#I’ve really been thinking on Liam | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

disneyprincemuke · 1 month

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you can't spell lonesome without me * fem!driver

everyone and everything she's ever loved seems to be slipping away from her grasp and she doesn't know how to stop it

pairings: sebastian vettel x fem!driver, logan sargeant x fem!driver, mick schumacher x fem!driver, oscar piastri x fem!driver, liam lawson x fem!driver

notes: hi! matt and rocky angst comes after this so hehe gl with this guyz hope u enjoy it because it actually took 20 years of my life tryna write this LOL

(series masterlist) | (📂 2025: fall from grace)

(prev)

sebastian keeps telling her that it’s not her fault; to look at the bigger picture to get some perspective. but she doesn’t quite understand why the bigger picture has to have liam in it — frankly, who cares if liam’s qualified 15th and she ended up behind him? that’s not the point.

the point is she finds herself at another weekend where she couldn’t deliver results.

she hasn’t spoken much since she crawled out of her car after getting knocked out in the first round of qualifying. and she appreciates that matt hasn’t forced anything out of her just yet.

she’d stormed out of her garage and tried to get through all her interviews as gracefully as she could. but how could she ignore her results when, week after week, the questions and criticisms are the same?

it’s slowly getting harder and harder to keep her feet on the ground when things are slowly coming undone around her.

and she can’t thank matt enough for letting her cancel their plans without another word. she’d simply uttered that she just wanted to be locked away in their hotel room and he agreed without prodding too much.

she steps out of her racing home, taken aback by the 4 other bodies of her friends that are riddled by the porch, all on their phones. she tilts her head as she holds the door in her hands. “what are you guys doing here?”

logan is the first to look up, furrowed eyebrows and lips pursed in what she can only assume to be out of annoyance. “what do you mean? we’re heading out for ice cream tonight.”

she glances at matt next to her, who’s already looking at her as he awaits her response. she sighs as she looks back at her friends. “i’m sorry, mate,” she apologises, shaking her head. she weaves herself out of matt’s grasp and takes a step forward. “i’m not feeling great tonight.”

“what?” oscar whines, lifting his head from his phone with a slight frown. “is it a fever? are you alright?”

“i’m alright.” she smiles very slightly, picking on her arm as she forces another lie to her lips. “we can go tomorrow after the race, but just not tonight, i think. i’m sorry.”

liam furrows his eyebrows with a loud sigh. “is it because of qualifying?” he grins when she looks over at him. “if it’s any consolation, i’m not happy about it either, mate.”

she laughs softly. “yeah, it sucks.”

“i can’t do tomorrow. my flight’s right after the race,” mick frowns with a sigh. “i’m meeting laila for a bit before the next race weekend.”

“oh,” logan hums, turning away from mick to look at her. “we can go just us, right?”

“i can’t either,” oscar hisses, his frown growing. “i’m flying back home for an event that lily has. she needs me there.”

“ah,” she grins with a nod. she looks at logan. “we don’t have to get ice cream this weekend. it’s okay.”

logan raises an eyebrow. “you’re sure?”

she nods. “i’m sure.”

“it feels like it’s been so difficult to get a grasp of you lately. have you gotten too famous for me?”

she turns around with her head tilted, lips puckered as she takes a sip out of the pepsi can in her arms. “oh, hi max!”

“hi!” max perks up at her smile. “i’ve barely spoken to you since the second race. how are you?”

she sucks in a deep breath as she looks around the busy paddocks, people turning their heads at her and max, and some cowering away immediately when she catches their eye. she looks back at max with a frank smile. “good.”

he lifts an eyebrow. “really?”

she knows that talking to someone would probably ease her mind with all her thoughts. it might even calm her down to a certain degree.

and she almost does.

but she doesn’t. instead, she says, “of course. i feel great, even.”

“well,” max puts a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to snap her head up to look at him, “take my advice, mate. don’t be too hard on yourself.”

but the question still begs: how exactly does she not do that?

there’s a slight scowl on her face as she looks up at the podium. her arms are folded over her chest as the australian national anthem blasts from the speakers.

her best friends have made it on the podium this season — without her. while it’s not totally unheard of that she misses out on the share of glory, it’s never usually her on the receiving end of this torment.

at least not as of late.

to oscar’s left is logan clad in blue, and to his right is mick in the mercedes suit. it’s almost annoying.

there’s an itch in her brain and a smidge of resentment starting to grow in her chest. it’s wrong to feel this way — she knows it is — because these are her friends achieving big things in their sport. but is it so wrong that she’s starting to feel a little jealous?

just a little bit. just a little. just a touch.

maybe if she sleeps this off and wakes up tomorrow, all remnants of resentment would somehow no longer exist.

she shouldn’t feel this way, no. it’s not right. she forces a smile to her face, waving halfheartedly at oscar when he catches her eye. he pumps his fist into the air and waves his trophy in the air.

next to her is lily with her phone up, pictures and videos taken. and of course, ylona’s next to her, waving excitedly at logan as she points at her phone to get him to pose for a picture.

she presses her lips together, annoyance growing in her gut as her airways start to close in on itself. it’s just so hard to breathe especially with everyone pressed up against her. she’s still sweaty from the race, her hair is sticking against her forehead and her race suit starts to feel just slightly restricting.

she huffs softly, hooking a finger into the neckline of her fireproofs.

but everything feels like it’s burning.

“excuse me,” she mutters, dropping her head low as she pushes herself through the crowd. she ignores the way lily and ylona call after her in confusion.

she heaves when she manages to rid herself of the crowd, hands on her knees as she struggles to catch her breath. she catches max’s eye right by parc ferme, engaged in a conversation with charles.

she sees the way he perks up in concern at her but chooses to ignore it. she just picks herself up and heads to the media pen to do her interviews.

the feeling will eventually leave.

she looks around the ice cream parlour, slouched slightly with her hands pressed between the cushion of the seat and her thighs. in retrospect, it felt like coming out after media day would have been the ideal time to come out and indulge in ice cream.

but now that she’s sat here, stuck between liam and mick in a booth, it seems that she has made a mistake.

“what are you having, rocky?” logan asks, tapping the table in front of her to catch her attention. “rocky road with extra marshmallows still? or do you feel like vanilla ice cream today?”

with the way her stomach has been churning recently, any form of chocolate makes her feel sick. she shakes her head. “maybe just a lemon sorbet if they have that available.”

an audible gasp comes from either side of her. she throws her head back and looks between them. liam has the back of his hand pressed up against her forehead, mick’s tilted his head with furrowed eyebrows and logan’s staring down at her with parted lips.

“what are you guys doing?” she asks mellowly, swatting their hands away from her. “don’t touch me.”

“sorbet?” liam scowls, pointing a finger at her. “is everything okay? you’re like sorbets’ number one hater.”

she raises her eyebrows and chews on the inside of her cheeks. “am i?”

“yes,” logan emphasises. “you literally told me off one time for having sorbet during our ice cream dates. you and oscar wouldn’t let me live it down for weeks!”

she blinks at him. “you got a raspberry sorbet, so you had that coming.”

“no!” logan shrieks. “sorbet? really? what’s wrong with you? is everything okay? you always say sorbets are inferior to ice cream.”

she nods hesitantly. she vaguely remembers the one time that she’d gone on a drunk tangent about sorbet not being ice cream. to which she can say that she understands logan’s argument. “well, i’m not really feeling ice cream today.”

mick hums, making her turn her head to look at him. “if it’s just this one time, i guess we can excuse the behaviour.”

she hears logan humming, eyes still narrowed down into a glare. “just this one time, rocky. i’ll give you a chance.”

“great, thanks. i was worried you’d bully me into having ice cream tonight.”

“keep up the sarcasm and i’ll actually force you.”

she flinches when she opens the door to her driver’s room, only to find it occupied. she blinks. “seriously, you’ve got to stop taking advantage of seb.”

“we missed you,” oscar grins, comfortably lying in her bean bag, tapping away on his phone. “and you weren’t answering our texts in the group chat.”

she looks over at matt and points at her friends. “really? you let them in?”

the green-eyed boy shrugs, lips pressed together. “4 versus 1 argument — remember that.”

there’s nothing that she wanted all day but to come back to a peaceful and silent driver’s room. she’d wanted to simply sit with matt in silence before she had to get up and drag her feet to a conference room and come up with diplomatic answers on the spot.

she just needed a couple of hours to herself to think and recuperate. to get herself in a better headspace after these past couple of races.

“where are we heading for ice cream tonight?” logan raises an eyebrow, not sparing her a look as he continues to tap away on his phone.

“ice cream,” she mutters, trailing off as she blinks. “oh, my god.”

she shakes her head, her palm pressed against her forehead. amidst everything that’s been in her head, she’d completely forgotten to research an ice cream parlour for them to visit tonight.

oscar chuckles. “you’ve forgotten, haven’t you?”

“yes,” she answers, somewhat apologetically. “i’m so sorry. and i’m busy today, i don’t have the time. can either of you find a place?”

but there’s a different answer that she hopes they would choose instead of the standard answer that they’d give her.

she finds them wanting to say nevermind; that they’ll just not grab ice cream together.

to her dismay, that’s not what mick says. “oo, can i choose?”

“give it a while, kid.”

“i don’t have a while!” she shrieks, looking around at her mobile car, cars passing her from the track. she can practically hear the comments and see the headlines once she steps out of the car when the race finishes. “tell them to fucking get it together! what the fuck is going on?”

she’s looking around wide-eyed, desperate to meet anyone’s eye for an explanation. the longer she stays parked in the pit, for what was supposed to be a pit stop, the less threshold she has to stay in the race.

“this is absolutely insane, seb. i was in p5 before this shit show.”

“rocky,” he hears her sigh into her ears, “just be patient.”

she dug her foot into the acceleration when the sign flipped to the bright green colour. adrenaline pumps through her veins as she convinces herself that her car will be good enough to put her back into a good spot.

that she’s good enough to put herself in a position where she’s no longer on the receiving end of harsh words this weekend.

above all else, she needs to prove to herself that she hasn’t lost her touch as a driver.

“you’re currently in p9.”

“what the hell happened during that pit?” she complains, the urge to roll her eyes growing stronger. “that was so fucked up, seb! you know what– it isn’t. it’s absolutely fucking unacceptable.”

“i know, rocky,” seb answers calmly, clearing his intonation to ensure that the young girl hears him. and actually listens because it doesn’t seem like she’s absorbing much of what he says. “we’ll debrief later after the race, okay? just focus on making the most out of the weekend.”

she grunts. “fine, whatever.”

“ice cream tonight?” logan pops up next to her, grinning when she lifts her head from her intense gaze on her shoe. “found a spot?”

she sighs, blinking. “no. i forgot.”

logan takes a spot next to her on the couch, furrowing his eyebrows. “you forgot again?”

“yeah,” she huffs as she looks away to avoid his gaze. “sorry.”

truth is that she didn’t look for one on purpose. she just simply doesn’t feel like heading out with them tonight.

she just waits for the time that oscar and logan will let her be. perhaps the stupid ice cream tradition needed to be abolished altogether. just seems like a waste of time.

“no worries,” logan grins, patting her head gently. “you’ve had a long couple of race weekends past you. i’ll look for one, okay?”

she breathes out shakily, smiling halfheartedly. “okay, thank you.”

she finds herself dreading the ice cream date with her friends. she trails behind the group with small steps, watching her feet with every step as she formulates a way to escape her obligations.

she clears her throat and lifts her head. “um.”

“she’s spoken,” oscar jokes, grabbing logan’s arms — previously hitting him — and turns back to grin at her. “the curse must have been broken.”

“someone found the unmute button on the remote!” logan giggles, scrunching his nose. “what’s up, rocky?”

liam hums with a smile. “your girlfriend remembered she has friends!” he looks over at matt and nods. “good for her.”

“i’m like,” she trails off, biting down on her lip as she forces another lie out, “totally not feeling great. i’m on my period and i’m kind of lightheaded. is it alright if i sit this one out?”

“aw, bub,” matt coos, shoving liam off of him, arms extended as he approaches her. he tilts his head and furrows his eyebrows. “you’re on your period?”

she looks up at matt, wide-eyed as she slowly nods. “just got it before we left my room.”

which is a lie.

“aw, does that mean matt’s not coming with us?” mick frowns, furrowing his eyebrows. “i haven’t spent time with him forever, that’s so unfair.”

she shakes her head, flashing mick a small grin. “no, it totally doesn’t mean that. he can go with you guys — i just wanna head back to the hotel and take a nap, really. i’ll be okay on my own.”

matt hums. “i’ll go with you.”

“you should go with them,” she laughs, grabbing his arm with a small nod. “i’ll text you when i’m back, i promise. i’ll be okay — i just need to take a nap, i reckon.”

logan furrows his eyebrows and his smile drops at her insistence. “i can walk you back to the hotel if you want.”

she shakes her head. “i’ll be okay. you guys have fun, okay?”

she kneels on her beanbag, lips pressed together as she looks out of the tiny window of her driver’s room. right by the porch of her racing home are her friends gathered, laughing and having a good time as they awaited her arrival.

“bub,” matt sighs. “are you sure you don’t wanna come with us?”

she turns around with a small smile, scrunching her nose. “i’ll be okay, bub. i’m just not really feeling like heading to the club tonight.”

he walks over to her, slumping his shoulders as she leans into his body for a hug. “at least let me stay with you? i don’t like you being alone when i’m around. i’m sure we can come up with some silly excuse that they won’t giggle at like 12-year-olds.”

“you have to go,” she hums, pulling her head back to look up at him, “it’s logan’s race win — just go in my place, please? tell him i’m really sorry i can’t be there.”

he hums, cupping her cheek. she leans into his touch with a soft sigh and her eyes fluttering close. “you should tell him that yourself. you owe him that much; he’s your best friend.”

she shakes her head, her hand coming up to rest above the hand that’s on her face. “i can’t,” she chokes, tears filling her eyes, “you know how i feel about this. just do this one for me, bub.”

“fine,” he sighs, hunching over to press his lips to her forehead. “but you can’t keep avoiding logan and oscar and throwing me out there to face them. they miss you, you know?”

she can hear logan’s laugh in the air mixed with ylona’s. she grins slightly, “i’m sure they’ve got better things to care about other than me.”

“don’t even say that,” he pulls away, “text me when you get back to the hotel, okay? i love you.”

she scratches the back of her head roughly, nails digging into her scalp as she holds her helmet in her hands.

she mutters under her breath as she tears everything off from her body: her balaclava, her gloves, the earpiece. everything’s not right, everything’s not going her way and that’s unfair.

nobody’s worked as hard as she has to be where she is right now is all that goes in her head. it’s unfair that she’s getting the brunt of the criticism when it came to andretti’s performance on the grid this year.

she doesn’t see liam getting decimated by the masses, and she clearly doesn’t see it on sebastian or her team principal or mechanics for not producing a car to get results in a weekend.

she’s qualified at the very back of the grid this time — p19. just imagine what everyone will have to say; what everyone will zoom into just to have something to say about her driving.

it’s always her skills, never the fact that the car is simply shit.

“rocky,” she hears sebastian sigh behind her. “let’s talk.”

she shakes her head, clenching her jaw as she heads towards the exit of her garage. she doesn’t bother turning around to look at him. “just fuck off.”

the one thing she wishes to stop coming by is sebastian’s excuses for the team. it’s the same thing over and over again. it’s unfair that she’s the one getting fucked over by the media.

it’s not fair.

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alotofpockets · 26 days

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Meeting again | Part 1 - Part 2 | Leah Williamson x Reader

Where you take your son to Leah's book signing and you reconnect with your high school friend/crush.

Thank you @totaly-obsessed for letting me bounch ideas off of you for this one!

Woso masterlist | Words: 2.7k

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When you check your phone after waking up, you see a text from Leah. Her name amongst your notifications instantly brings a smile to your face.

Leah: Hey, good morning! Can I pick you up at 11 for that coffee?

You text her back instantly, no longer being scared of messaging her, after you’ve spent the evening together last night. After doing some stuff around the house, you get ready, and wait for Leah to pick you up.

At the coffee shop Leah went to order for the both of you, while you found a spot to sit. You were admiring your surroundings, when Leah headed your way with two cups in hand. “No coffee for you?” Her placing a mug with hot chocolate down in front of her peaks your interest. “Oh, yeah, I don’t drink coffee.” She says with a shy smile. “Why didn’t you say so when I asked you out for coffee? We could’ve gone somewhere else!” Leah shakes her head instantly, “Don’t worry about it, I was happy with the invite to see you sooner, and this place has the best hot chocolate in town.”

You fall into conversation with Leah just as easily as you had done yesterday. With years to catch up on, there were enough topics to keep you talking. Though, even if you had fully caught up with Leah, you think you’d still find topics of conversation to get to stay talking to her.

The first time you got quiet for a moment was when Leah said, “I’ve been trying to piece together how we stopped being friends all those years ago.” Your eyes fall to your lap, it had been your fault that the two of you stopped being friends. You wish things would have been different, but then again, you would not have Liam. Liam meant the world to you. “I remember us being really close, and then some rumours spread.” Your eyes meet her nervously. You noticed a slightly hopeful look behind her eyes, as if she was never fully able to understand what happened back when you were kids. So, you took a deep breath and started talking.

“Okay, the rumour, the one where it spread around the school that I liked you, was never actually a rumour.” Leah’s blue eyes pierced into yours. “Oh?” A part of Leah felt relieved that those almost moments between the two of you growing up weren’t just in her head. “Yeah, basically I confided in Maria, one of my best friends, about my feelings for you, because they were confusing me. You know as a teenager finding out that the feelings you’re meant to be having for a boy, you are feeling for a girl.” Leah nodded in understanding. “Well, she was apparently very homophobic, and decided to tell the whole school. I stopped being friends with her instantly, and you know the rest. I got together with Ryan to get people off my back, and put distance between the two of us. I think I even convinced myself for a moment that I could be straight, but yeah that’s not me.”

You let your eyes meet Leah’s again, there was no anger or hurt behind her eyes, just softness and understanding. “I am truly sorry about how everything played out, and if I hurt you in any way, that was never my intention.” Leah reaches for your hand on the table and gives it a soft squeeze, “You have nothing to apologise for. What Maria did is truly terrible, and I wish I could’ve been there for you at that time. All of that is in the past now though, and we cannot change it.” Her hand stays on yours. “You’re right, we can only focus on the future.” The blonde smiles and nods. “Well, that was a lot deeper than coffee would have gone, but I’m glad we were able to talk about this.” You both laugh. “I should really head back though, I have to pick up Liam from school in a bit.”

Leah drives you back to your place, and the two of you share a hug when you arrive. “Thank you for today. We should do this again sometime.” Leah says, and you agree instantly, “Yeah, I’ll text you later?” And you did. After Liam went to bed that night, you were texting back and forth with Leah all night, until you fell asleep with the conversation still open.

The next time you saw Leah, you and Liam watched her play on Sunday. You were rather far from the railings, but Leah found you amongst the crowd and set the both of you a wave when the match was over.

Since Liam missed Leah for dinner the first time when he had invited her without your knowing, and it got you to reconnect with Leah, you decided to invite her over for dinner that night with the both of you. You decided to make pizza together, since you found out that alike your son, Leah’s favourite food was pizza. Leah was amazing with Liam, you admired the two of them as they were busy chatting, while decorating their pizza’s.

While you sat down for dinner, you talked about your plans for the week like you always did with Liam, but now including Leah. You had always found it important to know what was ahead, especially since Liam was at his dad’s for half of the week. You had given Leah the honours of talking about her week first as the guest, she told you about her work schedule, and some other things she had planned for the week. Then Liam wanted you to go next, so you shared your work schedule, and your plan to spend your days off with. Liam wanted to finish off the round, he told you about his plans with Ryan, and what he knew about school. “Oh, and mom, what are you doing for the class tomorrow?” Your brows furrowed in surprise, “What do you mean, bud?”

“It’s your turn to do the class trip tomorrow, do you not have anything planned?” Liam asks in a worried tone. “Buddy, I’m so sorry, but I don’t know anything about it being my turn.” He stood up from the table and you were instantly worried, luckily he came right back with his backpack. “Here, Miss Owens sent this out.” He hands you a letter, informing the parents of the switch in schedules, and it did indeed show you for tomorrow. “Buddy, if this is still in your backpack, I have not seen it yet.” Realisation hits him, “Oh mom, I totally forgot to give it to you. What are we going to do?” Leah, who had been quiet during the interaction spoke up, “I think I might have an idea. I know it’s not my place, but I think I can help, may I?” She looked at you for permission. “Yes, please, I do not have the right connections to take a class out for the day this last minute.”

Leah got up, “Alright, I am going to make some calls and I will make sure you will have a great day tomorrow, I promise.” She told Liam. She headed into the other room, and started planning away. About thirty minutes later she got back into the kitchen, “Alright, everything is set for tomorrow. I will keep it a surprise though, are you both okay with me coming to class tomorrow?” Liam instantly said yes without giving it a second thought, his friends would finally believe him when he said that he knew Leah Williamson. You nod as well, “Thank you so much Lee.” Leah’s heart started beating faster at the nickname she hadn’t heard from you in such a long time. She smiled and sat back down for dessert.

The next morning Leah was at your door bright and early. You were busy packing Liam’s lunch when she knocked on the door. “Liam, can you get the door bud?” He came walking into the kitchen pulling Leah behind him, “Mom, Leah still won’t tell me what we’re going to do.” You smiled at the scene in front of you, a frowny kid, and a smirking Leah. “Don’t look at me, Leah went out of her way to arrange this for you, so let’s allow her the one rule she set in place for this.” He let go of her arm. “Fine.” He turned to Leah, “I am grateful that you did whatever it is that you did for me, I just would really like to know what it is.” She put her hand on his shoulder, “I know kiddo, just a little longer, I promise it will be worth the wait.”

You and Leah wait outside of the classroom, while the teacher starts out the day. “Thank you again for doing this, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” Leah shrugs, “You would’ve figured it out, you’re a great mom. I am glad I could help though, I hope the kids like it.” Leah zipped down her jacket to reveal her Arsenal jersey. “By the looks of that, I think the kids are going to love what you have in store.” Leah is about to say something back, but Miss Owens tells you the class is ready for you.

The two of you step in, and you see the jaws of many kids in Liam’s class drop. “Hi kids, as many of you know, I am Liam’s mom. Today, I have brought someone special with me. I would like you all to meet Leah Williamson.” You introduced her to the crowd, “Hi, I’m Leah, and Liam told me you were looking forward to doing something fun with the whole class. What would you say if the Arsenal players bus was waiting just outside of the school?” The class erupted with excitement. “Would you all like to go and see?” Miss Owens calms down the class again before heading out, “Jackets please, and wait in a line outside of the classroom.”

Leah takes the lead and takes the kids to the players bus. At first they admire it from the outside, where the whole class takes a picture with Leah. Then Leah invites them to sit inside, once all the children are settled, Leah gets on the microphone and starts talking to the kids, and interacting with them. “So, who wants to go to The Emirates Stadium with me?” You couldn’t believe that Leah pulled all of this off in thirty minutes. She sat and talked with the kids, while you talked with Miss Owens.

After a short tour, Leah guided the kids to the family and friends area of the stadium. “What do you all think of one more surprise?” The class starts cheering again, and right on queue, a group of Arsenal girls walk out. Katie McCabe, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, and Kim Little, greet the kids with waves. They all have a little meet and greet with the kids, before it is time for them to head back to school. Leah thanked the teacher, and waved bye to the teacher and the kids. Since it was already the end of the school day, and she wanted to show Liam some more behind the scenes things, she asked the teacher if it would be alright if she took the kids back on her own, with a promise of getting her some signed copies of her books for her own kids she agreed.

Liam was living his best life hanging out with his favourite players, like they were friends he had known all his life. Lotte walked up to you as you were watching him talk with the girls. “So, you and Leah go way back I hear?” You smile at her, “Yeah we do.” You and Lotte talk for a bit before she gets pulled aside. “It was nice meeting you y/n, I’ve heard a lot about you the past couple of years.” Lotte’s eyes widened when she realised what she had just said, Leah had just walked up to you, and her cheeks turned red instantly. “Sorry.” Lotte said before quickly walking back to the rest of the girls, and whispering something into Katie’s ear. The latter turns to you, “Mind if we show Liam around some more?” You shake your head and return your attention back to Leah.

“So, you’ve been talking about me for years, have you?” You didn’t think it was possible, but her cheeks turned even redder. While Leah was nervous, she felt like it was now or never. “I mean can you blame me? You are pretty hard to forget.” You’re the one with blushing cheeks now. Leah’s words hang in the air, and you feel a warmth spread in your chest. The way she spoke those words, makes you feel like maybe, she has felt the same way all along.

“The feeling is mutual,” You reply after taking a moment. A small smile tugs at the corners of your lips. “I mean how could I forget the girl that was always able to bring a smile to my face, even on my worst days? I think I already proved that though, by coming to most of your matches.” You both laugh at the last comment. “I’ve missed this.” Leah reaches for your hand out of instinct, “You laugh, your smile, and just having you around.”

Your heart is beating a million miles an hour, by the way she was looking at you right now. In that moment, when her ocean blue eyes stare lovingly into yours, you realise that perhaps the rumours, the misunderstandings, and the years apart were merely obstacles on the path to this moment right here. “I’ve missed you too, Lee. Remember when the other day we said that we can only focus on the future?” Leah nods, and rubs her thumb gently over the back of your hand. “I hope you’re a part of that future.” You nervously look up at her again.

Leah gave your hand a soft squeeze, “I hope so too.” Her smile grows bigger as she continues, “I’ve thought about what could have been with us so many times, but right now, all I want is to be here with you, and see where time leads us.” Your smile grows just as big as hers is, Leah had felt the same way about you all of this time. “Would it be inappropriate to kiss you at your place of work?” Leah pulled you closer by the hand she was holding, and moved her other hand to your cheek, gently moving her finger over the soft skin there. “I am not working currently, so I think that should be alright.” She leans in the rest of the way, and after all these years of will they won’t they, and what could’ve been, you finally felt her soft lips on yours.

A loud “Ahem” pulls you away from the blonde. You turn around and find Liam, Katie, and Lotte looking back at the two of you. Before you can say anything Liam turns to Katie and Lotte with a proud smile on his face, “I told you they would get together sometime soon!” Katie high fived him while you laughed, of course Liam had talked about your love life with the two people that were probably sharing Leah’s right back. Leah put her arm around your shoulder, and walked towards the group. “Who’s ready for some dinner?” Liam hugs you from your other side. “Mom, this has been the best day ever, can we please make it even better with McDonald’s for dinner?” You look around the group of girls left over to see if they’d be down too, when you get three nods, you look back to Liam. “Let’s do it.”

As you walk out of the stadium with Liam’s hand in your left, and Leah’s hand in your right, you couldn’t be more happy.

-----

💗 If you enjoyed this fic, please consider liking, commenting, and reblogging! You can also supporting me by leaving a tip 💗

#leah williamson #leah williamson imagine #leah williamson x reader #arsenal wfc imagine #arsenal wfc #arsenal women #awfc imagine #awfc x reader #awfc #woso #woso imagine #woso imagines #woso x reader #engwnt x reader #england lionesses #engwnt #engwnt imagine

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luckthebard · 7 months

Text

I’ve been thinking about this for a while but the most recent round of Orym slander on twitter and some of the player assumptions accompanying it are making me finally write this:

Liam is not a “glutton for tragedy”. He just likes emotionally intense storytelling, and is actually very drawn to hopeful endings.

I am so beyond exhausted of seeing that take. Liam did not plan for Vax’s tragic ending. Vax’s ending was a result of dice rolls that Liam honored because he’s always true to the emotional journey of his characters. Caleb, who so many people cite as tragic, has a happy ending. He lets go of his selfish and borderline impossible plans and settles down and achieves his childhood dream and finally makes some peace with his past. Orym is grieving, sure, but he’s focused on his job and loves his friends and wants to help people and is finally getting on with things. The insistence he’s “going dark” or going to “take a tragic turn” seems to mostly be coming from this assumption that Liam always chooses tragedy which just isn’t true.

I think the level to which Liam allows his characters to openly express grief and deal with very difficult emotions has led to this idea his characters are “sad” but prior to disintegration Vax’s ending was building to an at-peace happily-ever-after with Keyleth. He didn’t choose to have Vax die, the dice did, so Liam honored that. This would be like claiming Taliesin always makes tragic characters because he had Molly stay dead and very nearly had Percy not come back one time after the dice led to their deaths. Caleb has a tragic backstory, sure, but his journey and ending are incredibly hopeful and positive.

Orym’s really out there being a little halfling on an adventure as if Merry Brandybuck stepped into D&D and people are acting like he’s destined for a tragic downfall just because Liam’s an openly emotional player.

#cr discourse #critical role #not gonna lock reblogs on this but I will at the first sign of nonsense #this might be the thing that makes me finally block all of CR twitter

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steddieas-shegoes · 9 months

Note

Request: video gamer Steve who is very very private & constantly has competitions with his friends/followers. But one day he does & q&a and someone asks him about his ring/necklace (or something that is noticeable) & he talks about his partner. & Eddie who is a well known musician who talks about his partner Steve. And somehow their fans put it together that Steddie are together. Then they do a really cute q&a on Steve's channel all about their relationship & its really cute

MY LOVE!!! Honestly, if Liam didn't watch so many gamers on YouTube, I would be so clueless. I never got into video games (because I'm so so bad at them you guys it is actually embarrassing) and I never really watched streamers on YouTube or anything. But I know that some of them have like a cult following and so I am picturing Steve to be one of those here. Please don't ask what games he would play because this is a choose your own adventure part of the story. - Mickala ❤️

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

Everyone made fun of Steve for how much he talked with his hands. Even on camera, his hands were constantly in the frame, moving and emphasizing his passion for whatever game he was playing for that stream.

He should have realized that wearing a ring on his usually bare hands would have given him away.

It was his first livestream competition since Eddie proposed on their trip to the Maldives.

He was still a little high off of, well, everything, and he wasn’t thinking clearly.

He ignored the first question that popped up.

who got you that ring?

He shared some basic personal stuff with his fans and followers, but he kept most things private, especially his relationship.

But then questions kept coming in.

R U ENGAGED???

usually the girl wears the ring right

If you’re taken I might have to unsubscribe

The last one made him pause.

It’s not like he was an idiot, he knew that there would always be a handful of people who followed him because he was attractive. He didn’t mind, especially because some of them would message him and explain that they ended up getting into games because of him.

“Okay, wait. Sorry guys. Um. I wanna address something before we start the actual stream.” He held his hand up, looking over at the ring Eddie proposed with. “I share a lot with you guys. I came out about a year ago during a stream as bisexual, and it really shouldn’t have been much of a shock, but it caused a bit of a…thing.” He grimaced. “And I guess most of the reason that I came out then was because my boyfriend had come out as well, and it felt like something we could do together without actually doing it together. Most of you know I was just gone for a week on a much needed vacation. I was with my boyfriend, and he proposed while we were there. I said yes because he is the only person I’ve ever wanted to spend my life with.”

Steve put his hand down, sighing.

“I understand if that makes some of you unfollow me, but I do hope you look at yourself and try to come to terms with why that is what makes you unfollow someone you enjoy watching. Anyways, the ring is beautiful, and it's a simpler version of one he wears every day, so it means even more.”

He felt relieved, but also a little stressed, and knew he’d be calling Eddie as soon as this was over to talk to him about everything.

“Let’s get gaming!” He gave his best smile to the camera.

—-------------------------------------

“Yeah, we had a nice week off together, alone, and I finally got to propose. I don’t think we left the bed for 24 hours after that,” Eddie laughed.

The interviewer laughed too, used to Eddie’s jokes and blunt answers.

“I’m glad you got to spend some time just the two of you. This has been a busy world tour for you and Corroded Coffin and you’re only halfway through!” The interviewer, Hannah, stated. She smiled at him when he nodded. “Anything new planned for the second half of the tour?”

“We can’t give out secrets, Hannah, you know that,” Eddie smirked. “But Gareth did say I should tell you about one thing.”

Gareth definitely had a crush on Hannah and had pouted endlessly about being scheduled for a different interview at the same time as Eddie’s interview with her.

“Oh?” she leaned forward, eyes gleaming.

She maybe had a crush on him, too.

“He actually wrote a song that’ll be on our next album. He doesn’t usually get bit with the writing bug, but someone’s inspired him,” he winked at her, smiling at her blush. “Anyway, it’s been added to the setlist for the second leg of the tour and we’re all really excited for everyone to hear it.”

Eddie felt his phone vibrating in his pocket multiple times. All the guys knew he was in an interview and couldn’t answer a call, so who the hell was calling him?

It was easy enough to ignore through Hannah’s next question, until it started again.

He reached in his pocket and checked to see who it was, eyes going wide when he saw ‘Stevie’ with a picture of them on their vacation lighting up his screen.

Steve never called twice in a row unless it was an emergency. He knew if Eddie didn’t answer, he was truly busy.

He felt his heart racing as he looked back up at Hannah, who instantly seemed to catch on to something happening.

“We’re going to a commercial break, but when we’re back, Eddie’s gonna share a few hints about the next album!” Hannah said, immediately shutting the mics off and gesturing for him to get up.

Eddie took off his headphones and stood, walking out of the room as he answered the phone.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, I just-”

“Hey, no, it’s not bothering me. I was just in a radio interview with Hannah so we had to cut to commercial break before I could answer. What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned that something terrible had happened.

“Fuck, I forgot that was right now. I’m sorry. Call me back when you get to the bus,” Steve seemed like he was trying to rush off the phone.

“No, Stevie, wait. What’s wrong?” his tone was firm enough to let Steve know he wasn’t going to let this drop.

“Um. I just had a livestream thing. And like, people asked about the ring, so I told them I was engaged and some people just didn’t take it that well and then I went online and some people have apparently put it together that the Steve you talk about is me because of something I mentioned about my vacation and something you posted about the vacation and so I think everyone’s gonna know and I’m sorry,” Steve was panting by the end, speaking a million miles an hour literally taking the breath from him.

“Okay, well, we knew this would probably happen eventually, my love. I’ll just call the guys and we can talk to Chrissy about it if it gets picked up by the media. No reason to panic,” Eddie tried to calm him down while watching through the window to the recording booth where Hannah seemed to be introducing a song to kill more time.

“But I ruined our plan!”

“No, love. People ruined our plan. And it’s okay, anyway. We’ll figure it out.”

“But your fans will be mad that it’s me. I’m just…me!”

“You’re not just anything and any fan of mine who says or thinks that, isn’t a fan,” Eddie sighed. “I love you, and we will figure this out. Whatever we gotta do, okay?”

Steve let out a long breath before responding.

“I love you too. Tell Hannah I said hi?”

“Of course. I love you so much, okay? ‘Til death and beyond.”

Steve let out a small laugh.

“You’re not allowed to use those lyrics in the vows. But I love you so much, too.”

“We can discuss that later. I wrote you a very metal love song that I fully intend to use some of in the vows. Okay, bye!”

He hung up before Steve could argue and walked back into the studio, mouthing an apology to Hannah, who just waved it off with a smile.

Everything would be fine.

—-------------------------------------------

“The lighting isn’t ideal, but it’ll be fine,” Steve was pacing, double checking his set up while Eddie watched.

He tried helping, but kept being told not to touch things, so he ended up just sitting on the hotel bed.

Steve had traveled halfway across the country to do this, his stress was at an all-time high, and Eddie didn’t need to get his head bitten off.

“Five minutes,” Steve said, shaking his hands nervously.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Eddie said, waving him over to the bed.

“No, you’ll distract me.”

“Yes, which is exactly what you need for a minute. Come here.”

Steve sighed, but went over to him, dropping onto the bed and resting his head against Eddie’s shoulder.

“What’s got you so worried?”

“Everything.”

Eddie sighed.

“But specifically.”

“I just don’t want you or the guys to lose fans because of me,” Steve was playing with the edges of the hole in Eddie’s jeans absentmindedly.

“Sweet boy, we lose fans because we endorse a certain amp brand over another. We’ll be fine.”

“This is bigger, though. I’m just a nobody who got lucky on YouTube playing some games,” Steve whined.

“And I loved you before that. If they don’t want me to be happy, they aren’t real fans anyway. You’re my future, not whatever woman still thinks she has a shot with my gay ass,” Eddie said.

“But it isn’t just you who suffers.”

“None of us suffer. We lose some homophobic, idiotic fans who shouldn’t ever have claimed to be fans at all. None of us want people like that around.”

Steve’s alarm went off to signal one minute before the livestream started.

He jumped up and pulled Eddie up with him.

They’d already gone over everything together, discussed it with Chrissy and the guys, even Steve’s manager, Robin, about how this would work.

Steve would pretty much act like it was any other livestream, but Eddie would be there for the first five minutes or so so they could do a quick explanation of things.

Eddie would do a phone interview with Hannah in 30 minutes while Steve was gaming, covering a bit more and answering some questions about their relationship.

Then they’d both have a night off to decompress in the hotel before Steve had to fly back home and Eddie had to head to the next tour stop.

Hopefully, the buzz would die down relatively quickly.

Steve did his normal intro, but Eddie’s hand rested on his knee out of sight, squeezing once when he heard his voice start to shake a little while introducing Eddie.

“There’s been some rumors about us, and we just wanna be completely honest about things so that the rumors stop,” Steve continued. “First of all, we’ve been together for almost four years. Way before I got anywhere with YouTube, before Corroded Coffin had even released their first album. And we were friends long before that.”

“Even though I had the biggest crush on him in high school, I didn’t admit I was in love with him until we both moved to Chicago. Wasted years,” Eddie shook his head.

“Second,” Steve smirked, looking over at him for a moment. “The week off in the middle of his tour had been planned for Jeff to go home and be with his family for his wife’s birthday and daughter’s graduation.”

“Anyone who thinks Steve threw a fit about needing a vacation and made the band take a break is just saying so out of spite that we had to move around one of the tour dates to make the week off work. It’s not up to you to come up with a narrative,” Eddie added, brow raised like he was chastising children.

“And finally, most importantly, what either of us choose to share is up to us. We do not owe anyone any explanations. Our relationship is ours. Being public figures already takes away a lot of our autonomy, and this is something neither of us will budge on. We are willing to share our happiness, but we are not willing to let everyone become a part of our life together.”

Sometimes, Steve said things in such a way that Eddie couldn’t do anything but stare at him in awe. He loved him more than anything, and sometimes the only thing he could do was kiss him.

He did so now, not exactly forgetting they were live streaming, just not really caring.

Steve tensed for a second, but then relaxed, cupping his cheek and smiling into the kiss.

Eddie pulled away and looked back at the camera.

“On that note, I’m gonna leave Steve here to his gaming. If you aren’t nice, I’ll ban you from Corroded Coffin shows for life,” he waved before standing and leaving the camera’s view.

Steve rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly as Eddie walked out of the bedroom, blowing kisses back at Steve the entire way.

—-------------------------------------------

After that, Eddie made random appearances on Steve’s live streams, and Steve flew out to a handful of shows to support Eddie.

It’s not that they were hiding before, but they just hadn’t felt like they should have to try to.

Now they didn’t.

Steve even did a Q&A with the band on tour while playing games with them.

They were all pretty terrible at it, complaining most of the time about how D&D was so much easier than this. Eddie didn’t play, but he sat next to Steve and braided his hair while he kicked their asses, asking them all the questions that popped up from people watching.

When he got to one for him, he smiled and kissed the top of Steve’s head.

“This question is for me. How did you know Steve was the one?” The guys all groaned, but they were smiling. “Well, I knew he was the one back in my first senior year. I tripped on the step into the gym and Steve was the only one there. He helped me up and smiled at me, and I was a goner.”

“He’s lying to you all,” Steve said without looking away from the game. “He knew when I made him homemade banana bread. His exact words were, ‘I’m gonna marry you so hard someday, Harrington.’ and then six months later he proposed.”

“Both can be true,” Eddie pouted.

Steve paused the game and turned to him, kissing the tip of his nose.

“Every moment I have with you proves you’re the one for me,” he said before turning back to the game and leaving Eddie silently shocked.

“This is the last time we come on this thing, Steve,” Gareth said.

“Yeah. You broke him,” Jeff agreed.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #ficlet #request #modern au #gamer steve harrington #rock star eddie munson #established relationship

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callsign-rogueone · 3 months

Text

harvest day - l.m.

secret admirer!Liam x Luceran!reader. part of my Valentine’s Day celly! 💕 words: 932 🏷: reader is feminine and has longish hair (can be tied), but no pronouns used. I am once again making random stuff up about Navarrian cultures. featuring my farm-boy Sawyer headcanon lmao (Luceras doesn’t have one major city on the map in the book. It’s all farmland, and you cannot convince me otherwise.)

You nearly crush it under your boot in your hurry to get to class, stepping back at the last second to pick it up.

A tiny dragon carved from wood -- your dragon, complete with his horns and a tiny spiked tail. You run your fingers over the wood — it’s been sanded, perfectly smooth against your skin. The level of detail is incredible. This must have taken hours.

“You’re going to be late, humble one.”

Right. You tuck it into the pocket of your jacket, locking your door behind you and jogging down the hall.

You make it just in time, apologizing your way down the row, stepping around people’s feet carefully until you’ve made it to your friends. You settle between Rhiannon and Sawyer, thanking them for saving you a seat. “Overslept,” you explain, digging in your bag for your notebook, which you had nearly forgotten to pack.

You remove your flight jacket, taking the tiny dragon from your pocket and setting it on the desk beside your pen.

“Whoa, sick! Who made that?” Sawyer asks.

“I don’t know. I just found it outside my door. It looks just like him, though. Even got the horns right.”

“It is a very good representation of me,” Cruith appraises. “Though I have never once been that small.”

“That's awesome. Maybe they’re like, a wood-wielder or something,” Ridoc suggests, leaning over to examine it.

“I’m pretty sure that signet doesn’t exist,” Rhiannon says dryly.

“If he can do all that with metal, then it's entirely possible someone could do it with wood,” Ridoc defends.

“That’s what she said,” Sawyer says quietly, trying not to laugh.

Ridoc grins. “I’m rubbing off on you, man.”

You snort. “Now that's what she said.”

“Focus,” Rhiannon scolds lightly, ever the responsible squad leader, her eyes not having left the chalkboard this whole time.

“Yes, mom,” the three of you chorus softly, turning your attention back to the professor.

Violet looks like she has something to say, but she remains quiet.

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

“Mail call,” Rhiannon announces, distributing opened letters to each of you.

Your heart drops as soon as you start to read yours.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t realize the date. It’s Harvest Day on Wednesday. Last year I was just too busy trying to stay alive to think about it, but…”

Sawyer winces, understanding. “I wish I could be there too. I swear when I graduate, I’m gonna use all my leave every year to help them.”

“I’m so lost,” Ridoc says, looking between you.

You laugh, explaining. “Everyone spends the day — the week, really — helping their neighbors harvest their crops, and there’s always a feast at the end with what we’ve grown.”

“Gods, the food. My family doesn’t come from much, but that was always the one day a year I felt like we were rich,” Sawyer admits.

You sigh in agreement. “It’s gonna be so weird wearing black all day instead of fall colors.”

“That is the most Luceran thing I’ve ever heard,” Ridoc says. “Sometimes I forget you guys are all farmers.”

“It’s only our single most important holiday,” you laugh. “And we’re not all farmers. Two of us are dragon riders.”

Sawyer grins at you, putting a hand up for a high five. “Damn right we are.”

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

Everyone’s eyes widen at the silky orange ribbon tying your hair back. You beam, turning your head to show it off. “Courtesy of the wood-wielder. I have no idea where they got it.”

Your joy is short-lived.

“Precisely what is that, cadet?” Dain asks sharply, and your face falls. There’s only one thing he can be taking issue with, the only spot of color in the sea of black making up your formation.

“It’s a Luceran tradition,” someone says for you — but not Sawyer or any of your friends. “Today is Harvest Day.”

You turn toward the voice, seeing Liam behind you, his eyes locked with Dain’s as if he’s daring the wingleader to argue with him. How does he know about the holiday? Had he overheard your conversation with your squad earlier?

“I expect it to be gone tomorrow,” Dain concedes. “You’re all dismissed.”

You breathe a sigh of relief as everyone files out of the hall.

“Liam?” You ask softly, and he stops, turning toward you. “Thank you.”

Then you see the small block of wood in his hand, the rough shape of another dragon etched into it. “It was you,” you whisper, stunned.

He laughs. “What?”

You reach into your pocket, producing the carving of Cruith. “You made this, right? Were you the one who wrote those physics notes for me when I was in the infirmary, too?”

He smiles. “Yeah. That was all me.”

Your heart flutters with hope. “Why?”

“Because I was too nervous to say it, but I really like you.”

You blink. Liam, the one who isn’t scared of anything, was nervous to talk to you? And he has a crush on you? You’ve always found him attractive, but you had never thought this a possibility.

“Say something,” Cruith prods, sounding amused.

You finally form words. “Do you want to go into town with me this weekend?”

He blushes, scratching the back of his neck. “I would really like that.”

“Hey, lovebirds, are you coming to breakfast, or what?” Ridoc calls. “Some of us are starving over here!”

You laugh, a sound Liam will never tire of. “Just a minute!” You yell back.

You touch your fingertips to the soft silk, looking up at him. “Thank you, Liam. It really means a lot to me.”

He smiles. “Of course, sweetheart.”

#fourth wing #liam mairi #liam mairi x reader #fourth wing fanfic #reader insert #x reader #mine

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angstywaifu · 3 months

Text

The Lost Sister

Xaden Riorson and his lost sister. Synopsis: Xaden is known as an only child due to his sister who 'died' during the Rebellion. Little do they know she didn't die and has been so close this entire time. A/N: This is my first ever fan fiction I have written, so please be kind! Also happy to take any advice. This is quite short but wouldn't mind maybe making this into a few parts? Maybe with Liam x Reader or Garrick x Reader? The Lost Sister Masterlist | Masterlist

From my tower I have what some would consider the perfect view of the parapet for conscription day. The perfect view of seeing those falling to their death trying to make their way into the riders quadrant. And soon it will be my turn. My heart beats faster at the thought. And its not the parapet that scares me. Its who I will see on the other side. The friends and family who think I'm dead just like my father. Instead I was taken captive and trained by General Melgren.

In his eyes I was young enough to not understand what was going on completely. He thought me young and naïve enough to be angry at my father for being apart of the rebellion. For turning against our own. But the black mark starting at my wrist and weaving its way up my arm and up my neck is a reminder of where my allegiances truly lie. Of who I really am.

A knock on my door startles me as I turn to see a guard standing in my doorway. He nods his head and motions for me to follow him. My time to cross the parapet had come. I cross the small room and grab the pack from the end of my bed. As I pass through the doorway I hear the screams of another candidate as they fall to their death from the parapet.

As we cross the courtyard I look up to see a group crossing the parapet with ease. They are too high for me to be able to see who they are. But by the way they cross the parapet as if its second nature to them, I know they are not first years. And it means General Melgren has gotten his way. I will pass the parapet last while they are all in formation. No distractions.

As we reach the top of the tower, the guards who lead me here step to either side of the archway. Infantry are not allowed in the riders quadrant. A nod them a thanks before adjust the pack on my back and taking the first steps onto the parapet. And suddenly I am glad for the training General Melgren had put me through. Every day for the last 5 years he had made me walk across various beams and walkways in different scenarios and conditions. None of them this high, but I now understood what he was preparing me for.

Despite the rain having passed the wind is still strong and the stone of the parapet is slick and slippery. And yet again I am thankful for General Melgren and the gear he had given me to wear for today. Despite him wanting to use me as a weapon and turn my on my friends and family, he had given me the best training to prepare for today and what awaits me on the other side. I take the last steps off the parapet and into shelter and come face to face with the very man himself. General Melgren.

The look he gives me is almost proud. “You passed that better than some third years. Clearly I’ve trained you well.”

I bow my head at him. “I didn’t expect to see you today General.”

The smirk he gives me sends a chill down my spine. “And miss seeing your brothers face? I wouldn’t miss today for anything.” He gestures with his arm for me to follow him through the archway and into the rotunda.

As we pass through other riders flank my sides, almost as if they are hiding me from what's ahead. I look up to see Dragons around the edge watching everyone closely. And judging by the smell and a few black patches on the ground we pass through, it seems a few first years have already been claimed.

An eerie silence has fallen around us. All eyes are on the General and his entourage making their way through the rotunda. He never makes an appearance on conscription day. He usually doesn’t show up till Threshing, not wanting to waste time on those who will not making it through the next few months. As we pass through all the cadets stand up that little bit straighter, and bow their heads as we pass.

“General. To what do we owe this pleasure?” A voice calls out. A very familiar voice. Its someone I know. But who?

“I have another cadet for you.” He says proudly, the smirk very evident in his tone of voice.

I hear someone rush forward and shuffling of paper. They’re checking the list of names of who crossed and didn’t.

”Everyones already crossed the parapet, we have all our candidates General.” The same familiar voice calls out.

The General turns his head and motions me forward. The entourage around me steps aside to let me pass. I hear a few gasps as those closest can see who I am. I don’t dare turn my head to see who they are.

”Trust me, you’ll be wanting this one Wingleader.”

As I step around General Melgren I finally see the face the familiar voice belongs to. It might have been 5 years but there is no denying who stands atop of the stairs at the rotunda. He’s bigger and taller than I remember. But there’s no denying its him. My brother. Xaden Riorson. Part 2

#xaden riorson #garrick tavis #bodhi durran #violet sorrengail #fourth wing #fourth wing fanfic #liam mairi #general melgren

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butdaddyilovehim-hs · 7 months

Text

Stars Around My Scars: Part I

Summary: Y/N and Harry meet by chance on the street and Harry just so happens to be Y/N's longtime crush. Sparks fly between the two but there's just one problem... Harry has a girlfriend. Featuring our favourite 1D boys and soft Harry <3

Word Count: >1k (super short to set up the story) Warnings: none

Based off this ask

"Liam you forgot the candles!”

“They weren’t on the list Y/N.”

“But it’s a PARTY, of course we need candles?!” Y/N rolls her eyes at her roommate who sits unbothered on the couch, stuck in the latest round of whatever new game he had bought.

“They. Weren’t. On. The. List.”

“Ok. Fine.” Y/N sucks in a deep breath before grabbing her keys. “I’ll go get them. You’re lucky we still have time before the party tomorrow.”

Liam groans in response and Y/N rolls her eyes again before heading to the store. Party planning is not for the weak. She isn’t quite sure why she’s taken on such a large responsibility especially because it’s Niall’s 30th so she can’t mess it up. But he’s one of her best friends so obviously she had to throw him a party. And then her idea of a small gathering spiralled out of control and now it’s a surprise party with over 100 guests. It’s not like Liam and Louis have been much help because well… Liam would rather be doing anything else than helping her plan the decor and Louis can’t keep a secret to save his life so he doesn’t even know about the party. Y/N has over a million things to prepare before tomorrow and getting these candles was definitely not on her to do list for the day.

She rushes out of her car and into the party store, grabbing the first packet she sees, pays for them and rushes back out to her car. However in her rush, (and due to the fact that she was looking at her phone) she slams into someone. Hard. Said someone grunts softly at the impact before reaching out a hand to steady her.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going, I didn’t mean to- holy shit.”

“No worries love. You alright?” The man in front of her smiles, making sure she’s regained her footing before gently letting go of her.

“Oh I’m fine… it’s just. Well. You’re Harry Styles.” Y/N can hardly believe her eyes. Her first thought is that his eyes are even greener in person. Her second thought is that he’s even more attractive in person and that’s saying something because he was pretty damn good looking in his pictures. And in the posters Y/N used to have (still has) on her wall.

“That would be me. You look really familiar love. Have we met?” His voice is low and slightly raspy and it sends a flurry of butterflies to Y/N’s core.

“Um well no. But I’m Liam’s roommate so maybe you might have seen a picture of me on his instagram or something? It’s really lovely to meet you. You’re… taller than I imagined.” Y/N wants to die. It’s like she’s forgotten how words work all of a sudden because her childhood crush is standing right in front of her and he’s smiling at her like that and Y/N doesn’t really remember how to breathe either.

“You’ve imagined?” He sends a smirk her way and Y/N’s knees almost give out.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She blushes and Harry chuckles at how flustered she is.

“Well anyway, it’s nice to properly meet you… I’m so sorry love, I don’t remember your name.” He winces as if it’s something he should have committed to memory.

“Oh. It’s Y/N.”

“Y/N! That’s right. Pretty name.” He tests it on his tongue and she shivers slightly. Y/N decides she only wants Harry to say her name from now on. It certainly sounds pretty coming off his lips.

“The boys mentioned you were living in LA? What brings you to London? Just visiting or…?”

“I’ve moved back actually. I bought a new place and my uh girlfriend and I just moved in a few days ago.” He runs a hand through his hair and Y/N can’t place the slightly sheepish expression on his face. Girlfriend. Of course he has a girlfriend. He’s Harry fucking Styles. She’s probably a model, Y/N thinks to herself. Blonde, skinny, legs for days.

“Oh that’s… wow. I’m sure the guys will be thrilled to catch up with you. I’ll have to let them know I saw you.” Y/N offers him a weak smile. She isn’t exactly sure what she was hoping for. For him to fall in love with her on the street and whisk her off to his apartment to have his way with her? Actually that’s exactly what she was hoping for.

“I’m throwing Niall a surprise birthday party.” She blurts out, filling the silence.

“Oh really? It’s his 30th yeah?”

“Yeah it is. You should come. If you like. No pressure. You could bring your girlfriend?”

“Sure we’d love to. It’ll be nice to see the guys again.” Harry perks up at the invitation.

“I’ll get your number off Liam and text you the details if that’s ok?”

“Nah, I’ll give it to you now. I’ll surprise all of them by showing up.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket. He rattles off his number and Y/N quickly enters it into her phone before sending him a text so he has her number too. They say their goodbyes and Y/N finally makes it to her car, sitting in silence in slight disbelief as to what just happened. She’s staring, slightly dazed out of the window when her phone buzzes.

(1:05pm) Harry: Send me the details! Lovely to meet you :)

Harry Styles is texting her. 15 year old Y/N would have passed out by now and current Y/N isn’t really sure she’s got function in her limbs.

A/N: This is something just to tide you guys over until I can get part 2 of obsession out!! My laptop died on me so it's taking me a bit longer I'm afraid. BUT I adore you all for loving that series so much, and I hope you enjoy the start of this 😘

If I haven't added you to my tag list because I've missed your message or forgotten, please message me or comment! Reblogs and feedback are always appreciated xo

Tags:

@lukesaprince @harryspirate @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite @lilyrmason12 @styleslover-1994 @stylesfever @kathb59 @indierockgirrl @bxbyysstuff @gills-lounge @lomlhstyles @opheliaofficial07 @stylesmoonlight12 @babyiamperfectforyou @velvetballaspark @harrys-flower @macy-tpwk @mema10 @jerseygirlinca @daphnesutton @rafaaoli @allthelovehes @lovrave @tenaciousperfectionunknown @namelesssav @hsonlyangelxo @smartcookee @laurenstears

#harry styles #hslot #harrystyles #love on tour #harry styles au #harry styles fics #harry styles fic #harry styles x fem!reader #harry styles ceo #harry styles fan fics #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fluff #one direction #niall horan #liam payne

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slutforpringles · 13 days

Note

What do you think is actually behind the Danny bashing on social media and Reddit lately?

I find it really puzzling, to put it mildly. As if the decision over an RBR or VCARB seat is simple enough to decide 4 races into a 24-race season, which it certainly isn’t.

Some of the Yuki and Liam fans seem to be really young, and for some of them, there seems to be some sort of weird ageism involved in their anti-Ricciardo ranting.

But some of it seems to be an enjoyment of tearing someone down who’s always been popular, despite him not misusing or abusing that popularity

IDK - what are your thoughts, please?

Hey anon! This is actually a really interesting question, and I’d be really interested to hear other people’s thoughts and opinions on too. I think probably how much time you spend online and on which online platforms does probably affect your viewpoint, and obviously this is just my take on the growing anti-DR sentiment based on what I’ve seen/ experienced.

I think it’s definitely multi-faceted, which is partly why there’s so much of it at the moment, because multiple situations/things have fed into the Daniel hatred.

I think a very large percentage of it is simply the influx of new fans into the sport that have only seen Daniel drive from the McL era onwards.

I think a lot of people are consuming more and more F1 content from non-trustworthy sources (e.g. instagram and twitter update accounts, non-reputable websites) that use clickbait and unsubstantiated rumours to create maximum drama. I think this has been particularly tricky for Daniel, because his popularity has made him a super target since 2021 for this.

I think there's a growing sentiment of annoyance at the limited number of seats available to enter F1, particularly for fans of younger drivers who have watched them go through the feeder series and feel it is unfair that they aren’t being given a chance in F1. I think this has become even louder since F1 rejected Andretti’s bid, and I think struggling or older drivers become a much easier target for expressing that frustration than an entire sport/regulatory body.

I think the more recent wave of fans being more critical of driver’s public opinions and thoughts on social/political/moral issues has probably increased scrutiny on Daniel, too. And while I completely agree with fans expecting more and better from drivers, I think there’s a huge amount of hypocrisy and recency bias when it comes to some very vocal online fans and fanbases, which I think also underscores how many of them are part of the new wave of F1 fans. (E.g. I see ample criticism of Daniel from fans of driver’s who refused to kneel during 2020 that are clearly totally unaware that Daniel was one of the loudest supporters of Lewis during 2020 and BLM protests)

I think it’s also just part and parcel of the growing extreme polarisation of the internet. It seems people are becoming far more used to extreme polarisation in general, and the echo chambers of social media and the wider internet algorithms are only continuing to exaggerate that. People also seem to be less and less civil online, and while places like twitter have been a toxic wasteland for a long time, that toxicity and complete lack of normal human interaction has started to affect other online spaces too.

And yeah I do agree that there seems to be a certain percentage of fans that just seem to enjoy revelling in a driver’s struggles, and love to tear down someone who seems to be a happy bubbly person. And while some of that is maybe inherent sports tribalism (which I’m not really on board with tbh), I really think it’s reached a whole new low.

OK sorry I didn't mean for this to be such a long response! Hope that answers your question and I’d love to hear if anyone else has other thoughts/opinions too!! 🙂

#anon ask #daniel ricciardo

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disneyprincemuke · 2 months

Text

how you get the girl * fem!driver

and when logan comes in with a girl on his arm, then what?

pairings: logan sargeant x fem!driver, liam lawson x fem!driver, oscar piastri x fem!driver

notes: hi it was only a kiss was the beginning of the end for my locky soldiers i fear and here u go lOLSIE OXOXOXOOXOOXOXO

(series masterlist) | (📂 the sophomore year)

“did you see?”

she tilts her head, turning around with her eyebrows furrowed. liam has walked around the barrier of their garages, sauntering in with his hands behind his back. “seen what?”

liam blinks at her. he purses his lips and shakes his head, scrunching his nose. “nothing.”

“what do you mean?” she laughs, putting her ipad down. “was i supposed to see something? why are you being weird?”

“i think he means logan and his girlfriend walking into the paddocks together.”

just like that, she can almost hear the glass around her shattering. there’s a ringing in her ears and she turns to sebastian with wide eyes and puffy cheeks. “what?”

sebastian blinks at her, his clipboard of data in his hands. “you didn’t know? don’t you guys live together?”

she blinks rapidly, trying to come up with an excuse. truthfully, only 2 people ever found out about the events of new year’s day. one of those was by default, logan’s brother, and she’d pulled liam aside during their team trip to new york to confess and vent about the events of her stay in miami.

liam’s been sworn to the highest level of secrecy, and she’s appreciated the fact that he’s kept his word. he never brings it up unless she does it first.

which isn’t a lot.

“we uh,” she drops her head and turns back to her ipad as she sucks in a deep breath, “we’ve been kinda busy lately. i didn’t know he was seeing somebody now. i was in los angeles for a while during the break.”

“that’s,” sebastian trails off, “odd. is it still weird after what happened in montreal? i thought everything was okay.”

she looks up. “it is! everything is okay! we’ve just been super busy,” she rambles, “you know… i’ve flown around for d&g and a couple of fenty events. haven’t really had the time to sit down and have a chat recently.”

sebastian hums, unsure if he’s fully buying her excuse yet. “i see. have you guys not gone to get ice cream lately?”

she shrugs and points at liam, “our schedules never really line up. sometimes logan is there, but not often. even then, there’s always something more important to talk about than our dating lives.”

liam finally clears his throat, making her eyes snap over to him. “let’s go? we’ve got an interview in a couple of minutes.”

she grins, turning to sebastian. she gives him a quick hug and hangs her head low before she follows liam back into the paddocks. “seriously? i didn’t know logan had a new girlfriend.”

“have you seriously not seen each other that you didn’t know about his new girlfriend?” liam whispers, looking around cautiously to ensure that nobody’s got the chance to eavesdrop on their conversation. he takes a step forward towards her and drops his head. “how do you feel?”

she pouts her bottom lip out with a shrug. “good for him, i guess.”

there’s no way that’s the only thing she has to say, right? “really? you’re okay with this?”

her eyes trail off to the crowd surrounding them, as if to really think over her answer, then turns back to him. “yeah, why wouldn’t i be?”

“you’re totally over the fact that you kissed on new year’s?”

“liam,” she scolds through gritted teeth, smacking his arm lightly. “you were sworn to secrecy.”

“i haven’t told anyone,” he throws his arms into the air, “but are you seriously okay with this? it’s just me — you can tell me if it bothers you.”

she tilts her head with a small grin. it’s endearing how liam is double-checking. but it’s been 7 months since they kissed. she’s kind of well over the fact by now. “i’m really okay. i’ve just been super busy. i flew in from los angeles right before touching down here. we haven’t really crossed paths in the apartment lately.”

liam pats her on the shoulder. “okay. but you can tell me anything, okay? don’t keep it in, mate.”

she smiles, “promise.”

max lifts his eyebrows, following the pair that’s just walked past him nonchalantly. his lips part in confusion as he then furrows his eyebrows and turns to the girl now approaching him. “was that logan holding hands with a girl?”

she follows his stare, tilting her head slightly. “yeah. i heard he brought his girlfriend to the race today.”

“you heard?” max scowls. “you didn’t know he had a girlfriend? aren’t you best friends who live together?”

she shrugs, “we haven’t seen each other a ton lately. we’ve been busy in our own right.” she puffs her cheeks out. “why is everyone so baffled that i didn’t know he has a girlfriend? he is a grown man!”

max puts his hands in the air as a small smile stretches his lips. “mate, relax. i was just curious. cause i thought you guys liked each other?”

“that’s crazy. where did you get that from?” she almost wants to laugh if it weren’t for the fact that max hit the jackpot with that guess. she only hoped that her wide eyes and racing heart didn’t give too much away. “he’s my best friend. with a girlfriend or not.”

max gives her a stare, one that tells her that he definitely isn’t buying her bullshit excuse. he lifts an eyebrow at her and sighs audibly. “really? you’re going to keep lying about you guys just being friends?”

she rolls her eyes. “your late-night gaming is taking a toll on you, i believe. you’re seeing things that aren’t there, max.”

“sure,” he snorts. “everyone can tell, by the way. alex, george… we know.”

she tilts her head and bats her eyelashes at him innocently. “i don’t seem to know what you mean.”

“that you and logan, at some point or another, liked each other,” max explains. “it’s only so obvious. mark my words, andretti racing driver, you guys are going to end up together someday be it in the near future or even it takes you years to figure things out.”

“you belong in a mental hospital.”

“rocky!” she feels a hand around her elbow pulling her back immediately, stumbling back a couple of steps with a soft yelp before she feels a hand on her back that steadies her. she knows that hand.

“why did you have to yank me like i’m an animal?” she whines, shaking away logan’s grip on her. “what do you want? i have a team meeting i’m gonna be late for.”

“i want you to meet somebody,” logan grins, stepping aside hesitantly. “ylona — my girlfriend.”

she tilts her head and into focus comes a slightly smaller girl compared to logan. slightly taller than her, tanned skin and the prettiest brown eyes she thinks she’s ever seen. ylona has her hands clasped in front of her shyly with a small and polite smile.

“oh, hi!” she squeals as her arm immediately darts out towards the girl. “i’m so sorry i just only got the chance to meet you now. i’ve been so busy — i’ve been out of the country lately.”

“yeah, i,” ylona laughs sheepishly and takes her hand, “i love your apartment, by the way. there’s no way you’re not an interior designer or something.”

she scrunches her nose. now, how is she supposed to hate someone as soft-spoken and lovely as ylona? she takes a deep breath, subtly looking ylona up and down. she’s just so pretty. “my younger sister actually helped with the apartment. i’d love to hang out with you after the day ends if you guys are joining us for ice cream?”

logan nods, his stare lingering on her in a way that she’s unsure what he’s trying to say to her. “of course. i’m not missing another ice cream night again in my life.”

“good!” she grins, patting his shoulder. “i’ll see you guys around. i’ve got to run.”

“who the hell is that!” alex barges into her room, george following suit as she takes sips from the drink in his hand. “when did logan get a girlfriend?”

she looks up from her phone, baffled at the comfortability that the older drivers have found in her hospitality home. especially her driver’s room. “you know, just because sebastian gives you guys immunity in the andretti hospitality doesn’t mean you should take advantage of it.”

“who is that girl? how did they even meet?”

george points at her beanbag, looking at her innocently as if to ask for permission. she nods and beckons him towards it before turning to alex. “i don’t know. i only just met her today.”

“like it’s so– what? you just met her today?”

“you also just met her today?” george pouts his bottom lip out, unsure if he should be concerned or impressed at logan’s success in hiding a secret from her. “how weird.”

“it’s seriously not that weird! we’re adults with our own lives!” she scoffs, returning her attention to her phone. “she seems lovely if you ask me. very pretty, very polite.”

she’s just opened her phone to send a message when it disappears abruptly, alex taking it into his hands and slipping it into his back pocket. “you’ve got to tell us more. there is no way you found out today like the rest of us peasants.”

she shrugs with a soft laugh. “i really have got no idea when or how they met. i’ve barely hung out with logan since we were in barcelona for the spanish gp. i’ve been frequenting los angeles a lot recently.”

“what are you doing in america instead of oxford with your family?” george scowls. “the fame’s gotten to you, mate.”

she rolls her eyes. “i’ve got sponsorships i need to show up for. seriously, it’s not that serious. logan’s 23 — let him have his girlfriend.”

“she is very quiet too, actually,” alex hums, dropping himself on the bean bag, and squeezing in with george, who scowls and pushes him away slightly to regain his space. “i don’t know. do i like her?”

george furrows his eyebrows. “logan isn’t your best friend. why are you speaking like that about his girlfriend?”

“hey, she’s going to be in the garage for a while. i have to make sure it’s an environment that i feel comfortable in.” alex looks to her for some support. “you get what i mean, right?”

she shrugs. “i guess you have a point. but you know… you can just ignore her if you don’t like her, alex.”

“it’s not the same though,” alex sighs, dropping his hands in his lap. “promise you’ll tell me when you find out more about her?”

“why don’t you just ask logan yourself?” george asks.

“he keeps running away when he sees me,” alex frowns. “i think it’s because i keep asking him if he likes rocky. i guess it’s not a good look if i keep asking that when his girlfriend is around.”

“you twat, why would you ask him that at all?” she scolds, hurling the small stuffed animal next to her towards alex. “such a stupid question to ask!”

alex catches the stuffed animal and chucks it right back at her. “i’m curious! for the record,” he rolls his eyes, “he avoids that question too!”

“that’s just stirring up the pot when you don’t have to, alex!” she hops off her massage table and runs over to where the 2 men are, arm wound back to hit the thai driver. “you’re so annoying! what is your problem?”

“i was curious!” alex screams to defend himself. “if you hit me, i’m telling james and he’ll never let you into our building to see logan.”

“i won’t have to. he’s got ylona now,” she points out before turning on her heel. “do you guys wanna go grab some coffee?”

“i know, i know,” oscar whispers, “it’s a bit sudden, isn’t it? i can’t believe he didn’t tell us.”

lily nods, leaning on the wall of the mclaren’s racing home as they await their friends so they can leave to get some ice cream. “i can’t believe even rocky didn’t know.”

oscar raises his eyebrows in shock. for him to now know, is one thing, but for logan’s literal roommate to not know of ylona’s existence until today? that’s just weird and even borderline off.

from the corner of his eye, he sees the young driver approaching them, typing away on her phone with a small grin on her face. he furrows his eyebrows and hits her gently on the shoulder as she comes to stop in front of them.

“what?”

“you and logan are being so weird lately,” oscar confesses. “seriously. what happened between both of you in the united states?”

she blinks at him. “nothing. we were just busy.”

“not spending valentine’s day together is one thing. but you didn’t even know about his girlfriend? you usually know everything,” oscar whispers, looking over his shoulder to make sure that logan’s not anywhere close to them. “what’s going on?”

“i’ve just been very caught up with my own things lately,” she laughs, putting a hand on oscar and lily’s shoulder. “relax. nothing happened between us.”

but she swears that there are some nights that she can feel logan’s lips on hers. it drives her crazy, actually. “relax. let’s just get ice cream and get to know her. it doesn’t have to be weird.”

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @vellicora @leilanixx @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @33-81 @darleneslane @nikfigueiredo @happy-nico @namgification @localwhoore @notawc @sadg3 @kazuha-pista-badam @mellowarcadefun @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @a-disturbing-self-reflection @inejismywife @love4lando @louvrepool

#logan sargeant x reader #oscar piastri x reader #liam lawson x reader #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 grid x reader #f1 female driver #formula one x reader #fem!driver #f1 fem!driver #female driver #disneyprincemuke vr #disneyprincemuke #disneyprincemuke imagine #disneyprincemuke imagines #disneyprincemuke f1 #vettel reincarnate

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screamingatanemptyroom · 3 months

Text

Please Fix the Story pt 29- The Higher Realm

Next part. A little shorter, but I think part 30 or 31 may be the end of the official story, not counting any side parts. Wish me luck!

Masterpost linked here

_____________________

“Adonis is here.”

As I processed his words, I watched the glowing words: “Soul transfer 59% complete.“ fade away. Once they disappeared, I felt a surge in the strange dark power with me. I looked down at my hands, seeing a barely visible power coiling around them.

Finally, I broke past 49%! And I can sense this power better than before. It’s definitely growing, whatever it is... even if I can't use it still. Hopefully this become something useful!

“Bel? Are you okay?” Liam’s questions broke me from my thoughts, and I looked back at him, the brief flash of dark power fading back into nothingness.

“I’m okay. So Adonis is here? Already?” At the grim news, I rubbed my hands together in excitement. “FINALLY! It’s time to unleash my super secret trap!”

“Your trap?” Liam rubbed his shoulder, likely still feeling the pain from his gunshot wound from the lower realm. “Is this what you’ve been sneaking off lately to set up?”

“Yep!” I grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him over to a carefully marked cleared area just far enough away from the cave to protect it. It may not be much, but it’s Liam’s home… my home. I’d rather Adonis stay far, far away from it.

Liam was staring down at our clasped hands with an absentminded smile, and didn’t seem to pay attention to our direction. Looking around once we stopped, he was clearly confused. “Why are we stopping here?”

“This is where we want him to find us.” I said with a confident grin.

At my words, Liam gripped my hand tightly, as if afraid that I would be taken away. His anxiety was almost palpable.

I tried to reassure him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Nothing good can ever stay here, Bel.” His eyes were filled with a sadness close to despair. “No matter how much I’ve tried to prevent it, everything here eventually withers and dies.”

“So do you want me to go back with Fart Sniffer McGee?”

He let out an involuntary snort at the silly, insulting name. “No I didn’t say that! I just…”

“Well, perhaps you should…”

A new voice spoke out as Adonis walked out from between the trees, standing in the small clearing in front of us. Seeing me, he smiled, a cocky expression. “Hello, Bel! Looks like your tamed monster recognizes reality better than you. Isn’t it time you admit it too?”

“There’s only one monster here," I said with a polite, distant smile. " And it’s not Liam.”

Adonis frowned. “Don’t deflect, Bel. The truth remains.”

“Truth?”

“What this villain said is correct: Nothing good can survive here. You don’t… you can’t belong here… you belong in the Higher Real. Even this beast knows it. You belong with me!”

“So you knew we were talking about you?” I turned to Liam, chuckling, “Look at him, so readily accepting of the new name Fart Sniffer McGee.”

“Very self-aware.” Liam nodded solemnly.

“Personal growth.” We both applauded politely.

He didn't seem amused at our antics. “SHUT UP!”

“Ooh, I don’t think he likes it.”

Liam shrugged. “We can think of others.”

“Ooh! A new one every day!” We threw out a few, each one more childish and ridiculous than the last. Once we reached “Captain Bum Nugget” however, Adonis finally snapped.

“I SAID SHUT UP!” He took a step forward with a threatening gesture, and I let out a shout of victory.

“FINALLY, YOU HIT THE MARK!” I quickly pulled a rope on the ground, and a net holding a load of large smelly... material... fell. Adonis was quickly covered head to toe, and was knocked to the ground by the weight of the net and its contents.

“…”

There was stunned silence, but it was quickly broken by my laughter. “That’s what you get! Did you really think you could waltz right into OUR realm without consequences?! Enjoy being smelly!”

I looked over at Liam, expecting him to agree with me… but instead he was staring at the… material… coating Adonis with a horrified expression. He then sat down on a nearby stump and slowly put his head in his hands.

“Bel…” He sighed as he spoke. “Do you know what that is?”

“It’s feces!” I answered cheerfully. “I assume from some sort of large beast, although I’ve never seen anything in this realm big enough to make poop like this! It took forever to collect it and set up this trap.” I thought for a moment. “It’s strange though, this has weird flecks in it, almost like tiny jewels… such an odd thing. Do you know which animal…?” I trailed off as I saw Liam’s shoulders shaking. Is he crying?

Liam finally lifted his head, laughing uncontrollably, his face bright red. After a long moment, he finally said “Bel, it’s very creative revenge, but… next time, why don’t we work together to plan it, okay?” His tone seemed resigned.

“…Sure.” I hadn’t expected such a big reaction from him, but quickly agreed.

Adonis finally recovered from his shock. “Bel, it’s time to go home.” His voice was low and intense, but the intimidation factor was incredibly dialed down by his feces-covered appearance.

“I AM home, Adonis.” I grabbed Liam’s hand again. “I’m staying here with Liam. In fact… we’ve just agreed to get married!”

Adonis lunged forward, but we took a huge step back, avoiding him.

“Cut the crap, Bel!”

“Ooh… poor choice of words!” I tried to high five Liam, who hesitated for a long moment, and then finally gave me one with another sigh.

Adonis was undisturbed. “Joke all you like. You can’t change reality with quips and funny words.” His face was distorted by a snarl. “I don’t know how you’re still alive, but even if you’ve found a temporary measure, it won’t last forever. You are a heroine. THE heroine. Your very nature rejects and is rejected by this realm. The longer you stay, the weaker you become. Even if you force yourself to remain here, then the realm itself will begin to destabilize and fade.”

His words struck like a blow. “You’re lying.” I whispered, wishing I believed my own words.

Adonis chuckled grimly. “I don’t lie, Bel. You and I don’t agree at all on a lot of things, but you know me well enough to know I don’t lie.”

“That doesn’t mean you tell all of the truth.” Liam finally spoke up, glaring.

Adonis didn’t back down. “Shut up, Monster.”

“Stop calling him that!”

“Silly, innocent, Bel.” Adonis laughed at my outburst. “What do you think Liam is?”

“Shut up.” I didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

“I already told you: I don’t lie. I call Liam a monster because that’s exactly what he is.” He grinned. “ A literal monster. Don’t believe me? Just ask him.”

I felt Liam shaking beside me and gripped his hand tighter. I knew Liam wasn’t human, but I don’t want to learn the truth from Adonis. Which means I have one option left:

“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes, and stated nonchalantly. “Liam told me a while ago.”

Bluffing.

Adonis was taken aback by my confidence, but soon his eyes narrowed, studying me. “You don’t know. He wouldn’t tell you!”

“Think what you want.” I shrugged. “But I’ve been here a while… since you kidnapped me and dumped me here, by the way… and it would be impossible for Liam to hide his true self for this long.”

“You…”

“I know everything.” I lied, knowing almost nothing. “And I don’t care. I’m staying with him anyways.”

Adonis was silent for a long moment, looking at us both, his gaze dropped, focusing on our clasped hands.

“FINE.” He turned around, and I tried not to chuckle as he trailed poop on the ground.

But his next words stilled any desire to laugh.

“This place will either kill you or destroy itself. The end will come sooner than you expect. If you don’t care about all the countless lower realms and all their innocent inhabits out there that you are condemning to destruction by staying here, then at least care about your own well being, or your friend’s, as he needs this place to stay alive. If it fades... well, you know. I’ll come back to collect you once you’ve come to your senses.” He shook his head, and I felt a growing sense of dread. “Give up, Bel. You must accept your fate.”

He was gone, and Liam and I were left alone.

I let go of Liam’s hand, stepping away, and he reached out as if to catch me, his hand pausing mid-motion, his face pale.

His terrified eyes met mine. “Bel… I can explain.” Liam’s voice was hoarse, his eyes red, his hand still in the air, shaking. “Please… I’ll tell you everything. Just… just don’t hate me, please…not you too.”

My heart broke at his pain. I reached out, grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him closer, hugging him tightly. “I don’t hate you.” I could feel his entire body trembling. “Not even a little.”

He stepped backwards, a small nervous smile on his face. “You say that now but… You don’t know my secret yet.”

“No matter WHAT you are, Liam. You are you. And that’s all that matters.” I held a finger against his lips as he started to speak again. “That being said. Why don’t you tell me in the morning? You and I are both tired, and I don’t really feel like hearing your biggest secret after Adonis the Poop King threatened us. Tell me in the morning, IF you really want me to know."

Liam’s smile grew, his whole expression lighter. “The morning then, I’ll tell you for sure.”

We separated to get some sleep.

_____________________

Fragments of worlds flashed through my dreams, one after the next, so quickly I couldn’t grasp what was happening. The few scenes it lingered on made me wish it hadn’t.

…

He was on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound. The growls of zombies could be heard in the distance. My eyes were blurred with tears.

All I could see was blood, too much blood.

“Liam.” His name escaped my lips.

“Sorry, I have to go first.”

More blood.

“Next time, let’s get married? “

…

Before I could respond I was in a new world, facing him once more. He was larger, more muscular, but too pale. Laying on a bed. Two small puncture wounds were visible on his neck.

“Liam… wake up.”

My hand, shaking, tried to check a pulse, hoping, praying to find it.

There was only the stillness of death.

…

World after world, flipping through too fast to remember. Finally, it stilled once more.

“Why do you always die, Liam?” I was crying once more.

He laughed a sad sound, but I couldn’t see him. His voice was above me. “That’s the fate of a villain, Bel. That’s the fate of a monster. I was never meant to be happy. I was only ever meant to be sacrificed for others’ happiness.” He faded away to nothing, and I was alone in the dark.

“Liam.”

*** YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE***

The blue words hung there, threateningly, and I backed away. The words followed, leaving me unable to run away even if I wanted to.

_____________________

“LIAM!”

I woke up in a cold sweat, struggling to sense what was real and what wasn’t. Breathing deeply, I pushed myself up, getting out of the bed, moving towards the center of our cave.

I wanted to find Liam.

I searched all the rooms, however, and he wasn’t there.

Panicking a bit, I walked out of the cave.

Thud.

Something small and white fell from the sky and landed at my feet. I looked closer. It appeared to be a white dove. Its neck broken. Blood pooled underneath it, almost staining my feet.

“What…?” Where did the dove come from, how had it survived in this realm? Why did it die?

As I watched on in horror, the blood moved and formed into words:

YOU MUST ACCEPT YOUR FATE,

I ran away. I was no longer sure if I was still trapped within the dream or if reality itself had gone insane. Nothing else mattered but my goal:

I needed to see Liam.

“Liam!” I called out again, seeing some traces along the ground and following the trail. I could hear movement up ahead, and Liam’s voice, talking seemingly to himself. The voice was familiar and not at the same time, spoken with a deep harsh tone.

“Okay, I just have to be calm, Bel said she doesn’t care what I am…. NO!… this is stupid, I should run away… but I can’t run away, that would mean leaving Bel behind… Maybe, I could take her with me? … YEAH! ... But wait... that defeats the purpose of running away to keep her from finding out what I am!”

I heard a loud growl and a thud. The sounds didn’t seem human. I slowed down, getting a glimpse of an enormous dark something beyond the trees in a large clearing ahead as his voice continued.

“Okay, just tell her the truth, and explain all the benefits… free heating source... free rides flying in the sky… umm… something else… Come on, Liam! Think, think!”

More crashes sounded out, and I hesitated to move into the clearing. What will I find?

I thought of my dream, of Liam in many forms dying in front of me. I thought of the bloody message scrawled out in front of the cave. I can’t back away now.

“Liam!” I called out, trying to keep my voice from trembling. “I’m here! Can I come into the clearing?”

I didn’t want to force him, especially hearing his anxious rants.

Liam let out a shriek, the sound mixed with a strange inhuman growl. “BEL?! Umm… so...you want to come into the clearing… I’m a little indisposed at the moment…”

“Liam.” My voice was soft now, but in the dead silence of the forest, I knew he could hear me. “I want to see you. I won’t run away.”

“…” The silence dragged on and on. Just as I was about to give up and walk away…

“You can come.” He sounded scared, resigned, but at the same time, determined.

“Are you sure…?”

“I’m sure.”

I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Immediately I looked up, tilting my head back all the way upwards just to see his face. He was large, not quite as large as the ancient beast from previous the lower realm. If then he had been the size of a mountain, now he was the size of a three story house.

He was darker than the night sky above him, with shining scales interlocking in a tight armor.

Spikes rose up in a long row, bristling, protecting his back.

Large wings, with stretched leathery skin flapped nervously behind him.

A long winding neck, leading upward.

Teeth, enormous and deadly, protruded from an elongated scaly jaw.

And looking straight at me, unblinking, were his eyes, the vertical slit pupil set within a wonderful, familiar dark blue. The face seemed unsuited for showing emotion, yet I could see everything he felt within the depths of his eyes.

Nervousness.

Excitement.

Caring.

It WAS Liam.

Liam was a dragon.

I hesitated for a moment, and in that silence, I saw the fear bloom brightly within his eyes. His head tucked in, hiding underneath his wings.

“Liam… you’re a dragon?” I phrased it as a question, but he could be nothing else. “Wow, that’s really cool!”

"Really?" Slowly, his eyes peeked out from his wings. “You’re not just saying that?” It felt strange to hear Liam’s voice coming from this form, but it was the familiar sound that reassured me as well.

“Nope! I think you look very strong and awesome!” I reached out a hand and moved forward, Liam stuck out his head close, allowing me to touch the side of his face. The black shiny scales seemed softer to the touch than I had expected, the surface cool against my palm.

“You really don’t care? Even though I’m a monster?”

“I’d rather be in the company of a dragon like you than the kind of monster that Adonis is.” I shrugged. “I guess that says a lot about me.”

“Thank you, Bel.” His voice was filled with relief, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I settled in, asking, “Have you always been a dragon? Or did you start out human?”

"Always." Liam crouched down, keeping his head low towards the ground so I didn’t have to bend my neck to see him. “This is what I am. I’ve been like this since I was old enough to remember anything.”

“Were you always here, in this realm?”

Liam let out an angry growl. “No. I came from a different realm. One where dragons and humans existed together. I was young… very young, when I was taken away. Dragons tend to be solitary creatures, but typically they protect their young until they reach adulthood.” He sighed. “My parents, however, died right after my birth, killed in a large battle with humans. After that, I was being raised by my grandfather. He was amazing! He taught me what it meant to be a dragon.”

“Your grandfather raised you?” Is he…” I trailed off, unable to finish the question.

“Dead.” Liam’s voice was flat. "The System came to collect me. My grandfather tried to stop it… he was destroyed, along with my entire realm.” Two golden tears dropped from the dragon’s eyes. “I couldn’t save him, I couldn’t save anyone.”

“The System?”

“I don’t know what it is. It appeared as bright blue words written across the sky when I saw it. It’s what makes the portals… what creates the missions we see in the lower realms. It controls seemingly everything but at the same time seems to be interested in nothing. I don’t know if it’s a god or the devil or something else entirely… but I watched its power as it destroyed my realm.”

Bright blue words? Shuddering, I thought of the counter that only I could see. Is that the system too? I reached out, trying to hug the enormous dragon head. “I’m sorry Liam.”

“It told me I was born to be the ultimate villain, and that all others would derive their fate from me.” He sighed. “It said that the classic story was that of a hero, a princess, and the monster that kidnaps the princess. My fate was to separate them, and then be destroyed to allow for a happy ending.” He looked down at me. “Then I woke up here, alone except the occasional creature that tries to survive… they never do, not for long. This world slowly destroys them. Of course, most nights, portals would open up and drag me in.”

“Liam…”

“You saw my mission last time. They’re all like that. Lose everything, get severely injured… die. Every single one of them. The story of the lower realms can’t be complete unless there is a satisfyingly bad end to the villain.”

“Did you always follow the mission?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Not at first. Especially when I was still very young, I struggled against it, tried to avoid it. I would run and hide and stay away. But then the lower realm would be destroyed, I would wake up here and the next world would open up shortly. Finally, I started to complete the mission as quickly as possible, so I could just go back home, and no one else would get hurt.”

I wished I couldn’t imagine it, but I could. I had been to countless lower realms with Adonis. How many of them had Liam been there, dying, getting hurt, just so that he could stop suffering and come back here? How many times has he chosen to die painfully, rather than let a lower realm be destroyed? I remembered him drinking the poison when we first met, his nonchalant expression at his upcoming demise.

“Bel, don’t cry.”

“I’m not…” My voice paused, as I reached up and felt tears running down my face. “I…”

“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

“It’s NOT okay!”

“It’s my fate.”

“SCREW FATE!”

*** Soul transfer 73% complete. ***

I ignored the words, feeling slightly sick sight of the glowing blue letters. If this is the system, this… thing… kidnapped Liam and forced him into this never-ending hell. I can’t trust anything it says.

Liam laughed, his eyes happy. “Yeah, screw fate.”

I touched his face again. “I will protect you. I won’t let fate, or the System, or even Adonis win. We’ll find a way for me to stay here, and then find a way to avoid our fates AND save the lower realms.”

“…”

“What you don’t believe me?”

He blinked. “You still want to stay here?”

“Yeah… aren’t we getting married? Typically married people stay in the same realm of existence.”

“YOU STILL WANT TO MARRY ME?”

“Of course! Didn't I already ask you in the last lower realm? Out of the two people I’ve met in the higher realms, you are definitely the best husband material.”

“I’m a dragon.”

“And the other choice is Adonis.”

“… Fair.” He chuckled. “I believe you, but promise me: if we do anything to go against fate… let’s do it together.”

“Deal. Now let’s head back.”

“First, you’ll need blood.” He raised a claw, and bit it, dripping golden drops into a small bowl. He then was covered in a black smoke, and a much smaller, much more human Liam emerged and picked up the bowl, walking towards me with a smile. “Here you go.”

“….”

“Bel?”

“…”

“Umm….”

I finally forced out. “LIAM, YOU ARE NAKED!”

“Shoot!” He shoved the bowl into my hands and grabbed pants that had been neatly folded nearby, his face bright red. “Sorry, I forgot.” He paused and looked down at himself. “Everything I have should be normal for a human, right?”

“Liam… It’s fine… yes, you’re normal.” I coughed as he grinned with relief. “There’s nothing wrong, I just… was surprised.” I turned away and drank my bowl of blood, waiting until the sounds of changing had stopped to turn back towards him. He took the bowl and wiped it clean, and then held out his hand for mine.

As we held hands, he laughed again. “Sorry, I forgot you get shocked when I get naked suddenly.”

“This is the first time this has happened, though?”

He paused at my words, his eyes confused. “No… it’s happened before. You were an elf…” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “I can’t remember clearly.”

“Maybe you were flashing some other person?” I raised an eyebrow.

“No, I’m certain it was you.” Was his firm answer.

“Okay, sure… so, Liam?”

“Yes?”

“I have a very important question.”

“What’s that?”

“Was it YOUR poop that I dropped on top of Adonis?”

“…”

“Liam?”

“OH LOOK AT THE TIME! Let’s go home!” And with that, Liam dragged me out of the clearing and back to our cave, with me laughing the entire way.

_____________________

When we arrived, we came across the dead dove once more. Liam stopped in his tracks, staring down at it silently.

“Actually, this was part of why I was looking for you in the first place. It just flew down out of nowhere, and killed itself here.” I stared at the words written in coagulated blood. “Who would do this?”

“The System.” He spit the words out like a curse.

“Why doves… I thought it spoke in blue glowing letters?”

Liam was still staring down at the dove, and for a moment, I could see the dragon he was behind his human appearing eyes. “Doves have meaning.”

“Meaning?”

“Often a messenger of the divine, or for all-powerful beings… they are also seen as a symbol of peace. So to have one come from the heavens and kill itself, for the message to be written in blood….

“It’s a declaration of war.” I shuddered. “It wants to force us to accept our fate. Me to go back to the Higher Realm and play heroine with Adonis… you…”

“To suffer and die in an endless sacrifice for the happy ending.”

I squeezed his hand. “Neither is going to happen.”

He didn’t look away from the bloody message. “I hope you’re right.”

____________________

Days passed.

Adonis, unfortunately, had not lied. Over time, Liam’s blood became less and less effective. I stayed in bed for most of the day, only able to do brief outings into the forest before having to rest once more. Liam grew increasingly frantic, increasing the dose and would have tried to drain himself dry if I hadn’t stopped him.

But I wasn’t the only one affected.

The edges of the realm were starting to fade into darkness. It took a while for us to realize, but when we came up to the nothingness, the emptiness where forest had once been, I was forced to confront the truth: I was dying. The realm was dying. I couldn’t stay.

But Liam couldn’t leave, except for the lower realms.

The portals became much less frequent, but I went with him each time. We tried to find ways to fix the worlds that completed both our missions, I tried my best to protect Liam from getting hurt.

We did not see Adonis again. He seemed to be biding his time.

Or he was so mad at Operation: Poop Trap that he is spending some time away from us. Either way, not too sad about it.

Finally, one day came. I couldn’t get out of bed at all. Liam stayed by my side, feeding me meat and mixed vegetables he had cooked. His cooking skills were fantastic now, but my failing body could barely appreciate it. I tried my best to eat, anyways, hoping not to worry him.

“Tell me what to do, Bel.” He whispered, feeding me another bite with a roughly carved spoon. “I don’t want to send you back there… but I can’t watch you die.”

“What if I would rather die than go back?” I asked. “Would you knock me out and send me anyways?”

Liam hung his head. “No. I won’t force you. I know better than most what its like to live with no choices. I can't send you into the same existence. If you choose to die...” His eyes filled with tears. “I’ll choose to go with you.”

“No…”

“That’s MY choice, Bel.”

I sighed. “Well, let’s try to avoid that ending then.” I started coughing, unable to take another bite. Liam out away the food with a solemn expression.

“Do you have a plan?”

“I’ve fixed countless broken stories. I always have a plan.” I tried to grin, but was too tired to maintain it for long. “I just need to make it to the next lower realm.”

I thought of the glowing blue counter I could see, and the dark power that even now hovered around my fingertips.

Hopefully this works. Everything depends on finding the right type of lower realm. I don’t have much time left, so I really hope the next one will have what I need. For both of our sakes.

After the discussion we fell silent, but stayed side by side, enjoying being together. A deeply uncertain future faced us, but at least one thing was true:

We were facing it together.

_____________________

That night, a new portal opened up. Liam, carrying me, stepped up to the red-rimmed glowing opening.

"Are you sure you want to come?" He asked in a worried tone.

"I'm sure. Once we're inside, I'll try to find you as soon as I can."

"Focus on being safe, first."

I smiled, resting a pale hand against his face. "I'll find a way for us to escape fate, Liam. I promise. The key to it is in this realm." It has to be.

His arms tightened around me. "As long as we're together."

"Together." I agreed.

He stepped into the portal quickly. As always, we were separated immediately after crossing the portal and fell into darkness.

I woke up, confused, looking all around me.

I was in water. Fish swam all around me, sunlight filtering through the waves and bouncing around them. Coral littered the ground, seaweed waving nearby, an intricate underwater garden. It was beautiful. A paradise.

And that’s when I realized I was breathing underwater.

Hmm… that’s not normal. I looked down at my arms. They seemed human enough, my hair coiling around my body. At least I’m not a fish or a sea monster. I thought, looking at the rest of me.

Then I saw my tail.

Ah crap.

I was a mermaid.

#writing #pfts #please fix the story #fantasy #liam and bel #this lower realm is the last one before the end.#hopefully next week will be when I finish this!!!!#wish me luck

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aquafresca24 · 26 days

Text

Price's Playlist

The Fall

Pairing: John Price x Female!reader

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: Violence, injury, weapons, language, military inaccuracies, poorly written Scottish and British accent (I think that's all)

Summary: After months on leave following an op gone wrong you finally decide to get back into the field. What you aren't expecting, is for your new Captain to give you the cold shoulder.

A/N: I've never written a fic (for an audience) before but I'm very excited to put this out, since it's been workshopping itself in my brain for weeks. Inspired by the song below, so give it a listen if you'd like. (:

You’re running. Hard and fast. The sound of boots colliding with the wet muddy ground all around you is blending into something akin to white noise at this point. You look up to see your captain running just as hard ahead of you, it’s a rare sight to see his boots on the ground, his tired face normally void of any emotion behind piles of paperwork on his desk back at base. This is the first operation you’ve ever gotten to work side by side with him on and of course it had to go sideways.

On paper this was a simple op. Get in, get the intel, get out. One that you and your team have executed more times than you could count, but this was the biggest yet. You’ve had your sights on a prominent sex trafficker for months, and this was your team’s chance to stuff him. The small flash drive in your left pocket was the intel you and your team needed to finally put this operation to rest. Everything was going according to plan… until it wasn’t.

It was a trap. You were convinced the operation was going to go smoothly, that the location was to be empty. Yet here you were, your chest on fire as you heave air in and out of your lungs, running for god knows how long to get back to the safe house. They knew your exfil location, set aflame by the time you got there and you had no choice but to run.

You see your lieutenant catch up to your captain, your fellow sergeant to your left who was just a few steps behind you, and a face that sends a wave of calm through your body to your right. Liam. Liam, your not so secret boyfriend, gives you a wink and despite your current situation you return his gesture with a smile and a nod.

Your team was close, created just shy of four years ago, and you had all formed a tight bond. Though you and Liam formed a bond closer than you were supposed to, you couldn’t deny the way your chest warmed when he looked at you, and so against protocol you found yourselves together. Everyone knew of course, you two weren’t very smooth when it came to hiding your affections, but no one said anything, your captain saying that it brought the team closer together.

Your moment with Liam comes to a quick close as you feel a searing pain in your thigh and you drop to your knees, hands barely catching you before your face kisses the muddy ground.

“Fuck!” You hiss as you look down at your leg, the gash on your leg seeping blood into your combat pants. You didn’t hear the shot but you can only assume you’ve been grazed by a bullet.

Liam is quick to get you up, his hands coming to rest on your hips to stabilize you.

“We gotta keep moving, here…” he takes your rifle off of your back to alleviate some of the weight and then slips his arm up and under your arms.

“I’ve gotcha.” His reassuring words take away the pain for a brief moment as the two of you stumble towards the safehouse.

It’s not for a couple hundred more feet that you really start to feel how deep the gash is on your thigh, but luckily you're met with the entrance to the building just as the adrenaline starts to wear off. Despite your pain induced haze you don’t miss the odd black box stuck to the side of the doorway, and it’s not until you find yourself shoved through the opening and are met with the loud slam of the door that you realize what it was. C4. You lift your head and shakily get up as you rush to the door, nearly tripping from the lack of support from Liam.

“Liam, wait!” You shout as you try to push the door open, but it doesn’t budge. You hear the scrape of your gun being used to hold the door shut from the other side. Liam’s cold stare meets you through the small pane of glass in the door and you can practically feel the way all the color in your face drains.

You watch the way his lip quirks up into a sadistic smirk as he raises his hand. The flash drive tucked between his thumb and pointer, and in the other three a knife dripping with fresh blood. You instinctively press your hand to your left pocket which to your horror, is empty. You then look down at your thigh, only now realizing that it’s no bullet wound.

‘Liam you dirty fu-” you go to shout but his disgusting chuckle cuts you off.

“You know, when they assigned me to infiltrate your little squad here I thought it would be harder… but my god was I wrong.” His voice was thicker than you were used to, dripping with an accent you couldn’t quite place as your mind was on the fritz.

“But all it took was a couple well timed smiles and I had you fawning over me. Pathetic little thing you are.” His voice was dripping with malice as he lowered his hand. “It is such a shame though, I was actually starting to fall for you.” His voice turned to a demented laugh as he lowered his hand.

You went to scream but no words would come out, his mocking grin started to get farther away as you were dragged by your captain away from the door. You manage to shriek as you thrash in your captain’s arms but it’s cut off as you hear a click and then your vision flashes white.

…

With a gasp you lurch up from your pillow, drenched in sweat. Realizing it was the same nightmare you’ve been nearly throwing yourself out of your bed with every morning for the past seven months and twenty-four days. Though you know it’s not really a nightmare, it’s just your mind replaying what put you on leave in the first place.

Sighing, you lower your head back down to the pillow. It’s too firm, this bed is too firm, and the room is such an abysmal shade of brown that you keep the lights off and the curtains shut because you hate looking at it. You’ve only been in this hotel for two days and you’re leaving in just a few hours, so you’ll manage.

Finally rolling out of bed you go to the bathroom, turning on the light to find that your eyebags have made a return again. You grumble, taking time to brush your teeth and situate your hair before getting dressed.

When you finally open up the curtains to hopefully catch a few rays of sun to get you out of this funk you find that it’s the same rainy gray England has been the past two days. You’re starting to fear you’ll never see the sun again.

You start to question why you’re doing this again. Of course you do know why, you needed to get back out, to get into the field again, but there was this nagging pit in your stomach that constantly reminded you of why you aren’t currently in the field.

Your therapist, Dr. Lapa, finally convinced you to reach out to Laswell. While you were, and still are, very scarred -quite literally- from your last operation, you were at your best when you were serving. With the military you finally felt like you had found your sense of purpose, and now that it was ripped from you, you felt disjointed and confused.

So you listened, and you called, and now here you are walking down the sidewalk away from the hotel’s entrance and slinging your duffle bag onto your back as Laswell wraps you up in her arms.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” She whispers into your hair before letting go and taking a step back. It had been a while since you had seen her in person, she still had that aura of stress around her, but she looked good all things considered.

You nod, though you aren’t entirely sure if you are ready for this but you’ve decided you need to get back out before you lose your mind. When she called you to let you know of your new assignment, your placement into the alleged Task Force 141, she assured you that these men were the best of the best and that she had no doubt that you would fit into their squadron like a glove.

“Yeah… yeah I just, I think it’s time.” You give her a gentle smile and when she turns, you follow. Follow her to the black SUV, follow her once the car reaches the small airport, follow her onto the helicopter, and finally follow her off onto the tarmac of your new base.

A cold breeze hits your face the second your boots hit the ground and you take a look around. That pit in your stomach seems to fill a little as you see some soldiers walking from building to building, the chaotic hum of the firing range off in the distance making you feel a bit more at home. You’re never quite sure that pit could ever be truly full again… not sure how long it would take you to trust again… not sure if you’ll ever learn to trust again. As much as you feel somewhat relieved to be on a military base again, to have purpose again, you feel like you’re tiptoeing on the edge of the pit, praying you don't fall in like you did once before.

Laswell seems to notice your sense of uncertainty and places a hand on your shoulder. You turn your head to meet tired, but kind eyes. You know she would never risk putting you in a position to be met with that kind of betrayal again, would never assign you to a team that would reopen those wounds you had been left with, the wounds that have yet to fully heal.

“Come on, let’s get you to your briefing.” You watch the way the skin around her mouth wrinkles as she gives you a soft smile. A brief pat to your shoulder before starting to walk. “You’ll meet privately with Captain Price, then you’ll meet the rest of the team.” She says while walking, only slightly turning her head to the left so you can hear her better.

Captain John Price. You read his file, well, what was readable anyways. Plenty of it was scratched out by black bars. You’re pretty sure you have it memorized at this point, you’ve read it many, many times. You’ve read all of their files several times. Searching for anything between the black that could give you any reason to believe they aren’t who they say they are. From what you can tell everything checks out, but you refuse to fall into that pit ever again.

You both come up on a set of doors, she brings her card up to a black sensor on the side and after a moment you hear the door unlock. After opening it she turns to you, holding out a different card, one with your name and picture on it.

“This base is far more secure than your last.” Her lips quirk up into a small smirk, proud of herself for knowing that you would greatly appreciate that. “You’ve got near full clearance so you’ll be able to use it wherever. Don’t lose it, or you might end up losing yourself here. This place is like a maze.”

You take the card, nervously fiddling with it in your pocket as you continue to walk. You can tell that you’re in the barracks and you’re prepping for her to turn into one of the rooms and instruct you to set your bag next to an empty bunk, but she doesn’t. You two keep walking, turning down a few more hallways before reaching another secure door.

She has you open this one just to make sure your ID works as intended, and it does, the door unlocking and allowing you to pass through. It’s a smaller hallway, only a few rooms compared to the labyrinth you took to get to where you are now. You follow her to a door and she opens it, no ID sensor this time, but when you see that it’s an individual room you can only assume that most don’t have the clearance to get to this wing.

An individual room… for you? You give her a curious look, you weren’t expecting to sleep anywhere but a crowded barrack and in a bunk.

“Smaller base, important task force, high rank, better amenities.” She says from behind you as you step into the room. You can hear the fact that she’s beaming with pride in her voice. She’s proud of you, grateful you’ve gotten back to what you do best, taking it upon herself to make it so you never have to worry again.

“Laswell you didn-” She cuts you off with a dismissive wave of the hand.

“I did. And unless you’d like to decline, I expect you to enjoy it. You deserve it.” She makes you want to cry, and you can feel that aching pit becomes a little smaller. ‘You deserve it.’

Honestly, you believe her. Most people never return after what you went through. Most people never return after crawling out from rubble, waiting for what felt like an eternity only to find that none of your other squad members made it out. Most people never want to never want to think about the military after the hand you were dealt. Yet here are, standing in your own room, in a new military base, ready to get back to it. You needed to, without the military you felt like you had no purpose, like you weren’t doing anything worthwhile. You needed to be helping people, you needed to be in the action. So here you are.

You set your duffle bag on the bed and exit the room, following Laswell through another set of hallways and to a large wooden door. You stand off to her side, slightly behind her as she knocks.

“John?” She calls out and there's a muffled slide from behind the door, followed by some grumbling and finally the door opens.

“Kate I’m-” He stops when his eyes land on you. He stiffens slightly. You recognize him as your now captain, John Price. He looks like his picture for the most part, his mutton chops are a bit more grown out along with the rest of his beard. He’s got a hat covering what you can only assume is a slightly longer version of his short cropped hair that was in the picture.

What you try not to notice is the way he stares at you. His blue eyes make you feel like you’re trying to shuffle across a sheet of ice on the side of a mountain. One wrong step and you slip, you’ll fall, and you’ll get hurt.

You shift slightly on your feet before holding out your hand. Stating your name with a smile that tries to hide the way you feel like you’re in the middle of a blizzard behind it.

He looks you up and down, his face unreadable as he looks down at your hand before he turns to Laswell. “Said she wasn’t supposed to be here till tomorrow.” His voice is like honey, some of the crystallized sugars making it coarser than normal, but otherwise deliciously smooth.

“Don’t tell me all your paperwork has you getting your dates mixed up.” Her voice has a bit of an edge to it now. Your hand drops to your side, feeling yourself lose your balance a little as the pit becomes larger once again.

He huffs and takes a look at his watch, his face scrunching as he realizes he has indeed lost track of which day it is. “Bloody hell. Wait in ‘ere while I go make sure the boys know to be in the briefing room in thirty.” He grumbles as he pushes past the two of you and disappears down the hallway. You give Laswell a look as you both step into his office.

“Look, I dropped a rather large load of paperwork on him last week… he gets like this. You’ll be fine.” She notices the way you seem uneasy again. How was she so damn good at that? She sits down on a chair across from his desk and motions for you to take the other.

“You sure he agreed to this? He didn’t exactly seem pleased to see me.” You say a little quieter than your normal decibel. She looks at you in a way that just barely calms your nerves.

“He was a little reserved when it came to the idea of adding a fifth to his team.” She says plainly. “It’s just been him and the other three since the force formed and they’ve developed quite the bond. He’s a protective man, part of why I placed you with him. Give him some time and he’ll warm up, I promise.” You frown slightly, you didn’t want to have to work at building relationships again, building trust again, but you knew you had to eventually.

Price comes back a few minutes later, taking his seat with a slight grunt before sliding himself closer to his desk and opening your file. Reading it over for a moment before looking up at you, making you feel like you’re in a tundra once again.

“Right… I’m sure you know that we weren’t exactly expecting to have a fifth member, but judging by your file and records you seem plenty capable.” He looks at laswell as he mentions you being unexpected but she only blinks in return. “We’ve been briefed on what happened with your last squad.” He notices the way you look down for a moment, his shoulders releasing some of their tension as a result, perhaps a subconscious effort to get you to relax. “I’m sorry… but I can assure you that you won’t run into that again when you’re with us.”

You look back up, a miniscule smile on his lips, though he seems genuine. His smile drops and he continues talking. Explaining to you how the task force formed and why, the operations they’ve run in the past, and what your role on the team will be. His colder demeanor has returned and before you realize your short meeting is up and he’s standing.

“You’ll meet the boys now.” He gestures for you and Laswell to follow him out the door.

Just as you get to the other side Laswell looks at you. “This is where I head out.” She takes your hand in her own, running her thumb gently over the back of your hand. “Call me if you need anything.” Her gaze shifts to Price, “Take care of her John.” She gives you a tight hug before walking back down the way you came.

His eyes meet yours again, “This way.” Price says before he begins to walk. You follow close behind him, trying to ignore the various gazes landing on you from the other soldiers as you walk past. You feel almost like you’re in trouble, following a middle school principal to his office before he scolds you for misbehavior. You’ve done nothing wrong of course, though you can’t help but feel like you have.

It isn’t long before you reach an open door to a briefing room. He walks you in and three heads turn. Two of them are sitting at the table, and the other is just behind them, leaning against a cabinet.

The one to the left at the table has a gray shirt on, his hat proudly displaying the UK flag. His brown eyes meet yours and a smile crosses his face. That simple gesture alone eases your anxious mind, telling you that just maybe, not everyone here is opposed to you being their new addition.

Your eyes drift to the right to find a man sporting a mohawk that you swear doesn’t fit the dress code. You can tell his navy blue shirt is a size too small by the way it hugs his muscles. His bright blue eyes trace over your body before reaching your gaze and he gives you a toothy grin. Moving to stand up before the one to the left punches him in the side and he sits back down, a slight chuckle leaving your chest.

Then your eyes rest on the man behind them, the hulking figure donning a black balaclava with a skull pattern hiding all of his face but his eyes. He gives you a nod but not much more, however his body language doesn’t scream that he’s upset with your presence.

“Gaz, Soap, and Ghost” Price says beside you, pointing at each of them respectively. You nod in response, the other two you recognize from the pictures in their files, and you put two and two together about why Ghost’s file was missing one. “Get acquainted and show her ‘round. I’ve got paperwork.” He mutters before leaving.

You watch the door shut before turning back to the three men before you. With a small wave you give your name. “Happy to get back into the field.” Is about all that you can bring yourself to say.

“Happy to have you love, could use a change of pace ‘round here.” Gaz says, his smile now causing his eyes to squint before he leans back in his chair and his face relaxes.

With Gaz now leaning back Soap takes his chance to bound around the table, scooping you up into a hug, causing you to gasp before setting you back down. “Seriously lass, we read yer file, plenty glad to have someone with yer skill.” His smile beams down at you, and it causes you to smile back.

“Easy Johnny, try not to bowl her over.” Ghost calls from the back of the room, causing Soap -or, Johnny you suppose- to settle down and back off. You give Ghost a slight look, you’re stable on your feet and strong enough to take a guy Soap’s size, but your face softens as you actually take a moment to appreciate the sentiment.

“Yer a sergeant too right?” Soap says after turning back to you. You give him a nod and he looks back at Ghost. “Dinnae ken Ghost, seems like ye’ve got yer hand’s full now.”

“Better not turn her into you Soap, can barely handle one of you.” Ghost huffs and you give him a smile, a small gesture to ensure that you won’t give him trouble. With that he steps forward, and then Gaz stands up from his chair.

“We’ll get you started on your little tour.” Gaz chimes in before walking around the table and wrapping an arm around your shoulder as the four of you leave the room.

You can’t put a finger on why they’re being so kind to you, it’s such a stark contrast to when you met Price. They’re hardened military men with blood on their hands, why be so cheerful with you? Though you do suppose you’ve probably got around the same amount of blood on your own.

It doesn’t take long before you remember that Soap said they’ve read your file… they know about what happened, they know what you’ve been through. For some time it upsets you, making you feel that they’re doing this just because of that, but the longer you explore the base with them you question that. They seem genuinely over the moon to have you, to give you what you need to have purpose again, to let you know that they would never lift you up just to break you down.

And with that, you can feel the walls you’ve constructed over the last seven months to open up. You feel that the risk of falling into that pit shrinks once again.

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

A/N: This song is not only what ispired this specific chapter, but to be honest it's kind of an overture for the whole fic.

An idea came to me to make a fic where every part was inspired by/based on a song, so this is chapter 1! Was lowkey originally going to be a Captain MacTavish fic but 'Price's Playlist' really rolls off the tongue. I hope you liked it. Whether one person sees it or more I still want to write it, so you can find the whole series, and link to the playlist here.

#call of duty #cod #cod mw2 #call of duty fanfic #john price #captain john price #captain price #captain price x reader #captain price x you #captain price x female reader #task force 141 #tf 141 #kyle gaz garrick #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #Spotify

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hihiitscai · 2 years

Text

Dimension 20 moments that have hit me right where it hurts (spoilers ahoy):

Fantasy High

"My parents just left and I don't know where they are"

"Having panic attacks? That is not a character flaw, you understand?"

"I do not know why I was so easy to discard"

"Will you be my big sister? I'd really like for you to be my big sister"

"In the same way that your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, it cares. If you don't, it doesn't"

"It's Gorgug, keep going"

Unsleeping City

"You can't take other peoples' reality away to be real

"You come for my family, you come for my friends, I will drop you"

"I am faithful! I was faithful! I would have continued to be faithful!"

"You know, just kind of when you're already in a shame spiral and then people are good to you, it almost stings a little bit worse"

"I owe you an explanation, and an apology"

"You're not done yet, kid"

"Hey, I want you all to meet Langston Brown"

“My love—for you are my love, my one true love: you don’t need to enter, because you are already here. You do not need to become real, because you already are”

“American dreams change”

Crown of Candy

"Don't let them kill me" "I will die before they kill you"

"My last wish is for you to come home"

"Bring her back!"

"Hello, Liam"

"You can be my sister or you can be my queen but I cannot give you both"

"Even something as primal as a dragon can be changed by the wish for a better world"

“I misjudged you, chancellor.” “Oh, shut up”

Misfits and Magic

"I have the best friends...nothing I'm ever gonna do is worth endangering any of that"

"You're not GOING anywhere!"

A Court of Fey and Flowers

“You’re more than just a goblin”

“They’re good things to me”

“Thank you for allowing me to see you. It is an honor that I will never disgrace”

“He turns to join the goblins, and in that moment, knows himself a coward”

“Thank you for seeing me”

“You guys are alive, and there’s nothing wrong with that”

“If you are orphaned then so am I, and you will never know a lonely day again, not while I draw breath”

Mice and Murder

“You being duped is the only lie I can’t believe”

“I forgive you”

“I’ve never truly been in love”

“I will not change for you so you may as well just give me up”

The Seven

“Thanks for showing up”

Neverafter

“I don’t know what I might do to try to get in”

"If I was so dead, where was my funeral?! Where’s my headstone?"

“But when you’re gone, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be fighting for”

“It’s only gotten harder to make friends, now”

“It is as painful to lose as it is wonderful to have”

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cirilla-fiona-riannon · 8 months

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Elbert Greetia Episode 0

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors.

Pale lips, bloodless white cheeks, trembling limbs.

My first impression was that she didn’t look like a person suited for sin.

Elbert: “Al, do I have to go too?”

Alfons: “Yes, seeing how it’s such a lovely evening. Also, there might be something you’ll like at the target’s mansion.”

Elbert: “I see. Okay.”

Victor: “Tonight, let’s pledge our loyalty to our evil deeds again.”

The Crown, an organization directly under Queen Victoria, is composed solely of “cursed” individuals.

From espionage to assassination, we undertake shadowy jobs that the police or the military cannot handle.

I’m a member of that organization, but一

(I don’t really like going on missions.)

Using my ability to “revive the opponent’s saddest memories” and seeing the target suffer with it is like adding to my sins, making it harder to breathe every time.

(But as Alfons says, maybe I’ll find what I’m looking for.)

Something that can atone for my sins. Something worthy of what I’ve taken away.

(The most beautiful thing in this world.)

I gently close my eyes, feeling a dark, murky lump wriggling deep in my chest.

Victor: “By the way, William found a cute Robin in the city today.”

(A robin?)

Robins are not very rare here in the UK. In fact, people love them because they are friendly and familiar.

If he’s specifically saying he “found” it, then it’s likely not about a bird.

Alfons: “When you say Robin, are you referring to someone very lovely?”

Alfons: “Or are you referring to someone who brings water to sinners and gets burned by the flames of hell?”

William: “Well, maybe both.”

William: “According to Victor, she apparently defended a poor girl who had stolen jewelry on the roadside and paid for the stolen items in her place.”

Elbert: “That’s very kind of her.”

Alfons: “But she seems like the type to suffer losses.”

William: “You could also say she has her own sense of right and wrong.”

(To think she’d defend someone who committed a crime...)

(She must be strong and kind.)

Elbert: “If she’s that kind of person, it might be best for us not to get involved with her.”

William: “That might be true.”

With a narrowed gaze and a smile, William seemed to be expecting something contrary to that.

William: “Hm? Aren’t you the little Robin I met earlier today?”

Kate: “Huh? Eh? What?”

As it turned out, the woman referred to as “Robin” appeared before us.

(Is that her...?)

Amidst the deep darkness and the blood-red dance hall, she stood alone, bathed in moonlight and shining brightly.

(I don’t know why, but I can’t take my eyes off her.)

Pale lips, bloodless white cheeks, and trembling limbs.

(She doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would be fit for sin.)

A feeling similar to envy suddenly came to mind.

Liam: “Is she your acquaintance, Will? Does she know about us?”

William: “We just talked a bit in town, Liam. She doesn’t know about the Crown.”

Liam: “I see. Then we’re in trouble. What should we do?”

Harrison: “I apologize for scaring you, but this is just a prop for a stage play.”

Kate: “Y-You’re lying...”

Harrison: “Pretending to believe would’ve been for your own good.”

Harrison: “What do we do about this, Will?”

William: “Of course, we should take her to the palace’s grim reaper.”

Jude: “Tch. I told you to lock the door.”

Roger: “Haha! I didn’t think anyone would trespass. You’re quite the naughty girl, aren’t you, little lady?”

Ellis: “Why don’t you come over here? You can’t escape, anyway.”

The moment she heard the words “can’t escape,” she grimaced.

Her appearance, a mess of fear and confusion, resonated with a younger version of myself.

------------Flashback------------

Maid: “Kyaaah!! Someone! Someone help! Madam is!!!”

---------Flashback Ends---------

The fear and confusion that had overwhelmed me when I peeked through the gap in the door and heard the maid’s scream from my mother’s room resurfaced.

(Poor thing.)

It was awful and heartbreaking.

My mother’s death was undoubtedly my fault. That's why my fear back then was something I deserved to experience.

(But you're different.)

You had no connection to the scene unfolding before us.

(A kind person who even extends a helping hand to a sinner doesn't deserve to experience fear.)

(Why did you even end up in a place like this?)

William: "Let me invite you to tonight's dinner. What's your name, dear guest?"

Under the control of William's ability, she introduced herself as Kate.

I thought it was a sweet name.

As she was being taken to the castle, she had been staring anxiously at the sky the whole time.

Kate: "I'm sorry."

Elbert: "It's fine. Are you alright?"

I held her staggering shoulders, and she looked at me for the first time.

Kate: "I'm okay. Thank you."

Elbert: "Is that so?"

(Still, why am I captivated?)

Is it because I felt sorry for her?

Or is it because I heard that she is a strong and kind person from Will?

An inexplicable urge to gaze at her welled up from the depths of my heart.

(Or maybe...)

Because she's beautiful?

I felt like I heard a deep and heavy whisper from within my heart.

Then, as a result of negotiations between Victor and her, Kate decided to stay in the castle as a "fairy tale writer" for one month.

I asked Alfons if she was beautiful, but he simply denied it.

On sleepless nights, as always, I wander around the garden.

Gazing at the blooming white roses, I looked up at the castle and saw a light in a room that should have been empty until yesterday.

(Is she still awake?)

She probably couldn't sleep through the night either.

(One month, huh?)

(If, by any chance, I have the opportunity to accompany her on a mission, the only thing I can do is close her eyes so that she won't get hurt anymore.)

While I was thinking about such things, her eyes suddenly came back to my mind.

(But if she is what I am looking for...)

I would obtain her, even if I had to hurt this innocent girl.

Conflicting emotions of anxiety, fear, anticipation, and excitement surged and engulfed me.

Elbert: "Are you what I am looking for?"

Elbert: "Kate..."

No answer came back from the dimly lit window, and before I knew it, a freshly picked, pure white rose lay in the palm of my hand.

#ikemen villains #ikemen villain #elbert greetia #ikevil elbert #ikevil #ikevil translations #cybird

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