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alexiavettel · 9 months

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Fear is made of ice

there’s a thin layer of ice between love and hate

pairing: lance stroll x fem!reader (au)

word count: 8.3k+

summary: Montreal is basically the hockey capital, but for you? An ice figure skater? That’s your city, not the hockey’s guys. That has been a thing for years and years, which is more important, cool and remarkable? Most of the time hockey is the people's favourite but not for you, who spend too many years of your childhood training to be the best. Let’s say that money was never a problem, your family is one of the richest in the country and you were fortunate to receive so much support from them. But there’s the thing, you grew up with the Stroll family, basically the same conditions, same picture-perfect family but you and Lance have never been eye to eye. A stupid rivalry that kept up to today’s days, an ice skater and a hockey player, what a cliché. But these were until your skiing accident, when everything seemed too real…

warnings: explicit language, frenemies to lovers, near-death experience, near-death description, no use of y/n, cheating ex, from Lukov with love reference, poor use of hockey slangs, Claire-Anne Stroll being a distant mother (pls i know she isn’t but it’s part of the plot), Montreal Canadiens is the best one here okay (leave them alone), childish rivalry (they love each other), bit of anger issues resulting in a panic attack, Chloe and Scotty (cause i'm a sucker for them and they deserve a warning of their own), you are Scotty’s sister in this imagine (but it’s not really important and here he's canadian), alcoholic beverages, driving after drinking (pls don’t do it).

January- 2021

There was a day at the end of last year when you had a huge fight with your (now) ex-boyfriend ‘cause you found out that he was cheating on you with his own cousin, and decided to go skiing by yourself to let some anger out and think about the situation more freely. And let’s say that too much alcohol and skiing isn’t such a good combination, which resulted in a terrible accident.

You still remember trying to dig out but your fingers wouldn’t move at all, the suffocating and hyperventilating, the snow feeling like concrete, you remember feeling panicked, but also incredibly helpless. What a humiliating way to die huh? There was absolutely nothing you could do. The last thing in your mind, before it all went black, was the excruciating pain in your ankle.

When you woke up in the hospital your brother Scott was by your side, sleeping, but at least you weren’t alone right? He told you that he got a call from the hospital and they told him that an unknown skier had found and saved you. He asked you what happened and well… your ex got a restraining order on your brother.

The hardest part to hear was that you broke your ankle… one month before the winter tournament, you would lose this opportunity but you can handle yourself, you can handle the pain and the hard trainings you’ll have to do after all this, the problem is: Lukov, your skating partner and your childhood best friend.

Lukov is going to be alone this season and even tho he says everything is fine, you know it isn’t. He doesn’t have a partner, so you promised him that you would find someone. But you could never find someone with the same connection as you guys have, but with the same experience… Yeah, there was someone. The problem is that the only girl that can be a good partner for your best friend, is your enemy’s sister.

Chloe is the kindest human you ever met and one of the best ice skaters too. But she’s glued to the hip with her not-so-kind brother, Lance. And there’s where your desire to help Lukov die a little bit, to convince one Stroll you have to convince the other. And that will be painful, but since you were the inconsequent one and got yourself hurt you kinda owe your dear partner that.

•

“Oh my god, yes! I was dying to participate in this tournament but since they only accept pairs and y’know that after Elliott had gone back to Europe I haven’t got time to get a new partner. That would be actually perfect- like- I mean- I’m so sorry for your accident and I hope you get well soon” she simply blurted all out and smiled nervously in the end

“Yeah I got the cake you sent me and by the way thank you but I’m already good. And thank you so much for accepting the offer, I know that me and Lu always had this rivalry with you and Elliott in the competitions but you know how much I admire you”

“Don’t worry babes. But I’m going to be honest with you, even tho this is good for both of us I promised my brother that I would train with him since I didn’t plan on competing this season…” Oh great “I know you guys are not besties. Still, I need you two to give it a try, ‘cause I don’t want to disappoint either of you so I’m sure he’s going to understand me. But are you capable of it?”

“Pff for sure, I don’t like him but we can tolerate each other just for some training sessions…”

No, we can’t.

•

“Your posture is terrible, is actually impressive that you can skate with that awful balance” how is this man a hockey player?

“Ow shut-”

“About it girl, forgot to tell you how he is the “all muscles no brain” type” Chloe said smiling

“What muscles?”

“Hey I have much more than you” he flexed his arm clearly offended

“That’s what you said last night” you said smirking at his angry expression

“So I’m gonna let you two alone, love you both and don’t kill each other!”

Was always like this, you and Lance bickering over everything, Chloe trying to stop you both (until she got tired and started ignoring) and your brother saying that you two should just admit the unsaid love.

After Chloe left the silence was weird. Had been quite some time since you two spoke last, it was probably a discussion but it was at Christmas two years ago. Your families have this tradition, one year Christmas is on yours and the other on Stroll’s, it’s almost cool if it wasn’t for the talks about hockey and figure skating.

“You know you don’t actually have to “help” me, right?”

“I don’t want to but first: I’m not gonna disappoint your sister ‘cause she’s helping me so fucking much and second: you kinda need it, your posture is really terrifying I’m surprised you didn’t already hurt yourself”

“You still a bitch-”

“What do you thought would change that?”

“Since you were soo busy “out studying” last years’ Christmas”

“Did you missed me, pretty boy?” you said finally putting on your ice skates and giving him some pats on his hair

“Fuck you” he laughed

“I was actually out studying asshole, was in Germany preparing for the Winter Olympics”

“Do you really got to participate for Canada?” he asked while you were crossing through the ice rink

“Yeah, me and Lukov”

“Wow that’s incredible”

“Don’t be so surprised, Lance. I’m the best and Lu is the best, we obviously got it” you said pretending to be unbothered and attempting to do a single axel, but the landing was poor.

“Well, I’m sure you're not at your best right now…Are you even sure you can skate? You should be more careful”

“You are the one telling me this? Really? The boy who hurt himself karting and two days after is in a hockey game and being a total bender?”

“At least I could compete- Ouch” he couldn't finish ‘cause you got his lumber and slapped him with it to shut him down.

“Fix your damn back, Quasimodo! And those ankles!” you started hitting in the right places until he fix it.

•

You had come to the rink quite early to have some time for yourself, your physio is giving you a hard time in this recovery. Even with your overworked muscles and stabbing pain, the only thing in your mind is dance. This is your coping method, always has been. Angry? Dance. Happy? Dance. Sad? Dance.

You were in the middle of a spiral when you almost had a heart attack after seeing Lance seated on the bench, watching you intensely.

“Shit! You scared the shit out of me Stroll!” you recomposed yourself and started crossing to get to him

“It’s not my fault you are too deaf to not hear me coming in, ring rat”

“Rink rat? Me? You are the one who used to expel the little kids when you wanted to train in public!”

“This was years ago!”

“Still”

An uncomfortable silence settled before he said calmly:

“Your problem was in your ankle but your knees aren’t straight enough when you do your spiral…”

“I know. Thanks for confirming I’m not crazy tho, I was on the verge of filming to see my form”

“If you need help I can do it y’know?” Did you hear that right?

“You can do a spiral?”

“No dumbass, I can help you with it!”

“Do you plan on breaking my leg while doing it? Why are you offering help?”

“Because you clearly need… And ‘cause you’re helping me with my posture…”

“Seems suspicious…”

“First: That’s what you said last night. Second: let’s make a deal! We can train together since I need to practise my attack and you need to come back being good”

“That’s your attempt to convince me?” You deadpanned

“You know what I mean! And could you please go to my next game? I can help you with your routine since you don't have Lukov at the moment!”

“Why would I go to your game?”

“It’s a bet! Since your last discussion with Chris, they bet that you wouldn’t come back this year” Chris is funny but he’s the type of guy that thinks only about hockey and sex.

“And let me guess! You were the only one to bet on me, ‘cause you thought that you could convince me-”

“Yeah!”

“What would you win?”

“Beer, your favourite one by the way!” How does he know your favourite type of beer? Maybe from all the dinners? You don’t know.

“Okay then”

“For real?”

“Yeah, even if it hurts to admit I could use some help…”

•

“You gonna play as a goalie eh?”

“I swear to god that if you hit that fucking rubber in me I’m gonna kill you!”

“Calm down, sweetheart. Just got to practise some breakaways for tomorrow’s game” he giggled while helping you put the protections on

“You gonna pay all my food tomorrow if I hurt myself with this”

You did quite well actually, were able to stop some of it with your arms and legs, even if it got you a purple bruise near your shoulder. In the end, you both were too tired to talk while taking off your protections.

“I have to be honest, I underestimated your little game”

“That’s what you said last night! But I knew you always had done that! I told Scott but he didn’t believed me!”

“Looks like an easy sport, what can I do? Why would I care about it?”

“Your dancing looks very much easy, little one”

“Let’s see that after tomorrow”

•

“You are trying to kill yourself? You dumb bitch!” you said while putting a cotton pad in his nose because this idiot got himself hurt fighting another player.

“He insulted me!” he whined

“And what are you? A kid? You’re so fucking immature, that could’ve cost your team the game!”

“Y’know… for someone that says about “not caring” about hockey you’ve got pretty heated in the grandstand”

“You make me want to break your nose” you whispered while picking up another pad.

“I’m pretty much sure I saw you screaming at the referee” he was looking up into your eyes with a smirk on his lips.

“He almost gave your mate a penalty for nothing. What did you expected me to do?”

“You are something else, you know that?” he did not contain his laugh this time and you just hummed.

“I want a juice” you thought out loud after the talk has quieted down and finished cleaning his nose with a wet tissue.

“Let’s get one then” he jumped and picked up your hand on the way walking to the convenience store.

You went completely silent, by his action but went with it.

“Orange or strawberry?” you chose and he paid.

“You didn’t had to pay for it-” you started saying, going back to your usual ice rink.

“I promised”

“That didn’t hurt”

“You have a purple spot” he contested you while opening the front door for you.

“That’s what you said last night! And it’s nothing compared to your nose”

“He got the worse, honey” he joked sitting in the grandstand near your stuff.

“You are something else, Stroll”

“Wanna play something?” he uttered suddenly.

“Like what?” you asked, sipping your juice, desiring for only a second that would be something stronger.

“Truth or drink!”

“We have literally juices, Lance”

“So I’m gonna get us some beers, wait a second” What the actual fuck is happening was your thought while he was away.

“You want to ask me something boy?”

“No! I swear!”

“Hmm looks sus for me”

“Then you can go first”

“Why did you put so much faith in your team at the beginning if they were shit?”

“I felt it, I think. Why is Lukov your partner?”

“I felt it, I think” he gave you a death glare after you laughed at his question “He always had been there you know? We met on his first day here, the poor boy didn’t know how to properly speak in Russian let alone English or French so I helped with it-”

“Do you speak Russian?!” he was astonished

“No, but I helped him learn English and defended him from some dumb kids. When I think of me I think of Lukov. My childhood, adolescence, and every moment of my life he was there with me and for me. We always had this crazy connection and I am so fucking lucky to have found him…”

“When I was younger I thought you guys were a thing…” he silently gulped his beer

“WHAT-”

“I know! But don’t blame me you used to look like a couple, still do actually”

“It’s for the act! We need to have chemistry!”

“Still, every time you two are competing looks like you are about to kiss each other in the middle of everyone”

“Are you jealous, Stroll?” you lean over him smirking before laughing.

“Fuck you is your time!”

“‘M out of creativity, you go again”

“Okay… What were you actually doing in the last two years?”

“Germany I told you”

“If you not gonna actually tell me then drink-”

“I’m telling you! I was practising”

“But Lukov only had gone after you last year” You stop to think if you should actually tell him the truth

“I was thinking about competing alone… But after two weeks I gave up!’

“Why did you thought that was a good idea?” He sipped his beer and you noticed yours had ended.

“Was afraid if I was keeping Lu in the sport against his will… We haven’t got first place in quite some time so I got paranoid. I always thought that he stayed because of me since I kind of depended on him and the other way around. But then we had a discussion and we understood each other. Now everything’s good!”

“Okay… It’s your turn”

"Have you always wanted to be a hockey player?"

"No... I’ve always wanted to try being a Formula 1 driver, I really love the sport"

"And you don't love hockey?..."

"I learned to"

He passes you one of the bottles, ice cold and sweating, and as weird as it can sound the silence was painful but reassuring at the same time.

You opened your mouth then shut it again before saying "I hated skating at first... Thought it was boring, preferred volleyball in high school"

"Why did you stayed?"

"Why did you?"

"I asked it first" he smirks

"Even if skating is boring, dancing is amazing, I always loved it. It's art, it's a wonderful way to express yourself... And that's what I do. Oh and obviously if it wasn't my dad convincing me, I would be on a really different path right now"

"Pfft if it wasn't for my mother I would've never put my feet in an ice rink. But seeing her around at least for my games made it all the effort worthy, every time I see my dad smiling when I or Chloe win something it feels better than winning the prize actually"

"I think if it weren't for our families we would never even meet"

"And you would love that, right?"

"I don't think so, to be honest. Let's say that you changed a lot of things about me, things that I like now"

"Are you okay? Have you been cloned?" he touched your forehead to feel your temperature

"Don't be a dick now, for once please" you doe-eyed him

"Even saying please... I need to take you out drinking more times, huh?"

"Asshole-"

"That's it! That's my girl!" He laughs loudly.

“That’s what you said last night” You couldn’t contain yourself.

"But since you are being honest for once. You changed things in me too. I think I'm one of the best players in the world because of you..."

"Wow! Are you drunk already? Didn't think it would only take one beer to do that!" He gave you a playful punch in your arm.

"No, but honestly, you made me competitive. At the end of last season, like in the last game, the pressure was all up and I couldn't think straight but I saw you with Scott and Chloe in the audience and I clearly remember thinking how much you would roast me if I lose in the end"

“See I’m the best and I don’t even need to try” You laughed while he began to run after you threatening to pour his beer out in your hair.

•

“Nooo I’m hungover” he mourned when you pushed him inside.

“You were the one that made us drink yesterday plus you promised me” You started stretching.

“Okay, what do I do?”

“Well, since you barely can stand in a blade you’ll just gonna help giving me the impulse”

“Hey! I’ve watched your routines I can keep up with it” dear god

“Just do what I say, Stroll. Do you at least know the names?” the way he smiled gave you the answer.

“I know what an axel is. I’ve seen you doing it before”

You proceeded to explain to him the basic stuff, like the six main jumps (axel, salchow, toe loop, loop, flip and lutz) and your long program, which is the one you’re having more trouble with since the step sequence is harder.

“Oh my god are you okay?” he came running to you after you’ve done a perfect hydroblade

“Yes? It’s part of the program Lance” This is going to be harder than you thought…

“Okay, so you don’t need help with the loop jump but need it with the triple salchow?”

“Yes, you’ll need to swirl my waist and support me with the landing eh?”

He tried to do what you said but it took a few times until he got right. He was so scared of dropping or even touching you that he forgot to help you land. On the 12th try probably, he almost got perfect. The rotation in the air, slightly less than 360 degrees was just on point.

“You did this on instinct, right?” you say after doing a spiral, that doesn’t hurt your ankle anymore.

“Yes?...” Lance said as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Then try to synchronise with me”

“What? No! Have you gone mad? It’s too dangerous!”

“I know what I am doing, just trust yourself. My type of dance is based on trust and connection. I trust you enough to know that you’ll not let me fall and you have to trust me that I’m not trying something crazy. That’s already a type of connection, so follow my lead”

You showed him your and Lukov's most basic program but that included a lot of sync so it would be good to practice. He almost knocked you two down the ice twice before he got in the way and let’s say he wouldn't be a bad figure skater.

When the fourth try ended, it was perfect. He followed your steps gracefully, your feet in complete sync, he gave you the perfect amount of impulse when needed and the warmth provided from your bodies proximity was incredible. It was different than with Lukov, obviously. Your teammate is one of the best skaters in the world alongside you but the way your bodies connected as they were made for each other was weird but not a bad weird… A good one.

“Lukov and Chloe’s first round is tomorrow,” you blurted all out when you noticed how close your faces are, noses almost touching and his eyes burning into yours “we can’t lose it!” you finally were able to pull away from his firm grip on your waist, as you feel your cheeks burning.

“Uh, s-sure. They would kill us if we don’t go” he said, going to his stuff to drink something.

“You are great, y’know?! I mean, apart from looking constipated in the beginning like you have never touched a woman. You did an incredible job!” You stated in a low voice trying to regain your composure and got out of the rink with a hockey stop making him get ice in all his clothes.

“You look like you are about to fall anytime, what did you want me to do?” he says, taking away the ice while rolling his eyes.

“No, but for real. You did great. Your instinct is gonna take you really far…” you praise him while taking your skates off.

“You’re more flexible now, have you been practising outside of here?”

“Yeah, my coach is making me work harder than when I prepare for competitions”

“Don’t overwork yourself” he advises you before you coincidently almost trip over his bag “Careful there, girl” you hiss “Can I take a look at your ankle?”

“Sure” You sit down next to the bench where he is and Lance picks up your leg and starts to undress it near your foot.

“Your coach saw how swollen it is?” he started massaging delicately.

“F-Fuck” you hiss again “No, she hasn’t! It gets like this after a hard training session. It's okay, really. In less than two hours is going to be new” you tried to get your leg off his lap but he just scooted over even more.

“So you’re telling me your ankle gets this swollen every time you train?” His suspicious eyes got you right away, years of convivence and growing up together unfortunately get you to know each other better. Too much better, sometimes.

“No-“

“Don’t lie! You are overworking your ankle!” His eyes were always this piercing?

“Your words, not mine!- Ouch!” He squeezed one nerve harder making you wish for death.

“We are going to stop training if you keep up with that! You got me?” he was damn serious about it.

“What are you? My dad?”

“Wrong answer” he squeezed that damn nerve again “You understand me?”

“Yeah, Lance. Can you let me go now?”

“Not this early, darling. We gotta wrap it up” he gave your leg a weak tap before getting up and getting an elastic bandage. “You need to be more careful, for real. It’s too fucking dangerous, you plan to be back at competing no? What if it gets worse?” you could notice the genuine concern in his eyes, it almost made you feel bad for not taking enough care of yourself.

“I didn’t mean to… I just want to be at my best again. I finally got a place in the Olympics and now what? I mess up my entire fucking life because of-”

“Why were you there? Why were you skiing alone on Thanksgiving?”

“Jeremy cheated on me. I came back early to make him a surprise and he was fucking his own cousin in my house, in my room, in my fucking bed” You could feel the tears threatening to fall “How disgusting this can be? Oh, and I found out later that he was trying to get in my dad’s company. He always tried to pull me away from the family’s business, just so he could get near my place?” your blood started to boil again.

“H-Hey-” he tried to get your attention but it was all in the rage, all the pain from being such an idiot.

“I was fucking mad! I was furious, Lance! I was such a fucking idiot! A little son of a bitch can cost me my career because I let him! I let him see all the versions of me, all my sides, my emotions, my scars, my traumas, everything! I let myself be vulnerable and he took advantage of it ‘cause I let him! And I am so fucking stupid to let my rage and pain take hold of me and I almost died for it!-” he hugged you.

You didn’t felt when he moved your leg from the way and got closer to you. You could feel his breath on your neck and his shirt getting wet from the warm tears that had escaped your eyes. The comfort is weird. You never expected comfort from Lance Stroll’s embrace. It feels like he understands you, maybe he is not that bad.

“I am here” he flattened your shirt while patting your hair gently “I always have- Always will…” he indeed was always there, even if in the wrong circumstances. You two stayed like that for much longer than you could count properly.

It feels good, it feels right, it feels like home. But it shouldn’t. You try to remember all the reasons why you should hate him, all fights and discussions the multiple times he made you crazy, but nothing comes to mind.. Nothing, nothing but a pure childish rivalry.

“Thank you, Lance…” You sniffed trying to hide your face from him, but he pulled it up with his finger in your chin.

“You don’t need to thank me. And you’re not the wrong one. You just thought you could trust someone you loved, that’s perfectly normal. He’s the motherfucker here. And honestly? He’s such a fucking idiot for losing you.” he cleans away your tears with his thumbs.

“You don’t have to compliment me just ‘cause I’m crying” you chuckled.

“I’m not complimenting you, just saying the truth. He is the biggest asshole I know, and such a dumb one for letting you go. Considering how picky you are with relationships, he was lucky you even gave him a chance.”

“I’m not picky” you pout.

“You literally rejected everyone who asked you to proms in school, and that includes basically all the football team” he deadpanned.

“I used to want someone in particular who didn’t try his luck with me…” Stupid little you to think that he would ask you in high school like he would choose you when you two fought all the time, you thought to yourself while gathering your stuff and ready to go now.

“Who was it?” he asked, following with big curious-puppy eyes.

“Good night, Lance. See you tomorrow! We meet there” You ignored him and started strolling to your car.

“I can pick you up at nine?!” he yells.

“Nope! See you there!” Okay, maybe you started running.

•

“Oh dear, you look terrible” Yes, that’s your best friend’s first words when he sees you after weeks without each other.

“I told you” Stroll whispered behind you, holding both of your coffees and fighting his laugh.

“My god, what is my brother doing to you, honey?” Chloe arrived also looking concerned.

“I really hate you all” you flipped them off before hugging them.

“Really babes, what were you doing?” Lukov took you by your arm and dragged you to the rink’s background. “Interesting late night, huh?”

“Not the one you’re imagining, unfortunately. Spend all night thinking”

“Thinking about?…”

“So- Hm, the program we planned is still the same?”

“Don’t change the subject, lady!”

“Just answer”

“Yes, it is. But I had to change a bit since Chloe had gone almost one year without competing. Not gonna be easy, but at least, we will be at the podium”

“That’s what matters”

“What about you and Stroll-”

“Chloe!” You ran to her when you saw her passing with Lance.

“I’ll extract the truth from you or him!-”

“How are things going with Scotty, honey?” You started talking and planning her bachelor party. In the end, we plan to meet the next day to properly talk. While Lukov tried to “extract the truth” from Lance.

•

Lukov and Chloe were the last pair to perform and got the best score. The program we planned it’s perfect, even with the adaptations still an amazing choreography. Was an… experience to watch your teammate from outside the rink, imagining it was you with him. A bit distracting tho with Lance holding your hand every time his sister takes her feet off the ground.

“Have you ever watched your sister competing?” you said when he took your hand for the 5th time probably.

“I-I had but- I was young. Never thought about the risks- Like, she could actually die if he let her fall!”

“You are talking like a kid, Lance” you mourned.

“Already told you today how much I love when you call me by my first name?” he smirked leaning closer “Prefer when I talk to you like an adult, darling?”

“So what do you think?” Chloe asked euphorically, hugging you and her brother.

“Impressive!” “Great!” you and Lance said in unison.

“Just great?” She pouts.

“Great is wonderful in her translation!” Lukov nudges you with his elbow.

“You’re really tough,” Lance added.

“That’s what you said last night” damn your mouth, you thought to yourself as you watched Chloe and Lukov getting extremely wide-eyed.

“Really good timing,” Stroll said, holding his laugh and blushing slightly.

“That’s why you looked so tired, huh?!” “Spend the night ‘thinking’, right?” Chloe and Lukov said smiling to both of you.

“Are you teaming up against me?!” You whine while drinking your umpteenth cup of coffee.

“Just wishing you the best, honey” Lance’s sister gives you two taps on your back.

“And a hockey player is good enough eh?” Lukov agrees with her.

“I really fucking hate you both. See you next round!” You declared before going to the parking lot.

“So… My next game, the season’s final is in three days, right after their second round” You heard quick steps following you but didn’t need to turn back to know who it was.

“On the same day?” You leaned against the car, waiting for his response.

“Yep. Can you still train with me, then?”

“That was always the plan, no?”

“But I can help you more with your stuff-“

“Lance, I’m not following. That’s the whole point of our deal, is there something you would like to change?”

“No, just want to chat a bit, to be honest”

“Wow, how cute. But I need to go, my physio is waiting for me” you said entering the car, about to close the door.

“Can I go with you?” He quickly asked.

“Ah- I mean- If you promise not to tell her about the ankle thing, you can”

“I promise! When and where?”

“I’m gonna tell her and I’ll send you the info” You finally could close the car’s door.

On the way home you thought about his proposal and you don’t know if it’s the right thing to do. Letting him see you more vulnerable than he has already seen, that would break down another wall between you two. Building an intimate one in the place.

•

“Hey-“

“Remember! Don’t talk about my ankle, don’t be too polite and most importantly, don’t talk about my dad!” You blurted out nervously.

“Can I ask you why all this? Do I really need to worry?” His face turns to the side like a confused puppy.

“One word about the ankle, I kill you. If you’re too polite she will just make fun of you, and if she does don’t talk back. If you talk about my dad, she kills you. Simple”

“Care to explain what happened with your dad?”

“Long story short they had a drunk fuck, turned into a fling and she fell for him and-“

“It wasn’t reciprocated, I assume”

“You’re absolutely right, handsome! Now please don’t be an asshole and in case she asks you to help me, refuse.”

“Okay-“ You yanked his arm and went inside the building walking fast.

“Good morning sweetheart, how’re you feeling?” Monica said hugging you and ignoring the boy behind you.

“Lance, this is Monica and Mo this is Lance”

“Just call me Dr.” She said rudely, clearly testing him.

“Okay, Dr. It's a pleasure to meet the woman who is taking care of her,” he pointed at you and offered his hand.

“Yeah it’s a pleasure to finally meet the boy who’s helping her stubborn ass to train even more” She smiled ironically and shook his hand “But anyway I need to get some things before we start, you arrived early so wait up” and then she’s gone.

“She’s a bit moody, isn't she?” He asked while you attempt to remove your boot.

“Just a bit and she doesn’t know you…” Lance watching your clumsy way to take your shoes off he seats by your side, gets your leg in his lap as he had done some days ago and does it for you “You didn’t need to, I could’ve done it”

“Stop being fucking stubborn, if I want to help I will!”

“And she technically works for your dad too” You ignored his last comment and the heat in your cheeks as he also removed your sock. Too simple, too intimate.

“My dad isn’t a bad boss!”

“But he is an absent one. He bought her family company and put one of your distant cousins to be the CEO, let’s say she is just not your dad’s biggest fan”

“You should have warned me that too-“

“It was way too funny to see you getting all riled up, not knowing how to act and shit” You giggle ignoring him leaning on your legs.

“Get your ass off my patient” Monica called him out loud while you laugh at his scared reaction.

“S-Sorry”

“Let’s get started!”

•

“Boy, can you be useful once?” Your physio asks loudly at an almost sleeping Lance.

“Y-Yeah, sure!”

“Push her lower back in the ground’s direction” you tensed under his gaze. You were with your dominant leg up, like a spiral position.

“D-Don’t-“ you tried to say.

“Shut up girl, do you want to skate or not?” Even if it hurts to admit, Monica is right.

His hands lay on your waist gently and go down to your lower back. He tried to push it down carefully but after a hard stare of your physio, he did as asked. You felt like your skin was burning, not from the pain of the stretch but from the man’s contact. His hands send shivers down your whole body, you felt like your heart was beating in your throat.

This isn’t intimate, you two have been much closer before but right now? It’s different. No one ever made you feel like that, maybe in different circumstances but not like this, no.

Being in such a vulnerable position makes you feel sick, especially him seeing you like this. But after that drunk talk some days ago there’s not much to hide. He opened up to you and you cried in him. Call it quits.

“Hold her like that for a sec, ‘gonna get a rope”

“What was the third rule, Lance?!” you grunt.

“What? I’m not listening you!” He pushes you down even more while you feel a stare on your back.

“If you stop staring at my ass for a sec you would listen to me, jackass! I know it looks good but not now, man” you joke feeling his hold faltering “Would’ve hurt you to say no to her? She has worked alone with me for years. She can do it, you don’t need to help. I told you, but you never listen to me, do you?-”

“Okay, lovebirds, I’m back”

•

We didn’t talk much after the physiotherapy, both of us were too focused in our own heads. We went out to eat after, but the lunch was just as silent as the way there. After quite some hours Chloe called you asking what time would you arrive and you just got in your car and went to her house.

“Hi girl! You got us wine? You know I’m competing but I’m not gonna refuse a glass” She smirked and let you in.

“10 things I hate about you?” You suggested, sitting in the couch.

(yes that was a link to my Daniel Ricciardo one-shot, check out in my masterlist)

“Oh my God, yes!” She sits down beside you and puts the film on. “So, how was your day? Heard Lance had gone with to physio, everything’s right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t actually know why he insisted on going with me, but it was quite good ‘cause he helped my doctor so it was faster.”

“‘Noticed you two are not fighting too much anymore…”

“Yeah, I think we just like to tease each other, y’know?! We have some good talks sometimes, actually” you start fidgeting your fingers anxiously.

“You guys have always been like this, you’re just noticing because you’re spending more time together” she smirks into her glass.

“And you and Lukov, how is it going? You two have great sync”

“He’s an amazing partner. I can see why you two always outdone me, you guys are incredible!” She answers you, getting some snacks.

“You’re awesome too, if you weren’t you wouldn't be with him honestly. You were the only one that came to mind when I needed to find another partner for him” you smile to yourself when she blushes to your compliment.

“How’s your skating? I know you have been practising more but how do you feel? Does it still hurts too much?”

“A bit, yeah. But only when I overwork myself and at hardest jumps”

“It must be hard, sorry girl-” she burped as the wine quietly got the best of her, she had always been weak for drinks “Especially when all we do is overwork ourselves, isn’t it? And you and Lukov are best known for the quad throw salchow, you think you can come to that?” She caresses your arm affectionately.

“For sure, I’m working hard for it. Lance is even helping me train the hard jumps. Even with that bad posture of his, it’s actually helping a lot.”

“That’s s-soo good to hear, sweetie” She says finishing her second glass and you take the wine bottle clearly away from her.

“Well, it could be worse, you know?! I felt like I was dying…-”

“I m-mean you could have, if it wasn’t for Lance founding you that day. H-He was so in shock when he came back from the hospital where he let you, the poor b-boy couldn't even speak p-properly” the blonde confesses between quiet burps.

“What are you talking about, Chloe?” You ask nervously. The movie, the wine, and the snacks are all long forgotten as you stop to think about the probabilities. It’s impossible, right?! What are the chances that he was the one that saved you? Why would he be there? How would he find you? Why didn’t he told you?

“S-Shit, I feel like I shouldn't have said that” she admits looking down at herself.

“It’s true? You swear?”

“Cross my heart, baby” she drunkenly says.

“I need to go, Chloe. Let’s get you to bed.” You sit up and start to organize the stuff, while she sits on the couch pouting because-

“You already going?” She pouts even harder.

“I need to” You really do need time for yourself right now. How are you going to look at him tomorrow?

“Did I did s-something wrong? No! Did I said something wrong?!”

“No, sweetheart, you didn’t. Now, come with me,” at the moment you set her in her bed she falls sleeps. You look for an aspirin and set on her bedside table, asking yourself how someone can get wasted so quickly.

•

You just got to sleep a few hours. You attempted to write him a few messages just to delete it before sending, rereading the last text he send. A simple “Tomorrow at 8 am, right? See you <3”, that makes your heart shudder with confusion. The way to the rink was weird. That’s exactly the word. All the questions that filled your head makes you a bit dizzy, you don’t even know if you will be able to practise today, since he’s gonna be soo near you.

“Good morning sweetheart!” he shouts from the bench excitedly.

“Why are you happy? It’s morning” you reply roughly.

“I watched a few programs on the internet yesterday and I’m feeling really inspired!” He got up twirling and following me from inside the ice.

“Good” you couldn’t contain yourself to not be short with him.

“Are you okay?” His worried expression got in your low point of view while you were lacing your skates.

“Yeah, yeah” ignoring is probably the best way to deal with it.

He was much more confident this session. The grip of his hands much more strong, the sync is good and his skating more balanced. But the connection you two found in the last practice seemed lost. It felt like he was searching for you while you were skimming away, every time he helped you in the jumps it felt like you didn’t want to be held, like his touch burned you.

It was an unspoken tension. His eyes asking you what happened during each break, and you ignoring him. The silence was uncomfortable, but thinking about yesterday’s revelation during the whole practice made you decide to postpone the confrontation. He needs to be focused on the season’s end game.

“Soo… you gonna tell me what happened? Did I do something wrong?” He seated beside you pouting.

“Sorry to mess up our session” you avoided through your teeth.

“Want to talk about it?” He puts an arm around your shoulder. It would feel comforting if you didn’t know he has been lying all this time.

“How would you feel if I didn’t tell you something really important about yourself?” You considered refusing his proposal but you couldn’t hold yourself.

“I don’t know… If it’s something really important to me I would be mad as fuck with you, but it depends” How can he act so clueless? Or Chloe was lying, which didn’t seem like it, or he’s just a liar. Both of them don’t have a reason to lie, but it’s just so confusing to you it hurts your brain.

“Huhum…”

“Want to tell me? You seem shaken. Does it have anything to do with Jeremy?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. And no, it was not him. It was just another asshole, but I gotta go” You got up, gathering your stuff and going home ignoring his thoughtful goodbye.

The air in your car in the way back home was cold with confusion and loneliness. Tomorrow is the hockey training and the next day is his last game. Then you can finally press him to tell you the truth. When you arrived home you noticed almost a hundred texts from Chloe and Lukov, but decided to ignore both of them.

•

Lance Stroll POV

I spend more time in the rink practising to loose my mind from her attitude, forgot to eat and it’s past midnight when I get home. She was so distant, like all the progress we achieved in this meantime got lost. It’s confusing because even tho she says she’s fine she avoided the question when I asked if I did something wrong.

I can’t think of anything that I could’ve done recently. She seems disappointed and confused, it’s making me crazy. We’re not best friends but we’re not enemies either. I don’t know what to think and this might be a very anxious reaction but I need to see her. I feel like she is slipping through my fingers.

“What the hell are you doing in my house at 3 in the morning, Lance?!” She opened her front door with nothing but a large T-shirt and short shorts.

“I know I’ve hurt you somehow, but please, only for today try to understand me, I’m not asking for your forgiveness… well, kinda, but-”

“What are you doing here, Lance?” She opens the door more and asks me again huffing.

“I don’t know what I have done to upset you or make you mad, but I am sorry” I enter her house without even noticing my leg moves “I’m really sorry, doesn’t matter why or what I’ve done I’m sorry. It’ll sound really crazy but I realised I miss you. And now this sound really weird! I don’t know what I’m saying anymore-”

I can’t finish the initial sentence that I don’t even know where it was going. I am interrupted by… lips? Her lips. Her lips pressing against mine in a gentle yet desperate way, pushing me harshly to the wall and making me whimper in a low tone, giving her the chance of sliding her tongue inside my mouth. When I finally have the opportunity to reciprocate the kiss she pushes away suddenly.

“Shut. Up.”

“That’s the first thing you say after kissing me?”

“I kissed you to shut you up. But you kissed me back.” She points at me cynically.

“That’s-”

“You saved me, didn’t you?! You took me out of the snow?!” The girl asked me with wide eyes. I don’t know which emotions her eyes are transmitting right now but maybe something between anger and something that I can’t put a finger on.

“W-What do you want me to say?” I absolutely don’t know how she knows that.

“The truth!” It had been quite a while since she last looked at me with that much annoyance.

“It was me, I took you out of the snow” I lean into the wall tiredly.

“Why were you there?” She asked indignantly, walking to her couch.

“I was trying to clean my head-”

“The truth!”

“Someone I was expecting to be there didn’t show up… The ice rink was closed and thought about skiing” Two years without you showing up made me worried and jealous, that was the other truth.

“Why did you take me off?” She sits on her couch, looking at her feet.

“What- It’s not like I hate you, I’m not heartless!”

“Yeah, sure” She huffs not believing my words.

“I can’t lie, I know we’ve been hating each other all these years, but I don’t think I hate you anymore, ‘cause every single good memory I have, you’re there!” I feel a single tear streaming down my right cheek as I scream at her “I was in the snow that night 'cause I was jealous of Jeremy, that fucking bastard that never deserved you! I was worried that he hurt you because you know what happened when he started living with his ex! You always show up at family Christmas and then two years in a row?!”

“I-I-I don’t know what to s-say. You were there because of me?!”

“And thank god I was!” I sit next to her exasperated.

“I wanted to wait until your last game, after tomorrow… That was why I didn't told you before, I was scared!” She finally looks into my eyes and god, this is so fucking weird. It’s different from the anger she showed before. Her eyes are probably the most beautiful thing I ever saw, I could spend hours looking at her in complete silence.

“I don’t know when it changed, to be honest. Probably when you started dating that asshole… Then I was too scared to tell you”

“Ownt you love me? I knew it, always did” The woman in front of me, the prettiest one and wittiest one too, mess with me even after all this situation.

“Fine, continue acting like you hate me” I sit back looking at her pretending I don’t care but if she really just makes fun of me I don’t know what I’m gonna do.

“Don’t you dare look at me that way! Not now, after every vile thing we’ve done to each other” She smiles scooting closer to my stretched arm.

“Why can’t we just let whatever this pointless rivalry is go?” I look down at her almost shining eyes.

“You lied-” She tried to reason with me but her eyes couldn’t lie.

“And… We should talk about what just happened…” I sneak my hand to her waist confidently.

“I refuse to talk about how I just lost control and kissed you” She wraps her legs around my hip smiling an inch away from my mouth.

“That's what you said last night-” I couldn’t stop looking at her lips.

“Shut up, Lance!” She laughs before smacking her lips in mine.

@honeyric3 hope you enjoy <3

#formula 1 #f1 imagine #f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #lance stroll x y/n #lance stroll x reader #lance stroll #lance stroll x you #lance stroll imagine #lance stroll fanfic #lance stroll fanfiction #f1 x y/n #f1 x you #f1 x female reader

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ieatsmallorphansnamedtom · 10 months

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Hi, could you do the bachelor/ettes with an s/o that plays an instrument in the orchestra? (Violin, cello, viola, bass)

Btw love ur work, and I hope you are doing well <3

-🌙anon

Bachelor/ettes x Strings Orchestra Player

My knowledge on instruments and music in general is very limited. So, expect mistakes. Still, this seems like a really fun ask (and cello is a really cool instrument), so I'd be happy to do it! I'm not sure if you meant in an orchestra as in the reader is actually in one or just an instrument from one, but the former seems more fun. Thank you for your patience in getting this done. Thanks for the ask, 🌙!

Oh, and I don't know how much tickets cost but I'm imagining they're expensive okay? Please don't get mad at me.

Oh, and an important(ish) announcement! My @ask-sdv blog is back up and running, now with a new coat of paint (aka I updated it a bit)! You can go an check it out and send in an ask if you want (it even has a running timeline!). So far we're on day two, so not much is there yet, but it will be soon!

Bachelors:

Sam

Join his band, please. He'd love to have another musician playing. And what better musician than the person he cares about most? Listen, I'm not sure how conventional it'll be to have strings instruments in a rock band (if he's doing a rock band, anyway), but Sam wants to make it fun and experimental anyway. And I know you're in an orchestra, so that may be hard (and he understands!), but he just really wants you there. The two have jamming sessions all the time together and use what knowledge you have on the other's instruments to help yourselves improve.

Elliott

He's a big fan of the piano, being a classical-based pianist himself, so if you're playing something like violin or cello, he'd love to do a duet with you. I imagine on the nights when you're sick he likes to play a bit of piano to help you sleep, so he'd really appreciate if you'd do the same for him. Like Sam, he helps you practice. Pays a high fee to get the best seats when you play. Man is in crippling debt (probably still paying off his shack), but will put that all aside to see you shine. Not the best investment, but... Eh... It's worth it to him.

Sebastian

Also a piano player (well, keyboard). He's a little bit shy about his skills, so he's not as keen to play duets with you. But he'd love to listen to you do a solo! He's got an ear for mistakes and how to fix them, so he makes a great tutor. And he'll do it for free, too! Or maybe a plate of sashimi. But that's close enough.

He usually can't afford to get tickets for your show, and all the people make him really nervous - he's not very confident he'd look 'appropriate' there - but when he can and he'd feeling up to it he will try to go! He really does want to support you; he just needs some extra help anxiety-wise.

Harvey

Adores listening to you play. He's quite the jazz guy, so if you're into playing that stuff he'd just fall in love (if he hasn't already). I like to think he comes from a rich family, though they don't really associate anymore, so he's had the chance to learn an instrument or two in his time - though I think he'd go for saxophone or French horn. So, he remembers a few bits and pieces to help you out with if you need it. But honestly, he just prefers to listen, mistakes and all.

Like I said, he's not really associated with his family anymore, and he's living in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so money is very tight. He can't really afford to go to your shows, so sorry about that. But his dream is to meet you backstage after you finish and give you the biggest gift of support he can. He gets so flustered seeing you all dressed up for your shows like that and can't help but take as many photos as possible.

Shane

Doesn't know anything about music, to be honest. He's a punk or alternative rock guy with a bit of an interest in metal, so if you're a classical musician it's going to be quite the change for him. But don't worry, he's still willing to sit down and listen! He can't provide much help but will show you CDs/tapes he's found in your genre. If you like his taste in music, however, oh boy; he's so happy. Again, not sure how strings instruments fit into death metal, but we'll make do. And who knows, maybe it's very common (though I doubt it).

Like Sebastian, he's not really looking forward to going to your shows due to his anxiety. Yeah, he's getting help for it and may be medicated, but that doesn't mean it's an instant fix! Situations like these where he feels out of place or unworthy can really trigger his self-doubt, so it's harder to go. But he has been able to save up for those really expensive shows Jas wanted, so he's doing better than Seb money-wise.

Alex

This man listens to The Beach Boys, '60s/'70s hits, and SWING BABY! Listen, this man is living in the past, okay? Metal is the biggest shock to him. It's the equivalent to showing a Victorian child TikTok to him. Please be patient. Anyways, if you're willing to play that sort of stuff he loves it! Well, he loves strings instruments in general but still! He loves it.

As for seeing your shows, he hasn't got the money for it, and Yoba knows he isn't asking his granny or grandpa for some. You'd honestly have to just pay for him, which would make him feel really guilty (he'd make up for it, though). He's also a little nervous in a suit; I headcanon that a lot or at least some of his confidence is a cover-up. But that all goes away when he sees you up there.

Bachelorettes:

Penny

She enjoys listening to you play a lot. I think she'd like classical songs, 10 Hour Deep Sleep Rain Noise for Deep Sleeping videos, and Fernando by ABBA (plus the songs I have for her in my other post). As a child I imagine she'd wanted to learn viola, so meeting someone who plays that very instrument or at least something in the same family of it will make her heart soar. She loves just closing her eyes and listening to you play.

As for her shows, she could never get in on her own. Girlie is living in a trailer, and she doesn't even have a car to get herself there. You need to pay for her, end of story. And despite it happening all the time, she will still feel guilty about it. It's just how it goes with her. So, do not - I repeat, do not - make her feel even worse about it. She will cry (maybe, alone).

Leah

Artist x Artist of Different Medium? Let's go! I just love Leah so much and she's such a perfect partner you don't even understand. She'd be so supportive of you in your musical endeavors; always giving you encouragement and even doing a little bit of research so she can better provide constructive feedback! She also may or may not have designed a few album covers for your own music (if you make it).

Once her art business gets up and going, she finally has the money to buy tickets to the show (that is provided they don't sell out). She probably went to Haley and Emily for help in picking out the best dress for her to wear, and the two teased her over being so in love.

Abigail

Musician x Musician? Yes please! She's currently working her way through mastering two instruments, so she'd be happy to help you out with yours. She plays her flute while you play your strings instrument in a wonderful duet that has the whole town captivated. You two make your own songs together and maybe even have a little 'band' on the side of Sam's!

Abigail has some money on the side for her shows, but in general she might have to ask for some money from her parents. Despite them being pretty strict about what her interests are, they do give her the money because they trust her and you. Abigail doesn't really have the best dress to wear, so she rocks the place by stealing borrowing her father's old suit.

Maru

Maru likes pretty much any music, but if you want to know the specifics check out my post I made for it in the General Headcanons post (link in my pinned post). Anyway, she loves what you do. Maru's definitely recorded you playing to a tape that she's looped to play when she's working. Demetrius is getting a bit sick of it, but Robin finds it cute.

I feel like Maru doesn't get paid much for her work as a nurse at the clinic. It's not that Harvey doesn't want to, it's just he's barely keeping the business afloat and he literally can't pay Maru any more without crashing the clinic as a whole. Maru understands this, and so does her family, so it's no biggie having to ask for a little cash just this one time. They happily pay, and Maru gets to go to your orchestra while donning an absolutely amazing outfit curated by Emily.

Emily

Speaking of Emily, she's quite the fan. She prefers upbeat tunes she can dance to, but if you're more of a mellow or sad type she'll still listen. I feel like Emily would really like to come up with unique dances for each of your songs - dances that rarely fit the theme. But in her words, "it's about how the song makes you feel, not how it's supposed to look."

Emily and Haley are having the easiest time getting to see one of your shows. Their parents are rich, rich enough to go and get milk on a holiday, so it's no problem for them to leave some extra money for their daughters. Emily spends a lot of money and effort making the perfect dress for the night, and you can easily spot her from the crowd due to all the fancy colours and frills.

Haley

Haley isn't the biggest fan of any music that isn't pop, so she's not as excited to hear you play. But don't be fooled; because it's you she's listening to, she'll sit there and hear it through. She doesn't hate it by any means, it just doesn't really grab her attention. But she would love it if you were to do a cover of one of her favourite songs. Now that is something she could listen to for hours.

As for going to one of your shows, Haley's all down for it. As I said, money's no issue. She takes you, Emily, and herself on a shopping trip in Zuzu City to get the one and only best dress for the occasion, no matter the cost. She'll have the room for it too after she cleans out her wardrobe. At the show, she's kind of bored, but passionate enough about you to loudly shush anyone talking.

-~-~-

Hello! I am doing well, 🌙, thank you for asking. I hope you are doing well too! With my @ask-sdv blog now open for asks, I'd really love it if people took the time to send stuff in. And this time with all the free time I've got I'll be able to actually get to them on time, haha... Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

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neet0 · 1 year

Text

The Subtext of You

Fandom: Stardew Valley Pairing: Elliott x Female Player/Reader Rating: E

Summary:

You've asked Elliott to teach you his writerly ways, but he's got far more to teach you than mere prose.

A love story loosely based on Elliott's heart events.

Idk where my last post went and I don’t think it ever showed up in tags so here we go again 🥴

#elliott stardew valley #stardew valley fanfic #stardew valley elliott #sdv elliott #sdv elliot x reader #elliott x reader #elliott x farmer

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puckgoss · 26 days

Note

What are your hockey podcast recs? And I love last podcast on the left and behind the bastards and then like … the blonde files and lipstick on the rim lol

oohh i haven't heard of those last two before! i'll give them a try. thanks anon ��

hockey podcast recs:

32 thoughts

this is the most popular hockey podcast by far. hosted by elliotte friedman (NHL insider) and jeff marek (sportsnet radio host), this podcast releases episodes every monday & friday and includes a recap of the week's top storylines & news from around the league, insider information, and player interviews. many current players listen to this show as well.

they can have a slight focus on canadian teams, considering the podcast is produced by a canadian company, but they do talk about all teams.

vibes: informative. lots of news is broken/rumors start from this show. goofy gen x dads hosting a podcast about the NHL.

the chris johnston show

this is hosted by the SDPN (steve dangle podcast network). the show is hosted by julian mckenzie (writer for the athletic) and features chris johnston (NHL insider).

this show is similar to 32 thoughts in that it recaps the week's top storylines & headlines and updates biweekly.

vibes: informative. goofy millennials hosting a podcast about the NHL.

the hockey PDOcast

this is run by the same network as 32 thoughts (sportsnet). hosted by dimitri filipovic, this podcast takes an analytics-focused approach. they do break downs of players and teams from around the league. episodes are posted monday-friday.

might be hard to understand if you don't know much about analytics, but if you want to learn more about it, it's not a bad place to start. they won't explain in detail what everything they're talking about means, but you can always pause and do research if it interests you

vibes: let's talk about math but make it hockey!

the athletic hockey show

this pod is produced by the athletic (sports new department of the new york times). it's hosted by various staff writers at the athletic, and they release 1-2 episodes per day.

this show goes into the top news & storylines around the NHL, and also goes more in depth into certain topics like how a particular team is performing, how certain players are ranked, etc. the episodes are essentially podcast versions/breakdowns of the articles they post.

vibes: opinion-based analysis on the latest news and storylines around the NHL. different vibes depending on which writer(s) are hosting each episode.

the DFO rundown

hosted by frank seravalli and jason gregor of the nation network, the daily faceoff rundown is a daily podcast covering (you guessed it) the latest news and storylines around the NHL.

frank seravalli is probably the most controversial "insider" in the NHL world. he gets in trouble for spreading false information sometimes, but has also broken multiple stories before anyone else has. he's super tight with some player agents and will unashamedly be their mouthpiece, which also allows him to get some breaking news before other insiders do.

vibes: very opinionated reporting on the latest news & storylines around the NHL, including rumors that sometimes turn out to be true, and sometimes don't.

spittin chiclets

this is the preeminent, infamous dudebro NHL podcast. it is run by barstool sports and hosted by former players paul bissonnette and ryan whitney.

i'll be honest - this show can be very tough to listen to. very crass, quite misogynistic, etc. i mean it is run by barstool, enough said.

the reason i am including it on this list is that they have, by far, the best current & former player interviews. players feel comfortable with former players like biz and whit, and so the interviews with players on this podcast are far more interesting and in depth than with traditional media members. they really show their personality more than they normally would.

they release episodes once a week, and the episodes are obscenely long. i would recommend just listening to player interviews if you're interested in listening to them in more of their "natural habitat"

vibes: imagine this podcast being recorded in a frathouse. if that disgusts you, don't listen

locked on NHL: prospects podcast

the locked on NHL network has podcasts on general news and news for each team in the NHL. this particular show that i like to listen to is focused on prospects specifically. they analyze both undrafted and drafted prospects and go into what their game is like, the type of player they project to be in the NHL, do mock drafts, etc.

vibes: hockey-nerd analysis of young players who are not yet playing in the NHL / are in their first few seasons in the NHL

bonus youtube channel: the hockey guy

the hockey guy on youtube posts multiple videos a day. shannon is a legend plain and simple. he posts a video previewing each game happening that day, and reviewing each game after it happens. he also posts daily news videos and videos on other topics such as NHL expansion, deep dives into particular teams, etc. he makes things very easily digestible for all fans of the game.

vibes: your wholesome, nerdy neighbor talks about the NHL with the aid of his trusty whiteboards. he has many cats and bunnies who make guest appearances in his videos, alongside his lovely wife yvonne.

#hockey 101 #if you want more youtube channel recs lmk!#there's lots of other podcasts out there #like the too many men pod #i just listed the ones i listen to regularly/semi-regularly #thank u for ur recs & for indulging me anon #ask!

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moonchild-in-blue · 2 months

Note

darya can you give me some soft song suggestions?? 👀

Boy, can I??

Okay, SO! This is a bit of a mix of genres/vibes I suppose, to give it a bit of variety. Also it's highly biased list since these are quite literally some of my all time favourites ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (blue for my mostest beloveds!)

(cut here because i don't wanna spam people's dash. It's so longggg omgiapologiseoop-)

Indie / Pop vibes (aka more on the mainstream artists spectrum):

Cigarettes After Sex - Sweet ; K

Billie Eilish - i love you ; everything i wanted

Rex Orange County - Untitled ; Happiness

Bon Iver - Flume ; Holocene ; Wash (he's one of my top 3 artists of all time omg i love him so much everything he does is perfect 💙 also a certain someone has cited him as an influence... :::) )

Ry X - Sweat ; Only

Cuco - Hydrocodone ; Amor de Siempre (my beloved chicano 💙 - lofi pop vibes)

Joji - Glimpse of Us ; Ew ; Like You Do (i would give up my kidneys for him)

Frank Ocean - Pink + White (maybe not super singing-friendly but I had to include him) ; Bad Religion (not exactly soft per-se but it's beautifully heartbreaking)

Bright Eyes - Lime Tree ; Lua

Jake Bugg - Love, Hope and Misery

Owl City - Vanilla Twilight

Rock / Metal / Alt vibes (i'm leaving a million bands out because otherwise this would just be my depression list... I listen to a lot of sad/angsty stuff lol)

All Time Low - Therapy ; Somewhere in Neverland (there's an acoustic version of it!)

Being As An Ocean - Dissolve

Bring Me The Horizon - Deathbeads ; Follow You

Crown The Empire - Millennia ; Lead Me Out Of The Dark ; For Days

Dayshell - A Waste Of Space

Linkin Park - Iridescent ; The Messenger (just typing this already broke my heart)

Of Mice & Men - Space Enough To Grow

Our Last Night - Falling Away

Panic! At The Disco - Northern Downpour ; She Had The World ; The End Of All Things (i am a panic girlie what can i say)

Parachute - Kiss Me Slowly (the cutest love song ever omg)

Plain White Ts - 1, 2, 3, 4 ; Hey There Delilah (sure it's mainstream but whatever it's beautiful)

Pierce The Veil - I'm Low On Gas (...) ; She Makes Dirty Words Sound Pretty

Queen - Love Of My Life (this one is a must ugh the cutesttt)

Real Friends - I've Given Up On You (my heartbreak song lmaoo) ; Sixteen

Red - Nothing and Everything ; Of These Chains (these are sad and emotionally heavy btw. one of my all time favourite bands everyone should listen to them more)

Seahaven - Honey Bee ; Silhouette

Sleeping With Sirens - Don't Fall Asleep At The Helm ; 2 Chord

Eepie Voucher - Drag Me Under ; Telomeres ; Give ; Shelter (i know it's unnecessary but!!! Oh well)

The Story So Far - Navy Blue ; Phantom

Twenty One Pilots - The Hype (specifically the Locations - Berlin version) ; Truce

Vinyl Theatre - Thank You For The Good Times ; Speak My Mind (it has soft vibes, you'll get it if you listen. They are crazy good and criminally underrated)

Random Songs that I just remembered lmao:

The Beatles - Yesterday

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved

Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (SWS covered it and I love that version so so much)

Joe Brooks - Superman

Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth

Elliott Smith - Between The Bars

Terrenoire - Jusqu'à Mon Dernier Souffle (my fav frenchies)

Over The Garden Wall - Send Me A Peach (i sing this song at least once a day 🥺)

Kermit The Frog - Rainbow Connection (lmao i knowwww but this is one of my all time favourite songs hahaha it makes me so happy and soft and yeah 🥺🌈)

Baby I'm so sorry for the never ending list. I literally just scrolled through my music player curating songs. And I know I'm forgetting a million other songs but OH WELL 🥺💙💚

#SORRY I WENT OVERBOARD #i am typing on the bus so apologies for any mistakes #darya's mixtape #darya answers #soft with halo #💚💙

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glass-dahlia · 1 year

Text

CSI:KFC (Part 2)

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x fem!Reader

Word Count: ~26.5k

Warnings: (Please see Part 1)

Masterlist | Part 1

You pace back and forth quietly in the kitchen. You snuck out of the bedroom without waking Ransom and Dodger.

“So… you switched the Morphine and the Toradol… so you gave him 100 milligrams of Morphine but didn’t have the antidote?” You repeat back to Marta.

“Yes. And Harlan came up with the whole plan to get me out of it then he… he-”

“I know, it’s ok. You did it for your family, I understand.”

“So you won’t tell?”

“Of course not, you’re my friend and it’s what Harlan wanted.” You organize the mail Ransom left scattered on the counter as you speak, arranging it into a neat pile to occupy your hands.

“I can’t thank you enough, Y/n, I owe you,” Marta says, clearly relieved.

“You don’t owe me anything, think of this as my thanks to you for all you did for Harlan.”

You hear Marta release a breath she had been holding. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says, wrapping up your conversation that had lasted about an hour.

“Bye, Marta.” You hang up the phone and look at the time. Two a.m.

You head back up to your bedroom and lay back down, pulling the blanket up to your chin. You stare at the wall across from you with your back to Ransom, going over what happened to Marta in your head. As you’re lost in your thoughts, you feel two strong arms wrap around your waist from behind.

“Trouble sleeping?” Ransom asks, sounding tired.

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” you put your hands on top of his, crossing your arms over your stomach to do so. “I’m ok now.”

“Alright, night, Y/n,” he replies, voice gravelly slightly as he leans over and kisses your shoulder gently.

“Night Ransom…” you trail off as you feel sleep taking you over once more.

🔍🔪🔎

You stand next to your father as he whistles, waving to show Marta where to park. You walk inside the small ‘security’ shack with him, followed by Marta.

The guy in charge of security, Mr. Proofroc, greets you and shows you all inside.

“Fifty years ago, I worked this estate,” he states, putting a picture of the house on the fridge with a cherry shaped magnet. “You know, security back then was such that you had to make the rounds with a 94 and keep your ears open.” He chuckles as does Blanc. “Now you’ve got all this modern technology. That’s the video there,” he states, showing you all over to three old TVs as well as a VCR, “I saved the tape from that night. Normally, I erase ‘em with a magnetic degausser, but in this case, I thought I’d just save it, you know? For security. Now, uh, that’s a live feed there.” Mr. Proofroc points to one of the TVs and Marta seems to go slightly pale.

You decide to not mention it, knowing it must have something to do with when she pulled off the road to execute her and Harlan’s plan. You look over to see your father very focused on the task at hand, finding evidence.

“All right, well, can we see the actual tape?” Lieutenant Elliott requests, starting to get slightly impatient.

“Well, of course you can,” Proofroc says kindly and sincerely, “I recorded it SSLP. There’s eight hours in that tape. 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.” He hands the tape to Marta and she inserts it into the VCR. She presses play and a second screen turns on, displaying the recording. It’s exactly the quality of video you’d expect from a VCR player. The screen jumps around slightly, all glitchy-like.

“Looks like a Japanese horror movie, are we all gonna die in seven days?” Trooper Wagner comments, making you chuckle softly.

“You think we could scan forward on that?” Blanc leans down to ask Marta.

“How can we scan forward?” Marta asks Mr. Proofroc.

“Oh, yeah, just hold the play button down and press FF until you hear it grind.”

The VCR starts whirring as it scans forward. Everyone focuses on the TV.

“All right, should be coming up now to the time when the party ended,” Wagner states.

You glance down at Marta and subtly point to the eject button on the VCR. Just before it gets to the party’s end, the VHS tape ejects causing the screen to show static.

“What happened?” Marta asks, feigning confusion.

“Oh, you gotta keep holding it down or else it’ll eject. That thing eats tapes like popcorn,” Proofroc responds. You smirk slightly, proud of yourself for successfully helping Marta.

“You think your guys can digitize this so we could scan it properly?” you overhear your father asking Elliott and Wagner.

“Yeah, I think we can do that,” Wagner affirms.

You grab the tape and slip it into your coat pocket.

“Got it,” you nod to your father.

“Back to the house then,” he says, leading the way. Everyone follows him, you stay at the end and grab one of the fruit magnets on the fridge on your way out.

Proofroc says he erased the tapes with a magnetic degausser, hopefully this will work the same.

🔍🔪🔎

You all walk through the woods, leading up to the house. As you pass animal statues, Trooper Wagner decides it’s the perfect time to display his nerdy knowledge.

“You know, all these statues that you see around here? They’re all straight out of the series, The Menagerie Tragedy Triology. Pretty cool.”

“Awesome,” Lieutenant Elliott says, clearly not finding it very awesome.

“Yeah,” Wagner says, not comprehending Elliott’s unimpressed tone.

“Benny, it’s beautiful out here, but do you really think someone broke into the house and murdered Harlan? Is that why we’re out here?” Elliott just seems some with everything today, doesn’t he? And since when does anyone call your dad ‘Benny’?

“Oh, it is unlikely, but if they did, there will be traces,” Blanc answers.

You notice Trooper Wagner has fallen back and is walking next to you as Marta continues to lead the way. You glance at him, knowing he has something to say.

“Uh, I can hang onto that,” he says, pointing to the VHS tape you have in your hands.

“Sure,” you hand it over, carefully slipping the magnet into your pocket so no one will notice. You’re just praying that worked.

Blanc eventually starts humming as you keep walking.

“Hey, Wagner, you got any luck on… Uh, what’s-his-name?” Elliott inquires.

“Ransom?” Wagner guesses. Your head snaps up as you hear him mention Ransom, but you stay silent.

“Yeah.”

“No. Did get an address though. 10 Kenoak Street.”

Do they really not understand that you literally live with him? You glance at your father and he seems to be thinking the same thing. You both shrug it off and keep walking.

Your father repeats the street name as Marta stops ahead of you. You stop next to her and she gestures to the footprints she must have left when she came back that night. You nod for her to keep walking and she reluctantly does with you following close behind.

Wagner makes a comment about the leaves and mud messing up his boots, drawing your father’s attention to the fact that there’s mud.

“Did it rain the past week?” He asks aloud. He suddenly seems to realize that there could be evidence in the form of prints. “No, stay there!” he demands, “We got footprints here, so, uh… I wanna, um…”

Looking up, Blanc realizes you and Marta are farther ahead and trampling the potential evidence. “Marta! Y/n! Stop-“

“What?” You call back, turning around to him at the end of the path.

“Uh, just stay there you two,” he attempts to instruct you.

“What? I couldn’t hear you-”

“No, stay there- no, no, no!”

“Did you call me?” You ask once you get back to him. He sighs in defeat. Elliott and Wagner continue ahead, carefully avoiding the muddy path and staying on the leaves.

“Wagner, we’re gonna need to call the boys, have ‘em come down here, take a look at all these tracks. Get it taped off,” Elliott instructs, telling you all to stay on one side of the path.

Just then, Harlan’s dogs run through the muddy portion of the path and over to you and Marta. They excitedly wag their tails in greeting and bark happily. Marta pets one as the other sniffs you, smelling Dodger on your clothes. You smile and pet them affectionately.

“Best judge of character is a dog. I’ve found that to be true,” your father states.

The dogs run off towards the driveway as Linda and Richard get out of their car.

You check your phone for the time.

“I have to go, I took the Beemer so I need to go get Ransom. I’ll be back,” you wave to Marta and your father as you jog off, carefully avoiding the path this time.

🔍🔪🔎

You pull the Beemer into the driveway to see Ransom our front in his coat and scarf with Dodger in a matching white sweater, running around happily.

Once the car stops completely, Dodger bolts over, sniffing you once you step out.

He wags his tail, noticing the scent of other dogs.

“I betrayed you, I’m sorry,” you dramatically apologize, leaning down and kissing his head.

“No kiss for me?” Ransom chuckles jokingly.

“Geez, give a girl a minute, will ya?” you walk over to him and hug him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “You look ready to go already.”

“I am, I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he states happily, still holding you in the hug.

“Wow, for once you’re not late. Shocker,” you tease, earning a laugh from him.

You take Dodger inside and put him in his cage before heading back out to the Beemer and hopping into the passenger seat as Ransom decided to drive.

You watch out the window as Ransom drives. The music stays on a low volume, not interrupting your thoughts on how to help Marta next. The only thing that does interrupt your thoughts is the light thud of one of Ransom’s feet on the floorboard as he bounces his leg.

“Nervous?” You ask, not quite knowing the cause for this odd behavior.

“No, nothing to be nervous for,” he answers complete truthfully and calmly.

“Right.”

🔍🔪🔎

Ransom parks in front of the house and you give his hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance before you both get out of the car.

The dogs run over to Ransom once he steps out of the car and they start barking at him. You know they just smell Dodger’s scent and go into overprotective mode.

“No! No, no, no! Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop. Stop,” Ransom discourages the dogs, dodging as they jump up at him.

“Down,” you say firmly but kindly. The dogs stop and go over, sitting at either side of you. You smile and pet their heads.

“Why do they like you so much better?” Random pouts.

“Probably because I don’t smell like Dodger right now,” you gesture to his sweater. It has small holes and tears in it, caused by Dodger and him playing.

He smiles slightly as you walk over to him, wrapping his arm around your waist once you’re close enough for him to do so. He walks towards the house with you.

Lieutenant Elliott and Trooper Wagner walk out the front door, blocking your path.

“Hugh Drysdale?” Elliott inquires.

“Ransom. Call me Ransom, it’s my middle name,” he responds, taking off his sunglasses with the hand not holding you next to him, “only the help calls me Hugh.”

He keeps walking with you, right past Elliott and Wagner and into the house.

“Okay…” Elliot trails off, slightly baffled by Ransom’s behavior, “Uh, this is uh Trooper Wagner.” Ransom stops walking and lets go of your waist to turn around to them. “I’m Lieutenant Elliott. We just wanna ask a few questions.”

Ransom raises his eyebrows and opens his mouth like he’s about to respond.

Instead, he just sighs and turns back around, wrapping his arm around your waist once more and continuing inside. He takes you directly to the kitchen. Gotta get some snacks.

Elliott and Wagner turn and quickly follow.

“Excuse me? Sir? We’re officers of the law!” Wagner states.

“You gonna run me in? I don’t feel like talking,” Ransom calls from the kitchen, “I’m distraught.”

You pinch his arm, causing him to look at you in confusion.

“Try to be nice, will ya?” You whisper to him, not needing him to make a bad first impression with your father. He sighs and walks back out with you behind him.

“Hey, Benny, you wanna ask this guy some questions?” the Lieutenant offers.

Before Blanc can respond, Ransom interjects, “All right, what is this? What’s this arrangement?”

“Mr. Drysdale,” your father begins, Southern drawl as strong as always.

“CSI: KFC?” Ransom asks sarcastically.

He finds a way to condescendingly eat a cookie as he walks away. Elliott chuckles.

You sigh and walk beside Ransom, entering the sitting room where the rest of the family is waiting.

“Hey, Frannie, how about a glass of cold milk?” Ransom requests, more like orders, as he takes a seat.

You open your mouth to correct him, but Meg beats you to it.

“Hey, asshole. Not her name, not her job.”

“Hey, Meg. How’s the SJW degree coming?” Ransom asks. Jacob smirks slightly, not looking away from his phone. You sit on the arm of Ransom’s chair and smack the back of his head without anyone else noticing.

“Just behave, Ransom,” you mutter under your breath tensely.

“Trust fund prick,” Meg spits back at him.

“All right, guys,” Joni sighs, having enough of the bickering.

“Hey, everyone,” Alan Stevens greets. He’s the executor of Harlan’s will. “I’m just gonna be in the other room, setting up. Be ready in 10 minutes.” He leaves as quickly as he entered.

Ransom holds up a cookie to you as a peace offering and you sigh and take it from him, knowing he doesn’t really mean any harm to anyone. It’s just pointless bickering. That’s what this family is built on.

Walt speaks up, “Funny, Ransom, you skipped the funeral, but you’re early for the will reading.”

Everyone looks over to Ransom and he smirks his playboy smirk that won you over back in high school. It still gets you every time.

“Okay, people grieve in different ways. Let’s not...” Joni tries to defend Ransom.

“Yeah, he was sick-“ you attempt to add before getting cut off by Walt.

“You know what? It’s funny you’re here at all. Why are you even bothering? That’s what I’m asking myself.”

The smirk hasn’t left Ransom’s face.

“What’s the supposed to mean?” Richard asks, getting defensive of his son.

“He knows what it’s supposed to mean,” Walt states simply, looking at Ransom.

“Wait… Walt, what?” Linda questions. Everyone looks over at Walt for a response. You just roll your eyes and steal another cookie from Ransom, already about 3000% done with their bullshit for the day. Ransom takes your hand in his and kisses the back of it, making you blush.

“Jacob was in that bathroom the night of the party,” Walt states, pointing in the direction of a bathroom. Jacob visibly tenses and gets uncomfortable.

Joni chuckles, “Oh, that’s where you were all night?”

“What the hell were you doing in the bathroom all night?” Richard asks.

“Nothing,” Jacob says quickly and defensively.

“Swatting Syrian refugees?” Meg offers sarcastically.

“No, I was not,” Jacob says, getting more defensive and uncomfortable by the second.

“Alt-right troll,” Meg snarks.

“Liberal snowflake,” he mutters in response.

“I don’t know what any of that means,” Walt says, shaking his head in confusion.

“It means your son’s a little creep,” Richard tells him.

“Oh!” Walt says like something just clicked, “My son’s a creep?”

“Hey!” You yip at him. No one insults Ransom in front of you.

“Guys! Just…” Joni regains the room’s focus, “Walt, he was in the bathroom.”

“Yeah, he was in the bathroom,” Walt confirms.

“Joylessly masturbating to pictures of dead deer,” Richard inputs sassily.

You notice Ransom cringe at that, a faint smirk still tugging at his (way too perfect) lips. Linda sighs, just wanting to know what Walt was talking about.

“You know what, Richard?” Walt hits his cane against the ground next to the couch, “You wanna go?”

“You bet, skippy, let’s go,” Richard makes a move over to Walt.

“You wanna go? Come on!”

Meg chuckles and you mutter under your breath to Ransom, “I’d pay good money to see this if they went through with it.”

Ransom chuckles and leans his head against your side. You drape your arm over the back of the chair and absentmindedly play with his hair.

Walt and Richard just get into a petty sissy fight while everyone shouts at them, trying to break them apart. Donna tried to pull Walt away, though he insists he can handle himself.

“Oh, my God,” you hear Joni mutter not so subtly.

Ransom chuckles, “We gotta do this more often.”

He eats another one of his cookies as you continue to mess with his surprisingly yet not so surprisingly soft hair.

“Hey!” Linda shouts, stopping the ruckus, “Jacob. We know where this is going. You were in the bathroom next to Harlan’s office, where he had the fight with Ransom. Now, you heard something. Spill it.”

“I just heard two things. ‘My will’ and then there was more yelling,” he recalls, a smirk slowly forming, “And then I heard Ransom say, ‘I’m warning you’.”

Walt raises his arms in victory. Linda turns to you and Ransom. Ransom just eats another cookie, watching Jacob, his face unreadable but mildly entertained.

“Ransom… What’s that mean?” Linda asks gently.

“I think it means our father finally came to his senses and cut this little brat out of his will,” Walt declares, getting into Ransom’s face. You lean away slightly, no longer playing with Ransom’s hair to his and your disappointment. “So I guess you’re gonna have to sell the Beemer,” Ransom makes a face of serious concentration, pretending to care about what Walt says, “and give your notice at the country club, and kick whatever fashion drug you’re on.” Ransom raises his eyebrows and cocks his head slightly as if Walt is making a good point. “Because if you think that after all the bridges you’ve burned, after all the shit you said, after everything you put this family through for the last 10 years, that any of us are gonna support you, that any of us are gonna give you, like Dad liked to say, ‘a single red dime’, you’re nuts!” he ends up yelling in Ransom’s face at the end.

Ransom inhaled sharply and rolls his eyes slightly, sarcastically mouthing a ‘wow’. He smiles slightly up at you.

“Son…” Richard starts.

“Father.” Ransom furrows his eyebrows, turning his head towards Richard sassily.

Richard sighs, “Did Harlan tell you he was gonna cut you out of the will?”

Ransom throws his hands up slightly, letting them land back into his lap with a light smack. His smirk returns.

“Yep,” he dismisses, popping the ‘p’.

Walt throws his arms up again, dismissing the topic and popping his lips like Ransom did as if it’s proving his own point.

“Well, then he’s done what none of us were strong enough to do. Maybe this might finally make you grow up.”

Ransom narrows his eyes slightly before looking down at his lap and sighing.

“This might be the best thing that could ever happen to you,” Linda says firmly.

“Thank you. My mother, ladies and gentlemen,” Ransom says bitterly, gesturing towards Linda.

“Look, this is not gonna be easy for you,” Ransom tilts his head, giving Joni the ‘you can't be serious’ look, “but it’ll be good. Nothing good is ever easy.”

“Up your ass, Joni. You’ve had your teeth in this family’s tit for a long time-” Ransom begins, voice firm.

“‘Up your ass’? Oh, very nice,” Meg mocks.

“Matter of fact, eat shit. How’s that?”

“Oh, my God, Ransom,” Joni chimes in.

“Please do not use that word in front of my son!” Donna gasps.

“Eat shit. Eat shit. Eat shit.”

“You entitled prick!” Richard booms.

“I would slap that smug smile right off of your goddamn face!”

“Definitely eat shit. Eat shit. You can all eat shit.”

Everyone continues bickering, you sigh, getting up and heading out to the back porch.

You find Blanc and Marta already there. Fran walks past you all in a rush.

“Asshole,” she points back to the house.

“‘I’m warning you’” your father repeats, tossing a baseball in his hand. “Ransom said, ‘I’m warning you’.”

“Well, you heard Ransom in there. That’s the kind of thing he says,” Marta volunteered.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t mean any harm. He’s sweet, really” you say, defending your fiancé.

Blanc tosses the baseball for one of the dogs and it runs off, leaving a piece of painted wood behind.

“What do we have here?” he asks, bending down and picking it up.

Marta looks nervous.

“This looks like a relatively fresh break,” your father states, walking off of the porch. You and Marta follow him. “Yep. Right there… wait a minute. Well, that doesn’t make sense. Where’s that window?”

You follow his line of eye sight, spotting the same window.

🔍🔪🔎

“How about some more cookies, Hugh?! You want some more cookies?!” Walt shouts in Ransom’s face, shoving the bag in Ransom’s face as well.

“That’s great. That’s great,” Ransom replies, unamused, “and it’s not like it’s the end of the world, Y/n has her books, we’re not broke.”

You smirk slightly, hearing that as you run past the room with your father and Marta.

Wagner and Elliott are both fixated on the scene in front of them. They force their attention away, deciding to follow your three instead.

🔍🔪🔎

Marta shows you all to a hallway upstairs.

“Show me. But stay off the carpet,” Blanc instructs Marta.

Marta presses herself against the wall, slowly moving to the end of the hallway.

She grabs hold of the paneling and carefully opens it without touching the carpet, revealing the window.

“It’s the trick window from A Kill For All Seasons,” Wagner says, nerding out once again.

“Trooper, here, will you take this?” your father requests, holding the piece of wood out to Wagner. Blanc gets down onto the ground and takes out a pocket magnifying glass, looking closely at the carpet.

“Hmm… traces of dried mud. I suspect they go the length of the hallway,” Blanc narrates aloud.

“Footprints?” Marta asks, hiding her nerves.

“No, just traces.”

“Yeah, depending on when this thing was last cleaned, this could have been at any time, right?” Elliot speculates.

“No, that would not explain this,” you reply, pointing to a bit of mud left on the windowsill. You bite your lip slightly, realizing that might help them find more evidence against Marta, but they would’ve found it either way. The sleigh in you couldn’t help it.

“Analyze that mud,” your father instructs, “it will match these traces. And you will find similar samples leading up the trellis on the outside of the house. On the night of the party, somebody who did not want to be heard climbing up those steps, went to a great deal of trouble to break into Harlan Thrombey’s rooms.”

“The game is afoot,” you mutter to yourself.

You all walk into the room where the will is to be read. The library. Same place you were all questioned in. Ransom sits in the back, away from everyone since he has been written out of the will. You walk over to the chair next to him, ready to sit.

Ransom hums in disapproval, causing you to tilt your head slightly in confusion.

He smirks slightly and you catch on. You go over to his chair instead and sit on the arm of the chair like you did earlier in the sitting room.

“Better?” You ask, smiling slightly but trying to hide it.

“Almost,” Ransom wraps an arm around your waist and tugs slightly, pulling you onto his lap instead. He rests his chin on your shoulder, watching boredly as the will reading commences.

“Well, thank you all for getting together like this,” Alan begins, “it isn’t legally necessary, but I thought since you’re all in town and some of you are leaving soon-”

“Excuse me,” your father interrupts him quickly, gaining everyone’s attention. “Uh, I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to gently request that you all stay in town until the investigation is completed.”

Joni looks at him as if she’s been offended in some way.

“Yeah, well, he’s gently requesting, but I’m gonna have to make that an order. No one move until we figure this all out,” Lieutenant Elliot declares.

“What?” Linda asks, slightly shocked.

“Can we ask why? Has something changed?” Joni questions.

“No-,” Blanc states firmly, opening his mouth to continue.

“No, it hasn’t changed? Or no, we can’t ask?” she specifies.

“Mr. Stevens,” Blanc addresses him, ignoring Joni, “you may continue.”

“Right. Well,” Alan picks up where he left off. Everyone looks at each other in shock. Ransom doesn’t seem to care. He just starts playing with the chess board next to the chair, trying to occupy himself.

“The other reason I thought this gathering would be, uh, beneficial is because Harlan altered his will a week before he died,” Linda and Richard turn to look at Ransom as Alan says that. You look up at a bookcase to avoid eye contact. Ransom gets bored of the chess pieces and starts playing with your hair instead. Alan continues, “He sealed it. He asked me not to submit it to the courts for probate until after his death. So, if anyone is confused about anything, we’re all together, we can talk. Although, I don’t imagine any of it is going to be that complicated.”

You look back at everyone in the room. They all seem to be getting antsy. They know what they want and they all expect it.

Oh, what you wouldn’t give to see their smugness stripped away. To see them realize that they’re not entitled to anything because of their ‘birth rights’ or whatever shit they’d claim it is.

“Uh, Harlan’s assets included…” Alan trails off, looking over the sheets. His assistant points to something on the sheet.

“The house,” she states.

“The house,” he repeats, “which he owned outright.”

Linda reaches over and grabs Richard’s hand, giving it a squeeze. You know she’s always wanted this house. Makes sense though, it is a lovely house. It’s like living on a Clue board.

“60 million.”

“Yes. 60 million in various cash amounts and investments.”

Joni nods. That’s her goal, of course. Without Harlan’s financial support, you don’t know what she’s gonna do. Some small part of you wants her to get at least some of it. At least for Meg. She’s intelligent, witty, and a hard worker. She deserves to go to a nice school for a solid education, you don’t want her to lose that because her mom can’t afford it.

“And of course, the real asset, sole ownership of Blood Like Wine. His publishing company,” Alan adds.

Walt and Donna hold hands. You’re praying deep, deep down that Harlan changed something, anything. Anything to prevent Walt from taking over the publishing company. If Walt takes over, there’s next to no chance that he’ll keep publishing your works. Harlan always kept him in check, but without that, he’ll burn your bridges faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.

You shake your head slightly, your father’s countryisms are getting to you.

Ransom chuckles lightly at your odd behavior and just continues to mess with your hair, twirling a small strand through his fingers.

“He also wrote up a statement when he was making the changes and he wanted that read first.” Alan grabs another piece of paper and reads aloud, “‘Dearest

Linda, Walter, and Joni… Some of you may be surprised by the choice I’ve made here. No pleasure was taken in the exclusion. And it’s purpose was not to sow greater discord in the family, quite the opposite. Please accept it with grace and without bitterness, but do accept it, it’s for the best. Dad.’”

Alan’s assistant hands him an envelope. He carefully opens it with a letter opener. You feel Ransom shift his position slightly as he leans forward, suddenly very interested in what’s happening. He gives you a quick peck on the cheek before Alan reads the will.

“Umm… wow. Well, yeah, not too complex at all. This will be quick,” Alan states, looking at the single, one-sided piece of paper. Linda chuckles. “‘I, Harlan Thrombey, being of sound mind and body’ and yada-yada-yada… ‘I hereby direct that all my assets, both liquid and otherwise, I leave in their entirety to Marta Cabrera’” Alan looks up, and everyone turns to look at Marta.

“‘My entire ownership of Blood Like Wine publishing, I leave in its entirety to Marta Cabrera, the copyright of its catalogue likewise I leave in its entirety to Marta Cabrera.’”

Ransom smirks as those words seem to sink in for everyone. He lets go of your hair as you get up, already sensing another argument.

Everyone starts to stand up.

“Uh… no,” Walt states firmly, clearly shocked. “That’s not… no, that can’t be.”

“No,” Linda agrees firmly.

“Can I see that Alan, please?” Alan hands the will to Walt so he can see for himself. You slowly walk over, unable to stop a sly smile that creeps across your lips.

“This can’t be legal!” Linda argues.

“It’s right…” Walt confirms in shock.

You can hear Ransom start to chuckle. Everyone starts to argue that there has to be a mistake and that it’s unfair, causing Ransom to crack up even more. He smacks his thigh as he starts to break down laughing, getting up and leaving the room, still laughing joyously.

You watch him leave and slowly walk over to Marta. She looks panicked. Must be a lot for her to take in. You hug her, still overhearing the family arguing. Now they’re blaming it on his medications.

“Alan, you can take this piece of paper and shove it right up your ass, and get out!” Linda shouts aggressively. “And, you cops, too, out. Out! Right now.”

“Linda,” Richard tries to calm her down.

Trooper Wagner turns to leave, but Trooper Elliott stops him and they stay put.

“No, Richard, we need to talk. We need to fight this thing. We’re not going anywhere.” Linda notices Elliott and Wagner haven’t left, “I said get out! We are the Thrombeys God damn it! This is still our house!”

She freezes and everyone slowly turns back to Alan. His assistant points to the paper for him to answer the unspoken question.

“Oh, sorry. ‘Likewise the house at 2 Deerborn Drive and all belongings therein, I leave to Marta Cabrera.’”

“Oh no…” Marta breathes out. You pat her shoulder, not sure of what else to do.

“Oh, you little bitch! You little bitch!” Linda berates her. Richard tried to stop her, but fails completely. “Did you know about this?! Were you in on this from the beginning?”

Your father moves protectively in front of you and Marta to block you from the family. Everyone tried to calm Linda down but it seems to enhance her outrage.

“No, no, no!” she snaps, “I just wanna know. What were you… what were you doing? Were you boinking my father?!”

“’Boinking’?” Meg laughs aloud and you chuckle slightly.

Everyone restarts their shouting.

“I think everybody just needs to cool their jets,” your father suggests, trying to diffuse the situation, but of course failing.

“You had sex with my grandpa, you dirty anchor baby!” Jacob shouts viciously. You scrunch your nose at the rude name. That boy needs some help.

“Now hold your horses!” Your father turns to you and Marta, speaking to Marta,

“And in the meantime, I’d maybe run.”

Marta starts walking down the hallway, but Walt notices and calls out to her for her to wait.

Blanc tries to block the doorway to buy Marta some time. You stand with him to help, but you can’t do much and they get past you after a moment. Everyone runs to follow Marta, all throwing questions and comments at her simultaneously. She tried to stay calm through her tears, not understanding what’s happening and needing time to think. Jacob live-streams the whole thing.

You watch from the porch with your father as she climbs into her car, attempting to start it. She rests her forehead against the steering wheel in defeat when her efforts become futile.

Just then you hear the familiar engine rev of yours and Ransom’s Beemer. He honks and waves to her, telling her to hop in the car with him. After a second of hesitation, she quickly runs into the car and shuts the door as Ransom turns the car around, lowering his window.

“I think this could be the best thing to happen to all of you!” He shouts mockingly before driving off.

“Ransom!” You shout after him to no avail. He’s too far away to hear you and the engine is too loud.

“What does he mean by that?” Richard asks as Joni shrugs in defeat, walking back inside with Meg.

“Richard, why didn’t you stop her?” Linda questions in annoyance.

“What am I supposed to do? Grab the bumper with my teeth?”

Your father watches the car drive off thoughtfully. You sigh, “There goes my ride.”

“He’s certainly something, Y/n,” your father comments. By his tone you can tell he clearly doesn’t think highly of Ransom.

“First impressions are always the worst, right?” you smile slightly nervously.

Your father returns a slight smile and chuckles.

“That’s the man I’ve chosen to spend the rest of my life with… and he just left me here without a ride…” you purse your lips.

The only people left outside are you and your father.

“We all have struggles,” Blanc reassures you.

“We do… Do you miss her? Do you… ya know… still think about her?”

“Every day. You look a lot like her.”

You smile and look down at your feet, proud to share a resemblance with your mother.

“Go get him.” Your father pats your shoulder.

“He took our car, I can’t really…” you trail off, noticing that Marta left her keys in her unlocked car. You give your father a quick hug before jogging over to the car and hopping in, turning the engine on after a few tries.

You think of all the places they could have gone. Not Marta’s place, Ransom doesn’t know the address. Not your house, Ransom’s family knows the address. Probably somewhere public. It dawns on you. You shift the car into drive and head off in the direction of your favorite restaurant that Ransom and you always go to.

Blanc watches you drive off as he shoves his hands into his coat pockets. He sighs, feeling internally conflicted.

On one hand, you’re clearly very happy with Ransom. You love him and he very clearly is head over heels for you.

On the other hand, something in the back of his mind keeps itching to look into his suspicions of Ransom.

🔍🔪🔎

You park next to the Beemer once you get to the restaurant.

Walking in, you spot Ransom and Marta in a booth in the back corner. You head over towards them, luckily avoiding any social interactions with staff along the way. Socializing is definitely not your forte.

“Y/n?”

Ransom looks up from his hands folded on the table when Marta speaks.

“Hey.”

You sit next to Ransom. After a moment he instinctively wraps his arm around your shoulders, bringing you closer to him. You toss the keys to Marta’s car on the table, letting them slide over to her. She takes them, putting them in her jacket pocket.

“How’re you doing, Marta?” you tilt your head slightly as you ask her, keeping your voice gentle.

“It’s a lot. I don’t know what to think, honestly.”

“That’s ok, you can have all the time you need, don’t listen to any of them. You’re the one in charge now,” you smile slightly. Ransom talks to the waitress as you focus on Marta. Marta nods, looking down. Her face is slightly pale.

“You look like you’re gonna pass out. Have you eaten anything today?” Ransom asks her. She doesn’t respond. “Eat.”

He pushes a plate of food towards her, wrapping his arm around your shoulders once more.

Marta sighs before grabbing a fork.

“This is a nightmare,” she states, eating a forkful of food.

“Mhmm,” Ransom hums in agreement, nodding slightly. “So why?”

Marta shakes her head slightly, looking at her food, “Why?”

“Why?” Ransom repeats as you lean into him more.

Marta takes another forkful of food and glares slightly at Ransom.

“Hey. This is everything.” Marta nods slightly and you look up at Ransom as he speaks. “There’s gotta be a bigger reason why, and you know it.”

“Well, how about it had to do more with you guys than with me?”

Ransom stays quiet, watching Marta for a second as he lets that sink in before replying.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

The waitress comes over, placing an empty bowl on the table. Ransom glances over and notices you doing the same. He pulls you closer to himself to distract you from trying to figure out his plan.

“Did he tell you anything?” Marta inquires.

“Only that I wasn’t getting a cent.”

“That’s because he wanted you to build something from the ground up,” you state.

“Like your mom,” Marta adds in.

“‘To build something from the ground up’. Yeah, my mother built her business from the ground up with a million-dollar loan from my grandfather. My father owns none of it. She made him sign a prenup.”

Marta slowly continues eating. You place your hand on top of Ransom’s to keep him calm.

“He lives in fear. And I know that’s what my grandfather was trying to protect me from by doing this and I know I shouldn’t say this out loud, but when he told me, I…” he shakes his head slightly and purses his lips, “Jesus. I coulda killed him.”

Marta looks down and you gently run your thumb over the back of his hand in reassurance.

“After I left the party though, I was driving. Nowhere, just in the night, and I had this, um… clarity. Like, from here on out, I was gonna have to fend for myself. And that felt… good.”

Marta nods slightly.

“The old bastard,” Ransom mutters.

Marta sighs.

“Marta, I know three things,” Ransom begins. You hold back from making a sassy comment and teasing him.

“One, I know he didn’t commit suicide.”

You look over to Marta and notice her trying to hide how nervous she is.

“What makes you think that?” she asks calmly.

“I don’t think it. I know it. Because I knew my granddad. Maybe you, Y/n, and I were the only three who knew him so you’re not gonna bullshit me on this because two… I know lying makes you puke. ‘Cause of that mafia game last Fourth of July.”

You shudder slightly at the memory. Ransom clicks his tongue and gently kisses your temple.

“And three, I know you just ate a full plate of baked beans and sausage,” Ransom finishes, his Boston accent coming on strong when he says ‘sausage’.

Marta looks down at her mostly empty plate, looking calm but really pissed off at Ransom. You glance at the empty bowl that’s been sitting at the table and realize Ransom’s plan. He’s actually pretty smart. You have to give him that.

“So,” Ransom moves Marta’s plate of food away and the empty bowl towards her, “look me in the eye and tell me what happened to my grandfather.”

Marta shakes her head slightly in disbelief, “You asshole,” she whispers.

You glance between them, not sure who to side with. On one hand, what Ransom has forced Marta into is pretty cruel and unfair to her. You know her story and don’t want her to get in trouble for a little mix up.

On the other hand, you’re engaged to Ransom and should probably side with him on basically everything. Though, what fun would that be?

“Marta, tell me everything.”

Marta sighs and hides her face in her hands. You reach over and gently rub her arm.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to let him do anything stupid, I promise,” you reassure her.

“When have I ever done anything stupid?” Ransom asks, slightly offended.

“How many examples do you want? I keep a list. Alphabetical order,” you pull out your phone, going into your notes to let the countless pages of your list load.

🔍🔪🔎

“Alan, there have got to be options here,” Walt insists.

“No. I don’t know how many times I can repeat the same two pieces of information. If Harlan was of sound mind when he made the changes, and we all confirmed that he was-” Alan tries to justify.

“Would a sound mind do this?” Richard asks, voice raised. “How… sound how?”

“The very action speaks to unsoundness,” Linda declares as if she’s won the argument.

“Not legally. No. You not liking what he did does not speak to testamentary capacity,” Alan retorts calmly.

“What about undue influence?” Jacob asks, looking up from his phone.

“Yeah! Undue influence, how about that, huh?” Walt asks excitedly.

“Did you just google that?” Alan asks doubtfully.

“Look, if Marta was manipulating Dad somehow and if we found out that somehow she was...” Walt trails off.

“If somehow, she had gotten her hooks into him…” Linda adds as Walt speaks, both of them approaching Alan before they’re interrupted by him.

“You need a strong case for that. ‘Your Honor, she endeared herself to him through hard work and good humor.’ That won’t cut the salami.”

“What about the slayer rule?” Joni questions, holding her phone. “I did just google that.”

“The slayer rule obviously doesn’t apply here,” Alan states.

“Well, what the hell is the slayer rule?” Richard asks Joni.

“Well, it’s if someone is convicted of killing the person, they don’t get their inheritance,” Joni replies.

“Not even convicted. Even if they’re held responsible for their death in civil court,” Alan clarifies.

“Like O.J.?” Walt questions.

“Yes, like O.J.” Alan answers. “But Harlan committed suicide.”

The same thought seems to dawn on everyone as they slowly turn to the man in the arm chair beside the crackling fireplace behind them all.

“Detective Blank? You said the investigation is ongoing. You made a point of that. Do you suspect foul play?” Joni inquires.

“Mr. Blanc, if you please,” the detective corrects her pronunciation. “There is much that remains unclear, but yes, I suspect foul play.”

Joni inhales deeply.

“Marta?” Richard asks quickly.

“I have eliminated no suspects.”

Richard sighs. “You’re full of shit. I don’t trust this guy in the tweed suit. And, Alan, God bless you, you’re useless.”

“Thank you.” Alan gets up from his spot on the couch, relieved to finally be able to leave.

“There’s only one answer to this. She has to renounce the inheritance,” Richard says.

“She knows it’s what she should do. It’s the right thing to do,” Walt reasons.

“That’s exactly what she should do,” Linda agrees.

“It’s the moral thing,” Richard adds as Meg walks away slightly.

“Mom,” Meg waits for Joni to walk over to her before continuing, “If Granddad wanted to give Marta everything, then that’s what he wanted.”

“No,” Joni shakes her head, “This wasn’t him. He loved us. He wanted us taken care of. He wanted you to have an education.”

Meg furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head slightly in disbelief at her mother’s behavior.

“Meg, you think I can pay for your school?” Joni scoffs slightly, her voice shaking as she walks back to the family. Meh watches in disbelief, letting it all sink in.

🔍🔪🔎

You look down at the table. There’s four empty beer bottles, a few empty plates and Ransom is already having another drink. You’re definitely driving home. Marta had told you both everything, though none of it was news to you anymore.

“Huh…” Ransom chuckles softly.

“I know. Just saying it, it sounds insane, but it’s all true. And I think Blanc’s been on to me from the start,” Marta looks at you as she says that, causing Ransom to give a look of confusion. He looks down at you, wondering why that would relate to you.

You avoid eye contact, not wanting to lie directly to Ransom anymore. “He probably has, I just don’t know why he hasn’t said anything. Maybe he’s just waiting until he has enough evidence.”

“I don’t care if I go to jail, but my mom, my sister? We…” she looks over at Ransom. He is staring down at the table, absentmindedly chewing at the small black straw from his drink as he thinks. “You gonna say something?”

“I always thought I was the only one that could beat him at Go.” Marta looks at Ransom in confusion. “Always thought that meant something.”

“Um, yeah, I know you did,” Marta replies, looking down at the table, not sure what to really say.

“That night at the party, my last conversation with him… my last argument, that’s what he told me about you. That you beat him at Go more than I do, and I thought… what a strange thing to tell me. Think I get it now. Maybe it did mean something.”

Marta stares at Ransom in disbelief as he clears his throat.

“I’m not gonna tell my family shit,” Ransom states, looking at Marta. “You’re not gonna go to jail. That detective is not gonna catch you. And you’re not gonna give up the money.”

You stay silent and look down at your hands in your lap. The thing is, you know “that detective”, he raised you. You know how he thinks and works. He sure as hell is going to catch Marta and figure out what happened. That’s why he was brought in.

“This is what Granddad wanted for you,” Ransom continues, “I mean, think about what he did to go through with this. He wanted this for himself, he wanted this for the family. And he wanted it for you. You’ve come this far. Let me- let us help you go all the way.” Ransom gives your hand a gentle squeeze and you smile slightly at him, nodding slightly to Marta. You want to help her and if anyone can outsmart Benoit Blanc, it sure as hell would be his daughter.

“What’s going on? This isn’t you. You could just turn me in right now and still get your cut of the inheritance. Why?” Marta sees straight through Ransom.

“Because fuck my family.”

You nod slightly. He does make a good point.

“We can help you get away with this, right?” Ransom looks at you as he speaks and you nod. “Right. And then, you’re gonna give me my cut of the inheritance.”

Marta chuckles lightly in disbelief.

“Happy ending. Everybody wins. You, me, Y/n, Harlan,” Ransom states.

“Yeah,” Marta sighs.

“Deal?”

Before she can answer, Marta’s phone buzzes and she picks up. You can tell she’s talking to Meg but you decide to not eavesdrop so you turn to Ransom.

“You really are an asshole sometimes, you know that?”

“Hey, you’re the one that said yes to my proposal~” he teases you with a smirk.

You blush lightly, “That I did. I’ll drive us home, you’re definitely over the limit.”

“Whatever you say, my love,” he kisses your forehead and hands you the keys.

You lean against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It sounds faster than normal. You look up at him, but before you can ask him anything, Marta clearly gets hung up on mid-sentence.

“Okay then,” Ransom mutters. “Did Blanc find anything suspicious at the house?”

Marta sighs, hiding her face in her hands again, “Yes, he found mud upstairs. Where I broke in through the window.”

“Shit,” Ransom mutters, barely audible. “Identifiable prints?”

Marta shakes her head, “No.”

“Good. Okay. Good. Hey, you lay low for a couple days, wait for this investigation to blow over, and it will. ‘Cause no matter how good this Blanc guy thinks he is, he’s got nothin’.”

Marta doesn’t respond. She just looks away from you both nervously.

“Hey, relax,” you offer Marta a soft smile and she nods slightly. “It’ll be ok. We’ll see you around, we have to get home.”

Marta nods again and you wave before walking out to the Beemer, leaving Ransom to follow behind.

You get in the car quickly and put the key in the ignition with a very shaky hand.

“Woah, hey, Y/n. Are you sure you’re ok to drive?” Ransom gently grabs your shaking hand in both of his hands. He looks at you softly and you can see the worry in his eyes.

“Even if he has nothing, he’ll find something,” you state simply.

“Darling, what are you talking about?”

“You said that Blanc has nothing, well even if that’s true, which I doubt, he will have something eventually. That’s kind of his whole thing. Solving the unsolvable.”

“Y/n, he’s just another detective, this whole thing will blow over and we’ll all be fine.”

“No, Ransom, he’s not. You don’t know him like I do,” you reluctantly pull your hand away from Ransom, shifting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.

“I don’t think getting questioned by him means you suddenly know him,” Ransom chuckles lightly but falls quiet when you don’t laugh. “Y/n?”

You stop at a red light and take a deep breath.

“Ransom, he’s my father.”

The silence in the car remained for the rest of the drive home. Ransom kept opening his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

You pull into the driveway, parking the Beemer in its usual spot. Neither you nor Ransom move from your seats in the car.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I didn’t think it would ever matter. I definitely didn’t expect anything like this to happen,” you don’t look at Ransom as you speak.

He simply nods and gets out of the car, walking into the house, stumbling slightly on the steps. You sigh and follow him at a bit of a distance to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. He must’ve had too much to drink. Somehow.

You find him in the kitchen, chugging a glass of water. Only to refill the glass and repeat the process.

“Ransom, please just say something,” you beg quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.

“I have a headache,” he states, focusing his attention on the fourth glass of water in less than 5 minutes.

You gently grab his hand, taking the glass of water away from him.

“You know that’s not what I meant. And cool it with the water. You’re gonna get hyponatremia if you keep it up at this pace.”

“I’m thirsty,” he tries to take the glass back, but you keep it out of his reach.

“Then you’re probably dehydrated. Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”

“No,” he puffs his cheeks slightly and walks off to the stairs.

“Ransom, where are you going?” you put the glass down, following after him. Dodger notices and immediately jumps up from his bed and follows you both.

“To bed. I’m tired.”

“Please just talk to me…”

He sighs and stops walking, allowing you to catch up and move in front of him so he’s facing you.

“We can talk in the morning,” he states, gripping the railing tightly. His knuckles turn slightly white in an effort to keep himself upright.

“Are you ok…?” you ask, slightly nervously. You’ve seen him drunk and it’s never been like this.

“Mhmm,” he replied simply, stumbling past you and into your bedroom.

The door doesn’t shut completely behind him. You stand on the stairs, trying to keep yourself from crying. Dodger tilts his head and wags his tail slightly in an effort to cheer you up. You smile slightly at how adorable he looks.

That smile disappears in seconds as you hear a thud from the bedroom.

“Ransom?”

You get no response.

You rush up the rest of the stairs, opening your bedroom door to see Ransom passed out on the ground.

“Jesus, Ransom. How fucking drunk are you?” you mutter as you manage to hoist him onto the bed. Luckily he wasn’t far from the bed.

🔍🔪🔎

You wake up alone in the bed and decide to go downstairs to look for Ransom.

You find him lying on the couch, wrapped in one of your cashmere blankets as he watches Netflix.

“Feeling better?” you ask as you walk over, sitting next to his pillow.

“Just tired,” he nods slightly.

“How drunk were you last night?”

“Not very,” he says simply.

“You seemed hella tipsy though.”

“My problem wasn’t with being drunk.”

You decide not to question him anymore, he doesn’t seem thrilled about the subject.

“Anyways, about yesterday…” you trail off, hoping he’ll catch on. He sighs.

“I’m not going to hold that against you, Y/n. I’m sure you had your reasons to not want to tell me that you’re the daughter of a famous detective. I might not know those reasons, but I don’t have to. It’s your right to choose what you tell me and I will always respect your decisions. I trust you. We all have our own secrets.”

“Even you?”

He hesitates slightly, “I suppose so, yeah.”

“Like what? You know mine, do I get to know yours?”

He looks up at you from his position of lying next to you on the couch. You absentmindedly run your fingers through his hair as he watches you, weighing his options.

“Not now, maybe later,” he smiles gently up at you.

“No rush, we have the rest of our lives. Until death do us part,” you lean down and kiss his forehead.

“Until death do us part,” Ransom repeats, “I always thought that was such a weird thing to have to say.”

You nod in agreement.

He sits up, pulling you into his lap and wrapping the blanket around both of you.

You blush and smile happily as you snuggle into him, both of you watching Netflix.

🔍🔪🔎

Eventually you find a good pause point in your binge-watching and you make two cups of (coffee/tea/hot drink of your preference). One for you, one for Ransom.

Just as you’re about to sit down, the doorbell rings, setting off Dodger. He runs to the door barking nonstop. You sigh and hand Ransom both of the cups before going to answer the door.

Marta is there, looking panicked. Dodger immediately perks up and sniffs her, excited to see another person.

“Hey, you ok? Come in,” you lead Marta inside.

“I got this,” she says, holding out an envelope. Her voice and hand shakes. You take the envelope and sit next to Ransom as you open it. He takes it from you and studies the slip of paper.

“I don’t know… what’s this?” he points to something at the bottom of the paper.

He rests his chin against his hand, covered by the sleeve of his sweater.

“It’s my medical bag tag. They have my medical bag for some reason,” Marta replies.

“Okay, but this is a photocopy of just the header of a blood toxicology report on Harlan,” Ransom clarifies. “Marta, this is going to show the morphine overdose.”

Marta just shrugs frantically as her breathing gets heavier.

“So I’m screwed?” she reasons.

“Hey, it’ll be ok,” you try to reassure her.

“How do you know all this stuff?” she asks Ransom.

“I was Harlan’s research assistant for a summer when Y/n was studying abroad. But what kind of blackmail scheme is this? I mean, the actual evidence is sitting up the street in the crime lab. There’s no demands, there’s no meeting place,”

Ransom shakes his head. “What’s the point in sending you this?”

Marta shrugs.

“Maybe we should go to the medical examiner’s office? They could’ve just intended to meet there?” you offer, pointing out the logo on the toxicology report.

“We could try,” Marta agrees.

“We’ll have to take your car, the Beemer only has two seats,” you add.

And off you go.

Marta pulls to a stop in front of the medical examiner’s office. Sirens wail around you. From the front seat, you watch as firefighters putting out the flames of the burning building.

You sink down in your seat slightly when you notice Lieutenant Elliott talking to your father. Luckily their backs are towards you. You’re just paranoid.

Ransom leans forward from his seat in the back to get a better view of what’s happening.

“Holy shit,” Marta mutters. “This is insane. I mean, who would blow up a whole real building just to blackmail me?”

Ransom checks to make sure no one is behind you before replying, “Marta, this means the blackmailer has the only paper copy of the thing that can prove your guilt. You didn’t get any other instructions? No phone call? No email? Nothing?”

You furrow your eyebrows slightly. It’s not like Ransom to be this helpful to anyone. Well, anyone besides you. You shake it off as just feeling jealous that you’re not the only one he can be nice to.

“No,” Marta sighs. “Well, I haven’t checked my email.”

She quickly pulls out her phone and goes into her unread emails. You lean over to look as does Ransom.

“There is one,” she declares softly. It only lists an address and time, sent from a nondescript or email address.

“Yeah, that’s it. ‘1209 Columbus Road. 10 a.m.’” Ransom confirms, reading the email.

They both look at the clock, realizing it’s already 9:32 a.m.

Ransom continues speaking to Marta, “You know what this means, right? If you destroy that copy, you’re totally in the clear.”

You, on the other hand, are too focused on watching Blanc and Elliott. Blanc has been pacing for a few minutes, something he usually does when thinking about a case. Just as he turns back around to pace the other way once more, he looks up, spotting Marta’s car. His eyes lock onto yours and you sink down into our seat further. Your eyes widen nervously.

“Well shit,” you say aloud, knowing this can’t end well.

That gains Marta’s attention and she follows your line of gaze, noticing your father starting to walk towards the car. “Oh no,” she whispers.

Ransom glances over as well, looking back at Marta, “Marta, did you hear me?”

“Yeah,” she breathes out.

“Step on it,” you elbow Marta slightly, knowing you need to leave.

She snaps out of her daze and switches the car into drive, stepping in the gas and quickly maneuvering back onto the road as the tires of her car squeal.

🔍🔪🔎

You get onto a more open road and you hold your head in your hands, contemplating all of your life choices that have led you to this. What went wrong?

You think to yourself. You shake your head, realizing that’s too long of a list.

“Okay, baby driver,” Ransom glances behind the car.

“Oh god,” Marta whimpers nervously, “You regret helping me yet?”

“I regret not taking the Beemer,” he replies.

“You always regret not taking the Beemer. There are three of us, it has two seats. How would that have worked?” you retort sassily.

“We’re already running from the cops, not having the proper number of seats for passengers would be the least of our worries. At least it'd be faster,” he chuckles slightly.

You glance at the mirror on your side of the car and see three cop cars. You’ve been hearing the sirens for a few minutes.

Your phone buzzes. You glance down to see your father calling. You mute the call, not wanting to explain yourself.

“Go. Go! Go! Are you flooring it!?” Ransom asks, slightly frantic.

“I am literally flooring it!” Marta panics.

Your phone buzzes yet again with another call from your father as the cop cars catch up to you. One car drives at your side and your father leans out the open window slightly, pointing to his phone and trying to get you to pick up. You mute the call.

“This is going well,” Ransom muses sarcastically.

“I’m pulling over,” Marta declares.

“What?” you look at her in a panic.

“If you miss your chance to get this tox report, it's all over,” Ransom reminds her.

“Oh, my God,” Marta groans with tears in her eyes.

Marta suddenly slams the brakes, sending you forward, luckily caught by your seatbelt. You feel Ransom hit the back of your seat slightly. Luckily he had his seatbelt too.

“Hello whiplash” you mumble, rubbing your neck.

“Why- Why are we stopping? Why are you stopping in the middle of the road?” Ransom presses.

Just then Marta floors the glass again, speeding last the now stopped cop cars and quickly turning onto another road.

You glance behind you and see the cars turning and beginning to follow you.

🔍🔪🔎

You get onto a more crowded street, still followed by the cops.

“Hold on,” Marta warms as she quickly turns down an alley, bumping a dumpster with the side of her car.

“Glad we didn’t take the Beemer now?” you ask Ransom.

“A bit,” he nods.

One of the cop cars crashes into the corner of a building as it tries to turn into the alley at the same speed. Marta keeps driving. Another cop car gets stuck on some pallets next to another dumpster as they try to follow you.

You chuckle, slightly excited by the chase. Definitely reminds you of your teenage years.

Marta pulls to a quick stop, lightly hitting a few shopping carts behind a building.

“Oh, my God, I’m just pure adrenaline right now. I feel like I swallowed bees,” Marta pants slightly.

“Why would you know what swallowing bees feels like?” you ask rhetorically.

Marta chuckles slightly. Ransom smiles slightly, though you can’t see from your seat.

“Okay, so what is it? What’s the address?” Marta looks back at Ransom for an answer.

“1209 Columbus Road,” he recites from memory.

“Okay. I mean, whatever they want, I’ll say yes.”

“Anything,” Ransom nods.

“You know, just to get that report back.” Marta pulls her keys from the ignition.

“Get it back and destroy it,” Ransom adds.

“Destroy it,” Marta repeats. “Holy shit.” She sighs, “Hey, thank you guys. I couldn’t do this without you,” she looks at both you and Ransom earnestly.

You nod slightly, eyes widening suddenly as he window is firmly knocked on by a cop. Another car has pulled in behind you.

Lieutenant Elliott exits the car, leisurely going towards Marta’s car. “Get out,” he calls firmly.

You all get out, hands slightly raised. You and Ransom drop your arms, knowing there’s no real formality to this now.

“That was the dumbest car chase of all time,” Elliott states. Marta’s hands remain up. “Put your hands down,” he snaps at her.

Your father strolls over towards yours and Ransom’s side of the car. “I spoke to Wanetta Thrombey, Greatnana,” he informs you all, only looking at you. “Night of the party, she saw someone climbing the trellis to the third floor.”

You glance over at Marta, assuming it was her. You know Greatnana saw her when she came down the trellis.

“Mr. Drysdale,” Lieutenant Elliott calls, “come on.”

“Let’s go,” Trooper Wagner waves for Ransom to go to the cop car.

Ransom hesitated for a second before walking towards Wagner.

“Pat him down, check him out,” Elliott instructs as Wagner makes sure Ransom doesn’t have any weapons.

“What’s going on?” you ask, turning to Blanc for an answer.

“‘Ransom came back’ she said. I don’t know what he came back to do, but we’ll find out.”

Ransom looks over at you as he leans down to get in the car. He almost looks sorry.

“Did he ask you to drive when he saw me coming?” Blanc asks Marta.

“Yes,” she states simply. Blanc walks away a bit. You look away as she ducks into her car. You know she’s just got to puke now and you definitely don’t want to watch. You catch Ransom’s eyes as you avoid looking at Marta. You tap your foot slightly and sigh.

“Wait!” you call out, jogging over to Wagner. “Do you think I could come with you? I want to be with Ransom.”

“Yeah, I’ll drive with Marta, you can go with them,” your father pats your shoulder and heads back to Marta’s car.

Trooper Wagner opens the back door for you, letting you sit next to Ransom.

Definitely not the usual practice, but there’s no reason to not trust you.

The car pulls away and you mess with your hands in your lap. Ransom leans over and kisses your head, resting his forehead against the side of your head.

This isn’t like him. You know it isn’t. Something is off in this picture and you intend to find it. He never acts defeated.

🔍🔪🔎

Wagner parks the car in the driveway of Harlan’s house. You sigh as they lead Ransom out of the car and into the house, leaving you to follow behind. You walk into the library, ready to see if Ransom has any tricks left up his sleeves to cover for Marta.

🔍🔪🔎

Well he didn’t. He came clean, telling them exactly what Marta had told you two.

You confirm everything he says, agreeing that Marta had told you as well. Elliott and Wagner release Ransom, taking off his handcuffs. They all leave the room, but you don’t. You begin pacing, just like your father. Something doesn’t add up.

You begin a list in your head.

What I know:

Marta switched the medicine bottles because she didn’t read the labels

She didn’t call an ambulance

Harlan has her stage her leaving and him being alive so she wouldn’t be caught

Marta wouldn’t hurt a fly on purpose

Someone thinks Harlan was murdered, hence your father’s presence

Your father doesn’t seem to know why he’s here either

Harlan left everything to Marta, giving almost everyone motive

Ransom, your playboy drama queen fiancé, knew he wasn’t getting a cent of Harlan’s fortune

You stop pacing. You feel the blood drain from your face as something clicks in your mind. You quickly sit down in front of the piano, staring down at the keys as you connect the dots.

Harlan and Ransom loved to argue. Why would Harlan just tell Ransom he doesn’t get his share of the inheritance. It’d burn more knowing that it’s not going to anyone in the family. Harlan must’ve told him everything. If so, he knew that Marta would be getting the fortune. He couldn’t bet on her renouncing it, of course not.

You think back to your time at Harvard. You were writing your first book. You had really wanted to impress your teacher with your thoroughness in your research, so you had checked out many books on law from the library. You came home one night to find Ransom reading one of them and he had asked you about a few things, which you explained. One thing you remember him asking about? The slayer rule.

If Ransom wanted to reverse the changed will, you think, he knows that the slayer rule will nullify Marta’s claim. So if he could just frame Marta… bingo.

You immediately pull out your phone, only to receive a call from your father. You feel your mouth go dry from nerves.

You answer the call with a shaky, “Hello?”

“Y/n I regret to say Marta found Fran, and it’s a long story, but Fran is in the hospital and I figured I should let you know. I called the Lieutenant already. He told me what you and Ransom said,” your father informs you.

“O-oh,” you stutter.

“Is everything ok? You sound more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, Y/n.”

“No… it’s not ok…”

“Cat got your tongue?”

“I just… I’d need to see the tox report to be sure,” your drop your voice a few levels to be sure no one overhears you, “Dad, I think I’m engaged to a murderer.”

Pt. 3

#ransom drydale x you #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x you #chris evans x reader #chris evans #fanfic #knives out fanfiction #knives out #xreader #requests are open

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roguelesbian-writes · 5 months

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You Can Travel The World A Million Times Just To Learn It Never Mattered

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories:

F/F

F/M

Gen

M/M

Multi

Fandom:

Stardew Valley (Video Game)

Relationships:

Sophia/Female Player (Stardew Valley)

Sophia & Female Player (Stardew Valley)

Sophia & Male Player (Stardew Valley)

Female Player & Male Player (Stardew Valley)

Characters:

OFC farmer

OMC farmer

Jameson Walsh

Ophelia Walsh

Sophia (Stardew Valley)

Shane (Stardew Valley)

Marnie (Stardew Valley)

Jas (Stardew Valley)

Zinnia - Character

Leah (Stardew Valley)

Elliott (Stardew Valley)

Haley (Stardew Valley)

Emily (Stardew Valley)

Lewis (Stardew Valley)

Sebastian (Stardew Valley)

Alex (Stardew Valley)

Sam (Stardew Valley)

Abigail (Stardew Valley)

Harvey (Stardew Valley)

Victor (Stardew Valley)

Vincent (Stardew Valley)

Olivia (Stardew Valley)

Maru (Stardew Valley)

Robin (Stardew Valley)

Demetrius (Stardew Valley)

Jodi (Stardew Valley)

Kent (Stardew Valley)

Junimo(s) (Stardew Valley)

i'll add more later probably

Additional Tags:

This is a lot more than ofc farmer x sophia

this is everyone in the valley being a mess and sorting theirs bs out

Romani Haley

Hard of Hearing Haley

Black Emily

Latina Marnie

Latino Shane

Afro-Latina Jas

Hijabi Jodi

Native American Leah

Black Elliott

Jewish Elliot

All the Mulners are Samoan

All the Mulners are Jewish

Plus-Size Abigail

Legit just DSV races

Religions

and ethnicities

except for Lewis

He's still white

Trans Sam

Trans Penny

This is the set up for a lore fic

be prepared for some fluff

Angst

and most of all

character developement

no beta we die like my sister's will to read this fic

she actually came up with that tag

We hate Lewis in this house

Marnie is gonna dump him in this series

Working title

Ophelia and Jameson Walsh moved to town to take over their late grandfather's farm a season ago, it's going great. Totally not stressed out over literally anything at all. Sam and Sebastion have been friends for as long as either of them can remember, this new feeling building between them doesn't have to change that, right? Abigail just wants to go on adventures and prove she's not weak or just that one weird chick, why can't her parents chill out for five seconds? Haley is living her semi-best life, she just wishes her parents could pretend to care about them sometimes. Emily feels something has shifted since the new farmers' came to town. Harvey is tired and wants to be able to nap for the first time since the farmers started going down to the caves. Alex is trying to build himself up to try to go pro, while dealing with a lot of self-doubt. Marnie is getting tired of Lewis' excuses, Shane's lack of self-care, and trying to balance everything. Zinnia wants to know more about her mother and her research and Gabriel just wishes she would stay safe. Penny's life is a mess but at least she has the kids and Maru. Leah and Elliott are tortured artist gays.

#roguelesbianwrites #Harlot writes things #stardew valley #stardew fanfic #sophia sve #female farmer x sophia

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pomegranate-man · 1 year

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Elliott x Female Player Fic

An enemies to lovers, slow burn romance!

Cleo Moody has only one thing on her mind: restoring her family farm to its former glory. That is, until she meets Elliott Fairfax, a vexingly handsome writer who seems to infuriate Cleo at every turn. As they continue to clash, Cleo struggles to uphold the tremendous legacy left behind by her grandfather and untangle her own identity from its shadow. Maybe the answer to her problems has been in staring her in the face, maddening her all along...

#sdv elliott #elliott stardew valley #stardew elliott #elliott sdv #stardew valley elliott #stardew fanfic #stardew valley #stardew valley fanfic #elliott sdv fanfic #stardew valley Elliott fanfic

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love-bokumono-fics · 5 months

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Fresh Crops! November 13 - November 19, 2023

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

Our Story of Seasons: Pete x Claire - by Ry2_Sinheart; WIP, 25/30, 37k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: F/M, Gen Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationships: Claire the Farmer & Pete | Jack, Claire the Farmer/Pete | Jack; Characters: Pete | Jack, Claire, Thomas, Zack, Dog, Harvest Goddess, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Karen Additional Tags: Romance, Slow Burn, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Slice of Life, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Developing Relationship, Strangers to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Video Game Mechanics, Game Logic, Male-Female Friendship, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Slow Romance, Digital Art Summary: A story that revolves around the protagonists of Mineral Town. After a series of unfortunate events, Pete and Claire agree they'll have to raise the farm together, whether they like it or not. Through their farming-ventures, they realize that maybe farming together… isn't so bad.

Wilted and Shivering - by Lusa_Saturn; WIP, 1/?, 2.3k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Stardew Valley, Animal Parade Relationships: Sebastian/Female Player; Characters: Female Player (SV), Sebastian (SV), Sam (SV), Abigail (SV), Robin (SV), Shane (SV), Original Male Character(s), Angela the Farmer, Luke the Carpenter, Demetrius (SV), Maru (SV), Sebastian's Father (SV), Penny (SV), Leah (SV), Haley (SV), Emily (SV), Alex (SV), Harvey (SV), Elliott (SV), Wizard | M. Rasmodius, Linus (SV), Lewis (SV) Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trigger Warnings will be provided with graphic chapters, Eventual Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Set in the mid-2000s Summary: Amber steps off the bus into Pelican Town, eager for a new start at life. Another chance in the world outside her hometown. A place to bloom and heal. Sebastian wants to leave the town and it's people who don't understand him. They both ache, she has wilted and he's encased himself in a shell of ice.

The Wall Between Us - by Skullygal610; WIP, 18/25, 19k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Trio of Towns Relationships: Female Farmer/Wayne, Female Farmer/Ex-boyfriend; Characters: Wayne, Female Farmer Additional Tags: Adopted, farmer, Hurt, Love, Unrequited Love, relationships, Denial of Feelings, Fanfiction, Parents, friends, Guilt Summary: It all started with a rejection. Scarlett can't seem to get over the loss of her best friend since she rejected his confession of love. Already dealing with her own self-worth and feelings while keeping up with daily life, things soon become difficult when a familiar face from the past comes back to haunt her. Wayne struggles to let go of the only girl he loved. However, things never go the way he plans. His parents are across the world without him. Friends are constantly concerned about his well-being. He wants to change, yet she keeps pulling him back. Can they ever hope to rekindle their long-lost friendship, or will it become something more?

The Egg Thief - by dicelady20; WIP, 18/19, 73k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence; Category: F/M Fandoms: Dragon Ball GT/Z, Friends of Mineral Town Characters: Trunks Briefs, Claire the Farmer Additional Tags: Harvest Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Romance, Slow Burn, Martial Arts, Cussing, Crossover, Healing, city vibes, dark scenes, POV Multiple, POV Third Person Limited, Mild Gore, Supernatural Elements, First Meetings, story of seasons, Alternative Perspective, Don't copy to another website, Don't Have to Know Canon Summary: Claire decides to give the city life another chance, but as she does, she is haunted by her nightmares & her past. Mr. CEO of Capsule Corp., Trunks, is haunted by something else in his life; juggling between his CEO work & saving Earth from vindictive dragons. As their two worlds collide, what could possibly go wrong?

The Language of Flowers - by spoopybat; WIP, 75/?, 183k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: The Tale of Two Towns Relationships: Cam | Kamil/Lillian the Farmer | Sato, Chelsea/Vaughn | Waltz Additional Tags: **NOTE: Some tags have been removed to remain safe for Tumblr. See story for full tag list** Tags Contain Spoilers, POV Alternating, Background Relationships, Starting Over, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Minor Injuries, Physical Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Socially Awkward Characters, Cliche, Mutual Pining, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Emotional Baggage, References to Depression, Dysfunctional Family, Melodrama, Family Drama, First Love, First Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Loss of Virginity, First Time, Vaginal Sex, Morning After, Morning Cuddles, Morning Sex, Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Kitchen Sex, Unplanned Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Morning Sickness, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Constipation, Arguing, Medical Conditions, Medical inaccuracies but I'm gonna do my best, Panic Attacks, Engagement, Couch Sex, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, Honeymoon, Body Worship, Making Love, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Mental Anguish, Spa Treatments, Fights, Making Up, Mental Health Issues, Depression, Language of Flowers, Emotional reunion, Reunion Sex, Pregnant Sex, Therapy Summary: Lillian, a young woman from the Sunshine Islands, left her home and moved to Bluebell. In hopes that moving to this rural farm town to escape her troubled past and find the happy life she had always wanted.

Fact and Friction - by actaeoncross; Complete, 4/4, 4.9k

Rating: Not Rated; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Fandoms: A Wonderful Life, Animal Parade Relationships: Daryl/Pony, Cecilia/Nami mentioned, Gordy/Matthew mentioned, Rock/Molly mentioned, Gustafa/Lumina mentioned; Characters: Daryl, Pony | Aya | Jill, Forget Me Not villagers, Wizard Gale, Witch Vivi, Harvest King Ignis Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Romance, NaNoWriMo 2023, Not Beta Read Summary: Struggling to come to grips with the death of her parents, Pony moves to Forget-Me-Not Valley. She tries to avoid being involved with sprites, gods, or goddesses, only to be drawn in against her will. Pony's only help to solve the disappearance of the Harvest Goddess involves three enthusiastic but not very helpful sprites and a scientist. She slowly learns that she cannot run from herself and to come to terms with her past and feelings—even those for the infuriating scientist.

Tumblr Posts for A Wonderful Life Characters - by actaeoncross; WIP, 38/?, 39k

Rating: Not Rated; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi Fandoms: A Wonderful Life Relationship: Multiple Characters x Reader; Characters: Celia | Seperia | Cecilia, Cody | Gordy, Daryl, Flora, Gustafa, Lumina, Marlin | Mash | Matthew, Muffy | Molly, Nami, Rock, Reader Summary: A collection of Tumblr posts for A Wonderful Life Characters x Reader prompts. The blog is an offshoot of my main and should be found under AWL Imagines.

If Only - by SymphonicFantasia; Complete, 1/1, <1k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Carter the Pastor/Claire the Farmer; Characters: Carter the Pastor, Claire Additional Tags: Unrequited Love, Unrequited Crush, Priests, Churches & Cathedrals, Mutual Pining, Mutually Unrequited Summary: It was a secret that she liked him. It was just as much of a secret as he liked her.

Ai Yori Yoshi - by Kayko The Original (SuccubusKayko); Complete, 1/1, 2.5k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M Fandom: Back To Nature Relationships: Original Male Character/Popuri, Elli | Elly/Rick, Kai/Karen; Characters: Popuri, Original Male Character(s), Elli | Elly, Rick, Stu | Yu, May | Mei, Barley | Mugi, Kai, Karen, Lillia the Shopkeeper, Pete | Jack, Zack, Doctor | Trent Additional Tags: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, embracing the cringe of my youth, I wrote this when I was a teenager, Cheating, Divorce, Originally Tagged as Humor/Romance Summary: Popuri has been betrayed many times in the past and now thinks that no one will ever love her. When a new villager comes around to take over the Indigo Ranch, odd things begin to happen. What will Popuri do when she meets her new neighbor?

Lady Of Grasstrail Farms - by FromADenOfBeasts; WIP, 45/?, 57k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Pioneers of Olive Town Relationship: Female Farmer/Lars; Characters: Original Female Character(s), Lars, Laura, Angela, Clemens, Damon, Jack, Emilio, Reina, Victor, Gloria, Simon, Jesse Additional Tags: My First AO3 Post, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Supportive Big Brother, honestly the best big brother ever, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Wish Fulfillment, Mysterious Origins, Childbirth Summary: Pioneers Of Olive Town AU where Lars is single. That's not all that happens but it is the reason I wrote this. A young woman named Vallon quits her job and follows her heart to Olive Town, where her family has roots deeper than she ever thought. Now she has to contend with new neighbors, ancient magic, and getting the hang of farming a wild land. Can she cope on her own, or can she at least find someone to share it with?

Ice Cream & Fireworks - by SymphonicFantasia; Complete, 1/1, 1.4k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Claire the Farmer/The Kappa; Characters: Claire, The Kappa Summary: She was a weird one to him. She tried so hard to introduce him to her world in little ways without drowning him in it. When she did, she always told him in advance. However, this was a time that she didn't… And Kappa didn't know how to feel about it or the surprise she was sure to grace him with.

Simple Beauty - by Juliko; Complete, 1/1, <1k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Animal Parade Relationship: Renee | Lina/Toby | Tao; Characters: Renee, Toby Additional Tags: Fluff, Domestic Fluff, One Shot, Short One Shot, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net Summary: "Animals had dominated her life. Every day, she worked on her family’s farm milking the cows, giving slops to the pigs, selling eggs from her chickens, and keeping the goats from trying to eat her mother’s clothing. Renee loved every bit of it. As far as she was concerned, nothing could be better than raising these beloved creatures and giving them love and affection. She loved them and they loved her. She had no room in her head for thoughts of boyfriends, and if she never married, she was okay with that. Whether she married or not, Renee was happy with her life and wouldn’t change anything about it. But then the strange man named Toby Fisher came swimming into her life, like a fish in a river."

#fresh crop monday #harvest moon #story of seasons #friends of mineral town #animal parade #trio of towns #a wonderful life #pioneers of olive town #back to nature #tale of two towns

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ieatsmallorphansnamedtom · 1 year

Text

General Headcanons

Pinned Post Link

Bachelors & Bachelorettes

Other Townies & Multiple

Other

x Reader

Abigail x Musician Farmer | Sebastian Headcanons | Bachelors and PDA | Bachelor/ettes x Artist Reader | Bachelor/ettes x Strings Orchestra Player

#ieatsmallorphansnamedtom #masterlist #general headcanons masterlist #sdv #stardew valley #sdv headcanons #stardew valley headcanons #sdv hcs #stardew valley hcs #sdv x reader #stardew valley x reader

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amberskywrites · 2 years

Text

Self-Care Days

Masterpost | AO3 Link

Fandom / Genre: Stardew Valley / Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort

Pairing: Elliott/Male!Player, Elliott & Male!Player

Warnings: Implied/Referenced eating disorder, Implied/Referenced suicidal thoughts, Self-harm, Parental abuse, Child abuse, Abuse, Bullying (Everything here is stuff that the characters discuss, and are not currently going through nor doing but admit to doing in the past), lmk if I need to add anything else!

Prompt: Requested by @hartlee-sux :

Elliott x male!farmer. I was thinking that Elliott visits the farmer while they're working and their sleeves are rolled up/they're wearing short sleeves and he notices old scars. The farmer obviously doesn't mind them being on show and it leads to a conversation about both of their mental health and their struggles. Is that something you'd be okay with writing?

Summary: Sometimes, it's just nice to vent. Even on a good day.

It wasn’t often that Elliott visited the farm.

More often than not, it was the farmer who visited his shack or caught him on the docks or joined him in his trips to the saloon. And it wasn’t that Elliott didn’t want to go to the farm, he absolutely did, he could just rarely find the time to drop by as inspiration took hold and allowed him to make progress on his novel.

Though it had been a while since the farmer had last visited - okay, he’d last visited Elliott a week ago, but for Elliott, their time apart seemed to have lasted a month by now. Not that he’d ever admit to that aloud. The farmer didn’t need any more ways to tease him.

The break in the farmer’s routine, the lack of his presence even just for a few days, sapped Elliott’s motivation to write completely dry.

Curse the writing gods, making a busy farmer his muse.

So that’s how Elliott found himself visiting the farm for the first time in far too long. He had told Elliott to drop by whenever he wanted, though Elliott hadn’t ever taken him up on the offer. He was coming to the conclusion that he really should have.

Elliott remembered how rundown the farm was when he first arrived, the cabin falling apart and weeds overtaking the entire place as though they were kings of old conquering new land for their mighty empires. Now, though… now the farm looked almost unrecognizable in the best possible way.

The sign leading into it was much the same, and the farmer either just hadn’t gotten around to redoing it or he decided to keep the faded but nostalgic entrance. But beyond the wooden gate?

Elliott felt pride well up inside him, unable to suppress a grin at all the farmer had managed to accomplish in his time here. The farmhouse was in a far better condition than the one Elliott had seen pictures of when the farmer’s grandad still lived there. Most of the weeds had been cleared, new buildings had sprouted up and animals wandered around the growing summer crops.

He finally spotted the farmer, cutting down a tree a little ways down a path the farmer had made early on in his journey to becoming a farmer. Elliott remembered running into him that day at the bridge leading to the beach, and he’d excitedly shown the first person he saw a new path layout he’d received from Robin that day. At the time, Elliott wasn’t sure what to make of the brand new farm layout plans that the farmer had pushed into his hands to look over, nor did Elliott understand how the farmer was so excited over pathways of all things. Walking towards the farmer on the very same pathway Elliott had seen blocked out on a blueprint just months ago - almost a year now that he thought about it - there was a skip in his step.

The farmer didn’t notice Elliott at first, still working on cutting down the trees into smaller and more manageable logs, along with the stumps they left behind. But when he did finally notice Elliott, a smile so bright it put the sun to shame lit up his face, and a weight that had been on Elliott’s heart finally eased away.

“G’afternoon, Elliott!” The farmer said as he dropped his axe onto the nearest stump.

“Good afternoon!” Elliott exclaimed, sidling up to the farmer and taking another look around. It was hard not to, now that he was in the middle of the farm. They were in a tree patch that the farmer had complained about having to keep tidy over the past month, adjacent to a mini-orchard with some rows of trees looking close to giving fruit. At the end of the path they were on, Elliott could make out a seating area peeking through the trees with flowers surrounding the bench.

“This all looks incredible,” he said in awe. The farmer’s cheeks took on a pink hue, and he laughed lightly.

“Thank you!” He too glanced around, his smile full of complete and utter pride. “It’s really nice to see it all coming together, y’know? With how long it’s taken to get to this point.”

Elliott nodded, looking at the pile of wood the farmer was creating for a moment before looking back to the farmer. “I can imagine. Wanna show it all off with a tour?”

The farmer somehow perked up even more, a grin splitting his face. “Y’know? That sounds like a great idea!” He grabbed Elliott’s hand and pulled him along the path - not that Elliott needed much prompting to follow.

After a two-hour long tour of the farm - Elliott may have gotten sidetracked by the farmer’s baby cows and goats for a while - they finally retired to the sitting area Elliott had spotted before, and it was prettier than the glimpse he had caught the first time.

The farmer had a slight flush on his face and a grin, rolling his sleeves up as they settled on the bench. “Sorry about Mira,” he chuckled, “I wasn’t expecting her to go after your hair like that.”

Elliott slung an arm over the back of the bench, laughing gently himself and touching the place where said baby cow attempted to grab his hair. “It’s fine, really. Impossible to stay mad at something so adorable.”

The farmer hummed contentedly, slumping into the bench himself and closing his eyes, practically basking in the afternoon sun. Elliott took the chance to not-so-subtly look over the farmer.

He’d found his gaze lingering on the farmer longer and longer every time they spent time together. At first, Elliott would catch himself and correct his behavior - because, really, how gentlemanly was it to just stare at someone? - but after a while and catching the farmer doing his own fair share of looking, Elliott decided that it wouldn’t hurt to admire him occasionally.

He’d noticed the farmer primarily wore long-sleeves, even on the hottest summer days, and today was no different. But Elliott had never seen him roll up his sleeves before, and he found himself staring at the farmer’s arms.

The joy of the afternoon very quickly sapped out of Elliott the longer he stared at the farmer’s arms, and instead of fluttering like always when around him, Elliott felt it sinking. Littered across his arms were thin scars of all sorts of lengths, scars that didn’t align with ones that came from monsters in the mines. They were too clean to have come from monsters other than the ones Elliott knew could plague one’s mind.

The farmer peeked at Elliott through one eye, startled when he noticed Elliott’s intense stare trained on his arms. “Elliott?” Elliott finally tore his gaze away from his arm. “You alright?”

His eyes flickered between the farmer’s face and his arm, mouth opening and closing a few times as he tried to find the right words. The farmer tilted his head, frowning slightly.

Elliott finally seemed to give up on trying to figure out what he wanted to say and, hesitantly, rested a hand on the farmer’s arm, tapping just one of the many scars.

The farmer looked to where Elliott was pointing and relaxed as he realized what had gotten Elliott so worked up. “Ah, those.”

Elliott cleared his throat, removing his hand from the farmer’s arm. “Obviously, you’re not obligated to say anything, but… but when did you… get these?”

He hummed, tracing the scars on his own arm for a moment as he thought. “I… used to cut throughout most of my teen years and a little bit into college,” he admitted. “I haven’t done it since the beginning of third year.”

Elliott’s brow furrowed, and he couldn’t stop himself from asking the most definitely not-his-business question he could ask: “Why?”

The farmer’s gaze flickered over Elliott and he tilted his head again. Elliott was quick to rush out, grimacing at his own rudeness. “Sorry, sorry- that was insensitive, you don’t have to share.”

He shook his head. “No, no, it’s okay. I don’t mind sharing. But, it’s… not the easiest thing to digest when someone tells you. Are you in a good enough headspace to hear?”

Elliott nodded. “Yeah, I am.” Really, he hadn’t been in a bad headspace since moving to the valley. In a writing slump, sure, but his mental health had gotten so much better since moving here. “What about you, though?”

The farmer smiled reassuringly. “I’m good.” He took a deep breath. “Alright! Feel free to stop me at any time if it gets to be too overwhelming, okay?”

Elliott nodded again. “Same goes for you.”

The farmer shifted on the bench into a more comfortable position, and Elliott followed suit, knocking their knees together lightly as the farmer considered where to start.

“Okay. So. My dad was, most of the time, a good man. He treated me well when it was just the two of us, and when he was sober. Until around junior high, there were days he’d get egregiously aggressive drunk. So I’d have to walk on eggshells around him. It wasn’t until middle school that he finally started dealing with it, seeking help and going to AA meetings and all that. He got better.

“My biological mom, on the other hand, was terrible. Not the worst mother to ever exist, but she was still abusive. To both me and Dad. She was…” He drummed his fingers on the back of the bench, pausing for a moment to think on how to phrase it. “She was controlling, to put it simply. Overbearing. She was never physically abusive. Never hit me or Dad, never threatened to hit us. But she micromanaged our lives, and from what I’ve been told, she only started to get like that after she married Dad. She… cut him off from most of his friends and family, and after they finally got divorced Dad once told me that he was scared of her because for the longest time he thought he needed her, and if he lost her he’d lose everything.”

He cleared his throat, shaking his head. “Sorry, getting off track a bit. So. What she did to my dad, she did to me. I wasn’t allowed a phone until high school, she would control who I was friends with and if I made friends with someone she didn’t like, she’d threaten to take away certain things. Once, when she found out from a teacher that I hung out with someone in class that she despised, she destroyed my favorite stuffed animal as a ‘warning’. When I got my phone, she’d randomly go through it so I could never really do anything on it.

“And, because Dad was scared of her leaving him if he stood up to her, he never stood up for me. I had… I had no control whatsoever over my life. I couldn’t do anything without mom always breathing down my neck. Then, one day, I was helping Dad cook dinner on the rare night that mom was out with her friends and accidentally cut myself. I had ignored Dad’s warning about cutting toward me and sliced my hand a bit. Not seriously, and it still hurt, but… it was my choice to cut toward myself. And then I had this… sort of sick realization, that this was a way for me to have control over something in my life.”

He looked down at his arms and sighed heavily. “Mom… never found out about this. She bought all my clothes, and they were usually long-sleeved, so they were easy to hide from everyone. My parents finally divorced my junior year of high school, and… and mom got full custody of me. Didn’t allow contact or anything. Threatened to bring him to court if he tried. Then I went to college, still cutting as a way to control something in my life. Because mom even dictated what I should major in, and threatened to stop paying my tuition if I tried to do anything against what she said. I’ll be honest when I say the only thing that stopped me from committing suicide was my dad. My dad and his new wife.

“I managed to contact him without mom knowing through a friend of mine. I didn’t ever tell him that mom was worse than when he was married to her. But then one day in my second year, I wasn’t careful and that friend who helped me contact Dad in the first place found out about my self-harm. And. And they told him. They told my dad and stepmom - Mama - about my cutting and…” He clenched his fists, and exhaled slowly, a little shakily. “And they were stunned. Worried. Furious. After they found out, and since I was technically an adult, they helped me get away from Mom. I dropped out of college and moved far, far away, and cut all ties with Mom. At one point she tried to get the police involved because she thought I was missing, but threats of a restraining order got her to turn tail real quick.

“Mama and Dad helped me get onto my own feet, and I got a therapist, and it was hard, y’know? But I slowly got better. I relapsed twice, and I’ll admit, sometimes I’ve wondered if it’s really worth it, trying to heal. Actually healing. But I got better, and I’m getting better every day. I haven’t cut in years, I’m in control of my own life, and that wench is out of my life for good.”

The farmer took a deep breath and laughed, shaking his head. “Sorry- that was. A lot. I didn’t mean to dump all my emotional baggage onto you like that.”

Elliott, who had listened to him silently the whole time, sympathy and despair and anger boiling just under his skin, grasped his hand and held it tightly. Elliott shook his head.

“Don’t apologize. I’m- you’re right, that was a lot. But I’m happy you told me. And it makes me happy to know that you’re doing better.” He took a deep breath, shifting his hold on the farmer’s hand to intertwine their fingers. “I… I also have had my fair share of struggles with mental health.”

The farmer squeezed his hand, rubbing small circles into the side of Elliott’s hand. Elliott smiled slightly at him. “Throughout school, I… I always had problems with other students. It was difficult for me to make friends, no matter how hard I tried. The friends that I did make weren’t… the greatest. They were, plainly said, toxic. I’ve had ‘friends’ who would mock me, belittle me, and then pretend to be my friend for an easy grade. It took a major toll on my self-image, and on my mental health. My parents began to take notice after a while, but when they tried to intervene I was so nervous about becoming an outcast in school that I lied and then cut them out.

“The bullying continued, I continued to lie to my parents… and I just went into denial about everything. Denial, and a shut-down of sorts. At the time, I thought, that if I just ignored it, and pretended to feel nothing, then it would be over sooner. But I was miserable. Eventually, it started to take its toll. Because pretending could only get me so far, and it was a flimsy way of trying to deal with everything. My grades began to drastically drop, and I could no longer hide that things were wrong to everyone else because it started to bleed into my physical health.

“I had no motivation to take care of myself. Skipping meals to avoid talking with my parents, to avoid my so-called friends at lunch. My hygiene began to deteriorate, too. It was just… so hard to get out of bed every day.” Elliott was silent for a minute, taking a deep breath and grounding himself. “Eventually, my parents had had enough. They did care a lot for me, but I had just been shutting them out and refusing any help they could have tried to give me. So, around junior year of high school, they decided to move. We moved to Zuzu city, I went to a new school, but I wasn’t better at all. They thought that my first school, and the people there, were the problem. And they were. But, by that point, it was no longer a simple fix.

“My parents forced me to see a therapist, after a couple of months at the new school went by and no improvements were shown. I didn’t… it took me a while to start opening up. I did eventually, though. My therapist suggested giving some kind of creative activity a try - any creative activity I could think of. I tried different kinds of art, music, gardening, writing… When I tried writing, I ended up liking it more than I thought I ever would. I liked it more than I certainly ever did in school as well. So, I continued with that. And… and things slowly got better. Writing was my escape for the rest of high school, and I went to college as an English major as a result of my enjoyment. A lot of my earlier works were vent pieces, and when I first wrote them I was still somewhat in denial of how things were.”

He took a deep breath and offered the farmer a small smile. “I’m much better now, happier. Sometimes I do have the occasional bad day, but that’s to be expected. Writing has helped me, so much. But so have the people I’ve met since getting help. Like Leah! I met her in the city and we just clicked, and while she moved to the valley before me we still remained friends. She was a huge help, alongside my parents, encouraging me to continue writing and always cheering me on.”

The farmer gave Elliott’s hand one more squeeze and a small laugh. “That’s great to hear,” he said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do on bad days?”

Elliott hummed softly. “The most I end up doing is getting out of bed, getting dressed, and brushing my teeth. Sometimes I read my favorite book, and sometimes I’ll write a vent piece, but when those are too exhausting I’ll just sit in bed and try not to think. What about you?”

“My self-care days come early when it’s a bad day. I can’t exactly neglect my chores, so on the bad days, I get them done as fast as I can and then spend my day in the kitchen messing around with recipes because it gives me something to do, and even if I make a monstrosity it usually ends up being fun and still something that I can control. When that’s too much, I’ll sit in the animal pens and spend time with them for the day.”

“You have self-care days?”

“Mhmm. Mama told me about them. Every other Wednesday is a self-care day for me.”

“Why Wednesday?”

The farmer shrugged. “Pierre’s closed on Wednesday, and there’s no way I’m buying from Joja if I can help it. So, I usually don’t have too much of a reason to go into town on Wednesday unless I want to go talk with someone.

“What about you?” he asked. “Do you have any self-care days?”

Elliott shook his head and sighed, once again slumping into the bench. “I didn’t even consider them, now that I think about it. It does sound like a good idea, though.” He hummed softly. “Don’t really know what I’d do, though. Because my bad days aren’t self-care days. They’re just a way for me to make it through the day.”

The farmer tilted his head. “Well, when you think of a self-care day, the perfect activities to help you relax, what do you imagine?”

Elliott stared at him for a moment before a soft smile appeared on his face.

“Honestly?” The farmer nodded. “Doing anything with you.”

The farmer’s cheeks dusted red, but he grinned nonetheless.

“Y’know, I can get behind that.”

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