto his pink lips, “She looked at me - again, y’know - like - the look. Like the one I was telling you about on Friday,” he trails off at the end of the sentence.

“And?” Jeff lifts his hands up, gesturing for Eddie to continue.

“And what?” Eddie shrugs, trying to play it cool.

Jeff rolls his eyes, snorting a small giggle, “Did anything happen? Did you talk to her?”

“I - looked back at her,” Eddie reveals, genuinely impressed with himself by straightening his back, pushing his chest forward and toothily grinning until he notices the disappointed looks that his friends are giving him, “It’s something, m’kay?”

“It’s nothing!” Gareth interjects, “You’ve gotta talk to her, dude - this is like sixth grade all over again!”

“Pfft - I tried, but everyone in there wants to talk to her. She’s like - the queen of the Hideout, whenever I got the courage to approach her someone else would swoop in so I just - sat at a booth with a bottle of cola that Keith gave me, I must’ve looked that miserable,” Eddie exhales with a laugh at the end of his ramble, “Besides - I think she’s got a thing going on with that - Rodrick guy, y’know - the one that-.”

“Got us the gig tomorrow - yeah, he’s kinda epic for doing that for us,” Gareth mutters, lowering his tone and scratching the back of his neck.

“Exactly, he is epic - and cool - funny,” Eddie sighs.

“You’re all three of those too,” Gareth states, placing his hand flat on the table in front of Eddie, “you just need to show her that you are.”

“How?”

Gareth bites his lips together for a brief second before exhaling, “I think you made a pretty good start last Friday, you made her laugh so - she thinks you’re funny at least.”

“I’m pretty sure she was laughing at me - there’s a difference. I’m not that clueless - even you should know that, Gareth, you’re the most experienced here.”

“Being dared to kiss my crush in eighth grade and running out of the room after is not what I would personally call ‘experience’,” Gareth recalls, his teeth gritting slight at the memory before he pressed the tip of his index finger against the tabletop, “My point is - if you can make a girl laugh, you’re already halfway to your destination - her heart.”

Eddie tilts his head, squinting his eyes, “you’re making this sound a lot like one of my campaigns.”

“If it helps you then maybe picture it like one of ‘em,” Gareth suggests, his voice growing with enthusiasm, earning a few nods from Jeff and Travis, “Picture it like this - Rodrick is Orcus. There’s an undead army guarding them - Orcus and er - Tiamat! Vamp is Tiamat. You’ve got to somehow get to your dragon queen by killing Orcus, slaying the undead army and defying Tiamat’s powers.”

Eddie grits his teeth before visibly deflating, rolling his hair around his index finger, “I dunno, man - that sounds pretty brutal.”

Gareth also deflates at the sound of his friend’s low tone, “C’mon Eddie - this isn’t like you. A Dungeon Master doesn’t give up on a quest just like that-,” he snaps his fingers, “Not before the battle has even started.”

It’s silent for a while. Eddie restlessly taps his fingers and bounces his legs as he thinks about the mission he’d been given to conquer - it takes a few minutes and his brain starts to ache before suddenly his heart jolts and his entire body stills, but the light behind his eyes reignites. The other boys notice it, causing them to smile and hold the table from inner excitement, they knew what was coming - a hop on the table performance from Eddie.

His lips pulled upward at the corners of his mouth into a mischievous smile, he began to lift himself up off of his seat and climbed stealthily onto the seat before jumping onto the table, almost knocking his black lunchbox and trays of lunch off of the table. Gareth, Jeff and Travis quickly hold the trays down and stare up at Eddie with grins from ear to ear as he stares back down at them.

Eddie holds his arms up, playfully aiming at tables around the cafeteria, “First, I’m gonna fireball the undead,” he jolts his arms forward as if he’s preparing for attack and shouts ‘boom - boom - boom!’, making the other boys laugh and the rest of the cafeteria stare at him with dumbfounded looks. Eddie smirks before swiftly spinning himself around and facing Gareth, “I’ve stunned them - now before the villainous Orcus can bring them back to life I sneak past the army, like this-,” he ducks and runs with light feet along the length of the table, ignoring the fact that he was practically stepping on other student’s lunch, “I’ll shield myself as I sneak past Orcus and from the poisonous clouds of Tiamat - then-,” he stamps his foot down on the table and runs further along the table until he reaches the end, “I go in for the kill - firebombing the dragon queen, she’ll rush me, but I’ll knock her back, then I’ll pound until I have her heart, killing Orcus!” He holds a hand up in the air, his chest heaving under his ‘Dio’ t-shirt.

Gareth, Jeff and Travis are in fits of giggles, but clap as Eddie jumps off of the table, ignoring others that were calling him an ‘asshole’ for his outburst. He jogs back to his friends, his hair bouncing on his shoulders and he stands behind Jeff and Travis, placing a hand on their shoulders, “It’s not gonna be easy, but I’m gonna give it a goddamn try.”

Gareth grins triumphantly at the return of his friend that he’d known since the very first day of sixth grade, the defiant, energetic and loud Eddie that he loved, “There you are. This is the Eddie that is gonna blow her mind.”

“Mhm - mhm - starting tomorrow. I’m gonna shred an almighty guitar solo, we’re gonna perform the most metal concert in all of the world. I’ll give Vamp the eye and after - I’ll - make a beeline straight for her, I’ll talk to her again - finally - hopefully without any interruptions or - mess ups - or rejection,” Eddie nods with each word, squeezing his friend’s shoulders for support as he tries to build his confidence up.

“Vamp is not gonna know what’s hit her.”

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 ⎈ 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 ⎈ 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓

“Yeah - see you in ten, Elektra,” you fiddle with the cord of the telephone in your room and as you put the phone down, the cord uncoils itself from your fingers and hits your face, “Fuck!”

Like your old middle school locker at school, your room had ripped logos, band photos and your favorite photo of Eddie Van Halen stuck to your black and purple striped walls. Unlike your old middle school locker, you had Polaroids of you and the girls of Stake For My Valentine stuck to the wall too, your band logo that you designed spray painted onto fabric and hung up at the head of your bed.

You were laying on your bed on your stomach in a skirt with fishnet tights and wearing an oversized, old band t-shirt of The Runaways - who were your queens of rock ‘n’ roll from the moment you first purchased their debut album on vinyl with your pocket money as an eleven year old in ‘76.

Jumping off of the bed, you hastily grabbed your black leather jacket and climbed through your window as a way out of your childhood ‘home’.

Though you couldn’t call it a home because homes are meant to be a place of comfort, love - you didn’t feel that here. It was the reason why you were climbing out of the window and not simply walking out of the door, saying ‘goodbye’ to your mom and dad, because you’d only be met with their strictness, their disappointment in you, they’d probably go to the extent of trying to stop you from going to the Hideout again - they could never.

As far as you were concerned, the Hideout was your home and Elektra, Alyssa, Cherie, Keith, Rodrick and all of the drunks, the misfits that hung out there - they were your family.

You scraped your legs and your fishnets got caught on the rose bush that you landed next to upon dropping yourself from your window and tucking and rolling - a move you’d gotten more stealthy at over the last few years.

With a flip of the bird aimed at the house, you ran your way in the dark to your real home.

The Hideout was on the other side of the woods that separated the larger houses and what once was Starcourt Mall from the desolate side of town.

There were abandoned, unkept buildings surrounding the Hideout, along with trees and straw-like grass as far as the eye could see.

You didn’t mind the darkness, or the woods - in fact, you actually found comfort in both, especially in autumn.

The crunch of leaves under your feet, the chilling whistle of the wind blowing past you, causing goosebumps to form on your skin, the sight of the bright moon, making the silhouette of the branches of trees above you crystal clear.

Other than it being on your journey to the Hideout, it was a place you sought freedom in when you struggled to feel like you belonged anywhere, before you found that dingy bar, before you formed Stake For My Valentine, before you decided that you wanted to pursue music and before you’d even met Elektra, Cherie and Alyssa.

It had been a while since you’d sat yourself against the trunk of a tree with the intention of contemplating something that had happened the same day, or basking in silence instead of muffled shouting coming from your parents on the floor below while you locked yourself in your room.

It took time to learn to ignore it and not care - you found that just being distant, keeping to yourself and delving into the sweet sound of metal music at the Hideout as much as you could was the best way to warm your cold and empty heart. It was also a way out - long-term, you wanted nothing more than to use the little money you got from gigs to eventually be enough to buy a trailer, then you could play your guitar to your hearts content.

You were even more desperate for that trailer now, especially with the potential of Corroded whatever having access to the ‘backstage’ room that Keith provided. You, Elektra, Alyssa and Cherie had, had it to yourselves for so long - it was personalised to Stake For My Valentine, filled with your belongings and all of your music gear, it was your place to play guitar and sing… your place to learn new Iron Maiden, Dio, Van Halen and Metallica songs and guitar solos on your beloved Pink Special.

You’d no longer have that privilege if you had to share the room with another band and deep down, though you’d never show it… you were worried.

Corroded Coffin had been on your mind since the very first moment you had been introduced.

The shyness and the boyishness of them intrigued you. If Keith and Rodrick had scoped them out and decided to give them a show then they must be at least a little talented… metal - no, I decide who is metal and who isn’t.

That’s why you were making your way to the Hideout right now - to pass judgement because they couldn’t be that good, right?

You had to see it for yourself.

Besides, the curly-haired, doe-eyed brunette - Eddie Munson, had been doing the exact same to you. You’d seen him spying from the back of the room at your show last Saturday, hiding at a booth and at the back of the small crowd who had come to see you play.

Two can play at that game, you thought, now stood on the opposite side of the street from the Hideout.

You could hear loud crashes, bangs and wallops coming from the inside, it was muffled from where you were, but you knew that the music being played was the four boys that made up Corroded Coffin because you’d planned on arriving late all along.

With every step you take, the music gets louder and you could distinctly hear between each instrument… and a voice.

When you opened the rustic door that was painted black and had little chips from how old it is, the music blared past you, almost knocking you off of your feet from it’s strength.

You slowly stepped into the bar once you’d gathered your balance against the sound waves. There was a crowd of about five drunks stood in front of the stage, making you smirk, you internally laughed until…

Squinting your eyes due to the familiar fog in order to see clearly. You recognised one of the sparse crowd, it was Alyssa. She was dancing chaotically in a black and white chequered flannel, distressed black skinny jeans and her trademark, her black cowboy hat that she wore 24/7, complimenting her long dark mullet.

Out of the four of Stake For My Valentine, Alyssa is the groover and has immensely incredible rhythm when it comes to dancing - you can tell that she puts her skills of drumming into her moves.

Alyssa’s eyes were shut, one of her arms up in the air and her head banging to the music as she held her hat down with her other arm’s hand.

Traitor.

You storm your way towards her with a stomp of your feet, though you couldn’t hear the them over a loud drum solo. Once you were stood by Alyssa, who had still not noticed your presence from being so lost in the ‘music’ - if you could even call it that. You tap her shoulder harshly with your pointer finger, “Alyssa!” You continue to tap until she bats her eyelashes at you, “Alyssa, what are you doing?!”

Alyssa grins smugly in response, even after being caught red-handed. You held onto her shoulders tightly but her head continuously turns to face the stage, like the boys on the platform had her under a trance with their instruments.

Her eyes were half-lidded and she continued to bat her eyelashes, you furrow your brows as you watch her - you turn your head purely out of curiosity, realising that she was practically eye-fucking the drummer - Gareth? You quickly turn back to face her, shaking her shoulders at the same time, “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“What?” Alyssa shouts back before gesturing towards the band, you suddenly hear the same voice that you heard outside of the building, “Aren’t you hearing this?! They’re good!”

“You're the light of the dying sun-.”

Hearing it clearly, the voice has a high-pitched raspiness about it that you couldn’t hear outside.

“You're the dark side of the night.”

It pierced through your body suddenly, having the same effect as the music had on you when you first opened the door. You subconsciously whipped your head in the direction of the stage again, catching eyes with Eddie. His legs were spread apart and he wielded a beautiful guitar of a shiny red and black pattern - you couldn’t keep your eyes off of it, falling into a similar trance to Alyssa’s. It was as if the lines of sound waves coming from his electric guitar had wrapped themselves around your neck and you could not drag yourself away.

Your gaze drifted upwards, only to realise that he was looking right back at you - mirroring the same exact look that you’d given him last Friday, his lips twitch upward at you too.

Your facial expressions immediately harden and you snap yourself from the trance that the music had you under. You drag your eyes away from him and look to Alyssa, who had resumed dancing. You roll your eyes and slide a hand from her shoulder down her arm to her hand, grabbing it before pulling her with you away from the dance-floor.

Elektra, Cherie and Rodrick wave at you from a booth and you sigh from relief, tugging at Alyssa’s hand.

Elektra’s arm was wrapped around Cherie’s waist as Cherie leaned her head on Elektra’s shoulder.

Alyssa stood by you and Elektra waved down her little sister with her spare arm, “Murder on the dance floor, eh? You killed it, sis!” Elektra then held her arm out to low five Alyssa, who grins, slapping her sister’s hand.

You scrunch your nose at the sight, breathing in your frustration and turning your attention to Rodrick, who, as usual, had a beer in his hand. He gestures with his pointer finger for you to come over, then pats the seat beside him - you flash him a flirtatious smile and oblige, climbing into the booth and shuffle on the seat towards him, leaving a small distance between your hips.

Rodrick closes the distance, shuffling to connect your hips, he leans towards your ear and you can feel his beer-smelling, hot breath on your skin, “You look beautiful tonight, Vamp!” He shouts into your ear, making you flinch and look the other way, again, unintentionally making eye contact with Corroded Coffin’s lead singer, this time he didn’t smile back at me, he looked down at his guitar instead, pursing his lips as he seems to play even more passionately than before.

Again, you drag your eyes away, focusing on Rodrick’s breathing in your ear, “Only tonight?” You utter with sarcasm and a pout, facing him, looking deep into his brown eyes that were outlined with black eyeliner.

He laughs, shaking his head and taking a swig of his beer while subtly pressing his thigh more against yours, “You know you steal the show every night, you don’t even have to try.”

A sly grin creeps it’s way onto your lips, “Yeah, well - tonight’s show isn’t proving to be too tough to steal anyway,” you nod in the direction of the stage.

Rodrick bites his lips together, making your eyes flicker to them for a moment, “You’re really harsh on them, huh?”

You shrug your shoulders before confidently reaching for his beer, taking a sip from the exact spot that he had pressed his lips against. He watches you closely, licking his lips at the same time, even as you slide his beer back to him, “They’re a parody of metal music - it’s embarrassing, it’ll taint our-,” you gesture towards Cherie, Elektra and Alissa, who are occupied with their own conversation, “reputation as a band, I’m afraid we won’t be taken as seriously alongside - that,” you groan, letting your hand slam onto the table of the booth, “I swear, if they get a weekly deal with your dad I’m gonna- ugh- I’m gonna make their lives a living hell here.”

Rodrick raises his brows, his lips pulling up into a mischievous, but mesmerised smile, “You’re kinda hot when you get all passionate and angry, y’know that?”

You shoot him a playful glare and in response to it he sticks his tongue out, scrunching his nose.

“You’re agonisingly annoying, y’know that?” You mimic his voice, leaning closer to him.

“And you’re so into it,” he mumbles and leans closer too, your noses almost brushing, but not quite. You no longer felt the same excitement you used to when you’d be this close, even closer - everything had changed since you’d seen each other naked.

“Totally,” you whisper convincingly, but half-heartedly and as he continued to lean forward with a half-dead expression you quickly turned, looking over your shoulder for any sign of Keith, “Your dad might see us,” you whisper. You spot him stood at the side of the stage, and phew, not paying any attention to you and Rodrick, instead, he was preparing to do is usual ‘five minutes until the show is over’ warning with a tap of his wrist watch.

Rodrick leans his chin on your shoulder, “Er, Vamp? I don’t think it’s my dad that you should be worrying about right now.”

“What?!” You shout over the music, leaning your head gently onto Rodrick’s.

“Four o’clock!”

You turn your head in the direction of ‘four o’clock’, your eyes landing on the bar. You squint your eyes, only seeing the locals that usually sat there and waiting to be served, “That’s nothing I should be worrying about, aren’t you supposed to be serving them while your dad is on ‘five minute warning’ duty?”

“I meant the stage - shit, I gotta go!” Rodrick downs the rest of his beer, the froth of it now coating his lips. He gives you a kiss on the cheek before climbing over you, almost tripping and falling onto the table on the way, the running in a stagger towards the bar.

You wipe the wet kiss from your cheek, muttering ‘gross’ as you do it.

What did he mean by ‘the stage’? You ponder for a moment before slowly glancing the it’s way.

The sight made every feature on your face drop and toughen up - it felt like a hallucination, you became extremely still.

There were more people gathered in front of the stage now, unlike before.

Where had all these people come from?

They must’ve heard the music from outside, you’d never seen them before and you’d know if you had.

It was still a sparse crowd, but equal to the amount of people that would come to a Stake For My Valentine gig - just that thought alone made your skin crawl with anger.

No, this can’t be happening.

With stiff bones you lift yourself up from the booth, your eyes setting target at the four boys performing.

Rage was filling you second by second as you slowly walked in the direction of the stage. It was evident on your face, how angry you were, your lips and nose were twitching and your head was bowed on your way.

You stood at the back of the crowd, who were dancing, screaming, throwing their limbs chaotically to the music - you crossed your arms, stood still and staring up at Eddie.

He was looking Keith’s way, who was pointing at his watch - the five minute showdown. In response, to Keith, he nods before he appears to be searching the drunk crowd until… his eyes widen at the sight of you in the midst of it.

You glare at him, but he quickly turns to face his band-mates, shouting something at them. So amateur.

‘I think Vamp likes us! I can’t believe it, the plan is working so well!’

You couldn’t hear a word, and neither could the rest of the crowd - neither did they seem to care about the band’s lack of professionalism.

‘I am the king-,” he sang, his brown doe eyes catching your piercing glare. He shot you a smile, dimples peeking at the corners of his rapidly moving lips, “and this is my castle!”

Your blood was boiling within you. The smile - the lyrics - the constant staring… he’s laughing at me.

Then his eyes close at the euphoric feeling of playing the guitar on stage, he was on cloud number nine - you could tell. You watched him closely, still with harsh eyes as his ring clad fingers quickly pluck the strings of his six string, a screech of notes ring through your ears like a sweet caress - the most beautiful guitar solo you’d ever heard, and you’d heard and studied plenty.

It ranged from low to high notes and his fingers wriggled skilfully as his bottom lip tugged behind his top one, his face was scrunched up and his hips were pressed against the body of the guitar.

Slurred screams and claps sounded around you - you heard people talking amongst each other as they enjoyed Corroded Coffin’s music.

‘Where have these guys been?!’

‘This is what I call metal!’

‘Who is that?!’

You couldn’t believe your ears, are these people for real? They must be drunk to the point where they can’t actually hear if they’re enjoying this shit!

When he plucked the last note it ringed for a while, fading into the familiar sound of static from the amp.

They finished just in time for Keith’s one minute warning, you noticed, because the middle-aged man gave the band a thumbs up and a proud smile.

The room was silent for a few moments, as if they’d completely shocked the sparse crowd with their godawful music. Screams, thuds of feet and clapping soon erupts together into a loud and messy rhythm.

Your mouth was left agape, you were left at a loss at the entire situation, your mind in a state of complete disarray. They did it, Corroded Coffin had actually wooed a crowd.

The so called ‘metal’ band basked in the glory with faces that expressed disbelief and exhaustion mixed with pent up adrenaline - they huddled together, jumping and chanting before the swooshy-haired singer, in a cropped black t-shirt with a white skull design on it that matched the bandana he wore on his head and showcased his arm and chest tattoos, swung his guitar over his shoulder, kissed the neck and carefully rested it against the bass drum.

His face was glistening with sweat, his chest also heaving up and down rapidly. He faces the audience, wide-eyed and frantically searching again until eventually he locks eyes with you, pulling that same smug smile that boiled your insides for what felt like the millionth time tonight… your organs feel so hot that you are sure that they are suffering from first degree burns.

To your surprise, he jumps from the platform down onto the floor. Droplets of sweat shake off of him and his hair slaps wetly back onto his shoulders after the thud that his sneakers had made from his land.

His eyes didn’t leave you for even a millisecond as he headed in your direction with large strides. The crowd reached for him, touching his shoulders, telling him that he ‘rocks’, that they’d ‘never heard anything like you’ and asking things like ‘will you gig here again?’. These were the people that were usually clamouring for your attention, your time - why were they suddenly so desperate for his? I don’t see the appeal.

His response was to triumphantly grin while bewildered by the sudden attention, uttering a breathless ‘I hope so’ before looking straight forward, manoeuvring and dodging people with an energetic skip in his step… he was getting closer and closer and you physically felt as though you couldn’t move - his stare was dark, half-lidded but still entirely focused on…

Me? Is he? Your breath hitches and you look over your shoulder to see… no one…

“Hi,” you hear the familiar voice of the doe-eyed brunette and your heart drops as you slowly turn your head to come face to face with him. Seeing him closeup, his pupils were blown out with adrenaline or maybe just from shock at the sight of you stood in front of him - the messily applied eyeliner he wore was running in streaks from his eyes due to the sweat, “You - you came,” he speaks softly, breathlessly.

You press your lips together tightly into a straight line, trying to suppress your anger at him because you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of Keith again, especially after the ‘talk’ last Friday.

“I didn’t think you would,” he continues, bringing his hand up to fiddle with the tips of his dripping hair, “Thank you.”

You snort a small laugh, “Oh - don’t flatter yourself, Ed- Edwin - Edmund - whatever your name is-.”

“It’s Eddie-.”

“Eddie,” you repeat in a low drawl that makes his breath hitch, “If I’m honest - I forgot about your little gig and my invitation, I came because my friends and I are discussing our Halloween gig next week.”

He nods, gulping and sliding his shaking fingers through his hair now, “Nonetheless, I’m glad you came.”

You roll your eyes and huff with attitude, “I’m sure you are, Munson.”

“So you did remember half of my name, that’s a start,” he mutters the last three words to himself.

You did remember his entire name - how could you not? It had infested your entire brain over the weekend, the name infuriated you.

You notice his lips tugging upwards again into that smirk- I swear, if he looks at me like that again with that stupid look, twirling his stupid long hair around his stupid fingers I’m going to lose it - you spin on your heel and turn away from him and return to your friends.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You hear behind you, along with footsteps, “Hey, wait up!” He pleads over the music now coming from the old stereo, but you continue to walk until he gently grasps your hand.

The touch sends an electric jolt through your entire arm that makes something snap within you, making you turn to face him again with raised brows, “Leave - me - alone, do you know what that means?”

Eddie tilts his head with widened brown eyes, resembling a lost puppy, he no longer wore the smug expression, “Woah woah woah - I’m struggling to pin-point exactly where this all went wrong.” He gestures dramatically between the two of you with his spare hand before letting his hand drop to his side, slapping his thigh in the process, “Can you enlighten me, please?” He asks with a sigh, absentmindedly rubbing your knuckles subtly with his clammy fingers.

Feeling the coldness of his silver rings against your fingers, your breath hitched at the realisation that he was still holding your hand, “Sure, I’ll - enlighten - you,” you mimic his desperate high pitched voice, pulling your hand away from his soothing and gentle grasp before you grimace at him, “How about the way you just loved rubbing your undeserved success in my face tonight with your annoying looks - the stupid smile - the guitar solo - need I go on?” You bring your hand up and press your index finger’s tip against his chest, poking him with every word spoken in a sassy tone.

Eddie’s face couldn’t have fallen more, he brought his hands up in surrender and let out a nervous and breathless chuckle, “Y-you’ve completely got the wrong end of the stick, sweetheart.”

“Well, how about you enlighten me?” You take a small step closer towards him, visibly making him even more nervous as he starts to breathe shakily, “And don’t you dare call me that again,” you state with another poke to his chest, your finger grazing his plectrum necklace.

“I - I just wanted to-,” he sighs, shaking his head and placing a hand on his forehead, “Jesus H. Christ - this is stupid - I just wanted to impress you, m’kay?” His pleading brown eyes search yours through the gap between his pinky and ring finger, “I wanted to - show you that I can be cool - metal or whatever and I kept on looking at you because I wanted to see if you were - having fun - impressed,” he rambles while scrunching his noise. It was evident to you that he wanted nothing more than to crawl into himself and hide forever. It almost made you laugh in his face, “I even tried to put on this - stupid eyeliner - badly because I know you like it. And I - came up with this - extravagant plan just to talk to you because you never even looked my way three years ago… I’m pretty sure you still wouldn’t even if I walked around Hawkins High with underpants on my head.”

You furrow your brows… now you were lost, “What?”

Eddie’s breathing is now staggered from his confession, his heartbeat rapid. He exhales loudly, “I-.”

“I think I owe you a congratulations, bro!” Rodrick suddenly swoops into yours and Eddie’s personal space. He wraps his arm around Eddie, rubbing his arm roughly and shooting you a questioning look, “How do you feel? Like you’re on top of the world I bet - am I right?!”

“Y-yeah, dude - like the king of the castle,” Eddie doesn’t reciprocate the embrace, but turns his head to Rodrick, forcing a grin.

Rodrick mirrors Eddie’s grin and pulls him closer into his side by the shoulder, “Speaking of ‘kings of the castle’, me and my dad think that Corroded Coffin ruled the Hideout tonight, andddd - if you want, we’re willing to give you a deal. You’ll play every Tuesday, how about that?”

Tuesday?

As Rodrick speaks he side-eyes you with a mischievous glint in his eyes, while Eddie stares at him with an excited expression, practically bouncing on the spot and about to burst, “Yes! Shit! We’ll do it - we’ll do it!” He laughs between each word, finally reciprocating Rodrick’s embrace.

Rodrick cackles, “Then the backstage room is yours just as much as it is the Valentines. We’ll see you next week - the thirty-first,” he side-eyes you with a mischievous glint in the look - it is almost like he wants to see my reaction.

Halloween night?

Rodrick squeezes Eddie’s shoulder, pointing at him with his other hand before looking at you once more with a raised brow and leaving to resume tending to the drunkards of the bar.

You were alone with Eddie again, who was elated at Rodrick and Keith’s proposition, while your world had crumbled right in front of you.

The softness of your features due to his confession before Rodrick had interrupted, had hardened.

Halloween was your favorite night of the year, but most importantly it was your gig. The same rage that had been boiling within you before had resurfaced - you’d spent so much time planning a costume for your performance, the lighting, the makeup, the set-list… now completely sabotaged and stamped on by Corroded ‘fucking’ Coffin.

“So - now that I’ve finally got your attention. Would you wanna - maybe go-,” Eddie confidently begins with a charming and dimpled grin, chuckling in between words and rubbing his hands together.

“Save it, asshole,” you spit with a harsh glare, staring right through his eyes like a laser before throwing yourself around in a spin, facing your band-mates, only to see Alissa clearly flirting with Gareth and Rodrick proposing the ‘brilliant’ deal to the rest of Corroded Coffin at the same booth.

You huff and storm your way towards the Hideout’s exit - feeling the extreme urge to leave before you could burst and get yourself a permanent ban from Keith.

Before slamming the door and removing yourself from the insufferable situation you turn to face Eddie, who was stood in the exact same spot you’d left him in, a defeated look evident on his soft features. “And I’m the queen of this castle,” you state loudly enough for him to hear and flip him the bird.

From the moment that you’re completely alone and no one can see you, a tear falls from your eye, only for you to quickly wipe it away and sniffle.

You stumble your way to the first place you can think of…

The woods.

⇝ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆!!!!! 𝐈𝐭'𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 <𝟑

𝐈𝐭'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ’𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒’ 𝐨𝐫 ’𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧’ 𝐭𝐚𝐠-𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰!

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒 ↯

𝑩𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑺

@munsonology @eddiesluvt @pexsistolss @kathieycarrerarosshley @marjoriea13 @lolalanaie @big-ope-vibes @majesticjellyfishzombie @lexi--a @b-ritney @joyfulcandyrunaway @sidthedollface2 @sillypurplemurple @aysheashea @spookycreepycookie

𝑬𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

@introvertedmouse @fastnights

🜸

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I was scrolling through your tags and links last night and i will never stop being SHOOKT of the way you right Steve and Bucky JAHFOWJDORJEI

So I present to you- fresh faced Steve x twunk Sebastian x WS!Bucky

During endgame, they made a joke about the hot tub time machine movie and that implies the existence of one Sebastian Stan in the marvel universe and I'm reminded of that discovery when I read your selfcest drabbles/fics Nghhhhhh

So like, imagine a movie night with the avengers and Steve's all chilling when he suddenly sees the younger face of his dead best friend (ehem lover ehem) on the screen. He loses his shit, quietly, and Steve's captivated, he can't take his eyes off the man in front of the screen, animatedly talking and playing his character

Natasha's the first to notice of course and she quietly tells him that he's just an actor that happened to have an uncanny resemblance with the late sergeant. Steve nods along, heart aching behind where he's squeezing the pillow to his chest. When the movie ends, he returns to his floor and googles Sebastian Stan and basically spends the rest of the night stalking him

Do you see the potential angst!? The 'he doesn't want me as me but because I look like someone he loved' trope on Sebby who falls in love with Steve but can't really act on his feelings bcs he knows he only reminds Steve of his lost love???? Or.... STALKER STEVE AJDBWKRBWOHFIE

as an actor, being stalked is nothing new for Seb but good lord he's never been stalked by a 6'2, blonde man built like a brick houseeeeeeeeee; and his stalkers' weirdly polite and charming too, flowers and chocolate and lots of other gifts-

Then we get the events of the winter soldier and maybe instead of leaving, Bucky stays around stalking Steve and he discovers Steve's massive obsession with this actor who looks exactly like him. Another identity crisis for Bucky because is he even real? Or just another version? What if he was just modelled after this man? He needs to know more about this man

It ends with the two of them stalking Seb, watching from afar, leading to possible dub-con EHEM AHSIWHEUWHIEJRJF

I WANT TO WRITE THE PORN PART BUT I FEEL LIKE IVE GONE LONG ENOUGH ABIUT THIS UGHHHHHH bcs can you imagine poor regular Human Sebastian trying to keep up with two ravenous super soldiers who are nearly twice his size!!? Overstimulation and marathon sex would go crazy!!!!

That's all ���� hope u have a good day Sir S!!

-🫠🫠

Aw, thank you!! I'm touched 😘

Oh yeah, I always forget about that. Timeline shenanigans are fun, aren't they?

Oh. Oh. But that's devastating. Can you imagine how wrecked fresh-from-the-ice Steve would be? Seeing his lover's face on another man? It would be like being jostled from his sleep by an explosion on TV--his heart races the same. Shit.

The stalking that would go down. Holy fuck. Yeah. Stalking and pining. I can only imagine the hours Steve would spent staring at his laptop screen, longing to reach out and touch his face. He looks so, so similar!

OH I FEEL THE ANGST. But I wasn't thinking about it like that! Oh my fucking god, Sebastian falling for Steve--who wouldn't?--but knowing the whole time that it's not him that Steve wants. Oof. And while Steve's heart is big, maybe he could learn to love Sebastian for Sebastian... that's not going to happen when he's so locked up with grief. He can't move on from Bucky by being with someone who is his twin. All he can do is yearn for Sebastian, who looks so much like Bucky that he can't resist, but doesn't act like him. He isn't Bucky. It hurts. But it's all he has.

Oh my GOD, there's something darkly comedic about Steve becoming a stalker because while my immediate inclination is a stalker in the traditional dangerous, threatening way and not an unwanted, too-intensely-earnest infatuation. Huh. That would be so interesting! And how would Sebastian react to that because Steve is very handsome and sweet but... boundaries. Jesus Christ. They need to establish boundaries.

Oof. A stalking triangle? A love triangle? We're getting wild, lmao. The identity crisis would fucking TAKE BUCKY OUT. Yeah. What the fuck. Who is he? Who is this man? Has Steve entirely replaced him with this lookalike? Does Steve not want him? Does he not need him? Who is that, and what's happening? I feel like it would probably make Bucky crazy jealous, right? He's unsteady at that time, and so I feel more than stalking he would turn to threatening poor Sebastian.

And maybe it all ends up with Steve explaining himself, standing between them, physically buffering them with his arms spread and his hands up. Then, well... why turn down an opportunity like this? Steve has forced his way into their lives (back into Bucky's life), so, he deserves what he gets--two lookalikes, two loves of his life, taking it out on him. Using him. 😏

This would go hard as a long form fic!! You're so fucking right 💥 💳💥💳

And thank you so, so much for sharing!! I enjoyed reading and thinking about this!

[fakeagatha]

Mrs Fletcher | Prof! Eve Fletcher x Fem!Reader

.

A/N: I've been planning on starting this series for about a week now, and I never thought I'd write something like this but here we are!

SFW, but with implied NSFW

Words: 1112

.

Chapter One

Most people enjoy college and university, but you just can't help but disagree. It felt quite boring, as nothing eventful ever happened. It was as if the days just kept repeating themselves, over and over again. You hoped maybe something interesting would finally happen-

"Miss L/N?"

You perked up, not realizing you had zoned out until your professor had called on you.

"Uhm, answer B?" You replied randomly.

"Correct, well done." She smiled back to you in response.

For some reason, you had blushed at the compliment. You weren't sure why, but you guessed that Fletcher was just one of those teachers you approved of.

Your teacher paced around the class, collecting everyone's assignments, before she resumed babbling on.

You continue listening to the woman's lecture, which surprisingly wasn't as bad as some of the other ones you have to listen to daily from your other professors. You saw as she used many hand gestures and facial expressions when speaking which you found quite cute, showing a small smile as you looked down to your notebook.

Finally, she finished up, dismissing you all from class. You stayed behind and you took your time gathering your things. Eve noticed you, and now that she had the chance to talk to you alone, she took it.

"You've got a lot of potential." She spoke up, making you pause from putting your things away. "Last week's assignment, it was probably one of the best i've read so far." She smiled, leaning her hand on your desk.

You looked away from her gaze, but still returned the smile. "Thank you, professor, I appreciate it." You looked back up at her to meet her eyes, before she dismissed you.

'Her eyes, they're absolutely gorgeous!'

You blinked back the thought, but still wondered why she caught your attention the way she does.

"Boo!"

You screamed, "Jesus Christ Steve! You're seriously going to give me a heart attack one day!" You groaned.

Steve was your friend since highschool, one of the few that actually stuck around and attended the same university as you. You had become really close during that period, forming a strong bond.

"What's up with you and Fletch?" He grinned.

"What are you talking about?" You replied back, looking at him in confusion.

He rolled his eyes, "Come on, we've all seen how you look at each other, you couldn't even look at her after she gave you that tiny compliment!"

You scoffed, "I don't get what's so weird about my reaction." You deadpan.

"M'kay then." He smirked as you both continued walking down to your next class.

The final bell of the day rang as you quickly got out of the classroom, as you just wanted to go back to your dorm and rest. Luckily for you though, it was pouring with rain outside.

You sobbed internally, walking into the rain as you didn't have a hood or an umbrella. That was until, Eve was conveniently walking past on her way to her car.

She quickly walked over to you with an umbrella in her hand, "Y/N honey, you're going to catch a cold, let me walk you back to the dormitory building!"

HONEY. You're officially deceased.

"I don't want to burden you professor, there's no need, it's only a five minute walk; I'll be fine!" You smiled in thanks to her, but she insisted.

So there you were, walking ridiculously close to each other so you could both fit under her tiny umbrella. She was holding you by the arm to assure you weren't getting wet. Well, maybe you were elsewhere, but that's irrelevant.

The walk felt like it lasted forever as you arrived to the dorms, you thanked her profusely and said your goodbyes, walking inside.

You sped walk to your room, plopping your things down wherever there was room.

'ohmygod'

You looked at yourself in the mirror only to see how red your face had become. Why?

Your face smacked into the pillow as you laid on your bed, after changing, and you switched on your phone.

Steve sent a photo

1 New Message

You opened the chat, seeing a photo of you and Eve walking awfully close to each other under her umbrella.

Steve: This is absolutely golden, I'm never letting you forget this!

Y/N: STEVEN SANDLER!!!!! Where did you even find that???

Steve: Don't worry, I took it, so you're in safe hands! 😁

You quickly pressed the call button and he answered almost immediately, laughing at you.

"Show that to anyone and you are literally dead." You whisper shouted into the phone.

"Trust me, far from the jokes, I wouldn't show anyone. Speaking of which, what were you saying about there's clearly nothing between you and Fletcher?" He asked, grinning like an asshole.

"There isn't. She was just... walking me home, cause it was raining." You said casually.

He rolled his eyes, "Okay okay, i'll see you tomorrow, Y/N Fletcher."

The last thing he heard was your cut off scream before he hung up.

God you loved him, but he was a little shit. You smiled fondly before opening up your diary, like you usually did, and started writing.

January 14th, 2019                                                                                                                            

I've noticed something strange happening to me. Today I was completely distracted because of my professor. She called on me in class, and I couldn't even look at her in the eye after she told me I did a 'good job' on answering correctly. She walked me home today as it was raining, but that's just because she felt the need to do it, right? She doesn't actually care. Anyway, Steve is convinced I'm in love with her which I am certainly NOT, she is my teacher for crying out loud. Either way I can't help but deny that she is attractive. I generally do find older women attractive, but she stands out more with those blue eyes and brown hair. Not only that, but her personality. She's kind and caring, never being too harsh on her students. As I said though, I don't have a crush on her.

You closed the book, leaving it on the nightstand as you scrolled online for the next hour, soon falling asleep

Eve approached you with her usual smile, and leaned against your desk in her classroom. She gently grabbed your chin to look at her, kissing your lips.

Her's were soft, as you had expected, and you cupped her cheek as she got closer to you. In a flash you were suddenly in the middle of the Sahara desert with some random woman you'd never seen in your life. Dreams can be weird and disappointing.

[hieromonkcharbel]

A certain, very peculiar form of Christianity shows a face that is bureaucratic, authoritarian, cerebral, and smug. It makes us forget that the true apostle proclaims the mystery of God’s saving love in Jesus with his whole life—with what he does with his body no less than with his words. It makes us forget, too, that, because it is a crucified Savior who is being proclaimed (1 Cor 2:2), the apostle demonstrates his authenticity, not by the coherence of his logic (1 Cor 2:4-7), but by his stigmata—that is, by the concrete evidence on his body and on his life that he has borne the saving cross along with Jesus at great personal cost: “I bear on my body the marks (στίγματα) of Jesus”, says Paul (Gal 6:17). No one can, without bleeding hands, remove the crown of thorns from the brow of our crucified King.

No one can, by clutching his own unscathed life, proclaim the God who emptied himself. All the apostle’s words and deeds and very breathing ought to be an outpouring of self that loses itself in the one kenotic tide of the Word uttered by the Father into a world of misery. Nor can this kenotic event remain a purely “mystical” reality. We see all too palpably in the Savior’s person, as portrayed in the Passion narratives, the ravages that the work of redemption inflicts on man’s flesh and psyche. Compared to Christ’s kenosis, even Socrates’ wisdom appears shallow and conceited. At bottom, it is not the unexamined but the unspent life that is not worth living.

Certain cultural forms of Christianity have inured us to a fundamental truth of the Gospel, namely, that evangelists—the preachers of the Good News of all stripes—must become in every way as socially poor, downtrodden, and persecuted as the Word they proclaim became during his historical existence in our world. This is why the whole notion of “success” is extremely questionable when applied to the life of the Church and her members. We can never lose from sight the truth that Jesus “succeeded” in redeeming the world only on the Cross. This is why all forms of worldly triumphalism, power, riches, influence, comfortable establishment, and self-congratulation are an abomination when practiced by Christians in the name of Christ.

From our long experience of a Christianity and a Church comfortably established in the world and running its “business” of evangelization with all-too-worldly means and standards of success, we have come to identify “the poor and the destitute” only as those unfortunates in society on whom the Church and her prosperous members condescendingly exercise works of charity.

How many of us would ever unreflectedly predicate the attributes “poor”, “hungry”, and “naked” of the Church of Christ as such or of her clergy, teachers, and leaders? That is why it comes as a great shock to us and, indeed, why at first we find it almost incomprehensible for Jesus to take it for granted that our own brothers and his intimate apostles, who live according to his own Heart, are necessarily going to be the least members of a self-serving society. It is the shepherds themselves who ought to be the neediest “charity cases”, and not the vagrants knocking at the rectory door!

Erasmo Merikakis

[twilightknight17]

Decision's Eve - Part 1

This time on P3R: My social links are further along than I thought, so that’s enough to keep me from dwelling on our upcoming decision for longer than necessary.

(Also, obviously, this got too long for one post. XD)

Odagiri’s change of heart is coming along very solidly, because the teachers are being completely unreasonable about the whole thing.

Like… Why on earth does this teacher even want me on the suspect list (for the single cigarette)? Do I look or smell like I smoke? Christ.

Although now I’m contemplating the comedic potential of Odagiri getting tossed into Shujin and crumpling even faster.

But if we went to Shujin, how would we get amazing lessons like this?

Also, the dorm is sort of decorated for Christmas, so… Merry Christmas from this dork and his smaller dorks.

Kenji and I go out for ramen to conclude his link. He’s basically thinking out loud, and I chose to say nothing, because this is rank 10 and I don’t have to be nice anymore. XD

Landed myself a cute boy by being myself, actually. But thanks.

Anyway, how are you doing, Kenji?

You’re the one who called yourself dumb! 8D

Somehow, he considers me his best friend, though, and he has a gift for me!

...oh. It’s… uh. It’s a choker?

A choker, though???? What the hell, Kenji. X’’’’D

Time continues to tick by, and Paulownia Mall is decorated for Christmas!!

I’m so glad they take advantage of the dome. That’s so cool. Makes me think about possible little details for fic stuff with the Paulownia family on the Other Side.

But eventually I have to go home, and I guess since nothing is really happening at night, I’ll do some more studying.

...oh my GOD finally. Okay. It’s after finals, but you know, whatever. I can ask Mitsuru to walk home now. Jesus christ it’s taken MONTHS.

Christmas is here, and while I contemplated taking everyone to Tartarus, Ken’s final “social link” event is up, so we’re off to the roof!

First of all, he’s not “that thing”.

Second of all, Ryoji is not going to fight anything like me? I mean I guess changing arcana is like changing personas, but we can’t do that on the roof. Physically, he won’t fight anything like me.

But okay.

It’s time for a Struggle Tournament, I guess.

Merry Christmas to me. I get to beat up a child with a whiffle bat. :D

The day after Christmas, I manage to take Mitsuru out for the first time. Right before winter break, so I won’t be able to rank up any more anytime soon. But this works.

It’s funny, because I knew about the whole “Mitsuru doesn’t know what a hamburger is” joke, but I didn’t realize it extended this far.

She wants to try these new things because she’s never had the chance to have them before, though. So ramen is a good place to start.

Sunday, we skip hanging out with Akinari to rank up Maya instead. But oh no, the servers for the game are going to shut down! Tragic. Maya is upset about this, obviously, and hatches a plan to potentially save her beloved MMO so we don’t lose contact!

You… You mean the logs where you admit to having a crush on your student? Probably not a good idea, and also they’re not going to keep the game running for two people. But okay, I guess. I’m gonna go stare longingly at the photo of my friends and the tower I got in Kyoto with my boyfriend.

There’s REALLY not much to do during winter break. I don’t know why all of my school friends vanish without a trace the instant school lets out. I’m gonna have to time things so much better in NG+ if I want to get all these links done. Mamoru’s only around like 2 days that aren’t Sunday.

But I guess I finally have time to work at the movie theater for the first time.

“Hot Snack” is exactly what I want when I go to the theater. Also, the name of my emo band.

I’ve also been working on Elizabeth’s requests, and I did one where she rewarded me with a cleaning brush that Ken can wield as a weapon.

But the next quest is…

:/

Liz. Why.

I did the thing, and as part of my reward, the brush now has the chance to poison enemies when you hit them with it.

Gross.

I do have to admit, though, there’s a lot more trash around town now.

Anyway, Aigis has been under repair since the fight on the bridge, and now, the night before our decision, she’s back. We’ve all already made our decision, though, so we’ll just have to tell her what we picked and then--

...no.

Aigis doesn’t understand why we’d want to throw our lives away like this. But we’re not. We’re at least trying, instead of giving up to wait for the end.

Junpei gives a really great speech, that does actually get through to Aigis.

The whole team points out that Aigis seems much more human than she did before the fight on the bridge. Which I guess means I can finally social link with her too when we go back to school. Which cramps all the rest of my social links if she’s only got a month for hers.

Again, my timing is going to be really important for the second go round.

But now it’s time to unlock the super double-secret DLC that leads to the Carnival of Contempt!

God, I wish. X’’’D Anyway.

My boy is here and he is sad.

Maybe if we hang onto you hard enough, you can keep your form.

Despite the fact that we have our decision, he tells us he’ll wait in Minato’s room, and to come see him when we’re ready to answer.

Babe, that is NOT helping. X’D Pretty sure that would influence our decision no matter what.

Everyone sends Minato upstairs to deliver the answer, and things are… a lot.

You were still you, though. Your soul was the same.

Don’t look so disappointed about that.

I love you, but how can you ask me to betray my friends like that?

He has a point, though. It’s just me. I can be a horrible person if I want to.

...the fact that he looks so happy that I’m going to kill him makes me instantly regret this decision.

Ryoji, I made the wrong choice. I know that. Don’t try to make this better.

He says he’s glad he met Minato.

You’ve been happy before!

Seriously, he just closes his eyes and waits.

What are we even doing?

It’s not midnight.

We can’t summon in reality.

What are you doing?

[originmade]

MAVIS VERMILLION - PORTRAYAL MASTER POST

Tags: Headcanons. Asks. Interactions.

This post is to cover all major canon divergences as well as any important details that are worth sharing about my portrayal of Mavis. All of these points remain no matter the verse unless stated otherwise or plotted with specific partners. As someone who has hyper analyzed Fairy Tail Zero for years, Mavis is the character that genuinely frustrates me the most with their mishandling. Please Note: Mavis' Portrayal is very heavily tied to my Zera & Zeref Portrayals.

1 ) I am of the belief that Mavis was much older during the events of Fairy Tail Zero, because you cannot except me to believe that anyone in their right mind would join a guild being run by a 13 year old. Mavis was 15 when the other founders arrived on Tenro, and by the time Blue Skull had fallen, the guild hall was built and all the paper work was finalized, Mavis was 17 when Fairy Tail was officially founded and dubbed it's First Master. At the time of Makarov's birth, Mavis was 26, meaning she had only held the title of first master for nine years ( ten technically if you count the year she had run away before her "death" ). She was 27 at the time of her death.

2 ) Mavis is a very cold, tactical and manipulative person. Most people disregard this aspect of her due to only seeing her child like wonder and excitement for knowledge, and while all of these aspects of her personality are very much genuine, the amount she exaggerates these qualities is all done on purpose for people to underestimate her. Her title of Fairy Tactician isn't just because of the war. Mavis is cunning and isn't one to show her entire hand, and tends to leave most conversations gaining more information than she gave. You never will know what truly is on Mavis' mind unless she wants you to know.

3 ) I cant believe this is an actual point I have to make. MAVIS IS NOT AUGUST'S MOTHER AND NEVER HAD CHILDREN. The entire implication of august existing is genuinely disgusting and something I have hated since the moment it was even hinted at. Like jesus fucking christ NO??? The time period between Mavis' 'death' and Cana breaking the Lacrima, there was no way in hell that mavis had a child. Seriously. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Also in general, Mavis would never have been acknowledged as the guild's mother. She is not a motherly presence and honestly would be an awful mother if she did have kids.

4 ) Considering she spent a large majority of her life alone with only one other person, Mavis is not the most sociable of people, and tends to keep a lot of things close to her chest. The only people who know of Zera are the other founders ( and much later down the line Team Shadow Gear ) and she wants to keep thing that way. As much as she loves the guild she has created, she doesn't believe they are entitled to the secrets of her heart and mind, and tends not to share things unless absolutely necessary.

5 ) Mavis never loved Zeref, at least, not romantically. Mavis' relationship with Zeref is... complicated, but romantic love has never been in the picture for her. Respect, admiration, sympathy, all of those are feelings she had toward him and his plight, especially after he told her the origin of his curse. She could relate, the desire to bring back the diseased a strong one. But love? Love was never an emotion that crossed her mind and was why she had died. Her bringing about Zeref's death was never due to romantic love, but due to her desire for that companionship, that comradery of being with the only person in the whole world who would know the pain she was going through, and that was the emotion strong enough to finally kill them both.

6 ) While never spoken aloud, Mavis resents Precht for the creation of Fairy Heart and everything it had caused. She never wanted to be saved. She never wanted the immortality that came with casting the incomplete version of law. She resented being alive and all she wanted was to die. The fact that Precht had gone out of his way to try and revive her, leading to his own madness and decent into darkness. The fact that her corpse was now being held as a sacred object and something to be protected, it genuinely disgusted her, and was something she wished again and again never came into existence. I don't agree with the motion that Mavis called the Lumine Historie 'Fairy Tail's Light' because she out of everyone should know that it's nothing but darkness and was only going to cause more harm than good.

7 ) While most of her stint as guild master was plagued by the trade war, Mavis was a very direct and respectable master. She was a big advocate of flying under the radar and not stirring the pot more than necessary. Fairy Tail was created so she and the other founders would have somewhere to call home, and was fine keeping the guild small and quaint, with an open door policy for those who needed a home, needed a family, especially after she had lost the only remaining family she believed she had just a few years prior to the guild's founding.

More shall be added / this post shall be updated when deemed necessary

[themculibrary]

Ceo Steve Rogers Masterlist

An Unexpected Engagement (ao3) - thedrih steve/natasha M, 208k

Summary: Natasha Romanoff has a huge crush on CEO Steve and decides that the company's Christmas party is the perfect opportunity to win him over but she ends up exaggerating and after several disastrous events she wakes up in Steve's bed without remembering how she got there. And the most surprising thing is that he makes her an unusual proposal: that she pretend to be her fiancée!

Steve Rogers is a workaholic CEO who, in order to escape the family's insistence that he have a serious relationship, invents a fake bride. And when the family shows up by surprise and catches him with the employee he brought home drunk and passed out last night, he decides to make her a proposal: that Natasha pretend to be his fake bride.

What Steve doesn't realize is that Natasha has much more elaborate plans for him, making him a very malicious counterproposal!

Call me maybe (but only during business hours) (ao3) - MaddieWritesStucky (Madeleine_Ward) steve/bucky E, 3k

Summary: Bucky's brain and his dick catch on at the same time in a borderline painful rush of blood. He hears Steve pull back from the phone to address his clients, placating them with an apology and the assurance that this won’t take long, and Jesus Christ...Steve is actually doing this.

Steve is actually going to let this happen, going to let Bucky have one-sided phone sex with him while he sits there in some boardroom, with actual clients sitting right in front of him.

What the fuck.

Can’t Stop Thinking About You (ao3) - Swietek93 steve/natasha E, 10k

Summary: “Hey, it’s not my fault Mister Gorgeous asked for you.”

“He what?”

(Jewelry shop AU in which Natasha has the hots for Steve and Steve can’t figure out how to talk to her so he ends up buying a ton of jewelry.)

Dreams Do Come True (ao3) - captasha007 steve/natasha M, 114k

Summary: “Come in!”

Her heart jumped hearing his voice, making her more nervous, so she slowly opens the door and enters the office.

And God almighty, can she just die?

Because there, standing behind a desk, was Steve Rogers aka the asshole who spilled coffee on her blouse earlier. The guy who she yelled and cussed out.

Yep, kill her right now.

feeling the tension, feeling the stress (ao3) - oceanicspirit steve/natasha E, 8k

Summary: this game between the two could go so far, that one of them has to break

Home Sweet Home (ao3) - Auggusst steve/tony, carol/rhodey T, 4k

Summary: CEO Steve Rogers is plenty eager to get back to his wonderful husband and their kids after a week long business trip. He loves taking care of Tony's company, but much prefers taking care of his family instead.

i am not impressed [by your six figure cheque] (ao3) - circaclementine steve/bucky E, 28k

Summary: Steve Rogers, CEO of Stark Industries, dominates in the boardroom. He’s every bit as intimidating and impressive as the whispers lead people to believe. At the end of the day, when he leaves the building and heads home, he shrugs off that persona along with his immaculate three-piece suit.

In the small apartment he shares with his boyfriend Bucky, he’s anything but in charge.

Late Night Endeavors (ao3) - spazzgirl steve/natasha E, 3k

Summary: Steve didn’t know how things ended up this way

Love Alight Like Electric Touch (ao3) - dioncchusmic steve/natasha, steve/wanda G, 71k

Summary: Liberal lawyer Natasha Romanoff is doing everything that she can to prevent the community ballet center from it's destruction, wherein the said ballet center is bought by SHIELD Industries, aka Steve Rogers' company.

They come into an agreement that he won't destroy the community ballet center as long as she works for him as his Chief Counsel, what happens when Natasha agrees and finds out more than what she's bargained for?

mi casa es su casa (ao3) - orphan_account steve/tony E, 1k

Summary: “I dunno, I just—” Tony wrung his hands and dropped his head as tears began to well up, overwhelmed. “I don’t—”

“Oh, baby boy,” Steve said. “Why didn’tcha come ‘ta me earlier?”

Tony whimpered, frustrated.

Steve sighed and began to unbuckle his pants. "Don't ya worry now," he promised, rucking up Tony's dress. "I give it ta you, promise."

Take me private (ao3) - Silver_StCloud steve/bucky, peggy/steve M, 37k

Summary: How to get yourself into a pickle (if you're Steve Rogers) in 6 easy steps:

Step 1: suspect your wife of cheating on you

Step 2: Snoop on your wife's laptop and discover her secret kink for m/m porn

Step 3: discover her Only Fans account and, in turn, discover a very cute adult entertainer who goes by the name 'Bucky'

Step 4: create your own Only Fans account to get even with your wife. Request nude photos from Bucky

Step 5: start video chatting with Bucky on the regular, then agree to meet in person

Step 6: fall in love with Bucky and start an affair

(Congratulations, Steve Rogers, you are now in a pickle.)

The Benefits of A Sugar Baby (ao3) - this_wayward_life steve/bucky E, 2k

Summary: Steve's had a long day at work. Bucky knows just how to make him feel better.

Such a good cockwarmer (ao3) - jensencanfricklemyfrackle steve/bucky M, 1k

Summary: Steve was getting very tense about this meeting, so Bucky volunteered to become a bit of 'stress relief' - by being Steve's cockwarmer

Won’t You Come Around and Waste My Time (ao3) - stucktogether steve/bucky E, 65k

Summary: So, a blonde and a brunette walk into a bar…

“Steve, I’ve had a great time talking with you. But I don’t really know why I even came here and… I don’t want to waste more of your time. I’m sorry.”

“You can waste my time,” Steve’s eyes soften. “As much as you want. I don’t really do this much these days but I just… You’re so pretty, Buck. And you’re sweet and I really wanna know how that whiskey tastes on your lips.”

Okay, so maybe Bucky can do one more one-night stand.

You Know I Live for the Hustle (ao3) - Bittersweet_in_Boston steve/bucky E, 3k

Summary: He’s coming back down the aisle a few minutes later, calling over his shoulder to Nat, when he turns his head just in time to avoid bumping into 3C, who’s standing there, looking at Bucky intensely but maybe also a little uncertainly.

Bucky stops and looks up into 3C’s face. He has to physically restrain himself from swallowing hard, because 3C is a Specimen of the Highest Order. Tall, a few inches taller than Bucky’s six feet, dressed in head-to-toe Tom Ford business casual with dark blond hair sweeping across his forehead and curling at his very expensive shirt collar, piercing blue eyes, full lips, and a neatly trimmed, well-cared-for beard.

Further investigation reveals glints of silver in both hair and beard, and now Bucky really needs to go lie down. Instead, he raises his eyebrows as if to say, Well?

Your Head Is Bent Back, And Your Back Is Arched, My Hand Is Under There Holding You Up (ao3) - goldlining steve/bucky N/R, 2k

Summary: CEO Steve and husband Bucky have wild sex in Steve's office basically.

[screamingay]

started ranting about doctor who to my gf and realized i actually have a lot of opinions (which start off summarizing hbomberguy's takes from the sherlock video but it was kind of a revelation for me) so if u want to hear them ive copypasted and edited them a bit for u guys under the cut <3

so like to set up how bad steven moffat is he explains why doctor who was so bad when moffat was the showrunner in a way ive been trying to articulate for years

basically he's a decent writer who was good at individual episodes that make reference to the doctors history but when it came to actually writing that history and the big events that would become the doctor's history he sucks so so so badly

like in the empty child he was amazing, he prioritized the story of the episode while giving the doctor an air of mystery and references a long and complicated backstory without compromising any charm or humor

but in the very first episode where he had reins on the entire show and its storylines he resorted to just a monologue from the doctor about how cool and special he is and that trend continued the whole time he was in charge. the entire universe suddenly revolved around the doctor

like. chibnall was clearly trying to subvert that by only using brand new aliens during his first season and having extra companions (three of them jesus christ) but he didn't address the heart of the problem and somehow made it even worse. the charm of the doctor was always that they were just a traveler bouncing around the universe and helping people or having fun or whatever

and of course there was always the tragic backstory and the genocide and being the last of his kind and all that but that always came second to the humans he loved!! the first time the master came back in tennant's run it was martha and her family and jack that saved him!! and chibnall tried to do that with yaz but it just didnt feel as impactful bc of how overpowering the master & timeless child plots were (dont even get me started on the timeless child shit retconning the entire history of the show to make the doctor quite literally the most important being in the universe)

moffat on the other hand went all over the place with it and wrote in intergalactic cults deadset on killing the doctor and when he did try to make companions special and important he completely took away their agency in the process

to me clara was a decent companion and had some great moments for me until she turned out to be not real or a metaphor or forgotten or dead or somehow retconned into existing since the show started in 1963 it was all so WEIRD and misses the point of making a companion important. it made her so important she lost her humanity imo

and then there was bill who also died and was mutilated beyond recognition and it just makes me think about how rtd never did that to companions. they were special not because of time magic or destiny or fucked up deaths but because they were just humans. with families. martha got to go back to her family. donna had to forget but she was happy in the end. rose was supposed to live out her life in the parallel universe with her own mortal doctor, and she did, but moffat STILL found a way to bring her back as a metaphor because his desire to deconstruct female companions into concepts and tragedies was just too strong

that's not even getting into what he did to river. or amy...

none of this is to say rtd is perfect of course, i'm really nervous to see how he deals with everything that's been thrown at the show in the past couple decades but considering he plans on staying for a while i really hope he manages to put a better twist on all of it. honestly the thing im most curious about is the special effects.. the show has been leaving very heavily on cg lately but chibnall did introduce a few decent practical effects and puppets so i hope rtd pushes for more of that. im getting off topic tho

that's all i have for now i hope u enjoyed and if u wanna discuss anything pls feel free although that's all the brainpower i have for today come back tomorrow <3

[childofchrist1983]

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. - Isaiah 44:6-8 KJV

God is very definite in this Bible passage from Isaiah: "I am God and there is no other! I am the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega!", as is written in the Book of Revelation.

Since we declare that we believe this, why do we insist on having other gods? Anything or anyone we put before God, including ourselves, we are making gods. Putting God first, means giving up some of our control and obeying His rules, and living as God wants us to live. This isn't the first time this message has come before us this year, but it bears repeating and reflecting upon once again.

On a scale of 1 – 10, where do we place God in the course of our day? Is God in your thoughts when you wake up? How many times do you think about God during the day while driving, working, reading, watching television? What about at night? Is God the last thing you think about at night as you reflect upon your day? How many times during the day do you say "Thank you, God" for getting those green lights, finding a parking place, having the meeting go well? Or maybe you need to thank God that the person running the red light didn't hit you?

Tomorrow morning, try saying "Good Morning" to God and ask Him to be with you during the day. Then, look for God in the people and events during the day. Tomorrow night, think about your day, recognize the places where God was present and then say, "Goodnight and thank you, God." Repeat.

God is with us all the time. He is there when we call upon Him and He keeps us in His sight even when we are unaware of His presence. And He is the one true God. May we not put any other gods before Him. May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time daily to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in the Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[zhongrin]

OKAY MY GOD HELLO I'M BACK FROM REPLAYING THE P5 VN I NEED TO SCREAM ABOUT DETAILS SO I GUESS I SHOULD PUT A SPOILER WARNING??? FOR THOSE WHO DECIDE TO PLAY??? IDK HOW LONG IT'S BEEN SINCE YOU RELEASED THE GAME BC I FOUND OUT YESTERDAY LMAO

//spoiler warning for the P5, P5R and fanmade visual novel//

I'm still a bit giddy so forgive me for my crappy attempt of explaining my feelings properly lol (but then again, it's kind of your fault for making such an amazing game 🥹)

First things first, thank you so much for your GOD-SENT walkthrough 🙌

There were so many parts that I had to pull up the settings menu just to recompose myself LMAO I didn't even have to touch my cheeks to know they were about to go up in flames from Ren's smooth flirty lines 🙈

That scene???? That we go to the post cultural event??? I LITERALLY HAD TO GET UP AND GO TO THE BATHROOM TO SPLASH MY FACE WITH WATER BC I WAS LOSING MY DAMN MIND OVER HAND HOLDING???? AND REN'S BLUSHING HAPPY FACE AFTER WE TIGHTEN THE HOLD OF HIS HAND???? I READ SO MANY NASTY NSFW FICS AND YET I'VE NEVER FELT SO EMBARRASSED OVER HAND HOLDING 🙈🙈🙈

DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT SCENE WHICH REN KISSES OUR HAND AHSYYDUEHSBBS I FELT SMOKE COMING OUT OF MY EARS 😩

AND THEN IT SHOWED HIM SAYING "You're going to be the death of me" 🫠🫠🫠 I'M SO WEAK AT SMOOTH FLIRTY GUYS LOSING THEIR COOL BC OF HIS CRUSH 😩😩😩

AND THE FACT THAT THIS GAME ISN'T EVEN VOICED AND YET HE HAD SUCH AN EFFECT ON ME?? THE POWER OF YOUR WRITING JESUS CHRIST

During the time of his disappearance, even though I knew Ren was gonna come back this time , I still cried like I did in the bad ending 🥲 and during their first reunion as well 🤧

I absolutely loved the affection heart thingy (I forgot the name lol) and how each day the description changed! When it showed "You're down bad for him. So bad." I related to that in my soul 😆

Playing your game was quite a ride bc I've never played Persona 5/P5R, only watched some gameplays (and not even of the full game since atlus has that weird rule 🤡), so many things at the end were a big surprise for me (like that whole alternative dimension thing and the red haired girl). That didn't affect my enjoyment tho! On the contrary, it's making me consider buying the P5R now that it's released on switch 😆

Throughout my gameplay today, each day that passed and scene that happened, I kept thinking "please don't end here, I want more 🥺". Don't get me wrong, the ending was so cute and sweet 🤧 I'm just really addicted to this vn and don't want to leave RenRen 😆 I can't wait to play the GE2 tomorrow!

i am sobbing. crying. laying on the floor. i wanted to hoard this ask so bad but that wouldn't be fair to you. ironically, even as a writer, i can't express this feeling in words. so have all these instead:

[pbandjesse]

Welp James got hit by another vehicle. Thankfully this time they were just a bit banged up. But Jesus Christ. I am so upset. Their bike is a little bent up and the person didn't even say sorry. They doored them and knocked them down. And honestly it could have been so much worse!! I hate that this happened again. My heart hurts so much because I am so worried for my husband.

Today wasn't a bad day before this though. I was just tired. I got to sleep a little longer which helped me feel a little more out together.

I got dressed and had a bagel. I felt pretty positive for the day.

I left here and went to the museum. I got there a little early to load in the leftover boxes from from outreach yesterday. A man in the parking lot told me he liked my bird collection, referring to my molcars. And he laughed when I told him they were actually hamsters.

It was a good day though. I was training the new Jess. And we had a city builder program and a neighborhood tour. And we ended up with an excellent teacher who had a great handle on the kids.

So it made it really easy. And I really had fun with them. They were 2nd graders, which is the oldest that do these programs (and the youngest that will do a regular tour and cannery) so you never know where they are going to be at. But they were awesome. We did finish each program a little early but that was fine. We would look around the galleries and they were sweet kids.

They were just a little embarrassed to wear the costumes. But I think they got into it by the end. They loved buying things and spending tokens and getting paid at their little jobs. It was super cute.

The bank actually went super well. I didn't need the extra time I built in. So once I got everyone finished their bank books and collected their costumes I took them to the car to play and take pictures.

We had about 10 minutes there. So me and Jess went and reset the galleries and got the costumes. And by then it was time to go to lunch.

During lunch I had the dumplings I brought and reset the costumes. Got everything on hangers. I started getting a little lightheaded so I would sit down and take a break.

And then it was time to take them to the movies. I grabbed my crochet to take to the front desk, gave them a five minute warning and went to make sure the dvd was working.

Someone turned off the DVD player which was annoying but James fixed it and everything was fine.

I dropped them off at the theater and sat with James and crocheted. They went to heat up their lunch. I helped a few guests. Found out that our event person doesn't like when we answer any questions about events. Which is ridiculous because they aren't even in this building 80% of the time so what would you like us to do? It's the polite thing to try to help guests, and like yeah if I don't know I'll direct them to you but if you aren't answering your phone you don't get to be mad. Whatever. I honestly don't care if they are mad I just think it's wild that that is something they are mad about.

I enjoyed sitting with James though. And once the video was over I got the kids to their coats and on the bus. It was nice to be done.

I had to call my rheumatologist because they had called me. They had to reschedule my appointment to Thursday. Not shocking I thought it was weird they were making appointments for MLK day.

And I made plans with Callie to have a late lunch tomorrow. I was feeling good.

But I was very tired. I would reset the rest of the costumes that got used today. And then went to sit with James until I could leave.

I decided to go walk around the second chance, the big furniture thrift store.

And I had fun looking but man we're the prices outrageous. Some stuff was normal. $20 or $30 bookshelves. A few I considered but decided not to get in the end. But some stuff that didn't need to be was hundreds of dollars!! Like at one point I found a dirty bean bag chair for $200???? I was so confused.

There were a few things I was seriously considering. One was a beautiful painted dresser but if it was tomorrow it would be a reasonable price (because every few weeks the ticket price drops) and so I decided it wasn't meant to be. Maybe if I go back next week and it's still there.

I got very very tired all of a sudden. And I really wanted to be home.

So I did just that. I went home and I curled up on the couch. I worked on my crochet. I would finish 5 squares today. I read a little. I made an early dinner of oven fries and veggie chicken nuggets. Our oven was not working well and I was getting frustrated but it was fine in the end and eating made me feel better.

When James got home they were really angry and upset. Half way home a driver doored them. Knocked them down. Bent their handlebars. Broke their phone mount. And they didn't even say sorry. I wish they got their info but they were to shaken up. Worried about their collarbone. Which thankfully seems fine. They say their wrist and elbow and hip hurt. Their emotions probably hurt the most. It's scary and I am so frustrated that it has happened again.

James was really upset though and so they went for a walk to cool down. And I tried not to cry. When James got home I just held them on the couch for a long time.

We would hang out. Work on our own stuff. I got in bed. Watched videos. Tried to just be calm.

I just got a shower and me and James have been talking and trying to process. The scary feelings. I am just really worried for them you know?

But now we will sleep. Tomorrow James has the engineering event at the museum. They are going to try to see if the bike shop can help the bend in their bike handle and realign their tires. And I have my second workshop at the national guard. I am nervous but this project was super popular this summer so I have high hopes.

I am trying to not be super upset but it is hard. Send us some good vibes. Be safe and watch out for bikers.

Goodnight everyone. Sleep good.